It is incredible what the Diablo 2 engine can handle with barely any discernible slowdown. Absolutely incredible. You will see how Diablo 2 gets pushed to its limit in this post.
Getting a good Pit Farmer going is key to power progression and wealth acquisition in Diablo 2; it's basically your first step to farming Hell mode (info on Frenzy Barb Pit-runner).
In the above screencap, you can see my Multi-Shot Bowazon has just entered the bowels of the Hell Pit - an 85th level killzone. This is on /players8 with maxed spawns on. Yep, I edited the MonDen variable. Imagine a ball of wet clay in your hand. Now, squeeze that clay as you make a fist. That is what the Pit now feels like. It is so jam-packed with foes that they are oozing out of the entrance, out into the Tamoe Highland. This is how you play Diablo 2 in single-player mode. I have cleared the Pit in 7 mins flat. And that includes looting the odd item.
Anyway, first, our Bowazon gets hit by an arrow. Bang. A 14th level Amplify procs, AoEing two-thirds of the denizens. It is no surprise as to what happens with the next volley of arrows: everything amplified just dies. It's a 35% chance of a 14th level Amplify that sports broad radius and generous duration of 20 secs. We need one sec thanks to our damage and IAS. Everything affected by Amplify has its physical damage resistance reduced by 100%, and almost anything flaunting physical immunity has it broken (but nothing in the Pit has physical immunity).
Anyway, first, our Bowazon gets hit by an arrow. Bang. A 14th level Amplify procs, AoEing two-thirds of the denizens. It is no surprise as to what happens with the next volley of arrows: everything amplified just dies. It's a 35% chance of a 14th level Amplify that sports broad radius and generous duration of 20 secs. We need one sec thanks to our damage and IAS. Everything affected by Amplify has its physical damage resistance reduced by 100%, and almost anything flaunting physical immunity has it broken (but nothing in the Pit has physical immunity).
How is this possible? Brand.
An amplified mob of bone warriors and dark stalkers. Next volley, coming up!
Wasted.
(It's funny because everything just died.)
So we take a little sting and a mob gets amplified and popped in return. That is very vengeful. Just the way I like my 'zons.
An amplified mob of bone warriors and dark stalkers. Next volley, coming up!
Wasted.
(It's funny because everything just died.)
So we take a little sting and a mob gets amplified and popped in return. That is very vengeful. Just the way I like my 'zons.
Not only does Brand sport 35% chance on-being-struck 14th level Amplify proc, but it also sports a 100% on-striking 18th level Bone Spear proc. Yep, two necro skills in one package. The Bowazon has 100% Pierce, and so does Bone Spear. Thus, the shaft of bone, which inflicts magical damage, crashes through the deepest of mobs and to the back of their ranks - and beyond. Thus, the Pit is cleared in 10 mins flat and the killcount per Pit run stands at a whopping 2,000. (This is how we begin to farm high runes, high sets, high everything. To hell with the tedium of sleep-inducing default MonDen. That's for newbies. Life's too short for that shit.)
As with other procs, Bone Spear only procs on the two central arrows of my Bowazon's 24-arrow-strong hail. It is barely seen on-screen due to hitting the sprite limit on an almost constant basis. But here you can see white shafts of light - enwreathed by Firestorm - hurtling down the tunnel, first left and then right, crashing through everything in their wake. That's Bone Spear baby.
To show it more clearly, here is a twin-proc as we storm the Tamoe Highland en route to its Pit entrance:
I've fired in all directions and seen a max of four bone spears shreding across my viewport. This gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.
This particular Brand of mine confers a total of 666% damage vs. demons. Those devilkin, dark stalkers and dark archers? They're demonic. Thus, to Brand, they are squishy. And when amplify procs it's just unfair. This +dmg vs. demons means Brand is the wield of choice for my upcoming Chaos Sanctuary runs, too.
The main problem with Brand is that it doesn't have dual leech. Thus, you will need a rare ring with mana leech and Andy's Visage for life leech. If you can't roll a good rare ring (and this post shows how hard it is), sub out a Raven Frost for a top-tier Manald Heal. Or go back to Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest death mask. They do the job until you can find something better.
Another experiment. Remember my first level Plaguezon (recap)? Well, here's a 69th level version. Here a 20th level Poison Nova procs like a machine-gun; its density, gobsmacking.
Spread that plague.
The poison nova procs on each kill, though is unfortunately centralized on the Bowazon rather than the victim.
Nevertheless, it looks pretty bad ass as it fades out into the shadows of the pit, along with Firestorm from a Hell Torch:
Out in the open fields, the nova stretches out as the Bowazon sprints after her own arrows (because crap is dying off in the distance and the nova emanates from her):
How is this possible? Breath of the Dying in hydra.
Plugs lots of holes but doesn't pack enough punch compared to Windforce/Brand. Poison Novas are more showy than damaging - though when procced at a high rate, they are indeed damaging. Much more damaging than through Spearazon Fend and Barb Frenzy because the Bowazon is a far superior mob-murderer. Fenders and Frenzies - at least, the one's I've built so far - wouldn't have a hope in Hell of surviving a max MonDen Pit run. A multi-shot Bowazon wielding Windforce or Brand? It's a breeze.
Direct comparison of Brand, BotD, Faith and Windforce, all else being equal:
The on-paper story of damage rarely tells the full story in Diablo 2. Breath of the Dying damage exceeds Brand on paper, but Brand damage far outstrips BotD in practice. For all its pomp and glory, BotD (an overrated runeword on everything including Frenzy Barbs) is outstripped by Brand, Faith, and the humble Windforce. Brand's Amplify + Bone Spear + demonsbane, Faith's Fanaticism + Reanimates (and the merc then wields Ice), Windforce's RAW DAMAGE - they all beat BotD in my estimation. Brand and Windforce are crème de la crème. Windforce is still my fave bow. It has no fancy, noisy procs: it's just raw damage, silent and deadly.
Faith reanimates. This is a solid setup for Multi-zons because it's less dangerous to have tanky minions around you, and then the merc wields Ice to slow mobs down. Thus, Faith takes third spot for me. Perhaps second in Chaos runs when max spawns are switched on (because then it's possible to get a legion of undead going.) For Strafe-zons, though, Faith is numero uno (and we roll with an Act Two Might merc, wielding Pride.)
Faith reanimates. This is a solid setup for Multi-zons because it's less dangerous to have tanky minions around you, and then the merc wields Ice to slow mobs down. Thus, Faith takes third spot for me. Perhaps second in Chaos runs when max spawns are switched on (because then it's possible to get a legion of undead going.) For Strafe-zons, though, Faith is numero uno (and we roll with an Act Two Might merc, wielding Pride.)
| cRPG Blog | Diablo 2 Best Builds | Diablo 2 Twinking |
| Diablo 2 | Diablo 2 Best Items | Diablo 2 Review |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.