I simply ask for people’s opinion about what’s a proper self found first hardcore class.
I’m trying to combine good survival capacity with a fast enough clear speed so it is also able to farm for other characters. I have couple build in my mind but I’m not decided yet. The only character which I’ll like to rule out is the reflection warder, which even if it is probably the safest bet, involves a to dull gameplay (and a to slow farm speed for my taste).
So what’s everyone’s opinion?
A poison spam Witch Hunter seems pretty solid in my opinion. You have Blood of Dreeg for solid healing/OA/Resistances, DEE with modifier is a lot of damage, and there is very good devotion support for a poison build in devotions that has a lot of damage while still being tanky.
A vitality caster Conjurer is safest character to play.Almost All your attacks will heal you (Sigil, Wendigo Totem & Devouring Swarm) Not to mention a couple of good procs from devotion (Tip the Scales & Wendigo Mark)
But what about mobs / bosses resistances to poison / vitality?
When i encounter such mob or boss what then - walk away? Alternate attack?
How often will i encounter mobs or bosses with immunities / serious resistance to vitality or poiso ?
Will this resistance / immunity be much of a problem?
You can get huge Vitality -resists from Vulnerability and Devouring Swarm (pretty sure they stack)
There are no mobs immune to any Damage type anymore.
I already have a high level vitality conjurer on softcore and while I agree it is durable, in my opinion it lacks in single target damage against targets that he can not face tank. He will get back life from most of its attacks, but that works mostly against pack of mobs. Against high damage single target like Fabius or Shar’zul, he doesn’t have high enough defenses and also can’t get back enough life like a melee dps; as a result he must kite and this build will suffer a big loss in dps while kiting in my experience. It is also one of the more complex character to play properly due to the high number of abilities that he uses. Vulnerability and Devouring Swarm stack.
A safe choice will be a 1h/shield warder (bleeding): high hp, wendigo totem (synergy with high hp) and menhir’s will; cons: physical or bleeding characters will have to go for more offensive devotions and the char may be boring to play (though if Devouring Swarm and Grasping Vines are added this will be ok) - my personal minus is that I have a Wildblood set bleeding/vitality conjurer that feel more fun (higher damage and life from damage from CoF, but I’m not sure if the hp is enough). Another choice can be a PRM/Agrivix battlemage (Agrivix can be farmed on elite Fabius without issues); elemental based dps has the freedom of choosing more defensive devotions - I haven’t played yet this build.
The poison which hunter will have a bit to low hp for my taste (even considering the % damage absorption and physical resistance from occultist and I don’t think dodge is a proper stat for a hardcore character). I think this character will be prone to 1s deaths due to high burst damage situations.
Any other opinions?
You can trap/block Sharzul and many other big bosses with totems and lvl 1 pets, Fabius and Melee Bourbons are hardest for vit conjurer. Its still the best first class the beat the main game, complete smooth sailing
For a farming choice though its Saboteur with defensive devotions
Witchhunter can kill himself on a reflect shadowstrike
Saboteur probably, simply because your best weapon is free and you can use reputation shop stuff pretty effectively until then. You would need to reach ultimate with two chars though. It’s a very tanky build, while still being mobile and killing fast.
I agree that the Saboteur is the most effective; I was just trying to avoid it due to the similarity with the Blademaster, which is the class I played for around 200 hours on soft core.