4th incarnation of the hammer

[ThomasJohnsen]

So I have recreated my hammerdin. It's the fourth time (other 3 sadly not amongst us anymore), and my equipment is limited due to loosing all the good stuff with the 3 first .
I have a nice enough setup for now, but I would like to take down bosses a tad quicker. My merc is pretty much set, since I cannot even begin to imagine coping without his Insight, so the option is my gear. I would like a switch for smiting, and I currently have Heaven's Light (shael shael probably?) + elite shield as the one option and wizard + elite shield + gore riders as the other. I would really prefer the first one, since that leaves my boot slot open, but is either even a viable option? Or should I just stick with the hammers? Any input appreciated - it's been something like 4-5 years since my last paladin got this far

Thanks in advance
Tom

 

[helvete1]

I stuck with the hammers, but if you're not equipped with CtA switch just yet, a simple black flail and an elite paladin shield should to pretty nicely, at least against act bosses.

 

[ThomasJohnsen]

I actually did the same; ie. stuck with hammers.
I went ahead and got the shield socketed, double shael'd the Heaven's Light and tried it out. Waaay slower than hammers.
Then tried the same setup with Gore Riders. Still somewhat slower than just hammers.
In order for me to kill faster with smite over hammers, I reckon I need quite a bit more ias and cb, and that will just affect my kill speed in every other aspect of the game.

It's fun to play softcore again though. And a hammerdin to boot. It's so easy that I just sit and drink coffee whilst playing.
There's something to be said about just recklessly throwing yourself into the midst of every boss pack and just holding down shift and watch them fall. I miss playing ladder though - with 2 accounts I had a BO-barb available at all times and was guaranteed quest drop every boss kill. It made things alot easier. Leveling my sorc to 93 and this paladin to 90 plus a couple of minor chars I very seldom play, I haven't managed yet to find an Arach on SP; not to mention a Tal Armor.

 

[krischan]

If you have Heaven's Light and meet its strength requrirement, I would use that one instead of Black, as it's quicker, in particular when adding two shael runes or IAS jewels with a useful prefix.

I don't think that it's so easy to play hammerdins. The dangerous monsters sneak through the hammer field more often than I feel comfortable with and Baal wave 2 is a pain in the butt since 1.13. I might be a bit spoiled from p7 Tunnels with my budget blizzard sorc, however .

 

[coju]

I just sit and drink coffee whilst playing.

This is how I typically play hardcore. I've lost a lot of toons.