2handed Avenger

[:1]I'm thinking about making a two handed avenger. Just wanting some input to see if anybody has any good ideas.

Here's what I have so far:

Weapon: BotD Ogre Maul

Armor: Treachery

Ammy: Highlord's

Ring: RF

Ring: BK

Belt: Dungo's

Gloves: Drac's

Boots: Gore's

That, of course, give me very limited resists. I'll make up for that in my inventory.

So that leaves the big gaping hole of helmet choices. I was actually thinking Delirium, particular for the 1/9 chance of casting confuse on strike (a huge crowd control device that will be much needed). But I want to know: When it casts delirium and you turn into that little doll, will I still deal the same damage?

Another choice would be CoA. It will help me with the much needed damage reduction (need 20 more for max) and resists. I could also throw in an IAS jewel or two and swap the Ogre Maul for a Thunder Maul.

Other choices would be Dream (only gives me ~10% more damage fully synergized, but it gives 10% ctc Confuse when hit, as well as 5-20 resists, fhr, and a few other goodies). I can't think of anything else that would be particularly useful.

With all this, I think I could hit around 15k average damage per hit, which would translate into about 22k after Conviction. So I'm thinking it would look like 6k-38k per hit at 2.2-2.5 swings per second. Not bad, eh?

Tips?|||Delirium: you're stuck with normal attack while in Flayer form. So no Vengeance while you're morphed.

Dream is good, a 20pt Res Lit synergy bumps it to 1-2200 Lightning dmg, which for just an added bonus from a single piece of gear is pretty good. It's got CTC Confuse on hit, and you'll be getting hit a lot, so it'll be going off a lot. And Dream just has better defensive mods than Delirium has.

Another option is a Circlet of Life Everlasting with a good prefix, preferrably Chromatic (21%-30% res all) or Jeweller's/Artisan's (3 sockets). Socket it full of Sol runes, and you've got a solid defensive helm, with up to 46 PDR.

Drac's are OK, but I'd prefer Bloodfist for the Life, IAS and FHR over the life leech. The Life Tap is not going to go off as often as you want it too, given you'll be swinging at 11 or 12 frames. Plus the Life Tap conflicts with Confuse, conflicting curses is a big no-no. Bad news when you've got a mob of Extra Strong nasties swinging at each other while Confused, then you trigger Life Tap and they all turn on you...

I don't like BK, I'd prefer to craft a gg Safety ring as a second ring to a RF. Another slot with up to 6 PDR.

I'd use a Thunder Maul over an Ogre Maul. With this type of char, you want to try and 1-hit KO everything, and the biggest phattest beatstick around is an EBotDTM. Use an Act 1 Rogue merc with a Faith bow, and you'll have no problem hitting the fastest attack speed, even with a Thunder Maul. It's just 35% more IAS with an EBotDTM and any Faith bow to get to 10 frames. Treachery's got 45%, so you'll already be there.|||Quote:








I'm thinking about making a two handed avenger. Just wanting some input to see if anybody has any good ideas.

Here's what I have so far:

Weapon: BotD Ogre Maul

Armor: Treachery

Ammy: Highlord's

Ring: RF

Ring: BK

Belt: Dungo's

Gloves: Drac's

Boots: Gore's

That, of course, give me very limited resists. I'll make up for that in my inventory.

So that leaves the big gaping hole of helmet choices. I was actually thinking Delirium, particular for the 1/9 chance of casting confuse on strike (a huge crowd control device that will be much needed). But I want to know: When it casts delirium and you turn into that little doll, will I still deal the same damage?

Another choice would be CoA. It will help me with the much needed damage reduction (need 20 more for max) and resists. I could also throw in an IAS jewel or two and swap the Ogre Maul for a Thunder Maul.

Other choices would be Dream (only gives me ~10% more damage fully synergized, but it gives 10% ctc Confuse when hit, as well as 5-20 resists, fhr, and a few other goodies). I can't think of anything else that would be particularly useful.

With all this, I think I could hit around 15k average damage per hit, which would translate into about 22k after Conviction. So I'm thinking it would look like 6k-38k per hit at 2.2-2.5 swings per second. Not bad, eh?

Tips?




All looks very good, although I agree with Eilo's suggestions, too. EBotD Thundermaul ftw! CoA or Dream helm would probably be your best bets. You're talking about some truly insane numbers there...

What type of merc do you plan to have? If going with an Act 2 one, I'd recommend a couple different combos:

Act 2 Might/Freeze Merc w/ "Doom" or "Rift"

Act 2 Might Merc w/ Eth Reaper's Toll or Tomb Reaver

Act 2 Holy Freeze Merc w/ Obedience or some other really punishing weapon

Act 1 Merc might be nice with an "Ice" bow or "Faith." Actually, a "Delirium" on an Act 1 Merc might be a good crowd controller if combined with a fast bow and lots of IAS ("Treachery" on her).

You'll want some form of crowd control, slow, or chill/freeze from your merc, so you don't get swarmed.|||I'll throw out a helm option, Kira's Guardian. Huge resists along with CBF, so you could swap RF out for something else as you won't have many AR issues with Conviction and you don't need Dex all that much.

It doesn't look like you have any Mana Leech. Mana pots are easy to get, but any mana burn monsters/boss pack will be painful and/or deadly. Vamp Gaze perhaps?

I have made a couple of 2h pallies, and Conversion is an amazing skill for them. Really prevents you from getting swarmed. If you can get it to slvl 5 (around 25% chance to convert from what I recall) it can be a real life saver, especially against nasty boss packs. For some reason, enemies love to attack converted monsters.

I agree with Maiku, having a source of Holy Freeze helps a lot.|||Heya,

I'll 2nd the Kira's for the helm. If you get a CoH for your armor, you'll be done in terms of resists easily with just two items and no shield. That's ~65 and 65 res all with 30% from Anya which puts you at 60% res in hell. 15% more and you're maxed. That's just too sweet to pass up. Plus you already have cannot be frozen built into the helm. And the armor has 200% more damage coming, 8% reduction, +2 skills (high veng = higher damage), etc, etc, etc. Those two together leave you so much room for whatever else you want for glove/belt/boot and all jewelry open. Socket the Kira with an IAS jewel.

Personally I would go for a BOTD Great Poleaxe, simply because I think Mauls look really silly on Pallies when they attack, it's like they `push' with them. Halberds look sweet on Pallies. Great huge chunk of damage and the base speed of the GP is [0] so it's at -60 already. Eth ones have 190 base damage. The Thundermaul has higher max, but it's a tad slower. I would stress trying to get a faster BOTD so that you have less strain on your gear.

Cheers,|||The BotD runeword has 7% mana leech on it thx to the Vex. Combine the high damage of the Thunder Maul (IIRC 254-1390 weapon damage for a perf EBotDTM) with the 1.1% str/ed% bonus of Mauls and the ~200 str you'll have, as well as any +dmg% to demons/undead factored in (if using CoH, LoH), and you'll be pretty much right for mana. You'll be hitting in the vicinity of 800-4000 physical damage

I've actually made a 2-handed Avenger before, with a Faith merc, and I can tell you that I felt no need for a faster weapon. With a slvl 12-15 Fanaticism, you swing at 11 frames straight off the bat, and with 29%-35% more IAS you'll get 10 frames, the fastest speed for Pallys using a 2 handed weapon.

I actually think a Pally using a big Hammer is cool. He's the original and true Hammerdin, and most of the Pallys in the history of Blizzard games (i.e. Warcraft series) used 2 handed hammers. If anything, I prefer the Giant Axe/Ancient Axe/Glorious Axe look out of all the 2 handed swinging weapons in the game. Walk out of town with one of those and you know ****'s gonna get messed up.|||Thanks, guys. All of that input seems really valuable.

I was originally thinking of using a Faith Merc, but she'd only give me about 1k more damage one breakpoint. That would usually be a big deal, but as Eilo says, the goal isn't necessarily fast hits but one hit that will take them out. Plus I could really, really use the defensive bonuses of Defiance and Holy Freeze.

So, my sights are on getting an Act 2 Defiance merc and giving him Doom. Although Pride would give me an extra 2.8k average damage (not bad).

Brillaint idea on sticking the Delirium on a merc Maiku! That way I could get the benefit of level 18 (pretty much the whole screen) without having to worry about being a little runt. I'd probably give him Treachery as well to help out with resists, dr, and ias.

Back to my helm, grrr, usually this is a clear cut choice, but I'm having trouble. I think I'll have to go with Dream for a few important reasons: 1. CtC confuse when struck will really help me against ranged attackers or when mobbed, 2. FHR is something I won't get from anywhere else, 3. 5-20 resists, no much but it will help, 4. Decent other goodies like Life (ooh!), defense (ah!), mana (eh?), and MF (blech). Although, I'm thinking now, not really sure but, that level 15 HolyShock might attract some attention that I'd otherwise not have to worry about just yet.

For the rest, yea, BK probably isn't necessary. A dual leech ring would give me some mana and health while I wait for Life Tap. I think I'll try Drac's just to see if it's beneficial at all. If not, I might have to sacrifice my precious skill points into Redemption.

WAIT!!!! I just had a breif moment of clervoyance. On switch I'll want CTA just like everybody else, but instead of Spirit, I could use Phoenix. A quick switch hitting 80% with 95 life per corpse. Not bad, eh?

Also, I'm going to ditch the Gore's. Neither Crushing Blow, Deadly Strike, or Open Wounds are going to be particularly beneficial if it's a one hit kill anyway. As far as replacements go, I'm actually thinking of using Tearhaunch. Sounds stupid but it gives me 20 FRW (matches most boots), 10 Resist All, a little dex and str, and access to Vigor so I can book it if I get stuck in a bad situation.

As far as my inventory goes, it is going to have to be chock-full of resist and life charms. I'll need as much life as possible because I'll be low defense with no block.

Any other suggestions?|||Quote:








. . .If anything, I prefer the Giant Axe/Ancient Axe/Glorious Axe look out of all the 2 handed swinging weapons in the game. Walk out of town with one of those and you know ****'s gonna get messed up.




Hahaha! I agree totally. The Giant Axe is the scariest looking weapon in the game for just about all the characters.

I think one of the best 'looking' combos on the Paladin is the 'Rockfleece' armor, the 'Humongous' Axe, and a Bone Helm with a skull socketed in it. Makes you look like an Armored Executioner. Sinister indeed.|||From my really limited experience i find that in Hell additional life does not do much good. When you get hit you often get hit badly so a couple of hundred more life don't make that much of a difference. With no block, low defense and maybe not maxed resists i wonder how you will manage not to get killed...

The only way i can think of is that the idea is to kill the critters so quickly that they have no chance to land more than 1 or 2 blows...right? Aren't you afraid though that all too often this just might not work? One of those turbo-speed archer boss-mobs and you're doomed...?

Sorry for noobish questions, just wondering...

Good luck!

Greetings, Smiffy

Edit: Maybe a Frostwind (for the freezing) on switch with a couple of points in Holy Shield and Zeal?

Edit: Maybe a Harley as a helmet? Lots of life (for safety) and mana (for vengeance) and damage reduction (for safety) and +2 skills (for vengeance, etc.)? Just an idea...|||Smiffy,

Yea, you're right. I would be better to go with a shield and a one-hander. Then again, it would probably be better to use dreams. Also, you could say that it would be better to be a Whateverdin, Auradin, or some other zealot. And you'd probably be right. The point is, I know this build isn't the best. There almost always a better build, but this one I think would be very interesting. Glass-cannon though it is, it would be very interesting to play. Perhaps it will be aggravating, being killed more than I'd like, but this changes strategies and brings a different perspective to the game. But the really cool feature is that I'll be able to one-hit-kill most all of the monsters in the game. I'll essentially have the power to deliver a blow exceeding 40,000 damage. And, no one should be immune to me.

As opposed to using a shield for defense I'm instead going to have to rely on these to pull me through: 85% resist all (not bad), 30% damage reduction, hit and run tactics to avoid mobs, letting my merc run in and attract attention and freeze them all up as I sneak in and start picking them off one by one hit by hit, confuse provided by my Dream and his Delirium will be an excellent crowd-control device. Now, it won't be quite as stable as a shield baring paladin, but it should be pretty darn interesting as well as much more suspenseful.