Lighting Trapper Advice

[austin]

Lighting Trapper Advice

I have only been playing D2 for a couple of months. My first build is a lighting trapper, currently at lev 82. I play solo, so I have very low level gear. I am in Hell Act 5 right now, but I can't get past the ancients. I could use some advice on how to defeat them.

I have maxed fire blast, shock web, charge bolt sentry, and lighting sentry. I only have 2 points in death sentry and 1 in shadow master. Still have 3 unused points.

I have a set of +3 trap claws and a set of +3 shadow claws on switch. Also have a set of +2 assassin skills claws I don't use. Helmet is Lore, and amulet is +1 assassin skills. I have +3 shadow skills helmet and amulet I leave in my stash for recasting my shadow.

I have about 1140 HP and about 300 mana. My entire inventory is full of resist charms to get my resists up to a decent level.

When I fight the ancients, my merc dies in just a few seconds. He has griswold's heart (unsocketed) and guillaume's face (35% crushing blow). I switch to a strength polearm for boss fights which does minimal damage, but adds 25% crushing blow.

I have managed to kill 2 of the 3, but never the lighting immune one. I am constantly recasting my shadow, so that I have something to hold him for a second while I try to hit him with fire traps. I usually run out of mana before I kill him. I even drop as many potions as I can carry on the ground before the fight. Still not enough.

Should I try using mind blast?
What about putting some points into shadow master? I cast her at level 13 in town, and level 9 in battle.
Should I wear the +3 shadow helmet and +3 shadow amulet to keep my shadow at lev 13 and reduce my trap skills by 2 points?
I also have a staff with level 1 lower resist charges. Should I put that on swith and use that? Will it break the immunity of the lighting immune?
Or, do I just need to do some more levelling and MF to get better gear?

This is a great forum, and I appreciate any help you can give me.

 

[Chimaira]

Welcome to the forums!

Trouble with The Ancients...We've all been there My trapper also had trouble defeating the lightning immune dude, well it wasn't difficult it just took a looong time (1½ hour).

The key to defeating The Ancients easily is to keep your merc alive which can be very difficult. Maybe socket your Griswold's Heart with the resist runes (Ort, Ral, Thul) to give him maximum resists. Also switch out the Strength Polearm for something with better damage and preferrably good speed/life leech. The Crushing Blow is very nice but if he doesn't stay alive...
If your merc's life starts to drop severly try running around a bit and let your traps get a few hits, until he has regenerated his life.

Mind Blast doesn't work against The Ancients, unless you really spam it (I think) so it's not very usefull. I think I'd switch out the Lore helm and + Assasin skills amulet for your shadow stuff, a good Shadow Master is very useful, and the drop in Trap killing power won't be too severe. You should probably also use your +2 Assasin skills claws for a kick ass Shadow Master.

I don't know about the lower resist, but it could be a very good idea, you can even use it on the other dudes too to increase your damage.

If it's too frustrating/difficult, you can just MF some more...You don't even have to MF in Hell since most of the items you need can be gotten from Nightmare Mephisto/Baal.

Some items to look out for are Shaftstop/Vampire Gaze/Kelpie Snare for your merc, the slow on Kelpie Snare is really awesome against hardcore monsters. Peasant Crown would be better than Lore, and Skin Of the Vipermagi or Spirit Shroud would give an extra skill. Frostburns would also solve some of your mana issues.

 

[xeyloderixed]

some things that might help (or not):
(1) i assume you have a holy freeze merc (just because). your merc weapon actually plays an important part: get something better than the strength pole you are using. try to get one of these: reaper's troll, kelpie snare, insight. the first two will greatly slow the ancients down while the third helps your mana.
(2) are you satisfied with your death sentry range for general play? if yes, and you don't plan on having a wider range, then by all means put all the rest in shadow master. a good shadow tanks for both you and your merc.
(3) lr wand somewhere! these greatly increase your killing power
(4) if you manage to kill two of the non-immune ones, then i highly doubt that (almost) infinite number of mana pots cant kill the third. between mana stocking on ground, fire traps, and usual recasting of shadow i think you'll be able to defeat the third.

 

[austin]

Thanks for the advice.

I am playing single player, so I don't have any of those items you mentioned and I can't make insight runeword. I don't have the runes yet to make lionheart or smoke, so I my armor is pretty bad.

I usually equip my holy freeze merc with a lance with 90-380 damage and 8% life leech, a coronet with +26 all resists, and griswold's heart. I didn't socket the armor because his resists are almost maxed with this setup. For bosses, I give him guillaume's face and the strength polearm for 60% crushing blow. That worked great against Diablo in hell. My merc survived the fight and helped me take him down in about 30 seconds. I wasn't expecting him to be so useless against the ancients.

Guess I will switch back to the lance. With this setup, will my merc do enough damage to be worth feeding potions to keep him alive? I don't have any increase attack rating gear for my merc. Is that a problem? I also have a coronet with 8% life leech and 2 sockets that I am not using. Would that be better than guillaume's face?

I only have room to carry about 20 extra potions to scatter on the ground because my inventory is full of charms to get my resists up. Even that wasn't enough. Maybe I will try using rejuv potions instead.

I will also try the staff with lower resist. If I can break the lighting immunity, then I may be able to kill Madawc without the merc or shadow. This means giving up a set of claws. Probably will go with the +2 assassin claws, +3 shadow helm, and +3 shadow amulet. Will let you know how it goes.

 

[Chimaira]

Truth be told your merc is probably not going to survive The Ancients without better gear. My mercs usually equip Shaftstop/Vampire Gaze/Kelpie Snare and they are still very fragile

The lance would be better because he has a chance of leeching some life back which in theory should allow him to live longer. Also that coronet with life leech would also allow him to live longer, but without CB his damage will only be so so. If you can manage to keep him alive it will be enough for him to whittle Madawac down.

If it's too frustrating then do some MF runs, there's nothing that can lift your spirits like some gold+green drops

Good luck!

 

[zeskelnec]

Madawc has only 50% fire resist in hell. Your max Fire blast + synergies should be around 1000 dmg. Can't u get it down with fire blast ?
If not , then closefight, it will derive madawc from your merc and shadowM.