- Mar 16, 2012
- 74
- 48
- 18
Introducing Matriarch Audrea:
I made this character at least a year ago, and she's been Matriarch for nearly as long, but never got around to showing her off. This M'avina's set marked the second time I'd completed the set in my D2 career, and this time I was determined to give it a better fate than rotting in a stash.
Audrea went through a couple different skill layouts, and reached Matriarch with no Valkyrie, though it features prominently in her current setup. She was a very fun character to play through the entire game. She got as much time in AT as my blizz sorc even though she was a little slower and had half the MF. With just a little care she was very safe and had an active playstyle that I found engaging. She did okay at WSK as well but AT seemed to really suit her skillset. She's retired for now, I restarted recently and am focusing all of my energy on an untwinked hammerdin. Once he's where I want him I'll start working on untwinked characters again, bringing Audrea and my blizz sorc back to life.
Without further ado....
Naked/Gear
Strength: 90/135
Dexterity: 315/406
Vitality: 110/120
Energy: 15/15
HP: 554/575
Mana: 145/210
Resists: 74/74/74/75
MF: 198%
Gear:
Audrea's M'avina's True Sight (Ptopaz)
The Cat's Eye
Audrea's M'avina's Caster (Nef)
M'avina's Embrace (Ptopaz)
M'avina's Icy Clutch
M'avina's Tenet
Ravenfrost 17/196
Carrion Wind 9%LL
War Traveler 50% MF
switch:
Tyrant Limb (Hel)
Inventory is a few resist charms to bring everything up, 1 grand and 5 small cold damage charms adding ~45 avg cold damage all together and one Sharp GC of sustenance (8/68/21). Yes I personalized two of the set pieces, and yes I think I'm real funny.
Might Merc:
Andariel's
Eth Dusk Treachery
Eth CV Insight
20 CA
20 FA
1 Strafe
+prereqs
10 CS
8 Pierce
20 Decoy
10 Valk
+prereqs
LCS:
Long term I'd like to replace cat's eye with HLW and socket Cold Facets instead of Topazes but otherwise I consider her a complete character, and one I still enjoy doing runs on. It would be cool to replace Carrion Wind with a godly dual-leech ring so I could spam more FA, but it's not a serious issue and the twister procs are fun and add a little extra security.
I eventually settled on strafe as a one point wonder (7 with +skills) per some often-referenced advice I came across here, which freed me up to invest more into Decoy and Valk, both decisions which further increased my safety. I didn't really need them, but it makes the playstyle even more relaxed. I found that by pushing dex hard and using demon limb I didn't miss the AR from penetrate, which further freed up skill points. By the time I did my final respec I had more points than I knew what to do with. I could also see a really good case for skipping valk and d/a/e and putting those points into MA, which I use about as often as strafe. I really just missed having a valk, she looks cool and I get lonely playing SP sometimes, so minions it is.
In closing, Audrea doesn't quite hit like a frostmaiden with Ice and Infinity at her disposal, but she is incredibly safe and relaxing to play, has a huge degree of flexibility in skill points, can handle any combination of enemies the game can concoct, and looks stylish as heck.
I made this character at least a year ago, and she's been Matriarch for nearly as long, but never got around to showing her off. This M'avina's set marked the second time I'd completed the set in my D2 career, and this time I was determined to give it a better fate than rotting in a stash.
Audrea went through a couple different skill layouts, and reached Matriarch with no Valkyrie, though it features prominently in her current setup. She was a very fun character to play through the entire game. She got as much time in AT as my blizz sorc even though she was a little slower and had half the MF. With just a little care she was very safe and had an active playstyle that I found engaging. She did okay at WSK as well but AT seemed to really suit her skillset. She's retired for now, I restarted recently and am focusing all of my energy on an untwinked hammerdin. Once he's where I want him I'll start working on untwinked characters again, bringing Audrea and my blizz sorc back to life.
Without further ado....
Naked/Gear
Strength: 90/135
Dexterity: 315/406
Vitality: 110/120
Energy: 15/15
HP: 554/575
Mana: 145/210
Resists: 74/74/74/75
MF: 198%
Gear:
Audrea's M'avina's True Sight (Ptopaz)
The Cat's Eye
Audrea's M'avina's Caster (Nef)
M'avina's Embrace (Ptopaz)
M'avina's Icy Clutch
M'avina's Tenet
Ravenfrost 17/196
Carrion Wind 9%LL
War Traveler 50% MF
switch:
Tyrant Limb (Hel)
Inventory is a few resist charms to bring everything up, 1 grand and 5 small cold damage charms adding ~45 avg cold damage all together and one Sharp GC of sustenance (8/68/21). Yes I personalized two of the set pieces, and yes I think I'm real funny.
Might Merc:
Andariel's
Eth Dusk Treachery
Eth CV Insight
20 CA
20 FA
1 Strafe
+prereqs
10 CS
8 Pierce
20 Decoy
10 Valk
+prereqs
LCS:
Long term I'd like to replace cat's eye with HLW and socket Cold Facets instead of Topazes but otherwise I consider her a complete character, and one I still enjoy doing runs on. It would be cool to replace Carrion Wind with a godly dual-leech ring so I could spam more FA, but it's not a serious issue and the twister procs are fun and add a little extra security.
I eventually settled on strafe as a one point wonder (7 with +skills) per some often-referenced advice I came across here, which freed me up to invest more into Decoy and Valk, both decisions which further increased my safety. I didn't really need them, but it makes the playstyle even more relaxed. I found that by pushing dex hard and using demon limb I didn't miss the AR from penetrate, which further freed up skill points. By the time I did my final respec I had more points than I knew what to do with. I could also see a really good case for skipping valk and d/a/e and putting those points into MA, which I use about as often as strafe. I really just missed having a valk, she looks cool and I get lonely playing SP sometimes, so minions it is.
In closing, Audrea doesn't quite hit like a frostmaiden with Ice and Infinity at her disposal, but she is incredibly safe and relaxing to play, has a huge degree of flexibility in skill points, can handle any combination of enemies the game can concoct, and looks stylish as heck.