Failed Hammerdin?

[TheLoneHawk]

Failed Hammerdin?

Level 75 Hammerdin

Weapon: Suicide Branch Burnt Wand ( Unique )
Armor: "Stealth" Gothic Plate
Shield: Lindless Wall Grim Shield ( Unique )
Helmet: Peasant Crown War Hat ( Unique )
Belt : Goldwrap ( Unique )

105 Cast Rate all together.

All resistances +60 Ammy, FCR rings, MF Gloves.
Insight Merc

Chance to block: 24%
Chance to block with HS: 34%

Resistances:

Fire 36
Cold 22
Light 34
Poison 50

3.7 - 3.8k hammer damage.

Base Skills:

20 BH
20 Concentration
20 Vigor
13 BA

Non Base Stats ( With modifiers ):

Strength: 112
Dexterity: 84
Vitality: 265
Energy: 46

Thing is, I entered Hell mode yesterday. And man am getting raped, really really hard. I have been going through the game with a Bone Spear Necro. And it has been relativley easy, but definitely not overly easy. We got to Hell, and we can't make it through the stony field. I read and stuff, that Hammerdin's should be kinda easy, but this is ridiculous, the game is loosing meaning dying so much. What should I do, what do I need to do? Where should I farm for gear if you think thats what I should do? Any help would be appreciated, because I am kinda done playing this game until I am around this.

Thanks.

On a compltley non related note to the original post : If I was to create a second paladin, which would be the second easiest next to the hammerdin? Untwinked Solo Paladin build, which one. Thanks.

 

[Cerato]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

What are your resistances in hell?

What are you dying to in the stony field? Is it elemental, physical, are you amped, swarmed? etc.

How's your merc?

How much dmg do your hammers do? You should be around 3k.

I had >45 for all my resistances when I entered hell and I still had to be careful until I upped my res and vitality.

Hammerdins really don't require much gear. +skills help on uniques/superuniques but the biggest thing is simply having enough resistances/block so that you can get up close.

I had spirit sword (cheap), spirit shield (cheap) and random resist gear for the rest of the slots, and I did fine in hell at clvl 73.

If you remake your paladin it will be even harder.

If you're getting really uber frustrated with your char I would suggest making a skellimancer. Max skellies, summon mastery, corpse explosion, some into revives/amp/golem/summon resist. You can solo all of hell naked. It's even less gear dependent than a hammerdin, although slower killing.

 

[ThomasJohnsen]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

Level 75 Hammerdin

Weapon: Suicide Branch Burnt Wand ( Unique )
Armor: "Stealth" Gothic Plate
Shield: Lindless Wall Grim Shield ( Unique )
Helmet: Peasant Crown War Hat ( Unique )
Belt : Goldwrap ( Unique )

All resistances +60 Ammy, FCR rings, MF Gloves.

First off:
- Get a Spirit weapon (Crystal sword or Long sword with 4 open sockets socketed with Tal+Thul+Ort+Amn) - this will help you immensely with +skills, mana, vitality and fcr.
- Get a Spirit shield (paladin shield with 4 open sockets and as much +res as possible) again socketed with Tal+Thul+Ort+Amn.
- Aim for 75 fcr (Stealth + dual spirits should get you there) - this will allow you to cast hammers at a 10 frame cast-rate.

Base Skills:

20 BH
20 Vigor
13 BA

This looks ok - just remember to keep Hammers on the Left mouse button (holding down shift to cast) and Concentration on the Right mouse button as the active aura. You should max Concentration before putting more points in BA - remember both you and the merc will benefit from this. And last you should max Holy Shield (you should have holy shield active at all times - recast often).

Non Base Stats ( With modifiers ):

Strength: 112
Dexterity: 84
Vitality: 265
Energy: 46

The stats look fair - maybe a little too many points in Energy, but nothing alarming. Just don't place anymore points there!

Hope this helps
Regards Tom


#EDIT: Pwned!

 

[TheLoneHawk]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

Chance to block: 24%
Chance to block with HS: 34%

Fire 36
Cold 22
Light 34
Poison 50

3.7 - 3.8k hammer damage.

Those stats are not base, I have that much energy from +stats.

When I was asking for another build idea, I would like a Paladin specific build, but thanks. And welcome to the forums!

 

[BAMFSpecialOps]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

Hmm...your stats are ok, skills are fine, your chance to block is kind of low but your Holy Shield level is low and your using a Lidless. As ThomasJohnsen pointed out keep an eye out for the runes/4 os sword/4 os pally shield with base res to make spirits out of it will really help you out, you might even try some normal/nm countess runs to get those runes faster. A Viper Magi armor should be cheap and would be a great upgrade for you at armor, String of Ears would give you a little DR% and still cheap.

 

[TheLoneHawk]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

I have the runes already, where would I find these 4 socketed pieces of equipment?

 

[BAMFSpecialOps]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

Might look in norm cows for the 4 os crystal sword, and the shield can be dropped iirc anytime in nightmare. Insight is another cheap runeword that will help you out, toss it on your merc, and no more mana problems.

 

[lumpor]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

The second easiest paladin build I think is a zealot. Fast attack, crushing blow and leech. Need to use embarrisingly uncool ways to kill immunes though.

Don't you have any points in concentration? You need that.

 

[TheLoneHawk]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

I believe in the original post I wrote I had an Insight Merc. Thanks for the help. I guess I just need to get Spirit then. I have 20 in concentration.

 

[ThomasJohnsen]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

I believe in the original post I wrote I had an Insight Merc. Thanks for the help. I guess I just need to get Spirit then. I have 20 in concentration.

You seem a bit offended or standoffish. Remember please, that we were only trying to help you out. But sometimes it isn't easy to determine how experienced/rich/equipped a player is by an opening post.

 

[Cerato]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

You seem a bit offended or standoffish. Remember please, that we were only trying to help you out. But sometimes it isn't easy to determine how experienced/rich/equipped a player is by an opening post.

He doesn't seem offended to me. People are suggesting things that he already stated he has in his first post (insight, concentration, etc.).

Your damage, resists, stats seem fine. Perhaps you can describe a specific situation you are having difficulty with so that we can help address play style issues. The character itself is fine. You should 1-3 shot everything in stony field.

One suggestion would be to position yourself carefully before creating a hammer field. Stand in melee range at the monster's 5 o'clock position (meaning you are to the lower right of the monster) before you start hammering. Hammers start in the upper left of your char and spin out, so you can miss monsters if you are to their left and in melee range (because the hammers will have traveled too far radially outward by the time they swing from your 9 o'clock to your 3 o'clock.

Also try creating a hammer field a distance away and baiting the monsters into it. As they chase you through the spinning hammers they'll die but you're far enough away you don't have to worry about LE/CE

 

[ThomasJohnsen]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

He doesn't seem offended to me. People are suggesting things that he already stated he has in his first post (insight, concentration, etc.).

The first post has been edited by him long after the first few postings were made. He didn't state anything about concentration initially (watch my quote).

 

[TheLoneHawk]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

You seem a bit offended or standoffish. Remember please, that we were only trying to help you out. But sometimes it isn't easy to determine how experienced/rich/equipped a player is by an opening post.

I did not mean to sound offended, notice the sign.

He doesn't seem offended to me. People are suggesting things that he already stated he has in his first post (insight, concentration, etc.).

I did mention the insight part before I edited, but I did edit in the concentration part.

To be more specific about my problems: Any and all ranged attackers just destroy me, before I have time to use my 100+ increased run speed to get away. Spike fiends are the worst at this. Then come along the gargantuan beasts, dear lord do they suck. 10 or so hammers will kill one of them.

 

[ThomasJohnsen]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

To be more specific about my problems: Any and all ranged attackers just destroy me, before I have time to use my 100+ increased run speed to get away. Spike fiends are the worst at this. Then come along the gargantuan beasts, dear lord do they suck. 10 or so hammers will kill one of them.

Ranged attackers are allways nasty. If they are Extra Strong and have an unfortunate aura like Might or Fanatism, they will kill most chars. But with some resists from a decent spirit paladin shield and some damage reduction from maybe a String of Ears belt (can be bought for 3-6 PGs) you should fare a little bit better.

It seems to me, that 3.7k hammers should kill allmost anything in hell Act 1 with 1 or 2 hammers (for instance a zombie has 3.2k - 6.2k life in a 1-player game). This leads me to the conclusion, that you play in full games, which again will explain your difficulty and many deaths. Monsters have alot more life in full games and it is easy to be swarmed by hard-to-kill packs. My advice would thus be to play alone or in 2-player games, until you can round up some better equipment.

#EDIT: Also Fire Enchanted and Cold Enchanted monsters deal quite a bit of damage in full games. I died to a Fire Enchanted Lister once in a 3-player game with 90%fres and 18%dr and full life (including BO) - and this was hardcore :cry:.

 

[TheLoneHawk]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

Ranged attackers are allways nasty. If they are Extra Strong and have an unfortunate aura like Might or Fanatism, they will kill most chars. But with some resists from a decent spirit paladin shield and some damage reduction from maybe a String of Ears belt (can be bought for 3-6 PGs) you should fare a little bit better.

It seems to me, that 3.7k hammers should kill allmost anything in hell Act 1 with 1 or 2 hammers (for instance a zombie has 3.2k - 6.2k life in a 1-player game). This leads me to the conclusion, that you play in full games, which again will explain your difficulty and many deaths. Monsters have alot more life in full games and it is easy to be swarmed by hard-to-kill packs. My advice would thus be to play alone or in 2-player games, until you can round up some better equipment.

#EDIT: Also Fire Enchanted and Cold Enchanted monsters deal quite a bit of damage in full games. I died to a Fire Enchanted Lister once in a 3-player game with 90%fres and 18%dr and full life (including BO) - and this was hardcore :cry:.

Thanks for the information, but I play strictly single player with one friend. Thats all I have done since I started. So that means no trading for belts and what not. Which makes the game a lot harder I understand. And we do P8 for farming, but in hell, we stayed P2. I am farming for 4os shield right now. Thanks!

 

[Cerato]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

Any and all ranged attackers just destroy me, before I have time to use my 100+ increased run speed to get away. Spike fiends are the worst at this. Then come along the gargantuan beasts, dear lord do they suck. 10 or so hammers will kill one of them.

Gargantuan beasts only have 4596-8876 hitpoints in Act1 Hell.
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act1-wendigo.shtml

So if you are requiring that many hammers it's because the hammers simply aren't connecting with them. You'll have to work on your positioning. As I stated before 1-3 of your 3.5kdmg hammers should kill everything.

Ranged attackers can be difficult, especially gangs of skeleton archers. I usually take evasive action while charging into them. If you set charge to left skill and vigor to right skill you can charge to any location by briefly holding shift as you left-click. As you're charging, release shift and left click again ahead of you so that you don't stop running after you finish your charge.

 

[TheLoneHawk]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

I guess it was just because it was a boss pack.

 

[lbdinh]

a

 

[BAMFSpecialOps]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

125%fcr>75%fcr

Hammerdins are one of the most expensive builds out there. Zealer is way cheaper.
-2 spirits/Vmagi/Pcrown/Magefists and your hdin is pretty well set, you can put a lot better gear on it, or a lot worse its up to you, overall a zealer will need better gear.

1.I usually have redemption on switch so just switch weapons let it clean up the bodys and switch back, your good to go.
2.Use charge to get close to ranged attackers.
3.You can set up a hammerfield and let them walk through it, or charge right to an enemy and then set up your hammers.

There is a single player community on here that also has their own trading, RWM is accepted by most on here and it gives you access to most of the ladder-only runewords.

 

[TheLoneHawk]

Re: Failed Hammerdin?

Many thanks from you two! I am now running dual spirits. Sadly to say, it really didn't help me much, I am still dying too much. So I guess I am going to farm a little just so I have enough gear for my new Fanatic Zealot. Would NM Baal be better for this? Or Hell Pits? I am only up to Act II Quest I in Hell. Thanks!