I've long played a Vanquisher, ever since the Hellfire quest came out and I wanted a character who could solo it - I'd heard that they summoned a lot of minions, and thought that Smite would take forever to kill them - but I also heard that hammers couldn't dent the ubers themselves. Both of these were correct. I set out to create a character that could handle every aspect of Tristram, and the Vanquisher was my result, long before I discovered there was a name for this build.
After many months, I have finally become confident enough to compile a guide on this extremely effective class. I'd love to hear any thoughts that anyone has on this, regarding things you think I've missed, bits of strategy I'm likely missing for PvP, or just general feedback.
And so, without further ado - on with the guide!
Contents :
I Prelude
II Intro
III Stats
IV Skills
IV.1 - Combat skills
IV.2 - Offensive Auras
IV.3 - Defensive Auras
V Equipment
V.1 - Weapon
V.2 - Helm
V.3 - Sheild
V.4 - Armor
V.5 - Amulet
V.6 - Rings
V.7 - Gloves
V.8 - Belt
V.9 - Boot
VI Strategy
VI.1 - PvM/General
VI.2 - PvP
VII Charge lock/bug
VIII Readymade setups
VIII.1 - Budget Vanquisher
VIII.2 - Dueling Vanquisher
I : Prelude:
One lone paladin stood in the bitter cold of Harrogath, flakes of snow falling around him. Many of his Zakarum brothers had fallen in the fight against the Lord of Terror, caught by their limited skill sets. This one Paladin, however, had proven victorious, his versatility and dedication winning the day.
He�d hardly had time to rest since the fall of Diablo, before the archangel Tyrael had catapulted him here. He�d allowed himself a single night of rest, and now stood at the gates, his sword at the ready, as the gates slowly rose to let him out. The moment they�d opened far enough, he whispered a small prayer, begging the Light to grant him vigor, before charging into the snow.
The siege was still in full form, but the barbarians could handle the demons � it was the catapults that needed to be stopped. Terrible lumpy flesh blurred into indistinguishable marks as the paladin rushed forward, charging over hills, past catapults and demons alike. He had one target: A demon known as Shenk, the Overseer. In nearly no time, he found himself standing before that towering creature, along with more than a platoon of demons accompanying him. Quietly, he allowed the demons to advance as he prayed for the Light to augment his concentration, and as soon as the demons came close enough that he could smell their foul breath, he exploded into a cloud of whirling, translucent hammers. Taken by surprise, the demons weren�t prepared for the fury being released, and those that didn�t fall, began to flee.
Shenk, however, did no such thing � whether from some sense of demonic pride, or fear of Baal�s retribution, it was impossible to guess. Slowly, the Paladin approached the towering mass of black demonic flesh, his weapon at the ready. When Shenk struck out with his whip, the Paladin made his move, turning the whip aside with his sword, and moving in to strike with his shield. The holy energy in the shield was such that it knocked Shenk back, and the Paladin followed, pressing the attack. The battle had already come to its decision; Shenk posed no threat to this strange, versatile warrior.
As the demonic energy purged itself from Shenk�s body, leaving only a charred skeleton, the Paladin looked up at the peak of Mount Arreat, shrouded in clouds. There, the Ancients guarded the World Stone Keep. There, he would be forced into a showdown with the Lord of Destruction.
�Baal,� the Paladin whispered, �I�m coming for you.�
II : Introduction:
This is a guide to the definitive Vanquisher, a build that I had been using long before I realized there was a name for it. Defined by versatility, a Vanquisher�s power is in his ability to answer any threat, be it huge mobs of enemies, or act bosses. What is a Vanquisher, you ask? A Vanquisher is a character that specializes in two different attacks, Blessed Hammers and Smite. Often, a Vanquisher will also use the move Charge, both offensively and simply to move around rapidly.
III : Stats:
Fairly straightforward, but just to recap -
Strength : Just enough for gear. Expensive gear will let you remain at base, medium around 50, and a cheap Vanquisher may need as much as 80, but try not to go above this.
Dexterity : Just enough for max block. With a good shield, you shouldn�t need more than 100, or perhaps upwards of 150 with Spirit.
Vitality : The more, the better. Life = not dying, and dying is bad.
Energy : You won�t need anything here.
IV : Skills :
I�ll only give descriptions for the skills that I recommend using, or might be worth honorable mention. Be warned, this build is extremely demanding on skill points, and you�ll be able to continue maxing main synergies well into the late 90�s.
IV.1 : Combat Skills:
Smite (1-20 points) : Usually, you will only want one point into Smite. Holy Sheild will provide a larger damage boost than this, unless you�re using a Grief weapon when smiting. One nice thing to note about Smite is that the skill is always uninterruptible. In terms of speed, Smite can reach 6 frames per attack, I recommend getting at least 7. Anything slower than that, and you�re really asking for trouble.
Charge (1 point) : Only one point here will be more than enough. You�ll end up with near to 500% or more enhanced damage with this if you max Vigor. Be warned when using this, however. If you charge and try to switch which attack you�re using (typically to Smite) too quickly, it�ll lock your character up � hitting �w� to switch weapons fixes this. Also, it will lock and not work at all if Holy Sheild wears off mid-charge, or, if I�m not mistaken, if you�re killed mid-charge. Still, these problems aren�t as much of a pain as it seems, as they happen relatively infrequently.
Blessed Hammer (20 points) : This is the skill this build circulates around. Using Blessed Hammer gives you the ability to tear through large numbers of enemies, using Smite to finish off stragglers and bosses. With average gear and a true hybrid build, you should be able to manage 6,000 damage from this at level 80 or so. With low end gear, probably around 3,000 damage, and with top end gear (very few charms, though), I personally manage 11,000 in smite mode, and 14,000 when I focus on them.
Holy Sheild (1-20 points) : The key to making your smite effective. Holy shield adds blocking, defense, and base damage to your shield, which will get enhanced by strength, smite, concentration, and any enhanced damage on gear. Also, higher levels will increase the duration, giving fewer problems with Charge locking. I recommend 20 points here, they�re nearly necessary unless you have Grief. If you have a Grief, you might be better served with points in Smite, but I prefer the defense bonus from this anyway � I can manage over 13,000 defense with a mage plate enigma, shako, and Herald of Zakarum, thanks to having maxed this.
IV.2 : Offensive auras:
Blessed Aim (1-20 points): Depending on the style of Vanquisher you build, you may have to choose one Hammer synergy to focus on, either this or Vigor. Vigor will result in a higher charge damage, but Blessed Aim gives a passive 5% Attack Rating bonus per point spent in it.
Concentration (20 points): This will be your primary aura, giving anywhere from 400-600% enhanced damage depending on what gear you use. It works at half effectiveness for hammers, but that�s still more than enough for that, and at full effectiveness for Smite. It also gives a 20% chance that any attack you make will be uninterruptible, but that�s a moot point � smite is uninterruptible anyway.
Fanatacism (0-1 point): I haven�t tested this myself, but one of my friends that built a Vanquisher has put one point into Fanatacism, and reports that it works well for him, making it much easier to reach the 6 frame smite speed. It results in a drop in raw smite damage, but makes up for it with the faster attack � really, this is personal choice. I would prefer to save the point, as this build is extremely skill intensive.
IV.3 : Defensive auras:
Cleansing (1 point): Technically, this is a prerequisite, but it�s one that I use all the time. Even a moderate number of +skills will give you 65% reduction of poison/curse time, and I believe I personally have mine sitting around 83%. Usually, flicking it on for a couple seconds is enough to remove any poison/curses I have on me. Definitely worth a hotkey.
Vigor (1-20 points): Your second Hammer synergy. You may, depending on your style of build, be forced to choose whether to focus on this or Blessed Aim. This will produce a higher damage rating on your charge, while Blessed Aim makes that charge more accurate. Personal choice, really.
Redemption (1 point): I know of many people who can�t understand why I bother getting this. However, putting this on a hotkey and flashing it after killing a mob will enlighten anyone who doesn�t understand � it�s like a free full rejuvenation potion. I even use it during battle when I see my life dropping faster than I�d like, with few ill effects.
Salvation (0-1 point): This has it�s greatest use in Chaotic Tristram, when doing the Hellfire quest. Since we generally rely on Concentration rather than fanaticism, this will provide no difference in speed of attack, giving instead a massive infusion of resistance, which is something almost every character needs in Chaotic Tristram. I don�t use it, I find that I don�t need it, but for less expensive builds it may prove useful.|||V : Equipment:
V.1 : Weapon :
Your weapon is your main choice, as a Vanquisher. Everything else you do will be based around this. Some are relatively cheap, particular things like spectral shard or wizardspike, others are more expensive, such as Silence or Grief. All, however, will be helpful in some way.
Spectral Shard : This, I would only recommend using with a one point Fanat build. If you can manage a level 5 or higher fanaticism, with 55% ias (You can shael it for 20), you can get a 6 frame smite � very nice for a budget Vanq.
Wizardspike : Comes with the same problems as Shard when smiting, but with level 5 Fanatacism, only requires 35% ias for a 6 frame smite.
Stormlash : This is sort of the antithesis to the previously mentioned daggers. It�s lightning damage isn�t carried to smite, but it offers a sweet 1/3 chance of crushing blow (goes to 2/3 total with Guillaime�s face), nice IAS, some flat lightning absorb, and a couple of nice CtC�s. A total of 60% or higher ias will give this a seven frame smite, and it already comes with 30.
Azurewrath : Being a phase blade, this is naturally very quick. It comes with 30% ias, which gets you a 7 frame smite automatically � 65% gets you a 6 frame smite without any fanat. Shael + ias jewel will do it. This offers three things that will help this build - +1 to skills, +all attributes, and the sanctuary aura. Sanctuary is nice because of it�s undead knockback (helps in Uber Tristram), and allows you to hit undead that are immune to physical, though no other sanctuary bonuses to through with smite.
�Silence� Phase blade (Dol Eld Hel Ist Tir Vex) : more of a nonladder weapon, since it will be comparably expensive to build Grief on ladder, Silence does offer a few nice mods � including +2 to all skills, 75% resist all, 20 faster hit recovery, and a slew of other mods. One thing to watch out for is the +33 blind. Anything that can be blinded, will � and this will overwrite other curses, like Life Tap. In a phase blade, you need 25% ias for 7 frame smite, and 65% for 6. I recommend a 7 frame with this weapon, so you only have to pick up a meager 5% more ias somewhere.
�Kingslayer� Phase blade (Mal Um Gul Fal) : This is one of my personal favorites. For a mild cost in runes, you get 30% increased attack speed, 33% crushing blow, 50% open wounds, prevent monster heal, and ten strength. It is fast enough in a phase to automatically give a 7 frame smite, freeing up all the rest of your gear. This thing is the swiss army knife of Vanquisher weapons.
�Grief� Phase blade (Eth Tir Lo Mal Ral) : If �Kingslayer� is the Swiss army knife, then this thing is the machete. The +damage mod on this gets added directly to your base shield damage, then increased by any enhanced damage, such as strength, concentration, fanaticism, smite.. the list goes on. Most of the mods on this don�t help a Vanquisher, since venom won�t carry on smite, so the -% poison resist doesn�t help, and deadly strike also doesn�t carry. However, the damage boost is incredible. This comes with 30-40% ias, so in a phase blade it already has 7 frame smite, and can reach 65% ias for a 6 frame rather easily.
'Last Wish' Phase blade (Jah Mal Jah Sur Jah Ber) : This beast of a runeword offers a might aura, life tap on striking, fade when struck, 60-70 crushing blow, and prevent monster heal. It would be a beautiful PvM weapon, if it weren't so incredibly expensive - but if you have one, or want to use one, it will definately work very, very nicely, particularly for fighting the Ubers. Seek out 25% ias on your gear to get a 7 frame smite, since this thing lacks ias completely.
V.2 : Helm:
There aren�t very many helms I would recommend for a Vanquisher, but thankfully, those I would recommend are relatively cheap.
Rockstopper : This, I would only recommend if you�re extremely low on resists. Guillaime�s face shouldn�t cost more than Pgems, though this you might be able to nab for free. The mods on Guillaime�s are much more helpful, but if your resistances are a bit too low, this could be preferable.
Guillaime�s face : It�s very, very hard to make a case for not wearing this gem. Good defense, faster hit recovery, 35% chance of crushing blow, and 15 strength, all rolled into one nice, socketable helm. Use the socket to fill out whatever you�re lacking � Um runes and IAS jewels are common, and for a Hellfire Torch runner, you can even Ort it for extra oomph against Mephisto.
Harlequin�s Crest (Shako) : Yes, the old standby makes it�s entrance once more. If you�re not wearing Gullaime�s, this is the second best thing. +2 skills, 10% damage reduction, and 100ish extra mana/life come together in this helm, and can also be socketed to fill whatever your needs may be.
Andariel�s Visage : With +2 skills, 20 ias, a bonus to max poison resist, strength, and poison resist, this helm is hard to turn down. Beware the -30% fire resist, and consider socketing Um or Ral to counterbalance this, though ias jewels work well too.
V.3 : Sheild:
There�s a few options for shields out there, but some stand out more strongly than others.
Herald of Zakarum : Upped or non, go with whatever your strength dictates � you�re after the mods on this thing, the extra 20 damage isn�t going to be worthwhile if you have to take a big hit to your life to get it. Pdiamond, Um, or some sort of IAS jewel will give you nice returns as sockets.
�Spirit� Paladin Sheild : One of the gifts of Ladder, this shield could be incredibly useful as a Vanquisher. It carries faster cast rate, +2 to all skills, 30% resistance to cold, lightning, and poison, and a big bonus to mana. It�s defense is a bit low, however, and it�s block rate compared to HoZ is quite sad. Still, since you�re likely maxing Holy Sheild, block rate isn�t a HUGE problem, and in an auric shield, you can get a decent 50-55% base block rate before Holy Sheild, and add some resistances to boot.
Whitsan�s Guard : This little shield is surprisingly useful, if you�re on a budget. Offering a base of 97% block (BEFORE Holy Sheild!), it lets you get away with an extremely small amount of dexterity. It�s low level and low strength requirements are also quite helpful. It�s smite damage is quite low, however, and if you intend to smite with it you�ll want to max Holy Sheild much earlier to balance this. It�s lacking in resistances, however, so a Pdiamond is probably the best choice to socket this with.
V.4 : Armor:
This is where you�ll want to be making up a lot of your defense, and grab some other gravy mods if you can. Things to look for are skills, resists, and defense, as well as other friendly mods.
Guardian Angel : This armor offers some very nice mods, including +1 to paladin skills, 20% more block rate (VERY nice with a Spirit shield), and a 15% increase to all of your max resistances. The defense isn�t terrible, and the armor itself is rather easy to come by. Socket with an ias jewel if you need, or an Um rune, or a single-resist rune if you�re particularly low in one area. With a Spirit shield, a Ral rune makes up for the 30% fire resist lacking on that shield.
Skin of the Vipermagi : I�d only really recommend this if it were upgraded, for the near to 1,000 defense. You will want more than just 300ish defense on your armor. The other mods offered here, however, are very nice, and all helpful � a resist all bonus, +1 to all skills, and 30% faster cast rate.
Upgraded Spirit Shroud : Where Vipermagi can be used unupgraded for a highly hammer-focussed Vanquisher, the Spirit Shroud works well for a balanced or Smite-focussed one, and so you will DEFINITELY want that extra defense. It�ll end up with 902-1167 defense depending on your roll, which is quite respectable. It offers +1 to all skills, a magic damage reduction, and most importantly � Cannot be frozen, a very important mod for this build. If you can, socket it with an Um to make up for lost resistances.
�Duress� armor (Shael Um Thul) : An incredible piece of armor, here. With 40 faster hit recovery, plus 30 on the Guillaime�s, you already have 70 fhr, enough for a 6-frame recovery, assuming you�re not using a spear or stave. Another 16 nets you the next breakpoint, for 5 frames. This armor provides meager enhanced damage, 15 crushing blow, 33 open wounds, 150-200% enhanced defense, 45 cold resist, and 15 in each other resist. Beautiful, beautiful smiting armor.
�Enigma� armor : Admit it, we all knew this was coming. +2 to all skills, huge strength boost, teleport, damage reduction, and an increase in life all add up to making this armor very attractive.
�Chains of Honor� armor : This one is about as expensive as Enigma, and offers a slightly different angle. Instead of massive strength and teleport, this armor offers the same +2 skills, but now has 65% resist all, which is incredibly massive, and a 200% bonus in damage against demons, along with 100% bonus to damage against undead. This means increased damage against 2/3 of the monsters in the game. If you�re going uber-hunting, this is your armor.
�Fortitude� armor : Slightly less expensive than Enigma or Chains of Honor if you�re on ladder, this armor is very, very nice as well. Offering 20-30 resist all, 200% enhanced defense, and 300% increase in damage, it�s hard to turn this one down. However, if you�re going uber hunting, I still prefer Chains of Honor since you need to stack your resistances 120 deep to compensate for Mephisto�s conviction.
V.5 : Amulet:
You�re really mainly looking for two things in an amulet : Resistances, and skills. Anything else is secondary.
Mara�s Kaleidoscope : +2 skills, 20-30 resist all, and a token +5 to all attributes make this amulet one of my favorites for this build.
Highlord�s Wrath : This is a suboptimal amulet for this build, but can be used if you�re desperate for some extra ias. +1 skills and 35% lightning resist are nice to have, but unless you need the 20 ias, I�d choose something different.
Rares/Magicals : Rare and magical amulets can offer a bewildering array of mods, including +skills, resistances, massive life, and faster cast rate. Some are capable of blowing Mara�s out of the water. And if all else fails, one of each color pgem + a magical amulet will provide you with an amulet with 16-20 resist all, if you�re building on a budget.
V.6 : Rings:
Rings are another excellent place to pick up mods you may be looking for, much as Amulets are.
Ravenfrost : The main mod on this ring that you�re looking for is the Cannot Be Frozen, an extremely important mod for a smiter. If you choose this ring, try to get one with as high dex as you can, so that you can build that into your character�s block rating.
SoJ/Bul-Kathos : These rings are similar in price and function. They give +1 skills, and either life or mana. Pick the one you will need more.
Nature�s Peace : Be VERY careful with this ring. Only use it if you are 100% certain you won�t be using Redemption, because this ring will ensure that you have nothing to redeem. If you aren�t going to Redeem, then this makes sure things you kill stay dead, and the prevent monster heal mod can be helpful as well.
Rares/Magicals : Once again, the sheer customizability of these rings makes them attractive. With the possibility of mods to give resistances, stats, fast cast, life, and mana, you can get quite the boost out of one of these.
V.7 : Gloves:
Gloves are a great place to pick up mods like increased attack speed and resistances, or chance to cast mods.
Laying of Hands : These gloves give 20% increased attack speed, which is nice, and 50% fire resistance, which is simply incredible � and on top of that, offer a HUGE 350% bonus to damage against demons. With demons populating 1/3 of the game, and EVERY act boss being a demon, this can make quite the difference.
Magnus�s Skin : These serve a similar purpose to Laying of Hands, somewhat � they offer 20% increased attack speed, and 15% fire resistance. However, since it�s highly likely you�re wearing Guillaime�s face, you can also squeeze the 2-item set bonus of 35 life out of them, or if you wear the full set, you gain a slew of helpful bonuses, including 15 resist all, another 50 life, 10 dexterity, 20 strength, and 80 magic find.
Dracul�s Grasp : These, I would consider top of the line gloves. At 50 strength required, these give another 10-15 strength, which can help you to keep yourself at base strength. The life leech doesn�t really help you, but the open wounds will in many cases, and the gravy mod here is the chance to cast life tap � the only way to heal yourself outside of redemption and potions, with this build.
V.8 : Belt:
Mostly, your belt will be relegated to filling a specific role, filling in a few more holes in your build with damage reduction, fast cast, life, or other helpful mods. Always try to get a belt with 4 rows for potions, most can be upgraded if they don�t have this.
Wilhelm�s Pride : At first glance, a great many people may wonder why I�m recommending this. It�s defense is� alright, at best, neither sort of leech is helpful to a Vanquisher, and it only offers 10% cold resistance. So what makes it worth using? The full set bonus for Orphan�s Call. Each of the other pieces of this set are worth using, some more than others, and the full set can be bought piecemeal for pgems at most. Wearing the full set will net you ias, crushing blow, strength, dexterity, resistance, huge block, and a nice bonus to life, while leaving your jewelry, weapon, armor and boot slots open to fill in gaps.
Verdungo�s Hearty Cord : All this belt offers is a bonus to vitality and damage reduction, but both of these mods are highly sought after when you�re taking hits in melee, making this worth consideration. It can add up to 120 life as a Paladin, and 10-15% damage reduction.
Arachnid Mesh : And, the antithesis to Verdungo�s. Offering +1 skills and 20 fast cast, this belt is also an excellent choice, albeit expensive in comparison to some of the others.
Trang Oul�s Girth : This is another that might cause heads to tilt, but this belt carries three very nice mods : 25-50 mana, 66 life, and most importantly, Cannot be Frozen. This is my favorite belt for this build, because it means my jewelry is left completely open for customization.
Rares/Magical/Crafted : Again, if you need to fill holes, this is where you can do it. Rare, magical, and crafted belts can get strength and resistances, and caster belts (Pamethyst + Ith rune + jewel + light belt/Sharkskin belt/Vampirefang belt) can even pick up 5-10% faster cast rate.
V.9 : Boots:
Boots are a very nice place to pick up some stats, life, or even crushing blow.
Goblin Toes : The budget builder�s dream, these boots offer nothing but 25% crushing blow � but if you�re on a budget, that crushing blow is a huge part of your damage with smite.
Waterwalks : These boots offer 20% faster run/walk, along with 15 dexterity, a 5% boost to your maximum fire resistance, and 45-65 life. What�s not to love?
Gore Riders : We all knew this was coming. 30% faster run/walk, 15% chance of crushing blow, and 15% chance of open wounds make these boots my favorite for this build.
Sandstorm Trek : With 20% faster run/walk, 20% faster hit recovery, poison resist, and 10-15 in both vitality and mana, these boots are very nice for a base stat build. With their self repair mod, ethereal pairs get extra defense, with no downside.|||VI : Strategies
VI.1 : PvM/General
The general strategy to use with a Vanquisher will depend entirely on many things : Where you�re playing, what monsters you�re facing, what gear you have, and perhaps most importantly, your play style. Most tips I will give here will assume that you don�t have Enigma, and I will address Enigma-wearers afterward.
Aggressive melee : These tend to be the easiest monsters to deal with, because you�ll know when they�re going to come at you, and you (generally) know what they�re packing. Be prepared to stop at the drop of a hat and lay down a hammer field. In the case of the vast majority of monsters, they will walk right through it to get to you, which will leave almost every single one of them hurting, if they even make it to you. And guess what? You�ve got a pocketful of smite waiting for them.
Unaggressive Melee : These are other things, like Carvers, and Maggots. They can be incredibly annoying to hit with hammers, since they continually move away from you, and you can get in the same sort of trouble trying to use smite. However, a skilled Vanquisher has one other trick up his sleeve � that one point they�ve put into Charge on the way to Holy Sheild. With that on a hotkey, you can charge down moving targets like these, and usually do quite a bit of damage in the process. I have a budget hammerdin that I�m slowly building into a Vanq, that does 900 damage charge with a wizardspike! Hard to complain with those numbers, and if you�re using one of the smite-oriented weapons I mentioned above, it just gets higher and higher.
Ranged attackers : These guys are a pain, particularly later in the game. They pelt you from far away, usually in large packs, and tend to do a lot more damage than we might like. There are several options for dealing with packs like this; Either run/charge around the outside, avoiding the arrows and dropping the occasional hammer to cut into their HP, or just charge into the middle of them and release a storm of hammers. Once the group is cut down, they pose little problem and can be picked off at your leisure.
Bosses : Bosses are where the Vanquisher truly shines, in PvM. Nothing is quite so satisfying as dropping a hammerfield, watching tones of minions drop, and then smiting away at the boss�s HP. However, this is where knowledge of the game comes in. Usually, if your hammers have twice as much damage as your smite, or higher, they are more effective than smiting. However, certain monsters such as Izual, Diablo, Baal, and the Ubers, all have such incredibly high hit points that smite is definitely worth using, for the crushing blow it carries. With each hit taking off a chunk of life (1/10 on bosses, players, and hirelings) it can add up very quickly, PARTICULARLY in Tristram where we�re talking half a million hit points. That�s a good 50,000 damage at the beginning, if Crushing blow triggers.
General tips : Most people are aware that charge and smite inflict knockback. In the hands of extremely skilled Vanquishers, this, too, becomes a potent weapon. I doubt it will work in PvP, with the high speed fights there, but in PvM, this is a fairly common thing � note, that the knockback will send an opponent reeling. This means, if you try to charge from directly below an enemy and then release hammers, they will be outside the range � initially, they can walk into it once more.
Use this, however � if you charge from below and to the left of them, you can knock them up, and release a hammer quickly. By doing this, they will usually still be in hit recovery as the hammer swings around and smacks them. This works best in a situation where you have a decent amount of fast cast, to get the jump on them quickly.
Smite has a similar effect, but adds stun to that. This allows you to work with a great deal larger arc. If the monster is next to you, from 3 O�clock to 6 O�clock generally, then you can smack them once with smite, and then release hammers. If you have enough +skills, your stun length will ensure they�re still in place when the hammer comes around and chops away at their life. With enough stun length, your fast cast becomes relatively meaningless in this situation, because they�ll be standing there dumbfounded for quite a long time. Be careful, however, as this only really works against single monsters, and so is of limited use � but highly effective when it�s needed.
Enigma users : Sorry guys, but Enigma simple opens up too many options to lump it in with the rest. Generally, even with Enigma, I will prefer chasing enemies down with Charge, but that�s because Teleport only moves you. It costs more mana, as well, and requires you to both cast AND attack, as opposed to doing both in one shot. However, it�s main use, and it does shine here, is in clumps of ranged attackers. Instead of charging in and dodging hails of arrows, it is certainly useful to appear in the middle of them, allowing you to take them down in a hail of death. Outside of that, however, it�s main use for this build really is transportation.
VI.2 : PvP Strategies
I�ll do what I can here, based on my own experiences in PvP, but I warn you now � I am no expert in the open forum of dueling. The best way to learn is to get out there and practice, but I will lend what advice I can.
Gear : Yes, I already discussed gear. However, I will rehash a few things here for PvP, because here things change. You WILL NOT be able to PvP on a budget with this character.
Specifically, you will want to be much more picky with your weapon � In PvP, I cannot stress how much Grief will help you. I did well enough with a Kingslayer, but Grief adds a whole new level of threat to your Vanquisher. Smite suddenly goes from 1.5k damage to 5k+. Charge, also, shoots it�s damage into the stratosphere. If you�re using Charge with something else, you CAN get a kill, but it�s difficult. If you�re using Charge with Grief, it�s amazingly effective � 9/10 of my kills with my Vanquisher are just from a one point Grief-charge. With Smite, you�ll be able to actually try to smite a whirlwind character if he�s low on life. Without it, you�ll simply get shredded.
Armor- I honestly can�t suggest Enigma for a dueling Vanquisher. You just can�t juggle THAT many things all at once, and Enigma only really shines if you have enough fast cast to get in and cause pain. Simply put � you probably won�t. If you build with a wizardspike and spirit, then by all means, go ahead and try, but I don�t recommend it. Instead, get yourself a Chains of Honor, or a Fortitude. Chains of Honor allows you to keep a high hammer damage, but if you have extremely good gear, you can still easily maintain a 9k hammer, and putting on Fortitude will give you much more smite/charge damage, while adding 25% faster cast rate � which, admittedly, can make or break a duel.
Gloves � Don�t ever rely on Dracul�s for anything but strength. No, really � don�t. You�re not a smiter, you�re not a zealot, and you�re not a whirlwind barbarian. If you try to tank any of these smiting, unless you have much better gear than they do, it�s unlikely you�ll live long enough to get life tap off. A full smiter with godly gear can hit 12k damage, from what I hear. You might be able to manage 5-6k. Still an amazing amount of damage, but comparably� you�re better off with being tricky with your hammers.
Dueling stats
There are a few minimums that I highly recommend you hit before trying to duel. They would be the following :
Faster cast rate : 30 (if using Grief), or 48/75 if you have to focus on your hammers
Faster hit recovery : 48, or 86, for 5 or 4 frame recovery.
Life : 3k or higher, after BO. 4k is quite possible, and I don�t doubt you could manage 5k if you really try.
Mana : If you can manage 500 mana, that should be enough, provided you�re careful about how much you spam. If you love to spam, you�ll want closer to 800, which will require either Wizardspike or mana charms. Of course, with mana potions, this problem is solved.
Defense : This won�t be a huge issue, since you won�t have enough to counteract the huge AR on melee builds, and it SHOULD be high enough to make things difficult on low AR builds. Shoot for around 12k, though depending on your armor/shield much, much more is possible.
Smite : Get to six frames with Concentration active. You�ll be using a range 2 weapon (phase blade), so you have no range advantage, and if you try to duel with seven frame smite against another smiter, and actually try to go toe to toe, you�ll get eaten alive. Damage-wise, with Grief, 5-6k is quite possible, otherwise aim for 1.5k.
Charge : With Grief, you should be hitting for around 7k damage or higher (It�ll list it at around 1k because of the way it works the math; ignore this. Find your weapon�s damage, and multiply it by [strength + concentration + charge ed]/100 + 1), and without it, you�ll have slightly less than your smite, since you�ll (hopefully) be using a Kingslayer. Aim for 1.2k-1.5k without Grief.
Hammers : Try to get 9k damage hammers; I run 11k when I am in smite mode, with only an anni/torch/1 pcomb/1 offensive gc. I can see 13 - 14k as being very possible, with extremely expensive gear.
PvP tricks :
You have one major advantage on your side, the first time you step into the blood moor � surprise. Most pub pallys that use hammers are pure hammerdins, and will try to tele-hammer you. This is what people expect from you, or, seeing your sword/charge, will expect you to be a smiter or zealot. Surprise them :-) They will accept whatever attack you use first as being your type. As we know, there�s more up our sleeves than they expect. Charge is an excellent way to play with people�s heads; people absolutely hate being helplessly pushed around and sucking up damage in the process. Once you�ve hit them a few times in succession with Charge, most people panic � and panicking people making mistakes, which we can take advantage of.
Desynching is another Charge trick, which I haven�t yet mastered myself. The general idea is to use charge + vigor to be moving so quickly, your opponent�s computer can�t keep up. The b.net servers will keep track of your actual position, as well as your opponents. Your computer already knows where you are. But the information about your position being fed to your opponent�s computer is JUST old enough that they won�t know exactly where you are. In this confusion, try and charge underneath them, preferably without hitting them, and launch a hammer volley. Cheap? Yes. Effective? Absolutely.
Hammer fields � you can�t rely on these entirely. You don�t have the mana, and doubtfully the fast cast to keep them up all day. They do, however, make wonderful traps for melee characters to try and get into, so by all means, use them judiciously � just don�t drain yourself of more than half your mana in the process. You need that mana to collect your ear.
Hammer fields are useful for one thing in particular, however, and that is trapping your opponent. If you can get decent fast cast, then it�s possible to cast a hammer, charge around your opponent, cast another, charge further, and keep repeating this until they�re surrounded by hammers. This is not effective against teleporters of course, but against a melee character, it�s another panic tactic � and with that many hammers spinning nearby, mistakes are deadly.
Smite � In PvP, smite�s effect is best put to use after a charge series. Smiting on open ground is not the best idea, since you�ll knock the opponent back, excepting other smiters � and, as mentioned before, exclusively smiting versus a smiter is likely to get you killed. So, make use of this, and your other tricks � Charge! Initiate a charge against your opponent, and push them continuously backward until they hit a wall. Once they hit the wall, switch to smite, and keep them there� people don�t much like being helpless, but then, if they�re helpless they can�t hurt you, so ignore their complaining, and go for their ear.
VII : Charge lock/bug
This section will be brief, but hopefully useful. It�s a well known fact that Charge is a very buggy attack. It will freeze you in place, or will simply stop working. I�ll explain the reasons behind this here, and in the case of the freeze, will explain how to counteract it.
Charge freeze : This problem will cause your character to stop in mid-charge, frozen in place, as if he were still in the run animation. Nothing you will do will help, or so it seems. He simply stands there, helpless, unable to defense himself, until it finally wears off. This bug is caused by charging someone, and switching too quickly to another move as you strike. I don�t believe I�ve seen it happen when switching to hammers, only smite, but that is the general reasoning behind it. Since we can�t just wait for B.net to fix this, we can fix it ourselves � not many people realize this is possible. To fix this bug, do one of two things.
First option : Go into your inventory, and click on one of the items you�re wearing, so you pick it up onto your cursor. This breaks the freeze, and you can immediately re-equip.
Second option : I prefer this one. You know how the �w� key is usually assigned to switch your weapons? Hit it. Yes, you�re now on the wrong weapon set, but the charge freeze just stopped. Hit w again to return to your original setup, without problem.
Broken Charge : This one is more of a problem. I�m not exactly sure why it does this, but I do know what triggers it. Any time you either die in the middle of a charge, or hav Holy Sheild wear off (May also happen with Fade, since it too offers a change in your avatar, which seems to be the catalyst) mid-charge, for some unknown reason Charge simply stops working. If you click on a target, you stop in place. If you try to shift-charge, you stop in place. It�s incredibly annoying, and I know of no fix to it aside from rejoining the game.
VIII : Ready made setups
These are three quick options that you can use if you don�t feel like picking out your own gear. In each case, where I recommend a ladder-only runeword, I�ll also offer a different option for off-ladder characters.
VIII.1 : Budget Vanquisher � level 79
Equipment
Helm : Guillaime�s Face (15% ias jewel)
Weapon : Wizardspike (shael)
Armor : Upped Skin of the Vipermagi (shael)/ Duress (nonladder)
Sheild : Whitsan�s guard (pdiamond)
Amulet : Anything with resists
Rings : Ravenfrost (15 dex) /Magic or rare with resists
Gloves : Magnus�s skin
Belt : Wilhelm�s pride
Boots : Goblin toe
Charms : Any +resist charms to get 75% all
Skills
20 Blessed Hammer
20 Vigor
20 Concentration
20 Holy Sheild
1 Blessed Aim
1 Smite
1 Charge
1 Redemption
4 Fanatacism
1 Cleansing
4 prerequisites
Note : The damage on this build will be incredibly low. It is unlikely that you will be able to handle any place in a4 or a5 hell on your own. However, the gear totals approximately Um + pgems at most, and the amulet and ring can fill in several needs. Further levels, invest in Blessed Aim to increase hammer damage.
VIII.2 : Dueling Vanquisher � level 90
Equipment
Helm : Shako (15% ias jewel)
Weapon : Grief/Kingslayer (nonladder)
Armor : Fortitude/Chains of honor (Nonladder)
Sheild : Herald of Zakarum (Um)
Amulet : Mara�s
Rings : Bul-Kathos, or sojs
Gloves : Laying of Hands
Belt : Trang-Oul�s Girth
Boots : Gore Riders
Charms : Preferrably, annihilus and hellfire torch, to keep stat investment down. Skillers and 20 life small charms after that.
Skills
20 Blessed hammer
20 Concentration
20 Vigor
20 Holy Shield
1 Smite
1 Charge
1 Cleansing
1 Redemption (if you want, for pvm)
14 Blessed Aim (13 if you want Redemption)
4 prerequisites
Notes : I chose level 90, to give the last breakpoint for Open Wounds. If you can cause Open Wounds to trigger, your target continues bleeding for eight seconds, for a total of 800 damage in PvP, which cannot be resisted. This can be helpful for evasive teleporters. Further levels, continue maxing Blessed Aim.
I'd just like to thank everyone who's helped to contribute to this guide; It was a lot of work putting it together, and I've had a great deal of help, from the people on these forums, as well as on battle.net itself. Without all of you guys, this guide probably wouldn't have ever seen the light of day. Also, I'd like to thank Blizzard for making a game that, even after five years of playing, I'm still addicted to enough to make a guide like this. And most of all, thank YOU, the reader, for putting up with reading all of that - please, leave some comment regarding what you thought of the guide, as I would love to hear what you think can be improved on.|||you think a decent Exile shield would be comparable to the HoZ here? or is the loss of that +4 to combat skills and the loss of 20 or so res(considering a 44 all res exile) gonna outweigh the massive defense bonus that comes with having a level 16 defiance aura all the time?|||Quote:
you think a decent Exile shield would be comparable to the HoZ here? or is the loss of that +4 to combat skills and the loss of 20 or so res(considering a 44 all res exile) gonna outweigh the massive defense bonus that comes with having a level 16 defiance aura all the time?
In all honesty, I have never liked exile. As far as I'm concerned, it's only good for defense - and in all cases except PvP, defense is rather a moot point. Monsters will either hit you, or they won't, and an extra bit of defense generally won't change that.
If we're talking PvM, I wouldn't use Exile at all - and in PvP, you shouldn't be standing there taking enough of a beating for that defense to come in handy. Which is precisely why I recommend HoZ or even Spirit over Exile - defense is relatively unimportant to a Vanquisher, while flexibility is. And those +skills on HoZ, and the cast rate/mana on Spirit, really add to your flexibility.|||Would you suggest Grief Zerk or Grief PB? Lack range for speed? or lack speed for range?
Also would Beast Zerk be fine for this build? you get fana and decent for smiting i suppose...
Doom Zerk is pretty nice consider slow...only GM for pvm and BM for pvp.
Bloodfist should be mentioned too for gloves. (FHR, life, ias...)
Maybe include some stash gears?
Kira's helm with ort rune
T-god's belt for light casters
Wisp
Snowclash
Dungo's belt for melee duel
Wizspike
Cta weapon
Fury Zerk
Doom zerk
Silence pb
Ptopazed,Psaphired,Prubyed shields
etc etc...This is only for dedicated and competitive players who can switch gears to take on any obstacle.
Decent guide, more on pvp strategy? maybe not, I just think the setup would lack large amount of DR%...like CoA, Shako with Ber rune, Dungo and Ber HoZ/stormshield
Have you also built a V/T before? if so, did you like Vanquisher or Vandicator/Templar?|||Quote:
Would you suggest Grief Zerk or Grief PB? Lack range for speed? or lack speed for range?
Also would Beast Zerk be fine for this build? you get fana and decent for smiting i suppose...
Doom Zerk is pretty nice consider slow...only GM for pvm and BM for pvp.
Bloodfist should be mentioned too for gloves. (FHR, life, ias...)
Maybe include some stash gears?
Kira's helm with ort rune
T-god's belt for light casters
Wisp
Snowclash
Dungo's belt for melee duel
Wizspike
Cta weapon
Fury Zerk
Doom zerk
Silence pb
Ptopazed,Psaphired,Prubyed shields
etc etc...This is only for dedicated and competitive players who can switch gears to take on any obstacle.
Decent guide, more on pvp strategy? maybe not, I just think the setup would lack large amount of DR%...like CoA, Shako with Ber rune, Dungo and Ber HoZ/stormshield
Have you also built a V/T before? if so, did you like Vanquisher or Vandicator/Templar?
About the stash gear, many of those items I left out because there are other things that help the build more (like Trang's belt instead of Tgod's), and I'm not a fan of absorb, which leaves a large number of things out. Most of those other items you listed, I've already covered, and an advanced player who keeps items in his stash for certain occassions, will be able to decide what will help him best.
For the Grief, I would definately go with a Phase. A zerker will require repairing, and on top of that, with a level 10 fanatacism (When the steep diminishing returns on attack speed have kicked in - going to level 20 would require insane gear and only get an extra 5% ias) you need a total of 65% ias for 6-frame smite - the same as a phase blade. So you're using a breaking weapon, with a weaker aura, to get the exact same effect at range three. I don't feel that that's worthwhile. As far as things like fury and doom zerkers go, again, you could use those if you like, but you'd have to use fanatacism to bring them into the realm of being useful, and I simply don't feel that that's worthwhile. If you can afford to build these, you can afford to build Grief.
Also, as far as the Doom holy freeze aura goes... yes, it would be quite helpful. ANd the +2 skills are nice. However, in PvM, if you're building with the amount of expense required to make a Doom (which requires three HR's for the runeword itself, plus Um and the 5 socket zerker), then your gear will be expensive enough that you'll be slaughtering things anyway, and would see only meager returns from the holy freeze. And PvM, you'll get people screaming about BM at you - my stance on BM is that it's really all in people's minds, even if certain rules are accepted among 99% of people, but it's enough of a pain for me to avoid using it. If you'd like to use it PvM, then by all means, that holy freeze will give you an incredible boost over smiters and zealers - but with your hammers, you really shouldn't have a great number of problems against them anyway.
A Beast zerker would actually be a not-bad weapon for this build - with just the Beast alone, you run a seven frame smite. With the level 9 fanatacism, you need another 30% ias to hit 6 frames. However, it suffers from the same problems as Doom - it's rather expensive. PvM, I would be hard pressed to give up a Kingslayer phase blade for a Beast zerker. However, it is a viable option, and I'll write that down to add to an edited version of this guide.
Bloodfists, I should have included, those gloves are very very nice. I realized that about three hours after posting the guide. They can add a great deal to this build, but you also have to remember that you already have quite a bit of Fhr, particularly if you build with a Duress. The life and ias are also nice to have, though.
As far as V/T goes, I don't have the funds to fill my Vanquisher with pcombats, or even get three or four for him. I played mostly on nonladder, so Griffon's was out of the question - I've only now started on Ladder, and am basically running a build slightly above that budget Vanq up there. If I get 'rich' on Ladder, first thing I'm going to do is rebuild this Vanq in the image of my nonladder one, and then I might think about V/T - but until then, I have no experience with FoH at all, sorry.
::Edit:: forgot to address this - about DR. Yes, it does lack in Dr a bit. This build has to balance a great number of things - personally, if I were looking for DR I'd sacrifice a bit in the way of skills, wear a ravenfrost, put on a Dungo's, ber my shako, and ber my hoz. Or, leave the HoZ um'ed/jewelled/whatever and prebuff with Treachery. I find in PvM I do just fine with 18% dr from an um'ed shako and coh, but in PvP, it is a little more important - but there are so many ways to get DR, that it's really up to the dueler to determine what exactly they need.
Thanks for your input- if you can think of anything else I should mention/add, particularly about PvP strategies since I'm not a great PvP guy, I'd love to hear'em.|||oh ya having 1 point in fana really helps lolx coz w/o fana aura u would have to use a 6 shael phase from wat i heard, n u will need gul helm n gorerider to reach that 50% CB. i used a last wish phase n gore reaching around 75% CB so i could leave out that helm for something else..
n oh ya for those who build this just for ubers n pvm.. last wish is a must have... provides life tap so u can leave out drac gloves for something else n it gives fade when struck ;p more resist!!!|||Quote:
oh ya having 1 point in fana really helps lolx coz w/o fana aura u would have to use a 6 shael phase from wat i heard, n u will need gul helm n gorerider to reach that 50% CB. i used a last wish phase n gore reaching around 75% CB so i could leave out that helm for something else..
n oh ya for those who build this just for ubers n pvm.. last wish is a must have... provides life tap so u can leave out drac gloves for something else n it gives fade when struck ;p more resist!!!
I've actually listed the amount of ias required for optimal smite speed with each weapon, so no, you really don't need a 6 shael phase. You only need 65% total ias between all of your gear, weapon included, to reach 6 frame smite with a phase - I mentioned this many times. You need 25% in order to reach 7 frame, which is more than sufficient. A 6 shael 'robo' phase would give 120, which is only really helpful to fire claw druids.
And I can fully assure you, you don't NEED Last Wish for Tristram. I have never owned one, ever, and I have ... 72 SoH, I believe. Half are from solo runs, the other half from runs that one of my friends would start, call in three of their friends, get slaughtered, and finally call me in. After all three had been stirred up, lots of minions, and whatnot, I would walk in (with my Kingslayer phase - definately NOT a Last Wish), and three to five minutes later walk back out, with all of Tristram clear.|||Good guide.
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