Ah, ok, I thought we had discussed this already, but let's make it (more) official, shall we ?
The following quest rewards cannot be used. :
1. The reward for Saving Cain
2. The countess (her reward is a chest drop, so the chest item drop rule applies... Her runes can only be used if Corrupted Rogues are a bountymob
3. The reward for the GidBinn (that is, the ring from ormus)
4. The reward for saving Anya. (That is, the item Anya gives you. The resistance scroll can be used)
The following quest rewards can be used, provided the base item is a legitimate find (it retains the status it had (so SU drop remains a SU drop))
1. Charsi's Imbue
2. Larsus' Socket item.
3. Anya's personalize item.
All other quest rewards can be used freely. The HF drop counts as non Superunique socket fillers.
Butz, At least you had the privilege of using 'good' shopped items throughout the act. Imagine what happens if you get a couple of skellies and the SU at the beginning (with the SU royally messing up damage output), a few champions in Tristram, and some bonewarriors in the pit (with mainly weapon drops, which I couldn't use anymore
)... Trust me, I would have loved Vamps... that would have made most map areas a relative breeze
Besides, the vampres will provide you with relatively useful drops in Act 2 and 3 as well (due to their spawning at the end of all acts). Still, their drops weren't very good, I 'll give you that
I have never be4 taken screenshots, and I have no idea where to post them, so I guess you will have to do with my text
So how does
Pasmani, the Fire Druid fare, you ask?
Good question... I ask the same thing myself... LOL. Nah, I'm kidding.
Pasmani took the trusted club (Seriously, that has to be the crappiest starter item of all chars), and went outside to clobber some bogeys. While he would have liked to ignite them, he needed to 'start' the fire'engine'. With p8 ,it didn't take too long to start it though. PRetty soon, he was bravely firestorming for all he was worth. Which was fairly little, granted. I'm pretty sure most mobs croaked from laughing at those puny flames. But with some dilligence, and invested skill points, pretty soon they stopped laughing... and started combusting.
It's a relatively painless ride. Because I decided to pretty much focus my attention on 4-5 skills, I could imediately start pumping my starter skill, and as soon as Molten Boulder popped, I pumped that too. The mutual synergies made sure Every point counted for more damage output on two skills, which is always nice. At least Blood raven and Cold Crow were ridiculously easy. Cold crow(and her entire pack) dropped from 2 Molten boulders, really.
Blood raven died from Firestorms, mostly, although the one Boulder that hit her, cost her about a quarter of her health.
I pretty much decided to postpone buying stuff until I saw what bonebreaker was going to burden me with, but this time around, I was more lucky then the previous round... A Jagged Hand Axe and a buckler with attacker takes damage of 1 (always a nice thing to have in the early act). That meant one weapon slot was free for better weapons, when they were found of course. Once I had killed all skeletons, I shopped myself a ringmail, just to stay safe.
As soon as Fissure popped, I started pumping it, and it now stands at lvl 4. So I am lvl 15
I havent done the countess quest yet, but I did clear out the hole, so I can make a beeline for the tower, and then run out into the tamoe highlands. I am going to follow Wayne's advice (and take Morathi's to heart), by fully pumping about 3 skills, and focusing most of my damage on 1, just no yet sure which one. At least I am sure I am going to use Firestorm, since it has a high cast rate, and great synergies. If I like Volcano, I might use that, otherwise it's going to be fissure... But that is a problem for later
Skills : FS - 5, MB - 4, Fiss - 4, AB - 1, CA - 1
Stats - I have in full conscience pumped energy for several levels. I can't depend on my drops to give me a solid mana base, so I will provide one myself. Right now, stats are : Str 50, Dx 20, Vit = energy = 40.
I have 106 life, and ** mana. One Flawed ruby, 2 chipped diamonds.
Here is the eq.
Skull cap
Superior ring mail
Superior LArge Axe 1 empty socket (the very fast attack speed is nice)
Chain Gloves
Boots
Crude sash
Ring , +1 light radius, +10 AR
Weapon switch holds the SU drop as specified above.
Mercenary :
Low quality hunters bow
Rare Hard Leather armor (+1 life, LR=PR = 5, Attacker takes 1 damage, repair (33 secs)
Cap.