ACT ONE
Ribinak had a relatively calm trip through Normal. Being properly in line with fighting monsters "around his level" from act two through to the end, his powerful Defiance in combination with blocking, solid resists, and decently strong armors, made him quite sturdy.
So I moved him on to Nightmare. With his sad 20 Dex, yet no ITD weapon (none worth buying ever came up), he was making do with +AR on rings and his VERY fine Soldier's War Scepter of Bashing. What a superb weapon. Seriously. Getting that first hit was sometimes difficult, but not too bad thanks to over 200 bonus attack rating from items. Each hit knocked another 36 points off the enemy defense, such that for tough bosses, after a hit or two, more hits became easier, and after yet more hits, the enemy defense was wiped out and it was like wielding an ITD from then on. This allowed Ribinak to play on with minimum Dex, at least for the moment, and perhaps forever, if I could turn up a strong ITD divine scepter to play with... perhaps from an imbue.
The first couple areas of Nightmare were no big deal. Even beefed up Fallen and rogues were no problem. At first. While their mlvls were still in line. But then, as the mlvls crept up, and up, and up, through the Underground Passage, to the Wood and then the Marsh, Ribinak gained one level, while the monsters gained about eight or so. Next thing I know, champ packs or a boss mixed with a large mob, and not even Ribinak's 1200 Defense Rating could save him. Sure, he could still tank pretty well, but gone was the completely carefree "jump into any mob" tactic. At least if I wanted to survive.
I remember Spiderdrake's defiant paladin. He had stayed in Normal, and leveled up to 30 or 31 before moving to Nightmare. Spider had said he'd had an easy go of it. I knew the reason I had it tougher was twofold: items not as good (from moving on more quickly) and being a bit further behind that dreaded Curve. Spider had stopped to level up and hunt for better items several times on his run, but I wasn't going to do that with Ribinak. I was attempting a one-pass full clear, come what may.
Well, what came was a kind of difficulty that was not "hard" per se, but I didn't find any ready means of crowd control. I had to disengage a lot, and in some situations, I ended up using some Charge to deal with tough bosses. My lack of to-hit power was coming back to haunt me, and I was regretting dumping everything into strength in the hope of wearing better armors as soon as possible.
Frankly, I grew bored with the character and stopped playing him at the Tamoe Highland. He was clvl 28, nearing 29. I WANTED to like this character. I wanted to carry him through. Yet I was married to the one-pass idea, and that may have been my mistake. I can pull that off with sorcies, necros, perhaps even a bowazon, and I can pull it off with Barbs via the Cry tree or the sheer overwhelming power of Whirlwind, but... it's just not panning out here. Not that I'm anywhere close to being STOPPED by the game. Hardly that. But... it grew tedious.
The last time I played with Ribinak in D2 was in April 2001. I shelved him to play Wussie Girl, and as the weeks passed, and then I got into the beta, it looked as if Ribinak would be retired permanently, never to be completed. That blocking was changed in the Expansion (and even in D2 1.08) seemed to be a death knell to this character. That ITD was changed so it won't work against bosses was even worse. Like so many others, Ribinak simply became obsolete overnight. He was done, finito, finished. He was through. Farewell, Defiance Pally. Farewell.
In August 2001, something happened. Something you'd never have imagined, never could have anticipated.
I decided to resurrect this slain build and move him to the Expansion. Why would I do that??
| Ribinak's Page | Ribinak's Expansion Page |
| Sirian's Diablo II Page | Sirian's Expansion Page |