My my, doesn't orionryder@hotmail.com (Orion Ryder) look good in that
trenchcoat:

The bit where you addressed specifically Mark and then 'others' sort
of confused me as to what you were asking for, but I'm going to stick
my oar in anyway (I'm assuming if you meant really for just Mark to
respond/read, then you would have e-mailed him instead).

"Feral Sausage"

Yes!

Yes!   I bet he likes the rooster hats for barbarians as well.

I want to adopt.

Shari used to say that Shockwave looks like the bear is bowling (like
Molten Boulder)

Gus.

Heuy, Deuy, and Leuy.

Remember that you can only ever have dire wolves or grizzly 'active'
at any given time.

Clay has a nice build or two for that.   I think he uses something
like:

Bear with a bear -
20 Summon Grizzly Bear
20 Heart of the Wolverine (unless he wouldn't know what to do with it
too)
20 Lycanthropy
20 Werebear
Rest in Maul and Shockwave (or just max Maul, you'll certainly have
the points if you skip Heart of the Wolverine if your son won't like
using Spirits)

Wolf with a bear -
20 Summon Grizzly Bear
20 Heart of the Wolverine (unless he wouldn't know what to do with it
too)
20 Lycanthropy
20 Fury
Rest in Werewolf (this you could max if you decide to skip Heart of
the Wolverine)

Or going even more summoning -
20 Summon Grizzly Bear
20 Summon Dire Wolf
1 point each in Raven and Spirit Wolf
20 Lycanthropy
20 Fury
Leftover points in Werewolf

It's been my experience that the 'Vine' spells now die almost
instantly in hell difficulty, so your son might find the constant
recasting 'not much fun', so it's probably best to skip them.

There are many variations on the theme that 'work', it's just a case
of sacrificing a little in one aspect (life, killing speed) to get the
stronger summoned creatures.   With an editor, you can outfit him with
some good gear to make up for it a lot though.

More details on Clay's picture site.

Anyway, some more basics:

- Little or just a few points in dexterity, unless you want to use a
specific weapon that requires lots of dexterity, or you don't know
what gear you might be using and thus might end up using a polearm or
something.   If you're creating the character in an editor a Raven
Frost unique ring and some charms with big bonuses to Attack Rating
should be sufficient to sufficient 'virtual dexterity',

- Enough strength to use one of the big mauls (unless he likes the big
axes or polearms instead) or an upgraded ribcracker (blue!),

- Rest of points in vitality.

- No points in energy, usually.

Mercenary - either Act 2 Might (offensive mercenary hired in
nightmare) or Act 2 Holy Freeze if you think it might make the game
easier for him (defensive mercenary hired in nightmare difficulty).

Mercenary gear - might as well start him off at level 75+ and using a
Reapers Toll (unique thresher) - the decrepify will give your son a
nice safety aspect automatially, plus he'll be able to pound his way
through physical immune creatures (decrepify removes physical immunity
from a lot of goons).   For helm and armour, anything which provides
'cannot be frozen' and resistances is good.

Okay, that'll do.   It's all moot if Mark is just going to make
something for you in an editor anyway.

if he's not planned for hell I would go a different route which will still
clobber monsters very well in normal and NM.  It's got the advantage of not
shifting so he can see his kewl coloured threads and hat all the time (this
mightn't be an advantage if he likes to be a wolf).  It's remarkably
effective pre hell and very *easy* for him to play.

Base the build on a summoner but provide points in cyclone armour and *one*
elemental skill - volcano and artic blast are the two best choices.  Volcano
working very well against bosses.

Merc - a rogue is excellent, provide her with a 6 socket tal/perf skull bow.
Face of horror/howl tusk for flee and die from poison, and keeping in theme
rattlecage armour.  For him key ingrediants are a nice poison charm, kuko
(if he likes to shoot thngs) on switch The Ward (purple by luck) and an isle
strike, angelic ammy and two rings.  Armour, vipermagi is great but upgraded
rattle cage will see him through.  You can't beat Jalal's for head gear but
if it must be horns, then howltusk or blackthorns will be fine.  Look after
his resists with other gear and charms (he might need frosties as gloves - a
good choice for the build regardless).

OK folks, we need all the combined wisdom of AGD to build a character for
Orion's 4 year old son Nik. Just as Orion's fresh outlook on the game and
enthusiasm has spiced up AGD, it has also inspired his son Nik. But after
watching daddy for a while Nik wants to play some Diablo too. So he uses
Orion's Barb. But of course dad uses all the wrong equipment so the first
thing Nik always does is sell off all that crap and buy some good stuff from
Charsi. Orion can always restore his backup after Nik is done playing, but I
suggested building Nik a character of his own. So what follows is the input
Orion got from Nik concerning his character. I'd really appreciate any
insights or advise y'all can offer.

Does Nik have a decent computer? A lot of Ravens can cause lag on machines
without a reasonable video card. In such cases they are known as Lagpies.
;-)

I'll just call his character NIK, you can change the name to anything he
wants with ATMA's.

My thinking is that we need to make this character as simple to play as
possible. And Nik has trouble sometimes with the tough boss's. So I thought
a strong Grizzly would be great for him, it can probably kill anything he'll
face in normal. Which is as far as I'll take the character. Additionally, I
think some simple melee attack to go with the Grizzly will keep Nik happy.
The only Wolf I ever played used Feral Rage & Fury. But I think that will be
too much skill switching for Nik. So maybe just Fury that we can set to his
left button. What do you think about Hunger? Nik might like being able to
bite monsters. Would Hunger be better for his primary attack? Actually, we
could probably give him both. Would it be too complicated for Nik to switch
between Biting the monsters and Clawing Orion? It would probably be a cool
option for a little boy, but would switching be beyond him? If I make the
character L99 and keep him in normal that will give us 102 skills to work
with. So max Lycanthropy (so the shapeshift duration is as long as possible
to keep it easy on Nik) and either Fury or Hunger, and one in Wolf and the
other prerequisites is 43. Grizzly (20), Dire Wolf (20), Spirit Wolf (9),
Ravens (9) and OS (1, prereq) would be the other 59. Comments?

Now there's gear, I'm not an item expert, so all input here is greatly
appreciated. I know Rattlecage armor is purple. And a Prismatic shield is
also purple. But beyond that, I'm clueless. Does anyone have any suggestions
for a purple Great Helm? Would socketing an Amethyst turn any helm purple?
Are there purple gloves too? Boots? A Lightsaber is a crystal type sword,
that might be an option. But I don't think they're purple. Are other crystal
swords purple. A Ribcracker is a favorite Wolf weapon, maybe I could put one
of those on switch, and I think it's purple too now that I think about it.
How about charms Orion? Can we give the character a few charms, or will Nik
just sell/dump them?

OK AGD, help me out here. I'm not just a grumpy old bastard who gives people
a hard time. I can be a nice guy too. So help me out with building this
character for little Nik, of I'll flame your pants off.

Regards-
Mark

Bongo-Fury

Thing is, in WW form he won't see any of his gear.

Does he know that ravens wear themselves out and must be resummoned
fairly often?

It strikes me (ahem) that Molten Boulder might appeal to a young boy,
too; and in human form he would be able to see his gear.  What about
Rabies?  Would he like to turn the monsters green (sorry, no purple)
as he kills them?  Feral Rage would probably be good as his main
skill, as it will keep him alive without having to drink, while
allowing him to kill fairly quickly.

-- Roy L

Orion-
I spent some time working on NIK's character last night. He's in pretty good
shape, but I'm having trouble making a rare shield that comes out purple.
And I also need to work on his Ammy. And figure out what sword to give to
his A3 cold merc (I figured that would be best to freeze the monsters for
Nik, and turn them BLUE). I took him for a spin by doing a Baal run on
'/players 8' and even though I just stood around, the Grizzly and Merc were
able to handle things nicely. I had to drink a potion occasionally, but Nik
should have no problems with this guy and maybe give you a break from having
to bail him out in the tough spots. He plays very simply too; Fury on left
mouse, and shapeshift to Wolf, and Grizzly or Ravens on right.

Regards-
Mark

Bongo-Fury