MLD Blessed Hammer / Charge Guide

Introduction

• Blessed Hammer / Charge Paladin are known as Liberators or Libby's

• Libby's are easy to make, easy to equip and easy to play

• Libby's does a ton of damage, and have two very strong attacks

• Libby's have very fast speed and excellent aura's at their disposal

• Great in team versus team contest and can solo against many opponents

Breakpoints

Faster Cast Rate: 125% against casters, 75% or 125% against melee, depending on play style / gear

Equipment

Blessed Hammer / Charge Paladin have two main setups. A Skin of the Vipermagi setup and a Shaftstop setup against melee character's or characters that use physical attacks (Bow Amazons) you will want as much % damage reduction as you can get. Against all elemental attacks you want resistances. Depending on your opponents you will need to decide what to concentrate on in team versus team contests.

Helmet:
Rare Circlet / Coronet 2 Combat Skills, 2 Socket, 20% FCR, 30 Life, 51 Mana ( Perfect Skull)
Rose Branded Circlet / Coronet of the Magus 3 Combat Skills, 20% FCR, 2 Socket ( Perfect Skull's)

Amulet:
Rare Amulet 1 To Paladin Skill Levels, 10% FCR, 60 Life, 10 Replenish life, 90 Mana (+1 mod)
Rose Branded Amulet of the Whale 3 Combat Skills, 100 Life
Marshal's Amulet of the Whale 3 Offensive Auras, 100 Life (team versus team)

Armor:
Skin of the Vipermagi ( Perfect Skull)
Shaftstop ( Perfect Skull)
Jewelers Dusk Shroud of the Whale 4 Socket, 81-100 Life, 100%+ Lightning resist / Cold resist (against Blizzard / Fist of the Heavens)

Weapon:
Spirit Long Sword
Suicide Branch (team versus team) 20/20 jewel / 10 All resist

Switch:
Oath Small Crescent
Rare Small Crescent ~400% Enhanced Damage, Ethereal, Replenishes Quantity
Herald Of Zakarum

Boots:
Waterwalk
Caster Boots 20% Faster Run / Walk, 40 Mana / Increase Maximum Mana 5% / Regenerate Mana 10% +1 mod (40% Cold Resist)

Gloves:
Frostburn

Rings:
Raven Frost
Stone of Jordan
Rare Ring 10% FCR, 15 Dexterity / Strength, 30 Life, 90 Mana

Shield(s):
Spirit Crown Shield 45 All resist auto mod
Crown Shield 45 All resist auto mod, 4 Socket ( Ort / Thul)

Belt:
String of Ears
Caster Belt 10% FCR, 24 FHR, 5 Replenish life, 9 Str, 60 Life, 50 Mana
Thundergod's Vigor

Inventory:
10 Lion Branded Grand Charm of Sustenance 1 To Combat Skills, 30 Life (solo)
10 Captain's Grand Charm of Sustenance 1 To Offensive Auras, 30 Life (team versus team)
10 Serpent's Small Charm of Vita 20 Life / 17 Mana

Maxroll Character Planner

Stat Placement

Strength: Enough for gear
Dexterity: Enough for max block
Energy: None.
Vitality: All remaining points (~1400 hit points)

Skills

20 Blessed Hammer
20 Vigor
7 Concentration
4 Blessed Aim
1 Holy Shield
1 Fanaticism

General PVP Strategy

Your primary means of movement is Medi/ Charge. This way of movement, combined with Vigor/ Charge, makes your character effectively uncatchable; that is to say, you are only going to get hit when you are playing agressively against your opponent, i.e. When YOU are attacking or when YOU run into your opponents attacks by mistake. Therefore; when attacking, your main aim should usually be: Don't get hit! As a general rule you should be switching from Attack to Defence throughout the duel. After all, the main benefit of this build is your ability to out manouver your opponent. The better you are at this will see the higher success rate/ kill ratio. Note that short controlled bursts of Vigor Charge in conjunction with using the terrain and anticipating your opponents movements will be a Key factor in your ability to be in in a spot that your opponent does not suspect.


Some Key things to Remember

• When Dueling vs All characters that do not have Max-Block -> Charge! Any opponent foolish enough not to have maxblock vs you are exposed to your 2nd slot attack. These opponents can potentially be 1-hit deleted. If you see that they don't have a max block setup punish them!

• When Dueling vs any character that can freeze you -> Always wear Raven Frost ring. Not wearing Raven Frost vs a Cold Sorc can be lethal, as you may be frozen! Getting stuck beside your opponent - especially if he is skilled - can be lethal. a skilled opponent will use the time given to him to quickly attack you with everything at his disposal.

Medi Charge/Vigor Charge

• Medi Charging gives you the ability to Charge around the map without using up all your mana. Using your hotkeys you can switch from medi charging to Conc-Blessed Hammers (or switch Charge on Oath/Rare %ED weapon) to attack your opponent. Charge on left click, Meditation on the right.

• Vigor Charging allows you (for a brief duration) to move that extra bit further into an area on the map that your opponent will not expect you to be. While Medi-Charging has the same effect (as you are using Charge) Vigor Charge increases this ability to a greater degree. Charge on left click, Vigor on the right.

Character Specific Strategies


Bone Spear / Bone Spirit Necromancer (Easy – Medium)

Medi / Vigor Charge in conjunction with Conc- Blessed Hammer will be the primary way of dealing VS this opponent. You will generally not be using your %ED Charge weapon in this duel at all. Medi / Vigor Charge around your opponent casting hammers in the direct that he is moving. If the Necromancer does not have a lot of faster run / walk this duel will be much easier for you as you can trap the Necromancer or funnel him into locations that are deathtraps. More challenging Necromancer's will have a lot of FRW and will use the skill: Bone Wall, vs you. Your primary concern in this duel is not getting caught out when a Necromancer casts Bone Wall. When a Bone Wall has been cast your character can sometimes, inadvertently, Charge into it, allowing your opponent the opportunity to get some free hits in. When you have hit a Bone Wall, and the Necromancer is in your screen, you main priority is to escape, quickly. Walk (or run) 2-3 steps, then Medi / Vigor Charge away. Bone Spirit's are also guided and pack a punch, so make sure you that you always know where your opponent is and don't Charge into a train of spirits. Some Necromancer's cast Bone Spirit incorrectly, that is to say they have their mouse on the Edge of their screen when casting. This means that your Bone Spirit will go to the clicked area before it starts homing in on you. When you see a Necromancer doing this, Vigor Charge as close to the Necromancer as you can (ideally just ahead of where he is moving to, and Conc-Hammer. This is a perfect move to make in this situation. Note that you should be @ 125% FCR and you don't need any %DR.


Tornado Druid (Easy)

Medi / Vigor Charge in conjunction with Conc- Blessed Hammer will be the primary way of dealing VS this opponent. You will generally not be using your %ED Charge weapon in this duel at all. Medi / Vigor Charge around your opponent casting hammers in the direct that he is moving. If the Druid does not have a lot of faster run / walk this duel will be much easier for you as you can trap the druid or funnel him into locations that are deathtraps. There are two things to look out for in this duel – The Druids tornadoes and his wolves. Always try to stay in your opponents screen, avoid his tornadoes and play as aggressive as you can moving always ahead of the druid in order to kill him in a hammer field that he may run in to. Any minions that your opponent has can stall your character. When you have hit a minion, such as a wolf, and if the druid is in your screen, you main priority is to escape, quickly. Walk (or run) 2-3 steps, then Medi/ Vigor Charge away. Another thing to look out for - If the druid is fast enough the wolves can “re spawn” around him, which can be dangerous. %DR (Shaft + String) is what you need to be wearing as the Druids tornadoes do physical damage.


Bow Amazon Hybrid (Hard)

Bow Amazon Hybrids use Guided Arrow, Lightning Bolt and Lightning Fury to attack. A fundamental rule should be: When the bow Amazon has bow out, Charge. When the Bowa has Javs+Shield out, Hammer. bow Amazon's have one of the best PVP forms of attack in the game – Guided Arrow. Guided Arrow's are fast, and homing. Luckily, Medi / Vigor Charge is faster. After a few duels you will be able to recognise when the Bow Amazon has you name locked – simply Charge out of his mini map and swing around when the name lock has been broken. A good bow Amazon will always be moving and firing 2-3 Arrows at the same time so it can be difficult to safely attack. This is the fundamental reason for using Charge-to-hit; It forces the bow Amazon to switch to Javelin slot. Unless the bow Amazon has crazy % enhanced damage Javelin's, you should be able to take a few Fury's and your Charge damage should out-damage their attack. Invariably the bow Amazon will be walking/running away from you on Javelin slot while casting Fury/bolt against you. You meanwhile will be Charging the bow Amazon non-stop. If you get stuck on the bow Amazon, Charge a short distance away and re- Charge the Bow Amazon. Note: if you are low life, you need to Charge away quickly as Lightning Bolt goes through your block and auto hits. Note Also, you need to be careful when charging as your % Block is reduced to zero – a good Fury will hurt you – this is why charging at an Amazon from the Edge of your screen can be suicidal. %DR (Shaft + String) is what you need to be wearing as the bow Amazon will invariably be doing a lot of (physical) damage. Finally bow Amazon's can be very difficult to kill if they have very high dodges – the ability to take no damage from your attack. This works on Bow slot and Javelin slot, standing, walking and running, and can be very frustrating at times. Switching to 2nd slot to Charge while they are firing in another direction on bow slot is one of the easiest ways of ending this duel swiftly.


Energy Shield / Fire Ball Sorceress (Hard)

While everyone has different abilities in PVP (some are simply better then others), there are some builds that can be difficult to duel. A ESFB would be one of the most difficult duels as they have a high mana pool that regenerates itself through the duel. It can be very difficult to catch a defence orientated ESFB'er and you will need to learn when to be aggressive and when not. When dueling aggressive ESFB'ers the match-up is quite easy (if they name lock Teleport stomp you when you are hammering, they are dead) however when dueling an ESFB that is to aggressive, it can take quite some time to beat them. Use everything that you have learned vs all other builds for this duel, but above all, be patient. Short controlled bursts of Vigor / Charge into spots that you "guess" your opponent will Teleport into. A quick switch to Conc/Hammer x3 - x6 can result in a swift win sometimes. Don't bother trying to catch them on 2nd slot unless you see that they are wearing a Lidless Wall shield (ie. no max block).


Barbarian (Medium - Hard)

Skilled Barbarians can be very difficult to kill. Also, they pack quite a punch so ensure that you are wearing your % damage reduction setup ( Shaftstop, String of Ears). The problem when dueling a barbarian is that you have to usually get very close to them in order to hit them. This leaves you open to their Whirlwind attack that can take chunks out of your life pool. Never Charge them on 2nd slot if you are in a serious duel and always be patient. Move around them as much as possible while not being predictable. Get in close when the opportunity presents itself and cast a few hammers. While you might be able to catch an unskilled barbarian running into a hammer field, it can be quite difficult when dueling vs a someone who can predict where you are going to be. The one thing here is to be patient.


Mirror Duel (Medium - Hard)

When dueling in Libby vs Libby its a bit of Luck, Skill and patience to win. Luck because invariably your opponent will be killed by Blessed Hammer's. Skill because you have manoeuvred into a position which has let you kill him with hammers and patience because invariably these can be long duels, especially when both players are playing "carefully". Practice and tips from your opponent are the best ways to improve here.


Lightning Sentry Assassin (Medium - Hard)

Wear Thundergod's Vigor or you will invariably be a free-kill. Get into his screen, cast 1-2 hammers, and Charge away. If the Assassin is camping you should try charging around him for a bit, making sure that his traps are firing. If the assassin is walking/running and he does not have more then 2-3 traps out, Charge him down. A switch to Charge slot, and a well timed Charge (after most of his traps have missed you) can see you hitting him away from his traps. Follow up charges may result in the assassin being exposed and the fundamental strategy at this point should be to keep attacking him, with either Charge or Hammers, to ensure that he has no time to cast further traps. Note that unless the assassin is using Shaftstop, your Charge damage will hurt him a lot. Finally a caution - if you get stuck on the shadow, or on the terrain, you need to retreat pretty quick, as Lightning Sentry does a lot of damage.


Blizzard Sorceress (Medium – Hard)

Ensure you have enough Cold-Res before dueling a Blizzard Sorceress as invariably they will have Cold Mastery maxed and potentially between -200 and -250 Cold Res. Medi/ Vigor Charge in conjunction with Conc- Blessed Hammer will be the primary way of dealing VS this opponent. If the Sorceress is predictable you can Vigor/ Charge to where you expect the Sorceress to be and quickly cast 3-4 Hammers. If the Sorceress is not predictable this could potentially be a very long duel. The important thing here is to have a high mana pool so that you don't get caught out walking/running. The Sorceress will be trying to either name lock – Blizzard you or cast blizzard just ahead of you so that you Charge into it. Vs all sorceress follow the primary strategy – always keep moving on Charge slot. Cast Hammers sporadically and try to get as close to your opponent as you can without getting hit. If the Sorceress is aggressive, be defensive. If the Sorceress is defensive, be aggressive.


Frozen Orb (FO) Sorceress (Medium – Hard)

See above strategy against Blizzard Sorceress. In addition:

Unlike most other Sorceress Builds, a FO Sorceress does not need 105% FCR to be proficient. This means that they can have more facets or stats then other sorceress. FO has a very wide area of affect which means that if they cast it in your direct when you are close – you will get hurt. A full FO attack, if point blank, while slow – will hurt a lot! Don't get too close to the Sorceress and always be on the side that they don't expect you to be. As there is a casting delay and the attack always comes from your opponent, you should be able to avoid the brunt of the damage while still getting in close to cast Hammer. Vigor Charge with a lot of Cold Res is a very useful strategy here.


Energy Shield / Light Sorceress (Medium - Hard)

ES light Sorceress are similar in a lot of ways with ESFB and Orbers, however there are some Key differences. Unlike ESFB they need to be pretty close to you to hit and they cannot spam as many attacks. Orbers will usually hit you since their Orb takes up the full screen - Thunderstorm on the other hand is simply auto-targeting. What Light Sorceress do have is lightning attack which has a huge damage range which potentially will really hurt your character. Try to find the right range vs them and use your experience vs ESFB / Orbers to find the right distance. Above all, don't be predictable.


Javelin Amazon (Easy) / Javelin Amazon with Far Cast (Hard)

Unless the Java is using Far cast (FC), manual or otherwise, your build is basically an anti-character for them. Java's don't have minions - so you wont get stuck on anything. They don't have a homing attack - so you don't need to worry about things like GA or Bone Spirit and they need to be right on top of you to hit you with their main form of attack – Which is the perfect range for your primary form of attack! Not much else to say, you should get the hang of these duels pretty fast.

Note that vs far cast – simply keep moving and you wont get hit by the far cast. (you will only get hit if you stop – so don't stop moving in and out of their screen casting Hammers ahead of where they are moving to is the primary way to kill these opponents. When in doubt, just put Thundergod's Vigor on (won't be enough vs HLD far caster's).


Rabies Druid (Easy)

Rabies, Like any melee build, needs to be very close to you to actually hurt you. The Range is usually not very far and happily for us, Shift- Rabies does not exist. Your build is basically an anti-character for them. Rabies' Druids have minions so you do have to be careful not to get stuck into them, but this duel should be easy enough provided you are careful. Not much else to say, you should get the hang of these duels pretty fast.

General PVP Tips


How-To: Increased screen size

Step 1: Press Escape
Step 2: Options
Step 3: Video Tab
Step 4: Screen Space Calibrate
Step 5: Press and Hold Down Arrow so that it looks like this image


How-To: Easier Name Lock Ability

Step 1: Press Escape
Step 2: Options
Step 3: Gameplay Tab
Step 4: Chat Font Size - Change to Extra Large


Expanded:

Step 5: Press Escape
Step 6: Options
Step 7: Game play Tab
Step 8: Select Large Font Mode