I solo 8p as much as I can - I play exclusively on Bnet so I make do with whatever games I can find. It was a lot easier to find 8 player games in Normal/NM, so I play in those as much as I can - I do this for all my characters.

I do have some in Jab in case I need to take out the one Auraed boss or a stray Gloam selectively without locking myself into Fend. I could forgo max Decoy to max Jab, but I'm loving the near immortal Valkyrie right now.

I hoped to provide a decent basic guide for those looking to try one out - since there aren't that many out there on the net, and zero on JSP. If people feel that it's a good starter for them to try and build one then I feel I have fulfilled my purpose

It has made me want to make one.

I've made one myself after reading the article about the swiss guardians (Pope's security;)...
I even named her "swiss_guardian" lol

I actually finally bought enough 10 maxers to test this out fully. Most notably, with the set of gear I have on right now:

4 Java sk charms - Fend: 2998-13K
4 10 max charms - Fend: 2888-12K

The Java skillers provide even more max damage than the max damage charms. Around ~30-120 damage per Javelin skiller.

What's interesting to note is because of Penetrate, you get about 500 more Fend AR per 10max/70+AR GC, at the cost of the above damage. So if you're in dire need of AR, those could be worthwhile - but you could always load up on AR scs.

So there you go. Javelin skillers are 100% the way to go for your pure damage boost.

Edit: I'd also like to publicly thank CorinaMarie for helping me clear my head a little regarding these. She's amazingly helpful!

This post was edited by Avelynn on Sep 16 2013 03:58pm

Great info, thanks!

When you say 500 more AR per 70+ar GC, do you mean compared to the skillers (taking into account the +AR bonus from an extra Fend level)?

Yep yep +400-500 AR vs a Jav gc. (Depends on the +AR on the GC, obviously). I'm using the Act 1 Rogue's Inner Sight so AR's never an issue for me.

This post was edited by Avelynn on Sep 16 2013 05:55pm

Just read oops

This post was edited by hartside on Sep 17 2013 04:59am

Pretty well done and well-written overall. I do agree with some gear variants that were proposed. In terms of damage/pvm survivability, Guillaumes, String of Ears and Laying of Hands are often overlooked. Will get it stickied asap.

Thank you so much Jaypee.

I'll admit I did forget to include the all-purpose melee helm Guiliaumes into the picture, but as I've posted, it kind of conflicts with the whole IAS setup. It could definitely be a candidate for a economy alternative as well, seeing as they might not be able to afford the gear for the full 125% IAS - or if someone wanted to try a higher WSM spear.

Mass LL% isn't needed as much since you're not effectively tanking a lot of damage at a time while swinging, thus my view on String.

And I simply overlooked the fact that Laying of Hands exists as another possible 20 ias alternative for those seeking to farm more demon filled areas.

Either way, I should have briefly touched on these 3 items at least, seeing as they are still fairly useful regardless.

Thank you so much for everyone else's support and input so far as well!

This post was edited by Avelynn on Sep 17 2013 04:28pm

If I were you I'd repost the guide with the gear mentioned as there are few things which just have to be covered in order to call this guide 'complete'.
Firstable - setup gulli 15ias/15@, hlord, gores ,raven, stat/ar/res ring, nosfe (with nosfe u hit the same bp as with yours), loh, botd warpike - is not only cheaper but also ends up with A LOT better dmg - 100% chance for deadly strike (vs ~80%),
~50% crushing blow (vs 15%), also u can easly get 52fhr bp (2x fhr scs + fhr sk or 2x fhr sk) and its very helpful in fhr lock situations.
Also u should mention wsging from fhr locks
Also u should imo max jab (valky isnt that usefull, so nn more buffs for her) because in like 40% of the time u'll be facing either single targets or packs of so huge monsters that 2 or more of them wont be in your range anyway.
While fend is SUPER slow if attacking less than 2 targets so in this situations (and vs bosses ofcourse) jab is superior.
20 pts jab, 20 fend, ~18 crit, 20 valk, rest into penetration (ur ar will sux without it) - thats the perfect skill distribution IMO.
Also might merc should be mentioned as holy freeze one isnt crucial when it comes to safety, while some of us prefers much more offensive style (might aura gives extra ~20% dmg to you and doubles your merc dmg)

This post was edited by mysz15 on Sep 18 2013 01:24am