Mat/Pats samaritan, lil_livia and northern_ligths (Repost)

art_vandelay

Well-known member
Guide Author
Mar 13, 2019
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This is a repost of my three Mat/Pat threads for samaritan (FC Werebear), lil_livia (Rift Enchantress) and northern_lights (Rift+Principle+FoH). The last two shared a thread which also housed a damage calculator for the Kingslayer RW (I wanted to play the sorc with Kingslayer first but decided on Rift after seeing the numbers...) which I put into a separate post in this thread.


Patriarch samaritan - Fire Claws Werebear

When I started this character tuesday evening I didn't imagine he'd be Patriarch in only 6 days.

Introduction

I played an FC Werebear in the past and remembered that he was a lot of fun but also super overpowered. So much that he can one-hit basically everything in Hell that's not immune.

So this time around I changed the setup a little and made it a little harder for me by:
  • playing on Players 8 at all times,
  • getting only the Lost City WP in Hell,
  • not using Dracul's
  • and relying on my mercenaries physical damage alone.
I pretty much accomplished all of this. I once tried Volcano in Hell CS but it was super ineffective anyway and in act 2 normal I accidently had p1 for 10 minutes or so but in the end that doesn't matter much to me.

I skipped only a few quests, amongst them Nihlathak because he's annoying and it takes forever to get to him. I also skipped Hell Anya which will be done once he's a Fissure Druid ;)

If you don't want to read what comes next here's the most important lesson: Prevent Monster Heal lasts for 80 minutes once applied. Yes, minutes.


Normal and Nightmare

samaritan started his journey with 5 Strength GCs, a 3 Amethyst Mask, Hsarus' Boots and Belt, 2 million gold in the bank and my first ever 6os CS filled with plain jewels of envy.

This is pretty much what he wore for the first 19 levels:
1gearlol.jpg

Up to level 12 I killed everything with that CS and Treehead Woodfist became its last victim before I switched to Fissure. That lasted to about level 19 when I wanted to switch to Fire Claws for good. Really nothing happened in that time span except for a lot of monsters literally falling over on their way to me.

When I tried to use FB with the Poison CS, samaritan had a case of phantom decrepify. Turns out a plain CS gets you 22fpa Fire Claws! :rolleyes:

So I did a bit of research and found that one of my best bets would be a Steel Scimitar. I shopped a 2os scimitar at Charsi's and made myself one. This weapon brought me to 11fpa and with Twitchthroe and Sigon's Gloves + Boots + Belt combo I reached 9fpa. I also put on Iratha's Crown, Pelta Lunata and the Angelic Combo.

Except for a weird crash in the Rocky Waste (after which I forgot to put p8 until the maggot lair) there was nothing stopping me now. Even Duriel melted before me without ever getting me below half health.

Reality set back in when I reached act 4 and I struggled a lot against the Doom Knights and Pit Lords there. Luckily I reached level 29 in the outer steps. The 6 Shael CS was yet another breakthrough which allowed me to push through to the RoF WP.

Of course Infector killed me. :D

After that I beefed samaritan up quite a bit. I put a bunch of FR, LR and Life charms in his inventory and gave the merc an eth Insight Partizan. After that I cruised on through the game without anything stopping me except the constant repairing of the CS. I didn't upgrade any of my gear up until level 54 after I killed NM Radament and got the Horadric Staff.

I deciced to go all in at that point. I made the 6 Shael PB which would be my weapon until the very end and added a lot more:
Magefist
TGods
Waterwalks
SoJ
Ravenfrost (yes, I didn't have CBF until now ;))
1 Druid, all res Craft Amu
Rain
Spirit
Crown of Thieves
4 Skillers (27/34 Life)

I wore the CoT for the Dex because I already overinvested on Life and Strength. Obviously I should have equipped Jalal's but I'm stupid and didn't do so until I reached act 4.

***

I also made Delirium for the Merc:
Delirium
Tiara
LemIstIo
Defense: 321
Durability: 13 of 13
Required Level: 52
Fingerprint: 0x3bf63752
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
1% Chance to cast level 50 Delirium when struck
6% Chance to cast level 14 Mind Blast when struck
14% Chance to cast level 13 Terror when struck
11% Chance to cast level 18 Confuse on striking
+2 to All Skills
+261 Defense
+10 to Vitality
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 17 Attract (60/60 Charges)
Ethereal
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Lem Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Io Rune
That together with his HF aura (which I kept until the end) should ensure my safety, right? I crashed literally less than 1 minute after entering the harem :D

I kept it on until the beginning of act 3 when I felt it was too dangerous to keep because it may cost me a valuable drop. So much for using the RWs I make for the Grail :(

***

Anyway this gear change did absolute wonders. I did 2k fire damage at 5fpa before and went to 4k fire damage at 4fpa in an instant. That's 10k dps to 24k dps. By act 4 NM I reached 36k dps... :eek:

I don't have any notes on what happened until I got to hell apart from the above. This is pretty much because I literally killed everything once I gave the merc Infinity at level 63 early on in act 4.

Just for fun: You are still at 6fpa when Baal decrepifies you :D


Hell: Act I-III

Finally samaritan reaches Hell at a respectable level of 73,99 ;)

I basically have no notes on Act 1 and the first half of Act 2. There wasn't a lot to deal with to be honest, I equipped Ormus on the way and skipped Countess because of the 'no WP' thing. After getting the Lost City WP I got a Jah. Yes, that was only yesterday :D

Screenshot012.jpg

I rallied all my other runes and found that I actually didn't miss a Gul as I had previously thought. That can only mean one thing:
Phoenix
Monarch
VexVexLoJah
Defense: 133
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 82 of 86
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0x9f3b7427
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 40 Blaze when you Level-Up
40% Chance to cast level 22 Firestorm on striking
Level 10 Redemption Aura When Equipped
365% Enhanced Damage
-28% to Enemy Fire Resistance
+358 Defense vs. Missile
+50 to Life
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
+10% to Maximum Fire Resist
+20 Fire Absorb
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune
Socketed: Jah Rune
Now he will be quite a formidabble Fissure Druid come the last round of the RFL :cool:

In anticipation of that I switched Jalal's for my near-perfect Ravenlore:
Ravenlore
Sky Spirit
Defense: 363
Durability: 18 of 20
Required Level: 74
Required Strength: 113
Fingerprint: 0x8c8d5744
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Elemental Skills (Druid Only)
-20% to Enemy Fire Resistance
+7 to Raven (Druid Only)
+133% Enhanced Defense
+30 to Energy
All Resistances +25
and with that I basically mastered all of act 3 in no time. There was a slight hiccup when Toorc spawned Lightning Enchanted but the Merc handled him alright. At some point in act 2 I reached the 60k dps (i.e. over 10k average screendmg) but it didn't matter. What wasn't immune died and what was immune took at least 5 hits (usually more). The Ravenlore didn't provide as many skills so my screen damage dropped after equipping it. Obviously it helped immensly against immunes though.

***

During that time I went back to act 1 to get the Countess quest. On the way there I saw something so absolutely repugnant that I just had to share it:
2terror2.jpg2terror3.jpg2terror4.jpg
I never even had the time to hover. But from the screenshots you can see that there is one curse, a HF aura and MS in attendance. (Look at the green guy in the last pic, he is launching three missiles...)

I took these shots and lost about half my life doing so. That was enough of a thrill so I moved on to curbstomp the countess instead of becoming the curbstompee myself :D


Hell: Act IV

I ran. Pretty much ignoring everything in the first three areas and killing Izual on the go.

Getting Pitlords three times in a row is just garbage... But at least my RoF was great with Vile Mothers, Abyss Knights and Urdars and a very docile Hellforge. Sadly it was a Hel but I figured that the Jah was already stretching my rune luck to the max. ;)

I somehow manage to clear the ENTIRE CS before I spawn the Infector. Here is one artist's rendering of the fighting:

15csfun.jpg
Notice the ?-constellation of Blight Venom and his entourage as well the absolute best mods a FC Bear can hope for on a monster.

***

I get the hook-shaped wing for Infector and so I shopped a teleport staff to touch the seal and teleport to the middle.

So far, so good...

An then history repeats itself as the Infector chose to spawn PI.

Mind you, I cleared the entire CS and have no WPs whatsoever, so this is all or nothing :D

With some luring (and the questionable use of a Confuse wand) I manage to kill all of his minions and it's just me and him in the CS. Now of course I think what works for @Grape must work for me...

I shopped a weapon with 'CtC Amp on Striking' and went on to bash him with it only to find that the merc doesn't damage him enough to overcome his regeneration :oops:

I guess the Tomb Reaver was an essential part of that strategy after all!

***

Obviously I didn't give up and looked something up... as it turns out the effect of Prevent Monster Heal holds on for 80 minutes after application which is quite a bit more than the few seconds I guessed it would last :eek:

So I shopped for a PMH weapon and voilà!
16infector.jpg

What did he drop? Oh, only a modest gift from the Zod God...
Code:
Hellslayer
Decapitator
Two Hand Damage: 146 - 871
Durability: 21 of 21
Required Level: 66
Required Strength: 179
Required Dexterity: 23
Fingerprint: 0xef2ec5d1
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 20 Fire Ball on attack
100% Enhanced Damage
+225% Enhanced Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
Adds 150 - 250 Fire Damage
+37 to Strength (Based on Character Level)
+37 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
+25 to Life Ethereal

Guess my list of uses for a Zod just got a new entry ;)

(Note how this is a TC75 item, he isn't exactly good a dropping those)

***

Oh, and Diablo died immediately and dropped crap, business as usual there!


Hell: Act V

After spending nearly two hours clearing the CS I ran through the entirety of act 5 in about an hour. I skipped Anya because there were FI Succubi in the Crystalline Passage.

An honorable mention goes to the quillrats which spawned in the Ancient's Way and tried their best to be like their friends in act 1.

I initally struggled with the ancients until I tried to shockwave them... :D:D:D

First level of WSK saw me nearly die to a good old pack of Fanaticism Frenzytaurs and level 2 gave me gloams, horadrim ancients and Poison Mages. There were like four Horadrim bosses in WSK 2 and two of them on top of each other. Very interesting, but they died nevertheless.

On the third level there were Fingermages and DK/OK's followed by Pitlords in the throne room. A CS reunion of sorts. No PI Pitlords though :(

The first four waves were a joke and I shopped a LR wand for Lister. With some luring and shockwaving he went down quite easily. (Merc only died once)
17lister.jpg

After that Baal was a joke.

***

Baal was nice enough to make a nice coat out of the Infector's skin and personally deliver it to me:
18baalbalrogskin.jpg

And mind you this was some fine craftsmanship on his part:
19finish.jpg
Yes, those were my resists :D The life is like that without BO. (I BO'ed quite a lot towards the end)

Name: samaritan
Class: Druid
Experience: 1181361899
Level: 86

Naked/Gear
Strength: 140/166
Dexterity: 101/141
Vitality: 209/256
Energy: 20/55
HP: 610/825
Mana: 190/344
Stamina: 353/393
Defense: 25/1370
AR: 475/849

Fire: 137/97/37
Cold: 136/96/36
Lightning: 173/133/73
Poison: 125/85/25

MF: 7 Block: 30
GF: 0 FR/W: 26
FHR: 60 IAS: 120
FCR: 75

Raven: 0/9
Poison Creeper: 0/0
Oak Sage: 0/0
Summon Spirit Wolf: 0/0
Carrion Vine: 0/0
Heart of Wolverine: 0/0
Summon Dire Wolf: 0/0
Solar Creeper: 0/0
Spirit of Barbs: 0/0
Summon Grizzly: 0/0

Werewolf: 1/10
Lycanthropy: 1/10
Werebear: 1/10
Feral Rage: 1/10
Maul: 1/10
Rabies: 0/0
Fire Claws: 20/30
Hunger: 0/0
Shock Wave: 4/13
Fury: 0/0

Firestorm: 20/29
Molten Boulder: 20/29
Arctic Blast: 0/0
Fissure: 20/29
Cyclone Armor: 0/0
Twister: 0/0
Volcano: 8/17
Tornado: 0/0
Armageddon: 0/0
Hurricane: 0/0

Spiritual Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x601a1ce6
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xf82eeb81
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 53
Fingerprint: 0xaf90c3ba
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+34 to Life

Spiritual Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x27b47cde
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+27 to Life

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0xaf444c32
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+174 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xe687192a
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life

Coral Small Charm of Life
Small Charm
Required Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0xfb3b5757
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+7 to Life
Lightning Resist +9%

Coral Small Charm of Strength
Small Charm
Required Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0xfcf7323c
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Strength
Lightning Resist +9%

Thundergod's Vigor
War Belt
Defense: 159
Durability: 22 of 24
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 110
Fingerprint: 0x9b46de28
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 7 Fist of the Heavens when struck
Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
+3 to Lightning Fury (Amazon Only)
+3 to Lightning Strike (Amazon Only)
+200% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Strength
+20 to Vitality
+10% to Maximum Lightning Resist
+20 Lightning Absorb

Waterwalk
Sharkskin Boots
Defense: 115
Durability: 12 of 14
Required Level: 32
Required Strength: 47
Fingerprint: 0x4f369b32
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Run/Walk
+188% Enhanced Defense
+100 Defense vs. Missile
+15 to Dexterity
+60 to Life
+40 Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 50%
+5% to Maximum Fire Resist

Ormus' Robes
Dusk Shroud
Defense: 390
Durability: 18 of 20
Required Level: 75
Required Strength: 77
Fingerprint: 0xed8665cd
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+14% to Cold Skill Damage
+13% to Lightning Skill Damage
+14% to Fire Skill Damage
+3 to Teleport (Sorceress Only)
+10 Defense
Regenerate Mana 15%

Ruby Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x36b1fa64
Item Level: 72
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+5% Faster Hit Recovery
Fire Resist +10%

Ruby Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0xf710ac36
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
Fire Resist +11%

The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Fingerprint: 0xe1e8ad34
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
Adds 1 - 12 Lightning Damage
+20 to Mana
Increase Maximum Mana 25%

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0xbddf4e92
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
All Stats +5
All Resistances +30

Magefist
Light Gauntlets
Defense: 24
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Level: 23
Required Strength: 45
Fingerprint: 0x248f2bea
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Fire Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Adds 1 - 6 Fire Damage
+21% Enhanced Defense
+10 Defense
Regenerate Mana 25%

Phoenix
Monarch
VexVexLoJah
Defense: 133
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 82 of 86
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0x9f3b7427
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 40 Blaze when you Level-Up
40% Chance to cast level 22 Firestorm on striking
Level 10 Redemption Aura When Equipped
365% Enhanced Damage
-28% to Enemy Fire Resistance
+358 Defense vs. Missile
+50 to Life
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
+10% to Maximum Fire Resist
+20 Fire Absorb
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune
Socketed: Jah Rune

Ravenlore
Sky Spirit
Defense: 363
Durability: 18 of 20
Required Level: 74
Required Strength: 113
Fingerprint: 0x8c8d5744
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Elemental Skills (Druid Only)
-20% to Enemy Fire Resistance
+7 to Raven (Druid Only)
+133% Enhanced Defense
+30 to Energy
All Resistances +25

Jalal's Mane
Totemic Mask
Defense: 287
Durability: 18 of 20
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0x97bc0297
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+190% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Strength
+20 to Energy
All Resistances +30
+5 to Mana after each Kill

Coral Small Charm of the Glacier
Small Charm
Required Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0x3a3cfc07
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 3 - 5 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
Lightning Resist +9%

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x7539fe6e
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xceb41a82
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life

Smoking Broad Sword of Vileness
Broad Sword
One Hand Damage: 7 - 14
Durability: 32 of 32
Required Level: 37
Required Strength: 48
Fingerprint: 0x9f74ead7
Item Level: 89
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 56 - 111 Fire Damage
Prevent Monster Heal

Blade of Amplify Damage
Blade
One Hand Damage: 4 - 15
Durability: 11 of 24
Required Strength: 35
Required Dexterity: 51
Fingerprint: 0xaa9860a
Item Level: 89
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 1 Amplify Damage on striking

Crystal Sword
One Hand Damage: 7 - 22
Durability: 11 of 11
Required Strength: 33
Fingerprint: 0x125f7812
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Ethereal

Lapis Bone Wand of Confusion
Bone Wand
One Hand Damage: 3 - 7
Durability: 15 of 15
Required Level: 26
Fingerprint: 0x832a79e6
Item Level: 89
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Cold Resist +11%
Level 5 Confuse (90/97 Charges)

Bone Wand of Lower Resistance
Bone Wand
One Hand Damage: 3 - 7
Durability: 15 of 15
Required Level: 36
Fingerprint: 0x2fd1b000
Item Level: 89
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Summon Resist (Necromancer Only)
+1 to Decrepify (Necromancer Only)
Level 2 Lower Resist (50/75 Charges)

Call to Arms
Military Pick
AmnRalMalIstOhm
One Hand Damage: 25 - 39
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 49
Required Dexterity: 33
Fingerprint: 0x640e13ce
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+40% Increased Attack Speed
260% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
+6 to Battle Command
+5 to Battle Orders
+1 to Battle Cry
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Amn Rune
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune

Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 146
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0xde0b986d
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+35% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+95 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+7 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune

Horadric Cube
Fingerprint: 0x4961a74b
Item Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0x701399ce
Item Level: 6
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Ruby Small Charm of Good Luck
Small Charm
Required Level: 33
Fingerprint: 0x79268c57
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +10%
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Garnet Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0xef68cd05
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+12 to Life
Fire Resist +9%

Sapphire Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x41b4e6ac
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15 to Life
Cold Resist +11%

Amber Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x861a3412
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
Lightning Resist +10%

Shimmering Grand Charm of Vita
Grand Charm
Required Level: 69
Fingerprint: 0x4e1cce2d
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40 to Life
All Resistances +15

Russet Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x4c2ca978
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Fire Resist +7%

Coral Small Charm of Frost
Small Charm
Required Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0x1183a964
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 1 - 2 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
Lightning Resist +9%

Amber Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x3ac97c42
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Lightning Resist +11%

Arkaine's Valor
Balrog Skin
Defense: 1429
Durability: 15 of 30
Required Level: 85
Required Strength: 165
Fingerprint: 0xb5c85286
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
+176% Enhanced Defense
+43 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
Damage Reduced by 11

Gemmed Phase Blade
Phase Blade
One Hand Damage: 31 - 35
Indestructible
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 136
Fingerprint: 0x1a88db96
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+120% Increased Attack Speed
6 Sockets (6 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Shael Rune

Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 138
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0x5f18f558
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+35% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+94 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+4 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune


Mercenary:

Name: Razan
Race: Desert Mercenary
Type: Def-Nightmare
Experience: 77237506
Level: 86
Dead?: false

Naked/Gear
Strength: 188/198
Dexterity: 151/176
HP: 1807/1986
Defense: 1330/5146
AR: 1922/1922

Fire: 212/172/112
Cold: 179/139/79
Lightning: 179/139/79
Poison: 179/139/79

Crown of Thieves
Grand Crown
Defense: 453
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Level: 49
Required Strength: 93
Fingerprint: 0x1b513fc
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Life stolen per hit
+165% Enhanced Defense
+10 to Strength
+25 to Dexterity
+50 to Life
+35 to Mana
Fire Resist +33%
84% Extra Gold from Monsters
Ethereal
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Fal Rune

Fortitude
Balrog Skin
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 3363
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 155
Fingerprint: 0x1d84e38e
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+25% Faster Cast Rate
300% Enhanced Damage
+200% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+129 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +29
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune

Infinity
Cryptic Axe
BerMalBerIst
Two Hand Damage: 180 - 828
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 155
Required Dexterity: 93
Fingerprint: 0x68047472
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
50% Chance to cast level 20 Chain Lightning when you Kill an Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
268% Enhanced Damage
-47% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
+43 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges)
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune

I didn't respec him at any point so he's a little messed up but it didn't matter after all. No summons and especially no oak were perfectly good with this build. Also no overinvestment into WB and Lyca, the skills from equip were more than enough. Sadly I invested four points into shock wave when fewer would have done.


The Future

This is not the end of the story for samaritan. I will respec him to a Fissure Druid now and with his near-perfect Ravenlore and Phoenix he will be my only character (except for the Hammerdin :rolleyes:) in round 3 of RFL that has all the big damage RWs/Uniques for his build.

He will probably try out AT and Eldritch/Shenk (there's potential for a lot of FI spawns around them, so who knows) in RFL and AT in MFO when the time comes ;)


Whatever happens, one thing is for sure: He won't have to go to act 4 in a long long time :D


***


Thanks for reading to anyone who made it this far and didn't just check the 'accept EULA' box ;)
 
Patriarch northern_lights and Matriarch lil_livia

During my first set of RFL round 2 I found this sweet Tiara:
Code:
Storm Crest
Tiara
Defense: 86
Durability: 22 of 25
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0x1b246154
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Unidentified
+2 to Sorceress Skill Levels 
+30% Faster Run/Walk 
4% Mana stolen per hit 
+69% Enhanced Defense
Level 1 Tornado (22/22 Charges)
2 Sockets (0 used)

Some people suggested a melee sorc and helvete thought it would do good on a Pindle sorc. So after that I did some research into the Kingslayer runeword and even cubed fitting bases (eth SEA, eth Decapitator). Then I made a calc for the damage output and it hit me that Kingslayer is not the killing machine I hoped it would be.

So without much ado:

Kingslayer Damage Calculator

Some basics about this:
  • I only dealt with two-handed axes since a sorceress can reach 9fpa with those and is slower with 2H Swords and 1H Swords and Axes. Also going 2H makes sense when you realize that Vengeance damage is based on weapon damage.
  • The calculator takes IAS into account, I will explain how below. It outputs a 'naive' dps, i.e. the damage you would do if you hit a target continously with 95% CtH. This is not far from reality if you take into account an Infinity merc, Raven Frost and the Enchant AR bonus. (Results might vary for targets with very high defense...)
  • Crushing Blow is not considered at all.
  • I was too lazy to implement a safeguard for the situation when min damage of the weapon exceeds max damage. However if you look at the intermediate steps in the second sheet you will find that unless you are WoRG you probably won't be able to bridge the gap between min and max damage anyway. :D
  • I forgot to implement Off-Weapon ED, might do that sometime in the future.
As promised:
I wrote down the breakpoints for all five two-handed axes and then noted that under the assumption of a Kingslayer weapon it is impossible to gain a value of +% IAS that is not a multiple of 5% (Only Grief and HoJ can produce values like that). So taking the 30% WIAS of Kingslayer as a given I went through the possible steps of Off-weapon IAS in 5% increments and made a list of breakpoints for all 5 weapons at once. For each of those breakpoints I noted the fpa that each weapon would have and made a table from that.

When you choose a range of Off-Weapon IAS in the main sheet the spreadsheet references the fpa values in the breakpoint table and uses them to calculate attacks per second which is then used to calculate dps.

This is relatively elegant but would be a nightmare to extend to more weapons, which is another reason to only look at two-handed axes.

I originally wanted to find out which base was best but I ended up being disappointed by Kingslayer in general. Here's a list of conclusions anyway:
  • Feral Axe reaches 9fpa very quickly but the damage output at higher values of off-weapon IAS is less than that of pretty much all other weapons.
  • Champion Axe sucks.
  • Decapitator has slightly higher damage values than Glorious Axe (and the same WSM) but the latter has a higher range than the other two-handed axes.
  • SEA trades places for highest damage with Decapitator/Glorious Axe every few breakpoints so which is better depends on your gear more than anything.
  • All of them have the same flaw: Vengeance damage is very low compared to Enchant damage and the sorc basically becomes an Enchant variant with some versatility...
Maybe I'm just a snob but I expect more from a single target attack on a character that struggles in melee.

I leave this here so people may play with it and see for themselves. (You could find a mistake and make Kingslayer great again :p)

ANYWAY...

I decided to experiment with Rift instead! I made it in a War Scepter and a superior Thresher:
Rift
War Scepter
HelKoLemGul
One Hand Damage: 10 - 17
Durability: 36 of 70
Required Level: 53
Required Strength: 44
Fingerprint: 0x8bfd8602
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 16 Tornado on striking
16% Chance to cast level 21 Frozen Orb on attack
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 160 - 250 Magic Damage
Adds 60 - 180 Fire Damage
All Stats +10
+10 to Dexterity
38% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
75% Extra Gold from Monsters
Level 15 Iron Maiden (40/40 Charges)
Requirements -20%
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Hel Rune
Socketed: Ko Rune
Socketed: Lem Rune
Socketed: Gul Rune

Rift
Superior Thresher
HelKoLemGul
Two Hand Damage: 13 - 162
Durability: 29 of 74
Required Level: 53
Required Strength: 122
Required Dexterity: 95
Fingerprint: 0xb5bd92ff
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 16 Tornado on striking
16% Chance to cast level 21 Frozen Orb on attack
15% Enhanced Damage
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 160 - 250 Magic Damage
Adds 60 - 180 Fire Damage
All Stats +7
+10 to Dexterity
38% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
75% Extra Gold from Monsters
Increase Maximum Durability 14%
Level 15 Iron Maiden (40/40 Charges)
Requirements -20%
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Hel Rune
Socketed: Ko Rune
Socketed: Lem Rune
Socketed: Gul Rune
The repair costs on the thresher were a solid 80k, never again... on the positive side the war scepter rolled perfect! :)

I made a Rift Sorc and a Rift Paladin. The sorceress used Rift with Enchant and the Ice Bolt Synergy whereas the Paladin used FoH as a secondary skill and Principle as a secondary proc. Both of them were definitely playable but it shows how much attack speed benefits the FO proc. Some observations:
  • Due to a lack of targeting with the FOs the whole build suffers against single targets and excels against large groups lined up behind a small doorway.
  • Attack speed is low on both builds and doesn't match the Riftsin's 1 FO per second speed. In particular the FO often won't proc when you want it too...
  • Areas with plenty of cold immunes are annoying because there I need to switch to my single target secondary skill and kill speed is very slow on those.
  • FoH is soooooooooooooooooo weak, it's ridiculous. This is supposed to be one of the coolest skills in the game and it struggles on p1 for most of hell...
  • Those rocks next to the pillars in the Throneroom are a blessing for weaker melee characters. If only one of Lister's goons can hit you at a time it becomes quite safe!

Matriarch lil_livia, Rift+Enchant Sorceress

I looked at the mat/pat compendium and couldn't for the life of me find a single Rift sorc, let alone one with a Rift Thresher. Turns out there is a reason for that :D

She was twinked and leveled to 53 as a Fireball Sorc and then respecced to a melee variant which means that my Rift experiment started in act 3 of NM. I went for the Thresher first because it reaches 9fpa at 89% IAS whereas the War Scepter maxes out with 10fpa at 99% IAS.

Rift Thresher (+15% ED)
Immortal King's Gloves, Belt and Boots
Raven Frost
Rare ring with fcr, mana, AR and @
Treachery
Stealskull with an IAS jewel (and a low AR bonus as a prefix...)
2 Cold Skills, fcr craft amulet
5 Fire Skillers (some with life)
(lvl 57 onward: CtA switch with Spirit)

Merc
Duriel's
Obedience (Infinity at level 63)
CoT

With this setup I had not problems to play her to the Halls of Pain on players 3 and to gain level 70 there. All in all this is a very strong build on nightmare and the loss of safety from the lack of shield is not soooo noticable that it would hurt gameplay.

I then switched to p5 Baal runs for the climb to level 76. Those were a bit more rough and showed what would be in store for her in Hell. And level 76 is not an arbitrary choice of goal, it is exactly the level at which I could equip Dracul's.

For the switch to Hell I exchanged the Thresher for the War Scepter and equipped Dracul's and Stormshield 'Um'. The only other gear changes are that I used HLW, Nosferatu's and Shadow Dancers for this part of her journey. (and of course the merc gets Fortitude ;))

And this is where a walk in the park turned to a crawl over eggshells (does that make sense? o_O). I started Hell on players 1 and straight off the bat I felt too unsafe to let the Fade proc trigger which meant that I was hiding behind my merc a lot and whenever Fade triggered I sprinted to find a large pack of monsters to celebrate my newfound resistances :D

Despite this I completed all of Act 1 and 2 without a death only to then die when I go back to kill Radament. Wether this was because of my garbage poison resists, my 1100 life after CtA or maybe bugged poison damage from Radament himself is unclear to this day.

This would be my last death with her and while playing her was quite a struggle she did kill very fast in all acts. It became touch and go in act 4 again when the pit lords sensed that my fade hadn't triggered yet. But I got past them just the same (no gloams spawning might have helped as well :rolleyes:).

I got a decent Throneroom with Vipers, Frenzytaurs and Assailants/Invaders and killed all the waves with a bit of Lister dragging! All in all she took roughly two days to go from NM to Hell Baal, not too bad :)


Patriarch northern_lights, Rift+Principle+FoH Paladin

The idea here is as follows:
  • Conviction benefits both FO and FoH
  • The Principle proc helps deal damage against undead and is synergized by FoH (and Blessed Hammer later on)
  • FoH deals mostly lightning damage as I didn't put points in Holy Bolt
Just like the sorceress I leveled him to 53 with a different build: Holy Shock

***

Nothing special there but I just have to show off the Gidbinn reward ring that Ormus coughed up in normal:
Code:
Order Finger
Ring
Required Level: 13
Fingerprint: 0x3c8c2053
Item Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to Maximum Damage
Cold Resist +18%
Lightning Resist +11%
Fire Resist +26%
Speedrunners everywhere are trashing their rooms 'Tommy Wiseau'-style right about now :D

***

So at level 53 I respecced and put 20 points in Holy Shock and FoH and the rest in prerequesites and conviction.

Rift War Scepter
Principle
HoZ 'Pdiam'
Stealskull 'IAS jewel' (same as above)
The Cat's Eye
Raven Frost
SoJ
Lava Gout
String of Ears
Gore Rider
2 Offensive Skillers
(later on: CtA switch)

Merc
Insight
Duriel's
CoT

For some reason I had 65% IAS with this build but didn't realize it until later. For reference you need 42% IAS for a 5-frame zeal with a war scepter and I kinda overshot that by a huge margin :rolleyes:

Anyway this build just destroyed Nightmare, I played acts 3 to 5 on players 8 without any problems. By the time I hit the Halls of Anguish I was level 68 already and hence stayed there only for three levels. Ancients folded as well on p8 even though FoH was better than FO in that situation.

I started Hell close to level 74 and quickly started to decrease player settings as I went along because of the heightened resistances all throughout. In particular I felt like FoH didn't hold up very well.

To deal with Hell I eventually switched to Dracul's and HLW instead of the Cat's Eye thus keeping my 45% IAS. Really there is not much to say past that. It's a great character in the 'click click click'-department, click on stuff until it's dead. I got a little bored towards the end and teleported through act 3, early act 4 and early act 5. He certainly wasn't as much of a challenge as the sorceress variant and I ended up with hardly a fight except for killing Council, the whole CS and the Throneroom crew. Those were still not a problem but they wouldn't have been more intersting on p3 either because the real problem with this build is that FO still doesn't proc enough even though the Paladin is soooo close to the Assassin in attack speed. (He just doesn't get the whole 1 FO per second thing...)

Ancients were a bit interesting because Talic was Mana Burn and so I ended up FoH'ing them all :D


Screenshots

lil_livia
Screenshot008.jpg
Screenshot010.jpg
Screenshot011.jpg
Screenshot013.jpg

northern_lights
Screenshot011b.jpg
Screenshot023.jpg
Screenshot024.jpg
Screenshot048.jpg
Screenshot050.jpg



P.S. The tiara from the beginning is on my Pindle Sorc now :D
 
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