WARRIOR - SETUPS
by FireIceTalon, Th0mas & Shade
I. HP Warrior | II. MS Warrior
I. HP WARRIOR SETUPS
Foreword
° 'HP Warriors' are the classic and traditional way to duel with the Warrior class, and these builds are based upon my experiences in the LE community, where almost all the top warriors used HP builds in PvP. It should be noted that the Warrior class is very item dependent relative to the other two classes, so to have an effective 'HP Warrior' will require very specific high-end items. The reason is because of the Warrior’s low dexterity and magic values, which make it more difficult for him to achieve a higher chance-to-hit value and magical attribute/mana pool while retaining a decent amount of HP for survivability, so there are less loose ends here than with most Rogue or Sorcerer builds.
° Since the Warrior class got a very fast hit-recovery by default, we don't need to put on any additional hit-recovery items. Pretty much the same is true in terms of our blocking ability. Warriors always got 'Perfect-Block' with any shield, though (just like all the other classes) they have to meet a particular dexterity value to make it work. The regarding formula to determine the required dexterity value is the following: 'Dex + 2·(clvltarget - clvlattacker)'
HP Warrior vs. Artillery Sorcerer
° This is one of the more interesting yet difficult duels for the Warrior class. Artillery mages are fast with very high level spells but have low AC, so the Warrior would do best to maximize his HP value and fire/magic resistances. In this case it is not important for the Warrior to have a higher dexterity, to hit, or magic values.
Helm: Diamond (or Ruby) of the Whale
Armor: Ruby (or Diamond) of the Whale
Shield: Emerald Shield of the Tiger
Weapon: King’s Bastard Sword of Haste/Speed
Jewelry: 3x Dragon’s Jewelry of the Lion (or Life) | alternative: 2 x Dragon’s Jewelry of the Lion (or Life) + 1 x Dragon’s Jewel of the Zodiac
° With this build, the Warrior maximizes his HP for a total value of up to 746 (726 with 1 x Dragon Zodiac). He retains a decent mana pool as well for healing and teleport/phasing with a value of 278 (298 with 1 x Dragon’s Zodiac). Damage for Warrior is higher in this build compared to other encounters as well, since he can use King’s Haste/Speed here rather than Strange Haste. The most important thing is mitigating the Sorcerer’s spell damage, and there is no better way to do this with max fire and magic resistances and a huge HP globe.
HP Warrior vs. High AC Battle Mage
° This is quite simply one of the most difficult duels we can face as a Warrior, whether we are using an HP or MS build. 'High AC Battle Mages' are a tough nut to crack, and it can often feel like we are biting on granite when facing one. Although their spell level substantially lower than an 'Artillery Mage', their melee capabilities and high AC (approaching nearly 300 ac) more than make up for this loss. It is important for the Warrior to maintain a high HP value here, but now he needs to achieve a high enough chance-to-hit value to be able to stun-lock the mage, and enough dexterity to achieve 'Perfect-Block' against the Sorc’s melee attack (thankfully, in PvP only 100 dexterity is needed for 'Perfect-Block' when both participants are the same char level). I recommend the following build:
Helm: Diamond (or Ruby) of the Whale
Armor: Ruby (or Diamond) of the Whale
Shield: Emerald shield of the Tiger
Weapon: Strange Sword of Haste | alternative: Strange Sword of the Heavens
Jewelry: 2 x Gold Jewelry of the Heavens, 1 x Dragon’s Jewel of the Zodiac
° This build gives us 315% to hit, which should be more than sufficient. Fire and magic resists are maxed, and we keep an HP value of 666. Our low mana value, 208 in this circumstance, is probably our main weakness with this build because it limits our healing and teleport resources, so we tend to have to play more defensive to conserve this precious mana for when we need it most. Again here, our damage is lower than what we would otherwise like to have, but this isn’t such an important issue for Warriors since we are the only class that gets the ability to land a critical blow on our opponents. I've seen some Warriors attempt to use a Gold Life Jewel in this encounter, and perhaps vs. a 'Tank Mage' that is using Dreamflange, such an alternative maybe viable, but vs. a melee opponent our dexterity value drops too low and we lose 'Perfect-Block'; so Gold Heavens is the only logical choice here.
° I do not recommend trying to go high AC to counter a melee mage – even if this forces them to use a Strange Haste, they should still have enough damage and chance-to-hit to stun-lock us, and we lose too many valuable hit points and more mana trying to get life and resists in other slots. Not worth it!
HP Warrior vs. Extreme Tank Mage
° In some ways, this is even worse than the 'High AC Battle Mage', because the Sorcerer pushes the boundaries of his AC even further, so us Warriors are almost completely gimped in terms of resources, and even our HP begins to suffer substantially here, unlike the two previous encounters. There is still some hope for us though! In this case we are forced to focus entirely on achieving a high enough chance-to-hit value – as armor value for a Sorc using this build is something like 340 AC. In this encounter, it becomes difficult to make use of Whale items, because we need to keep our resists max and obtain such a high chance-to-hit.
Helm: Royal Circlet
Armor: Obsidian of the Mammoth
Shield: Emerald Shield of the Tiger
Weapon: Strange Sword of Haste
Jewelry: 3 x Gold Jewelry of the Heavens
° It may be possible to obtain slightly more HP by swapping out Royal Circlet with a Ruby/Diamond Whale Helm, but to retain our necessary chance-to-hit, this would mean swapping out the Obsidian Mammoth Armor with an Obsidian Stars Armor. The gain is 22 HP, but then we lose even more mana by foregoing the use of the Royal Circlet. Either way, we will be forced to play extremely defensive to conserve our resources. With the given build, we have 345% to hit, maxed resistances, 556 HP, and 193 mana. The alternative build I described above would bring our HP to 578, but mana is reduced to a dismal 154. I do not see the 22 HP making a huge difference vs. lvl 16 spells, so it seems more logical to go with Royal Circlet and Obsidian Mammoth Armor here – 193 mana is low but much more viable still than 154.
HP Warrior vs. Bow Rogue
° Unlike the previous encounter, a 'Bow Rogue' is much easier for us to face, and despite their incredible high AC, they have a much smaller mana pool than a Sorcerer does, and therefore their margin for error is much less. Generally when we get close, it usually means victory for us, or at least a significant pot-drinking session for the Rogue. Still, a good 'Bow Rogue' is not to be taken lightly, and they have one significant advantage against us that even a Sorcerer does not: Ranged stun-lock. This can make getting to a 'Bow Rogue' harder in some ways than a Sorcerer, because their suppression is more forceful and can directly keep us at bay. There are a few alternative setups to choose from when facing a 'Bow Rogue', but the following assume the Rogue is using a maximum AC value of 295 under normal latency conditions.
Helm: Royal Circlet
Armor: Ruby of the Whale (Note: many Rogues use Fireball also, so it is preferable to have Ruby Whale in this slot in contrast to Diamond Whale)
Shield: Emerald shield of the Tiger
Jewelry: 2x Gold Jewelry of the Heavens + 1 x Dragon’s jewel of the Zodiac
° Dexterity is 120, so we also have more than enough to retain our 'Perfect-Block' component. These are solid enough numbers to be able to defeat most 'Bow Rogues' relatively easily. However, things are not always so simple. If the Rogue uses a Merciless Bow of Thunder, we need to max our lightning resists, as these bows can do an unbelievable amount of damage very quickly. Right now, only our fire resistance is maxed, so I would recommend swapping out Royal Circlet with an Obsidian Helm of the Mammoth (A Sapphire Whale works nicely too, if you happen to have one). I do not recommend attempting to keep a larger mana pool by using Obsidian Mammoth in the armor slot with Royal Circlet in the helm slot, because then our HP is getting dangerously low, especially against an elemental bow using Rogue. With the Obsidian Mammoth Helm, our mana drops to 208, but we retain 315% to hit along with an increased HP value of 646. It may be wise to use this build vs. Merciless Bow of Burning as well even if our fire resist is maxed otherwise, as this bow again does an insane amount of damage.
° Many Rogues do not have such a high AC value, because obtaining a perfect plate is rare, and if their AC value is 285 or less, you can get away with using 1 Gold Heavens Jewel (assuming your Strange Haste is 150%). The ability to use 2 Dragon’s Jewels of the Zodiac would give us 596 HP, and increase our mana to an incredible 323 with a couple points boosted in damage, and a to-hit value of 293%. In case we have to use our Obsidian Mammoth Helm because of elemental bows or high latency conditions, our HP increases to 656. Our mana stays at a solid 273, with 288% to hit.
HP Warrior vs. High AC Melee Rogue
° The build here will likely be more or less the same as when dueling an 'Extreme Tank Mage'. Rogues have the highest natural AC of any class, though a Melee Rogue must use a fast block shield (Stormshield will be necessary for her to obtain this property along with her high AC value), so her AC value will be slightly less than that of a 'Extreme Tank Mage' that will use a Godly shield. Not by much though.
° Be that as it may, there is little that needs to be said here since you will be forced into using almost the same build, maybe one or two adjustments could be made allowing you to retain more HP than vs. the 'Extreme Tank Mage'.
HP Warrior vs. Warrior
° Thus far, we have used low AC in all the previous encounters. However, this is the one encounter where going high AC is probably more beneficial. This is a very latency dependent duel, and allowing your opponent a maximum damage value with use of a King’s sword and critical hit to boot is very risky. Although nowadays I prefer a MS/low AC build in Warrior vs. Warrior, due to the high latency conditions. In the old Diablo LE channel, we almost always used high AC/HP in this matchup.
° Another interesting aspect of this duel is the dynamic role of magic. Against a 'Bow Rogue' or a Sorcerer, using offensive spells is much more difficult, but here, it is very viable. Two Warriors using offensive spells and melee attacks makes for a very dynamic encounter. However, because of the Warriors slower cast rate, using haste on your weapon, while viable, is not absolutely necessary here. The preferred weapon of choice for this encounter was Strange Heavens, and I still use it almost exclusively in Warrior vs. Warrior duels, whether I am using an HP or MS build (King’s Heavens if my opponent is indeed low AC). The advantages that Heavens has to offer over Haste are notable: the increased stat boost gives us higher raw damage, increases to HP, mana, chance-to-hit, and an enhanced spell power. Strange Slaughter was also another alternative we used sometimes, to get King’s like damage vs. a high AC opponent, but Strange Heavens was/is clearly the favorite. The build we typically used was as follows:
Helm: Royal Circlet
Armor: Awesome Full Plate Mail of the Stars | alternative: Awesome Full Mail Plate of the Lion
Shield: Emerald Shield of the Tiger
Weapon: Strange Sword of the Heavens | alternative: Strange Sword of Haste | alternative2: Strange Sword of Slaughter. If our opponent went low AC, we would go King’s Heavens for a maximum damage build.
Jewelry: 2 x Dragon’s Jewelry of the Zodiac + 1 x Obsidian Jewel of the Zodiac
° This is pretty similar to a standard PvM build, the only thing that changes really is our weapon of choice. Although the AC value here isn’t exorbitantly high, it is still at a solid value of 278, which easily forces a Strange weapon to be used, though no Gold jewelry should be necessary.
° In this encounter, we have 558 HP, 278 AC, and 354 mana with max resistances. Our chance-to-hit value with Strange Heavens should be the same as our AC 278%, which should be enough to create stun-lock a majority of the time. The 146 magic value gives us a very accurate casting ability. We can opt to use a slightly higher HP build by using Awesome Lion instead of Awesome Stars. In this case we get a HP value of 596, 343 mana, 276 AC, and 272% chance-to-hit. A magic attribute of 135 is still high enough, and the HP boost can be beneficial in bad latency situations, though Awesome Stars should still be the #1 choice for most circumstances.
I. MS WARRIOR SETUPS
Foreword
° As the name implies, a 'MS Warrior' is utilizing the Mana Shield spell rather than relying exclusively on hit points. This way this class becomes very solid (Mana Shield reduces any received damage by 33%) and versatile. Due to the large mana pool, which all MS builds utterly require, it's very advisable to use offensive spells (e.g. Fireball and Flash) and various Teleport and Phasing based techniques (e.g. 'Tele-Attack' & 'Tele-Delay') frequently.
° Another factor which makes the 'MS Warrior' to be a very popular build, is that due to the partially unpredictable latency conditions on Battle.net, the classic HP variant more and more has become extremely risky to be played. In the worst case, each and every lag-spike can kill such a 'HP Warrior' instantly. With Mana Shield present, this risk is virtually eliminated.
° The main crux of this variant however is, that it requires a particular quantity of mana points to be economically reasonable. I personally consider a value of roughly 360 mana to be the absolute minimum, in any matchup. This unfortunately limits our capabilities of reaching high chance-to-hit as well as armor class values drastically.
° I'm careful to point out, that just the same as the 'HP Warrior' and the 'Melee Rogue', this variant requires a wide range of (partially) very rare high-end items.
° Since the Warrior class got a very fast hit-recovery by default, we don't need to put on any additional hit-recovery items. Pretty much the same is true in terms of our blocking ability. Warriors always got 'Perfect-Block' with any shield, though (just like all the other classes) they have to meet a particular dexterity value to make it work. The regarding formula to determine the required dexterity value is the following: 'Dex + 2·(clvltarget - clvlattacker)'
MS Warrior vs. Warrior & Melee Rogue
Helm: Royal Circlet
Armor: Obsidian Armor of Sorcery | alternative (vs. high AC): Obsidian Armor of Precision
Weapon: King's Bastard Sword of Haste | alternative: King's Bastard Sword of the Heavens | alternative2: Lightning Sword of Haste | alternative (vs. High AC): Strange Bastard Sword of Haste | alternative2 (vs. high AC): Strange Bastard Sword of the Heavens
Shield: Jade Shield of Brilliance | alternative (vs. high AC): Jade Shield of Accuracy
Amulet: Dragon's Amulet of Wizardry |alternative: Dragon's Amulet of the zodiac
Ring1: Dragon's Ring of Wizardry | alternative: Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac
Ring2: Dragon's Ring of Wizardry | alternative: Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac | alternative (vs. very high AC): Gold Ring of the Heavens / of Wizardry
HP: 335 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry + Jade Shield of Brilliance | 455 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac + Jade Shield of Brilliance
Mana: 453 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry + Jade Shield of Brilliance | 423 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac + Jade Shield of Brilliance
Damage: 146-171 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry | 176-201 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac
Spell Level: 15
Resist Magic: 70%
Resist Fire: 70%
Resist Lightning: 70%
° This is the classic setup for an 'MS Warrior' in this matchup. In case we prefer it to mainly focus on melee damage and maintain a extensive mana pool, this build is the right choice. Offensive spells are suitable too, though since we're only on spell level 15, melee damage is our primary offensive.
° There are quite a few considerable options in terms of our choice of weaponry. The King's Sword of the Heavens, for example, is a nice way to give our stats and damage a solid boost. Although, I personally always prefer to wield a Haste Weapon in melee combat, since I consider DPS (damage per second) to be one of the most important aspects.
° In case we have to face an opponent with high AC, the Strange Sword of Haste or alternatively the Strange Sword of the Heavens should provide the necessary chance-to-hit value (up to 290% with 3x Dragons Jewel of the Zodiac + Strange Sword of the Heavens + Jade Shield of Accuracy + Obsidian Armor of Precision ) to get most of our hits in.
° If we should face an opponent who's on very high AC (300 +), we're forced to exchange one of our jewels with either a Gold Wizardry or Gold Heavens. Though I'm careful to point out, that as soon as our opponent exceeds an AC of roughly 310, we should switch to the 'HP Warrior' variant, since we just can't maintain enough mana to be economically reasonable.
° I don't consider high AC variants of this setup to be very effective, since we would sacrifice a substantial amount of our mana pool this way. The 'HP Warrior' variant is the first choice to play a high AC setup.
MS Warrior vs. Bow Rogue
Helm: Royal Circlet
Armor: Obsidian Armor of Sorcery | alternative Obsidian Armor of the Stars
Weapon: King's Bastard Sword of Haste | alternative: King's Bastard Sword of the Heavens
Shield: Jade Shield of Brilliance
Amulet: Dragon's Amulet of the Zodiac |alternative: Dragon's Amulet of Wizardry
Ring1: Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac | alternative: Dragon's Ring of Wizardry
Ring2: Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac | alternative: Dragon's Ring of Wizardry
HP: 455 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac | 335 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry
Mana: 423 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac | 453 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry
Damage: 181-206 with King's Bastard Sword of Haste + 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac
Chance To Hit: 220% King's Bastard Sword of Haste + 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac
Spell Level: 15
Resist Magic: 70%
Resist Fire: 70%
Resist Lightning: 70%
° This particular matchup is one in which a 'MS Warrior' can play-off his potential perfectly. As long as our opponent stays low AC (we can attain a max chance-to-hit value of 225%), we basically operate on full power. At bottom line this means, that we got a vast mana pool in combination with very solid melee damage.
° Even if we're pretty much at our strongest with this setup, I suggest to mix moves thoroughly. It's always a huge advantage to remain unpredictable for our opponent. Defensive phases in which we linger in 'Diagonal-Walk', should be followed by sudden 'Tele-Delay' and 'Tele-Attack' assaults. In case we can grasp our enemy in stun-lock, it's always a good idea to go for another 'Chain-Lock' attack as soon as he has walked out of range. It's very presumable that the 'Bow Rogue' won't be able to drink potions fast enough, to survive the second stun-lock. Alternatively, we can also fire one or two well aimed Fireballs into the back of the fleeing opponent.
MS Warrior vs. High AC Bow Rogue & Tank Mage
Helm: Royal Circlet
Armor: Obsidian Armor of Precision | alternative Obsidian Armor of the Stars
Weapon: Strange Bastard Sword of the Heavens | alternative: Strange Bastard Sword of Haste
Shield: Jade Shield of Accuracy | alternative: Garnet (Crimson) Shield of Accuracy
Amulet: Dragon's Amulet of the Zodiac
Ring1: Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac
Ring2: Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac | alternative (vs. very high AC): Gold Ring of the Heavens / of Wizardry
HP: 485 with Strange Bastard Sword of the heavens | 455 with Strange Bastard Sword of haste
Mana: 403 with Strange Bastard Sword of the heavens | 388 with Strange Bastard Sword of haste
Damage: 173-182 with Strange Bastard Sword of the heavens | 166-175 with Strange Bastard Sword of haste | 153-162 with Strange Bastard Sword of the heavens + Gold Jewel of Wizardry
Chance To Hit: 290% with Strange Bastard Sword of the heavens | 282% with Strange Bastard Sword of haste | 300% with Strange Bastard Sword of the heavens + Gold Jewel of Wizardry
Spell Level: 15
Resist Magic: 70%
Resist Fire: 70%
Resist Lightning: 70%
° As mentioned in the introduction, it's borderline for a 'MS Warrior' to compete with opponents who are on high/very high AC. As long as our opponent isn't exceeding an AC value of roughly 295-300, we're easily capable to boost our chance-to-hit value to a level, which allows us to cause stun-lock frequently, and still remain a pretty solid mana pool. Everything above however, will force us to switch to Gold Jewelry and this unfortunately drains our mana pool significantly.
° That being said, this very build should allows us to compete with anything below this 'pain barrier' quite well. It goes without saying, that it's advisable to play as defensively as possible to conserve resources. Basically, we should mostly remain in 'Diagonal-Walk' and wait for a chance to start a counter attack ('Tele-Delay', 'Tele-Attack'), as soon as the opponent is exposed.
° I highly recommend dropping the haste suffix on our weapon in this encounter, since we desperately need each and every additional stat point. I don't want to deny though, that it requires serious practice to wield a non haste weapon effectively in this matchup.
° Regarding the choice of shields, I recommend to stay with the Jade Shield of Accuracy. The lack of 5% of resistances undeniably isn't a good thing when facing a Sorcerer, though in this encounter it should be sufficient, since a high AC Sorcerer won't be able to scoop out his full damage potential. Nevertheless, in case our opponent is solely using Fireball, it's advisable to switch to a Garnet (Crimson) Shield of Accuracy
MS Warrior vs. Sorcerer
Helm: Royal Circlet
Armor: Obsidian Armor of Sorcery
Weapon: King's Bastard Sword of Haste
Shield: Garnet (Crimson) Shield of Brilliance | alternative: Emerald Shield of the Tiger
Amulet: Dragon's Amulet of Wizardry |alternative: Dragon's Amulet of the zodiac
Ring1: Dragon's Ring of Wizardry | alternative: Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac
Ring2: Dragon's Ring of Wizardry | alternative: Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac
HP: 335 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry + Garnet (Crimson) Shield of Brilliance | 455 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac + Garnet (Crimson) Shield of Brilliance
Mana: 453 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry + Garnet (Crimson) Shield of Brilliance | 423 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac + Garnet (Crimson) Shield of Brilliance
Damage: 146-171 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry | 176-201 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac
Spell Level: 15
Resist Magic: 40% | 75% with Emerald Shield of the Tiger
Resist Fire: 75% | 75% with Emerald Shield of the Tiger
Resist Lightning: 40% | 75% with Emerald Shield of the Tiger
° This is matchup unquestionably is the ideal hunting ground for a 'MS Warrior'. Thanks to our rich mana pool, we can use 'Tele-Delay and 'Tele-Attack' frequently to put the Sorcerer under massive pressure. Though, I suggest to mix up these offensive phases, with sporadic 'Diagonal-Walk' lingering. By doing so, we make it pretty hard for our opponent to predict our moves, and additionally, -since most players are pretty slow/careless in switching from being offensive to being defensive,-we can watch him waste his resources.
° Since our melee damage should always be more than sufficient, I recommend playing with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry. We benefit more of a vast mana pool, than a few more damage points. It however is certainly a viable option, to increase our damage by switching to one or another Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac. However, I clearly don't recommend this when facing an 'Arch Artillery Sorcerer'.
° The only notable hiccup is the choice of shields. As long as we're facing an opponent who's using Fireball only, the Garnet (Crimson) Shield of Brilliance is perfectly sufficient. As soon as Flash comes into play, I recommend to pick an Emerald Shield of the Tiger. According to my experience, a Jade Shield of Brilliance isn't a true option in this matchup. You suffer greatly of the missing 5% of resistances, when facing a fully geared '(Arch) Artillery Sorcerer'.
Spell Heavy MS Warrior vs. Warrior & Melee Rogue
Helm: Thinking Cap
Armor: Naj's Light Plate
Weapon: King's Bastard Sword of Haste | alternative: King's Bastard Sword of the Heavens | alternative2: Lightning Sword of Haste | alternative (vs. high AC): Strange Bastard Sword of Haste | alternative2 (vs. high AC): Strange Bastard Sword of the Heavens
Shield: Jade Shield of Brilliance | alternative: (vs. high AC) Jade Shield of Accuracy
Amulet: Dragon's Amulet of Wizardry | alternative: Dragon's Amulet of the Zodiac
Ring1: Dragon's Ring of Wizardry | alternative: Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac
Ring2: Dragon's Ring of Wizardry | alternative: Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac
HP: 315 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry | 435 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac
Mana: 438 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry | 408 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac
Damage: 141-166 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry | 171-196 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac
Spell Level: 18
Resist Magic: 70%
Resist Fire: 70%
Resist Lightning: 70%
° The 'Spell Heavy MS Warrior' unquestionably is one of my all time favorite builds in this matchup. We basically got it all. A huge mana pool of 438 , devastating melee damage, perfectly sufficient resistances and an amazing spell level of 18. Pretty much all it takes to teach the meaning of fear to any melee opponent. I recommend mixing moves as much as possible. At bottom line this means to operate in melee combat, as well as attacking with Flash and Fireball. 'Tele-Delay', 'Tele-Attack', 'Fireball-Phasing Autoaim' and 'Double-Flash' are the most important techniques we should make use of.
° In melee encounters like this, the Firewall spell can be a very interesting choice too. Nothing beats casting a well placed Firewall on the opponent, just before locking him in melee combat. This way he is forced to move first, otherwise he'll receive constant damage of the burning wall of fire which smolders below his feet. Unfortunately, Firewalls tend to be very unreliable in bad latency games, which results in them being placed on an entirely different spot on the opponents screen, or, in the worst case, they are sometimes not even present at all.
° In case we really want to be mean, we can swap to a Lightning Sword of Haste. With this fine weapon equipped, we just wait for our chance to fire a nasty salve of Fireballs into the back of our opponent, as soon as he gets sick of receiving constant lightning damage, while being in melee combat with us.
° There are quite a few considerable options in terms of our choice of weaponry. The King's Sword of the Heavens, for example, is a nice way to give our stats and damage a solid boost. Although I personally always prefer to wield a Haste weapon in melee combat, since I consider DPS (damage per second) to be one of the most important aspects.
° In case we should have to face an opponent with high AC, the Strange Sword of Haste or alternatively the Strange Sword of the Heavens should provide the necessary chance-to-hit value (up to 275% with 3x Dragons Jewel of the Zodiac + Strange Sword of the Heavens + Jade Shield of Accuracy) to get most of our hits in. It's unlikely to face an opponent who's on very high AC, since we're using offensive spells quite extensively. Most melee characters simply can't afford going very high AC and combine this with max resistances, since it would decrease their stats and damage dramatically.
° Just in case we should ever be in this rare and unpleasant situation, I personally don't recommend the usage of any Gold Jewelry, since as soon as a 'MS Warrior' drops below ~ 360 mana we hit the limit of being economically reasonable. In this specific matchup, I simply would pick the Lightning Sword of Haste, boost mana to the maximum and rely exclusively on offensive spells and lightning damage.
Axe MS Warrior vs. Sorcerer
Helm: Obsidian Helm of Sorcery
Armor: Obsidian Armor of Sorcery
Weapon: King's Great Axe of Haste
Amulet: Dragon's Amulet of the Zodiac | alternative: Dragon's Amulet of Wizardry
Ring1: Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac | alternative: Dragon's Ring of Wizardry
Ring2: Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac | alternative: Dragon's Ring of Wizardry
HP: 435 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac | 315 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry
Mana: 378 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac | 408 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry
Damage:188-237 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of the Zodiac | 158-207 with 3 x Dragon's Jewel of Wizardry
Spell Level: 15
Resist Magic: 75%
Resist Fire: 75%
Resist Lightning: 75%
° The majority of players most likely will consider this setup as some sort of silly fun-build, though I firmly gotta disagree with this point of view. If handled properly, an 'Axe MS Warrior' can be a very unpleasant opponent for any 'Artillery Sorcerer'. We certainly sacrifice quite a substantial amount of our solidity, but our damage is pushed onto a sheer abnormal level by wielding the King's Great Axe of Haste. It unquestionably requires some serious practice to cause proper stun-lock with it, but as soon as you've developed a feeling for how 'Tele-Delay' and 'Tele-Attack' work with this weapon, you'll love it. And this is not only because it's pretty entertaining to see a Sorcerer die just by a few sings, it's also because we gain a pretty interesting advantage in terms of range when wielding an axe. This allows us to capture our opponent in stun-lock form very unusual distances and angles.
° Nevertheless, I certainly don't want to deny that this variant is very borderline in questions of solidity, therefore it's mandatory to play very defensively ('Diagonal-Walk') and rely predominantly on sudden counter attack assaults. |
