ok, here i will post every question that comes up while playing HU; me and my friends only play hardcore via hamachi.

- Is it any usefull to put skillpoints in stuff like shaowmaster, valkyre, bear....? Those blockers seem quite usefull against regular monsters, but against any boss they die immediatly - so wouldn't it be better to improve the chars dmg instead?

- concerning Assasin: I want to build a melee-assa, no lame traps. Which skill do you guys use to kill bosses - bosses seem to be the main challanges in this mod, i noticed with some builds its quite easy to get meph (for example) down (conc. barb) - but how would i do him with an assa?

Welcome in HU!

Summons are good if u play a summoner, they are great support builds (think of a summon druid or necro). As u said these summons are not great vs. bosses, but can be good blockers if the party needs some seconds to regroup, and does fine everywhere but bosses. As a side note try spirit blades vs. bosses.

As for sins, I'm not good with them, but Tiger Strike with D-Talon should work well vs. single strong monsters (like bosses and try to get crushing blow aetup for those many kiks) while D-Tail good vs. groups.
And traps are not lame, maybe it's just not your style. A trapper can be very strong in capable hands.

And if u play only HC your main point is to increase survival by any means required.

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Roses are red, violets are blue
This poem should rhyme, but it doesn't.

Vakyrie, Shadow Master/Warrior and Grizzly are great support for you and your team. They can keep some heat of you on thrash and with enough pts in them they can hold up a bit against bosses (depends on the boss). That can allow you to retreat, regroup and re-pot.

I know about survivability, that is not my problem. We are working quite good when we play in a group. And what i saw was those summoned creatures being shit at any boss, you need to block with a tank, so for me those skill points are wasted, its way better to increase my dmg (if im not a tank) to get the boss down more fast.

But: Valk gets bonus from decoy:
10% life/lvl - ok
critical strike - ?
strategy - ?
perfection - ?

What does that mean? will the "skill-lvls" of those valk-skills increase when i put 1 point in decoy?


concerning assa:

how does fade's %-dmg-red. work with regular %-dmg-red. on items?
I don't know the cap in this mod, but do i have to add them up? Or are those 2 different things?
Are you able to make your assa "tank-like" at all? I mean fade is great, but assas got not as much life as babas and no absorb. like that great pala aura.
I will go for fade + dualblocker + CoS (which doesn't work on bosses?), but i guess a "big hit" from a boss could kick my assas ass?
And what about Blade Shield? I read somewhere it has a range of 6 or 4 yards - dragon tail has 6 yards, and i compared blade shield with it, but it isn't even near the radius of dragon tail. Does blade shield also deal any crushing blow and stuff on my weapon or just dmg?

1 point in Valk increases her life by 20%, while 1 point into Decoy increases it by 10%. There is no other synergy from Decoy. The other synergy skills are where your hard-level in those skills determines their level for the Valk. i.e. Valk also has the passive skills Perfection, CriticalStrike, etc, as long as you do too.Soft and hard points into Fade increase your assassin's damage reduction by 1%. The dr% in HU is the same as Vanilla D2, so is capped at 50%. All sources of dr% are added together and capped at 50%. None of that is difference from Vanilla D2.

The assasin's ability to tank is pretty much the same as the Paladins. Both have lower life than other tanks, but have good ways to max their block. The paladin has an easy source of absorbs, while the assasin has easy source of dr%, curse and poison reduction. Absorbs are relatively easy to get from gear.

CoShadows will not reduce boss defence, poison resistance, or mess with their AI. It's still alright for the defence boost.

In my experience, Blade Shield has a range of 1. I'd be surprised if it had a range of 2, and I'm positive it doesn't have a range more than that. I don't know if BladeShield carries over mods like CBlow, DeadlyStrike, etc, but it's a very well known skill to destroying weapon durability very fast. It only does your regular attack damage (not buffed by any skills like TigerStrike, but is improved by passive SkillED like stats and ClawMastery). Monsters killed by BladeShield, Thorns, and Pally's HolyAura pulses will not create red portals when they die (you'll have to remake game).

Can you "stack" %DR as to help counter Amplify Damage? Or is the extra %DR discarded? I saw this topic and had to comment.

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Go and terminate with extreme prejudice
Most people just take steps. I take dubsteps.

you can stack it to counter amp yes

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atm i'm playing a Pala, going for zeal, but im quite confused about the skilling
=> holy shield max
=> how much points into zeal? (atm 5)
=> can i go for fana? (max)
=> any points into sacrifice to improve zeal dmg?

what would be most effecitve/usefull to skill with remaining points...?
i'm kinda "lost" here... - i know i need to have something against IM/phys immune...
=> vengeance? (with fana)
=> vengeance and conviction?

yep. you can stack it like any resist.

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People who live in cinder block houses can throw whatever they want.

way to restate what i said 5 days ago, lol wtf

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Why does Insight (runeword) not work?

Insight RW works perfectly.

Take note that many of the original runewords from vanilla have been changed, both from runes required and the base item where they can be done.

Specifically for insight, the runes are:
Ral - Tir - Tal - Sol
And it can be done in: polearms ,Staves, maces, scepters , and clubs.
Check http://critterkiller.arimyth.com/ for any further info.

♥

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"I am who I am. Your approval isn't needed"

i tried it several times...?
Could it be a prolem if i create sockets with those socket-items?

Runewords works with normal quality items only (be it from sockets or not), but not with cracked, broken, low-quality, etc...

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Roses are red, violets are blue
This poem should rhyme, but it doesn't.

ah, i think that could have been the problem, thx mate.

No problemo, just be safe.

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Roses are red, violets are blue
This poem should rhyme, but it doesn't.

Works in superior items aswell, just not low grade items.

Also thx for this info!

Another question:

How do i have to calculate ias when i have skill-ias and "weapon-/equip-ias"?

For example Fana + x ias and like very slow weapon...
=> weapon can't slow down my fana ias, but a weapon with increased ias can increase it again?

Effective IAS forom weapons&equip = (120*IAS)/(120 + IAS)
Skill IAS gives the full amount.

_________________
Roses are red, violets are blue
This poem should rhyme, but it doesn't.

Ok, some stuff i was wondering about:

- Pala: holy shield gives bonus to def
=> which def? of shield or of char def?

- %-res reduced on items
=> I use Javazone, got -21% lightning res on javelin
=> when does that work? only when go melee with it or also on the enemy which i hit first with lightning fury?
Does it work for all my lightning dmg or only lightning dmg on weapon?

passive pierce works with every form of light damage you have. Unless they are immune.

Holy shield buffs the entire def of the char.

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XXX poison dmg over x seconds

=> what does that mean?
a) xxx poison dmg done in x seconds
b) xxx poison dmg done evey second over x seconds

Ie. 200 poison damage over 5 secs would be 40 damage per sec

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ok, but how i know how long my poison lasts?
i hit the enemy and how long is he poisoned?

The enemy will be green as long as poisoned.

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Roses are red, violets are blue
This poem should rhyme, but it doesn't.

it will tell you on the item when you find it. the xxx over x secs listed on the item site means the numbers are just not listed, or maybe they vary, im not sure.

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How is it on a poison skill?

There is only "xxx poisn dmg over x sec"
=> enemy poisened for exact x sec? and in that very x sec it does that stated amount of poison dmg?

What happens if i use Rabies and Poison Creeper at the same time?
Will both poison dmgs work?

some poisons work together, (like rabies and creeper) most of the time they just fuck each other up. Usualy the highest DPS poison wins. Ie. higher dps venom will overwritye lower dps poison strike.

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Ok, im in the early 40 lvls now and want some runewords - where/how can i get runes which are about my lvl? I'm act3 normal now and my pala is lvl 43, so i want to equip him with "voice of reason" but i don't have a lem/ko yet.
I know i can cube em (3 lower ones = 1 higher) - but is there any other way?

Higher level runes can be hard to find. The two main runedropper bosses are The Countess (rather low level) and Nihla, other than that you can cube them as you find enough for it. Also you can trade with others.

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Roses are red, violets are blue
This poem should rhyme, but it doesn't.

That's one of the more irksome sides of level requirements - You aren't going to find those runes until Act5 Norm, but the level requirement for the runewords they make puts you at Act3. Likewise, you can craft powerful, low level items (mainly jewelry), some even without level requirements, but you need exceptional/elite gems (which are easily attainable from late Normal onwards). Of course, with jewelry crafting you don't NEED to use higher grade gems, but the mods available increase in power.

Another thing to note with poison - if I remember correctly, poison defaults to the shortest duration. That is to say, if you have one charm that does 24 over 6 seconds (4dps), and another charm that does 48 over 12 seconds (also 4dps), the damage from the second charm will only last as long as the shorter charm's duration (resulting in 6 * 8dps or 48 damage). Now that I think about it, this may only apply when using the Assassin skill, Venom, which has an extremely short duration. There was a good post explaining poison mechanics but at the moment I can't find it. Can someone verify this, cuz my memory is hinting that I'm wrong .

That's really the only way, to get up to a lem in Normal. According to blue's strategy site, Nihlathak will drop two or more runes up to a fal, and I have not seen otherwise. 3 Fal = lem. The way I got a lem (single player) was to run Nihlathak probably 50+ times, until I could cube up to a lem. That was not much fun at all. Your best bet is to try to find someone to trade with, as getting a lem in Act III otherwise would be a very long grind. I don't you will likely see anything higher than amn drop there...

If you don't mind settling for less, a decent death craft weapon might work nicely as well, until you get the runes for "voice." You should have some perfect skulls by now, and if not, you can always cube the lesser grade ones up. Put as many sockets as possible in the best one you get, and be sure to put a perfect skull in at least one socket. Don't mind the drain life mod, as it doesn't reduce your life fast enough to make a difference in fights, and, like poison, it cannot kill you directly, iirc. Holy Shield also provides enough life regen to counter this effect.

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It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
-William Ernest Henley

If an item gives me + xxx% dmg to demons (which most bosses are?) does it only count for phys dmg?

When playing Assa: Is it wise to put 1 point into cobra-strike? Am i able to "leech" life from undeads with it too?

Im playing with my Assa and can't find a decent helmet! Is there only crap available, i didn't find anything usefull (uniqs).
What do you guys use?

N.B.: This is just my speculation based off my observations.

I believe that + xxx% dmg to demons (or undead) only applies to physical, as elemental damage is governed by resistances.

As for cobra strike, one point couldn't hurt. It doesn't leech from unleechable mobs (Prime Evils, undead, torture demons, non-living entities), but is a nice way, when fully charged, to supplement your life and mana leeching. Of course, I would have other sources of life and mana leech as well.

In terms of helms, I am quite partial to Rockstopper unique sallet (exceptional skull cap). It has low lvl and strength requirements (48 and 43, respectively).


I liked this item in vanilla D2, but it's even better in this mod with the addition of 2 sockets, making it more modular (as you can replace the socketed items, albeit at your loss). I gambled one of these in Act IV normal. The 10% increased block chance won't help you if you are using dual claw, but the FHR, %damage reduction, vitality bonus, and resists are quite helpful.

But even easier to find is the helm from the Sigon's set. That is a nice lower-level set that seems to drop pretty often, and the helm and armor give you a total of 6 sockets to use as you see fit.

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It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
-William Ernest Henley

Prime Evils are leechable in norm and NM difficulties. With reduced drain efectiveness, but still leechable.

♥

_________________
"I am who I am. Your approval isn't needed"

Mea culpa. Thanks for the correction. I didn't notice any leeching from Mephisto or Diablo on Normal, but that is probably because their drain effectiveness is very low, and the damage they were inflicting (combined with mana burn from Mephy) was greater than whatever I could leech back.

The torture demons (spiky red things that use Lower Resist and glacial spike) are also unleechable on all difficulties, right?

_________________
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
-William Ernest Henley

yeh you cant leech from torture demons etc.

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