The Certain Death Tournament.

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Well, it seems this tourny was rightly named, solarfury got 2 shot, very quickly, it was as if he was doing too well, at lvl 25 in the maggots lair at a + section in the tunnels with a cold enchanted death beetle he was admiring how one molten boulder could do so much damage... indeed a few sparks hit right as the unexpected cold nova, and deeds showed up.

I think i will try this one again though, seems to have potential just almost too good.

Solarfury, Bowler, Maggots lair, level 25 (R.I.P)
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

It is looking a whole lot better for solarixia this time around, in catacombs lvl 3 unique spiked mace dropped, which gives me a fair bit more life, then i think i had about the best possible andy drops aswell heavy gloves (unique) + heavy boots unique too, i was shocked, took screen shots... been forever i forget how to upload them! will figure out. Oh and a 15 life trinket dropped from andy aswell.

I am playing it safer, put a few points in oak sage already, i have 230 life going into act 2... more then double the first 2 attempts!

solarixia, bowler, act 2 wp, lvl 21
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Rescuing from page 3 :thumbsup:


Taking an enforced gaming break due to sprained wrist and rsi left Damasque way back on page 66 at level 85 just having just completed the Ancients. Before tackling the Keep I decided to attempt the temples and went for a full clearance on p1 after doing a Pindle run at p4. I usually avoid the temple but the denizens on level 1 (mages, tomb creepers, fallen) and level 2 (razor spines, grotesques, flayers) were a kind roll and although there were returned archers, some very hard to see marauders and a few vipers (kept at range and missdirected) on the lower level Nihlathak expired safely offscreen to LF. The drop from him was poor but on the way I did pick up and keep a white aegis and a 100% ED ethereal Tannr Gorerod (50 levels too late and no merc but how bout that?)

Having now reached level 86 sans monarch the aegis was socketed for spirit, a couple of amethysts popped in the spirit forge and enough stat points were spent to carry the heavy shield so the trusty sigons shield could be finally put away. Eschewing the option for peace armour the gemmed blade barrier was also dropped and replaced with a rhyme grim shield for safety on swap (costing 3 sols). Some resistances dropped a bit but the stash had room for a few resistance charms for the final stages.

Next up was a clearance of the act 3 temples at p1 which went smoothly with only one partial stair trap.

The next sesssion (with game kept open) started with a fraught passage (swarms of fallen and shaman) through to the safety of level one of the keep. Level two had souls in but no boss packs and the level 35 valkyrie kept steady progress coupled with a few well aimed gimmershred axes. A complete clearance of level 2 and 3 (deathlords, horror mages) was made before the entry to the most dangerous part of the quest was undertaken( with the teleport amulet donned as a back up). This happened.

In fact the sparsely populated throne of destruction was empty of dolls, souls and oblivion knights and was quickly cleared and Baals minions then cleared mainly at p8 the valk tanking nicely whilst being repositioned occasionally by teleport when required.

Dropping to p1 for Baal the final duel still took an age, bosses being the one weakness of this build. Slow moving Damasque was caught once or twice by the tentacles (very nasty) so lots of dodging, legwork, porting out and rapid weapon switching between rhyme shield/lightning fury and spirit shield/plague javelin became the order of the day.

All that way for this. :jig:

The final session was a p8 cow clearance which took a while and left Damasque with these final stats. Oh yes and one of these finally dropped. :whistling:


Damasque Amazon Skirmisher level 86 Guardian.
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Second Guardian of the tourney, fantastic achievement! :worship:
(Hehe, you beat me by more than 6 acts...)

Nice of the game to not put any major stairs traps in the Act III temples or the Throne level.

An Aegis, huh? Can´t be many characters that have used one of those. No-Vita opens up some weird possibilities.
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Congratz, Tarantella, great achievement!

My own Amazon is languishing in the Canyon of the Magi. Unfortunately, I have lost my D2 mojo for the moment and there is absolutely no point in me playing the game while that is the case. Hope to be back in the saddle soon.
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Fantastic achievement Tarantella!

So much for Certain Death with the second survivor of the tourney!

CB
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Congrats on making Guardian, Tarantella!
Death is becoming more and more uncertain in this tournament :thumbup:
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

WHAT?!

How could this slip past me? I hadn't seen the thread at the top of the page for several days so I figured I'd go back and check to see what the last post was, just out of curiosity. And then I encountered this? I guess the thread must have been updated then knocked off the first page quickly.

Well, Taran, I must greet your Guardianship with the customary mixture of awe and disgust. How can you guys keep doing this to my poor tournament? :D And here I was thinking that your lack of updates meant that she might have died and you were too disappointed to make a deeds post.

I especially liked the fact that you went back and cleared the A3 temples. I wish I had allowed people to spend Lam Esen's points into vitality to make the reward more desirable. You did it anyway which rocks. :thumbup:

By the way, can you and Han tell me how much experience your Guardian characters have?

atigndng, RIP for your characters and thanks for rejoining!

Loz, Extra Fast Apparitions are terrifying. One of the coolest (since I survived it) NDE's ever was against an Extra Fast Extra Strong Apparition pack with my tournament Enchantress in NM. Those buggers move about as fast as Diablo's Fire Nova, and stack right on top of each other to lay the damage on instantly. In my case, I encountered them in the last room of the tomb so I spread them out eventually. If they'd been in the first room, I would've ended my full clear as well.

Here's our new table:

Code:
Forum Name     Character       Class            Location               Level
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HanShotFirst   Hadriela        Frozen Orb/TK    ==Guardian 1==           86
Tarantella     Damasque        Skirmisher       ==Guardian 2==           86
Hp_Sauce       AlreadyDead     Trapper          (H)Crystalline Passage   82
ancalagon T.B. Shatterproof    Strafer          (H)Bloody Foothills      80 RIP
Mursilis       Jaheira         Trapsin          (H)Spider Forest         78 RIP
Lozhinge T.U.  WitherBow       MS/FA Bowazon    (H)Tal Rasha's Tombs     82
Drystan        Argoel          Sorceress        (H)Palace Cellar L. 3    80 RIP
scrcrw         Soapbubble      Strafeazon       (H)Far Oasis             78 RIP
kavarin        DeadTwo         BO Barb          (H)Radament              80 RIP
Drystan        Argoel          *1.13 Sorceress  (H)Catacombs L. 2        77 RIP
crazy_bear     Britta          Trapsin          (H)Rogue Encampment      73
HanShotFirst   Mara            Traps            (N)Throne of Destruction 73 RIP
scrcrw         Kaiko           Blade Fury Asn   (N)Throne of Destruction 72 RIP
Tarantella     Amarantine      Skirmisher       (N)Throne of Destruction 72 RIP
wakiki         Shadow_Salad    Defencemancer    (N)River Of Flame        66
jiansonz       Morte           Mojo/Bonemancer  (N)Plains of Despair     65 RIP
Ohomemgrande   Josephine       ES/FO sorc       (N)Pandemonium Fortress  64
HanShotFirst   Ulquiorra-san   Bone Necro       (N)Mephisto              64 RIP
LozHinge T.U.  WitherStick     Psn Daggermancer (N)Mephisto              62 RIP
soulmanz       SparkyPancakes  Novawaller       (N)Great Marsh           58 RIP
scrcrw         Becalmed        Wind Druid       (N)Kurast Docks          58
Alfonso T.G.   TheAragorn      Ranger Paladin   (N)Tal Rasha's Tomb      59 RIP
Morathi        Drake           Fire Druid       (N)Arcane Sanctuary      58 RIP
scrcrw         Enchilada       Entrantress      (N)Coldworm The Burrower 55 RIP
HanShotFirst   Helen           FA/Strafer       (N)Halls of the Dead L.1 54 RIP
MOOsaccre      Zapsarrap       Orb/Fireball     (N)Dry Hills             53
scrcrw         Jenna           Poison Java      (N)Radament              53 RIP
Morathi        Iago            Fury/Rabies      (N)Pit Level 2           50 RIP
Bluechip       Inevitability   Sorceress        (N)Black Marsh           44 RIP
Thomh          Uzumati         Fire Claws Bear  (N)Dark Wood             49
kavarin        Roadkill        Fire/Wolf        (N)Underground Passage   49 RIP
NagisaFurukawa Rin             Strafer          (N)Underground Passage   46 RIP
Tarantella     Mortiphye       Summoner Hybrid  (N)Cold Plains           48
Mournblade     Freddie Mercury Singer           (N)Cold Plains           47
jdkerr         Lifeless        Wind Druid       (N)Rogue Encampment      48
Shaandore      Fastpoison      Rabies/Summoner  (N)Rogue Encampment      48
cenyth         Teff            ES Sorceress     Baal                     48 RIP
Alfonso T.G.   Fishyzon        Fishyzon         Baal                     48 RIP
Mournblade     Svelte_Savage   Spearazon        Baal                     41 RIP
EmperorMoo     MELIKECAKE      Concbarb         Crystalline Passage      37 RIP
Ohomemgrande   GeneralJoe      Summon Necro     Bloody Foothills         32 RIP
MOOsaccre      Wallerina       F-wall/T-storm   Diablo                   36 RIP
HanShotFirst   Scorn           Fire Druid       Diablo                   34 RIP
Mournblade     Mouse           Golemancer       Diablo                   31 RIP
Brutass        Tane            Summ/Fire Druid  Diablo                   30 RIP
nermind        EatMyBones      Bonemancer       Chaos Sanctuary          34 RIP
EmperorMoo     FineFingers     Strafezon        Chaos Sanctuary          31 RIP
wakiki         BathtubPancake  Charge/H.Freeze  River of Flame           34 RIP
pepitosari     SassyAssasin    Assassin         River of Flame           33 RIP
Brutass        Icybiatch       Frost Maiden     Mephisto                 29 RIP
Brutass        Sparkles        Lite/Orb Sorc    Bremm Sparkfist          27 RIP
MOOsaccre      Moossacre       Bowzon           Ruined Temple            32 RIP
Morathi        Alice           Valk/GA Zon      Lower Kurast             30
Zelator        WitchOfEndor    CE/Curse Necro   Flayer Jungle            29
soulmanz       SwayBabySway    Passivezon       Kurast Docks             27
Cor Blimey     Sir_Healzealot  Cowardin         Kurast Docks             25
Morathi        Blake           Zerker           Tal Rasha's Tomb         28 RIP
scrcrw         of_Worlds       Light Sorc       Tal Rasha's Tomb         26 RIP
Docturnal      Zmeli_Khat      Necromancer      Tal Rasha's Tomb         26 RIP
Brutass        Jezabelle       Javazon          Tal Rasha's Tomb         26 RIP
JayeM          Glassjaw        Barbarian        Tal Rasha's Tomb         25 RIP
Bluechip       Vitamin         Throwbarb        Tal Rasha's Tomb         23 RIP
atigndng       Zed             Elemental Druid  The Summoner             26 RIP
Lostprophet    Cody            Blaze/G.Spike    Harem Level 1            24
PepitoSari     Kratos          Barbarian        Fangskin                 25 RIP
scrcrw         Clodius         Throwbarb        Maggot Lair level 3      21 RIP
atigdng        Solarfury       Bowler Druid     Maggot Lair              25
Morathi        Sibella         Cold Sorc        Maggot Lair              24 RIP
JayeM          Glasscannon     Assassin         Maggot Lair              20 RIP
shizwiggle     Groth-GolemGuru *1.13 Golemancer Maggot Lair              ?? RIP
JayeM          Trixie          Bladesin         Rocky Waste              20 RIP
scottasin      Todetta         Amazon           Rocky Waste              21
holiecows      HolieTraps      Assassin         Lut Gholein              21
pepitosari     KillAll         Sorceress        Lut Gholein              21
atigdng        solarixia       Bowler Druid     Lut Gholein              21
QuickDeath     CandleintheWind Javazon          Lut Gholein              20
scottasin      Toddetta        Amazon           Lut Gholein              20
Jason Maher    Lurz            Summoning Druid  Lut Gholein              20
Ganoidyn       Arvon           Psn Novamancer   Lut Gholein              19
Bluechip       Murderherder    Hunter Druid     Lut Gholein              19
scrcrw         Summer          Blizzsorc        Andariel                 19 RIP
EmperorMoo     Magrat_Garlick  Trapsin          Andariel                 18 RIP
Myth           RAWR            Throwbarb        Inner Cloister           19
JayeM          GlassEye        Necromancer      Jail Level 2             17 RIP
Galningen      KingLeoric      Bonemancer       Jail Level 1             19
UllaV          Tilsit          Blizballer       Jail Level 1             18 RIP
sirpoopsalot   QuestionMarks   ES/GS Sorc       Barracks                 18 RIP
Brutass        Snatch          Trapsin          Barracks                 18 RIP
Ganoidyn       Arvon           Psn Novamancer   Barracks                 17 RIP
Bluechip       Sickness        Poison Javazon   Barracks                 15 RIP
MOOsaccre      VikingJoe       Conc/Find Item   Outer Cloister           17 RIP
Skjoldmose     Nico            Fire Trapsin     Outer Cloister           16
NagisaFurukawa Isumi           Trapper          Forgotten Tower          15 RIP
Docturnal      Toxarys         Strafezon        Black Marsh              15 RIP
XxUberStarxX   Inevitable      Chargadin        Stony Field              12
mattinm        TomCruise       Leap/Howl/Ward   Stony FIeld              12
Docturnal      Papa_Bear       Wearbear Druid   Cold Plains              12
NagisaFurukawa Kirei           Bonemancer       Cold Plains              8
Lostprophet    Bill            Fred Phelpsin    Cold Plains              8
Galningen      Blade           Bf/Light Traps   Cold Plains              6
EmperorMoo     BraveSirRobin   Mojomancer       Cold Plains              6
MOOsaccre      Kharne          Fireclaws Bear   Cold Plains              6
Brutass        Sparky          Lite/Orb Sorc    Den of Evil              6  RIP
Kefka          Fergie          Trappa           Rogue Encampment         1
maareek        DeathtoCurtains Berserker        Rogue Encampment         1
Machete        Benny           Bow Barb         Rogue Encampment         1
Zefimas        Susannah        Bowzon           Rogue Encampment         1
EmperorMoo     Circe           Sorceress        Rogue Encampment         1
cenyth         Cytohu          Windy Druid      Rogue Encampment         1
Docturnal      Zmeli_Khat      Poisonmancer     Rogue Encampment         1
Morathi        Aisha           Thrower/MB Asn   Rogue Encampment         1
 
Last edited:
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Thanks folks!

Damasques stats on finishing are in the final stats photo.

She immediately hired a might merc, got a peace dusk shroud armour within the hour and as my highest level sp character is now levelling/mfing in the pits with a level 35 valk. :wave:
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Wow Tarantella! I leave town for a few days and look at what happens!

What a cliffhanger :nod: . Well played, and congrats on reassuming the lead! (p.s. I too really like the max block with the Spirit Aegis . . . pretty stylish :thumbup: )!

wakiki – Here’s Hadriela’s Final Stats
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

good news for me: I plugged in a new power supply earlier this week and everything booted up back to normal! :thumbup:

So I was able to resume Britta's journey from where she left off, in the Canyon of the Magi.

I guess I should go back a bit, as I don't think I stated much about her journey through act II, with the exception of the mess in the false tomb. Throughout act II she played on p3, with LS happily blasting non-LI, and MB/FB/Merc taking care of the rest. :cool:
With the skill pts that she had unspent I decided to see how bad WoI was (being bugged and all...) turns out, I shouldn't have tried. Even with 5 going, the total dmg output was minimal, when they even worked. Oh well. :thumbsdown:

Overall there was no area that was pAarticularly bad, and several finds helped along the way. A few of the more interesting finds were:
Haemosu's Adamant: +75 life! - this lead to more gear rearrangements. It worked out well in the end though, resists came out to 49/50/50 with Fade! Felt a bit cocky after this... put chance guards back on instead of Bloodfists.

An interesting Rare Claw:
Ghoul Claw
Suwayyah
One-Hand Damage: 125 to 167
Durability: 126 of 144
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 99
Required Strength: 99
Required Level: 44
Claw Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x9a59a3a8
+222% Enhanced Damage
+83 to Attack Rating
10% Increased Attack Speed
+3 to Venom (Assassin Only)
+2 to Phoenix Strike (Assassin Only)
+2 to Death Sentry (Assassin Only)

I saw a ghost spear for sale from Fara and made a safety craft with this result:
Bone Scratch
Ghost Spear
Two-Hand Damage: 33 to 289
Durability: 22 of 28
Required Dexterity: 163
Required Strength: 122
Required Level: 70
Spear Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0xe90f63d2
+9% Enhanced Defense
+87% Enhanced Damage
+148 to Attack Rating
Damage Reduced by 4
Magic Damage Reduced by 2
6% Life stolen per hit
9% Mana stolen per hit
20% Increased Attack Speed

Only thing was I didn't realize the merc wouldn't have enough dex! I had to socket an armor for him to be able to use it!

Britta's favorite areas: Maggot Lair and AS. In both cases the terrain makes it hard for the baddies to get at you, and the traps/merc can do their job easily. The AS also has no LI's except for the towers. Britta never even got close enough to see the summoner.

After clearing all false tombs, Britta had her freezeup issue in the last false tomb, which turned out to be the one holding Kaa, and that one was left. The true tomb had mummies, Gorebellies, and rotting corpses. I ended up dropping to P1 to speed it up as the Gorebellies were a pain in the arse. I had already planned to do Duriel on P1 anyway, as the prospect of delicate Britta being trapped inside with him was bad enough!
One interesting find in the tomb was an ethereal mancatcher. despite the low base dmg it seemed worth a try to use the socket cube recipe and britta got 5 sockets. Hooray! Though not in time for Duriel, here is the resulting Honor:
Honor
Mancatcher
'AmnElIthTirSol'
Two-Hand Damage: 172 to 367
Durability: 15 of 15
Required Dexterity: 124
Required Strength: 122
Required Level: 55
Spear Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x746a34c3
+10 to Strength
+160% Enhanced Damage
+250 to Attack Rating
+9 to Minimum Damage
+9 to Maximum Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +10
+1 to Light Radius
+1 to All Skill Levels
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
25% Deadly Strike
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (5: 5 used)

The Merc should be just a bit hurtier now!

Finally, Duriel killed the Merc a couple of times, and most of Britta's remaining purples went into Azrael, but in the end he did drop
The IK belt could be useful with some equipment switches... the ring was promptly sold.

Hooray act 3!

[highlight]Britta, lvl 82 trapsin, Hell Kurast Docks [/highlight]
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Phew.

WitherBow has cleared all but one of the False Tombs (the Apparitions can keep that last one) plus Duriel has been defeated after a long scary chase around his chamber that lasted maybe ten minutes in total. The pre-buffed Valk was just not quite durable enough to stand toe to toe with the Big Bug, and the battlefield castings were even frailer. Nevertheless, job done. Duriel at P1 dropped two useless rares and a TP. Thanks.

Players 1 for me from here on in, it is just too hard without some heavy duty damaging weapon. Windforce, por favor :)

Still, multi shot on P1 versus Flayers should be a laugh, and I am comfortable with the idea of not fully clearing until the end (whatever end that should be).

Good luck if you're still playing, gratz again to our Guardians (crazy, how did they do it? :D )

[highlight]WitherBow, MS/FA Bowazon, Level 82, Kurast Dock (Hell)[/highlight]
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Alas, poor WitherBow, a Boss Gloam one-shotted her. I'd been dodging well and was perhaps too confident of my ducking & diving ability. Still, not a bad effort for my second ever HC character :)

Good luck to all still playing. I take my leave now, as 1.13b beckons and I want some rune love. I will remember this tourney with affection, and with awe for the skill of the Guardians. And of course, it introduced me to Hardcore Hardcore. ;)

[highlight]RIP Conqueror WitherBow, MS/FA Bowazon, Level 82, The Great Marsh (Hell)[/highlight]
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Commiserations there LozHinge but very well played indeed!

And that goes for both of your hardcore characters in this very unforgiving tourney.
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Oh I hope Britta doesn't find Gloams....

RIP Witherbow, what a fantastic run Loz. Good (Rune) luck to you in 1.13b!
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

A short update for Britta:

Happily, the two immediate areas that were worrying me most, Great Marsh and Flayer dungeon, turned out good monster rolls: no gloams or undead dolls! :thumbsup:

The Gidbinn was interesting however, as the pack spawned right on top of Britta. A quick rejuv and MB saved the day... all reaction no thinking. So Britta was able to make her way to the Kurast Bazaar without too much difficulty after that, and collect the first two of the body parts. She did the two temples as well. Sarina's had a minor stair trap. The disused fane Britta didn't even mean to enter when she did and a stray click sent her in ... I'm sure glad there wasn't a stair trap there!
No new interesting finds, just nice safe progress :)

[highlight]Britta, lvl 83 trapsin, Hell Kurast Bazaar[/highlight]
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Death always comes when you aren't properly prepared....

Britta had cleared this area and I was just trying to run from the WP to the Kurast Sewers with dodging instead of killing. I wasn't really thinking as the pack of Zealots came... they are quick enough to surround a char, and they trapped Britta. A quick TP or a few MB's might have saved her at that point but for whatever reason I tried to escape backwards, and the thrasher pack I had run past caught her. The hits were coming too rapidly to escape at that point, didn't even get all my rejuvs used up :(

[highlight]RIP Britta! [/highlight]



CB
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Commiserations, c_b and RIP Britta. It is so easy to see where you go wrong after the event! Sorry you deeded. :(
Fast and Extra Fast monsters are particularly deadly in this tourney, as hit recovery is such a problem at low health. Alas.
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Oh no, 2nd fatality in as many days. :(

The game certainly toughens up in act 3 and now there are no contestants active on the table between Hp_Sauce in hell act 5 and wakiki in nightmare act 4!
 
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