5 Stages of Grief Tournament
- Thread starter Pb_pal1
- Start date
- Oct 2, 2010
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Thanks. War Cry does stun bosses, but not with 100% reliability, so I'm not certain of the mechanics behind it. Even the Ancients were stunned, although I used concentrate for most of that fight. Not sure if the stun length is the full duration though, I didn't stop casting to find out. Aside from Act bosses, I only recall not being able to stun Nihlathak and the Putrid Defilers in Act 5.
T72on1
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- Feb 12, 2016
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Finally another update for me.
Act 5 wasn't too hard, as my Hydra's became more and more powerful. I still couldn't complement it with Fireball because I'd run out of mana, but Hydra's really did better and better. I also love how the skill looks like.
View attachment 6375
It took me a while, but finally that 2os leather armor look armor dropped, so I made a Stealth:
View attachment 6376
I used it right away, even though it lowered my mf somewhat.
Continued through the act doing full clears, visiting old friends like ...
View attachment 6377
and ...
View attachment 6378
That ring was quite peculiar, due to the level req on it:
View attachment 6380
Can't recall having to wait such a long time to be able to equip something that just dropped for me.
In the meanwhile found these boots, which aren't too bad:
View attachment 6379
In the Throne Room, from the fourth wave, I got a Shael, which immediately went into the Bone Shield I had in my stash since ages:
View attachment 6381
Since I had also made a Lore Circlet before that, I was already down to 3 out of 4 runewords I usually end up using when going untwinked. The fourth being Spirit. The cruel thing was: I had seen plenty of Crystal Swords and the like, but never a 4os one (not sure if they can drop though). Same goes for Insight bases ... plenty of potential bases, but always 3os max. So at the end of the act, just before proceeding to NM, I had to choose, which one to use my socket quest on: a Crystal Sword for Spirit or a Halberd for Insight. In the end I went for Spirit:
View attachment 6382
Good roll, but unfortunately not on the mana, which I need most right now.
Obviously, one of the first items to drop in NM was ... a 4os Crystal Sword. Yes, thank you too buddy
.
But I'm going a bit too fast here. First there was Wave 5 and then Baal. Both posed no problems. No wonder really, as Hydra is a very safe skill to use. Just cast from afar, and let them do the killing. Just teleport around if needed.
These were my stats at the end of Normal:
View attachment 6383
Since I had negative fire resist for NM, I decided to ditch the mf amulet for now, and equip the Nokozan Relic.
Through_Grief ended the session by tagging the Stony Fields, conveniently placed next to the Tristram Stones, at the ripe age of 49.
Act 5 wasn't too hard, as my Hydra's became more and more powerful. I still couldn't complement it with Fireball because I'd run out of mana, but Hydra's really did better and better. I also love how the skill looks like.
View attachment 6375
It took me a while, but finally that 2os leather armor look armor dropped, so I made a Stealth:
View attachment 6376
I used it right away, even though it lowered my mf somewhat.
Continued through the act doing full clears, visiting old friends like ...
View attachment 6377
and ...
View attachment 6378
That ring was quite peculiar, due to the level req on it:
View attachment 6380
Can't recall having to wait such a long time to be able to equip something that just dropped for me.
In the meanwhile found these boots, which aren't too bad:
View attachment 6379
In the Throne Room, from the fourth wave, I got a Shael, which immediately went into the Bone Shield I had in my stash since ages:
View attachment 6381
Since I had also made a Lore Circlet before that, I was already down to 3 out of 4 runewords I usually end up using when going untwinked. The fourth being Spirit. The cruel thing was: I had seen plenty of Crystal Swords and the like, but never a 4os one (not sure if they can drop though). Same goes for Insight bases ... plenty of potential bases, but always 3os max. So at the end of the act, just before proceeding to NM, I had to choose, which one to use my socket quest on: a Crystal Sword for Spirit or a Halberd for Insight. In the end I went for Spirit:
View attachment 6382
Good roll, but unfortunately not on the mana, which I need most right now.
Obviously, one of the first items to drop in NM was ... a 4os Crystal Sword. Yes, thank you too buddy
.But I'm going a bit too fast here. First there was Wave 5 and then Baal. Both posed no problems. No wonder really, as Hydra is a very safe skill to use. Just cast from afar, and let them do the killing. Just teleport around if needed
.These were my stats at the end of Normal:
View attachment 6383
Since I had negative fire resist for NM, I decided to ditch the mf amulet for now, and equip the Nokozan Relic.
Through_Grief ended the session by tagging the Stony Fields, conveniently placed next to the Tristram Stones, at the ripe age of 49.
jiansonz
New member
- Jun 22, 2003
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For items that drop (or are shopped in Normal), there is a cap of 3 sockets in Normal, and 4 in Nightmare.
(This cap does not apply for items socketed by cube recipe or Larzuk.)
This was a handy belt to find and will get upgraded once her strength is high enough. Found another in Cows later, but it had one lower defense on it.
View attachment 6385
More than once Razan stepped back and took a much needed break as he enjoyed the power of her Hydras.
View attachment 6386
View attachment 6387
Ancients was pretty much a game of cat and mouse for Trisha, she just had to try and avoid those double axes he kept trying to throw at her. As usual Talic was the last one twirling on the Summit.
View attachment 6388
Found this 28%MF Nagel in WSK2.
View attachment 6389
The Baal fight and all his waves were done on /p8 and he didn't give us much trouble even with his clone popping up almost immediately.
View attachment 6390
Trisha had Anya personalize her trusty staff after killing the traitor.
View attachment 6391
I was too late, but I was going to tell @T72on1 to hold off on socketing that Crystal Sword, because I think I found like 3 Broad and 2 Crystal 4os swords during Act 1 NM. Kind of crazy, didn't expect that many to drop in our lap.
We were able to box Blood Raven in a corner with Hydras surprisingly and Razan jabbing at her respectfully.
This is still the weapon of choice for Razan, which was found in the Underground Passage Level 1, until we can find an equivalent Exceptional or Elite 4os Polearm for Insight.
View attachment 6394
We found our first 4os Polearm in Tristram, but unfortunately it's only a Scythe.
The Countess dropped a Ral for our efforts.
Next update - The Pit.
Slayer Trisha and Razan, Black Marsh (NM)
View attachment 6385
More than once Razan stepped back and took a much needed break as he enjoyed the power of her Hydras.
View attachment 6386
View attachment 6387
Ancients was pretty much a game of cat and mouse for Trisha, she just had to try and avoid those double axes he kept trying to throw at her. As usual Talic was the last one twirling on the Summit.
View attachment 6388
Found this 28%MF Nagel in WSK2.
View attachment 6389
The Baal fight and all his waves were done on /p8 and he didn't give us much trouble even with his clone popping up almost immediately.
View attachment 6390
Trisha had Anya personalize her trusty staff after killing the traitor.
View attachment 6391
I was too late, but I was going to tell @T72on1 to hold off on socketing that Crystal Sword, because I think I found like 3 Broad and 2 Crystal 4os swords during Act 1 NM. Kind of crazy, didn't expect that many to drop in our lap.
We were able to box Blood Raven in a corner with Hydras surprisingly and Razan jabbing at her respectfully.
This is still the weapon of choice for Razan, which was found in the Underground Passage Level 1, until we can find an equivalent Exceptional or Elite 4os Polearm for Insight.
View attachment 6394
We found our first 4os Polearm in Tristram, but unfortunately it's only a Scythe.
The Countess dropped a Ral for our efforts.
Next update - The Pit.
Slayer Trisha and Razan, Black Marsh (NM)
Last edited:
Act 5 done
Compared to the previous act this one was fast, easy and fun. Nothing really interesting/dangerous, except maybe the fight near the entrance in 'Abaddon' area....
.....and even then it wasn’t much of a danger as I just used the choke point of the bridge to static the frenzytours while the merc did a quick work on them. There were also some misplaced teleports while in the throne which landed me in a tough situation once or twice (note to myself: be more careful in the future).
The fight with Baal was short, he didn’t even cloned himself. Went back to town once or twice to refill the mana potions and heal myself. The drop was….well, crap.
The cows were done on P8, used 2 staffs : 1 with blizzard and one with +3 to static on switch. Nothing interesting dropped
Although this act had no special events it had quite a lot of great drops:
Runewords I have:
Isa, level 48, NM
Compared to the previous act this one was fast, easy and fun. Nothing really interesting/dangerous, except maybe the fight near the entrance in 'Abaddon' area....
.....and even then it wasn’t much of a danger as I just used the choke point of the bridge to static the frenzytours while the merc did a quick work on them. There were also some misplaced teleports while in the throne which landed me in a tough situation once or twice (note to myself: be more careful in the future).
The fight with Baal was short, he didn’t even cloned himself. Went back to town once or twice to refill the mana potions and heal myself. The drop was….well, crap.
The cows were done on P8, used 2 staffs : 1 with blizzard and one with +3 to static on switch. Nothing interesting dropped
Although this act had no special events it had quite a lot of great drops:
Code:
1. Shimmering Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x45ade3a8
All Resistances +13
2. Sharp Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 38
Fingerprint: 0x39a00e71
+55 to Attack Rating
+9 to Maximum Damage
3. Scintillating Jewel of Avarice
Required Level: 26
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 34
Fingerprint: 0x5b9c2b5d
All Resistances +14
12% Extra Gold from Monsters
4. Scintillating Amulet
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0x561c2a79
All Resistances +15
5. Sander's bootsRunewords I have:
1. Zephyr
Repeating Crossbow
'OrtEth'
Two-Hand Damage: 7 to 15
Required Dexterity: 50
Required Strength: 40
Required Level: 21
Crossbow Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0x98884fcd
+33% Enhanced Damage
+66 to Attack Rating
+25 Defense
Adds 1-50 lightning damage --> will be used on FIs and dangerous situations
25% Increased Attack Speed
25% Faster Run/Walk
-25% Target Defense
7% Chance to cast Level 1 Twister when struck
Socketed (2: 2 used)
2. Strength --> Couldn't find a better base, have another Amn&Tir in stash...
Military Pick
'AmnTir'
One-Hand Damage: 9 to 14
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Dexterity: 33
Required Strength: 49
Required Level: 25
Axe Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 28
Fingerprint: 0x533b28d1
+20 to Strength
+10 to Vitality
+35% Enhanced Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
25% Chance of Crushing Blow
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Socketed (2: 2 used)
3. Lore
Helm
'OrtSol'
Defense: 15
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 26
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 28
Fingerprint: 0x75a6354c
+10 to Energy
Damage Reduced by 7
Lightning Resist +30%
+2 to Light Radius
+1 to All Skill Levels
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Socketed (2: 2 used)
Repeating Crossbow
'OrtEth'
Two-Hand Damage: 7 to 15
Required Dexterity: 50
Required Strength: 40
Required Level: 21
Crossbow Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0x98884fcd
+33% Enhanced Damage
+66 to Attack Rating
+25 Defense
Adds 1-50 lightning damage --> will be used on FIs and dangerous situations
25% Increased Attack Speed
25% Faster Run/Walk
-25% Target Defense
7% Chance to cast Level 1 Twister when struck
Socketed (2: 2 used)
2. Strength --> Couldn't find a better base
, have another Amn&Tir in stash...Military Pick
'AmnTir'
One-Hand Damage: 9 to 14
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Dexterity: 33
Required Strength: 49
Required Level: 25
Axe Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 28
Fingerprint: 0x533b28d1
+20 to Strength
+10 to Vitality
+35% Enhanced Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
25% Chance of Crushing Blow
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Socketed (2: 2 used)
3. Lore
Helm
'OrtSol'
Defense: 15
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 26
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 28
Fingerprint: 0x75a6354c
+10 to Energy
Damage Reduced by 7
Lightning Resist +30%
+2 to Light Radius
+1 to All Skill Levels
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Socketed (2: 2 used)
Isa, level 48, NM
Congrats @NanoMist really nice progress!
@mir that Act 4 was epic. Awesome persistence!
Now I'm going to join the flood moving into NM.
Before starting Act 5 we re-did Naruma's gear, swapping into the Angelic Sickle, Mantle and Halo combo. This paid off almost straight away when a second Angelic Halo dropped in the Bloody Foothills. Nice.
I really quite like the look of the Angelic set, especially with a goat head. Very Egyptian.
View attachment 6410
A Shael in the Frigid Highlands allowed us to make a Rhyme Bone Shield at the next break, We also tried socket cubing a Partizan and Crystal Sword, for Insight and Spirit, but got 1 socket and 2 sockets. Fail. That used up my two Amns and I didn't see another one for the rest of the Act (I did see two more Shaels though).
We also shopped a staff of Teleport, which was our switch weapon. A shopped wand of Lower Resist was in the stash, along with a wand of Dim Vision from Act 2. There was also this rare, low-level jewel:
By level 40, Tornado was level 15 and was proving too strong to use in shaving life off monsters. Using it generally resulted in dead monsters, which was no good for getting the merc kills. Naruma generally restricted himself to using Arctic Blast to chill, unless Chalan was getting mobbed or I was lacking in patience. As the Act progressed I seemed to have less and less patience.
Boneflesh dropped in the Frozen Tundra and this rather nice jewel dropped somewhere along the way:
This GC was also a pleasure to behold:
After shopping a couple of 3os Great Helms and finding a 3os Druid helm (+1 Fissure) there really wasn't anything left to spend gold on, probably until NM Act 3 when we can gamble again. 2 million gold was transfered to the stash, along with another 1 million at the end of the Act.
An XP shrine just outside Nihilithak's room gave me a great excuse to spam Tornados, making short work of his minions and gaining about 2/3 of a level. Lack of patience saw me spam Tornado for Baal's minions also. The first four packs dropped like flies. Lister's pack were a bit more resistant and had to be dragged out into the corridor so that they didn't mob Chalan. They still died though. We were just under level 49 as we headed to the Wordlstone portal, when one of Lister's pack came charging at us in the throne room. Clearly having been left behind, it's death was enough to push us over into level 49.
Baal was given the full Hurricane and Tornado treatment and went down fast, even after summoning his clone a couple of times. He really seemed to like tentacles:
View attachment 6413
I remembered to swap back into the full MF gear and let Chalan get the kill, however, his drop was nothing:
View attachment 6414
Level 20 Tornado made a mess of the cows, so I stopped using it to let Chalan have a chance at getting some kills. Level 4 Hurricane was almost as effective, but did allow Chalan some of the kills. Poor cows.
I really have nothing much useful to use the socket quest on. None of the socketable gear I have is likely to be end-game worthy. And with 4os weapons about to become available I can't see using the reward on a Insight or Spirit base as being a good use for it. Especially as I'm really not in a rush to get them, not having an Amn for the Insight and not wanting to lose the MF from the Angelics set just yet. I've got a 20%fcr + 11% all res circlet that is looking like it will get the sockets, although Angelic's sword or armor is also an option.
MF is 284, with an extra 65 on merc kills. Sticking with max MF gear going into NM. Resists aren't great but Cyclone Armor largely makes up for that. Otherwise feeling pretty robust.
Naruma the Wind Druid, Level 49, NM Act 1 Rogue Camp
Edit: Not sure why I thought I needed an Amn for Insight, the Amn is obviously for the Spirit. Mana just isn't enough of an issue yet to be rushing towards Insight, although the extra ED wouldn't be bad.
@mir that Act 4 was epic. Awesome persistence!
Now I'm going to join the flood moving into NM.
Before starting Act 5 we re-did Naruma's gear, swapping into the Angelic Sickle, Mantle and Halo combo. This paid off almost straight away when a second Angelic Halo dropped in the Bloody Foothills. Nice.
I really quite like the look of the Angelic set, especially with a goat head. Very Egyptian.
View attachment 6410
A Shael in the Frigid Highlands allowed us to make a Rhyme Bone Shield at the next break, We also tried socket cubing a Partizan and Crystal Sword, for Insight and Spirit, but got 1 socket and 2 sockets. Fail. That used up my two Amns and I didn't see another one for the rest of the Act (I did see two more Shaels though).
We also shopped a staff of Teleport, which was our switch weapon. A shopped wand of Lower Resist was in the stash, along with a wand of Dim Vision from Act 2. There was also this rare, low-level jewel:
By level 40, Tornado was level 15 and was proving too strong to use in shaving life off monsters. Using it generally resulted in dead monsters, which was no good for getting the merc kills. Naruma generally restricted himself to using Arctic Blast to chill, unless Chalan was getting mobbed or I was lacking in patience. As the Act progressed I seemed to have less and less patience.
Boneflesh dropped in the Frozen Tundra and this rather nice jewel dropped somewhere along the way:
Scintillating Jewel of Carnage
Jewel
Required Level: 26
Fingerprint: 0x668512bd
Item Level: 34
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+11 to Maximum Damage
Cold Resist +13%
Lightning Resist +13%
Fire Resist +13%
Poison Resist +13%
Jewel
Required Level: 26
Fingerprint: 0x668512bd
Item Level: 34
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+11 to Maximum Damage
Cold Resist +13%
Lightning Resist +13%
Fire Resist +13%
Poison Resist +13%
This GC was also a pleasure to behold:
After shopping a couple of 3os Great Helms and finding a 3os Druid helm (+1 Fissure) there really wasn't anything left to spend gold on, probably until NM Act 3 when we can gamble again. 2 million gold was transfered to the stash, along with another 1 million at the end of the Act.
An XP shrine just outside Nihilithak's room gave me a great excuse to spam Tornados, making short work of his minions and gaining about 2/3 of a level. Lack of patience saw me spam Tornado for Baal's minions also. The first four packs dropped like flies. Lister's pack were a bit more resistant and had to be dragged out into the corridor so that they didn't mob Chalan. They still died though. We were just under level 49 as we headed to the Wordlstone portal, when one of Lister's pack came charging at us in the throne room. Clearly having been left behind, it's death was enough to push us over into level 49.
Baal was given the full Hurricane and Tornado treatment and went down fast, even after summoning his clone a couple of times. He really seemed to like tentacles:
View attachment 6413
I remembered to swap back into the full MF gear and let Chalan get the kill, however, his drop was nothing:
View attachment 6414
Level 20 Tornado made a mess of the cows, so I stopped using it to let Chalan have a chance at getting some kills. Level 4 Hurricane was almost as effective, but did allow Chalan some of the kills. Poor cows.
I really have nothing much useful to use the socket quest on. None of the socketable gear I have is likely to be end-game worthy. And with 4os weapons about to become available I can't see using the reward on a Insight or Spirit base as being a good use for it. Especially as I'm really not in a rush to get them, not having an Amn for the Insight and not wanting to lose the MF from the Angelics set just yet. I've got a 20%fcr + 11% all res circlet that is looking like it will get the sockets, although Angelic's sword or armor is also an option.
MF is 284, with an extra 65 on merc kills. Sticking with max MF gear going into NM. Resists aren't great but Cyclone Armor largely makes up for that. Otherwise feeling pretty robust.
Naruma the Wind Druid, Level 49, NM Act 1 Rogue Camp
Edit: Not sure why I thought I needed an Amn for Insight, the Amn is obviously for the Spirit. Mana just isn't enough of an issue yet to be rushing towards Insight, although the extra ED wouldn't be bad.
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Heading out again they find themselves venturing down into the Pit and pissing off the locals there.
What's up you boneheads, stairs are over there?
View attachment 6416
A showcase of a few badass boss packs along their travels.
View attachment 6417
View attachment 6418
View attachment 6419
Alhizeer actually taking on two bosses here.
View attachment 6420
This Skeleton Mage was badass!
View attachment 6421
Some of the more mentionable items found.
View attachment 6422
View attachment 6423
View attachment 6424
View attachment 6425
Slayer Trisha and Alhizeer, Level 57, Act 2 NM
What's up you boneheads, stairs are over there?
View attachment 6416
A showcase of a few badass boss packs along their travels.
View attachment 6417
View attachment 6418
View attachment 6419
Alhizeer actually taking on two bosses here.
View attachment 6420
This Skeleton Mage was badass!
View attachment 6421
Some of the more mentionable items found.
View attachment 6422
View attachment 6423
View attachment 6424
View attachment 6425
Slayer Trisha and Alhizeer, Level 57, Act 2 NM
Great work everyone!
Amodan_Crane hasn't made it as far as everyone else but is still plugging along. In the Flayer Jungle he found an old friend (though it will be destined for his merc's ultimate use).
View attachment 6428
After getting to the WP in upper Kurast, he went back down into the sewers and found the brain/heart/eye/whichever one it is and decided to stop killing for the evening. He spent some of his gold on gambling for boots and gloves and circlets, snagging this one that I feel is end game worthy in a pinch.
View attachment 6429
Along the way he got levels 29 (rolled Dex x 4, Vit x 1 and Bone Spear!), 30 (Str x 3, En x 1, Vit x 1 and Bone Prison), picked up the Tome (En x 2, Vit x 1, Str x 2) and level 31 (Vit x 1, En x 1, Str x 2 and Dex x 1 and Amp Damage). So far in this act, his 20 stat points have been 7 strength, 5 dexterity, 4 vitality and 4 energy. His random skill allocations have been 2 out of 3 useful. I hope not to tick 31 before the end of the act but perhaps I will, there's still a long way to go.
Amodan_Crane hasn't made it as far as everyone else but is still plugging along. In the Flayer Jungle he found an old friend (though it will be destined for his merc's ultimate use).
View attachment 6428
After getting to the WP in upper Kurast, he went back down into the sewers and found the brain/heart/eye/whichever one it is and decided to stop killing for the evening. He spent some of his gold on gambling for boots and gloves and circlets, snagging this one that I feel is end game worthy in a pinch.
View attachment 6429
Along the way he got levels 29 (rolled Dex x 4, Vit x 1 and Bone Spear!), 30 (Str x 3, En x 1, Vit x 1 and Bone Prison), picked up the Tome (En x 2, Vit x 1, Str x 2) and level 31 (Vit x 1, En x 1, Str x 2 and Dex x 1 and Amp Damage). So far in this act, his 20 stat points have been 7 strength, 5 dexterity, 4 vitality and 4 energy. His random skill allocations have been 2 out of 3 useful. I hope not to tick 31 before the end of the act but perhaps I will, there's still a long way to go.
jiansonz
New member
- Jun 22, 2003
- 7,940
- 0
- 0
In the Palace, there were two CE ape bosses, and I was a complete idiot for not going to town and quaff some thawing potions before those fights, leaving me with a meager 8% resistance. Those ape bosses are so fast and unpredictible when hurt. The second boss got a few quick hits in right before it died, so I was quite far from top life. Had already decided to drink a red the very next second, but the death nova struck first:
View attachment 6432
(and that's after the potion has had time to take a little effect!
Hopefully I have learned to be more careful with CE bosses from here on...)
Outdoor areas in late Act II were pretty standard, but the seven tombs had some tricky parts, especially the starting areas of them. That's where it matters the most, of course.
Beetle bosspack (and extras) getting owned by an urn:
View attachment 6433
Tough tomb start #1:
View attachment 6434
High life bosses (vamps, greater mummies, Gorebellies) with heavy physical/fire resist now had faster life regeneration than Gwinni's damage output. Started to use more Thunder Storm and Blaze against them. Ancient Kaa had no nasty extra ability, only Teleportation, but he got Blazed anyway.
A testament to my MF craziness is my current weapon. It's a measly 3-socketed Axe (found in Act V Normal) with a 3% MF jewel. But one of my cold resist charms deals 3 seconds poison damage, and against some Ghoul Lord Champs, I actually used Attack for the first time for about three acts. Vampires have very little Defense, and Fran could easly score hits when they were Inner Sighted by her merc:
View attachment 6435
(Fire resist is 55%, so standing there wasn't too bad.)
Another tough tomb entrance:
View attachment 6436
Once you get into the right position, you simply don't leave unless your life depends on it:
View attachment 6437
Familiar fire pattern in the slug lair:
View attachment 6438
I tried to tank for Gwinni so she could take off the last sliver of his life, but that was so painful that I had to drink a lot of purples. When only one column remained, I started to madly teleport around instead, which worked out much better.
Somewhere during the seven tombs, a rare Short Battle Bow with +175% ED dropped. After a quick calculation, I upgraded it. It wasn't that easy to compare with Hellclap, but here is an attempt, at Gwinni's level at the time:
Hellclap listed damage: 137-277, where 122-232 is physical and 15-45 is fire. Average 177+30.
Rare Short Siege Bow listed damage: 140-265, all physical. Average 202.5.
Same base speed. Even though Hellclap has 10% IAS, the other bow sort of felt "heavier", like the shots had a bit more punch (especially the Fire Arrows), so I had Gwinni use this bow instead. She still does, and that's a problem...
Looking at the minions, I understood that Sszark was Extra Fast. That is probably the worst possible mod for my character at this stage. Dreadful, really. I took great care to clean out everything else first. A good thing was that I could get to the sparkly chest area from several directions thanks to the dungeon layout and Teleport. Then I noticed a familiar part of the terrain, and decided to do a portal park of Sszark there. Spider AI is quite like Mephisto - from its longest awareness range, the creature can only move straight towards you, with bad pathfinding. Look here:
View attachment 6439
If I were to move closer to zap some Statics, Sszark would immediately come storming around the obstacle. Thankfully, Gwinni's damage output was enough, even vs. the heavy fire resist of Flame Spiders in NM. This far away, a damaged spider doesn't even go into 'Web & Flee' mode. Ha!
More GS tanking:
View attachment 6440
Kurast Bazaar handed me a Champ pack of Sextons. Normally, I'd probably buy a weapon 'of the Bear' and smack one of them far away from the others, but weapon shopping is out in this act. Gambling could have worked, but before starting to gamle, I realized I had a solution available:
View attachment 6441
Both Bazaar temples had their lively moments. Nothing too bad, although Ruined Temple had a Cursed LE spider boss quite far back in the first room. It entered the fight a little too soon for my liking, as I was fighting a minion and two Night Lords already. I used Blaze to hurt the boss enough so it fled back again.
In this Act III, I randomize every stat point as I get them, and all the skills points (probably 4 of them) at once near the end. It's not too bad if I get up to 10 more in STR, because then I can wear Gwinni's now-fully-topazed Full Plate. Crappy footspeed nonwithstanding...
I have some ideas how to get Gwinni a better bow. For gambling and upgrading a rare, every clvl is important for gambling now. On the other hand, a certain mid-level rune would make us two very happy campers right now.
Fran herself also has a bow now. In the last act of so, she's had a dagger with Terror charges and Whitstan's Guard on switch. Now she has the runeword Edge in a Hunter's Bow. Good for getting more gambling out of the money, sometimes the Thorns gets some use when I want Gwinni to "tank" something dangerous and hard-hitting and last but not least, it has Prevent Monster Heal! Fran almost requires some Inner Sight in order to hit (otherwise she might miss 20 shots in a row...) but the thing with PMH is that you only need one hit.
[Highlight]Destroyer Fran the Blaze Sorceress and Gwinni the Fire Rogue, level 62, NM Kurast Sewers next[/highlight]
View attachment 6432
(and that's after the potion has had time to take a little effect!
Hopefully I have learned to be more careful with CE bosses from here on...)
Outdoor areas in late Act II were pretty standard, but the seven tombs had some tricky parts, especially the starting areas of them. That's where it matters the most, of course.
Beetle bosspack (and extras) getting owned by an urn:
View attachment 6433
Tough tomb start #1:
View attachment 6434
High life bosses (vamps, greater mummies, Gorebellies) with heavy physical/fire resist now had faster life regeneration than Gwinni's damage output. Started to use more Thunder Storm and Blaze against them. Ancient Kaa had no nasty extra ability, only Teleportation, but he got Blazed anyway.
A testament to my MF craziness is my current weapon. It's a measly 3-socketed Axe (found in Act V Normal) with a 3% MF jewel. But one of my cold resist charms deals 3 seconds poison damage, and against some Ghoul Lord Champs, I actually used Attack for the first time for about three acts. Vampires have very little Defense, and Fran could easly score hits when they were Inner Sighted by her merc:
View attachment 6435
(Fire resist is 55%, so standing there wasn't too bad.)
Another tough tomb entrance:
View attachment 6436
Once you get into the right position, you simply don't leave unless your life depends on it:
View attachment 6437
Familiar fire pattern in the slug lair:
View attachment 6438
I tried to tank for Gwinni so she could take off the last sliver of his life, but that was so painful that I had to drink a lot of purples. When only one column remained, I started to madly teleport around instead, which worked out much better.
Somewhere during the seven tombs, a rare Short Battle Bow with +175% ED dropped. After a quick calculation, I upgraded it. It wasn't that easy to compare with Hellclap, but here is an attempt, at Gwinni's level at the time:
Hellclap listed damage: 137-277, where 122-232 is physical and 15-45 is fire. Average 177+30.
Rare Short Siege Bow listed damage: 140-265, all physical. Average 202.5.
Same base speed. Even though Hellclap has 10% IAS, the other bow sort of felt "heavier", like the shots had a bit more punch (especially the Fire Arrows), so I had Gwinni use this bow instead. She still does, and that's a problem...
Looking at the minions, I understood that Sszark was Extra Fast. That is probably the worst possible mod for my character at this stage. Dreadful, really. I took great care to clean out everything else first. A good thing was that I could get to the sparkly chest area from several directions thanks to the dungeon layout and Teleport. Then I noticed a familiar part of the terrain, and decided to do a portal park of Sszark there. Spider AI is quite like Mephisto - from its longest awareness range, the creature can only move straight towards you, with bad pathfinding. Look here:
View attachment 6439
If I were to move closer to zap some Statics, Sszark would immediately come storming around the obstacle. Thankfully, Gwinni's damage output was enough, even vs. the heavy fire resist of Flame Spiders in NM. This far away, a damaged spider doesn't even go into 'Web & Flee' mode. Ha!
More GS tanking:
View attachment 6440
Kurast Bazaar handed me a Champ pack of Sextons. Normally, I'd probably buy a weapon 'of the Bear' and smack one of them far away from the others, but weapon shopping is out in this act. Gambling could have worked, but before starting to gamle, I realized I had a solution available:
View attachment 6441
Both Bazaar temples had their lively moments. Nothing too bad, although Ruined Temple had a Cursed LE spider boss quite far back in the first room. It entered the fight a little too soon for my liking, as I was fighting a minion and two Night Lords already. I used Blaze to hurt the boss enough so it fled back again.
In this Act III, I randomize every stat point as I get them, and all the skills points (probably 4 of them) at once near the end. It's not too bad if I get up to 10 more in STR, because then I can wear Gwinni's now-fully-topazed Full Plate. Crappy footspeed nonwithstanding...
I have some ideas how to get Gwinni a better bow. For gambling and upgrading a rare, every clvl is important for gambling now. On the other hand, a certain mid-level rune would make us two very happy campers right now.
Fran herself also has a bow now. In the last act of so, she's had a dagger with Terror charges and Whitstan's Guard on switch. Now she has the runeword Edge in a Hunter's Bow. Good for getting more gambling out of the money, sometimes the Thorns gets some use when I want Gwinni to "tank" something dangerous and hard-hitting and last but not least, it has Prevent Monster Heal! Fran almost requires some Inner Sight in order to hit (otherwise she might miss 20 shots in a row...) but the thing with PMH is that you only need one hit.
[Highlight]Destroyer Fran the Blaze Sorceress and Gwinni the Fire Rogue, level 62, NM Kurast Sewers next[/highlight]
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Act 1 NM, cold plains
So far it feels like I'm still in act5 'normal' regarding kill speed but the damage I'm receiving is defiantly belong to NM mode, some hits (from lousy zombies and skeletons) took 1/3 to 1/2 of HP pool! I must admit that the defense is a bit low (~250) but it's only an excuse….
My main strategy at this point is to let the merc to engage first (so I could hit behind him) and use teleports more especially against archers and shamans (lure the minions away then telestomp the boss).
Although I'm not going to invest in DEX more than 80 points, I wonder if it's a good idea to utilize the 'chance to block' (~44, Ancients' Pledge) I have and walk while out of town….especially with this shield (planning to fill it with PDiamonds):
Artisan's Kite Shield of Deflecting
Defense: 17
Chance to Block: 48%
Smite Damage: 2 to 5
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Strength: 47
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 53
Fingerprint: 0xfb637a51
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking --> raise the CtB to 57%
30% Faster Block Rate
Socketed (3: 0 used)
My most 'hoped for' drops atm are:
1. Ral runes – haven’t seen one drop so far!!
2. Shael runes – would be nice for some runewords/upgrades
3. Good rares/uniqes
4. Bases for runewords
5. El runes – never thought I would say it…
Isa, level 48, heading to stony field
So far it feels like I'm still in act5 'normal' regarding kill speed but the damage I'm receiving is defiantly belong to NM mode, some hits (from lousy zombies and skeletons) took 1/3 to 1/2 of HP pool! I must admit that the defense is a bit low (~250) but it's only an excuse….
My main strategy at this point is to let the merc to engage first (so I could hit behind him) and use teleports more especially against archers and shamans (lure the minions away then telestomp the boss).
Although I'm not going to invest in DEX more than 80 points, I wonder if it's a good idea to utilize the 'chance to block' (~44, Ancients' Pledge) I have and walk while out of town….especially with this shield (planning to fill it with PDiamonds):
Artisan's Kite Shield of Deflecting
Defense: 17
Chance to Block: 48%
Smite Damage: 2 to 5
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Strength: 47
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 53
Fingerprint: 0xfb637a51
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking --> raise the CtB to 57%
30% Faster Block Rate
Socketed (3: 0 used)
My most 'hoped for' drops atm are:
1. Ral runes – haven’t seen one drop so far!!
2. Shael runes – would be nice for some runewords/upgrades
3. Good rares/uniqes
4. Bases for runewords
5. El runes – never thought I would say it…
Isa, level 48, heading to stony field
I finished up act 3 with Amodan_Crane tonight. We started off at the Upper Kurast WP having just reached level 31, so I put it on /P8 to maximize drops and see how close I could get to 32 without going over the limit. Turns out, pretty close. There was no real drama in the questing as none of the temples yielded any stair traps save for some very slightly tense moments in one with the lightning beetles and charger snakes. The blood golem (level 3 via the head with level 3 golem mastery via a yew wand and circlet I swap to cast it) is still handling everything OK that simply deals physical damage. He dies pretty quickly against fire using enemies but for now he seems OK. I'll probably start using bone prison more in act 4. Regardless, it was pretty safe, and Amodan_Crane never went below 2/3 of his bone armor strength. I didn't even prison any of the council in Travincal, I just let them chase me while I hit them with bone spears and that took care of business.
I noticed that my level was about 31.8 part way through the Durance, so I decided to try to find Mephisto and then go back and see how much I could explore before getting to 32 (I feel like the small amount of experience along the way that I would give up at this point will not make up for the potential loss of hit points via not getting vitality on the random roll, or not getting the skill point where I want it to go). I also dropped it to /P5, found level 3 without much fanfare, and moated the big bad demon. I'm a chicken, that's right.
View attachment 6444
The drop. Notice the exp bar.
View attachment 6445
At this point I went back into areas on level 2 and 1, tagged the WP and got my items in order (I didn't do much there really, act 4 is short, and scrolls & potions are plentiful). I killed some Urdars and zombies and got to within about 15K experience of level 32. I had just that one room left (you can see it on the map in the background). So I decided to explore it to see what it held, and it happened to have a pack or two of exploding dolls. Wendy was going crazy on them and I just ran away and portaled out before she popped any more and this is my exp bar as of the Pandemonium Fortress. Less than 2,500 XP to go! Perfect.
View attachment 6446
Then, I used up all of the gold in a gambling session (we didn't have all that much) and ended up getting this. Now, the merc's current circlet has some decent fire damage and good gold find but this is an intriguing circlet for Wendy, at least for act 4, since most everything is a demon. I decided to have her try it on for size for this act. I'll definitely try to keep her alive, more so than I do with an act II one... I don't normally use an act I mercenary so hopefully she performs well at least up to Diablo. Her bow is Vidala's, so bad damage. I don't normally have the patience to wait for her to get kills but perhaps I will when it is a boss.
View attachment 6447
Amodan_Crane, level 31 Bonemancer, Pandemonium Fortress
I noticed that my level was about 31.8 part way through the Durance, so I decided to try to find Mephisto and then go back and see how much I could explore before getting to 32 (I feel like the small amount of experience along the way that I would give up at this point will not make up for the potential loss of hit points via not getting vitality on the random roll, or not getting the skill point where I want it to go). I also dropped it to /P5, found level 3 without much fanfare, and moated the big bad demon. I'm a chicken, that's right.
View attachment 6444
The drop. Notice the exp bar.
View attachment 6445
At this point I went back into areas on level 2 and 1, tagged the WP and got my items in order (I didn't do much there really, act 4 is short, and scrolls & potions are plentiful). I killed some Urdars and zombies and got to within about 15K experience of level 32. I had just that one room left (you can see it on the map in the background). So I decided to explore it to see what it held, and it happened to have a pack or two of exploding dolls. Wendy was going crazy on them and I just ran away and portaled out before she popped any more and this is my exp bar as of the Pandemonium Fortress. Less than 2,500 XP to go! Perfect.
View attachment 6446
Then, I used up all of the gold in a gambling session (we didn't have all that much) and ended up getting this. Now, the merc's current circlet has some decent fire damage and good gold find but this is an intriguing circlet for Wendy, at least for act 4, since most everything is a demon. I decided to have her try it on for size for this act. I'll definitely try to keep her alive, more so than I do with an act II one... I don't normally use an act I mercenary so hopefully she performs well at least up to Diablo. Her bow is Vidala's, so bad damage. I don't normally have the patience to wait for her to get kills but perhaps I will when it is a boss.
View attachment 6447
Amodan_Crane, level 31 Bonemancer, Pandemonium Fortress
I decided to play a bit at lunch and found this nice head that will make my golem experiment a bit more effective once I actually place a skill point in a golem spell. My necro head luck is good so far.
View attachment 6448
I had probably 15 mana potions after the Outer Steppes area. Izual and the stingy punks in the Plains of Despair made me use all of them and he (Izual) still had half his life left, so I retreated to the stairs to the fortress and used Jamella-the-Wella quite a bit. Wendy had died before that to an extra fast megademon pack in the Outer Steppes so we won't be experimenting with any circlets for her this round. Dang it. I'm going to hold off on spending my skill points until nearing Diablo. If I can get two more levels, I'll have enough to put a point into Decrepify. If I fall short, I'll put them in bone spirit before the fight with Diablo.
View attachment 6449
Amodan_Crane made it to the City WP at level 32.
edit: one thing I forgot to mention in my writeup above. Notice how the golem is in the combat area but Amodan_Crane is not? I think I must have run into there and then back out so that Izual didn't kill me, but the golem stayed and attacked Izual. Since the necromancer was not in the field of play, Izual did not attack my golem, so it was free whacks! It actually worked too, but I felt it was cheesy to do this so I entered the field to put Izual down. His ghost actually blocked the pathway back into hell until I clicked on it. Odd goings-on near the fortress today...
View attachment 6448
I had probably 15 mana potions after the Outer Steppes area. Izual and the stingy punks in the Plains of Despair made me use all of them and he (Izual) still had half his life left, so I retreated to the stairs to the fortress and used Jamella-the-Wella quite a bit. Wendy had died before that to an extra fast megademon pack in the Outer Steppes so we won't be experimenting with any circlets for her this round. Dang it. I'm going to hold off on spending my skill points until nearing Diablo. If I can get two more levels, I'll have enough to put a point into Decrepify. If I fall short, I'll put them in bone spirit before the fight with Diablo.
View attachment 6449
Amodan_Crane made it to the City WP at level 32.
edit: one thing I forgot to mention in my writeup above. Notice how the golem is in the combat area but Amodan_Crane is not? I think I must have run into there and then back out so that Izual didn't kill me, but the golem stayed and attacked Izual. Since the necromancer was not in the field of play, Izual did not attack my golem, so it was free whacks! It actually worked too, but I felt it was cheesy to do this so I entered the field to put Izual down. His ghost actually blocked the pathway back into hell until I clicked on it. Odd goings-on near the fortress today...
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T72on1
New member
- Feb 12, 2016
- 5,103
- 0
- 1
Nice progress again everyone !!!
I cleared the rest of Act 1, and also did the Radament quest in Act 2. Through_Grief is level 53 now. Some screenies.
View attachment 6450
Hydra is a skill made for cheese, when needed. It happened quite a lot. Like this time, when I could cast Hydras across the fence, but those enemies couldn't shoot through ...
View attachment 6451
Griswold eaten by Hydras.
View attachment 6452
More Hydra cheese ...
View attachment 6453
... and then some more.
View attachment 6454
Fighting Andariel. Notice how the game wanted me to be prepared for the battle, with exactly the right shrine just outside the door to her room.
View attachment 6455
Not where I want my life to be ... critical poison hit from Radament, when I was near him at the start of the fight in order to apply Static.
Plenty of 4os Swords, but still no 4os Polearm, so @Southpaw8668 was quite right in his analysis. So far it hasn't been a big deal, just something that would allow me to kill faster. Having said that, I'm still quite happy with my killing speed at this point. Hydra is currently maxed, now working on Orb first, after which I'll get to Fire Mastery or Fire Ball.
I cleared the rest of Act 1, and also did the Radament quest in Act 2. Through_Grief is level 53 now. Some screenies.
View attachment 6450
Hydra is a skill made for cheese, when needed. It happened quite a lot. Like this time, when I could cast Hydras across the fence, but those enemies couldn't shoot through ...
View attachment 6451
Griswold eaten by Hydras.
View attachment 6452
More Hydra cheese ...
View attachment 6453
... and then some more
.View attachment 6454
Fighting Andariel. Notice how the game wanted me to be prepared for the battle, with exactly the right shrine just outside the door to her room
.View attachment 6455
Not where I want my life to be ... critical poison hit from Radament, when I was near him at the start of the fight in order to apply Static.
Plenty of 4os Swords, but still no 4os Polearm, so @Southpaw8668 was quite right in his analysis
. So far it hasn't been a big deal, just something that would allow me to kill faster. Having said that, I'm still quite happy with my killing speed at this point. Hydra is currently maxed, now working on Orb first, after which I'll get to Fire Mastery or Fire Ball.I misread this as "right before I died" and wondered why you kept on going as if the deeds never happened. I was also a bit surprised that you played SC. It was only on a second read-through that I realised my mistake and resolved my confusion. Amazing how misreading one letter can change so much!
For Naruma, Nighmare was a bigger step up in difficulty than I was expecting. Chalan in particular was a bit squishy, especially against ranged attacks. This young lady caused him many deaths before Naruma took charge.
View attachment 6456
To compensate for squishiness, Naruma ended up using a lot more Tornados than I would have liked. Tornados took things down very fast, once I could get them aimed right. There are times when they just refuse to hit the desired target, no matter where you stand. Hurricane was stuck on level 4 for the entire Act and was noticeably less useful by the end of the Act.
A 4os Broad Sword dropped in the Blood Moor (although I still haven't made Spirit), a 4os Battle Scythe in the Dark Wood was used for Insight, the increased damage was noticeable. The mana regeneration, not so much.
This Tower chest gave lots of yellow,
View attachment 6457
there are one or two more rares that aren't in the picture.
Countess dropped an Io ...
Pits coughed up a 4os Gothic Plate, but I only had two PTopaz ready for it. By the end of the Act we had a total of six PTopaz. Three in a druid helm and three in the Gothic Plate on the merc. MF was 287% for Naruma, 385% on merc kills.
This was a very fancy Poison Shrine in the Cathedral. I almost ran into it thinking it was just another column.
View attachment 6458
And lastly, Andy was taken on p5, which turned out to be a good move. Chalan got squished pretty fast and so Naruma had to run around the lava lake casting Tornados sporadically. It wan't particularly dangerous, but it did take a bit of time to wear Andy down. Her drop was forgetable.
It felt like there were quite a lot of S/U drops, but nothing useful: Crushflange; Cathan Seal; Sigon Gage; Angelic Mantle; Beserker Hatchet; Steelclash; Sigon Tower; Isenhart Lightbrand; Death's Touch; Sigon Visor; Skull Splitter; Skewer of Krinitz; Rite of Passage x2; Civerb Ward; Tancred Crowbill; Soul Harvest; Rakescar; The Diggler.
I used the imbue on a Druid helm and got absolute rubbish.
Looking to Act 2, my saved points from Act 1 will go into Vitality and Hurricane. I'd like to get 1 point into the summons up to Grizzly at some stage, the extra safety they offer will become increasingly important, but I think I'll wait until after Act 3 and see if I pick any up from the random rolls first. +skills items should make more than 1 point unnecessary. I also think I'll change mercs. Migth merc is my normal go to, however, I was thinking of Holy Freeze for ridiculous chilling effects. Does anyone know if chilling from Hurricane and HF aura stack to really slow things down? Or is the only benefit a larger range of the chilling effect from the aura?
Naruma the Wind Druid, Level 53, NM Act 2 Lut Gholein
- Sep 12, 2013
- 4,903
- 1,721
- 113
Luctus (lvl 55) Just found a Lem rune!
View attachment 6460
Now, he's already halfway through A2 NM. Should I go ahead with 'Treachery'? or hold out for that elusive Tir rune to make 'Wealth'? (I seriously don't have Tir rune..) His gear looks pretty good already:
Edit: Double-Booyakasha!
View attachment 6460
Now, he's already halfway through A2 NM. Should I go ahead with 'Treachery'? or hold out for that elusive Tir rune to make 'Wealth'? (I seriously don't have Tir rune..) His gear looks pretty good already:
- +2 Necro Wand or +3 Bone Spear 'White' (still waiting on Io)
- 2x decent Shrunken Heads (1x 'Rhyme' and waiting on Lum for 'Splendor')
- Vipermagi
- +2 Summoning circlet (will gamble for more in A3)
- 2x 10% FCR rings (if needed)
Edit: Double-Booyakasha!
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