CTA Build Discussion

Tai.1

New member
Dec 12, 2004
2,593
0
0
CTA Build Discussion

With the addition of respecs to the game, there are a lot of options to consider for CTA team make-up, so this thread will be for discussing viability of builds.

A few ground rules first:

1.) All builds will be considered within the context of the team. Some builds are superpowered in a solo context but do nothing to foster a team dynamic. As such, they are not recommended.

2.) All discussion of builds will be done rationally. Posts such as "but t3h En1gma hammerdin is t3h best!!!11111" will be ignored. Give practical reasons for suggestions, including respecs wherever possible. This will allow us to keep the thread from degenerating into a flame war and make sure we all end up playing the most interesting and effective team.

3.) All builds listed below have been considered without the benefit of respecs. This WILL require some changes to be made, and it may allow us to combine characters into a single build with some delicate work. Again, please place all builds in the greater context of the team to establish what changes you feel would be necessary to established builds to keep the core of the team intact.


As a starting point this is a basic overview of the classic team makeup. Below you will find more in depth analysis of each of the members. Take this as a starting point rather than gospel.

The Team

Our CTA ladder reset team was forged through a series of trial and error. It is ideally constructed for a full team of eight, though we have had success with numbers varying from 5 to 11.

Ideal 8:

Static Field/Enchant Sorceress
Conviction/Zeal Paladin
Multi-shot Javazon
Trap Assassin
Orb/TK Sorceress
Blizzard Sorceress
Frenzy/BO Barbarian
Summon Necromancer

As you may notice, many of the “strongest” builds are missing from this team. We have no Hammerdin; we have no Wind Druid. Simply put, they are unnecessary and counterproductive to our team. They do not need other characters and do not contribute enough to the team to merit their inclusion. We do have some of the most powerful untwinked characters available within our team, but they are all shaped within the confines of the team. We’ll address these modifications to the builds in more detail below.

Cheers and good gaming
-Tai

P.S. I apologize for the multiple post nature of this, several builds did not have easily accessible guides to link to so this thread will contain a rough pass of two to three guides (or minor tweaks thereof)
 
Last edited:
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Static Field/Enchant Sorceress

The Static Chanter, my personal favorite, is the driving force of the CTA team. We are able to surpass other teams that consist of more powerful characters because of this little lady right here. While a normal ladder reset team can expect to spend several hours in Normal, we spend half that. Your skill progression is designed to get us out of Normal as fast as possible, while retaining late game usefulness.

20 Enchant
20 Fire Mastery
20 Warmth
15+ Static Field
20 Firewall
1 Telekinesis
1 Teleport
1 Blaze
1 Inferno
1 Firebolt
1 Fireball
1 Frozen Armor

I’ll take this opportunity to briefly explain some of the more interesting skill choices. We originally had Firewall as part of the build, but later decided to try Hydra instead for the crowd-control aspects. This was a mistake. The unsynergized damage was too low to put monsters into hit recovery and on the whole the damage became something of a joke. Firewall can also be replaced by Frozen Orb, which I will touch on later.

Level 15 Static Field is a good rule of thumb, but may be seasoned to taste. At level 18 you’ll have 12 points in Static (have to skip one to get the other necessary skills) and in some instances this may be enough – depending on the effectiveness of the team and the gear available.

Frozen Armor is self-explanatory, you’ll be playing a hyper-aggressive style through most of Normal and the extra defense/chilling effect is well worth the point. Similarly, the two points spent to get Teleport are invaluable. I once tried to play this build without Teleport, relying on the ranged nature of my attacks to protect me. Needless to say I spent most of the evening running in circles around my teammates trying to get them to kill the Frenzytaurs chasing me. Not fun. By the late game you’ll most likely have the 63 FCR breakpoint covered so your teleport becomes a viable means of escape from sticky situations.

You might notice the absence of Frost Nova from the build. This is a point heavily dependent on your team. With the suggested team of 8, you will have two cold sorceresses to chill enemies for you in Normal (Blizzard is usually casting Ice Blast and Orb/TK Frost Nova) so I feel it’s unnecessary to cut an extra point from Static Field to get Frost Nova yourself.

Leveling the Static Chanter

By the end of Normal Act 1 (around level 15-16) you’ll want to have 25 strength. This enables you to equip a BSoD upon entering Act 2. It also positions you so that upon finding Tal/Eth you can level up once and make Stealth in a Breast Plate. To make full use of the BSoD you want to have 50 dexterity upon entering Act 2. This gives you 75% block at level 15 and positions you for the dexterity requirement of Hexfire (your preferred endgame chant weapon). By level 25 your blocking will have dropped to 49%, but the increased range of your static and the effectiveness of your team will offset this drop and you really can’t afford to keep pumping points into dexterity in lieu of vitality. I suggest a stat point progression of 1 Str/2 Dex/2 Vita per level until level 16. This will give you the 25 strength and 50 dexterity you aim for upon reaching level 16 while granting as much life as possible. Eventually you want to have 55 base strength to allow you to use the aforementioned Hexfire and to grant more flexibility in gear choices, but don’t focus on strength until the end of Normal.

For skill progression, focus on Static Field first. After Static has reached a reasonable level you can either begin to flesh out your Enchant or invest points in Firewall. Both options have their merits, though for a first pass I would suggest Enchant – if only to reinforce the need for cooperative play. Get the defensive skills (Frozen Armor/Telekinesis/Teleport) as soon as possible to make sure you stay alive.

For gear, you want a wand with + mana and a BSoD. All FCR gear goes to the Static Chanter in the early game. For this character the important breakpoints are 9, 20 and 37. You will not hit 63 until much later in the game, but every frame on Static is important in the first few acts. Upon reaching Act 2 the team should be on the lookout for a 2 socket staff with base +Enchant. If you have not encountered one while shopping for your BSoD it is sometimes worthwhile to have a few characters create separate games upon reaching Act 3 to shop from Drognan. While this is going on, the Orb/TK sorceress and Trap Assassin will be advancing the team in Act 3.

Playing the Static Chanter takes a special kind of mentality. You must be reckless while knowing your characters limits. Above all, you must keep foremost in your mind that you are there for the sole purpose of speeding the team through Normal. Any action taken that does not directly further this goal is to be avoided. It is not uncommon to be standing in the middle of a pack of monsters spamming Static and relying solely on your teammates to keep you alive. If you are not 100% dedicated to the party, this build is not for you.

In the late game, you will be primarily a Chanter, with Static Field and Firewall supporting. The high number of minions and conviction of the paladin mean that you will be responsible for more damage per second than any other build in the late game. Consider this a trade off for the mild tedium.
 
Last edited:
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Trap Assassin

Our second most important character in Normal is the Trap Assassin. You will function as the team’s scout, crowd control and primary source of finishing power. Highly synergistic with the Static Chanter in Normal, you are another absolute must for the team.

Your basic structure is not too different from your classic Lightning Trapper, but the differences that do exist are vital. The primary difference in the early game is a point in Wake of Fire. Lay down a couple wakes while the Chanter Statics and watch the carnage – it is truly a thing of beauty. Later in the game you will be maxing Death Sentry above all else. Death Sentry is a more efficient source of Corpse Explosion than the Necromancer and as such will be your primary method of killing late game.

In Normal difficulty, you will be the primary scout. With a combination of Cloak of Shadows and Burst of Speed you can circumvent monsters and advance the team directly to areas such as the Maggot Lair and Claw Viper Temple. Commonly, you will be the only character to acquire a Horadric Cube in Act 2.

The team depends on you to a large extent. In the early game you will function as a pseudo-teleporter and in the late game you will a primary source of lightning damage and safety. If the stairs are hot during Baal runs, you go down first. If you are not 100% confident in your use of Cloak of Shadows and Mind Blast this is not the build for you.




Conviction Zealot

Another team dependent build, the Conviction Zealot is a utility character in most situations. Early in the game you will be a primary source of damage and safety. It is of the utmost importance that you invest in Resist Lightning as soon as possible. The Static Chanter will be casting Static Field on EVERYTHING and it is your job to make sure that she does not fall prey to a room full of beetles.

In combination with Resist Lightning, which will be the primary aura used for much of the early game, you must be quick to use Cleansing. The relatively low life of the Static Chanter means that Amp Damage and Poison both pose a serious threat. You must constantly be aware of the surroundings and the durability of those in your team. If amped in a room full of beetles obviously don’t switch to Cleansing unless the Amazon has cast Slow Missiles to allow the Chanter an opportunity to withdraw.

Upon reaching level 18, you should invest in Vigor – keeping in mind the necessity of speed to the team as a whole. This will be used while in transit and only while in transit. Resist Lightning and Cleansing remain the primary party auras. You should also make use of Holy Freeze when appropriate. At certain times the team will be forced to split up and you may be required to chill dolls in the Flayer Dungeon for example.

Level 24 brings with it meditation. It is highly unlikely that the team will have an Insight constructed, so liberal use of this aura is welcome. As always, you must be cognizant of the situation and flexible to the needs of the party. Upon reaching level 30 this aura takes a back seat to Salvation and Conviction, but should never be forgotten. It, as well as Cleansing and Vigor, should be kept hotkeyed and at the ready should the situation demand it.
For gear, you will ideally be looking for large amounts of elemental damage. Wands can be shopped with more than 100 lightning damage and rares with double mods are gold for this character. Your ideal endgame weapons are Gimmershred or Voice of Reason. Any 4+ socket war scepter with +to a useful skill should be kept, either for Holy Thunder/Voice of Reason or simply to fill with elemental damage gems.

The basic structure of skill points is minimal. You can choose to invest in higher defense through Defiance/Holy Shield after completing the basics – or – you can increase physical damage on zeal/smite. In the event of the death of the Amazon or a party of 6 or fewer you will take on an increased role in boss killing, so plan accordingly.
 
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Summon Necromancer

The framework of this character is similar to your basic Summoner, but with a few modifications. You will be investing less heavily in Corpse Explosion, as you will be a secondary source of this after the Assassin reaches level 30. In exchange, these points should be used to attain every curse (you will use almost all of them over the course of the CTA) and to expand Dim Vision/Skeletal Mages beyond their usual levels.

In the early game your Skeletons are the team’s primary source of damage. As the game progresses and the level of Static Field increases you begin to take on more of a support role. If the Assassin cannot handle casting both Cloak of Shadows and Wake of Fire you will be using Dim Vision to allow the Static Chanter to close the distance unmolested. If the Assassin is up to the task, let her handle the range control as her spell has greater radius and duration. Instead, be smart with your use of Weaken. That’s right, I said weaken. When the Chanter closes in to the point that she activates the monster A.I. you must keep her alive and casting. Reduce the damage the surrounding monsters do to keep her out of hit recovery and to protect the Barbarian who will also be taking an aggressive role.

Later in the game you will be required to juggle several curses, much like the Paladin with his auras. Your primary curse in the late game is Lower Resist. Amplify Damage is not particularly effective with this team, so beyond Act 1 it should generally be kept out of sight. On boss kills, you will use Decrepify and Clay Golem to keep the party safe.

I think we all know how to play a Summoner, so I won’t belabor the point.





Frenzy/BO Barbarian

Once again, similar to the basic build but with a few important differences. In Act 2 Normal you will occasionally find yourself in a position similar to that of the Static Chanter. On occasion you will be leaping into the fray, casting taunt to keep the monsters focused on you while the Chanter does her thing. Trust your team to protect you and keep the monster stunned with repeated leaping and you’ll be fine.

Prioritize party skills such as BO and Shout over masteries and use your warcries liberally. Taunt/Battle Cry and War Cry will all play an important role in the teams survival, but please don’t War Cry any FE/LE bosses. Trust me, it’s bad times. You have a lot of flexibility in your build outside of a few basic requirements and the aggressive toolbox nature of this build makes it constantly entertaining.
 
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Multi-Shot Javazon

This character is a bit of a delicate balance. In the early game you are a Bowazon, in the midgame you are a boss killer and in the late game you are crowd-control. As such, there is a fairly strict progression of skills for this character.

The key to this build early on (up until level 30) is to ignore Penetrate and Pierce and place a single point in all passive skills. This allows you to get 5 points in Multishot early on which means you can clean up after the Chanter from range with a mere investment of a few chipped topazes. Beyond level 10 you should focus on fleshing out the prerequisites for Charged Strike/Valkyrie and Lightning Fury. At level 12 you get Slow Missiles, which should be used heavily to protect the Static Chanter from beetles and spear cats.

From level 18 to 37 you focus on Charged Strike exclusively. It is important that you know your role on the team. You are the primary boss killer and MFer and as such, Lightning Fury is a distant second to Charged Strike in terms of priority. You will be the team’s first-dropper. It is recommended to keep an MF switch in your inventory for Baal. Any loss in resistances will be made up by Salvation from the Paladin. The Necromancer will cast Decrepify or Lower Resist on Baal and withdraw; you will finish off Baal after he has been Staticed low, scoop up the loot and progress to the next game.
The skill points you get from Nightmare Den of Evil and Radament should go to Penetrate and Pierce to flesh out your skill placement. From this point on you play as a normal Javazon. I advocate 1 point in Valkyrie to keep your Charged Strike damage up. Your Valkyrie should always have BO/Shout/Enchant and auras from the Mercenaries so 1 point is enough in my opinion.




Blizzard Sorceress

This sorceress is built around the constant presence of Conviction. As such you will stick with 1 point in Cold Mastery. This leaves you two options: maximum synergy exploitation – or – Blizzard/TK. I personally advocate maximum synergy damage. Blizzard/TK has its merits if you find your killing power is sufficient, but I don’t often run across situations where you will be forced to teleport dangerous areas. The most common situation is teleporting Andy/Meph while the team begins Baal, but with BO and 63 FCR you should be fine without TK. Of course both options are viable.

In the early game you will be using Ice Blast heavily. Leave Frost Nova for the Orb/TK sorceress and toss a few hard points in Ice Blast early on to speed the process. Upon reaching level 18 begin pumping Glacial Spike if you have decided to go pure damage or continue to pump Ice Blast if you have decided to go Blizzard/TK. This is so you will have a low damage/hold freeze duration Glacial Spike to hold dolls at bay. It also frees up points early on to begin pumping TK to the desired level.

You are the primary source of cold damage for the team. At lower levels you will have less durability than the Orb/TK build so you should focus on high +skills and work from range. You will be dependent on the Conviction Paladin, so work accordingly. I suggest keeping a Lower Resist wand on switch for when the team splits up so you don’t suffer from your low level of Cold Mastery.
 
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Orb/TK Sorceress

Not much that can be said about his build that isn’t covered already in Socialism’s amazing guide. (http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=557123) The build has gotten a bit more aggressive over time, but the basic precepts of the guide remain valid. If you don’t know exactly what you’re doing – stick strictly to the guide, it won’t steer you wrong.

After the first half of Normal you will be the team’s primary teleporter. Stock up on mana potions and make sure you have BO before doing anything stupid.
Early game you’re on Frost Nova duty. Keep monsters at bay so the Chanter does not get overwhelmed. You will be inheriting the FCR gear from the Chanter, getting the teams first Insight/Spirit and first choice of most drops. The team will be investing heavily in keeping you alive to keep them moving forward. It is imperative that an experienced and confident teleporter is at the helm of this character so this investment is not wasted. You will be regularly expected to teleport through the worst parts of the game and set up a safe beachhead for your teammates.




Fireclaw Druid

Based on Come Back Zinc's guide (http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=633745&highlight=fireclaws), this build works for the team because of three primary factors. First, it is a source of Oak Sage for times when the party is together. This Oak does not translate to teleporting so it is not ideal, but it is a viable safeguard for the times when people invariably wander away from the safety of the team... Second, with 4k fire damage attacking twice per second before chant (another 1200 or so) and conviction, you'll be putting out solid fire damage. Also, the combination of Enchant and Conviction means that the druid will never have Attack Rating issues. Third, with a druid on the team we have access to Shock Wave which is both a blessing and a curse. DO NOT Shock FE/LE bosses, it makes baby Jesus cry.

This build has never been tried as a practical member of the team, so the above is purely speculative.
 
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Contingency Teams

At the beginning of this guide I mentioned that the team was designed for a full game of 8 people. But what happens if you can’t field a full game? No worries, we have you covered there as well.

7-Person Team:

Static Chanter
Frenzy/BO Barbarian
Conviction Zealot
Multishot Javazon
Summon Necromancer
Orb/TK Sorceress
Trap Assassin

You’ll notice with this team that we lose our second source of cold damage. This is offset by replacing Firewall with Frozen Orb on the Static Chanter. You stay with 1 point Cold Mastery, relying on the Conviction from your Paladin. This is an option for the 8-player team, but generally results in people spending more time spamming Frozen Orb than casting Static and Enchant – the keystones of the build.

If the team's teleporter is comfortable with the intricacies of the Orb/TK build you can have them invest more points in Ice Bolt to increase your cold damage output and make up for the loss of Blizzard.

This combination of changes makes team play a bit tight, so is generally not suggested for new players. If you must shrink the size of your team try to put your most experienced players at the helm of the Static Chanter, Orb/TK and Trap Assassin.



6-Person Team:

Static Chanter
Trap Assassin
Conviction Zealot
Summon Necromancer
Orb/TK Sorceress
Frenzy/BO Barbarian

With the 6 person team, you lose the Multishot Javazon. As a result, you lose a small amount of kill speed to follow up after the Static Chanter in the early game and, more importantly, you primary boss killer. To offset this, you should focus on Crushing Blow gear and rely on your Paladin’s smite to lower Baal’s life rapidly in hell. In Normal, you now have several options for first-drop characters: the Necromancer can rely on his skeletons to get last hit while decked out in MF gear. The Orb Sorceress and Trap Assassin can also be used to fill this role.

With the loss of the Amazon it becomes more difficult to keep the Chanter alive around beetles, so the Paladin and the Necromancer become even more important in the early game. You cannot expect to run a 6 person team with newer players, as every character is required to do so many things to keep up team synergy.

Below 6 people the team as originally designed becomes widely inviable. With such a small team size it is best to rely on singularly overpowered characters.
 
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Tai. I was the wind druid last time and was basically shunned because no one believed Oak Sage was useful. I'm glad you guys are considering adding druids into the mix.

As far as I recall, our orb/tk sorc (who was Socialism) died 1-2 levels after I logged off due to an exploding-dolls related incident. Having the druid be the eighth player might be useful for preventing freak accidents like that.
 
Re: CTA Build Discussion

trap sin should go full fire traps in norma untill nm diablo ( aka, 1st fire immune ) because it is more powerful then lighting at early stages. going for cube alone? :O sounds like fun :D cloak + BoS + Shadow warrior ( some meat shield... ) = easy.

and... maybe foher instead of zealer? great undead damage. and can go behind skellies to stay alive.

just another question, would we stay in nm to shop +3 traps claws? i know trap sins are effective, but still need some gear... it would take about 30 mins ( if all 8 of in different games trading anya ) to get claws. i am sure a javazon would use +2 skills gloves. and barb could use +3 warcries sticks.

so... do we have shopping break before hell?
 
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Tai. I was the wind druid last time and was basically shunned because no one believed Oak Sage was useful. I'm glad you guys are considering adding druids into the mix.

As far as I recall, our orb/tk sorc (who was Socialism) died 1-2 levels after I logged off due to an exploding-dolls related incident. Having the druid be the eighth player might be useful for preventing freak accidents like that.

True, Oak Sage might have been useful but I stand by the fact that a wind druid is not a good fit with the team. As a wind druid you have no noticeable kill speed in normal, you want the same caster gear as our sorceresses and to a lesser extent necro/assassin but yield a lesser reward, you have a damage type that gains no benefit from the team and brings nothing to the team and the only elemental damage the character provides is less than a single hit from a skeleton with Enchant. Plus, the wind druid's life is relatively low, meaning you aren't adding a tank to the team, so the team loses kill speed for safety at the safest parts of the game (when the team is together).

The only reason we are considering a Fireclaw druid at this point is because in Hell if we lose our Orb/TK we can respec the Chanter to be Orb/Chant/Teleport with level 1 static and potentially get by. Before respecs we needed to have a backup teleporter much more than an additional life boost that doesn't ensure our one teleporter stays alive.

KillaMike,

I think Socialism is planning to go a little crazy with fire traps in Normal now that there's no downside.

FOHer is an option for late game respec, though it poses a few issues. With enchant the zealot puts out 6k+ damage per cycle (before conviction and not including elemental/phys damage from gear) and serves as one of our backup methods of effective boss kill (behind the Amazon with the Assassin). If we had a run in place where we had excess caster gear it might be better to run an FOHer, as the zealot is certainly not much of a tank, but the FOHer gives us an additional source of lightning damage which is covered quite well by the Assassin and Amazon.

We do have a lot of spare points on the zealot even accounting for max zeal/sac/holy shield so maybe we could organize it to be a caster first and a zealot second? Maybe something like:

20 FoH
20 Conviction
20 Holy Shock
1 Prayer
1 Defiance
1 Cleansing
1 Vigor
1 Meditation
1 Resist Lightning
1 Salvation
5 in Conviction prerequisites
5 in FoH prerequisites (not counting useful ones)
1 Smite
1 Holy Shield
10 Holy Bolt (the lightning damage seems more important to me than holy bolt, but I don't honestly know firsthand)
4+ zeal (beyond this it just adds AR and we shouldn't have issues with Enchant and Conviction running)

Total: 93+ points, done at level 82

Hopefully Sara will come through and clean that up a bit, as I am far from as knowledgeable on Paladin hybrids as she is and it seems my build merely pays lip service to the zealot, making it more difficult in the early stages as you won't have the gear available (you'd be the 4th most important caster on the team, so scraps would be rare).

Cheers
-Tai



 
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Ok, I will agree with your assessment of the wind druid's weaknesses. The druid is clearly there like the barb to act as another source of +life. Both certainly contribute to the early game, but it would be hard to argue that either one are damage dealers.

The bear druid is a far better tank than the windy and received a buff in the new patch, which makes it a safer build (also no more 1hit FE). Although, I might argue that a wind druid provides more damage output than a bear.
 
Re: CTA Build Discussion

As far as I recall, our orb/tk sorc (who was Socialism) died 1-2 levels after I logged off due to an exploding-dolls related incident. Having the druid be the eighth player might be useful for preventing freak accidents like that.
I'd rather people NOT LEAVE during the CTA, just because, you know, it's a big ole middle finger to everyone else in the group.

Killamike: (from previous posts I've seen of yours) It's easy to gloss over and say: "Yeah, we should be able to do this in no time given we're all experts blah blah" - but that's just not what experience teaches.

Admittedly though, respeccing might make that different since we'll now have two sets of builds: "normal/nightmare overpowerage" and "hell survival mode."

For example:
Dragon talon fire trapper --> Lightning trapper
Static + Nova sorceress --> Orb/Teleporter
Mighty Sacrificer --> Concentration Zealot --> Conviction Whatever
etc.

Have you played many FOH paladins PvM? That's one of the more irritating, masochistic, and punishing experiences I can imagine.

The idea behind the CTA is for camaraderie to win the game, not gear (with high exception for the Baal teleporter). Suggesting that 8 people sit around shopping for half an hour is counterintuitive and boring.

Shop during a break if you want, but really, team damage dwarfs any individual item buff.



 
Last edited:
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Killamike: (from previous posts I've seen of yours) It's easy to gloss over and say: "Yeah, we should be able to do this in no time given we're all experts blah blah" - but that's just not what experience teaches.

but we are :D

should be a bit faster then 10 hours imo, but hell knows :D and i didnt count breaks :p

sort of agree and at the same time disagree about shopping. lighting trapper, and other useful items like 3 summoner tree wands with java gloves can make difference in my eyes. but yeah, for other people it would be ( will be ) waste of time and dismoralization.

and regarding paladin: i played pvm foher, was rewarding in undead zone, and... time consuming in demon zone. i just didn't think of enchant + zeal + convie. that is way better then foher.

i ll just be quite and do as i ve been told :wink:


 
Re: CTA Build Discussion

I'd rather people NOT LEAVE during the CTA, just because, you know, it's a big ole middle finger to everyone else in the group.

Killamike: (from previous posts I've seen of yours) It's easy to gloss over and say: "Yeah, we should be able to do this in no time given we're all experts blah blah" - but that's just not what experience teaches.

Admittedly though, respeccing might make that different since we'll now have two sets of builds: "normal/nightmare overpowerage" and "hell survival mode."

For example:
Dragon talon fire trapper --> Lightning trapper
Static + Nova sorceress --> Orb/Teleporter
Mighty Sacrificer --> Concentration Zealot --> Conviction Whatever
etc.

Have you played many FOH paladins PvM? That's one of the more irritating, masochistic, and punishing experiences I can imagine.

The idea behind the CTA is for camaraderie to win the game, not gear (with high exception for the Baal teleporter). Suggesting that 8 people sit around shopping for half an hour is counterintuitive and boring.

Shop during a break if you want, but really, team damage dwarfs any individual item buff.

Edit. Solved through PM.



 
Last edited:
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Ok, I will agree with your assessment of the wind druid's weaknesses. The druid is clearly there like the barb to act as another source of +life. Both certainly contribute to the early game, but it would be hard to argue that either one are damage dealers.

The bear druid is a far better tank than the windy and received a buff in the new patch, which makes it a safer build (also no more 1hit FE). Although, I might argue that a wind druid provides more damage output than a bear.

Ya, the bear is a reasonable tank - especially with the added bonuses and no more FE. He actually might beat the windy for damage as well.

Even with +8 skills (hard to get) the wind druid hits ~3k Tornado damage fully synergized (level 90) which will hit lets say 3 monsters on its path and will be cast lets say 1.5 times a second (may be a bit off but rough approximation). That equates to 13.5k total damage from Tornado per second if he's at a distance. At close range we could add another 1500 damage per second to each monster in range, let's say 3 total there as well, factor in Conviction and Lower Resist to the cold damage and lets call it a grand total of 22k per second which I think is generous.

With +4 skills +2 Shapeshifting and level 84 the Fireclaw druid does 4200 damage per hit, plus 1300 chant or so. Let's call it 5500 per hit (mostly fire, though maybe a smidge weapon damage) with conviction we can roughly double that so we'll go with 10k effective fire damage per hit. We can expect to be hitting ~2.2 times per second which brings us to the same 22k damage per second estimate.

This is to a single target of course which is a mark against the Fireclaw druid, but at level 84 (much more feasible for the endgame of the CTA) the Windy puts out ~1000 less damage per Tornado and ~500 less damage through Hurricane meaning a total damage output of 20k per second, even with +8 skills. Beyond this, Conviction and Lower Resistance cannot break Cold Immunes and we won't be casting Amp/Decrep enough to reliably break phys immunes. The Fireclaw druid has no immunity issues, though it is more dependent on the party both for damage and AR.

Cheers
-Tai



 
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Ya, the bear is a reasonable tank - especially with the added bonuses and no more FE. He actually might beat the windy for damage as well.

Even with +8 skills (hard to get) the wind druid hits ~3k Tornado damage fully synergized (level 90) which will hit lets say 3 monsters on its path and will be cast lets say 1.5 times a second (may be a bit off but rough approximation). That equates to 13.5k total damage from Tornado per second if he's at a distance. At close range we could add another 1500 damage per second to each monster in range, let's say 3 total there as well, factor in Conviction and Lower Resist to the cold damage and lets call it a grand total of 22k per second which I think is generous.

With +4 skills +2 Shapeshifting and level 84 the Fireclaw druid does 4200 damage per hit, plus 1300 chant or so. Let's call it 5500 per hit (mostly fire, though maybe a smidge weapon damage) with conviction we can roughly double that so we'll go with 10k effective fire damage per hit. We can expect to be hitting ~2.2 times per second which brings us to the same 22k damage per second estimate.

This is to a single target of course which is a mark against the Fireclaw druid, but at level 84 (much more feasible for the endgame of the CTA) the Windy puts out ~1000 less damage per Tornado and ~500 less damage through Hurricane meaning a total damage output of 20k per second, even with +8 skills. Beyond this, Conviction and Lower Resistance cannot break Cold Immunes and we won't be casting Amp/Decrep enough to reliably break phys immunes. The Fireclaw druid has no immunity issues, though it is more dependent on the party both for damage and AR.

Cheers
-Tai

Ok, I'll buy that: Fireclaw bear > windy. Plus, bears always have a coolness factor since there are so few of them :)



 
Re: CTA Build Discussion

Summon Necromancer

The plan (plan to make more plans):
points/skill:
5: AD
20: DV
40: RS/SM
rest: LR OR CE, depending.

Why/How:
-Act 1 Normal: AD makes Act 1 fly by even faster. Once Amped, monsters pretty much get 1-shotted, even with the starting weapons. 5 points gives a nice radius; mana is cheap, they say, but cursing a screen of monsters with a small radius absolutely sucks.
-Act 2 Normal: From here, grab all prerequisites and dump spare points into Raise Skeletons. The team will no longer 1-shot monsters, so having a nice wall for the Static Enchantress and any others casters is a boon.
-Act 3 Normal -> Nightmare Act 4: Max out Raise Skeleton and start splitting points between Skeleton Mastery and Dim Vision.
Your warriors will have plenty of HP with Battle Orders and their primary damage should be coming from Enchant, so skimping on Skeleton Mastery is a wise choice.
-Act 1 Hell-Act 5 Hell: Your skills should be almost maxed at this point. Extra Skill points may be dumped into Lower Resist or anything else you find useful. Combat is easy: Quiet every screen with Dim Vision and then cast the best curse for the job on the immediate monsters.

Itamz are easy: Just focus on resists, life, mana. +curse or +necro items are good, too, so keep IDing wands and shrunken heads.
*This build assumes that the team during Normal will stay about the same as last time.
Kthx.

**What I meant to say was: Use the atom bomb; it has the biggest AOE.


 
Last edited:
PurePremium
Estimated market value
Low
High