The struggle is real!

Having trouble transitioning to Hell. I am a 71

Whirlwind barb. I am not sure what to upgrade or what to do help me get into Hell. Enemies die slowly, my merc dies fast, then I run of potions eventually and die as well. It's so bad, I haven't even found the

Cold Plains way point yet. I can't even do

Den of Evil. My resists are all 35% or higher.

Any help or suggestions will be greatly is appreciated.

I am going to bed now, but will answer anything that comes when I get on later.

P.S. is there a way to link my character some how?

Heartgrave wrote: 2 years ago

Having trouble transitioning to Hell. I am a 71

Whirlwind barb. I am not sure what to upgrade or what to do help me get into Hell. Enemies die slowly, my merc dies fast, then I run of potions eventually and die as well. It's so bad, I haven't even found the

Cold Plains way point yet. I can't even do

Den of Evil. My resists are all 35% or higher.

Any help or suggestions will be greatly is appreciated.

Please list your exact gear slot by slot and i will help you figure out what to change/upgrade/farm for

Barbarian Tips:
-Try to stack damage reduction.

Vampire Gaze

Helm,

Stormshield,

Shaftstop armor,

String of Ears belt. You will need a lot for Hell. Even the tiny

Fallen imps hit like trucks. lol
-WW is much weaker than

Frenzy. So its going to be a tougher time overall and esp in Hell.
-Be sure to get

Leap to a decent level.

Leap will be a life saver in Hell. At a high level it can knock back nearly every monster on the screen
-Also get into the habit of using

Battle Cry on all enemies and use

Howl when you're in a pinch
-Farm NM

Mephisto/

Baal for a chance at some good unique weapons/armor
-WARNING:

Whirlwind does NOT benefit from increased attack speed from gear. ONLY From your weapon.

Armor Options:
37 - Smoke (

Nef +

Lum) (2 socket Body Armor) 50 ALL RES
43 - Treachery (

Shael +

Thul +

Lem) (3 socket Body Armor) 45ias, 5% ctc

Fade, 5% ctc Venom
47 - Duress (

Shael +

Um +

Thul) (3 Socket Body Armor) 40% FHR, 133 cold dmg, 15% CB, 33% OW, 45 Cold & 15 Fire/Lite/psn res
51 - Delirium (

Lem +

Ist +

Io) (3 Socket Helms) 6% ctc Mindblast, 14% ctc

Terror, 11% ctc

Confuse, +2 skills, lvl 17

Attract charges.

Weapon Options:
41 - Obedience (

Hel +

Ko +

Thul +

Eth +

Fal)(5 socket Polearms) 370% ED, ctc lvl 21

Enchant, 40 CB, 40 FHR, 30 all res
43 - Voice of Reason (

Lem +

Ko +

El +

Eld) (4 socket Swords/Maces) F-Orb/

Ice Blast on strike, -cold res, 220 cold dmg, Cannot be frozen
47 - Crescent Moon (

Shael +

Um +

Tir) (3 socket Axes/Swords/Polearms) Lightning/Static on hit, ignore def, 11Msorb, Lvl 18 S-wolf charges
49 - Oath (

Shael +

Pul +

Mal +

Lum) (4 socket Swords/Axes/Maces) 340% ED, Indest, 50ias, ctc lvl 20

Bone Spirit, HoW +

Iron Golem charges

with all the WW barbs or any physical damage melee characters i have made. Life / mana leech is your best friend, high damage weapons and high defense armors. Plus doing come cold damage to freeze/chill them also helps

BillyMaysed wrote: 2 years ago

Heartgrave wrote: 2 years ago

Having trouble transitioning to Hell. I am a 71

Whirlwind barb. I am not sure what to upgrade or what to do help me get into Hell. Enemies die slowly, my merc dies fast, then I run of potions eventually and die as well. It's so bad, I haven't even found the

Cold Plains way point yet. I can't even do

Den of Evil. My resists are all 35% or higher.

Any help or suggestions will be greatly is appreciated.

Please list your exact gear slot by slot and i will help you figure out what to change/upgrade/farm for

Barbarian Tips:
-Try to stack damage reduction.

Vampire Gaze

Helm,

Stormshield,

Shaftstop armor,

String of Ears belt. You will need a lot for Hell. Even the tiny

Fallen imps hit like trucks. lol
-WW is much weaker than

Frenzy. So its going to be a tougher time overall and esp in Hell.
-Be sure to get

Leap to a decent level.

Leap will be a life saver in Hell. At a high level it can knock back nearly every monster on the screen
-Also get into the habit of using

Battle Cry on all enemies and use

Howl when you're in a pinch
-Farm NM

Mephisto/

Baal for a chance at some good unique weapons/armor

Armor Options:
37 - Smoke (

Nef +

Lum) (2 socket Body Armor) 50 ALL RES
43 - Treachery (

Shael +

Thul +

Lem) (3 socket Body Armor) 45ias, 5% ctc

Fade, 5% ctc Venom
47 - Duress (

Shael +

Um +

Thul) (3 Socket Body Armor) 40% FHR, 133 cold dmg, 15% CB, 33% OW, 45 Cold & 15 Fire/Lite/psn res
51 - Delirium (

Lem +

Ist +

Io) (3 Socket Helms) 6% ctc Mindblast, 14% ctc

Terror, 11% ctc

Confuse, +2 skills, lvl 17

Attract charges.

Weapon Options:
41 - Obedience (

Hel +

Ko +

Thul +

Eth +

Fal)(5 socket Polearms) 370% ED, ctc lvl 21

Enchant, 40 CB, 40 FHR, 30 all res
43 - Voice of Reason (

Lem +

Ko +

El +

Eld) (4 socket Swords/Maces) F-Orb/

Ice Blast on strike, -cold res, 220 cold dmg, Cannot be frozen
47 - Crescent Moon (

Shael +

Um +

Tir) (3 socket Axes/Swords/Polearms) Lightning/Static on hit, ignore def, 11Msorb, Lvl 18 S-wolf charges
49 - Oath (

Shael +

Pul +

Mal +

Lum) (4 socket Swords/Axes/Maces) 340% ED, Indest, 50ias, ctc lvl 20

Bone Spirit, HoW +

Iron Golem charges

OK, here is what I got for my character in Hell. No buffs, no merc alive. For my gear...

Helm Chest

Belt Main Hand Off Hand Ring 1 Ring 2 Gloves

Boots Neck Merc stats and items, and stats with merc. As for talents, I got
3/20

Howl
3/20

Taunt
3/20

Battle Cry
4/20

Shout
23/20

Battle Orders
3/20

Battle Command
3/20

Find Potion
3/20

Find Item
22/20 Sword Mastery
3/20

Increased Stamina
3/20

Increased Speed
3/20

Iron Skin
4/20 Natural Resists
3/20

Bash
3/20

Leap
3/20

Leap Attack
22/20

Whirlwind
4/20 Beserk
3/20

Concentrate
3/20

Stun
3/20

Bash

I have items that add to skills so most of these that are 3/20 are from 1 point for the pre requisites and then the + to skills.

I am "trying" to follow a build I found on Icy veins.
https://www.icy-veins.com/d2/whirlwind-barbarian-build

I think if I got 2

Lo runes so I can make a Fortitude me and my Merc, I would be OK, but I can't get anything worth while to drop. I even farmed a few act bosses a few times on Nightmare and just got crap. I have some gear sitting my stash as well with open sockets and some with older runewords but, in my eyes, probably not worth while, however, I just don't know.

EDIT: Looking at my stat sheet with and without merc, I see that my merc really does nothing for my stats. I also SWORE I had a Might Merc, not a

Blessed Aim Merc.... I think I need a Might Merc...

Heartgrave wrote: 2 years ago

I think if I got 2

Lo runes

-Don't do anything but make a Grief with your first

Lo rune. its the strongest weapon in the game for ALL melee classes by light years.

-Your main issue seems to be your damage, your resistances aren't that bad for just starting Hell.

-Find a much better base to re-create Passion and do not use Spirit. Spirit is for casters, you need a lot more raw damage and IAS on your weapon(s). you're using a "normal" item base and you should be using an "elite" base. the bases are normal > exceptional > elite.

-i would HIGHLY suggest switching to a 2 hand Obedience. you will do infinitely more damage with WW. even with your sword mastery not in use, you will STILL do way more.

WARNING: whirlwind does NOT benefit from increased attack speed from gear. ONLY From your weapon.

I have used these before, get a pair and try them out.

How do I even get a

Lo rune? I read it drops from act 2 hell but I can't even get there. I was going to make the Fortitude chest, not weapon.

I used the Spirit for the +2 skills.

What base do you suggest to use for Passion? Obedience? I don't even know what to look for for bases.

Think of me as a kindergartener. I mean I played back in the old days but used mods and cheats back then. I have grown from that.

Heartgrave wrote: 2 years ago

How do I even get a

Lo rune? I read it drops from act 2 hell but I can't even get there.

You can craft one if you have 2

Ohm runes -- Recipe: Lo

lexx wrote: 2 years ago

Heartgrave wrote: 2 years ago

How do I even get a

Lo rune? I read it drops from act 2 hell but I can't even get there.

You can craft one if you have 2

Ohm runes -- Recipe: Lo

Well, thank you for that, but how do I get

Ohm? LOL I know I can craft them, but I need the runes before it or need them drop. What I meant was, where can I try to farm to get them?

My real struggle is getting these darn runes. Like, its crazy. It feels like I can't progress unless I can get the runes. No

Mal,

Lo, or

Ko runes. Any suggestions for them?

Heartgrave wrote: 2 years ago

My real struggle is getting these darn runes. Like, its crazy. It feels like I can't progress unless I can get the runes. No

Mal,

Lo, or

Ko runes. Any suggestions for them?

Ko runes and

Mal runes can be found off Hell countess. I found a

Lo rune in

Chaos Sanctuary but I'm sure its rare. The

Ko and

Mal not so much. Get out there and keep slaying demons.

Heartgrave wrote: 2 years ago

EDIT: Looking at my stat sheet with and without merc, I see that my merc really does nothing for my stats. I also SWORE I had a Might Merc, not a

Blessed Aim Merc.... I think I need a Might Merc...

FYI There is a display bug in D2R that sometime causes the icon to show the wrong merc aura when you change difficulty. It will show as one of the aura's for the difficulty your on vs the real one that is active that you purchased from a different difficulty. As far as I and others can tell it is just a visual display bug showing the wrong aura for your merc.

Heartgrave wrote: 2 years ago

How do I even get a

Lo rune?

Lo rune, as all the high runes, are extremely rare and will not be easy to find. Typically people find other things to trade for the runes or gear they want. so maybe you don't find a

Lo rune but you find something worth as much or a few things you can trade to get there. Grief is the strongest weapon in the game, so don't feel like you need to make Grief ASAP, thats the last weapon you'll ever use lol.

I suggest Obedience in a 5 socket exceptional or elite polearm. You can find exceptional polearms in nightmare Cow level. But you'll need to farm Hell for elite bases.

exceptional polearms that can have 5 sockets:

Partizan,

Bec-De-Corbin,

Battle Scythe,

Grim Scythe. Obedience, since it requires a

Hel rune to make, will reduce the str/dex requirements by 20%. so factor that into the equation when figuring out if you have enough stats to use it.

check the item database: base/#filter=Polearms

man, I have the same problem as you in hell difficulty right now. I feel like playing hell solo is unplayable, sort of too much pressure. I could not do any dungeon runs like I was in the nightmare, even I spent only 2-3 potions while killing

Baal. Stepping up to hell is like my char's level is -20 penalised.

But I have to say my equipped gears are quite basic; Lore

Helm, Stealth armor, Spirit

Broad Sword and +48 all resist unique shield, FCR +112.
I have pushed Blizzard,

Ice Blast, and

Fireball up to the limit (20+4) and still struggle in

Cold Plains lol. Could not kill monsters fast enough.

Sutlore wrote: 2 years ago

I have pushed Blizzard,

Ice Blast, and

Fireball up to the limit (20+4) and still struggle in

Cold Plains lol. Could not kill monsters fast enough.

I am also a Blizzard Sorceress but i didn't put any in fire, i simply avoid 100% of all cold immune mobs. The blizz sorc is an amazingfarmer, there is no need to waste time killing any random mobs in any random area on your trek through Hell imo. Just the necessary Act Bosses to move forward so you can farm them.

-Simply

Teleport through every area to the waypoints and to the specific quest items. Yes you may die alot randomly teleporting to the right spots but its a waste of time trying to fight your way through because most cold immunes in hell can't even be broken or even when broken their resist is so high you are doing basically no dmg. and without the synergies for

Fireball maxed you wont do enough dmg to kill them either.

-Get to Hell

Andariel as fast as possible and then farm her over and over until you are strong enough to get to Hell

Mephisto. Hell meph will drop 95% of the stuff you want as a Sorc. (or as any class for that matter)

-Blizzard sorceress is also amazing at farming the

Secret Cow Level. Hell cows drops amazing things so try to rush through Hell to kill

Baal so you can open it. Make a "Rush 4 Hell Forge" game and you'll easily find someone to do most, if not all, of the work for you.
-As a Blizz Sorc your Merc will do any of the immune-killing for you. So focus on decking them out.

BillyMaysed wrote: 2 years ago

Sutlore wrote: 2 years ago

I have pushed Blizzard,

Ice Blast, and

Fireball up to the limit (20+4) and still struggle in

Cold Plains lol. Could not kill monsters fast enough.

I am also a blizzard sorceress but i didn't put any in fire, i simply avoid 100% of all cold immune mobs. The blizz sorc is a farmer, there is no need to waste time killing any random mobs in any random area on your trek through Hell imo. Just the necessary Act Bosses to move forward so you can farm them.

Simply

Teleport through every area to the waypoints and to the specific quest items. Yes you may die alot randomly teleporting to the right spots but its a waste of time trying to fight your way through because most cold immunes in hell can't even be broken or even when broken their resist is so high you are doing basically no dmg. and without the synergies for

Fireball maxed you wont do enough dmg to kill them either.

Get to Hell

Andariel as fast as possible and then farm her over and over until you are strong enough to get to Hell

Mephisto. Hell meph will drop 95% of the stuff you want as a Sorc. (or as any class for that matter)

Does this mean I need to do another respec into a pure icy sorc? I did once just to finish

Den of Evil quest, because I could not do anything with the Zombies miniboss.

Sutlore wrote: 2 years ago

Does this mean I need to do another respec into a pure icy sorc? I did once just to finish

Den of Evil quest, because I could not do anything with the Zombies miniboss.

i edited my previous comment and added that as a Blizzard Sorc your Merc will do all the immune killing. So focus on gearing him.

Do you still have your

Den of Evil respec's from Normal or Nightmare? I would say focus on beating Hell before respecing because your

Fireball may still be useful, unless you do the Rush 4 Forge way so you can just start farming right away.

Or is farming not your goal with this character? i often forget not everyone makes a blizz sorc JUST to farm. lol

BillyMaysed wrote: 2 years ago

Sutlore wrote: 2 years ago

Does this mean I need to do another respec into a pure icy sorc? I did once just to finish

Den of Evil quest, because I could not do anything with the Zombies miniboss.

i edited my previous comment and added that as a Blizzard Sorc your Merc will do all the immune killing. So focus on gearing him.

Do you still have your

Den of Evil respec's from Normal or Nightmare? I would say focus on beating Hell before respecing because your

Fireball may still be useful, unless you do the Rush 4 Forge way so you can just start farming right away.

Or is farming not your goal with this character? i often forget not everyone makes a blizz sorc JUST to farm. lol

lol my merc did so well in nightmare, having Insight weapon made my life in nightmare so much easier. However, he always dies in the second hit from any miniboss in hell
I think I'm gonna stick with sorc for my main char, she must be the most powerful solo char. Farming is less important, but yes I heard that sorc can be developing in both ways.

I still have 2 respecs from nightmare and hell. I know that I need to be very careful using it. I'm planning to get back leveling in nightmare few more levels and then start joining other people games, getting to Mephis as fast as possible later.
Thanks for help

Heartgrave wrote: 2 years ago

My real struggle is getting these darn runes. Like, its crazy. It feels like I can't progress unless I can get the runes. No

Mal,

Lo, or

Ko runes. Any suggestions for them?

for a base for obediance, a

Cryptic Axe, is fairly common in hell cows, auto sockets 5 max, also 4os is great for Insight's, so a nice base to cube sometimes
budget lightning sorc build, likely good for running hell countess for runes, for

Lum and above and occasional t keys, which one can sell, blizz sorc best for magic finding nm > hell andy / meph etc & various diff targets for gear (summon necro can be an easy hell cow farming build too)

Nix the Spirit sword, and definitely get you a new base of armor. My hell Barb DEF on armor is 900+...180 is way to low for someone who spins through the middle of mobs. Grief Zerker definitely a must. If you have a bunch of low level runes, you can craft them up to the next levels. I would

Concentrate a tad bit more on some defenses and higher base items before worrying about skills, those will also come with levels. Nightmare Diablo and

Baal runs for the win for you right now!