[Question] Building a Well Rounded 1H

GodChronos · Jan 1, 2017

Ive been searching for gear choices for a well rounded 1H and found one that bargain gave but only for the right side.

_Baragain_ said: ↑

OK, so here we go for "well balanced." There are two ways that "well balanced" can go in the DPS area but a well balanced 1H DK can not compromise on their defense stats, so that is what I will look at first.

First of all, the best place to get defensive stats is unquestionably on the right hand side.

When it comes to sets, your best option is the Black Warlord set, either 3/3 or 2/3 (shoulders/cape) to get that 15% armor boost. Additionally, with the block rate shoulders and a decent shield, it is rather easy to hit 80% block rate. Using the helmet for it's extra block amount and the block amount from the 3/3 bonus comes in handy boosting the block strength, but if you have a nice offence/defense helmet (like the old Dark Helm or the Mortis Helm), you can probably forgo the Warlord Helm.

That considered, you get to start looking at torso/gloves/boots. Torso is one of the easiest places to get armor, especially if you can get some of those % armor stones from the jesters. I'd actually recommend a legendary here as opposed to any unique because you can get better defence stats on a legendary than almost any other torso. One possible exception is the Darkness torso if you are looking for a crit oriented 1H build like Cazic demos above, but I'd still say that the amount of crit you get from the torso is insignificant compared to the benefit you could get from good HP or armor lines when it comes to over all survivability. Put a good defensive legendary together with the 15% armor boost from the Warlord set and it is rather easy to get 5000-5500 armor, providing your other gear choices support it. I wouldn't recommend a high % damage torso in an defense build unless you have tons of armor from other sources due to it not providing as significant of a boost as a 2H build gets from a high % damage torso.

This leaves gloves/boots. If you are PvPing, travel speed or attack speed may be important, but in PvE, it is less important than over all survivability, especially if you are tanking for a team and not dishing out the damage yourself. One obvious choice is Keen's 2/3 or even 3/3 (depending on belt choices which is a whole other point of discussion). There are better individual legendaries out there, but once you hit the 2/3 and get the 750 HP, it is hard to beat. Basically, you are looking at 1200 armor and 1575 HP (Both are approximations now that these pieces scale) between two pieces. Boots and gloves come with 103 base armor, so that is just about 200. That means you need 1000 armor and 1575 hp between 8 stat lines. This could be done with 3 lines of armor greater each than 333 and 5 lines of HP greater than 315 each. These numbers are very possible, but it will likely take a while to find such pieces. In fact, unless you are planning to use 3/3 Keen's (for the crit/run speed because no one cares about 40 damage), you are probably best off looking for this. If you find really good items, you could theoretically (and reasonably) reach 1400-1450 armor and 2125-2150 HP from those 8 lines (and base stats) with lines in the 400 armor/425 HP range (max is 440 for armor and 478 for HP) which is 17% more armor and 37% more HP than using 2/3 Keen's.

This covers the right hand side items, I'll cover weapons/off-hand/left hand side items later. Time to play.
Click to expand...

Yet I feel he forgot something

_Baragain_ said: ↑

This covers the right hand side items, I'll cover weapons/off-hand/left hand side items later. Time to play.
Click to expand...

So Ive came here to ask for tips or so for how to build a Well Rounded 1H, one that can survive for a long time yet can deal good damage. (Not an uber tank or a glass cannon)

Even though he gave some for the right side items it might have changed by now and I would love to get more opinions on this matter.

_Baragain_ · Jan 2, 2017

Yea, that was pre crafting 2.0, so a lot has changed. I'll see what I can write up later today.

UndergroundKiller · Jan 2, 2017

I can say what I see in the arena: heredur set, old dragan pauldrons (my guess) and an axe [crafted craftedor unique (gwenfara's, arachna's)]...
I don't know anything about other equipments, but I guess at least a bloodtooth.

[Question] Building a Well Rounded 1H

GodChronos Forum Expert

_Baragain_ Living Forum Legend

UndergroundKiller Forum Expert