Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

Oblivious

Active member
Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

The title says it all, really.

I want you to help me decide what build is best suited to be taken as fast as possible from 1-40.

So far my HF rushes have been done with Zealots investing in Concentration.

My leveling plan is:

Code:
1-9 Den and Cold Plains

9-15 Tristram (hosted by another char)

15-20 Tomb of Tal Rasha

20-23/24 Council runs

24-32 Eldritch Runs

32-40 Baal Runs

Someone at an MP (was it you Thy ? I don't remember) has suggested that the fastest character would probably be a Fire Sorc, but I doubt she is as fast as a Zealot in the lower levels. She has the advantage of teleport on the other hand.

Please discuss build ideas and equipment.

-Oblivious
 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

Wasn't me.

You'll get good xp in Baal runs from 25 onwards. So usually hit 25 with the Ancients and Baal from there.

No doubt someone will pop along to recommend a different version than 1.12a shortly.
 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

I prefer (well, actually it should be "preferred", since I will start rushing in 1.09 classic soon...:whistling:) Paladins. Reasons:

1. Zeal. Combined with my sorc's Enchant it deals damage very fast.
2. Vigor+Charge. Not as good as teleport, but almost.
3. salvation can be a life saver, too. Esp. in HC, where one dead rushee = two less runes.

Oh, and I had almost the same areas for the corresponding levels :)
Another thought: Holy Fire and Holy Shock can improve damage even some more...but after level 32 it's almost not necessary anymore, since I simply parked the rushee outside the throne room while my rusher killed the waves at /p8.

EDIT: Err, just thinking: do you want to do the cheesy rushing ( =rush 7 characters at once with one rusher) or the dune-esque way of rushing ( =playing one char to Hell HF as quickly as possible)?

EDIT2@Oblivious below: I still recommend the Zealot with Enchant :) A level 52 fully syngergised one if possible ;-)
mmhhh...4599-5290 damage...:rolleyes:
 
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Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

@Thy: Not really in the mood for version changes right now... Maybe in the future. I know all the pros and cons however

@Grisu: Cheesy rushing ofc :evil:
I also want the character to be able to kill on his own since leeching from the rusher ( 87 sorc) is not really efficient.
 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

Why not build an enchantress to prebuff your rushee? Then you can cruise through the lower levels with any build. After that, I'd focus on transportation speed (melee Assassin with BoS maybe? sorc for teleport? <-- I'd probably pick one of these two)
 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

Why not build an enchantress to prebuff your rushee? Then you can cruise through the lower levels with any build. After that, I'd focus on transportation speed (melee Assassin with BoS maybe? sorc for teleport? <-- I'd probably pick one of these two)

Demon Limb serves just enough for my purposes. I don't even use it sometimes.
I'll build one of those in the future though. I plan on trading for a 1.09 Ravenclaw too.



 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

Demon limb has nothing on a pure enchantress. Entchantress as rusher, then a zon with multishot for killingspeed (rushee).
 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

I don't know if I was the person who suggested it in MP, but I definitely think fire sorc is the way to go for HF runs (where you're actually playing the char in question). HF rushes it's completely irrelevant what the char is since they shouldn't really be doing anything but leeching.

Fire sorc, because: bane ash for early levels. +fireball leaf at 17 (or is it 19). teleport.

I'm guessing that a high end enchant (the difference between an enchantress and demon limb is probably 50x the damage) on a zealot or multizon or anything that's been mentioned is probably quicker, but IMO if you're gonna do that, just play the rusher and leech with the rushees.

-CG
 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

My leveling plan is:

Code:
1-9 Den and Cold Plains

9-15 Tristram (hosted by another char)

15-20 Tomb of Tal Rasha

20-23/24 Council runs

24-32 Eldritch Runs

32-40 Baal Runs

Someone at an MP (was it you Thy ? I don't remember) has suggested that the fastest character would probably be a Fire Sorc, but I doubt she is as fast as a Zealot in the lower levels. She has the advantage of teleport on the other hand.

Please discuss build ideas and equipment.

-Oblivious

I won't say what build but I will comment on where to level. These are the things I have learned from doing "speed runs" to the Hell HF with a single character. The longest part is getting to level 25.

1. If you are not level 25 when you enter act 5, you only get 5% of the possible experience. Try running Eldritch on P8 at 24 and then notice the difference when you hit 25.

2. All side quests waste too much time. Skip them. If you run from the Rogue Camp and follow the paths all the way to Andariel on P8 (I'm assuming you are twinking on some uber-killing weapon initially), you'll get to level 15-16 just by stopping to kill the boss packs you meet along the way and can do that in about 30-40 minutes.

3. Only do specific target runs when the experience is just too good to pass up. My opinion is that there are only 3 monsters worth considering this when you are getting up to level 25, depending on what level you are when you meet them.

a. The Council uniques are is great for getting from level 18 to level 22. It takes ~11 P8 runs to go from 18 to 22 killing only the 3 Uniques that spawn at Travincal or in Durance 3.
b. Mephisto is also great at this range. It takes ~15 P8 runs to go from 18 to 22 by killing only Mephisto.
c. Izual takes about 9 P8 runs to go from level 22 to level 25.
d. Council from 22 to 25 would take 17 runs/set of 3; Mephisto would take 16 to go from 22 to 25. Izual would take about 50 to go from 18 to 22.​

So probably the best leveling plan would be to speed run by whatever means you have to get to at least level 18 by Travincal and then depending on your build, run the Council(s), Meph or both of those up to 22. Then switch to Izual to get you to 25 or very close to 25. Diablo gives about 1/10 the experience of Izual when your level is 24 because his monster level so don't necessarily count on him to bump you over to 25.

In my experience, by going as fast as I can and only trying to kill boss packs that I pass, I end up at 15-16 by end of A1, 18-19 at A2 and 21-23 at A3. That would make me only want to do Izual runs to get me over the hump to 25. Once I get to A5, I usually run Eldritch to 30-31 because I can handle Baal/Minions at P8 at that point. A couple P8 runs of them gets you up to 40 pretty quickly.

I do like sorceress as the runner because of static field and teleport. With 3 points devoted to that, you can make a pretty strong build to get you up to level 40.

I don't know if I was the person who suggested it in MP, but I definitely think fire sorc is the way to go for HF runs (where you're actually playing the char in question). HF rushes it's completely irrelevant what the char is since they shouldn't really be doing anything but leeching.

If you're doing your HF Rushes in 1.11+, you still need to get someone to lvl 40 though so it's not completely irrelevant.



 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

Back in the day (read: before I started 1.09) I used a paladin with ravenclaw and an insanely high prebuffed enchant. I prefer vigor + charge at lower levels because teleport is too mana intensive.

I would use my sorc to teleport to baal, let the paladin handle all the waves until lister. Then I would bring the sorc back to static lister and co so that it went fater. Leave the sorc in town the rest of the time so that the merc doesn't steal kills and reduce the xp gain.
 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

If you didn't have to host with another character cows would be the quickest route from 20-24, they might still be even though you do, it only takes a few runs to get those 4 levels.

With a very heavily twinked character you'll spend a lot of time between mobs, particularly with a 1.09 Ravenclaw. Because you get charge 6 levels earlier than teleport and it has a much lower mana cost I'd use the pally instead of a sorc for this reason, though with that route you may slow down a lot more once you reach Baal runs.
 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

Demon limb has nothing on a pure enchantress. Entchantress as rusher, then a zon with multishot for killingspeed (rushee).

I'm building an Enchantress as a side project now. If my calculations are correct a fully synergized lvl 48 Enchant (that must be the maximum attainable) adds about 4,5k damage. My question really is whether the fire damage is carried by all arrows or only the central two. Imagine the cow mayhem if it is carried by all of them.
I'm quite positive I will finally choose a Paladin or a Zon.



 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

If you don't self-mp and give waypoints or teleport with another sorc there's no way that you will beat a Blizzard sorc in terms of speed.
 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

If my calculations are correct a fully synergized lvl 48 Enchant (that must be the maximum attainable) adds about 4,5k damage.
Not quite correct. The maximum would be a level 53 Enchant:

+3 Volcanic Amulet
+3 Volcanic Circlet and 2 added sockets with 2x +5% Fire Facets
+3 Ormus Robes (+15% Fire Damage) socketed with one +5% Fire Facet
+6 Volcanic Orb including +3 Enchant and 2 added sockets with 2x +5% Fire Facets
+2 Spirit Shield
+1 Arachnid Mesh
+1 Magefist
+2 1.10 BKWB
+2 1.10 BKWB
+10 10 Fire Skillers

This adds a total of +7 to all skills and an additional +20 to Fire Skills and an additional +6 to Enchant resulting in...*drumroll*

Level 53 Enchant
Level 47 Fire Mastery
Level 47 Warmth (only 20 hard skill points count as synergy)

Resulting in 4581 - 5264 without the Fire Damage bonus from Ormus' and the facets. If you include the boni in the calculations, you'll get 4986-5730 damage (So it's not really worth sacrificing 5 fire facets for it...).
Still pretty nasty, esp. if your sorc would swing a weapon herself...than the damage would again be mutliplied by her Enchant level at the time she swings the weapon (something around level 30 maybe?). So she would do triple the damage listed here, if my calculations are correct.


My question really is whether the fire damage is carried by all arrows or only the central two. Imagine the cow mayhem if it is carried by all of them.
I'm quite positive I will finally choose a Paladin or a Zon.
According to a post in the Amazonbasin, Enchant will be transferred to all arrows from multishot, but with the 3/4 penalty from Multishot. Things that work on all arrows:
Leech, damage, and deadly/critical strike are carried on all arrows.

I suddenly see a ranged Enchantress with Multishot charges looming around the corner...:whistling:



 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

Not quite correct. The maximum would be a level 53

Don't forget the skill shrine - and Battle Command from a CtA switch... I believe that pushes it to 56.

... also, you could (theoretically) get +3 FireMastery on that orb too (good luck on that though - I've been picking up magic orbs for 6 months trying for Volcanic with +3 Enchant... my closest so far was a Powered orb with +2 Enchant).

... but I think anything over level35 Enchant will be superfluous for getting a rushee to level40.


Edit: Brag: http://www.freewebs.com/sirpoopsalot76/alice/Screenshot267.jpg



 
Re: Help me design the perfect build for 1.12 HF Rushing

... and there's always Anni & Torch too (though 1.10a BKWB and an Anni & Torch... that would be some serious haxx :p).


Back on topic (I forgot to post this earlier)...

Oblivious, if you decide to try a non-sorceress rushee, have a look at Iratha's set for twinking equipment. It's got a boost to FRW and still leaves most of your other "good" equipment slots free (read: still lots of room for some good low-level items). Iratha's also has fantastic resistances for something you can equip at level15 (especially considering the equipment slots the set requires). If you went with a multishot amazon, the set even has decent +dexterity to help your damage too.

I'd also consider a Zephyr bow for an amazon (or at least for weapon switch). Cheap & free FRW from the weapon slot...
 
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