I don't feel like writing a full guide right now. Much less for you virgins. So I thought I'd share some miniguides:
I :: BvC/Throw Hybrid
II :: Frost Nova Sorc
III :: LLD Summon Druid
IV :: LLD Invisible Ranger
1) The BvC/Thrower Hybrid
So this mostly came about as a part of a thought experiment with my last throw barb. I asked myself; why should I use BO Sticks on my offswitch, when I can just put a grief/beast, and 1 point whirlwind, and be a BvC, too? Throwbarbs aren't very strong in PvP. BvC's are very strong in pvp. But BvC's have their own weaknesses, and this is a neat little build that is actually an improvement to a BvC. You trade off a relatively minor amount of AR/Damage/Life in exchange for a high powered ranged attack & amp damage. Now, I'm not going to go into too much depth, but the basic gist is this: You take a completely normal BvC setup, and substitute the BO sticks on your offswitch for 2x eth lacerators. Our skill build looks like this:
Skills:
(level 90)
20 Double Swing
20 Throw Mastery
20 Axe Mastery
20 Battle Orders
1 Battle Cry
1 Battle Command
1 Frenzy
1 Berserk
1 WW
1 Increased Speed
1 Natural Resistance
4 Leap (pump remaining points)
This build is something I calculated quite ruthlessly, so it doesn't need any tinkering. You won''t get a good build if you do 20 ww and 1 throw mastery, or anything dumb like that. You max Axe Mastery instead of Whirlwind because it applies to berserk & frenzy as well, and the benefits are effectively the same per level between WW & mastery, except whirlwind increases the mana cost. So whirlwind is kept at 1 point, even though its one of your main skills. Likewise, double throw is kept at a single point; In D2, all projectile skills are bugged and do not grant +% AR. Since all it does is give +% AR, points into double throw do absolutely nothing at all. You should aim for a high level, like 95ish, to help with AR problems as well as get a decent level leap (9 base). If you want to know how a BvC works in general, fuck you, go read a BvC guide. This is an adaptation to an existing guide, so if you have to question why the skills are distributed like this, don't build one. And yes, battle cry is worth the 2 skill points to reach it. It is a very nice thing to have against pallys, who you can often lure into range for it without getting hit. Frenzy is worth a point purely for its PvM capabilities, but it also gives you a neat factor; against bowazons, it hits much faster than berserk, and if you charge up off some quill rats, you can desync run faster than a charger. As its only a single point investment, its definitely worth it, don't pass it up under any means. I keep it as my left-click, using zerk only against hammerdins & some bone necros.
Items:
2x Eth Lacerators on switch 1
Grief / Beast zerkers on switch 2 (34%+ ias grief for breakpoint)
Arreat's Face: 40/15 (need ias to reach double throw BP)
Enigma
Trang's Gloves
Arachs (FCR is non-negotiable. Do not use dungos or whatever else. You need the 40%)
2x Ravenfrosts
Highlords Amulet
Gore riders OR rare resist boots. You take your pick
Keep the rest of your shit in your stash. You should have a set of bosticks/wisps/dwarfs/angelics/stormshield/um'd kiras/etc. Now, heres the important part: dexterity glitch your lacerators. Make sure you do not have enough +dexterity from your GEAR to wear your lacerators, but instead, you have 40 or so less than you need. Then the +40 from your torch/anni will bring you up to wear them. Make sure you have enough to wear them with only the +10 from angelics, but make sure your ravenfrosts are actually LOW enough dexterity they don't put you over. Why is this important? Dex glitched throwing weapons are invisible. This is undeniably a core part of the build. You do not want your opponents seeing you throw, you should be blinking on their screen. Get someone to test with to make sure you did it right. Do not under any circumstances be a dumb twat and think you could use "Lacerators/Warshrikes" just because other barbs do. Those are PvM barbs. In PvP, 2x lacerators is infinitely better. The entire duel is about trying to land your amp damage, if you do, you've won. And since 2x lacerators grant you twice the chance to cast amp damage, there is no substitute. There are the only throwing weapons you should even consider. The rest of the gear is just completely normal BvC crap
Overall, the entire point of the build is to be a BvC with an additional attack. A BvC is very strong on its own, but this can easily be stronger; many duels are against people taking advantage of the fact you need to be in whirlwind range to kill them. A fireball sorc might shoot at you from a screen away and teleport away whenever you tele on her. Leap can knock people into projectiles in the air easier then letting you whirlwind on them. In most duels, if you build this char right, you'll end up continuously switching between your two weapons. Against normal casters like a sorc or necro, I'll be throwing from a screen distance like a maniac, and if they try to close the distance, I switch and become a BvC. The two different attack styles compliment each other very well, so I suggest you try it out in a good environment to get a feel for how it actually plays better than a normal BvC. I've heard lots of nice things from people in dueling games so far about how my builds been working. If you really want an example of when throwing is > whirlwind alone, take a look at BvC vs Smiter. Instead of being subject to tele/smite & shift/smite, I can actually throw from a distance to force them to charge me, and then whirlwind away. If I land an amp damage, a single whirlwind hit will kill them. Against other BvC's, I'm often teleporting in circles around them chucking axes until an amp lands, at which point I can smash them (or just keep throwing, depending on their style. Many will panic when amped).
Statwise, you will approximately the same as a regular BvC for things like life/damage. You should have maybe 400-500 less whirlwind damage, because of the missing 19 points into whirlwind, and slightly lower AR. Your throw damage, if you did it correctly, should be something like 500-4000 in each hand. This might seem underwhelming at first, but remember; this is actually MORE than your whirlwind damage. A 4000 damage throw becomes 8000 after critical strike, and 16000 after amp damage. If they had 50% DR, its like a 24000 damage hit. Thats the difference between using a widowmaker on switch & 2x eth lacerators, which makes this work. A widowmaker might be easier to hit with, but you'll only do ~500 damage, which is pathetic. Compare that to a 24000 effective damage axe. And once you land an amp on someone, you've already won.
yeah enough on that build. It should be very straight forward: BvC minus BO sticks plus Lacerators with hybrid skillset
2) The Frost Nova Sorceress
Christ this is going to be the easiest guide ever. Heres how it works: Picture your blizzard sorc, all her gear, charms, etc. Or your orb sorc. The gear is the same. Well guess what? Gear is exactly the same for Frost Nova!. A frost nova sorc is an alternative to a nova sorc. Contrary to what you might think initially, frost nova does more damage than nova. Frost nova gives you a HIGHER damage output, but you're even more fragile. Other than that, the two builds play exactly the same. Frost nova is actually disturbingly effective, once you give it a shot. Nova sorcs rely on infinity to boost their nova damage. But often, this shits on their gear setup, and the conviction aura is terribly hard to make stick to someone, since you can't just teleport on them and blast away; it takes ~1 second for the aura to hit them. So they are much clunkier. On the other hand, a frost nova sorc can simply jump on top of you and spam away. A nova sorc might pack 3600 damage. Compare that to a frost nova, which does 2000 damage, except with -250% resistances. A nova might do 3600 / 6 / 4 = 150 damage, after resistances. A frost nova, on the other hand, might do 1500 / 6 * 2 = 500 damage. Compare those two numbers. That should give you an idea of why frost nova has a HIGHER damage output than nova nova. But at the same time, because you don't have +light skills, you don't get to have a 95% es / 20 tk like a nova sorc does, which makes you much more fragile. This is like the glass cannon nova sorc, with twice the damage and half the hp, so don't be surprised when you get BBQ'd. Dueling effectiveness is just a little better than a nova sorc.
Skills:
20 Frost Nova
20 Blizzard
20 Frozen Orb
20 Cold Mastery
1 point chilling armor
1 teleport
figure out the rest for yourself (you can go 1 point es, or lose some mastery for it, like some blizz sorcs do, etc, or just go pure vita. Either way works)
Gear:
Nightwings
Death's Fathom
Spirit Monarch
+3 Frost Nova Ormus
Trang's Gloves
Arach's
+2 sorc / fcr amulet
2x sojs
whatever boots float your boat, baby
That hits the 105% breakpoint.
Now I could either explain how to duel with this, or I could tell you to figure it out yourself. Its not complicated. Teleport on top of people, spam frost nova. Against most people, you'll throw them into wicked FHR and kill them, like a warcry barb's wet dream. Against other people, you'll die the second you land on them. Its a very 1 dimensional build, but one thing is certain: Frost nova looks fucking sexy when you cast it. Much more aesthetically pleasing then that thin line of 'nova'
3) LLD Summon Druid.
I'm going to cheat and copy/paste my older version of this:
I'm not in too much of a mood for writing a large guide, so consider this a mini-guide. The level 30 druid summoner is something I worked on last season, and got working fairly well. This builds on the "Shockbear" idea of 1.09, but with the realization that spirit wolves deal more damage then grizzly bears at this level. Hence, this is a spirit wolf/shockwave build, and Can and will compete toe to toe with other level 30 builds. This is a very competent character, and will handle its own surprisingly well; you can actually duke it out with many casters and melees, but certain builds like level 30ish zealers will have the upper hand on you. It is also fairly mana-intensive for re-summoning, and silly rules in several tournaments will disqualify you (resummoning wolves, mana pots, ect).
I recommend this more as a pub build.
#1: What it is.
A level 30 druid who summons 5 spirit wolves and a HOW, and spams shockwave on you as his wolves tear you apart. They pack very decent damage for what you would expect, and will annihilate interuptible melee builds, and stunlock casters if they get in range. This is played as a purely caster build, with absolutely no melee attacking to be done. All damage comes from the wolves, be it in the form of their attack, or returned damage.
#2: What it uses.
Spirit Wolf: 20
Heart of Wolverine*: 3+ (11)
Grizzly: 1
Lycanthropy: 1
Shockwave: 1
Spirit of Barbs: 1
(and obviously the pre-req's)
*3 for a non-rushed build- this druid is nice because he doesn't really *need* the +8 skills from nm/hell and can compete without being rushed
#3: What it wears.
Helm:
Rare Pelt:
There is no other option here. You should not attempt this build if you can't get an at least +3 skills helm. I personally use a +2 summons, +3 grizzly helm with various rare mods. You should aim for +grizzly over +spirit wolves, as the damage synergy will give you more then points in wolves would. Add Sol runes in available sockets.
Idealy:
+2 Summons
+3 Grizzly
+3 Spirit Wolf
+2 HOW
+ 2 sockets for sol runes, and whatever mods float your boat.
Armor:
Vipermagi. (Sol)
This is the #1 choice. The low req's coupled with high MDR and +1 skills, make it a solid option. The FCR is quite needed with shockwave.
Spirit Shroud.
Simply not as good as vipermagi. The cannot be frozen is not needed, as this is not a running-intensive build. The regen is nice, but not nearly as much as the higher MDR and FCR.
Stealth
Extremely foolish. Vipermagi is better in all respects, since you don't need to run or really worry about FHR.
Weapon:
Spirit Sword
There is no other option here.
Shield:
Sigons
With either ELD or SOL, this is my best recommendation. You NEED the +1 skills, and you NEED max blocking. The high str requirement is the toughie, but its worth the HP loss. Don't forget that as a tank build, you absolutely must have 75% blocking. Don't be afraid to ELD it instead of SOL.
Whitstans Guard
A solid alternative, the strength requirement isn't actually that much lower, but it saves you alot of dex points and lets you use a SOL over an ELD. However, I personally do not believe thats worth the -1 to all skills.
Gloves:
Magefists
Highly recommended
Frostburns
Only use these if you REALLY aren't allowed to use mana potions.
Belt:
String of Ears
Its that simple
Boots:
Cow Kings
The 20 stat points is the top here, and the 5 more stats is worth well more then the 10% extra FRW on sanders.
Sanders
The 15 stat points all help you, and the 40% FRW isn't all that great here, but doesn't hurt.
Rare Boots with +stats
If they top CK boots, don't be afraid to use them.
Rings:
2x Sojs
If you're a cheapskate, don't build this build.
Amulet:
Rare +2 summoning ammy
Look for the best 2nd mods you can; FCR, HP, ect.
Blue +2 summoning ammy
I haven't found a good rare yet, so I'm stuck with this.
On switch:
Edge Bow
This is ENTIRELY worth it. Build in a hunters bow, so it has low requirements; use this against high damage meleer's if you need to.
Charms:
+Lifers
As many as you can get.
#4: How to duel with it.
Its pretty damned simple. You summon 5 spirit wolves, you summon a HOW, and shockwave anyone silly enough to get close to you. If you must chase a caster, do it in diagonal patterns, and recast your wolves whenever you have less then 5. If you are up against a bowazon, summon wolves next to them. If you face a melee character who is leeching more then he takes damage, switch to barbs/edge, and summon a BEAR instead of wolves. The bear has more HP, and can therefore deal more thorns damage back then they can leech off it.
Whenever you get down to 1 HP, immediately RECAST werebear. This will save you for 1 more hit. Against FOHers and other slow-hitting builds, this will make you nigh-impossible to kill. Learn to walk away as your opponent name-locks you, dragging them through your minions.
#5: Retrospective
I want to note, this build actually WORKS, and works extremely well. Its a very competent LLD build, just like a fireball sorc or hammerdin or whatever else, and it works like a cookiecutter. The damage might seem underwhelming on paper; only 525 damage per wolve. But don't forget you have 5x wolves attacking at 525 damage every 15 frames. Thats like a 2625 damage, 3 frame attack. And its throwing your opponent into FHR nonstop, with shockwaves. No, this is a very very very nice build, and its absolutely eats alive anything that isn't uinterruptable like a fury druid, and can do decently against other builds like WW barbs by either dueling with attrition, or annihilating them with thorns damage from edge + sob. Do not underestimate the damage on thorns + sob. Against characters with melee attacks and low life leech, it WILL kill them in a very small number of hits. If they have stacked life leech, its worthless, but I've seen well geared whirlwind barbs die just by trying to attack me.
4) Invisible Ranger
My fingers are getting a little sore so I'm going to leave this one mostly up to you to figure out. The idea is twofold. There are two exploits with the D2 engine that make up this build:
A ) strength glitched projectiles, including exploding arrows, are invisible. Your opponents can't see them
B ) all sources of +fire damage on your character are added to the explosion on exploding arrows
that is to say, any +fire damage you have, will be added directly to the damage on the skill exploding arrows. This is just like a fireball; it can't be blocked with a shield and doesn't rely on AR. Every time your arrow explodes, it deals the full damage of all your +fire. Futhermore, if the ARROW ITSELF HITS, it will deal your fire damage *again*. So an arrow with +1000 fire damage will actually hit twice and do 2000 damage. And that is where this build comes from. The idea is simple; an level 30 paladin with holy fire, who shoots invisible exploding arrows. Use charge to desync around, and hit people from 2 screens away with arrows they can't dodge, which do around the same damage a fireball sorc could do. The advantage is, you can charge/desync and your fireballs are invisible.
Skills:
19 Resist Fire
20 Holy Fire
1 Salvation
(you get your charge from your scepter switch. You can't charge with your bow out anyway, so this is not a loss, skillwise. 1 point salvation is only a *tiny* bit less bonus than another point resist fire, but gives you stacked resists against the other two elements, if you ever needed it)
Items:
Raven Claw, Upgraded and Shael'd (this is important. Make sure it is upgraded for higher requirements, and make sure either your str or dext comes from charms, and is glitched. You can substitute NEF)
Spirit Shroud
Peasant Crown OR +2 offensive circlet (aim for high regen, like 2x skulls, etc)
Magefists (the +1 fire boosts holy fire, fyi)
Goldwrap (you need the ias for the breakpoint)
Cow kings boots (NOT sanders. Cow kings have nice fire damage)
2x Sojs
+2 offensive amulet
Switch should be a MALICE build in a +1 charge, +3 holy fire scepter.
This grants a ton of open wounds, and you absolutely need it to have +charge. Use a spirit shield alongside it for +2 skills
Statwise, you should hit 1000 damage on your holy fire aura, which means you'll do around 2400ish damage on an arrow. The gameplay is pretty easy to figure out. Desync charge around, and shoot arrows at people. They won't know its you thats hitting them most of the time, and they can't dodge the arrows. Just outrange people and throw your little fireballs around like theres no tomorrow, and cry if someone straps on hotspurs (theres nothing you can do). But otherwise, its a fun little build to try out. It plays very much like an LLD Fire Sorc. Its a little weaker, yes, but its more annoying, with invisiblity & desync instead of higher damage & teleport. Its definitely not a joke build or something to underestimate, and can actually win duels against many competent players. Just remember that your opponents wont know what hits them, so you can fire away with impunity most of the time.
For a special bonus, try enchanting your ranger with a sorc. Using a 6000 enchant HLD sorc, you can make your level 30 pally shoot 14000 damage arrows. Its good for a few laughs, when you start 1-hit-killing other level 30's from a few screens away, without them seeing a thing.