NM Mephisto 1, My Hammerdin 0

[bosoxx]

NM Mephisto 1, My Hammerdin 0

Hey Guys...

I need some more of your infinate wisdom on MF Character Builds. I know a Blizz/Sorc is a primo build for Farming Meph but i'm interested in a melee toon. Here's the deal. Last night i figured i was as high as i could go doing normal Baal runs. I stopped at 56. Killed Baal and got a rush to the council. Went in on my first NM Meph run with my Hammerdin maxed on Hammer & Concentration and some points in Vigor. I was equipped with EarthShaker, a 600 def armor, 291 Shako and my Lidless Wall shield. I took my Def Merc in for kicks. Total defense was about 1450, give or take a few points. I used one of my Teleport rings and Peter Panned it around level 2 till i found the stairs down. I managed to tele around only waking up a few witches along the way. Go to Meph and Mighty Merc waived the white flag and took to the ground. That left me with Meph.

I was basically reduced to a limp noodle and promptly died when i realized EarthShaker was doing nothing even with Concentration maxed out. I switched to Hammers once and i wasn't even putting a dent in 'ole Meph. I honestly thought i had enough to at least put up a decent fight but i didn't even get into the ring with him.

Here's my question. Is my Hammerdin a lame-duck build against NM Meph? Should i have tried something different? It took me about a week to rush this guy so rushing another is no big deal. Can anyone recommend a melee build that can go toe to toe with NM Meph? Maybe i just wasn't ready for battle properly? Can my Hammerdin still be salvaged..IE: twinked enough to kill Meph or is he a lost cause?

If anyone would be kind enough to lend me some suggestions, i'd be greatful.

As always,
Thanks!

-Bo

 

[Evrae Altana]

Why Earthshaker? It has no mods that benefit a hammerdin. Give Spirit sword and shield a try. The runes are easily attainable from Countess, and they have all the goodies your hammerdin could ever want.

 

[CableDayspring]

I'm really confused. Are you trying to be a hammerdin or are you trying to be something else?

If a hammerdin, equip yourself with hammerdin equipment, dual Spirits, FCR rings, vipermagi... that type of thing if you don't have a lot of wealth.

If you are going melee what skills are you using? Eathshaker sure isn't very fast, do you have any sources of IAS?

I think you need to really decide what type of Paladin you want to build. I don't know too many that can be hammers and melee unless they are going to use charge or smite as the melee skill. Even charge is iffy with hammers.

*cabledayspring

 

[Merick]

Any melee build can kill NM meph. Your problem is you are wearing caster gear, have a sub-par aura, and are using a shield with no block and trying to melee with it. Not to mention that NM meph is pretty hard to hit at level 56 without some nice +AR.

 

[bosoxx]

I understand your posts guys...but how do you get this gear? I have nothing of value to trade for the gear i need. I figured i might get some of it off Meph himself after some kills. When i said Hammerdin, i was meaning in stats for starters..at least that's the way i'm leaning. I figured the gear would fall into place eventually.

What's the best way (easiest/cheapest) way to outfit this Pally to at least make him a fair fight for Meph?

My apologies if i'm coming off as a dolt. I'm not very good at building because i got started in the whole process very late. I'm just not learning what some of these builds mean. Javazon's, Skelemancers....etc...When i first played you just played you killed. Now there is a build for any situation or uber mob. This might make me look like more of an idiot, but i've never traded with a player in my entire Diablo II lifetime. Because of my lack of knowledge at building i have nothing to trade. One HR and 90 pgems or so.

There's some good suggestions above but are they reasonably attainable? Will i need to play for another 2 years to find what i need to get this gear?
I only use EarthShaker because it's the only 1hander i have that does any damage.

After reading all your posts of how badly i'm equipped, i really feel like a moron now.

I know what i want to do, but i have no idea how to do it. Sigh. :undecided:

Thanks!
Bo

 

[Evrae Altana]

The stuff mentioned is very cheap. The Spirit runes can be easily gotten from Countess, and a 4 soc sword and 4 soc paladin shield can be easily gotten also. Collect some PGems and trade them off for a low Vipermagi.

One HR and 90 pgems or so.

That 90 PGems can buy you a lot of cheap hammerdin stuff.

 

[pedu]

With those pgems you come a long way. Check the trade forum.

 

[bosoxx]

Thanks for the Spirit tip Evrae

i didn't realize how easy either of those two were to make. I've probably had those runes around on my mule forever.

Since both are 4 socket, is there any place that drops them more frequently? Also, because my H'din is only level 56 what sword and shield should i be looking for? I don't want to socket something that's either TOO strong for him to wield or TOO weak for it's defense.

Thanks guys...i'm slowly getting the hang of all this. Thanks for your patience is i learn from the ground up.

Best,
-Bo

p.s. i wanted to mention that the reason i post so many questions is that i have very poor eyesight and it can be a strain to look over endless posts for little bits of info. I do know how to use the search feature for answers but sometimes i get headaches when i scroll up and down over and over. I appreciate being able to ask here even though i may cover something that was just covered a few posts ago.

 

[Calizzar]

make sure your ladde before going for the runes for spirit

 

[bosoxx]

did you mean ladder Cal?

Not sure what you mean? I don't play in any of the ladder games. I play on LOD US East

 

[GreyGhost]

Yea spirit is ladder-only. If you can find a 4-socket pally shield with nice resistance or damage mods, then do it. Same for any sword. You won't be attacking with the sword so damage doesn't matter. Plus the runes are cheap so you can make a new one at any time.

And read a guide for crying out loud.

 

[Calizzar]

when you are choosing a name for your character, theres a little box that you can check to make it a ladder character. in fact, i think it starts checked and you have to uncheck it to make nonladder.

spirit is a runeword that can only be made on ladder.

 

[bosoxx]

Right Cali.. it's definately unchecked. I've never played a ladder character. So i guess that Spirit is out until i create a ladder character.

And Ghost, i have read guides....a lot of them. In my last post i mentioned that i have very bad vision and reading continuely gives me headaches. I'm not lazy, it's just that i'm learning all this on the fly and to learn what i need to know as far behind as i am is going to take awhile.

-Bo

 

[Lord Nyax]

Okay, let's walk through this. Do you play Single Player? If not, you play online. Do you play on Open Battle Net. You'll know because everyone is totally hacked up the wazoo and everything is glitchy. If not, you play on Closed Battle Net.

Now there are only two choices. Ladder or Non-Ladder. Look at your character screen. It will say Ladder Character if you're ladder. If it doesn't say that, you're not a ladder character, so Spirit is totally out. If you are, get a Crystal Sword and any 4 socket Paladin Shield. Seriously. A 4os cracked Targe spirit will still rape the hell out of Lidless Wall. If possible, aim for a Crown, Royal, Sacred Targe, or Sacred Rondache. Those have higher block rates, so they're best.

If you can get dual Spirits, a mediocre Helm, some FCR Rings, Vipermagi, and an Amulet...you can pretty much take anything, even in Hell. Also, NM Meph is kinda weak....what kind of Hammer Damage are you doing? Anything over ~1k should be really hurting him. I'll go test this out with my Healadin...but I think there may be something else wrong.

 

[bosoxx]

Hey Lord..

i'm definately not on ladder. I play on battle.net & never single player.

" get a Crystal Sword and any 4 socket Paladin Shield"

any crystal sword? Am i looking for something with sockets? And with the shield, what am i going to be sticking in these 4 sockets?

"If you can get dual Spirits, a mediocre Helm, some FCR Rings, Vipermagi, and an Amulet"

What is a Spirit and FCR rings?

"Also, NM Meph is kinda weak....what kind of Hammer Damage are you doing?"

I thought i was crazy but i have a level 21 Blessed Hammer and it wasn't doing anything to Meph.

-Bo

Thanks Lord, i think i have a good place to begin now

 

[Evrae Altana]

What is a Spirit and FCR rings?

Spirit is a runeword that can be made into swords and shields. Check the Arreat Summit for more details.
FCR rings are rings with the faster cast rate mod on them.

 

[English Muffin]

If you can't get a spirit and you need to cast faster, there's always Wizardspike. Are you sure you're using Concentration and Blessed Hammer at the same time? Put Hammers on your left click and conc on your right. With mediocre equipment you can easily get 1.5k dmg.

I just check on a damage calculator. I used 55 hard points and assumed you had about +6 to all skills equipment. This is relatively easy to get.

20 Blessed Hammer
20 Concentration
6 Vigor
1 Holy Shield
1 All prerequisites (8 total)

And your Hammers should read as follows:
Mana cost: 11.2
Magic damage: 538 - 546 (ø542.5)
Magic damage (Concentration Aura on): 1708 - 1733 (ø1720.5)
Damage to undead: +50%
[Synergy] Vigor: +84% Magic damage (14% / Lvl)
[Synergy] Blessed Aim: +14% Magic damage (14% / Lvl)

Also, what are your resistances? Meph is nothing if you have 75 lightning res.

In nighmare Mephisto is lvl 59 with 1286 def and 40% chance to block. And most importantly, his health is 74547. Which means it will take about 43 hammers to kill him at your level, if you have the stats listed above. Hope this helps

 

[bosoxx]

I'm going to graduate from the "Dummy of the Month" school no time flat.

Thanks English you just made me realize one thing i've been doing wrong all along. Setting up Hammers on the left and Concentration on the right on the bar below. I can see now why Meph made mincemeat out of me.

Anyway.. i've pulled some basic stats for DrSpineFish my Hammerdin:

Blessed Hammers:
Level 21
499-508 Damage
Mana: 10

Resists:
Lightning: -16
Cold: -16
Fire: 9
Poison: 14

This has to suck bad in Nightmare so i should start looking around for better resist gear. I've had a few nibbles in the trading forum for some of my pgems for some Hammerdin gear so maybe something will pan out and i can build him a bit.

Thanks again everyone!
-Bo

 

[English Muffin]

I'm going to graduate from the "Dummy of the Month" school no time flat.

Thanks English you just made me realize one thing i've been doing wrong all along. Setting up Hammers on the left and Concentration on the right on the bar below. I can see now why Meph made mincemeat out of me.

Anyway.. i've pulled some basic stats for DrSpineFish my Hammerdin:

Blessed Hammers:
Level 21
499-508 Damage
Mana: 10

Resists:
Lightning: -16
Cold: -16
Fire: 9
Poison: 14

This has to suck bad in Nightmare so i should start looking around for better resist gear. I've had a few nibbles in the trading forum for some of my pgems for some Hammerdin gear so maybe something will pan out and i can build him a bit.

Thanks again everyone!
-Bo

What is your strength, dexterity, vitality, and energy? Your strength should be just enough to equip your gear. Dexterity enough for max block WITH holy shield. Base energy. Everything else in vitality.

As a hammerdin, you should be looking for equipment with res, +skills, and fcr. Your resistances is your main problem. All you really need to do now is get your lighning resistance up and remember to use Concentration and Blessed Hammers at the same time.

Oh, if you plan on doing runs frequently, start saving up for an Enigma:

Enigma
+2 To All Skills
+45% Faster Run/Walk
+1 To Teleport
+750-775 Defense (varies)
+ (0.75 Per Character Level) +0-74 To Strength (Based On Character Level)
Increase Maximum Life 5%
Damage Reduced By 8%
+14 Life After Each Kill
15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+ (1 Per Character Level) +1-99% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based On Character Level)

If you can't afford one right now, stick with the teleport ring. Try and find a ring that has teleport charges as well as other useful stats such as fcr, res, etc.

-Muffin

 

[bosoxx]

Thanks Muffin... i actually do have a Rare Teleport ring with 22 charges. It comes in handy.

I had the pleasure of meeting someone in game that read my post looking for Hammerdin gear. He donated a ton of things to my cause:

ViperMagi
Trangs
War Traveler's
Herald of Zakarum
WizardSpike
Stormclasp ammy: level 89

I need 5 levels before i can use the wizardspike but i'm on my way. After i loaded the gear on i ran down and flattened Andariel for good measure. With hammers/conc working the way they should, i'm seeing the difference. I think i could give Mephisto a serious run for the money soon.