New hammerdin questions

[Jammer74]

Im building my first hammerdin and I have a few questions.I have read the stickies,so dont tell me to "read the stickies" lol.

Question 1:Ber'ed shako or coa with -15req/15 res all,and a ber?
Question 2:maras or crafted +2 pally skills,6%fcr,mass resists
(15,12,45,15) amulet?
Question 3:19 dex shadowdancers or sandstorm treks?
Question 4oj or bk,or rare str,mana,life,resist ring(20str
88 mana,44 life,17 lite resist)?
Question 5:pcombat gc's,poffense gc's,or mass life,resist,fhr
sc's?
Thats all the questions I have,and other than these I,m building according to the cookie cutter stickies builds.

[FraterPerdurabo]

Hey man, been a long time.
As in for your Hammerdin:
1) In this scenario, Shako. CoA is an awesome head, but the benefits that you gain from it, you lose by pumping insane amount of points into STR. It's just not worth it, so go with the Shako. However, keep your eyes open for a pally tiara +2 Paladin, 20% FCR, and you know, the regular mods, FHR, +life, +str, +dex, etc. 2 sockets will obviously double the price, but it's about as good as it gets. A good hammerdin really should have one of those in bank. If you don't want to use it in your main setup - fine, however it allows you to play around a lot with your gear, i.e. more block, etc.

2) I've always thought that Mara's is overrated. I'd go for the rare one, but you know, once again those can cost a shitton. You really want to have 15%+ FCR on that bad boy though, for your 125% FCR BP. If you are thinking about using Spirit shield, you'd kill for an amulet with +20%FCR. The only real benefit that I see in Mara's is the +2 to BO, as opposed to just +2 to pally skills. Once again, look for resists and stats on the neck.

3) Definately Treks. However, you really haven't given enough information about your build. What else are you going to be using? Shadowdancers are generally only used for max block builds, and you switch them on / off for duels that require max block. However once again, the insane STR requirement sort of ruins their glory... I'd say, forget about them. On a hammerdin, you really want to have as many points in Vitality as possible.

4) I'd say, forget about BK. Other than that, if your hammer damage is below 10k, use SoJ. If you are constantly running out of mana and 16 mana pots in a long duel, use SoJ. If both of those are negative, then use the rare ring.

5) As a rule of thumb, a hammerdin NEVER uses skillers and instead stuffs the inventory with +20 life / +res charms. However, there's a couple of things to watch out for.
a) FHR% cap. Breakpoints are 48% and 86%. You definately want to have the latter at all times. Maybe add a few skillers with +12%FHR to get that, but more than two probably hurts more than it helps. Generally, use +20 life / 5%FHR SCs until you get your cap. Fill, rest with +20 life / +5 allres until your fire, lightning and cold resists are maxed in hell, without Anya quests ofc. Filling the rest is up to you, if you skilled Resist Lightning you probably won't need many with light resist, so stuff your inventory with +20 life / +11 cold res, against those pesky cold sorcs. Other than that, it always helps to have ~20-30 resist over the cap, I mean when was the last time you dueled a sorc or any caster without facets?

Anyway, post your full build and I'll see if I can add any more commentary, and good luck with this bad boy \o/

[Jammer74]

Hey Frater,it has been awhile,Ive been busy with life and work.anyway here is my build.

str:none
dex:enough for max block w/ holyshield
vita:all of them
energy:never heard of it
Equipment:
headhako(ber'ed.shaeled,chammed,not sure yet)
body:ring mail enigma
weapon:39% resist Hoto
shield:35%fcr pally spirit,made with 35% resist
all protector shield
belt:arachnid mesh
boots:15 vita sandstorm treks
gloves:trang oul's grasp
ringsoj,soj or soj,raven
amulet:maras or +2 pally skill,6% fcr,mass resists
inventory:18/16 pally torch
19/18 anni
fhr/life/sc's to hit breakpoint
resist/life s/c's to stack
stash:
35%fcr spirit broadsword
coa(LO,um)
T***s vigor
ravenfrosts
infernostrides
dwarfstars
and hopefully some wisp rings
This is my hammerdin build,any critique acceoted.

[FraterPerdurabo]

First of all:
1) Why Ring Mail? Is there a specific reason for that? You've probably been away from D2 for too long, so I'd like to remind you that Ring Mail is a "Medium" class armor, which leads to a run/walk penalty. You definately want to stick to Breast Plate, Mage Plate, Archon Plate or Dusk Shroud. Everything else is a no-no. Since you have pretty nice torch + anni, you should at least be able to wear MP.

2) You probably know this, so just a reminder. Holy Shield gives no additional +block% after skill level 16, so more than a couple of points in HS is an overkill (level 20 actually adds another 1%, but that's not a reason to skill for it).

3) Your current gear takes you to 121% FCR, which is no good. At the moment you have:
Spirit shield: 35%
HOTO: 40%
Trang's: 20%
Arach: 20%
That's 115%. A 6% FCR amulet takes that to 121%, which is no different from 75%. Either get an amulet with 10% FCR, so that you hit the 125% FCR BP or just use Mara's. You can also use a FCR% ring. Just remember that it is absolutely vital that you hammerdin hits 125% FCR, otherwise it just won't be much short from shit.

4) Why Protector Shield? That is a big mistake, as it has quite a lot base block% (only 50%, as opposed to 60% on Sacred Targe).
Quite frankly, I don't approve of your plan to go max block with Spirit. Spirit is a vs. caster shield, you don't use it against a melee, and besides that, it takes a shitton of DEX to get max block with it, which is going to hurt your VIT quite a bit.
However, you have two options:
i) Forget about max block and just go full VIT, with Spirit. You will be weaker against melee classes and bowzons, but substantially stronger against casters.
ii) Get a decent max block gear set and use Herald of Zakarum, Ber'd, or Eld'd, up to you. Remember that you will have to make up for the loss of 35% FCR from Spirit, so this usually means having:
a) a decent paladin circlet with 20% FCR
b) a ***ly paladin amulet with +2 pala 15-20% FCR, but if you have this, it should be in your main gear set anyway.
c) both above, as well as a bunch of FCR% rings with +DEX. Very handy. On my druid, I used Shadowdancers. That was OK, because I was using Stormshield anyway, so had an assload of STR in store for them. Your gear choice will be more limited, so try having FCR% rings, amulet and circlet with +DEX. It could look something like:
Head: Circlet with +2 pala 20% FCR, +DEX +etc
Amulet: +2 pala +15% FCR +DEX +etc
Weapon: HOTO
Armor: Eni ofc
Shield: Zaka Ber
Belt: Arach
Gloves: Trang's
Boots: uh, Treks probably
Ring1: FCR ring with +DEX
Ring2: SoJ

Once again, get as much DEX as you can on those rare items as possible, then throw as many points into DEX as needed. I can assure you that this will be a SUBSTANTIALLY stronger character than one that has max block% with Spirit, especially if it's a Protector Shield. HoZ is a nice shield when fighting against melees, has way better mods on it than Spirit for those purposes and sports a socket, which you can use for a Ber, or Eld if you want more block. Also, keep in mind that having absolutely max block is not essential. It's also OK if you have ~70%, but you know the benefits and disadvantages of that yourself. Also, keep in mind that you will also want to have 86% FHR with this gear set, so add / remove FHR% SCs as required.

Anyway, I hope that you have not yet made this character, as by the current look of the status quo, he seems to have descended quite radically down the shitter already. And by any means, ask if you have any more questions, always willing to help you out with this bad boy.

edit: I forgot to add what you might want to do if you decide to go for the no block route.
Helm: Shako Jah or Shael. Up to you.
Neck: Mara's
Weapon: HOTO
Armor: Enigma
Shield: Spirit. Sacred Targe is your shield of preference btw.
Belt: Arach
Gloves: Trang's
Boots: Treks
Ring1: FCR% ring with +STR (if you get a nice one, you can use DS or AP Enigma, otherwise don't bother with STR), +life +mana, +resists.
Ring2: SoJ

Although this build has no block, it's a real caster killer. Use as many SCs as required to get up to 86% FHR, and also keep an eye on your breakpoints when switching gear in and out for absorb gear. You don't want to fall under 125% and 86% under any circumstance. However, since you are using Spirit, you have a lot more liberty to play around with gear, than you would have with Zaka.

Keep in mind that you can also just have two different gear sets and go for the max block route that I described above. You will only have less life, but more liberty as to who you can duel successfully.

[Jammer74]

Yeah,Frater I haven't played d2 in awhile.The eni ring mail comes from nostalgia from playing on d2pk,they were all the rage back then.I actually have started this build,but Ive only put points in vit.Currently iso ***ly circlet and amulet.The gear I listed is what I currently have in stock,but I have about 100 hr to play with,so I should be able to meet your specs.I'll post full build again when I finish.Thanks for the instructive criticism,lol.I really do appreciate it(no sarcasm intended.)