Builds that perform without "op" gear

[nihlathak]

Hey!

I play single player and my only char is a MF sorc that i pretty much only farm mephisto/andariel with. But i'd like to make a new char but i'm not sure what build i should go for.

I play without any trading/editor so i can only use the gear i find. I have some good items but no enigma's and such ofc.

Classes i don't wanna play is necromancer and paladin, i played them on bnet ALOT already.

I was thinking about either wind druid or assasin. I have almost no experience with those classes so i'm wondering if they can be good with "medium" gear?

I almost have a complete IK set so maybe ww barb?

Thanks

 

[Rawness]

You could do a fury druid with some of the IK set pieces, bonehew/buriza/ribcracker can get to the late game easy & makes for a quite good council runner, one of the faster ways to get runes (if you play with updated rune-drope rate..). The ribcracker is of course, one of the best druid weapons, but the buriza is pretty fun too, i Think. The IK hammer is quite cute, 35-40 cb. 2 sockets & has massive amounts of elemental damage... just look at it: http://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/sets/sets5.shtml the reset of the set pieces also adds alot of interesting things, 10LL/25Ias etc etc, so the hammer can make for a main or sweet switch.

Complete IK set without ik ar mour is... 99% of the set it feels like sometimes & without alot alot of patience and 87 areas and prolly 10 other tc87s (1500 runs) you got a pretty low chance to get it. If you are to make an ik barb, be prepared to be without the soul cage for quiite awhile.

Another thing to make is glasscanon bowazon with an up´ed Witchstringer, which is quite a fun build with a cool item that is very easy to get:

Two-Hand Damage: (32-35) To (75-81) (53.5-58 Avg)
Required Level: 39
Required Strength: 65
Required Dexterity: 80
Base Weapon Speed: [0]
+150-170% Enhanced Damage (varies)
Fires Magic Arrows [Level 20]
2% Chance To Cast Level 5 Amplify Damage On Striking
+ (1 Per Character Level) 1-99 % Deadly Strike (Based On Character Level)
All Resistances +40
Sockets (2)
(Only Spawns In Patch 1.10 or later)

With a heavy dex investment over vita, the damage delivered is quadrupled when the amplify damage is applied with a near certain chance of deadly strike triggering.

 

[Rawness]

Sad

 

[edistotiger]

I've played a couple of untwinked HC assassins and they work well with poor gear. Kick/trap hybrid offers the best combo of boss and regular monster killing ability at low gear levels. A cheap CB runeword like Strength or Black is plenty to take down bosses. Skill layout is very similar to a trapper, but with 18 pts in Dragon Talon. MB, Cos, BoS, and Fade are all fantastic utility skills.

My untwinked HC wind druid did OK, but i found PDR to be a bit of an issue and eventually died to a pack of fast bone fetishes in hell. PIs were also a bit of a pain. I rerolled him with some twink gear (nothing too expensive either) and blew through the game. With synergized cyclone armor and max resists he's practically immune to elemental damage.

 

[Noodle]

The nice thing about trap assassins is that the best weapons can be shopped for with a little patience. My level 95 trapper uses these, bought from Anya:

Weezy's Cunning Scissors Quhab
One-Hand Damage: 19 to 40
Durability: 68 of 68
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 82
Required Strength: 82
Required Level: 45
Claw Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 98
Fingerprint: 0x9bbd4e41
+3 to Lightning Sentry (Assassin Only)
+3 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

She's my primary Baal runner - fast, effective, and quite safe with Mind Blast and Cloak of Shadows.

 

[RobbyD]

I've heard similar things about a Trapper, but I have no experience with one.

Kitteh did a guide for an untwinked Frost Zealot, which I understand is a good choice if you want to go melee. I think a FishyZon (Frozen Arrow on bow, LF/CS on jav) is another nice one that doesn't need high-end gear cuz the best bow for the FA is Wizendraw.

The only builds I've done in 1.13 are WW Barb, Fury Wolf, Gunslinger Zon, Poisonmancer, and Teslot (Holy Shock Zealot), but I had a head start with all the 1.09 gear and Time Travel cHeEze, and traded/gifted gear.

 

[BobCox2]

Trapper and Passive build Sins can be shopped easy.
Zons are Easy and "can let George" Do it.

 

[japanzaman]

Fury javazons that use Lightning Fury, Charged Strike and Plague Javelin perform really well even with only modest gear and can clear most areas of the game rather safely. You can get a Titan's Revenge rather easily from Nightmare Mephisto. You can make do with other low level rune words like Lore, Peace, Rhyme, etc.

Make it even funner and play hardcore!

 

[japanzaman]

The nice thing about trap assassins is that the best weapons can be shopped for with a little patience. My level 95 trapper uses these, bought from Anya:

Weezy's Cunning Scissors Quhab
One-Hand Damage: 19 to 40
Durability: 68 of 68
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 82
Required Strength: 82
Required Level: 45
Claw Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 98
Fingerprint: 0x9bbd4e41
+3 to Lightning Sentry (Assassin Only)
+3 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

She's my primary Baal runner - fast, effective, and quite safe with Mind Blast and Cloak of Shadows.

You'll need ALOT of patience to find a set of 3 traps / 3 LS claws. I spent probably a good 30 hours and only managed to find 1 pair for my trapper. Was happy when Larzuk decided to drop two sockets in it.

 

[Sput]

Wind Druids are great characters with "medium" or even "bad" gear. While most people recommend or default to the act 2 mercs, consider a barbarian merc with a Vile Husk (upped if possible). The amp damage goes great with Tornado for breaking PI and barbarians have a much better ai in my opinion.

 

[edistotiger]

Act 2 merc with a Reapers Toll isn't too bad either if you have one.