Guardian VA - 1.07 dagger-axe Frenzy Barb
Hello and welcome to the first thread of my own on these forums, reader :wave:
I figured out, this might be worth wrighting as i couldn`t find any 1.07 characters in the guardian build compilation (probably there wasn`t nothing mentioned about version next to the name)
First of all, this is my very first guardian (actually he took my sorc who was too fragile to face Baal on her own to guardian as well), and when i think about it - I`ve never even Matted/Patted a character in my (not so long) SC days - so even with all the older version haXoring (which has become quite common these days) this feels like quite an accomplishment to me
The only thing I regret is not guardianing a tourney character in the first place as I had originally planned (got carried away by 1.07 )
***The background***
It actually took me about half year (my D2 time being quite limited) to get here and about 6 dead characters (with a couple 80+ ones with few decent items like 1.07 Arkaines), quite a lot of premium D2 cheese like MPing via modified .dll and some hellforge rushing (although it all being accepted by these forums so don`t blame me - those were you who inspired me)
***The name***
You might wonder what does "VA" mean? Nothing, really. "V" symbolises a Roman number which means that character is taken from hellforge rushee set number 5 xD While "A" means that its the first character from that set (A-G). Its all about organisation
***The character***
A picture!
Probably the strangest weapon setup with the lowest damage you have ever seen on a frenzy barbarian beating the game (and thats including lvl 30 enchant (with same lvl fire mastery, which turned out to be somewhat bugged - probably fire mastery doesn`t work when enchant is cast on another character - damage is way lower than in the skill description of my enchantress). More on that later.
Full info from ATMA (as the only set/unique/runeword I`m using is Rattlecage and a runeword you probably never heared about - see offhand weapon):
Deception
Resistances: 75/75/75/36
Skills: 20 in frenzy, Iron skin and BO (which in the end wasn't needed), 13 in Natural resistance and 6 in Increased speed. Prerequisites ofcourse.
I had more skill points than i needed so I chose most useful of not-so-useful skills
Mercenary : none (having an extra target for Baal`s bugged attack that might hit me as well didn`t seem like a good idea)
Keep in mind that all the setup was designed only for one fight - there was no Normal/Nightmare gameplay of any kind (sorry to dissapoint those who were expecting that) - after leveling to 52 thanx to 3 Ancient quest rewards, he leeched most of the exp standing in Bloody Foothills next to entrance in Harrogath.
***Hell Baal***
Little info - as some of you might know his mana burn attack deals 512 - 544 (5% chance to double) magic damage every 5 frames and lasts 20 frames. So this is (in theory - if hes really lucky) up to 4352 damage in less than second. If your hit recovery is longer than 4 frames, you`re killed instantly.
As you can see all the gear is extremely cheap (I used only items I "can afford" to lose) as i was never really sure if that will work (most valuable probably being runes socketed into weapons which might seem like a complete waste to some of you).
Well, it worked, at least this time -I only lost ~1/3 of my hitpoints during the mana burn attacks. Extra hp really doesn`t hurt as the game isn`t perfectly synchronised when MPing, even when its done on one computer (at least so it seems to me).
Baal went down in about half minute in 2 players game (monster hit points being increased by 100% for every extra player in 1.07), but my offhand weapon was at 1/24 durability after the fight it really shocked me how fast weapons can lose their durability...
***The Build***
Things i was thinking about building him:
-hit recovery (90%, 86 is the needed breakpoint for Barbs)
-hitpoints (doh!)
-crushing blow (after a little testing, it seems to me it even scales up with players in 1.07)
-fast attack
-slowing down Baal (although i had 50% slow he still teleported a couple of times, but didn`t clone himself)
--X% Target Defense (its bugged in 1.07, in case of -25% setting monsters defense to "-25%" instead of "75%")
Psn damage and open wounds (see weapons) were just a little extra comfort (there are no psn&elemental dmg charms in 1.07)
The obove list should explain why the build is so weird:
*no high damage elite weapons to get every of those vitality points available.
*Deception in a kris, as that was the only decent source of slow (50%!) available for me. The reuneword actually had a set of mods one could only dream about when facing Baal - it also has the great -25% Target Defense as well as some poison damage!
Too bad this weapon turned out to be bugged in a bad way - after ANY switching of gear (including weapon switch or any charms) character acted as if he had no weapon in hand where this runeword was (no damage, no poison, no slow effect, Frenzy doesn`t work as well). This was the reason I used another Barb to buff BO (as i couldn`t use prebuff items).
*Shael-Shael-Eth-Um War axe of quickness - low requirements (see about hitpoints above), 5 frame frenzy according to german calculator (have no idea if that was actually true in-game, but it seemed fast enough for me who hadn`t played a frenzy barb before), Eth - see above, Um - the most useful thing i could think of to put in the last free socket.
*more than half of inventory filled with cheap charms for hit recovery
I used the only 2 sources of CB i had - Rattlecage and greater crafted blood gloves with a low (8% CB) roll, having more would let me kill Baal much faster.
BTW - it would be nice to hear any advice on how to prevent Baal from teleporting (and probably cloning) - 50% slow alone is not enough, but Reapers is not an option as isn`t cold damage with decent lenght - as there are no elemental charms in 1.07.
***Thanks to...***
Guardian ccI (lvl 93 static/FO sorc) for clearing out throne room and minions
Conqueror IVD (lvl 55 BO slave) for his BO
Conqueror eeI (lvl 52 enchantress) for her (ridiculously weak) enchant
Conqueror VG (lvl 76 static/Blizz sorc) for kind help in leveling
And of course these forums for all the great info!
(feel free to laugh at the character names)
Future plans (first that come to mind):
-Guardianing a couple more characters
-leveling up ccI some more in Hell cows (aiming for level 96)
-some more racking
-building my first goldfinder Barb
in any order xD
Thanx for reading
Hello and welcome to the first thread of my own on these forums, reader :wave:
I figured out, this might be worth wrighting as i couldn`t find any 1.07 characters in the guardian build compilation (probably there wasn`t nothing mentioned about version next to the name)
First of all, this is my very first guardian (actually he took my sorc who was too fragile to face Baal on her own to guardian as well), and when i think about it - I`ve never even Matted/Patted a character in my (not so long) SC days - so even with all the older version haXoring (which has become quite common these days) this feels like quite an accomplishment to me
The only thing I regret is not guardianing a tourney character in the first place as I had originally planned (got carried away by 1.07 )***The background***
It actually took me about half year (my D2 time being quite limited) to get here and about 6 dead characters (with a couple 80+ ones with few decent items like 1.07 Arkaines), quite a lot of premium D2 cheese like MPing via modified .dll and some hellforge rushing (although it all being accepted by these forums so don`t blame me - those were you who inspired me
)***The name***
You might wonder what does "VA" mean? Nothing, really. "V" symbolises a Roman number which means that character is taken from hellforge rushee set number 5 xD While "A" means that its the first character from that set (A-G). Its all about organisation
***The character***
A picture!
Probably the strangest weapon setup with the lowest damage you have ever seen on a frenzy barbarian beating the game (and thats including lvl 30 enchant (with same lvl fire mastery, which turned out to be somewhat bugged - probably fire mastery doesn`t work when enchant is cast on another character - damage is way lower than in the skill description of my enchantress). More on that later.
Full info from ATMA (as the only set/unique/runeword I`m using is Rattlecage and a runeword you probably never heared about - see offhand weapon):
Code:
Character name : VA
Character type : Hardcore Barbarian
Character level : 75
Character exp : 447223269
Strength : 30 (76)
Energy : 10
Dexterity : 45 (55)
Vitality : 385
Stat Points Rem : 0
Skill Points Rem: 0
Life : 2228/5213 (after BO from a BO-slave)
Mana : 120/280
Stamina : like someone cares
Gold (Inventory): 635215
Gold (Stash) : 0
Number of Items : 40
1: Prefix 1158 Jawbone Visor of the Whale
Defense: 59
Durability: 25 of 25
(Barbarian Only)
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 37
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x917fae9
+207 to Life
+1 to Frenzy (Barbarian Only)
+2 to Whirlwind (Barbarian Only)
+1 to Battle Orders (Barbarian Only)
+3 to Combat Skills (Barbarian Only)
Socketed (3: 3 used)
Perfect Ruby
Inserted into a Jawbone Visor
+38 to Life
Required Level: 18
Item Version: Expansion
Perfect Ruby
Inserted into a Jawbone Visor
+38 to Life
Required Level: 18
Item Version: Expansion
Perfect Ruby
Inserted into a Jawbone Visor
+38 to Life
Required Level: 18
Item Version: Expansion
2: Skull Greaves
Boots
Defense: 2
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 16
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0x21088de
Fire Resist +26%
Cold Resist +10%
Poison Resist +7%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Faster Hit Recovery
3: Skull Clutches
Vampirebone Gloves
Defense: 120
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 61
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 61
Fingerprint: 0x2d36fb2d
+22 to Life
+18 to Mana
+82% Enhanced Defense
5% Life stolen per hit
10% Increased Attack Speed
8% Chance of Crushing Blow
4: Grim Buckle
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 30
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 34
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x5c5aba1f
+16 to Strength
+40 to Life
+18 to Mana
Fire Resist +16%
Lightning Resist +28%
Attacker Takes Damage of 5
5: Rune Master
Ring
Required Level: 19
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 61
Fingerprint: 0x58db9b8c
+15 to Strength
+20 to Life
Fire Resist +27%
Cold Resist +11%
5% Life stolen per hit
33% Extra Gold from Monsters
7: Ring of the Giant
Required Level: 47
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 61
Fingerprint: 0x11cff5f9
+15 to Strength
Lightning Resist +30%
8: Large Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 14
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 55
Fingerprint: 0x7564f717
8% Faster Hit Recovery
9: Large Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 14
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0x2e8ba218
8% Faster Hit Recovery
10: Rattlecage
Gothic Plate
Defense: 329
Durability: 55 of 55
Required Strength: 70
Required Level: 29
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 60
Fingerprint: 0x242afafa
+38 to Life
+45 to Attack Rating
+200 Defense
Hit Causes Monster to Flee 49%
25% Chance of Crushing Blow
Socketed (1: 1 used)
Perfect Ruby
Inserted into a Gothic Plate
+38 to Life
Required Level: 18
Item Version: Expansion
11: Large Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 14
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x3232093e
8% Faster Hit Recovery
12: Large Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 14
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x10d3df8f
8% Faster Hit Recovery
13: Prefix 1014 Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x1b0be2c0
Cold Resist +17%
14: Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x579c334d
12% Faster Hit Recovery
15: Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x137ed770
12% Faster Hit Recovery
16: Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x774f59d8
12% Faster Hit Recovery
17: Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x4ab658cb
12% Faster Hit Recovery
18: Prefix 1023 Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x152101d
Cold Resist +8%
19: Prefix 1022 Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x14cd6257
Cold Resist +6%
20: Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 17
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x20e84fef
+13 to Life
21: Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 17
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x7e00217c
+12 to Life
22: Large Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 19
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x6defc20d
+19 to Life
23: Large Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 19
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x2cf61022
+17 to Life
24: Large Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 34
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x5762d0cb
+22 to Life
25: Large Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 34
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x4fbfa9d
+21 to Life
26: Prefix 1022 Small Charm of Craftmanship
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 15
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 61
Fingerprint: 0x51a9de9b
+1 to Maximum Damage
Cold Resist +6%
27: Amulet of the Squid
Required Level: 30
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 61
Fingerprint: 0x54c348d5
+72 to Life
Fire Resist +23%
Lightning Resist +24%
Cold Resist +27%
Poison Resist +39%
35: Large Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 34
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x645c3d4b
+22 to Life
39: Deception
Kris
'KoDolEth'
One-Hand Damage: 2 to 11
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Dexterity: 45
Required Level: 39
Dagger Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 61
Fingerprint: 0x45278594
+10 to Dexterity
Hit Causes Monster to Flee 32%
-25% Target Defense
Socketed (3: 3 used)
Ko Rune
Inserted into a Kris
+10 to Dexterity
Required Level: 39
Item Version: Expansion
Dol Rune
Inserted into a Kris
Hit Causes Monster to Flee 32%
Required Level: 31
Item Version: Expansion
Eth Rune
Inserted into a Kris
-25% Target Defense
Required Level: 15
Item Version: Expansion
40: Prefix 1064 War Axe of Quickness
'ShaeShaeEthUm'
One-Hand Damage: 10 to 18
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Strength: 67
Required Level: 47
Axe Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 98
Fingerprint: 0x2f86728c
Lightning Resist +8%
40% Increased Attack Speed
40% Increased Attack Speed
-25% Target Defense
25% Chance of Open Wounds
Socketed (4: 4 used)
Shae Rune
Inserted into a War Axe
20% Increased Attack Speed
Required Level: 29
Item Version: Expansion
Shae Rune
Inserted into a War Axe
20% Increased Attack Speed
Required Level: 29
Item Version: Expansion
Eth Rune
Inserted into a War Axe
-25% Target Defense
Required Level: 15
Item Version: Expansion
Um Rune
Inserted into a War Axe
25% Chance of Open Wounds
Required Level: 47
Item Version: ExpansionDeception
Resistances: 75/75/75/36
Skills: 20 in frenzy, Iron skin and BO (which in the end wasn't needed), 13 in Natural resistance and 6 in Increased speed. Prerequisites ofcourse.
I had more skill points than i needed so I chose most useful of not-so-useful skills
Mercenary : none (having an extra target for Baal`s bugged attack that might hit me as well didn`t seem like a good idea)
Keep in mind that all the setup was designed only for one fight - there was no Normal/Nightmare gameplay of any kind (sorry to dissapoint those who were expecting that) - after leveling to 52 thanx to 3 Ancient quest rewards, he leeched most of the exp standing in Bloody Foothills next to entrance in Harrogath.
***Hell Baal***
Little info - as some of you might know his mana burn attack deals 512 - 544 (5% chance to double) magic damage every 5 frames and lasts 20 frames. So this is (in theory - if hes really lucky
) up to 4352 damage in less than second. If your hit recovery is longer than 4 frames, you`re killed instantly.As you can see all the gear is extremely cheap (I used only items I "can afford" to lose) as i was never really sure if that will work (most valuable probably being runes socketed into weapons which might seem like a complete waste to some of you).
Well, it worked, at least this time -I only lost ~1/3 of my hitpoints during the mana burn attacks. Extra hp really doesn`t hurt as the game isn`t perfectly synchronised when MPing, even when its done on one computer (at least so it seems to me).
Baal went down in about half minute in 2 players game (monster hit points being increased by 100% for every extra player in 1.07), but my offhand weapon was at 1/24 durability after the fight
it really shocked me how fast weapons can lose their durability...***The Build***
Things i was thinking about building him:
-hit recovery (90%, 86 is the needed breakpoint for Barbs)
-hitpoints (doh!)
-crushing blow (after a little testing, it seems to me it even scales up with players in 1.07)
-fast attack
-slowing down Baal (although i had 50% slow he still teleported a couple of times, but didn`t clone himself)
--X% Target Defense (its bugged in 1.07, in case of -25% setting monsters defense to "-25%" instead of "75%")
Psn damage and open wounds (see weapons) were just a little extra comfort (there are no psn&elemental dmg charms in 1.07)
The obove list should explain why the build is so weird:
*no high damage elite weapons to get every of those vitality points available.
*Deception in a kris, as that was the only decent source of slow (50%!) available for me. The reuneword actually had a set of mods one could only dream about when facing Baal - it also has the great -25% Target Defense as well as some poison damage!
Too bad this weapon turned out to be bugged in a bad way - after ANY switching of gear (including weapon switch or any charms) character acted as if he had no weapon in hand where this runeword was (no damage, no poison, no slow effect, Frenzy doesn`t work as well). This was the reason I used another Barb to buff BO (as i couldn`t use prebuff items).
*Shael-Shael-Eth-Um War axe of quickness - low requirements (see about hitpoints above), 5 frame frenzy according to german calculator (have no idea if that was actually true in-game, but it seemed fast enough for me who hadn`t played a frenzy barb before), Eth - see above, Um - the most useful thing i could think of to put in the last free socket.
*more than half of inventory filled with cheap charms for hit recovery
I used the only 2 sources of CB i had - Rattlecage and greater crafted blood gloves with a low (8% CB) roll, having more would let me kill Baal much faster.
BTW - it would be nice to hear any advice on how to prevent Baal from teleporting (and probably cloning) - 50% slow alone is not enough, but Reapers is not an option as isn`t cold damage with decent lenght - as there are no elemental charms in 1.07.
***Thanks to...***
Guardian ccI (lvl 93 static/FO sorc) for clearing out throne room and minions
Conqueror IVD (lvl 55 BO slave) for his BO
Conqueror eeI (lvl 52 enchantress) for her (ridiculously weak) enchant
Conqueror VG (lvl 76 static/Blizz sorc) for kind help in leveling
And of course these forums for all the great info!
(feel free to laugh at the character names)
Future plans (first that come to mind):
-Guardianing a couple more characters
-leveling up ccI some more in Hell cows (aiming for level 96)
-some more racking
-building my first goldfinder Barb
in any order xD
Thanx for reading
Last edited:
