[2014] Tournament Impossible [by thewamp]

Jan 3, 2007
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This tournament has already ended. It was originally started by thewamp on Sep 6, 2014. The last post was made Oct 10, 2014.
(link to original thread on diabloii.net)

Tournament Impossible
Andariel flicked aside the bloated corpse of her latest challenger. She knew the adventurers would keep coming. She'd heard some of them in the Outer Cloister earlier that day. But it didn't matter. Time had been rewritten and this time, it had been written right.

She knew how it had almost been. That hero, that one hero had defeated her and all the prime evils and saved the world. These pitiful humans, they had almost succeeded. But not now. Not now that the cosmic rules were so unfair. This time, the hero would fail and the humans would burn.

And there's nothing you can do about it. Still, you have to try...

TOURNAMENT
This tournament combines most of the restrictions from four different tournaments (although it only uses the skill restriction from the first one). They are the following:


Scavenger's Apprentice
http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/threads/the-apprentice-program-for-scavengers-tournament.612075/
Lethal Weakness Tournament
http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/threads/tournament-lethal-weakness.665418/
All Alone Tournament
http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/threads/all-alone-tournament-iii.565045/
12 Labors Tournament
http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/threads/the-12-labors-tournament.797986/

The specific rules and the way I've implemented the restrictions from these tournaments are listed below (those links are provided more to give credit than for you to use those restrictions since I've tweaked most of them).

Main Rules
1) HC, RRM/RWM allowed, (SC is fine but you're out when you die)
2) Any class. Any skills allowed.
3) Any item you find may be used.
6) No Save and Exit to escape death.
7) No re-running areas/bosses.
8) No multiplayer.
9) You do not need to get all the wps nor complete all the quests. (As you cannot, see "All Alone")
10) You can mule off any items you want, but may not mule anything back on.
EXCEPTION: you may mule on a wirt's leg just before you face normal diablo and just after you defeat nightmare and hell baal (for opening the cow level). If you want to face normal cows you'll have to lug that leg the full act. You may not socket the leg or wield it in combat except for the diablo fight.
11) Winner will be whoever has completed the most labors. If there is a tie, it's whoever has the most waypoints. If there's a tie in that then whoever has the *least* experience wins.
12) If you accidently break the rules, don't use the reward/item/merc you got from it. If it's a small breaking, you're not disqualified, but if you find yourself in act 4 with a rogue merc, that's severe enough to disqualify you.
13) Any /players setting allowed, may be changed at any time.
14) No limit to number of entries (though only one alive one at a time)


Okay, now here are the special rules for the Tournament.

Scavenger's Apprentice
Pick 8 skills. These are the only skills you may use (although their prereqs may be passive) and the only skills that you will have more than 1 point in (and only prereqs may have even that 1 point).
Label these skills "A" through "H"
Act 1 Normal: Assign skills to Skill "A" (first fulfilling its prereqs if necessary)
Act 2 Normal: Assign skills to Skill "B" (first fulfilling its prereqs if necessary)
etc.
Act 3 NM: Assign skills to Skill "H" (first fulfilling its prereqs if necessary)
Act 4 NM: Assign skills to Skill "G" (first fulfilling its prereqs if necessary)
etc.
Act 5 Hell: Assign skills to Skill "A" (first fulfilling its prereqs if necessary)

Points earned in an act must be spent on that act's skill or saved until the next time your act requires you to spend points on that skill. This means that if you choose a level 6 or higher skill for skill "A", some points will be stranded - unable to be spent - until you reach Hell Act 5.

Exception: Quest skill points (which are the book of skills and Izual's two, since you'll never be talking to Akara - see "All Alone" below) may be spent on prereqs/skills you plan to rank up in any act. This means that you can have skill "G" or "H" available in act 2 for example - although it won't have any points except quest points until you get to the appropriate acts.

Second Exception: If an act's skill is maxed out, you may spend those skill points as if they were quest skill points.

Lethal Weakness
You pick one resistance out of the four. Lightning, Fire, Cold or Poison. That resistance CANNOT be raised above it's basic starting value. So 0 in Normal, -40 in Nightmare, and -100 in Hell.
- If you chose cold, thawing potions are not allowed. Neither is the Half Freeze duration or Cannot be Frozen mod.
- If you chose poison, antidotes are not allowed. The poison length reduced mod is also not allowed in that case.
- A shrine that grants resistance to your lethal weakness is not allowed.
- Mala's scroll cannot be used.
- The mod Magic Damage Reduction is not allowed.
- Any mod that grants + to all resistance types is not allowed.
- The lethal weakness resistance may not be absorbed either.
- Any skill that grants a + to your lethal weakness is not allowed.
To sum them up: The barbarian cannot use Natural Resistance. The assassin cannot use Fade, the Paladin cannot use his resist aura of the lethal weakness (the others ARE allowed, however). Nor can he use Salvation unless he has chosen poison. The Druids can't use Cyclone Armor, unless they chose poison as their lethal weakness.
- The Paladin may not use Cleansing if he has chosen poison.

All Alone
No going to town unless it is essential for progressing in the game AND you may only speak to those necessary people solely for the purpose of going on, not to buy anything. Note that this means NO MERC.
Exception to this rule is you may go to town after killing Radament (which may be before setting off to cube the staff or after it is completely finished).
Also, if at the end of act 1 you don't have a tomb of identify (from scroll racks), you may purchase one - but you must drop identify scrolls equal to the number it spawns with.
No using the stash in town.

12 Labors
3 Labors of Vengeance
The Labors of Vengeance are to be performed against Normal Diablo, Nightmare Lord DeSeis, and Hell Lister at the time when you first encounter them in the normal course of questing.
Wirt's Revenge
Kill Normal Diablo while wielding a Wirt's leg. Even for casters, the killing blow should be accomplished by striking with the Leg.
Decease DeSeis -Revenge of the A2 Merc
You must avenge the genocide of A2 mercs by the Iron Maiden aura of Oblivion Knights that has occurred in previous versions of D2! In NM difficulty you must use a Polearm or Spear and your gear or the runes in them must contain the letters D, E, S, E, I, S (in any order). So you could have a Superior cloth armor count for an "S" or you could have an "El" socketed superior cloth armor count for an "E" and an "S". Prepare your gear for when you get here. If you don't have the right equipment, you must either return to areas you have not cleared yet (single pass!) to fulfill the requirement or unequip all gear and refrain from using all skills while you attempt to defeat DeSeis (so I hope you have godly runes and the world's biggest potion stash).
Blister Lister
You must exact vengeance against Hell Lister for his role in making Baal-running so unattractive for Magic Finding! On /P8 setting, you must face Hell Lister and his minions and kill them. The armor, jewelry and weapon that you are equipped with when fighting Hell Lister must have at least +200% MF. You are advised to plan ahead for this requirement. If, for whatever reason, you are unable to equip yourself with at least +200% Magic Find, then you must face Lister naked except for a belt, and any combination of weapon(s) and shield that you choose. Again, please plan ahead.
Note: You are allowed to clear the Throne of Destruction of all other monsters, including the previous four minion waves, with no restrictions on your equipment.
3 Labors of Power
These Labors will test your Hero's power and courage. They must be accomplished on /P8 at the point in your character’s Quest when he would naturally encounter and fight these adversaries.
Kill Duriel (N)
On /P8, kill Duriel in Normal difficulty.
Kill Ancient Kaa (NM)
On /P8, you must kill Ancient Kaa on Nightmare Difficulty. For this one test, because you are facing a Lightning Enchanted Boss, you must outfit in non-metallic (leather or wooden) armor and use a non-metallic weapon.
Allowable non-metallic armor and weapons for use by your character in this Labor includes any grade of the following base items and their Exceptional and Elite versions:
Gloves, Boots, and Body Armor: Quilted, Leather, Heavy Leather and Studded Leather variants
Shields: Small, Bone and Spiked Shields, the Paladin Heraldic and Zakarum Shields, and all Necro Shrunken Heads
Helms: Cap, Bone Helm, all Circlets and Coronas, all Druid Pelts and all non-metal Barb helms
Belts: All except Plated Belts
All Amulets and Rings are allowed
All wands, staves, scepters, orbs, bows and cross-bows
All clubs, specifically the Club and Spiked Club
Crystal Sword
Clarification: You don't have to equip this gear until you encounter him within his tomb - at which point you may retreat and change equipment.
Hell Ancients
The ultimate test: Defeat the Hell Ancients on /P8. This a death-cage match involving your character and any summons against Korlic, Talic and Madawc. No rerolling.
Labor of Persistence
There is one Labor of Persistence.
Overpower the Towers
Destroy one (1) Fire Tower in Normal Difficulty, two (2) Fire Towers in NM, and all the Fire Towers in Hell. Note: Fire Towers are found in the A2 Lost City area and in the A2 Valley of the Snakes guarding the entrance to the Claw Viper Temple. For this labor, there are no restrictions on equipment, skills or /players setting.
For each difficulty level, you must kill the required number of fire towers prior to entering the Claw Viper Temple for the first time.
5 Labors of Survival
These Labors require you to travel and accomplish a goal without actively attacking any monsters. The first Labor of Survival is with your newly created character but for the other Survival labors you should use a combination of speed, defense/res, blocking, Monster AI skills, passive chilling and healing to survive. The intent is that your character not kill any monsters during a Labor of Survival.
The only Summons that are allowed during a Labor of Survival are Clay Golem, Decoy, Ravens, Carrion Vine, Solar Creeper and any of the three Druid Spirits. Bonewall, bone prison, and passive attacks such as shiver armor and the Holy Frost Aura are also allowed. A lvl 1 Warcry and a lvl 1 Mindblast are both allowed but must have no augmentation from + skills. A Paladin may use the Conversion skill with a very low-damage weapon. An Assassin’s Traps and the Sorceress’ Hydra are not allowed.
Stealth on the Moors
As the first actions of your brand new character, perform the following three actions in this order without attacking a monster:
- Find and activate the special chest in the house on Blood Moors. You may equip yourself from this chest and from any other Blood Moors’ chest or non-monster object that you find.
- Speak to Flavie and activate the Cold Plains WP.
- Sneak through the Den of Evil, and with your character’s very first blow, strike Corpsefire.
Deathtrap in Drifter Cavern
In Normal difficulty, this Labor of Survival begins when your character enters the Glacial Trail for the first time. You must travel through the Glacial Trail (without actively attacking any monsters, per the rules stated above) and locate the entrance to the Drifter Cavern. You must then descend to Drifter Cavern and travel to the Sparkly Chest. Once you have activated the Sparkly Chest, you are no longer restricted from attacking monsters.
During the course of this Labor, the skills “Teleport”, “Leap”, "Leap Attack" and "Pheonix Flight" may be used by any character while in the Glacial Trail, but may NOT be used in the Drifter Cavern until the Drifter Cavern Sparkly Chest is activated.
Dark Passage
On NM difficulty, your test begins when you leave the Stony Fields and enter the Underground Passage for the first time. You must travel through the Underground Passage without actively attacking a monster and emerge in the Dark Woods. During the course of this Labor, the skills “Teleport”, “Leap”, "Leap Attack" and "Pheonix Flight" may not be used.
A Caress for Andariel
On Hell difficulty, this Labor begins when you enter Catacombs level 3. You must traverse this level and then descend to Catacombs Level 4 without striking a monster. You must continue traveling through Level 4 to Andariel. Once arriving at Andariel, you must “caress” her, i.e., you must strike her with your ungloved and unweaponed hand (and no weapons allowed on your switch either!). At that point you are no longer restricted from attacking monsters. This may be small consolation, however, as your gloves and weapon are in your backpack and more than one angry monster may be converging on you. During the course of this Labor, the skills “Teleport”, “Leap”, "Leap Attack" and "Pheonix Flight" may not be used until you caress Andariel.
Mad Cow Disease
On Hell Difficulty, you must enter the Cow Level. During the course of this Labor, the skills “Teleport”, “Leap”, "Leap Attack" and "Pheonix Flight". You must circle (circumnavigate) the cow level completely and stay alive for 30 seconds without actively attacking a cow. After the 30 seconds are up....umm...lol.... you may do whatever you want! But, you don't win until there aren't any cows. So, you know, good luck!
****************************
Here is the sequence of Labor-related activities you must perform.
NORMAL
A1 Rogue Encampment (Start): Stealth on the Moors Labor
A2 Lost City or Valley of the Snakes: Kill 1 Fire Tower, Overpower the Towers Labor
A2 Duriel Lair: Kill Duriel Labor
A4 Diablo: Wirt’s Revenge Labor
A5 Glacial Trail: Deathtrap in the Drifter Cavern Labor
NIGHTMARE
A1 Underground Passage : Dark Passage Labor
A2 Lost City or Valley of the Snakes: Kill 2 Fire Towers, Overpower the Towers Labor
A2 Canyon of the Magi/False Tombs: Kill Ancient Kaa Labor
A4 Chaos Sanctuary: Decease DeSeis Labor
HELL
A1 Catacombs Level 2 Waypoint: A Caress for Andariel Labor
A2 Lost City & Valley of the Snakes: Overpower the Towers Labor
A5 Arreat Summit: Hell Ancients Labor
A5 Throne of Destruction: Blister Lister Labor
A5 Cow Level: Mad Cow Disease Labor

---

That's it. That enough for you? Let me get this started:

Code:
Name            Level Class        Lethal Weakness Progress Waypoints Labors
Muhndie         4     Barbarian    Cold            Act I N  2         1

Muhndie's skills will be as follows:
A. Mace Mastery
B. Find Item
C. Leap Attack
D. Berserk
E. Whirlwind
F. Battle Orders
G. Battle Cry
H. Howl
 
Last edited:
Sput said
Looks like a fun challenge. I am entering with Ktizo a necromancer. His skills will be:

A. Raise Skeleton
B. Summon Resist
C. Amplify Damage
D. Dim Vision
E. Skeleton Mastery
F. Corpse Explosion
G. Revive
H. Clay Golem

Quick question: Since I have picked Clay Golem as one of my 8 usable skills, and it is a prereq for Summon Resist, can I begin using Clay Golem as soon as I am allowed to put a point in it? If not, I may have to revise my skill ordering a little bit

Note: This will be a long term project, so updates may be slow in coming.
Sput said

Ktizo has cleared through Act 1, completing the Stealth on the Blood Moor labor on the way, and is level 20. As I have received no reply to the contrary, I am going to assume that I will be able to use Clay Golem (at 1 point only) until Act 3 Nightmare when I can put more points into it. BTW his lethal weakness is cold.

Finds of note are a +3 Skeletal Mastery Preserved Head, a +1 Skeletal Mastery Yew Wand, and a 3os (Eth) Ring Mail into which I put 3 chipped topaz. I am enjoying the All Alone aspect of this tourney as it forces hard decisions of what to keep and what to jettison. Plus, the game goes quicker without trips to town to sell, buy, gamble, etc... It should be noted, however, that this restriction makes getting Wirt's Leg impossible (unless I missed something), so if I get to Normal Diablo, I'll probably try to kill him with a normal club.

I don't foresee too much trouble in Act 2 until I get to Duriel; I have a feeling he is going to be very tough on p8. I hopefully will have a Steel and a Strength weapon for a combo of CB and OW. Note that I plan on using the quest reward point from Radament on Amplify Damage.

I also foresee that the skeleton army will begin to become less and less effective without Skeletal Mastery points, especially in Act 4. It might be a long slog if I make it that far; we'll see.

Ktizo's skills are currently:
Raise Skeleton: 19

Labors Completed:
Stealth on the Moors
thewamp said

1. No you cannot - unless you put at least one quest point in it. Otherwise, it's just a prereq until you get to act 3 NM. But if you use that book of skills to fill out the prereq then sure.

However, I should point out that summon resist is a level 24 skill. Since you can only get to level 20 with /p8 full clears of act 1, you'll have 1 skill points that you can't spend until act 4 hell - there are two prereqs fortunately, but the point you'll get at level 23 has nowhere to go.

Yeah, the limited inventory space + oh shit, durability is a real thing aspects of the all alone challenge have always appealed to me.

EDIT: Yeah crap sorry I didn't see that earlier. Let me know if you progressed past act I

EDIT2: Oh good call. I didn't notice how diablo labor wouldn't play well with all alone. My solution is in rule 10 in the first post - not the best solution, but by the point you're allowed to mule it on, it should be completely worthless and 2 challenges rely on the leg (hell cows too!)
Sput said

Okay. I have not progressed into Act II yet, so now that (I think) I've digested the rules I'll make Ktizo's skill list:

A. Raise Skeleton
B. Amplify Damage
C. Summon Resist
D. Dim Vision
E. Skeleton Mastery
F. Corpse Explosion
G. Revive
H. Clay Golem

I'll use the Radament skill point on Clay Golem.

Your rule 10 solution means that we can mule on a Wirt's Leg found by a different character and if we want to open Normal Cows, we need to mule this on at the beginning of act 5? Is this correct?
thewamp said

Perfect!

Almost - mule it on before you fight diablo in the wirt's revenge challenge in normal. And yeah, just grab one on a different character.
Sput said

As predicted things went smoothly until I reached Duriel. I had made Steel in a Crystal Sword and had found Crushflange for some CB. However, without Summon Resist and other skills the golem and skeletal army were seriously underpowered; they melted after a few seconds when Duriel had been knocked down to about 2/3 health. The clay golem could not tank as he would get one shot and the cold lethal weakness meant that Ktizo was brittle himself. After a while of running around and attempting to trigger OW, I was able to get Duriel to just below half health; however, my potion stock had become entirely depleted. It was just a matter of time before deeds.

I had a good (but brief) time with Ktizo in this very difficult (but not impossible) tournament. I am going to reenter with a Paladin; hopefully he will be able to last through normal.
Sput said

I am reentering with Ogier a paladin. His lethal weakness will be poison and his skills will be

A. Smite
B. Holy Shield
C. Conversion
D. Defiance
E. Fanaticism
F. Conviction
G. Vengeance
H. Salvation
squidder said

RIP Ktizo. Normal Duriel at p8 will indeed be a labor. I think this tourney may actually be impossible but I will be delighted to be proved wrong.

Good luck Ogier and Muhndie!

I'll enter FranSolo, a zon who is allergic to poison.

A. Power Strike
B. Charged Strike
C. Avoid
D. Critical Strike
E. Valk
F. Dodge
G. Decoy
H. Evade
SunsetVista said

I'd like to try this. It does seem impossible!

I have a question about the skills for each act, though. Wouldn't the progression work something like this?
Normal (Act: Skill)
1: A
2: B
3: C
4: D
5: E
Nightmare
1: F
2: G
3: H
4: A
5: B
Hell
1: C
2: D
3: E
4: F
5: G

EDIT: So...I figured it out I think. It's supposed to be like this instead?
Normal (Act: Skill)
1: A
2: B
3: C
4: D
5: E
Nightmare
1: F
2: G
3: H
4: G
5: F
Hell
1: E
2: D
3: C
4: B
5: A
SunsetVista said

Is it ok to use charges of a skill on an item? Like Cloak of Shadows on Nadir?

Also, I'm having a hard time remembering which NPC's I actually have to talk to in order to finish the game.

I think I'll get started though. Kathinja, the Charged Boltress, attempts the impossible!

A: Charged Bolt
B: Lightning
C: Teleport
D: Warmth
E: Lightning Mastery
F: Energy Shield
G: Frozen Orb
H: Static Field

She will be weak to Cold, which saves me the trouble of looking for a Spirit shield. =)

Edit: So far so good! I completed Stealth on the Moors on /players 1, and then went to /players 8 for the Cold Plains. So far I've cleared half of Stony Field (to waypoint), Burial Grounds, Crypt, and Mausoleum. I've skipped the Cave for now, since I really don't want to die to my nemesis Coldcrow so soon. Every Scroll of Identify is a treasure! I've put a few points in energy to keep up with my forced charge bolt mana increase. Those points won't be wasted; they'll help with the later budget ES. I'm using a gemmed short bow (chipped ruby, chipped sapphire, chipped skull) when I'm not blasting things with charged bolts. Before I found the bow, I was using javelins, including a nice rare with +1 cold damage and +damage to undead. The extra safety from chilling enemies was nice, even so early on.
SunsetVista said

Code:
Name            Level Class        Lethal Weakness Progress Waypoints Labors
Muhndie         4     Barbarian    Cold            Act I N  2         1
Kathinja    15    Sorceress    Cold            Act I N  5         1

Kathinja has made it to the Black Marsh waypoint and cleared the Cave and the Hole. My first (and only so far) set/unique was the hsarus shield (on switch with javelin). I'm still using that gemmed bow, although it's pretty weak. Of the charms I have found, a few have been +lightning damage, so it's still good to have a manaless ranged option. Two chipped topazes have dropped and I'm wearing both of them. Chipped diamonds are surprisingly useless to me because of the lethal weakness rules. It's looking like my ultimate goal on this character, should I survive that long, is to carry Insight myself.

I can't stop picking up gold. The habit is too strong, lol.

I have 14 points in charged bolt! bwahahaha!

I can't go to Tristram without talking to Akara, so I will just not be going there. I guess I will mule on a Wirt's Leg for Diablo.

What does it mean, that I can go to town after killing Radament? What am I allowed to do?
SunsetVista said

I edited the table... hope that's ok:
Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress  Waypoints Labors
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N   2         1
SunsetVista   Kathinja         22    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N  12        1
Sput          Ogier                Paladin      Poison
squidder      FranSolo             Amazon       Poison


FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress  Waypoints Labors
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N            1

Kathinja is now lvl 22 and in Act 2, with 18 points in charged bolt and 3 in lightning. Many times I have nearly run out of potions. It's been the most exciting Normal ever. Countess dropped Ith and Tal. I was going to save the Tal, but then an Envy jewel dropped, so I socketed it in a longbow. Andariel dropped an emerald, also for the backup poison bow of doom. I'm very happy that I found a Tome of Identify in the barracks, but now it's more difficult to remember that ID scrolls are limited. I should save them for rares I guess.

Do not cast charged bolt on beetles. Poison works really well though.

I've cleared rocky waste, stony tomb, dry hills, halls of the dead, and gotten the cube. The first thing I did was cube a bunch of full rejuvs. My 2 chipped topaz armor is showing low durability, so I'm on the lookout for a replacement for that.

I plan to use the quest skill point from Radament on Static Field so that I will have access to that for /players 8 Duriel. yikes.
squidder said

Good progress Kathinja! Getting the cube and the tome of identify really makes things a lot more pleasant, doesn't it? Static field sounds like a good plan for Duriel.

FranSolo has been tipping away. It is very frustrating to find a nice pair of rare boots and have to leave them on the ground because of a small bit of poison resist!! ;) Since all the other rules make this tourney bloody hard, she has been taking full advantage of changing player numbers, mostly to avoid stairtraps. No switching just before opening chests.

She had to buy a tome of ID at start of act 2 but dropped a scroll to compensate.

She remembered to kill one of the fire towers, and did the stealth on the moors. Andariel was easy at p1.

Fran went through all of the fake tombs to prepare for Duriel Labor. She had to park p8 Ancient Kaa - lightning attacks couldn't damage him quickly enough to be safe. She'll have a hard time completing the Kaa labor in NM, IF she gets that far :eek:

Fran threw away almost all of her runes to leave potion space for p8 Duriel - again frustrating :D. The big worm died, just about - had 2 full rejuvs, 2 healings, plenty of manas left. Had an armor shrine for the first part of the fight which probably was useful. Fran had maxed cold resist and drank 8-10 thawing potions in case they helped - probably didn't make any difference.

She's level 27 with a level 14 Power Strike, a level 6 Charged Strike, and 4 unused skill choices (3 of which she can't use until A5 Hell :(). Probably will use the Radament skill on Valk - but will think a bit more about that.

I took the Radament town rule to mean you could walk through town after you leave the sewers :) Don't think you can talk to anyone.

I'm pretty sure that using skill charges from an item is permitted, thewamp will clarify.

Good luck everyone!

FranSolo, level 27, Normal Kurast Docks.
Sput said

Good to see a couple of more folks attempting the impossible!

Nice job Squidder getting past Duriel; Charged Strike is great for bosses and I'm sure the max cold resist helped too.

Good luck SunsetVista with Duriel. Cold as the lethal weakness is pretty treacherous.

Ogier has cleared through Act 1, completing the Stealth on the Moors along the way, and through the Radament quest. Things are slow going, but relatively safe since Smite is a nice skill especially with a Spiked Shield. Lots of thinning packs, so as to able to take on 2 or at most 3 monsters at a time. Low mana is a constant source of frustration as is inventory space; had to leave both Pluckeye and the Pelta Lunata on the way. Things should get better once Ogier gets access to Holy Shield.

Ogier: level 21 Paladin, 19 Smite, 1 Holy Bolt, 1 Sacrifice (quest reward)
Zenigma said

Seriously considering entering this, as I've spent my time at work deciding what build I would find fun for this.
(Side note: the restricted skill I believe is called Dragon Flight, not Phoenix Flight, also, in the cow challenge section, the sentence isn't ended which is taking about the restriction. I don't mean to pick nits, but it was distracting when I skimmed the challenge when it was first posted, sorry.)
When I get home, I'll decide if I want to really participate; I'm pretty sure I have a decent build to do for this challenge
SunsetVista said

Congrats squidder on a successful /p8 Duriel kill! Perhaps I should have chosen charged strike instead of charged bolt, definitely more efficient.

Congrats Sput on making it back to Act 2! Holy Shield should help a lot.

You should join, Zenigma! I want to see as many good builds as possible!

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
SunsetVista   Kathinja         24    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   15        1
Sput          Ogier          21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1



FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N             1

Let's see...
cleared sewers, put point from radament into static field
did far oasis, lost city, ancient tunnels
killed a fire tower
lvl 24, 15 waypoints, 18 charged bolt, 5 lightning, 1 static field, 91562 gold
cleared claw viper temple, maggot lair, have horadric staff

I replaced my broken armor with a 2 socket studded leather with a flawed skull (life regen!) and a regular topaz.
I found a 14 mf fortuitous ring. I haven't found a good shield for blocking, so I gemmed a kite shield with some chipped rubies and chipped topaz for resists. Now my boots are showing signs of wear. I hope my next pair has resists or magic find or frw or fhr. I'm using a regular white belt still for the 3 potion rows.

Next is the palace cellar. Not sure if I will do /p3 or /p5. The archers worry me. And then arcane sanctuary. It will be weird to do that as a sorc without teleport.
I hope to find some amazing sorc orb. It's unlikely.
SunsetVista said

Got the Canyon of the Magi waypoint.
Level 25, 18 waypoints, 18 charged bolt, 6 lightning, 1 static field, 116351 gold (lol)

My boots broke, so I did the harem barefoot. /wink?

Kathinja had her first really scary moment in the arcane sanctuary on /p3. There was a wraith boss that was cold enchanted and its death explosion really hurt. Then, 2 NDEs to the Summoner's cold attack. The Summoner's evil laugh has never been quite as scary. I was worried about the lightning spires, but I put on my gemmed resist shield and beat them to death with a crystal sword. New boots are fhr and lightning res! Yay! New belt has mana on it! yay! My tome of identify is full thanks to all the wraiths.

It's tough to strike a balance between easier kills on /p3 or /p5 and a higher player setting to get more drops. Careful potion management is intense.
SunsetVista said

It was a slippery slope. I wasn't able to kill on higher player settings anymore (the bow wasn't doing enough damage, and it was too risky to move in for point blank charged bolts since I was squishy), so I did some false tombs on /p3. That meant I wasn't getting potion drops. I ran out of healing potions in the second false tomb, so I decided to do the real tomb on /p1 while I still could. I went in to /p8 Duriel with 3 healing, 6 full rejuvs, 3 mana pots on the belt and a few more in the inventory.

Deeds to /p8 Duriel, as feared. I'm so mad that I let the adrenaline get to me and played badly. I was able to sliver him with Static, but then my lightning was missing each time. Yeah, lightning. Should've used charged bolt, but I was entirely consumed by my need to drink a purple potion every 2 hits(!). Just a simple scroll of the mousewheel and this might have ended a little differently. Yuck. =(

This is my first actual Deeds that mattered at all. Ugh.

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
Sput          Ogier          21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1



FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja         26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   18        1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N             1

I was almost able to play as an actual Charged Boltress with this orb I found in a false tomb (and the extra static helped on Duriel):
-----
Victorious Smoked Sphere
One-Hand Damage: 4 to 10
Durability: 27 of 35
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 12
Orb Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 17
Fingerprint: 0xfa0ad562
+2 to Life
+1 to Frozen Armor (Sorceress Only)
+2 to Static Field (Sorceress Only)
+2 to Warmth (Sorceress Only)
+5 to Mana After Each Kill
-----

I never cast the frozen armor, of course.

Oh well. I might re-enter later with something a bit more viable. Good luck, all!
pharphis said
:eek: /p8 duriel!? Are you insane? He doesn't even drop items :p
 
Arranj said

oooo, this looks ridiculously difficult. Just the kind of thing a lurker needs to start posting again ;D

I'll bite..


Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
Sput          Ogier          21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1
arranj        Svanhild       1     Assassin     Poison   Act I N



FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja         26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   18        1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N             1

Not 100% certain on my skill choices as of yet, cant quite fathom the best method of progression without getting stuck in. Skill A is def Claws of fire, i know the others but not the most efficient order - will update before i reach act 2.
SunsetVista said

@pharphis
I didn't have a single town portal scroll, and I figured /p8 Duriel was my best shot! =P

I'm not ready to give up yet. Currently coming up with a new plan.

Edit: Ok, here goes nothing.

Ashenzari the Assassin, weak to poison, begins the quest [highlight]to kill /p8 Duriel[/highlight] and other things.
A: Fire Blast
B: Blade Fury
C: Shadow Warrior
D: Burst of Speed
E: Death Sentry
F: Lightning Sentry
G: Tiger Strike
H: Cloak of Shadows
SunsetVista said

Alright! Ashenzari is off to a great start! I was less afraid of the stealth challenge and completed it on /p8. I'm having much better chipped topaz luck this time. Already broke 2 scepters and I've only cleared through Stony Field. 12 points in Fire Blast gets the job done most of the time, and I kill lightning enchanted things from afar with javelins. I'm alternating between vit and dex, going for max block this time. I found a gem shrine and used it on a chipped ruby (trying to get blood gloves early for crushing blow blade fury).

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
Sput          Ogier          21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      13    Assassin     Poison   Act I N    3         1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1
arranj        Svanhild       1     Assassin     Poison   Act I N



FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   18        1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N             1
squidder said

Good luck Ashenzari! Welcome & good luck to Svanhild!

Great try SunsetVista with Kathinja. That orb you found looked really useful. You did great to even sliver Duriel. It was always going to be a tough fight, especially with no cold resistance. Totally annoying that Kathinja couldn't finish off that last little bit of Duriel's health.

Fran also was running out of health potions in some of the false tombs - seemed like for certain combinations of monsters, there just weren't enough health potions dropping. She ended up having to drink some rejuvs, which was crap with Duriel waiting just around the corner....
Arranj said

Progressing nicely with Svanhild, just entering the dark woods. Didn't expect it to be such a nightmare with weapon durability! found myself on two occasions scrabbling to pickup something to finish off the pack im fighting with - not having much luck with the crappy Katars ;(

Anyways, onwards and upwards!

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
Sput          Ogier          21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
arranj        Svanhild       14    Assassin     Poison   Act I N              1
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      13    Assassin     Poison   Act I N    3         1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1




FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   18        1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N             1
SunsetVista said

@squidder - Thanks! I think there must be a viable sorc build for this challenge, since any of them can get Static from Radament. Charged Bolt just wasn't my thing this time.

@Arranj - yeah, I hear you about durability. I'm on my second set of topaz armor + cap, and I've gone through 2 katars, 4 scepters, a spiked club, and a mace. I have a bow on switch in case I break a weapon without having found a replacement.

The Countess dropped Ith. I had some trouble with a Ghostly Dark Archer who kept chilling me, used a lot of pots.
That's no longer a concern for the moment, since I found death's belt in the Pit.
I probably should not have bothered with the Smith. He managed to hit me a few times and I used some pots that I might have better saved.
Pitspawn Fouldog was behind a grate (yes!) and so I firebombed him with no trouble. He dropped these awesome boots, which I will probably never take off:
-----
Shadow Blazer
Boots
Defense: 5
Durability: 12 of 12
Kick Damage: 3 to 8
Required Level: 9
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 14
Fingerprint: 0x217e82d
+15 to Maximum Stamina
+31% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +15%
11% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
10% Faster Hit Recovery
Repairs 1 durability in 33 seconds
-----
My inventory space is somewhat limited because I am carrying around a jewel, some heavy gloves, and a bunch of chipped rubies. But I did find a tome of identify, so I'm grateful for that.
I need the cube!
At least I don't need keys!

Taking a break at the Inner Cloister waypoint

Ashenzari, Level 19, 18 Fire Blast, 8 waypoints, 27001 gold

edit: found a Tal rune in cata 3 from a ghoul boss. That's only the 2nd time I've ever seen a rune outside of Countess in Act 1.
Andariel down, she dropped a ruby. This means when I have the cube I can make a flawless ruby, fingers crossed for a gem shrine and a nef rune (and that the resulting gloves do not have poison resist)
I plan to make a rush for the cube on /p1, kinda like an extra stealth mission. I need my inventory space back.
pharphis said

nice boots!
SunsetVista said

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      22    Assassin     Poison   Act II N   13        1
Sput          Ogier          21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
arranj        Svanhild       14    Assassin     Poison   Act I N              1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1




FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Slain By  Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1

The cube rush didn't quite go as planned. The Dry Hills were on the opposite side, so I ended up circling the entire Rocky Wastes. I ended up killing things instead of stealthing to the cube. In the Halls of the Dead, I found a 2 socket morningstar and an El, so I'm bashing things with Steel now. I will be sad when it breaks.

A Nef rune has dropped, so all I need for some crushing blow is a gem shrine and not poison resist. Please!

Just killed Radament and spent the skill point on Tiger Strike.
Level 22, 19 Fire Blast, 1 wake of fire, 1 blade sentinel, 1 tiger strike
SunsetVista said

Yes! Gem shrine in Far Oasis!
-----
Ghoul Hold
Heavy Gloves
Defense: 6
Durability: 7 of 14
Required Level: 17
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 16
Fingerprint: 0xd0088b40
+1 to Dexterity
+14 to Life
3% Life stolen per hit
5% Chance of Crushing Blow
-----
I'm not wearing them, because the durability is low. I'm saving them for lil D.

Current weapon with Blade Fury is a gemmed grand scepter with Nef, Tal, and a flawed skull.
so, with this somewhat unassuming treasure, Blade Fury is basically free!
-----
Amulet of the Bat
Required Level: 11
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 17
Fingerprint: 0x4d88c404
4% Mana stolen per hit
-----

Blade Fury is amazing. I was questing through Act 2 mostly on /p5 (a good balance of xp, resources, and sanity), but then when I got this up and running I went back to /p8 no problem. I'm not 100% sure, but it seems like I might even be able to block while in the star throwing animation.

Ashenzari
Level 24
15 waypoints
19 Fire Blast
2 Blade Fury
1 Tiger Strike
1 wake of fire
1 blade sentinel
1 Fire Tower slain, with great patience
Just cubed horadric staff, palace cellar next
squidder said

Wow, Ashenzari is flying along!! Only 2 days in and already cruising along at p8 - well done. You've got by Fangskin too, he can sometimes be tricky.

Loving the ghoul hold - an excellent plan well executed to get those gloves already.

Keep it up, hope you give duriel a good pummelling.
SunsetVista said

Yes! 3 thawing potions and 44% block chance with some leech and crushing blow on Blade Fury did the trick!

View attachment 437

What a relief! This tournament does a good job approximating the difficulty of Hell while still in Normal.

did /p8 arcane sanctuary, found the summoner path last and dropped it to /p5 just in case. He only got to launch 1 ice blast at me before I assassinated him from offscreen with blade fury.

/p8 canyon of the magi, /p5 false tombs for sanity (it was still an exercise in patience). Managed to kill Ancient Kaa with shurikens.

At last, the real tomb... finally got rid of that horadric staff, put on my nice gloves, set /players 8, drank the 3 thawing potions I'd managed to carry, and stepped through the door to face Duriel.

Right away, I noticed I was taking MUCH less damage than with the sorc. Cold resistance and blocking help. Before the thawing potions ran out I was able to manage the damage with red pots, but near the end I was taking purples pretty fast.

In Act 3, I'll be putting points towards Shadow Warrior. I'll get Cloak of Shadows first.
As for drops, I'd like some red pots (all out, don't want to use too many purples on trash), a small charm with cold damage, a 3 socket breastplate, an AMN rune, and a nice ethereal heavy hitting one handed weapon with 2 sockets for Strength.

I'm kinda worried about getting swarmed by flayers.

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      27    Assassin     Poison   Act III N  19        2
Sput          Ogier          21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
arranj        Svanhild       14    Assassin     Poison   Act I N              1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1
FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Slain By  Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
pharphis said

amn rune desired for leech or for a better wep?
SunsetVista said

@pharphis
amn rune for strength runeword in better weapon =)

Duriel dropped 2 scrolls of town portal. You mad? =P

...although I think I am unlikely to find an actual better weapon. I don't think a warhammer is likely to drop in Act 3.
Sput said

Congrats, SunsetVista! Good luck in act 3.

Ogier (level 25) has made it to the Arcane Sanctuary, so far p8 full clears. Found some good gear in the Hsarus boots + belt combo and a Fortuitous Amulet of Fortune (+38 MF). But, I am having terrible luck finding topazes, I found a total of 4 chipped and two flawed the entire time. Weapons good and bad come and go, but the countess dropped a Ral which I have socketed in a bow along with an emerald and a flawed sapphire. This has been a nice switch against certain dangerous foes.

As before, things are slow but pretty safe. Haven't been using Holy Shield much yet as the timer is too short and the mana cost too high, but hopefully will have it up and running in a level or two. I am feeling relatively confident for the upcoming battle against Duriel, but we'll see...
pharphis said

@SunsetVista
Only a little mad.

And that must be the runeword I had in mind.. more dmg, CB, etc? (and I guess leech)
SunsetVista said

Thanks, Sput! Good luck to you, too! Smite is a great plan.

Doing ok so far in Act 3.

One of the flesh beasts dropped a 3 socket breastplate right outside town! I've been filling it with flawed topazes as they drop.

More questing at /p5. I left the jade figurine and the gidbinn on the ground for the first time ever. The jungle was completely linear, spider forest --> great marsh --> flayer jungle. I didn't get swarmed too badly, although my shield took a beating. I had to replace it with a new gemmed large shield. I'd be using the Steelclash that dropped, but it has resist all, so it's not allowed.

A Grand Charm with cold damage dropped, so I'm using that, although I hope a smaller one drops soon.

I got Cloak of Shadows just in time for the Flayer Dungeon, and it's a good thing, because there were dolls down there. Mana's a little tight to be using CoS all the time still, but it is quite handy.

Ashenzari, lvl 29
19 Fire Blast
5 Blade Fury
1 Cloak of Shadows
1 Tiger Strike
...and some prereqs
2 Khalim pieces
151988 gold - it's like I can't gamble or something! =P
22 waypoints
/p8 LK next!
Zubans said

OK I am in.
Name: Candrian - Weakness: Poison
Skills:
A: Holy Fire
B: Zeal
C: Holy Freeze
D: Resist Cold
E: Resist Fire
F: Salvation
G: Holy Shield
H: Defiance

Starting out now.

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      29    Assassin     Poison   Act III N  19        2
Sput          Ogier          21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
arranj        Svanhild       14    Assassin     Poison   Act I N              1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1
Zubans        Candrian       17    Paladin      Poison   Act II N   10        1

FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Slain By  Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Zubans said

Update:
Completed Act 1. Did the stealth on the moors labour and activated every waypoint in Act1. Lvl 17 now. 12 points in Holy Fire, 1 point Might, 3 Unused Skill points which will have to wait for Act 5 Hell :eek:
I went through at players 8 clearing everything. In the Black Marsh I realised I would not be able to max out Holy Fire while still in Act 1 and so rushed through the rest of the act at lvl 1. Found a tome of identify in the Barracks. Zero sets or uniques. Ral rune from Countess. Most prized item is a 17AR, +5 life rep ring.
Time to go get that damn cube!
Zubans said

R.I.P. Candrian. Didn't remember/underestimated how tough P8 Duriel is. Had still found nothing useful in terms of gear which hurt me severely in the end (1 sock shield with a flawed sapphire is not going to cut it against p8 Duriel). Also didn't have enough thawing potions to make up for it. Got him to around 1/3 life left before I died.
I had had my doubts re the skill selection for a while as well and wanted to push through Act 2 as quickly as possible to get to Act 3 as soon as possible. I might have been thinking long term too much and not been focused on Duriel enough.
I might remake if I feel up to doing this all again.


Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      29    Assassin     Poison   Act III N  19        2
Sput          Ogier          21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
arranj        Svanhild       14    Assassin     Poison   Act I N              1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1

FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Slain By  Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Zubans        Candrian       21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N   Duriel    1
SunsetVista said

Welcome and good luck Zubans! Zeal might work.

Nice progress, Zubans. A replenish life item is so convenient in this tourney, nice find!

Oh, sorry about the Deeds. /p8 Duriel is nasty and 21 is quite a low level to face him untwinked. How would your skill selection be on the remake?
 
Zubans said

Hmm, you see my worry was that I would only get a couple of levels during my Act 3 stint (even on players 8) and would therefore have what I envisioned as my primary aura stunted for most of the game until Act 3 hell. That is why I tried rushing there and while I knew that I was underestimating Duriel, you never quite know by how much, and so I thought I would give it a shot. I am still mulling over alternative setups and other character classes. I just feel that once this character gets going he could go all the way. It is a tough challenge :)
SunsetVista said

Only getting a couple of levels during Act 3 is right!

I'll still need a prereq point in Weapon Block before I can get Shadow Warrior. We'll see if I can get enough experience for that. I plan on doing Trav at /p1 for safety, and then the durance will likely be at a lower player setting, too, to minimize doll incidents. I regret the point in Tiger Strike. I never hit anything in melee anymore because Blade Fury is so good.

I had resigned myself to using this until Act 4, where hopefully I'd pick up a warhammer of some kind:
-----
Gemmed Grand Scepter
'NefTal'
One-Hand Damage: 8 to 18
Durability: 51 of 60
Required Strength: 37
Required Level: 17
Mace Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 17
Fingerprint: 0x989470db
+75 poison damage over 5 seconds
2% Life stolen per hit
2% Mana stolen per hit
Knockback
150% Damage to Undead
Socketed (3: 3 used)
-----
It was a pretty good Blade Fury weapon, considering.

The Kurasts were kind to me! I found a small charm with cold damage and one with life, a white plated belt, Cleglaw's Pincers (knockback and slow, YAY!), enough flawed topazes to fill the breastplate, and, in Upper Kurast, a magic warhammer with 1-4 cold damage. I started picking up chipped gems to cube it with sockets in hopes of a godly weapon. I didn't do too badly:
-----
Deadly War Hammer of Worth
'Tal'
One-Hand Damage: 25 to 37
Durability: 52 of 55
Required Strength: 53
Required Level: 17
Mace Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0xe03f9607
+30% Enhanced Damage
+1 to Minimum Damage
+75 poison damage over 5 seconds
150% Damage to Undead
Socketed (1: 1 used)
-----
Maybe I should have tried again for more sockets before sticking the Tal in there, but the +30% damage made me happy. I didn't want to wait for more chipped gems to drop.

I did the temples for xp and drops even though there was no point in picking up Lam Esen's Tome. Battlemaid Sarina's pack was a challenge and used up some of my potions. After that, I foolishly got hit by a spider magus and had to wait a couple minutes at 1 hp for the poison to wear off. Those were some very nervous minutes. I decided to move closer to the stairs for safety but then it turned out that there were still some bloodlords and flesh hunter minions alive over there. Fighting them at low health under the strong poison was pretty scary.

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      30    Assassin     Poison   Act III N  25        2
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
Sput          Ogier          25    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
arranj        Svanhild       14    Assassin     Poison   Act I N              1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1

FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Slain By  Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Zubans        Candrian       21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N   Duriel    1

Sewers and Trav next
pharphis said

cleglaws = best gloves for this tournament and char :eek:
Zubans said

Well done on your progress and awesome equipment Sunsetvista! I wish the game would be kind to me in the same way. With my restarted character I have found two set items so far: Cleglaw's Claw and Arctic Furs (both useless to me).
Have just reached Jail lvl 1 WP on p8 throughout and am calling it a night there.
Candrians: lvl 18 - Weakness: Poison
Skills:
A: Holy Fire
B: Resist Fire
C: Zeal
D: Salvation
E: Resist Cold
F: Holy Freeze
G: Holy Shield
H: Defiance
SunsetVista said

@pharphis - yes, it is! That's the most excited I have ever been about green gloves!

@Zubans - thanks! I hope you find good stuff too! Good progress so far on the replay, and good luck!

Mephisto down. There was a scary phase while I was trying to get close to him. He just kept blasting me with lightning. Ouch.
Ghoul Hold and its crushing blow to the rescue again! Totally worth it to carry that thing in the cube all the way.
I did manage to get the correct spacing eventually, and I had enough potions to deal with the poison.

The Durance 3 welcoming party was nasty. There was this physical immune blood lord boss, so after a long, cloak-of-shadowy war of attrition with his pack, I broke out the Fire Blast to take him out.
View attachment 452

Then the first council member had Conviction, and wouldn't quit with the hydras. He didn't even have the courtesy to drop potions for me to refill after!

Mephisto dropped a rare war hammer that was not as good as what I have.

I'm almost lvl 31, but I'm done with Act 3. I could do the Swampy Pit to get there (skipped it earlier), but I hate that place passionately.
I'd rather put the point into Burst of Speed as soon as I level in Act 4.

Goals in Act 4:
1. don't die to demons
2. get a belt with resists, perhaps improve jewelry as well
3. 3 socket bone or tower shield to gem with more resists
4. kill Diablo with wirt's leg
5. warhammer base and amn rune for Strength

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      30    Assassin     Poison   Act IV N   28        2
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
Sput          Ogier          25    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
Zubans        Candrians      18    Paladin      Poison   Act I N              1
arranj        Svanhild       14    Assassin     Poison   Act I N              1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1

FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Slain By  Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Zubans        Candrian       21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N   Duriel    1


Ashenzari, level 30
19 Fire Blast
5 Blade Fury
1 Cloak of Shadows
1 Tiger Strike (what was I thinking)
...and some prereqs
28 waypoints
Zubans said

Glad to hear of Mephisto's demise! I dare say you might have picked the winning build?

Update on my side:
Just reached level 25 and collected the viper amulet. Next step is through the harem and into the Sanctuary. Going p8 all the way payed off. I am collecting everything I need for Duriel. Made a 40 to cold resist large shield by socketing two chipped and one flawed sapphire. Added to that a lucky 18cold resist ring and a weak 7 to cold res amulet and 8 cold res from a jewel in my armour. Made Steel in a Scimitar for speed and OW. Greatest piece of gear is this:
Entropy Hold
Ring
Required Level: 9
Fingerprint: 0xceeefb70
Item Level: 12
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+52 to Attack Rating
Lightning Resist +7%
Half Freeze Duration
22% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Interestingly enough my decision to forego socketing MF in to my equipment ha yielded much better results for me this time.
Found cleglaw's shield again :( Also tons of rares with poison res/PLR OR MDR involved somewhere :(
Found a gull dagger which I think I will mule off. I don't see much opportunity to use it without the ability to re-run areas. Pity I am not a caster :/
Other finds include Deathspade and Stoutnail (both left behind).

I spent my Radament Quest Point on Resist Fire so my skills currently look like this:
1 Might
15 Holy Fire (3 unspent Act 1 skill points waiting for me)
6 Resist Fire

I bashed in both fire towers at the Viper Temple.
Zubans said

Update:
That B@*#@rd Duriel is dead.
I cleared everything in Act 2 on p8 trying to get as much xp and as many levels as possible. Made it to lvl 28 before running out of enemies. The Tombs were nightmarish deathtraps with endless Steel Scarabs and Unraveller/Guardians. Luckily being such a high level (comparatively) makes a significant difference to one's survivability. By the end of it though my sanity was hanging by a thread.
Found myself a pair of boots during the endless fighting:
Raven Greaves
Chain Boots
Defense: 9
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 9
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0x68a1cad5
Item Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Charged Bolt when struck
+7 Maximum Stamina
Cold Resist +17%
14% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Repairs 1 Durability in 33 Seconds

Duriel was almost anticlimactic. My damage still seemed insignificant, but my Max cold resist, 56% Block, and the many, many potions I had hoarded meant that he really had no chance. He was dangerous when he landed a stun and managed to hit me again during, but otherwise it was fine. All the items dropped by Duriel either had poison resistance, all resistances or MDR...
View attachment 453

Act 3 now. If I could wish for something, it would be a Ravenclaw :)

It is a long road ahead...
Zubans said

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      30    Assassin     Poison   Act IV N   28        2
Zubans        Candrians      28    Paladin      Poison   Act III N  20        2
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
Sput          Ogier          25    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
arranj        Svanhild       14    Assassin     Poison   Act I N              1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1

FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Slain By  Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Zubans        Candrian       21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N   Duriel    1
SunsetVista said

Hurray! Congrats Zubans! Nice boots! And that ring from earlier will be good for a long time.

Yeah, normally in a challenge like this, a purple shield would be a sweet drop. Too bad they are useless here.

Izual took forever to kill on /p3 with the crushing blow gloves. Burst of Speed has been really nice to have. Being able to dodge projectiles better is nice, and finally I'm not so darn slow. I'm about to do River of Flame on /p5 I think, and then go grab a wirt's leg. Best Act 4 drop so far has been a Thul rune for future Black runeword. Just need an Io and a base. <-- far away

I've been planning ahead (ambitious, I know) for the two gear challenges in NM (Ancient Kaa and DeSeis). Mostly, if I find something small enough to carry in the cube that starts with 'D', I'm hanging on to it. And I want a bone shield instead of a tower shield to meet the non-metal gear requirement. Tower shields take 75 str, too, which is something I don't have yet. I still need more dex (hit chance mostly, now) and vit at the moment. I'll be looking for an exceptional scepter or dimensional blade for a weapon upgrade so that I can use it against Kaa.
Zubans said

:) Thanks. It feels great to gain equipment pieces that won't get destroyed.

You are progressing nicely! Thinking ahead is very good, I suppose I should also start collecting the De Seis stuff... Sigh.

A word of warning: 'Black' has MDR so it is not allowed. Frustrating indeed.
Zubans said

Update:
Made my way through the Spider Forest and Great Marsh on p8. However I p1-ed against Zzark the Burning. I was taking no chances with him. Activated the Great Marsh WP at the entrance to the Flayer Jungle. Leaving it there for the day.
Candrians - Lvl 29
1 Might
15 Holy Fire (3 un-spent Holy Fire points)
9 Resist Fire (including Radament Quest point)
1 Sacrifice
SunsetVista said

@Zubans
Oh, man, I completely missed that when I was planning! Thank you so much for the heads up!

River of Flame was annoying with the Blood Maggots, and dangerous with the Abyss Knights. Hellforge was Tal and a perfect skull.

I did CS on /p1, but it probably should have been a little higher so I could get more potions. I don't know though. Oblivion Knights ignore CoS and their ranged attacks were hitting pretty hard. They are fast, too, fast enough that the blade fury setup time is relevant.

Thank you, Infector of Souls!
-----
Loath Brow
Circlet
Defense: 60
Durability: 21 of 35
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 33
Fingerprint: 0xcdf5970f
+8 to Energy
+96% Enhanced Defense
+108 to Attack Rating
Damage Reduced by 3
+1 to Assassin Skill Levels
-----

Diablo down, barely. I have no healing or rejuvs left. I attacked him from a distance with blade fury and crushing blow, then switched to Wirt's Leg and Tiger Strike (mwahahaha, AR) for the final few hits. But, my last hit wasn't in melee with the leg. After I drank my last rejuv, I backed off and threw one more shuriken (with wirt's leg equipped), which was the killing blow.

Having only 50 fire res and 30 lightning res meant I had to use a lot of pots. I really thought I was toast whenever I made a mistake with the lightning hose. Thank goodness normal bosses do not regenerate hps. Several times, I broke away from the fight to search for extra healing potions left on the ground from the seal bosses.

I am not carrying the Wirt's Leg with me through Act 5. I dropped it right after the Diablo kill.

As my actual last hit wasn't exactly with Wirt's Leg, I'm not going to count this labor as complete, even though I was close and gave it my best shot. I guess I'm waiting for confirmation from thewamp if I'm still officially in the tourney having missed a labor. =/ I'm still going to play, but my score might not count in the end.

I spent the 2 Izual skill points to catch up and get Shadow Warrior.

Ashenzari, level 32, alive but cowardly =/
19 Fire Blast
5 Blade Fury
2 Burst of Speed
1 Tiger Strike
1 Cloak of Shadows
1 Shadow Warrior
...and some prereqs
31 waypoints

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      32    Assassin     Poison   Act V N    31        2
Zubans        Candrians      29    Paladin      Poison   Act III N  21        2
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
Sput          Ogier          25    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
arranj        Svanhild       14    Assassin     Poison   Act I N              1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1

FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Slain By  Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Zubans        Candrian       21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N   Duriel    1
Zubans said

Ah, damn! I am so sorry. To have come so close and then run out of potions!
As I understand the rules, this counts only as one less labour to your overall tally. I don't think it merits disqualification. Perhaps thewamp will judge on a case by case basis?
Either way don't be down about it! You have achieved amazing feats!

P.S. That is a fantastic circlet! Excellent find given the circumstances.
Zubans said

Update:
Mephisto is dead. Overall Act 3 was not a problem on p8 although I took no chances with the Spider Cave, the Council and Durance lvl 3. There were some crazy battles in some of those temples in Upper Kurast and on the Causeway but nothing truly NDE. I was getting close to levelling in Durance lvl 2 and then decided I would prefer to receive the upcoming skill point in Act 4 and so rushed through the level without clearing it all.

Tal, Tal, Tal and Ral times two makes Ort. Ort means Zephyr! My first time making this runeword and my god is it beautiful! Mr Vilehand also dropped a flail of self-repair which is awesome since I can now zeal with abandon. Other notable drops include Manald Heal (awesome - wearing it), Bloodthief, Berserker's Hauberk, The Centurion (which I am wearing for now), Sigon's boots and a cool little +1 summoning skills (necro) with 21 MF amulet which I muled off. I discarded Sigon's boots after much, much deliberation and I think I might have made the wrong choice on that... I don't have the str to wear them, they are destructible and inventory space is so limited...but still... Ah well.
As a side note, I cannot recommend replenish life highly enough in this challenge. Am sitting on 21 life rep at the moment and it makes a world of difference. I did not even need to use a life or rejuv potion against Mephisto as a result.

Act 4 will be a hard p8 slog. I'll see when I work up the energy to tackle the first stint.

View attachment 456

Candrians - lvl 31
1 Might
15 Holy Fire
9 Resist Fire
1 Sacrifice
2 Zeal
Zubans said

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      32    Assassin     Poison   Act V N    31        2
Zubans        Candrians      31    Paladin      Poison   Act IV N   28        2
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
Sput          Ogier          25    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
arranj        Svanhild       14    Assassin     Poison   Act I N              1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1

FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Slain By  Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N   Duriel    1
Zubans        Candrian       21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N   Duriel    1
pharphis said

<3 zephyr. I used it to kill norm Diablo once with a "singer" :p

Very nice RW
SunsetVista said

@Zubans - thank you for the kind words and encouragement! Grats on taking down Mephisto!

So, this is how Act 5 has been so far, last night:

35% Chance Guards dropped in Bloody Foothills, and with the shadow doing some tanking, I decided to wear them. Now my cube is full of gloves, but that's ok.
finally got a blue plated belt! of spikes...
found a ring of the bat, hanging on to it in case I find an awesome amulet

lvl 36, hit gold cap in arreat plateau 360000 gold lol
death sentry speeds up some fights
shadow warrior has been a good tank on /p5 so far
hoping for a 3 socket shield to put Ort Thul Ral for resists

And today:

finished arreat plateau, having altruisticly rescued some barbarians.
I finally rebuilt my stash of purple potions!

Did Crystalline Passage and Frozen River on /p5, popped evil urns, Death Sentry was getting stronger, experience was great, I was feeling good.
Well, it was kinda sad to leave Anya hanging there.

Back to /p1 for the Stealth Challenge in the Glacial Trail. I unsummoned my shadow and kept burst of speed and cloak of shadows ready. I didn't expect much trouble. I was fortunate in that the first branch I tried led to the Drifter Cavern.

But, that's where my luck ran out.
I swiftly got mobbed by succubi and frozen abominations, all wanting my autograph.
I hit escape, pondering what to do while surrounded. I could save and exit and try again, but I'd already used all my red pots on the Glacial Trail, and that had been a good map. I could try to fight my way out, and give up on another labor. No way. That thing with Diablo really bothered me.

I decided to end it here, but to take a few of them with me.

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zubans        Candrians      31    Paladin      Poison   Act IV N   28        2
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
Sput          Ogier          25    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
arranj        Svanhild       14    Assassin     Poison   Act I N              1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1

FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Slain By       Labors
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      38    Assassin     Poison   Act V N    Vile Temptress 2
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   Duriel         1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N   Duriel         1
Zubans        Candrian       21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N   Duriel         1

That's it for me in this tournament. I had fun. I think Howl, Attract, or Terror might be the key to the stealth challenges.

Good Luck everyone!
Zubans said

NOOO! I am so sorry! R.I.P. Ashenzari. I hope you reconsider @SunsetVista, you will be sorely missed in this tournament. Well done for blazing the trail and getting as far as you did!
Zubans said

Update:
Diablo is dead. The plains of despair were incredibly tedious on p8 thanks to al lthe fire resistant monsters. I knocked it down to p1 before long thanks to constantly being out of arrows. Same thing with the Chaos Sanctuary. Izual and Hephasto were both done on p1 as well. Grand Vizier was fire immune but luckily my zeal physical damage was enough for it to be no trouble. NDE with the Infector of Souls pack. Insane fire damage even with 83 fire resist (with resist fire aura on). Diablo himself was no problem. Used Zephyr side until he was low, switched to wirt's leg and a couple of zeals later he was dead.
Dropped Rogue's bow (resist all again) and useless rares. Only other notable find was Umbral Disk which I used until I found a self-rep large shield in Chaos Sanc.

I spent the Izual Quest points on Holy Freeze.
1 Might
15 Holy Fire
9 Resist Fire
3 Salvation
2 Holy Freeze
1 Sacrifice
2 Zeal

Am running low on enthusiasm for this challenge at the moment, so further progress might take a while.

View attachment 460
Zubans said

Code:
ALIVE
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Waypoints Labors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zubans        Candrians      34    Paladin      Poison   Act V N   31         3
squidder      FranSolo       27    Amazon       Poison   Act III N            2
Sput          Ogier          25    Paladin      Poison   Act II N             1
arranj        Svanhild       14    Assassin     Poison   Act I N              1
thewamp       Muhndie        4     Barbarian    Cold     Act I N    2         1

FALLEN
Player        Character      Level Class        Weakness Progress   Slain By       Labors
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SunsetVista   Ashenzari      38    Assassin     Poison   Act V N    Vile Temptress 2
SunsetVista   Kathinja       26    Sorceress    Cold     Act II N   Duriel         1
Sput          Ktizo                Necromancer  Cold     Act II N   Duriel         1
Zubans        Candrian       21    Paladin      Poison   Act II N   Duriel         1
 
SunsetVista said

Congrats on the Diablo kill Zubans and thus completion of the 3rd labor!

Doing /p8 full clears with a holy fire ranger, untwinked? That's some serious dedication right there. My enthusiasm after that slog would be low, too. Best use of Zephyr ever?

That's a pretty good LCS zeal damage number, what weapon are you zealing with?
Zubans said

Thanks. I use that flail of self-repair that Vilehand dropped. Since then I have started zealing more, also with finding an ort rune (which I will probably use on armour repair or lore), but overall I am super paranoid about losing my gear.
The concept has always been to be versatile and be able to use ranged attacks when suited and switch to melee when it gets dangerous. It was indeed a slog but Zephyr made it substantially more bearable over my chipped sapphire socketed Hunter's Bow that I had used since Act 1. Act 4 (particularly Plains of despair and Chaos Sanctuary) was just too much for me. Using 15+ arrows on a single knight or balrog just killed my sanity on top of the issue of running out of arrows. Underneath that is further the incessant inventory management that weighs on you.

The build so far has worked as I thought it would, but I have very serious doubts about its long term viability. My damage will basically stagnate from here on out...
The more I think about it the more I feel that this basically cannot be done. The 'spend the skills in the act you earn it' rule combined with 'single pass' is just devastating.
SunsetVista said

I think I would have been able to fight my way past Normal, even with the skill restrictions, although many builds are less fun that way. The 12 labors on single pass with no stash is what kills (it for) me.
Zubans said

Small Update:
Made my way through the Bloody Foothills, killed the Overseer and grabbed the first WP.
 
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