Okay, time for my first update.
Atalanta, the "Passive" Zon, started off pretty well. My first thoughts were to use a 2-hander most of the time, since the block rate for Amazons using any swinging weapon is ridiculously slow. Planned skill distribution will probably be something like this:
D/A/E - at least 5 in each
Penetrate - 20
Valk - at least 17
Decoy - 20
Critical Strike - 20, why not?
The rest will be dumped in D/A/E
I almost immediately started second guessing putting so many points in Dodge and Avoid. Progressing through Act I, my thoughts were along the lines of: Ah, man...that's 8 frames that I'm not attacking! I had to start playing a bit more cautiously once I headed into the Monastery. Using a sapphire/topaz-socketed Claymore made things die quickly, but I didn't wanna be surrounded and pounded on.
A chest in the Jail had a nice
surprise inside it. I was pretty happy with these. Fire resist is so useful in Act I. In addition to the fire resist I already had in other slots and from charms, I was pretty unphased by Dark One Shamans, Gargoyle Traps, and Vampires.
I got surprise attacked going down to the second jail level:
His spawn area was right around the first left turn. His group woke up right as I started headed that way. I quickly backed up, switched to a Pilum and headed for safety. Itonya, my cold rouge, actually survived this as I headed back up the stairs and healed back in town. We dropped back in and took them out from the safety of the jail area at the entrance to the level.
The Andariel fight was no biggie. I did the reverse portal park on her (so glad I read about that in this thread!) and cleared everything else out first. Switched over to a Pilum and shield, quaffed some antidotes and poked away with my rogue doing most of the damage. She dropped
nothing useful.
Once I got to Act II, it was time for some shopping. I decided sticking with a 2-hander just wasn't going to cut it if I was going to be tanking most of the mobs without crowd control (at least until I get a Valk). Much safer to use a shield. I spent an hour trying to get a Mechanic's Bone Shield of Deflecting from Drognan, but he was a miser. I saw both mods plenty of times but, alas, never together. I settled on
this. 42 defense is pretty sweet for a bone shield. Larzuk can always socket it for me to throw in a pDiamond or two. 30% FBR brought my blocking animation down from 17 frames to 11! This was MUCH more doable.
The countess had given me an Eth rune, and I found a Tal rune in the jails or catacombs, so I made 'Stealth' in a piece of Chainmail. I think my resists starting out Act II were somewhere around 75 fire/7 cold/33 lightning/47 poison. Add that to 63% chance to block, and I was quite ready to jump in the fray!
While in the sewers, I realized going sword/shield was a VERY good decision. I barely got hit by anything thanks to my defense, my high block rate, and 5 points each in Dodge and Avoid. I'm now quite happy placing those skills there. I laughed as skeleton archers and mages tried to throw their fire at me.
A chest (again) in the Stony Tombs gave me a
present. This was a mixed blessing. It felt like a slap in the face after I spent so much time going after that Bone Shield. Still, it gives 40% FBR, giving me a 10 frame block rate. I figured I'd use it to help me be able to wield a Long Sword sooner. The extra Vitality is nice also.
Before I headed into the Halls of the Dead, I was able to equip a Vicious Long Sword of Readiness, thanks to some charms and a bit of ring shuffling. Fara, by the way, was just as much a scrooge as Drognan. She never had any 2-socketed long swords (for steel/strength) for sale. Every single one was magic. Seeing the above-mentioned sword was enough for me at the moment though. We'd have words with Fara later.
The Halls of the Dead were SO much fun. Atalanta started to build into a blood frenzy. Guarded as well as she was now, she was no longer happy to passively stand in doorways and let enemies slowly funnel through. She charged straight in.
This became her normal strategy. She went straight to her kill targets and let everything else surround her as they wished. She can tank SO well right now. Whole packs can go down before she needs to use a health pot. She even tried some alternative battlefield strategies.
Atalanta calls this one the "Come and Get Me" maneuver. Bloodwitch the Wild didn't couldn't get a hit to connect in order to curse me. The cube was mine.
So far, this build has surprised me. I wasn't sure how well it would do without any offensive abilites other than Attack. So far so good. As long as I can find gear to keep my health pool and resistances up to par, she may do quite well.
Right now she is dreaming of finding the runes to make 'Passion' so she can use Zeal. We'll just have to see.
Atalanta, the Passivezon, level 23 -- off to the Far Oasis
(Edit: called Fara Charsi. Whoops...Edit 2: fixed a SS link to my Stony Tomb drop)