Utopia – A Diablo II Group
A few weeks ago I was thinking about the “perfect†Diablo II group, replete with Javazon, Blizzard Sork, and their ilk. But that’s not the most fun: the game becomes trivial, and some group members become completely overshadowed. No one wants to be that guy swinging for 500 damage while 20K meteors rain down from the sky. So the next question was “what would the most fun group be, taking into account balance, challenge, and conflicting itemization? That’s where Utopia came from.
This is a Diablo II group that’s a little different. Instead of maximizing killing power on one end – or restricting everyone to Wirt’s leg on the other – this one comes with a preformed roster built around balance and synergy. Builds were picked that allow for strong progression and individual contribution without cheese or the “five sorceresses and an Oculus dropped†problems. Here they are:
Assassin: Phoenix Striker
Druid: Fire Claws
Sorceress: Charged Bolt
Paladin: Avenger
Barbarian: Anything
Necromancer: Boner or Venomancer
Amazon: Frost Maiden
Paladin2: Fanaticism Zealot or Tesladin or Freezadin
The idea is to take these characters from Act 1 Normal to Act V Hell, hardcore, untwinked and unaided. The group will meet on Wednesdays at 7:00PM EST and run until 9:00PM, starting on July 18th. This group is USEast only.
If you’re interested in the group, add your account name, Utopia character name (be creative :thumbsup: ), and the build you want to use on the list. I’ll go first:
Rules:
*This is an untwinked group. You only use what you find in Utopia games, and nothing can be transferred onto your character.
*On loot? Don’t be a bastard. Feel free to pick up items, but ask before vendoring something good. For example that +3 Weaken +3 Lifetap wand can go straight from your inventory to the NPC, but ask before selling that two-socket wand with +3 Spear and Spirit. Part of not being a bastard is letting things go to someone who needs them. That Griffon’s eye is better for our sorceress than our necro.
*Let drops sit for a few seconds on act boss kills, and discuss. Mad grabs cause deadly mistakes and frustration.
________________________________________________________________________
Build Rationales:
Assassin:
Phoenix Striker - http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=599
Assassins are a veritable Swiss army knife of fun skills. They have traps, martial arts moves, summonable buddies, and utility spells. So how do you choose the right assassin?
We’re going with the Phoenix Striker, an assassin built around – you guessed it – phoenix strike. This build offers powerful yet balanced damage. It’s not very item dependent; hell-ready gear is obtainable from vendors and gambling. Most importantly, it’s fun! I’m currently running a phoenix striker through single-player, and she’s a treat. Very fast and strategic play; you’re constantly on the move while manipulating your surroundings to maximize survival. She should be even more fun in a group, with battle orders and oak sage removing the fragile downsides to this build. Two elements to attack with allows for strong play against immunes. Highly recommended!
Druid:
Fire Claws - http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=541#Fire Druids and Shapeshifting
Every group wants a druid, and that goes double in hardcore. Oak sage boosts your life into the stratosphere, while other skills allow these guys to be furry tanks and death machines. Heck, druids can summon their own grizzly bears!
For our druid, we wanted someone fairly item independent, with good damage and utility. The choice? A fire claws bear or wolf. They can pump out 4-6K damage per swing, need only a fast weapon, benefit from our conviction/elemental focus, and offer personal tanking and group oak utility. The idea is to max fireclaws and oak, while putting points as needed into fireclaws synergies and support skills. Wolf or bear, we’ll be glad to have you along.
Sorceress:
Charged Boltress - http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=560
The sorceress was one of the toughest characters to balance. Most sorceress skills have plenty of synergies and dizzying maximum damage, allowing them to easily overshadow other classes. A charged boltress offers reasonable damage, static/teleport utility, and survivability through energy shield. Differing from the guide, our sorceress will be single-tree. I’ve done a boltress, and they’re quite fun!
Paladin:
Avenger - http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=510
Avengers are just spectacular. They’re a force multiplier that’s particularly effective in an elemental-based party like ours. All their gear is easily obtainable, utility is unmatched with support auras, and BO and oak transform this fellow into an incredible tank. We <3 the avenger.
Barbarian:
Anything with BO – (Some examples: http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=506 ; http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=572 ; http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126634
Untwinked barbarians really can’t become overpowered without crazy luck, so enjoy whatever you want. If it’s got BO it’s in: beserk, concentrate, frenzy, double throw...double potion throw…
Necromancer:
Boner – (Max spear, spirit, and synergies)
Venomancer – (Max Nova and synergies; points in lower resist/revives/etc)
Lord of Magi – (RSM/SM/LR)
The necromancer is another tricky spot. A fishymancer (max RS/SM/CE) is extremely powerful and can solo the game on /players 8. This would pose a problem, as our necro could literally do just that, while the rest of us sipped lemonade. So he’s out.
What other builds are there? Boners and venomancers come to mind, though the former kills slowly and the latter kills many things very very slowly, untwinked. A lord of magi does low damage in /players 8 hell. I’m open to anything without raise skeleton, so pick something you’d enjoy.
Amazon:
Frost Maiden - http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=561
Javazons are one of the most potent killers in Diablo2. Lest we become the group “A Javazon and Those Guys That Follow it Around†(AJaTGTFiA; catchy!), we’re going to remove the beefkiller from consideration.
The ice maiden fits our needs perfectly. Scales with skill levels more than gear; moderate AoE damage; minion and debuff utility; all in all a balanced, useful build. Mana is a bit tough until someone crafts an insight, but vendors sell potions for a reason, no? This is the build I’ll be going with, as I’ve done many of the other builds recently and something fresh would be a treat.
Paladin2:
Tesladin/Freezadin/Fanatic Zealot (http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=505 ; http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=542 ; http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=356928)
If we fill up and there’s interest in the eigth slot, another pally is always useful in a pinch for extra elemental damage or fanaticism, as well as spot applications of salvation, meditation, etc.
A few weeks ago I was thinking about the “perfect†Diablo II group, replete with Javazon, Blizzard Sork, and their ilk. But that’s not the most fun: the game becomes trivial, and some group members become completely overshadowed. No one wants to be that guy swinging for 500 damage while 20K meteors rain down from the sky. So the next question was “what would the most fun group be, taking into account balance, challenge, and conflicting itemization? That’s where Utopia came from.
This is a Diablo II group that’s a little different. Instead of maximizing killing power on one end – or restricting everyone to Wirt’s leg on the other – this one comes with a preformed roster built around balance and synergy. Builds were picked that allow for strong progression and individual contribution without cheese or the “five sorceresses and an Oculus dropped†problems. Here they are:
Assassin: Phoenix Striker
Druid: Fire Claws
Sorceress: Charged Bolt
Paladin: Avenger
Barbarian: Anything
Necromancer: Boner or Venomancer
Amazon: Frost Maiden
Paladin2: Fanaticism Zealot or Tesladin or Freezadin
The idea is to take these characters from Act 1 Normal to Act V Hell, hardcore, untwinked and unaided. The group will meet on Wednesdays at 7:00PM EST and run until 9:00PM, starting on July 18th. This group is USEast only.
If you’re interested in the group, add your account name, Utopia character name (be creative :thumbsup: ), and the build you want to use on the list. I’ll go first:
Code:
Account Name Character Name Build Slot
*Kretschmer URideToboggan Frost Maiden (Ama)Rules:
*This is an untwinked group. You only use what you find in Utopia games, and nothing can be transferred onto your character.
*On loot? Don’t be a bastard. Feel free to pick up items, but ask before vendoring something good. For example that +3 Weaken +3 Lifetap wand can go straight from your inventory to the NPC, but ask before selling that two-socket wand with +3 Spear and Spirit. Part of not being a bastard is letting things go to someone who needs them. That Griffon’s eye is better for our sorceress than our necro.
*Let drops sit for a few seconds on act boss kills, and discuss. Mad grabs cause deadly mistakes and frustration.
________________________________________________________________________
Build Rationales:
Assassin:
Phoenix Striker - http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=599
Assassins are a veritable Swiss army knife of fun skills. They have traps, martial arts moves, summonable buddies, and utility spells. So how do you choose the right assassin?
We’re going with the Phoenix Striker, an assassin built around – you guessed it – phoenix strike. This build offers powerful yet balanced damage. It’s not very item dependent; hell-ready gear is obtainable from vendors and gambling. Most importantly, it’s fun! I’m currently running a phoenix striker through single-player, and she’s a treat. Very fast and strategic play; you’re constantly on the move while manipulating your surroundings to maximize survival. She should be even more fun in a group, with battle orders and oak sage removing the fragile downsides to this build. Two elements to attack with allows for strong play against immunes. Highly recommended!
Druid:
Fire Claws - http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=541#Fire Druids and Shapeshifting
Every group wants a druid, and that goes double in hardcore. Oak sage boosts your life into the stratosphere, while other skills allow these guys to be furry tanks and death machines. Heck, druids can summon their own grizzly bears!
For our druid, we wanted someone fairly item independent, with good damage and utility. The choice? A fire claws bear or wolf. They can pump out 4-6K damage per swing, need only a fast weapon, benefit from our conviction/elemental focus, and offer personal tanking and group oak utility. The idea is to max fireclaws and oak, while putting points as needed into fireclaws synergies and support skills. Wolf or bear, we’ll be glad to have you along.
Sorceress:
Charged Boltress - http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=560
The sorceress was one of the toughest characters to balance. Most sorceress skills have plenty of synergies and dizzying maximum damage, allowing them to easily overshadow other classes. A charged boltress offers reasonable damage, static/teleport utility, and survivability through energy shield. Differing from the guide, our sorceress will be single-tree. I’ve done a boltress, and they’re quite fun!
Paladin:
Avenger - http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=510
Avengers are just spectacular. They’re a force multiplier that’s particularly effective in an elemental-based party like ours. All their gear is easily obtainable, utility is unmatched with support auras, and BO and oak transform this fellow into an incredible tank. We <3 the avenger.
Barbarian:
Anything with BO – (Some examples: http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=506 ; http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=572 ; http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126634
Untwinked barbarians really can’t become overpowered without crazy luck, so enjoy whatever you want. If it’s got BO it’s in: beserk, concentrate, frenzy, double throw...double potion throw…
Necromancer:
Boner – (Max spear, spirit, and synergies)
Venomancer – (Max Nova and synergies; points in lower resist/revives/etc)
Lord of Magi – (RSM/SM/LR)
The necromancer is another tricky spot. A fishymancer (max RS/SM/CE) is extremely powerful and can solo the game on /players 8. This would pose a problem, as our necro could literally do just that, while the rest of us sipped lemonade. So he’s out.
What other builds are there? Boners and venomancers come to mind, though the former kills slowly and the latter kills many things very very slowly, untwinked. A lord of magi does low damage in /players 8 hell. I’m open to anything without raise skeleton, so pick something you’d enjoy.
Amazon:
Frost Maiden - http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=561
Javazons are one of the most potent killers in Diablo2. Lest we become the group “A Javazon and Those Guys That Follow it Around†(AJaTGTFiA; catchy!), we’re going to remove the beefkiller from consideration.
The ice maiden fits our needs perfectly. Scales with skill levels more than gear; moderate AoE damage; minion and debuff utility; all in all a balanced, useful build. Mana is a bit tough until someone crafts an insight, but vendors sell potions for a reason, no? This is the build I’ll be going with, as I’ve done many of the other builds recently and something fresh would be a treat.
Paladin2:
Tesladin/Freezadin/Fanatic Zealot (http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=505 ; http://www.purediablo.com/guides/news.php?id=542 ; http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=356928)
If we fill up and there’s interest in the eigth slot, another pally is always useful in a pinch for extra elemental damage or fanaticism, as well as spot applications of salvation, meditation, etc.
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