[2016] The Untwinked Level 99 Progress Thread [by Kitteh]

Tarantella said:
Only a short session late tonight.

Just enough time to tidy the stash and find another skiller in the Mausoleum.

1610920006058.png
NanoMist said:
Reached 95, though not much as far as drops go - An Andariel helm for the merc and a pair of Gul runes (1 and 2) from the Vizier seal. I can't do P8 CS runs fast enough to make it worthwhile to save Ancients for 98. Near 3 minutes on average. I theorycrafted the exp. numbers using 4 minute Baal runs and found 95-98 via Baal saving more time than trying to save Ancients for 98. Even more worth it if I can end up with 3.5 minute Baal.

A little awkward to be posting questing pics at this stage, but P8 Ancients for a little challenge?

WPiGm7Y.jpg



Had to chase Madawc down.
JgoQOmj.jpg



Matriarch!
6ULR75T.jpg


I think I'll stick with Treachery on the merc for now as it feels more suitable with all the decrepify in the throne room, and also to apply CB to Baal quickly.

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      96             No          890        309            4           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       95             No          749        311            1          136
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      94             Yes         351        206            9          52.5
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       93             Yes           -        245            8           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      92             Yes           -          -            -           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      91             Yes         381        217           -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      87             Yes           -        114            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     54             Yes           -          0            0           -
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
Southpaw8668 said:
Double post due to lag monster. :confused:
Southpaw8668 said:
Pushed through NM fairly quickly on /p1 to get to NM Pindleskin and Eldritch. Currently just made it to Act V after playing Ring Around the Rosie with Diablo till he got pretty low in HP, then I blasted him with several Tornados real quick. Only real change since previous update was we found a Ethereal Superior Triangulated Mail to make Treachery for the mercenary. I think I only really saw him activate the Fade once this entire session. Guess I'm blasting everything to pieces with the Tornados too quickly for him to get hit all that often. :D
Got to love it when you get a much higher rune from a side Forge monster (Mal), than the Forge dropped (Hel).
1610920063906.png
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      96             No          890        309            4           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       95             No          749        311            1          136
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      94             Yes         351        206            9          52.5
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       93             Yes           -        245            8           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      92             Yes           -          -            -           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      91             Yes         381        217           -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      87             Yes           -        114            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     60             Yes           -          0            0           -
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
@ThomasJohnsen Lol, now that you mention it ... I'll sort the charms out. On the left though, that's how I've always done it. We also read from left to right, no? :p

@NanoMist Congrats, very well done. Good luck on the Baal runs. I should time my CS runs. I'm getting faster at them, but still not fast enough, I think. So I'm thinking about trying Baal runs instead as well.

O yes, and just look at that table. Awesome, with the 7 highest ranked players exactly 1 level from each other. OldSoldier should get his Paladin to 90 :cool:.

@Southpaw8668 Very nice progress. And that Mal is very tasty for that level. Too bad about the very low Forge drop to compensate for it.
Kitteh said:
ThomasJohnsen said:
Ugh T72on1 such disarray with those charms - and to the left . Can't look!

Cool finds though....
But get those charms in order or crop the SS pls :D (just kidding ofc - to each his/her own)

#EDIT: And a greater healing pot where a super healing pot clearly belongs. Tingling with OCD itches here.
I feel you bro :(
coju said:
ThomasJohnsen said:
Ugh T72on1 such disarray with those charms
Looks like my stash! Except I try moving the cube to the left, as that millisecond makes all the difference >.<
OldSoldier said:
T72on1 said:
OldSoldier should get his Paladin to 90 :cool:.
High eighty eight now, probably won't make it to 90 before someone else goes up a level.
NanoMist said:
@T72on1] - I don't remember if you completed Hell Ancients yet, but sorcs should be able to make P8 CS worthwhile to 98. My trapper could not do it - the trap auto-targeting made it difficult to be efficient with so many other monsters around. You'll lose Ancients by testing Baal runs, which is why I theorycrafted the exp. from Baal runs before I committed to Ancients. (Saving 30 hours via Baal runs to 98, but will have to confirm with actual running times.)

I also briefly tested P8 Nithlathak and P1/P7 CS in order to find how much time that 40 Mil Exp. would have saved at 98. I think it was 20 hours or so for both, maybe a little less with Nith. 30 > 20 so I went Baal runs for sub-98. These are just my own numbers, so it could be the opposite for someone else.
T72on1 said:
@NanoMist No, I didn't complete Ancients yet. And des, you are right about CS of course. At the time of my post, I was getting frustrated because I didn't seem to manage to become fast at CS runs. I kept on trying though, so it's already going much better now. And my conclusion: to level from 94 to 95, CS definitely is the way to go if you can handle it. Even at my mediocre pace, it went a lot faster than AT runs.

So I finally reached level 95. Once I reverted to CS full time, xp actually came quite fast. Unfortunately I managed to die in a stupid way, just 5 runs or so before hitting 95, so that cost me about an extra hour of CS runs :(. I didn't even try to catch my body, I wouldn't know how to do that in CS with a naked Sorc.

Nothing fancy dropped in CS. Best rune was a Mal, so that's actually not too bad, but next highest rune was Dol I think. Or maybe a Lum. No good uniques either. I did find those 3 fun little items:

Code:
Bramble Claw
Demonhide Gloves
Defense: 54
Durability: 8 of 12
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0xed888eb8
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+50% Enhanced Defense
Replenish Life +5
Lightning Resist +25%

Fine Small Charm of Good Luck
Small Charm
Required Level: 33
Fingerprint: 0xd7cb7f64
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Maximum Damage
+11 to Attack Rating
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Amber Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x1346b0b9
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+5% Faster Hit Recovery
Lightning Resist +11%

I'm gonna go back to LK for a while now. A few skillers would increase my damage output a lot, so I'll be hunting for those. And good charms in general actually, as my current ones are pretty terrible. At 95, there's no use in running AT, unless maybe for items, so it's not a big loss to loose my map. And CS ... I don't think it was a great map, so that doesn't matter. Although ... I actually don't know what a good CS map is. I thought the layout was always about the same. So what makes a good CS map?

Edit: after 5 rerolls I got this map:

1610920208926.png

I think I'm going to keep it :).

I also switched from a Might merc to a Holy Freeze merc, to hopefully increase my safety.

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      96             No          890        309            4           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       95             No          749        311            1          136
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       93             Yes           -        245            8           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      92             Yes           -          -            -           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      91             Yes         381        217           -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      87             Yes           -        114            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     60             Yes           -          0            0           -
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
Pb_pal said:
@T72on1 - Nice job! CS definitely takes some getting used to, but as you mention once it starts rolling, the XP is great. I keep a body-retrieval kit in my stash at all times, which has come in handy. Mine includes HOTO, Vipermagi, and a 2-PDiamond Mosers. A death at higher levels is disheartening enough even if you get your body back, I like to at least give myself a reasonable shot at retrieving it.
PhineasB said:
Good job @T72on1! And belated congrats to @Southpaw8668 and @NanoMist on the good progress.

I was able to get back to playing some this week. First I wrapped up my 250 rune set from LK. As noted in my last post, I’d gotten a Sur in the first 100 before I stopped, but nothing much of note in the next 150. The highest rune was a Lem. I picked up a Fine SC of Sustenance and another Captains skiller with some minor poison damage. I also found plain Hexing, Sounding and Sparking skillers.

I then cubed gems and rerolled charms and crafted caster amulets, with not a lot to show. I still don’t have a decent amulet . . .

It was then on to WSK and Baal runs. I’ve done p1 for WSK, p8 for the first four waves, then p3 for Lister (I’ve recently gone up to p5 after some testing showing that it barely takes longer most of the time) and p1 for Baal. Based on the links that @NanoMist provided earlier, it’s probably faster for me, focused on experience gain, to end the run after the fourth wave. But I enjoyed completing the runs, so stuck with that approach.

Mercy just hit level 94. I had one death early on when I was testing maps. Found a Pul and Mal in WSK, and an eth Nightwing’s from Baal (bad roll).

Edit: Forgot about Boneshade from Baal also. That's another item that I've never found before. If I combine this character with my 7x7, I am at grail -12.

Code:
Boneshade
Lich Wand
One Hand Damage: 10 - 31
Durability: 8 of 17
Required Level: 79
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0xa4ad8bbe
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Unidentified
+2 to Necromancer Skill Levels
+25% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to Bone Spirit (Necromancer Only)
+3 to Bone Spear (Necromancer Only)
+2 to Bone Wall (Necromancer Only)
+4 to Bone Armor (Necromancer Only)
+5 to Teeth (Necromancer Only)

I have a pretty good WSK map now, with a teleport from WP to door down to level 3 and then the entry to the throne room right around the corner. I hate to give it up, but I think I need to return to LK to finish off Enigma. The runs are long due to *running* and I don’t think I’ll have the patience to keep grinding if I have to run each time.

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      96             No          890        309            4           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       95             No          749        311            1          136
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      92             Yes           -          -            -           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      91             Yes         381        217            -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      87             Yes           -        114            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     60             Yes           -          0            0           -
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
@Pb_pal A body retrieval kit ... that sounds like a good plan. I'll have to do that as well. The difference in xp loss is big enough to at least try to retrieve the body indeed.

Did 50 LK runs yesterday, just to get things started. Ist and Gul within' the first 10 runs :). Not much after that, but still ...
Kitteh said:
Any incredibly nice items which have been thrown away yet? :p
Pb_pal said:
Kitteh said:
Any incredibly nice items which have been thrown away yet? :p
Only things that really stung for me so far are an eth Skullders and a Reapers. I do have a few HRs (Ohms and a Lo mostly) sitting in the stash that I know I'll most likely never use, but can't bring myself to ditch them just yet.

Then again I'm keeping all my S/U finds in a separate stash to see what I end up with in the end, so it's not like I've actually vendored anything valuable. :p
zticazzy said:
Steadily progressing to the next level, currently sitting at 97 1/3. Baal runs are slow, ~4.00-4.30 mins per run, so nothing unbeatable for you guys, the golden equation for me is 1 hour = 4m exp. Manaburn Lister (p8) is the thing that slows me down the most, and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to beat him down without being leeched during ww... but apart from that the runs are pretty safe: 23%dr, 5.6k life and 26%ll do their job.
Even though I'm not quite there yet, I'm already planning what to do after leveling. Nihla seems a good option to run so I tried a few runs borrowing my merc's Vamp Gaze (+20%dr), but oh man, those vipers hit really hard and I had a couple of NDEs that put me away from him for good, I'll wait till the next level to experiment with him as I won't have much to lose right after turning 98. A delirium helm for my merc seems mandatory, so I'll farm the runes to make one asap, and I'll probably also respec to wield my etomby so that I have a powerful 1-hit attack with concentrate. Yeah, it should work.
Notable finds so far: Azurewrath from Diablo (never had one!), this sexy Gheed's, 25@ Mara, Lo and Ber in less than 1 hour.

@Kitteh I threw away several HRs, skillers, a soj, windforce, and other nice items (see my char thread for extra details).

Happy grinding everyone!
coju said:
Would it be worth it to s&e at mana burn lister?
NanoMist said:
Found 2x Arachnid's Mesh on back to back runs. :D Finally picked up a Shako from Wave 1 minions.

Didn't post one yet so here's the character dump:
Name: Izuna
Class: Assassin
Experience: 2650746381
Level: 95

Naked/Gear
Strength: 32/159
Dexterity: 20/52
Vitality: 493/517
Energy: 25/27
HP: 1717/2223
Mana: 166/570
Stamina: 803/996
Defense: 5/1527
AR: 100000064/100000450

Fire: 172/132/72
Cold: 127/87/27
Lightning: 143/103/43
Poison: 116/76/16

MF: 185 Block: 9
GF: 154
FR/W: 85
FHR: 67
IAS: 20
FCR: 104

Fire Blast: 20/35
Shock Web: 20/35
Blade Sentinel: 0/0
Charged Bolt Sentry: 20/35
Wake of Fire: 0/0
Blade Fury: 0/0
Lightning Sentry: 20/35
Wake of Inferno: 0/0
Death Sentry: 20/35
Blade Shield: 0/0

Claw Mastery: 1/11
Psychic Hammer: 1/11
Burst of Speed: 1/11
Weapon Block: 0/0
Cloak of Shadows: 1/11
Fade: 1/11
Shadow Warrior: 0/0
Mind Blast: 1/11
Venom: 0/0
Shadow Master: 0/0

Tiger Strike: 0/0
Dragon Talon: 0/0
Fists of Fire: 0/0
Dragon Claw: 0/0
Cobra Strike: 0/0
Claws of Thunder: 0/0
Dragon Tail: 0/0
Blades of Ice: 0/0
Dragon Flight: 0/0
Phoenix Strike: 0/0

Enigma
Light Plate
JahIthBer
Defense: 872
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 41
Fingerprint: 0x31d20f1e
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+45% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Teleport
+770 Defense
+71 to Strength (Based on Character Level)
Increase Maximum Life 5%
Damage Reduced by 8%
+14 Life after each Kill
15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
95% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based on Character Level)
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Jah Rune
Socketed: Ith Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune

Jah Rune
Required Level: 65
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Ignore Target's Defense
Armor: Increase Maximum Life 5%
Shields: +50 to Life

Ith Rune
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +9 to Maximum Damage
Armor: 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
Shields: 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Skull Finger
Demonhide Gloves
Defense: 61
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 51
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0x59e5ee18
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+72% Enhanced Defense
+15 to Strength
Cold Resist +11%
Lightning Resist +27%
Level 4 Fire Arrow (30/30 Charges)

Plague Whorl
Ring
Required Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x521f8b57
Item Level: 91
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Maximum Damage
1% Life stolen per hit
+20 to Strength
+16 to Life
+13 Maximum Stamina
All Resistances +11

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0xd444a747
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+226 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen

Plague Talisman
Amulet
Required Level: 72
Fingerprint: 0x8c4d43db
Item Level: 90
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
+10% Faster Cast Rate
+19 to Strength
+20 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 9%
Fire Resist +28%
Damage Reduced by 1

Aldur's Advance
Battle Boots
Defense: 39
Durability: 13 of 18
Required Level: 45
Required Strength: 95
Fingerprint: 0x20babcf2
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Indestructible
+40% Faster Run/Walk
+50 to Life
+180 Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 32%
Fire Resist +45%
10% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
Set (2 items): +15 to Dexterity
Set (3 items): +15 to Dexterity
Set (4 items): +15 to Dexterity

Arachnid Mesh
Spiderweb Sash
Defense: 133
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 80
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x442c2d61
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Slows Target by 10%
+112% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
Level 3 Venom (11/11 Charges)

Harlequin Crest
Shako
Defense: 130
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 62
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x76093f42
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
All Stats +2
+142 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+142 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Damage Reduced by 10%
50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Gheed's Fortune
Grand Charm
Required Level: 62
Fingerprint: 0x1a18313d
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
154% Extra Gold from Monsters
Reduces all Vendor Prices 15%
40% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Call to Arms
Crystal Sword
AmnRalMalIstOhm
One Hand Damage: 18 - 55
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 43
Fingerprint: 0x36a1b27f
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+40% Increased Attack Speed
269% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
+6 to Battle Command
+5 to Battle Orders
+2 to Battle Cry
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Amn Rune
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune

Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14

Ral Rune
Required Level: 19
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
Armor: Fire Resist +30%
Shields: Fire Resist +35%

Mal Rune
Required Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal
Armor: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Magic Damage Reduced by 7

Ist Rune
Required Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Ohm Rune
Required Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Enhanced Maximum Damage
Armor: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist

Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 134
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0x2e1b0c56
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+35% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+108 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+7 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune

Tal Rune
Required Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
Armor: Poison Resist +30%
Shields: Poison Resist +35%

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%

Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14

Heart of the Oak
Flail
KoVexPulThul
One Hand Damage: 1 - 24
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 41
Required Dexterity: 35
Fingerprint: 0x21a1d3eb
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to All Skills
+40% Faster Cast Rate
+75% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
7% Mana stolen per hit
+10 to Dexterity
Replenish Life +20
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
All Resistances +40
Level 4 Oak Sage (25/25 Charges)
Level 14 Raven (60/60 Charges)
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ko Rune
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Pul Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune

Ko Rune
Required Level: 39
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +10 to Dexterity
Armor: +10 to Dexterity
Shields: +10 to Dexterity

Vex Rune
Required Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Mana stolen per hit
Armor: +5% to Maximum Fire Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Fire Resist

Pul Rune
Required Level: 45
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +75% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
Armor: +30% Enhanced Defense
Shields: +30% Enhanced Defense

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 145
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0xa4383a19
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+34% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+112 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+5 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune

Tal Rune
Required Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
Armor: Poison Resist +30%
Shields: Poison Resist +35%

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%

Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14

Entrapping Grand Charm of Flame
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x8cd8af6d
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
Adds 1 - 2 Fire Damage

Entrapping Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xb8310eed
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
+6 to Life

Entrapping Grand Charm of Balance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x3a163f3
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
+12% Faster Hit Recovery

Serpent's Grand Charm of Vita
Grand Charm
Required Level: 69
Fingerprint: 0x5e80f098
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+39 to Life
+59 to Mana

Lizard's Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xa98a6011
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
+4 to Mana

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xd00f437a
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x5e414b49
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xb1f6a647
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x275625f6
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xb469d1d8
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x4696ad70
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Static Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x1c49406f
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 1 - 10 Lightning Damage
+20 to Life

Stalwart Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0xbfd170b7
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+23 Defense
+20 to Life

Garnet Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xcd63f69c
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
Fire Resist +8%

Ruby Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x29b257b6
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
Fire Resist +10%

Serpent's Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0x3ce9e97a
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
+16 to Mana

Snake's Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x53c41aae
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life
+11 to Mana

Mercenary:

Name: Fazel
Race: Desert Mercenary
Type: Off-Nightmare
Experience: 103975670
Level: 95
Dead?: false

Naked/Gear
Strength: 204/234
Dexterity: 165/165
HP: 2167/2167
Defense: 1586/2583
AR: 2033/2033

Fire: 129/89/29
Cold: 189/149/89
Lightning: 159/119/59
Poison: 229/189/129

Treachery
Great Hauberk
ShaelThulLem
Defense: 633
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Level: 56
Required Strength: 108
Fingerprint: 0xe82cac1e
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 15 Fade when struck
25% Chance to cast level 15 Venom on striking
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
+45% Increased Attack Speed
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
Cold Resist +30%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
Ethereal
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Lem Rune

Shael Rune
Required Level: 29
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +20% Increased Attack Speed
Armor: +20% Faster Hit Recovery
Shields: +20% Faster Block Rate

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Lem Rune
Required Level: 43
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 75% Extra Gold from Monsters
Armor: 50% Extra Gold from Monsters
Shields: 50% Extra Gold from Monsters


Andariel's Visage
Demonhead
Defense: 364
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 83
Required Strength: 102
Fingerprint: 0x7fd12e9c
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
15% Chance to cast level 15 Poison Nova when struck
+2 to All Skills
+20% Increased Attack Speed
10% Life stolen per hit
+135% Enhanced Defense
+30 to Strength
+10% to Maximum Poison Resist
Fire Resist -30%
Poison Resist +70%
Level 3 Venom (20/20 Charges)


Infinity
Colossus Voulge
BerMalBerIst
Two Hand Damage: 102 - 1012
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 200
Required Dexterity: 45
Fingerprint: 0x278c7bdb
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
50% Chance to cast level 20 Chain Lightning when you Kill an Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
310% Enhanced Damage
-50% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
+47 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges)
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Mal Rune
Required Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal
Armor: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Magic Damage Reduced by 7

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Ist Rune
Required Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Bitter Noose
Amulet
Required Level: 89
Fingerprint: 0x1108b645
Item Level: 90
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
+5% Faster Cast Rate
+20 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 10%
All Resistances +16
Fire Resist +25%
33% Extra Gold from Monsters

Bitter Knot
Ring
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0x9dc7557b
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Cast Rate
8% Life stolen per hit
+2 to Strength
All Resistances +11
Lightning Resist +10%
Fire Resist +23%
hasuprotoss said:
So jealous @NanoMist !!

Reina hit 92 today. We both decided that it was best to alternate running LK until we got something we needed and getting a level. Since our newest rune was an Ohm, we made CTA and started hitting CS. Infector likes spawning Cold Immune a decent percentage of time, but the progress made has been fantastic. Only one or two deaths this level, mostly taking on unnecessary risks (Reina loves to push everything to the limit...).

Pics below:

ekA4FYZ.jpg

Mal # who's counting?!

w7n0BvE.jpg

LK decides to diversify the HR drops.

HH5iWm0.jpg

A HR we definitely needed!

LjcXu21.jpg

Pretty average, but it makes our CS runs a lot safer!

Nothing was found that was exciting in the CS, we may actually go back to AT for a portion of the next level just to have a more relaxed running pattern, but we'll see. The CS runs are fun in a way, especially if Infector spawns with a bunch of friends.

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      96             No          890        309            4           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       95             No          749        311            1          136
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      92             Yes           -          -            -           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      92             Yes         401        221            -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      87             Yes           -        114            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     60             Yes           -          0            0           -
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
Nice progress everyone !!!

@NanoMist Nice gear you have there. Especially jealous at the Arachnid's.

@hasuprotoss Congrats on 92. CS indeed is fun once you get used to the rather frantic nature of it.

@zticazzy I still hate you for all the awesome gear you have thrown away. Us normal people just can't get it ... :confused:. And I agree with @coju : S&E would be more efficient in that case.

My LK runs are going well. I didn't have much time, but since it's a really good map, I managed to do some 300 runs: the 50 I mentioned last time and then 250 the day after. Best drop was a Sur. My second, so I'm now 1 Ber away from Infinity. Although I'm actually in doubt if I will save for that second Ber or make CoH for my Sorc instead. Having Insight around is so convenient, which makes me reluctant to switch to Infinity. Also, I'm not sure Infinity would do that much for my Cold Sorc in the CS.

For now I'll save the Surs though. I still haven't found or cubed a single skiller, so I guess I'll be in LK for a while. I did find some improvements in the charms departement, but there is still plenty of room to find better. I also found my share of Mals, Guls and Ists, and have a spare Ohm in my stash. So if I find some more of those, I could cube up to Lo and make my merc a Fortitude. Not sure if that would do so much in the grand picture though.

I also did a second batch of crafting amulets. Nothing good so far though, except for a +2 Necro amulet with good mods. Another reason to stay in LK for a while.

Keep it up folks :).
 
coju said:
T72on1 said:
And I agree with @coju : S&E would be more efficient in that case.
I need this in my signature instead of the one about leg tattoos. If I must join PAL to do so, I will, unless one of mods or our glorious Thyiad can do this with there magical moderation powers.

Edit, maybe just the "I agree with @coju".
T72on1 said:
coju said:
Edit, maybe just the "I agree with @coju".
Now that I'm sober again, I can't recall having said that ... :cool:
Pb_pal said:
@NanoMist - Amazing gear. I'm especially jealous of the Mesh and Shako, both of which still elude Eleanor. That fcr ring in the stash is nothing to sneeze at either!

Eleanor is slowly moving towards 97 with the little playing time we have right now. Only thing to note so far is a solitary Lo:

R6yYzvt.jpg

.

Great job everyone, keep it up!
Tarantella said:
Tarasha reached level 93 safe purely leveling in the Crypt and Mausoleum. The latter had two fixed chests which along with the superchests in both levels provided a large trove of gold and items worth selling. Well over 50 million gold was gambled on amulets in a failed attempt to improve on the the Tals.

The superchests had 3 unique items only drops but nothing of any use but elsewhere and at other times a rare 300ED Decapitator was found as well as a blue +3 to cold skills globe of the magus, a 20 lifer sc, an eth 5 socket thresher, Laying of Hands, another Dwarfstar and a Tomb Reaver.


By the time level 93 was reached 50 caster amulets had been crafted with limited success for other classes. Over 250 perfect gems now stashed with a rune sequence topped by Cham, Jah, Ber, Ist, Mal, x4 Ums. Will wait for 15ED armour or top normal ED armour to drop before considering Enigma of CoH. Thinking of socketing a Guillames with the Cham.


Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      96             No          890        309            4           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       95             No          749        311            1          136
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      92             Yes         401        221            -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      87             Yes           -        114            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     60             Yes           -          0            0           -
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
Congrats on 93 in HC :). And on the Cham, Jah and Ber !!! How was the roll of the Tomb Reaver?

What are your plans now? Continue in the Crypt and Mausoleum? Move on to AT? LK?

Good luck.
Tarantella said:
The Tomb Reaver was a poor normal one but broke the monotony in the Crypt for a while.

After 300 runs in the gloom now spending some time in the Keep at p1 though fireball and orb makes Tarasha versatile enough to go anywhere. One twentieth of the way towards 94 now and she's already dropped a 5/5 lightning facet, a Lightsabre and Bloodraven's bow there. Need armours and improvement on resists whether it's just better Aldurs, Vipermagi, amulet or charms. Dropped a slightly higher ed Shako too but would only consider socketing a perfect Shako or Vipers at this stage.
qwernt said:
Recently restarted D2. Thought my favorite Bow-Azon would work for this... forgot how hard that is to do without twinkage. Start again with Sorc. Got to 73 but had used all my respecs and wasn't happy with Chain Lighting/FO... so I started again. CanBeOnlyBlizz (SC with extended cache and too many deaths) is now Level 78 and made it to AT. We will see how long it takes to get bored.
Question for AT running. Kill everything? Kill only Specials & minions? Bother with the chest? I have a nice little loop that gets me 4 or 5 unique packs and the chest with only 1 "normal" pack along the way, so I think I am ok in any case. I tend to kill em all, but that is because I don't like blind teleport yet.
Current equipment is Spirit + Rhyme + Smoke +lore + A nice +2 cold skill amulet & yellow gloves/belt/boots. I am worried that my magic find is too low (~80%). I can drop a 3 ptopaz armour and helm on if people think it will make a difference...
T72on1 said:
@qwernt Great to see you join the madness !!! Welcome :).

At level 78 I would progress to Pindle first to gain some cheap levels. Just leave the game on /p1, teleport past everything until you get to Pindle. Then run him on /p8 for some great xp, and with a bit of luck also some good items. If that setting is too hard, like it was for me initially, try /p5. It still gives great xp.

If you want to stay at AT (which is a very viable option as well, but you'll want to run that area until level 93 or so, so plenty of time for that one), just kill the uniques and their minions, and champs. Don't bother with regular monsters, unless you need to to keep things safe. Usually that's not needed, but like you I wasn't comfortable just blindy teleporting, so I often did.

I'd take the chest too, yes. I don't think I've ever gotten a great item from it, but you never know. And since it's always guarded by a unique pack, often more, you'll be there anyway.

Only play on /p8 if you can do so at a decent speed. Otherwise it might be better to stick at a lower setting for now and kill faster.

In AT you mainly need lightning res, and to a lesser extent poison res, so if you can keep those when switching to a ptopaz armor and helm, I'd do so. Otherwise I wouldn't sweat it. More mf will come over time, as you find better gear.

Good luck !!
Pb_pal said:
@qwernt - Welcome! T72 pretty much nailed it there. At lower levels the regular monsters still give decent XP so it's not too big of a deal killing them all, but as you gain levels and the XP penalties start kicking in, you'll definitely want to stick to only boss/champ packs.

Tough to say about the MF at this stage, as you're so much lower level than the monsters there. If you can still kill quickly and safely while adding some MF then definitely go for it. If not that's okay, and the lower level uniques (Tarnhelm, Chance Guards, Goldwrap etc) should start showing up soon and that will give you a big boost.

Good luck!
NanoMist said:
Found a few grailers on the high end. Glorious Axe and Tomb Reaver (non-eth 2 OS).

Favorite drop from Baal was DWeb. Turned out to be ethereal for additional style points. :cool:

Also hit 96. Leaving the skill point unused for now since my traps are all maxed. If Stormlash drops I could stat DT?

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      96             No          890        309            4           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       96             No          901        339            1          147
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      92             Yes         401        221            -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      87             Yes           -        114            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     60             Yes           -          0            0           -
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
hasuprotoss said:
Just hit 2 billion XP (about 4/7 of the way to 93 or so?). A lot of unnecessary deaths this level, just from playing tired or on tilt or both... But at least Infector was nice enough to drop this:

QaR8bxC.jpg


Terrible roll (except in the defense category... :rolleyes:) but I've never had one before so I'll gladly accept it.

Also, I've noticed that about half the time I can't Telekinesis Infector's seal. Does anyone else have this problem? I may just re-roll my map if it's due to the layout (but I don't want to go to my old CS pattern of Vizier only having 3-4 buddies each time he spawns)
Southpaw8668 said:
Njord has currently found the WP for the WSK2 (H) after besting the Ancients. It took two attempts, as the first was disastrous, when the party instantly became Amped and Talic hit like a freight train with his LE, so we decided to sleep on it. The second assault seemed more like a NM Ancients when they rolled with much gentler modifiers and we ended up only using up one big purple with the reds and blues. At that point we decided to hit Pindleskin for a bit and he was a tough nut to crack. At /p1 he was a fairly quick kill, but delivered unnoticeable XP. So, we cranked it up incrementally to /p8 and he smoked our party in no time by usually Amping us and then a couple hits from his cronies would take us out or we would get stun-locked and have to bail out. So we gave Eldritch a whirl and he's much more manageable even with his band being CI they still go down at /p5 fairly quickly and the XP is very noticeable. Perhaps we will throw Shenk in the spin cycle too like in NM to see if that also adds a juicy boost to the XP per run. Overall Njord has been a super fun hero to play and I'm very happy that I made that choice for my first ever pursuit to 99.:D
1611506665735.png
Time for a switch in hats, even though I hate those darn bird hats!

1611506675446.png
Funny face Diablo!

1611506684600.png
Wrong class gurl, but nice imbue!

1611506692739.png
Ilzan's new hat!!!

1611506703913.png
Teleportation, that's why Madawc keep disappearing on us. Don't know how but Talic poofed in a couple of seconds when he started getting swarmed by Njord's ravenous birds. He must have been allergic.

Homunculus
Hierophant Trophy
Defense: 191
Chance to Block: 52
Durability: 12 of 20
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0x92cc607e
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Curses (Necromancer only)
+2 to Necromancer Skill Levels
+30% Faster Block Rate
40% Increased Chance of Blocking
+170% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Energy
Regenerate Mana 33%
All Resistances +40
+5 to Mana after each Kill

Kelpie Snare
Fuscina
Two Hand Damage: 100 - 188
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Level: 33
Required Strength: 67
Required Dexterity: 15
Fingerprint: 0x7d3394fc
Item Level: 62
Version: Expansion 1.10+
152% Enhanced Damage
Adds 30 - 50 Damage
Slows Target by 75%
+10 to Strength
+93 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Fire Resist +50%
Ethereal

Hone Sundan
Yari
Two Hand Damage: 105 - 213
Durability: 28 of 28
Required Level: 37
Required Strength: 101
Fingerprint: 0x1a12587e
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
194% Enhanced Damage
Adds 20 - 40 Damage
45% Chance of Crushing Blow
Repairs 1 Durability in 10 Seconds
3 Sockets (0 used)

Hellslayer
Decapitator
Two Hand Damage: 98 - 582
Durability: 27 of 40
Required Level: 66
Required Strength: 189
Required Dexterity: 33
Fingerprint: 0x5e5e0811
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 19 Fire Ball on attack
100% Enhanced Damage
+225% Enhanced Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
Adds 150 - 250 Fire Damage
+37 to Strength (Based on Character Level)
+37 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
+25 to Life

Butcher's Pupil
Cleaver
One Hand Damage: 56 - 138
Durability: 18 of 24
Required Level: 39
Required Strength: 68
Fingerprint: 0xef1a4d24
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Indestructible
+30% Increased Attack Speed
168% Enhanced Damage
Adds 30 - 50 Damage
35% Deadly Strike
25% Chance of Open Wounds

Bonesnap
War Club
Two Hand Damage: 187 - 276
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Level: 30
Required Strength: 124
Fingerprint: 0x1466cb9d
Item Level: 45
Version: Expansion 1.10+
254% Enhanced Damage
+200% Damage to Undead
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Cold Resist +30%
Fire Resist +30%
Required Level +5

Blackhorn's Face
Death Mask
Defense: 264
Durability: 10 of 20
Required Level: 41
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0xd5217e76
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Prevent Monster Heal
Slows Target by 20%
+204% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +15%
+20 Lightning Absorb
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 25

Bartuc's Cut-Throat
Greater Talons
One Hand Damage: 88 - 155
Durability: 39 of 69
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 79
Required Dexterity: 79
Fingerprint: 0x2ee9280f
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
200% Enhanced Damage
Adds 25 - 50 Damage
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
5% Life stolen per hit
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity

Tal Rasha's Lidless Eye
Swirling Crystal
One Hand Damage: 18 - 42
Durability: 49 of 50
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0x374943f6
Item Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Cold Mastery (Sorceress Only)
+2 to Lightning Mastery (Sorceress Only)
+2 to Fire Mastery (Sorceress Only)
+10 to Energy
+57 to Life
+77 to Mana
Set (2 items): +1 to Sorceress Skill Levels
Set (3 items): -15% to Enemy Fire Resistance
Set (4 items): -15% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Set (5 items): +15% to Cold Skill Damage
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      96             No          890        309            4           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       96             No          901        339            1          147
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      92             Yes         401        221            -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      87             Yes           -        114            -           -
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     82             Yes           -          -            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
coju said:
@hasuprotoss Yes, I have tons of trouble activating seals sometimes. Mostly the Sie Die Wurst or w/e his name is. It's took 45 seconds I'm sure before before it finally activated.

I've made it to hell with an assassin. level 71 atm. The Necro died. A few more I made died: one in den normal, a couple others somewhere in act 1 normal. What else... The Assassin is going quite quick. Have the three light traps maxxed, now omw with Fire Blast. When she gets closer to LK I'll add her. My plan is to run Countess for a Ko to make Harmony for speedy travels in LK. I'll kill the Counsel first, of course.

She mostly wears MF gear, besides the rings: one Dwarf Star another a Rare ring with Mana/Life/LR. I'm contemplating placing a PTopaz in my 2/3 ptopaz armor, or waiting for a 4 os armor to drop to fill those.
T72on1 said:
@NanoMist Congrats on 96 !!!

@coju Cool ! Welcome back.
PhineasB said:
Congrats @NanoMist on level 96. And to @Southpaw8668 for pushing another character class up the level list. Good progress everyone.

As for Mercy, I was able to play some Thursday evening and then some more this weekend. It was an Ohm-fest.

She returned to LK for another set of 250 runes. I got an Um early, but nothing else above Lum. I was starting to get bored, so I decided to do finish up the 100 and then some Baal runs. Rune 98 was an Ohm #3. Cool!

I then did Baal runs for a while. I rerolled maps for a bit in the middle and found a nice one with the door to WSK3 right around the corner from the WP and then a short corridor to the throne room (and it would be ~2 teleports if/when I got Enigma). At somewhere between 1/5 and 1/4 XP gain to level 95, I had nothing much to show and was starting to slow down.

So I checked LK, and that map had two fire pits near the WP. The LK runs had been really safe (unlike multiple deaths in my first patch of LK runs), so I wasn’t worried about potential loss of XP and decided to switch back.

My goal was to finish the 250 rune set and then go back to WSK for a bit. Within 5 runes, Ohm #4 from a corpse. Rune #123 was Ohm #5. Vex #2 showed up about an hour later. And then rune #228 was a Ber. Mercy also picked up a plain Fungal, Trainers of Sustenance and Druid Elemental with + Strength from this batch of LK runs.

With the assist of a Sur and a Jah from the Pits and a Lo from Countess, it took 1103 runes found from LK for Mercy to get Heart of the Oak, CtA and Enigma, plus Infinity and Fortitude for the Merc. And she has 3 Ohms stashed for possible rerolls on the CtA. :cool:

It will be back to WSK and Baal, although Mercy may test out Chaos Sanctuary for a change of pace. She definitely could use a few upgrades -- Arachnid’s Mesh, at least one +skill ring, and a better amulet. And another Spirit shield for CtA switch would be good – she’s still using Sigon’s because she has found only one 4os Monarch and 5 sockets recipes have failed. :rolleyes:

Name: Mercy
Class: Assassin
Experience: 2340670350
Level: 94

Naked/Gear
Strength: 151/255
Dexterity: 97/130
Vitality: 292/326
Energy: 25/27
HP: 1112/1430
Mana: 164/512
Stamina: 551/551
Defense: 24/1444
AR: 100000449/100000863

Fire: 180/140/80
Cold: 160/120/60
Lightning: 186/146/86
Poison: 166/126/66

MF: 247 Block: 28
GF: 54
FR/W: 70
FHR: 101
IAS: 20
FCR: 82

Fire Blast: 20/33
Shock Web: 20/33
Blade Sentinel: 0/0
Charged Bolt Sentry: 20/33
Wake of Fire: 0/0
Blade Fury: 0/0
Lightning Sentry: 20/33
Wake of Inferno: 0/0
Death Sentry: 20/33
Blade Shield: 0/0

Claw Mastery: 1/10
Psychic Hammer: 1/10
Burst of Speed: 1/10
Weapon Block: 0/0
Cloak of Shadows: 1/10
Fade: 0/0
Shadow Warrior: 0/0
Mind Blast: 1/10
Venom: 0/0
Shadow Master: 0/0

Tiger Strike: 0/0
Dragon Talon: 0/0
Fists of Fire: 0/0
Dragon Claw: 0/0
Cobra Strike: 0/0
Claws of Thunder: 0/0
Dragon Tail: 0/0
Blades of Ice: 0/0
Dragon Flight: 0/0
Phoenix Strike: 0/0

Mercy's Harlequin Crest
Shako
Defense: 110
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 62
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x782376be
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
All Stats +2
+141 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+141 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Damage Reduced by 10%
74% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Perfect Topaz

Perfect Topaz
Required Level: 18
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 40 Lightning Damage
Armor: 24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: Lightning Resist +40%

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0xede1ae81
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+197 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen

Bone Gyre
Ring
Required Level: 60
Fingerprint: 0x238be46b
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Cast Rate
+34 to Attack Rating
+3 to Strength
+38 to Life
+56 to Mana
Fire Resist +27%

Storm Lock
Battle Belt
Defense: 48
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 88
Fingerprint: 0x3b56dd56
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+24% Faster Hit Recovery
+27% Enhanced Defense
+19 to Strength
+36 to Life
Cold Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +16%
Required Level +5

Horadric Cube
Fingerprint: 0x165f4ac0
Item Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Grim Hold
Sharkskin Gloves
Defense: 76
Durability: 13 of 14
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0x8a058090
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+92% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +15%
Fire Resist +13%
15% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Heart of the Oak
Knout
KoVexPulThul
One Hand Damage: 13 - 35
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 82
Required Dexterity: 73
Fingerprint: 0xb4154db2
Item Level: 83
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to All Skills
+40% Faster Cast Rate
+75% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
7% Mana stolen per hit
+10 to Dexterity
Replenish Life +20
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
All Resistances +30
Level 4 Oak Sage (25/25 Charges)
Level 14 Raven (60/60 Charges)
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ko Rune
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Pul Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune

Ko Rune
Required Level: 39
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +10 to Dexterity
Armor: +10 to Dexterity
Shields: +10 to Dexterity

Vex Rune
Required Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Mana stolen per hit
Armor: +5% to Maximum Fire Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Fire Resist

Pul Rune
Required Level: 45
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +75% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
Armor: +30% Enhanced Defense
Shields: +30% Enhanced Defense

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 146
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0xe76c5272
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+32% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+100 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+7 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune

Tal Rune
Required Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
Armor: Poison Resist +30%
Shields: Poison Resist +35%

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%

Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14

Enigma
Superior Light Plate
JahIthBer
Defense: 883
Durability: 66 of 66
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 41
Fingerprint: 0x49c67301
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+45% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Teleport
+14% Enhanced Defense
+760 Defense
+70 to Strength (Based on Character Level)
Increase Maximum Life 5%
Damage Reduced by 8%
+14 Life after each Kill
15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
94% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based on Character Level)
Increase Maximum Durability 11%
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Jah Rune
Socketed: Ith Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune

Jah Rune
Required Level: 65
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Ignore Target's Defense
Armor: Increase Maximum Life 5%
Shields: +50 to Life

Ith Rune
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +9 to Maximum Damage
Armor: 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
Shields: 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Call to Arms
Superior Crystal Sword
AmnRalMalIstOhm
One Hand Damage: 17 - 53
Durability: 23 of 23
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 43
Fingerprint: 0x9a5a4066
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+40% Increased Attack Speed
254% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
+6 to Battle Command
+1 to Battle Orders
+4 to Battle Cry
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Increase Maximum Durability 15%
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Amn Rune
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune

Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14

Ral Rune
Required Level: 19
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
Armor: Fire Resist +30%
Shields: Fire Resist +35%

Mal Rune
Required Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal
Armor: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Magic Damage Reduced by 7

Ist Rune
Required Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Ohm Rune
Required Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Enhanced Maximum Damage
Armor: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist

Sigon's Guard
Tower Shield
Defense: 22
Chance to Block: 44
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Level: 6
Required Strength: 75
Fingerprint: 0x7ffba990
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
20% Increased Chance of Blocking

War Traveler
Battle Boots
Defense: 127
Durability: 47 of 48
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 95
Fingerprint: 0xae5bbe9f
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+25% Faster Run/Walk
Adds 15 - 25 Damage
+166% Enhanced Defense
+10 to Strength
+10 to Vitality
40% Slower Stamina Drain
Attacker Takes Damage of 8
43% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+30 Maximum Durability

Shimmering Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0x45a65d0d
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+13 to Life
All Resistances +3

Shimmering Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0xe54707b9
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 53
Fingerprint: 0x69d4c8c0
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+31 to Life
All Resistances +15

Shimmering Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0xaf4e4cce
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+7 to Life
All Resistances +13

Entrapping Grand Charm of Balance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xc7172ad4
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
+12% Faster Hit Recovery

Entrapping Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x713d3250
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Viridian Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 29
Fingerprint: 0x445956b9
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+5% Faster Hit Recovery
Poison Resist +6%

Viridian Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 17
Fingerprint: 0xce430864
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+13 to Life
Poison Resist +7%

Snake's Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 24
Fingerprint: 0x84899fdb
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+12 to Life
+11 to Mana

Jade Small Charm of Life
Small Charm
Required Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0x6685623b
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+9 to Life
Poison Resist +8%

Amber Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x3a779cd7
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
Lightning Resist +10%

Ruby Small Charm of Dexterity
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0xa30efc6a
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Dexterity
Fire Resist +11%

Ruby Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x6dec1239
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +10%

Garnet Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 29
Fingerprint: 0x4f21bf66
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+5% Faster Hit Recovery
Fire Resist +9%

Stone Mark
Amulet
Required Level: 30
Fingerprint: 0xd3728eff
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
+18 to Attack Rating
All Resistances +15
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
54% Extra Gold from Monsters
21% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Mercenary:

Name: Ahsab
Race: Desert Mercenary
Type: Def-Nightmare
Experience: 100734036
Level: 94
Dead?: false

Naked/Gear
Strength: 202/202
Dexterity: 163/163
HP: 2127/2304
Defense: 1557/3203
AR: 2018/2018

Fire: 203/163/103
Cold: 203/163/103
Lightning: 203/163/103
Poison: 203/163/103

Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Death Mask
Defense: 125
Durability: 11 of 20
Required Level: 66
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0x15f41e15
Item Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Mana stolen per hit
10% Life stolen per hit
+45 Defense
+60 to Life
+30 to Mana
All Resistances +15

Fortitude
Archon Plate
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 1521
Durability: 57 of 60
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 103
Fingerprint: 0x8d09d49d
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+25% Faster Cast Rate
300% Enhanced Damage
+200% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+117 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +30
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune

El Rune
Required Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +50 to Attack Rating
+1 to Light Radius
Armor: +15 Defense
+1 to Light Radius
Shields: +15 Defense
+1 to Light Radius

Sol Rune
Required Level: 27
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +9 to Minimum Damage
Armor: Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Damage Reduced by 7

Dol Rune
Required Level: 31
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Hit Causes Monster to Flee 25%
Armor: Replenish Life +7
Shields: Replenish Life +7

Lo Rune
Required Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Deadly Strike
Armor: +5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Lightning Resist

Infinity
Thresher
BerMalBerIst
Two Hand Damage: 64 - 757
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 142
Required Dexterity: 108
Fingerprint: 0xdae0dcd1
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
50% Chance to cast level 20 Chain Lightning when you Kill an Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
259% Enhanced Damage
-52% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
+47 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges)
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Mal Rune
Required Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal
Armor: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Magic Damage Reduced by 7

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Ist Rune
Required Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
T72on1 said:
I think I just broke the like button !!! Very nice rune haul there, PhineasB.
coju said:
Why so much str and dex?
PhineasB said:
Thanks @T72on1.

@coju - Base strength is high due to equipping Monarch for Spirit, and I haven't used a re-spec since equipping Enigma. Actually, I haven't used re-spec since before I found current belt and boots (+29 strength together). As to dexterity, I'm not sure why it's that high. She had used a claw (Greater Talons) for traps before she found the first Vex for HotO, but that's not 97 hard points? Misclicks? Had briefly thought block would be cool? Maybe I used Suwayyah at one point? Anyhow, at that point, I didn't have a 4os flail but did have the Knout. I had stats to equip and wasn't patient enough to wait for base. Fortunately, I have another Vex and will reroll the HotO once I find a 4os flail :rolleyes:
T72on1 said:
I'm definitely surprised by how much slower the road from 95 to 96 is, compared to getting from 94 to 95. I can't even begin to imagine what it will be like after 96. Nevertheless, the xp bar did seem to move a bit lately, so I'm now somewhere at 1/20 to 96. Just judging from the xp bar, I haven't bothered to take a look at the exact xp numbers.

Dropwise, CS has finally been somewhat productive. First the second Darkforce Spawn for Neverland (3/1/1 roll this time, I think the other one was 2/2/3), my third or fourth ever. Then a Traps skiller with some +life. Last but not least, on the last run of a 45 minute session today, a first ever for me:

1611506937907.png

Only a Zod to go and I have found all runes in D2 :). For now I'll just stash it, and probably will use it for the Doom runeword at some point. A fellow Basiner I used to play D2 with over TCP/IP, once leveled up a Fury Wolf with one of my characters, built around a Doom weapon and a Phoenix Shield. It was incredibly cool and really strong, so I hope to be able to build that one day.
Pb_pal said:
@NanoMist - Welcome to the 96 club!

@T72on1 - Nice Cham! It's the only rune I have yet to see drop.

@PhineasB - That is some drool-worthy gear!

@Southpaw8668 - Glad to see you're having so much fun. I have a soft spot for Windys, so it's nice to see one progressing well. :)

Great job to everyone else as well!

--

Well we've officially hit the halfway point to 97!

Slow going as of late due to playtime restraints, but she's still going strong. It's been status quo in the CS; Infector and Vizier, Infector and Vizier, Infector and Vizier.

Our drops had really diminished in the past little while, which seemed a little off. Now CS is pretty notorious for not being the most productive area to MF, but Eleanor's drop rate of S/U had fallen way off. Upon further inspection we realized that Eleanor has been running without any boots on! She was previously using some boots with ~30 mf and a pile of CR, but I must have left them on the ground while testing some potential replacements or something. Oops. :)

Well a quick shopping stint at Anya fixed that once we found ourselves some perfect Boots of Luck (35% MF). We'll replace those with better boots (probably with resists) as time goes on, but right now she's happy to have the MF back. When you're running the same area so much, the drops are one of the things that keep you motivated to continue. Turns out her boots were in fact quite lucky, as shortly after putting them on she found her first Gheeds (22%). Literally the next run she found a better one (33%)!

She found herself a Tal's amulet to replace her current crafted one until she can craft herself a +2 sorc amulet with at least 10% FCR (her current has 9). I really want that 10+ FCR on the amulet to free up her last ring slot. Just as she was starting to feel better about the drops she found herself her first SoJ! She swapped it out for her Dwarf Star, and it brought her Blizz damage up to 9.7k max. So close to 10k she can taste it now! Really, I could get there right now by socketing my DF with a cold facet (I think..), but I'd rather hang on to my LK map.

So that's where she sits right now. Not much else to say other than she's been crafting and gambling (circlets and amulets mostly) up a storm with absolutely nothing to show for it.

Good luck out there everyone!
 
hasuprotoss said:
Reina is now 94. Level 93 was fairly clean. Had 3 deaths overall, one at the middle of the level where I was trying to grab some dumb item that would have been Jamella fodder if I had found it and 2 nearer the end of the level when I was trying to rush Reina through the end of the level. We're definitely at the point now where any death will cost us far too much time, and a much greater caution will be exhibited going forward, much to Reina's chagrin.

Not too much in the way of drops for the past level and a half for Reina, who's badly in need of a Vex rune at this point but neither of us have had the desire to run LK. We'll probably hit it in the buildup to 95 to make sure we get a Heart of the Oak going sooner rather than later. Really difficult to have a Call to Arms Crystal Sword and a Spirit Crystal Sword so you can't tell your switch from your main weapon except memorizing what your life total should be!

We also need to acquire some gold. Jemali has done a fine job of forcing us to pick up safe drops in order to resurrect him, so hopefully we can get enough money to buy enough amulets to craft something useful. I think a good bit of time before this level really kicks off will go into item acquisitions. Run Andy for some possible ring improvements and general money, than hit LK for the Vex (and maybe the second Ber? Still no Infinity base worth anything and a runeword that expensive I'd want to be in as good a base as possible!). After that, go back to killing Vizier than Infector, which appears to be the opposite of Pb_pal :)

Anyways, the few finds are below:
CFhNoXS.jpg

Very shortly after I found the Griffon's this bad boy drops. Reina is very happy about her new ugly head gear!

sYeqTvG.jpg

Whatever @T72on1 can do, I can do as well! Also, I almost missed this Cham, due to all of those monsters around I had actually teleported away before Vizier died. Reina decided that we should just completely verify nothing was left behind. Good thing I listened to her and not my better judgement!

caq23LL.jpg

This Guillaume's Face actually represents 50% of the grail being complete!

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      96             No          890        309            4           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       96             No          901        339            1          147
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         503        255            -           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      87             Yes           -        114            -           -
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     82             Yes           -          -            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
NanoMist said:
Great stuff everyone! I enjoyed reading about all the finds and progress thus far. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that these drops are a great motivator as the experience gains slow to a crawl.

As for myself, not much to report after that DWeb except for a measly Vex. Envying those Cham runes so far.
Interesting 5 unique drop. (Antlers were triple durability.)
Also found my 4th trap GC for a little more damage.
T72on1 said:
@Pb_pal Congrats on the SoJ !!! And on getting to the 96.5 mark.

@hasuprotoss Nice progress. Congrats on the Cham. And yes, you're really starting to get to a point where you don't want to die.

@NanoMist I agree. The drops are what keep you motivated when the xp gets to a crawl. O yes, and I'd trade my Cham rune for four skillers any day at this point in Neverland's career. Still sitting at zero myself :(.
Southpaw8668 said:
Njord has hit another landmark at 90, primarily hammering on Shenk and Eldritch at /p8. He is also a Pat now! Several HR and nice uniques have dropped, mostly down in Shenk's area with the high concentration of bosses and champions that convene there. On my phone, so I must keep it short.
Edit: @Pb_pal Congratulations on finding the sweet jewelry!
Edit: On behalf of T72on1 the HR I've found in CS, Shenk, Eldritch, LK (till eyes bled) and Pindleskin have amounted to:
Ist - 3
Gul - 1
Vex - 2
Ohm - 1
Lo - 3
Ber - 1
Cham - 1


Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      96             No          890        309            4           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       96             No          901        339            1          147
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         503        255            -           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      87             Yes           -        114            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
NanoMist said:
Been meaning to share my experience tables with everyone. I used it to help theorycraft my Baal runs and it's fairly accurate. My 95 -> 96 stretch was done via Ancients + 177 P8/P3 Baal runs. Without Ancients it would have taken 215 Baal runs, extrapolated from the 177 count. My table gave me 216 runs to 96, so it's very close to reality. As expected since clearing P1 throne is negligible in regards to additional experience.

I also have CS exp. numbers, but it's trickier due to random monster packs that are normally killed on the side. As always, it's best to do in game testing here, like Gripp. Still useful to see the exp. breakdown by seals and Diablo. Vizier + Infector contributes a major percentage of the total exp at sub-98, but that is something already known long ago. Although most leveling strats have already been dissected in the past 99 threads, it didn't hurt to reconfirm the strat or do a minor variation with our untwinked characters. Factor in actual run times for best use, although deaths, random monster packs, exp. shrines, etc will change the numbers.

Spoiler tag for wall of (intimidating) numbers:
First table contains P8/P7 Diablo and P8/P3 Baal.
1611507248438.png

Same as first but with P1/P7 Diablo and P1/P3 Baal. Included due to P1/P7 Diablo being a common 98 strat.
1611507259678.png

The P8/P3 Baal runs are fairly close to jjscud/reborn's table, which is a good sign. Let me know if there are any mistakes and I will correct it. For example: the number of minions.

Developed the spreadsheet with the basin exp. page and german d2 exp. online calculator as the references.
OldSoldier said:
Got my first ever Lo rune, out of a corpse in LK. Still the chests are stuck on Tal drops for some reason (or so it seems I suppose). I would have taken a screenie but I snagged it and S&E about a second later after a single swipe from what must have been an extra strong minion or an aura enchanted normal winged nightmare took about 65% of Battleforge's life. I didn't feel like playing around with him after getting it. Not sure what I'll do with it though. Perhaps I'll make a Fortitude for the merc after he no longer needs the speed from his armor slot (i.e. I find an ethereal elite polearm that can get 6 sockets and make the BOTD for him).

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      96             No          890        309            4           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       96             No          901        339            1          147
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         503        255            -           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      89             Yes           -        236            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
@Southpaw8668 Wait, what? You sure go fast !!! Congrats on 90. I didn't know that Eldritch and Shenk are such good targets for xp and drops. Btw, I'm curious to read what those HRs and nice uniques are, so I hope you'll find the time to post some of them later on :).

@NanoMist Thanks, very interesting.

@OldSoldier Congrats on the progress and on the Lo.
Pb_pal said:
@NanoMist - Awesome work! Always cool to see how the numbers stack up. Much appreciated.

@OldSoldier - I'd hold on to the Lo just in case you want to cube it to a Sur if you need a last one for Enigma/CoH etc. Of course, Fortitude is also a great choice for the merc too, so you can't really go wrong.
Tarantella said:
Approaching the mid point to 94 here doing mainly Baal runs at p1 (with the boss at p1-p8) leavening the time with activity in the Crypt, Mausoleum, AT and the Durance.

Dropped a firebolt and a lightning Ormus, a second poor lightning facet, treks and finally gambled a nice rare amulet which replaced the Tals once some Trangs had been found and a small charm reshuffle made.

1611507384715.png

Blew 81 gems rolling a trap skiller. Merc now wearing Guillames, Treachery and carrying an insight normal great poleaxe most of the time. Still looking for a Baal GC, a +5/+6 orb, a suitable armour and gambling amulets and headgear.
OldSoldier said:
Pb_pal said:
@OldSoldier - I'd hold on to the Lo just in case you want to cube it to a Sur if you need a last one for Enigma/CoH etc. Of course, Fortitude is also a great choice for the merc too, so you can't really go wrong.
I will definitely hold onto it for now. I just found my first ever Ohm rune too! Of course another monster was hot on my heels and I just had enough time to see the orange flying through space and grab a few piles of gold to see the rune, grab it and run. Hmmm perhaps I should only do LK runs where I am in hot pursuit (Dukes of Hazzard reference there)
zticazzy said:
Congrats everyone on your latest achievements! As for me, I just reached 97 2/3 tonight.

2lJExiK.jpg

(my progress on the exp bar appears to be over 66,7%, but numbers suggest that I'm exactly at two thirds.)

So what happened during this 89m chunk of exp? Nothing much tbh, slow progression and no interesting TC87s or grailers, but still some cool drops every now and then. Runes were the biggest surprise, since I got 3 nice drops in a short period of time, maybe less than 200 runs. First, I got this:
9akJiJS.jpg
followed shortly after by another nice present form Baal himself
YPz0c0W.jpg
and then it finally climaxed with this
FC4rxSd.jpg
Nothing else higher than Ko ever dropped, so it's crazy luck there... or bad luck, because I just need Lem and Ist right now. o_O I was able to cube another Zod, which brings me to a personal record of 4 Zods farmed with this character alone.
I also got a random blue amulet to be used against Nihla's vipers:
Code:
Rainbow Amulet of Life Everlasting
Amulet
Required Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0xd33d8490
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
All Resistances +11
Damage Reduced by 23
I hope it helps.

See you at 98!
Southpaw8668 said:
Finally back at my computer to post some of the nifty items that have been found during the Frigid Highlands grind as well as on our way to making Njord a Patriarch.

1611507543069.png
1611507549856.png
1611507559050.png
1611507567495.png
1611507574209.png
1611507580441.png
1611507587755.png

1611507596813.png
T72on1 said:
@Tarantella That's a lovely amulet you gambled there. One question: your merc doesn't have life leech. Isn't it hard to keep him alive?

@OldSoldier Congrats on the Ohm !!!

@zticazzy You are nuts ... 4 Zods. That's 8 Chams, right? Or did you actually find a Zod as well? Or cube up various low level HRs (now that sounds silly). Good luck on getting to 98. And yes, that is a lovely amulet.

@Southpaw8668 Cool !!! Still curious to see which HRs you found :).

I finally managed to play some more than off and on yesterday, some 3 hours in total. I should check the xp numbers, but judging from the xp bar, I'm somewhere at the 95.33 mark now. My highest every !!! Probably still not as efficient as many others here in running the CS, but I'm really starting to get the hang of it. To break things up a bit, I have started to run Diablo as well, whenever Infector doesn't spawn cold immune. Which is about 1/3 of my runs I'd guess.

Itemwise things have been very good. I finally rerolled my first Cold skiller. A plain one of course, but still I'm happy with it. I made a second HotO, as a rescue item in case I die. My old one was 34% res all, this one rolled 39%, so that's nice. Also rolled another Spirit Monarch for the rescue set, which got ... 35% fcr :). Tremendous. I'm now thinking about making a CoH to replace my Skin of the Vipermagi. Not sure about it yet though.

Best drops were during my one hour playing session in the evening, when I found my first 2 lightning facets (3/4 and 5/4 iirc, should be useful if I ever change to lightning sorc), a Stormlash (first for a non-tainted character, third in my career, lowest ED% possible, highest light absorb) and my first ever Fleshripper (283% ED). Earlier I had found IK Soul Cage. Not bad for a character with only 174% mf :).

I will post readouts of the items later.

Edit: here they are

Code:
Stormlash
Scourge
One Hand Damage: 10 - 272
Durability: 51 of 65
Required Level: 82
Required Strength: 125
Required Dexterity: 77
Fingerprint: 0x362ad645
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 18 Tornado on striking
15% Chance to cast level 10 Static Field on striking
+30% Increased Attack Speed
240% Enhanced Damage
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 1 - 473 Lightning Damage
33% Chance of Crushing Blow
+9 Lightning Absorb
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 30


Rainbow Facet
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0xa0241cd0
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 41 Nova when you Level-Up
Adds 1 - 74 Lightning Damage
-5% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+4% to Lightning Skill Damage


Rainbow Facet
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0x4368224c
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 41 Nova when you Level-Up
Adds 1 - 74 Lightning Damage
-4% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+3% to Lightning Skill Damage


Fleshripper
Fanged Knife
One Hand Damage: 57 - 218
Durability: 21 of 36
Required Level: 68
Required Strength: 42
Required Dexterity: 86
Fingerprint: 0x499dbced
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
283% Enhanced Damage
-50% Target Defense
25% Chance of Crushing Blow
33% Deadly Strike
50% Chance of Open Wounds
Prevent Monster Heal
Slows Target by 20%


Immortal King's Soul Cage
Sacred Armor
Defense: 1001
Durability: 55 of 60
Required Level: 76
Required Strength: 232
Fingerprint: 0xf4e27fd7
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 5 Enchant when struck
+2 to Combat Skills (Barbarian Only)
+400 Defense
Poison Resist +50% Set (2 items): +25% Faster Hit Recovery Set (3 items): Cold Resist +40% Set (4 items): Fire Resist +40% Set (5 items): Lightning Resist +40% Set (6 items): +50% Enhanced Defense

I also found this rare Tiara

Code:
Imp Horn
Tiara
Defense: 49
Durability: 18 of 25
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0xde68d1bc
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Barbarian Skill Levels
Adds 1 - 89 Lightning Damage
7% Mana stolen per hit
6% Life stolen per hit
+20 to Dexterity
Fire Resist +30%

Not sure if it's useful for anything, but the dual leech / +skills combo kinda struck me.

So long as I'm having fun with my CS runs, I'll continue those. I might throw some LK runs in the mix sometimes as well, to break things up.
zticazzy said:
@T72on1 congrats on your rolls man, 35%fcr spirit is sweet! To answer your question, I never found a single Zod, they were always cubed from lower runes, from Cham all the way down to Ohm and Vex. The fact is, when you play a vanilla WWer (no RWM, no ATMA bug) the only efficient endgame weapon available through runes is botd, and once you get enigma you're pretty much done with HRs, so the best way to spend those is by cubing them. The first two Zods went into eth zerkers for ebotd, the third one in etomby, the fourth one is just sitting there in case I need to reroll stuff, not to mention that I could already cube another one if I wanted to -- I would have been the Zod God by now, I know.
Grape said:
This thread has been really fun to follow. Some very nice progress. Few of you are on the verge where the real grind starts :)

@zticazzy you Cham magnet! You should start working on that Zod God Grail like, now! (just stash the items away and never touch again, would be like vanilla still, imo ;) )

@T72on1 you triggered me to start counting what am I able to cube from Ohm and up now... We'll see what happens, if anything

EDIT: result can be seen in the Zod God thread. There's some silly stuff ;)
Tarantella said:
T72on1 said:
@Tarantella That's a lovely amulet you gambled there. One question: your merc doesn't have life leech. Isn't it hard to keep him alive?
Keeping Oak Sage up most of the time helps a lot. He doesn't kill fast on high settings but is quite capable of holding off normal monsters indefinitely (albeit noisily) whilst Tarasha calmly sifts, sorts and otherwise examines the contents of chests. Life leech from Chains of Honour is an option but a upgraded Greyform, Boneflesh or Skin of the Flayed One would do for p1 Baal runs especially if an eth 4 socket polearm dropped sometime this year.


And of course with orb/ fireball on left click and tele always on right continuous re positioning helps a great deal.
NanoMist said:
I have to admit getting to 97 was a little tough. Exp. bar gains were still noticeable, if ever so slightly. About halfway to 97, suffered my second death to three Burning Soul packs, one carrying conviction aura. Miraculously, I was able to retrieve my body with no further deaths, and was only set back a dozen Baal runs.

Grailers are also slowing down, even with an average of 1.2 S/U per run.
Found a few things though, but nothing incredible. BKWB, Ohm, 4th Arachnid (eth).

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2          175
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      96             No          890        309            4           -
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         503        255            -           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      89             Yes           -        236            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
Pb_pal said:
@NanoMist - Awesome job! Congrats on 97, your pace is incredible! I've also noticed a marked slowdown in grailers, although I'm not dropping as many S/U as you are (Eleanor's MF is only just a bit over 100).
T72on1 said:
@NanoMist Congrats !!! Awesome job. I agree with @Pb_pal, your pace is incredible. Also, I would love to have an Arachnid's Mesh, and you are already at your fourth !!! I woulnd't mind the BKWB either ...

We went away for the weekend, so I didn't have time to play until yesterday evening. I did exactly one CS run before our weekly group game, and got my second cold skiller. Another plain one, but still a nice surprise. After the group game I couldn't resist playing some more. No fancy drops, but good xp, and still no deaths on my way to 96, so that's a good thing.

After a while I decided to cube up my 2 Surs and create a CoH. This gave me another +skill, and thanks to the high resists on the armor, I could switch out one of my rare rings for a 26% Nagelring, and include some more life charms. So despite the 2 skillers I'm now back at some 2200 life after BO, and at almost 200% mf. I would love to have more mf, but I can't see me putting in more without loosing killing power.

O yes, I must have been mistaken about my progress xp wise last time, because yesterday evening I already went past the 95.5 mark. I don't think I'll be able to play much, if anything this week, though. The garden is a mess, I should catch a lot of sleep for my ultra run on Sunday, and the European Championship soccer is starting on Friday. There won't be much room, if any, for Diablo 2 I'm afraid :(.
NanoMist said:
Thanks! Pace will be slowing down though, to prevent burn out. I pushed hard on the final stretch to 97, so now I'm taking a short break.
 
OldSoldier said:
Battleforge finally hit 90 last night, which is at least 3 or 4 levels higher than any character I've ever made. Seems like this trip to 99 might take a while, because yikes it is slow already. I think part of the problem is that my gear is still pretty substandard. Well anyway, I do keep working on that aspect of this journey. See some consolidated screenshots of my finds, with comments below.

1611509208970.png
My first big find was the Wizardspike. It has the same FCR as the Spectral Shard I had been using but obviously with much greater resistances. It allows me to have other specific items in the hardest difficulty without worrying about maximizing resistances, such as Stealth armor, Chance Guards, Sanders' Boots and M'avina's Belt, etc. I have found several skillers, the most of any one tree being 3 cold sorc skillers. The Gheeds Fortune that Battleforge found will be hard to beat and earned a permanent spot as soon as I got it. I have spent most of my money gambling circlets, caps (for a Harlequin Crest) and battle boots (for an Aldur's set boots) and in the process of doing that I got this sweet Amazon tiara. I think it would be great for a Strafer, which I would like to make some day.

1611509219597.png

My other nice jewel is a 39% ED version and I like it a lot. Probably no room on this build for it, but nice nonetheless. The paladin circlet is what I call the poor man's version of a Shako. I dumped the 2 socket helm I'd been wearing since almost the start of the journey (some FHR and 48% MF was all it had) and put it on for times when I want to fight. I also have another circlet in the stash with 30% FRW for times I need to hustle, such as LK. This screenie also shows my first Mal rune, which dropped after the Zod and Lo and Ohm. I am still looking for a 4 socket flail for Hoto and the Pul that goes into it too (though I can cube one). I have also not seen a Gul drop yet.

1611509224860.png

I'd also been spending some time in the Mausoleum and Crypt as a break from the CS/LK drudgery. I can do those areas at P8 and there are lots of drops. Last night I got this and thought I might have a candidate for the BOTD that is now tugging at me like I'm Frodo Baggins with his ring. Alas, I guess I don't know the difference between a Colossus Sword and a Colossus Blade, and this only gets five holes. It would make a nice Death RW though, if I ever decide to use a barb merc or run a Chargeadin, which I've also never done before.
Pb_pal said:
@OldSoldier - Congrats on hitting 90! You've got some really cool finds in there, I especially like the RJoF and the Sharp GC of Vita. Very cool!

Also pretty cool that over half the participants are now 90+!
T72on1 said:
@OldSoldier Congrats, very well done :). Some really nice finds. I agree with @Pb_pal, the RJoF and the Sharp GC of Vita are the most obvious ones. I wouldn't mind that Tiara or Circlet though !!

What probably slows you down, isn't only your gear, but also the fact that you are HC. And don't have Enigma iirc. I'd say you are doing pretty darn well :). Btw, which gear are you currently using, next to the pieces you mentioned?

O yes, and good to know where all the cold skillers I can't find go to ...

@Pb_pal Cool indeed. As a matter of fact, I actually think that those that are still active, all hit 90 now. I haven't really seen any progress reports from the others iirc.
OldSoldier said:
T72on1 said:
As a matter of fact, I actually think that those that are still active, all hit 90 now. I haven't really seen any progress reports from the others iirc.
So I'm in last place eh? Well then, I'm happy to be bringing up the rear!
T72on1 said:
There's no last place in a journey of this size :). And besides, who knows I spent twice as much time on the game already as you have, in HC and without Teleport nonetheless !!!

I for one am actually very inspired by your character here. I've never tried a Hammerdin, and never felt like doing so, but ever since this journey and your participation, I'm inclined to start one at some point.
Kitteh said:
Last place does not exist mate, it is more like a conveyor belt in this tournament :p If you are HC anyway!
hasuprotoss said:
Calculated about 450 runs to 95...

That and little playing time means Reina isn't hitting 95 soon but I'll hopefully be able to make a good push late June/early July to 95. Then playing time will stagnate again for quite awhile but I'll hopefully be able to get a good run or fifteen in every few days. Slow and steady and all that...

Also cool finds @OldSoldier!! I couldn't fathom hitting 90 on hardcore...
Pb_pal said:
Eleanor has reached 97!

The last half of the level went smoothly, aside from one death in the last 30M of the level which was frustrating. We got our body back though, so it didn't hurt too too much. She continues her search for a +2 sorc skills/10+ FCR amulet, either rare or crafted will suffice, with no luck. She did manage to cube herself an 8 FCR one though :rolleyes:. She also managed to upgrade her Gheeds to 37%, which she was quite pleased about.

She was just starting to think of all the Bers, Jahs, and Chams that everyone has been finding lately and she was starting to get a bit miffed about her non-LK rune drops. Her highest so far has been a solitary Lo. Right when she was about to start writing an angry letter to the Runedrop Gods, this happened:

cRRv6v1.jpg

.

Wow! Well I guess I can't complain about rune drops for her ever again!

It's not overly useful for her, but always a welcome sight. This marks the second Zod drop of my career (and both fairly recently, too!). Now I'll have to wrestle with the decision between not only Insight vs Infinity for the merc, but BotD too. Hmm.

Cathan's Seal is now the most found item (29 found), with Isenhart's Case bringing in 2nd place at 23.

Other finds:
- Ist
- Mal
- Always nice to see some class-specific uniques (grailers, as well) in HoZ and Spirit Keeper.

Updated Battleforge as well.

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy    Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist    Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2          175
Pb_pal      Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1      Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB    Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         503        255            -           -
Tarantella  Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw    Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier  Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Gambit      Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo        Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl  Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh      Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit      Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin  Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer     Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
NanoMist said:
Well done! 97 and Zod!

As far as S/U frequency goes, I have the same top two. Cathan's Seal (41), Isenhart's Case (33), then Angelic Sickle (20).
Kitteh said:
Pb_pal, your journey has almost begun! :p
XyleneCyanol said:
After my HC Blizzard Sorc died in LK last year, I have stopped playing HC. Recently, I cannot resist the temptation of playing HC again, and I just got a new laptop. So I think, why not take this opportunity to do a fresh start in HC in 1.14? Something challenging, no RWM and no ATMA/GoMule.

Now seeing this thread is so active, and I've been enjoying reading all the progress people do here, I just might as well join!!!

I hope it is not too late. Starting today, I will put some effort on making an untwinkled 99er :D

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      97             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2          175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         503        255            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo     OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      23             No            1          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
Congrats on 97 !!! And for the Zod, awesome. The only rune I haven't found yet. Well done :).

About S/U: I'll have to check later when I get home. Isenhart's Case definitely is close to the top spot, if not at it. But maybe a bit surprisingly, Tancred's weapon is there as well iirc.

Edit: just missed @XyleneCyanol's post apparantly. Good luck on your journey. That's definitely some restrictions you put on yourself there. Very interesting. I wish you a safe trip.

Something else I wanted to add: apparantly the progress of the people in this iteration of the road to 99 is much better than the previous one. I that one, there were over 50 entries, with the highest being one 99er, but then 'only' 96, 95, 2x 94, 2x 93, 2x 91, 2x 90 and further down, after one year. We already have 3x 97, 95, 2x 94, 93 and 2x 90 after only 2.5 months. Nice going people :cool:.
XyleneCyanol said:
I never signed up any tournament before, and it took me a few minutes to get that table aligned properly :p
coju said:
T72on1 said:
Congrats on 97 !!! And for the Zod, awesome. The only rune I haven't found yet. Well done :).

About S/U: I'll have to check later when I get home. Isenhart's Case definitely is close to the top spot, if not at it. But maybe a bit surprisingly, Tancred's weapon is there as well iirc.

Edit: just missed @XyleneCyanol's post apparantly. Good luck on your journey. That's definitely some restrictions you put on yourself there. Very interesting. I wish you a safe trip.

Something else I wanted to add: apparantly the progress of the people in this iteration of the road to 99 is much better than the previous one. I that one, there were over 50 entries, with the highest being one 99er, but then 'only' 96, 95, 2x 94, 2x 93, 2x 91, 2x 90 and further down, after one year. We already have 3x 97, 95, 2x 94, 93 and 2x 90 after only 2.5 months. Nice going people :cool:.
Was that one untwinked as well? That is pretty wild that we hAve 9 past 90 in 2.5 months!
I wonder if start dates have anything to do with it? Didn't kesteg's tournament start in September or so?
XyleneCyanol said:
lol, @T72on1 , thank you.

I will keep visiting this thread on a regular basis, and post update.

Oh, the first unique is Rixot's Keen, forgot to take screenshot, though :p
T72on1 said:
@coju Kesteg's started mid october. Seems like the perfect timing for such a project. At least that's when things usually start to get a lot more quiet for me, and I get far more playing time. And yes, it was untwinked.

@XyleneCyanol Rixot's Keen ... a TC3 as first unique !!! For sure your trip will be blessed :).
Southpaw8668 said:
coju said:
Was that one untwinked as well? That is pretty wild that we hAve 9 past 90 in 2.5 months!
I wonder if start dates have anything to do with it? Didn't kesteg's tournament start in September or so?
It was easy getting to 90, now the medium sets begin so you have to take short breathers.[emoji14]
Brak said:
@Pb_pal You could even consider going with a Barb merc for that zod. They are a lot more hardy and have way better AI than the Act II walking auras. Maybe take one for a test run since you just reach a new level?
Pb_pal said:
Brak said:
@Pb_pal You could even consider going with a Barb merc for that zod. They are a lot more hardy and have way better AI than the Act II walking auras. Maybe take one for a test run since you just reach a new level?
That could be interesting. If I ever decide that I don't want an Insight anymore, this might be an option. Certainly gets some style points!
Southpaw8668 said:
Njord still on his way to 91 found a few more nifty items, another HR in the RoF and tried his hand at several crafts, which landed him some pretty good kit in the end.
1611509645742.png
I thought this has to be the best rare elite 2-hander that has ever dropped for me. What do you all think of it? I'll definitely consider giving it to an Act V mercenary and see how he does with it. Maybe use a socket quest to slap a LL rune in it too. Too bad the ED% and AR% bonuses are not for Demons instead of Undead.
1611509650896.png
Njord's new get there quick stick and 2 os shield courtesy of Pindle, which made teleporting past him and kicking his packs butt much safer and easier on /p8, until we shifted to full time RoF and CS at /p5.
1611509660416.png
1611509666639.png
One of the many gambled Coronets.
1611509673397.png

Might have to make a Fendazon with this weapon and gloves for my next random project.
1611509684680.png
1611509691599.png
1611509698601.png
1611509707443.png
1611509718537.png
 
qwernt said:
Thanks all for the advice. I applied it. Ran Pindle, AT, LK, & Rakanishu (he was less than a tele away from WP) until 87. Decided I was wasting time on LK because lots of teles for 1 fire so I rerolled multiple times (and got VERY frustrated dying 5 times while scouting LK by blind tele into packs... rage quit 2 days ago). After 10+ rerolls today I found a beauty - 2 fires, first is 2.5 teles SE of WP the second is 2 Teles NE of first. So, now my LK runs dropped 10 seconds and I hit 2 fires. Not to mention my AT map improved (closer to WP and still has reasonable loop through packs).
Found Chance Guards and killing fast enough to swap +2 sorc Tiara for 3 sockets of Perfect Topaz, got enough resist charms to swap Tearhaunch for 20%runwalk/21% MF boots. So, MF significantly better.
CanBeOnlyBlizz is a happy sorc. Next goal 90.
Cool finds: uh. Nothing compared to others
Ohm on my 5th LK run. That means a have a few hundred runs before another good rune...
Everything else has been gambled:
+2 skill hats for every class - But drooling over that one you found @Southpaw8668
An interesting array of +2 all or +3 specific attack Assassin weapons
My finding skills are lacking. Hopefully it will change with the new map.
Brak said:
Pb_pal said:
That could be interesting. If I ever decide that I don't want an Insight anymore, this might be an option. Certainly gets some style points!
Also with all that life leech on BotD, you free up helm and armor for p much anything you want. Helm would probably best be Delirium for area running and Guillame's Face with a sexy IAS Jewel/Cham/Ber for Bosses. Armor can go cheap with Duriel's Shell for the cbf, Duress for extra CB against bosses, or Treachery for the IAS+Fade+Venom. Looks like either 2 IAS Jewels or Treachery would hit the max IAS bp for you merc (5 frame standard, 10 frame Bash/Stun).
OldSoldier said:
I agree with Brak except that with a BOTD it is doing so much damage already that I think the CB is wasted a bit on the Duress. I think a Fortitude might be better, especially if running a Delirium (which I would do personally, chaos on the battlefield is awesome). Since I have the runes for all of the RW discussed, that will be my path (if I ever get any of the base items)!

On Battleforge's progress, he decided to make a CTA in a 5 socket War Scepter (it got +4 to BO) so his LK runs are a bit safer. He had been suffering too many white knuckle escapes when sniped by some enchanted extra fast apes, which seem to happen a lot. Good thing he did, because in one run, maybe 5 runs after I made the weapon and started using it on every LK run, a pack of might enchanted extra fast apes took him from 1800+ HP to 150 in less than a second. Whew! Deeds for sure without the CTA I'd just made, as his hit point total without BO is just over 1200.
Pb_pal said:
@OldSoldier - Close call! Glad Battleforge is still with us. :) I'm thinking I'm going to stay Insight/A2 merc for now, but once I hit 98 and the running dynamic changes (I'm planning on doing Diablo runs for the last level) I might just switch out to a Barb with a big hurty sword, as he'll probably help more with taking down D than the A2 one will. Also, you know, style is important.

Since I already made my current merc a CoH, I'd be running Delerium/CoH/BotD most likely.

Guess I should start keeping an eye open for Colossus Blades, although I have no room for it in the stash at the moment..
Southpaw8668 said:
@OldSoldier - Nice save, stay safe out there we'll surely miss the HC Hammer man if he meets the reaper.
OldSoldier said:
Southpaw8668 said:
@OldSoldier - Nice save, stay safe out there we'll surely miss the HC Hammer man if he meets the reaper.
I usually try to stay out of a building if I see enemies come out of one as I approach, and move on to the next one. I'm sure I've left some Bers on the table doing that! Sometimes though, with the amount of FRW I have on, I run headlong into groups before I can react. When doing LK runs I have FRW as follows: 40% from Sanders Boots, 25% from Stealth Armor, 25% from Zephyr crossbow, 20% from Mavina's belt, 43% from Vigor aura, 30% from a circlet, and (I think) 18% more from charms. That's over 200% for sure and when they come at me from the opposite edge of the screen there is pretty much no reaction time.

I feel like doing LK it is almost like having a SC character, I've had to panic S&E several times. Seems to me to be against the spirit of HC but if I didn't do that, I'd either die or never get the runes and the slog would be too great to even try for 99.
RIP said:
@Southpaw8668 : This rare weapon is nice, but as i said already in this thread, Decrepify is the key for Your Windy, and the best source of it is Barbarian merc with Lawbringer...I've played this druid under same rules like You and this merc and his weapon has been the key to my success (i won MF oriented tourney with him, starting from scratch, and we have to find as many grailers as possible during one month - found cca 80% of the grail and got him to lvl 92 - it was on the different Czech only forum though))So if You are considering switching to Barbarian merc, please, at least consider and try this option, its cheap and very effective ;)
zticazzy said:
Perkele reached 98. The real struggle begins.
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2          175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232            11          65
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         503        255            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo     OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      23             No            1          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
No fancy rune screenshots this time, the runs have been quite relaxing and uneventful. The only notable runefind was an Ist (just what I was looking for to make delirium, thanks RNG ;)), the only keeper a small charm +11 cold resist / +16 life. Somewhat interesting uniques I got: fleshripper, ravenlore, (2nd) azurewrath, and a perfect eth bonehew as last Baal drop, a symbolic souvenir from him I suppose? Anyway I didn't have enough space in my inventory so no Zod God hype I'm afraid.
I never died on this level, which is sort of strange given my sloppy gameplay, but I got rather close once having a 2nd wave with fana and manaburn spawned around me while I was distracted by tv. Manaburn Lister on p8 was ok after a bit of practice, and in the end I've always been able to kill him without quitting or losing too much time -- speaking of which, I was disappointed to notice, after a while, that my first estimate of 3.5 m exp per hour was the right one, so the journey to 98 took me more than I initially expected. But hey, here we are now, and Perkele's next target is Nihla, so let's have a look at my checklist:
  1. have a few countess runs to get Lem and make delirium in some random helm;
  2. make a new enigma in breastplate, perhaps;
  3. find more Lovecraft audiobooks;
  4. start to experiment on Nihla with different settings:
  • Main weapons: etomby or ebotdz+beastz? Tokens will be used...
  • Switch weapons: I have dual hoto, dual wizzy, one suicide branch. Dual hoto: overall good but lacks 20%fcr to hit the last tele bp; dual wizzy: good, but I have to waste hardpoints in dex; dual branch: maybe the best, but I still miss one of those;
  • Highlord or magic ammy of everlasting? Vamp or Guill? Damage reduction and killing speed are both important down there.
Let's see what the future holds... in the meantime, happy grinding everyone.

Edit: lol 2nd Suicide Branch dropped by Nihla himself during a test run :)
XyleneCyanol said:
@zticazzy Congrats on reaching lvl98. If I remember correctly, it takes longer from 98 to 99 than from 1 to 98, very interesting game design.

Yesterday, Conqueror Fishie reached lvl 80.

1611509965333.png
.

At the same time, Mephi says hi to me :D:

1611509972878.png

She has now finished Izual quest, and got back to Act III for some nice gear and runes.

She started with a standard MeteorOrb sorc, and the journey was very smooth so far. I have to say, untwinkled play is really refreshing: every piece of drop counts, and even having a Stealth and Leaf runeword made me happy :p.

One notable drop from Hell Duriel. I've never expect anything good from him (or her???), because most of the time Duriel dropped me things like this. Yesterday, this dropped:

1611510003929.png

Huh, you are capable of dropping goodies ;)

Showing some current gears:

1611510036068.png
1611510042785.png
1611510049621.png
1611510056443.png
1611510063101.png
1611510071523.png

Update table:

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232           11          65
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         503        255            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      80             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Tenecabo     OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     40             Yes           -          0            0           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin  Erilinda         HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1

Next goals:

Find Occy, Viper and Arach
Find/Cube Ist, Vex and Ohm
Respect to pure blizzard for AT runs to participate MFO
Chaos run for leveling (hopefully, I could get a Fathom during this :p)
Southpaw8668 said:
@XyleneCyanol - Congrats on the lovely green hat and making it this far with a HC, really light armored Sorceress.
hasuprotoss said:
Reina and I decided to try a few different things. Unfortunately, we didn't like where we ended up and had used up all of our respecs from Akara... So we pushed on and killed Baal, losing all of our Ancients XP to gloams. So, uhh... she's not happy about that, but I'm sure we'll survive the several hours we lost from losing all of our Ancients' XP before 98...

Anyways, we've done a bit of planning recently and think we see a way to get some decent upgrades to gear, get our resists above the 5 lightning and cold resist we currently have, and get back to killing things quickly! We have a 4 socket Archon Plate that we can make Chains of Honor into. This gives us a 38 resist boost over our current Vipermagi, and another skill. We also need to spam LK runs for that final Vex rune that we've been searching for, since about forever. This will grant us a Heart of the Oak, which gives us another skill, 10% FCR over our current Spirit, as well as 30 resists. We lose a bit of life, though but I think the increase in resistances will be fine. Both of these will push our lightning and cold resistance to at least 73 or so, as well as maxing out fire and poison. We need to do a bit of gear changing to hit 105 FCR with this setup, though. I swapped out Magefists for Frostburns since I was comfortable above 105 FCR but I can swap those back on and find a 10 FCR ring to replace my current Nagelring to get there. I don't see the point in having too much MF anymore, I think I've found the vast majority of gear that I'm interested in and now we just need to kill things as efficiently as possible.

Then, we'll go back into either AT or CS, (I think Reina prefers CS, she enjoys killing strange Demon Statue and weird lightning bug thingies a lot more than Zombies, skeletons, and hulking weird buggy sword wielding things) until we get up to... I dunno 97/98? Then go back to LK to get Infinity, Fortitude for the Merc, hopefully some light skillers, etc. Then, we'll equip our Griffon's and go to town on Diablo until we're about 100 runs from 99. Then we'll go kill Baal, since he's a lot cooler to run in the end :)

We've gotten back to full Blizzard, and have another Token ready to go. We're also missing two Baal dusts from making two more tokens, so I think we'll be fine if we decide to change our minds again.

Reina really wants more skillers. So far the only Sorceress skillers we've found was a single cold skiller, which helps now. Hopefully that ramps up and we get a good number in the five runs it takes us to find a Vex rune in LK :)

Anyways... a few pictures of interesting finds from the past few days (no Baal kill pictures because I forgot to take them!):
GYZiHAE.jpg

Our new amulet! Could have better rolls but for now I'm fine with the 2 Sorc skills. Will keep trying to reroll these things (LK should help replenish our diminishing Ral and P Amethyst supply)

qRYMSQK.jpg

Another Mal from LK

H78UljX.jpg

An Um from LK

tZJ7Ukg.jpg

I think that names already taken...

a8CqYwA.jpg

Courtesy of Andy

k85HXav.jpg

Courtesy of Baal, an improvement in every regards from our previous Gheed's

JlUDi2F.jpg

The coveted first Sorc skiller!

Finally, good job all of you guys, especially you @zticazzy!
Southpaw8668 said:
@hasuprotoss - Congratulations on all the wonderful finds and that's a sweet caster amulet. Those Gloams and Dolls are the most annoying creatures in the game for me.
XyleneCyanol said:
Due to a mistake, Conqueror Fishie is not vanilla anymore. So, I will change my rules for this char now:

No extended stash
Use RWM

I think I'm still eligible for this tournament, but correct me if I'm wrong ...
T72on1 said:
XyleneCyanol said:
Due to a mistake, Conqueror Fishie is not vanilla anymore. So, I will change my rules for this char now:

No extended stash
Use RWM

I think I'm still eligible for this tournament, but correct me if I'm wrong ...
You definitely are :).
Pb_pal said:
@zticazzy - Awesome job! Congrats on 98. Let us know how the Nilly runs treat you.

@hasuprotoss - Some good finds there, well done!

@XyleneCyanol - No problems there, keep on running!
zticazzy said:
Thanks for asking, @Pb_pal. Nihla is such a nice guy, why are people so afraid of him?
wngCxPe.jpg

Uhhh maybe I should Salva ed Esci.
XyleneCyanol said:
zticazzy said:
Thanks for asking, @Pb_pal. Nihla is such a nice guy, why are people so afraid of him?
wngCxPe.jpg

Uhhh maybe I should Salva ed Esci.
My hands got sweaty by simply looking at this!!!
Pb_pal said:
@zticazzy - Yikes! He sure knows how to greet his friends, that's for sure. What gear set up have you decided on, or are you still testing? I assumed EBotD + offhand Beast would be best, but it would be cool to know how the other combos/gear worked too.

--

After hitting 97, I had to make a pretty tough decision with Eleanor. With the upcoming MFO she will be converting to Blova (thanks again @Grape for the suggestion!) and running Baal. There is very little chance that I'll have enough time to get to 98 before then, so it looks like Eleanor will be hitting the Ancients "early" and moving on to Baal to find a good map and get used to the build and runs before the MFO arrives. First though, it's time to look at some numbers and theorycrafting!

After some testing with my other sorceress, I've decided once and for all (I think..) that it doesn't make any sense to get an Infinity for Eleanor for either CS runs, Diablo runs, or Baal runs. I do believe it could be slightly quicker with an Infinity (Baal especially), but the convenience of having essentially infinite mana from Insight is just more valuable for me personally. Not to say this would be the case for everyone, but for me it stands.

Before we bit the bullet and converted, we did some running in the CS to see what the numbers looked like:

These runs are standard "Gripphon Run" style, killing only The Infector and Grand Vizier packs, as well as convenient boss packs along the way. CI bosses and champ packs (unless stacked on a boss pack and killed by consequence) are ignored. One thing to note is that my previous map usually had 2-4 extra boss packs per run, whereas I seem to have rolled a rather bare-bones version this time, averaging only ~1 additional pack per run. Probably not an optimal setup for XP gains, but for now having it so straightforward is kind of nice (and great for data collection!).

XP Numbers:

65595.4 XP/run
53.72 s/run
73263.66 XP/minute

These numbers seem to line up nicely with @NanoMist's previous data, which is nice. (Thanks again for those Nanomist, great resource!)

We then used up a respec and converted to Blova to test out some Baal runs:

These runs were done as /p1 Throne + first 2 Waves (for easy skelly clearing), /p8 final 3 waves, /p3 Baal.

XP Numbers:

215593.8 XP/run
212 s/run (anywhere from 3:15-4 minutes, depending on throne spawns and CI Lister)
61017.11 XP/min

Again, very very close to Nanomist's numbers from his data (213203, for comparison on the same type of run)

So as you can see, CS is a fair bit quicker for Eleanor in terms of leveling speed. This isn't surprising as it's been pointed out on several other occasions, but it's always nice to be able to say once again that @Gripphon was right all along!

Basically, to be as efficient at Baals as she is at the CS, she would have to average just under 3 minutes per run, which just isn't possible with her current gear set. If I were to try leveling from 97-98 start to finish on pure Baals, it would take ~11 hours extra with my current numbers. Luckily for me, the free 40M from the Ancients knocks the difference down to only 0.2 hours in favour of the CS. That's nice, since it makes it sting less using the quest early, although I'm sure I won't be saying the same thing when I can't use it on 98.


Now for some details about her actual journey! Since we had decided on not getting an Infinity, it meant we didn't need her LK map anymore. We popped back into NM and socketed her Fathom with an Ist to give us a little MF boost (up to 160 now). We're hoping to find ourselves a nice golden Shako before the MFO hits, but we're not holding our breath. She did, however, FINALLY find an Arachnid Mesh! This means her jewelery slots are now free to be used however she pleases, which is a welcome change.

After an easy rout of the Ancients, Eleanor finally became a Matriarch at the young age of 97, with a pretty decent drop (the valor is +2 all skills) and a Baal Charm to boot.

4S2sjZM.jpg

.
I wish I could keep the valor, but i had to mule it off due to space constraints. So @Kitteh, there's my new most painful thing to let go of, just in case you're keeping track :p

In case anyone is wondering, after the respec she is rocking:

6-6.2k Blizzard
1.3-1.8k Nova

Other than that, nothing too exciting. She got herself a decent Baal map and has been getting used to the runs so that we can hopefully go on full-out robot mode for the MFO. Not to mention the change of scenery from the CS is nice too!

Other finds:
- Sur
- Lo

Happy running everyone!
NanoMist said:
@Pb_pal - You're welcome. I'm glad to see the exp. tables are accurate and are of some use. For sorcs, I had wondered if doing P1 De Seis was worth it to get to Diablo. Reason being that P7 Diablo provides experience equivalent to P8 Vizier + Infector at level 97. But De Seis is still dangerous even at P1 setting. Maybe not worth it from a risk/gain perspective. Anyway, welcome to Baal runs! Certainly is refreshing running something different and also in time for MFO preparation.
Pb_pal said:
NanoMist said:
@Pb_pal - You're welcome. I'm glad to see the exp. tables are accurate and are of some use. For sorcs, I had wondered if doing P1 De Seis was worth it to get to Diablo. Reason being that P7 Diablo provides experience equivalent to P8 Vizier + Infector at level 97. But De Seis is still dangerous even at P1 setting. Maybe not worth it from a risk/gain perspective. Anyway, welcome to Baal runs! Certainly is refreshing running something different and also in time for MFO preparation.
That's interesting, I hadn't thought of that. My gut tells me it won't be worth it since I'd have to kill both De Seis and D in ~ 1 minute for it to be effective and I'm almost positive I wouldnt't be able to do it with my setup as Nova is just too weak (and De Seis is always CI). A different build (full light) might be able to pull it off, but as you say, the risk might outweigh the benefits. CS is dangerous enough without a /p8 De Seis, and deaths at these levels are no joke.
 
Southpaw8668 said:
I make De Seis look like a punk on /p5 at level 90. It's Infector's group that hassles me at that difficulty level, so I usually pop that seal and take on Diablo at /p3 to save some time and big purples. Diablo really focuses on Njord due to his high elemental damage I'm guessing.
Kitteh said:
Pb_pal said:
@zticazzy - Yikes! He sure knows how to greet his friends, that's for sure. What gear set up have you decided on, or are you still testing? I assumed EBotD + offhand Beast would be best, but it would be cool to know how the other combos/gear worked too.

--

After hitting 97, I had to make a pretty tough decision with Eleanor. With the upcoming MFO she will be converting to Blova (thanks again @Grape for the suggestion!) and running Baal. There is very little chance that I'll have enough time to get to 98 before then, so it looks like Eleanor will be hitting the Ancients "early" and moving on to Baal to find a good map and get used to the build and runs before the MFO arrives. First though, it's time to look at some numbers and theorycrafting!

After some testing with my other sorceress, I've decided once and for all (I think..) that it doesn't make any sense to get an Infinity for Eleanor for either CS runs, Diablo runs, or Baal runs. I do believe it could be slightly quicker with an Infinity (Baal especially), but the convenience of having essentially infinite mana from Insight is just more valuable for me personally. Not to say this would be the case for everyone, but for me it stands.

Before we bit the bullet and converted, we did some running in the CS to see what the numbers looked like:

These runs are standard "Gripphon Run" style, killing only The Infector and Grand Vizier packs, as well as convenient boss packs along the way. CI bosses and champ packs (unless stacked on a boss pack and killed by consequence) are ignored. One thing to note is that my previous map usually had 2-4 extra boss packs per run, whereas I seem to have rolled a rather bare-bones version this time, averaging only ~1 additional pack per run. Probably not an optimal setup for XP gains, but for now having it so straightforward is kind of nice (and great for data collection!).

XP Numbers:

65595.4 XP/run
53.72 s/run
73263.66 XP/minute

These numbers seem to line up nicely with @NanoMist's previous data, which is nice. (Thanks again for those Nanomist, great resource!)

We then used up a respec and converted to Blova to test out some Baal runs:

These runs were done as /p1 Throne + first 2 Waves (for easy skelly clearing), /p8 final 3 waves, /p3 Baal.

XP Numbers:

215593.8 XP/run
212 s/run (anywhere from 3:15-4 minutes, depending on throne spawns and CI Lister)
61017.11 XP/min

Again, very very close to Nanomist's numbers from his data (213203, for comparison on the same type of run)

So as you can see, CS is a fair bit quicker for Eleanor in terms of leveling speed. This isn't surprising as it's been pointed out on several other occasions, but it's always nice to be able to say once again that @Gripphon was right all along!

Basically, to be as efficient at Baals as she is at the CS, she would have to average just under 3 minutes per run, which just isn't possible with her current gear set. If I were to try leveling from 97-98 start to finish on pure Baals, it would take ~11 hours extra with my current numbers. Luckily for me, the free 40M from the Ancients knocks the difference down to only 0.2 hours in favour of the CS. That's nice, since it makes it sting less using the quest early, although I'm sure I won't be saying the same thing when I can't use it on 98.


Now for some details about her actual journey! Since we had decided on not getting an Infinity, it meant we didn't need her LK map anymore. We popped back into NM and socketed her Fathom with an Ist to give us a little MF boost (up to 160 now). We're hoping to find ourselves a nice golden Shako before the MFO hits, but we're not holding our breath. She did, however, FINALLY find an Arachnid Mesh! This means her jewelery slots are now free to be used however she pleases, which is a welcome change.

After an easy rout of the Ancients, Eleanor finally became a Matriarch at the young age of 97, with a pretty decent drop (the valor is +2 all skills) and a Baal Charm to boot.

4S2sjZM.jpg

.
I wish I could keep the valor, but i had to mule it off due to space constraints. So @Kitteh, there's my new most painful thing to let go of, just in case you're keeping track :p

In case anyone is wondering, after the respec she is rocking:

6-6.2k Blizzard
1.3-1.8k Nova

Other than that, nothing too exciting. She got herself a decent Baal map and has been getting used to the runs so that we can hopefully go on full-out robot mode for the MFO. Not to mention the change of scenery from the CS is nice too!

Other finds:
- Sur
- Lo

Happy running everyone!
I certainly am haha I just enjoy the suffering of my fellow players :D
T72on1 said:
NanoMist said:
... For sorcs, I had wondered if doing P1 De Seis was worth it to get to Diablo. Reason being that P7 Diablo provides experience equivalent to P8 Vizier + Infector at level 97. But De Seis is still dangerous even at P1 setting. Maybe not worth it from a risk/gain perspective. ...
Even at level 95 I have already been including Diablo in my CS runs for a while now, whenever Infector doesn't spawn CI. Probably not the most efficient thing to do, but for me it breaks some of the monotony of straight Vizier + Infector runs. De Seis at /p1 is something to be careful around, but he's not too hard, at least not for my Sorc, if I play careful. I'm some 15 - 20 runs from reaching level 96 now, and haven't had a death since reaching level 95 and doing only CS runs, so in that respect it has been a good strategy for me.

@Pb_pal Congrats on becoming Matriarch. I sometimes am tempted to proceed to Baal as well with my Sorc, to be able to mix my CS runs with Baal runs. Your number crunching once again shows that I shouldn't, so I won't. After I hit level 96, I might take a break from CS and just do LK instead. Not that I would need any HRs at this point, but it would be a good change of pace, and you never know what other useful stuff like some more skillers might drop there. Then after that I could do the MFO with my Sorc (either AT or Pindle), after which I'd return to CS.

At least that's the theory. I've been known to change my mind in the past ... a lot ... :confused:

@Southpaw8668 Do you have maxed fire res? I used to have problems in the CS, until I got 75% fire res. Now I can usually stand just behind my merc and kill things fine from there. The occasional physical attack still hurts, but if playing carefully, that doesn't happen too much.
hasuprotoss said:
The quest for HotO is over! After a good number of hours running LK finding nothing more than a few Lems, I finally found the Gul I needed! 4 Mals, 2 Amethysts, a Sapphire, a Ruby, and that Gul became the last rune for Heart of the Oak I needed. 32 on the Resistance roll but it's good enough for me currently!
d2ayyy said:
hasuprotoss said:
The quest for HotO is over! After a good number of hours running LK finding nothing more than a few Lems, I finally found the Gul I needed! 4 Mals, 2 Amethysts, a Sapphire, a Ruby, and that Gul became the last rune for Heart of the Oak I needed. 32 on the Resistance roll but it's good enough for me currently!
Grats dude!
Southpaw8668 said:
@T72on1 Do you have maxed fire res? I used to have problems in the CS, until I got 75% fire res. Now I can usually stand just behind my merc and kill things fine from there. The occasional physical attack still hurts, but if playing carefully, that doesn't happen too much.
Yes 75 @resists and I always stay right on the rear of the Grizzly and mercenary, which is quite safe usually. Unless the creeps are extra fast, which makes it more tricky to hit them with Tornados and Hurricane. I'm guessing it's because Infector usually amps us quite often and that breaks our fire resistance and his group attacks quickly swarming us. The Tornados don't seem to pound them nearly as fast as the majority of all the other non-PI monsters in CS.
zticazzy said:
@Pb_pal yes, testing has come to an end, and the winner is conc ebotd + beast. I also tried conc etomby and frenzy dual ebotd, the first had huge damage (nihla down in 5 hits sometimes) but low life and missed hits, the latter... well, that was a mistake, let's forget it.
Ebotd + beast is actually the best combo for several reasons: 12% extra life leech, faster confuse triggering, fana AR and -25% target defense -> hit and leech more, lower reqs -> more vita. As fast as etomby, but safer and with a huge lifebulb. If I'll ever make enigma in breastplate I'll be able to respec my hardpoints like this: str=0 / dex=0 / ene=0 / vita=all. Cool huh?
About the safety gear like the everlasting ammy and vamp: no need for those, just give delirium to merc and hope for the best. I've already died once to this bug, so I'll most likely fire the moron someday and wear the helm myself.
T72on1 said:
Southpaw8668 said:
@T72on1 Do you have maxed fire res? I used to have problems in the CS, until I got 75% fire res. Now I can usually stand just behind my merc and kill things fine from there. The occasional physical attack still hurts, but if playing carefully, that doesn't happen too much.
Yes 75 @resists and I always stay right on the rear of the Grizzly and mercenary, which is quite safe usually. Unless the creeps are extra fast, which makes it more tricky to hit them with Tornados and Hurricane. I'm guessing it's because Infector usually amps us quite often and that breaks our fire resistance and his group attacks quickly swarming us. The Tornados don't seem to pound them nearly as fast as the majority of all the other non-PI monsters in CS.
Amp doesn't break your fire res, it only has an effect on physical damage. But yeah, once you are amped (which happens a lot in the CS, due to all the cursing around), any physical hit hits really hard.

Infector and his minions almost always focus on my merc. As a result I only get hit by their fire breath attacks, not by their physical hits, so the latter usually aren't a problem. However, this attacking priority might be different in your case, which obviously would make it a lot harder.

Also, Infector dies quite fast for me. The trick is not to use Glacial Spike or Ice Blast, but just Blizzard and then Static. Due to the fact that they keep moving, they die a lot faster to Blizzard. If I freeze them with GS or IB, this is not the case.
Pb_pal said:
zticazzy said:
About the safety gear like the everlasting ammy and vamp: no need for those, just give delirium to merc and hope for the best. I've already died once to this bug, so I'll most likely fire the moron someday and wear the helm myself.
Any reasonable chance of getting a body back down there with a non-sorc (ie no native teleport), or is it a lost cause?
zticazzy said:
Pb_pal said:
Any reasonable chance of getting a body back down there with a non-sorc (ie no native teleport), or is it a lost cause?
When I died I was still experimenting and with a very low exp margin, so I didn't even care to try to recover the body. IMHO if you died to vipers once they can kill you and your merc again with ease, so taking a chance against them seems very hazardous. Luckily there are some crowd control tools like delirium and howl that could be useful, but I hope I won't ever need to find out if they work.
Tenecabo said:
I finally had the time to play a bit more (first time dad to a 5 month old = very limited time) and my wife asked me to log on LOTRO to check something. Seems like I was tired enough to forget to escape in the middle of mobs in act 2. Oh well. Next try will be a SC for now, a wolf druid since I wanted one to pvp with anyway :).


Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      95             Yes         459        232           11          65
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         503        255            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      80             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin  Erilinda         HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
@Tenecabo Ouch, that's no fun :(. Condolences. Good luck with the Wolf Druid !!! Not sure which road exactly you want to go, but I surely had a lot of fun with my Grief Fury / Rabies Wolf. Probably my fastest killing melee character.

Neverland finally hit level 96. It took me 23.5 hours to go from 95 to 96, including 4 hours and 45 minutes of LK runs and a bit of crafting. Looking at numbers which Gripphon posted in the 'road to 99 theorycrafting thread', that's really slow. But then again, I'm only starting to get the hang of it, and I don't have near the gear that he did. Also, keeping rescue gear in my stash and keeping every single S/U means I have limited space there, so I have to mule away to GoMule quite often. I might be better of just keeping track of all S/U, instead of actually keeping them. No deaths involved on the road to 96, so that's definitely a very good thing :).

I already posted pics of my finds from 95 to 96 earlier in this thread. In the last stretch to 96 the only noteworthy finds were a Stormshield and a near perfect String of Ears (8% ll, 15% DR and 15 MDR, but 'only' some 165% ED).

The items I found most so far are:

1) Cathan's Seal: 20
2) Isenhart's Case: 16
3) Tancred's Crowbill: 15
4) Isenhart's Lightbrand: 15
5) Angelic Halo: 11

So the same top 2 as I think Nanomist and Pb_pal a while back. The uniques I found most are Ironstone and Venom Ward, both of which I found 7 times. Just as much as the IK Maul :).

Like I said earlier, I'm not sure what I'll do at this point. Either continue CS runs, some LK running, already some practicing for the MFO, start another character as a break, take a short break from D2 alltogehter, ... The latter isn't very likely though ... :cool:. And I'm actually still not bored of doing CS runs at all, I'm actually starting to get better at them at times. I just would hate it to build up xp now, only to loose it in the MFO if I'd die. But maybe the chance of that happening isn't too big at /p1?


Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         503        255            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      80             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin  Erilinda         HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
Brak said:
you could run RoF Superchests :rolleyes:
Lord Molybdenum said:
Hello, is this thing working? I've been locked out of my account for months.

I think I might try getting to level 99 for the first time. I've only ever reached level ~84. I think I'm going to start a necromancer and/or an assassin.
Pb_pal said:
@T72on1 - Congrats on 96! Don't worry about those Gripp times, even with my almost 10k blizz I was nowhere near him. The main difference is that we are all human, and he is Gripp.

@Tenecabo - Sorry about the deeds, good luck on your next go!

@Lord Molybdenum - Good luck!
T72on1 said:
@Lord Molybdenum Cool !!! Good luck :). Hc or Sc?
Lord Molybdenum said:
Decided on Necro named Cruise_Control, SC, level 15, 1 hour so far.
No extended stash (dunno how), 1 S/U (Cleglaw's claw), what's a grail? perfect S/U item?, no deaths yet 'cause I'm not that bad.
Malevolent said:
Lord Molybdenum said:
Decided on Necro named Cruise_Control, SC, level 15, 1 hour so far.
No extended stash (dunno how), 1 S/U (Cleglaw's claw), what's a grail? perfect S/U item?, no deaths yet 'cause I'm not that bad.
A grail item is just a S/U item that you previously didn't have. So to complete a grail you need to find every S/U in the game. The next Cleglaws's claw you find will increase your S/U count, but not your grail count.
Lord Molybdenum said:
Oh, that makes way more sense.


Code:
Name (F)          Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lord Molybdenum   Cruise_Control   SC     Nec         23            No          3           3           3              3.5
hasuprotoss said:
Halfway to 95! Reina hasn't died since we've made the switch to Heart of the Oak and Chains of Honor (turns out maxed out resistances are really awesome...), although we've had a few close calls. Found out that the xp in AT is still coming in quite quickly as well, so we bounce back and forth between killing Vizier/Infector and clearing out the bosses in AT. The number of bosses seems super variable in my current map though, but with a pretty good LK I'm not willing to reroll it yet in case I do want to farm up an Infinity.

Onto the finds since last time!:

BHYeGep.jpg

An improved Insight for Durga. Unfortunately, we haven't found a good ethereal polearm for him to use, but this is an upgrade over his previous Halberd (and a higher Meditation roll, too!)

XdQpOR5.jpg

Hitting a few corpses while trying to reroll a decent LK map...

RkN2DK1.jpg

The Gul that would become the Vex...

i8DXqA0.jpg

A few steps away...

iCGWQ2r.jpg

Beautiful! Reina loves it!

Tdlx0a1.jpg

Another beautiful upgrade!

Sadly no skill charms in the LK running but Reina is fine with her damage being half of Eleanor's... for now!

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         801        305            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      80             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Lord Molybdenum Cruise_Control SC    Nec       23             No            3          3            3           3.5
Ergroilnin  Erilinda         HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
 
d2ayyy said:
@hasuprotoss

Beautiful. Grats man!
Lord Molybdenum said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         801        305            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      80             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     28             No            5          5            5           5.5
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin  Erilinda         HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
hasuprotoss said:
Halfway to 95! Reina hasn't died since we've made the switch to Heart of the Oak and Chains of Honor (turns out maxed out resistances are really awesome...), although we've had a few close calls. Found out that the xp in AT is still coming in quite quickly as well, so we bounce back and forth between killing Vizier/Infector and clearing out the bosses in AT. The number of bosses seems super variable in my current map though, but with a pretty good LK I'm not willing to reroll it yet in case I do want to farm up an Infinity.

Onto the finds since last time!:

BHYeGep.jpg

Err... how did you make an insight in single player?
LiquidClear said:
Lord Molybdenum said:
Err... how did you make an insight in single player?
Thyiad said:
Game Modifications

These change the game out of the box in some way. There are three which are accepted on the SPF:
RWM enables Bnet only runewords. RRM changes the colours of runes to red. CRM enables changing the rune colours to many different colours.
Remember that with 1.13 runes are orange.If you are updating to 1.13 from an installation which had RRM installed be sure to delete all the .bin files or you may not get the 1.13 drop rate for runes see here.

RWM for PC- download - Guide in download
RRM for PC - download - Guide
NOTE the .7z file is a .zip file with RWM/RRM conveniently packaged together. Just unzip that in the D2 folder as it is, change the shortcuts so they match the last photo in the guide and you should have BOTH RWM and RRM working.

Singling - combined RWM/multi-instance .dll - download and information

CRM for PC- download

RWM/RRM for Macs here - download - Guide
RWM = Runeword Mod, it's listed with information from quoted post above in the sticky thread about game changes. Also, you finished act 2 at level 19? Are you familiar with the /players setting command?

And I totally made a character. She's a 47 sorceress, but I'll wait until I get higher to worry about the table because there is still a high probability that I will give up in the coming days.
Lord Molybdenum said:
Thanks, will look into that.

I used /players 7 until level 8 and then played on /players 1 until act 3. I then started alternating between /players 1 and /players 3.
T72on1 said:
Yes, the RWM is very convenient: easy to use, and it's nice to have all the runewords available.

You state you're not using an extended stash because you wouldn't know how to, so just in case you would actually want to use an extended stash: there's GoMule, a very helpful muling program. It's easy to use, and comes with a built-in flavie report, which keeps track of the S/U items and runes you found. It's actually one of the reasons why I love playing SP so much (although I perfectly understand why people would want to restrict themselves to not using it for an extra challenge. If you want more info on GoMule, it's in the Game Changes Help Thread as well. Or just ask away here :).

What kind of Necro will you be playing? I reckon Summoner or Venomancer?

Good luck !!!
Lord Molybdenum said:
T72on1 said:
Yes, the RWM is very convenient: easy to use, and it's nice to have all the runewords available.

You state you're not using an extended stash because you wouldn't know how to, so just in case you would actually want to use an extended stash: there's GoMule, a very helpful muling program. It's easy to use, and comes with a built-in flavie report, which keeps track of the S/U items and runes you found. It's actually one of the reasons why I love playing SP so much (although I perfectly understand why people would want to restrict themselves to not using it for an extra challenge. If you want more info on GoMule, it's in the Game Changes Help Thread as well. Or just ask away here :).

What kind of Necro will you be playing? I reckon Summoner or Venomancer?

Good luck !!!
Thanks, probably still won't use GoMule though. I can probably remember which S/Us I got, although I will write them down.

I'm playing a really stupid bone spear necromancer build I made up.
Lord Molybdenum said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         801        305            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      80             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     41             No           10          10           7           8
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin  Erilinda         HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1

Running Baal on normal at the moment.
Anyone ever gotten a worse drop from Baal than 1 magic brandistock and 1 magic bill?
Can I use the Rune Word mod and play on battlenet with someone who doesn't have it?
NanoMist said:
Lord Molybdenum said:
Can I use the Rune Word mod and play on battlenet with someone who doesn't have it?
Rune Word Mod "enables" ladder-only rune words on single player. On battle.net, you would just play on a ladder character to make those rune words.
Lord Molybdenum said:
I'm guessing that is a "yes".

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         801        305            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      80             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     49             No           19         18           10           10.5
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin  Erilinda         HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
Darkoooo said:
NanoMist said:
Rune Word Mod "enables" ladder-only rune words on single player. On battle.net, you would just play on a ladder character to make those rune words.
Also, just to be one the safe side, create a separate shortcut for bnet so you don't get banned for using mods.
coju said:
2hahah that's awesome! RWM makes the game so much easier alongside using an extended stash. It's like trading but with yourself. I never got into trading as I didn't think I had anything anyone else wanted, or I was afraid I would be "trading down". GoMule alleviates that for me, as I'm just giving myself what I already had: myself.

OPSpirit Swords, OPInsight. So much fun. It also helps if you're semi-clepto and love not getting rid of anything. Remember Gramps' Shop? How everything was in there and he would always rummage through some obscure pile and find that old part for that thing you two were piddling with that day? Well, that was his extended stash and he had to go through everything like you do in Atma: one by one. GoMule is our extended virtual stash.
XyleneCyanol said:
Conqueror Fishie now reached lvl 88. She was bored of running Mephi and went all the way to Act5 and finished the most dangerous quest in the game: killing Nilathak. That was very exciting.

Now she has come back to run Pindle, LK, Meph.

It seems they refuse to give me an Occy, or Viper or War traveller, but just now, Mephi says hi (my first ever in 1.14d):

1611511936097.png

Update the table:

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      94             Yes         801        305            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      88             No            -          -            -          -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     44             No           13         13            9           9
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
Congrats on the SoJ !!! Awesome.
hasuprotoss said:
95! After my last discussion about no deaths since making HotO and Chains of Honor, Reina and I got a little... arrogant this last half of a level. It seemed like any time we got to 2.4 billion xp, we found ourselves dead. Oh well, eventually we broke that barrier and eventually got to 95. We'll certainly have to clean up our play moving forward if we are to have any chance of hitting 99.

Also, doing some planning for the final level (which I'm very far away from, I know) but for leveling in the CS is p1 seals/p7 Diablo the best way or should I continue to use p8 seals? I assume that there's some break even point in terms of kill speed, but I would imagine that given all of the restrictions on xp at that level that the xp from seal bosses is very minimal. Just want to confirm.

Also, what would be the best build for p1 seals/p7 Diablo? I'm starting to lean towards Meteorb, since p1 bosses should still die relatively quickly to Orb (thinking of Infector) while a high level Fireball should melt everything else. But that may be worse than some other build depending on the likely immunities of Infector (he seems to be FI/CI a good bit based off the number of runs I've done) and De Seis (I think he leans towards FI more often than not), so I'm not too certain. Maybe we'll just run Nihl...

Anyways, a few of the finds, including a unique Spiderweb Sash!

5jcmVfy.jpg

What do you mean not the right unique Spiderweb Sash?!?! Oh well, we'll keep looking for the good one, then...

zEPG6no.jpg

Honestly read this as "Ort Rune" for quite awhile, almost tele'd away because of it!

inDhOx9.jpg

I thought when I found this unique Jewel it would help decide my level 98 build. Turns out it should be a Poisonmancer...

kd78xm4.jpg

Current LCS, pre-BO/BC. With it, Ice Blast damage is 2826-2912 and Blizzard damage is 5520-5772. Not quite the most impressive, but we're killing stuff quick enough still.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina          SC      Sorc      95            Yes        894        316            -          -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      88             No            -          -            -          -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     44             No           13         13            9           9
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
Pb_pal said:
@hasuprotoss - Congrats on 95! For 98 leveling in the CS, it's /p1 seals, /p7 Diablo. The bosspacks give marginal XP at that stage, so it's best to get through to big D ASAP. XP Shrine hunting while he's spawning is also recommended (especially since you can't do anything then anyways). As for the build, I don't know if Meteorb would be great. Typically in the CS, when something is CI, it's also FI. If you're going to be getting an Infinity, then some lightning build/hybrid would be a good idea, as the Infinity will break all LIs (it won't necessarily break CIs or FIs, as they typically have much higher stacked res). There are basically a few schools of thought on the situation:

1. Stay pure blizz (with or without Infinity) and let your merc kill the CI bosses.
- This will still go pretty quickly, as it's only /p1. De Seis can get annoying though and could be a time waster
2. Go lightning (either full or hybrid) with Infinity
- No immunities = GG seal bosses. Not sure of the effectiveness of killing D, but I'm sure it's fine.
3. Some sort of other hybrid build, with merc assistance
- I would bank on Blizz here, and then choose a secondary skill. I can attest that Blova is indeed quite effective, even without Infinity. FB could be alright too, although like I said, CI and FI tend to travel in pairs.

I personally tried both 1 and 3, both of which were very effective. I preferred going Blova though, as getting the merc to reliably target the boss instead of minions can be tricky. Full lightning with Infinity is a tried and tested build, and is extremely successful no matter where it goes, so you're safe there too.

Otherwise, you can always run Nil as you say. Or do Baal runs. Or try something wacky. Best thing to do is just to feel it out, as whatever is most enjoyable for you to play should be your pick. You're going to be spending quite some time doing it, so you want to have some fun. :)
qwernt said:
Saturday was a good day for CanBeOnlyBlizz. Sitting at level 88.5 and decided to run LK. Runes found: Kox2, Fal, Lem, Pul, Mal, Gul, Vex, Ohm (second). Harmony & HotO (resist all 35%) the same day was a happy thing. gambled some rings, claws, and boots. Came up with 8%LL 5%ML Light Resist 10% piece of joy ring. Oh, and my new favorite boots: 22%MF & 30%FRW.
All in all a very productive small number of runs (I don't track my count, but it wasn't many, cause I go too slow).
Lord Molybdenum said:
Why are some of you saying you're level **, out of curiosity?

-

I took a bunch of screenshots to share but for some reason they are almost always replaced by black screens. I'm going to try figuring out what's up with that.
I've gotten to act 4 nightmare so far. Not a lot to talk about. All of the act boss drops have been awful. The first unique I got from one was a leadcrow from nightmare mephisto. I did find a Dwarf Star and a String of Ears, which are both pretty nice. Otherwise, I've been cruising on my +1 to bone spear wand/head and stealth chestplate. My character speed is pretty low since I can't find a decent pair of boots anywhere.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -          -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      88             No            -          -            -          -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     56             No           23         22           11         14.5
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
XyleneCyanol said:
It seems the number eighty-eight has an unpleasant meaning, and the number got filtered in the forum, although it is a very good number in China!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/88_(number)

See section "Cultural Significance", subsection "white nationalism"
T72on1 said:
@hasuprotoss Congrats on 95 !!! And on the Ohm.

@Pb_pal I've been doing De Seis on /p1 whenever Infector doesn't spawn CI, and he can be done pretty quickly actually. After all GS freezes everything dangerous around him, so it's a matter of getting rid of most enemies (which goes quickly on /p1) and then teleport on top of him. Only when he's Stone Skin, it goes a bit slower, but otherwise it's a matter of a few hits from my merc (who is only sporting a low ED% eth Insight). At least, that is my experience so far.

Btw, I know this has been mentioned before, but I can't remember and can't find it back: is it only /p1 seals and /p7 Diablo from 98 to 99, or do I have to switch from /p8 seals to /p1 seals earlier than level 98? Also, I'm level 96 now, and I'm still killing bosses and their minions (not champs) as well, if I come across them. Is that a good call, or a waste of time?

@qwernt If you reached such a level, it's about time you add yourself to the table :). Congrats on the progress.

@Lord Molybdenum Try using some level runewords for some more firepower. White (Dol Io) in a 2os wand or Splendor (Eth Lum) in a necro head for example. Both with +BSpear if possible. Another cheap one is Lore (Ort Sol) in a 2os helm. As for the low running speed, try Stealth (Tal Eth) in a 2os body armor: 25% frw, with 25% fcr and 25% fhr to boot. All you need at this stage :).

Good luck.
Lord Molybdenum said:
Believe me, I'd love to find a 2 socket helm, a 2 socket shield, a Lum rune, or an Io rune. Also, I mentioned I have stealth :p

Edit: Got a good map while running through stage 3, so I gave nightmare LK a try. Got a Ko rune instantly, went for 20 minutes and got a bunch of gems but no other runes higher than shael.
 
T72on1 said:
Oops yeah, read over that apparantly.

Anyway, 2 socket helm and 2 socket shield should be very easy to find. Same for the Io rune. Just pay the Countess a few visits if it doesn't drop while questing. A Lum rune might take a bit longer, although it isn't that rare.
Lord Molybdenum said:
Actually, ran a bunch of countess in nightmare before going to stage 2/3/4. I was very unlucky.

I actually just found an Io rune in LK, followed by a Lum rune in the hellforge five minutes later :p

Pb_pal said:
@T72on1 - Pre-98 it's still worth it to hit boss packs (although I don't bother with OK minions) if they're on your way and don't take too much extra time. I found the finger mages (Vizier-types) to go down especially quickly so definitely keep an eye out for them.

And yes, you make the switch to p1/p7 at 98, as that's when the minions no longer give any reasonable XP. At 97, I still get ~65.5k a run doing Infector/Vizier at /p8. For comparison, that's virtually the exact same XP that Diablo himself gives at /p7. So if you can do De Seis and Diablo in the same (or less) time than it takes you to do the other two seals, they even become efficient to do at 97.

98 is where the seal bosses fall off. They go from giving ~83k at 97 to only 8k at 98 (/p8). Diablo still gives 50k at /p7 at 98, so it's much more efficient to just beeline to him as fast as you can (hence, /p1 seals - who give just under 3k, for reference).

So long story short, for XP efficiency:
- Hit convenient boss packs up until you hit 98.
- Only bother with champ packs if they are layered with a boss pack and are essentially getting killed by consequence (in the early 90's levels, I believe champ packs are still efficient to kill although I don't know exactly when that cut-off is)
- Switch to /p1 seals, /p7 Diablo at 98, ignore all extra boss and champ packs.
Zenigma said:
Man, now that I'm playing some d2 again, I'm getting a heavy itch to join this...
But I don't know what to choose for a character. I've got an untwinked poison necro I made last week in wsk2 norm. But something inside me is screaming throw barb, because I had so much fun with it for my first barb pat. It's not very practical for 99ing, though. I also have the urge to make a berserker.
I'll give it some more thought before I go home. But the thought of throw barb just keeps swimming through my head...
T72on1 said:
A Thrower Barb all the way to 99? That would surely make you the king of the 99ers !!! Imagine the amount of town trips needed for that, just to repair your weapons ...

Poison Necro would be a good choice in my opinion. Or any Sorc. Or a Hammerdin, Windy, ww barb, Multi / FA zon, furyzon, Trapsin, ...

Just as long as you join us :). You know you want to ...
Zenigma said:
With my limited time, I started an untwinked throw barb last night. He's currently at the outer cloister.

When I get home, I'll update the table and provide some details on his adventure thus far. Though I will say he is captivating to play. My soul lights up like a firefly at dusk.
Pb_pal said:
@zticazzy/@NanoMist - Are you going to switch to an XP value in the table for progress like in the 'Quest for 99' thread? I probably will once I hit 98, at least that way you can feel like you're chipping away a bit instead of just sitting at 98 the whole time. :p

@Zenigma - Welcome! Looking forward to your updates, throw barbs are about as stylish as it gets!

--

Just a pre-MFO update for Eleanor. She's also just shy of halfway to 98, but I'm going to give her a bit of a rest before buckling down for the MFO and hopefully keep all her good finds for then. ;)

Eleanor is enjoying life as a Blova sorc. A small gear change to start as she swapped out the facet in her Ormus for a PTopaz in anticipation of the MFO. Baaling is much safer than CS, so although slower in an XP/time way, im enjoying it. NDEs have almost vanished so far, except for one moment when a conviction gloam pack clipped us and Eleanors life went below 200 before I could slam a pile of rejuvs and GTFO of there. So maybe (a big maybe) I'll save myself a death or two and end up ahead of the CS game anyways ;). One thing to note is that nova is great against dolls as it ensures they explode far enough away if you kill them at the edge of the ring.

As you know, Eleanor is still in search for that elusive golden Shako. Baal must know that and is hoarding them for himself, but he actually did puke up something a little more intriguing:

Code:
Nightwing's Veil
Spired Helm
Defense: 324
Durability: 39 of 40
Required Level: 67
Required Strength: 96
Fingerprint: 0xaf6ad74d
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Unidentified
+2 to All Skills
+15% to Cold Skill Damage
+103% Enhanced Defense
+18 to Dexterity
+7 Cold Absorb
Half Freeze Duration
Requirements -50%

Perfect % damage! Now this complicated things a bit for her, as her current circlet had 20@ res. So we had to lose her nice Baal map and head to normal to use our final socket quest on her new helmet. We put in a 15@res/7 str jewel, and with a touch of charm swapping she was back at max fire/lit res. Since the Nightwings is +2 all skills instead of just sorc, even though she ditched a +20 life charm, she now has more life, more damage, and higher cold/psn res than before the gear switch. The only downside is that she looks way sillier now. :p

nDBBem8.jpg

.
So she found herself a new Baal map (actually a slight improvement, I think), and is now just getting used to it before the MFO hits. About 10 mill shy of the 97.5 mark, she found what she'd been looking for all this time :rolleyes:. Fitting, that she would only find it once it was obsolete, but at least it's still a grailer! We're actually going to use it for the MFO anyways for the extra MF, so it's in the stash for now.

Other finds:
- Vex
- Decent zon craft, shame about the low FCR roll
NanoMist said:
@Pb_pal - Nice update with both the finds and the progress. I'm also near the 97.5 mark myself. I thought about using a decimal place at 98 to keep the table tidy. 98.1, 98.2, etc... not too difficult to calculate and I think that is also what zgpmf did.
Lord Molybdenum said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -          -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      88             No            -          -            -          -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     68             No           46         42           12         20
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1

Would I be allowed to play a second character in addition to my necromancer? He is going to be very slow.
Zenigma said:
And so it begins... Ayura has emerged from his cocoon. He ventures out, throwing dagger in one hand, javelin in the other. He trounced the Den of Evil, and he conquered the Burial Grounds, but being foolish foolish and not putting anything into vitallity, he met his first of probably many deaths at the hands of Rakinishu. Don't worry, it was planned all along, actually. Totally meant it. He did it to lure the enemies into a false sense of security.

...Lies aside... he has walked his chosen path to the Outer Cloister, leaving a trail of dead bodies and flung blades in his wake. Using his hard-fought gains, he promptly visited the casino and lost about 30k gold looking for some magical throwers, finding a pilum with rep q (meh) and a javelin with ias, max damage, and cold damage--a fine start. He plans on running Andy and Duriel for some good early game drops to carry him along--namely Cleglaw's Pincers for general ranged saftey, and Sander's Riprap for travel and some good stats. That's the plan, at least. He eagerly sets off once again.

Ayura joins the fight against Diablo's minions!

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -          -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      88             No            -          -            -          -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     56             No           23         22           11         14.5
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      16             No            -          -            -           -
T72on1 said:
@Zenigma Again, welcome :). Glad you have taken the plunge. Also, you are nuts trying it with a Throw Barb !!! I love it. You definitely win when it comes to style points, no one else is even close. Good luck.

@Pb_pal Congrats on the Nightwing's Veil, it's awesome. Also congrats on finally finding that Shako. I had to think about you when I found my third one a while back. I was doing LK runs and popped it from one of the bodies at a campfire iirc.

I agree with you on the xp part. Although what @NanoMist suggests might be an elegant solution. I might start to do that earlier, to get at least some sense of progression. O yes, and congrats both on the progress. Impressive !!!

@Lord Molybdenum Shouldn't be a problem to start a second character, as long as you adhere to the no-twink rule. So that character can't use anything you found with your Necro.
Kitteh said:
Great progress guys, keep it up! :)
Lord Molybdenum said:
After running nightmare Baal a few times, I got tired of terrible drops and took it from /players 1 to /players 7. As a result, Baal took several minutes longer. His drop ended up being... worse?


So, I took an hour and successfully farmed a +3 to bone spear wand from Drognan before taking another hour and unsuccessfully farming a SoJ from Andariel nightmare. Then, after failing to find another Io rune, I ended up just going through Blood Raven in Hell, which was surprisingly easy. Another thing I did was change my helm/chestplate to Lore/Smoke for +skills and resistances, since I'm pretty far from a Chains of Honor. I even tried crafting some gloves but they didn't turn out very well.

Also, updating the table.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -          -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      88             No            -          -            -          -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     69             No           49         44           12         20
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      16             No            -          -            -           -

I'm a little worried that I won't ever be able to have enough damage to go much higher than /players 3 in hell, if that.
Southpaw8668 said:
@Lord Molybdenum - Instead of burning all that time with Baal I would suggest you run Pindle, Eldritch and Shenk as they provide great xp at your level on /p8 and occasionally drop some sweet gear and runes. With enough plus skills kit you should have respectable damage for single or stacked target takedown. Press on soldier! I was contemplating starting a light trapper as my second runner here to mix up the Windy boredom.
Lord Molybdenum said:
Thanks for the advice. I did eldritch/shenk with my second (and currently last) matriarch/patriarch once I beat hell, wasn't sure if nightmare would be enough.

I'm probably starting Saveo, the reincarnated assassin. Will likely be a trapsin changing into kicksin around the time I beat nightmare.
T72on1 said:
I agree with @Southpaw8668 on Pindle runs. That's how I leveled up my Sorc as well for a big part.

@Lord Molybdenum For an Assassin, you don't have to choose between a Trapper or a Kicker. Dancers (Trapper / Kicker hybrid) are awesome too. I'd stay full trapper until you hopefully find a Stormlash at a certain point. Then you can switch to Dancer mode. The downside of a Dancer is that you usually need both switches, one for traps and one for kicks, so there is no room for CtA.
LiquidClear said:
Sally has entered the fray.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      88             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     69             No           49         44           12         20
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      16             No            -          -            -           -

I had started a Sorc, but in a2 NM I just got tired of Blizzard; I hate that spell. So I decided to make an Assassin instead. Besides, having to hunt for Enigma/Infinity runes gives me more stuff to target... Although I may very well get bored and regret that. For the other Assassins in the table, how did you go about acquiring the runes for the good stuff?

I'm hoping to be able to run something somewhat effectively by the time MFO starts, probably just Pindle. But I'm not looking forward to the journey through hell. My gear sucks and using 590 damage Fire Blasts to rip through immunes is going to get old very quickly. I had thought about respeccing to a kicker or hybrid for the journey, but I haven't found anything remotely worth using for that build either. Was hoping for a Lem for Treachery, but aside from a random Mal (Pindle) I have very few runes above Amn. Oh well.
NanoMist said:
Most of my high runes came from LK, although I got lucky with a Ber while searching for an infinity base in Pits.

As for questing through Hell, I stuck with players1 and ran through most of the areas as pure trapper. I had invested in fire blast but I didn't use it all that much - death sentry took care of most LI monsters. I used the usual spirit, stealth, rhyme, etc and it was enough to get through hell without death. Lower resist charges and teleport charges can help too if you want to shop those.
XyleneCyanol said:
Welcome on board, LC!!

Oh, Conqueror Fishie reached lvl 90 yesterday, and went to AT after getting Viper and Arach from Mephi (bye bye big brother:D). Since I switched to RWM now, made a Insight, and now looking for a white or 4os monarch, which is harder than I expected.

1611512661109.png
.
So far, nothing really worth mentioning, except first Facet (-4/+3 fire) and first gold Sacred Armour (of course not the one!!!)

1611512683701.png
1611512692604.png

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     69             No           49         44           12         20
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      16             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma said:
Ayura has cleared a path into the dense forest of act 3. He arrived in Travincal last night and set up camp. He now takes a moment to reflect on how much progress he's made:

Things look good. Stacking some decent early game mf on him and it is definitely paying off. While he found gorefoot in act 1, he has since found quite a haul of set items and another unique to boot. Notably, he's found Cleglaw's gloves. If I find myself in need of crowd control, I have the perfect gloves for it now. Funnily enough, I found them while going through act 3. I didn't end up mfing andy or duriel much, because I found them too tedious with too little payout. The Gidbinn quest yielded a pretty dang good ring:
Code:
Storm Master
Ring
Required Level: 13
Fingerprint: 0xff32c810
Item Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+93 to Attack Rating
+2 to Strength
Lightning Resist +12%
Fire Resist +22%
Damage Reduced by 1
+3 to Light Radius
Good fire/light res and ar? sign me up!
I'm debating on making a stealth for the merc in a 2os eth chainmail. I fear that I will and find that those runes go to waste because he'll outgrow it with a random rare that will inevitably drop in act 4 when I get there.
Been horking the unique monsters I come across, but little more than gold, jewels, gems, and potions from them.

And for the part that I'm sure comes as the most intriguing: nothing interesting in the ways of weapons.Just a couple of magic balanced axes for now. They don't have too great of mods, just a little ed, but they work. But with the savage polearm cube recipe, I have a merc that just oozes damage right now. and once he is able, I have a savage partizan of frost that should shred through the rest of normal and maybe into nightmare.

That's enough rambling. I need to get back at it!


Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     69             No           49         44           12         20
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
 
T72on1 said:
@LiquidClear Great, welcome :). As Nanomist said, I wouldn't spend too much time on questing through Hell. Put it on /p1 and try to breeze through as fast as possible, to the boss or area you want to farm first. Pits might be a good place, or LK, Meph or Pindle. Good luck !!!

@Zenigma That's a really nice ring !!! There must have been something very wrong with Ormus.
TrU said:
Hello boys! I have been following this thread for quite awhile, and i have made the decision to hop along the train.

To introduce myself - i played Ladder for about 5 years, but like 3 years ago it got boring and i started playing SP instead. I have always been on this forum, reading posts, but i have not really gotten into joining stuff.

But, to cut my Lighting Sorc some slack, i'll join in here with a SC Barb - Henryk. As i am quite novice at this forum, i do not have the knowledge to add my character and all to the table - would someone mind helping me with that? Also if someone could just tell me a little more detailed about how i do it myself and such :3

Regards, TrU.
XyleneCyanol said:
@TrU welcome!! I also only joined SPF after lurking on the forum for a long time.

For table:

Find the last post which updates the table.

Click, the "+Quote" button at the bottom right of the post.

Then, in the reply box, bottom left, you will see an "Insert Quotes..." button, click that to insert quote.

Then, delete everything except the cod block, which starts with "\[code\]" and ends with "[\/code\]".

Put you information within the code block, and you have to experiment some to align the table properly.

I hope it helps
PhineasB said:
@LiquidClear: As @NanoMist said, the main place for my high runes was LK. I also quested my trapper through areas as quickly as possible, with pretty lame gear until I hit Hell LK. I was able to make the key runewords (HoTo, Enigma, Infinity, Fortitude, CTA) after 1103 runes found in LK. I also got very lucky with major assists from a Jah and Sur in Pits, and a Lo from a random monster on a Countess run. And I mixed things up with Pits and Baal runs as I got bored with LK, which also helped improve the gear over time.

As for Mercy, I haven’t been online much the last three weeks, with busy times at work and some travel and moving apartments mixed in for good measure. We were also without internet for a couple weeks, but I was able to play some. I’ll do a full update later this weekend (hopefully after more playing time), but Mercy is at level 95, and a second character (Hiatus, currently a blizz sorc) is at level 84.

Congrats to everyone on the great progress and welcome to the new participants in this challenge!
zticazzy said:
Ahh more barbs joining the fun, that's what I like to see! Good luck everyone!
Perkele is doing well, so well in fact that I decided to use a more fitting avatar! He has filled about 25% of the exp bar right now (expecting sudden death after writing this), it's more than 3k Nihlathak kills! A couple of random thoughts on the journey:
- Exp gain is around 3m per hour, ~25 seconds per run, that means I still have to spend ~75 hours on this to reach 99 (without dying of course).
- Apart from that accident early on when I was still testing stuff, I've had no deaths so far, yay! Only a single NDE due to wrong teleporting, but luckily my reflexes were good enough. :)
- After 1k or so runs I started to use the everlasting ammy and this time I really felt the difference in terms of damage reduction, the runs are more comfortable and I can even tank one or two poison clouds with ease -- but they are still dangerus nonethelss.
- Speaking of vipers, now I'm somewhat better at spotting dangerous situations, it really depends on a few variables: where the vipers spawn, how many of them are around, and how fast confuse triggers. Nihla's mods also play an important role, and any combination of cursed / fana / might along with a pack of vipers firing from the same area means instant s&e: if you accidentally step where all the poison trails overlap you're gonna end up dead in a heartbeat. Holding Shift while attacking is essential when the screen is crowded with snakes, since it prevents your char from walking into clouds when Nihla teles around.
- Merc is still with me (I really need decrep), and so is the bug I've mentioned earlier, but by the moment he dies my life stops plummeting and I'm safe again. Sometimes I manage to tank his death leeching back from Nihla.
- On Exp shrines: I rolled a map with two shrines on the lowest dungeon level and it was working well, but today I misclicked and lost it :( having shrines in the halls of Vaught helps a lot: as helvete explained in another thread, witches stop cursing you if your merc is cursed already, so the idea is to go downstairs, let them curse the merc, then pick up the shrine. I've estimated that ~15-20 kills per hour can be done with the exp shrine effect, that's roughly 5-8% extra exp gained :rolleyes:.
- Leap is a nice skill to use as left click attack on tele switch: when I see my barb jumping like a frog instead of hitting Nihla I know I didn't press the W key well, as a side effect the skill can set Nihla apart from his minions, so in the end it helps to namelock the guy.
- The skeleton glitch is fun!
- Nihla's drops: I've found 2 Dragonscales (1 eth), a bunch of pretty stones, and crap crap crap. I'll post some screens later maybe.

That's it for now, happy hunting people!
TrU said:
Let's hope i get this thing right then! I thought alot about what kind of barb Henryk should be, but i think he will be a Concentration Barb, but tempted to make him a WW-barb later on. I went through A1 and stayed at Andariel for awhile and got myself some decent starting-gear, Nagelring, a few set items and Crushflange Mace.

Cruising through A2 now, and i'll probably update later on tonigt as i intend to keep playing! :>


Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     69             No           49         44           12         20
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc   20             No            -          -            -           -
TrU         Henryk       SC     Barb   19           Yes           -         -
[/QUOTE]
TrU said:
Also, as you can see i ****ed it up a bit and the things i put in isn't really like all the others. How do i do that right? ;_;

Tried to fix it, but i just made it a mess. Hopefully someone can solve it and perhaps update it with my thingies in it ._.
Lord Molybdenum said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       94             Yes           -        273            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      19             Yes           -          -

Fixed it :p

I got an insanely good tower roll (next to the waypoint, 3/4 of the first four levels have the exit immediately next to the entrance) and the countess dropped the key of terror. I don't... think I can handle that yet, so I'll be doing countess runs I guess.
PhineasB said:
Here is a more complete update on progress and formal introduction to the second character I created for this challenge.

My last update with Mercy was in early lvl 94 after finding the runes for Enigma. I still haven’t found a 4os Monarch or Flail, and have used 8 cube socketing recipes on white Flails with no luck. I focused on p8 Pits with some Baal runs mixed in, especially as Mercy neared lvl 95.

Finds along the way included a second Demonhorn’s Edge (with a Pul nearby), a Lo, and Windforce -- the first I have found. I also picked up a near perfect Ravenfrost.

I’ve done a few Baal runs today, but am going to focus on leveling the sorc, Hiatus, who is following the same conditions as Mercy: extended stash, not picking up all S/Us, and not tracking time. She gained a level since my brief update this morning and is currently lvl 85. She is at Pindle in Hell.

The Hellforge drops in NM and H were both Hels. :\ Best find so far was a Stone of Jordan from Hell Andy in the early 70s when leveling at Andy + Ancient Tunnels. She mostly ran Pindle from 76 to 85, with the best find a Ko rune. I mixed in a couple Meph runs and LK runs looking for a good map. She picked up a Gul at LK, which is the highest rune found so far, but not much else of note.

Good luck to all the runners. @Lord Molybdenum beat me to cleaning up the table, so table update is below.

* * *

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             YES           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      19             Yes           -          -
TrU said:
Thanks a bunch for cleaning it up for me! <3
ioupainmax said:
I've decided to join in as well.

Presenting Durnik, for those of you familiar with the Belgariad and Malloreon, Durnik is a blacksmith that uses a glowing hammer as a weapon, so fittingly, I'm making a Hammerdin.

(For now) I'm applying the following:
- Extended stash
- Tracking number of Sets and Uniques (or at least until I get bored of picking up Isenhart's)
- Tracking Grail
- Tracking Deaths (Most of my characters have never died anyway so I hope this is 0)
- Not tracking time spent

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      19             Yes           -          -            -           - 
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin    7             Yes           -          -            -           -

Now I need to go back and read this thread from the beginning...!

Durnik's Progress:

Act 1 – Sendaria - The Beginning
Durnik is currently level 7 and at the Cold Plains waypoint. His gear is understandably poor but I got a good +2 Might sceptre in Den of Evil so he's doing OK.
hasuprotoss said:
Welcome to those who are new to this thread and congrats on all the xp gains and finds for those who are still going!

Not many runs done this week due to my wrist feeling uncomfortable and I don't want to damage it or anything. Generally this lack of comfort lasts about a week or so, so hopefully I'll feel comfortable going back to D2. If not, I may need to go get it checked out.

We still managed to get a couple of million xp. Currently Reina is running AT for a change of pace, especially since I'm currently thinking Diablo for the 98->99 path. We may still change to Nihlithak, but we've got a ways to go to finalize that decision and get a great map.
TrU said:
Kept going througout A2 and A3, and i just slayed Mephisto for the first of a few thousand times hopefully. No notable finds along the way, sadly, but i think i might be running Mephisto for a while to see if i can get some better gear (really looking for some high hitting weapon and some leech-equipments).

Getting kinda late here and i got work tomorrow, so i'll have to get to bed. I think i'll be back for alot more progress tomorrow, and hopefully i'll be in Hell by the time my session ends tomorrow. Besides work, i do not have that much social life, but hey, i got my D2-chars :3

(Hopefully i did not mess up the table again now when changeing some of the numbers :/ )

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      23             Yes           -          -           12           6
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin    7             Yes           -          -            -           -
TrU said:
As i have to go to work now, i'll have to be off for a few hours. I continued throughout A4 and slayed Diablo, and as usual for a Barb, i died a few times. I kept going and started farming Eldritch for awhile to get some levels, and i found a few decent items. I actually got the full "Berserker's" set, and even tho it is a low level set, it is working out quite nicely for my barb with the life and especially the Mana-leech, as it allows me to use Concentrate without having to pop any of those blue potions.

I'll be on later tonight for more, and hopefully i'll get through NM! Keep it up boys and gals <3

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      30             Yes          -          -                       8 
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin    7             Yes           -          -            -           -
Pb_pal said:
Wow, welcome to all the newcomers!

Great progress and updates everyone else. @zticazzy you'll be done in no time, great speed!

--

Nothing much for Eleanor to report as she's on a bit of a break until the MFO. She did officially hit 97.5 though, and found a nice rock along her way:

pP7fSaK.jpg

.
She now has all the runes to make an Infinity. As you know, she previously decided (after testing with another sorc) that she wasn't going to make one. I might do some testing now though, as if it's even a little bit faster (and not too annoying with the pots), she might make the switch at least for the MFO.

Happy running everyone!
ioupainmax said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      30             Yes           -          -                        8
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   16             Yes           -          -            -           -

Durnik's Progress:

Act 1 Part 1 – Sendaria
When the monsters and demons descended upon Sendaria, Durnik knew that his life would change. He had always imagined that he would settle down, open his own smithy one day - perhaps on a farm, fixing tools and the like. He expected that he would marry a local girl, he'd heard that there was a very beautiful cook in the next village over. However, the monsters quickly overran the neighbouring village and Durnik decided that he would cleanse this wilderness.

Years of work in the fields and then as the blacksmith's apprentice had made Durnik's arms and chest strong. His master was growing weak in his old age and came to rely upon Durnik more and more as of late. Durnik had tested all the weapons and armour to make sure that they were the right weight and had the right balance. Of course his favourite tool was his smithing hammer, but he was adept at wielding swords, sceptres and maces too. Despite his age, Durnik had broad shoulders and a stocky chest so he could handle armours made for older folk.

When the trouble began, Durnik used his innate might to destroy the legions of hell until such a time as he defeated Blood Raven. A local Sendarian girl, Aliza, decided that she would join Durnik's quest as the monsters had murdered her family. Aliza used to be responsible for stoking the fires in the great hall, so she put that knowledge to good use. Her fire arrows devastated the enemy and Durnik was grateful for her help. After freeing a kindly old man from a cage, Durnik and Aliza smashed and burned the spawn of hell until they came upon an old tower. In it, Durnik came upon some strange stones with engravings upon them. He decided to linger here and search for more in case they were valuable.

(Tune in for more later....)
XyleneCyanol said:
A quick update, so it seemed neither AT nor LK wanted to give me a white/4os monarch. All I got were either blue or one socket. Then I got 2 cracked Monarch and 1 damaged monarch.

Darn it! I cannot wait and I don't care, so I give it to Larzuk, and indeed, damaged monarch also got 4os from Larzuk (but from cube though).

Interesting thing that I did not notice before is that once you put RW in, the "Damaged Monarch" simply became "Monarch" (note the durability ... oh well, I don't care and I need a Spirit Monarch:p)

1611513164536.png
ioupainmax said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      30             Yes           -          -                        8
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   18             Yes           2          2            -           -

Durnik's Progress:
Act 1 Part 2 – Sendaria
Something strange was going on...Durnik began to notice that as his experience grew, so did his strength, but more than that, he began to sense an inner power. Now don't get the wrong idea, Durnik was no fool. He didn't believe in all this mumbo jumbo, hocus pocus fakery. Why, just last year a charlatain had visited his village purporting to be a magician, pah! He'd sooner trick you out of your coinpurse than perform any actual magic. However, Durnik was honest enough with himself to to admit that there were defnitely unnatural forces at work.

If you had asked him last year, he would have told you that he didn't believe in magic, religion or the gods, but since he had begun fighting the demon horde, he had witnessed that magic was certainly real indeed. Demons were hurling fireballs and bolts of lightning so it was plain to see that magic had entered his world. Despite this, he hadn't expected that he himself could be capable of magic. But lately, it seemed all he had to do was to will something strongly enough and it would happen. The other day, he was teaching Aliza how to aim so that she could track a moving target. By intensely focussing his attention on aiming, it seemed to give Aliza a boost too, for she became remarkably adept at aiming by simply being in his presence.

In order to test his theory, he set about aiming to make every hit a fatal one. In time, Aliza started to aim and kill with alarming accuracy. It was though she had an inner sight that ensured her arrows met their mark! Perhaps the demons brought magic with them and it was this that awakened within both Durnik and Aliza?

When questioned, Old Man Cain provided a cryptic answer:
1611513207949.png
editAppPage.jsp


It wasn't until Durnik smote the demon known as 'The Smith', in the presence of the Horadric Malus, that he got his answer:
1611513224623.png

It pained him that a fellow blacksmith had fallen into darkness, but he knew he must free his spirit, so he cut down his foe. The minute that Durnik touched the Malus, a strange peace and confidence enveloped him. Old Man Cain's words echoed as if from the vault of heaven.

Then, a powerful but gentle voice spake unto him:
"Be at peace child, I am thy God Aldur. I have chosen thee to take up thy hammer and defeat the demons and their dark forces. Fear not, for I have blessed thy hammer and it shall do wonders. Know that I am with thee, always..."

Durnik's path illuminated before him, he would take up his hammer and through it bring peace to the land once more. Durnik always had that unwavering concentration that comes with years of working with hot dangerous metal. Even in the midst of a busy workshop, he could keep a watchful eye over several different things whilst still performing excellent work. He would spend 14 hours a day hammering away and he knew that his vigor would serve him well in the battles to come. He decided to focus on these talents and for the first time, prayed that he had made the right decision.
1611513236643.png
TrU said:
Yesterday after work, i was very tired and therefor i did not do much progress. Today, on the other hand, i have been doing quite alot of progress. For starters, i cleared A5 normal, and i am now in A2 NM. Henryk is also level 41. I ran Eldritch and Pindle in Normal a bit to get some levels for NM, as Barbs aren't really known to just "cruise" through the game like many other classes. Seriously, check out my death-count, i mean cmon, i must be so bad haha.

I intent to keep playing for a good 6-8 hours today, so hopefully i'll end up in Hell, or at least in A5 NM where i can do some hardcore leveling. Might take a stop and Mephisto and run Meph, Andy and Countess a bit to get some better gear, haven't decided yet.

I'll do small updates, peace <3

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   18             Yes           2          2            -           -
zticazzy said:
@ioupainmax your stories are so great, please keep them coming.

@TrU nice progess! have you chosen a build for your toon?
 
TrU said:
@TrU nice progess! have you chosen a build for your toon?
Yeah, he'll be a Concentration-Barb. Probably just gonna run Nihla for XP once i get good enough gear. Will take a while :p
Southpaw8668 said:
@zticazzy - I like your new avatar! At first I said, what the heck is that until I zoomed in on it. [emoji2]
qwernt said:
Good week for CanBeOnlyBlizz:
rx2dg38.png

Also an UM, but that isn't nearly as exciting.

Stupid question: how do people running a blizz sorc go Hell Meph hunting? Each time I try I get eaten by the CI's - even with moat trick.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      89             Yes          -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   18             Yes           2          2            -           -
Zenigma said:
Ayura has made some serious progress over the weekend. With some serious smooth talking, he coaxed a handful of vendors to give up their best throwing weapons. Starting in act 4 and moving on, those consisted primarily of throwing spears with decent ed and max damage. It's been tough, but he managed his way through to nightmare. He promptly shopped and gambled for more items before proceeding back to normal Mephy to seek out an angelic halo to match his angelic wings. Unfortunately, he didn't find one before growing bored. Apprehensively, he ventured on into the nightmarish rogue encampment and proceeded on his journey. He left off in the black marsh, leaving behind the brutalized corpse of a woman once known as the countess.

I'll update the table and possibly post some of the gear he's carrying now when I get home
T72on1 said:
@TrU Nice progress !!! I recommend to learn how to not die though, otherwise you won't make much progress in Hell ...

@qwernt Congrats on the Ber. I still have to find my first in LK myself.

As to your question: I'm not sure what you mean by the CI's? The ones behind Meph? Usually I can lure Mephisto out without activating those actually, so they don't pose a problem. So I'm not sure which advise I can give you.
hasuprotoss said:
Regarding CI's and meph runs, I actually found a map that was reasonably quick to get to level 3 and had no CI's where I moat tricked, and had no council members on that central platform. Let the idiot die one run and I was set.

That being said, I wouldn't actually run Mephisto too long since he's not as great at leveling and you'll find a good bit of gear elsewhere. It's a long trek, you'll be surprised at how much you'll eventually find in your alvl 85 of choice. Just get enough gear that you can move at a reasonable pace and the gear will come. If you can bear it, LK is a ( relatively) quick way to get a lot of great gear.

Basically if I were doing this again ( and I probably will at some point) it would be get through the game (aka to pindle) as fast as possible, then either hell pindle at the highest player level I can handle to get an early amount of gear or nm meph if hell pindle is too scary. Then, around mid to late 80s, hit LK for basic gear (HotO, grief, enigma if necessity, etc.). Then start running alvl85 to get through levels and late game gear. 98 chose your target, stop at LK for late game gear ( infinity, enigma, etc) and go to town.
Kitteh said:
She really isn't going to get much play time, but as promised, Cyanosis is reborn! (third time lucky?!)


Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      93             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      89             Yes          -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   18             Yes           2          2            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  1              No            -          -       -         -
T72on1 said:
@hasuprotoss I agree for the most part, but ...

1) Hell Mephisto can be a good target to spend a few hours on. After all a few hours means nothing in the long term of this project, and he is a very good target for some very useful endgame gear like Shako and Arachnid's Mesh. I haven't done so myself and actually followed the exact same route you described in your post, but that's mainly because Shako was the very first unique item to drop for me in Hell.
2) I wouldn't run alvl85 until level 98. Now I made the switch at the end of level 94 iirc (or was it 93?) and CS was definitely faster than AT at that point already. I'm sometimes getting a bit bored of CS runs, in which case AT runs might still be a reasonable alternative at my level (96), but for pure efficiency, I don't think it even comes close.

@Kitteh Hell yeah, bring' em on !!! Good luck.
qwernt said:
Thanks for the advice. I followed the Run to Pindle and then LK yourself to death... I was just trying to find somewhere else fun to run (LK, AT, Pindle, Crypt, Maus, not a lot of variety: chests, undead, undead, undead) and have seen people talk about blizz sorc on Meph - though I suspect it was NM, which I blew by.
Will keep grinding. Happily I got to the spot where my merc can actually fight a single non special mob without dying... ugh. I was expecting more (cold merc, insight in great poleaxe (non eth), tals). He still can't kill CI Pindle.
T72on1 said:
My merc (same as yours, treachery as armor) wasn't killing very well either, until I found him an eth Insight. That improved a lot for him. Hopefully you'll find one soon too. It's still relatively slow though, in terms of efficiency it's probably better to just skip CI Pindle (and other CI enemies) altogether ...

A question from me: what CS running times should I aim for with my Blizzard Sorc? I know it's somewhere in the 99 theorycrafting thread, but I can't seem to find it right now. For Infector and Grand Vizier I'm at some 1:40 - 1:50 on average, including 3 - 5 boss packs on the way, which I thought was good, until I saw a post of a 1:51 Baal run in another thread o_O. If I included De Seis when Infector didn't spawn CI, which I haven't done since reaching level 96 but did before that, I think I was roughtly at some 2:50 - 3:00 (Edit: that's with De Seis at /p1 and Diablo back at /p8).

Edit: I found the post I was thinking of, although it doesn't contain specific run times, only overall time to get from one level to another. Less than 13 hours to get from 96 to 97 for Gripphon. My estimate for my own Blizz Sorc, now that I've crossed the 96.25 mark, is some 28 hours. Maybe 25 hours, because I'm only guessing I'm at the 96.25, and I should check real xp, and also because I'm getting faster at my runs and sticking to Infector and Grand Vizier. Still, it seems I'm really slow :(.

Still interested in the running times of others of course. After all Gripphon's setup in that post is optimal, while mine is far less so, with only 3 skillers, no SoJ or BKWB, no Death's Fathom or Nightwing's, ...
NanoMist said:
I'm not running a Sorc, so I can't provide you with a good comparison time. But I'll say your CS running times should at least be low enough to match Baal exp up until 98, which will make saving Ancients worth it. My trapper needed 3 minutes for p8 seals + p7 Diablo, and I concluded that even 4 minute Baal runs would beat that by a healthy margin. (A margin that made saving Ancients for 98 not worth it.) However, I only killed 1-2 random boss packs at the most.

Here's a sample calculation I made for your level 96 case. Of course, the CS experience values are estimated since I can't test your runs for real values. (Estimated from my exp. calculator) Confirm these if you want to.

p8 Vizier + Infector + 4 random boss packs: 280K at 1:45 = 160k/min (25.5 hours to 97)

p8 Vizier + Infector + 4 random boss packs + p1 De Seis + p7 Diablo: 380K at 2:55 = 130k/min (31.4 hours to 97)


Using the higher rate 160k/min to figure out the equivalent Baal run length:
p8/p3 Baal: 557k/(160k/min) = 3.48 min
p8 Lister: 470k/(160k/min) = 2.95 min

Let's say you start p1 for Wave 1 & 2 because of the ice mages.
p1/p1/p8/p8/p8/p3 Baal: 457k/(160k/min) = 2.86 min
p1/p1/p8/p8/p8 Lister: 369k/(160k/min) = 2.31 min

If you feel you cannot beat these Baal/Lister times then take solace in knowing you are already on the most efficient path in CS. Once you reach 97, it's possible the p7 Diablo route becomes more efficient.
Gripphon said:
Maybe this video from Froz can answer some questions. He takes slightly different approach (block variant), but should work with considerably weaker equipment also.

Leveling with blizzsorc in CS
Pb_pal said:
@T72on1

Well, @NanoMist already nailed it, but I'll add my 2 cents as well.

Don't let that 1:51 Baaling fool you, that is one of the best builds and runners out there. Froz will make almost anyone look completely useless at this game. That char is also very very optimized, and the run is near perfect too. The same stands for Gripp and his times in the theorycrafting thread, these are optimal times from optimal players playing optimal builds. Something to shoot for, yes, but not a target many can reach. For comparison, my Baal times are floating around 3:15 to 3:30 for p8/p3. Granted, Blova is not as efficient as if you were to make a full light sorc, but still decent times for an untwinked runner.

It's tough to go off of runtimes alone in the CS, as the density of bosspacks is so variable. A much nicer method of comparison is to use XP/time. My numbers for 96 match up quite well with what Nanomist has shown a couple posts up. At 96 I was getting ~222k per run at 80 seconds each, so 166.5k/min. This translated into 24.5 hours to get to 97.

I don't have any Baaling numbers from that level, but if I use my times from 97+ and the XP that they would have given me for level 96, I get ~130xp/min. Chances are my times would have been slower due to having worse gear at the time, but even as such it's no contest. This amounts to 31.6 hours for 96-97.

Realistically, I don't ever see Baaling beating out CS, at least not with a Blizz sorc (or variant). I would have definitely stuck with CS until 98 if I wasn't going to run Baal in the MFO.

As for whether or not to include De Seis and Diablo now, it depends entirely on how quickly you can kill them. As Nanomist shows, they p1/p7 De Seis/Diablo will net you ~100k experience. To reach the 160k/min threshold you would have to do them in 37.5 seconds. That doesn't seem super likely considering that timing starts from the second you would have done your S+E (ie. killing the second seal boss), but I haven't actually tested it so who knows.

TL;DR - Your numbers look just fine, at least when compared to mine. You'll speed up with practice and gear upgrades too. :)
T72on1 said:
Thanks guys :). I'll try to keep track of my xp/min for a while, and see what happens.
T72on1 said:
First test: 77 minutes, 145.2k exp/min. I was certainly pushing it, and going faster than I used to. Some 1:30 min / per run according to run calc. But I killed less normal boss packs.

I'll keep on trying to improve. Within safe boundaries of course :). Sitting somewhere between 96.33 and 96.50 now, no deaths since 95. I'd like to keep it that way.
hasuprotoss said:
For those who are doing a lot of CS runs, what is your mercenaries' gear like? Mine is dying a ton when I run it, but he's using Duriel's Shell, Vampire Gaze, and Insight. I think he needs a pretty big gear improvement but I'm not sure what to go with that will help him a ton. Maybe seeing some combinations of gear will help guide my decision on what to give him to improve his survivability.
NanoMist said:
Are you running holy freeze merc?

I found Fortitude in eth bug armor to be a very tanky option with leach from helm slot. Great defense with chilling armor, I've noticed visibly less hits taken by merc after the switch from treachery, which is another option.

There's also delirium helm for CTC confuse, or Steelshade for fire absorb against the venom lords.

In tough spots, you can teleport to reposition him, or help out with glacial spike. Rejuvs too if you're not using too many yourself.
T72on1 said:
My merc is a Holy Freeze one with eth Insight, Treachery and life steal helm. I think Tal's, but I'm not sure.

Whenever fade from Treachery triggers, he is usually fine. When amped, I still have to be careful though, but Glacial Spike helps a lot there. That, and repositioning him with Teleport. He rarely dies, but I have to feed him a rejuv once in a while.

Is his Insight eth? My used to use a non eth for a very long time, and I definitely noticed the difference in life leech when I finally made him an eth one.

Really the 2 only really dangerous things for him are being hit by Oblivion Knights when amped, and the fire attack of Venom Lords when Conviction is around.

Yesterday after posting, I realized that I have been doing nothing but really short updates here and there, usually after replying to someone else. Since I have actually made quite some progress since hitting 96, but it just doesn't show so clearly because experience is coming a lot slower now, I thought I'd give an overview of my progress so far.

I'm sitting just over 2800M experience, just past the 1/3 mark to 97. So far I have done 332 CS runs in 11 hours and 45 minutes. Early on I did De Seis on /p1 and Diablo on /p8 whenever Infector didn't spawn CI, but lately I have only been doing the first 2 seals. This is more efficient as it is already, and even more so if you count for the fact that I find far less S/U, and as a consequence loose less time muling stuff. I don't think that Diablo has dropped even one good item for me, so no big loss there.

Before those CS runs, right after hitting level 96, I first did a batch of LK runs. 340 to be precise, which brought me to 1519 LK runs so far with Neverland. I didn't think about taking pics, probably mainly because I didn't find any HRs. Best drops were 2x Lem, 2x Pul, a Mal, a Cold Skiller (rerolled) and a Shako from a corpse near one of the campfires.

My CS runs started out nice, with an Um within the first 50 runs. After that, things picked up a bit in the rune departement (although less than I wanted, but more on that later) with Gul 1:

1611514556920.png
.

This one was right before our weekly group game on Monday. 4 runs was all I did, but enough to find a Gul :).

After the group game I did some more runs, 17 to be precise. Mu luck continued ...

1611514564260.png

1611514570282.png
.
As you can see in the picture, I also found a Pluckeye in between, one of the many TC3s I still need.

Speaking of TC3s, in the next session I found a Gull dagger, which might come in handy for the upcoming MFO. I also found an Occulus that session.

Then I didn't find anything decent for quite some time. Just as I was getting frustrated that I had not gotten any real good drops at all lately, and not even from level 96, I got this first-time-ever-for-me-drop:

1611514578721.png
.
3os, not the best of ED%, so not a good roll, but still I'm very happy with it. Not only because it's grailer and first time ever find, but also I can see it being useful for a few niche builds, even with the low roll.

My luck continued on that short 30 minute run. Those short runs often are the best dropwise, it seems :). Minutes after the Griswold's, I got Dracul's Grasp gloves. A bit later, this body armor dropped:
1611514589038.png

Very welcome of course: grailer, TC 81 and even useful.

Yesterday evening I did 48 more CS runs, to test my xp/min ratio. Got one good drop (next to the first item of which I get a second eth version: Gimmershred's):

1611514595720.png
.
All in all the road to 97 has been going well so far. A bit slow at the beginning. but I feel I'm getting better at it. And most important: no deaths !!! I actually found AT more difficult to stay alive than CS. In AT, when you are amped, those zombies can kill you instantly when you teleport right in the middle of them. In CS, this doesn't seem to be the case. Or I have been very lucky so far. Whatever it is, I haven't even gotten any NDE's in CS, so that's a good thing.

The only thing that has been bugging me, is the lack of HRs so far, not counting those in LK. Only an Ohm in AT and a Cham in CS. The latter is my highest ever, so I'm obviously very glad with it, but only 2 HRs seems to be on the low side. But maybe it's all the pics in this thread that make me think everyone is finding a HR every 2 hours or so ;). Finding another one definitely wouldn't hurt to keep my faith up. Preferably a Jah, as I'm still hoping to make an Enigma before the MFO hits.

Next? More CS runs I guess ... :).
XyleneCyanol said:
@T72on1 very nice!!! Congrats on the green Caduceus, and I hope you will get a gold one very soon ;)

Oh, also congrats on the most useful pala shield!!!
Pb_pal said:
@hasuprotoss - The first thing I would get him is a Delerium helm. As Nanomist mentioned, the Confuse from it is great crowd control and keeps the heat off of him very well. Combine that with teleport to reposition and he should stay out of danger quite well.

I would imagine Treachery could help a bit over Duriels, but I also noticed a big improvement when I made a CoH for my merc to replace his treachery.

My merc (Holy Freeze) runs Delerium/CoH and doesn't ever really need baby-sitting anymore.

@T72on1 - Great progress, and some awesome finds there! Keep it up! :)
 
hasuprotoss said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I'll need to run some cows to get bases. Did get an eth bugged dusk shroud treachery which helped, will need to find a helm and runes for delirium. May still make fortitude after this level as I plan on running LK until one Ber rune is obtained, which means I should hopefully find the Lo I need for fortitude.

Also, great progress @T72on1!!
Tarantella said:
Lot's of Baal runs at p1 with Baal at p3 finally bought up level 94 for Tarasha.

Slow (with two weeks hols included) but safe leveling at those settings saw a few nice gambles and a steady drip of uniques but nothing to change her current gear. A first eth CV got the obligatory single socket and countless armours were checked. Baal finally dropped a GC on the first run after the break but no luck so far on rerolls. Drops seem poor in the Keep with lack of chests so back to the map for some gear searching.


Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      89             Yes          -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   18             Yes           2          2            -           -
Pb_pal said:
Well after finding that last Ber to give her all the ingredients she needed for an Infinity, curiosity got the best of her and Eleanor decided to slay some cows in search of a base. We didn't have much luck there, and then managed to accidentally kill the King while he was wandering a couple screens from his enclosure, so it was back to Baaling for now:rolleyes:. We're actually going to mix back in some CS runs since I think it will give us a better shot at finding a suitable base as well as keep things fresh.

Not too long into the grind, we found a 4os superior (14%ED) Thresher. Hmm, not eth, but that's okay since our current Insight GT IS eth so we can use that base for it instead, and remake an insight in the non-eth stick. So we paid a visit to the Countess until she gave us a Hel, we cleaned out the eth one and made a new little toy:

jOKIA1s.jpg

.
An almost perfectly bad roll! :p Ah well, let's see how it does anyways.

Basically it saves about 10 seconds per run, our average is now floating around 3:25, and can go as low as 3 minutes flat depending on spawns.

The Infinity doesn't break any of the CI's in the throne or waves, most notable CI Lister who is the biggest time waster of them all. There is a time save on Baal though which is pretty significant, although the biggest time saver is that Nova is more effective at clearing out CIs in the throne on /p1. This is big news, since I'd be running on /p1 for 98-99 in either Baal or the CS, so a more effective Nova can save a ton of time (I'm looking at you, De Seis!).

Potion management becomes much more of a pain with my setup, so that eats into the time saved a little bit. It's not enough to be too annoying so far though, and as stated I still come out ahead.

Runs are now sitting at 48.8s average for the standard "Gripphon Run" of Vizier and Infector. That's a 5 (well, 4.9) second decrease from my previous times. For the record, CI Infectors still exist, as does CI De Seis.

Unlike Baaling, there is next to no difference in how I approach the runs, aside from having to pick up a couple extra pots here and there. Had I had an Infinity from the start of 97, I could shave off 5 hours of running vs doing it all with an Insight, assuming these numbers hold up.

Long story short, were going to keep the Infinity (I'm a little bit surprised about that, to be honest). It's definitely not necessary, but the slight increase in speed as well as the style in a untwinked situation like this means were going to keep it. We'll hang onto Insight in the stash though for when we don't want to worry about potions, and we will test the comparison for the 98-99 strats.

Would I go hunting for an Infinity for a Blizz sorc (either pure or hybrid)? No. But doing this all over again I would do the same thing and make an Infinity if I happen across the ingredients in my normal running.

Okay, NOW she's on a break until the MFO :p

Finds:
- Expert's GC of Sustenance (34 life)
- Ist
- Mal
- Ohm

--

I'm also curious about how the other players running without an extended stash are handling their storage problems and thought it might be fun to share what our stashes/inventories look like (extended stash users can show as well!). Here is a snapshot of Eleanors (taken literally the run before we found the Ohm, so it's not in there):

T86ri7X.jpg

.
The polearm is her Insight, rings are a Nature's Peace and a couple FCR/resist rings that I'm too scared to mule off (even though I'll almost certainly never use them). The jewels are both really crappy Cold facets, and charms are a mix of resist and life which I will swap out for my MF charms post-MFO. HoTo/Mosers/Goldwrap for retrieving bodies. In the cube she holds on to a Ral/Jewel/PAmethyst as they come, and crafts caster ammys once she completes a set of ingredients.
zticazzy said:
50% done. :D
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98.5           No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      89             Yes          -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin  45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   18             Yes           2          2            -           -

I died once, around 30%, I teled in a spot with god only knows how many poison clouds... so I had the opportunity to test my retrieval kit, which at the time consisted of just a rare ring with Dim Vision charges. It turned out well, as I was able to recover the body, and in the end the only thing needed for the job was my merc with delirium to clear the path, my only duty was to hork corpses so that Nihla couldn't explode them. I've also made another Enigma in breastplate which allowed me to respec putting ALL of my hardpoints (500) into Vit. Thanks to the "strenght bug" I'm still wearing the other Enigma (mage plate) while this sits in the stash, so I can have the best of both: more defense and more points in vit, while having an armor ready to be used for future body retrievals.

Finds:
- Gris caddy
- 2 Nightwing's (one in the IFT, the other eth and with a slightly lower roll)
- 2 Arkaine's
- Verdungo's 38/15
- Torch of Iro
- Mavina's diadem and bow
plus many others...

HR drops
voDrk84.jpg

+ 3 Pul, 4 Um, 1 Mal, 1 Ist, 1 Gul

A triple key drop
i7z8wmp.jpg

--

I was about to suggest the stash thing myself too, @Pb_pal! Here's mine:
6j4QotD.jpg

In the stash:
Rings: 2 sojs (same graphics), perfect Wisp, 2 rares (1 with Dim Vision charges)
Ammy: Highlord's, skiller: plain 15@
Wizzies, etomby, ebotdz, extra enigma BP, wartravs 48%, vamp 20%dr. Dual HotO and Arach have been sold a while ago.

Until next time :)
NanoMist said:
Epic posts ^

About 2/3's of the way to 98 so far.

Finds:
Second 40/15 Gheeds (Hot muled first one)
Not one but two Schaefer's
The one time I would like to see that green breast plate for the full set drop.
Mara's @20
BKWB 3% this time
CoA 23/14/2

My stash:
rDAWiJd.jpg


Jewelry: FCR ring & crafted ammy posted before in read out, Mara's, 2x BKWB.
No body retrieval gear, just a few resist charms. Assassins are safe enough to walk naked, and merc helps tremendously here as well.
CoA is a nice helm, but more useful in a PVP environment.
XyleneCyanol said:
This thread is just becoming increasingly epic.

Around three months after the start, we already have a lvl 98.5 char, well done @zticazzy !!!

@Pb_pal @NanoMist you two are the next, come on!!!

@T72on1 @hasuprotoss @PhineasB you three are also close ;)

Not much going on at my end in terms of experience, still hunting gears/runes for future preparation, and I do upgrade Fishie to 200 FCR to run LK more efficiently.

Vex+ runes finds:

1611514866096.png
1611514873052.png
1611514879937.png
1611514887009.png
1611514894790.png
Pb_pal said:
@zticazzy - You are insane! Amazing progress, you'll be there in no time!

@NanoMist - You too, great progress!

@XyleneCyanol - Awesome rune finds! You must be almost done with LK after that, no? What gear are you still hunting for?
XyleneCyanol said:
@Pb_pal thanks, and yes, almost done now! I only need an Ohm to make her future safer.

I'm currently not keen to cube up runes to make that Ohm.

Oh well, I might join your RoF superchest runs, since there are more Ohm pattern there ;)
zticazzy said:
@XyleneCyanol I actually joined when my char was already 97, so my progress wasn't done in just 2-3 months like the other amazing people in this thread did, but thanks for the support anyway, and congrats on that rune haul :)
XyleneCyanol said:
Thanks, I see, but still, getting from lvl 97 to 98.5 is no child play :D
Gripphon said:
Conan was born as level 97 anyway.
ioupainmax said:
Durnik's Progress
Act 1 Part 3 – Arendia
Durnik was exhausted – it was time to head back to the Rogue Encampment to return the malus, for a much needed rest and a chance to tend to his wounds. Shortly after returning the Malus to his fellow blacksmith Charsi, the residents of the Rogue Encampment seemed to soften towards Durnik. Perhaps Charsi had said something to them or perhaps his new god Aldur had intervened on his behalf? In any case, even the frosty Kashya seemed to open up towards the Sendarian. Once Charsi had inspected the malus, Akara was waiting with bandages and medicine.

While Akara was tending to his wounds, Durnik mused on the nature of waypoints and town portal scrolls. Akara smiled wryly. She explained that many years ago a powerful sorceress named Polgara had discovered teleportation during a crisis in Arendia. Though she made it in time, it was a very close call and she nearly died from the exertion. Polgara vowed to solve this problem so that she would never be late again, no matter the distance. At the time of the crisis, she could only move to a position within her line of sight - teleportation. However, over time she evolved this power and bound the spell within a set of scrolls. Each set was linked to a talisman and she taught her disciples this method so that they could quickly move to the source of any crisis. Over time, this transformed into a messaging network of sorts and certain larger towns became vital hubs for communication and trade. The disciples built more permanent solutions out of stone – inlaid with magic and runes – the first waypoints. As Akara bent down to tie the last of the bandages, the hood of her robe - which was usually drawn down to her eyes – slipped and Durnik caught a brief flash of silvery white hair amongst her raven locks. The silver shone with a brilliance that took him by surprise. He was about to ask Akara about it but she quickly pulled the hood of her cloak back, so he decided against it.

In Durnik’s experience, women tended to be mysterious, often hinting at something rather than speaking plainly. This made him uncomfortable. Mercifully, Charis seemed to have escaped this affliction. Whether it was due to her profession or that she simply didn’t like to play games, Durnik was able to talk to her in a straightforward way. Their conversations often returned to shop talk as Durnik was intrigued by the way that Charsi wove magic into her armour and weapons with the malus. He watched her technique carefully, taking mental notes as it would no doubt become useful later on in his quest.

Kashya didn’t mince her words either, she told the smith about how she fled the monastery with the young rogue recruits and other survivors, among them Aliza. She seemed to have taken the news about Blood Raven quite badly as Durnik could see that though she put up a stern front, she had been crying recently. He quickly changed the subject to Aliza. According to Kashya, it was the demon queen Andariel that had slaughtered Aliza’s parents. Though the other girls had been scared, Kashya noticed Aliza’s fearlessness and fiery resolve as she protected the rear flank of their ragged band. It was then that Kashya decided to train Aliza. Aliza was very talented, she even enchanted the campfire so that it would burn for as long as she lived.

Durnik made a silent vow to help Aliza destroy Andariel.

Durnik spent most of the next day practicing his new power, with a few hiccups, much to Aliza’s amusement. Though it was not in Durnik’s nature to question the wisdom of the gods, he did wonder why his hammers had such an unusual path… One thing was for certain, he had improved to the point that he could quickly switch between focus on vigor and concentration with ease now.

He decided that it would be prudent to look at a map and see how far the monastery was from the farthest point he had reached. After consulting with Old Man Cain, he discovered that the Dark Wood marked the natural boundary between Sendaria and Arendia.

He recalled that travelling further south would bring him to the Black Tower where he had discovered runes:

1611515109313.png

He decided to head back to the Dark Wood and consult the magic tome that had prompted him to take a detour to the tower in the first place. Perhaps it would reveal more about runes and Durnik was eager to try Charsi’s technique to create more powerful armour.

Though Durnik was sure that he had already cleansed this area only days before, when he returned he was shocked to see it teeming with demons again. He hurried to the place where he had seen the book on a stone lectern. After dispatching the demons surrounding it, he stepped closer to the book. He noticed that it was covered in vile demon blood, perhaps he had been a bit too hasty and powerful with his strikes. Since the book was already mostly ruined, Durnik surreptitiously ripped out some pages that had escaped the brunt of the acidic effects of the blood – he hoped Old Man Cain could translate these rune markings.

1611514978400.png

With Cain’s advice, the torn pages and Charsi’s crafting technique, Durnik carefully created a ‘Stealth’ runeword armour:

Code:
Stealth
Chain Mail
TalEth
Defense: 74
Durability: 45 of 45
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 48
Fingerprint: 0x9be0411b
Item Level: 20
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+25% Faster Run/Walk
+25% Faster Cast Rate
+25% Faster Hit Recovery
+6 to Dexterity
Regenerate Mana 15%
+15 Maximum Stamina
Poison Resist +30%
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Eth Rune


Old Man Cain explained that demons would continue to pour forth from hell until Andariel was defeated. She guarded a small breach through which the demons could travel to our world. Each night more would travel through, swelling the ranks and replacing those that had already perished at Durnik’s hand the night before. Many of the demons bore trophies of those they had slain – magical weapons and armour; some were unique and belonged to heroes of the past. Others were given as sets to each of the races of man. Durnik would liberate as many of these as he could and prevent any further defilement of these holy relics.

It was around this time that food became a little more scarce; Kashya would not even countenance the idea of slaughtering one of her chickens and there was only one cow for the whole encampment so that wouldn’t work.

1611515007636.png
1611515086275.png

Working as a smith was all about solving problems by building the right tools to do the job. Now it stood to reason that if the people, animals and even trees had been corrupted by the forces of evil – just like Blood Raven and the mighty oak Treehead Woodfist – then the forces of light might be able to counteract the effects. Durnik focussed on cleansing the area around him and the darkness retreated, he was healing the earth and removing the evil like poison is drawn from a wound. After several hours of practice, Durnik tested his new power against a goat man. He managed to drive the evil off and miraculously, the demon transformed back into a goat. Akara was a very accomplished cook and they feasted that night!

As the feast drew to a close, a sombre mood enveloped the camp. The next morning, Durnik and Aliza set out to destroy Andariel. Cain had given them some advice:

1611515023463.png

and Durnik knew that Aliza’s fire arrows were their best hope of defeating Andariel. With grim resolve, Durnik and Aliza attacked Andariel in the catacombs of the monastery. Andariel tried to poison them but Akara had prepared some powerful antidotes which Durnik quickly administered to Aliza. Just as Andariel was about to kill Durnik, Aliza shot a powerful fire arrow directly into her heart and she erupted into a fiery inferno. After all, Andariel only wore the flimsiest of armour that barely covered her breasts…

1611515032715.png

After the celebration back at the Rogue Encampment, Warriv offered to take Durnik to Lut Gholein the shining city in western Tolnedra. After a tearful farewell, Aliza decided to guard the western pass to prevent the rift from opening again. She kept her trusty bow:

1611515039314.png

Old Man Cain decided to follow along in order to provide guidance on Durnik’s quest.

1611515049176.png
Kitteh said:
I think that we are not all copying the table from the last post, because I am level 45 again apparently haha
ioupainmax said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98.5           No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      89             Yes          -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   25             Yes           2          2            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -

Durnik's Progress:
Act 2 – Tolnedra
After the warm welcome from Prince Jerhyn, Durnik’s first call was with Atma. As he approached the tavern, he could hear wails of despair. It didn’t take him long to piece together what had happened in between the sobs and heavy drinking. Radament had killed her husband and son. A patron recommended that Durnik speak to the captain of the town guard, Greiz.

Greiz was a captain in the fearsome and world renowned Tolnedran legion. He had trained hundreds of young recruits in the art of the spear. When the trouble began, his men were able to fend off the demonic attacks and so Lut Gholein remained relatively unscathed. However, the sewer systems had become invested and each night the horde would come back despite Greiz’s best efforts.

Durnik was already missing Aliza and it seemed like a good idea to take a guide to help him find his way in the desert and watch his back. Of course, Durnik was no slouch when it came to map reading, however he thought one sand dune looked much like another, so it was settled, he would hire a guide. When Durnik broached the subject, he detected a slight hesitation in Greiz. Greiz explained that the town’s guards were all occupied apart from one, a warrior named Azrael.

Azrael was a recent recruit, having only been staying in the town for a few months. Greiz’s men had rescued the isolated man after they found him wondering alone in the desert. As the story goes, it seemed he was spotted at the top of a ridge, praying over the disgusting body of a fallen scarab demon, when he was set upon by some sabre cats. Luckily, the leader of the ranging party, Hazade, had been tracking the sabre cats and despatched them before they could harm him. As Hazade ascended the ridge he got a better view of the other side, which had previously been obscured. His eyes widened in amazement. Azrael wasn’t praying over the body of just one scarab, he had slaughtered hundreds! The ground was covered in dying and dead scarabs. The air was thick with flies. Apparently Azrael didn’t need his help. In fact, it was quite the opposite; Hazade extended this strange man an invitation to return with the ranging party to the safety of Lut Gholein.

Though Azrael was powerful, the men avoided him as he was incredibly devout, preferring to sit in prayer for vast portions of the day. When Greiz pressed for more information, Azrael revealed that he was in fact a Royal guard from the elite Tolnedran legion. After a religious experience, he renounced his title and lands to become a Mar Terrin monk. These monks would wonder the sands atoning for the genocide in Maragor perpetrated for the most part, by the Tolnedran legion he served. Greiz warned Durnik that Azrael was a difficult man to work with.

Durnik tended to be wary of religious folk, but after his own recent revelation, Durnik felt like he understood Azrael and undeterred by Greiz’s warning, agreed to hire Azrael. He was wrong. Though Durnik was a patient man, Azrael drove him to distraction. He would stop and pray over the dead bodies of every demon they killed, apparently unconcerned about the danger lurking around the corner!

1611515193435.png

Using the technique he learned in Sendaria, Durnik used his concentration and taught Azrael to focus on prayer and fight at the same time. After that, things moved much more smoothly and Durnik found he enjoyed the man’s company. The constant prayer was refreshing to Durnik and he felt his life force renew with every passing minute.

Though the town was safe (thanks mostly to Greiz), food spoiled easily in the desert heat so the stores were running low. Luckily, Meshif was able to catch enough fish to feed the populace and Atma’s ale cellars were vast. The town’s water well had escaped the influence of evil, so the townspeople had taken to growing fruit and vegetables to survive.

With his new companion and a hearty meal, Durnik descended into the sewers to put an end to Radament. During the journey, Durnik found Civerb’s Icon, a set amulet that must have fallen down the drain and washed up here.

1611515203618.png
1611515217866.png

Though the dead kept rising, Azrael’s unwavering prowess saw them to victory. It seemed that Durnik had please his god Aldur – a blue tinged light descended and seemed to bestow his benediction upon Durnik and Azrael for defeating Radamant:

1611515226473.png

Durnik also discovered a book that boosted his skill, a welcome prize. Durnik found some unique boots:

1611515233743.png

They continued on their journey, bringing light back into the world:

1611515239559.png

Defeating Horazon:

1611515245640.png

And finally killing Duriel:

1611515270839.png

To their amazement, their faith had been rewarded and they met an Angel of the lord – Tyrael.

1611515253284.png

The angel set them on a new quest in the East, a place called Kurast. Though Durnik offered to release Azrael from their agreement, Azrael could not ignore Heaven’s call and decided to see this through to whatever end, such was his respect for Tyrael. Old Man Cain accompanied them as they said their goodbyes and boarded Meshif’s ship, heading Southeast to the ruins of Kurast in the swamps of Nyissa!
Pb_pal said:
Kitteh said:
I think that we are not all copying the table from the last post, because I am level 45 again apparently haha
Yes, everyone make sure to copy the latest table in the thread, not just the one from your last post.

@ioupainmax - Awesome writeups by the way, I'm really enjoying them! Also, thanks for sorting out the table, looks like it's all back to normal. :)
ioupainmax said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98.5           No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      89             Yes          -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   30             Yes           2          2            -          -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -


Durnik's Progress:
Act 3 – Nyissa
When Meshif’s boat docked into the Kurast Docks, a wave of humidity assaulted Durnik’s face – the air was muggy and thick with moisture. The men began to sweat heavily, though the stench of rot overwhelmed their noses so the sweat didn’t even register. Each breath was filled with swarms of tiny flies and the sweltering heat was even more oppressive than the Tolnedran desert. He decided to complete his business here as quickly as possible and get out of this stinking Nyissan swamp. Azrael agreed.

They killed slime princes, who would hurl their poisonous sludge at the brave warriors. The giant spider they killed, rolled onto their backs like normal spiders do when you kill them. However, this was terrifying as often their sticky webs would stick to the Hero’s boots, causing them to lose their footing. They mowed down flayers like wheat and killed the giant mosquitos that Nyissa was famed for. Azrael comment that “It would take weeks to clean the reek off their armour”. Durnik nodded his agreement.

Even though Alkor had a sour disposition, he sure did know how to mix a potion:

1611515335609.png

Despite its problems, Nyissa proved to be a bountiful experience. The jungle had reclaimed much from the city of Kurast, including this amazing treasure:

1611515343756.png
1611515350125.png

The battle at Travincal was hard won and the red mist of the Compelling Orb granted Durnik and his companion entry into the Durance of Hate.

1611515356747.png

Mephisto taunted Durnik, “You’re too late…hahahaha” he rasped. Durnik became enraged and smashed hammer after hammer into the side of Mephisto’s head. Durnik did this at close range despite the danger of the poison cloud. Thankfully Azrael was constantly healing him so that he could withstand the toxic fumes. Mephisto dropped a strange stone that had a pulsing light emanating from its centre:

1611515363360.png

With some trepidation, Durnik and Azrael entered the portal to Hell:

1611515369662.png
ioupainmax said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98.5           No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        326            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      89             Yes          -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      85             Yes           -        112            6           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   35             Yes           2          2            -          -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -


Durnik's Progress:
Act 4 – Cthol Murgos
They found themselves transported to the outskirts of the barren wastelands of Cthol Murgos. A drab and grey place, devoid of nature – the only sounds being that of echoing torment of trapped souls carried on the wind.

The air was thick with spirits and it was here that Durnik’s cleansing evolved into redemption. The souls he freed granted him gifts in return – they healed both his body and spirit.

It was also here that Azrael’s faith in Heaven was tested. Izual, an angel of the lord had betrayed heaven and in doing so endangered all life on earth. In his anger, Azrael jabbed Izual through the eye, as though he could make reality the old adage “an eye for an eye”. This did little to assuage his anger, but Izual’s spirit was released.

1611515420223.png

As the heroes travelled further downward into Cthol Murgos, they got closer to a volcano. Descending into the River of Flame they witnessed huge lava flows with tremendous explosions of magma. The next few days promised to be unpleasant.

Durnik had to kill yet another smith, this time it was Hephasto. In order to return the occupation of blacksmithing to its former glory, Durnik fought hammer to hammer against Hephasto until at last his slain enemy fell at his feet. The Hellforge Hammer was a wonder to behold, Durnik would keep this and use it.

1611515427134.png

First though he had to destroy this strange soul stone. Upon contact with the stone, to Durnik’s consternation, the stone shattered and the hammer vanished! He took small consolation as he discovered a rune and some gems amongst the debris.

1611515435083.png

He didn’t have to wait long for his luck to turn around. Shortly after the episode with the hammer he found a new replacement scepter that looked like a hammer and a semi-rare rune.

1611515443627.png
1611515452820.png

Old Man Cain said that this would be critical in providing a runeword ‘Insight’ to Azrael. This would calm his anger with its meditative aura, assuming Durnik could craft the necessary weapon in the field. Durnik’s field-crafting skills had come a long way since he started his journey in Sendaria, but he was missing some key ingredients, so Azrael would have to be patient a while longer.

Spurred on by the discovery of the Sol rune, Durnik and Azrael bravely challenged Diablo himself. Durnik again relied on close combat, but this time it was fire and lightning that he had to withstand. His feet felt like they were melting and his hair stood on end with each wave of red unholy lightning. Durnik’s holy shield of faith protected him and they were rewarded with many unique items that Diablo had no doubt stolen.

1611515460758.png

The next part of their journey would see the heroes transported by Tyrael to the Northern mountain kingdom of Cherek.
T72on1 said:
I agree with @Pb_pal . Great write-ups !!! And congrats on the swift progress :).
ioupainmax said:
@T72on1 Thanks, the story is catching up to progress in the real world.

I played a bit every evening during this last week - but didn't have enough time to sort screenshots and write the story, so I've been doing it today. In reality, Durnik is actually level 52 in NM Act 1. I have yet to write Act 5 and Act 1 NM but there have been some good developments!

Look out for more details over the next few days.

EDIT: Added spoiler tags...
PhineasB said:
@Pb_pal and @NanoMist: great progress! Mercy and Hiatus are following in the path blazed by Izuna and Eleanor. Very helpful to see the choices you all have made.

Those nightwings @zticazzy – very jealous, and also impressed with the progress through lvl 98!

Nice rune haul @XyleneCyanol. I enjoyed hunting for the runes with Mercy, but once you have them and can build the character you’ve been planning is lots of fun too.

@ioupainmax – echoing the prior comments to say that I enjoy the write ups.

I have done only ~ 20 Baal runs with Mercy. I still can’t do Lister at p8 without it taking too long. I have to step down to p5 or certain rolls take 2 or more minutes just for Lister and his pack. I think I’m going to burn through all gold to gamble ammys and gems for GC in hopes of getting more + skills. She's about 1/14 (?) to 96.

But I’ve focused mostly on Hiatus, who is now lvl 89. I haven’t played Sorcs in a while, so it’s been pretty engaging. She found a Gheed’s in AT (20% MF, which I think is the worst possible roll, right?). She ran Pindle to level 87, with some AT runs and about 50 Meph runs mixed in. Found Andy’s Visage on a Meph run and Dragonscale from Pindle.

She rerolled AT maps at that point, and found a pretty good one (I think). I’m not sure if this is the right approach, but she ran p5 on AT for the XP until lvl 89. Nothing much to show other than the levels. She died way too many times (7) on level 87 in the AT. Her gear was too weak and I was too careless in teleporting.

That seed had a pretty epic Meph map, so she focused on Meph runs after hitting lvl 89 because her gear was pretty awful, with a max of only +3 skills possible with Tarnhelm, Vigermagi and the SOJ. I was focused an getting on Occy or Shako (or Arachnids hopefully). She upgraded the Vipermagi to @33 and a better Tarnhelm, plus 33% MF Gheeds, a Nagelring, and Guardian Angel. After about 100 runs, she found her Occy.

I decided to test out AT runs, and found a unique Tiara, which may come in handy if I decide to run some Council. Then she found her second SOJ from Meph. This is pretty weird, because I’ve found only one SOJ in my entire D2 career (including the nearly complete 7x7, which has plenty of characters who’ve MFed into the 90s). And this character has found two – even weirder: total Unique rings = 2 Manalds, 1 Nagel, 2 SOJs, 1 Ravenfrost. I suspect she will appreciate them both as she advances levels.

Table Update below.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98.5           No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      89             Yes          -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -        247           13           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     73             No           59         52           12          22
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   35             Yes           2          2            -          -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -
 
Lord Molybdenum said:
Beat hell.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98.5           No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      89             Yes          -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -        247           13           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     82             No           83         73           15          28
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   35             Yes           2          2            -          -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -

It was an extremely difficult road and I'm not sure what was the worst: the complete lack of any helpful items, all of act 2, the massive glitches I encountered during the river of flame, or the meatgrinder of the worldstone keep.

Because I had a point in revive, the ancients and most areas automatically became much easier, but sometimes it barely made a difference.

Also, the wave of Unravelers before baal... well...

I can't handle any area in hell on /players 5 so I don't think I'll be reaching level 99 with this guy unless I reroll everything, which I'm avoiding.

Bonus: Image of my mercenary and my revived scarab attacking each other.
5W3WVlM.png
T72on1 said:
If you can't do it on /p5, just run a lower setting for now. You'll get better gear at some point. I'm not really a Summoner expert, but maybe try pits for now? Or the Mausoleum and the Crypt? I just read Cyrax's post about his Summoner which he got to 99, so it's definitely doable :).

I made some more progress with my Sorc. Finally had more time to play her, so I got her to 2.866.923.314 exp. The 3/4 mark to 97 is at 2.901.156.083 xp, so I'm not so far away from it anymore. I'm currently at 590 CS runs from level 96, but for now I have switched to RoF superchest runs. Found an Ist within 70 runs, so that's a good thing :).

Dropwise CS hasn't been too bad since my last post: my first 2 Sorc lightning skillers within some 70 runs from each other, 8% fhr 15% fire res large charm, perfect cold facet (tempting, so tempting ...), eth Baranar's Star, Dracul's, already my third Lacerator's, M'avina's Bow, and the best of them all (next to the facet), right after my previous update:

1614548753096.png

My first ever, after only a few Lightsabres :). Maximum roll on the +stats and aura, medium damage, so nice overall !!!

Today I'll be doing some more RoF superchest runs, after that I'll be participating in the MFO with this character, so she won't get much extra xp. Hopefully she'll get some good drops though.
Lord Molybdenum said:
I'm a bonemancer, not a summoner :p
T72on1 said:
Oops okay :oops:.

Well, I'm quite certain you can do one of those to 99 as well. Although I would do a Poisonmancer myself to be honest. Anyway, my advice remains the same: farm areas you can easily handle, if only on /p1. You should find the gear you want rather sooner than later. Keep your eyes open for good bases for cheap runewords: wands to make White in and necro heads to make splendor in. Of course just a spirit sword will work very well too.

Good luck :).
Lord Molybdenum said:
Already made white in a +3 to bone spear wand, thanks to Drognan. Still on the lookout for the right runes + necromancer head. I can't get RWM to work so I will have to avoid some rune words like spirit.

I've also been re-rolling grand charms like mad but no luck.
qwernt said:
Made it to 90. Also, I realized that my Meph running problem was that I was under the mis-impression that you needed to run /players 8 to get anything good... needless to say, running at /p 1 was no problem and CanBeOnlyBlizz has found a couple of interesting items from Meph and Andy (Kira's Tiara & Gheeds 21% are the only things in use).
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98.5           No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -        247           13           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     82             No           83         73           15          28
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   35             Yes           2          2            -          -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -
Reyz said:
Hello there,

i´m following this section of the forum and especially this specific thread since I started playing my Sorceress again seriously and trying to reach this goal.

Regarding my Sorc, I started playing her in summer ´14, but lost motivation quickly and only made it halfway through A1 normal. On the 15th of April ´16 I started Diablo pretty much randomly and just fooled around a little bit.
But somehow I got triggered and played through the whole night and after nearly 3 months and a few hundred hours of playtime I´m still in love with my girl and want to continue this journey.

I´m playing a standard Lightning-Build with 117 fcr. My equip contains:

Helm: Shako
Weapon: Hoto
Shield: Moser´s
Body Armor: Viper
Belt: Arach
Gloves: Magefist
Boots: Waterwalk
Rings: One with 10 fcr and a few other nice things, the other one mainly for allres
Amulet: +3 lightning skill

Merc: Andariel´s Visage, Duriel´s Shell, Reaper´s Toll (nothing eth)

I also got a Ber and a pretty nice 4os bodyarmor for CoH, but that would make me lose my 117 fcr breakpoint, so I´ll wait until I find a Lidless Wall or a Griffons (uhm, yeah) to use it.
Currently I´m Level 91 and farming Pindle until 92. Then my plan is to farm the essences from the Actbosses to get another respec to make a more defensive build since I die way to easy while my damage is pretty nice, even on P8. Speaking of an ES-Build there.

Currently my game runes on 1.14b and I don´t use any kind of addon´s (which sadly means no Spirit for me, and no Infinity for my Merc :( )


So thank you guys for keeping me motivated through your dedication and good luck for your further progress! :)
1614548855821.png1614548877521.png
Lord Molybdenum said:
Make sure you add her into the table!

I started an amazon in addition to my necro, although I will still play both. I also found a titan's revenge on my necro, which according to the rules I am not allowed to use -_-
Reyz said:
Lord Molybdenum said:
Make sure you add her into the table!
Apparently I´m not able to do that properly. Looked up this thread, but sadly the way I tried it out wasn´t correct.

Could anyone give me a hint?
XyleneCyanol said:
@Reyz welcome!!
XyleneCyanol said:
For table:

Find the last post which updates the table.

Click, the "+Quote" button at the bottom right of the post.

Then, in the reply box, bottom left, you will see an "Insert Quotes..." button, click that to insert quote.

Then, delete everything except the code block, which starts with "\[code\]" and ends with "[\/code\]".

Put you information within the code block, and you have to experiment some to align the table properly.

I hope it helps
T72on1 said:
@Reyz Very cool !!! Welcome, and good luck :). Let us know if you still can't figure out the table.
Lord Molybdenum said:
I somehow found a Jah rune!

DOmBTGi.jpg


My second highest rune with this character is Lem. The second highest rune I've ever found was an Ohm in act 5 nightmare. I guess I'll be making an enigma instead of a Chains of Honor.
Reyz said:
Thank you guys! I thought there would be an alternative quicker way to get the data into the code, but aligning seems to work as well.

And congratulations on your Jah!


Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98.5           No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -        247           13           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     82             No           83         73           15          28
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   35             Yes           2          2            -          -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -
zticazzy said:
80%. The end is nigh.
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98.8           No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -        247           13           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     82             No           83         73           15          28
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   35             Yes           2          2            -          -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -
T72on1 said:
@zticazzy Your pace is incredible. You could easily do a sept of those ;). Good luck on 99.
Lord Molybdenum said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98.8           No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -        247           13           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          100         84           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   35             Yes           2          2            -          -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      28             No            -          -            -           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       26             No            3          3            0         idk
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -
I keep finding all these amazing amazon items on my necromancer, so even though I can't use them, I made an amazon.
PhineasB said:
@Lord Molybdenum - She will only find amazing necro items though . . . ;)
RadTang said:
Maybe I will join.. idk if there's a sense in starting D3 just a few days before a season ends. My SC summoner necro (IndianaBones) is lvl 43. Started act 5 and I am halfway through Arreat Plateau (waypoint). Died once... in tombs A2. Clicked too far away, tried to escape but I got killed xD I play p8 from the start. I have every S/U stashed in ATMA.
Lord Molybdenum said:
RadTang said:
Maybe I will join.. idk if there's a sense in starting D3 just a few days before a season ends. My SC summoner necro (IndianaBones) is lvl 43. Started act 5 and I am halfway through Arreat Plateau (waypoint). Died once... in tombs A2. Clicked too far away, tried to escape but I got killed xD I play p8 from the start. I have every S/U stashed in ATMA.
Just keep in mind you can't use those S/Us unless you find them with your character ^^
RadTang said:
Lord Molybdenum said:
Just keep in mind you can't use those S/Us unless you find them with your character ^^
I always play untwinked :) Never twinked. All was found with my necro. BTW: more actual report is here: https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/etdlahq-memorial-bar-your-shelter-from-forum-crashes.126753/page-5091#post-8770219 (added as an edit)
 
Zenigma said:
Ayura has thrashed his way through Normal and into Nightmare, but he's decided to take his keep from the ordeal and stay at a cozy inn in the Rogue Encampment for a while to recuperate. He's gambled a decent set of throwers for when he decides to get off his drunk butt and kick some demon butt:
Viper Barb
Francisca
Throw Damage: 33 - 74
One Hand Damage: 20 - 53
Quantity: 130
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 80
Fingerprint: 0xc034b0ad
Item Level: 46
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Barbarian Skill Levels
86% Enhanced Damage
+13 to Maximum Damage
+** to Attack Rating
7% Mana stolen per hit
Required Level +5

With his taking a break, however, a new hero has entered the fray! I've made untwinked wind druids before I knew the happiness of RWM. They are slow-going, especially early if you don't want to use your respecs. And they don't get much faster without some good gear. Thankfully, I have RWM going and the grind wouldn't prove too big an issue this time. So I've been working on him for a couple weeks now, and I'm really enjoying his flow. Starting off, he was a flame-throwing demigod until he crafted his first spirit sword and insight in early act 1 NM. Upon those achievements, he respeced to a wind druid, and the nados started flying shortly after.

See below for a glimpse of his finds.

Found these in late Act 4 normal, iirc; this being a druid and having awkward fcr breakpoints, I think I'll be able to make do without traditional caster gloves like mages or trangs:

Bramble Hold
Heavy Gloves
Defense: 6
Durability: 13 of 14
Required Level: 13
Fingerprint: 0xcd45e23f
Item Level: 29
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Charged Bolt when struck
+1 to Strength
Cold Resist +21%
Lightning Resist +25%
Poison Resist +28%
Poison Length Reduced by 25%


Found this sweet ring off of Baal, I believe:

Ghoul Finger
Ring
Required Level: 29
Fingerprint: 0xa2840d3b
Item Level: 60
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Cast Rate
+5 to Minimum Damage
+7 to Mana
Cold Resist +20%
Fire Resist +29%
31% Extra Gold from Monsters


Found this beauty in Durance 2 NM, and if I respec this guy to a hunter, well I'll be set--though itr would be a consideration to keep on the guy in case I don't get to making a lawbringer for his switch to deal with undead PIs:

Witchwild String
Short Siege Bow
Two Hand Damage: 32 - 75
Durability: 36 of 40
Required Level: 39
Required Strength: 65
Required Dexterity: 80
Fingerprint: 0x72feeb8e
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
2% Chance to cast level 5 Amplify Damage on striking
Fires Magic Arrows
153% Enhanced Damage
61% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)
All Resistances +40
2 Sockets (0 used)


Found this off the armor rack in Mephy's room (and it's my first of these in my entire D2 career!):

Herald of Zakarum
Gilded Shield
Defense: 449
Chance to Block: 52
Durability: 25 of 50
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 89
Fingerprint: 0xc8b1ea15
Item Level: 54
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Combat Skills (Paladin Only)
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels
+30% Faster Block Rate
30% Increased Chance of Blocking
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+166% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Strength
+20 to Vitality
All Resistances +50


Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      98.8           No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -        247           13           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          100         84           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   35             Yes           2          2            -          -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       26             No            3          3            0         idk
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -
zticazzy said:
Hey there
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -        247           13           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          100         84           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      76             Yes          78          -            0           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   35             Yes           2          2            -          -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       26             No            3          3            0         idk
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -

GSWtwN4.jpg


99 thread with video, stats, etc coming soon.
Pb_pal said:
@zticazzy - Simply amazing! Huge congrats and I look forward to his 99 thread very much. Amazing char, and quite the speed you had for the last level! Congrats again!
ioupainmax said:
@zticazzy Congratulations! Now make another one...!

Just noticed how confusing abbreviating resists would be in your language, 3 x FR and 1 x VR
Reyz said:
@zticazzy Awesome achievement! Looking forward to see your video!



Meanwhile my Sorc died 3 times, so progress got very slow. I´m really looking forward to play this ES Build now.

Also i found a sweet new rune:

1614549305320.png






































Though I´m happy about my new highest self found rune record, I don´t really have use for it.
Only possible use without RWM (Dream isn´t an option) would be building an Enigma. But CoH should be way better overall, especially if you don´t wanna waste efficiency for MF.




And my heartbeat stopped for a second after this:


1614549316433.png





































Y U NO unique :(
NanoMist said:
@zticazzy - Congrats on 99! Amazing progress on that last level, done in a month's time!
OldSoldier said:
Well done Conan!

My character got his end game belt tonight, which is nice. The ROF and CS map he rolled is great, with three superchests in the ROF and short pathways to the seals on both ends of the CS. No good runes though yet (at /P5).

1614549343019.png

The jewel is also a keeper, with 30% fire resist and +4 min damage and some other small stuff.
XyleneCyanol said:
@zticazzy big congrats! The speed is amazing!!!
T72on1 said:
@zticazzy What the others said !!! Very much looking forward to the write-up.

@Reyz Congrats on the Jah !!! But yeah, not dying gets more and more important as your level increases. About the yellow Diadem ... been there, done that ... a lot in the past few days. I'm participating in the MFO and running Pindle. Two yellow Diadems in 10 minutes time, next to a yellow Sacred Armor, Unearthed Wand, Hydra Bow, 2x Bloodlord Skull, Demonhead, Bone Visage, ... Well, you get the point. The goodies wil drop eventually :).

@OldSoldier Congrats on that belt. With three superchests in the RoF, it seems like a moral imperative to me to participate in this thread ;).
zticazzy said:
Thanks everybody :D I really hope you're going to reach me up here someday! Determination is the key, never forget that.

@ioupainmax and that's not even the worst thing! Several different items are called the same in the italian version, "corona" for example means crown, coronet and corona, and when that word appears on screen there's no way for me to tell which item type just dropped. So when people freak out for a golden "corona" on the ground I'm just meh because I know it's just the Undead Crown. :p
LiquidClear said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -        247           13           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          100         84           16          idk
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      81             Yes         149          -            1           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   35             Yes           2          2            -          -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       26             No            3          3            0         idk
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -

Sally has arrived at the Frigid Highlands WP in Hell. After years of playing with twinked gear, it was hard to find the motivation to plod through hell without it, but I finally made myself sit down and do most of it. I stopped off in LK for a while, running my 1 campfire map because it had a fairly stable Battle Boots rack right next to WP. After what seemed like ages, and 6 Green Battle Boots drops, I got a gold pair... 34 mf. Hooray?

Also, I died in the Plains of Despair, much to my shame. Right when I entered I got sniped by Burning Souls off screen. Coming from a HC background it pains me greatly, as even though I made SC I had hoped to avoid having any deaths. Oh well.

I did manage to get a Vex at LK so I have the runes for HoTO, but the 4 os flail is still missing. I'll probably kill Eldritch for a few levels before pushing up to Pindle... where I'll probably stay for a while. I also made a Druid named Larry, but I doubt I'll add him to the table since he's mostly just for a change of pace.

Decent finds:

Code:
Crimson Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x36c1e8d8
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life
Fire Resist +4%

Amber Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x65af2220
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life
Lightning Resist +10%
Lord Molybdenum said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -        247           13           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      81             Yes         149          -            1           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   35             Yes           2          2            -          -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -

Got my amazon up to level 50 running normal baal as she was treated with a flood of necromancer items. Nightmare is pretty easy so far except lightning resist monsters and bosses take forever to kill.

Edit: Also... the portal to pindleskin has disappeared for some reason? Can I get it back?
LiquidClear said:
The portal to Pindle disappears when you kill Nihlathak. There's no getting it back once it's gone, so hold off on killing him in the future unless you're sure you won't want to run Pindle.
Pb_pal said:
LiquidClear said:
The portal to Pindle disappears when you kill Nihlathak. There's no getting it back once it's gone, so hold off on killing him in the future unless you're sure you won't want to run Pindle.
It's actually activating the Halls of Pain WP that closes the portal, so basically you have to choose whether you want to run Nihlathak or Pindle. Can't have both (efficiently, anyways), unfortunately.
LiquidClear said:
*hangs head in shame*

Yeah, what ^^ he said.
Lord Molybdenum said:
Yeah, I suspected that... will be avoiding that waypoint with my amazon.
ioupainmax said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -        247           13           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      81             Yes         149          -            1           -
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -

Durnik's Progress:
Act 5 – Aloria – Kingdom of Cherek
The Archangel Tyrael opened a portal to the Northern reaches of the Kingdom of Cherek — once part of mighty Aloria — and the heroes walked through. He explained that Baal was their final challenge and that his defeat would end this destruction.

The bitter cold was a refreshing change to the scorching, smoke-filled air they had experienced in the volcano in Cthol Murgos, the sticky humidity of the swamps of Nyissa or the arid dry heat of the Tolnedran desert.

Durnik had heard old legends of a mighty warrior named Cherek Bear-shoulders and he had scoffed at the time. Now though, after seeing Qual-Kehk, he had to re-evaluate some of his long held misconceptions. While he pondered things, Larzuk tasked him and Azrael with destroying the infernal catapults just outside Harrogath’s doors. As they prepared for battle, the men bowed their heads in silent prayer to Aldur.

Shenk was guarded by an entire horde of demons; some were so fanatical that they used suicide as a weapon. Azrael recoiled in horror as they exploded at close range, though it seemed that his blue aura became stronger and shielded him. Durnik made haste and cast his hammers as close as he could get to Shenk. At the same time, it seemed their prayer had been answered because Aldur sent forth a meteor shower interspersed with a blizzard. Though the heroes were in the thick of it, no harm came to them. Instead, each projectile took out a demon with cruel efficiency.

Feeling renewed at the thought of their divine protection, the rest of the day flew by. Durnik and his brother in arms rescued soldiers; destroyed demons made of ice and made their way to the Frozen River. There they discovered the young daughter of Aust, Anya, frozen in a prison of ice. After consulting with Malah, Durnik administered the potion. Again Aldur aided them, for his blue glow lifted the curse on Anya.

1614549702015.png

Durnik was showered with gifts: he received runes as a reward for the rescue of the trapped soldiers, Malah used her magic to increase Durnik’s resistances and Anya had Larzuk make Durnik a Rune Tower Heraldic Shield.

1614549710216.png

After hearing of her capture by the betrayer Nihlathak , Durnik set out to relieve him of his life.

1614549716304.png

Nobody could stand against the holy warriors, not even the Ancients themselves would stop Durnik from defeating Baal. It seemed the world itself sought to aid Durnik in his quest, he found 3 Shael runes and a Sol rune, along with a powerful Unique Yew Wand. Still, he pressed on. The Ancients awaited…

1614549722640.png

This close to the highest peak, Durnik felt as though he approached the vault of heaven itself. The sky teemed with holy energy and yet Durnik sensed an event greater energy from within the mountain itself.

Durnik and Azrael made their way down the halls, drawn ever onward until they reached a throne room. There they encountered Baal, but try as they might, they were unable to hurt him. Durnik surmised that it was either an illusion or a powerful warding spell. The image lifted its hand and the air in front of the throne blurred in a haze. Demons spawned directly before Azrael, who quickly jabbed them with his polearm. No sooner had they dispatched the last fallen, a second wave appeared, this time it was the undead. 3 more waves followed that, each foe more powerful than the last. After the 5th wave was beaten, Baal scurried away. Resolutely, the heroes followed.

There, in the presence of the worldstone, Durnik and Azrael battled with Baal. He pushed them back with a wedge of frost. Baal drained Durnik of his spiritual energy, but still, the smith pressed on. Each hammer delivered holy retribution upon the hell demon until finally, Baal lay dead at the smith’s feet. Light poured in from an abrupt opening in the ceiling. The Archangel Tyrael descended and congratulated the hero.

1614549730921.png
1614549738556.png
1614549744614.png

The worldstone pulsed and the great voice of Aldur spoke “Congratulations my sons, know that I am proud of thee, for you have defeated the instruments of evil, that my foul brother Torak unleashed and in doing so, have restored peace to this world…” Durnik sensed that there was more

Aldur continued “Regretfully, though you have defeated Baal, the battle is not yet won.”

Durnik was confused, he was sure this was the end goal, he was about to ask a question but it seemed that Aldur had read his thoughts.

“You have proven that you are ready to accept the truth of this world. Long ago an accident occurred in the making of the universe. This accident was but a small thing; but in time, the ripples of that accident lead to the creation of two opposing cosmic forces. Left unchecked, these cosmic forces threatened the entire existence of the universe. The universe protected itself by binding these forces into living beings; The Child of the Light and the Child of The Dark. My brother Torak is the embodiment of The Child of the Dark, whilst you my son, I have chosen to be the vessel of the Child of the Light. The Angels and heavenly host are the guardians of the Light, whilst the demons guard the Dark.”

“Torak, has twisted, bent and broken the rules of the universe. Thus has he wrought this terror on Earth. He sought dominion over all life and sent his Prime Evils to cast a shadow over the world.” Durnik broke out into a cold sweat, even the name ‘Torak’ sent shivers down his spine. “Torak will seek to win by any means. He knows that if his minions succeed, then the worldstone will be used for great evil. But he also knows that should his minions fail, the worldstone would still remain tainted or that it would be destroyed by the Light. Baal’s touch has already tainted the worldstone, so his plan is already in motion. He has cursed the worldstone, so that in the event that it is destroyed, the passage of time will be reset for all but those touched by the power of the Dark. This means that those you have slain will rise more powerful and the events of the past month will be as though they never occurred to most inhabitants of the world.”

Azrael, visibly shaken by the news stuttered “Does… all we have accomplished count for… naught then… my God?”

“Nay my son” Aldur responded with a reassuring smile, “The universe will not allow such a thing to go unanswered. The Dark has sought to reset the situation in their favour so that only they know of past events, in order to gain the upper hand. The universe has seen to it that those touched by the Light also recall past events and that this advantage is shared by all. Though the demons will be stronger, so shall ye be, if you choose to continue this journey?”

Durnik had been silent for a long time. Durnik stared into the kindly God’s eyes and said “I will continue!”…

1614549754281.png
ioupainmax said:
Any idea why the formatting is off? Can't get the images to sit properly...

EDIT: I give up trying to fix the formatting...
T72on1 said:
Yes, there have been some changes to the forum software about a week ago, and it messes with the pictures and the text unfortunately.

Hopefully it will get reverted or fixed somehow.
LiquidClear said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -        247           13           -
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -

Sally pushed through and completed the Anya quest, opening the portal to Pindleskin. Prior to doing so she leveled from 81 to ** at Eldritch on p3 with mostly unspectacular finds. (Was using 175-200 MF) I also mixed in some LK with Eldritch, although the best drop was a Gul rune.

I'm at that point in time where it's basically rune hunting. The tedium of hunting runes with an Assassin in LK is likely to test my commitment, so we'll see. I need Ohm for CTA, all enigma runes and all Infinity runes. This could be a while...

I've been keeping my eyes open for gear that would let me respec into a kicker, thinking I might be able to do some Trav runs or Meph runs. (Dragon flight across the moat?) At the moment I kill act bosses way too slowly to bother with Meph, plus I've kind of wanted to try Kicking or even Whirling with a Sin. I've been thinking about what Assassin builds could kill Nihlathak down the road as well... Still a lot of uncertainty with what I actually want to do here.

Also, random: I have found 8 skillers so far, 3 of them are Martial Arts. I appreciate the Sin drop, but why can't it be a skill tree I'd use? :(

Finds:
Code:
Heart of the Oak
Flail
KoVexPulThul
One Hand Damage: 1 - 24
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 41
Required Dexterity: 35
Fingerprint: 0xaa4b7f1d
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to All Skills
+40% Faster Cast Rate
+75% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
7% Mana stolen per hit
+10 to Dexterity
Replenish Life +20
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
All Resistances +31
Level 4 Oak Sage (25/25 Charges)
Level 14 Raven (60/60 Charges)
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ko Rune
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Pul Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune

The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Fingerprint: 0x9eabadba
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
Adds 1 - 12 Lightning Damage
+20 to Mana
Increase Maximum Mana 25%
 
Last edited:
PhineasB said:
@zticazzy – Very impressive! You’ve now set the benchmark for the rest of us.

@LiquidClear – Good luck with the runes. As I mentioned earlier, doing Pits at high player setting is a good break from LK, and you might find some high runes that help you along the way like I did.

I had to take a break from playing for the last week due to busy work schedule. But I was able to play again this weekend. Hiatus has pushed to lvl 91. She continued to mix up AT and Meph runs from 89 to 90, with very little to show except a Pul from AT.

She then switched back to Pindle and AT for half way to 91, then switched over to p7 AT runs with LK mixed in. She had some pretty good finds, although none are useful for her.

Early on, Pindle dropped a nice 5/5 poison facet, and she also got a Harpoonist GC of Sustenance. About 2/3 of the way to 91, she got some very nice drops: Eth 3os Tomb Reaver, with a good damage roll; Stormlash, again with a pretty good roll; and another Mal from LK. She also picked up 2 plain Martial Arts skillers (oddly, the next Grand Charm to drop after the first skiller was the second skiller) and the set Colossus Blade.

She still hasn’t found a 4os Monarch, and she still has a +1 sorc skills amulet. Her life is also very low, which makes for some exciting moments.

* * *
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       97             No         1458        391            2         175
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      91             Yes           -        278           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist said:
^Love the ETomb, it's a dream weapon for a 2H druid!

It's been so long since my last table update, but here it is, level 98. It took 1043 Baal runs to get there, which was very close to my prediction of 1050. LI Lister was parked every time, but all the minions were killed. Run times were between 3:10-3:30, but with stash visits and tabulating S/U's, added up to ~3:40 average for the entire stretch.

As for drops, found my first golden SA, which turned out to be Templar's. Then a Windforce, followed quickly by another golden SA. It turned out to be ethereal, so I didn't even have the suspense of identifying this one. Unfortunately, I found all of these the week prior to the MFO, so no spoilers here. Though I did find another Ohm during MFO.

That's it for Baal! After a short break, I will be testing Diablo vs Nihlathak for the final level. Stay tuned!

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98             No         2672        437            2         239
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      97             No         1194        354            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      91             Yes           -        278           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -
T72on1 said:
@PhineasB Congrats on the good finds !!! Since you have found such a good Stormlash, it is a moral imperative to turn your Sin into a Dancer. They kill bosses really fast, you know :).

@NanoMist Congrats on 98. That is awesome, very well done !!! Good luck on that final little bit ;).

With my Pindle runs from the MFO over and not feeling like doing another stretch of <20 sec runs (RoF superchests) over and over, I'll be returning to CS with my Sorc. We are leaving on holiday at the end of the week though, so it will be a while before she hits 97.
zticazzy said:
@PhineasB thanks. That etomby is a great weapon, and those rjofs you have listed in the IFT are actually very good for the purpose, so you should go for it as soon as you get Zod.

@NanoMist great progress, good luck with the last level! I've seen some nice nihla sin runs on yt and they seem to be quite efficient at that.
T72on1 said:
Wouldn't a kicker or at least dancer be more efficient for Nihl? Targeting him with the traps seems hard. Or would you rely on DS corpse explosions to make the kill?
zticazzy said:
Dunno lol, never played that class, it's just to point out that Nihla is indeed doable for sins.
NanoMist said:
It's definitely doable, but is it more efficient than Diablo with good shrines? I had done preliminary testing back at level 95 and Diablo came out on top by a small margin, but my Nihlathak test runs were rather clumsy, so plans could change if I can improve my times. Going to stick with traps though.
PhineasB said:
Unfortunately, the Sorc (Hiatus) found the Stormlash. So no kicker in Mercy's future (unless the RNG shines upon her in Baal runs). And I doubt a melee sorc is in the cards for Hiatus :p
T72on1 said:
Too bad. You would definitely earn bonus style points with a melee Sorc :cool:.

Reminds me of my Kingslayer Sorc. She did tons of damage with her eth bugged Kingslayer Decapitator. Would be cool to smack down Nihl 1000 times with her. Although she would probably die more than she would stay alive.
Pb_pal said:
@NanoMist - Nihlathak with shrines *should* be faster than Diablo with shrines, but it's not always a steadfast rule. I was thinking about this, and I agree that a kicker (or at least hybrid) should theoretically be a really good Nihl runner. TP down there, a quick charge up (if needed) and a Dragon flight right to Nihl's face seems like it should just about do it. You could finish off with DTalon/Tail from there. Defnintely let us know how it goes, and what you find in terms of efficiency!

--

Eleanor also hit 98 during the MFO, so it's finally time for a table update for her.

Not a ton to talk about, really. Endless Baal runs with CS mixed in for variety along the way (pre-MFO, anyways). No big dramatic finds for her along the way, but slowly plucking away at the grail and we managed to get below Grail -100 which is nice.

Like Izuna, the focus now shifts to finding the best path to 99. We'll be testing Diablo runs and Nilly runs to see which is most efficient for her. If I had to make a guess right now I'd say she'll end up doing Diablo runs, but mostly because I'm scared of Nihlathak runs and not because of XP :p.

Baal has been retired for her as well. I'll do some runs to gather some data on efficiency just for completeness, but the big guy can now relax and hang out on his throne for a while.

Great progress and finds to everyone else, keep it up!

--

We seem to have lost the deeds table along the way. I brought it back, as I think even the fallen heroes should be honoured. If there was a consensus to leave it off and I just missed it/forgot, then by all means take it out when the next person updates. :p

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98             No         2672        437            2         239
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98             No         2570        423            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      91             Yes           -        278           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      90             No            -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
Kitteh said:
Sorry guys, I haven't been around much for a while. How is everybody getting on? Hopefully I will be more active in the near future :D
T72on1 said:
@Pb_pal Congrats on 98 !!! Very well done :). Good thing you brought the Deeds table back. They definitely should be honored.

@Kitteh Hi there :). We have been doing great actually, as you can see from the updated table that Pb_pal just posted. Zticazzy hit 99 not too long ago, which obviously is a gigantic milestone. Make sure to read his write-up if you have even the slightest of extra time, as it's very impressive to read how he got to 99 from scratch, using no extended stash or RWM. One word of warning though: be prepared to get sick of the items he threw away because he didn't have space in his stash anymore.

Other than that two 98ers and 10 others at 90+, with some people joining later but catching up quickly. So yeah, this journey has been a big success so far afaik.

Good to hear that you will be more active in the near future. We all know you don't do much sports, so it's about time ... :p.
Kitteh said:
Hahahaha, well I'm actually injured again and have been forced to take a year off of racing, so, that could be it all over.

Looking forward to some D2 though, and I will get that read now. Congratulations Zticazzy! :D
NanoMist said:
Pb_pal said:
@NanoMist - Nihlathak with shrines *should* be faster than Diablo with shrines, but it's not always a steadfast rule. I was thinking about this, and I agree that a kicker (or at least hybrid) should theoretically be a really good Nihl runner. TP down there, a quick charge up (if needed) and a Dragon flight right to Nihl's face seems like it should just about do it. You could finish off with DTalon/Tail from there. Defnintely let us know how it goes, and what you find in terms of efficiency!
Agreed, Nihlathak should be faster for most characters, not factoring in safety/deaths. I actually did a little testing yesterday and it didn't take much time to decide on Nihla. I was able to improve my run times, and it's also less tedious to play than Diablo runs (for me, anyway). Trapper is not exactly the greatest build to be sniping seal bosses in the CS, even at p1. Nice part about Nihla runs is not needing to adjust player settings every game and also a less tedious exp. shrine route.

I'll stick with trapper since I have decent run times so far. 2.5 mil/hr from testing, with some room for improvement. If I can resolve the 5 second save & exit time, I can do at least 3 mil/hr. I don't have any gear for kicker, so there's that.


Question for @zticazzy and other nihla runners: what kind of maps did you look for? My test map had two shrines and a well along the way, and I'm thinking about looking for a 3 shrine map + well. Also need to check if there is a Halls of Pain map that is fastest of the 3 possible maps.
T72on1 said:
@Kitteh That's no fun. I always turn into a grumpy old man when I'm injured for more than a week or two. What's the injury? A year sure is a long time, so it's probably something serious. Or can you pick up training again soon, just no races?
Kitteh said:
Its actually just a niggle, which seems to be cleared up now. The problem is that I've had constant niggles for so long, never having enough time to get fully fit before my next race, that my body is now struggling. So, I'm off racing for a year and I have to build my mileage up very gradually. I should actually start running again tomorrow, but one mile. One crappy little mile :p Then two on Friday, 3 more two miles runs after that, and then I start building up. I've also switched to a 12 day microcycle which I think will help because I can get all of my hard runs in one cycle and if I need a day off for whatever reason I'm not messed up because 'that run is on Wednesday' or whatever :p
kestegs said:
I'm a little late, but big congrats to zticazzy on hitting 99. An impressive achievement, to say the least.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
zticazzy said:
@Pb_pal congrats on reaching 98! Curious to see the race between you and @NanoMist to get there first.

@Kitteh get well soon man!

About maps: there are just 3 halls of pain maps (more info here), with #3 being the fastest by a slight margin (mine was #2), and of course you should aim for a 3-shrines map. I personally had only 2 shrines + well (well was almost useless though), they were very stable and on easy spots to check while teleing so in the end I was happy enough with that configuration.
Witches are the greatest nuisance as they immediately curse you and your merc as soon as you arrive in the halls of Vaught, exp shrines from the upper level are often lost this way. It happens because their AI makes them cast curses towards everyone who is not cursed yet: if you have a shrine over your head, that technically counts as a "negative curse" for the game and you should be safe, unfortunately your merc can't pick up shrines, so witches end up cursing both of you while trying to curse him only. The best way to avoid this is to have a map with the majority of your shrines at the bottom level, so you can safely pick up the exp shrine after being cursed. Beware though that if confuse from Delirium triggers, witches will try to curse each other, and if you get caught in the mess you can lose the bonus anyway, it doesn't happen very often though. Good luck with your Nihla runs guys!
NanoMist said:
Long ago when I ran Nihlathak for D keys, I liked getting map#3, and looks like for good reason. Ditto on the well, I'm not using it as often as I thought I would. Definitely will look for a 3-shriner with map#3, and a well as a bonus. Nothing I can do about the witches, but I'm using cloak of shadows instead of confuse, so that's a little helpful.
Timinator said:
Pb_pal said:
It's actually activating the Halls of Pain WP that closes the portal, so basically you have to choose whether you want to run Nihlathak or Pindle. Can't have both (efficiently, anyways), unfortunately.
Actually its BOTH the WP and nihlathak that close the red portal. In hell, my characters get all waypoints but skip nilly.
 
Last edited:
OldSoldier said:
Battleforge got to level 91 this weekend, a full five levels above any of my other characters. Woo hoo! Still looking for a 4 socket flail for Hoto though. I did get the Pul but every white flail I have gotten so far has ended up being 5 sockets when cubed. I'll keep plugging!
Kitteh said:
Nice going OS. Do you have the Vex too? :p
XyleneCyanol said:
Hey, it's been a long time since my last update, but it does not mean I was not playing. Actually, I played a lot, not experience-wise though.

After MFO, Conqueror Fishie reached lvl 94.6, and I'm pretty confident that I will reach further than my previously deeded blizzard sorc in 1.13 (also called Fishie), who died around 95 I think??

Anyway, after MFO, I was sorting out the stuff I found, but I accidentally muled off some items/runes that I needed for her. Too late, I cannot mule back on those stuff because this is the restriction I put on her. No big deal, I will go back to LK for a few skillers and another Ber, then I'm all set for CS.

Also, the first ever Infinity in 1.14 which I'm going to use it on another char (I'll stick with Insight with Fishie). Pretty awesome roll:

Code:
Infinity
Colossus Voulge
BerMalBerIst
Two Hand Damage: 106 - 1049
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 200
Required Dexterity: 45
Fingerprint: 0xa547081d
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
50% Chance to cast level 20 Chain Lightning when you Kill an Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
325% Enhanced Damage
-48% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
+14 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges) Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Mal Rune
Required Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal
Armor: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Magic Damage Reduced by 7

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Ist Rune
Required Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Update the table:

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98             No         2672        437            2         239
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98             No         2570        423            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      94             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      91             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      91             Yes           -        278           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
OldSoldier said:
Kitteh said:
Nice going OS. Do you have the Vex too? :p
I've gotten two! One is reserved for the Hoto, and one is going into the Merc's BOTD (if I ever find an ethereal Ghost Spear, War Pike, Great Poleaxe or Giant Thresher). I've been doing a lot of RoF runs lately; absolutely nothing for runes but I like that it is an area 85 place so I'm hoping to snag a nice drop here or there. At /P5 it isn't too hard either now that I've been able to make the Call to Arms. I've changed the merc's armor from Treachery to Fortitude and the helm from Tal Rasha's to Delirium, which is just great. When I get nice monster spawns in the RoF (no maggots or those long legged spawners) I normally do a full RoF-through-Diablo run. Now that the merc wears Delirium his death rate went from 2-3 deaths per CS run to 2-3 runs per death, and that's with zero life leech.
Pb_pal said:
@zticazzy - Thanks! Although I'm almost positive Nanomist will win our little race, I'll still try to give him a run for his money, or at least keep the pressure on. ;)

--

Eleanor has done some running of the three main targets in full killing/survival gear, and gathered some data on the various paths she can take to 99. Keep in mind none of these runs include XP shrine hunting, so are just a base XP value for the run. Because of this, Nihlathak (maybe not, due to aborting runs) and Diablo completion times will actually be lower than shown here, but I feel it still gives a pretty good baseline.

All times include muling, potion buying, etc etc, as per usual. Alright, let's get to it.

p1 Waves, p3 Baal:

55513 XP/run
run time: ~2:30,
22205.20 XP/min (1.33M/hour)
completion time: ~218 hours (5243 runs)

Easily the least dangerous of the three targets. Ample time between waves to pick up loot, pots, gold etc. Can pretty much turn brain off and go, especially due to all the practice from the MFO.

-

p1 Seals, p7 Diablo:

52078 XP/run
run time: ~1:40 (as low as 1:30 though, depending mostly on De Seis)
31246.80 XP/min (1.87M/hour)
completed time: 155.25 hours (5589 runs)

Overall quite safe, although can get nasty very quickly depending mostly on De Seis' spawn. He of course is the main variable in the runs, sometimes he goes down almost instantly, other times we're chasing him around for 10-15 seconds. Could probably lower the run-time to about 1:30 consistently with more practice.

-

p8 Nihlathak

22164 XP/run
run time: ~0:28 (Could easily be lower if I could figure out how to shorten to ~10sec S+E/loading time)
XP/min: 47494.29 (2.8M/hour)
completion time: 102 hours (13123 runs)

Easily the most dangerous of the three, NDEs abound all over the place. Still very manageable though, you just have to be a little extra wary of the Vipers as we all know. Eleanor has to be a little extra careful as her life is pretty low (IMO) for Nihl runs, hovering around 2k depending on my charms at the time. That might actually be a good thing, however, as it keeps me from getting lax about her safety.

Blova has turned out to be quite an efficient Nihl runner, for a couple reasons. All of his Ice Boar friends are unbreakable CI, which means it's very obvious when Nihl dies even if I dont have a good visual/namelock on him. Nova (and the merc) is also strong enough to take him out pretty well if he himself is unbreakable CI, and it's strong enough to stun-lock the boars and kill them quickly, rendering them harmless if and when we jump in (Nature's Peace handles the corpses). The single most frustrating thing about the runs is that the loading times are 1/3 of the run, but that would most likely be lower on other peoples' computers (mine is not exactly a shining beacon of computational power).

-

So basically our plan is to do Nihl runs until we run out of Full Rejuvs, and the switch to Diablo (or Baal if I feel like it) to restock them. Rinse and repeat until 99.

On that note, any success with the 3-shrine map @NanoMist? I'm hesitant to re-roll my current one as it has a 2-shrine Nihl, 3 shrine CS, and a very quick Baal map.


Finds:
-Jah (this leaves only Cham for her to complete the runedrop grail)
-Sur (poppable right by the WP that we hit each CS run)
-Ohm
-Sparking (+1 light skills) Grand Charm of Sustenance (23 Life)
Reyz said:
Finally reached 92 and after that I farmed the 4 essences to reset my skilltree and respec to an ES-Lightning Sorc.

1614550888809.png

Haven`t really tried my new build out yet, only did one more Baal run. What can I say, it feels way more safe, but my Lightning damage dropped from 15,5k down to 11k, which I can absolutely feel. Don´t really know what to do right now, but I´m thinking of returning to Pindle again or farming LK with the goal of getting the one or the other lighning-skiller.

1614550894803.png

@Pb_pal I´m admiring how quick you´re able to deal with Baal. I just did about 10 runs to farm build-reset item on p1 and I died about every 3 runs during normal mob packs or Baal himself when I tried to play a little bit more offensive.
Pb_pal said:
@Reyz - Practice makes perfect. You get to know when you can and can't cheat, the best way to spread out your damage etc. Also, the extra levels make a difference too, not only because of added firepower, but the merc can handle himself way more easily. I don't have any experience with light sorcs, so unfortunately I can't give you any specific tips, although tons of people on here know a ton about them.

Does your merc have an Infinity? If not, head to LK and farm yourself one. You will not regret it. It's probably the single most important piece of gear for a lightning sorc, and will make everything way smoother.

Skillers will definitely help too, keeping everything stun-locked goes a looong way to making runs safer and faster. Also, looks like you have a Defiance merc there? Personally, I would (and Eleanor does) use a Holy Freeze merc. Again, slowing everything down gives great safety. As for what to do right now (aside from LK if you're Infinity hunting), if you can handle the Chaos Sanctuary, it gives great XP at this stage so personally that's where I would go.
@Pb_pal - Infinity is sadly no option, since I play without enabled ladder runewords. Besides of that, thanks for the advice with the merc, I will look into that!
Yeah, Chaos Sanctuary is also an option I guess. I was able to handle it pretty much without any issues, though it was only at p1 (and Storm Casters are a plague :p).


Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98             No         2672        437            2         239
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98             No         2570        423            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      94             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      91             Yes           -        278           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Cyanosis        HC      Assassin   1             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
NanoMist said:
@Pb_pal - Win the race? I don't know, it's going to take months for me. :eek:

I did find the 3 shrines + well with the preferred Halls of Pain map, although Halls of Vaught isn't the best. In the Halls of Vaught screenie, the 3rd shrine is slightly off to the side, so it's costing me almost a second to check it. Convenient well for the occasional heal. 4k life & CoS is enough to run comfortably- the tomb vipers are blinded, and I have enough life to tank multiple CE's, even amp'ed. Your 2k life is a little scary, but at least nature's peace prevents CE there.

As far as shrine effectiveness goes, I tried to quantify the long terms benefits. I only have a small sample size of 203 runs, but 33 (about 16%) of those runs ended with a successful exp. shrine kill, meaning it didn't get cursed off by Nihla or the witches. It's rare but sometimes I can get past the witches and blind them before they cast their curse. Cursed Nihla I just have to dodge his arctic blast.

From what I can find about shrine odds, it's about 8.2% (9/110) chance to find exp. booster from that shrine class. With 3 shrines, it's 22.6% chance to find at least one exp. boost. 10 monster types can spawn in Halls of Vaught, with 3 randomly chosen every time. 3/10 chance for hell temptress, and assuming shrine lost there, it's 22.6%*7/10 = 15.8% to keep an exp. shrine for the kill. Very close to my actual success rate.

16% exp. shrine rate translates to 8% more experience, or about 1k less Nihla runs.
A 30 sec. no shrine Nihla is equivalent to a (30*1.08) 32.4 sec. 3 shrine Nihla run, so checking those shrines better take almost no extra time.

So how about that 2 shrine map? Rerun the numbers and I get 5.5% more exp. The difference between a 2 and 3 shrine map is 2.5%, assuming no time loss on that 3rd shrine. So not a big difference. There are diminishing returns on extra shrines, but it's small at this point. On that note, maybe my 3rd shrine is barely worth that extra teleport?
Kitteh said:
Pb, I take it that you are switching to P8 for the waves?

Reyz, I am personally not a fan of energy shield, especially if you go near Baal (wave 2). I used it on a PvP fire sorc once but that was it haha

There are a ton of level 99 light sorcs (like, most of the 99ers!) so they might be worth you looking at this.
Pb_pal said:
@NanoMist - Thanks for that analysis! Yeah that 3rd shrine is going to be a tough one to make decisively efficient I think, unless of course it's positioned in Nihlathak's wing and then takes no extra time. I'll stick with my 2-shriner for now, but I'm sure somewhere along the 13k runs required I might want a change of scenery and try re-rolling for at least a 2-shrine map with your layout (mine is Map#1 option from the guide).

@Kitteh - /p1 waves for 98-99. I took a look at the numbers and for me personally, it was basically exactly as efficient to do the waves on /p8 or /p1 due to the extra time it took to kill them (a slight edge towards /p1 actually). A big benefit for my build too is that an unbreakable CI Lister at /p1 could be killed with nova quite quickly, whereas on /p8 I'd have to park him, losing a ton of time. I chose to stick with /p1 mostly because it's just way more simplistic, and I hardly have to use any extra pots so the annoyance factor is way down. Less /p setting switching is a bonus too.

Now this may not be the case for other builds (especially lightning-based ones with Infinity), so I encourage everyone to test for themselves if they plan on running Baal for the last level.
Kitteh said:
Its good that you tested it, rather than copying others! :)
Kitteh said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98             No         2672        437            2         239
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98             No         2570        423            5           -
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      94             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      91             Yes           -        278           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo        HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1

Finally got around to updating! Please welcome to the tournament, Darozzo the windy. Originally it was going to be a female assassin version of my typical Elder Scrolls stealth Khajiit, Do'zorra. Unfortunately, I just couldn't handle my favourite role play suddenly having a sex change.

We have just finished nightmare Den of Evil and normal was simple. Dazorro was a summoner in normal but has now respecced to Windy with a couple of decent bits of kit so far, an early Rhyme shield, a Tarnhelm, a Twitchthroe for the merc and a 30% Nagel. Looking good so far :)
Pb_pal said:
25% there.

So I noticed that the Nihl map Eleanor had WAS actually a 3-shriner, so no need to re-roll there. We've made a habit of hitting it, though like Nanomist said, I'm not sure it's actually efficient.

I kept track of 500 runs to see if my numbers matched up with Nanomist's shrine frequencies, as well as the predicted values. Short answer: they did.

I came out with a 21.76% chance of getting an XP shrine on a run. This is just under 1% less than the predicted value, so I'm happy with it. This translated to a successful XP-shrine-kill 16.8% of the time, which is higher than the predicted value. Witch-dodging is tricky, but it's possible for sure.

Again, I'm not sure if this is actually efficient due to the extra time it takes to hit the shrines (I didn't explicitly check how much it added to the runs). I'm actually leaning towards it not being significantly more efficient than if I was to just hammer straight to Nilly as fast as possible, but honestly it gives me something extra to do during the runs, and it feels nice getting a kill with the shrine on. This alone is worth any extra time it may take for me to do the runs, in my opinion. When you've got ~13k runs of the same target looming in front of you, anything to make it more enjoyable (without sacrificing too much speed) is well worth it.

Oh, and for those wondering, I do NOT recommend running with as low life as Eleanor has (~2.1k). NDEs abound all over the place, and quite frankly I'm not sure how I haven't died yet. A quick trigger finger on the rejuvs/Esc button is the only thing keeping me alive. Here's a shot of my favourite NDE so far:

iECDc4Y.jpg

.
Amp, Witches and Vipers. The joys of running Nihlathak!


Good luck running everyone! ;)


Finds:
Ber
Sparking (+1 Light skills) GC of Sustenance (+23 life)

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.25          No         2945        431            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98             No         2672        437            2         239
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      96             Yes         781        301           11          89
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      94             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      91             Yes           -        278           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
NanoMist said:
I'd say the shrines are worth it, even if the exp rate ends up being almost the same. Reducing the total number of runs also reduces the total possible deaths, if any. Good to see some confirmation on the exp. shrine rates though!

2K life is definitely living on the edge, great escape there. You're definitely ahead of me right now, I'd say my exp bar is right where the yellow stamina meter starts.

I had an early death teleporting into tomb vipers while amp'ed. Nihlathak had already died so I was relaxed, went to pick something up at half health (2k life), and died in a blink. I think I was only 400 runs deep at the time, and I was able to retrieve my body to get 300 runs back- not a big loss there. Learned my lesson and haven't come close to dying since.
Kitteh said:
Jesus, I thought that you were hardcore and I was like 'Ahhhhhhhhhhhh'.
RadTang said:
GC with 23 life? Crap. I have small charm with 20 life. Only that but that's 10 vit points for my necro. And I stopped putting more points in vit (300 currently) as I want to have some extra points in case I get a very good 3 os elite armor (best bone RW candidate for me) or Arkaine's Valor with 2 skills (the only unique armor with +2 to skills, shame it's just 1-2 and I will probably get the +1 variant...).

Level 8_8 (IDK why this number is turned into **) and still rocking.
Pb_pal said:
@NanoMist - So a death (with body retrieval) only loses 100 runs? That's what, 2.3 million or so. That's way better than I thought. Good point about the shrines decreasing total run numbers and therefore total risk, I hadn't thought about that. Also, don't worry about me pulling away, I'm going to lay off of Eleanor for a while now and concentrate on a few other things. I'll still be running with her, just at a slower pace.

@Kitteh - Haha yes, that would have been a heart-attack for sure. The only way I'd even think about running Nihl on HC would be with a high life (4K+ minimum) char with lots of iDR.
Kitteh said:
Well, my druid will have max block, cyclone armour, max resists, 50% DR, merc, grizzly, oak sage. I SHOULDN'T get deeds, really :/
Pb_pal said:
Well when you put it that way! ;) Are you planning to run Nihl? I wouldn't bring a Grizzly along for the ride down there. The fewer allies trying to run through the poison cloud you're standing in the better.
 
Grape said:
Will be fun to follow the last level race!

@NanoMist and @Pb_pal make sure to record some Nihla runs, if you can. Would be interesting to see those :)
NanoMist said:
Pb_pal said:
@NanoMist - So a death (with body retrieval) only loses 100 runs? That's what, 2.3 million or so. That's way better than I thought. Good point about the shrines decreasing total run numbers and therefore total risk, I hadn't thought about that. Also, don't worry about me pulling away, I'm going to lay off of Eleanor for a while now and concentrate on a few other things. I'll still be running with her, just at a slower pace.
Just to clarify, I didn't lose much progress because I didn't have much progress to begin with. 400 runs deep is approximately 3%, so I wasn't subject to the full 10% exp. loss in hell. I'm past 10% now, meaning a death with body retrieval would probably cost me ~300 runs.
Same here, doing other things and putting Izuna on a lighter schedule. At the rate I'm going, finishing before 2017 would be good!
Pb_pal said:
@NanoMist - Ah, that makes sense. 300 runs lost is a rough ticket, about 7 million XP (or 2.5-3 hours for Eleanor).

@Grape - I will definitely record some runs, although my machine can only produce videos with embarrassingly low quality (it's a ~10 year old laptop still running Vista). I'll see what I can do about getting some better quality vids, or maybe you guys will just have to settle for some extra pixels in there :p.
Kitteh said:
Nah, I will be Baaling :)
T72on1 said:
Nice going there @Pb_pal and @NanoMist !!! Good luck on the rest of the journey to 99. And yes Pb_pal, 4hp left is way too close. Better try to squeeze in some more hit points it seems.

As for myself ...

1614551047424.png
.
I finally hit level 97 after 59 hours and 25 minutes. Almost half of that (29 hours and 10 minutes) was actually spent on gaining xp in 1088 CS runs. The rest was for LK (4 hours and 10 minutes) early on and RoF superchest runs (almost 3 hours) and Pindle runs for the MFO (23 hours and 10 minutes) when I was at about 75% to 97. I had no deaths, not even close calls in the CS, so that compensates for my rather slow runs somewhat.

Btw, first part of the CS runs were done including De Seis on /p1 and Diablo on /p8 whenever Infector didn't spawn CI. After I had rerolled my map to get a good RoF map, I stopped doing that and only did the first 2 seals, including any boss packs I'd encounter near the seals and between the 2, with an occasional stop for other bosses. That definitely sped things up considerably.

Drops were quite terrible since my last update quite a while ago, except for my Pindle run results. Especially runes were really frustrating: only an Um early on from RoF and a Mal from Pindle. But in the CS? Nothing but a couple of Ko's and Lum's. Really frustrating, especially with all the HRs floating around in this thread alone, while I'm some 75 hours without a HR now, and only got one single HR in the CS :(. Ah well, I guess things can only get better, right?

Right (and I mean right :mad:) after the MFO I got one terrific drop. Other notable drops were a WWS, Steel Carpace, Stormshield and a Halaberd's Reign. O yes, and my fourth cold skiller, the first that wasn't a plain one:

1614551081233.png

And yes, I sorted that in my inventory properly afterwards ;).

I also found this dual leech ring, although I don't know if it's any good:

1614551087406.png

I'm not sure what I'll do next. Probably take a break from CS, or at least lower the intensity. Although it actually hasn't been that intense, except for the MFO maybe, and the last few sessions after my holiday to make the push to 97. Besides those, my playing sessions were always shorter than 2 hours, so no wonder it took me so long to hit 97 ...

So yeah, I might do some more RoF or LK runs. Or take a break from my Sorc altogether and continue the MF Barb I started. Problem with that one is that I'm still missing so many items for him (Arreat's, dual Grief and Enigma to begin with) that that doesn't make much sense yet. I'll have to think about it for a bit.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.25          No         2945        431            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98             No         2672        437            2         239
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       95             Yes           -        328            9           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      94             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      91             Yes           -        278           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
Complaining always helps ...

1614551113599.png

Code:
Death Cleaver
Berserker Axe
One Hand Damage: 89 - 264
Durability: 18 of 26
Required Level: 70
Required Strength: 138
Required Dexterity: 59
Fingerprint: 0xafcf777f
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40% Increased Attack Speed
272% Enhanced Damage
-33% Target Defense
66% Deadly Strike
+9 Life after each Kill

1614551120281.png

Code:
Veil of Steel
Spired Helm
Defense: 396
Durability: 29 of 60
Required Level: 73
Required Strength: 192
Fingerprint: 0xac76816f
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+60% Enhanced Defense
+140 Defense
+15 to Strength
+15 to Vitality
All Resistances +50
-4 to Light Radius
+20 Maximum Durability

Both dropped in the first 25 CS runs I did today. Unfortunately no Nightwing's, but the Veil of Steel is a first ever for me as well :).

Now to get those HRs ...

Questions:

- Do I still run CS from 97 - 98, or Nihl instead? I asked before, but I can't find the answer, and with all the fuss about Nihl lately ...
- If CS is still the place to be, do I still just run the first 2 seals on /p8, or /p1 seals and /p7 Diablo? Or a mix of both?
Pb_pal said:
@T72on1 - Awesome finds!

As for where to level for 97-98, it's status-quo if you want the most efficient. /p8 Vizier + Infector (with convenient boss packs). Here is the post I think you're referring to, although it is lacking information about Nihl. If you want to include Diablo for variety you can (explained in the link), but personally I wouldn't bother.

Let's look at /p8 Nihl's numbers for comparison:

XP/run: 29952 (that's only Nihl, no other monsters)
time: 30s/run (optimistic, but doable if you have an Infinity)
so ~60k a minute is an optimistic viewpoint of how much XP you will get from him.

For comparison, I was getting 80k/min doing Vizier/Infector. Granted those Nihl numbers aren't including shrines, but as we've seen in the last little while shrines probably don't add a whole lot of improvement to your overall running time, just decrease the overall number of runs you have to do (still a benefit). One huge thing to consider though is that you probably won't die doing CS runs (since you didn't die last level), whereas the risk of death (and therefore lost time and motivation) running our little necromancer friend is fairly substantial.

I seriously doubt Nihl would ever be more efficient at 97 than doing the Gripp run, but as always, you should take some runs and compare your numbers to see.

Good luck!
zticazzy said:
Howdy! I'm not playing much lately (the Perkele's saga has fulfilled my destiny as a D2 player), but I keep lurking on the forum quite often, and to me this is still the best thread around. :rolleyes:

@Pb_pal @NanoMist @T72on1 nice going people! I really hope to see at least another 99 thread from you guys by the end of the year. Btw I can confirm: one death w/ body retrieval = ~7.28 mil / ~2.30 hours loss

@Grape you reminded me of some nihla runs I recorded some time ago. The music was suggested by Youtube and is quite fitting, especially in the end.

Bye!
T72on1 said:
@Pb_pal Thanks once again, and sorry for my rusty memory. Do you think that normal boss packs are still worth it at 97? I can't get my running times below 1 minute, and I'm figuring it's because of those boss packs. Maybe I should just do another xp/hour test.

@zticazzy Thanks. I don't expect me to finish before the end of the year, but you never know. Did some more CS runs this evening, and I'm still not bored of them, so that is a good sign.

As a change of pace, I also tried 20 Tranvincal runs. To my surprise, I liked them, and they went really well. Not in terms of killing speed, because bad map, getting used to it, ... but in terms of survivability. Only my merc bit the dust a few times when amped, but the hydras didn't pose the slightest problem. I guess I'll have to do some reading on Travincal runs and then might do some HR hunting there, just as a change of pace and because I have never done so. Also the Council seems to drop quite some S/U, and iirc they are also a rather good source for jewelry, so you never know ... ;). Btw, does a Blizz Sorc wait for her merc to kill the CI boss, or should I just skip him?

Edit: I didn't miss my start, as I got this one while rerolling maps:

1614551357010.png

I also got my 4th Seraph's Hymn, making it my most found unique amulet.

Still rerolling maps. Currently have one where I have all but the CI boss and one minion outside on the balcony. Might settle on this one for a while. Or shouldn't it take too long before I get one with everyone outside?
Kitteh said:
@T72on1 I can't actually see what you have found in that first screenshot :p
Crazy Runner Guy said:
Pb_pal said:
Oh, and for those wondering, I do NOT recommend running with as low life as Eleanor has (~2.1k). NDEs abound all over the place, and quite frankly I'm not sure how I haven't died yet. A quick trigger finger on the rejuvs/Esc button is the only thing keeping me alive.
I wouldn't recommend it either.

I've banged out 250M XP @ clvl 98 worth of Nihl runs /w Coldtest (Lightning/FW) and 80M XP /w Lady_Fury (LF/CS) - no deaths /w either. Coldtest had 2,197 hp, max block, 35% PDR, 60% FHR, 14 PDR. My zon has ~2,450 hp, 43% PDR, 11 PDR, max block, plus D/A/E's passive bonuses, and still with both of them I felt neither really had enough life. A bad draw in Nihl's throne room could just eat up HP like it was nothing. And both of those characters were twinked to the gills.

Also, I love this thread.
Pb_pal said:
@T72on1 - As you say, it's a bit of a grey area for those bosspacks. It's tough to get an accurate measure of how efficient they are variable, and it depends on the monster types too. Basically what I did was kill any bosspacks (except OKs) if they were by the seals, but the only ones I stopped for in transit between the seals were the finger mages, as it only took (for me) typically one Blizzard to kill them. That way I just stopped, threw a Blizz at them and kept on going.

I don't have any numbers for this but my gut tells me that the most efficient way is to just go for the seal bosses, and kill any Venom lord/Finger Mage boss packs that happen to spawn near them in the seal areas.
Kitteh said:
I haven't had a chance to play for days because of work/training as I am back running far earlier than anticipated, but will hopefully play Mon/Tue/Wed and update then :)

I too, would like to confess that I have a crush on this thread.
RadTang said:
I won't make my necro a 99er. Too much of trouble. I am already bored with this gameplay. And every death makes me very annoyed... it's hard to get lost XP back ! Quill Rats - very annoying, 3k xp each... at least they're good as revives.
PhineasB said:
Good to see the activity and continued progress in this thread. Congrats @T72on1 on hitting 97.

I'll add a brief update, because I haven't been able to play much at all since my last post due to work schedule and haven't made any progress on levels. I did a couple 15-30 minute sessions when I finished up work before going to sleep, and then was able to spend a few hours last weekend. I mostly focused on Mercy, who is now 2/3 of the way to 96.

I was really getting tired of minion runs (occasionally threw in Baal), so I decided to switch up between Baal and CS. In the first few CS runs, Mercy got a Pul and a Gul, which allowed a reroll of the CtA after cubing some runes. It's a major upgrade and means I don't have to recast Battle Orders during CS runs and only once during Baal runs. No major item drops, but Mercy finally got a second 4os Monarch for Spirit, which helps with the additional +1 skill on the CtA switch.

I'm going to play some more this afternoon and hope that Mercy hits 96 before the weekend ends. At that point, I may focus on LK runs with Hiatus to try to improve charm collection to allow reasonable CS runs for her.
T72on1 said:
Kitteh said:
I haven't had a chance to play for days because of work/training as I am back running far earlier than anticipated, but will hopefully play Mon/Tue/Wed and update then :)

I too, would like to confess that I have a crush on this thread.
Cool !!! Great to hear about your running.
Pb_pal said:
Alright @Grape, ask and ye shall receive! Here are some Nihl runs.

Small note before watching, this is my most updated strategy that I'm working on right now. Even though I have a 3-shrine map I'm only checking 2 of them (one on Pain, one on Vaught). The reason for this is that the 2nd shrine on the halls of Pain is in a slightly cumbersome spot just off of the direct path to the stairs (you can see it on the mini-map as I fly passed it), and I can only check it reliably without doing the quest screen tele trick. This obviously loses time, but also just makes the runs much more clunky. So I've opted to skip it to make the runs both quicker and smoother, which I'm quite pleased to trade off with the extra shrine.

The play is sloppy, the video is choppy (as I said, my machine is a little rough around the edges), but hopefully this gives you a bit of a sense of what it's like.


The only thing I noticed is that there weren't really any runs with vipers in this set, which is a bit of a shame. Other than that though, you can see me lose a couple XP shrines, get an XP shrine kill, and even kill him so fast I thought he teleported (2nd last run).
Kitteh said:
Darozzo has made it to Nightmare Act 3 and is currently about to clear out the Flayer Dungeons. Spirit and insight are making life much easier, and Nightmare Mephisto will be farmed briefly, once I get a 4 socket gothic plate anyway...
RadTang said:
Kitteh said:
Darozzo has made it to Nightmare Act 3 and is currently about to clear out the Flayer Dungeons. Spirit and insight are making life much easier, and Nightmare Mephisto will be farmed briefly, once I get a 4 socket gothic plate anyway...
I know the pain.. wanted to get better armor for Bone RW. Lost my patience and used the weaker than Vipermagi mage plate that I have acquired. So far, nothing better dropped for me. At least I have +2 to all necro skills which is the way to go for me.
dvl said:
My new hammerdin just hit 70. I converted from classic at 53 after hell act 2 so all ancients are alive. After that I had to go to farm NM Andy for a bit, leveled in NM CS/hell act 1 and then finally was able to farm hell Andy.

Luckily I found spirit bases quite quickly. First an 4os Akaran Targe with 45 all res and while the block rate is pretty bad the resists and +skills were sorely needed. Soon after that a 4os broad sword dropped so now I have double Spirit, Lore helm, Duriel's shell and Nokozan's Relic to fix fire resist hole. Rest are pretty bad rares.

This character will probably never actually make it to 99 but we'll see. I have done the gear farm part for couple of characters over the summer and hopefully I won't lose all hope during it.
 
Kitteh said:
I'm afraid that I got killed at NM Travincal. I think it was from a fire enchanted but it is hard to tell as I was focusing more on Game of Thrones, hence the deeds I guess :p
T72on1 said:
Kitteh said:
I'm afraid that I got killed at NM Travincal. I think it was from a fire enchanted but it is hard to tell as I was focusing more on Game of Thrones, hence the deeds I guess :p
Oh noes ... :(.

Which character are you going to try next?
ioupainmax said:
Kitteh said:
...but it is hard to tell as I was focusing more on Game of Thrones, hence the deeds I guess :p
George RR Martin strikes again, no character is safe...!
I don't imagine that I will to be honest, going to finally play Shadow of Mordor and working a lot, plus studying starts again in September. Also, my training is picking up again :)
T72on1 said:
Ok. I still hope you'll be back at some point.

I did close to 1100 Trav runs with my Sorc, so no progress to level 98 yet. These are the results, not counting the Sur that I found while still rerolling maps, as I already posted that one.

1615094769456.png
1615094780180.png
1615094787211.png
1615094793384.png
1615094799604.png

Not sure if that is a good haul for that amount of runs, or below what can be expected.

The Ohm was on run 1041, the Um the run afterwards. I was a bit disappointed that it was 'only' an Ohm, until I realized that I have another one, so I can make a Grief for my WW Barb.

Next to that I was amazed with just how good the Council is as mf target. I found a lot of good S/U (mainly uniques), and especially the last 200 - 300 runs a lot of grailers. Some useful stuff like a Buriza, finally a Skullder's, Death's Sash. I also found my fifth cold skiller.

Not sure what I'll do next. Probably level the Barb somewhat and then return to Neverland for ... ? More Trav runs maybe, as I like them a lot. Or back to CS to do some more leveling. Or LK.
Crazy Runner Guy said:
T72on1 said:
Next to that I was amazed with just how good the Council is as mf target. I
Agreed. For some reason I have memories of finding so many Stormshields there when I actively farmed there.
PhineasB said:
Nice finds @T72on1.

Mercy hit lvl 96. She mostly ran Baal, but mixed in some CS and a handful of Pits and Pindle for a change up.

There were some pretty good finds from last weekend and today's running: a Fleshripper (exactly middle of the road damage roll); Headhunter's; a ruby SC of vita, which is always welcome with the Spirit shield; a Mal and a Pul; a unique Scourge (sadly it was a Horizon's, otherwise Mercy could have switched to a kick/trap for lvl 98); and a Griffon's Eye.

Not perfect, but good -ELR:

Code:
Griffon's Eye
Diadem
Defense: 158
Durability: 17 of 20
Required Level: 76
Fingerprint: 0x983d4219
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Unidentified
+1 to All Skills
+25% Faster Cast Rate
-18% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+11% to Lightning Skill Damage
+103 Defense

I think I'm going to switch over to Hiatus for a bit, probably focusing on AT runs or LK.

EDIT:

Hiatus picked up a level and is now lvl 92. She ran mostly running AT at p5, but with some Pindle and Meph mixed in (given nearly perfect map for Meph with only 1 teleport from WP to stairs).

No game changing finds, but she finally found an Eth 4os Elite polearm, which made a difference with a new Insight. She also rolled a +2 sorc caster ammy, which isn't great on other mods but made a difference. With the amulet and few other upgrades, she was slowly able to increase her MF without losing skills or resists. Finds that merited screenshots were a Lightning skiller in AT, the Griswold set shield, Tal's plate from Pindle, and a 49% War Traveler from Meph.

Still no cold skillers or a 4os Monarch (kind of frustrating actually), so I think she will switch up gear for LK runs in hopes of upgrading the charms and maybe finding a Vex for Heart of the Oak or the makings for CtA.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.25          No         2945        431            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98             No         2672        437            2         239
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      94             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      92             Yes           -        305           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
XyleneCyanol said:
It seems LK does not want me to leave. It took me a while to get this piece for Fishie:

Code:
Fishie's Chains of Honor
Dusk Shroud
DolUmBerIst
Defense: 659
Durability: 8 of 20
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 77
Fingerprint: 0xd80f9aff
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+200% Damage to Demons
+100% Damage to Undead
8% Life stolen per hit
+70% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Strength
Replenish Life +7
All Resistances +65
Damage Reduced by 8%
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items 4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Um Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune

I think Viper is also quite good, but I just feel she deserves a CoH. Also many skillers along the way, but none of them was Cold skiller.

Yesterday evening, Conqueror Fishie has reached lvl95:

1615094919344.png
.
To be honest, P8 CS in HC is just too dangerous for me, and I played very slowly.

Maybe I will get back to p3 AT and stay there for the rest of my life :p

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.25          No         2945        431            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98             No         2672        437            2         239
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      92             Yes           -        305           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
PhineasB said:
Great progress @XyleneCyanol. I like the choice of the CoH!

I have a quick update to share an incredible run of drops for LK over the last hour. As mentioned in my last post, Hiatus turned to LK in the hopes of finding a few runes and upgrading charms. She picked up from her last batch of LK runs, which had stopped after finding 100 runes.

Not much to show on the charm front (only thing she may use is a 9% lightning resist small charm with faster hit recovery). And nothing above a Hel for the first 49 runes. Then rune #50 was a Pul, followed by a Sur at #53 (I picked it up thinking it was a Sol and then 1 second later realized it had ended with an "r," so I dropped it back on the ground for the screenshot), a Gul for #59, a Mal two runes later, and finally a Vex as rune #65.

So that stretch of 16 runes included 5 Pul+ runes, which was incredible.

I'm curious to get opinions on whether to replace The Oculus with a HoTo. I think Hiatus would miss the 50% magic find from Oculus when she returns to AT, but the teleport was really annoying, particularly with the skeleton mages. And with a good resist roll on HoTo, she could swap out some resist charms for magic find small charms to make up some of the difference.
T72on1 said:
Congrats PhineasB. Finding 5 such runes in 16 runes is really great. Actually I first read '5 runes in 16 runs', which would have been even better, but still :).

I'd go with the HoTo for sure. The Teleport on the Oculus indeed can be annoying, and the stats on HoTo usually allow for a lot more gear flexibility.
Pb_pal said:
100% go with Hoto, it's just better. Congrats on the haul!
PhineasB said:
Thanks for the quick responses. Hiatus finished up the set of 100 runes. Rune #91 was Vex #2. She then rolled her new weapon (too bad resists weren't better) and is going to test it out in AT.

* * *

Edit: First unique drop in AT was a Phaseblade, and it turned out to be an Azurewrath. The first one of these I've found, which brings it to grail -10 between my 7x7 project and both 99ers.
NanoMist said:
Minor update!

Very little worth mentioning in terms of drops. Vex and cold life skiller. Finally got +life on the 8th cold skiller.

Death sentry taking out all the monsters around Nihlathak is netting me a few percentage points more exp. per run, so that helps. Maybe 5%?

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.25          No         2945        431            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      92             Yes           -        305           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
It's funny to hear it's a minor update, while in terms of time spent it's probably a bigger update than going from let's say 85 - 90 ;).

Good job, keep it up. No NDE's?
NanoMist said:
True, I'd say the time spent was almost equivalent to 96 - 97.
No NDE's after that early death a while ago, but a total of 3 or 4 aborted runs so far. Amp + 20 vipers everywhere = abort game. I wasn't even going to wait for the NDE to happen, considering it's only a few frames until actual death.
Vildecor said:
I finally got caught up on my reading in this thread and it has been quite a ride! Congrats to @zticazzy on that super fast 98-99 run (and sweet video). Good job also to all the rest of you that have been grinding it out as well. Your progress is very inspirational. So much, in fact, that I may be tagging along with a LF zon at some point. I've already started her, but I still have yet to decide if I really, really, really want to do the whole grind or not.

Keep it up!
Pb_pal said:
Eleanor has made it halfway!

Really not much to talk about, other than a couple adjustments made to running. I've stopped picking up any S/U that aren't grailers, in the interest of saving time. They aren't dropping super often anyway, but it helps keep the runs much more streamlined if I don't have to try to get in there and pick up yet another cathans ring. Also, the risk of trying to get in there for some random S/U is simply not worth it.

I thought I'd talk a bit about what causes me to abort a run, just in case others are curious.

Definitely aborted:
- Nihl unbreakable CI + LE (simply not worth the time it takes for Nova to kill him)

50/50 aborted (depending on mood or monster spawns)
- Nihl unbreakable CI + Magic Resistant (depends on how I'm feeling at the time)
- Nihl unbreakable CI + Might/Fanaticism (this depends on monster spawns/densities. If Vipers and/or Witches, there's a good chance I'll skip it)

Other situations which require extra care:
- Nihl is Cursed + Might/Fanat (if vipers or witches, I'm out)
- Might/Fanat or Cursed by themselves AND Vipers or Witches (I'll typically still do these runs unless there are abnormal densities of these guys)

That's about it. All other combinations I will typically complete the runs, despite Eleanor being quite fragile you do get the hang of where the real danger is down there after a while.

She hasn't found anything noteworthy since last update, but she hasn't died either so I'd say that's a fair trade!

Happy running folks. :)

--

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      92             Yes           -        305           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     61             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      48             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
MizzouFTW said:
What build are you using? I see you've utilized Nova. What's your +CM? I really like the idea of Nova for a rarely used backup skill for quick targets like Nihl. I'm thinking about maybe +1 in CM and letting +skills take it all the way up to 17 (+3 DF/+2 NW/+1Battle Command/+2 sorc amu/+1 arach/+2 COH/+1 SOJ/+2 Spirit/+skillers). You get 14 from gear alone. This would allow me to put 16 hard points into Nova or Lightning Mastery, whichever adds more damage.

Does anyone see any flaw in my thinking here?
Pb_pal said:
MizzouFTW said:
What build are you using? I see you've utilized Nova. What's your +CM? I really like the idea of Nova for a rarely used backup skill for quick targets like Nihl. I'm thinking about maybe +1 in CM and letting +skills take it all the way up to 17 (+3 DF/+2 NW/+1Battle Command/+2 sorc amu/+1 arach/+2 COH/+1 SOJ/+2 Spirit/+skillers). You get 14 from gear alone. This would allow me to put 16 hard points into Nova or Lightning Mastery, whichever adds more damage.

Does anyone see any flaw in my thinking here?
I'm using a pretty standard Blova build.
20 in Blizz/Ice Blast/Nova/Lightning Mastery
8 hard points in CM (enough to get to -125 as per the discussion in this guide)
the rest (13 so far, will be 14 in the end) in Ice Bolt to synergize Ice Blast

Could I get away with less in CM? Probably for Nihl, as I don't use much Ice Blast against him. I wouldn't want any less if I was going to run any other targets though, as it compromises Ice Blasts power too much. I honestly doubt I'd notice the difference if I had the extra 5 or so points in bolt right now as a a synergy, so I've left them as is.

As for Nova as a backup skill, I wouldn't do it unless you're going to invest the 40 points into both Nova and Mastery unless you're rocking some serious lightning gear (Griffon's for example, and definitely an Infinity merc). Mine are both at 33, and Nova is by no means a super fast killer at /p8, although I am satisfied with it's speed as a backup killer.
Zenigma said:
So....uh.... I've been behind on posting....
But you should (likely) fear not! For I have made some fairly decent progress! I definitely stopped playing again for about six weeks, but some exciting things happened right before I stopped and now, after I started up again.

I'll update with gear and take my progress later, because I'm on my phone right now, but to briefly update, Gnosis made his way to hell before I took my break, and Ayura has been carving a path through nm since late last week. Both have some interesting gear, and Ayura has been some fair finds. While questing, Ayura made use of lower player settings in several areas, bumping it back up here and there. He's currently running nm Mephy and has found at least one piece of gear he'll take with himself through the rest of his journeys.

Things are moving along nicely on both fronts, so I'm glad I've finally posted this update, haha
 
NanoMist said:
Made it to 99...





...Cathan's ring. Just found my 99th Cathan's ring.

That is all.
Zenigma said:
Yeah....so....uhmm.... It is now update time!

And I kinda just made marginally more work for me because (yay) I got two usable rare throwers from NM Meph to replaced my shopped throwers! Which is exciting. Though I fear I've used up some of my luck on getting these now instead of from Hell Meph, where mayhaps I could have even more ED D: oh well. I'm pleased with them, and even if I don't find a Scalper or some elite unique throwers, I could end up upping one of these to elite and have a decent weapon on my hands.

Before I delve deeper into my throwbarb, let's touch on something very special to me: my windy. So as I mentioned, he made it to Hell Act 1. Not only that, but he made it to the Outer Cloister, enabling some much-appreciated pit runs to take place. Let's preface this part with Baal being an utter troll:

1615095812792.png
Code:
Nagelring
Ring
Required Level: 7
Fingerprint: 0x19d87f07
Item Level: 75
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+69 to Attack Rating
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
Attacker Takes Damage of 3
20% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Dwarf Star
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x54e75c33
Item Level: 75
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40 to Life
+40 Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 15%
Fire Absorb 15%
Magic Damage Reduced by 13
100% Extra Gold from Monsters
These aren't actually the worst finds, but to be perfectly honest, I was aiming higher

Fast-forward to Hell and pit runs. Gnosis looted a cool Um rune from what likely was a Devilkin:
1615095827361.png

However, on an otherwise inconspicuous day, something special happened:
1615095849800.png
Code:
The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Fingerprint: 0x85b64ff6
Item Level: 73
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
Adds 1 - 12 Lightning Damage
+20 to Mana
Increase Maximum Mana 25%
This is the first time I've found one of these. And it was no less on an untwinked character. Now I know I've found much rarer and better items in my days, but this is my first SoJ I've ever found myself, including my time on Bnet. So it was quite momentous.

Ironically, I took my weeks-long break after making this relatively significant grail find.

And now... onto what is personally the more interesting character:
Ayura was struggling after entering nightmare. He had never felt so weak. Crushing normal on /p8 is no great feat, but he was quite shocked at the rude awakening he would receive in nightmare. Such a humbling experience made him take some time off. Upon returning, he quietly lowered the difficulty from /p8 to /p3-5 depending on the situation, rarely going all the way up /p8. He started to cruise on through once again, making neat work of act 1, 2, and 3. He has since run Norm/NM Countess and MN Mephy in pursuit useful items

Ayura has found all types of wonder things during his adventures, too! Though many of them he will certainly never use:
Code:
Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Life -> From NM Spider Cavern
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xf270ee10
Item Level: 50
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)
+5 to Life

Skin of the Vipermagi -> From NM Black Marsh while looking for another Io rune
Serpentskin Armor
Defense: 279
Durability: 15 of 24
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 43
Fingerprint: 0xf8ba1ff9
Item Level: 38
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Unidentified
+1 to All Skills
+30% Faster Cast Rate
+120% Enhanced Defense
All Resistances +34 -> 1 all res off perfect, this is definitely my best vmagi
Magic Damage Reduced by 13

Suicide Branch -> too bad I didn't get this and vmagi on an untwinked sorc, haha.... or better yet a singer--that'll be an untwinked project for another day
Burnt Wand
One Hand Damage: 8 - 18
Durability: 10 of 15
Required Level: 33
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0x56a1cab0
Item Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+50% Faster Cast Rate
+40 to Life
Increase Maximum Mana 10%
All Resistances +10
Attacker Takes Damage of 25

Despite the finds that have no visceral use, Ayura has come across quite a few items that show great promise, and he's made others that fill certain gaps:
Code:
Black -> this and the one below it are on switch in order to make quicker runs at bosses.
Flail
ThulIoNef
One Hand Damage: 2 - 52
Durability: 29 of 30
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 41
Required Dexterity: 35
Fingerprint: 0xd38c744a
Item Level: 20
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
120% Enhanced Damage
+200 to Attack Rating
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Knockback
+10 to Vitality
Magic Damage Reduced by 2
Level 4 Corpse Explosion (12/12 Charges)
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Io Rune
Socketed: Nef Rune

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Io Rune
Required Level: 35
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +10 to Vitality
Armor: +10 to Vitality
Shields: +10 to Vitality

Nef Rune
Required Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Knockback
Armor: +30 Defense vs. Missile
Shields: +30 Defense vs. Missile

Black
Flail
ThulIoNef
One Hand Damage: 2 - 52
Durability: 29 of 30
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 41
Required Dexterity: 35
Fingerprint: 0x79271ce6
Item Level: 20
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
120% Enhanced Damage
+200 to Attack Rating
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Knockback
+10 to Vitality
Magic Damage Reduced by 2
Level 4 Corpse Explosion (12/12 Charges)
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Io Rune
Socketed: Nef Rune

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Io Rune
Required Level: 35
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +10 to Vitality
Armor: +10 to Vitality
Shields: +10 to Vitality

Nef Rune
Required Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Knockback
Armor: +30 Defense vs. Missile
Shields: +30 Defense vs. Missile

Shimmering Small Charm of Thunder -> I don't have many shimmering scs, so this is very welcome, especially on this character, on whom I intend to have so much offensive equipment. Hopefully I'll find more to round him out, especially looking for fhr charms as well, because he somewhat lacking in that aspect as well.
Small Charm
Required Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0x5c16b9dc
Item Level: 53
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 1 - 15 Lightning Damage
All Resistances +5

Coral Small Charm of Sustenance -> speaking of good, defensive-oriented charms
Small Charm
Required Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0x9017097a
Item Level: 48
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+14 to Life
Lightning Resist +9%

Sharp Grand Charm of Sustenance -> Although they also say the best defense is a good offense...
Grand Charm
Required Level: 23
Fingerprint: 0x566f124c
Item Level: 50
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10 to Maximum Damage
+66 to Attack Rating
+21 to Life

Immortal King's Will
Avenger Guard
Defense: 174
Durability: 55 of 55
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0xeee7825a
Item Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Warcry Skills (Barbarian Only)
+125 Defense
37% Extra Gold from Monsters
85% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+4 to Light Radius
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Perfect Topaz
Socketed: Perfect Topaz


Perfect Topaz
Required Level: 18
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 40 Lightning Damage
Armor: 24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: Lightning Resist +40%

Perfect Topaz
Required Level: 18
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 40 Lightning Damage
Armor: 24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: Lightning Resist +40%

Immortal King's Forge -> can't wear these yet, but they'll probably be my go-to gloves along with IK boots and IK (once found) until LoH or Drac's drop (if they ever do)
War Gauntlets
Defense: 109
Durability: 22 of 24
Required Level: 30
Required Strength: 110
Fingerprint: 0x769cb1f4
Item Level: 58
Version: Expansion 1.10+
12% Chance to cast level 4 Charged Bolt when struck
+65 Defense
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity
Set (2 items): +25% Increased Attack Speed
Set (3 items): +120 Defense
Set (4 items): 10% Life stolen per hit
Set (5 items): 10% Mana stolen per hit
Set (6 items): Freezes target +2

Now maybe you ask yourself why I didn't put down IK belt, as well. After all, IK gloves, boots, belt is a classic three-piece combo that works wonders for low level melee characters, especially barbs (and me with my IK helm to boot!) Well, I'll show you why I'm not looking for IK belt:

Razortail -> !!! My favorite thrower belt. Thanks, Meph <3
Sharkskin Belt
Defense: 104
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Level: 32
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0xe644a9fa
Item Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Piercing Attack
+10 to Maximum Damage
+142% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+15 to Dexterity
Attacker Takes Damage of (Based on Character Level) 63

Now I also mentioned a couple throwers I picked up from Meph just before I started writing  this:

Eagle Cleaver -> not too shabby, kinda compliments the Viper Barb I posted before that I gambled in Act 1 NM. However, that thing has been replaced.....
Hurlbat
Throw Damage: 44 - 73
One Hand Damage: 23 - 60
Quantity: 213
Required Level: 30
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 106
Fingerprint: 0xb96df2af
Item Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
84% Enhanced Damage
+11 to Maximum Damage
Adds 6 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
5% Mana stolen per hit
Increased Stack Size

Corpse Scythe
Throwing Axe
Throw Damage: 24 - 37
One Hand Damage: 12 - 21
Quantity: 212
Required Level: 48
Required Dexterity: 40
Fingerprint: 0xe699e222
Item Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
212% Enhanced Damage -> !! Pretty sweet ED roll there! Thinking Lords/Ferocious instead of Cruel/Platinum. Can NM Meph drop cruel rares? Anywho, it's not outrageously high, but it's definitely good enough that it can sub in for elite unique throwers until those (hopefully) drop.
+117 to Attack Rating
Increased Stack Size
Level 1 Concentrate (22/22 Charges)

Okay, I hope I've made up for inactivity in this thread now.... whew!
Also a note while I'm here: It's pretty difficult balancing crafting materials, weapon stacks, and charms I'm holding onto with no extended stash. Having to hold onto something until you're sure you don't need or want it, it's been tough!

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      92             Yes           -        305           13           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     77             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      63             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
PhineasB said:
@NanoMist I would have expected at least a screenshot for such a momentous achievement :p

@Zenigma congrats on the progress -- it's good to have another person with two characters in the table. And congrats on the Stone of Jordan. I found 2 on one of untwinked 99ers and was equally surprised at each one.

Update on my end: Hiatus made it to level 93. She ran AT and Pindle and eventually mixed in some CS as she gained more hit points from charms. Finds along the way were a Mal, a Pul, and a +damage Fletcher's GC from AT; Medusa's Gaze and Ondal's Wisdom from Pindle, and a Vex from CS. She died twice right before leveling because of sloppiness as I was trying to finish it off. Which, of course, slowed things down. :oops:

I cubed the Vex up to an Ohm and made a Call to Arms, which should help as she tries to focus on CS for next levels. Still no 4os Monarch. I found three white ones, that all failed in the cube, with 1os, 2os and 3os. :(

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     77             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      63             No            -          -            -           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
Grape said:
@Zenigma I remember being quite skeptic if someone started this with an "underdog" build, but picking up a throw barb for the task is just plain awesome! If you can manage the grind to get the necessary equipment, I think it could actually be quite nice build for the last couple of levels! And that is the most important thing, I think.

NanoMist said:
Made it to 99...





...Cathan's ring. Just found my 99th Cathan's ring.

That is all.

time to join the Cathan's grail!

You should have the ilvl95 by now, I guess. :p
NanoMist said:
Grape said:
time to join the Cathan's grail!

You should have the ilvl95 by now, I guess. :p
Never, that's madness!
Vildecor said:
Decided to go ahead and commit to this. Been playing the Amazon off and on and spent the last 2 days getting her from the beginning of Act III normal to Act III NM. Normal was spent playing mostly as a bowazon with Stealth and Zephyr, utilizing a couple of points in Multi-shot and then Freezing Arrow once she hit 30. Once in NM, she grabbed the best rare javelin she could gamble and has been lighting up the screen ever since. Haven't decided yet whether I want to progress as a Fishyzon or respec to full lightning, though I'm leaning toward the latter. First socket quest was used right away to open up Insight. Questing has been done on /p5 full clears (because I just can't stand skipping stuff). Should be in Hell difficulty by the end of today, with a possible break running NM Mephisto.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     77             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      63             No            -          -            -           -
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
Kitteh said:
@Vildecor Good choice, both joining and the build!
T72on1 said:
Cool !!! Welcome @Vildecor :).
Zenigma said:
Well, he's a Champion.

It was not, however, without a bit of luck (in the form of the items teased out of Mephisto). After having farmed those two decent rare throwers, Ayura journeyed onward into the hellish Outer Steppes. So confident he felt, he decided to bump up the difficulty back to /p8 for the remainder of the difficulty. He was modestly rewarded along the way for putting forth such effort. Between the experience and the gold, he has been awarded with some goodies!
Code:
Blade of Ali Baba
Tulwar
One Hand Damage: 27 - 59
Durability: 23 of 32
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 70
Required Dexterity: 42
Fingerprint: 0xcbe4bcc9
Item Level: 64
Version: Expansion 1.10+
69% Enhanced Damage
+9 to Dexterity
+15 to Mana
185% Extra Gold from Monsters (Based on Character Level)
74% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based on Character Level)
2 Sockets (0 used)

All the better to MF with!

Demon Limb
Tyrant Club
One Hand Damage: 100 - 181
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 133
Fingerprint: 0x25627
Item Level: 75
Version: Expansion 1.10+
213% Enhanced Damage
+123% Damage to Demons
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 222 - 333 Fire Damage
9% Life stolen per hit
Fire Resist +15%
Repairs 1 Durability in 20 Seconds
Level 23 Enchant (20/20 Charges)

Thanks, Baal; Enchant might help me kill you again somewhere down the road!

Jeweler's Gothic Plate of the Whale
Gothic Plate
Defense: 134
Durability: 55 of 55
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 70
Fingerprint: 0x9f67d330
Item Level: 78
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+86 to Life
24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
4 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Perfect Topaz

Replacing my old MF armor, and hoping that one day I can turn this armor into a force of its own. Anyways, I shopped it from Charsi. But it'll be a 24% mf increase at the very least once I get the pTops for it.

Rune Blazer
Light Plated Boots
Defense: 11
Durability: 12 of 18
Required Level: 26
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x92af64e3
Item Level: 60
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Hit Recovery
+4 to Dexterity
Cold Resist +16%
Lightning Resist +10%
Fire Resist +24%

Not going to see use on this guy, but they're still decent.

Oh! And I also have an angelic combo in case I ever have trouble hitting monsters, though I don't suspect that will be a problem. It took a while to find that ring, especially after holding onto the ammy since very early into the adventure. Still going to hold onto them.

Angelic Halo
Ring
Required Level: 12
Fingerprint: 0x2f36e91d
Item Level: 60
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Replenish Life +6
Set (2 items): +24 to Attack Rating (Based on Character Level)
Set (3 items): 50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Angelic Wings
Amulet
Required Level: 12
Fingerprint: 0x6c4b042a
Item Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+3 to Light Radius
Set (2 items): +75 to Life
Set (3 items): +1 to All Skills

On top of it all, Ayura has found himself feeling awfully comfortable cruising through Hell at /p1 so far.
So that's progress!

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     77             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      74             No            -          -            -           -
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
Neksja said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     77             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      74             No            -          -            -           -
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Neksja       Turirao         SC      Druid     21             Yes           1          1            0           3
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1

So it begins. I noticed that there's not many Druids around and I'm not sure whether any of the Druids on the list are still active. Anyhow, I think my highest Druid before I took a several year break was a lvl94-95 Fury druid so this time, I'll need to do better than that. I was planning on twinking heavily and I actually started and got to level 31 in the first day and thought, this is not right. Time to go (almost) full IronWolf mode, I can't live without extended stash ;)

The plan currently is that I'll do Fury/Rabies wolf, as I want to mainly use Fury and it doesn't require much of an investment, I should have plenty of skill points to spare. I know I'll max Fury, Lycanthropy, Rabies and Poison Creeper, but then I'm not completely sure. I guess I'll max Heart of Wolverine to boost my damage/AR and rest to Werewolf, to boost AR and make sure my WW is high enough when turning to a Wolf so I'll hit nice and fast attack speed with Fury.

The journey started, quickly went through to Countess and started running her, trying to find some useful runes for later levels. I ended up running her until I was lvl16, but I managed to find my very first grailer:

BfRpAOz.jpg

Will be very useful once I reach Duriel I reckon! +40% cold res is going to help, especially since later, I found an amulet with +20% cold res so with just those two items, I'm already at +60%, so screw you Duriel (whenever I get there). I managed to find 3x Tal rune and 3x Ral rune, but not a single El rune, so I could make 'Steel' Large Axe. So I got a bit bored and decided to just start push towards Andariel with my rare Large Axe with 7-15 damage, practically I was carried by my A1 Merc with Long Bow socketed with Chipped Ruby and Sapphire. I got to Andariel, who was surprisingly easy, all I did was stood in front of Andariel, trying to swing while my Merc did most of the work. She went down easily:

A2w1E6l.jpg

Level 17 and I was off to Act 2. Hired a new merc, got him a poking device, which will probably turn into Malice if I can find another El and Eth, I found El from the first monster in Act 2 and finally made a 'Steel' Large Axe. Levelled up to 18, Rabies! Time to start contributing instead of being a nice puppy following his moron. I was about to finish the session and start this post, but I figured, I ain't gonna start my journey from the last place! So, while watching some Netflix, I cleared Rocky Waste WAY too many times and finally dinged lvl21 and the journey has officially started.

Turirao out.
T72on1 said:
Good luck !!! And nice choice of build. I remember my Grief wielding Fury / Rabies Wolf killing fast, so you should be good to go after a while.
I am slightly worried about needing Lo or two for my build (Grief/Fortitude), but I assume while running for 99, you'll have more than plenty of time to find them :) and it's not like I am going to get bored playing a wolf, I did a Fury sept back in the day after all, although half of the Pat threads are now missing from the Mat/Pat thread. Oh well, might need to do that again ;)

I'll probably do another update after finishing Normal, it's not like people want read about me getting from lvl21 to 25, it's the later levels when it starts getting interesting!
Neksja said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     77             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      74             No            -          -            -           -
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Neksja       Turirao         SC      Druid     47             Yes          12         10            1           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1

Turirao is a Slayer! Also, first of three main objectives reached, not the lowest level Druid on the table anymore! Next one is Zenigma's lvl77, so that might take a while, hopefully I can do that by the next update, which should come end of Nightmare.

Act2 went fairly well, 'Steel' Large Axe was good enough and Merc with 'Malice' Spetum dealt plenty enough damage. Otherwise had pretty crappy gear, so I quested through to Arcane Sanctuary at /p1, then switched to /p8 and started clearing it to gain some levels. At level 23-24, I decided to move forward towards Duriel. Took that Arctic Belt and +20cold res amulet and headed to Duriel's lair. Drunk a thawing potion and threw one to my Merc as well and here's the result:

Znr54MQ.jpg

Isenhart's Case! Whopee, finally I got a better armor than some random rare Hard Leather Armor. Although it wouldn't matter too much, it's my Merc who is doing most of the work anyways. And off I was to Act3! Rabies was getting more and more useful with the damage increase. No real problems through Act3, I used that rare Maul as a backup weapon with big damage, but it was really slow compared to 'Steel', so I mostly used that. Got to Travincal quite quickly, would've done Travincal runs, but Merc kept dying to the first Hydra so it was more frustrating than beneficial so I kept pushing towards Mephi. As expected, it was a quick run to him and while fighting him, Merc proved useless just like against Duriel, so I fought him myself. Rabies + Open wounds and fast paws took care of him fairly easily:

QO0JVVV.jpg

Isenhart's Case! Whopee, finally I got a better armor than some random rare Hard Leather Armor. Wait a minute, damn I already am using one! Wait, Merc can start using that, so no worries! Oh and the circlet turned out to be +1 Necro, 20fcr and 2os. You want to know something nice? I was thinking "This is untwinked 99, I don't need this, nice 20k gold!". Only realised when uploading this picture that I could have used that on another character that's not untwinked... Oh well.

Act4 went really fast. Ran through to Izual, he always takes a long time for me in Normal but that was fine, he posed no danger to Moron and a Puppy. Quickly again to Hephasto, barely even noticed him, he was behind of those Stygian creatures and was constantly poisoned by my rabies and then my Merc killed him in 2 shots. Drop was El, which didn't surprise me, but I was lucky to get a Perfect Ruby. Decided to save it for the first Quick Axe/Military Axe I could find. Off to Diablo! Seal bosses were relatively easy, Merc died against Infector, but only after most of them were dead so quickly resurrect him and fight Diablo. Merc died instantly and I didn't bother to waste gold to resurrect him. So, it was my poor puppy running around, avoiding Diablo and his lightning/fire and occasionally biting him. It took me a very long time, 4 trips to town for more bottles and finally, only a sliver of health left, I got reckless and I died. Poor puppy, first death. Ran back with Merc, he died instantly but provided enough distraction for me to pick up my corpse, one more bite and Diablo was down:

p9LoT7l.jpg

Act5, running quickly through to Shenk and the waypoint and started running Eldritch. Quickly found a magic Giant Axe and crafted this:

Code:
Storm Mangler
Giant Axe
Two Hand Damage: 40 - 83
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Level: 31
Required Strength: 70
Fingerprint: 0x42ed2c49
Item Level: 35
Version: Expansion 1.10+
85% Enhanced Damage
+11 to Attack Rating
1% Life stolen per hit
+14 to Life
+3 to Mana after each Kill

Really nice damage, but missing IAS. So, had to keep going until I found a magical Military Axe and at that point I already had another Perfect Ruby to create this:

Code:
Wraith Rend
Military Axe
Two Hand Damage: 20 - 50
Durability: 17 of 30
Required Level: 38
Required Strength: 73
Fingerprint: 0xe427ee5f
Item Level: 43
Version: Expansion 1.10+
49% Enhanced Damage
Adds 1 Cold Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
Adds 6 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
4% Life stolen per hit
+12 to Life

Less damage but for Fury/Rabies, Speed = Power. I kept going until I was 43, then quickly saved Anya and ran through Ancients, who were not able to do almost any damage to me. 600 life Puppy is quite safe in Normal. After Ancients, I found the waypoint, ran a bit of Pindle/Eldritch, managed to find Sigon's shield so I finally got my first piece of buff gear, now +1 skill to Werewolf/Lycanthropy on switch. Then, went after Baal. Minions were easy, Lister's Gang took out Merc, but that was it. Baal was easy, didn't cast his clone once so he was done quite easily, Merc died instantly but that was not a surprise.

c7hPacW.jpg


Puppy's a Slayer! Currently, he is camping outside some stones in Cold Plains, Nightmare, making sure Rakanishu goes down, down, down, down...

Here's Puppy's current gear:

Code:
Wraith Rend
Military Axe
Two Hand Damage: 20 - 50
Durability: 17 of 30
Required Level: 38
Required Strength: 73
Fingerprint: 0xe427ee5f
Item Level: 43
Version: Expansion 1.10+
49% Enhanced Damage
Adds 1 Cold Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
Adds 6 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
4% Life stolen per hit
+12 to Life

Duskdeep
Full Helm
Defense: 53
Durability: 27 of 30
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 41
Fingerprint: 0x203f72e4
Item Level: 34
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+8 to Maximum Damage
+34% Enhanced Defense
+17 Defense
All Resistances +15
Damage Reduced by 7
-2 to Light Radius

Snake's Amulet of the Colossus
Amulet
Required Level: 22
Fingerprint: 0x54676de1
Item Level: 42
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+53 to Life
+8 to Mana

Ghoul Flange
Chain Mail
Defense: 214
Durability: 42 of 45
Required Level: 26
Required Strength: 48
Fingerprint: 0xdf5f3e25
Item Level: 45
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+141 Defense (Based on Character Level)
+4 to Dexterity
+29 to Life
Poison Length Reduced by 75%

Death Finger
Light Gauntlets
Defense: 16
Durability: 15 of 18
Required Level: 15
Required Strength: 45
Fingerprint: 0x2707510d
Item Level: 34
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Increased Attack Speed
+37% Enhanced Defense
+1 to Dexterity
Poison Resist +11%
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Loath Winding
Plated Belt
Defense: 11
Durability: 21 of 24
Required Level: 13
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0x96904e25
Item Level: 34
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+24% Faster Hit Recovery
+3 to Strength
+20 Maximum Stamina
Lightning Resist +7%
Fire Resist +11%

Shadow Loop
Ring
Required Level: 9
Fingerprint: 0xb7d53ea2
Item Level: 14
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+23 to Attack Rating
+2 to Strength
+1 to Dexterity
Cold Resist +13%
Poison Resist +11%
Half Freeze Duration

Fortuitous Ring of Regeneration
Ring
Required Level: 8
Fingerprint: 0x716749a2
Item Level: 36
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenish Life +3
12% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Storm Blazer
Chain Boots
Defense: 13
Durability: 15 of 16
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0x402149c7
Item Level: 34
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Run/Walk
+10% Faster Hit Recovery
+34% Enhanced Defense
+8 Maximum Stamina
Fire Resist +34%
18% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

I really do enjoy playing untwinked, makes every drop more important. No waiting for certain levels for certain overpowered levels, now it's time to earn it. I managed to find two Sol runes from Eldritch so I am hoping for a 4os Battle/Grim Scythe soon, for the Puppy, and any etheral 4os exceptional Polearm for Moron, so I can get two Insights going. Unless I get super lucky and find a Ribcracker, but that's not very likely, so I'm leaning towards Insights. At least one, Sol runes should be quite easy to find from Countess. She does have a chance of dropping Ribcracker so who knows.

Turirao out.
TwentyMuleTeam said:
Well it's been 5 years since I last played diablo, but the urge to start again is strong. There's so much that I left unfinished! I'll be adding Valus the HC Barbarian just as soon as I remember how to copy the table. Hello everyone!
Kitteh said:
Welcome back and welcome to the tournament! Your best option is to copy and paste the table into Notepad and realign it there before copying and pasting it back into the thread :)


Edit: Any specific build?
TwentyMuleTeam said:
Got it, thanks. Couldn't figure out the color for 'The Fallen', however.

I may have goofed around with barbs a little back in the day but I never advanced one very far. I think I'll start with a concentrate build and see how that works.


Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     77             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      74             No            -          -            -           -
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Neksja       Turirao         SC      Druid     47             Yes          12         10            1           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
TwentyMule   Valus           HC      Barb       1             Yes           -          -            -           -


The Fallen:

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
Welcome back @TwentyMuleTeam . And good luck on your journey. Definitely not the easiest road you take there.
Zenigma said:
I don't think I'd ever have patience for a conc barb. Though with the right gear, they're probably faster than my throw barb, haha. But I do like the spammy quickness of of throwing, especially with a hefty load of IAS on top of quick bases. Incidentally, this is part of why I'm dreading this write-up. You see.... I'm made a mistake. Sometimes, we're overcome by pride, mayhaps even hubris. And I am no exception. Ayura was merrily questing along, and decided after reaching the outer cloister that he wanted to improve upon his armor. Twitchthroe had suited him well and provided good enough bonuses, but it was time to upgrade. The 3os mage plate he had found toward the end of nightmare was going to see use in the form of Treachery. I good idea, and all he needed to find was a measely little Lem rune...

1615095925405.png

Yeah... that happened. (View the minimap)

The worst part of that wasn't the dying, it was the splitting of items between corpses. I had strength-glitched the IK gloves on. ...and my inventory was full of charms.... and I picked up the body.... but then I died again.... so... yeah.... ik gloves on one, everything else on the other. And there were too many enemies and too little space between them in order to pick up either of those three corpses. Then I died again. And the entryway was blocked by a ghost boss pack. Died on entry.

So I cut my losses and quit.

Cons:
-Foremost, I lost my IK gloves, which I was hoping to find a replacement for before coming back; spoiler alert, I still lack functional gloves (Currently using the chanceguards I didn't mule off -- I'll find new gloves eventually, I'm just glad I didn't have my heart set on IK gloves only to lose them) This was my best source of IAS
-I lost a fair chunk of experience
-Lost a chunk of change on the merc and deaths

And this might be hard to believe, but there were some hefty pros to come out of this unfortunate event!

Pros:
-Thinking about the situation inspired some writing (non-game related; in fact, not even related to the loss of IK gloves. It just got me to write some, so that's exciting!)
-It got me to run mephisto in nm again, and I found mostly nothing. Well, at least I got Tal's mask and Skullder's for the merc
-It gave me renewed sense of purpose for finding that damn Lem rune. I smashed the Countess repeatedly farming up the runes to transmute into a Lem.

And I did that! I found a Fal from nm forge, a Fal from poppables in the Black Marsh, a couple of Ko runes from the Countess, and I transmuted Hels, Ios, and Lums into the last Ko rune. And I immediately put it to use:

Code:
Treachery
Mage Plate
ShaelThulLem
Defense: 258
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0xe5ba9314
Item Level: 69
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 15 Fade when struck
25% Chance to cast level 15 Venom on striking
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
+45% Increased Attack Speed
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
Cold Resist +30%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Lem Rune

My power has improved tremendously from this upgrade. I would lose another set of IK gloves just to equip my merc with one too ;)

Not only has that changed, but I have found a handful of new upgrades in my weapon slots!

Code:
Wraith Scythe
Francisca
Throw Damage: 50 - 91
One Hand Damage: 31 - 60
Quantity: 152
Required Level: 53
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 80
Fingerprint: 0x71b48491
Item Level: 74
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40% Increased Attack Speed
177% Enhanced Damage
+1 to Minimum Damage
+143 to Attack Rating
Increased Stack Size
Required Level +5

Armageddon Razor
Flying Axe
Throw Damage: 49 - 219
One Hand Damage: 56 - 216
Quantity: 204
Required Level: 64
Required Strength: 88
Required Dexterity: 108
Fingerprint: 0x8bffa6f1
Item Level: 73
Version: Expansion 1.10+
233% Enhanced Damage
+120 to Attack Rating
Adds 2 - 13 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
2% Life stolen per hit
+10 to Life
Increased Stack Size

Unfortunately, the game trolled me pretty hard, too:

Code:
Beast Skewer
Dirk
One Hand Damage: 9 - 67
Durability: 18 of 20
Required Level: 48
Required Dexterity: 25
Fingerprint: 0xfde74b64
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
8% Chance to cast level 3 Chain Lightning on attack
+40% Increased Attack Speed
213% Enhanced Damage
+39 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
+291 to Attack Rating
+1287 to Attack Rating (Based on Character Level)

It's a dagger, cool, but why can't I throw it?!?!?!

Other cool finds:

Code:
Imp Fringe
Battle Belt
Defense: 86
Durability: 16 of 18
Required Level: 50
Required Strength: 88
Fingerprint: 0xc4fcf909
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+24% Faster Hit Recovery
+100% Enhanced Defense
+19 to Strength
+51 to Life
+10 to Mana
Fire Resist +9%

Shadow Master
Ring
Required Level: 70
Fingerprint: 0xef4d79dd
Item Level: 74
Version: Expansion 1.10+
2% Mana stolen per hit
3% Life stolen per hit
+1 to Strength
+15 to Dexterity
+13 to Life
All Resistances +10
Fire Resist +7%

Despite the set-back, we are in good spirits over here. And I will find an upgrade over those IK gloves. Fingers crossed on the Laying of Hands or Lava Gout somewhere down the line!

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      78             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     78             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Neksja       Turirao         SC      Druid     47             Yes          12         10            1           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
TwentyMule   Valus           HC      Barb       1             Yes           -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
Nice rare items there, Zenigma !!! Too bad about the deaths though, but good thing you don't mind too much. Also, better now than at level 95+ ;).

Btw, are you using Grim Ward? I never had the patience to level up a Thrower very far, due to the repairs, but I heard it works really well for Throwers. Combined with Howl of course.
Zenigma said:
Oops! Forgot to put that under the pros column. I definitely was happy that I wasn't farther along when it happened.

The repairs are tremendously badly. I use it as an opportunity to sell high value items, mostly armors.

As far as Grim Ward goes, I'm currently not using it. I don't particularly need it when my merc does plenty enough to draw the aggro and keep me safe. The Tal's mask did good things for his survivability--so much so that he no longer needed to use his iron pelt, hence the upgrade to Skullder's. However, if I were to upgrade to a rogue merc wielding faith to hit a higher attack speed, I would definitely consider dropping a point into Grim Ward. Seems like it would have good synergy with Taunt in dangerous situations, pulling in one baddie at a time. As far as clearing a path, 1 point in Leap is serving me well enough, for the time being.

This build is not in desperate need of skill points. I could place a couple here and there to see that benefits me most.
 
Last edited:
Neksja said:
@TwentyMuleTeam welcome aboard! Conc barb as well, good luck! May the drops be ever in your favor.

@Zenigma I assume you've ditched your druid and just running Throw Barb? Good for me as I am getting closer to your druid in level ;) and that ring is pretty much exactly what my Fury/Rabies druid needs before Hell.


So, just a brief update. Running Eldritch (and occasionally Shenk + Sharptooth who has spawned really close to Eldritch). I am looking for Ribby, although the chances are pretty slim (1:22349 with my setup). I really need an upgrade on my weapon before advancing Hell and first I need some source of CB so I can go back to NM Mephi to hunt for Ribby. Anyhow, against all odds, I managed to find my first piece of planned final gear, odds 1:45449:

FwmKesc.jpg

Puppy is really happy! :)
Kitteh said:
Rejoining the tournament with the old classic, a fishymancer, not for easiness but because it is one of the most enjoyable builds in my opinion and I get so little Diablo time now. I have no idea, did I deeds my druid? I can't even remember, not record of it on my files though :p


The name is not yet decided, but I will update in due course.
Pb_pal said:
@Neksja - Nice find! Always nice when an applicable class-specific drop comes up., especially an end-game worthy one.

@Kitteh - I also have a soft spot for fishys, looking forward to seeing how you do!

No official update from me yet, just wanted to check in and say that Eleanor is still plugging away. Keep up the progress guys, it's nice motivation. ;)
Kitteh said:
He shall hence forth be known as 'Metastasis'.
Neksja said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Neksja       Turirao         SC      Druid     79             Yes         106         81            5           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      78             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     78             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
TwentyMule   Valus           HC      Barb       1             Yes           -          -            -           -
The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1

Turirao is a Champion! And second of three initial milestones reached, climbed to be the second highest Druid on the table, after a while of Rakanishu/Countess/Pit runs in Hell, he is finally lvl79. But what happened in Nightmare?

Act1 was fairly uneventful, I ran Rakanishu/Countess until I was lvl49 for max Fury and started questing. My blood crafted Military Axe was still plenty enough, Rabies started to grow stronger each level due to pumping points to Poison Creeper. So it was quickly running throught the act and I fought Andariel before I was lvl50, he went down fairly easily. Merc died.
RoQXFDm.jpg

Act2 was pretty much the same as Act1, except now I just wanted to run through it as fast as I could. Took me maybe an hour, hour and a half, to get to Arcane Sanctuary to level up a bit. Didn't really have any finds as my MF was pretty low (around 50% at the time) and I was focusing on killing faster, but I wasn't and Arcane Sanctuary was a real threat the whole time I was running there. Low damage weapon and relying on Rabies kept me vulnerable all the time. I got to Duriel around lvl55, mostly using just Rabies and letting Merc poke enemies to death with his brand new 'Insight' Poleaxe (yes, Normal Poleaxe). Fighting Duriel was pretty much the same as in Normal, bite Rabies and start running. Worked well enough to put Duriel in it's grave. Merc survived.

KoTzL2i.jpg

Act3, I was looking forward to see those pesky Flayers all poisoned and dying. Only a little problem, the ranged ones could really hurt me so I couldn't run around recklessly. I had to take my time, but I was lucky enough with the maps that everything went relatively quick and smooth and I was in Lower Kurast. I decided that I'll run around in Lower Kurast until I can make at least one more Insight, in Exceptional weapon, before I move on. Well, first run and I get this:

Code:
Hwanin's Justice
Bill
Two Hand Damage: 42 - 159
Durability: 30 of 50
Required Level: 28
Required Strength: 95
Fingerprint: 0x2fcf8574
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Ice Blast on striking
Indestructible
+40% Increased Attack Speed
200% Enhanced Damage
+330 to Attack Rating
Adds 5 - 25 Lightning Damage

A god's blessing! Fast, decent two-hander for the Puppy! He now also listens to nickname "Puppy fast-paws". It was so great to finally be able to leech and actually do decent damage with Fury.So I cut my LK running to one run and moved on. Travincal was quick and easy except for Merc, who again died when he saw those Hydras. Quickly resurrecting Merc and off to Mephisto. Running around like a happy Puppy and boom, dead puppy. As this is my first melee char after my long break from D2, I forgot about those exploding dolls and accidentally ripped through a cycle of Fury in two dolls who died in consecutive hits, I had no chance. Back at it, now with only Rabies, bite dolls, run back and let Merc finish them. Took longer than I wanted but I got to Mephisto. I thought I could kill Mephisto with ease with my new weapon, but the lack of CB showed that it takes time with melee char without CB to kill bosses. I managed to beat him still. Merc died.

A9vJ0ru.jpg

Act4, I really wanted a rush to Hellforge to see if I could get lucky and find Pul. Izual was dead meat rather quickly, Rabies + Fury took care of him faster than I expected. Got to Hellforge, the "room" where Hephasto was, there was only few Urdars, so that was easy. The drop? Shael :( Hopefully this means that Hell HF will be high-end ;) Off I was towards Diablo, I had a beef with him from killing the puppy in Normal. Seal bosses were easier this time than in Normal, so they were quickly dealt with and I faced the Big Beast again. Not this time, pal. I found the sweet spot in front of Diablo where his lightning attack doesn't hit you, so off I was, Furying away with occasional Rabies and the he went down. Merc died.

nBnWtwH.jpg

Act5 and Eldritch running. I did that a lot. A lot. As per my brief update earlier in the week, I found Jalal's Mane. Also found The Spirit Shroud, which has proved to be a very nifty armor at this point, +1 all skills and CBF, pretty good for Puppy! I kept at it until around lvl 70-71 and I decided to rescue Anya and kill Ancients. Anya rescue was easy, faced no Poison immunes, so I led with Rabies and finished off with Ruby against every pack of monsters. I got to Ancient at lvl 72 and they were slightly tougher this time around. Posed no real threat, but had to drink few potions and the fight took a bit longer than in Normal. WSK was gentle, no gloams which is always nice. I decided to run through WSK until I was lvl73 before facing Baal. Eldritch dropped Bonesnap for me earlier, so I had that with me for some CB against Baal. Throne had some gloams, but only small packs and only 2-3 packs in total. Everything went fine and dandy until Lister's gang, which I had to split to two to handle them. Then, I was off against Baal. Bonesnap was very useful but also very, very slow. Eventually, Baal went down without much of fight. Merc died.

HkaIL8N.jpg

So, Baal is dead and we have a Champion Puppy. Next problem, only just below lvl74 and I needed to get to lvl79 to take over the next Druid in the table. Decided to go after NM Cows, in case they would drop an exceptional 4os polearm. Second or third run and I see something golden in the ground, what do you know, another Jalal's Mane! I seriously hunted for Jalal's Mane from Hell Mephi with my Blizzsorc for a week and only found one Ethereal version and now I found 2 in 2 days. After that run, I accidentally clicked to enter Hell and decided to run with it.

Cleared Den of Evil and up to Stony Fields. After 3 rerolls, I got a map, where Rakanishu and the stones spawned right next to the waypoint, so perfect for running and levelling up. I found a lot of grailers while running there until lvl77, when I decided to run up to Inner Cloister so I could try some Countess and Pit runs. First Countess run, a cursed, extra strong Archer pack caught me by surprise and puppy was dead for the third time. I was unhappy about that so back to Rakanishu to find a better weapon. First run, Fana aura Rakanishu pack and close by zombie pack with conviction and I ran into dying again, within minutes from the previous one. At that point, I decided to get some meat shield. I had few skill points saved up and I got myself a Grizzly bear. So a Puppy, a Teddy and a Moron was fighting like Three musketeers. but runs got significantly easier. After few more runs, I got myself a first double Unique screenshot:

Ztr9oRd.jpg

Code:
Heaven's Light
Mighty Scepter
One Hand Damage: 155 - 202
Durability: 38 of 50
Required Level: 61
Required Strength: 125
Required Dexterity: 65
Fingerprint: 0x3c87c2a7
Item Level: 71
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels
+40% Increased Attack Speed
289% Enhanced Damage
-33% Target Defense
+150% Damage to Undead
33% Chance of Crushing Blow
+19 Life after each Demon Kill
+3 to Light Radius
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune

Lidless Wall
Grim Shield
Defense: 326
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 65 of 70
Required Level: 41
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0xed9886af
Item Level: 71
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+116% Enhanced Defense
+10 to Energy
Increase Maximum Mana 10%
+4 to Mana after each Kill
+1 to Light Radius

2 sockets would have been amazing, but 1 Shael will have to do now. Still, a significant upgrade on my weapon and now I can wear shield as well, but I do want to go 2-hander as soon as I can. I already have an Ethereal 4os Feral Axe that I found from Eldritch's gang, so I'm going to use that for Oath.

Plan now is to level up a bit more, hopefully at Pits and Countess, maybe get that Oath and finish Hell. In 4 levels (or 3 + Radament quest), I'll have Lycanthropy maxed and all the rest of skill points go to help either Heart of Wolverine or help Grizzly, haven't decided yet. Also, need to optimise my stats at some points (and reset everything) as they are now all over the place, STR150, DEX145 and VIT165. Need to sit down and plan for a while at some point, but that's not as fun as playing ;)

Here's Puppy's current gear:
Code:
Heaven's Light
Mighty Scepter
One Hand Damage: 155 - 202
Durability: 38 of 50
Required Level: 61
Required Strength: 125
Required Dexterity: 65
Fingerprint: 0x3c87c2a7
Item Level: 71
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels
+40% Increased Attack Speed
289% Enhanced Damage
-33% Target Defense
+150% Damage to Undead
33% Chance of Crushing Blow
+19 Life after each Demon Kill
+3 to Light Radius
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune

Jalal's Mane
Totemic Mask
Defense: 295
Durability: 17 of 20
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0xb8fc6941
Item Level: 62
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+198% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Strength
+20 to Energy
All Resistances +30
+5 to Mana after each Kill
24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Perfect Topaz

Chaos Necklace
Amulet
Required Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0xb6b274e1
Item Level: 56
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+9 to Energy
All Resistances +12
Lightning Resist +38%
Poison Resist +23%
Damage Reduced by 2
21% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

The Spirit Shroud
Ghost Armor
Defense: 295
Durability: 17 of 20
Required Level: 28
Required Strength: 38
Fingerprint: 0xe9628e69
Item Level: 62
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+150% Enhanced Defense
Replenish Life +10
Magic Damage Reduced by 11
Cannot Be Frozen

Lidless Wall
Grim Shield
Defense: 326
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 65 of 70
Required Level: 41
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0xed9886af
Item Level: 71
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+116% Enhanced Defense
+10 to Energy
Increase Maximum Mana 10%
+4 to Mana after each Kill
+1 to Light Radius

Stone Hand
Demonhide Gloves
Defense: 33
Durability: 10 of 12
Required Level: 21
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0x2fe7f4d5
Item Level: 41
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Charged Bolt when struck
+1 to Strength
Cold Resist +17%
Lightning Resist +17%
Fire Resist +10%
21% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Skull Grasp
Ring
Required Level: 35
Fingerprint: 0x2d148078
Item Level: 70
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+70 to Attack Rating
6% Life stolen per hit
+3 to Strength
28% Extra Gold from Monsters
9% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Havoc Grasp
Ring
Required Level: 66
Fingerprint: 0x76cac2f8
Item Level: 74
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+31 to Attack Rating
+17 to Strength
+17 to Life
All Resistances +8
Poison Resist +16%
Damage Reduced by 2

Bladebuckle
Plated Belt
Defense: 52
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0x7a670780
Item Level: 41
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
+91% Enhanced Defense
+30 Defense
+5 to Strength
+10 to Dexterity
Damage Reduced by 3
Attacker Takes Damage of 8

Storm Blazer
Chain Boots
Defense: 13
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0x402149c7
Item Level: 34
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Run/Walk
+10% Faster Hit Recovery
+34% Enhanced Defense
+8 Maximum Stamina
Fire Resist +34%
18% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Turirao out.
Zenigma said:
Neksja said:
@Zenigma I assume you've ditched your druid and just running Throw Barb? Good for me as I am getting closer to your druid in level ;) and that ring is pretty much exactly what my Fury/Rabies druid needs before Hell.
Aye, I only play the druid when I'm not feeling the throwy goodness, but I still want to make progress in something. I felt that for quite a while upon entering NM with Ayura.... not so much at this time, haha

...But happiness is me, for Ayura has entered Act 3.
Though his boss-killing MF was quite high, there were little goods that he could find.
At /p1, the going is quite fair, however the loot we picked was little more than rare.
So if you couldn't tell, just about everything I pick up, I sell.

The upgrade to treachery was nearly a necessity, looking back at act 2. The ghosts were an extreme pain, even with the venom. I ended up leaping through the tomb, bceause I couldn't stand being there any longer. And with 534 mf on the kill for Duriel, I got one mediocre rare and magic... and an essence... pfft.
I found a hwanin's refuge along the way, and decided to give it a spin the merc. It's worked out alright, but to be honest, I'm not seeing a terribly drastic change in kill speed. When static triggers, it's lackluster, so I'm thinking I'm just going to stash it.

Anyways, I gambled another neat item, but it's definitely lacking outside of ed and dual leech:
Code:
Plague Song
Throwing Axe
Throw Damage: 30 - 45
One Hand Damage: 15 - 26
Quantity: 130
Required Level: 48
Required Dexterity: 40
Fingerprint: 0x418306bc
Item Level: 77
Version: Expansion 1.10+
281% Enhanced Damage
+54 to Attack Rating
Adds 1 - 3 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
8% Mana stolen per hit
4% Life stolen per hit

Probably won't upgrade at all. I need the ias that's on on my primary, unless it's a signifcantly faster base (winged knife), and my secondary is a little shy of 50 ed lower. However, my secondary comes with cold damage, which is nice and has increased stack size, which makes travelling easier. I leech plenty for the time being, as well, so there's little incentive to putting forward an um rune for the elite upgrade. An Um could better service me in the form of a crescent moon weapon or the merc or... just about anything else. Whatever. Planning on running LK for runes and maybe rack some items along the way.

Oh, and for the record, that ring is serving me quite nicely :p
Neksja said:
I've been running Countess all weekend, I'd say maybe 100-150ish runs and finally, I've gotten enough of goodies:

Tm854wL.jpg

GI29hLW.jpg

kulzGto.jpg

NcbKZci.jpg

So, 3x Pul, 1x Mal. I guess you can see where this is going? I also found a Lem and Ist, before finding that elusive Mal rune. Cubed two of the Puls to an Um and made Puppy some new shiny toys!

ZZviYHC.jpg

aEIC4Dk.jpg

I'm pleased with both rolls, Oath has a decent-ish ED, would've preferred 300+ but at least it's not low 200s :) Also, Duress roll is pretty amazing, I couldn't care less about that ED roll, so 2 off perfect in Enhanced Defense is pretty amazing. I chose Diamond Mail mainly because I was impatient and it's only a temporary armor until I get a Fortitude, so it's going to Merc eventually. So, it's going to work more than fine for Puppy now :)

Here's what Puppy's stats look like at the moment, about to start questing through Hell:

xM1rZb3.jpg
T72on1 said:
Sweet Oath there !!!
Zenigma said:
Very nice progress, Neksja.
I wish I could make such punctuated improvements on my throw barb, hahah. No such luck though--it's pretty difficult to improve on weapons. There are no runewords and a limited pool of unique throwing weapons. So I've relied on created and rares, which I've been posting about as they pop up.

That said, Ayura has found a fair bit of items since last post. I'm on lunch at work, so I don't have my readouts or pics, so I'll have to post those later, but let's summarize!

Ayura has been running mostly /p8 LK for runes. This has been fairly successful. We now have a small collection of pretty runes: a sur, an ist, an um, a pul, and two lems. Not bad for a few days of running with an unoptimized guy.

He's also found some other neat pieces, and there are a couple things going on with his map which are interesting, so I'll cover that soon.
liquid_mage said:
I'm thinking of joining this but I have to be honest i'm not sure which character to try with. Currently I have a Necro at 73 who is self found and a Blizzard Sorc at 90 who is self found. But i'm thinking i'd rather do this with a Hammerdin, not sure though. Any suggestions?
Pb_pal said:
liquid_mage said:
I'm thinking of joining this but I have to be honest i'm not sure which character to try with. Currently I have a Necro at 73 who is self found and a Blizzard Sorc at 90 who is self found. But i'm thinking i'd rather do this with a Hammerdin, not sure though. Any suggestions?
It all depends how nitty-gritty you want to get with your efficiency.

The standard advice is that you should do a build you know you will enjoy on the (very) long-term, and is decently efficient at leveling. Something to keep in mind is just how much rune farming you're going to do. Sorcs do not have to farm the runes for Enigma, so will typically spend way less time in LK. Hammerdins are similar in that they don't need Infinity (but do require Enigma). Granted, even for non-sorcs, the time in LK pales in terms of time spent leveling (it's somewhere early on in this thread, I think the calculations showed something around ~25% of the total time expected to be spent in LK for non-sorcs to farm Enigma and Infinity, barring some good rune luck elsewhere).

The second thing to consider is actual leveling speed. In terms of raw efficiency (and assuming they are outfitted with decently high-end gear), Blizz sorc and Hammerdin will be extremely close and are both at the top end of all builds. Depending on the build, a necro can be pretty efficient too, but will definitely take longer than those two.

My actual advice though is to do whatever you're most motivated to do! If you love hammerdins, and really feel like taking this challenge with one, then that should be your class (and gets my vote here, for what it's worth). :)

EDIT: found the info about LK I was talking about in my post here.
NanoMist said:
^Agreed, play something you can enjoy/endure for a very long time if you are serious about a 99 attempt. There are many builds I would enjoy questing to hell Baal with, but very few builds I would even consider for a 99 attempt. Blizzard and Hammers were two builds that I considered.
liquid_mage said:
Can a Hammerdin realistically walk P8 Hell Chaos Sanctuary and WSK to 99? I think the blizzard sorc is very limited in the areas I can run I don't want to run AT over and over, not sure if there is enough XP there. The fishymancer can definitely survive and do well but I'm not sure about kill/clear speed.

To be clear I know the hammerdin is a good choice to try for 99, my question was more can I walk Chaos Sanctuary and WSK for clears?
NanoMist said:
Given enough time (a lot of time), you can certainly walk CS and WSK to 99, but it would take much less time overall if you obtain Enigma early on. Doing thousands of these runs with teleport is already difficult enough, more so if done by foot. (Especially at level 98 where the exp. targets shift to Diablo, Nihlathak, or Baal.) That is something most people cannot endure. Personally, I wouldn't be able to endure walking those runs.
Pb_pal said:
Have to echo Nanomist on this one. Yes it is possible to walk the CS, but I can't imagine it being very fun. It's tough enough as it is at higher levels with the slow speed of XP gain, adding minutes to the commute every run would drive me nuts. As Nanomist said, taking the time to grind an Enigma early on would save tons of time in the end (and a great deal of frustration too).

At the higher levels most/all of your XP is going to come from the seals and Diablo, so all those bosspacks along the way are just wasted time (although the finds can be nice!)

Blizz sorc can also run CS quite well, and Gripphon did a bunch of testing which actually showed that they can be FASTER than Hammerdins at gaining XP. My sorc did AT until ~94/95 IIRC, and then it was a mixture of Baal (for the MFO) and CS runs until 98.
T72on1 said:
What Pb_pal and Nanomist said.

I'm doing this with a Blizz Sorc and haven't regretted it. I haven't spent that much time in AT actually: Pindle on /p8 is a good target for quite a while, and I switched to CS at level 94 or so. In the long run, those AT runs from let's say 90 - 94 didn't take too long. She is level 97 now, and felt like a good choice all throughout.

Hammerdin would be a character I'd definitely consider as well. With Enigma only though ...
Kitteh said:
I would say that it is dangerous to walk CS, relative to teleporting at least. If you get into a tight spot (swarmed for example), mainly with De Seis, being able teleport out of there is a life saver.
liquid_mage said:
Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Neksja       Turirao         SC      Druid     79             Yes         106         81            5           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      78             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     78             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
liquid_mage  zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc       1             Yes           -          -            0           -
TwentyMule   Valus           HC      Barb       1             Yes           -          -            -           -


The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1


First I'd like to say thanks to everybody who replied to my questions. I've decided against the Hammerdin, I just don't think I would make it to 99 on one. And while I have an existing Blizzard Sorc at 91 with great gear and I'm 99% sure she is self found, I've decided to start over. Tonight I will be making a new Blizzard Sorc named zDadColdSorc (my kids sometimes play on my pc and this way they know not to play my characters). This way I can share stories of my cool new finds, and I plain love running Meph 35-50 times in NM to get some gear, then run NM Baal 25 or so time to get into the 70s, then lots of Hell Meph to get most of the gear to get to 90+.

Silly question but what is the column S/U? What does S/U mean?
NanoMist said:
S/U column is for total Set/Unique items found. Optional stat to keep track of during your journey.
Pb_pal said:
Awesome! Welcome to the fray. :) I love Blizz sorcs, and a few people have chosen them here, so if you have any question, there's lots of experience to share in this thread.

S/U = Sets/Uniques, so that column is for total number of S/U found by your char, if you feel like keeping track.
 
TwentyMuleTeam said:
@Neksja Thank you & those some nice looking runewords you have there. I'm doing a bit of countess running to make some lower level runewords before tackling NM.
@liquid_mage I believe it's the total number of sets & uniques you've found.

Well I have my very first destroyer!

Screenshot003_zpshx7dslp0.jpg

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Neksja       Turirao         SC      Druid     79             Yes         106         81            5           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      78             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     78             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
TwentyMule   Valus           HC      Barb      47             Yes          11          8            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
liquid_mage  zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc       1             Yes           -          -            0           -

The Fallen:

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1


Normal was pretty uneventful.. just bashing things with concentrate. One NDE but overall nothing serious. I did find some fairly useful items in act 4-5, but nothing that will take me far into NM.

I really love the tankiness of the conc barb, something I've never really experienced in d2 since I normally play sorcs. Killing speed hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be but I can tell it won't be long before that slows down considerably. On to nightmare!
T72on1 said:
@liquid_mage Great. Welcome to the fun that is this challenge, and good luck !!!

For fast leveling, my advice is to get through content fast, and go straight for Pindle. I found him awesome to gain xp. Run him on the highest setting you can do relatively fast until you are somewhere around level 40 - 45 (I usually go for 45, but it's probably not necessary) and then proceed to nm. Do the same there. Your first big friends will obviously be a Spirit sword and an Insight for your merc, so keep your eyes open for the runes and good base items.

When you get to Hell and have a few good items, try to hit LK as fast as possible. There's a few things that can help you there, but the one that probably stands out first is Call to Arms, since that will make your trips a lot safer. Once you have found that Ohm for CtA, you can keep doing LK for other stuff (Vex for HotO, Ber for CoH and Infinity), but if your gear isn't too bad, you can also hit up AT to gain xp and hopefully find some good S/U. And who knows, one of the HRs that you want, drops there too. I wouldn't sweat it if you don't have Infinity though. I haven't got one at level 97 either, and I don't think it would have sped me up that much. Besides, Insight is just so convenient.

From level 94 or so on, just follow the advice of pros like Pb_pal ;).

@TwentyMuleTeam Cool !!! Congrats.

Not sure what /p setting you are playing on, but if your killing speed does slow down in nm, I would advice to tune the /p setting down and speed through the game. As I said earlier in this reply, just get to Pindle ASAP and run him for xp instead of wasting too much time getting through the game.

@NanoMist Are you still grinding away in search for 99, in between other stuff, just like @Pb_pal or is your character on hold?

I still have been playing my Sorc quite a lot, but only LK and Trav runs in search for HRs to equip the characters in my Sept. I haven't done any xp runs since hitting 97 a long time ago, except for a few session right after that. I'm really keen on getting back to CS though, but only as soon as LK has coughed up another HR.
NanoMist said:
Still leveling, just not everyday due to splitting time with other characters and having less overall playing time. I haven't reached the halfway mark yet, but I think I'll do an update this weekend.
T72on1 said:
Cool !!! Looking forward to it :).
liquid_mage said:
Ugh died four times getting to level 16, I forgot how rough D2 can be when your build relies on skills that you don't get until level 24-30. Two of the deaths were to a big pack of archers with a unique in the pack. The other times were to blood raven and andy. Even though I play softcore I really try not to die so if I die before Act3-4 NM I usually get upset.

zDadColdSorc made it to level 16, in Act 2. I called it a night after I got my cube. So far only two uniques: Deathspade and Dragon Chang, and no set items yet. Things got easier as I went along getting my archer helped quite a bit, also then getting 3-4 points in ice bolt and ice blast, then the deathspade and finally getting my Act 2 Merc with prayer.

I'm still deciding on block or no block for this blizzard sorc.

@T72on1 Thanks for the input and feedback. I did some research on player level to monster level, XP penalties, etc and have a better understanding of the grind it will be 95+.

I'll update the matrix after I beat normal.
Kitteh said:
Mage, are you on players 1? :S
Neksja said:
I am going to put up a second character to the table, later today I think. I started a hammerdin on Wednesday and he's running Eldritch now at lvl30 and gaining levels fast, hopefully will be entering Hell by the end of the weekend.

Why a second runner?? As much as I enjoy playing with Turirao, (now lvl87, will update that as well hopefully today), I occasionally want to play a caster type char and I already have two sorceresses running around. I decided to go with hammerdin as I think it might be the best choice for CS running, which I have never really done, but it looks like fun and I want to start doing that. Just need to spend an eternity in LK first for that Enigma...

So, from now on I'll hopefully do double updates. I have my doubts about Turirao and his efficiency to gain xp, but I really do like playing a wolfie, so that's something I have going for me.
liquid_mage said:
@Kitteh I started on P3 then had to move it down after the first 2-3 deaths. I should have started with a different build and used a respec later but I was stubborn...

zDadColdSorc is now level 20-21 at the beginning of Act 3. I managed to get 3 chipped topaz and 1 flawed in my armor and helm, plus a MF gloves and a nice set of Rare MF boots. In the 2nd half of Act 2 I found Isenhearts helm, Cathan's Chest, Angelic Chest, and Crushflange.

Also I'm slowly reading through this thread, i'm on page 6 of 38. Hoping to find some tips but it appears to be pretty standard play/leveling until level 91+.
Kitteh said:
The technique varies I think, mostly dependent on HC/SC. It might be worth playing players 8, it is tougher, but more experience and drops. You should be able to breeze through with a cubed savage pole arm on an act 2 mercenary :)
OldSoldier said:
Figured I would give an update. My character has made it to 91. I'm pretty much only doing RoF runs at this point, searching desperately for an ethereal elite 6 socketable polearm or spear. Still no runes for Enigma (except the Ith, ha), which is depressing.

TwentyMuleTeam, I dig your avatar. Go blue!
liquid_mage said:
Got some time in this morning almost done with normal mode. After Ice Blast was enhanced through synergies and my merc was high enough level to use the 2nd savage pole arm I rolled(the first was meh) I went back up to P3, I hate P8 if I'm killing to slowly when i playing through normal and early NM. After blizzard and cold mastery things really started moving. I chug through potions like no bodies business, until I get insight it will probably stay that way.

Best find since I started: Magic Circlet +1 Sorc Skill +19 Energy (level 27)
Item that needs to be upgraded: My amulet is terrible, no luck gambling so far.

I updated the charts and moved OldSoldier up per his update.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      91             Yes           -        236            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Neksja       Turirao         SC      Druid     79             Yes         106         81            5           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      78             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     78             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
TwentyMule   Valus           HC      Barb      47             Yes          11          8            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
liquid_mage  zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc      38             Yes           -         12            7           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
Gladstone said:
Would like to get in on this, very happy to see that the singleplayer community is still thriving.
My character is Socrates: windy druid, hardcore, currently level 86
How do I add him to the list?
NanoMist said:
@Gladstone - I added you into the table. You can edit the table by quoting the latest post containing a table and inserting it into your post. If you are having trouble with the spacing, copy the table into a text editor with a monospaced font and make changes there. Remember to removed the quote tags. You can also preview your post if you are unsure about how it will look.

---

Here's the update.

At 98.4 now, very slow going. Still aiming for 99 by end of the year, but I'll have to pick up the pace a bit.

Notable drops:
Griffon's
Vex
Gul
Light GC with 20 life
Lo
Triple D Key
Jah
Vex
IK Armor

Griffon's Eye
Diadem
Defense: 176
Durability: 16 of 20
Required Level: 76
Fingerprint: 0xc0faaffc
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+25% Faster Cast Rate
-18% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+14% to Lightning Skill Damage
+118 Defense

I think the Griffon's and first vex should belong in the 98.2 update, judging by the experience, and I forgot to post it. Grail is past the 90% mark with most of the missing items in the usual TC3/TC87 group.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.4           No         3724        457            3         287
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      91             Yes           -        236            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Gladstone    Socrates        HC      Druid     86             ?             -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Neksja       Turirao         SC      Druid     79             Yes         106         81            5           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      78             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     78             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
TwentyMule   Valus           HC      Barb      47             Yes          11          8            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
liquid_mage  zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc      38             Yes           -         12            7           -
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
Kitteh said:
Welcome Gladstone, loving both of the names!
liquid_mage said:
At level 47 I found this in NM Act1 Catacombs level 3, need a bit before I can wear it:

Tal Rasha's Adjudication
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0x30a6403b
Item Level: 43
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Sorceress Skill Levels
Adds 3 - 32 Lightning Damage
+50 to Life
+42 to Mana
Lightning Resist +33%
Set (4 items): +10% Faster Cast Rate
Neksja said:
@liquid_mage I found my first Tal's Ammy in NM as well, although it was Act 2 Sewers. Congrats, it's a nice and useful find!

Aura, my hammerdin in progress, reached LK yesterday afternoon and this morning, made his stay 1/6th shorter:

CkkrEBC.jpg
liquid_mage said:
So the blizzard sorc made it to level 59 before I had to go to bed. At level 47 I found Tal's Ammy, around the same level I had all the runes for a Spirit sword but could not find a 4 socket sword. At level 52 I was finally able to make my Spirit sword. I had no luck finding a Shael or Sol rune for Rhyme, Lore, Insight. Once I got to NM Countess I ran her 10-12 times and managed to get a Shael for the Rhyme shield around level 50. I did not get any Sol runes until level 55, I got two off Countess as a double drop around level 55. Insight and Lore made a huge difference(Lore was a small upgrade as I had a +1 sorc skill and 19 energy circlet already). One of my better finds of the weekend was an etheral 4os poleaxe, that I used for the Insight. At level 59 I'm still wearing a very meh amulet but at this point I will keep using it until I can wear my Tal's ammy. I've run a bunch of P7 Meph(20ish runs) only useful finds so far are an Undead Crown for Life Steal and a Rockfleece armor both for my Act2 merc. At some points I was trying to rush through to get to Act 3 NM and had to force myself to slow down. In Act 2 I had to restart my game as I got trapped by the snake elite(Cold Immune) where you get Horadric Amulet.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.4           No         3724        457            3         287
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      91             Yes           -        236            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Gladstone    Socrates        HC      Druid     86             ?             -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Neksja       Turirao         SC      Druid     79             Yes         106         81            5           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      78             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     78             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
liquid_mage  zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc      59             Yes           -         54           11           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
TwentyMule   Valus           HC      Barb      47             Yes          11          8            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
MercMan said:
So with this thread sitting so long on the first page of the forum, I couldn't help but join in. I typically play a barb or paladin but decided on a LF/CS Zon for this challenge due to their Baal running (something I loathe) ability and my need for a change of pace.

Este was born on 6 October 2016 and she is now at lvl 68 running Meph for a bit of gear; particularly a Titan's. My gear is pretty bad, but that's the definition of untwinked.

My path to lvl 68 has been P8 all the way until I started NM Meph runs and contained two deaths that demonstrate why I don't play HC anymore. The first death occurred in an area I had cleared (or so I thought) when my 19 month old daughter started crying and I left the room to check on her. When I returned a lone zombie was standing over my corpse. I would swear the zombie was smiling. The second death was to Normal Duriel. All I can say is that base vit was not a good approach. After allocating some stat points it was easy street.

I don't have tons of time to play so I am hoping to hit lvl 99 by the end of 2017. Along the way I will pick up all S&U items to see how many I get on the way to 99. Infinity is definitely part of my plan but I'm not sure about Enigma.

Last thing, when I explained this project to my wife she requested contact info for all the forumites that have posted in this thread over the past month. I don't suggest you open any suspicious packages in the near future.

Until next time

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.2           No         3180        442            3         263
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      90             Yes           -        236            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Neksja       Turirao         SC      Druid     79             Yes         106         81            5           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      78             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     78             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
MercMan      Este            SC      Ama       68             Yes          178       122            2      Classified
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
TwentyMule   Valus           HC      Barb      47             Yes          11          8            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
liquid_mage  zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc       1             Yes           -          -            0           -

The Fallen:

Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
liquid_mage said:
@MercMan Welcome I just joined this event a few days ago. To be honest if i hit 95 i'd be happy I don't know if i've ever had a character above 92-93. Also please try to grab the latest update listing as the one you grabbed is 3-4 days old and has been updated 2-3 times since. I've updated the latest matrix with your info. Again welcome and good luck.

Code:
Name (F)     Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy     Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal       Eleanor         SC      Sorc      98.50          No         3064        437            5           -
NanoMist     Izuna           SC      Sin       98.4           No         3724        457            3         287
T72on1       Neverland       SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1594        394           11         148.5
PhineasB     Mercy           SC      Sin       96             Yes           -        361            9           -
hasuprotoss  Reina           SC      Sorc      95             Yes         894        316            -           -
XyleneCyanol Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
Tarantella   Tarasha         HC      Sorc      94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz         Qty             SC      Sorc      92             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB     Hiatus          SC      Sorc      93             Yes           -        326           15           -
OldSoldier   Battleforge     HC      Pala      91             Yes           -        236            -           -
Southpaw     Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
Qwernt       CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           -          -        Dont want to know
LiquidClear  Sally           SC      Assn      88             Yes         225          -            1           -
Gladstone    Socrates        HC      Druid     86             ?             -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb   Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     84             No          104         87           16          idk
Gambit       Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Neksja       Turirao         SC      Druid     79             Yes         106         81            5           -
Zenigma      Ayura           SC      Barb      78             No            -          -            -           -
Zenigma      Gnosis          SC      Druid     78             No            -          -            -           -
logo         Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
Darke Rahl   Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0           0
MercMan      Este            SC      Ama       68             Yes          178       122            2      Classified
Vildecor     Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
liquid_mage  zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc      59             Yes           -         54           11           -
ioupainmax   Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
Lord Molyb   Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       50             No           12          9            0         idk
TwentyMule   Valus           HC      Barb      47             Yes          11          8            -           -
Kitteh       Darozzo         HC      Druid     45             No            -          -            -           -
TrU          Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit       Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer      Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin   Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -

The Fallen:
Code:
Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1
T72on1 said:
Welcome to all the new people !!! Really makes me want to get back to CS running. But finding that HR in LK first? Yeah ...
 
Diablo 4 Interactive Map
PurePremium
Estimated market value
Low
High