Re: So a trip through Hell Baal, untwinked, and full-clear.
Most item-independant build I ever played (and I'm starting the 3rd incarnation soonish, last one died at lvl 45 entering the pit level 2 on NM to a rather nasty aura combo on the archers), is a straight kicker. Strenght claw + blood crafted gloves is 35% CB with 6 kicks/second means you make corpses soon. Corpse explosion from DS does the rest.
My last incarnation used a crushflange and blood gloves, levelled here from lvl 30 to 45 doing NM countess runs instead of the normal baal runs. Was waiting for a friend to join my pw game to mule so i took her to the Pit (it was near the WP). She didn't have the life for that :'-( .
The nicest thing about this character is that it deals damage calculated on the life of the monsters, not from your gear. Also, it's way easier finding decent boots compared to decent weaponry. Main drawback is mana problems, because you lay down a few DS, and you don't have the time to leech your mana bowl full before the whole mob is down. I actually had to socket the crushflange with a PSkull to partially solve this, but still had problems with this in Inside areas. Outside it's not that much of a problem because monsters are more spread out. An Insight on an Act2 merc immediately solved this problem though, still not impossible to get.
The build (with some adaptions from experiences learned):
Dragon Talon (18-20pts):
you'll need this at lvl 12 asap, max it later. Since this is untwinked, if you play claw/shield you might not want to invest the extra 2 points untill you're shure you've got +4 to the skill from gear. 18 will do just fine.
Dragon Tail (1 pt):
prereq
Dragon Flight (1 pt):
It's allmost like teleport. You can target this on a shadow too if no enemy is near.
Claw mastery (1pt):
prereq
Psychic hammer (1pt):
One point wonder skill. Knockback the boss, kill the minions, boss comes back to you through a heap of corpses blowing.
Cloak of shadows (1pt):
Your main crowd controll skill. DON'T put more than one point here, as you can cast only one of these at a time. Blinds and makes enemies easier to hit. Don't use this when partying with a Necro, you'll overwrite his curses.
Burst of Speed (1pt):
You need little or no IAS for this sin. Prereq, nice for traveling.
Fade (20pts):
Resists and damage reduction. Your playing untwinked, so this might be your only chance of getting some %DR. Enables you to go claw/claw if you want too (no shield means lower resists). (Pre)buff it if possible (I look for claws with +fade and +Shadow discipline).
Mind Blast (0~1 pt):
No points here means your Shadow Master will use it a lot less. Since I use CoS for crowd control and am not using any other traps than DS I don't find it has a use on this build, ymmv.
Venom (0~20 pts):
This one isn't worth a single point imho, maybe if you can prebuff it to a high level or if you have problems with immunes... Your kicks will be so fast the poison only triggers on half of your kicks. If using Venom I might consider getting a weapon that actually slows down my kicks enough so you apply venom every kick.
Shadow Warrior or Master (20pts to one, 1 point to the other):
I used a high level master, and 1 pt Shadow warrior to cast for dragon flight teleporting. I also use Shadow warrior around places with many ranged enemies for the extra cast of Cloak of Shadows (your warrior can cast CoS with it's own timer, meaning you can have 2 active at the same time. Early on you can have your shadow warrior cast your DS too (less stress on the blue ball). In my next incarnation I'm gonna go for max shadow warrior for the extra control it gives me.
Shock web, charged bolt centry, lightning sentry, blade sentinel (1pt):
prereqs
Fire blast (6~9 pts):
Gives some extra shots to your death sentry. Not too much here though, unless you want to have to turn back to unsummon them.
Blade Fury (1pt):
Nice to get chance to cast and CB in from a distance if you hit dangerous monsters.
Death sentry (10~20 points):
Stop once you're happy with the radius. At too high levels it can get risky, because it will attract enemies from off screen. You won't be able to cast cos at that time. Too many points here can kill you.
This is all that is required for reaching hell, where you'll need some way of dealing with physical immunes. You'll be around lvl 50~60. I got the first incarnation into hell, but lost it before being able to test too much in this department. Some things that might work:
- Lightning sentry lvl 20 (with the rest in prereqs):
This is what I'm gonna try. Gives a third element (your CE will be doing physical and fire), so it's quite nice. Also gives a synergy to death sentry.
- Venom:
It's also a possibility, not as good damage wise compared to Lightning sentry though, and it's a one by one killing kind of skill, so it'll be slow. It requires less skillpoints though, so if you also want claw block, this might be a better path.
- %chance to cast amp/decryp (or charges):
this is also an effective way of dealing with PIs, but item dependant. CE will be not very effective as you can't easily apply this to a big crowd. This does allow for even more skillpoints to be saved, and can also be a temporary solution if you're still raising your skills.
Most other options will need items, so not really doable if untwinked.
. I never really take sorcs anywhere in HC, I usually end up dying to some mistake, my fault, or lag, probably not my fault.
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