- Jan 1, 2011
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Now you’ve all heard the Story of Goldilocks and the three bears, but how many of you know just who Poppa Bear was? Poppa was a Knight of Westmarch and had roamed Sanctuary for many years before meeting Mama bear and settling down. Now Goldilocks thought she had escaped on her own, but the reality is that Mama Bear reminded Poppa that he had retired from killing all but the evilest monsters, that he would have to clean up all of Goldilocks’s blood and guts from the walls and ceiling and finally baby bear was too young to see all that gore!
Poppa Bear agreed with Momma as he usually did, but he did kind of wish that Goldilocks had gone down into the basement and tried to get into the armory as the Lightning sentry traps would have fried her to ash and there would be one less minor evil living in the world. And so, it was left to baby bear many years latter to rid the world of the evil Goldilocks, but that’s another story.
Back in January, I thought it would be cool to have an abbot that turned into a bear, so I made a Beast berserker axe to use as the alternate weapon. Unfortunately, I tried to do too many things within a single build. My abbot used a shillelagh and the frame rate in bear form was just unacceptable. However, I really liked the bear and decided to get the build right and have a paladin that could roam all of Sanctuary as a bear.
Planning and Reality
After reading through the various Paladin bear builds, I decided that my starting point would be TopHatCat64’s Fanatic Weretemplar – Kailash. However, I didn’t want to simply copy him and also didn’t like that he said he had issues with Physical Immunes. Running from PIs is just not acceptable to the meanest bear in the woods!
Because my abbot went with a two-handed weapon, I never got his PDR over 100 and I decided that I also wanted to get that right too. So, rather than focusing on defense via an Exile shield I was going to make a bear and max PDR. As a result of a trade with WoRG, I got this little beauty of a 1.07 shield to use and promptly dumped 4 Sol runes in it.
Warden's Crown Shield of Amicae
'SolSolSolSol'
Defense: 37
Chance to Block: 55%
Smite Damage: 4 to 12
Durability: 60 of 60
(Paladin Only)
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 43
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 94
Fingerprint: 0x6bb3251c
Damage Reduced by 43
All Resistances +43
+2 to Defensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
Socketed (4: 4 used)
With this shield my PDR issues that I had with my abbot disappeared. With the coronet from my abbot and a prismatic amulet of life everlasting my PDR with just those three was 97. Options to get the PDR over 100 were 7 from Fortitude, 10 from Natures Peace and 4 from a pair of crafted boots.
The next decision was how to deal with PIs as a bear. My initial thought was to go with conviction as my main aura further separating Poppa from other bears. However, as TopHatCat64 so brutally reminded me Conviction doesn’t break physical immunity. Still stuck on the Conviction idea another option was to make an Infinity polearm for the merc for the conviction aura. This option would allow me to have Fanaticism as my main aura. However, since I don’t have two Ber runes sitting around making an Infinity pole arm was out.
I finally decided to stick with TopHatCat64’s basic build and that I would stick additional points into Conviction and its prerequisites.
20 Fanaticism
20 Holy Shield
20 Blessed Aim
20 Defiance
This means that 1 point into conviction would happen at level 80 and that left me with what to do with points after level 80. I actually tried Doom with a level 5 conviction and wasn’t impressed. Without the fanatism it was much slower so the killing speed dropped. The point in Sanctuary on the other hand paid big dividends and I ended dumping an additional 2 points into it. Then finally near the end I put 4 points into Resist Fire and 2 into Resist Lightning since I couldn’t think of anything else to do with them.
I also decided to go with a Defiance merc wielding Reaper’s Toll for the traditional way to break most PI immunities and unlike my other mercs I would not use a Delirium helm.
Obviously, Beast will be in the alternate slot, but what to make my main weapon. It has to be a one-handed weapon since I need the Warden’s Crown shield for the PDR. I also want to make the 6-fps frame rate. There are currently seven Paladin Bear builds in the build compilation. Three used a Grief Phase blade, two used Gris’ Caddy, one used an “Ice” crossbow and one used a six-socket phase blade. Heaven’s Light with the right jewels is another great choice for a Paladin.
I like Death, but it’s no good on a Bear since it has no on-board IAS and I don’t have a Zod for BoTD. Using Grief in a phase blade gets the 6 fps without fanaticism and no additional IAS. However, there is no way to get it to 5fps.
With zero thought, since I was still fixated on a good weapon to use with the Conviction aura, I decided that I would initially use Grief and then switch to Famine once I had a Jah rune. Then I found a Cham rune and looking at where it could be used, I realized that Doom was also an option. What decided me on Doom over Famine was the +2 skills, especially since neither the coronet, amulet or shield provided anything to +skills. I really liked the roll that I got on the Doom
Poppa's Doom
Superior War Spike
'HelOhmUmLoCham'
One-Hand Damage: 141 to 227
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Dexterity: 43
Required Strength: 106
Required Level: 67
Axe Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0xb3abc0d1
+318% Enhanced Damage
+55% Enhanced Damage
+1 to Attack Rating
Requirements -20%
45% Increased Attack Speed
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 to All Skill Levels
Freezes Target +3
25% Chance of Open Wounds
20% Deadly Strike
Level 12 Holy Freeze Aura When Equipped
5% Chance to cast Level 18 Volcano on striking
-54% to Enemy Cold Resistance
Socketed (5: 5 used)
Then reality struck after using Doom in Nightmare Act 5 and Hell Act 1. The first thing I quickly noticed was that the repair costs were extremely high on Doom and it always needed to be repaired. It is a good thing that Ort runes are easy to get or Poppa would be bankrupt. It took me longer to realize that Doom did less damage that Grief and the Holy Freeze slowing effect didn’t add a whole lot. So, I switched back to Grief.
Turns out I’m a one aura sort of guy. I focus on what weapon skill I want on my left button and what I want for my main aura on the right. Unfortunately, I tend to ignore those prerequisite skills. Here I was focused on how to handle PIs when the largest group of PIs are ghosts and I was ignoring Sanctuary because it was one of those prerequisites for Conviction and also ignoring the decrepify from the Mercs’ weapon. I thought I might need Doom for the PIs that Reaper’s Toll didn’t break, but there were a total of 5 and they all went down eventually using Grief.
Other gear
Amor – I initially planned use Fortitude for the 300% ED and the 7 PDR and I did from level 59 till I finished Nightmare. However, once in hell there comes the conundrum of how to handle resistances. Besides stuffing the pack full of resistance charms, I had options with boots, gloves, rings and armor. I ultimately went with Chains of Honor because besides solving my resistance issue the +2 to skills it also increases the Werebear damage, life and defense. It also provides 8% life leach, which even with all the PDR was still needed. Finally, there is the fact that you really don’t lose the full 300% ED since Chains provides ED to demons and undead.
Belt – Thundergod’s Vigor for the 10% increase in lightning protection, the lighting absorb and the 20 to strength.
Boots – It was either a crafted pair of boots with 30% poison, 30% FRW and 4 PDR or Gore Rider. With the choice of CoH it became an easy selection for Gore Riders for the crushing blow, deadly strike and open wounds.
Gloves – I toyed with Hellmouth for the Fire absorb and the ctc fire storm and meteor. However, by the time meteor landed everything was already dead. In the end Laying of Hand’s 350% ED to demons was too much to ignore.
Ring 1 – Raven Frost for the usual reasons
Ring 2 – With the choices for armor and boots the only way to get above 100PDR was Nature’s Peace for the 10PDR. I tried Wisp Projector for the ctc lightning, but didn’t find it useful.
The Journey
Players 8 in Normal and Nightmare. Players 5 in Hell only because p8 was too slow.
Poppa started life doing the TC3 challenge and died several times rushing around at players 8 untwinked. I also ended up putting skill points into Holy Freeze and zeal and as a result used Zeal as my main attack until I could turn into a bear. He finished the challenge at level 20 at which point he went the twinked route.
0-20 untwinked
20 – Sigon’s set, The General's Tan Do Li Ga flail, Tancred amulet and boots.
27 – Honor knout, Spirit shield
31 – IK gloves, Belt and Boots, Skin of the Viper magi
37 – PDR coronet and amulet – now physically immune in normal
45 – Raven Frost
48 – crown shield and Thundergod vigor
59 – Grief and Fortitude
63 – Laying of Hands and Gore Riders
64 – Beast
67 – Doom
74 – Chains of Honor, Nature’s Peace
83 – Grief again
He finished Normal just shy of level 49 with no additional deaths. I didn’t use the PDR shield in Normal and still had 56 PDR once I got to level 37 and could equip the coronet and amulet. The only thing that did any damage was Baal’s lightning in the WSK and it wasn’t much.
I equipped the Crown shield and Thundergod’s vigor belt at the beginning of Nightmare which brought the PDR to 97. Poppa is still immune to physical attacks and now with a lighting resistance of 85% there isn’t much that can touch him. Though he seems more susceptible to fire and poison even though the resistances are 75 and 74.
Finished act 3 Nightmare at level 64 and ran the rest of the way through Nightmare and Hell as a bear.
Finished Nightmare at level 74 with no deaths and zero problem. Diablo and Baal were all push overs. Parked him in a frenzytaur pack and the life bulb didn’t move. Frozen River was full of Gloams and they were not a problem either.
Hell
Played Hell all the way through at Players 5. It wasn’t that players 8 was too much to handle, it was a compromise between time and being too over powering.
Respected Poppa to clean up the points that I had put into sacrifice, Zeal, Holy Fire and Holy Freeze so that I could max my main 4 skills, and start the prerequisites to Conviction.
Hell Countess dropped a single Ort rune.
Act 2 was where I began to notice him taking some damage.
Rushing to kill Radament before ending the night and I ran into a double boss pack of skeleton mages dealing fire damage. Since I was in a hurry, I didn’t really pay attention and before he even got to the mages, he was dead.
Then I rushed into a room in the Halls of the dead and got surrounded by dried corpses and returned. Tried to open a portal, but couldn’t get to it. It was avoidable because I had just put a point into Conviction, which means I had Sanctuary available to cast. After that I used Sanctuary in the tombs to spread out the undead and switched back to Fanaticism to kill things.
Zero deaths the rest of the way through Hell. The rest of Act 2, 3 and 4 saw almost no damage to him until I got to Lord De Seis who spawned with fanaticism and a couple of his boys’ hits cut my life in half and the merc died. Mephisto and Diablo just whimpered and died.
A Gul from the Hell Forge. Normal and Nightmare were like an El and a Ral.
Finished Act 4 at level 87.
Act 5 the bloody foothills was all burning archers and quill rats. A combo that in the past would have resulted in taking many purple pots. Only the poison from the rats caused a minor inconvenience, while the archers did no damage even though they shot fire arrows.
The Crystalline Passage was full of ghosts and skeleton mages and Sanctuary came in handy again.
Once I hit the Frozen River, the damage he began taking became noticeable. It wasn’t that the PDR wasn’t working it was more a factor of the monsters I faced. I stood him in a pack of PI frenzytaurs and they did zero damage. I also simply stood in the middle of the Ancients and put the three of them down and only needed a single rejuv after a poison hit dropped my life in half.
Other than the two deaths that should not have happened he never really even came close to an NDE. The furthest the bulb dropped was about half way. That’s except for the time I got poisoned and then the dogs wanted out. Good thing I brought him back to town because when I came back the life bulb was empty.
The snakes, sirens, skeletal mages, especially the Horror mage seemed to be in almost every area and they did damage.
Thoughts on being a PDR Bear
He moves a little slow and only hits one monster at a time. He is also definitely equipment sensitive to get to the 100 PDR. You can spend a lot of money gambling for headgear and amulets. Since starting my abbot I’ve spent over 40 million gold and I’d still like a better circlet.
In order to get the PDR to 100 I gave up +4 skills in the helm and amulet that would have increased the Bear’s Damage, defense, life and time in bear form from 5 to 9 and have increased both Holy Shield, Defiance and fanaticism also. On the other hand, I was immune to both melee and ranged physical damage. It would have been nice to have more time between having to cast the werebear, but I’ll take the PDR any day.
By the way just how would factor in the PDR in calculating his defense rating. the screen give a chance for the monster to hit, but the hit does no physical damage. The LCS say 14,726.
While immune to physical damage you can still be damaged by elemental and magic damage and things like reanimated charge. You can also be stunned which makes it hard to start hitting. The lightning and cold absorb did minimize damage, but the gloams in WSK did do some. I did feel that fire, even with maxed resistance did more damage than to my other paladins, which is why at the end I dumped 4 points into resist fire. I ran into a bunch of stygian dolls in the WSK as well as all the usual places and I did take some damage from them. I didn't get to experience Corpse Explosion as I was able to get to and Kill Nihlathak before he could cast a single one.
Mana burn/drain, while the monster can’t do anything to his life the mana bulb drops just like any other character’s does. Of course, the only thing I need mana for is to cast Holy shield and transform into a bear. I actually used more blue mana pots than purple and red.
I played in 1.14 and the new changes in D2R will make him even more awesome.
Poppa Bear agreed with Momma as he usually did, but he did kind of wish that Goldilocks had gone down into the basement and tried to get into the armory as the Lightning sentry traps would have fried her to ash and there would be one less minor evil living in the world. And so, it was left to baby bear many years latter to rid the world of the evil Goldilocks, but that’s another story.
Back in January, I thought it would be cool to have an abbot that turned into a bear, so I made a Beast berserker axe to use as the alternate weapon. Unfortunately, I tried to do too many things within a single build. My abbot used a shillelagh and the frame rate in bear form was just unacceptable. However, I really liked the bear and decided to get the build right and have a paladin that could roam all of Sanctuary as a bear.
Planning and Reality
After reading through the various Paladin bear builds, I decided that my starting point would be TopHatCat64’s Fanatic Weretemplar – Kailash. However, I didn’t want to simply copy him and also didn’t like that he said he had issues with Physical Immunes. Running from PIs is just not acceptable to the meanest bear in the woods!
Because my abbot went with a two-handed weapon, I never got his PDR over 100 and I decided that I also wanted to get that right too. So, rather than focusing on defense via an Exile shield I was going to make a bear and max PDR. As a result of a trade with WoRG, I got this little beauty of a 1.07 shield to use and promptly dumped 4 Sol runes in it.
Warden's Crown Shield of Amicae
'SolSolSolSol'
Defense: 37
Chance to Block: 55%
Smite Damage: 4 to 12
Durability: 60 of 60
(Paladin Only)
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 43
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 94
Fingerprint: 0x6bb3251c
Damage Reduced by 43
All Resistances +43
+2 to Defensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
Socketed (4: 4 used)
With this shield my PDR issues that I had with my abbot disappeared. With the coronet from my abbot and a prismatic amulet of life everlasting my PDR with just those three was 97. Options to get the PDR over 100 were 7 from Fortitude, 10 from Natures Peace and 4 from a pair of crafted boots.
The next decision was how to deal with PIs as a bear. My initial thought was to go with conviction as my main aura further separating Poppa from other bears. However, as TopHatCat64 so brutally reminded me Conviction doesn’t break physical immunity. Still stuck on the Conviction idea another option was to make an Infinity polearm for the merc for the conviction aura. This option would allow me to have Fanaticism as my main aura. However, since I don’t have two Ber runes sitting around making an Infinity pole arm was out.
I finally decided to stick with TopHatCat64’s basic build and that I would stick additional points into Conviction and its prerequisites.
20 Fanaticism
20 Holy Shield
20 Blessed Aim
20 Defiance
This means that 1 point into conviction would happen at level 80 and that left me with what to do with points after level 80. I actually tried Doom with a level 5 conviction and wasn’t impressed. Without the fanatism it was much slower so the killing speed dropped. The point in Sanctuary on the other hand paid big dividends and I ended dumping an additional 2 points into it. Then finally near the end I put 4 points into Resist Fire and 2 into Resist Lightning since I couldn’t think of anything else to do with them.
I also decided to go with a Defiance merc wielding Reaper’s Toll for the traditional way to break most PI immunities and unlike my other mercs I would not use a Delirium helm.
Obviously, Beast will be in the alternate slot, but what to make my main weapon. It has to be a one-handed weapon since I need the Warden’s Crown shield for the PDR. I also want to make the 6-fps frame rate. There are currently seven Paladin Bear builds in the build compilation. Three used a Grief Phase blade, two used Gris’ Caddy, one used an “Ice” crossbow and one used a six-socket phase blade. Heaven’s Light with the right jewels is another great choice for a Paladin.
I like Death, but it’s no good on a Bear since it has no on-board IAS and I don’t have a Zod for BoTD. Using Grief in a phase blade gets the 6 fps without fanaticism and no additional IAS. However, there is no way to get it to 5fps.
With zero thought, since I was still fixated on a good weapon to use with the Conviction aura, I decided that I would initially use Grief and then switch to Famine once I had a Jah rune. Then I found a Cham rune and looking at where it could be used, I realized that Doom was also an option. What decided me on Doom over Famine was the +2 skills, especially since neither the coronet, amulet or shield provided anything to +skills. I really liked the roll that I got on the Doom
Poppa's Doom
Superior War Spike
'HelOhmUmLoCham'
One-Hand Damage: 141 to 227
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Dexterity: 43
Required Strength: 106
Required Level: 67
Axe Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0xb3abc0d1
+318% Enhanced Damage
+55% Enhanced Damage
+1 to Attack Rating
Requirements -20%
45% Increased Attack Speed
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 to All Skill Levels
Freezes Target +3
25% Chance of Open Wounds
20% Deadly Strike
Level 12 Holy Freeze Aura When Equipped
5% Chance to cast Level 18 Volcano on striking
-54% to Enemy Cold Resistance
Socketed (5: 5 used)
Then reality struck after using Doom in Nightmare Act 5 and Hell Act 1. The first thing I quickly noticed was that the repair costs were extremely high on Doom and it always needed to be repaired. It is a good thing that Ort runes are easy to get or Poppa would be bankrupt. It took me longer to realize that Doom did less damage that Grief and the Holy Freeze slowing effect didn’t add a whole lot. So, I switched back to Grief.
Turns out I’m a one aura sort of guy. I focus on what weapon skill I want on my left button and what I want for my main aura on the right. Unfortunately, I tend to ignore those prerequisite skills. Here I was focused on how to handle PIs when the largest group of PIs are ghosts and I was ignoring Sanctuary because it was one of those prerequisites for Conviction and also ignoring the decrepify from the Mercs’ weapon. I thought I might need Doom for the PIs that Reaper’s Toll didn’t break, but there were a total of 5 and they all went down eventually using Grief.
Other gear
Amor – I initially planned use Fortitude for the 300% ED and the 7 PDR and I did from level 59 till I finished Nightmare. However, once in hell there comes the conundrum of how to handle resistances. Besides stuffing the pack full of resistance charms, I had options with boots, gloves, rings and armor. I ultimately went with Chains of Honor because besides solving my resistance issue the +2 to skills it also increases the Werebear damage, life and defense. It also provides 8% life leach, which even with all the PDR was still needed. Finally, there is the fact that you really don’t lose the full 300% ED since Chains provides ED to demons and undead.
Belt – Thundergod’s Vigor for the 10% increase in lightning protection, the lighting absorb and the 20 to strength.
Boots – It was either a crafted pair of boots with 30% poison, 30% FRW and 4 PDR or Gore Rider. With the choice of CoH it became an easy selection for Gore Riders for the crushing blow, deadly strike and open wounds.
Gloves – I toyed with Hellmouth for the Fire absorb and the ctc fire storm and meteor. However, by the time meteor landed everything was already dead. In the end Laying of Hand’s 350% ED to demons was too much to ignore.
Ring 1 – Raven Frost for the usual reasons
Ring 2 – With the choices for armor and boots the only way to get above 100PDR was Nature’s Peace for the 10PDR. I tried Wisp Projector for the ctc lightning, but didn’t find it useful.
Code:
Name: Poppa
Class: Paladin
Experience: 1448834314
Level: 88
Naked/Gear
Strength: 124/170
Dexterity: 164/180
Vitality: 232/252
Energy: 15/20
HP: 910/959
Mana: 145/185
Stamina: 383/403
Defense: 41/1415
AR: 805/1266
BEAR Form
Life: 2217
Defense: 14739
AR: 4494
Fire: 219/179/77
Cold: 178/138/75
Lightning: 187/147/87
Poison: 199/159/75
MF: 69 Block: 51
GF: 105
FR/W: 33
FHR: 29
IAS: 56
FCR: 0
PDR: 107
Sacrifice: 0/0
Smite: 1/3
Holy Bolt: 1/3
Zeal: 0/0
Charge: 1/3
Vengeance: 0/0
Blessed Hammer: 1/3
Conversion: 0/0
Holy Shield: 20/22
Fist of the Heavens: 0/0
Might: 1/5
Holy Fire: 1/5
Thorns: 1/5
Blessed Aim: 20/24
Concentration: 1/5
Holy Freeze: 1/5
Holy Shock: 0/0
Sanctuary: 3/7
Fanaticism: 20/24
Conviction: 1/5
Prayer: 0/0
Resist Fire: 4/8
Defiance: 20/24
Resist Cold: 0/0
Cleansing: 0/0
Resist Lightning: 2/6
Vigor: 0/0
Meditation: 0/0
Redemption: 0/0
Salvation: 0/0
Code:
Silver Coronet of Life Everlasting
Coronet
Defense: 36
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xe23cd9e1
Item Level: 93
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+78 to Attack Rating
+5 to Energy
All Resistances +11
Damage Reduced by 31
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Scintillating Jewel of Knowledge
Socketed: Sol Rune
Scintillating Jewel of Knowledge
Jewel
Required Level: 26
Fingerprint: 0xa76106ac
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+5 to Energy
Cold Resist +11%
Lightning Resist +11%
Fire Resist +11%
Poison Resist +11%
Prismatic Amulet of Life Everlasting
Amulet
Required Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0x8f0a0768
Item Level: 65
Version: Expansion
All Resistances +20
Damage Reduced by 23
Chains of Honor
Archon Plate
DolUmBerIst
Defense: 880
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 103
Fingerprint: 0x8e15eb1e
Item Level: 83
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+200% Damage to Demons
+100% Damage to Undead
8% Life stolen per hit
+70% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Strength
Replenish Life +7
All Resistances +65
Damage Reduced by 8%
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
4 Sockets (4 used)
Tovak's Grief
Phase Blade
EthTirLoMalRal
One Hand Damage: 31 - 35
Indestructible
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 136
Fingerprint: 0xcd05eebd
Item Level: 83
Version: Expansion 1.10+
35% Chance to cast level 15 Venom on striking
+36% Increased Attack Speed
Damage +381
Ignore Target's Defense
-25% Target Defense
+165% Damage to Demons (Based on Character Level)
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
-23% to Enemy Poison Resistance
20% Deadly Strike
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 to Mana after each Kill
+12 Life after each Kill
5 Sockets (5 used)
Poppa's Warden's Crown Shield of Amicae
Crown Shield
Defense: 37
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0x6bb3251c
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion
+2 to Defensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
All Resistances +43
Damage Reduced by 43
4 Sockets (4 used)
Beast
Berserker Axe
BerTirUmMalLum
One Hand Damage: 85 - 252
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Level: 64
Required Strength: 138
Required Dexterity: 59
Fingerprint: 0xa794d567
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Level 9 Fanaticism Aura When Equipped
+40% Increased Attack Speed
256% Enhanced Damage
20% Chance of Crushing Blow
25% Chance of Open Wounds
Prevent Monster Heal
+3 to Werebear
+3 to Lycanthropy
+30 to Strength
+10 to Energy
+2 to Mana after each Kill
Level 13 Summon Grizzly (5/5 Charges)
5 Sockets (5 used)
Spirit
Superior Aerin Shield
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 39
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Level: 25
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x1b0c2071
Item Level: 77
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+29% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+8% Enhanced Defense
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+90 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
All Resistances +38
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+6 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Thundergod's Vigor
War Belt
Defense: 152
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 110
Fingerprint: 0x6c0c58ca
Item Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 7 Fist of the Heavens when struck
Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
+3 to Lightning Fury (Amazon Only)
+3 to Lightning Strike (Amazon Only)
+187% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Strength
+20 to Vitality
+10% to Maximum Lightning Resist
+20 Lightning Absorb
Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 146
Durability: 34 of 34
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 94
Fingerprint: 0x3fc4183
Item Level: 68
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Run/Walk
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
10% Chance of Open Wounds
+172% Enhanced Defense
+20 Maximum Stamina
Requirements -25%
+10 Maximum Durability
Laying of Hands
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 80
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x8c8fce64
Item Level: 83
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Holy Bolt on striking
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+350% Damage to Demons
+25 Defense
Fire Resist +50%
Nature's Peace
Ring
Required Level: 69
Fingerprint: 0x8bed83cb
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Prevent Monster Heal
Slain Monsters Rest in Peace
Poison Resist +30%
Damage Reduced by 10
Level 5 Oak Sage (27/27 Charges)
Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x349e9b60
Item Level: 58
Version: Expansion
+238 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+16 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen
Captain's Grand Charm of Balance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x45982614
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Offensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
+12% Faster Hit Recovery
Captain's Grand Charm of Strength
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x140651a1
Item Level: 69
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Offensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
+3 to Strength
Sharp Grand Charm of Balance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0xffa3d945
Item Level: 42
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+12% Faster Hit Recovery
+9 to Maximum Damage
+61 to Attack Rating
Bronze Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x347f95c1
Item Level: 75
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+4 to Attack Rating
+19 to Life
Arcing Small Charm of Strength
Small Charm
Required Level: 57
Fingerprint: 0xf1eca8f1
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 1 - 39 Lightning Damage
+1 to Strength
Arcing Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 57
Fingerprint: 0xe903958f
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+5% Faster Hit Recovery
Adds 1 - 43 Lightning Damage
Boreal Small Charm of Strength
Small Charm
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0xa9694974
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 5 - 14 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
+2 to Strength
Coral Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x461dd244
Item Level: 69
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life
Lightning Resist +8%
Cobalt Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0x7a2b9982
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
Cold Resist +9%
Amber Small Charm of Blight
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x10036480
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 6 Poison Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Lightning Resist +10%
Boreal Small Charm of Good Luck
Small Charm
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0xab72fbbb
Item Level: 93
Version: Expansion
Adds 6 - 11 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Arcing Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 57
Fingerprint: 0x47dfa79
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 1 - 38 Lightning Damage
+11 to Life
Code:
Mercenary:
Name: Ilzan
Race: Desert Mercenary
Type: Def-Normal
Experience: 75842250
Level: 88
Dead?: false
Naked/Gear
Strength: 195/195
Dexterity: 158/158
HP: 1950/2038
Defense: 1430/3215
AR: 2009/2009
Fire: 185/145/85
Cold: 185/145/85
Lightning: 185/145/85
Poison: 185/145/85
Vampire Gaze
Grim Helm
Defense: 252
Durability: 30 of 40
Required Level: 41
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0x61845a5c
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 6 - 22 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
7% Mana stolen per hit
6% Life stolen per hit
+100% Enhanced Defense
15% Slower Stamina Drain
Damage Reduced by 15%
Magic Damage Reduced by 11
Fortitude
Superior Wire Fleece
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 1533
Durability: 32 of 32
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 111
Fingerprint: 0x733dae0b
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+25% Faster Cast Rate
300% Enhanced Damage
+215% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+88 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +30
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
Two Hand Damage: 44 - 523
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Level: 75
Required Strength: 114
Required Dexterity: 89
Fingerprint: 0xea7e63c0
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
33% Chance to cast level 1 Decrepify on striking
271% Enhanced Damage
Ignore Target's Defense
Adds 4 - 44 Cold Damage Over 2 Secs (43 Frames)
14% Life stolen per hit
33% Deadly Strike
Requirements -25%
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Ruby Jewel
Ruby Jewel
Jewel
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0xf3c872bb
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
40% Enhanced DamageThe Journey
Players 8 in Normal and Nightmare. Players 5 in Hell only because p8 was too slow.
Poppa started life doing the TC3 challenge and died several times rushing around at players 8 untwinked. I also ended up putting skill points into Holy Freeze and zeal and as a result used Zeal as my main attack until I could turn into a bear. He finished the challenge at level 20 at which point he went the twinked route.
0-20 untwinked
20 – Sigon’s set, The General's Tan Do Li Ga flail, Tancred amulet and boots.
27 – Honor knout, Spirit shield
31 – IK gloves, Belt and Boots, Skin of the Viper magi
37 – PDR coronet and amulet – now physically immune in normal
45 – Raven Frost
48 – crown shield and Thundergod vigor
59 – Grief and Fortitude
63 – Laying of Hands and Gore Riders
64 – Beast
67 – Doom
74 – Chains of Honor, Nature’s Peace
83 – Grief again
He finished Normal just shy of level 49 with no additional deaths. I didn’t use the PDR shield in Normal and still had 56 PDR once I got to level 37 and could equip the coronet and amulet. The only thing that did any damage was Baal’s lightning in the WSK and it wasn’t much.
I equipped the Crown shield and Thundergod’s vigor belt at the beginning of Nightmare which brought the PDR to 97. Poppa is still immune to physical attacks and now with a lighting resistance of 85% there isn’t much that can touch him. Though he seems more susceptible to fire and poison even though the resistances are 75 and 74.
Finished act 3 Nightmare at level 64 and ran the rest of the way through Nightmare and Hell as a bear.
Finished Nightmare at level 74 with no deaths and zero problem. Diablo and Baal were all push overs. Parked him in a frenzytaur pack and the life bulb didn’t move. Frozen River was full of Gloams and they were not a problem either.
Hell
Played Hell all the way through at Players 5. It wasn’t that players 8 was too much to handle, it was a compromise between time and being too over powering.
Respected Poppa to clean up the points that I had put into sacrifice, Zeal, Holy Fire and Holy Freeze so that I could max my main 4 skills, and start the prerequisites to Conviction.
Hell Countess dropped a single Ort rune.
Act 2 was where I began to notice him taking some damage.
Rushing to kill Radament before ending the night and I ran into a double boss pack of skeleton mages dealing fire damage. Since I was in a hurry, I didn’t really pay attention and before he even got to the mages, he was dead.
Then I rushed into a room in the Halls of the dead and got surrounded by dried corpses and returned. Tried to open a portal, but couldn’t get to it. It was avoidable because I had just put a point into Conviction, which means I had Sanctuary available to cast. After that I used Sanctuary in the tombs to spread out the undead and switched back to Fanaticism to kill things.
Zero deaths the rest of the way through Hell. The rest of Act 2, 3 and 4 saw almost no damage to him until I got to Lord De Seis who spawned with fanaticism and a couple of his boys’ hits cut my life in half and the merc died. Mephisto and Diablo just whimpered and died.
A Gul from the Hell Forge. Normal and Nightmare were like an El and a Ral.
Finished Act 4 at level 87.
Act 5 the bloody foothills was all burning archers and quill rats. A combo that in the past would have resulted in taking many purple pots. Only the poison from the rats caused a minor inconvenience, while the archers did no damage even though they shot fire arrows.
The Crystalline Passage was full of ghosts and skeleton mages and Sanctuary came in handy again.
Once I hit the Frozen River, the damage he began taking became noticeable. It wasn’t that the PDR wasn’t working it was more a factor of the monsters I faced. I stood him in a pack of PI frenzytaurs and they did zero damage. I also simply stood in the middle of the Ancients and put the three of them down and only needed a single rejuv after a poison hit dropped my life in half.
Other than the two deaths that should not have happened he never really even came close to an NDE. The furthest the bulb dropped was about half way. That’s except for the time I got poisoned and then the dogs wanted out. Good thing I brought him back to town because when I came back the life bulb was empty.
The snakes, sirens, skeletal mages, especially the Horror mage seemed to be in almost every area and they did damage.
Thoughts on being a PDR Bear
He moves a little slow and only hits one monster at a time. He is also definitely equipment sensitive to get to the 100 PDR. You can spend a lot of money gambling for headgear and amulets. Since starting my abbot I’ve spent over 40 million gold and I’d still like a better circlet.
In order to get the PDR to 100 I gave up +4 skills in the helm and amulet that would have increased the Bear’s Damage, defense, life and time in bear form from 5 to 9 and have increased both Holy Shield, Defiance and fanaticism also. On the other hand, I was immune to both melee and ranged physical damage. It would have been nice to have more time between having to cast the werebear, but I’ll take the PDR any day.
By the way just how would factor in the PDR in calculating his defense rating. the screen give a chance for the monster to hit, but the hit does no physical damage. The LCS say 14,726.
While immune to physical damage you can still be damaged by elemental and magic damage and things like reanimated charge. You can also be stunned which makes it hard to start hitting. The lightning and cold absorb did minimize damage, but the gloams in WSK did do some. I did feel that fire, even with maxed resistance did more damage than to my other paladins, which is why at the end I dumped 4 points into resist fire. I ran into a bunch of stygian dolls in the WSK as well as all the usual places and I did take some damage from them. I didn't get to experience Corpse Explosion as I was able to get to and Kill Nihlathak before he could cast a single one.
Mana burn/drain, while the monster can’t do anything to his life the mana bulb drops just like any other character’s does. Of course, the only thing I need mana for is to cast Holy shield and transform into a bear. I actually used more blue mana pots than purple and red.
I played in 1.14 and the new changes in D2R will make him even more awesome.
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