The only downside a CV has is the high strength requirement, which makes it harder to share between mercs. But for an untwinked character, if the merc already has the 200 strength that are required, then there's nothing wrong with using a CV over the other polearms. And as @ffs already mentioned, in most typical merc setups CA and CV have the highest DPS.
Ah yeah I thought that’s weird on an untwinked char indeed, but I guess Trapper doesn’t need all socket quests with Hoto/Spirit setup. IIRC @PhineasB or @NanoMist also used Larzuk to socket a CV on their Trapper. But yeah if you find two +5 LS claws after that, that could sting.
Ah yeah I thought that’s weird on an untwinked char indeed, but I guess Trapper doesn’t need all socket quests with Hoto/Spirit setup. IIRC @PhineasB or @NanoMist also used Larzuk to socket a CV on their Trapper. But yeah if you find two +5 LS claws after that, that could sting.
@sir_cyclops Personally I haven’t played a Trapper with dual claw setup yet because I don’t have 2 great claws. And Hoto/Spirit or dual Spirit are good of course.
But if I had two good +5/6 LS claws I’d happily drop to 65 FCR. (For example with 2/20 circlet, FCR craft ammy, Arach & Magefist.) Up to +12 LS from dual claw makes a pretty huge difference, and one FCR BP is really the only thing you lose. Could even drop half the skiller inventory to include more MF/life and still deal higher damage, plus 2-4 open sockets on the claws? Yes please.
Ah yeah I thought that’s weird on an untwinked char indeed, but I guess Trapper doesn’t need all socket quests with Hoto/Spirit setup. IIRC @PhineasB or @NanoMist also used Larzuk to socket a CV on their Trapper. But yeah if you find two +5 LS claws after that, that could sting.
Nano used a socket quest, I think. Mercy found a 4os eth Thresher early on, which was quite nice indeed (especially after wasting one on Angelic armor!). But, yeah, in the untwinked setting, I think using the socket quests that aren't needed for end-game to speed up building of key runewords is worth it. My pally actually used a socket quest on a shield to finally get Spirit after way too many failed cube socket attempts Whatever helps with motivation and focus, unless that third socket quest is needed for end-game gear.
After finishing half a set with Quinta for RFL Rd 1, I went back to XP runs. Pestilence is moving toward 3.2B, but Death also got some runs, with another major milestone!
Prior to RFL starting, he was about a tenth of the way, picking up an Arkaine’s (1os), getting ingredients to up his SoE, and getting Set Corona #2. We’d rolled three plain PBs along the way, without success, but they were falling at a faster rate again. Then, after one more unsuccessful cube attempt, a grey PB fell, and it was a winner:
We got ready and rolled Grief #2, with really good results
He’s now a little more than a third into the level, allowing p7 runs now, and I’m thinking he may get to 93 prior to start of RFL Rd 2. Here’s hoping he gets a nice high rune drop along the way!
I've always gone C/C on B.net because it was far easier to get a hold of +5 or +6 claws. I'd take C/C over HotO/SS and HotO/Spirit all day everyday. If you're SC you can use CTA/Spirit for teleport.
With regards to C/C setup, it's incredibly unlikely to achieve on untwinked. I myself have a few hundred hours claw shopping and no dice. In reality my claw shopping hours are probably muuuuuuuch higher because I've always been a fan of C/C and have searched for them even as far back as 1.10. Never even found rare +5 claws, unfortunately.
I've always gone C/C on B.net because it was far easier to get a hold of +5 or +6 claws. I'd take C/C over HotO/SS and HotO/Spirit all day everyday. If you're SC you can use CTA/Spirit for teleport.
With regards to C/C setup, it's incredibly unlikely to achieve on untwinked. I myself have a few hundred hours claw shopping and no dice. In reality my claw shopping hours are probably muuuuuuuch higher because I've always been a fan of C/C and have searched for them even as far back as 1.10. Never even found rare +5 claws, unfortunately.
I disagree, thresher is better. CV has high strength requirement and that slower speed, whilst you can still hit the BP, limits your options. Your merc is not there for damage, he is there to take hits and provide auras/curses. You want him hitting as often as possible. Now, if you already have Infinity, that is a different issue and in that case I think it becomes useful to have the option of a CV for when that suits better. If you can only make one Infinity though, thresher > CV. Especially when you play HC and are liable to deeds the bloody thing a week after you make it *grumble*
Well it’s not like slower bases don’t trigger auras and curses. They take a split second longer. Likewise, higher damage from CA/CV is very little. The point is differences between bases are very small either way, and that’s why there isn’t a wrong choice really. Plus in case of Infinity, it’s 99% about having Conviction, and higher/lower damage or faster/slower triggering of Merc's inherent aura make close to zero gameplay difference.
If you’re really into min-maxing, you might as well say Thresher is a bad choice, because GT offers 0.5 higher base damage at the same WSM. Generally that's about the scale here in terms of actual gameplay impact IMO.
After a bit of thought I decided I had relatively crap twinking gear so why bother. The will be a fairly standard hammerdin so aside from enigma/CtA, the gear is relatively cheap so we'll just see how this goes.
@jjscud Welcome and good luck! Hammerdin has a lot of advantages - u dont need to rely on LK to farm the runes, you can rush the char directly to CS and farm runes there, while getting tons of xp aswell.
He just recently hit lvl 95 (throwing down the glove for @Hutton), still running baal for exp.
My usual run is P3 travi, bosspacks along the way on WSK, clearing throne room and switching to P8 for the waves (P1 on second wave) and P3 for baal. Sometimes I add CS, but I dont feel very comfortable around De Seis, so its not a staple part of my runs.
Blackwell is still a WW barb, I do enjoy it more than frenzy for now, even tho manaburn bosspacks are annoying - exactly as @Bewitch mentioned.
I am still hoping to get my hands on Highlords, but on the other hand I will really miss those [email protected] from Maras. I have no luck with shimmering charms, so I will maybe return back to LK to farm some of those.
Some minor drops along the way:
edit: I just noticed a significant drop in XP gained for 1 baal run - from 1,5M to 900k The first half of the level, which as we all know is the bigger one, will be pretty slow for me - I would say about 5-6 months