ok so im basically quitting until next season and i might not ever return to d2 so this is my going-away present of sorts. i dont ever see a good charger in the pub games i play so i figured id educate the d2 population on how to make a proper one. i posted this on bnet a while back so if it looks familiar to some of you i apologize.

intro
this is a charger designed to 1-hit pubbies. it stacks ds for maximum power. the gear is not cheap. i will not discuss cheap alternatives, if you want a cheap char, go play a goldfind barb

skills
pretty straightforward:
max charge (main attack)
max fanaticism (main aura)
max vigor (charge synergy)
max might (charge synergy)
1 in salvation (this is basically up to you and is a luxury that some prefer though not required)
1 in all prereqs for above skills
max blessed aim for rest of pts (it gives a passive ar bonus)

gear
this is where it gets a bit hairy. ive looked at essentially every gear option centered around the "death" runeword. why "death"? easy: it has a ds% per clvl bonus and huge enhanced dmg. for those who do not know about ds, it allows for double dmg when it is triggered. so if you have 100%ds, you will always get double dmg when you connect with the opponent. moreover, ias is not needed for a charger. 'death' easily outdamages botd on average because of ds applying to the attack, if you think otherwise then im afraid you're a nub. the gear i have listed is perfect gear and assuming you have a huge budget... cut corners where appropriate if you dont have the funds. i have determined two options that are both very good all around setups:

option one - NONLADDER setup
helm: um kira (the huge res allows us not to have to switch on salv too often)
ammy: highlords (the ds is crucial, the lite res is great too)
weap: 'death' eth decapitator (15% sup ethereal with a 415% roll would be lovely, good luck finding it tho)
armor: bugged tals w/ a ber rune (dr/res/rw/+2 skills... THE god armor for this build)
glove: variable (see discussion)
rings: 2x ravens (as high dex/ar as possible)
belt: 15% dungo (15%dr is crucial)
boot: gores (15%ds is essential - there is no alternative here)
switch: low str req pally spirit, 6bo cta
charms: 3/20/20's, 20/20ptorch, 20/20anni

option two - LADDER setup (no dupes)
EVERYTHING THE SAME EXCEPT:
helm: 15dr 30res xxxDef COA w/ ber and -15req/15res jewel
armor: any light armor COH (ie dusk/wyrm/archon... dusk/wyrm are best cuz defense doesnt matter)
charms: ar/life grand charms instead of dupe 32020's

glove discussion
the glove slot has the most flexibility in this build. there are no gloves that provide ds/dr but if there were they would be the glove of choice. i rarely see a good pair of tri res rare gloves but they are the next most desirable option. here are some alternatives:

-draculs
-> 15strength is nice, giving us 15 more pts saved for vitality...
-> at the same time the open wounds doesnt really matter because you tend to 1-hit people almost always
-> the other mods do not matter.

-bloodfist
-> +min dmg, +life, 30fhr... great gloves all around but no res. i tend to use these the most.

-laying of hands
-> 50 fire res... not too much else. good for stacking res vs fireballers but honestly ive never met a fireballer i couldnt take down.

-deaths hand
-> 50 psn res and 75% psn reduction... simply the best glove for pesky wwsin's.

stats
strength: using bloodfist and option one i have 102 hard str points. just put in enough for gear
dex: none
vitality: everything else
energy: none

some other important stats:
option one gives 48% damage reduction (33btal + 15dungo), which is 2% from the 50% cap
option one gives considerable stacked res (85kira + 40btal + 20torch + 20anni + 35lr highlord + variable glove)
ATTACK RATING IS BOOSTED PRIMARILY BY CHARMS... keep this in mind. i use 9 125ar/35life gc's because 32020's are expensive
option one's stacked ds tables are as follows:
clvl ds
90 93
91 94
92 95 -> This is a good stopping point. I intend to get to 92 at some point in the future, I'm at 88 right now.
93 96
94 97
95 98
96 99
97 99
98 100 -> 100% is max and only recommended for hardcore nerds.
99 101

dueling strategy
ww barbs:
unhostile them. seriously. these are the only class that are not easily destroyed by this build. i have an ebotd war pike in my stash for barbs to outrange them but connecting a hit on a barb is tough because they have high defense, high dr, high life, and ww is notoriously difficult to connect a charge. this is the anti charge class unfortunately. i win about 20% of these just by getting lucky. it is very funny when a 6k life ww bvc barb dies in one hit tho (they tend not to have dr).

javazon:
if theyre fc with a lot of dodge pts, its a tough duel. overcoming block/dodge/evade/avoid is just a matter of luck and they may take you down before you connect a hit. their defense isnt too high. they will die in one hit because their life isnt that high either. if they are not fc, you'll win usually.

bowazon:
if they use slow+knockback+psn its a tough duel because you cannot get close enough. despite this, i usually win vs bowazons.... id say i beat 80% of the ones i fight on average.

trapsin:
circle their traps by shift click charging around them then go in for the charge when they are recasting traps. its not that tough of a duel. if they mindblast continuously, then it becomes considerably more difficult. try to break the mindblast by shift charging continuously, sometimes you'll break free and can land a hit on em. all it takes is one hit and they'll drop.

wwsin:
again, hitting a ww'er is a pain. use deaths gloves if theyre bramble. this is a fairly tough duel but it is do-able. its not like fighting a barb with 6k life and max dr and you can 1-hit them when you land it. i havent fought a large amount of these and have yet to see a really godly one, though i have been beaten by some.

smiter:
this is an easy duel. let them approach you, try to land a charge. shift click charge back away from them, charge at them. repeat. they die in 1-2 hits. if they walk to have max block, it takes a bit longer to land the hits. if they begin charging with grief zerk, you may get charge locked and die. this is unfortunate.

hammers:
this is easy if you know what you're doing. most hammerdins are stupid and hostile everyone. in my experience, more assholes play hammerdins than any other class (maybe barbs too actually). they tele around all tough and then say "wtfffff lag" when you one-hit them. the strat is to stay to the south of them. they will try to tele on top of you and desynch hammers with charge maybe. keep your distance. when they move/tele to a new area not encompassed by their previous hammer field, strike. if they block, shift charge south and repeat. if you hit, congratulations, theyre dead.

foh'er:
lame dueler imo. this is the only time id recommend switching out ravens with 2x wisp. they usually have max block and lots of life and defense, meaning connecting a charge is a pain. you can only handle 5-6 foh's before you die. when you connect, they'll die.

auradin:
same idea as foh'er except they charge. hit them before they charge lock you. it can be a tough duel.

necro boner:
bring out your enigma if they try to trap you in bonewalls. these guys die in one hit just like all the others. they arent too tough as long as you dont do something stupid like charge into 100 bone spirits. just circle em and connect a charge, they die, evade spirits until they disappear. i win 90%+ of these duels.

necro psn:
death glove, land a charge. gg.

all sorc variants:
your easiest duel. a lot of them think theyre hot shit. they dont know you have stack res and huge physi dmg. a nice tactic is to charge in an arc and let them try to lead you with their spells, then strike. i dont think ive ever seen one survive a charge. they have such awful defense and no max block so connecting a charge is cake.

wind druid:
semi tough duel. shift charge in a circle so they are exposed from their pets. namelock them and attempt to hit em. it helps to knock out sage first. if they have max dr and huge life, it can be very tough. landing a hit isnt that tough if theyre careless and let minions stray.

if i'm forgetting a class, just experiment. aside from barbs, this build handles all classes with relative ease.

if any of you need advice, my char name is "Pam" and I'm on USEast Ladder under the acct *BLITZ-PVP.
thanks for reading.

sounds pretty cool, nice guide

btw, how much dmg do you get with ds calculated in? im just wondering lol

This post was edited by SoulReaverX on Dec 28 2006 01:40am

Can you screenshot that eth death decapitator too?

i completely forgot to post the overall dmg.

here is my most recent builds estimated dmg:

minimum dmg: 8288
maximum dmg: roughly 25000 (the actual dmg wouldnt be much higher... 25k is a conservative estimate)
minimum + ds: 16576
max + ds: roughly 50000

after pvp penalties are applied, we get actual damage of:
pvp minimum+ds: 2762
pvp maximum+ds: 8333
pvp average+ds damage: 5548
this assumes you ds 100% of the time and that the opponent has 0%dr.
even most bvc barbs will die when you land an 8k dmg hit.
if the opponent survives a charge, you probably just got a low dmg roll or you did not trigger ds (level some more).

finally:
pvp average+ds factoring in 50%dr opponent: 2774
as you can see, this wouldnt be more than 1/3 of the life of most barbs, which is why barb duels are SUCH a pain and
more a matter of their lack of skill than yours. if a barb is built correctly, you WILL die.

bes: as for a screenshot, i might get around to it sometime later. my axe has a 376% roll and is ethereal. i highly doubt you'll find an eth superior decapitator but best of luck to you.

well some items i would not take like kiras

If you do not need ias then why do you use fant? Conc gives you a higher % ed when maxed....

like the guide, but a few questions...
1) Why not ber shako on ladder? cheaper, more life, less str needed and barely any less dr
2) (this is more of a tip) try shift-charging in a circle Vs bowa's. you will out-run the GA and get a hit in from behind. Thats what i do Vs bowa's with my smiter and ive nvr been beated GM 1v1 (they either die, town, or get a few friends in the game to charge we with their smiters and jump me from behind, kill me b4 i get to the bowa, andlaugh about how a bowa beat a smiter in a 1v1. Then i s/e. Grab sorcy and take all 3 down with 1 cl. It was pretty funny)

no it doesnt

plus fana adds ar

1)
overall, you have to decide if 140ish additional life and another +skill (shako) is worth the loss of 45 res, 5dr, and 30fhr (coa). since i was trying to find a build best suited to handle any build, i chose coa. if you have the runes, go for coa. if not, ber shako works well too, but you'll be lacking in stacked res.

wats other option besides btals...

for ladder players