Alright, I'm in. This tournament is perfect for me; I've long considered hosting a minimally-restrictive tournament myself, and the restrictions in this one are present in just the right amount. I enjoy the equipment and stash restrictions, but not so much stat- and skill-based limits, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this pop up. Thanks for hosting, @Dazliare!
I already have a hardcore necro in A1 hell (parked for ~3 years... one day), so I went with a different class not currently represented: barbarian. I then made the mistake of asking my wife to name my new barbarian, and she suggested "Barb". I told her the character can only be male but that just made her smirk even more, so Barb the barbarian has entered the tournament.
My plan is to use a sword/shield pairing and create some odd WW/Berserk hybrid, although I may respec to pure Berserk in Hell if whirlwind starts to feel too risky. I bought a short sword on my first trip back to town, and haven't used any other weapons since. I will only use swords for this playthrough unless, for instance, a high-end Butcher's Pupil drops and I personalize that instead. Otherwise, all swords all the way. A sword/shield barb is one I've never played before so I'm really looking forward to the new experience. As I am going max block, the relatively lower strength requirements and higher dexterity requirements of swords (as compared to other weapons) makes them a natural pairing. I am playing full-clears single pass, /p8 norm+nightmare, and /p1-p3 for hell.
So without further adieu, here is my first update:
Barb came across a good omen shortly after entering the Cold Plains when he found his first rare item:
Unfortunately, the sword had some
bells and whistles but little utility, as my +2 max damage saber attacked faster and had higher physical damage.
Ah, untwinked play with no real attack skill to speak of. How whimsical situations like this are:
What is going on with this bow? Why can I not figure out why it lists the damage it does? Am I completely missing something here?
I started gambling crystal swords at level 11, and scored what initially looked like
a very nice weapon. Unfortunately, 5% leech off 30 damage is... not much leech. So after rescuing Cain I visited Gheed again and got lucky:
Due to the low damage of normal weapons, +damage is much better than %ED, so I was quite happy with this and am excited to get back to playing with some much improved damage. So far I have 1 point in all pre-reqs, 4 points in Find Item, and 2-3 points in Sword Mastery. I want FI at 32%, and after that I'll be pumping Sword Mastery (and grabbing pre-reqs and 1-pt wonders) until 24 and 30, at which point BO and WW will take precedence.
Barb the barbarian, level 15, Cain rescued with full clears through the Dark Wood.
Code:
Forum Name Hero Name Class Level HC/SC Last Waypoint Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hackedagainanda Oxygen Paladin 13 HC Stony Field -
Dazliare Tryste Sorceress 20 HC Lut Gholein -
srrw TBA TBA 0 HC Rogue Encampment -
PhineasB Septimus Druid 0 SC Rogue Encampment -
CaseyJones Ninjara Assassin 14 HC Dark Wood -
Jocular TBD Druid 1 TBD Rogue Encampment -
Ghonn TBD Amazon 1 SC Rogue Encampment -
jonnyphive Barb Barbarian 15 HC Dark Wood -
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