Lem is an awesome find! I think almost ever time I've found a Lem in a tournament it has gone to Treachery, just a great runeword in this sort of playstyle.
5 Stages of Grief Tournament
- Thread starter Pb_pal1
- Start date
jiansonz
New member
- Jun 22, 2003
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And before we Single Players got those class-oriented armor runewords with v1.11, there was still Passion, or the chance to upgrade exceptional unique armor items.
Act 1 NM
Phew what a tedious act! Had to constantly keep from being mobbed, staying (and attacking) behind a merc, always on the move, lots and lots and lots of teleporting…. It almost felt like work sometimes. Choosing an untwinked melee build, without any serious LL, low defense and blocking and about 350 HP wasn’t the brightest idea ever….
Most of the time it wasn’t so bad, I was careful enough not to engage big group and not letting the bulb go below 2/3. The only real NDE was in the temple, I encountered 4 champion goatmen and while walking around them one or two managed to hit me. Went down to almost empty bulb, smashed the rejuv keys and retreated back a bit. Another scary situation followed shortly after in the form of 2 ghost boss packs (both 'cursed' ofc), no real danger but a bit scary. Countess dropped a non-Ral rune…
I tried to utilize blocking by walking most of the act but in the end (in the cathedral) decided to stop and just run instead (defense is too low anyway so at least I will be more agile). The great fragility was especially frustrating when I had to clear devilkin camps. The shamans resurrected them faster than I could kill them so I usually found myself being surrounded by critters ahead of me and the resurrected ones behind me…
Eventually I gave away trying to fight my way by melee and just used Zephyr crossbow I kept in stash to take shamans first.
Decided to take andariel on P8, cleared the main hall then lured her there while zapping her with static. I could use the bow here too but decided what the nightmare lets go melee with her… the merc managed to tank 2-3 hits before going down while I managed to land a blow here and there. After about 10 resurrections we managed to finally kill her, BTW the ring was 24% nagel.
I desperately need to improve my equipment, at least the rune luck was nice – got shael, lum, hel. I have a very though decision atm… should I wait for Fal or should I make Smoke? Any suggestion are welcome.
I also managed to make Strength (partizan) for merc but choose a slow weapon apparently, if I manage to make a new armor for me in the near future then Twitchtroe will go to him.
As for imbue reward….I was a bit uncertain at what item I should use, eventually I choose to imbue boots and the result is nice, I must admit, but it's hard to give up on sander's boots – good FRW and about 500 AR from those boots.
Act 2 – going to invest 5 points in DEX, rest in VIT, 4 points into warmth and 1 into FM and LM. I really hope to find some exceptional bases since I desperately need gear improvements.
IF trade was allowed…who would be interested in this wand??
Isa, level 53, Act2
Phew what a tedious act! Had to constantly keep from being mobbed, staying (and attacking) behind a merc, always on the move, lots and lots and lots of teleporting…. It almost felt like work sometimes. Choosing an untwinked melee build, without any serious LL, low defense and blocking and about 350 HP wasn’t the brightest idea ever….
Most of the time it wasn’t so bad, I was careful enough not to engage big group and not letting the bulb go below 2/3. The only real NDE was in the temple, I encountered 4 champion goatmen and while walking around them one or two managed to hit me. Went down to almost empty bulb, smashed the rejuv keys and retreated back a bit. Another scary situation followed shortly after in the form of 2 ghost boss packs (both 'cursed' ofc), no real danger but a bit scary. Countess dropped a non-Ral rune…
I tried to utilize blocking by walking most of the act but in the end (in the cathedral) decided to stop and just run instead (defense is too low anyway so at least I will be more agile). The great fragility was especially frustrating when I had to clear devilkin camps. The shamans resurrected them faster than I could kill them so I usually found myself being surrounded by critters ahead of me and the resurrected ones behind me…
Eventually I gave away trying to fight my way by melee and just used Zephyr crossbow I kept in stash to take shamans first.
Decided to take andariel on P8, cleared the main hall then lured her there while zapping her with static. I could use the bow here too but decided what the nightmare lets go melee with her… the merc managed to tank 2-3 hits before going down while I managed to land a blow here and there. After about 10 resurrections we managed to finally kill her, BTW the ring was 24% nagel.
I desperately need to improve my equipment, at least the rune luck was nice – got shael, lum, hel. I have a very though decision atm… should I wait for Fal or should I make Smoke? Any suggestion are welcome.
I also managed to make Strength (partizan) for merc but choose a slow weapon apparently, if I manage to make a new armor for me in the near future then Twitchtroe will go to him.
As for imbue reward….I was a bit uncertain at what item I should use, eventually I choose to imbue boots and the result is nice, I must admit, but it's hard to give up on sander's boots – good FRW and about 500 AR from those boots.
Bronze Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 9
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xd54bd6e3
+41 to Attack Rating
12% Faster Hit Recovery
Cruel Nails --> Imbue result
Sharkskin Boots
Defense: 72
Durability: 14 of 14
Kick Damage: 28 to 50
Required Strength: 47
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 57
Fingerprint: 0x6032404
+4 to Dexterity
+30 to Maximum Stamina
+80% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +13%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Faster Hit Recovery
Corruption Finger --> Cain reward
Ring
Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 30
Fingerprint: 0xf4274e88
+2 to Dexterity
+26 to Mana
Lightning Resist +25%
Cold Resist +20%
Poison Length Reduced by 25%
10% Chance to cast Level 3 Nova when struck
Stone Circle --> crafted and will be replaced ASAP
Ring
Required Level: 46
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 44
Fingerprint: 0xb10bbd2
+15 to Energy
+16 to Mana
+18 to Attack Rating
Regenerate Mana 5%
Cold Resist +6%
Level 2 Dim Vision (25/25 Charges)
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 9
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xd54bd6e3
+41 to Attack Rating
12% Faster Hit Recovery
Cruel Nails --> Imbue result
Sharkskin Boots
Defense: 72
Durability: 14 of 14
Kick Damage: 28 to 50
Required Strength: 47
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 57
Fingerprint: 0x6032404
+4 to Dexterity
+30 to Maximum Stamina
+80% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +13%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Faster Hit Recovery
Corruption Finger --> Cain reward
Ring
Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 30
Fingerprint: 0xf4274e88
+2 to Dexterity
+26 to Mana
Lightning Resist +25%
Cold Resist +20%
Poison Length Reduced by 25%
10% Chance to cast Level 3 Nova when struck
Stone Circle --> crafted and will be replaced ASAP
Ring
Required Level: 46
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 44
Fingerprint: 0xb10bbd2
+15 to Energy
+16 to Mana
+18 to Attack Rating
Regenerate Mana 5%
Cold Resist +6%
Level 2 Dim Vision (25/25 Charges)
Act 2 – going to invest 5 points in DEX, rest in VIT, 4 points into warmth and 1 into FM and LM. I really hope to find some exceptional bases since I desperately need gear improvements.
IF trade was allowed…who would be interested in this wand??
Isa, level 53, Act2
Last edited:
jiansonz
New member
- Jun 22, 2003
- 7,940
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- 0
Act III NM wrap-up
Sewers had no dolls or mosquitos. This suited me fine, as the other monsters felt less annoying than those would have been. Resurrectors can be dealt with by freezing all the undead. Riftwing's pack went perfectly - one of us hit a minion with an arrow, then I simply froze it next to me. Rinse and repeat until only Riftwing was left. Found a place with some good corners to have Gwinni bounce Riftwing around at.
These items come from the weirdest container that can spawn in the game. It's the only one you cannot loot (unless you play old versions in Classic):
View attachment 6470
That little island does not support characters standing there, so you can't teleport to it. You can turn the body over with TK, but only junk can be snagged with TK in later versions (in this case, I grabbed a greater healer that also popped out).
The three first UK- and Causeway temples were quite OK. Runied Fane did have me teleporting a bit into it for a safe start, because of a snake pack and lower down an archer boss pack in the entrance room.
As usual for me, Disused Reliquary was where it was the toughest. A regular bat pack right by the stairs, with snakes moving in. I hate getting serially Charged by snakes. I could maybe have fought here, but I teleported into the lefthand upper room. Right into some beetles.
Okay, 'teleport to the outside of the doorway and start freezing bettles' became my plan on-the-fly. What? MIGHT snake pack coming in! That's bad. Teleported back among the beetles, who had just picked up Might and started to smack me. Teleport back near the stairs, then immediately to the opposite upper room (the one to the right). Yay, it's empty!:
View attachment 6471
It was no problems from here. Grabbed the Travincal WP without kills, as I usually do.
Normally, I do Travincal and the entire Durance in one long session but this tourney is different. Preparations for Act IV felt important. If no Ko rune (or one of the better exceptional unique bows, or a super rare...) was going to drop in Durance 1-2, I had a ton of bow gambling to do. One session was only about clearing out Travincal. The next session it was time to clear Durance 1 and 2, hoping for a WP not too far from the exit. Had almost bizarre luck with the Council guys' placement that session - I could just run right past them...
Nope, no such finds in the Durance, so time for some heavy gambling. At Fran's money peak, she had 14 million gold in the bank but I had burned several millions on MF jewelry gambling. That only brought one of my rings from 15% to 22%. I think I had 8.5 millions left to burn on bows. Which is just what I did. Saved only 150k in case Gwinni needed resurrection vs. Bremm and crew. The best bow was scored very early. Just a slight improvement (see last screenie).
The running from WP to exit (about 7-10 screens) went well, I suffered only two Mauler smacks.
Took Mephisto on /players 3. After Static had done its work, we moated him:
View attachment 6472
I cast Thunder Storm, but Mephisto was outside its reach. In order to hit with it, I had to step closer and have Lightnings and ice balls thrown at me. Stopped with that pretty soon. Once I got low on arrows, I let Gwinni do the rest while I read half a chapter in a book.
The drop included Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest. Maybe useful. Its important stats are similar to my Rainbow Circlet of the Colossus. The circlet has a socket though, so it's probably better than Tal's (neither Gwinni nor Fran think that life steal is important).
Here is Gwinni's new bow, btw:
View attachment 6473
Stuff is repaired, TP tome is full, stash and free slots in inventory are LOADED with potions. About 60/40 mana/healing, and six extra full purples. I have no idea how well this supply will last. Depends a lot on the enemy draws, I suppose. During Acts II and III, I generally have found more potions than I've needed to drink, but there were certain times when I bought some on most town trips.
Oh yeah, the four skill points I placed with a random roll went to: Cold Mastery. Far from useless, as reduced enemy resistance means longer freezing and chilling. It was quite obvious when I used Glacial Spike on Doll packs. Before, I had to almost hold-down-the-button spam it to retain the hold on them. Now I could be a little more relaxed.
[Highlight]Destroyer Fran the Blaze Sorceress and Gwinni the Fire Rogue, level 64, NM Outer Steppes next[/highlight]
Sewers had no dolls or mosquitos. This suited me fine, as the other monsters felt less annoying than those would have been. Resurrectors can be dealt with by freezing all the undead. Riftwing's pack went perfectly - one of us hit a minion with an arrow, then I simply froze it next to me. Rinse and repeat until only Riftwing was left. Found a place with some good corners to have Gwinni bounce Riftwing around at.
These items come from the weirdest container that can spawn in the game. It's the only one you cannot loot (unless you play old versions in Classic):
View attachment 6470
That little island does not support characters standing there, so you can't teleport to it. You can turn the body over with TK, but only junk can be snagged with TK in later versions (in this case, I grabbed a greater healer that also popped out).
The three first UK- and Causeway temples were quite OK. Runied Fane did have me teleporting a bit into it for a safe start, because of a snake pack and lower down an archer boss pack in the entrance room.
As usual for me, Disused Reliquary was where it was the toughest. A regular bat pack right by the stairs, with snakes moving in. I hate getting serially Charged by snakes. I could maybe have fought here, but I teleported into the lefthand upper room. Right into some beetles.
Okay, 'teleport to the outside of the doorway and start freezing bettles' became my plan on-the-fly. What? MIGHT snake pack coming in! That's bad. Teleported back among the beetles, who had just picked up Might and started to smack me. Teleport back near the stairs, then immediately to the opposite upper room (the one to the right). Yay, it's empty!:
View attachment 6471
It was no problems from here. Grabbed the Travincal WP without kills, as I usually do.
Normally, I do Travincal and the entire Durance in one long session but this tourney is different. Preparations for Act IV felt important. If no Ko rune (or one of the better exceptional unique bows, or a super rare...) was going to drop in Durance 1-2, I had a ton of bow gambling to do. One session was only about clearing out Travincal. The next session it was time to clear Durance 1 and 2, hoping for a WP not too far from the exit. Had almost bizarre luck with the Council guys' placement that session - I could just run right past them...
Nope, no such finds in the Durance, so time for some heavy gambling. At Fran's money peak, she had 14 million gold in the bank but I had burned several millions on MF jewelry gambling. That only brought one of my rings from 15% to 22%. I think I had 8.5 millions left to burn on bows. Which is just what I did. Saved only 150k in case Gwinni needed resurrection vs. Bremm and crew. The best bow was scored very early. Just a slight improvement (see last screenie).
The running from WP to exit (about 7-10 screens) went well, I suffered only two Mauler smacks.
Took Mephisto on /players 3. After Static had done its work, we moated him:
View attachment 6472
I cast Thunder Storm, but Mephisto was outside its reach. In order to hit with it, I had to step closer and have Lightnings and ice balls thrown at me. Stopped with that pretty soon. Once I got low on arrows, I let Gwinni do the rest while I read half a chapter in a book.
The drop included Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest. Maybe useful. Its important stats are similar to my Rainbow Circlet of the Colossus. The circlet has a socket though, so it's probably better than Tal's (neither Gwinni nor Fran think that life steal is important).
Here is Gwinni's new bow, btw:
View attachment 6473
Stuff is repaired, TP tome is full, stash and free slots in inventory are LOADED with potions. About 60/40 mana/healing, and six extra full purples. I have no idea how well this supply will last. Depends a lot on the enemy draws, I suppose. During Acts II and III, I generally have found more potions than I've needed to drink, but there were certain times when I bought some on most town trips.
Oh yeah, the four skill points I placed with a random roll went to: Cold Mastery. Far from useless, as reduced enemy resistance means longer freezing and chilling. It was quite obvious when I used Glacial Spike on Doll packs. Before, I had to almost hold-down-the-button spam it to retain the hold on them. Now I could be a little more relaxed.
[Highlight]Destroyer Fran the Blaze Sorceress and Gwinni the Fire Rogue, level 64, NM Outer Steppes next[/highlight]
Last edited:
/in or whatever i put
Im going for hammerdin (Act one [no skill/stat points])
NextAsbestos level 1 Act 1 Normal
Im going for hammerdin (Act one [no skill/stat points])
NextAsbestos level 1 Act 1 Normal
Last edited:
When we last saw Amodan_Crane, he was at the City of the Damned WP. At the entrance to the River of Flame, he found several enemies spitting out smaller enemies, and other enemies burrowing in the ground and creating nest eggs of their own. Two of my least favorite types of monsters to fight. Fortunately, Jamella was always nearby to assist with some fresh mana stores. The further Amodan_Crane went along in the River of Flame, gaining a toe hold on the denizens of hell, the more confidence he gained, even thinking that he needed no help, save from the trusty golem he could create from his own powers. He needed nothing. Not even Hephasto could ruin his journey toward redemption.
View attachment 6479
Diablo proved a worthy adversary, requiring scavenging all red potions dropped from the chaos sanctuary and still having none remaining at the conclusion of the battle. Only a single purple potion remained to regain lost life from the very painful fire novas that seemed to come despite the big demon being nearly constantly decrepified.
View attachment 6481
This shows an example of how Amodan_Crane best utilizes his bone spear skill. He likes to take aim like a master photographer, lining up the perfect shot.
View attachment 6482
By the mid point of act V, Amodan_Crane had found an Amn and a Shael rune, and he turned his nice zombie head into a powerful runeword, upgrading his magic find, gold find, and resistances (blocking went up by a percent or two at best, ha).
View attachment 6483
The ancients proved no match for the spears cast at them (level 18 + 6 at this point) and went down without much fanfare. Amodan_Crane even got cocky and thought he could turn a recently made Malice weapon into an Iron Golem, but the golem is not yet sturdy enough for such endeavors, and he ended up using whatever he could find laying around the wilderness.
View attachment 6484
The Cow King also died, as did all of his compatriots, in a whirlwind of firepower. They did manage to dispatch my golem again though.
View attachment 6485
Larzuk provided his final gift upon leaving normal difficulty and gave me two sockets, only one of which I can actually fill at this point. Wendy is still using flawed topazes in her ring mail I bought from Fara in normal.
View attachment 6486
One of the cows dropped a two socket flail, which I thought would be nice to use as a Steel Iron Golem, but he was killed in the Blood Moor by a cursed zombie boss so I have to still work on the golem mastery before I dare try an Insight IG. Finally, Amodan_Crane has found three pieces of Iratha's set, which is a pretty nice set for resists and FRW. I just might consider it if we can find the crown.
Amodan_Crane, level 48 Necromancer, Cold Plains WP
View attachment 6479
Diablo proved a worthy adversary, requiring scavenging all red potions dropped from the chaos sanctuary and still having none remaining at the conclusion of the battle. Only a single purple potion remained to regain lost life from the very painful fire novas that seemed to come despite the big demon being nearly constantly decrepified.
View attachment 6481
This shows an example of how Amodan_Crane best utilizes his bone spear skill. He likes to take aim like a master photographer, lining up the perfect shot.
View attachment 6482
By the mid point of act V, Amodan_Crane had found an Amn and a Shael rune, and he turned his nice zombie head into a powerful runeword, upgrading his magic find, gold find, and resistances (blocking went up by a percent or two at best, ha).
View attachment 6483
The ancients proved no match for the spears cast at them (level 18 + 6 at this point) and went down without much fanfare. Amodan_Crane even got cocky and thought he could turn a recently made Malice weapon into an Iron Golem, but the golem is not yet sturdy enough for such endeavors, and he ended up using whatever he could find laying around the wilderness.
View attachment 6484
The Cow King also died, as did all of his compatriots, in a whirlwind of firepower. They did manage to dispatch my golem again though.
View attachment 6485
Larzuk provided his final gift upon leaving normal difficulty and gave me two sockets, only one of which I can actually fill at this point. Wendy is still using flawed topazes in her ring mail I bought from Fara in normal.
View attachment 6486
One of the cows dropped a two socket flail, which I thought would be nice to use as a Steel Iron Golem, but he was killed in the Blood Moor by a cursed zombie boss so I have to still work on the golem mastery before I dare try an Insight IG. Finally, Amodan_Crane has found three pieces of Iratha's set, which is a pretty nice set for resists and FRW. I just might consider it if we can find the crown.
Amodan_Crane, level 48 Necromancer, Cold Plains WP
Great updates everybody!
I don't have that much free time lately, but I have made progress with Saffron. I hired a Prayer merc in Act 2 Normal and soon equipped him with a Savage Polearm. Along with Saffron's substantial Cold Skill firepower, p8 kills were racked up fairly quickly. During her desert travels, Saffron was set upon by an enhanced freak, who fittingly dropped a rare scimitar:
View attachment 6487
To help cope with mana starvation, I added Tir runes to Saffron's orb. No problems completing Act 2.
For Act 3, I dropped to p7, to keep the drops maximized and perhaps shave the XP a tad to possibly prevent a late Act level-up. I misplaced my notes on where the random stats landed, but it was a fairly even spread. To the best of my memory, the only useful random skill went toward opening Static. The rest were minor synergies at best. My source of Teleport is +skill on the weapon switch. I had the unusual benefit of encountering 3(!) gem shrines in a single playing session as I looted Kurast. I used them in series to create a Perfect Topaz.
View attachment 6488
If I was inclined to skip areas to limit my level-ups, this Durance Map would have been perfect!
View attachment 6489
Meph's drop was useless.
Thankfully, neither mana nor scrolls were a problem in Act 4. Plenty of Act 2 points had been placed in Energy, and mana potions were abundant from hordes of Strangler-type monsters. At this point, Hazade the Prayer merc had a Fine Partizan with 2 sockets (savage partizan re-rolled with chips and socketed with a -req jewel and Tal rune.) He scored plenty of kills. Hellforge dropped an Eld and a pile of diamonds. Saffron's resists were high for the Diablo fight, further boosted with Hotspur (possible end game boots). Diablo quickly fried the merc, but I had no trouble going solo. His drop was unremarkable, Duskdeep Full Helm being the only possibly useful item.
Saffron's firepower reached "overpowered" status in Act 5. I had to lay off around bosses so the merc could score the kills. S/U drops have been plentiful, but useless. Rune luck, however, has been fantastic. Two Shaels, Amns, a small pile of Sols, and multiples of everything lower. Great haul for Normal. I finally replaced Hsarus' Buckler and allocated enough Str to wear a breast plate, and made a Rhyme Small Shield. Baal's drop was useless. After clearing the cows, I came just short of level 49. I used the socket quest on the Duskdeep, there's a chance it could be an end-game merc helm. I also upgraded Hazade's weapon to an interesting rare:
View attachment 6490
I just scratched the surface of Act 1 NM, completing the Den of Evil.
Saffron, level 49, Blizz Sorc, Act 1 NM. Resists 19/12/30/2
Smoked Sphere +3 Ice Blast "Tir Tir"
Rhyme Small Shield
29% MF Skull Cap
48% MF Breast Plate
Russet (18) Demonhide Sash
Coral (28) Chain Gloves of Fortune (22)
Heavy Boots of Luck (27)
Fortuitous (15) Ring of Regeneration
Fortuitous (12) Ring of the Apprentice
Amulet of Chance (15)
Hazade, Prayer Merc
rare eth Ferocious/Carnage War Fork
18% MF Skull Cap
30% MF Breast Plate
I don't have that much free time lately, but I have made progress with Saffron. I hired a Prayer merc in Act 2 Normal and soon equipped him with a Savage Polearm. Along with Saffron's substantial Cold Skill firepower, p8 kills were racked up fairly quickly. During her desert travels, Saffron was set upon by an enhanced freak, who fittingly dropped a rare scimitar:
View attachment 6487
To help cope with mana starvation, I added Tir runes to Saffron's orb. No problems completing Act 2.
For Act 3, I dropped to p7, to keep the drops maximized and perhaps shave the XP a tad to possibly prevent a late Act level-up. I misplaced my notes on where the random stats landed, but it was a fairly even spread. To the best of my memory, the only useful random skill went toward opening Static. The rest were minor synergies at best. My source of Teleport is +skill on the weapon switch. I had the unusual benefit of encountering 3(!) gem shrines in a single playing session as I looted Kurast. I used them in series to create a Perfect Topaz.
View attachment 6488
If I was inclined to skip areas to limit my level-ups, this Durance Map would have been perfect!
View attachment 6489
Meph's drop was useless.
Thankfully, neither mana nor scrolls were a problem in Act 4. Plenty of Act 2 points had been placed in Energy, and mana potions were abundant from hordes of Strangler-type monsters. At this point, Hazade the Prayer merc had a Fine Partizan with 2 sockets (savage partizan re-rolled with chips and socketed with a -req jewel and Tal rune.) He scored plenty of kills. Hellforge dropped an Eld and a pile of diamonds. Saffron's resists were high for the Diablo fight, further boosted with Hotspur (possible end game boots). Diablo quickly fried the merc, but I had no trouble going solo. His drop was unremarkable, Duskdeep Full Helm being the only possibly useful item.
Saffron's firepower reached "overpowered" status in Act 5. I had to lay off around bosses so the merc could score the kills. S/U drops have been plentiful, but useless. Rune luck, however, has been fantastic. Two Shaels, Amns, a small pile of Sols, and multiples of everything lower. Great haul for Normal. I finally replaced Hsarus' Buckler and allocated enough Str to wear a breast plate, and made a Rhyme Small Shield. Baal's drop was useless. After clearing the cows, I came just short of level 49. I used the socket quest on the Duskdeep, there's a chance it could be an end-game merc helm. I also upgraded Hazade's weapon to an interesting rare:
View attachment 6490
I just scratched the surface of Act 1 NM, completing the Den of Evil.
Saffron, level 49, Blizz Sorc, Act 1 NM. Resists 19/12/30/2
Smoked Sphere +3 Ice Blast "Tir Tir"
Rhyme Small Shield
29% MF Skull Cap
48% MF Breast Plate
Russet (18) Demonhide Sash
Coral (28) Chain Gloves of Fortune (22)
Heavy Boots of Luck (27)
Fortuitous (15) Ring of Regeneration
Fortuitous (12) Ring of the Apprentice
Amulet of Chance (15)
Hazade, Prayer Merc
rare eth Ferocious/Carnage War Fork
18% MF Skull Cap
30% MF Breast Plate
RIP Isa
Well it's finally happened. During the clearing of the tombs got hit by champion mummies and pressed the rejuvs too late….
It was fun tournament and quite happy how far I took an untwinked, no extended stash, melee char in HC. Thanks Pb_Pal for hosting and everyone else for the support and motivation. Good luck to the rest of the runners.
Isa, level 60 (RIP), act 2
Well it's finally happened. During the clearing of the tombs got hit by champion mummies and pressed the rejuvs too late….
It was fun tournament and quite happy how far I took an untwinked, no extended stash, melee char in HC. Thanks Pb_Pal for hosting and everyone else for the support and motivation. Good luck to the rest of the runners.
Isa, level 60 (RIP), act 2
- Sep 12, 2013
- 4,903
- 1,721
- 113
Luctus (lvl 61) - Flayer Jungle
Haven't given an update in a while, as both play speed and enjoyment have increased quite a bit.
Critical step #1: (infinite mana..)
Critical step #2: (PnB skillz..)
He's been able to up his MF game as well, managing 2x Lem drops (still waiting on Exceptional armor for 'Treachery'):
Haven't given an update in a while, as both play speed and enjoyment have increased quite a bit.
Critical step #1: (infinite mana..)
Critical step #2: (PnB skillz..)
He's been able to up his MF game as well, managing 2x Lem drops (still waiting on Exceptional armor for 'Treachery'):
- Oct 2, 2010
- 884
- 342
- 63
Condolences to mir on the loss.
I haven't made any progress in Hell yet, but I did shuffle some gear around in preparation for Hell. I also crafted some serviceable blood rings and caster amulets with my very limited supply of crafting materials. I used my NM socket quest on a 3 socket Jawbone Visor with +3 to War Cry and promptly socketed Ral Ral Ort. I know the socket recipe is a 4 out of 6 chance for 3 sockets, but with no other equipment slot to socket, and the inability to travel back, I didn't mind using the socket quest on that helm.
My one and only Lem went into a Treachery of course, which is a considerable upgrade from Durga's Spirit Forge Linked Mail.
Equipment:
Charms:
Stashed for Boss Fights:
Mercernary
Stats:
105 FCR
135 FHR
2.5K Life
1K Mana
48% Block with Rhyme, so I don't get wrecked by Ancients.
6 MF!
I haven't made any progress in Hell yet, but I did shuffle some gear around in preparation for Hell. I also crafted some serviceable blood rings and caster amulets with my very limited supply of crafting materials. I used my NM socket quest on a 3 socket Jawbone Visor with +3 to War Cry and promptly socketed Ral Ral Ort. I know the socket recipe is a 4 out of 6 chance for 3 sockets, but with no other equipment slot to socket, and the inability to travel back, I didn't mind using the socket quest on that helm.
My one and only Lem went into a Treachery of course, which is a considerable upgrade from Durga's Spirit Forge Linked Mail.
Equipment:
Code:
Tangerine Heavy Boots of Acceleration
Heavy Boots
Defense: 5
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 18
Fingerprint: 0x61ae8157
Item Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40% Faster Run/Walk
Lightning Resist +6%
Stealth
Superior Serpentskin Armor
TalEth
Defense: 144
Durability: 27 of 27
Required Level: 24
Required Strength: 43
Fingerprint: 0x92f80cdb
Item Level: 35
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+25% Faster Run/Walk
+25% Faster Cast Rate
+25% Faster Hit Recovery
+14% Enhanced Defense
+6 to Dexterity
Regenerate Mana 15%
+15 Maximum Stamina
Poison Resist +30%
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
Increase Maximum Durability 14%
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Eth Rune
Gemmed Jawbone Visor
Jawbone Visor
Defense: 65
Durability: 25 of 25
Required Level: 30
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0x101a22c9
Item Level: 64
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to War Cry (Barbarian Only)
Lightning Resist +30%
Fire Resist +60%
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Iratha's Cuff
Light Gauntlets
Defense: 10
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Level: 15
Required Strength: 45
Fingerprint: 0xad50e10c
Item Level: 45
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Cold Resist +30%
Half Freeze Duration
Set (2 items): +20% Increased Attack Speed
Bahamut's Ring of Strength
Ring
Required Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0xb95a244
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Strength
+108 to Mana
Stone Band
Ring
Required Level: 62
Fingerprint: 0x72c1de73
Item Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Cast Rate
3% Life stolen per hit
+2 to Strength
+36 to Life
+1 to Mana after each Kill
Bone Beads
Amulet
Required Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0xa13fefb6
Item Level: 64
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Cast Rate
+14 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 8%
Cold Resist +14%
Lightning Resist +38%
Magic Damage Reduced by 2
6% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Viridian Plated Belt of the Squid
Plated Belt
Defense: 11
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 30
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0xfb90d143
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+75 to Life
Poison Resist +19%
Spirit
Superior Crystal Sword
TalThulOrtAmn
One Hand Damage: 5 - 15
Durability: 23 of 23
Required Level: 25
Required Strength: 43
Fingerprint: 0x45f1d29f
Item Level: 43
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+33% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+3 to Attack Rating
Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
7% Life stolen per hit
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+99 to Mana
+6 Magic Absorb
Increase Maximum Durability 15%
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune
Spirit
Crystal Sword
TalThulOrtAmn
One Hand Damage: 5 - 15
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 25
Required Strength: 43
Fingerprint: 0xac9159ae
Item Level: 50
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+27% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
7% Life stolen per hit
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+105 to Mana
+8 Magic Absorb
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune
Battle Staff of Teleportation
Battle Staff
Two Hand Damage: 6 - 13
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Level: 24
Fingerprint: 0x48992ec
Item Level: 45
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Teleport (Sorceress Only)
Level 2 Teleport (37/37 Charges)Charms:
Code:
Coral Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 15
Fingerprint: 0x2bc2454e
Item Level: 38
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Lightning Resist +25%
Coral Grand Charm of Inertia
Grand Charm
Required Level: 15
Fingerprint: 0xb8c6ba49
Item Level: 62
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+7% Faster Run/Walk
Lightning Resist +21%
Russet Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 7
Fingerprint: 0x17d3baa2
Item Level: 60
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +20%
Russet Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 7
Fingerprint: 0xae6b5785
Item Level: 19
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +18%
Sapphire Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x70c2c878
Item Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Cold Resist +11%
Bronze Small Charm of Life
Small Charm
Required Level: 15
Fingerprint: 0xd09e6fb9
Item Level: 38
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10 to Attack Rating
+10 to Life
Ruby Large Charm
Large Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0x6ab2b0c5
Item Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +15%
Lizard's Large Charm of Sustenance
Large Charm
Required Level: 34
Fingerprint: 0xcda57966
Item Level: 60
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+22 to Life
+9 to Mana
Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 17
Fingerprint: 0x73472197
Item Level: 42
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+12 to Life
Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 17
Fingerprint: 0x93069a8f
Item Level: 37
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+11 to Life
Large Charm of Sustenance
Large Charm
Required Level: 19
Fingerprint: 0x31772cba
Item Level: 61
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Coral Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0xde2c1afb
Item Level: 61
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Lightning Resist +8%
Coral Small Charm of Dexterity
Small Charm
Required Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0x92fa3b80
Item Level: 46
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Dexterity
Lightning Resist +9%
Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 17
Fingerprint: 0x64d09886
Item Level: 43
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+11 to Life
Lizard's Large Charm of Sustenance
Large Charm
Required Level: 19
Fingerprint: 0xf3823228
Item Level: 33
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+16 to Life
+11 to Mana
Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 17
Fingerprint: 0x466e166e
Item Level: 37
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15 to LifeStashed for Boss Fights:
Code:
Rhyme
Bone Shield
ShaelEth
Defense: 14
Chance to Block: 40
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0xacc8f824
Item Level: 20
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40% Faster Block Rate
20% Increased Chance of Blocking
Regenerate Mana 15%
All Resistances +25
Cannot Be Frozen
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Eth Rune
Sander's Taboo
Heavy Gloves
Defense: 31
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Level: 28
Fingerprint: 0x32675949
Item Level: 22
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Increased Attack Speed
Adds 9 - 11 Poison Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
+25 Defense
+40 to Life
Black
Flail
ThulIoNef
One Hand Damage: 2 - 52
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 41
Required Dexterity: 35
Fingerprint: 0x7c48739b
Item Level: 20
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
120% Enhanced Damage
+200 to Attack Rating
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Knockback
+10 to Vitality
Magic Damage Reduced by 2
Level 4 Corpse Explosion (12/12 Charges)
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Io Rune
Socketed: Nef Rune
Blood Circle
Ring
Required Level: 47
Fingerprint: 0xaf762988
Item Level: 44
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+90 to Attack Rating
2% Life stolen per hit
+1 to Strength
+8 to Dexterity
+20 to LifeMercernary
Code:
Duskdeep
Full Helm
Defense: 51
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 41
Fingerprint: 0xacb017c9
Item Level: 26
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+8 to Maximum Damage
+41% Enhanced Defense
+13 Defense
All Resistances +15
Damage Reduced by 7
-2 to Light Radius
Treachery
Cuirass
ShaelThulLem
Defense: 193
Durability: 28 of 50
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0xf4e90fa5
Item Level: 62
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 15 Fade when struck
25% Chance to cast level 15 Venom on striking
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
+45% Increased Attack Speed
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
Cold Resist +30%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Lem Rune
Insight
Bill
RalTirTalSol
Two Hand Damage: 58 - 187
Durability: 30 of 50
Required Level: 27
Required Strength: 95
Fingerprint: 0x7d7786ed
Item Level: 37
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Level 15 Meditation Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Cast Rate
253% Enhanced Damage
+9 to Minimum Damage
236% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
+5 to Critical Strike
All Stats +5
+2 to Mana after each Kill
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Tir Rune
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Sol RuneStats:
105 FCR
135 FHR
2.5K Life
1K Mana
48% Block with Rhyme, so I don't get wrecked by Ancients.
6 MF!
Sorry to hear of your deeds @mir . That was a tough build to play untwinked at the best of times. Well done getting so far.
Nice Lem finds @DiabloTwoinDC ! Sounds like you are getting kitted out really well in endgame gear!
@NanoMist also sounds like you have some decent gear and stats heading into Hell.
Naruma - NM Act 2.
Lots of merc and gear changes for Naruma this Act.
We started by swapping to Mizan the Holy Freeze merc, then after the Sewers switched to Alhizeer the Might merc for a while. Alihizeer seemed to die more than Mizan had, so after the Halls of the Dead we went back to Holy Freeze, with Neeraj. Possibly it would have been better to stay with the Prayer merc, but Holy Freeze seems to work pretty well. Even though it doubles up on the chilling of Hurricane, having two sources of chill allows Naruma to run away from Neeraj in the middle of battle (to strategically take out a monster) and not have Neeraj instadeath when everything becomes unchilled.
Gear wise, a 2nd Nagelring in the Sewers was the first change, but it was after we finally had enough PTopazes to fill our 4os Gothic Plate that we really swapped things around. The Gothic Plate had been merc armor up until then, but now it became Naruma's armor and we said goodbye to the Angelics set. The only problem was our Strength was only 58, so we needed to find another 12 strength from somewhere to equip the Gothic Plate and all our stat points this level were going into Energy. Crushflange solved that problem and allowed us to focus on MF for everything else. Of course Angelics had been giving us a nice boost to resists so we needed to make those up as well. Happily I been shopping gloves, belts and boots every visit to town this Act and had a nice selection of resist/MF items for these slots. It did mean losing the Chancies, but they were only 28%MF so we only ended up losing 4% MF there. Neeraj ended up with the old flawed topaz breast plate and helm, something that really needs to be improved upon. After all these changes we ended up with 329% MF with an extra 65% on merc kills. A bit later on we shoppped a +10str/fire resist belt, which meant we could ditch the Crushflange (the other 2pts Str came from charms) and socket 3 MF jewels (2x 6%; 1 x5%) into a 4os broad sword we had lying around. Magic Find now 346%. And just before facing Duriel a 4%MF small charm dropped to give us an even 350% MF + 65% on merc kills.
Duriel was taken on p8 and we ended up spending 160K on merc resurections before we got it. The least 3 or 4 of those ressurections were while Duriel was down to the last sliver of health and we were leaving Neeraj to get the final hit. He really couldn't even get a hit in before dying (and we were out of purples by this stage).
Now that MF is looking good, I'm really hoping to start finding some endgame worthy gear. At the moment I have pretty much nothing that I want to be wearing in Hell. Looking forward to Act 3.
Naruma the Windy Druid, Level 60, NM Act 3 Kurast Docks
Nice Lem finds @DiabloTwoinDC ! Sounds like you are getting kitted out really well in endgame gear!
@NanoMist also sounds like you have some decent gear and stats heading into Hell.
Naruma - NM Act 2.
Lots of merc and gear changes for Naruma this Act.
We started by swapping to Mizan the Holy Freeze merc, then after the Sewers switched to Alhizeer the Might merc for a while. Alihizeer seemed to die more than Mizan had, so after the Halls of the Dead we went back to Holy Freeze, with Neeraj. Possibly it would have been better to stay with the Prayer merc, but Holy Freeze seems to work pretty well. Even though it doubles up on the chilling of Hurricane, having two sources of chill allows Naruma to run away from Neeraj in the middle of battle (to strategically take out a monster) and not have Neeraj instadeath when everything becomes unchilled.
Gear wise, a 2nd Nagelring in the Sewers was the first change, but it was after we finally had enough PTopazes to fill our 4os Gothic Plate that we really swapped things around. The Gothic Plate had been merc armor up until then, but now it became Naruma's armor and we said goodbye to the Angelics set. The only problem was our Strength was only 58, so we needed to find another 12 strength from somewhere to equip the Gothic Plate and all our stat points this level were going into Energy. Crushflange solved that problem and allowed us to focus on MF for everything else. Of course Angelics had been giving us a nice boost to resists so we needed to make those up as well. Happily I been shopping gloves, belts and boots every visit to town this Act and had a nice selection of resist/MF items for these slots. It did mean losing the Chancies, but they were only 28%MF so we only ended up losing 4% MF there. Neeraj ended up with the old flawed topaz breast plate and helm, something that really needs to be improved upon. After all these changes we ended up with 329% MF with an extra 65% on merc kills. A bit later on we shoppped a +10str/fire resist belt, which meant we could ditch the Crushflange (the other 2pts Str came from charms) and socket 3 MF jewels (2x 6%; 1 x5%) into a 4os broad sword we had lying around. Magic Find now 346%. And just before facing Duriel a 4%MF small charm dropped to give us an even 350% MF + 65% on merc kills.
Duriel was taken on p8 and we ended up spending 160K on merc resurections before we got it. The least 3 or 4 of those ressurections were while Duriel was down to the last sliver of health and we were leaving Neeraj to get the final hit. He really couldn't even get a hit in before dying (and we were out of purples by this stage).
Now that MF is looking good, I'm really hoping to start finding some endgame worthy gear. At the moment I have pretty much nothing that I want to be wearing in Hell. Looking forward to Act 3.
Naruma the Windy Druid, Level 60, NM Act 3 Kurast Docks
jiansonz
New member
- Jun 22, 2003
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In the beginning of Outer Steppes, Fran and Gwinni met only a duo of Flesh Spawners before finding the stairs to the Plains of Despair. I now had quite a large empty corner of the Steppes to fall back on and work with, but I still felt that clearing a bit by the Plains entrance would make for even better safety. So there we went.
Monster draw on the Plains was really great for us - Burning Souls, Doom Casters and Corpulents. The first two were easy pickings for Gwinni while frozen. A few times, I even practiced the juggling of keeping two Burning Souls far apart frozen with Ice Blasts. Probably would not have been possible to do if not for the 4 random points Fran received in in Cold Mastery.
Corpulents have a lot more life than the other two types, but they are vulnerable to Static, so no problem.
Once we were done with the Plains, I chose between doing the Steppes or the City next. I chose the Steppes. Other than spawners, the monsters here were leapers and Corpulents. Against some spawners and what turned out to be a bosspack of Corpulents, I was a fraction of a second too slow to teleport my merc Gwinni away from major danger - and she died!
Whoa...
Major change in gameplay with Fran now on her own for ~80% of the act. The first thing that was perfectly clear was that her Blaze was not quite up to par considering the life/resist on these p8 Act IV NM monsters. That's because Fran at this stage is sort of a hybrid - she has invested about half the available skill points to Thunder Storm. Also, 8 skill points have been (at least mostly) wasted. So her Blaze is very far from being top-notch, with only a few points in Fire Mastery. A regular non-tourney Blaze Sorc would have invested the standard 41 skill points a long time ago.
So Blaze was far less effective than usual at killing spawner pups quickly, leading to far more pain and danger. Normally, it would still have been good enough if the red potion supply wasn't so limited as was the case now. As for those darn Cliff Lurkers (which there was a TON of), they simply refused to die to Blaze unless the flames were really really heavily stacked. They also shrugged off Static hits like it was almost nothing. I just had to check out their resists: Fire 80, Lightning 70. Geez...
Highly resistant boss #1:
View attachment 6507
(This is the one in the pack responsible for killing Gwinni)
Fighting leapers with this setup was new for me. The leapers' 'knocked-back when struck' ability was triggered by Thunder Storm. That was both good and bad. If there was only a single leaper, if often kept me safe even when I didn't know where it was (it's hard to see leapers in flames) but it was often hard to lead them to stacked flames. Sometimes, I could use the walls - making a hot Blaze patch there, then leading the leaper to it, quickly run around the leaper and the TS would push it and keep it into the fire.
Example with a Champ:
View attachment 6508
Against every high-life boss and those Champs, I started with a PMH arrow with my Edge bow. Much harder to hit without Inner Sight help, but still doable.
I think Outer Steppes must have taken at least 2.5 hours to clear out. It was tough! I didn't touch much of my full purples, but my red potions supply went from about 20 down to 2 at worst. I used any extra TP scrolls to get healing from Jamella, and the health/mana shrines nearby had me as a steady visitor.
Last corner of the area was good, with several containers with red potions and some Corpulents also dropping them. Entered the City with 9 red potions.
(BTW, single non-boss Corpulents were pushovers. Blaze is on, move almost up to it, back off, it follows. Double back towards it, back away again. Now it's crawling over 4x Blaze flames. Then it went Ice Blast, Static, Static, Static, Static, Ice Blast, dead monster before that freezing was over.)
The entrance to City of the Damned had a welcoming crew of a bosspack of Damned. As it should be, right? Despite the slight difficulty here to get them to follow me through that winding passage, I was glad to see them. They die readily to Blaze, at least when it's well stacked or they are burned for some time.
Abyss Knights (resists: Fire 40, Lightning 80) were tougher to kill. Worst of all was this guy:
View attachment 6509
The charged bolts sure took a toll on my red potions. I needed at least half a dozen in this fight.
Last critter type was bats. As long as I spotted a pack in time and nothing else interfered, they were easy pickings. Method: arrange a hot fire patch, move right up them so the whole pack stirs, run back to the fire (don't panic!) and whip out the GS:
View attachment 6510
Fran drew the dungeon feature that some of us call Cathedral of the Damned. Without a merc, I had accepted the fact that full clear status would now have to be abandoned. Those windows have a ton of life, and I thought I wouldn't have the patience to have them killed by TS. Plus it was past bedtime already...
But why not try this big hammer I found?
View attachment 6511
I can't say it was any fast window vandalism going on here, but definitely bearable speed. However, the hammer broke when I was only about 1/3 done. But I had seen that TS actually shaved off more than a sliver with each hit, as long as the window was kept poisoned. So I continued on with my axe. After the axe was down to about 2/3 durability, I had an even better idea. PMH arrows on all remaining windows, Static hitting 2-3 of them at a time, then just hang around letting TS do its thing. Worked out pretty well, full clear status is still going!
I will enter the River with 9 red potions (unfortunately had no spare ones muled off), I think about 17 TP scrolls in the tome and a little below 250 arrows in my quiver. Hsaru's boots and Boneflesh are muled in.
I dread the next session. Of the 7 monster types that can spawn on the River, there aren't many I look forward to fighting, least of all an early bosspack of them.
Then in the CS, Doom Knights will be FI and Venom Lords highly resistant and with lots of life.
Toyed with the idea of taking down the players setting, but naah. It's /p8 full clear (well, except for Diablo if I get to him) or die trying...
[Highlight]Depressed and Isolated Destroyer Fran the Blaze/TS Sorceress, level 65, NM River of Flame next[/highlight]
Monster draw on the Plains was really great for us - Burning Souls, Doom Casters and Corpulents. The first two were easy pickings for Gwinni while frozen. A few times, I even practiced the juggling of keeping two Burning Souls far apart frozen with Ice Blasts. Probably would not have been possible to do if not for the 4 random points Fran received in in Cold Mastery.
Corpulents have a lot more life than the other two types, but they are vulnerable to Static, so no problem.
Once we were done with the Plains, I chose between doing the Steppes or the City next. I chose the Steppes. Other than spawners, the monsters here were leapers and Corpulents. Against some spawners and what turned out to be a bosspack of Corpulents, I was a fraction of a second too slow to teleport my merc Gwinni away from major danger - and she died!
Whoa...
Major change in gameplay with Fran now on her own for ~80% of the act. The first thing that was perfectly clear was that her Blaze was not quite up to par considering the life/resist on these p8 Act IV NM monsters. That's because Fran at this stage is sort of a hybrid - she has invested about half the available skill points to Thunder Storm. Also, 8 skill points have been (at least mostly) wasted. So her Blaze is very far from being top-notch, with only a few points in Fire Mastery. A regular non-tourney Blaze Sorc would have invested the standard 41 skill points a long time ago.
So Blaze was far less effective than usual at killing spawner pups quickly, leading to far more pain and danger. Normally, it would still have been good enough if the red potion supply wasn't so limited as was the case now. As for those darn Cliff Lurkers (which there was a TON of), they simply refused to die to Blaze unless the flames were really really heavily stacked. They also shrugged off Static hits like it was almost nothing. I just had to check out their resists: Fire 80, Lightning 70. Geez...
Highly resistant boss #1:
View attachment 6507
(This is the one in the pack responsible for killing Gwinni)
Fighting leapers with this setup was new for me. The leapers' 'knocked-back when struck' ability was triggered by Thunder Storm. That was both good and bad. If there was only a single leaper, if often kept me safe even when I didn't know where it was (it's hard to see leapers in flames) but it was often hard to lead them to stacked flames. Sometimes, I could use the walls - making a hot Blaze patch there, then leading the leaper to it, quickly run around the leaper and the TS would push it and keep it into the fire.
Example with a Champ:
View attachment 6508
Against every high-life boss and those Champs, I started with a PMH arrow with my Edge bow. Much harder to hit without Inner Sight help, but still doable.
I think Outer Steppes must have taken at least 2.5 hours to clear out. It was tough! I didn't touch much of my full purples, but my red potions supply went from about 20 down to 2 at worst. I used any extra TP scrolls to get healing from Jamella, and the health/mana shrines nearby had me as a steady visitor.
Last corner of the area was good, with several containers with red potions and some Corpulents also dropping them. Entered the City with 9 red potions.
(BTW, single non-boss Corpulents were pushovers. Blaze is on, move almost up to it, back off, it follows. Double back towards it, back away again. Now it's crawling over 4x Blaze flames. Then it went Ice Blast, Static, Static, Static, Static, Ice Blast, dead monster before that freezing was over.)
The entrance to City of the Damned had a welcoming crew of a bosspack of Damned. As it should be, right? Despite the slight difficulty here to get them to follow me through that winding passage, I was glad to see them. They die readily to Blaze, at least when it's well stacked or they are burned for some time.
Abyss Knights (resists: Fire 40, Lightning 80) were tougher to kill. Worst of all was this guy:
View attachment 6509
The charged bolts sure took a toll on my red potions. I needed at least half a dozen in this fight.
Last critter type was bats. As long as I spotted a pack in time and nothing else interfered, they were easy pickings. Method: arrange a hot fire patch, move right up them so the whole pack stirs, run back to the fire (don't panic!) and whip out the GS:
View attachment 6510
Fran drew the dungeon feature that some of us call Cathedral of the Damned. Without a merc, I had accepted the fact that full clear status would now have to be abandoned. Those windows have a ton of life, and I thought I wouldn't have the patience to have them killed by TS. Plus it was past bedtime already...
But why not try this big hammer I found?
View attachment 6511
I can't say it was any fast window vandalism going on here, but definitely bearable speed. However, the hammer broke when I was only about 1/3 done. But I had seen that TS actually shaved off more than a sliver with each hit, as long as the window was kept poisoned. So I continued on with my axe. After the axe was down to about 2/3 durability, I had an even better idea. PMH arrows on all remaining windows, Static hitting 2-3 of them at a time, then just hang around letting TS do its thing. Worked out pretty well, full clear status is still going!
I will enter the River with 9 red potions (unfortunately had no spare ones muled off), I think about 17 TP scrolls in the tome and a little below 250 arrows in my quiver. Hsaru's boots and Boneflesh are muled in.
I dread the next session. Of the 7 monster types that can spawn on the River, there aren't many I look forward to fighting, least of all an early bosspack of them.
Then in the CS, Doom Knights will be FI and Venom Lords highly resistant and with lots of life.
Toyed with the idea of taking down the players setting, but naah. It's /p8 full clear (well, except for Diablo if I get to him) or die trying...
[Highlight]Depressed and Isolated Destroyer Fran the Blaze/TS Sorceress, level 65, NM River of Flame next[/highlight]
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My brother and I just bought a house, and this past two weeks we've been moving, so haven't had a lot of time to work on Athena. We're all moved in now though, so let the adventure continue!
Act 2 has been a breeze thus far. The only challenging aspect has been the fact that charged strike basically one shots everything, so letting our mercenary get killing blows hasn't been the easiest thing.
A few things to note thus far. Generally speaking, act II really isn't hugely dangerous, but lack of lightning and poison resistances can be frustrating due to beetles and zombies/bugs/etc. That being said, instead of the usual shopping for a sturdy bone shield of deflecting, I opted for this:
View attachment 6514
With shield in hand, I haven't felt unsafe at any point in act 2, even with the slightly lower hp than I'm used to (all points into dex for this act).
Only other thing of note is this gorgeous find, which will absolutely see use in act 4. It's not a grailer, but I've only ever found one or two, so that's pretty cool
View attachment 6515
Athena the lightning Javzon, level 25 with Horadric Staff in hand. Palace next
Act 2 has been a breeze thus far. The only challenging aspect has been the fact that charged strike basically one shots everything, so letting our mercenary get killing blows hasn't been the easiest thing.
A few things to note thus far. Generally speaking, act II really isn't hugely dangerous, but lack of lightning and poison resistances can be frustrating due to beetles and zombies/bugs/etc. That being said, instead of the usual shopping for a sturdy bone shield of deflecting, I opted for this:
View attachment 6514
With shield in hand, I haven't felt unsafe at any point in act 2, even with the slightly lower hp than I'm used to (all points into dex for this act).
Only other thing of note is this gorgeous find, which will absolutely see use in act 4. It's not a grailer, but I've only ever found one or two, so that's pretty cool
View attachment 6515
Athena the lightning Javzon, level 25 with Horadric Staff in hand. Palace next
- Oct 2, 2010
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Beginning my hell play through soon, live!
Will be done on players 1, any% clear for faster (and viewer friendly) progression. There will be some running through areas, so let's see if I survive this.
Edit: Stream over, removed the link. I will post an update after a break!
Will be done on players 1, any% clear for faster (and viewer friendly) progression. There will be some running through areas, so let's see if I survive this.
Edit: Stream over, removed the link. I will post an update after a break!
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@jiansonz great persistence and problem solving to stick with p8 full clears. Good luck with the rest of Act 4.
For Naruma NM act 3 is complete.
First thing was to gamble the 9 million gold I had stashed. Lots of gear needed, so circlets, amulets, rings, gloves, belts and boots all got taken. Best was a rare amulet with lightning resist and magic find.
Redoing gear (again) we got up to 360%MF and went back to using Chancies for the gold find as much as the magic find.
On to the Spider Forest and one of our first drops was this!
View attachment 6517
but ....
Only 7% off perfect too.
The Great Marsh saw us find the 3rd PTopaz for our merc helm, just the body armor to do now and finding a second 4os base needs to come first. We also found a 10%MF/+10mana jewel, which went into the final socket space of our sword giving us a 27%MF weapon.
LK dropped our first skiller, it was even a Druid skiller! Shape-shifting isn't much use though.
The Ruined Fane had these guys just around the corner from the door:
View attachment 6519
Yep, Cursed and Conviction! Spammed Tornados until everything was dead, there are times not to get fancy worrying about merc kills.
There was an XP shrine right near the entrance to Durance 1 and three Mauler bosses made sure it gave us a massive boost to XP.
Once we'd cleared Durance 2 it was time for a gambling session. Only 3.5 million to use but this belt is outstanding.
It was a light belt, but I had no hesitation upping it to sharkskin even though it takes a Ral and a PAmethyst (both needed for Caster amulets).
We also gambled a Gaean circlet, although no second mod limits it's usefulness.
Back to the Durance and it was quite a long way from the waypoint to the exit and we used up more than a few teleport charges escaping from packs of Dolls getting there.
Meph was taken on p5 and he went down fast
Back to town for one final gamble, repairs and to fill the tp tome before heading through the red portal to Act 4.
Four levels gained and the random rolls were terrible. Stats were done in groups of 5 points and went Dex/Dex/Str/Dex with the Tome also going to Dex. Dex is probably the least useful stat for me. Skills went Werebear/Poison Creeper/Ravens/Poison Creeper (ouch).
Naruma the Wind Druid, Level 64, NM Act 4 Pandemonium Fortress
For Naruma NM act 3 is complete.
First thing was to gamble the 9 million gold I had stashed. Lots of gear needed, so circlets, amulets, rings, gloves, belts and boots all got taken. Best was a rare amulet with lightning resist and magic find.
Redoing gear (again) we got up to 360%MF and went back to using Chancies for the gold find as much as the magic find.
On to the Spider Forest and one of our first drops was this!
View attachment 6517
but ....
Only 7% off perfect too.
The Great Marsh saw us find the 3rd PTopaz for our merc helm, just the body armor to do now and finding a second 4os base needs to come first. We also found a 10%MF/+10mana jewel, which went into the final socket space of our sword giving us a 27%MF weapon.
LK dropped our first skiller, it was even a Druid skiller! Shape-shifting isn't much use though.
The Ruined Fane had these guys just around the corner from the door:
View attachment 6519
Yep, Cursed and Conviction! Spammed Tornados until everything was dead, there are times not to get fancy worrying about merc kills.
There was an XP shrine right near the entrance to Durance 1 and three Mauler bosses made sure it gave us a massive boost to XP.
Once we'd cleared Durance 2 it was time for a gambling session. Only 3.5 million to use but this belt is outstanding.
It was a light belt, but I had no hesitation upping it to sharkskin even though it takes a Ral and a PAmethyst (both needed for Caster amulets).
We also gambled a Gaean circlet, although no second mod limits it's usefulness.
Back to the Durance and it was quite a long way from the waypoint to the exit and we used up more than a few teleport charges escaping from packs of Dolls getting there.
Meph was taken on p5 and he went down fast
Back to town for one final gamble, repairs and to fill the tp tome before heading through the red portal to Act 4.
Four levels gained and the random rolls were terrible. Stats were done in groups of 5 points and went Dex/Dex/Str/Dex with the Tome also going to Dex. Dex is probably the least useful stat for me. Skills went Werebear/Poison Creeper/Ravens/Poison Creeper (ouch).
Naruma the Wind Druid, Level 64, NM Act 4 Pandemonium Fortress
- Oct 2, 2010
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Here we go, Hell difficulty.
War Cry did not stun Blood Raven, but she wasn't immune to Leap's knockback feature. Ruru kept Blood Raven stunned while Durga whittled away her health, and she fell without much chasing.
Didn't have any plans for the Ohm rune, but an exciting drop nonetheless.
With ~50% block, I was able to tank Andariel for the entire duration of the fight, sparing Durga from any deaths.
There were a couple of very deadly boss packs spawned together in the Rocky Waste. I remember a combination of might, fanaticism, cursed, conviction, and beetles. It's not often that I don't just run in and stun everything with War Cry, but a combination this deadly deserved some careful divide and conquer strats.
I came across an extremely convenient tomb map, just a single teleport away.
Concentrate really shined in the fight against Duriel - no stun or block animation to interrupt the steady diet of crushing blow.
Same story with Mephisto.
I went into Act 4 with 7 tomes of TP, just in case Durga died. Losing Durga meant losing meditation, prayer, and as I found out with Grand Vizier, a way to deal with physical immunes via the venom proc.
Getting a little hot in here.
Diablo's lightning hose was a none factor, which meant the only attack to watch out for is firestorm.
In Act 5, there were two fights I was concerned about, Nihlathak and the Ancients. When I reached the Halls of Vaught, I immediately see poison clouds from Tomb Vipers. Oh great, a potential instant death situation, I better not use teleport in here. I carefully approached Nihlathak's platform while using Howl, in order to minimize the amount of corpses in the ensuing fight. Ruru tanked a few CE's but Nihlathak was no match for War Cry.
I prepared for the Ancients by dropping a truckload of potions on the summit. Teleport to separate Korlic and Madawc from Talic, and then engage Korlic alone while Madawc hacked away at a pillar. Lastly, fighting Talic at the edge of the map meant he did not use whirlwind, for fear of falling of the summit. But really, the AI cannot target off the map.
Using the throne steps against a particularly nasty Lister pack.
Cathan's Ring, the ultimate drop!
Thanks Cain!
Edit: Here is the VOD of the stream. Level 79 in the end.
War Cry did not stun Blood Raven, but she wasn't immune to Leap's knockback feature. Ruru kept Blood Raven stunned while Durga whittled away her health, and she fell without much chasing.
Didn't have any plans for the Ohm rune, but an exciting drop nonetheless.
With ~50% block, I was able to tank Andariel for the entire duration of the fight, sparing Durga from any deaths.
There were a couple of very deadly boss packs spawned together in the Rocky Waste. I remember a combination of might, fanaticism, cursed, conviction, and beetles. It's not often that I don't just run in and stun everything with War Cry, but a combination this deadly deserved some careful divide and conquer strats.
I came across an extremely convenient tomb map, just a single teleport away.
Concentrate really shined in the fight against Duriel - no stun or block animation to interrupt the steady diet of crushing blow.
Same story with Mephisto.
I went into Act 4 with 7 tomes of TP, just in case Durga died. Losing Durga meant losing meditation, prayer, and as I found out with Grand Vizier, a way to deal with physical immunes via the venom proc.
Getting a little hot in here.
Diablo's lightning hose was a none factor, which meant the only attack to watch out for is firestorm.
In Act 5, there were two fights I was concerned about, Nihlathak and the Ancients. When I reached the Halls of Vaught, I immediately see poison clouds from Tomb Vipers. Oh great, a potential instant death situation, I better not use teleport in here. I carefully approached Nihlathak's platform while using Howl, in order to minimize the amount of corpses in the ensuing fight. Ruru tanked a few CE's but Nihlathak was no match for War Cry.
I prepared for the Ancients by dropping a truckload of potions on the summit. Teleport to separate Korlic and Madawc from Talic, and then engage Korlic alone while Madawc hacked away at a pillar. Lastly, fighting Talic at the edge of the map meant he did not use whirlwind, for fear of falling of the summit. But really, the AI cannot target off the map.
Using the throne steps against a particularly nasty Lister pack.
Cathan's Ring, the ultimate drop!
Thanks Cain!
Edit: Here is the VOD of the stream. Level 79 in the end.
- Sep 12, 2013
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