[2018] Spirit Tournament [by Wolron]

[Grisu]

Well after a long time not playing I was suffering from withdrawal and had to come back. So enter FeuerMaedal a sorceress specializing in fire. She will be a Blaze sorceress which will fit well since she will be running away most of the time. Eventually she will dive into another element, but let's get to this if she ever makes it to NM.

Early on it was hard, her fists hit for barely 1-2 so everything takes a while to kill, Zombies take forever. I found an Explosion Shrine while level 1, so I lured like 10 monsters and BOOOM, level 2 here I am! With firebolt it got easier but it still took a while and I ran out of mana all the time, with level 3 I added Warmth. Clearing the Blood Moor and the Den of Evil took a while... Once I got to Cold plains I almost immeadiately ran into Bishibop and ran away, no way I could take him with no weapon. South of him I ran into a Boss pack of Gargantuan Beasts... also ran away. To kill the Boss I had to go back to town fill my belt (yay I found a belt which broke right away but it still holds potions) and inventory slots, the ones availiable, with manas and firebolt him, he was extra strong so melee was impossible. I thought we wouldn't use Throwing Potions so I had sold those. Eventually he went down and eventually I got to level 8 and hired a Rogue, without bow she does 3-6 damage which is 3 times what I do, from distance and faster attacks.

What I liked so far is that you learn to appreciate all the thing you take for given, like a weapon, anything would have been great. I also used lots of Infernos, it's crap, but better then firebolt at level 1. I only found another ethereal item, being my second sash, which I saved for possible Imbuing. I think once I reach level 12 I will be fine. No rings or ammulets droped so far, but an enormous ammount of wands, orbs and staffs. I wonde how much they would have been worth.

One QoL change that I would propose, is letting us fill our inventory once we full cleared an area with the allowed items. It wouldn't change a thing since we can run forth and back to the WP, just speed it up. Dunno what others and the host think.

 

[Grisu]

I love Blaze Sorcs. Good luck.

Yeah, getting to level 12 and Blaze will help A LOT. There is nothing close to it at this stage when it comes to damage dealt per point of mana used.

 

[Grisu]

@jiansonz bet you do, since you are the inspiration for it! My plan is max Blaze, some points in Firewall for static enemies and some Fire Mastery and if I ever get to NM add lightning, because FO would feel cheesy.

Well Blood Raven went down, it was a dangerous fight, I took her at p8 because I want to reach 12 before Coldcrow. I almost ran out of money, had to sell some extra gems. She resurrected tons of zombies, but eventually ran out of them. And finally I managed a position were she would shoud at me which I would dodge and my Rogue could deal with her.

I finally found an ethereal weapon, a hatchet which I will save for harder enemies.

Well Coldcrow is no more. I had to kill some of her minions and every other monster to get level 12. Blaze was not good against her, but Fireball was amazing!

 

[Grisu]

Well Coldcrow is no more. I had to kill some of her minions and every other monster to get level 12. Blaze was not good against her, but Fireball was amazing!

Nicely done. You can fight rogue archers with Blaze, but you need to pre-lay down some patches, the lure them back. That requires a decent level Blaze with a longer duration, though.

 

[Grisu]

Well, now things have really sped up! Cleared Stony Field, Dark Passage, Dark Wood and Tristram! After a couple levels blaze gets much better! I'm happy that I endured the slow start. After having terrible luck with jewelry early I found 2 rings with +1 to dmg which doubled the output with my fist. But it was barely needed as before I broke my hatchet I found a Scimitar and then another, then ethereal javelins and ethereal throwing knives, so I don't think I will have to use my fists again. I have found a buttload of topazes but not a single socketed ethereal armor... At least I found an ethereal Cap of Self Repairing, it´s bad, looks awful, but I least I know I will be able to use it for as long as I want.

Blaze is really OP at these levels, If I stack the flames Bosses drop in seconds, never did I kill Griswold so fast, no more then 5 seconds on p7. I think I will bump it up to p8 next session but I wanted to finish these areas today!

I found a +8% MF ring and a +40% GF ammy! Quite nice I must say!

The Evil Countess has been disposed, as I gain levels and pump Blaze it only gets stronger and the stacked flames kill everything in seconds, I'm still learning to lure ranged monsters on them. Several Ethereal Items have been dropped, now I won't ever be weaponless Also I finally found armor pieces with sockets, first a Cap with a single socket, got a chipped topaz right away and soon after a Skull Cap with 2 sockets, flawed and chipped topar which I plan to wear until it's down to 1 durability and then pass onto merc which I hope in Act II will have a weapon! Also a leather armor with 1 socket, also got chipped topaz. You have to use what you get! I also found a second ring with GF, 32%!

 

[Grisu]

I tried /p5 for a little bit, it was fine against Fallen, but everything else was rough. Not so much challenging, as tedious. Then, when a boss or champion pack shows up, it gets REALLY tough and frantic; cast rate isn't quite high enough to keep them permastunned, and with our limited gear, my resistances aren't great. Turned down to /p3 toward the Blood Raven leg of the Cold Plains. Blood Raven herself was an incredible bout. She had knockback, and she kept on the move the entire time. I used the melee switch on her, and it took a little over 15 minutes. I'm taking a break before the Cave and Stony Field. Also, going down to /p1.

After a bit of a break, I found some time to pick Tremolo back up. I took another look through my stash, and decided to give up some mana for resists and inventory. I noticed I still had Wirt's Leg from Nightmare, so I took a quick trip back to kill the cows, hoping for some runes to make that 'Lionheart' I'm so close to. Did find a couple of low runes, but not enough for the armor, and no upgrades to any other gear for that matter.

Dropped down to /p1 entering back into Hell for the Cave, Stony Field, and whole Underground Passage. Progress is much smoother at the lower player setting, but gear choices are starting to get slim.

Sorry for the long silence!

Edit: Black Marsh and Forgotten Tower cleared (Countess had Ort, Amn, and Lum) cleared, Hole remains.

Edit2: Cleared the Hole, then Tamoe Highland and Pits. Ran to Outer Cloister WP. No notable finds.

Edit3: Outer Cloister, Barracks, and Jail 1 cleared. Found a plain Harpoonist's GC. Deciding on the last imbue, have a pile of gloves, belts, boots, and at least 1 circlet.

 

[Grisu]

Horking pays off!


Edit: Taking a small break around Far Oasis/Maggot Lair. I need to figure out a PI solution. 3 more levels could unlock Berserk, but being already level 79, I think that won't be until the end of the game.

Could try an Iron Wolf once I get to Act III, and could trick him out fairly well (I do have a 4os Monarch for 'Spirit' and plenty of swords) but will miss 'Insight' terribly. That also means running past PI's for the rest of Act II, why not just do that for the rest of the game?

Not sure what I'll do. It kills me to leave monsters alive, but I won't let that kill the run.

Edit 2: 1 point in Berserk is better than waiting for the poison from 'Insight' at least... Not too much damage, at least not with the Deathbit, but it's the highest damage weapon I have that I can equip that will survive a single fight.

Cleared everything (minus some normal ghosts in the Arcane Sanctuary) up to the Canyon of the Magi. Tombs next.

Edit 3: Ended up clearing 3 false tombs and the true tomb, heavy ghost-type spawns in the other tombs dissuaded me from exploring them. Duriel wasn't too rough, and no useful drops. Act III has become my favorite act, especially when playing single-pass. Full of easy-to-kill monsters, and a LOT of them. Loads of opportunities for drops. Found a Wizardspike (can never have enough of those!) and some other useful stuff for other characters. I've cleared up to Stormtree, and learned a pretty neat trick.

There are sometimes (always?) some partially standing wall sections around the bottleneck, just enough room to run behind them. I guess the Threshers are too big to follow, and without any ranged abilities, they just stop, dead in their tracks. Not standing idle, with their animations playing and pacing back and forth on occasion, simply stuck. This might have to do with the fact that I was under the effect of the "ignore merc" thing, but meh, it was pretty neat to hide from him, he was putting some serious hurt on me. After I jumped behind the wall, I shouted at them like a Frenchman would the King of the Britians, and he fell to pieces.

GhostOfTremolo the all Vita-Singer, and Chalan the Sharpshooter, both level 81, Lower Kurast up next!

Now all we need is a little energon, and a lotta luck.

 

[Grisu]

Deeds to Hell Baal, with like a pixel of HP left. I ran out of Full Juvs and was relying on Super Reds to keep me alive, but in the last push I got swarmed, couldn't get a leap out, tried to TP but couldn't click the portal because of appendage spam. Over 5k life! Mostly poor playing, it's really late I should have saved Baal for tomorrow. Oh well. It was fun, and certainly challening.

Notable Finds:
Jav Skiller
Lit Skiller
Wizardspike
Tal's Plate
Blade of Ali Baba
Vex Rune
Ist Rune

I was so freaking close to getting a tourney Guardian. I'm disgusted with myself

 

[Grisu]

Ouch! What a painful way to go! But, I suppose if any enemy in the game should be able to kill you, it's Hell Baal. So kind of fitting, in a way. Congrats on a great run though. I wasn't a fan of trying this tournament myself largely due to the restrictions, but I've followed with great interest.

 

[Grisu]

Oh no . So incredibly close ...

Condolences on the loss, but also major congrats on the achievement !

 

[Grisu]

Condolences on the loss, but also major congrats on the achievement !

Yes, exactly!

 

[Grisu]

Oh crap.

Like I've said several times before, the full purple potion is the best item in the game.

 

[Grisu]

Yeah, I should have aborted the run and muled on more, but that of course means tricking Baal with his waves, and having all 5 waves parked on the front porch sounded AWFULLY dangerous to me. I really thought I could beat him, I got cocky really. My life was going down faster than his, but he had just enough life left to register. I should have screenshot his life bar... Seriously he beat me by less than a nose.