BBS_Agonistes
Well-known member
The Story:
Lemuel gazed into the predawn haze surrounding the small abbey. The children would be waking soon.
He took an armful of firewood in his sinewy arms and walked through the open door of the dining hall. It had been decades since he had trained as a Paladin, and despite the streaks of gray in his beard, his strength remained. The seasoned Paladin had no place for the misbegotten crusades of the Church's second campaign, and so he had given up his arms in favor of a peaceful role as protector and guide, presiding over the small Zakarum chapel in his hometown. When the mysterious tides of evil began to sweep the land, Lemuel's abbey became a refuge for the few who escaped from the ravaged villages. The Paladin's prayers helped heal the bodies and calm the spirits the survivors, and for the orphans who had no place to go, the abbey became a home.
Lemuel heaved the wood into the dining hall's massive fire place and went about starting the fire. He scanned the line of memorials the children had made to their slain parents, some of the men and women great warriors in their own right.
Today he was leaving the abbey--and might never return. When the troubles had begun, he felt called to care for the orphaned. But as he tended to their wounds, comforted them after their midnight nightmares of the undead, he felt another call: vengeance. Though the children now slept well under the sanctuary of the abbey, Lemuel lay awake at night, his anger rising. Like his father Baranar, he was not generally a volatile man, but rather known for his gentleness. Yet over the weeks his silent rage grew to the point that even the children could see something was wrong. One morning they came to him, led by Anstan, son of Whitstan. Anstan asked Lemuel to avenge the memory of their parents--the boy was eighteen, and claimed he and a few of the older children could run the abbey in the Paladin's absence.
Lemuel knew the boy was right, and so he accepted. He knew what it was like to lose a parent. His mother had been murdered by a band of robbers when he was only eight years old. His father Baranar had sought out the murderers and killed them, his vengeance so great that it permanently imbued his mace with elemental powers. The weapon now hung from Lemuel's belt, gleaming deep red in the light of the roaring flames. Turning from the fire, Lemuel again passed his eyes over the shrines to the fallen: most of them were composed of a single artifact surrounded by candles lit in the memory of the hero. Though Lemuel had given up his arms years ago, the children had offered him the relics of their slain parents to aid him in his quest for vengeance. He picked his items carefully: a shield from Whitstan, another Paladin once known for his amazing blocking skills. From Guillaume's shrine he took a helm, from Wilhem's, a belt. Lastly, he took some gloves from Magnus's shrine--a blacksmith-turned-warrior known for the strength of his hands.
Breakfast that morning was unusually silent. Afterward, Lemuel packed for his journey. When the time came for him to leave, the children gathered at the abbey's gate and said their farewells to grizzled Paladin. Mayda, the daughter of Magnus and the smallest of all the children, was particularly grave. She extended her arm to Lemuel in a warrior's handshake; her tiny hand grasped her father's glove in an iron grip. Lemuel smiled and rose to leave.
The children watched as he disappeared in the morning fog.
The Concept:
Create a Paladin Avenger with the Orphan's Call set. The OC set struck me as strange because of its name and assortment of items, so I decided to develop a back story that accounted for this. Once I developed the back story of the set, it seemed that Vengeance was the only sensible skill that fit with the back story. Baranar's Star was a weapon I already had, which also seemed to mimic the Vengeance aura itself, and thus would be a good choice for this build, capitalizing on the Conviction as well. And though elemental weapon damage isn't multiplied for vengeance damage, Baranar's actually dealt more physical damage than any other one-handed weapon I had when I began the character. I knew that once committed to the set, I'd have to become a much better planner than I have been, and I'd have to get more familiar with how skills and gear work together in D2.
The Character:
Stats: Level 83
Strength: 112/168
Dexterity: 88/122
Vitality: 295/295
Energy: 15/25
AR: 425/129645
Resists in Hell: 95/95/95/90
Maxed IAS
Max Block @ 68% Block Rate Breakpoint
Gear:
Amulet: Highlord's Wrath
Helm: Guillaume's Face, socketed with IAS/Enhanced Defense Jewel
Armor: Guardian Angel, socketed with Ral
Weapon: Baranar's Star, socketed with Shael
Shield: Whitstan's Guard, socketed with PDiamond
Belt: Wilhem's Pride
Gloves: Magnus's Skin
Boots: Natalya's Soul
Rings: Rare Rings with Resists, Mana Steal, Etc.
Skill Points: (hard points only)
Pre-reqs: 1 each
Vengeance: 20
Synergies for Vengeance: Resist Fire (16), Resist Cold (16), Resist Lightning (15)
Conviction: 20
(You'll notice this is according to Asmodeus's build guide.)
Merc: Gulzar, Holy Freeze Merc
Helm: Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Armor: Gloom Kraken Shell
Weapon: Insight Great Poleaxe
Gameplay:
Not much to report other than that this guy was a tank! He is only my second character, and my first was a sorceress, so perhaps he just felt tanky in comparison, but with 95/95/95/90 resists and max block he almost seemed invincible at times. The Ancients were a breeze! They couldn't seem to hit me, and when they did, it didn't really do any damage. Andariel, Mephisto, Diablo, Duriel, etc., and Baal all went down easily.
The Orphan's Call set actually has some pretty great bonuses, and while nothing compared to the top runewords/uniques/sets, I enjoyed playing with the set. Only having a few slots available to change did end up making me a better planner. For much of the game I used the Smoke runeword, which is really great, especially with the charges of Weaken, which I used a lot. Once I had Guardian's Angel, however, my resists could really be cranked up, and it made gameplay a little less worrisome. It was nice not having to worry about any immunes--though I didn't have enough +skill items to pump my Conviction up to the level that it could break any immunity, it didn't really matter since Vengeance covers all the bases anyway--I didn't have trouble killing anything, and it was nice not to have to worry about any sort of immunes.
The 1.7-2.7k damage didn't look like much on the LCS, but with Conviction and maxed IAS it took the monsters out very quickly. I was worried that gameplay would feel slow compared to a Zealot, but I was happy to find that wasn't the case.
Note: I've seen people talk about mana problems with Avengers, and I was thinking I need a lot of Mana Steal. I only used 6% mana steal plus Insight from the merc and I was absolutely fine. The only time I remember using a potion was if my merc died and once after hacking Korlic for about 90 seconds straight.
Hellforge drop was just a Lem, and nothing particularly remarkable item-wise or rune-wise. I didn't realize how lucky I was to have an Ohm and some Ums randomly drop on my first Mat/Pat!
Anyway, I really enjoyed playing and planning this character. My only complaint is that it was almost too easy: the gameplay wasn't quite as adrenaline-filled as it was with my more fragile sorceress.
Lemuel gazed into the predawn haze surrounding the small abbey. The children would be waking soon.
He took an armful of firewood in his sinewy arms and walked through the open door of the dining hall. It had been decades since he had trained as a Paladin, and despite the streaks of gray in his beard, his strength remained. The seasoned Paladin had no place for the misbegotten crusades of the Church's second campaign, and so he had given up his arms in favor of a peaceful role as protector and guide, presiding over the small Zakarum chapel in his hometown. When the mysterious tides of evil began to sweep the land, Lemuel's abbey became a refuge for the few who escaped from the ravaged villages. The Paladin's prayers helped heal the bodies and calm the spirits the survivors, and for the orphans who had no place to go, the abbey became a home.
Lemuel heaved the wood into the dining hall's massive fire place and went about starting the fire. He scanned the line of memorials the children had made to their slain parents, some of the men and women great warriors in their own right.
Today he was leaving the abbey--and might never return. When the troubles had begun, he felt called to care for the orphaned. But as he tended to their wounds, comforted them after their midnight nightmares of the undead, he felt another call: vengeance. Though the children now slept well under the sanctuary of the abbey, Lemuel lay awake at night, his anger rising. Like his father Baranar, he was not generally a volatile man, but rather known for his gentleness. Yet over the weeks his silent rage grew to the point that even the children could see something was wrong. One morning they came to him, led by Anstan, son of Whitstan. Anstan asked Lemuel to avenge the memory of their parents--the boy was eighteen, and claimed he and a few of the older children could run the abbey in the Paladin's absence.
Lemuel knew the boy was right, and so he accepted. He knew what it was like to lose a parent. His mother had been murdered by a band of robbers when he was only eight years old. His father Baranar had sought out the murderers and killed them, his vengeance so great that it permanently imbued his mace with elemental powers. The weapon now hung from Lemuel's belt, gleaming deep red in the light of the roaring flames. Turning from the fire, Lemuel again passed his eyes over the shrines to the fallen: most of them were composed of a single artifact surrounded by candles lit in the memory of the hero. Though Lemuel had given up his arms years ago, the children had offered him the relics of their slain parents to aid him in his quest for vengeance. He picked his items carefully: a shield from Whitstan, another Paladin once known for his amazing blocking skills. From Guillaume's shrine he took a helm, from Wilhem's, a belt. Lastly, he took some gloves from Magnus's shrine--a blacksmith-turned-warrior known for the strength of his hands.
Breakfast that morning was unusually silent. Afterward, Lemuel packed for his journey. When the time came for him to leave, the children gathered at the abbey's gate and said their farewells to grizzled Paladin. Mayda, the daughter of Magnus and the smallest of all the children, was particularly grave. She extended her arm to Lemuel in a warrior's handshake; her tiny hand grasped her father's glove in an iron grip. Lemuel smiled and rose to leave.
The children watched as he disappeared in the morning fog.
The Concept:
Create a Paladin Avenger with the Orphan's Call set. The OC set struck me as strange because of its name and assortment of items, so I decided to develop a back story that accounted for this. Once I developed the back story of the set, it seemed that Vengeance was the only sensible skill that fit with the back story. Baranar's Star was a weapon I already had, which also seemed to mimic the Vengeance aura itself, and thus would be a good choice for this build, capitalizing on the Conviction as well. And though elemental weapon damage isn't multiplied for vengeance damage, Baranar's actually dealt more physical damage than any other one-handed weapon I had when I began the character. I knew that once committed to the set, I'd have to become a much better planner than I have been, and I'd have to get more familiar with how skills and gear work together in D2.
The Character:
Stats: Level 83
Strength: 112/168
Dexterity: 88/122
Vitality: 295/295
Energy: 15/25
AR: 425/129645
Resists in Hell: 95/95/95/90
Maxed IAS
Max Block @ 68% Block Rate Breakpoint
Gear:
Amulet: Highlord's Wrath
Helm: Guillaume's Face, socketed with IAS/Enhanced Defense Jewel
Armor: Guardian Angel, socketed with Ral
Weapon: Baranar's Star, socketed with Shael
Shield: Whitstan's Guard, socketed with PDiamond
Belt: Wilhem's Pride
Gloves: Magnus's Skin
Boots: Natalya's Soul
Rings: Rare Rings with Resists, Mana Steal, Etc.
Skill Points: (hard points only)
Pre-reqs: 1 each
Vengeance: 20
Synergies for Vengeance: Resist Fire (16), Resist Cold (16), Resist Lightning (15)
Conviction: 20
(You'll notice this is according to Asmodeus's build guide.)
Merc: Gulzar, Holy Freeze Merc
Helm: Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Armor: Gloom Kraken Shell
Weapon: Insight Great Poleaxe
Gameplay:
Not much to report other than that this guy was a tank! He is only my second character, and my first was a sorceress, so perhaps he just felt tanky in comparison, but with 95/95/95/90 resists and max block he almost seemed invincible at times. The Ancients were a breeze! They couldn't seem to hit me, and when they did, it didn't really do any damage. Andariel, Mephisto, Diablo, Duriel, etc., and Baal all went down easily.
The Orphan's Call set actually has some pretty great bonuses, and while nothing compared to the top runewords/uniques/sets, I enjoyed playing with the set. Only having a few slots available to change did end up making me a better planner. For much of the game I used the Smoke runeword, which is really great, especially with the charges of Weaken, which I used a lot. Once I had Guardian's Angel, however, my resists could really be cranked up, and it made gameplay a little less worrisome. It was nice not having to worry about any immunes--though I didn't have enough +skill items to pump my Conviction up to the level that it could break any immunity, it didn't really matter since Vengeance covers all the bases anyway--I didn't have trouble killing anything, and it was nice not to have to worry about any sort of immunes.
The 1.7-2.7k damage didn't look like much on the LCS, but with Conviction and maxed IAS it took the monsters out very quickly. I was worried that gameplay would feel slow compared to a Zealot, but I was happy to find that wasn't the case.
Note: I've seen people talk about mana problems with Avengers, and I was thinking I need a lot of Mana Steal. I only used 6% mana steal plus Insight from the merc and I was absolutely fine. The only time I remember using a potion was if my merc died and once after hacking Korlic for about 90 seconds straight.
Hellforge drop was just a Lem, and nothing particularly remarkable item-wise or rune-wise. I didn't realize how lucky I was to have an Ohm and some Ums randomly drop on my first Mat/Pat!
Anyway, I really enjoyed playing and planning this character. My only complaint is that it was almost too easy: the gameplay wasn't quite as adrenaline-filled as it was with my more fragile sorceress.
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