Matriarch/Patriarch/Guardian Archive Thread

Originally posted by @Nano on Feb 21, 2020:

Patriarch Ash, Fire Claws Mauler

During my final push to finish off the grail, Pindle dropped this little gem. At that point I already had a Zod and a couple RJoF's ready to go, so it was inevitable that all those parts would come together one day.

duzwMXN.jpg


My very first thought was to put this on a Fire Claws druid, specifically a Werebear variant with access to one of the best CC skills in the game, Shock Wave. Combine that with a fast and devastating dual damage melee attack should bring some fun times. Given the end game weapon is a polearm, I decided that restricting weapons to polearms-only would be the theme of the playthrough. Players 8 all the way as well.

Normal

Ash started off level 1 with this War Scythe and the help of 2x +Strength GCs.
6 OS War Scythe- 7% ED, +30 AR, 40 poison, -75% Req (3x Hel + ED/-Req Jewel + 2x AR/Envy Jewels)

The remaining equipment through Act 1 is fairly basic. The early levels go by so quickly I didn't feel the need to min/max much.
Biggin's Bonnet
Death's Gloves
Death's Sash
Angelic Ring/Ammy
Cow King's Boots
Manald Heal
Twitchthroe
20x SC 1-6 Lightning Damage (level 9)
Circlet: 1-114 Lightning Damage, +10 all res, +22 fire res (level 18)

It was fun using a range 5 weapon at the start, it's a small but nice advantage being able to land a hit from farther away. Especially against fallen that are trying to retreat but remain in range long enough for the hit to land.

At level 18, Fire Claws became the primary melee attack with Maul taking a back seat. Ash upgraded to Hwanin's Justice in the Chaos Sanctuary, needing the extra physical damage against the fire resistant monsters. At this time I also swapped in max damage GCs and SCs with life and also this nice circlet too: +1 Druid Skills, 20 FRW, 8 Str, 54 life, 67 mana, 35 fire res. Lister's pack was the first real need to bring out Shock Wave- nothing like stunning back the stunners.

Nightmare

Ash advanced into nightmare at level 42 with the following gear setup:
Athena's Wrath "Shael"
Jalal's Mane
Lava Gout
Vipermagi
String of Ears
Dual leech ring
Ravenfrost (lvl 45)
+3 SS Ammy (lvl 45)
Rare boots 30 frw, dex, dual res
Shapeshift GC's
Life/Res SC's

Athena's Wrath is a very fitting weapon for this Werebear with its big +3 Druid skills, fast attack speed, and decent weapon damage. The nightmare segment went by quickly due to the prolific increase in FC damage through both gear upgrades and raw skill points. By late nightmare Ash started to equip some end game gear, which will be listed together in the Hell segment.

Hell

Unfortunately, Tomb Reaver's required level is 84, which is fairly out of reach if Ash stayed in NM. I'd prefer to play through Hell with ETomb, so I decided to have Ash run straight to Pits to level up first, making sure to bypass the Act 1 quests.

Here's the final setup:
Eth Tomb Reaver
Jalal's Mane + IAS Jewel
Fortitude Archon Plate
Laying of Hands
Arachnid Mesh
Gore Rider
Highlord's Wrath
Ravenfrost 239/20
Rare ring (+120 AR, 3% MS, 7% LS, 9 Dex, +8 All Res, +11 Light Res)

8x Shape-shift GC's (6x with life)
8x SC (Assorted)
Spiritual Grand Charm of Vita
Grand Charm
Required Level: 69
Fingerprint: 0xb8da47c9
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+39 to Life

Spiritual Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 53
Fingerprint: 0xff1a147d
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+32 to Life

Spiritual Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xa505ed2f
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+28 to Life

Spiritual Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xefef362d
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+28 to Life

Spiritual Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xcd4d03ec
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+27 to Life

Spiritual Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x885474ad
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+17 to Life

Spiritual Grand Charm of Maiming
Grand Charm
Required Level: 63
Fingerprint: 0xffedb23e
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+3 to Maximum Damage

Spiritual Grand Charm of Burning
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x89fd44f9
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
Adds 2 - 4 Fire Damage


Fine Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x5cab33ca
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Maximum Damage
+19 to Attack Rating
+13 to Life

Fine Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0xf2534ea3
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
+2 to Maximum Damage
+20 to Attack Rating

Fine Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0xf3a864b3
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
+3 to Maximum Damage
+19 to Attack Rating

Fine Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x996e2b79
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Maximum Damage
+15 to Attack Rating
+12 to Life

Shimmering Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0x92b088e1
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+13 to Life
All Resistances +5

Amber Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x9282796d
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Lightning Resist +11%

Fine Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x533e9b50
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Maximum Damage
+18 to Attack Rating
+12 to Life

Fine Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xd3b6cb67
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Maximum Damage
+17 to Attack Rating
+20 to Life

A2 Merc (Might)
Infinity
Fortitude
Andariel's Visage

Skill Build
20 Fire Claws
20 Firestorm
20 Molten Boulder
20 Fissure
X Volcano (Remaining points here)
1 HoW, Shock Wave, Maul, Prereqs

Enough vitality for 3K life, remaining stat points into strength. There was enough +skills from gear adding to Lycanthropy, Werebear, Maul, and Shock Wave that all available points went into FC synergies.

Gear was selected with some balance in mind between fire and physical damage. Arachnid Mesh and Fortitude provides some needed FCR for Shock Wave (and recasting HoW). The IAS jewel in Jalal's is required to reach 6 FPA. -%Defense from Infinity solves CTH issues.

Even at Players 8, Ash steamrolled through Hell. Maul can complement Fire Claws through the temporary boost in physical damage with the charge-up ball, but I mostly used this against fire resistant monsters. Fire Claws without the Maul charge-up is already plenty strong for regular use. The massive physical damage portion meant that leech was effective, which is something pure FC builds lack. I've played the 4 FPA version with Shael'd PB in the past, and I much prefer this 6 FPA ETomb version that can hit hard with physical damage as well.


There was a little slow down in CS, as expected with the fire immunes, but Shock Wave saves the day. Swapping Infinity for Reaper's is an option here, but I decided to stay with the same setup. Incredibly fun and powerful melee build throughout. Even a non-eth Tomb Reaver will be quite powerful, an eth version is not required at all. Here's the LCS damage.

gcyujub.jpg
 
Originally posted by Neksja on Nov 22, 2008:

Patriarch Amanu (3/7 furysept)

Hello,

At first, there's stats/skills/gear and readouts. At the end is some blablablablabla, if you're interested. Let's start!

Character name : Amanu
Character type : Druid
Character level : 83

LCS
Strength : 45 (139)
Energy : 20 (40)
Dexterity : 46 (86)
Vitality : 394

Life : 2836
Mana : 302
Resists : 62/62/75/62

Skills:

20 (33) Fury
20 (33) Fire Claws
20 (25) Firestorm
20 (25) Molten Boulder
x (13) Fissure
1 (14) Werewolf
1 (14) Lycanthropy
rest in prereqs

Damage numbers:

Without Might:
Fury 551-2608
Fire Claws 6926-8138
Feral Rage 270-1169

With Might:
Fury 657-3152
Fire Claws 7032-8682
Feral Rage 376-1713

Gear:

Jalal's Mane (15all res jewel)
Highlord's Wrath
Fiend Quill Fanged Knife
Enigma LP
Sanctuary Troll Nest
Dracul's Grasp
Ravenfrost
String of Ears
Corruption Whorl Ring
Gore Rider

Switch: Fleshrender/Lidless Wall

Readouts:
Code:
Jalal's Mane
Totemic Mask
Defense: 290
Durability: 20 of 20
(Druid Only)
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x6b4b4e9f
+20 to Strength
+20 to Energy
+193% Enhanced Defense
All Resistances +45
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+5 to Mana After Each Kill
+2 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xcfee533a
Lightning Resist +35%
Adds 1-30 lightning damage
20% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to All Skill Levels
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 15
31% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)

Fiend Quill
Fanged Knife
'Shael'
One-Hand Damage: 53 to 249
Durability: 36 of 36
Required Dexterity: 86
Required Strength: 42
Required Level: 62
Dagger Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x49cc8ec9
+249% Enhanced Damage
+1 to Minimum Damage
+10 to Maximum Damage
Required Level +12
50% Increased Attack Speed
+41 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
+1369 to Attack Rating (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Enigma
Light Plate
'JahIthBer'
Defense: 859
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Strength: 41
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 64
Fingerprint: 0x443f906
+755 Defense
Damage Reduced by 8%
Increase Maximum Life 5%
+14 Life after each Kill
45% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Teleport
15% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
+2 to All Skill Levels
+62 to Strength (Based on Character Level)
83% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Sanctuary
Troll Nest
'KoKoMal'
Defense: 380
Chance to Block:  60%
Durability: 74 of 74
Required Strength: 106
Required Level: 57
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x21545ee
+20 to Dexterity
+132% Enhanced Defense
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Magic Damage Reduced by 7
All Resistances +70
20% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Faster Block Rate
Level 12 Slow Missiles (60/60 Charges)
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Dracul's Grasp
Vampirebone Gloves
Defense: 130
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 76
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xc11cf2f8
+12 to Strength
+98% Enhanced Defense
10% Life stolen per hit
+9 Life after each Kill
25% Chance of Open Wounds
5% Chance to cast Level 10 Life Tap on striking

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xcaa28ad3
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+234 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

String of Ears
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 106
Durability: 22 of 22
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xfecc92f3
+160% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 12
Damage Reduced by 12%
8% Life stolen per hit
+10 Maximum Durability

Corruption Whorl
Ring
Required Level: 74
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x64329330
+15 to Life
+38 to Mana
+18 to Attack Rating
All Resistances +7
6% Mana stolen per hit
15% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 156
Durability: 34 of 34
Required Strength: 94
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x1488783e
+20 to Maximum Stamina
+189% Enhanced Defense
+10 Maximum Durability
Requirements -25%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike

Fleshrender
Barbed Club
One-Hand Damage: 66 to 110
Durability: 56 of 56
Required Strength: 30
Required Level: 38
Mace Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x62b6d7b9
+140% Enhanced Damage
+35 to Minimum Damage
+50 to Maximum Damage
+20 Maximum Durability
+1 to Druid Skill Levels
Prevent Monster Heal
150% Damage to Undead
25% Chance of Open Wounds
20% Chance of Crushing Blow
20% Deadly Strike
+2 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Lidless Wall
Grim Shield
Defense: 292
Chance to Block:  40%
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 51
Fingerprint: 0xbd4c562
+10 to Energy
+94% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 10%
+1 to Light Radius
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
+3 to Mana After Each Kill

Charms:
Code:
Sharp Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 30
Fingerprint: 0xed6beb93
+67 to Attack Rating
+8 to Maximum Damage

Spiritual Grand Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 64
Fingerprint: 0x74a822d0
+21 to Life
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 53
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x5d0ec9fe
+31 to Life
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Shimmering Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 50
Fingerprint: 0xd05b9909
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 66
Fingerprint: 0xdf1bdeab
All Resistances +5

Fine Small Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0xe80db633
+10 to Life
+10 to Attack Rating
+3 to Maximum Damage

Fine Small Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x3ca5865b
+20 to Attack Rating
+3 to Maximum Damage
3% Faster Run/Walk

Fine Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x30ef9342
+15 to Attack Rating
+3 to Maximum Damage
5% Faster Hit Recovery

Fine Small Charm of Anthrax
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 36
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x30508bce
+16 to Attack Rating
+3 to Maximum Damage
+50 poison damage over 6 seconds

Fine Small Charm of Fire
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xcd7720ab
+17 to Attack Rating
+3 to Maximum Damage
Adds 2-3 fire damage

Spiritual Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xd1a25006
+36 to Life
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x36f47772
+36 to Life
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xebac602e
+37 to Life
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 83
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xa1b715ec
+45 to Life
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Act2 Might Merc:
Code:
Vampire Gaze
Grim Helm
Defense: 378
Durability: 21 of 21
Required Strength: 48
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x8f63da3d
+100% Enhanced Defense
+1 to Minimum Damage
Magic Damage Reduced by 14
Damage Reduced by 20%
Adds 6-22 cold damage over 4 seconds
8% Life stolen per hit
8% Mana stolen per hit
15% Increased Attack Speed
15% Slower Stamina Drain
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)

Fortitude
Archon Plate
'ElSolDolLo'
Defense: 1587
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Strength: 103
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x3bebbbe2
+200% Enhanced Defense
+300% Enhanced Damage
+15 Defense
Damage Reduced by 7
Fire Resist +28%
Lightning Resist +28%
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Cold Resist +28%
Poison Resist +28%
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
+83 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Obedience
Cryptic Axe
'HelKoThulEthFal'
Two-Hand Damage: 230 to 1057
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Dexterity: 72
Required Strength: 122
Required Level: 59
Polearm Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xd9797b67
+10 to Strength
+10 to Dexterity
+370% Enhanced Damage
+274 Defense
All Resistances +29
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)

Gameplay

I used switch to turn myself a wolf and then back to main switch. Right-click Feral Rage and left-click FC and Fury. Because I had quite a low physical damage from the weapon, I mainly used FC against everyone except obviously Fire Immunes. Merc had a huge physical damage, so it doesn't matter much that I didn't have.

PI's, very easy. First character that enjoyed seeing Ghosts/Wraths, because they were down with single FC. Yes, I played /p1 in Hell. FI's took a little longer, especially if there were a lot of them. Didn't park a single monster, because I saw just one PI/FI and it was in CS. That Venom Lord seal boss, so I just couldn't park him. Took a long time and a belt full of juvies :) But we made it.

FC and wolf? Very nice, hits decent attack speed and nice damage. Not as fast as Bear, but very capable of killing stuff. And, Bears are damn ugly!


Furysept

3/7 done and that lvl49 MLD druid is going next to Hell CS, obviously he won't make Patriarch, but he is a "Patriarch" when he gets to Hell Arreat Summit.

Couple of "rules" I'm not sure, if I've mentioned before. Every character (excluding the MLD druid) has to be at least lvl83 (and able to use that +45life shaper GC) before killing Baal. Also, every character has to use different weapon than others. And of course, everyone has to have 20 in Fury :yes:

Next one from the sept, is propably that MLD or Fury/Summon. Not sure yet, because I have so many other builds to do.


Enigma

Amanu is my third character that uses Enigma (not counting those chars that have used it after Pat/Mat) and he is second that doesn't use the Teleport ability :) Maybe the next Enigma-character will?


Finds

NM HF: Hel
HELL HF: Ko

Other finds: Trang gloves, Guillaume's Face


Do I recommend it?

If you like wolfs (like I obviously do), then yes. He's a lot of fun, but he's not the best melee char there is, when it comes to speed. How about Bear? I've done one Bear and I'll never do another, they're just too ugly, big clumsy furry teddybear. Don't go that way.


Got questions? Go for it now!
Neksja
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by poopie_pants on Jan 24, 2011:

Patriarch Dos_Osos - Mauling Wearbear

Dos loved his bear Osos. Osos loved his master Dos. Together, Dos and Osos ventured out into the Blood Moor to share their love with the rest of the world...that is except for the Prime Evils, whom they aimed to viciously crush with their bare hands. Thus began the adventures of Dos_Osos, the two bears.

Dos_Osos, clvl84 (leveled upon killing Baal)

Final Stats:
Strength - 190 (220)
Dexterity - 70 (101)
Vitality - 230 (230)
Energy - Base (40)

Maul Damage (with Might, HoW, fully charged) - 5149-7973
Life - 2803, over 3k with Battle Orders
Resists - 75/44/80/33

Skill Allocation:

Wearbear - 20
Lycanthropy - 20
Maul - 20
Shock Wave - 2
Heart of Wolverine - 20
Summon Grizzly - 8
Pre-reqs - 5

Was tempted to put a point into Hunger, but at the end didn't really find a need for it.

Equipment:

Helm - Jalal's (perfect ruby)
Ammy - Highlord's
Gloves - Laying of Hands (what else hehe)
Boots - Gore Riders
Belt - Nosferatu's Coil (to hit 7 frame attack)
Rings - Raven Frost, Dual Leech Rare
Armor - Fortitude Wire Fleece
Weapon - Upped Ribcracker (Shael'ed)
Switch - CtA / Spirit
Inventory - Spiritual GC of Balance, Shimmering GC, rest resists and AR

Notable Read-outs:
Code:
Ribcracker
Stalagmite
'Shael'
Two-Hand Damage: 318 to 475
Durability: 79 of 130
Required Dexterity: 35
Required Strength: 63
Required Level: 56
Staff Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x721d9433
+15 to Dexterity
+100% Enhanced Defense
+284% Enhanced Damage
+30 to Minimum Damage
+65 to Maximum Damage
+100 Defense
+100 Maximum Durability
Required Level +7
70% Increased Attack Speed
50% Faster Hit Recovery
150% Damage to Undead
50% Chance of Crushing Blow
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Fortitude
Wire Fleece
'ElSolDolLo'
Defense: 1338
Durability: 29 of 32
Required Strength: 111
Required Level: 59
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x1fa25d5a
+200% Enhanced Defense
+300% Enhanced Damage
+15 Defense
Damage Reduced by 7
Fire Resist +29%
Lightning Resist +29%
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Cold Resist +29%
Poison Resist +29%
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
+115 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Call to Arms
Caduceus
'AmnRalMalIstOhm'
One-Hand Damage: 139 to 162
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Dexterity: 70
Required Strength: 97
Required Level: 66
Mace Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x7b81732d
+278% 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
+2 to Battle Cry
+5 to Battle Command
Prevent Monster Heal
150% Damage to Undead
+1 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (5: 5 used)

Ghoul Master
Ring
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x4340bb9e
+64 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +25%
Poison Resist +10%
7% Life stolen per hit
5% Mana stolen per hit
Poison Length Reduced by 25%

Spiritual Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x627382b8
12% Faster Hit Recovery
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Merc:

Gulzar, the Act II offensive dummy who happened to like bears. Seriously, this guy was dumb as nails, more so than most Act II mercs I play with. Would get stuck around corners, took forever to proc Decrepify, all in all what you expect I guess.

Helm - Kira's (Sol)
Armor - Guardian Angel (Um)
Weapon - Reaper's (Amn)

Gameplay:

Normal and Nightmare were played entirely on /players 8. Built him as a mauling wearbear from the start, never really had the need to respec other than to shift stats. Utilized a Goreshovel (with +15 max dam jewel) to get through most of Normal, and then made the switch over to first Ribcracker and then the Buriza. This character was a hell of a lot of fun to play with a Buriza equipped (one-shotting baddies and watching them shatter into small shards of ice is always fun)...I'm convinced this build would be very Hell viable using the Buriza all the way through. But I decided to make the switch to an Upped Ribcracker because of the added bonuses (namely crushing blow, defense) without losing the 7-frame attack.

Hell was played in its entirety on /players 3. Very safe character that dished out excellent damage at a decent rate. PI's were annoying, and would have been impossible if not for Decrepify from the Reaper's. Still, many a pack got abandoned while making my way through Hell. In terms of attack strategy, pretty straightforward, I'd pre-buff on switch and cast BO for the party, shapeshift and switch back to primary. I had Maul on left-click and Shock Wave on right-click, the latter of which was useful in stunning groups of mobs when needed.

As for the bear Osos, well, he was just kind of there. Dos couldn't help himself on a couple of ocassions (bad Dos!).

A few deaths along the way, all in Hell, until I realized that not having 75 in LR was a bad idea. Overall, fun character, certainly worth giving a whirl if you're looking for something a little out of the norm.

Notable Finds:

Hellforge - nothing worth remembering on NM, but an Ist in Hell

I also found a Pul in Act 5 Hell, which I proceeded to do this with by accident (doh). Could have been worse I suppose.

Well, that's all folks. Thanks to everyone who took a read through, hope you enjoyed. Up next? Not sure, I've been itching to put together a Poison Nova nec, but I don't have the gear for him yet so mayble I'll knock on Pindle's door another 1,000 times in hopes that a little wand presents itself.

Until next time 👋
-PP
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by @Naranjadita on December 29, 2012

Guardian Applejack - Orbing Firedancer (My Little Pony Sept)

Howdy there!
I'd like you folks to meet Applejack - a hard working, strong and stubborn mare-of-all-trades with some adorable southern accent :)

Have some facts about AJ:
1. She is fast and strong (I really mean it). Even Rainbow Dash admits it.
2. She is the Bearer of the Element of Honesty
3. She wears a cowboy hat
4. She has freckles and it's cute :3

Looking at how Applejack and other members of the Apples family harvest apples from apple trees (too many apples in one sentence o_O) I couldn't think of any other build but a kicker for AJ.
But plain ol' kicker is somewhat dull and I wanted something fancier and brighter. I spent a cuple hours putting a few numbers together, then I spent a couple more hours to obtain items of appropriate colours and TADAA!

clicky-friggin-click!

An orbing firedancer! And there are some reasons for that.

- I always liked the visual style of fire traps. Also I always felt they are kind of underestimated and thus underused. Besides, fire fits AJ's orange coat colour.
- I wanted a character relying on attack speed. True, Dragon Talon offers a lot of it, but it does not have too much to offer in terms of damage (geez, just compare it with Zeal).
This said, charge-ups and Dragon Tail were out of question.

Rift, however, grantss some really good elemental damage that benefits from attack speed, so I decided to give it a try.
- autocasts are cool.

-=Mercenary=-

Applejack is a very stubborn creature. She is also very independant. She is known to refuse help offered by her friends even when she really needs it.
That's why she has no mercenary hired - she's just sure she'll do fine by herself.
Well, it is kind of obvious that she regretted her decision more than one or two times, but she ain't gonna confess.
Besides, Baal is dead, job is done, so this is not important at all. Right? :)

-=Build and gameplay=-

Normal and Nightmare (except for A4Nm) were really easy. Kicks alone dealt plenty of damage; so did traps. I didn't really miss the mercenary - things were dieing before they could hurt me.

Things went a bit different when Applejack started her journey in Hell difficulty.
I was forsed to use Shadow AI altering skills very intensively.
I was also forsed to combine all sources of damage I posessed to be effective. This caused some really fast hotkey stoccatto clicking, like, CoS, 'blast, 'blast, 5 traps, some kicking, a few more traps, 'blast - OH COME ON! I KILLED ALL THE SHAMANS! WHO IN THE HOOF KEEPS RESURRECTING THESE THINGS?!

Things were getting harder and harder. Sometimes I even had to fall to trapper side just to avoid death.
Act 4 was obviously the most difficult. Fat monsters, lot's of fire resistance, cold and fire immunes. It took quite some time to finish the act. Harrogath was a kids' play after Chaos Sanctualy.

Conclusions:
Fire traps are dealing surprisingly good damage. Sure, Wake of Fire does not come close to LS in terms of damage, but it's AoE is just enormous! You can engulf whole screen in flames in just five clicks!
Also, I was quite surprised by the fact that Wake of Inferno is, seemingly, not bearing the 1/3 stigma of Inferno and Arctic Blast!
WoI deals roughly 3 times more damage than WoF, and according to what I have seen, WoF deals really more damage per shot.

-=Finds=-

Nah. Nothing good.
A couple sets and uniquies here and there, probably.

-=Random screenies=-

Baal
WSK fireworks
River of Flame
Travinkal

-=Random thoughts=-

Dear princess Celestia. I...
...I didn't learn anything! I was right all along!
If one is doing everything to achieve one's goal, he'll succeed even if noone was there to help him!

Your humble subject,
Applejack.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by @Naranjadita on December 29, 2012

Guardian Zecora - Poison Explosion Bonemancer

Another hero meets you here
So have a tale of blood and fear
of evil spread across the land
but worry not - there is a happy end!


Zecora is a no-brainer for necromancer. The curses, venomous clouds, arcane spirits and overal voodooish style fits perfectly here.

I did, however, hesitate a bit about the build - a mojomancer would have been more "voodooish", but it's kind of unplayable for me (I dont't have enough patience for such build). On the other hand, lI didn't want bonemancer or novamancer because, you know, there is a whole bunch of them here, and Zecora is one of a kind.

I looked through my stashes and found Bramble and Trang Owl's Wing. I also found +3 Bone Spirit 2os wand.
Poison or Bone? Bone or Poison? Why not both?
Aaaaaand yes, I have built a character relying on both poison and bone skills. And you know what? I'm quite happy with it! (Or him? It's a necro. Or her? It's Zecora. Damn, engurish is so hardu, desu)

Click here. Yes, yes, right here. Oh yeah.

-=Build and gameplay=-

Overally, the character is very safe due to bone skills (armour, wall, prison). I didn't even had to invest a single point into AI curses. Sure, Gloams and piercing felines were a pain in the mass, but hey, that's just two typers of monsters, right? Right? The build offers some nice damage and kind of allows using a little bit more strategy than most KILL-EM-ALL necromancer builds. The key skill for this is Poison Explosion.

Yay poison explosion! How could have I ignored this wonderful skill for nine long years?
It grants good damage and it's duration is long enough so that I could spam some Bone Spirits while poison is chewing monsters healthbar. Another good point about the skill is fixed damage. True, Xorpse explosion has higher DPS, but you'll never be able to kill a boss pack of, let's say, Gargantuan Beasts if you try to explode a Carver corpse with Corpse Explosion. While PE provides this wonderful possibility.
So you are practically forced to search for injured or weaker trargets for initial PE instead of using BLOW-UP-EVERYTHING style of corpse explosion.

The downside of the build is the fact that it relies heavily on repositioning (but maybe that's due to the fact that I can't place Bone Walls properly and constantly get locked or place them at wrong angles) and I often was short of gold, so I had to use several curses (decrep, LT, LR, terror to keep mercenary extra safe).

I can't remember any particularly difficult spots in game, even in hell. There were some tough places, but that's due to some extra badass boss properties, or due to merc-is-dead-and-i'm-broke situation AND extra badass boss properties.

=-Finds=-

Mal at A5Nm (Hell HF was Io, btw <_<)
Something else, I suppose. Can't really remember.

-=Random screenies=-

Shenk fireworks
soul killers mass murder
viper temple

-=Random thoughts=-

Zebras are cool.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by @Naranjadita on November 8, 2012

Guardian Twilight Sparkle - Hydra/Nova Sorc (My Little Pony Sept)

Hello everyone!

I'd like to present a report about adventures of Twilight Sparkle, a very potent magician and scientist. The story is not about slaughtering foes, but about freeing one's mind of stereotypes and thus acquiring harmony, peace and inner strength to resist anything life can throw in one's face.

Amm... where to start?

I. Ideas and planning.

I wanted Twilight Sparkle to be a Mage - like those you'd most likely imagine if you were playing DnD or reading a fairy tale. This is some warm and cozy image, full of respect and power and wisdom - most diablo sorceresses actually lack it - they are fragile, but fierce murderers, floating on the waves of 5-digit pain brought by their destructive spells.
The difference is the same as that between an experienced old martial artist and a generic physically strong person who kills other for money/fun/whatever.

Colour theme practically forced me to use Tal's armour. Ideas described above made me choose a staff instead of a usual HotO/Oculus + shield.
The build was going to revolve around Hydra (Twi has a dragon as her assistant) and something else. Nova perhaps.

This is not much, but this is something I could start a character with.
And the journey began.

II. Gameplay and decisions

Ever since Twilight was old enough to carry usual caster items, her progress was lightning fast. 'Insight' staff gave unlimited (to some point) mana and this allowed me to use Teleport excessively and stop only at some key points, related to quests. This was easy until late nightmare - A4, to be exact.

I suddenly found myself struggling between various options concerning equipment and stats.
Nova ate SO much mana that even Insight with lvl 15 of Meditation was far from freeing my belt of blue potions. So did I have to take some stat points and throw them into energy? That would somewhat fit the theme...
But I would be taking points from vitality then! And mediocre radius of nova (in comparison with most sorc spells) made Twi vulnerable against melee attackers, and double-vulnerable against all kinds of archers!
But wait, wait! I have Nova! I MUST get to 103% FCR breakpoint! And equipment Twi needed to be less vulnerable kind of killed the possibility to have 105% FCR and maintain healthy amount of +skills at the same time!

See the key word? "MUST".
Sorceress MUST have limitless mana.
Sorceress MUST reach 103% FCR at least.
Sorceress MUST have +10 skill levels at least.
Arachnid is a MUST for a sorc.

The annoyance with the MUST thing hit critical mass and exploded like a big soap bubble. And I was left with... actually, I was left with quite lot of free slots in Twi's inventory!

A couple +skill items - that's enough.
63% FCR. Did I ever need more? <_<
Kira's Guardian. Why not?
High defense. Let's do this!
Oh, STILL some space in equipment slots? 'kay, let's go for more life!

And this (click to see!) is what I ended up with!
The damage looks pathetic, but - surprisingly! - it was enough to deal with all monsters (except for Venom Lords on Hell. Hell was beaten on /p3, and these guys have up to 30k life on /p3, and combined to their 75% lightning resistance this caused some time loss).
The journey was smooth and peaceful. Twi is tough, but quick enough. Themed build, but capable to fight for herself. I enjoyed playing this character.

III. Rewards

Not much - Blood Raven's Charge from some evil being in Chaos Sanctuary. Apart from that, nothing worth mentioning.
Well, Twilight Sparkle is a mage, not a greed obsessed chest lurking marauder, after all. So no frustration here :3
Hell HF was good, though - Gul.

IV. Random screenies.

In the Pits
Between the pylons
Achmel
Chaos Sanctuary

V. Random thoughts:

Dear Princess Celestia.
I learnt that one should seek for harmony and strength within oneself, not in the outside. Stereotypes, power and luxury are nothing but illusions to that who found the way to harmony and wisdom.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.

P.S.
Sept is 5/7 complete now!
Rainbow Dash
Fluttershy
Pinkie Pie
Rarity
Twilight Sparkle
 
Originally posted by @Naranjadita on June 1, 2012

Guardian Rainbow Dash - Charge/CE Charge Paladin (My Little Pony Sept)

So here she is! Rainbow "Danger" Dash!
She is strong and fast; and she is 60% steel, 40% luck and 20% rainbow.
She is here to announce the beginning of an MLP sept, so more or less soon one more thread is expected.

-=Build, equipment and gameplay=-

[clicky clicky click!]

The build is whacky, and so is the equipment.
Initially I planned to use an upped personalized Cloudcrack (I'd make it Cloudsdale's Cloudcrack - that would be so awesome!) and pumped dex a lot. But at one moment I made some calculations and came to a conclusion that awesomeness cannot fully outbalance severe lack of damage on a melee character.

By that moment I was using Charge a lot and had relatively low vit. These points led me to my second weapon - rare Ogre Maul with Cruel and Fool's properties. High attack rating gave me amazing bonus to survivability - the better your chance to hit is, the more life you leech back. Btw, I took a screenie of LCS at that time, and then noticed, that it has 2 gets at the same time - 6666 and 10000 AR!

The further I ventured in Hell, the more damage output I needed. I had to replace my weapon, and I had a tough choice. Indeed, with 200+ str, 100+ dex and no shield one should pick it very thoroughly.
I decided to use Bonehew. Max dmg - min dmg delta rocketjumped, AR sank like Titanik, but this baby allowed me to use CE! It kinda fits the theme (Sonic Rain-nuke) and grants something for the lack of crowd control.

From this very moment the game went easier... untill it was time to prove the Ancients that lightning bolt cutiemark is not given to anypony!
And... what I met was severe resistance.
I tried again and again. I lost 10kk+ gold on merc and charges. I have spent more that a month to complete this quest.
Finally, it was done. It was an accident - Tallic, being (as always) the last one to stand alive (not just to stand, but to run around yelling and swinging his sword in random directions), somehow got stuck near a statue! He couldn't use WW, and this was my chance. Even like this the barbarian was hitting quite hard and took some time to get rid of him.

After this hell on the peak of Arreat Lister, Baal and all those guys were just disgustingly easy.

-=Descent finds=-

Well, I can't seem to remember anything particular - I just throw all stuff found by ponies to a single stash file and everything kinda mixes up.
What I do remember, however, is a HoZ as a quest drop from Baal. Not much, but better that Isenhart.

-=Random thoughts=-

Dear Princess Celestia. Today I learned a valuable lesson - one should always thoroughly plan his build and equipment, oterwise he'll have good chances to be torn apart and eaten alive. And this... well... sucks.

-=Post Scriptum: facts and screenies=-

* The Barbarian mercenary was chosen as he does look tanky.

* I had no idea where I was going with this build, thus the equipment is kind of crappy and random.

* Sonic Rainboom in 3...2...1...
 
Originally posted by @Naranjadita on June 22, 2012

Guardian Fluttershy - Summon Druid (My Little Pony Sept)

Guardian Fluttershy
lvl 85 Druid

It's Fluttershy's turn today!
She'll bring peace, cuteness and a ton of hugs to the forums! And you'd better not try to stop her~

This one makes my MLP Sept 2/7 complete:
1. Rainbow Dash
2. Fluttershy

-=Build, equipment and gameplay=-

[clicky clicky click!]

Summonning druid is what fits Fluttershy best as can be.
This is a very safe character - recastable meat shields make the gameplay so much easier! On top of that, I maxed Cyclone Armour and added some points to Hurricane for synergy and mass slow effect.

Here I should mention that the previous incantation of Fluttershy was killed somewhere in Hell with an incredibly stingy lightning bolt from a beetle miniboss. This, basically, was the reason to inves skillpoints to elemental skills instead of additional summons.

There are lot's of discussions about druid and necro comparison. But what they have in common is the fact that summoned creatures are meant to tank damage, not to have insane dps. Necro has Corpse Explosion to deal damage, and druid has to rely on mercenary. And Fluttershy's wolves took all damage that would otherwise kill Leharas or send him to hit recovery (thus seriously reducing his dps as mercs don't have great fhr frames). As a result, mercenary showed some really impressive performance: 1k-4k damage, 48% crit, jab at 5 frames per attack. Monsters were Decrepified constantly and chilled, and even the strongest boss packs were killed with surprisingly little trouble.
My guys tore Sszark apart so quickly that I didn't manage to read all his mods. Ancients were so easy that they looked like a joke after all effort and time they costaed to Rainbow Dash.
Have a screenie of a typical battle.
...I remember to have noticed that Act 2 monsters give some insane amounts of exp in Hell, but they seemed somewhat tough to me. After I killed everything from Luth Golein to Valley of Magi I hit the Message Log key accidentally. "Players set to 8". -__-
After that I felt free to run pits at /p8 several times (less than a dozen, I think), hence the level.

However, there were some moments that almost brought me to heart attack. One of these NDEs was, of course, caused by dolls.
Another unpleasant experience happened in Frozen River dungeon (Spoiler: I haven't resqued Hell Anya... yet).

-=Decent finds=-

Fluttershy was extremely lucky even before she started to wear equipment socketed with topazzes! In fact, I haven't seen such lucky character for quite some time! Here are some examples:

- Tal's amulet from some random hellhound boss in Nightmare Catacombs (yes, A1, thats right!)
- Titan's Revenge from (wait for it) Normal Baal!
- Um from Nightmare Forge
- Mavina's kraken shell from some random boss flayer boss in Hell.

-=Random thoughts=-

Dear Princess Celestia.
Aenigmatic immortal characters sometimes can be such arseholes.

P.S. No offence.

Thanks for reading ^_^
 
Originally posted by @Naranjadita on November 2, 2012

Guardian Rarity - Lightning Strike / Valk Amazon (My Little Pony Sept)

Hello, ladies and gentlemen!
Today I'd like to get you acquainted with Lady Rarity, a bearer of one of Elements of Harmony - Generocity, artist, clothes designer, and the most annoying drama queen ever.

Rarity is one of my long term projects; she took me more time than most of my characters.

The Beginning.

The original idea was to build a passivezon with a 'Kingslayer' colossus sword (the wavy, beautiful flamberge blade should have fit perfectly into the build). Alas, lady Rarity was too excited with victory so close, and she almost dodged a devastating charge attack of a decayed corpse soldier, while being amplified by a wingy-taily-witchy thing. It happened right after Hell Ancients had been defeated.

Now, as a note on a side. I don't like passivezons. Why have i decided to build one in the first place? I don't know.
Anyway, Vengeance is a good skill for one and, though it wasn't nearly as powerful as that of a sorceress or a paladin, the performance was descent. Perhaps those who fancy such warriors may wish to try the idea out (at least those who haven't fallen to Grief-posession yet).

Success!

Now, back to the topic!
Current incarnation of Rarity is a Spearazon (kind of).
I wanted her to wield a twohanded spear with low stat requirements and utilze power of lightning based melee skills to deal with enemies.
...somewhere in late nighmare I got really concerned about resists - something one usually looks for on a shield. I also was bothered by the fact that I have a Thunderstroke in my stash, and this cute stingy thing hasn't ever been used!

The problem was, I had a crafted normal spear (I wanted to invest a lot points to Vita nd keep dex and str as low as possible). And I had to change the statbuild on the ride, and this isn't very comfortable at 65+ lvl.
But with all difficulties surpassed, Rarity rushed further towards her victory.

The resulting build turned out to be slightly overpowered (even with no Infi or elemental back up). So I thought that /p8 (Including Hell Ancients) all the way would be a fair trade off.

LCS and gameplay

LCS (clicky! clicky!) doesn't contain anything unexpected.
However, I'd like to note just one thing: I have always treated Lightning Strike as an inferior skill, good for nothing but synergyzing Charged strike or Lightning Fury. But it turned out to be a potent and fun complementary skill!

1. LS was my mini-static. Sometimes, I casted a few Lightning Strikes onto a group of monsters being tanked by Valkyrie and Mercenary just to lower their HP before melting them down with Charged Strike.

2. Lightning strike is great against annoying summonned lesser monsters, like flesh beasts or young maggots. The skill was truly a time saver in Act 4!

3. It is really fun to create and endless arc! If monsters stand at enought distance from each other, lightning from Lightning Strike (or Chain Lightning) can hit them untill the hit counter is finished (30+ strikes for Rarity) - looks almost as cool as those awesome tesla coils in action you can find on youtube!

Threasure (I was this close to getting that diamond!!).

This was a long journey, so I don't really remember all drops.
A Stormshield was among recent ones. Hellforge wasn't completely useless either, I guess.
Nothing too special.

Random Screenies

Endless lightning arc
Snakes
Hunters
Better safe than sorry

Random thoughts

Dear Princess Celestia!
A deadly lightning-charged spear is quite similar to a sewing needle. If one can handle a needle to create a gorgeous dress, one can handle a spear and slaughter enemies with no less grace and elegance!

P.S.
Oh my. This is a wall of text. To get straight to what matters, see the LCS and gameplay section.
thanks for dropping in and checkin the thread ~_^

Now, my MLP sept is 4/7 complete!
Rainbow Dash
Fluttershy
Pinkie Pie
Rarity
 
Originally posted by @Naranjadita on September 9, 2012

Guardian Pinkie Pie - Bow Barbarian (My Little Pony Sept)

Hai!
Time for another pony, yippee!
Now this one is a special one.
Pinkie Pie is a source of endless joy and smiles as wide as a mile.
And this is her mission and her message to the whole world - smile whatever you do!

-=Build, equipment, gameplay=-

clicky clicky clicky click!

A bow barbarian. Yes, yes and a thousand more yeseses!
This is a build that looks silly enough and quite viable at the same time - something that fits Pinkie a lot (oh and don't forget random rabid hopping and leaping around!)
I expected this char to show very average performance. But in fact, Pinkie proved to be much stronger than I thought! The numbers are pretty self explanatory - here we have a ranged attacker enjoying 1.2k life and almost 8k defence without any old boring Fortitude. And this sums up with some excellent crowd control from warcries.

Pinkie is a great character. She can handle almost anything - especially with mercenary by her side :3
I couldn't resist to run random locations mutliple times in Hell, namely /p7 Pits, /p5 CS, /p5 AT (hence the character level).

The levelling was pretty much standard - Ravenclaw and Kuko Shakaku gave me an easy way from A1N till lvl 42 when I finally equipped Buriza. Since that moment, nothing was too hard.
There were other breakponts after whuch Pinkie's performance went to new levels - namely, upping Buriza at sixty something level and equipping merc with reaper's toll at 76.

Hell Ancinents were easy and in fact the whole fight turned into a hilarious leaping competition between Korlic and Pinkie.
What gave me a lot trouble was - surprisingly - fight against Hell Baal! The bad guy was leleporting around the place and constantly summonning those tentacles in large numbers (4+ clusters per cast), and they did hurt! (I remember a bunch of these things to chop my life pool by 1/3 with a single simultaneous hit). Furthermore, Baal summoned his clone NINE times. And that dude wasn't there to share tea and cupcakes wtih me. But the final was not too unexpected, hehe.

***

Grim Ward is an awesome skill.
Whenever I felt unsafe, I built a wall of creepy modern sculptures out of corpses and no meanie could come close to me. I kind of ignored it on my other barbarians but from now on I'll try to implement it in most barb builds I'll play.

Upped Buriza is an awesome weapon.
Actually I spent some time calculationg and comparing performance for different bows and crossbows even before I started the character. And you know what? Slow and heavy Paruty-Do Kyanon gives more damage than rare Windforce, fancy WWS or bloody expensive Faith. Oh and guided arrows from Widowmaker weren't even close to acceptable numbers of damage. 100% pierce is the way to go. This is the reason Buriza outshines anything else for a non-amazon character. Hlap hloop.

And some points according to LCS+equip image:

1). Colored armor instead of forti/treachery.
I picked an armor with color resembling Pinkie Pie's coat color most. Well, it's a themed character after all.

2), Grief and Stun.
Grief was used solely to enchant buriza with Venom. And Stun was the skill I utilized for this. Normal attack includes swings of both weapons, bash strikes target back, but stun is just perfect!

-=Descent finds=-
Surprisingly, there was little to no good finds despite the fact that Pinkie used Find Item every now and then.
I had a Highlord's Wrath somewhere in River of Flame and a 252%ED non-eth Fleshripper from WSK.
Other than that, I had a usual bunch of exceptional and normal sets and uniques that went to sept stash without even leaving a trace in my memory. Doh.

-=Random thoughts=-

Dear Princess Celestia!
Doing things with a smile on your face can easen any burden and make any trouble seem less trouble-y. Cheers!

P.S. Pinkie messing with the fourth wall. Again.

P.P.S
And this Guardian makes My Little Pony Sept 3/7 complete!
1. Rainbow Dash
2. Fluttershy
3. Pinkie Pie
 
Originally posted by Pugmh on Feb 15, 2009:

patriarch Minechar fury/sommoner WW druid.

This is my first ever time i beat the game in hell . Yeah!

Patriarch Minechar

Level: 84
Exp: 971502940
Str: 205
dex: 120
vita: 263
Mana:23

Life: 797 -- 2990 in ww form and with oak sage.
def: 1310
Damage :1070-1949
AR: 8000-9000.

Res: 72/75/75/75

My gear:

Baranar's Star
Devil Star
One-Hand Damage: 129 to 159
Durability: 172 of 172
Required Dexterity: 44
Required Strength: 153
Required Level: 65
Mace Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0xce60866d
+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 5 seconds
+100 Maximum Durability
50% Increased Attack Speed
200% Bonus to Attack Rating
150% Damage to Undead

Silks of the Victor
Ornate Plate
Defense: 895
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Strength: 170
Required Level: 33
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x2c8877bd
+105% Enhanced Defense
5% Mana stolen per hit
+2 to Light Radius
Required Level +5
+1 to All Skill Levels

Eagle Shell
Large Shield
Defense: 14
Chance to Block: 42%
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 34
Required Level: 37
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xd09cf1c0
+7 to Strength
+10% Increased Chance of Blocking
Fire Resist +20%
Lightning Resist +50%
Cold Resist +20%
Poison Resist +20%
17% Faster Hit Recovery
15% Faster Block Rate

Kira's Guardian
Tiara
'Ral'
Defense: 96
Durability: 25 of 25
Required Level: 77
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x57aa6e80
+50 Defense
Fire Resist +92%
Lightning Resist +62%
Cold Resist +62%
Poison Resist +62%
20% Faster Hit Recovery
Cannot Be Frozen
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Telling of Beads
Amulet
Required Level: 30
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 41
Fingerprint: 0xc83b82aa
Cold Resist +18%
Poison Resist +44%
Attacker Takes Damage of 8
+1 to All Skill Levels

Havoc Knuckle
Heavy Gloves
Defense: 5
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Level: 54
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0x25c354ae
+18 to Life
Poison Resist +10%
3% Life stolen per hit
17% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
20% Increased Attack Speed
10% Chance of Crushing Blow

Credendum
Mithril Coil
Defense: 114
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Strength: 106
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xd0553d9c
+10 to Strength
+10 to Dexterity
+50 Defense
All Resistances +15

Sander's Riprap
Heavy Boots
Defense: 6
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Strength: 18
Required Level: 20
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0xd2837156
+5 to Strength
+10 to Dexterity
+100 to Attack Rating
40% Faster Run/Walk

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0xb062a1c7
+18 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+231 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Bitter Loop
Ring
Required Level: 46
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 60
Fingerprint: 0xb9adc00d
+6 to Strength
+3 to Energy
+52 to Attack Rating
Lightning Resist +13%
Poison Resist +26%
5% Mana stolen per hit

Secondary weapon:

The Minotaur
Ancient Axe
Two-Hand Damage: 137 to 262
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Strength: 125
Required Level: 45
Axe Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x12926814
+15 to Strength
+174% Enhanced Damage
+20 to Minimum Damage
+30 to Maximum Damage
Hit Blinds Target +2
Half Freeze Duration
30% Chance of Crushing Blow
Slows Target by 50%

Gear in stash:

Tearhaunch
Greaves
Defense: 63
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 70
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x6654fd3b
+5 to Strength
+5 to Dexterity
+77% Enhanced Defense
+35 Defense
All Resistances +10
20% Faster Run/Walk
+2 to Vigor (Paladin On

Waterwalk
Sharkskin Boots
Defense: 116
Durability: 6 of 14
Required Strength: 47
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xe2314061
+15 to Dexterity
+61 to Life
+40 to Maximum Stamina
+192% Enhanced Defense
Heal Stamina Plus 50%
+100 Defense vs. Missile
+5% to Maximum Fire Resist
20% Faster Run/Walk

Minechar's The Gavel of Pain
Martel de Fer
'Hel'
Two-Hand Damage: 162 to 273
Required Strength: 135
Required Level: 45
Mace Class - Slow Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x1b9c3f1a
+146% Enhanced Damage
+12 to Minimum Damage
+30 to Maximum Damage
Attacker Takes Damage of 26
Requirements -20%
150% Damage to Undead
Indestructible
5% Chance to cast Level 1 Amplify Damage on striking
5% Chance to cast Level 1 Iron Maiden when struck
Level 8 Amplify Damage (3/3 Charges)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Black Hades
Chaos Armor
Defense: 908
Durability: 57 of 70
Required Strength: 140
Required Level: 53
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x2e198742
+165% Enhanced Defense
-2 to Light Radius
Half Freeze Duration
34% Damage to Demons
+243 to Attack Rating against Demons
Socketed (3: 0 used)

Sander's Taboo
Heavy Gloves
Defense: 29
Durability: 10 of 14
Required Level: 28
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x9f706345
+40 to Life
+24 Defense
Adds 8-10 poison damage over 3 seconds
20% Increased Attack Speed

Minechar's Cerebus' Bite
Blood Spirit
Defense: 338
Durability: 20 of 20
(Druid Only)
Required Strength: 86
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x60c5a2d3
+132% Enhanced Defense
9% Life stolen per hit
+2 to Feral Rage (Druid Only)
84% Bonus to Attack Rating
33% Chance of Open Wounds
+3 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)










SKILLS:

Lycanthropy 20
WW 20
Fury 20
Oak sage 18
dire wolf 6
grizzly 7.










Mercenary : NM act 2 might merc.

Gear:

Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Death Mask
Defense: 124
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Strength: 55
Required Level: 66
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x199886c4
+60 to Life
+30 to Mana
+45 Defense
All Resistances +15
10% Life stolen per hit
10% Mana stolen per hit

Hone Sundan
Yari
'ShaelShaelAmn'
Two-Hand Damage: 100 to 204
Durability: 28 of 28
Required Strength: 101
Required Level: 37
Spear Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x9352a69a
+178% Enhanced Damage
+20 to Minimum Damage
+40 to Maximum Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
40% Increased Attack Speed
45% Chance of Crushing Blow
Repairs 1 durability in 10 seconds
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Rockfleece
Sharktooth Armor
Defense: 586
Durability: 48 of 48
Required Strength: 93
Required Level: 33
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 55
Fingerprint: 0x48d6754
+5 to Strength
+130% Enhanced Defense
Damage Reduced by 5
Damage Reduced by 10%
Requirements -10%
Required Level +5




History: Well first of all im very happy to finish this character after 3 attempts with barb, assasin , and a zon. This forum helps me a lot. About my character , Minechar isnt a strong character , or a living killing machine. I found big difficulties ( i went all the game self find , and with out muling) , died a lot , maybe 100 times and i spend 25 days , almost 5 hours each to pat him.

Normal: Ok normal was a walk in the park as soon as i get fury. Before this i face big difficulties in act 4 , died a lot in cs ( i hate oblivion knights), hopefully my merc was excellent using kelpie snare fucina. I had very crapy gear and very little exp in this class. Anyway i get to baal around level 40 and kill him easily. ( kelpie snare really slow him , REALLY , he do nothing)

NM. Before come here i run Baal in P8 and i got almost a level every 2 runs. I enter NM in 48 lvl , and i face big difficulties in every stage of it. I forced to do NM countess runs in order to find the runes to upgrade my normal unique gear. Act 2 was difficult especially inside the tal-rasha tomb. Act 3 was a hell , with the awful map , and CS cost me 1 hour of game play , many deaths , mine and merc. Act 5 was easy ! Back then i used the gavel of pain. Kill baal in lvl 62 and go straight in hell. What a mistake ! Act 1 was out of my league. I forced to run Baal for ..... 15 more lvls before i was able to win act 1 hell.

Hell:
Questing in hell was so slow , maybe 2-3 quest a day . Most of the time i was running to get away , merc was dead , grizzly died in a sec too. When i reach act 4 i start to run NM mephisto for 50 runs . With my findings i was able to run Hell mephisto. ( i found Tal rashas set helm , baranars star , raven frost ring and others ). After i finish running Hell mephisto ( i made 100 runs in 2 days , starting in 15 minutes a run and finishing with under 3 minutes per run), i enter act 4 , to CS , win with difficulty oblivion knights , and kill diablo. Act 5 was easy until ancients. I try to beat them a couple of times , and i die . Return to pits act 1 , leveling for a couple of lvls and return to ancients beating them in my first try. After that i run like a crazy to get to baal. I win his minions with easy and beat baal with my secondary weapon, Minotaurs axe , which slows him .

Thats all the history. I have a pat right now. I didnt enjoy the game very much , but i have create a bond with my characters .

DROPS. Except from the drops , from mephisto , i had a very lucky one!!!1
A tree lurcker in lower courast drops me a um rune!!! The chance was 1:600000!

Hellforge drops : NM io, Hell mal.

That was everything . Thanks for reading, im very happy , finishing hell!!!
 
Originally posted by purplelocust on Jan 30, 2009:

Patriarch Calorique- fireclaws bear

Patriarch Calorique, twinked fireclaws bear

Quick summary:

Standard fireclaws bear is a quick play through the game on /players 8, thanks to a nice piece of 1.07 gear: a cruel phase blade of quickness with 4 open sockets as well as some good twinking and nice late-game gear.

The story:
I've been amassing 1.07 gear primarily to use in 1.12, and this seemed like an appropriate use of a nice sword. My shapeshifting druid play experience is very limited- the last I really remembered playing a shapeshifter much was in 1.09 when changing form meant either drinking a zillion potions or visiting Akara to get the life bulb from half full (or less) back up. If I didn't like a fireclaws bear with this gear, I was pretty sure I wouldn't like a fireclaws bear period.

Skills:
max Fireclaws, Volcano, Molten Boulder, 10 in Fissure
max Lycanthropy
1 in Shockwave
1 in prereqs
3 still saved- not sure where they should go

(I went spirit-less and minion-less and focued on the Fireclaws damage.)

Stats:
Level: 88
Str: 36/100
Dex: 124/142
Vit: 335/346
Energy: 20/61
15 unallocated

Resists: 33/73/44/24

Life: 1040
Life as bear: 3556

Fireclaws damage: 10k-11k at 4fpa
Fireclaws AR: 5733
Defence as bear: 4209

Gear:
Jalal's socketed with a fire facet
Mara's
Cruel Phase Blade of Quickness socketed with 2 Shaels and two IAS jewels
Tiamat's with a fire facet
Duress dusk shroud
Verdungo's belt
Dracul's Grasp
BK wedding band and SoJ
Gore Riders
switch: Azurewrath + Lidless

Merc gear and stat:
Treachery great hauberk
Andarial's Visage
ethereal Tomb Reaver
damage: 1609-5222 with Might and Venom
resists 75/75/75/85 with Fade
life 1847


Charms:
8 shape-shifters with various other mods
+dex and +str small charms to avoid having to commit hard stat points


Gameplay:
Early gameplay was quick thanks to a good low-level twinking gear collection. An early investment in Molten Boulder (never used) meant that at level 18, life was off to the races when Fire Claws became available. I used a Shael'd Coldsteel Eye as a weapon for quite a long time as it worked quite well. Of course, once I switched to the 110 IAS cruel phase blade, it was remarkably quick going. At level 42, I muled on skillers, the wicked phase blade, Jalal's and two SoJs and the racing through the game began. 4fps is amazing with good fire damage, decent physical damage and crushing blow. I had intended to mule on some more resists gear and a source of Cannot Be Frozen once things slowed down in Hell, but I never got around to it as play was fine even with those issues. Being frozen was an annoyance, particularly as the life coming back from Life Tap was important. But I kept figuring that if it really started to bother me, I would mule on a Raven Frost.

Fire immunes weren't much of a problem. I had thought that maybe I could use Volcano/Molten Boulder for some physical damage but I didn't ever even try those skills, as the crushing blow and good physical damage, together with the merc, did a great job.

Mana burn was an annoyance from time to time, but that was because I never bothered having any mana leech and just drank potions. At players 8, enough mana potions drop to never worry about it.

Once I got to 85, I muled on an Azurewrath with IAS and used that on switch for both the +1 skill for shifting (with Lidless as well) and for fire immunes. A might merc with a good weapon (ethereal Kelpie, then Crescent Moon thresher, and finally ethereal Tomb Reaver) was great. He used Delerium for a fair amount of the game, but then I was getting game crashes with that which were a big annoyance. I hadn't had that problem before and thought that it only happened on Microsoft machines. So I swapped out Delerium, eventually for Andy's Visage, and didn't worry about game crashes anymore.

Blocking was, as anticipated, agonizingly slow. At least, I think that's the reason I had to be careful around some ranged attackers. With a high dex for the sword, there was a decent chance to block even with Tiamat's (28% I think), so that was an annoyance. Quill rats in A5 Hell were nasty in that respect, as they were usually happy to remain out of shockwave distance and it was not easy to get a shockwave off anyway from all the blocking the bear was doing. Witches in A5 were a big annoyance as they were out of shockwave range, generally, and pretty much locked up Calorique. I rerolled monsters in a few A5 areas to avoid too many of the annoying ones. The Frozen River was slow going with witches.

Wow, Drac's are remarkable. With Life Tap going off so much, not having much leech of was not a problem. And skeletons and other unleechables- not an issue. Life tap and big leech with a big life pool was very very nice. I actually hadn't played a character with such a fast attack and Drac's before, and it was great for the druid and great for the merc. It also gives you a sense of which monsters have very high hit points- those are much more useful for refilling the bear's huge red ball than those low-life monsters that have almost no meat on their bones...

Poison was from time to time a problem after a fight- with low resists and not leeching, a trip to town was occasionally called for just to turn ungreen.

For much of the game, I found it annoying not being able to "see" whether or not I had switch gear in use, but that was a minor annoyance. Once I got to where I could equip Azurewrath, the aura made it easy to tell from the aura appearance, though. I found the "bear standing in firewall" noises almost as grating as the squawking noise that assassins make when they get hit, and one of the worst sounds in the game.

I played /players 8 the whole game and it went quickly. Fire immunes in A5 with a lot of life were the worst problems. I reran many areas, generally as a result of stopping to mule items off or reroll monsters, and ended up gaining level 88 just as I was killing Lister's minions in Hell. The Ancients at /players 8 were trouble- I did actually think about moving gear around to improve things against them, but I ended up getting a good roll on about the sixth attempt. Baal's minion waves went pretty smoothly- I cleared the Throne in anticipation of needing some manoevering or parking room and I did some luring to avoid being decrepified too much. Lister and his pack were interesting. I knew those would be a problem, so I lured them out carefully and separated them. Lister was aura-enhanced with Fanaticism, and I isolated him and went back to town in hopes of him changing his aura to something less dangerous. When I came back, he didn't notice me so I left him parked. I hadn't planned on parking him unless it was really needed. The rest of the pack wasn't bad with Shockwave and separation and being out of aura range. I went on to kill Baal, which did take some trips back to town for mana potions, and I felt bad about leaving Lister unkilled and lonely. So I tromped back down to visit him alone and finish him off for completeness before accepting the title.


Deaths:
I played quick and loose through the game, and he was such a fast killer that death seemed like something that only happened to monsters. Alas, there was a first death, at Hell Pitspawn Fouldog. Cursed and frozen with missles coming in is a bad combo with bad resists and bad FHR/FBR. Remarkably, I was surprised by the death. And it took some juggling to get gear back on for the corpse recovery- I was, as usual, being very stingy with stat points and it took a while to get equipped again. After that first death, there were I think just maybe three others- one to a nasty A5 quill rat bosspack pair in one of the underground tunnel areas and once when I unexpectedly turned back into a druid surrounded by Blunderbores in the Durance of Hate in A3. Dolls were nasty and hurt often but never killed Calorique. There was another death from clumsiness fighting fire-immune Frenzytaurs. I thought maybe a lower resist wand would be useful, but trying to switch out of wereform, equip and use a lower resist charges wand, and then change back was a mess. I decided that was not a workable strategy during that long trudge to get my corspe sorted out. Usually, lower resist charges are great but the hassle in this case was just way too much.

No deaths to IM. I did swing at least once while IM'd, but it didn't kill me and knocked me down to about 1/3 health, giving me a good scare. The Hell Chaos Sanctuary took some care, relative to other areas. The fire immunes there didn't go down too quickly, so separating out the mages and killing them before going to work on the Venom Lords and Doom Knights. The Sanctuary aura was nice for pushing them around. There were OKs several times in the WSK- at least once I rerolled them and several times I patiently worked through. I did reroll one of my least favorite combos: unravellers+ gloams, yuck.

Finds:
Not much MF, but at /players 8 the whole game, stuff drops. Nothing too impressive- I think it was Achmel who dropped a Frostwind. Probably the highlight was a Sparking GC of Sustenance, 34 life. I haven't done his Forge quests yet and the highest runes dropped were just a pair of Ios. I did get a lot of nice socketed gear, and in fact the ideas of starting two more grail variants came up. I've started trying to collect at least one of every type of elite socketables with all the possible numbers of sockets, except one socket. I almost always pick up class-specific and staffmod gear, and so another grail idea was started: get items with +3 to every possible staffmod skill. Both of those are kind of pointless, but they appeal to my sense of measuring progress by checking things off of lists.

Summary:

Overall, it was a quick trip (with many skipped quests.) I wanted to get a feel for a fireclaws bear and it's a sound strong build, particularly with this overkill gear. I've got some ideas for variations that I may try. Shockwave is ridiculously useful and takes a sense of urgency away from many otherwise dangerous situations.

This was quite a change from my last written-up character: King Kongdenstate, an untwinked, Classic, HC character who took remarkable patience and care. Calorique was massively twinked, expansion, SC character who took almost no patience or care!

I have some other nice 1.07 gear and I hope to put some of that to 1.12 use as well.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by purplelocust on Mar 5, 2009:

Patriarch Jeltz, the Ghostly Medusa's Gaze Fireclaw Werebear

Patriarch Jeltz, the Ghostly Medusa's Gaze Fireclaw Werebear

The story:
The village elder Fireclaw bear Patriarch Calorique is explaining the purpose of existence to his young buddy werebear Jeltz.

J: "Let me get this straight- the idea is for met to get hit, over and over again, until Lower Resist goes off? Do you really think this is going to work?"

C: "Well, we're not sure but it would be nice to know if it works. So make sure to write back often and let us know how things are going. We have all these `Medusa's Gaze' shields around that nobody has ever used and it was just an idea we had late one night at the Ad Hoc Advisory Subcommittee on Single-Element Damage Dealing Builds meeting, after perhaps a little too much fermented honey."

J: "That's not fair! You didn't have to carry such a heavy shield and get hit so much when you were out fighting!"

C: "Quit your whinging. You'll have a cruise through normal, you'll fly through nightmare and you'll have incredible gear the whole way. So accept your fate. And you'll probably want to wear Treachery too since you'll be knocked around a bit and you may want the resists and damage reduction from it."

Quick summary:
Medusa's Gaze is one of those elite items you wonder if anyone ever uses. All it really has going for it is the CtC lower resist (life leech and slow are pluses but not as important as LR), and I thought a fireclaws bear would be a possible application of it. It was OK but not dramatically successful.

Skills:
For this bear, the plan was to maximize fire damage and not worry about anything else:
max Fireclaws, Volcano, Molten Boulder, Fissure and 13 in Firestorm
1 in Shockwave, 1 in prereqs

Stats:
Level: 88
Str: 184/219
Dex: 103/136
Vit: 213/488
E: 20/45
10 unallocated

Resists with Fade: 75/75/71/49, all maxed on switch
Life as a bear: 2608
Listed fireclaws damage: 13k-15k at 4fpa
Fireclaws AR: 7739

Listed fireclaws damage on switch: 13k-17k at 6fpa


Gear:
Jalal's socketed with a fire facet
Mara's
Cruel Phase Blade of Quickness socketed with 2 Shaels and two IAS jewels
Medusa's Gaze, 1 open socket
Tomb Reaver, two Shaels, on switch
1.07 Arkaine's Valor (after regular prebuffing Fade/Venom with merc's Treachery)
Verdungo's belt
1.07 greater blood crafted gloves with 33% life leech, 13% crushing blow
BK wedding band and Raven Frost
War Travellers, 30% MF

Code:
Medusa's Gaze
Aegis
Defense: 451
Chance to Block: 24
Durability: 89 of 92
Required Level: 76
Required Strength: 219
Fingerprint: 0x60e6323e
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
179% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +66%
5% Life stolen per hit
Slows Target by 20%
100% Chance to cast level 44 Nova when you Die
10% Chance to cast level 7 Lower Resist when struck
1 Sockets (0 used)

Brimstone Hold
Vampirebone Gloves
Defense: 87
Durability: 12 of 14
Required Level: 69
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x5bcc434
Item Level: 59
Version: Expansion
Properties: 
33% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +29%
33% Life stolen per hit
+1 to Light Radius
13% Chance of Crushing Blow


8 shape-shifting skillers with various mods, and mostly resists and +dex small charms


Might merc gear and stats:
Treachery great hauberk
Andarial's Visage
ethereal Tomb Reaver
damage: 1609-5222 with Might and Venom
resists 75/75/75/85 with Fade
life 1847




Gameplay:
Enchanted through normal was a breeze. And then at level 42, things went into turbo mode: Jalal's, Shael'd Buriza, skillers, then Treachery and Raven Frost at 45 and NM was a blur at players 8.

NM: Wow, the Buriza is quite a great weapon for a fireclaws bear. I didn't use it on Calorique as it seemed odd to use a ranged weapon for melee, but I got over that oddness and embraced it. Raced through NM with it and the IK belt/boot/gloves. This time I decided to use Raven Frost instead of a second SoJ and not be a blue bear so much, and that was a bigger help than I would have guessed.

Jeltz practically fainted when he met a Ghostly Urdar on the River of Flame: an ethereal fuzzy hulk who stunned everything near him- "Twins!" Jeltz cried before the Ghostly Urdar was gone in a flash.

Have I gone on about how much I like Treachery? Oh, indeed I have (at. great. length.)

Hell: started at level 76, and equipped with the lovely 1.07 magic 110% IAS Cruel Phase Blade of Quickness that Calorique used and Medusa's Gaze.

The first act went quickly at players 8. The Lower Resist broke a few fire immunes but many it did not.

In act 3, for Szark, forseeing difficulty: tiptoed up, Shockwaved, grabbed the eye and ran. Szark is probably still wondering where that eye went. Dolls in the Durrance hurt on players 8 so generally I stunned them and ran on by.

The fire immunes in A4 were more of an annoyance and it was a reflief to have a nice City of the Damned monster roll: all lightning immunes.

I bumped it down to players 3 for River of Flame after not being able to kill Hephasto on the first roll. Then decided that was wimpy and came back again on /players 8. For that trouble, I got a Lem from the Hellforge, just like the one I was swapping back and forth with the merc in the Treachery.

Upon reaching level 85, I switched to Tomb Reaver on switch as good as many FI are undead in A4

For the Chaos Sanctuary, I decided not to slog through on /players 8. One thing that I realized bumping the players count down is how reliant upon mana potions I had become without significant leech. With the lower player count, there weren't enough mana potions dropping and I had to drink store-bought mana potions for a while there. For CS on players 1: no deaths, one IM near death (revert to human form.) For Diablo, I switched back to players 8, and LR didn't even trigger before he was dead.

Somewhere in there I bumped up the gear to the endgame gear- I had been using IK gloves, boots and belt which gave great resists and huge huge stat bonuses. I'm typically miserly with stat points so I'd easily saved enough, knowing I was going to have to wean myself from their huge (65 points) stat bonus from the 3 IK items.

Act 5 went pretty well, but fire immunes were enough of an annoyance that several times I rerolled areas to get more favorable monster combinations or just ran by them. It seemed that often the fire immune ranged attackers were the most common to have their immunity broken by LR, and usually the ranged ones are out of Shockwave range and don't have much life anyway.

The Ancients I did on players 8, and I rerolled them when I got some bad mod combos. But then it went well- once LR went off, the two non-immunes were not long for the world, and the third one just took some wearing down.

I spent a lot of time in the WSK, with perhaps 15 efforts before finally getting all the way to the throne and clearing the area in preparation. Flayers were annoying, gloams were not bad. There were two deaths in there to nasty OK clumps among other monsters. The fire-immune frenzytaurs were also a good reason to have another go at it. But eventually, I had a good extended chance to play and got the Throne cleared (witches, OKs, blood lords meant with several merc deaths) in anticipation of a running battle with Lister and friends.

There were several protracted battles with overlapping OK bosspacks. The standard method was for Jeltz to run around and kill the cursers, and then switch to Tomb Reaver to deal with the remainders. Once nice thing is that with dual Tomb Reavers (Jeltz's and the mercs) there were often a fair amount of random returned about, drawing attention of the knights which took some pressure off. The Fade from Treachery is great- it isn't "Cannot be Cursed" but in general curses don't last nearly so long and it's easy to wait out their duration. It helps the merc survivability dramatically.

The waves went smoothly, all at players 8, with the usual luring and several trips to town to heal/unpoison the merc. Ventar was fire enchanted and fire immune, and while Jeltz was still stunning and killing the non-FI minions, the merc killed Ventar before Jeltz laid a paw on him. For Lister, there was a lot of luring and separating. Once I got some of the minions isolated, they were stunnable and then it was quick work of them. Lister himself was manaburn, which was an annoyance, but it wasn't too bad.

Killing Lister left Jeltz just a teeny bit short of level 88, so in between Lister and Baal I went off to the Ancient's Way to level before facing Baal, mostly to avoid the experience loss concern.

For Baal, at players 8, it took a while with several trips to town for mana potions and healing. But it didn't take too long. Mid-battle, Fade wore off. When Fade wore off for normal monsters, I would just switch armors with the merc until it went off again, but for Baal I went and did the "stand in fire" method to trigger Fade again so that I wouldn't be dealing with Baal's attacks without the resists and DR. Baal's drop was underwhelming- Woestave (perfect 40% ED though) was the highlight...


Finds:
Not too much but some nice finds: Mavina's Caster, Bloodmoon, a fair number of decent socketables, Ruby Jewel of Ire 38% ED/+5 min, an ethereal 3 OS dusk shroud, 3 Lem's including the forge drop, an Acrobatic skiller of flame, a Jalal's Mane (appropriately) and a nice level 18 requirement +3 fireclaws rare antlers that could make a nice twinking helm for another fireclaws bear until he gets to 42 to wear Jalal's.

Analysis: Medusa's Gaze is not a great solution for a fire-dealing melee character. It's OK but there are several problems:

1) The bear doesn't get hit that often, with regular use of shockwave most things are stunned and then dead before they swing at him, let alone hit.
2) LR level 7 = -51 resist all. That will break up to 110% resist fire immunes. That is a fair amount, but there were a lot of unbreakable ones
3) When LR did go off, the pace of killing went up considerably. But generally from very fast to scary fast. It's around the equivalent of 10 perfect fire facets, basically.
4) It did break a lot of lightning immunes, which was quite noticeable when my merc was using Crescent Moon. On non-immunes as well, the killspeed was noticeably faster for the merc once LR triggered.
5) Using Medusa's Gaze means Life Tap from Dracul's is out as an option. That is a significant minus, as the level requirements are both 76 and Life Tap is wonderful, both for the bear and the merc's survivability.
6) I used a Might merc using the primarily physical damage Tomb Reaver. With a Holy Freeze or other elemental merc, or with a more elemental damage weapon (like Crescent Moon) better use of the Lower Resist would be made.
7) Even for fire immunes that could be broken by LR, often I would have switched to the two-handed switch before LR went off. Not so useful, as then LR wouldn't trigger.
8) One idea I may try at some point is to put a Hel in a Medusa's Gaze and see if I can get an A3 merc to lug it around and get hit. I'm not too excited by this prospect as I forsee a lot of merc resurrections in that case.
9) The usual solution to Lower Resist application is a wand/dagger on switch. For a bear, that is not really a useful option because of the need to transform out and back again. I had tried that with Calorique and never got the hang of it.


(Rereading through, I'm being a bit hard on poor Jeltz. He did cruise through Hell, with not particularly careful play, almost all on /players 8, and he was often dealing 13kish of damage at 4fpa with lots of -enemy fire resists! That's quite good!)
 
Originally posted by purplelocust on May 1, 2009:

Patriarch ImmolateKing, an IK Fireclaws bear

Patriarch ImmolateKing, an IK Fireclaws bear

The story:
ImmolateKing, knew of the exploits of the elder Calorique and Jeltz the fireclaw bears from many tales around the campfire. Impressive as they were, 4pa fast and furiously firefull, they both had their problems with fire immunes. He had an idea from one of his barb buddies- why not wear the sacred Immortal King set? Not being a barb, he couldn't wear the hat but otherwise he'd be pretty much set for anything: his native fast Fireclaw attack, plus good other elemental damage, physical damage, leech, stats and crushing blow from the IK gear. Other fireclaw bears scoffed at his slow attack speed (8fpa instead of 4fpa, or 7fpa with enough offweapon IAS) but he had a better mix of damage and figured he'd be fine.

Quick summary:
After having a couple of Fireclaw wearbears (Calorique using a ridiculous 1.07 fast phase blade, and Jeltz using a Medusa's Gaze aegis to try trigger Lower Resist), I thought I should build a fireclaws werebear with more reasonable standard equipment. It went well at relatively high player counts through hell with no drama and steady, enjoyable progress.

Skills:
20 in Fireclaws, 20 in two synergies (Volcano and Molten Boulder, unused), 1 in Shockwave, 9 unallocated

Stats:
Str: 162/232
Dex 91/137
Vit 200/205
E: 20/45
47 unallocated

AR: 10892
Fireclaws dmg: 8700-11k with the enchant from IKSC and Venom active
life: 2754
mana 280
resists: 75 all with Fade active

Gear:

Jalal's with fire facet
IK Maul, 2 Shaels
Maras amulet
IK Gloves/Belt/Boots
IK Soul Cage w/IAS jewel/Treachery Great Hauberk
BK Wedding Band/Raven Frost
empty switch (for picking up greys and whites)
6 or 8 shapeshifting skillers, depending upon how much space I wanted to have available

Merc: Andarial's Visage/Reaper's Toll/Treachery

Gameplay:
Shockwave is ridiculously useful. Monsters that were not fire immune were a breeze, even at high player counts. Normal was quick, and for NM I used a Shael'd Buriza and breezed through nicely. Once again I used Treachery back and forth for the Fade but this time it was more annoying once I equipped the IKSC, as the merc didn't have the strength to wear it. So that meant keeping a spare Treachery in the cube instead of just swapping with the merc.

Leech was a pretty important part of survival, a point that was illustrated in every skeleton-infested area. That was true of both the merc and the IKbear. I realized I never did do the Radament quest and so I'll head back and do that one at some point.

I played Hell mostly at /players 5 or 7 and then was switching player counts intermittently depending upon fire-immune density. Each area I entered, I counted the monster types and as soon as there were three non-FIs, I usually went right to /players 8.

Getting Treachery to trigger was sometimes surprisingly hard, but taking a time out to go to a previous area with light-hitting ranged monsters (Flayer Jungle, for example) and just standing there worked dependably.

A3 Hell went pretty well- I played /players 8 from Upper Kurast through to Meph. There were no dolls and I don't think there were any fire immunes in the Durrance. Somewhere in there I upgraded the gear on the merc from Vamp Gaze to Andy's Visage and from an eth Crescent Moon to a Reaper's Toll. I have a lot of nice gear and lots of nice ethereals but even after years of steady MFing, I still don't have an ethereal Reaper's Toll.

The IKbear was level 82.5 entering A4 Hell, which went quite quickly as I played that mostly on /players 3. The Chaos Sanctuary was no problem but took some care. One merc death in there but none for the IKbear. Fade means that curses last about 8 seconds and that's not long to wait at all. Diablo was straightforward at /players 8 and he did kill the merc before going down.

Hell A5 reminded me of the importance of leech with skeletons being an annoyance. Drac's gloves would have been quite nice there, but it wasn't too bad. The A5 caves were wonderful with very few fire immunes and I ran those at players 8 for a while, to level up and do some Icy Celler and Drifter Cavern runs, two areas I don't usually spent much time in. Rescuing Anya was a breeze so I went back and killed Frozenstein about ten times, to start to make up for many characters who just dashed in to rescue Anya or who struggled with Frozenstein. Gloams were an occassional annoyance but weren't bad- once they were in Shockwave range, problem solved.

The Drifter Cavern runs were good to level- the only FIs that turned up there were occassional Moon Lords, and one trigger of Fade from Treachery would get me through a Drifter Cavern run and a quick kill of Pindle, so that was a repeated loop. I wanted to be L85 before facing the Ancients, to make more of their unpenalized experience and also to give the merc a little boost. No luck on getting high rune drops along the way... I also ran the Ancients Way and Icy Cellar for a while. Not many fire immunes in there and I got to know Snapchip Shatter a little better along the way.

I leveled up to 85 and then decided that was a good time to face the Ancients. They went pretty smoothly on the first roll at /players 3, with one of the non-FI ones being mana burn as the biggest annoyance. For the WSK, I went back up to players 5 and didn't have any FIs getting to the WSK2 WP and finding the stairs down to the throne. I put /players down to 3 for the Throne, and the mixture was: first, Venom Lords, FI but not a threat. And then creeping around slowly- next witches, which were more of a concern as they were often hitting hard and out of shockwave range, but still not too bad. And then- OKs. Well, that took some care but wasn't as bad as I'd feared. I did the usual approach of running around the mobs to get to the mages, which was pretty effective but there were two NDEs with IM (reverting to human form) in there. I cleared the whole Throne in anticiaption of possible running battles with the minions. That wasn't needed- the first four waves were staightforward, and even Lister and company were pretty much awed by Shockwave.

Baal was at /players 3 and didn't take too long at all. I had looked at my experience bar and thought I would make level 86 from the minions just before Baal but I didn't quite, so I did a /players 8 minions run and that brought the next level up.

Deaths:
Some, not many, mostly due to not reading bossmods or sloppy play. No IM deaths. Having Fade wear off prematurely together with getting cursed was a leading cause of death, or having Werebear wear off.

Finds:
Steady supply of reasonable grey and white elite items, nothing too dramatic. Pul from Hell HF, a few ethereal uniques for my ethereal grail.

Losses:
I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I seem to have lost a shapeshifting skiller during play! Oops, oh well, I'll live. It was a plain one - better that than one of the ones with a good suffix. I was swapping charms around regularly to make room for things to pickup and somehow I must have either left a charm on the ground or inadvertently sold one, so I feel a little silly about that.

Ideas for the future:
What I'd like to do at some point is have a full Immortal King barb-bear. He would get 8 frames per attack instead of the druid's 7fpa with this equipment, but it may be worth it in comedy value for the full IK set glow + Fade from Treachery + bear form. And it certainly would be much more enjoyable than a Concentrate IK barb! First I'll have to finally make Beast- I've got the runes and a great 1.07 axe but I've got other projects underway first. I'm not sure how bear play will be without beloved Shockwave, though.

For this IK druid, I still have some skill points free as I was waffling about what to do with them: spririt or grizzly bear were the ones I was considering. The 42 points in synergies was plenty for non FIs with the +skills from gear and charms, so I figured those points could be spent in other directions.


Summary:
I'd recommend this IKbear as a reasonble enjoyable safe build. It's not a blazingly fast attack like a typical FC bear, but it solves the FI problem in a way that doesn't require a change of gear at all. The IKSC armor isn't really that needed and I could have just kept Treachery on the whole time, and had I dug around for more resists charms, I could have had resists maxed without worrying about the IKSC. Forgetting about the IK armor would also bump the strength requirement down a little. The 5th IK set item (in this case, usually the IKSC) adds poison damage to the IK Stone Crusher, which isn't as important as the other elemental damage components. And if you are using Treachery, you've got Venom anyway. The other benefits of going from 4 to 5 items: 10% mana leech from the gloves, which is a plus, 20% DR from the belt, which is nice, particularly in conjuntion with an active Fade, and HFD from the boots (so what, you're probably wearing Raven Frost already.)
 
Originally posted by RobbyD on Aug 1, 2012:

Patriarchs Alaric and Lucian, 1.09 and 1.13 Fury Wolves

Lucian, physically exhausted but also exhilarated from his victorious battle against the Nephalem, the Ancient Ones and the subsequent battle through all three levels of the World Stone Keep, finally arrived at Baal's Throneroom. As he rounded the columms of the chamber, taking down the last of the Balrogs and Vipers, he set his eyes on the hideous demon who had been taunting him throughout the last brutal leg of this journey. Lucian decided to instill a healthy measure of fear into the demon as a harbinger of his downfall. He transformed to his human form, and cast upon Baal his most menacing look. Then he pointed his finger at the disfigured white form, and to make the point of what was to happen, drew that same finger back to make a slashing gesture across his neck. Baal responded with bellowing laughter. "Darn, I really thought that would intimidate him. I guess I'll just have to do this the hard way...", Lucian thought as he transformed back to his wolven form as the first wave of minions were cast...

In my third Battle of the Patches project, I picked another common build that apparently works in all expansion patched, the Fury Werewolf Druid. Alaric and Lucia were named after werewolves of lore.

Alaric was created in 1.09, and Lucian in 1.13. Their journey is documented in this thread.

As with my other patch comparison projects, I spared no expense in planning out their gear – though I didn’t have the kind of wealth in 1.13 to provide the ultimate weapon (eth Tomb Reaver with Zod), I did have a very, very good weapon (299% Ribcracker). The trick was with planning the 1.09 Druid. 1.09 does not really have an end-all Druid weapon, no ways of breaking PIs, and limited elemental options. It does have the bugged +3 skills Act 1 Lightning Hose Rogue Merc, but I have already exploited that with another character and wanted to match up these Druids as close as possible (Act 2 Might Mercs). But, I did have a nice Buriza, and it’s available at level 42, so I used that until I could land something more exotic.

In my planning, there was some discussion of the possibility that 1.09 Fury has lower bonuses than 1.13 (it reportedly was nerfed in 1.08, but was apparently restored to original power in 1.09), so I checked the in-game stats once I got these Druids to where Fury is available, and found the ED and AR bonuses to be identical.

There were minor differences in skill point investment – I pumped Feral Rage over Werewolf and invested in Hunger for Alaric because I figured I might not use the AR if I exploited the Eth rune bug, and Hunger is the way that a Druid can deal with IM in the Chaos Sanctuary. I also limited the investment in HoW so that, with the +skills from Jalal’s and the skillers, the skill is at 20 points (since 1.09 HoW is bugged so that any level over 20 results in no additional benefits). I also loaded up on Skillers (Shapeshifting and Summoning) for Alaric, but focused on AR charms for Lucian. Both got resist charms to address gaps.

For Lucian, I pumped Werewolf over Feral Rage for the additional AR (since it appears to be more of an issue in 1.13 than 1.09), didn’t invest in Hunger (since there is no IM in 1.13 CS), and, of course, fully maxed HoW.

I played these Druids through to Hell Act 2, but then the project languished because (a) the 1.09 Druid was swinging the Buriza noticeably slower than the 1.13 Druid was swinging the Shael’d, upped Ribcracker, and I wanted to get a sexier weapon than the Buriza to match up the Feral Rage speed, and (b) I got obsessed with getting a Windforce in 1.09 so I could plan a 1.09 Strafer. Having experienced 1.07 crafts with the swords from WoRG I used with my WW Barb, I knew that the best 1.09 Druid weapon I could hope for was a 1.07 craft, but I didn’t have any characters in 1.07 Hell to farm and craft. I did receive some decent 1.07 crafted Giant Threshers from jimsfriend, but realized that the STR and DEX requirements on those were prohibitive, and the stats on the best ones, while decent, weren’t worth the stat investment to use. So the project remained dormant until Nulio was good enough to craft some Threshers to trade for some 1.09 charms. He provided Alaric’s endgame weapon, as well as a weapon that the merc used until I found an eth Superior 5os Mancatcher in Hell Act 5 that I ended up making Honor in. Those items inspired me to get this project back on track and finish it.

So, without further ado, I am pleased to present:

***********************************************************************

Patriarch Alaric – 1.09 Fury/Feral Rage Druid

Character name : Alaric
Character type : Druid
Character level : 83
Character exp : 887666928

LCS upon defeating Hell Baal
Baal Pat drop

Stats (Base/Equipped)
Strength : 97/153
Energy : 20/50
Dexterity : 99/123
Vitality : 289/319
Stat Points Rem : 0
Skill Points Rem: 0

Life : 866 / 766 (2424 Shifted)
Mana : 284 / 184
Stamina : 460 / 430

Final Resists:
75/54/85/53

Final Skills:
Shapeshifting: (Base/Equipped)

Werewolf: 10/18
Lycanthropy: 20/28
Feral Rage: 20/28
Fury: 20/28
Hunger & Prereqs: 1/9

I found out fairly early that Fury is bugged in 1.09 such that if you have it on RMB, it tries to attack your merc and summons (without hitting) much like the 1.09 Assassin’s Phoenix Strike skill. As such, I kept Feral Rage on RMB (which isn’t bugged) and Fury on LMB, so that Feral Rage was my main attack and Fury was used once a big monster was targeted. This also had the benefit of generally having the Feral Rage life leech and FRW bonuses active most of the time.

Hunger was not often used, but did come in handy from time to time.

Summoning: (Base/Equipped)
Prereqs: 1/7
Heart of the Wolverine: 14/20
Grizzly/Dire Wolves: 1/7

Heart of the Wolverine was not pumped past 14 because the skill is bugged in 1.09 to not provide any additional bonuses after level 20.

Elemental:
None

End-Game Weapons:

Default Switch:

Code:
Bone Barb
Thresher
'Shael'
Two-Hand Damage: 42 to 485
Durability: 24 of 65
Required Dexterity: 118
Required Strength: 152
Required Level: 53
Polearm Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 56
Fingerprint: 0x5af135ba
+12 to Life
+229% Enhanced Damage
+18 to Maximum Damage
Adds 1-3 cold damage over 3 seconds
1% Life stolen per hit
80% Increased Attack Speed
Socketed (3: 3 used)
 
Vermilion Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 50
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0x9a271f85
+13 to Maximum Damage
15% Increased Attack Speed
 
Carbuncle Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0x7ee46db3
+5 to Maximum Damage
15% Increased Attack Speed

Many thanks go to Nulio for crafting this beauty in 1.07.

Physical Immune Switch:
Code:
Baranar's Star
Devil Star
'Shael'
One-Hand Damage: 132 to 162
Durability: 160 of 172
Required Dexterity: 44
Required Strength: 153
Required Level: 65
Mace Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0x88d146c4
+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 0 seconds
+100 Maximum Durability
70% Increased Attack Speed
200% Bonus to Attack Rating
150% Damage to Undead
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Tiamat's Rebuke
Dragon Shield
Defense: 232
Chance to Block:  38%
Durability: 116 of 116
Required Strength: 91
Required Level: 49
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0xf4b3b5c7
+196% Enhanced Defense
+28 Defense
Fire Resist +34%
Lightning Resist +55%
Cold Resist +34%
Poison Resist +34%
Adds 35-95 fire damage
Adds 2-216 lightning damage
Adds 27-53 cold damage over 6 seconds
+40 Maximum Durability
5% Chance to cast Level 9 Frost Nova when struck
5% Chance to cast Level 7 Nova when struck
3% Chance to cast Level 6 Hydra when struck
Socketed (1: 1 used)
 
Eagle Gyre
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 71
Fingerprint: 0xdeb980b5
+28 Defense
Lightning Resist +21%
Adds 1-96 lightning damage

Armor/Jewelry:

Helm: Jalal’s Mane (Rare Jewel – Eagle Gyre – see below) <-- I only just noticed I used 2 distinct jewels named "Eagle Gyre"
Armor: “Smoke” Great Hauberk
Amulet: Rare "Shadow Beads" (see below)
Ring 1: Raven Frost (19/236)
Ring 2: Rare "Viper Knot" (see below)
Belt: Thundergod’s Vigor
Gloves: LoH
Boots: War Traveler (43 MF)

Code:
Eagle Gyre
Jewel
Required Level: 31
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0x1f9cf398
+9 to Maximum Damage
Heal Stamina Plus 10%
Lightning Resist +30%
+20 poison damage over 2 seconds
 
Shadow Beads
Amulet
Required Level: 37
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0x86e6d67
+30 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +20%
Lightning Resist +20%
Cold Resist +41%
Poison Resist +20%
Adds 1-14 lightning damage
3% Mana stolen per hit
+3 to Light Radius
+2  to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)
 
Viper Knot
Ring
Required Level: 65
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 93
Fingerprint: 0x434730d6
+87 to Attack Rating
Lightning Resist +27%
7% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +4
9% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 1 Attract (22/22 Charges)

Charms:
3x Spiritual Grand Charm
Spiritual Grand Charm of Sustenance
Trainer's Grand Charm of Dexterity
Trainer's Grand Charm of Fire
Trainer's Grand Charm of Strength
Trainer's Grand Charm of Venom
Shimmering Small Charm of the Glacier
Jade Small Charm of the Icicle
Pestilent Small Charm of Winter
Toxic Small Charm of Incineration
Foul Small Charm of Winter
Shivering Small Charm of Storms
Glowing Small Charm of Anthrax
Emerald Small Charm

Merc:
Code:
Blackhorn's Face
Death Mask
Defense: 271
Durability: 11 of 20
Required Strength: 55
Required Level: 41
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0xa4c85a9b
+208% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +15%
Prevent Monster Heal
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 25
+20 Lightning Absorb
Slows Target by 20%
 
Smoke
Superior Scarab Husk
'NefLum'
Defense: 1333
Durability: 15 of 17
Required Strength: 85
Required Level: 51
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 72
Fingerprint: 0x318c5b5e
+10 to Energy
+75% Enhanced Defense
+12% Enhanced Defense
+280 Defense vs. Missile
All Resistances +50
Increase Maximum Durability 10%
-1 to Light Radius
20% Faster Hit Recovery
Level 6 Weaken (6/18 Charges)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (2: 2 used)
 
Honor
Superior Mancatcher
'AmnElIthTirSol'
Two-Hand Damage: 175 to 370
Durability: 15 of 17
Required Dexterity: 124
Required Strength: 122
Required Level: 55
Spear Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xa1642248
+10 to Strength
+160% Enhanced Damage
+200 to Attack Rating
+51 to Attack Rating
+9 to Minimum Damage
+9 to Maximum Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +10
Increase Maximum Durability 14%
+1 to All Skill Levels
+1 to Light Radius
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
25% Deadly Strike
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (5: 5 used)

The Honor eth Mancatcher was a late addition (the base was found in early Hell Act 5). The Merc used Hone Sundan until I got the 1.07 crafted Threshers from Nulio, at which point he used this:

Code:
Hailstone Bar
Thresher
'ShaelAmnAmn'
Two-Hand Damage: 54 to 600
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Dexterity: 118
Required Strength: 152
Required Level: 59
Polearm Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x14f35fb9
+12 to Life
+321% Enhanced Damage
+3 to Maximum Damage
15% Life stolen per hit
20% Increased Attack Speed
Socketed (3: 3 used)

The Hone Sundan got a brief reintroduction for the Hell Diablo fight. I went with the Honor Mancatcher over the crafted Thresher for the Deadly Strike.

Path to Pat
Alaric did the game through Hell Act 4 on P8. Since the Slayers in the Blood Moor are natural PIs, I dropped the setting to P3 for Hell Act 5. Nilly was killed on all difficulties.

Normal Nilly
Nightmare Nilly
Hell Nilly was a major pain since he was PI, but I am stubborn and made it a mission to kill him even with the limited elemental damage.

Weapon Progression
Druid progression weapons are pretty standard – I did micromanage a little bit to try some stuff out, but the real challenge of 1.09 is deciding on an endgame weapon – there aren’t really any no-brainer choices in the patch. You can’t upgrade a Ribby, there is no Tomb Reaver, the 3-chip recipe only works with swords, and runeword choices for a Polearm are very limited. A Sheal’d Buriza is a good if unimaginative choice (but I already did a Buriza Bear). There’s the IK Maul, but it doesn’t get the 2 sockets in 1.09 and the STR requirement is huge, and the ultra-rare (we’re talking Tyreal’s Might rarity) Stormspire, but it’s well-nigh impossible to find and not nearly as awesome as it’s rarity would suggest (and you can’t get this in 1.07, so I couldn’t trade for one), so a good 1.07 craft pretty much beats all other options.

To start, I went with my favorite 1.09 starting weapon, an Envy Long Bow (go-go bugged poison damage in bows!), upgraded to 6x pEmerald Long Battle Bow at level 18, then made him a proper Druid with a Battlbranch at level 25, then to an Honor Battle Scythe at 27, and Hwannin’s Bill at level 28 (actually liked that quite a bit!), on to Ribcracker at 31, then Buriza (Shael) at 42 until the 1.07 crafted Thresher was obtained.

Once I got the Thresher, I realized (for the first time) that the attack speed of Feral Rage starts at 2 frames slower in 1.09 than it does in 1.13 – that’s why Lucian was swinging the Ribby faster than Alaric was swinging the Buriza. Fortunately, there was enough sockets and built-in IAS to get the Thresher to the same speed.

Game Experience:
Since I found out that Fury is bugged on RMB, my playstyle was to run around with Feral Rage on RMB active, and Fury on LMB for when it was time for some real hurt. Hunger was usually forgotten, but came in handy from time to time once I remembered he had it.

I got a little complacent with CtH since Alaric was hitting a lot easier than Lucian through NM, and always assumed that I would put an Eth in my 1.07 Thresher, but there was no room for an Eth due to the IAS needs to match the attack speed of Lucian, and found him swishing a couple time in Hell – so I started pumping Werewolf after Feral Rage was maxed. The life leech of Feral Rage is so nice, but you REALLY have to be hitting monsters, especially when getting mobbed.

PI’s were a pain, as expected, but the Baranar’s + Tiamat’s plus the elemental damage charms were enough to take on most PIs with patience – the Knockback of the Grizzly helped a lot with tanking PI bosses. Mana burn wasn’t too much of an issue, since minions don’t carry that from their boss in 1.09.

Repair costs for that Thresher were significant, so I did have to keep an eye out for wands, scepters, and staffs to sell. Add to that revive costs for the merc – while a shapeshifter has good increased hitpoints, unlike a Barb, he can’t transfer that to the merc, and once he got around a PI, the merc was in trouble. The scaling of HoW hitpoints with player settings of 1.09 was nice, though, and the HoW was often a reliably tough monster magnet.

MSLE monsters spawned from time to time, but I planned for that with a TGod's for Alaric and Blackhorn’s Face for the merc. Here’s 1.09 MSLE in action.

Hell Ancients were a pain as the WW guy spawned PI – which means automatic Merc death. I did my usual trick of tanking the Leaper first, and the Thrower wasn’t PI, so he went down easy (but not before casting Shout). The Whirler took a while, but just took patience and judicious use of pots.

The biggest hole in my planning became apparent when Alaric took on Hell Diablo – after taking so much care with Hungering through the CS since I was so afraid of IM (oh so slow and painful), when Diablo finally spawned, I realized that (a) I had NO CB on Merc or Wolf, and (b) I had NO MDR (Ouchie Fire Carpet!). I did stubbornly take on Big D even after the merc dropped early, but in my effort to hit F1 to put Fury on RMB (and I was gunning the buttons), I hit S&E, and had to take on CS all over again. Second time was not so bad, as I was much less afraid of IM (doesn’t get cast often, and Feral Rage life leech helps) and had a Hone Sundan on the merc and Dwarf Star on Alaric. Of course Big D only laid the Fire Carpet once during the second battle – it was like he forgot he had it.

I very much liked looking at the LCS after hitting a Combat Shrine for the crazy AR.

Scariest Monsters
Just as expected, Fetish Dolls and Ghost packs were the trickiest. OKs weren’t that bad (go-go Feral Rage FRW to get to those OKs fast!). Hell Diablo with no MDR was very tough as well. A PI Fana Goatman boss in Hell Countess’ Tower did make him have to bail.

Observations on 1.09 Feral Rage and Fury
I made some observations during this project:

1. The bugged poison duration on ranged weapons does not apply when using them as wereform weapons.
2. Fury is bugged on RMB, as it tries to target the Merc and summons (but does not hit)
3. Feral Rage attack speed starts at 2 frames slower in 1.09 than it does for 1.13. Fortunately, I was able to match up Alaric’s attack speed to Lucian’s thanks to pumping IAS into that fantastic Thresher Nulio traded.

I found myself getting a little frustrated with the fragility of the Merc – the disparity between the toughness of the Wolf versus a 1.09 merc is significant, and I had to resurrect him often (inluding after Hell Lister and then again after Hell Baal – 1.09 Baal’s mana burn is hurtier in 1.09 than 1.13)

Finds:
Hellforge: NM:Hel Hell: Sol (that's right, 1.09 sweetness for you right here!)

Drops:
Bartuc’s Cut-Throat
Hellmouth
The Atlantean

Post-Pat Plans
No MF means no serious plans, but I might see if he handles Cows better than my Bear does (Bear is NOT good at cows)


***********************************************************************

Patriarch Lucian – 1.13 Fury/Feral Rage Druid

Character name : Lucian
Character type : Druid
Character level : 88
Character exp : 1447548726

LCS upon defeating Hell Baal
Baal Pat drop

Stats (Base/Equipped)
Strength : 86/115
Energy : 20/40
Dexterity : 106/152
Vitality : 318
Stat Points Rem : 0
Skill Points Rem: 0

Life : 988 / 831 (2519 Shifted)
Mana : 274 / 194
Stamina : 484 / 464

Final Resists:
75/43/80/52

Final Skills:
Shapeshifting: (Base/Equipped)

Werewolf: 20/25
Lycanthropy: 20/25
Feral Rage: 13/18
Fury: 20/25

Since Lucian would not be facing IM in the CS, I did not invest in Hunger – though looking back on how debilitating Mana Burn is, I probably would say it’s worth it for a Mana Burn solution.

Summoning: (Base/Equipped)
Prereqs: 1/4
Heart of the Wolverine: 20/23
Grizzly/Dire Wolves: 1/4

Elemental:
None

End-Game Weapons:

Default Switch:

Code:
Lucian's Ribcracker
Stalagmite
'Shael'
Two-Hand Damage: 329 to 491
Durability: 130 of 130
Required Dexterity: 35
Required Strength: 63
Required Level: 56
Staff Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0xf9fbb6d2
+15 to Dexterity
+100% Enhanced Defense
+299% Enhanced Damage
+30 to Minimum Damage
+65 to Maximum Damage
+100 Defense
+100 Maximum Durability
Required Level +7
70% Increased Attack Speed
50% Faster Hit Recovery
150% Damage to Undead
50% Chance of Crushing Blow
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Physical Immune Switch:
Code:
Azurewrath
Phase Blade
One-Hand Damage: 110 to 125
Required Dexterity: 136
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 85
Sword Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x6f81003
+9 to Strength
+9 to Energy
+9 to Dexterity
+9 to Vitality
+258% Enhanced Damage
Adds 250-500 magic damage
Adds 250-500 cold damage over 10 seconds
+3 to Light Radius
30% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to All Skill Levels
Level 10 Sanctuary Aura When Equipped
 
Tiamat's Rebuke
Dragon Shield
Defense: 174
Chance to Block:  38%
Durability: 116 of 116
Required Strength: 91
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x5af835d7
+4 to Life
+10 to Maximum Stamina
+156% Enhanced Defense
+7 to Minimum Damage
All Resistances +30
Adds 35-95 fire damage
Adds 2-215 lightning damage
Adds 27-53 cold damage over 6 seconds
+40 Maximum Durability
5% Chance to cast Level 9 Frost Nova when struck
5% Chance to cast Level 7 Nova when struck
3% Chance to cast Level 6 Hydra when struck
Socketed (1: 1 used)
 
Death Whorl
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xed1ac2db
+4 to Life
+10 to Maximum Stamina
+7 to Minimum Damage
Adds 1-95 lightning damage

I found the Azurewrath in an old stash from Nagisa – I think it was from a giveaway and given on the promise that I would put it to use – thanks very much to Nagisa (and I did put this to use). Before Azurewrath I used the Lawbringer Phase Blade that I originally made for Rulon.

Armor/Jewelry:

Helm: Jalal’s Mane (Rare Jewel – Storm Gyre – see below)
Armor: “Fortitude” Wire Fleece
Amulet: Highlord’s Wrath
Ring 1: Raven Frost (20/219)
Ring 2: Rare "Skull Circle" (see below)
Belt: String of Ears (12/13/7)
Gloves: LoH
Boots: Gore Rider

Code:
Storm Gyre
Jewel
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xe9b2b0b1
+4 to Strength
Fire Resist +10%
Lightning Resist +10%
Cold Resist +10%
Poison Resist +23%
Attacker Takes Damage of 2

Fortitude
Wire Fleece
'ElSolDolLo'
Defense: 1452
Durability: 32 of 32
Required Strength: 111
Required Level: 59
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 72
Fingerprint: 0x7b537b2a
+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
+88 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (4: 4 used) 
 
Skull Circle
Ring
Required Level: 48
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xc36a429a
+104 to Attack Rating
All Resistances +11
Adds 1-5 fire damage
5% Mana stolen per hit

Charms: (I don’t have NEAR the charm wealth in 1.13 as I do in 1.09, and this selection reflects that) – I also knew I’d be relying on hitting monsters to leech, so I loaded up on AR:

Lucky Large Charm of Dexterity
Sharp Large Charm
Jade Small Charm of Vita
Jade Small Charm of Balance
Coral Small Charm of Venom
Amber Small Charm of Shock
Ocher Small Charm of Winter
Coral Small Charm of Thunder
Sapphire Small Charm of the Glacier
Arcing Small Charm of Vita
Ruby Small Charm of Vita
Foul Small Charm of Sustenance
Sapphire Small Charm of Balance
Shimmering Grand Charm
Steel Grand Charm of Strength
Fine Grand Charm of Dexterity
Sharp Grand Charm of Balance
Sharp Grand Charm
Sharp Grand Charm of Shock

Merc:
Weapon: Reaper’s Toll (209%ED, 14%LL)
Helm: Crown of Thieves (I don’t have a Vampire Gaze in 1.13)
Armor: eth Duriel’s Shell

Path to Pat
Lucian did the game through Hell Act 4 on P8. To keep the comparison with Alaric as close as possible, I dropped the setting to P3 for Hell Act 5. (actually turned out to be beneficial for Lucian as well, as he had some pretty tough spots in Act 5 he probably wouldn’t have survived on P8). Nilly was killed on all difficulties.

Normal Nilly
Nightmare Nilly
Hell Nilly

Weapon Progression
Unlike the case for Alaric, there are some pretty standard choices for endgame Druid weapons in 1.13, and my Pally had a 299% Ribcracker drop, so that got the nod. Early game started with an Envy Long Bow (no bugged poison damage, but still decent) until level 15, when a converted 1.09 Raven Claw was used (I have no shortage of those). I tried the Battlebranch with him at level 25, but was underwhelmed with the performance. However, the Honor Battle Scythe impressed at level 27, but the Hwannin’s Bill was even better (Holy Moly I like the freezing of that weapon!). Endgame weapon (Ribby) was equipped at level 31 and never put down. I actually waited until level 59 to upgrade it to a Stalagmite, but felt silly when I saw that an upped Ribby only requires level 56. Oh well.

Game Experience:
Since I didn’t want to have to train my fingers for different styles for the 2 Wolves, Lucian played much like Alaric, with Feral Rage on RMB and Fury on LMB. I did go to Fury on RMB from time to time when I need some real hitpower, but overall, he tended to have the bright red bulb active most of the time (and I do love me that life leech).

The PI situation was different for Lucian though, since the merc was sporting Reaper’s Toll and weapon-based Sanctuary was available. A Lawbringer PB got the nod, and I still went with Tiamat’s with a jewel with “of Thunder" for a shield. I found an Azurewrath in a stash from Nagisa, and since Lucian was much further than Alaric in levels, he was actually able to use that for a good bit of Hell (starting in Act 3, I think). This made ghosts a lot more doable, but there were still a decent number of PIs that weren’t undead and couldn’t be broken (Thorned Husks come to mind). I missed the more durable HoW of 1.09, but all that CB made the damage output impressive – as long as he was hitting non-PIs, he was leeching fine.

Lucian took out Nilly on all three levels, but it wasn’t until Hell that I finally experienced those Poison Vipers I’ve heard so much about. Having a healthy fear of those, I was very careful in the Halls of Vaught – engaging at corners, etc. The merc and summons exercised no such care, and were soon dispatched. At least there weren't any PI witches to go along with them. I revived the merc before taking on Nilly.

Lucian had a couple of struggles in Hell Act 3 and Act 4 since I was used to a reckless style – I’d let the Feral Rage FRW bonus lure me into letting Lucian get separated from his crew. Playing P8, the monsters were hitting harder, and the merc would get stuck tanking a pack by himself while Lucian took on another pack. After a NDE or actual death or 2, I adjusted my gameplay to be more cautious, making sure Lucian stayed near the merc to leverage that Decrep, with much better results. Hell Diablo went down MUCH easier and faster than was the case for Alaric. I was amazed how hard those Dark Familiars hit (they are easy-peasy in 1.09) and had to be more careful with those as well. Good thing is that he had max LR and Azurewrath on switch, which helped a lot with Gloams.

I forgot to switch to P3 (to be consistent with Alaric) in Hell Act 5, and it was not hard to notice – Thorned Husks spawned in the Bloody Hills and the first two bosses I encountered were unbreakable PIs.

Here’s one thing that was a real pain with this character – he had Fortitude, so FA was almost always active – well, in the cold caves, those Frozen Scourges spawned often, and the ice breath made the FA spawn A LOT of ice bolts – so many that it overloaded the graphics and all characters on the screen disappeared and the action got choppy. It was a pain and pretty scary, but didn’t result in a death.

Ancients first spawned Fana and casted Amp, so I re-rolled and took down the second incarnation with ease. WSK had comparatively easy monsters, so the final leg was pretty uneventful.

Scariest Monsters
MANA BURN!!!! Holy moly that’s a pain – all the minions have it, and it makes it a pain to cast HoW and Grizzly.

Frenzytaurs! There was a pack of champion Frenzytaurs at the entrance to the Icy Cellar or one of those, and they were TOUGH – not even PI, just super fast and super hard-hitting. Those guys are tough enough in 1.09 – they made them ridiculous in 1.13.

Act 1 Cave/Pits Rogue archers – Lucian had a very hard time with those – get Amp’d, get mobbed by skeletons and pelted by a boss pack of Rogue Archers – made for several deaths and/or S&Es. There was also a Fana Zombie near Hell Andy that made that battle MIGHTY difficult since Andy got the aura (not the last time Lucian would be dealing with all the crew gone a really tough enemies).

Observations on Feral Rage/Fury in 1.13
Works nice – even though I generally stuck with the same setup as Alaric (FR RMB, Fury LMB), I did switch the RMB to Fury fairly often when the monsters were especially thick. Having the leech of FR on most of the time was very nice, but I do think I would have benefited from having Hunger in cases of Mana Burn (especially with all the CB on his gear).

Finds:
Hellforge: NM: Lem Hell: Mal

Drops: Given my much more meager 1.13 gear stash, Rulon picked up a lot of stuff I normally leave on the ground in 1.09, and aren’t really worth posting, but some nice drops did occur:

Ber (“Ber”y unexpected from Act 1 jails)
Lo (from CS)
Gore Rider
Wizardspike (from the rack in Durance 3)
Windhammer (Mephisto quest drop)
Sazabi’s Armor

Post-Pat Plans
Not sure – might be retirement.

Experience Progression Side-by-side:

As expected, Lucian left Alaric in the dust with level progression. Here are screenies of each character's LCS at the end of each Act (sorry, didn’t get screenies for Normal Acts 1 and 2):

Normal Act 3: Alaric Lucian
Normal Act 4: Alaric Lucian
Normal Act 5: Alaric Lucian
Nightmare Act 1: Alaric Lucian
Nightmare Act 2: Alaric Lucian
Nightmare Act 3: Alaric Lucian
Nightmare Act 4: Alaric Lucian
Nightmare Act 5: Alaric Lucian
Hell Act 1: Alaric Lucian
Hell Act 2: Alaric Lucian
Hell Act 3: Alaric Lucian
Hell Act 4: Alaric Lucian

Next up for me:

Back to running 1.09 Pindeh for TEH WINDEH. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to make a 1.09 WF Strafer before Torchlight 2 comes out.

Anybody curious to see another build done side-by-side in 1.13 and 1.09? Let me know.
 
Originally posted by shawf on May 2, 2008:

Patriarch Masticator - The hands-free wolf

Hi Everyone,

I've just finished my first Patriarch for SP and I'm pretty happy about it. When I got back into Diablo a couple of months ago I tried a FC bear and a couple other builds, but I got bored with them by late nightmare or early hell. My idea for this build was to make a wolf that uses the biting skills as his main attacks (hunger and rabies). Overall, I would say it wasn't the most efficient character, but very capable and I thought it was a lot of fun. I was using players8 all through normal and nightmare and then switched to players1 for hell. It wasn't until act 2 in hell when I invested in a grizzly and it made a huge difference. I've never been good with mercs, so I just gave up on mine and the grizzly did an excellent job. Once I got the hang of casting the grizzly to herd or split up packs of monsters it became fairly easy.

The highlights of the game were probably the battles with the ancients and baal. It took a while to kill the ancients, but I basically just used my grizzly to distract them, then bit them once and ran away. I tried to go toe-to-toe melee with them and ended up just dying pretty quickly. It was similar with Baal, but I found it very easy because I could just use hunger on his appendages and I never had to use a healing potion.

From my Nightmare hellforge I didn't get anything notable, but I did get a Gul from my hellforge in hell, so I was fairly lucky.

Here's a quick summary of skills, stats, and equipment.


Skill Allocation

Rabies 20
Poison Creeper 20
Lycanthropy 20
Heart of Wolverine 15
Werewolf 7
Hunger 2
Direwolves 2
Grizzly 1
Prerequisites 7

Stats

Enough Dexterity for a phase blade
Enough Strength for a Monarch shield
The rest in Vitality

Equipment

Code:
Armour

Jalal's Mane
Totemic Mask
Defense: 256
Durability: 19 of 20
(Druid Only)
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x6dde5664
+20 to Strength
+20 to Energy
+159% Enhanced Defense
All Resistances +30
+36 poison damage over 2 seconds
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+5 to Mana After Each Kill
+2 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
100% Chance to cast Level 23 Venom When You Level Up
+5% to Poison Skill Damage
-4% to Enemy Poison Resistance
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Smoke
Ghost Armor
'NefLum'
Defense: 199
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Strength: 38
Required Level: 37
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 35
Fingerprint: 0x8ef30b95
+10 to Energy
+75% Enhanced Defense
+280 Defense vs. Missile
All Resistances +50
-1 to Light Radius
20% Faster Hit Recovery
Level 6 Weaken (18/18 Charges)
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Spirit
Monarch
'TalThulOrtAmn'
Defense: 140
Chance to Block:  42%
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Strength: 156
Required Level: 54
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x5fc5367d
+22 to Vitality
+103 to Mana
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Lightning Resist +35%
Cold Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
55% Faster Hit Recovery
27% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to All Skill Levels
+3 Magic Absorb
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Moser's Blessed Circle
Round Shield
Defense: 161
Chance to Block:  57%
Durability: 64 of 64
Required Strength: 53
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0xc1edc81e
+189% Enhanced Defense
+25% Increased Chance of Blocking
All Resistances +63
30% Faster Block Rate
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Trang-Oul's Claws
Heavy Bracers
Defense: 70
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x2f9b467
+30 Defense
Cold Resist +30%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Curses (Necromancer Only)
+25% to Poison Skill Damage

Immortal King's Detail
War Belt
Defense: 142
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 110
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x6146777f
+25 to Strength
+36 Defense
Fire Resist +28%
Lightning Resist +31%

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
+105 Defense
25% Faster Hit Recovery
+100% Enhanced Defense
Damage Reduced by 20%
+2 to Masteries Skills (Barbarian Only)
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***

Immortal King's Pillar
War Boots
Defense: 123
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 125
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xd0140739
+44 to Life
+110 to Attack Rating
+75 Defense
40% Faster Run/Walk

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to Combat Skills (Barbarian Only)
+160 Defense
Half Freeze Duration
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***


Jewelry

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0xdc1ffe3c
+17 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+207 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0xdc1ffe3c
+17 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+207 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Communal Amulet
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 78
Fingerprint: 0x4f11d2a3
+3 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Weapons

Plague Bearer
Rune Sword
One-Hand Damage: 35 to 150
Durability: 44 of 44
Required Dexterity: 79
Required Strength: 103
Required Level: 41
Sword Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x54da7227
+150% Enhanced Damage
+10 to Minimum Damage
+45 to Maximum Damage
Poison Resist +45%
+300 poison damage over 8 seconds
+5 to Rabies (Druid Only)
5% Chance to cast Level 4 Poison Nova on striking
Socketed (1: 0 used)

Grief
Phase Blade
'EthTirLoMalRal'
One-Hand Damage: 31 to 35
Required Dexterity: 136
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 59
Sword Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0xb87d8541
Adds 5-30 fire damage
+11 Life after each Kill
33% Increased Attack Speed
Adds +393 Damage
Ignore Target Defense
-25% Target Defense
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
20% Deadly Strike
35% Chance to cast Level 15 Venom on striking
155% Damage to Demons (Based on Character Level)
-23% to Enemy Poison Resistance
Socketed (5: 5 used)

My basic strategy was to use rabies with the plague bearer and spirit shield and then switch to the Grief PB to use hunger.

My vital information was as follows:

Life - 2258
Rabies damage - 22000 - 23000
Hunger damage - 800
Resists in hell - All were 75
Rabies Attack Rating - 9800
Hunger Attack Rating - 8000

That's about it. I think now I'll just be trying out some different gear combinations to see what works best. I think this build would have a lot of potential with some better gear. Maybe a Bramble or Chains of Honour. I've managed to pick up some poison facet jewels and I put one of them in the Jalal's, but if I can get a couple more I may try a 4 socketed monarch shield. I'd also love to have some +Shapeshifting GC to get my rabies damage up, but that will have to wait until I cube some or until I'm through the probation period on the trade forum.

Well thanks for reading. Sorry for the long write up.

Oops...one more thing. I should thank Bodis who gave me the Grief PB. I think it's the perfect weapon for this build with the - % poison resist and the excellent speed and damage. I don't think I would have made this build if I hadn't won the PB in Bodis' lottery, so I just wanted to say thanks again.
 
Originally posted by SimontheBulletFreak on Jun 3, 2005:

Patriarch JanosSkorzeny

Another character class pat'd! This is my fourth one. I had never played a Druid before and thanks to all those who gave advice on how to proceed. I built him as a straight Fury Druid, no elemental skills. I guess you could say that a ton of physical damage is always my preference. The character is named after the Chuck Connors character from the FOX TV show Werewolf from the late 80's of which I am a huge fan.

Patriarch JanosSkorzeny
level 78
maxed Werewolf, Lycanthropy, Fury and Heart of Wolverine
all stats after WW transformation and with HoW spirit:
life:1912
mana:378
dama: 1440-2875 (about 3k when merc aura is working)
stats with gear:
STR: 200
DEX: 240
VIT: 180
ENE:53
all resists 75% in Hell

Baranar's Star/Tiamat's Rebuke w/Um
Lionheart Ornate Plate
Jalal's Mane w/Um (dropped in Hell Hellforge)
String of Ears 15% dam reduc
Raven Frost/rare ring with 7%ll and resist all 8%
rare ammy with +2 druid skills, 5%ll, and 34 life
Hellmouth War Gauntlets
Sandstorm Trek Scarabshell Boots

Gheed's Charm and rest of charms gave 116 life, 59 mana, 175 poison, 144 lightning, allresists +11 and other assorted stats
Acts Might merc Mizan with ethereal Spire of Honor Lance, Shaftstop, and Vamp Gaze helm

This was kind of a boring character but then again I probably should have expected it since I am traditionally a melee guy and this was nothing new. In retrospect, I probably should have tried some of the elemental builds for a fresh experience. All things considered, Act5 Hell gave me the most trouble with PI but the elemental dam I have in charms and on my gear helped considerably.

The only drop I had worth mentioning was the Um I used for my Jalal's. Now, if I have done anything strange here skillwise or gearwise I plead ignorance and poverty. Like I said, I have never touched the class before and I was a little perplexed as to weapon choice (shield/no shield?) so I just used what worked.

Next project is probably going to be a dual claw Venom 'sin or maybe just a Meteorb sorc since I have yet to build a sorc in 1.10. I started the 'sin but I believe I may have made the same mistake I did with this druid. I need a different build to push me to a new playing style. I was thinking of a Trapsin if they are viable. Only three more classes to go...
 
Originally posted by Sir Lister of Smeg on Jul 17, 2008:

Patriarch Aldur

I started playing again about a month ago (before D3 was announced), and finally patted my Aldur druid. Playstyle was basically shockwave followed by maul and fireclaws until everything was dead. Ravens and other pets helped a lot as well to keep things at bay.

Below is the GoMule dump, note that it has all items on the character at the moment of patting on it. He did not use the weapon switch (except as storage), always had the set items (as soon as he could use them). Some numbers with gear seem to be incorrect, but I'm not sure.

I guess it's time to make a Tal Rasha sorc and a Trang-Oul necro since I've got those class specific sets complete as well (apart from the Immortal King with which I did already pat a barb), any suggestions for builds?

Code:
Name:       Aldur
Class:      Druid
Experience: 1017864279
Level:      84

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   115/180
Dexterity:  20/95
Vitality:   260/337
Energy:     20/71
HP:         709/980
Mana:       186/478
Stamina:    402/799
Defense:    5/1511
AR:         70/70

Fire:       206/166/106
Cold:       184/144/84
Lightning:  181/141/81
Poison:     129/89/29

MF:         50       Block:      18
GF:         173
FR/W:       43
FHR:        55
IAS:        120
FCR:        20

Raven: 1/4
Poison Creeper: 1/4
Oak Sage: 1/4
Summon Spirit Wolf: 1/4
Carrion Vine: 0/0
Heart of Wolverine: 0/0
Summon Dire Wolf: 4/7
Solar Creeper: 0/0
Spirit of Barbs: 0/0
Summon Grizzly: 1/4

Werewolf : 1/6
Lycanthropy : 4/9
Werebear : 1/6
Feral Rage : 1/6
Maul : 1/6
Rabies : 0/0
Fire Claws : 20/26
Hunger : 0/0
Shock Wave : 7/12
Fury : 0/0

Firestorm : 20/24
Molten Boulder : 20/24
Arctic Blast : 0/0
Fissure : 5/9
Cyclone Armor : 0/0
Twister : 0/0
Volcano : 1/5
Tornado : 0/0
Armageddon : 0/0
Hurricane : 0/0

Trainer's Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x475f1f32
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+27 to Life
+1 to Summoning Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm of the Glacier
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xedf55401
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+3 - 7 cold damage with 1 sec Duration
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Spiritual Grand Charm of Greed
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x7accab80
Item Level: 76
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
39% Extra Gold from Monsters
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Azure Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 29
Fingerprint: 0x7da3ae37
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Cold Resist +5%
5% Faster Hit Recovery

Tangerine Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 29
Fingerprint: 0xf02ac0f9
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Lightning Resist +3%
5% Faster Hit Recovery

Stalwart Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0x3622ba55
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+30 Defense
5% Faster Hit Recovery

Iron Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0xe2480bb
Item Level: 69
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+17 to Attack Rating
5% Faster Hit Recovery

Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0x77df31b7
Item Level: 83
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
3% Faster Run/Walk

Tome of Identify
Fingerprint: 0x1bc35e41
Item Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 

Key
Fingerprint: 0x5f3037f0
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 

Eld Rune
Required Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
75% Damage to Undead
Armor: 
15% Slower Stamina Drain
Shields: 
7% Increased Chance of Blocking

Flawless Amethyst
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+100 to Attack Rating
Armor: 
+8 to Strength
Shields: 
+24 Defense

Eld Rune
Required Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
75% Damage to Undead
Armor: 
15% Slower Stamina Drain
Shields: 
7% Increased Chance of Blocking

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

Flawless Sapphire
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+6 - 10 cold damage with 2 sec Duration
Armor: 
+31 to Mana
Shields: 
Cold Resist +28%

El Rune
Required Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+1 to Light Radius
+50 to Attack Rating
Armor: 
+1 to Light Radius
+15 Defense
Shields: 
+1 to Light Radius
+15 Defense

Flawless Skull
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
3% Life stolen per hit
3% Mana stolen per hit
Armor: 
Replenish Life 4
Shields: 
Attacker Takes Damage of 16

Flawless Amethyst
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+100 to Attack Rating
Armor: 
+8 to Strength
Shields: 
+24 Defense

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

Perfect Emerald
Required Level: 18
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+100 poison damage over 7 seconds
Armor: 
+10 to Dexterity
Shields: 
Poison Resist +40%

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

Flawless Ruby
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+10 - 16 Fire Damage
Armor: 
+31 to Life
Shields: 
Fire Resist +28%

Flawless Diamond
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
54% Damage to Undead
Armor: 
+80 to Attack Rating
Shields: 
All Resistances +14

Demon Machine
Chu-Ko-Nu
Two Hand Damage: 31 - 137
Durability: 20 of 40
Required Level: 49
Required Strength: 80
Required Dexterity: 95
Fingerprint: 0x2af840ae
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+36 to Mana
123% Enhanced Damage
+632 to Attack Rating
+66 to Maximum Damage
+321 Defense
66% Piercing Attack
Fires Explosive Arrows or Bolts

El Rune
Required Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+1 to Light Radius
+50 to Attack Rating
Armor: 
+1 to Light Radius
+15 Defense
Shields: 
+1 to Light Radius
+15 Defense

Ring of Fortune
Ring
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0xc145db96
Item Level: 62
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
21% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Grand Charm of Strength
Grand Charm
Required Level: 10
Fingerprint: 0x38662ca1
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+5 to Strength

Ring of Blight
Ring
Required Level: 33
Fingerprint: 0xf832de7b
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+50 poison damage over 3 seconds

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0x6e28b7f1
Item Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 

Flawless Emerald
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+60 poison damage over 6 seconds
Armor: 
+8 to Dexterity
Shields: 
Poison Resist +28%

Amulet of Warding
Amulet
Required Level: 5
Fingerprint: 0xef177975
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Magic Damage Reduced by 1

Flawless Topaz
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+1 - 30 Lightning Damage
Armor: 
20% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 
Lightning Resist +28%

Tal Rune
Required Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+75 poison damage over 5 seconds
Armor: 
Poison Resist +30%
Shields: 
Poison Resist +35%

Cathan's Seal
Ring
Required Level: 11
Fingerprint: 0xa89d7c1b
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Damage Reduced by 2
6% Life stolen per hit
Set (2 item): 
+10 to Strength

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
250 Replenish Mana

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

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
250 Replenish Mana

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
250 Replenish Mana

Aldur's Stony Gaze
Hunter's Guise
Defense: 161
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 36
Required Strength: 56
Fingerprint: 0x1684add8
Item Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
17% Regenerate Mana
+90 Defense
Cold Resist +50%
+5 to Light Radius
25% Faster Hit Recovery
Set (2 item): 
+15 to Energy
Set (3 items): 
+15 to Energy
Set (4 items): 
+15 to Energy
Fire Resist +27%
30% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to Mana after each Kill
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Ruby Jewel of Fervor
Socketed: Aureolic Jewel of Fervor

Ruby Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0x74da5a5f
Item Level: 64
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Fire Resist +27%
30% Increased Attack Speed

Aureolic Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0xb810e2ad
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
15% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to Mana after each Kill


Beast Talisman
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0x42b5de69
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+6 to Energy
34% Extra Gold from Monsters
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
Poison Length Reduced by 25%
All Resistances +20

Aldur's Deception
Shadow Plate
Defense: 767
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Level: 76
Required Strength: 115
Fingerprint: 0x35714d65
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+20 to Strength
+15 to Dexterity
+300 Defense
Lightning Resist +49%
Requirements -50%
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+1 to Elemental Skills (Druid Only)
Set (2 item): 
+15 to Vitality
Set (3 items): 
+15 to Vitality
Set (4 items): 
+15 to Vitality

Dwarf Star
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x2c247cb7
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+40 to Life
+40 Maximum Stamina
15% Heal Stamina Plus
Magic Damage Reduced by 14
100% Extra Gold from Monsters
15% Fire Absorb

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x28566b2b
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+15 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+249 to Attack Rating
+15 - 45 cold damage with 4 sec Duration
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Verdungo's Hearty Cord
Mithril Coil
Defense: 128
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 106
Fingerprint: 0xaa8687f4
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+32 to Vitality
+100 Maximum Stamina
95% Enhanced Defense
Damage Reduced by 15%
Replenish Life 11
10% Faster Hit Recovery

Aldur's Advance
Battle Boots
Defense: 45
Durability: 10 of 18
Required Level: 45
Required Strength: 95
Fingerprint: 0x57d13aca
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+50 to Life
+180 Maximum Stamina
32% Heal Stamina Plus
Fire Resist +50%
40% Faster Run/Walk
+10 Damage Taken Goes To Mana
Indestructible
Set (2 item): 
+15 to Dexterity
Set (3 items): 
+15 to Dexterity
Set (4 items): 
+15 to Dexterity

Magefist
Light Gauntlets
Defense: 25
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Level: 23
Required Strength: 45
Fingerprint: 0x552cb0be
Item Level: 75
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
29% Enhanced Defense
25% Regenerate Mana
+10 Defense
+1 - 6 Fire Damage
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to Fire Skills

Horadric Cube
Fingerprint: 0x226b6698
Item Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 

Antidote Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Poison Resist +50%
10% to Maximum Poison Resist

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

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
250 Replenish Mana

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

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
No Display for property: 6
No Display for property: 8

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
No Display for property: 6
No Display for property: 8

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
No Display for property: 6
No Display for property: 8

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
250 Replenish Mana

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
250 Replenish Mana

Flawless Ruby
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
+10 - 16 Fire Damage
Armor: 
+31 to Life
Shields: 
Fire Resist +28%

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

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

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

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
250 Replenish Mana

Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
No Display for property: 6
No Display for property: 8

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

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

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

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

Aldur's Rhythm
Jagged Star
One Hand Damage: 60 - 93
Durability: 72 of 72
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 74
Fingerprint: 0xa8c82fc9
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+40 to Minimum Damage
+62 to Maximum Damage
+50 - 75 Lightning Damage
10% Life stolen per hit
5% Mana stolen per hit
200% Damage to Demons
150% Damage to Undead
Set (2 item): 
+15 to Strength
Set (3 items): 
+15 to Strength
Set (4 items): 
+15 to Strength
90% Increased Attack Speed
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Shael Rune

Shael Rune
Required Level: 29
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
90% Increased Attack Speed
Armor: 
20% Faster Hit Recovery
Shields: 
20% Faster Block Rate

Shael Rune
Required Level: 29
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
20% Increased Attack Speed
Armor: 
20% Faster Hit Recovery
Shields: 
20% Faster Block Rate

Shael Rune
Required Level: 29
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
Weapons: 
20% Increased Attack Speed
Armor: 
20% Faster Hit Recovery
Shields: 
20% Faster Block Rate


Tiamat's Rebuke
Dragon Shield
Defense: 182
Chance to Block: 18
Durability: 116 of 116
Required Level: 38
Required Strength: 91
Fingerprint: 0x9397723f
Item Level: 60
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
169% Enhanced Defense
+35 - 95 Fire Damage
+1 - 120 Lightning Damage
+27 - 53 cold damage with 6 sec Duration
+40 Maximum Durability
5% Chance to cast level 9 Frost Nova when struck
5% Chance to cast level 7 Nova when struck
3% Chance to cast level 6 Hydra when struck
All Resistances +29

Mercenary:

Shaftstop
Mesh Armor
Defense: 618
Durability: 27 of 45
Required Level: 38
Required Strength: 92
Fingerprint: 0x9beac3
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+60 to Life
189% Enhanced Defense
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Damage Reduced by 30%

Guillaume's Face
Winged Helm
Defense: 217
Durability: 30 of 40
Required Level: 34
Required Strength: 115
Fingerprint: 0x2230bc78
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
+15 to Strength
120% Enhanced Defense
30% Faster Hit Recovery
35% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike

The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
Two Hand Damage: 39 - 458
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Level: 75
Required Strength: 114
Required Dexterity: **
Fingerprint: 0xd35411b4
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties: 
225% Enhanced Damage
+4 - 44 cold damage with 1 sec Duration
12% Life stolen per hit
Requirements -25%
Ignore Target's Defense
33% Deadly Strike
33% Chance to cast level 1 Decrepify on striking

Name:       Leharas
Race:       Desert Mercenary
Type:       Def-Nightmare
Experience: 71971712
Level:      84
Dead?:      false

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   184/199
Dexterity:  148/148
HP:         1727/1787
Defense:    1237/2072
AR:         1193/1193

Fire:       148/108/48
Cold:       148/108/48
Lightning:  148/108/48
Poison:    148/108/48
 
Originally posted by Sir Lister of Smeg on Jul 26, 2007:

Patriarch Furious

It's been a while since I last made a matriarch/patriarch, and I found this last week that it was really time to get there again. So I continued one of my old characters that had been stalled due to me taking yet again a break from the game and patted him.

The build is a single tree shapeshifter, more precisely a fury druid going by the name of Furious. Normal and nightmare were quite a while ago, but from what I remember it was quite easy. Then I hit hell (already before my last break) and started to stumble. I was using some nice gear (a very nice elite rare polearm with 400% or so enhanced damage and a stone sacred armour among others), but it wasn't good enough to stay alive. Originally I did not want to give him parts of the Immortal King set since I started him not long after having patted my Immortal King whirlwinder. Just before the last break I decided though that he didn't manage and so outfitted him a bit different, facilitated by having found my second Immortal King's Soul Cage.
Anyway, now he did a good job, this time I started after already having killed Radament before the break. So I'll only tell about from there on. Act II went fine until the Tunnels were he had a bit of trouble due to the level difference (oddly enough the Maggot Lair went fine in spite of the same level difference). He managed to survive and clear them though. The Claw Viper Temple posed serious trouble, a few deaths in the beginning and just trouble with the charge attacks. In level two all went fine though due to him managing to get onto the podium, townportalling and then from there fighting few at a time. Earlier on I had increased the setting to 3, but from there nearly everything was players 1, just like the beginning of act I when he was still struggling. The ghosts in the Arcane Sanctuary were annoying due to being physical immune, not because he couldn't kill them, but because it meant no leech. He might even have had a death there, I don't remember. I remember being very glad finding the pedestal to put the staff in, but don't remember what he found in the tomb. Duriel was a walk-over, the bug died very quickly (20 seconds at most I think).
Act III went a bit better, no deaths this time. Stormtree was annoying, because of mana burn, and he parked before that two ghost bosspacks (one with a might and one with a fanaticism aura, which were basically on top of each other) in the Flayer Dungeon. He encountered more snakes in some of the temples, but they were no problem this time (even in the level 85 temples), the council went down quickly, undead stygian dolls were dangerous, but he could tank them as long as he took only one or two at a time and the merc the rest. The council members down stairs and Mephisto also proved no problem (Mephisto probably took longer than 20 seconds, but 30 is probably a lot already).
Act IV saw one death due to stupidity, I got surrounded in a building on the Planes Of Despair, tried to fight my way out, something which worked most of the time due to his speed, but not this time. Izual went down quickly, Hephasto was another story alltogether. I'd cleaned out the River Of Flame upto the waypoint, only to discover a stone skin (and thus physical immune) Hephasto with a nasty aura (either might or conviction), and I just couldn't make enough of a dent in him, even with a lot of elemental damage (probably also magic resistant). In the end I decided to restart the game to get a better roll and this time I could kill him, only to get a hel from the forge. Chaos Sanctuary was alright altogether, in spite of playing a melee character. With speed he could easily take out the oblivion knights and even keep the merc alive most of the time. Changing form instead of dying did save him at least once though. The Infector Of Souls was as usual the most dangerous of the seal bosses, but with good running away he was managable, the other two were no problem whatsoever. Then it was the turn of Diablo, and this was more or less the same as with Duriel and Mephisto, probably took slightly longer due to a bit more hitpoints, although I'm not sure due to the varying resistances, but he went down quickly, and even dropped something nice which I don't remember at the moment.
Then it was the turn of act V, which as opposed to acts III and IV, which were done in one session (act III even in one game) was divided into three parts. First came the task to rescue Anya. The first thing here was the finding of a pul in the Bloody Foothills to make up for the hellforge. Outside was no problem, but then we got to the first ice cave. Here I ran into trouble, physical immune frenzytaurs in the Crystalline Passage with other unleechables for added fun. I rerolled until I got something nearly doable (running from the Arreat Plateau waypoint, although again frenzytaurs galore), with good parking I did manage to find the entries to the Glacial Trail and The Frozen River and the waypoint. The Frozen river had a nasty welcoming committee, but apart from that it went okay, with the inhabitants being snakes, succubi, and skeleton mages. Anya was saved and I went on to try and do some levelling, which basically starts part two.
Pindle wasn't really nice for this, Eldritch and Shenk worked much better. After levelling (only one level) I ventured once again to Pindleskin and on to find and kill Nihlathak. The temple wasn't too eventful, although I did die to a conviction bosspack somewhere, but managed to recover the corpse. The third level did of course spawn snakes, but Furious stayed alive here (and I think the moron as well) in spite of being poisoned at least once. He had the luck of choosing the right direction immediately. Nihlathak and his corpse explosions proved no threat apart from killing the moron and went down.
Part 3 started with a lucky spawn in the Crystalline Passage, and in the Glacial Trail the Frenzytaurs were lightning instead of physical immune, much nicer. Apart from having to run away from some nasty bosspack of frenzytaurs in The Ancient's Way to split it up, the first real problem were the Ancients. I tried the first time in spite of the conviction aura on one of them until townportalling after three full purples and already a dead merc. The second time was better, but not good enough with a curse and a dead merc, the third time I took them down, the stone skin whirlwinder being the last to survive. So it was into the Worlstone Keep. The first two levels posed no problem iirc, the third did with physical immune succubi. I managed to kill one bosspack of them after dying to it earlier, but another one I parked, hoping to find the entry to the Throne Of Destruction elsewhere, which I did. There I found stygian dolls, succubi, and gloams, none of which were much of a threat with good running. Then it was the waves. The first was no problem, but the second killed my moron (the gloam reviving wasn't too dangerous). The third went down quickly, but killed the moron again, the fourth was alright, I think the moron survived. The fifth I had to split up, but I think I managed to keep the moron alive (by now I'm tired, leading to some amnesia). Baal was a similar picture to the previous act bosses, went down very quickly.
His best find was a Stoneraven somewhere in the Worldstone Keep.


Now the stats, and the gear:

Furious, level 83 druid, 904338965 exp

Stats:
Strength 209
Dexterity 65
Vitality 171
Energy 20
40 stat points left

Skills:
Werewolf 20
Lycanthropy 20
Feral Rage 1
Rabies 1
Fury 20
32 skill points left

Gear:
Jalal's Mane
Angelic Wings
Immortal King's Stone Crusher (shael, shael)
Immortal King's Soul Cage
Immortal King's Forge
Immortal King's Detail
Immortal King's Pillar
Angelic Halo
Raven Frost
Windhammer (shael) (on switch)
Coral Large Charm Of Winter
Sapphire Large Charm
Lapis Small Charm Of Frost
Amber Small Charm
Amber Small Charm Of Blight
Emerald Small Charm
Garnet Small Charm x3
Fine Small Charm Of Life
Small Charm Of Good Luck
Lapis Small Charm Of Strength
Coral Small Charm
Serpent's Small Charm Of Winter
Small Charm Of Inertia
Ocher Small Charm Of Fortune
Stalwart Small Charm Of Fortune
Ruby Small Charm Of Greed
Ruby Small Charm Of Inertia
Small Charm Of Vita

The moron:
Zanarhi, level 83 might desert mercenary, 69476998 exp
Strength 183
Dexterity 147
Hitpoints 1687
Defense 2039
Resistance 147
Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Obedience thresher
Duriel's Shell
 
Originally posted by sirpoopsalot on Jan 21, 2006:

Patriarch DingleBarry - Fury Wolf

I decided to try to finish this guy today, and finally made it. To be honest, I didn't enjoy this char very much, mostly because the build's pretty much complete by level 65 (so you don't really gain much benefit from extra levels, but the monsters do get significantly harder).

I'm 4/7 of the way to a 1.10 SC septavirate now - Paladin, Assasin, and Necro are left.


Stats:
Str: 125 (199)
Dex: 25 (86)
Vit: 330 (335)
Ene: 20 (58)

Exp: 822403774 (lvl 82)
Wereform/OS Life: 3933
Mana: 318
Resists: 75/75/75/64
(according to the LCS):
Fury Damage: 2872-4381 @ 4fpa :shocked:
Feral Rage Damage: 1443 - 2196


Gear
W1: Upped, Shael'ed Ribcracker (284%)
W2: Baranar's Star
S2: Tiamat's Rebuke
Armor: Tal's (PTopaz)
Helm: Jalal's/Delerium (for tougher area's/boss packs)
Boots/Belt/Gloves: IK
Ammy: Mara's (24)
R1: Ravenfrost (19/244)
R2: Rare (4 LL, 3ML, 65 AR, 8% Fire Res., +5 Mana, +13 Energy)

Skills
WW - 20 (26)
Lycan - 20 (26)
Fury - 20 (26)
OS - 20 (24)
Grizzly - 4 (8 - all additional points would go here)
Carrion Vine - 1
Cyclone Armor - 1 (I never really used it though)
All Prereq's - 1

Merc: Kasim, lvl81, Might merc
Reaper's Toll (214% - Shael)
Guillaume's (26 Fire Res/IAS jewel)
Shaftstop (IAS jewel)


Noteables:
- Bosses drop very, very fast (Duriel took about 4 seconds - I thought he'd somehow spawned with Teleport until I pressed the alt key 👅)
- I had a lucky spawn on Hell Ancients first try - they took less than 1 minute to kill, and no potions at all.
- all Non-PI's are toast, but IMO Reapers Toll is a must have for PI's
- Baranar's Star was better than Schaefer's Hammer when dealing with PI's (with or without the merc's Reapers)
- You only need a tiny bit of leech to survive with this guy's speed & damage.
- 4 death's, IIRC (3 to IM, 1 to what must have been a bug - I was 2 hit killed by a single Death Scarab boss in Act2, despite my 3500 life, 75 fire/light/cold resists, and I was in wereform).
- about 15 NDE's (mostly from IM)


Noteable Finds:
- Received an Um and Gul from Hellforge - as good as it gets :shocked: :cloud9:
- Also found a Fal in A5 NM, and a Shael in A5 Normal - I was hoping that luck would scale to hell, but only at the HF
- Fell Oak (Demon Gremlin in Frigid Highlands - Hell)
- Cerebus Bite (Hell Duriel - I've only found two, and both have been from Duriel)
- Arcanna's Sign (don't remember, Item Level = 44)
- Telling of Beads (normal OK in the Chaos Sanc. - Hell)
- Blackoak Shield (A3 Hell, flayer dungeon, don't remember the monster)
- Titan's Revenge (180, 5% - don't remeber where, Item Level = 76)

Runes:
As an experiment, I decided to keep track of all of the runes dropped during this guy's quests, and I did finish the Rescue on Mount Arreat quest in each act, and only ran the Countess once per act (Two El's, a Tir, and a Nef - woot). I haven't cubed them yet, but here's the totals.

El - 27
Eld - 21
Tir - 15
Nef - 11
Eth - 9
Ith - 5
Tal - 13
Ral - 7
Ort - 4
Thul - 3
Amn - 1
Sol - 0
Shael - 1
Dol - 2
... none except ...
Fal - 1
Um - 1
Gul - 1
 
Diablo 4 Interactive Map
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