Auras

[Nightwind]

I cannot, for the life of a HC, remember what aura is which. Especially the ones that are cast by monsters on me.

Is there anyplace with pictures of the aura's with good ways to tell what the difference is described with them...

Might from thorns for example.

Also...
merc prefrance question..
what improves AR more, a blessed aim merc, or an act 1 who uses inner sight a lot?

[NeoLunar]

Go to www.battle.net/diablo2exp

Then, go to the link <<Skills>>

Then, at the top of the page, select <<Paladin Skills>>

Then, go to <<Offensive Auras>>

The pictures are quite clear.

As for your second question... I do not know. :P

[Nightwind]

ok... that's for act2 mercs and partied paladins...

what about thoseaura's that monsters have?

I don't see any page with monster effect aura's explained... (or what level it would be at)

and certainly nothing on the ones those OK's fire off at me.... what one is the one that kills me if I actack with it on me, for example?

[AtomicKitKat]

Iron Maiden is the "damage returner" curse. It looks like a bunch of little reddish(yellowish?)droplets over your head.

[Taem]

ok... that's for act2 mercs and partied paladins...

what about thoseaura's that monsters have?

I don't see any page with monster effect aura's explained... (or what level it would be at)

and certainly nothing on the ones those OK's fire off at me....&nbsp; what one is the one that kills me if I actack with it on me, for example?

All the information you request in on the Arreat Summit! Follow each link down a bit to see what each aura/curse does! You can MAKE a paladin or necromancer and see what each one of these aura/curses looks like. The ones you can't make (i.e. defense curse and blood mana) are pictured so can see what it looks like ahead of time. Now go do some homework!

Monsters are allowed the following auras:
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/bonus.shtml

Oblivian Knights have the following necromancer curses:
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/...eadhorror.shtml

Succubus have special curses called "Defense Curse" and "Blood Mana". You can read about them here:
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/...-succubus.shtml

[Ruger]

Not sure how well this will format...

Inner Sight
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Mana Cost: 5
Radius (yards) 13.3
Duration (seconds) 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84
Enemy Defense -X 40 65 90 115 140 165 190 215 245 275 305 335 365 395 425 455 495 535 575 615

Blessed Aim
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Radius (yards) 10.6 12 13.3 14.6 16 17.3 18.6 20 21.3 22.6 24 25.3 26.6 28 29.3 30.6 32 33.3 34.6 36
Attack +% 75 90 105 120 135 150 165 180 195 210 225 240 255 270 285 300 315 330 345 360

No duration on BA and it works immediately. Sight reduces target Def by a fixed number, while Aim increases your AR by a percentage, so the higher you get your AR, the greater the effect. If someone knows the combat equation, you can apply these numbers and find out which is better...but I suspect Aim is.

Ruger

[adeyke]

The to-hit formula is:
chance to hit = 100% *2 * attacker_AR / (attacker_AR + defender_DR) * attacker_lvl / (attacker_lvl + defender_lvl)

What this means is that multiplying your total AR by X is the same as dividing the enemy's DR by X (e.g. doubling your AR is like halving enemies DR).

[Nightwind]

looking at them I still find it confusing, but I guess I will learn, the hard way.. eventually. Thank you.

[Nightwind]

and a merc casts the aura at it's own level?

[Assur]

Hi

As far I can remember you have to divide the level of your merc by 3 and you get the level of the aura he is using. +skill items work, at least it used to be that way.

good hunting

[Deadpan]

Another way of looking at the to-hit formula is to rearrange it with a target figure in mind. Assuming attacker_lvl and defender_lvl are equal, you get:

attacker_AR = defender_DR x chance to hit / (1 - chance to hit)

Without level 20 Inner Sight, defender_DR is going to be 615 higher. We can use this figure to find out how much extra attacker_AR is needed to maintain our required level of chance to hit. Finally, assuming we make it up using level 20 Blessed Aim, we can divide by 360% to arrive at the base AR that this implies.

defender_AR: 615
chance to hit: 75% 80% 90% 95%
attacker_AR: 1845 2460 5535 11685
base AR: 512.5 683.3 1537.5 3245.8

What does this show? Well, if you're gunning for a 75% to hit, Inner Sight's 615 monster defence reduction is equivalent to Blessed Aim's 360% bonus on top of a base AR of 512.5 which is reasonably achievable whilst at 95% to hit, Blessed Aim needs a base AR of 3245.8 to match Inner Sight, a bit steep.

There's only one character class that's going to get close to a base AR over 3000, of course, since this is equivalent to a dexterity of 757 (AR = 4 x Dex - 28) and that's an amazon. Which is where it gets interesting since the amazon can do a similar comparison between Inner Sight and Penetrate. Level 20 Penetrate is nowhere near as good as level 20 Blessed Aim when compared against Inner Sight: a 225% AR bonus needs a base AR of 820 to beat Inner Sight on a 75% chance to hit which ain't going to happen.
This sort of suggests that a 1.10 dexazon should pump Inner Sight rather than Penetrate and could then afford to go with a Might merc. So Rogue or Blessed Aim? Neither!

I haven't even mentioned the percentage defence reductions of Conviction, Battle Cry or Cloak of Shadows so this analysis isn't restricted solely to amazons.

[Nadreck]

+AR items in effect add to base AR which makes blessed aim look somewhat better, especially if you're willing to settle for a relatively low chance to hit.

Also, doesn't inner sight overwrite curses?

[adeyke]

Also, doesn't inner sight overwrite curses?

No.

[Nightwind]

This sort of suggests that a 1.10 dexazon should pump Inner Sight rather than Penetrate and could then afford to go with a Might merc. So Rogue or Blessed Aim? Neither!

i'm seeking justification to disrupt the normal patern of act2 merc prefrance for my summoner druid... ravens arn't (i think) afected by auras, but inner sight does make the monster easier to hit.... and that apears to be just the first reason.

[Deadpan]

I've always thought that ravens autohit.

I've been thinking about auras too, pally auras. I used to use Thorns in classic and team up with necros but that was always questionable in LoD seeing as how they could grab a merc to do my job. In any case, now that skeletons are so much stronger in 1.10, I guess they'd prefer Concentration or Fanaticism from me. Or Vigour for extra-speedy mayhem. Hmm, now there's a thought.

[Occhidiangela]

Ravens acts like a spell, insofar as damage infliction, not like a werewolf or summoned bear. :) Or, as of 1.09: I don't think that changed.

[Nightwind]

ok, so my ravens reason falls appart.

but as long as the ar boost to my wolves is less then the drop ar provides, then it's best to keep my act 1 cold, I think.

It might not be as effective at chilling as an act 2 freeze, nor as constiant as a blessed aim, nor do as much dammage, but it hides behid my pets...

I think I could use her like the hunter guide sugests I use myself. And then simply sit back and assist.