Intro
Most of my D2 activity in recent months revolved around PvP. Which in the SPF environment is weird. No torch and Anni, no Anya bug fix. No D2R to address all that because no TCP/IP. Why go for that? Because. It. Is. So. Much. Fun!
Other players have more PvP experience and better gear, obtained through years of playing, trading and/or time travelling. I cannot draw from years of PvP experience, and use only self-found stuff found in modern patches. Still, I figured why not create a place here about my "PvP status and progress" journey if you will. Details on characters, ideas, theorycrafting etc. While my gear is certainly not bad for self-found standards, it's by no means ideal and some characters use a bunch of rather basic stuff. But hey, maybe it can show that in many cases it's not that hard to build generally functioning PvP characters and have some fun with them, hoping that perhaps it will convince others to join us in the PvP action.
With those ramblings out of the way, some details on my current PvP cast, my (very limited) experiences with them so far, as well as goals and objectives regarding further progress and upgrades.
Characters (HLD)
A quick rundown of characters that are in somewhat of a finished state as to their setup and build. They still wouldn't mind upgrades here and there, but they're generally ready for action. These include some of the stronger PvP builds in general and my build/gear approaches here are largely in line with conventional wisdom. Not reinventing the wheel, only a small number of tweaks and changes here and there, in most cases simply due to SP being a bit more restrictive than bnet PvP. The main cast consists of the following characters:
Edit: Updated to reflect current status (October 2022).
Bone Necro
Character history: Ric, untwinked 99er Necro
Very solid build and one of my favorite PvP characters. He's using some of my better PvP gear including a double Ber'ed CoA and a handful of skillers with at least some life on them. Also makes occasional use of a 2/20 craft amulet. Rest of the gear is pretty standard.
Build, gear & key stats
Screenshots
Personal experience
He can kill everything and be killed by everything, but has many good matchups. His offense is versatile with various projectiles that each have excellent uses. There are opponents that force him to play defensively, which can result in a somewhat boring gameplay, spamming form a distance etc., but he always stands a chance.
Upgrade wish list
Generally happy with his gear. Further upgrades could come in the form of higher life skillers, or perhaps a 2/20 craft amulet with better mods than mine (resists in particular). If I somehow manage to get a 3/20 P&B or 2/20 circlet with 2os, that could also potentially be worth gearing around.
FB/ES Sorc
Character history: HelpYourself, untwinked 99er Sorc
Similar in gameplay to Necro in many ways, but way less gear dependent and therefore (in my book) one of the best builds to start with. Currently I'm running 95% ES to make her very tanky by default, then boosting damage via gear/inventory as much as I could. Mine benefits from a pretty good skiller collection with a bunch of life, but apart from that I landed on rather cheap/common gear pieces in most slots. For the moment she's using Enigma, but I'll probably try a Viper setup at some point.
Build, gear & key stats
Screenshots
Personal experience
In comparison to Necro her offense is less scary, but ES makes her very tanky except against things that bypass it (OW, poison). Very effective with cheap gear in comparison to most other characters. Similar to Necro I liked her a lot when it came to learning some basic PvP techniques. Coupled with her tankiness, that made her a great entry point into PvP for me personally.
Upgrade wish list
Slightly more so than for Necro, finding a good 3/20 or 2/20 circlet could make me change things around a bit. A godly FCR craft ammy could open up some possibilites as well, along with circlet perhaps making 200 FCR more interesting, or at least enabling some options with other weapon/shield combos for 105 FCR.
T/V Paladin
Character history: Lucid, untwinked 99er Paladin
Tricky to play, and not easy to build either in our SPF PvP environment. After trying a V/T first, I eventually settled for a T/V variant so that FoH at least does some meaningful damage that can’t just be ignored. For the physical attacks he's mostly relying on Grief being OP, otherwise mainly going for high life as much as I could.
Build, gear & key stats
Screenshots
The below are from his previous iteration but the gear pieces are mostly still in use. Updated LCS and more details in post below.
Personal experience
Difficult to play, it's a technically challenging build. Namelock-stomping with shift-Smite already requires a bit of muscle memory. He's switching back and forth between not only numerous skills/auras, but also entirely different playstyles with FoH and melee.
Upgrade wish list
Skillers with high life please...
Liberator/Hammerdin
Character history: Prism (tri-elemental Bear)
While I first made a straight-forward Hammerdin and felt he was quite strong, the gameplay was just a bit boring. Including some melee prowess with Chage & Smite made it much more fun to me. He uses a decent 2/20 circlet and a 2/20 amulet if need be. I have an Um'ed Widowmaker stashed for potential use on switch, but rarely made use of it tbh.
Build, gear & key stats
Screenshots
See post below for revised Liberator/Hammerdin screenshots. Pure Hammerdin gear in spoiler below:
Personal experience
Super fun build with Liberator/Vanquisher style setups rather than pure hammers, although it is helpful to always have the option to go full Hammerdin. But to me it is much more fun to mix things up with charge and smite alongisde hammers.
Upgrade wish list
He wouldn't mind life skillers, otherwise not sure whether much can be improved gear-wise. A 2/20 craft with better rolls than mine can't hurt, but he's generally fine as is.
Trappers
Another top tier build, with generally two routes to pursue with claws (C/C) and weapon and shield (W/S). By now I made both.
C/C Trapper with WW/hybrid options
Generally a standard C/C Trapper with 65 FCR. After finding a couple of nice improvements (see below), she's probably among my best PvP characters by now. As further described in this post, she doubles as a WW/trap hybrid with a bunch of inventory/customization options.
Build, gear & key stats
W/S Trapper with 102 or 174 FCR
Posted about below including LCS and setups. Against physical damage, the 75% block and max DR helps a lot, and gear is pretty cheap including inventory. The downside vs casters is of course lack of claw block, but at least she can go 174 FCR in these matchups which is fun.
Build, gear & key stats
Screenshots
See this post and this post below.
Personal experience
Very strong build and easy to pick up when first starting out, even with basic S&Us. She doesn't need to do complicated things even when chasing opponents. I felt that whether or not she has a hard time depends more than anything on how well the opponent deals with her threats, which is a lot more work for them than for her.
Upgrade wish list
Don't think there's much of a chance of me finding any. Pretty much as optimized as I could hope for without trading or time traveling.
Ghost Assassin
Character history: Not specifically posted about. A decade-old character called Leila.
Another strong build with many good matchups. Following a bit of racking in LK for better claw runeword bases, she has become quite sturdy with a solid life pool and overall defensive stats.
Build, gear & key stats
Screenshots
Personal experience
Very enjoyable build that is generally on offense against most other characters. Except against other strong melee builds that have ways to get out of her stuns, I feel she has pretty good matchups. While she can be killed by many characters, catching them once is often enough to kill them.
Upgrade wish list
I think I landed on the above setup in general. Could use better claw bases with more useful skills. And of course yet again a really good crafter amulet could make me gear around that as well.
Another staple build. I made two of those: Maxblock with an alternative 163 FCR setup (but no DR), and a full vita 163 FCR build, using either dual Ber'ed CoA for 38% DR or +5 Tornado Pelt if the matchup allows.
99 FCR max block
163 FCR full vita
Screenshots
Personal experience
Very tanky with minions and maxblock setup in particular. Apart from Trappers which have a very clear advantage, most matchups seemed fine. 99 FCR max block is obviously stronger against physical damage dealers, whereas the 163 FCR vita build is fun and better against casters. Both are fine either way.
Upgrade wish list
Small things. Again a godly FCR craft like 2/19/good other mods would be nice, although his amulet options are pretty good already. While I do have a +5 Tornado pelt and a couple of 2/20 FCR circlets, finding some with better mods could bring improvements, same for rare rings.
Character history: A character named Jay. Former MF Barb running Pit, AT and Pindle throughout his career.
I should finally learn how to properly play WW characters and this classic build seems like a good way to do it.
Build, setup, key stats
Screenshots
Personal experience
Again very little. Seems harder than Ghost to catch people.
Upgrade wish list
Better Grief and charms, otherwise nothing specific.
Poison Necro
Character history: Not specifically posted about either, I think. My former go-to Cow Necro called Ven.
While poison damage is easy to neutralize via swap gear, I rarely play him because people around here usually don't have a lot of anti-poison gear stashed and in that case he's actually too strong. But having tweaked an initial version around a nice rare circlet I have since found, I revisited him with the goal to include a couple of setups to switch between rather seamlessly. The result was four setups for any combination of 75 vs 125 FCR and max block vs higher life:
Build, gear & key stats
Screenshots
Bowazon
I only played her briefly so far, and without much success. Hard to make her capable with neither bnet gear nor time travel stuff. Mine uses the following setup:
Murderdin
Bowazon with Hammers? Yes please! I'm loving it.
Build, gear & stats
Personal experience
Fun fun fun!
Screenshots, gameplay vid and more info here and here.
Upgrade wish list
For the most part, me bringing myself to give him better charms...
Currently the cast includes Bowazon, Liberator and Bone Necro. Details here.
Most of my D2 activity in recent months revolved around PvP. Which in the SPF environment is weird. No torch and Anni, no Anya bug fix. No D2R to address all that because no TCP/IP. Why go for that? Because. It. Is. So. Much. Fun!
Other players have more PvP experience and better gear, obtained through years of playing, trading and/or time travelling. I cannot draw from years of PvP experience, and use only self-found stuff found in modern patches. Still, I figured why not create a place here about my "PvP status and progress" journey if you will. Details on characters, ideas, theorycrafting etc. While my gear is certainly not bad for self-found standards, it's by no means ideal and some characters use a bunch of rather basic stuff. But hey, maybe it can show that in many cases it's not that hard to build generally functioning PvP characters and have some fun with them, hoping that perhaps it will convince others to join us in the PvP action.
With those ramblings out of the way, some details on my current PvP cast, my (very limited) experiences with them so far, as well as goals and objectives regarding further progress and upgrades.
Characters (HLD)
A quick rundown of characters that are in somewhat of a finished state as to their setup and build. They still wouldn't mind upgrades here and there, but they're generally ready for action. These include some of the stronger PvP builds in general and my build/gear approaches here are largely in line with conventional wisdom. Not reinventing the wheel, only a small number of tweaks and changes here and there, in most cases simply due to SP being a bit more restrictive than bnet PvP. The main cast consists of the following characters:
- Bone Necro
- ES/Fireball Sorc
- C/C Trapper with WW/hybrid options
- W/S Trapper
- Ghost Assassin
- Wind Druid (max block)
- Wind Druid (vita)
- V/T Paladin
- Liberator/Hammerdin
- BvC Barb
- Poison Necro
- Bowazon
- Murderdin
Edit: Updated to reflect current status (October 2022).
***
Bone Necro
Character history: Ric, untwinked 99er Necro
Very solid build and one of my favorite PvP characters. He's using some of my better PvP gear including a double Ber'ed CoA and a handful of skillers with at least some life on them. Also makes occasional use of a 2/20 craft amulet. Rest of the gear is pretty standard.
Build, gear & key stats
Build:
Simple:
20 all bone skills except armor, last/remaining points BPrison
1pt Fire golem and pre-reqs
1pt Amp for team PvP action. Done.
Stats: All vita except strength for CoA (174 including gear)
Main setup
CoA 'BerBer'
Enigma
Hoto
35 Spirit
Arach
Magefist
Mara's
SoJ (swapped if absorb is needed)
FCR, 24 LR, 38 life, 15 mana
Waterwalk
Inventory:
GCs: 6x P&B skillers with 5x life (7, 9, 12, 15, 21), 1x plain
SCs: 1x FHR/mana, rest life with resists basically
CtA/Spirit switch
Key stats:
Same as above but swapping:
Simple:
20 all bone skills except armor, last/remaining points BPrison
1pt Fire golem and pre-reqs
1pt Amp for team PvP action. Done.
Stats: All vita except strength for CoA (174 including gear)
Main setup
CoA 'BerBer'
Enigma
Hoto
35 Spirit
Arach
Magefist
Mara's
SoJ (swapped if absorb is needed)
FCR, 24 LR, 38 life, 15 mana
Waterwalk
Inventory:
GCs: 6x P&B skillers with 5x life (7, 9, 12, 15, 21), 1x plain
SCs: 1x FHR/mana, rest life with resists basically
CtA/Spirit switch
Key stats:
- 3.1k/3.9k (Oak) life
- 840 mana
- 4.1k max spear damage
- 4.4k max spirit damage
- 125 FCR
- 86 FHR
- 75@ (80 FR)
- 38% DR
Same as above but swapping:
- Mara's >> 2/20 FCR P&B craft amulet
- Arach >> Verdungo's
- FCR ring >> similar ring with bit more resists
- If resists are still important: 1x plain skiller >> Shimmering GC of Vita (36/13)
Screenshots
Personal experience
He can kill everything and be killed by everything, but has many good matchups. His offense is versatile with various projectiles that each have excellent uses. There are opponents that force him to play defensively, which can result in a somewhat boring gameplay, spamming form a distance etc., but he always stands a chance.
Upgrade wish list
Generally happy with his gear. Further upgrades could come in the form of higher life skillers, or perhaps a 2/20 craft amulet with better mods than mine (resists in particular). If I somehow manage to get a 3/20 P&B or 2/20 circlet with 2os, that could also potentially be worth gearing around.
***
FB/ES Sorc
Character history: HelpYourself, untwinked 99er Sorc
Similar in gameplay to Necro in many ways, but way less gear dependent and therefore (in my book) one of the best builds to start with. Currently I'm running 95% ES to make her very tanky by default, then boosting damage via gear/inventory as much as I could. Mine benefits from a pretty good skiller collection with a bunch of life, but apart from that I landed on rather cheap/common gear pieces in most slots. For the moment she's using Enigma, but I'll probably try a Viper setup at some point.
Build, gear & key stats
Build:
Simple again:
20 ES and Telekinesis
20 FB and Meteor
1 cold armor, all pre-reqs
Rest split between Fire Mastery (8) and Fire Bolt (13)*
* The optimal split depends on final skill levels, and I optimized it for some previous setup, so it's actually not 100% min-maxed for my current setup. But differences in distribution of remaining points here are tiny in any case.
Stats are str for Monarch, vitality for ~1.5-1.7k life, rest energy.
Setup:
Shako*
Enigma
Hoto or faceted Eschuta's**
35 Spirit
Arach
Frostburn
2/10 craft
2x SoJ
Sandstorm Trek
* Socketing depends on opponent, carried/stashed options being Cham, facet and Sol
** Rarely using Eschuta's, mostly together with faceted Shako to potentially boost damage a bit more
ES pre-buff with +8 ES Memory staff and 2x lightning skillers to get to 95% ES.
Inventory:
GCs: Fire skillers with 5x life (45, 33, 28, 25, 24), 1x FHR, 2x plain skiller, 2x life/mana (40/52, 36/56)
SCs: All life/mana basically
CtA/Spirit switch
Key stats
Simple again:
20 ES and Telekinesis
20 FB and Meteor
1 cold armor, all pre-reqs
Rest split between Fire Mastery (8) and Fire Bolt (13)*
* The optimal split depends on final skill levels, and I optimized it for some previous setup, so it's actually not 100% min-maxed for my current setup. But differences in distribution of remaining points here are tiny in any case.
Stats are str for Monarch, vitality for ~1.5-1.7k life, rest energy.
Setup:
Shako*
Enigma
Hoto or faceted Eschuta's**
35 Spirit
Arach
Frostburn
2/10 craft
2x SoJ
Sandstorm Trek
* Socketing depends on opponent, carried/stashed options being Cham, facet and Sol
** Rarely using Eschuta's, mostly together with faceted Shako to potentially boost damage a bit more
ES pre-buff with +8 ES Memory staff and 2x lightning skillers to get to 95% ES.
Inventory:
GCs: Fire skillers with 5x life (45, 33, 28, 25, 24), 1x FHR, 2x plain skiller, 2x life/mana (40/52, 36/56)
SCs: All life/mana basically
CtA/Spirit switch
Key stats
- 1.7k/2k (Oak) life
- 4k mana
- 12-13k FB damage
- 105 FCR
- 86 FHR (still important despite ES build)
Screenshots
Personal experience
In comparison to Necro her offense is less scary, but ES makes her very tanky except against things that bypass it (OW, poison). Very effective with cheap gear in comparison to most other characters. Similar to Necro I liked her a lot when it came to learning some basic PvP techniques. Coupled with her tankiness, that made her a great entry point into PvP for me personally.
Upgrade wish list
Slightly more so than for Necro, finding a good 3/20 or 2/20 circlet could make me change things around a bit. A godly FCR craft ammy could open up some possibilites as well, along with circlet perhaps making 200 FCR more interesting, or at least enabling some options with other weapon/shield combos for 105 FCR.
***
T/V Paladin
Character history: Lucid, untwinked 99er Paladin
Tricky to play, and not easy to build either in our SPF PvP environment. After trying a V/T first, I eventually settled for a T/V variant so that FoH at least does some meaningful damage that can’t just be ignored. For the physical attacks he's mostly relying on Grief being OP, otherwise mainly going for high life as much as I could.
Build, gear & key stats
Build at level 99:
For example in my particular case, moving 15 points from FoH/HShock to Smite/HS would yield a ~13% Smite damage increase, but a ~46% FoH damage decrease.
Standard setup:
Inventory:
In other words, I wanted the biggest possible life pool I could get, and getting 5k+ on a non-Barb that uses CoA seems nice! My previous T/V had around 4.7k-4.8k with Oak.
Core stats:
- 20 Fanaticism
- 20 FoH
- 20 Holy Shock
- 19 Smite
- 17 Conviction (to get lvl 25 = max -150 res with gear)
- 1 into each Holy Shield, Charge and all pre-reqs
For example in my particular case, moving 15 points from FoH/HShock to Smite/HS would yield a ~13% Smite damage increase, but a ~46% FoH damage decrease.
Standard setup:
- CoA 'BerCham' (Stash: faceted Griffon's -24/+20, Kira's)
- Grief PB 39/393
- 35 FCR Spirit in 45@ ST
- Enigma LP
- Mara's (Stash: 2/20 FCR craft)
- Ring 1: Oak/flexible (Stash: Raven, Wisp, Dwarf, SoJ, BKWB, FCR/res)
- Ring 2: Rare 17 str, 40 life, 38 mana, 24 FR
- Aldur (Stash: Treks, Waterwalk)
- Verdungo's (Stash: Arach)
- TO gloves
Inventory:
- Exclusively SCs with life, some res, some mana (see explanation below)
In other words, I wanted the biggest possible life pool I could get, and getting 5k+ on a non-Barb that uses CoA seems nice! My previous T/V had around 4.7k-4.8k with Oak.
Core stats:
- 5070 life with Oak, 3940 without Oak
- 550 mana
- 45% DR in default setup (BerCham CoA)
- 48 FCR BP with 45% DR, options for 75 FCR and 125 FCR with stash gear (at the cost of %DR)
- 75@ resists in default setup
- 970 Smite PvP damage (vs 0% DR) with Fanaticism
- 750 FoH PvP damage under Conviction against 75 LR/no stack/no absorb (default CoA setup)
- 1040 FoH damage with Griffon's setup in above scenario
- 720 Charge PvP damage (vs 0% DR) with Fanaticism
- 380 Charge PvP damage (vs 0%DR) with Conviction
- 59% Charge CtH with Fanaticism against lvl 95, 3k defense opponent
- 65% Charge CtH with Conviction against lvl 95, 3k defense opponent
Screenshots
The below are from his previous iteration but the gear pieces are mostly still in use. Updated LCS and more details in post below.
Personal experience
Difficult to play, it's a technically challenging build. Namelock-stomping with shift-Smite already requires a bit of muscle memory. He's switching back and forth between not only numerous skills/auras, but also entirely different playstyles with FoH and melee.
Upgrade wish list
Skillers with high life please...
***
Liberator/Hammerdin
Character history: Prism (tri-elemental Bear)
While I first made a straight-forward Hammerdin and felt he was quite strong, the gameplay was just a bit boring. Including some melee prowess with Chage & Smite made it much more fun to me. He uses a decent 2/20 circlet and a 2/20 amulet if need be. I have an Um'ed Widowmaker stashed for potential use on switch, but rarely made use of it tbh.
Build, gear & key stats
Build:
Pretty sure I'll use the first/main approach 95% of the time, as it has solid stats across the board.
Life/mana amounts below are all with cube in inventory for BO, because I want to use Um'ed Widowmaker on switch. Also worth noting the charms currently in use are rather bland. He'd have 150-250 higher life with Oak in the various setups when using better charms.
Setup 1: Default / all-purpose
Stats:
Setup 2: High damage / low DR
This has considerably higher (+40%) Charge damage, 25% Crushing Blow and the convenient 6 FPA Smite with Concentration. Downside is DR is pretty low (16%), not great if physical damage is a threat.
Same setup as above except:
Setup 3: 125 FCR / low DR
I wanted him to have a 125 option even with Grief, as this can be useful against characters like Necro or Hammerdins. Specifically with those builds in mind, resists aren't capped here, but they could be covered if I bothered including an extra 30@ in stash to swap in. %DR will be low in any case though (16% again). Differences to the main setup:
He should be fine with 31% DR standard setup in most cases so I plan to stick with that almost always. I'm only slightly worried about DR against Bowazon tbh, because he doesn't counter her build-wise like melee physical characters, who always risk eating Hammers when getting close.
At the moment I'd just swap in Ber'ed Shako to get to 41% DR, and using 2/20 craft ammy to maintain 75 FCR.
But I am planning to eventually get a 50% DR setup, using a somewhat overlooked low-strength %DR option – namely Ber'ed Vamp Gaze. I haven't used this on any PvP other character yet, but it grants 28% DR without extra stat requirements, which IMO will fit this build nicely.
Hammerdin setup
Quick & easy 125 FCR pure Hammerdin option:
- 20 Hammer + all synerigies
- 1 Fana, all pre-reqs
- Rest into Charge (18 at lvl 95)
Pretty sure I'll use the first/main approach 95% of the time, as it has solid stats across the board.
Life/mana amounts below are all with cube in inventory for BO, because I want to use Um'ed Widowmaker on switch. Also worth noting the charms currently in use are rather bland. He'd have 150-250 higher life with Oak in the various setups when using better charms.
Setup 1: Default / all-purpose
- Ber'ed rare circlet 2 Pala/20 FCR/18@/52 CR
- Enigma
- Grief PB 40/388
- 35 FCR Spirit in 43@ ST
- Mara
- Verdungo's
- TO gloves
- Waterwalk
- Oak/flexible ring
- Ravenfroat
- Mara's
Stats:
- ~4.8k life with Oak
- ~600 mana
- 31% DR
- 75% FCR
- Max block
- Max resists (FR when using Hotspur)
- 86 FHR
- 7.7k hammer damage (1.2k PvP)
- 1700 PvP Charge damage with Concentration (0% DR)
- 1500 PvP Charge damage with Fanaticism (0% DR)
- 660 PvP Smite damage with Concentration (0% DR)
- 450 PvP Smite damage with Fanaticism (0% DR)
- Charge CtH 71% (Conc) or 74% (Fana) against lvl 95, 3k defense opponent
Setup 2: High damage / low DR
This has considerably higher (+40%) Charge damage, 25% Crushing Blow and the convenient 6 FPA Smite with Concentration. Downside is DR is pretty low (16%), not great if physical damage is a threat.
Same setup as above except:
- Verdungo >> Arach
- Mara >> Highlord's Wrath
- TO gloves >> bloodcraft 20 IAS, 10 CB, 29 LR, 28 FR, 16 life
- Gore Rider if the matchup allows for extra CB/DS/OW
Setup 3: 125 FCR / low DR
I wanted him to have a 125 option even with Grief, as this can be useful against characters like Necro or Hammerdins. Specifically with those builds in mind, resists aren't capped here, but they could be covered if I bothered including an extra 30@ in stash to swap in. %DR will be low in any case though (16% again). Differences to the main setup:
- Verdungo >> Arach
- Mara >> 2/20 FCR craft amulet
- Raven >> FCR/dex/resist ring
He should be fine with 31% DR standard setup in most cases so I plan to stick with that almost always. I'm only slightly worried about DR against Bowazon tbh, because he doesn't counter her build-wise like melee physical characters, who always risk eating Hammers when getting close.
At the moment I'd just swap in Ber'ed Shako to get to 41% DR, and using 2/20 craft ammy to maintain 75 FCR.
But I am planning to eventually get a 50% DR setup, using a somewhat overlooked low-strength %DR option – namely Ber'ed Vamp Gaze. I haven't used this on any PvP other character yet, but it grants 28% DR without extra stat requirements, which IMO will fit this build nicely.
Hammerdin setup
Quick & easy 125 FCR pure Hammerdin option:
- Grief >> Hoto
- Raven>> FCR/dex/res ring
- Oak ring >> SoJ
- Circlet >> Ber'ed Shako
- Mara's >> 2/20 craft
Screenshots
See post below for revised Liberator/Hammerdin screenshots. Pure Hammerdin gear in spoiler below:
Personal experience
Super fun build with Liberator/Vanquisher style setups rather than pure hammers, although it is helpful to always have the option to go full Hammerdin. But to me it is much more fun to mix things up with charge and smite alongisde hammers.
Upgrade wish list
He wouldn't mind life skillers, otherwise not sure whether much can be improved gear-wise. A 2/20 craft with better rolls than mine can't hurt, but he's generally fine as is.
***
Trappers
Another top tier build, with generally two routes to pursue with claws (C/C) and weapon and shield (W/S). By now I made both.
C/C Trapper with WW/hybrid options
Generally a standard C/C Trapper with 65 FCR. After finding a couple of nice improvements (see below), she's probably among my best PvP characters by now. As further described in this post, she doubles as a WW/trap hybrid with a bunch of inventory/customization options.
Build, gear & key stats
20 LS and synergies
Weapon block for 58%
2pt Mind Blast
1pt Shadow Master, Venom, pre-reqs
Rest Fade (cast at lvl 29 in main setup)
Main setup
Rare circlet +2 Sin, 20 FCR, 48 life, 19@, 46 FR, socketed with Ber
Enigma BP
Craft amulet +2 Sin, 8 FCR, 79 mana, 10@
*Greater Talons +2 Sin, +3 LS, socketed with 15 IAS, 15@ and 15 IAS, 9@ jewels
Scissors Quhab +2 Sin, +2 LS, socketed with 7 FHR, 10@ and 17 life, 15@ jewels
TO gloves
Rare boots 20 FRW, 10 FHR, +5 dex, 11 CR, 27 LR, 8 FR
Nature's Peace
SoJ
Arachnid Mesh
*WSM-bugged to primary claw for max trap laying speed
Inventory:
GCs: 5x Trap skillers with life (22, 25, 31), strength (6) and dex (4), 3x Shadow skiller with life (33, 32, 31), 2xFHR/mana (52 each)
SCs: Various life/resist/mana
CtA/Splendor switch
Key stats
Not many are needed:
Weapon block for 58%
2pt Mind Blast
1pt Shadow Master, Venom, pre-reqs
Rest Fade (cast at lvl 29 in main setup)
Main setup
Rare circlet +2 Sin, 20 FCR, 48 life, 19@, 46 FR, socketed with Ber
Enigma BP
Craft amulet +2 Sin, 8 FCR, 79 mana, 10@
*Greater Talons +2 Sin, +3 LS, socketed with 15 IAS, 15@ and 15 IAS, 9@ jewels
Scissors Quhab +2 Sin, +2 LS, socketed with 7 FHR, 10@ and 17 life, 15@ jewels
TO gloves
Rare boots 20 FRW, 10 FHR, +5 dex, 11 CR, 27 LR, 8 FR
Nature's Peace
SoJ
Arachnid Mesh
*WSM-bugged to primary claw for max trap laying speed
Inventory:
GCs: 5x Trap skillers with life (22, 25, 31), strength (6) and dex (4), 3x Shadow skiller with life (33, 32, 31), 2xFHR/mana (52 each)
SCs: Various life/resist/mana
CtA/Splendor switch
Key stats
- 3.6/4.5k (Oak) life
- 800 mana
- 1-10k LS damage (~1700 max in PvP)
- 65 FCR
- 48 FHR
- 43% DR
- 58% weapon block
Not many are needed:
- 2/20 circlet BerBer >> to max out DR if needed (eg vs bowies, barbs)
- Absorb rings
- Hybrid sin swap gear: Steel Vita GCs, Shimmering Vita GCs, Demon Limb, HelFal Giant Skull (to equip Demon Limb)
- SoJ >> Raven
- 3x Shadow GCs >> 3x life/@ GCs
- 3x Trap GCs >> 3x Steel Vita GCs
- Chaos Suwayyah +3 LS +1 MB, Fury GT +3 LS +3 Fade
W/S Trapper with 102 or 174 FCR
Posted about below including LCS and setups. Against physical damage, the 75% block and max DR helps a lot, and gear is pretty cheap including inventory. The downside vs casters is of course lack of claw block, but at least she can go 174 FCR in these matchups which is fun.
Build, gear & key stats
20 LS and synergies
1 pt Shadow Master, BoS, pre-reqs
Rest Mind Blast
Setup1 : 102 FCR, 75% block, 50% DR - vs physical
Shako (Shael)
Enigma
Wizzy (rare jewel 30 FR, 7 str, 7 fhr)
Stormshield (Eld)
TO gloves
Arach
Waterwalk
Rare ring FCR, str, dex, mana, som res
Nature's Peace
Craft ammy 2 Sin, 10 FCR, 15@, 34 FR
Spirit/CtA switch
Inventory: 4 (mediocre) skillers, 1x @/life GC; otherwise mostly just plain life SCs
Inventory:
4x Trap skillers, rest mostly just life SCs
SCs: Various life/resist/mana
CtA/Spirit switch
Key stats
Setup2 2:174 FCR - vs casters
Same as above, just swapping:
1 pt Shadow Master, BoS, pre-reqs
Rest Mind Blast
Setup1 : 102 FCR, 75% block, 50% DR - vs physical
Shako (Shael)
Enigma
Wizzy (rare jewel 30 FR, 7 str, 7 fhr)
Stormshield (Eld)
TO gloves
Arach
Waterwalk
Rare ring FCR, str, dex, mana, som res
Nature's Peace
Craft ammy 2 Sin, 10 FCR, 15@, 34 FR
Spirit/CtA switch
Inventory: 4 (mediocre) skillers, 1x @/life GC; otherwise mostly just plain life SCs
Inventory:
4x Trap skillers, rest mostly just life SCs
SCs: Various life/resist/mana
CtA/Spirit switch
Key stats
- 102 FCR
- 4.3 life (Oak)
- 770 mana
- 6k LS dmg
- 27 FHR BP
- max DR
- max block
Setup2 2:174 FCR - vs casters
Same as above, just swapping:
- Shako >> Griffon (Um)
- Amulet >> 2/15 FCR amulet
- Stormshield >> Spirit
- WW >> Aldur (if FR is needed)
- 174 FCR
- 4.1k life (Oak)
- 830 mana
- 6.3k LS dmg
- 48 FHR BP
Screenshots
See this post and this post below.
Personal experience
Very strong build and easy to pick up when first starting out, even with basic S&Us. She doesn't need to do complicated things even when chasing opponents. I felt that whether or not she has a hard time depends more than anything on how well the opponent deals with her threats, which is a lot more work for them than for her.
Upgrade wish list
Don't think there's much of a chance of me finding any. Pretty much as optimized as I could hope for without trading or time traveling.
***
Ghost Assassin
Character history: Not specifically posted about. A decade-old character called Leila.
Another strong build with many good matchups. Following a bit of racking in LK for better claw runeword bases, she has become quite sturdy with a solid life pool and overall defensive stats.
Build, gear & key stats
20 Claw Mastery, Fade, Venom, Mind Blast
1pt Shadow Master, pre-reqs
Rest Weapon Block (59-60%)
115 dex/str for claws, rest vit
Setup:
Griffon's 'Ber'
Enigma
Chaos Suwayyah +3 Fade, +2 Weapon Block
Fury Greater Talons* +3 LS, +3 Fade
Arach
TO gloves
Aldur's boots
Raven
Oak ring
Mara's**
*WSM-bugged to primary claw for max trap laying speed
** stashed several nice caster amulets as alternatives, but in standard setup just Mara to boost BO and get higher life
Inventory:
GC: 2x life/@, life/mana, FHR/AR
SC: Life on everything, mixed with resist/mana
CtA/Lidless switch
Demon Limb for Enchant charges in stash.
Key stats
1pt Shadow Master, pre-reqs
Rest Weapon Block (59-60%)
115 dex/str for claws, rest vit
Setup:
Griffon's 'Ber'
Enigma
Chaos Suwayyah +3 Fade, +2 Weapon Block
Fury Greater Talons* +3 LS, +3 Fade
Arach
TO gloves
Aldur's boots
Raven
Oak ring
Mara's**
*WSM-bugged to primary claw for max trap laying speed
** stashed several nice caster amulets as alternatives, but in standard setup just Mara to boost BO and get higher life
Inventory:
GC: 2x life/@, life/mana, FHR/AR
SC: Life on everything, mixed with resist/mana
CtA/Lidless switch
Demon Limb for Enchant charges in stash.
Key stats
- 4k/5.2k (Oak) life
- 7.4k AR with Enchant
- 700 mana
- 49% DR
- 65 FCR
- 27 FHR
Screenshots
Personal experience
Very enjoyable build that is generally on offense against most other characters. Except against other strong melee builds that have ways to get out of her stuns, I feel she has pretty good matchups. While she can be killed by many characters, catching them once is often enough to kill them.
Upgrade wish list
I think I landed on the above setup in general. Could use better claw bases with more useful skills. And of course yet again a really good crafter amulet could make me gear around that as well.
***
Wind Druids
Another staple build. I made two of those: Maxblock with an alternative 163 FCR setup (but no DR), and a full vita 163 FCR build, using either dual Ber'ed CoA for 38% DR or +5 Tornado Pelt if the matchup allows.
99 FCR max block
Build:
20 Tornado and all synergies + Oak
1 Grizzly and pre-reqs
156 strength with Enigma, 226 dex with gear on block setup, rest vita
Main setup
Max block, 99 FCR
Jalal's socketed with 7 FHR, 14 all res jewel
Enigma
Hoto
Stormshield (Um)
Arach
Rare ring 10 FCR, 12 dex, 15 life, 22 CR, 25 LR
Rare ring 19 str, 15 dex, 38 life, 13 FR
Magefist
Craft amulet 2 Druid, 10 FCR, 18 str, 50 life, 15 mana, 16 all resist
Shadow Dancer 25 dex
Inventory:
GCs: 7x Elemental skillers with life (9, 14, 16, 17, 25, 30) and strength (6)
SCs: Various life/resist/mana, some FHR
CtA/Spirit on switch
Key stats
Alternative setup (163 FCR)
Same as above but swapping:
Hoto >> Wizardspike with 7 FHR, 7 str, 30 LR jewel
Stormshield >> Spirit
Shadow dancer >> Sandstorm Trek
Amulet >> +2 Druid, 19 FCR craft amulet
Ring 1 >> 10 FCR, 41 life, 54 mana, 17 CR
Ring 2 >> 10 FCR, 20 str, 17 life, 16 mana, 27 PR
Key stats here:
20 Tornado and all synergies + Oak
1 Grizzly and pre-reqs
156 strength with Enigma, 226 dex with gear on block setup, rest vita
Main setup
Max block, 99 FCR
Jalal's socketed with 7 FHR, 14 all res jewel
Enigma
Hoto
Stormshield (Um)
Arach
Rare ring 10 FCR, 12 dex, 15 life, 22 CR, 25 LR
Rare ring 19 str, 15 dex, 38 life, 13 FR
Magefist
Craft amulet 2 Druid, 10 FCR, 18 str, 50 life, 15 mana, 16 all resist
Shadow Dancer 25 dex
Inventory:
GCs: 7x Elemental skillers with life (9, 14, 16, 17, 25, 30) and strength (6)
SCs: Various life/resist/mana, some FHR
CtA/Spirit on switch
Key stats
- 2.3/4.9k (Oak) life
- 720 mana
- 4.8k max Tornado damage
- 99 FCR
- 99 FHR
- 43% DR
- 75% block
Alternative setup (163 FCR)
Same as above but swapping:
Hoto >> Wizardspike with 7 FHR, 7 str, 30 LR jewel
Stormshield >> Spirit
Shadow dancer >> Sandstorm Trek
Amulet >> +2 Druid, 19 FCR craft amulet
Ring 1 >> 10 FCR, 41 life, 54 mana, 17 CR
Ring 2 >> 10 FCR, 20 str, 17 life, 16 mana, 27 PR
Key stats here:
- 4.8k (Oak) life
- 1k mana
- 4.6k max Tornado damage (~800 max in PvP)
- 164 FCR
- 150 FHR
- 8% DR (hence only used vs elemental/magic damage chars)
- 33% block (not that it’s useful against casters)
163 FCR full vita
Build:
20 Tornado and all synergies + Oak
1 Grizzly and pre-reqs
174 strength with Enigma, rest vita
Setup
CoA 'BerBer' - can be swapped e.g. for +5 Tornado pelt if DR is not needed, or Kira for res overstack
Enigma
Wizardspikes with -req, 28 FR jewel or -req, 25 LR jewel
Spirit
Arach
2x FCR rings with resists, life, mana
Magefist
Craft amulet 2 Druid, 19 FCR,
Shadow Dancer 25 dex
Inventory:
GCs: 7x Elemental skillers with life (9, 14, 16, 17, 25, 30) and strength (6)
SCs: Various life/resist/mana, some FHR
CtA/Spirit on switch
Key stats
20 Tornado and all synergies + Oak
1 Grizzly and pre-reqs
174 strength with Enigma, rest vita
Setup
CoA 'BerBer' - can be swapped e.g. for +5 Tornado pelt if DR is not needed, or Kira for res overstack
Enigma
Wizardspikes with -req, 28 FR jewel or -req, 25 LR jewel
Spirit
Arach
2x FCR rings with resists, life, mana
Magefist
Craft amulet 2 Druid, 19 FCR,
Shadow Dancer 25 dex
Inventory:
GCs: 7x Elemental skillers with life (9, 14, 16, 17, 25, 30) and strength (6)
SCs: Various life/resist/mana, some FHR
CtA/Spirit on switch
Key stats
- 2.7/5.7k (Oak) life
- 970 mana
- 4.4k max Tornado damage with CoA
- 5.1k or 5.3k max Tornado damage with +5 pelt (depending on inventory/resist needs)
- 163 FCR
- 99 FHR
- 38% DR
- Headpieces: CoA BerBer, +5 Pelt, +4 Pelt with 10 FHR, some life and 27 LR, Kira's Guardian fore resist overstack
- Absorb rings
Screenshots
Personal experience
Very tanky with minions and maxblock setup in particular. Apart from Trappers which have a very clear advantage, most matchups seemed fine. 99 FCR max block is obviously stronger against physical damage dealers, whereas the 163 FCR vita build is fun and better against casters. Both are fine either way.
Upgrade wish list
Small things. Again a godly FCR craft like 2/19/good other mods would be nice, although his amulet options are pretty good already. While I do have a +5 Tornado pelt and a couple of 2/20 FCR circlets, finding some with better mods could bring improvements, same for rare rings.
***
BvC BarbCharacter history: A character named Jay. Former MF Barb running Pit, AT and Pindle throughout his career.
I should finally learn how to properly play WW characters and this classic build seems like a good way to do it.
Build, setup, key stats
Build: 20 WW, Axe Mastery, Leap, WW, BO, 7 natural resist - rest unspent for now, TBD
Gear:
Lots of room for improvement here, currently using rather mediocre charms and thus missing out on a bunch of life eventually.
Gear:
- Three headpiece options, depending on needs:
- CoA BerBer
- Arreat's (FHR, @)
- Kira's (AR, life)
- 2/20 FCR, 87 mana circlet
- Enigma
- Grief BA 37/372
- Beast BA 257 ED, 35 str
- Highlord's Wrath (stash: Angelic, craft +1 Barb, 20 FCR, 89 mana, 16@, craft +2 Barb, 7 FCR, 101 mana, 19@ )
- Gore Rider (Stash: Treks, Aldurs)
- TO gloves (Stash: Dracul's)
- Arach (Stash: Verdungo's)
- Oak/flexible ring (Stash: Wisp, Raven, Dwarf, Angelic)
- Rare ring: 92 AR, 2% ML, 20 str, 15 dex, 6@, 36 FR <<< love this ring, prefer this over Raven as standard option
Lots of room for improvement here, currently using rather mediocre charms and thus missing out on a bunch of life eventually.
- GCs: 3x AR/life, 3x life/mana, 1x life/@ res, 1x life/FR, 1x life/LR
- LC: 1x AR/life
- SCs: mostly AR/life or fine SCs, some life/resist and life/mana
- Life: 6.1k / 7.4k (Oak) with CoA, up to 7.8k (Oak) with Circlet
- Mana: 650 << TBD whether that's fine
- 38% DR with CoA
- WW AR: 5k / 7.5k with Demon Limb and CoA setup
- Max FR and LR, ~50 CR and PR (unless using Kira's or Treks)
- 27 FHR
Screenshots
Personal experience
Again very little. Seems harder than Ghost to catch people.
Upgrade wish list
Better Grief and charms, otherwise nothing specific.
***
Poison Necro
Character history: Not specifically posted about either, I think. My former go-to Cow Necro called Ven.
While poison damage is easy to neutralize via swap gear, I rarely play him because people around here usually don't have a lot of anti-poison gear stashed and in that case he's actually too strong. But having tweaked an initial version around a nice rare circlet I have since found, I revisited him with the goal to include a couple of setups to switch between rather seamlessly. The result was four setups for any combination of 75 vs 125 FCR and max block vs higher life:
Build, gear & key stats
20 PN and synergies, Bone Armor synergies, 1pt Fire Golem and LR + pre-reqs
Setup 1: 75 FCR no block (highest damage)
Rare circlet +2 Necr, 20 FCR, 14 all resist, 18 life (socketed with Shael)
Enigma
DWeb (facet)
Spirit
Rare belt 53 life, 17 FHR, 23 LR, 15 CR, 15 PR
TO
Aldur
Rare ring 30 FR, 6@, str, dex
Nature's Peace
Mara's
Inventory: All life/res/mana
Key stats:
Same as Setup 1 but swapping
Key stats:
Setup 3: 75 FCR, max block
Same as Setup 1 but swapping
Key stats:
Setup 4: 125 FCR, max block
Same as Setup 3 but swapping
Key stats:
Setup 1: 75 FCR no block (highest damage)
Rare circlet +2 Necr, 20 FCR, 14 all resist, 18 life (socketed with Shael)
Enigma
DWeb (facet)
Spirit
Rare belt 53 life, 17 FHR, 23 LR, 15 CR, 15 PR
TO
Aldur
Rare ring 30 FR, 6@, str, dex
Nature's Peace
Mara's
Inventory: All life/res/mana
Key stats:
- 6.3k max PN dmg - PvP avg (4s) = 1.4k vs no overstack
- 3750 life
- 700 mana
- 86 FHR
Same as Setup 1 but swapping
- DWeb >> Hoto
- Rare ring >> FCR ring with some resists
- Nature's Peace >> SoJ/absorb ring
Key stats:
- 6.6k max PN dmg - PvP avg (4s) = 550 vs no overstack
- 3770 life
- 800 mana
- 86 FHR
Setup 3: 75 FCR, max block
Same as Setup 1 but swapping
- DWeb >> Hoto
- Spirit >> Stormshield (Eld)
- Aldur's >> Shadow Dancer
- Nature's Peace >> SoJ/absorb ring
Key stats:
- 5.6k max PN dmg - PvP avg (4s) = 470 vs no overstack
- 3500 life
- 600 mana
Setup 4: 125 FCR, max block
Same as Setup 3 but swapping
- Mara >> 2/20 FCR ammy
- Rare ring >> FCR ring with resists and stats
Key stats:
- 5.6k max PN dmg - PvP avg (4s) = 470 vs no overstack
- 3400 life
- 600 mana
- 86 FHR
Screenshots
Bowazon
I only played her briefly so far, and without much success. Hard to make her capable with neither bnet gear nor time travel stuff. Mine uses the following setup:
- Kira's (15 IAS/30 FR jewel)
- Fortitude Dusk
- Faith Mat Bow
- Titan/Stormshield (-req) switch + cube CtA
- Blood craft belt 9% OW, 17 FHR, 14 life, 30 CR, 10 PR
- KB craft gloves 20 IAS, 27 CR, 21 FR
- WT
- NP
- Craft ring str, life, mana, res
- Cat's Eye
- 2.8k life with BO & Oak
- 400 PvP dmg (before DR)
- 127/157 FRW
- max res
***
Murderdin
Bowazon with Hammers? Yes please! I'm loving it.
Build, gear & stats
Build: Simple, max hammer + synergies, max conc, rest fana (17 in my case), 1pt holy shield, salvation, pre-reqs.
Standard setup:
He's normally some ~30 resist short of maxing them out for a particular damage type, so I keep life/res GCs in stash and swap them in as needed.
33% DR setup same as above exept:
Key stats, ranges depending on exact gear in use:
Standard setup:
- Shako, socketing depending on matchup: Cham, Ber, Um, PRuby are stashed
- Fortitude (key item for both ED and FCR, other great stats)
- Switch 1: Widowmaker Um
- Switch 2: Grief PB + Spirit ST
- Highlord's Wrath
- Craft knockback gloves 20 IAS, KB, 21 FR, 27 CR
- Gore Rider
- Arach
- BKWB + Raven (swap options: 2nd BKWB, Wisp, Dwarf)
He's normally some ~30 resist short of maxing them out for a particular damage type, so I keep life/res GCs in stash and swap them in as needed.
33% DR setup same as above exept:
- Shako Ber
- Verdungo's
- 2x FCR rings with stats/res/life
Key stats, ranges depending on exact gear in use:
- 3.6-3.8 life
- 75 FCR
- max block with Raven
- Max resist with 1-2 swaps (25-75 by default)
- 40% Open Wounds with Widowmaker
- 71% (Grief) or 83% (Widowmaker) deadly strike
- 6.5-7.5 hammer damage (~1.2k PvP)
- 2.2-2.4 max GA damage (~400 PvP)
- 2.2-2.4 Charge damage (PvP)
- 850-900 avg Smite damage (PvP)
Personal experience
Fun fun fun!
Screenshots, gameplay vid and more info here and here.
Upgrade wish list
For the most part, me bringing myself to give him better charms...
***
LLD Characters
Currently the cast includes Bowazon, Liberator and Bone Necro. Details here.
***
So, that's where I currently am. I'll use this thread for my further planning/theorycrafting, maybe – hopefully – reporting the occasional upgrade find and things like that. Feel free to chime in with ideas, suggestions any type of input or questions! Cheers
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