11-12-2007, 09:27 PM
My attempt at summary - and back to OH (and pairing it up with BS now).
First an introduction to the matter: For a long time I was playing BS basically in the following setup variations: 1. Obsi/stars shirt + Obsi/stars helm generally for mixed hell levels and levels with magical attackers only (around 80% time). One disadvantage only: below maximum possible damage (achievable with Gotter - and with OH). 2. Obsi/stars shirt + Helm of Sprits for late caves and hell levels with weaker critters, without maws (Guardians, Cave Vipers etc.). Reason for the limited usability of HoS: the loss of +to hit bonus that the obsi/stars helm gives, th drops below 170% which is not enough for stronger hell critters 3. Awe plate+Gotter for pure melee hell levels 4. Awe plate + obsi/stars helm for lvls 8-10 (illusion weavers, mixed attackers ), or with hos for upper cats and church.
Now for OH - OH may actually replace Gotter in a BS inventory for cleaner and faster results in pure melee hell levels only and against D). Reasons: 1. Limited visibility with Gotter - infra does not last all day, critters get closer unnoticed, less time to position oneself properly, worse general terrain overview, critter ai behaves less predictably 2. I get sloppy - if combined with awe plate (around 250 ac) I tend to lose "good habits" which tends to be fatal at times - even more often than with zero ac setup (as ac still far from autohit levels anyway). Due to the above, but mainly point 1., I generally find myself not using Gotter at all anymore and doing hell mostly with the 2 x obsi/stars setup only. OH cures the disadvantages of Gotter for BS purposes.
Why not Obsi helm of giants - no to hit bonus, i.e. same little problem as with HoS.
As for th needed - around 175% (but no less) suffice for everything including Blood Knights (you tend to miss a bit but they are relatively slow so once you get used to your percentage its ok). Difference between 95 % and 85% successful hit percentage negligible once you get used to a miss here and there, it still remains playable.
As for life needed - around 350hp suffice (actually there is little difference between warrior's base life and realistically reachable levels around 380hp as it is still the same for the main practical purpose - enough to safely survive 2 (but not 3) BK hits. Generally, every hitpoint helps of course.
And why Advocates - because they are the strongest opponents, always in lvl 16, and because its possible, even though in theory only - with my setup under 1) above, I would need 3 perfect gold/titans (or titans at least + 1 point of damage) for the "one hit wonder" :whistling:. Currently I am short of 14 points minimum dmg (181, thereof 6 points in imperfect titans and 7 in a gold/heavens ammy, two of which may be theoretically replaced with perfect non-gold titans right away for the specific application (thanks for the tip again). Kind of thought perfectionism, I agree.
(And, Hellfire is *really* not the same as Diablo, it just completely spoils the atmosphere not to mention it plays differently - but thats another story).
First an introduction to the matter: For a long time I was playing BS basically in the following setup variations: 1. Obsi/stars shirt + Obsi/stars helm generally for mixed hell levels and levels with magical attackers only (around 80% time). One disadvantage only: below maximum possible damage (achievable with Gotter - and with OH). 2. Obsi/stars shirt + Helm of Sprits for late caves and hell levels with weaker critters, without maws (Guardians, Cave Vipers etc.). Reason for the limited usability of HoS: the loss of +to hit bonus that the obsi/stars helm gives, th drops below 170% which is not enough for stronger hell critters 3. Awe plate+Gotter for pure melee hell levels 4. Awe plate + obsi/stars helm for lvls 8-10 (illusion weavers, mixed attackers ), or with hos for upper cats and church.
Now for OH - OH may actually replace Gotter in a BS inventory for cleaner and faster results in pure melee hell levels only and against D). Reasons: 1. Limited visibility with Gotter - infra does not last all day, critters get closer unnoticed, less time to position oneself properly, worse general terrain overview, critter ai behaves less predictably 2. I get sloppy - if combined with awe plate (around 250 ac) I tend to lose "good habits" which tends to be fatal at times - even more often than with zero ac setup (as ac still far from autohit levels anyway). Due to the above, but mainly point 1., I generally find myself not using Gotter at all anymore and doing hell mostly with the 2 x obsi/stars setup only. OH cures the disadvantages of Gotter for BS purposes.
Why not Obsi helm of giants - no to hit bonus, i.e. same little problem as with HoS.
As for th needed - around 175% (but no less) suffice for everything including Blood Knights (you tend to miss a bit but they are relatively slow so once you get used to your percentage its ok). Difference between 95 % and 85% successful hit percentage negligible once you get used to a miss here and there, it still remains playable.
As for life needed - around 350hp suffice (actually there is little difference between warrior's base life and realistically reachable levels around 380hp as it is still the same for the main practical purpose - enough to safely survive 2 (but not 3) BK hits. Generally, every hitpoint helps of course.
And why Advocates - because they are the strongest opponents, always in lvl 16, and because its possible, even though in theory only - with my setup under 1) above, I would need 3 perfect gold/titans (or titans at least + 1 point of damage) for the "one hit wonder" :whistling:. Currently I am short of 14 points minimum dmg (181, thereof 6 points in imperfect titans and 7 in a gold/heavens ammy, two of which may be theoretically replaced with perfect non-gold titans right away for the specific application (thanks for the tip again). Kind of thought perfectionism, I agree.
(And, Hellfire is *really* not the same as Diablo, it just completely spoils the atmosphere not to mention it plays differently - but thats another story).
Quote:To get to the point: you need about 100 strength points through your equipment to have the necessary minimum damage to be really sure about it (without critical hits). Of course one needs not to be perfect and these calculations count only for (about) max level anyway. But taken this into account it is even harder early on and you might ask yourself if it is really worth it. You can gain 45 if you use gold/heavens jewelry. Another 20 if you use OH and yet another 20 if you want to use an armor with the giants-suffix. Which adds up to +85. So you would have to use gold/titans jewelry (at least some) and therefore weaken your to hit, your mana and your life. Of course: you could kill the Advocate (maybe) with one blow... but you have low resistances and low life. Assuming you use at least two gold/heavens jewels you have +30 all, which is 60 life. Therefore your level 49/50 warrior has 376 life. A fireball deals, according to JG, 66-106 damage (I guess no splash included, so it is actually something like ~120). Wanna calculate (assuming some obsidian armor... although in the case of level 16 you can obviously use a ruby armor... if you want to carry it with you all the time, that is)? At least I tend to have a bigger amount of life for the sake of comfortability. As there is rarely one lonely Advocate around it might get (a bit) annoying to drink or heal every few seconds. Then there are Blood Knights. Of course these are easy, but together with the permanent shooting of the Advocates it might, again might, get difficult to successfully battle them. Especially when your chances to him them are only at around 80-85%. As for me, I prefer hitting almost everytime (95%) with a bit less damage over missing 15-20% or more of the time with more damage.
It really depends on equipment and level as you have a set goal. Without a proper level and proper equipment you - simply said - have no chance to achieve this goal. And for what? Having a chance to kill one enemy type with one blow? There are other levels than 16, you know? Or would you want to switch equipment everytime you reach it? Maybe I am just lazy, but why would I want to have my inventory full with alternate gear? I am not a player who really loves playing SWAT style.
On the other hand, I must admit that I have little experience with low AC *axe* (especially BS as I tried this only once with really inferior equipment) warriors and maybe am thinking too much about possibilities. And yes, I do ignore the fact that more damage helps against every demon out there. But saladin was referring to Advocates specifically, so...
And another thing: my point is something about perfection. That is taking out the enemy 100% of the time without a critical hit. I do not know whether this is even wanted. If it really is only about getting a higher %-chance to kill them off with one blow without sacrificing too much I may be exaggerating a bit.