Hello GM duelers! I'm coming back soon if luck permits and I can get my hands on a cheap PC! I've been pretty bored with life till recently out of the blue I've been reinvigorated with the fire to play D2 again, and it's a relief I really needed it tbh...life has been empty. I had some questions in regards to the state of melee post D2R. Thanks a ton to anyone that takes time to respond to my pedantic questioning...my mind won't settle till I answer these questions 😆

1- I have a 40ias 411ed 200ar eth rep fanged knife. Will this perform well now considering off-wep ias works? Or should I be looking for something different or better? I read the GM melee thread and although it said all info needed is therein...I'm still left wondering...I saw the guidelines of what you need to compete or overcome runewords, but I'm wondering what the guidelines are for competing against the current GM duelers weapons where runewords won't be a factor. Obviously Eth rep fools 2os leg mallets are king but that isn't reasonably obtainable. The best I'll find will be LO'd eth rep fools or LO'd eth rep 400+ ed...and I mean the BEST I'll find. I'm trying to find out the range and type of weapons that will COMPETE. Does everyone target slower, higher damage weapons or would say a zod'd eth fools caddy or 400+ ed non fools still perform well?

2- Armor! Will 2k def 2os eth rep armors that AREN'T 2600+ DEF Sacred Armors compete or is 2500+ def kinda required to compete? Is a contemporary GM dueler build going to have a ton of str in the build regardless so targeting low strength armors won't produce anything beneficial? IF you had access to a 2k eth rep 2os Dusk or Diamond mail would it result in pumped vita? Are 2os viso's bis? Would a magic 800 def eth rep 2os pally shield be of use? Or a jewelers pala shield of deflecting? Same question for a monarch on a druid- j mod or godly eth rep 2os monarch? Are their shields that outperform Ss and HoZ?

3- Which is more ideal with equal %ed: Slow base high DMG eth fools weps with 40-15's in gear to reach max frames, or Fast eth fools weapons that meets the proper frames with flexibility on socketing/gear and which gems are required to OUT DPS 40-15s? Are 30 max DMG jewels better in this case? Or another?

4- CHARMS...are small charms with 30def desirable? If so, are there equivalent lc and gc? which classes benefit most from them? If you could chose +1200 defense or 800 life which is better? This is something I was working on before I had to quit...an inventory full of def charms 🤔

Thanks again to anyone that replies...time is valuable and I appreciate your spending of some to help 💯

Hf playing melee and getting destroyed 10/10 times. How u gonna compete with 1mio fg chars? Just play gm pvp instead of that boring click and hold

Check legit dueling subforum. lot of melee guys their.

This post was edited by paweljonk on Oct 23 2025 05:38am

1- yeah that's a gg weapons for druids/barbs
All those you listed still perform well
40ias erep 250-300ed fools 1-2sox with Lo
40ias erep 400+ed 1-2sox with Lo are the go to

Check the ias you need on Warren website

2- ofc 2k+ def armor matters
Though hades exists and go easily above 2.3k
So if you have a 2.2k rare it must beat hades with adds like Str/life or just a sexy color

Ss is always king
But in some situation rares, Jmod, or others might work but be sure to always have 50%dr and maxblock
Most barbs and pala would use forty sacred armor

3- you have to find a balance between slow base and ias bps, be sure to always meet your ias bp
If you can manage weapon + only highlord that's the best cause you can rock rare jewels helm and steelrend

4- yes for zeal and barb 30def might help
Just keep 1-10 in stash depending on matchups
Balance between life and def is always to wonder
If you feel like the opponents hits you easy just pump your def, it's okay to loose some life, at the opposite if he struggles to hit lower your def and pimp your life

This post was edited by Fonzy69 on Oct 28 2025 10:47am