Circle of Life Passive + Sacrifice/Pride is also a good combo for mana. As u constantly kill white mobs u get free zdog from CoL passive then when u OOM against Elite pack just use Sacrifice ... massive damage + get back mana. The synergy between the 2 skills makes it an option to use especially for paragon levelling on mp0 games. I'm currently doing paragon levelling using that particular build utilising Skorn + Acid Rain (Bleed from Skorn + DoT attack of AR = 1 click then move on .. pet will kill leftovers... i only turn back if i hear that "ting" sound haha), it melts mobs fast then SW/Jaunt + Horrify/Stalker to next pack. Damn fast i tell u man lolz. Acid Rain + High LoH gears = free health (dont even need to aim precisely as AR has large AoE).

This post has been edited by Gecko: Nov 23 2012, 03:43 PM

U should try it out Henry ... get a cheap skorn with OS + Bleed chance. It kills faster then using Bears on lower mp, also u dont need to get close to use Acid Rain (in the case of tough elites). My playstyle is = SW/Jaunt + Horrify/Stalker for max MS into a pack .. as they run away from Horrify i just use 1 click of Acid Rain (targetting myself) AR large AoE ensure most of the mobs get hit.. when they come back to u they are either dead or get killed by my pets. Against elites i spam few Acid Rain from a distance (timing the attack few seconds apart to ensure continuous DoT), as Elites get close i can SW away and use Sacrifice to blast them dead lolz .. if the boss of the pack still alive u can use Horrify to chase it away then finish it off with RoT. Having Grave Injustice passive will enable u to chain this combo as long as u keep killing mobs .. CD decrease on SW & Horrify from all the killing. In conclusion u move fast, u kill mobs fast, u get zdog to be used as suicide bombers & mana backup in case of emergency. Sweeeeet~!!!

p/s: works very well on low mp games for fast paragon levelling (even against RD u will hv no problem since u r not using bears ... RoT n Acid Rain returns back heath if u have sufficient LoH). Increased mob health on higher mp favors using bears for max damage possible.

If u check out my current WD profile .. that is the skill setup i'm using for fast paragon levelling. In terms of gearing, My gear setup leans heavily towards LoH bcos imho LoH = survivability for WD. Other useful thing to have on gear for this particular build is some pickup radius (since not using ToTD .. i have +12 from lacuni n gloves and its enough to get the Grave Injustice bonus) & a good amount of CC to get full effect of high CD from Skorn (my CC not so good .. still trying to craft an intel hellfire with CC roll so for now i get 6% xtra CC from my rare helm). Currently im trying to farm for a signet ring for max xp bonus.. so when i get 1, i will replace my zuni pox with signet (hopefully alrdy hv hellfire with cc by then) and use zuni helm so i get 3 item set bonus (the 20 mana regen only shines at higher mp games when u need a high mana regen rate). Ouroboros ammy is perfect as it gives LoH and CC (u dont need CD as Skorn with socket alrdy provides dat)

This post has been edited by Gecko: Nov 23 2012, 04:11 PM

U're most welcome
The trick to use zdog bomber on elite is: if elite pack got white mobs arnd, kill the white mobs 1st using acid rain so dat your zdog will hug/engage elite.. then only u use sacrifice. If no white mob arnd, u spam few Acid Rain from a distance on elite pack 1st and let them come to u.. ur zdog will definately take aggro .. KABOOM lolz. Even if the zdog bomber miss the elite pack u still get mana so SW+horrify to next white mobs to get new zdog and come back to those elite pack when u hv fresh zdog bomber. It takes a bit of getting used to bcos of different playstyle from using bears but its fairly easy n doesnt hv a steep learning curve.

MP 0-1 gives the best xp/per hour depending on your damage output & killing speed based on some runs i hv done. At mp3 it takes longer for the mobs to die (Acid Rain being a DoT attack). I usually do item/key runs on mp3 using a socketed Sun Keeper with GF/GI build using bears as main damage dealer. Comparing the 2, Skorn + Acid Rain vs Sun Keeper + Bears (although at same total dps 90-93k dps) i find using bears is faster. Increased MF from Sun Keeper & mp3 is why i prefer the latter for mp3.

This post has been edited by Gecko: Nov 23 2012, 04:39 PM

I myself use Bears on mp3 and higher (depending on what runs im doing, i switch weapon accordingly). From my own experience to get Bears running in one straight line u have to target the cursor slightly behind the furthest mob in the pack (i usually SW into 1/3 of the pack bcos bears start from behind u some mobs beihind u will get hit as well). However if i run into middle of pack (usually the scorpions in arreat) i target on myself so the bears will run into 3 different directions so it will hit all mobs surrounding me. Another useful tip regarding bears is to lure packs/elites to stairs. if u use bears on top of stairs they will run in straight line and i find they are faster too (maybe bcos running down the stairs haha). In closed space like Keep.. stand against a wall will help make bear run straight line.
Acid Rain will outshine Bears at mp0-1 but higher than that Bears is better imho.
24 MS + SW + Stalker = bye2 sprint barbs .. lolz

Work slowly towards getting a Zuni Set (set bonus of intel will give u damage & all resist will give u survivability) Start with Zuni Boots (look for intel & vita) +%poison dmg will add some dps also.

U're welcome .. just to mention regarding Acid Rain .. to conserve mana, only 1 click/attack should be enough for white mobs (they wont die instantly but Dot + Bleed will kill them off). Ive read in some forum spamming 2 attack will stack but i am not sure whether its the DoT from Acid Rain or Bleed from Skorn that stacks. Might have to do more detailed testing myself. Personally i just attack once and finish any leftovers off with RoT especially for tougher mobs like Phasebeasts @ Tremors. "Herding" them into 1 tight big pack while in SW also helps to maximise usage of Acid Rain.

U're welcome.. if u r using Skorn i think DoT from acid rain + bleed from skorn is more than enough for mp1 ... never tested using my other weapons yet.

This post has been edited by Gecko: Nov 23 2012, 05:06 PM

Did some budget spending on AH yesterday to further tweak my Skorn/Acid Rain build for speed paragon leveling. As my crit chance is still low (28% CC) i feel that i dont benefit from the high increase of Critical Hit Damage Skorn provides. Crafted 6 Hellfire ring ystrday but still not 1 with CC . Initially i was looking at getting Zuni Pox with crit chance but the current price of Pox with CC doesnt justify spending over 50m gold for just a slight increase in dps. So i look at another alternative, which is to increase the crit chance of Acid Rain instead. After several hours of going through AH pages i came up with 2 items that i bid (no buyout) and today as auction time ends i made last minute snipes of both items.



Total Spending = 5.5M
Total CC increase (for Acid Rain) = 11%
Extra dmg against Elites = 27%

SoJ replaced my Pox (lost AR bonus from 3 zuni set but AR from Giyua made up for it, gained a small +%elmnt dmg increase & huge dmg increase against elites, xtra mana replaced the one lost from rare helm.. most importantly gained 5% CC for Acid Rain)
Giyua replaced the rare helm i used previously (gained mana regen & 6% CC for Acid Rain .. lost some intel & vita which i will get back from other gear upgrades later)

With the boost of Acid Rain CC i was able to do speed paragon lvl runs on mp1 with about the same time as on mp0. After several runs, i noticed that Acid Rain crits more often and with higher dmg (around 130k-220k).. max crit i seen was 380k on an elite pack (xtra 27% dmg from SoJ). Some screenshots i made:

Before:



After:



I did a "modified" alkaizer run starting with Core (run backwards to wp) > Tower of The Damned Lvl 1 (did 1 full circle) to get 5 NV quick > Korssik (one circle of FoS) > Keep 3 > Keep 2 (from Keep 3 if i dont find entrance to The Breach i tp back and wp to keep 1 and enter keep 2) > ends in Stonefort to look for Warden (altho its mp1 i did drop 2 keys from 10 runs)

Total time for each run = approximately 15 mins (with no deaths & no frequent encounters with xtra health @ shielding elites). I skipped doing Arreat Crater 1/2 for the reasons of avoiding wasting time on taking wrong turns @ lengthy encounter with tough elite mobs types (phasebeast & those fat bugger dat keep casting shields)
Total XP per run = approx 9 million
Total Gold per run = approx 100k

Roughly 35M XP & 400k Gold per hour and i'm quite happy with the result. Hopefully i am able to gain 1-2 PLvl per day.

This post has been edited by Gecko: Nov 25 2012, 01:54 PM

Add me in-game Hulkie#6526 and i'll invite u whenever me n my frens are going to do ubers. I can switch and use my DH if u r in the party

I've only used BBV/Slam Dance on ubers and i find it not so useful for several reasons; long CD and BBV being a stick totem needs u to be in BBV AoE to gain from it (fast moving mobs will be a problem). However i do think 5% hp per sec would be enuff if u alrdy hv a high regen rate. From my own experience facing RD packs on higher mp, there are only few ways to counter it:
1- have high Armor & high Physical Resist + good life regen
2- high LoH and use DoT attacks such as RoT @ Acid Rain
3- 3% max Life Steal from 1h + mojo setup wont cut it if u r using Bears as damage dealers. Going 2h with 5.5% LS n above should enable u to spam Bears on RD packs.
Currently i deal with RD packs by using Bears only when SW is up and alternating between Bears & Acid Rain (to gain back health lost) when SW is on CD. I'm working on raising my Armor & Physical Resist and getting myself a LS Skorn to handle RD packs better on high mp.

Since u are using Ghost Bombs as main attack, i would suggest to get more ias. Most obvious gear upgrades paths for u would be:
1- rare gloves with ias + cd + cc
2- witching hour belt that will give u ias + cd
3- jewelry: rare @ if legendary blackthorne ammy, oculus ring, skull grasp ring.
Just out of curiosity, with your current gear and skill setup/build how do u deal with Reflect Damage packs?

Anyone got Mara with Critical Hit Chance + Increases Critical Hit Chance of Acid Cloud by 5-7% ? Too lazy to scroll pages in AH.

Currently upgrading my Zuni set to suit my 2-h build (ditching ToTD & getting pickup radius on other gears). If there's any WD out there just hit 60 (or anybody starting a new WD) interested in getting a complete Zuni set + accompanying gears & weapons.. i am selling mine at a reasonable price.

Package includes:
- Complete zuni set (all 5 items)
- Mojos: ToTD & Ukhapian Serpent
- Blackthorne Pant & Belt, Strongarm bracers, Rare gloves (intel/vita/cd/cc), Vile Ward shoulders
- Jewelry: Tal ammy + rare rings
- Weapons: Manajuma- carving knife, Echoing Fury, Sun Keeper (mf wpn), Last Breath, Gidbinn & a rare open socket ceremonial knife .. might throw in intel Skorn (if i can get a replacement 1st)
- Bonus item: SoJ with +crit chance% of Acid Rain.

Please let me know if there's any interested party for the package & i will put up a screenshot of the items

---

Added on November 26, 2012, 8:00 pmI personally prefer Hex as CD is low (same duration as my other skills .. SW, SH so can use as combo), its a disabling spell + 20% more dmg if u use Jinx rune, Hex shaman is not static n will follow u arnd.
On Ubers hex work only on Zoltan Kulle and its really helpful as u can almost perma-hex ZK so he wont cast all those nasty spells so often. Hex works great on warden as well.

This post has been edited by Gecko: Nov 26 2012, 08:00 PM

They do crit but its not displayed ... i checked on ZK health b4 he was hexed and after he was hexed + spammed few Bears ... big drop in ZK's health ... same thing with RoT's crits are still displayed in white not yellow.

This post has been edited by Gecko: Nov 26 2012, 09:32 PM

i share the pain bro did 4 x 2-person (6 IMs each) ubers @ mp7 and crafted 3 HF rings ... all crap. To date hv crafted almost 50 HF rings, none had crit chance (with the exception of str hf ring for my barb, a toon i seldom play) ... grrrrrr

Both Vision & Pox dont have CC .. lolz (trying to get those with CC once hv sufficient budget )
The tal ammy only have high CD so i think ur current rare ammy with CC is better.
Weapon wise, if u still want LS on it only one of my Echoing Fury fits ur criteria 1093 dps, 154 intel, 184 vita, 2.8% LS (no CD @ OS so not sure it will increase ur dps or not) another weapon that i'm sure will increase ur dps is a rare sword i just found but dont hv LS: 932 dps, 1.4 aps, "black" wpn, 136 intel, 81% CD & OS).
Will try find some time to upload the pics to my photobucket account (my stash and all mules are almost full.. too lazy to sort things out)
ToTD: 2 vry low avg dmg (prolly give these away FOC), 1 with average avg dmg & the one i am using on my 1h + mojo setup would be the best (but dunno yet want to let go or not .. hv to wait till i can get at least +20 pickup radius on other gears)

Added the pics of the 2 weapons i mentioned above:

LS EF


Rare Sword


This post has been edited by Gecko: Nov 27 2012, 10:39 AM

The Vile Ward i still hv to wait for a bid on replacement Ward ends (will update soon with pic)

Gloves got a few .. dunno if it'll be an upgrade to ur current glove or not.

Me too lazy to even organise my stash .. haha. I login and level my paragon @ farm keys only .. when no more place to put item only i hv to force myself to transfer items.
Anyways i know its hard to balance between DPS & EHP on gloves. My current gloves hv mediocre intel/vita/AR but i keep using it bcos i need the pickup radius when i dont use ToTD. Usually most ppl get the most dps out of gloves and get vita/AR on other gears. So high intel (200 n above) + ias (not so sure useful for WD) + CD (50% n above) + CC (9-10%) should be a BiS gloves.

Btw i see from ur gear u r using Manajuma Carving Knife... imho to get most dps increase from the +%elemtal dmg of Zuni Boots & Tal Ammy u shud use a "black" wpn. For Manajuma the 10% increase in dmg will only be applied to the base dmg but not the Poison Damage.

This post has been edited by Gecko: Nov 27 2012, 11:30 AM

I could do mp7 but its painstakingly slow especially when faced with xtra health/sheilding RD packs. Until i get my hands on a LS Skorn i'll just keep farming items on mp3-4 with 400+% MF.

Nice choice on low lvl farming mana regen from full zuni set not that important ... more dmg = faster farming ... mana can easily be managed from skills e.g CoL + Sac/Pride combo.

Go get Giyua with 6% CC + 5-7% CC to AR lor Henry ... see many yellow numbers on mobs lolz. Use only 2 Zuni set enuff wor .. Giyua give AR so no need AR from 3 set bonus.

This post has been edited by Gecko: Nov 27 2012, 01:51 PM

"Situational" gears are much cheaper and handy to have so dat u can can swap to get best setup performing certain tasks i.e speed farming, ubers etc.
Weapon is more of a long term investment so its advisable to save up and buy a good weapon that will last u a long time.
Keep checking AH everyday, i'm sure a cheap Giyua will pop up (i was lucky to get mine at a bargain)
SoJ with reduced Bears will be costly from what ive browsed in AH ... so many WD using Bears. If im not mistaken u can get reduced Bears roll on Mara ammy & Giyua too so u might want to look into that.

Upgrading ur ammy would be cheaper than upgrading wpn unless ur looking for a trifecta ammy. Here is something to consider: WD doesnt benefit much from CC (the roll which can make any items very expensive) unless you already stack up a high CD (obviously from a wpn with high base roll CD + open socket).. we dont have any skill that proc from crits like Barbs, DH, Wiz do. What WD do hv is skills for survivability and attacks that procs %to & LoH. While Wiz chain combo from crits, WD can chain combo from reduced CD of GI and very high intel boost from GF & SH. To get the most dps boost at a cheaper price, look for high avg dmg instead.. some LoH would add survivability and ofc high intel roll (try find a good Ouroboros ammy ..stats like the one StratOS is using ... mine is kinda low cos i am a cheapskate .. haha). It should be cheaper than a rare ammy with similar stats.
Yeah the sword is not bad since its a "black" wpn .. i only wish it had a LoH roll. Alrdy hv few ppl interested in it.

This post has been edited by Gecko: Nov 27 2012, 03:50 PM

But switching from Jousting Mail to Inna Temperance will not just boost your dps (from ias + 1% CC). it also enable another boot/bracers combo and still maintain 24 MS.
I alrdy hv in my stash an Inna Temperance with intel roll + a rare bracers that give 5.5% CC + Intel/Vit/AR which will definately take my dps to another level. Just that i need to make up for the loss of vita from Jousting Mail.. so upgrading my Marrow (more vita + life% + pickup radius), Trail (more vita + pickup radius) & my Vile Ward (vita + pickup radius). Its something i hv to do anyways since i'm planning to go 2-h with a LS Skorn so need the pickup radius from other gears instead of ToTD.
LoH wise i think i can afford to lose arnd +400 and still leech life back quite fast using Acid Rain (larger AoE = more target leeched from). Btw LoH works best with AR @ RoT ... Bears benefits more from LS. Hence my new setup of 5-6 LS from Skorn (to handle RD) and +600 LoH for fast life recovery using Acid Rain.

p/s: if u want vita on Inna pants try look for Legacy Inna Pants ... ive seen a Wiz fren using a Legacy Inna Pants with 2xx vita ... but the MS is only 7%.

This post has been edited by Gecko: Nov 27 2012, 05:40 PM