Trying to take advantage

Ok I've been playing DiabloII since it first came out; leaving & returning whenever the ladder resets. And I have never taking advantage of the runewords that can be made. Oh I have made a few of the simple ones but I have never had any really "high" runes to make some of the better items that can be made.

This go round I at least have found or traded for a few of the runes that might make the game a little more interesting. I am sure this is just because BNet has just loosened up the purse strings regarding rune drops. But anyway I find myself sitting with a Sur, Ohm, Um, Mals, Kos and the usual lower ones. I know I can't make the lower resist Polearm and tear the game up with a conviction merc; but after looking at what I can make I am even more unsure what looks good to try out. I primarily play a skellymancer & a hybrid bowzon/javazon, occasionally a cold sorc.

I have checked the following for which I either have or could trade for the runes:

Bramble - Might put it on my skellymancer but is it worth it for really just the Thorns aura

Call To Arms - In what, a polearm for my merc or a bow

Delirium - Would this really work in a helm on my merc

Duress - why

Gloom - not much here either

Sanctuary - Shield that doesn't seem to help very much

Wind - Total waste of a Sur

Obedience - Now this is kinda interesting

Rift - On my merc this would be interesting but doesn't have ED

My question guys is it worth it to try any of these runewords out? The only one I have looked at that I really am sure to try is Harmony on my Bowzon to see how all of that elemental damage works out with a strafe attack.

If any of you guys have tried any of these out and were happy with the results, I sure would appreciate you responding here & letting me know the what & why of the words you used. Thanks for your replies.|||I'm very happy with the Obedience on my summon Necro's merc. Only thing is that it has 0ias. Another runeword you might want to look into is 'treachery' to couple with the obedience.

Also, a cheaper alternative to duress that I used on my hybrid zon was 'lionheart' until I found a Lo for fortitude. I never had a need to make a CtA this ladder since I used a bo-barb in each game. But if you wanted to, it is very nice, and mostly would be made in a 5osflail/crystal sword for use on switch(+ spirit monarch/lidless)

Haven't tried much of the others, but imo Bramble: not worth it.|||Quote:




Also, a cheaper alternative to duress that I used on my hybrid zon was 'lionheart' until I found a Lo for fortitude.




I consider Duress the replacement for Lionheart and like Lionheart, a great candidate for the "best bang for the buck." rune word. For a Shael, Um and Thul you get.

+40% Faster Hit Recovery

+10-20% Enhanced Damage (varies)

Adds 37-133 Cold Damage 2 sec. Duration (Normal)

15% Chance of Crushing Blow

33% Chance of Open Wounds

+150-200% Enhanced Defense (varies)

-20% Slower Stamina Drain

Cold Resist +45%

Lightning Resist +15%

Fire Resist +15%

Poison Resist +15%

This is a rocking RW for melee. I've used it on my kick-trapper before and loved it. I think it would be great for a strafer too, since the pressure is off in terms of the speed breaks.|||a call to arms would help any of ur chars.

in a sword or flail for ur necro or sorc, to buff them selfs, mercs and minions and in a bow its a really nice weapon for a zon (ias, ed, skill, ll and life boost)

bramble armors are for poison using characters (sin, psn-nec, psn-java), which u don�t have, so just ignore

sanctuary is a very nice shield with its huge res, block and stuff for ur zon on java switch, but a mosers works as fine imo

the trick with rift is to put it on a char that attacks really fast (kicksin or zealer) and use as much -(cold)res and +% cold dmg as posible to get possibly a higher orb dmg/time than an orb sorc (no cast delay for its ctc, so up to 5 orbs per second possible)

obedience rocks, beats most other merc weapons

duress would be nice on any of ur mercs or ur zon, altho i�d prefer treachery, lionheart and griswolds for a hybrid over it|||Obedience is excellent in a fast elite Ethereal polearm. An Ethereal Obedience Thresher works great because Threshers are natural 5 sockets. This is one of THE best bang for the buck runewords IMO. It's always 370% ED, too, so you know for sure what the damage is going to be and a pretty high damage at that. When enchanted my lvl 89 Might merc is doing almost 10K max damage.|||Obediance - on a Summon Necro merc is a great weapon.. It will make your merc smile and you will too once he starts knocking baddies out.. I use this pole exclusively on my summoners too..

RIFT - is another very interesting RW if have the items for a Rift a Sin.. Very fun but unless you have a green merc pole its not gonna work as well..

Duress- is my melle armor of choice for mose of my physical type characters. Good mods and cheaper than the other Higher armors..|||I have a 5 os Thresher but it is not ethereal. I feel like I should hold out for an eth one but I may never find one. Maybe I should go ahead and put it on my necro's merc and go ahead. There is no reason to just wait forever to see what I can find.

I sure am gonna miss the Insite aura though. Made CS easy w/o using the pots.|||Went ahead & made the Thresher into "Obedience" and all I can say is "boy does Baal go down 3-4 times faster". My question now is whether or not to keep the merc wearing Tal's mask or to switch him to the Orphan's Helmet? Obedience gives 40% Crushing Blow; if I add the set helm I add 35% Crushing Blow and 15% Deadly Strike, while losing the 10% life steal from Tal's.

I don't know if there is a limit to the amount of CB I can have or whether I get capped at a certain point.

Appreciate your replies and advice.|||u can have 100% cb, that is the cap, since every hit will trigger it

i would value the leach higher than the cb if u already have some, cuz he can only trigger the cb as long as he�s alive|||Quote:








u can have 100% cb, that is the cap, since every hit will trigger it

i would value the leach higher than the cb if u already have some, cuz he can only trigger the cb as long as he�s alive




+1 your merc is not crushing much when he's lying face down, *** up with some of Baal's nasty tentacles in places where the sun don't shine.