Good Ole Boys Guide To D2r Vtpk - Topic

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Jan 4 2025 09:39pm

D2R GM VTPK GUIDE

What’s good, big dawg? Name’s ItsTheJits—some of y’all might know me as CHARRRRRRGE in pubs. Figured I’d slap this together and share what I’ve picked up after wrasslin’ in VTPK for a year or so. This matchup’s got more builds than Carter’s got liver pills, so let’s get to it.

DISCLAIMER: The Phoenix Topic

Alright, let’s talk ‘bout Phoenix. Most of my VTPK time’s been without it, and this guide reflects that—not hatin’, just keepin’ it honest. Phoenix gets banned a lot ‘cause it hogties build variety, and variety’s what makes this matchup fun.

Pros:

- Hits hard. Like, knock-ya-clean-off-the-porch hard.

- Firestorm proc smacks pretty good, can lock folks down if they ain’t ready.

Cons:

- Stuck at 30 FCR, and goin’ higher means you gotta give up IAS or DR.

- Life pool’s thinner than a corn stalk in a drought—Shako setups hold up better.

- Max sorb’s 80/20. No TGods, which is top-tier sorb for VTPK.

- Struggles to hit 7-frame smite with HF+Arach without dumpin’ DR.

- Weak FoH, so regaining tempo’s rougher than herdin’ cats.

I’ve taken down plenty of Phoenix smiters runnin’ Stormshield, BKs, Arachnid, and Rends. Skill matters, but 50 or 75 FCR setups can hit Phoenix builds hard with FoH and smite their lights out.

TARGETS

Life: 4400+ (so you ain’t gettin’ folded like a cheap lawn chair in 5 smites).
IAS: 46 for HF, 68 for HF+Arach. Grief PB’s the way to go—Zerk’s slower than molasses in January.
DR: 49%+ (don’t dip under this or you’ll feel it).
Block: 75% (or one bad charge might send ya straight to Akara).
FCR: 30+ (lets you stomp FoHers).
- Breakpoints: 0, 9, 18, 30, 48, 75, 125.
Resistances: 85 max, 80 max/20 absorb, or 75 max/20 absorb.
- TGods > 80 max + Wisp > 85 max.

STATS

Strength: Just enough to strap on your gear.
Dexterity: Enough to hit max block.
Vitality: Dump the rest here and call it a day.
Energy: Not round here partner

GEAR

You have a lot of options in the gear you choose, so long as you maintain your targets, the world is your oyster.

Head: CoA, Shako, Griffon’s, 2 Pally 20 FCR 2os Circlets.
Body: Enigma or Fortitude (tele charges help if goin’ Fort).
Belt: TGods, Verdungo’s, Arach, 10% Open Wounds.
Rings: 10 FCR + stats + life, BK, Raven Frost, Wisp.
Ammy: +2 Pally skills with FCR + stats + life, Highlords.
Boots: Gores, Waterwalks, Marrowalks.
Gloves: 20 IAS CB Gloves, Steel Rends, Trang’s.
Weapon: Grief PB (38 IAS min).
Shield: Stormshield, Spirit ST, Alma Negra, HoZ, JSTOD/JSTOC, or Rare +2 Pally 30/20 2os Shields.
Inventory: 20-20 Torch, 20-20 Anni, 9x 40+ Life Pcombs, mix of 20-11 (light res)/20-36 AR/3-x-20s.

EXAMPLE BUILDS

Classic HoZ Build (VT): Shako ‘Ber’, Enigma, Verdungo’s, CB Gloves, Gores, 2 Pally 20 FCR Ammy, 10 FCR + Dex + Life Ring, Wisp, HoZ ‘Ber’, Grief PB.

Fortitude Build (VC): Shako ‘40-15’, Fortitude, Verdungo’s, Wisp, Stat Ring, 2 Pally + Stats + Life Ammy, Steel Rends, Marrowalk/Gores, Stormshield ‘40-15’, Grief PB.

75 FCR Build (VT/TV): Griffon’s ‘Ber’, Enigma, Arach, CB Gloves, Gores, 2 Pally 20 FCR Ammy, 10 FCR + Dex + Life Ring, Wisp, Stormshield ‘40-15’, Grief PB.

Damage CoA Build: CoA ‘BerBer’, Enigma, Verdungo’s, Steel Rends, Gores/Waterwalks/Marrowalks, 10 FCR + Stats Ring, Grief PB, JSTOD/JSTOC.

Spirit ST Build: CoA ‘BerBer’, Enigma, Verdungo’s, CB Gloves, Spirit ST, Grief PB, Wisp/BK.

STRATEGY

If any of these tricks I talk about got some fancy name, well, my bad—I just call 'em how I see 'em.

Topic: Charge

This here skill's got some bugs, but once you figure 'em out, you can wrangle it just fine.

Charge Whiplash:

Bottom Line: Don’t charge up—always charge south.

If you charge up and somebody stomps you, on your screen you’re still movin’ up, but on their screen, you ain’t. After ‘bout a second, the game fixes itself, and you get yanked back to where they saw ya—and chances are, they’re smackin’ you all the way back to Akara.

Going For A Ride:

If you namelock charge someone and they teleport off, the game can get all kinds of screwy. Just like that charge whiplash, what you’re seein’ and what’s happenin’ ain’t lined up. On your screen, you can move around and do stuff, but on their screen, you’re stuck chargin’ straight at ‘em. So every second, the game’s draggin’ you to wherever they’re telein’. You got two ways to handle it:

Spam Teleport Away: Start slammin’ teleport the opposite way they’re goin’. You’ll keep gettin’ yanked ‘til you hit somethin’ solid, like a tree or puddle, or until you’re close enough to swing. Soon as that happens, if you’re mashin’ teleport, you’ll pop right out after the animation finishes.

Roll the Dice: Sometimes namelock charge glitches out and lets you smack ‘em without them hittin’ you back. If you wait ‘til the yankin’ stops, you might sneak in a couple smites.

TECHNIQUES:

Tempo:

Simple as this—whoever’s got more life has the upper hand. If you lose tempo, use FoH or charge to get it back.

- Health Priority: If you’re even on health, whoever’s got Holy Freeze (HF) goin’ has tempo.

- Holy Freeze Priority: Keep HF on them and off yourself. It ticks every 2 seconds whether it’s active or not. Learn the timing, and you can sneak it in and catch ‘em off guard.

- If they’re glowin’ blue like a Smurf and you ain’t, go in.
- Other way around? Back off.
- Both blue? Check tempo—if you got it, keep pushin’. If not, back up and reset.

Feet Charging:

Feet charging’s just short little bursts. At the end of a charge, it checks all around you for somethin’ hostile and swings at the closest one.

- Movin’ Patterns: Semi-circles south or left-right-down seem to work best.

- What It’s Good For:
- Stops stomps by knockin’ ‘em back.
- Can sneak in a free charge hit.
- Lets you slide in for a smite and then charge back out.
- Cuts off angles and sets up shots to force ‘em to upcharge, givin’ you a free stomp and smite (and maybe messin’ up their charge with whiplash).

- Animation Canceling: Quick feet charges can cancel the swing animation, so the damage lands but you don’t get locked in.

Charge Knockback into Smite:

Anytime you knock ‘em back with charge, it combos straight into a smite. You can also set up a namelock (NL) and stomp ‘em if they try to back out.

Gettin’ Outta a Smite Battle:

Sometimes you’ll end up toe-to-toe, swingin’ like two bulls in a pen. If it’s goin’ south for you, here’s what to do:

- Holy Freeze and South Charge: Turn on HF and south charge—don’t try to walk out. Charge keeps you from gettin’ interrupted, but walkin’ out’ll get you knocked back for sure.

- Use Knockback to Reset: If you get knocked back, use it. Soon as it happens, charge the way you got knocked to reset.

FoH Combo:

Not always a big deal in VTPK since folks are usually chargin’, but sometimes they’ll hold namelock smite and walk at ya.

- If you see the swirl, hit ‘em with an FoH stomp as payback.
- Works great at 75 FCR, decent at 48, and don’t even bother at 30—too slow.

FINAL NOTES:
Gettin’ good with charge and tempo’s the name of the game. Keep workin’ these tricks, and you’ll be sendin’ folks packin’ back to Akara in no time.

Heap of thanks to

sound1

for fancin' up this guide, you ain't gonna find a better one.