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

[Grisu]

So I decided we need a Sorceress in the mix...plus I haven't played one for a long time, so it's a nice change. Meet Bobbie_Fett, the Chill 'em, Zap 'em and Grill 'em Sorceress.

Time to roll (with commentary as it happened):

Act 1: Vampires. Not bad, they appear in a few acts, but I have to wait till quite late while to meet them!
Act 2: Slingers. Again not bad, but it means full clears of the desert areas that I normally skirt around the edges of. Also a frequent guest monster should I get that far.
Act 3: Frog Demons. Bugger! First bad roll. There are next to none of these, so not many drops to look forward to! Hang on...I don't think I have any S/Us yet? I didn't initially get that this is a good thing, but when I got my head around the order of precedence of equipment, I realised that it is.
Act 4: Oblivion Knight. First impression was that this is a terrible roll...there are hardly any of them! Then when I clicked on them for more detail, I saw that it includes Doom and Abyss Knights, not just OKs. Thank goodness for that! First SU too...good old Lord De Seis.
Act 5: Reanimated Horde. Not bad, there are a lot around, but it means a full clear of Nitty. Bugger! Two new SUs, Bonesaw Breaker and our buddy Pindleskin!

Act Boss: Fingers crossed...anything but Diablo...anything but Diablo...anything but Diablo...*drumroll*...aww cr4p!

The full list:
Vampires: Banished, Ghoul Lord, Night Lord, Dark Lord, Blood Lord
Slingers: Slinger, Spear Cat, Night Slinger, Hell Slinger
Frog Demons: Swamp Dweller, Bog Creature, Slime Prince
Oblivion Knight: Doom Knight, Abyss Knight, Oblivion Knight
Reanimated Horde: Rot Walker, Reanimated Horde, Prowling Dead, Unholy Corpse, Defiled Warrior

SU: Lord De Seis, Bonesaw Breaker, Pindleskin
Act: Diablo

Now, if only I wasn't at work so I could get her out of the Rogue Encampment.

[highlight]ALIVE[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]
  0   Shockfrosted    Paladin     Grisu               1     A1     Rogue Camp
  0   Bobbie_Fett     Sorc        Butzull             1     A1     Rogue Camp

[highlight]DEAD/RETIRED[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]

[highlight]BOUNTY MOBS[/highlight]
[U]Character      Act I       Act II      Act III     Act IV      Act V       Boss[/U]
Shockfrosted   Fallen      Sabre Cat   Council     Megademon   Reanimated  Mephisto
Bobbie_Fett    Vampire     Slinger     Frogs       Ob.Knight   Reanimated  Diablo

Butz. :dunce:

 

[Grisu]

Well, it´s been an interesting first day for Mary the assassin and Gwinni the fire rogue.

Mary did a basic Martial Artist buildup up to Stony Field, reaching level 13 in the process. Many things were just like they usually are for my fledgling assassins, but two things differered a lot: no gambling and being poor as a church rat (I don´t know if this expressing is regularly used in English - it´s a straight translation from swedish). I have never played a character whose economy is mainly based on selling mana potions.

After I had already spent money to hire Gwinnie (didn´t feel like taking on Blood Raven without help...) I got really extravagant and blew up almost all the ~900 gold I had on a Belt and a Hunter´s Bow of Shock.

Later on I could add a 3s Ring Mail and a Vicious Katar of Frost from the shops. They didn´t stay with me for long , because the UGP level 1 and Dark Wood hosted Skelly Archers, my targets! Two early boss packs (giving me two rejuves, yes!), plus quite a number of stray archers here and there.

The trophymobs in these areas dropped a total of five weapons, #2-5 were all bows (they must have greatly improved drop chances from archers). The first weapon was a plain Bardiche, so that is my only melee option at the moment. It´s slow, but BoS makes it tolerable. An Attack when Tiger Strike is fully charged does 4-120 damage. Crazy variation!


Current gear:
* Crude Skull Cap
* Bardiche
* 2s Superior Hard Leather Armor
* Tangerine (10) Leather Gloves (from shop)
* Ring of +1 STR
* Belt (from shop)
* Ring of +1 DEX
* Chain Boots (from shop. Mary almost kissed Charsi when she finally decided to offer these. They are damn good for kicking boo-tay!)

* On weapon switch: 3s Hunter´s Bow, 308 arrows left

Gwinnie:
* Low Quality Skull Cap
* Sharp Short Bow of Flame
* 1s Hard Leather Armor

Extra items available:
* 1s Buckler
* Crude Small Shield
* 4 chippies (emerald, amethyst, sapphire and ruby)


Mary the MA Assassin and Gwinni the Fire Rogue, level 16, Tamoe Highlands next

 

[Grisu]

[highlight]ALIVE[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]
  0   Shockfrosted    Paladin     Grisu               1     A1     Rogue Camp
  0   Bobbie_Fett     Sorc        Butzull             1     A1     Rogue Camp
 -9   Lloyd           Necromancer Merlin             14     A1     Dark Wood

[highlight]DEAD/RETIRED[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]

[highlight]BOUNTY MOBS[/highlight]
[U]Character      Act I       Act II      Act III     Act IV      Act V       Boss[/U]
Shockfrosted   Fallen      Sabre Cat   Council     Megademon   Reanimated  Mephisto
Bobbie_Fett    Vampire     Slinger     Frogs       Ob.Knight   Reanimated  Diablo 
Lloyd          Fln-Shaman  Bat Demon   Zealot      Finger Mage Siege Beast Andariel

Meet Lloyd, who desperately wants to make the world believe he isn't related to Boyd. Nobody believes him though, partly because of the uncanny resemblance... They are both pastyfaced. Besides, they are brothers. Anyways, Lloyd has taken up the challenge, and he is going to prove to the world he doesn't need animated clay or bones to score some bounties... or he's going to die trying.

He spent some time happily wailing away with his little wand in the blood moor, and then proceeded into the den. He found a grand total of 8 fallen shaman there, 1 of which dropped nothing, 5 of which dropped items from the allowed crolls/potions kind, and 2 of which dropped a crude quilted and crude leather armor, respectively. Now heavily armorized, Lloyd made short work of Corpsefire and cronies.

Onward to the Cold Plains. I figured I would need some sort of belt, for the healing potions. I shopped a plain light belt at Charsi, only to have a crude sash drop out of the next shaman i encounter... Which I still use, because that was the last belt to drop . Oh joy.

Another shaman here dropped me a hand axe, and the following a throwing knife. I equipped both items
Bishibosh proved no match for my amp curse and the throwing knifes, and he dropped : a rare cap (argh... Now I look like a dork until I can foist it of on an unsuspecting merc!) and magic throwing knives (+1 to min. damage). Could be far worse though, I saw great potential in those knives. I switched out my plain throwing knives, and moments later switched out the hand axe for a superior short sword with +1 to max damage that dropped. That was the equipment i took with me to Blood Raven. I had to TP back to camp to replenish my knives once, but eventually, Blood Raven croaked... Jay! I could get my merc... only I wasn't gonna. I had to make sure I could always see the drop from the shaman, and I feared the merc might make that far more difficult.

So no merc. I kept selling all the potions and scrolls of identify and crap I found. And while the fallen shaman bravely continued to drop nothing, I saw rings, amulets and even one rare ring drop from all sorts of fallen and carvers... AAARGH!

Rakanishu proved problematic, because he really tore through me with his lcharged bolts. The solution was to stand still, use bone armor, let him try and hit me, and the moment he missed, outdistance him and throw a knife and the curse. He didn't last long after I found that out

I did find a normal leather armor with 2 sockets in it, as well as a hand axe with 2 sockets in it. One shaman was kind enough to drop blue gloves, for a total of +12 AR. Through the underground passage (with 3 shamans in lvl 1, and 3 in lvl 2) into the dark wood. Time to finish up, get the waypoint and complete a write-up.So out of the cave, I make a sharp right, and make zigzagpatterns through the entire map, using terror to keep the mobs off my back. I found the tree, I found the unique hero guarding it, I found the exit to the black marsh, and finally, I found the waypoint. About 3 meters in front of the cave opening I started at, dammit!

The shaman roll pretty much requires me to do full clears of every single area I come across, so it will be slow going Still, even with the crappy item finds so far, the curses really make all the difference, and I can't say that I had many problems (apart from Rakanishu, that is).

Current Gear:
Rare Cap (from Superunique bishibosh) Bitter Veil, Defense 7
19%enh. def, +5 mana, 10% FHR, 9% LR, repair durability(33)
Weapon 1 - Superior Short Sword
Shield - none
Weapon 2 - Magical throwing knives (From Superunique Bishibosh), +1 to min damage.
Shield - none

2 socketed Leather Armor (16 defense, 2 sockets)
No rings, amulet.
Leather Gloves- +3 defense, +12 AR
Crude Sash, 1 defense
Superior Heavy boots (Defense 6) shopped.

About 15K cash, no gems/runes whatshowever.
In stash 1 2 socketed hand axe, 1 crude leather armor.

 

[Grisu]

Silly me, I forgot to give the most important information.. stats and skill points. Well, here goes
Skills :
Summon - None (Restricted)
Posion & Bone - Teeth-2, Bone Armor 1, Corpse Explosion - 2, Bone Wall - 1
Curses - Amp - 1, Dim Vision - 1, Weaken - 1, Terror - 1, Iron Maiden - 1
Skill points left over : 3

Stats
That is where I decided to raise both Str and Dex, so I could wield whatever nice weapon would drop eventually. Nothing really stands out so far, I pumped everything (Even energy... With the brutal equipment rules, I can't be sure I can assure a big enough mana pool with equipment only, and I want to keep chugging blues down to a minimum, in order to keep some cash at hand)

Str = 45, Dex = 35, Vit = 35, Energy =30

 

[Grisu]

[highlight]ALIVE[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]
  0   Bobbie_Fett     Sorc        Butzull             1     A1     Rogue Camp
-7   Shockfrosted    Paladin     Grisu              15     A1     Black Marsh
-9   Lloyd           Necromancer Merlin             14     A1     Dark Wood

[highlight]DEAD/RETIRED[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]

[b]BOUNTY MOBS[/b]
[U]Character      Act I       Act II      Act III     Act IV      Act V       Boss[/U]
Bobbie_Fett    Vampire     Slinger     Frogs       Ob.Knight   Reanimated  Diablo
Lloyd          Fln-Shaman  Bat Demon   Zealot      Finger Mage Siege Beast Andariel
Shockfrosted   Fallen      Sabre Cat   Council     Megademon   Reanimated  Mephisto

I decided to leave my rolls that way...I'll see what I'll have from that:tongue:

Well, Shockfrosted, seeing that being a noble Paladin didn't net him any respect, decided to start a new career as a bounty hunter. Instantly he ravaged among the Fallens, the first dropping him a shiny rare scepter and the third one dropping him some rare boots. Nice start!

All went smoothly, until I got that Rogue Archer as a "helping hand"...she was just messing it all up! I kept telling her: "No! Not that one! You have to shoot these pesky Goblins!! What are you d... hey, why the hell are you killing that Skeleton, he? Now wait..."
I threw everythin I've taken to heart as a Paladin over board and decided to kill her - well, actually, it should look like a murder from one of those monsters. Unfortunately, she was too strong for most of them. Until...

Yeah, that's right, beat her up!

No, I can't hear you screaming. LALALALALA!!! *puts fingers in ears*

Oh...she died! HOW COULD THAT POSSIBLY HAPPEN??? NOOOO! :evil:

I had such a bad conscience that I decided to wash the sins of my hands by rescuing Cain. This Rakanishu *** unfortunately hadn't anything good with him, but since he's some kind of Goblin Hero or something, I decided to keep them as a trophy.

Next thing is exploring the Forgotten Tower - if I ever find him...

Equipment:
Skull Cap
Hard Leather Armor
Sash
Magical Leather Gloves (+5 Sta)
Rare Boots (+1 to Dex, +19% ED, Lightning Resist +5%, Poison Resist +5%)
Magical Ring (Cold Resist +5%)
Magical Ring (+28 AR, +1 Light Radius)
Magical Amulet (+1 MaxDmg)
Magical Short Sword (+28% EDmg, 7 PoisonDmg over 3 sec) <-- have to use that one!
Rare Small Shield (ethereal, self-repair, +15% block, 10% faster block, +3 Mana, Poison&Lightning Resist 5%, Attacker takes Damage of 1)
SWITCH:
Magical Scimitar (+22% EDmg) <-- have to use that one!
Damaged Targe (Resist All +10%)

Skills (8 points left)
1 Sacrifice
4 Zeal
1 Might
1 Holy Fire

EDIT: Some questions:

Crafting:
If I use an item dropped from one of my bounty superunique, may I and do I have to use it?

Bolts and Arrows:
May I pick those up or buy them?

 

[Grisu]

Botls and arrows can be bought, can't be picked up and sold tho. If you get a weapon that uses bolts/arrows, better keep some cash at hand to replenish them arrows/bolts

Crafting. Same rules as per runeword, only less troublesome to make I think. Still, might take some doing to get a perfect gem So if you craft a superunique drop, be it the item itself, the gem (or one of the cubed up smaller gems inside it), or the rune, it inherents the superunique property and thus doesn't have to be replaced by another superunique drop (so you can choose whether to use your crafted belt or a magical belt dropped by one of your superunique bounty's). You may also craft with items dropped by normal trophymobs, of course (no shopped items though!) But remember you have to replace that crafted item with a superunique drop, so I'd advise against wasting the recipe ingredients in that way.

Nice write up! Same goes to jiansonz tooo... Great crap so far!, much better then mine at least

 

[Grisu]

Bobbie_Fett Vampire Slinger Frogs Ob.Knight Reanimated Diablo
Lloyd Fln-Shaman Bat Demon Zealot Finger Mage Siege Beast Andariel
Shockfrosted Fallen Sabre Cat Council Megademon Reanimated Mephisto

Lloyd started at the waypoint, all alone <sniff> But, he figured he would meet some nice shamans in this act, since he could remember boatloads of those crappy bastards in preivous runs. Alas, they had apparently decided to migrate. Instead, I got boatloads of annoying corrupted rogues. That superior shortsword is really not too great against the mobs now, and it's bound to get worse.
Still, with judicious use of Bone Armor, terror and Amp. damage, it was pretty safe (if slow) going. All sorts of splendid items kept dropping all around me, and I couldn't use any of them, how swell! Eventually, of course, I came face to face with ironhead woodfist. I didn't really enjoy that experience. After I drank about 4 health potions, 3 mana potions, cast bone armor about 12 times, threw half my knoves away, lost 3 durability on my great shortsword, and got a sore throat from all the cursing I did, his healthbar was down to... Wood in the word woodfist.
Ok.
Time to collect my merc it seemed. Shop for a bow with 1-2 fire damage, see what sort of damage she did. It turned out to be... Cold damage. Well, I wouldn't be using many bodies, so that was fine. As you can imagine, the superunique died a whole lot quicker now. Collect the scroll, and to the stone circle. Which was interestnig, since I couldn't kill Rakanishu.. again, I did a merry run around the circle, touch the stones as you go. Three circles later a red portal appeared, and I dove in with half my healthbar intact and an angry Rakanishu snapping at my heels.
Phew! Finally, three champion Carver shamans! Or so I thought. I had rolled fallen shamans for pretty much every HC game these last months, but now that I could REALLY use them... they turned into champion returned.
Boohoo!
Well, 1 of the three normal carver shaman dropped a crude skull cap, so now my merc has even more crappy armor (next to her crude leather)
Another dropped a light crossbow, which I stashed for now (I can always sell it). Not other mob proved problematic, and Griswold never came close, slowed by the cold arrows and ripped apart by magical throwing knives.
Into the black marsh, get the waypoint, and save. I doubt I will have much luck with the shaman here, but I keep hoping... i keep hoping.

 

[Grisu]

[highlight]ALIVE[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]
  0   Bobbie_Fett     Sorc        Butzull             1     A1     Rogue Camp
 -7   Shockfrosted    Paladin     Grisu              15     A1     Black Marsh
[highlight]DEAD/RETIRED[/highlight]
 -6   Lloyd           Necromancer Merlin             19     A1     Inner Cloister 
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]

[highlight]BOUNTY MOBS[/highlight]
[U]Character      Act I       Act II      Act III     Act IV      Act V       Boss[/U]
Bobbie_Fett    Vampire     Slinger     Frogs       Ob.Knight   Reanimated  Diablo 
Shockfrosted   Fallen      Sabre Cat   Council     Megademon   Reanimated  Mephisto

Ehhehehe... Oops.
Too bad necros can't raise themselves, eh? Well, to make a long story short, my drops remained crap. I didn't find my second Fallen shaman hero/ champion until the catacombs. Up until that time, I found very little. One devilkin shaman dropped a superior dirk, which I imbued the moment I solved that quest, for a not too shabby weapon. I figured I could get some mileage on that dagger, seeing how my next superunique bounty wouldn't pop until act 3. But I popped first
Anyways, Smith croaked pretty easily, mainly to the arrows from my merc. He made me lvl to 18, and got me Bone spear, which I used on a couple of heroes. I hit lvl 19 at the entrance of the catacombs. I got several unidentified items, one amulet which turned out to be +1 energy (wow... shocked), one large charm with 1-4 lightning damage (I was in favor of any damage adder, so that was a keeper) and 2 druid pelts. Enter catacombs 2, turn a corner, and wind up dead due to a fanaticism tainted who also fanaticised several dark ones who popped up around me... I miscast my terror in my haste... Byebye Lloyd... May you rest in peace, but if we can count on your brother, probably not. He ll have you dance on your own grave... literally.

 

[Grisu]

Oops. Sorry to hear the deeds Merlin. Good luck with the next one!

Bobbie_Fett will try to avenge you when she gets started this weekend.

Butz. :dunce:

 

[Grisu]

[highlight]ALIVE[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]
  0   Bobbie_Fett     Sorc        Butzull             1     A1     Rogue Camp
 -7   Shockfrosted    Paladin     Grisu              17     A1     Inner Cloister

[highlight]DEAD/RETIRED[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]
 -6   Lloyd           Necromancer Merlin             19     A1     Inner Cloister

[highlight]BOUNTY MOBS[/highlight]
[U]Character      Act I       Act II      Act III     Act IV      Act V       Boss[/U]
Bobbie_Fett    Vampire     Slinger     Frogs       Ob.Knight   Reanimated  Diablo 
Shockfrosted   Fallen      Sabre Cat   Council     Megademon   Reanimated  Mephisto

Sorry to hear of your loss, Merlin :undecided:
So, will you enter with another character?

Fixed the table and made a small update. Nothing important so far...

EDIT: Do you want people to delete their bountymobs from the table after dying/retiring? Only asking since you did it

 

[Grisu]

@Butzull - Thanks, Butz... Appreciated. Feel kind of stupid, but then again, I 've never had so little equipment at that stage of the game, so I can't feel like a complete fool. Just threequarters of a fool. Good luck with Bobbie_Fett.. .Lol@ the name, and at the roll. Well, You kind of HAVE to beat Diablo anyways, so what is the issue? Any specific diablo related drop problems?

@Grisu - Well, I don't know how many people are going to compete yet, so I felt it prudent to keep the entries there only for the alive chars...
That's why I deleted my entry.

And yes, I made another character... Introduction in next post

 

[Grisu]

Ok, back to the drawing board. What character to pick now? You know what, since I made no restrictions, I would let fate decide. Fate, it seems, is not entirely free of irony. My roll specified the third character from left to right on the creation screen... I was looking at another pastyface, who, very aptly, was named Floyd. Well, revenge time I guess, so I know what skills to select!

Aaah... Bountymob roll time.
Ok, I basically had experience with one bountymob last act, and, as you can read from my writeup, I figured I didn't want them again... Few and far between, two superuniques, only one act? Not too good. So, I decided, no Fallen Shaman for me this time around. But what are the odds, huh? What are the odds that I, out of a list of 18 possible mobs, woudl get Fallen Shaman twice in a row?

Remember what I said about fate and irony?

First bountymob... You guessed it... Fallen Shaman. Yeah, ok. Right then and there I was almost certain that a reroll was coming up . Other rolls : Vulture Demon, Thorned Hulks, Vile Mothers, Stygian Furies. And Andy. So 3 superuniques, 4 mobs pretty much bound to their own act, of which 2 would not spawn overly much... Nope, not enticing enough for me to take. Even if it had only 3 superuniques.

Reroll... Much, much better!
Skeleton (Bonebreaker)
Scarab Demon (Beetleburst)
Bone Fetish
Finger Mage (The Grand Vizier)
Demon Imp (Dac Farren)

Mephisto

Yep, much more equipment drops now... Skeletons pretty plentyful in two acts, and can spawn in a third. Scarab Demons can also spawn in 2 acts, and demon imps spawn all around act V. And Mephi is my favorite boss. Floyd is a much happier camper then his poor twin brother Lloyd was...

And I have one less superunique mobdrop to use as well, compared to Lloyd

 

[Grisu]

[highlight]ALIVE[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]
  0   Bobbie_Fett     Sorc        Butzull             1     A1     Rogue Camp
 -7   Shockfrosted    Paladin     Grisu              17     A1     Inner Cloister

[highlight]DEAD/RETIRED[/highlight]
[U]Score Character       Class       Forum Name        Level   Act    WP[/U]
 -6   Lloyd           Necromancer Merlin             19     A1     Inner Cloister 
 -7   Tryman          Paladin     Jaelen             19     A1     Jail Level 1

[highlight]BOUNTY MOBS[/highlight]
[U]Character      Act I       Act II      Act III     Act IV      Act V       Boss[/U]
Bobbie_Fett    Vampire     Slinger     Frogs       Ob.Knight   Reanimated  Diablo 
Shockfrosted   Fallen      Sabre Cat   Council     Megademon   Reanimated  Mephisto

I also made an early exit. I got surrounded in the Jail and just couldn't clear a path fast enough. I thought I was doing pretty well as far as the drops go. Getting the fallen helped a lot early on. I think only skeletons would have been better. Rakanishu dropped two weapons but I was able to use one on the merc (a rare but crappy bow) and the other in my second weapon slot (magic septic spear).

My gear:

Gemmed Leather Armor with 2 chipped rubies
Magic Scepter of Worth
Glimmering Targe of Blocking
2 os Skull Cap
Crude Boots
Regular Sash
Tangerine Ring of Strength
Bronze Ring of Light
Bronze Amulet
Leather Gloved of Dexterity

I had several left over amulets and rings that I was thinking of keeping and seeing about cubing after I got the cube. But I didn't make it that far. I am definately going to start a new character for this after my no-vitality character croaks.

 

[Grisu]

Rip Tryman...
Seems I am not the only one with bad luck, eh? But, granted, a necro has much better crowd control skills then a pally... Still, not a bad roll equipment wise. Better then mine at least, I had not found a single gem I could use
Actually, I think Fallen is about the best mob in this act, equipment wise, but since they wont respawn in other acts, I 'd take skeletons or zombies over them.
But I am now sure there is no crappier mob in this act to draw then Fallen Shaman... They can spawn pretty much through the entire act, so you are bound to get some crappy items early one which can't be improved by shopping, you get the second Superunique (so not too high a level drops there) allthough I wasn't dissatisfied with Bishi's drops.
Still, with Vampires or Fetish for example, you can pretty much shop the entire act through, so you have a much stronger player equipment wise.

Hope to see you soon! And good luck at the no vitality tourney!

 

[Grisu]

Hey guys/girls, I have another scoring suggestion to make. One that I think is quite fair and probably to your liking. It is quite simple too... Add +2 to your score for every superunique bountymob killed.
Good idea?

 

[Grisu]

except for the council, yes.
but council would give 19 points so maybe not.

 

[Grisu]

Yikes! 2 deaths in Act 1? :hanky:



Mary has not been completely out of danger, but she has remained reasonably in control even when the situations have been tough. LE and CE bosses have been to most bothersome, since our ranged firepower has been severely lacking (Gwinni´s weapon sucks). I don´t think I have used this much CoS so early before.

At level 18, Blade Fury arrived and it helped our ranged situation a lot. It´s got two quite distinctive characteristics at this stage:
Pro: enemies drop like flies
Con: eats mana like popcorn...

Got quite lucky with the monster rolls. Skelly archers in Tamoe Highlands (but the first pack was a disappointment: "Guys...enough with those already! Or at least give me a good magical/rare...") , and in Jail levels 2-3 (including inside a good number of barrels). No regular archer packs in the Barracks, but there was a Champ pack and a boss pack (but no interesting drop from them).

I found out that Gwinni actually did more damage with a Superior (+1 max) Hunter´s Bow than with her magical Short Bow. Since Hunter´s Bows are also faster, a switch was nothing to hesitate about.

Before Andariel, I found only one more magical item from the archers, but it was a really nice Large Shield of Blocking. Yay!

I got creative with some of my prerequisite skills. Wake of Fire was used quite a bit against ghosts, Stone Skinned and Ghostly monsters. Dragon Tail is both sort of a prerequisite skill, a placeholder until better damage comes around, plus a utility skill later (group knockback). Here, it was a mighty force becaue of my Chain Boots. Many Dark Shamen never knew what hit them. I could often charge up on one of their foot soldiers, then 1-hit KO the Shaman. :azn:

A Scimitar made me stash the Bardiche and equip a Small Shield (this was slightly before the 'good' shield dropped). Ah, much less painful to fight now. An Axe replaced the Scimitar later. It´s slower, but the 4-11 damage was far better than the 2-6 on the Scimitar. You see, I could go around with 3x Tiger, 3x Cobra, Dragon Tail cycles (as long as the enemy I discharge on is leechable) but that was slow and felt like overkill on regular measly critters. Much more convenient if I can do 1-3 Tiger hits, then release with a plain Attack. This approach costs very little mana, too. Here is where the extra weapon damage helps because it gets doubled/tripled/quadrupled with TS (I kept a Spiked Club on the switch for this purpose - it´s good against undead).

No Shadow or Death Sentry allowed means I have far fewer prerequisite skills to invest in, which means I have more skill points available than usual. I decided to pump Fists of Fire now, since I will do that anyway. The plan was to use this skill as soon as I would find a claw. One always finds plenty of crappy claws, right?
No.

Andariel was coming up, and I still hadn´t found a claw. Then it hit me: I have not killed a superunique trophy critter. The trophymob weapons I have found are the only weapons I can use. However, that does not mean I have to use any of them! :jig:

"You filthy Demon Queen, I don´t need no stinkin´ weapons to kill you"

Here is her drop. Four items went right into current equimpment. The amulet and the Hard Leather were especially nice (see below). Since the stupid skellies refused to drop any topazes, I used a gem shrine back in the Highlands to upgrade the ruby.

Current gear:
* 2-socketed Skull Cap
* Shimmering (5) Amulet
* Shadow Razor (rare Wrist Blade; 5-11 damage, +19 AR, +1-2 fire damage, 10% IAS)
* Plague Flange (rare Hard Leather Armor; 31 def, +7 life, +5 mana, 2 sockets)
* Sturdy Heavy Gloves of Fortune (24) (from shop)
* Ring of +1 STR
* Ocher (18) Belt of Regeneration (3) (from shop)
* Ring of +1 DEX
* Rugged Heavy Boots of Fortune (22) (from shop)

On weapon switch:
* Carrion Gutter (Rare Balanced Knife; +33AR, +2 max damage, resist Lightning 10, 4% life steal, 5% mana steal)
* 1-socketed Buckler


Chalan:
* Strong (16 def.) Skull Cap of Self-repair
* Bardiche
* Superior 2-socketed Hard Leather Armor

Extra items available:
* Superior (+1 max) 3-socketed Hunter´s Bow
* rare Sabre (intended for act 3 merc - the only help he´d get is a little poison resist...)
* 6 chippies (emerald, amethyst, sapphire x2 and ruby x2)
* a flawless ruby


Mary the MA Assassin and Chalan the Prayer Guard, level 21/20, Lut Gholein Sewers next

 

[Grisu]

Indeed...what jiansonz said...Yikes! Sorry to see another deeds.

Thanks, Butz... Appreciated...Well, You kind of HAVE to beat Diablo anyways, so what is the issue? Any specific diablo related drop problems?

Yep. People moan about Duriels drops, but I swear, of the big 5, Big D regularly drops the biggest steaming pikes of worthless turd for me. Can't remember the last time he gave me something useful...but perhaps that means he's due!

Now to the update. Merlin, honestly, if you actually knew all of the nuances of how nasty you've made this tournament, then you are an evil, evil man.

Not only slightly skill restricted, and very heavily item restricted, but extremely gold restricted AND last but by far not least, extremely restricted purple potion supply, restricted to a few mobs, and perhaps cubing the few chippies you get. Very, umm, nice. Having to walk straight past all these glistening purple potions (and fulminating, etc) is quite arduous for me.

Bobbie_Fett left the camp and has progressed reasonably well. She has picked up every single sellable item, and made regular trips back to town to sell her many red, blue and white potions, as well as scrolls. Very early on, she bought a sash which is still in use, as is a bought Spear of Knockback. It actually works quite well...push em back, cast, push em back, cast, etc.

She has rescued the old geezer and is overnighting at the Black Marsh WP at Level 15, about to go after the Countess. But she is yet to hunt down a single target. She has heard whispers of Vampires later in her travels, but won't hold her breath yet, apparently there's a horseshoe maker to dispose of first.

Just for fun, she picked up a bunch of things she isn't allowed to use, and then got the old man to let her know just what she is missing out on. Fortunately none of them are awesome, but at least 2 of them would normally remain in my inventory until death or Guardian in an untwinked pass. Oh well, they disappeared from the ground with the save and exit straight after the screenies.

At least there's plenty of inventory space.

Bobbie_Fett, L15 FB/GS Sorceress, Act 1 Normal, Smith next.

Butz. :dunce:

 

[Grisu]

Indeed...what jiansonz said...Yikes! Sorry to see another deeds.
AND last but by far not least, extremely restricted purple potion supply, restricted to a few mobs, and perhaps cubing the few chippies you get. Very, umm, nice.

This is the main reason I did not use any chippies in Gwinni´s bow (normally, the sapphire and rubies would have been used right away). If I make it to Duriel or similar tough spots, I think I will use a tactic Sirian called 'poor man´s full rejuve': you drink a small rejuve and a greater healer at the same time.

 

[Grisu]

I know full well, Butz. Trust me, it aint no picknick for me either, with Floyd this round. I wont give a writeup just yet, but suffice it to say that my trophymob superunique bonebreaker dropped me... 2 magical handaxes. +1 max dam and +2 max dam. Suddenly, I'm glad that my next superunique is located in early Act 2 Beetleburst, be nice!
Besides, After Bonebreaker, I have only found 6 champion returned and 1 heropack returned. And those were all the skeletons I have found after bonebreaker so far. PLenty of shamans though.. .whole herds of the frigging bastards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Items I could use : 1 magical leather armor (+10 life, FR 5%), and 5% Lifesteeal shortbow... So now my merc is also reduced to crappy damage... Cant wait for Bonespear to open up, frankly Currently working the tamoe highlands, and hating all the manaburning heroes, they mess my curses up!