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Vessel of Hatred

The Untwinked Level 99 Progress Thread, Revenge of the 99ers

@darkstarhub MP game to setup a portal isn't allowed I think, no.

I wouldn't use a socket quest on Skin of the Vipermagi to be honest. In the end you'll want something better, probably Chains of Honor.

As to Pindle, since you are after experience, it's far better to run him on /p8. He can be dangerous, but if you make sure to only teleport to the left of the room, your merc should provide you with enough safety to keep you alive.

Good luck !!
 
Kitteh said:
Any main points? Any new 99ers?
Click to expand...

I think the main point you need to know is that I am awesome.

Kidding aside, briefly to sum up from what I've read (terribly sorry if I missed anyone!)

Me, Myself and Aura are doing fine in CS, first quarter of the last level done (and a bit over), but that seems likely to be Aura's home for the rest of the level. Last few weeks have mainly gone with RFL so not much to progress XP wise.

@T72on1 is also a competitor in RFL and that has put his Sorc to rest when it comes XP. He's also stated that he will take his time with Neverland to push for 99 and focus on other things such as his O-skill sept, which will be an interesting read/sept most definitely.

@PhineasB is our latest runner to reach 98 and to be honest, my dark horse for the next 99. The determination to have (and keep to) daily/weekly goals will be his advantage, he'll steadily gain XP and provide a huge threat for Aura to reach 99 next. If I'm not mistaken, also a competitor in RFL, so the ultimate race from 98 to 99 will be relatively uneventful for the next 3-4 weeks until RFL is finished.

@hasuprotoss made us all a favor and filled that gap from 98 to 96 in the table by getting to 97.

Steady progress from users like @Chaostar @Tarantella @darkstarhub etc. and couple of newcomers in @Me2NiK and @ThomasJohnsen.


I'll provide a proper update on Aura on Sunday I think, that gives me couple of hours of gameplay to get a bit more XP so I can update the table with more than just 1-2% increase from last time.
 
@T72on1 I appreciate the advice. To be honest CoH is something I have considered. That would free up a socket quest for the Merc possibly. That 15% AS/Fire Resist jewel that's waiting to drop would be perfect for the Ethereal Andy's that's also waiting to drop. At this point Insight is not keeping up with my Fire Balls and Frozen Orbs so I might throw that Reapers I found on the Merc and punch a hole in it.

The thing with Pindle is on P7 FO's just don't kill them fast enough right now, and those dudes can break out so fast. If he would come off some of that gear he is hoarding I might be able to do more dmg, so P1 is my spot for now. I've been thinking of using the Ancients quest for the last part of 93-94 or 94-95 because I would be furious if I died and wasted any of it. I like running Baal with FO so I need to just do it soon.
 
Nice summary @Neksja!

Updating the table to show incremental progress with Mercy. She finally found Tal's amulet! But not other finds to speak of.

Hiatus also gained some XP and is about 1/4 way to 97, with a really dumb death mixed in as she sorted through drops with too many OKs around. :rolleyes: But body recovery kit helped. And Phaedrus is getting close to 90 -- maybe by the end of the weekend?

I am definitely getting a DNF for this round of RFL, as I've focused on the 99ers and gotten only 5 or so hours of Council runs in so far.

EDIT: I forgot how quickly levels come (relatively) in low 90s :). Phaedrus reached level 90.

Code: 
Name          (C)            SC/HC    Class  Level/exp   Extended Stash  #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths  # of Hours
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy      Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal        Eleanor         SC      Sorc      99             No         3068        437            5           -
NanoMist      Izuna           SC      Sin       99             No         5109        470            4         360
Neksja        Aura            SC      Paladin   98.20          Yes        6750        462            -           -
PhineasB      Mercy           SC      Sin       98.1           Yes           -        452           10           -
T72on1        Neverland       SC      Sorc      98             Yes        2190+?      446           13         260
hasuprotoss   Reina           SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1751        384            -           -
PhineasB      Hiatus          SC      Sorc      96             Yes           -        380           18           -
Tarantella    Tarasha         HC      Sorc      95             Yes           -          -            -           -
XyleneCyanol  Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
darkstarhub   Neptune         SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
ThomasJohnsen xInTheBuffx     HC      Sorc      92             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz          Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
Chaostar      Prairie         SC      Sorc      91             Yes         659        261           12         126
OldSoldier    Battleforge     HC      Pala      91             Yes           -        236            -           -
tokerdin      tokeress        SC      Sorc      91             yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw      Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
Qwernt        CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           ?          -      Dont want to know
MercMan       Este            SC      Ama       90             Yes        1212        278            2      Classified
Me2Nik        Fugu            HC      Ama       90             Yes          80
PhineasB      Phaedrus        SC      Pala      90             Yes         292        162            9           -
Lynchgrinch   Tattersail      SC      Sorc      89             Yes           ?        321         too many     lots
LiquidClear   Sally           SC      Assn      **             Yes         225          -            1           -
liquid_mage   zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc      **             Yes           -        160            -           -
Zenigma       Ayura           SC      Barb      **             No            -          -            -           -
Neksja        Turirao         SC      Druid     87             Yes         191        124            5           -
Gladstone     Socrates        HC      Druid     86             ?             -          -            -           -
Zenigma       Gnosis          SC      Druid     86             No            -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb    Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Qwernt        AmaAgainstAll   SC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          -            -           -
Gambit        Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Jean Avila    SpeedAdict      SC      Ama       77             No            -          -            -          50
logo          Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
TwentyMule    Rayne           SC      Sorc      76             Yes         195        140            ?           ?
Darke Rahl    Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0
Vildecor      Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax    Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb    Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Kitteh        Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU           Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit        Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer       Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin    Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
BKC           Poison_Vic      SC      Necro     12             Yes           1          1            -          2,5

The Fallen
Code: 
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
TwentyMule  Valus           HC      Barb      76             Yes           -          -            1           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
 
Last edited:
The journey to 93 was getting tedious with players 3 AT and players 1 Mephisto. I decided after many (many!!! - best Mephisto Hell map ever) runs to restat and equip a Spirit and switch to higher settings. I did AT players 5 with ease and added LK and Pindle both players 5 with Mephisto at players 3. Near 3/4 of the way I switched to AT players 7 combined with LK while still doing Mephisto players 3 (when I had assembled 7-8 big purples). After the restat I decided to focus heavily on cold and almost not on fire and just skip cold-immune/stoneskins which allowed for a much more potent Blizzard. Besides the shield-change the equipment is the same as it was at 92 with maybe a charm or two added/removed.

The journey in pictures:
View attachment 4913

Now I can craft amulets - and I have saved something like 50 or 60 sets. Fingers crossed :)


#EDIT: After rereading the post I realize that I left out a title. It was supposed to be "The journey from level 92 to level 93". So just to be clear - I've just reached 93 :)
 
PhineasB said:
Very nice Blizz Ormus! I see Blova in her future.
Click to expand...

Now that you mention it, I guess I could try that one out. I have never actually played one. Maybe when I get a little bit higher level - they're supposed to be used in CS, right? Note though that I am a bit on the elderly side and prefer 1-2 key builds. The 4-5 key builds with switch and such tend to get me discombobulated and suddenly I find myself teleporting into a pack of fanatic monsters with a CtA flail whacking away - unintentionally ofc :)
 
@ThomasJohnsen - yes, I agree that it would be for higher level, likely the last. If you're doing CS for the last level (on p1/p7 because Diablo is the focus for XP at 98), the Nova helps with de Seis. If you're running Nihl (you're HC, I think, so maybe not advisable), Nova can help with a unbreakable cold immune roll. This is what @Pb_pal did for the last level (in SC).

I spent a couple hours at Council for RFL, but came back to Mercy for a little bit today. My goal was to hit 3.26B and then reroll Nihl maps to get map #3 with a well on the way. I think I rolled a keeper:
View attachment 4914
You can barely make it out, but there is a shrine on pretty direct path to stairs from the WP. If I feel like more leisurely running, Mercy can hit the superchest and check out one more shrine before heading down . . .

View attachment 4915 Yeah, pretty good. One teleport out of the way to check a shrine, then a well on the way to another shrine right next to Nihl's platform. In a small sample, Mercy is keeping XP shrines for the kill more than 1/5. I may have to count 100 runs to get a larger sample but I think hitting the shrines will be very worth it for her. She also dropped a +life/+mana small charm in favor of carrying a flawless amethyst for Gem shrines. In the small sample, she got 2 pAmethysts for crafting using this strategy.

And the new map also has runes:
View attachment 4917
 
Great progress guys!

@ThomasJohnsen - Blova is wonderful, and Phineas is right that I used one to finish the journey here. They are great at Baal, CS/Diablo, Nihl, basically all of the higher leveling targets. Nova will not be destroying things left right and center, but it does a great job at killing those pesky unbreakable CIs (especially at lower /p settings)
 
Code: 
Name          (C)            SC/HC    Class  Level/exp   Extended Stash  #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths  # of Hours
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy      Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal        Eleanor         SC      Sorc      99             No         3068        437            5           -
NanoMist      Izuna           SC      Sin       99             No         5109        470            4         360
Neksja        Aura            SC      Paladin   98.30          Yes        8170        464            -           -
PhineasB      Mercy           SC      Sin       98.1           Yes           -        452           10           -
T72on1        Neverland       SC      Sorc      98             Yes        2190+?      446           13         260
hasuprotoss   Reina           SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1751        384            -           -
PhineasB      Hiatus          SC      Sorc      96             Yes           -        380           18           -
Tarantella    Tarasha         HC      Sorc      95             Yes           -          -            -           -
XyleneCyanol  Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
darkstarhub   Neptune         SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
ThomasJohnsen xInTheBuffx     HC      Sorc      92             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz          Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
Chaostar      Prairie         SC      Sorc      91             Yes         659        261           12         126
OldSoldier    Battleforge     HC      Pala      91             Yes           -        236            -           -
tokerdin      tokeress        SC      Sorc      91             yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw      Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
Qwernt        CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           ?          -      Dont want to know
MercMan       Este            SC      Ama       90             Yes        1212        278            2      Classified
Me2Nik        Fugu            HC      Ama       90             Yes          80
PhineasB      Phaedrus        SC      Pala      90             Yes         292        162            9           -
Lynchgrinch   Tattersail      SC      Sorc      89             Yes           ?        321         too many     lots
LiquidClear   Sally           SC      Assn      **             Yes         225          -            1           -
liquid_mage   zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc      **             Yes           -        160            -           -
Zenigma       Ayura           SC      Barb      **             No            -          -            -           -
Neksja        Turirao         SC      Druid     87             Yes         191        124            5           -
Gladstone     Socrates        HC      Druid     86             ?             -          -            -           -
Zenigma       Gnosis          SC      Druid     86             No            -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb    Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Qwernt        AmaAgainstAll   SC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          -            -           -
Gambit        Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Jean Avila    SpeedAdict      SC      Ama       77             No            -          -            -          50
logo          Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
TwentyMule    Rayne           SC      Sorc      76             Yes         195        140            ?           ?
Darke Rahl    Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0
Vildecor      Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax    Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb    Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Kitteh        Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU           Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit        Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer       Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin    Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
BKC           Poison_Vic      SC      Necro     12             Yes           1          1            -          2,5

The Fallen
Code: 
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
TwentyMule  Valus           HC      Barb      76             Yes           -          -            1           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1

As promised, an update on Aura!

Another 10% done! Pretty nice I'd say. The last 10% came pretty much from Diablo runs, p1 until Grand Vizier and Diablo, who I kill at p7 since Grand Vizier goes down practically as quickly on p1 as it does on p7 so that extra few thousand XP per run will eventually pile up. I have two other variations that I run. One is the same as my XP run, but I also stop to kill bosses so I have a chance of finding some of those missing items from the grail. The other variation is p7 "full RoF+CS clear", where I go and pop two RoF superchests, kill 1-2 boss packs that spawn there, 3-4 boss packs that spawn in RoF on my way to CS and then 3-5 boss packs in CS between the seals. This is considerably longer run timewise, but it also gives me roughly 1.5x the XP I get from my XP runs. However, the runs are more than 1.5x longer, so I don't do these much, just when I feel like refreshing my memory of how dangerous this place can be, since p1 running is so easy that if I forget to change my player setting before I start a run, I might run into trouble with Conviction bosses and die. So, p7 runs occasionally to keep myself on my toes :)

Drops! Since I already finished RFL Round 2, I'm gonna post the findings from that round in this update. Of course I won't include the runes, but the non-qualifiers. Here's the useful/interesting stuff I found there (the same list posted in RFL thread so feel free to skip if you read through them there):

Code: 
Andariel's Visage
Demonhead
Defense: 563
Durability: 11 of 11
Required Level: 83
Required Strength: 92
Fingerprint: 0x2fb5974c
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
15% Chance to cast level 15 Poison Nova when struck
+2 to All Skills
+20% Increased Attack Speed
8% Life stolen per hit
+143% Enhanced Defense
+30 to Strength
+10% to Maximum Poison Resist
Fire Resist -30%
Poison Resist +70%
Level 3 Venom (18/20 Charges)
Ethereal

Beast Scarab
Jewel
Required Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0xf0057657
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
27% Enhanced Damage
+13 to Attack Rating
+7 to Dexterity
Cold Resist +24%

Cobalt Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x6b8725e6
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
Cold Resist +8%

Fine Small Charm of Greed
Small Charm
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x8727f2cb
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Maximum Damage
+15 to Attack Rating
8% Extra Gold from Monsters

Fungal Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xb9d20af2
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Poison and Bone Skills (Necromancer Only)
+15 to Life

Greyform
Quilted Armor
Defense: 29
Durability: 13 of 20
Required Level: 7
Required Strength: 12
Fingerprint: 0xd7d822cf
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Life stolen per hit
+20 Defense
+10 to Dexterity
Cold Resist +20%
Fire Resist +20%
Magic Damage Reduced by 3

Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0xd8cd881e
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Increased Attack Speed
Adds 1 - 30 Lightning Damage
3% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)
Lightning Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 15

Jade Small Charm of Good Luck
Small Charm
Required Level: 33
Fingerprint: 0xcafd266
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Poison Resist +8%
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Natural Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x7065b410
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Elemental Skills (Druid Only)
+21 to Life

Plague Band
Ring
Required Level: 48
Fingerprint: 0xd0ab066b
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Cast Rate
+105 to Attack Rating
Cold Resist +18%
All Resistances +9
Level 4 Poison Dagger (13/30 Charges)

Ruby Jewel of Truth
Jewel
Required Level: 36
Fingerprint: 0xccd8e08
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+7% Faster Hit Recovery
Fire Resist +21%

Scarlet Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0xd7df9e06
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
+4 to Minimum Damage

Shimmering Jewel of Hope
Jewel
Required Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0x8f16e465
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+9 to Life
Cold Resist +10%
Lightning Resist +10%
Fire Resist +10%
Poison Resist +10%

Snake's Small Charm of Good Luck
Small Charm
Required Level: 33
Fingerprint: 0x881f0892
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10 to Mana
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Sparking Grand Charm of Inertia
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xda5a25ad
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Unidentified
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)
+7% Faster Run/Walk

Stone Gyre
Jewel
Required Level: 9
Fingerprint: 0x71416e43
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
17% Enhanced Damage
+9 to Maximum Damage
19% Extra Gold from Monsters

The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Fingerprint: 0x85848410
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
Adds 1 - 12 Lightning Damage
+20 to Mana
Increase Maximum Mana 25%

Viper Eye
Jewel
Required Level: 19
Fingerprint: 0x65c0ee85
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+6 to Dexterity
+5 to Mana
Fire Resist +27%
10% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

That would be Aura's second eth Andariel's, second Stone of Jordan and second Highlord's. Definitely not bad, but I was expecting more Rainbow facets. Especially lightning ones, I have a 3os Head Hunter's Glory waiting for more 5/-5 lightning facets, only have one. Still, I'm pleased with Round 2, I know I'm in trouble of getting into top8 with the Sorc bots running around there, but I knew that when I decided to run with a slower runner. All good :)

Drops outside of RFL? There were two rune drops:

cbFtKTB.jpg


TDycDi8.jpg

Pretty nice I'd say! But I have to admit, right now, HRs are not really that much of a desire or don't even give that much of an excitement. Aura doesn't need them for anything, I don't have any current plans for twinked characters, so these are just trophies to gather dust for now :D I think the only "use" for them I can think of now, is Runeword grail. Which is not actually a bad idea, as this would kinda give me purpose of checking certain white/grey items again, in case I find a base for some silly RW like Famine. And it kinda takes the value out of the runes since I now can cube a Zod and have plenty of runes to spare to other stuff. And I might run RFL Round 3 with Aura as well and who knows what I'll find there...

I'm not saying it's not amazing to find HRs, just saying that at this point of Aura's career, I get a lot more excited to see an Experience Shrine or either of the above runes I found.

Non-rune drops? Pretty meh actually, but that's what you'd expect from running practically only seals and Diablo. The two grailers were Giant Skull and Greyform if I am not mistaken. But I did find few neat items:

Code: 
Ormus' Robes
Dusk Shroud
Defense: 459
Durability: 17 of 20
Required Level: 75
Required Strength: 77
Fingerprint: 0x61d9f239
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+15% to Cold Skill Damage
+15% to Lightning Skill Damage
+12% to Fire Skill Damage
+3 to Blizzard (Sorceress Only)
+16 Defense
Regenerate Mana 10%

Rainbow Facet
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0xbc172c3
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 23 Venom when you Level-Up
Adds 37 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
-5% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+4% to Poison Skill Damage

Rixot's Keen
Short Sword
One Hand Damage: 9 - 14
Durability: 20 of 24
Required Level: 2
Fingerprint: 0xe686d1a6
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Unidentified
100% Enhanced Damage
+5 to Minimum Damage
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
25% Chance of Crushing Blow
+25 Defense
+2 to Light Radius

Serpent's Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0x9b61081e
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Unidentified
+3% Faster Run/Walk
+17 to Mana

Sparking Grand Charm of Balance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x48b3f2ef
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)
+12% Faster Hit Recovery

So, a FHR Sorc skiller was one I cubed, I had some 50 odd pgems left and decided to try to get a PCombat lifer and that came out when I had 6 pgems left. Should be useful for a 200fcr LK superchest light sorc? Also, that Ormus, Blizzard as skill, +15% cold AND +15% lightning, would this be perfect for Blova sorc? Or would Blova want the skill to be Nova? Anyhow, I thought it was pretty good drop.

About that ethereal Andariel. I already have one and I have it socketed with Ral. I've been looking for that Ruby Jewel of Fervor since I got the first eth Andy's and I got one in RFL round 1:

Code: 
Ruby Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0x5b936d10
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
Fire Resist +18%

Then a little bit later still in RFL round 1, I found another:
Code: 
Ruby Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0x551aa894
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
Fire Resist +19%

Now that I finished RFL round 2, I was disappointed I didn't find a better one, so I ended up finding RJoF #3 this morning:

Code: 
Ruby Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0x829d6798
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
Fire Resist +19%

Argh! The fact that I have managed to find THREE of those in the last month in itself is pretty amazing, but all of the are mid rolls and would leave my poor Merc with sub maxed fire res. Frustrating. I don't want to take out eth Glad's Bane with Um from my Merc, but I might do it, since I do have an Eth Fortitude I made in preparation for my Javazon, but I have not moved it yet to her:

Code: 
Fortitude
Archon Plate
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 3447
Durability: 31 of 31
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 93
Fingerprint: 0x1fba759b
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+25% Faster Cast Rate
300% Enhanced Damage
+200% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+147 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +28
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune

So, I guess the big question here is which of the two would you choose for Merc:

Insight eth CA + Eth Andariel's 'Ral' + Eth Glad's Bane 'Um'

or

Insight Eth CA + Eth Andariel's '19fire res/15ias' + Fortitude Eth AP 28all res/1.5life

Thanks for you opinion! :)
 
Normally, Fortitude is my merc armor of choice, but if the merc is surviving well enough with Gbane, and your javazon needs the Fortitude more for her merc, then I wouldn't mind staying with Gbane. Hammer merc is there for meditation and tanking after all, unlike a few other builds where they might need to assist in killing.
 
I use Insight + eForti/VGaze (Prayer) on my CS Hammerdin. Unless you let De Seis' gang hit him a million times he's pretty much unkillable.
 
OK, vacation time for Reina is over. Time to get back to the grind. I've done a bit of running of various things just to revitalize my desire to gain XP and also done some level 98 testing. I don't think I'll be going Blova and instead sticking with full-on Blizzard as I'm worried the dip in damage due to getting Nova up to snuff will hurt the Diablo/Nihl killing speeds. I may end up running Nihl instead of Diablo (or, more likely, running both) but even then, I'm OK having a handful of killed runs due to CI Nihl than give up a sizable amount of damage for Blizzard. Maybe if I had DF and Blizz Ormus like Elianor, we could go the Blova route, but I've found the drop in Blizzard damage noticeable while also feeling as though Nova damage was... not noticeable.

It was a fun experiment, and I'm glad I tried it. Maybe if the long road to 98 drops some interesting items to make me reevaluate this position I will but for now it'll be Blizzard all the way to 99!

For those that run Nihlithak, what's the plan for the serpents? I know that the damage bug occurs when you move in the cloud which isn't a problem for Reina, but Durga is impatient and doesn't understand how to stand still. Once Delirium hits, I notice it's safe but before then it looks like a crap shoot.

Anyways, time to go put a small dent in that 266-ish? million XP left for 98. I'll aim for 2.5 million XP a day, which will hopefully see me done with this level by early to mid June, assuming I can avoid deaths and stick to my goal!
 
@Neksja - I would probably go the Fortitude route with faster attack speed. But I wonder if you can test it to see if iDR from Gladiator's Bane is too hard to give up. Hel out the Ral, replace with the jewel and run a bit with GBane to see if <75 FR is a deal-breaker. Then add the Fortitude and run for a bit. Worst case, you decide the current set up is best, and you Hel out the jewel (which you probably wouldn't use for other purposes anyhow, and you still have two more low-ish ones stashed anyhow) and go back to Ral.

@hasuprotoss - for serpents, I would get iDR gear, probably Sol in the Shako and Nature's Peace (which also helps with Nihl's corpse explosion for anything you accidentally kill). I can't remember exact numbers, but I am pretty sure that won't negate the damage, but should make it manageable. GBane on the merc might also be in order. A little more than 10% into level 98 with an assassin, and I've concluded that resists don't matter much (especially if you don't have to worry about Nihl's corpse explosion where fire resist is noticeable).

Mini-update here, just because it's exciting:
View attachment 4927
Finally! This led to a gear reshuffle, with Mara's coming in to replace the crafted amulet. I was worried about life with loss of Verdungo's, but the +skills from Mara's and Arachnid's adds to BO. Her total life is now >3900 with the addition of this nice little charm that dropped a few runs later. And her fire resist is maxed.

Prior to the Arachnids, Mercy found the Mal posted earlier, Sur #2, Mal #3 and a Medusa's Gaze. An additional grailer for her was Death's Sash and she also found another 15@ shimmering GC.
 
I did some very brief testing about the two Merc options with res/ias jewel in Andy's instead of Ral, somewhere around 10 runs each for now.

Insight eth CA + Eth Andariel's 'Fire res/ias' + Eth Glad's Bane 'Um'

+Sturdy against melee attacks, less in danger against Lord de Seis with bunch of monsters around him. Also capable of taking several melee hits from Diablo at p7 without dying.

-Has 66 fire res, so Infector pack at p1 is causing minor trouble, nothing too bad because of leech. Diablo's firestorm attack at p7 wipes slightly over half of his health away. 2.5k less max damage.

Insight Eth CA + Eth Andariel's '19fire res/15ias' + Fortitude Eth AP 28all res/1.5life

+Higher max damage, faster Diablo kills. Especially noticeable when I don't have time to stack the hammers before Diablo spawns (ie when I'm picking up an Exp shrine). Also useful for general killing stuff when seal bosses move to my blind spot. Maxed fire res, less in danger of Infector and Diablo's Firestorm

-Less sturdy for melee attacks. Extra strong Lord de Seis pack can easily take the merc down if I'm not careful. Diablo only needs two melee attacks to take him down, one if I we are Amped when facing Diablo.


For now, I'm going with Fortitude setup. As long as I don't teleport in the middle of Lord de Seis pack and keep an eye on the merc while fighting Diablo, this should be faster setup. Also, I just need to remember to use Cleansing before Diablo if we are amped and everything should be fine. With both setups, Merc is gonna die semi regularly anyway, maybe once every 10-15 runs, mostly because I'm too lazy to feed him one purple to save 50k in resurrection fee...


@hasuprotoss about Nihlathak. Obviously a bit different for me since I'm using a different character, but for me, it was just best to leave Merc dead and go about it alone. Nihl runs are fast enough that I don't need to use potions (except when there's plethora of mana burn ghosts), so having a Merc there is an inconvenience. He kills monsters that Nihl can use for Corpse Explosion and always walks around in Viper Poison clouds to kill himself. And I did use Glad's Bane with Um in it for him, so I had a little bit of iDR. Now is a brilliant time for you test various ways of killing Nihlathak since you have not gained much, if any, XP yet so if you die, you don't lose anything. Try going alone, change Merc weapon to a low damage one etc etc. And best of luck, that place can be very dangerous!


@PhineasB finally that Arachs! Took you long enough. I just found my 7th one this morning, another upgrade and now I'm using a 119ed one :) One of four slots I can still "upgrade" my gear, other three being Waterwalks (192ed/63life roll), higher base res Spirit (42@ Sacred Rondache) and rare ring (10fcr, 32fire res, 35 light res, 5 all res, no other useful stats). It is indeed pretty exciting to find upgrades at this point :) How about your daily/weekly XP/run goals? Have you figured them out? How's Nihl running going otherwise? Safe and quick I assume?
 
My plan is to try out full Fire Sorc for Nihl, so I'll want to have my merc with me for the Conviction aura. I'll have to see how I'll gear him. Probably with a Sol'ed The Gladiator's Bane (I have 2 with 20 DR) and a Sol'ed Vampire Gaze, or, if not that much DR is needed, something else in the sockets, like Um or ias jewels.

For my Sorc, I was planning to use Shako with Sol and Nature's Peace as well. That's 18 DR already. I might try out a setup with lower +skills and more DR, for example by replacing Bul-Kathos' with another Nature's Peace, and even CoH with a Sol'ed Vipermagi. Although I'd think that dual Nature's Peace and a Sol'ed Shako, giving 29 DR, should be enough to make it manageable. After all CoH also supplies some minor DR%, although I'm not sure that does much against those Viper clouds.
 
Not exactly an expert on Nihl runs, but do you need you stack DR that much on your character? Poison clouds don't deal that insane damage if you stand still or move using teleport. My hammerdin has had no issues at all with 16%dr from Shako and Enigma and 10 iDR from Nature's Peace. It's your merc who you need to stack with DR and you've got that figured out.

With my setup, I won't survive walking in those clouds at all, but it could be because I don't have much iDR. But since I don't walk there at all, I am fine. As as Sorc, you shouldn't be walking much either? So at least best to test if going with facet in Shako, SoJ/BK instead of one Nature's will speed you up with the damage increase, but won't put you in huge danger.
 
I just checked @Pb_pal's thread from his 99er Sorc, and indeed it seems that DR isn't really needed. Probably not even on the merc, as he was using CoH apparantly. I don't recall, @Pb_pal , did you have many close calls when doing Nihl? Many times you needed to resurrect your merc? Tried other gear than the endgame gear on him or on the Sorc?
 
Ok, I just went away and respecced Neverland to Fire Ball / Meteor. I had this on my mind for so long now that I just had to try it out. Gear is Shako with Sol, Mara's, CoH, Eschuta's Temper (+3 skills, 19% fire dam) socketed with -5 / +5 fire facet, Spirit shield, Magefist, Arachnid's, War Traveler, Nature's Peace, Bul-Kathos'. Inventory Gheeds, 2 skillers (don't have more :(), rest life SC. Merc with Infinity, eth Fortitude and Andy's, socketed with ias / fire res jewel.

Fire Ball and Meteor kill Nihl very fast. I usually cast a Meteor, teleport right next to Nihl and start spamming Fire Ball. He only needs a few Fire Balls before he is dead. Meteor probably doesn't really increase killing speed, but I hope to kill some more other monsters with it, while keeping the same killing speed. After all I respecced to fire to be able to kill more monsters, giving me more chances for runes.

I had some 20 skill points to spare after I maxed all fire skills needed, and didn't use them at first. After a few runs I got FE Nihl, which made killing him slow. So I decided to dump the remaining skill points in FO. It still doesn't kill him fast, so there might be better options. Maybe take away a few points from the fire skills and add more in the cold skills. Not sure. I can also add a few cold skillers to see if that makes a big difference. This was only a very small sample, so I need to do far more runs to have conclusive results. He also spawned FI once, probably because of the combination of FE and Magic resistant.

I have some 2600 hit points now, due to all SC of Vita. No close calls in those 10 or so runs, although once I went down to some 700 hit points really quickly, when there were snakes around. Not sure if it was because of the clouds or not. Again, more runs have to be made to make any conclusions. Like I said, killing speed vs non FI or highly resistant Nihl is very good, so there's definitely room to take out the Bul-Kathos' and use a second Nature's Peace instead if needed.

Btw, what makes a good Nihl map? Just a very short distance between the WP and the exit? Or other stuff too? Iirc hunting for xp shrines only made a very small difference, so I'm not sure I really want to go through that hassle. I like to keep things as simple as possible, you know ...
 
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