Life Needed?

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

Life Needed?

I'm currently on Act III Hell, level 80. I understand that generally speaking you need to have as much life as you can get. Currently, I'm just under 1000 life, and I'm wondering what the break point is, looking forward to my battle with the ancients. I've never done hell difficulty with a paladin before, and as a melee character, running around while battling the ancients and not getting hit really isn't going to be an option.

I've searched around, and from what I've seen, the ancients do about 400 damage, but experience tells me that can't be right. I know I've battled the ancients with a sorceress with over 400 life, and one hit routinely killed me. What life amount do you need to take a hit and not die in the process.

So far the most damaging thing I've run into is a stygian doll blowing up right next to me, which I can generally live through if I'm at or near full health. I have to assume that the ancients do a lot more damage than that, and I'm looking for a reasonable number - 1200? 1500? More?

 

[Ph3NoM]

I understand that generally speaking you need to have as much life as you can get.

you pretty much nailed it, make sure you have enough str to wear all youre gear, then enough dex for max block, then you can pour everything else into vitality, and 1500 is a good number to shoot for, if not higher. as for the dmg dealt by the ancients im sure it is more than 400

 

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

This is bad news indeed. If 1500 is a good number to shoot for, I'm in trouble. Despite having 160 str, 120 dex, and 15 energy, everything else is in vitality. I don't know the number, but like I said I right now have just under 1000 life. Realistically, I can get to level 90 before battling the ancients - leveling after that is so slow it will take forever. So 10 more levels mean 50 vitality points X 3 life per vitality point equal 150 points. I'll also receive 2 (I think life per level up, so that's another 20. Still, I'm only looking at somewhere between 1150-1200 life for the ancients battle.

 

[Mr_knightboy]

This is bad news indeed. If 1500 is a good number to shoot for, I'm in trouble. Despite having 160 str, 120 dex, and 15 energy, everything else is in vitality. I don't know the number, but like I said I right now have just under 1000 life. Realistically, I can get to level 90 before battling the ancients - leveling after that is so slow it will take forever. So 10 more levels mean 50 vitality points X 3 life per vitality point equal 150 points. I'll also receive 2 (I think life per level up, so that's another 20. Still, I'm only looking at somewhere between 1150-1200 life for the ancients battle.

then why don't you use life stolen items
i know my kick sin use it and life stolen mod save her alot from pvp and mvp
see has about 30% life stolen and think about it when life tap is on

 

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

Oh, I steal plenty of life. I leech like crazy. The problem I'm worried about is a one-hit kill. No matter how much you leech it isn't going to save you. Sure, Life Tap is an option, but it's not like I'm guaranteed to be playing with someone who has that ability, and I have no items that give me that ability...