Gaaraofdeath
Diabloii.Net Member
Build for Smithadin
The Smithadin – The solo uber character to complete the game
Firstly I would like to say thanks for reading this build. The Smithadin is essentially a character who smites to take down the ubers in the game and is also a hammerdin that does approximately 13k hammer damage per hit I know this is low but I used 0 +skill charms. This character is item dependent but some of the items used are a bit unorthodox so you never know you might already have the items.
This build is a build that I created because I got annoyed with smithers nicking torches and running off with them in a game or because we might need to ask for their help to kill the ubers. With this build I was able to solo uber trist with a party of 8 and with my merc alive and well. This char can be used for PVP as well and works much much better than a hammerdin in PVP.
Statistics
Strength – well the strength for this char should not in most cases exceed the strength requirements for an Archon plate. However if you already have a HOZ then this should be not be a problem. My strength for this char was 95 kind of high but I still was able to solo the game.
Dexterity – dexterity is a very important issue I feel because if you do not have enough block with holysheild one can get toasted easily. Quoting Ragnarods 1.10 Paladin FAQ:
Total Blocking = (Blocking * (Dexterity - 15)) / (Character Level * 2)
So you can figure out the block you are getting for your respective items.
Vitality – Vitality is life and life means being able to take a decent amount of damage especially before you reach the ubers. Especially uber Mephisto with his annoying conviction aura and his shooting elemental skeletons he spawns.
Energy – 0 absolutely zero nothing to be added to this section.
With this spread of stats, I was able to solo uber trist at lvl 75 onwards.
Items
Items are the key to this build without them I would not be able to solo uber trist in probably a million years… maybe not million but would be close to it.
This build is very similar to the hammerdin build if not identical so please refer to Ragnorads Guide on skill point distribution or Captain_ Bogus guide to maximize damage
The items i used at low levels like close to 30 are
Sheild - A Spirit Akaran Targe Sheild with base resists above 30 = +2 to paladin skills, + 100 mana, +35 Faster cast rate + 35 to poison, lightning and cold resists
Sword - A spirit crystal sword = +2 to paladin skills, + 100 mana, +35 Faster cast rate
You can use other swords but do not use swords that require a lot of strength or dexterity.
Armour - Skin of Viper armour = +1 to all skills, + 30 to resists, +25% fcr and magic damage reduction. This is a very good low level godly armour very useful for a hammerdin
Helmet – Peasant Crown is the best choice = +1 to all skills, +20 to Energy, +20 to vitality. If not the runeword Lore = Ort + Sol
At low levels especially, there is usually very little mana and the +20 energy is very useful to cast hammers frequently
Amulet = Any amulet with +1 to paladin or all skills and hopefully + 10% FCR or has good resists, I used the telling of beads from the disciple set at low levels.
Belt – I only used 1 belt in the whole game and that was String of Ears. Firstly, they drop very frequently and are cheap to get and they +10-15% damage reduction and +10-15 magic damage reduction as well.
Gloves – I used frost burns for the mana since I already had around 115% FCR and I really needed more hammers.
Rings – any rings that increase mana and resists … or if you are rich then u can use SOJ’s. I was not that rich so I preferred using rings that increased my fcr/ mana and added some resists as well.
At this level I had 500 life, 450 mana and I my hammers were doing 600 damage perhit.
My merc on the other hand was carrying a ethereal insight partisan (found while I joined cow games in nightmare) and was wearing rock stopper sallet socketed with an perfect amethyst and was wearing Boneflesh platemail for 5% life leech. He was doing damage of 2.4 k with my concentration aura on.
The items mentioned above are very easy to obtained except for the SOJ’s and maybe the skin of viper but at such low levels these items are not very important. Levelling can be done easily by joining or hosting baal runs on normal level till level 40 or so.
The Nightmare level can either be really easy or difficult depending on the items that one has. I found it particularly hard especially because I did not have a Herald of Zakarum, HOZ which I feel is probably the best shield for a paladin.
For nightmare, I did not make a lot of changes to my gear except, I was using a 10% enhanced defence Sacred Rondache with 45 base resists as a spirit shield. The credit goes to my friend Boneynerd who was killing cows in hell. Thanks once again Boney. I had also switched my armour to Skullders ire Magic Find armour.
My merc on the other hand was using the same weapon but the armour being used was an ethereal Duriels Shell for the armour and with Vampire Gaze helm for the damage reduction and the life leech.
Items used eventually
Helm – Hareliquin Shako… Simply the best… +2 to all skills, +tons to life and mana,+ 10% damage reduction, 50% magic find.
Armour – Enigma, +2 to all skills, + 50 or more to strength, + 65 or more Magic find, +8% damage reduction, + 767 defence and lastly +1 to teleport
I found the armour for enigma however, I was not able to find the runes for so I traded for it using a 199% enhanced defence HOZ.
Most people say HOZ’s are difficult to find but they can be found pretty easily. HOZ’s can be found in nightmare when killing Mephisto, Shenk and Elderitch. I found 3 in 1 day of magic finding. So I would recommend you do the same keep doing magic find runs with these chars. I have also heard that Baal in nightmare drops them a lot but I feel it is too much of a hassle to get to him.
Weapon – the most important weapon I feel just like what everybody else says is a Heart of the Oak. +3 to skills, +40% Faster Cast rate, +30-40 resists and +15% to maximum mana.
Sheild – Sacred Rondache Spirit Sheild, +2 to all skills, +79 to almost all resists except fire, + 35% faster cast rate, +109 to mana, +22 to vitality
Boots – Marrowwalk Boneweave boots – for the 10 lifetap charges and do not worry they do not cost a lot to repair, +10-20 to strength and regenerate mana +10%.
Gloves – I used Lavagout for +20% increased attack speed and +24% fire resists.
Amulet – Mara’s if do not have any other amulet. I personally used an amulet that had +2 to paladin skills, +10% faster cast rate, +25 to all resists and +19 to attack rating.
Rings – Raven frost ring and Dwarf Star on the other
Weapon 2 on swap – LastWish phase blade – I know this is very difficult to make but, it can be obtained more easily by trading it. I was able to get 1 for a 194% HOZ and 2 mal runs and 1 ist rune and a 37 to all resists hoto.
LastWish I feel is the most important weapon. Firstly, it is a phase blade so its speed is very fast (-30). It does not need to be repaired so if its ethereal its great as well. It has 6% chance to cast level 11 fade which adds + 56 to all resists and has a 10% chance to cast lvl 18 life tap on enemies, +49% mf, +17 might aura and most importantly, 60-70% chance of crushing blow and ignore targets defence.
Crushing blow is crucial as it allows 10% of the monsters health to drop in an instant, lvl 18 lifetap replenishes life in 1 hit to the ubers or any enemy. The lvl 11 fade is great against the conviction aura by Uber Mephisto.
Mid level runes can be found easily by doing countess runs in hell. In approximately 100 countess runs, I was able to get 3 mal runes, 1 ist rune 2 ums and 5 pul runes. Also killing Izual and hephasto for the hell forge are good areas to find high runes like vex runes.
I also recommend making hotos to trade. There is a chance that they can turn out to be really good and if they are bad, then it can used by yourself or given to good friends for use.
Shield 2 on swap – Upped HOZ with um in it. This is a good smiting shield with good stats does consistent high average smite damage.
I also had 2 +15 resist Grand Charms. However, these are not really needed because of the fade activation on LastWish.
I also had an Annihilus charm to add to some resists and + to skills.
With this set up, I could solo uber trist and have been able to handle the uber trist even when all 3 bosses were there together attacking at the same time.
Strategy to Uber Trist for First timers
I know that although this build is great, it is not flawless this is especially tiring when all 3 bosses are activated at the same time by other party members. However, my strategy is the same as everybody else’s I just did not want people to rush in into uber trist to kill the bosses. I always go to the north first to lure our Mephisto be careful he spawns minions of his own but I recommend luring him out while casting lifetap with 1 the charges immediately. Then swap weapons and smite away, he dies in 20 seconds or so if this is done correctly, then kill of his minions either through hammers or smiting if you want to preserve your life. Next if you want u can just run into tristram like a wild man and take on Diablo and Baal together which is what I do sometimes or kill baal first and lastly diablo. The most annoying thing I feel is the hoarfrost from baal where he leeches all the mana out of you. In fact, I mostly carry mana pots instead of life pots to kill him. However once the ubers are killed, do not relax yet the minios are still present I usually just switch to hammers and kill them off easily.
Skill points distribution
For the skill point distribution, the points should be similar again to that of a hammerdin. However, once the blessed hammer damage with concentration reaches a damage level of approximately 10k, I would add 1-2 points into fanatism. Therefore, on weapon swap, I have Lastwish and Upped UM-ed HOZ with smite and fanatism.
However, if you resists are still not good enough then an alternative and unorthodox method can be opted to nail Mephisto. It is to use salvation aura instead of fanatism the killing in this process takes a lot more time but this is a very good method of killing in a party. The salvation negates the effects of conviction aura completely so mephisto essentially becomes a boss who gives out very little amounts of damage. Furthermore, other party members can toast his minions making this job easy peasy.
In addition to this, merc’s have not been included in solo uber tristing. In all honesty, my nightmare merc with an ethereal Bugged fort and Ethreal Andy’s helm, Insight cryptic axe does 27k damage when my concentration aura is on. However, he is very handy in killing off mephistos minions but he does sometimes activate the other bosses when mephisto is not far away from the other 2 prime evils. Nevertheless, he is great his holyfreeze also works wonders on some of the tristrams minions.
Hammers can be used to kill 95% of all the monsters. The other 5% can be easily taken care of by smiting. With the 60-70% crushing blow, smiting can also be used to kill other bosses and maybe even ancients in hell. Once lifetap is on Merc does not die while you can choose to smite them till their health is close to 25% and then hammer them to death or use the merc to kill them the choice is wide open.
Another spinoff from this build is the Absorber build that can pretty much handle the whole of the worldstone even if there are tons of gloams/ burning souls or whatever you might call them (hate those lighting zapping things that can kill even hammerdins). The only change to be made is to use Thundergods Vigor instead of String of Ears belt. When I did this change, my hammerdin who used to get hurt by gloams started to be regenerated by them. I even went and stood in front of some of them to be regenerated (bear in mind do this when you resists are maxed if not you still might get toasted).
For PKing
After careful consideration, I had decided to use this char for pking especially because he was able to stand up to pretty much everything in the game. Initially I am not denying it a lot of people had my ears and probably might still do. However, after a while I realised there was a really good method to nail and kill other chars. It was to use charge and switching to smite to attack those guys. The best thing about this is that once the charge has been activated and if you hold down on your target and even if he teleports, the char automatically moves towards them until the char is hit atleast once then smiting can be done or just continuous charging can be done.
Through this, I was able to kill necros, sorcs, moderate number of druids, moderate number of zons, moderate number of sins, a few barbs and very few pally smithers
The crushing blow and the ignore targets defence coupled with the fanatism/ concentration in more cases kill other chars in few hits. I am not saying that a person will die immediately but zons can be handled easily this way. Again I am not being biased and sayig zons are weak or die but they are one of the best PK machines in the game and being able to just about handle them increases the reputation of the smithadin.
But I have yet to fully look at PKing in detail but I can tell you it is possible … except maybe try not to kill other pure smiters I did not stand a chance in front of some of them. But saying that they do not stand a chance in front of immune to physical creatures while we nail them with hammers and can kill all dangerous bosses as them therefore I feel that the smithadin is a great build that can solo most chars if not all in the game. I would like to thank Boneynerd for helping me most of the time and getting me my first shako my selling off your skullders, Ditchu my Smiter brother who I used a guinea pig for testing my char, Mobz for finding lots of keys to solo uber trist and the other members in the GB – Gang Bangers clan it was great to have created the clan and played with the clan as well on the 1.11b Battlenet patch.
By the way this is my first build and write up on this build so would really appreciate some feed back and thank you for looking into this matter :coffee:. If you have any doubts on the build of the character or where to MF for some of the items I found easily or the runes buzz me and I will help out. Thank you everyone for reading this :thumbup:.
The Smithadin – The solo uber character to complete the game
Firstly I would like to say thanks for reading this build. The Smithadin is essentially a character who smites to take down the ubers in the game and is also a hammerdin that does approximately 13k hammer damage per hit I know this is low but I used 0 +skill charms. This character is item dependent but some of the items used are a bit unorthodox so you never know you might already have the items.
This build is a build that I created because I got annoyed with smithers nicking torches and running off with them in a game or because we might need to ask for their help to kill the ubers. With this build I was able to solo uber trist with a party of 8 and with my merc alive and well. This char can be used for PVP as well and works much much better than a hammerdin in PVP.
Statistics
Strength – well the strength for this char should not in most cases exceed the strength requirements for an Archon plate. However if you already have a HOZ then this should be not be a problem. My strength for this char was 95 kind of high but I still was able to solo the game.
Dexterity – dexterity is a very important issue I feel because if you do not have enough block with holysheild one can get toasted easily. Quoting Ragnarods 1.10 Paladin FAQ:
Total Blocking = (Blocking * (Dexterity - 15)) / (Character Level * 2)
So you can figure out the block you are getting for your respective items.
Vitality – Vitality is life and life means being able to take a decent amount of damage especially before you reach the ubers. Especially uber Mephisto with his annoying conviction aura and his shooting elemental skeletons he spawns.
Energy – 0 absolutely zero nothing to be added to this section.
With this spread of stats, I was able to solo uber trist at lvl 75 onwards.
Items
Items are the key to this build without them I would not be able to solo uber trist in probably a million years… maybe not million but would be close to it.
This build is very similar to the hammerdin build if not identical so please refer to Ragnorads Guide on skill point distribution or Captain_ Bogus guide to maximize damage
The items i used at low levels like close to 30 are
Sheild - A Spirit Akaran Targe Sheild with base resists above 30 = +2 to paladin skills, + 100 mana, +35 Faster cast rate + 35 to poison, lightning and cold resists
Sword - A spirit crystal sword = +2 to paladin skills, + 100 mana, +35 Faster cast rate
You can use other swords but do not use swords that require a lot of strength or dexterity.
Armour - Skin of Viper armour = +1 to all skills, + 30 to resists, +25% fcr and magic damage reduction. This is a very good low level godly armour very useful for a hammerdin
Helmet – Peasant Crown is the best choice = +1 to all skills, +20 to Energy, +20 to vitality. If not the runeword Lore = Ort + Sol
At low levels especially, there is usually very little mana and the +20 energy is very useful to cast hammers frequently
Amulet = Any amulet with +1 to paladin or all skills and hopefully + 10% FCR or has good resists, I used the telling of beads from the disciple set at low levels.
Belt – I only used 1 belt in the whole game and that was String of Ears. Firstly, they drop very frequently and are cheap to get and they +10-15% damage reduction and +10-15 magic damage reduction as well.
Gloves – I used frost burns for the mana since I already had around 115% FCR and I really needed more hammers.
Rings – any rings that increase mana and resists … or if you are rich then u can use SOJ’s. I was not that rich so I preferred using rings that increased my fcr/ mana and added some resists as well.
At this level I had 500 life, 450 mana and I my hammers were doing 600 damage perhit.
My merc on the other hand was carrying a ethereal insight partisan (found while I joined cow games in nightmare) and was wearing rock stopper sallet socketed with an perfect amethyst and was wearing Boneflesh platemail for 5% life leech. He was doing damage of 2.4 k with my concentration aura on.
The items mentioned above are very easy to obtained except for the SOJ’s and maybe the skin of viper but at such low levels these items are not very important. Levelling can be done easily by joining or hosting baal runs on normal level till level 40 or so.
The Nightmare level can either be really easy or difficult depending on the items that one has. I found it particularly hard especially because I did not have a Herald of Zakarum, HOZ which I feel is probably the best shield for a paladin.
For nightmare, I did not make a lot of changes to my gear except, I was using a 10% enhanced defence Sacred Rondache with 45 base resists as a spirit shield. The credit goes to my friend Boneynerd who was killing cows in hell. Thanks once again Boney. I had also switched my armour to Skullders ire Magic Find armour.
My merc on the other hand was using the same weapon but the armour being used was an ethereal Duriels Shell for the armour and with Vampire Gaze helm for the damage reduction and the life leech.
Items used eventually
Helm – Hareliquin Shako… Simply the best… +2 to all skills, +tons to life and mana,+ 10% damage reduction, 50% magic find.
Armour – Enigma, +2 to all skills, + 50 or more to strength, + 65 or more Magic find, +8% damage reduction, + 767 defence and lastly +1 to teleport
I found the armour for enigma however, I was not able to find the runes for so I traded for it using a 199% enhanced defence HOZ.
Most people say HOZ’s are difficult to find but they can be found pretty easily. HOZ’s can be found in nightmare when killing Mephisto, Shenk and Elderitch. I found 3 in 1 day of magic finding. So I would recommend you do the same keep doing magic find runs with these chars. I have also heard that Baal in nightmare drops them a lot but I feel it is too much of a hassle to get to him.
Weapon – the most important weapon I feel just like what everybody else says is a Heart of the Oak. +3 to skills, +40% Faster Cast rate, +30-40 resists and +15% to maximum mana.
Sheild – Sacred Rondache Spirit Sheild, +2 to all skills, +79 to almost all resists except fire, + 35% faster cast rate, +109 to mana, +22 to vitality
Boots – Marrowwalk Boneweave boots – for the 10 lifetap charges and do not worry they do not cost a lot to repair, +10-20 to strength and regenerate mana +10%.
Gloves – I used Lavagout for +20% increased attack speed and +24% fire resists.
Amulet – Mara’s if do not have any other amulet. I personally used an amulet that had +2 to paladin skills, +10% faster cast rate, +25 to all resists and +19 to attack rating.
Rings – Raven frost ring and Dwarf Star on the other
Weapon 2 on swap – LastWish phase blade – I know this is very difficult to make but, it can be obtained more easily by trading it. I was able to get 1 for a 194% HOZ and 2 mal runs and 1 ist rune and a 37 to all resists hoto.
LastWish I feel is the most important weapon. Firstly, it is a phase blade so its speed is very fast (-30). It does not need to be repaired so if its ethereal its great as well. It has 6% chance to cast level 11 fade which adds + 56 to all resists and has a 10% chance to cast lvl 18 life tap on enemies, +49% mf, +17 might aura and most importantly, 60-70% chance of crushing blow and ignore targets defence.
Crushing blow is crucial as it allows 10% of the monsters health to drop in an instant, lvl 18 lifetap replenishes life in 1 hit to the ubers or any enemy. The lvl 11 fade is great against the conviction aura by Uber Mephisto.
Mid level runes can be found easily by doing countess runs in hell. In approximately 100 countess runs, I was able to get 3 mal runes, 1 ist rune 2 ums and 5 pul runes. Also killing Izual and hephasto for the hell forge are good areas to find high runes like vex runes.
I also recommend making hotos to trade. There is a chance that they can turn out to be really good and if they are bad, then it can used by yourself or given to good friends for use.
Shield 2 on swap – Upped HOZ with um in it. This is a good smiting shield with good stats does consistent high average smite damage.
I also had 2 +15 resist Grand Charms. However, these are not really needed because of the fade activation on LastWish.
I also had an Annihilus charm to add to some resists and + to skills.
With this set up, I could solo uber trist and have been able to handle the uber trist even when all 3 bosses were there together attacking at the same time.
Strategy to Uber Trist for First timers
I know that although this build is great, it is not flawless this is especially tiring when all 3 bosses are activated at the same time by other party members. However, my strategy is the same as everybody else’s I just did not want people to rush in into uber trist to kill the bosses. I always go to the north first to lure our Mephisto be careful he spawns minions of his own but I recommend luring him out while casting lifetap with 1 the charges immediately. Then swap weapons and smite away, he dies in 20 seconds or so if this is done correctly, then kill of his minions either through hammers or smiting if you want to preserve your life. Next if you want u can just run into tristram like a wild man and take on Diablo and Baal together which is what I do sometimes or kill baal first and lastly diablo. The most annoying thing I feel is the hoarfrost from baal where he leeches all the mana out of you. In fact, I mostly carry mana pots instead of life pots to kill him. However once the ubers are killed, do not relax yet the minios are still present I usually just switch to hammers and kill them off easily.
Skill points distribution
For the skill point distribution, the points should be similar again to that of a hammerdin. However, once the blessed hammer damage with concentration reaches a damage level of approximately 10k, I would add 1-2 points into fanatism. Therefore, on weapon swap, I have Lastwish and Upped UM-ed HOZ with smite and fanatism.
However, if you resists are still not good enough then an alternative and unorthodox method can be opted to nail Mephisto. It is to use salvation aura instead of fanatism the killing in this process takes a lot more time but this is a very good method of killing in a party. The salvation negates the effects of conviction aura completely so mephisto essentially becomes a boss who gives out very little amounts of damage. Furthermore, other party members can toast his minions making this job easy peasy.
In addition to this, merc’s have not been included in solo uber tristing. In all honesty, my nightmare merc with an ethereal Bugged fort and Ethreal Andy’s helm, Insight cryptic axe does 27k damage when my concentration aura is on. However, he is very handy in killing off mephistos minions but he does sometimes activate the other bosses when mephisto is not far away from the other 2 prime evils. Nevertheless, he is great his holyfreeze also works wonders on some of the tristrams minions.
Hammers can be used to kill 95% of all the monsters. The other 5% can be easily taken care of by smiting. With the 60-70% crushing blow, smiting can also be used to kill other bosses and maybe even ancients in hell. Once lifetap is on Merc does not die while you can choose to smite them till their health is close to 25% and then hammer them to death or use the merc to kill them the choice is wide open.
Another spinoff from this build is the Absorber build that can pretty much handle the whole of the worldstone even if there are tons of gloams/ burning souls or whatever you might call them (hate those lighting zapping things that can kill even hammerdins). The only change to be made is to use Thundergods Vigor instead of String of Ears belt. When I did this change, my hammerdin who used to get hurt by gloams started to be regenerated by them. I even went and stood in front of some of them to be regenerated (bear in mind do this when you resists are maxed if not you still might get toasted).
For PKing
After careful consideration, I had decided to use this char for pking especially because he was able to stand up to pretty much everything in the game. Initially I am not denying it a lot of people had my ears and probably might still do. However, after a while I realised there was a really good method to nail and kill other chars. It was to use charge and switching to smite to attack those guys. The best thing about this is that once the charge has been activated and if you hold down on your target and even if he teleports, the char automatically moves towards them until the char is hit atleast once then smiting can be done or just continuous charging can be done.
Through this, I was able to kill necros, sorcs, moderate number of druids, moderate number of zons, moderate number of sins, a few barbs and very few pally smithers
The crushing blow and the ignore targets defence coupled with the fanatism/ concentration in more cases kill other chars in few hits. I am not saying that a person will die immediately but zons can be handled easily this way. Again I am not being biased and sayig zons are weak or die but they are one of the best PK machines in the game and being able to just about handle them increases the reputation of the smithadin.
But I have yet to fully look at PKing in detail but I can tell you it is possible … except maybe try not to kill other pure smiters I did not stand a chance in front of some of them. But saying that they do not stand a chance in front of immune to physical creatures while we nail them with hammers and can kill all dangerous bosses as them therefore I feel that the smithadin is a great build that can solo most chars if not all in the game. I would like to thank Boneynerd for helping me most of the time and getting me my first shako my selling off your skullders, Ditchu my Smiter brother who I used a guinea pig for testing my char, Mobz for finding lots of keys to solo uber trist and the other members in the GB – Gang Bangers clan it was great to have created the clan and played with the clan as well on the 1.11b Battlenet patch.
By the way this is my first build and write up on this build so would really appreciate some feed back and thank you for looking into this matter :coffee:. If you have any doubts on the build of the character or where to MF for some of the items I found easily or the runes buzz me and I will help out. Thank you everyone for reading this :thumbup:.
