What to do with all the RFL Runes I found - Suggestions requested

[LouB]

The RNGs were very good to me in the Cows portion of the recent RFL especially given my slow run times. Now I need to determine what to do with my finds and before I start dumping runes into sockets, I thought I’d get some input from the community as a sanity check.

From the RFL I now have a Cham, 2 Jah, a Lo, and an Ohm. I also currently have 2 Ber, 5 Sur and at least 2 of Vex and below. So that’s a lot of possible Runewords, 34 in fact using Vex and higher runes.

I’ve already used Chams for Doom and Metamorphosis and on the Jah side I have Faith, Enigma and a Phoenix shield. I’ve also got Wrath and Chains of Honor, Infinity, Exile, 2 Fortitudes, Heart of the Oak, Beast, 2 Grief, Call to Arms (lousy roll) and multiple Deaths. So, that still leaves 19 Runewords.

Here are my thought so far:

Cham As I said in the Cham Rune thread, I’m going to go with Maxicek’s suggestion and wait for a second Cham to make a Zod for eBOTD. I’ve got a superior Eth Colossus Blade with 15% ED that I recently took to Lazurk and got 6 sockets punched in it.

Jah – my initial thought when the Lo and first Jah dropped was that I can finally make Destruction as I always wanted a frenzy barb wielding Death and Destruction since the Runewords came out. However, it’s a far from popular Runeword and uses Vex, Lo, Ber and Jah. It also has no inherent IAS. Then the second one dropped and I realized that I could make Last Wish. It would take both Jahs, both Bers and 3 Surs, but I could make it. I can see lots of possible builds for it and think it would make a great pairing with Lawbringer for a Frenzy barb merc. For a Barb merc it has to be in a Phase Blade and that would also eliminate the repair costs which I suspect might be high. I’m really thinking seriously about making Last Wish and have a six socket phase Blade with 11% ED.

Sur and Lo - No big interest currently to use either, but maybe a Dragon Armor.

Ohm – I’ve had lousy luck rolling a decent CtA and have other priorities at this time. I want to make Bramble for an upcoming Poisonmancer and I’d also like to make Chaos for my current Agressin. I’m currently leaning towards Bramble since the Sin is doing fine with dual Bartuc’s one of which is upped and she would also be the first recipient of Last Wish since she is using a Frenzy Merc.

 

[drmalawi]

wait for a second Cham to make a Zod for eBOTD

What build would such eBotD be better (more dps) than Grief?

I made mine eBotD solely for "bragging" purposes and that I wanted a 2H zealot which looks so cool when he swings that sword 4 times/second.

Last Wish

again, why is not dual grief frenzy "better"? And why is Last Wish + lawbringer barb merc better than Might act 2 merc with Reapers?

I want to make Bramble for an upcoming Poisonmancer

Me too, but enigma will make runs faster and smoother. Enigma and Grief are just so powerful runewords they make almost everything else not worthwile :/

 

[LouB]

@drmalawi You do have some valid points, which is probably why I haven't used any runes yet. I love Grief but I love trying different things too. It's why wielding Death and Destruction strikes my fancy. I also realize that BOTD is not THE ultimate weapon, but I'd like to try using one.

I'm not a fan of Act 2 mercs. I usually don't get involved in managing the merc and the Act 2 mercs frequently stand back and don't get involved, which means Decrepify isn't being cast. It's actually been years since I used a Might merc. When I use an Act 2 merc I usually use HF or Defiance versions. This dates back to my start with Diablo when my Might Morons were always dying. I do acknowledge that they probably weren't equipped the best and they do live longer now. However, I much prefer Act 1 and Act 5 Mercs.

Reapers gives you a 33% chance of level 1 decrep which is good for 4 seconds. Lawbringer gives you a 20% chance of level 15 which is good for 12.4 seconds. I find that longer decrep times means I can kill more monsters. Plus, Lawbringer also gives you Sanctuary, which I find useful in some areas.

I've tried several weapons to pair with Lawbringer including Azurewrath, Voice of Reason, Crescent Moon and Grief. I don't consider any of them a perfect match. Besides the Might Aura I think Last Wish will also increase the Mercs damage and survivability. Now if there was a Runewords for swords that granted Fanaticism I would seriously consider it.

I'm not a fan of Enigma, probably because my play style is to simply move forward and clear everything and I don't see bouncing around that helpful. I have one and use it to run LK. I'm probably going to learn to use it better to get my Cow times down so I might get to like it.

I have two Griefs and an Enigma so I don't need to make more of those. So, what would you use the Runes on.

 

[drmalawi]

Well you have your playstyle, then you probably know what runeword is best use for your playstyle

I would not cube up the Chams until I got a third one. Cham runes are rare as they are.

 

[little birdy]

Cham, Sur, and Lo runes (if you have enough the latter two) --> 'Hand of Justice' and 'Dragon' armor/shield for a Fire Claws Druid or Holy Fire Pally
Jah runes --> 'Dream' helm and shield for any number of cool builds

 

[LouB]

@little birdy Ah, some alternatives.

With 5, Sur isn't the issue, but only 1 Lo. So, at this point Hand of Justice or Dragon armor. I read a number of Dual Dream builds so I'd be very close to building an Auradin. Will have to look at a Fire claws druid .

 

[little birdy]

Yeah, it's a bummer how many Sur and Lo are required to do 'Hand of Justice' with dual 'Dragon'. I love the idea of it though.

Pally probably has the edge since you can fully synergize the Holy Fire aura and run a high level Conviction as the main aura. And make the 'Dragon' shield in a Pally shield base with +45 all res.

But... I do also like the idea of these items on a Fire Claws Druid. It's only ~60-something points to max Fire Claws and synergies, which already pumps out a lot of fire damage. You can then put 20 points into Armageddeon to add in AoE fire damage. Add 'Hand of Justice' and 'Dragon' armor/shield on top of that (level 44 Holy Fire, I think?), with 'Flickering Flame' in a good Druid pelt base (or even just Ravenlore), and that thing is dishing out a lot of fire damage, with a healthy amount of -enemy fire resist built in.

edit: I of course have never actually tried what I described above since I don't have the runes. It sounds cool to me but maybe the real thing would underwhelm. I dunno.

 

[snickersnack]

Jah – my initial thought when the Lo and first Jah dropped was that I can finally make Destruction as I always wanted a frenzy barb wielding Death and Destruction since the Runewords came out. However, it’s a far from popular Runeword and uses Vex, Lo, Ber and Jah. It also has no inherent IAS. Then the second one dropped and I realized that I could make Last Wish. It would take both Jahs, both Bers and 3 Surs, but I could make it. I can see lots of possible builds for it and think it would make a great pairing with Lawbringer for a Frenzy barb merc. For a Barb merc it has to be in a Phase Blade and that would also eliminate the repair costs which I suspect might be high. I’m really thinking seriously about making Last Wish and have a six socket phase Blade with 11% ED.

DO EET

 

[PhineasB]

I will commend the Last Windhoek (edit: Last Wish) option for frenzy, as I really enjoyed my Runeword Bonanza Barb built around that linked here. And I’ve gotten other good uses out of the RW since then, although the blind is a limitation to be aware of.

That said, I also really like Destruction runeword and have a build or two planned around it.

My main takeaway is that you can’t go wrong really. Fun playthroughs await, and decent odds of some rune drops to start backfilling. Delaying the start of next character for the decision only delays the next chance of making the next decision!

 

[ziambe]

the Last Windhoek option

@PhineasB , inventing exotic new Namibian runewords ehhh?

 

[drmalawi]

I will commend the Last Windhoek option for frenzy, as I really enjoyed my Runeword Bonanza Barb built around that linked here. And I’ve gotten other good uses out of the RW since then, although the blind is a limitation to be aware of.

That said, I also really like Destruction runeword and have a build or two planned around it.

My main takeaway is that you can’t go wrong really. Fun playthroughs await, and decent odds of some rune drops to start backfilling. Delaying the start of next character for the decision only delays the next chance of making the next decision!

Link does not seem to work

 

[PhineasB]

@PhineasB , inventing exotic new Namibian runewords ehhh?

Haha, that’s what I get for posting from my phone and having fumble thumbs. Also fixed the link.

 

[maxicek]

You seem to be past the obvious RWs, so once you have done them, there are not really any optimum choices. After all, that is the reason everyone makes them first. I would make a +6 BO CtA though.

Given your preference for A5 Mercs - Stop dithering and go and make Last Wish!

 

[LouB]

@maxicek , @PhineasB As you command oh wise ones.

Ah the +6 BO CtA, I've made three and all three were +1 BO. I'd say that for me a +6 BO is made of Unobtanium. I'll try again after I have 5 or 6 Ohms! Or maybe I buy one. I mean given that the game balances things out in the end someone must have three +6 BO CtA and willing to part with one.

Even though the RFL is done I decided that I'd complete the second 20 hours and see if anything else juicy drops before making anything. Three of the six hours done and nothing so far.

I've also got to finish two of the three Assassins that I started before I can start anything new.