Elemental Trappers ver. 1.6 - Part 2 - Phoenix-Hawk


Stat Placement:

Below are the general ranges you'd want to work around, stuff more or less into what you need based on how you play. Using a shield would mean you'd need more dexterity and perhaps some more strength than you otherwise would need. If you always play with others you won't be using Cloak of Shadows or Mind Blast as much or need to really toss in those Fire Blasts as much so your mana needs would be less. Although if you always to almost always play alone and use Fire Blast a lot the extra points in energy will really help reduce your need for +mana items so you can pile on the +skill items more easily. Finally as you're fighting from range and can make use of Cloak of Shadows and Mind Blast to great effect you don't need as much life as a melee build would.

of 505 points
Str 90-120
Dex 90-100 (150+ if you use a shield)
Vit 150-250
Eng 75-175



Gear:

Being a skill based character means gear helps but is not the necessity it is for melee builds. Here good choices would be those that increase your skills, your resistance and add some damage reduction, pretty much in that order of importance. Some will say you need caster gear for elemental trappers but Faster Casting Rate does not help you and you should be able to get enough mana from your stats and a bit here and there from other places so that your mana needs will be fulfilled then since you can buy mana potions now keeping a stock of those available is not a problem so caster items will not really help as much as other gear choices could. I won't rhyme off a list of specific items to get as what you want to do with this character and how you play can really change your equipment needs. Then don't just look at the unique items or just the high level uniques, while there are a number of good ones depending on your needs a lower level unique, set items, rune words, rares, crafted or even plain old magic ones from shops can be quite helpful.

Natalya's Odium (Nat's set) isn't a bad choice if you can get it due to the nice mix of +skills, resistance and damage reduction but there are better options. You could then fill the rest of your inventory slots with items that boost your skills and add a bit more resistance. You could also shop for some pretty helpful items like for claws a pair that give +2 to all skills, +3 to just the traps or one of each which will then hopefully add +1 to +3 for one to three other good skills will really help boost your skills or just trap damage and you can buy these with enough trips to shops in Nightmare and Hell with lower level ones being available in the later part of Normal. A +3 to Shadow Disciplines helmet can also be purchased at shops with enough tries later on. Then there's gambling for +skills amulets and other resistance items.


For other gear ideas try the Chains of Honour rune word for your armour or one of the better unique suits of armour that give +skills and resistance. The Harlequin Crest (unique shako) and some others are pretty good for a helmet. The Laying of Hands (gloves from The Disciple set) would help with the 50% fire resistance boost and 20% Increased Attack Speed to get more Fire Blasts out there. Rings and amulets that add to your skills and resistance would be good choices then for the rest of your gear resistance and +skills if possible would be helpful then a little faster movement rate and attack rate wouldn't hurt.



Your Merc:
With these builds, especially if you're skipping the shadow you need a merc than can hold their own also melee mercs make it easier to get critters to line up in one area so you can attack more at once. Good choices would be the defensive Act II merc from Normal (Defiance) and the Act V barb merc. Both can hold out pretty well when attacked and can do some decent damage but while the Act V merc will do more damage the Act II merc will help your shadow (if you have one) and anyone else you're playing with that fights melee last longer. The Act II defensive merc from Nightmare isn't too bad but isn't that great either since he takes more baby sitting and you need to level him a good ways before he's too useful. One of the best would be the Act II defensive merc from Normal with a Doom (rune word) polearm (preferably an ethereal one since they don't wear down their gear) as among other good properties it also has a level 12 Holy Freeze aura which will slow critters by 50%, this way you have a merc that can hold out pretty well, boosts the defences of any allies you may have with you and slows your foes right down. If you have a good high damage sword or better yet, the runes for the rune word Breath of the Dying and a good ethereal six socketed sword (you could also put it in a six socketed polearm and give it to the Act II merc) a barb merc would be able to throw out a lot of damage on his own plus due to his strength he can wear some real heavy armour and also gets decent defence bonuses, this way he can really let anything without high physical resistance to immunity have it. Doom and Breath of the Dying are both brutal rune words so a merc with either of these would be quite good but both are hard to make due to the high level runes needed.


Playing Tips:

• For the first while you can get into the mix with a claw and shield in hand pretty well which will let you level at a good rate. Then if you're boosting Fire Blast after a while that will be doing about as much damage as your claw but attacks over a small area so you can collect a small group of critters then blast away.
  
• Until you can get a pair of +skills claws you may as well stick with a claw and shield, you should be putting enough in your dexterity for the first while to keep your blocking at a decent level.
  
• Lightning Sentry has a long sight range so makes a good scout, drop one near the edge of the screen in the direction you're headed then see if it attacks and in which direction. Next move up a bit, throw up Cloak of Shadows, check to see what you're dealing with then attack accordingly. This method will let you move along quite well and will keep you out of reach of your prey.
  
• Range vs range can be a pain so keep Cloak of Shadows up to keep them from seeing and attacking you.
  
• When assigning skill points first fill in the main attack skills then the synergies as well as your one point into the different Shadow Discipline skills as they become available. If you'll be using Fire Blast or Wake of Fire you can get either of those to about skill level 15 by the time Lightning Sentry and Wake of Inferno are available then if you're using both put one in each then get Lightning Sentry up, follow that with mixed points into Death Sentry and Wake of Inferno with most going to Death Sentry for the corpse blow range and synergies for both Lightning Sentry and Wake of Inferno. Once Death Sentry is done finish off Wake of Inferno while putting some into the Lightning Sentry synergies then finish off Wake of Fire and the lighting synergies if you play her long enough. If you get a shadow put those points in as needed.

• 1.5: Upon further study of the Wake of Inferno trap the skill allocation info was changed so those using that skill would find it more useful. Some other info here and there such as the playing tip regarding the order you put your skill points in was chanced as well.
  
• 1.6: Added the mercenary section also updated the Blade Fury and Lower Rest notes a bit.