Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Nicely done, jiansonz!:thumbsup:
I think I can't keep up with you, since I still have to do 1700 Mephisto runs for the Mephathon...so you can easily slow down a bit and take a breath :wink3:

And the Stealskull is an awesome find! Congrats on that!
 
jiansonz said:
An early Hungry Dead boss dropped an amulet. Cool! What can it be, what can it be?

+2 to Warcries
:tongue:
Click to expand...
Pfft! Too funny! You should wear it anyway, to enhance Maryam's inner barb. Who knows, she might croak out a Find Item or two.

That was quite a high-impact Andy drop! Sweet set-up for a desert merc, despite heavy item restrictions. Nice Stealskull, popular even among high-end twinkers, and it even rolled excellent MF (highly variable much like Tarnhelm.) :thumbsup:



 
Well, I decided to join the tournament. Here was my first roll:

Spike Fiend
Slinger
Council Member
Vile Mother
Reanimated Horde
Mephisto

Everything about this roll is fine except for the Council members. I really think that forcing SU items to be equipped hurts the spirit of the tournament - we should be looking forward to superunique drops, rather than being screwed by them. The Reanimated Horde are fantastic though (multiple drops), and Mephisto is great. Any non-Duriel boss is fine, really.

Ultimately, I decided to reroll though because I didn't get any of the cool magical-type dropping monsters. I'd really like to get some Ghosts, Gloams, or Finger Magi in there. And most importantly, Council Members have the potential to make the game unplayable, forcing me to trudge through 3 acts only to be forced to equip unusable gear and die.

So here's my reroll:

Goatman
Sabre Cat
Council Member
Oblivion Knight
Blood Lord
Duriel

LOL. So much worse in every way. There's just no way I'm playing with Council Members. They could drop something good, but chances are that they will just screw me over and make the whole thing a waste of time. And having Duriel as the act boss is just horrible. So I guess I'm not playing in this. :(

Can you believe that I got them twice in a row? Sheesh.
 
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By the way, the first time I rolled my monsters, I used integers 1-10 in act II, and drew a 10 for Council Members. However, the second time that I rolled them, I realized that I needed to exclude the tentacle beasts since they don't drop items. I considered excluding my first results since they were invalid (there aren't 10 monsters in AIII), but I said to myself "nah, I'll count it, but just reroll and use that one. I mean, what're the chances of me getting a 9 this time?" And then two seconds later I rolled my nine.

So anyways, Merlin, now since it did happen, I'm wondering if I can reroll the whole thing again, and be forced to use that? I probably will play in the tournament, either using the horrible 2nd roll, or a new 3rd one, but it'll be up to you to decide. If the Council Members do drop 6 Worthless Two-Handed Swords of Crapiness for my FA zon, I'll just charge willy-nilly into the Durance, laughing hysterically, meet my death quickly, and get to start over with a reroll.
 
Actually, it was in the spirit of the tournament to force people to wear SU drops. They are, so to speak, the bounty.
That being said... I did mention that Tentacle beasts should be excluded. Since you included it in your first roll and count, it invalidates the roll, so I guess a reroll should be used. But, as Butzull mentioned earlier in the tourney, the councilmembers are not nearly as bad as they seem to be... provided yyou live for a while. Since it will provide you with more SU mobs, and thus SU drops... So, after a while, you will get more options rather then restrictions. Because, after the slots have been equipped with an SU bountymob, only other such drops can be used to replace them...

I think your second roll is good though (apart from the little D, who I thoroughly hate). I would most certainly have played for the first set, but I guess you are picky :P Well, I hope you will enter, and good luck with the reroll!
 
A note from someon who rolled Council, too: :wink3:

Depending on how many SUs you rolled, the council really doesn't mess things up. You usually get so much crappy weapons from SUs, that the Council only means: more weapons to choose from...

let's say, 2 of your first 3 SUs drop a Magical Crappy Short Sword of No Use, the council drops can only improve your chances of getting a better weapon.

On the other hand, if you only have 3 SUs in total, you might be better off without the council, since chance might be you can choose a bought weapon.

Anyways - would be great I you joined!:thumbsup:
More competition :grin:
 
Oh and, ehh, jiansonz. Wow. Absolutely stupendous results! I salute you, and I think that Stealskull is pretty sweet indeed! And a Holy Freeze merc should be useful, and give you some more safety in getting those PS charges off...
 
Ahh, after reading through the thread, I see now that Council Members are actually quite good in the long run. My first roll was actually quite good -- except for the fact that it was invalid. :( I still consider the second roll to be very bad because of Duriel. I have gotten good drops from all act bosses besides Duriel, from whom I have gotten nothing useful. Ever.

Meet Arya the Charged Strike Amazon! Here's what I rolled:

Skeleton (Bonebreaker)
Probably the single best bountymob in the whole game. I get loads of these in Act I & II, and several in III. Wonderful.

Swarm
A good mob, but the only problem is the lack of a Superunique. I've always thought it was funny seeing big fat Full Plate Mails drop from these guys.

Zealot
Another fine roll. I would have preferred Gloams though, for the magical drops (runes & jewelery) and for the challenge factor. Oh well.

Vile Mother
Well, these annoy me. I mean, there are enough of them, but they aren't fun to fight. Bleh :P (I was hoping for Finger Magi here)

Frozen Horror (Snapchip Shatter)
Another good roll. I love playing in the Ice Cave regions, and having a Superunique is just great.

Andariel
My second favorite boss to have in this tournament. The gems are great, and the fact that she comes early helps alot. I think that Diablo would be the very best.

Overall I don't have very many SU's which could be a big problem, but the monsters themselves are plentiful. If I had gotten some Ghosts, Gloams, or Finger Magi, I would have been happier, but that's hard to do.

I might post an update today to get myself in the thing. It will be small, but considering that many people have died in Act I, it may be a large chunk of her life! :)
 
Heh, well, Arya cleared the entire Moor, Den, and Cold Plains without using a health potion. The Cold Plains mocked her by dropping 3 small charms, 2 large and 2 grand. She also found 2 unusable topazes and 1 unusable ruby.

She found skeletons in the Cave which were very kind - dropping a bow, 2s leather armor, and a cracked sash. Best of all was a ring with 35% gold find. Wow! Something that enhanced the drops of all enemies. She also found some junk like a cracked club and a cracked cap. She cleared the entire cave, Coldcrow and all, before realizing that she had been using Javelins the whole time when she should have equipped the club! Oops. Stupid me. :grin:

She's been deleted, but I'll restart her tomorrow. :)

It's a whole lot of fun, anticipating each skeleton drop, and being delighted every time a potion or key drops from a Fallen.
 
I think you wouldn't have had to delete her...don't think Merlin would have requested that either ;-)
Well, but good to see you enjoy it! I actually think it's one of the most - if not the most - entertaining tournament I ever played!

Concerning your rolls: I have had bad experiences with Swarms - they usually don't drop any useful items for me. I hope you're more lucky!:thumbsup:

Now get going - you've got a whole difficulty level to catch up :wink3:
 
wakiki said:
Heh, well, Arya cleared the entire Moor, Den, and Cold Plains without using a health potion. The Cold Plains mocked her by dropping 3 small charms, 2 large and 2 grand. She also found 2 unusable topazes and 1 unusable ruby.

She found skeletons in the Cave which were very kind - dropping a bow, 2s leather armor, and a cracked sash. Best of all was a ring with 35% gold find. Wow! Something that enhanced the drops of all enemies. She also found some junk like a cracked club and a cracked cap. She cleared the entire cave, Coldcrow and all, before realizing that she had been using Javelins the whole time when she should have equipped the club! Oops. Stupid me. :grin:

She's been deleted, but I'll restart her tomorrow. :)

It's a whole lot of fun, anticipating each skeleton drop, and being delighted every time a potion or key drops from a Fallen.
Click to expand...

Glad you liked the excitement! But.. .ehm... no keys from non-trophymobs...
It's health/mana/stamina/antidote/thawing pots, and the scrolls (and gold drops) only


 
Grisu said:
I think you wouldn't have had to delete her...don't think Merlin would have requested that either ;-)
Well, but good to see you enjoy it! I actually think it's one of the most - if not the most - entertaining tournament I ever played!
Click to expand...

Oooh. :jig: Thanks for that compliment Grisu! And you don't have to delete the char Wakiki. Lord knows, with this many rules, it would be more of a mircale if you managed to play the entire tourney without breaking the rules then it would be to make it through Hell Baal.

Good luck to all!


 
Haha, thanks for kind responses. I didn't notice that we couldn't pick up keys. Oops!

I thought you would probably let me keep going if I asked, but I decided to restart anyway, because the way I killed Coldcrow involved running and throwing poison javelins. With the club (or the bow), I probably wouldn't have been able to beat her, so it would sort of taint the hero. That and I wasn't very far, so it's no big deal.

This won't be a problem when I fill all my slots up and get used to the rules. :)
 
I forgot to tell you that I imbued my belt last session. I looked it up, and everything Maryam really wants on a belt was avaible at her level, so this is one of the rare times I´ve asked Charsi for the imbue right when she has received the Malus. The result? Well, let´s say she passed the test, but barely. No resists (which is what I wanted the most), but she did roll (low-end) Mammoth, the second highest +life suffix that can spawn on rare belts:

Dread Cord
Plated Belt
Defense: 11
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 60
Required Level: 18
Item Level: 55
+34 to Life
+6 to Mana
+8 to Maximum Stamina
Repairs 1 durability in 20 seconds

I have put a Demonhide Sash, a magical Demonhide Sash and a magical Sharkskin Belt in the stash. All are possible future imbues/crafts.

Act 2 has started off nicely. Many nasty archers in the Sewers, so CoS was used a lot and many potions needed for both of us.

Stony Tomb level 1 had a tough stairs trap with boss + champion packs of lightning mages, with Horrors coming in one at a time. When we were about to mop up the last ones, a HF beetle pack suddenly joined the fray! Thankfully, beetles burn very well. :azn:

I met leapers, beetles and vultures in the Waste, with boss packs of all three types. The vulture boss was a tough kid: Might + Extra Strong. I managed to get him away with only one minion as company. I used BF to nail him to a wall, and Mizan took him out. The drop has excellent potential. Hardly have I ever been so motivated to slay Nihlathak (because that´s what it takes to make it available for use):

Plague Thirst
Balanced Knife
Throw Damage: 6 to 11
One-Hand Damage: 1 to 8
Quantity: 100
Required Dexterity: 51
Required Level: 27
Dagger Class - Fast Attack Speed
+71 to Attack Rating
+50 poison damage over 5 seconds
269% Damage to Undead
+278 to Attack Rating against Undead
Level 2 Life Tap (29/75 Charges)

Mizan has not died yet and he has not consumed any rejuves. I wonder how long I can keep it that way.

[Highlight]Destroyer Maryam the PS Assassin and Mizan the HF Guard, level 54, NM Dry Hills next[/Highlight]



@wakiki:
Welcome to the tournament!
It´s hard to predict how good a certain mob type is going to be. One can just try to make the best use out of what is available.
Coldcrow can be a tough cookie. I think I found some throwing weapon from an early zombie I could use against her. Another way to avoid the death nova is to soften her up in melee and let the rogue deal the last damage.
 
Good bountymob luck in act 2. Vultures in the first two desert areas and just like in Normal, Plague Bearers both in City and Tunnels. If all monster types are equally likely to spawn, the chance to meet zombies is 60% and 75% in these areas.

Gameplay has been quite easy. Heavily synergized PS 1st charge is extremely powerful against Nightmare monsters, and Mizan usually needs to hold his position just a few seconds for everything around him to die. He will also win any one on one fight unless it´s a really strong boss. I was relieved he could stand up so well to the two FE beetle bosses we met in the Maggot Lair.

Halls of the Dead was a little tricky, especially one place where there were two Hollow One Champions right next to a mummy casket. I drew out the Returned, then used Mind Blast to push away the champs so I could block the casket without getting Unholy Bolted.

Mizan has had his first two deaths. It does not matter much, because I am only a few thousand away from full gold carrying capacity now.

Recent finds:
- enough rejuves to allow me to have a whole column of full purples, and an extra vial in reserve. Yay!
- diamond and flawless skull
- Dark Elder´s drop: Claglaw´s Tooth and a Skull Cap of Radiance. I did not have to wear this helm since both helms I use are wildcard items. I still kept it. I may socket it for putting in resist socketables, since I have no socketed helm with SU/wildcard status. This one does have a little +AR (which I am desperate for!)
- Steel (+57 AR) Ring of Thawing. It replaced my +8 life ring, which I cubed with two other rings to make a Maiden´s Amulet of Revivification. Don´t know if I want to keep or cube this - life regeneration might be useful in a long Ancients fight...
- Just is I had hoped, vultures can drop 'misc good' items. I got a Grand Charm from one. Of course I was excited, but it was a

Red Grand Charm
+1 to minimum damage

Blah to that!
(I still kept it - may try a reroll later...)

Lean times ahead now. No bountymob potential before Great Marsh.


[Highlight]Destroyer Maryam the PS Assassin and Mizan the HF Guard, level 56, NM Valley of Snakes next[/Highlight]
 
Shockfrosted battled his way on p8 through Act I. Was kind of edgy sometimes, since I either could

A) do damage with Holy Shock Or Holy Freeze and gulp Potions every other second, especially versus Tainteds (Resists: -5/16/1/57)

or

B) stay alive without having to use 10 potions during one battle with Salvation on (63/77/69/57), but with pathetic damage (14-40)

So I decided for

C) Use the bow as often as possible and try to keep my mercenary alive.

Fallens proved to be quite a good mob, since they provided me with enough items to keep my gold balance up:grin:

For Andariel I switched player settings to p3, since I didn't know how well I'd fare. Quite well actually...the Iratha's Collar I found proved quite useful...although I almost never hit her once my mercenary (Blessed Aim merc) died...:rolleyes:

Btw, a shame I can't use drops from chests and sarcophagi.

My score:
[highlight]Normal[/highlight]
Fallen in Act I wiped out + appeared only in 1 Act: +1 +5 = +6
Sabre Cats in Act II wiped out + appeared only in 1 Act: +1 +5 = +6
High Council in Act III wiped out: +12 (includes SU bonus)
Megademons in Act IV wiped out + appeared only in 1 Act: +2 +5 = +7
Reanimated Hordes in Act V wiped out + appeared only in 1 Act: +1 +5 = +6
40 WPs: +40
27 quests: +27
completed Act I, II, III, IV, V: +15
All quests, all WPs in Act I, II, III, IV, V: +5
SU Bonus (Rakanishu, Blood Witch, Infector of Souls, Pindleskin, Bonesaw Braker, Bartuc the Bloody, Ventor the Unholy down): +14

[highlight]Nightmare[/highlight]
Fallen in Act I wiped out: +1
10 WPs: +10
5 quests (imbue still open): +5
completed Act I: +3
SU Bonus (Rakanishu): +2

Level 53: -53

Total: +106


Code: 
[highlight]ALIVE[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]
106   Shockfrosted    Paladin     Grisu              53     NM A2  Lut Gholein
 21   Maryam	      Assassin    jiansonz	     31     A3     Kurast Bazaar


[highlight]DEAD/RETIRED[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]
 76   Mary	      Assassin    jiansonz	     49     A1 NM  Cold Plains
 31   Bobbie_Fett     Sorc        Butzull            31     A3     Durance II
  2   Pasmani	      Druid	  Merlin             21     A2	   Sewers Lv 2
 -6   Lloyd           Necromancer Merlin             19     A1     Inner Cloister 
 -7   Tryman          Paladin     Jaelen             19     A1     Jail Level 1
 -7   Floyd           Necromancer Merlin             17     A1     Outer Cloister

Code: 
[highlight]BOUNTY MOBS[/highlight]
[U]Character      Act I       Act II      Act III      Act IV      Act V        Boss[/U]
Maryam	       Zombies     Vulture Dem Willowisps   Vile Mother Siege Beast  Andariel
Shockfrosted   Fallen      Sabre Cat   Council      Megademon   Reanimated   Mephisto
Pasmani	       Skeleton    Bat Demon   Giant Mosqu  OK		Stygian Fury Andariel
 
So, I don't post here to bump the thread (well, perhaps a little bit of bumping it :blush:) But, I was wondering whether Wakiki was making any progress on his new char?
Also, to once more compliment both Grisu and Jiansonz for sticking it out this long in a quite difficult tournament. Santa checked his bag of compliments, and saw that he had heaps upon heaps left for good tourney players, so xpect some more to come.
In the immortal words of Boyd the lousy necrobountyhunter:
"You can never have too many feathers stuck up your hiney. Enough of those allow you to disguise as poultry and use a stealthy attack!"
 
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