[2007] Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven [by Merlin The Wizzard]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

OK, I thought better of attempting an item dependent build like a dual nova sorc. In again with Calvin the far more self relient Berserker Barbarian.

Let me know if my rolls look dodgy again so I can re-do them before I start playing with this fella :crazyeyes:

Corrupted Rogue Spearwoman
Leaper
Frog Demon
Finger Mage (Grand Vizier of Chaos)
Overseer (Schenk, Sharptooth Slayer)
Andariel

Hmmm... Looks like acts I and II will be quite a grind. Act III has leapers and Frog Demons, but they aren't exactly swarming the place. Act IV will be a welcome change.

Honestly, I would reroll this if I hadn't already f'ed up twice. As it is though I would feel as though I was abusing the right to reroll if I did it a third time in 24 hours :action-smiley-061:
 
Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Well, there are a lot of rules, so it is easy to get confused...btw, there have been some rule changes and and updated score list (rule addendum 1 (It's in the middle of the post), rule addendum 2, rule addendum 3, score sheet)

You have a knack for hard characters, do you? 😉 A zerker barb is effective as long as you find a high damaging weapon (Berserk depends on base weapon damage after all). The plus side is, you have a lot of crowd control skills (Taunt, Howl, War Cry, Grim Ward) which might see more regular use than in twinked characters.

With that monster roll I'm not sure you'll find such a weapon though...

Spearwomen are the least common of Rogues and only appear in Act I, AFAIK. But there are worse rolls you could get :)

Leaper are at least found in the beginnings of Act II and in LK, so that's not too bad, although they are less common than Saber Cats or Beetles, I think (well, but I had those Ape Demons in Act II, so who am I to say :whistling:).

The problem with the Leaper might be the Frog Demon roll...they are really really rare and it might be you don't encounter any at all in Act III. If that's the case you would be allowed to use the Act boss drop...but only if no other trophy monsters spawn in the same Act, but Leapers do. On the other hand, the Leaper roll might be good for Act III if you do find some Frog Demons - I mean: better to have 4 Frog Demons and 50 Leaper than only 4 Frog Demons...

Finger Mages are a good roll for Act IV,because they have higher chances of dropping runes and gems and stuff. Downside: They don't drop much else :p But one of these monster mobs is good to have in one's roll (i.e. Finger Mages, Willowisps...and some other??? jiansonz???)

Overseer: Hmm, not sure about that one. I mean, they're scarce (almost no mobs, but mostly individual targets with Slayer/Enslaved minions), but there tend to be a lot of random bosses of them, so that leaves you with potentially good trophymob items.

Andariel is a good roll for an early gem use, but the weapons she drop will probably not be of use for long for your barb.

Some advice: For high damaging weapon, you might try to save up Diamonds, Belts, Kris and Staves you find to cube savage polearms - if you're lucky it can get up to Partizan.

I wouldn't have a problem with a reroll because it's another character, but you can ask the tournament host about that. I mean, I play the tourney in 1.13 (without using the respecs) although it was designed for 1.11...
 
Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Grisu said:
Spearwomen are the least common of Rogues and only appear in Act I, AFAIK. But there are worse rolls you could get :)

You can also get them as Act V guest monsters in NM/Hell. I know they can at least spawn in Crystalline Passage (because one of my characters died to them...) and in at least one of the huge outdoor areas.

Grisu said:
The problem with the Leaper might be the Frog Demon roll...they are really really rare and it might be you don't encounter any at all in Act III. If that's the case you would be allowed to use the Act boss drop...but only if no other trophy monsters spawn in the same Act, but Leapers do. On the other hand, the Leaper roll might be good for Act III if you do find some Frog Demons - I mean: better to have 4 Frog Demons and 50 Leaper than only 4 Frog Demons...

There is a small chance to get the Mephisto drop. There is 25% chance to not get leapers in LK (slightly less in Normal since boss packs are rolled independently from normal mob rolls there).
Then you need to avoid getting frogs in Flayer Jungle and Great Marsh. The latter are harder, since there are two different subtypes of frogs in Great Marsh. I think you pick 3 monster types out of
- Fetish blowdarters
- Fetish Shaman
- Bog Creature
- Swamp Dweller
- Gloam
- Drowned Carcass
- Bramble Hulk


Leapers can spawn in Outer Steppes in Act IV as well. If they do, there will be many of them.
They can also be guest monsters in a few areas in Act V, I think.

Grisu said:
Finger Mages are a good roll for Act IV,because they have higher chances of dropping runes and gems and stuff. Downside: They don't drop much else :p
True, only bosses and Champs can drop weapons and armor.


Grisu said:
But one of these monster mobs is good to have in one's roll (i.e. Finger Mages, Willowisps...and some other??? jiansonz???)

Ghosts
 
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Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven
Some advice: For high damaging weapon, you might try to save up Diamonds, Belts, Kris and Staves you find to cube savage polearms - if you're lucky it can get up to Partizan.


I knew the major limitation on an untwinked zerker was going to be the weapon. Was definitely going to go two handed with the above recipe or lucky find (I can haz bonesnap?) and pray that the SUs don't drop more than one or two bows, shields, or one handed weapons.

I am going to reroll based on the logic that it is a new character. Hopefully no one sees it as an abuse since the first character's reroll and creation of this guy was due to an accidental misinterpretation of the rules.

Skeleton Mage (Bone Ash)
Sand Maggot (Coldworm)
Bone Fetish
Megademon (Infector of Souls, Ventar)
Stygian Fury
Andariel

Act I and II will be nice. The barracks has a few champion packs of skeleton mages usually. Act III will be a little dry. Act IV has maggots as well as megademons, but only on RoF I think.

Stygian Fury are the ranged demonesses and I will have to keep them carefully separated from the melee succubi to retain drop purity.
 
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Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven


Drewgie said:
Act III will be a little dry. Act IV has maggots as well as megademons, but only on RoF I think.

Megademons can spawn from the beginning of Act IV - I had them appear in all areas of Act IV just recently with my bountyhunter character. Plus, they spawn in Act V, too!

Good luck! 👍
 
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Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven


Grisu said:
Megademons can spawn from the beginning of Act IV - I had them appear in all areas of Act IV just recently with my bountyhunter character. Plus, they spawn in Act V, too!

Good luck! 👍

Yeah, they are a good roll. I was talking about maggots only being on RoF in Act IV.
 
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Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Well, no more problems with my Bonemancer and he is now Destroyer.

I won't bore you with details (really, nothing interesting so far happened), instead I'll bore you with statistics 😉

Act III:
Jungle Hunters: 53
Doom Apes: 38
Temple Guard: 1 Boss + 6 Minions
Gloams: 96

Act IV:
Doom Knights: 129 + 10 Minions
Oblivion Knights: 19 + 1 random Boss + Lord de Seis
Abyss Knight: 91
Burning Soul: 83

Act V:
Enslaved: 242 + Eldritch + 7 Minions
Slayer: 148 + 4 Minions
Ice Boar: 30 + 4 Minions
Ice Spawn: 94
Fire Boar: 41 + 3 Minions
Greater Hell Spawn: 119

Actually, there were more trophy monsters and minion in Act V, but a lot were turned to suicide minions from lashers and I didn't count those - I mean, they don't give XP nor items...I really hate those lashers...I tried to blind them with dim vision, but more than often they were too far off the screen to be seen or I was a second too late recasting Dim Vision. But at least that way I save some drops for me! Bad things were the Lasher bosses, because they can't be blinded, that's how a lot of minions got lost...

I had to think about the only 2 viable options for imbuing some time (Bone Wand or Circlet) and went with the Bone Wand, because of the bigger chance of getting necromancer specific skill boosts. Plus, I chose Bone Wand over Yew Wand or plain Wand because Bone Wand can get 2 sockets.

The result ist this:
Bad_Cologne's Bone Star
Bone Wand
One Hand Damage: 3 - 7
Durability: 15 of 15
Required Level: 48
Fingerprint: 0x513d182b
Item Level: 52
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Curses (Necromancer only)
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Adds 1 - 177 Lightning Damage
Adds 7 - 20 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
4% Life stolen per hit
+3 to Iron Maiden (Necromancer Only)
+3 to Bone Spear (Necromancer Only)
+3 to Iron Golem (Necromancer Only)
Level 1 Enchant (11/11 Charges)


And yeah, I personalised it at once, although right now I don't have to worry about other SU weapons overriding trophymob drops. And I want it to stay that way by leaving my STR this low (at 27...shouldn't have raised it at all in hindsight). But since weapons are the most frequent items to drop from SU mobs, I don't want to take any chances.

Then I socketed a Hard Leather Armor at Larzuk's for the 2 os and made Stealth for myself. I don't have to worry about it being overwritten by a SU drop as much as with the weapon, because STR req are higher in general for armor pieces, whereas one crappy wand drop from a SU could have screwed my imbue roll...

btw, the only SU drops so far were pretty much in my favor: A Plate Mail of Balance (worn by my merc), Scissors Katar of Gore (dropped - not usable for necros), etherealWar Axe of Lightning (stashed, cannot be used by merc, too high req for me, even if I had the STR I would whack it as long till it broke), Garnet Mail of Ease (stashed, too high reqs for me to carry).

Here's the equipment starting Nightmare:

Gear:
Gemmed Skull Cap (Chipped Topaz + Perfect Topaz from HF) (Wildcard status)#
"Stealth" Hard Leather Armor (trophymob status)
Bad_Cologne's Bone Star (personalized)
Gargoyle Head of Warding (+1 IM, +1 Poison Expl, +2 Bone Spear, -1 Magic Dmg)
Leather Gloves (trophymob status)
Heavy Boots (trophymob status)
Hsaru's Iron Stay (trophymob status)
Skull Coil Rare Ring (+94 AR, +28 Mana, +26% Fire Res, -1 Magic Dmg) (trophymob status)
Ocher Ring (+15% Lightning Resist) (trophymob status)
Amulet of Luck (27% MF) (trophymob status) --> that rocks!!! Dropped from a Oblvion Knight in the CS, IIRC

Charms:
Russet GC of Life (+19% Fire Res, +8 Life)
LC of Balance
Lizard's LC of Life (+13 Life, +4 Mana)
Tangerine LC (+4% Lightning Res)

Other:
3 Full Rejuvs
2 Rejuvs

Merc:
Plate Mail of Stability (SU status)
Crown 1 os (trophymob status)
Savage Lochaber Axe of the Bat (9-96 damage, entierely from trophymob items)

The Savage Lochaber Axe was my second try - the first was a savage Voulge of Swiftness, which I used for quite some time. Then I used a rare Pike from a Trophymob for half of Act V, which I consider to upgrade if nothing better comes along.

Skills:
20 (25) Bone Spear
6 (6) Corpse Explosion
13 (13) Bone Prison
1 (1) Bone Wall
1 (1) Bone Armor
1 (1) Teeth

All curses except for LR 1 (2)

Destroyer Bad_Cologne and Kasim, the Prayer Town Guard, level 48, Normal Cow Level next
 
Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven
Grisu said:
Enslaved: 242 + Eldritch + 7 Minions
Slayer: 148 + 4 Minions
Ice Boar: 30 + 4 Minions
Ice Spawn: 94
Fire Boar: 41 + 3 Minions
Greater Hell Spawn: 119
Geez, I am so envious of this roll. That´s a LOT of trophy monsters.



Grisu said:
Actually, there were more trophy monsters and minion in Act V, but a lot were turned to suicide minions from lashers and I didn't count those - I mean, they don't give XP nor items
They do give XP, but you must kill them before they explode themselves on something (i.e. do it with a ranged attack).



That imbued wand is really cool.
 
Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven
jiansonz said:
Geez, I am so envious of this roll. That´s a LOT of trophy monsters.
Yep :cloud9: Although at some point, I wished it was Gremlins instead, because there were tons of thoseand I had to leave really cool stuff on the floor from them... In general, Baal's Minions are still better though, I guess, because of the increased chance to drop missile weapons/ammunition of Gremlins.
jiansonz said:
They do give XP, but you must kill them before they explode themselves on something (i.e. do it with a ranged attack).

really? Cool to know! I thought I tried it once and they didn't - but I suppose they exploded before I killed them. Hard to avoid letting them blow up in most of the places, esp. the open areas when they engage you really fast or are transformed right next to your merc. I'll keep your advice in mind though for the Red Portals in Act V!


jiansonz said:
That imbued wand is really cool.

:cloud9: I guess to balance this item the Diablo gods will reward me with a +1 Light Radius, +15 AR rare imbue circlet the next time. Currently I think about imbuing a circlet as soon as I finish the quest instead of after Act V NM...but I like the additional MF my helmet offers me :) Another option would be a shrunken head, but I'd rather go for "Rhyme"...or maybe Splendor, if I get that lucky.
 
Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Calvin placed the heel of his boot on the forehead of yet another carver and pulled violently, freeing his axe head from the demon's skull with a sickening squelch.

He and his rogue mercenary, Klaudia, had completely destroyed many camps like the one they now searched for gold and petty loot. Calvin admired Klaudia's ability to fire her ice arrows with speed and a lethality that matched his own powerful stroke. Had there been more rogues like her perhaps this part of sanctuary wouldn't need bounty hunters like me, he thought to himself.

He dropped the small sum they had plundered into his coin bag and sighed as he considered his charge. He had left the tavern several nights ago after he and some fellow adventurers made a wager with the arrogant necromancer Boyd that they would succeed in hunting the deadliest of evil creatures in Sanctuary. Yet, Calvin had found no sign of his quarry in the west.

He knew this part of the world was too wet and cold for the giant maggots he planned to exterminate, and the other creatures he had his eye on would stay much closer to the three brothers: Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal. He was here helping the rogues for two reasons: Bone Ash, the leader of the Greater Evil's skeleton mage army, as well as any of his troops that may remain this far west, and the demon queen Andariel. He wanted her death to be by his hand so as to provoke her handmaidens, the Stygian Furies, whom he was hunting.

He and Klaudia returned to the Rogue encampment to trade and seek information. Klaudia ran to speak to Kashya, the leader of the Rogue archers, about the latest scouting reports, while Calvin went to see Charsi. The friendly blacksmith always blushed at the sight of him (and his pecs). It was painfully obvious that she was fascinated with his barbarian ancestry, and the man himself. The two exchanged pleasantries and got down to business. Calvin sold her potions; LOTS of potions, while she tended to his weapon.

"Still no sign of those skeleton mages?" Charsi asked

Calvin didn't look at her. He sighed and started to speak, but was quickly interrupted by Klaudia.

"Kashya has received reports of some of the undead mage champions being garrisoned in Tristram!"

Calvin swiftly and silently removed his weapon from Charsi's forge and sprinted toward the stoney field. He and Klaudia activated the ancient Cairn Stones and entered the portal to Tristram. The village was small, and the fight over fast, but Calvin was not at all pleased.

The mages had eluded him once more and had been replaced in the village square by some shaman champions. Calvin knew he must continue the pursuit though, at all costs.

As the adventurers neared the Monastery gate a grin crept across Calvin's face. While the Tamoe Highland wasn't filled with the mages, Calvin was able to track down nearly a dozen of them. He attacked with such a fervor that it startled even Klaudia who had seen his battle prowess for some days now. Never like this though. Calvin rode the waves of adrenaline that all bounty hunters experienced when they locate their prey, and bashed their skulls with deadly precision.

True to the wager, he replaced the axe Charsi had sold him with a spear dropped by one mage that had three sockets carved into it's blade. He also adorned a trinket of an amulet that Deckard Cain told him would reduce the damage he received ever so slightly, and a suit of quilted armor. Other than a purple potion of remarkable potency and a pittance of gold, the rest was useless weaponry.

The proud, strong barbarian and his rogue mercenary opened the doors of the monastery and entered. Calvin sauntered forward, weapon in hand, certain that more of his bounty awaited him in the barracks ahead.

To be continued 😉

Calvin the level 17 barb and Klaudia his level 17 Rogue Mercenary, Outer Cloister
 
Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

It felt silly typing up a story about a barbarian named Calvin rather than Conan or Grognak :D I wanted to name the character after my son though, who is due Feb. 4th! The arrival of baby Calvin will likely slow the progress of Calvin the barbarian, but I definitely plan on more narrative type writeups.
 
Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Really? You're expecting a child, too? Awww! :cloud9: My daughter was due on Monday, but didn't show up yet :p Nice idea to name your character after your son (or vice versa? 😉). All the best to you and you beloved ones!

Meanwhile, I'll try to make some progress in NM with Bad_Cologne :)
 
Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

@Grisu Oooooh daughters are wonderful! Hope the mother and child both do well and gl to you dad!

---------

The rogue barracks was not the bone mage haven Calvin had hoped it would be, but it was the home of a few mage champions and their cronies. The Jail was much the same as the barracks, yielding fewer mages than Calvin would have liked. His expression twisted in frustration as he ruminated over the scarcity of his bounty. He forced himself to calm down and look at the bright side of things. The accursed skeletal spell slingers had dropped (in addition to a crappy pair of gloves, some mediocre armors, and some useless weaponry) a pair of staves, which he knew could prove invaluable once he had a horadric cube, some diamonds, some belts, and a kris or two.

The Horadric cube would be no problem once he made his way to Lut Gohlein. The horadrim were always going on about how a cube was "quite a treasure" and extremely rare, but Calvin knew better than to listen to the old fools. Every adventurer he had ever met in Sanctuary worth their salt had one. The other necessaries for the cube recipe he had in mind for the staves, well, that was a different story. He only hoped any remaining mages in the west or the desert lands amongst the maggot hordes he also hunted would prove to be generous in death. He needed a better weapon. Badly.

Klaudia's arrows continued to slay foes at a pace he couldn't match. As his cunning in battle developed further, Calvin was able to concentrate while attacking, but only for a precious few jabs before his energy was depleted. Nevertheless, he pressed on until he reached the Monastery's cathedral.

Bone Ash. That retched, poisonous, undead blight in this house of God. Calvin no longer saw the fiend as a target for plunder and glory, but as a representation of all the corruption in this once peaceful land. He let out a fearsome yell, lowering the mage lord's defenses, and thrust his spear with a fury unlike any other. Moments later the bones of a once horrific mage lay scattered on the pulpit. Among them was a purple potion, small charm, magical trident, pittance of gold, and other odd and end potions.

The Barbarian gathered the items and opened a portal back to the rogue encampment. He would prepare himself, and then head into the catacombs for his next target: Andariel.

----------

Killing is slow :/ poke, poke, stab, run, pot, poke, poke, stab. . .

Closest thing to a NDE was Pitspawn and his group. He spawned cold enchanted and while I was frozen I got nailed by a volley or two from the lot of them. Brought me down to about 10% health. Glad I've cranked vitality to nearly 100!

The sc Bone Ash dropped was great! 7 to life and 6% cold resist. woot!

I had planned on leaving my dex at base, and if I do so I will never be able to use the trident he dropped. Fine by me. However, there is a good chance that once I cube a savage polearm I will need to put some points into dex anyhow. Damn it Bone Ash :( I guess I can leave it on switch though, so no big deal.

Here's hoping Andy or Coldworm drop a diamond!

Calvin the level 19 Barbarian and Klaudia, his level 19 Rogue mercenary, Catacombs
 
Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Cain has been rescued, again.

Progress is good for Mavi (her damage output is very good against /players 1 monsters), but bosses in particular are often very dangerous. Multishot seems popular this far, often combined with Cursed, Fanaticism, Might or Extra Strong. I´ve had porcupines, skeleton archers (several) and spitters with this setup.

I´ve fought my bounty monsters (melee rogues without spear) in Cold Plains, Dark Wood and the second floor of Underground Passage. UGP level 2 had two very dangerous bosses of this kind. Here is the first. Blade Fury with my lightning weapon was too slow for most of her life, so I had to sneak in some hits with PS 2nd charge, usually when the boss was focused on Rhadge (who died 3 times in this fight, I think). Only when she was low on life did I go all out BF to avoid the death explosion. The second boss of this type was even more dangerous. Also FE and Cursed, but CE instead of Mana Burn. Damn, did her hits ever hurt! My reward for beating her: a Scale Mail of the Jackal. Isn´t that just typical to get something like that after an epic battle...

I found Treehead very late. I had prepared a Town Portal by the long side of the fence of the big "corral" in this place (the plan was to get back from the WP and kill him from range across the fence), but I had just managed to bring two Meteors down upon one of his minions, so I just stood there with Mind Blast ready and pushed him to keep him in the flames. He had Might aura, so there was NO WAY I was even going to risk taking a hit from him.

Griswold was CE + Extra Fast. I boosted cold resist as best as I could (that gets me to 43%) because I realized it would take forever to kill him without at least a little tanking. Also, he would be hard to kill from a distance because of his speed. Scary, scary fight (he hit me several times while I was Amped, but I made sure to be at least near full life when that happened). Rhadge did a good job at slowing him down, and attracting his attention a couple of times. Since Griswold is immune to Knockback, I could not use Mind Blast to keep him in Meteor flames, so I resorted to running small laps in the fire (something I plan to do against Andariel as well, if I get that far). If I brushed by him and he swung at me, it was almost guaranteed hit, so this was also scary.

I used my DoE skill point to max Fists of Fire and my next skill point to take Fade to level 7. That increased the resist all by 3%-units. Next level only gives 2%-units more, so I think I will spend a couple of points in Mind Blast instead, for more reliable conversion use.

All those Frenzytaur Champs I fought in Act V gave me a nice supply of rejuves. I now have one small and 9 full purples.

Countess is up next. Please, dear lady, do not curse me with a Snake´s Light Belt or something like that!


Conqueror Mavi the Phoenix Strike Assassin and Rhadge the Cold Iron Wolf, level 76, Hell Black Marsh next
 
Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

The nasty archer boss theme continued in the Hole. The good thing with this particular boss was that she was fully vulnerable to cold. Rhadge could take her down while I kept her stunlocked with Mind Blast. A full column of blue potions was just enough in this case.

This little pest stair trapped us on one of the Tower Cellars levels. Imagine the chaos when the room was full of his minions, too! It´s a good thing I have a habit of entering stairs trap risky places with Fade on. Those sparks still hurt like Hell, especially for Rhadge.

We met a Holy Freeze Ghost boss. Fire immune, because it was also FE. Lightning would damage it well, but melee was extremely dangerous. The mana draining is annoying, the Cold/Fire damage hurt, and the slowing and Stone Skin made Mavi very ineffective. I had to flee temporarily, and then something interesting happened. Rhadge couldn´t hit in this situation, but the fight was completely stable. BF with my lightning weapon worked, slowly. I eventually gulped a full purple to get the needed last bit of mana. Felt sort of wasteful, but I didn´t dare go back to town for blue potions, because I wouldn´t know if I´d get a chance like this again...

Countess was FICI, so it was lightning all the way against her. I had to be careful to avoid two things: getting caught in the FE blast, and to have her drop happen too close to the loot pile from the chest. I needed to be able to see what was her drop.

She dropped Tir, Ort, some useless weapons and a Grim Helm of the Sun. This is Mavi´s first helm with SU status, so it must be used. Rhadge received it, which meant some losses to his cold/lightning resist now that I had to stash his rare Skull Cap.

Pit level 2 was very difficult and scary. Pit in general is tough for this build, because the main melee critters are Dark Stalkers and Bone Warriors. Both CI, so it´s all up to Mavi to damage them. That is hard because they carry shields, and they are 8 levels above her level (bosses are 11 levels above her!). So hitting them is hard.

Anyway, the first enemies I met in Pit level 2 were some rogue minions. Then the boss and two minions attacked: Extra Strong Cursed Stone Skin. Can you say YIKES! Very hectic and nasty fight in the tiny entrance room. Lots of Mind Blast to get the minions to tank for me, and several retreats up the stairs. After that ordeal, we could pick off the first two Devilkin packs without interruption. Some of them picked up Fanaticism somewhere from the area down-left. Since that aura has a short radius, the boss couldn´t be far away. I decided to try the righthand side first, where I ran into another nasty rogue boss: Extra Strong Extra Fast FE. The nightmare scenario now would be if the two boss backs would merge. Then this boss would be able to 2-hit kill me for sure. But I managed to keep this fight in the upper right parts. More Mind Blast, and I managed to sliver the boss with 2nd charges, then BF her to death. Whew!

Went down to the sparkly chest area and took out that Devilkin pack, and eventually the second one as well. The last boss was a Bone Warrior: Fanaticism Extra Strong FE (FI + CI). After some separation, fighting and portal parkings, I had just the boss left. I slowly took it down with BF, running back and forth (many times) in the wide low area of the place.

I fought melee rogues in Outer Cloister, but there were none in Tamoe Highland or in Barracks. The Smith was Cursed, so I led him out to Outer Cloister where a TP waited. Then we clobbered him from range through the fence.

Hm, what to imbue? The prospect of IAS was so tempting that I imbued some Crude Leather Gloves that I had kept all the way since Act I Normal. Result:

Storm Clutches
Leather Gloves

Defense: 42
Durability: 9 of 12
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x356430cf
+2 to Dexterity
+14 to Mana
Fire Resist +21%
43% Extra Gold from Monsters
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+39 to Defense (Based on Character Level)

No IAS, but a clear improvement. Mavi´s Fire resist is decent now even without Fade.


Fouldog had me worried. With those immunities, he would have to be burned. Good thing that only two immunities are allowed, otherwise he´d have 115% fire resist! That gets lowered to 75%, if I am not mistaken. These spitter guys have little life, so I figured two fires would be enough, if I could keep him in there. I got lucky. I had to lure several goatmen and Dark Ones back a few times, to thin out the monsters around Fouldog. Eventually, only one of each remained, and I got two Meteors going on the goatman. At the perfect time (for me), Fouldog decided to advance. Mind Blast kept him burning, and down he went.


The times after Jail has sometimes been scary, with three NDEs:
* The Banished boss that hit for a ludicrous amount of damage. Extra Strong and lots of elemental, I think.
* Andariel got a series of hits in. Yikes, that was scary.

* Radament (Extra Strong). I´ve have NEVER seen such a strong poison! Mavi´s life shrunk to 1 in less than a second. She fled behind Rhadge and opened a TP. When I got back from town, I tried BF a bit, but that was too slow. So I went in for more Phoenix hits. This time, he just breathed gas and shot Unholy Bolts on me. Huh? Oh yeah, I forgot to switch weapons, so I had hit him with my Morning Star (BF weapon). It has range 2 - that´s why I could hit Radament while still being outside his melee range! Ah, now I know how to fight greater mummies more safely. This will be especially important against bosses, champs and against Unravelers, who are CI and therefore can´t be frozen.

Mind Blast is now at level 4, which gives a 26% conversion chance. It´s much more reliable now. Futher points will go either into more MB, or Fade, or CoS (because I can really use some more enemy -Def, and I often want a longer duration, too).

If Mavi can defeat Coldworm, I will have broken new ground for Phoenix Strikers in this tourney. Rejuve supply is dwindling, though. Just 6 big and 2 small left. I´d better mule in my chippies and midsized gems, so I can cube more purples if needed.


Conqueror Mavi the Phoenix Strike Assassin and Rhadge the Cold Iron Wolf, level 78, Hell Rocky Waste next[/Hibhlight]
 
Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Wow! Over one year without an update! Well, I got something for you!

Bad_Cologne defeated NM Baal.

The journey was mostly ok, but inbetween (Act III) I had a shortage of money because of not enough trophymob drops I could sell, so I had to be really careful not to let my merc die. The journey was long, because I did full clears at /p8 all the way, only lowering the player setting for Diablo. I noticed however, that I probably wouldn't have had to:

I show you what a real bone prison looks like!

He succumbed quickly.

BTW, I have yet to find some other runes to make good use of the Pul Rune from the HF...my rune stash currently consists of 1 Tir, 3 Tal, 3 Ral, 4 Ort, 1 Ith, 1 Lum, 1 Pul, which equals 4 Runewords: Ancient's Pledge (I lack the 3 os Shield), Leaf (not really useful for me), Strength (probably an option in Hell for my merc), and Edge (not really an option for this build).
Gloom, Stone, HotO, Dream and Oath seem pretty far away...maybe if I get lucky and get a Mal and a Shael...that would make an awesome weapon for a barb merc (if I get the base...)

Act 5 was actually pretty easy, because the only monsters that really could frighten me were Bone Mages with Lightning damage (due to my pathetic 0-30% Lightning resistance...). Nihlatak was easy, too, because I blew up every corpse before he could. Unfortunately, I couldn't use the drop...

My items are pretty cool so far - it proved to be a good thing that I only have 2 SUs per difficulty, so only 8 items in total that I have to use once I can.

Here's my current equipment (lacking the charsi imbue, the Larzuk socket and the personalization quest from NM...I have yet to think how to use those):
Code:
Gemmed Skull Cap
Skull Cap
Defense: 10
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 15
Fingerprint: 0xfe26a512
Item Level: 12
Version: Expansion 1.10+
33% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Chipped Topaz
Socketed: Perfect Topaz

Stealth
Hard Leather Armor
TalEth
Defense: 21
Durability: 26 of 28
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0x5ef21de8
Item Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+25% Faster Run/Walk
+25% Faster Cast Rate
+25% Faster Hit Recovery
+6 to Dexterity
Regenerate Mana 15%
+15 Maximum Stamina
Poison Resist +30%
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Eth Rune

Coral Ring
Ring
Required Level: 13
Fingerprint: 0x19788001
Item Level: 48
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Lightning Resist +29%

Skull Coil
Ring
Required Level: 15
Fingerprint: 0xd41186fc
Item Level: 31
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+94 to Attack Rating
+28 to Mana
Fire Resist +26%
Magic Damage Reduced by 1

Hsarus' Iron Stay
Belt
Defense: 5
Durability: 15 of 16
Required Level: 3
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0xe57c6c84
Item Level: 12
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Cold Resist +20%
Set (2 items): +185 Defense (Based on Character Level)

Rune Spur
Chain Boots
Defense: 15
Durability: 13 of 16
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0x1ec5388d
Item Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Run/Walk
+10% Faster Hit Recovery
+55% Enhanced Defense
+5 Maximum Stamina
Cold Resist +33%
10% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Raven Collar
Amulet
Required Level: 41
Fingerprint: 0xd6343515
Item Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+9% Faster Cast Rate
+59 to Life
+18 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 7%
Cold Resist +26%
Fire Resist +40%

Plague Touch
Heavy Gloves
Defense: 11
Durability: 13 of 14
Required Level: 35
Fingerprint: 0xb08713ce
Item Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+66% Enhanced Defense
+3 to Dexterity
Fire Resist +23%
9% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Bad_Cologne's Bone Star
Bone Wand
One Hand Damage: 3 - 7
Durability: 15 of 15
Required Level: 48
Fingerprint: 0x513d182b
Item Level: 52
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Curses (Necromancer only)
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Adds 1 - 177 Lightning Damage
Adds 7 - 20 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
4% Life stolen per hit
+3 to Iron Golem (Necromancer Only)
+3 to Bone Spear (Necromancer Only)
+3 to Iron Maiden (Necromancer Only)
Level 1 Enchant (11/11 Charges)

Ghoul Shield
Spiked Shield
Defense: 21
Chance to Block: 30
Durability: 36 of 40
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 24
Fingerprint: 0x4967c40b
Item Level: 58
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Defensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
+30% Faster Block Rate
20% Increased Chance of Blocking
+27 to Life
Cold Resist +28%
Lightning Resist +22%
Requirements -20%


And my merc (I love the Rare Lance that dropped in Act 5 NM!!!):
Code:
Plate Mail of Balance
Plate Mail
Defense: 108
Durability: 31 of 60
Required Level: 3
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0xb4e7c123
Item Level: 33
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Hit Recovery


Sallet
Defense: 91
Durability: 10 of 10
Required Level: 25
Required Strength: 33
Fingerprint: 0x48120275
Item Level: 48
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Ethereal
2 Sockets (0 used)


Glyph Scourge
Lance
Two Hand Damage: 57 - 241
Durability: 19 of 25
Required Level: 26
Required Strength: 110
Required Dexterity: **
Fingerprint: 0xc655eb69
Item Level: 61
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Increased Attack Speed
112% Enhanced Damage
+129 to Attack Rating
7% Life stolen per hit
Plus, I have a Malice Fuscina against PI/Stone Skin/whatever toughies waiting in my stash for my merc.

Well, that's it for now! Now I have to figure out how to prepare for Hell...

Bad_Cologne, lvl 74 Bonemancer, and Fazel, Might Desert Merc, Hell Blood Moor next.
 
Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Nice going, Grisu!

Take your time putting the Hell gear together.


Grisu said:

Looks cool! What was the purpose of using it here? Does it distract him, or did you just want to avoid him charging you and getting close?




Reading the thread, it looked like my Mavi was still kicking. I wondered why I had not played one of my favourite builds in my favourite type of tourney. Turns out that I had, but she had her equipped items on the 'corpse' section in ATMA. :(
I fired up my HD cabinet with my old drive in it, and found a screenie that clarified she had died in one of the first days in 2012.

So, my third try ended in the same act as my second try did, but I set a new personal best.

[Highlight]R.I.P. Conqueror Mavi the Phoenix Strike Assassin, level 80, died in Hell Seven Tombs[/Highlight]

I think I was pretty comfortable with that doorway situation. Gorebelly Champs are of course dangerous but I had killed one already. I am pretty sure the Preserved Dead that killed me did very little of the damage that took me from full to nothing very quickly. Must have been a critical from a Gorebelly that did most of it.


A little cavalcade of screenies:
About to beat Maryam's run (she died in this very room)
Fangskin lair:
Annoying Guardian on the altar platform (Fangy had not yet been alerted. I tried to BF this bugger so we could get up there safely)
Fangy was now after us, so I got up there with the undead still there. Managed to kill all the Bone Warriors while drinking several potions. Nice that the big guy is frozen now.
Several of the snakes died while I took down the Guardian with lightning charges.
Extra Strong Fangy - I preferred the slow but safer way.
BF usage on nasty bosses: 1, 2, 3
This one could be burned when found a sweet spot where sparks couldn't hit and I was out of his melee range.
 
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