Matriarch/Patriarch/Guardian Archive Thread

Originally posted by nebux on Feb 6, 2006:

Patriarch Distrugatorul hammerdin

well as i haven't worked today i pated my paladin that i started saturday evening.

Character name : Distrugatorul
Character type : Paladin
Character level : 84
Character exp : 984789304

Strength : 89/120
Energy : 15/20
Dexterity : 105/132
Vitality : 296/343
Stat Points Rem : 10
Skill Points Rem: 0
Life : 1319 / 1094
Mana : 278 / 141
Stamina : 529 / 442

Skills:

Blessed hammer 20/30
Vigor 20/30
Blessed Aim 20/28
Concentration 20/28
Holy Shield 7/17 i'll put more points here
Redemption 1/9
1 in all prereq
BH damage 2151-2178 / 7141-7230 with Concentration on
Gear:

Skin of the Vipermagi 35 rez Ptop
Hoz Pdiamond
Raven Frost and Dwarf Star
Tarnhelm 40mf Ptop

String of Ears
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 104
Durability: 20 of 22
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x14dc726e
+157% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 15
Damage Reduced by 11%
8% Life stolen per hit
+10 Maximum Durability

Spirit Crystal Sword on switch Spellsteel for teleport
Magefist
Tearhaunch

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0x3150f925
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
All Resistances +23
+2 to All Skill Levels found questing in Hell act 3

Merc:

Insight
Colossus Voulge
'RalTirTalSol'
Two-Hand Damage: 65 to 551
Durability: 33 of 50
Required Dexterity: 55
Required Strength: 210
Required Level: 48
Polearm Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 73
Fingerprint: 0xb43b52b3
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
+234% Enhanced Damage
+9 to Minimum Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
+75 poison damage over 5 seconds
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to Critical Strike
35% Faster Cast Rate
196% Bonus to Attack Rating
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Level 16 Meditation Aura When Equipped
Socketed (4: 4 used) <-- i'll make one eth here

Tal's Mask

Leviathan
Kraken Shell
Defense: 1586
Required Strength: 174
Required Level: 65
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x7b5941ce
+48 to Strength
+176% Enhanced Defense
+140 Defense
Damage Reduced by 23%
Indestructible in the Pits when lvling on p8

that's my first paladin that become a pat, all others i left then at NM Andy.
I'll do with him some more Pit runs in the future when my sorc will find some MF gear for him. Playing was really fun normal and Nm on P8 then lvl until 82 in the Pits on P8.I killed Ancients on first try, they drop all 3 dead in under a min Hellforge SOL from NM and IST from hell.Baal dropped a Wizspike (good for me)
 
Originally posted by Pugmh on May 17, 2009:

Patriarch OneMoreC , My hammerdin.

This is my 3rd selffind character that i manage to finish hell with it. I have also a WW fury druid (84) and a frenzy barb ( 88) ... so im now in 3/7.

Patriarch OneMoreC

First you should know that this is a character in progress

Level 84 Hammerdin
exp 0.965 bil.

Stats ( naked/gear)
Str: 95/103
dex: 140/165
vita: 234/234
Ene: 16/26

Dam. 1700,4800 ( without , with concentration)
Life: 1104
Mana: 253
chance to block 71% ( after holy shield)

Res 75/52/75/49

Skills: blessed aim: 21
Concentation: 21
Vigor: 21
BH: 25
Holy shield: 11

Gear
Code:
Lore
Superior Demonhead
'OrtSol'
Defense: 125
Durability: 16 of 22
Required Strength: 102
Required Level: 55
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0xb945667c
+10 to Energy
Damage Reduced by 7
Lightning Resist +30%
Increase Maximum Durability 10%
+2 to Light Radius
+1 to All Skill Levels
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Haemosu's Adamant
Cuirass
Defense: 698
Durability: 45 of 50
Required Strength: 52
Required Level: 44
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x5ed3e945
+75 to Life
+500 Defense
+35 Defense vs. Missile
+40 Defense vs. Melee
Requirements -20%

ose Branded Phase Blade
One-Hand Damage: 31 to 35
Required Dexterity: 136
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 54
Sword Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x596445a9
+3 to Combat Skills (Paladin Only)

Gemmed Aerin Shield
Defense: 28
Chance to Block:  52%
Smite Damage: 4 to 10
Durability: 44 of 50
(Paladin Only)
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 18
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0xbaa0646d
+65% Enhanced Damage
+118 to Attack Rating
All Resistances +76
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Tal Rasha's Adjudication
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xd02fdf1c
+50 to Life
+42 to Mana
Lightning Resist +33%
Adds 3-32 lightning damage
+2 to Sorceress Skill Levels

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
10% Faster Cast Rate
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***


Bitter Hand
Heavy Bracers
Defense: 59
Durability: 13 of 16
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x8ace275c
+32% Enhanced Defense
+17 to Attack Rating
Cold Resist +13%
21% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Poison Length Reduced by 25%
Half Freeze Duration

Wraith Strap
Plated Belt
Defense: 16
Durability: 23 of 24
Required Strength: 60
Required Level: 13
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 35
Fingerprint: 0x9fb18a8c
+3 to Strength
+35% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +30%
Lightning Resist +5%
Replenish Life +3
24% Faster Hit Recovery

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0xf37b5318
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+224 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Entropy Spiral
Ring
Required Level: 13
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x6bc67624
+2 to Strength
Fire Resist +10%
Poison Resist +28%

Natalya's Soul
Mesh Boots
Defense: 151
Durability: 66 of 66
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xfc8e7ab4
+113 Defense
Lightning Resist +24%
Cold Resist +23%
+50 Maximum Durability
40% Faster Run/Walk
Heal Stamina Plus 21% (Base

Mercenary: NM act 2 Merc

Vikhyat lvl 82

Code:
Gale Hood
Crown
Defense: 58
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Strength: 55
Required Level: 13
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x103f78a2
+27% Enhanced Defense
+15 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +22%
Lightning Resist +20%
+1 to Light Radius
5% Chance to cast Level 3 Frost Nova when struck
Repairs 1 durability in 33 seconds

Spire of Honor
Lance
'Shael'
Two-Hand Damage: 98 to 370
Durability: 25 of 25
Required Dexterity: 88
Required Strength: 110
Required Level: 39
Spear Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x464d3942
+25% Enhanced Defense
+190% Enhanced Damage
+20 to Minimum Damage
+40 to Maximum Damage
Replenish Life +20
+3 to Light Radius
20% Increased Attack Speed
20% Faster Hit Recovery
25% Bonus to Attack Rating
+3 to Combat Skills (Paladin Only)
126% Damage to Demons (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Plague Shell
Hellforge Plate
Defense: 754
Durability: 31 of 60
Required Strength: 137
Required Level: 59
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0x3ca072ff
+43 to Life
+42% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +6%
Requirements -30%
24% Faster Hit Recovery

A Pic!

Story : I decide to play a hammerdin because i want to compete in Baalthon and everyones suggest was a character with area effect. He is my strongest character so far . I know that his gear is crap , and if you have any suggest for improvements please post ( i play only selfind)

Normal : Normal was very easy for me , i think i die only 3-5 times . When i start feel comfortable with my hammers nothing could stop me. I finish normal in lvl 37 , i think , and remain there until lvl 47.

NM: Not much here either. It was easier than normal , because i had huge amount of damage. I kill NM Baal around lvl 60 , and stay there until 73.

Hell : this is the best part . This character is the first able to kill in Hell . My two previous characters just running throught the game. He kills!!! I had many deaths but i was to relaxed. I kill Hell baal in lvl 81 .

HF drop

What now: 3/7 I will continue run Hell Meph to improve my char , and then i will try to run Baal for Baalthon. After him i will build a Javazon , my first real lady!.

I hope you enjoy it and please reply with your improve suggests!
 
Originally posted by Psywire on Nov 27, 2006:

Patriarch Fich

Hello ppl. A new Patriarch here for you...
I still have quite a bit to go before he is uber. I need to upgrade all my normal/exceptional items; find that 200% HoZ & stick something in it; find/buy/cube 6x Lion Branded GC of Vita, Shimmering SC's of Vita etc; and find some good equiptment for my merc.

My Hammerdin does rly well- vry rarely dies in Hell. As soon as I manage to fix up some equiptment/charm problems, he will be unstoppable!


Character Details:

Name: Fich
Level: 92
Build: Hammerdin
Resistances in Hell: 79/75/75/75
Total FHR: 5% (25% when using Ethereal Treks)
Total FCR: 90%

Stats (With Equipment)

Strength: 85 (97)
Dexterity: 125 (53)
Vitality: 330 (357) [Life: 1869, 3174 with BO]
Energy: 15 (22) [Mana: 520]

Damage:
Total: 11k-11k (Only using 2 Lion Branded GC atm)

Skill Point Allocation (with +skill Items)
Blessed Hammer: 20 (38)
Concentration: 20 (33)
Vigor: 20 (33)
Blessed Aim: 20 (33)
Redemption: 1 (14)
Holy Shield: 1 (18)
+1 point into prereq skills. 14 remaining skill points.

Equipment
Perfect 141def Harlequin Crest [Um Rune]
"Enigma" Superior 10%/10% Archon Plate [1329def]
Magefist [Will upgrade to elite soon]
Arachnid Mesh
Waterwalk [+15dex / +65Life] [Ethereal Sandstorm Trek in stash]
Stone of Jordan
Blood Grasp Ring [10% FCR / +30AR / +10dex / +39Life / +85Mana / 6%mf]
Mara's Keleidoscope [28%]
"Heart of the Oak" Flail [40% FCR / 38% Resist]

Weapon Switch:
"Call to Arms" Ethereal Flail [+6/+6/+4]
Perfect 130% Upgraded Lidless Wall [Um] [No Spirit shield yet]

Charms:
2x Lion Branded GC
14x Vita SC [Ranging from 16-20Life]
5% FHR / 8% Fire resist SC
2x Shimmering SC [5% All resist, 1 with +Str]
3% FRW / 10% Poison resist SC
7% Lightening resist SC
7% Cold Resist SC

12 inventory slots remaining. Need 6 Lion Branded GC of Vita, a couple of Shimmering SC, and a few more +20Life SC.

Mercenary Equipment
Tomb Reaver [3os / 250%ed / 77%mf / 43% Resist]
Perfect 200% Guardian Angel [for 90% Resist]
Crown of Ages [+26 Resist / 15% DR]


Everyone say "hello Fich!".
 
Originally posted by Sir Lister of Smeg on Feb 6, 2005:

Patriarch Hammer

I managed to get my hammerdin Hammer to let Baal join his brothers Diablo and Mephisto.

His final stats were:

level : 84
exp : 966831705

Strength : 106
Energy : 15
Dexterity : 124
Vitality : 224
Stat Points Rem : 46
Skill Points Rem: 0
Life : 1079
Mana : 454
Stamina : 423

His equipment (stats mentioned only when not applying to 'unique' or set items):
Vampire Gaze
Saracen's Chance
Skin of the Vipermagi
Raven Frost
Dwarf Star
Credendum
Silkweave
Magefist
Wizardspike
Carrion Ward
Aerin Shield
Defense: 55
Chance to Block: 72%
Smite Damage: 4 to 10
Durability: 50 of 50
(Paladin Only)
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 34
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x743af8a2
+50% Enhanced Defense
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
+4 to Maximum Damage
All Resistances +44
+1 to Paladin Skill Levels
17% Faster Hit Recovery
30% Faster Block Rate
Small Charm of Inertia
3% Faster Run/Walk
Small Charm of Vita
+16 to Life
Lizard's Large Charm of Inertia
+9 to Mana
5% Faster Run/Walk
Small Charm of Balance
5% Faster Hit Recovery
Serpent's Small Charm of Vita
+16 to Life
+13 to Mana
Small Charm of Sustenance
+15 to Life
Lizard's Small Charm of Balance
+2 to Mana
5% Faster Hit Recovery
Lapis Small Charm of Sustenance
+15 to Life
Cold Resist +6%
Snake's Small Charm of Inertia
+11 to Mana
3% Faster Run/Walk
Small Charm of Balance
5% Faster Hit Recovery
Small Charm of Balance
5% Faster Hit Recovery
Amber Small Charm of Inertia
Lightning Resist +10%
3% Faster Run/Walk
Large Charm of Vita
+34 to Life
Small Charm of Inertia
5% Faster Run/Walk
Septic Small Charm of Sustenance
+14 to Life
+15 poison damage over 3 seconds
Stalwart Small Charm of Sustenance
+15 to Life
+24 Defense

Mercenary Items :

Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Skullder's Ire
Pierre Tombale Couant (Ethereal)

Skills (w/o boni):
Blessed Aim 20
Blessed Hammer 20
Concentration 20
Vigor 20
Holy Shield 7
Charge 1
Cleansing 1
Defiance 1
Holy Bolt 1
Might 1
Prayer 1
Redemption 1
Smite 1

The mercenary, Alhizeer, used a holy freeze aura, and was level 83 with 69725686 exp and 1687 hitpoints.

In short, my second 1.10 patriarch.
 
Originally posted by sirpoopsalot on Jan 12, 2009:

Patriarch Monterey_Jack - Attack of the Cheese

I don't know why I felt like making a cheeser recently, but I did. So I did.

My original hammerdin, senor_queso, was probably my 5th or 6th character. Although he made level91 (in the Pits & CS), he never got around to killing Baal. He could kill things easily, and he was great at MFing, but I decided that I'd do a rebuild instead of a resurrection. Afterall, my item wealth is much, MUCH, better than it was 3 years ago, so senor_queso wouldn't be optimized for my gear. So Monterey_Jack was born.


Details:
LCS *

Skills:
20 (34) Blessed Hammer
20 (28) Vigor
20 (28) Concentrate
20 Blessed Aim
10+ Resist Lightning
1 (9) Meditation
1 (13) Smite
1 (6) Fanaticism
1 prereq's

26 Battle Command
17 Battle Orders
14 Holy Shield
8 Redemption
<--- these 4 were granted by weapon switch *


Equipment:
W1: HotO (33)
S1: Spirit Sacred Targe (perfect resists & FCR)
W2: beta-CtA Caduceus
S2: Spirit Sacred Targe (41 base resists) *
Armor: Tal's (PTopaz)
Helm: Tal's (PTopaz)
Belt: Tal's
Amulet: crafted 'caster' amulet (+1 paladin skills, 20 FCR, +2 Str, 18% FResist, stuff)
Gloves: Dracul's Grasp (+10 str, +10 Life per Kill <-- why I chose it)
Boots: Wartrav's *
Ring1: SoJ
Ring2: rare (10 FCR, 18MF, stuff)

Charms:
- Gheeds (40)
- 6x Lionbranded (+15 life, +8 dex, stuff) *
- Amber/Emerald/Ruby/Sapphire SC of Inertia/Fortune


* denotes his questing setup. However, after testing a few setups for Baal he's going to add a 'Black' Morning Star for the Baal portion and swap in Goreriders and a 'Rhyme' Sacred Targe to go with the CtA. This will lower his MF, his skill levels on the CtA by 2 points, and cost some extra points in dexterity and a Lionbranded skiller in my backpack going forward, not to mention I now have a 3rd weapon. But it cuts out a lot of the tedium of the Baal battle, so it's worth it.


Merc: Level87, Might aura
eth 'Insight' Cryptic Axe
Fortitude AP
eth Andy's Visage (29/15 Ruby Jewel of Fervor)


Noteable Finds:
Lum/Ko Hellforge
Fal & Lum in /p8 Pits-levelup runs
Arkaine's Valor (+1)
Ondal's Staff
... and a few other "even more useless" S/U items



Notes:
1. Because of the small charms, he's actually got quite a bit of overstack on his resists. It does come in handy around conviction auras and LR curses and, since he can't teleport, he appreciates every little bit of FRW (even on top of the vigor aura). Since I have a pretty decent collection of 'Inertia' charms with resists, and since he doesn't really need more +life or FHR, they seemed like a nice touch. With Vigor, he runs almost the exact same speed as a bone fetish, btw.

2. 2 deaths. I was too brazen against Lord de Seis' pack in Nightmare and paid for it, and too lazy to drink a potion one time during a Pit run. A few NDE's, but only when I was slow drinking potions. He could've easily been a deathless character if I'd tried harder to keep him safe.

3. /p8 through Nightmare, /p1 through hell, with /p8 levelup runs in the pits from 76 - 86 (I saved the Ancient's until it would get me to level87, then made him a patriarch after reaching that point).

4. This is the first time since I made the CtA that the +1 HolyShield AND +1 Redemption are both getting used regularly. I like that my weapon-switch is providing 4 different, but very useful, things.

5. He has ridiculous power. Even the merc, with Might + Concentration aura both active, can do over 10k damage. 8k+ hammers at 9 frames on top of that = dead monsters. And almost everything is susceptible to my attack... They're called cheesadins for a reason.

6. But I'm not sure if he'll last or not. I've been bored with sticking to BBIV lately, so I thought I'd see if I could build something comparable for more WSK-variety, and I wanted to revisit one of the most overpowered builds there is.

But I need more practice playing a hammerdin - I suck with him compared to my sorc-play (which isn't exactly stellar either). He's a nice change of pace from the sorc (less mobility and crappier targeting, but he's much more sturdy and deals more damage), but hammers are tedious unless you find a nice open space to spam them for a few seconds. He might slip into a few Pits runs too.

7. It's too bad he's ugly as sin with that funky helm and purple armor. But I wanted the Resists, MF, and FCR, which is precisely what partial Tal's is good for, even if he looks like a casting-reject from the movie 'Eyes Wide Shut.'

8. Gib Enigma plz. :whistling:
 
Originally posted by sirpoopsalot on Nov 29, 2009:

Herr_Limburger - Smells Like Feet (Champion thread)

I'm still having fun killing Diablo with him, so it's going to be a while (if ever) before he kills The Ancients and Baal. So I'll do the writeup now.

He's a pretty run-of-the-mill BNet-style Hammerdin.

LCS

Skills:
20 (40) Blessed Hammer
20 (34) Concentration
20 Blessed Aim
20 Vigor
10 Resist Lightning
2+ Resist Fire
1 (15) Redemption
1 prereq's
[20] Holy Shield from CtA Caduceus

Gear:
Heart of the Oak flail (33)
Enigma Light Plate
Spirit Sacred Targe (45@ base resists, 35 FCR)
Arachnid's Mesh
Magefists
Mara's Kaleidoscope (29)
Harlequin Crest (PTopaz)
Wartravellers (50%)
Stone of Jordan
Shadow Band (rare ring: 10 FCR, 6 @resist, 74 mana, 17 life, 89 AR)

Switch:
beta-CtA Caduceus + Spirit Sacred Targe

Charms:
Gheeds (40%)
6x Lionbranded grand charms (+15 life, 8 dex, 37% GF)
4x Fire resists small charms (15 MF, 14 life)
1x Shimmering SC of Fortune (4/5)
4x Mana + Life SC's (53m, 54l)
TP Tome
2x4 empty

Merc #1: Haseen, Prayer (Act2 Normal)
Insight (Cryptic Axe) + Fortitude + VampGaze (IAS)

Merc #2: Flux, IronWolf (Cold, Normal)
Azurewrath (Hel) + Steelshade (30/3 FireResist Jewel of Virility) + Vipermagi (50@ resists) + eth Spirit Monarch (34 FCR)
Edit: Swapped in a Stormshield later on.


Finds:
Hellforge: Hel/Gul
some decent-but-not-great charms & other stuff


Notes:
1. As you can see, the build is a pretty typical hammerdin with ridiculous items and a decent amount of MF (~260). After making Enigma, I was bound to revisit the build at some point.

2. My first hammerdin was named señor_queso, and the 2nd was Monterey_Jack, so of course I stuck with the cheese theme this time. And since he was a stereotype of overpowering cheese, I choose to name him after the stinkiest cheese I've smelled: Limburger cheese (fyi, a malaria mosquito is attracted equally to the smell of Limburger cheese and human feet... that oughta give you an idea of the company it keeps :D).

3. I have to say that the Enigma adds a whole new element to playing the build. I'm not referring purely to his improved speed (though it's an obvious step up), but a couple of more subtle nuances. The first was the ability to position myself and my merc so that I'd have maximum power and merc-tanking (when I was using the Act2 merc). With a teleport-less hammerdin, getting a good angle of attack can be a real pain in the butt - not so with this guy.

The 2nd thing that the enigma adds is the rapidity of hot-key usage. Usually a hammerdin will swap between Vigor & Concentrate and keep the spam flowing at a somewhat leasurely pace. But adding teleport to this guy (and the ability to position myself) into the mix makes it much more common to reposition often, so the spam-casting factor is cut back and the mobility is enhanced.

4. While questing through the game (/players8 all the way) I used the Insight merc, but once I got to level85 and had rescued Anya, I switched over to the Act3 merc for doing Diablo runs.

5. Right now I'm enjoying some /players3 Diablo runs. He teleports past everything and stands in the midst of big packs of Venom Lords & Oblivion Knights and kills what he wants with ease. Sometimes he looses as much as ~80% of his 3000 life before flashing Redemption, so although it looks overpowered & super-safe it feels more hectic and complicated than that.

6. However, he pretty much is super-safe. I didn't really have any difficulties surviving, except for my one & only death at Hephasto. ~1500 damage per hit will do that do you sometimes. :p

7. ~1000 mana is about the right point for me on keeping teleport + hammers going full time. The mana-draining Finger Mages in the Chaos Sanctuary can empty my pool sometimes, but by the time it's empty I can flash Redemption and get my mana back that way. That helps with the life pool too, though the +14 life per kill on Enigma is often enough to break even.

8. For future skillpoints he'll put 8 more into Resist Fire to get his max resist up to 80. Without swapping charms he currently has 82 resists, so 80 max resists is as high as he'll go and I'm not sure where extra points would go. But at that point he'll be level ~95, and I'll likely be bored with him well before then.


Overall:
I'm trying to think of an Achilles Heel to this build. Even other overpowered builds like an Infinity+Lightning sorceress has some headaches like mana or getting a good amount of MF or fighting the occasional unbreakable immunity. Not that those can't be overcome, but they're semi-persistent problems.

But with this guy, I can't really think of anything that causes problems on any consistent basis. The Maggot Lair was a breeze, and retrieving the Tome in Act3 (his one area facing unbreakable Magic Immunes) was no worse. Everything else just dies, and his resists & life can handle a prolonged fight with ease (the merc is a little more fragile at this point - I'm hoping that changes).

It's truly a (cheesily) overpowered build.
 
Originally posted by Solo on Sep 13, 2004:

Patriarch 'Order'

A few weeks back i decided to back up all my characters and items on disk and start over fresh, to try my hands on an untwinked no-trade Grail.
I was quickly annoyed with my character options, the easiest MF characters are simply boring, and the actual fun characters are heavily gear dependend and more difficult to outfit with a decent amount of MF.
After about two days (yes it took me a while) i decided to go with a Hammerdin. Yes i realise that its hardly the weakest character in game, but untwinked makes it a completely different story altogether.

Order made his way to Patriarch some days ago, but due to lack of time and forum downtime i havent been able to post about it.
His progress was also rather slow, compared to my other characters but real life and a D2 MOD got in the way for quick some time.

He has leveled once since i Patted him, but i still have his stats from before that event:

Name: order
Level: 85
Strength: 89
Dexterity: 140
Vitality: 261
Energy: 15

Resists: 75% all
Life: 1384
Mana: 653
Block: 71%
Defense(without merc): 4035
Blessed Hammer Damage: 5297-5378

Items:

Shako (Topaz)
Skulders (Topaz)
C-Guards (39%)
W-Travelers (48%)
Wizzy
Rhyme shield (60% res)
Arachnid Mesh
Telling of Beads
2 Rare mana rings (one with 35 life)

His charms mainly consist of life charms, worth for about a total of 140
With this gear he's good for (aproximatly) 360% MF (420% switch)

Mercenary:

Name: Jemali
Type: Defiance
Level: 67

He's currently using mostly midgame gear, as i'm too lazy to properly level him:

Tals mask
Shaftstop (perfect :D)
Ethereal Blackleech

I'll upgrade his weapon to a Reapers as soon as he can handle it.
I'm not yet entirely sure what helm he will ultimately use, but an Andariels Visage or Gaze would work, although i'm tempted to go with a Guillaume's Face for the added Crushing and Deadly.

Grail progress roughly after i Patted Order:

Normal Uniques (95 of 116)
Exceptional Uniques (80 of 119)
Elite Uniques (22 of 86)
Other Uniques (16 of 50)
Class specific (8 of 27)
Charms (1 of 1)
Jewels (0 of 1)
Normal Sets (54 of 62)
Expansion Sets (38 of 65)
Runes (18 of 33) -> Common Runes (11 of 11) -> Semi Rare Runes (7 of 11) and sadly none of the rare ones yet.


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


"That isn't how it went!" Yelled the angry Paladin
"Is so" A calm Jemali quickly replied
"No! I did not die, and you didn't have to get my revived!"
"Says who"
"And you certainly didn't leave me dead because i couldn't handle baal!"
"Oh, then who was it?" Asked Jemali, frowning
"It was you!"
Both men stood up and looked eachother in the eyes
"I don't care who you think you are, I'M the one that brought us to victory!"
"Sure! You and what army, mister big shot?!"
"Apparantly no one, fool" Order said as he sat back down

Cain slowly aproached the paladin
"Stay a while and l-"
"NO CAIN! Not again!" Order lashed out
"But-"
"No cain! I've had it with your crummy stories"
"I just wanted to congratu-"
"Go away!"
Cain quickly left the paladin alone, annoyed and muttering.

The night dawned as festivities were held across sanctuary. Fireworks was lit, the finest ale was consumed and music could be
heard well over the cities boundries.
Jemali entered Order's quarters
"Why arent you with the rest of us celebrating? Hey, thats an interesting gem you have there.."
 
Originally posted by Spook_Cell on Feb 25, 2004:

Patriarch Lachnadan

Well I named him because I thought that's what LachDaNan was called but apparently not. Oh well I find it sounds cooler anyways.

Level 85

Str 89
Dex 107
Vit 309
Eng Base

Life 1430 around that

Equip

Helm: Harlequin Crest socketed with PTopaz

Weapon:
Heart of the Oak
Flail
'KoVexPulThul'
One-Hand Damage: 1 to 24
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Dexterity: 35
Required Strength: 41
Required Level: 55
Mace Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x59047189
+10 to Dexterity
All Resistances +31
Adds 3-14 cold damage over 3 seconds
7% Mana stolen per hit
Replenish Life +20
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
40% Faster Cast Rate
75% Damage to Demons
150% Damage to Undead
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+3 to All Skill Levels
Level 4 Oak Sage (25/25 Charges)
Level 14 Raven (60/60 Charges)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Shield: Herald Of Zakarum socketed with PDiamond

Armor:
Enigma
Great Hauberk
'JahIthBer'
Defense: 1202
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Strength: 118
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xce303b7
+769 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
+63 to Strength (Based on Character Level)
85% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Gloves: Magefists

Boots: War Traveler with 36% mf

Rings: Dual The Stone Of Jordan

Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope with 22% resist all

Belt: Arachnid's Mesh

Skills:
20 in Blessed Hammer, Vigor, Blessed Aim and Concentration
1 in Cleansing, Redemption and Meditation
7 in Holy Shield
Rest in prerequisites

Well he's is obviously a hammerdin didn't have much trouble with him obviously but he died twice to one of the council members in act3. Don't know what it was but some kind of uber stacking elemental damage because two charged bolts took off his 1400 life with 75% resist all....oh well.

Managed to find my first ever Wizardspike with him so that was a high point.

And BTW the HotO and Enigma were donated by Ti-Ben.

Now I hope he has some luck in the MF Olympics that are starting very soon.

Wish me luck.
 
Originally posted by Stony on Jul 29, 2008:

Patriarch Thaddeus

At long last, Thaddeus stood on the summit of Mount Arreat. Had it only been a few weeks since the quest began? The passing of days had lost all meaning-- the measure of time now was enemies slain, artifacts found, or the number of lands emptied of hell's slaves. Below, Thaddeus could see his twisting path up the mountain sides, walls and trenches at every turn. Every barrier man or angel had built to keep the demons at bay had failed and been turned against him, slowing his pursuit of The Three to a crawl. Only one set of guardians remained. True to form, Baal had tricked his way past them; Thaddeus could not. The Demon lord was probably still laughing.

Bitterness tainted his thoughts; rage would come next, and Thaddeus knew he must keep his mind clear for his next task, however pointless it might be. Three statues stood on the summit, untouched by time or frost. All faced an altar, which Thaddeus approached. Light shone from the ancient runes carved into the summit's cracked stones, and three voices spoke in unison: "We are the spirits of the Nephalem, the Ancient Ones. We have been chose to guard sacred Mount Arreat, wherein the Worldstone rests. Few are worthy to stand in its presence; fewer still can comprehend its true purpose. Before you enter, you must defeat us." The statues leapt to life, swiftly moving to attack.

Hardly sporting, three against one, Thaddeus thought. When the Ancient wielding a poleax leapt to strike him down, Thaddeus felt no call to oblige him by remaining in place. He moved a short distance away and let fly with a Hammer of Ghrab Thaar, an ancient power of his own. Master Poleax winced as the hammer tore through his spirit, as did his friend Master Sword when he approached. As Master Poleax leapt again, Master Sword suddenly raced forward, spinning at great speed, his blade slicing through the air high and low and striking many blows. None were very powerful, but one found its way past Thaddeus' shield, and at a single touch his energy burned away to nothing.

One is not a warrior unless one understands the purpose of a withdrawal: you are not running away, you are repositioning yourself. The Light can aid only those with the strength to call it, and while it wasn't likely that the swordsman could kill him, he could weaken Thaddeus enough that the others could finish him quite easily. So he retreated, backing towards the edge of the summit plateau, throwing axes and sword blows bouncing off his shield. If the guardians seemed disappointed by his lack of nerve, they gave no sign, and Thaddeus did not stop until he was at the very edge of the summit plateau. His pursuers stopped. Neither was willing to risk a fall, it seemed, though the third of their number kept up a rain of axes, which Thaddeus blocked almost without noticing.

As they moved in, Thaddeus quickly gulped a rejuvenating potion, and called upon the hammers once more. Masters Sword and Poleax stood side by side before him, perfectly positioned. Both were highly accomplished fighters, as should be expected, adept with their chosen weapons. Thaddeus felt a great deal of sympathy for them as holy power crushed their spirit-like forms; it was a sad day, that the Light should be put to such a purpose. Master Poleax broke first, dissipating with a cry of pain, the first sound he had made during the battle. His brother in arms followed him swiftly.

The last of the Ancients, untouched as yet, opted to... withdraw. He played at cat-and-mouse among the columns for a while, popping out to bounce something off the paladin's shield now and again; the end was inevitable, but Thaddeus knew he had been charged to defend the summit, and do this he must. In the end, Thaddeus cornered him in the very doorway he was protecting. A stone upright blocked the spinning of the hammers, so Thaddeus raised his scepter, and as swiftly as he could, beat the Ancient One's skull in like a rotten melon. It took much longer that he had anticipated.

Words of congratulations and of warning echoed as the gate ratcheted open, but Thaddeus barely heeded them. The battle had been easy; Baal's troops were much more of a danger than these "guardians". Was humanity so weak? Was the battle with Hell been lost before it had begun? No, he thought; these Barbarians fault lay in their strategy. Striding forward to meet Thaddeus face to face, then standing their ground once the power of Ghrab Thaar had been unleashed, pitted them against his greatest strength. The direct attack is the easiest to make, and to counter. Baal's troops scampered about at a distance, casting spells or hurling slings and arrows. To prick a man to death is not a sign of strength, but brute power is at a disadvantage when confronted with a foe that slips away instead of resisting. Baal himself would probably be full of subterfuge. It was well past time to find out. Thaddeus strode into the keep.


Ah, the Hammerdin. Staple of many a magic finder's arsenal, Blessed Hammer can blast through just about anything in the game, and when combined with the Paladin's toughness, shield blocking, and utility auras, makes for one of the strongest builds D2 has to offer. Naturally, while I do want the chance to test out all my lovely Paladin gear, I don't want the game to be too easy. What could I possibly do to make playing a Hammerdin difficult, while still twinking on elite gear?

First, no mercenary. Thaddeus made Patriarch in v. 1.09 without a merc, he can do so again. Not only does this not give me a meat shield to hide behind, but I have to take care of every enemy myself, even in places like the Maggot Lair, where Blessed Hammer is just about useless.

Second, keep the game at /players 8 throughout Hell difficulty, with two exceptions: the Hell Ancients (that's the real reason they were so easy) and any area where exploding Flayer skeletons spawn (man, I hate those things.) Even in the Kurast temples where Wailing Beasts, the only monster immune to BH, can spawn, I did not dial things back. And wouldn't you know it... I rarely ever see Wailing Beasts, but with Thaddeus, they turned up in four of the six temples. Just try to tell me the game doesn't know.

Third, select equipment for theme, not utility. The Hammerdin guides I've read recommend lots of fast cast equipment to get those hammers flying, so I will not equip any faster cast at all. Thaddeus will fight in melee combat a lot, and I'd never dream of running a melee character without any leeching. So, equip no leeching items, relying only on potions and the Redemption skill for life and mana. I'm going to be using Redemption for body cleanup anyway.


Mini-capsule review: Angelic Raiment
A cute little set, which unfortunately fills two prime item slots, body armor and weapon. True to form, both are less than desirable. The armor provides plenty of fire resistance, but has little else going for it and high fire resistance is not really needed early in the game. The weapon is decent against undead, possibly making it useful in Act II normal, but there are better options available. Only the ring and amulet are useful for their partial set bonuses: wearing both gives a substantial AR boost and +75 to life. Many characters get through Hell with two Angelic rings and an amulet; I have one myself, in fact.

Mini-capsule review: Milabrega's Regalia
With many of the normal sets, you really find yourself wondering just what the designer was thinking when they made it. Milabrega's is obviously meant to be a Paladin set, and is useable at level 17. The weapon damage is fairly poor, so a melee Paladin would want something better. The whole set gives +3 to Paladin skills, but has no faster cast, so a caster Paladin could also do better. On top of that, the armor requires 100 strength. Even without the high level requirement, by the time your Paladin is that strong, he could do much better than this. None of the partial set bonuses are particularly useful, so its hard to say what this set would be good for.

Mini-capsule review: Sigon's Complete Steel
Ah, much better! The biggest of the normal sets at six items, Sigon's has a lot of ground to cover, and does it well. Your weapon slot is free, thus avoiding the biggest drawback in most of the normal sets. The gloves and one other item provide 30% increased attack speed, 10% life leech, and some other stuff that hardly matters next to that, making a Sigon's gloves-boots-belt combo one of the most popular melee character twinks until you're big enough for the Immortal King's gear. The only drawback is the high strength requirements all that steel plate demands, but the gloves give +10 strength which helps a lot. The partial or complete set is standard gear for many starting characters; it even looks stylish.


Patriarch Thaddeus: Level 89 Paladin
STR 150 (194)
DEX 90 (120)
VIT 265 (285)
ENG 35

Blessed Hammer 20 (34)
Zeal 20 (34)
Holy Shield 1 (15)
Concentrate 20 (32)
Blessed Aim 20 (synergy for Blessed Hammer)
Vigor 9 (synergy for Blessed Hammer)
1 in other utility skills and prereqs

Life: 1207
Mana: 302
AR: 3903
DR: 7441
BH damage: 6993-7069
Zeal damage: 1720-2257
Resists: 95/90/95/90

Itamz:
Thwacking implement: Heaven's Light, two 'Shael's
Head: Crown of Ages, 'Lo' and 'Ort' (I debated about using a Lo to increase lightning resistance to 95, but have not regretted my decision. Near-immunity to the spitzen-sparken is so nice.)
Body: Guardian Angel, 'Um'
Shield: Herald of Zakarum, with a perfect diamond. Accept nothing less.
Guts: Credendum (From the Disciple set. The holiest sounding belt.)
Hands: Laying of Hands (Also from the Disciple set.)
Feet: Waterwalk (Not many boots with holy or miraculous names. I don't recommend these, though they did increase my fire resistance to 95.)
Neck: Seraph's Hymn (Mara's Kaleidoscope is nicer, but it doesn't sound holy and I'm using mine on another character.)
Finger: Order Knot (Rare ring. +112 AR, +6 str, +30% cold r., +24% poison r.)
Other Finger: Stone of Jordan (Not so holy, but I want to say I have a character who's used one.)
Charms: skillers, life/mana, faster hit recovery

Strategy:
Crank the game up to /players 8 and cut through it like a hot knife. Zeal in confined areas, Smite on ranged attackers and other enemies I wanted to quit wiggling and die already. With a good defense rating, very high resistances and 75% shield blocking, Thaddeus ran into few real problems until he hit Act V Hell. Well, all those Wailing Beasts were annoying, but mostly they just took a long time to die. Smite really takes the ginger out of tough monsters, as does the Crushing Blow on Heaven's Light.

Act V, of course, is where all that changes. Masses of archers are the Hammerdin's real weakness, and the slopes of Arreat were full of Skeleton Archers, Sabre Cat Slingers, Corrupted Rogue Archers, and even Succubi, who I've never seen in above-ground areas before. They came out just for me... The mini-hells had a variety of foes, emphasizing powerful ranged attackers but with a mix of Frenzytaurs, Claw Vipers, the Reanimated Horde, and other melee types who love to snuggle up close to you and keep you from chasing down all those damned archers. The Worldstone Keep was utterly nasty; one level had Frenzytaurs, Greater Hellspawn, and Succubi who cast Amplify Damage. I don't think any of my other characters could have survived that level. Baal took forever, and dropped crap.

Well, so much for that. Thaddeus may have a career as a Baal runner, though I'll want to level up a merc for him if I do that. He'll need new equipment too. I'll think about that later-- on to the next character!

Stony
 
Originally posted by TBrundel on Jan 11, 2006:

Meet Patriarch TBR_Hammerdin

Hi all,

Finally I have my first patriarch!

Yesterday was the right time! I went to kill the ancients and that went pretty easily. After that it was on to Baal himself. The road was pretty easy and I felt confident after easily killing on the minions of Baal. Baal himself dropped like a stone and the items were... crap as usuak :D

This is my setup at level 83

Maxed:
Blessed aim, vigor, Concentration, Blessed hammer
6 Holy shield
9 pre or 1 point wonders

Equipment:
- 2os grand crown with 2 ptopazes
- rare amu of Severoth (2 pala / 20 res all / few other stats I forgot)
- Wizzy (thanks to Nebux for the trade)
- 25 res all viper
- 166 def / 29 res all royal shield spirit
- Mavina's gloves
- 20 strength / 14 dex / 3 mana / 10 res all / 25 lightning res ring
- Crafted belt (not sure of the stats..)
- 10 fcr / other stats (not sure...)
- Immortal king boots

Equipment Merc:
- Tals helm
- Shaftstop (thanks to JrlaFrance)
- Kelpie snare (got the insight colussus voulge ready... He only needs 10 more strength...)

Best find so far:
- Um rune from hellforge
- Lighning skiller + 5 strength
- 657 eth archon plate with 4 sockets
- Mavina's and Trang ouls armor

What next:
Want to make a good mfer out of this char so hope to find/trade a few other nice items!

grz,

TB
 
Originally posted by Tedric on Jun 18, 2004:

Patriarch Thonk

This is a my recent Patriarch his name is Thonk and is a Hammerdin

LvL 84

Stats
STR 89/lazy
DEX 113/
VIt 298/
NRG 15/

Life 1362
Mana 623

75% with Holy Shield On

20 Blessed Hammer
20 Concentration
20 Vigor
20 Blessed Aim
2 Holy Shield
1 Cleansing
1 Redemption
1 Meditiation
1 Salvation

And what I remeber mostly is my ACCIDENTLE point in fanatism I was pressing my hotkey for skills and i was clicking the mouse button rapidly and when the skill opened I clicked on fanatism :(

Equip
Skin of the Vipermagi Wyrmhide w/ Perfect Topaz (21%)
Harlequin Crest w/ Perfect Topaz (121d)
Wizardspike
Sigon's Shield w/ Perfect Diamond I would love a HoZ 🤤
Frostburn's (Is Magefist better for fast cast rate? Can I achieve the last frame?)
Goldwrap BattleBelt
Ravenfrost(16+ Dex 174 ar)
Ghoul Touch Rare ring(too lazy to do stats)
35% MF ammy (would like +3 combat skills with 30+% mf)
Aldur's Boots (would also like a good War Travelers)

This is what's interesting Two mercs used to beat the game
Old Retired One
Rogue Cold Arrow lvl 83
Shaeled Up'd Goldstrike Arch
Shaftstop
Delirium Helm
used until beat hell baal
did 1700 max damage with concentration

New one
Desert Mercenary Hell Defiance
Bonehew 'HelShael'
Stealskull (39% mf)
Shaftstop
Got him hired after Hell Baal was beat

Does 4000 max damage with concentration

Blessed Hammer damage with conc
5000-5000?

Blessed Hammer damage without Conc
1500-1500?


Notable finds:
Homunculus IK Boots which I traded Nat's Helm Bunches of Exceptional and Normal Set and uniques and a few elite sets and uniques
 
Originally posted by Thirty-Thirty on Feb 2, 2005:

Give a big welcome for...

Ahoy,

After several weeks of play, I have finally completed a Hammerdin (untwinked, by the way). I'm generally a spellcaster fan, so this guy is an interesting build for me. He has the life of a melee build, but the nature of a caster: the best of both worlds. I had a few interesting notes:

Firstly, the Maggot Lair (Hell difficulty) sticks out in my mind as the most annoying area ever! Though he owned the rest of Act II, he got annihilated in there. Grrrrr...

Secondly, he picked up a Guardian Angel in Hell Act 1, so by the time I got to Act 5, I had 77/87/90/90 resists. I haev never been able to charge Gloam bosspacks with such reckless abandon. It was a real treat.

Thirdly, I can't believe how much this guy devastated act end bosses, particularly in Hell. Mephisto is normally no problem, but Diablo and Baal were walkovers too. (And while I remember, this guy butchered the Ancients on Hell. Another first.)

There were some laughs (gremlins teleporting into the paths of hammers), and some tears (died in WSK 1), but he was generally fun. Demahrnim, the level 83 Hammerdin, will probably be retired to running the Cow level for runes.

And what did Baal drop me for my efforts? A rare crystal sword and a magical long staff. :mad:

Adios,
30-30

The kit? Well, I'm sick of paging through the dumped info, so here is the abridged version:

Guardian Angel: Def 772, +1 skills, +15 max resists
Lore Crown: Def 26 (blecch!), +1 skills
Magical Paladin Shield: +37 resist all, 2 perfect diamonds
Rare war scepter: +2 skills
Magical amulet: +10 str, +27 resist all
Rare rings: +30ish mana, some resists (between them)
Rare gloves: poison resist, magic find, etc.
Rare boots: lightning and cold resist, faster walk, etc.
Rare vampirefang belt: Def 181, fire resist.

Buildwise, I kind of looked at the maximum damage build, and had it at the back of my mind. I put 5 points into Blessed Aim from level 12, and then maxed Blessed Hammer as soon as possible. I also popped 5 onto Holy Shield right away, mostly to up the duration. (I get annoyed at having to recast it.) I then slowly made my way through maxing the synergies and concentration, but I don't remember exactly how. I do know that I maxed Concentration last. (About 5 points in a row to finish it off.)

I played Normal and Nightmare on /players 5, and most of Hell on /players 3. (Except for bosses, and that darned Maggot Lair.)

Now that he's done, I have twinked him a little. I gave him a Hand of Blessed Light*, and found a two-socketed Superior Hydraskull, into which I placed a Lore.

Good luck with your Hammerdin when he comes.

30-30

*If you're wondering why I don't give him a Wizardspike, its because I can't accept my paladin running around with a dagger. It just doesn't look right...
 
Originally posted by Tupsi on Aug 22, 2012:

Champion Flakhammer, Concentrationless Hammerdin

First of all, I've got issues with paladins. I find them absolutely horrible to play because the right click is pretty much always reserved for an aura. With zealots it’s manageable but that’s it. I don’t really like barbarians either but at least I’ve got the chance to right-click-cruise.

When I made my Enigma about two years ago, I thought: ”My hammerdin’s gonna wreck the CS.” Unfortunately, it didn’t really impress me. Teleporting, switching to Concentration and shift-casting or name-casting while also checking the loot (this so called spider-fingering where the fingers are all over the place) wasn’t really my thing. I tried changing the hotkeys and played him like that for a while, but it was still feeling too sketchy and fiddly for me. I re-specced him in 1.13 and enjoyed the life as a tele-zealot much more.

I do enjoy Chaos Sanctury, but I’ve never found a character who would clear it fast enough for my taste and still be enjoyable. Then I got this weird idea, Concentrationless Hammerdin. Well, it turned out really enjoyable.
Code:
Character name  : Flakhammer
Character type  : Paladin
Character level : 86

Strength        : 25
Energy          : 15
Dexterity       : 133
Vitality        : 352

Life            : 1657 / 3044 (BO)
Mana            : 614 / 936 (BO)
Defense         : 6236

All resistances : 75

Skills:
20 Blessed Hammer
20 Blessed Aim
20 Vigor
20 Concentration
1 Meditation
1 Redemption
1 Sanctuary
x pre-reqs
6 unused

Code:
Equipment:
Helm: Harlequin Crest w/ 15 res jewel
Armor: 'Enigma' Light Plate
Weapon1: 'Heart of the Oak' Flail 40@
Shield1: 'Spirit' Sacred Targe 45@
Weapon2: Beta 'Call to Arms' War Scepter w/ +3 to Holy Shield
Shield2: 'Spirit' Heraldic Shield
Gloves: Magefist
Boots: Rare with 36 mana, 30% Fire Res, 22% MF
Belt: Arachnid Mesh
Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope 24@
Ring1: SoJ
Ring2: Rare with 10% FCR and STR to equip Enigma, subject to improvement

Charms: Mainly plain Lion Branded GCs and life/mana SCs

Before you say anything, I leveled him through Hell at /players8 without a point in Concentration. It wasn't my original plan to place 20 points to Concentration when the build was supposed to be Concentrationless Hammerdin, but I'll come to that later on when I tell about the CS runs.

The whole build bases on the RW 'Pride' which is wielded by his mercenary:
Rich (BB code):
Mercenary name  : Fazel
Mercenary type  : Holy Freeze
Character level : 86

Life            : 1807 / 3632 (BO)
Defense         : 2335

All resistances : 90

Equipment:
'Pride' 1.07 ethereal Thresher
Kira's Guardian
Guardian Angel

The Gameplay:
Normal and Nightmare were destroyed by Raven Bazooka and later on Enchantress-enhanced Kuko Shakaku. I leveled him and his mercenary to 67 at Nightmare Baals, the level his merc could equip the 'Pride'.

Hell difficulty. What can I say, Enigmadin is an Enigmadin even with a few k's less damage. Apart from the magic immunes, nothing really stood in his way. The gameplay was really straight-forward. Two hotkeys were all I needed, Teleport and Blessed Hammer, though at some places I eased my life a bit with 1 point utility auras like Holy Freeze, Redemption and Sanctuary. I didn't do full clears but I completed all quests and gathered all waypoints. No deaths, no NDEs. His merc was probably a little weaker than usual because 'Pride' lacks some damage, but 5ll from Boneflesh and 'Delirium' were enough to keep him alive nevertheless. When I hit the Chaos Sanctuary, I rehired Fazel with Holy Freeze aura (he had Might before) and equipped him with my usual choices: Kira's and GA.

The end of journey, Chaos Sanctuary. I started to notice the mobs getting more durable in Act 4. Not unbearably strong but my hammer damage still started to seem a bit low at /p8. I reached CS and cleared the place a few times to get a grip of the runs, but the feeling of being constantly a little slow didn't disappear. So, I started to think, what if I put 20 points to Concentration anyway. It wasn't like I had to use the aura all the time, I had already proved that Concentrationless hammerdin clears Hell (apart from Act 5) just fine. But if I'm already standing there, in the middle of the pack of enemies, safely, the target pinned by hammers, why shouldn't I ramp up the damage at that point? So I did. Hammer damage with my own Concentration aura raised to 12k and it was pretty noticeable. I could live without it, but I could also call upon it any time I wanted.

How does he compare to a normal Hammerdin, then? He's easier to play. 8k hammers are enough to put stuff into hit recovery so I can start the fight by teleporting in, casting a hammer with Right Click and check that I'm hitting the correct target and continue if I am. If the hammers miss him, I just repeat the process until I do and switch to Concentration myself and spam away with left click. Also having the freedom to use the other auras without sacrificing too much damage is great. Sanctuary is especially useful when fighting a really hurty Lord De Seis pack.

Maybe the favourite thing to do with him compared to normal hammerdin is chasing fast enemies. I can first pin the runaway demon down with easy Right Click Tele-hammering and only then switch to the really powerful Left Click casting. Even Extra Fast Lord De Seis is doable without excessive swearing :p

I don't know if I've succeeded at capturing the essence of this character, but for me, anyway, he is more than just three HRs worth of extravaganza.

Finds:
This morning when I started Hell act 1, my brain froze and I started to doubt the game mechanics. My first of these. I took the SS, S&E'd and checked ATMA drop calculator :D Hell hellforge was Ist, best charm found was 20life/11mana and best unique (not many at all) was Tomb Reaver (bad roll) from the CS runs.

What next:
I'm going the loan the Pride for my Tele-zerker for Pit running as his damage could really hit the sweet spot for /p5 runs, but other than that, I'm just going do some CS runs and level Flakhammer.

Thanks for all the traders involved in this project: zemaj, janoo and WoRG. Many, many thanks to you for making this possible. Also, thanks for everyone for reading.
 
Originally posted by Xdeathfire on Jul 17, 2008:

Patriarch TevashSzat, Cheesadin

Okay, here is my latest pat, which is a cheesadin. He was fully twinked all the wall through the game. Not too much to say here other than hammerdins are way too powerful. I went through hell at /players 5 and didn't die once. Had a NDE or two, but they were nothing a flash of redemption or a full rejuv won't fix.

Level: 85
Strength : 73(110)
Energy : 15(22)
Dexterity : 128(163)
Vitality : 304(343)


Life : 1364 / 1120
Mana : 567 / 141
Stamina : 4303 / 452

Skills:

20 Blessed Hammer
20 Concentration
20 Vigor
20 Blessed Aim
1 Redemption
1 Holy Shield
Prereqs

7 Extra(Probably will put in either Holy Shield or Resist Lightning)

LCS
My Gear:

Code:
Harlequin Crest
Shako
Defense: 138
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 62
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xeff30bb5
+2 to Strength
+2 to Energy
+2 to Dexterity
+2 to Vitality
Damage Reduced by 10%
74% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to All Skill Levels
+127 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+127 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Perfect Topaz
Inserted into a Shako

24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Required Level: 18
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x41a94b06
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
All Resistances +23
+2 to All Skill Levels

The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xe1b3a493
+20 to Mana
Adds 1-12 lightning damage
Increase Maximum Mana 25%
+1 to All Skill Levels

Wraith Turn
Ring
Required Level: 66
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0x2bceb43b
+19 to Strength
+15 to Dexterity
+19 to Mana
+14 to Attack Rating
+1 to Maximum Damage
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Arachnid Mesh
Spiderweb Sash
Defense: 121
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 80
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x8088f009
+93% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
Slows Target by 10%
Level 3 Venom (11/11 Charges)

War Traveler
Battle Boots
Defense: 137
Durability: 48 of 48
Required Strength: 95
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xce83e4ed
+10 to Strength
+10 to Vitality
+186% Enhanced Defense
+15 to Minimum Damage
+25 to Maximum Damage
+30 Maximum Durability
Attacker Takes Damage of 5
50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
25% Faster Run/Walk
40% Slower Stamina Drain

Chance Guards
Chain Gloves
Defense: 27
Durability: 14 of 16
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 33
Fingerprint: 0xc951d7d5
+21% Enhanced Defense
+25 to Attack Rating
+15 Defense
200% Extra Gold from Monsters
40% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to Light Radius

Skin of the Vipermagi
Wyrmhide
Defense: 829
Durability: 20 of 24
Required Strength: 84
Required Level: 57
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x3819b0f6
+120% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 9
All Resistances +35
24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Required Level +7
30% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Perfect Topaz
Inserted into a Wyrmhide

24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Required Level: 18
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Heart of the Oak
Flail
'KoVexPulThul'
One-Hand Damage: 1 to 24
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Dexterity: 35
Required Strength: 41
Required Level: 55
Mace Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 50
Fingerprint: 0x853ed8e
+10 to Dexterity
All Resistances +39
Adds 3-14 cold damage over 3 seconds
7% Mana stolen per hit
Replenish Life +20
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
40% Faster Cast Rate
75% Damage to Demons
150% Damage to Undead
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+3 to All Skill Levels
Level 4 Oak Sage (25/25 Charges)
Level 14 Raven (60/60 Charges)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Spirit
Sacred Rondache
'TalThulOrtAmn'
Defense: 157
Chance to Block:  58%
Smite Damage: 35 to 58
Durability: 66 of 68
(Paladin Only)
Required Strength: 109
Required Level: 52
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x927edd6f
+22 to Vitality
+98 to Mana
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Fire Resist +42%
Lightning Resist +77%
Cold Resist +77%
Poison Resist +77%
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
55% Faster Hit Recovery
35% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to All Skill Levels
+6 Magic Absorb
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Mercenary Items :

Code:
Vampire Gaze
Grim Helm
Defense: 252
Durability: 26 of 40
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xedb368c0
+100% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 10
Damage Reduced by 15%
Adds 6-22 cold damage over 4 seconds
7% Life stolen per hit
6% Mana stolen per hit
15% Slower Stamina Drain

Duriel's Shell
Great Hauberk
Defense: 2038
Durability: 47 of 150
Required Strength: 108
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x574014c8
+15 to Strength
+195% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +20%
Lightning Resist +20%
Cold Resist +50%
Poison Resist +20%
+100 Maximum Durability
Required Level +7
Cannot Be Frozen
+106 to Defense (Based on Character Level)
+85 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

Insight
Thresher
'RalTirTalSol'
Two-Hand Damage: 73 to 753
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Dexterity: 108
Required Strength: 142
Required Level: 53
Polearm Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xca72d8ee
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
+257% Enhanced Damage
+9 to Minimum Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
+75 poison damage over 5 seconds
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to Critical Strike
35% Faster Cast Rate
213% Bonus to Attack Rating
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Level 17 Meditation Aura When Equipped
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

And 5 skillers/gheeds/various mf small charms

Hell forges were pretty bad, I think Lem/Lum or something like that. The highlight finds of this char, however, were in Act 3 which I customarily hate alot. It included a 138def Harlequin's Crest, a @35/12 magic reduction Skin of Vipermagi, and my second Stone of Jordon dropped by Mephisto. Future plans? I am probably going to end up running Chaos Sancturary or WSK with him in the MFO.
 
Originally posted by xxnothing on Mar 29, 2008:

My second Pat/Mat... Spammydin

Well, here it is, the easiest Patriarch I've ever made.
1587197646988.png

After all this time I finally decided to try a hammerdin and see what all the hubbub was about. He lievd his life decently twinked, thanks to having made a MF sorceress first.

Normal was really easy, meleeing everything while wearing various low set pieces from Death's, Sigon's, etc.

Nightmare was just as easy, upgrading gear as I went... Spirit shield and Spectral Shard once he started using Blessed Hammer regularly. Eventually he got his Vipermagi, HoZ and Wizard Spike, a +1 Paladin Combat GC and things were smooth sailing.

Hell did not pose much of a problem. A couple of NDE's, and 3 deaths which can all be attributed to me rushing into mobs without analyzing what was in them first... LE/Conviction packs with glaoms nearby = not good. Hephasto spawned Extra Strong/Might Enchanted, and I ran in while amped...that resulted in a one-hit-kill. :shocked: Doh!

Merc was Act 1 Rogue wearing Shaftstop, eth Rockstopper and Riphook bow until my sorc found a Reaper's Toll... at that point I went back and grabbed an act 2 Holy Freeze moron.

Notable finds... Natalya's helm, +1 shapeshifting GC, Dwarfstar ring, 40% jewel. Nothing exiting really. Runes however were dropping like candy! I've never seen so many Amn, Shael, Dol, Hel runes in my life. A few Countess runs gave me an Io and a Ko. Some nice monster in Durance gave me an Um, which I was happy to accept.

Forges were...
Normal: Amn
NM: Fal
Hell: Gul

Thanks to runes from Sparkles, my sorceress, I was able to up my Vipermagi to Wyrmhide - 959 Defense. Between the Skin, Wizzy and HoZ, resistances were just plain silly. Where I would normaly devote charms to covering resists, I was able to plug in mana, life and FHR charms instead. Skill points pretty much followed the standard... max Blessed Hammer, Vigor, Blessed Aim and Concentration. A few points in Holy Shield. Future points will go to either Holy Shield or Resist Lightning/Fire/Cold for the boost to max resists.
I socketed my HoZ, and then realized I have no idea what to plug into it. Doh! I saved my last socket quest for something exciting (no idea what to do with it...maybe the hat and stick a pTopaz in it, or Ist the Wizzy? Shael the Reaper's Toll?)

1587197681048.png

Playing the hammerdin was pretty fun, though aiming can be difficult, and tight places really suck (Maggot Lair!!!). I keep thinking with Enigma this build would be ridiculous.

Code:
Character name  : Spammydin
Character type  : Paladin
Character level : 82
Character exp   : 875128087

Strength        : 90
Energy          : 15
Dexterity       : 104
Vitality        : 240
Stat Points Rem : 56
Skill Points Rem: 1

Life            : 1239 / 922
Mana            : 572 / 136
Stamina         : 637 / 385

Gold (Inventory): 150476
Gold (Stash)    : 579146

Number of Items : 57



3: Lion Branded Grand Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 55
Fingerprint: 0xa80bc3ea
+6 to Strength
+1 to Combat Skills (Paladin Only)

4: Rugged Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 5
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 10
Fingerprint: 0xd04b1e39
+32 to Maximum Stamina
12% Faster Hit Recovery

5: Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x757ff376
+19 to Life

6: Fiery Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 17
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x38862b34
+14 to Life
Adds 1-3 fire damage

7: Lucky Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x8bacabf8
5% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
12% Faster Hit Recovery

8: Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x1ae82bab
+16 to Life

9: Burly Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 78
Fingerprint: 0x8ea1d867
+19 Defense
5% Faster Hit Recovery

10: Stalwart Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 34
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 68
Fingerprint: 0xe7d76805
+91 Defense
12% Faster Hit Recovery

11: Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0x5360e871
5% Faster Hit Recovery

12: Serpent's Grand Charm of Greed
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 35
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0x1b98715c
+48 to Mana
23% Extra Gold from Monsters

13: Amber Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 55
Fingerprint: 0x365966ec
Lightning Resist +11%

14: Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x7aaf7854
+18 to Life

15: Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xbd2c9af0
+16 to Life

16: Stalwart Small Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 40
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x7af7f621
+9 to Life
+23 Defense

17: Large Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 66
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0xef16f133
+35 to Life

18: Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0x21c1d8cb
5% Faster Hit Recovery



26: Peasant Crown
War Hat
Defense: 108
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 28
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x9cbd9731
+20 to Energy
+20 to Vitality
+100% Enhanced Defense
Replenish Life +9
15% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to All Skill Levels

27: Entropy Torc
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 92
Fingerprint: 0xb4c99596
+4 to Energy
+9 to Mana
15% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels

28: Skin of the Vipermagi
Wyrmhide
Defense: 959
Durability: 23 of 24
Required Strength: 84
Required Level: 57
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x49d2f223
+120% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 12
All Resistances +32
24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Required Level +7
30% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Perfect Topaz
Inserted into a Wyrmhide

24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Required Level: 18
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

29: Manald Heal
Ring
Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0xffc3109b
+20 to Life
Regenerate Mana 20%
6% Mana stolen per hit
Replenish Life +7

30: Chaos Grasp
Ring
Required Level: 13
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0x4382e897
+17 to Mana
Damage Reduced by 2
Magic Damage Reduced by 2
10% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Poison Length Reduced by 25%

31: Tal Rasha's Fine-Spun Cloth
Mesh Belt
Defense: 98
Durability: 13 of 16
Required Strength: 46
Required Level: 53
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 78
Fingerprint: 0x9209dae
+20 to Dexterity
+30 to Mana
11% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Requirements -20%
37% Damage Taken Goes to Mana

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
+60 Defense
10% Faster Cast Rate
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***


32: Aldur's Advance
Battle Boots
Defense: 42
Required Strength: 95
Required Level: 45
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0xac2ee676
+50 to Life
+180 to Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 32%
Fire Resist +50%
40% Faster Run/Walk
10% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
Indestructible

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
+15 to Dexterity
+15 to Dexterity
+15 to Dexterity
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***


33: Frostburn
Gauntlets
Defense: 49
Durability: 23 of 24
Required Strength: 60
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0x1376a0c4
+19% Enhanced Defense
+5% Enhanced Damage
+30 Defense
Adds 1-6 cold damage over 2 seconds
Increase Maximum Mana 40%


56: Wizardspike
Bone Knife
One-Hand Damage: 23 to 49
Required Dexterity: 75
Required Strength: 38
Required Level: 61
Dagger Class - Fast Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x8202c25e
Regenerate Mana 15%
All Resistances +75
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
50% Faster Cast Rate
Indestructible
+164 to Mana (Based on Character Level)

57: Herald of Zakarum
Gilded Shield
Defense: 488
Chance to Block:  82%
Smite Damage: 20 to 28
Durability: 49 of 50
(Paladin Only)
Required Strength: 89
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 54
Fingerprint: 0xfaaa6fcd
+20 to Strength
+20 to Vitality
+189% Enhanced Defense
+30% Increased Chance of Blocking
All Resistances +50
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels
30% Faster Block Rate
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+2 to Combat Skills (Paladin Only)
Socketed (1: 0 used)


-ON SWITCH-

The Fetid Sprinkler
Holy Water Sprinkler
One-Hand Damage: 52 to 120
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Strength: 76
Required Level: 38
Mace Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0xca0f6a2a
+165% Enhanced Damage
+182 to Attack Rating
+15 to Minimum Damage
+25 to Maximum Damage
+159 poison damage over 4 seconds
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels
150% Damage to Undead
5% Chance to cast Level 1 Decrepify on striking
10% Chance to cast Level 1 Confuse on striking

35: Rhyme
Akaran Rondache
'ShaelEth'
Defense: 129
Chance to Block:  65%
Smite Damage: 15 to 20
Durability: 30 of 30
(Paladin Only)
Required Strength: 59
Required Level: 30
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0xfd9f3d8e
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
Regenerate Mana 15%
Fire Resist +25%
Fire Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +25%
Lightning Resist +15%
Cold Resist +15%
Cold Resist +25%
Poison Resist +15%
Poison Resist +25%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Faster Block Rate
Cannot Be Frozen
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Shael Rune
Inserted into a Akaran Rondache

20% Faster Block Rate

Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Eth Rune
Inserted into a Akaran Rondache

Regenerate Mana 15%

Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion




Mercenary Items :

1: Shaftstop
Mesh Armor
Defense: 644
Durability: 28 of 45
Required Strength: 92
Required Level: 38
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xbb9b838
+60 to Life
+201% Enhanced Defense
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Damage Reduced by 30%

2: Rockstopper
Sallet
Defense: 284
Durability: 10 of 10
Required Strength: 33
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x137d1852
+15 to Vitality
+203% Enhanced Defense
Damage Reduced by 10%
Fire Resist +44%
Lightning Resist +40%
Cold Resist +29%
30% Faster Hit Recovery
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

3: The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
Two-Hand Damage: 39 to 468
Durability: 58 of 65
Required Dexterity: 89
Required Strength: 114
Required Level: 75
Polearm Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xe00d6460
+232% Enhanced Damage
Adds 4-44 cold damage over 1 seconds
12% Life stolen per hit
Requirements -25%
Ignore Target Defense
33% Deadly Strike
33% Chance to cast Level 1 Decrepify on striking

Thanks for reading!
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by zaphodbrx on Jan 31, 2013:

Patriarch Arthas the Hammerdin ( Halls of vaught runner )

Introduction

Halls of vaught are one of my favourite areas in the game, mainly because it is SO hard and requires a different approach. It's not just the tomb vipers and CE, but also the bloodstar throwing harpies, charging skeletons, ghosts, skeleton archers and all sorts of creepy scary things that lurk down there. So I wanted a character to run HoV, not for 99 or anything, just for kicks. After trying a couple of characters and failing, I decided I wanted a hammerdin for this area. For the following reasons..

1. Nothing there is magic immune. All other immunities are represented, some can be broken but still..
2. He has nice resistances, life, blocking, defense, etc.
3. He has no great dependency on the merc. The merc can bite it and it won't be a big deal. And to be honest mercs die a LOT in HoV.

So, Arthas the hammerdin was born. He became a patriarch at level 89.
Following the example of Champion Flakhammer, he used a pride merc for questing. I also have the max level conc aura for myself but not having to switch it on all the time is nice, also I can hammer away with redemption or sanctuary on which is helpful now and then. It'll probably not be my final build but at least questing with Pride was very nice.

LCS ( normal gear, pride ), LCS ( normal gear, concentration )

LCS ( HoV setup, concentration )

Skills

20(42) Blessed hammer
20(35) Concentration
20 Blessed Aim
20 Vigor
8(30) Holy bolt ( to kill magic immunes )
1 Redemption, Holy shield, prereqs.

Gear

Enigma
Harlequin crest*
HoTO
Spirit (35 fcr, 45 allres )
Arachnid mesh
Trang's gloves
Stone of Jordan
Stone of Jordan2*
Hotspur
Raven talisman ( crafted 2 Pal, 16 fcr ammy )

*: Substituted for HoV: Priest's coronet of amicae ( SolSol ), Nature's peace

Switch: Call to arms, spirit

Inventory: 7 Lion branded charms, assorted small charms.

Readouts

Code:
Enigma
Gothic Plate
'JahIthBer'
Defense: 888
Durability: 55 of 55
Required Strength: 70
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x70624fb0
+760 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
+66 to Strength (Based on Character Level)
89% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Heart of the Oak
Flail
'KoVexPulThul'
One-Hand Damage: 1 to 24
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Dexterity: 35
Required Strength: 41
Required Level: 55
Mace Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0x61fc7112
+10 to Dexterity
All Resistances +31
Adds 3-14 cold damage over 3 seconds
7% Mana stolen per hit
Replenish Life +20
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
40% Faster Cast Rate
75% Damage to Demons
150% Damage to Undead
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+3 to All Skill Levels
Level 4 Oak Sage (25/25 Charges)
Level 14 Raven (60/60 Charges)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Spirit
Protector Shield
'TalThulOrtAmn'
Defense: 144
Chance to Block:  50%
Smite Damage: 18 to 24
Durability: 40 of 40
(Paladin Only)
Required Strength: 69
Required Level: 34
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x1de7bce5
+22 to Vitality
+112 to Mana
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Fire Resist +45%
Lightning Resist +80%
Cold Resist +80%
Poison Resist +80%
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
55% Faster Hit Recovery
35% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to All Skill Levels
+4 Magic Absorb
Socketed (4: 4 used)

The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0x75f514af
+20 to Mana
Adds 1-12 lightning damage
Increase Maximum Mana 25%
+1 to All Skill Levels

The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x3297ec83
+20 to Mana
Adds 1-12 lightning damage
Increase Maximum Mana 25%
+1 to All Skill Levels

Harlequin Crest
Shako
'Um'
Defense: 132
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 62
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0xe9301334
+2 to Strength
+2 to Energy
+2 to Dexterity
+2 to Vitality
Damage Reduced by 10%
All Resistances +15
50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to All Skill Levels
+133 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+133 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Hotspur
Boots
Defense: 10
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 5
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x510ae566
+15 to Life
+10% Enhanced Defense
+6 Defense
Fire Resist +45%
+15% to Maximum Fire Resist
Adds 3-6 fire damage

Trang-Oul's Claws
Heavy Bracers
Defense: 68
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 94
Fingerprint: 0x4ab2d4e3
+30 Defense
Cold Resist +30%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Curses (Necromancer Only)
+25% to Poison Skill Damage

Arthas' Arachnid Mesh
Spiderweb Sash
Defense: 122
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 80
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 94
Fingerprint: 0x96896f2d
+95% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
Slows Target by 10%
Level 3 Venom (11/11 Charges)

Raven Talisman
Amulet
Required Level: 89
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 92
Fingerprint: 0x1b8f1912
+13 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 7%
Poison Resist +31%
Replenish Life +9
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels
16% Faster Cast Rate

Priest's Coronet of Amicae
'SolSol'
Defense: 38
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0xe983f72f
Damage Reduced by 24
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Nature's Peace
Ring
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x74ed9363
Damage Reduced by 10
Poison Resist +28%
Slain Monsters Rest In Peace
Prevent Monster Heal
Level 5 Oak Sage (27/27 Charges)

Merc: A2 might merc
Gear

Code:
1: Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Death Mask
Defense: 114
Durability: 18 of 20
Required Strength: 55
Required Level: 66
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 63
Fingerprint: 0xf8521332
+60 to Life
+30 to Mana
+45 Defense
All Resistances +15
10% Life stolen per hit
10% Mana stolen per hit

2: Fortitude
Kraken Shell
'ElSolDolLo'
Defense: 3429
Durability: 25 of 25
Required Strength: 164
Required Level: 61
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x787cc800
+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
+122 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Pride
Superior Thresher
'ChamSurIoLo'
Two-Hand Damage: 19 to 225
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Dexterity: 108
Required Strength: 142
Required Level: 67
Polearm Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xe5b18d1a
+10 to Vitality
+7% Enhanced Damage
+3 to Attack Rating
Adds 50-280 lightning damage
Replenish Life +8
Hit Blinds Target +1
273% Bonus to Attack Rating
Freezes Target +3
20% Deadly Strike
Level 20 Concentration Aura When Equipped
25% Chance to cast Level 17 Fire Wall when struck
166% Extra Gold (Based on Character Level)
89% Damage to Demons (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Thoughts

Well, it's a hammerdin. Extremely weird spell, though really damaging. It's also annoying to hit nearby monsters/fast moving monsters sometimes ( extra fast De seis? ) ,impossible in cramped areas like the maggots lair. Overall though the damage and area clearing ability is just awesome. I went through ALL of hell at players 8, yes all, ancients, Baal, everything. I had read in another thread that a full clear at p8 would result in lvl 90 character but that doesn't seem right, as I cleared pretty much every area once, but finished at 89.

Magic immunes were very annoying. I kept an eth obedience cryptic axe in my stash and gave that to the merc to kill magic immunes. Yes we have holy bolt. It's not nearly good enough at such low level, and wailing beasts are immune to it. I also swapped out the obedience against ancients and Baal ( for crushing blow )

There was one death to gloams in the frozen river, and plenty of NDEs involving situations like this- harpies, magic immunes, charging stuff like claw vipers and skeleton knights, mass ranged units with amp and fanaticism, etc. Yes despite having max block resists and everything he isn't the most safe character really. Mostly due to having absolutely no crowd control whatever besides 'kill them1!11!'.

I did a couple HoV runs but wasn't satisfied with his performance. 34 idr isn't enough to stop viper clouds from hurting, and RIP mod really interferes due to not having redemption. The merc also dies and needs a definite rethink. Would appreciate some help here..

This character is really good for chaos sanctuary. Wide open area to use hammers effectively, no magic immunes or tough monsters, etc. No wonder people like HDins for CS runs.

Screenshots

Maggot's lair ( Ugh, impossible )
Ancients
Achmel ( these dudes make Baal runs hard )

Finds

Well, you'd expect some finds questing all of hell on p8, so he found.. hold your breath.. Absolutely nothing!! Seriously, not one find of any interest. Hell forge was a Lem. Okay he got two essences each from Duriel and Diablo but other than that.. I suppose I shouldn't complain though, my previous characters had more than enough luck.

Hope you enjoyed reading.
 
Originally posted by Aconite on Apr 27, 2009:

Patriarch Corvax - Fanatic Zealot

Been a long while since I posted one of these...

This is my first melee pat/mat - fairly cookie cutter I guess, but I had a lot of fun with him - almost felt like easy mode most of the time. I've only ever taken a Pally to nightmare before, and so was surprised at how easily he handled Hell. As to be expected, Chaos Sanctuary was a pain, but other than that it was a breeze. The ancients went down with a whimper, and my merc even stayed on his feet.

The gear probably helped a little 😉

Code:
Name:       Corvax
Level:      82

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   105/155
Dexterity:  118/142
Vitality:   237/292
Energy:     15/20
HP:         913/1148
Mana:       136/183
Stamina:    382/561

Resists:    88/90/90/90

Zeal damage: 1189-1927
Zeal AR:     5544
Defense:     10042 with HS, 75% CTB

Skills: 20 Sacrifice, Zeal, Holy Shield, Fanaticism

I have 30 stat points and 6 skill points sitting unused. Skill points will probably go into Defiance.

Corvax sported a Lightsabre, HoZ with a pdiamond, Um'd Guardian Angel, Draculs, Verdungos, Gores+Gullaume's, Ravenfrost, Nature's Peace, and a 22 Maras. On switch was an upped shael/nef WWS for IM casting OKs - not the most elegant solution to the problem, but it got the job done. I was lucky that the WSK was full of Souls, no Knights!

Inventory is full of a mixed bag of charms to get resists up.

Merc was a HF with an Amn'd Reapers, Duriel's Shell and Vamp Gaze. My generic merc setup. I considered dropping him for a Might merc, but the HF slowing effect makes things safer, if a little slower.

Hellforge was a disappointment - Io / Ko.

Best find was Kira's Guardian, from Frozenstein or one of this minions.

I plan on leveling him to 85 so he can equip Azurewrath. Then maybe leveling him a bit more, but that'll probably require some rework on his equipment.

Any suggestions on how to improve him would be most welcome.
 
Originally posted by AJK on Apr 30, 2006:

My first Pat (after two mats, that is)

AJK proudly presents *drumroll* StNicolaas the Patriarch.
StNicolaas likes candy. Candy contains artificial flavoring and sugar. These chemicals make StNicolaas go *ratatatatatata* and break stuff like there's no tomorrow.

You probably guessed it, StNicolaas is a Zealot. He has a bit of a complicated history. I first introduced him to Hell when he was still a wee lad of 71 (level, that is). He was wearing a tin can and wielded a Hand of Blessed Light, of which I was certain that it was the awesomest weapon evah.

Once he got his arse handed to him on a mithril platter by a quill rat, he started to wonder were he went wrong. I mean, he cut through Normal and Nightmare like a chainsaw through jell-o. Desillusioned, he sat in a corner and made his armor rust by crying like a teenager who just heard that Take That split up.

This all happened before his master discovered the SPF. Once this glorious discovery happened, StNicolaas learned that his weapon was about as useless as wielding a giant marshmellow against a stampeding herd of rabid sheep. He gave up.

Fast forward a few months, Olena the meteorb scored a lot of ph4t l3wt from Meph and gladly helped her poor brother out. After the hard part of leveling to mid-80's was over, StNicolaas discovered that Hell can actually be fun.
Until he died, and die he did, several times, for silly reasons. I'm SO not ready for hardcore yet.

Too much text already... Short summary of the hard parts
- Chaos sanctuary: Mortal danger, gave StNicolaas a WWS. It still took a long time to clear the place, but he won. Before I forget, hellforge coughed up an Um (yeah!).
- The frozen river: StNicolaas tried to complete the game in his Pit running gear (Stealskull+Tal's Armor+Chance Guards). The frozen river spanked him hard. Gave him a survival kit, listed below.

Short summary of the easy parts:
- Ancients: Zeal+Life leech. Game over, grannies. May have downed a red, not sure.
- WSK: Gloams heal me (see gear).
- Throne room: Zealots truly rule here. Only Oblivion Knights can ruin the fun.

Summarizing, I learned that in contrary of what some might say, a Paladin is not an automatic win in Hell. For instructional value (to myself) here's a small list of stuff he died to
- Being surrounded by non-leachables.
- Being surrounded by conviction+extra strong spectral hitters
- Being caught in the crossfire between to evil archer packs
- Snakes on a plane, err.. Vipers in Act V
- Answering mom's call for dinner while still playing the game (oops.)

So those were the useless words. These are the stats (defiance merc, AR boost from Demon Limb). Goodie from Baal's first kill included.

Here's the gear:

Head: Guillaume's Face
Neck: Highlord's Wrath
Left Hand: Socketed Heaven's Light (see *)
Torso: Guardian Angel + 11 res all jewel
Right Hand: +112 res all Sacred Rondache (4 PDiamond)
Both Hands: Crafted Blood Gloves (see **)
Waist: Thundergod's Vigor
Index Finger: See (***)
Ring Finger: Raven Frost
Feet: Aldur's Advance

(*): Heaven's Light
Mighty Scepter
One-Hand Damage: 173 to 238
Durability: 48 of 50
Required Dexterity: 65
Required Strength: 125
Required Level: 61
Mace Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xb6f37678
+333% Enhanced Damage
+13 to Maximum Damage
Adds 2-98 lightning damage
+3 to Paladin Skill Levels
+3 to Light Radius
20% Increased Attack Speed
-33% Target Defense
150% Damage to Undead
33% Chance of Crushing Blow
+18 Life after each Demon Kill
Socketed (2: 2 used)

(**): Bramble Finger
Sharkskin Gloves
Defense: 35
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 57
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 91
Fingerprint: 0x35ae53cf
+10 to Life
+14 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +8%
Lightning Resist +6%
3% Life stolen per hit
20% Increased Attack Speed
7% Chance of Crushing Blow

(***): Blood Grasp
Ring
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x1ec55c2
+11 to Dexterity
+28 to Life
+25 to Mana
+76 to Attack Rating
7% Life stolen per hit

Charms: 2 steel SC's of inertia, a handful of fine's and 2 sharp GC's (and a Gheed's),
and one scintillating SC to get to that nice golden 95 light. res.
 
Originally posted by AJK on Sep 22, 2006:

Baal slain by our beloved patriarch Tristan!

Hello ladies, gents, and hares! Yrmenlaf Snarfinggaard here. Welcome at our breaking news report here at HNN(*1) detailing the determined destruction of the devious devilish destroyer, Baal. Next to me stands our hero Tristan, together with his lovely sidekick Isolde.

- Yrmenlaf: "Tristan, tell me, how do you feel?"
- Tristan: "With my hands."
- Y: "No, I meant what are you feeling right now?"
- T: "My wife's a$$@^[sattelite reception interrupted]!!*&."
- Isolde: *blushes* "Get that hand away from there!"
- Y: *sighs* "What's going though you right now?"
- T: "Breakfast."
- Y: *stuffs microphone in mouth and runs in circles with muffled screams*
- T: "The cold must really get to their brains here in Harrogath. Poor souls. Does any of you have a towel? Those salty Baal bits are making my shiny armor rust."
- Y: *plop* "Get me another mike."
Mike: "You called sir?"
- Y: "NOOOOO!" *explodes*
- T: "I guess I'll have to tell the viewers at home about myself now?"
- I: "Knock 'em dead, crispy curly puppy-fries."

-----

This build started as an alternate avenger experiment. I wanted to see whether Zeal+Conviction+Added elemental damage could make for a Hell-viable combination. I was pleasantly surprised. I expected the build to do well through /P8 normal+NM, only to slow to a crawl upon hitting Hell. No slowing-down at all. I could finish acts I-III at /p3 setting in Hell, and have finished the rest at /p1 because I was in a hurry.

My first idea towards this build was a full Griswold's setup, socketed with elemental damage jewels. A quick calculation revealed that the elemental damage of 12 jewels was dwarfed by the sick damage output of a single Gimmershred. The only task left was to find companion setup pieces which added elemental damage too.

Choice #1: 'Duress' Boneweave. Adds a nice chunk of cold damage, and has crushing blow. I stole the armor from another toon of mine, Blender the reaver-barb, while he laid passed out in Atma's bar.

Choice #2: Dragonscale. Who in his/her right mind would use this grailer piece of thrash? I do! Say hello to 211-371 added fire damage. Too bad it misses a decent chance-to-block and resists, but the latter part ain't anything a hole and a diamond can't fix.

Choice #3: A boatload of lightning charms. I gathered around 1-500 light damage worth of charms. Thanks kind traders at the SPTF!

Choice #4: A Raven Frost. Adds cold damage. Makes me not slow. Is good. Sentence. Too. Short.

Choice #5: A rogue merc. I always wanted to try a rogue merc, and the runeword 'Harmony' (lvl. 10 vigor, 165-480 elemental damage) fitted this build like a glove. Too bad she cost me around 5 million $ to resurrect. Women...

I had the elemental damage together. Now to get it to 89% IAS, the 5FPA breakpoint, because I simply refuse to go lower with Zeal. That 89% is a bit of a struggle, but I managed. The choice was further complicated because I wanted to wear a Metalgrid ammy. But why no Highlord's then?

Because I wanted to make a tank.

I quickly found out during the planning phase, that I needed only 24 skill points for my ele-zeal plan (plus a few for Holy shield). I wasted 7 points in Zeal, because I read about the -91 enemy defense part of Conviction, when it was too late. Readers at home, don't repeat that mistake. If I would do it again, I'd spend leftover points in the Sacrifice synergy for more physical damage, more leech.

What to do with excess points. I read DoctorClock's guide which coupled this elemental zealot approach with Holy Bolt against the undead. Very cool, but I wanted to sneak another experiment into the build. I wanted to reach a monstrous defense, just to see if that's effective in Hell. Hence the metalgrid (+3XX defense, +34 res. all).

That was the planning part. Here's the skills/gear part.

Name: Tristan, lvl. 85 E-lot. (elemental zealot, lame...)
Main skills: Conviction (20), Zeal (11), Sacrifice (12), Holy Shield (20), Defiance (20)
Utility: Redemption(1), and some useful prerequisites (vigor, cleansing).
Damage: 1127 - 3375. Mixture of physical/mostly elemental damage.
Gear: See bottom pimp, er., code box.

A few random playing impressions:
- A zealot-avenger that doesn't burn through his mana supply is cool.
- A 'Delirium' hat is very useful. The confusion keeps the nasty (i.e. elemental) attackers busy while I calmly walk over to them and whack them in the back of the head.
- 'Delirium' also has a funny side effect. I noticed a huge boost in my merc's attack speed while in little-critter form. She went from 11 FPA (normal) to 8 FPA (fetish form).
- Getting 22k def. means that you can stand in the middle of a nasty demon pack and stay relatively safe, except
- when you're getting pummeled by elemental attackers. I suffered more than a handful of deaths due to those lightning throwing sons-of-skeletor. But then again, I had the exact same look-ma-I'm-invincible-*zap*-oh-no-I-am-not problem with my fanazealot.
- The range 1 bug is annoying, but I learned to play around it when I pat-ed my previous zealot.

Rich (BB code):
Hat
Andariel's Visage
Demonhead
Defense: 385
Durability: 19 of 20
Required Strength: 102
Required Level: 83
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xfca29cbb
+30 to Strength
+149% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist -1% <-- yup, a ruby jewel of fervor. I are h4x.
Poison Resist +70%
+10% to Maximum Poison Resist
10% Life stolen per hit
35% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to All Skill Levels
15% Chance to cast Level 15 Poison Nova when struck
Level 3 Venom (20/20 Charges)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Amulet
Metalgrid
Amulet
Required Level: 81
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xc5a123d4
+415 to Attack Rating
+309 Defense
All Resistances +34
Level 22 Iron Golem (11/11 Charges)
Level 12 Iron Maiden (20/20 Charges)

Weapon
Gimmershred
Flying Axe
Throw Damage: 46 to 204
One-Hand Damage: 52 to 201
Quantity: 216
Required Dexterity: 108
Required Strength: 88
Required Level: 70
Axe Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xe8659e46
+210% Enhanced Damage
Adds 218-483 fire damage <-- !!!
Adds 29-501 lightning damage <-- !!one!!
Adds 176-397 cold damage over 4 seconds <-- !!omg!!eleven!!
30% Increased Attack Speed
Increased Stack Size

Armor
Duress
Boneweave
'ShaelUmThul'
Defense: 1301
Durability: 41 of 45
Required Strength: 158
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0xf96fc304
+163% Enhanced Defense <-- Hmpf...
+12% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +15%
Cold Resist +45%
Poison Resist +15%
Adds 37-133 cold damage over 2 seconds
40% Faster Hit Recovery
33% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
-20% Slower Stamina Drain
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Shield
Dragonscale
Zakarum Shield
Defense: 566
Chance to Block:  52%
Smite Damage: 46 to 46
Durability: 62 of 65
(Paladin Only)
Required Strength: 142
Required Level: 80
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xcd38b80b
+20 to Strength
+192% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +19%
+5% to Maximum Fire Resist
Lightning Resist +19%
Cold Resist +19%
Poison Resist +19%
Adds 211-371 fire damage <-- burn, baby, burn, disco inferno. *dodges beer bottles*
+10 to Hydra
20% Fire Absorb
+15% to Fire Skill Damage
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Gloves
Immortal King's Forge
War Gauntlets
Defense: 112
Durability: 23 of 24
Required Strength: 110
Required Level: 30
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x311baca9
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity
+65 Defense
12% Chance to cast Level 4 Charged Bolt when struck
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
25% Increased Attack Speed       <-- exactly what I needed to hit 89%
+120 Defense
10% Life stolen per hit
10% Mana stolen per hit
Freezes Target +2
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***

Belt
Immortal King's Detail <-- resists, yeah. (and defense)
War Belt
Defense: 142
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 110
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x3b18ef0d
+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***

Ring 1
Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x62e9c86d
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+174 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen <-- A must.

Ring 2
Scintillating Ring of the Bat
Required Level: 59
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 94
Fingerprint: 0xa2d1cd9e
All Resistances +15
3% Mana stolen per hit <-- needed against mana-burning packs

Boots
Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 148
Durability: 34 of 34
Required Strength: 94
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xc2c1c46f
+20 to Maximum Stamina
+175% Enhanced Defense
+10 Maximum Durability
Requirements -25%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow <-- which brings the total to 30%
15% Deadly Strike

Charms
3x Shimmering GC (44 res all. total)
light damage charms --> 12 - 512 (7-10 fire, and a bit of cold too)

-+-+-+-| Merc outfit |-+-+-+-

Bow
Harmony
Great Bow
'TirIthSolKo'
Two-Hand Damage: 53 to 202
Required Dexterity: 107
Required Strength: 121
Required Level: 51
Bow Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x8051a7fb
+10 to Dexterity
+273% Enhanced Damage
+9 to Minimum Damage
+9 to Maximum Damage
Regenerate Mana 20%
Adds 55-160 fire damage
Adds 55-160 lightning damage
Adds 55-160 cold damage over 6 seconds
+2 to Light Radius
+5 to Valkyrie
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Level 10 Vigor Aura When Equipped <-- So very useful!
Level 20 Revive (25/25 Charges)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Hat
Delirium
Tiara
'LemIstIo'
Defense: 309
Durability: 15 of 25
Required Level: 52
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0xd07bca21
+10 to Vitality
+261 Defense
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to All Skill Levels
11% Chance to cast Level 18 Confuse on striking      <-- very effective
6% Chance to cast Level 14 Mind Blast when struck
14% Chance to cast Level 13 Terror when struck
1% Chance to cast Level 50 Magic Shrine when struck
Level 17 Attract (60/60 Charges)
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Armor
Treachery
Superior Dusk Shroud
'ShaelThulLem'
Defense: 519
Durability: 22 of 22
Required Strength: 77
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x688985d2
+11% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +30%
Increase Maximum Durability 11%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
45% Increased Attack Speed
20% Faster Hit Recovery
25% Chance to cast Level 15 Venom on striking
5% Chance to cast Level 15 Fade when struck
Socketed (3: 3 used)
------
*1: Harrogath News Network
 
Originally posted by AJK on Sep 3, 2007:

Pat. Avenger. Lots of hurt.

Warnink! Tl;dr ahead!

Patriarch Augshyanyeeld*, lvl 88 Fanavenger.

--------
The char
--------
Not too long ago, a thread about min. damage avengers caught my eye. While I already have 2.5 avengers in my stable of toons, one post in particular still possessed the power to make my twink nerve go *twitch*. Eric Xanthu posted the unholy idea of coupling an avenger with a 'Faith' merc to boost damage and more importantly, freeing up jewel slots occupied by IAS.

Now I'm a couple of roonsies short of 'Faith' myself, but I do have a 'Beast' axe. Not that I actually found a Ber for it; I mooched one off colony when he left. It was more of a joke on my part, but he actually gave one to me. I was going to make a lord-of-the-dorks commandomancer with it, but as stated in the previous paragraph, I got distracted by the possibility of one sick sick sick avenger. To the spreadsheetmobile, batman!

A few evenings later, I started to realize that this one was going to be, er, 'rather powerful'. Calculations revealed that no piece of Gris' equipment had a place in my setup. The spread between the weapon's min and max damage also ruled out a min. damage setup, so to the black market I went to score a few +max damage jewels. Best runes I ever spent.

As I got more and more +maxers, a red mist of excitement and anticipation rose before my eyes when I realized with a shock that 9k average was going to be attainable without resorting to 1.07 hax (apart form the eth bugged beast zerker, that is). It meant that I had to cram every nook and cranny of my inventory full of max. damage charms. I even traded for three PCombat skillers with added max. damage on them.

The result: an avenger with the following stats.

For the click-o-phobes:
Vengeance damage (LCS) : 3230 - 15k
Vengeance damage (own calcs): 3232 - 14940 --> 9080 average, 8 FPA attack.

Also:
Life: Not enough, 1.1k. Thank Zod for 75% block.
Mana: not really relevant. Would have liked a bit more though, for long charges across empty parts of the map.
AR: Severe overkill, 6.2K. With enemy defenses lowered to 8%, you can probably guess that I'm ~3K over the mark there. But the AR came free with the damage charms, so I'm not complaining.
Resists: 85/81/90/72

----
Gear
----
Rich (BB code):
Headpiece:
Crown of Ages
Corona
Defense: 374
Required Strength: 174
Required Level: 82
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x70e7a108
+50% Enhanced Defense
+50 to Maximum Damage
+125 Defense
Damage Reduced by 10%
All Resistances +27
30% Faster Hit Recovery
+1 to All Skill Levels
Indestructible
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Neckpiece:
Chaos Clasp
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 91
Fingerprint: 0xa4f2c0eb
+15 to Dexterity
Fire Resist +18%
Lightning Resist +58%
Cold Resist +18%
Poison Resist +18%
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels
Poison Length Reduced by 25%

Slaypiece:
Beast
Berserker Axe
'BerTirUmMalLum'
One-Hand Damage: 122 to 414
Required Dexterity: 49
Required Strength: 128
Required Level: 64
Axe Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xa9a34d0
+30 to Strength
+10 to Energy
+241% Enhanced Damage
40% Increased Attack Speed
+3 to Lycanthropy
+3 to Werebear
Prevent Monster Heal
25% Chance of Open Wounds
20% Chance of Crushing Blow
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Level 9 Fanaticism Aura When Equipped
Level 13 Summon Grizzly (2/5 Charges)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (5: 5 used)

Chestpiece:
Fortitude
Archon Plate
'ElSolDolLo'
Defense: 1587
Durability: 57 of 60
Required Strength: 103
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0xd20d109d
+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)

Blockpiece:
Gemmed Sacred Targe
Defense: 128
Chance to Block:  60%
Smite Damage: 22 to 70
Durability: 45 of 45
(Paladin Only)
Required Strength: 86
Required Level: 50
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x36a5af19
+103 to Maximum Damage
All Resistances +45
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Handpiece:
Fiend Finger
Light Gauntlets
Defense: 9
Durability: 17 of 18
Required Strength: 45
Required Level: 35
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 91
Fingerprint: 0x6e1aa878
Fire Resist +29%
Cold Resist +29%
Poison Resist +15%
3% Life stolen per hit
20% Increased Attack Speed
12% Chance to cast Level 4 Nova when struck

Ringpiece:
Bone Circle
Ring
Required Level: 74
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x9a80f8e9
+60 to Attack Rating
+5 to Minimum Damage
Fire Resist +11%
Lightning Resist +31%
Cold Resist +11%
Poison Resist +11%
3% Life stolen per hit
6% Mana stolen per hit

Another ringpiece:
Wraith Grip
Ring
Required Level: 66
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 97
Fingerprint: 0xa2000a63
+16 to Strength
+15 to Mana
+79 to Attack Rating
+5 to Minimum Damage
8% Life stolen per hit
6% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Pantsdrop-preventerpiece:
Trang-Oul's Girth
Troll Belt
Defense: 163
Durability: 17 of 18
Required Strength: 91
Required Level: 62
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xd8795352
+66 to Life
+30 to Mana
+30 to Maximum Stamina
+99 Defense
Replenish Life +5
Requirements -40%
Cannot Be Frozen

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
Cold Resist +40%
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***

Runpiece:
War Traveler
Battle Boots
Defense: 132
Durability: 47 of 48
Required Strength: 95
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xba2becf
GUID: 0xc2c25e43 0xfc6c6393 0x0
+10 to Strength
+10 to Vitality
+175% Enhanced Defense
+15 to Minimum Damage
+25 to Maximum Damage
+30 Maximum Durability
Attacker Takes Damage of 9
50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
25% Faster Run/Walk
40% Slower Stamina Drain

Switchpieces:
Astral War Scepter
One-Hand Damage: 10 to 17
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Strength: 55
Required Level: 30
Mace Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 71
Fingerprint: 0x63596cb3
+3 to Holy Shield (Paladin Only)
+1 to Redemption (Paladin Only)
+1 to Charge (Paladin Only)
149% Damage to Demons
150% Damage to Undead
+176 to Attack Rating against Demons

Herald of Zakarum
Gilded Shield
Defense: 454
Chance to Block:  82%
Smite Damage: 20 to 28
Durability: 50 of 50
(Paladin Only)
Required Strength: 89
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x3b5bc9a1
+20 to Strength
+20 to Vitality
+169% Enhanced Defense
+30% Increased Chance of Blocking
All Resistances +69
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels
30% Faster Block Rate
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+2 to Combat Skills (Paladin Only)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

--------------
Moron's corner
--------------
Delirium
Tiara
'LemIstIo'
Defense: 309
Durability: 15 of 25
Required Level: 52
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0xd07bca21
+10 to Vitality
+261 Defense
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to All Skill Levels
11% Chance to cast Level 18 Confuse on striking
6% Chance to cast Level 14 Mind Blast when struck
14% Chance to cast Level 13 Terror when struck
1% Chance to cast Level 50 Magic Shrine when struck
Level 17 Attract (60/60 Charges)
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Treachery
Archon Plate
'ShaelThulLem'
Defense: 514
Durability: 48 of 60
Required Strength: 103
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x67bb7c39
Cold Resist +30%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
45% Increased Attack Speed
20% Faster Hit Recovery
25% Chance to cast Level 15 Venom on striking
5% Chance to cast Level 15 Fade when struck
Socketed (3: 3 used)

The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
Two-Hand Damage: 59 to 700
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Dexterity: 79
Required Strength: 104
Required Level: 75
Polearm Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x25f49672
+232% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +21%
Adds 4-44 cold damage over 2 seconds
11% Life stolen per hit
Requirements -25%
15% Increased Attack Speed
Ignore Target Defense
33% Deadly Strike
33% Chance to cast Level 1 Decrepify on striking
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)
---------------------------
Some remarks about the gear
---------------------------
I can hear some discomforted mumblings in the back. "But 'Beast' doesn't have the indestructable mod.?!"*postreported!*

Enter 1.07 ethereal weapons. Blizzard, in their infinite wisdom apparently saw fit to release a beta upon us in the form of the 1.07 expansion CD. Too bad they didn't quite figure out what to do with ethereal. This means that eth weapons from 1.07 get a slight additional bonus to max. damage, and *drumroll* they retain the 'indestructable' mod when you unsocket a zod or other runeword granting indestructability from it. Bummer about the bear charges though.

For the armor, I wondered if a four-socket max damage jacket would outperform 'Fortitude'. Short answer: nowai! Longer answer: the 300% ED boost to all charms and off-weapon socketed damage jewels is so large that even a perfect +120 suit won't outperform it damage-wise. The resists, life, and chilling armor also pushed my forti plate rather firmly onto the char.

For the hat and shield I needed sockets and skills. It didn't take long to figure out that +skills << +damage, so I focused on +resists and sockets instead. Six sockets and +72 res. all made my avenger a happy camper.

The rings and amulet provided more needed leech and resists. Originally I thought I'd need more mana leech, but a quick tour of the Hell Blood Moor made me ditch the plain +2/7% ML amulet in favor of a more suitable one I had lying around in a random stash somewhere. The total leech (14% life / 6% mana) turned out to be just right and comfortable. Only against bosses I would have liked a bit more leech, but that was nothing a few quick zeal cycles or a few drinks couldn't fix for me.

The belt has CBF, I wouldn't have cared if it had only that and 16 packets. It's a damn shame that I can't upgrade death's belt, because I would have.

The gloves are my prrecious. They have everything a melee build wants: the 20% IAS I needed to hit the 8 frame breakpoint, good resists, and 3% leech.

Charms: +88 to max total. Free AR included. Also has +3 to PCombat skills hidden in there to buff holy shield. Combined with rings and hat/shield/boots my equipment adds 25-266 damage.

Switch: I needed every skill point I could get to synergize vengeance, so I ran for a +3 to holy shield scepter at Akara's in 1.07. I wanted it to have at least +3 HS and +1 redemption, but the one I ended up with turned out even greater: with +1 to charge. Thanks to charge I could run through open areas like the wind, even desynching myself in the process. It has also been used a lot in late act V, Hell, where evil sometimes turned out too hot to handle. HoZ for added prebuff, of course.

--------
Thoughts
--------
The positives:
* /P8 all the way, and feeling the need to check regularly.
* 9k average damage. Without -res from conviction factored in.
* 95% chance to hit on all that moves except bosses** and the bunnies.
* Thanks to the fanaticism AJK can go AFK and let the merc kill stuff. Effectively, even.
* Delirium is awesome. Confusion has defused more dangerous situations than I can count on the fingers on the hands of a flock of pianists.

The negatives:
* Stuff that charges at me, it kills. I can handle taurs, witches, arches and other nasty stuff, but a Pindle runner he ain't.
* I expected him to do better against gloams. Not that I can't kill them, they go down in a few hits, but their lightning still hurts, even at 90 res. all. Maybe the infamous Anya bug has something to do with it.
* 1.1k life does not a safe avenger create. Strong the force within him is, but easily death surprise him does.
* Even if it's swung at 8 frames, vengeance it's still a single-target left-click attack. I don't think he'll ever get to 5 minute Baal runs because of that. Especially the decrep wreaks havoc on his kill speed.
* Mana burn unleechables. Manageable with the redemption on switch, but still a pain in the a[connection interrupted].

Random ramblings:
* Needlessest death: The palace cellar, surrounded by archers, as in not going *run, AJK, run!* when the merc poofed instantaneously.
* Stubbornest deaths: Chaos Sanctuary. Guess why. 4k average physical damage may have something to do with it. Oblivion Knights also.
* Weirdest death: getting surrounded by beetles in act II with chilling armor active. The charged bolts triggered ice bolts triggered charged bolts triggered... the game nearly froze and even though I had 90% light res. my health bulb went *gurgle gurgle drain* in less than a second. A while later in the canyon it happened again, only this time the chain reaction didn't kill me but killed the game. I had to re-terminate the summoner.
* Annoyingest death: Going into the Icy Cellar for some XP and getting reamed by several boss packs vipers, gloams, and witches. And discovering that I didn't pop the Ancient's Waypoint yet. [expletive!] Charging back at /p1 was fun though. One-hit vengeance instakills.
* Brutalest death: my first encounter with the ancients. Instagibbed. The second fight too was over before I could hit the TP panic button.
* The third fight with the ancients brought victory. Amazing what the merc (the little white froggy biting Korlic's ankle) can do for you if he doesn't croak during the first two seconds.
* Scarediest moment: entering the Glacial Trail. Two boss packs, one cursed wraith pack and one extra strong viper pack nuked the merc in an instant. Run time. I managed to separate the nasties and whack them one by one, but still. There aren't many critters this char's afraid of, but charging anythings, especially extra strong ones, are definitely among them.
* Delirium still owns. Without. With.
* I lub my prebuff scepter. Not having to spend points+prereqs in holy shield *score!*. Charging merrily along cleared parts of the map *score!* while tanking red and blue from the stiffs *score!*.

Retirement plan:
* Runs towards level 96, if Baal and his dorks let me.

---------------------
Stuff I found in Hell
---------------------
Norm | NM | Hell forge drops: Couldn't be arsed | Um | Pul
Claw viper Temple: 40/-15 Ruby jewel of Freedom. Not really sure what to do with that one.
Random lvl 79 dork: ring, 8% LL/5% ML/10% FCR/+95 AR/8% FR/18% PR. A decent enchantress ring?
Plains of Despair: Chilling GC of Life [14]
River of Flame: 20/20 Iron SC of Vita.
Eldritch runs towards level 87: +3/161%ED Widowmaker
Worldstone Keep II: Cerebus' Bite

------
Thanks
------
* Major number one props to colony of course, for simply giving his eth bugged 'Beast' zerker to me when he left us. Thanks to my +3 to mooch ring, I guess.
* Big props to Asmodeous and Disco-neck Ted for their avenger threads that inspired me to build several of 'em, with this being my ultimate avenger.
* Thanks to all kind traders at the SPF. This project would not have been as succesful if I had to find all charms/jewels on my own.

_________________
*: Ancient atlantean for "Delights in lighting cow farts at night."
**: Of course excluding the monster's block %, for pretty skewed numbers.
 
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