[2011] Rainbow Tournament [by Sid]

Re: Rainbow Tournament

Chloe is now Destroyer Chloe. She had no trouble killing Baal on P8. The mercenary (act 3 cold merc) never died, but she had to cast the Shadow Warrior many-many times.

Her bonus in act 5 is another charm. This time it is just a +6 cold resist charm, but she did not want to run Baal and did not have any good use for perfect gems (they will start to be easy to cube now).

I played with the idea of going to 19 slots. Chloe currently has 18 slots, 12 for her counting all four weapon slots, 4 for the act 3 mercenary, and 2 charm slots. That 19th slot would come from opening another charm slot. Since the only charms I have are blue, that would mean doing away with the blue amulet (+1 to all assassin skills) and replacing it with my crafted amulet:

Eagle Clasp Amulet
+4 to Energy; 20 to Life; 4% Life stolen per hit; 6% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items; 5% Faster Run/Walk

I already have 9% life steal and 662 life, so the only advantage would be the 6% magic find. Sort of obvious to stick with the 18 slots for now.

19 slots is possible, but as long as I have only blue charms (Gheeds is hard to find!), there is no way to get to 20 slots. And since crafted items are not all that desirable, I guess I will stick with 18 slots for now. That 18th slot is yellow and should always be a valuable slot.

Code:
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Forum Name   Name         Class/Type   LVL   Highest WP   Item Rotation  #Bonus Charms  SC/HC
=============================================================================================[/highlight]
Drystan      Rainbow_Dash Assassin     12    Stoney Field Grey           0              HC
Malevolent   Prismatic    Sorceress    1     Rogue Camp   White          0              HC
Sid          Tyra         Amazon       17    O Cloister   Yellow         0              SC
Wolron       Chloe        Assassin     48    NM-RogueCamp Gold           3              HC
Skunkbelly   ROYGBIV      Assassin     1     Rogue Camp   White          0              HC
           

[highlight]RIP/Retired
Forum Name     Name       Class/Type   Lvl   Place Died   SC/HC
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Re: Rainbow Tournament

I wasn't going to use the 'bonus's', as I feel they go against Single Pass/Untwinked, but... Who can resist the thought of 5 Perfect Topaz's?
Also, one of the first Circlets gambled at Clevel 24:

Circlet of Luck
Circlet
Defense: 20
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 19
Fingerprint: 0x2e9e926a
Item Level: 27
Version: Expansion 1.10+
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

That is lucky! Not perfect, but will beat a 3xPTopaz helm if rolled 2 sockets. But not by much, so I'll probably use the socket quest for a Polearm.
 
Re: Rainbow Tournament

Well, Act 1 complete: 5 PTopaz.
Act 2 complete: 5 PTopaz.
Act 3 complete: 10 Meph runs? I don't really like the twinking/re-running in a tourney, but I'm definitely not going to lose the opportunity!

Rainbow_Dash absolutely destroyed Meph on /players3, with no trouble. With close to 300% MF, and a great Blades of Ice/Dragon Tail attack, she freezes and shatters most mobs.
Her general tactic is to charge Blades of Ice, and run past most mobs, until she comes to a unique or large pack, casts CoS and Dragon Flight's her merc/Shadow into the middle, freezing the lot of them, and letting the merc take them down with his Savage Halberd.
She is very mana-intensive though, chugging potions every battle. But /players8 rewards her with many replacements. Unique/Set drop count is pretty decent, although not very useful so far. She is tempted to increase the colour rotation, as she came across a Nagelring, and several useful rares. But to lose so much MF at this point is a good counter for more colours.
Choices, choices, choices... She is very fun at the moment though!

Rainbow_Dash, Level 30, Phoenix Strike Rainbow Pony, Act 4/Meph Reruns

I would post pics, but I plan on Guardianing her, and want to make multiple references later. She can make it!

Edit @Sid: Just did 10 Meph runs. One of his Council guards dropped Chance Guards. As his Council guards always spawn, in DoH lvl3, and they are on the way to Meph, does this drop count as a legitimate/usable item drop, or do only Meph drops count.
*whispers 'please, please, please!'*

This quote is favourable, as in Act 2, you get Duriel, and Tal Rasha's true tomb. Following this, Meph could include his DoH lvl3:

Sid said:
If you want to run Duriel however, you may also clear the real tomb each run (but may not enter the false tomb).
 
Re: Rainbow Tournament

Code:
Forum Name   Name         Class/Type   LVL   Highest WP   Item Rotation  #Bonus Charms  SC/HC
=============================================================================================
Drystan      Rainbow_Dash Assassin     34    Harrogath    Yellow         0              HC
Malevolent   Prismatic    Sorceress    1     Rogue Camp   White          0              HC
Sid          Tyra         Amazon       17    O Cloister   Yellow         0              SC
Wolron       Chloe        Assassin     48    NM-RogueCamp Gold           3              HC
Skunkbelly   ROYGBIV      Assassin     1     Rogue Camp   White          0              HC
          

RIP/Retired
Forum Name     Name       Class/Type   Lvl   Place Died   SC/HC
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Rainbow_Dash has defeated Diablo at /players1, level 34. Wasn't a very fair fight. Diablo was obsessed with Dash's shadow...
She has upgraded her colour rotations to Rares, and is tempted to go to uniques with the Chancies/Nagel. She does only have one set item so far though. Saying that, some crafting gems may be in order. ;)
For some reason, she has found 3x Blood Crescents, 1x Ethereal.

She's actually a strong and fun character, freezing everything around her, and has good damage output. I don't know why I haven't given a Phoenix Striker a go before. She is still technically using Blades of Ice though.

Rainbow_Dash, Level 34 Rainbow Pony Assassin, Harrogath
 
Re: Rainbow Tournament

Chloe has defeated NM Andariel (P8). She has stayed on players 8 so far and shows no signs of needing to drop that yet. Blade Fury has 20 skill points and Death sentry has 12. She has not used Death Sentry yet. Partly because it is not needed and partly because I do not want to full around changing the attack modes. I tend to be a bit lazy that way. I play with Blade Fury on the left and Cloak of Shadows on the right. When a tough monster is encountered, the shadow warrior is on the right so that I can cast her as soon as she drops. Of course, Chloe does miss the Cloak of Shadows, but the warrior is more important (I think).

Her bonus for NM1 is that she ran the countess ten times. Here are the runes that the countess dropped:
TIR 2
NEF 3
TAL 1
RAL 3
ORT 2
THUL 2
DOL 3
IO 1

Somehow, that doesn't seem to good. One time she dopped two RALs, TIR and a DOL. THe other nine times resulted in a total of 13. One drop was a lonely TIR!

Chloe has the following equipment:

White: The act 3 merc has weapon/armor/helm.
Blue: Two charms (Large with +5 Dex and small with +2 Dex); Amulet with +1 to all assassin skills.
Gray: Both Chole and her merc have a Kite shield with 3 Perfect diamonds in it for +57 resist all. Chloe also keeps an old wriist Blade with two TALs in it in the offhand. She used that until she got her Spirit Sword.
Yellow:

Grim Knot Ring
+4 to Mana; Cold Resist +21%; Poison Length Reduced by 25%
10% Chance to cast Level 3 Nova when struck

Blood Knuckle Heavy Gloves Defense: 8
+2 to Dexterity; +20% Enhanced Defense; Fire Resist +27%
17% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items; Poison Length Reduced by 25%

Viper Crest
Mask 'socketed with a Thul' Defense: 25
+10 to Energy; +3 to Life; Fire Resist +19%; Lightning Resist +17%
Cold Resist +30%; Poison Resist +27%

Orange:
Hailstone Cord Sharkskin Belt Defense: 49
+27 to Life; +15 to Mana; +35% Enhanced Defense; Regenerate Mana 9%
Poison Resist +21%; 24% Faster Hit Recovery; 5% Faster Cast Rate

Pain Blazer Light Plated Boots Defense: 10
+14 to Life; +25 to Maximum Stamina; 3% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +9; 30% Faster Run/Walk

Green:Cathan' seal ring and Milabrega's Orb as the offhand shield
Gold: Skin of the Viper Magi serpentskin armor and SPIRIT on a Dimensional Blade.

Chloe has full resistances. She intends to either upgrade her armor to a BLOOD runeword armor or to find a four socketed crown shield to get another SPIRIT item. She has enough life leech to make health potions unnecessary. She has enough mana to keep from going back to town for blue potions very often. She is really easy to play, but it did take about 15 minutes to finish off Andariel. Chloe kept circling tht pool in the middle room and casted the shadow warrior to keep Andariel busy. While the shadow was being killed, Chloe would throw a couple dozen blades before she had to continue her race around the pool. It got a bit boring, but it worked and Chloe had no close calls. Oh, Andariel's poison bolts caused some damage, but Chloe's life leech quickly fixed that little problem.

Well, they say that Atma wants to talk to Chloe. I guess Radament is playing his usual tricks. :coffee:

Code:
Forum Name   Name         Class/Type   LVL   Highest WP   Item Rotation  #Bonus Charms  SC/HC
=============================================================================================
Drystan      Rainbow_Dash Assassin     34    Harrogath    Yellow         0              HC
Malevolent   Prismatic    Sorceress    1     Rogue Camp   White          0              HC
Sid          Tyra         Amazon       17    O Cloister   Yellow         0              SC
Wolron       Chloe        Assassin     53    NM-Lut Ghol. Gold           3              HC
Skunkbelly   ROYGBIV      Assassin     1     Rogue Camp   White          0              HC
           

RIP/Retired
Forum Name     Name       Class/Type   Lvl   Place Died   SC/HC
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Re: Rainbow Tournament

Rainbow_Dash is still going strong through NM on /players8. Bosses at /players1. She has just defeated Mephisto, and did 10 Meph runs. This was her reward!

Bartuc's Cut-Throat
Greater Talons
One Hand Damage: 78 - 139
Durability: 34 of 69
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 79
Required Dexterity: 79
Fingerprint: 0x7b96e74c
Item Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
156% Enhanced Damage
Adds 25 - 50 Damage
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
7% Life stolen per hit
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity

Time to juggle some items again!

Code:
Forum Name   Name         Class/Type   LVL   Highest WP   Item Rotation  #Bonus Charms  SC/HC
=============================================================================================
Drystan      Rainbow_Dash Assassin     64    NM Act IV    Gold           0              HC
Malevolent   Prismatic    Sorceress    1     Rogue Camp   White          0              HC
Sid          Tyra         Amazon       17    O Cloister   Yellow         0              SC
Wolron       Chloe        Assassin     53    NM-Lut Ghol. Gold           3              HC
Skunkbelly   ROYGBIV      Assassin     1     Rogue Camp   White          0              HC
           

RIP/Retired
Forum Name     Name       Class/Type   Lvl   Place Died   SC/HC
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Re: Rainbow Tournament

Dashy is part way through Act 1 Hell, and the choices! She has 5 useful uniques, and 4 useful rares. Also suffered a couple of close dangers, including teleporting into the middle of a ghost pack in Arcane Sanctuary, and into a random pack Act 4 NM, but she just managed to scrape out of those. I'm glad she has so many Juvies!

Uniques
Bartuc's Cut-Throat
Insight Partizan
Boneflesh (5% LL, Open Wounds)
Saracen's Chance
Raven Frost (massive AR boost, and CBF!)

Obviously, the two she uses are Bartuc's and Insight. Without these, Dashy, or her merc, wouldn't do any significant damage. I can't really switch either of those with a Rare either.

Sets
Sigon's Helm and Belt (500 AR together)
Sander's Riprap (40% FR/W, 100 AR
Immortal Kings boots (40% FR/W, 110 AR, 44 life) Better, but too much Strength reqs

I would like the Sigon's for life leach, and massive AR, which would basically remove most AR problems for the rest of Hell, but I can't really drop the boots until I have a replacement pair of boots. In addition, I'd lose a good portion of resists (already in the negatives,) from the rare Coronet.

If anyone has any comments regarding which items I could exchange, craft or any experience/opinion, I'd appreciate it!
Code:
Forum Name   Name         Class/Type   LVL   Highest WP   Item Rotation  #Bonus Charms  SC/HC
=============================================================================================
Drystan      Rainbow_Dash Assassin     75    H Act I      Gold           0              HC
Malevolent   Prismatic    Sorceress    1     Rogue Camp   White          0              HC
Sid          Tyra         Amazon       17    O Cloister   Yellow         0              SC
Wolron       Chloe        Assassin     53    NM-Lut Ghol. Gold           3              HC
Skunkbelly   ROYGBIV      Assassin     1     Rogue Camp   White          0              HC
           

RIP/Retired
Forum Name     Name       Class/Type   Lvl   Place Died   SC/HC
================================================================
 
Re: Rainbow Tournament

Ah well. Act 2 Hell was too tough for Rainbow_Dash. This tourney was tougher for her than I thought. She was strong enough to go all the way, but I left it too long to aim for resists. She had lots of item combinations, options, and valuable items, but it was difficult choosing which Uniques/Sets to use.
Lightning was a strange element. Sometimes, it did nothing to her, while othertimes, it dropped her life bulb dramatically. Eventually though, she got too many rolls in a row. Almost insta-deeds, due to a risky move on my part. Fighting a Lightning Enchanted, Didn't see, Didn't see unique pack, Rainbow ran in from safety to get a couple of Chaos Ice Bolts out and speed up the battle. I'm guessing probably also Fire Enchanted, as the Lightning bolts carry added elemental damage as well.
I had just started getting some Diamonds together (I don't use extended stash rules in tournaments,) to put in the next 3-os shield I found, but her resists were very low, and most in the negative. That shield came a little too late for Dashie. RIP.

Code:
Forum Name   Name         Class/Type   LVL   Highest WP   Item Rotation  #Bonus Charms  SC/HC
=============================================================================================
Malevolent   Prismatic    Sorceress    1     Rogue Camp   White          0              HC
Sid          Tyra         Amazon       17    O Cloister   Yellow         0              SC
Wolron       Chloe        Assassin     53    NM-Lut Ghol. Gold           3              HC
Skunkbelly   ROYGBIV      Assassin     1     Rogue Camp   White          0              HC
           

RIP/Retired
Forum Name   Name         Class/Type   Lvl   Place Died    SC/HC
============================================================---==
Drystan      Rainbow_Dash Assassin     78    (H) Far Oasis HC
 
Re: Rainbow Tournament

Yeah, she was. I've never played a Phoenix striker, and the build is not only powerful, but very fun too! She can be very fast with telebombing back and forth. Even the unsynergised Meteor from the first charge was powerful, and was used against most PI's.
She overcame huge obstacles multiple times, including three unique packs grouped together while doing some bonus runs of the Countess. They were Might, Cursed x2, Cold Enchanted, Extra Strong, Extra Fast, plus random enchantments. She had ~1200 life, but in the end, the lack of resists brought her down.
It's pretty interesting that she overcame so many bad combined unique spawns, but got taken down by a small group of four Slinger's with one unique.
Also did some crafting (never done much before,) and the results were pretty ordinary.

There are a couple of builds I want to give a shot, but I'll be doing them twinked. While untwinked Guards are fun and a great achievement, I do like more optimised builds that are somewhat more sturdy. Ones that don't have -40 Fire, 9 Light, -xx Cold, and -xx Poison... ;)

The choices this tourney gives you though. I thought it would be easy, but it really made you choose your items more carefully. Lucky no grailers were lost. The Saracen's was nice, although unused.
 
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