1. Ancient is treated like an extra affix that is either rolled on an item or not and is done even before you visually see the unidentified item on the ground.
2. Random has no memory. Even if each legendary drop has a 10% chance, the drop does not know nor care if none of the last 100 were ancient. You still only have a 10% chance this drop will be ancient.
Looks like you are trying to figure out what to do with the sader, correct?
If that's the case, I'm guessing you have wrath problems? Ideally, you want 56% cooldown reduction for permanent Akarat's Champion. For stampede, you can be a little lower, like 54%, if you cover the downtime other ways. I suspect you are nowhere near that mark yet.
Given where you are, I would suggest you change Steed Charge for Iron Skin, Steel Skin. Change Law of Hope to Law of Valor, Unstoppable Force. When AC is on cooldown, use both of those together to replace the missing toughness and wrath you were getting with AC. Hopefully, you have enough CDR that you always have one or the other active. Also, try to use the Prophet rune with AC. You lose some wrath, but gain a lot of survivability. With enough CDR, you should be able to make that change.
To get the missing CDR, there are a number of slots you can aim for. You should be able to farm a RoRG with CDR or a natural socket so you can roll CDR on. Get a Vigilante belt as it's the only belt that can roll CDR. Try to get gloves and shield with CDR. Weapon and amulet with CDR are harder to find, but be on the lookout for them.
I haven't grifted above 30 on my barb as it's a rarely played alt, but I haven't had that problem on my crusader in grifts up to 39. I suspect your defenses may be too low but it is masked by the OP nature of the sets when dealing with trash and easier elites. Profile?
Just for reference, I can clear grift 39 pretty easy, just not in time, with my crusader. He's at 11M+ toughness and 1.1M sheet without AC.
I apologize if I implied hammerdin can't go above T4. I merely mean that in the context of EZ-mode farm for T6 rifts and Grifts 25+. It can definitely do them and might be fun for you as long as you know that it isn't as fast or as efficient.
I don't know what direction to head with what I've got. I know "you should play the way you want to play" but I've done that for a while now and would like to push further. Anyone have any ideas for what I can do short term to start heading in a better direction with gear/skills?
It appears you are non-season. It's cliched, but if you are really looking for the strongest build, you'll want to go cookie-cutter. For non-season, that means a Stampede build. http://www.diablofans.com/builds/1905-detailed-guide-gr37-best-stampede-build-hyper
For that build, the shield is critical. Also, for any build, 56% cooldown reduction is big. This allows you to have Akarat's Champion up 100% of the time. A Leoric's Crown is a huge asset for getting the CDR. A well rolled (95%+) crown essentially doubles the 12.5% CDR of a diamond. To wear the crown, you'll need the Ring of Royal Grandeur from Act 1 bounties.
For the first season of ROS, i have decided that i did not want to do like everyone else's build and decided to make a "Firedin" (a fire blessed hammer build) Since crusader dealing fire damage is not as popular as the others, i have been struggling on finding adequate equipment for this build to work. Cam's rebuttal's sword has been a big asset in dealing massive damage and DOT all the while i cast blessed hammer.
In the end, i have fun using this build but i wish to have the community's opinion on how to improve this kind of build.
To note that i am currently grinding for a lidless Wall shield (that will give me 20% fire dmg, crit hit chance and res. all) and a better ring than rogar's huge stone.
Yes, with legit gear, T6 can be a cakewalk for any class. How high you can go in Grifts is dependent on class, skill, luck and just how close to ideal your gear is. Getting to 2M sheet damage likely indicates you have completely abandoned any defensive stats. This means the playstyle will necessarily be to blow things up ASAP and expect deaths on unavoidable damage. Typically, this can only be tried by ranged classes. If that's not your preferred playstyle, you need to gear differently. Modding may be momentarily fun for the pure domination, but almost always leads to fast burn-out as there is nothing left to do if you are not trying for even better gear. I learned that by playing LAN with a hex editor in D2. After a week, the novelty had worn off. I kept playing LAN with my legit toons and simply used the hex editor to preview build ideas rather than waste all the time leveling a build that didn't work.
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zDPS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtfth3bLRHU
Stampede (aka Brony)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZDR24UyN64
Condemn (season only until season ends)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7F2khdQeTA
There are variants of each
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1. Ancient is treated like an extra affix that is either rolled on an item or not and is done even before you visually see the unidentified item on the ground.
2. Random has no memory. Even if each legendary drop has a 10% chance, the drop does not know nor care if none of the last 100 were ancient. You still only have a 10% chance this drop will be ancient.
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If that's the case, I'm guessing you have wrath problems? Ideally, you want 56% cooldown reduction for permanent Akarat's Champion. For stampede, you can be a little lower, like 54%, if you cover the downtime other ways. I suspect you are nowhere near that mark yet.
Given where you are, I would suggest you change Steed Charge for Iron Skin, Steel Skin. Change Law of Hope to Law of Valor, Unstoppable Force. When AC is on cooldown, use both of those together to replace the missing toughness and wrath you were getting with AC. Hopefully, you have enough CDR that you always have one or the other active. Also, try to use the Prophet rune with AC. You lose some wrath, but gain a lot of survivability. With enough CDR, you should be able to make that change.
To get the missing CDR, there are a number of slots you can aim for. You should be able to farm a RoRG with CDR or a natural socket so you can roll CDR on. Get a Vigilante belt as it's the only belt that can roll CDR. Try to get gloves and shield with CDR. Weapon and amulet with CDR are harder to find, but be on the lookout for them.
Edit: for gear reference, similar to mine, but with the weapon you have/find and Unrelenting Phalanx
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Sifu-1756/hero/53594760
Edit: Edit: These suggestions are for Grifts, and maybe rifts, if you're struggling. Bounties, etc, you have a lot more flexibility.
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Just for reference, I can clear grift 39 pretty easy, just not in time, with my crusader. He's at 11M+ toughness and 1.1M sheet without AC.
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http://www.diablofans.com/builds/1905-detailed-guide-gr37-best-stampede-build-hyper
For that build, the shield is critical. Also, for any build, 56% cooldown reduction is big. This allows you to have Akarat's Champion up 100% of the time. A Leoric's Crown is a huge asset for getting the CDR. A well rolled (95%+) crown essentially doubles the 12.5% CDR of a diamond. To wear the crown, you'll need the Ring of Royal Grandeur from Act 1 bounties.
Sorry, no suggestions, but I wish you the best of luck. The best Hammerdin build I've seen is only recommended up to T4 is his guide.
http://www.diablofans.com/forums/diablo-iii-class-forums/crusader-the-church-of-zakarum/83427-lightning-hammerdin-for-those-who-want-to-destroy
Edit: Legendary gems are a big buff. Need sockets and gems in your jewelry.
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Thunderfury + Wyrdward or Azurewrath or other?
Freeze of Deflection or Defender of Westmarch or other?
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http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/guide/gameplay/fundamentals
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First usable Ancient Weapon I've found - and it dropped on my Crusader =/