Good thinking thanks.

Unanimous consent:
Griffon’s Eye W/ Guardian Thunder.
Enigma
Spirit
Razortail
Highlord’s Wrath
Damage Titan’s -15 Res, IAS
QoL: eTstrokes: Replenish, Quantity, FRW
These gloves: (3/20 for me)




What’s the ring and boot consensus?

OG D2 was Raven for CBF and 20 Dex ➡️ Horazon’s Legacy offer both CBF + 15 Dex plus 6 out of the 15 Str is needed for Monarch at cLvL 99. These boots also free up ring slot for Damage via Opalvein.
RE: Damage from War Travs: Doesn't that only apply to the initial thrown javelin? Where Opalvein would boost the lightning dmg from all the piercing bolts?

OG D2 Silkweaves for mana ➡️ 2x Opalvein’s address this and includes FCR and + Lightning Dmg.

Crucially, without Opalvein or Daddy's Credit Card, there is no MaeK

This post was edited by MeatballMike on Mar 28 2026 07:52pm

You don't need phoenix, mana is very sustainable with some leech in cows

*eth titans, not tstrokes. Tstrokes don’t replenish.

With spirit, 8-9 ML, might Merc, and upped eth titans you’ll leach considerable mana back. Silkweaves or MAEK on rings will do the rest. I do Silkweaves as I clear faster than I can get killed.

Strongly disagree on Holy Freeze.
You want cows to have some mobility.
You are strong enough to handle em without crowd control of this kind.

Agreed. It's better when they're clumped up... It's way worse to kill them when they're all slowed and not grouping together. Holy freeze just makes it harder for no reason when cows are already extremely slow.

there's a vendor in a1 called charsi and if you ask her nicely she'll let you replenish your tstrokes with the click of a button

Correct on Titans. Thanks.



I think he was pointing out my error. Not even Charsi can repair Eth Thunderstrokes. Unless you have a secret way to ask her nicely?


RE: Mana Problem
Consensus seems to be Spirit > Phoenix. Especially with MaeK from Opalvein.

Silkweave doesn’t offer much beyond 5 MaeK +10% Max Mana and would require a Ravenfrost for CBF

Horazon’s has 30 ~useful stats and CBF allows 2x Opalvein.

Opalvein damage would apply to the bolts, correct?

From A.B.
• Adds lightning damage to javelin and each lightning bolt released from point of impact. Javelin attack does not require a hit check and thus always hits, but it can be blocked. [1]







RE: Merc:

Thanks for input. He dies a lot with Holy Freeze. Could be my skill issue I don’t have enigma yet and only lvl 88.

Seems lots of love for Might. More damage > More Leech > Less die.

Any support for Defiance or Prayer? Something like:
Defiance
eVampGaze {Sol}
Upped eShaftstop {Sol}
E GT Infinity

Prayer
Upped Tal's Crest {15 IAS} for 14 > 13 FPA
Upped eSkin of Flayed One {Sol}
E GT Infinity

This post was edited by MeatballMike on Mar 29 2026 07:05am

There is a saying in my native language you could translate as "The best defense is offense".
Defiance will only give you defense towards phys.
Prayer's life regen is ridiculous compared to the dmg merc can take.
More life leech will make him survive more against all kinds of dmg, unlike Defiance.

TY

I have so much fun in Pub Cows. Laughing when people zoom in and steal drops, shenanigans, people underleveled, dying at red portal, getting mad etc. It feels like old 2000s D2 again.

This build strictly Cow running. So physical damage is where he dies (usually). And I'm wondering if it's universally agreed that Might >>> Anything else when only running Cows.

Im a big fan of t strokes but if you’re truly just running cows, no reason to use anything besides titans. You don’t need Tstrokes extra lightning penetration. Also people are going way overboard on mana after kill for cows. Silkweaves are enough for only running cows. You’ll want more if you’re running other zones though.