Diablo IV, Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 Forums - Diabloii.Net
Margo eyed the stone with contempt, sizing it up. It was nearly as big as she was. The seven-year-old gripped the rock, her muscles shaking with exertion. She heaved it onto the table, wiped her forehead, and smiled proudly at the old sorceress.
Sevira shook her head in a mixture of disbelief and exasperation.
"Margo, you know I meant for you to move the stone with telekinesis. If you keep taking shortcuts like this you'll never become skilled."
The girl laughed, still out of breath.
"Oh, Sevira! But isn't magic the shortcut? I want to prove I can do things myself."
Over her future years of training, Margo did learn the nuances of elemental magic. Her determination and intensity--the qualities that the Zann Esu had chosen her for--rendered her an exceptional student. In her free time, however, the young woman trained rigorously for melee combat, challenging warriors from nearby villages to purely physical tests of strength, speed, and stamina. She almost always won, and over the years Sevira had not once seen her intimidated.
So when the stories of the Dark Wanderer and the evil that followed him reached the clan, it came as no surprise to Sevira that it was Margo who left in search of him.
(A year later, in Harrogath)
"So you've met her?" asked the Barbarian.
Malah nodded as she bandaged the warrior's shoulder. "Yes. She comes in for a potion from time to time."
"She's a strange one, she is!" exclaimed the Barbarian. "Ragnar and I are up in the foothills, hacking our way through the enslaved, and here she comes charging over a hillock, dainty little thing. I says to myself, I know the type: stands off at the edge of a skirmish casting spells while we do the dirty work! Not that I minded the help! Anyway, she keeps charging towards Shenk, dropping his soldiers left and right with her blade. Thing is, she's not casting any spells--just hacking her way through the beasts like a proper Barbarian! Ragnar looks at me and says, 'By the Ancients! She's not stopping!' She gets even with Shenk, beheads him with a single blow, and sets about butchering his minions. When the dust settles she waltzes out, not a scratch on her. She nods at me and Ragnar, and says, 'Carry on boys!' Then she rushes up Arreat, and before you know it, she's out of sight!"
"A humbling experience I'm sure," said Malah, a faint smile on her lips.
The barbarian let out a hearty laugh.
"Hah! I'm just glad I'm not one of the fellows she rescued in the highlands! It'll be a while before they hear the end of that."
The Concept
Enchantresses have a chip on their shoulder when it comes to showing that sorcs can be melee fighters too, but Margo is just a bit more stubborn than some: her goal is to kill everything in the game using only melee attacks. Since enchantresses need a second element in Hell with all the fire immunes, I wanted to use physical damage so I could keep Margo in the fray as much as possible. (MongoJerry's Enchantress guide has a section on this approach.) To be honest, I originally began this character with the idea of not even using Enchant--just physical damage from a normal attack with the same set up, and on-weapon elemental damage being my only means of killing. I actually beat NM pretty easily this way, and then in Act 1 of Hell I became bored because I already had my end-of-game build completed and didn't feel like playing four more acts with the only change in my character being the DS % from Highlord's and my merc's Might aura creeping up. So, I added the Enchant for some big damage, and a better solution to physical immunes than hacking them to death with Gimmershred/Lawbringer, which was what I had been doing. For the record, I actually feel I could have gone all the way through Hell without Enchant, but it would have been slow I'm sure.
The Results
Attack Damage (with Might aura): 12k-13k @ 10 fps (6042-6088 Physical Damage, 6105-7190 Enchant Damage)
Attack Damage against Demons: 14k-15k (8780-9753 Physical Damage)
(Calculated using this since LCS doesn't display Grief damage correctly.)
I've always thought barbed shields looked intimidating:
Gear
Amulet: Highlord's Wrath
Helm: Guillaume's Face, socketed with Scintillating Jewel
Weapon: Grief Phase Blade (+362 dmg, 36% IAS)
Shield: Upgraded Lance Barb socketed with PDiamond (only shield in the game that offers DS)
Armor: Fortitude in Great Hauberk (+30 all resists)
Belt: Credendum Mithril Coil (for resists)
Gloves: Laying of Hands
Rings: Raven Frost + Rare Ring with Resists, dex, +min dmg
Boots: Gore Rider
On Switch: Call to Arms Crystal Sword (+6 BO), The Ward Shield (not enough strength for Spirit, so just a placeholder with resists--I should have replaced this with something else.)
Charms: Resists, AR, Life, Fire Skillers
Leaf staff with +3 Enchant for prebuffing in the stash.
Skills - (hard points only)
Enchant, Warmth, Fire Mastery - 20
Static Field - 9 - This is perfect for Margo since it doesn't actually kill anything.
Shiver Armor - 18
Pre-reqs, etc. - 1 each
Attribute Points
Strength: 106/131
Dexterity: 91/136
Vitality: 273/273
Energy: 35/35
Life:1655 with CTA
Attack Rating: 3322
Resists: Maxed in Hell
Relevant Breakpoints, Other Stats
Deadly Strike: 101% [Grief (20), Guillaume's (15), Highlord's (31), Gore Riders (15), Lance Guard (20)]
Faster Hit Recovery: 7 FPS / 86% breakpoint (I wasn't going to hit the next one at 200%.)
Increased Attack Speed: Maxed @ 10 FPS
Crushing Blow: 50%
Merc - Act 2 NM Might Merc
Weapon: Reaper's Toll (socketed w. damage jewel)
Helm: Delirium Superior Bone Visage
Armor: Chains of Honor Wire Fleece
The goal here was to equip him with some +skills gear to amp his Might Aura up so I'd do a tad more damage. This was the first Merc I was really happy with. It was my first time using Reaper's Toll, and I was surprised at how well the weapon worked. Also, I threw Delirium on him just for fun since I had accumulated some Ists from Countess running, and I was amazed at its performance! I haven't seen this helm mentioned as much as others, but with Mind Blast, Terror, and Confuse being cast constantly, monster packs were reduced to blithering idiocy. This was really helpful in places like the Worldstone Keep.
Gameplay
Margo was certainly my most fun character yet. She absolutely mowed through monsters. I'd approach mobs spamming static field (at level 10 it covers most of the screen), so by the time I hit most monsters the were already at half life. I didn't realize how great static was--it always hits everything, and there's no need to aim, so I could spam it more in the middle of my melee attacks without disrupting things. With ignore target's defense, Grief would never miss, and with the Might Aura, 100% DS, and Enchant, it felt very fast. I actually was thinking how funny it was that maxed IAS normal attack for a sorc was faster than a Paladin (I just finished an Avenger), and was surprised when I checked and found the Paladin was 1 FPS faster. Margo just felt faster because she dealt so much more damage. I actually made the Passion runeword just to try the Zeal and see how it felt, and it too felt slow, and obviously didn't mow through fire immunes like Grief did. When I came to a pack of fire immunes, Margo didn't slow down in the slightest. She could actually kill fire immunes a little faster than physical immunes.
What happened when I encountered a physical and fire immune? This happened a few times and I just kept hacking to see what would happen, and I was surprised to see the monster's health going down. Then I remembered the Venom on Grief. It's not quick, but it gets the job done.
Margo handled all of the end-of-act bosses and the Ancients very well. She dropped Hell Diablo astoundingly fast. The only place she was a little squishy was in the Durance of Hate with all those dolls exploding everywhere. I would have liked to have had 2k life and/or max block at that point, but I just had to use a little extra caution and keep my distance.
I don't remember much of normal, but I used some random set/unique swords and then a 291% ED Ribcracker until I could equip Grief in Act 3 NM. Most of my other gear was fairly normal.
Best rune drop:
Future plans for Margo
Now that she's proven herself, she feels free to use magic as she pleases. This was basically just a fun way to Mat a sorc--I've got a respec left so I can change her into some more traditional, overpowered build that can run specific areas for items and runes. If I ever get Infinity, she can respec to Lightning and start Baal running.
Many, many thanks to many on this forum (you know who you are!) as much of the equipment was the results of generous trades or giveaways!
Sevira shook her head in a mixture of disbelief and exasperation.
"Margo, you know I meant for you to move the stone with telekinesis. If you keep taking shortcuts like this you'll never become skilled."
The girl laughed, still out of breath.
"Oh, Sevira! But isn't magic the shortcut? I want to prove I can do things myself."
Over her future years of training, Margo did learn the nuances of elemental magic. Her determination and intensity--the qualities that the Zann Esu had chosen her for--rendered her an exceptional student. In her free time, however, the young woman trained rigorously for melee combat, challenging warriors from nearby villages to purely physical tests of strength, speed, and stamina. She almost always won, and over the years Sevira had not once seen her intimidated.
So when the stories of the Dark Wanderer and the evil that followed him reached the clan, it came as no surprise to Sevira that it was Margo who left in search of him.
(A year later, in Harrogath)
"So you've met her?" asked the Barbarian.
Malah nodded as she bandaged the warrior's shoulder. "Yes. She comes in for a potion from time to time."
"She's a strange one, she is!" exclaimed the Barbarian. "Ragnar and I are up in the foothills, hacking our way through the enslaved, and here she comes charging over a hillock, dainty little thing. I says to myself, I know the type: stands off at the edge of a skirmish casting spells while we do the dirty work! Not that I minded the help! Anyway, she keeps charging towards Shenk, dropping his soldiers left and right with her blade. Thing is, she's not casting any spells--just hacking her way through the beasts like a proper Barbarian! Ragnar looks at me and says, 'By the Ancients! She's not stopping!' She gets even with Shenk, beheads him with a single blow, and sets about butchering his minions. When the dust settles she waltzes out, not a scratch on her. She nods at me and Ragnar, and says, 'Carry on boys!' Then she rushes up Arreat, and before you know it, she's out of sight!"
"A humbling experience I'm sure," said Malah, a faint smile on her lips.
The barbarian let out a hearty laugh.
"Hah! I'm just glad I'm not one of the fellows she rescued in the highlands! It'll be a while before they hear the end of that."
The Concept
Enchantresses have a chip on their shoulder when it comes to showing that sorcs can be melee fighters too, but Margo is just a bit more stubborn than some: her goal is to kill everything in the game using only melee attacks. Since enchantresses need a second element in Hell with all the fire immunes, I wanted to use physical damage so I could keep Margo in the fray as much as possible. (MongoJerry's Enchantress guide has a section on this approach.) To be honest, I originally began this character with the idea of not even using Enchant--just physical damage from a normal attack with the same set up, and on-weapon elemental damage being my only means of killing. I actually beat NM pretty easily this way, and then in Act 1 of Hell I became bored because I already had my end-of-game build completed and didn't feel like playing four more acts with the only change in my character being the DS % from Highlord's and my merc's Might aura creeping up. So, I added the Enchant for some big damage, and a better solution to physical immunes than hacking them to death with Gimmershred/Lawbringer, which was what I had been doing. For the record, I actually feel I could have gone all the way through Hell without Enchant, but it would have been slow I'm sure.
The Results
Attack Damage (with Might aura): 12k-13k @ 10 fps (6042-6088 Physical Damage, 6105-7190 Enchant Damage)
Attack Damage against Demons: 14k-15k (8780-9753 Physical Damage)
(Calculated using this since LCS doesn't display Grief damage correctly.)
I've always thought barbed shields looked intimidating:
Gear
Amulet: Highlord's Wrath
Helm: Guillaume's Face, socketed with Scintillating Jewel
Weapon: Grief Phase Blade (+362 dmg, 36% IAS)
Shield: Upgraded Lance Barb socketed with PDiamond (only shield in the game that offers DS)
Armor: Fortitude in Great Hauberk (+30 all resists)
Belt: Credendum Mithril Coil (for resists)
Gloves: Laying of Hands
Rings: Raven Frost + Rare Ring with Resists, dex, +min dmg
Boots: Gore Rider
On Switch: Call to Arms Crystal Sword (+6 BO), The Ward Shield (not enough strength for Spirit, so just a placeholder with resists--I should have replaced this with something else.)
Charms: Resists, AR, Life, Fire Skillers
Leaf staff with +3 Enchant for prebuffing in the stash.
Skills - (hard points only)
Enchant, Warmth, Fire Mastery - 20
Static Field - 9 - This is perfect for Margo since it doesn't actually kill anything.
Shiver Armor - 18
Pre-reqs, etc. - 1 each
Attribute Points
Strength: 106/131
Dexterity: 91/136
Vitality: 273/273
Energy: 35/35
Life:1655 with CTA
Attack Rating: 3322
Resists: Maxed in Hell
Relevant Breakpoints, Other Stats
Deadly Strike: 101% [Grief (20), Guillaume's (15), Highlord's (31), Gore Riders (15), Lance Guard (20)]
Faster Hit Recovery: 7 FPS / 86% breakpoint (I wasn't going to hit the next one at 200%.)
Increased Attack Speed: Maxed @ 10 FPS
Crushing Blow: 50%
Merc - Act 2 NM Might Merc
Weapon: Reaper's Toll (socketed w. damage jewel)
Helm: Delirium Superior Bone Visage
Armor: Chains of Honor Wire Fleece
The goal here was to equip him with some +skills gear to amp his Might Aura up so I'd do a tad more damage. This was the first Merc I was really happy with. It was my first time using Reaper's Toll, and I was surprised at how well the weapon worked. Also, I threw Delirium on him just for fun since I had accumulated some Ists from Countess running, and I was amazed at its performance! I haven't seen this helm mentioned as much as others, but with Mind Blast, Terror, and Confuse being cast constantly, monster packs were reduced to blithering idiocy. This was really helpful in places like the Worldstone Keep.
Gameplay
Margo was certainly my most fun character yet. She absolutely mowed through monsters. I'd approach mobs spamming static field (at level 10 it covers most of the screen), so by the time I hit most monsters the were already at half life. I didn't realize how great static was--it always hits everything, and there's no need to aim, so I could spam it more in the middle of my melee attacks without disrupting things. With ignore target's defense, Grief would never miss, and with the Might Aura, 100% DS, and Enchant, it felt very fast. I actually was thinking how funny it was that maxed IAS normal attack for a sorc was faster than a Paladin (I just finished an Avenger), and was surprised when I checked and found the Paladin was 1 FPS faster. Margo just felt faster because she dealt so much more damage. I actually made the Passion runeword just to try the Zeal and see how it felt, and it too felt slow, and obviously didn't mow through fire immunes like Grief did. When I came to a pack of fire immunes, Margo didn't slow down in the slightest. She could actually kill fire immunes a little faster than physical immunes.
What happened when I encountered a physical and fire immune? This happened a few times and I just kept hacking to see what would happen, and I was surprised to see the monster's health going down. Then I remembered the Venom on Grief. It's not quick, but it gets the job done.
Margo handled all of the end-of-act bosses and the Ancients very well. She dropped Hell Diablo astoundingly fast. The only place she was a little squishy was in the Durance of Hate with all those dolls exploding everywhere. I would have liked to have had 2k life and/or max block at that point, but I just had to use a little extra caution and keep my distance.
I don't remember much of normal, but I used some random set/unique swords and then a 291% ED Ribcracker until I could equip Grief in Act 3 NM. Most of my other gear was fairly normal.
Best rune drop:
Now that she's proven herself, she feels free to use magic as she pleases. This was basically just a fun way to Mat a sorc--I've got a respec left so I can change her into some more traditional, overpowered build that can run specific areas for items and runes. If I ever get Infinity, she can respec to Lightning and start Baal running.
Many, many thanks to many on this forum (you know who you are!) as much of the equipment was the results of generous trades or giveaways!