2H Melee Sept -- Progress and Theorycrafting

[PhineasB]

As mentioned in my 99er write up for Death, I was due for a break from XP runs. I enjoyed the Runeword Bonanza Sept last year after finishing Quinta, so planned to tackle another themed Sept and finish off some other builds that I've meant to try. I had planned a Sept of less common builds, but ended up going with the 2H melee option instead due to the MP groups that @maxicek is hosting. This will be a longer term project, but one I'm looking forward to having in progress for non-tournament questing breaks.

In terms of “rules,” the only one is that each character must equip a 2H melee weapon. As with the Runeword Bonanza Sept, I will keep at least at p3 for Hell when soloing and also plan to full-clear every A85 area when soloing. I’ll post Pat/Mat write ups separately, but track progress and get feedback on build and gear here. I won’t be progressing more than two characters at a time, so doing updates here shouldn’t be too confusing.

A high-level summary of my current build/gear concept for each class is below, along with notation if completed through MP sessions. Feedback is most welcome! Do to limited creativity, character names will be derived from lesser spirits of Greek mythology, with character's name fitting gear or skills in some way.

• Amazon – Ribcracker Passivezon w Faith Rogue: I'm thinking maybe going Fuzzy Dodger, with level 14 Fanatacism, she can use 15 IAS / ED jewel for 8 frames (Matriarch Soteria, Level 85, 5/8/22)
• Assassin – eBotD Venomous Bearsin w Faith Rogue (Matriarch Praxidike, Level 84, MPed, 2/7/21)
• Barbarian – Doombringer WolfBarb: I had planned to go with Oath, but when the Necro dropped Doombringer for Kingslayer, I'm probably going to use Doombringer here because it's a cool sword (Patriarch Romulus, Level 85, MPed, 10/18/21)
• Druid – eTomby Flaming Mauler: eTomby should be perfect for this build (Patriarch Hephaestus, Level 88, 6/7/22)
• Necromancer – 'Kingslayer' Lord of Mages Meleemancer w Harmony/Faith Rogue (Patriarch Alastor, Level 85, MPed, 1/24/21)
• Paladin – Insight Stave Abbott with Faith Rogue: I've always wanted to try one of these, but will gear him toward damage output rather than full defensive (Patriarch Coeus, Level 84, 6/25/22)
• Sorceress – 'Doom' Feral Axe Champion Axe [Feral Axe maxes out at 4os] Enchantress: Doom Enchantress SorcBear with Infinity Might Merc (Matriarch Hestia, Level 88, 7/13/22)

Two of them are already completed through the recent MP groups, with the Druid just started with twinking gear. After that, I will likely go in alphabetical order for the remaining ones.

 

[Maltatai]

How about making it a bit less conventional and having each remaining use a different class of weapon and also different kind? For example

1. Rune word staff
2. Unique pole arm
3. Rare spear
4. Set sword
5. Crafted axe
6. Magical maul

 

[ffs]

Sounds fun! Curious as to what you'll do with Amazon and Sorc. Definitely can recommend the Fuzzy Dodger.

 

[Pb_pal]

Looks cool, some interesting builds and weapon choices in there, excited to see how it pans out. Most excited about the Barb and Zon, good luck!

 

[maxicek]

Nice Project, got to love 2h builds

No Passion build?
I think you are more patient than me going for an Amazon with Normal attack only. Why not go with a big Pike and Fend or something? Or Berserk works well, I really liked my Zerkazon.
I really like the Doombringer Barb idea - How quick will he hit?
I went with a normal Tomby and 3x Shael for my flaming mauler (not written up). It is great build, a bit slower but hitting harder with the eTomby should be great.
Sorc is interesting with Doom, looking forward to seeing what you make of than one.

 

[PhineasB]

Nice Project, got to love 2h builds

Indeed, after three similar septs, which is part of inspiration

On the zon, my thought on Fuzzy Dodger is that it's pretty fast attack, and even unshifted is pretty solid. Mainly, I love Ribcracker, and although I'm not doing an entire sept like Nighfish, I think it would be sacrilege to not have a Ribby build in an initial 2H melee sept. Much too awesome of a weapon to forgo, similar to Doombringer.

Which brings us to that - 7 frame feral rage per the German weapon speed calculator, which seems workable. At least workable enough, given really fun stats that weapon will give. And, on eTomby for the Druid, 90 IAS gives 7 frame attack, per the calculator, which should be plenty with defense and FHR he will have. I'm really looking forward to this guy.

On the Sorc, I'm thinking about suggestion from @Maltatai about a blood axe, for the novelty, especially if she's last in the sept we should have gathered lots of crafting options (with RFL mixed in, and maybe MFO before we get to her).

 

[maxicek]

I somehow missed the fuzzy dodger bit of the Amazon build, that should work just fine.

 

[PhineasB]

Wow, it's been a while since my last update here. I've focused instead mostly on another Sept and the Three Legged Race tourney since February. But the Barbarian is completed, Wolfbarb with Doombringer as planned, but with A5 merc due to playing through with Barbarian Horde MP group with all barbarians including mercs. Pat write up is here.

I plan to finish the last two characters in the other Sept (A1 Hell and A1 Normal, respectively) before tackling the next one of these characters. And I'm back moving with my untwinked 99er Druid, so it may a while until the next update.

 

[PhineasB]

And it's been a while again! After finishing up my Unfinished Business Sept, we're back to the 2H Melee characters. The four left were Amazon, Druid, Paladin and Sorc, and I'd said it would be alphabetical order, so . . .

Soteria, Fuzzy Dodger with Ribcracker and Faith Rogue, Level 76, Act 1 Hell
She was standard twinking gear (envy -> damage jewels -> Bonensap) to level 31 and then Shael'ed Ribby, which she kept until lvl 56 and up'ed Ribby. I decided not to quest her through as other build and respec, so she got Valk and Penetrate maxed, then critical strike, and only 1 point each in D/A/E (see below on this).

I made her a special up'ed Ribby with a 15IAS/24ED jewel based on weapon speed calc of hitting 8 Frame when shifted and level 14 Fanatacism:

Stalagmite
Two Hand Damage: 344 - 513
Durability: 130 of 130
Required Level: 56
Required Strength: 63
Required Dexterity: 35
Fingerprint: 0xb8c38bff
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+65% Increased Attack Speed
+50% Faster Hit Recovery
319% Enhanced Damage
Adds 30 - 65 Damage
50% Chance of Crushing Blow
+100% Enhanced Defense
+100 Defense
+15 to Dexterity
Required Level +7
+100 Maximum Durability 1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Realgar Jewel of Fervor
 
Realgar Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0x81bfd188
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
24% Enhanced Damage

She hit lvl 63 right before Izual and got Beast at Lost City WP. By which I had forgotten that I was going Rogue merc, so an A2 might merc accompanied her to Champion at level 72, and then Baal runs to lvl 75. When I was about to equip Reaper's after merc pinged lvl 75, I remembered the plan Here's what her LCS showed at that time:


Even at only 10 frames without Faith merc, she was quite sturdy. Now at 8 frames and 86 FHR break point, she's very solid, with relatively high defense reducing enemy chance to hit. I'm actually planning to leave D/A/E at 1 point (and I've avoided +skill items) because that animation is slower than FHR and the high-ish defense limits hits anyhow. Based on Fuzzy Dodger write ups, and knowing my preferred style, I think I'll be frustrated with a very dodg-y version slowing damage output

She hasn't had any drops of note, which isn't surprising with 0 MF for stretches of NM. NM HF was Dol. She has one more level at NM Baal to get before getting Kira's, with min-damage/AR jewel, and then will start Hell. I'm planning to use Metalgrid for defense, AR and resists (which should max all elements) once she hits lvl 81. I think her AR will be pushing 9000+ with that item, so she should have very solid cth through Hell.

The biggest question is what to do about PI solution. She has Atma's currently, but it isn't reliable enough and will give way for Metalgrid anyhow. Cold merc does decent enough damage at p3 to my recollection, and the Valk can be cast with elemental damage, so I'm thinking some elemental damage (Lava Gout also gives AR, and some charms) and OW on Soteria may be enough. But I'd welcome feedback on any other options I may be missing.

I will keep her p3 minimum for Hell, likely starting at p5 to get a feel, and dropping to p3 in areas where PIs may spawn. I don't expect to pick her back up until this weekend, so any other feedback on gear would be apperciated.

A1 Hell gear:
- up'ed 295ED Ribby with 15IAS/24ED jewel
- Beast / Lidless
- Fortitude
- Verdungos (not sure of a better option)
- Kira's (70@ with +min damage/AR jewel)
- Lava Gout
- Gore Riders
- Atma's -> Metalgrid
- Ravenfrost (AR and Dext are key) and 8ll/AR/stats rare
- Backback: Sharp with life, FHR, strength and fine charms with FHR or life (will update once final gear and maybe allocate extra stat points to strength to strong strength Sharps)

Merc:
- Faith w/ lvl 14 fanatacism
- eth Fortitude
- eth Vamp w scintillating jewel of bliss

 

[PhineasB]

Amazon: Soteria (Ribby Fuzzy) with Maeko (Faith Cold Rogue)
Status: Matriarch, Level 85

After finishing up my RFL Rd 3 set earlier today, I tackled the last stretch of A5 from Arreat Plateau on.

I'd played her through A1 before the start of Rd 3, and then did two chunks of time when I wasn't feeling CS runs to get A2-A3 and then A4. I then did two short sessions through Shenk and then to the WP.

She was p5 through Outer Cloister and then down to p3 for the rest to avoid tedium. She was plenty safe but not overpowered on damage, so that was a good balance for me.

I ended up following the trajectory described in my last post, Metalgrid once she hit lvl 81 (I think in A2), and then Andy's to the merc at the end of A4. For PI solution, I just went with elemental damage, together with the merc, which was more that sufficient until A5. This boss was a bit tedious with spawners and CI so merc's elemental was useless, but the worms actually helped ensure life leech while we whittled down:

In A5, some of the PIs (Moonlord and Ghost boss with Might in two different places!) were a bit challenging, but retreating and changing position relative to the Valk worked fine, if slow. I really don't think any other option would have been faster.

Ancients dropped very quickly on first roll, not amp or PI, so quite solid there. Then we had easy rolls through WSK, until Ghosts (including the aforesaid might boss), Unravellers, and Witches in the Throne took quite some care. Ribby started slowing down in A5, but was more than sufficient with the high-ish life pool, defense and FHR. I'm glad I kept at 1 skill on D/A/E, as those triggering slowed her down. Baal took less than 2 minutes.

There really wasn't much of note on the drop front, which remained unsurprising given 0 MF. Um from the HF, and quite a few gems for rolling GCs or crafting. I'm hoping to do her Mat write up this week!

Next up is Hephaestus, the Flaming Mauler with eTomby. I'm looking forward to him!

 

[PhineasB]

Druid: Hephaestus (Flaming Mauler with eTomby) with Haseen (Defense A2 Merc with Infinity)
Status: A1 Hell, Level 75 (leveling to 84 for eTomby)

I finished his early progression before leaving on our trip, but ran out of time to post before we left. So here goes . . .

The character generation portion for the fifth character is nearly complete, with 9 more levels needed for eTomby. The plan is to finish up to Kira's at NM Baal runs and then likely transition to Hell and Cave runs to 84. Progression was pretty standard twinking: envy gear -> damage jewels at 12 -> better jewel damage at 18 -> full Cow King's set equipped along the way to Bonesnap -> Shaeled Ribby (and converting to Werebear at that point with fast attack).

Ribby was slowing down in NM before we hit 56 and up'ed Ribby, which didn't make too big an impact until Fortitude. By then, he also had maxed one synergy for Fireclaws, and when Merc got Infinity, it was quite comfortable, if not terribly quick. Single target is still single target.

He crafted a bunch of Blood gloves while at level 58, per crafting guide, with these two solid results (and using the first for now and will reassess while finalizing gear against other options):


I'll update again with final gear once it's equipped, but I'd welcome some feedback on a few things:
- Merc: I went with A2 Defiance. He needs only 55 IAS to hit 6-frame without Fanatacism, and that's his max attack speed with Fanatacism. So Rogue doesn't check out as worthwhile, when 55 IAS is easily obtained (20 IAS gloves, 20 IAS from Highlords that is solid even without IAS needs, and 15 IAS jewel in Kira's). So A2 merc is in play. Might doesn't seem too helpful with diminishing returns on %ED from Werebear and Maul charged pretty much constantly, along with Fortitude, which I plan to keep. Defiance gives him really solid defense, with bonus from wereform, and Infinity solves for any AR (see below).

- Merc weapon: Infinity seems like a great option. As noted above, AR is solid for Maul (and great for Fireclaws) with it, without need for much base AR (only Raven and Grand Charms freed up for other uses -- see below). It also solves for one criticism of Fireclaws of being useless against 1/3 enemies in Hell, which is generally solved in Flaming Mauler by high physical damage and Maul. He has that, but why not throw in decent fire damage against breakable immues and sick fire damage against non-immunes?

- GCs: I went with a backpack of Shapeshifting Skills, which seems like a great option if other issues are covered. One point Maul is higher than Jihad Jesus's guide suggests for additional hard points, timer on wereform is a solid 6 minutes, and Fireclaws gets a boost to base skill. Nice secondary mods fill out the needs, like FHR and life. Sharps seem unnecessary and AR isn't needed, while resists should be covered by Kira's and eTomby. Any other GC mods I'm overlooking to maximize return here?

The core approach above are unique from what I've found in Mat/Pat/Guardian, which is fun. But I'd welcome any feedback on tweaks that make him even stronger/sturdier.

 

[PhineasB]

Druid: Hephaestus (Flaming Mauler with eTomby) with Haseen (Defense A2 Merc with Infinity)
Status: A1 Hell, Level 84 (ready to quest through Hell)

A half dozen Baal runs to Kira's, and then about an hour in the Cave, and the Druid is ready to quest through Hell with this weapon.

Even with up'ed Ribby and not-maxed resists, he was quite solid on the leveling in Hell. I did the Den after he could equip eTomby and he is quite sturdy. Only drop of note was an Um:

I'm a little disappointed in the defense, I guess ~15k isn't enough even if slightly over-leveled to make hits few and far between. When amp'ed, things still require some care. I'm using Shockwave here and there and will likely increase its use as the levels progress. LCS is quite entertaining:


A1 Hell gear:
- ETomby
- HotO / Spirit
- Fortitude
- Verdungos (FHR and Vita)
- Kira's (70@ with IAS / +AR jewel)
- 20 IAS Blood Gloves
- Gore Riders
- Highlord's
- Ravenfrost (AR) and 6ll/6ml/resists rare
- Backback: 8 SS Skillers with various secondary mods, 9 FHR SCs (with AR, Shimmering, elemental secondary) to hit 86 FHR

Merc:
- eth Infinity
- eth Fortitude
- Andy's with RBF (27 FR)

 

[PhineasB]

Druid: Hephaestus (Flaming Mauler with eTomby) with Haseen (Defense A2 Merc with Infinity)
Status: A5 Hell, Level 87

The Druid made solid progress from yesterday evening into today, sitting at the start of A5 Hell. He's been p8 all the way, full clearing all A85 areas, with no real issues except three deaths from Beetles, once casting Shockwave into a double boss pack and twice from Maul while surrounded. I guess the stun causes the same animation that happens with War Cry? He has 80% LR, and there wasn't a conviction boss any of the times, so I have no idea otherwise.

The only drop of note came from Countess, a second Um on the playthrough to go with the one that dropped while leveling in the Cave.

We had a few PIs that were a bit of a challenge, usually with mana burn, but he was able to take all of them down . . .

Until Council, with the first unbreakable FI/PI. I restarted from Travincal, and it was fine, and then I had to park two more such bosses in the Plains and the first part of RoF. But otherwise very smooth sailing, keeping 1 pt Maul charged makes game play a little less smooth, but it's well worth the extra damage, especially when around FIs. I missed Andy screenshot apparently, but here are the Act bosses besides:



A5 will get tackled, hopefully tomorrow, to finish off the journey. He's been quite fun, and a little more challenging than pure RMB destruction with keeping Maul charged and using Shockwave more often to soften up mobs as we moved into A4.

 

[PhineasB]

Druid: Hephaestus (Flaming Mauler with eTomby) with Haseen (Defense A2 Merc with Infinity)
Status: Patriarch, Level 88

Hephaestus's journey is complete. We picked up in A5 and kept it p8 all the way, with full clears of portal areas and WSK, for all A85 full cleared and a few extra dungeons for fun. He remained extremely powerful when leechable enemies were around, but amp, especially around non-leechables or witches (which abounded), became an increasing challenge. That's hardly surprising for a melee character, and this was at p8 after all

Witches rolled every area they could, including several of the amp casters, and we also got PI Moon Lords in the first two portal areas. Gloams also rolled in Anya, WSK and Throne, so quite a good test. He had to retreat a few times to draw gloams or witches out, particularly with the frequent overlapping boss packs. But he was quite solid, and the only death came from WSK with gloams and witches, where I knew the timer was drawing down but decided to try to finish a triple boss pack fight, while amp'ed and with cold enchanted gloam boss, and he shifted back to human form :\ He experienced a second death when retrieving the corpse because I decided it would be a good idea to help Haseen take out the one gloam between him and the corpse. It as a terrible idea as he got chilled and missed with Shock Wave and one zap was all it took.

But he was able to do this with Ancients without any real trouble; Amp, extra strong Korlic, whatever!

I hope to get the Pat thread posted tomorrow, but maybe not until this weekend depending on work schedule. Thanks for reading -- Abbott with Insight stave is next up, although I may also return to my HC Pally tourney character and make some progress through Normal.

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

Congrats! Looking forward to the Pat thread!

 

[Arjan]

Druid: Hephaestus (Flaming Mauler with eTomby) with Haseen (Defense A2 Merc with Infinity)
Status: Patriarch, Level 88
View attachment 81580
Hephaestus's journey is complete. We picked up in A5 and kept it p8 all the way, with full clears of portal areas and WSK, for all A85 full cleared and a few extra dungeons for fun. He remained extremely powerful when leechable enemies were around, but amp, especially around non-leechables or witches (which abounded), became an increasing challenge. That's hardly surprising for a melee character, and this was at p8 after all

Witches rolled every area they could, including several of the amp casters, and we also got PI Moon Lords in the first two portal areas. Gloams also rolled in Anya, WSK and Throne, so quite a good test. He had to retreat a few times to draw gloams or witches out, particularly with the frequent overlapping boss packs. But he was quite solid, and the only death came from WSK with gloams and witches, where I knew the timer was drawing down but decided to try to finish a triple boss pack fight, while amp'ed and with cold enchanted gloam boss, and he shifted back to human form :\ He experienced a second death when retrieving the corpse because I decided it would be a good idea to help Haseen take out the one gloam between him and the corpse. It as a terrible idea as he got chilled and missed with Shock Wave and one zap was all it took.

But he was able to do this with Ancients without any real trouble; Amp, extra strong Korlic, whatever!
View attachment 81581
I hope to get the Pat thread posted tomorrow, but maybe not until this weekend depending on work schedule. Thanks for reading -- Abbott with Insight stave is next up, although I may also return to my HC Pally tourney character and make some progress through Normal.

Congrats on another great Pat. What damage output did FC give in this build? I am planning ahead for my own Druid and what to do. If not a caster then a FC shapeshifter is my next pick…

 

[PhineasB]

Thanks! I was tracking ~5600-6000 fire damage with maxed FC, two synergies maxed, and 11 hard points in a third synergy. Most PIs went down in 2-3 hits at p8, for some context of how it fared.

 

[PhineasB]

Paladin: Coeus (Zealing Conviction Abbott with Insight Stave) with TBD (A1 Rogue Merc with Faith)
Status: A5 NM, Level 70

Keeping momentum on this project, the Paladin is now ready to get end-game equipped and ready to finish WSK and then tackle Hell. Coeus is the Titan who is associated with Intelligence. It seemed close enough for the theme for a character wielding Insight.

It was standard melee twinking to up'ed Bonesnap until he could equip an Elite staff for Insight. He has been p8 the whole way so far. After 4 rerolls, we netted this one, which seems good enough for his purposes with near max ED% and a decent critical strike roll:

I have another plain Elder Staff and a Superior Shillelagh (7% ED), so I will likely Larzuk the latter and see if we can get an upgrade with 20 additional rerolls I have set aside. I also have lots of Orts set aside for Hell, so the Superior repair costs shouldn't matter.

He then progressed to Hell NM where he hit 66 at Shenk. After spending 15 minutes shopping for 4os Gothic Plate of something good, I realized four more levels would allow the Ancient Armors to also get Jeweler's affix. So he progressed to Ancient's Way, took down Ancients to hit level 70, and then did some gambling and shopping.

I had 10M gold built back up after my 100M gambling project (which yielded no dual leech FCR rings and nothing spectacular for circlets, but a few +3 tree circlets with decent secondary mods (including one noted below). This 10M netted nothing. I did an hour of shopping interspersed with gambling with nothing to show except a 3os Full Plate Mail of Balance (24). At the end of the second hour, he shopped several decent options in a row, and then the winner that I decided was enough to call it quits:



We then pulled out the circlets and choose among Rose Branded of Amicae (12), Guardians of Tiger (22 life), and Guardians of Lamprey (7% ll). The plus defensive skills are supposed to be prioritized, and in theory either of those could pick up 14 iPDR with two sockets. But I think I'm going with the Rose Branded one, which picked up two sockets, and will provide 26 iPDR and a boost to Zeal's AR and damage and a slight bump to the (currently) 1-point Vengeance that is what I'm planning as the PI solution. But I may see how many sockets the other two circlets get using retired characters and maybe experiment in Hell. As for the amulet, I found a Priest's of Life Everlasting (18) in my stashes, which is a solid boost to iDR and all three skill trees.

I need to fully sort out resists, but my current thinking is Hotspur for boots, TGods for belt (absorb), 20IAS Blood Gloves with resists (to get a little life leech and CB, although I'm not sure 9-10% CB will be that helpful), and Nature's Peace and Ravenfrost for rings. Two types of absorb, high FR, and charms should be able to max all resists (except maybe poison) with at least two defensive aura skillers available. Using all sockets for Sols will give him 88 iPDR, or 81 with a socket available for resists if needed (Um or a single element).

Level 14 Fanaticism from Faith allows 11/6/6/6/6 Zeal with only 20IAS, which should be fine given how vast an improvement it will be over the 15/8/8/8/8 he was rocking up until now and that he was plenty sturdy. Conviction, with Ravenfrost and merc's Fanatacism boost, should allow solid AR/chance to hit. I'm a little worried about damage output though, and may shift some charms, but I will also be dropping to p3 in Hell. Some extra elemental damage from SCs, plus the 1-point Vengeance with +skills, will be his PI solution along with Cold Rogue, so not quite sure how that will work. He doesn't have mana leech, so mana burn may be an issue even with the self-wielding Insight. We'll see!

Current gear:
- Insight Elder Staff
- HotO / Spirit
- 3os Light Plate of Amicae
- TGods
- Rose Branded Circlet of Amicae (2os, 12 iPDR)
- 20 IAS Blood Gloves
- Hotspur
- Priest's of Life Everlasting (18 iPDR)
- Ravenfrost and Nature's Peace
- Backback: TBD, but aiming for at least 20 FHR, ideally 32 FHR, and maxing FR and LR

Merc:
- Faith
- eth Fortitude
- ? likely Vamp

 

[PhineasB]

Paladin: Coeus (Zealing Conviction Abbott with Insight Stave) with Floria (A1 Rogue Merc with Faith)
Status: A3 H, Level 79

Coeus has finished the first two Acts at p3, full clearing the A85 areas and completing all quests, but otherwise playing direct (except when the stairs down were the last area he checked, which was often ).

One gear swap was a rare belt for TGods, which was the only item > 55 strength and those 55 stat points were much more useful in Vita at the loss of absorb and higher max resists. He's pumping Resist Lightning, so he should have 80 LR max by the time he enters A4 Plains, which is the first really dangerous area with gloams. And the belt has 24 FHR (allowing him to get the 48 breakpoint) and LR and CR, which freed up some charms. On that note, I stuck with 88 iPDR because charms got fire and lightning maxed.

It's an interesting playthrough for sure. He is basically invulnerable to normal monsters, with a boss here or other requiring a health potion, especially when amp'ed. The Vengeance as PI solution works quite well, with only a few swings taking down guys like this:

I've actually used it a bit when Zeal is slow and we've whittled down packs to take the final few down quicker.

But then certain rolls noticeably outpace life regen, generally amp and LI/CI heavy hitters. And as advertised, Blunderbores are quite dangerous, I guess due to CB and maybe raw damage. My guess is that the guide was written with p1 in mind, so the p3 extra damage likely also makes a difference. He needed to be careful not to get surrounded by 4+ normal monsters because they really took of chunks of life and the hit recovery animation means his damage output is slower than usual.

We definitely used doorways to position in the Tomb, which rolled Blunderbores. This guy was the hardest, mixed in with a 5-pack of bosses, including two other Blunderbores, two Unravellers and a Mummy. RIP mod on Nature's Peace was quite welcome!

But the hardest battle so far was this one:


I couldn't get the screenshots to land due to the action, but it was an amp'ed, extra fast Ghost boss, with a Champ pack mixed in. Mana burn meant Vengeance couldn't be used because he was getting hit too often for Meditation to make up, and the Champs were hitting hard with amp. So we retreated and managed to draw the Champ pack out, as shown in the second pic, and then were able to take on the boss pack.

The damage output is better than I had feared, but I suspect it will grind down when we hit A4 and especially A5. It's been an engaging and downright enjoyable playthrough so far, even if a bit slower progress than other characters. Getting used to his damage tolerance and learning when to not worry about getting swarmed versus when to reposition has been interesting.

I'm hoping to get through A4 this week and finish him by this weekend.

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

I have a soft spot for two-handed characters, so I've been enjoying this thread and I really like the concept of the Abbot build. I haven't made one yet myself, but I love the idea of self-wielding Insight. Look forward to the updates.