Diablo 2: The Brother (And Sister)hood of EoFF

[Tavrobel]

I guess a Summoner Druid would be different, because everyone else already has a Necromancer.

[Giga Guess]

I'd advise against a Summon Druid...you don't get the sheer quantity of pets a necromancer does, and, while they are pretty strong, I've found that they just aren't quite enough. now that said, I made a Summon hybrid, but there's not much else a Druid knows that can save you with only a few points invested in case your pets can't hack it.

This is, of course, purely my opinion.

[CimminyCricket]

I made an elemental druid and after a I think it was 75 I had maxed out all of my wind skills, which has allowed me to put into my other skills. with all of my items on I have 17 to all of my other skills, so I guess making an elemental would be best and then add to summons?
It worked on me it'll work on you!!
That'll be three easy payments of $99.99

[Tavrobel]

I'd advise against a Summon Druid...you don't get the sheer quantity of pets a necromancer does, and, while they are pretty strong, I've found that they just aren't quite enough. now that said, I made a Summon hybrid, but there's not much else a Druid knows that can save you with only a few points invested in case your pets can't hack it.

This is, of course, purely my opinion.

3 Dire Wolves out-classes a full army of Skeletals, by HP, Attack, AR, Defense, Attack Speed, and efficiency. Not only can they be spawned from thin air, they also improve themselves by consuming corpses. Bears with full Synergies is a TANK. Literally, a tank.

Now, they won't be quite as affected by Auras on the level that Skeletals can, they are still able to act, even when against a boss. A Bear is specifically a boss killer.

[DeStyle]

Like I said, I'm going for the poisonmancer.
I still have a tiny question, Does poison stack?

example: If I hit someone with poison dagger for 7-19 over
2 seconds, dealing proximately 6.5 each second (right? 7+19=26,
26/2=13 average over 2 seconds is 6.5 each second), and
then hit the mob again with poison dagger dealing another
7-19 over 2 seconds. Will all the damage stack? Meaning that
for a second I will do 6.5 + 0.5x6.5=9.75 a second?

And does the poison from a necromancer shield stack with
poison dagger?

[Markus. D]

muahahaha I cannot wait to have Dire Wolves at my Whim~

Before my computer crashed. I managed (thanks too an awe-inspiring level 7x Druid <3) too almost ding! 11 inside that sewers place.

[Nominus Experse]

As far as I know, you can't stack Poison Skills, but you can stack Poison Damage found directly from weapons or charms.

For example:
Poison Nova effects the enemy for a set, solid 2 seconds. During these 2 seconds, casting Poison Nova again will not cause any more damage, nor will it reset the timer due to the fact that Poison Skills do not stack or reset eachother.

As for the Poison Dagger, it will not cause any more poison damage with each strike, but it will deal the base physical damage of your dagger. However, you will still benefit from the magnificent Attack Rating bonus all the same.


I honestly cannot comment beyond speculation in concerns of the Poison Damage stacking with Poison Skill damage. Something tells me that they do not as it doesn't seem as though the more "potent" poison overrides or stacks with the lesser.

But I really don't know.



What I do know is that Poison Damage factored into your Normal Attack can be found from a myriad of places: shrunken heads, weapons, gloves, charms, etc.... So you can end up with a fairly high Normal Attack also. Really don;t know if this stacks with poison skill damage, but something tells me it doesn't.


QUESTION:
When making a crafted item, does the character's lvl taken into account while placing the new mods? And does the item's lvl effect anything?

I am pretty sure it has to do with the item's level, but I wanted to be sure. Also, is there any possible way to somehow figure out what level the item is?

[SeeDRankLou]

From what I read, it's all about item level. And the jewel has nothing to do with what you get, it just needs to be there, so it can be as craptastic as you want, it doesn't make a difference.

And I did a little reading, Rabies doesn't do continuous poison damage, it does poison damage about every second for it's duration, and thus is not affect by Venom's poison cap. What does happen however is that the damage from Venom replaces the first hit of poison Rabies does, or maybe adds to it. After that (if this doesn't kill the enemy) Rabies will act normally. So getting a Grief is back on.

Edit: New account, it had to happen sometime. The new account is rlw1980. I made other characters on my first account that I didn't do much with that ended up being mules. So everyone, add my new account to that good old friend list. And now I present:

SRLmartyr

This character is a Paladin that will brandish the Sacrifice skill as his main weapon, while using a full powered Fanaticism aura, backed by a Redemption aura. I will have a somewhat powerful Zeal as a back-up for non-leechable monsters, or end up finding something that gives Life Tap. So I will mainly be looking for good Life Leech items. I have a String of Ears belt, which is a good start I suppose. And if I am playing with a Necro, if we come across skeletons and other non-leechable monsters, if you like me you'll use Life Tap instead of Amplify Damage or Decrepify, and what's not to like about me?

[Nominus Experse]

Hey, that's a good thing, SRL. That would have been a right shame had you not been able to use Grief simply because Venom would override the awesomeness of Rabies.


After a bit of research and playing around with Hero Editor, I have happened upon a build of Commandomancer that most definitely whets my pallet.

This build is all about Auras and Runewords.

I would be wearing the following:
Beast Berserker Axe/Legendary Mallet/Caduceus
Fortitude Archon Plate
Phoenix Monarch
Dream?* Grand Crown
Call to Arms and Spirit on Switch

Dracul's Grasp Vampirebone Gloves
Nosferatu's Coil Vampirefang Belt
Stone of Jordan
Wisp Projector Ring
Mara's Kaleidescope
Sandstorm Trek (Ethereal would be godly)

4 Summoning GCharms (Ought to be able to trade for these)

*The helm is up to debate - I'm not sure what to grab.
It's either Vampiregaze, Trang's Helm, Dream Bone Visage, Giant Skull 2oS, or Shako. I have all but the Vampiregaze.

I am also going to start stockpiling the AR GCharms I seem to be finding left and right.



The mercenary would be a Might Merc

Pride Crytic Axe/Colossus Voulge
Bramble Archon Plate
Delirium?** Bone Visage

**Again the helm is up to debate.

Of all the items mentioned, I am missing 8 (Beast, Phoenix, CtA, Dracul's, Nosferatu's, Wisp Projector, Pride, and Delirium)

I'm not even going to think I will ever get an Anni or Torch, but whatever...

Yeah, I know, expensive as smurf...


However, in the end, I am granted the following auras:

Lvl 9 Fanaticism
Lvl 20 Thorns
Lvl 15-20 Redemption
Lvl 15 Holy Thunder
Lvl 1-20 Might
Lvl 20 Concentration

And a Lvl 5 heart of the Wolverine to provide additional AR and Dmg

Also, if I decide to invest in an Iron Golem instead of my usual Fire Golem (I just can't say no to Sparky, it seems), then I would be able to conjure up an Infinity or Insight or Doom Iron Golem, which would allow myself and my minions to benefit from an additional aura. However, that seems risky, and I would much rather see a mercenary holding that item rather than watching it fall apart because my Iron Golem was surrounded by cows...


I spent my points as follows:

112 in Strength
95 in Dexterity
283 in Vitality
0 in Energy

I spent my skills as follows:

20 in Skel Mastery
20 in Raise Skel
20 in Raise Skel Mage
1 in revive
1 in Clay Golem
1 in Blood Golem
1 in Iron Golem
20 in Fire Golem
1 in Golem Mastery
1 in Summon Resist

1 in Amp
1 in Iron Maiden
1 in Life Tap
1 in Decrep
1 in Lower Res
1 in Terror

1 in Teeth
1 in Corpse Explosion


This leaves me with 19 skill points I don't know where to put. I thought of placing them in Bone Armor, but for that to be of any real use, I need to fill synergies. Alas, 19 points didn't seem enough as it only made the Bone Armor around 350 life...

I may place them in Golem Mastery or Blood Golem to have my Fire Golem be a better tank.

Placing 20 points in Golem Mastery made my Fire Golem have 2500+ HP in NORMAL, but I don't really think that such an act is really advisable.


Once I had all my items equipped, these were my stats:

340 Strength
184 Dexterity
361 Vitality
273 Energy

This means I have:

2498 Life
780 Stamina
516 Mana
3972 Defense

An AR of 3194
Can inflict 3411 - 4985 damage

Not too bad, and really quite well for a Necromancer, if I do say so myself. But the real greatness is had in all the skells running about.

230+345+93 = 668% increased damage

My Skels sat at around 350 damage without any auras. Once they were under the auras' effects, they were capable of dealing 2338 damage per hit.

And then there is the Bear I can summon, which also benefits from said dmg bonuses. 500*6.68 = 3340 damage.

My Merc was doing 927 - 2721, but I may yet give him a Fort instead of a Bramble.


This is not taking into effect when I switch to CtA and give BOs to my troops.

With this build my resistances are also maxed in Normal, sitting at

85 fire
75 Cold
85 Lightning
75 Poison



But really, the bottom line is that this particular build looks rather fun, mostly because there are a -ton of auras dancing about and the fact that I can turn into a bear and lumber about. Instead of simply watching, I can actually do something for once.



If you actually read all this, thank you, and if you have any comments or suggestions, it would be most appreciated.

[Giga Guess]

Ooooh...an Oculus looks very nice.

[EDIT] Here's what I need, if anyone can comply. I need a decent (Low Level...low enough for my Sorc to use) 2 socket shield, and a Hellplague Sword, prease.

[Tavrobel]

Too bad an Occy is useless. Eschuta's is better for a Fire Sorceress.

I've got a low Splendor shield I can lend to you, and a Hellplague.

[CimminyCricket]

Giga, I could have sworn it was you that I gave the fire eschuta to.
I hope it was lol.

[SeeDRankLou]

Too bad an Occy is useless. Eschuta's is better for a Fire Sorceress.

I've got a low Splendor shield I can lend to you, and a Hellplague.

How is an Occulus useless? At least an Occulus is consistent. If you find an Occulus, it will always have +3 to Sorc skills, not to mention all of it's other nice mods. If you find an Eschuta's, you get +1-3 to Sorc skills, and +1 is craptastic, even if you get the full +20% to Fire/Lightning skills with it, and won't boost your skills as much as a simple +3 to Sorc skills will (at least not the lightning ones, and not by a long shot, I can imagine it's the same for fire). A full powered Eschuta's, even with just +10% to Fire/Lightning, is more powerful than an Occulus, yes, but they aren't always full powered, or even mid powered. Not to mention the plus resists, mf, energy, vitality and much lower level req, the only thing that the Occulus might do is teleport you into a pack on monster, which you can easily teleport out of unless you get killed in a single hit or something, which doesn't usually happen since a sorc is ranged and all that good stuff, and by the time it might happen in hell you can upgrade to a high-end Eschuta's. The Occulus is far from useless. Giga, keep your Occulus and equip it as soon as you can.

[Tavrobel]

Compared to Eschuta's? LOL no way is Occy good enough to use in comparison on a Fire Sorc. The damage is way lower, and the Teleport when struck can put you into more dangerous situations than not. Mana Burn and Fanat is one of the most dangerous things to encounter for a Occy Sorc. Fire and Lightning Sorcs use Eschuta's, while Ice use Occy, because their AoE can clear a path, while Fire and Lightning need a target..

I don't think he has an Occy. I'm going from the perspective of having to obtain an Occy, not actual practicality. Even if he did have one, I would find me an Eschuta's, and ditch the Occy.

[SeeDRankLou]

I didn't say the Occulus is better to use than an Eschuta's. You however said that an Occulus is useless, which it is not. An Eschuta's can be very good, more powerful than the Occulus. It can also suck. I had one with +1 to skills and +17% to lightning skills, and I got more damage from a common +2 to skills orb. The Occulus however is at least consistent, always giving +3 to skills. Not to mention you can wear it at level 42 instead of 72. My lit sorc is wearing an Occulus, and I am more than happy with it. The chance to teleport has yet to even try to kill me. I would be more happy with a +3 to skills Eschuta's, but haven't come across one yet.