skunkbelly
Diabloii.Net Member
Trangomancer: mages/firewall build guide
I've looked in the stickied build guides, and didn't see anything like this... so I thought I'd post it here. This guide is meant for PvM... and I play HC Single Player strictly, so the gear suggestions here are light on the expensive runewords. Comments welcome!
**
A while back, I finally found the last piece of the Trang Oul’s set, and began looking for a build that would make good use of it. But I didn’t want to make a typical skellimancer (done that, boring) and I didn’t want to try a P&B build (done that too). When I looked at various guides on the forums, I saw lots of “Trang’s is great but you really should use Enigma noob blah blah blah†kinds of comments—and where Trang’s was mentioned as viable gear, the fire skills were always mentioned as an afterthought, and not the center of a build.
Anyway, I did some thinking, and dug up a retired character I’d used in a Single Player Forum tournament called “The Obsession Tournament.†In that tourney, you had to focus on a stat (mine was Dexterity), a skill (mine was skeletal mages), and the synergies for that skill. I abandoned the tournament in Act 2 NM because I just couldn’t progress well enough… the tournament rules made it impossible to use Lower Resist, which made the mages fairly useless.
Outside of the bounds of that tourney, though, I found that I had a character who could easily be made viable. He already had maxed block (and would forever, with all the points I’d put into Dexterity), along with maxed Mages and SM. He only needed some better gear and some points into Lower Resist. Thus, the Trangomancer was born. I twinked him up, earned him a point in Lower Resist, and put a bunch of levels on him… and finally, at level 65, equipped the complete Trang’s set.
From that point on, this character has devastated everything in his path quickly and easily, with nothing even remotely like a NDE (well, OK, one bad experience with some Dolls… but it wasn’t *that* close). The combination of Lower Resist and the Trang’s fire skills kills anything not FI quite swiftly… and LR will also remove the immunity of most fire immunes you run across in your travels. Your mages will do significant damage; they’ll be assisted and kept safe by a crowd of normal skeletons, who will still be effective despite the lack of Amplify Damage (you *will* have a Might merc). In short, there’s nothing that can stop you… but unlike a typical skellimancer, you get to PLAY THE GAME while your skeletons HELP (and not the other way around). This is an active character… you don’t just watch the action. For those who get bored with a standard skellimancer, this build is for you.
SKILLS:
Raise Skeletal Mage: 20
Skeleton Mastery: 20
Raise Skeleton: 20 (max this after the Mage and Mastery)
Clay Golem: 1
Blood Golem: 1 (prerequisite for Revive)
Iron Golem: 1 (prerequisite for Revive)
Revive: 1 (1-point wonder, for the extra tanks)
Golem Mastery: 1
Summon Resist: 1
Lower Resists: 1+ as many extras as you like. This is your main curse.
1 point in all prerequisite curses (which will get you Amp and Decrepify, which will see some minor use against PI/FI monsters)
1 point in Teeth (prerequisite for CE)
1 point in Corpse Explosion
With these skills, the basic build is complete at level 67 (including 8 points from quest rewards in NM and Normal). All additional points can be used wherever you like. I recommend extra points in Lower Resists, and if you like, Corpse Explosion. You could also beef up your golem or revives, though. Whatever… you have points to spare.
STATS:
Strength: you need to have 91 strength to equip Trang Oul’s Set (assuming you socket a Jewel of Freedom or Hel rune in the helm, which I recommend).
Dexterity: enough for maxed block, about 200ish in hell, depending on your character level. One great bonus of this set-up: Trang’s makes you move so fast, you can hardly tell any difference between walking and running… so walk everywhere with maxed block!
Vitality: everything else.
Energy: nothing, nada, zip, zilch, zero.
GEAR:
This is a set-dependent build, so some of these pieces are required.
Armor: Trang-Oul’s Scales. Requires 84 strength, and is available at level 49. Until then, use a Skin of the Vipermagi. Stick a socket in it with whatever suits your needs… I put a ptopaz in mine.
Helm: Trang-Oul’s Guise. Requires 106 strength, which would be your worst str requirement… but stick a Jewel of Freedom in it, with a good second mod, and the requirement goes down to 90, which is closer to the belt. Available at level 65, your last piece of the set. Until then, use a good rare circlet or Peasant Crown.
Shield: Trang-Oul’s Wing. Available at level 54. Until it’s available, use a Sigon’s shield or a Homunculus or whatever tickles your fancy. Once again, socket it with whatever you need… obviously, a pdiamond is a cheap and easy choice that will take pressure off of the rest of your gear, but if you have Heart of the Oak (see below), resists won’t be necessary.
Belt: Trang-Oul’s Girth. Available at level 62. Requires 91 strength, which is your worst Str requirement.
Gloves: Trang-Oul’s Claws. Available at level 45.
Wearing the complete set will give you (along with less useful mods that I’ve left out):
25% Faster Hit Recovery
Replenish Life +30
+275-300 to Mana
40% Faster Run/Walk
Poison Resist +130% (only 45% more needed to max in hell)
Lightning Resist +100% (only 75% more needed to max in hell)
Fire Resist +**-95% (only 80-87% more needed to max in hell)
Cold Resist +120% (only 55% more needed to max in hell)
Damage Reduced by 25%
+30% Increased Chance Of Blocking
+15 To Dexterity
+25 To Strength
+5 to all Necromancer Skills
-25% To Enemy Poison Resistance
+25% Poison Skill Damage
Cannot Be Frozen
+66 To Life
+20% Faster Cast Rate
20% Life Stolen Per Hit
+3 To Fire Mastery
+10 To Meteor
+13 To Fire Wall
+18 To Fire Ball*
Regenerate Mana 60%
And a nice gothic look, too
What do we still need? A weapon, jewelry, and boots. You have four spots to play with. You want to pack as many “+ all skills†bonuses into those spots as possible, since they boost your fire skills and your skeletons… and you also need to max out your resistances and increase your life.
Weapon: Heart of the Oak is the best choice for the build, if you can afford it. It will bring you very close to maxed resistances, and give you +3 to *all* of your skills… and since the +3 will affect not only the attack skills themselves, but also Fire Mastery, the difference it makes in your damage is tremendous. If you don’t have HotO, then the Arm of King Leoric is a good back-up choice… it won’t help your fire skills, but it will give you slightly better mages and skeletons than HotO will. Either is a good choice. Until you can equip one or the other, Suicide Branch is a great choice.
Switch Weapon: The Call to Arms runeword is great, if you don’t mind losing a couple mages and skeletons when you switch. The life and mana bonus is worth that annoyance, if you have a CtA to use. Otherwise, no switch is necessary for the build.
Amulet: Mara’s Kaleidoscope is the best option here… the combination of Mara’s + HotO will give you maxed resists in hell with the Trang’s set (or darn close to maxed resists, at least). If you lack Mara’s, then Telling of Beads is a great second option, with Highlord’s Wrath (+1 skills and +35 lightning resist) a third. This is also a great spot for a rare with necro skills and resistances (though it won’t help your fire skills at all).
Rings: Bul Katho’s Wedding Bands are perfect for this build, with skills and life. SoJs are another good choice, but since I play HC, life > mana for me. You won’t really need the extra mana anyway, and blue potions are easy to come by. If you don’t have BKWBs or SoJs handy, then go with rares that fill your needs.
Boots: Only one set or unique boot will give you any bonuses to your skills at all: Marrowwalks. I tested Marrowwalks, and wasn’t impressed with the difference they made in my skellies’ damage or life. If you really do want the +2 to Skeleton Mastery, though, you’ll need 125 strength… personally, I used Waterwalks for the extra maximum Fire Resistance and the big life bonus (and instead of packing on strength charms, I used those inventory spots for even more vita charms, and skillers). If you don’t have HotO and/or Mara’s, you will probably need this spot to help with your resists… a good rare can do wonders here.
In total, if you can swing the recommended set-up, you will have +5 to your necro skills, and an additional +7 to all skills… so +12 to your necro skills, and +7 to your fire skills. That brings your Fire Wall to slvl 20, with level 10 mastery… and your average damage with it will be about 2500, which will then be multiplied by Lower Resist. Let the barbecue begin! Your skeletons and mages will be at level 32… I had 35, with a boost from CtA and two Graverobber’s GCs. At that level, they did great damage, and rarely died.
THE MERC
No substitute: get yourself an act 2 Might merc, to help your melee skeletons’ damage. Nothing else compares in terms of usefulness. For your merc’s gear, go with any of the standard choices… but make sure you avoid anything with a chance to cast a curse. You don’t want CtC curses to trigger and override your Lower Resist.
GAMEPLAY
This character is a TON of fun. Until you can start equipping Trang’s items, you’re basically playing a summoner. Suffer through it. By the time you reach level 54, you’ll be able to equip three Trang’s items: the gloves, shield, and armor. This will give you Fire Wall (yes, you could get Fire Ball at level 49, but it eats too much mana for my liking, and does too little damage). Once you have Fire Wall, along with LR, things get much more interesting. By the time you reach NM Act 5, you should be able to equip the entire set, and you’ll gain both Meteor and Fire Mastery. At this point, your killing power becomes completely absurd in NM, even in an 8-player game, and remains quite fast in Hell difficulty on lower players settings.
I've looked in the stickied build guides, and didn't see anything like this... so I thought I'd post it here. This guide is meant for PvM... and I play HC Single Player strictly, so the gear suggestions here are light on the expensive runewords. Comments welcome!
**
A while back, I finally found the last piece of the Trang Oul’s set, and began looking for a build that would make good use of it. But I didn’t want to make a typical skellimancer (done that, boring) and I didn’t want to try a P&B build (done that too). When I looked at various guides on the forums, I saw lots of “Trang’s is great but you really should use Enigma noob blah blah blah†kinds of comments—and where Trang’s was mentioned as viable gear, the fire skills were always mentioned as an afterthought, and not the center of a build.
Anyway, I did some thinking, and dug up a retired character I’d used in a Single Player Forum tournament called “The Obsession Tournament.†In that tourney, you had to focus on a stat (mine was Dexterity), a skill (mine was skeletal mages), and the synergies for that skill. I abandoned the tournament in Act 2 NM because I just couldn’t progress well enough… the tournament rules made it impossible to use Lower Resist, which made the mages fairly useless.
Outside of the bounds of that tourney, though, I found that I had a character who could easily be made viable. He already had maxed block (and would forever, with all the points I’d put into Dexterity), along with maxed Mages and SM. He only needed some better gear and some points into Lower Resist. Thus, the Trangomancer was born. I twinked him up, earned him a point in Lower Resist, and put a bunch of levels on him… and finally, at level 65, equipped the complete Trang’s set.
From that point on, this character has devastated everything in his path quickly and easily, with nothing even remotely like a NDE (well, OK, one bad experience with some Dolls… but it wasn’t *that* close). The combination of Lower Resist and the Trang’s fire skills kills anything not FI quite swiftly… and LR will also remove the immunity of most fire immunes you run across in your travels. Your mages will do significant damage; they’ll be assisted and kept safe by a crowd of normal skeletons, who will still be effective despite the lack of Amplify Damage (you *will* have a Might merc). In short, there’s nothing that can stop you… but unlike a typical skellimancer, you get to PLAY THE GAME while your skeletons HELP (and not the other way around). This is an active character… you don’t just watch the action. For those who get bored with a standard skellimancer, this build is for you.
SKILLS:
Raise Skeletal Mage: 20
Skeleton Mastery: 20
Raise Skeleton: 20 (max this after the Mage and Mastery)
Clay Golem: 1
Blood Golem: 1 (prerequisite for Revive)
Iron Golem: 1 (prerequisite for Revive)
Revive: 1 (1-point wonder, for the extra tanks)
Golem Mastery: 1
Summon Resist: 1
Lower Resists: 1+ as many extras as you like. This is your main curse.
1 point in all prerequisite curses (which will get you Amp and Decrepify, which will see some minor use against PI/FI monsters)
1 point in Teeth (prerequisite for CE)
1 point in Corpse Explosion
With these skills, the basic build is complete at level 67 (including 8 points from quest rewards in NM and Normal). All additional points can be used wherever you like. I recommend extra points in Lower Resists, and if you like, Corpse Explosion. You could also beef up your golem or revives, though. Whatever… you have points to spare.
STATS:
Strength: you need to have 91 strength to equip Trang Oul’s Set (assuming you socket a Jewel of Freedom or Hel rune in the helm, which I recommend).
Dexterity: enough for maxed block, about 200ish in hell, depending on your character level. One great bonus of this set-up: Trang’s makes you move so fast, you can hardly tell any difference between walking and running… so walk everywhere with maxed block!
Vitality: everything else.
Energy: nothing, nada, zip, zilch, zero.
GEAR:
This is a set-dependent build, so some of these pieces are required.
Armor: Trang-Oul’s Scales. Requires 84 strength, and is available at level 49. Until then, use a Skin of the Vipermagi. Stick a socket in it with whatever suits your needs… I put a ptopaz in mine.
Helm: Trang-Oul’s Guise. Requires 106 strength, which would be your worst str requirement… but stick a Jewel of Freedom in it, with a good second mod, and the requirement goes down to 90, which is closer to the belt. Available at level 65, your last piece of the set. Until then, use a good rare circlet or Peasant Crown.
Shield: Trang-Oul’s Wing. Available at level 54. Until it’s available, use a Sigon’s shield or a Homunculus or whatever tickles your fancy. Once again, socket it with whatever you need… obviously, a pdiamond is a cheap and easy choice that will take pressure off of the rest of your gear, but if you have Heart of the Oak (see below), resists won’t be necessary.
Belt: Trang-Oul’s Girth. Available at level 62. Requires 91 strength, which is your worst Str requirement.
Gloves: Trang-Oul’s Claws. Available at level 45.
Wearing the complete set will give you (along with less useful mods that I’ve left out):
25% Faster Hit Recovery
Replenish Life +30
+275-300 to Mana
40% Faster Run/Walk
Poison Resist +130% (only 45% more needed to max in hell)
Lightning Resist +100% (only 75% more needed to max in hell)
Fire Resist +**-95% (only 80-87% more needed to max in hell)
Cold Resist +120% (only 55% more needed to max in hell)
Damage Reduced by 25%
+30% Increased Chance Of Blocking
+15 To Dexterity
+25 To Strength
+5 to all Necromancer Skills
-25% To Enemy Poison Resistance
+25% Poison Skill Damage
Cannot Be Frozen
+66 To Life
+20% Faster Cast Rate
20% Life Stolen Per Hit
+3 To Fire Mastery
+10 To Meteor
+13 To Fire Wall
+18 To Fire Ball*
Regenerate Mana 60%
And a nice gothic look, too
What do we still need? A weapon, jewelry, and boots. You have four spots to play with. You want to pack as many “+ all skills†bonuses into those spots as possible, since they boost your fire skills and your skeletons… and you also need to max out your resistances and increase your life.
Weapon: Heart of the Oak is the best choice for the build, if you can afford it. It will bring you very close to maxed resistances, and give you +3 to *all* of your skills… and since the +3 will affect not only the attack skills themselves, but also Fire Mastery, the difference it makes in your damage is tremendous. If you don’t have HotO, then the Arm of King Leoric is a good back-up choice… it won’t help your fire skills, but it will give you slightly better mages and skeletons than HotO will. Either is a good choice. Until you can equip one or the other, Suicide Branch is a great choice.
Switch Weapon: The Call to Arms runeword is great, if you don’t mind losing a couple mages and skeletons when you switch. The life and mana bonus is worth that annoyance, if you have a CtA to use. Otherwise, no switch is necessary for the build.
Amulet: Mara’s Kaleidoscope is the best option here… the combination of Mara’s + HotO will give you maxed resists in hell with the Trang’s set (or darn close to maxed resists, at least). If you lack Mara’s, then Telling of Beads is a great second option, with Highlord’s Wrath (+1 skills and +35 lightning resist) a third. This is also a great spot for a rare with necro skills and resistances (though it won’t help your fire skills at all).
Rings: Bul Katho’s Wedding Bands are perfect for this build, with skills and life. SoJs are another good choice, but since I play HC, life > mana for me. You won’t really need the extra mana anyway, and blue potions are easy to come by. If you don’t have BKWBs or SoJs handy, then go with rares that fill your needs.
Boots: Only one set or unique boot will give you any bonuses to your skills at all: Marrowwalks. I tested Marrowwalks, and wasn’t impressed with the difference they made in my skellies’ damage or life. If you really do want the +2 to Skeleton Mastery, though, you’ll need 125 strength… personally, I used Waterwalks for the extra maximum Fire Resistance and the big life bonus (and instead of packing on strength charms, I used those inventory spots for even more vita charms, and skillers). If you don’t have HotO and/or Mara’s, you will probably need this spot to help with your resists… a good rare can do wonders here.
In total, if you can swing the recommended set-up, you will have +5 to your necro skills, and an additional +7 to all skills… so +12 to your necro skills, and +7 to your fire skills. That brings your Fire Wall to slvl 20, with level 10 mastery… and your average damage with it will be about 2500, which will then be multiplied by Lower Resist. Let the barbecue begin! Your skeletons and mages will be at level 32… I had 35, with a boost from CtA and two Graverobber’s GCs. At that level, they did great damage, and rarely died.
THE MERC
No substitute: get yourself an act 2 Might merc, to help your melee skeletons’ damage. Nothing else compares in terms of usefulness. For your merc’s gear, go with any of the standard choices… but make sure you avoid anything with a chance to cast a curse. You don’t want CtC curses to trigger and override your Lower Resist.
GAMEPLAY
This character is a TON of fun. Until you can start equipping Trang’s items, you’re basically playing a summoner. Suffer through it. By the time you reach level 54, you’ll be able to equip three Trang’s items: the gloves, shield, and armor. This will give you Fire Wall (yes, you could get Fire Ball at level 49, but it eats too much mana for my liking, and does too little damage). Once you have Fire Wall, along with LR, things get much more interesting. By the time you reach NM Act 5, you should be able to equip the entire set, and you’ll gain both Meteor and Fire Mastery. At this point, your killing power becomes completely absurd in NM, even in an 8-player game, and remains quite fast in Hell difficulty on lower players settings.
