- Jun 27, 2014
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Patriarch Helez - Untwinked FoHdin
Intro
I recently tried to take an untwinked HC FoHdin through the game but lost him in late NM due to carelessness. I immediately restarted the guy and got to about level 28 when I realized he was a softcore character. I decided to take him through the game anyway. With the recent buff to Fist of the Heavens, I was eager to try out this build, especially given its ability
Stats
Level: 88
Strength: 55/148
Dexterity: 33/50 (Max Vitality build at the moment)
Vitality: 432/459
Energy: 22
Life after BO: 3158
Holy Bolt / Fist of the Heavens Damage: 5038-5079 / 1550-1600
FHR: 48% breakpoint
Resists: Fire: 75%, Cold: 43%, Lightning: 75%, Poison: 57%
Magic Find: 400%
Skills
20 - Holy Bolt
20 - Fist of the Heavens
20 - Redemption
1 - Prereqs, Smite, Fanaticism, Holy Shield
23 - Unassigned (will put these into Smite/Holy Shield/ Fanaticism at some point)
Skills notes:
I wanted to max out the damage from the Holy Bolts that spread out from the FoH Lightning Bolt, but wasn’t particularly concerned about maxing the Lightning Damage of FoH with synergies. This leaves the main aura slot open for Redemption, which really made this build painless as far as life and mana. When I was planning the build for HC, that was one of the main draws–constantly having a high level redemption aura running.
Equipment
Amulet: Mara’s Kaleidoscope (@28 res all)
Helm: Harlequin Crest
Main-hand: “Heart of the Oak” Flail
Off-hand: Herald of the Zakarum
Switch: “Call to Arms” \ “Spirit” in 41 res all Heraldic Shield
Armor: “Enigma” Mage Plate
Gloves: Chance Guards
Belt: Upped Goldwrap
Boots: Light Plated Boots of Luck (32% MF)
Ring 1: Nagelring (23% MF)
Ring 2: Ring of Fortune (24% MF)
Charms: 1 Lion Branded Charm, Gheed’s, Resists, FHR, life, MF.
Equipment Notes:
I only landed the HoZ right at the end, which is part of why I hadn’t bothered to try for max block yet. Otherwise, the build is mostly oriented toward magic find at this point.
Mercenary: Kasim, A2 Holy Freeze
Helm: Tal Rasha’s Horadric Crest
Weapon: “Obedience” Ethereal Cryptic Axe
Armor: “Treachery” Archon Plate
Merc notes:
I may try an A5 merc at some point, but need some nice swords to equip the guy with. The Holy Freeze is nice for slowing enemies, but this build doesn’t need “Insight” since it has the Redemption aura. So an A5 merc with something like Grief / Lawbringer / Fortitude could do some serious damage.
Gameplay:
The FoHdin plays somewhat similarly to Hammerdin, but really doesn’t need to get as close to the danger. That was part of the reason for choosing to go max vitality instead of max block. Now that I have a HoZ, I may respect and try max block for some added safety, but I’m not sure it makes a huge difference either way.
Future Plans:
Helez handles a good amount of Terror Zones pretty well, and can also do Baal, Chaos Sanctuary, and Pits nicely. I entered this guy in the untwinked 99er thread, so we'll see how far I get. Magic finding should be fun for the meantime, because I think there are still a lot of slots that could be improved. I'd like to make Helez a true FoH / Smiter and run Ubers eventually after I get a source of life tap. Long term, I think something like a nicely rolled Astreon's or Heaven's Light paired with Gore's could arguably replace HotO in the main hand and give this guy CB set up to handle act end bosses without switching out any gear.
Intro
I recently tried to take an untwinked HC FoHdin through the game but lost him in late NM due to carelessness. I immediately restarted the guy and got to about level 28 when I realized he was a softcore character. I decided to take him through the game anyway. With the recent buff to Fist of the Heavens, I was eager to try out this build, especially given its ability
Stats
Level: 88
Strength: 55/148
Dexterity: 33/50 (Max Vitality build at the moment)
Vitality: 432/459
Energy: 22
Life after BO: 3158
Holy Bolt / Fist of the Heavens Damage: 5038-5079 / 1550-1600
FHR: 48% breakpoint
Resists: Fire: 75%, Cold: 43%, Lightning: 75%, Poison: 57%
Magic Find: 400%
Skills
20 - Holy Bolt
20 - Fist of the Heavens
20 - Redemption
1 - Prereqs, Smite, Fanaticism, Holy Shield
23 - Unassigned (will put these into Smite/Holy Shield/ Fanaticism at some point)
Skills notes:
I wanted to max out the damage from the Holy Bolts that spread out from the FoH Lightning Bolt, but wasn’t particularly concerned about maxing the Lightning Damage of FoH with synergies. This leaves the main aura slot open for Redemption, which really made this build painless as far as life and mana. When I was planning the build for HC, that was one of the main draws–constantly having a high level redemption aura running.
Equipment
Amulet: Mara’s Kaleidoscope (@28 res all)
Helm: Harlequin Crest
Main-hand: “Heart of the Oak” Flail
Off-hand: Herald of the Zakarum
Switch: “Call to Arms” \ “Spirit” in 41 res all Heraldic Shield
Armor: “Enigma” Mage Plate
Gloves: Chance Guards
Belt: Upped Goldwrap
Boots: Light Plated Boots of Luck (32% MF)
Ring 1: Nagelring (23% MF)
Ring 2: Ring of Fortune (24% MF)
Charms: 1 Lion Branded Charm, Gheed’s, Resists, FHR, life, MF.
Equipment Notes:
I only landed the HoZ right at the end, which is part of why I hadn’t bothered to try for max block yet. Otherwise, the build is mostly oriented toward magic find at this point.
Mercenary: Kasim, A2 Holy Freeze
Helm: Tal Rasha’s Horadric Crest
Weapon: “Obedience” Ethereal Cryptic Axe
Armor: “Treachery” Archon Plate
Merc notes:
I may try an A5 merc at some point, but need some nice swords to equip the guy with. The Holy Freeze is nice for slowing enemies, but this build doesn’t need “Insight” since it has the Redemption aura. So an A5 merc with something like Grief / Lawbringer / Fortitude could do some serious damage.
Gameplay:
The FoHdin plays somewhat similarly to Hammerdin, but really doesn’t need to get as close to the danger. That was part of the reason for choosing to go max vitality instead of max block. Now that I have a HoZ, I may respect and try max block for some added safety, but I’m not sure it makes a huge difference either way.
I blasted through Normal with Holy Fire / Zeal. I always see this recommended as a leveling strategy but this was actually my first time to do it.
I used a respec for FoH and originally had more points in Smite / Holy Shield / Fanaticism and used Smite a lot for NM Mephisto, where I farmed a lot of gear. A “Black” flail could really take down bosses via Smite. Once this guy could equip dual “Spirits” he really plowed through the game. Charge + Redemption aura + Insight on the merc made for fast transportation with little mana worries.
Once in Hell, I made a run for Lower Kurast. That was easier said than done. This is where the animal-type monsters and lightning immunes really start slowing this build down. Even with Smite and the Merc to help out, areas like the Maggot Lair and the Claw Viper Temple were a massive headache. I switched to an A5 merc a few times just to get through certain areas.
Once in Lower Kurast, Helez charged around until he had assembled the runes for “Enigma,” “Call to Arms,” and “Heart of the Oak.” This took just under 5,000 runs. The damage from Fist of the Heavens levels off a bit in Hell, and this is where he starts to not feel *quite* as strong as a Hammerdin. I think with an inventory of skillers and some more +skills from equipment, he would probably feel nearly as strong, however, especially at lower players settings in places like WSK and Chaos Sanctuary. FoH has a little more AoE damage than hammers, so clears big mobs pretty nicely.
Once in Lower Kurast, Helez charged around until he had assembled the runes for “Enigma,” “Call to Arms,” and “Heart of the Oak.” This took just under 5,000 runs. The damage from Fist of the Heavens levels off a bit in Hell, and this is where he starts to not feel *quite* as strong as a Hammerdin. I think with an inventory of skillers and some more +skills from equipment, he would probably feel nearly as strong, however, especially at lower players settings in places like WSK and Chaos Sanctuary. FoH has a little more AoE damage than hammers, so clears big mobs pretty nicely.
Future Plans:
Helez handles a good amount of Terror Zones pretty well, and can also do Baal, Chaos Sanctuary, and Pits nicely. I entered this guy in the untwinked 99er thread, so we'll see how far I get. Magic finding should be fun for the meantime, because I think there are still a lot of slots that could be improved. I'd like to make Helez a true FoH / Smiter and run Ubers eventually after I get a source of life tap. Long term, I think something like a nicely rolled Astreon's or Heaven's Light paired with Gore's could arguably replace HotO in the main hand and give this guy CB set up to handle act end bosses without switching out any gear.
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