Not much of an update but a little test I did:
In twitchys thread (http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=78351458&f=161) I saw his wish to make a dual dream char with Dragon as body armor. I honestly hadn't thought of that and always used Enigma. Venom on hit, hydra on hit, lvl 14 holy fire plus 212% increased fire dmg thanks to fire mastery - sounds great!
Since I had the runes and had no other use for them I crafted a Dragon armor and ran a little pit test.
Forgot to show my gear, but you can see it in another video on page 98 (http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=71647661&f=161&o=970), hasn't changed much.
Here is what I think of Dragon as armor for a dual dream sorc:Gains:- Holy Fire lvl 14: Aura: 12-14, Fire Dmg added to attacks 73-85. Even if you add the 212% fire mastery bonus ontop, this is not worth it.
- Hydra: lvl 15 dmg: 93-113. Effect in the pit run: Not huge, same as Holy Fire.
- Venom: 400ish poison damage. Oh well...
Losses:
- +2 Skills which means -4K max dmg on hit, -55 life due to lover BO
- less mobility due to less FRW (needed when under frequent fire)
- Less strength = less life
- no 8% DR
- No 14 Laek, which is really nice because it delivers a constant "leech"
- 15% of Dmg taken goes to mana. That is a biggie and in the video you will see why
- no 97% MF
As you can see in the video, the run goes fairly fast. I make some stops to show you pulse damage and hydra damage, but overall it is okay. Definately slower than with Enigma, but Hydras a kind of fun to watch
The problem with this armor though is that it is insanely unsafe compared to Enigma and will cause your death sooner than later when running as dual dream sorc.
The reason is that as soon as you receive heavy hits, your mana drops (thanks to Telekinesis and Energy Shield). This conversion of mana to life (or loss of life to loss of mana) is a huge plus for this build and makes it quite tanky - as long as you have a mana buffer. You can see it in my previous videos, even in full screen battles, my life barely drops.
The only time you have to pay attention is when you are getting hit by a mana burning mob or a heavy hitter ( extra strong cursed might archer, I am looking at you). With your mana gone and your Energy Shield dissappearing, the only thing standing between you and a shallow grave is some shitty 1800 life and in my case 66% block chance. In these cases Enigma is just nice, because it puts 15% of your received damage back in your mana pool, thus keeps your Energy Shield up and softens dangerous damage spikes.
You can see what I mean in the video at 2:40. With Enigma I would never have lost my mana and probably barely recognised this f***.
If you have got the runes (or the time...) go for Enigma.
This post was edited by Camowlin on Mar 29 2018 02:26am