OverviewTraps20 Lightning Sentry
20 Death Sentry
20 Shock Web
20 Charged Bolt Sentry
1 (optional) Wake of Fire
Rest in Fire Blast
Shadow Discipline (pre-reqs: 5 skills)
1 Mindblast
1 Shadow Warrior
1 (optional) Shadow Master
1 Fade
StatsStrength - Enough for gear
Dexterity - Base (Might need a little if you use claws or a bit more with SS)
Vitality - Rest of points
Energy - Base
Explanation of SkillsLightning Sentry - Bread and butter of your skills, reaching 11k-15k damage when complete (Depending on equipment).
Death Sentry - Lay one of these with your LS and you get corpse explosion (Explodes a corpse for 60-100% of the monsters life and 50% fire and 50% physical damage).
Shock Web - Use this on left click when PvM to kill even faster, only damages once per second (Around 4k-6k damage)
Charged Bolt Sentry - Synergy.
Fire Blast - Switch between this and shockweb when attacking since shockweb is a timer skill and lasts for 3.6 seconds, does 5k+ fire damage (rapes souls when baaling).
Mind Blast - PvP skill, use on left click and attack people and it keeps them locked in place and they can't do anything.
Burst of Speed - Speed up movement in town or against non-casters in duels, not recommended while baaling.
Fade - Major help in any situation, when cast you get a a lot of resist all and it reduces curse (and shrine) duration. To top it off it gives a hidden bonus to Damage Reduction % (1% per level of fade).
Shadow Warrior - Summon that uses the same weapon/armor/helm type as you (spawns random mods on items depending on level), and only uses the same skills that you have activated. DO NOT use Shadow Master, which although has resists, uses any skills it wants which doesnt help at all in duels.
EquipmentWeapon/Shield - Non-max Block (Damage focused)Helm - Shako (um/ber) or CoA (ber,ber).
Armor - Enigma, go for a dusk shroud or mage plate.
Weapon/Shield Choice 1 - Hoto/Spirit monarch
Weapon/Shield Switch - CTA/Spirit
Belt - Arachnids
Gloves - Trang Gloves, personally I like the cold res from trangs.
Boots - Treks (Marrowwalk if you need strength for CoA).
Charms - Anni/Torch/8-9 Trap GCs/Various Resist SCs
Rings - Soj or BK and Ravenfrost
Ammy - Rare/crafted +2 Sin skill/FCR/Resists amulet or Maras
Merc GearWeapon - Infinity
Armor - Fort, CoH, or GA
Helm - Andy, Vamp Gaze, or Tals Helm
This build goes more for damage; it's also the build most frequently seen. Personally I don't find it too attractive...
Weapon/Shield - Non-max Block (Tanking focused)Helm - Shako (ber)
Armor - Enigma
Weapon/Shield Choice 1 - Silence/Spirit monarch
Weapon/Shield Switch - CTA/Spirit
Belt - Tgods
Gloves - Trang Gloves
Boots - Hotspurs
Charms - Anni/Torch/8-9 Trap GCs/Various Resist SCs
Rings - Soj or BK and Ravenfrost
Ammy - Rare/crafted +2 Sin skill/FCR/Resists amulet
Takes a lot to die when using this build (baaling-wise). Silence gives 70 resists, +2 skills, 20% IAS, and 20% FHR (an alternative would be a Runemaster with +15% all resists/+15% IAS jewels and since Runemaster gives the Cannot Be Frozen mod, you can switch out the Raven). Tgods boost max lightning resists and absorbs 20 lightning damage (plus it adds 20 vitality and strength) and hotpsurs increase max fire resist while adding 45% fire resistance. You'll get 75% FCR with the weapon, shield, and gloves and you should aim for about 15+ FCR from the ammy. With TMC you'll have no FCR troubles.
Weapon/Shield - Max Block (Damage focused)Helm - Shako or Sin circlet (+skills, FCR, IAS, etc.)
Armor - Enigma
Weapon/Shield Choice 1 - Hoto/Stormshield
Weapon/Shield Switch - CTA/Spirit
Belt - Arachnids/Tgods
Gloves - Trang Gloves
Boots - Treks/Hotspurs
Charms - Anni/Torch/8-9 Trap GCs/Various Resist SCs
Rings - Soj or BK and Ravenfrost
Ammy - Rare/crafted +2 Sin skill/FCR/Resists amulet or Maras
Obviously you'll need a bit more dexterity with this build to hit 75% block with SS. You have a lot of room to socket your SS and Shako: That is, Bers for more DR that will help when cursed (you'll have 43-53 DR base and even more if you use fade), a Cham for the Cannot be Frozen mod (don't need Raven anymore), Um for more resists, Lo for max light resists, 15 res/15 IAS jewels, etc. Personally, I've used both of the preceeding builds and haven't found max block necessary.
Claw/ClawHelm - Shako
Armor - Enigma
Weapon/Shield Choice 1 - 2 Sin or 3 Traps/3 Lightning Sentry Claws (try for GT's or other high IAS claws with 2 sockets)
Weapon/Shield Switch - CTA/Spirit
Belt - Arachnids/Tgods
Gloves - Trang Gloves
Boots - Treks/Hotspurs
Charms - Anni/Torch/8-9 Trap GCs/Various Resist SCs
Rings - Soj or BK and Ravenfrost
Ammy - Rare/crafted +2 Sin skill/FCR/Resists amulet or Maras
With two claws, you'll get around 50-60 max block. Also, the claws end up giving around +10-12 Lightning Sentry greatly increasing damage. Read elsewhere to learn about the differences between the trap laying hand and the off hand.
Personal InputFor baaling, think survivability not damage. Tgods really help against Souls and Hotspurs make fire damage unnoticable. The Cannot be Frozen mod is really essential when laying traps so make sure you have it. Also, circlets seem to be more damage focused; thus, I tend to use Shako instead of them. I've 99'd with the second build, but any of the last three builds will keep you alive when baaling.
Tables
Faster Cast Rate BreakpointsFrame Per Cast: FCR needed
16 Frames: 0%
15 Frames: 8%
14 Frames: 16%
13 Frames: 24%
12 Frames: 42%
11 Frames: 65%
10 Frames: 102%
9 Frames: 174%
Faster Hit Recovery BreakpointsFrames for Hit Recovery: FHR needed
9 Frames: 0%
8 Frames: 7%
7 Frames: 15%
6 Frames: 27%
5 Frames: 48%
4 Frames: 86%
3 Frames: 200%
Trap Laying SpeedsYou can find the info here:
http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=229326Baaling Strategy- Cast Burst of Speed in Town
- Go to WP
- Switch to CTA/Spirit
- Cast BC, Shadow Warrior (or Master if playing HC), Fade, BO
- Switch back and tele
- At throne, lay 4 LS and 1 DS, use Fire Blast on Souls
* Note - Shock Web on left click