Need some advice (hammerdin hell)

[silverdash]

Hello,

I just reached act III in hell. I play a hammerdin (ladder, solo, pure).
Stats:

• 3k hammer damage
• 1.1k hp
• all res 75 (or 80 depending on the armor I'm currently wearing) (and I can get 90 total fire res if needed)
• frozen aura merc with insight
• buffed: 73-75% block chance and ~1700 armor

But I have 3 problems/questions:
1:
In Act I they had like 60% chance to hit me and I had 73% block chance. The chance to get hit would then be 0.6*0.27 = 16.2%. But after testing they hit me more like ~7 out of 10 times... Are those stats bugged? I tried it several times but I kept getting hit a lot more than I should be.

2:
In act III there seem to be a lot of cursed bosses. Amplify damage will kill my mercenary really really fast and it can kill me in just a few hits from a minion/boss. I can cure it via town or by using cleanse but they re-apply the curse so fast... The 2x damage from physical from that curse is just too much.

3:
How do I survive a pack of willowisps or mass archers (god that palace cellar was dangerous, viva la vigor+speed run through it)? Even with 80 lightning res they will tear through my 1.1k hp like nothing for sure. And I expect my merc to die instantly. They also appear in Act III but somewhat weaker I believe.

EDIT:
Got killed in hell act 3 endurance level 2 by a amplified mauler. 1 hit. I really need more hp in hell somehow -.-

 

[zrk]

The things you talked about are some of the classic threats in d2. And the solution is straightforward: get better items. Now if you play totally solo it's gonna be hard but that is life. One item that may help is a 100 life belt from the vendors until you get something better.

Your life does seem a bit low though, you should get more with just a 3 ruby helm, dual spirit runewords and a shopped belt

 

[SuperDuck]

Hello,

I just reached act III in hell. I play a hammerdin (ladder, solo, pure).
Stats:

• 3k hammer damage
• 1.1k hp
• all res 75 (or 80 depending on the armor I'm currently wearing) (and I can get 90 total fire res if needed)
• frozen aura merc with insight
• buffed: 73-75% block chance and ~1700 armor

But I have 3 problems/questions:
1:
In Act I they had like 60% chance to hit me and I had 73% block chance. The chance to get hit would then be 0.6*0.27 = 16.2%. But after testing they hit me more like ~7 out of 10 times... Are those stats bugged? I tried it several times but I kept getting hit a lot more than I should be.

2:
In act III there seem to be a lot of cursed bosses. Amplify damage will kill my mercenary really really fast and it can kill me in just a few hits from a minion/boss. I can cure it via town or by using cleanse but they re-apply the curse so fast... The 2x damage from physical from that curse is just too much.

3:
How do I survive a pack of willowisps or mass archers (god that palace cellar was dangerous, viva la vigor+speed run through it)? Even with 80 lightning res they will tear through my 1.1k hp like nothing for sure. And I expect my merc to die instantly. They also appear in Act III but somewhat weaker I believe.

EDIT:
Got killed in hell act 3 endurance level 2 by a amplified mauler. 1 hit. I really need more hp in hell somehow -.-

1: Block is reduced to a third I think when running, so that might be part of your problem. If you are standing still/walking I don't know what is causing you extra trouble.
2: Amp can be pretty hard core (huehuehue), play defencively and maybe avoid some of the harder uniques would be my advice.
3: I find projectiles can often be avoided by running around, try LoSing them behind corners and so on. Big packs can be quite deadly, and tbh you might just want to try to avoid them

Sad to hear you RIP'd, better luck next time

 

[silverdash]

Thanks for the good tips again. I never knew that blocking was reduced when running.

 

[japanzaman]

Hammerdins are tricky to play with if you don't have at least decent gear, as you will take your fair share of damage against range attackers. This is why Enigma is so crucial for them- you can teleport in, keep your block high as you never run, and then drop everything with a high FCR and 10K plus damage. Getting that gear is the challenge, however, and getting it with a undergeared hammerdin is not exactly an easy thing to do in my opinion. Most gather the gear using a Blizz-sorc, then twink their hammerdin.

If you must get this gear with a hammerdin, Chaos Sanctuary may be the best place for you. There are no ranged attackers, and if you can get your hammers to hit 6K then you can usually kill on P1 rather well. The exp is also pretty good. Eldritch is another good place to grind, though his drop rate is rather poor compared to other superuniques.