Matriarch/Patriarch/Guardian Archive Thread

Originally posted by Colorless Green on Dec 14, 2008:

Matriarch Rheya, Whirlsin

Matriarch Rheya, Level 83 Whirlwind Assassin


Str: 100 (130)
Dex: 89 (111)
Vit: 296 (301)
Ene: 25 (30)

Life: 1324
Mana: 196
Resists (w/ fade): 75/75/80/73

Attack Rating (WW): 4594
Chaos Damage (WW, w/ might and venom): 2577-3359
Shadow Killer Damage (WW, w/ might and venom): 2370-2642
Lightning Sentry Damage: 1-1441
Death Sentry Damage: 1-1380
Critical Strike: 22%
Deadly Strike: 30%
Crushing Blow: 60%
Open Wounds: 35%/10%

Skills (on appropriate switch):
Whirlwind: 0 (3)
Lightning Sentry: 20 (23)
Death Sentry: 20 (24)
Traps pre-reqs: 1 (3)
Fade: 2 (14)
Venom: 20 (32)
Shadow Warrior: 1 (13)
Claw Mastery: 20 (26)
All other shadow skills (except SM): 1 (7)

Equip:
Guillaume's Face (Um)
Fortitude Archon Plate
Skull Finger Heavy Gloves (16 life, 19 FR, 10 PR, 4 LL, 10 CB)
String of Ears
Gore Rider
Mara's Kaliedoscope
Raven Frost
Bone Whorl Ring (4 min, 6 LL, 6 ML, 4 res all, 21 CR)
Chaos Suwayyah
Shadow Killer (Shael)
Dual +3 shadow claws on switch

Charms:
Code:
Mentalist's GC of Balance
Mentalist's GC of Winter(4-10)
Mentalist's GC of Blight
Mentalist's GC of Sustenance(32)
Steel(132) GC of Life(23)
Steel(125) GC of Life(22)
Steel(35) SC of Dexterity(1)
Amber(11) SC of Life(9)
Steel(34) SC of Life(6)
Amber(11) SC of Venom
Steel(35) SC of Winter(4-8)
Steel(35) SC of Vita(16)

Might Merc: Reaper's Toll, eth Treachery, Vampire Gaze

First of all, things that suck:

-WW/level bug
-Repair costs

Now, things that don't suck:

-Playing a whirler with huge +resists and death sentry instead of BO.


I quite enjoyed this char, but I don't really know what to say about it. Everyone's played a whirler before (usually a barb, granted), and this (at least how I was playing it) was almost the exact same thing, except DS (and venom, and the +magic on chaos) made PI's not remotely a problem. She just pwned her way through everything. The large CB made bosses drop like flies, the large damage at 2 fpa made everything else drop like flies.

There are only two things I'd consider drawbacks to this char: (1) how easy it is to forget to pay attention to your exp bar, causing me to have to S&E and redo things far too many times. It's particularly annoying when you WW bug within sight of an untouched WP or your quest objective, both of which I did at least once, and (2) having to hop back to town and sink ~70k gold into repairing my claw roughly once per area. Both of them are more annoyances than actual drawbacks, though.

No drops to speak of. Hell HF was mediocre, though I forget exactly what. Fal maybe?

So, definitely a fun char. If you've got a spare ohm and you've already got both a forti and a grief, I'd recommend giving it a shot, if for no other reason than the fact that it's probably the second strongest 'sin build available after trapper.

-CG
 
Originally posted by @ffs on Feb 10, 2020:

Matriarch FML – furious WW Assassin

Figured I squeeze in a small write-up before going on vacation for a couple of weeks.

About a month ago I told a friend about my recent fun with D2. ;) He went on to install it and we played two characters to NM Baal, mine being this Assassin while he played a Sorc. She was played as a Fire Trapper until entering Hell. I then decided to finish her by playing through Hell as a WW Sin, having made Chaos and Fury recently.

There are numerous ways to approach this character, from pushing poison damage from Venom to using very strong traps with Lightning Sentry etc... But instead of making essentially a Trapper that's worse than other Trappers, I chose to mostly focus on physical damage and relying on AoE only from Death Sentry, ending up with this gear and build:

Gear:
Code:
GFace with 33 ED/7 FHR jewel
Enigma BP
'Chaos' Suwayyah (350 ED in 14 ED/dura base)
'Fury' Runic Talons
Highlord's Wrath
LoH
Arachnid Mesh/SoE
Ravenfroat
Rare dual leech ring
Gore Rider

Switch: CtA, eth Spirit Monarch

Inventory: Sharp GCs, various life/@ charms

Merc: Reaper's, Tal helmet, Duriel's Shell

Build:
Code:
20 Claw Mastery
10 Weapon Block
20 Venom
20 Death Sentry
18 Fire Blast

Some things on gear: Along the way I theorycrafted quite a bit and in particular considered and tried a handful of other offhand claws. To my surprise there were multiple contenders according to my numbers, with Natalya's Mark, Jade Talon, eth Bartuc's and even Shadow Killer all being not far behind Fury. Unfortunately I don't have a really high dmg eth claw with lots of ED etc., this would be a great build to use something like that. I also fooled around with crafted CB gloves and used a Cham'ed GFace for a while. The latter should be better for extended runningm (if she was even somewhat efficient at anything), given cold damage from Raven can shatter corpses and denying DS explosions. But Raven with ED jewel in headpiece is not bad either, and was definitely fine for playthrough purposes. As for armor, I still wanted Enigma to position better, in particular Merc for Decrepify. Didn't really play around with higher damage armors.

Overall gameplay was really nice to my surprise. I expected to be super annoyed by repair trips and costs, but I didn't even burn through half the Ort runes she had packed in her stash for her journey through Hell. Not nearly as bad as I had feared. As for damage output, well she's neither a pure trapper nor even a WW Barb. :D That being said, the build carried her through Hell with relative ease, starting with P5 and going to P3 from half way through A5 Hell. She was really a lot of fun to play.

IIRC got Mal and Pul from Hellforge, but otherwise didn't find anything of note. I did record her Mat run in case you want to check out some gameplay footage (though her finish was a little bumpy).



GoMule readout:
Code:
Name:       FML
Class:      Assassin
Experience: 1073997757
Level:      85

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   69/147
Dexterity:  118/136
Vitality:   303/325
Energy:     25/25
HP:         1127/1334
Mana:       151/297
Stamina:    553/573
Defense:    29/1648
AR:         100000554/100001115

Fire:       142/102/42
Cold:       117/77/17
Lightning:  180/140/80
Poison:     124/84/24

MF:         115       Block:      33
GF:         0
FR/W:       75
FHR:        92
IAS:        80
FCR:        48

Fire Blast: 18/25
Shock Web: 1/8
Blade Sentinel: 1/8
Charged Bolt Sentry: 1/8
Wake of Fire: 0/0
Blade Fury: 0/0
Lightning Sentry: 1/8
Wake of Inferno: 0/0
Death Sentry: 20/27
Blade Shield: 0/0

Claw Mastery: 20/27
Psychic Hammer: 1/8
Burst of Speed: 1/8
Weapon Block: 7/14
Cloak of Shadows: 1/8
Fade: 1/8
Shadow Warrior: 0/0
Mind Blast: 1/8
Venom: 20/27
Shadow Master: 0/0

Tiger Strike: 0/0
Dragon Talon: 0/0
Fists of Fire: 0/0
Dragon Claw: 0/0
Cobra Strike: 0/0
Claws of Thunder: 0/0
Dragon Tail: 0/0
Blades of Ice: 0/0
Dragon Flight: 0/0
Phoenix Strike: 0/0

Shimmering Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0xec4da81
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30 to Life
All Resistances +14

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0x8faf45a5
Item Level: 10
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Tome of Identify
Fingerprint: 0xea327206
Item Level: 10
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Viper Finger
Ring
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0x931c1817
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+72 to Attack Rating
5% Mana stolen per hit
8% Life stolen per hit
Lightning Resist +19%
Fire Resist +21%

Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0x6a61039f
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Increased Attack Speed
Adds 1 - 30 Lightning Damage
31% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)
Lightning Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 15

Chaos Noose
Amulet
Required Level: 52
Fingerprint: 0xdce059f4
Item Level: 96
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
+7% Faster Cast Rate
+16 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 5%
All Resistances +5
Lightning Resist +6%
5% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%

Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%

Amber Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x4223a875
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
Lightning Resist +10%

Sapphire Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x2ad8cff2
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+17 to Life
Cold Resist +11%

Viridian Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x9c0f3639
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
Poison Resist +6%

Viridian Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xb7667c2e
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
Poison Resist +7%

Amber Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xd0a86f2c
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+17 to Life
Lightning Resist +10%

Beryl Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xe818264b
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Poison Resist +5%

Sharp Grand Charm of Blight
Grand Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x719c4d14
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+7 to Maximum Damage
+54 to Attack Rating
Adds 6 Poison Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)

Sharp Grand Charm of Venom
Grand Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0xaa0a94ee
Item Level: 33
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+8 to Maximum Damage
+62 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 Poison Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)

Enigma
Breast Plate
JahIthBer
Defense: 823
Durability: 45 of 50
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0x3aad8739
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+45% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Teleport
+757 Defense
+63 to Strength (Based on Character Level)
Increase Maximum Life 5%
Damage Reduced by 8%
+14 Life after each Kill
15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
85% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based on Character Level)
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Jah Rune
Socketed: Ith Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune

Jah Rune
Required Level: 65
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Ignore Target's Defense
Armor: Increase Maximum Life 5%
Shields: +50 to Life

Ith Rune
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +9 to Maximum Damage
Armor: 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
Shields: 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Shimmering Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 53
Fingerprint: 0x1b02418c
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+33 to Life
All Resistances +14

Shimmering Grand Charm of Vita
Grand Charm
Required Level: 69
Fingerprint: 0xb59a45d1
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+36 to Life
All Resistances +13

Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%

Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%

Cobalt Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xc03116f
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+16 to Life
Cold Resist +8%

Beryl Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xe01e23b0
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life
Poison Resist +5%

Amber Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xebfe5b97
Item Level: **
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
Lightning Resist +11%

Beryl Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xf80124fa
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Poison Resist +5%

Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 152
Durability: 34 of 34
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 94
Fingerprint: 0x1d10e86f
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Run/Walk
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
10% Chance of Open Wounds
+183% Enhanced Defense
+20 Maximum Stamina
Requirements -25%
+10 Maximum Durability

Sharp Grand Charm of Dexterity
Grand Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x17d2d79
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+9 to Maximum Damage
+70 to Attack Rating
+3 to Dexterity

Laying of Hands
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 85
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x8e96b927
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Holy Bolt on striking
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+350% Damage to Demons
+25 Defense
Fire Resist +50%


Spirit Grip
Vampirebone Gloves
Defense: 57
Durability: 12 of 14
Required Level: 69
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x79295054
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Increased Attack Speed
1% Life stolen per hit
10% Chance of Crushing Blow
+16 to Life
Lightning Resist +29%
Fire Resist +28%
18% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0xbbd6b910
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+213 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+15 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen

Guillaume's Face
Winged Helm
Defense: 217
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Level: 58
Required Strength: 115
Fingerprint: 0x861ffb1b
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+37% Faster Hit Recovery
33% Enhanced Damage
35% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
+120% Enhanced Defense
+15 to Strength
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Ruby Jewel of Truth


Ruby Jewel of Truth
Jewel
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0xa61afbdb
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+7% Faster Hit Recovery
33% Enhanced Damage

Horadric Cube
Fingerprint: 0xb6c2553d
Item Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Arachnid Mesh
Spiderweb Sash
Defense: 129
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 80
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0xd6c28a75
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Slows Target by 10%
+105% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
Level 3 Venom (11/11 Charges)

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 250%

Super Healing Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenish Life +320

Greater Healing Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenish Life +180

Super Healing Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenish Life +320

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Chaos
Superior Suwayyah
FalOhmUm
One Hand Damage: 175 - 234
Durability: 40 of 53
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 99
Required Dexterity: 99
Fingerprint: 0xc1b9131c
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
9% Chance to cast level 11 Frozen Orb on striking
11% Chance to cast level 9 Charged Bolt on striking
+35% Increased Attack Speed
350% Enhanced Damage
Adds 216 - 471 Magic Damage
25% Chance of Open Wounds
+1 to Whirlwind
+10 to Strength
+15 Life after each Demon Kill
Increase Maximum Durability 11%
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Fal Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune
Socketed: Um Rune

Fal Rune
Required Level: 41
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +10 to Strength
Armor: +10 to Strength
Shields: +10 to Strength

Ohm Rune
Required Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Enhanced Maximum Damage
Armor: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist

Um Rune
Required Level: 47
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 25% Chance of Open Wounds
Armor: Cold Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +15%
Fire Resist +15%
Poison Resist +15%
Shields: Cold Resist +22%
Lightning Resist +22%
Fire Resist +22%
Poison Resist +22%

Fury
Runic Talons
JahGulEth
One Hand Damage: 74 - 135
Durability: 53 of 69
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 115
Required Dexterity: 115
Fingerprint: 0x2f50e993
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40% Increased Attack Speed
209% Enhanced Damage
Ignore Target's Defense
-25% Target Defense
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
6% Life stolen per hit
33% Deadly Strike
66% Chance of Open Wounds
Prevent Monster Heal
+5 to Frenzy (Barbarian Only)
+1 to Blade Shield (Assassin Only)
+2 to Lightning Sentry (Assassin Only)
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Jah Rune
Socketed: Gul Rune
Socketed: Eth Rune

Jah Rune
Required Level: 65
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Ignore Target's Defense
Armor: Increase Maximum Life 5%
Shields: +50 to Life

Gul Rune
Required Level: 53
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Bonus to Attack Rating
Armor: +5% to Maximum Poison Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Poison Resist

Eth Rune
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: -25% Target Defense
Armor: Regenerate Mana 15%
Shields: Regenerate Mana 15%

Call to Arms
Superior War Scepter
AmnRalMalIstOhm
One Hand Damage: 38 - 65
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0xfc9ca7a2
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+40% Increased Attack Speed
285% Enhanced Damage
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
+1 to Holy Shock (Paladin Only)
+6 to Battle Command
+6 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

Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14

Ral Rune
Required Level: 19
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
Armor: Fire Resist +30%
Shields: Fire Resist +35%

Mal Rune
Required Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal
Armor: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Magic Damage Reduced by 7

Ist Rune
Required Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Ohm Rune
Required Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Enhanced Maximum Damage
Armor: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist

Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 208
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 40 of 44
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 146
Fingerprint: 0xa992cce0
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+28% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+106 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+7 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune

Tal Rune
Required Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
Armor: Poison Resist +30%
Shields: Poison Resist +35%

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%

Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14

String of Ears
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 105
Durability: 22 of 22
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0x4639c9d1
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
8% Life stolen per hit
+159% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
Damage Reduced by 11%
Magic Damage Reduced by 13
+10 Maximum Durability

Doom Finger
Ring
Required Level: 74
Fingerprint: 0x9b62210b
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Minimum Damage
6% Mana stolen per hit
5% Life stolen per hit
+8 Maximum Stamina
Lightning Resist +7%
Fire Resist +8%

Trang-Oul's Claws
Heavy Bracers
Defense: 72
Durability: 15 of 16
Required Level: 45
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0x734fcb3
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Curses (Necromancer only)
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+25% to Poison Skill Damage
+30 Defense
Cold Resist +30%


Natalya's Mark
Scissors Suwayyah
One Hand Damage: 120 - 153
Durability: 57 of 68
Required Level: 79
Required Strength: 118
Required Dexterity: 118
Fingerprint: 0xa6e954a8
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40% Increased Attack Speed
200% Enhanced Damage
Ignore Target's Defense
+200% Damage to Demons
+200% Damage to Undead
Adds 12 - 17 Fire Damage
Adds 50 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)


Jade Talon
Wrist Sword
One Hand Damage: 167 - 219
Durability: 27 of 29
Required Level: 66
Required Strength: 95
Required Dexterity: 95
Fingerprint: 0xd6f7ca04
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+2 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
228% Enhanced Damage
11% Mana stolen per hit
All Resistances +42
Ethereal

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Mercenary:

Name:       Ahsab
Race:       Desert Mercenary
Type:       Off-Nightmare
Experience: 74581336
Level:      85
Dead?:      false

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   186/201
Dexterity:  150/150
HP:         1767/1912
Defense:    1302/2091
AR:         1913/1913

Fire:       184/144/84
Cold:       214/174/114
Lightning:  184/144/84
Poison:    184/144/84

Duriel's Shell
Cuirass
Defense: 662
Durability: 31 of 150
Required Level: 41
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0x43fe3e08
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+174% Enhanced Defense
+106 Defense (Based on Character Level)
+15 to Strength
+85 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Cold Resist +30%
All Resistances +20
Cannot Be Frozen
+100 Maximum Durability


Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Death Mask
Defense: 127
Durability: 14 of 20
Required Level: 66
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0x97981bb8
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Mana stolen per hit
10% Life stolen per hit
+45 Defense
+60 to Life
+30 to Mana
All Resistances +15



The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
Two Hand Damage: 36 - 425
Durability: 36 of 65
Required Level: 75
Required Strength: 114
Required Dexterity: 89
Fingerprint: 0xcdcf8062
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
33% Chance to cast level 1 Decrepify on striking
202% Enhanced Damage
Ignore Target's Defense
Adds 4 - 44 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (26 Frames)
14% Life stolen per hit
33% Deadly Strike
Requirements -25%

She was basically a side project, albeit a not very drastic change of scenery, as i'm mainly leveling a Barb at Baal at the moment, so I've been whirling a lot recently. :) Plans for after the holidays are to hopefully play him to 96-97 and find a great Pit map, before the annual RFL action starts!
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by galtwish on May 12, 2008:

Matriach Storm_Shadow, 1.07 "Pure" Shadow Assassin

L 72 Assassin
S: 121
D: 129
V: 175
E: 25
Life: 760 including bonuses

Skills:
Claw Mastery: 20
Shadow Master: 20
Venom: 20
Tiger Strike: 6

1 in all Shadow Tree skills, 2 in Claws of Thunder, 1 in all Martial Arts other than Blades of Ice and Phoenix Strike

LCS had the ‘toon doing 150-1650ish and 165-1900ish with the Might aura active

Gear:
“Bone Claw” lesser Blood crafted Scissors Suwayyah
Dmg: 42-133
4% Life Steal
+57% ED
3-9 fire damage
+14 life
+41 max damage

Grandmaster’s Scissors Suwayyah of ease
Dmg: 71-156
+166% Dmg
+226 AR
+2 Lightning Sentry
+1 Dragon Flight
+2 Charged Bolt Sentry

Switch:
Soul Flight rare Razor Bow
5% CtC Amp Dmg
+215 AR vs Undead
+283% ED vs. Undead

Pre-buff/corpse retrieval gear: 2x +3 Shadow Tree claws, +3 Shadow Tree/+19 life war hat, +3 Shadow Tree/+8 min damage amulet, Spirit Shroud

Guillame’s Face
Soc: +23 % ED, 9-16 fire dmg gem

Gemmed Gothic Plate of Stability
32% FR
20% LR
38% FHR

Carrion Winding rare Plated Belt
10% CtC Charged Bolt
17% FHR
22% FR
27% LR
100% ED

Grim Nails
Greaves
Def 12
Durability 22/24
Str: 70
+2 Dex
40% FR
35% LR
10% PR
20% FR/W
Posion length reduced 25%

Hailstone Hold Greater Blood crafted gloves
Vampirebone Gloves
Def: 72
Durability: 11/14
Str: 50
Rlvl: 52
+1 Dex
+18 life
+10% Def
14% CR
6% life steal
20% IAS
14% crushing blow

Cubed Amulet
+24% FR
+19% LR
+14% CR
+44% Poison Resist
+2 Shadow Disciplines

Scintillating Ring of the Leech
+15% resist all
4% Life Steal

Shadow Master rare ring (Ormus reward: how could I not use it with a name like that?)
+1 min dmg
24% FR
14% LR
19% CR
+14% MF
10% FCR

Charms:
4x +6 dmg SC
+4 dmg/+6% LR SC
5% resist all SC

+16 dmg/+44 AR LC
+12 dmg/20% FR LC

+20 dmg GC
+25 dmg/+52 AP GC
18% resist all GC

2 Mentalist GCs (+13 dmg, +6 life)

Merc: Rizan
Might merc
24% resist all/24 PDR circlet

Gemmed Embossed Plate
30% FR
30% LR
14 PDR
+6 STR

Gemmed Arcing Partizan of Winter
1-340 lightning
4-22 cold
469 poison over 4 seconds


HF: Fal/Dol
Found a Ko in Hell Frigid Highlands

Once again, please forgive the imprecision as my D2 machine has no way to contact the outside world.

Ah, the ecstasy and the agony of 1.07 melee characters. Twinked on Hsaru's + Berzerker sets at L3, Sigons at L6 (the shield came at L7), Skewer of Krinz @ L10. Gale Breaker rare cudgel @ L18 that needs to be written down, as it’s a beast w/poison and +ED, and one-hits most monsters through A3. I’ve amassed a fair collection of +4 STR GCs with secondary mods so I can get Hsaru’s + Berzerker’s on at L3, and this set-up could take me all the way though A1 with ease. But why wait when the full Sigon’s doubles your killing speed? Skewer’s ITD helps a lot for builds that don’t go with a lot of Dex (unlike this one). Claws came on around L 22 when I was able to equip some rares with good +skills and elemental damage.

My A1 rogue got gobbled up in A4 normal 22 deaths total with a handful of deaths to the ususal suspects in NM (FE Council, FE+ Cursed Ancients, cursed vs. Fenzytaurs, Baal + Clone + lag of a Pentium 500 trying to process 2 dancing Baals). Hell…well, it was Hell. I went in a little early (L60) and paid dearly as I hadn’t equipped my end-game weapons and didn’t find the Guillame’s until Canyon of the Magi (popped off a guard corpse). About 5 deaths in A1 and 2 to getting mobbed and not using Mind Blast enough. A3 was a cakewalk w/CoS and Mind Blast. A4 was tough and necessitated switching to the full +Shadow Tree set-up sans armor and amulet for spamming Mind Blast and letting Shadow Master tank with Rizan took a dirt nap. Diablo was easy and fast, as a combat shrine spawned right next to his platform. I hit L70 right before getting to the Arreat Summit.

The Ancients killed me 5 times due to horrible mods (ES + Cursed, CE + LE, etc.) and I let Storm_Shadow sit for a month while I tried out 1.11b. I put on Angelic Jewelry and Goblin Toe and then got a stupidly easy roll (no cursed, no ES, no PI) this weekend. WSK was easy and I just wanted to get it over with, so I leveled once more and went after the big jerk himself. Bartuc spawned Holf Freeze and killed us all, but when I went back, he was Conviction (!). LE + Conviction and all my resist gear on the floor meant running and spamming Shadow Master. I parked Lister as he was PI/ES and was interested in getting to Baal. He Manaflamed me once, so I switched to Angelic’s + Goblin Toe + Shadow Gear + Spirit Shroud on Switch and plinked away at him out of Manaflame distance with Fade on. The Hoarfrost barely affected me, and the 70+% CB made quick work of him while the Shadow Master distracted him. Of note: Shadow Master at L35 can take a hit off the Manaflame with 2300+ life and likely max resists w/Fade active.

Though I had originally planned on using Claws of Thunder (with +7 CoT between a pair of claws), Venom and CB were used to counter PI in hell, the bow was really just used to deal with monsters that were too dangerous to melee (Council, Baal). It’s hard to get enough AR to make a bow work in Hell w/o Angelic’s, but the +2 Shadow Tree amulet was too juicy to give up, so I CoS’d, Mind Blasted, and sliced, diced, and Juilianned my way through the minions of evil all the way to the bank. Future plans consist of a long-deserved rest at the old assassins home: my L81 strafeazon is too far ahead in the experience race for crafting competition, and runs cows better than the assassin could ever hope to.

All in all, this was a lot of fun to play. I rarely remembered to use my Tiger Strike, as Mind Blast and CoS were on the left mouse button when I wasn’t switching between BoS and Venom. Straight Shadow tree is viable if you are patient and have some +3 Shadow Skills gear around; the damage isn’t great, but IAS, CB, and poison rule 1.07, and this build has got them in spades. I’d highly recommend this type of assassin to anyone looking to get a feel for 1.07 melee as it has a lot of options and some decent panic buttons (like running away at full BoS speed).

I am almost exactly ½ way through my 1.07 Septeverate (FrenzyBarb just starting A5 NM), and I think this is the best overall character. Cloak of Shadows and Mind Blast are irresistible crowd control, Shadow Master actually does stuff in Hell other than serve as a meat shield So much so that I will likely do a bonus 8th character in the Sept and Mat a Trap/Blade Fury Assassin, having just shopped a Lord’s Runic Talon w/+3 Blade Fury.
 
Originally posted by inter on May 1, 2010:

antiFunGuy the Venomous Zealsin

Character name : antiFunGuy
Character type : Assassin
Character level : 82

LCS

Strength : 156 / 208 (Naked / With Items)
Dexterity : 186 / 211
Vitality : 133 / 138
Energy : 25 / 30

Life : 591 / 1208 (No BO / BO)
Mana : 146 / 381
Stamina : 337 / 761

Skills


Rich (BB code):
Martial Arts

Dragon Flight 1 pt. (3 prereq.)

Shadow Disciplines

Venom 20 pt. (2 prereq.)
Shadow Master 17 pt. (3 prereq.)
Mind Blast 1 pt. (2 prereq.)

Traps

Fire Blast 3 pt.
Lightning Sentry 15 pt. (2 prereq.)
Death Sentry 20 pt.
Blade Shield 1 pt. (3 prereq.)

Equipment

Guillaume's Face
Mara's Kaleidoscope
Passion Caduceus
Stormshield
Call to Arms * On Switch
Spirit * On Switch
Bramble
Trang-Oul's Claws
String of Ears
Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Raven Frost
Goblin Toe

Charms

Code:
Mentalist's Grand Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x52fead94
7% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)

Mentalist's Grand Charm of Craftmanship
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x1e64f0b2
+1 to Maximum Damage
+1 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)

Mentalist's Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x9e88a55f
+1 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)

Shimmering Small Charm of Winter
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 38
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0x2c8dd121
All Resistances +4
Adds 5-7 cold damage over 1 seconds

Shimmering Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0x76a5604e
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xe3b7c406
+2 to Strength
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xeaed03f7
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xd003a56c
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x4445c3bb
All Resistances +14

Shimmering Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xbcdd0759
All Resistances +5
5% Faster Hit Recovery

Shimmering Small Charm of Blight
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xe7441ce4
All Resistances +5
+6 poison damage over 3 seconds

Amber Small Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xcef05c5d
Lightning Resist +11%
3% Faster Run/Walk

Shimmering Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xf7226c6b
All Resistances +15

Ruby Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x3ea1fcc7
Fire Resist +10%
5% Faster Hit Recovery

Merc
Code:
Name : Ashab
Type : Blessed Aim
Helm : Blackhorn's Face
Weapon : The Reaper's Toll 'Amn'
Armor : Duriel's Shell

Game Play
  • Find enemies,
  • Plants Death Sentrys,
  • "Dragon Teleport",
  • Zeal til death,
  • ...,
  • Profit.

Normal
Twinked with a few +4str GC's and a Sword of Envy. Did the DoE quest and put points in prereqs. Equiped Hsarus Boots and Shield, Death Glove and Belt. Ran Rakanishu til level 15 and equiped Raven Bazooka, Tarnhelm and Angelic Amulet, Armor, Rings. Did some questing to save Cain. Leveld to 18 doing Trist runs. Killed Andariel and did some questing til I got to Canyon of the Magi and did some Tomb Runs til level 24. Brought in a rushing Sorc and rushed to Ancients and did some Baal runs til level 45.
End of Normal

Nightmare

Got rushed and did some of the most "important" side quests (DoE, Cain, Radament, Izual). Baal runs til level 73. Equip all end game items.
End of Nightmare

Hell

This is where I started playing "for real". I decided to do all the quets (except Nihlathak and Cow King) and collect all the WP's except Halls.

Played at P1 and everything went down very quickly. Only Poison Immunes took more than a few hits. When I got to A4 kill speed went down a bit. Especially the Balrog-type monsters slowed me down. Diablo himself went down in just a few seconds. After that I changed the player settings to P3 instead since I felt like that would be a bit more of an accomplishment with this heavy twinking. I had a feeling that would be quite slow thought, because I thought that a lot of the monsters in A5 were Poison Immune. I was lucky thought, it wasn't at all as bad as I remembered. Everything went quite smooth, and I was quite lucky with the monster spawns. Not many immunes in my way, even the Ancients spawned without any one being immune to poison. That changed when I reached the WSK though. Both Gloams and Dolls are immune to poison, both hurt like hell and both spawned on my way down to Baal. When I finally reached the Throne the first three waves were no problem. Achmel is poison immune, but his friends aren't. Death sentry took care of him. Then the trouble started. Wave four is poison immune and spawned with convitction. Those flames are evil. Merc had to do a lot of the killing while I ran around giving him potions and placing traps. After that it was time for Lister, who spawned cursed (but not immune, atleast). Merc got owned quite a few times, and I had a few ND's but all it took was patiens and good placement. And TP scrolls. Baal isn't even worth mentioning. Dragon Flight, Zeal. When he teleported away, Dragon Flight and Zeal again.
End of Hell

Problems

AR and Resists. Luckily both these could be fixed with the help of charms and merc.

Finds
Found a Jah from a hanging corpse in WSK and a Gul from Eldritch.

Future Plans
Instant retirement.

Thanks for reading.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by @maxicek on Apr 14, 2008:

Matriach Pris - WhirlWind / Trap Assassin

Well this one is probably my favourite character to date. She is my first WW Assassin who is fully optimised for using her PvP equipment. My first (Trinity) is a bit messed up because I didn't have some of the gear when I first started making her. This one is (pretty much) not a point wasted.


Stats
Character name : Pris
Character type : Assassin
Character level : 81
Character exp : 762587728

Strength : 161
Energy : 25
Dexterity : 71
Vitality : 243

Life : 966
Mana : 251
Stamina : 500

Points in strength and Dext are enough to equip my PvP gear - the rest is going into Vit.
Resists are just about maxed with Fade active.


Skills
20 Venom
20 Lightning Sentry
20 Death Sentry
20 Charged Bolt Sentry
2+ Shockweb (more points to go here)
1 in all shadow skills
Whirlwind, Mind Blast & Dragon Flight from 'Chaos' Claw


Equipment (for PvM)
Weapon1: Rare Fools Greater Talon
Weapon2: 'Chaos' Runic Talon*

Switch Weapon: 'Call to Arms' War Scepter
Switch Shield: 'Spirit' Monarch

Helm: Guillaume's Face
Armour: 'Duress' Dusk Shroud
Belt: String of Ears
Boots: Gore Rider Myrmidon Greaves
Gloves: Trang Oul's Claws*

Amulet: 27% Mara's*
Ring1: Ravenfrost*
Ring2: Rare with +15 Dexterity

*This equipment stays the same for PvP. All the rest gets swapped.
I had to pump my Dext up with charms and the ring because I was using Gores PvM and was missing the Dext Bonus from Shadow Dancers.

Inventory: 4x Mentalist Skillers, 2x Shimmering GCs, various SCs with resist and dexterity, Tomes of TP & Identify and the cube.

Equipment Readouts:
Code:
Chaos
Runic Talons
'FalOhmUm'
One-Hand Damage: 96 to 177
Durability: 63 of 69
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 115
Required Strength: 115
Required Level: 60
Claw Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 83
Fingerprint: 0xd798c26
+10 to Strength
+303% Enhanced Damage
Adds 216-471 magic damage
35% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to Whirlwind
+3 to Dragon Flight (Assassin Only)
+2 to Mind Blast (Assassin Only)
25% Chance of Open Wounds
+15 Life after each Demon Kill
9% Chance to cast Level 11 Frozen Orb on striking
11% Chance to cast Level 9 Charged Bolt on striking
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Bramble Bite
Greater Claws
One-Hand Damage: 18 to 77
Durability: 48 of 52
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 76
Required Strength: 76
Required Level: 60
Claw Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x940d5a0b
Adds 6-462 lightning damage
Adds 44-93 cold damage over 4 seconds
9% Mana stolen per hit
Required Level +5
30% Increased Attack Speed
+40 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
+1336 to Attack Rating (Based on Character Level)

Call to Arms
War Scepter
'AmnRalMalIstOhm'
One-Hand Damage: 38 to 65
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Strength: 55
Required Level: 57
Mace Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 74
Fingerprint: 0x7a4c47c
+286% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to Battle Orders
+2 to Battle Cry
+3 to Battle Command
+2 to Holy Freeze (Paladin Only)
+2 to Meditation (Paladin Only)
Prevent Monster Heal
150% Damage to Undead
+1 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (5: 5 used)

Spirit
Monarch
'TalThulOrtAmn'
Defense: 133
Chance to Block:  47%
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Strength: 156
Required Level: 54
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xc0256d61
+22 to Vitality
+92 to Mana
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Lightning Resist +35%
Cold Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
55% Faster Hit Recovery
32% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to All Skill Levels
+7 Magic Absorb
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Duress
Dusk Shroud
'ShaelUmThul'
Defense: 1116
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Strength: 77
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x7300fa30
+171% Enhanced Defense
+19% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +15%
Cold Resist +45%
Poison Resist +15%
Adds 37-133 cold damage over 2 seconds
40% Faster Hit Recovery
33% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
-20% Slower Stamina Drain
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Guillaume's Face
Winged Helm
Defense: 217
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Strength: 115
Required Level: 34
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xa51650ed
+15 to Strength
+120% Enhanced Defense
30% Faster Hit Recovery
35% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x37fd387f
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
All Resistances +27
+2 to All Skill Levels

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xc9bd25f1
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+230 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Viper Touch
Ring
Required Level: 48
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x2e092bf5
+15 to Dexterity
+58 to Mana
+28 to Attack Rating
+5 to Minimum Damage
Magic Damage Reduced by 2
Lightning Resist +10%

String of Ears
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 109
Durability: 22 of 22
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x9be21f15
+171% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 10
Damage Reduced by 14%
8% Life stolen per hit
+10 Maximum Durability

Gore Rider
Myrmidon Greaves
Defense: 207
Durability: 34 of 34
Kick Damage: 83 to 149
Required Strength: 156
Required Level: 72
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xf2ff2d5a
+20 to Maximum Stamina
+197% Enhanced Defense
+10 Maximum Durability
Requirements -25%
Required Level +7
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike

Trang-Oul's Claws
Heavy Bracers
Defense: 68
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x9e021b9
+30 Defense
Cold Resist +30%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Curses (Necromancer Only)
+25% to Poison Skill Damage

Mercenary Equipment
A2 Holy Freeze merc:
Helm: Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Armour: Duriel's Shell
Weapon: Insight Thresher / Kelpie Snare for some areas and bosses.

WTF U n00b HF+CE !!???
Well yes, and it worked fine. Sure I didn't have as many bodies to explode, but I didn't really need them. Holy Freeze slowed things down nicely for me to WW them. It's especially nice when you get minion stack Dragon Flighting into a boss pack.

Finds
Hellforge: NM Um, Hell Lem.
Always a bit of a let down when the Hell rune is lower than NM. Still, not bad drops.
A few other reasonable charms & stuff (Warcry skiller IIRC) but nothing to shout about (the bad pun is purely accidental).

Random Thoughts
Whomp - WhackaWhackaWhacka - Splat.
Thats the way most combat sequences went. First lay down a few Death Sentries, Dragon flight in, WhirlWind then the DS triggers the corpse explosion. Rinse & repeat. Great fun, especially Dragon Flighting between monster packs. And if you don't want to melee, there is always a strong LS to rely on. I played Hell at /P1 mostly, so Corpse Explosion was very effective.

Somewhat amazingly for me, she only had two deaths. First was when I was impatient to finish A3 and died to a Fanatic Bremm Sparkfist. The second was due to a Frenzytaur boss back (Stone Skin Extra Fast I think) on the Ancients Way). Normally I die another 5 times trying to get my body back, but with this character I managed it without further corpses. I'm still not ready for HC though.

After reading posts about WW assassins PvM, I was a bit worried that I would be muling on gold every 5 minutes for the Chaos repair bills. In practice it wasn't too bad. Pick up some exceptional armour, wands etc every now and again covered it easily.

Overally, I think the most fun I have had with a character for a while, and probably my favourite character to date.

Edit:
I should have said she basically follows this guide by HappyAssassin, but without the Enigma.


What Next?
I'm looking forward to trying her out PvP, but Baals are required first. I want to get to at least 90 before stepping out onto the moor, hopefully a bit higher. Nice thing is that I can also equip her as a full trapper for solo Baals if I need to.

I'm also working on a themed trio based on the book The History Of The Runestaff by Michael Moorcock, which I recently re-read. They will be a 2h Sword fanatic Zealot (yes, yet another 2h sword character :cool:), a Gold Find Frenzy Barb and a PvP Wolf. The next Assassin will be a Phoenix Striker, she is in A1 Hell at the moment. And finishing a PvP sept and....


Cookie for anyone who knows where the name comes from (without resorting to Google / Wiki 👅)
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by NagisaFurukawa on May 23, 2010:

Matriarch ssregisin, Unpassionate Zeal//Aggressin (maareekasin)

Exhibit A

maareek said:
ssregisin was my claw/claw zealot Assassin idea, using a shopped claw of Zeal. ssregi is the romanized korean for "trash" and Garimto, really old school
professional protoss player known for his zealot micro, went by ssregitoss for a long time, so it was sort of a cute nod to those memories for me.

Meteoric Blade Talons of Zeal
Blade Talons
One Hand Damage: 10 - 14
Durability: 69 of 69
Required Level: 36
Required Strength: 50
Required Dexterity: 50
Fingerprint: 0xe4f8d8ce
Item Level: 97
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+121 to Attack Rating
Level 4 Zeal (13/30 Charges)

Exhibit B

maxicek's excellent Aggressin guide, as well a a writeup to one such character by stephan. Great work, guys. :)

With Dragon Claw being an excellent model of a zealot's attack, it seemed only fitting to combine the two in order to help [preserve my sanity / the world's supply of TP scrolls, as far as heading back for repairs, and] achieve what maareek had [hopefully] wanted.

Character Breakdown
Name: ssregisin

Stats/Skills
Strength: 110 (130)
Dexterity: 350 (350)
Vitality: 20 (40)
Energy: Who?

Life: 1087
Mana: 281

Resists: 50% Fire, 38% Cold, 90% Lightning, 59% Poison
Absorbs: 40% Fire, +20 Lightning

Dragon Claw: 1 (3)

Burst of Speed: 20 (25)
Weapon Block: 10 (11) - 51%
Shadow Master: 12 (17)
Cloak of Shadow/Mind Blast: 1 (2)

Death Sentry: 20 (21)
Fire Blast: 3 (4)

Gear
Code:
Shadow Killer
Battle Cestus
One Hand Damage: 191 - 223
Indestructible
Required Level: 78
Required Strength: 100
Required Dexterity: 100
Fingerprint: 0xefce22de
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
33% Chance to cast level 8 Frost Nova on striking
Indestructible
255% Enhanced Damage
-25% Target Defense
Freezes target +2
+11 to Mana after each Kill
Ethereal
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Ruby Jewel

Meteoric Blade Talons of Zeal
Blade Talons
One Hand Damage: 10 - 14
Durability: 69 of 69
Required Level: 36
Required Strength: 50
Required Dexterity: 50
Fingerprint: 0xe4f8d8ce
Item Level: 97
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+121 to Attack Rating
Level 4 Zeal (13/30 Charges)

Kira's Guardian
Tiara
Defense: 109
Durability: 25 of 25
Required Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0x3c4776cf
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
35% Enhanced Damage
+67 Defense
All Resistances +65
Cannot Be Frozen
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Ruby Jewel

Fortitude
Dusk Shroud
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 1407
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 77
Fingerprint: 0xa4a08511
Item Level: 88
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
+102 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +26
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune

Laying of Hands
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 83
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0xe6c320b
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion
10% Chance to cast level 3 Holy Bolt on striking
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+350% Damage to Demons
+25 Defense
Fire Absorb 50%

Thundergod's Vigor
War Belt
Defense: 150
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 110
Fingerprint: 0x68256bc9
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 7 Fist of the Heavens when struck
Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
+3 to Lightning Strike (Amazon Only)
+3 to Lightning Fury (Amazon Only)
+184% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Strength
+20 to Vitality
+10% to Maximum Lightning Resist
+20 Lightning Absorb

Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 162
Durability: 34 of 34
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 94
Fingerprint: 0xeb9aeefe
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Run/Walk
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
10% Chance of Open Wounds
+200% Enhanced Defense
+20 Maximum Stamina
Requirements -25%
+10 Maximum Durability

Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0x7bee5237
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Increased Attack Speed
Adds 1 - 30 Lightning Damage
30% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)
Lightning Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 15

Corruption Circle
Ring
Required Level: 48
Fingerprint: 0xb08e1514
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
6% Life stolen per hit
+9 to Life
All Resistances +11
Lightning Resist +17%

Storm Hold
Ring
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0xd01404a3
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 2 - 4 Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
All Resistances +11
Fire Resist +12%
Poison Resist +21%

Call to Arms
Superior Flail
AmnRalMalIstOhm
One Hand Damage: 3 - 85
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 41
Required Dexterity: 35
Fingerprint: 0x5a8e2440
GUID: 0xe9054427 0x98f19e0b 0x0
Item Level: 90
Version: Expansion
+2 to All Skills
+40% Increased Attack Speed
258% Enhanced Damage
+1 to Attack Rating
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
+11 to Battle Cry
+15 to Battle Orders
+6 to Battle Command
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

Lidless Wall
Grim Shield
Defense: 336
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Level: 41
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0x72b221ba
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+123% Enhanced Defense
+10 to Energy
Increase Maximum Mana 10%
+5 to Mana after each Kill
+1 to Light Radius

Steel Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0x4b9eb3b9
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+32 to Attack Rating
+17 to Life

Shimmering Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0xd321b4a2
Item Level: 62
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
All Resistances +5

Fine Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x69735156
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Maximum Damage
+20 to Attack Rating
+20 to Life

Fine Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x1f3dc534
Item Level: 48
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Maximum Damage
+11 to Attack Rating
+15 to Life

Fine Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0xce13a645
Item Level: 64
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
+2 to Maximum Damage
+18 to Attack Rating

Fine Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0x44cbb0a6
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
+2 to Maximum Damage
+19 to Attack Rating

Fine Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0xe6ce8fbd
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
+3 to Maximum Damage
+19 to Attack Rating

Fine Small Charm of Lightning
Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0xeb7dfb38
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Maximum Damage
+17 to Attack Rating
Adds 1 - 8 Lightning Damage

Sharp Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 23
Fingerprint: 0xe4b008f2
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+9 to Maximum Damage
+72 to Attack Rating
+24 to Life

Sharp Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x17995e3d
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+9 to Maximum Damage
+73 to Attack Rating
+15 to Life

Sharp Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x737d5ec6
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10 to Maximum Damage
+69 to Attack Rating
+8 to Life

Sharp Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x5d5267d9
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+9 to Maximum Damage
+64 to Attack Rating
+18 to Life

Sharp Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x1fb84863
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+8 to Maximum Damage
+70 to Attack Rating
+15 to Life

Sharp Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 23
Fingerprint: 0xfd50aaa3
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10 to Maximum Damage
+68 to Attack Rating
+25 to Life

Sharp Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 23
Fingerprint: 0x70cd3513
Item Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+8 to Maximum Damage
+58 to Attack Rating
+22 to Life

Sharp Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 23
Fingerprint: 0x3d82e575
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+9 to Maximum Damage
+69 to Attack Rating
+22 to Life

Might Mercenary, Ilzan
Code:
The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
Two Hand Damage: 52 - 614
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Level: 75
Required Strength: 107
Required Dexterity: 81
Fingerprint: 0x8447276
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
33% Chance to cast level 1 Decrepify on striking
191% Enhanced Damage
Ignore Target's Defense
Adds 4 - 44 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (18 Frames)
18% Life stolen per hit
33% Deadly Strike
Requirements -25%
Ethereal
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Amn Rune

Delirium
Diadem
LemIstIo
Defense: 319
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 64
Fingerprint: 0x23932286
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
14% Chance to cast level 13 Terror when struck
6% Chance to cast level 14 Mind Blast when struck
1% Chance to cast level 50 Delirium 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)
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Lem Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Io Rune

Fortitude
Archon Plate
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 1572
Durability: 58 of 60
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 103
Fingerprint: 0x41bc1e52
Item Level: 85
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
+92 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +25
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune

Comments/Opinions
Leveling:
ssregisin was adopted into my family at the relatively young age of 24, with a 1.07/1.09 Raven Claw in tow. Spoiled brat. 👅 By her 30s, she went the route of the trapper, and continued onwards as such until her claws were equippable.

Dragon Claw: A pretty nice skill, if I do say so myself. The damage isn't terribly high, but a speedier, more compact (ie. fewer attacks per cycle) attack seems more fitting for a relatively fragile assassin. The focused fire made it more appealing than Zeal in many cases, and I can't help but wonder how well it would've done with the full complement of skill points.

Zeal: Compared to Dragon Claw, this felt slightly more powerful, despite the numbers coming out essentially equal. Part of that, naturally, was Dragon Claw also swinging with the off-hand Blade Talons of Nothingness, but most of it was linked to Zeal NOT being interrupted by the ever-so-pesky skill known as Weapon Block.

Sidenote: I'll take the HCMTF on 'Passion' any day of the week, by the way, at least over having only 30 charges of Zeal, and ones at 2000 gold a pop, no less. :crazyeyes:

Shadow Killer: The ultimate in anti-Death Sentry technology. Freeze Target, as well as the all too appealing Frost Novas, made attaining a non-cold/freeze immune corpse a relatively tall order. Was the character still functional? Actually, yes. At lower settings, things fell relatively quickly regardless of Death Sentry, and most of Hell was played at either /players 3 or /players 1. As far as her "kill" speed on higher settings, it slowed quite significantly, as you would probably expect. (That was at /players 8.)

Stat Placement: ssregisin, at 24, had about 100 in vitality. No. Just no. :badteeth: Slightly more seriously, the large investment in dexterity isn't something I would normally recommend for an Aggressin (or Zealsin), but [glass cannons have a special place in my heart, and] the significant boost to AR (and damage) were quite useful in this case.

NDEs/Deaths: No deaths as far as I can remember. A few NDEs from careless play, but overall, CoS, MB, Decrepify, and 'Delirium' made for ridiculous crowd control. Being all but immune to lightning and fire aren't so horrible either. 😉

Finds: :( An Um and Lum from her forges, a 291% Ribcracker from Catacombs 4 (?), a pair of 10 FHR/29 CR/37 PR/18 MF War Boots, 2x Keys of Terror, a Key of Hate, and a Burning Essence of Terror. Boo.

Closing Remarks
I was relatively certain I'd never write another character up, but keeping maareek's idea all to myself seemed unfair to the forum. That, and I like to talk. :crazyeyes:

Thanks to maareek for the inspiration, as well as for donating all but three of the items (not to mention a few other things). Couldn't have done it without you. :) Thanks to maxicek and stephan for their respective works on the Aggressin, and finally to frozzzen and Pyrohemia for providing two of the three items which weren't maareek's.

On the off chance you see this, Emilie somehow ended up being the weaker of the two, despite her ridiculous gear. Nothing says "equalizer" quite like Death Sentry, no? :D
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by poopie_pants on Mar 4, 2010:

Matriarch Mulan - Furysin Zealot (Passion Sept)

Mulan is the first character in my "Happy Hour" septivariate, centered around the Passion runeword. She was the character that spawned the initial idea, and if things go as well as they did with her for the rest of the builds, this will have turned out to be a very fun project :crazyeyes:. Mulan was built primarily on the premise of speed & attack modifiers (namely Crushing Blow, Venom) to make each Zeal rotation as effective as possible. Added to that was the ranged versatility provided by Blade Fury, and safety through Cloak of Shadows and Mind Blast. She was extremely fun to play, having never tinkered with the Blade Fury skill before, and Zeal performed better than I originally expected. Here's a look at Mulan after taking down Baal:

LCS - Zeal, with Venom, Might and Enchant
LCS - Blade Fury, Venom, Might and Enchant


Skills & Attributes (clvl79):

Venom - 20
Shadow Master - 20
Cloak of Shadows - 20
Burst of Speed - 10
Fade - 10
Mind Blast - 2
Blade Fury - 1
Pre-reqs - 6

Gotta love the 1pt wonder in Blade Fury. Venom and Shadow Master were no brainers, and I needed the 10pts in BoS to reach the max speed with Zeal. After that, I decided to max CoS mainly for the added -defense to enemies, which helped to make up for my lack of Attack Rating. In hindsight, not sure this was worth the added time CoS lasts at high slvl's, as having less delay in being able to cast again would have probably proved more useful. I invested 10pts in Fade as I figured there would be plenty of instances where I favored in over BoS...not so much, but that's the benefit of having pts to play around with.

Strength - 312 (290)
Dexterity - 100 (75)
Vitality - 127 (100)
Energy - 30 (base)

I had invested quite a bit in Dexterity before making the decision to utilize a Berserker Axe for Passion instead of a Cryptic Sword, otherwise this would have been lower. After I hit 100 in base vitality, everything else went into Strength to boost Zeal damage.

Equipment:

Helm - Guillame's Face (Um)
Armor - Duress Dusk Shroud
Weapon (BF) - Ethereal Obedience Great Poleaxe
Weapon/Shield (Zeal) - Ethereal Passion BA, Spirit Monarch
Gloves - Trang's
Belt - String of Ears
Boots - Goreriders
Amulet - Mara's
Rings - Ravenfrost, BKWB
Charms - Sharp GC of Sustenance, rest were resistances (to avoid use of Fade)

The set-up above was designed specifically to achieve max CB while using BF skill, and trying to get as much oompf out of my Zeal rotation while using the Passion BA. I favored Spirit over Stormshield since I was not concerned with blocking, and the added damage to Venom was splendid. Trang's was used for the significant boost in Venom damage as well, and since I didn't need IAS in this slot. I could have gone with another ring in place of BKWB since I already reached the 5 swings through Mara's and Spirit, but it's a nice ring nonetheless. As far as my choice of Obedience over a 1-h/shield combo for Blade Fury, I couldn't pass up the significant CB, resists, and CtC Enchant (Attack Rating) it offered. Plus, 2-h > 1-h in the female meter-o-sexiness.

Code:
Guillaume's Face
Winged Helm
'Um'
Defense: 217
Durability: 36 of 40
Required Strength: 115
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0x80f03718
+15 to Strength
+120% Enhanced Defense
All Resistances +15
30% Faster Hit Recovery
35% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Duress
Dusk Shroud
'ShaelUmThul'
Defense: 1097
Durability: 15 of 20
Required Strength: 77
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xbecb0980
+195% Enhanced Defense
+20% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +15%
Cold Resist +45%
Poison Resist +15%
Adds 37-133 cold damage over 2 seconds
40% Faster Hit Recovery
33% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
-20% Slower Stamina Drain
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Passion
Berserker Axe
'DolOrtEldLem'
One-Hand Damage: 109 to 376
Required Dexterity: 49
Required Strength: 128
Required Level: 64
Axe Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x3485086e
+205% Enhanced Damage
Adds 1-50 lightning damage
75% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to Zeal
+1 to Berserk
Hit Causes Monster to Flee 25%
Hit Blinds Target +10
72% Bonus to Attack Rating
75% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
Level 3 Heart of Wolverine (12/12 Charges)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Spirit
Monarch
'TalThulOrtAmn'
Defense: 147
Chance to Block:  47%
Durability: 82 of 86
Required Strength: 156
Required Level: 54
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0xa7c57d3b
+22 to Vitality
+98 to Mana
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Lightning Resist +35%
Cold Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
55% Faster Hit Recovery
29% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to All Skill Levels
+8 Magic Absorb
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Obedience
Great Poleaxe
'HelKoThulEthFal'
Two-Hand Damage: 324 to 893
Durability: 28 of 28
Required Dexterity: 69
Required Strength: 133
Required Level: 63
Polearm Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xb1a2e85f
+10 to Strength
+10 to Dexterity
+370% Enhanced Damage
+248 Defense
All Resistances +25
Adds 3-14 cold damage over 3 seconds
Requirements -20%
40% Faster Hit Recovery
-25% Target Defense
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
30% Chance to cast Level 21 Enchant When You Kill an Enemy
-25% to Enemy Fire Resistance
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (5: 5 used)

Trang-Oul's Claws
Heavy Bracers
Defense: 72
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x8bc7b838
+30 Defense
Cold Resist +30%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Curses (Necromancer Only)
+25% to Poison Skill Damage

String of Ears
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 111
Durability: 19 of 22
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x364bb008
+177% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 13
Damage Reduced by 12%
8% Life stolen per hit
+10 Maximum Durability

Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 152
Durability: 31 of 34
Kick Damage: 39 to 80
Required Strength: 94
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x6e3fe9ae
+20 to Maximum Stamina
+182% Enhanced Defense
+10 Maximum Durability
Requirements -25%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 96
Fingerprint: 0xf6725354
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
All Resistances +27
+2 to All Skill Levels

Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Ring
Required Level: 58
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x7d762d7e
+50 to Maximum Stamina
4% Life stolen per hit
+1 to All Skill Levels
+39 to Life (Based on Character Level)

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 62
Fingerprint: 0xea9dff55
+17 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+178 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Merc (ActII Offensive)

Helm - Kira's
Armor - Treachery Archon Plate
Weapon - Reaper's Toll (Amn)

Merc was very effective, and had high survivability for the most part. 20% LL from Reaper's + Treachery = not alot of gold spent on reviving.

Code:
Kira's Guardian
Tiara
Defense: 114
Durability: 16 of 25
Required Level: 77
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x8be2b83a
+67 Defense
All Resistances +61
20% Faster Hit Recovery
Cannot Be Frozen

Treachery
Archon Plate
'ShaelThulLem'
Defense: 470
Durability: 54 of 60
Required Strength: 103
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x35a2d3f8
Cold Resist +30%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
45% Increased Attack Speed
20% Faster Hit Recovery
25% Chance to cast Level 15 Venom on striking
5% Chance to cast Level 15 Fade when struck
Socketed (3: 3 used)

The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
'Amn'
Two-Hand Damage: 38 to 449
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Dexterity: 89
Required Strength: 114
Required Level: 75
Polearm Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x544cb857
+219% Enhanced Damage
Adds 4-44 cold damage over 0 seconds
20% Life stolen per hit
Requirements -25%
Ignore Target Defense
33% Deadly Strike
33% Chance to cast Level 1 Decrepify on striking
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Summary:

Normal and Nightmare played on players 8. Utilized Butcher's Pupil / Tiamat's combo for Nightmare before making the switch to Obediene. Once Passion was available, it became my 1st choice of attack. My typical approach would be to cast CoS, Mind Blast (if not casted by my SM), then get in there and slice n dice. Between Venom, CB, Might, Enchant, CoS, and Decrepify (when triggered), most mobs were pretty squishy, but I did have difficulty against some Act 5 baddies (PI Minotaurs = bad). If things got dicey, I took a step back (literally) and dished out some serious pain with my little pointy stars. All in all, an effective character, and a hoot to play.

Action shot - Zeal
Action shot - BF


In terms of finds, my luck continued on the forge, as I netted an Um and Ist in NM and Hell respectively. But my equally bad luck on all other finds also continued...not complaining though as I long as I continue to see runes like that. One more Ist away from being able to use Death BA for the Frenzy Zealbarb :nod:.

Up next in the sept is Red_Beard (Hunter Druid). Now things start to get interesting (and more challenging me thinks). Away we go...

👋
-PP
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by sequana on Apr 15, 2009:

Matriarch Natalya - ww/trap hybrid

After a long long time I decided to write a Mat thread, also I jokingly promised that to Maxicek after trading his Chaos :). My goal was to build an assassin wearing the full Natalya's set. I didn't want to create another pure trapper (I have 2 already), kicker would be silly with Natalya's boots, so ww-sin seemed as the perfect option to me, and as I like traps I made her into a ww/trap hybrid. Traps were fast and effective on Normal/NM, and on Hell I played her as a ww-sin, traps were only as backup for some tighter battles.

Matriarch Natalya -- ww/trap hybrid

Character type : Assassin
Level : 82

Strength : 114 base/ 150 with gear
Dexterity : 61/118
Vitality : 295/300
Energy : 25/30

Resists : 75/75/75/75

Life : 1326
Mana : 324

Skills:
Shadows Disciplines:
Venom: 20
Claw Mastery: 18
Weapon block: 4
all others: 1

Traps
LS: 20
DS: 12
ChBS: 5
SW: 5

Martial arts: nothing

Game:
Normal -- For some reason I decided to play untwinked here, so at first Natalya used normal attack, later then she became a trapper. She could equip only one part of the Natalya's set -- boots.

NM -- I twinked her, so she became quite a powerful trapper. She wore Natalya's Totem as soon as she could. I leveled her here until lvl 73, that's the level for equipping Natalya's armor.

Hell -- Starting Hell, Natalya changed into a ww-sin, traps were only as backup. At first I had troubles with using ww, I never even played a ww-barb before, so for the first time even a crowd of Fallens pwned me easily. It looked like Natalya is able to do one ww and then she is out of mana, but it was fun to learn that. In the end of act 1 I could do ww quite successfully. And I was surprised how this skill (in combination with Venom of course) is effective.

During most of Hell she could wear only 3 parts of Natalya's set (claw has lvl req. 79, so she could equip them at the beginning of act 5). Before completing the set, she had problems with resists, that's the reason why I socketed the first Natalya's armor with 3x all res. jewels. After completing the set, I appreciated its wonderful bonuses and I put 3x Facet into Natalya's armor.


Gear:
Code:
Natalya's Totem
Grim Helm
Defense: 242
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 59
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xba8deaff
+20 to Strength
+29 to Dexterity
+143 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
All Resistances +11

Natalya's Shadow
Loricated Mail
Defense: 685
Durability: 36 of 36
Required Strength: 149
Required Level: 73
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xc8fb33ba
+203 Defense
Poison Resist +25%
+109 poison damage over 2 seconds
Poison Length Reduced by 75%
+2 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)
100% Chance to cast Level 51 Poison Nova When You Die
+82 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+11% to Poison Skill Damage
-15% to Enemy Poison Resistance
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Rainbow Facet
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xceb137ce
+36 poison damage over 2 seconds
100% Chance to cast Level 51 Poison Nova When You Die
+4% to Poison Skill Damage
-5% to Enemy Poison Resistance

Rainbow Facet
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x272d190e
+36 poison damage over 2 seconds
100% Chance to cast Level 51 Poison Nova When You Die
+4% to Poison Skill Damage
-5% to Enemy Poison Resistance

Rainbow Facet
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x483872ee
+36 poison damage over 2 seconds
100% Chance to cast Level 51 Poison Nova When You Die
+3% to Poison Skill Damage
-5% to Enemy Poison Resistance

Natalya's Mark
Scissors Suwayyah
One-Hand Damage: 120 to 153
Durability: 60 of 68
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 118
Required Strength: 118
Required Level: 79
Claw Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x8dd06276
+200% Enhanced Damage
Adds 12-17 fire damage
+50 cold damage over 4 seconds
40% Increased Attack Speed
Ignore Target Defense
200% Damage to Demons
200% Damage to Undead

Natalya's Soul
Mesh Boots
Defense: 127
Durability: 66 of 66
Kick Damage: 23 to 52
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x209f9312
+90 Defense
Lightning Resist +25%
Cold Resist +20%
+50 Maximum Durability
40% Faster Run/Walk
Heal Stamina Plus 20% (Based on Character Level)

Chaos
Runic Talons
'FalOhmUm'
One-Hand Damage: 96 to 177
Durability: 60 of 69
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 115
Required Strength: 115
Required Level: 60
Claw Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 83
Fingerprint: 0xd798c26
+10 to Strength
+303% Enhanced Damage
Adds 216-471 magic damage
35% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to Whirlwind
+3 to Dragon Flight (Assassin Only)
+2 to Mind Blast (Assassin Only)
25% Chance of Open Wounds
+15 Life after each Demon Kill
9% Chance to cast Level 11 Frozen Orb on striking
11% Chance to cast Level 9 Charged Bolt on striking
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Trang-Oul's Claws
Heavy Bracers
Defense: 71
Durability: 15 of 16
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xd0fb62d8
+30 Defense
Cold Resist +30%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Curses (Necromancer Only)
+25% to Poison Skill Damage

String of Ears
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 106
Durability: 22 of 22
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x47a61728
+162% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 14
Damage Reduced by 15%
8% Life stolen per hit
+10 Maximum Durability

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x2a2bcfb0
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+247 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x5e3aa780
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
All Resistances +29
+2 to All Skill Levels

Storm Spiral
Ring
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x2e6ce979
+37 to Life
+70 to Mana
+35 to Attack Rating
8% Life stolen per hit
4% Mana stolen per hit
+1 to Mana After Each Kill

Charms:
Code:
Mentalist's Grand Charm of Greed
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x6dbe48ed
37% Extra Gold from Monsters
+1 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)

Mentalist's Grand Charm of Lightning
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xe08fdb9b
Adds 1-4 lightning damage
+1 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)

Mentalist's Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x1dbdb3c1
+1 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)

Shimmering Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x41dc8be5
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Grand Charm of Dexterity
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xc3c5d823
+3 to Dexterity
All Resistances +15

Serpent's Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x653e0f5d
+36 to Life
+59 to Mana

Ruby Small Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x2e0c70f6
Fire Resist +11%
3% Faster Run/Walk

Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x7289eb85
+20 to Life

Shimmering Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xd2dc7a62
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x711f505c
+39 to Life
All Resistances +13

Shimmering Small Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xa210f9a4
+1 to Strength
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm of Frost
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x5df6f036
All Resistances +5
Adds 1-2 cold damage over 1 seconds

Merc: Vampire Gaze, Fortitude, Insight
Switch: Stick with LR charges, Lidless Wall


HF: Mal from hell HF was a nice surprise (my last ~6 chars had runes from Hel-Lum range :().

Drops: Nothing worth mentioning, only interesting were 2 first GCs on Hell which turned out as 2 skillers (Graverobber's GC of Sustenance, Trainer's GC).

Future: Retirement 😁 (and maybe rebuild her as it was funny char).

Thank you for reading.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by Solar Ice on Jul 1, 2009:

Matriarch Kiera - Zeal Assassin - My 100th Pat/Mat

Hey all,

Kiera became my 100th 1.10+ SP Pat/Mat. For this milestone, I wanted to build a char that was both fairly strong and unusual. After some thought I decided that a Zeal Assassin using Dual Dreams fit that criteria. My gear:

Code:
Dream
Diadem
'IoJahPul'
Defense: 273
Durability: 18 of 20
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xc25e8b98
+10 to Vitality
+30% Enhanced Defense
+195 Defense
All Resistances +20
Increase Maximum Life 5%
22% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
25% Faster Hit Recovery
Level 15 Holy Shock Aura When Equipped
10% Chance to cast Level 15 Confuse when struck
+51 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Dream
Troll Nest
'IoJahPul'
Defense: 400
Chance to Block:  45%
Durability: 73 of 74
Required Strength: 106
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x47d0df70
+10 to Vitality
+50 to Life
+30% Enhanced Defense
+176 Defense
All Resistances +16
21% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
21% Faster Hit Recovery
Level 15 Holy Shock Aura When Equipped
10% Chance to cast Level 15 Confuse when struck
+51 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Fortitude
Archon Plate
'ElSolDolLo'
Defense: 1587
Durability: 59 of 60
Required Strength: 103
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x68b31a63
+200% Enhanced Defense
+300% Enhanced Damage
+15 Defense
Damage Reduced by 7
Fire Resist +26%
Lightning Resist +26%
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Cold Resist +26%
Poison Resist +26%
Replenish Life +7
+1 to Light Radius
25% Faster Cast Rate
12% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
20% Chance to cast Level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+93 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Passion
Berserker Axe
'DolOrtEldLem'
One-Hand Damage: 73 to 217
Durability: 14 of 26
Required Dexterity: 59
Required Strength: 138
Required Level: 64
Axe Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xd89723da
+206% Enhanced Damage
Adds 1-50 lightning damage
75% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to Berserk
+1 to Zeal
Hit Causes Monster to Flee 25%
Hit Blinds Target +10
67% Bonus to Attack Rating
75% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
Level 3 Heart of Wolverine (12/12 Charges)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Trang-Oul's Claws
Heavy Bracers
Defense: 70
Durability: 15 of 16
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x20880815
+30 Defense
Cold Resist +30%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Curses (Necromancer Only)
+25% to Poison Skill Damage

Wilhelm's Pride
Battle Belt
Defense: 75
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Strength: 88
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x67c79c5e
+75% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +10%
5% Life stolen per hit
5% Mana stolen per hit

Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 146
Durability: 34 of 34
Kick Damage: 39 to 80
Required Strength: 94
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xca04d16b
+20 to Maximum Stamina
+171% Enhanced Defense
+10 Maximum Durability
Requirements -25%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x15d4ac93
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
All Resistances +30
+2 to All Skill Levels

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0xb38ae8c4
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+248 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Ring
Required Level: 58
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x7ceac89f
+50 to Maximum Stamina
3% Life stolen per hit
+1 to All Skill Levels
+41 to Life (Based on Character Level)

Switch:

Call to Arms
Crystal Sword
'AmnRalMalIstOhm'
One-Hand Damage: 18 to 54
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Strength: 43
Required Level: 57
Sword Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xfae21b1c
+260% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Increased Attack Speed
+6 to Battle Orders
+3 to Battle Cry
+6 to Battle Command
Prevent Monster Heal
+1 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (5: 5 used)

Spirit
Monarch
'TalThulOrtAmn'
Defense: 201
Chance to Block:  47%
Durability: 42 of 44
Required Strength: 146
Required Level: 54
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0xa29fac83
+22 to Vitality
+98 to Mana
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Lightning Resist +35%
Cold Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
55% Faster Hit Recovery
35% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to All Skill Levels
+7 Magic Absorb
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Charms:

Code:
Sharp Grand Charm of Maiming
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xbc167902
+71 to Attack Rating
+14 to Maximum Damage

Sharp Grand Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 57
Fingerprint: 0xcdcbbd88
+73 to Attack Rating
+10 to Maximum Damage
7% Faster Run/Walk

Sharp Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x80eac8ea
+40 to Life
+59 to Attack Rating
+9 to Maximum Damage

Sharp Grand Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 53
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xe6db390c
+33 to Life
+67 to Attack Rating
+9 to Maximum Damage

Sharp Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x16185b39
+74 to Attack Rating
+10 to Maximum Damage

Sharp Grand Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xadd6c075
+5 to Strength
+68 to Attack Rating
+10 to Maximum Damage

Sharp Grand Charm of Dexterity
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x6e0cb198
+6 to Dexterity
+76 to Attack Rating
+10 to Maximum Damage

Sharp Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x6f2cf149
+71 to Attack Rating
+10 to Maximum Damage

Shimmering Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x1ec53102
+11 to Life
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xe8540309
+15 to Life
All Resistances +4

Shimmering Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0x751e3c6f
+11 to Life
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x663abc12
+15 to Life
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x5713ee16
+19 to Life
All Resistances +4

Shimmering Small Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xd7d84460
+1 to Strength
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x43657ff2
+2 to Strength
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xa95d1dc0
+2 to Strength
All Resistances +4

Act 2 Might Merc:

Code:
Infinity
Cryptic Axe
'BerMalBerIst'
Two-Hand Damage: 186 to 855
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Dexterity: 93
Required Strength: 155
Required Level: 63
Polearm Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0xaf2aeb6d
+280% Enhanced Damage
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
35% Faster Run/Walk
Prevent Monster Heal
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
50% Chance to cast Level 20 Chain Lightning When You Kill an Enemy
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges)
+41 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
-50% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Chains of Honor
Archon Plate
'DolUmBerIst'
Defense: 890
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Strength: 103
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x9206e392
+20 to Strength
+70% Enhanced Defense
Damage Reduced by 8%
All Resistances +65
8% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +7
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
200% Damage to Demons
100% Damage to Undead
+2 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Vampire Gaze
Grim Helm
Defense: 252
Durability: 22 of 40
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x52afb65c
+100% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 14
Damage Reduced by 19%
Adds 6-22 cold damage over 4 seconds
7% Life stolen per hit
6% Mana stolen per hit
15% Slower Stamina Drain

------------------------------------------------------------------
LCS: http ://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9448/kiera.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------

Skills:

Venom - Max
BoS - Max
Shadow Master - Max
Death Sentry - Max
Fireblast - 3
Mind Blast - 1
1 Skill Point left

Venom: There was a noticeable difference in killing speed when this was active. I don't know how much it actually helped given that I had a 4-frame Zeal but help it did. I would've liked to fit in a Dracul's Grasp but went with Trang's Claws to boost this skill.

BoS: To reach 4 Frame Zeal with a Zerker. I could've used a Phase Blade and gone with Fade but Zerkers have more damage and better range. Put an extra point in it because I initially didn't plan on on using a Spirit on switch.

Shadow Master: Another Tank. I generally don't use them on my Sins but she is Ok, I suppose and occasionally helps with casting MB and DS. I wish that was all she cast.

Death Sentry: Very fun. I loved casting this in the middle of combat, especially against large packs. First I Zeal a mob and as soon as one or two drop, I lay down a couple of these and contunue Zealing while watching the fireworks aroung me. All this without taking my finger off the RMB :) It's most effective in cowded places like Tal's Tomb and Flayer Dungeon.

Fireblast: An extra shot for DS. Given that you have to put a point here to get to DS, another two is a good investment.

Mind Blast: I didn't use it much but it did get me out of several tight spots. Mostly left it to the Shadow to cast it.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Started off as usual meeling though normal with Khalim's/Gemmed maxer flail and switched to a Bonesnap Maul in Act 5. A Passion Knout came on at clvl 43 and although the physical damage was quite poor, Venom greatly helped. Played through NM on /players 5 until Act 5 when I switched to /p8. At that point, two key pieces of gear in Fort/Infinity became available as well as the Zerker. Played through Hell on /p3 at good speed without too many problems. There were two or three deaths, one of them being from the Ancients that I had to battle thrice because the first time I accidently hit 4 to cast a TP instead of a potion towards the end of the battle. On a couple of occasions I was in a tight spot because the Merc was off collecting berries somewhere so when I saw the lovely green aura under the monsters' feet, it made me think in an Ogden voice: "Thank goodness you've returned!". Thankfully, most of the time the Merc didn't take too long to catch up if he went missing. The combination of Lightning, Physical and Poison damage meant that immunes were not a concern. Dreams deal a good amount of lightning damage (1-1668 displayed and then amplified by Inf)

I had a few concerns when planning the build. One of them was the lack of block. Turns out I didn't need it at all. The Fort provided good enough defence with it's Chilling Armor and together with the Confuse from the Dreams as well as the Shadow when needed was enough safety. My other concern was the potential AR problems, especially when I was too far ahead of the Merc. I levelled up a bit in the pit to ease this but really I had a better chance to hit in hell than I expected without the Merc. The Merc obviously helped though :) My last concern was the annoyance of HcmtF from the Passion. It turned out to be a minor issue. Occasionally it was quite anoying when three monsters fled in three directions from three hits. The vast majority of the time though, I disposed of mobs with maybe one or none straying away from the pack. I left those alone most of the time. Most mobs were dead soon after encountering the passionate Axe-wielding Sin and her Sentries of Death. :)

Overall, it was a really fun albeit gear dependant build. I wouldn't say Fort/Infinity are the glue that hold the build together though their impact is enormous, especially the latter. I'd recommend this build if you have the gear.

More finds than on woul expect from a questing char:

Code:
Baranar's Star
Devil Star
One-Hand Damage: 129 to 159
Durability: 53 of 172
Required Dexterity: 44
Required Strength: 153
Required Level: 65
Mace Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 94
Fingerprint: 0xe41b8843
+15 to Strength
+15 to Dexterity
+200% Enhanced Damage
Adds 1-200 fire damage
Adds 1-200 lightning damage
Adds 1-200 cold damage over 2 seconds
+100 Maximum Durability
50% Increased Attack Speed
200% Bonus to Attack Rating
150% Damage to Undead

Wizardspike
Bone Knife
One-Hand Damage: 23 to 49
Required Dexterity: 75
Required Strength: 38
Required Level: 61
Dagger Class - Fast Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 94
Fingerprint: 0x32000785
Regenerate Mana 15%
All Resistances +75
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
50% Faster Cast Rate
Indestructible
+166 to Mana (Based on Character Level)

Skin of the Vipermagi
Serpentskin Armor
Defense: 279
Durability: 15 of 24
Required Strength: 43
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xdfafd121
+120% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 13
All Resistances +34
30% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels

Arreat's Face
Slayer Guard
Defense: 341
Durability: 52 of 55
(Barbarian Only)
Required Strength: 118
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 71
Fingerprint: 0xfbac5823
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity
+182% Enhanced Defense
All Resistances +30
3% Life stolen per hit
+2 to Barbarian Skill Levels
30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+2 to Combat Skills (Barbarian Only)

Shaftstop
Mesh Armor
Defense: 674
Durability: 23 of 45
Required Strength: 92
Required Level: 38
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x8a0da8f9
+60 to Life
+215% Enhanced Defense
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Damage Reduced by 30%

Gheed's Fortune
Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 62
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0x394bfcf
110% Extra Gold from Monsters
26% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Reduces All Vendor Prices 13%

Dwarf Star
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xb8e82818
+40 to Life
+40 to Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 15%
Magic Damage Reduced by 15
100% Extra Gold from Monsters
15% Fire Absorb

Preserver's Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 68
Fingerprint: 0x34f5fd2f
12% Faster Hit Recovery
+1 to Defensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)

I Think that it's the first time that I got the highest runes from both the NM and Hell forges by a single char:

Um Rune
Can be Inserted into Socketed Items

Weapons: 25% Chance of Open Wounds
Helms: All Resistances +15
Armor: All Resistances +15
Shields: All Resistances +22

Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Gul Rune
Can be Inserted into Socketed Items

Weapons: 20% Bonus to Attack Rating
Helms: +5% to Maximum Poison Resist
Armor: +5% to Maximum Poison Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Poison Resist

Required Level: 53
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Really awsome forges!

Cheers, until next time!
-Solar
 
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Originally posted by Solar Ice on Aug 11, 2009:

Matriarch Selenia - Bearsin

Hey all.

Having recently completed a Wolfbarb and a Bear Tankazon, I continued to quench my current thirst for Wereform-based builds by making a Bearsin.

Gear:

'Dream' - Diadem
'Dream' - Troll Nest
15/26 'Bramble' - AP
Sup. Phase Blade socketed with 3xShael, 3 maek/-15 req jewel, +5/-3 Lit Facet, +5/-4 Lit Facet.
30% Mara's Kaleidoscope
Trang's Claws
15/39 Verdungo's Hearty Cord
2/23 Shadow Dancer
20/249 Raven Frost
BKWB
'Beast'/'Spirit' on switch
32x Arcing Small Charm. Totalling around 1100 damage. Around half were plain.

Merc, Act 2 Blessed Aim:

'Infinity' - CA
CoH - AP
'Delirium' - Tiara

Skills:

Max Venom
Max Blade Shield
Max: Fade
Max: Shadow Master
1 skill point left

Doesn't an ethereal Bear just look so cool?

Gear Choices

Since I'm a huge fan of 4-frame attacks, I wanted nothing slower for this char. A 3-frame attack would be even better but since the required claw is next to impossible to find, I had to "settle" for one frame slower. A Phase Blade needs only 3 Shaels to reach it, so naturally that would be the way to go. Of course the Sin would need a way to deal damage. The Dreams and the charms together with Infinity provided almost all of the damage, with Venom for support and as a way to dispose of (broken) Lightning Immunes. I had 3 sockets in the weapon to play with so Facets filled two of them with the other going towards replenishing my mana for casting stuff and shifting. I made a mistake with the MaeK jewel when I stuffed one in with the -requirements suffix, having forgotten that I had a rare one with a good chunk of lightning resist and MaeK in the stash. It would've maxed my Lit res. I'd already put the Facets in so there was no going back. Of course, it was nothing major in the end. For boots, I went with Shadow Dancer for the Shadow Skillls and Dex but Gore Rider would probably have been a better choice for some CB/OW.

Another decision I had to make was whether to maximise Venom damage, to go with Dracul's Grasp and Fortitude to Leech/Life Tap better or a Faceted Ormus' for Lightning Skill Damage. All have pros and cons. I went with the Bramble/Trang's for the Venom damage and also because I had Bramble sitting in the stash for months having not used it since I made it. It would be a total waste of runes if I didn't use it on at least a couple of chars, so on it went. Besides increasing my Poison damage the other advantage it provided was the +13 LaeK. Since I was dealing very low physical damage, leech sort of turned into slow life regeneration and the LaeK helped to increase it a little. The one glaring weakness of my equipment was Attack Rating. Infinity was awesome for this build for the -Defence (and the huge damage boost) but I also wanted to hit things whenever the Merc was not there. I didn't have much FRW so thankfully he didn't stray far behind often. All this was solved instantly by picking a Blessed Aim Merc. For those situations when monsters were not bathed in Conviction, the BA allowed me to hit them. Blessed Aim has a very good range and my AR was 4k with it activated.

Seeing as I had very little leech, defence and no Life tap, I needed to focus on the defensive aspect of the build. My Bearzon had ~50% D/A/E, max PDR from Stormshield/Dungos and great leech from Grief. Compaitively, my Sin looks fragile. One concern was that I would get overwhelmed but I knew that Dreams provided excellent defence against that with the CtC Confuse. The curse makes a Holy Freeze Merc kind of unnecessary so I focused on it as my primary form of defence along with the %PDR from Fade and Dungos. I gave my Merc Delirium for some extra CtC Confuse and I had Blade Shield to further increase my chances of casting the wonderful curse. The result was that Confuse was triggering very frequently thus keeping the Sin safe.

Game Progression

Normal and Nigntmare:

Started off as usual with Khalim's Will/Gemmed maxer Flail. In Act 5 the Flail got replaced by a Shael'd Ribcracker which was quite good. I had a decent attack speed with the BoS so levelling wasn't tedious. In Act 3 Nightmare the plain Shael'd Ribby got replaced with its Stalagmite big brother, also Shael'd and 3 levels later killing speed increased nicely with the addition of a Fortitude DS. That was how it stayed until Act 5 NM when Pindle got the beatz until I reached clvl 65. The Assassin with a staff transformed into an electric, translucent Werebear. Played through the rest of NM on /p8. Throughout NM the Shadow was a big help sometimes with casting Mind Blast. The requirement of her presence was greatly diminished in Hell once the Sin had her end-game gear equipped. BoS was a one-point-wonder throughout Normal and NM.

Hell

Switched to /p3 in Act 1. It was time to test out how this char handles (mostly broken) Lightning Immunes and to an extent Poison Immunes. I had hoped Venom would do the job against LIs and it was decent, though not great. Seeing as I had such a fast attack I did not get the full duration of Venom but I did not take long to kill most of the problematic Immune monsters. Andariel was a little tough, having got rid of my Merc but nothing else of note.

A few obsticles in Act 2. The biggest was that when I encountered the Beetles in the Rocky Wastes, the Shadow cast a Wake of Inferno (could've been WoF as well). The result was that, for some reason, I got absolutely horrific lag. Everything slowed to a complete crawl and I died. It took around 3 minutes to exit the "you have died" screen.
The Maggot Lair was another place that took longer then usual. The Merc is at his idiotic best in that place so I was without Conviction and Blessed Aim most of the time. To top it off the Shadow fire-trap-lagged me to death again in level 2 just like in Rocky Wastes. Progress through the rest of the Act went smoothly for the most part.

Act 3 brought lots of broken Lightning Immunes. Switched to /p1 to help out Venom. I managed to find the Flayer Jungle connected to Spider Forest so I got through the rest of the Act fairly quickly. I played through Act 4 on /p1, as I often do because of the high HP of the monsters populating it and I don't like Spawners. A cool thing is that with this char I can just sit back and laugh at Iron Maiden (though my Merc found it far less funny). Back to /p3 for Act 5. Nothing much to write about here. Ancients killed me once and the Merc died when a near-full-health Madawc and an almost-dead Talic were still around. Took care of Talic quickly but Madawc had to be tanked by the Shadow while I drained his life with Venom, with 800 AR to apply it. OW and CB would've sped things up but it didn't take too long anyway. Baal also took longer than usual without CB/OW but fell as he eventually always does.

Conclusion

A fun and smexy-looking char. Of course, she doesn't come remotely close to the thoroughly obscene power level of my Dual-Dream Bearsorc. There can't be any comparison between these elemental-based Bears. Dreams have turned out to be a Cham very well spent. Do make a Bearsin if you have Beast and some good gear. This particular char is expensive, almost totally gear-based and very few SP'ers have Dual Dreams and Infinity. A much cheaper physical-damage version will be pretty cool as well.

Finds

Hsarus' Iron Fist
Tancred's Hobnails
Tellling of Beads
Cerebus' Bite
34AR/13life SC
Preserver's GC with, iirc, 31 life. I forgot it in the Hell Throne Room. :/
Forges: Ko/Um
 
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Originally posted by TopHatCat64 on Mar 26, 2008:

Matriarch Belladonna - Shadow Knight

Matriarch Belladonna


"The dark one must be somewhere, sisters" rasped the dark rogue, "Nothing escapes the sightless eye". The light was dim in the catacombs. Pools of darkness threatened to swallow what little light there was underground. The slight padding of the rogues feet softly echoed in the down the ancient corridor. No sound accompanied a lithe form detaching itself from the shadows. A transparent blade swung by a transparent hand sung in the dank air as bodies slumped to the ground, throats gaping open. The shadow faded back into the darkness as the hallway once again was silent.

I've always been intrigued by the Assassin's shadow disciplines tree but I had yet to find a build that I really liked that took full advantage of it. Like my previous Pat, I found inspiration in a guide on the 'basin written by Heather. I had already enjoyed my passion-wielding enchantress so this particular build seemed right up my alley, especially since the assassin is actually built for melee combat. I had a couple goals for this character, I wanted a 4 frame zeal, max block, max resists, and to explore the mechanics of shadow warrior. I managed to accomplish 3 out those 4 and I managed to come within 4 resist all of max resists.

Twitchthroe is the fulcrum for my gear. The 20 IAS allowed me to replace Nos' coil with Razor tail for increased damage and added dex. The 20 FHR allowed me to hit the 5 frame FHR breakpoint. Most importantly it saved me around 50 points in dex with it's 20% Increased Blocking. I use twitch on my enchantress as well and I'd put it right up there with the best melee armors in the game.

In the early going I melee'd for awhile with K's Will, as I do for all my fledling characters while building up Shadow Warrior, Fade, and Blades of Ice. Why BoI if I'm not using claws? Well, I read an extremely interesting post on the Lurker Lounge that detailed how the SW's skills synergize past lvl 20 by 'learning' your current skill level. Anyways, since I find Death Sentry boring and I had ~30 skills points left over I decided to max BoI and its synergy Phoenix Strike. In the early going this ended up working pretty well as the shadow went about her business of periodically freezing groups while I used my 1 point blade fury till level 54.

At 54 I could use my Passion phase and I gotta say I was shocked at how low my damage was (something like 300-700). I realized a shift in build order was needed and I went about maxing Venom since I needed some way to add damage. It was around A3 that I realized my shadow was effectively doing NO damage at all but she still was a very hardy tank with Fade.

I immediately dropped the settings to p1 for Hell, and I was able to make slow process through out the acts using a combination of decent crushing blow, poison, and high attack speed. The Tombs in particular were a grind with all the unleachables. I nearly ripped my keyboard in half at points because of Monster Flee on Passion, it seemed to become more a problem in Hell for some reason and it was probably what I disliked most about this build. Mind Blast helped to an extent but monsters ran away so fast I couldn't quite tag them everytime. Despite my low life (under 1000 until Hell act 5), I only died 4 times with this character. All and all, a very interesting character and the first assassin I've managed to Mat.

Stats
Lvl 82
Damage w/ Venom: 912-1274
Damage w/ Venom and Might: 1126-1634
Life: 1034 | Mana: 229
Resist: 71/71/75/71 w/ Fade

Str: 95
Dex: 120
Vit: 260
Nrg: 25

20 Fade
20 Venom
20 Shadow Warrior
20 Blades of Ice
1 Blade Fury
1 Mindblast
1 CoS
Pre-reqs

My Gear
'Passion' Phase Blade
Guillame's Face
Highlord's Wrath
Twitchthroe
Gerke's Sanctuary 'pdiamond'
'Dire Fist' Crafted Gloves (see below)
Razor Tail
Raven Frost
'Corruption Whorl' Ring (see below)
War Traveler
+3 Shadow claws on switch
A bunch of damage charms and 2 resist all gcs

Code:
Dire Fist
Vampirebone Gloves
Defense: 61
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 57
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x65168330
+10 to Life
+18 to Attack Rating
3% Life stolen per hit
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
20% Increased Attack Speed
10% Chance of Crushing Blow
Repairs 1 durability in 20 seconds

Corruption Whorl
Ring
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0x147b1f7
+43 to Mana
+115 to Attack Rating
+5 to Minimum Damage
Lightning Resist +20%
8% Life stolen per hit
5% Mana stolen per hit

Merc
Reapers
Duriel's
Guillames
 
Originally posted by VoX Dei on Feb 1, 2010:

Return and Apology to the SPF / Mat thread: Assassin (Immobilizer)

Return and Apology to the SPF

Hi all! Around April last year, I felt weary of the game and stopped playing. Consequently, I’ve been missing in action forum-wise. In that regard, I would like to apologize to the SPF forum, because I’ve left without saying a word when I really should have… I’m sorry guys :ashamed:

I’m enjoying the game again and slowly returning by picking up where I left. At the time I had plans for 3 builds: martial artist, tornado wolf, and earthshifter wolf. The martial artist was finished last April, but I never got to write and post her Mat thread. This thread will fix that.



Presenting Matriarch Shaula, a pdr Immobilizer


Concept

Shaula is the second brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. The name originates in Arabic and means “the raised [tail of Scorpius]”. It is quite appropriate for a martial artist, although mine is far from being faithful to the image of a scorpion (eg, no C/C setup, and no Venom). Simply put, Shaula is a pdr packed Immobilizer (Tiger Strike, DTail, synergized Blades of Ice) with Fade as main ”aura”. The build concept was inspired by a rare tiara found during Pindlethon 2009, and was based on the premises of no Traps and no Shadow companion.

LCS

Stats

Nothing groundbreaking here: enough strength for gear, enough dexterity for max block, rest vitality.

Breakpoints et al.

All attacks @ 7 frames (max speed) without BoS
Blocking and recovery @ 5 frames
Casting (eg, Mind Blast) @ 14 frames
Max block and resistances
61 PDR

Skills

Martial Arts: 85
20 (39 after +skills) in TS, DTail, BoI (main attacks), PS (BoI synergy) and 1 in all their pre-requisites

Shadow Disciplines: 6
1 in CM, BoS, Fade, PH, CoS, and MB

Traps: 0

Unspent: 1

Equipment

Claw: upped Bartuc’s with a 59 ar/15% ias jewel
Shield: Gerke’s Sanctuary with a 7% @ res/15% ias jewel
Helm: Plague Casque tiara (rare: +2 MA, LL%, @ res …) with 2*Sol runes
Armor: Fortitude AP
Belt: Nosferatu’s Coil
Gloves: Kenshi’s of Alacrity
Boots: upped Gore Rider
Amulet: Witch-hunter’s of Life everlasting (19 pdr)
Ring 1: Raven Frost
Ring 2: Bone Turn (rare: dual leech, @ res, ar …)
Switch weapon: CtA war scepter
Switch shield: Lidless Wall
Pre-buff: Demonlimb
Charms: 8*Skillers (7 with some life, 1 w/ FHR), 8*Fine SC’s (6 w/ some life, 2 w/ FHR), 3*Shimmering charms w/ some life (2*SC and 1*LC)

Mercenary

Raissa, lvl81 Cold Rogue:
Bow: Faith great bow (lvl 14 Fanaticism)
Helm: eth upped Blackhorn’s Face with a 18% pres/15% ias jewel
Armor: 2*upped Greyform with a 21% lres/15% ias jewel

Journey and Impressions

Honestly, I can’t remember much of her journey and absolutely nothing about her finds. She was mat’d almost 1 year ago. I did take 2 screenshots at the time though: Lister and Baal drop.

She was played p8 Normal, p1 to p3 NM and Hell. I remember there were some rough spots with a few NDE’s and deaths. This was due partly to the nature of the build itself (clickfest fragile melee char), and partially because switch and charms were optimised only after killing Baal (both greatly improve survivability with much needed life).

As usual, I found 1-point skills like Cloak of Shadows, Mind Blast, or Cobra Strike very useful. Also as usual, I found the powerful DTail charged with Tiger Strike highly enjoyable, despite the many FI’s in the game. Fully synergized Blades of Ice’ damage paled in comparison. Maxed BoI itself was worth experimenting with, due to the added safety of higher freeze length. However, I felt the 20 points spent in Phoenix Strike would have been better spent somewhere else (maybe in Venom).

Finally, the rogue being ranged complemented the build well. She was instrumental in dealing with Oblivion Knights: directly, by killing them, and indirectly, by providing the full time benefit of Fade’s reduced IM duration. That is, Fanaticism on Rogue’s Faith bow eliminated the need of using BoS to reach the last attack breakpoints. Thus, Fade could be on at all battles, and BoS use was limited to while running around.

Next

Earthshifter wolf, and after that, a tornado wolf or another sin build.


Thank you for reading!

Cheers,
VoX Dei

EDIT: found an old note with her forges: NM Lum, Hell Lem.
 
Originally posted by VoX Dei on Jun 4, 2010:

By Omg's decree: Matriarch Skuld, Shadow Knight

Matriarch Skuld, Shadow Knight


Name

There are at least three different Skulds in Norse Mythology: a Norn, a Valkyrie, and a Princess (popular name no doubt as no Viking man could ever resist a girl named Skuld :p). This girl is named after the half-Elven Princess Skuld, who was well versed in the dark arts being able to resurrect her slain berserker warriors in the midst of battle.

Concept

The present build draws heavily from TopHatCat64’s Belladona and winmar’s Hypatia Shadow Knight Mat write-ups. A Shadow Knight is basically a ‘Passion’ Assassin with a skill point allocation strongly biased towards Shadow Disciplines that uses Zeal as a quick crushing blow and poison delivery method. The build is finished with a lot of spare skill points leaving a lot of room for customization. Equipment-wise the build is naturally melee oriented with less room for customization. For instance, using a 1-hander ‘Passion’ is a must, because it grants the main skill Zeal while taking advantage of the fact that Assassins are among the select few classes with the fastest 1-hand Zeal speed (4 fpa). Additionally, their block speed is only second to Paladins using Holy Shield. Berserk, on the other hand, is usually neglected by Shadow Knights, because their physical damage output isn’t so hot. However, Assassins have the second fastest 1-hand Berserk speed (8 fpa)*1 and this effectively makes them the uncontested top choice when it comes to build around both Zeal and Berserk from a 1-hander ‘Passion’. That said, and keeping true to the build theme, I’ve also tried to get a decent Berserk going. That meant using the hardest hitting 1-hander available coupled with a high level Burst of Speed, lots of Deadly Strike and off-weapon ED%, and a healthy strength investment. My final weapon choice was a Legendary Mallet, because it is the only 1-hander that belongs to the Hammer class (Hammers get +10% Stat Bonus damage from strength). Since she uses a shield, I’ve opted to follow an unusual max block semi-titan attribute point allocation.

Note: *1 = Amazons have the fastest 1-hand Berserk (7 fpa), however their awful block speed with swinging weapons completely ruins this advantage :/

Stats

LCS

Rich (BB code):
65% IAS*2 => 4 frames Zeal / 8 frames Berserk / 9 frames Death Sentry
lvl 4 Zeal => 5 Hits
61% Deadly Strike
57% Crushing Blow
10% Open Wounds
25% FCR => 14 frames Cloak of Shadows and Mind Blast
86% FHR => 4 frames Hit Recovery
30% FRW*2 => 9,44 yards per sec Run Speed
35% FBR => 3 frames Blocking Rate
75% Blocking
50% DR

Note: *2 = using Burst of Speed

Skills

Shadow Disciplines: 62

20 (26*3): Venom, Shadow Master
15 (21*3): Burst of Speed
1 (4): Claw Mastery, Psychic Hammer, Weapon Block, Cloak of Shadows, Fade, Shadow Warrior, Mind Blast

Traps: 32

20 (23): Death Sentry
7+ (10): Lightning Sentry
3 (6): Fire Blast
1 (4): Shock Web, Charged Bolt Sentry

Martial Arts: 0

0skills / Charges

23 Enchant
5 (11*3) Battle Command, Battle Orders
1 (4) Zeal, Berserk

Note: *3 = on switch

Equipment

Weapon: ‘Passion’ Legendary Mallet +14% ED, +2 AR
Shield: Stormshield (Um)
Helm: Guillaume’s Face (40% ED/+5 Str)
Armor: ‘Fortitude’ AP
Belt: Verdungo 15/39
Gloves: Death Fist Sharskin Gloves
Boots: Gore Rider Myrmidon Greaves
Amulet: Highlord’s Wrath
Ring 1: Raven Frost 20/240
Ring 2: Bul-Kathos 5%
Switch: ‘CtA’ + ‘Spirit’
Prebuff: Demonlimb
Charms: dual mod focused on max damage, ar, life, resists (especially fire and poison), and fhr

Mercenary: Mighty Vikhyat

Weapon: Ethereal Reaper’s Toll (Amn)
Helm: Guillaume’s Face (Um)
Armor: eBugged ‘Treachery’ Great Hauberk

Build Summary

Skuld exceeded by far the best expectations I had for her during the planning stage: She revealed herself a thoroughly enjoyable, fast, safe, and versatile killer.

Finds

4os 211% ED Gris Caddy, 12@ res/+12 max jool, +1 P&B /+3 max skiller, and a Lem rune :p

Special Thanks

TopHatCat64 and winmar, both for build inspiration.

Thank you for reading

Cheers,

VoX Dei
 
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Originally posted by winmar on Feb 22, 2007:

Matriarch Hypatia - The Shadow Knight.

Hypatia the Shadow Knight.

Lvl: 79
Class: Assassin
Build: Shadow Knight
Mat/Pat Nr: 8

Normal/Nightmare: P8
Hell: P1

Skills with +skills.
Cloak: 14
Mind Blast: 14
Burst of speed: 14
Fade: 14
Venom: 33
Shadow Master: 33
Death Sentry: 23
Zeal: 4

Damage with slvl 33 Venom+Trangs Gloves: 1612-1916
Life on slvl 33 Shadow Master: 2180

Unused Skill Points: 14 (any ideas where i should put these?)

Equipment.
Code:
Passion
Phase Blade
'DolOrtEldLem'
One-Hand Damage: 92 to 103
Required Dexterity: 136
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 54
Sword Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x7d65f4f9
+197% Enhanced Damage
Adds 1-50 lightning damage
75% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to Berserk
+1 to Zeal
Hit Causes Monster to Flee 25%
Hit Blinds Target +10
72% Bonus to Attack Rating
75% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
Level 3 Heart of Wolverine (12/12 Charges)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Code:
Duress
Dusk Shroud
'ShaelUmThul'
Defense: 1145
Durability: 19 of 20
Required Strength: 77
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xdebe0f8d
+150% Enhanced Defense
+13% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +15%
Cold Resist +45%
Poison Resist +15%
Adds 37-133 cold damage over 2 seconds
40% Faster Hit Recovery
33% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
-20% Slower Stamina Drain
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Guillaume's Face
Stormshield (PDiamond)
Trang-Oul's Claws (+25% Poison Damage)
Thundergod's Vigor/Nosferatu's Coil
Gore Rider
Mara's Kaleidoscope (+23 res all)
Raven Frost (20/203)
Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band

Switch: Two claws with +3 Shadow Disciplines.

Merc: Reapers Toll, Shaft Stop, Rockstopper.

Charms: 4xMentalist Grand Charms. The rest is res and life charms.

Some thoughts about playing a Shadow Knight.
This is probably my most twinked char ever. She was very fun to plan and play and if you got a passion sword i would recommend you to build this char.

She has almost no problem with immunes, Crushing Blow+decent poison damage will take care of most enemies at a good speed. When you got some corpses Death Sentry will lay waste to large amount of enemies in seconds.

She is also quite safe, Cloak+Mind Blast gives her great crowd control. Before i started to attack a group of monsters i started with Cloak+Mind Blast, when i got 2-3 corpses i threw 2-3 DS. Piece of cake!

She also got +60 res all with slvl 14 Fade but i rarely used it even though her resists are crap without it.

Bosses didnt give her alot of problems either, CB together with the fastest Zeal attack speed kills them easily.

Hell ancients was also easy, no nasty mods.

Thanks for reading!
 
Originally posted by zaphodbrx on Jan 26, 2013:

Matriarch Chaotica, Whirlwind Assassin

A short while ago, we had a discussion in the D2 lounge about whether WWsins were mainly about physical or venom damage. At the time I had argued strongly for the physical case, but then realized it was possible to do something based on venom too. Then I wanted to do two characters based on physical and venom damage and compare their performance, which is what this is ( see bonus Mat below ).

Also, I had actually not quested a WWsin through the game before, just done a respec and run some areas. So this time I enjoyed questing through the game. The chaos claw that I had originally was traded to smilts, so I made two new ones for these characters. Ideally I would have wanted a +3 venom scissors suwayyah to use on both characters, but none were forthcoming, so I went with a plain scissors suwayyah and a staffmodded runic talons. Can't wait forever after all.

Matriarch Chaotica

Chaotica is my physical based WWsin. She became matriarch at level 87.

LCS readout ( with might and venom )
Venom damage (avg ): 485

Skills

20(22) Claw mastery
20(22) Venom
20(22) Death sentry
4(8) Burst of speed
8(12) Weapon block
15 Fire blast ( synergy to Death sentry )
1 Dragon flight, CoS, MB, and all prereqs

Gear

Guillame face(Um)
Fortitude
Chaos scissors suwayyah
Viper scratch scissors suwayyah (rare)
Highlord's Wrath
Laying of hands
Gore Rider
Raven frost
Bone spiral ( dual leech rare ring )

switch: call to arms +sigon's guard

Gear readout

Code:
Chaos
Scissors Suwayyah
'FalOhmUm'
One-Hand Damage: 176 to 224
Durability: 68 of 68
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 118
Required Strength: 118
Required Level: 64
Claw Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xa605aeea
+10 to Strength
+340% Enhanced Damage
Adds 216-471 magic damage
35% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to Whirlwind
25% Chance of Open Wounds
+15 Life after each Demon Kill
11% Chance to cast Level 9 Charged Bolt on striking
9% Chance to cast Level 11 Frozen Orb on striking
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Chaotica's Viper Scratch
Scissors Suwayyah
One-Hand Damage: 177 to 229
Durability: 68 of 68
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 118
Required Strength: 118
Required Level: 64
Claw Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0xb156fc47
+343% Enhanced Damage
+148 to Attack Rating
+4 to Maximum Damage
Adds 1-31 lightning damage
15% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to Venom (Assassin Only)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Guillaume's Face
Winged Helm
'Um'
Defense: 217
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Strength: 115
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x3a4f379b
+15 to Strength
+120% Enhanced Defense
All Resistances +15
30% Faster Hit Recovery
35% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Fortitude
Wire Fleece
'ElSolDolLo'
Defense: 1455
Durability: 32 of 32
Required Strength: 111
Required Level: 59
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0x8dd50047
+200% Enhanced Defense
+300% Enhanced Damage
+15 Defense
Damage Reduced by 7
Fire Resist +25%
Lightning Resist +25%
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Cold Resist +25%
Poison Resist +25%
Replenish Life +7
+1 to Light Radius
25% Faster Cast Rate
12% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
20% Chance to cast Level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+87 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Laying of Hands
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 79
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x7db5940d
+25 Defense
Fire Resist +50%
20% Increased Attack Speed
350% Damage to Demons
10% Chance to cast Level 3 Holy Bolt on striking

String of Ears
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 103
Durability: 22 of 22
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x84403670
+152% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 12
Damage Reduced by 13%
8% Life stolen per hit
+10 Maximum Durability

Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 155
Durability: 34 of 34
Kick Damage: 39 to 80
Required Strength: 94
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x92bf4c64
+20 to Maximum Stamina
+188% Enhanced Defense
+10 Maximum Durability
Requirements -25%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x5f8cd82a
+19 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+211 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Bone Spiral
Ring
Required Level: 46
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xcfefddff
+10 to Mana
+84 to Attack Rating
Damage Reduced by 1
6% Life stolen per hit
5% Mana stolen per hit
+1 to Mana After Each Kill

Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x43695916
Lightning Resist +35%
Adds 1-30 lightning damage
20% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to All Skill Levels
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 15
32% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)

Call to Arms
Crystal Sword
'AmnRalMalIstOhm'
One-Hand Damage: 17 to 52
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Strength: 43
Required Level: 57
Sword Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x708d6b82
+252% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Increased Attack Speed
+3 to Battle Orders
+3 to Battle Cry
+2 to Battle Command
Prevent Monster Heal
+1 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (5: 5 used)

Sigon's Guard
Tower Shield
Defense: 25
Chance to Block:  69%
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Strength: 75
Required Level: 6
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xfdbc72b2
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
+1 to All Skill Levels

Merc: A2 might merc

Items: treachery, G-face, reapers

Inventory: Resistance, Life, AR, max dmg charms

Thoughts

As you can see Chaotica was designed with physical damage in mind, so that's mostly what she does. She had plenty of spare skill points, which I put some more hard points into BoS, WB and fireblast as a synergy for DS. As I am not a fan of unsynergized low level lightning traps and there wasn't anywhere else to put the points. Burst of speed over fade might sound contentious since WW doesn't depend on ias, but I found it better, the character runs faster and has max trap laying speed. Maybe it's because I was used to increased speed ability of barbs. Resistance can be made up for in other ways ( specially on a character not needing any skillers ), but playing with fade was like wading through molasses.

The WWsin is a very cool character. I had great fun with it. It's actually quite similar to a WW barb, only we have less damage, but on the other hand we have Death sentry and crowd control skills. Dragon flight in, whirl whirl whirl, after 4-5 bodies on the ground spam death sentries and boom! Smooth and fast questing through hell on players 5 all the way ( except bosses/ancients). Even p8 is doable in most places but I liked my questing speed and kept it at p5. I was debating on whether to use Death sentry or not, but my last few characters were single target and slow, so hell I'm using Death sentry. It's certainly the best skill the assassin has.

Not much to say about the journey really. It only slowed down against physical immunes, and stuff with high hp/physical resistance such as in chaos sanctuary. Mana burn enemies and unleechables were the main problems. I took a screenshot at Ancients ( beaten on first try, no amp ), and Duriel's drop was amusing. Lister gang had manaburn and was a bit problematic, but were beaten, then Baal and matriarch.

And lastly, the bugs. The WW/level bug is well known and insanely irritating. After a few times I started using dragon claw when close to the level up. Dragon claw is a good left click alternate attack with 1 point and was also sometimes used against manaburners. Additionally, sometimes the assassin is 'knocked out' ( similar to the charge bug ), but that can be resolved using weapon switch. One time I don't know what happened ( not the WW/level bug ), but the assassin simply stopped working. Due to that I had to do the countess tower three times ( once due to the unknown bug, another thanks to WW-level up bug. There was also what I call 'whirl on the spot' bug, when the weapon block would trigger right at the starting of the whirl and the assassin would be in whirlwind without moving. Sometimes these were a downer ( specially WW/level bug ), but overall it was okay and did not hamper my enjoyment too much.

Deaths: None! Well maybe it's not unexpected with 2k hp and block and crowd control etc. But a nice bonus.

Bonus Matriarch: Xena, the poison based WWsin

Xena is a respec-a-sin. Which means to say I didn't level her through the game, just respec'ed an old assassin character and ran a few areas. One doesn't have unlimited time after all.

LCS readout ( with might, fade, enchant and venom )
Venom damage (avg ): 2668.5

Skills

20(37) Venom
20(34) Claw mastery
20(26) Death Sentry
20(36) Shadow warrior
6 fire blast ( synergy to DS )
1(15) in BoS, Fade, weapon block, mind blast, CoS
1 in Dragon flight and other pre reqs.

Gear

Hailstone Circlet ( +2 sin,dual leech,frw)
Mara's Kaleidoscope
Bramble
Raven frost
Bul Kathos wedding band
String of Ears
Trang Oul's claws
Gore rider
Chaos Runic talons
Jade Talon ( shael )
Call to arms+Sigon's guard ( switch )

Gear readout

Code:
Hailstone Circlet
Diadem
Defense: 106
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xe235b7ad
+75% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +19%
+36 poison damage over 2 seconds
8% Life stolen per hit
8% Mana stolen per hit
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
30% Faster Run/Walk
100% Chance to cast Level 51 Poison Nova When You Die
+3% to Poison Skill Damage
-5% to Enemy Poison Resistance
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x7cb4853b
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
All Resistances +29
+2 to All Skill Levels

Bramble
Archon Plate
'RalOhmSurEth'
Defense: 813
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Strength: 103
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x1a35068
Regenerate Mana 15%
+300 Defense
Fire Resist +30%
+5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Poison Resist +100%
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
+13 Life after each Kill
50% Faster Hit Recovery
Level 16 Thorns Aura When Equipped
Level 13 Spirit of Barbs (33/33 Charges)
+37% to Poison Skill Damage
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x7530927a
+18 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+182 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Ring
Required Level: 58
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0x58c3e187
+50 to Maximum Stamina
5% Life stolen per hit
+1 to All Skill Levels
+44 to Life (Based on Character Level)

String of Ears
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 112
Durability: 22 of 22
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xfef53275
+178% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 12
Damage Reduced by 15%
7% Life stolen per hit
+10 Maximum Durability

Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 148
Durability: 34 of 34
Kick Damage: 39 to 80
Required Strength: 94
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xd6309797
+20 to Maximum Stamina
+175% Enhanced Defense
+10 Maximum Durability
Requirements -25%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike

Trang-Oul's Claws
Heavy Bracers
Defense: 67
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 64
Fingerprint: 0x682799a8
+30 Defense
Cold Resist +30%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Curses (Necromancer Only)
+25% to Poison Skill Damage

Chaos
Runic Talons
'FalOhmUm'
One-Hand Damage: 103 to 189
Durability: 69 of 69
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 115
Required Strength: 115
Required Level: 60
Claw Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xc19a22b0
+10 to Strength
+331% Enhanced Damage
Adds 216-471 magic damage
35% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to Whirlwind
+2 to Shadow Warrior (Assassin Only)
+2 to Blades of Ice (Assassin Only)
+3 to Venom (Assassin Only)
25% Chance of Open Wounds
+15 Life after each Demon Kill
9% Chance to cast Level 11 Frozen Orb on striking
11% Chance to cast Level 9 Charged Bolt on striking
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Jade Talon
Wrist Sword
'Shael'
One-Hand Damage: 114 to 152
Durability: 56 of 56
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 105
Required Strength: 105
Required Level: 66
Claw Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x9741d10c
+238% Enhanced Damage
All Resistances +46
11% Mana stolen per hit
20% Increased Attack Speed
30% Faster Hit Recovery
+2 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+2 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Call to Arms
Double Axe
'AmnRalMalIstOhm'
One-Hand Damage: 19 to 49
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 43
Required Level: 57
Axe Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xb007b9e
+281% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Increased Attack Speed
+6 to Battle Orders
+1 to Battle Cry
+5 to Battle Command
Prevent Monster Heal
+1 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (5: 5 used)

Sigon's Guard
Tower Shield
Defense: 23
Chance to Block:  69%
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Strength: 75
Required Level: 6
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 61
Fingerprint: 0x31fa42aa
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
+1 to All Skill Levels

Merc: A2 might merc

Items: treachery, G-face, reapers

Inventory: 6 Mentalist skillers, resist/life charms

Thoughts

Well as you can see, Xena is based on poison damage, ie. Venom. This is accomplished by stacking +skills and +% poison skill damage. Most of the gear choices are obvious. Thanks very much to nulio for trading me the Hailstone circlet diadem. Jade talon is a good offhand choice for these types of characters, due to it's good dmg, manaleech, skills and resistances.

She has a higher LCS damage than Chaotica, but that doesn't mean she's better. Well she's not bad, definitely. But she slows down a lot vs high poison resistant or immune monsters. The choice of BoS vs fade is less obvious here - the frw from the helm means she's not as slow without BoS, and she has decent resistances without fade. I put 1 point in each and use either depending on the area. Also since she is a higher level character with massively stacked +shadow discipline skills, I went with a maxed shadow warrior. She's a good tank and draws off attention from the merc, and it helps, since she doesn't kill as fast as the other one and doesn't leech as much due to less physical damage ( even though she has more leech% ).

In the end I would say both are viable really, both the poison and physical WWsins. The only thing is don't try to do both, or it will probably end up sucking. I wish assassins and amazons had -poison resist% items such as a claw or javelin like Death's web. It would make these characters a lot better. In game it is quite obvious that quite a lot of stuff such as skeletons , zombies, venom lords etc have high resistance to poison and would really help vs those.

Finds

I would like to say that these characters were extraordinarily lucky during their questing. Better than any of my questing characters ever, and in fact more lucky than any character has any right to be.

Um ( hellforge)
Superior Grand Matron bow ( 14 ed/3ar, +3 skills, 4os )
Gul
Sur
Ber
Ber


Conclusion

WWsins are a fun and fairly powerful build. I went through the mat/pat thread and there are precious few of those, if you take out the pvp characters then even less. Come on man, it's just an ohm. Make WWsins!

Thanks for reading.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by allenive on Aug 16, 2008:

Patriach Elder-WW Titan Barbarian

Character name : Elder
Character type : WW Titan Barbarian
Character level : 83

Stats

Strength : 544
Dexterity : 110
Vitality : 37
Energy : 32

Life : 1441
Mana : 320
Resists: 76% Fire/ 64% Cold / 65% Lightning / 34% Poison

WW Damage: 4951-7708
Concentration Damage: 5613-8725

Skills
20 Whirlwind
20 Sword Mastery
20 Shout
20 Battle Orders
6 Iron Skin
1 Natural Resists
1 Berserk
+ Prereqs

Equipment
Weapon: Highland Oath Blade (*Grandfather see comments)
Switch: +3 Warcry Swords
Helm: Arreat's
Armour: Duress Archon Plate
Belt: IK Belt
Gloves: IK Gloves
Boots: Waterwalks
Amulet: Sacren's Chance
Ring1: Raven Frost
Ring2: Rare Dual Leech

Notable Equipment Readouts:
Code:
Oath
Highland Blade
'ShaelPulMalLum'
One-Hand Damage: 138 to 389
Two-Hand Damage: 419 to 603
Required Dexterity: 94
Required Strength: 161
Required Level: 49
Sword Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x9048b8a
+10 to Energy
+319% Enhanced Damage
50% Increased Attack Speed
Prevent Monster Heal
75% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+11 Magic Absorb
Indestructible
30% Chance to cast Level 20 Bone Spirit on striking
Level 16 Heart of Wolverine (20/20 Charges)
Level 17 Iron Golem (14/14 Charges)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Arreat's Face
Slayer Guard
Defense: 307
Durability: 55 of 55
(Barbarian Only)
Required Strength: 118
Required Level: 58
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xe3ed69a0
+20 to Strength
+27 to Dexterity
+154% Enhanced Defense
+39% Enhanced Damage
All Resistances +30
6% Life stolen per hit
+2 to Barbarian Skill Levels
30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+2 to Combat Skills (Barbarian Only)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Duress
Archon Plate
'ShaelUmThul'
Defense: 1481
Durability: 55 of 60
Required Strength: 103
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xea8cdb7a
+194% Enhanced Defense
+11% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +15%
Cold Resist +45%
Poison Resist +15%
Adds 37-133 cold damage over 2 seconds
40% Faster Hit Recovery
33% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
-20% Slower Stamina Drain
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Entropy Gyre
Ring
Required Level: 74
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x48387fb2
+14 to Strength
+93 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +25%
Lightning Resist +11%
Cold Resist +11%
Poison Resist +11%
4% Life stolen per hit
6% Mana stolen per hit

Mercenary
Prathram
Act 2 NM Offensive

Equipment
Helm: Ethereal Vampire Gaze
Armor: Ethereal Upped Shaftstop
Weapon: Ethereal Upped Kelpie Snare

Equipment Readouts
Code:
Vampire Gaze
Grim Helm
Defense: 378
Durability: 21 of 21
Required Strength: 48
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x1b664f2f
+100% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 10
Damage Reduced by 20%
All Resistances +11
Adds 6-22 cold damage over 4 seconds
6% Life stolen per hit
8% Mana stolen per hit
15% Slower Stamina Drain
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)

Shaftstop
Boneweave
Defense: 1895
Durability: 38 of 45
Required Strength: 148
Required Level: 54
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xd92f50c0
+60 to Life
+182% Enhanced Defense
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Damage Reduced by 30%
Required Level +7
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

Kelpie Snare
Stygian Pike
'Amn'
Two-Hand Damage: 149 to 650
Durability: 29 of 35
Required Dexterity: 87
Required Strength: 158
Required Level: 56
Spear Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x92bd944c
+10 to Strength
+178% Enhanced Damage
+30 to Minimum Damage
+50 to Maximum Damage
Fire Resist +50%
7% Life stolen per hit
Required Level +7
Slows Target by 75%
+103 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)

Comments
Elder is my very first titan build character, I was skeptical at first thinking that without a fort, it'd be hard to get enough damage but that thought was quickly erased from my mind. The original build I had in mind centered around the grandfather which for parts of hell, sometimes by itself and sometimes with the oath. The advantage to using the grandfather was about 200 life. I tried using the gf and the oath together at times, separate at times, just depending on how I felt. I twinked Elder to the max and ran normal /p8 nightmare /p8 and hell /p3. Once I began using the oath at level 49 in Act 1 of NM, I basically rushed the rest of the way through NM 1-hitting everything at /p8. Hell was a little more difficult and I had a few deaths attributed to you guessed it, oblivion knights. I also had a few deaths due to the whirlwind in place not leeching just dying which was quite annoying. I had some AR issues and still do, I plan on boosting the AR some more through charms and possibly looking to rearrange my gloves, boots and belt set-up. Overall, the character was a lot of fun and I would like to thank RibGriller for the oath, Naab (KV) for the ethereal vampire gaze and ethereal kelpie snare, and Neksja for the Grandfather, your generosity is much appreciated and look forward to using these items again on future builds.

Future Outlook
I would like to reach 10k damage with WW on this character which might put Elder on the sidelines until I find a lo rune for fort or acquire a fort.
 
Originally posted by Are on Sep 24, 2009:

Patriarch Hercules, WW Polearm Barb (w/ miniguide)

I finally came to the conclusion that not only my mercs should have access to all the nice Polearms I've been finding over the years, so it was time to make a character to take advantage of them. Hence the birth of Hercules, the WW Polearm Barbarian :)

He grew up and became a Patriarch tonight, besting Baal at level 88. On the way he suffered two deaths, both times due to whirling into packs of PI manaburn monsters and my fingers not working fast enough. While whirling along, you unfortunately often don't know whether a pack of monsters is a boss pack or not until they're dead or you start taking loads of damage :)

My mercenary (Act 2 Might) kept himself off the suicide watch most of the time, but when the Throne of Destruction spawned OKs, he decided to die around 5-6 times on those alone, and then for some reason he also died to every wave except the first one. I normally use Holy Freeze mercs, and it seems as if Holy Freeze actually does help a lot, especially against waves 4 and 5 ;)

Whirlwind, by the way, even makes Act III fun!

I played on /players 8 throughout Normal and Nightmare, switching to /players 5 for Hell, which I stayed at all the way. The Ancients in all difficulties were handled on /players 1.

The future of this character will mainly involve runs on the Act V minor bosses (Pindleskin, Eldritch, Thresh Socket) since he has a perfect Thresh Socket map, and because Find Item works on all of them. The Frozen Tundra WP is also right next to a bosspack, and the Glacial Trail WP is close to the superchest in that area, so those two areas will probably also be included in those runs :)

One thing is for certain; his future will not include any time in areas where Oblivion Knights can spawn!


My gear:
Tomb Reaver (w/ Realgar Jewel of Fervor and Dun Jewel of Wrath):
Code:
Tomb Reaver
Cryptic Axe
Two-Hand Damage: 126 to 583
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Dexterity: 103
Required Strength: 165
Required Level: 84
Polearm Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x53dce121
+284% Enhanced Damage
+7 to Maximum Damage
All Resistances +33
71% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+14 Life after each Kill
+4 to Light Radius
75% Increased Attack Speed
12% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
219% Damage to Undead
+306 to Attack Rating against Undead
10% Reanimate As: Returned
Socketed (2: 2 used)
“Lionheart” Ornate Plate
Arreat’s Face (w/ Ith rune)
String of Ears
Soul Drainer
Gore Rider
Highlord’s Wrath
Gheed’s Fortune
Various GCs, LCs and SCs with +AR, +MaxDamage, +Life, +Strength
2 Rare Rings:
Code:
Entropy Turn
Ring
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0xb294406c
+15 to Strength
+14 to Energy
+60 to Mana
+11 to Maximum Stamina
+118 to Attack Rating
5% Mana stolen per hit


Rune Eye
Ring
Required Level: 74
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x48d23a9d
+19 to Strength
+80 to Mana
+27 to Attack Rating
Cold Resist +21%
8% Life stolen per hit
6% Mana stolen per hit


Mercenary:
Act II Nightmare Offensive (Might aura)
“Insight” Ethereal Cryptic Axe
Ethereal Andariel’s Visage (w/ Ral rune)
Shaftstop (would have put an Um here if I had spares)


Interesting items found while questing:
Code:
Harlequin Crest
Gimmershred
Demon’s Arch
Frostwind
Doombringer


Realgar Jewel of Fervor  (this went into my Tomb Reaver)
Required Level: 37
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 73
Fingerprint: 0x5e0d40b7
+22% Enhanced Damage
15% Increased Attack Speed


Rusty Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x17182bb1
+20% Enhanced Damage
15% Increased Attack Speed


Amber Small Charm of Fortune
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 78
Fingerprint: 0x66a4aec0
Lightning Resist +11%
3% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items


Fine Small Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xd2479fa4
+20 to Attack Rating
+2 to Maximum Damage
3% Faster Run/Walk


Wrist Sword  (maybe useful for some sort of runeword-twinking?)
One-Hand Damage: 34 to 45
Durability: 56 of 56
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 105
Required Strength: 105
Required Level: 46
Claw Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x4d3ed0b9
+2 to Mind Blast (Assassin Only)
+2 to Dragon Flight (Assassin Only)
+3 to Lightning Sentry (Assassin Only)


Shogukusha's Grand Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0xa4dd980c
+18 to Life
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)


Sharp Grand Charm of Sustenance  (currently using this)
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 53
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x1eef2af0
+32 to Life
+73 to Attack Rating
+9 to Maximum Damage


Viper Touch
Ring
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x244c6d7
+118 to Attack Rating
+4 to Maximum Damage
+50 poison damage over 3 seconds
7% Life stolen per hit


Ambergris Jewel of Freedom
Required Level: 14
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x67873924
Lightning Resist +28%
Requirements -15%


Corpse Hood
Circlet
Defense: 23
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 51
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x21a5bf57
+16 to Strength
+18 to Dexterity
Lightning Resist +27%
Poison Resist +39%
+2 to Summoning Skills (Druid Only)
12% Chance to cast Level 4 Charged Bolt when struck


Cracked Phase Blade  (I wonder who managed to crack a Phase Blade?)
One-Hand Damage: 23 to 26
Required Dexterity: 136
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 54
Sword Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x7c270195


Order Touch  (gambled from Anya)
Ring
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x30056988
+15 to Strength
+30 to Mana
+18 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +30%
7% Life stolen per hit


Dread Band  (gambled from Anya)
Ring
Required Level: 22
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xfab7bb82
+55 to Mana
+102 to Attack Rating
Damage Reduced by 1
Lightning Resist +20%
10% Faster Cast Rate
Level 5 Fire Bolt (32/32 Charges)


Chromatic Amulet of Life Everlasting  (gambled from Anya)
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x80a087ba
Damage Reduced by 25
All Resistances +24


Ruby Jewel of Virility
Required Level: 58
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 83
Fingerprint: 0xa293083e
+6 to Strength
+35% Enhanced Damage


Skill Points:
20 Whirlwind
20 Battle Orders
20 Polearm Mastery
20 Shout
1 Battle Command
1 Natural Resistance
1 Berserk
1 War Cry
1 Battle Cry
1 Iron Skin
1 Leap Attack
1 Concentrate
1 Leap
1 Taunt
1 Stun
1 Bash
1 Howl
1 Find Potion
1 Find Item
1 Increased Stamina
1 Increased Speed


Stat Points:
Strength: 202 (Everything else)
Dexterity: 83 (Enough for gear)
Vitality: 240 (Enough for 2.5k-3k life after BO)
Energy: 10 (Base)

(I placed enough in Dexterity so I won't be dependent on the bonus from Lionheart in case I find my elusive second Ber for Chains of Honor)


The Build:
The build will be finished at level 86 if you do all the skill quests.
Further points can be placed into Iron Skin, Find Item or Berserk.

Only take the points in Find Potion and Find Item if you want to use Find Item. If you plan to use Heart Carver as your only source of Find Item, or if you want to hold off on Find Item until you start serious MF-ing, don’t place any points in Find Potion or Find Item early on. Even though I use Heart Carver on switch myself, I still like the 1 hard point in Find Item to avoid hotkey selections potentially disappearing between games.

Some people advocate keeping your run/walk speed at base to keep whirls short. If you wish to take that route, don’t put any points in Increased Speed. Personally, I like the added speed for questing, and I don’t think shorter whirls are timesaving enough overall.
If you choose not to place any points in Increased Speed, you may not want any points in Increased Stamina either, although it is likely still worth it.


For those interested, I made this walkthrough of skill point distribution by level (note that you may complete the skill quests at different points than mentioned here):

level 2-5 + Den of Evil:
Bash, Howl, and Find Potion 1 point each, save the remaining 2 points.

Take the point in Bash first, and use it on left-click.


level 6-17:
Polearm Mastery 6 points. Leap, Shout, Taunt, Stun, Increased Stamina, and Find Item 1 point each, save the remaining 2 points.


level 18-29 + Radament:
Battle Orders 6 points. Concentrate, Leap Attack, Iron Skin, Battle Cry, and Increased Speed 1 point each, save the remaining 4 points.

Use Concentrate instead of Bash on left-click, with Leap Attack on right-click (very useful to reach monsters that resurrect others, plus to jump across rivers, getting close to archers, etc).


level 30-35:
Whirlwind 6 points. Battle Command, Berserk, War Cry, and Natural Resistance 1 point each.

Whirlwind will be the main attack from here on out. Use it on right-click to avoid the game thinking you want to move normally instead of using Whirlwind. You want to click past monsters rather than directly on a monster for most efficient use. Keep the mouse button held while whirling, just moving the mouse in small increments. This lets you continue whirling indefinitely as long as there are monsters to hit and mana in your pool.

Remember to use Berserk on physical immune monsters and in any area where Oblivion Knights can be found (this includes Chaos Sanctuary on all difficulties, plus Infernal Pit, Worldstone Keep Level 3 and Throne of Destruction in NM/Hell).

From here, alternate placing points in Battle Orders and Polearm Mastery until both are maxed, then max Whirlwind, and finally Shout.


Gear Info:
Regardless of what gear you choose to use, there are some mods that are fairly essential to the success of this build:

You need to have a high-damage weapon, preferably reaching the last WW breakpoint (-60), but the second-last breakpoint (-30) is also ok.

You need to have a decent amount of life and mana leech. Aim for at least 10-15% life leech and 5-10% mana leech. You can’t drink potions while whirling, so this is a must.

You should aim for 25-35% “damage taken goes to mana”. This helps a great deal against unleechable monsters (such as skeletons), as well as against mana drain and mana burn monsters, allowing whirls to continue longer.

Some percentage of physical damage reduction also helps a lot, since we can’t use a shield.

A high amount of bonuses to Attack Rating is also essential. I mainly use charms for this purpose, but the Angelic Halo-Angelic Wings combo is also very good for this purpose.

You should have some amount of Crushing Blow. Deadly Strike is also very good.

Resists should be close to max in Hell difficulty.

"% chance to cast on attack/striking" mods do NOT work with Whirlwind, so there is no point in loading up on those types of items.

"+skills" items are less required for this build than for most other builds, so there is no need to go out of your way to find gear with this unless those items also have other useful mods.

"% Increased Attack Speed" outside of the weapon is irrelevant as far as Whirlwind is concerned; it only cares about the actual speed of the weapon (plus any runes/jewels socketed in it).


Gear Options:
(I've tried to include budget options where I thought there were good ones)

Armor: “Chains of Honor” RW – “Fortitude” RW – “Lionheart” RW – “Duress” RW – “Stone” RW – “Gloom” RW – “Smoke” RW – Leviathan – Tyrael’s Might – Arkaine’s Valor – The Gladiator’s Bane – Shaftstop – Duriel’s Shell – Spirit Forge – Skin of the Flayed One

Helm: Arreat’s Face – Giant Skull – Crown of Ages – Andariel’s Visage – Veil of Steel – Steel Shade – Harlequin Crest – Vampire Gaze – Stealskull – Rockstopper – perfect Demonhorn’s Edge – rare barbarian helm with +Barb/Combat skills and nice skillmods (preferably WW, BO, Polearm Mastery, Iron Skin, or Natural Resistance)

Gloves: Soul Drainer – Dracul’s Grasp – Steelrend – Venom Grip – “Blood” crafted gloves

Belt: String of Ears – Verdungo’s Hearty Cord – Nosferatu’s Coil – Gloom’s Trap

Boots: Gore Rider – Goblin Toe

Amulet: Highlord’s Wrath – Crescent Moon – Metalgrid – Angelic Wings (w/ Angelic Halo) – The Eye of Etlich – dual leech “Blood” crafted amulet – dual leech rare amulet

Rings: Carrion Wind – Bul-Kathos’ Wedding Band – Angelic Halo (w/ Angelic Wings) – Raven Frost – “Blood” crafted ring – (dual) leech rare ring

Weapons (last WW breakpoint): Tomb Reaver (w/ 1 Shael rune or IAS jewel) – “Breath of the Dying” RW (Great Poleaxe or Giant Thresher, preferably ethereal) – Bonehew (w/ 2 Shael runes or IAS jewels) – Athena’s Wrath (w/ Shael rune)

Weapons (2nd-last WW breakpoint): Upgraded The Meat Scraper (extra IAS not needed) – Regular The Meat Scraper (w/ Shael rune or IAS jewel)

The “Hand of Justice”, “Doom”, “Fury”, “Call to Arms”, “Silence”, and “Crescent Moon” runewords can also reach the second-last breakpoint in some polearms, and all of them have nice other mods, but if you have the wealth to make any of those you should also have access to some of the options for the last breakpoint :)
 
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Originally posted by Arfurala on Jul 4, 2006:

Introducing: Patriarch DeathSpinner

Back in the days when I was still playing on the realms, I always wanted to make a WW polearm barb, but I didn't have any good polearms to do so, but now in SP, I could finally round my dream.

Current Level: 85
Stats:
Str:245 Dex:75 Vit:150 Eng:10
Remaining statpoints: 40

Skills:
1 Howl (prerequisite)
20 Shout
20 Battle Orders
1 Battle Command

20 Polearm Mastery
3 Iron Skin (remaining points will go here, reaching 17 by lvl 99)
5 Natural Resistance

1 Bash
1 Stun
1 Concentrate
1 Berzerk
1 Leap
1 Leap Attack
20 Whrilwind

Gears:
Bonehew (197%ED) socketed with 2 15%IAS jewels (no prefixes)
Crown of Ages (14%DR +26AllRes) socketed with 2 perfect rubies (+76 life)
Goldskin :embarassed:
String of Ears (15%DR 8%LL)
Rare Sharkskin Gloves (+14Dex +20LR +26CR 3%LL)
Goblin Toe
Magical Amulet (+29AllRes 6%ML)
Rare Ring (+82Mana 7%LL 3%ML)
Magical Ring (+39Life +13AllRes)

Total MF=0%!

Weapon Switch:
Gull (My only source of MF)
Heart Carver

Might Merc Gear:
Guillaume's Face
Leviathan (+191%EDef +108Def 23%DR)
The Reaper's Toll (+236%EDam 11%LL)

Decerpify + Crushing Blow is remarkable! Although I am not sure about this, maybe some gosus out there can confirm it for me, I believe Decerpify actually enhances the damage of crushing blow. The merc was able to kill almost every monster in the game on his own, which makes my barb look like a sidekick more than the main character.

The thing that this barb impresses me most is his ability play through almost the whole game at /p8. He can run Pindle at /p8 and clear the whole place within 3 mins (Pindle takes less than 1 min depends on mods). I didn't change back to /p1 except fighting bosses or going through dangerous areas (OKs, PIs). The Ancients? DeathSpinner said: Madawc doesn't know Shout, Krolic doesn't know polearms, and Talic doesn't know Whrilwind. Muahahaha!

As you can see I am saving statpoints, I am still trying to look for my ultimate WW polearm, the Tomb Reaver. Since Tomb Reaver has resistances on it, I will be able to get rid of goldskin and equip some higher defense armor that helps DR or Enhances Damage, I hope Pindle is kind enough to drop me one soon.
 
Originally posted by asdfgah on Aug 18, 2005:

An introduction to Patriarch teh_LiZarD the WW balrog-barb ;)

He is finally here! My fourth single player patriarch
(but my first mat/pat thread)

Patriarch teh_LiZarD

I'm calling him balrog because without thinking about it, the two runewords he is using are made in balrog base items, balrog skin and balrog blade :D

Character name : teh_LiZarD
Character type : Barbarian
Character level : 81
Character exp : 770439007

Warcries
Combat masteries
Combat skills
Stats


Equipment:

Arreat's Face
Angelic Wings
Angelic Halo
Raven Frost
Gore Rider
Sounding Grand Charm of Dexterity
Jade Small Charm of Vita
2x teh_LiZarD's Echoing Throwing Spear
String of Ears
Soul Drainer
Carrion Wind
Shimmering Small Charm

Oath
Balrog Blade

'ShaelPulMalLum'
One-Hand Damage: 93 to 474
Two-Hand Damage: 347 to 750
Required Dexterity: 77
Required Strength: 175
Required Level: 53
Sword Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xbc994252
+10 to Energy
+324% Enhanced Damage
50% Increased Attack Speed
Prevent Monster Heal
75% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+13 Magic Absorb
Indestructible
30% Chance to cast Level 20 Bone Spirit on striking
Level 16 Heart of Wolverine (10/20 Charges)
Level 17 Iron Golem (14/14 Charges)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Duress
Balrog Skin

'ShaelUmThul'
Defense: 1393
Durability: 27 of 30
Required Strength: 165
Required Level: 57
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xc2b15da5
+177% Enhanced Defense
+14% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +15%
Cold Resist +45%
Poison Resist +15%
Adds 37-133 cold damage over 2 seconds
40% Faster Hit Recovery
33% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
-20% Slower Stamina Drain
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Act 2 might mercenary items:

Duriel's Shell
Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
The Reaper's Toll

"Noteable" finds:

carrion wind, aldur's advance (radament)
lycander's flank (gloombat boss, flayer dungeon level 1)
Both NM and hell hellforge runes were crap (sol/io) but I've found 2 hel runes on the way. There wasn't even one good act boss drop :(

Misc images:

Patriarch teh_LiZarD
LiZarD
Talic is going down!
Grrr! :rant:
Baal is going down!

Is this a joke? It happened to me when I was uploading images =P

This is my first barbarian that I've made patriarch that hasn't been using the Immortal King set or had help from other players. I played in MP games in normal and nm but went completely solo through hell. I didn't like the IK barb because the one I had was slow and quite weak and I didn't like the short range of the maul (2). I've been looking for a weapon with the potential to make a ww barb that would effective as the IK set. I finally I got one after I found the runes from my countess runs and made oath out of an old 4os eth balrog blade from my socketed item stash. Got a quite lucky ed roll actually, 324 of 340 max % ed. For the duress armour I took an old hellforge UM and another socketed item from my socketed item stash.

When playing the barb I played with p8 in normal and nightmare and p1 in hell because I liked the feeling of just kicking every monster's butt, something I've never done before with a meelee build since none of my earlier ones has been this powerful =D

It was really nice to be able to use the endgame weapon as early as level 53. He was somewhere in act2 nightmare when he hit level 53 and he could take down enemies there with one whirlwind hit on p8. Then five levels later I could use the duress and get rid of the "leathery" look of duriel's shell and replace it with shiny metal from the balrog skin :D

There were no problems in hell, I killed most enemies in 1-2 hits or at least in one whirl. Berserk took care of any PI's, some mana burn / PI ghosts could be annoying but there was nothing I couldn't handle. The hardest thing was actually the levels about 30-48 because I didn't have a good weapon to use before swordguard that becomes avaliable at level 48.

Have I missed to mentioned something or is it anything anything that you find indistinct? Feel free to ask of course! But remember, it's the first time I post a mat/pat thread so be nice =)
 
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Originally posted by bcoe on Jan 16, 2010:

Patriarch Telemachus (1.13 Pindle-running WW Barb)

Patriarch Telemachus


This is my effort to make an idealized Pindle-Barb. 1.13 was helpful, as I could level up as a by-the-books WWer and re-specced once I got to Pindle. I patted him around level 82, and have been working over Pindle for a bit now leveling and choosing final gear. I think I’ve got his rig finalized, and am now ready to start pounding the zombie until he gives up the last two things I need for my grail (Death’s Fathom and Mang’s).

STATS:
Name: Telemachus
Level: 91
Strength: 30 (124)
Dexterity: 126 (136)
Vitality: 384 (404)
Energy: 35 (45)

Life: 1870
Mana: 236


Skills (after + skills):
Combat Skills tree:
Bash: 7 (10)
Double Swing: 6 (9)
Whirlwind: 20 (23)
Berserk, prereqs: 1 (4)

Masteries:
Sword Mastery: 20 (25)
Increased Speed: 20 (25)
Natural Resists: 1 (6)
Prereqs: 1 (6)

War Cries:
Find Item: 20 (23)
Find Potion: 1 (4)
Nothing Else!

LCS:
http ://img707.imageshack.us/img707/3473/telemachuslcs.jpg

How I got there:

He was just a standard WW barb until he started seriously Pindling. He max’d WW, Sword mastery, BO, shout. He eventually got to using dual-grief PBs and just mowed down enemies all the way through Baal. Without the threat of IM, WW is ridiculously powerful in 1.13.

On to equipment….

Equipment:
Head: Steelskull (Isted). Dual leech and 73%MF? OK.
Amulet: Raven Wing (crafted, 25%MF, 20FCR, +2 masteries)
Armor: Enigma BP
Weapon1: Grief PB (32IAS/+384 damage)
Weapon2: Azurewrath
Switch: Dual Wizspikes (each with Ist)
Belt: SoE (8%, 15 DR
Gloves: Chance Guards (40% MF)
Rings: 2x nagels (each 30%)
Boots: Wartravelers (50%

Charms:
Gheeds (156/37/15)
SC’s totaling 122 MF, most with AR
2x4 area free for grabbing stuff

Resists: -22/-22/+20/-22
Total MF: 498/558

Merc: Might with Eth Reapers Toll (with RjoF), Glad’s Bane, Andy’s Visage

Finds:
Hellforge: Don’t remember
Horks: Highlight is a Lo from pindle (when I was still in leveling gear, running at players8)

EDIT: 15 minutes after I posted this: http ://img707.imageshack.us/img707/5342/pindehwindeh.jpg A great start!

Thoughts:

Well, he runs Pindle (with horking) at about 26-27 seconds with ~500 MF. Pretty sweet. My overall goal for him was to get his runs as fast as possible with adequate MF. I decided to completely forgo BO, as the ~2 seconds it takes to cast it isn’t worth it. With the knockback from Sanctuary (Azurewrath) and the Decrep from the Merc, he’s pretty safe without 3k+ HPs. With sanctuary, Pindle is never immune to physical damage. The big slow-down came from getting mana-burned, which would lead to some frantic potting to get whirling again. With a fairly modest investment in Double Swing (and its synergy, Bash), I have a mana-free backup attack that hits (and leeches) plenty reliably.

The 20 in Increased Speed is worth it for this application, I think. Extra FRW is a problem with WW in general, but not for Pindling. I think that being confined in such a tight space, you have much less likelihood of WW’ing way beyond where you want to be just because you have too much FRW to control it well. Plus, there wasn’t another obvious place to dump a bunch of skill points.

The last major decision was to go with a 105FCR switch instead of dual Ali-Babas. I figured that the extra MF added with the Ali-Baba’s would be fairly negligible, but the speed difference between 0FCR and 105FCR horking would be noticeable. I was definitely right on that, and I would encourage any horking build to give FCR (as opposed to MF or GF) priority on the “horking switch.”

Anyways, this is an extremely specialized build that is really made tolerable by the re-speccing introduced in 1.13. I was skeptical at first, but this has been fun….
 
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