This will be a detailed overview of the Chains of Honor Runeword, detailing why it is almost never the correct choice in PvM.

Let’s start with the stats of Chains of Honor and it’s main competitor, Enigma.


Chains of Honor
+2 to All Skills
+200% Damage to Demons
+100% Damage to Undead
8% Life Stolen Per Hit
+70% Enhanced Defense
+20 Strength
Replenish Life +7
All Resistances +65
Damage Reduced by 8%
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items


Enigma
+2 to All Skills
+45 Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Teleport
+775 Armor
+0-74 Strength (Based on Character Level) (+67 at Level 90)
Increase Maximum Life 5%
Damage Reduced by 8%
+14 Life After Each Kill
15% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
+1-99% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based on Character Level) (+90% at Level 90)


To simplify these stats, let’s say our character is Level 90, and using a 15% Superior Archon Plate Base, if we eliminate all the overlapping stats, we get:



Chains of Honor

+200% Damage to Demons
+100% Damage to Undead
8% Life Stolen Per Hit
Replenish Life +7
All Resistances +65

Chains of Honor occupies a very awkward position stat-wise:

Damage vs. Demons & Undead and Life Steal are useful on Physical Damage attackers, but are significantly weaker than the damage bonus from Fortitude.
Replenish Life is relatively low-impact.
All Resistances +65 is tailored towards casters as most melee characters come with resistances built into their talents or special equipment *See Resistances Section Below*

This makes Chains of Honor a weird Jack-of-All-Trades gear choice where no specific class or build really capitalises on all of the bonuses.


Enigma

+45 Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Teleport
+655 Armor
+47 Strength
Increase Maximum Life 5%
+14 Life After Each Kill
15% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
+65% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

In comparison, most of the stats on Enigma are very valuable in PvM:

Armor and Damage Taken Goes to Mana are not highly valued.
Life After Each Kill keeps you permanently topped up and removes the need to drink potions except when in you're in a very nasty situation.
Strength and Increase Maximum Life have effectively the same function - unlike resistances, there is no effective life cap.
Magic Find is obviously desirable on almost all PvM characters.
Faster Run/Walk saves a few seconds on each MF run as you pass through town - if the average run duration is 180 seconds and the FRW saves you 3 seconds, this is a 1.7% increase in efficiency - approximately equal to increasing your DPS output by 3-5% on most characters.


All Resistances +65 vs. +1 Teleport

All Resistances +65 is a lot - but do we need it? The +Resistance stat is soft-capped at +175 in Hell and is available on every single gear slot.
Every character should be getting 30 (Anya Quests) + 20 (Annihilus) + 20 (Hellfire Torch) and a further +50 (5/20 Small Charms). Of the remaining 55, very common gear choices include: Spirit (35 Cold, Lightning), Tri-res Boots (40), 5/20 Small Charms (50), Paladin Shield Bases (45), Mara’s Kaleidoscope (30), Heart of the Oak (40), Rare Circlets and Amulets (20), Natural Resistances and Fade (50+).

Enigma's +1 Teleport oSkill reduces the duration of most PvM runs by as much as 50%. The exact value of this skill is difficult to measure on non-sorceress characters because it is highly dependent on character and skill builds. But just as a simple example, having the ability to teleport will generally reduce the total clear time of Chaos Sanctuary from about 3.5 minutes to just under 2 minutes on an average Hammerdin. To put this into perspective, this is more effective than DOUBLING your damage output. Furthermore, Enigma’s effectiveness scales proportionally with the length of the run and is even more effective in areas with low monster density - potentially doubling or even tripling the speed of farming. (Consider how long the average Hell Mephisto or Andariel run would take without the ability to teleport). On a sorceress, this skill is arguably a lot less valuable, being equivalent to saving two skill points.


Conclusion: Chains of Honor isn’t necessarily a bad armor but it will never be the recommended Best-in-Slot for any PvM build. Its effectiveness is largely negated by the option of stacking resistances via the inventory. Chains of Honor can be a distant second choice for Sorceress builds which want to use Mana/Life Small Charms on the Softcore Ladder.



Coming Soon Last Wish: An Ode to Garbage

This post was edited by draftw3dr on Aug 4 2018 02:23am

its a single item which allows ur hdin to run ut and saves a char, so it actually has a use compared to coh

Awesome read. This should actually pop up to everyones face every time they log in to battlenet. Please make a thread about Javazon shield options

Better off with grief hoz and goblin toes

I like how your opening statement is "almost never the correct choice in PvM", with the combination of the words almost & never being a contradiction in itself, just to clarify in your conclusion as "Best-in-Slot for any PvM build".
Chains of Honor is cheap compared to Enigma and a pimped out inventory. Build CoH for your sorc and play until you can afford anni, torch and charms and you will certainly be able to afford an Enigma.

Valid points here.

But I don't really think you can really compare teleporting and walking. This comparison is relevant for sorceress, of course.
For other chars, the full design of your char changes if you add/remove Enigma.

And once decided you don't need to teleport (for example frenzy barbs run at high speed, paladins can charge to move very fast), then it's hard to compete with Fortitude...

On a sidenote, etheral buged CoH can be used on mercenaries if you need them to survive Uber-tristram.

Why would you waste a ber um ist if you're on a budget when you can get a viper



Wasting 5hr for torch hunting hmmmmmmmm

I say "almost never" because I can foresee a situation where I want to fill my Sorc's inventory with Bmana SCs instead of 5/20's in which case I will need resistances from the armor slot - although that said, I could use Enigma of Bone so I should probably amend that to just "never". Thanks for spotting the mistake.

"Best-in-Slot" is exactly what it sounds like - the BEST item - it does not take budget into consideration. I do state that Chains of Honor isn't inherently a bad armor - it just pales in comparison to Enigma, Fortitude, JAPoW etc.

Coh is best in slot on UT Merc
Last wish has marginal use on mercbarb

Treachery wins by far because of ias. More heal, more crushing blow, more dr