Act III Fire mercs clearly have worse damage output than the other two subtypes. It's not so bad if you can keep them so far away from the enemies that only the Fire Ball has enough range, because then he will keep shooting those. This gets harder to do as the game goes on, however, because his Inferno range increases with spell level.
Haven't played much lately, and it won't be much the coming weeks either, because I am playing through Icewind Dale II for the first time.
But of course I can report the parts I've played.
Mirex the Paladin is still having the Best of Times. Helped by maxed Conviction, his mercenary guard stands up to the monsters really well. We had no particularly tough start in any of the seven tombs, nothing like what we had in Stony Tomb earlier.
Kaa was heavily resistant to the Fists, but I eventually got Emilio into a good position where no sparks hit and out of reach from the big guys' melee hits:
Sszark was Extra Fast. I found it best to use Smite-lock into a wall the whole fight. Neat, we didn't even get Cursed.
MF is still at +98%: 20 from Milabrega's Orb, 50 from Angelic's 3-combo, 24 from perfect topaz in Cathan's Mesh and 4 from charm. Of course I'm finding a good number of greens and golds, but considering the decent MF number, I think I've actually been somewhat unlucky playing the last areas (the ones in Act III).
Berserker's Hauberk (Sszark the Burning) Cathan's Seal #2 (Great Marsh sparkly chest)
[Highlight]Ichorsting[/Highlight] #2 (Lower Kurast)
The old Bloodthief has +58% ED, 11% life steal. The one I found in the Canyon has +66% ED, 10% life steal. Damage is king, so I had Emilio swap to the new one. It's not like I have any shortage of normal -> exceptional weapon upgrade materials...
[Highlight]Destroyer Mirex the FoH/Conviction Paladin and Emilio the Holy Freeze guard, level 61, 69 S/U items found, NM Kurast Bazaar next[/Highlight]
Shadow Lurker Has killed Andariel (P3). Her best find so far in NM is The Blade of Ali Baba (Unique Tulwar). I saw the +51 magic find and knew that I wanted to equip it. I could actually dream about Andariel giving Shadow Lurker 2 or 3 nice SU items. However, when I first saw it, I thoought it would be a long time before I could use it. Both the STR and DEX requirements were far from my numbers. I needed 8 DEX and 15 STR. That was in the Pit.
I was in level 2 of the Catacombs when I leveled again. So, I decided to see if the numbers were attainable. I put the five points into STR and found two charms with 5 STR each in Shadowlurker's stash. The Blade has +5 Dexterity, so I only needed a charm with +3 DEX. No problem there. Of course now I had to see how the new charms could be implemented and what I would have to give up. Many of my charms have +poison damage. That is how I get a decent Blade Fury damage. Other charms major in resistance. It appeared that I was going to have to make a sacrifice somewhere. Then I took a closer look at the Blade. It has 2 sockets and it has a decent damage (29-65). So, I put two perfect Emeralds in the sockets. That ended up doubling my Blade Fury damage even after giving up a couple good charms with poison damage on them. Since the blood Crescent had +15 resist all, she did lose significant resists, but that can be alleviated in the future when the STR and DEX are restored by leveling.
(NOTE: The Andariel drop included no SU items. So much for the Blade's +51MF and ShadowLurker's +95 MF total.)
The other good new item is Hsarus' Iron Stay. The +20 CR and the +20 life will help make up for what was lost when the Blade was equipped.
Here are the items she is using:
Milegrega's Diadem
Milebrega's Orb
Nokozan Relic
Blade of Ali Baba
Darkglow armor with a perfect Topaz in Larzuk's socket.
Bloodfist
Gorefoot
Hsarus" Iron Stay
Offhand: Witherstring
Here are the items the merc is using:
Isenhart's Case
Isenhart's Horns
Dragon Chang
Here are the 17 other items she has found: Angelic sickle, Another Bloodfist, Three Cathan's Mesh, Crush Flange, Death Touch, Two GleamScythes, Iratha's Collar, Kinemil's Awl, two Berserker Headgear, Pelta Lunata, Skull Splitter, Sandar's Superstition and the Diggler.
Here are the numbers in each act:
(1) 2
(2) 8
(3) 6
(4) 3
(5) 7 (One of the seven was actually in the cow level -Isenhart's Horns)
(NM1) 4
Shadow Lurker has assembled the Horadric Staff and is heading for the palace (P3). She has +133 magic find, but her resistances are a bit low (F70, C4, L-9, P3). When she remembers to employ Fade, she gets 27 more resist all. She still needs to find one more set or unique ring.
Here are the items she is using:
Milegrega's Diadem
Milebrega's Orb
Nokozan Relic
Blade of Ali Baba
Spirit Forge Linked Mail with two sockets filled with perfect Topazes.
Bloodfist
Gorefoot
Cathan's Seal ring
Tal Rasha's Fine Spun Cloth mesh belt
Offhand: Witherstring
Here are the items the merc is using:
Isenhart's Case
Isenhart's Horns
Dragon Chang
Here are the 23 other items she has found: Skewer of Krinitz, Hsarus's Iron Stay, Dark Glow, Bonesnap, Naj's Circlet, Angelic sickle, Another Bloodfist, Three Cathan's Mesh, Crush Flange, Death Touch, Two GleamScythes, Iratha's Collar, Kinemil's Awl, two Berserker Headgear, Pelta Lunata, Skull Splitter, Sandar's Superstition, Blood Crescent and the Diggler.
Here are the numbers in each act:
(1) 2
(2) 8
(3) 6
(4) 3
(5) 7 (One of the seven was actually in the cow level -Isenhart's Horns)
(NM1) 4
(NM2) 6 (so far)
Shadow Lurker has killed Duriel (P1). She has +133 magic find. Duriel dropped 4 SU items: another Crushflange, BlackTongue, The Impaler War Spear (improves the merc damage by double) and The Angelic Halo ring (when I saw the ring drop, I thought it had to be Cathan's, but it was this new ring. Now all my spots are filled.)
Here are the items she is using:
Milegrega's Diadem
Milebrega's Orb
Nokozan Relic
Blade of Ali Baba
Spirit Forge Linked Mail with two sockets filled with perfect Topazes.
Bloodfist
Gorefoot
Cathan's Seal ring
Angelic Halo
Tal Rasha's Fine Spun Cloth mesh belt
Offhand: Witherstring
Here are the items the merc is using:
Isenhart's Case
Isenhart's Horns
The Impaler
Here are the 30 other items she has found: Coldsteel Eye, another Isenhart's Case, BlackTongue, Skewer of Krinitz, Hsarus's Iron Stay, Dark Glow, Bonesnap, Naj's Circlet, Angelic sickle, Another Bloodfist, Three Cathan's Mesh, two Crush Flanges, Death Touch, Two GleamScythes, Iratha's Collar, Kinemil's Awl, another Milabrega's Orb, Langer Briser, two Berserker Headgear, Pelta Lunata, Skull Splitter, Sandar's Superstition, the Dragon Chang, Blood Crescent and the Diggler.
Here are the numbers in each act:
(1) 2
(2) 8
(3) 6
(4) 3
(5) 7 (One of the seven was actually in the cow level -Isenhart's Horns)
(NM1) 4
(NM2) 14
Yes, I think that Impaler will make the merc more deadly. Since I was in a hurry to make the post, I neglected to include a comment about another item that ShadowLurker found. The item is:
Langer Briser Arbalest (crossbow) Two-Hand Damage: 39 to 94 Required Dexterity: 61 Required Strength: 52
Required Level: 32 Crossbow Class - Fast Attack Speed
+30 to Life +19 to Maximum Damage Adds 1-212 lightning damage 59% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Knockback 33% Chance of Open Wounds
I had to use a charm to get enough dexterity to wield this, but it will be interesting to see if it will be useful. I have Blade of Ali Baba in the other hand. Switching to the Langer Briser costs 40 cold resist. The damage is about the same as the Blade of Ali Baba, but it is a range attack and that could be useful occasionally. Magic Find is a little bit of an issue: the Langer Briser has +59 MF, the Blade and Milabrega's orb have 78 MF combined. Actually, I currently use Blade Fury instead of the Blade of Ali Baba and I would probably continue to use Blade Fury most of the time even when switched to Langer Briser. I guess I will have to play around a bit and see which one I like better.
Shadow Lurker has gone through the Spider Forest, the Great Marsh and the Flayer Jungle . That is probably about half of Act III and she has found 7 SU items. This is getting to be fun!! Okay, so what if none of them are useful for ShadowLurker. The best of the items is Aldur's Stony Gaze; too bad ShadowLurker is not a Druid. The Salamandar staff is also kinda neat, but she is also not a Sorceress.
Here are the items she is using:
Milegrega's Diadem
Milebrega's Orb
Nokozan Relic
Blade of Ali Baba
Spirit Forge Linked Mail with two sockets filled with perfect Topazes.
Bloodfist
Gorefoot
Cathan's Seal ring
Angelic Halo
Tal Rasha's Fine Spun Cloth mesh belt
Offhand: Langer Briser
Here are the items the merc is using:
Isenhart's Case
Isenhart's Horns
The Impaler
Here are the 37 other items she has found with the new ones listed first: Civerb's Ward, The Salamandar, RavenClaw, Hwannin's Blessing, Aldur's Stony Gaze, Three Gleamscythes, another Cathan's Seal, Coldsteel Eye, another Isenhart's Case, BlackTongue, Skewer of Krinitz, Hsarus's Iron Stay, Dark Glow, Bonesnap, Naj's Circlet, Angelic sickle, Another Bloodfist, Three Cathan's Mesh, two Crush Flanges, Death Touch, Iratha's Collar, Kinemil's Awl, another Milabrega's Orb, Langer Briser, two Berserker Headgear, Pelta Lunata, Skull Splitter, Sandar's Superstition, the Dragon Chang, Blood Crescent and the Diggler.
Here are the numbers in each act:
(1) 2
(2) 8
(3) 6
(4) 3
(5) 7 (One of the seven was actually in the cow level -Isenhart's Horns)
(NM1) 4
(NM2) 14
(NM3) 7 so far
I'm so glad this tournament is still around! I've been playing other games a lot recently, but I'm feeling the D2 itch again, and Pestilence is calling my name. I promise to post an update soon!
Shadow Lurker has killed Mephisto on P1 and received 3 SU items from him (Infernal Sign, Tancred's Crowbill and Venom Ward). That makes 56 items found at level 61 as she heads off to the Pandamonium Fortress.
The best item since my last post is Hwannin's Refuge, but it is not as good as the Spirit Forge Linked Mail that Shadowlurker is already wearing. Even adding Hwannin's Blessing to it did no good. The major problem is that the Refuge requires 86 strength and taking off the Spirit Forge costs 15 strength. ShadowLurker is just plain old too weak to wear her new clothes.
Hwanin's Refuge Tigulated Mail Defense: 382 Required Strength: 86
+100 to Life +200 Defense Poison Resist +27% 10% Chance to cast Level 3 Static Field when struck
Here are the items she is using:
Milegrega's Diadem
Milebrega's Orb
Nokozan Relic
Blade of Ali Baba
Spirit Forge Linked Mail with two sockets filled with perfect Topazes.
Bloodfist
Gorefoot
Cathan's Seal ring
Angelic Halo
Tal Rasha's Fine Spun Cloth mesh belt
Offhand: Langer Briser
Here are the items the merc is using:
Isenhart's Case
Isenhart's Horns
The Impaler
Here are the 42 other items she has found with the new ones listed first: Hwannin's Refuge, Hellcast, Infernal Sign, Tancred's Crowbill, Venom Ward, Civerb's Ward, The Salamandar, RavenClaw, Hwannin's Blessing, Aldur's Stony Gaze, Three Gleamscythes, another Cathan's Seal, Coldsteel Eye, another Isenhart's Case, BlackTongue, Skewer of Krinitz, Hsarus's Iron Stay, Dark Glow, Bonesnap, Naj's Circlet, Angelic sickle, Another Bloodfist, Three Cathan's Mesh, two Crush Flanges, Death Touch, Iratha's Collar, Kinemil's Awl, another Milabrega's Orb, Langer Briser, two Berserker Headgear, Pelta Lunata, Skull Splitter, Sandar's Superstition, the Dragon Chang, Blood Crescent and the Diggler.
Here are the numbers in each act:
(1) 2
(2) 8
(3) 6
(4) 3
(5) 7 (One of the seven was actually in the cow level -Isenhart's Horns)
(NM1) 4
(NM2) 14
(NM3) 12
I should have been more aggressive with Conversion early on (preferrably before catching any Amp) and I should've tried to Smite lock the boss before the fight got out of hand. Which it did in a hurry. I did save Emilio at first, with a purple, but they were simply too dangerous to hang around. Emilio soon died anyway. I backed off, exited and resurrected him.
Then it got even worse. These guys get faster the more hurt they are, and they are so bulky that it's hard to keep track of things in a cramped space. Emilio died real quick. Mirex took some brutal hits, but thankfully, he broke loose from their stunning hits before they surrounded him. He fled down-left, ignored two Night Lords and portalled out. Six full purples used. Whew.
After Emilio's next resurrection and a little pause to regain myself, we re-entered the place from the stairs. I didn't know how many of them had followed to the portal or if they would be by the stairs. Yikes, they certainly camped the place. Get out!
Arriving through the portal, only the Night Lords were around. After killing them, here is the map:
The other four temples were reasonably easy. Sure were a few exciting moments there too, but nothing major.
Mephisto in NM is nearly always the last act boss I fight on /p8. Smite with Crushflange was awesomely effective for about 2/3 of Mephisto's life. That auto-hit borders on overpowered.
One of his drop was, surprisingly (almost 100% MF) and annoyingly, the only S/U item after Lower Kurast, and it was the measly [Highlight]Skewer of Krintiz[/Highlight]. Failed unique Blade Talons doesn't count.
[Highlight]Destroyer Mirex the FoH/Conviction Paladin and Emilio the Holy Freeze guard, level 64, 70 S/U items found, NM Outer Steppes next[/Highlight]
Shadow Lurker has found 4 more SU items for a total of 60 at character level 63. This is 18 items less and 4 levels less than Wolron's last attempt. Yes, Diablo did it to me again. He trapped me in the bones just like last time.
Prior to facing Diablo I thought about how to avoid that bone trap and seemed to remember from years ago that the method was to use a town portal to leave the trap. But then I tried to put town portal on my mouse button and found that the only button that worked for TP was the right button and that was the button that I would need for my main offensive weapon (Death Sentry). So, I decided to leave Death Sentry on the RMB and use Blade Fury on the left mouse button to try to destroy the trap when it was used on ShadowLurker. It worked a couple times, but not the third time. Question: can you modify the mouse button assignments? I would have liked to put TP on the LMB or change the Death Sentry to the LMB.
The best item since my last post is "Laying of Hands" bramble mitts. Since it requires level 63, ShadowLurker did not wear those gloves very long at all.
Here are the items she is using:
Milegrega's Diadem
Milebrega's Orb
Nokozan Relic
Blade of Ali Baba
Spirit Forge Linked Mail with two sockets filled with perfect Topazes.
Laying of Hands
Gorefoot
Cathan's Seal ring
Angelic Halo
Tal Rasha's Fine Spun Cloth mesh belt
Offhand: Langer Briser
Here are the items the merc is using:
Isenhart's Case
Isenhart's Horns
The Impaler
Here are the 46 other items she has found with the new ones listed first: Yet another Milabrega's Orb, Sparkling Mail, Vidala's Ambush, Hwannin's Refuge, Hellcast, Infernal Sign, Tancred's Crowbill, Venom Ward, Civerb's Ward, The Salamandar, RavenClaw, Hwannin's Blessing, Aldur's Stony Gaze, Three Gleamscythes, another Cathan's Seal, Coldsteel Eye, another Isenhart's Case, BlackTongue, Skewer of Krinitz, Hsarus's Iron Stay, Dark Glow, Bonesnap, Naj's Circlet, Angelic sickle, Another Bloodfist, Three Cathan's Mesh, two Crush Flanges, Death Touch, Iratha's Collar, Kinemil's Awl, another Milabrega's Orb, Langer Briser, two Berserker Headgear, Pelta Lunata, Skull Splitter, Sandar's Superstition, the Dragon Chang, Blood Crescent Bloodfist and the Diggler.
Here are the numbers in each act:
(1) 2
(2) 8
(3) 6
(4) 3
(5) 7 (One of the seven was actually in the cow level -Isenhart's Horns)
(NM1) 4
(NM2) 14
(NM3) 12
(NM4) 4 (without killing Diablo and getting that drop!)
[HIGHLIGHT]Set/Unique Worshippers Leaderboard[/HIGHLIGHT]
Code:
Player: Name: Class: Build: Level: S/U found: Area:
---------------- ------------ ----------- ---------------- ------ ---------- ---------------------------
jiansonz Viridissima Amazon Valkyrie/CS 87 154 Guardian #1
Grisu Oberon Druid Fire Claws 86 124 Hell Act IV RoF
OldSoldier AndrewNiteTorch Paladin Charge 77 76 Hell Act II Lut Gholein
PhineasB Quinta Amazon Valk/Passive/? 67 62 NM Act V Harrogath
jiansonz Mirex Paladin FoH/Conviction 61 69 NM Kurast Bazaar
OldSoldier Brigid_Crane Sorceress Balls of Fire 53 ?? NM Act II Lut Gholein
Dezrok Roland Paladin Avenger 52 40 NM Act II Lut Gholein
zoo Alexander Paladin Holy Shock 48 51 NM Act I Rogue Camp
Dazliare Pestilence Druid Rabies 35? >2 Act V Harrogath
Drystan Goldilocks Amazon ?? 32 12 Act IV Panda Fortress
ioupainmax Habacalva Sorceress Melee Enchantress 32 15 Act IV Pand. Fortress
Jocular GodKnowsWho Assassin Dragontail ?? 3 Act II Lut Gholein
GothamsBeard Envy Amazon Elemental Bowzon ?? ??? Act II Lut Gholein
hackedagainanda Conrad Paladin Frost Zealot ?? ??? Act II Lut Gholein
RedTang PaniSuka Sorceress FO/Lightning ?? ??? Act I Outer Cloister
Oakbrain Olyssia Assassin Lightning Trapsin 18 0 Act I Outer Cloister
TwentyMuleTeam TwoHearted Druid Fury 13 0 Act 1 Underground Passage
jamesixgun Bethany Sorceress ChargedBolt/FOrb 13 1 Act 1 Dark Wood
[HIGHLIGHT]Set/Unique Martyrs[/HIGHLIGHT]
Code:
Player: Name: Class: Build: Level: S/U found: Area:
---------------- ------------ ----------- ---------------- ------ ---------- ---------------------------
Southpaw8668 Wuzhul Necromancer Skelliemancer 67 ??? NM Act IV Chaos Sanctuary
Wolron Pam Amazon Bowzon 67 78 NM Act IV Diablo
Wolron ShadowLurker Assassin Trapper 63 60 NM Act IV Diablo
Wolron Persephone Sorceress Frozen Orb 58 41 NM Act II Tal Rasha's tombs
Charlo KulKanta Druid Ele-Summoner 59 28 NM Act III Kurast Sewers
zoo BorisTheBlade Paladin Holy Shock 56 33 NM Act II Ancient Tunnels
Oakbrain Jathnolf Barbarian Berserk/War Cry 54 ??? NM Act II Far Oasis
zoo Jens-Rune Barbarian Whirlwind 51 27 NM Act I Tamoe Highland
Wolron Durbanex Druid Summoner 49 25 NM Act I Dark Tower
LacertaCK Haramis Sorceress Meteorb 49 28 NM Act I The Hole (MSLE)
Skunkbelly NewestSkunk Sorceress FO/FB 34 16 Act IV Diablo
kstuart Chocopower Necromancer Fishymancer 34 9 Act IV Diablo
Charlo Talameer Paladin Thornadin 32 5+ Act IV Diablo
Charlo Meroca Necro Skelli/Poison 30 9 Act IV River Of Flame
You CAN however drop a couple of scrolls into your belt. Some tournaments have forbidden this in the past, as you don't have to make a casting animation, but if you can afford the belt space, this may help on a future Diablo attempt.
I do not quite understand this. From what you write, it looks like you aren't using hotkeys for the skills, as if you only have fast access to two skills, left and right mouse button. Why not have a hotkey for Town Portal? Then if he jails you, you can swap to TP, cast it, swap back. In about 2 seconds.
Also, it's for situations like this that every Assassin should invest a few skill points to get Dragon Flight.
I have not played an assassin much, so I looked up Dragon Flight. It is not clear from the description that I have that it would do much for me. It says, "Using this skill she lunges at her target and delivers a devastating kick." Does this amount to a short teleport movement??? Will it take me out of the bone trap???
And as if I have not already displayed my ignorance adequately, what are hot keys? I vaguely remember the term from my previous life, but how do you set them up and use them?
By default, the hotkeys are defined as F1 to F8 (on PC, haven't the foggiest idea on Mac)
These hotkeys can be used to quickly bring a skill to either the Left or Right mouse button, depending on how you assign them.
When you open your skill quick tree (default 'S') you can hover your mouse over any skill icon, and press the key representing the hotkey you want to assign to that skill. From then on, simply hit that key, and the selected skill will be loaded into the proper slot on your mouse.
Most of us here change the hotkeys to (on an American keyboard) QWER, ASDF, and ZXCV. I also have F1-F8 open, but there aren't too many builds that need a full 12 skills hotkeyed or more.
For example, on my Barb in the Spirit Tourney, he has Battle Command set to Q, Battle Orders set to W, and Shout set to E. When it's time to cast, the keystrokes are Q, RMB (right mouse button), W, RMB, E, RMB. Then back to 'A' for War Cry, 'S' for Find Item, 'D' for Battle Cry, or 'F' for Howl, depending on the situation.
Using these hotkeys will allow you to have FAST access to more than one skill on each mouse button. Things like Town Portal (from a Book/Scroll in your inventory) or Identify, charges from gear, Unsummon, Throw, etc. can all be hotkeyed for quick access.
Yes, it teleports you to an enemy you click on. So clicking on Diablo would most likely have gotten you out of the prison.
BYW, I find it amazing that you can make it all the way to Nightmare Diablo without hotkeys!
I use most of those as well (A, S, D, W, Z and X are used for the most commonly-used skills), but some are reserved for their default function. I've always had them, and can't easily change now. Q is Quest and C is Character screen.
F1 is always Throw for me, F8 is Teleport (or similar).
With some Assassin and Necromancer builds, the maximum 16 hotkeys aren't enough for what I really want to hotkey, so I have to make some sacrifices there...
Not so many for Mirex, though. Here are his left button skills:
Since I no longer use Attack, I've put Smite on my default Attack button (A). Holy Bolt isn't really used any longer, it's too weak for merc healing.
And the right button skills. The seven auras I am still using (or in reality, four - Might, Holy Freeze and Holy Fire are obsolete) and yes, Town Portal. I always have it on 5, next to a full rejuve button (4):
Patience is my forte. Nimble fingers are not. Nonetheless, I will look into these hot keys and see if I can establish them (and then actually use them).
