Found "Laying of Hands" Set Bramble Mitts - I didn't know!

[RobbyD]

Found "Laying of Hands" Set Bramble Mitts - I didn't know!

RobbyD - lvl66 Frenzy Barb 1.09 SP - goal is to Pat
Act I Hell - Completed Countess Quest

So I've decided to have Larzuk socket my superior (+14% damage) Knout for "Honor" and add Amn, Amn, Shael to my Merc's shiny new Hone Sundan (based on recommendations from helpful forum members - thanks). That's a total of 3 Amn runes needed - and I made 2 King's Grace Tusk Swords going through NM - so I already expended 2 Amns from my stash... so I had 1 in stock, and that's the first one you can't upgrade to in 1.09. So, I decide to run NM Countess. I find an Amn fairly early on, but then nothing over Thul, but I had donned my MF gear (fairly meager by MF standards, but 37% Immortal King's Will, 25% on gloves, 25%, 10%, 9% rings and amulet, and 25% boots (I think), so much better than my Hell survival gear. Anyway, this caused a lot of low-level golds to drop from the Countess, including a very nifty Bloodletter Gladius (surprising damage, 8% lifetap, and nifty +3 Sword Mastery plus a very cool red appearance) that I actually replaced my King's Grace runed Tusk Sword with.

So, I'm getting tired an frustrated looking for my second Amn when I see, in bright green: "Bramble Mitts".... hmm.... Now I had been using a pair of magic Gauntlets (22 def) for the 20%IAS and have passed up a number of rocking gloves because that IAS helps my frenzy Barb so much. So - I go have Cain take a gander, and review the results.

Laying of Hands

83 Defense
+20% IAS

Nice! I can replace my Guantlets now. What else?

+50% Fire Resistance

Nice, but my Smoke Russet Armor takes care of that - I CAN shed some FR charms now, though, so that's good.

+350% Damage Against Demons

Huh?

+350% Damage Against Demons 
10% Chance of casting slvl 3 Holy Bolt on Hit

You serious? How does this drop in NM Act I????

WOW!!!! I did not know these gloves existed - I would have been coveting these from day one if I knew!!!

SO, are these gloves as awesome as it appears they are, or is their some hidden limitation that they don't work against Act bosses or something? This may be a game changer for me if it's face value.

Should I go give NM Countess a kiss now?

 

[Jeff Jonsson]

Re: Found "Laying of Hands" Set Bramble Mitts - I didn't know!

They add damage the same way skills or strength does, so we're talking like a 20-50% increase in damage to demons depending on the build, weapons and so on.

 

[Johnnymc]

Re: Found "Laying of Hands" Set Bramble Mitts - I didn't know!

Those gloves are terrific for any build that can fit them in. Unfortunately all of the melee builds that I have planned will be using dracul's grasp for life tap proc. IMO the greatest thing about the exile runeword is that you can switch your dracs out for laying of hands =P

 

[essojay]

Re: Found "Laying of Hands" Set Bramble Mitts - I didn't know!

The fire resist comes in really handy in hell.

 

[Frosty_The_Snowman]

Re: Found "Laying of Hands" Set Bramble Mitts - I didn't know!

Yes, the IAS+Fire resistance is the real kicker on these gloves, but more damage against bosses isn't negligible.

However, if you're looking for a good combination of IAS and resistances, think IK gloves + IK belt. These items are cheap, easy to find/trade, and offer very good mods for any melee build.

Here are all the mods you will get by wearing IK gloves + belt :

Gloves defense: 108-118 (varies)
Belt defense: 194

12% Chance To Cast Level 4 Charged Bolt When Struck
+20 To Dexterity (= extra damage for the amazon, the assassin... and also more chance to hit and to block)
+45 To Strength (= a lot of extra damage for the barbarian, the druid, the assassin...)
+25% Increased Attack Speed
Lightning Resist +31%
Fire Resist +28%
+50 To Attack Rating

 

[RobbyD]

Re: Found "Laying of Hands" Set Bramble Mitts - I didn't know!

Thanks for the replies.

Jeff Jonsson: OK, that makes more sense... nice bump, but not game-changing... Lil D and Big D are still going to be bears to get past.

Johnnymc: I have plenty of life tap - I've been using King's Grace up till now, and I now have Bloodletter with tap, and when I finally get my last Amn, I'll rune up my Knout for Honor, which also has life tap. I don't think I can do Exile on 1.09.

essojay: That's true, but my Nat Res and Smoke Armor have me around 75 across the board for all even in Hell (with other various sources) - but this might open up a charm or 2 and maybe a ring slot for something else.

Frosty_The_Snowman: I have the IK helm and sport it for MF, though a got a rare Rage Mask with +2 Barb skills from NM Baal that I use for the heavy fighting. I have been looking for other IK pieces and covet the entire set. I'm going untwinked, so I will have to have them drop. I think I've tapped NM Countess pretty well by now (though I won't stop bugging her until she coughs up another Amn).

 

[Frosty_The_Snowman]

Re: Found "Laying of Hands" Set Bramble Mitts - I didn't know!

Also concerning the vocabulary, be careful : life tap is not life leech. Life leech is what you're talking about (gives life back after each successful melee hit), but life tap is a necromancer curse (that works like a super life leech).

[/nitpicking] :grin:

 

[Pijus1]

Re: Found "Laying of Hands" Set Bramble Mitts - I didn't know!

You didn't really recommend IK gloves over Laying of hands, did you? I think LoH+IK belt is a far better combination than IK gloves+IK belt. Unless you have a few more set pieces, but even then, +350% damage to demons is like a demon-only fortitude.

 

[RobbyD]

Re: Found "Laying of Hands" Set Bramble Mitts - I didn't know!

Also concerning the vocabulary, be careful : life tap is not life leech. Life leech is what you're talking about (gives life back after each successful melee hit), but life tap is a necromancer curse (that works like a super life leech).

[/nitpicking] :grin:

My bad - I still truly am a noob - even though I have owned my copy of Diablo since 2002. LL it is then. I have so much LL planned for my goal that 4 Amn runes total so far isn't enough. That's a real frustrating aspect to playing 1.09, but that's what I have made as my goal - what I could not accomplish with my original Pally back in the day.

Pijus wrote: You didn't really recommend IK gloves over Laying of hands, did you? I think LoH+IK belt is a far better combination than IK gloves+IK belt. Unless you have a few more set pieces, but even then, +350% damage to demons is like a demon-only fortitude.

Heh heh - I was wondering about that - these new mitts seem awfully nifty to me. Once I get my Merc's Hone Sundan set up and my new Honor Knout, I expect to be mowing through me some demons (and I even get a nifty mace bump to undead damage).

I am actually sporting a set belt: M'avina's Tenet - Sharkskin Belt, and set boots - Natalya's Soul
Mesh Boots - handy for the ridiculous 40% + 20% run/walk to stack on the Barb skill (I only put a point or two, but I'm getting some item skill bumps as well) and the mana leech from M'avina's plus lightening/cold resist from Natalya's - so I guess I'm working on putting together my own set from multiple sources... let's call it RobbyD's Mix-and-Match Accessories.

I just have to get better at my Berserk gameplay for the PI's - any advice on that nasty SU right before you get to Duriel? I hear he's always PI AND Magic Immune - Think I ought to pull up my Ort/pSapphire/pEmerald/Ral Dimensional Blade out of retirement in his honor? Or find me a new 4+ socket weapon to gem up with all pEmeralds for that extra special poison damage stacking?



LATER NOTE: Just checked - Dracul's Grasp spawns in 1.10+ only, so not an option for me.