[2018] Tournament: Set/Unique Worshippers 2017 [by jiansonz]

jiansonz said:
Ouch! Shocking Hit is evil! What was your lightning resist at the time?

GL if you try again.
Think it was -10. Was too over confident.

Started a new character - Talameer the Thornadin! Going with full on thorns :D

Currently level 18 at the Outer Cloister but I'll give a proper update when something actually happens! :p
 
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I decided that I'd shelve AndrewNiteTorch for the time being and try another character. I may come back to him if this one fails.

I decided to try a Fireball sorceress. I don't recall ever doing FB as a main skill before. It does seem so point-and-shoot and could be quite fun. I think I'll use Lightning as a backup skill. I know that FCR will be very hard to come by in this tournament, but hopefully I can get a unique staff or a Spectral Shard and be OK.

Brigid_Crane is the sister of her Necromancer brother in another tournament I finished up a bit ago. She is far more vain than Amodan, relishing quaint artifacts of particularly shiny colors.

She was able to find two pieces of the Arctic set fairly early, and a perfect MF Nagelring, and has two normal topazes in her socketed helm, for a total of 102% MF for all kills. Not bad. She's made it past the Claw Viper Temple at level 25.

Screenshot017.jpgScreenshot020.jpgScreenshot023 (1).jpgScreenshot026.jpg

The amulet is a Nokozan and the Dragon Chang was a nice but bittersweet drop because it caused her merc to equip it but she could no longer use her stave, a nice +fireball one she bought from Akara, so she equipped her Crushflange instead. Her switch is the Deathspade that Andariel dropped but she probably won't use that much except for maybe the +MPK. She also has found Cleglaw's and Death's gloves, an Angelic ring (equipped) and mantle (merc equipped armor), and Infernal cap (merc helm). She is still using a white pair of boots and the socketed helm. She hasn't found any shields yet.

Brigid_Crane, level 25 Fireballer, finished the Claw Viper Temple
 
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Fireball/Lightning sounds interesting. Good luck!

(I've never played with Fireball as main skill either. I've done Blaze (several times), Fire Wall (a few times), Enchant (twice) and Meteor (once).)

OldSoldier said:
and the Dragon Chang was a nice but bittersweet drop because it caused her merc to equip it but she could no longer use her stave, a nice +fireball one she bought from Akara, so she equipped her Crushflange instead. Her switch is the Deathspade that Andariel dropped

I don't really understand. If you had two S/U weapons (Crushflange and Deathspade), neither equippaple by the merc, I don't see how you could have a white/grey staff equipped. Your character would need to equip both those S/U weapons in that case. At least that is how I mean for it to work, maybe I was unclear with the rules? If one of the two S/U weapons had been a Dragon Chang on the merc, then the non-magical staff would have been equippable.
 
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Charlo said:
I always saw it as 'Once you find an equip-able S/U for that slot, you HAVE to equip it'.

Meaning no more whites/greys.
Basically it works like that, but weapon- and shield slots are special since there are more than one of them. Until all of them are 'filled', you have a little more freedom.

For weapons, you have character slot 1, character slot 2, and merc slot to work with.

What OldSoldier did was to keep the first S/U weapon found on the secondary character slot, "give" the second S/U weapon to the merc slot (but since the merc couldn't use it, he removed the white/grey weapon there and kept the merc weapon slot empty). At this point, the third weapon slot (main character slot) was still free for a nice staff. It gets less complicated once you have found the 3rd S/U weapon.

(I also have to admit I haven't thought of the situation for Barbarians and their dual wield ability).
 
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jiansonz said:
Basically it works like that, but weapon- and shield slots are special since there are more than one of them. Until all of them are 'filled', you have a little more freedom.

For weapons, you have character slot 1, character slot 2, and merc slot to work with.

What OldSoldier did was to keep the first S/U weapon found on the secondary character slot, "give" the second S/U weapon to the merc slot (but since the merc couldn't use it, he removed the white/grey weapon there and kept the merc weapon slot empty). At this point, the third weapon slot (main character slot) was still free for a nice staff. It gets less complicated once you have found the 3rd S/U weapon.

(I also have to admit I haven't thought of the situation for Barbarians and their dual wield ability).
I always felt once you find an S/U weapon, you're screwed. No hiding it away in the other slot :p

Else you could go most of the game with a handy white/grey. I'm in Act II and found only 1 S/U! :D
 
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Charlo said:
Else you could go most of the game with a handy white/grey. I'm in Act II and found only 1 S/U! :D
Most of Normal difficulty, maybe, with a lot of luck.

The latest I've ever found my 3rd S/U weapon was from Frozenstein. Viri got hers in Act III Great Marsh. My Paladin in this tournament got his third S/U weapon from Andariel, so it differs quite a bit.
 
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Charlo said:
Else you could go most of the game with a handy white/grey.
I'm playing my third character in this tournament now. Even though there are three weapon slots available, I believe the longest I have gone before filling all of them with S/U items (or emptying them) is Travincal, Act III. Shields are a lot less common though.
 
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@mulligan: Welcome to you, too.

The rules are on the first page.
Nope, no runewords, and no runes in sockets.

Cube recipes?
The restrictions are for what item types you may equip, not for using the cube recipes themselves.
So any recipe where the result is a magical, rare or crafted item is useless, but many other recipes can be useful.
 
Decided to join back into the tourney with a more whacky build, and so Talameer the Thornadin was born.

Investing full 20 into Thorns and then 20 into Conversion. Fun in the wild, hell facing Act bosses!

Aim of the game, high life, low defence!

Act I was very much uneventful, with only 1 bloody S/U, Cleglaw's Claw! The only positive was not having to hit Carvers. They usually killed themselves. Anderial was trash as is tradition:
andy.png

Act II picked up. Plenty of hairy moments with the beetles. Sparks going everywhere, bodies piling up. Only towards the end did i finally get Conversion. Great fun hitting a big pack of monsters and watching them fight among themselves. Although, I've had 1 or 2 instances where Conversion would wear off but my Thorn Aura was still active on them. Very dangerous moments!

Came across this rare bad boy in the viper temple:
snake.png
Duriel wasn't much fun either. Plenty of trips back to town to regen as he hit's like a truck! Another trash drop, keeping up with appearances:
duriel.png

Had 5 S/U drops in total:
drops.png
Thought I'd get away with a handy scepter for the game but no, hit with 2 weapons in quick succession! :D

Drops:

Angelic Sickle
Beserker's Headgear

Stoutnail


Talameer, level 26, 5 S/U, ACT III Kurast Docks

Set/Unique Worshippers Leaderboard
Code:
Player:            Name:           Class:       Build:            Level:  S/U found:  Area:
----------------   ------------    -----------  ----------------  ------  ----------  ----------------
OldSoldier         AndrewNiteTorch Paladin      Charge            76       76         Hell Act I Cold Plains
jiansonz           Viridissima     Amazon       Valkyrie/CS       75      108         Hell Act I Rogue Camp
Grisu              Oberon          Druid        Fire Claws        75       84         Hell Act I Rogue Camp
Dezrok             Roland          Paladin      Avenger           52       40         NM Act II Lut Gholein
PhineasB           Quinta          Amazon       Valk/Passive/?    48       26         NM Act I Cold Plains
zoo                Alexander       Paladin      Holy Shock        48       51         NM Act I Rogue Camp
Caliph             ??              Assassin     Dancer            ??       ??         NM Act I Rogue Camp
Drystan            Goldilocks      Amazon       ??                32       12         Act IV Panda Fortress
jiansonz           Mirex           Paladin      FoH/Conviction    32       17         Act IV Panda Fortress
kstuart            Chocopower      Necromancer  Fishymancer       28        7         Act III Flayer Jungle
Charlo             Talameer        Paladin      Thornadin         26        5         Act III Kurast Docks
Dazliare           Pestilence      Druid        Rabies            25        2         Act II Palace
OldSoldier         Brigid_Crane    Sorceress    Balls of Fire     25       ??         Act II Palace
ioupainmax         Habacalva       Sorceress    Melee Enchantress 22        3         Act II Dry Hills
Wolron             Pam             Amazon       Passivezon        20      ???         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

Set/Unique Martyrs
Code:
Player:            Name:           Class:       Build:            Level:  S/U found:  Area:
----------------   ------------    -----------  ----------------  ------  ----------  --------------------
Southpaw8668       Wuzhul          Necromancer  Skelliemancer     67      ???         NM Act IV Chaos Sanctuary
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
Skunkbelly         NewestSkunk     Sorceress    FO/FB             34      16          Act IV Diablo
 
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Pam has killed Mephisto and moved on to Act 4 and the Pandamonium Fortress. She is a very strong level 32 Bowazon without a bow. She went nose-to-nose with Mephisto and never had to retreat or suffer the loss of her merc. Of course, the Valkyrie had to be recast about 6 times. Her Civerb's cudgel and ward are serving her well. She has 17 S/Us and is actively employing 14 of them. Here are her S/U items:
Wearing: Arctic binding and Arctic Mitts
Angelic Halo and Angelic Mantle
Civerb's Ward and Cudgel
Hotspurs
Cathan's Seal ring
Vidala's Snare amulet
Offhand: Deathspade
Merc: Cleglaw's Tooth
Angelic Mantle
Infernal Cranium
Stormguild Shield

Others not being used; Isenhart's Case, Iratha's Collar, Berserker's Hatchet

The only two items that need to be replaced to have a full complement of SU's is a two socketed Full Helm with two Topazes that provide 32 magic find and a spiked shield carried (God knows why) in her offhand. She has a perfect topaz and another full helm awaiting the development of another perfect topaz (possibly at the hell forge). I expect the hell forge will drop that perfect topaz just after or just before she finds her SU helm.
 
Oberon takes the lead! /jig

While making it through Act I in Hell, it felt like there were too few S/Us dropping, but in hindsight, there were some nice ones.

Fights were often draining...esp. potion draining:
04 - Blood Raven drop.jpg

Does anyone else notice that those good S/Us seem to be dropping more often from breakables/chests than from monsters???
05 - Magewrath.jpg

Anyways, Meat Scraper was a nice upgrade over the upped Kelpie Snare, although I might switch to Kelpie Snare for boss fights. Forgot to restash it for Andariel though ...
10 - Meat Scraper.jpg

Here's an action shot that could've cost me my life...but it is pretty :)
16 - Action Shot CE.jpg

First stair trap in the tower cellar, but stunningly I survived [/bad pun]
17 - Stair Trap.jpg

Really nasty double boss pack with MIght and Fana was divided by Shock Wave and conquered by my merc:
06 - Fana Might Boss packs 1.jpg
07 - Fana Might Boss packs 2.jpg

Here are examples of how I try to fight against boss packs: Find a door, let the monsters mob up on the other side and keep most monsters stunned while the bear takes the hits and my merc and me poke/smash from 2nd row. Doesn't always work out like that, but it worked well most of the time.
22 - Ghoul pack fight.jpg23 - Ghoul Pack fight 2.jpg

Finally Andariel fell and left me...Ichorsting and a Twisted Essence of Suffering???? *sigh*, well, you can't have everything.
24 - Andariel drop.jpg

At least the Doomslinger I found gives me (upped) a 6 fpa attack, which was pretty nice against Andariel. I mean, that's over 4 attacks per second!! Or 10k fire damage per second.

S/Us found in Hell Act I:
Magewrath (Mausoleum)
Cathan's Rule (Crypt)
Blackhand Key (Crypt?)
Meat Scraper (Underground Passage Level 2)
Angelic Sickle (Underground Passage Level 1)
Milabrega's Orb #3 (Underground Passage Level 1)
Cathan's Seal #5 (Dark Wood)
Tancred's Crowbill #2 (Black Marsh)
Doomslinger (Pit level 1)
Umbral Disk (Catacombs Level 3)
Ichorsting (Andariel)

Oberon, level 79 FC Druid, and Neeraj, HF merc, Hell ACT II Lut Gholein next, 95 S/Us found

Set/Unique Worshippers Leaderboard
Code:
Player:            Name:           Class:       Build:            Level:  S/U found:  Area:
----------------   ------------    -----------  ----------------  ------  ----------  ----------------
Grisu              Oberon          Druid        Fire Claws        79       95         Hell Act II Lut Gholein
OldSoldier         AndrewNiteTorch Paladin      Charge            76       76         Hell Act I Cold Plains
jiansonz           Viridissima     Amazon       Valkyrie/CS       75      108         Hell Act I Rogue Camp
Dezrok             Roland          Paladin      Avenger           52       40         NM Act II Lut Gholein
PhineasB           Quinta          Amazon       Valk/Passive/?    48       26         NM Act I Cold Plains
zoo                Alexander       Paladin      Holy Shock        48       51         NM Act I Rogue Camp
Caliph             ??              Assassin     Dancer            ??       ??         NM Act I Rogue Camp
Drystan            Goldilocks      Amazon       ??                32       12         Act IV Panda Fortress
jiansonz           Mirex           Paladin      FoH/Conviction    32       17         Act IV Panda Fortress
Wolron             Pam             Amazon       Bowzon            32       17         Act IV Panda Fortress
kstuart            Chocopower      Necromancer  Fishymancer       28        7         Act III Flayer Jungle
Charlo             Talameer        Paladin      Thornadin         26        5         Act III Kurast Docks
Dazliare           Pestilence      Druid        Rabies            25        2         Act II Palace
OldSoldier         Brigid_Crane    Sorceress    Balls of Fire     25       ??         Act II Palace
ioupainmax         Habacalva       Sorceress    Melee Enchantress 22        3         Act II Dry Hills
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

Set/Unique Martyrs
Code:
Player:            Name:           Class:       Build:            Level:  S/U found:  Area:
----------------   ------------    -----------  ----------------  ------  ----------  --------------------
Southpaw8668       Wuzhul          Necromancer  Skelliemancer     67      ???         NM Act IV Chaos Sanctuary
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
Skunkbelly         NewestSkunk     Sorceress    FO/FB             34      16          Act IV Diablo
 
Grisu's progress finally motivated me to go through the boring session of selling my 194 items worth >30k gold that I had muled off my Amazon Viridissima in Normal and Nightmare, gamble it (as expected, it yielded nothing...) and prepare for Hell.

Here are her main stats:

ViriH01, stats.jpg

Her Passive and Magic skills are made up of maxed Valkyrie and Decoy, 1 in the rest except Pierce. She no longer has any +skills on her spear switch. There is +1 from her shield on the other switch. I really like to have Slow Missiles at level 2, so I am seriously considering adding the DoE point there. 12 seconds duration feels a little short on Hell - I'd prefer not having to waste time and attention recasting it too often.

Went mainly for gear (including charms) that gives resists. The MF that remains are the Sigon's boots combo (now boots-belt-armor) and Blade of Ali Baba on switch.

Primary Gear:
* Natalya's Totem, socketed with a 28% Ruby Jewel (the fire resist kind of Ruby prefix)
* Iratha's Collar (nice 15% resist all partial bonus)
* Lance of Yaggai, upgraded to Yari
* Sigon's Shelter, socketed with a 16% Ambergris Jewel
* Iratha's Cuff (20% IAS, almost as much as from Sigon's gloves)
* Angelic Halo
* Sigon's Wrap
* Angelic Halo
* Sigon's Sabot

Switch
* Blade of Ali Baba
* Sigon's Guard (mostly so I can cast a bigger Valkyrie)


Fazel, Holy Freeze Guard
* Guillaume's Face
* ethereal The Battlebranch, upgraded to Partizan
* Twitchthroe, upgraded to Trellised Armor
 
I think I'm going to end up finishing act 3 tonight (maybe act 4 too?!?!), but I have a question. What has everyone's gambling strategy been? I've been going for Gull dagger, but it's getting insanely tedious with how rarely daggers spawn in the gambling window, and how cheap they are to gamble.
 
Dazliare said:
I think I'm going to end up finishing act 3 tonight (maybe act 4 too?!?!), but I have a question. What has everyone's gambling strategy been? I've been going for Gull dagger, but it's getting insanely tedious with how rarely daggers spawn in the gambling window, and how cheap they are to gamble.
Rings the whole way, from clvl 22 and onwards (when Angelic Halo has the best chance).

I added amulets on my large gambling spree before Hell (mostly for a chance at grailers).
 
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