Tournament: Envious of the Green and Gold

It's a pretty boring update this time. Very little of note happened. Easy enemies overall (boars, aka Baal's minions in all the three big areas). The only somewhat tricky part was right outside the gates of Harrogath. There were lots of Slingers (including boss packs) and while they can't damage my merc, they can damage me if am standing in line behind him.

Apart from boars, Highlands had Death Slashers and imps while Plateau had lightning mages and goats.
Abaddon had imps and both types of succubi (Shock Wave is perfect for nailing those annoying 'type 2' witches so they don't fly away and out over lava). Pit of Acheron had Maw Fiends, Unravelers and more Temptresses.

I found an upgrade to my +life and MF Grand Charm - it was higher in both stats. My resists are not good enough for me to have both charms on me, though. I socketed Tal's mask (since I know it's going to be used a lot) with a perfect topaz. MF is now 130% on Unferth's kills and 106% otherwise.

One green and one gold today: (another) Stormguild and Berserker's Headgear. I now have three complete sets. I just checked out the Berserker set's stats on the AS. Man, that set sucks even harder than Isenhart's...


[Highlight]Eric the Werebear and Unferth the barbarian, level 69, 13 S/U items equipped, NM Crystalline Passage next[/Highlight]
 
Welp, Trifecta was defeated by the fierce Duriel. I'll probably rejoin with the same build, but we'll see. Lesson learned; don't watch Netflix while killing an act boss :(
 
Sorry to hear about Trifecta Daz. Looking forward to hearing your next attempt.

Also a pretty boring update from me. It's been an unrewarding grind: 1.5 hours for the Frigid Highlands, then another 1.5 hours for the Arreat Plateau. Ouch. Very little S/U action. Isenhart's Case in Abbadon (my fourth, to go with my four Lightbrands) and Infernal Sign (the belt) from Arreat Plateau. Then a golden Swirling Crystal from the Glacial Trail. After identifying I was admiring the mods and thinking how great an improvement Occulus was over Blood Crescent (which was the 2nd S/U I found and has been with Envy since Normal Tamoe Highlands!) when I realised that "Sorceress Only" meant "NOT Necromancer". Idiot! No weapon upgrade for me. Shortly after a Lem rune dropped, so I can now upgrade an exceptional unique armour if I feel like it. Envy finished up at the Frozen Tundra waypoint.

Keeping Wulfgar has proven to be not really worth the extra magic find, but now that I've ground out this far I find I'm more attached to keeping him than before. After all that grind I need him to deliver before I ditch him!

[highlight]Envy the novamancer and Wulfgar the barb merc, Lvl 70, NM Act 5, Nihilithak's Temple next, 15 S/Us equipped[/highlight]
 
@Dazliare: Ouch indeed.

I don't know if you did already but if not, boost your and your merc's cold resist with thawing potions before the fight. Much of the damage from Normal Duriel comes from the cold damage his HF aura gives him.
 
As this is the only active tourney, I am thinking about getting back in with a Conviction/FoH Paladin.

Some questions:
1. Are Conviction/FoH Paladins fun to play?
2. Are you using up all your money on gambling? If so, have you gotten any S/U's that way?
3. 5 years ago, I read that I should kill the Countess on /p1 to get the best chance of a rune drop. Is that still true?
 
HC Gunther said:
2. Are you using up all your money on gambling? If so, have you gotten any S/U's that way?
Click to expand...

Pretty much yes (except for a reseve for merc resurrections and such). No, no success yet in this tournament. It's a very small chance. I think I scored one item in the first S/U worshipper tourney, though.

HC Gunther said:
3. 5 years ago, I read that I should kill the Countess on /p1 to get the best chance of a rune drop. Is that still true?
Click to expand...

This is still true (although /p2 drops the same as /p1).


I have not played a FoH Pally yet (but I will someday).
 
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HC Gunther said:
1. Are Conviction/FoH Paladins fun to play?
2. Are you using up all your money on gambling? If so, have you gotten any S/U's that way?
3. 5 years ago, I read that I should kill the Countess on /p1 to get the best chance of a rune drop. Is that still true?
Click to expand...

1. Not sure (never played one).
2. Yes and no. If you read back through the thread you can see that a very few people have managed to gamble an S/U in this tourney ... but what else are you going to spend the money on?
3. As mentioned by jiansonz, yes. However, in this tourney you really don't have much use for lower runes (any runes?) so I ran Countess in Normal and NM on p8 for the extra experience and improved other loot chances. Hell might be different in the hope of getting that elusive Pul rune, but I'll be on a lower players setting anyway for Hell, so maybe not much difference when any runes above Pul are completely useless.
 
Priscilla the Phoenix Striker has joined the fray. With her faithful rogue scout Elly by her side, we have rescued the illustrious Deckard Cain.

The start of this character has seen some better luck than Trifecta. Trifecta didn't find her fifth Topaz until the catacombs, yet I have 5 already and I'm not even in the Black Marsh! Hoping this is a sign of good things to come :)

First S/U dropped in Tristram: Stoutnail. At first I was mightily disappointed, until I remembered that Trifecta did the majority of act 2 with angelic sickle. I think Stoutnail with blade fury will probably be a little more effective, especially in Arcane Sanctuary. The +7 vit is nice, too :)

Priscilla and Elly - level 16 Phoenix Striker - S/U's equipped; 1 - Black Marsh next

Last question, and I think I know the answer. I had Bane Ash in Trifecta's stash (not equipped). Can I take it to softcore, or is it lost? I'm assuming it's gone because I can't get on the character in game to retrieve it, but I thought I'd ask.
 
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Priscilla has completed Act 1! Most of it was uneventful, though I did have a bit of a hairy situation around The Smith. Champion bone mages, boss moon clan, and the Smith all right next to eachother. On the plus side, Dimoak's Hew dropped from that pack, which made a really nice blade fury weapon for Andariel.

3 S/U's dropped since my last update: Dimoak's Hew from a boss pack by the Smith, Arctic's Belt, and Axe of Fechmar, both from Andariel. I have the axe on swap, with Stoutnail and a small shield, while the mercenary uses Dimoak's. Deserts next!

Priscilla and Chalan - Level 21 Phoenix Striker - S/U's equipped: 4 - Deserts next
 
@Dazliare: Nice going! Dimoak's should keep your merc powerful enough for you to reach the part of the game where Phoenix Strike can start to carry the day.

If you had not muled off Bane Ash when that character died, it's lost. Sorry.



A few more interesting fights and finds compared to last update. At the start of one of the big ice caves, I had to handle a PI snake boss. I decided to tank it so Unferth would not attack it before the minions were down. Then I went and fetched Skystrike. Wow, that weapon made for some fast paw swinging!

Frozen River was quite a challenge with Sirens, Gloams and ghosts. To my surprise, the Gloams seems to have even higher physical resistance than the ghosts.

Icy Cellar was also tricky. Entrance on the center island. Lots of Abominables, and if we took a few steps forward, there was a mass of lightning shots coming from below. So I hung around the central block and was attacked by a Champion Siren from the left. We drew that one around the corner to get away from the gloam shots, only to be met by a Champion Gloam pack on the back of the block. Several retreats up the stairs, and I tiptoed and secured piece by piece of more land. That island below the entrance was left until the only other remaining part was the clockwise stretch along the outer edge leading to Snapchip and the sparkly chest. There were two Gloam boss packs on that island: CE Spectral Hit and Holy Freeze Extra Strong.

One death for Unferth - when the Evil Urn on Nihlathak's floor spawned an FE Tomb Viper Pack. Even the HoW was hurt plenty by those missiles. Since it's PI+PoI here in Nightmare, that fire damage must have been applied a lot of times.

S/U finds:
Cleglaw's Tooths #2 and #3
Arctic Binding #2
Gravenspine
The Salamander
Sigon's Sabot (Glacial Trail) Nice!
Ripsaw (Halls of Pain)

After the Nihlathak session, I upgraded Ripsaw because I had calculated that it would be a better weapon than Soulflay (at least now that I have another souce of life steal). More damage, and even though it does not have the 10% IAS that Soulflay has, the sword type is much faster so it wins out there, too. And the OW is great. When I made the upgrade, the sword changed graphics to something I did not recognize. I checked the AS and that is how Todesfälle Flamme (unique Zweihander) looks like. I did not known it works like that.


[Highlight]Eric the Werebear and Unferth the barbarian, level 72, 13 S/U items equipped, NM Arreat Summit next[/Highlight]
 
I didn't know the upgrade would change the appearance like that either. Have you checked it since exiting and returning?
 
HC Gunther said:
As this is the only active tourney, I am thinking about getting back in with a Conviction/FoH Paladin.

Some questions:
1. Are Conviction/FoH Paladins fun to play?
2. Are you using up all your money on gambling? If so, have you gotten any S/U's that way?
3. 5 years ago, I read that I should kill the Countess on /p1 to get the best chance of a rune drop. Is that still true?
Click to expand...

pharphis said:
I didn't know the upgrade would change the appearance like that either. Have you checked it since exiting and returning?
Click to expand...

Surprised you didn't make a comment about the FoH .....
 
Jcakes said:
Surprised you didn't make a comment about the FoH .....
Click to expand...
I thought it was fun with a group questing and then even more when I tried to optimize the build for AT.

I think I would like it for a tournament, since the build can easily keep the merc alive with holy bolts for LI bosses, and have 1 pt fanat/cleansing etc. so maybe I'll do that sometime.

It IS boring against act bosses but there are only 15 of them...
 
Conqueror Envy and Wulfgar have defeated Baal.


On the way, Pindle dropped Sigon's boots, while Hsarus' boots and Sigon's belt were found in the Halls of Anguish. Then it was back to the Frozen Tundra to clear the rest of the way from the waypoint. Boneslayer Blade was found, one of the few exceptional S/Us so far and almost completely useless for Envy. Tancred's Crowbill also dropped before we jumped into the Infernal Pit. Vile Witches, Stygian Dolls and Oblivion Knights provided plenty of challenge in the Infernal Pit but only the one S/U, Beserker Hauberk. In the Ancient's Way we found Isenhart's Shield and Milabrega's Orb. The Ancients (p8) were separated using Decrepify and the Clay Golem with one in each of three corners they provided easy pickings. Extra Fast Talic was taken first, Holy Shock Aura Korlic next and Extra Strong Madawc last.


WSK 1 was the hardest area so far, with Black Lancers, Hell Witches and Invaders. A couple of Extra Strong packs of the Black Lancers caused Wulfgar a few deaths and the pack that was also Extra Fast were down right terrifying. All that for Death's Touch! WSK 2 had Cadaver, Soul Killers and Black Souls, along with a Fletchers GC of Life. WSK 3 had Spectres, Hell Temptress and Oblivion Knights, also Hwanin's belt. The Throne was packed with Serpent Mages, Hell Witches and Pit Lords, plus another Shadowfang. Ventar was mighty problematic and Lister was Lister, alright once we separated them all out to tackle one by one.


Baal was taken at p8 because I simply forgot to change the setting. With Decrepify and the CG to keep him quiet it was just a matter of time and lots of blue pots till he fell (three trips back to town). Having been pretty stable and safe for most of the battle, once his life was nearly gone he became a lot friskier, started teleing around a bit and also used his mana burning hose a few times. Still he died and dropped the Lance of Yaggai and Gleamscythe.


6 uniques and 11 set items for the Act and not a one that I am likely to use.


The Act itself was a huge grind most of the time. Pretty safe with Dim Vision, but pretty dull waiting for Wulfgar to kill things (and not really having a big enough mana pool to go crazy with the poison nova anyway).


[highlight]Envy the poisonmancer and Wulfgar the barb merc, Lvl 75, NM Cows next, 15 S/Us equipped[/highlight]
 
Found the most recent table and updated my entry. It hasn't been updated in a while (from page 35 http://www.purediablo.com/forums/sh...een-and-Gold&p=8592202&viewfull=1#post8592202).

I just finished full clear of Black March, including tower and the pits. Took a while, so many minion packs. I've played 1.00, 1.07 and 1.09 last couple of years so kinda shocking how much boss packs there are already in NM!
Code: 
Name          Character    Class       Diff.   Area               Level    S/U's Equipped
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archone       Chicken      Necromancer  Completed                    87          15
jiansonz      Martina      Amazon       Completed                    87          13
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kitteh        Briony       Assassin     NM       Inner Cloister      50          13
felixbavaria  Bruno        Druid        NM       Cold Plains         48           9
srrw          Selene       Sorceress    NM       Rogue Camp          48          11
jdkerr        Phusis       Assassin     NM       Rogue Camp          47           9
igloosPat     Hennifer     Assassin     NM   Black March   50          13
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RIP           Thor         Paladin      Normal   Harrogath           35          11
Immortal_S    GreenGoldie  Paladin      Normal   Harrogath           34           8
Grisu         Meronym      Assassin     Normal   City of the Damned  33           9
jiansonz      Eric         Druid        Normal   Lower Kurast        30           6   
Glenstorm     Irene        Assassin     Normal   Kurast Docks        27           3
HC Gunther    Fireyogi     Druid        Normal   Palace              25           3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enceladus     Vengence     Paladin      Normal   Dry Hills           23           5
Tox FTW       Oatmeal      Paladin      Normal   Dry Hills           22           2
Jason         Qirana       Amazon       Normal   Rocky Waste         22           4
kestegs       SankeEyes    Sorceress    Normal   Lut Gholein         21           3
Dezrok        Envy         Necromancer  Normal   Lut Gholein         20           4
Jerametrius   Passion      Paladin      Normal   Lut Gholein         20           2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morathi       Yates        Barbarian    Normal   Lut Gholein         20           0
AnjaS         Beril        Barbarian    Normal   Outer Cloister      17           1
kstarm        Malice       Necromancer  Normal   Outer Cloister      17           0
djmbbandie    Rage         Druid        Normal   Rogue Camp           1           0
Kitteh        Brydon       Druid        Normal   Rogue Camp           1           0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Eric is now a Conqueror.

Talic had Holy Shock and Eric ate a whole Whirlwind from him, which took his life below half. If you don't count lingering poison, I can't remember when that last happened. And this was with 80% lightning resist! - I wonder what kind of freaky weapon Talic had.

WSK level 1 was quite tough with zealots, spearwomen and Vile Witches. The other floors (including Throne level) were easier. A silly suicide bomber boss pack on WSK 2.

Baal focused completely on Unferth, so I fed him potions as necessary while Eric could Cleglaw away on Baal without trouble. The 25% slowing and some cold damage (from charm) dumbed down Baal a little.

No S/U drop in the last session. Baal dropped three rares and three failed set items (Bastard Sword, War Javelin and Legend Sword).


[Highlight]Eric the Werebear and Unferth the barbarian, level 75, 13 S/U items equipped, NM Moo Moo Farm next[/Highlight]
 
Nice work Conqueror Eric.

NM Cows has been cleared but it was exceptionally tedious and painful on p8. Merc deaths were beyond counting. We got hemmed in at the portal opening, which was a little scary for a while. Then we broke free and galloped across the field until we reached a place where we could start to systematically clear some space. Other than the Cow King there were no bosses and only two packs of champs. Given how we struggled with the regular cows maybe this wasn't such a bad thing. S/U drops: Beserker's Hauberk, Isenhart's Lightbrand and an ethereal Gravenspine - +2 necro skills and some +mana make this an awesome upgrade to Blood Crescent.


Thus ends what was a generally tedious NM, particularly towards the end our killing speed dropped to the point of inducing extreme frustration and impatience - sometimes downright boredom. 74 S/Us dropped in NM, 33 uniques and 41 set items (that gives a total 104 S/Us for the first two difficulty levels). Only 13 of those S/Us are exceptional quality (not counting upgrades), which is kinda disappointing. We have no complete sets, although 4 items of Cathan's (Mesh, Rule, Seal and Visage). 5x Isenhart's Lightbrands and 4x Isenhart's Case are our two most common S/Us. For the uniques, two copies is the most we have of anything - Stormstrike, Bloodrise, Griswold's Edge and Shadowfang. For much of NM we had 195% MF, with an extra 86% on merc kills.


For stats we put 70 in strength early (this now gives us about 15 too many points here), enough dex to have 50% block with Sigon's shield and vitality for 600 life. About 30 stat points are in reserve at this stage. Poison Nova and Poison Explosion are maxed, with recent points going in to Poison Dagger (now 8 hard points) to try and improve our nova damage. PN is our main attack but we find plenty of opportunity for the other two poison sills as well. PE for the longer duration and low mana cost, while PD gives a more than solid melee attack with Heartcarver for taking down individual monsters. 3 hard points in Clay Golem and Golem Mastery, plus one in Summon Resist give a fairly resilient little tank and some decent slowing action. The Curses get a hard point each, with 11 for Dim Vision (enough for a fairly large AoE and 15 sec duration) and 6 for Lower Resist (over -50% enemy resists and extra points only adding 1% more).


The standard tactic is to DV everything, then use the small AoE of low level Amp Damage to single out a few monsters that the merc is attacking. The CG generally draws most of the attacks, allowing the merc to flail away in peace and Envy to cast PN to assist with bring the life bars down a little faster and to stop monster regeneration. Attract gets used if we get mobbed and it isn't convenient to retreat or when up against really hard hitting opponents. Decrepify is used against Act Bosses and the occasional other boss once they are isolated. Life Tap gets the odd use if I need the merc to just tank mobs while Envy novas, Terror can be useful for pushing flying critters off from over water or other places where their drop will be lost. Lower Resist gets very little use as it has a large AoE and generally I prefer to keep the monsters quiet under DV.


So what next? To be honest I'm not too sure. Envy has become dull and if he goes into Hell like this then I doubt he will last long. We will regear him but despite the number of S/Us that dropped there isn't really all that much choice. We can get +4 to skills (Gravenspine, Peasant Crown and Sigon's shield) but i think that resists are going to be very, very low. I'll probably reroll some charms with most of the 80 PGems I have and hope for some good resist ones. A couple of 20% lightning resist jewels are the only useful ones out of the green and golds, while a PTopaz might look good in a shield. We have a socket in the Arctic Furs (if we keep using them) and haven't used the NM Larzuk's yet.


A change of merc is also on the cards - upped Shadowfang isn't really cutting it any more. I was thinking an Act 2 Holy Freeze for the cold effect, but then again DV stops most things in their tracks, so perhaps that isn't really much help. Prayer or Defiance perhaps? I have that nice Meat Scraper for an Act 2 merc. I don't think I have a good enough bow for an Act 1 merc (Arctic, Stormstrike and Witherstring), but perhaps an Iron Wolf if I was willing to use Lower Resist more - a cold one could make up for the lack of DV. And then, if I was willing to give up the IK helm I could go with an Act 5 barb wielding Todesafaelle Flamme and getting life leech from Undead Crown (possibly Lower Resist would increase damage more than Amp with this set up).


Anyway, I'll probably have a little break from Envy now (a few days at least), reroll those charms, try out different gear combos and see where we end up. Feel free to throw in some suggestions.


[highlight]Envy the poisonmancer, Lvl 75, holidaying in the Hell Rogue Camp[/highlight]
 
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