How to manage Nightmare mode

[Kookyo]

After trying out the Nightmare mode and dying too easily, I thought that the balancing would have to be reworked, but I finally managed to get it right with a bit of good will and grind.

I only use ONE spell: leap slash with the advanced phoenix sword, you don't even have to use the other spells, just max this one (I used to do nightmare with this weapon rank 8 now 18). My stats are based on magic damage and survivability ( dodge, armor, life, dmg reduction ).
In my runs I always try to have 1000 hp with artifacts and I have about 40/50% dodge. Enemies can easily hit you at 200/300 a shot in the final levels, and if you've been stunned it's game over if you don't have enough hp and dodge. That's why it's just as important to pay attention to your hp as to your damage.

Helmet : Advanced Clara's Hood ( core skill dmg + resources )

Armor : Advanced High paladin's armor ( for bonus dmg )

Rings : Surging passion + infinity for mana regen

I'm sure there are plenty of viable builds out there, so I'm just sharing a quick one of my own.

A little tip for some bosses:

Vargas: he's a pain but don't rush, his attacks are easy to dodge.

Buchalu: this one's probably the worst boss. he's a run Killer. I always get hit. Fortunately, he's easy to damage, so you have to get rid of him fast. For me, it's a kind of dps check.

Vendevius: He's annoying because in his first phase you can hardly hit him. You have to be patient, as with Vargas, and the second phase is relatively simple, Imo.

[Dinomelt]

Can confirm, phoenix sword and high hp was how I beat the game for the first time

[Astral Pork]

For the spellcaster, there's the ice basic unique. It doesn't work with chill or anything of the sub nodes I believe but in exchange you get a 3x damage multiplier. With that I've had enough damage to slam through the first three stages with only like 100 magic attack (high damage reduction + dodge, but dr + life is probably more consistent).

Beat it once so far with early 2 talent + basic attack synergies > the mask that reduces reroll cost by 80% after 5 rerolls > 6 talent synergy. At the end I had 20 levels in the ice slash and I killed the boss before he got his second attack off.

It's been more stable than anything I've found on the berserker so far.

[Astral Pork]

Beat it a second time with spellblade. Gonna put the game down for now because boss 3 and 4 one shot too much and it's too rng to try and get health early on.

gear: dr, dodge, intelligence, 30% attack speed. 90 hp lmao
early: 2 fury, 3 vuln, 2 satiation
mid: + 2 talent
late: 4 talent, 3 shatter, 2 satiation (dropping this was impossible)

Skill setup was ice basic unique, 3x elemental ults. Somehow went into a flow state and dodged the stage 4 shockwaves. Almost lost to the lightning boss because his phase 2 timings are whack.

I think there's a lot of potential with berserker for nightmare mode but his lack of early game, which is the hardest part, makes it quite difficult for me. Rip off or the unique madness wave seems to be the go to.

Unlike spellblade, dex and strength both contribute to tankiness and damage. Since the max dex roll on a level 15 gear is ~30, and dodge should be 20% of dex (although this isn't reflected in the stats??? bugged?), a dex roll should be strictly better than dodge. A berserker str/dex/dr roll is superior to a int/dr/doge roll in both tankiness and damage.

Since they benefit from dex -> physical attack, +2/+4 talent should be slightly better than on spellblade. They can take both the str & dex scaling talent artifacts as well.

In practice, I think having an OP basic and 3x safe ults to use makes spellblade easier right now.

[LotusBlade]

Here is reliable build for berserker, super strong on current broken nightmare.
All armor pieces should have +25-ish STR bonus and 3% dmg reduction, except boots can have speed. Body is Advanced Resolute Vow (had 15% reduction on it alone, could be better).

Final stats near run end:
- Armor 1028;
- Life 1032;
- Dmg Reduction 26%;
- Strenght 387.
Weapon 1 handed sword Advanced Ode Of Bleeding, cus it's bleed does stacks with other bleed source from Rip Off - your basic skill. Other legendary weapon choises are meh, so just use some rare sword. From mid-game your main skill is Blood Axe which scales from HP into oblivion, together with crit and other multipliers it dishes 4-8k dmg per swing then quickly recover mana by attacking 1-2 times with Reap.

Synergies:
- Satiation 6 (max hp, regen);
- Sturdy 4 (hp regen, armor up against chain attacks);
- Forlorn Hope 2 (attack speed +20% below 80% hp, you are going to be below that all the time).

Artifacts:
- (rare) Stem Of Recovery - gives regen if you have no potions left;
- (rare) Ivy Of Greed - gives max hp and regen when you get hit;
- (magic) Oath of Pride - under 60% life get another 15% dmg reduction.

Due to many ways to regen HP this build allows eating dmg from monsters constantly and after all calculations you can reduce incoming dmg by 41%, so instead of 300 HP hits will receive only 170-ish which is much more manageble thanks to good armor and some extra healing from Blood Axe... Which is +0,5% of max hp from crits and +5 hp with 22% chance.

Due to incredible str you kill monsters in first few zones with 1-2 shots before they even act. Rip Off has huge attack range covering upwards, while Blood Axe attacks upwards, backwards and below - very strong. It is possible to get better stat rolls and boost both str higher and up basic dmg reduction to 47% (if you have oath of pride, of course). There are also many strong legendary artifacts which can further improve armor and hp by many hundreds.

[4000white]

For berserker, Advanced Frenzed Deluge Sword is also a good choice.Mad Wave is strong.