I’m sorry for another newb question I’m just alittle confused about holy shield with a hammerdin… I have 140 dex and I put a point into holy shield to see what my block chance was (hovering over defence in character stats) and with the one point plus the two points I get from gear it is saying I have 75percent which is max block you can get to my understanding… So what I am wondering is, if there is any point to put any more points into holy shield? Does it do anything else to help a hammerdin character once max block is reached? Or should I just leave it at that and put the points somewhere else
Every skill has a small example or text, that describes the skill bonus received or given, so if there are no % bonus to damage given to main skills you use, don’t invest usually. Because of math some skills are refined to a +1 only, gear bumps those to a deadly level, so not every skill gives the best %.
Bro, reset stats and put as much str as you need to wear your items and rest of the points in life, as for skill points : 1 pt in holy bolt, smite, charge, might, prayer, cleansing, defiance and Redemption also, you ll need it then max out hammer, concentration, blessed aim, vigor, and then you max out holy shield(the last one to be maxed out). it gives you defence so yes max it out. Then, when you big and strong and have great gear reset again and all stats go to life :), GL
Ok thanks, that’s basically where I’m at right now as far as skills go I just wasn’t sure about holy shield if it did anything if you had already reached max block… I didn’t want to use the skill points there if it didn’t do anything further really I used one restat already at around level 20 to switch to a hammerdin so I didn’t want to have to use the other two unless I was sure I needed it I have str-91 dex-140 vit-203 energy-27 with some of that being from gear buffs…currently level 59 I have maxed out hammers and viger at this point… Working on concentration and blessed aim ATM but went ahead and put one in holy shield just to see what my ctb was…
Honestly, thanks man. I’ve made all kinds of players with different builds over the years. Javazon and bowzon, frenzy and whirlwind barb, Hybrid and single skill sorcs but this is my first run at a paladin and I was quite confused on the skills and point distribution being as ive never made a paladin before. Made a huge difference in my solo hell playability at lvl65.
hey. i wouldn’t simply max holy shield. holy shield has breakpoints for increasing % to block. holy shield at levels 20/23/27/36 are the different breakpoints. i would not waste 13 skill points to go from 23 to 36 in holy shield to save me 4 points in dex. i have level 97 hammerdin that i use for ubers as well with gear swap. i only have 1 point in holy shield, my +skills gets it to 23. even if you only have +15 to skills lets say, i would aim for 5 into holy shield so you hit lvl 20. it only takes 1-2 points of dex to raise your block 1%. so going from level 20 holy shield to level 36 holy shield saves you 5-6 dex. not worth investing the points.
i would recommend resist lightning. every 2 points raises your max lite resist by 1. you can use hotspurs or waterwalk boots to raise your max fire resist. poison and cold isnt as important, but simply buy antidote/thawing potions to raise your cold and poison max resist by 10.
also, dont waste a point on meditation. fanaticism, redemption and salvation only 1-point wonders i would get.
i use a2 norm defiance merc for the additional def to keep merc alive, i dont like a2 holy freeze merc for magic finding, it shatters corpses and they won’t drop items. the a2 might merc would be my second choice. the prayer merc wearing insight doesnt regen enough life in my opinion to be worth it.
It let’s you run less dex to cap, it last longer, and it gives you more armor.
But honestly you just want enough points in HS where it last long enough to not bug you. Offset the rest with dex
Extra points in hammerdin should go to light res, fire res, and cold res aura. They have a hidden bonus where every 2 points in them gives you a passive 1 max res.
what level you like to aim for holy shield?
a poor hammerdin with +8 to skills will have 29% of block with 4 min duration with 1 point into hs. HS at level 27 gives 37% chance. that difference saves 15-16 dex.
resist lite and to a degree resist fire are best choices. i wouldn’t do resist cold since the thawing potion adds 10 to max your cold resist and +50 to cold resists.
my whole point is don’t dump points blindly into holy shield, be aware of the % to block breakpoints of holy shield to be smart with dex like you said.
That’s a ton for the info guys every little bit helps