[2008] Knights of Westmarch Paladin Tournament [by OldSoldier]

[Grisu]

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This tournament has already ended. It was originally started by @OldSoldier on Feb 14, 2008. The last post was made Oct 28, 2008.
(link to original thread on diabloii.net) ​

Knights of Westmarch Paladin Tournament

Knights of Westmarch Paladin Tournament

It is time to show those who have lost the way the folly of their deeds. It is left to the soldiers of righteousness to cleanse the land of all evil and make safe the realm for the innocents.

Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. - Eph 6

This is a spiritual battle, of pure good versus pure evil. We, the Knights of Westmarch, did not start this war, but we will finish it.

Rules
1) Paladin only
2) HC untwinked only; if you die, your character is finished, but you may restart
3) RWM and RRM are allowed
4) Single pass only
5) Any players setting is allowed, change it as you desire
6) ATMA is OK as an extended stash, with a 51 item limit. Save Wirt's Leg so you don't have to go back through Tristram later in the difficulty. Mule other items that don’t make that cut to your grail stash or get rid of them.
7) Your character can only travel between acts and diffficulties in order to use quest rewards earned previously. Don't go back to pick up that HF merc if you're having trouble with crowd control in hell.
8) Baseline point scoring system
- +1 per level gained
- +4 per act completed in normal
- +6 per act completed in nightmare
- +10 per act completed in hell
- +5 bonus points each difficulty you can kill the cow king (this is an optional task)
9) There are five tiers for bonus scoring and difficulty, scored as follows
- tier 1 - no bonus points, least challenging, no gear restrictions, no stat or skill restrictions
- tier 2 - +1 point per act, one handicap from the list below
- tier 3 - +2 point per act, two handicaps
- tier 4 - +3 point per act, three handicaps
- tier 5 - +4 point per act, four handicaps for the ultimate challenge. You can try to play with 5, 6 or 7 handicaps for style points, but tier 5 is as high as the scoring goes.
10) The winner will be the player with the highest score at the end of the tournament. The tournament will end when no one makes a post for 14 consecutive days.

Bonus Point Handicaps
- 1) Blue/yellow gear only. This means that even if you find the Atlantean or have the runes to make a spirit sword, or are really itching to use Isenhart's Case, you cannot do so. This rule will not apply to your mercenary (he/she can wear whatever you can get your hands on)
- 2) 2H weapon only. This rules out the use of a shield for the entire game.
- 3) No merc resurrections. This means your merc is just as HC as you are. You can purchase more all you want but can not resurrect one. The special case for this is that you can resurrect the merc ONLY just before buying/receiving a new one. This simulates taking their gear once they perish, and you cannot fight with this merc. So in essence, if the merc dies defeating Mephisto and you step through that portal into hell without visiting Asheara first, you're on your own until you rescue the barbarians.
- 4) Attribute restrictions: 1 point in each Str/Dex/Vit/Enr per level, with the extra point and Alkor's reward allowed to go wherever. You can only save the one point per level (and Alkor) for later.
- 5) No equipment shopping or gambling. You can buy potions and scrolls, but nothing else, and you can't sell anything.
- 6) No repairs/recharges. You can only repair/recharge items using the cube, not townsfolk.
- 7) No buying scrolls, either ID or TP. Manage those Town Portals wisely. A purist would not even buy tomes, relying instead on finding them, but buying one each is OK.

For example, you could choose to be a tier 3 player by accepting two handicaps from the list above. If you plan on using Charge, going blue/yellow and 2H weapon would make some sense, and you'd garner a hefty 2 points extra per act completed. Once decided, there is no provision for changing tiers, you're stuck with it.

One-time Bonus Scoring
There are also certain builds that are more difficult than others. In an effort to pair each participant with their build and make it challenging and fun at the same time, there will also be a one-time bonus for choosing a tougher build. The builds and their point bonuses follow:
1) Abbot - Holy Bolt, Thornadin - Thorns (+25 points)
2) Converter - Conversion, Martyr - Sacrifice (+20 points)
3) Templar - FOH, Charger, Dragoon/Ranger - Aura + Missile (+15 points)
4) Zealot - Fanatic, Zealot - Conviction, Zealot - Fire, Smiter (+10 points)
5) Zealot - Holy Shock, Zealot - Frost, Avenger (+5 points)
6) Hammerdin (0 bonus points, but I will photoshop your picture with a block of cheese if you win)

If you decide to create a hybrid, say Smite + FOH, that would reduce to the lowest skill used, so the character would be classified as a smiter. Giving a bonus for playing certain builds may encourage people to stray from the norm. If you decide to change your style halfway through the character, fine, but forfeit your bonus points. An example of this is if you declare you'll be a thornadin but get smite to attack act bosses, you've just become a hybrid and must sacrifice the difference in points. You can never get more build bonus points once you start playing. Conversely, if you use a certain skill set to get through parts of the game, before your main attacks are available, you will not be penalized. An example of this is using sacrifice until zeal is available and zeal until vengeance is available.

If you develop a build that does not suit this list, you get the full 25 point bonus. An example would be a prayer zealot. If you become a hybrid though, sacrifice the difference between 25 and the other skill you rely upon.
Special thanks for this tournament go to roninDOG, who will co-host and developed the build bonus points idea, as well as provided a good sounding board for the ideas set forth above. Thanks also to Butzull who developed two more tiers to add more flexibility. Thanks also go to the golemancer tournament for their baseline scoring system of a per-act scoring rather than a WP and quest scoring. Thanks also to Jiansonz, who changed my points-paradigm into a +1/level one rather than a -1/level one. More levels is better in this tournament!

[b]Knights of Westmarch
[u]Forum Name      Character Name  Build         Tier  Location       Points[/b][/u]
JohnQPublic     Paul            Abbot          4    Lut Gholein     52

In the example above, Paul is a level 20 abbot that just killed Andariel. He gets 20 points for his level, 4 points for completing the act, 3 bonus points for being a tier 4 warrior, and 25 points for picking the hardest build possible. Compare this score to a hammerdin with no restrictions who would take until likely act 4 to get the same number of points.

Begin as you will, and may the hand of light guide your struggle.