It is in fact a wand with only life tap charges, so I'm pretty sure I can't use it. Has someone guardianed which would unlock a locked talent yet?
ø Old Gods of Chaos Tournament ø
- Thread starter Mezion
- Start date
It is in fact a wand with only life tap charges, so I'm pretty sure I can't use it. Has someone guardianed which would unlock a locked talent yet?
As they ransacked the ruins of the once-great city, Gaile asked Kiora why she never enchanted her bow with fire anymore. Kiora seemed surprised and showed Gaile what she had been working on instead. Kiora gestured, and swirling flames emerged out of the ground, taking the shape of a three-headed sea serpent, a creature sacred to Zisla. Gaile gazed on in wonder as the serpents spit fireballs at something around the corner. She heard a brief sizzling and then the heavy thud of equipment falling to the ground as their would-be-ambushers were reduced to ash.
Exploring the ruins was not difficult after that. Kurast had a very sophisticated sewer system. Even in such poor condition, most of the walkways remained dry, except for the heaps of rotting palm fronds and other muck. It was dark and there were rats. And piles of skulls, of course. A soft sound echoed through the stagnant canals, as if some kind of pump was still operational but just barely. Gaile and Kiora followed the mazelike passages to where the sound was loudest.
There was a rusty, slime-covered lever anchored to the floor. Kiora tried to use her icy shield to blow away the debris around the lever, but that just made a mess, so the cultists knelt down to clean it off by hand. The drudgery reminded Gaile of her years as a novice, long ago. There had been many more cultists to train them back then, and the temple was grand, large enough to need a lot of cleaning. Gaile hadn't been back there in a long time. Like her, the other fully-ranked cultists had all set off into the world to do Zisla's will. Though their sect was secretive in nature, she hadn't heard from them in a long time, not since the demons appeared in Sanctuary. What if she and Kiora... what if they were the last?
Gaile's grim thoughts were interrupted by the groan of twisted metal as the floor rose up in front of her. Kiora had pulled the lever, which opened a trapdoor revealing stairs leading down. That, in itself, was strange enough. Why would anyone build stairs down in the sewers? Surely the rooms beneath would flood almost immediately. Maybe that's what the noise was, some device for keeping water out of that area.
That would have been nice. It would have been a helpful technological discovery. Instead, Kiora held up what she'd found in a chest in the corner. Khalim's heart beat fiercely in her hand. They stuffed the throbbing relic into their bag with the others and crawled back up to the surface.
-----
Gaile had been caught in crossfire during the battle with the Council and was badly injured. The High Council's devotion to Mephisto had given them strong magic, including a fire serpent spell similar to Kiora's. Gaile hadn't been able to tell the friendly and hostile hydras apart. Kiora had thought about that as she'd dragged her unconscious companion back to town for healing. Gaile was usually so alert in battle; it was unlike her to be confused.
They'd been fighting the Council in the ruined capital, Travincal, on the steps of the old Zakarum religion's most holy temple. The fight had not been easy. Thanks to Cain's guidance and the magic of the cube, Kiora now carried a weapon capable of breaking Mephisto's curse upon the land, made from Khalim's relics and a flail taken from one of the council members. She'd sighed with relief when the townsfolk had told her that Gaile would be alright.
They returned to Travincal to search the temple. As Gaile and Kiora ascended the stairs towards the altar, they both felt a scratching in their ears, in their minds, an insidious, high-pitched, garbled chanting, urging them to flee. They would have, if they had not remembered their training. Cultists of Zisla were taught early on not to trust voices in their heads. The Great God did not often speak to common cultists and they should not expect to be an exception. When they reached the top stair, the source of the noise revealed itself. Kiora smashed the compelling orb to smithereens with one mighty blow from the flail, and then there was silence.
Now, they stood in the familiar unholy darkness of a place warped beyond recognition by the powers of Hell. The corruption was worse here than anywhere they had ever seen. They'd made it to the deepest floor, where they watched what could only be Mephisto prepare to open a portal to Hell over a river of blood that bisected the chamber. The cultists didn't know if Mephisto meant to escape or to summon reinforcements. The Lord of Hatred was concentrating on the ritual and didn't notice them, so Kiora and Gaile crept quietly into a side chamber, hoping to catch the demon off-guard.
The air erupted with fire and lightning as it became apparent that the plan wouldn't work. Mephisto had called the remaining council members to his side. Gaile barely survived their focused assault, but she and Kiora emerged victorious from that fight. Stealth was no longer an option. Kiora began to advance, preparing to unleash the full fury of fire and ice, when she heard Gaile fall to the ground behind her. Kiora looked back to help, but then Mephisto's lightning bolt ripped through her and she convulsed. She knew she had to retreat, had to put some distance between herself and the demon unless she wanted to die here.
She ran back through the side chambers until she was on the opposite side of the river of blood. Mephisto had not followed her. He seemed to be amused by her fear and casually cast another lightning bolt in her direction. Kiora dodged the bolt, but Mephisto's second spell, an icy sphere of frost, knocked her backward. Now close to death, Kiora could see Mephisto across the river and Gaile's body crumpled up over to the side. But... it seemed like Mephisto could no longer see Kiora. He began to pace back and forth next to the river, obviously frustrated. Kiora took the opportunity to call down the vengeful ice of Zisla, leaving the demon howling in pain and anger. Somehow, he still did not see her. Not after this blizzard or the next, or the next.
That was what Kiora told Gaile back in camp after she'd asked how they were alive. Kiora showed Gaile a gleaming crystal shard that Cain said was Mephisto's soulstone. Not only had they survived, they had won.
-----
New Treasures:
---
Jewel of Avarice
Jewel
Required Level: 1
Fingerprint: 0x4a07a2f0
Item Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
14% Extra Gold from Monsters
---
Hurray!
...and Cathan's Rule, which is one of the few S/U's I could actually use if I wanted to.
Kiora and Gaile, favored by Zisla, lvl 31, Pandemonium Fortress
pyromania, charm expert, specialist
36 points
Exploring the ruins was not difficult after that. Kurast had a very sophisticated sewer system. Even in such poor condition, most of the walkways remained dry, except for the heaps of rotting palm fronds and other muck. It was dark and there were rats. And piles of skulls, of course. A soft sound echoed through the stagnant canals, as if some kind of pump was still operational but just barely. Gaile and Kiora followed the mazelike passages to where the sound was loudest.
There was a rusty, slime-covered lever anchored to the floor. Kiora tried to use her icy shield to blow away the debris around the lever, but that just made a mess, so the cultists knelt down to clean it off by hand. The drudgery reminded Gaile of her years as a novice, long ago. There had been many more cultists to train them back then, and the temple was grand, large enough to need a lot of cleaning. Gaile hadn't been back there in a long time. Like her, the other fully-ranked cultists had all set off into the world to do Zisla's will. Though their sect was secretive in nature, she hadn't heard from them in a long time, not since the demons appeared in Sanctuary. What if she and Kiora... what if they were the last?
Gaile's grim thoughts were interrupted by the groan of twisted metal as the floor rose up in front of her. Kiora had pulled the lever, which opened a trapdoor revealing stairs leading down. That, in itself, was strange enough. Why would anyone build stairs down in the sewers? Surely the rooms beneath would flood almost immediately. Maybe that's what the noise was, some device for keeping water out of that area.
That would have been nice. It would have been a helpful technological discovery. Instead, Kiora held up what she'd found in a chest in the corner. Khalim's heart beat fiercely in her hand. They stuffed the throbbing relic into their bag with the others and crawled back up to the surface.
-----
Gaile had been caught in crossfire during the battle with the Council and was badly injured. The High Council's devotion to Mephisto had given them strong magic, including a fire serpent spell similar to Kiora's. Gaile hadn't been able to tell the friendly and hostile hydras apart. Kiora had thought about that as she'd dragged her unconscious companion back to town for healing. Gaile was usually so alert in battle; it was unlike her to be confused.
They'd been fighting the Council in the ruined capital, Travincal, on the steps of the old Zakarum religion's most holy temple. The fight had not been easy. Thanks to Cain's guidance and the magic of the cube, Kiora now carried a weapon capable of breaking Mephisto's curse upon the land, made from Khalim's relics and a flail taken from one of the council members. She'd sighed with relief when the townsfolk had told her that Gaile would be alright.
They returned to Travincal to search the temple. As Gaile and Kiora ascended the stairs towards the altar, they both felt a scratching in their ears, in their minds, an insidious, high-pitched, garbled chanting, urging them to flee. They would have, if they had not remembered their training. Cultists of Zisla were taught early on not to trust voices in their heads. The Great God did not often speak to common cultists and they should not expect to be an exception. When they reached the top stair, the source of the noise revealed itself. Kiora smashed the compelling orb to smithereens with one mighty blow from the flail, and then there was silence.
Now, they stood in the familiar unholy darkness of a place warped beyond recognition by the powers of Hell. The corruption was worse here than anywhere they had ever seen. They'd made it to the deepest floor, where they watched what could only be Mephisto prepare to open a portal to Hell over a river of blood that bisected the chamber. The cultists didn't know if Mephisto meant to escape or to summon reinforcements. The Lord of Hatred was concentrating on the ritual and didn't notice them, so Kiora and Gaile crept quietly into a side chamber, hoping to catch the demon off-guard.
The air erupted with fire and lightning as it became apparent that the plan wouldn't work. Mephisto had called the remaining council members to his side. Gaile barely survived their focused assault, but she and Kiora emerged victorious from that fight. Stealth was no longer an option. Kiora began to advance, preparing to unleash the full fury of fire and ice, when she heard Gaile fall to the ground behind her. Kiora looked back to help, but then Mephisto's lightning bolt ripped through her and she convulsed. She knew she had to retreat, had to put some distance between herself and the demon unless she wanted to die here.
She ran back through the side chambers until she was on the opposite side of the river of blood. Mephisto had not followed her. He seemed to be amused by her fear and casually cast another lightning bolt in her direction. Kiora dodged the bolt, but Mephisto's second spell, an icy sphere of frost, knocked her backward. Now close to death, Kiora could see Mephisto across the river and Gaile's body crumpled up over to the side. But... it seemed like Mephisto could no longer see Kiora. He began to pace back and forth next to the river, obviously frustrated. Kiora took the opportunity to call down the vengeful ice of Zisla, leaving the demon howling in pain and anger. Somehow, he still did not see her. Not after this blizzard or the next, or the next.
That was what Kiora told Gaile back in camp after she'd asked how they were alive. Kiora showed Gaile a gleaming crystal shard that Cain said was Mephisto's soulstone. Not only had they survived, they had won.
-----
New Treasures:
---
Jewel of Avarice
Jewel
Required Level: 1
Fingerprint: 0x4a07a2f0
Item Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
14% Extra Gold from Monsters
---
Hurray!
...and Cathan's Rule, which is one of the few S/U's I could actually use if I wanted to.
Kiora and Gaile, favored by Zisla, lvl 31, Pandemonium Fortress
pyromania, charm expert, specialist
36 points
Code:
~ God ~
Name ----------- Points ----------- Score
Thoth +10 181
~ Cultists ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Pyre Assassin/Thoth NanoMist 77 5hell 171
Squid Necromancer/Zisla Xios 79 3hell 153
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor 74 1hell 98
Wicular Necromancer/Requiem Southpaw8668 57 2nm 87
Xiu_Atesh Druid/Xiu-Matesh Dazliare 54 2nm 73
Geras Druid/Malstrom Pb_pal 52 2nm 65
ManOfSteel Barb/Fractured One Bry 28 4 38
Kiora Sorceress/Zisla SunsetVista 31 4 36
Toxic_Tom Barbarian/Pherydimox mwille 27 3 28
Imoquir Necromancer/Requiem broxi_111 28 3 24
UndeadCooper Druid/Requiem Mezion 26 2 22
Kraxian Druid/Sol ranagrande 20 2 12
Vrauzhul Necromancer/Chimaera iMonsterEatCity 17 1 8
Stefon Barbarian/Ouroboros Neksja 1 1 0
~ Legacy ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Wicular Necromancer/Requiem Southpaw8668 74 2hell 135
GoreJess Assassin/Ullr mwille 65 5nm 97
Gore Assassin/Ullr mwille 49 1nm 63
BaileyCat Assa./Antediluvianis Mezion 27 5 48
Lycaon Druid/Ouroboros Neksja 29 4 40
Perturbator Paladin/Pherydimox Mezion 33 4 38
OwenCat Necro/Antediluvianis Mezion 27 4 38
GoreLord Necromancer/Ullr mwille 31 4 38
AnnGore Amazon/Ullr mwille 32 4 38
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor 32 4 34
Quimble Necromancer/Sol ranagrande 28 2 16
Sabine Sorc/Chimaera iMonsterEatCity 25 2 18
Snirn Barbarian/Pherydimox broxi_111 22 2 10
Gunvor Assassin/Ullr mwille 20 2 10
Last edited:
Xios
New member
- Nov 3, 2016
- 176
- 6
- 3
With the daunting task of going through an entirely Poison Immune area ahead of me, I was a little skittish about actually giving it a try.
Taking advantage of the fact that I'm in Act 3 now, I started to do a mild, /p1 rotation of Lower Kurast, Countess and Pits, the latter of which I was pleasantly surprised that the skeletons there are not Immune to Poison. I'm still on the hunt for a good wand base for White, and I've been trying in vain to roll some good belts.
Eventually I decided to bite the bullet and try the sewers. My strategy was quite simple. There's four entrances to the sewers, so I should be able to get quite a good bit of scouting done if I just enter each of these doorways, sprint as far as I can before tping once I'm in danger or surrounded. I was able to scout pretty much the entire outskirts of the sewers, found the lever which was thankfully unguarded and stole the final piece of Khalim's. I headed over to Travincal, where I had already killed the Council more than once, and opened up the Durance.
I felt quite fortunate that there weren't many Dolls down here, as they're clearly the scariest threat for multiple reasons. Duels with Vampires can be tedious but so long as I don't facetank fireballs and meteors my Fire Resist is acceptable to duke it out with them. I made my way to Level 3 without too many troubles, laughed at Bremn Sparkfist and his lack of lightning, cleared out the rest of the area then fought Mephisto. My Lightning Resist is unfortunately my lowest, but with overdrinking health potions and focusing on dodging (Poison Nova isn't exactly static or time consuming) I was able to mitigate quite a bit of damage. The Lord of Hatred went down and I happily went on to Act Four.
While there are quite a few poison immune monsters in Act 4, one thing that didn't register with me until much later was that Venom Lords are not poison immune any more, their Fire Immunity coming to the forefront. They have high resists, but that's well.. quite literally five times better for me that they're high resists and not immunes. Good news, although I had assumed they were going to be a problem before I realized this and hesitated on doing Chaos Sanctuary for a while because of it. I rushed through the Outer Steppes and Plains of Despair to find Izual to claim the last of my free skill points. I haven't talked about my Skill distribution because it was fairly straightforward. I maxed all the Poison Skills, then maxed Lower Resist, and now I'm just pumping Bone Wall to boost Bone Armor (I'm not using the walls themselves)
I managed to run around in the City of the Damned long enough to find the waypoint and the way down. I was getting a number of unlucky monster combinations (Maggots and Maw Fiends) so my progress slowed down. I decided I might as well do a bit more runs and maybe stumble into some upgrades. At this point I also still thought I'd have to deal with Poison Immunes in Chaos Sanctuary so I was trying to think of a solution on myself or my woefully undergeared Merc.
The runs went fairly well, all things considered. I didn't find too much of use in Lower Kurast, although I only had one campfire. I experimented with the Pits on a few different player settings, but after a level two in which there were three Archer boss packs that made me drink the purple stuff in a panic, I decided to keep it down at 1. I found some decent item bases (a full writeup in the gear section) but not for anything I immediately needed, and I have yet to see a Kraken Shell of any description. The Countess had been uncooperative with her drops-- I haven't received anything above an Amn which has only dropped once, other than that it's been Tal or lower. Sometimes there's a bit of a scare in Level 5 with monsters being spawned directly on the entrance, but no real close calls. During one run however, this happened, much to my surprise.
View attachment 4117
Who needs the Countess when you have random Devilkin, apparently? My fortunes seemed to have improved after that, as that very Countess run she dropped Hwanin's Splendor (which I considered giving to my Merc) and a Fal Rune the run after that.
Spurred on by the new Rune drop, I thought I should try and get to the Hellforge to see if maybe I could put something together for the Chaos Sanctuary. It was a bit of a spooky run through all the immunes, at one point having nearly a full screen of Maw Fiends, but eventually I found and kited Hephasto into oblivion and popped my Hellforge, which produced an Um.
Despite all the luck I was still scratching my head on what to do. I thought I might as well give it a shot though, maybe I could kite Infector of Souls to the moat and have my Merc pick him off ever so slowly? It was when I first walked through the gates of Chaos Sanctuary I realized my mistake-- Oh, only 75% Poison Resist, not 100+? Well this changes things. In fact, the scarier portions were just random Oblivion Knights and large volleys of Bone Spirits, as all my non-Magic resists are actually quite respectable, for Hell at least.
I pushed through Vizier and Seis without too much trouble (Storm Casters actually have no Poison Resist, which was a good feeling) and decided to play it safe and TP out after pulling the Infector seal in order to improve positioning. I kited them around and eventually whittled them down. Another fortunate development was that there was a Resist Lightning Shrine in Chaos Sanctuary right near Diablo, shoring up my poorest resist-- truly this is the work of Zisla.
Knowing that the Diablo fight isn't very attrition focused for casters, I decided to overload my inventory with Charms instead of bringing spare potions. I did however, chug Thawing and Antidote potions just because I knew I'd be at 75/85/75/85 with the potions, charms, and shrine effects and I wanted to feel good about myself, not that Diablo really does too much Cold or Poison. I pulled the final seal, picked up the shrine and got ready for the showdown, prioritizing Lower Resist over Decrepify as I'm speedy enough to dodge his firestorms or lightning breath. What I feared happening in my Nightmare playthrough happened here though. About halfway through the fight he trapped me in a Bone Prison! Fortunately I was in a decent position and didn't immediately get bursted, and was able to squeeze through the bars into a TP to reset my position. After that scare, the Lord of Terror eventually fell and I was on to Act Five-- with all its Poison Immune guest monsters, Frenzytaurs, Dolls, Gloams, Succubi, Charging Skeletons and other wonderful things.
I immediately decided to sprint through to Shenk. The battlefield was littered with Burning Dead Archers and Catapults I couldn't touch, so it was all about running and dodging-- or thanking Barbarians who were taking the bullets for me. Once I got to Shenk it was just a matter of clearing out his bodyguards before he fell and the catapults cleared the way.
I knew I couldn't rescue the Barbarians all too effectively. Poison Immune mobs guarding them, plus the actual barricades themselves that I can't break meant it wasn't worth the effort right now, so I pressed forward. I was a little spooked by some Spearwomen with Extra Fast and their jabs, knowing that's ended a few Hardcore characters around here. Thankfully I met them on difficult terrain so they were held back and killed. In the Arreat Plateau I had to rehire my Mercenary to break down a wall for me, in probably one of the more depressing parts of the playthrough-- fighting back the legions of hell only to be stopped by a wooden door or loose piles of rocks.
View attachment 4118
My Mercenary proceeded to instantly die to Thresh Socket, and I pressed on. The Crystalline passage had no Poison Immunes, although I learned just how much a boss pack of Succubi could hurt, Bone Armor being my only real boon against them.
After full clearing the zone to find the Waypoint and Frozen River, I descended-- only to find hordes of Bone Mages and Gloams (the latter of which are not only scary normally, but also Poison Immune in Act 5) I noped out immediately-- a task for another day.
Level: 82
Act: 5 Hell
Points: 165 (Although I haven't used three Imbues, three Sockets, one personalize)
Current Wealth: 1,758,099
Highest Rune Found: Vex (Also found: Fal and Um from Hellforge)
Talents: Boon, Maleficium, Specialist, Charm Expert
Taking advantage of the fact that I'm in Act 3 now, I started to do a mild, /p1 rotation of Lower Kurast, Countess and Pits, the latter of which I was pleasantly surprised that the skeletons there are not Immune to Poison. I'm still on the hunt for a good wand base for White, and I've been trying in vain to roll some good belts.
Eventually I decided to bite the bullet and try the sewers. My strategy was quite simple. There's four entrances to the sewers, so I should be able to get quite a good bit of scouting done if I just enter each of these doorways, sprint as far as I can before tping once I'm in danger or surrounded. I was able to scout pretty much the entire outskirts of the sewers, found the lever which was thankfully unguarded and stole the final piece of Khalim's. I headed over to Travincal, where I had already killed the Council more than once, and opened up the Durance.
I felt quite fortunate that there weren't many Dolls down here, as they're clearly the scariest threat for multiple reasons. Duels with Vampires can be tedious but so long as I don't facetank fireballs and meteors my Fire Resist is acceptable to duke it out with them. I made my way to Level 3 without too many troubles, laughed at Bremn Sparkfist and his lack of lightning, cleared out the rest of the area then fought Mephisto. My Lightning Resist is unfortunately my lowest, but with overdrinking health potions and focusing on dodging (Poison Nova isn't exactly static or time consuming) I was able to mitigate quite a bit of damage. The Lord of Hatred went down and I happily went on to Act Four.
While there are quite a few poison immune monsters in Act 4, one thing that didn't register with me until much later was that Venom Lords are not poison immune any more, their Fire Immunity coming to the forefront. They have high resists, but that's well.. quite literally five times better for me that they're high resists and not immunes. Good news, although I had assumed they were going to be a problem before I realized this and hesitated on doing Chaos Sanctuary for a while because of it. I rushed through the Outer Steppes and Plains of Despair to find Izual to claim the last of my free skill points. I haven't talked about my Skill distribution because it was fairly straightforward. I maxed all the Poison Skills, then maxed Lower Resist, and now I'm just pumping Bone Wall to boost Bone Armor (I'm not using the walls themselves)
I managed to run around in the City of the Damned long enough to find the waypoint and the way down. I was getting a number of unlucky monster combinations (Maggots and Maw Fiends) so my progress slowed down. I decided I might as well do a bit more runs and maybe stumble into some upgrades. At this point I also still thought I'd have to deal with Poison Immunes in Chaos Sanctuary so I was trying to think of a solution on myself or my woefully undergeared Merc.
The runs went fairly well, all things considered. I didn't find too much of use in Lower Kurast, although I only had one campfire. I experimented with the Pits on a few different player settings, but after a level two in which there were three Archer boss packs that made me drink the purple stuff in a panic, I decided to keep it down at 1. I found some decent item bases (a full writeup in the gear section) but not for anything I immediately needed, and I have yet to see a Kraken Shell of any description. The Countess had been uncooperative with her drops-- I haven't received anything above an Amn which has only dropped once, other than that it's been Tal or lower. Sometimes there's a bit of a scare in Level 5 with monsters being spawned directly on the entrance, but no real close calls. During one run however, this happened, much to my surprise.
View attachment 4117
Who needs the Countess when you have random Devilkin, apparently? My fortunes seemed to have improved after that, as that very Countess run she dropped Hwanin's Splendor (which I considered giving to my Merc) and a Fal Rune the run after that.
Spurred on by the new Rune drop, I thought I should try and get to the Hellforge to see if maybe I could put something together for the Chaos Sanctuary. It was a bit of a spooky run through all the immunes, at one point having nearly a full screen of Maw Fiends, but eventually I found and kited Hephasto into oblivion and popped my Hellforge, which produced an Um.
Despite all the luck I was still scratching my head on what to do. I thought I might as well give it a shot though, maybe I could kite Infector of Souls to the moat and have my Merc pick him off ever so slowly? It was when I first walked through the gates of Chaos Sanctuary I realized my mistake-- Oh, only 75% Poison Resist, not 100+? Well this changes things. In fact, the scarier portions were just random Oblivion Knights and large volleys of Bone Spirits, as all my non-Magic resists are actually quite respectable, for Hell at least.
I pushed through Vizier and Seis without too much trouble (Storm Casters actually have no Poison Resist, which was a good feeling) and decided to play it safe and TP out after pulling the Infector seal in order to improve positioning. I kited them around and eventually whittled them down. Another fortunate development was that there was a Resist Lightning Shrine in Chaos Sanctuary right near Diablo, shoring up my poorest resist-- truly this is the work of Zisla.
Knowing that the Diablo fight isn't very attrition focused for casters, I decided to overload my inventory with Charms instead of bringing spare potions. I did however, chug Thawing and Antidote potions just because I knew I'd be at 75/85/75/85 with the potions, charms, and shrine effects and I wanted to feel good about myself, not that Diablo really does too much Cold or Poison. I pulled the final seal, picked up the shrine and got ready for the showdown, prioritizing Lower Resist over Decrepify as I'm speedy enough to dodge his firestorms or lightning breath. What I feared happening in my Nightmare playthrough happened here though. About halfway through the fight he trapped me in a Bone Prison! Fortunately I was in a decent position and didn't immediately get bursted, and was able to squeeze through the bars into a TP to reset my position. After that scare, the Lord of Terror eventually fell and I was on to Act Five-- with all its Poison Immune guest monsters, Frenzytaurs, Dolls, Gloams, Succubi, Charging Skeletons and other wonderful things.
I immediately decided to sprint through to Shenk. The battlefield was littered with Burning Dead Archers and Catapults I couldn't touch, so it was all about running and dodging-- or thanking Barbarians who were taking the bullets for me. Once I got to Shenk it was just a matter of clearing out his bodyguards before he fell and the catapults cleared the way.
I knew I couldn't rescue the Barbarians all too effectively. Poison Immune mobs guarding them, plus the actual barricades themselves that I can't break meant it wasn't worth the effort right now, so I pressed forward. I was a little spooked by some Spearwomen with Extra Fast and their jabs, knowing that's ended a few Hardcore characters around here. Thankfully I met them on difficult terrain so they were held back and killed. In the Arreat Plateau I had to rehire my Mercenary to break down a wall for me, in probably one of the more depressing parts of the playthrough-- fighting back the legions of hell only to be stopped by a wooden door or loose piles of rocks.
View attachment 4118
My Mercenary proceeded to instantly die to Thresh Socket, and I pressed on. The Crystalline passage had no Poison Immunes, although I learned just how much a boss pack of Succubi could hurt, Bone Armor being my only real boon against them.
After full clearing the zone to find the Waypoint and Frozen River, I descended-- only to find hordes of Bone Mages and Gloams (the latter of which are not only scary normally, but also Poison Immune in Act 5) I noped out immediately-- a task for another day.
Level: 82
Act: 5 Hell
Points: 165 (Although I haven't used three Imbues, three Sockets, one personalize)
Current Wealth: 1,758,099
Highest Rune Found: Vex (Also found: Fal and Um from Hellforge)
Talents: Boon, Maleficium, Specialist, Charm Expert
Rare Coronet: +1 Necro , +15 All , MDR 2
Magic Amulet: +1 Necro, +40 Mana, 35 Cold Resist, 1 PDR, 1 MDR, +1 Block
Magic Wand: +2 Poison Nova , 108 Mana
Stealth Breast Plate
Rhyme Preserved Head (+1 Poison Nova)
Safety Gauntlets: 6 Cold Res, 15 Fire Res, PDR 1, MDR 2
Rare Ring: 28 Lightning Res, 20 Fire Res, 7 Poison Res, PDR2, MDR 2
Safety Spiderweb Sash: 24 FHR, 22 Fire Resist, 5 Poison Resist, PDR 4, MDR 1, 80 GF
Safety Ring: 3 Min Damage, 5 Str, 1 Vit, 27 Cold Resist, PDR3, MDR4
Safety Greaves: 30% FRW, 6 Fire Res, 21 MF, PDR1, MDR2
Current Resists (in Hell): 64/68/38/59
Current Life: 1050
Mercenary Gear:
Hwanin's Splendor
Faithful Hard Leather Armour of the Squid: Defense/Level and 61 Life
Artisan's Long Warbow of Butchery: 3oS (Ort,Ort,Jewel of Avarice) 35 Maximum Damage
I'm very happy with my Charms, Nightmare Cows treated me well. I'd still like to find a wand with +Poison Nova at least to make my White.
Magic Amulet: +1 Necro, +40 Mana, 35 Cold Resist, 1 PDR, 1 MDR, +1 Block
Magic Wand: +2 Poison Nova , 108 Mana
Stealth Breast Plate
Rhyme Preserved Head (+1 Poison Nova)
Safety Gauntlets: 6 Cold Res, 15 Fire Res, PDR 1, MDR 2
Rare Ring: 28 Lightning Res, 20 Fire Res, 7 Poison Res, PDR2, MDR 2
Safety Spiderweb Sash: 24 FHR, 22 Fire Resist, 5 Poison Resist, PDR 4, MDR 1, 80 GF
Safety Ring: 3 Min Damage, 5 Str, 1 Vit, 27 Cold Resist, PDR3, MDR4
Safety Greaves: 30% FRW, 6 Fire Res, 21 MF, PDR1, MDR2
Current Resists (in Hell): 64/68/38/59
Current Life: 1050
Mercenary Gear:
Hwanin's Splendor
Faithful Hard Leather Armour of the Squid: Defense/Level and 61 Life
Artisan's Long Warbow of Butchery: 3oS (Ort,Ort,Jewel of Avarice) 35 Maximum Damage
I'm very happy with my Charms, Nightmare Cows treated me well. I'd still like to find a wand with +Poison Nova at least to make my White.
Hwanin's Splendor
Plague Bearer
Death's Touch
Wall of the Eyeless
Baezil's Vortex
Iratha's Coil
Treads of Cthon
Grim's Burning Dead
Sparkling Mail
Iceblink
Butcher's Pupil
White Diadems and Tiaras. Plenty of unrelated +Skill Circlets.
Nice rare Trapper Claws and War Javelins.
Some nice item bases-- 3os Dusk Shroud, 3os Razor Bow (desperately wanted to make something for my Merc with this)
Unfortunately the only Archon Plate I found was Superior. I found an Ethereal Thresher but socketing it only gave 1 Socket, my only Giant Thresher was 3os.
Plague Bearer
Death's Touch
Wall of the Eyeless
Baezil's Vortex
Iratha's Coil
Treads of Cthon
Grim's Burning Dead
Sparkling Mail
Iceblink
Butcher's Pupil
White Diadems and Tiaras. Plenty of unrelated +Skill Circlets.
Nice rare Trapper Claws and War Javelins.
Some nice item bases-- 3os Dusk Shroud, 3os Razor Bow (desperately wanted to make something for my Merc with this)
Unfortunately the only Archon Plate I found was Superior. I found an Ethereal Thresher but socketing it only gave 1 Socket, my only Giant Thresher was 3os.
Code:
~ God ~
Name ----------- Points ----------- Score
Thoth +10 181
~ Cultists ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Pyre Assassin/Thoth NanoMist 77 5hell 171
Squid Necromancer/Zisla Xios 82 5hell 165
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor 74 1hell 98
Wicular Necromancer/Requiem Southpaw8668 57 2nm 87
Xiu_Atesh Druid/Xiu-Matesh Dazliare 54 2nm 73
Geras Druid/Malstrom Pb_pal 52 2nm 65
ManOfSteel Barb/Fractured One Bry 28 4 38
Kiora Sorceress/Zisla SunsetVista 31 4 36
Toxic_Tom Barbarian/Pherydimox mwille 27 3 28
Imoquir Necromancer/Requiem broxi_111 28 3 24
UndeadCooper Druid/Requiem Mezion 26 2 22
Kraxian Druid/Sol ranagrande 20 2 12
Vrauzhul Necromancer/Chimaera iMonsterEatCity 17 1 8
Stefon Barbarian/Ouroboros Neksja 1 1 0
~ Legacy ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Wicular Necromancer/Requiem Southpaw8668 74 2hell 135
GoreJess Assassin/Ullr mwille 65 5nm 97
Gore Assassin/Ullr mwille 49 1nm 63
BaileyCat Assa./Antediluvianis Mezion 27 5 48
Lycaon Druid/Ouroboros Neksja 29 4 40
Perturbator Paladin/Pherydimox Mezion 33 4 38
OwenCat Necro/Antediluvianis Mezion 27 4 38
GoreLord Necromancer/Ullr mwille 31 4 38
AnnGore Amazon/Ullr mwille 32 4 38
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor 32 4 34
Quimble Necromancer/Sol ranagrande 28 2 16
Sabine Sorc/Chimaera iMonsterEatCity 25 2 18
Snirn Barbarian/Pherydimox broxi_111 22 2 10
Gunvor Assassin/Ullr mwille 20 2 10
Last edited:
I have a question about the weapon expert talent: What exactly is a weapon type? For instance, at arreat summit all unique mauls, warhammers, thunder mauls, etc. fall under the "maces" category. Is the weapon type mace or maul/warhammer/thundermaul?
Yes, going with Arreat is a good way to do it if you're unsure. Basically any weapon that qualify for the type you want to specialize in. Those are maces for example.
In doubt, think about the barbarian masteries or skills using a specific weapon type (poison dagger, bow skills, etc.)
In doubt, think about the barbarian masteries or skills using a specific weapon type (poison dagger, bow skills, etc.)
@Xios - grats on Vex!
-----
They had never been to Hell before. Tyrael and Cain met them in the Pandemonium Fortress, a sort of safe haven for champions who came here to battle the forces of Evil. Kiora could not keep from laughing when she saw that there was a flickering fireplace complete with decorative weapons over the mantle. A fireplace in Hell! Gaile looked at her and shrugged.
Tyrael instructed them to complete three quests: rescue the tormented spirit of an angel, destroy Mephisto's soulstone at the Hellforge, and... kill Diablo, the Lord of Terror. The Archangel didn't appear to be joking, so Kiora and Gaile prepared to head out into the crumbling, gray wasteland. There was no turning back; the portal that had brought them here had closed. The only way out was forward.
Kiora and Gaile knew as soon as their feet touched the ground outside the fortress that there would be no cleansing the corruption here. The power of Hell was strong, much too strong for them to dispel. Even if they killed every demon, an impossible task, this land would turn to dust before it would be claimed for any other God. Still, they did their best to release any trapped souls they came across. Perhaps the souls would remember and be grateful, and come back to serve Zisla in the next life.
It was good that Kiora had been casting her hydras ahead to scout. Many times, the sound of their fireballs alerted the cultists to danger, especially on the Plains of Despair. Without that, the swarms of wisplike burning souls might have ended their journey forever. After a long battle, they destroyed a powerful demon, releasing the angel they'd been sent to find. Before it faded away, the angel spoke arrogantly of how it had betrayed all of Heaven by teaching the Prime Evils about soulstones. Upon hearing that, Kiora and Gaile wondered why Tyrael had wanted the angel rescued. Heaven sure did have weird ideas about mercy.
With one quest done, their next task was to find the Hellforge. Gaile thought it would probably be on the lowest level like the other important places they'd explored so far with demonic architecture. They descended the twisting staircases slowly, careful not to slip and fall. Each layer was a desolate gray wasteland riddled with gaping pits revealing yet more joyless landscapes far below. The air became much hotter as they went deeper. Kiora knew the heat would melt the skin from their bones were it not for Zisla's protection.
The pathway they stood on now could barely be considered solid rock. It was very nearly molten and only seemed dark compared to the vast sea of lava that threatened to consume it from both sides. Tortured souls tried in vain to escape from the lava, only to be smothered again by the next wave. Kiora and Gaile fought their way past hordes of demons toward more stable ground. There was an impossibly bright glow piercing the sky ahead, even brighter than the lava sea. That must be the Hellforge.
The demon of the Forge declared that the cultist's souls would fuel the terrible furnace, but Gaile and Kiora had other plans. They easily overcame the demon and took up its smithing hammer. Mephisto's soulstone shattered on the anvil, unleashing a wailing torrent of souls that were now freed from the Lord of Hatred's grasp. Gaile kicked a fragment of the soulstone away before noticing that it had transformed into a perfect topaz, no longer tainted by evil.
-----
Tyrael really had not been joking about the third quest. Kiora and Gaile were to enter the Chaos Sanctuary and... break... the seals imprisoning Diablo so that they could kill him and smash his soulstone also. This did not seem like a good idea. Apparently, the seals were weakening anyway and would soon fail, so it was best if some brave adventurers were there to take down Diablo right as he was released.
Usually cultists of Zisla were expected to keep a low profile so that they could go about their work unnoticed. Gaile and Kiora realized that they had definitely violated that tenet. At first, helping the various townspeople had seemed the perfect cover story. But they were "brave adventurers" now, they were stuck here in Hell, and there was no one else around who could do this thing.
Another molten path through the sea of lava led from the Hellforge to the gates of the Chaos Sanctuary. The magnificent structure towered high above them, a massive cathedral of burning iron. Kiora and Gaile were not surprised to see ghostly reflections of yet more tortured souls trapped in the ornate window glass. It was certainly a grand temple, and defended as such. Legions of demons led by Oblivion Knights stood guard against any who might interfere with their master's return.
Though Gaile and Kiora prevailed, the battles were difficult and they had to respect their enemies' power; power they were happy to offer up to Zisla. Eventually, it was time to break the seals. They still didn't think this was a particularly good idea, but it didn't matter: the runes on the seals had already begun to glow on their own. The ground shook as the seals broke, one by one. The air shimmered with more than heat as the strongest demons the cultists had ever seen stepped into their reality.
Kiora and Gaile fought for their lives. Gaile's ice arrows froze their targets solid before Kiora's blizzard shattered them. Kiora had summoned an entire field of hydras whose fireballs blasted the demons back to oblivion. The number of demons steadily dwindled, until none remained alive. But then there was a great trembling, as if the Chaos Sanctuary itself might sink into the lava beneath. The gigantic pentagram etched into the center of the floor burst into flame. Diablo, the Lord of Terror, was free at last.
Diablo's deep and terrible voice echoed in the cultist's minds. They knew that what the demon said was true: not even death could save them now. And so they fought. They'd never intended to die anyway. Zisla clearly did not intend for them to die either. Kiora found herself dodging Diablo's attacks perfectly, even a deadly line of red lightning, though she had never seen such a thing before. Gaile was less lucky; she took a hit and went down, but there was no time. Kiora kept casting hydras all around Diablo as he charged at her. He conjured expanding rings of fire. Where he walked, the floor cracked in jagged lines that bubbled up with lava. But no matter what he did, Kiora dodged, and the hydras' fireballs flew true.
Eventually it was enough. Diablo collapsed as his form was torn apart by thousands of wailing souls struggling to escape the demon's power.
Kiora went over to where Gaile had fallen. She hoped that her friend's soul would be safe now that the demon had been defeated. Kiora brought Gaile's body back through a portal to the Pandemonium Fortress, along with the good news that Diablo was no more.
-----
I don't think I have ever killed Diablo while still wearing a normal white quilted armor before. And I am very happy that I still remember how to play and didn't die.
Something exotic!
---
Gale Song
Great Axe
Two Hand Damage: 11 - 52
Durability: 48 of 50
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 63
Required Dexterity: 39
Fingerprint: 0x4d760287
Item Level: 40
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 3 Fire Bolt on attack
27% Enhanced Damage
+14 to Maximum Damage
+22 to Attack Rating
+64% Damage to Demons
+122 to Attack Rating against Demons
+65% Damage to Undead
+39 to Attack Rating against Undead
Adds 1 - 13 Lightning Damage
---
This should help with finding more:
---
Fortuitous Ring of Greed
Ring
Required Level: 8
Fingerprint: 0x4164b444
Item Level: 27
Version: Expansion 1.10+
33% Extra Gold from Monsters
14% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
---
and Diablo dropped a Rockfleece, which could be socketed with the Avarice jewel or even double up'd to be a kraken shell, but I doubt it.
Kiora, demon slayer for Zisla, lvl 33, Harrogath
pyromania, charm expert, specialist
42 points
-----
They had never been to Hell before. Tyrael and Cain met them in the Pandemonium Fortress, a sort of safe haven for champions who came here to battle the forces of Evil. Kiora could not keep from laughing when she saw that there was a flickering fireplace complete with decorative weapons over the mantle. A fireplace in Hell! Gaile looked at her and shrugged.
Tyrael instructed them to complete three quests: rescue the tormented spirit of an angel, destroy Mephisto's soulstone at the Hellforge, and... kill Diablo, the Lord of Terror. The Archangel didn't appear to be joking, so Kiora and Gaile prepared to head out into the crumbling, gray wasteland. There was no turning back; the portal that had brought them here had closed. The only way out was forward.
Kiora and Gaile knew as soon as their feet touched the ground outside the fortress that there would be no cleansing the corruption here. The power of Hell was strong, much too strong for them to dispel. Even if they killed every demon, an impossible task, this land would turn to dust before it would be claimed for any other God. Still, they did their best to release any trapped souls they came across. Perhaps the souls would remember and be grateful, and come back to serve Zisla in the next life.
It was good that Kiora had been casting her hydras ahead to scout. Many times, the sound of their fireballs alerted the cultists to danger, especially on the Plains of Despair. Without that, the swarms of wisplike burning souls might have ended their journey forever. After a long battle, they destroyed a powerful demon, releasing the angel they'd been sent to find. Before it faded away, the angel spoke arrogantly of how it had betrayed all of Heaven by teaching the Prime Evils about soulstones. Upon hearing that, Kiora and Gaile wondered why Tyrael had wanted the angel rescued. Heaven sure did have weird ideas about mercy.
With one quest done, their next task was to find the Hellforge. Gaile thought it would probably be on the lowest level like the other important places they'd explored so far with demonic architecture. They descended the twisting staircases slowly, careful not to slip and fall. Each layer was a desolate gray wasteland riddled with gaping pits revealing yet more joyless landscapes far below. The air became much hotter as they went deeper. Kiora knew the heat would melt the skin from their bones were it not for Zisla's protection.
The pathway they stood on now could barely be considered solid rock. It was very nearly molten and only seemed dark compared to the vast sea of lava that threatened to consume it from both sides. Tortured souls tried in vain to escape from the lava, only to be smothered again by the next wave. Kiora and Gaile fought their way past hordes of demons toward more stable ground. There was an impossibly bright glow piercing the sky ahead, even brighter than the lava sea. That must be the Hellforge.
The demon of the Forge declared that the cultist's souls would fuel the terrible furnace, but Gaile and Kiora had other plans. They easily overcame the demon and took up its smithing hammer. Mephisto's soulstone shattered on the anvil, unleashing a wailing torrent of souls that were now freed from the Lord of Hatred's grasp. Gaile kicked a fragment of the soulstone away before noticing that it had transformed into a perfect topaz, no longer tainted by evil.
-----
Tyrael really had not been joking about the third quest. Kiora and Gaile were to enter the Chaos Sanctuary and... break... the seals imprisoning Diablo so that they could kill him and smash his soulstone also. This did not seem like a good idea. Apparently, the seals were weakening anyway and would soon fail, so it was best if some brave adventurers were there to take down Diablo right as he was released.
Usually cultists of Zisla were expected to keep a low profile so that they could go about their work unnoticed. Gaile and Kiora realized that they had definitely violated that tenet. At first, helping the various townspeople had seemed the perfect cover story. But they were "brave adventurers" now, they were stuck here in Hell, and there was no one else around who could do this thing.
Another molten path through the sea of lava led from the Hellforge to the gates of the Chaos Sanctuary. The magnificent structure towered high above them, a massive cathedral of burning iron. Kiora and Gaile were not surprised to see ghostly reflections of yet more tortured souls trapped in the ornate window glass. It was certainly a grand temple, and defended as such. Legions of demons led by Oblivion Knights stood guard against any who might interfere with their master's return.
Though Gaile and Kiora prevailed, the battles were difficult and they had to respect their enemies' power; power they were happy to offer up to Zisla. Eventually, it was time to break the seals. They still didn't think this was a particularly good idea, but it didn't matter: the runes on the seals had already begun to glow on their own. The ground shook as the seals broke, one by one. The air shimmered with more than heat as the strongest demons the cultists had ever seen stepped into their reality.
Kiora and Gaile fought for their lives. Gaile's ice arrows froze their targets solid before Kiora's blizzard shattered them. Kiora had summoned an entire field of hydras whose fireballs blasted the demons back to oblivion. The number of demons steadily dwindled, until none remained alive. But then there was a great trembling, as if the Chaos Sanctuary itself might sink into the lava beneath. The gigantic pentagram etched into the center of the floor burst into flame. Diablo, the Lord of Terror, was free at last.
Diablo's deep and terrible voice echoed in the cultist's minds. They knew that what the demon said was true: not even death could save them now. And so they fought. They'd never intended to die anyway. Zisla clearly did not intend for them to die either. Kiora found herself dodging Diablo's attacks perfectly, even a deadly line of red lightning, though she had never seen such a thing before. Gaile was less lucky; she took a hit and went down, but there was no time. Kiora kept casting hydras all around Diablo as he charged at her. He conjured expanding rings of fire. Where he walked, the floor cracked in jagged lines that bubbled up with lava. But no matter what he did, Kiora dodged, and the hydras' fireballs flew true.
Eventually it was enough. Diablo collapsed as his form was torn apart by thousands of wailing souls struggling to escape the demon's power.
Kiora went over to where Gaile had fallen. She hoped that her friend's soul would be safe now that the demon had been defeated. Kiora brought Gaile's body back through a portal to the Pandemonium Fortress, along with the good news that Diablo was no more.
-----
I don't think I have ever killed Diablo while still wearing a normal white quilted armor before. And I am very happy that I still remember how to play and didn't die.
Something exotic!
---
Gale Song
Great Axe
Two Hand Damage: 11 - 52
Durability: 48 of 50
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 63
Required Dexterity: 39
Fingerprint: 0x4d760287
Item Level: 40
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 3 Fire Bolt on attack
27% Enhanced Damage
+14 to Maximum Damage
+22 to Attack Rating
+64% Damage to Demons
+122 to Attack Rating against Demons
+65% Damage to Undead
+39 to Attack Rating against Undead
Adds 1 - 13 Lightning Damage
---
This should help with finding more:
---
Fortuitous Ring of Greed
Ring
Required Level: 8
Fingerprint: 0x4164b444
Item Level: 27
Version: Expansion 1.10+
33% Extra Gold from Monsters
14% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
---
and Diablo dropped a Rockfleece, which could be socketed with the Avarice jewel or even double up'd to be a kraken shell, but I doubt it.
Kiora, demon slayer for Zisla, lvl 33, Harrogath
pyromania, charm expert, specialist
42 points
Code:
~ God ~
Name ----------- Points ----------- Score
Thoth +10 181
~ Cultists ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Pyre Assassin/Thoth NanoMist 77 5hell 171
Squid Necromancer/Zisla Xios 82 5hell 165
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor 74 1hell 98
Wicular Necromancer/Requiem Southpaw8668 57 2nm 87
Xiu_Atesh Druid/Xiu-Matesh Dazliare 54 2nm 73
Geras Druid/Malstrom Pb_pal 52 2nm 65
Kiora Sorceress/Zisla SunsetVista 33 5 42
ManOfSteel Barb/Fractured One Bry 28 4 38
Toxic_Tom Barbarian/Pherydimox mwille 27 3 28
Imoquir Necromancer/Requiem broxi_111 28 3 24
UndeadCooper Druid/Requiem Mezion 26 2 22
Kraxian Druid/Sol ranagrande 20 2 12
Vrauzhul Necromancer/Chimaera iMonsterEatCity 17 1 8
Stefon Barbarian/Ouroboros Neksja 1 1 0
~ Legacy ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Wicular Necromancer/Requiem Southpaw8668 74 2hell 135
GoreJess Assassin/Ullr mwille 65 5nm 97
Gore Assassin/Ullr mwille 49 1nm 63
BaileyCat Assa./Antediluvianis Mezion 27 5 48
Lycaon Druid/Ouroboros Neksja 29 4 40
Perturbator Paladin/Pherydimox Mezion 33 4 38
OwenCat Necro/Antediluvianis Mezion 27 4 38
GoreLord Necromancer/Ullr mwille 31 4 38
AnnGore Amazon/Ullr mwille 32 4 38
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor 32 4 34
Quimble Necromancer/Sol ranagrande 28 2 16
Sabine Sorc/Chimaera iMonsterEatCity 25 2 18
Snirn Barbarian/Pherydimox broxi_111 22 2 10
Gunvor Assassin/Ullr mwille 20 2 10
Last edited:
Kiora rejoiced when Tyrael was able to revive Gaile. It almost didn't matter that they were immediately sent on another quest: to destroy Baal, the third and final Prime Evil. Tyrael opened a portal for them to Harrogath in the frozen north. Kiora and Gaile were glad to be leaving Hell, even though they didn't much like being Heaven's pawns.
The blessedly cold city was besieged by an army of demons. Volleys from their incredibly destructive elemental catapults exploded against the walls. The barbarians in town expressed conflicting views about the cultists: They wanted to defend their homeland themselves, but the situation was dire and it would be unwise to turn away aid. One of them was openly hostile; Nihlathak called Kiora and Gaile fools and vultures. That remark wasn't too far from the truth, but it stung anyway.
Gaile and Kiora thought that without their help, the city would soon fall, whatever Nihlathak said. This many demons might be able to conquer the entire world if they weren't stopped. Demons could not be made to worship Zisla, and besides, Kiora and Gaile were beginning to enjoy their status as heroes. They asked that the city gates be raised briefly so they could join the battle.
Little of civilization remained intact outside the city gates. The brave barbarian defenders were being overrun. Kiora and Gaile fought alongside them, saving as many as they could. At first, they couldn't tell which side had dug out the trenches and spiked pits, since there were equal numbers of both human and demonic corpses everywhere. As they advanced across the battlefield though, they decided that the hastily constructed defenses had been built by the demons to protect the catapults. But there was no protection against Kiora's fiery hydras, not for the catapults, and not for the demonic general that was urging its minions forward with each crack of its whip. Harrogath was saved, the siege broken, for now.
There was no time to celebrate. There were more demons out there that needed to die before they reached the city gates again. After a brief return to town to share the news of their victory, Kiora and Gaile set out again.
They were definitely walking uphill. The terrain became more mountainous and the snowfall heavier as evergreen trees became the dominant vegetation. Apparently, the trees had been too much trouble for the demons to burn; they'd had plenty of houses to torch instead. There were more fortifications up ahead. Whoever had built them, they were controlled by the demons now. Imps threw fire down from the rickety towers and from atop giant siege beasts as more catapult projectiles landed uncannily close to the cultists.
Kiora's hydras easily burnt down the towers and the sections of walls that had been breached but rebuilt again. The barbarians might have made this to stop or at least slow the demonic invasion before they'd had to fall back. Gaile noticed that the stones and wood making up the walls were of good quality; perhaps they had once been parts of other structures... maybe houses. It was not good to think about that.
-----
Found a Nagelring, Infernal Torch, Isenhart's Case (left it on the ground), sol and shael runes.
Hydra has been great so far, good for single target, very mana-efficient, and accurate for shooting fast-moving imps, while blizzard has helped with larger groups.
Kiora and Gaile,still killing demons for Zisla, lvl 37, Arreat Plateau
pyromania, charm expert, specialist
46 points (I am counting imbue and socket quests as complete when I have access to the reward, not when I choose to use it)
The blessedly cold city was besieged by an army of demons. Volleys from their incredibly destructive elemental catapults exploded against the walls. The barbarians in town expressed conflicting views about the cultists: They wanted to defend their homeland themselves, but the situation was dire and it would be unwise to turn away aid. One of them was openly hostile; Nihlathak called Kiora and Gaile fools and vultures. That remark wasn't too far from the truth, but it stung anyway.
Gaile and Kiora thought that without their help, the city would soon fall, whatever Nihlathak said. This many demons might be able to conquer the entire world if they weren't stopped. Demons could not be made to worship Zisla, and besides, Kiora and Gaile were beginning to enjoy their status as heroes. They asked that the city gates be raised briefly so they could join the battle.
Little of civilization remained intact outside the city gates. The brave barbarian defenders were being overrun. Kiora and Gaile fought alongside them, saving as many as they could. At first, they couldn't tell which side had dug out the trenches and spiked pits, since there were equal numbers of both human and demonic corpses everywhere. As they advanced across the battlefield though, they decided that the hastily constructed defenses had been built by the demons to protect the catapults. But there was no protection against Kiora's fiery hydras, not for the catapults, and not for the demonic general that was urging its minions forward with each crack of its whip. Harrogath was saved, the siege broken, for now.
There was no time to celebrate. There were more demons out there that needed to die before they reached the city gates again. After a brief return to town to share the news of their victory, Kiora and Gaile set out again.
They were definitely walking uphill. The terrain became more mountainous and the snowfall heavier as evergreen trees became the dominant vegetation. Apparently, the trees had been too much trouble for the demons to burn; they'd had plenty of houses to torch instead. There were more fortifications up ahead. Whoever had built them, they were controlled by the demons now. Imps threw fire down from the rickety towers and from atop giant siege beasts as more catapult projectiles landed uncannily close to the cultists.
Kiora's hydras easily burnt down the towers and the sections of walls that had been breached but rebuilt again. The barbarians might have made this to stop or at least slow the demonic invasion before they'd had to fall back. Gaile noticed that the stones and wood making up the walls were of good quality; perhaps they had once been parts of other structures... maybe houses. It was not good to think about that.
-----
Found a Nagelring, Infernal Torch, Isenhart's Case (left it on the ground), sol and shael runes.
Hydra has been great so far, good for single target, very mana-efficient, and accurate for shooting fast-moving imps, while blizzard has helped with larger groups.
Kiora and Gaile,still killing demons for Zisla, lvl 37, Arreat Plateau
pyromania, charm expert, specialist
46 points (I am counting imbue and socket quests as complete when I have access to the reward, not when I choose to use it)
1.13 rune droprate is crazy! I'd probably be mad about it being too easy if it wasn't so convenient. I was boggling at all the sols, shaels, and amns I've been finding in Normal Act 5. I remember having to farm the Halls of Whatever to get shael before. Hurray!
Grats on double pul. =)
Grats on double pul. =)
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Xios
New member
- Nov 3, 2016
- 176
- 6
- 3
The Squid is ever so slowly tiptoeing his way to the finish line, although hesitation is currently winning out.
I absent mindedly farmed Countess, Pits and Lower Kurast while doing other things, which gave me a nice bump of experience and some gear. Most notably I found Que-Hegan's Wisdom as a Chest Piece. I was a little hesitant to swap out my old companion Stealth, as I feel like the run speed has certainly kept me alive all this time. But the other upsides were hard to argue with so I decided to try it.
Eventually I decided that some progress is probably a good idea, so I tried to push into the Frozen River to rescue Anya. This was easier said than done however. The Crystalline Passage itself held some dangers most notably and perhaps surprisingly were some ultra-fast Infidel boss packs that scared me almost literally to death, and some annoying immunes. It was only the tip of the iceberg however as the Frozen River itself has even more potential for shutting my character down. I tried about half a dozen times to enter the Frozen River only to find Gloams plus either Ghosts or Bone Mages. Not only do I not want to fight Gloams normally, but all these mobs are immune to me and I figured (probably correctly) that I couldn't run my way through the zone. It was perhaps a strange twist of fate then that I eventually exclaimed "Awesome! It's only Claw Vipers!" When that eventually occurred. What has this playthrough done to me that those are the things I'm excited about? In any case, it was Claw Vipers, Abominables and Frozen Creepers, all things I could deal with. At long last I rescued Anya and received my last boost of resistance (and a vendor trash preserved head).
Seeing the Ancients in front of me, there were a few things I wanted to do still before I felt extremely ready. My Mercenary is practically ungeared, but even if I found/made the armour (probably Treachery) and then somehow found/made a helm/bow (which is unlikely due to how high of runes that would require) I doubt she'd be able to turn the tide for me, or if she could it'd take much too long. I'd love to have a +Poison Nova base wand to put together White, which has so far eluded me. I was fairly satisfied with my charms and safety gear, although of course there's always room to improve. It also occurred to me that my Rogue was a Hell Merc (due to resetting her level) and that I really should just be using a +Bone Armor wand on my switch (since I'm using a head for prebuffing). Both of these facts told me I had to go and visit normal again, but I wanted to take advantage of a mostly explored set of maps before I erased them.
So I decided to sprint through the Crystalline Passage, Glacial Trail and Frozen Tundra, which was a nerve racking experience. My boots have a ctc Nova on being struck, and running through the Glacial Trail with volleys of quill rats I made for quite the strange light show as I tried to rush past Infidels, Wraiths, Bone Mages and Moon Lords. I definitely think Bone Armor was a saving grace here to let me keep moving. Out on the surface I had a much easier time avoiding the skeletons and was quickly down in the Ancient's Way whose only immunes are even more Bone Mages. In a mixture of fighting and running which Poison Nova does just fine, I found the waypoint and left, calling it enough progress.
Back in Normal, I rehired my Mercenary with her subpar gear and went over to Drognan to shop for wands. I decided that since I had multiples of Dols and Ios, I might as well make a White with Bone Armor in the meantime until I find a Poison Nova wand. To get a 2os wand in Act 2 Normal means only one type of normal wand (Bone Wand) is possible so it made sifting through items fairly quick. Eventually I settled on a +3 Bone Armor and +1 Iron Maiden wand and rolled the sockets for it which thankfully didn't screw me over (only a 1/6 chance of this happening). So I made a fresh White wand with a fancy +6 Bone Armor, +3 BnP, which makes my switch moot for the time being.
This made me curious if I could get lucky on finding a Poison Nova wand again, and with the maps reset anyways, I headed over to Nightmare to kill some cows. After three runs I didn't find any wands with relevant skills and decided to call it for the time being. Being in the difficulty though it reminded me that I had unfinished business with Nihlathak. Running past Pindle and most of the Halls, I eventually found him in the final corner of the third level, and left only the poison immune archers there before I left, now finished with all Normal and Nightmare quests, although I haven't handed them all in.
Back in Hell, I decided to check what Lower Kurast looked like on the new map, to which I found what might be the best LK I've ever had.
View attachment 4131
I then decided to go and maybe poke around the Ancients. While I'm scared of their burst I don't think I'll get one shot, so maybe I could at least give it a try-- who knows, maybe I'm overestimating them? They only have 50 Poison Resist apiece. It was then that I went into Ancient's Way and saw the Fanaticism Hell Lords that took no damage (because I realized I had players set to 8 after LK) that I immediately went through the waypoint again with a "Nope."
My cowardly mind then thought: "Well I haven't checked out the layout for the Pit or Countess yet... let's go do that."
Level: 84
Act: 5 Hell
Points: 169 (Remaining Quests: Rescue, Nihlathak, Ancients, Baal)
Current Wealth: 2,189,484
Highest Rune Found: Vex (Latest Finds: Lum, Ko, Dols)
Talents: Boon, Maleficium, Specialist, Charm Expert
I absent mindedly farmed Countess, Pits and Lower Kurast while doing other things, which gave me a nice bump of experience and some gear. Most notably I found Que-Hegan's Wisdom as a Chest Piece. I was a little hesitant to swap out my old companion Stealth, as I feel like the run speed has certainly kept me alive all this time. But the other upsides were hard to argue with so I decided to try it.
Eventually I decided that some progress is probably a good idea, so I tried to push into the Frozen River to rescue Anya. This was easier said than done however. The Crystalline Passage itself held some dangers most notably and perhaps surprisingly were some ultra-fast Infidel boss packs that scared me almost literally to death, and some annoying immunes. It was only the tip of the iceberg however as the Frozen River itself has even more potential for shutting my character down. I tried about half a dozen times to enter the Frozen River only to find Gloams plus either Ghosts or Bone Mages. Not only do I not want to fight Gloams normally, but all these mobs are immune to me and I figured (probably correctly) that I couldn't run my way through the zone. It was perhaps a strange twist of fate then that I eventually exclaimed "Awesome! It's only Claw Vipers!" When that eventually occurred. What has this playthrough done to me that those are the things I'm excited about? In any case, it was Claw Vipers, Abominables and Frozen Creepers, all things I could deal with. At long last I rescued Anya and received my last boost of resistance (and a vendor trash preserved head).
Seeing the Ancients in front of me, there were a few things I wanted to do still before I felt extremely ready. My Mercenary is practically ungeared, but even if I found/made the armour (probably Treachery) and then somehow found/made a helm/bow (which is unlikely due to how high of runes that would require) I doubt she'd be able to turn the tide for me, or if she could it'd take much too long. I'd love to have a +Poison Nova base wand to put together White, which has so far eluded me. I was fairly satisfied with my charms and safety gear, although of course there's always room to improve. It also occurred to me that my Rogue was a Hell Merc (due to resetting her level) and that I really should just be using a +Bone Armor wand on my switch (since I'm using a head for prebuffing). Both of these facts told me I had to go and visit normal again, but I wanted to take advantage of a mostly explored set of maps before I erased them.
So I decided to sprint through the Crystalline Passage, Glacial Trail and Frozen Tundra, which was a nerve racking experience. My boots have a ctc Nova on being struck, and running through the Glacial Trail with volleys of quill rats I made for quite the strange light show as I tried to rush past Infidels, Wraiths, Bone Mages and Moon Lords. I definitely think Bone Armor was a saving grace here to let me keep moving. Out on the surface I had a much easier time avoiding the skeletons and was quickly down in the Ancient's Way whose only immunes are even more Bone Mages. In a mixture of fighting and running which Poison Nova does just fine, I found the waypoint and left, calling it enough progress.
Back in Normal, I rehired my Mercenary with her subpar gear and went over to Drognan to shop for wands. I decided that since I had multiples of Dols and Ios, I might as well make a White with Bone Armor in the meantime until I find a Poison Nova wand. To get a 2os wand in Act 2 Normal means only one type of normal wand (Bone Wand) is possible so it made sifting through items fairly quick. Eventually I settled on a +3 Bone Armor and +1 Iron Maiden wand and rolled the sockets for it which thankfully didn't screw me over (only a 1/6 chance of this happening). So I made a fresh White wand with a fancy +6 Bone Armor, +3 BnP, which makes my switch moot for the time being.
This made me curious if I could get lucky on finding a Poison Nova wand again, and with the maps reset anyways, I headed over to Nightmare to kill some cows. After three runs I didn't find any wands with relevant skills and decided to call it for the time being. Being in the difficulty though it reminded me that I had unfinished business with Nihlathak. Running past Pindle and most of the Halls, I eventually found him in the final corner of the third level, and left only the poison immune archers there before I left, now finished with all Normal and Nightmare quests, although I haven't handed them all in.
Back in Hell, I decided to check what Lower Kurast looked like on the new map, to which I found what might be the best LK I've ever had.
View attachment 4131
I then decided to go and maybe poke around the Ancients. While I'm scared of their burst I don't think I'll get one shot, so maybe I could at least give it a try-- who knows, maybe I'm overestimating them? They only have 50 Poison Resist apiece. It was then that I went into Ancient's Way and saw the Fanaticism Hell Lords that took no damage (because I realized I had players set to 8 after LK) that I immediately went through the waypoint again with a "Nope."
My cowardly mind then thought: "Well I haven't checked out the layout for the Pit or Countess yet... let's go do that."
Level: 84
Act: 5 Hell
Points: 169 (Remaining Quests: Rescue, Nihlathak, Ancients, Baal)
Current Wealth: 2,189,484
Highest Rune Found: Vex (Latest Finds: Lum, Ko, Dols)
Talents: Boon, Maleficium, Specialist, Charm Expert
Rare Coronet: +1 Necro , +15 All , MDR 2
Safety Amulet: +1 Necro, +40 Mana, 35 Cold Resist, 1 PDR, 1 MDR, +1 Block
White [Runeword] Wand (+3 Bone Armor)
Que-Hegan's Wisdom
Rhyme Preserved Head (+1 Poison Nova)
Safety Gauntlets: 6 Cold Res, 15 Fire Res, PDR 1, MDR 2
Rare Ring: 28 Lightning Res, 20 Fire Res, 7 Poison Res, PDR2, MDR 2
Safety Spiderweb Sash: 24 FHR, 22 Fire Resist, 5 Poison Resist, PDR 4, MDR 1, 80 GF
Safety Ring: 3 Min Damage, 5 Str, 1 Vit, 27 Cold Resist, PDR3, MDR4
Safety Greaves: 30% FRW, 6 Fire Res, 21 MF, PDR1, MDR2
Current Resists (in Hell): 74/75/48/39
Current Life: 1095
I've tried in vain to roll some better safety gear for my other slots.
I've found some nice body armor, helm and weapon bases (including a 4os Blade Bow) but I'm putting none to use currently.
Safety Amulet: +1 Necro, +40 Mana, 35 Cold Resist, 1 PDR, 1 MDR, +1 Block
White [Runeword] Wand (+3 Bone Armor)
Que-Hegan's Wisdom
Rhyme Preserved Head (+1 Poison Nova)
Safety Gauntlets: 6 Cold Res, 15 Fire Res, PDR 1, MDR 2
Rare Ring: 28 Lightning Res, 20 Fire Res, 7 Poison Res, PDR2, MDR 2
Safety Spiderweb Sash: 24 FHR, 22 Fire Resist, 5 Poison Resist, PDR 4, MDR 1, 80 GF
Safety Ring: 3 Min Damage, 5 Str, 1 Vit, 27 Cold Resist, PDR3, MDR4
Safety Greaves: 30% FRW, 6 Fire Res, 21 MF, PDR1, MDR2
Current Resists (in Hell): 74/75/48/39
Current Life: 1095
I've tried in vain to roll some better safety gear for my other slots.
I've found some nice body armor, helm and weapon bases (including a 4os Blade Bow) but I'm putting none to use currently.
I've stopped picking up 'every' Unique/Set if it's particularly low level or I have duplicates, however--
Manald Heal
Ripsaw
Tarnhelm
Mavina's Tenet
Steeldriver
Rogue's Bow
Magnus' Skin
Hellcast
Arcanna's Deathwand
Guillaume's Face (again)
Manald Heal
Ripsaw
Tarnhelm
Mavina's Tenet
Steeldriver
Rogue's Bow
Magnus' Skin
Hellcast
Arcanna's Deathwand
Guillaume's Face (again)
I found two rare Orbs called Cruel Heart that I thought were interesting:
Vortex Orb:
1-454 Lightning Damage
+2 Frozen Orb
+1 Hydra
+16 Energy
+23 Life
4 Replenish
20 Mana
34 Fire Resist
Sacred Globe:
+2 Fire Skills
+3 Hydra
+1 Meteor
25% Fear
+15 Energy
+23 Life
+11 Mana
3 MDR
Charges of Frozen Orb
The latter of which might be useful on a certain cultist of Zisla, hah.
Vortex Orb:
1-454 Lightning Damage
+2 Frozen Orb
+1 Hydra
+16 Energy
+23 Life
4 Replenish
20 Mana
34 Fire Resist
Sacred Globe:
+2 Fire Skills
+3 Hydra
+1 Meteor
25% Fear
+15 Energy
+23 Life
+11 Mana
3 MDR
Charges of Frozen Orb
The latter of which might be useful on a certain cultist of Zisla, hah.
Code:
~ God ~
Name ----------- Points ----------- Score
Thoth +10 181
~ Cultists ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Pyre Assassin/Thoth NanoMist 77 5hell 171
Squid Necromancer/Zisla Xios 84 5hell 169
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor 74 1hell 98
Wicular Necromancer/Requiem Southpaw8668 57 2nm 87
Xiu_Atesh Druid/Xiu-Matesh Dazliare 54 2nm 73
Geras Druid/Malstrom Pb_pal 52 2nm 65
Kiora Sorceress/Zisla SunsetVista 33 5 42
ManOfSteel Barb/Fractured One Bry 28 4 38
Toxic_Tom Barbarian/Pherydimox mwille 27 3 28
Imoquir Necromancer/Requiem broxi_111 28 3 24
UndeadCooper Druid/Requiem Mezion 26 2 22
Kraxian Druid/Sol ranagrande 20 2 12
Vrauzhul Necromancer/Chimaera iMonsterEatCity 17 1 8
Stefon Barbarian/Ouroboros Neksja 1 1 0
~ Legacy ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Wicular Necromancer/Requiem Southpaw8668 74 2hell 135
GoreJess Assassin/Ullr mwille 65 5nm 97
Gore Assassin/Ullr mwille 49 1nm 63
BaileyCat Assa./Antediluvianis Mezion 27 5 48
Lycaon Druid/Ouroboros Neksja 29 4 40
Perturbator Paladin/Pherydimox Mezion 33 4 38
OwenCat Necro/Antediluvianis Mezion 27 4 38
GoreLord Necromancer/Ullr mwille 31 4 38
AnnGore Amazon/Ullr mwille 32 4 38
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor 32 4 34
Quimble Necromancer/Sol ranagrande 28 2 16
Sabine Sorc/Chimaera iMonsterEatCity 25 2 18
Snirn Barbarian/Pherydimox broxi_111 22 2 10
Gunvor Assassin/Ullr mwille 20 2 10There's something about this game that honestly can't really put my finger on. Maybe I would call it charm? Regardless, every time I come back, I realize why it's my favorite game ever.
Xiu-Atesh is currently level 62, and just defeated Mephisto. I upgraded all of Amplisa's gear - She now uses a "Lore" War Hat, an "Edge" Double Bow, and a random rare that happened to spawn with MDR:
View attachment 4132
View attachment 4133
I also finally unlocked the use of Armageddon, which I've never used before. I've read that it's not very good, but so far I'm liking it. If anything, it's just extra passive damage, and aside from Fissure synergies, I don't have anything else available for points
I did a bit of LK and Travincal farming for whatever I could find, and got pretty lucky. Hel and Ko both dropped from Travincal, and I farmed another perfect amethyst so I could finally roll a weapon on swap:
View attachment 4134
I was hoping to get more resists, or at least fire resist, but this will work for now. I'll calculate my score when I'm bored at work tomorrow
Xiu-Atesh is currently level 62, and just defeated Mephisto. I upgraded all of Amplisa's gear - She now uses a "Lore" War Hat, an "Edge" Double Bow, and a random rare that happened to spawn with MDR:
View attachment 4132
View attachment 4133
I also finally unlocked the use of Armageddon, which I've never used before. I've read that it's not very good, but so far I'm liking it. If anything, it's just extra passive damage, and aside from Fissure synergies, I don't have anything else available for points
I did a bit of LK and Travincal farming for whatever I could find, and got pretty lucky. Hel and Ko both dropped from Travincal, and I farmed another perfect amethyst so I could finally roll a weapon on swap:
View attachment 4134
I was hoping to get more resists, or at least fire resist, but this will work for now. I'll calculate my score when I'm bored at work tomorrow
Nice one. =P
I laughed at this, congrats on the Hell Anya rescue!
That's a great mental image!
That LK is, indeed, really amazing!
Oh. My. Goodness. That is the most relevant orb to the build I'm currently playing that I have EVER seen.Sacred Globe:
+2 Fire Skills
+3 Hydra
+1 Meteor
25% Fear
+15 Energy
+23 Life
+11 Mana
3 MDR
Charges of Frozen Orb
The latter of which might be useful on a certain cultist of Zisla, hah.
(I know trading between followers of the same god is technically allowed in this tourney, but I will be content to covet that thing from afar, as I am strictly self found and don't trade at all)
@Dazliare - grats on the progress! I'll have to go back and read the earlier posts to figure out what that god is all about. I've thought of doing an Armageddon build of my own, so I'm interested in seeing how that turns out for you.
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The barbarian warriors were grateful to be released from their cages inside the demon's fortifications. From what Kiora and Gaile had seen, demons didn't usually capture prisoners alive or leave them that way for long. Just long enough to have some fun. The cultists had been to Hell and had a pretty good idea of what demonic fun entailed (or entrailed, if you will), and the barbarians certainly did not deserve that.
Back in town, Kiora had to take her normal white quilted armor in for repairs again. This was the second time during their long journey. Gaile's armor had remained good as new. It wasn't fair. That was petty, Kiora knew. It was also strange that, despite all the horror she'd seen recently, the thing she complained about was having to fix her armor. She thought she'd laugh at the craziness of the world, but it really wasn't that funny.
While Kiora was busy, Gaile had been talking to the village healer, Malah, who was concerned that someone named Anya had gone missing. Malah's pride was hurt to tell an outsider about this, especially because she suspected treachery. They could worry about that later; the first thing to do would be to get Anya back safely.
Together, Kiora and Gaile continued their trek up the mountain. The open tundra that had seen so much bloodshed was cut short by the edge of a glacier. The ice cliff towered high above the cultists. Fortunately, they did not need to attempt such a dangerous climb. Demons have interesting footprints, and the tracks in the snow led to the gaping maw of an ice cave.
Gaile and Kiora ventured deeper into the cave, following an icy river with water so cold that it was barely liquid. The tunnels were twisted and unnatural like so many other places corrupted by demons. There were still demons patrolling the area; if Kiora hadn't tossed her a purple potion just in time, Gaile would have been slain by a minotaur-like creature dual-wielding flails.
Luckily, the light of Kiora's icy shield enabled them to see where the river plunged down into the darkness before they stepped over the edge. The river flowed down a beautifully sculpted waterfall of ice into a cave below. Besides the slow dripping of water and the skittering of demons, Gaile thought she heard another sound echo up from the depths. It was a faint cry for help.
If this was a trap laid by the demons, it was an unusually clever one. Kiora and Gaile carefully descended the frozen waterfall. They were getting good at rescuing people now, and they weren't very much afraid of anything anymore.
Maybe they should have been afraid of the yetis. The yetis were faster than any of the demons they'd fought before. Kiora could not gain distance by outrunning them and her chilling blizzard did not slow them down. They wouldn't give up the chase, either. They nearly caught up to Kiora each time she paused briefly to cast another hydra. The stinking, furred pelt of the largest yeti shimmered as its icy fist slammed hard into Kiora's back, draining her of all warmth and even her magical energy. Kiora drank potions to recover her strength while dreading the next blow. It was a miss, praise Zisla! Kiora had warmed up just enough to continue running, but she knew she couldn't run forever. Still, she had to try.
After leading the yeti through field upon field of hydras, a miracle occurred. The yeti dropped dead from its many wounds before Kiora's stamina ran out completely.
They rescued Anya.
-----
New treasures:
Gambled boots from Anya:
---
Death Tread
Boots
Defense: 2
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 16
Fingerprint: 0x82fd2fc5
Item Level: 44
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Run/Walk
+10% Faster Hit Recovery
+28 Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 50%
Poison Resist +8%
74% Extra Gold from Monsters
---
Now I'll be able to outrun things, yeah!
Also, this exotic sword:
---
Armageddon Hew
Giant Sword
One Hand Damage: 3 - 20
Two Hand Damage: 11 - 36
Durability: 45 of 50
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 56
Required Dexterity: 34
Fingerprint: 0x6290700d
Item Level: 45
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 3 Chain Lightning on attack
+1 to Masteries Skills (Barbarian Only)
+20% Increased Attack Speed
29% Enhanced Damage
+28 to Attack Rating
Poison Resist +8%
---
and a String of Ears, which I would be very happy about if I'd selected Boon as a talent. Still, it's always nice to have another one of those.
Kiora and Gaile, engaging in death-defying heroics for Zisla, lvl 42, Frozen Tundra
pyromania, charm expert, specialist
48 points
Back in town, Kiora had to take her normal white quilted armor in for repairs again. This was the second time during their long journey. Gaile's armor had remained good as new. It wasn't fair. That was petty, Kiora knew. It was also strange that, despite all the horror she'd seen recently, the thing she complained about was having to fix her armor. She thought she'd laugh at the craziness of the world, but it really wasn't that funny.
While Kiora was busy, Gaile had been talking to the village healer, Malah, who was concerned that someone named Anya had gone missing. Malah's pride was hurt to tell an outsider about this, especially because she suspected treachery. They could worry about that later; the first thing to do would be to get Anya back safely.
Together, Kiora and Gaile continued their trek up the mountain. The open tundra that had seen so much bloodshed was cut short by the edge of a glacier. The ice cliff towered high above the cultists. Fortunately, they did not need to attempt such a dangerous climb. Demons have interesting footprints, and the tracks in the snow led to the gaping maw of an ice cave.
Gaile and Kiora ventured deeper into the cave, following an icy river with water so cold that it was barely liquid. The tunnels were twisted and unnatural like so many other places corrupted by demons. There were still demons patrolling the area; if Kiora hadn't tossed her a purple potion just in time, Gaile would have been slain by a minotaur-like creature dual-wielding flails.
Luckily, the light of Kiora's icy shield enabled them to see where the river plunged down into the darkness before they stepped over the edge. The river flowed down a beautifully sculpted waterfall of ice into a cave below. Besides the slow dripping of water and the skittering of demons, Gaile thought she heard another sound echo up from the depths. It was a faint cry for help.
If this was a trap laid by the demons, it was an unusually clever one. Kiora and Gaile carefully descended the frozen waterfall. They were getting good at rescuing people now, and they weren't very much afraid of anything anymore.
Maybe they should have been afraid of the yetis. The yetis were faster than any of the demons they'd fought before. Kiora could not gain distance by outrunning them and her chilling blizzard did not slow them down. They wouldn't give up the chase, either. They nearly caught up to Kiora each time she paused briefly to cast another hydra. The stinking, furred pelt of the largest yeti shimmered as its icy fist slammed hard into Kiora's back, draining her of all warmth and even her magical energy. Kiora drank potions to recover her strength while dreading the next blow. It was a miss, praise Zisla! Kiora had warmed up just enough to continue running, but she knew she couldn't run forever. Still, she had to try.
After leading the yeti through field upon field of hydras, a miracle occurred. The yeti dropped dead from its many wounds before Kiora's stamina ran out completely.
They rescued Anya.
-----
New treasures:
Gambled boots from Anya:
---
Death Tread
Boots
Defense: 2
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 16
Fingerprint: 0x82fd2fc5
Item Level: 44
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Run/Walk
+10% Faster Hit Recovery
+28 Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 50%
Poison Resist +8%
74% Extra Gold from Monsters
---
Now I'll be able to outrun things, yeah!
Also, this exotic sword:
---
Armageddon Hew
Giant Sword
One Hand Damage: 3 - 20
Two Hand Damage: 11 - 36
Durability: 45 of 50
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 56
Required Dexterity: 34
Fingerprint: 0x6290700d
Item Level: 45
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 3 Chain Lightning on attack
+1 to Masteries Skills (Barbarian Only)
+20% Increased Attack Speed
29% Enhanced Damage
+28 to Attack Rating
Poison Resist +8%
---
and a String of Ears, which I would be very happy about if I'd selected Boon as a talent. Still, it's always nice to have another one of those.
Kiora and Gaile, engaging in death-defying heroics for Zisla, lvl 42, Frozen Tundra
pyromania, charm expert, specialist
48 points
I guess it's time to start a new cultist. This FE boss killed me from around 80% hp
View attachment 4135
View attachment 4135
Xios
New member
- Nov 3, 2016
- 176
- 6
- 3
I poked my head around the new maps that resetting had brought me, and I think overall they've all improved. The Pit is much more open, which I like, and the tower overall seems shorter, the LK picture speaks for itself. As I tried out these new zones however I decided to poke my head into the Ancient's Way to see if I could make a breakthrough.
Eventually, I ran into an Ancient's Way with Lancers, Misshapen and Carvers, which I figured was as good of a time as any to give it a shot. I was able to get to the Summit, but I wanted to prepare first. I gathered my belongings, my Rejuvs and my Merc and gave myself some liquid courage-- which is apparently about 50 shots of Antidotes and Thawing Potions each before going up to the Summit.
I figured my Merc could buy me time to read the modifiers on the Ancients to see if I wanted to take them on, and if I saw an aura like Fanaticism I'd pop a TP immediately. I must have been blessed by Zisla however, as these were the Ancients' rolls.
Madawc: Spectral Hit, Cold Enchanted
Korlic: Lightning Enchanted, Stone Skin
Talic: Lightning Enchanted, Magic Resist
While Lightning is my lowest resist, Poison Nova doesn't proc the lightning enchant, and I don't plan on getting hit. Neither Stone Skin nor Magic Resist interact with Poison, and Rhyme has given me Can't Be Frozen. Overall, I thought this was extremely fortunate. I was able to kite them around and took down Madawc, which allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief, as I doubted the other two could kill me. After running around in a circle and timing for Leap Attacks, the Ancients fell.
View attachment 4136
Next came the walk through the Worldstone Keep. The first level was a mixture of Vampires, Succubi and Flesh Spawners. None of them are immune to poison here, and they don't play off each other too well so I was able to simply fight my way through them. Level Two however had Serpent Magi (Immune to Poison) Cadavers (Immune to Poison) and Greater Hell Spawn. I blindly ran through them all and eventually found level three, although I had a feeling I wasn't going to one shot the Throne Room, so I went back in to find the waypoint and circled back.
Level three had Fetishes in abundance, which were annoying but not too deadly. I eventually found the Throne Room and things were looking good. Doom Knights and Vampires were definitely manageable, but I didn't see the third mob type, even when I was out clearing a side room. Then when I pulled a corner I saw a single Doll (of course Poison Immune) and I knew this attempt was probably sunk. To my credit, I tried to hire my Mercenary to kill them. She could kill one of them at a time, but when three of them rushed us, I knew this wasn't going to work. Back to the drawing board.
I still don't know what I'm going to do on the Throne mobs. Achmel is immune to Poison and pretty much unkiteable, I doubt I can get him out of the Throne to spawn the next wave. All the Venom Lords are immune to poison, although I figured I could tuck them away in a corner somewhere. Assuming I get a good roll for the Throne without basic Poison Immune mobs, it's going to be about killing Achmel. Since I don't have spare Jah's lying around to make Faith or Ice I doubt I'll be able to craft a bow for my Merc. Perhaps some strange rare with bonuses to Undead?
Back to Countess, Pit, and Lower Kurast. Had a bit of a scare in the Pit during a Level 2 where both Fanaticism and Might were in play but I was able to escape. LK hasn't given me much worthwhile yet, but the map layout is great for repeat visits. Eventually the Countess started to cough up some Runes too:
View attachment 4137
I've been trying to think of good solutions for clearing the Throne Room. Some sort of Ignore Defense then Crushing Blow or Open Wounds for me? Getting a good bow for my Merc and personalizing it? I'm really not sure. Of course being able to just Corpse Explode would resolve a good deal of the Achmel issue, but oh well.
Level: 85
Act: 5 Hell
Points: 171 (Remaining Quests: Rescue, Nihlathak, Baal)
Current Wealth: 2,257,187
Highest Rune Found: Vex (Latest Finds: Um, Dol, Hel)
Talents: Boon, Maleficium, Specialist, Charm Expert
What level were you @Dazliare ?
Eventually, I ran into an Ancient's Way with Lancers, Misshapen and Carvers, which I figured was as good of a time as any to give it a shot. I was able to get to the Summit, but I wanted to prepare first. I gathered my belongings, my Rejuvs and my Merc and gave myself some liquid courage-- which is apparently about 50 shots of Antidotes and Thawing Potions each before going up to the Summit.
I figured my Merc could buy me time to read the modifiers on the Ancients to see if I wanted to take them on, and if I saw an aura like Fanaticism I'd pop a TP immediately. I must have been blessed by Zisla however, as these were the Ancients' rolls.
Madawc: Spectral Hit, Cold Enchanted
Korlic: Lightning Enchanted, Stone Skin
Talic: Lightning Enchanted, Magic Resist
While Lightning is my lowest resist, Poison Nova doesn't proc the lightning enchant, and I don't plan on getting hit. Neither Stone Skin nor Magic Resist interact with Poison, and Rhyme has given me Can't Be Frozen. Overall, I thought this was extremely fortunate. I was able to kite them around and took down Madawc, which allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief, as I doubted the other two could kill me. After running around in a circle and timing for Leap Attacks, the Ancients fell.
View attachment 4136
Next came the walk through the Worldstone Keep. The first level was a mixture of Vampires, Succubi and Flesh Spawners. None of them are immune to poison here, and they don't play off each other too well so I was able to simply fight my way through them. Level Two however had Serpent Magi (Immune to Poison) Cadavers (Immune to Poison) and Greater Hell Spawn. I blindly ran through them all and eventually found level three, although I had a feeling I wasn't going to one shot the Throne Room, so I went back in to find the waypoint and circled back.
Level three had Fetishes in abundance, which were annoying but not too deadly. I eventually found the Throne Room and things were looking good. Doom Knights and Vampires were definitely manageable, but I didn't see the third mob type, even when I was out clearing a side room. Then when I pulled a corner I saw a single Doll (of course Poison Immune) and I knew this attempt was probably sunk. To my credit, I tried to hire my Mercenary to kill them. She could kill one of them at a time, but when three of them rushed us, I knew this wasn't going to work. Back to the drawing board.
I still don't know what I'm going to do on the Throne mobs. Achmel is immune to Poison and pretty much unkiteable, I doubt I can get him out of the Throne to spawn the next wave. All the Venom Lords are immune to poison, although I figured I could tuck them away in a corner somewhere. Assuming I get a good roll for the Throne without basic Poison Immune mobs, it's going to be about killing Achmel. Since I don't have spare Jah's lying around to make Faith or Ice I doubt I'll be able to craft a bow for my Merc. Perhaps some strange rare with bonuses to Undead?
Back to Countess, Pit, and Lower Kurast. Had a bit of a scare in the Pit during a Level 2 where both Fanaticism and Might were in play but I was able to escape. LK hasn't given me much worthwhile yet, but the map layout is great for repeat visits. Eventually the Countess started to cough up some Runes too:
View attachment 4137
I've been trying to think of good solutions for clearing the Throne Room. Some sort of Ignore Defense then Crushing Blow or Open Wounds for me? Getting a good bow for my Merc and personalizing it? I'm really not sure. Of course being able to just Corpse Explode would resolve a good deal of the Achmel issue, but oh well.
Level: 85
Act: 5 Hell
Points: 171 (Remaining Quests: Rescue, Nihlathak, Baal)
Current Wealth: 2,257,187
Highest Rune Found: Vex (Latest Finds: Um, Dol, Hel)
Talents: Boon, Maleficium, Specialist, Charm Expert
Rare Coronet: +1 Necro , +15 All , MDR 2
Safety Amulet: +1 Necro, +40 Mana, 35 Cold Resist, 1 PDR, 1 MDR, +1 Block
White [Runeword] Wand (+3 Bone Armor)
Que-Hegan's Wisdom
Rhyme Preserved Head (+1 Poison Nova)
Safety Gauntlets: 6 Cold Res, 15 Fire Res, PDR 1, MDR 2
Rare Ring: 28 Lightning Res, 20 Fire Res, 7 Poison Res, PDR2, MDR 2
Safety Spiderweb Sash: 24 FHR, 22 Fire Resist, 5 Poison Resist, PDR 4, MDR 1, 80 GF
Safety Ring: 3 Min Damage, 5 Str, 1 Vit, 27 Cold Resist, PDR3, MDR4
Safety Greaves: 30% FRW, 6 Fire Res, 21 MF, PDR1, MDR2
Current Resists (in Hell): 74/75/48/39
Current Life: 1107
Safety Amulet: +1 Necro, +40 Mana, 35 Cold Resist, 1 PDR, 1 MDR, +1 Block
White [Runeword] Wand (+3 Bone Armor)
Que-Hegan's Wisdom
Rhyme Preserved Head (+1 Poison Nova)
Safety Gauntlets: 6 Cold Res, 15 Fire Res, PDR 1, MDR 2
Rare Ring: 28 Lightning Res, 20 Fire Res, 7 Poison Res, PDR2, MDR 2
Safety Spiderweb Sash: 24 FHR, 22 Fire Resist, 5 Poison Resist, PDR 4, MDR 1, 80 GF
Safety Ring: 3 Min Damage, 5 Str, 1 Vit, 27 Cold Resist, PDR3, MDR4
Safety Greaves: 30% FRW, 6 Fire Res, 21 MF, PDR1, MDR2
Current Resists (in Hell): 74/75/48/39
Current Life: 1107
Arcanna's Flesh
Boneslayer Blade
Boneslayer Blade
What level were you @Dazliare ?
Code:
~ God ~
Name ----------- Points ----------- Score
Thoth +10 181
~ Cultists ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Pyre Assassin/Thoth NanoMist 77 5hell 171
Squid Necromancer/Zisla Xios 85 5hell 171
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor 74 1hell 98
Wicular Necromancer/Requiem Southpaw8668 57 2nm 87
Xiu_Atesh Druid/Xiu-Matesh Dazliare 54 2nm 73
Geras Druid/Malstrom Pb_pal 52 2nm 65
Kiora Sorceress/Zisla SunsetVista 42 5 48
ManOfSteel Barb/Fractured One Bry 28 4 38
Toxic_Tom Barbarian/Pherydimox mwille 27 3 28
Imoquir Necromancer/Requiem broxi_111 28 3 24
UndeadCooper Druid/Requiem Mezion 26 2 22
Kraxian Druid/Sol ranagrande 20 2 12
Vrauzhul Necromancer/Chimaera iMonsterEatCity 17 1 8
Stefon Barbarian/Ouroboros Neksja 1 1 0
~ Legacy ~
Character ----- Class/ God ------ Forum Name ----- Level ----- Act ----- Score
Wicular Necromancer/Requiem Southpaw8668 74 2hell 135
GoreJess Assassin/Ullr mwille 65 5nm 97
Gore Assassin/Ullr mwille 49 1nm 63
BaileyCat Assa./Antediluvianis Mezion 27 5 48
Lycaon Druid/Ouroboros Neksja 29 4 40
Perturbator Paladin/Pherydimox Mezion 33 4 38
OwenCat Necro/Antediluvianis Mezion 27 4 38
GoreLord Necromancer/Ullr mwille 31 4 38
AnnGore Amazon/Ullr mwille 32 4 38
Derevus Paladin/Sol Vildecor 32 4 34
Quimble Necromancer/Sol ranagrande 28 2 16
Sabine Sorc/Chimaera iMonsterEatCity 25 2 18
Snirn Barbarian/Pherydimox broxi_111 22 2 10
Gunvor Assassin/Ullr mwille 20 2 10I was 63 I'll definitly continue Xiu-Matesh's legacy though
I haven't kept close track of your progress, but what about using those nice runes to make a Crescent Moon? The CTC Static would probably deal with Achmel pretty well
I'll definitly continue Xiu-Matesh's legacy though I haven't kept close track of your progress, but what about using those nice runes to make a Crescent Moon? The CTC Static would probably deal with Achmel pretty well
@Xios - wow, you are so close! I hope you make it to the end!
@Dazliare - sorry about the deeds. =(
-----
Malah's suspicions of treachery from within the camp were confirmed. Anya said that it was Nihlathak who had frozen her in ice, because she had overheard him strike a deal with Baal: in exchange for power and the promise to keep Harrogath safe, Nihlathak would give Baal the relic needed to reach the Worldstone Keep. Apparently, the magic of the Worldstone was the only thing protecting Sanctuary from greater interference by outside powers. Kiora and Gaile wouldn't mind if Zisla had more influence here, but what about the other Old Gods, and Heaven, and Hell? If Baal was able to corrupt the Worldstone this world would become a permanent outpost of Hell. That was just unacceptable.
Kiora privately respected Nihlathak's ambition. While the other village elders had offered up their lives to protect Harrogath, Nihlathak had offered up the whole world. She wondered how long it had taken Baal to corrupt such a man. She almost pitied him; it was clear that Baal was among the most powerful demons, and the temptation had probably been impossible to resist. Still, what he had done was stupid. The cultists readily agreed when Anya opened a portal to his temple and asked them to kill him.
Gaile and Kiora always liked visiting other gods' temples. They were looking forward to learning more about the barbarian religion. Unfortunately, it was the same demonic mess they'd seen everywhere else. What had once been a holy burial ground had been turned into a slaughterhouse. The old bones were still there, but there were many fresh corpses as well. Maybe this would have been the fate of the captured barbarians if Kiora and Gaile had not rescued them. Nihlathak certainly had gone too far.
He never saw it coming. He was busy being entertained by some succubi. Kiora's hydras of justice struck him and his lady friends down without mercy.
-----
View attachment 4138
Kiora and Gaile, Zisla's hands of justice, lvl 45, Ancient's Way
pyromania, charm expert, specialist
50 points
@Dazliare - sorry about the deeds. =(
-----
Malah's suspicions of treachery from within the camp were confirmed. Anya said that it was Nihlathak who had frozen her in ice, because she had overheard him strike a deal with Baal: in exchange for power and the promise to keep Harrogath safe, Nihlathak would give Baal the relic needed to reach the Worldstone Keep. Apparently, the magic of the Worldstone was the only thing protecting Sanctuary from greater interference by outside powers. Kiora and Gaile wouldn't mind if Zisla had more influence here, but what about the other Old Gods, and Heaven, and Hell? If Baal was able to corrupt the Worldstone this world would become a permanent outpost of Hell. That was just unacceptable.
Kiora privately respected Nihlathak's ambition. While the other village elders had offered up their lives to protect Harrogath, Nihlathak had offered up the whole world. She wondered how long it had taken Baal to corrupt such a man. She almost pitied him; it was clear that Baal was among the most powerful demons, and the temptation had probably been impossible to resist. Still, what he had done was stupid. The cultists readily agreed when Anya opened a portal to his temple and asked them to kill him.
Gaile and Kiora always liked visiting other gods' temples. They were looking forward to learning more about the barbarian religion. Unfortunately, it was the same demonic mess they'd seen everywhere else. What had once been a holy burial ground had been turned into a slaughterhouse. The old bones were still there, but there were many fresh corpses as well. Maybe this would have been the fate of the captured barbarians if Kiora and Gaile had not rescued them. Nihlathak certainly had gone too far.
He never saw it coming. He was busy being entertained by some succubi. Kiora's hydras of justice struck him and his lady friends down without mercy.
-----
View attachment 4138
Kiora and Gaile, Zisla's hands of justice, lvl 45, Ancient's Way
pyromania, charm expert, specialist
50 points
Great write ups @SunsetVista and @Xios please keep them coming! Not far to go now Xios, I certainly hope you can solve the mysteries of the throne room. Lister is extremely poison resistant as well, but then you can actually kite them out of there. I wonder if you can get a bunch of Achmel's Mages to kite you to the entrance and then hit them all with Confuse or Attract and jar them into following you out of the throne room that way?
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