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Heather's Guide to the Shadow Knight

2006-07-20T13:35:26Z

Heather: fixed mistake in zeal speed lists

__TOC__

==Introduction: What is a Shadow Knight and why should I make one?==

Hi, my name is Heather, and I am an Assassin addict. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/shuriken.gif

Back in the summer of 2004, after playing around with a Passion phase blade and taking a look at the non-paladin zeal breakpoint tables, I developed a build that I dubbed the "Shadow Knight" -- an assassin, largely focused in the Shadow Discipline skills, who uses the Zeal oskill granted by the "Passion" runeword as her main attack. I expected it to be a relatively underpowered variant, and decided to solo Hell as a challenge to see how viable the build actually was.

As it turned out, Knight_Shadow's success blew me away. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

I've now decided to condense my experiences with my favourite character of all time into a build guide.

There are many reasons to want to try a Shadow Knight.

* '''She can go anywhere and kill anything.''' Soloing hell up to the Chaos Sanctuary was easy going, and even after that point it was quite manageable.
* '''She can go anywhere and kill anything ''more safely than just about any other melee build.''''' With the sheer number of tools at her disposal, there is no situation that a well built Shadow Knight cannot handle, with the possible exception of the dreaded Lag Monster.
* And most importantly, '''she is, hands down, one of THE most fun characters to play, ever.''' http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif (Don't believe me? Try one and see.)
* Oh, and '''she gets mad style points.''' http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif

==Much ado about breakpoints and base weapon speed (or, let's get the technical mumbo-jumbo out of the way)==

The tables look a bit ugly, but the information is useful.

===General assassin breakpoints for easy reference===

{| border="1"
|+ Assassin Hit Recovery Breakpoints
! FHR !! Hit Recovery Speed in frames
|-
| 0 || 9
|-
| 7 || 8
|-
| 15 || 7
|-
| 27 || 6
|-
| 48 || 5
|-
| 86 || 4
|-
| 200 || 3
|}

{| border="1"
|+ Assassin Blocking Breakpoints
! FBR !! Block Speed in frames
|-
| 0 || 5
|-
| 14 || 4
|-
| 32 || 3
|-
| 86 || 2
|-
| 600 || 1
|}

(The information for both of these is pretty widely available, but I happened to take it from [http://strategy.diabloii.net/news.php?id=551 diabloii.net's tables].)

===Zeal speed===

I am not going to list every possible breakpoint for every possible base weapon speed here, because I am going to assume that you are sensible and want a sensible zeal speed and are planning on making your runeword in something with a sensible base speed. If you want to make "Passion" in a legendary mallet or thunder maul, be my guest, but you can work out the math yourself since you're no doubt going to be using BoS.

====How to do the math yourself====

1. Use the tables below to figure out what EIAS you need to reach your desired breakpoint. 
2. Take that number, and '''''add''''' your weapon speed modifier as it appears on the Arreat Summit. For instance, if you are using a Legendary Mallet, add 20 to your number from step 1. If you are using a Phase blade, subtract 30 (okay, add -30 if you still want to call it addition). 
3. Take your number from step two, and '''''subtract''''' any IAS you are getting from Burst of Speed, Fanaticism, etc. For instance, if you are running level 7 BoS, (which gives a 41% attack speed bonus) subtract 41 from your total. If the result is zero or negative, you've already reached your breakpoint. 
4. If the result from step three is positive, look it up [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=67832&view=findpost&p=758482 here] in the EIAS to IAS conversion table. This will tell you how much IAS you need from equipment to reach your breakpoint. 
5. Since "Passion" comes with 25 IAS already, subtract 25 from your total from step 4 to see how much more you need.

'''Example:'''

I want to zeal with a Legendary Mallet, a one handed swinging weapon.

I need 75 EIAS to reach a 4-frame zeal attack. I take 75 and add 20 for the Legendary Mallet's base speed. (running total: 95)

I will be running level 11 BoS. I subtract 46 from my total. (running total: 49)

I look up 49 in the EIAS to IAS conversion table, and discover that I need 83 IAS to reach my goal. I subtract 25 from 83 and find that I need 58 more IAS from elsewhere in my gear even running BoS.

I decide to use a Phase Blade instead. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

====Zeal attack speed tables====

As I said, I'm not going to include every possible breakpoint. Zeal is a multi-hit attack and therefore needs to be reasonably fast, so I'm only going to include base weapon speeds that you're actually likely to want to use. I'm also only going to give you numbers that are useful. If you need 175% IAS on top of what you get from the runeword, you're not going to want to do it, so I'm not going to bother listing it.

All information here is taken from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=42841&view=findpost&p=452000 this post] in the "Amazon Zeal Attack Speed" thread in the tech archives, one of the most useful threads ever. If you really want to know how fast you would zeal with -20 EIAS or with one handed thrusting weapons (none of which can get four sockets so it's kind of irrelevant), look here.

These lists assume you are not running BoS and have no handly source of fanaticism, and tell you how much IAS you need '''''on top of the 25% you already get from the "Passion" runeword''''' in order to reach a given breakpoint for zeal "follow-up" speed (i.e. the rate at which the zeal attacks happen, not the starting/ending animations).

=====1-handed swinging weapons=====
Any one handed weapon that can get four sockets falls into this category, so unless

you are making a two handed Knight, this is the information you want.

'''Base speed -30 (phase blade)'''
* 5 frame zeal out of the box
* 4 frame zeal with 47 additional IAS

'''Base speed -10 (war spike, scourge, caduceus, cryptic sword)'''
* 6 frame zeal out of the box
* 5 frame zeal with 17 additional IAS
* 4 frame zeal with 117 additional IAS (approaching the limits of feasability here)

'''Base speed 0 (berserker axe, conquest sword)'''
* 6 frame zeal out of the box
* 5 frame zeal with 38 additional IAS

'''Base speed 10 (small crescent, ettin axe)'''
* 7 frame zeal out of the box
* 6 frame zeal with 10 additional IAS
* 5 frame zeal with 64 additional IAS

=====2-handed swords=====

'''Base speed -10 (champion sword)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 12 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 55 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 77 additional IAS

'''Base speed -5 (highland blade)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 21 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 70 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 90 additional IAS

'''Base speed 0 (balrog blade)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 4 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 31 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 88 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 117 additional IAS

'''Base speed 5 (colossus blade)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 12 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 43 additioanl IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 108 additioanl IAS

'''Base speed 10 (colossus sword)'''
* 11 frame zeal out of the box
* 10 frame zeal with 2 additioanl IAS
* 9 frame zeal with 21 additioanl IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 55 additioanl IAS

=====Spears=====

'''Base speed -20 (mancatcher)'''
* 8 frame zeal out of the box
* 7 frame zeal with 4 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 53 additioanl IAS

'''Base speed 0 (stygian pike, ghost spear)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 7 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 43 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 127 additioanl IAS (really stretching possibility here)

'''Base speed 20 (war pike)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 19 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 47 additioanl IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 108 additional IAS

=====All other two-handed weapons=====

'''Base speed -15 (feral axe)'''
* 7 frame zeal out of the box
* 6 frame zeal with 25 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with faster start/end animation with 45 additioanl IAS
* 6 frame zeal with fastest star/end animation with 92 additional IAS

'''Base speed -10 (champion axe, thresher, giant thresher)'''
* 7 frame zeal out of the box
* 6 frame zeal with 35 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with faster start/end animation with 58 additioanl IAS
* 6 frame zeal with fastest star/end animation with 113 additional IAS

'''Base speed 0 (silver-edged axe, shillelagh, great poleaxe)'''
* 8 frame zeal out of the box
* 7 frame zeal with 14 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 61 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with faster start/end animation with 92 additioanl IAS

'''Base speed 10 (ogre maul, decapitator, glorious axe, elder staff, archon staff, cryptic axe, colossus voulge)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 4 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 33 additioanl IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 95 additional IAS

==Building a Shadow Knight==

Well, here's the quick and dirty version: take one assassin, add a "Passion" runeword melee weapon, and there you go.

If you want some tips on making an effective, zealot-optimized build, though, please read on.

===Stats===

Here's the easy part. Build her like you'd build most characters.

'''Strength:''' enough for gear. If you play softcore, be careful that you're not "strength tiering" so much that you can't equip your corpse properly. 
'''Dexterity:''' enough to maintain max block with your end game shield of choice. This will also help your AR. This assumes you are using a shield of course. If you decide to go two-handed, then only enough to equip your gear, and be prepared to work hard to raise your chance to hit in other ways. 
'''Vitality:''' everything else. 
'''Energy:''' huh?

===Skill choices===

Well, your main attack skill, Zeal, and one of your backup skills, Berserk, are both coming as an oskill on your weapon. This leaves a lot of points to devote to crowd control and utility skills. And that, of course, is a Good Thing, because an assassin has all sorts of fun and deadly tricks in her arsenal. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif

====Recommended must-haves====

From the Martial Arts Tree:

'''Dragon Flight''' - 1 point 
This is a utility skill all melee assassins should have. Its label of finishing move is kind of a misnomer, since you really use it to begin a series of attacks, not end one, but whatever (yeah I know it's because it releases charge-ups, it's still silly). Besides the fun and style points of telekicking into a mob, it can be a valuable safety tactic for closing the gap with ranged attackers, or for a quick escape option if you leave a few live critters behind you. It's also nice for mobility if you're in an area full of archers or quill rats and you want to walk to maintain your max block rate.

From the Traps Tree:

'''Blade Fury''' - 1 point 
This gives you what most other melee builds would kill for: a ranged attack for when you don't want to get up close and personal ''with no need for a weapon change.''

'''Death Sentry''' - 1-20 points 
Because blowing stuff up is fun and helps take down groups quickly. At least one point here is a must especially if you plan on playing with Nihlathak on anything like a regular basis. Add more points to increase the corpse explosion radius. If you really want, you can rely on a shadow master to cast it for you, but you've got the points to spend so cast it yourself to spam before and during an engagement with a mob.

From the Shadow Disciplines Tree:

'''Shadow Master/Warrior''' - to taste 
It's nice to have a friend to pack a bit of punch and distract nasty things that would otherwise be attacking you. I like the Master, but others enjoy the more controllable Warrior. I won't attempt to make any arguments either way, just pick your minion of choice and build her to a sufficient level that you're happy with her. I personally prefer a maxed, level 30+ master, but YMMV.

'''Fade''' - 1-20 points 
This keeps your resists up and gives you 1% of physical damage reduction per level for whatever level it is cast at. Even if you decide to skimp on points and use Treachery, at least 1 point plus adders is nice to get that initial Fade up before the chance to cast kicks in. Personally I recommend 5-15 hard points, to cast at a level of at least 15-20 after +skills, but if you really want to max your safety with the %damage reduction, max it. You have the points to spare with this build.

'''Cloak of Shadows''' - 1 or more points 
For shutting down enemy AI. The -defense properties are also nice. You probably won't need to use it in a party, and your kill speed should be fast enough unless soloing in a high player count game that you probably don't want to increase the duration too high lest you be constantly outpacing your CoS timer, but if you're one of those who likes a high level of CoS, don't let me try to dissuade you. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

'''Mind Blast''' - 1 or more points 
Crowd control, crowd control, crowd control. Need I say more? At least one point is a must unless you really really hate the monster conversion property, and pump it higher for a better stun duration.

====Optional but useful====

From the Traps Tree:

'''Blade Shield''' - 1 point or more (for duration) 
Sadly, it's not really good for much. But it sure looks cool, and it only costs 1 point if you've already got blade fury.

'''Fire Blast''' - any multiple of 3 hard points 
This is a prereq for Blade Fury and Death Sentry, and you won't actually be using it, but if you have points to burn, add a couple of extra to give Death sentry an extra shot per trap.

From the Shadow Disciplines Tree:

'''Burst of Speed''' - 1 point 
You already have a point here as a prerequisite to Fade, but I'm putting it on the list becaues it's nice to have hotkeyed for getting where you want to go quickly. More than one point is not recommended even if you want to keep it running for the IAS boost, since 1 plus adders should still be sufficient for that.

'''Venom''' - 1 point or max 
Its usefulness is debated, but unless you are worried about monster regen and don't have a handy source of Open Wounds, it doesn't hurt to at least throw a token point in for that extra bit of damage against non poison immunes. Max it if you like or leave it at one point plus adders or leave it alone altogether, there really isn't much point to anything in between.

Miscellaneous

'''One point plus adders in all skills''' 
For beefing up your shadow minion's skill levels and/or for Shadow Warrior control.

====Honorable mention prereq skills for early levels====

From the Traps Tree

'''Blade Sentinel''' - 1 point 
The frisbee is fun, reasonably effective at low levels, and a prerequisite to blade fury anyway, so it's worth a hotkey while you don't yet have all your skills using up all that valuable keyboard real estate.

'''Wake of Fire''' - 1 point 
You'll never use it once you get Death Sentry (or probably for the last few levels before you get it either), but it '''''owns''''' the first few acts. Wonderful for the act 3 jungles in Normal.

====Not very helpful====

'''Lightning Sentry (or any other traps but Death Sentry and the blade skills)''' 
You're a Shadow Knight, not a trapper. Get your prereq points and move on.

'''Any of the martial arts skills except for Dragon Flight''' 
Unless you're putting points here to beef up or control your shadow, these aren't very useful to this build. If you want, you can use your 1 point shadow minion buffers/remote control buttons to help with leveling until you are able to weild your Passion, but other than that, the MA skills aren't very helpful to or even compatible with a zealing or berserking assassin's play style.

'''Claw Mastery and Weapon Block''' 
Well it's pretty obvious, but since I want to be thorough here it is. You can't make the "Passion" runeword in a claw, so get your prereq points and move on. The only claws you'll be using are +skills claws for buffing your fade/venom/shadow.

'''Whichever shadow minion you don't use''' 
Pick one and go with it, don't waste points in the other. There is one situation where it is helpful to use the warrior even if your main minion is the master, but even there you don't need more than 1 plus adders to cast her.

===Equipment===

Ah, what build guide would be complete without the list of Phat Lewt with which to adorn your creation? (Well, maybe a "totally-n00d" guide, but it was meant to be a rhetorical question.) Before I get into the obligatory dropping of item names though, I'd like to cover some basic considerations.

====The 5 S's====

# '''Speed.''' Consider the base speed of your weapon, and how much IAS you will need from your gear to reach the speed you want.
# '''Skills.''' In order to get a five-strike zeal attack, you need at least slvl 4 zeal, which means getting at least +3 all skills (not +assassin skills, not +paladin skills) from your items. Theoretically you could make your "Passion" runeword in an item with a +zeal staffmod, but good luck getting ''that'' to happen. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif
# '''Safety.''' As useful as the assassin's skills are at managing the battlefield, this is still a melee class, and so glass cannon couture is not "the in thing" on a build like this, even in softcore. Resists, blocking, fast hit recovery, life, damage reduction, leech, elemental absorb if you have it, all are important things to have.
# '''Strike.''' A bit of a silly word for it, but I needed something that started with "S" to go with the theme. What I mean is having damage to deliver (of various kinds), and being able to deliver it (i.e. chance to hit). If you've played a character before that didn't have much in the way of skill-based AR boosts, you know that it will take some work to be able to hit things in hell.
# '''Style.''' Different people place different emphasis on this. If you're one of those people willing to be seen pairing a dusk shroud with Guillaume's Toaster Face on an assassin, then this probably isn't much of a priority. To many of us though, it is a very important consideration.

====1-handed vs. 2-handed and other base weapon considerations====

To be added

====To trech or not to trech====

"Treachery" or "trech" as it is sometimes called, is a lovely little runeword introduced in 1.11 that costs a relatively modest shael-thul-lem. It gives +2 assassin skills as well as some other tasty mods, most notably 45 IAS and chance to cast level 15 Fade when struck.

Could a Shadow Knight use it? Sure. The IAS boost is great for zeal, and the chance to cast fade and venom would free up skill points for other things. But it's not necessarily the best choice for this build. It's godly for a non-assassin melee or ranger build, and awesome for a skill-point-starved assassin build like an MA sin or a trapper, but my view is that the Shadow Knight has the skills to spare that she might as well put in the points and use an armor that has more helpful melee mods like crushing blow, open wounds, stat boosts, etc.

My opinion only of course, though -- your proverbial mileage may vary. Feel free to try Treachery with your Shadow Knight, but be conscious of how choosing it will affect your skill point distribution, which is why I made a special note of it here (no reason to invest more than one point in Fade, for instance).

====The Itamz List (some recommended options)====

===Your faithful retainer: merc choices===

===A sample build: Knight_Shadow===

====What I might change, given the option====

==Raising a Shadow Knight==

===Cleglaw is your friend: some notes on twink gear===

===Tactics for Normal and early Nightmare===

==Playing strategies: the art of Knighthood==

===The Shadow Knight as a party person: enjoying and contributing to a group outing===

===Handling anything the game can throw at you: the Shadow Knight soloing in Hell===

====Stair traps====

No well-prepared assassin should need to fear visiting the Countess tower, Ruined Temple, or any other "high risk of ambush" location. The secret to surviving stair traps is to stun everything before your screen even loads. How do you do this? Easy!

Remember how earlier I said there was a situation where the shadow warrior was useful even for those who normally use the master? This is that situation. If you put mind blast on your right mouse button and take a shadow warrior down the stairs with you, she will immediately spam it at anything lying in wait, before you can even see what's there. Cloak of shadows also works nicely for this. The warrior doesn't need to be a high level as she only needs to survive long enough for you to get your bearings -- once any potential ambush hazards are taken care of, you can switch back to the master.

This trick, incidentally, makes an assassin the ideal party member to be the first to enter a potentially trapped area.

It's also a trick that I can take no credit for whatsoever. I learned it from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=61343 this thread] in the assassin room, which is highly recommended reading no matter what kind of assassin you are playing.

====Ranged Attackers====

In most areas, cloak of shadows will be all that's necessary to shut down the AI of ranged critters. In large open regions with high densities of spread-out monsters, though, like the siege areas of act V when they are crawling with quill rats and burning dead archers, this may not be sufficient as you will no doubt constantly be waking up more attackers at the edges of your cloak radius.

To deal with this, turn off run. When you are walking, you have full blocking. If you don't have a shield... well you might want to consider using one here if you have enough dex to give you even a halfway decent chance to block. Use dragon flight frequently to close the gap with those annoying ranged mobs. And do use CoS when you are able. A shadow warrior (rather than master) will help keep it cast if you put CoS on the right mouse button.

====Dolls and FE's====

Some creatures are just meant to be handled from a safe distance -- nasty explosive death-pops are not the bane of melee fighters for nothing. Happily, the Shadow Knight has no need to melee if she does not wish to. Cloak and mind blast to stop those scary little ankle biters from rushing, and pick them off at your leisure with blade fury, smug in the knowledge that most other zealots would give an arm and a leg for a ranged attack that only costs a hotkey and four skill points (including prereqs) instead of a weapon switch.http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

====Gloams====

====Iron Maiden====

====For softcore players only: the challenge of the solo corpse retrieval mission====

==Parting notes==

==Credits==

Heather Fleming, July 2006. Some information taken from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=44358 this thread] in the Assassin Forum, May-July 2004.

Heather's Guide to the Shadow Knight

2006-07-20T13:03:55Z

Heather: /* spears and polearms */

__TOC__

==Introduction: What is a Shadow Knight and why should I make one?==

Hi, my name is Heather, and I am an Assassin addict. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/shuriken.gif

Back in the summer of 2004, after playing around with a Passion phase blade and taking a look at the non-paladin zeal breakpoint tables, I developed a build that I dubbed the "Shadow Knight" -- an assassin, largely focused in the Shadow Discipline skills, who uses the Zeal oskill granted by the "Passion" runeword as her main attack. I expected it to be a relatively underpowered variant, and decided to solo Hell as a challenge to see how viable the build actually was.

As it turned out, Knight_Shadow's success blew me away. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

I've now decided to condense my experiences with my favourite character of all time into a build guide.

There are many reasons to want to try a Shadow Knight.

* '''She can go anywhere and kill anything.''' Soloing hell up to the Chaos Sanctuary was easy going, and even after that point it was quite manageable.
* '''She can go anywhere and kill anything ''more safely than just about any other melee build.''''' With the sheer number of tools at her disposal, there is no situation that a well built Shadow Knight cannot handle, with the possible exception of the dreaded Lag Monster.
* And most importantly, '''she is, hands down, one of THE most fun characters to play, ever.''' http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif (Don't believe me? Try one and see.)
* Oh, and '''she gets mad style points.''' http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif

==Much ado about breakpoints and base weapon speed (or, let's get the technical mumbo-jumbo out of the way)==

The tables look a bit ugly, but the information is useful.

===General assassin breakpoints for easy reference===

{| border="1"
|+ Assassin Hit Recovery Breakpoints
! FHR !! Hit Recovery Speed in frames
|-
| 0 || 9
|-
| 7 || 8
|-
| 15 || 7
|-
| 27 || 6
|-
| 48 || 5
|-
| 86 || 4
|-
| 200 || 3
|}

{| border="1"
|+ Assassin Blocking Breakpoints
! FBR !! Block Speed in frames
|-
| 0 || 5
|-
| 14 || 4
|-
| 32 || 3
|-
| 86 || 2
|-
| 600 || 1
|}

(The information for both of these is pretty widely available, but I happened to take it from [http://strategy.diabloii.net/news.php?id=551 diabloii.net's tables].)

===Zeal speed===

I am not going to list every possible breakpoint for every possible base weapon speed here, because I am going to assume that you are sensible and want a sensible zeal speed and are planning on making your runeword in something with a sensible base speed. If you want to make "Passion" in a legendary mallet or thunder maul, be my guest, but you can work out the math yourself since you're no doubt going to be using BoS.

====How to do the math yourself====

1. Use the tables below to figure out what EIAS you need to reach your desired breakpoint. 
2. Take that number, and '''''add''''' your weapon speed modifier as it appears on the Arreat Summit. For instance, if you are using a Legendary Mallet, add 20 to your number from step 1. If you are using a Phase blade, subtract 30 (okay, add -30 if you still want to call it addition). 
3. Take your number from step two, and '''''subtract''''' any IAS you are getting from Burst of Speed, Fanaticism, etc. For instance, if you are running level 7 BoS, (which gives a 41% attack speed bonus) subtract 41 from your total. If the result is zero or negative, you've already reached your breakpoint. 
4. If the result from step three is positive, look it up [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=67832&view=findpost&p=758482 here] in the EIAS to IAS conversion table. This will tell you how much IAS you need from equipment to reach your breakpoint. 
5. Since "Passion" comes with 25 IAS already, subtract 25 from your total from step 4 to see how much more you need.

'''Example:'''

I want to zeal with a Legendary Mallet, a one handed swinging weapon.

I need 75 EIAS to reach a 4-frame zeal attack. I take 75 and add 20 for the Legendary Mallet's base speed. (running total: 95)

I will be running level 11 BoS. I subtract 46 from my total. (running total: 49)

I look up 49 in the EIAS to IAS conversion table, and discover that I need 83 IAS to reach my goal. I subtract 25 from 83 and find that I need 58 more IAS from elsewhere in my gear even running BoS.

I decide to use a Phase Blade instead. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

====Zeal attack speed tables====

As I said, I'm not going to include every possible breakpoint. Zeal is a multi-hit attack and therefore needs to be reasonably fast, so I'm only going to include base weapon speeds that you're actually likely to want to use. I'm also only going to give you numbers that are useful. If you need 175% IAS on top of what you get from the runeword, you're not going to want to do it, so I'm not going to bother listing it.

All information here is taken from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=42841&view=findpost&p=452000 this post] in the "Amazon Zeal Attack Speed" thread in the tech archives, one of the most useful threads ever. If you really want to know how fast you would zeal with -20 EIAS or with one handed thrusting weapons (none of which can get four sockets so it's kind of irrelevant), look here.

These lists assume you are not running BoS and have no handly source of fanaticism, and tell you how much IAS you need '''''on top of the 25% you already get from the "Passion" runeword''''' in order to reach a given breakpoint for zeal "follow-up" speed (i.e. the rate at which the zeal attacks happen, not the starting/ending animations).

=====1-handed swinging weapons=====
Any one handed weapon that can get four sockets falls into this category, so unless you are making a two handed Knight, this is the information you want.

'''Base speed -30 (phase blade)'''
* 5 frame zeal out of the box
* 4 frame zeal with 47 additional IAS

'''Base speed -10 (war spike, scourge, caduceus, cryptic sword)'''
* 6 frame zeal out of the box
* 5 frame zeal with 17 additional IAS
* 4 frame zeal with 117 additional IAS (approaching the limits of feasability here)

'''Base speed 0 (berserker axe, conquest sword)'''
* 6 frame zeal out of the box
* 5 frame zeal with 38 additional IAS

'''Base speed 10 (small crescent, ettin axe)'''
* 7 frame zeal out of the box
* 6 frame zeal with 10 additional IAS
* 5 frame zeal with 64 additional IAS

=====2-handed swords=====

'''Base speed -10 (champion sword)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 12 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 55 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 77 additional IAS

'''Base speed -5 (highland blade)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 21 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 70 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 90 additional IAS

'''Base speed 0 (balrog blade)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 4 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 31 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 88 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 117 additional IAS

'''Base speed 5 (colossus blade)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 12 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 43 additioanl IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 108 additioanl IAS

'''Base speed 10 (colossus sword)'''
* 11 frame zeal out of the box
* 10 frame zeal with 2 additioanl IAS
* 9 frame zeal with 21 additioanl IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 55 additioanl IAS

=====Spears and polearms=====

'''Base speed -20 (mancatcher)'''
* 8 frame zeal out of the box
* 7 frame zeal with 4 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 53 additioanl IAS

'''Base speed -10 (thresher, giant thresher)'''
* 8 frame zeal out of the box
* 7 frame zeal with 21 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 84 additioanl IAS

'''Base speed 0 (great poleaxe, stygian pike, ghost spear)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 7 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 43 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 127 additioanl IAS (really stretching possibility here)

'''Base speed 10 (colossus voulge, cryptic axe)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 2 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 25 additioanl IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 77 additional IAS

'''Base speed 20 (war pike)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 19 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 47 additioanl IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 108 additional IAS

=====All other two-handed weapons=====

'''Base speed -15 (feral axe)'''
* 7 frame zeal out of the box
* 6 frame zeal with 25 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with faster start/end animation with 45 additioanl IAS
* 6 frame zeal with fastest star/end animation with 92 additional IAS

'''Base speed -10 (champion axe)'''
* 7 frame zeal out of the box
* 6 frame zeal with 35 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with faster start/end animation with 58 additioanl IAS
* 6 frame zeal with fastest star/end animation with 113 additional IAS

'''Base speed 0 (silver-edged axe, shillelagh)'''
* 8 frame zeal out of the box
* 7 frame zeal with 14 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 61 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with faster start/end animation with 92 additioanl IAS

'''Base speed 10 (ogre maul, decapitator, glorious axe, elder staff, archon staff)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 4 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 33 additioanl IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 95 additional IAS

==Building a Shadow Knight==

Well, here's the quick and dirty version: take one assassin, add a "Passion" runeword melee weapon, and there you go.

If you want some tips on making an effective, zealot-optimized build, though, please read on.

===Stats===

Here's the easy part. Build her like you'd build most characters.

'''Strength:''' enough for gear. If you play softcore, be careful that you're not "strength tiering" so much that you can't equip your corpse properly. 
'''Dexterity:''' enough to maintain max block with your end game shield of choice. This will also help your AR. This assumes you are using a shield of course. If you decide to go two-handed, then only enough to equip your gear, and be prepared to work hard to raise your chance to hit in other ways. 
'''Vitality:''' everything else. 
'''Energy:''' huh?

===Skill choices===

Well, your main attack skill, Zeal, and one of your backup skills, Berserk, are both coming as an oskill on your weapon. This leaves a lot of points to devote to crowd control and utility skills. And that, of course, is a Good Thing, because an assassin has all sorts of fun and deadly tricks in her arsenal. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif

====Recommended must-haves====

From the Martial Arts Tree:

'''Dragon Flight''' - 1 point 
This is a utility skill all melee assassins should have. Its label of finishing move is kind of a misnomer, since you really use it to begin a series of attacks, not end one, but whatever (yeah I know it's because it releases charge-ups, it's still silly). Besides the fun and style points of telekicking into a mob, it can be a valuable safety tactic for closing the gap with ranged attackers, or for a quick escape option if you leave a few live critters behind you. It's also nice for mobility if you're in an area full of archers or quill rats and you want to walk to maintain your max block rate.

From the Traps Tree:

'''Blade Fury''' - 1 point 
This gives you what most other melee builds would kill for: a ranged attack for when you don't want to get up close and personal ''with no need for a weapon change.''

'''Death Sentry''' - 1-20 points 
Because blowing stuff up is fun and helps take down groups quickly. At least one point here is a must especially if you plan on playing with Nihlathak on anything like a regular basis. Add more points to increase the corpse explosion radius. If you really want, you can rely on a shadow master to cast it for you, but you've got the points to spend so cast it yourself to spam before and during an engagement with a mob.

From the Shadow Disciplines Tree:

'''Shadow Master/Warrior''' - to taste 
It's nice to have a friend to pack a bit of punch and distract nasty things that would otherwise be attacking you. I like the Master, but others enjoy the more controllable Warrior. I won't attempt to make any arguments either way, just pick your minion of choice and build her to a sufficient level that you're happy with her. I personally prefer a maxed, level 30+ master, but YMMV.

'''Fade''' - 1-20 points 
This keeps your resists up and gives you 1% of physical damage reduction per level for whatever level it is cast at. Even if you decide to skimp on points and use Treachery, at least 1 point plus adders is nice to get that initial Fade up before the chance to cast kicks in. Personally I recommend 5-15 hard points, to cast at a level of at least 15-20 after +skills, but if you really want to max your safety with the %damage reduction, max it. You have the points to spare with this build.

'''Cloak of Shadows''' - 1 or more points 
For shutting down enemy AI. The -defense properties are also nice. You probably won't need to use it in a party, and your kill speed should be fast enough unless soloing in a high player count game that you probably don't want to increase the duration too high lest you be constantly outpacing your CoS timer, but if you're one of those who likes a high level of CoS, don't let me try to dissuade you. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

'''Mind Blast''' - 1 or more points 
Crowd control, crowd control, crowd control. Need I say more? At least one point is a must unless you really really hate the monster conversion property, and pump it higher for a better stun duration.

====Optional but useful====

From the Traps Tree:

'''Blade Shield''' - 1 point or more (for duration) 
Sadly, it's not really good for much. But it sure looks cool, and it only costs 1 point if you've already got blade fury.

'''Fire Blast''' - any multiple of 3 hard points 
This is a prereq for Blade Fury and Death Sentry, and you won't actually be using it, but if you have points to burn, add a couple of extra to give Death sentry an extra shot per trap.

From the Shadow Disciplines Tree:

'''Burst of Speed''' - 1 point 
You already have a point here as a prerequisite to Fade, but I'm putting it on the list becaues it's nice to have hotkeyed for getting where you want to go quickly. More than one point is not recommended even if you want to keep it running for the IAS boost, since 1 plus adders should still be sufficient for that.

'''Venom''' - 1 point or max 
Its usefulness is debated, but unless you are worried about monster regen and don't have a handy source of Open Wounds, it doesn't hurt to at least throw a token point in for that extra bit of damage against non poison immunes. Max it if you like or leave it at one point plus adders or leave it alone altogether, there really isn't much point to anything in between.

Miscellaneous

'''One point plus adders in all skills''' 
For beefing up your shadow minion's skill levels and/or for Shadow Warrior control.

====Honorable mention prereq skills for early levels====

From the Traps Tree

'''Blade Sentinel''' - 1 point 
The frisbee is fun, reasonably effective at low levels, and a prerequisite to blade fury anyway, so it's worth a hotkey while you don't yet have all your skills using up all that valuable keyboard real estate.

'''Wake of Fire''' - 1 point 
You'll never use it once you get Death Sentry (or probably for the last few levels before you get it either), but it '''''owns''''' the first few acts. Wonderful for the act 3 jungles in Normal.

====Not very helpful====

'''Lightning Sentry (or any other traps but Death Sentry and the blade skills)''' 
You're a Shadow Knight, not a trapper. Get your prereq points and move on.

'''Any of the martial arts skills except for Dragon Flight''' 
Unless you're putting points here to beef up or control your shadow, these aren't very useful to this build. If you want, you can use your 1 point shadow minion buffers/remote control buttons to help with leveling until you are able to weild your Passion, but other than that, the MA skills aren't very helpful to or even compatible with a zealing or berserking assassin's play style.

'''Claw Mastery and Weapon Block''' 
Well it's pretty obvious, but since I want to be thorough here it is. You can't make the "Passion" runeword in a claw, so get your prereq points and move on. The only claws you'll be using are +skills claws for buffing your fade/venom/shadow.

'''Whichever shadow minion you don't use''' 
Pick one and go with it, don't waste points in the other. There is one situation where it is helpful to use the warrior even if your main minion is the master, but even there you don't need more than 1 plus adders to cast her.

===Equipment===

Ah, what build guide would be complete without the list of Phat Lewt with which to adorn your creation? (Well, maybe a "totally-n00d" guide, but it was meant to be a rhetorical question.) Before I get into the obligatory dropping of item names though, I'd like to cover some basic considerations.

====The 5 S's====

# '''Speed.''' Consider the base speed of your weapon, and how much IAS you will need from your gear to reach the speed you want.
# '''Skills.''' In order to get a five-strike zeal attack, you need at least slvl 4 zeal, which means getting at least +3 all skills (not +assassin skills, not +paladin skills) from your items. Theoretically you could make your "Passion" runeword in an item with a +zeal staffmod, but good luck getting ''that'' to happen. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif
# '''Safety.''' As useful as the assassin's skills are at managing the battlefield, this is still a melee class, and so glass cannon couture is not "the in thing" on a build like this, even in softcore. Resists, blocking, fast hit recovery, life, damage reduction, leech, elemental absorb if you have it, all are important things to have.
# '''Strike.''' A bit of a silly word for it, but I needed something that started with "S" to go with the theme. What I mean is having damage to deliver (of various kinds), and being able to deliver it (i.e. chance to hit). If you've played a character before that didn't have much in the way of skill-based AR boosts, you know that it will take some work to be able to hit things in hell.
# '''Style.''' Different people place different emphasis on this. If you're one of those people willing to be seen pairing a dusk shroud with Guillaume's Toaster Face on an assassin, then this probably isn't much of a priority. To many of us though, it is a very important consideration.

====1-handed vs. 2-handed and other base weapon considerations====

To be added

====To trech or not to trech====

"Treachery" or "trech" as it is sometimes called, is a lovely little runeword introduced in 1.11 that costs a relatively modest shael-thul-lem. It gives +2 assassin skills as well as some other tasty mods, most notably 45 IAS and chance to cast level 15 Fade when struck.

Could a Shadow Knight use it? Sure. The IAS boost is great for zeal, and the chance to cast fade and venom would free up skill points for other things. But it's not necessarily the best choice for this build. It's godly for a non-assassin melee or ranger build, and awesome for a skill-point-starved assassin build like an MA sin or a trapper, but my view is that the Shadow Knight has the skills to spare that she might as well put in the points and use an armor that has more helpful melee mods like crushing blow, open wounds, stat boosts, etc.

My opinion only of course, though -- your proverbial mileage may vary. Feel free to try Treachery with your Shadow Knight, but be conscious of how choosing it will affect your skill point distribution, which is why I made a special note of it here (no reason to invest more than one point in Fade, for instance).

====The Itamz List (some recommended options)====

===Your faithful retainer: merc choices===

===A sample build: Knight_Shadow===

====What I might change, given the option====

==Raising a Shadow Knight==

===Cleglaw is your friend: some notes on twink gear===

===Tactics for Normal and early Nightmare===

==Playing strategies: the art of Knighthood==

===The Shadow Knight as a party person: enjoying and contributing to a group outing===

===Handling anything the game can throw at you: the Shadow Knight soloing in Hell===

====Stair traps====

No well-prepared assassin should need to fear visiting the Countess tower, Ruined Temple, or any other "high risk of ambush" location. The secret to surviving stair traps is to stun everything before your screen even loads. How do you do this? Easy!

Remember how earlier I said there was a situation where the shadow warrior was useful even for those who normally use the master? This is that situation. If you put mind blast on your right mouse button and take a shadow warrior down the stairs with you, she will immediately spam it at anything lying in wait, before you can even see what's there. Cloak of shadows also works nicely for this. The warrior doesn't need to be a high level as she only needs to survive long enough for you to get your bearings -- once any potential ambush hazards are taken care of, you can switch back to the master.

This trick, incidentally, makes an assassin the ideal party member to be the first to enter a potentially trapped area.

It's also a trick that I can take no credit for whatsoever. I learned it from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=61343 this thread] in the assassin room, which is highly recommended reading no matter what kind of assassin you are playing.

====Ranged Attackers====

In most areas, cloak of shadows will be all that's necessary to shut down the AI of ranged critters. In large open regions with high densities of spread-out monsters, though, like the siege areas of act V when they are crawling with quill rats and burning dead archers, this may not be sufficient as you will no doubt constantly be waking up more attackers at the edges of your cloak radius.

To deal with this, turn off run. When you are walking, you have full blocking. If you don't have a shield... well you might want to consider using one here if you have enough dex to give you even a halfway decent chance to block. Use dragon flight frequently to close the gap with those annoying ranged mobs. And do use CoS when you are able. A shadow warrior (rather than master) will help keep it cast if you put CoS on the right mouse button.

====Dolls and FE's====

Some creatures are just meant to be handled from a safe distance -- nasty explosive death-pops are not the bane of melee fighters for nothing. Happily, the Shadow Knight has no need to melee if she does not wish to. Cloak and mind blast to stop those scary little ankle biters from rushing, and pick them off at your leisure with blade fury, smug in the knowledge that most other zealots would give an arm and a leg for a ranged attack that only costs a hotkey and four skill points (including prereqs) instead of a weapon switch.http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

====Gloams====

====Iron Maiden====

====For softcore players only: the challenge of the solo corpse retrieval mission====

==Parting notes==

==Credits==

Heather Fleming, July 2006. Some information taken from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=44358 this thread] in the Assassin Forum, May-July 2004.

Heather's Guide to the Shadow Knight

2006-07-20T13:02:38Z

Heather: /* Zeal attack speed tables */

__TOC__

==Introduction: What is a Shadow Knight and why should I make one?==

Hi, my name is Heather, and I am an Assassin addict. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/shuriken.gif

Back in the summer of 2004, after playing around with a Passion phase blade and taking a look at the non-paladin zeal breakpoint tables, I developed a build that I dubbed the "Shadow Knight" -- an assassin, largely focused in the Shadow Discipline skills, who uses the Zeal oskill granted by the "Passion" runeword as her main attack. I expected it to be a relatively underpowered variant, and decided to solo Hell as a challenge to see how viable the build actually was.

As it turned out, Knight_Shadow's success blew me away. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

I've now decided to condense my experiences with my favourite character of all time into a build guide.

There are many reasons to want to try a Shadow Knight.

* '''She can go anywhere and kill anything.''' Soloing hell up to the Chaos Sanctuary was easy going, and even after that point it was quite manageable.
* '''She can go anywhere and kill anything ''more safely than just about any other melee build.''''' With the sheer number of tools at her disposal, there is no situation that a well built Shadow Knight cannot handle, with the possible exception of the dreaded Lag Monster.
* And most importantly, '''she is, hands down, one of THE most fun characters to play, ever.''' http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif (Don't believe me? Try one and see.)
* Oh, and '''she gets mad style points.''' http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif

==Much ado about breakpoints and base weapon speed (or, let's get the technical mumbo-jumbo out of the way)==

The tables look a bit ugly, but the information is useful.

===General assassin breakpoints for easy reference===

{| border="1"
|+ Assassin Hit Recovery Breakpoints
! FHR !! Hit Recovery Speed in frames
|-
| 0 || 9
|-
| 7 || 8
|-
| 15 || 7
|-
| 27 || 6
|-
| 48 || 5
|-
| 86 || 4
|-
| 200 || 3
|}

{| border="1"
|+ Assassin Blocking Breakpoints
! FBR !! Block Speed in frames
|-
| 0 || 5
|-
| 14 || 4
|-
| 32 || 3
|-
| 86 || 2
|-
| 600 || 1
|}

(The information for both of these is pretty widely available, but I happened to take it from [http://strategy.diabloii.net/news.php?id=551 diabloii.net's tables].)

===Zeal speed===

I am not going to list every possible breakpoint for every possible base weapon speed here, because I am going to assume that you are sensible and want a sensible zeal speed and are planning on making your runeword in something with a sensible base speed. If you want to make "Passion" in a legendary mallet or thunder maul, be my guest, but you can work out the math yourself since you're no doubt going to be using BoS.

====How to do the math yourself====

1. Use the tables below to figure out what EIAS you need to reach your desired breakpoint. 
2. Take that number, and '''''add''''' your weapon speed modifier as it appears on the Arreat Summit. For instance, if you are using a Legendary Mallet, add 20 to your number from step 1. If you are using a Phase blade, subtract 30 (okay, add -30 if you still want to call it addition). 
3. Take your number from step two, and '''''subtract''''' any IAS you are getting from Burst of Speed, Fanaticism, etc. For instance, if you are running level 7 BoS, (which gives a 41% attack speed bonus) subtract 41 from your total. If the result is zero or negative, you've already reached your breakpoint. 
4. If the result from step three is positive, look it up [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=67832&view=findpost&p=758482 here] in the EIAS to IAS conversion table. This will tell you how much IAS you need from equipment to reach your breakpoint. 
5. Since "Passion" comes with 25 IAS already, subtract 25 from your total from step 4 to see how much more you need.

'''Example:'''

I want to zeal with a Legendary Mallet, a one handed swinging weapon.

I need 75 EIAS to reach a 4-frame zeal attack. I take 75 and add 20 for the Legendary Mallet's base speed. (running total: 95)

I will be running level 11 BoS. I subtract 46 from my total. (running total: 49)

I look up 49 in the EIAS to IAS conversion table, and discover that I need 83 IAS to reach my goal. I subtract 25 from 83 and find that I need 58 more IAS from elsewhere in my gear even running BoS.

I decide to use a Phase Blade instead. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

====Zeal attack speed tables====

As I said, I'm not going to include every possible breakpoint. Zeal is a multi-hit attack and therefore needs to be reasonably fast, so I'm only going to include base weapon speeds that you're actually likely to want to use. I'm also only going to give you numbers that are useful. If you need 175% IAS on top of what you get from the runeword, you're not going to want to do it, so I'm not going to bother listing it.

All information here is taken from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=42841&view=findpost&p=452000 this post] in the "Amazon Zeal Attack Speed" thread in the tech archives, one of the most useful threads ever. If you really want to know how fast you would zeal with -20 EIAS or with one handed thrusting weapons (none of which can get four sockets so it's kind of irrelevant), look here.

These lists assume you are not running BoS and have no handly source of fanaticism, and tell you how much IAS you need '''''on top of the 25% you already get from the "Passion" runeword''''' in order to reach a given breakpoint for zeal "follow-up" speed (i.e. the rate at which the zeal attacks happen, not the starting/ending animations).

=====1-handed swinging weapons=====
Any one handed weapon that can get four sockets falls into this category, so unless you are making a two handed Knight, this is the information you want.

'''Base speed -30 (phase blade)'''
* 5 frame zeal out of the box
* 4 frame zeal with 47 additional IAS

'''Base speed -10 (war spike, scourge, caduceus, cryptic sword)'''
* 6 frame zeal out of the box
* 5 frame zeal with 17 additional IAS
* 4 frame zeal with 117 additional IAS (approaching the limits of feasability here)

'''Base speed 0 (berserker axe, conquest sword)'''
* 6 frame zeal out of the box
* 5 frame zeal with 38 additional IAS

'''Base speed 10 (small crescent, ettin axe)'''
* 7 frame zeal out of the box
* 6 frame zeal with 10 additional IAS
* 5 frame zeal with 64 additional IAS

=====2-handed swords=====

'''Base speed -10 (champion sword)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 12 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 55 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 77 additional IAS

'''Base speed -5 (highland blade)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 21 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 70 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 90 additional IAS

'''Base speed 0 (balrog blade)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 4 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 31 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 88 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 117 additional IAS

'''Base speed 5 (colossus blade)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 12 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 43 additioanl IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 108 additioanl IAS

'''Base speed 10 (colossus sword)'''
* 11 frame zeal out of the box
* 10 frame zeal with 2 additioanl IAS
* 9 frame zeal with 21 additioanl IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 55 additioanl IAS

=====spears and polearms=====

'''Base speed -20 (mancatcher)'''
* 8 frame zeal out of the box
* 7 frame zeal with 4 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 53 additioanl IAS

'''Base speed -10 (thresher, giant thresher)'''
* 8 frame zeal out of the box
* 7 frame zeal with 21 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 84 additioanl IAS

'''Base speed 0 (great poleaxe, stygian pike, ghost spear)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 7 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 43 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 127 additioanl IAS (really stretching possibility here)

'''Base speed 10 (colossus voulge, cryptic axe)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 2 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 25 additioanl IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 77 additional IAS

'''Base speed 20 (war pike)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 19 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 47 additioanl IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 108 additional IAS

=====All other two-handed weapons=====

'''Base speed -15 (feral axe)'''
* 7 frame zeal out of the box
* 6 frame zeal with 25 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with faster start/end animation with 45 additioanl IAS
* 6 frame zeal with fastest star/end animation with 92 additional IAS

'''Base speed -10 (champion axe)'''
* 7 frame zeal out of the box
* 6 frame zeal with 35 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with faster start/end animation with 58 additioanl IAS
* 6 frame zeal with fastest star/end animation with 113 additional IAS

'''Base speed 0 (silver-edged axe, shillelagh)'''
* 8 frame zeal out of the box
* 7 frame zeal with 14 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 61 additional IAS
* 6 frame zeal with faster start/end animation with 92 additioanl IAS

'''Base speed 10 (ogre maul, decapitator, glorious axe, elder staff, archon staff)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 4 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 33 additioanl IAS
* 6 frame zeal with 95 additional IAS

==Building a Shadow Knight==

Well, here's the quick and dirty version: take one assassin, add a "Passion" runeword melee weapon, and there you go.

If you want some tips on making an effective, zealot-optimized build, though, please read on.

===Stats===

Here's the easy part. Build her like you'd build most characters.

'''Strength:''' enough for gear. If you play softcore, be careful that you're not "strength tiering" so much that you can't equip your corpse properly. 
'''Dexterity:''' enough to maintain max block with your end game shield of choice. This will also help your AR. This assumes you are using a shield of course. If you decide to go two-handed, then only enough to equip your gear, and be prepared to work hard to raise your chance to hit in other ways. 
'''Vitality:''' everything else. 
'''Energy:''' huh?

===Skill choices===

Well, your main attack skill, Zeal, and one of your backup skills, Berserk, are both coming as an oskill on your weapon. This leaves a lot of points to devote to crowd control and utility skills. And that, of course, is a Good Thing, because an assassin has all sorts of fun and deadly tricks in her arsenal. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif

====Recommended must-haves====

From the Martial Arts Tree:

'''Dragon Flight''' - 1 point 
This is a utility skill all melee assassins should have. Its label of finishing move is kind of a misnomer, since you really use it to begin a series of attacks, not end one, but whatever (yeah I know it's because it releases charge-ups, it's still silly). Besides the fun and style points of telekicking into a mob, it can be a valuable safety tactic for closing the gap with ranged attackers, or for a quick escape option if you leave a few live critters behind you. It's also nice for mobility if you're in an area full of archers or quill rats and you want to walk to maintain your max block rate.

From the Traps Tree:

'''Blade Fury''' - 1 point 
This gives you what most other melee builds would kill for: a ranged attack for when you don't want to get up close and personal ''with no need for a weapon change.''

'''Death Sentry''' - 1-20 points 
Because blowing stuff up is fun and helps take down groups quickly. At least one point here is a must especially if you plan on playing with Nihlathak on anything like a regular basis. Add more points to increase the corpse explosion radius. If you really want, you can rely on a shadow master to cast it for you, but you've got the points to spend so cast it yourself to spam before and during an engagement with a mob.

From the Shadow Disciplines Tree:

'''Shadow Master/Warrior''' - to taste 
It's nice to have a friend to pack a bit of punch and distract nasty things that would otherwise be attacking you. I like the Master, but others enjoy the more controllable Warrior. I won't attempt to make any arguments either way, just pick your minion of choice and build her to a sufficient level that you're happy with her. I personally prefer a maxed, level 30+ master, but YMMV.

'''Fade''' - 1-20 points 
This keeps your resists up and gives you 1% of physical damage reduction per level for whatever level it is cast at. Even if you decide to skimp on points and use Treachery, at least 1 point plus adders is nice to get that initial Fade up before the chance to cast kicks in. Personally I recommend 5-15 hard points, to cast at a level of at least 15-20 after +skills, but if you really want to max your safety with the %damage reduction, max it. You have the points to spare with this build.

'''Cloak of Shadows''' - 1 or more points 
For shutting down enemy AI. The -defense properties are also nice. You probably won't need to use it in a party, and your kill speed should be fast enough unless soloing in a high player count game that you probably don't want to increase the duration too high lest you be constantly outpacing your CoS timer, but if you're one of those who likes a high level of CoS, don't let me try to dissuade you. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

'''Mind Blast''' - 1 or more points 
Crowd control, crowd control, crowd control. Need I say more? At least one point is a must unless you really really hate the monster conversion property, and pump it higher for a better stun duration.

====Optional but useful====

From the Traps Tree:

'''Blade Shield''' - 1 point or more (for duration) 
Sadly, it's not really good for much. But it sure looks cool, and it only costs 1 point if you've already got blade fury.

'''Fire Blast''' - any multiple of 3 hard points 
This is a prereq for Blade Fury and Death Sentry, and you won't actually be using it, but if you have points to burn, add a couple of extra to give Death sentry an extra shot per trap.

From the Shadow Disciplines Tree:

'''Burst of Speed''' - 1 point 
You already have a point here as a prerequisite to Fade, but I'm putting it on the list becaues it's nice to have hotkeyed for getting where you want to go quickly. More than one point is not recommended even if you want to keep it running for the IAS boost, since 1 plus adders should still be sufficient for that.

'''Venom''' - 1 point or max 
Its usefulness is debated, but unless you are worried about monster regen and don't have a handy source of Open Wounds, it doesn't hurt to at least throw a token point in for that extra bit of damage against non poison immunes. Max it if you like or leave it at one point plus adders or leave it alone altogether, there really isn't much point to anything in between.

Miscellaneous

'''One point plus adders in all skills''' 
For beefing up your shadow minion's skill levels and/or for Shadow Warrior control.

====Honorable mention prereq skills for early levels====

From the Traps Tree

'''Blade Sentinel''' - 1 point 
The frisbee is fun, reasonably effective at low levels, and a prerequisite to blade fury anyway, so it's worth a hotkey while you don't yet have all your skills using up all that valuable keyboard real estate.

'''Wake of Fire''' - 1 point 
You'll never use it once you get Death Sentry (or probably for the last few levels before you get it either), but it '''''owns''''' the first few acts. Wonderful for the act 3 jungles in Normal.

====Not very helpful====

'''Lightning Sentry (or any other traps but Death Sentry and the blade skills)''' 
You're a Shadow Knight, not a trapper. Get your prereq points and move on.

'''Any of the martial arts skills except for Dragon Flight''' 
Unless you're putting points here to beef up or control your shadow, these aren't very useful to this build. If you want, you can use your 1 point shadow minion buffers/remote control buttons to help with leveling until you are able to weild your Passion, but other than that, the MA skills aren't very helpful to or even compatible with a zealing or berserking assassin's play style.

'''Claw Mastery and Weapon Block''' 
Well it's pretty obvious, but since I want to be thorough here it is. You can't make the "Passion" runeword in a claw, so get your prereq points and move on. The only claws you'll be using are +skills claws for buffing your fade/venom/shadow.

'''Whichever shadow minion you don't use''' 
Pick one and go with it, don't waste points in the other. There is one situation where it is helpful to use the warrior even if your main minion is the master, but even there you don't need more than 1 plus adders to cast her.

===Equipment===

Ah, what build guide would be complete without the list of Phat Lewt with which to adorn your creation? (Well, maybe a "totally-n00d" guide, but it was meant to be a rhetorical question.) Before I get into the obligatory dropping of item names though, I'd like to cover some basic considerations.

====The 5 S's====

# '''Speed.''' Consider the base speed of your weapon, and how much IAS you will need from your gear to reach the speed you want.
# '''Skills.''' In order to get a five-strike zeal attack, you need at least slvl 4 zeal, which means getting at least +3 all skills (not +assassin skills, not +paladin skills) from your items. Theoretically you could make your "Passion" runeword in an item with a +zeal staffmod, but good luck getting ''that'' to happen. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif
# '''Safety.''' As useful as the assassin's skills are at managing the battlefield, this is still a melee class, and so glass cannon couture is not "the in thing" on a build like this, even in softcore. Resists, blocking, fast hit recovery, life, damage reduction, leech, elemental absorb if you have it, all are important things to have.
# '''Strike.''' A bit of a silly word for it, but I needed something that started with "S" to go with the theme. What I mean is having damage to deliver (of various kinds), and being able to deliver it (i.e. chance to hit). If you've played a character before that didn't have much in the way of skill-based AR boosts, you know that it will take some work to be able to hit things in hell.
# '''Style.''' Different people place different emphasis on this. If you're one of those people willing to be seen pairing a dusk shroud with Guillaume's Toaster Face on an assassin, then this probably isn't much of a priority. To many of us though, it is a very important consideration.

====1-handed vs. 2-handed and other base weapon considerations====

To be added

====To trech or not to trech====

"Treachery" or "trech" as it is sometimes called, is a lovely little runeword introduced in 1.11 that costs a relatively modest shael-thul-lem. It gives +2 assassin skills as well as some other tasty mods, most notably 45 IAS and chance to cast level 15 Fade when struck.

Could a Shadow Knight use it? Sure. The IAS boost is great for zeal, and the chance to cast fade and venom would free up skill points for other things. But it's not necessarily the best choice for this build. It's godly for a non-assassin melee or ranger build, and awesome for a skill-point-starved assassin build like an MA sin or a trapper, but my view is that the Shadow Knight has the skills to spare that she might as well put in the points and use an armor that has more helpful melee mods like crushing blow, open wounds, stat boosts, etc.

My opinion only of course, though -- your proverbial mileage may vary. Feel free to try Treachery with your Shadow Knight, but be conscious of how choosing it will affect your skill point distribution, which is why I made a special note of it here (no reason to invest more than one point in Fade, for instance).

====The Itamz List (some recommended options)====

===Your faithful retainer: merc choices===

===A sample build: Knight_Shadow===

====What I might change, given the option====

==Raising a Shadow Knight==

===Cleglaw is your friend: some notes on twink gear===

===Tactics for Normal and early Nightmare===

==Playing strategies: the art of Knighthood==

===The Shadow Knight as a party person: enjoying and contributing to a group outing===

===Handling anything the game can throw at you: the Shadow Knight soloing in Hell===

====Stair traps====

No well-prepared assassin should need to fear visiting the Countess tower, Ruined Temple, or any other "high risk of ambush" location. The secret to surviving stair traps is to stun everything before your screen even loads. How do you do this? Easy!

Remember how earlier I said there was a situation where the shadow warrior was useful even for those who normally use the master? This is that situation. If you put mind blast on your right mouse button and take a shadow warrior down the stairs with you, she will immediately spam it at anything lying in wait, before you can even see what's there. Cloak of shadows also works nicely for this. The warrior doesn't need to be a high level as she only needs to survive long enough for you to get your bearings -- once any potential ambush hazards are taken care of, you can switch back to the master.

This trick, incidentally, makes an assassin the ideal party member to be the first to enter a potentially trapped area.

It's also a trick that I can take no credit for whatsoever. I learned it from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=61343 this thread] in the assassin room, which is highly recommended reading no matter what kind of assassin you are playing.

====Ranged Attackers====

In most areas, cloak of shadows will be all that's necessary to shut down the AI of ranged critters. In large open regions with high densities of spread-out monsters, though, like the siege areas of act V when they are crawling with quill rats and burning dead archers, this may not be sufficient as you will no doubt constantly be waking up more attackers at the edges of your cloak radius.

To deal with this, turn off run. When you are walking, you have full blocking. If you don't have a shield... well you might want to consider using one here if you have enough dex to give you even a halfway decent chance to block. Use dragon flight frequently to close the gap with those annoying ranged mobs. And do use CoS when you are able. A shadow warrior (rather than master) will help keep it cast if you put CoS on the right mouse button.

====Dolls and FE's====

Some creatures are just meant to be handled from a safe distance -- nasty explosive death-pops are not the bane of melee fighters for nothing. Happily, the Shadow Knight has no need to melee if she does not wish to. Cloak and mind blast to stop those scary little ankle biters from rushing, and pick them off at your leisure with blade fury, smug in the knowledge that most other zealots would give an arm and a leg for a ranged attack that only costs a hotkey and four skill points (including prereqs) instead of a weapon switch.http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

====Gloams====

====Iron Maiden====

====For softcore players only: the challenge of the solo corpse retrieval mission====

==Parting notes==

==Credits==

Heather Fleming, July 2006. Some information taken from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=44358 this thread] in the Assassin Forum, May-July 2004.

Heather's Guide to the Shadow Knight

2006-07-20T12:11:42Z

Heather: /* Much ado about breakpoints and base weapon speed (or, let's get the technical mumbo-jumbo out of the way) */

__TOC__

==Introduction: What is a Shadow Knight and why should I make one?==

Hi, my name is Heather, and I am an Assassin addict. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/shuriken.gif

Back in the summer of 2004, after playing around with a Passion phase blade and taking a look at the non-paladin zeal breakpoint tables, I developed a build that I dubbed the "Shadow Knight" -- an assassin, largely focused in the Shadow Discipline skills, who uses the Zeal oskill granted by the "Passion" runeword as her main attack. I expected it to be a relatively underpowered variant, and decided to solo Hell as a challenge to see how viable the build actually was.

As it turned out, Knight_Shadow's success blew me away. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

I've now decided to condense my experiences with my favourite character of all time into a build guide.

There are many reasons to want to try a Shadow Knight.

* '''She can go anywhere and kill anything.''' Soloing hell up to the Chaos Sanctuary was easy going, and even after that point it was quite manageable.
* '''She can go anywhere and kill anything ''more safely than just about any other melee build.''''' With the sheer number of tools at her disposal, there is no situation that a well built Shadow Knight cannot handle, with the possible exception of the dreaded Lag Monster.
* And most importantly, '''she is, hands down, one of THE most fun characters to play, ever.''' http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif (Don't believe me? Try one and see.)
* Oh, and '''she gets mad style points.''' http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif

==Much ado about breakpoints and base weapon speed (or, let's get the technical mumbo-jumbo out of the way)==

The tables look a bit ugly, but the information is useful.

===General assassin breakpoints for easy reference===

{| border="1"
|+ Assassin Hit Recovery Breakpoints
! FHR !! Hit Recovery Speed in frames
|-
| 0 || 9
|-
| 7 || 8
|-
| 15 || 7
|-
| 27 || 6
|-
| 48 || 5
|-
| 86 || 4
|-
| 200 || 3
|}

{| border="1"
|+ Assassin Blocking Breakpoints
! FBR !! Block Speed in frames
|-
| 0 || 5
|-
| 14 || 4
|-
| 32 || 3
|-
| 86 || 2
|-
| 600 || 1
|}

(The information for both of these is pretty widely available, but I happened to take it from [http://strategy.diabloii.net/news.php?id=551 diabloii.net's tables].)

===Zeal speed===

I am not going to list every possible breakpoint for every possible base weapon speed here, because I am going to assume that you are sensible and want a sensible zeal speed and are planning on making your runeword in something with a sensible base speed. If you want to make "Passion" in a legendary mallet or thunder maul, be my guest, but you can work out the math yourself since you're no doubt going to be using BoS.

====How to do the math yourself====

1. Use the tables below to figure out what EIAS you need to reach your desired breakpoint. 
2. Take that number, and '''''add''''' your weapon speed modifier as it appears on the Arreat Summit. For instance, if you are using a Legendary Mallet, add 20 to your number from step 1. If you are using a Phase blade, subtract 30 (okay, add -30 if you still want to call it addition). 
3. Take your number from step two, and '''''subtract''''' any IAS you are getting from Burst of Speed, Fanaticism, etc. For instance, if you are running level 7 BoS, (which gives a 41% attack speed bonus) subtract 41 from your total. If the result is zero or negative, you've already reached your breakpoint. 
4. If the result from step three is positive, look it up [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=67832&view=findpost&p=758482 here] in the EIAS to IAS conversion table. This will tell you how much IAS you need from equipment to reach your breakpoint. 
5. Since "Passion" comes with 25 IAS already, subtract 25 from your total from step 4 to see how much more you need.

'''Example:'''

I want to zeal with a Legendary Mallet, a one handed swinging weapon.

I need 75 EIAS to reach a 4-frame zeal attack. I take 75 and add 20 for the Legendary Mallet's base speed. (running total: 95)

I will be running level 11 BoS. I subtract 46 from my total. (running total: 49)

I look up 49 in the EIAS to IAS conversion table, and discover that I need 83 IAS to reach my goal. I subtract 25 from 83 and find that I need 58 more IAS from elsewhere in my gear even running BoS.

I decide to use a Phase Blade instead. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

====Zeal attack speed tables====

As I said, I'm not going to include every possible breakpoint. Zeal is a multi-hit attack and therefore needs to be reasonably fast, so I'm only going to include base weapon speeds that you're actually likely to want to use. I'm also only going to give you numbers that are useful. If you need 175% IAS on top of what you get from the runeword, you're not going to want to do it, so I'm not going to bother listing it.

All information here is taken from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=42841&view=findpost&p=452000 this post] in the "Amazon Zeal Attack Speed" thread in the tech archives, one of the most useful threads ever. If you really want to know how fast you would zeal with -20 EIAS or with one handed thrusting weapons (none of which can get four sockets so it's kind of irrelevant), look here.

These lists assume you are not running BoS and have no handly source of fanaticism, and tell you how much IAS you need '''''on top of the 25% you already get from the "Passion" runeword''''' in order to reach a given breakpoint for zeal "follow-up" speed (i.e. the rate at which the zeal attacks happen, not the starting/ending animations).

=====1-handed swinging weapons=====
Any one handed weapon that can get four sockets falls into this category, so unless you are making a two handed Knight, this is the information you want.

'''Base speed -30 (phase blade)'''
* 5 frame zeal out of the box
* 4 frame zeal with 47 additional IAS

'''Base speed -10 (war spike, scourge, caduceus, cryptic sword)'''
* 6 frame zeal out of the box
* 5 frame zeal with 17 additional IAS
* 4 frame zeal with 117 additional IAS (approaching the limits of feasability here)

'''Base speed 0 (berserker axe, conquest sword)'''
* 6 frame zeal out of the box
* 5 frame zeal with 38 additional IAS

'''Base speed 10 (small crescent, ettin axe)'''
* 7 frame zeal out of the box
* 6 frame zeal with 10 additional IAS
* 5 frame zeal with 64 additional IAS

=====2-handed swords=====

'''Base speed -10 (champion sword)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 12 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 55 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 77 additional IAS

'''Base speed -5 (highland blade)'''
* 9 frame zeal out of the box
* 8 frame zeal with 21 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 70 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 90 additional IAS

'''Base speed 0 (balrog blade)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 4 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 31 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 88 additional IAS
* 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 117 additional IAS

'''Base speed 5 (colossus blade)'''
* 10 frame zeal out of the box
* 9 frame zeal with 12 additional IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 43 additioanl IAS
* 7 frame zeal with 108 additioanl IAS

'''Base speed 10 (colossus sword)'''
* 11 frame zeal out of the box
* 10 frame zeal with 2 additioanl IAS
* 9 frame zeal with 21 additioanl IAS
* 8 frame zeal with 55 additioanl IAS

==Building a Shadow Knight==

Well, here's the quick and dirty version: take one assassin, add a "Passion" runeword melee weapon, and there you go.

If you want some tips on making an effective, zealot-optimized build, though, please read on.

===Stats===

Here's the easy part. Build her like you'd build most characters.

'''Strength:''' enough for gear. If you play softcore, be careful that you're not "strength tiering" so much that you can't equip your corpse properly. 
'''Dexterity:''' enough to maintain max block with your end game shield of choice. This will also help your AR. This assumes you are using a shield of course. If you decide to go two-handed, then only enough to equip your gear, and be prepared to work hard to raise your chance to hit in other ways. 
'''Vitality:''' everything else. 
'''Energy:''' huh?

===Skill choices===

Well, your main attack skill, Zeal, and one of your backup skills, Berserk, are both coming as an oskill on your weapon. This leaves a lot of points to devote to crowd control and utility skills. And that, of course, is a Good Thing, because an assassin has all sorts of fun and deadly tricks in her arsenal. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif

====Recommended must-haves====

From the Martial Arts Tree:

'''Dragon Flight''' - 1 point 
This is a utility skill all melee assassins should have. Its label of finishing move is kind of a misnomer, since you really use it to begin a series of attacks, not end one, but whatever (yeah I know it's because it releases charge-ups, it's still silly). Besides the fun and style points of telekicking into a mob, it can be a valuable safety tactic for closing the gap with ranged attackers, or for a quick escape option if you leave a few live critters behind you. It's also nice for mobility if you're in an area full of archers or quill rats and you want to walk to maintain your max block rate.

From the Traps Tree:

'''Blade Fury''' - 1 point 
This gives you what most other melee builds would kill for: a ranged attack for when you don't want to get up close and personal ''with no need for a weapon change.''

'''Death Sentry''' - 1-20 points 
Because blowing stuff up is fun and helps take down groups quickly. At least one point here is a must especially if you plan on playing with Nihlathak on anything like a regular basis. Add more points to increase the corpse explosion radius. If you really want, you can rely on a shadow master to cast it for you, but you've got the points to spend so cast it yourself to spam before and during an engagement with a mob.

From the Shadow Disciplines Tree:

'''Shadow Master/Warrior''' - to taste 
It's nice to have a friend to pack a bit of punch and distract nasty things that would otherwise be attacking you. I like the Master, but others enjoy the more controllable Warrior. I won't attempt to make any arguments either way, just pick your minion of choice and build her to a sufficient level that you're happy with her. I personally prefer a maxed, level 30+ master, but YMMV.

'''Fade''' - 1-20 points 
This keeps your resists up and gives you 1% of physical damage reduction per level for whatever level it is cast at. Even if you decide to skimp on points and use Treachery, at least 1 point plus adders is nice to get that initial Fade up before the chance to cast kicks in. Personally I recommend 5-15 hard points, to cast at a level of at least 15-20 after +skills, but if you really want to max your safety with the %damage reduction, max it. You have the points to spare with this build.

'''Cloak of Shadows''' - 1 or more points 
For shutting down enemy AI. The -defense properties are also nice. You probably won't need to use it in a party, and your kill speed should be fast enough unless soloing in a high player count game that you probably don't want to increase the duration too high lest you be constantly outpacing your CoS timer, but if you're one of those who likes a high level of CoS, don't let me try to dissuade you. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

'''Mind Blast''' - 1 or more points 
Crowd control, crowd control, crowd control. Need I say more? At least one point is a must unless you really really hate the monster conversion property, and pump it higher for a better stun duration.

====Optional but useful====

From the Traps Tree:

'''Blade Shield''' - 1 point or more (for duration) 
Sadly, it's not really good for much. But it sure looks cool, and it only costs 1 point if you've already got blade fury.

'''Fire Blast''' - any multiple of 3 hard points 
This is a prereq for Blade Fury and Death Sentry, and you won't actually be using it, but if you have points to burn, add a couple of extra to give Death sentry an extra shot per trap.

From the Shadow Disciplines Tree:

'''Burst of Speed''' - 1 point 
You already have a point here as a prerequisite to Fade, but I'm putting it on the list becaues it's nice to have hotkeyed for getting where you want to go quickly. More than one point is not recommended even if you want to keep it running for the IAS boost, since 1 plus adders should still be sufficient for that.

'''Venom''' - 1 point or max 
Its usefulness is debated, but unless you are worried about monster regen and don't have a handy source of Open Wounds, it doesn't hurt to at least throw a token point in for that extra bit of damage against non poison immunes. Max it if you like or leave it at one point plus adders or leave it alone altogether, there really isn't much point to anything in between.

Miscellaneous

'''One point plus adders in all skills''' 
For beefing up your shadow minion's skill levels and/or for Shadow Warrior control.

====Honorable mention prereq skills for early levels====

From the Traps Tree

'''Blade Sentinel''' - 1 point 
The frisbee is fun, reasonably effective at low levels, and a prerequisite to blade fury anyway, so it's worth a hotkey while you don't yet have all your skills using up all that valuable keyboard real estate.

'''Wake of Fire''' - 1 point 
You'll never use it once you get Death Sentry (or probably for the last few levels before you get it either), but it '''''owns''''' the first few acts. Wonderful for the act 3 jungles in Normal.

====Not very helpful====

'''Lightning Sentry (or any other traps but Death Sentry and the blade skills)''' 
You're a Shadow Knight, not a trapper. Get your prereq points and move on.

'''Any of the martial arts skills except for Dragon Flight''' 
Unless you're putting points here to beef up or control your shadow, these aren't very useful to this build. If you want, you can use your 1 point shadow minion buffers/remote control buttons to help with leveling until you are able to weild your Passion, but other than that, the MA skills aren't very helpful to or even compatible with a zealing or berserking assassin's play style.

'''Claw Mastery and Weapon Block''' 
Well it's pretty obvious, but since I want to be thorough here it is. You can't make the "Passion" runeword in a claw, so get your prereq points and move on. The only claws you'll be using are +skills claws for buffing your fade/venom/shadow.

'''Whichever shadow minion you don't use''' 
Pick one and go with it, don't waste points in the other. There is one situation where it is helpful to use the warrior even if your main minion is the master, but even there you don't need more than 1 plus adders to cast her.

===Equipment===

Ah, what build guide would be complete without the list of Phat Lewt with which to adorn your creation? (Well, maybe a "totally-n00d" guide, but it was meant to be a rhetorical question.) Before I get into the obligatory dropping of item names though, I'd like to cover some basic considerations.

====The 5 S's====

# '''Speed.''' Consider the base speed of your weapon, and how much IAS you will need from your gear to reach the speed you want.
# '''Skills.''' In order to get a five-strike zeal attack, you need at least slvl 4 zeal, which means getting at least +3 all skills (not +assassin skills, not +paladin skills) from your items. Theoretically you could make your "Passion" runeword in an item with a +zeal staffmod, but good luck getting ''that'' to happen. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif
# '''Safety.''' As useful as the assassin's skills are at managing the battlefield, this is still a melee class, and so glass cannon couture is not "the in thing" on a build like this, even in softcore. Resists, blocking, fast hit recovery, life, damage reduction, leech, elemental absorb if you have it, all are important things to have.
# '''Strike.''' A bit of a silly word for it, but I needed something that started with "S" to go with the theme. What I mean is having damage to deliver (of various kinds), and being able to deliver it (i.e. chance to hit). If you've played a character before that didn't have much in the way of skill-based AR boosts, you know that it will take some work to be able to hit things in hell.
# '''Style.''' Different people place different emphasis on this. If you're one of those people willing to be seen pairing a dusk shroud with Guillaume's Toaster Face on an assassin, then this probably isn't much of a priority. To many of us though, it is a very important consideration.

====1-handed vs. 2-handed and other base weapon considerations====

To be added

====To trech or not to trech====

"Treachery" or "trech" as it is sometimes called, is a lovely little runeword introduced in 1.11 that costs a relatively modest shael-thul-lem. It gives +2 assassin skills as well as some other tasty mods, most notably 45 IAS and chance to cast level 15 Fade when struck.

Could a Shadow Knight use it? Sure. The IAS boost is great for zeal, and the chance to cast fade and venom would free up skill points for other things. But it's not necessarily the best choice for this build. It's godly for a non-assassin melee or ranger build, and awesome for a skill-point-starved assassin build like an MA sin or a trapper, but my view is that the Shadow Knight has the skills to spare that she might as well put in the points and use an armor that has more helpful melee mods like crushing blow, open wounds, stat boosts, etc.

My opinion only of course, though -- your proverbial mileage may vary. Feel free to try Treachery with your Shadow Knight, but be conscious of how choosing it will affect your skill point distribution, which is why I made a special note of it here (no reason to invest more than one point in Fade, for instance).

====The Itamz List (some recommended options)====

===Your faithful retainer: merc choices===

===A sample build: Knight_Shadow===

====What I might change, given the option====

==Raising a Shadow Knight==

===Cleglaw is your friend: some notes on twink gear===

===Tactics for Normal and early Nightmare===

==Playing strategies: the art of Knighthood==

===The Shadow Knight as a party person: enjoying and contributing to a group outing===

===Handling anything the game can throw at you: the Shadow Knight soloing in Hell===

====Stair traps====

No well-prepared assassin should need to fear visiting the Countess tower, Ruined Temple, or any other "high risk of ambush" location. The secret to surviving stair traps is to stun everything before your screen even loads. How do you do this? Easy!

Remember how earlier I said there was a situation where the shadow warrior was useful even for those who normally use the master? This is that situation. If you put mind blast on your right mouse button and take a shadow warrior down the stairs with you, she will immediately spam it at anything lying in wait, before you can even see what's there. Cloak of shadows also works nicely for this. The warrior doesn't need to be a high level as she only needs to survive long enough for you to get your bearings -- once any potential ambush hazards are taken care of, you can switch back to the master.

This trick, incidentally, makes an assassin the ideal party member to be the first to enter a potentially trapped area.

It's also a trick that I can take no credit for whatsoever. I learned it from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=61343 this thread] in the assassin room, which is highly recommended reading no matter what kind of assassin you are playing.

====Ranged Attackers====

In most areas, cloak of shadows will be all that's necessary to shut down the AI of ranged critters. In large open regions with high densities of spread-out monsters, though, like the siege areas of act V when they are crawling with quill rats and burning dead archers, this may not be sufficient as you will no doubt constantly be waking up more attackers at the edges of your cloak radius.

To deal with this, turn off run. When you are walking, you have full blocking. If you don't have a shield... well you might want to consider using one here if you have enough dex to give you even a halfway decent chance to block. Use dragon flight frequently to close the gap with those annoying ranged mobs. And do use CoS when you are able. A shadow warrior (rather than master) will help keep it cast if you put CoS on the right mouse button.

====Dolls and FE's====

Some creatures are just meant to be handled from a safe distance -- nasty explosive death-pops are not the bane of melee fighters for nothing. Happily, the Shadow Knight has no need to melee if she does not wish to. Cloak and mind blast to stop those scary little ankle biters from rushing, and pick them off at your leisure with blade fury, smug in the knowledge that most other zealots would give an arm and a leg for a ranged attack that only costs a hotkey and four skill points (including prereqs) instead of a weapon switch.http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

====Gloams====

====Iron Maiden====

====For softcore players only: the challenge of the solo corpse retrieval mission====

==Parting notes==

==Credits==

Heather Fleming, July 2006. Some information taken from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=44358 this thread] in the Assassin Forum, May-July 2004.

Heather's Guide to the Shadow Knight

2006-07-19T13:28:55Z

Heather: /* Handling anything the game can throw at you: the Shadow Knight soloing in Hell */

__TOC__

==Introduction: What is a Shadow Knight and why should I make one?==

Hi, my name is Heather, and I am an Assassin addict. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/shuriken.gif

Back in the summer of 2004, after playing around with a Passion phase blade and taking a look at the non-paladin zeal breakpoint tables, I developed a build that I dubbed the "Shadow Knight" -- an assassin, largely focused in the Shadow Discipline skills, who uses the Zeal oskill granted by the "Passion" runeword as her main attack. I expected it to be a relatively underpowered variant, and decided to solo Hell as a challenge to see how viable the build actually was.

As it turned out, Knight_Shadow's success blew me away. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

I've now decided to condense my experiences with my favourite character of all time into a build guide.

There are many reasons to want to try a Shadow Knight.

* '''She can go anywhere and kill anything.''' Soloing hell up to the Chaos Sanctuary was easy going, and even after that point it was quite manageable.
* '''She can go anywhere and kill anything ''more safely than just about any other melee build.''''' With the sheer number of tools at her disposal, there is no situation that a well built Shadow Knight cannot handle, with the possible exception of the dreaded Lag Monster.
* And most importantly, '''she is, hands down, one of THE most fun characters to play, ever.''' http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif (Don't believe me? Try one and see.)
* Oh, and '''she gets mad style points.''' http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif

==Much ado about breakpoints and base weapon speed (or, let's get the technical mumbo-jumbo out of the way)==

The tables look a bit ugly, but the information is useful.

===General assassin breakpoints for easy reference===

{| border="1"
|+ Assassin Hit Recovery Breakpoints
! FHR !! Hit Recovery Speed in frames
|-
| 0 || 9
|-
| 7 || 8
|-
| 15 || 7
|-
| 27 || 6
|-
| 48 || 5
|-
| 86 || 4
|-
| 200 || 3
|}

{| border="1"
|+ Assassin Blocking Breakpoints
! FBR !! Block Speed in frames
|-
| 0 || 5
|-
| 14 || 4
|-
| 32 || 3
|-
| 86 || 2
|-
| 600 || 1
|}

(The information for both of these is pretty widely available, but I happened to take it from [http://strategy.diabloii.net/news.php?id=551 diabloii.net's tables].)

===Zeal speed===

I am not going to list every possible breakpoint for every possible base weapon here, because I am going to assume that you are sensible and want a sensible zeal speed and are planning on making your runeword in something with a sensible base speed. If you want to make "Passion" in a legendary mallet or thunder maul, be my guest, but you can work out the math yourself since you're no doubt going to be using BoS.

====How to do the math yourself====

1. Use the tables below to figure out what EIAS you need to reach your desired breakpoint. 
2. Take that number, and '''''add''''' your weapon speed modifier as it appears on the Arreat Summit. For instance, if you are using a Legendary Mallet, add 20 to your number from step 1. If you are using a Phase blade, subtract 30 (okay, add -30 if you still want to call it addition). 
3. Take your number from step two, and '''''subtract''''' any IAS you are getting from Burst of Speed, Fanaticism, etc. For instance, if you are running level 7 BoS, (which gives a 41% attack speed bonus) subtract 41 from your total. If the result is zero or negative, you've already reached your breakpoint. 
4. If the result from step three is positive, look it up [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=67832&view=findpost&p=758482 here] in the EIAS to IAS conversion table. This will tell you how much IAS you need from equipment to reach your breakpoint. 
5. Since "Passion" comes with 25 IAS already, subtract 25 from your total from step 4 to see how much more you need.

'''Example:'''

I want to zeal with a Legendary Mallet, a one handed swinging weapon.

I need 75 EIAS to reach a 4-frame zeal attack. I take 75 and add 20 for the Legendary Mallet's base speed. (running total: 95)

I will be running level 11 BoS. I subtract 46 from my total. (running total: 49)

I look up 49 in the EIAS to IAS conversion table, and discover that I need 83 IAS to reach my goal. I subtract 25 from 83 and find that I need 58 more IAS from elsewhere in my gear even running BoS.

I decide to use a Phase Blade instead. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

====Zeal attack speed tables====

To be added

==Building a Shadow Knight==

Well, here's the quick and dirty version: take one assassin, add a "Passion" runeword melee weapon, and there you go.

If you want some tips on making an effective, zealot-optimized build, though, please read on.

===Stats===

Here's the easy part. Build her like you'd build most characters.

'''Strength:''' enough for gear. If you play softcore, be careful that you're not "strength tiering" so much that you can't equip your corpse properly. 
'''Dexterity:''' enough to maintain max block with your end game shield of choice. This will also help your AR. This assumes you are using a shield of course. If you decide to go two-handed, then only enough to equip your gear, and be prepared to work hard to raise your chance to hit in other ways. 
'''Vitality:''' everything else. 
'''Energy:''' huh?

===Skill choices===

Well, your main attack skill, Zeal, and one of your backup skills, Berserk, are both coming as an oskill on your weapon. This leaves a lot of points to devote to crowd control and utility skills. And that, of course, is a Good Thing, because an assassin has all sorts of fun and deadly tricks in her arsenal. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif

====Recommended must-haves====

From the Martial Arts Tree:

'''Dragon Flight''' - 1 point 
This is a utility skill all melee assassins should have. Its label of finishing move is kind of a misnomer, since you really use it to begin a series of attacks, not end one, but whatever (yeah I know it's because it releases charge-ups, it's still silly). Besides the fun and style points of telekicking into a mob, it can be a valuable safety tactic for closing the gap with ranged attackers, or for a quick escape option if you leave a few live critters behind you. It's also nice for mobility if you're in an area full of archers or quill rats and you want to walk to maintain your max block rate.

From the Traps Tree:

'''Blade Fury''' - 1 point 
This gives you what most other melee builds would kill for: a ranged attack for when you don't want to get up close and personal ''with no need for a weapon change.''

'''Death Sentry''' - 1-20 points 
Because blowing stuff up is fun and helps take down groups quickly. At least one point here is a must especially if you plan on playing with Nihlathak on anything like a regular basis. Add more points to increase the corpse explosion radius. If you really want, you can rely on a shadow master to cast it for you, but you've got the points to spend so cast it yourself to spam before and during an engagement with a mob.

From the Shadow Disciplines Tree:

'''Shadow Master/Warrior''' - to taste 
It's nice to have a friend to pack a bit of punch and distract nasty things that would otherwise be attacking you. I like the Master, but others enjoy the more controllable Warrior. I won't attempt to make any arguments either way, just pick your minion of choice and build her to a sufficient level that you're happy with her. I personally prefer a maxed, level 30+ master, but YMMV.

'''Fade''' - 1-20 points 
This keeps your resists up and gives you 1% of physical damage reduction per level for whatever level it is cast at. Even if you decide to skimp on points and use Treachery, at least 1 point plus adders is nice to get that initial Fade up before the chance to cast kicks in. Personally I recommend 5-15 hard points, to cast at a level of at least 15-20 after +skills, but if you really want to max your safety with the %damage reduction, max it. You have the points to spare with this build.

'''Cloak of Shadows''' - 1 or more points 
For shutting down enemy AI. The -defense properties are also nice. You probably won't need to use it in a party, and your kill speed should be fast enough unless soloing in a high player count game that you probably don't want to increase the duration too high lest you be constantly outpacing your CoS timer, but if you're one of those who likes a high level of CoS, don't let me try to dissuade you. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

'''Mind Blast''' - 1 or more points 
Crowd control, crowd control, crowd control. Need I say more? At least one point is a must unless you really really hate the monster conversion property, and pump it higher for a better stun duration.

====Optional but useful====

From the Traps Tree:

'''Blade Shield''' - 1 point or more (for duration) 
Sadly, it's not really good for much. But it sure looks cool, and it only costs 1 point if you've already got blade fury.

'''Fire Blast''' - any multiple of 3 hard points 
This is a prereq for Blade Fury and Death Sentry, and you won't actually be using it, but if you have points to burn, add a couple of extra to give Death sentry an extra shot per trap.

From the Shadow Disciplines Tree:

'''Burst of Speed''' - 1 point 
You already have a point here as a prerequisite to Fade, but I'm putting it on the list becaues it's nice to have hotkeyed for getting where you want to go quickly. More than one point is not recommended even if you want to keep it running for the IAS boost, since 1 plus adders should still be sufficient for that.

'''Venom''' - 1 point or max 
Its usefulness is debated, but unless you are worried about monster regen and don't have a handy source of Open Wounds, it doesn't hurt to at least throw a token point in for that extra bit of damage against non poison immunes. Max it if you like or leave it at one point plus adders or leave it alone altogether, there really isn't much point to anything in between.

Miscellaneous

'''One point plus adders in all skills''' 
For beefing up your shadow minion's skill levels and/or for Shadow Warrior control.

====Honorable mention prereq skills for early levels====

From the Traps Tree

'''Blade Sentinel''' - 1 point 
The frisbee is fun, reasonably effective at low levels, and a prerequisite to blade fury anyway, so it's worth a hotkey while you don't yet have all your skills using up all that valuable keyboard real estate.

'''Wake of Fire''' - 1 point 
You'll never use it once you get Death Sentry (or probably for the last few levels before you get it either), but it '''''owns''''' the first few acts. Wonderful for the act 3 jungles in Normal.

====Not very helpful====

'''Lightning Sentry (or any other traps but Death Sentry and the blade skills)''' 
You're a Shadow Knight, not a trapper. Get your prereq points and move on.

'''Any of the martial arts skills except for Dragon Flight''' 
Unless you're putting points here to beef up or control your shadow, these aren't very useful to this build. If you want, you can use your 1 point shadow minion buffers/remote control buttons to help with leveling until you are able to weild your Passion, but other than that, the MA skills aren't very helpful to or even compatible with a zealing or berserking assassin's play style.

'''Claw Mastery and Weapon Block''' 
Well it's pretty obvious, but since I want to be thorough here it is. You can't make the "Passion" runeword in a claw, so get your prereq points and move on. The only claws you'll be using are +skills claws for buffing your fade/venom/shadow.

'''Whichever shadow minion you don't use''' 
Pick one and go with it, don't waste points in the other. There is one situation where it is helpful to use the warrior even if your main minion is the master, but even there you don't need more than 1 plus adders to cast her.

===Equipment===

Ah, what build guide would be complete without the list of Phat Lewt with which to adorn your creation? (Well, maybe a "totally-n00d" guide, but it was meant to be a rhetorical question.) Before I get into the obligatory dropping of item names though, I'd like to cover some basic considerations.

====The 5 S's====

# '''Speed.''' Consider the base speed of your weapon, and how much IAS you will need from your gear to reach the speed you want.
# '''Skills.''' In order to get a five-strike zeal attack, you need at least slvl 4 zeal, which means getting at least +3 all skills (not +assassin skills, not +paladin skills) from your items. Theoretically you could make your "Passion" runeword in an item with a +zeal staffmod, but good luck getting ''that'' to happen. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif
# '''Safety.''' As useful as the assassin's skills are at managing the battlefield, this is still a melee class, and so glass cannon couture is not "the in thing" on a build like this, even in softcore. Resists, blocking, fast hit recovery, life, damage reduction, leech, elemental absorb if you have it, all are important things to have.
# '''Strike.''' A bit of a silly word for it, but I needed something that started with "S" to go with the theme. What I mean is having damage to deliver (of various kinds), and being able to deliver it (i.e. chance to hit). If you've played a character before that didn't have much in the way of skill-based AR boosts, you know that it will take some work to be able to hit things in hell.
# '''Style.''' Different people place different emphasis on this. If you're one of those people willing to be seen pairing a dusk shroud with Guillaume's Toaster Face on an assassin, then this probably isn't much of a priority. To many of us though, it is a very important consideration.

====1-handed vs. 2-handed and other base weapon considerations====

To be added

====To trech or not to trech====

"Treachery" or "trech" as it is sometimes called, is a lovely little runeword introduced in 1.11 that costs a relatively modest shael-thul-lem. It gives +2 assassin skills as well as some other tasty mods, most notably 45 IAS and chance to cast level 15 Fade when struck.

Could a Shadow Knight use it? Sure. The IAS boost is great for zeal, and the chance to cast fade and venom would free up skill points for other things. But it's not necessarily the best choice for this build. It's godly for a non-assassin melee or ranger build, and awesome for a skill-point-starved assassin build like an MA sin or a trapper, but my view is that the Shadow Knight has the skills to spare that she might as well put in the points and use an armor that has more helpful melee mods like crushing blow, open wounds, stat boosts, etc.

My opinion only of course, though -- your proverbial mileage may vary. Feel free to try Treachery with your Shadow Knight, but be conscious of how choosing it will affect your skill point distribution, which is why I made a special note of it here (no reason to invest more than one point in Fade, for instance).

====The Itamz List (some recommended options)====

===Your faithful retainer: merc choices===

===A sample build: Knight_Shadow===

====What I might change, given the option====

==Raising a Shadow Knight==

===Cleglaw is your friend: some notes on twink gear===

===Tactics for Normal and early Nightmare===

==Playing strategies: the art of Knighthood==

===The Shadow Knight as a party person: enjoying and contributing to a group outing===

===Handling anything the game can throw at you: the Shadow Knight soloing in Hell===

====Stair traps====

No well-prepared assassin should need to fear visiting the Countess tower, Ruined Temple, or any other "high risk of ambush" location. The secret to surviving stair traps is to stun everything before your screen even loads. How do you do this? Easy!

Remember how earlier I said there was a situation where the shadow warrior was useful even for those who normally use the master? This is that situation. If you put mind blast on your right mouse button and take a shadow warrior down the stairs with you, she will immediately spam it at anything lying in wait, before you can even see what's there. Cloak of shadows also works nicely for this. The warrior doesn't need to be a high level as she only needs to survive long enough for you to get your bearings -- once any potential ambush hazards are taken care of, you can switch back to the master.

This trick, incidentally, makes an assassin the ideal party member to be the first to enter a potentially trapped area.

It's also a trick that I can take no credit for whatsoever. I learned it from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=61343 this thread] in the assassin room, which is highly recommended reading no matter what kind of assassin you are playing.

====Ranged Attackers====

In most areas, cloak of shadows will be all that's necessary to shut down the AI of ranged critters. In large open regions with high densities of spread-out monsters, though, like the siege areas of act V when they are crawling with quill rats and burning dead archers, this may not be sufficient as you will no doubt constantly be waking up more attackers at the edges of your cloak radius.

To deal with this, turn off run. When you are walking, you have full blocking. If you don't have a shield... well you might want to consider using one here if you have enough dex to give you even a halfway decent chance to block. Use dragon flight frequently to close the gap with those annoying ranged mobs. And do use CoS when you are able. A shadow warrior (rather than master) will help keep it cast if you put CoS on the right mouse button.

====Dolls and FE's====

Some creatures are just meant to be handled from a safe distance -- nasty explosive death-pops are not the bane of melee fighters for nothing. Happily, the Shadow Knight has no need to melee if she does not wish to. Cloak and mind blast to stop those scary little ankle biters from rushing, and pick them off at your leisure with blade fury, smug in the knowledge that most other zealots would give an arm and a leg for a ranged attack that only costs a hotkey and four skill points (including prereqs) instead of a weapon switch.http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

====Gloams====

====Iron Maiden====

====For softcore players only: the challenge of the solo corpse retrieval mission====

==Parting notes==

==Credits==

Heather Fleming, July 2006. Some information taken from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=44358 this thread] in the Assassin Forum, May-July 2004.

Heather's Guide to the Shadow Knight

2006-07-18T12:40:04Z

Heather: added some more content

Heather's Guide to the Shadow Knight

2006-07-18T00:03:28Z

Heather: added some more content

Heather's Guide to the Shadow Knight

2006-07-17T23:03:21Z

Heather: added some more content

Heather's Guide to the Shadow Knight

2006-07-17T22:21:12Z

Heather: framework and some content added to begin

Conviction Cleric Guide

2006-07-16T12:28:21Z

Heather: completed reprinting

==What is a Conviction Cleric?==

As you may have guessed, this build is a Paladin focusing in HolyBolt and Prayer,
running Conviction as his main Aura. This is a Ladder, Player vs Monster (PvM) build.
I know nothing about Player vs Player.

===Why Make one?===

The goal of this build is to make a party friendly medic, capable of effectively healing his team, and also capable of soloing all of the game, including Hell difficulty.

===Advantages===

'''Heal your allies!''' - This is what makes Medics so unique. With powerful Holy Bolts, and (when not running conviction), the cleansing aura (which heals due to a synergy with prayer) the Cleric will be able to heal his team (including the mercs)! His mercenary will also be healing with a prayer aura, and a meditation aura from his weapon, meaning a possible 3 healing auras at once (and yes, the healing effect stacks)

'''Damage boost for the whole party!''' - Paladins are one of the best party members, as many of their auras benefit their allies as well as the paladin. Conviction lowers enemy defence up to 90%+, lowers enemy resistance to fire, cold and lightning by up to -150%, and can break the elemental immunities of many monsters. The elemental attackers in the team will get a huge damage boost, and the melee attackers will rarely miss their targets.

'''Monsters conviction won't effect the Cleric!''' - When he is running conviction, any enemy with a conviction aura will not have any effect on him if his conviction level is higher than theirs. This build is designed to run with a Lvl25 conviction, so even Uber Meph in the Hellfire torch quest wont beat the Clerics conviction. Sadly, this only protects the Cleric, not any of his allies.

'''Slaughter undead!''' - Holy Bolts may heal allies, but they damage enemy undead, regardless of immunities. My Cleric does around 5600 average damage per Holy Bolt. This is very effective even in Hell.

'''Solo any part of the game!''' - With several different effective attack options, the Cleric will not meet a monster he cannot kill solo, and can still be effective when cursed by Iron Maiden.

===Disadvantages===

'''The Cleric is not the fastest solo killer possible.''' - The is a party focused build, and is not going to compete with the most powerful characters (like Hammerdins, LF zons, Orb/Fireball sorcs, Trapsins etc) for overall kill speed.

'''HolyBolt does not damage non-undead monsters.''' - One of the main skills he has does nothing at all to demons and animals.

'''He wont have much Magic Find.''' - It requires some particular (although not very expensive) items to enable this build to solo everywhere in the game. There are not many item options for a high Magic Find total.

'''Your Cleric can sometimes make the team nervous.''' - Many players get nervous when they see the conviction aura graphics, especially around gloams. It's not always clear if a monster has a conviction graphic because of the Cleric, or because it's an Aura Enchanted Boss.

'''Clerics cannot heal Necromancers Skeletons with Holy Bolts.''' - Worse still, although his Holy Bolts will not damage them, they will not pass through them either, so they will block the bolts, and get no benefit from them. It is quite tricky playing a medic in a team with a Skelemancer.

==Skill Layout==

The main skills for this build are:

* '''Max Holy Bolt''' - The main skill of every medic. This gives effective healing, and an amazing undead killer.
* '''Max Prayer''' - Boosts the healing power of Holy Bolt, and gives another healing option with...
* '''Cleansing''' - Allows a healing effect aura without mana cost, and useful in some situations for reducing poison and curse duration.
* '''High level Conviction''' - Holy bolt doesn't gain benefit from any Aura, so I chose conviction as the most party friendly aura, and it also boost the damage of...
* '''Max Fist of the Heavens (FoH)''' - (FoH) Additional Damage type (Lightning) and Synergy to Holy Bolt damage. Holy Bolt also boosts the damage of the bolts released by FoH.
* '''Holy Shock''' - Synergy to FoH. This is where any remaining skill points can go, depending on what level you reach.
* '''Holy Shield''' - Boost to block and defense. Get hit less, block more. What's not to like about that?

Adding those up...

'''20 Holy Bolt''' 
'''1 Holy Sheild (+3 Prereqs)''' 
'''20 FoH (+4 Prereqs)'''

'''16 Conviction (+5 Prereqs)''' 
'''0 Holy Shock'''

'''20 Prayer''' 
'''1 Cleansing'''

TOTAL = 78 +12 prereqs = '''90 Skill points'''
That is achievable at level 79 with all quests, or level 81 by early Hell act2

The "lower enemy resists" part of Conviction maxes out at Slvl25. Depending on your equipment, you may need to put more, or fewer points in here. Just try and make sure it reaches Slvl25, even on switch...

Any further skill points can be put into Holy Shock. It can even reach max at Level99. However, I do not expect to get my cleric much past 90, which would be level 11 Holyshock. This gives a 77% boost to FoH damage (which is also boosted by Conviction) so does make a significant improvement.

===Variations===

* '''Meditation'''. You can sacrifice some Holyshock synergy to get 1 point in meditation. However, the merc should provide meditation with Insight weapon and they don't stack.
* '''Redemption.''' It will take three skill points due to prereqs, but is a useful skill, especially for removing revivable corpses.
* '''Max HolyShock.''' You could focus on holy shock to make a More powerful FoH, or even use in melee/ranged attacks. You would have to sacrifice some healing power, and for melee, unsynergised Holy Shock isn't that powerful, and does not help allies. You also cannot run Holy Shock and conviction at the same time. This version would be more like a Templar build, and not really a party focused Conviction Cleric.

==Stats==

* '''Strength.''' Enough to wear your chosen equipment (discussed later). The Cleric wont be doing a lot of physical damage, so heavy investment in strength is not going to give much benefit.
* '''Dexterity.''' Enough for your equipment, and to get 75% block with holy shield. For my recommended equipment, the Cleric will need a total of 136 dex after equip -This is enough to give 75% block at level ~90 with my equipment.
* '''Vitality.''' Everything else. The Cleric should end up with a reasonable total here.
* '''Energy.''' Base. Although FoH eats mana, with an Insight merc, My Cleric rarely has mana problems, and a column of blue potions in his belt is a better solution than trying to raise energy.

==Equipment==

Here is a list of endgame equipment options I suggest you try for. 
Equipment suggestions for lower levels are mentioned in the Tactics/Leveling Section later. 
+Skills are very good for this build, so most of the equip choices revolve around that. 
Fast Cast Rate (FCR) is good, but as FoH is on a timer, FCR is only significant for Holy Bolt. 
I aim for the 48FCR breakpoint, although 75FCR is of course better if you can reach it easily...

Key to Colours: 
'''Best Bet''' - The best one you are likely to see... 
'''Alternatives''' - Still good, but sometimes expensive or very hard to find. 
'''Budget''' - Best value and easier to get options.

'''Weapon'''

* '''Hand Of Blessed Light Unique Divine Scepter.''' With +2 Paladin skills, total +4 FoH and +6 Holy bolt, its a Medic/Templar dream.
* '''"Heart of the Oak" Runeword.''' +3 all skills, 40FCR, good resists.
* '''The Redeemer Unique Mighty Scepter.''' +2 all skills, extra +2-4 Holybolt and Redemption. A very good choice.
* '''"Call to Arms" Runeword in a +3 Conviction +3 FoH 5 socket Scepter.''' Good luck finding this one, and I don't think it's worth the runes...
* '''"Spirit" Runeword Sword.''' +2 all skills, more Mana, FCR, More Vitality. Amazing for the price.

'''Shield'''

* '''"Spirit" Runeword in a 40-45 all res 4 socket Sacred Targe or Sacred Rondache.''' Gives a bucket full of resists, +2 skills, 25-35 FCR etc. Try and get one with 28 or more FCR.
* '''Herald of Zakarum unique guilded shield.''' HoZ gives more skills for Holy Bolt and FoH, and the same +2 as "Spirit" for the other skills. It lacks FCR compared to spirit, but is a very good choice.
* '''Spirit" Runeword.''' Yes, this is the best, & the budget choice. Make it in the highest resist 4 socket paladin shield you can find.

'''Helm'''

* '''Rare +2 Paladin skills circlet.''' Hope for fast cast, resist all or other useful mods.
* '''Any +skills helm with other good mods.''' Harlequin Crest Uniq Shako might be nice, if you can stand the looks...
* '''"Lore" Runeword helm.''' Very nice mods for an Ort and a Sol.

'''Armour'''

* '''Guardian Angel Unique Templar Coat.''' +1 Paladin skills, extra block, higher max resists etc. Amazing armour.
* '''Skin of the Vipermagi Unique armour.''' +1 skills, FCR, up to 35 all resists, MDR
* '''Arkaines Valor Unique Balrog Skin.''' High strength req, but very good.
* '''"Chains of Honor" Runeword armour.''' If you can afford it, hard to beat.
* '''"Enigma" Runeword armour.''' I know, not realistic, but it would be good...
* '''"Principle" Runeword armour.''' +2 skills and CTC Holy Bolt. Needs a Gul rune though...
* '''Spirit Shroud Unique Ghost Armour.''' +1 skills and other nice mods.
* '''"Stealth" Runeword.''' No skills, but good fastcast and mana regen.

'''Gloves'''

* '''Magefist Unique Light Gauntlets.''' Mana regen and FCR.
* '''Trangs Set Gloves.''' Same FCR as Magefist, and 40% cold resist
* '''Frostburn Unique Gauntlets.''' Huge Mana boost.
* '''Rare gloves with resists and any other useful mods.'''

'''Belt'''

* '''Arachnid Mesh Unique Spiderweb Sash.''' +1 skills and 20%FCR.
* '''Thunder Gods Vigour Unique War Belt.''' Combined with Guardian Angel, the Cleric can end up practically immune to lightning. Stat boosts are nice. CTC Fist of the Heavens is fun too.
* '''Verdungo's Hearty Cord/String of Ears Unique Belts.''' Both are good for helping the Cleric survive.
* '''Crendendum/IK's Detail Set Belts.''' Good for resists and stat boosts.
* '''Nightsmoke Uniq Belt.''' Mana boost, resists, and 50% Damage taken Goes to Mana.

'''Boots'''

* '''Silkweave Unique Mesh Boots.''' Good all round caster boots.
* '''Natalyas/Aldurs Set Boots.''' For Fast run, and resists.
* '''InfernoStride Unique Demonhide Boots.''' Good for fire resists and extra gold.
* '''Waterwalk Unique Sharkskin Boots.''' Stat and life boosts and higher maximum fire resist. Combined with Guardian Angel you can get 95% fire res with these or Infernostrides.
* '''Tearhaunch Unique Greaves.''' Stat boosts, resists, and Vigor (which the Cleric wont have from skill points...)

'''Rings'''

* '''Rare rings with resists and FCR.''' Any other good mods you can get!
* '''Stone of Jordan Unique Ring.''' +1 Skill and extra mana.
* '''Dwarfstar Unique Ring.''' Fire absorb, life boost, MDR, and extra gold. A great ring
* '''Bul Kathos Unique Ring.''' +1 Skills.
* '''Ravenfrost Unique Ring.''' Cannot be Frozen, extra mana, cold absorb. Always a good choice.
* '''Manald Heal Unique Ring.''' Mana regen, Life regen, and life.

'''Amulet'''

* '''Rare +2 paladin skills amulet.''' Hope for FCR, resists or other good mods.
* '''Maras Kaleidoscope Unique Amulet.''' +2 All Skills, and good resists.
* '''Seraphs Hymn Unique Amulet.''' +2 All skills, and an extra 1-2 to defensive auras (Prayer, Cleansing)
* '''+3 Combat Skills magic (blue) amulet.''' If conviction is already at Slvl25 from skills and equipment, then this is a good choice.
* '''Any +Skills amulet you can get.'''

'''Charms'''

* '''Paladin Hellfire Torch/Annihilus Unique charms.''' Use 'em if you got 'em!
* '''Skill, life, mana, or resist charms.''' Use the best you can get, or as required to reach max resistances, and Slvl25 Conviction.

==Playstyle==

A Cleric is a team player, and this build is all about helping the team. However, He doesn't start as a fully functional Cleric, so we have to get there somehow. Also, we are supposed to be able to solo Hell, so how does that work with a Cleric? Well, here is how I did it...

===Leveling===

At the start, like many builds, the Cleric will be mostly melee. His Medic/Templar duties will not be the main focus until he reaches level 30. Any good melee equipment you can find or give your paladin would be great, and we have a lot of prerequisite skills we can use along the way. After level 30, tactics will change, as the Templar/medic role takes over, then in Hell, you will need to use what you have learnt on the way, and a few new tricks...

===Normal Difficulty - The Mighty Zealot!===

'''Levels 1-5''' - First get 350 gold and shop Akara for a 2 socket scepter with no skills. Best damage for level1 no twink. Put the first chipped sapphire and ruby/topaz/emerald you find in it for some extra damage and chill. As soon as he gets his first skill point, put it in Might - it is required to get to Conviction anyway. Put a point in Prayer as soon as you like as well, although when active, it will drain mana. Put stat points in strength as you need to to allow you to use your equipment. Due to his end game gear, my Paladin only needs 65 base strength, so be careful not to over do it. 75 total Strength should be enough to let him wear gear good enough for normal difficulty, like Sigons Shield. After that, balance points in vit for health, and dex. Dex is good for AR at this point, as well as helping with block.

'''Levels 6-11''' - At level 6 put a point in Holy Bolt. Feel free to use it when you can to heal or destroy undead, but you will find that the Cleric will run out of mana fast at the moment, so be prepared to drink a lot of blue, or stick with melee most of the time. At level 6 you can try 1 point in holy fire. I found it adds more damage than might. Because might is shared with your party and Holy Fire isn't, it would be better to stay with might in a team.

'''Levels 12-17''' - At level 12 put 1 point in Zeal, and 1 point in Cleansing. Cleansing will heal the party without draining mana, so switch between Cleansing and Might/Holyfire as required. My favourite twink at level 12:
* Angelic armour, 2 rings, amulet
* Deaths Gloves and Belt
* Sigons Helm, Boots and Shield
* Whichever 1 hand weapon you like.

Keep changing weapon to the best avaibible, and consider using a mana leech ring or amulet (Manald Heal unique ring at Level15 if you have one)

Somewhere near here your Cleric will probably reach act2, so hire a Prayer (Combat) Merc as soon as you can. Try and choose a name you like, as your Cleric is probably going to spend a lot of time with this chap... Give him the merc best stuff you can spare, especially a source of life leech if possible, as it will help him survive.

'''Levels 18-29''' - At level 18 try a point in Holy Freeze, which is quite good for a few levels, and maybe try Vengance, although it will drain mana quite fast, and I found Zeal more effective.

At level 24 put 1 point in HolyShield, and its prereqs. If your Cleric had a decent block chance before, it should now be very good with the boost from Holy Shield. I would only put more points in dex if block chance is less than 70% after Holy Shield.

You could put a point in Holyshock, but it will make it impossible to complete the skill plan about until at least level80, so I wouldnt bother with it yet. Try and find/shop a Scepter with +1 HolyShock on it if you want to try it out.

This is the hard part - and the best leveling advice I can think of is find some friends to team with. Try and get prayer up a few points (~5), and Holybolt to 10 or so, then your Cleric can start behaving like a medic when in a team.

I am assuming you will complete the Izuzal quest in act4 before the Cleric reaches Clvl30, which will give a total of 32 skill points at level 29. I would spend them like this...

'''7 Prayer (5 if you havent done Izuzal yet) 
'''1 Cleansing

'''10 Holy Bolt 
'''1 Zeal (+1 Prereq) 
'''1 Holy Shield (+3 Prereqs)

'''1 Might 
'''1 Holy Fire 
'''1 Holy Freeze

27 spent,so 5 skills left 
4 will go into prereqs so that at...

'''Level 30

...You can put 1 point in Conviction, and 1 Point in Fist of the Heavens!!

'''Welcome to the fun bit!!''' - This is the point I switched to Templar. Hopefully the merc is level27 or more and can now use an "Insight" polearm (if you have one in a normal polearm, or an eth Bill so he meets the strength requirements...)
This will boost healing, and solve almost all mana problems for anyone anywhere near your merc. Try to give him a helm or armour with life leech, (Sigons Armour and Helm give 10%) as "Insight" has none. Your Cleric should now be able to use some good Templar equipment - Spirit Sword and Shield, Skin of the Vipermagi Armour, Lore Helm, Nightsmoke belt. That should give him at least +6 all skills. He will now be able to 1 or 2 hit kill most monsters with FoH. Keep working on FoH, all the way up to lvl42, when he should be ready for..

===Nightmare difficulty - The Templar/Medic===

OK, this is where FoH is the most fun. The Cleric should have no problem at all soloing all of Nightmare with this skill and his merc. I would max FoH as soon as possible, any additional skill points from quests can go into HolyBolt or Conviction as you choose - allies will benefit one way or the other! A high level Holy Bolt does good healing even without max prayer, so you can leave maxing prayer until after Holy Bolt and Conviction are complete.

At level 42, equip a Hand of Blessed Light, if you have one available. +4 FoH, +6 Holybolt and +2 everything else, held in 1 hand. Very nice! Equip your other end game items as and when you reach the required levels. Guardian Angel is usable at level 45, which will further boost your block chance. Again, only put points in dex when block chance starts to drop, unless you need it to equip other items.

===FoH Tactics===

FoH drops a bolt of lightning from the sky onto your enemy. When it strikes, one Holy Bolt is released from the point of impact toward every monster and ally within its target area. This area seems to cover about half of the screen if the FoH strike is near the middle. Non-Undead targets will still get a Holy Bolt launched at them, even though it will pass through them with no effect. Sadly these Holy Bolts will not heal any party members they hit.

'''FoH drops from the sky''' - The Cleric does not need Line of Sight to his target clear. Target which ever monster you wish to wipe off the face of Sanctuary next.

'''Heaven doesn't know how to miss''' - FoH will always hit the target you select, even if they are moving.

'''Close enough will do''' - FoH seems very happy to strike the nearest monster to where you clicked, as long as there is one quite close, so you don't have to be particularly accurate with your clicking unless you are trying to target a specific monster. This makes it very easy to repeatedly strike a monster while the Cleric is running around. (In my opinion, Paladins "run around" they do not "run away" http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif )

'''Heaven won't attack Sanctuary''' - If there is no target within a reasonable distance of where you clicked, your Cleric will do the cast animation, but no Strike will happen, no mana will be used, and the cast delay will not kick in, so you are free to recast immediately.

'''A Fist full of Holy Bolts''' - Because of the Holy Bolts it releases, FoH is *very* effective against packs of undead. With my modest setup, the Holy Bolts from FoH do 2K damage each. Target one undead, and the holy bolts will often clear the rest in 1 or 2 strikes. It is very funny targeting an unraveller and seeing the Holy Bolts flatten all the Skellies.

'''Choose wisely''' - When facing mixed monster groups (undead and others) it is most effective to target the normal monsters with FoH. The Holy Bolts that FoH produces have almost always killed all the undead before I run out of normal monsters to target.

'''Lightning Immune Doesnt always matter''' - Your Cleric may meet a pack of 10 lightning immune skeletons. FoH may still be his best option. If he doesn't have a clear path to them, FoH is still the best way of delivering Holy Bolts to 9 of those skeletons every second, even if the FoH target doesn't take any lightning damage. Holy Bolt the last target, or FoH a different target, so number 10 can join the other 9 on the floor.

'''This used to be tougher...''' - FoH makes many enemies that are often troublesome very easy. Packs of skeletons with unravellers, Packs of Oblivion Knights, PI Ghosts, the Shaman behind all the flayers or fallen all become very simple with FoH. Small numbers of tough targets are easy too, as the Cleric can stay out of reach, and strike away for as long as it takes. The Smith, Hephasto, The Ancients etc are all very straight forward. To quote Bara: "Curently lvl 54, just soloed the ancients in NM. FoH rocks."

'''This used to be easier...''' - Sadly it makes some enemies that are often easy more troublesome too. Because the lightning from FoH is only 1 target at a time, and it had a 1 second casting delay, it is a slow way to kill packs of weak monsters. The Act3 Jungle is a pain for example, although my Cleric was still able to solo it in NM, it was slow going.

===Healing Tactics===

From the start of Nightmare Difficulty, your Cleric should be able to successfully play as a Medic. At the very least, you can practice on your merc when solo, but of course, playing a Medic is all about helping your team, so try and find some people you can help!

Healing is fairly simple - Cast Holy Bolts at your allies. However there are a few bits of info that will help you make the most of what is a different, challenging and (most of all) fun playstyle.

'''Holy Bolts pass through non-undead monsters''' - An ally is half a screen away getting beaten on by some Udars. Don't send your Cleric over there, just cast Holy Bolts at them! The bolts will pass right through the Udars, and heal your ally.

'''Holy Bolts make short work of Undead monsters''' - An ally is half a screen away getting beaten on by some Abyss Knights. Don't send your Cleric over there, just cast Holy Bolts at them! The first few bolts will destroy any Abyss Knight unfortunate enough to get inbetween the Cleric and his ally, and the following bolts will heal the ally.

'''You can't heal you''' - As a Medic, the only person your Cleric cannot heal is himself, so it is important to try and stay alive. That's one of the reasons I recommend Max block, and high resists (90+) as the tougher the Cleric is, the less you have to worry about his health, and the more you can concentrate on the health of your team. That will make him a better Medic.

'''Holy Bolts don't pierce''' - That means your Cleric can cast at his ally, but if another ally/merc/minion or undead is between them, the Holy Bolt will not reach the target. This means that the most important thing about playing a Medic is positioning relative to the team. Your Cleric will not be able to heal the tanks at the front if there are 4 other allies between them, and it's the tanks that may need healing the most. There are 2 methods that work well for me, shadowing, and sidelining.

====Shadowing====

* '''Shadow a Tank''' - Agree with your team that your Cleric will shadow a Tank. Stay one step behind the tank all the time. The Cleric can cast FoH from behind the tank (as it doesnt need line of sight) and switch to HolyBolt as soon as the tanks health starts to drop, or you see some hard hitting monsters approaching. A tank can be much more confident in standing their ground in the face of an advancing mob when they can see and hear a steady stream of Holy Bolts flying into them before they've even taken a hit.
* '''Dangerzone''' - There is one major problem with this tactic: Piercing attacks. The Cleric will be 1 step from the front line, and and piercing attacks directed at the tanks (Balrogs Inferno, Gloams Lightning etc ) are likely to hit him as well. The tank may have a Medic behind him, but the Medic doesn't! Be careful, watch your Clerics own health too.
* '''Who makes a good tank?''' - Well with a good medic behind them, almost anyone does. I have successfully supported a sorceress tanking. She had the blood mana curse on her too, but wasnt losing health faster than my Cleric was giving it back. The conviction aura meant nothing could stand in front of her very long either, the damage boost Conviction gave her spells meant she was tearing through monsters at an incredible rate.

====Side Lining====

* '''See both sides''' - If your Cleric can stay to the side of the current battle area without getting swarmed, then this often means you can target a lot of his team clearly, and the monsters too. You often need to position him quite far to the side, but Holy Bolt has a range significantly beyond the visible screen area, so if he can see them, your Cleric can heal them.

===Hell Difficulty - What can a Conviction Cleric do?===

Hopefully your face hurts. Mine did after I soloed NM, I was grinning so much http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif However, this is Hell. And things just got a lot tougher.

First things first. Playing Medic and Templar does not change, the tactics are the same, and work well in Hell, it just takes a few more Holy Bolts or Lightning Strikes to get the job done. The Mausoleum and Crypt in Blood Ravens area in Act1 only have undead monsters, so in Hell makes a great place to level up solo.

However, elsewhere your Cleric will quickly meet Lightning immune, non-undead monsters. Even if his conviction Breaks their lightning immunity, they are still going to have a very high resistance, so it will take a lot of FoH strikes to kill a single enemy. The merc should be getting quite good by now, and the Cleric can look after him better than most builds, but watching the merc slowly work his way through packs of monsters is not going to be lots of fun. We need another option. And we have several possibilities, thanks to one thing...

===PS3 - A Third PlayStyle===

'''Conviction.''' - The skill that changed this from being an normal Medic. Lets have another look at it.

* '''Lowers Enemy Defense''' by 90% or more. This should give a 95% chance to hit even with modest AR.
* '''Lowers Enemy Fire, Cold and Lightning resistance''' by up to 150%. Any fire cold or lightning attack you use will get a big Boost.

So what we want is some kind of elemental attack, and we dont need much AR to deliver it. It's going to have to be mostly equipment based, as we dont have enough skill points left to use skills. There are several options.

'''Mini Avenger.''' - We had to get 1 point in Vengance as a prereq, so with a good weapon, it could be quite good, although no where near a dedicated Avengers damage output.

'''Skill Items.''' There are many items that give access to skills that work well with conviction. Some examples would be:

* '''Holy Shock''' from a "Dream" Runeword Helm/Shield
* '''Holy Freeze''' from a "Doom" runeword weapon or "Ice" missile Weapon
* '''Holy Fire''' from a "Dragon" Runeword Armour/Shield or "Hand of Justice" Weapon
* '''Fireball/Firewall''' from partial Trangs Set bonus.
* '''Inferno''' from Flamebellow Unique Balrog Blade
* '''Arctic Blast''' from Frostwind Unique Cryptic Sword
* '''Hydra''' from Dragonscale Unique Zakarum Shield

I haven't tried many of these, simply because most people don't have an secret endless supply of high runes and unique items. I have however tried Fireball and Firewall from trangs set, which was fun, and surprised a few people, but doesn't really do enough damage. If you want to know if it's worth spending the runes on any of the runewords listed above, I would recommend trying it in single player with a mod, or borrowing one from a friend first. Many people are never going to see that equipment in legitimate team play on bnet, and team play has always been the focus of this build.

'''Conviction Ranger''' - Use a ranged weapon with good elemental damage. Some possible choices are:

* '''"Harmony"''' Runeword bow
* '''Hellrack''' Unique ColossusCrossbow
* '''Gimmershred''' Unique Flying Axe
* '''Demons Arch''' Unique Balrog Spear

With conviction, the Cleric should have no trouble hitting, and the damage is not bad. It has the advantage of keeping him off the front line, so he can still position like a Templar/medic. I tried Hellrack for a while, but found it disappointing, and like a true Paladin, my Cleric felt a little lost without a shield. I also tried Gimmershred, but found a better way of using that...

===The EZ Option===

'''The Elemental Zealot!''' - Here is where I found the answer to my Cleric's prayers! With the +skills equipment gives access to a Slvl4+ Zeal, giving 5 hits. Chance to hit and AR will be no problem thanks to Conviction. Use a fast weapon with good elemental damage, equipment that boosts elemental damage, as many elemental damage charms as you can fit in, and solve lightning immune problems by zealing them to pieces.

Adjust the Clerics equipment, and put your choice of zealot weapon and shield on switch, and the Cleric can easliy change between Templar, Medic and Elemental Zealot to suit the moment.

I think there are two great weapons that are achievable for most people.
* '''A "Rift" Scepter.''' Preferably in a Caduceus with + 3 Conviction. The Conviction boost gives more freedom of equipment while still maintaining a level 25 Conviction (as the Cleric just lost +2 offensive aura skills by not using HoBL or Spirit weapon)
* '''A "Voice of Reason" (VoR) Sword.''' Preferably in a Phase Blade.

Why? Chance to Cast Frozen Orb on Striking. - Here are the stats for these 2 weapons, and some Zeal/IAS info

'''"Voice of Reason" (VoR)''' 
Lem + Ko + El + Eld
* 15% Chance To Cast Level 13 Frozen Orb On Striking
* 18% Chance To Cast Level 20 Ice Blast On Striking
* +50 To Attack Rating
* +220-350% Damage To Demons
* +355-375% Damage To Undead (varies)
* +50 To Attack Rating Against Undead
* Adds 100-220 Cold Damage
* -24% To Enemy Cold Resistance
* +10 To Dexterity
* Cannot Be Frozen
* 75% Extra Gold From Monsters
* +1 To Light Radius

Phase Blade needs 13IAS to reach a 5 Frame Zeal

'''"Rift"'''' 
Hel + Ko + Lem + Gul
* 20% Chance To Cast Level 16 Tornado On Striking
* 16% Chance To Cast Level 21 Frozen Orb On Attack
* 20% Bonus To Attack Rating
* Adds 160-250 Magic Damage
* Adds 60-180 Fire Damage
* +5-10 To All Stats (varies)
* +10 To Dexterity
* 38% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
* 75% Extra Gold From Monsters
* Level 15 Iron Maiden (40 Charges)
* Requirements -20%

Caduceus needs 8 IAS to reach a 6 Frame Zeal 
Caduceus needs 42 IAS to reach a 5 Frame Zeal

'''Which One?''' - VoR is faster, and requires less rare runes to make. However Rift has a more powerful Orb, and is still possible for many players. A Gul rune is "only" a lucky hellforge drop away... I choose VoR, as a single IAS jewel gives a 5 frame zeal. I also like the Ice Blast that freezes monsters, and the cannot be frozen mod. I also didn't have a Gul rune...

'''Frozen Orb.''' - This spell damages all non-cold immune targets in a large area, slowing down enemies, and is very good on groups of monsters. Anything that didnt start cold immune is going to get hurt, with up to -150 less cold resist from Conviction, and another -24 from the weapon.

'''Low Physical Damage Can Be A Good Thing.''' - The Cleric has little Enhanced Damage from Skills, is not running a damage enhancing aura, and neither is his merc. Why is this good? Iron Maiden(IM). The total damage to himself when IM'd is only boosted by+12ED from 1 point synergy from sacrifice, maybe a little from zeal depending on your +skill equipment, and your strength bonus. My cleric has 48ED from all skills, and 145 Str after equip. He tried zealing when IM'd in Hell Throne of Destruction. Unlike my Zealot, the Cleric did not instantly die. He often took all 5 hits, but did not manage to kill himself in 1 full cycle, with 1360 life and no DR or DR% at all. I do not recommend doing this often (switch and FoH/Holy Bolt them!), but it helps to have a little more margin for error when in OK infested areas.

'''Magic, Lightning, Cold and Physical.''' - The Cleric now has a source of two extra different damage types (Cold and physical) just by switching weapons. But he can do more. This Paladin has seen his brother Knights take down even the toughest of monsters by rapidly applying a purely equipment based effect...

'''Crushing Blow.''' - Crushing Blow (CB) does physical damage, and is not dependant on the physical weapon damage. So a lower physical damage build like this one can still use it to do significant additional damage. A 5 frame zeal is a reasonably fast method of applying crushing blow, and because of conviction, will have a very good chance to hit, making each blow count. I learnt that the biggest problem with this tactic was life leech. Low physical damage, and not yet having any life leech on equipment meant my Cleric could not stand toe to toe with his enemies for as long as I would like.

====EZ Equipment====

The challenge is to try and fit some leech and CB into the skills and caster focused equipment. As mentioned before, it is best to try and maintain Slvl25 Conviction, so a minimum of +5 to offensive auras. Bear that in mind when choosing your equipment.

Here are some revised and some additional equipment Suggestions for the elemental zealot approach...

Key to Colours: 
'''Best Bet''' - The best one you are likely to see... 
'''Alternatives''' - Still good, but sometimes expensive or very hard to find. 
'''Budget''' - Best value and easier to get options.

'''Weapon'''
* '''"Voice of Reason" Runeword in a Phase Blade.'''
* '''"Rift" Runeword in a Caduceus with +3 Conviction.'''
* '''Gimmershred Unique Flying Axe.''' Can be thrown too!
* '''"Famine" Runeword.''' Only if you have lots of high runes spare...
* '''"Death" Runeword.''' 50% CB and 25% CTC Slvl18 Glacial Spike.
* '''Baranars Star Unique mace.''' Fast, with good elemental damage.
* '''"Last Wish" Runeword.''' Ridiculously expensive, but ridiculously good too.
* '''"Voice of Reason" Phase Blade.''' Needs a 4 socket phase blade, Lem, Ko, El, Eld. I think it is the cheapest weapon with good enough performance.

'''Shield'''
* '''"Spirit" Runeword in a 40-45 all res 4 socket Sacred Targe or Sacred Rondache.''' - Probably still the best choice, for skills and resists.
* '''Dragonscale Unique Zakarum Shield.''' Good fire damage, and you can use Hydra. No resists or skills though.
* '''Tiamats Rebuke Unique Dragon Shield.''' Extra elemental damage, reasonable resists. No skills though.
* '''"Exile" Runeword Paladin Shield.''' Expensive, with no skills, but the CTC lifetap will solve all life leech problems.
* '''"Spirit" Runeword.''' Yes, this is the still the best budget choice.

'''Helm'''
* '''Guillaume's Face Set Winged Helm.''' 35% Crushing blow and lots of other nice melee mods.
* '''+ Skills helms as before.''' Stay with skills here, get CB from other items.

'''Armour'''
* '''Guardian Angel Unique Templar Coat.''' +1 Paladin skills, extra block, higher max resists etc. Still the best option.
* '''"Duress" Runeword.''' High Defense, 15% CB, extra cold damage and resists. Excellent option.
* '''Rattlecage unique gothic plate.''' 25%CB is good but the monster flee is not.

'''Gloves'''
* '''Dracul's Grasp Unique Vampirebone Gloves.''' Lifeleech, Lifetap, Str, life per kill. Unbeatable leech gloves.
* '''Soul Drainer Unique Vambraces.''' Good Dual leech gloves.
* '''Steelrend Unique Ogre Gauntlets.''' 10% CB, but need High strength to wear.
* '''Sigons Gage Set Gauntlets.''' With one other set item, give 10% Life leech and 30IAS.

'''Belt'''
* '''Thunder Gods Vigour unique War Belt.''' 1-50 lightning damage as well as all the previous reasons mentioned.
* '''String of Ears Unique Demonhide Sash.''' Life leech, %DR, and MDR. Very good for melee.
* '''Wihelm's Pride Set Battle Belt.''' Dual leech belt, with some cold resist too.
* '''Sigons Wrap Set Plated Belt.''' 20% fire resist, life, and gives partial set bonus of 10% life leech with gloves.

'''Boots'''
* '''Gore Rider Unique War Boots.''' 15%CB, and other good melee mods
* '''Marrowwalk Unique Boneweave Boots.''' Stat boosts and charges of lifetap.
* '''Goblin Toe Unique Light Plated Boots.''' 25% CB, but no fast run/walk.

'''Rings'''
* '''Bul Kathos Wedding Band Unique Ring.''' +1 Skills, and life leech. If you need the skills, perfect choice.
* '''Rare rings.''' Look for leech, resists, FCR and anything else good you can get!
* '''Wisp Projector Unique Ring.''' CTC Slvl16 Lightning, and lightning absorb.
* '''Manald Heal Unique Ring.''' Still good, and now the mana leech is useful too!

'''Amulet'''
* '''Rare +2 paladin skills amulet.''' Look for Leech, FCR, resists or other good mods.
* '''Crescent Moon Unique Amulet.''' No skills, but good leech and MDR.
* '''Eye of Etlich Unique Amulet.''' +1 Skills, 3-7% Life Leech, some cold damage. A very good mix.

'''Charms'''
* '''Paladin Hellfire Torch Unique charm.''' Hydra Charges (expensive) and CTC Firestorm give extra fire damage.
* '''Elemental damage charms.''' Use the highest elemental damage charms you can find and fit in your pack. You can add a lot of extra damage this way.

Try and get lifetap somehow. You are a Medic. Your job is to heal your allies. Lifetap is just another way of getting it done. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

==Summary.==

I really enjoy playing this build, and hope anyone else who tries it will too. The combination of Templar, Medic, and Elemental Zealot gives a lot of versatility, adaptable for any situatation the game can throw at you...

* Allies getting hurt? Fill them with life giving Holy Bolts
* Allies poisoned and cursed? Cleanse and Heal them.
* Allies running out of mana? Introduce them to your merc.
* Facing Obilvion knights casting IM? Holy Bolt them out of existance.
* Packs of PI undead? Destroy them all with a few Holy Bolt spewing Lightning Strikes.
* Annoying reviving monster hiding behind his minions? Ask Heaven to drop lightning on his head.
* Ancients giving you a hard time? Take them for a run, and ask Heaven to drop lightning on their heads.
* Lightning Immune Demons? Zeal them, and watch the Frozen Orbs fly.
* Uber Meph? My conviction's better than yours, Have some crushing blow...

Like most characters, the better your equipment, the more capable the build will be. However, even with very modest equipment this build is a great team player, who is also capable of soloing anywhere in the game.

==Holy_Convict==

Just in case anyone would like to know, my current CLvl86 Convcition Cleric "Holy_Convict" is set up like this...

'''Skills'''

'''20 Holy Bolt 
'''1 Holy Sheild (+ 3 Prereqs) 
'''20 FoH (+ 4 Prereqs)

'''16 Conviction (+5 Prereqs) 
'''7 Holy Shock

'''20 Prayer 
'''1 Cleansing

'''Equipment'''
* Weapon1 - Hand of Blessed Light Unique Divine Scepter
* Shield1 - "Spirit" Sacred Targe (31 Res all automod)
* Weapon2 - "Voice of Reason" Phase blade
* Shield2 - "Spirit" Sacred Rondache (42 res all automod)
* Helm - Guillaume's Face Set Winged Helm socketed with a 15IAS jewel
* Amulet - Rare +2 Paladin skills, 3% Mana leech, 12 all resists
* Armour - Guardian Angel Unique Templar Coat Socketed with an Um rune
* Gloves - Dracul's Grasp Unique Vampirebone Gloves
* Belt - ThunderGods Vigor Unique War Belt
* Ring1 - Rare 10FCR/resists/ctc Chain Lightning
* Ring2 - Rare 10FCR/Lifeleech/Fire resist
* Boots - GoreRiders Unique War Boots
* Charms - Paladin Hellfire Torch, Annihilus (by pure chance, DClone walked in a solo hell game I was in... and DClone lost the battle) lots of resist charms and lots of elemental damage charms

'''This gives...'''
* Resists of 90/90/95/90 in Hell and 20 Lightning absorb (Gloams have no effect on him at all)
* 75% Chance to block

'''As a Templar/Medic...'''
* Slvl 35 Holy Bolt. Listed Damage to undead = 5267-5968, Heals 276-568 per Bolt
* Slvl 33 Fist of the Heavens listed Lightning damage = 2115-2190 Holy Bolt Damage =2760-2800 Per Bolt
* Slvl 12 HolyShield

'''As a Zealot...'''
* 5 Frame Zeal
* 50% Crushing Blow
* Slvl25 Conviction Aura

I have no idea what my Clerics average damage is, as with different monster resists, conviction, different ED vs Undead and Demons and several CTC effects, the display on the Charater screen is totally meaningless. I also don't care a bit, I'm too busy having fun. After all that's what the game is all about, right?

==Thanks to...==

* All at the Amazon basin, particularly the Paladin forum people who helped me refine this build idea in my initial thread.
* Bara, for trying the build, feedback, and general Paladin Forum Moderator goodness.
* Joel and Sunna for teaming with Holy_Convict while I tried lots of different equipment out, and for donating some of it!
* All the AB EuroSCL people for being good friends to team up with, whatever character you are playing.

==Credits==

Azariah, March 2006. Reprinted with permission from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=65628 this thread]

Conviction Cleric Guide

2006-07-15T15:29:40Z

Heather: next addition

Conviction Cleric Guide

2006-07-15T14:53:18Z

Heather: fist part up, saving

Gouda, the Orb/Ranged Enchantress

2006-07-15T12:40:33Z

Heather: added rest of guide and credits

At the risk of sounding uppity (not meaning to), I thought I'd try to add my 2¢ to
the sum of knowledge maintained here at the Basin. Sort of an Almanac of one
Sorcie's trip from Rogue Camp to Guardian. Please feel free to point out any
errors, omissions etc. (Keep in mind that an extensive gear list wasn't an
omission, it's not really in the spirit of the thing.)

==Intro==

'''TWWFM, HMSFIH'''

I'm not real comfortable with the idea of calling this a guide, since it's just one
person's experience with one character. Let's just call it "'''T'''his '''W'''orked
'''W'''ell '''F'''or '''M'''e, '''H'''ope '''M'''aybe '''S'''omeone '''F'''inds
'''I'''t '''H'''elpful." Also, since I'm in Single Player, I can't really speak for
the majority (online) experience, though the only Single Player hocus-pocus used was
'/players 8' up to the end of NM.

Aaand, the definitive guide to Enchanting already
[http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=35763 exists], courtesy
MongoJerry, (along with a definitive guide for
[http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=65795
EnchantLESS]ing, courtesy SSoG). My character owes her success to a lot of fine
reading here at the Basin.

[/End Disclaimers]

==Orb/Ranged Enchantress==

This was actually my first Enchantress, but my most-played classes are Sorcies and
Bowazons, so you might say this character was the culmination of many (maa-
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif -aannny)
hours of D2. This was also my first HC Guardian.

Ironically, when I started her she was meant to retire in her sixties to a sedate
life of babysitting youngsters up to A5 Norm, where their skills would carry them on
their chosen path. Also, I figured in keeping with the theme she could open cow
portals for older characters.

Hence, I named her Gouda.]

]
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

I found this character to be extremely versatile and fun—so fun in fact, that I
never retired her, and played her all the way through to Guardian.

== Skills ==

''Hard Points:''

Fire: 
20 Warmth 
20 Enchant 
20 Fire Mastery 
(1 ea pre-reqs)

Cold: 
20 Orb 
(1 ea. pre-reqs) 
1 Cold Mastery 

Light: 
1 Static 
1 Telekinesis 
1 Teleport

(6 unspent points)

When Orbing, she has +5 to all skills.

She has L32 pre-buffed Enchant.

Because my original goals for this build were somewhat limited, she focused
exclusively on the Fire tree all the way up to max, only spending the 3 points in
the Light tree and casting Orb from an item (more on this in leveling).

My recommendation would be to get pre-reqs and 1-pointers in each tree as they come
available, placing one point in Orb and CM at 30, but focusing on maxing the fire
skills first. Building up Enchant makes you ''and'' your merc stronger. Warmth
'til 18, then Enchant 'til it's maxed, 1 Fire Mastery at 30, finish Warmth, max
Mastery.

Frozen Armor is another useful one-pointer to pick up along the way, especially HC.

Eshield takes 4 additional points to get, so whenever possible, I get it from items. Currently, all my sorcies run with some level of Eshield, and none of them have a
hard point in it, or extra points in TK.

As you approach A4 Nightmare, be conscious of where your orb is at. You will likely
want to be using it on NM Diablo, and Hell and FIs will be a concern soon. With
Gouda, I left a few points unspent before Diablo (Izual points help here) in case
she needed to bolster her Orb. She did fine with a L5ish Orb and CM.

By the time you enter Hell, your Fire Tree should be set, and all points going to
strengthen that Orb. Gouda was around L72 (recommended to get into 70s) when she
entered Hell.

After Orb, hmmm. I am still undecided on Gouda's own extra six points, Cold
Mastery, TK, a little more comfort range on Static; depends on what you feel needs a
little something extra.

==Gear==

When it comes to gear, there are a lot of thorough and knowledgeable guides out
there already, so in keeping with with the idea of a TWWFM (I pronounce it 'twuhfm'
personally
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif), I'm
mostly just going to talk about what she used and why it worked—not to say "use
this" or "this is the best" (often it's not)—but more for inspiration; ''work with
the gear that's available to you, you can do just fine with less than the best.''

I've found the most effective gear setups are those that evolve over time, carefully
tuned until everything works just right. Builds are a bit like racecars in that
regard—throw a bunch of L33T gear on them, and they may still drive pretty rough
until the bugs are all worked out.

Twinking—I'm uncertain about No-Twink, because there are a few key items that it
would be hard to do without. I may not be the best judge on this, though, since I'm
a devoted twinker. More power to you guys, you are amazing. I end up tearing my
hair out before the end of A1 Norm, just trying to decide which stuff to pick
up/drop. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/dizzy.gif

That said, I think she would do pretty well Low-Twink. Gouda made good use of alot
of low-mid level gear and the best of her end-game stuff she found herself. (I have
to say, she was the luckiest toon I have ever played. Not meaning most %MF, but the
sheer felicity of drops she got—more on this later)

===The Weapons===

One piece of gear I'll go into a little more depth on is the ranged weapon, since
that's the real biggie for this build.

Following are the weapons that offer the Explosive Arrow mod (henceforth ExArrow).
Get your hands on one of these. There are other bows out there, but the difference
between sending whole ''packs'' of monsters into hit recovery vs. just one is
''huge.''

'''Bow''' (ExArrow Level), Base Firing Rate for a Sorc, Lev. Available[/size]

'''Demon Machine''' (6), 12 Frames, L49
This is the good life, right here.
Fast (8% IAS will have you maxed at 11 frames), 66% Pierce, straight AR for your
Enchant to send through the roof, even a lil' extra mana for your utility spells.

'''Kuko Shakaku''' (7), 16 Frames, L33
I've not gotten to try this one, but it would certainly get the job done.
50% Pierce, extra fire damage for your Mastery to boost.
To reach 11 frames, this bow needs 65% AR vs. Demon's 8%.
OTOH, if you can pile on 102% IAS, it'll reach 10 frames. (no, I'm not recommending
this)

'''Raven Claw''' (3), 16 Frames, L15
If your baby sorc is anxious to start firing those ExArrows, this is the bow. It's
also the best option for low-low budget and easy availability. Maybe you could even
find one no-twink. A high level Enchant will turn this humble bow into a powerful
weapon. Gouda was still using hers to kill stuff dead in A1 Hell. ('til she killed
a skelly boss in the Crypt with it, and he kindly dropped her a Demon.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif)

'''Hellcast''' (5), 18 Frames, L27
Not unless you're trying to win a bet
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif
Jokes aside, the speed on this is just too slow for me.
If you're a patient person, and this is all you have, maybe give it a try.
You'll still be taking on the whole pack at once, so it might kill more quickly than
a faster bow without ExArrow. My inclination would be to just use a low Orb, and
let the merc deal the fire damage, tho.

===Two Runewords Worth a Mention===

'''"Leaf"''' - Tir, Ral
Shop a 2 socket, +3 Enchant staff from Normal Drognan, and add 6 levels of Enchant
at L19. +3 takes alot of patience, and the runes are cheap. Grab a +2 one when you
see it.

''' 'Memory"''' - Lum, Io, Sol, Eth
Starting in NM (maybe some late A5 Normal), keep an eye out for staves of the
Gnarled or Battle variety. These can have 4 sockets, and if the staff mods are
right, it'd be worth having Larzuk socket a white one. War-type staves can also
spawn with 4 sockets, but Larzuk will give you too many. Unlike Leaf, a Memory
staff with +2 or 3 inherent Enchant will also boost your Orb and CM by 3, as well as
give you a +6 Eshield and breathing room for your static.

Eventually (by Hell, at the latest) you'll probably want to get a shield—especially
HC, and stash the staff for buffing, but you can get pretty far with a good runeword
staff as a primary weapon.

===To Buff or Not To Buff===

You will need to decide on your personal threshold where buffing is concerned. I
don't consider myself to be especially patient, and I wasn't put off by Gouda's
5-piece routine, or the stash space that I gave up for it. If you develop a
specific routine you follow every time, letting each item you put down pick up the
next one you need to swap, it becomes habit and goes very fast.

Gouda pre-cast a L8 Eshield in addition to her L32 Enchant. Using a +2 All Sorc
Circlet helped expedite this (and it could just as easily have been L10 Eshld—I
never got around to twinking her a +3 Light ammy, so she was using a +1 that she
found). The Eshld didn't last nearly as long as the Enchant, and it depended where
I was in the game whether I would run without it for a little while or head back to
town. Either way, it's a friendly reminder that the clock is ticking.

''''DO'''' double-check to make sure you have got all your correct
offensive/defensive gear back on before venturing into the wilds. Don't find out
the hard way you were running around with negative res.

===And I Gotta Mention===

'''Magefist''', Level 23
20% FCR
25% Mana Regen
+1 Fire Skills

===Gear: Other Thoughts===

•Weapon swapping is a big part of this build. If you rely heavily on a shield for
resists, you'll be vulnerable every time you switch to bow. Try to get your resists
to a safe level without the shield. '''"Smoke"''' is good for this; rare jewelry
with resists; if you've got a '''Kira's''' (drool), I'm sure that would help.

•FCR is not a huge priority. Orb is timered and arrows don't care. A little fast
cast is good, for a quicker Tele and Static, but save the Wizzies for another build. The one other thing you might want a little fast cast for is spamming Glacial to
shatter corpses. If you have 0%, you may find you can't keep them frozen very well
in Hell.

•Two things Gouda lacked, but I would recommend having: leech and FHR. Leech would
have been a nice little fill'erup when she was in bolt/arrow mode. FHR would be a
Very Good Idea. She had very little FHR to speak of, and I had to be extremely
careful about getting hit at all. Sorcies are painfully slow on the uptake when
they've been hit hard, and without good FHR you can easily be trapped next to some
thug (let alone a fast-moving mob). Eshield was helpful to reduce the chance of
going into hit recovery, and I was able to cope by being careful about entering new
territory and using Tele to keep her bodyguard at her side. I would highly
recommend getting some 'balance' in your life.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif

Sorcie FHR Breaks:
'''Frames''' / ''FHR needed''
'''14''' / ''5''
'''13''' / ''9''
'''12''' / ''14''
'''11''' / ''20''
'''10''' / ''30''
'''9''' / ''42''
'''8''' / ''60''

==The Mercenary==

For a ranged character like this, I think the best results will be with a tank. I
went with NMA2 Holy Freeze (Defiance through Normal) for Gouda. While her Defiance
Merc was a little more durable, I really liked the idea of slowing the CI monsters
that her Orb couldn't touch. On Ladder, a Prayer/Insight would certainly make life
easier, and my L76 Orb Sorcie thinks her Baba and Ethereal Crainte Vomir are teh
besto (then again, she doesn't have access to a Prayer/Insight guy).

Blessed Aim and Thorns won't really do anything for this build. BA is made
superfluous by Enchant's huge bonus, and Thorns requires getting hit—something we
will be avoiding, thankyouverymuch.

Might will add some physical damage to the mix, but this's not really the build to
get optimal benefit from this guy. If the Fire Immunes are giving you grief, and
you think your merc should hit a little harder, you might give him a try, though.

==On With the TWWFM...==

I'll start with Gouda's end setup, and then include some key leveling points:

===Guardian Gouda, Level 86===

''Gear:''
Iratha's Set (complete)
Natalya's boots
Naj's Armor
Demon Machine
Rare +2 All Sorc Orb, 42 Mana, Res Fire 24
Rings-Dwarf Star/Magic Ring +78 mana, Regen +7
Visceratuant (PDiamond)

''In Stash for Buffing:''
Leaf Staff (+6 Enchant)
Circlet +2 All Sorc
Ammy +3 Fire
+3 Eshld orb
+1 Lightning Skill Ammy

''Stats with gear:''
Str: 98
Dex: 96
Vit: 290
Eng: 35

Life: 873
Mana: 325

Resists: 85/85/85/70
(on switch, poison dropped to 51, others held steady)

Damage* with Demon Machine + L32 Enchant: 4108-5154
AR: 4237

===Mizan (Holy Freeze Act 2), L86===

''Gear:''
Corpsemourn
Bonehew (Amn)
Rockstopper

Damage* with L32 Enchant + Holy Freeze: 2132-3924
(W/O Enchant+Freeze was 524-2010)

*According to LCS

Yep, she wore a Level 15 original D2 set to Guardian. Providing good resists, and
+max resists no matter which weapon slot she was using, (IAS, too) it served her
well. However, every slot this set occupies does negate using other potentially
great gear. Helm and Ammy, which could be devoted to nice +skill rares, Gloves
(Magefist), and belt (Razortail). If you can cover your resists ('Smoke' runeword
would be a good start, I think), there's plenty of better options skill-wise. Since
Gouda was buffing from her stash, the lack of +skills didn't affect her enchant, and
I found she could easily take out large mobs just with the pierce on the DM. Did I
mention +10 max resists? Really, I think the hardest thing to live with about this
set was actually the 3 row, non-upgradeable belt.

===Getting Started===

Gouda hit the ground running with a Hellforge Hammer
(didn't say NO cheese, did I?
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/whistling.gif)

At Level 11, she donned her
; Boot Camp Leveling Gear™
: Cathan's Mask
: Cathan's Rings X2
: Cathan's Armor
: Civerb's Icon
: Civerb's Ward
: Civerb's Cudgel
: Sigon's Gloves
: Sigon's Belt
: Sigon's Boots

I've tried a lot of different gear set-ups, and this is my outfit of choice for
toddler Sorcies. Until she gets those high-end spells, and has a grown-up mana
pool, the average Sorcie will spend a lot of time just hitting things. This is the
way to keep her safe and effective while she's doing it.

When equipped in the above order, it takes only 25 strength to wear the whole
ensemble. That means lottsa Vit, right off the bat.

You will also get:
Resists at 65/75/50/25
22% Life Leech http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif
40% Mana Regen
4% Life Regen
30% IAS
20% FRW
50% MF http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif
A weapon with scaling (+max per level) damage,
That does extra (250% total) damage to the often unleechable undead
Plus defense, AR, mana, a little extra blocking, a little fire damage...
AND 4 rows of belt space!!

This won't work well if you want a bow on switch, though. Without a substantial
investment in strength, every time you switch you will be partly n00d.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/blushing.gif OTOH,
'''Iratha's''' and '''Raven Claw''' are both available at L15... coincidence?

Gouda just kept an orb she found with Frozen Armor on switch, and cast it when there
weren't any monsters around to notice her immodesty.

At level 15, if you want to trade a little of that life leech for mana leech, just
make sure you've added 10 more to strength, and swap out one of the Cathan rings for
a '''Manald Heal'''.

''The Merc''

As soon as you reach Act 2, I recommend getting a Defiance (defensive) Merc. As you
have no minions to tank for you, keeping the Rogue will make life pretty tough, and
Duriel will be a Real Big Problem.

•Quick tip on Merc Gear- If you give him '''Sigon's''' Helm+Armor, you can focus on
damage/speed on his weapon and not worry about leech.

''Handy Cube Recipe:''
1 Staff + 1 Kris + 1 Belt + 1 Diamond = 1 Savage Polearm
(My first, impoverished, HC, untwinked Zon used this recipe, and got a great roll
first try... so great the merc couldn't equip it for another 8 levels!
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/dizzy.gif)

===Growing Up===

The way I decide that a Sorcie is ready to step out of her trainers is when she's no
longer swinging her weapon at all. Once she has spells full-time on the right- and
left- click, she's ready for a new outfit that will better support her skills. I
generally find this happens late 20s, definitely by 30. (single player, /players 8,
so YMMV) Make sure you have the necessary stat points ready to accommodate the new
gear.

For Gouda, I chose the following

''Gear:''

Irathas Set (complete)
Rare Battle Staff: +2Cold,+1CM,+2FO
Leaf Staff (+5 Enchant)
Breast Plate-3 Topaz (later Skullder's)
Boots-rare, resists
Rings-blue/rare, mana/resists

I've already outlined the benefits/drawbacks of Iratha's above, and it's a great
transitional option, even if you have better end game gear.

The Battle Staff was an incredibly lucky find by one of my other characters, and was
actually in part what sparked the idea for the build. I thought, with a staff like
that, I ought to be able to level a sorc pretty far, just using the orb off the
staff. At Level 37, a Memory staff with inherent Orb might have done even better.
The entirely more practical (and recommended) approach is to just spend the points
in the Cold Tree, and wear as much +Cold/+Skills as you can. A point each in Orb/CM
and a few +skills really will take you a very long way.

I kept the Leaf staff on switch at this point. Orb is plenty powerful, the Merc is
dishing the fire damage for you, life is easy. If you're anxious to get started
with the bow aspect, then unless you have a good Memory staff to boost Enchant and
Orb, you may want to start with the pre-buff routine. +2 Fire Circlets and Ammys
are available at L30, Magefists came in back at 23.

Even with all that warmth, mana will be a little tight at this stage. Less perhaps
if you're using the bow alot. Whenever I wasn't Orbing, I'd switch to Leaf for the
big boost to warmth. A couple good +mana items help here. I keep a muled
collection of the best +mana rings I find to help out my mana-hungry sorcies. I
swap them out for a better one whenever she meets the level requirement. If you're
lucky, maybe it'll have another nice mod. Even one of these will be a help.

; Mana Rings : Wyrm's/41-60/Level 22
: Great Wyrm's/61-90/Level 29
: Bahamut's/91-120/Level 37

The first two can also spawn rare, so it's possible to get some res along with your
mana.

''Merc''

If you have another source of leech for him, or can socket it with an Amn,
'''Hwanin's Justice''' makes a pretty good mid-level merc weapon. The Sigon's setup
will work for leech, but eventually you'll want to get him something better.
Gouda's merc used Hwanin's and I think '''Wormskull''' for the leech. A really nice
rare Light Plate dropped at some point, with 2 open sockets, 24 FHR and 28 Lightning
Res, and he wore that.

A2 Nightmare, she traded her Defiance Merc for Mizan the Holy Freeze Merc.

''The Bow''

Gouda got by with her 'borrowed' Orb and her rockin' merc until around NM Act 3 or
4. At that point, she took up '''Raven Claw''' with her Cold staff on switch, and
her buffing gear in the stash. If you have access to one of the better bows, then
definitely use it—if not, Raven Claw will do plenty well at this point.

''In Stash:''
Leaf (a shopped +6 gnarled staff)
Circlet +2 Fire
Ammy +3 Fire

In a perfect world, it would be a +3 circlet, but I've yet to see one.

===Once More Unto the Breach===

Gouda leveled on NM Baal and his minions until around 72, and made some more
fortifications to her defenses before entering Hell.

''New Gear:''

+2 cold skill Rare Orb (She now had hard points in FO/CM)
Visceratuant Shield (PDiamond)
Rare Chain Boots- 30 FRW, 28 CRes, 33LRes

New In Stash:
+3 Eshld orb
+1Light Ammy
+2 All Sorc Circlet

Her inventory was by this time jammed with the best res charms I could supply her.
And any time any of my characters find a res+fire charm, it automatically goes to
her.

Other than the '''Demon Machine''', which she found while leveling in A1, her gear
stayed pretty much the same from this point up to Hell Ancients, where she changed
to the end gear.

Also in A1 Hell, a '''Crown of Thieves''' dropped, and Mizan made use of that.

===If Life Is A Bowl Of Cherries...===

Once she reached the Outer Cloister, I used Pit runs to get Gouda into shape for her
journey through Hell. Even if you don't have tons of MF, don't despair—elite,
socketed items are useful too! And green/gold will still fall from time to time.
The Naj's Plate she used end game was found while leveling in the Pits.

If you find the Pits are still too harrowing at first, level awhile in the Crypt and
Mausoleum under Blood Raven's yard. Nothing but LI here, except any bosses that
spawn another immunity—Go get 'em tiger! Nice drops to be had, too. Gouda got her
Demon there, and my Necro found a Griffon's Eye once. (for the record: I now have
a Griffon's Eye that none of my toons know what to do with, and have yet to see a
single Vipermaji, Guillaume's, Laying Of Hands... not that I'm complaining, mind)

===And Speaking of the Drop Gods and Their Twisted Sense of Humor===

The first time progress really ground to a standstill was in Act 2, Tomb of Tal
Rasha. This unholy place spawned not one, not two, THREE CI/FI Bosses. (At least
they weren't all in the same room.) Now, she had encountered a lot of these
monsters already. I never noticed how many there were before. I'm pretty sure the
first time, she wasn't even out of Normal!

This was different. Two were Bloodlords, and the third was a Blunderbore. Their
regen rates were insane. A '''Bonehew''' had dropped in A2 Palace Cellar, but Mizan
needed more strength to equip it, so he was still using Hwanin's Justice. Static
the boss down to half, then watch as the life bar crept slowly back up. The first
Bloodlord, I went back and picked up some Rancid Gas that had dropped. I used it on
him while Mizan whittled away. He died. I cleared the entire rest of the Tomb, no
more Rancid Gas—coulda sworn I've seen these dropping all the time, hah. I realize
that I could have just ignored these guys and got on with it, but I'm stubborn—not
patient, just stubborn. So, on the way to Duriel, with Tyrael no doubt drumming his
fingers in the basement, she's running around on the Bloodmoor and Cold Plains,
killing everything in sight for Rancid Gas.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif

After this adventure (she did triumph, eventually), I added one more item to the
gear in her stash:

Rancid Gas Potion (x2 Stacks)

Of course Mizan was able to equip his Bonehew before too long, and the CI/FI Boss
was never an issue after that. PMH/OW or one good source of poison damage would
have avoided the entire episode, but she didn't have access to any PMH/OW options
that would work for her setup, and the poison she happened to have on charms was
negligible.

===Onward to Guardian===

Gouda donned a '''Dwarf Star Ring''' for fighting Diablo, took him out with Orb, and
won her ticket to Act 5, Hell. The biggest battle, the one that had been worrying
me since the decision to take her through Hell now loomed before her.

The Hell Ancients were indeed the toughest battle of the game. Prior to facing them
she switched to the End Gear listed at the beginning. The first attempt ended in a
stalemate, after many rerolls, in which it was down to Gouda vs. Korlic with 2
Ancients and one Merc dead. Exhausted, and nearly out of potions and bolts, she
cast a portal and called it a day with Korlic's bar at half. Attempt #2 was made
after reading some friendly Basin advice. Mizan was equipped with Rattlecage+Kelpie
Snare, and this made a big difference.
''Random Crazy Thought: Marrowwalks to BP the Ancients and take on one at a time.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/devil.gif 118 Str,
though, bit steep.''
Getting to the summit with the merc in that getup was harrowing, with monsters
constantly fleeing all over the place. I would greatly recommend going Guillaume's
and some other armor if you have the option.

The WSK also required several attempts to negotiate. The closest call was the
dreaded Hell WSK throne stairs. No monsters on-screen, but the merc moved
immediately to engage enemies just off-screen. A moment later, no merc, a wall of
Gloam Lightning coming at her, and charged-up Frenzytaurs all over the place.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif
Teleported out from in front of the mass of lightning, to the other side of the
wall, and ESC+Saved as more Frenzytaurs bore down on her. If this had been online,
even a little bit of lag here could have been the end of her.

Once the way to the throne was clear (a full clear, to have plenty of room to work
with), the Minions were all dispatched with relative efficiency, and Baal himself
was a pushover. After that experience with the stairs, though, I don't know that
she'll be doing any Baal runs any time soon.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif

Following her trip to Hawaii, Guardian Gouda is now back in her Skullder's, and
mixing it up in the River Of Flame, Travincal, The Pits, sometimes a little shopping
at Anya's... Life is good.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

'''HMSFIH''',

Relic
==Addendum==

===Tips For Livin', and Livin' Well...===

*Do whatever it takes to keep your merc alive. He's both your bodyguard and a major
source of additional damage. Tele-position him, feed him pots—I know he can be
frustrating at times, but handled correctly he is a very useful ally. If he's dying
alot, play around with gear choices a little. Maybe he needs more leech, or maybe
he just needs a little more Physical Damage and/or weapon speed to make the leech
work. Weapon speed really does help. Let him hit them before they hit back.
Note: In places where IM is an issue, you can take away his weapon and let him deal
raw fire damage. This should prevent him from vaporizing the second it's cast, but
he will be alot more fragile without his leech, and at high levels, he can still
kill himself on IM if you don't give him some help.

*Be careful of taking an HC character into Hell before they're ready. If you are
too low of a level, the merc will get eaten for breakfast. Not all the monsters
will fall over as soon as you shoot them anymore.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif Take
care of your res, take care of your merc's res, get your Orb going, and test the
waters. If you're having alot of uh-oh moments, fall back and do a few more Baal
runs. Even after the rest of A5 dries up, the minions in the throne room will take
your xp bar up pretty well.

*Eshield—every little bit helps. With this build, you have automatic maxed warmth,
and one of your attacks doesn't need mana. I ran a L8 Eshld through Hell,
incorporated into my prebuff routine. Even with just one hard point in TK, I didn't
find the strain on my mana to be too great. Also, since the Eshld would run out
well before enchant, when the little gold ball went away, it was a friendly reminder
to renew the enchant before too long.

*Teleport is your friend. Keep teleport at the ready, and learn to use it well. It
is the best form of merc-management in the game.* I personally recommend the
practice of keeping tele always on Left-Click, and Shift-Casting your ranged attacks
with Right-Click. When Gouda was fighting Hell Diablo, he prisoned her a couple
times. Because I already had this routine established, she was able to calmly tele
away and cast another orb.
IMPORTANT: If you follow my above suggestion, please, please practice this a LOT in
low-level non-critical situations until it is do-it-in-your-sleep second nature.
You do not want to forget and Left-Click to Orb a bunch of cows when in fact Orb is
on the right and TELE is on the left. Trust me on this one.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/skull.gif
*Merc-bombing is alot of fun. Pick a monster that's not surrounded, cannot one-hit
kill you, and is absolutely not FE. TP on top of unwary victim, then TP
away. Works great on fleeing guys in Kurast, just make sure they're not FI or FE
first. Please be smart about this HC, and only pick on stuff that's weaker than you
are. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

*(Blind) Teleport is not your friend. Regardless of the merits or hazards of Blind
Tele in Hell (HC), this is not really the build for it. Fastcast is not her main
priority, and she may or may not have a shield. Even in open areas, it's always
safer to click where you can see it's clear, rather than the edge of the screen. TP
in little hops, and watch you merc closely. If he goes into combat mode, don't keep
TPing in that direction. (SC, or HC with 00bur TP gear, proceed at you own risk, I
guess)

*Don't forget Telekinesis. I've never seen a character get slain by a barrel, but
why risk it?
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif In
places like the Claw Viper Temple, TKing the doors can literally be a lifesaver.
Evil Urns are also a prime candidate (be careful with this one, though—sometimes
those packs spawn away from the urn too). Shrines can be TKed. ''''Distance is no
object with Fire Shrines, you will still take the damage.'''' For additional fun,
TK into your stash, get waypoints, and rescue gold from burning buildings. You can
even TK the Ancients' little pedestal!
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/shuriken.gif

*Always position for optimal Orb destruction. CoonerTheRed's [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=45843 Disposa-Sorc]
guide is an excellent place to learn about the finer points of Orb tactics.

*For monster types that aren't FI or CI, get a feel for which element brings them
down faster. For example, ghost-type monsters are devastated by fire. Even in
Nightmare where they're not FI, a low-level Orb is more effective than a maxed
Enchant against Balrog-types. Swap often to maximize your dual-element approach.

*Gamble! It's been said before, but I'll say it again—gambling is an excellent way
to improve your gear selection. I always pick up stuff that has good potential for
value to sell. Plate armors (or any exept/elite armor), blue and rare, on high
level stuff even white can get you the max value when you sell it. Anything with
staff mods. Never go back to town empty-handed.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif Also,
remember that wands/orbs are an especially good deal because you can get the max
value for fewer squares of space. My favorite gambles are jewelry (always), gloves
and boots (space permitting), and if I am using a high-level character, I may take a
chance on other items that are on my wish-list. If you gamble a lot, you ''will''
see gold—Gouda gambled 36% Chancies to give to one of my other toons.
REMEMBER: Always gamble last before exiting (multiplayer, you should make a
separate, solo game) so that any uniques that spawn in the gambling screen don't
cause failed drops in-game. If you gamble and then go kill Baal, when he drops that
rare Hydra Bow you'll never know what might have been...
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif

*Take a little luck with you wherever you go (except Arreat Summit). I've found
that incorporating a little MF into everyday gear results in pleasant suprises.
Even just the 50% from Sigon's popular Boot/Belt/Glove combo makes a difference.
The key is to not sacrifice much, and play normally. I've found that my sorcies can
usually get 50-100 through NM without batting an eye. Gouda wore her 3 PTopaz
Breast Plate all the way to NM Plains of Despair, where she had the incredible
fortune to find a Skullder's Ire.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif After
that, well, she wore a Skullder's!
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif As I
mentioned earlier, this gal was ''unusually'' fortunate in her drops, even finding
her very own Demon Machine. A little extra MF without risking your neck is a good
thing.

*Work that Cube! I funnel all my clan's gems to one character who is responsible
for cubing them up/distributing as needed. Characters who travel in the highest
level areas save undesirable charms and reroll them with surplus PGems; Grand are
best for skills and up to 60 mana, Small are best for res, damage, FHR, and life.
The only thing that Large can surpass the per-slot benefit of Grand or Small on is
Str/Dex. Generally I stick with Grand and Small for cubing. There are a multitude
of other useful recipes out there—one really good-to-know thing I've learned
recently is that the 3 chipped gem + blue item recipe can net you much better mods
than the ilvl=25 rule would suggest, if you start with certain high-level elite
items. I'm not sure what all items are included in this, but it definitely
works with Sorc Orbs. So if a blue Demon Heart drops for you in the pits, save your
chippies and take a shot at rerolling it.

*Cube Some More! Crafting is a massive topic unto itself. Results vary, but
personally I've had the most useful results crafting Blood Gloves—gogo CB! Caster
items can have some useful mods, but generally I've had better results just gambling
rares. I've never gotten mods on any crafted piece of jewelry that could justify
the exorbitant level requirements, but some folks like them. If your merc is really
struggling, and you are really poor, Blood Helm and Blood Armor will get him a
little leech.

====Couple More Random Things:====

*Static range too small for comfort? Try Hwanin's Refuge—on your merc! My current
Orb Sorcie uses this on her Baba. He's already in the fray, so why not let him cast
it for you.

*Beware the teleporting FE boss. This guy is potentially more dangerous when
you're slumming. I had a L72 Orb Sorcie vaporize quite unexpectedly fighting NM
Council (SP-no lag). She was spamming Orbs at the Council Members an Orb's length
away, and near as I can tell, one of them TPed on top of her as she released another
Orb and... blooey.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif
Side note: My current philosophy on Eshield (every little helps) stems from this
event. She wasn't wearing hers... maybe she'd still be alive if she had been.

==Credits==

Relic, June 2006. Reprinted with permission from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=67289 this thread].

Gouda, the Orb/Ranged Enchantress

2006-07-13T20:37:03Z

Heather:

At the risk of sounding uppity (not meaning to), I thought I'd try to add my 2¢ to
the sum of knowledge maintained here at the Basin. Sort of an Almanac of one
Sorcie's trip from Rogue Camp to Guardian. Please feel free to point out any
errors, omissions etc. (Keep in mind that an extensive gear list wasn't an
omission, it's not really in the spirit of the thing.)

==Intro==

'''TWWFM, HMSFIH'''

I'm not real comfortable with the idea of calling this a guide, since it's just one
person's experience with one character. Let's just call it "'''T'''his '''W'''orked
'''W'''ell '''F'''or '''M'''e, '''H'''ope '''M'''aybe '''S'''omeone '''F'''inds
'''I'''t '''H'''elpful." Also, since I'm in Single Player, I can't really speak for
the majority (online) experience, though the only Single Player hocus-pocus used was
'/players 8' up to the end of NM.

Aaand, the definitive guide to Enchanting already
[http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=35763 exists], courtesy
MongoJerry, (along with a definitive guide for
[http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=65795
EnchantLESS]ing, courtesy SSoG). My character owes her success to a lot of fine
reading here at the Basin.

[/End Disclaimers]

==Orb/Ranged Enchantress==

This was actually my first Enchantress, but my most-played classes are Sorcies and
Bowazons, so you might say this character was the culmination of many (maa-
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif -aannny)
hours of D2. This was also my first HC Guardian.

Ironically, when I started her she was meant to retire in her sixties to a sedate
life of babysitting youngsters up to A5 Norm, where their skills would carry them on
their chosen path. Also, I figured in keeping with the theme she could open cow
portals for older characters.

Hence, I named her Gouda.]

]
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

I found this character to be extremely versatile and fun—so fun in fact, that I
never retired her, and played her all the way through to Guardian.

== Skills ==

''Hard Points:''

Fire: 
20 Warmth 
20 Enchant 
20 Fire Mastery 
(1 ea pre-reqs)

Cold: 
20 Orb 
(1 ea. pre-reqs) 
1 Cold Mastery 

Light: 
1 Static 
1 Telekinesis 
1 Teleport

(6 unspent points)

When Orbing, she has +5 to all skills.

She has L32 pre-buffed Enchant.

Because my original goals for this build were somewhat limited, she focused
exclusively on the Fire tree all the way up to max, only spending the 3 points in
the Light tree and casting Orb from an item (more on this in leveling).

My recommendation would be to get pre-reqs and 1-pointers in each tree as they come
available, placing one point in Orb and CM at 30, but focusing on maxing the fire
skills first. Building up Enchant makes you ''and'' your merc stronger. Warmth
'til 18, then Enchant 'til it's maxed, 1 Fire Mastery at 30, finish Warmth, max
Mastery.

Frozen Armor is another useful one-pointer to pick up along the way, especially HC.

Eshield takes 4 additional points to get, so whenever possible, I get it from items. Currently, all my sorcies run with some level of Eshield, and none of them have a
hard point in it, or extra points in TK.

As you approach A4 Nightmare, be conscious of where your orb is at. You will likely
want to be using it on NM Diablo, and Hell and FIs will be a concern soon. With
Gouda, I left a few points unspent before Diablo (Izual points help here) in case
she needed to bolster her Orb. She did fine with a L5ish Orb and CM.

By the time you enter Hell, your Fire Tree should be set, and all points going to
strengthen that Orb. Gouda was around L72 (recommended to get into 70s) when she
entered Hell.

After Orb, hmmm. I am still undecided on Gouda's own extra six points, Cold
Mastery, TK, a little more comfort range on Static; depends on what you feel needs a
little something extra.

==Gear==

When it comes to gear, there are a lot of thorough and knowledgeable guides out
there already, so in keeping with with the idea of a TWWFM (I pronounce it 'twuhfm'
personally
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif), I'm
mostly just going to talk about what she used and why it worked—not to say "use
this" or "this is the best" (often it's not)—but more for inspiration; ''work with
the gear that's available to you, you can do just fine with less than the best.''

I've found the most effective gear setups are those that evolve over time, carefully
tuned until everything works just right. Builds are a bit like racecars in that
regard—throw a bunch of L33T gear on them, and they may still drive pretty rough
until the bugs are all worked out.

Twinking—I'm uncertain about No-Twink, because there are a few key items that it
would be hard to do without. I may not be the best judge on this, though, since I'm
a devoted twinker. More power to you guys, you are amazing. I end up tearing my
hair out before the end of A1 Norm, just trying to decide which stuff to pick
up/drop. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/dizzy.gif

That said, I think she would do pretty well Low-Twink. Gouda made good use of alot
of low-mid level gear and the best of her end-game stuff she found herself. (I have
to say, she was the luckiest toon I have ever played. Not meaning most %MF, but the
sheer felicity of drops she got—more on this later)

===The Weapons===

One piece of gear I'll go into a little more depth on is the ranged weapon, since
that's the real biggie for this build.

Following are the weapons that offer the Explosive Arrow mod (henceforth ExArrow).
Get your hands on one of these. There are other bows out there, but the difference
between sending whole ''packs'' of monsters into hit recovery vs. just one is
''huge.''

'''Bow''' (ExArrow Level), Base Firing Rate for a Sorc, Lev. Available[/size]

'''Demon Machine''' (6), 12 Frames, L49
This is the good life, right here.
Fast (8% IAS will have you maxed at 11 frames), 66% Pierce, straight AR for your
Enchant to send through the roof, even a lil' extra mana for your utility spells.

'''Kuko Shakaku''' (7), 16 Frames, L33
I've not gotten to try this one, but it would certainly get the job done.
50% Pierce, extra fire damage for your Mastery to boost.
To reach 11 frames, this bow needs 65% AR vs. Demon's 8%.
OTOH, if you can pile on 102% IAS, it'll reach 10 frames. (no, I'm not recommending
this)

'''Raven Claw''' (3), 16 Frames, L15
If your baby sorc is anxious to start firing those ExArrows, this is the bow. It's
also the best option for low-low budget and easy availability. Maybe you could even
find one no-twink. A high level Enchant will turn this humble bow into a powerful
weapon. Gouda was still using hers to kill stuff dead in A1 Hell. ('til she killed
a skelly boss in the Crypt with it, and he kindly dropped her a Demon.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif)

'''Hellcast''' (5), 18 Frames, L27
Not unless you're trying to win a bet
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif
Jokes aside, the speed on this is just too slow for me.
If you're a patient person, and this is all you have, maybe give it a try.
You'll still be taking on the whole pack at once, so it might kill more quickly than
a faster bow without ExArrow. My inclination would be to just use a low Orb, and
let the merc deal the fire damage, tho.

===Two Runewords Worth a Mention===

'''"Leaf"''' - Tir, Ral
Shop a 2 socket, +3 Enchant staff from Normal Drognan, and add 6 levels of Enchant
at L19. +3 takes alot of patience, and the runes are cheap. Grab a +2 one when you
see it.

''' 'Memory"''' - Lum, Io, Sol, Eth
Starting in NM (maybe some late A5 Normal), keep an eye out for staves of the
Gnarled or Battle variety. These can have 4 sockets, and if the staff mods are
right, it'd be worth having Larzuk socket a white one. War-type staves can also
spawn with 4 sockets, but Larzuk will give you too many. Unlike Leaf, a Memory
staff with +2 or 3 inherent Enchant will also boost your Orb and CM by 3, as well as
give you a +6 Eshield and breathing room for your static.

Eventually (by Hell, at the latest) you'll probably want to get a shield—especially
HC, and stash the staff for buffing, but you can get pretty far with a good runeword
staff as a primary weapon.

===To Buff or Not To Buff===

You will need to decide on your personal threshold where buffing is concerned. I
don't consider myself to be especially patient, and I wasn't put off by Gouda's
5-piece routine, or the stash space that I gave up for it. If you develop a
specific routine you follow every time, letting each item you put down pick up the
next one you need to swap, it becomes habit and goes very fast.

Gouda pre-cast a L8 Eshield in addition to her L32 Enchant. Using a +2 All Sorc
Circlet helped expedite this (and it could just as easily have been L10 Eshld—I
never got around to twinking her a +3 Light ammy, so she was using a +1 that she
found). The Eshld didn't last nearly as long as the Enchant, and it depended where
I was in the game whether I would run without it for a little while or head back to
town. Either way, it's a friendly reminder that the clock is ticking.

''''DO'''' double-check to make sure you have got all your correct
offensive/defensive gear back on before venturing into the wilds. Don't find out
the hard way you were running around with negative res.

===And I Gotta Mention===

'''Magefist''', Level 23
20% FCR
25% Mana Regen
+1 Fire Skills

===Gear: Other Thoughts===

•Weapon swapping is a big part of this build. If you rely heavily on a shield for
resists, you'll be vulnerable every time you switch to bow. Try to get your resists
to a safe level without the shield. '''"Smoke"''' is good for this; rare jewelry
with resists; if you've got a '''Kira's''' (drool), I'm sure that would help.

•FCR is not a huge priority. Orb is timered and arrows don't care. A little fast
cast is good, for a quicker Tele and Static, but save the Wizzies for another build. The one other thing you might want a little fast cast for is spamming Glacial to
shatter corpses. If you have 0%, you may find you can't keep them frozen very well
in Hell.

•Two things Gouda lacked, but I would recommend having: leech and FHR. Leech would
have been a nice little fill'erup when she was in bolt/arrow mode. FHR would be a
Very Good Idea. She had very little FHR to speak of, and I had to be extremely
careful about getting hit at all. Sorcies are painfully slow on the uptake when
they've been hit hard, and without good FHR you can easily be trapped next to some
thug (let alone a fast-moving mob). Eshield was helpful to reduce the chance of
going into hit recovery, and I was able to cope by being careful about entering new
territory and using Tele to keep her bodyguard at her side. I would highly
recommend getting some 'balance' in your life.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif

Sorcie FHR Breaks:
'''Frames''' / ''FHR needed''
'''14''' / ''5''
'''13''' / ''9''
'''12''' / ''14''
'''11''' / ''20''
'''10''' / ''30''
'''9''' / ''42''
'''8''' / ''60''

==The Mercenary==

For a ranged character like this, I think the best results will be with a tank. I
went with NMA2 Holy Freeze (Defiance through Normal) for Gouda. While her Defiance
Merc was a little more durable, I really liked the idea of slowing the CI monsters
that her Orb couldn't touch. On Ladder, a Prayer/Insight would certainly make life
easier, and my L76 Orb Sorcie thinks her Baba and Ethereal Crainte Vomir are teh
besto (then again, she doesn't have access to a Prayer/Insight guy).

Blessed Aim and Thorns won't really do anything for this build. BA is made
superfluous by Enchant's huge bonus, and Thorns requires getting hit—something we
will be avoiding, thankyouverymuch.

Might will add some physical damage to the mix, but this's not really the build to
get optimal benefit from this guy. If the Fire Immunes are giving you grief, and
you think your merc should hit a little harder, you might give him a try, though.

==On With the TWWFM...==

I'll start with Gouda's end setup, and then include some key leveling points:

====Guardian Gouda, Level 86====

''Gear:''
Iratha's Set (complete)
Natalya's boots
Naj's Armor
Demon Machine
Rare +2 All Sorc Orb, 42 Mana, Res Fire 24
Rings-Dwarf Star/Magic Ring +78 mana, Regen +7
Visceratuant (PDiamond)

''In Stash for Buffing:''
Leaf Staff (+6 Enchant)
Circlet +2 All Sorc
Ammy +3 Fire
+3 Eshld orb
+1 Lightning Skill Ammy

''Stats with gear:''
Str: 98
Dex: 96
Vit: 290
Eng: 35

Life: 873
Mana: 325

Resists: 85/85/85/70
(on switch, poison dropped to 51, others held steady)

Damage* with Demon Machine + L32 Enchant: 4108-5154
AR: 4237

====Mizan (Holy Freeze Act 2), L86====

''Gear:''
Corpsemourn
Bonehew (Amn)
Rockstopper

Damage* with L32 Enchant + Holy Freeze: 2132-3924
(W/O Enchant+Freeze was 524-2010)

*According to LCS

Yep, she wore a Level 15 original D2 set to Guardian. Providing good resists, and
+max resists no matter which weapon slot she was using, (IAS, too) it served her
well. However, every slot this set occupies does negate using other potentially
great gear. Helm and Ammy, which could be devoted to nice +skill rares, Gloves
(Magefist), and belt (Razortail). If you can cover your resists ('Smoke' runeword
would be a good start, I think), there's plenty of better options skill-wise. Since
Gouda was buffing from her stash, the lack of +skills didn't affect her enchant, and
I found she could easily take out large mobs just with the pierce on the DM. Did I
mention +10 max resists? Really, I think the hardest thing to live with about this
set was actually the 3 row, non-upgradeable belt.

====Getting Started====

Gouda hit the ground running with a Hellforge Hammer
(didn't say NO cheese, did I?
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/whistling.gif)

At Level 11, she donned her
; Boot Camp Leveling Gear™
: Cathan's Mask
: Cathan's Rings X2
: Cathan's Armor
: Civerb's Icon
: Civerb's Ward
: Civerb's Cudgel
: Sigon's Gloves
: Sigon's Belt
: Sigon's Boots

I've tried a lot of different gear set-ups, and this is my outfit of choice for
toddler Sorcies. Until she gets those high-end spells, and has a grown-up mana
pool, the average Sorcie will spend a lot of time just hitting things. This is the
way to keep her safe and effective while she's doing it.

When equipped in the above order, it takes only 25 strength to wear the whole
ensemble. That means lottsa Vit, right off the bat.

You will also get:
Resists at 65/75/50/25
22% Life Leech http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif
40% Mana Regen
4% Life Regen
30% IAS
20% FRW
50% MF http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif
A weapon with scaling (+max per level) damage,
That does extra (250% total) damage to the often unleechable undead
Plus defense, AR, mana, a little extra blocking, a little fire damage...
AND 4 rows of belt space!!

This won't work well if you want a bow on switch, though. Without a substantial
investment in strength, every time you switch you will be partly n00d.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/blushing.gif OTOH,
'''Iratha's''' and '''Raven Claw''' are both available at L15... coincidence?

Gouda just kept an orb she found with Frozen Armor on switch, and cast it when there
weren't any monsters around to notice her immodesty.

At level 15, if you want to trade a little of that life leech for mana leech, just
make sure you've added 10 more to strength, and swap out one of the Cathan rings for
a '''Manald Heal'''.

''The Merc''

As soon as you reach Act 2, I recommend getting a Defiance (defensive) Merc. As you
have no minions to tank for you, keeping the Rogue will make life pretty tough, and
Duriel will be a Real Big Problem.

•Quick tip on Merc Gear- If you give him '''Sigon's''' Helm+Armor, you can focus on
damage/speed on his weapon and not worry about leech.

''Handy Cube Recipe:''
1 Staff + 1 Kris + 1 Belt + 1 Diamond = 1 Savage Polearm
(My first, impoverished, HC, untwinked Zon used this recipe, and got a great roll
first try... so great the merc couldn't equip it for another 8 levels!
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/dizzy.gif)

====Growing Up====

The way I decide that a Sorcie is ready to step out of her trainers is when she's no
longer swinging her weapon at all. Once she has spells full-time on the right- and
left- click, she's ready for a new outfit that will better support her skills. I
generally find this happens late 20s, definitely by 30. (single player, /players 8,
so YMMV) Make sure you have the necessary stat points ready to accommodate the new
gear.

For Gouda, I chose the following

''Gear:''

Irathas Set (complete)
Rare Battle Staff: +2Cold,+1CM,+2FO
Leaf Staff (+5 Enchant)
Breast Plate-3 Topaz (later Skullder's)
Boots-rare, resists
Rings-blue/rare, mana/resists

I've already outlined the benefits/drawbacks of Iratha's above, and it's a great
transitional option, even if you have better end game gear.

The Battle Staff was an incredibly lucky find by one of my other characters, and was
actually in part what sparked the idea for the build. I thought, with a staff like
that, I ought to be able to level a sorc pretty far, just using the orb off the
staff. At Level 37, a Memory staff with inherent Orb might have done even better.
The entirely more practical (and recommended) approach is to just spend the points
in the Cold Tree, and wear as much +Cold/+Skills as you can. A point each in Orb/CM
and a few +skills really will take you a very long way.

I kept the Leaf staff on switch at this point. Orb is plenty powerful, the Merc is
dishing the fire damage for you, life is easy. If you're anxious to get started
with the bow aspect, then unless you have a good Memory staff to boost Enchant and
Orb, you may want to start with the pre-buff routine. +2 Fire Circlets and Ammys
are available at L30, Magefists came in back at 23.

Even with all that warmth, mana will be a little tight at this stage. Less perhaps
if you're using the bow alot. Whenever I wasn't Orbing, I'd switch to Leaf for the
big boost to warmth. A couple good +mana items help here. I keep a muled
collection of the best +mana rings I find to help out my mana-hungry sorcies. I
swap them out for a better one whenever she meets the level requirement. If you're
lucky, maybe it'll have another nice mod. Even one of these will be a help.

; Mana Rings : Wyrm's/41-60/Level 22
: Great Wyrm's/61-90/Level 29
: Bahamut's/91-120/Level 37

The first two can also spawn rare, so it's possible to get some res along with your
mana.

''Merc''

If you have another source of leech for him, or can socket it with an Amn,
'''Hwanin's Justice''' makes a pretty good mid-level merc weapon. The Sigon's setup
will work for leech, but eventually you'll want to get him something better.
Gouda's merc used Hwanin's and I think '''Wormskull''' for the leech. A really nice
rare Light Plate dropped at some point, with 2 open sockets, 24 FHR and 28 Lightning
Res, and he wore that.

A2 Nightmare, she traded her Defiance Merc for Mizan the Holy Freeze Merc.

''The Bow''

Gouda got by with her 'borrowed' Orb and her rockin' merc until around NM Act 3 or
4. At that point, she took up '''Raven Claw''' with her Cold staff on switch, and
her buffing gear in the stash. If you have access to one of the better bows, then
definitely use it—if not, Raven Claw will do plenty well at this point.

''In Stash:''
Leaf (a shopped +6 gnarled staff)
Circlet +2 Fire
Ammy +3 Fire

In a perfect world, it would be a +3 circlet, but I've yet to see one.

====Once More Unto the Breach====

Gouda leveled on NM Baal and his minions until around 72, and made some more
fortifications to her defenses before entering Hell.

''New Gear:''

+2 cold skill Rare Orb (She now had hard points in FO/CM)
Visceratuant Shield (PDiamond)
Rare Chain Boots- 30 FRW, 28 CRes, 33LRes

New In Stash:
+3 Eshld orb
+1Light Ammy
+2 All Sorc Circlet

Her inventory was by this time jammed with the best res charms I could supply her.
And any time any of my characters find a res+fire charm, it automatically goes to
her.

Other than the '''Demon Machine''', which she found while leveling in A1, her gear
stayed pretty much the same from this point up to Hell Ancients, where she changed
to the end gear.

Also in A1 Hell, a '''Crown of Thieves''' dropped, and Mizan made use of that.

====If Life Is A Bowl Of Cherries...====

Once she reached the Outer Cloister, I used Pit runs to get Gouda into shape for her
journey through Hell. Even if you don't have tons of MF, don't despair—elite,
socketed items are useful too! And green/gold will still fall from time to time.
The Naj's Plate she used end game was found while leveling in the Pits.

If you find the Pits are still too harrowing at first, level awhile in the Crypt and
Mausoleum under Blood Raven's yard. Nothing but LI here, except any bosses that
spawn another immunity—Go get 'em tiger! Nice drops to be had, too. Gouda got her
Demon there, and my Necro found a Griffon's Eye once. (for the record: I now have
a Griffon's Eye that none of my toons know what to do with, and have yet to see a
single Vipermaji, Guillaume's, Laying Of Hands... not that I'm complaining, mind)

====And Speaking of the Drop Gods and Their Twisted Sense of Humor====

The first time progress really ground to a standstill was in Act 2, Tomb of Tal
Rasha. This unholy place spawned not one, not two, THREE CI/FI Bosses. (At least
they weren't all in the same room.) Now, she had encountered a lot of these
monsters already. I never noticed how many there were before. I'm pretty sure the
first time, she wasn't even out of Normal!

This was different. Two were Bloodlords, and the third was a Blunderbore. Their
regen rates were insane. A '''Bonehew''' had dropped in A2 Palace Cellar, but Mizan
needed more strength to equip it, so he was still using Hwanin's Justice. Static
the boss down to half, then watch as the life bar crept slowly back up. The first
Bloodlord, I went back and picked up some Rancid Gas that had dropped. I used it on
him while Mizan whittled away. He died. I cleared the entire rest of the Tomb, no
more Rancid Gas—coulda sworn I've seen these dropping all the time, hah. I realize
that I could have just ignored these guys and got on with it, but I'm stubborn—not
patient, just stubborn. So, on the way to Duriel, with Tyrael no doubt drumming his
fingers in the basement, she's running around on the Bloodmoor and Cold Plains,
killing everything in sight for Rancid Gas.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif

After this adventure (she did triumph, eventually), I added one more item to the
gear in her stash:

Rancid Gas Potion (x2 Stacks)

Of course Mizan was able to equip his Bonehew before too long, and the CI/FI Boss
was never an issue after that. PMH/OW or one good source of poison damage would
have avoided the entire episode, but she didn't have access to any PMH/OW options
that would work for her setup, and the poison she happened to have on charms was
negligible.

====Onward to Guardian====

Gouda donned a '''Dwarf Star Ring''' for fighting Diablo, took him out with Orb, and
won her ticket to Act 5, Hell. The biggest battle, the one that had been worrying
me since the decision to take her through Hell now loomed before her.

The Hell Ancients were indeed the toughest battle of the game. Prior to facing them
she switched to the End Gear listed at the beginning. The first attempt ended in a
stalemate, after many rerolls, in which it was down to Gouda vs. Korlic with 2
Ancients and one Merc dead. Exhausted, and nearly out of potions and bolts, she
cast a portal and called it a day with Korlic's bar at half. Attempt #2 was made
after reading some friendly Basin advice. Mizan was equipped with Rattlecage+Kelpie
Snare, and this made a big difference.
''Random Crazy Thought: Marrowwalks to BP the Ancients and take on one at a time.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/devil.gif 118 Str,
though, bit steep.''
Getting to the summit with the merc in that getup was harrowing, with monsters
constantly fleeing all over the place. I would greatly recommend going Guillaume's
and some other armor if you have the option.

The WSK also required several attempts to negotiate. The closest call was the
dreaded Hell WSK throne stairs. No monsters on-screen, but the merc moved
immediately to engage enemies just off-screen. A moment later, no merc, a wall of
Gloam Lightning coming at her, and charged-up Frenzytaurs all over the place.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif
Teleported out from in front of the mass of lightning, to the other side of the
wall, and ESC+Saved as more Frenzytaurs bore down on her. If this had been online,
even a little bit of lag here could have been the end of her.

Once the way to the throne was clear (a full clear, to have plenty of room to work
with), the Minions were all dispatched with relative efficiency, and Baal himself
was a pushover. After that experience with the stairs, though, I don't know that
she'll be doing any Baal runs any time soon.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif

Following her trip to Hawaii, Guardian Gouda is now back in her Skullder's, and
mixing it up in the River Of Flame, Travincal, The Pits, sometimes a little shopping
at Anya's... Life is good.
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

'''HMSFIH''',

Relic

Notation

2006-07-12T16:41:20Z

Heather: completed adding categories, added credits

This guide provides a fairly comprehensive list of abbreviations used in D2.

__TOC__

== Abbreviations in Alphabetical Order ==
'''3D:''' 3 Diamond Usually refers to a shield socketed with three perfect diamonds.
 '''A1, A2:''' Act 1, Act 2, etc.
 '''AB:''' Amazon Basin.
 '''ABM:''' Amazon Basin Member.
 '''afaic:''' As far as I'm concerned.
 '''afaics:''' As far as I can see.
 '''afaik:''' As far as I know.
 '''afk:''' Away from keyboard.
 '''Ali Baba:''' Blade of Ali Baba Exceptional Unique Tulwar.
 '''alvl:''' Affix Level.
 '''Ama:''' Amazon.
 '''Amp:''' Amplify Damage. Necro curse to reduce enemies' resistance to physical damage.
 '''Ancients (AW):''' The Ancients' Way in Act 5.
 '''Andy:''' Andariel. Act 1 super unique monster.
 '''AoE:''' Area of Effect.
 '''AR:''' Attack Rating.
 '''Arkaine's (Ark):''' Arkaine's Valor Elite Unique Balrog Skin.
 '''Arreat's:''' Arreat's Face Unique Slayer Guard.
 '''AS:''' Arreat Summit. Battle.net's website for D2.
 '''Asn (asa, assy):''' Assassin.
 '''Atlantean:''' The Atlantean Exceptional Unique Ancient Sword.
 '''Atma's:''' Atma's Scarab Unique Amulet.
 '''BA:''' Blessed Aim. A Paladin offensive aura.
 '''BA:''' Bone Armor. A Necromancer defensive skill on the Poison and Bone tree.
 '''Baba (Barb):''' Barbarian.
 '''Bane:''' Gladiator's Bane Elite Unique Wire Fleece.
 '''Baranar's (Banana):''' Baranar's Star Elite Unique Devil Star.
 '''Bartuc's (Barts):''' Bartuc's Cut-Throat Unique Greater Talons.
 '''Basher:''' The Cranium Basher Elite Unique Thunder Maul.
 '''BC (BCry):''' Battle Cry. A Barbarian warcry to decrease an enemy's damage and defense.
 '''BC (BCom):''' Battle Command. A Barbarian warcry to increase skill levels.
 '''BG:''' Blood Golem.
 '''BH:''' Blessed Hammer. An attack skill on the Paladin Combat tree.
 '''BK:''' Bul-Kathos. Usually refers to the Bul-Kathos set items, or the unique Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band Ring.
 '''BM:''' Bad Manners.
 '''B.net (Bnet):''' Battle Net. Blizzard's game server for Diablo II.
 '''BO:''' Battle Orders. Barbarian warcry to increase life and mana.
 '''BoI:''' Blades of Ice.
 '''BoS:''' Burst of Speed.
 '''BP:''' Bone Prison. A Necromancer skill on the Poison and Bone tree.
 '''brb:''' Be right back.
 '''brt:''' Be right there.
 '''btc:''' Back to channel.
 '''BS:''' Blade Shield.
 '''BS:''' Bone Spirit. A Necromancer attack skill.
 '''btw:''' By the way.
 '''Burrito (Buriza):''' Buriza-Do Kyanon Exceptional Unique Ballista.
 '''BW:''' Bone Wall. A Necromancer skill on the Poison and Bone tree.
 '''Cat 2:''' Catacombs Level 2 in Act 1.
 '''CB:''' Charged Bolt. Sorceress lighting tree attack skill.
 '''C/C:''' Claw/Claw. Refers to an Assassin wielding dual claws.
 '''CBF:''' Cannot be frozen.
 '''CCB:''' Cruel Colossus Blade.
 '''CCS:''' Cruel Colossus Sword.
 '''CB:''' Crushing Blow.
 '''CE:''' Cold Enchanted.
 '''CE:''' Corpse Explosion. A Necromancer attack skill on the Poison and Bone tree.
 '''CG:''' Clay Golem.
 '''cg (grats):''' Congratulations.
 '''Chan?:''' Go to channel.
 '''Char:''' Character.
 '''CI:''' Cold Immune.
 '''CKN (Chu):''' Chu-ko-nu. Often refers specifically to the Demon Machine Exceptional Unique Chu-ko-nu Crossbow.
 '''CL:''' Chain Lightning. Sorceress lightning tree attack skill.
 '''clvl:''' Character Level.
 '''CM:''' Claw Mastery.
 '''CM:''' Cold Mastery.
 '''CM:''' Community Member. Any participant in the Amazon Basin community.
 '''Conc:''' Concentration. A Paladin offensive aura to increase physical damage.
 '''Conv:''' Conviction. A Paladin offensive aura to reduce enemy resistances.
 '''CoS:''' Cloak of Shadows.
 '''CoT:''' Claws of Thunder.
 '''CP:''' Crystalline Passage in Act 5.
 '''CR:''' Cold resistance.
 '''Crit:''' Critical Strike.
 '''Cranium (C basher):''' The Cranium Basher Elite Unique Thunder Maul.
 '''C/S:''' Claw/Shield. Refers to an Assassin using a claw and shield.
 '''CS:''' Chaos Sanctuary in Act 4.
 '''CS:''' Cobra Strike.
 '''CS:''' Critical Strike.
 '''CTH:''' Chance to Hit.
 '''CU:''' Cursed.
 '''Cube:''' The Horadric Cube.
 '''cya:''' See you.
 '''D2:''' Diablo II.
 '''D2M:''' Damage to Mana.
 '''dii:''' dii.net. A D2 reference and forum site.
 '''D/A/E:''' Dodge/Avoid/Evade. Trio of Amazon defensive skills from the Passive and Magic skill tree.
 '''DC:''' Dragon Claw.
 '''Decrep:''' Decrepify. A Necromancer curse that slows and weakens.
 '''Def:''' Defense.
 '''DEX:''' Dexterity.
 '''DF:''' Dragon Flight.
 '''ding:''' Player announcing they've just leveled.
 '''Dmg:''' Damage.
 '''Doombringer (Doom):''' Doombringer Elite Unique Champion Sword.
 '''DR (DR%):''' Damage Reduced. Items with this mod reduce physical damage.
 '''Dru (droolid):''' Druid.
 '''DS:''' Deadly Strike.
 '''DS:''' Death Sentry.
 '''DT:''' Dragon Tail.
 '''Dur 2:''' Durance of Hate Level 2 in Act 3.
 '''Eagle (Eaglehorn):''' Eaglehorn Elite Unique Crusader Bow.
 '''ED:''' Enhanced Damage. A mod that increases physical damage.
 '''ED:''' Enhanced Defense. A mod that increases defense on an item.
 '''ED/IAS:''' Enhanced Damage/IAS. Typically refers to a rare combination of mods on a jewel.
 '''ENE:''' Energy.
 '''EF:''' Extra Fast.
 '''ES:''' Energy Shield. Sorceress lightning tree defensive skill.
 '''ES:''' Extra Strong.
 '''Eth:''' Ethereal.
 '''EXP:''' Experience.
 '''Eye (EoE):''' Eye of Etlitch Unique Amulet.
 '''FA:''' Freezing Arrow. An attack skill on the Amazon Bow and Crossbow skill tree.
 '''Face:''' Arreat's Face Unique Slayer Guard.
 '''Fana:''' Fanaticism. A Paladin offensive aura to increase attack speed and physical damage.
 '''FB:''' Fireball. Sorceress fire tree attack skill.
 '''FBR:''' Faster block rate.
 '''FC:''' Fire Claws. A Druid shape shifting skill.
 '''FCR:''' Faster cast rate.
 '''FE:''' Fire Enchanted.
 '''FG:''' Fire Golem.
 '''FHR:''' Faster hit recovery.
 '''FI:''' Fire Immune.
 '''Fists:''' Magefist Unique Light Gauntlets.
 '''FN:''' Frost Nova. Sorceress cold tree attack skill.
 '''FoH:''' Fist of the Heavens. An attack skill on the Paladin Combat tree.
 '''FoF:''' Fists of Fire. An Assassin attack skill on the martial arts tree.
 '''FO:''' Frozen Orb. (Sometimes called just "Orb.") Sorceress cold tree attack skill.
 '''fps:''' Frames per second.
 '''FR:''' Feral Rage. A Druid shape shifting skill.
 '''FR:''' Fire Resistance.
 '''Frosties:''' Frostburn Unique Gauntlets.
 '''FRW:''' Faster Run/Walk.
 '''FW:''' Firewall. Sorceress fire tree attack skill.
 '''GA:''' Guided Arrow.
 '''Gaze:''' Vampiregaze Exceptional Unique Grim Helm.
 '''gc:''' Grand charm.
 '''gg:''' Good game.
 '''gfi:''' Go for it.
 '''gj:''' Good job.
 '''Grandfather (gf):''' The Grandfather Elite Unique Colossus Blade.
 '''GS:''' Glacial Spike. Sorceress cold tree attack skill.
 '''GSA:''' Goldstrike Arch Exceptional Unique Gothic Bow.
 '''gtg:''' Good to go (or Got to go).
 '''Gull:''' Gull Unique Dagger.
 '''H:''' Hell. Typically abbreviated with an Act abbreviation (A2 H), or a Basin game name (abasinhch). The third and last level of difficulty in Diablo II.
 '''Harley:''' Harlequin Crest Elite Unique Shako.
 '''HB:''' Holy Bolt. A Paladin combat skill.
 '''hc:''' Hard Core.
 '''HCMTF:''' Hit Causes Monster to Flee.
 '''Hellslayer:''' Hellslayer Elite Unique Decapitator.
 '''Heph:''' Hephasto the Armorer. Act 4 super unique monster.
 '''HF:''' Holy Freeze. A Paladin offensive aura to chill enemies.
 '''HoBL:''' Hand of Blessed Light Unique Divine Scepter.
 '''Homunculus:''' Homunculus Unique Hierophant Trophy.
 '''Horn (Eaglehorn):''' Eaglehorn Elite Unique Crusader Bow.
 '''Hot:''' Warning that a portal is dangerous to enter.
 '''HoW:''' Heart of Wolverine. A Druid summoning skill.
 '''HoZ:''' Herald Of Zakarum Unique Gilded Shield.
 '''HP:''' Hit Points.
 '''HS:''' Holy Shield. A Paladin combat skill to boost shield characteristics.
 '''HS:''' Holy Shock.
 '''Jalal's:''' Jalal's Mane Unique Totemic Mask.
 '''IAS:''' Increased Attack Speed.
 '''ID:''' Identify.
 '''IG:''' Iron Golem.
 '''IIRC:''' If I recall correctly.
 '''IK Maul:''' Immortal King's Stone Crusher Set Ogre Maul.
 '''ilvl:''' Item Level.
 '''IMHO:''' In my humble opinion.
 '''Immo:''' Immolation Arrow. An attack skill on the Amazon Bow and Crossbow tree.
 '''IMO:''' In my opinion.
 '''Ire:''' Skullder's Ire Exceptional Unique Russet Armor.
 '''IS:''' Iron Skin. A Barbarian mastery to increase defense.
 '''ITD:''' Ignore Target Defense.
 '''Izzy:''' Izual. Act 4 super unique monster.
 '''j/k:''' Just kidding.
 '''k:''' Okay.
 '''KB:''' Knockback.
 '''l337:''' Elite.
 '''LA:''' Leap Attack.
 '''lc: ''' Large charm.
 '''LE:''' Lightning Enchanted.
 '''LEB:''' Lightning Enchanted Boss.
 '''LEM:''' Lightning Enchanted monster.
 '''LF:''' Lightning Fury. A skill on the Amazon Javelin and Spear tree.
 '''LI:''' Lightning Immune.
 '''Lidless:''' Lidless Wall Exceptional Unique Grim Shield.
 '''Lightsabre:''' Lightsabre Elite Unique Phase Blade.
 '''LL:''' Life Leech.
 '''LM:''' Lightning Mastery.
 '''LoD:''' Lord of Destruction. The Diablo II expansion.
 '''LoH:''' Laying of Hands Disciple Set Bramble Mitts.
 '''LOL:''' Laughs out loud.
 '''LR:''' Lightning resistance.
 '''LR:''' Lower Resist. Necro curse to reduce enemies' magic resistance.
 '''LS:''' Lightning Sentry.
 '''LS:''' Lightning Strike. A skill on the Amazon Javelin and Spear tree.
 '''Lyc:''' Lycander's Aim Unique Ceremonial Bow.
 '''MA:''' Martial Arts. Usually a description for an Assassin type of build, or reference to one of the Assassin skill trees.
 '''Mara's:''' Mara's Kaleidoscope Unique Amulet.
 '''Mat:''' Matriarchal bow.
 '''MB:''' Mana Burn.
 '''MDR:''' Magic Damage Reduced. Items with this mod reduce magical damage.
 '''Meph:''' Mephisto. Act 3 super unique monster.
 '''Merc:''' Mercenary.
 '''MF:''' Magic Find.
 '''MI:''' Magic Immune.
 '''ML:''' Mana Leech.
 '''mlvl:''' Monster Level.
 '''Mod:''' Modifier. Adds a characteristic to an item such as a weapon or charm.
 '''Mod:''' Moderator. An Amazon Basin member responsible for moderating a forum or channel.
 '''Moser's:''' Moser's Blessed Circle Exceptional Unique Round Shield.
 '''MP:''' Market Place. Trading site for D2 at market.diabloii.net.
 '''MP:''' Multi-Player.
 '''MPK:''' Mana per kill.
 '''MR:''' Magic Resistant.
 '''MS:''' Multiple Shot. An attack skill on the Amazon Bow and Crossbow tree.
 '''MS:''' Multi-Shot. A mod available to boss monsters.
 '''MSLE (MSLEB):''' Multi-Shot Lightning Enchanted.
 '''nbd:''' No big deal.
 '''Nec (necro):''' Necromancer.
 '''newb:''' Newbie.
 '''ng:''' New game.
 '''NM:''' Nightmare. The second level of difficulty in Diablo II.
 '''nm (nvm):''' Never mind.
 '''n00b:''' Newbie.
 '''Norm:''' Normal. Usually refers to the first level of difficulty in Diablo II.
 '''NR:''' Natural Resistance. A Barbarian mastery to increase resistance to magic damage.
 '''NRG:''' Energy.
 '''Oak:''' Oak Sage. A Druid summoning skill.
 '''Occy (Oculus):''' The Oculus Unique Swirling Crystal.
 '''OK:''' Oblivion Knight.
 '''OMG:''' Oh my god.
 '''OTOH:''' On the other hand.
 '''Pally (Pali):''' Paladin.
 '''PDR:''' Physical Damage Reduction.
 '''PI:''' Physical Immune. A monster immune to physical damage attack.
 '''PK:''' Player Killer.
 '''PKK:''' Player Killer Killer. A player who kills player killers.
 '''PN:''' Poison Nova. A Necromancer skill on the Poison and Bone tree.
 '''PR:''' Poison resistance.
 '''PS:''' Phoenix Strike.
 '''PvM:''' Player versus Monster.
 '''PvP:''' Player versus Player.
 '''PW:''' Password.
 '''r:''' Ready. This is the standard signal among players in a group before triggering a monster urn/shrine or entering a particularly treacherous area.
 '''Reaver (Messy Reaver):''' Messerschmidt's Reaver Elite Unique Champion Axe.
 '''Req:''' Requirement.
 '''res:''' Resurrect.
 '''rl:''' Real life.
 '''RoF:''' Rate of Fire.
 '''RoF:''' River of Flame in Act 4.
 '''ROFL:''' Rolling on the floor laughing.
 '''sc:''' Small charm.
 '''sc:''' Soft core.
 '''Schaefer's:''' Schaefer's Hammer Elite Unique Legendary Mallet.
 '''SD:''' Shadow Disciplines. One of the Assassin skill trees.
 '''Sec:''' Hang on a second.
 '''SF:''' Static Field. Sorceress lighting tree attack skill.
 '''Shaft:''' Shaftstop Exceptional Unique Mesh Armor.
 '''Shako:''' Harlequin Crest Elite Unique Shako. (Technically, a Shako is the entire class of elite Shako helms, but the term almost always refers to its Unique version.)
 '''Silks:''' Silks of the Victor Unique Ancient Armor.
 '''Sin (Sinner):''' Assassin.
 '''Skullder's:''' Skullder's Ire Exceptional Unique Russet Armor.
 '''Slow:''' Slows Target. Item mod that slows enemies.
 '''slvl:''' Skill Level.
 '''SM (Master):''' Shadow Master.
 '''SM:''' Slow Missiles. A skill on the Amazon Passive and Magic tree.
 '''SoJ:''' Stone of Jordan Unique Ring.
 '''Sorc (socer):''' Sorceress.
 '''SH (Spec):''' Spectral Hit.
 '''SP:''' Single Player. Usually refers to single-player mode of Diablo II.
 '''Spear:''' Bone Spear. A Necromancer attack skill.
 '''Spike:''' Wizardspike Elite Unique Bone Knife.
 '''Spirit:''' Bone Spirit. A Necromancer attack skill.
 '''SS:''' Stone Skin.
 '''S/S:''' Sword/Shield.
 '''SS (Storm):''' Stormshield Elite Unique Monarch Shield.
 '''Stormspire:''' Stormspire Elite Unique Giant Thresher.
 '''STR:''' Strength.
 '''String (SoE):''' String of Ears Exceptional Unique Demonhide Sash.
 '''SW (Warrior):''' Shadow Warrior.
 '''SW:''' Shock Wave. A Druid shape shifting skill.
 '''Tal's Orb:''' Tal Rasha's Lidless Eye Set Swirling Crystal.
 '''Tarn:''' Tarnhelm Unique Skull Cap.
 '''TE (Tele):''' Teleport.
 '''thx:''' Thanks.
 '''TGod (TGV):''' Thundergod's Vigor Exceptional Unique War Belt.
 '''Tiamat's:''' Tiamat's Rebuke Exceptional Unique Dragon Shield.
 '''Titan's:''' Titan's Revenge Unique Ceremonial Javelin.
 '''TK:''' Telekinesis.
 '''TP:''' Town Portal.
 '''TP:''' Teleport. A Sorceress skill on the lightning tree.
 '''TPJ:''' Thomas Penfield Jackson. Founder of the Amazon Basin.
 '''Trav:''' Travincal in Act 3.
 '''TS:''' Thunderstorm. Sorceress lighting tree attack skill.
 '''TS:''' Tiger Strike.
 '''ttyl:''' Talk to you later.
 '''Tucs:''' Bartuc's Cut-Throat Unique Greater Talons.
 '''Twitch:''' Twitchthroe Unique Studded Leather Armor.
 '''ty:''' Thank you.
 '''tyt:''' Take your time.
 '''tyvm:''' Thank you very much.
 '''Ume's:''' Ume's Lament Unique Grave Wand.
 '''Valk:''' Valkyrie. A skill on the Amazon Passive and Magic tree.
 '''Valor:''' Arkaine's Valor Elite Unique Balrog Skin.
 '''Vamp:''' Vampiregaze Exceptional Unique Grim Helm.
 '''VIT:''' Vitality.
 '''w8:''' Wait.
 '''wb:''' Welcome back.
 '''WC:''' War Cry. A Barbarian warcry.
 '''WF (Windforce):''' Windforce Elite Unique Hydra Bow.
 '''Wizardspike:''' Wizardspike Elite Unique Bone Knife.
 '''WoF:''' Wake of Fire.
 '''WoI:''' Wake of Inferno.
 '''Wote (WOE):''' Wall of the Eyeless Unique Bone Shield.
 '''WP:''' Waypoint.
 '''WSK (WK2):''' Worldstone Keep Level 2 in Act 5.
 '''WT:''' WeaselTech.
 '''WB:''' WereBear. A Druid shape shifting skill.
 '''WW:''' WereWolf. A Druid shape shifting skill.
 '''WW:''' Whirlwind. A Barbarian combat skill.
 '''WWS:''' Witchwild String Exceptional Unique Short Siege Bow.
 '''YMMV:''' Your mileage may vary.
 '''y:''' Yes.
 '''yw:''' You're welcome.
 '''Zerk:''' Berzerk. A Barbarian combat skill.
 '''Zon:''' Amazon.

== Abbreviations by Category ==

=== Amazon Basin Abbreviations ===

'''ABM:''' Amazon Basin Member.
 '''CM:''' Community Member. Any participant in the Amazon Basin community.
 '''TPJ:''' Thomas Penfield Jackson. Founder of the Amazon Basin.
 '''WT:''' WeaselTech.

=== Conversational Abbreviations ===

'''afaic:''' As far as I'm concerned.
 '''afaics:''' As far as I can see.
 '''afaik:''' As far as I know.
 '''afk:''' Away from keyboard.
 '''brb:''' Be right back.
 '''brt:''' Be right there.
 '''btc:''' Back to channel.
 '''btw:''' By the way.
 '''Chan?:''' Go to channel.
 '''cg (grats):''' Congratulations.
 '''cya:''' See you.
 '''ding:''' Player announcing they've just leveled.
 '''gfi:''' Go for it.
 '''gg:''' Good game.
 '''gj:''' Good job.
 '''gtg:''' Good to go (or Got to go).
 '''j/k:''' Just kidding.
 '''IIRC:''' If I recall correctly.
 '''IMHO:''' In my humble opinion.
 '''IMO:''' In my opinion.
 '''k:''' Okay.
 '''LOL:''' Laughs out loud.
 '''nbd:''' No big deal.
 '''ng:''' New game.
 '''nm (nvm):''' Never mind.
 '''np:''' No problem.
 '''OMG:''' Oh my god.
 '''OTOH:''' On the other hand.
 '''r:''' Ready. This is the standard signal among players in a group before triggering a monster urn/shrine or entering a particularly treacherous area.
 '''rl:''' Real life.
 '''ROFL:''' Rolling on the floor laughing.
 '''Sec:''' Hang on a second.
 '''thx:''' Thanks.
 '''ttyl:''' Talk to you later.
 '''ty:''' Thank you.
 '''tyt:''' Take your time.
 '''tyvm:''' Thank you very much.
 '''w8:''' Wait.
 '''wb:''' Welcome back.
 '''YMMV:''' Your mileage may vary.
 '''y:''' Yes.
 '''yw:''' You're welcome.

=== In-Game Abbreviations ===

'''Ancients (AW):''' The Ancients' Way in Act 5.
 '''BA:''' Blessed Aim.
 '''BO:''' Battle Orders. Barbarian warcry to increase life and mana.
 '''Cat 2:''' Catacombs Level 2 in Act 1.
 '''CE:''' Cold Enchanted.
 '''CI:''' Cold Immune.
 '''Conv:''' Conviction.
 '''CP:''' Crystalline Passage in Act 5.
 '''CS:''' Chaos Sanctuary in Act 4.
 '''CU:''' Cursed.
 '''Dur 2:''' Durance of Hate Level 2 in Act 3.
 '''EF:''' Extra Fast.
 '''ES:''' Extra Strong.
 '''Fana:''' Fanaticism.
 '''FE:''' Fire Enchanted.
 '''FI:''' Fire Immune.
 '''HS:''' Holy Shock.
 '''LE:''' Lightning Enchanted.
 '''LEB:''' Lightning Enchanted Boss.
 '''LI:''' Lightning Immune.
 '''MB:''' Mana Burn.
 '''MI:''' Magic Immune.
 '''MR:''' Magic Resistant.
 '''MS:''' Multi-Shot. A mod available to boss monsters.
 '''MSLE (MSLEB):''' Multi-Shot Lightning Enchanted.
 '''PI:''' Physical Immune. A monster immune to physical damage attack.
 '''r:''' Ready. This is the standard signal among players in a group before triggering a monster urn/shrine or entering a particularly treacherous area.
 '''RoF:''' River of Flame in Act 4.
 '''SH (Spec):''' Spectral Hit.
 '''TE (Tele):''' Teleport.
 '''TP:''' Town Portal.
 '''Trav:''' Travincal in Act 3.
 '''WP:''' Waypoint.
 '''WSK (WK2):''' Worldstone Keep Level 2 in Act 5.

=== Amazon Abbreviations ===

'''Ama:''' Amazon.
 '''CS:''' Critical Strike. Damage enhancing skill on the Passive and Magic tree.
 '''D/A/E:''' Dodge/Avoid/Evade. Trio of Amazon defensive skills from the Passive and Magic tree.
 '''FA:''' Freezing Arrow. An attack skill on the Amazon Bow and Crossbow tree.
 '''GA:''' Guided Arrow. An attack skill on the Amazon Bow and Crossbow tree.
 '''Immo:''' Immolation Arrow. An attack skill on the Bow and Crossbow tree.
 '''LF:''' Lightning Fury. A skill on the Amazon Javelin and Spear tree.
 '''LS:''' Lightning Strike. A skill on the Amazon Javelin and Spear tree.
 '''MS:''' Multiple Shot. An attack skill on the Amazon Bow and Crossbow tree.
 '''SM:''' Slow Missiles. A skill on the Amazon Passive and Magic tree.
 '''Valk:''' Valkyrie. A skill on the Amazon Passive and Magic tree.
 '''Zon:''' Amazon.

=== Assassin Abbreviations ===

'''Asn (asa, assy):''' Assassin.
 '''BS:''' Blade Shield.
 '''BoI:''' Blades of Ice.
 '''BoS:''' Burst of Speed.
 '''C/C:''' Claw/Claw. Refers to an Assassin wielding dual claws.
 '''C/S:''' Claw/Shield. Refers to an Assassin using a claw and shield.
 '''CM:''' Claw Mastery.
 '''CoS:''' Cloak of Shadows.
 '''CoT:''' Claws of Thunder.
 '''CS:''' Cobra Strike.
 '''DC:''' Dragon Claw.
 '''DF:''' Dragon Flight.
 '''DS:''' Death Sentry.
 '''DT:''' Dragon Tail.
 '''FoF:''' Fists of Fire.
 '''LS:''' Lightning Sentry.
 '''MA:''' Martial Arts. Usually a reference either to an Assassin type of build, or reference to one of the Assassin skill trees.
 '''PS:''' Phoenix Strike.
 '''SD:''' Shadow Disciplines. One of the Assassin skill trees.
 '''Sin (Sinner):''' Assassin.
 '''SM (Master):''' Shadow Master.
 '''SW (Warrior):''' Shadow Warrior.
 '''TS:''' Tiger Strike.
 '''WoF:''' Wake of Fire.
 '''WoI:''' Wake of Inferno.

=== Barbarian Abbreviations ===

'''Baba (Barb):''' Barbarian.
 '''BC (BCry):''' Battle Cry. A Barbarian warcry to decrease an enemy's damage and defense.
 '''BC (BCom):''' Battle Command. A Barbarian warcry to increase skill levels.
 '''BO:''' Battle Orders. Barbarian warcry to increase life and mana.
 '''IS:''' Iron Skin. A Barbarian mastery to increase defense.
 '''LA:''' Leap Attack.
 '''NR:''' Natural Resistance. A Barbarian mastery to increase resistance to magic damage.
 '''S/S:''' Sword/Shield.
 '''WC:''' War Cry. A Barbarian warcry.
 '''WW:''' Whirlwind. A Barbarian combat skill.
 '''Zerk:''' Berzerk. A Barbarian combat skill.

=== Druid Abbreviations ===

'''FC:''' Fire Claws. A Druid shape shifting skill.
 '''FR:''' Feral Rage. A Druid shape shifting skill.
 '''HoW:''' Heart of Wolverine. A Druid summoning skill.
 '''Oak:''' Oak Sage. A Druid summoning skill.
 '''SW:''' Shock Wave. A Druid shape shifting skill.
 '''WB:''' WereBear. A Druid shape shifting skill.
 '''WW:''' WereWolf. A Druid shape shifting skill.

=== Necromancer Abbreviations ===

'''Amp:''' Amplify Damage. A curse to reduce enemies' resistance to physical damage.
 '''BA:''' Bone Armor. A Necromancer defensive skill on the Poison and Bone tree.
 '''BG:''' Blood Golem.
 '''BP:''' Bone Prison. A Necromancer skill on the Poison and Bone tree.
 '''BS:''' Bone Spirit. A Necromancer attack skill.
 '''BW:''' Bone Wall. A Necromancer skill on the Poison and Bone tree.
 '''CE:''' Corpse Explosion. A Necromancer attack skill on the Poison and Bone tree.
 '''CG:''' Clay Golem.
 '''Decrep:''' Decrepify. A Necromancer curse that slows and weakens.
 '''FG:''' Fire Golem.
 '''IG:''' Iron Golem.
 '''IM:''' Iron Maiden. A curse that magnifies and returns damage inflicted.
 '''LR:''' Lower Resist. A Necromancer curse to reduce enemies' magic resistance.
 '''Nec (necro):''' Necromancer.
 '''PN:''' Poison Nova. A Necromancer skill on the Poison and Bone tree.
 '''Spear:''' Bone Spear. A Necromancer attack skill.
 '''Spirit:''' Bone Spirit. A Necromancer attack skill.

=== Paladin Abbreviations ===

'''BA:''' Blessed Aim. A Paladin offensive aura.
 '''BH:''' Blessed Hammer. An attack skill on the Paladin Combat tree.
 '''Conc:''' Concentration. A Paladin offensive aura to increase physical damage.
 '''Conv:''' Conviction. A Paladin offensive aura to reduce enemy resistances.
 '''Fana:''' Fanaticism. A Paladin offensive aura to increase attack speed and physical damage.
 '''FoH:''' Fist of the Heavens. An attack skill on the Paladin Combat tree.
 '''HB:'''''' Holy Bolt. A Paladin combat skill.
 '''HF:''' Holy Freeze. A Paladin offensive aura to chill enemies.
 '''HS:''' Holy Shield. A Paladin combat skill to boost shield characteristics.
 '''Pally (Pali):''' Paladin.

=== Sorceress Abbreviations ===

'''CB:''' Charged Bolt. Sorceress lighting tree attack skill.
 '''CL:''' Chain Lightning. Sorceress lightning tree attack skill.
 '''CM:''' Cold Mastery.
 '''ES:''' Energy Shield. Sorceress lightning tree defensive skill.
 '''FB:''' Fireball. Sorceress fire tree attack skill.
 '''FN:''' Frost Nova. Sorceress cold tree attack skill.
 '''FM:''' Fire Mastery.
 '''FO:''' Frozen Orb. (Sometimes called just "Orb.") Sorceress cold tree attack skill.
 '''FW:''' Firewall. Sorceress fire tree attack skill.
 '''GS:''' Glacial Spike. Sorceress cold tree attack skill.
 '''LM:''' Lightning Mastery.
 '''Sorc (socer):''' Sorceress.
 '''SF:''' Static Field. Sorceress lighting tree attack skill.
 '''Tele:''' Teleport.
 '''TK:''' Telekinesis.
 '''TS:''' Thunderstorm. Sorceress lighting tree attack skill.

=== Statistical Abbreviations ===

'''alvl:''' Affix Level.
 '''AR:''' Attack Rating.
 '''clvl:''' Character Level.
 '''CTH:''' Chance to Hit.
 '''Def:''' Defense.
 '''DR (DR%):''' Damage Reduced. Items with this mod reduce physical damage.
 '''ED:''' Enhanced Damage. A mod that increases physical damage.
 '''ED:''' Enhanced Defense. A mod that increases defense on an item.
 '''ilvl:''' Item Level.
 '''mlvl:''' Monster Level.
 '''PDR:''' Physical Damage Reduction.
 '''slvl:''' Skill Level.

=== Item Abbreviations ===

'''Ali Baba:''' Blade of Ali Baba Exceptional Unique Tulwar.
 '''Arkaine's (Ark):''' Arkaine's Valor Elite Unique Balrog Skin.
 '''Arreat's:''' Arreat's Face Unique Slayer Guard.
 '''Atma's:''' Atma's Scarab Unique Amulet.
 '''Atlantean:''' The Atlantean Exceptional Unique Ancient Sword.
 '''Bane:''' Gladiator's Bane Elite Unique Wire Fleece.
 '''Baranar's (Banana):''' Baranar's Star Elite Unique Devil Star.
 '''Bartuc's (Barts):''' Bartuc's Cut-Throat Unique Greater Talons.
 '''Basher:''' The Cranium Basher Elite Unique Thunder Maul.
 '''BK:''' Bul-Kathos. Usually refers to the Bul-Kathos set items, or the unique Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band Ring.
 '''Burrito (Buriza):''' Buriza-Do Kyanon Exceptional Unique Ballista.
 '''CCB:''' Cruel Colossus Blade.
 '''CCS:''' Cruel Colossus Sword.
 '''CKN (Chu):''' Chu-ko-nu. Often refers specifically to the Demon Machine Exceptional Unique Chu-ko-nu Crossbow.
 '''Cranium (C basher):''' The Cranium Basher Elite Unique Thunder Maul.
 '''Doombringer (Doom):''' Doombringer Elite Unique Champion Sword.
 '''Eagle (Eaglehorn):''' Eaglehorn Elite Unique Crusader Bow.
 '''Eye (EoE): ''' Eye of Etlitch Unique Amulet.
 '''Face:''' Arreat's Face Unique Slayer Guard.
 '''Fists:''' Magefist Unique Light Gauntlets.
 '''Frosties:''' Frostburn Unique Gauntlets.
 '''Gaze:''' Vampiregaze Exceptional Unique Grim Helm.
 '''gc:''' Grand charm.
 '''Grandfather (gf):''' The Grandfather Elite Unique Colossus Blade.
 '''GSA:''' Goldstrike Arch Exceptional Unique Gothic Bow.
 '''Gull:''' Gull Unique Dagger.
 '''Harley:''' Harlequin Crest Elite Unique Shako.
 '''Hellslayer:''' Hellslayer Elite Unique Decapitator.
 '''HoBL:''' Hand of Blessed Light Unique Divine Scepter.
 '''Homunculus:''' Homunculus Unique Hierophant Trophy.
 '''Horn (Eaglehorn):''' Eaglehorn Elite Unique Crusader Bow.
 '''HoZ:''' Herald Of Zakarum Unique Gilded Shield.
 '''IK Maul:''' Immortal King's Stone Crusher Set Ogre Maul.
 '''Ire:''' Skullder's Ire Exceptional Unique Russet Armor.
 '''Jalal's:''' Jalal's Mane Unique Totemic Mask.
 '''lc:''' Large charm.
 '''Lidless:''' Lidless Wall Exceptional Unique Grim Shield.
 '''Lightsabre:''' Lightsabre Elite Unique Phase Blade.
 '''LoH:''' Laying of Hands Disciple Set Bramble Mitts.
 '''Lyc:''' Lycander's Aim Unique Ceremonial Bow.
 '''Mara's:''' Mara's Kaleidoscope Unique Amulet.
 '''Mat:''' Matriarchal bow.
 '''Moser's:''' Moser's Blessed Circle Exceptional Unique Round Shield.
 '''Occy (Oculus):''' The Oculus Unique Swirling Crystal.
 '''Reaver (Messy Reaver):''' Messerschmidt's Reaver Elite Unique Champion Axe.
 '''sc:''' Small charm.
 '''Schaefer's:''' Schaefer's Hammer Elite Unique Legendary Mallet.
 '''Shaft:''' Shaftstop Exceptional Unique Mesh Armor.
 '''Shako:''' Harlequin Crest Elite Unique Shako. (Technically, a Shako is the entire class of elite Shako helms, but the term almost always refers to its Unique version.)
 '''Silks:''' Silks of the Victor Unique Ancient Armor.
 '''Skullder's:''' Skullder's Ire Exceptional Unique Russet Armor.
 '''SoJ:''' Stone of Jordan Unique Ring.
 '''SS (Storm):''' Stormshield Elite Unique Monarch Shield.
 '''Stormspire:''' Stormspire Elite Unique Giant Thresher.
 '''String (SoE):''' String of Ears Exceptional Unique Demonhide Sash.
 '''Tal's Orb:''' Tal Rasha's Lidless Eye Set Swirling Crystal.
 '''Tarn:''' Tarnhelm Unique Skull Cap.
 '''TGod (TGV):''' Thundergod's Vigor Exceptional Unique War Belt.
 '''Tiamat's:''' Tiamat's Rebuke Exceptional Unique Dragon Shield.
 '''Titan's:''' Titan's Revenge Unique Ceremonial Javelin.
 '''Tucs:''' Bartuc's Cut-Throat Unique Greater Talons.
 '''Twitch:''' Twitchthroe Unique Studded Leather Armor.
 '''Ume's:''' Ume's Lament Unique Grave Wand.
 '''Valor:''' Arkaine's Valor Elite Unique Balrog Skin.
 '''Vamp:''' Vampiregaze Exceptional Unique Grim Helm.
 '''WF (Windforce):''' Windforce Elite Unique Hydra Bow.
 '''Wizardspike:''' Wizardspike Elite Unique Bone Knife.
 '''Wote (WOE):''' Wall of the Eyeless Unique Bone Shield.
 '''WWS:''' Witchwild String Exceptional Unique Short Siege Bow.

=== Glossary of Basin D2 Terms ===

'''Cheese:''' A low level character getting pushed through levels of the game by a much higher level character, where the lower character could not play effectively alone.
 '''Dropping (of items):''' The act of entering a game to present any player in that game with items as freely given gifts, to be distributed among the players in the game as they see fit.
 '''Flaming:''' Making a personal attack or insulting remark, intended to incite anger.
 '''Muling:''' The process of transferring items involving 2 or more characters not currently playing in the game.
 '''No-Twink:''' No-twink groups and players use and equip only what they find in no-twink play. No items are brought into no-twink play from outside games or sources.
 '''Storing:''' Transferring items from one in-game character to a character not in game.
 '''Transferring:''' Interchanging items between characters, including activites referred to as muling, twinking and storing.
 '''Trolling:''' Making provocative, controversial or offensive remarks, intended to create a confrontational response.
 '''Twinking:''' Transferring items from one character not currently in-game to a character in game for the latter character's use, and the reciprocal transer of items from the playing character to a mule. "Twinking" is often referred to as using muled items to equip a character with superior items than would be found solely in playing that character.

== Credits ==
Originally compiled by Grimborn and The Amazon Basin, 2003. Reprinted with permission from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/abbreviation_guide.php this page].

Notation

2006-07-12T16:25:53Z

Heather: added some of the category listings

Notation

2006-07-12T15:47:50Z

Heather: added alphabetical listing

The Homicide Squad Files

2006-07-10T05:00:45Z

Heather: fixed typo in color tag

__TOC__

== Introduction ==

'''''Author's Note, August 11 2004:'''''

''For my contribution to the Basin’s fourth birthday I’m reprising some of the best forum posts from an early Basin group.''

'' Among the current group games is Mission Homicide, which is the '''fourth''' incarnation of the original Homicide Squad team. That long-forgotten hardcore no-twink group – formed years ago by the man who would become my Basin mentor – was my introduction to some of the Basin legends from those early days. Lacking the experience, skill and notoriety of some of the other group members, my contribution was to chronicle the weekly outings of the group. I generally neglected that duty and instead inflicted graced the Basin forums with a frivolous post thinly disguised as a reminder of the weekly Homicide Squad assembly.''

''Here is one of those early posts:''

== Homicide Squad Handbook==
Criminal Profiles

With the overwhelming demand for cow games on bnet these days, a criminal wave of cow rustling has erupted. To cope with this onslaught it is vital that Homicide Squad officers learn to identify criminal cow rustling elements. Fortunately, these denizens of the Secret Cow Level fall into several readily identifiable profiles.

Here, for your careful study in advance of this week’s patrol, are the prevailing profiles of the Most Wanted cow rustlers.

'''A CHRISTIAN DEMOCRAT COW RUSTLER''': 
You have two cows. You keep one and give one to your neighbor. Then you covet it.

'''A SOCIALIST COW RUSTLER''': 
You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his.

'''A DEMOCRAT RUSTLER''': 
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. You vote people into office who tax your cows, forcing you to sell one to raise money to pay the tax. The people you voted for then take the tax money and buy a cow and give it to your neighbor. You feel righteous. Barbra Streisand sings for you.

'''A REPUBLICAN''': You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So?

'''A COMMUNIST''': 
You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. It is expensive and sour.

'''A FASCIST''': 
You have two cows. The government seizes both and sells you the milk. You join the underground and start a campaign of sabotage, which ultimately blows up the cows.

'''CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE''': 
You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

'''DEMOCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE''': 
You have two cows. The government taxes you to the point you have to sell both to support a man in a foreign country who has only one cow, which was a gift from your government.

'''BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE''': 
You have two cows. The government takes them both, shoots one, milks the other, pays you for the milk, and then pours the milk down the drain.

'''AN AMERICAN CORPORATION''': 
You have two cows. You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one. You force the 2 cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts that you have reduced your expenses. Your stock goes up.

'''A FRENCH CORPORATION''': 
You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows. You go to lunch. Life is good.

'''A JAPANESE CORPORATION''': 
You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains. Most are at the top of their class at cow school.

'''A GERMAN CORPORATION''': 
You have two cows. You reengineer them so they are all blond, drink beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour. Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

'''AN ITALIAN CORPORATION''': 
You have two cows but you don't know where they are. While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman. You break for lunch. Life is good.

'''A RUSSIAN CORPORATION''': 
You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You have some more vodka. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 12 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka. You produce your 10th, 5-year plan in the last 3 months. The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

'''A SWISS CORPORATION''': 
You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge for storing them for others. If they give milk, you tell no one.

'''A TALIBAN CORPORATION''': 
You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two. You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts. You kill them and claim a US bomb blew them up while they were in the hospital.

'''A POLISH CORPORATION''': 
You have two bulls. Several people are killed while attempting to milk them.

''This and other early posts for the group had no particular pattern or theme. That changed with the creation of the Homicide Squad Rap Sheet, which arose from this thread:''


== Homicide Squad Alert ==
The Scandal Must End !!

Fellow Homicide Squad members, our fraternal brethren in other groups are talking behind our backs. The players of sister organizations are whispering about us. And it isn’t pretty.

We had hoped no one would notice when we failed – week after week – to post on these boards. All the other groups post. They do it religiously.

But not us. For last night we posted no plan for the evening’s events. For our previous outing, we posted no after-action report. The week before, nada. Before that, squat. Now the secret is out.

It began as a rumor, but didn’t stop there. The chat rooms have been buzzing. The back-channel messages have been flying. They’ve been talking about us. And do you know what they’re saying?

They’re saying, “How do those guys '''do''' it?” They’re saying, “The Homicide Squad must be telepathic. They rock. They kick derrière. They take names. And they do it '''without posting.'''”

Well, I’m sure you agree that this cannot go on. If we are to stand as a beacon of inspiration for the citizenry we protect, then we must not demoralize other organizations. We must not cause dissension among kindred groups who share in the fight against crime.

Instead, our course of action is clear: We must post.

Now, we could do the expected. We could engage in conventional posting. We could have a clerk routinely file a form saying “The Homicide Squad will assemble next Tuesday,” or “The HS met last night and killed monsters.” We could do that every week, for years.

Or we could do something totally unexpected. We could engage in posting so radical, so novel as to capture the attention, the hearts and minds of the entire Basin community. In short, we could begin posting the Homicide Squad Rap Sheet.

For those who are not familiar with the Rap Sheet (which includes pretty much everyone, since I thought up the concept just a few minutes ago), it is much more than a sterile announcement or dry chronicle. It is a treatise, a tutorial, a topical testament to our times. Insight it reveals. Wisdom leaps from its pages. Humor, of course, is forbidden.

I know this would be a momentous step. So it is apt that the decision whether to post the Rap Sheet be put to the entire Squad. Given the potential ramifications, an adequate window of time is needed for debate of this proposal. Although I am personally in favor of the Rap Sheet, time for extended deliberation is especially crucial so that anyone opposed to the idea will have ample chance to articulate their position.

So I am asking that anyone against the idea prepare a thoughtful analysis of their reasons, write it up in a solemn essay befitting of this august forum, and then append it to this thread.

To be certain that we afford any dissenters the fullest opportunity to express themselves, I’m suggesting that this be done within, say, the next 20 minutes.

Starting now.

“. . . . 14 minutes, 20 seconds . . . . 14 minutes, 30 seconds . . . “

". . . . 19 minutes, 50 seconds . . . '''time!”'''

Well, it is certainly heartening to see the unanimity among all of the views expressed for this proposal. As always, solidarity is the watchword of the Homicide Squad.

Oh, and this just in from the news wires: “In a 5-to-4 opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court has declared the Meeting Place forum’s voting results to constitute an overwhelming mandate for publishing the Rap Sheet.” ‘Nuff said.

Now I know what you’re thinking, fellow Squad members. You’re thinking, “How can I get the job of writing the Rap Sheet?”

It is only fitting that the task be assigned by the appropriate legal and procedural precedents. I am speaking, of course, of the centuries-old, hallowed legal doctrine known as “first dibs.”

And friends, the first dibs are mine.

So until someone pries the keyboard from my cold, dead fingers (which – considering this is hardcore – could be any time), I will issue an edition of the Homicide Squad Rap Sheet each week, typically on Monday Morning.

Whether anyone reads it will be another matter.

''Semi-regular weekly editions of the Rap Sheet appeared from that point on. Here are some of my favorites:''


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 1 ==
Police Union Basics

The recent downturn in the Lut Gholein economy has resulted in a reduction of hours for all law enforcement officers. At the same time, incursions by criminal factions have terrorized the citizenry at several private, high-profile events. The policemen’s governing union body, Local 555, therefore encourages its members to supplement their wages by pursuing contract procurements to furnish security at private functions.

Because these contracts are let for competitive bidding, it is crucial that union law enforcement representatives understand the basic concepts and terms involved in the procurement process. This week’s Rap Sheet presents a guide to the essentials:

 Union member A gambler who never gets to shuffle, cut or deal. 
 Competitive bidding A poker game in which the losing hand wins. 
 Bid A wild guess carried out to two decimal places. 
 Low bidder A union rep who is wondering what he left out. 
 Estimated cost The cost of providing security in heaven. 
 OSHA A protective coating made by half-baking a mixture of fine print, red tape, and split hairs, usually applied at random with a shotgun. 
 Strike An effort to increase egg production by strangling the chicken. 
 Lockout A tourniquet applied at the pockets. 
 Auditors People who go in after the war is lost and bayonet the wounded. 
 Lawyers People who go in after the auditors and strip the bodies. 

All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 2 ==
The Latest Scientific Developments

The Homicide Squad Forensic Unit keeps itself apprised of the latest state-of-the-art in the hard sciences: Ballistics, fingerprint analysis, DNA testing, etc. But developments in the theoretical sciences are less closely monitored. So by way of refresher course, here is an overview of how instruction has changed in the field of mathematics over the course of recent decades.

Teaching Math in 1950: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

Teaching Math in 1960: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

Teaching Math in 1970: A logger exchanges a set "L" of lumber for a set "M" of money. The cardinality of set "M" is 100. Each element is worth one dollar. Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set "M." The set "C," the cost of production, contains 20 fewer points than set "M." Represent the set "C" as a subset of set "M" and answer the following question: What is the cardinality of the set "P" of profits?

Teaching Math in 1980: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

Teaching Math in 1990: By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees? (There are no wrong answers.)

Teaching Math in 2000: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $120. How does Arthur Andersen determine that his profit margin is $60?

Teaching Math in 2010: El Loggero se habla with the truckero y se ponen de acuerdo con otro driver de la competencia y etc. . .

All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 3 ==
Learning Foreign Languages

With Kiki_Bear returning this week from his tour of duty in Russia (the Squad can’t wait to see his new red pelt), the rest of us are a bit behind on our foreign language skills. Because the Squad’s patrols range through a variety of lands, where all manner of suspects may require “interrogation,” this week’s Rap Sheet provides a refresher course on essential secondary language skills.

The Homicide Squad learns native Hawaiian 
“Book ‘em, Dan-oh!” 

The Homicide Squad learns Greek 
Instructor: “Parles vous francais?” 
Student Officer: “That’s Greek to me!” 

The Homicide Squad learns Irish 
Officers Sean and Kevin are walking in a forest when they come upon a sign that reads: “Tree fellers wanted.” 
Officer Sean says, “ ‘Tis a shame Paddy isn’t here. We could have gotten the job.”

The Squad learns Scottish 
Three Squad officers enter a pub. One of them is English, one is German, and the third is a Scotsman. They order three glasses of Glenfiddich. As the barman sets them down three flies descend, and each one lands in a glass. 
Quickly spotting the fly in his drink, the English officer pushes his glass away in disgust. The German officer sees his fly, flips it out of his glass, and sips his whiskey as though nothing had happened. The Scotsman spots his fly, plucks it out, then leans over it and shouts: “Spit it out! Spit it out!”

Learning German 
The three Squad officers from the preceding <s>joke</s> case study are arrested, because the pub they were drinking in was in Saudi Arabia, and drinking in Saudi Arabia is forbidden. They are summarily found guilty, and delivered to prison. The prison warden first addresses the Englishman: “By Saudi law, you are sentenced to 30 lashes and then deported. Before you begin you are entitled to something on your back. What would you like?” The Englishman, being a bit of a cricket fan, asked for linseed oil. So they tie him to a post, oil his back, flog him, and let him crawl out of the room to catch a flight back to London. 
Next comes the German. “Under Saudi law you are sentenced to 30 lashes then deported. Before you begin you are entitled to something on your back, what would you like?” says the warden. “Nichts,” replies the German. After receiving his lashes he spits on the ground, calls the prison guards “Schisers,” and starts off toward the airport. 
The guards then turn to the Homicide Squad officer from Scotland. “By Saudi law you are sentenced to 30 lashes and then deported. Before you begin you are entitled to something on your back. What would you like?” “I’ll take the German.” 

Learning Polish 
An American, a Scottish and a Polish officer were each without tickets for the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics but hoped to talk their way in at the gate. Security was very tight, though, and each of their attempts was met with a stern refusal.

While wandering around outside the stadium, the American officer came upon a construction site, which gave him an idea. Grabbing a length of scaffolding, he presented himself at the gate and said, “Johnson, the pole vault,” and was admitted.

The Scottish officer, overhearing this, went at once to search the site. He found a sledge hammer, presented himself at the gate and said, “McTavish, the hammer.” He was also admitted.

The Polish Squad officer combed the site for an hour and was ready to give up when he spotted his ticket in. Seizing a roll of barbed wire, he presented himself at the gate and announced, “Kowalski, fencing.”

All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 4 ==
Courtroom Behavior

Homicide Squad officers routinely appear in public, under a variety of circumstances. The importance of maintaining appropriate demeanor at all times is essential to the Squad’s long term effectiveness. The following case study is furnished for Squad members to digest, in connection with future courtroom appearances.

A Druid named EasyTouch disappeared while traveling to Tristram. He’d been carrying an inventory full of elite uniques, and was presumed dead as the result of foul play.

After a long and difficult investigation, the Homicide Squad arrested a Goatman for the crime, and charged him with murder. The defendant had been the last one seen with the victim, and had earlier threatened the Druid’s life. When taken into custody the Goatman was wearing a Harlequin Crest Shako customized with the victim’s name. The defendant had a long rap sheet, including several violent felonies. And an informant said he heard the defendant bragging about “doing away with” Druid EasyTouch.

But the Homicide Squad couldn’t find the Druid’s body, so the case went to trial without any corpus delicti. The prosecutor’s case nevertheless went well. She succeeded in establishing a motive, and the evidence showed that the defendant was not above the most villainous of deeds. The only hope for the defense arose from the fact the Homicide Squad had not found a body.

In closing argument the defense attorney addressed the jury. “Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard a great deal of circumstantial evidence of how my client was the last to see Druid EasyTouch, and how my client wanted him dead. But consider this: Desiring the end of someone’s life is not a crime, and being the last to speak is no reason to be executed. The prosecutor has done her best to ignore the fact that no murder has been shown. In fact, after considerable effort we have succeeded where the police failed, and have found Mr. EasyTouch, the alleged victim.”

The attorney pointed to the doorway at the rear of the courtroom and said, “Druid EasyTouch is alive and here today, and in five seconds he will walk through that door!”

All 12 jurors turned to the entrance at the back of the courtroom. But it remained closed.

After a long pause the defense attorney continued. “Unfortunately, he is not here. We could not find him. But for a moment you all thought he was here. Isn’t that because you have a reasonable doubt in your minds whether he was killed at all?”

The jury retired for deliberations. They returned after just 10 minutes. The verdict was “guilty.”

The defense attorney was incredulous. “Didn’t I create a reasonable doubt? Didn’t you all look at the door?”

“Yes,” admitted the jury foreman. “But the defendant didn’t.”

All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 5 ==
Learning the 8 Phases of a Criminal Investigation

Among the many duties of Squad veterans is the training of cadets. No subject could be more relevant to modern (as in Medieval) crime fighting than an overview of the phases of a criminal investigation:


1. Enthusiasm and excitement among those assigned to the case. 
2. Intensity and bonding as officers dig into the investigation. 
3. Frustration as witnesses and other agencies refuse to cooperate. 
4. Anger when top brass denies all requests for needed resources. 
5. Embarrassment at media’s wild accounts of police incompetence. 
6. Search for a scapegoat. 
7. Demotion of the innocent. 
8. Praise and awards for the non-participants.


All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 6 ==
Thinking Under Pressure

High stress is a given in the Homicide Squad. Operating at peak performance is rarely easy in stressful situations. This week’s <s>humorous anecdote</s> case study illustrates what officers strive for.


Two off-duty Homicide Squad officers were in line to deposit their paychecks at the Harrogath National Bank. Suddenly, a trio of heavily armed Moon Lords burst into the bank and shouted, “This is a stick-up. Everyone line up against the wall!”

Once the customers and bank staff had been herded into a line, the Moon Lords began at the far end, looting each one of wallets, jewelry, rare items, etc. As they worked their way toward the off-duty officers, the first one whispered to his buddy, “What should we do?” The second one quietly responded, “Take this,” and pressed something into the first officer’s hand. “What is it?,” the officer asked. “It’s that $100 I owe you.”



All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 7 ==
“Listen up, Grasshopper” 

As Team Homicide Squad heads toward the tri-fecta of Baal, octogenarian seniority, and Guardian status, Squad members may think back on the wealth of knowledge gathered while coming up through the ranks.

This week’s Rap Sheet reflects upon the value of experience enjoyed by seasoned veterans.

A senior Inspector in the Homicide Squad is leaving Lut Gholein for Kurast Bazaar to investigate a rash of duping. As the Greyhound Wagon he is riding gets underway, the Inspector learns that his seat-mate is an overeager Cadet at police school, who fancies himself as an information jockey. The Inspector is tired. He just wants to catch up on his sleep.

The Cadet says, "Hey, do you want to play a game, kind of like trivia, to pass the time?"

The Inspector explains that no, he doesn't, he just wants to take a nap.

The Cadet says, "But this is really interesting: here's how it works. You ask me a question, and if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you five gold pieces. Then I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me five gold pieces."

The Inspector, noticing that the fellow is armed with the latest information technology (an almanac), and really just wanting to take that nap, declines.

The Cadet then says, "I'll tell you what. You ask me the question, and if I don't know, I'll pay you FIFTY gold pieces. If I ask you a question you don't know, you just pay me the same five in gold."

The Inspector, thinking that he's never going to get to sleep here, says, "All right. What goes up the hill on three legs, and down the hill on four legs?," and then puts his head over against the side of the wagon and closes his eyes.

The Cadet thinks very hard, can't come up with the answer, and looks frustrated. He grabs his almanac. He pages through it feverishly. He tries the Table of Contents, the Index, and then looks at random pages, all without success. He searches everywhere he can think of for an hour, and can't come up with the answer. He finally, very frustrated now, takes out a pouch with 50 gold pieces, nudges the Inspector awake, and says, "Here. I just don't know."

The Inspector takes the pouch and says, "Thank you," then leans his head back against the side of the wagon, and closes his eyes.

The Cadet says, "Wait a minute: what DOES go up the hill on three legs, and down the hill on four legs?"

The Inspector sits back up, opens the pouch, shakes out five of the gold pieces from inside, hands them to the Cadet, leans back against the side of the wagon, and goes to sleep.

All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

''After many weeks of play at a pace that can only be described as ‘insane’, the Homicide Squad found itself lined up in the Basin channel, posing as Guardians. The next morning a screenie of that lineup appeared on the boards, together with this final post:''


== The Homicide Squad Finale ==
Kudos and Curtains

'''HEAR YE, HEAR YE''', all members of the Amazon Basin community:

COME NOW the eight original members of the no-twink hardcore group Homicide Squad, and present themselves for a just accounting of their deeds, from which may it hereby be adjudged and decreed that:

WHEREAS, Detective_Munch (aka Bill Williams) conceived of and founded the group, shepherded its members through countless travails, and learned to run laps across all patrol maps while shouting warcries to widely divergent Squad members; and

WHEREAS, Colonel_Panic (aka Drew Bernat) established the constitutional borderline between laying-on-of-the-hurt-with-Smite and cruel-and-unusual-punishment, while cutting a dashing figure among the ladies of Lut Gholein, Kurast, and other urbane locales; and

WHEREAS, heidiHiHC (aka sheepdog) demonstrated the superior wisdom and judgment of a grizzled veteran of the streets, as well as consistently daring to refer to a certain other Squad member as “Mom”; and

WHEREAS, Kiki_Bear (aka NoCoolName) traversed continents to study and bring back crime-fighting techniques from the Urals, the Caucuses, and other '''truly''' “red” zones, caused fur to fly in numerous arrests, and pelted suspects with unbear-able force before slapping them in claw-strophobic interrogation cells; and

WHEREAS, Trinia demonstrated why one will find in any dictionary a single-word definition for “masterful,” “omniscient,” and “protector-of-all,” namely: “Enigma”; and

WHEREAS, Captain_Cadavre (aka Flick) discharged his duties at all times with a maximum of irreverence, explosive gore, and infectious humor, while creating dance steps that neither D2’s software writers nor Fred Astaire ever dreamed of; and

WHEREAS, Suhayma (aka Sadira) (aka “Mom”) (aka “She who must be obeyed”) single-handedly balanced the mondo-testosterone of the Squad with her level-headedness, good sense, and charm; and

WHEREAS, these seven intrepid Squad members, with GrimDoom in tow, did set out seven months ago on their first patrol from the Rogue Encampment in Normal; and

WHEREAS, these Squad members did weekly assemble and patrol every precinct of every jurisdiction in the land, and did apprehend and render unto toast every criminal to be found therein; and

WHEREAS, the Homicide Squad did complete its tour of duties last night with the apprehension, sentencing, and execution of the criminal mastermind Baal in Hell.

THEREFORE, let it be known far and wide that said eight members of team Homicide Squad are adjudged worthy of the appellation “Guardian,” and shall henceforth bear that honorific unto their final days.

''** Wherever they now may be, Grim salutes his fellow Squad members for times long gone but not yet entirely forgotten. **''

== Credits ==
Grimborn. Reprinted with permission from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=48393 this thread] posted Aug. 2004.

Diablo II

2006-07-09T22:01:14Z

Heather: formatting changes in story section

Welome to the Unofficial Diablo II Basin Wiki. Curious about what this is? How to use it? Then check out the '''[[WikiFAQ]]'''

__TOC__

== The Welcome Mat ==

[http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/the_welcome_mat.php Please visit the Amazon Basin Welcome Mat]

Welcome to the Amazon Basin Diablo II Wiki! Here you will find the gathered knowledge of the Amazon Basin Diablo II community. Things are still under construction, so please bear with us. Don't forget that you yourself may also add or edit content by clicking the "edit" link at the top of the page.

'''Note to all contributors: like it says at the bottom of the edit screen, do NOT reprint anybody's work but your own without getting prior permission from the author. If there is something you would like included in the wiki but you cannot reach the author, put in a link to the original forum thread instead.'''

== General Game Information ==
[[Quest Guides]] 
[[D2 Abbreviations and Gameplay Terms]] 
[[Links]] 

== Character Class Information ==
[[Amazon Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Assassin Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Barbarian Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Druid Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Necromancer Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Paladin Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Sorceress Technical Information and Build Guides]] 

== Technical Information ==
[[Technical]] 
[[Base Types]] 
[[Uniques]] 
[[Sets]] 
[[Rune Words]] 

 '''
== Tales of Heroes Past ==
''' 

[[The Poorman takes on Uber Tristam]] by Grimborn 
[[The Homicide Squad Files]] by Grimborn 
[[Knight Shadow, Adventures of a Shadow Knight]] by Heather 
[[Terror in the Countess Tower]] by Heather. 
[[Zer's Stories]]by Zerathorn 
[[Sail's tales]] by Sailboat 
[[Candlelight's Challenged Characters]] by Candlelight 
[[Kynars-passion wielding zeal barb]] by Kynar 
[[Osteophile and Wendy]] by YogiBaar 
[[Killing em with toothpicks]] by emaq123 
[[Dughan, the No-Magic-Item Barbarian]] by Caspari 
[[Secret Diary of John Harcourt]] by Tuftears 
[[Interview with a hungover bowbarian, Big Bad Bob's Bow-wielding Barb]] by Big Bad Bob 
[[SenSitiveSkin]] by Sen 
[[Wild-Babe bows out of active service, Quite a journey]] by Chiller-Babe 
[[Irene, the Infirm, Tales of a sickly punching sorceress]] by MongoJerry 
[[Gunter, the Barbarian Mage, Tales of a barbarian mage]] by MongoJerry 
[[Maldar, the Magnificent, Tales of a pacifist hero]] by MongoJerry 
[[Kwikwilyaqa goes home]] by GrlNDgz 
[[Hardly-Able, The nekkid throw barb]] by BamBam

The Homicide Squad Files

2006-07-09T20:54:56Z

Heather: reprinting from forum thread

__TOC__

== Introduction ==

'''''Author's Note, August 11 2004:'''''

''For my contribution to the Basin’s fourth birthday I’m reprising some of the best forum posts from an early Basin group.''

'' Among the current group games is Mission Homicide, which is the '''fourth''' incarnation of the original Homicide Squad team. That long-forgotten hardcore no-twink group – formed years ago by the man who would become my Basin mentor – was my introduction to some of the Basin legends from those early days. Lacking the experience, skill and notoriety of some of the other group members, my contribution was to chronicle the weekly outings of the group. I generally neglected that duty and instead inflicted graced the Basin forums with a frivolous post thinly disguised as a reminder of the weekly Homicide Squad assembly.''

''Here is one of those early posts:''

== Homicide Squad Handbook==
Criminal Profiles

With the overwhelming demand for cow games on bnet these days, a criminal wave of cow rustling has erupted. To cope with this onslaught it is vital that Homicide Squad officers learn to identify criminal cow rustling elements. Fortunately, these denizens of the Secret Cow Level fall into several readily identifiable profiles.

Here, for your careful study in advance of this week’s patrol, are the prevailing profiles of the Most Wanted cow rustlers.

'''A CHRISTIAN DEMOCRAT COW RUSTLER''': 
You have two cows. You keep one and give one to your neighbor. Then you covet it.

'''A SOCIALIST COW RUSTLER''': 
You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his.

'''A DEMOCRAT RUSTLER''': 
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. You vote people into office who tax your cows, forcing you to sell one to raise money to pay the tax. The people you voted for then take the tax money and buy a cow and give it to your neighbor. You feel righteous. Barbra Streisand sings for you.

'''A REPUBLICAN''': You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So?

'''A COMMUNIST''': 
You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. It is expensive and sour.

'''A FASCIST''': 
You have two cows. The government seizes both and sells you the milk. You join the underground and start a campaign of sabotage, which ultimately blows up the cows.

'''CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE''': 
You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

'''DEMOCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE''': 
You have two cows. The government taxes you to the point you have to sell both to support a man in a foreign country who has only one cow, which was a gift from your government.

'''BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE''': 
You have two cows. The government takes them both, shoots one, milks the other, pays you for the milk, and then pours the milk down the drain.

'''AN AMERICAN CORPORATION''': 
You have two cows. You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one. You force the 2 cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts that you have reduced your expenses. Your stock goes up.

'''A FRENCH CORPORATION''': 
You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows. You go to lunch. Life is good.

'''A JAPANESE CORPORATION''': 
You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains. Most are at the top of their class at cow school.

'''A GERMAN CORPORATION''': 
You have two cows. You reengineer them so they are all blond, drink beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour. Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

'''AN ITALIAN CORPORATION''': 
You have two cows but you don't know where they are. While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman. You break for lunch. Life is good.

'''A RUSSIAN CORPORATION''': 
You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You have some more vodka. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 12 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka. You produce your 10th, 5-year plan in the last 3 months. The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

'''A SWISS CORPORATION''': 
You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge for storing them for others. If they give milk, you tell no one.

'''A TALIBAN CORPORATION''': 
You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two. You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts. You kill them and claim a US bomb blew them up while they were in the hospital.

'''A POLISH CORPORATION''': 
You have two bulls. Several people are killed while attempting to milk them.

''This and other early posts for the group had no particular pattern or theme. That changed with the creation of the Homicide Squad Rap Sheet, which arose from this thread:''



Fellow Homicide Squad members, our fraternal brethren in other groups are talking behind our backs. The players of sister organizations are whispering about us. And it isn’t pretty.

We had hoped no one would notice when we failed – week after week – to post on these boards. All the other groups post. They do it religiously.

But not us. For last night we posted no plan for the evening’s events. For our previous outing, we posted no after-action report. The week before, nada. Before that, squat. Now the secret is out.

It began as a rumor, but didn’t stop there. The chat rooms have been buzzing. The back-channel messages have been flying. They’ve been talking about us. And do you know what they’re saying?

They’re saying, “How do those guys '''do''' it?” They’re saying, “The Homicide Squad must be telepathic. They rock. They kick derrière. They take names. And they do it '''without posting.'''”

Well, I’m sure you agree that this cannot go on. If we are to stand as a beacon of inspiration for the citizenry we protect, then we must not demoralize other organizations. We must not cause dissension among kindred groups who share in the fight against crime.

Instead, our course of action is clear: We must post.

Now, we could do the expected. We could engage in conventional posting. We could have a clerk routinely file a form saying “The Homicide Squad will assemble next Tuesday,” or “The HS met last night and killed monsters.” We could do that every week, for years.

Or we could do something totally unexpected. We could engage in posting so radical, so novel as to capture the attention, the hearts and minds of the entire Basin community. In short, we could begin posting the Homicide Squad Rap Sheet.

For those who are not familiar with the Rap Sheet (which includes pretty much everyone, since I thought up the concept just a few minutes ago), it is much more than a sterile announcement or dry chronicle. It is a treatise, a tutorial, a topical testament to our times. Insight it reveals. Wisdom leaps from its pages. Humor, of course, is forbidden.

I know this would be a momentous step. So it is apt that the decision whether to post the Rap Sheet be put to the entire Squad. Given the potential ramifications, an adequate window of time is needed for debate of this proposal. Although I am personally in favor of the Rap Sheet, time for extended deliberation is especially crucial so that anyone opposed to the idea will have ample chance to articulate their position.

So I am asking that anyone against the idea prepare a thoughtful analysis of their reasons, write it up in a solemn essay befitting of this august forum, and then append it to this thread.

To be certain that we afford any dissenters the fullest opportunity to express themselves, I’m suggesting that this be done within, say, the next 20 minutes.

Starting now.

“. . . . 14 minutes, 20 seconds . . . . 14 minutes, 30 seconds . . . “

". . . . 19 minutes, 50 seconds . . . '''time!”'''

Well, it is certainly heartening to see the unanimity among all of the views expressed for this proposal. As always, solidarity is the watchword of the Homicide Squad.

Oh, and this just in from the news wires: “In a 5-to-4 opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court has declared the Meeting Place forum’s voting results to constitute an overwhelming mandate for publishing the Rap Sheet.” ‘Nuff said.

Now I know what you’re thinking, fellow Squad members. You’re thinking, “How can I get the job of writing the Rap Sheet?”

It is only fitting that the task be assigned by the appropriate legal and procedural precedents. I am speaking, of course, of the centuries-old, hallowed legal doctrine known as “first dibs.”

And friends, the first dibs are mine.

So until someone pries the keyboard from my cold, dead fingers (which – considering this is hardcore – could be any time), I will issue an edition of the Homicide Squad Rap Sheet each week, typically on Monday Morning.

Whether anyone reads it will be another matter.

''Semi-regular weekly editions of the Rap Sheet appeared from that point on. Here are some of my favorites:''


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 1 ==
Police Union Basics

The recent downturn in the Lut Gholein economy has resulted in a reduction of hours for all law enforcement officers. At the same time, incursions by criminal factions have terrorized the citizenry at several private, high-profile events. The policemen’s governing union body, Local 555, therefore encourages its members to supplement their wages by pursuing contract procurements to furnish security at private functions.

Because these contracts are let for competitive bidding, it is crucial that union law enforcement representatives understand the basic concepts and terms involved in the procurement process. This week’s Rap Sheet presents a guide to the essentials:

 Union member A gambler who never gets to shuffle, cut or deal. 
 Competitive bidding A poker game in which the losing hand wins. 
 Bid A wild guess carried out to two decimal places. 
 Low bidder A union rep who is wondering what he left out. 
 Estimated cost The cost of providing security in heaven. 
 OSHA A protective coating made by half-baking a mixture of fine print, red tape, and split hairs, usually applied at random with a shotgun. 
 Strike An effort to increase egg production by strangling the chicken. 
 Lockout A tourniquet applied at the pockets. 
 Auditors People who go in after the war is lost and bayonet the wounded. 
 Lawyers People who go in after the auditors and strip the bodies. 

All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 2 ==
The Latest Scientific Developments

The Homicide Squad Forensic Unit keeps itself apprised of the latest state-of-the-art in the hard sciences: Ballistics, fingerprint analysis, DNA testing, etc. But developments in the theoretical sciences are less closely monitored. So by way of refresher course, here is an overview of how instruction has changed in the field of mathematics over the course of recent decades.

Teaching Math in 1950: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

Teaching Math in 1960: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

Teaching Math in 1970: A logger exchanges a set "L" of lumber for a set "M" of money. The cardinality of set "M" is 100. Each element is worth one dollar. Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set "M." The set "C," the cost of production, contains 20 fewer points than set "M." Represent the set "C" as a subset of set "M" and answer the following question: What is the cardinality of the set "P" of profits?

Teaching Math in 1980: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

Teaching Math in 1990: By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees? (There are no wrong answers.)

Teaching Math in 2000: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $120. How does Arthur Andersen determine that his profit margin is $60?

Teaching Math in 2010: El Loggero se habla with the truckero y se ponen de acuerdo con otro driver de la competencia y etc. . .

All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 3 ==
Learning Foreign Languages

With Kiki_Bear returning this week from his tour of duty in Russia (the Squad can’t wait to see his new red pelt), the rest of us are a bit behind on our foreign language skills. Because the Squad’s patrols range through a variety of lands, where all manner of suspects may require “interrogation,” this week’s Rap Sheet provides a refresher course on essential secondary language skills.

The Homicide Squad learns native Hawaiian 
“Book ‘em, Dan-oh!” 

The Homicide Squad learns Greek 
Instructor: “Parles vous francais?” 
Student Officer: “That’s Greek to me!” 

The Homicide Squad learns Irish 
Officers Sean and Kevin are walking in a forest when they come upon a sign that reads: “Tree fellers wanted.” 
Officer Sean says, “ ‘Tis a shame Paddy isn’t here. We could have gotten the job.”

The Squad learns Scottish 
Three Squad officers enter a pub. One of them is English, one is German, and the third is a Scotsman. They order three glasses of Glenfiddich. As the barman sets them down three flies descend, and each one lands in a glass. 
Quickly spotting the fly in his drink, the English officer pushes his glass away in disgust. The German officer sees his fly, flips it out of his glass, and sips his whiskey as though nothing had happened. The Scotsman spots his fly, plucks it out, then leans over it and shouts: “Spit it out! Spit it out!”

Learning German 
The three Squad officers from the preceding <s>joke</s> case study are arrested, because the pub they were drinking in was in Saudi Arabia, and drinking in Saudi Arabia is forbidden. They are summarily found guilty, and delivered to prison. The prison warden first addresses the Englishman: “By Saudi law, you are sentenced to 30 lashes and then deported. Before you begin you are entitled to something on your back. What would you like?” The Englishman, being a bit of a cricket fan, asked for linseed oil. So they tie him to a post, oil his back, flog him, and let him crawl out of the room to catch a flight back to London. 
Next comes the German. “Under Saudi law you are sentenced to 30 lashes then deported. Before you begin you are entitled to something on your back, what would you like?” says the warden. “Nichts,” replies the German. After receiving his lashes he spits on the ground, calls the prison guards “Schisers,” and starts off toward the airport. 
The guards then turn to the Homicide Squad officer from Scotland. “By Saudi law you are sentenced to 30 lashes and then deported. Before you begin you are entitled to something on your back. What would you like?” “I’ll take the German.” 

Learning Polish 
An American, a Scottish and a Polish officer were each without tickets for the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics but hoped to talk their way in at the gate. Security was very tight, though, and each of their attempts was met with a stern refusal.

While wandering around outside the stadium, the American officer came upon a construction site, which gave him an idea. Grabbing a length of scaffolding, he presented himself at the gate and said, “Johnson, the pole vault,” and was admitted.

The Scottish officer, overhearing this, went at once to search the site. He found a sledge hammer, presented himself at the gate and said, “McTavish, the hammer.” He was also admitted.

The Polish Squad officer combed the site for an hour and was ready to give up when he spotted his ticket in. Seizing a roll of barbed wire, he presented himself at the gate and announced, “Kowalski, fencing.”

All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 4 ==
Courtroom Behavior

Homicide Squad officers routinely appear in public, under a variety of circumstances. The importance of maintaining appropriate demeanor at all times is essential to the Squad’s long term effectiveness. The following case study is furnished for Squad members to digest, in connection with future courtroom appearances.

A Druid named EasyTouch disappeared while traveling to Tristram. He’d been carrying an inventory full of elite uniques, and was presumed dead as the result of foul play.

After a long and difficult investigation, the Homicide Squad arrested a Goatman for the crime, and charged him with murder. The defendant had been the last one seen with the victim, and had earlier threatened the Druid’s life. When taken into custody the Goatman was wearing a Harlequin Crest Shako customized with the victim’s name. The defendant had a long rap sheet, including several violent felonies. And an informant said he heard the defendant bragging about “doing away with” Druid EasyTouch.

But the Homicide Squad couldn’t find the Druid’s body, so the case went to trial without any corpus delicti. The prosecutor’s case nevertheless went well. She succeeded in establishing a motive, and the evidence showed that the defendant was not above the most villainous of deeds. The only hope for the defense arose from the fact the Homicide Squad had not found a body.

In closing argument the defense attorney addressed the jury. “Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard a great deal of circumstantial evidence of how my client was the last to see Druid EasyTouch, and how my client wanted him dead. But consider this: Desiring the end of someone’s life is not a crime, and being the last to speak is no reason to be executed. The prosecutor has done her best to ignore the fact that no murder has been shown. In fact, after considerable effort we have succeeded where the police failed, and have found Mr. EasyTouch, the alleged victim.”

The attorney pointed to the doorway at the rear of the courtroom and said, “Druid EasyTouch is alive and here today, and in five seconds he will walk through that door!”

All 12 jurors turned to the entrance at the back of the courtroom. But it remained closed.

After a long pause the defense attorney continued. “Unfortunately, he is not here. We could not find him. But for a moment you all thought he was here. Isn’t that because you have a reasonable doubt in your minds whether he was killed at all?”

The jury retired for deliberations. They returned after just 10 minutes. The verdict was “guilty.”

The defense attorney was incredulous. “Didn’t I create a reasonable doubt? Didn’t you all look at the door?”

“Yes,” admitted the jury foreman. “But the defendant didn’t.”

All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 5 ==
Learning the 8 Phases of a Criminal Investigation

Among the many duties of Squad veterans is the training of cadets. No subject could be more relevant to modern (as in Medieval) crime fighting than an overview of the phases of a criminal investigation:


1. Enthusiasm and excitement among those assigned to the case. 
2. Intensity and bonding as officers dig into the investigation. 
3. Frustration as witnesses and other agencies refuse to cooperate. 
4. Anger when top brass denies all requests for needed resources. 
5. Embarrassment at media’s wild accounts of police incompetence. 
6. Search for a scapegoat. 
7. Demotion of the innocent. 
8. Praise and awards for the non-participants.


All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 6 ==
Thinking Under Pressure

High stress is a given in the Homicide Squad. Operating at peak performance is rarely easy in stressful situations. This week’s <s>humorous anecdote</s> case study illustrates what officers strive for.


Two off-duty Homicide Squad officers were in line to deposit their paychecks at the Harrogath National Bank. Suddenly, a trio of heavily armed Moon Lords burst into the bank and shouted, “This is a stick-up. Everyone line up against the wall!”

Once the customers and bank staff had been herded into a line, the Moon Lords began at the far end, looting each one of wallets, jewelry, rare items, etc. As they worked their way toward the off-duty officers, the first one whispered to his buddy, “What should we do?” The second one quietly responded, “Take this,” and pressed something into the first officer’s hand. “What is it?,” the officer asked. “It’s that $100 I owe you.”



All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.


== Homicide Squad Rap Sheet: Issue 7 ==
“Listen up, Grasshopper” 

As Team Homicide Squad heads toward the tri-fecta of Baal, octogenarian seniority, and Guardian status, Squad members may think back on the wealth of knowledge gathered while coming up through the ranks.

This week’s Rap Sheet reflects upon the value of experience enjoyed by seasoned veterans.

A senior Inspector in the Homicide Squad is leaving Lut Gholein for Kurast Bazaar to investigate a rash of duping. As the Greyhound Wagon he is riding gets underway, the Inspector learns that his seat-mate is an overeager Cadet at police school, who fancies himself as an information jockey. The Inspector is tired. He just wants to catch up on his sleep.

The Cadet says, "Hey, do you want to play a game, kind of like trivia, to pass the time?"

The Inspector explains that no, he doesn't, he just wants to take a nap.

The Cadet says, "But this is really interesting: here's how it works. You ask me a question, and if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you five gold pieces. Then I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me five gold pieces."

The Inspector, noticing that the fellow is armed with the latest information technology (an almanac), and really just wanting to take that nap, declines.

The Cadet then says, "I'll tell you what. You ask me the question, and if I don't know, I'll pay you FIFTY gold pieces. If I ask you a question you don't know, you just pay me the same five in gold."

The Inspector, thinking that he's never going to get to sleep here, says, "All right. What goes up the hill on three legs, and down the hill on four legs?," and then puts his head over against the side of the wagon and closes his eyes.

The Cadet thinks very hard, can't come up with the answer, and looks frustrated. He grabs his almanac. He pages through it feverishly. He tries the Table of Contents, the Index, and then looks at random pages, all without success. He searches everywhere he can think of for an hour, and can't come up with the answer. He finally, very frustrated now, takes out a pouch with 50 gold pieces, nudges the Inspector awake, and says, "Here. I just don't know."

The Inspector takes the pouch and says, "Thank you," then leans his head back against the side of the wagon, and closes his eyes.

The Cadet says, "Wait a minute: what DOES go up the hill on three legs, and down the hill on four legs?"

The Inspector sits back up, opens the pouch, shakes out five of the gold pieces from inside, hands them to the Cadet, leans back against the side of the wagon, and goes to sleep.

All Homicide Squad members are asked to report for duty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

''After many weeks of play at a pace that can only be described as ‘insane’, the Homicide Squad found itself lined up in the Basin channel, posing as Guardians. The next morning a screenie of that lineup appeared on the boards, together with this final post:''


== The Homicide Squad Finale ==
Kudos and Curtains

'''HEAR YE, HEAR YE''', all members of the Amazon Basin community:

COME NOW the eight original members of the no-twink hardcore group Homicide Squad, and present themselves for a just accounting of their deeds, from which may it hereby be adjudged and decreed that:

WHEREAS, Detective_Munch (aka Bill Williams) conceived of and founded the group, shepherded its members through countless travails, and learned to run laps across all patrol maps while shouting warcries to widely divergent Squad members; and

WHEREAS, Colonel_Panic (aka Drew Bernat) established the constitutional borderline between laying-on-of-the-hurt-with-Smite and cruel-and-unusual-punishment, while cutting a dashing figure among the ladies of Lut Gholein, Kurast, and other urbane locales; and

WHEREAS, heidiHiHC (aka sheepdog) demonstrated the superior wisdom and judgment of a grizzled veteran of the streets, as well as consistently daring to refer to a certain other Squad member as “Mom”; and

WHEREAS, Kiki_Bear (aka NoCoolName) traversed continents to study and bring back crime-fighting techniques from the Urals, the Caucuses, and other '''truly''' “red” zones, caused fur to fly in numerous arrests, and pelted suspects with unbear-able force before slapping them in claw-strophobic interrogation cells; and

WHEREAS, Trinia demonstrated why one will find in any dictionary a single-word definition for “masterful,” “omniscient,” and “protector-of-all,” namely: “Enigma”; and

WHEREAS, Captain_Cadavre (aka Flick) discharged his duties at all times with a maximum of irreverence, explosive gore, and infectious humor, while creating dance steps that neither D2’s software writers nor Fred Astaire ever dreamed of; and

WHEREAS, Suhayma (aka Sadira) (aka “Mom”) (aka “She who must be obeyed”) single-handedly balanced the mondo-testosterone of the Squad with her level-headedness, good sense, and charm; and

WHEREAS, these seven intrepid Squad members, with GrimDoom in tow, did set out seven months ago on their first patrol from the Rogue Encampment in Normal; and

WHEREAS, these Squad members did weekly assemble and patrol every precinct of every jurisdiction in the land, and did apprehend and render unto toast every criminal to be found therein; and

WHEREAS, the Homicide Squad did complete its tour of duties last night with the apprehension, sentencing, and execution of the criminal mastermind Baal in Hell.

THEREFORE, let it be known far and wide that said eight members of team Homicide Squad are adjudged worthy of the appellation “Guardian,” and shall henceforth bear that honorific unto their final days.

''** Wherever they now may be, Grim salutes his fellow Squad members for times long gone but not yet entirely forgotten. **''

== Credits ==
Grimborn. Reprinted with permission from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=48393 this thread] posted Aug. 2004.

Diablo II

2006-07-09T11:33:52Z

Heather:

Welome to the Unofficial Diablo II Basin Wiki. Curious about what this is? How to use it? Then check out the '''[[WikiFAQ]]'''

__TOC__

== The Welcome Mat ==

[http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/the_welcome_mat.php Please visit the Amazon Basin Welcome Mat]

Welcome to the Amazon Basin Diablo II Wiki! Here you will find the gathered knowledge of the Amazon Basin Diablo II community. Things are still under construction, so please bear with us. Don't forget that you yourself may also add or edit content by clicking the "edit" link at the top of the page.

'''Note to all contributors: like it says at the bottom of the edit screen, do NOT reprint anybody's work but your own without getting prior permission from the author. If there is something you would like included in the wiki but you cannot reach the author, put in a link to the original forum thread instead.'''

== General Game Information ==
[[Quest Guides]] 
[[D2 Abbreviations and Gameplay Terms]] 
[[Links]] 

== Character Class Information ==
[[Amazon Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Assassin Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Barbarian Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Druid Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Necromancer Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Paladin Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Sorceress Technical Information and Build Guides]] 

== Technical Information ==
[[Technical]] 
[[Base Types]] 
[[Uniques]] 
[[Sets]] 
[[Rune Words]] 

 '''
== Tales of Heroes Past ==
''' 

[[The Poorman takes on Uber Tristam]] by Grimborn 
[[The Homicide Squad Files]] by Grimborn 
[[Knight Shadow, Adventures of a Shadow Knight]] by Heather 
[[Terror in the Countess Tower]] by Heather. 
[[Zer's Stories]] 
[[Sail's tales]] 
[[Candlelight's Challenged Characters]] 
[[Kynars-passion wielding zeal barb]] 
[[Osteophile and Wendy-YogiBaar]] 
[[Killing em with toothpicks-emaq123]] 
[[Dughan, the No-Magic-Item Barbarian-Caspari]] 
[[Secret Diary of John Harcourt-Tuftears]] 
[[Interview with a hungover bowbarian, Big Bad Bob's Bow-wielding Barb]] 
[[SenSitiveSkin-Sen]] 
[[Wild-Babe bows out of active service, Quite a journey-ChillerBabe]] 
[[Irene, the Infirm, Tales of a sickly punching sorceress-MongoJerry]] 
[[Gunter, the Barbarian Mage, Tales of a barbarian mage-MongoJerry]] 
[[Maldar, the Magnificent, Tales of a pacifist hero-MongoJerry]] 
[[Kwikwilyaqa goes home-GrLnDgz]] 
[[Hardly-Able, The nekkid throw barb-BamBam]]

Terror in the Countess Tower

2006-07-08T13:23:00Z

Heather: reprinting from forum thread

Well, this week I once again received the honour of stepping into the shoes of a charming and talented Zon, and well, this is what happened.

(to be read in your best corny Batman-narrator type voice)

It started out as just another mission for our group of irrepressible archers. They rescued a long-winded old man from a cage in ruined Tristram. After clicking through his tiresome speeches, the intrepid band set out for the Marsh to investigate rumours of an abandoned tower cellar (cue spooky music here).

The tower found, the members (and guest) of the Gathering headed down and cleared the first four levels without much ado. But then.... they reached.... LEVEL FIVE (cue even spookier music).

The bosses.... oh, the bosses! One was enchanted with the feared orange fanaticism aura... and it only went downhill from there. Our heroes didn't stand a chance against such numbers and such mods. Within seconds of descending those stairs, all were cut down.

It was a long, hard battle, and many of our brave adventurers fell... multiple times... (luckily, this being softcore, our heroes are immortal, and death is only a momentary annoyance http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/html/emoticons/tongue.gif). There were a few gallant attempts at body retrieval missions, as the warriors urged each other to head once more into the fray. But alas, it was a near hopeless situation. The TPs were trapped... the stairs were trapped... it was without a doubt the most dreadful scenario that this brave band had ever faced!

What was this heroic group of friends to do? Naturally, it was imperative that they wreak revenge on these nasty beasts and show them who was boss... but how?

The answer came in the form of a valiant warrior who feared neither ugly mods nor trapped portals... the incomparable CadsDragon (insert heroic theme here)! The humble untwinked group could only wait in town, awed, as she set her deadly traps and cleared the way for them to finish exacting their revenge. Then, the job done, she vanished once more into the night, as suddenly as she had appeared.

With the way cleared, our heroes returned to the field of battle. What a sight! Corpses littered the areas around the stairs and in the main hall area... some of them the enemies', but most of them belonging to our heroes. But now, re-equipped, with as much precious experience salvaged from these shades as possible, and with morale boosted from the mysterious appearance of their uber-godly ally CadsDragon, they made quick work of the rest of the demonic/undead forces and exacted their revenge on the Countess and her cronies.

Exhausted by their battles, the heroes then retired to exchange tales of valor and sing rowdy songs in praise of the mighty CadsD.

Okay, I made up that part. No actual singing took place. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif And I think the part about staring in awe at their "uber-godly ally" was a bit of a stretch. But the basic facts remain: the group ran into what I was assured was their ugliest battle ever, and the first time they actually had to give up on trying to clear it themselves and bring in someone to clear for them... that someone, of course, being Tina's (admittedly incomparable) CadsDragon. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/html/emoticons/happy.gif The battlefield was littered with the corpses of slain adventurers, I'm not exaggerating about that one... I didn't even try to count the number of times we all died.

So there you go, someone said theire should be a writeup, and so a writeup you now have, written by me, at 1 in the morning, in a goofy mood. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back (oh wait, you didn't pay anything for it... well then you know how much it's worth!).

Author's Note: CadsDragon was Cadsuane's level 94 trap assassin.

== Credits ==
Heather Fleming, May 2004. Reprinted by the author from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=35585&view=findpost&p=463717 this post].

Diablo II

2006-07-08T13:09:21Z

Heather: added another story link

Welome to the Unofficial Diablo II Basin Wiki. Curious about what this is? How to use it? Then check out the '''[[WikiFAQ]]'''

__TOC__

== The Welcome Mat ==

[http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/the_welcome_mat.php Please visit the Amazon Basin Welcome Mat]

Welcome to the Amazon Basin Diablo II Wiki! Here you will find the gathered knowledge of the Amazon Basin Diablo II community. Things are still under construction, so please bear with us. Don't forget that you yourself may also add or edit content by clicking the "edit" link at the top of the page.

'''Note to all contributors: like it says at the bottom of the edit screen, do NOT reprint anybody's work but your own without getting prior permission from the author. If there is something you would like included in the wiki but you cannot reach the author, put in a link to the original forum thread instead.'''

== General Game Information ==
[[Quest Guides]] 
[[D2 Abbreviations and Gameplay Terms]] 
[[Links]] 

== Character Class Information ==
[[Amazon Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Assassin Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Barbarian Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Druid Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Necromancer Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Paladin Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Sorceress Technical Information and Build Guides]] 

== Technical Information ==
[[Technical]] 
[[Base Types]] 
[[Uniques]] 
[[Sets]] 
[[Rune Words]] 

 '''
== Tales of Heroes Past ==
''' 

[[The Poorman takes on Uber Tristam]] 
[[Knight Shadow, Adventures of a Shadow Knight]] 
[[Terror in the Countess Tower]] - The mother of all stairtraps. By Heather. 
[[Zer's Stories]] 
[[Sail's tales]] 
[[Candlelight's Challenged Characters]] 
[[Kynars-passion wielding zeal barb]] 
[[Osteophile and Wendy-YogiBaar]] 
[[Killing em with toothpicks-emaq123]] 
[[Dughan, the No-Magic-Item Barbarian-Caspari]] 
[[Secret Diary of John Harcourt-Tuftears]] 
[[Interview with a hungover bowbarian, Big Bad Bob's Bow-wielding Barb]] 
[[SenSitiveSkin-Sen]] 
[[Wild-Babe bows out of active service, Quite a journey-ChillerBabe]] 
[[Irene, the Infirm, Tales of a sickly punching sorceress-MongoJerry]] 
[[Gunter, the Barbarian Mage, Tales of a barbarian mage-MongoJerry]] 
[[Maldar, the Magnificent, Tales of a pacifist hero-MongoJerry]] 
[[Kwikwilyaqa goes home-GrLnDgz]] 
[[Hardly-Able, The nekkid throw barb-BamBam]]

Grimborn's 1.10 Frenzy Barb Guide

2006-07-07T23:58:18Z

Heather: oops, realized I'd accidentally skipped a section

__TOC__

<center>http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/grimborn.gif</center>

== Introduction ==

A Frenzy barbarian is one of the most difficult characters to design, and one of the most fun to play. Steering him through the game requires proficiency in both melee and casting techniques, executed at a pace faster than for virtually any other character.

If you want a cookie cutter build that will dominate throughout the game, a Frenzy barb is not for you. If you want a character that will shine with any old equipment, in solo and party play, and without much knowledge of game mechanics, then you won't enjoy a Frenzy barbarian.

But if you thrive on life in the fast lane, if you want to stare Death in the face when there's no room for error, and if you're willing to set your skills against the toughest challenges in the game, then you're ready to strap on a Frenzy barb.

== I. Frenzy Basics ==

Frenzy is a level 24 skill on the right side of the Combat tree. Frenzy works only when your barb is dual wielding, and will attack with any combination of weapons a barb can simultaneously equip.

Frenzy amplifies a weapon's physical damage, increases attack rating and attack speed, and dramatically adds to run/walk speed. It is triggered by attack hits and is the only barb skill that charges up, much the way a druid's Feral Rage or an assassin's Tiger Strike charge up. (Only the speed bonuses of Frenzy need to charge; the damage and AR bonuses are full from the first swing.)

A single Frenzy attack consists of two swings: One with each weapon. My testing of how many hits are needed to reach maximum speed led to inconclusive results, but generally four Frenzy rounds that hit at least once always fully charge the Frenzy skill.

Once charged up, Frenzy is on a 6 second timer which resets upon every additional hit so long as the timer has not expired. The 6 second duration is unaffected by graduation to Nightmare and Hell.

The timer is also unaffected by changing to a different Combat skill. Once Frenzy is charge up you get the benefit of Frenzy's faster run/walk for the entire 6-seconds regardless of whatever skills you use. You likewise get carryover of Frenzy's IAS to other attacks while the timer lasts (although the IAS bonus does not carry over to Whirlwind because Whirlwind does not benefit from off-weapon IAS). And if you switch back to Frenzy and score a hit before the timer expires, it resets to a fresh 6 seconds. However, Frenzy's damage and AR bonuses don't carry over to any non-Frenzy attacks.

Level 1 Frenzy gives a 90% physical damage bonus, 100% AR bonus, 7% IAS and 47% faster run/walk speed. Each additional skill point adds 5% to the damage bonus, 7% AR, more IAS and more frw.

Counting Combat Mastery, Frenzy has 4 synergy skills: Mastery, Taunt, Double Swing and Berserk.

The first point in your weapon's Mastery gives a 25% bonus to physical damage, 28% bonus to AR, and a 3% chance for Critical Strike. Each additional skill point adds 5% to the damage bonus, 8% to AR and diminishing additional chances for Critical Strike. The full table [http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/skills/barbarian-combatmasteries.shtml is here].

The synergy effect of Taunt gives an 8% bonus to physical damage for each skill point invested. Points in Double Swing give exactly the same synergy bonus.

Each point invested in Berserk gives a synergy bonus that converts 1% of your physical damage in a Frenzy attack to magic damage. So if Berserk is max'd, every Frenzy hit converts 20% of the physical damage to magic damage. This is the only non-physical damage bonus from Frenzy synergies, and it can be useful in dealing with PI's and highly physical resistant monsters.

Getting the most out of your build requires an understanding of how each weapon contributes to speed and damage for each Frenzy attack. In a single Frenzy attack each weapon has an independent chance to hit, and each hit scores damage based on the individual weapon's characteristics (combined with modifiers from non-weapon gear). The damage characteristics of the second weapon (the one that doesn't score the hit) don't affect the hit's damage.

A different set of rules apply to the '''''speed''''' of each Frenzy attack. Attack speed is the result of three factors:

# The average base speed of both your weapons.
# The on-weapon IAS of just '''''one''''' of your weapons. (Any IAS on the other weapon gets ignored.)
# All off-weapon speed modifiers, like Frenzy at your skill level, Fanaticism and off-weapon IAS on other gear.

Because IAS on just one of your weapons applies to every Frenzy attack, it can be useful knowing which one the game counts and which weapon gets ignored. There has been a surprising amount of misunderstanding on this score, and it stems in large part from how the speed formula presents itself.

The Frenzy speed formula [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=27894&view=findpost&p=291535 is here].

It describes a calculation that considers “right hand” weapon IAS, and ignores IAS on the “left hand” weapon. Naturally, people wonder whether the “right hand” weapon is the one equipped on the left or right side of the inventory screen. That's where the misunderstandings arise. Frequently the “right hand” weapon has nothing to do with which weapon is on which side of the inventory screen. The rules for which weapon counts as the “right hand” weapon are more complicated than that.

Whenever a barb equips two weapons the game considers one of them primary and the other one secondary. With each Frenzy attack the game treats the primary weapon differently from the secondary weapon in three important ways:

# The primary weapon always swings first.
# IAS on the primary weapon applies to the entire Frenzy attack, so both swings benefit from it. IAS on the secondary weapon doesn't count at all.
# When you switch from Frenzy to any 1-handed attack skill (like Berserk), the primary weapon is always the one you swing.

The game also treats the primary weapon differently in one additional, trivial way:

: The graphic for the primary weapon always appears in the Barb's right hand.

There are two different ways that the primary weapon is established, both of which you control. Under the first way, establishing the primary weapon has nothing to do with which weapon is on which side of the inventory screen. Under the second way, the primary weapon has '''''everything''''' to do with which weapon is on which side of the inventory screen. Confused? All will be made clear in a moment.

When you equip one or both of your dual-equipped weapons, the primary weapon is always whichever weapon was equipped first. The secondary weapon is the one equipped last. You can instantly change the primary weapon to the secondary weapon by un-equipping it for a moment and then re-equipping it in the same slot. This is the “equip” method of setting your primary weapon, and by this method '''''it makes no difference which side of the inventory screen you equip each weapon to'''''. The primary weapon is whichever one you equipped first.

The easiest way to test this for yourself is by taking a barb to Gheed in Normal and buying a dagger and a sword. Open the inventory screen and equip the dagger (it doesn't matter which side of the screen you use) and then the sword. The dagger was equipped first so it is now the primary weapon, and it appears in the Barb's right hand. Now un-equip the dagger for a second and drop it back in place. The dagger is now the weapon equipped last, so it is now the secondary weapon, and it's now in the Barb's left hand. Play around with equipping both weapons, on different sides of the screen and in different orders. You'll find that whichever weapon is equipped first is always in the Barb's right hand (it's the primary weapon), and whichever weapon is equipped last is always in the Barb's left hand (it's the secondary weapon).

The second method of setting your primary weapon is the “switch” method, and as soon as you use it (whether intentionally or not) it overrides whatever primary weapon was determined by the order you equipped your weapons. To execute the “switch” method you just switch to your backup weapons (whether or not you have anything equipped there) and then switch back to your dual-equipped weapons. When you switch back, the weapon that was equipped on the left side of the inventory screen is automatically set as your primary weapon, and it appears in your barb's right hand. In effect, switching off your dual weapons is like unequipping them, and switching back to them is like equipping them '''''at the same instant'''''. Since neither one was equipped “first,” the “equip” rule doesn't work to establish the primary weapon. So the game chooses the weapon in the left slot on the inventory screen to be the primary weapon, and displays it in your barb's right hand.

You can confirm this by playing around equipping and switching a dagger and sword in town.

To avoid confusion, think of your inventory screen as a face-to-face view of your character (left side = right hand). Equip the weapon you want to be primary to the left side of the screen AND make sure the other weapon was equipped last. The one you want as your primary weapon will then always be safely in your barb's right hand.

The mechanics of primary/secondary weapon selection make a huge difference to your Frenzy attack when one of your weapons has a lot more IAS on it than the other. Generally you will want the high IAS weapon as your primary weapon. But other factors come into play, especially when there is little or no difference in IAS adders on both weapons.

In deciding which weapon to make your primary one, here are the main factors to consider (in diminishing order of importance):

# If one weapon has more IAS than the other, make the one with more IAS your primary weapon (see discussion above).
# If you are going to rely a lot on a second attack (generally Berserk) and one weapon is much better than the other one for that attack, make the better one your primary Frenzy weapon.
# If one weapon is much more likely to score a Crushing Blow you want the better CB weapon as your primary one because it will always get the first swing. A CB-hit/non-CB-hit sequence nets a little more damage than the same hits in the reverse order.
# For the same reason, a chance to cast Static is a bit more valuable on the primary weapon than on the secondary weapon.
# Chance to cast other effects, particularly Amp, Glacial Spike and Dim Vision, are more valuable on the primary weapon because the earlier you trigger them the more useful they are.

In practice, I recommend paying careful attention to the first two of those factors and feeling free to ignore the rest.

For calculating equipment options and resulting attack speeds for Frenzy barbs I recommend the [http://diablo2.ingame.de/tips/calcs/weaponspeed.php?lang=english calculator here].

== II. Designing Your Frenzy Build ==

Creating a Frenzy build is unlike designing any other character. There isn't any “best build.” In fact, a terrific build for one person could easily be unplayable for someone else.

Frenzy barbs face the same monsters as everyone else, but don't get the advantages of the other classes. Palys block. Sorcs and Zons deal standoff damage. Sassys hide. Necros stand behind minions.

Frenzy barbs can't do any of that. They have no shield. They have no viable ranged attack. Their only way to deal damage is in chin-to-chin melee.

Fortunately, the barbarian toolkit includes skills that handle every eventuality. Unfortunately for the Frenzy barb, he has nowhere near enough skill points to take advantage of more than a couple of those tools. So designing a Frenzy barb involves making tough choices about which challenges you will handle with skills, and which you will solve through other resources, tactics and strategies.

In approaching a Frenzy build it's useful briefly to summarize the major obstacles you have to overcome.

=== Damage ===

Once you arrive in Hell the monsters have huge hitpoints. To lay on the hurt you must be able to deal out serious smacky-face.

=== Defense ===

Since every lick of damage you dole out will be from inside melee range, you are going to get hit. A lot.

So you need defense. But except for its cousin Double Swing, Frenzy is the only melee attack automatically disqualified from use with a shield. So forget about using the normal source of blockage, resist-age, and the second biggest slot for DR-age.

=== Crowd Control ===

Picture a flock of Flayers charging up to your shins with those fat little blades that turn Barbarian legs into sushi faster than a Benihana chef. Visualize Lister's Delinquents spawning in your lap as Fanatic, Cursed, Extra Fast amigos.

That would not be the ideal moment to start planning your crowd control abilities.

=== Physical Immunes ===

Frenzy deals all physical damage, all the time. When PI's are laughing at you because you can't dent their life bar, that's a problem.

=== Mana Burners ===

You don't need much mana to keep your Frenzy engine going, but you always need some. Mana burners are generally just a nuisance. When they're also PI, they're a serious problem. When they're in the [http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act1-Wraith.shtml Wraith family] they're a huge problem, since they're inherently MB/PI in hell, and have the endearing quality of stacking so they can all whack you at once.

=== Iron Maiden ===

This is your brain:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/images/brain1.jpg

This is your brain on IM:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/images/brain2.jpg

This is you right after a Frenzy while your brain is on IM:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/images/brain3.jpg

Although designing a build isn't like ordering off a Chinese menu (“Pick one from Column A, one from Column B . . .”), it's useful to see in one place your main options in addressing each of those challenges.

==== Frenzy Damage ====

* Skill points in Frenzy plus Mastery, Taunt and/or Double Swing: But that's as much as 83 points!
* High physical damage weapons.
* High percent Crushing Blow equipment.
* Critical strike.
* Deadly strike.
* Chance-to-cast Static equipment (Crescent Moon (7%), Stormlash (15%), or Schaefer's Hammer (20%)).
* Might or Blessed Aim merc.

==== Defense ====

* BO - imho the most potent skill in the game.
* Shout and Iron Skin.
* Elemental resists via equipment.
* Elemental resists via charms. FR and LR are crucial: LR for the [http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act3-willowisp.shtml Willowisp family]; FR for FE's.
* Elemental resists via Natural Resists. An investment of two precious skill points (one for the prerequisite) get you 12% All Resistance, and 4 adder skill points take that to 40%.
* Physical Damage Resists (Shaftstop (30%), String of Ears (10-15%), Verdungo (10-15%), Vamp Gaze (15-20%), Rockstopper (10%), etc.).
* High DR equipment. Lots of options, from cheap to ultra expensive.
* Life leach gear.
* Defiance merc.

==== Crowd Control ====

* Act 2 merc, especially with Holy Freeze, though Act 1 and Act 3 cold mercs are possibilities as well. (Equipping a Holy Freeze merc with Reaper's Toll at level 75 brings monsters to a virtual halt when Decrep triggers.)
* War Cry and Taunt, with Battle Cry, Howl and Grim Ward also available.

==== PI's ====
* Berserk
* Frenzy with Berserk synergy points (converting a fraction of physical damage to magic damage).
* Ctc amp damage (Atma's Chance (5%), Lacerator (33%)).
* Ctc Decrepify (Reaper's Toll (33%)).

==== MB's ====

* Double Swing (virtually mana free at slvl 3 and totally mana free at slvl 9).
* Crushing blow.
* Mana regen equipment.
* Mana leach.
* Insight polearm on an Act 2 merc (overkill in my view as far as your mana needs go, but it's an easy and very powerful runeword).
* Blue pots (dedicate a column of your belt to 'em. It's worth it!).

==== Iron Maiden ====

* Berserk (it converts 100% of your physical damage to magic damage, so IM has no effect on you).
* A lethal merc to kill for you (and for Act 2 or 5 mercs, lots of cash to revive them).
* Low damage CB setup (like 2 Crush Flanges, etc.). However, CB is affected by physical resists, and the entire [http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act4-undeadhorror.shtml OB Knight family] has some physical resistance in Hell.

Yet even with too few skill points and without terrific gear, a variety of Frenzy builds remain viable. No matter what your weaknesses, you can always (outside Single Player) overcome them by teaming up with a party. <Insert shameless promotion of Basin games here. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif>

For Single Player, you can hide many weaknesses with advanced play skills. Indeed, one of the attractions of the Frenzy barb is that he takes skill to play, when so many other builds are all about uber gear and little else.

=== Build Parameters ===

In a later section I'll cover playing techniques. For now, having outlined the main challenges your build will face and the options in tackling them, let's take a look at build parameters.

You can take your build in any of three different directions: Offense, Defense, or (for lack of a better term) Combat. The build you end up with depends on how much you emphasize or deemphasize those 3 poles.

I think of the options available to you as a triangle, with the most extreme builds at the perimeter.

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/images/triangle1.jpg

The red dots represent builds that are so extreme they are super-strong at what they emphasize, but are virtually unplayable because of weakness in what they deemphasize. (Actually, you could play even the most extreme builds as a party character, since the rest of the party would compensate for your build's shortcomings.)

Here is my vision of what those 3 “extreme” builds look like in a lvl 91 character. (Only invested skill points are shown; all adder points from equipment and charms would be on top of these):

<pre>
Skill_____________Offense_____Defense_____Combat
Howl______________1___________1___________10
Taunt_____________20__________20__________20
Battle Cry____________________1___________1
War Cry___________________________________20
Shout_________________________20__________1
Battle Orders_________________20__________1
Battle Com'd__________________1___________1
Mastery___________20__________1___________20
Iron Skin_____________________9___________1
Nat Resists___________________6___________4
Bash______________1___________1___________1
Double Swing______20__________1___________1
Double Throw______1___________1___________1
Frenzy____________20__________20__________20
Stun______________1_______________________
Concentration_____1_______________________
Berserk___________17______________________
</pre>

Designing the build you want involves compromising on the strengths of one extreme to improve on its weaknesses. Here are the major factors to consider.

'''1. Party vs. solo play.''' If you're going to run with a pack then you can do almost anything you want. If you invest points in BO your party mates will love you all along the way.

But if you play a lot on your own you've got to make some compromises and create a well rounded character. An all-offense Frenzy barb can kill quickly, but will die before beating a lot of inevitable encounters. A defensive barb is durable, but can't kill very well on his own.

'''2. Equipment.''' No matter how you allocate your skill points you'll have some glaring weaknesses. Good equipment goes a long way toward overcoming them. I talk about specific equipment options later, but for now just ask yourself how “uber” will be what you have access to. Super-good equipment lets you move toward some of the more extreme builds. Moderately good gear keeps you more in the middle of the triangle. (Lousy gear means you either play in a party or you don't plan on getting very far into Hell.)

'''3. Skill.''' Success in LoD is now heavily weighted toward itamz. Knowledge of character skills, game mechanics, and monster characteristics is probably the second biggest factor to how well a build plays. Actual gaming skill doesn't often count for much. Playing a Frenzy barb is an exception, which is one reason I like playing them. The more skilled you are, the more extreme a build you can get away with.

All in all, you'll want to make decisions on where, within the build's triangle, you want to be. Offensive-oriented builds go for huge killing power. Defensive builds excel at tanking. Combat builds emphasize crowd control.

Decide what you want to emphasize and chart your build. Just below are three actual builds I've played and find quite viable. (To make the builds easy to compare I take them all to level 91, though my actual barbs all finished Hell in their 80's.) I plot them within the build triangle where you see the green dots:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/images/triangle2.jpg

Here are the builds (only invested skill points are shown; I leave out all adder points):

<pre>
Skill_____________Offense_____Defense_____Combat
Howl______________1___________1___________1
Taunt_____________17__________20__________17
Battle Cry____________________1___________1
War Cry___________________________________20
Shout_____________1___________20__________1
Battle Orders_____15__________20__________12
Battle Com'd______1___________1___________1
Mastery___________20__________8___________20
Iron Skin_________1___________1___________1
Nat Resists_______1___________3___________1
Leap__________________________1___________1
Bash______________1___________1___________1
Double Swing______20__________1___________1
Double Throw______1___________1___________1
Frenzy____________20__________20__________20
Stun______________1___________1___________1
Concentration_____1___________1___________1
Berserk___________1___________1___________1
</pre>

==== Character Point Allocation ====

'''Energy.''' This is easy: None.

'''Strength.''' Only enough to equip your end gear. If you don't know what it will be, devote only enough for your current gear.

'''Dexterity.''' Same as with STR, though DEX is harder to manage because DEX requirements of weapons can vary wildly. Most builds benefit from extra DEX by better block percentage. You don’t. Except for daggers and throwing weapons (which a Frenzy barb doesn’t use), you get no damage increase from DEX. You get 5 AR per DEX point, but by the time you get to mid-Hell you’ll probably regret having invested any DEX beyond what your equipment requires.

Especially if you’re hardcore, starve your character of excess DEX. It’s tough because from mid-Nightmare onward you’ll wish your AR was higher. But there are better AR solutions (like Battle Cry and AR charms) than throwing away character points. (Softcore players and anyone willing to end their build in Nightmare can ignore this and invest in DEX as they see fit.)

'''Vitality.''' Everything else goes here.

==== Optional Skills ====

'''Leap.''' With no prerequisites, 1 point in leap is a worthy investment. It will get you out of many a swarm, especially if you're not building War Cry. It also does knockback to all monsters. Even with the small radius of a single point (more with adders), the knockback effect gives some crowd control to you and your merc when you're surrounded by baddies.

'''Leap Attack.''' Same advantages as Leap, covering a lot more ground but lacking knockback. Leap is a prerequisite, and you need skill points more than jumping range.

'''Berserk.''' It's extremely useful since it deals magic damage, but points-wise it's extremely expensive. You spend 4 skill points to get 1 point in Berserk. Bash is the first prerequisite for both Frenzy and Berserk, so there's no loss getting it. But the other two Berserk prerequisites (Stun and Concentrate) aren't on the Frenzy side of the tree, so they're useless except to reach Berserk. Frenzy's 6 second speed bonus carries over to Berserk, making it even better as a solution to PIs. It also gives you something to do in the Chaos Sanctuary and anywhere else OB Knights are found.

'''Howl.''' The first prerequisite to BO. Any more points would only be found on a very Combat-oriented build.

'''Shout.''' The second prerequisite to BO. This skill is central to Defense. Max'd Shout, high DR gear and a Defiance merc will have monsters whiffing at you most of the time.

'''Taunt.''' A synergy skill to Frenzy, making it worthwhile for that reason alone. Taunt gets ranged monsters to stop firing and sashay right up to melee range, and it reduces an attacker’s physical damage and AR. It gets revivers like Shamans to stop reviving. It stacks with War Cry, too. It won’t auto-target multiple enemies, so if you and a monster stay in place, multiple taunts will just overwrite one another on the same monster rather than Taunting new targets. But you can manually target different enemies, and you can even do it while staying in right-button mode by just hovering your mouse over enemies you target while Taunt is selected by hotkey. If you’re willing to target your Taunts either of those ways, it’s a great skill. However, it has no effect against OB Knights.

'''Battle Cry.''' Reduces enemy defense and damage. A single point (plus adders) does wonders for your to-hit percentage. It stacks with War Cry and is especially useful against bosses, which aren’t affected by War Cry.

'''War Cry.''' Stun enemies in melee range, Frenzy them, stun them, rinse and repeat until you're all that's standing. If you're willing to divert the skill points, it's a great skill. It also stacks with Battle Cry (so you hit them more often while they're stunned), Taunt (sucking enemies to you) and Amp (if you have a way to cast it).

'''Battle Command.''' Unless you're skipping BO, one point here is a no-brainer.

'''Iron Skin.''' One point never hurts for the extra DR. More important, it's a prerequisite to Natural Resists.

'''Natural Resists.''' You'll almost certainly want at least one point.

'''Increased Stamina & Increased Speed.''' Some players spend two points to score some Increased Speed, but I suggest you shouldn’t even think about it. When you build Frenzy you’ll be looking to rein in your r/w speed, not ramp it up further. You’ll get more benefit using those points somewhere else.

'''Find Potion & Find Item.''' Puh-leeeze. If you want to find stuff, make a sorc.

'''Grim Ward.''' This is a cool skill, but not practical for a Frenzy barb. You don't have 3 skill points to waste to reach it, you won't always have a disposable corpse when you need it, and Howl casts the Terror effect more reliably so long as you're not playing in an area much beyond your current level.

==== Weapon Class ====

You are going to wield axes, maces or swords. To get the most out of your mastery skill points you want both weapons to be from the same class.

Plan your build around your end-game gear. If you don't have any and can't reliably predict what you'll end up with, don't worry about it. Postpone investing points in Mastery and see what comes your way.

But if you have some control over the gear you'll use, your best options hinge first on whether you can get runes for the insanely powerful 1.10 ladder runewords. If you can get items with Beast, BotD, CtA, Doom, Eternity, Famine, HoJ, Destruction, Last Wish or Phoenix, then you don't need a guide to tell you what to equip, nor what weapon class to use. Those runewords are so strong it's hard to go wrong with them (though you have to get your barb well into the 60's to equip them using the elite weapons they deserve).

If you're like the rest of us and those runewords are out of reach then the general calculus is:

: 1. Axes are generally best because their STR/DEX requirements are low and speed/damage are generally high. Oath (Shael + Pul + Mal + Lum) in an ethereal weapon is terrific and is available to all 3 weapon classes, but a 4-socket ethereal ax is easier to find, create and equip (**cough** Small Crescent **cough**) than any 4-socket mace (Legendary Hammers are too slow) or Sword (a Conquest or Cryptic sword would work well, but then you'd want to commit to a sword for the second slot as well). Death (Hel + El + Vex + Ort + Gul) is tailor made for a Frenzy barb, and is available on axes (**cough** ethereal Ettin Ax **cough**). It isn't available on maces at all, and is hard to create on a sword (only possible on a Phase Blade with 5 of 6 sockets (high STR/DEX), Colossus Sword and Colossus Blade (huge STR/high DEX)).

: 2. Maces are generally the second best class. They have very low STR/DEX requirements (more VIT!), good speed, and decent damage. There are also more usable unique maces for a Frenzy barb than axes or swords.

: 3. Swords are generally the least useful weapons for Frenzy barbs, simply because their STR/DEX requirements are so high. If you're willing to divert the points they require, though, elite unique swords have a much greater array of tasty mods than do axes or maces. Dual swords also look wicked cool. And in the case of two particular exceptional unique swords, for the price of an upgrade (Lum + Pul + perfect emerald, ladder only) they become every bit as “uber” as the most expensive 1.10 runewords.

==== Crushing Blow, Critical Strike and Deadly Strike ====

A typical Frenzy build generates around 4 swings per second. With such a high rate of attacks (and, hopefully, hits), CB, CS and DS each bring the potential for greatly augmented killing power. An understanding of how and when they work helps you decide what equipment best suits your needs.

===== 1. Priority and stacking of CB, CS & DS =====

When a swing scores a hit, the game checks first to see if it is a crushing blow. A successful CB has no effect on whether the same hit is a critical strike or deadly strike. In other words, CB stacks with either DS or CS on the same hit.

After checking for CB the game next checks for Critical Strike. If the hit registers as CS, the game does NOT check for Deadly Strike. But if the CS check fails, the game goes ahead and checks for a deadly strike. So CS and DS can never both be on the same hit.

===== 2. Calculating likelihood of CB, CS & DS =====

The chance of any hit being CB equals the sum of all CB percentages on all equipped gear (except any CB on the weapon not making the hit doesn’t count toward the chance for a crushing blow). So if your character is equipped with Guillame’s Face (35%), a Crushflange in one hand (33%), a Death ax in the other (50%), and Duress armor (15%), the game makes a single check for CB at the rate of either 83% or 100%, depending on which weapon scored the hit. Any CB percentage in excess of 100% is wasted, since you can only get one crushing blow per hit.

Calculation of the likelihood for a successful critical strike works as with CB: The game makes a single check based on the sum of the percentage chances of CS available to your character. Because CS is not available on equipment, on a Frenzy barb it comes only from your Mastery skill points. If the CS check fails, the game proceeds with a check for a deadly strike, which is likewise calculated using the sum of all DS percentages available to your character, including all gear except any DS percentage on your non-hitting weapon.

===== 3. Damage calculation =====

The game calculates Crushing Blow damage before applying the normal damage of a hit. Technically, CB doesn't do any damage, but rather causes life reduction to the target. After the CB effect is applied, the game applies the normal damage of the hit (including CS or DS if the hit is either critical or deadly).

In a 1-person game against a normal monster with no physical resistance, a melee CB hit reduces the monster's current life by 25%. Hits by a missile weapon cause only half the CB effect of a melee CB hit.

CB hits against bosses and champs do only half the life reduction that they would against a normal monster. So a melee blow against a Champ with no physical resists removes 1/8th of his life before the normal damage of the blow is applied.

CB effectiveness is further reduced by physical resistance. Although negative physical resistance doesn't increase your CB damage, positive resistance reduces it. CB has no effect on PI's.

CB effectiveness is further constrained by the fact that it does not scale up with additional players in the game. So while monster hit points scale up with more players, a CB hit removes only the same number of hit points as if it scored in a 1-player game. This makes CB much less effective in multiplayer games.

Critical Strike adds 100% to the total physical damage in a hit. Because the CS multiplier applies after all other physical damage modifiers (weapon ED, DEX/STR bonuses, etc.), it can be enormously powerful.

CS does NOT apply to CB damage where CB and CS apply to the same hit because CB is not physical damage.

If a Critical Strike occurs on a Berserk hit, the CS multiplier is calculated just before all physical damage (including the CS 100% increase) is converted to magic damage. So CS doubles the magic damage in a Berserk attack hit.

DS damage is calculated the same way as with CS, and adds 100% to total physical damage just as does CS. But remember: DS can never apply to a critical strike.

== III. Play Techniques ==

As a Frenzy barb you are living on the edge, where your playing skills can shine or stink. Getting the chance to shine is why I like this character build.

Let's go straight to post-graduate technique. In a battle, you will not be clicking your mouse. That's right! You are going to be a dashing/slashing/shouting/melee blur, all without clicking your mouse. Get ready for the wonders of Frenzy on your right mouse button.

When you load Frenzy on your righthand button and '''''hold it down''''', Frenzy auto-targets on nearby enemies. You guide your barb by moving the mouse, not by clicking. So long as you don't highlight-click a target you will auto-target for as long as you keep holding down that right mouse button and have your barb in melee range of a target. You can start using the technique with Double Swing at level 6, and from then on you become a Frenzy Weed Whacker, damaging everyone in range as you swing the barb around by moving the mouse.

But that's just the beginning of the Zen of Right Button Play. When you need to yell out a war cry you '''''still''''' don't click. While keeping the right button down you just hit the hotkey for the skill you want and the barb yells it without missing a beat. Hit the Frenzy hotkey and you're back into Frenzy Weed Whacker mode faster that you could ever do with a left mouse attack. So in the middle of a mob you can Frenzy/War Cry/Taunt/Taunt/War Cry/Frenzy without an instant's hesitation, just by rotating through your hotkeys with your left hand while holding the right mouse button down with your right.

As if that's not enough, Frenzy is an un-interruptible attack, so even when you're hit it doesn't break off the blizzard of blows you're inflicting. (Your targeting can get interrupted, though, if your merc or someone else knocks back an enemy you're engaged with.)

If you need to disengage, no problemo. Push the mouse where you want to go, hotkey to Leap, and you're out. Change hotkeys in mid-air and you'll execute the new skill as soon as your toes hit the ground. Or you can disengage by switching to any attack skill on your left mouse button. Or just let up the right mouse button and left click on a target or left click away from the action.

“That sounds too easy,” you are thinking. And you're right. This is post-graduate technique because the undergrads get washed out of the class. The entire time you hold the right mouse button down you're denied the monster information you get from hovering or click-locking on an enemy. You can't see his life bar, so you don't know how low he's getting. You can't see his immunities (which is kind of important when he's a physical immune). You can't see his mods (if he's a boss), nor whether he's a minion or a Champ. So you can't tell if you're standing next to an FE boss whose death explosion will kill you.

But that's for lesser players to fret over. If you're steeped in the nuances of the game (which you obviously are, since you're playing a Frenzy barb!), you recognize the graphics of bosses and champs and know to hover over bosses to check their mods and react accordingly.

If you haven't memorized monster immunities, hover the cursor before engaging. When you see a boss pack, hover and look at the mods. If you're not sure whether a boss is in the pack, try howl (if you have it): Normal and minion monsters will run in Terror (if they're not much higher in level from you), but bosses won't be affected.

Another shortcoming of right-button play is that you can't execute a weapon switch. The switch executes only when an attack is over, which for Frenzy means after both swings in an attack. As long as you're holding the right button down in Frenzy melee, you can't reliably execute a weapon switch after one Frenzy attack ends and before the next one begins. So you can forget about switching to backup Echoing swords for a few war cries in the midst of melee. You wouldn't generally want to take the time for it, anyway, at the pace you'll be playing.

Decide whether to load secondary attack skills (typically DS and Berserk) on your right mouse button. The advantage is switching to them via hotkey without interrupting your auto-targeting. But that can be a disadvantage as well, since you may want to go to manual targeting (or break off entirely) when something forces you off the Frenzy skill. The choice depends more on how active a style of play you prefer. Loading secondary attack skills on the left mouse button means much more active right hand work in melee, and somewhat less left hand hotkeying.

As your barb hits his peak (in his 40s and 50s), this play style will seem unstoppable. Don't grow over confident, or you'll get spanked in late Nightmare and throughout Hell. Right-button play at higher levels requires the same control as advanced Whirlwind does: Keep your barb in small, tight patterns; work the edges of packs; keep a safe exit zone available.

You also need to combine your melee with your merc's. Even with max'd BO neither one of you can survive alone against the full-tilt clobbering of a large, potent mob. A great habit to develop is fighting at your merc's shoulder. The closer you stick to him the less damage each of you take. If you're fighting beside one another, you're each taking just half the blows you would otherwise receive, and are knocking down enemies much faster than by fighting apart.

Use your mouse to engage a new pack of monsters simultaneous with your merc. Advance ahead with your barb to attract an upcoming pack. Then as your merc is walking up to you (and the pack), run back behind him, circle around again, and advance right along with him to meet the pack together.

Use standard melee/WC/melee to stun enemies in melee range of both of you. If you don't have WC, hotkey a series of hippy-hop Leaps right around your merc: The knockback will give you both a bit of time and breathing space (though it's a meager substitute for War Cry).

Above all, keep your merc alive. Unless you're in a party, he's the only friend you've got. I keep two belt columns for fat purple potions and Shift-hotkey them for my merc when he gets low.

Starting in Nightmare, begin using walls and halls to position yourself. When you and your merc have a wall at your back, you cut down the number of hits you can take by 50%. When you're behind a doorway or other choke point, it's more like 80%. Even in open terrain you improve your odds by fighting next to an obstruction. In Hell those techniques keep you and your merc alive. Use them in Nightmare so they will be second nature by the time you really need them.

Be conscious of the spaces you pass through. When you clear a small area that space becomes an asset. In solo melee you and your merc will retreat a lot: It's the quickest way to control the merc's AI and it spreads the opponents out so they're easier to kill. Sometimes, though, your best option is to sprint through an area and leave particularly nasty foes behind. You want to be sure to stay well away from them as you clear a safe patch beyond so they don't climb up your back.

Another skill worth developing is managing run/walk speed. With Frenzy fully charged, running may have your character careening wildly around the screen like a cue ball in a game of 3-cushion billiards. Stripping off frw gear doesn't hurt, but won't make much difference. The easiest solution is to set your character to Walk. Once charged by high level Frenzy, walking speed is easy to control, plenty fast for melee, and even fast enough to get from one area to another. Walking also gives you the full benefit of your DR, which goes to zero the instant you start running.

The trouble with walking, though, becomes obvious the moment Frenzy expires. Your barb's movement drops to a crawl. Either you put up with glacial transit to the next fight or you give up on walking.

With practice you can learn to control your barb's movements in Run mode even at full Frenzy. But you've got to have the discipline of precise, fractional mouse movements.

Instead of leaving your character set on '''''either''''' Walk or Run, you can toggle between the two. While in melee, walk. While transiting between areas and fights, run. It's more of a chore than it sounds, but decide for yourself whether it's worthwhile to maximize both the benefits of DR and the warp speeds of Frenzy running.

Party play requires different techniques than solo play. Generally your character is most valued as a BO-belching tank. Stick to what the others need, keep a watch out for characters that are lagging or getting into trouble, and you'll be a hero.

Equally important, avoid “bad” party play. A sorc can quickly earn a bad reputation by teleporting away from the group, awakening a ton of unexpectedly tough monsters, scurrying back to the party and drawing all those monsters with her. A poorly played Frenzy barb can commit exactly the same sin. Your super speed lets you zip ahead of the pack, but you're not a good scout and aren't built to become one.

A lot of other players have never seen a Frenzy barb and aren't used to his speed. If you're not adept at controlling his movements you'll drive them nuts. Walk more than normal, keep your movements tight and controlled, and transit areas with the left-click/pause technique every other character uses rather than the screaming-fast right-button running-on-Frenzy technique.

Choosing backup weapons is largely an equipment issue, but can also involve technique. Generally I go with dual Echoing weapons: +6 to BO, Shout and Battle Command is huge. But you can equip a big 2-hander for Berserking PI's, taking advantage of the carryover IAS bonus from Frenzy. More exotic backup weapons are also possible, but executing weapon switches smoothly while using Frenzy is no easy feat.

== IV. Equipment ==

Because Frenzy builds vary dramatically, equipment options are endless. A guide can't begin to discuss them all. So I'll limit myself to naming some generally useful items, particularly items that are easily overlooked. For convenience I'll try to identify at least one “Best Value” item (typically easy to acquire), a “General Favorite” among Frenzy players, and a “Novelty” item for a change of pace. For the most part I'll skip the super-rare and super-expensive options.

=== Main Weapons:===
'''Best Value''': Coldsteel Eye and Headstriker. These aren't expensive but they're not entirely cheap either, particularly because you REALLY want them to upgrade at levels 52 (for Coldsteel) and 65 (for Headstriker). As exceptional uniques they easily carry you through Nightmare. As upgrades to elites they are just about equal to super-expensive runewords like Beast or Breath of the Dying. With its Deadly Strike taken into account, an upgraded Coldsteel does well in excess of 300% ED, is very fast, and has 30% Slows Target. An upgraded Headstriker keeps getting better every level you advance, and with its Deadly Strike and increase to max damage it does 400% ED +/-. 
'''General favorite''': The biggest, fastest weapons available. 
'''Other options''': Notables for low levels are Crushflange (33% CB), and General Tan's. For mid levels, Bloodletter, Sureshrill, Fleshrender, Black runeword (goes great in a Tyrant Club), Honor rune word (goes well in a Twin Axe), Butcher's Pupil, Aldur's Rhythm, Earthshaker, Baezil's. For high levels, Oath and Death are both well suited to Frenzy barbs, are both extremely good in ethereal weapons, and are somewhat more accessible than the super-high runewords. Rune Master, Death Cleaver, Nord's, Demon Limb, Baranar's, Stormlash, and high damage rare elites are all serviceable in Hell. 
'''Novelty choice''': Dual Lightsabres. Gloams won't ever be a problem again.

=== Backup Weapons: ===
'''Best value''': Dual echoing weapons (+3 Warcries). I have good luck shopping for them with a high level character in the Rogues Camp in Nightmare. 
'''General favorite''': Dual echoing weapons. 
'''Other options''': A big 2-handed weapon for Berserk attacking while still on the Frenzy 6-second clock. 
'''Novelty choice''': A Lacerator as the primary backup (33% chance to cast level 3 amp) with an echoing weapon in the other slot. However, equipping the Lacerator requires 122 DEX, so it's unthinkable unless you're using high DEX primary weapons.

=== Helms: ===
'''Best value''': Arreat's Face. Expensive, but by far the best possible helm. 
'''General favorite''': Arreat's. 
'''Other options''': Rare or magic barb helms. Look for plus Barbarian Skills, which are much more useful to Frenzy barbs than plus skills to a single tree. Resists and leach are desirable. Sazabi's, Rockstopper, Stealskull and Vamp are worthy choices. Guillaume's Face (15% DS and 35% CB) is a contender as well.

=== Amulets: ===
'''Best value''': Eye of Etlich. 
'''General favorite''': Highlord's. 
'''Other options''': Any +2 barb skills ammy. Because Frenzy barbs rely so heavily on skill points and get a big lift from crucial skills in all three trees (at a minimum, Frenzy and Berserk, BO and usually WC, Mastery and Natural Resists), a plus to all skills is more valuable to this build than virtually any other. Atma's is useful as a PI solution. 
'''Novelty choice''': A magic ammy with Teleport charges.

=== Gloves: ===
'''Best value''': Bloodfist. 
'''General Favorite''': Dracul's. The 5% ctc Life Tap sets these gloves apart, and make a big difference to your barb's (and your merc's) ability to stand and wail away against normal monsters in Hell. 
'''Other options''': Blood crafted gloves, Magnus’ Skin, Sander’s Taboo, Laying of Hands, Lava Gout, Venom Grip. 
'''Novelty Choice''': Steelrend (10% CB).

=== Armor: ===
'''Best value''': Smoke. 
'''General Favorite''': Shaftstop (great for upgrade in Hell, too). 
'''Other options''': Duriel's, Skin of Vipermagi, Naj's Hellforge Plate, Arkaine's, Lionheart, Prudence, Gloom, Duress and Stone runeword armors. 
'''Novelty choice''': Blue Tyrael's Might. It's nowhere near as good as it is rare, but the “Slain Monsters” mod is fun against revives, and the armor looks incredibly cool.

=== Rings: ===
'''Best value''': Cathan's Seal. 
'''General Favorite''': Bul Kathos. 
'''Other options''': Rare and Blood crafted rings. 
'''Novelty choice''': Wisp Projector. The extra boost from Oak Sage is great, though it dies quite a lot during melee.

=== Belts: ===
'''Best value''': Nightsmoke. 
'''General Favorite''': Verdungo's, though String of Ears is better for this build and cheaper to boot. 
'''Other options''': Credendum, Immortal King's Detail, Wilhelm's Pride. 
'''Novelty Choice''': Arachnid.

=== Boots: ===
'''Best value''': Hotspur boots. A level 5 item, these are end game gear because of their +15 to max Fire Resistance, which is great against one of the biggest threats to Frenzy barbs: FE explosions. Their 45% Fire Resists are gravy. 
'''General Favorite''': Gore Riders. 
'''Other options''': Tearhaunch, rare and crafted boots are all likely to fill holes in your build. 
'''Novelty Choice''': Marrowwalks. As they say in the ad, “Reviving your merc . . . 50,000 gold. Unsocketing an item . . . 1 Hel. The look on Lister's face when you cut him off from his minions with a level 33 bone prison . . . priceless.”

Some players go with 4 Immortal King items (armor, belt, gloves and boots, sometimes also with the maul for backup weapon for use with Berserk). Together those items offer some big bonuses and mods, but you're then committed for those four slots.

== Conclusion ==

With a well thought out build, good equipment and great technique you’ll have nothing but fun playing a Frenzy barb.

Good luck, and good hunting.

Grimborn

== Credits ==
Grimborn, Feb. 2005. Reprinted with permission from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=54813 this thread].

Grimborn's 1.10 Frenzy Barb Guide

2006-07-07T23:16:08Z

Heather: reprinting from forum thread

__TOC__

<center>http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/grimborn.gif</center>

== Introduction ==

A Frenzy barbarian is one of the most difficult characters to design, and one of the most fun to play. Steering him through the game requires proficiency in both melee and casting techniques, executed at a pace faster than for virtually any other character.

If you want a cookie cutter build that will dominate throughout the game, a Frenzy barb is not for you. If you want a character that will shine with any old equipment, in solo and party play, and without much knowledge of game mechanics, then you won't enjoy a Frenzy barbarian.

But if you thrive on life in the fast lane, if you want to stare Death in the face when there's no room for error, and if you're willing to set your skills against the toughest challenges in the game, then you're ready to strap on a Frenzy barb.

== I. Frenzy Basics ==

Frenzy is a level 24 skill on the right side of the Combat tree. Frenzy works only when your barb is dual wielding, and will attack with any combination of weapons a barb can simultaneously equip.

Frenzy amplifies a weapon's physical damage, increases attack rating and attack speed, and dramatically adds to run/walk speed. It is triggered by attack hits and is the only barb skill that charges up, much the way a druid's Feral Rage or an assassin's Tiger Strike charge up. (Only the speed bonuses of Frenzy need to charge; the damage and AR bonuses are full from the first swing.)

A single Frenzy attack consists of two swings: One with each weapon. My testing of how many hits are needed to reach maximum speed led to inconclusive results, but generally four Frenzy rounds that hit at least once always fully charge the Frenzy skill.

Once charged up, Frenzy is on a 6 second timer which resets upon every additional hit so long as the timer has not expired. The 6 second duration is unaffected by graduation to Nightmare and Hell.

The timer is also unaffected by changing to a different Combat skill. Once Frenzy is charge up you get the benefit of Frenzy's faster run/walk for the entire 6-seconds regardless of whatever skills you use. You likewise get carryover of Frenzy's IAS to other attacks while the timer lasts (although the IAS bonus does not carry over to Whirlwind because Whirlwind does not benefit from off-weapon IAS). And if you switch back to Frenzy and score a hit before the timer expires, it resets to a fresh 6 seconds. However, Frenzy's damage and AR bonuses don't carry over to any non-Frenzy attacks.

Level 1 Frenzy gives a 90% physical damage bonus, 100% AR bonus, 7% IAS and 47% faster run/walk speed. Each additional skill point adds 5% to the damage bonus, 7% AR, more IAS and more frw.

Counting Combat Mastery, Frenzy has 4 synergy skills: Mastery, Taunt, Double Swing and Berserk.

The first point in your weapon's Mastery gives a 25% bonus to physical damage, 28% bonus to AR, and a 3% chance for Critical Strike. Each additional skill point adds 5% to the damage bonus, 8% to AR and diminishing additional chances for Critical Strike. The full table [http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/skills/barbarian-combatmasteries.shtml is here].

The synergy effect of Taunt gives an 8% bonus to physical damage for each skill point invested. Points in Double Swing give exactly the same synergy bonus.

Each point invested in Berserk gives a synergy bonus that converts 1% of your physical damage in a Frenzy attack to magic damage. So if Berserk is max'd, every Frenzy hit converts 20% of the physical damage to magic damage. This is the only non-physical damage bonus from Frenzy synergies, and it can be useful in dealing with PI's and highly physical resistant monsters.

Getting the most out of your build requires an understanding of how each weapon contributes to speed and damage for each Frenzy attack. In a single Frenzy attack each weapon has an independent chance to hit, and each hit scores damage based on the individual weapon's characteristics (combined with modifiers from non-weapon gear). The damage characteristics of the second weapon (the one that doesn't score the hit) don't affect the hit's damage.

A different set of rules apply to the '''''speed''''' of each Frenzy attack. Attack speed is the result of three factors:

# The average base speed of both your weapons.
# The on-weapon IAS of just '''''one''''' of your weapons. (Any IAS on the other weapon gets ignored.)
# All off-weapon speed modifiers, like Frenzy at your skill level, Fanaticism and off-weapon IAS on other gear.

Because IAS on just one of your weapons applies to every Frenzy attack, it can be useful knowing which one the game counts and which weapon gets ignored. There has been a surprising amount of misunderstanding on this score, and it stems in large part from how the speed formula presents itself.

The Frenzy speed formula [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=27894&view=findpost&p=291535 is here].

It describes a calculation that considers “right hand” weapon IAS, and ignores IAS on the “left hand” weapon. Naturally, people wonder whether the “right hand” weapon is the one equipped on the left or right side of the inventory screen. That's where the misunderstandings arise. Frequently the “right hand” weapon has nothing to do with which weapon is on which side of the inventory screen. The rules for which weapon counts as the “right hand” weapon are more complicated than that.

Whenever a barb equips two weapons the game considers one of them primary and the other one secondary. With each Frenzy attack the game treats the primary weapon differently from the secondary weapon in three important ways:

# The primary weapon always swings first.
# IAS on the primary weapon applies to the entire Frenzy attack, so both swings benefit from it. IAS on the secondary weapon doesn't count at all.
# When you switch from Frenzy to any 1-handed attack skill (like Berserk), the primary weapon is always the one you swing.

The game also treats the primary weapon differently in one additional, trivial way:

: The graphic for the primary weapon always appears in the Barb's right hand.

There are two different ways that the primary weapon is established, both of which you control. Under the first way, establishing the primary weapon has nothing to do with which weapon is on which side of the inventory screen. Under the second way, the primary weapon has '''''everything''''' to do with which weapon is on which side of the inventory screen. Confused? All will be made clear in a moment.

When you equip one or both of your dual-equipped weapons, the primary weapon is always whichever weapon was equipped first. The secondary weapon is the one equipped last. You can instantly change the primary weapon to the secondary weapon by un-equipping it for a moment and then re-equipping it in the same slot. This is the “equip” method of setting your primary weapon, and by this method '''''it makes no difference which side of the inventory screen you equip each weapon to'''''. The primary weapon is whichever one you equipped first.

The easiest way to test this for yourself is by taking a barb to Gheed in Normal and buying a dagger and a sword. Open the inventory screen and equip the dagger (it doesn't matter which side of the screen you use) and then the sword. The dagger was equipped first so it is now the primary weapon, and it appears in the Barb's right hand. Now un-equip the dagger for a second and drop it back in place. The dagger is now the weapon equipped last, so it is now the secondary weapon, and it's now in the Barb's left hand. Play around with equipping both weapons, on different sides of the screen and in different orders. You'll find that whichever weapon is equipped first is always in the Barb's right hand (it's the primary weapon), and whichever weapon is equipped last is always in the Barb's left hand (it's the secondary weapon).

The second method of setting your primary weapon is the “switch” method, and as soon as you use it (whether intentionally or not) it overrides whatever primary weapon was determined by the order you equipped your weapons. To execute the “switch” method you just switch to your backup weapons (whether or not you have anything equipped there) and then switch back to your dual-equipped weapons. When you switch back, the weapon that was equipped on the left side of the inventory screen is automatically set as your primary weapon, and it appears in your barb's right hand. In effect, switching off your dual weapons is like unequipping them, and switching back to them is like equipping them '''''at the same instant'''''. Since neither one was equipped “first,” the “equip” rule doesn't work to establish the primary weapon. So the game chooses the weapon in the left slot on the inventory screen to be the primary weapon, and displays it in your barb's right hand.

You can confirm this by playing around equipping and switching a dagger and sword in town.

To avoid confusion, think of your inventory screen as a face-to-face view of your character (left side = right hand). Equip the weapon you want to be primary to the left side of the screen AND make sure the other weapon was equipped last. The one you want as your primary weapon will then always be safely in your barb's right hand.

The mechanics of primary/secondary weapon selection make a huge difference to your Frenzy attack when one of your weapons has a lot more IAS on it than the other. Generally you will want the high IAS weapon as your primary weapon. But other factors come into play, especially when there is little or no difference in IAS adders on both weapons.

In deciding which weapon to make your primary one, here are the main factors to consider (in diminishing order of importance):

# If one weapon has more IAS than the other, make the one with more IAS your primary weapon (see discussion above).
# If you are going to rely a lot on a second attack (generally Berserk) and one weapon is much better than the other one for that attack, make the better one your primary Frenzy weapon.
# If one weapon is much more likely to score a Crushing Blow you want the better CB weapon as your primary one because it will always get the first swing. A CB-hit/non-CB-hit sequence nets a little more damage than the same hits in the reverse order.
# For the same reason, a chance to cast Static is a bit more valuable on the primary weapon than on the secondary weapon.
# Chance to cast other effects, particularly Amp, Glacial Spike and Dim Vision, are more valuable on the primary weapon because the earlier you trigger them the more useful they are.

In practice, I recommend paying careful attention to the first two of those factors and feeling free to ignore the rest.

For calculating equipment options and resulting attack speeds for Frenzy barbs I recommend the [http://diablo2.ingame.de/tips/calcs/weaponspeed.php?lang=english calculator here].

== II. Designing Your Frenzy Build ==

Creating a Frenzy build is unlike designing any other character. There isn't any “best build.” In fact, a terrific build for one person could easily be unplayable for someone else.

Frenzy barbs face the same monsters as everyone else, but don't get the advantages of the other classes. Palys block. Sorcs and Zons deal standoff damage. Sassys hide. Necros stand behind minions.

Frenzy barbs can't do any of that. They have no shield. They have no viable ranged attack. Their only way to deal damage is in chin-to-chin melee.

Fortunately, the barbarian toolkit includes skills that handle every eventuality. Unfortunately for the Frenzy barb, he has nowhere near enough skill points to take advantage of more than a couple of those tools. So designing a Frenzy barb involves making tough choices about which challenges you will handle with skills, and which you will solve through other resources, tactics and strategies.

In approaching a Frenzy build it's useful briefly to summarize the major obstacles you have to overcome.

=== Damage ===

Once you arrive in Hell the monsters have huge hitpoints. To lay on the hurt you must be able to deal out serious smacky-face.

=== Defense ===

Since every lick of damage you dole out will be from inside melee range, you are going to get hit. A lot.

So you need defense. But except for its cousin Double Swing, Frenzy is the only melee attack automatically disqualified from use with a shield. So forget about using the normal source of blockage, resist-age, and the second biggest slot for DR-age.

=== Crowd Control ===

Picture a flock of Flayers charging up to your shins with those fat little blades that turn Barbarian legs into sushi faster than a Benihana chef. Visualize Lister's Delinquents spawning in your lap as Fanatic, Cursed, Extra Fast amigos.

That would not be the ideal moment to start planning your crowd control abilities.

=== Physical Immunes ===

Frenzy deals all physical damage, all the time. When PI's are laughing at you because you can't dent their life bar, that's a problem.

=== Mana Burners ===

You don't need much mana to keep your Frenzy engine going, but you always need some. Mana burners are generally just a nuisance. When they're also PI, they're a serious problem. When they're in the [http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act1-Wraith.shtml Wraith family] they're a huge problem, since they're inherently MB/PI in hell, and have the endearing quality of stacking so they can all whack you at once.

=== Iron Maiden ===

This is your brain:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/images/brain1.jpg

This is your brain on IM:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/images/brain2.jpg

This is you right after a Frenzy while your brain is on IM:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/images/brain3.jpg

Although designing a build isn't like ordering off a Chinese menu (“Pick one from Column A, one from Column B . . .”), it's useful to see in one place your main options in addressing each of those challenges.

==== Frenzy Damage ====

* Skill points in Frenzy plus Mastery, Taunt and/or Double Swing: But that's as much as 83 points!
* High physical damage weapons.
* High percent Crushing Blow equipment.
* Critical strike.
* Deadly strike.
* Chance-to-cast Static equipment (Crescent Moon (7%), Stormlash (15%), or Schaefer's Hammer (20%)).
* Might or Blessed Aim merc.

==== Defense ====

* BO - imho the most potent skill in the game.
* Shout and Iron Skin.
* Elemental resists via equipment.
* Elemental resists via charms. FR and LR are crucial: LR for the [http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act3-willowisp.shtml Willowisp family]; FR for FE's.
* Elemental resists via Natural Resists. An investment of two precious skill points (one for the prerequisite) get you 12% All Resistance, and 4 adder skill points take that to 40%.
* Physical Damage Resists (Shaftstop (30%), String of Ears (10-15%), Verdungo (10-15%), Vamp Gaze (15-20%), Rockstopper (10%), etc.).
* High DR equipment. Lots of options, from cheap to ultra expensive.
* Life leach gear.
* Defiance merc.

==== Crowd Control ====

* Act 2 merc, especially with Holy Freeze, though Act 1 and Act 3 cold mercs are possibilities as well. (Equipping a Holy Freeze merc with Reaper's Toll at level 75 brings monsters to a virtual halt when Decrep triggers.)
* War Cry and Taunt, with Battle Cry, Howl and Grim Ward also available.

==== PI's ====
* Berserk
* Frenzy with Berserk synergy points (converting a fraction of physical damage to magic damage).
* Ctc amp damage (Atma's Chance (5%), Lacerator (33%)).
* Ctc Decrepify (Reaper's Toll (33%)).

==== MB's ====

* Double Swing (virtually mana free at slvl 3 and totally mana free at slvl 9).
* Crushing blow.
* Mana regen equipment.
* Mana leach.
* Insight polearm on an Act 2 merc (overkill in my view as far as your mana needs go, but it's an easy and very powerful runeword).
* Blue pots (dedicate a column of your belt to 'em. It's worth it!).

==== Iron Maiden ====

* Berserk (it converts 100% of your physical damage to magic damage, so IM has no effect on you).
* A lethal merc to kill for you (and for Act 2 or 5 mercs, lots of cash to revive them).
* Low damage CB setup (like 2 Crush Flanges, etc.). However, CB is affected by physical resists, and the entire [http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act4-undeadhorror.shtml OB Knight family] has some physical resistance in Hell.

Yet even with too few skill points and without terrific gear, a variety of Frenzy builds remain viable. No matter what your weaknesses, you can always (outside Single Player) overcome them by teaming up with a party. <Insert shameless promotion of Basin games here. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif>

For Single Player, you can hide many weaknesses with advanced play skills. Indeed, one of the attractions of the Frenzy barb is that he takes skill to play, when so many other builds are all about uber gear and little else.

=== Build Parameters ===

In a later section I'll cover playing techniques. For now, having outlined the main challenges your build will face and the options in tackling them, let's take a look at build parameters.

You can take your build in any of three different directions: Offense, Defense, or (for lack of a better term) Combat. The build you end up with depends on how much you emphasize or deemphasize those 3 poles.

I think of the options available to you as a triangle, with the most extreme builds at the perimeter.

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/images/triangle1.jpg

The red dots represent builds that are so extreme they are super-strong at what they emphasize, but are virtually unplayable because of weakness in what they deemphasize. (Actually, you could play even the most extreme builds as a party character, since the rest of the party would compensate for your build's shortcomings.)

Here is my vision of what those 3 “extreme” builds look like in a lvl 91 character. (Only invested skill points are shown; all adder points from equipment and charms would be on top of these):

<pre>
Skill_____________Offense_____Defense_____Combat
Howl______________1___________1___________10
Taunt_____________20__________20__________20
Battle Cry____________________1___________1
War Cry___________________________________20
Shout_________________________20__________1
Battle Orders_________________20__________1
Battle Com'd__________________1___________1
Mastery___________20__________1___________20
Iron Skin_____________________9___________1
Nat Resists___________________6___________4
Bash______________1___________1___________1
Double Swing______20__________1___________1
Double Throw______1___________1___________1
Frenzy____________20__________20__________20
Stun______________1_______________________
Concentration_____1_______________________
Berserk___________17______________________
</pre>

==== Character Point Allocation ====

'''Energy.''' This is easy: None.

'''Strength.''' Only enough to equip your end gear. If you don't know what it will be, devote only enough for your current gear.

'''Dexterity.''' Same as with STR, though DEX is harder to manage because DEX requirements of weapons can vary wildly. Most builds benefit from extra DEX by better block percentage. You don’t. Except for daggers and throwing weapons (which a Frenzy barb doesn’t use), you get no damage increase from DEX. You get 5 AR per DEX point, but by the time you get to mid-Hell you’ll probably regret having invested any DEX beyond what your equipment requires.

Especially if you’re hardcore, starve your character of excess DEX. It’s tough because from mid-Nightmare onward you’ll wish your AR was higher. But there are better AR solutions (like Battle Cry and AR charms) than throwing away character points. (Softcore players and anyone willing to end their build in Nightmare can ignore this and invest in DEX as they see fit.)

'''Vitality.''' Everything else goes here.

==== Optional Skills ====

'''Leap.''' With no prerequisites, 1 point in leap is a worthy investment. It will get you out of many a swarm, especially if you're not building War Cry. It also does knockback to all monsters. Even with the small radius of a single point (more with adders), the knockback effect gives some crowd control to you and your merc when you're surrounded by baddies.

'''Leap Attack.''' Same advantages as Leap, covering a lot more ground but lacking knockback. Leap is a prerequisite, and you need skill points more than jumping range.

'''Berserk.''' It's extremely useful since it deals magic damage, but points-wise it's extremely expensive. You spend 4 skill points to get 1 point in Berserk. Bash is the first prerequisite for both Frenzy and Berserk, so there's no loss getting it. But the other two Berserk prerequisites (Stun and Concentrate) aren't on the Frenzy side of the tree, so they're useless except to reach Berserk. Frenzy's 6 second speed bonus carries over to Berserk, making it even better as a solution to PIs. It also gives you something to do in the Chaos Sanctuary and anywhere else OB Knights are found.

'''Howl.''' The first prerequisite to BO. Any more points would only be found on a very Combat-oriented build.

'''Shout.''' The second prerequisite to BO. This skill is central to Defense. Max'd Shout, high DR gear and a Defiance merc will have monsters whiffing at you most of the time.

'''Taunt.''' A synergy skill to Frenzy, making it worthwhile for that reason alone. Taunt gets ranged monsters to stop firing and sashay right up to melee range, and it reduces an attacker’s physical damage and AR. It gets revivers like Shamans to stop reviving. It stacks with War Cry, too. It won’t auto-target multiple enemies, so if you and a monster stay in place, multiple taunts will just overwrite one another on the same monster rather than Taunting new targets. But you can manually target different enemies, and you can even do it while staying in right-button mode by just hovering your mouse over enemies you target while Taunt is selected by hotkey. If you’re willing to target your Taunts either of those ways, it’s a great skill. However, it has no effect against OB Knights.

'''Battle Cry.''' Reduces enemy defense and damage. A single point (plus adders) does wonders for your to-hit percentage. It stacks with War Cry and is especially useful against bosses, which aren’t affected by War Cry.

'''War Cry.''' Stun enemies in melee range, Frenzy them, stun them, rinse and repeat until you're all that's standing. If you're willing to divert the skill points, it's a great skill. It also stacks with Battle Cry (so you hit them more often while they're stunned), Taunt (sucking enemies to you) and Amp (if you have a way to cast it).

'''Battle Command.''' Unless you're skipping BO, one point here is a no-brainer.

'''Iron Skin.''' One point never hurts for the extra DR. More important, it's a prerequisite to Natural Resists.

'''Natural Resists.''' You'll almost certainly want at least one point.

'''Increased Stamina & Increased Speed.''' Some players spend two points to score some Increased Speed, but I suggest you shouldn’t even think about it. When you build Frenzy you’ll be looking to rein in your r/w speed, not ramp it up further. You’ll get more benefit using those points somewhere else.

'''Find Potion & Find Item.''' Puh-leeeze. If you want to find stuff, make a sorc.

'''Grim Ward.''' This is a cool skill, but not practical for a Frenzy barb. You don't have 3 skill points to waste to reach it, you won't always have a disposable corpse when you need it, and Howl casts the Terror effect more reliably so long as you're not playing in an area much beyond your current level.

==== Weapon Class ====

You are going to wield axes, maces or swords. To get the most out of your mastery skill points you want both weapons to be from the same class.

Plan your build around your end-game gear. If you don't have any and can't reliably predict what you'll end up with, don't worry about it. Postpone investing points in Mastery and see what comes your way.

But if you have some control over the gear you'll use, your best options hinge first on whether you can get runes for the insanely powerful 1.10 ladder runewords. If you can get items with Beast, BotD, CtA, Doom, Eternity, Famine, HoJ, Destruction, Last Wish or Phoenix, then you don't need a guide to tell you what to equip, nor what weapon class to use. Those runewords are so strong it's hard to go wrong with them (though you have to get your barb well into the 60's to equip them using the elite weapons they deserve).

If you're like the rest of us and those runewords are out of reach then the general calculus is:

: 1. Axes are generally best because their STR/DEX requirements are low and speed/damage are generally high. Oath (Shael + Pul + Mal + Lum) in an ethereal weapon is terrific and is available to all 3 weapon classes, but a 4-socket ethereal ax is easier to find, create and equip (**cough** Small Crescent **cough**) than any 4-socket mace (Legendary Hammers are too slow) or Sword (a Conquest or Cryptic sword would work well, but then you'd want to commit to a sword for the second slot as well). Death (Hel + El + Vex + Ort + Gul) is tailor made for a Frenzy barb, and is available on axes (**cough** ethereal Ettin Ax **cough**). It isn't available on maces at all, and is hard to create on a sword (only possible on a Phase Blade with 5 of 6 sockets (high STR/DEX), Colossus Sword and Colossus Blade (huge STR/high DEX)).

: 2. Maces are generally the second best class. They have very low STR/DEX requirements (more VIT!), good speed, and decent damage. There are also more usable unique maces for a Frenzy barb than axes or swords.

: 3. Swords are generally the least useful weapons for Frenzy barbs, simply because their STR/DEX requirements are so high. If you're willing to divert the points they require, though, elite unique swords have a much greater array of tasty mods than do axes or maces. Dual swords also look wicked cool. And in the case of two particular exceptional unique swords, for the price of an upgrade (Lum + Pul + perfect emerald, ladder only) they become every bit as “uber” as the most expensive 1.10 runewords.

==== Crushing Blow, Critical Strike and Deadly Strike ====

A typical Frenzy build generates around 4 swings per second. With such a high rate of attacks (and, hopefully, hits), CB, CS and DS each bring the potential for greatly augmented killing power. An understanding of how and when they work helps you decide what equipment best suits your needs.

===== 1. Priority and stacking of CB, CS & DS =====

When a swing scores a hit, the game checks first to see if it is a crushing blow. A successful CB has no effect on whether the same hit is a critical strike or deadly strike. In other words, CB stacks with either DS or CS on the same hit.

After checking for CB the game next checks for Critical Strike. If the hit registers as CS, the game does NOT check for Deadly Strike. But if the CS check fails, the game goes ahead and checks for a deadly strike. So CS and DS can never both be on the same hit.

===== 2. Calculating likelihood of CB, CS & DS =====

The chance of any hit being CB equals the sum of all CB percentages on all equipped gear (except any CB on the weapon not making the hit doesn’t count toward the chance for a crushing blow). So if your character is equipped with Guillame’s Face (35%), a Crushflange in one hand (33%), a Death ax in the other (50%), and Duress armor (15%), the game makes a single check for CB at the rate of either 83% or 100%, depending on which weapon scored the hit. Any CB percentage in excess of 100% is wasted, since you can only get one crushing blow per hit.

Calculation of the likelihood for a successful critical strike works as with CB: The game makes a single check based on the sum of the percentage chances of CS available to your character. Because CS is not available on equipment, on a Frenzy barb it comes only from your Mastery skill points. If the CS check fails, the game proceeds with a check for a deadly strike, which is likewise calculated using the sum of all DS percentages available to your character, including all gear except any DS percentage on your non-hitting weapon.

===== 3. Damage calculation =====

The game calculates Crushing Blow damage before applying the normal damage of a hit. Technically, CB doesn't do any damage, but rather causes life reduction to the target. After the CB effect is applied, the game applies the normal damage of the hit (including CS or DS if the hit is either critical or deadly).

In a 1-person game against a normal monster with no physical resistance, a melee CB hit reduces the monster's current life by 25%. Hits by a missile weapon cause only half the CB effect of a melee CB hit.

CB hits against bosses and champs do only half the life reduction that they would against a normal monster. So a melee blow against a Champ with no physical resists removes 1/8th of his life before the normal damage of the blow is applied.

CB effectiveness is further reduced by physical resistance. Although negative physical resistance doesn't increase your CB damage, positive resistance reduces it. CB has no effect on PI's.

CB effectiveness is further constrained by the fact that it does not scale up with additional players in the game. So while monster hit points scale up with more players, a CB hit removes only the same number of hit points as if it scored in a 1-player game. This makes CB much less effective in multiplayer games.

Critical Strike adds 100% to the total physical damage in a hit. Because the CS multiplier applies after all other physical damage modifiers (weapon ED, DEX/STR bonuses, etc.), it can be enormously powerful.

CS does NOT apply to CB damage where CB and CS apply to the same hit because CB is not physical damage.

If a Critical Strike occurs on a Berserk hit, the CS multiplier is calculated just before all physical damage (including the CS 100% increase) is converted to magic damage. So CS doubles the magic damage in a Berserk attack hit.

DS damage is calculated the same way as with CS, and adds 100% to total physical damage just as does CS. But remember: DS can never apply to a critical strike.

== III. Play Techniques ==

As a Frenzy barb you are living on the edge, where your playing skills can shine or stink. Getting the chance to shine is why I like this character build.

Let's go straight to post-graduate technique. In a battle, you will not be clicking your mouse. That's right! You are going to be a dashing/slashing/shouting/melee blur, all without clicking your mouse. Get ready for the wonders of Frenzy on your right mouse button.

When you load Frenzy on your righthand button and '''''hold it down''''', Frenzy auto-targets on nearby enemies. You guide your barb by moving the mouse, not by clicking. So long as you don't highlight-click a target you will auto-target for as long as you keep holding down that right mouse button and have your barb in melee range of a target. You can start using the technique with Double Swing at level 6, and from then on you become a Frenzy Weed Whacker, damaging everyone in range as you swing the barb around by moving the mouse.

But that's just the beginning of the Zen of Right Button Play. When you need to yell out a war cry you '''''still''''' don't click. While keeping the right button down you just hit the hotkey for the skill you want and the barb yells it without missing a beat. Hit the Frenzy hotkey and you're back into Frenzy Weed Whacker mode faster that you could ever do with a left mouse attack. So in the middle of a mob you can Frenzy/War Cry/Taunt/Taunt/War Cry/Frenzy without an instant's hesitation, just by rotating through your hotkeys with your left hand while holding the right mouse button down with your right.

As if that's not enough, Frenzy is an un-interruptible attack, so even when you're hit it doesn't break off the blizzard of blows you're inflicting. (Your targeting can get interrupted, though, if your merc or someone else knocks back an enemy you're engaged with.)

If you need to disengage, no problemo. Push the mouse where you want to go, hotkey to Leap, and you're out. Change hotkeys in mid-air and you'll execute the new skill as soon as your toes hit the ground. Or you can disengage by switching to any attack skill on your left mouse button. Or just let up the right mouse button and left click on a target or left click away from the action.

“That sounds too easy,” you are thinking. And you're right. This is post-graduate technique because the undergrads get washed out of the class. The entire time you hold the right mouse button down you're denied the monster information you get from hovering or click-locking on an enemy. You can't see his life bar, so you don't know how low he's getting. You can't see his immunities (which is kind of important when he's a physical immune). You can't see his mods (if he's a boss), nor whether he's a minion or a Champ. So you can't tell if you're standing next to an FE boss whose death explosion will kill you.

But that's for lesser players to fret over. If you're steeped in the nuances of the game (which you obviously are, since you're playing a Frenzy barb!), you recognize the graphics of bosses and champs and know to hover over bosses to check their mods and react accordingly.

If you haven't memorized monster immunities, hover the cursor before engaging. When you see a boss pack, hover and look at the mods. If you're not sure whether a boss is in the pack, try howl (if you have it): Normal and minion monsters will run in Terror (if they're not much higher in level from you), but bosses won't be affected.

Another shortcoming of right-button play is that you can't execute a weapon switch. The switch executes only when an attack is over, which for Frenzy means after both swings in an attack. As long as you're holding the right button down in Frenzy melee, you can't reliably execute a weapon switch after one Frenzy attack ends and before the next one begins. So you can forget about switching to backup Echoing swords for a few war cries in the midst of melee. You wouldn't generally want to take the time for it, anyway, at the pace you'll be playing.

Decide whether to load secondary attack skills (typically DS and Berserk) on your right mouse button. The advantage is switching to them via hotkey without interrupting your auto-targeting. But that can be a disadvantage as well, since you may want to go to manual targeting (or break off entirely) when something forces you off the Frenzy skill. The choice depends more on how active a style of play you prefer. Loading secondary attack skills on the left mouse button means much more active right hand work in melee, and somewhat less left hand hotkeying.

As your barb hits his peak (in his 40s and 50s), this play style will seem unstoppable. Don't grow over confident, or you'll get spanked in late Nightmare and throughout Hell. Right-button play at higher levels requires the same control as advanced Whirlwind does: Keep your barb in small, tight patterns; work the edges of packs; keep a safe exit zone available.

You also need to combine your melee with your merc's. Even with max'd BO neither one of you can survive alone against the full-tilt clobbering of a large, potent mob. A great habit to develop is fighting at your merc's shoulder. The closer you stick to him the less damage each of you take. If you're fighting beside one another, you're each taking just half the blows you would otherwise receive, and are knocking down enemies much faster than by fighting apart.

Use your mouse to engage a new pack of monsters simultaneous with your merc. Advance ahead with your barb to attract an upcoming pack. Then as your merc is walking up to you (and the pack), run back behind him, circle around again, and advance right along with him to meet the pack together.

Use standard melee/WC/melee to stun enemies in melee range of both of you. If you don't have WC, hotkey a series of hippy-hop Leaps right around your merc: The knockback will give you both a bit of time and breathing space (though it's a meager substitute for War Cry).

Above all, keep your merc alive. Unless you're in a party, he's the only friend you've got. I keep two belt columns for fat purple potions and Shift-hotkey them for my merc when he gets low.

Starting in Nightmare, begin using walls and halls to position yourself. When you and your merc have a wall at your back, you cut down the number of hits you can take by 50%. When you're behind a doorway or other choke point, it's more like 80%. Even in open terrain you improve your odds by fighting next to an obstruction. In Hell those techniques keep you and your merc alive. Use them in Nightmare so they will be second nature by the time you really need them.

Be conscious of the spaces you pass through. When you clear a small area that space becomes an asset. In solo melee you and your merc will retreat a lot: It's the quickest way to control the merc's AI and it spreads the opponents out so they're easier to kill. Sometimes, though, your best option is to sprint through an area and leave particularly nasty foes behind. You want to be sure to stay well away from them as you clear a safe patch beyond so they don't climb up your back.

Another skill worth developing is managing run/walk speed. With Frenzy fully charged, running may have your character careening wildly around the screen like a cue ball in a game of 3-cushion billiards. Stripping off frw gear doesn't hurt, but won't make much difference. The easiest solution is to set your character to Walk. Once charged by high level Frenzy, walking speed is easy to control, plenty fast for melee, and even fast enough to get from one area to another. Walking also gives you the full benefit of your DR, which goes to zero the instant you start running.

The trouble with walking, though, becomes obvious the moment Frenzy expires. Your barb's movement drops to a crawl. Either you put up with glacial transit to the next fight or you give up on walking.

With practice you can learn to control your barb's movements in Run mode even at full Frenzy. But you've got to have the discipline of precise, fractional mouse movements.

Instead of leaving your character set on '''''either''''' Walk or Run, you can toggle between the two. While in melee, walk. While transiting between areas and fights, run. It's more of a chore than it sounds, but decide for yourself whether it's worthwhile to maximize both the benefits of DR and the warp speeds of Frenzy running.

Party play requires different techniques than solo play. Generally your character is most valued as a BO-belching tank. Stick to what the others need, keep a watch out for characters that are lagging or getting into trouble, and you'll be a hero.

Equally important, avoid “bad” party play. A sorc can quickly earn a bad reputation by teleporting away from the group, awakening a ton of unexpectedly tough monsters, scurrying back to the party and drawing all those monsters with her. A poorly played Frenzy barb can commit exactly the same sin. Your super speed lets you zip ahead of the pack, but you're not a good scout and aren't built to become one.

A lot of other players have never seen a Frenzy barb and aren't used to his speed. If you're not adept at controlling his movements you'll drive them nuts. Walk more than normal, keep your movements tight and controlled, and transit areas with the left-click/pause technique every other character uses rather than the screaming-fast right-button running-on-Frenzy technique.

Choosing backup weapons is largely an equipment issue, but can also involve technique. Generally I go with dual Echoing weapons: +6 to BO, Shout and Battle Command is huge. But you can equip a big 2-hander for Berserking PI's, taking advantage of the carryover IAS bonus from Frenzy. More exotic backup weapons are also possible, but executing weapon switches smoothly while using Frenzy is no easy feat.

== IV. Equipment ==

Because Frenzy builds vary dramatically, equipment options are endless. A guide can't begin to discuss them all. So I'll limit myself to naming some generally useful items, particularly items that are easily overlooked. For convenience I'll try to identify at least one “Best Value” item (typically easy to acquire), a “General Favorite” among Frenzy players, and a “Novelty” item for a change of pace. For the most part I'll skip the super-rare and super-expensive options.

=== Main Weapons:===
'''Best Value''': Coldsteel Eye and Headstriker. These aren't expensive but they're not entirely cheap either, particularly because you REALLY want them to upgrade at levels 52 (for Coldsteel) and 65 (for Headstriker). As exceptional uniques they easily carry you through Nightmare. As upgrades to elites they are just about equal to super-expensive runewords like Beast or Breath of the Dying. With its Deadly Strike taken into account, an upgraded Coldsteel does well in excess of 300% ED, is very fast, and has 30% Slows Target. An upgraded Headstriker keeps getting better every level you advance, and with its Deadly Strike and increase to max damage it does 400% ED +/-. 
'''General favorite''': The biggest, fastest weapons available. 
'''Other options''': Notables for low levels are Crushflange (33% CB), and General Tan's. For mid levels, Bloodletter, Sureshrill, Fleshrender, Black runeword (goes great in a Tyrant Club), Honor rune word (goes well in a Twin Axe), Butcher's Pupil, Aldur's Rhythm, Earthshaker, Baezil's. For high levels, Oath and Death are both well suited to Frenzy barbs, are both extremely good in ethereal weapons, and are somewhat more accessible than the super-high runewords. Rune Master, Death Cleaver, Nord's, Demon Limb, Baranar's, Stormlash, and high damage rare elites are all serviceable in Hell. 
'''Novelty choice''': Dual Lightsabres. Gloams won't ever be a problem again.

=== Backup Weapons: ===
'''Best value''': Dual echoing weapons (+3 Warcries). I have good luck shopping for them with a high level character in the Rogues Camp in Nightmare. 
'''General favorite''': Dual echoing weapons. 
'''Other options''': A big 2-handed weapon for Berserk attacking while still on the Frenzy 6-second clock. 
'''Novelty choice''': A Lacerator as the primary backup (33% chance to cast level 3 amp) with an echoing weapon in the other slot. However, equipping the Lacerator requires 122 DEX, so it's unthinkable unless you're using high DEX primary weapons.

=== Helms: ===
'''Best value''': Arreat's Face. Expensive, but by far the best possible helm. 
'''General favorite''': Arreat's. 
'''Other options''': Rare or magic barb helms. Look for plus Barbarian Skills, which are much more useful to Frenzy barbs than plus skills to a single tree. Resists and leach are desirable. Sazabi's, Rockstopper, Stealskull and Vamp are worthy choices. Guillaume's Face (15% DS and 35% CB) is a contender as well.

=== Amulets: ===
'''Best value''': Eye of Etlich. 
'''General favorite''': Highlord's. 
'''Other options''': Any +2 barb skills ammy. Because Frenzy barbs rely so heavily on skill points and get a big lift from crucial skills in all three trees (at a minimum, Frenzy and Berserk, BO and usually WC, Mastery and Natural Resists), a plus to all skills is more valuable to this build than virtually any other. Atma's is useful as a PI solution. 
'''Novelty choice''': A magic ammy with Teleport charges.

=== Gloves: ===
'''Best value''': Bloodfist. 
'''General Favorite''': Dracul's. The 5% ctc Life Tap sets these gloves apart, and make a big difference to your barb's (and your merc's) ability to stand and wail away against normal monsters in Hell. 
'''Other options''': Blood crafted gloves, Magnus’ Skin, Sander’s Taboo, Laying of Hands, Lava Gout, Venom Grip. 
'''Novelty Choice''': Steelrend (10% CB).

=== Armor: ===
'''Best value''': Smoke. 
'''General Favorite''': Shaftstop (great for upgrade in Hell, too). 
'''Other options''': Duriel's, Skin of Vipermagi, Naj's Hellforge Plate, Arkaine's, Lionheart, Prudence, Gloom, Duress and Stone runeword armors. 
'''Novelty choice''': Blue Tyrael's Might. It's nowhere near as good as it is rare, but the “Slain Monsters” mod is fun against revives, and the armor looks incredibly cool.

=== Rings: ===
'''Best value''': Cathan's Seal. 
'''General Favorite''': Bul Kathos. 
'''Other options''': Rare and Blood crafted rings. 
'''Novelty choice''': Wisp Projector. The extra boost from Oak Sage is great, though it dies quite a lot during melee.

=== Belts: ===
'''Best value''': Nightsmoke. 
'''General Favorite''': Verdungo's, though String of Ears is better for this build and cheaper to boot. 
'''Other options''': Credendum, Immortal King's Detail, Wilhelm's Pride. 
'''Novelty Choice''': Arachnid.

=== Boots: ===
'''Best value''': Hotspur boots. A level 5 item, these are end game gear because of their +15 to max Fire Resistance, which is great against one of the biggest threats to Frenzy barbs: FE explosions. Their 45% Fire Resists are gravy. 
'''General Favorite''': Gore Riders. 
'''Other options''': Tearhaunch, rare and crafted boots are all likely to fill holes in your build. 
'''Novelty Choice''': Marrowwalks. As they say in the ad, “Reviving your merc . . . 50,000 gold. Unsocketing an item . . . 1 Hel. The look on Lister's face when you cut him off from his minions with a level 33 bone prison . . . priceless.”

Some players go with 4 Immortal King items (armor, belt, gloves and boots, sometimes also with the maul for backup weapon for use with Berserk). Together those items offer some big bonuses and mods, but you're then committed for those four slots.

== Conclusion ==

With a well thought out build, good equipment and great technique you’ll have nothing but fun playing a Frenzy barb.

Good luck, and good hunting.

Grimborn

== Credits ==
Grimborn, Feb. 2005. Reprinted with permission from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=54813 this thread].

Diablo II

2006-07-07T20:44:46Z

Heather: added note about making sure to get permission of original authors before reprinting

Welome to the Unofficial Diablo II Basin Wiki. Curious about what this is? How to use it? Then check out the '''[[WikiFAQ]]'''

__TOC__

== The Welcome Mat ==

[http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/the_welcome_mat.php Please visit the Amazon Basin Welcome Mat]

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== General Game Information ==
[[Quest Guides]] 
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== Character Class Information ==
[[Amazon Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Assassin Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Barbarian Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
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== Technical Information ==
[[Technical]] 
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 '''
== Tales of Heroes Past ==
''' 

[[The Poorman takes on Uber Tristam]] 
[[Knight Shadow, Adventures of a Shadow Knight]] 
[[Zer's Stories]] 
[[Sail's tales]] 
[[Candlelight's Challenged Characters]] 
[[Kynars-passion wielding zeal barb]] 
[[Osteophile and Wendy-YogiBaar]] 
[[Killing em with toothpicks-emaq123]] 
[[Dughan, the No-Magic-Item Barbarian-Caspari]] 
[[Secret Diary of John Harcourt-Tuftears]] 
[[Interview with a hungover bowbarian, Big Bad Bob's Bow-wielding Barb]] 
[[SenSitiveSkin-Sen]] 
[[Wild-Babe bows out of active service, Quite a journey-ChillerBabe]] 
[[Irene, the Infirm, Tales of a sickly punching sorceress-MongoJerry]] 
[[Gunter, the Barbarian Mage, Tales of a barbarian mage-MongoJerry]] 
[[Maldar, the Magnificent, Tales of a pacifist hero-MongoJerry]] 
[[Kwikwilyaqa goes home-GrLnDgz]] 
[[Hardly-Able, The nekkid throw barb-BamBam]]

The Poorman takes on Uber Tristram

2006-07-07T03:02:10Z

Heather: reprinting from forum thread

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/the_poorman/48.jpg

__TOC__

== Introduction ==

He caught wind of the rumors about Uber Tristram. He heard how tough it is to dent the reincarnated Evil Three. He read of solo players taking them down with GearFromEbay®.

But that is not his style. He is The Poorman, and The Poorman has no use for fancy gear.

He rises from his seat on the log lying beside his meager fire. With a yank to the edge of his cloak he shakes the raindrops from his mantle. He gazes for long minutes at the darkening Northern sky, then sets a measured pace toward the foothills of Mount Arreat.

He will liberate Uber Tristram. He will fight equipped only with junk: Normal grade white items, Normal uniques, Normal rares and Normal grade set pieces. Nothing Elite. Nothing even Exceptional. No runes higher than Lem will endow the armor he wears and the weapons he wields.

The Poorman will do battle in Uber Tristram alone, and he will do it in hardcore.

== Planning the Mission ==

The Poorman knows about the cookie-cutter builds for Tristram: They’re all based on uber itamz: HoZ, TGods, Dracul’s, Guardian Angel or Last Wish, Gores, Grief, Astreon’s and the like.

The Poorman scoffs at all such treasure. He attacks instead with superior tactics. He defends with wile and subtlety.

But The Poorman detects a kernel of sense in those cookie-cutter builds: They all use Smite. No other solo attack is as well suited to the Uber Three, and its advantages are undimmed by the bling-bling other players insist on piling atop it.

Ranged attackers get steamrolled by the Big Three. Meph and Baal in particular leap aggressively down the throats of solo players, and the friendly minion able to stand in their way hasn’t yet been born. Even if she could stay on her feet longer than a few seconds, the solo ranged warrior cannot bring to bear any attack that stacks up against the huge hit points sported by each of the Three.

[http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act5-ubermephisto.shtml Mephisto] has almost unbreakable (110%) immunities to lightening and poison. [http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act5-uberbaal.shtml Baal] has the same immunity to cold. [http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act5-uberdiablo.shtml Diablo] has 95% resists to all four elements. Each of the three can blow through a standoff player before she gets near to killing them.

That leaves melee, although that smackey-face style of fighting is almost as lopsided in favor of the Three. Chopping through their minions is a chore for Sisyphus because new ones spawn faster than the old ones are dispatched. While the melee player is hacking them down, the Big Boys lop huge chunks out of the most intrepid fighter’s life ball. Without high priced trinkets, few melee characters live long enough to catch a second wind, let alone get close to the taste of victory.

But Smite stands above its melee brethren because it has three qualities crucial to success. First, it is an uninterruptible attack. Second, it always hits, regardless of the enemy’s defense and blocking abilities. And third, it can carry piggyback just enough of the melee fighter’s tricks to reach the goal line.

The Poorman scrounges through the slag heaps of gear discarded by others to find those few, overlooked yet crucial items that he needs.

== The Poorman’s Strategy ==

Almost all the damage done by the denizens of Tristram is magic. Both Baal and Diablo have hellacious elemental attacks, and Mephisto’s lightning attack is a one-hit kill against all but the very well prepared. Baal’s Specters can stack up and dish serious physical damage, but otherwise the bad news is just about entirely elemental.

For that reason Meph’s Conviction dominates the battlefield. It’s level 20, taking 125% from The Poorman’s Fire, Cold and Lightning resists. Even if our hero could keep Meph off his back while engaging the others and their minions, Conviction’s sickly green aura makes all of their elemental attacks many times more deadly than elsewise.

So The Poorman’s plan is to take Mephisto preemptively. He will spawn only Meph and his brood at first, and fight chest to chest until one of them is a smoldering corpse on the ground.

With all danger of Conviction gone The Poorman will draw Diablo out to play and hopefully send him to oblivion. The Poorman will call Baal forth last of all. When Big B falls a Standard of Heroes will fall beside him. That is all the reward The Poorman will claim if he is able to carry the day.

== The Poorman’s Skill selections ==

<pre>
20 Smite (21 with adders)
20 Holy Shield (21)
20 Fanaticism (21)
8 Salvation (9)
</pre>

Those skills, plus 6 prerequisites, leave 18 skill points for The Poorman, who is level 81. The Poorman leaves those extra points untouched as he has no use for them.

== The Poorman’s Character Point allocation ==

<pre>
110 STR (111 with adders)
118 DEX (144)
159 VIT (159)
15 ENG (16)
</pre>

With equipment and charm adders The Poorman has 1,464 Life and 192 Mana.

== The Poorman’s equipment ==

The advantages of The Poorman’s particular combination of items are discussed below, as are several alternate approaches with equally humble gear. Here’s what he takes with him to Harrogath:

{|
| Helm || Iratha’s Crown (socketed with Ort): 60% LR, 30% FR
|-
| 2nd helm || Plain white crown, socketed with 3 perfect rubies
|-
| Ammy || Rare +1 Paly skills, +1 ENG, +39 Life, +19 All Resists
|-
| Weap || Magic Bone Wand of Life Tap (105 lvl 6 charges), socketed with 2 Shaels
|-
| Armor || Darkglow ring mail (socketed with Ort): +10 all resists, another 30% LR, +5 to Max all resists
|-
| 2nd armor || Treachery (Shael-Thul-Lem) breast plate
|-
| Shield || White crown shield with +43 all resists, socketed with 4 Pdiamonds, for a total of +119 to all resists
|-
| Gloves || Crafted (blood) heavy gloves with 8% crushing blow and +18 life
|-
| Ring 1 || Raven Frost
|-
| Ring 2 || Rare ring with 1 STR, 10 DEX, +11 life and +7 to all resists
|-
| Belt || Crafted (blood) belt with 10% Open Wounds, +3 mana and +20 life, all 12 slots filled with fat purple pots
|-
| Boots || Goblin Toe light plated boots (25% cb)
|-
| Charms || 39 inventory slots are taken with a motley assembly of charms totaling 10% FR, 29% LR, 2 STR, 7 mana and 423 life. The 40th slot is empty
|-
| Stash || A cube (holding the eye, brain and horn to open the portal to Uber Tristram), the second crown helm, the backup armor and four small life charms. Every other slot is filled with Fat Purples
|}

== Choice of merc ==

The Poorman fights alone. He has no merc.

== How the battle unfolds ==

The Poorman starts by repairing his gear. He will do so twice more before the battle is over. Combat in Tristram can take a bone wand from fully repaired to broken in less than three minutes, and not even The Poorman relishes a battle where his only weapon is his fist.

The Poorman guzzles antidote and thaw potions, which stack at 30 seconds apiece, grant +10% to max poison/cold resists and add 50% to poison/cold resists. (Consuming them is cheesy, but The Poorman would rather dine on cheese than caviar, and he much prefers eating cheese to eating dirt.) He puts on Treachery and exposes himself to some low Act 1 attacks until its level 15 Fade triggers, granting nearly 5 minutes of 60% to all resists plus a hidden 15% to physical resist. He replaces Treachery with the lowly Darkglow armor. With Salvation on The Poorman now carries 80/90/80/90 resists, '''''even in the face of Meph’s Conviction.''''' It’s not quite godly, but it’s enough so he can survive any single big hit and have an extra fraction of a second before a killing blow.

In a time long gone by, seers foretold the incarnation of the Uber Three and recorded a secret way to spawn only Mephisto. But their predictions fell from memory with the passing years and all of their recorded wisdom decayed to dust, save for a single scroll that lay hidden away in a cavern far beneath the earth. Neither man nor beast had seen it for many lifetimes: Except for The Poorman, who came upon it in his wanderings.

As his final preparation he calls to mind the ancients’ scroll and the secret it told. He smiles grimly at the thought that their foresight so long ago might now come to the aid of men.

He opens and jumps down the red portal, which puts him just on the far side of the buildings in the center of Tristram. Nighttime has fallen there.

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/the_poorman/34.jpg

He heads due North (toward the top left corner of the monitor) and then trots counterclockwise along the outer perimeter until he’s on the near side of Tristram:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/the_poorman/36.jpg

In daylight, that same spot looks like this:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/the_poorman/18.jpg

Immediately in front of The Poorman is a stone on the ground. That stone is the secret marker for spawning Mephisto. The Poorman walks up nearly to the point of touching it:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/the_poorman/36a.jpg

The first of Mephisto’s minions immediately surge up out of the ground. A second later Mephisto appears between the buildings just North of the stone. The Poorman has only an instant to initiate a flurry of Smites before Mephisto will cast his devastating lightning attack. But The Poorman has been hunting monsters for long years in the wild, and he knows that if he engages Mephisto the fight is over and The Poorman is dead. For to close with Mephisto he must close the gap between them, and the instant he steps beyond the stone he spawns Diablo and probably Baal as well. Against Mephisto alone he has a chance; against all of the Three together he is badly overmatched.

So he does the opposite of what Mephisto expects: He runs away, toward the bottom of the screen. Sensing an easy kill Mephisto leaps forward himself, momentarily outracing his own minions. The Poorman readies himself for that surge. Quick as a thunder crack he must whirl to face Mephisto, toggle to the hotkey for his bone wand’s Life Tap charges, right-click a Tap charge on Mephisto’s head, hotkey back to Salvation and hold down on left-click targeting of Meph to initiate a sustained Smite attack.

He either does that correctly or he dies. To get a Life Tap cast he must get the skill on his right button, and for as long as it’s there his Salvation is off. While it is down he stands exposed to Meph’s Conviction. The excess LR he wears (Orts in helm and armor and 29% in a grand charm) sustains his defense against lightning, but his cold and fire resists drop well below max and he takes damage much faster until Salvation goes back up. If he rushes and gets Salvation up before a successful Tap sticks to Meph then his resists are fine but he has zero leach. He can gulp pots in a desperate effort to keep up with the onslaught raining down on him, but 12 pots don’t last long in that extremity and when the last one is gone he is done for.

The Poorman knew this moment would come. He trained for it in Durance against Mephisto’s Act 3 cousin. His moment is now at hand, and as Uber Meph races toward him The Poorman casts Tap, brings Salvation back up and locks Meph in a Smite attack. He now has 28 seconds of Life Tap with uninterruptible 7-frame Smite attacks, connecting 3.5 times per second, leaching an average of 518 life points per second. Even that much leach cannot keep him alive, but it dramatically extends the length between fat purple quaffs.

The Poorman knows that with his lowly crown shield his Smite attack (about 370 hp per attack) barely tickles Meph’s 650,000 hp life bar. But Meph is maniacally determined to kill the warrior he towers over and won’t disengage even to save himself, while The Poorman has the inexorable force of mathematics in his arsenal. Unfortunately for The Poorman, the laws of mathematics dictate that he cannot kill Meph within the 28-second window that is now available. So The Poorman counts down the seconds aloud while the battle rages all around him, and whenever his life ball takes a precipitous hit he spends a precious purple. “ . . . 21, 20, 19,” “. . . 12, 11, 10,” “. . . 7, 6, 5 . . .”

At the count of ‘3’ The Poorman executes his life-or-death sequence again: Tap charges up/cast Tap/Salvation back up/lock Smite attack on Meph. It costs him nearly a full second and another fat purple. But The Poorman has Meph back in the unforgiving embrace of mathematics, and this time it is Meph who cannot outlast the clock.

Somewhere in the recesses of his vile mind Meph must sense that something is wrong. His life bar is down to a sliver, less than a tenth of where it began. For while he has been raging against the small paladin in front of him, barely noticing the puny physical damage from his shield, Meph has overlooked The Poorman’s lowly boots. Goblin Toes have but one useful attribute: 25% crushing blow. With another 8% cb on his crafted gloves The Poorman is landing just over one crushing blow per second. Meph’s weakness is physical resists (he has only 20%), so each crushing blow removes one twentieth of his remaining life.

Meph has never worried much about his physical resists because he starts with an enormous life pool and regenerates lost life many times faster than his enemies can remove it. But once again Meph has overlooked a humble part of The Poorman’s garb: His belt, with its 10% chance to cast Open Wounds. Meph is vulnerable to OW, and OW works with Smite. Once triggered it lasts for 8 seconds, and at a rate of 3.5 attacks per second it is all but impossible for Meph to get out from under its grasp. So for every second of the fight Meph has lost a twentieth of his remaining life, and at the half-minute mark it is nearly gone.

Now it is too late for him to worry about crushing blows, and their effect no longer matters. Of the few thousands of hit points left to him the loss of a twentieth hardly registers. But the puny direct physical damage of the shield’s Smite attacks now comes to the fore. A 370-hp attack was laughable against a 650,000 hp life bar. But with just a few thousand life points left and 3.5 of those attacks per second, Meph is not laughing. His only hope is to kill The Poorman before his dwindling life source expires.

But The Poorman’s 12 purple potions last long enough and his resist maximums are high enough – barely – to bring Meph down. The demon crashes to the earth in ruin. His minions continue attacking half-heartedly but are in disarray. The Poorman takes his time and dispatches them one by one, making certain to draw each one down to the Southwest corner of Tristram first so as not to accidentally spawn Diablo or Baal. The Poorman retraces his steps back around the perimeter, taking the red portal up to Harrogath.

He repairs his gear, refills his belt and replaces Iratha’s Crown with his 3 P-ruby crown, gaining 114 life in exchange for lightning and fire resists that he no longer needs. He replaces the LR and FR charms in his Inventory with the life charms stored in his Stash to gain 46 more life. He leaves one inventory slot open.

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/the_poorman/40.jpg

He gulps more antidote and thaw potions, dons Treachery again and triggers Fade. He puts Darkglow back on and recasts Holy Shield. Now he sets his aura to Fanaticism. Salvation has served its purpose and he will not use it again.

With level 21 Fanaticism he easily has a 6-frame Smite attack, cranking 4.1 attacks per second. Fana adds 390% ED as well. But the net physical damage to Baal and Diablo will total only a little more than the slower and weaker Smites against Meph because both Baal and Diablo have 50% physical resistance compared to Meph’s 20%. Their extra physical resistance will affect crushing blow as well, so despite the greater speed and power of attacks, the damage rate against Baal and Diablo is actually a trifle below the damage rate inflicted on Mephisto.

The Poorman is ready for the second stage of the battle. He fills his lungs with cold mountain air and heads back down.

Now is the time to fight Diablo because even alone Baal will be the hardest of the Three, and for that encounter The Poorman wants all of Tristram to maneuver in. Drawing out just Diablo is trickier than with Meph, but once again The Poorman’s canny wile serves him well.

He circles the Tristram perimeter just as for Meph, and approaches the same stone on the South side. But this time he goes a full step beyond it. He inches forward just until Diablo’s minions begin to spawn. Even then, when he can see the light emanating from Uber Diablo at the top edge of the screen, The Poorman goes no closer. Diablo must be coaxed out beyond the buildings. The Poorman now must run back and forth until Diablo’s fickle AI drives him out to fight. If The Poorman stops running while trying to lure out his foe, Diablo’s bone prison can trap him like a juicy morsel in a cage. Yet if The Poorman encroaches closer to Tristram’s buildings he may spawn Baal as well.

After 10 or 15 tense seconds jogging back and forth (and dodging Diablo’s Pit Lord minions), Diablo charges out to fight. It is the last mistake he will make. Alongside either of his brothers the attacks of Uber Diablo are ferocious. But when The Poorman can close on him separately Diablo is vulnerable. The Poorman casts Life Tap on him and commences to Smite. The Pit Lords, with their unbreakable immunities to all 5 forms of magic damage, are so big that only a few can crowd around close enough to attack, and they cannot distract The Poorman while Life Tap is up. After 24 seconds The Poorman recasts Life Tap, restores Fanaticism, and pounds on Diablo until he collapses. The Poorman disengages from his minions and again, one by one, Smites them to death in the Southwest corner of Tristram (the sole vulnerability of the Pit Lords is that they have just 50% physical resists). The whole encounter with Diablo has cost just a single fat purple potion.

The Poorman returns to Harrogath and rests briefly. He goes through his pre-fight routine: Repair gear, gulp more antidote and thaw potions, trigger Treachery and put Darkglow back on, cast Holy Shield and set his hotkeys to Smite/Fana. Then he makes a crucial adjustment, replacing the leftmost belt stack of fat purples with blue mana pots.

The fight against Baal will be by far the hardest to survive. The Poorman pauses to think how to make best use of the terrain. He decides to challenge Baal on the East side of Tristram, a short space South of the red portal.

To spawn Baal he has a choice. He can circle counterclockwise all the way around the perimeter to the Southeast corner and approach the gap between the buildings there, or he can head due South from the portal and spawn Baal as he runs Southward. The second option is quicker and The Poorman takes it. After just a few paces Baal and a host of his minions spawn and charge after him.

The Poorman executes the retreat/Tap/Fana/Smite sequence and locks up with Baal. He then makes two unpleasant discoveries. First, his mana ball goes empty almost at once; Uber Baal drains mana as often and easily as his Worldstone cousin, so The Poorman guzzles a blue pot. Second, the Specter minions are more dangerous to him than anything in the supporting cast of Diablo or Meph. Though they hovered on the periphery at first, once The Poorman closes with Baal the Specters circle in and attack. Baal has summoned six of them (or so it seems to The Poorman as he counts them out of the corner of his eye), and they stack on one another so all of them can combine into what is effectively a single massive attack. That by itself is bad, but even worse is that they also suck The Poorman’s mana ball bone dry. He now has Baal in his face and six Specters on his back, and the whiffing sound of his swinging shield fills the air because he has no mana to connect with Smite. His red ball takes a huge hit. He pops a purple and gets a few good digs in on Baal. Then his blue ball goes instantly empty. He pops his second blue pot and continues.

Just seconds later it happens again. He uses his last blue pot and has a few productive seconds to whittle Baal’s life bar down. But as soon as the blue pot’s regeneration is done his mana ball is sucked dry, and now he must drink purple pots to refill it. Baal and his Specters empty it mere instants after it refills. With Baal’s life bar only about half gone The Poorman knows he cannot win. Whenever his mana ball goes empty he cannot leach and is vulnerable to everything Baal and his crew are throwing at him.

The Poorman breaks off the fight and takes the portal to Harrogath. He goes through the same pre-fight steps and returns to battle. Baal’s life has regenerated to full. The Poorman casts Tap and closes. After 30 seconds the results are the same: He is nearly out of potions, he has twice come within a sliver of dying, and Baal still has a sizable chunk of his life bar intact. For the second time The Poorman breaks off and retreats to town.

He is exhausted and he is frustrated. But he is not yet beaten.

He will face Baal one last time, and will return either victorious or not at all. He goes through his pre-fight steps, checks his gear, and drops down the red portal.

The flock of Specters foiled his initial strategy, so he takes them on first. They are physically immune and he has no magic or elemental damage to wield against them. But he has a keen mind, whereas the Specters are rather dim.

He edges far enough from the portal for the Specters to see him, then turns and runs into the center of Tristram. The Specters follow like pets on a leash. The Poorman runs West across the square and between the buildings on the West side. The Specters trail behind him.

As soon as he clears the last building The Poorman cuts North, with his right shoulder along the West wall of the Northwest building. The Specters float out from behind him, but take a second to spot him again and turn North in chase. By then he has reached the Northwest corner of the same building, and cuts sharply to the right so as to duck out of the Specters’ line of sight.

Now they are confused. They drift listlessly Northward, but have lost his scent. They hover on the West side of Tristram, unable to spot where The Poorman has gone.

The Poorman knows where he is going: Straight back to Baal, who remains on the Southeast side of Tristram. The Poorman immediately re-engages him there. Baal summons fresh Specters, but only a few of them. Now the opponents are evenly matched.

As never before, The Poorman’s movements must be flawless and he must make the most of each potion in his belt. He locks up with Baal and begins the grisly work of a professional warrior. He ignores the searing pain of Baal’s attacks. The Poorman no longer sees Baal, no longer hears the sounds of combat. His stares only at his own life and mana orbs. He hears only his own voice as he counts out Life Tap’s duration. When his red ball crashes below a third he pops a purple. Five of them are already gone. As the first Tap charge is about to expire he renews it and begins the count again: “28, 27, 26 . . .” Twice his mana ball goes dry and twice he spends a blue pot. “16, 15, 14 . . .” Flurries nearly overwhelm him three times more, and he staves each one off with a fat purple.

“9, 8, 7 . . .” Baal’s life bar is at a tiny sliver. It seems to stay there an eternity. Crushing blow is now meaningless. All that matters is the direct physical Smite damage from the native 4 to 12 points of damage on his crown shield. The Poorman is down to a single purple pot and a single mana pot, and his Tap spell is about to expire. “6, . . . 5, . . . 4 . . . .” With three seconds to spare Baal twists his face skyward in the throes of a death scream:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/the_poorman/44.jpg

A Standard of Heroes falls in his shadow along with a unique large charm:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/the_poorman/45.jpg

Enraged over Baal’s destruction, his Dark Lords continue casting their attack spells. The Poorman ignores them.

He picks up the Standard of Heroes that lies at his feet, tucks it into the sole open slot in his Inventory, and swallows his last purple potion while Baal’s minions harass him.

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/the_poorman/46.jpg

The unique charm he leaves untouched. The gods can have it if they have any need of it. For the last time The Poorman takes the portal back up to Harrogath, then begins the long walk home.

== Thoughts on crushing blow and Smite in Tristram ==

Smite does not deliver a wide variety of mods that routinely appear on various gear:

* Elemental damage from any source
* Enhanced damage on a weapon
* Deadly strike
* Life leach (except via Life Tap) and mana leach
* + to min/max damage.
* Adds ‘xx’-‘yy’ to damage mods, which appear on many items such as General Tan’s flail, Gull dagger, etc.

But by pure fortuity, Smite '''''does''''' work with just the right mods for solo Tristram play:

* Crushing blow
* Open wounds
* Base weapon speed
* IAS
* EIAS from Fanaticism

As describe above, these features are indispensable to The Poorman’s build.

Less obvious are certain aspects of crushing blow and Smite that are not necessary, and indeed would be of little more than incidental benefit. In particular, a high percentage crushing blow and a high amount of Smite damage add surprisingly little to survivability in Tristram. Even at the extremes they merely shorten each fight, and not necessarily by a great deal.

Here is how the formula for Smite physical damage may be presented:

: (base min/max Smite damage on shield + min/max added Smite Skill damage + plus-x damage from Redeemer/Astreon’s/Stone Crusher/Grief)

: x(1 + (STR/100) + (Smite skill ED/100) + (Fana ED/100) + (Might ED/100) (Conc ED/100) + (off-weap ED/100))

Decrep and Weaken penalize Smite damage, but neither one is cast in Uber Tristram so I omit their effect. (The Arreat Summit [http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act5-uberbaal.shtml says] Uber Baal casts Decrep, but I’ve never seen it.)

As shown, the formula divides into halves, with each half embraced by red parentheses. It then is easy to see why Smite players get excited by the ‘plus-x damage’ mod. Any one-point increase in the first half of the formula gets a boost from each of the bonuses with any value in the second half of the formula. Equipping Redeemer, Astreon’s or Stone Crusher gives a large and immediate increase to the first part of the formula, and a Grief weapon grants an absurdly large increase of 340-400 points.

Aside from refusing all Exceptional and Elite gear on principle, The Poorman would not find any of those weapons especially useful for Tristram. Each of the Ubers’ hitpoints are too large to take down solely (or even primarily) with direct damage. Crushing blow is the vehicle to remove most of each monster’s life. Direct damage is insignificant until the Uber’s life gets fairly low.

Accordingly, a warrior has two ways to shorten the time needed to kill the Three: Increase Smite damage for the last phase of the fight, or increase the rate of successful Crushing Blows.

Significantly increasing Smite damage with The Poorman’s build would be difficult, very risky, and wouldn’t help much. He won’t touch the Redeemer, Astreon’s, Stone Crusher or Grief. He won’t accept skill charms, +2/+3 skill ammys or +1 skill rings, so he can’t boost his combat skills much beyond 21. His Crown Shield already carries the highest base Smite damage (4 to 12) of any Normal quality shield, so he has little room for improving the first half of the Smite formula.

Much of the second half of the formula is likewise max’d out: Might and Concentration aren’t present, and Fana is nearly as high as his self-imposed constraints allow. He could nevertheless boost Smite damage by adding ED% to off-weapon gear and by adding Strength either from charms, gear or rebuilding and diverting VIT or DEX to STR. But any of those changes would open a gaping hole of vulnerability in his build without doing him much good.

For example, if he added 100% ED to his gear (by, say, dumping Iratha’s crown for a 3-socket crown with 40%/40%/30% ED jewels), The Poorman’s average Smite attack against Meph (when no Fanaticism is active) goes from 370 to 440. He’d get the same boost if instead he diverted 100 points of VIT or DEX to Strength. If he made '''''both''''' those changes he’d achieve average Smite damage of 511.

But both of those changes would leave him far more likely to die, and even if he could stay alive the increase in damage would barely change his offensive effectiveness because direct Smite damage is essentially meaningless against the Three until the very end of the fight.

In ideal conditions where The Poorman would not need to interrupt his Smite attack (for, say, recasting Life Tap), we can calculate how long it takes to kill each Uber based on weapon speed, IAS, cb percentage and direct Smite damage. With his actual build The Poorman should (in theory) defeat Uber Meph with a continuous Smite attack of about 121 attacks, taking 35 seconds. Boosting his average Smite damage from 370 to 511 results in a battle that requires about 112 attacks lasting 32 seconds.

By contrast, increasing The Poorman’s crushing blow percentage can significantly shorten each fight, provided it doesn’t slow down his attack speed. If, for example, he could add another 25% cb against Meph and retain his attack speed, the fight would take about 77 attacks lasting 22 seconds instead of 121 attacks over 35 seconds. The difference is easily graphed:

http://www.theamazonbasin.com/~grimborn/the_poorman/cb_graph.jpg

The Poorman did consider his options for increasing his cb percentage. The best option is making the Black runeword (Thul+Io+Nef) in a flail because Black would add another 40% cb and the flail is the fastest Normal weapon it will work in. The idea would be to have the flail as his primary weapon and the Life Tap wand on backup (along with a second high resists shield).

But a Black flail is slower than a double-Shaeled bone wand, which delivers a 7-frame Smite attack against Meph and a 6-frame attack against Diablo and Baal. By contrast, against Meph a Black flail would have a 9-frame (2.7/sec) attack, and against Diablo and Baal it would have a 7-frame (3.5/sec) attack. The cb increase, though, would more than make up for slower attack speeds. A perfect (uninterrupted) Smite assault on Meph with a Black flail would be about 11 seconds shorter than with The Poorman’s bone wand, and the flail would shave about 13 seconds off the fights against Diablo and Baal. In theory, all three of those fights would end well within the initial Tap’s 28-second window.

But using the flail would create two big problems. The Poorman is most vulnerable when he’s not leaching anything – such as during the Tap/cast/switch-to-aura sequence. Putting the Tap wand on backup means adding two steps to that maneuver: Switching to the Tap wand at the start, and switching back to the flail at the end. Weapon switches are always dicey in the middle of melee, and they are more so when the casting of a spell is involved. Hotkeying a weapon switch has no effect until after the cast is over. So clicking a cast and hitting a hotkey too quickly leaves the wrong gear in place. In Tristram, that can be bad.

Even worse, The Poorman’s leach would degrade if he fought with the flail because of its slower speed. Against Mephisto he leaches 518/sec. With a Black flail it would be only 400/second: a 23% reduction. Against Baal and Diablo he leaches 661/sec with the bone wand, and would leach 564/sec with the flail: a 15% reduction. Leach is survival in Tristram, and giving up a chunk of it is a good way for one’s deeds to be remembered (prematurely).

== Skipping the merc ==

Life expectancy of a merc during combat in Tristram is measured in milliseconds. An Act 2 or Act 5 merc can survive for a while if one gets incredibly lucky at the outset and if the merc continually attacks a target that is Life Tapped.

But the damage they do cannot have any meaningful effect on the outcome. An Act 2 Might merc adds a modest amount to direct physical damage from Smite, but not so much as noticeably to shorten the battle.

The overriding downside of any merc is the risk he will spawn one of the Three Ubers prematurely. Whether it’s the Cold pulse of an Act 2 Holy Freeze merc, or a Rogue merc’s stray arrows, or an Act 3 merc’s elemental casts, or any of them wandering too close to the center of Tristram, the risk that they will cause a second Uber to spawn while one of the others is in battle outweighs whatever slight benefit a merc might bring.

== Miscellaneous notes ==

A bone wand with Life Tap charges is easy to shop in Act 3. The Poorman (at level 81) can shop a wand with Level 5 Tap charges, which have a 25.6 second duration. He needed a higher level character to buy a bone wand carrying the highest possible Life Tap charges (level 6). Luck determines whether Larzuk punches two sockets in it rather than just one.

Aside from its Life Tap charges, the bone wand is crucial because it is wicked fast. Smite speed is based on the equipped weapon’s speed, and a bone wand has [-20] base speed.

The IAS breakpoints for Smite with a bone wand are 2%, 16%, 40% and 92%. With no IAS equipped, Smite with a bone wand is a 10-frame attack, doing just 2.5 attacks per second. With one Shael it reaches 8 frames, doing 3.1 attacks/second. A second Shael gets it exactly to the break point for a 7-frame attack (3.5 per second).

Those breakpoints matter only for fighting Meph. Against Diablo and Baal The Poorman has level 21 Fanaticism going. With no other IAS a bone wand has a 7-frame attack, and 20% IAS is the breakpoint to reach the fastest possible Smite (6-frame, doing 4.1 attacks per second), which of course can be achieved with a single Shael.

The “best” item The Poorman wears is Ravenfrost. He wears it solely for its Cannot Be Frozen mod. In Tristram a chilled smiter is a dead smiter. The Poorman considered using Hawkmail scale mail instead of Darkglow because Hawkmail is the only Normal armor that bears cbf. But he then would lose Darkglow’s +5% to maximum resists. As a practical matter that would mean 25% more damage from each fire and lightning attack and 50% more damage from each poison/cold attack (and losing Raven’s cold absorb, too). He could have beaten Meph and Diablo that way, but probably not Baal.

Death’s Guard sash also grants cbf, but it has only 8 slots and The Poorman would need an alternate source for Open Wounds. Of the few available Normal quality options for Open Wounds, each presents severe downsides. Besides Open Wounds, The Poorman has no other way to stop the prodigious regeneration of The Three: Prevent Monster Heal wouldn’t work on them, and he has no reliable way to inflict poison damage on them.

By using exclusively Normal quality gear The Poorman’s defense rating is terrible. But high defense would be largely wasted in Tristram. Against Meph it is useless, since his Conviction removes 90% of the player’s defense.

As careful readers may have noticed, The Poorman's build does not make efficient use of resists. In a nutshell he has far more of them than he needs. I built him that way to get a sense of whether he would be viable either without Treachery (in keeping with the theme of using only the worst gear imaginable), or without Salvation (to fight Meph using Fanaticism, making that battle a quicker one).

Having succeeded with his existing build I'm now pretty confident he would be just as successful without Salvation so long as I shifted some LR to FR and swapped out a few life charms for more CR when fighting Mephisto.

Doing without Treachery would be more problematic. It wouldn't make any difference to fighting Diablo. Against Baal and his Specters The Poorman would only miss Fade's 15% physical resists, and getting the Specters to hang themselves up in and behind nearby buildings would compensate for that. The hard part would be fighting Meph.

Without Fade going for him, each time The Poorman hotkeys to his Life Tap charges he loses Salvation and his fire/cold/lightning resists drop through the floor. Without a boatload of additional resist charms (which would replace most or all of his life charms), it wouldn't take much in the way of elemental hits for The Poorman to be toast.

All in all, if I were to remake him today, remained willing to use Treachery and could find a second high-resists Normal paly shield, I'd skip Salvation and put the bone wand and second shield in the backup slots and have the crown shield and a Black flail on primary. After the initial Tap on Meph, a 73%-cb/7-frame Smite flurry (using Fana) should take down Meph in well under 20 seconds. Even with reduced leach The Poorman would have plenty of pots to handle that encounter.

== Credits ==
Grimborn, Jan. 2006. Reprinted with permission from [http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=63770 this thread].

Amazon attack speed

2006-07-05T09:46:51Z

Heather: moved and minorly reformatted from amazon main page

__TOC__

The attack speed displayed by the game doesn't really give enough information about the actual speed at which attacks are occurring. The game actually specifies speed as the number of frames of animation it takes to complete the attack. The game runs at 25 frames per second (at least the logic does), therefore, as an example, a 10 frame attack would translate to 2.5 attacks per second. 

Because of this discreet nature of speed, there isn't a one to one correspondence between the increased attack speed (IAS) percentage and the effective speed increase. The tables below, often referred to as breakpoints, show at what percentage of IAS gives a change in attack speed.

== Bow Normal Attack Breakpoints ==

This section lists the breakpoints for a normal attack using a bow. These tables hold
for all attacks other the strafe (elemental, magic, guided, multi, etc).

=== Hunter's, Composite, Razor, Double, Blade, Great, Matriarchal (-10 WSM) ===
* 0% IAS, 12 frames
* 8% IAS, 11 frames
* 22% IAS, 10 frames
* 42% IAS, 9 frames
* 75% IAS, 8 frames
* 142% IAS, 7 frames

=== Long, Short Battle, Stag, Short War, Cedar, Short Siege, Ashwood, Rune, Ward, Diamond, Shadow (0 WSM) ===
* 0% IAS, 13 frames
* 9% IAS, 12 frames
* 20% IAS, 11 frames
* 37% IAS, 10 frames
* 63% IAS, 9 frames
* 105% IAS, 8 frames
* 200% IAS, 7 frames

=== Short, Edge, Spider (5 WSM) ===
* 0% IAS 14 frames
* 6% IAS 13 frames
* 15% IAS 12 frames
* 27% IAS 11 frames
* 46% IAS 10 frames
* 75% IAS 9 frames
* 125% IAS 8 frames
* 240% IAS 7 frames

=== Long Battle, Long War, Reflex, Large Siege, Gothic, Ceremonial, Hydra, Crusader, Grand Matron (10 WSM) ===
* 0% IAS, 15 frames
* 4% IAS, 14 frames
* 11% IAS, 13 frames
* 22% IAS, 12 frames
* 35% IAS, 11 frames
* 56% IAS, 10 frames
* 89% IAS, 9 frames
* 147% IAS, 8 frames
* 292% IAS, 7 frames

== Bow Strafe Breakpoints ==

This section lists the breakpoints for a strafe attack using a bow.

The first number is the number of frames needed to shoot the first arrow plus the number
of frames needed to finish up the strafe animation. Because of how the animation process
works, this is not the same as the number of frames needed to do a normal attack.

The second number means the number of frames needed to shoot every arrow that comes
after the first arrow.

=== Hunter's, Composite, Razor, Double, Blade, Great, Matriarchal (-10 WSM) ===
* 0% IAS 13/3
* 2% IAS 12/3
* 13% IAS 11/3
* 15% IAS 10/3
* 37% IAS 9/3
* 60% IAS 9/2
* 80% IAS 8/2

=== Long, Short Battle, Stag, Short War, Cedar, Short Siege, Ashwood, Rune, Ward, Diamond, Shadow (0 WSM) ===
* 0% IAS 13/3
* 13% IAS 12/3
* 26% IAS 11/3
* 29% IAS 10/3
* 56% IAS 9/3
* 86% IAS 9/2
* 113% IAS 8/2

=== Short, Edge, Spider (5 WSM) ===
* 0% IAS 14/4
* 6% IAS 13/3
* 19% IAS 12/3
* 34% IAS 11/3
* 37% IAS 10/3
* 68% IAS 9/3
* 102% IAS 9/2
* 133% IAS 8/2

=== Long Battle, Long War, Reflex, Large Siege, Gothic, Ceremonial, Hydra, Crusader, Grand Matron (10 WSM) ===
* 0% IAS 15/4
* 3% IAS 14/4
* 11% IAS 13/3
* 26% IAS 12/3
* 42% IAS 11/3
* 46% IAS 10/3
* 80% IAS 9/3
* 120% IAS 9/2
* 157% IAS 8/2

== Crossbow Normal Attack Breakpoints ==
TBD
== Crossbow Strafe Breakpoints ==
TBD
== Links ==
TBD
== Credits ==
* This information was originally published on the forums by brianc84.

Diablo II

2006-07-05T09:15:07Z

Heather: syntax typo fix

Welome to the Unofficial Diablo II Basin Wiki. Curious about what this is? How to use it? Then check out the '''[[WikiFAQ]]'''

__TOC__

== The Welcome Mat ==

[http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/the_welcome_mat.php Please visit the Amazon Basin Welcome Mat]

Welcome to the Amazon Basin Diablo II Wiki! Here you will find the gathered knowledge of the Amazon Basin Diablo II community. Things are still under construction, so please bear with us. Don't forget that you yourself may also add or edit content by clicking the "edit" link at the top of the page.

== General Game Information ==
[[Quest Guides]] 
[[D2 Abbreviations and Gameplay Terms]] 
[[Links]] 

== Character Class Information ==
[[Amazon Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Assassin Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Barbarian Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Druid Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Necromancer Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Paladin Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Sorceress Technical Information and Build Guides]] 

== Technical Information ==
[[Technical]] 
[[Base Types]] 
[[Uniques]] 
[[Sets]] 
[[Rune Words]] 

== Heroic Tales ==

[[The Poorman takes on Uber Tristam]] 
[[Knight Shadow, Adventures of a Shadow Knight]] 
[[Zer's Stories]] 
[[Sail's tales]] 
[[Candlelight's Challenged Characters]] 
[[Kynars-passion wielding zeal barb]] 
[[Tandera, Disciple of the Bow-Kynar]] 
[[Incinderella, a slightly-underpowered archer-Kynar]] 
[[Osteophile and Wendy-YogiBaar]] 
[[Killing em with toothpicks-emaq123]] 
[[Dughan, the No-Magic-Item Barbarian-Caspari]] 
[[Secret Diary of John Harcourt-Tuftears]] 
[[Interview with a hungover bowbarian, Big Bad Bob's Bow-wielding Barb]] 
[[SenSitiveSkin-Sen]] 
[[SenSeless-Sen]] 
[[Wild-Babe bows out of active service, Quite a journey-ChillerBabe]] 
[[Irene, the Infirm, Tales of a sickly punching sorceress-MongoJerry]] 
[[Gunter, the Barbarian Mage, Tales of a barbarian mage-MongoJerry]] 
[[Maldar, the Magnificent, Tales of a pacifist hero-MongoJerry]]

Diablo II

2006-07-05T09:14:15Z

Heather:

Welome to the Unofficial Diablo II Basin Wiki. Curious about what this is? How to use it? Then check out the '''[[WikiFAQ]]'''

__TOC__

== The Welcome Mat ==

[http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/the_welcome_mat.php Please visit the Amazon Basin Welcome Mat]

Welcome to the Amazon Basin Diablo II Wiki! Here you will find the gathered knowledge of the Amazon Basin Diablo II community. Things are still under construction, so please bear with us. Don't forget that you yourself may also add or edit content by clicking the "edit" link at the top of the page.

== General Game Information ==
[[Quest Guides]] 
[[D2 Abbreviations and Gameplay Terms]] 
[[Links]] 

== Character Class Information ==
[[Amazon Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Assassin Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Barbarian Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Druid Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Necromancer Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Paladin Technical Information and Build Guides]] 
[[Sorceress Technical Information and Build Guides]] 

== Technical Information ==
[[Technical]]
[[Base Types]] 
[[Uniques]] 
[[Sets]] 
[[Rune Words]] 

== Heroic Tales ==

[[The Poorman takes on Uber Tristam]] 
[[Knight Shadow, Adventures of a Shadow Knight]] 
[[Zer's Stories]] 
[[Sail's tales]] 
[[Candlelight's Challenged Characters]] 
[[Kynars-passion wielding zeal barb]] 
[[Tandera, Disciple of the Bow-Kynar]] 
[[Incinderella, a slightly-underpowered archer-Kynar]] 
[[Osteophile and Wendy-YogiBaar]] 
[[Killing em with toothpicks-emaq123]] 
[[Dughan, the No-Magic-Item Barbarian-Caspari]] 
[[Secret Diary of John Harcourt-Tuftears]] 
[[Interview with a hungover bowbarian, Big Bad Bob's Bow-wielding Barb]] 
[[SenSitiveSkin-Sen]] 
[[SenSeless-Sen]] 
[[Wild-Babe bows out of active service, Quite a journey-ChillerBabe]] 
[[Irene, the Infirm, Tales of a sickly punching sorceress-MongoJerry]] 
[[Gunter, the Barbarian Mage, Tales of a barbarian mage-MongoJerry]] 
[[Maldar, the Magnificent, Tales of a pacifist hero-MongoJerry]]

User:Heather

2006-07-04T22:57:47Z

Heather:

Nothing to see here, move along...

Diablo II

2006-07-04T22:49:53Z

Heather: