How on earth do you survive hell?

[Alientank]

How on earth do you survive hell?

It seems with every char I will go do some MF'ing in NM etc etc, however I'll get somewhat decent stuff and head off to hell, with my defense act 2 merc, and once I hit act 2, get gang banged 6 ways from sunday. I know hell is all about equipment, how the hell are you guys doing it? I have a meteorb/max block sorc right now who is doing mf in NM, which is pretty easy for her to handle, but every time I try out hell, I get to act 2, frustrated and leave.

 

[Phyrexial]

What is giving you trouble in particular? Immunes? Bad res?

 

[Alientank]

What is giving you trouble in particular? Immunes? Bad res?

Res ain't bad all 4 are in the 40-50 range, merc around my level (77) and my skills spent where they currently should be. Got a bunch of pretty decent low-mid unique/rare gear. Just seems like they get so much more powerful and my merc bites it huge on those damn snakes with their charge, I don't have max block yet as I don't have a stormshield yet, etc. It also leads into a question of what is good gear for a defense merc to survive hell, because I have no clue.

 

[Hacknshoot]

Hell is.... well, hell! I had a slightly inferior character, and I did on the few runs I did. Those were Hell Countess, Hell Andariel, and Hell Mephisto. Ok, I made cow levels for a while, until I completely destroyed the king without knowing.

I used a combination of Frozen Orb, Meteor, and Blizzard. FO and Meteor are used for the normal enemies, and Blizz was mainly used for cows, where I was actually quite effective with a 1k Blizz. But I was soloing.

She had maxed FO, put about 12 points into CM, about 15 into Meteor, and 11 into Blizz. About 7 points into Icebolt and 1 into both FB spells.

She had 235 Strength, 100 Dexterity, 160 Vitality, and base Energy. Don't say a thing about my stats.

So, my main redeeming factors were my luck and my merc, who was my same level. If I faced CI melee enemies, I would let him tank the enemies while Meteoring them from afar, and hoping that Zanarhi would not die. In the Catacombs Level 2, it was a breeze, because all I had to fight were Dark Ones(and shamen) and Misshapen. At level 3, I decided to teleport because of the Banished dudes. At Level 4, I walked through the door, mutilating everything inside. When I came to the big door, I would go back and make a TP and restock on stuff. Then I would kill everything but Andariel, and let my merc tank her for about 5 seconds, which was enough to do a bit of damage, then start running from her into the other room, orbing her as I went. After she died, I went to Hell Meph, and just teleported to him.

So, if you have good luck and a bit of items, you can do pretty well.:thumbsup:

 

[Phyrexial]

Damage Reduction is always good on mercs, lots of life leech as well. If you are using a Defiance merc you will want to capitalize on his aura by using as much high def gear as you can to get it multiplied by the aura. The Claw Vipers in Hell for example have around 4-5k AR and are level 76 so after throwing around some numbers I've calculated that with 10k defense they will still have a 29% chance to hit. Even at 20k defense, they will still have a 17% chance to hit.

I personally prefer Holy Freeze mercs with a Reaper's Toll and possibly other Slow's Target gear. Brings everything around them to a crawl and sends survivability through the roof.

How much damage are you dealing with your attacks by the way?

 

[keithano]

I had just got my luck from joining a huge game and passed thru the hell to act 5 after ancients. Or, it will be definitely impossible for me to solo, as I am a pure-Blizz sorc. At this moment, I was doing pindle run , 30secs for a run, with my 76 lvl sorc. No godly gear on , just a lidless is worth saying.

Wondering what other mf place is suitable for my pure cold sorc. Is the hell-countess possible?

 

[Hacknshoot]

Damage Reduction is always good on mercs, lots of life leech as well. If you are using a Defiance merc you will want to capitalize on his aura by using as much high def gear as you can to get it multiplied by the aura. The Claw Vipers in Hell for example have around 4-5k AR and are level 76 so after throwing around some numbers I've calculated that with 10k defense they will still have a 29% chance to hit. Even at 20k defense, they will still have a 17% chance to hit.

I personally prefer Holy Freeze mercs with a Reaper's Toll and possibly other Slow's Target gear. Brings everything around them to a crawl and sends survivability through the roof.

How much damage are you dealing with your attacks by the way?

If that last question is directed toward me, not much. Her orb did(I made a new Ultima-X for the ladder) aobut 450 damage tops, and my new one does that much at level 22 orb. Her meteor did only about 3k damage.(new one only does 1k or so, but I decided to build up fire tree last- she's level 65 or so) My merc used a Corpsemourn, Tal Mask,(maybe should have used Vampgaze) and a Bonehew. With the Bonehew, my merc does 1700 base, and my sorceress did 2k base with it.(goes to show you that my sorceress could have been evil in melee if she had been an enchantress) My merc only had about 2.5k defence, and my sorceress had about 2k before the armour spell. I REALLY botched her up.

 

[Phyrexial]

I had just got my luck from joining a huge game and passed thru the hell to act 5 after ancients. Or, it will be definitely impossible for me to solo, as I am a pure-Blizz sorc. At this moment, I was doing pindle run , 30secs for a run, with my 76 lvl sorc. No godly gear on , just a lidless is worth saying.

Wondering what other mf place is suitable for my pure cold sorc. Is the hell-countess possible?

Hell countess is cold and fire immune. Unless you've got a very nice merc, it's a no go for pure Blizz sorcs.

I MF'ed Meph for awhile on the last two ladder seasons early on since you can beat him fairly easily with totally crap gear and -100 res all if you know where to stand. The tough part is just teleing down there, but if you have 63% fcr and some mana pots it shouldn't be too hard. 105% fcr and it should be easy.

 

[Hacknshoot]

A good trick to walking the Durance is to let your merc tank the dolls, then run away a bit, then kill the dolls. Your merc will not get hurt by the explosion for some reason... But it's cool.

I got a Crainte Vomir in Nm for walking the Durance, so it may be worth it to walk.

 

[keithano]

Hell countess is cold and fire immune. Unless you've got a very nice merc, it's a no go for pure Blizz sorcs.

I MF'ed Meph for awhile on the last two ladder seasons early on since you can beat him fairly easily with totally crap gear and -100 res all if you know where to stand. The tough part is just teleing down there, but if you have 63% fcr and some mana pots it shouldn't be too hard. 105% fcr and it should be easy.

Oh thank for the reply.

Hell mephisto...hmm, the council there is quite trouble for me. Heard that there's a trick and several places to stand of which u become god, but I dunno that sadly. 63% fcr , quite impossible for me at this moment, as my gear is really crap..lol. Seem that I should run more pindle at this moment to see if there's any luck for me, either for trade or for self-usage.

 

[Hacknshoot]

Oh thank for the reply.

Hell mephisto...hmm, the council there is quite trouble for me. Heard that there's a trick and several places to stand of which u become god, but I dunno that sadly. 63% fcr , quite impossible for me at this moment, as my gear is really crap..lol. Seem that I should run more pindle at this moment to see if there's any luck for me, either for trade or for self-usage.

I can tell you the trick:

Get Mephisto next to the moat, preferrably in the overhang by the portal. Teleport over the moat, and stay with him on the edge of your screen. Then (for me, Meteor) Blizz repeatedly until he keels over. He shouldn't attack you.

If you can run Pindleskin fast, keep going. You're bound to get something good sooner or later, and it may help boost your Evil-killing capabilites.

 

[keithano]

I can tell you the trick:

Get Mephisto next to the moat, preferrably in the overhang by the portal. Teleport over the moat, and stay with him on the edge of your screen. Then (for me, Meteor) Blizz repeatedly until he keels over. He shouldn't attack you.

If you can run Pindleskin fast, keep going. You're bound to get something good sooner or later, and it may help boost your Evil-killing capabilites.

Oh well , thank for teaching, I've tried and I know it's working, but suddenly the Council cast Hydra on me. How to prevent from discovering by them?

I think I run pindle run quite fast , 2 blizz and 6 glacial spikes are enough to clear them with crappy gear. Will be much faster later on^^

 

[Hacknshoot]

Oh well , thank for teaching, I've tried and I know it's working, but suddenly the Council cast Hydra on me. How to prevent from discovering by them?

I think I run pindle run quite fast , 2 blizz and 6 glacial spikes are enough to clear them with crappy gear. Will be much faster later on^^

If you can, try looking from the wall when you enter the Level 3. If you see them on the right-hand side, then you should warp to the left side. There's one Council member that's always on the left, but at least he doesn't have followers like Sparky does. And he's always within the walls, so you can stay out of his sight and kill Meph that way.

 

[keithano]

If you can, try looking from the wall when you enter the Level 3. If you see them on the right-hand side, then you should warp to the left side. There's one Council member that's always on the left, but at least he doesn't have followers like Sparky does. And he's always within the walls, so you can stay out of his sight and kill Meph that way.

Thanks for the guide. Will try it when I go back to home after work.
Well, wanna play Diablo2 at office rite now.. really addicted..=.=

 

[eudora]

I moser's shield with 2 p diamond, all resist 26 ammy, plus 2 very high resist mf rares on my helm and boots made me full resists in hell of course plus a bit of resist here and there from charms and other equipments..

 

[Arutha]

Thanks for the guide. Will try it when I go back to home after work.
Well, wanna play Diablo2 at office rite now.. really addicted..=.=

In the sorc forums there is a very detailed explanation of this trick includeing pics of where to tele and stand. Here it is: link

 

[SeDnA]

You say that a blizzard sorceress cannot get past hell all by herself, sadly thats wrong. Many people have done it. I don't know how to describe it to you but at the start of hell your average blizzard should deal 2k-4k damage depending on your gear. But since you already got past that portion I shan't talk about it.

Magic-Finding: Pindleskin is a great way to MF, however, on battlenet you can't do him over and over again without stopping or you'll get realm down'd. Hell mephisto is another great place for blizzard sorceresses. Drop a blizzard on mephisto, spam glacial spikes and send super healing potions to your merc and pray that he survives for 5-10 seconds. Lastly, do not forget the lvl 85 area for blizzard sorceresses, the ancient tunnels!
Hence, an MF run should be like that:
1) Mephisto, kill, grab, go through portal.
2) Ancient Tunnels, skip all monsters along the way until you find the ancient tunnels, go in, kill, grab, tp, A5.
3) Pindleskin, kill, grab, quit.

I heard that staying on the lobby helps a bit so maybe after every run you stand up and stretch your arms or something :lol:

May the WF be with you.

 

[AnimeCraze]

Add Andy to the list if you really want to avoid Realm Down. There shouldn't be any cold immunes near her.

 

[keithano]

You say that a blizzard sorceress cannot get past hell all by herself, sadly thats wrong. Many people have done it. I don't know how to describe it to you but at the start of hell your average blizzard should deal 2k-4k damage depending on your gear. But since you already got past that portion I shan't talk about it.

Magic-Finding: Pindleskin is a great way to MF, however, on battlenet you can't do him over and over again without stopping or you'll get realm down'd. Hell mephisto is another great place for blizzard sorceresses. Drop a blizzard on mephisto, spam glacial spikes and send super healing potions to your merc and pray that he survives for 5-10 seconds. Lastly, do not forget the lvl 85 area for blizzard sorceresses, the ancient tunnels!
Hence, an MF run should be like that:
1) Mephisto, kill, grab, go through portal.
2) Ancient Tunnels, skip all monsters along the way until you find the ancient tunnels, go in, kill, grab, tp, A5.
3) Pindleskin, kill, grab, quit.

I heard that staying on the lobby helps a bit so maybe after every run you stand up and stretch your arms or something :lol:

May the WF be with you.

Just a bit confused, may I know where is the ancient tunnels?
Got confused with my work in the office.. is that the waypoint to the arreat summit?

Anyway , thx for the guide !

 

[Phyrexial]

Just a bit confused, may I know where is the ancient tunnels?
Got confused with my work in the office.. is that the waypoint to the arreat summit?

Anyway , thx for the guide !

It's one of the optional dungeons like the Pit, only the tunnels are in Lost City I believe. Somewhere in Act 2.