Introduction
So your wondering why you should make an mf paladin. “Sorcs are obviously the better choice” is what most people would say. Simply put, those people are idiots. Make an mf paladin and you will NOT regret it.
Goal
The main goal of this paladin is to use the blessed hammers skill, while having 350+ mf, and being able to do solo hell baal or Diablo in 8 player games. With most characters that is not possible, with hammerdins, it is.
My MF Hammerdin:
Here is my mf paladin that I have used and has been extremely successful for me.
Lvl 91 Hammerdin
75% block
11506 defense
11k Blessed Hammer Damage
1618 life
440 mana
Max res in hell
Total Mf in combat gear = 391
Total Mf with weapon switch = 507
Here is what you can do to obtain this.
Stats
I suggest to follow the basic principle of all characters and that is to have
- Enough str for gear
- Enough dex for max block (with Holy Shield)
- Rest into vit
- Base energy
At lvl 91 my paladin has these stats with all of his gear on
208 str
148 dex
378 vit
49 energy
You will not need any energy because of meditation and redemption, which will be explained later on.
Skills
Max Blessed Hammers
Max Concentration
Max Vigor
Max Blessed Aim
1 point into each of the prereqs + def skills (not the individual res ones though)
Rest into Holy Shield
Blessed Hammers is your one and only killing skill. You will never need another way to kill because this is a kill all skill. It is magic damage, which very few are immune, and it pierces, which only one is immune to. Blessed Aim is only for synergies, Vigor is for synergies and for its usefulness for getting around, and concentration is used for pumping hammer dmg (only aura that does this). Here are some of the one point wonders of the hammerdin:
Meditation- extremely helpful for regenerating mana in times of desperate need. One point is all you will ever need in this.
Redemption- my absolute favorite skill in the game, with one point and enough + skills this will act as a full rejuv for you whenever there are enough corpses nearby.
Salvation- if your paladin does not have max resists, then you will definitely need this. Otherwise, it is still very good for party situations.
Cleansing- very helpful if you are cursed with something you really don’t like (Lower resist in chaos), or are affected by A LOT of psn.
Equipment
I will give what I use followed by some other suggestions
Heart of Oak: The best weapon for this pally. There really aren’t any mf items that allow for fcr and skills, so just stick with this. At earlier lvls use spectral shard, and then wizzy. Eventually try and get this.
Enigma Archon: This is extremely important for this paladin. With this you will be moving as fast as a sorc, killing faster, and also surviving longer. The mf, str, and other mods are awesome as well. For lower lvls use a viper magi, and then scolders for mfing if you cannot yet afford enigma.
PTopaz Shako: Obvious answer. Until you are high enough for this, use peasant crown.
Cham Herald: The 4 combat skills + excellent blocking make this better then an mf shield. Remember that higher killing speed means more dead monsters, which means more items.
Really try and get a herald, but if you cannot get one, use a rare shield.
Arachnids Mesh: Best for this build because you are going to need fcr. The + skills is just gravy. Until this use an fcr belt, or gold wrap for the mf.
Magefists: Use this if you need the fcr. If not use chance gaurds for the mf.
War Travs: Heres where you should have some mf. War travs are the best for mf, so use them if u can. Otherwise you some rare or magic ones with mf.
Perfect Maras: Use whatever % you can get. IMO this is the best ammy for a hammerdin. You might need the res, and the skill are just great. Other options are rare pally ammys with + skills, or magic ammys with + combat/pally skills.
Nagelring: You can afford to lose one soj for the mf.
Soj: Big mana boost + skills. Obviously this a great ring for any caster. If you feel you don’t need it though, go for another mf ring.
Charms: small mf charms, annihlus, combat charms, vita charms. Use whatever you think you need more of, which will usually be mf.
Weapon Switch: Alibaba + Rhyme shield. This is used for killing bosses. If you don’t have ists, and arent at a very high lvl then use gull instead of ali-baba.
Places to MF:
Chaos Sanctuary *****: My FAVORITE place to mf. I absolutely love doing Diablo runs. I will quite often find something decent in the sanctuary, and Diablo has dropped four unique items for me on several occasions. While in the chaos sanctuary, the only thing to watch out for is the lower resist curse. Lower resist + unique Venom Lords will usually kill you if you are not careful. Everything else shouldn’t be too hard if you are careful. My pally can currently join 8 player hell games and clear out chaos sanctuary without many problems. When finishing off Diablo, make sure to weapon switch.
Pit ****: My 2nd favorite place to mf with my hammerdin. You should be destroying anything down there, and this is also a great place for mfing on ladder, if you are not strong enough to go into later acts. While down there, don’t worry as much about the archers. If you don’t get all of them then move on and kill another group of melee monsters.
Eldritch / Shenk ****. These runs are very successful but I have found them to be boring at times, and not really good if your computer is lagging and taking a long time between games. The monsters here should be no problem for you since they are out in wide open spaces.
Baal ***. If you decide to do some baal runs, you will probably find some nice stuff, that is if you don’t die. No matter how good you are you still will have problems here with black souls. Ive entered the throne and had to face ALL ranged monsters, including black souls. That was NOT easy, but I still did it without dying (in a player hell game, mind you). It is a very good place to mf but I would advise against it if you are having problems elsewhere.
High Council ***. I havent really gotten any good drops from these guys but I was still able to do them in 6-8 player hell games. If you are big into doing council runs then this hammerdin is prolly for you.
Meph **. Yes meph is a good place to run, but I wouldn’t really recommend it with a hammerdin. If you REALLY want to continue doing meph runs (which I have done for 3-4 years now, and am VERY sick of it), then I would suggest making a sorc. Otherwise go do something more fun, cause that is what this game is about.
Pindle *. Cramped quarters = BAD. Plz don’t complain to me that your hammerdin isn’t that fast at pindle runs. If you want to do pindle runs make a sorc or something else. Personally I HATE pindle runs, so I have never had a problem not doing them.
Other Helpful Hints
- Always switch on bosses for mf
- Before you are high enough lvl to use hammers, go melee and fight in parties. This really is a character for high levels, and believe me you will enjoy playing when you are a high enough level.
- Play in games with lots of people, cause you can kill hard monsters and get the more frequent drops
- Aim for 75% FCR (breakpoints are below)
- Practice with the hammers. You will probably not get it at first, but with practice you should do fine.
- Get near an open spot in a crowd, hammer away, then tele or run out. Keep hammering and running and the crowd will start to dwindle. Then use redemption to heal up.
- For kill single monsters or bosses: teleport directly on them and Hammer away. This will work. If you cannot teleport get underneath them and to the right. If they are taking dmg then you are doing something right.
My Hotkeys:
F1: Concentration (whenever in battle I use this)
F2: Meditation (for when im low on life/mana and there are no corpses around; ie baals minions)
F3: Redemption (one of my favorite all time skills EVER)
F4: Teleport
F5: Vigor
F6: Salvation (for in party cases when others need res; ie black souls)
F7: Cleansing (Big protection against curses and psn)
F8: Holy Shield
FCR Breakpoints
0% fcr - 15 frames
9% fcr - 14 frames
18% fcr - 13 frames
30% fcr - 12 frames
48% fcr - 11 frames
75% fcr - 10 frames
125% fcr - 9 frames
FHR Breakpoints
0% fhr - 9 frames
7% fhr - 8 frames
15% fhr - 7 frames
27% fhr - 6 frames
48% fhr - 5 frames
86% fhr - 4 frames
200% fhr - 3 frames
Thanks to everyone who showed interest in this paladin, and to those who actually tried it out (mooseknuckle J)