Is my Warden well on her way to higher difficulties?

[Wazhai]

Hi! I started playing TQ a few weeks ago and I'm very new to the game. A Warden is my first character to go past act 1 and I think she's pretty powerful so far - died only once. So my question is, how are my build and items? Considering I've never played any similar games in higher difficulties (only played Torchlight on normal about halfway through and a few hours of Diablo 2 at a friend's place), is the character going to be strong enough for the higher difficulties? I don't want to spend countless hours playing a character only to have him fail when it gets rough.

Also, I can't decide between the two shields - the blue one offers much better defense but the one I already have offers about 50 more DPS.

And about stats on items? Which should I try to get and focus on? Currently I try to have +(%) strength and pierce damage mostly.

For some reason the attachment thingy doesn't work so I'm putting a link for the screenshots.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rihq202rxhjfjsq/7mtiv0eEWN

Thanks in advance!

[Benitot]

Hi and welcome. Congratulations on choosing a warden, it's a very strong class that won't fail you. I don't have much experience with them but you should definitely max study prey as soon as possible. I think the green shield is the better, a warden won't lack defensive ability. And elemental damage is not for you, don't socket your weapon with zeus thunderbolt. Concentrate on physical and piercing damage, valor of achilles is better.

Shield block isn't very important in normal difficulty but you should gradually increase your chance to block as from epic. Keep it up, others will surely help you better with your build.

[Wazhai]

Thank you for the help

As you recommended I've replaced the zeus thunderbolt with a peng claw and I will max Study Prey after Disable and Shield Smash, because I really want to get those.

[Benitot]

Peng claw is a good choice and maxing those shield skills is a good plan

If you want to show your skill point allocation you don't have to take a screenshot every time. You can go on titancalc.com to plan your build. On the bottom of the page there is a return link, just copy it and paste it here.

E.g your build is like this http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.a...-1-0-1-0-1-6-0

[Wazhai]

http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.a...-1-0-1-0-1-6-0

I decided to get rid of Batter and max Wood Lore and after I max Disable I will start maxing Study Prey and Flush Out. After that I'm not really sure, maybe get Battle Awareness and the synergies?

I just finished chapter 3 and beat Typhon on my second try. I died the first time because apparently 30 potions wasn't enough and I stocked up and used around 50 until I could kill him. It was going quite slowly and it took at least 5 minutes of running around the arena in circles. That was because I could only hit him a few times before I had to run back and heal. Hitting him for 3-4 seconds dropped me down to 2000/4000 HP. I dodged his lightning and fire attacks, but the life drain took almost 1500 HP alone.

[Wazhai]

I finished Normal difficulty yesterday and I just started Epic. Those archers in the final parts really gave me trouble. Epic so far has been a cakewalk for the most part, but I'm still in the beginning of act 1.

I even got my first purple item just now, it's so awesome I almost got a nerdgasm. Dayum, that block! 19% -> 39% Just the shield I needed for my character. And the first time I visited the shop in Helos I found a better weapon than the one I had.

Here is how I'm doing:

http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.a...-1-0-6-0-1-6-0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g2f3gqblxy...reenshot04.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bl8yscqkir...reenshot05.jpg

I'm trying to work on my resistances...

[Benitot]

Congrats on beating normal

yeah check the vendors as often as you can to see if they have better stuff. you have a good amount of gold to start epic so I assume you are doing great at picking up items and selling them. I know some players don't like to do it but i think its important to have a good amount of gold. It would be sad to see a great item being sold and you don't have the gold to buy it.

your pierce resistance is great, that helps a lot against archers. Poison shouldn't be a problem for you because of herbal remedy. Just work on your elemental resistance especially helpful against bosses.

Some suggestions for your skills. armor handling not only reduces your strength requirements but also increases your armor absorption. Which means your armor will absorb more physical damage. Not a problem if you don't get hurt a lot but it should be maxed by legendary for optimal effect of heavy armors.
If you want more shield block put 1 point in battle awareness and max focus. you may lack energy so you may have to invest a few points in this attribute. I read people add 4-8 points in it for warden. don't worry you a very unlikely to lack strength. My juggernaut didn't even have 600 strength by the end of legendary
Quick recovery is also a great skill to max, it can be very useful in tough situations, increase shield block and reduce shield recovery time plus 10% armor absorption.
If ranged attackers cause you problem max find cover, you can also use an amulet of the guile to increase your chance to avoid projectiles. the veteran's prefix on armor also gives you chance to avoid projectiles.
Your stun and skill disruption resistances are very good. But if you change gear and you find yourself missing those put some points in iron will.

good luck on your game. Keep it up

[Benitot]

Congrats on beating normal

yeah check the vendors as often as you can to see if they have better stuff. you have a good amount of gold to start epic so I assume you are doing great at picking up items and selling them. I know some players don't like to do it but i think its important to have a good amount of gold. It would be sad to see a great item being sold and you don't have the gold to buy it.

your pierce resistance is great, that helps a lot against archers. Poison shouldn't be a problem for you because of herbal remedy. Just work on your elemental resistance especially helpful against bosses.

Some suggestions for your skills. armor handling not only reduces your strength requirements but also increases your armor absorption. Which means your armor will absorb more physical damage. Not a problem if you don't get hurt a lot but it should be maxed by legendary for optimal effect of heavy armors.
If you want more shield block put 1 point in battle awareness and max focus. you may lack energy so you may have to invest a few points in this attribute. I read people add 4-8 points in it for warden. don't worry you a very unlikely to lack strength. My juggernaut didn't even have 600 strength by the end of legendary
Quick recovery is also a great skill to max, it can be very useful in tough situations, increase shield block and reduce shield recovery time plus 10% armor absorption.
If ranged attackers cause you problem max find cover, you can also use an amulet of the guile to increase your chance to avoid projectiles. the veteran's prefix on armor also gives you chance to avoid projectiles.
Your stun and skill disruption resistances are very good. But if you change gear and you find yourself missing those put some points in iron will.

good luck on your game. Keep it up

[Wazhai]

Thanks for the help!

I'm maxing Find Cover right now and then I will max either Art of the Hunt or Armor Handling depending on whether I need damage or defense. And yeah, my stun and disrupt resistances are good, but only come from 1 amulet I got off Hades (IIRC) which gives me 80% of the one resistance and 60% of the other so I'll have to be careful before I switch it with something else.

[jaelrin]

And yeah, my stun and disrupt resistances are good, but only come from 1 amulet I got off Hades (IIRC) which gives me 80% of the one resistance and 60% of the other so I'll have to be careful before I switch it with something else.

Due to Iron Will characters with defence mastery shouldn't worry about stun and disruption resists on gear.