Where to put my remaining 130 stat. points?

[RaverLV]

Hi all!

My FOrb/Meteor sorc is currently clvl 70 and trying to beat Act1 Hell and doing some NM Pindleskins.

Right now I have quite a lot stat pits saved - 130!

Currently she has:
Str:90
Dex:25
Vit:110
Energy:100
After items:
Life: ~450 Mana:~400

I know that health is vital in Hell, but, as I am building Orb/Shield sorc. wouldn't it be wise to put points in Dex. to achieve high block rate?

I'm playing SP only, so no uber gear for me. (Hey, I've found SOJ in about 20-th of my Normal Pindleskin run, great luck isn't it! :winner: )

So, what would You do? Dump all in Vitality, and leave some spare points in case for high Str. req. items., or try to achieve serious Block rate?

P.S. Iv'e heard that when running, instead of standing or walking, there is only 1/3 of a block rate and some penalty to defence. Can anyone confirm that? Is there a penalty to BR in NM/Hell?
Thanx!

[melianor]

*ERASED i was wrong* :teeth:

Grats on the SOJ ;)


Dexterity required for max block (75%) for a sorceress

shield str block dex/lv LV30 LV50 LV80 LV99
------------------- --- ----- ------ ---- ---- ---- ----
Lidless Eye 58 40% 3.75 128 203 315 387
Lidless Eye + Eld 58 47% 3.19 111 175 271 331
Moser's Circle 53 57% 2.63 94 147 226 276
Grim Shield + Rhyme 58 60% 2.50 90 140 215 263
Sigon's Tower 75 64% 2.34 86 133 203 248
Stormshield 156 67% 2.24 83 127 195 237
Sigon's Tower + Eld 75 71% 2.11 79 121 185 225
Visceratuant Heater 77 72% 2.08 78 120 182 222
Gerke's Sanctuary 133 74% 2.03 76 117 178 216
75% blocking shield 75% 2.00 75 115 175 213
Whistan's Guard 53 87% 1.72 67 102 153 186
Whistan's + Eld 53 94% 1.60 63 95 143 173

Bone/Grim Shields with Rhyme, Sanctuary, or Deflecting suffix have 60% block
Sigon's Tower + Eld and Moser's Blessed Circle + 2 Eld's both have 71% block
Gerke's Sanctuary and Stormshield with an Eld rune both have 74% block

[ivasar]

Penalty confirmed.

The main problem you'll meet is playing SP, as it will be pretty difficult to obtain "uber" gear that would define your build. I explain myself: if you had a storm, I think that a build based in high dex for highest block and the strength to wear it is really paid off, as the 35% dam reduction with 75 block chance conpensates the fact of having low life. But I'm talking froma point of view of having Oculus (resistances), Shako (huge vit/mana boost), Mara's (resists) and that kind of stuff, that will rise your life to acceptable levels.

So my suggestion will be: make a few more nightmare pindles/mephs runs, and from the gear you get there make a decision. Or even post here what gear you already have ready for use... It's kinda hard on SP to help, not really used :scratch:

[melianor]

You can achieve Max-block depending on the Shield you use.
Visceratuant, Whistans's Guard and Mosers du fine.

Stromshield is nice, but you can get by very well with the others.
Also with Shako you will already get alot life. If you want to go for Max-block then you could do it, but you will be lacking some life which you put into energy. You could have gone base energy ;)

Concerning that situation you might just aswell put everything into Vita and forget about max-block. Max-block with any of those nice Shields is great, but see that you get some extra life then, from Shako for example.

[RaverLV]

Thanx for a quick replies!

Yeah, as a SP-guy I founf Hell difficulty very hard. I managed to die 3 times in one hour! The death, when I was killed-in-one-shot by cold aura of unique skeleton, when I was running to recover my body from previous death :surprise: , made me return to NM. Now I am on to NM Pindle runs 'till I get some decent gear and achieve few levels, then I will make my final decision on skill points.

P.S. And SP has a luxury of backing-up characters, so if I screw up, I can return my points.

What about DR reduction when running? How big is it exscatly?

[melianor]

DR is the same, but you take more damage since your defence is only 1/3. So subtract the 35% from that and there you are.

[RaverLV]

DR is the same, but you take more damage since your defence is only 1/3. So subtract the 35% from that and there you are.

Thanx melianor! I referred to DR as a Defence Rating :)

Note that if a player is moving, the total block percentage is reduced to 1/3rd of its original value.


Is "moving" considered as walking/running only, or attack/cast animation too?

[Stiertje]

Thanx melianor! I referred to DR as a Defence Rating :)



Is "moving" considered as walking/running only, or attack/cast animation too?

Running = 1/3 block%
Walking = full block%
Attacking = full block%

Attacking block is when you don't have to move (run) to hit a target.

[Stiertje]

You can achieve Max-block depending on the Shield you use.
Visceratuant, Whistans's Guard and Mosers du fine.

Stromshield is nice, but you can get by very well with the others.
Also with Shako you will already get alot life. If you want to go for Max-block then you could do it, but you will be lacking some life which you put into energy. You could have gone base energy ;)

Concerning that situation you might just aswell put everything into Vita and forget about max-block. Max-block with any of those nice Shields is great, but see that you get some extra life then, from Shako for example.

Erm, Base Energy on a Single Player sorc is REALLY hard, especially when you play from scratch and have NO way of muling items. Of course there are programs you could use for that but that would be considered cheating and yadayadayada ......

[RaverLV]

Running = 1/3 block%
Walking = full block%
Attacking = full block%

Attacking block is when you don't have to move (run) to hit a target.

Thanx Stiertje. That clears it. Does it works the same way with defence as with blocking rate?

Funny, i've never considered "walking" as something useful :lol:

[Stiertje]

Thanx Stiertje. That clears it. Does it works the same way with defence as with blocking rate?

Funny, i've never considered "walking" as something useful :lol:


No, your defense doesn't drop when you run, or when you walk. And try walking with a fully charged Frenzy Barb and you'll out-WALK everything else.

Talking about defense, this is something that has taken me a while to really understand, but defense is only relevant to your chance to get hit. Higher defense means lower chance to get hit, not that you loose less hitpoints WHEN you get hit.



I know, stupid me :shhh:

[RaverLV]

No, your defense doesn't drop when you run, or when you walk. And try walking with a fully charged Frenzy Barb and you'll out-WALK everything else.

Talking about defense, this is something that has taken me a while to really understand, but defense is only relevant to your chance to get hit. Higher defense means lower chance to get hit, not that you loose less hitpoints WHEN you get hit.



I know, stupid me :shhh:

Thanks for explanation Stiertje! I might consider boosting up my defence too, It's all about those damn archers, you know. :scared:

[ayoko]

I play single player FO/Meteor and I use base energy (about 400 mana). It is really no problem and in fact I think the extra vitality is necessary if you are going untwinked. Resistance tends to be a problem in hell. NM travincial can generate a lot of charms, rare rings/ammys, and crafting supplies quickly which can help resistance, mana, and life...perhaps even a skill charm if you are lucky.

[RaverLV]

I play single player FO/Meteor and I use base energy (about 400 mana). It is really no problem and in fact I think the extra vitality is necessary if you are going untwinked. Resistance tends to be a problem in hell. NM travincial can generate a lot of charms, rare rings/ammys, and crafting supplies quickly which can help resistance, mana, and life...perhaps even a skill charm if you are lucky.

:/ How was it in Act1/2 Normal? How much you have put in Warmth? With one point in Warmth and 100 Energy, I still use a mana potion time after time.

[Stiertje]

I play single player FO/Meteor and I use base energy (about 400 mana). It is really no problem and in fact I think the extra vitality is necessary if you are going untwinked. Resistance tends to be a problem in hell. NM travincial can generate a lot of charms, rare rings/ammys, and crafting supplies quickly which can help resistance, mana, and life...perhaps even a skill charm if you are lucky.

You can't find skill charms in NM Travincal.

And it's only hard to start a manaless build. Especially from level 14 to level 24 are a pain because you don't have really damaging skills and it uses quite a lot of mana too, which you of course don't have. From level 24 it isn't as hard anymore, and from level 30 the mana pool is not that important anymore.

[ayoko]

Err...yes you can find Skill Charms at NM Travincial. As a matter of fact I carry a GC around from NM Travincial for cubing with Pgems. I hit +1 martial arts with it a few days ago while cubing. 400 mana seems enough to me with meterorb at least up to players 5 in pits or players 3 in chaos sanctuary. Sometimes I use a few blue pots if I am really spamming fireball and I almost always use one blue pot on hell meph with Orb...but what the heck usually pots are lying all over the place after a fight...it's not like there is a cost (although I usually have to buy some to get past Hell Baal & Minions).