99 theorycrafting and stuff like that

I have an immesurably dull tale to tell, of Radament (I'm sure this is well documented elsewhere, but hey).

I recently grushed a bunch of level 1 characters (essentially: one of every class using names I like for future 99 projects) while I was levelling a Frost zealot (which was great until Hell where it just got slow, despite an eth 1.07 ZA Beast). Why does this matter in a 99 thread? Grushing so I have all the Ancients quests available at level 98. Cheesy, but I'm not above it :-p However, when you spent more than an hour killing Radament after Radament because you have to deal with some bizarre skill book-bug it begins to cramp ones 99 style.

Typically when I grush characters I don't bother to pick up the skill books (because usually they're just for socket/forge) but this has never presented an issue when I've then gone on to level the toons for whatever reason. Today, in all my wisdom, I decided that I'd grab the Hell difficulty book and complete the quest (I don't much like that place on any difficulty, I figured I'd take a little time to pick up the books in Hell, and turn in the quest at Atma). Big mistake.

When the grushed Paladin of the bunch got to Radament in normal? No book, and the quest was completed. Nightmare? No book and, again, I'd completed the quest. By this stage I was concerned. Back to normal! And... the quest log announces "Kill Radament". Umm... okay? And, for whatever reason, best known to the lords of Sanctuary, he decided to drop a skill book. Still with me?

Back to NM. No book. Quest is still completed. I go back to normal, kill Radament, no book. I exit the game entirely to look for some information, I find a potential solution, but before trying it (because it would involve getting a fresh character to NM), I make a new normal game... yup, the quest is definitely completed. A new NM game and I got the whole "can't complete that quest in this game" talk... (I joined in A1, I have no idea why it decided to announce that). Well, at least the quest had decided to uncomplete itself. I decided to port to A2, exit and remake. Next NM game... "Kill Radament". And a book.

Yeah, that's my 99 theorycrafting story. Don't **** with Radament, it takes a lot of time.

At least XP was ridiculously good as I started this whole adventure of multiple NM Radament runs at level 29 (125fcr Hammerdin knows no fear in NM A2!)
 
Bump!

Update from the assassin thing..
I respec'ed from max vita to max block on stormshield. Overall I'm happy with the change, it allows her to survive physical attacks much more easily. As a side effect it allows me to get an absurd attack rating ( 13070, and before conviction ), and equip a Call to arms phase blade. Yes, I made a new CtA just for this girl. CtA phaseblade allows me to reach 9fpa. I wasn't worried too much about getting a low roll as I had enough +skills, but it rolled +4 so great.

Resistances are still a major issue. The imbalance between spirit and stormshield is really problematic, and I will need to socket a jewel of favor to reach max kick speed. Infact, looking at PDR values, it's already at 20 and will be at 28 ( 10 fade, 10 shako , 8 enigma ) . So I don't see much point in stormshield. Gerke's sanctuary is an option I will explore- 30 allres would put it at par with spirit with shimmering JOF, and iDR/mDR is plenty good.

I really, really like this character. She combines the best aspects of meleers ( leech, manaleech, high survival, crushing blow ) with powerful ranged attacks that deal damage in 3 elements ( ice from rift, lightning sentries, fire from CE and rift ), all amplified by conviction, and has unparalleled crowd control due to CoS and MB. As a result she is the most versatile character that I have. Even if she is not the 'best' in any particular area, she can do basically any area of hell even at p8.

Screenshot from some random runs yesterday



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Sounds really great!
about the stormshield: If you plan to run Baal, then there is nothing wrong with stacking dr% over 50%, because of being decreped/cursed 90% of the time. Gerke's is obviously also a cool shield like you mentioned.
Most important I read from your post is that it seems to be a fun char, and that is stat nr1 for a 99'er.

edit: the dex to reach maxblock does not only add AR, but also adds a small amount of kickdamage ;)

formula:
Code: 
MinDamage=(str+dex-20)/4)*(100+skill_bonus)/100 + BootMinDam*(100+str*StrBonus/100+skill_bonus)/100 

MaxDamage=(str+dex-20)/3)*(100+skill_bonus)/100 + BootMaxDam*(100+str*StrBonus/100+skill_bonus)/100
so about 40-50 extra kick damage if you have an additional 160 dex, before multiplying by %ed.
 
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EasyG said:
[...]it seems to be a fun char, and that is stat nr1 for a 99'er.[...]
Click to expand...

Yeah... although when you're at baalrun #2000 you may find your build not being all that exciting anymore and doing clvl 98 with 4½ minute baalruns is something very few can endure. Such a shame to see people get to 97.5 or 98 and then burn out.



 
Nice job with the assassin, zaphodbrx :thumbup: I would not discard Stormshield just yet, though. While doing Baal-runs with my hybrid paladin ages ago, I tried different shields, only to find out that SS is in fact the only one that sort of ensures survival, when it comes down to cursed Lister spawns. I love Gerke's in general, and it works fine in Baal-runs... until you face the bad boys with %DR deep in negative. When my Reaper's merc went down, I typically followed him very soon. True, PDR works before %DR, but it barely makes a dent on Lister's damage before your total %DR applies. And you'd rather have it at -37% than at -72%. Hell, it's even better to stand within the range of Baal's decrep, than getting beaten up amped.

With an assassin, you have some crowd control available, so perhaps there is a way around this that would alllow you to enjoy the overall comfort of Gerke's (or some other alternative). The sad fact is that you can replace the convenience of PDR/MDR with LL, but you can not outleech Lister's gang without shaving off at least some portion of their damage. Solution that works in 95% cases is not enough by far.

Lister may be a mindless moron, but he still took my zon down twice (out of three) on her way from 98 to 99. Two hits is all it takes to earn 6+ hours of this highly enjoyable experience :wink:

@Corrupted: I was often at 5+ mins per run IDing various yellow junk that dropped. Apparently, if the greed does keep one motivated, nothing will :badteeth: Azalea wasn't a full-fledged teleporter, though.
 
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I have to say though, that my motives were not so much 99-running but to make an 'ultimate assassin' , which could go anywhere, anytime, regardless of monster spawns, and at p8 Hell. In this respect Lister is pretty harmless compared to stuff in Halls of Vaught and WSK. This is an example of something actually problematic ( it may have to do with my bad resistances as well ).

Other equipment discussion
Stormlash vs rift: I believe, in general, Rift is better, because of lightning immunes. LIs are broken by conviction but without eLR their resistance still remains very high so it falls to Rift and it's ice orb to do the damage ( +death sentries ). Stormlash does only lightning damage, and physical isn't anywhere near enough. For specifically Baal running though, Stormlash might be better ( no LI, p1 throne )
Gloves: One can theorycraft about 2/20 crafted gloves but at the end of the day dracs rule. It's not just about the lifetap, +str and +life per kill are quite useful too, and of course the lifetap which keeps the merc alive against almost anything and works even on unleechable.
Helm: Again, some type of insane circlet might be possible but really, shako kicks butt. +2 to ALL skills, pdr, big life, mana bonus, MF, it's just too good.
Armor: In my last respec I put 1 point in Dragon talon because even a lousy excuse for teleport is better than none. IMO, there really is only one option. And that is enigma. Repositioning is crucial to this character. Rift and LS are both 'straight-line' abilities, so getting monsters in a line is really good. Also, if one gets surrounded, it's a good idea to have an escape mechanism ( it happens with infector pack sometimes ). Not to mention, for Baal running I don't think it is possible without teleport because it will take forever to get to throne otherwise.
Shield: As mentioned I will atleast try Gerke's for a bit.
 
Bump again!

After recently acquiring a stormlash and some entrapping skillers my assassin has been improved further. Stormlash is indeed stronger than rift generally but sucks against light immune. Physical and death sentry don't cut it alone, you also need the elemental and ice damage from rift. If something spawns unbreakable LI plus PI, it can get very trying. For full clears of chaos, I use rift for the most part and then switch to stormlash for the last seal ( venom lords ), plus diablo. Stormlash also has an advantage that it hits kick breakpoint without any other ias at all. So I socketed an Ist there to keep MF same on both switches ( call to arms also has ist ). No shael ruins it for druid ofcourse, but I don't care.

Stormlash is amazing and vastly outperforms rift for Baal runs. There's almost never anything LI and if you follow the p1/p8/p3 strategy you can kill the LIs in the throne ( gloams mostly ) at p1 even with stormlash pretty quickly ( death sentry ). Stormlash actually helps vs gloams because of the lite sorb.

I made a quick video of a Baalrun. Cut out the getting to throne bit because without enigma it is a painful exercise involving dragon flight, full rejuvs and spamming death sentries ( you can kill everything on P1 with just DS really ). I messed up some parts- missed CoS on wave 2 and then a badly coordinated attack on wave 4 ( assassin, merc, traps are all attacking different things ), but nothing spawned with dangerous mods so I'd call it even.

[YOUTUBE]SgAlSfM00Eg[/YOUTUBE]

As far as actually going to 99, I think Baal is just the best option. Chaos is just not suited for trapper at all. Nihilthak might be good, and while I haven't tried it with Nihilithak specific gear, the two times I tried it went really badly. This guide discusses running N with an assassin, so people can have a look at it for more details.
 
Mind if I ask a few questions? I'm trying to get my Hammerdin to at least 95 in the CS, so I can gamble +2 skills amulets. I'm doing this in HC. This is my equipment setup:

  • Wizzy [fire res jewel]
  • Stormshield [pdiamond]
  • Enigma
  • Harlequin Crest [resist all/life jewel]
  • String of Ears
  • Magefist (upgraded to Battle Gauntlets)
  • War Traveler
  • +1 Paladin skills/28 strength/7 fire resist/30% mf rare ammy
  • BKWB
  • 10 FCR/19 mana/5 LR/20 FR rare ring
  • Switch: Heaven's Light/Spirit for HS prebuff

Charms: Gheeds, lots of life/resist charms

Merc is Act 2 HF, with Reaper's Toll [Shael], eth upped Duriel's Shell [Sol] and Delirium. I know the Decrep and Confuse/Terror will override each other, but I find the combination very nice. Delirium makes a world of a difference, and Reaper's Toll adds a little extra AND has life steal.

Skills are standard: max BH, Conc, Vigor, BA, 14 HS (rest goes here), 1 Redemption

This all results in 150/128/130/68 fire/cold/lightning/poison resist, 75% block, 80% FCR (10 frames) casting, 64% DR, no FHR, 1689/515 life/mana, 9045 defense.

So I'm considering switching to a Might merc , as the HF doesn't add that much safety. I'm also reconsidering my amulet and my boots. I could switch to the lowly Nokozan relic for the (max) fire resist and FHR. I could also switch to Waterwalk or Infernostride for the (max) fire resist. I'm reluctant to switch to an Arachnid Mesh, as LE monsters still hurt a bit, but more importantly, Lord de Seis & co really hurt. :(
Does anyone have any other suggestion as to what I could do? Getting a CtA is probably the best upgrade I can get right now, but I can't make that right now.
 
@Arkardo - I would personally be reluctant to run CS without having a CtA even with a max DR setup. So yes a CtA is definitely your biggest upgrade.

Personally I feel that the most dangerous pack in there is Lord de Seis' seal (followed by Infector's but it does not compare) so apart from Delirium/Reaper's and max DR there are not many things you can do to improve your chances against them (I guess you're kiting them into the hammers so there's little I can suggest on positioning as well).

So with that said, Verdungo's cord might be a better choice than String of Ears and you could also give Treachery a try. The only reason I use it is so that my merc can proc those curses a tad faster (11 BP for standard/10 with sheal and 5 BP with JAB).
 
With only a relatively weak +1 amulet I'd rather go with Rising Sun instead. Then you can replace your sockets with MF or Strength if necessary.
 
Further update for assassin.

Today I tried out a weapon that I didn't think would work great but it did - Azurewrath! Sanctuary aura is absolutely awesome against gloams, the reduced resistance gives 10 times the physical damage on them since they have 90% pdr. Also, it packs immense cold and magic damage, which more or less rivals rift. It's also fast, owns undead generally, +1 to all skills , blah blah it's just awesome all round.

One thing I'm not 100% sure but fairly convinced is that the sanctuary's reduced resistance also works on physical part of CE damage from death sentries. I felt like CE was doing much more damage in the chaos sanctuary than it did while carrying rift. It isn't great against balrogs and stuff but then rift isn't great against them either. I always do the balrog seal and then D with stormlash.

I really wonder why I hadn't thought of it before, maybe because it isn't mentioned much in guides. With that, my poor Rift will unfortunately have to rot in a stash. Lawbringer is terrible by the way. The RIP mod prevents usage of death sentry and decrep will mess up lifetap, also less elemental damage and no ias.

So my hierarchy of K/T weapons is now established

Azurewrath: Supreme versatile weapon for running any general area of the game. Specifically in WSK with gloams and unbreakable-LI skeletons, and chaos with a whole bunch of undeads.

Stormlash: Top end for Baaling if you tp to throne and follow p1/p8/p3 strategy. Lack of LI and waves being packed together for static makes this great. Also best against act bosses for static and CB. Generally cumbersome weapon against anything LI and not versatile.

Rift: Poor man's weapon? Rift isn't that cheap though. It's not bad either, plenty good.

Last wish: Nihilithak?? The guides say this is best for ubers but in SP...
 
IIRC, RIP will not work for stuff killed with traps nor merc, only stuff you kick or fire blast dead. One of the things that doesn't work with minions, and traps counts as minions.
 
Corrupted said:
With only a relatively weak +1 amulet I'd rather go with Rising Sun instead.
Click to expand...
/vouch
onderduiker said:
Venom Lords spawning in the Chaos Sanctuary in Hell use level 15 MegademonInferno, which applies 45-62 base fire damage three times to a stationary target, for a total of 135-186. Crit applies, so 5% of the time 45-62 base fire damage will be doubled to 90-124
Click to expand...
Even with 0 FR you'll still get healed, so Conviction becomes much less of a danger. You've got a decent amu but this should give greater survivability than the stats on it.

More generally speaking, such a defensive hammerdin seems strange to me. I haven't played them much as I find them super boring, but I've always thought you could pretty much avoid almost all melee monsters if you tele enough and lay down hammer fields as you go (especially at 125 FCR). Or do I underestimate how tanky and dangerous CS monsters are at P8?


 
I personally dont find CS that dangerous if you play carefully enough, only place i ever feel threatened is Lord de Seis , but careful tele below the pack, spam hammers and let the merc hold the line for a second and even that isnt too scary, OK are the most dangerous, the venom lords are a bit wussy :')
 
Azurewrath probably isn't recommended too heavily for K/T because of the level requirement. It does help against gloam types, but I don't know if it'd be better than just using Fire Blast since you have 'Infinity'. I suppose it depends how the character is built.
 
NagisaFurukawa said:
Azurewrath probably isn't recommended too heavily for K/T because of the level requirement. It does help against gloam types, but I don't know if it'd be better than just using Fire Blast since you have 'Infinity'. I suppose it depends how the character is built.
Click to expand...

Stormlash has a pretty bad lvl requirement too so that's not it. I just think no one gave it much thought.
Fireblast is for pure trapsin not k/T . I suppose there could be an argument about which is 'better', but for me atleast k/T is far superior to pure-T. Lifetapping, manaleeching, ctc orb/static/whatever offers so much more than throwing some weak fire bombs. It's also really cool against act bosses. Pure-T has huge problems even with p1 Diablo, while k/T kills p8 Diablo without breaking a sweat.

Personally I think azurewrath is the #1 k/T weapon. Stormlash is really only good at Baal runs with tp-to-throne p1/p8/p3 ( In other areas you're basically praying that LI doesn't spawn ), and Rift while cool and cheap doesn't come up to the mark.


 
82 is a bit more realistic than 85 in terms of what most people will be able to use over the course of questing through the game. Azurewrath is thrown in as a [crappy] option in most PvP kicksin guides I've seen.

Even with a baseline 20 FB/LS/DS, FB is plenty good. It's definitely more efficient against gloams (especially with 'Infinity'), and it's good enough for LIs if you coordinate with your mercenary and drop a few DS. I suppose the benefit of kicking LIs would just be looking awesome while killing versus throwing some "weak bombs".

Life Tap... seems highly unnecessary on such an awesome crowd control class, but that's just personal opinion. I would rather just get some FCR (and trap damage!), since you don't seem to have any/much. >_<

In any case, good luck. Doubt we'll ever agree what is better/etc.
 
I personally too have used Azurewrath on my K/T, and I have to go with zaph on this one. Once you get the level requirement for it, it's vastly superior.
 
I'm running CS quite successfully with a Multizon (Faith + Fort based, using Fleshripper + Stormshield on switch to take down Big D up close). I'm wondering would it be possible to create a WSK Bowazon by combining Multi or Strafe with FA. I imagine redirecting the skill points I have in CS and Decoy into FA and CA would do the job skill-wise, but what about gear-wise? And yes, I'm well aware of the Fishyzon, but my aim is to use bow skills only. Would such a character be viable, and if so, what gear would be the best to use? One problem I can see is that the WSK won't allow me to get away with none of the resists maxed like CS does.

Edit: Thinking about it, I reckon switching Fort for CoH (fixes the resists, still gives some damage bonus to undead and demons, and adds +2 skills) in my current setup would pretty much do the trick. I thought about Nightwing's Veil for the helm, but I don't know that the bonus to cold damage would be worth the drop from 8 to 9 frames.I'd probably switch out the Sharp and Acrobatic GCs for Fletcher's, and replace some the resist SCs with cold damage SCs. The other possible switch would be Highlord's for Eye of Elitch (I have a 10s duration one). I'd be interested to see whether FA would outperform Fleshripper against Baal himself.

My current, MS only gear setup:

- Faith GMB (+3 Bow, +1 All, lvl 12 Fana)
- Andys + 30 FRes/8 Dex jewel
- Highlord's
- Fort
- LoH
- Razortail
- Raven Frost
- Manald
- Nat's boots
- 1x Fletcher's, 4x Acrobatic, 3x Sharp GCs
- Sharp LC of Vita
- bunch of Shimmering and Ruby SCs
- Fleshripper + Stormshield on switch

Might Moron
- Reaper's
- CoA + -15 reqs + 33 ED/15 IAS
- Gladiator's Bane

Thoughts?
 
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