Surrounded by the shroud of night Snirn has left The Rogue Encampment ready to carry out the bidding of Pherydimox.
Although Snirn encountered a nasty Extra Fast pack of Gargantuan Beasts in Cold Plains, he managed to survive and move on to finish his first two quest. Later he found himself a cozy cave where he rests during the day and wait for another nightfall to come out and slay more deamons.
Best item found / gambled / crafted: Some rare javelins with elemental damage & replenish quantity
@broxi_111 Welcome to the SPF and to this tournament . As for your english ... we have many people here who don't have english as their native language (including me). You'll be fine !!!
I've already made this too long, so I'll wrap it up with two more quick questions. The 3 ring -> 1 ammy and vice versa cube recipes are best to start doing at clvl 24 iirc, is that so? Lastly, does anyone have any bright ideas about how I can best use my imbues in this tournament? You obviously can't influence the color of the output gear, so I'm not sure what I'm going to go for.
clvl 24 is indeed the best "first stop" for the ring/amulet cubing. clvl 24 nets you an ilvl 18 output item, which unlocks Cobalt/Coral/Garnet prefixes. Rings can get Felicitous, Fortuitous or ‘of Chance’, and amulets are able to get those same suffixes as well as 'of Fortune'. So the hope obviously is to score a high single-res, high MF piece out of the deal.
Welcome, and good luck to the new cultists!
Toxic_Tom, Cultist of Pherydimox (Throw Barb, level 27, Act 3, 28 points) Talents: Boon, Pride, Specialist, Venomology
Tom is going on vacation for a while. He got tired of all the trips to town to repair his throwing weapons. Even though they have replenishes quantity, it can't keep up with all his throwing. When he feels up to it again he will start out by taking on the Council.
In the meantime, a pale wisp of a man wandered into the Rogue Encampment and decided to help out in the fight against evil. He had heard of other followers of Ullr that had been this way and knew that the items they had amassed would be useful in his quests. GoreLord, Cultist of Ullr (Bonemancer, level 15, Act 1, 8 points) Talents: Necromancy, Mind's Eye, Specialist
@Mezion - I like the addition of Unlockable Talents as well as the list for the Boon talent. Although, I had assumed that Cloak of Shadows would be included since it boosts defense. Also, wouldn't Maul be allowed since it gives a boost the same way Feral Rage does? I'm sad to not see Inner Sight & Slow Missiles on the list, even though I know they are actually debuffs.
You're absolutely right about Maul and Cloak of Shadows. I had completely forgot about the defense bonus, and I don;t think I ever made a Bear druid which explain why I didn't even remember that Maul wasn't just a melee attack. I'll fix it right away.
Snirn used to practice his throwing long years before his journey to the wilderness. He mentioned one thing: the night gave him not only more courage, but prescision at the same time. Strange.
After going through Underground Passage Snirn and Alize faced Treehead Woodfist and his minions in Dark Wood. They expected much more difficult encounter; Alize took some serious shots but was able to recover and strike back thanks to Snirn and his supportive shouting which gave her courage.
Decard Cain was rescued and both the barbarian and the rogue are currently exploring the halls of Forgotten Tower. They both heard some rumours about a well guarded treasure, hidden in one of its floors.
Playing WoW Legion since a few days after it came out. That combined with extra duties at work means my D2 time will be taking a major nosedive. I'll probably hop in the game from time to time, but probably won't have time to do any tournament characters in a timely manner. Derevus will stay retired and I'll sit back and watch your progress.
Disregard this. Looks like I'll be sticking around after all. Will dispense with the storytelling part for now, maybe more will come later.
Derevus has been re-made and has completed normal difficulty. This time around he has chosen the talents Boon, Charm Expert, Mind's Eye, and The Spirit Realm. Killing speed was super fast once Blessed Hammer was unlocked. Build is pretty standard: points in Blessed Aim and pre-req's until level 18. Hammer to 20, then the synergies. Remaining points will go into Holy Shield. I've only built a Hammerdin once, many years ago, but IIRC I stopped playing him somewhere in the mid 20s.
I sped through at /p5 to make up some time and still get some decent drops without needing to re-run areas once Baal was defeated.
@Vildecor - Glad to see you back in action, and great progress! Dang man, I can't even come close to those resists in normal.
GoreLord decided to concentrate more on Corpse Explosion than bone spells and is pretty weak against single targets right now. But he clears things out once the rogue and his puny Bone Spear makes a kill. I think I might have to focus more on beefing up the Blood Golem though. He tanks OK for the most part, but can't stand up to bosses, big crowds, etc. I've had some close calls when I don't pay attention & let him die before I can start exploding.
Pyre, Cultist of Thoth (Blade Fury & Fire Traps Assassin) Talents: Pyromania, Boon, Mind's Eye
Pyre entered nightmare at a low level 35, but quickly dispatched Andariel, Duriel, and Mephisto. The difficulty shot up in Act 4 with all the fire resistant and high-life demons roaming around. Horde of urdars and the fire immune doom knights were tough, but Pyre was tougher. Diablo put up a great fight; the drops were not so great. Shenk dropped a decent claw, but was not usable. A few Eldritch runs later, a visionary claw dropped, the damage was poor, but the AR was much needed for the chance to hit. Fortunately, the minimum damage affix gave the claw a nice black appearance.
Snirn was sweating a lot as he was occupied dodging Andariel's blows and throwing javelins a the same time. Sudenly the Maiden of Anguish hurled one of her tentacles towards Aliza, who managed to move over in the last fraction of a second.
This gave Snirn a little yet prescious time to aim and throw one of his javelins with all his strenght and vigor. The hit was prescise.
Andariel grabbed her throat, flared up and her body soon disappeared in raging flames. Her quarry was a large temptaion for both Barbarian and his companion. However they both remembered the teaching of their god Pherydimox that only a prey blessed by himself is worth keeping.
Snirn traveled back to the Rogue Encampment to make some preparation and rest before he leaves to the east. Aliza decided to stay. She wanted to aid her sisters in recovering the monastery desecrated by the deamons.
As you can see even during the most heated skirmishes Wicular feels pretty safe behind his hearty wall of minions. View attachment 3866 View attachment 3867
Why not personalize the best item you own so far. View attachment 3868
Wicular decided to add some Skeleton Mages to his party to keep Devak company in the rear. View attachment 3869
Wicular insisted that Devak carry this. Now he has a "Deathly" shield and a sword. View attachment 3870 View attachment 3872
He also looks very sharp in his new purple armor! View attachment 3871
A very fine roll on our first attempt at an Insight weapon for our Holy Freeze Town Guard when we get there. View attachment 3873
We found the Catacombs Level 2 waypoint last session and the party is poised to attack Andariel next and push on to the desert.
Wicular cultist of Requiem, Egyptian Descendant, Maleficium, Mind's Eye and Specialist.
A poor woman named Atma came to Snirn and his new companion Alhizeer and told them a brief story about her missing husband. The Barbarian listened to her carefuly feeling both compassion and desire for revenge.
Radament, the deamon resposnible for taking out many Lut Gholein's mercenaries later fell to Snirn's feet with his body pierced in the city sewers. Sadly Atma's dead husband was found too among the dead mercenaries. The Barbarian burried the man, said a prayer for him and asked Pherydimox to sooth Atma's sorrow as much as he can.
Snirn the Thrower and Alhizeer the Blessed Aim Desert Mercenary
I have returned to this game and this site after an extended hiatus, and I was pleased to find this fun and interesting tournament, which I will now be entering! I have created Quimble the Necromancer, who will be joining Derevus in spreading the cult of Sol. It is somewhat ironic that a shadowy practitioner of the darkest of magics should champion the cause of the god of light. But after all, what is darkness but the absence of light? And absence makes the heart grow fonder... In any event Quimble will unleash his twisted mockeries of life against any who stand in his way, for the glory of the Sky Eater!
He's still using the basic Cap and Quilted Armor allowed to all cultists and a white Scepter allowed by Sol. Rings, amulet, gloves, and boots are all Magic Find now. Quimble currently has 68%. That's actually the reason I chose Sol even though it doesn't fit all that well thematically. It will be ideal for finding stufffor future cultists to use.
Andariel was difficult. I had to leave several times to rebuild my army.
I've been making decent progress through Act II as well; I am just about to enter the Arcane Sanctuary. The strategy is pretty basic. Get close enough for my minions to attack things, then Amplify Damage until they die. I'm sticking with the Blood Golem for now. The Iron Golem dies too quickly and is annoying to resummon because I can only really make it out of Scepters. I might start stockpiling Chain Boots and Chain Gloves with MF to make golems out of later. I also plan to start using revives when I get there.
Quimble, the level 25 hardcore Necromancer with Necromancy, Construct, and Maleficium talents, and Visala the Fire Rogue, cultists of Sol.
I have returned to this game and this site after an extended hiatus, and I was pleased to find this fun and interesting tournament, which I will now be entering!
Welcome back I too took a much needed break and got pulled back in because this and the Cyberpunk tournaments looked pretty fun and different. Best of luck with your Necromancer!
@Vildecor : thanks for adding me to the code. I'd hate to think how bad I'd butcher the table if I attempted it myself!
Some good foundations are being laid for Chimaera. The legacy portion of this tournament really appealed to me, and I plan on taking full advantage of cultist cooperating to get at least one of them to guardian status (hopefully!). As such, I'll be introducing two new Chimaera cultists today. First, a super brief update on Vrauzhul.
Vrauzhul, lvl 24 bone necro, The Far Oasis
Boon, Construct, Maleficium, Specialist
The remainder of Act I was a breeze with bone spear. It was pretty taxing on my low level mana pool, but chugging the blues and 'sploding dead things after they fell to my spears was a perfectly serviceable means to an end. I didn't bother putting a point in Iron Maiden for the fight with Andariel since I still haven't decided if life tap is going to be something I want later. However, I might opt to get IM before Duriel to make that fight easier.
Act two has been uneventful so far. Vrauzhul has been gambling a lot hoping to shore up some holes in his gear. Since he isn't able to just shop a bone shield of deflecting (not purty enough for Chimaera) he had to find another way to get that CTB up.
It'll do for now.
He also finally found an amulet Chimaera will allow!
Be still my beating heart. . .
Even more frustrating than that is finding amulets like this that I can't wear.
Nothing spectacular came of mass cubing rings/ammys once I hit lvl24, no luck shopping a 2os wand with +bone spear for a future White runeword yet, and I had some other ideas for cultists that were itching to hit the ground running and share a stash with Vrauzhul, so along came. . .
Arius, lvl 17 soon to be Avenger, The Black Marsh
Boon, The Spirit Realm, Specialist, Charm Expert
Chimaera seems to be set up for primarily caster type cultists, and a Hammerdin would have been ideal if only I could acquire Concentration through items or talents. I do have access to Holy Fire/Freeze and Vengeance though, so I thought I'd give an Avenger a whirl. Holy Freeze as my main aura with a Might merc would have been my preference, but again no offensive auras permitted by Chimaera, so I'll have to settle for Holy Fire as my main aura and a Holy Freeze merc. Arius will probably max Holy Fire, Resist Fire, Salvation, and Vengeance unless someone can suggest a better way of building an Avenger under Chimaera's restrictions (also, does anyone know if it's better to max Vengeance first, or the aura and synergies?). I'm hoping that with charm expert and multiple other cultists searching I will be able to fill his inventory with halfway decent elemental damage charms to help deal with Fire Immunes later on.
Holy Fire kills super fast in the early game, it's great fun!
He ran the countess 4 times and has gone no further, instead granting Chimaera's limelight to. . .
Sabine, lvl 20 Fireballer/future Blizzballer, Lut Gholein
The Spirit Realm, Mind's Eye, Specialist, Pride
The first major legacy contribution for Chimaera this tournament was bestowed upon this young lady:
Vrauzhul shopped the staff from Drognan (not enough patience to shop a +3 to FB) and Arius farmed the countess for the Ral. All three of my cultists so far have the Specialist talent, and that Leaf is a good example as to why. I think it might be the most "overpowered" of the talents, and it fits particularly well with Chimaera's bent toward caster types. Ditto for The Spirit Realm.
She also benefited from Chimaera's legacy by wearing muled all topaz armor and some single res gloves and boots "of fortune" courtesy of her Pride talent. I figured she had the flexibility to take this one early game talent in hopes of some juicy finds in normal/nm. No luck yet though, the only s/u any of my cultists have found thus far is a single Arctic Furs. No remarkable rares either.
I am so sick of Rogue mercs Here's hoping these three survive until Act 3!
For the Avenger skill progression, you'll want to put points into the synergies first as mana on Vengeance is pricey at lower levels. Asmodeus' guide recommends 10 each, then Convicntion, then Vengeance if I remember correctly. Since you won't have Conviction you might want to modify accordingly. I personally wouldn't put points in Salvation until your out of places for skill points, and would instead go with Res Lightning/Cold to diversify your damage, its also 6% vs 10% boost. I know Salvation synergizes with Holy Fire, but you won't get much dmg out of that because Holy Fire is rather weak.
For the Avenger skill progression, you'll want to put points into the synergies first as mana on Vengeance is pricey at lower levels. Asmodeus' guide recommends 10 each, then Convicntion, then Vengeance if I remember correctly. Since you won't have Conviction you might want to modify accordingly. I personally wouldn't put points in Salvation until your out of places for skill points, and would instead go with Res Lightning/Cold to diversify your damage, its also 6% vs 10% boost. I know Salvation synergizes with Holy Fire, but you won't get much dmg out of that because Holy Fire is rather weak.
Ah, I didn't realize the corresponding res aura boosted that specific element of vengeance, I thought it was just a global synergy. I guess I'll probably end with 20 Holy fire, 20 Vengeance, 10 each res aura then with all the rest into pre-reqs, salvation, and the res aura of the element most in need of a boost (likely lightning)? Thanks for the info!
GoreLord, Cultist of Ullr (Bonemancer, level 31, Act 4, 38 points) - RIP Talents: Necromancy, Mind's Eye, Specialist
Well another cultist of Ullr fell in battle. Gorelord tried to take on Diablo even though he had zero fire resist. Diablo's fire ring killed him as he was trying to retreat.
So the next cultist to take up the fight in Ullr's name is... AnnGore, Cultist of Ullr (Amazon, level 18, Act 2, 10 points) Talents: Boon, Charm Expert, Mind's Eye, Pride
She is happy to have just learned Charged Strike since it will be her skill of choice.
@Mezion - Can a new cultist (of the same god) utilize a legacy character's unused quest rewards (imbue, socket, personalize)?
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