Meleezon

[Tyce]

I remember hearing about this a long time ago but a melee zon with a couple back up hits from bow or javalin, or none XD. I haven't played in a while but i enjoy strange builds so i'd like to try this. Look for my posts in other build places. Thanks for the help!

[Zarley]

errr.. what exactly are you asking for?

[Habit88]

sounds like a guide for melee zon. i remember seeing some a while ago i forget what they're called. but yes something difinitive would make it easier to recieve help.

[Tyce]

either using a bow or javalin would be wise for being able to use some skills.. Mostly a passive tree sword/axe (weapon) and running into battle...

+ frost merc and valk?

Just a amazon that attacks and uses skills to stay alive, lower deffense(inner sight)

[Zarley]

Oh. Definitely go for a daggerzon. Zon blocking speeds are HORRIBLE with swinging weapons (axes/swords/maces/etc) instead of poking weapons (daggers, javelins, spears).

Load up on D/A/E, Crit Strike. Max Inner Sight and Valk with plenty in Penetrate and Decoy, and don't bother with bow/jav skills. They won't help as much as you want them to without turning you into a bowazon or javazon, and they'll just rob you of your style points.

[Habit88]

^^what he said

[Tyce]

k i'm a noob and don't remember any of the abreviations, plus i don't know what any of the things like a 20/12/10 rune or item is or w/e.. Any help in that department? Sweet, dagger zon, then i can have the 100% mf dagger on switch XD!

[Zarley]

D/A/E = Dodge/Avoid/Evade... the zon passive skills that make attacks miss you. Daggerzons live because they're hard as hell to hit because of max block and the D/A/E skills.

No runewords or anything complicated for you.. start with The Diggler, graduate to Spineripper for NM, and use Fleshripper in hell. All unique daggers.

[Tyce]

+ i can find even more rare ones correct?

[Zarley]

You can, but it'll be really tough to beat the ones I mentioned at the levels they're available at.

[Tyce]

Okay :) thanks... if i decide that the dagger just ain't cutting it.. whats another weapon that will give me max block? lol

[N V]

found a dagger ama guide you might be interested in :)

http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=588082

[saracen85]

Okay :) thanks... if i decide that the dagger just ain't cutting it.. whats another weapon that will give me max block? lol

find a passion phase blade and zeal away.
stock up on crit strike/deadly strike, crushing blow, open wounds.
if you're bothered by the poor fast block rate, don't. that's when d/a/e comes in =)

google palazon or tankazon for more build guides..

[Tyce]

wow thanks for all the help.. The more the better :)

[sinisterfx859.com]

I made a fuzzy Dodger, ( Zon with Beast runeword ). She is actually pretty good in bear form. YOu can summon your valk, and a grizzly for serious tanking. She does nice attack dmg and her def is very good. But the beauty of the zon as a werebear is her passive skills. Think of her as a melee char who is very hard to hit.

[Veneteaou]

if you're bothered by the poor fast block rate, don't. that's when d/a/e comes in =)
That suffers from the same bug Fend does. And swinging weapons take four times as long on an amazon to go through the block animation, another ugly bug.

The aforementioned guide, while good, is lacking exactly how awesome a final build is realistically. Try this guide instead: http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=d2-general&t=1353062&tmp=1#post1353063

[Tyce]

I'm liking the beast idea. If i turn into wearbear, can i then switch weapons? maybe even one with an aura on it? And then stay in werebear? I don't wanna zeal, i wanna use only amazon attacks. I know that the skills are not ama, but melee is what i want to do.

[Kakashi Hatake]

hmmmm pvp or pvm? if its pvp.....i would max everything on the passive tree that you can, EXCEPT the following>

peirce- doesnt add any dmg or anything and your melee so your attacks cant go through and hit whos behind them

valk-valks are relativly easy to kill in duels (in my experience) so they are a waste of points when you have things like dodge/evade/critical strike ect.

decoy- if your fighting someone stupid enough to attack your decoy and not you, then you might want to call a mental facility for them




ive never even heard of this style character but it doesnt sound very complicated


imo these skills should be maxed in this order (or atleast worked on)

1-2. critical strike and/or dodge first

3-4. inner sight and/or penetrate

5. the last skill is a little difficult to decide on...i would probably go with evade


givin that the character has all the passive skills keeping her alive, it seems to make sense that she would have as much ll stuff as CB, OW, ect. a basic gear setup would probably be>

beast/greif-CTA/spirit or lidless/sigon sheild on switch
fortitude
dracs or maybe CB gloves (im having a brain wegee and cant think of any)
vampgaze/gualemes
gores
nos coil (dungos would probably make sense here but with the passive skills idk that dr is as big a deal as it would be on any other melee build)
storm sheild (im just guessing on this one, ive never been good at picking a sheild for a
hilords ammy
char that didnt need a spirit or a pally sheild)
BK/raven-raven/great AR ring with other mods
torch/anni and many passive/AR/FHR gcs


STR-enough for gear
DEX-enough for gear, maybe a bit more if your struggling to hit your enemy
VIT- as much as you can get
MANA-really to bad you cant take some AWAY from here since you will never use it except for BO

alright guys ive been working my as* off building this character so that i could put my money where my mouth is. i Did a pvm version of what i posted above b/c im a horrible dueler so i dont even bother lol. I started her yesterday afternoon and she is now at lvl 78 with the following gear>

.Beast/Stormsheild-on switch the standard cta/spirit
.Fortitude armor
.hilords ammy/BK-Ravenfrost ring (funny i found another raven while fighting my way to mephesto)
.Gores
Nos coil
Dracs
Anni/Pzon torch
im in the process of aquireing enough passive GC's to fill my inventory

>she is in act 5 NM and does roughly 3-3.5k dmg, 5-5.9k dmg with her mercs auras
Ill quote more exact dmg along with her stats in a little while when i get back on

Her act 2 (might) merc is wearing>
Vamp Gaze
Fortitude
Pride

>He only does around 2.8k dmg but his auras are worth the low dmg


>Only problem i have found with my gear selection is her resistance is fairly low. a solution to this would be have a LW available and use it until fade is cast. i just went up against NM diablo and didnt bother trying to dodge his fire inferno looking thing b/c my health didnt even flicker which had my giggleing like a bluddi idiot.....14 hits later diablo was dead :D

------------------------------------------update----------------------------------------------------
Alright i just went back through and wrote down all my stats>

I made a PVM version of the build i suggested above. I dont need to max inner sight b/c my Beast ignores my targets defence. If you were making a PVP build you would max inner sight instead of valk and decoy.

.Valk-20
.Penetrate-20
.Critcal Strike-20
.Dodge-20
.Evade-7
.Decoy-4
.Slow Missles-1
.Inner Sight-1
.Avoid-1

.Str-37
20-zon torch
14-anni
15-dracs
40-beast
15-gualemes
15-nos coil
.Dex-25
20-raven
20-torch
14-anni
.Vit-every point you can get, atm im at 441
.Mana-besides valk and BO, you will never use it. no points at all


DMG>
1143-3399-With no merc auras and in human form
1256-3732-With no merc auras and in Bear form

1921-5992-with merc auras and in human form
2034-6025-with merc auras and in Bear form

Keep in mind you critical strike which DOUBLES your dmg. all of the dmg EXCEPT 1-30 lightning dmg from highlords and 15-45 dmg from Ravenfrost is pure, raw dmg which means my MAX dmg is 4030-11900

I consider the dmg done by a melee zon to be incredible, especially since she has no melee skills such as Bash or Zeal


theres alot of crap that can be takin out, and some things that need to be added such as unnecessary jabbering, and some things that need to be added, but would what i posted make a semi decent guide?

[Veneteaou]

No.

It is a build template, but not a guide. You have to give good advice with explanations for a guide. Some things I should mention:

- Do not ever max diminishing return skills (D/A/E, Pierce, Critical Strike!!!!!).
- The single best weapon for a meleezon is and always will be a Flesh Ripper.
- With poking weapons (javas/daggers/etc.) zons attack is normal; with swinging weapons (swords/maces/clubs/just about everything else) it takes them 4 times as long to work their way through their block animation. It is a known bug, it causes alot more damage to be taken than neccessary, and usually means that no swinging weapon build outshines the daggerzon.

There are others but I am too lazy. Read my old Daggerzon guide: http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=d2-general&t=1353062&tmp=1#post1353063

It has been known to take the ubers down.

[Kakashi Hatake]

No.

It is a build template, but not a guide. You have to give good advice with explanations for a guide. Some things I should mention:

- Do not ever max diminishing return skills (D/A/E, Pierce, Critical Strike!!!!!).
- The single best weapon for a meleezon is and always will be a Flesh Ripper.
- With poking weapons (javas/daggers/etc.) zons attack is normal; with swinging weapons (swords/maces/clubs/just about everything else) it takes them 4 times as long to work their way through their block animation. It is a known bug, it causes alot more damage to be taken than neccessary, and usually means that no swinging weapon build outshines the daggerzon.

There are others but I am too lazy. Read my old Daggerzon guide: http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=d2-general&t=1353062&tmp=1#post1353063

It has been known to take the ubers down.

i just built the char a few days ago and had no trouble. she killed everything with 1-2 hits (excluding bosses of course) while in /players 8 and i nvr had to worry about blocking b/c i nvr got hit. while battleing diablo i just stood there and took the dmg from his fire blast thing and my life didnt move.

can bears even block with a sheild? b/c she's always in werebear form when im using her.

you say dont max diminishing return skills and i say ur an idiot. you can stop putting points in them when they start diminishing and have (for example) 55 percent chance of critical strike or you can max the damn thing and have 70 percent chance. those are vague numbers of course but you get the idea. you say the 4x longer block animation causes you to take more dmg than necessary, if you would max the diminishing skills you wouldnt have to worry about that

You call it a build guidline, but obviously its more of a rough draft. when i asked if it was worth making into a guide, i admitted it needed some work and was far from finished

I'm liking the beast idea. If i turn into wearbear, can i then switch weapons? maybe even one with an aura on it? And then stay in werebear? I don't wanna zeal, i wanna use only amazon attacks. I know that the skills are not ama, but melee is what i want to do.

yes you can swap weapons while in bear form

[Veneteaou]

I never said your build would be ineffective (with that dupage it better rock), just that it could be MORE effective.

It is true that Maxing CS gives you a slightly higher chance to proc it; however, it is my belief that there are better places to spend those skill points.

[Kakashi Hatake]

I never said your build would be ineffective (with that dupage it better rock), just that it could be MORE effective.

It is true that Maxing CS gives you a slightly higher chance to proc it; however, it is my belief that there are better places to spend those skill points.

there arent many skills necissary in this type of build

what do ya mean by dupage?

and if it can be better im all ears

btw sry about my choice of words b4, "idiot" was a little harsh

[saracen85]

what do ya mean by dupage?

probably meant your gear selection that are rare and requires high runes..

and in bnet, we all know where the majority of them come from... =P

[Kakashi Hatake]

lol how do you guys live like that, how do you get your runewords if you cant trade for hr b/c theres no way your finding all those on ur own

[Veneteaou]

Simple... We don't really ever use runewords on the high-end. The single hardest runeword I ever put together was an Oath, and that was way too much work for me.



If you want the build better, read the guide I posted.

[dainbramage]

theres no way your finding all those on ur own
Um, that's the point.

[Kakashi Hatake]

Simple... We don't really ever use runewords on the high-end. The single hardest runeword I ever put together was an Oath, and that was way too much work for me.



If you want the build better, read the guide I posted.

do you have a link for that guide b/c if it isnt stickied ill nvr find it lol?

i think chancing the runewords is necessary if you want to make the most of your character. ive only lost 2-3 ist on bnet and that was b4 the reset even happened. i lost my internet access about a month after the reset and hadnt lost any in that short time frame.

so.....should i give a guide a try? with the appropriate additions to what i alrdy have of course?

[Tyce]

Go for it. I also wouldn't mind just doing countess runes over and over and over... Does MF affect her? If so, i'll just ya know... make my own runes lol

[kwittstruck]

mf affects ever enimy, however it dont effect rune drops

[Veneteaou]

To be honest, runewords are only marginally helpful, and I would still recommend GA or Rattlecage for armor and a Fleshripper as a weapon.

Read all my posts in this thread; I linked the guide here.

[Tyce]

lol.... There aren't any links. I've read one on diabloii.net, but things like on strike, when struck, while equiped are good for me :)

[Veneteaou]

http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=d2-general&t=1353062&tmp=1#post1353063

[Raine]

Never heard of a melee zon... Wierd.