[2008] "Spoilt little Sparky" Tournament [by Paladingo]

[Grisu]

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This tournament has already ended. It was originally started by @Paladingo on Jan 2, 2008. The last post was made Apr 5, 2008.
(link to original thread on diabloii.net) ​

"Spoilt little Sparky" Tournament

Recently I've been having a lot of fun in Heskla's Byeond the Edge of the Shadows tourney, because it forced me to play a bow assassin, a strange character I might never have tried. So it inspired me to start a tourney with a similar concept; a pure Charged Bolt Sorceress. I have a few of these chars of different levels and they are always a total BLAST of fun, in most of normal and nightmare they just devastate the monsters.

This tourney is about that... You must play a pure Charged Bolt Sorc. It is not about competing with other players but about personally experiencing the sheer JOY of the MASS CARNAGE that a nicely twinked Charged Boltress can deliver. Fast running, laying down waves of Bolts and running along with the bolts while everything dies in a most comical way. Frenzytaurs? Didn't even see them! Frozen river? What great fun that was! Ancients who?? Zap zap zap... Hee hee.

To add to the fun, you MUST own and equip the sexy gold "bling" items supplied by your rich Daddy. They have been carefully chosen and tested and really add to your killing speed and fun.

But... There is a catch! This is a hardcore style character so don't die or you are OUT! And just to raise the risk... You can wear NO resists and ONLY use Charged Bolt!

I have spent some time over the last week playing my Charged Bolt chars, and testing/refining items skills and gameplay etc. I think this setup is about right. This tourney should be lot of fun for what it is; a total kill fest with some scary danger moments. However it is also laid back and casual, so there is no real finishing time or winner, or prizes. Enter if you like (if you are rich enough ie have the compulsory items) and if you have never experienced the way a Charged Boltress makes a Hammerdin look weak then enter and ENJOY!


The "Theme"

You play a stubborn, spoilt little rich girl. She was gifted at birth with this strange ability to make sparks fly from her fingers... But nobody thought it was worth a damn. Daddy is quite rich from trading magic items to "real" Sorceresses, so when you take off in a huff to "Prove to Daddy that you really can kill Baal and save the world" then Daddy supplies some of the very best equipment he has, and you must wear it. Of course like all rich spoilt girls you insist that the items are "bling" and meet the latest fashion requirements. They might increase your killing speed but are they really practical?? Hmmmm... Fashion never is!

[b]You MUST equip these "bling" items when you reach that level

Lvl  Stren  Item[/b]
(Start)     +3 to Charged Bolt (or +1 or +2) orb style weapon.
3           Ring of the apprentice (10% faster cast rate) 
3           Amulet of the apprentice (10% faster cast rate)
7           Nagelring
7           Lenymo sash (* optional)
15          Manald Heal ring
16          Gemmed Circlet 2socket TIR TIR
17   30     "Stealth" TAL ETH runeword; breast plate armour
20          Wall of the Eyeless shield
20          Nightsmoke belt (a MUST if you don't have Lenymo)
23   45     Magefist gloves
27          "Lore" ORT SOL runeword; circlet
29          Infernostride demonhide boots
29          UPPED Lenymo demonhide sash (* optional)
36   58     Gloom's Trap mesh belt (* optional, and only if no Lenymo)
41   58     Lidless Wall shield (* optional)
51   55     Que-Hegan's Wisdom mage plate armour (* optional)

* Optional means if Daddy is rich enough to own it you MUST wear it.

Equipment Rules

* Self found, apart from the unique "bling" goodies supplied by Daddy that MUST be worn as soon as lvl req allows (see above). And see the "fashion" rules below!
* Nothing is allowed in weapons slot 2.
* NO set items of any type, EVER. Set items are SO last year! Eeww!
* No items with FIRE/COLD/LIGHTNING (FCL) resists at all, unless those resists are unavoidable on the bling (unique) items supplied by Daddy.

Hats
Only circlet/coronet/tiara/diadem. Hair and makeup are very important to spoilt rich girls!

Gloves;
The metal glove look is "in" this year! Only metal gloves are allowed. Magefist unique gloves MUST be worn at lvl 23 (strength 45) and for the remainder of normal and NM difficulty.

Armour;
Metal armour is definitely "in" too. No leather armour. "Stealth" armour in breast plate (strength 30) MUST be equipped at lvl 17 and worn for the rest of normal and NM difficulty unless Daddy is so rich he can give you Que-Hegan's mage plate at lvl 51.

Boots;
Boots with lots of metal on them are defninitely "out" this year, so only leather boots may be worn. Infernostride boots are the hottest boots in the dance clubs this winter and MUST be worn at lvl 29 and for the rest of normal and NM difficulty.

Weapon;
Only the worst dressed Sorc would be seen dead with a STAFF... "Yuk, it looks like an old dead tree branch!" Daddy's rich little girl must have a shiny orb/globe etc and a trendy shield. As Sparky insists on the very best this should be a +3 to charged bolt orb of some type, again with no FCL resists. If you don't have a +3 starting orb, just equip whatever starting orb/globe weap you have that is close (ie +1 or +2) and replace it as soon as you can.

Shield;
Early game; any shield you find/buy/gamble that has no FCL resists is ok. But since bone shields are totally "cool" this year, at lvl 20 a Wall of the Eyeless MUST be equipped. It must (if Daddy has one) be replaced at lvl 41 by the much more expensive Gucci product; Wall of the Lidless.

Jewellery;
At lvl 3 you MUST equip ring AND ammy of the apprentice (10% faster cast rate). Other prefixes are allowed, or rares, as long as at all times you wear an ammy with 10% FCR and one ring with 10% FCR. This ring and ammy can be upgraded (re-twinked) at any time, as your lvl increases.
But a rich girl also needs her bling! So you MUST equip (as soon as lvl allows) Nagelring then Manald Heal ring. ie you must always have one gold ring. After lvl 45 you can re-twink with ANY gold ring of your choice (ie Ravenfrost).

Belt;
Any style belt at low levels, but no FCL resists of course. At level 7 it's Lenymo for the richest, Otherwise you get Nightsmoke etc.

Charms;
You can help yourself to the best from Daddy's charm cabinet, but of course no FCL resists charms... It's important to prove your point that you don't need no stinkin' resists! So fill up on nice charms; life, mana, fast run, gold and magic find etc. Charms can be changed and re-twinked at any time.

Socketing;
Any bling items can be already socketed before you start, and you can put any items in the sockets, at any time, provided they meet the rules (ie no FCL resists). Other socketing quests etc are all normal self-found rules (like merc can Larzuk socket his armour and use a resists jewel etc). The filthy rich can wear Lightning Facet Jewels as they like.


Skills Rules

Must ONLY use charged bolt for attack (always in left click).
Can use static field for tough bosses - only 1 point (always in right click).

No cold skills, ever. Eeww.
No fire skills - apart from 2 points allowed in warmth, which you MUST put in as soon as you have Charged Bolt.

Skills progression;

* 2 points must go in warmth as soon as you have charged bolt (should be from the start).
* Every point to go in Charged Bolt until maxed out.
* One point must go in Static Field when you get to lvl 6.
* Upon arriving in normal Act3, 2 points must go in Teleport and prereq ASAP.
* After Charged Bolt is maxed, any spare points go in Lightning until you reach lvl 30.
* The 2 points from Izual quest (normal Act4), go in Energy Shield and prereq.
* From lvl 30 and up, all points go in Lightning Mastery until maxed.
* After Lightning Mastery is maxed, all points go in Lightning.
* After defeating normal Baal, you must put one point in Thunderstorm and prereq (the next 2 points).

(Note, you put points in Lightning for synergy reasons only, you NEVER use Lightning or Chain Lightning.)


Stats Points, IMPORTANT

Normal difficulty; 2 of every 5 stat points MUST go in energy!
Nightmare difficulty; 1 of every 5 stat points MUST go in energy.
Hell difficulty; Damn! Did you live that long??? Points are up to you now.

You must always have enough strength to equip the compulsory items (but strength charms are allowed).


Gameplay Rules

You are a Charged Bolt Sorceress. And a very dangerous one. This tournament is about sheer carnage - you are a spoilt-rich *****y killing machine! Mow those monsters into oblivion to prove your point to Daddy!

Hardcore only, or "Firmcore", ie; you can play Softcore but if you die you are OUT. Firmcore may be best if you don't want to lose the bling items if/when you die.

I suggest that you put all your bling items ready in a new stash when you start, to make it easier. Stash rules are typical tournament; apart from twinking bling items from their own stash, you can extract game items and save in another stash but cannot use them again.

ONLY /PLAYERS 1 AT ALL TIMES!

Because it's all about the slaughter, you run fast and totally flatten everything around. But beware! You are fragile.

You should do full clears to lvl up quickly (so you can equip Daddy's items) but you can miss some underground areas etc if you like. All quests must be done. You have to prove that point to Daddy that you can beat anything with your sparky gift. You can re-run areas for more exp and goodies, actually I recommend it! Zap zap zap.

I don't need no stinkin' resists!

No resists is gonna hurt! Charged Bolt is devastating used up close and personal - just where you need resists - so have fun with this dilemma. But you do get some (not much) resists from Daddy's bling items. You can use your Act5 scrolls to raise your natural resists. But NO ITEMS can give you resists, no charms, weap, socketed etc. This applies to Fire/Cold/Lightning (FCL) resists. However you CAN wear as much poison resists as you like. I allowed this after fine tuning the build, as good rare orb weapons with Charged Bolt and/or skills and good rare sorc ammy's usually have at least 1 resist. So to fit the theme, let's say Daddy's little girl likes nice green dresses but does NOT like a green face - how uncool!

Twinking - Re-twinking

Don't be shy here. One Ring and Ammy can be re-twinked at any time provided you follow the rules; No FCL resists, and must have 10% faster cast rate. So you can re-twink for +1 lightning skills, +2 sorc skills etc as your level gets high enough. For good rare ammy/rings look for; +skills, mana, life replenish, mana per kill, strength etc.

Weapon can be re-twinked any time, but must be orb-style Sorc weapon and have no FCL resists and must have some +skills that suit the theme; +Charged Bolt, or +Lightning skills, or +Sorc skills etc.

Charms can be equipped right from the start and re-twinked any time you choose. Again no FCL resists, but go to town on mana, life, fast hit recovery, fast run walk, gold find, magic find, etc.


Merc - Hireling

You can have an Act1 rogue, but she can only equip/wear GREY items. She is your drab assistant, so she can't compete with your bling! But she does have hair and makeup, so only circlet style headgear for her too. Grey includes socketed, so a bow or armour socketed with gems/runes/jewels is ok.

When you get to normal Act3 Kurast Docks you FALL IN LOVE! A cute ice sorcerer called... whatever. It is true love, he stays with you forever and even if he can't kill much he gives a big tactical advantage freezing that first monster of the pack so you can zap them as they stumble. But Daddy doesn't like him (big surprise), so he gets no bling from Daddy... He must wear whatever you find/buy/gamble. However, you can give him your old bling items (like your old Wall of the Eyeless shield) when you replace them with the new bling items.


Gameplay Progression

Normal; At the start just keep your killing speed high, buy blue pots as needed and get your level up from mass kills. ONLY use Charged Bolt, no other attacks are allowed (apart from some Static on bosses etc). After a few levels mana improves and the pace and fun pick right up. From lvl 15 up you wear better mana equipment so it gets a lot more fun and the pace really increases!

You get Teleport for Kurast jungles and onwards. You get Energy Shield for Hephasto and Diablo, use Energy Shield anytime as needed or all the time if you like. I found most of the time it is more fun to keep the mana just for killing.

Nightmare; Here you get one point in Thunderstorm whether you want it or not, so use it where you like. Also now you can equip an orb type weapon in weapon slot 2 but ONLY for casting Energy Shield or Thunderstorm.

Hell; Congrats! You are a star! YOU now set the fashions. You can equip resists charms, and wear/equip anything you want! You have finally proved your point to Daddy. But you are still a Charged Boltress, and must also keep your Boyfriend (Act 3 ice merc).


The Table

You must show Daddy's wealth level;
Rich - Daddy has enough items so you can enter the tournament.
Very Rich - Daddy has ALL the items; Lenymo, upped Lenymo, and Que-Hegan's Wisdom.
Trump/Gates - (or pick any mega-rich asshole) As above, but Daddy can also afford to give one Lightning Facet that must be used as soon as lvl allows. Even a crap Lightning facet puts you in the Trump class (and you thought a 3/3 Facet was useless!)

(Style points awarded for funny spoilt rich girl names!)

Tournament is ranked by character level;

[b]Daddy          Wealth       Char           Lvl   Waypoint[/b]                
Paladingo      Trump        SparkyIII      1     Rogue Camp              
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******
"Daddy, daddy come look at this!" Sparky calls out between zapping sounds... "Look Daddy! I can make bolts come out of EVERY finger now!" Zap zap zap. "Wow! You are so clever dear." Says the proud father to his little girl, barely as high as his knee. (Zap.) "Tomorrow I'll bring a new present home for you from my shop - a nice shiny Orb with Lightning magic so you can practice some real lightning dear."

"Eeww! No!" Zap zap. "I don't want to make boring lightning like a Heereefant. I'm not gonna be boring like Auntie Meg..." Zap zap zap. "I'm gonna practice my special bolts forever Daddy! I'm gonna stop Baal and save everyone from the monsters. I'm gonna zap Baal with my special bolts!" Zap zap. "That's nice dear..." Came the father's worried response. (Zap zap zap.)

"Sparky!" Mother's heavily medicated voice finally speaks up. (Zap zap zap.) "I've told you a THOUSAND TIMES! Stop zapping the damn cat!" (Zap zap zap zap!)
******
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