Theorycrafting a maxed skills grail

[Swamigoon]

I'm hoping that I get some lucky rune drops in this year's RFL. Hopefully I'll get the needed runes to finally complete the cube recipe grail project that I started a couple of years ago. But what happens after that?

The SPF Community & Links pinned thread includes many other neat participation and quest ideas. Various tournaments and grails are quite popular here. For example, the flagship SPF challenge is arguably the "Holy Grail" complete set and unique item acquisition. According to my GoMule Flavie, in the course of pursuing all of the cube recipes, I'm already at grail -51! I am also close to completing a third sept with the cube grail project. In fact, I must confess that I am more motivated by questing characters to mat/pat, rather than grinding magic-finding or rune-finding areas. More than item grails, the SPF projects that really inspire me are achievements such as PhineasB's 7x7+2, D2DC's normal set adventurers, Babyhell's baby brood, Maltatai's assorted epic romance tales, and Pb_pal's rainbow connections.

So for a few months now, I have been pondering a "maxed skills" grail: For each of the 210 skills, invest the 20-point maximum in that skill on a character, enjoyably played, that achieves {mat|pat}riarch in legacy version 1.14b. Surely I can't be the only player to think about a project like this. This idea is partly inspired by the skills census I wrapped up last year, and also partly inspired by my decision to participate in D2DC's Murios project.

To that end, I tried to "theory-craft" a path, as follows, to achieve a maxed skills grail, starting with my three cube grail septs already (or almost) completed. I presume to max three or four skills with each build, and defeat hell Baal with each. (For my own convenience, each time a skill first appears as maxed, I marked it with a green number [#], to help me ensure I included all thirty skills of each hero class.)

Amazons completed or underway:

• Lightning+Valkyrie: maxed [1]Charged Strike, [2]Lightning Fury, [3]Decoy, and [4] Valkyrie. (A few leftover points went to Penetrate and Critical Strike.)
• LF Cowherd: maxed Charged Strike, Lightning Fury, [5]Lightning Strike, and [6]Lightning Bolt. (Leftovers went to Power Strike.)
• Passive Dagger-stabber: maxed Decoy, Valkyrie, [7]Critical Strike, and [8]Evade. (Leftovers are going into Inner Sight.)

That's eight skills maxed so far. Eleven more interesting builds to max the rest of the Amazon skills:
Bow/Xbow skills:

• Mage Archer: [9]Cold Arrow, [10]Frozen Arrow, [11]Exploding Arrow, [12]Immolation Arrow. (Leftovers probably in Fire Arrow)
  • I've never made one, but I think this is a cookie-cutter "magezon" build.
• Strafer: Decoy, Valkyrie, [13]Strafe, [14]Slow Missiles.
  • Strafelock is my motivation to pump Slow Missiles.
• Multizon: [15]Pierce, [16]Multiple Shot, Decoy, Valkyrie.
  • For this build, I would try to minimize +skills items on her equipment.
• Kashya's Prodigy: Cold Arrow, [17]Ice Arrow, [18]Fire Arrow, Exploding Arrow. (Leftovers in Inner Sight?)
  • She uses the same skills as Act 1 Rogue mercenaries. I expect this build to be difficult.
• Guided Archer: [19]Guided Arrow, [20]Magic Arrow, Decoy, Valkyrie.

remaining Javelin/Spear skills:

• Lightning Meleezon: [21]Power Strike, Charged Strike, Lightning Strike, Valkyrie.
• Jabber/Fender: [22]Penetrate, [23]Jab, [24]Fend, Decoy.
• Impaler: [25]Impale, Charged Strike, Decoy, Valkyrie.
• Javelin Tosser: [26]Poison Javelin, Lightning Bolt, [27]Plague Javelin, Lightning Fury.
  • Alternatively, I might max Valkyrie instead of Lightning Bolt, and leave Lightning Fury unsynergized.

remaining Passive/Magic spells:

• Passive Axe- or Knife-thrower: [28]Inner Sight, Decoy, Valkyrie, [29]Avoid
• Fuzzy Dodger: [30]Dodge, Valkyrie, Decoy. (Leftovers in Critical Strike and/or Penetrate?)
  • This is at the end of the list, because I think it would take me a while collect runes and a good base necessary to make a Beast runeword for her.

Assassins completed:

• Dancer: maxed [1]Shadow Master, [2]Lightning Sentry, [3]Death Sentry. (Dragon Talon got 18 points, leftovers went to Fade.)
• Fire Trapper: maxed [4]Wake of Fire, [5]Wake of Inferno, Death Sentry. (Lightning Sentry and Fire Blast each got 15; one leftover point in Burst of Speed.)
• Cold Aggressin: maxed [6]Claw Mastery, [7]Dragon Claw, [8]Blades of Ice, [9]Phoenix Strike. (Leftovers went to Weapon Block.)

Ten more builds to max the other Assassin skills:
remaining martial arts:

• Phoenix Striker: Shadow Master, Phoenix Strike, [10]Claws of Thunder, [11]Fists of Fire.
• Dragon Tailer: [12]Tiger Strike, [13]Dragon Tail, [14]Dragon Flight, Shadow Master.
• Gendarme: Tiger Strike, [15]Cobra Strike, [16]Dragon Talon, Shadow Master. (Leftovers in Fade?)
  • I call it "gendarme" because in my mind it's the most generic martial arts build. May use any weapon, but needs decent boots and a PI solution.

remaining traps:

• Lightning Trapper: [17]Fire Blast, [18]Shock Web, [19]Charged Bolt Sentry, Lightning Sentry. (Leftovers in Death Sentry?)
  • As long as she never uses Death Sentry, she could do pit runs without fear of losing bosspacks.
• Shuriken Ninja: [20]Blade Fury, [21]Venom, [22]Cloak of Shadows, Shadow Master
• Frisbee Ninja: [23]Blade Sentinel, Venom, Cloak of Shadows, Shadow Master
• Shadow Buffer: Shadow Master, Venom, [24]Mind Blast, [25]Blade Shield
  • maxes two of the skills that every SM always keeps pre-buffed before and between battles.

remaining shadow disciplines:

• Shy Defensive Fighter: [26]Fade, Shadow Master, Venom, [27]Weapon Block
• Psion: [28]Psychic Hammer, [29]Shadow Warrior, Death Sentry. (Leftovers in Mind Blast and/or Cloak of Shadows?)
  • Its hard to think of a build that suits a Shadow Warrior better than a Shadow Master minion. I need to workshop this some more.
• Rapid Trapper: [30]Burst of Speed, Lightning Sentry, Death Sentry, Fire Blast.

Barbarians completed:

• Zerker: [1]Berserk, [2]Howl, [3]Shout, [4]Axe Mastery. (Some leftovers went to Find Item.)
• Stun Barb: [5]Bash, [6]Stun, [7]Concentrate, [8]War Cry. (Leftovers in Sword Mastery)
• Wolfhowl Barb: maxed Shout, [9]Pole Arm Mastery, [10]Iron Skin, [11]Increased Speed. (Leftovers in Natural Resists)

Ten proposed builds to max the other Barbarian skills:
remaining combat skills:

• Frenzy: [12]Double Swing, [13]Frenzy, [14]Taunt, [15]Sword Mastery.
• Thrower: Double Swing, [16]Double Throw, [17]Spear Mastery, [18]Throwing Mastery.
• Concentrator: Bash, Concentrate, [19]Battle Orders, Berserk.
  • I've been purposefully keeping my barbarians' BOs as just one-point-wonders, just to assure myself that I can do it. But for this build, I would finally max it for its significant synergy bonus.
• Whirler: [20]Whirlwind, Battle Orders, Shout, [21]Mace Mastery
  • Kind of hoping to complete the IK set to use with this one.
• Frogger: [22]Leap, [23]Leap Attack, Battle Orders, Shout.

remaining warcries and masteries:

• Singer: Howl, Taunt, [24]Battle Cry, Wary Cry (Leftovers in Battle Orders?)
• Horker: [25]Find Item, Concentrate, Battle Orders, Bash (Leftovers in Iron Skin?)
  • I remember reading that this could potentially be another good AT runner, to complement my blizzard sorceress.
• Drunk Zerker: [26]Find Potion, Berserk, Howl, Shout.
  • I think Berserk is my favorite barbarian skill. I would use the zero-defense effect as the excuse for needing to find and drink lots of those delicious red-cream sodas.
• Grim Ward Zerker: [27]Grim Ward, Berserk, Howl, Shout.
• Stamina Wolfhowl Barb: [28]Increased Stamina, Battle Orders, [29]Battle Command, [30]Natural Resists
  • After playing my first wolf-barb, I'm convinced that I could make this build succeed.

Druids completed:

• Shockwave Summoner: [1]Dire Wolf, [2]Grizzly, [3]Heart of Wolverine, [4]Lycanthropy. (Leftovers went to Shock Wave.)
• Fire Druid: [5]Fire Storm, [6]Molten Boulder, [7]Fissure, [8]Volcano. (Leftovers in Armageddon.)
• Tank Hunter: Dire Wolf, Grizzly, [9]Solar Creeper, [10]Spirit of Barbs. (Leftovers in Heart of Wolverine)

Eight proposed builds to max the other Druid skills:
remaining shapeshifting skills:

• Life-obsessed Werewolf: [11]Werewolf, [12]Feral Rage, [13]Oak Sage, [14]Carrion Vine. (Leftovers in Lycanthropy)
• Diseased Werewolf: [15]Rabies, [16]Poison Creeper, Lycanthropy, [17]Fury.
• Armageddon Shifter: Lycanthropy, [18]Fire Claws, [19]Armageddon. (Leftovers in Fissure and Volcano?)
• Kodiak Mauler: [20]Werebear, [21]Hunger, [22]Maul, [23]Shock Wave.

remaining summon skills:

• Hunter: [24]Spirit Wolf, Dire Wolf, Grizzly, Heart of Wolverine
• Birder: [25]Raven, Dire Wolf, Grizzly, Heart of Wolverine

remaining elemental skills:

• Windy: [26]Cyclone Armor, [27]Twister, [28]Tornado, [29]Hurricane.
  • If I enjoy him enough to level him to 89, I could also max Arctic Blast and have a pure Wind druid. (Then I wouldn't need to make another Arctic Shaman...)
• Arctic Shaman: [30]Arctic Blast, Cyclone Armor, Hurricane, Grizzly. (Leftovers in Dire Wolf)

Necromancers completed:

• Skeleton Zookeeper Fishymancer: [1]Skeleton Mastery, [2]Raise Skeleton, [3]Raise Skeletal Mage, [4]Corpse Explosion. (Leftovers went to Clay Golem)
• Poisoner: [5]Poison Dagger, [6]Poison Explosion, [7]Poison Nova, [8]Lower Resist. (All leftovers were one-pointers.)
• Trang-Oul's Poison/Summoner: Poison Dagger, Poison Explosion, Poison Nova, [9]Golem Mastery. (One point in Iron Golem, and leftovers went to Corpse Explosion)

Eight proposed builds to max the other Necromancer skills:
remaining poison/bone:

• Dentist: [10]Teeth, [11]Bone Spear, [12]Bone Spirit, [13]Bone Prison. (Leftovers in Bone Wall and/or Corpse Explosion)
• Meleemancer: [14]Bone Armor, [15]Bone Wall, Bone Prison, [16]Life Tap.

remaining summons:

• Mojo Haunter: [17]Revive, Skeleton Mastery, [18]Decrepify, [19]Terror.
• Golemancer: [20]Clay Golem, [21]Blood Golem, [22]Iron Golem, [23]Fire Golem. (Leftovers in Corpse Explosion, Golem Mastery)

remaining curses:

• Amping Fishy: Skeleton Mastery, Raise Skeleton, Corpse Explosion, [24]Amplify Damage.
• Mojo Fishy 1: Skeleton Mastery, Raise Skeleton, [25]Dim Vision, [26]Confuse. (Leftovers in Corpse Explosion)
• Mojo Fishy 2: Skeleton Mastery, Raise Skeleton, [27]Weaken, [28]Attract. (Leftovers in Corpse Explosion)
• Bloody Torturer: [29]Iron Maiden, Blood Golem, Golem Mastery, [30]Summon Resist.
  • This was a recommended build in a few early D2 patch versions, but not as effective in LoD. Needs workshopping, but it's one possible IM idea.

Paladins completed:

• Templar: [1]Fist of the Heavens, [2]Holy Bolt, [3]Holy Shock. (Conviction got 18 points.)
• Angel Avenger: [4]Vengeance, [5]Resist Fire, [6]Resist Lightning, [7]Salvation. (Leftovers went to Resist Cold)
• Fanatic Zealot: [8]Sacrifice, [9]Zeal, [10]Fanaticism, [11]Conversion. (Leftovers went to Blessed Aim)

Seven proposed builds to max the other Paladin skills:
remaining combat skills:

• Hammerer: [12]Blessed Hammer, [13]Blessed Aim, [14]Vigor, [15]Concentration.
• Charger: [16]Charge, [17]Might, Vigor, [18]Meditation. (Leftovers probably into Fanatacism and/or Prayer.)
  • really stretching to find a single player paladin build that could benefit from maxed Meditation
• Smiter: [19]Smite, [20]Holy Shield, [21]Defiance, Fanaticism.
  • From stuff I have read, I'm led to believe that this is actually a somewhat difficult single-player questing build. Needs more workshopping. Not sure where leftover points would go.

remaining offensive auras:

• Traditional Avenger: Vengeance, [22]Conviction. (Leftovers in elemental resist synergies)
• Auravenger: [23]Holy Fire, [24]Holy Freeze, Resist Fire, [25]Resist Cold. (Leftovers in Vengeance)
• Sadomasochist Martyr: [26]Thorns, Sacrifice, Fanatacism, [27]Redemption

remaining defensive auras:

• Medicleric: [28]Sanctuary, [29]Cleansing, [30]Prayer, Holy Bolt

Sorcresses completed:

• Hydra/Orb: [1]Frozen Orb, [2]Fire Ball, [3]Fire Mastery, [4]Hydra. (Leftovers went to Fire Bolt)
• Blizzard: [5]Ice Blast, [6]Glacial Spike, [7]Blizzard, [8]Cold Mastery. (Leftovers went to Ice Bolt)
• Chain/Orb: Frozen Orb, [9]Lightning, [10]Chain Lightning, [11]Lightning Mastery. (Leftovers went to Nova)

Nine proposed builds to max the other Sorceress skills:

• Meteorb: Frozen Orb, [12]Meteor, [13]Inferno, Fire Mastery. (Leftovers to Fire Ball)
• Socialist Orbitaller: Frozen Orb, [14]Fire Bolt, Fire Ball, [15]Teleport. (Leftovers to Fire and Cold masteries)
• Nova Enchantress: [16]Nova, [17]Enchant, [18]Warmth, Fire Mastery. (Leftovers to Lightning Mastery)
• Warm Blanket: [19]Fire Wall, [20]Charged Bolt, Lightning, Lightning Mastery. (Leftovers to Fire Mastery.)
• Orb/Blazer: [21]Blaze, Fire Mastery, Frozen Orb, [22]Ice Bolt. (Leftovers to Cold Mastery?)
• Energy Sorceress: [23]Telekinesis, [24]Energy Shield, Frozen Orb, Lightning. (Leftovers in Lightning Mastery?)
• Frost Nova/Stormer: [25]Frost Nova, Blizzard, Frozen Orb, [26]Thunder Storm. (Leftovers in Lightning Mastery)
• Melee Armor Sorceress: [27]Frozen Armor, [28]Shiver Armor, [29]Chilling Armor, Enchant. (Leftovers in Fire Mastery?)
• Melee Archmage: [30]Static Field, Enchant, Fire Mastery, Frozen Orb

That totals 90 different mat/pats. Anticipating an average pat/mat level of 84, this plan would bring me 75% of the way through the number of levels needed to complete Murios. It would take me a very long time. I'm really not sure I could get all the way through these.

I hope you found this worth your time to read. What do you think? What builds would you do instead?

Also, what new synergies in the upcoming D2R patch inspire you to try pumping a skill you've never maxed before?

 

[D2DC]

Great projects! Although, that has got to be the worst formatting I've ever seen!

Loved your skill census as well, and it has inspired me to try to make use of all skills in some way or another. Not sure about maxing them though! Be looking forward to see what you come up with!

 

[Swamigoon]

Sorry if I hurt your eyes too badly, @D2DC. I feel pretty foolish now: the problem was that the editor was stuck in BB code mode, and I couldn't understand why my favorite formatting buttons were all grayed out and unusable. (When I finally figured it out, I went back and spent an hour reformatting it.)

 

[D2DC]

Ooh. Looks much nicer now!

 

[PhineasB]

What a great project! Looking forward ti following the progress.

 

[Pb_pal]

This sounds super interesting, and a fun concept that appeases the completionist in me. Will be a fun one to follow along with, good luck!

 

[Maltatai]

We will of course be expecting a new build guide for each one...

I've always considered it the natural goal of all Diablo gamesmanship to eventually max every skill with some character. That along with protecting your mercenary. As for alternative builds, I would probably do either extremely restricted characters (by colour themes or whatever) or equally extremely mixed ones. For example:

Warhammer chaos warrior barbarians (random rants and gibberish)
Asterisks refer to the order in which to max the skills

Spoiler

Reach level 18 by plundering tower on 8 players. Use the runes gained to proceed.
8 players until act 4
1 player through act 4
8 players onward

Items
Save diamonds.
Gemmed weapons.
Run countess for steel runes.
Gambled weapons against Andariel.

Buy socketed weapons.
Craft pole arms for Njal.

Run Eldricht for exceptional bases.

Nightmare Griswold for elite craft bases.

knockback, slow, PDR, MDR, prevent monster heal, REGENERATION, life leeching.

Craft and socket items with respective deities colours.

Herman, chosen of Khorne
20 frenzy **
1 double swing
20 berserk ***
20 taunt ****
13 natural resist *
1 warcries
3 axe mastery *
1 throwing mastery
str 145 (Ettin axe)
dex 108 (Flying axe)

Herman the Heathen. In fact a mutated juggernaut or so it is said, and never removes his helmet. None has dared finding out.

Tomahawk with steel runeword
blood craft flying axe
jawbone helm or red great helm
life magic full plate

Partied with barbarian Wulfstan, reckless meleer like all khornites. Taunt will ensure melee and lesser damage. Jealous of Wulfrik the wanderer and Wulfgar the undefeated. Overrated, both of them...

Wolfram, chosen of Nurgle
20 concentrate *
20 battle orders ****
20 berserk ***
13 natural resist **
1 warcries
1 grim ward
1 mace mastery *
1 throwing mastery
1 pole arm mastery if finding scythe

str 133-153 (Tyrant club or Devil star)
dex 118 (Thresher)

Chemistry is pestilence itself.

amplify damage mace or scythe, poison damage
Tyrant club with black rune word
Gem and sol helmet or circlet or cap.
Gem and sol ancient armor.
Gem and sol tower shield.

Partied with town guard Durga, a defiant one to stand up to the stench and poisons. Battle orders and grim wards will make his life easier and perhaps both may wield plagued scythes?

Orm, chosen of Slaanesh
1 throwing mastery
1 double throw
1 berserk
20 whirlwind to get past formations
20 bash
6 double swing (swinger...doubly so...also swift attack) *
20 sword mastery **
13 natural resist ***
5 increased speed
1 warcries
kite shield
1h swords
throw offhand dagger
spectral hit if possible
str 175 (Legend sword)
dex 142 (Winged knife)

Jealous of Sigvald, obsessed with himself, of course. All swift attacks, whirlwind, zeal and double swing. 6 to swinging because it is the most Slaaneshi and suggestive and also because it almost nulls the mana cost. Good stamina, keeps swinging forever... Whirl with swords or daggers to differentiate from meek Talic, claiming the whirler throne. Passion or upgraded coldsteel eye would be ultimate weapons, or perhaps a captured bloodletter. Compete with Khornes champion about best dual wielding attacks. Paired with Wendy the hideous rogue?

Falcata with steel runeword.
Legend sword with steel or malice or kings grace.
Gem and sol helmet or double horny horned helmet.
Gem and sol gothic plate armor.
Chromatic kite shields of deflecting.
Safety craft monarch Nef Rune and Perfect Emerald. Hit power craft gothic or ancient shields Eth Rune and Perfect Sapphire. Socket.

Partied with a rogue Debi that aids double swing accuracy and another damage type, for murky reasons. Perhaps sent by Kashya to secretly ensure his demise?

Njal, chosen of Tzeentch
20 leap
20 leap attack ***
1 berserk
20 mastery ****
13 natural resist **
1 warcries
1 pole arm mastery *
1 axe mastery
1 throwing mastery
1 spear mastery
str 165-210 depending on axes or polearms found
dex 100-145 depending on polearms found
Can respecify because deity is lord of change

frost nova armor
Nadir feathered assault helmet, then leap and freezing...
blue tower shield
processing effects
hit power crafts.
cursing
woestave or staff or crescent moon
pilum/throwing spear and tower shield for range
passion and zeal if possible
wand and weapon

Partied with ice iron wolf, granting Tzeentchs gifts and aided so he doesn't need extra berserk magic damage to have a second element.

Nordic Archdruids (equally random plans)

Spoiler

Shifting in and out of shapes, summoning and casting.

Erik
Sweden, blue cold and angry wolves
Hurricane - Twister - Dire Wolves* - Fury
Fire Wolf.
8 Werewolf.
Heavy armour.
Weaken.
Werewolf and prerequisites until 18, then dire wolves until 30, then fury until Diablo.
Calls Denmark Mikkel räv, instead of proper wolf.
Taunted about being rich in e-substances. E-thanol, for example.

Olaf
Iceland, volcanoes
Grizzly - Volcano - Molten Boulder* - Fire Claws
8 Werebear
Fire Rogue.
Medium darker armour. Splint or scale mail.
Obtain knockback for all. Cloak.
Molten boulder and prerequisites until 18, then fire claws for Andariel.
Wishes to knock back overly clingy persons imagining he is overly fond of warm hugs, for whatever reasons... Rogue Amplisa finds him quite huggy and casts "Amplisa Hugs" on him and grizzly and flamelike "Amplisa Damage" on enemies.

Harald
Norway, flammable and poisonous oil obtained from below
Rabies - Poison Creeper - Fissure - Firestorm*
10 Volcano
4 Werewolf
Cold Wolf.
Light armour.
Frighten with orange howling weapons.
Firestorm and prerequisites until Andariel. Then fissure. Rabies in nightmare.
One point rabies can at least be used to crushing blow bosses before firestorming them.
Dislikes the annoying nickname Bluetooth for his rabid tooth ache. Iron wolf give fake snow for skiing.

Mikkel
Denmark, red and white skills
Spirit of Barbs - Feral Rage* - Armageddon - Volcano
6 Werewolf
Medium blackwhite armour. Light plate?
Lightning Wolf.
Run around and wound all.
6 werewolf, feral rage and all prerequisites until 24. Then volcano and then armageddon.
Feral axe. A spirit of barbs as companion will provoke a feral rage. A lack of red sausages and constant red hunger for those won't help, nor will the jibes about beer drinking. His fiery wrath calls forth fire from earth and sky.

Ilmari
Finland, white and blue skills
Raven - Arctic Blast* - Cyclone Armour - Werebear
10 Shockwave
2 Hunger
Cold Rogue.
Medium armour. Chain mail.
Collect crushing blow and elemental damage. Blind.
Black ogre maul, knock back blinded ones and crush them. Wizendraw for greenness and cold damage. Grizzly and dire wolf hat for emergencies, like dolls.
Raven 5-10-20 before entering each difficulty.
5 raven, 10 arctic blast, 1 maul to maul Andariel with a maul.
Name refers to air, fitting for wind druid, or wind bag according to the others. Will beat the wolves at the noble game of blowing down pigs houses as bear with shockwave. Shockwave is really sonic damage due to exclamations.

 

[Swamigoon]

Yes, my "theorycrafting" is quite shallow weak-sauce, compared to the deeper lore you invent and indulge, Maltatai! But those are awesome thoughts.

 

[Maltatai]

That is absolutely not how I meant it, though. You are probably a strong candidate for posting the least shallow threads on this forum

 

[Zyr]

@Swamigoon, I concur that this is an enterprise that needs to be undertaken. Thank you very much for taking it on, thereby relieving me of any responsibility to do so!

I've many thoughts regarding your proposed builds-- so many that I've been bogged down for weeks trying to make this post. It's probably best for me to dribble 'em out a few at a time.

Nova Enchantress: [16]Nova, [17]Enchant, [18]Warmth, Fire Mastery. (Leftovers to Lightning Mastery)

I'm not a very experienced Sorc player so take with appropriate quantity of NaCl, but I do have two with maxed Nova: One with Blizzard, built to wear a +3 Nova Ormus' Robes, otherwise closely following the Liquid Circus Blova guide; the other with Fireball, built to wield a +3/17/17 Eschuta's temper. Based on this admittedly limited experience, I'd be much more comfortable maxing Lightning Mastery after Nova, Warmth and Enchant, and put leftover points in FM.

Shuriken Ninja: [20]Blade Fury, [21]Venom, [22]Cloak of Shadows, Shadow Master

This build screams "Shadow Warrior!" Maxing Cloak means a very long time (27 seconds at slvl 20) before the 'Sin can cast it again. That's an eternity if you're relying on CoS for Chance to Hit with BF. SM cannot use CoS, but SWcan, and can easily be persuaded to do so. Maxed Venom also gives the SW a non-zero chance of actually killing something. With the substitution of SW for SM, all maxed skills complement each other very well; after maybe a bit of a learning curve, she should be very rewarding to play.

Guided Archer: [19]Guided Arrow, [20]Magic Arrow, Decoy, Valkyrie.

I have a Matriarch and two Guardians who used essentially this build, and it worked very well for me.

I have many more thoughts to offer re Amazons, but they'll have to wait for a later post. Hope this one helps!

 

[Swamigoon]

Outstanding advice, @Zyr! I had been thinking a lot about how to use Shadow Warrior in this project, and I kept running into problems. That shadow doesn't get any magic boots and only gets simple (not exceptional/elite) magic claws, so she doesn't play well with most martial arts skills. It's tedious to train her in trap synergies every time she's re-summoned, so she's not very effective with those either. But Venom and Cloak fit her quite nicely. Thanks for calling these to my attention, Zyr! Regardless, that's a project for farther in the future. I want my next assassin to be a lightning trapper.

I keep re-reading @Maltatai's warhammer barbarian build ideas, and I still think they're a bit nuts. Maybe I just don't understand the lore that inspires them...

I am having a blast with a Frenzy barbarian right now. It's amazing how much I'm learning about the game and its skills. For example, I did not know until now that the Taunt skill works differently against a flayer shaman than most other enemies. It does interrupt whatever the shaman was doing, but does not force an approach toward the caster. Instead, the shaman just chooses a different action, usually an Inferno spell attack. (It's almost as if the shaman wants to respond to the taunt curse, but the flayer on whose shoulders it is perched doesn't want to cooperate, so it doesn't walk toward the barbarian.) I also can't get Taunt to have any effect on Oblivion Knights nor champions/uniques, but I kind of expected those exceptions.

The barbarian is just a couple of acts away from Patriarch. After he's completed, I'm going to build my strafer. I'm still determined to max Slow Missiles and Strafe on an Amazon, and I would be happy to have more advice. In the farther future, I'm reconsidering my Fire/Cold Arrow combo (Kashya's Prodigy) idea. Instead, I might play with synergized Cold Arrow and maxed Inner Sight, which would leave enough skills to pump a Decoy or a Valkyrie minion. I have finally collected the entire M'avina set, and I think a "cold Rogue wannabe" amazon would be a novel alternative to the Freezing Arrow archers that many others have built for that set. But the main point is that I want an excuse to max Ice Arrow and not regret doing so...

 

[Zyr]

I want my next assassin to be a lightning trapper.

You might want to consider making your proposed Rapid Trapper as your next 'Sin, then pausing her development at level 69 to serve as a Crafty Assassin while working on other characters.

 

[Zyr]

remaining Javelin/Spear skills:

• Lightning Meleezon: [21]Power Strike, Charged Strike, Lightning Strike, Valkyrie.
• Jabber/Fender: [22]Penetrate, [23]Jab, [24]Fend, Decoy.
• Impaler: [25]Impale, Charged Strike, Decoy, Valkyrie.

I would realign the maxed skills among these three.

Lightning Meleezon: [21]Power Strike, Charged Strike, Lightning Strike, Valkyrie.

Ooh, sneaky! This would enable you to max Power Strike without ever having to use it!

IME, Charged Strike and Lightning Strike synergize each other sufficiently that no additional Lightning synergy is required. And Power Strike's purported +%AR bonus doesn't work, so I'll propose below what I think is a more appropriate build to include it.

The problem I've always faced with Strikers is, what do I do with Lighning Immunes? I've tried several different options...

Spoiler: Options for Strikers

- Level 89 Matriarch: "Harmony" bow on switch with normal Attack. Worked, but slow.

- Level 85 Guardian: "Harmony" bow on switch with one point (+skill adders) Magic Arrow. Not much faster than normal Attack.

- Level 88 Guardian and level 88 Conqueror: Maxed Poison Javelin and Plague Javelin. (More about them later.)

- Sparkle_Plenty (Conqueror, currently level 76) and several predecessors, both HC and SC: Impale.

- Victor_Victoria (Conqueror, currently level 86): Berserk from "Passion."

For your project, I think Impale is the best fit. Critical Strike and Deadly Strike don't work with Impale, the skill's +%AR bonus is sufficient that Penetrate isn't needed, and Pierce is useless, so you could forego any points in the right side of the P&M tree.

You aren't bound by my 54 Str / 40 Dex Spear geas, and thus could use Javelins and a shield. I did some testing with several Javazons, and established to my satisfaction that replenishing javs completely cure the Durability degradation which Impale imposes. Demon's Arch, "Treachery," 20% IAS gloves, and a single Jewel of Fervor enable 18 fpa Impale. I might have to build this myself.

Jabber/Fender: [22]Penetrate, [23]Jab, [24]Fend, Decoy.

This raises the converse (or reverse, or obverse, or perhaps perverse) of the Striker question: What to do about Physical Immunes? I have (at least partially) documented twelve Fending Mistress o' Minions Javazons, but I'm lazy: The documentation is badly outdated. All twelve are currently at least level 86, a few are 87, and one is 88. Also, I currently have two more, both level 83, about whom I haven't written yet.

This build requires high physical damage javelins (think Demon's Arch, but I've successfully used all six elite javelin types), and shamelessly exploits two (or three) quirks of the right side of the J&S tree:

Spoiler: One-point wonders!

- Lightning Bolt always hits, cannot be blocked, and carries Crushing Blow and Open Wounds (subject to the Ranged attack 50% penalty). Like Strafe, Multishot, and Blade Fury, it inflicts 75% of Weapon Damage, but converts it into Lightning Damage. It also carries 75% of Lightning damage from items. For detailed information, see this thread. My thinking was that with high enough weapon damage, even with only a single point investment in the skill, LB would, at the very least, deliver significantly greater damage than the Shocking throwing weapons which my Daggerzons had relied upon - and I wouldn't have to worry about Chance to Hit. My thinking turned out to be correct.

- Lightning Fury always hits (though it can be blocked), and carries all other types of damage, making it a near-perfect physical damage delivery system in circumstances where melee is inadvisable. I already knew from experience with my Plague / Striker Toxic_Shaka that this would work well.

- Poison Javelin doesn't really fit with the other skills I proposed to use. Fend, Jab, LF, and LB all benefit from anything which increaes weapon damage; Poison Javelin does not. Also, LF and LB always hit, and Fend and Jab include +% AR as part of the packages, while Poison Javelin has the same AR as normal Throw. But I had to explore the potential, in my hands, of Poison Javelin combined with slvl 15 Venom from "Treachery." PoiJ's duration combined with Venom's rate yields more than 6000 damage over 8 seconds at slvl 1. And while the damage per second doesn't increase much, at slvl 4 the damage over 14 seconds is over 11000. It's devilishly difficult to use, because for Venom's damage to be applied the javelin must hit. And critters turn just as green from the poison cloud (which at low levels won't even make monsters sneeze, though it's potentially useful for stopping regeneration) as they do from a successful javelin hit. So how do I know whether or not the javelin hit? Life Leech, Mana Leech, and Crushing Blow animations are good indicators, but easy to miss in the heat of battle. If Cold damage is present, the target will turn blue before turning green, but this, too, can be easy to miss unless the Cdam duration is long, and can be ambiguous if a mercenary or some other party participant also deals cold damage. Knockback is unmistakable, but doesn't occur with every successful hit, especially against bosses. A shrinking target Life bar is a good indicator-- if there is time to watch.

Need I even say that I've found this concept powerful, flexible, and enjoyable?

Impaler: [25]Impale, Charged Strike, Decoy, Valkyrie.

Since I've proposed to yank Impale out of this build, thereby rendering it rather meaningless for the project, I offer another in its place:

[21]Power Strike, [23]Jab, [28]Inner Sight, Decoy.

Since Power Strike's +%AR bonus doesn't work, it needs CtH help from Penetrate, Inner Sight, or both, in order to contribute a meaningful Physical Immune solution. I'd build her as a Javazon, with the same one-point wonders as the Fending Mistresses o' Minions.

Javelin Tosser: [26]Poison Javelin, Lightning Bolt, [27]Plague Javelin, Lightning Fury.

I've built six Zons with maxed Poison and Plague.

Spoiler: Toxic Tossers

- Toxic_Shaka, level 88 Guardian, Plague Striker

- Dexless, level 88 Conqueror, pure Vit Plague Striker

- Praxidice, Level 88 Conqueror, Plague/LF/CS (more in subsequent posts)

- Elektra_Green, Level 88 Conqueror, Plague/LF/CS
(MaeK gear and no "Insight" on merc)

- CuRare, Level 77 rare bound Destroyer, Plague/LF/Decoy

- Patientia, level 89 Conqueror, Toxic Mistress o' Minions (more in following post)

Using Plague Javelin was not easy for me, until I got this lesson from Dr. Disaster at the Amazon Basin:

Oh, that's simple. All you need to do is:

- cast Decoy as far ahead as Plague Javelin's flying range is

- toss one Plague Javelin after Decoy once she appeared on the field

Decoy attracts critters -> critters enter cloud -> critters get poisoned -> critters die :evil:

IMO and IME, this use of Decoy is crucial to the successful use of Plague Javelin. But investing in Decoy (let alone Valkyrie) is tricky when one is maxing the two Poison skills and two Lightning skills, as I did in four instances. In all four cases, I gave the Zons single points in Valkyrie, which would reliably be cast at level 15 by the "Peace" armors each of the four wears. But how many points would I need in Decoy, both for Decoy duration and durability and for Valkyrie synergy?

I gave my first, Toxic_Shaka, 14 hard points in Decoy. Comfy, but at level 88 she has only 16 hard points each in CS and LS. That's a lotta Ldam left on the table! I really should respec her. Dexless got 7 hard points in Decoy, allowing all offensive skills to be maxed at level 88. Praxidice originally maxed LF and Decoy along with the Poison skills, but in a respec to max CS I gave her 6 in Decoy. And just a couple of weeks ago I got Elektra_Green to 88 and put her final point in Poison Javelin; the 5 hard points in Decoy I gave her seem to suffice.

Alternatively, I might max Valkyrie instead of Lightning Bolt, and leave Lightning Fury unsynergized.

Unsynergized LF worked very well for Praxidice prior to her respec, which occurred at level 87. But, as described above, Decoy is a much better fit with Plague Javelin, and its four-second timer, than Valkyrie, with its six-second cooldown.

Given your fondness for Spirit of Barbs, I feel obliged to nudge you toward making "Bramble" for your Javelin Tosser, as I did with Patientia. As pointed out in Othin's Mirror, Mirror at the wall …, the Decoy is the best possible reflector of both Thorns and SoB damage. Besides, how can you resist a Barbie character with three Barbie minions?

 

[Swamigoon]

I have found five Demon's Arch javelin stacks so far in this project. Four of them are in GoMule stashes. An ethereal Demon's Arch stack was used by a Town Guard hireling, and remains one of my all-time favorite mercenary weapon choices. I want to put one or two of the other four on a barbarian Double-Thrower/Double-Stabber. (I know, the skill is actually called Double Swing, but if the barb is holding javelins or daggers, I think the game should detect them and automatically rename the skill Double Stab). That leaves two or three more stick-stacks for Amazons, which would work nicely with several of your suggestions, Zyr. In particular, I think Demon's Arch fits the "Lightning Strike & Impale" build.

Part of my brain wants to build at least one spear fighter in this project, even though it would probably be more effective to max all ten J&S skills on toons that only use javelin class weapons.

For your proposed "Power Strike + Jab" build, I think there's a different weapon I would fancy. Thunderstroke already provides Lightning Bolt as an 0skill, so as a PI solution, I could let Power Strike synergize LB with that weapon, and *still* never need to actually use the Power Strike skill!

Spoiler: some rather exciting math

Actually, let me ponder about that a little more, while I consult our favorite wiki and figure some arithmetic. Consider LB as a zero-point wonder. One of my stashed Thunderstroke stacks happens to have +4 J&S skills on it, so with those, 0skill LBs get tossed at skill level 7. Here's a rundown of all of the lightning damage coming from such attacks:

• 1-112 = level 7 Lightning Bolt skill damage (56 average)
• 1-67 = synergy damage from maxed Power Strike (33 average)
• 1-511 = weapon's lightning damage mod (256 average)
• 100-190 = physical weapon damage converted to lightning (145 average)
• one in five hits delivers a level 14 Lightning spell proc, for another 1-168 lightning damage (17 average)

That averages to a little over 500 lightning damage per hit, with a ranged attack that always hits. Crushing blows, +skills, etc. would lift those numbers even higher.

On the other hand, here's the lightning damage from maxed unsynergized Power Strike, using the same Thunderstrokes:

• 1-898 = level 24 Power Strike skill damage (449 average)
• 1-511 = weapon's lightning damage mod (256 average)
• one in five hits proc level 14 Lightning (17 average)

That averages a little over 720 lightning damage per hit. But it's a melee attack that, and it will very often miss, unless its chance to hit is greatly assisted by dexterity, Inner Sight, Penetrate, AR charms, etc. So yes, I think I would prefer the ranged attack against PIs. It would be a very fun experiment to bring all the way to a matriarch.

Thanks for theorycrafting some more with me, Zyr!

 

[Swamigoon]

I'm back to pursuing this project after a getting the computer repaired, which took longer than I hoped. Now that the computer is fixed, I have to spend most of my extra time catching up with work, and won't have sufficient time to participate in this season's MFO. So instead of preparing for the MFO, I decided to just casually run a few areas with some of the completed pats and mats before I get back to this project. To my surprise, my dentist snagged from the Chaos Sanctuary an awesome Runic Talons without any staffmods. Since I had a few ohm runes stashed, I decided it was time to make and try a Chaos runeword for my new assassin Hestia. Wow, what a fun primary weapon!

Now I'm struggling with decisions regarding Hestia. First, settling on the build name. Shadow Apprentice? Shadow Mentor? Shadow Buffer? Still trying to think of a good name for her build. Hestia is currently level 72, and has advanced to the cat-2 waypoint in Hell act 1. Her build so far: she has maxed Shadow Master, Venom, and Blade Shield. I am enjoying the Blade Shield trap skill, and the Chaos weapon works really well with it. It's a little disappointing that Blade Shield won't activate Chaos' Charged Bolt and Frozen Orb procs; regardless, I'm still seeing plenty of those from Hestia's normal attacks. The Shadow Master's Blade Shield seems pretty impressive, especially when she gets mobbed. After a bit of time, the mobs are chewed up and the Shadow Master emerges mostly unharmed.

Hestia has a few unspent skill points. She could max one more skill before she's done. I thought about maxing Fade, but there's really no need. With her current gear and just one point in Fade, each of her resistances are already 74% or higher. Her Shadow Master's resistances don't seem to need much help either. I also thought about maxing Mind Blast. The Shadow Master casts that spell rather frequently already, with no points invested in it at all, so it would be nice to make it stronger. Another option: if I go with a Chaos inspired "spinning blades" theme, I could max Blade Sentinel. Then Hestia could throw around some nice frisbees into battles and use Whirlwind to turn herself into a Blade Shielded super-frisbee. But I don't know whether the Shadow Master would join in the fun. I don't think I've ever seen that minion deploy a Blade Sentinel, and if she won't use them, it wouldn't fit the "Shadow Apprentice" theme. Another skill option that would nicely complement the Chaos claw is Claw Mastery, but I already maxed that on another matriarch, so it wouldn't advance my assassin maxed skill count, and the Shadow Master doesn't benefit from Claw Mastery anyway. Other assassin skills I haven't yet maxed, that might be nice for this build, are Dragon Tail, Dragon Flight, or Psychic Hammer. Also Weapon Block, but again that one wouldn't benefit the Shadow Master either.

If any of you think of suggestions or experiences building your own legacy assassins, please share? Thanks!

 

[Swamigoon]

Yesterday I finally achieved a 7x7+2 "sept sept" by finishing the fifty-first character in my Maxed Skills Grail project. I thought it would be a good idea to revisit this brainstorm thread. I'd like to reflect on the project thus far, "theorycraft" possibilities for a revised path forward, and anticipate continued replay while maxing new skills.

In the outline suggested below, it seems I could play through three more septs and complete all of the druid and paladin skills, then eight more assorted characters after that to max all of the remaining skills.

If any of you are willing to reply again, I would still appreciate your thoughts, corrections, and advice! Okay, here goes:

----------
Seven Amazons completed:

• Lightning/Valkyrie: [1] Charged Strike, [2] Lightning Fury, [3] Decoy, [4] Valkyrie.
• Lightning Fury Cowherd: Charged Strike, Lightning Fury, [5] Lightning Strike, [6] Lightning Bolt.
• Passive Dagger-stabber: Decoy, Valkyrie, [7] Critical Strike, [8] Evade.
• Disciple Strafer: Decoy, Valkyrie, [9] Strafe, [10] Slow Missiles.
• Cold Rogue/Freeze Archer: [11] Inner Sight, [12] Cold Arrow, [13] Ice Arrow, [14] Freezing Arrow.
• Fender/Jabber: Decoy, [15] Fend, [16] Jab, [17] Penetrate.
• Multizon: Valkyrie, [18] Multiple Shot, [19] Pierce, [20] Avoid.

Remaining ten amazon skills:

• J&S: Impale, Power Strike, Poison Javelin, Plague Javelin
• P&M: Dodge
• B&X: Magic Arrow, Guided Arrow, Fire Arrow, Exploding Arrow, Immolation Arrow

Five proposed amazons to max the remaining skills:

• Thunderstoke Impaler: Decoy, Valkyrie, [21] Impale, [22]Power Strike.
• Poison Tosser: Decoy, Lightning Fury, [23] Poison Javelin, [24]Plague Javelin.
  • Zyr gave me some good advice in this thread about better builds to max these javelin skills.
• Fire Archer: Decoy, [25] Fire Arrow, [26] Exploding Arrow, [27] Immolation Arrow.
• Guided Archer: Decoy, Valkyrie, [28] Magic Arrow, [29] Guided Arrow.
• Fuzzy Dodger: Decoy, Valkyrie, [30]Dodge.
  • I now have the runes to make a Beast weapon, so I believe I could start this one any time.

----------
Eight Assassins completed:

• Dancer: [1] Shadow Master, [2] Lightning Sentry, [3] Death Sentry.
• Fire Trapper: Death Sentry, [4] Wake of Fire, [5] Wake of Inferno.
• Cold Aggressin: [6] Claw Mastery, [7] Dragon Claw, [8] Blades of Ice, [9] Phoenix Strike.
• Ninja: [10] Cloak of Shadows, [11] Shadow Warrior, [12] Venom, [13] Blade Fury.
• Kicking Gendarme: Shadow Master, [14] Tiger Strike, [15] Cobra Strike, [16] Dragon Talon.
• Rapid Trapper/Shopper: Lightning Sentry, Death Sentry, [17] Burst of Speed, [18] Fire Blast.
• Shadow Mentor: Shadow Master, Venom, [19] Blade Shield, [20] Dragon Flight.
• Defensive Mind Blaster: Claw Mastery, [21] Fade, [22] Weapon Block, [23] Mind Blast.

Remaining seven assassin skills:

• MA: Fists of Fire, Claws of Thunder, Dragon Tail
• SD: Psychic Hammer
• Traps: Shock Web, Charged Bolt Sentry, Blade Sentinel

Five proposed assassins:

• Phoenix Striker: Shadow Master, Phoenix Strike, [24] Fists of Fire, [25] Claws of Thunder.
• Tail Kicker: Shadow Master, Tiger Strike, Phoenix Strike, [26] Dragon Tail.
• Lightning Trapper: Lightning Sentry, Death Sentry, [27] Charged Bolt Sentry, [28]Shock Web.
  • If I'm patient enough to level this character to 89, she could also max Fire Blast.
• Disc Ninja: Shadow Master, Venom, [29]Blade Sentinel.
  • If this build uses claws, she could max Claw Mastery. Otherwise, something else? Mind Blast?
• Mental Case: [30]Psychic Hammer
  • I don't know what else to do with this skill. Maybe go with the old standbys Shadow Master, Lightning Sentry, Death Sentry.

----------
Seven Barbarians completed:

• Zerker: [1] Berserk, [2] Howl, [3] Shout, [4] Axe Mastery.
• Stun Barb: [5] Bash, [6] Stun, [7] Concentrate, [8] War Cry.
• Wolfhowl Fast-walker: Shout, [9] Pole Arm Mastery, [10] Iron Skin, [11] Increased Speed.
• Bul-Kathos' Swords Frenzy: [12] Frenzy, [13] Taunt, [14] Double Swing, [15] Sword Mastery.
• Double Thrower/Stabber: Double Swing, [16] Throwing Mastery, [17] Spear Mastery, [18] Double Throw.
• Passion Leap Attacker: [19] Leap, [20] Leap Attack, [21] Mace Mastery, [22] Battle Command.
• Concentrator: Sword Mastery, Concentrate, [23] Battle Orders, [24] Find Item.

Remaining six barbarian skills:

• Warcries: Battle Cry, Find Potion, Grim Ward
• Masteries: Increased Stamina, Natural Resists
• Combat: Whirlwind

Four proposed barbarians:

• Grim Ward Whirler: Weapon Mastery, Battle Orders, [25] Whirlwind, [26] Grim Ward.
• Endurance Wolfhowl Barb: Weapon Mastery, Battle Orders, [27] Increased Stamina, [28] Natural Resists
• Drunk Zerker: Berserk, Howl, Shout, [29] Find Potion.
• Battle Cry Concentrator: Weapon Mastery, Battle Orders, Concentrate, [30] Battle Cry.

----------
Seven Druids completed:

• Shockwave Summoner: [1] Dire Wolf, [2] Grizzly, [3] Heart of Wolverine, [4] Lycanthropy.
• Fire Druid: [5] Fire Storm, [6] Molten Boulder,[7] Fissure, [8] Volcano.
• Tank Hunter: Dire Wolf, Grizzly, [9] Solar Creeper, [10] Spirit of Barbs.
• Life-obsessed Feral Rager: [11] Oak Sage, [12] Carrion Vine, [13] Feral Rage, [14] Werewolf.
• Fire Claw Mauler: [15] Werebear, [16] Maul, [17] Shock Wave, [18] Fire Claws.
• Hunter: Dire Wolf, Grizzly, Heart of Wolverine, [19] Spirit Wolf.
• Aldur's Rabid Fury: [20] Fury, [21] Rabies, [22] Poison Creeper.

Remaining eight druid skills:

• Elemental: Armageddon, Arctic Blast, Cyclone Armor, Twister, Tornado, Hurricane
• Shapeshifting: Hunger
• Summoning: Raven

Three proposed druids:

• Wind Druid: [23] Arctic Blast, [24] Cyclone Armor, [25] Twister, [26] Tornado, [27]Hurricane.
  • Kstil3227 is having good fun and fortune with his Hurricane-Syd, giving me hope that I could be engaged enough to level one to 89, to max all five of the wind skills on one character.
• Bird Wrangler: Dire Wolf, Grizzly, Heart of Wolverine, [28] Raven.
• Hungry Armageddon Shifter: [29] Hunger, [30] Armageddon.

----------
Seven Necromancers completed:

• Skeleton Zookeeper: [1] Skeleton Mastery, [2] Raise Skeleton, [3] Raise Skeletal Mage, [4] Corpse Explosion.
• Poisoner: [5] Poison Dagger, [6] Poison Explosion, [7] Poison Nova, [8] Lower Resist.
• Poison/Summoner: Poison Dagger, Poison Explosion, Poison Nova, [9] Golem Mastery.
• Dentist: [10] Teeth, [11] Bone Spear, [12] Bone Spirit, [13] Bone Prison.
• Naj's Reviver: Skeleton Mastery, Raise Skeleton, [14] Revive, [15] Summon Resist.
• Fire Golem Crossbowmancer: Golem Mastery, [16] Fire Golem, [17] Iron Golem, [18] Terror.
• Commandomancer: Skeleton Mastery, Raise Skeleton, [19] Amplify Damage, [20] Attract.

Remaining ten necromancer skills:

• Summoning: Clay Golem, Blood Golem
• P&B: Bone Armor, Bone Wall
• Curses: Dim Vision, Confuse, Iron Maiden, Life Tap, Weaken, Decrepify

Five proposed necromancers:

• Meleemancer: Bone Prison, [21] Bone Wall, [22] Bone Armor, [23] Life Tap.
• Pincushion Golemancer: Golem Mastery, [26] Clay Golem, [27] Blood Golem, [28] Iron Maiden
• Blinding Zookeeper: Skeleton Mastery, Raise Skeleton, Raise Skeletal Mage, [29] Dim Vision.
• Mojo Fishymancer: Skeleton Mastery, Raise Skeleton, Corpse Explosion, [30] Confuse.
• Mojo Summoner: Skeleton Mastery, Raise Skeleton, [24] Weaken, [25] Decrepify.

----------
Seven Paladins completed:

• Templar: [1] Fist of the Heavens, [2] Holy Bolt, [3] Holy Shock.
• Angel Avenger: [4] Vengeance, [5] Resist Fire, [6] Resist Lightning, [7] Salvation.
• Fanatic Zealot: [8] Sacrifice, [9] Zeal, [10] Fanaticism, [11] Conversion.
• Aura Avenger: Resist Fire, [12] Holy Fire, [13] Resist Cold, [14] Holy Freeze
• Hammerdin: [15] Blessed Hammer, [16] Blessed Aim, [17] Vigor, [18] Concentration.
• Noisy Smiter: Fanaticism, [19] Smite, [20] Holy Shield, [21] Defiance
• MediCleric: [22] Sanctuary, [23] Prayer, [24] Cleansing, [25] Meditation.

Remaining five paladin skills:

• DAs: Redemption
• OAs: Might, Thorns, Conviction
• Combat: Charge

Three more paladins:

• Abbot Charger: Prayer, Vigor, [26] Might, [27] Charge.
• Traditional Avenger: Vengenace, Resist Cold, Resist Lightning, [28] Conviction.
• Sadomasochist Martyr: Sacrifice, Fanaticism, [29] Redemption, [30] Thorns.

----------
Eight Sorceresses completed:

• Hydra/Orb: [1] Frozen Orb, [2] Fire Ball, [3] Fire Mastery, [4] Hydra.
• Blizzard: [5] Ice Blast, [6] Glacial Spike, [7] Blizzard, [8] Cold Mastery.
• Chain/Orb: Frozen Orb, [9] Lightning, [10] Chain Lightning, [11] Lightning Mastery.
• Meteorb: Fire Mastery, [12] Inferno, [13] Meteor.
• Orbitall: Frozen Orb, Fire Ball, [14] Fire Bolt, [15] Teleport.
• Cold Armor Enchantless Spearer: [16] Frozen Armor, [17] Shiver Armor, [18] Chilling Armor, [19] Warmth.
• Warm Blanket Snuggler: Lightning Mastery, Lightning, [20] Charged Bolt, [21] Fire Wall.
• Enchantless Nova Stormer: Warmth, Lightning Mastery, [22] Nova, [23] Thunder Storm.

Remaining seven skills:

• Cold: Frost Nova, Ice Bolt
• Lightning: Static Field, Telekinesis, Energy Shield
• Fire: Blaze, Enchant

Four proposed Sorceresses:

• Static Field Enchantress: Fire Mastery, Warmth, [24] Enchant, [25] Static Field.
• Energy Sorceress: Frozen Orb, Lightning, [26] Telekinesis, [27] Energy Shield.
• Frost Nova: Cold Mastery, Frozen Orb, Blizzard, [28] Frost Nova.
• Orb/Blazer: Fire Mastery, Frozen Orb, [29] Ice Bolt, [30] Blaze.

----------

Thanks again! -Swamigoon

 

[LouB]

One initial thought. On your Poison tosser wear Arachnid Mesh Belt and use the Venom charges. It works with the two poison Javelin skills (javalin hits only not the clouds). Also Trang's gloves.

 

[Swamigoon]

Oh, I'm so glad you suggested this, LouB. Indeed, I have those items available in stashes. I think I might have the runes to make a Bramble armor, too. I now know what character I will play next!

 

[LouB]

@Swamigoon I also plan on making a Poisonmancer after I get through with my Assassin Triumvirate. Somewhere in all the reading I did on Venom I seem to recalling a thread where someone tried Bramble and wasn't impressed. Maybe the thorns didn't do that much, but if the 25% boost from Trang's claws helps Venom you would think the 25%-50% poison skills from Bramble would make a difference.