Hammerdin

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History

In the Beginning

Hammerdins, as they have become lovingly known, were a subclass of paladin that started in the very beginning days of Diablo 2, dating back to the launch of the game. Paladins as far as players could tell were intended to be a supporting melee fighter who used auras to augment the effectiveness of the party while engaging in melee combat to deal their primary damage. Paladins were outstripped in melee by their rivals the barbarians, and as such were more of an accessory to barbarians and amazons who used the paladin's auras to augment their formidable combat prowess. Just before they were to be placed forever in the background to never share in the glory of those whom they aided, something miraculous occurred. Someone had discovered that the paladin's "blessed hammer" skill which relied on magical damage was augmented by the concentration aura.

Prior to patch 1.04, though, the character screen would only show the blessed hammer skill's damage, without augmentation of the concentration aura, which meant that players had to "take on faith" that the bug worked. Blizzard addressed this issue claiming it to be a "feature" of the game, albeit unintended. To Hammerdins around the globe this was considered Blizzard's stamp of approval on the unofficial subclass and it was welcomed by the community.

The standard equipment for Hammerdins of the time consisted of Wall of the Eyeless, Tarnhelm, Silks of the Victor, and as much faster cast gear that one could muster. Faster Cast was even to be taken over +Skills equipment such as Stones of Jordan, because faster cast often meant stun lock and the standard more hammers equals more damage. Another benefit of not having the extra plus to skills was that the hammers also cost less mana, as mana regeneration was often a problem for hammerdins (as many wished to limit placing any stat points into energy; they preferred to place all their stats in vitality if they could manage it). There were many in the camp of faster cast as the whirling cloud of hammers could decimate large groups of enemies much quicker than those who sacrificed casting rate for plus skills. Hammerdins of this time often were seen with one point in redemption for mana recovery and with the plus to skills bonuses the paladin had meditation was often used for mana recovery. Still, with maxed out blessed hammer and concentration and taking the tree to one point in redemption, there were many skill points left to be placed (as synergies didn't exist yet). The ultimate combo tended to be maxing out smite and holy shield (which most paladins did anyway) to be used against bosses. Most paladins kept a barbed shield around to smite bosses into a corner while the rest of the party easily finished it off.

The Dark Days of 1.04

Many people eagerly awaited patch 1.04 to fix various bugs and tweaks that needed to be made. What very few expected (especially from the paladin crowd) was the death of Hammerdins. The patch corrected the previously dubbed "feature" so that blessed hammer was no longer augmented by concentration. People threw in the towel and go rid of all their hammerdin equipment which included the rare scepters with fast cast and plus skills or transferred it to other casting classes such as the necromancer and sorceress (whom hammerdins traditionally would share similar gear with). The chat channels were filled with disgruntled hammerdins and some tried to weather the storm and continue the legacy of hammerdins without the concentration augmentation.

Eventually, Blizzard released 1.04b which restored the previous feature of Hammerdins and even displayed the damage it caused on the character screen so that "taking it on faith" was no longer required. The race was yet again on to recover previously lost or given away equipment and hammerdins were back on the market. This, of course, was to the dismay of some, especially those who had already given away their equipment!