After ladder reset I decided to try hardcore in D2. I played D2 ladder softcore for about 1-2 years. Now I need some advices building my 1st untwinked hc char (trapsin):
1) I'm going to build 20 LS, 20 DS, 20 FB, 20 CBS, 1 in every Shadow Disciplines, and rest in Sock Web - is this alright for soloing game? Or I need more points for SM to tank?
2) What merc should I use? In some guides I read that trapsin could use act 5 merc, but he's not able to build Insight or Infinity, so what I need him for? Or I should get a2 merc as always (what type btw: Defiance, Holy Freeze or something else)?
3) What's important things I should note playing HC (except "Don't die" - I know it's bad
) Btw, haven't play assassin at all, so trying something new now 
Thanks for answers!|||Quote:
Hi, there!
After ladder reset I decided to try hardcore in D2. I played D2 ladder softcore for about 1-2 years. Now I need some advices building my 1st untwinked hc char (trapsin):
1) I'm going to build 20 LS, 20 DS, 20 FB, 20 CBS, 1 in every Shadow Disciplines, and rest in Sock Web - is this alright for soloing game? Or I need more points for SM to tank?
2) What merc should I use? In some guides I read that trapsin could use act 5 merc, but he's not able to build Insight or Infinity, so what I need him for? Or I should get a2 merc as always (what type btw: Defiance, Holy Freeze or something else)?
3) What's important things I should note playing HC (except "Don't die" - I know it's bad
) Btw, haven't play assassin at all, so trying something new now Thanks for answers!
Hi, welcome to HC!
1) Your build looks OK. You don't necessarily need a lot in SM for tanking, because you've got a merc... and your traps should be forging ahead killing most stuff before it gets to you. (Also, + skills will help bring up your SM skill).
2) Go with an Act 2 merc for sure. Since you don't have much experience with Trapsin's... there is no need for you to add to the learning curve by constantly being out of mana while you learn. Go act 2 merc with insight so you can spam traps. And I vote Holy Freeze (or Prayer 2nd). You definitely don't need Defiance, because Sin's don't have enough defense to build on. Even with Holy Freeze, there should be plenty of bodies to pop.
3) What's important is caution. Stay back, don't get surrounded. If the baddies are moving in, always give up ground to keep them in front of you - even better if you back off and your merc move in to take your place (and tank). Also, with a trapsin, watch your traps. Don't just hold your finger on the trap laying button... think about them, to make them count. I always run 3 LS & 2 DS so there is a combination of killing and explosions. Watch where you lay them... you can do way more damage with a correctly laid trap that is hitting six guys. Randomly laid traps generally only hit 1 or 2 monsters.
There is some argument about SW vs SM... because SM tends to use too many skills (at the wrong time), but I am not an authority on that subject.
-hps|||For the record, I have several Trappers that use Act 5 mercs... I think you should use an Act 5 guy just for style points; a Trapper is one of the few character builds who doesn't really need an Act 2 mercenary. (Although, you will have to pay slightly more attention to your available mana pool than would be the case with the cookie cutter "Act 2 guy with Insight stick".)
Act 5 mercs can actually be very effective, if you follow these tips :
(1.) IAS really, really helps these mercenaries, even more than I think it does for other mercs, largely because their "special" abilities (e.g. Bash and Stun) are triggered only when they swing their weapons... more swings per melee round, more Bashes and Stuns).
The easiest long-term way to get the necessary IAS -- and all sorts of other goodies, like Venom, godly resists (via Fade), and so on, is to get your Barbarian merc a Treachery Runeword in something like a nice cube bugged ethereal Boneweave, Ornate Plate or whatnot.
(2.) Same comment applies to Open Wounds and Crushing Blow... get some if you can. (N.B. I have found that real 'el cheapo' solutions to this, are the Strength or even Steel Runewords, made in 2-socket, ethereal elite swords like Highland Blades, Champion Swords, Colossus Blades, etc., if you can't afford a Duress armor for your Barbarian. The LCS damage doesn't look like a lot but you will find in practice that when OW or CB trigger, the monsters still die nice and quickly.)
Another kind of low-end Runeword that works very well on an A5 merc (provided you can get CB, OW and IAS from his body armor and / or hat), is Honor in a big, high damage two-handed sword... he gets Deadly Strike from that one as well as a bit of leech, which is always useful in Hell.
(3.) I found that it is a very effective technique just to use Cloak of Shadows (you don't even have to throw any traps, unless you are confronted with a very dangerous group of monsters, e.g. Frenzytaurs, etc.) and Mind Blast (e.g. keep 'em foggy-headed and / or seeing stars), then let your Shadow Master and Barbarian cut 'em into chutney. (Note : I do not agree with all the negative comments about the SM. Especially with a lot of points in her, she is more durable than the SW, and has the big advantage that she can use skills that you have not chosen for your Assassin. The only "gotcha" here is that her skills are unsynergized, so don't expect miracles.)
I have some Assassins (not all Trappers) that -- this is no word of a lie -- can literally sit there and do things like count their money or cube gems, in Hardcore Hell, using this technique. It's really funny, especially when you consider that if something goes wrong, the merc and the SM will usually have sliced up enough monsters to provide corpses for DS to use.
(4.) The only thing that you do have to be aware of, with the A5 mercenaries, is that they are very aggressive... they will happily charge off the screen and go provoke monsters, so keep an eye on them so you know what they are getting themselves (and you!) into.
Anyway... everybody uses A2 mercs, but why not give the A5 guys, a chance, once in a while? They just don't get any respect, you know?
Cheers
Mr. Bill|||Postscript :
Just tried the "Assassin + A5 merc + Shadow Master" thing again, this was Hardcore Hell, Act 5. Ran Shenk, Eldrich, Sharptooth and a kind of nasty two-boss (Death Slasher) pack, using nothing but Cloak of Shadows.
Merc and SM tore everything limb from limb with me (e.g. the Assassin, in this case a Blade Fury based build, with no traps at all) basically standing around and observing the carnage.
Now here I do have to note that "Varaya" (the merc) is reasonably well-geared (using Duress Runeword in cube bugged ethereal Loricated Mail for armor, ethereal upgraded Cloudcrack as his sword and Demonhorn's Edge hat), and the SM is Level 38 (as prebuffed), and this area in A5 is not as dangerous as, say, the Throne of Destruction, but still, I hope you get the idea.
N.B. even with the nice ethereal sword, "Varaya's" damage is a bit on the low side, e.g. 1175-1678 on the LCS... but he seems to kill things quite easily, often whackin' em in one shot. (Surprisingly, the FoH that the sword throws every so often does make a difference, even though it's only Level 7.) I would expect that he would be less effective in Hell games with a lot of players but then this is not significantly different from other mercenaries.
YMMV...
Cheers
Mr. Bill|||1) Put more points in your Shadow Master. Making your kill speed a few percentage points higher pales in comparison to one of the best tanks in the game. Mercenaries are decent, but a good SM is a lifesaver. You won't notice 5 or 10% more damage, but you will notice death in hardcore.
2) I'd go with defiance, myself. It scales very well with your merc's gear and SM, doesn't shatter corpses, and isn't worthless like prayer. With a strong SM your merc plays a complementary role and that extra buff makes your SM one bad mama!
3) Don't rush ahead. Use crowd control (cloak of shadows, mind blast, shadow master) all the time. Assassins are blessed with amazing tools.|||I hate more than 1 point in a Shadow. And I like Shadow Master if I use any of them; she ties up enemies for a few seconds while you blow them to pieces.
I made a few builds that maxed either one and I was totally underwhelmed with what I got that just really didn't do anything for my build that Mind Blast doesn't already do.
I lean on Mind Blast a lot more than Cloak of Shadows.
Holy Freeze or Might mercenaries are the norm. I rolled with an Act 3 cold mage without much trouble and I appreciated the freezing.
Play recklessly and have fun in Hardcore!
|||I really should reinstall the game to play my untwinked trapper, but then I'd have to open the disc drive. I'd rather just keep procrastinating...
No comments:
Post a Comment