THE TYRANNICIDES: [revised] An outrageously expensive build for optimal MF-ing.

I still don't know that I would concur with the Natural Resistance investment. Sure, you get 67 resistance for 20 points, but that's not saying a lot when you get the first 44 points of that with only 6 points into the skill, thus going from a ratio of 7.33 resist per point for 6 points, to 1.6 resist/point for the next 14 (averaging at 3.35 resist/point). I see your argument in support of it; it's just a hard sell!

I understand the primary mechanic of the build is to just have the merc kill things, to which this guide is specifically tailored. However, you could also try designing a build that would be more flexible for other modes of play/mf while still letting the merc get kill shots on bosses, which are all that matter.

For example, once upon a time I had a MF barb. I built him as a general conc barb, with the leftover split into resists and find item:

20 BO
20 Shout
20 Conc
20 Weapon Mastery
11 FI
1-5 NR (I can't quite recall, but I believe I stayed at 1, with +4 skills from gear)
Pre-reqs, leftovers in iron skin or increased speed.

For gear, I ran around in:

Shako (ptopaz)
Skulder (ptopaz)/Enigma for Tele
Goldwrap
Chanceguards
War Travs
Rare +2 skill/mf ammy
2x rare leech/MF rings
BotD axe with Rhyme Troll's Nest main (resist all, MF, and blocking)
IstIst Ali Baba pair on switch
Boatload of 6%/7% small MF charms, annihilus

Shako + Skullders on the merc, with something like an Amn/Amn/Nef ethereal hone sundan, if I recall correctly.

In general, I'd teleport down to Meph or such, assist the merc by wearing Meph down a good deal, then switch to Ali let him get the killing shot. Fast runs all-around, with high-powered horking to boot. When I felt like doing something else, I could just switch out gear, and still have a pretty useful barb.

Not that that build/gear set-up was entirely optimal, and it could easily be adapted to other play styles (whirlwind in place of concentrate, for example). I was just going for the most MF I could get at the time. We had been doing a lot of Cow runs as well, wherein my Sorc partner would clear and I would hork.

Anyhoo, just something to consider.

-Hal
 
Solid guide for sure.:thumbsup:

I made almost this exact same build about 2 years ago.

2 Hotos
Ik Helm
Mf rings
7 Mf's, WC gc's
Arach
etc

Act 2 Merc who did the killing.

I liked it, but decided I wanted more efficient killing power. As well I wanted to stack on GF for gambling.

So I made this:

http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=583054&page=2&highlight=goldfind

Out of all my mixes, I'm finding this the best. Call it a GF/MFer.

I can tear hell council a new one in about 20 seconds and collect between 300-600+ gold while doing it (just picked up 633,000 in last run). Drops are also decent. I also MF the high level areas like Pits etc and do key runs. Myself nor my Merc never die (ok maybe once in a blue moon :wink3:), so I can play half asleep. Vipers or corpse explosion are no problems in Halls.

I also have adequate leech with the Ebotd.

Uniques are boring, but I still get them, I'm more into rares, blues, sockets, LLD, charms etc etc.

Nice guide though

Msg me on snuffelupecus2 or snuffelupecus5 to take a look if you want EastNL

Ohh and just a quick comment as well. Chilling Armour on my Merc is an advantage not a drawback for whomever said cold dmg pops monsters. This happens VERY rarely and the chilling delfects the hydra's.
 
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BoooBooo said:
Ohh and just a quick comment as well. Chilling Armour on my Merc is an advantage not a drawback for whomever said cold dmg pops monsters. This happens VERY rarely and the chilling delfects the hydra's.
Click to expand...

I said it :) My merc using obedience (with 3-14 cold damage) shattered many corpses. Oh, well, maybe I am the unlucky one.

Chien



 
This is very true Hal! In fact I desidned that very character in one of my attempts! A good route to go. However, my build lets you stack up some more mf because you don't have to compensate as much for resistances.

My goal with this build was to get tough enough not to die in the presence of a ton of monsters and to have enough mana to teleport. Other than that the character in this build is just a vehicle for driving your merc around and tanking enemies. It's almost like you're the merc! lol?

+I've always been the kindof player that considers 'hell' difficulty the kind of place where you should usually focus on one source of damage. If that damage works of course. What I mean is, if your mercenary is meant to do your killing why help? why not just focus on superior killing power for your merc and passively support him.

I just realized something about my build. I could never magic find before on a laptop because I'm horrible with a trackpad. With my build you don't really have to be precise with your spellcasting or anything. You just teleport near Mephisto and your merc does the rest!

Halciet, I think your mini-guide up there is a very viable option.:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: It is a different path though. My build is the extreme, some people might not like the feel of it. However, I like it more and more.
 
callsignapollo said:
My advice; use the items you find to trade for what you really want. You can even title the game you make "_____(what you just found and don't want, perhaps an Arachnid mesh) for _____(what you do want!).:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

You do realise that it would take 15-45 arachs (EU NL prices) to get you a single sought after charm for a pvp char? Plenty more for a perfect sought after item etc. or a great rare?

Mercenary dmg is nerfed vs bosses and no mercenary is a good boss killer so we may rule out baal here, even if the merc is capable of killing him, a light sorc or a java amazon will be a thousand times faster and safer killing baal.

While I could consider your build as a mediocre mf solution in the "whatever floats your boat" spirit it is by no means an end game option IMO.



 
I'm pretty confused about what you just said. Why would anyone trade 15 arachnid mesh belts for one charm?:shocked:

Also, What do you mean "whatever floats your boat spirit"? I just need some clarification. No disrespect intended.

-CallsignAPOLLO
 
:shocked: Is that some sort of phenomenon on EU - NL ? Because, on UsEastNL arachnid mesh is definitely a high value item and I've never seen it trade for less than a few high runes.:undecided:

Baffled...-CallsignAPOLLO


edit* even if I overvalued arachnid mesh there are many unique items that people are willing to trade for IMO.
 
Let me guess, you actually busted out your credit card to pay for your barb's gear to mf. Arachnids value is nothing when a PvP player looks at it, because everything else a PvPer has is worth 15-45x one arachnids mesh. Possibly a lot more.
 
Alot of people online aren't especially interested in pvp. Or at least they're not completely uninterested in pvm. I actually put together all the items I use myself. Although I did trade for some.

Even on UsEast I can't see anyone trading 15x arachnid mesh for anything. What is worth 15x arachnid mesh? Even perfect annihilus might go for less.

Maybe I've just had good luck with trading, but I think you may be undervaluing unique items etc...
 
I disagree. I traded for one at a much lower rate. And I've traded p-anni's off at a much lower rate. Can I get a second opinion on this? Anyone else watching? (As a sidenote 40 arachnid mesh can't even fit in a character's inventory window! I've never heard of anything being worth 45 arachnid mesh.
 
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callsignapollo said:
:shocked: Is that some sort of phenomenon on EU - NL ? Because, on UsEastNL arachnid mesh is definitely a high value item and I've never seen it trade for less than a few high runes.:undecided:

Baffled...-CallsignAPOLLO


edit* even if I overvalued arachnid mesh there are many unique items that people are willing to trade for IMO.
Click to expand...

The bigtime values are in items that are not so readily available. Big friggin deal, a arach.

PVP is a huge part of Diablo ii, where have you been?

Peeps, or smart educated peeps, look for:

Circs
Trap Claws - with high staff mods or godly fool's
Aritsan's with happy mods like blocking, deflecting, life, fcr, frw etc etc
LLD stuff - Rare armours with eth repair or wehatever, helms, circs, amulets, rings, jewels etc etc
Tri-Res boots
20IAS str dex ++ gloves
Melee charms, life/ar, mana etc etc
This list can go on forever

Damn if your just unique happy then your not even really mfing.

DAYUM. :hang:



 
Well you see you just turn them into hrs, arachs goes for on average 1 hr, perfect anni = more then 40 hrs easy, hell more then 80 hrs.
 
I don't see how talking about what a mf build should mf is off-topic.


Edit: Infact I think it'd be a good idea to include it into the guide.
 
Well, the one thing I disagree with in the guide is speed. IMO, killing speed is the king with MF, and no matter how well you equip your merc, I just don't see how he can kill faster than a well built char.

If I could kill Meph/Baal 3 times faster, my MF is increased by more than 3 fold. Just my opinion.
 
It is a matter of preference I suppose...

:scratch: I think you overestimate the difference in killing speed between a good offensive character and the merc I outline. Also take into account that the time you spend killing the boss is usually less than the time you spend teleporting. This means that differences in killing time don't make a BIG difference although they can speed up runs. {Really we're talking about a difference of about 5 seconds...}

Also, in my experience mf-ing with few +% to mf gets far worse drops.

Everyone has their own preference and they're entitled to their own opinion. Still, perhaps you should try this build if you are really curious as to the difference between this char and others at mf-ing. I think you would be pleasantly surprised! But it's up to you. I love fast Boss kills to!:wink:
 
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Well, I use my barbs to run Pits, Ancient Tunnels, and Baal. My merc's got an eth Obedience Thresher, Um'd 23% Leviathon, Um'd 8%LL Vamp Gaze. And in all of those runs, he'd get crushed, or I'd fall asleep watching him fight if I didn't kill everyone myself.

It is just preference, and I just couldn't hold myself back from jumpin in the fight!
 
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