[2019] The "I am Overburdened" Tournament! [by Dazliare]

Dazliare said:
peytron said:
I think that may be beneficial, my only hesitation would be that some people that are further along than me may have already thrown away useful merc weapons they otherwise would have kept.
Yes, agreed, which is exactly why I'm pitching it. I would just implement it, but I didn't want anyone to feel bad for having done that, so I'm asking everyone :)
peytron said:
I think this was asked previously, but I can't find if you can swap your personalized item for a new one? Also, do I have to wait until I get the personalized item quest reward before I start using it?

I haven't found anything yet, still early in act 1 normal but figured I should clarify now :).
Dazliare said:
peytron said:
I think this was asked previously, but I can't find if you can swap your personalized item for a new one? Also, do I have to wait until I get the personalized item quest reward before I start using it?

I haven't found anything yet, still early in act 1 normal but figured I should clarify now :).
Great questions!

Once you've personalized an item, you may not personalize another, unless we change the rules to allow an extra personalized item for your mercenary (just waiting on a couple more folks to respond before I decide). And yep, you will need to wait until the personalized item quest reward. I want it to feel rewarding to kill Nihlathak, as many folks skip him due to the danger involved
Jocular said:
I dislike the idea of a personalized weapon for the merc as it will inevitably result in everyone using act 2/insight mercenaries.
Dazliare said:
Jocular said:
I dislike the idea of a personalized weapon for the merc as it will inevitably result in everyone using act 2/insight mercenaries.
Well it doesn't have to be a weapon, but point taken. The more I think on it, the more I'm thinking I won't make any changes
Rosy Maple said:
Finally had time to sit down and put this together!

After clearing out the den, Malice needed a guide to lead her through the wilderness outside the monastery. Thankfully Blaise the Rogue was glad to help!

1662343486626.png
That's her on the bottom right, walking away.

Malice decided to deck herself out with colorful topazes to mix up the goth gear, and to contrast her dark soul.
1662343504686.png1662343522144.png
"No, I don't know how to get to the forgotten tower. Nobody does. That's why it's called the forgotten tower." Malice found it anyway, by shaking down some of the local imp mans for info.
1662343544972.png
Turns out the monastery was mostly unguarded, so Malice and Blaise took it back without much of a fight! Wonder why Kashya was having so much trouble?

1662343554324.png
(FHR charm! Nice) Metal boots are great for stomping, but Malice isn't quite used to the weight yet.
1662343567899.png
In the Jail, Malice found another good luck charm! Actually it's an amulet not a charm.

1662343579187.png
The stash! Overburdened is right.
1662343590656.png
Andariel was slain, but at what cost? Poor Blaise, struck down in her moment of victory. She actually died AFTER Andariel went down. Poison?
1662343603528.png
Some good gems, but that's it as far as drops go.

And with a heavy heart, Malice travels to Lut Gholein!

(forgot the table!)
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint       Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          28     SC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          24     SC       Lost city             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress      20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
1662343631813.png
Oakbrain said:
@Rosy Maple - Like myself you're playing a kicksin and have a tree in your username, which clearly marks you out as a patrician of exquisite tastes. If I might ask a fellow 'sin, what skills are you planning to use in combination with DT later on? Were you thinking about Traps (what I'm doing), or Venom, or Phoenix Strike or something?
Rosy Maple said:
@Oakbrain I think I'll stay away from traps, just to be different. The skills I'm planning on maxing are Talon (duh!), Fade, Venom (need that extra damage...), Mind Blast (gonna roll in with my army of monster friends), and rest of the points into Shadow Master. Hopefully it works okay!

My AC is broken this weekend so it's too hot to do anything more involved than videogame marathon, hehee. So I'll have another status update soon probably
Dazliare said:
Tryste has completed probably my least favorite section of any single pass tournament - the Arcane Sanctuary and the Tombs of Tal Rasha. It's not that I despise them, but in normal, your build isn't really fleshed out yet (usually), you're trying to let your mercenary kill things for more MF, and if you're doing full clears, as I intend to do, then doing all 4 sanctuary branches and all 7 tombs gets pretty monotonous.

That out of the way, I'm only 1.5 levels away from getting hydra, which is quite exciting. Aside from the sanctuary and tombs, Act 2 went quickly and smoothly, with some pretty interesting drops and gambles along the way. I found a few low level uniques that I won't use:

1662342836873.png
1662342852346.png
1662342865740.png

A few set amulets (one Iratha, one Angelic)

1662342878186.png
1662342887223.png

But by far, the highlight of this session was this gambled pike

1662342894931.png

Fazel's damage with this thing is just excellent, even without the amp going off. When amp is added it's just gravy

Also these boots are a nice addition

Code:
Eagle Slippers
Boots
Defense: 3
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Level: 12
Fingerprint: 0xa9f1246f
Item Level: 22
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 3 Frost Nova when struck
+9 Maximum Stamina
Lightning Resist +5%
Poison Resist +20%
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint       Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          28     SC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          24     SC       Lost city             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress      28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -

Tryste the soon-to-be Hydra Sorceress and Fazel the Desert Guard - level 28. The Forests of Kurast await
PhineasB said:
@Chaostar sorry about the deeds. I had a rough introduction to A2 also, with champ mummies and holy bolt doing lots of damage, which got my attention. Hope to see another entry or good progress on untwinked 99er :)

Septimus finished A3 without much drama. He got great map with early left turn into Flayer Jungle, but he hadn't gotten the Spider Cavern yet, so it ended up being necessary to go back after tagging and clearing LK WP. And at 29.5, I decided to full clear after all so he'd have grizzly for the temples in case there was a door trap.

Truly nothing of note for the level, with an almost-stair-trap mixed in (the archers were champs but vipers were normal mob) the only thing meriting a screen shot before Meph, aside from what would normally be a great drop in untwinked play (but not for this tourney):
1662343018897.png
1662343027554.png
There were actually quite a few set and unique, but they don't help here :) Meph fight was on p7 and involved two trips to town for mana potions. I tried moating him, but it didn't work, so we ended up just finding a nice foothold and recasting grizzly as needed :D
1662343037507.png
Nothing useful from his drop, and we've gambled through gold for circlets without an MF roll. I'm hoping to get through A4 this week and maybe finish Normal next weekend. I'm also rethinking the build, maybe just focusing on fissure and volcano, with maxed grizzly and oak, and then tornado or hurricane once he moves into Hell (assuming he makes it that far). With Cold Rogue, I think we may be able to manage FI/PI bosses (or just skip them). I'm thinking how nice a maxed Oak can be for extra life given the tourney format.

Good luck to all the entrants!

Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint       Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          31     SC       Panda Fortress        -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          24     SC       Lost city             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress      28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
Babyhell said:
BabyBeasts has now killed Duriel and found Great Marsh and Spider Forest waypoints. As usual in Act3, if you don't find your target, you're good to check each inch of the map... i'll have to do it later, then.

During the end of act 2, i guess game was trolling me... regular set drops here or there:
2rkr9Ppl.jpg

840XByxl.jpg

2AMysMml.jpg


A Tal rune, my best rune drop since start:
Bz1KJZAl.jpg


An upgrade on gloves which were 12MF only:
5JigbQfl.jpg


A nice amulet i may use... currently holding a 17mf, i guess the little loss is worth the res:
Wie7tTYl.jpg


Duriel drops were Act 2 mercenary oriented:
UTQnRKHl.jpg


So after those Duriel drops, switched to a Defiance aura merc.

Somewhere in act 3, this one drop: 4MF GC! (pic to be added later)

And finally, the stash: decided to cube runes and gems, it made a lot of room... kinda :)
2eiV2Ytl.jpg


Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint       Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          31     SC       Panda Fortress        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          28     SC       Spider Forest         -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress      28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
Dazliare said:
Tryste has completed a bit more than half of act 3, with the latest waypoint being the Kurast Bazaar. The sewers are my least favorite zone in act 3, so I decided to close my session there. I found a gem shrine in the Flayer Dungeon, and decided to upgrade my flawless amethyst. It may have been a better choice to up a topaz, but the best I had at the time was flawed, and I wanted to try my hand at my first craft - a caster belt. The result is quite nice :)

1662343075759.png

I had some good luck gambling Circlets as well, and I have two circlets of luck with 34 MF, which brings my total MF to 240 when Fazel kills something. His damage is noticeably higher than my hydras, so he gets most of the kills at least for the time being, but we're moving along quite well.

I had a horrible stair trap in what ended up being the true temple, with a holy freeze rogue (not Sarina) and yetis (the red ones, but I can't remember what they're called right now). Lots of frantic teleporting and I managed to split things up enough to make it out ok.

I also found my first rare amulet:

1662343084744.png

It was junk, but nice to find either way

Tryste, level 32 Hydra Sorceress. The Sewers await





Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint       Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          31     SC       Panda Fortress        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          28     SC       Spider Forest         -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress      32     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
jonnyphive said:
Just stopping in to update the table - halfway through Act 2, done with the desert areas and corresponding dungeons. I'll give a more detailed update after finishing Act 2. The going is slow, as I am still lacking any reasonably powerful weapon. Great progress everyone!


Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint       Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress      32     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          31     SC       Panda Fortress        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          28     SC       Spider Forest         -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      25     HC       Lost City             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
Pb_pal said:
I'm in! Now that RFL is all done I can add another project to the loooooong list of current D2 projects I have going on. May I formally present Thangail, the future Fanatic Smiter with a side of Conversion and Vengeance. Smite is a skill I've never used, and really don't have any experience with, so I figured what better way to learn than by potentially killing a character while learning on the go? He also won't be doing full clears of all areas and will be taking a more "go big or go home" approach to this one. This is mostly because I don't have large playing chunks to do the clears (and have too many projects on the go), but also because I don't really feel like it. A recipe for success, if I've ever heard one! :p

--

Out he goes!

His first point went into smite, though it takes too much mana and does too little damage to be very effective right now. It does still have its uses of course, as seen with Corpsefire to keep him at bay. Thangail moved on up through the Cold Plains, reaching level 8 and hiring a Rogue before killing Blood Raven and her crew. he also found a decent scepter along the way, as well as his first (and second!) chipped topazes. A quick trip down to Coldcrow where he got a bit more practice smiting.

Through the Stony Field he went, and soon he found himself in Tristram where he had his first moment of "learning things along the way with Smite". Griswold apparently can't be stunned or knocked back by it. Interesting. Either way Cain was saved, our topaz count was up to 4 and we got ourselves a shield upgrade before a quick trip down the tower to remove the Countess. He left us our first rune, an Ith, for our troubles.

Hit 18 in the Outer Cloister, which enabled Thangail to switch to Concentration as well as opening up vengeance for use against particularly hardy monsters. I've been pumping Smite, and it's starting to show its worth now. The stun length is up to 2.2 seconds, so we have enough time to stun several monsters at once allowing the Rogue to safely kill some of the tougher packs such as this:

3Fcq2Zu.jpg


It works against singularly strong monsters too, as we were able to pin the Smith down in his own doorway and render him completely useless. We shortly found our first S/U in the Axe of Fechmar, which was left on the ground to rot. Easy goings from there until a very rude welcoming to the Catacombs level 3 (note that this screenshot is after a half dozen or so of the enemies were already killed):

bJJ39FT.jpg


We were able to weather it by smiting them to the outside, pounding pots, and running in circles to avoid the lightning balls while the merc plinked them 1 by 1. The rest of the trip to Andy was uneventful and actually so was the fight. We snuggled up and hammered away with Vengeance, and didn't even need a single town trip!

3lyBUOZ.jpg


A standard topaz and a good shield replacement made for a rare good drop from the Maiden of Anguish, and Thangail will be resting on that accomplishment for a bit in the desert for now.


Thangail the Smite/Conversion Paladin with Fazel The Prayer Guard - lvl 20, Lut Gholein


Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint       Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress      32     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          31     SC       Panda Fortress        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          28     SC       Spider Forest         -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      25     HC       Lost City             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
PhineasB said:
Septimus continued his progress, completing A4 and taking out Shenk. The rest of A5 will wait until the weekend so that I can do it all in one go and avoid having to run through an already-cleared area.

A4 was smooth sailing, with Izual and Hephasto dropping without trouble, but a little patience needed on Izual at p7:
1662343256559.png
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The merc's savage bill is losing a bit of steam, and we'll be on the lookout for an upgrade for him or an A5 merc for sure. Hell forge provided some not-useful gems and a very nice one:1662343276575.png
River of Flame and Chaos Sanctuary were pretty straight forward, and Diablo went down at p3 with just a bit of excitement:
1662343285164.png
Merc dropped to an early firestorm, and Septimus pretty much dodged lightning hoses and firestorms while waiting for timer on Fissure to run and casting grizzly on Diablo as a distraction. I had to go back to town for more pots and remembered to run away before dropping the TP to avoid coming back into a bone prisoned TP. But I didn't actually go far enough as shown below in the Diablo drop pic. Fortunately, the Grizzly and resurrected merc made quick work of it and Septimus could move before Diablo threw a lightning hose at them :) I recast it to see if it would be bone prisoned again, and it was, as shown in the pic:
1662343293973.png
The merc valiantly freed Septimus from his peril but didn't survive the rest of the battle :oops: Drops ended up being unhelpful and sold for gold. He gambled again for circlets, and picked up an enhanced damage one that Emilio is currently sporting. The crew then cleared up through Shenk and grabbed the WP before taking a break until the weekend.

But not before power shopping for 3os helm, but only before 15 minutes before getting bored and realizing he had only 3 pTopazes and could shop 3os BP in A2, which happened quickly, and allowed him to sell flawed topaz one before realized Emilio still has the chipped topaz ring mail :rolleyes: But Septimus pushed him MF up to 185% and is hoping for a nice weapon upgrade for merc and some MF/resist gloves and jewelry to prepare for NM.

* * *

Welcome to @Pb_pal and excited to see the smiter progress, as it's also a build I haven't played. And cool to see good progress by others!

* * *

Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint       Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          36     SC       A5 N 1st WP           -
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress      32     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          28     SC       Spider Forest         -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      25     HC       Lost City             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
Babyhell said:
Nice progress everyone, this tournament was a great idea really! And the Druid community is active on this topic, nice to see summoner's also, it seems that it is not played much beside... maybe not efficient/strong enough? Much relaxing for now on a personal point of view ;)

***

On his side, BabyBeasts is progressing in A3, just hit the Flayer's waypoint, Gibdinn and dungeon done, Khalim's heart left to get, 1/3rd level to 30 :)

Some nice progress/maybe questions - and obviously one hard ruling drop...let's see all of that!

Session started with an upgrade on merc armor
sdvakxol.jpg


Then a 3os BP: nice for a MF armor at that point :)
rruLSMOl.jpg


Afterwards, a useful rare ring:
XBl2LY9l.jpg

qs76z42l.jpg


Gibdinn and reward:
ouEmvJxl.jpg

HhSY5Gsl.jpg


Sadly had to leave this on the way (there have been quite some sets/uniques on the road, but this one...)
gA6jvfWl.jpg


Close to the end of the session, another BP, but a rare one... will have to think about which one i want to put topazes in, 3 or 2+some useful stuff ?
Jk1hvOBl.jpg


A Ral drop... kinda :)
DD3CoTFl.jpg

TENQQhll.jpg

TzEWsyil.jpg


And overburdened stash, even cubing is not enough anymore!
XY9PVu6l.jpg


See you on next update!

Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint       Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          36     SC       A5 N 1st WP           -
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress      32     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          29     SC       Flayer's Jungle       -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      25     HC       Lost City             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
Dazliare said:
Babyhell said:
Nice progress everyone, this tournament was a great idea really!
I'm so glad so many folks are enjoying this. It's funny - I was driving home from work a few weeks ago and had a character come to mind (what ended up being Tryste). I haven't played much D2 recently, so I wanted to do something a bit different. It wasn't until the day I went to make the character that I had the thought to invite others to join me ala tournament style. I'm so glad I did though, as I love reading everyone's progress
Babyhell said:
BabyBeasts has now hit lvl 31, arrived at Travincal waypoint, next to Council.
Edit: Meph down but got only half a level for that... will take time to level more in A4!

Tir drop on LK run (lol), but what a map it would be in Hell oO
N2rg80Xl.jpg


Anyway got a little belt upgrade... well, not that much, but still
67Hb9Bpl.jpg


Took the boots for MF. Well... stacking MF
PsSFKf7l.jpg


I am no caster sadly!
VSKChCYl.jpg


TraviRal
wKN6V7al.jpg


And in the end, stash status after the cubing of the dropped gems, including topazes... decided to go for less MF but some fire res.
QhGyB53l.jpg


Edit:
Mephisto gave nothing useful
YTnGup5l.jpg


But surrounding council dropped an Ort rune
l6tYMB4l.jpg


And finally, A4 shopping was useful, more or less... i guess having the Life tap possibility is a nice alternative to Weaken for big packs ?
pLMp5pUl.jpg


That's it for tonight's session, see you on next update!

Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint       Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          36     SC       A5 N 1st WP           -
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress      32     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          31     SC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      25     HC       Lost City             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
Jocular said:
@Babyhell Nice progress! But why are you keeping around so many jewels? I've been selling all my junk jewels; the ability to craft multiple items won't really start until NM.
BabyBeasts is married, that's for style points :cool:

Well you're right, it's obviously stupid :oops:
 
Dazliare said:
1662344606316.png

Anddd now I'm sad. Dunno if I'll re-enter yet
Ghonn said:
Dazliare said:
1662344606316.png

Anddd now I'm sad. Dunno if I'll re-enter yet
Your deeds will be remembered, but by whom, unless another hero emerges?
Babyhell said:
Dazliare said:
1662344606316.png

Anddd now I'm sad. Dunno if I'll re-enter yet
As Ghonn said. Take your time and come back soon ;)

A new table proposal, with titles, the same way it exists on other challenges:

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          36     SC       A5 N 1st WP           -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          31     SC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      25     HC       Lost City             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

That was a too heavy bag/The buried ones
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     32?     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -

I left 32 as level for your char, and pandy fortress as last waypoint, but i guess it was higher and maybe the following waypoint, so if you decide @Dazliare to keep this table idea (and maybe choose/find better titles), i let you correct that points :)
ArtOfSenf said:
Dazliare said:
1662344606316.png

Anddd now I'm sad. Dunno if I'll re-enter yet
Condolences my friend!!
We're really expecting you to re-enter, but take your time to grief.
Dazliare said:
I don't think I can just walk away from this considering I'm hosting it haha. I'll most likely do a trapsin since I don't have one in SC and it's been a LONG time since I've played on in HC, but we'll see. I want to do something that doesn't rely on a level 30 skill because Tryste took forever to get through act 2 without much of a main skill haha
jonnyphive said:
@Dazliare I can certainly understand that - my barb is really quite a slog, and I'm about to start clearing the 7 tombs this evening. Not looking forward to "Normal Attacking" my way through all seven tombs. Waiting for those level 30 skills can definitely be tough in this tournament format. Using another 'caster-type' character, combined with not having to wait until level 30, will really help speed up your next attempt. It is quite different playing a physical damage dealer with these restrictions - I am very nervous about finding decent weapon upgrades as my playthrough goes on. I would need to get a *very* lucky unique weapon drop to consider personalizing it over a useful runeword that may come later on down the line.
Babyhell said:
Necro summoner is also probably one of the best choices early game - but ihad no druid, it made the choice here ;) Trapsin is nice too, i have one on UT99er tournament, it can be powerful without broken gear :)
Dazliare said:
Babyhell said:
Necro summoner is also probably one of the best choices early game - but ihad no druid, it made the choice here ;) Trapsin is nice too, i have one on UT99er tournament, it can be powerful without broken gear :)
I refuse haha. For whatever reason I just can't stand necros in general
Babyhell said:
Dazliare said:
I refuse haha. For whatever reason I just can't stand necros in general
We won't ask about your childhood here :p i'm not fond of them too, but I must admit it is somehow easy...a long as you get corpses!
Babyhell said:
Edit: now lvl 33 2/3rd and at RoF WP. Here's the forge:
d8NKERxl.jpg


Original post:
Little update for BabyBeasts: now lvl 33 and cleaned everything up to City of the Damned waypoint :)

Izual went down pretty quickly not at all, really slowly (playing /p7)
35tf775l.jpg


The first Thul drop
XzOwOCfl.jpg


FRW GC with some mana... FRW GC.
2j5IY6wl.jpg


Stash status: only few slots opened for drops, but rune collection is eating room slowly but surely
9nvpEWQl.jpg


See you on next update!

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          36     SC       A5 N 1st WP           -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          33     SC       River of Flame        -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      25     HC       Lost City             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

That was a too heavy bag/The buried ones
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     32?     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
PhineasB said:
Condolences @Dazliare Looking forward to the trapper entry. Assassins are one of my favorite classes, for sure. As for me:
1662344831968.png
Septimus stayed at p7, except for p1 for Ancients and p3 for Baal himself. Fairly easy and not too tedious, except the little imps running away and small footprint to avoid fissures was a tad slow to chase them down. An Eye of Etlich dropped early, and was promptly sold. He then picked up this rare belt, which was upped to replace the 19LR plated belt:
1662344841035.png
Not amazing by any means, but the FHR is something that he will likely start needing as he moves into NM. A felicitous ring of the wolf dropped in Crystalline Passage, which added only +1% MF but the extra life was nice. WPs were helpful, with Glacial Trail around the corner from entrance. So we went back to rescue Anya, and then tackled Nihl:
1662344846663.png
Before ancients, these rare gauntlets dropped to replace plan 25MF gloves:
1662344853068.png
Ancients were a breeze, as was progress through WSK and throne room. Lister's gang required a strategic retreat to get out of decrep range:
1662344862860.png
Baal took one trip to town for mana pots, with a couple clones thrown in to extend the fight, but he fell and dropped nothing of use in this tourney:
1662344869914.png
1662344875952.png
I went ahead to NM to gamble through the gold for circlets, with still no luck on the MF circlet front, but a nice Prismatic of the Magus that is stashed for now given the available space. Septimus also shopped 32MF/26CR boots from Gheed to replace plain 31MF he had shopped from Anya. He then returned to Normal to finally use Wirt's leg and have a barbeque, which was quite fun actually. Cow King dropped Hotspur, which isn't useful here but nice nonetheless:
1662344882136.png
The biggest hole in his gear remains the helm, which is still 2 chipped topaz skull cap. He has only one pTopaz, but it's being held for the first 3os helm in NM or maybe a 2os pelt with nice staffmods. Resists are 33/56/7/31, so manageable with a goal of improving lightning resists, and MF is 195. Gear summary is in the spoiler:
2 chipped topaz skull cap
3 pTopaz BP
Rare upped belt (pic above)
Rare gauntlets (pic above)
32MF/26CR boots
2 Fortuitous Rings (both 14 MF) of might (2 strength)/wolf (17 life)
Amulet of Fortune (20 MF)
3 tir broad sword
Rare gothic shield 30/20 blocking and 1 socket w pDiamond
Backpack: Various resist charms, cube, tomes
Merc: Savage Bill, Rare armor with FHR and resists, life leech circlet
Shield can be improved to 3 sockets for major improvement to resists, and I'm not quite sure what to do about the weapon, but likely a rare wand of some sort with useful charges? I'm also not sure how to use imbue rewards, but likely will save those for plain circlets at higher level. The merc weapon is also going to need an upgrade soon, I suspect.

Keep up the good work, everyone!

* * *

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          48     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          33     SC       River of Flame        -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      25     HC       Lost City             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

That was a too heavy bag/The buried ones
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     32?     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Babyhell said:
BabyBeasts hit Frigid Highlands waypoint, after having killed Shenk and clean the right side of the map between town and him - will pass on the other side next time, was in a hurry.

Diablo has been... a huge pain. Really. Mercenary could be dying in one attack, and bear even if could held some more, was not at an high enough dps to make is easy. Life tap wand helped to make the pet/merc live a little longer, but the main fact has been the 20 to 4 portal book content :( Normal monsters are somehow easy to handle beside, i got real issue only with this first boss (playing /p7).

I guess i missed something in the build, i have to correct it before meeting Baal in quite some time from now.

Only noticeable point in this run apart this difficulty had been a gem shrine right out of Harrogath, leading to my first pTopaz :)
9vYys2fl.jpg


Shenk on his side was so an easy task...
OXeiAxxl.jpg


Current level is 35.4. Will continue hard leveling in opened areas to be as high as possible when facing Baal and his minions.

See you on next update!


The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          48     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          35     SC       Harrogath             -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      25     HC       Lost City             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

That was a too heavy bag/The buried ones
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Dazliare said:
Well, I'm back in with Melisandre the trap assassin, and I've finished act 1. Topaz luck was pretty mediocre, but I found two felicitous rings and gambled gloves and boots of fortune, so we're off to a good start. I found a superior 2os scepter in the Blood Moor, and put two chipped emeralds in it, which made the early game quite straightforward

Code:
Gemmed Superior Scepter
Superior Scepter
One Hand Damage: 6 - 12
Durability: 41 of 50
Required Level: 1
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0xebc45cd6
Item Level: 1
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Maximum Damage
+3 to Attack Rating
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 20 Poison Damage Over 3 Secs (150 Frames)
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Chipped Emerald
Socketed: Chipped Emerald

Chipped Emerald
Required Level: 1
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 10 Poison Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: +3 to Dexterity
Shields: Poison Resist +12%

Chipped Emerald
Required Level: 1
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 10 Poison Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: +3 to Dexterity
Shields: Poison Resist +12%

Rozene the fire rogue joined our journey at level 8, and she does fine, though I'm not in love with the rogue AI. She has an excellent bow that I'll be sad to sell in act 2:

Code:
Glyph Fletch
Short Bow
Two Hand Damage: 1 - 10
Durability: 11 of 20
Required Level: 8
Required Dexterity: 15
Fingerprint: 0xeede137b
Item Level: 12
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 1 Amplify Damage on striking
39% Enhanced Damage
+5 to Maximum Damage
Adds 6 - 8 Fire Damage
Fire Resist +9%
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Chipped Ruby
Socketed: Chipped Ruby

Chipped Ruby
Required Level: 1
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 4 Fire Damage
Armor: +10 to Life
Shields: Fire Resist +12%

Chipped Ruby
Required Level: 1
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 4 Fire Damage
Armor: +10 to Life
Shields: Fire Resist +12%

I'm using wake of fire to level for a while. It has great aoe before death sentry comes online. I'll likely swap to lightning sentry somewhere in act 2, but we'll see

Current Gear
Code:
Superior Scepter with two chipped emeralds
Cap with two chipped topazes
Ring Mail with three chipped topazes
Viridian Amulet of Health (12 PR)
Bone Shield of Deflecting
24MF Gloves of Fortune
25MF Boots of Fortune
Felicitous Rings of Greed and Energy
Rare Belt:

Imp Buckle
Belt
Defense: 7
Durability: 39 of 48
Required Level: 4
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0xee263f9d
Item Level: 12
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15 to Attack Rating
+23% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +9%
Fire Resist +7%
+1 to Light Radius
Repairs 1 Durability in 33 Seconds


The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          48     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          35     SC       Harrogath             -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      25     HC       Lost City             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre    Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

That was a too heavy bag/The buried ones
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
PhineasB said:
@Dazliare Nice to see you back at it. Good luck with the assassin!

Septimus continued his progress, having now cleared through the Dry Hills, including Halls of the Dead, and just shy of level 55. The WP is right next to the Far Oasis entrance, so that was a good stopping point. A couple upgrades, including getting a 3os helm and 3 pTopazes to push MF to 249.

As he set forth into the Blood Moor, he encountered his first fire immune, which wasn't a problem, along with Bishbosh, who also wasn't a problem, and progressed easily to rescue Cain:
1662345003285.png
1662345009091.png
Little of note as he rescued Cain and cleared the Black Marsh, except the 3os pelt referenced above that got the pTopaz (only +2 twister, so not helpful, but I would have used a 3os mask and at least he's got some ugly antlers going :rolleyes:). He then took on the Countess and cleared up to Outer Cloister with little of note:
1662345014884.png
We stopped for the night, but first gambled through his gold, focusing on poleaxe type weapons in hopes for a merc upgrade, which happened :)1662345021367.png
It was a regular poleaxe that was upped, and the merc was again quite solid with his life leech circlet, nearly doubling the average damage over the savage bill, plus the elemental damage as a bonus. This morning we had another drop that would be great for a tourney with different conditions (making a 30 MF Nagel, 31 MF Chance Guard, and now a Goldwrap), as we pressed to Andy, who wasn't too much trouble but dropped nothing useful:
1662345028323.png
1662345034260.png
We got a might merc and then took out Radament to get the discount before gambling through the gold on circlets and polearms, netting a decent circlet that is stashed as a potential option when he shifts away from MF set up:
1662345040607.png
Fissure and Volcano are maxed, with Grizzly at 10 pts and Oak at 4 pts. I will likely put the next point into Oak, and then start building up to Tornado and likely pump that next. Once it's maxed, we may respec to max firestorm to pair with fissure, given the much stronger physical damage that tornado does even unsynergized.

Resists will be nearly maxed once he cubes a third pDiamond for the 3s shield. I still don't know what to do about the weapon to be honest. Six Tirs for mpk, rare wand, or a caster craft wand maybe? Advice on that front is most welcome!

* * *

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          35     SC       Harrogath             -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      25     HC       Lost City             -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre    Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

That was a too heavy bag/The buried ones
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
jonnyphive said:
Act 2 was a tale of trying to find better weapons for Barb while running crowd control for Neeraj, my new Prayer merc. I'm rolling with Prayer right now simply because it's a decent rate of regen relative to the damage I take, and I don't gain much from Blessed Aim (steady 95% CTH thanks to level difference) or Defiance (rapidly worked toward and achieved max block during A2). I gambled 2-3 pikes before getting a decent %ED one for Neeraj, gave him some MF armor/helm, and moved on.

As mentioned previously, I found a couple of ok-ish low level damage jewels, which I used with a long sword I shopped from Fara to create the sword that would carry me to level 26:

It's not much to look at, but it held up for a while.

Combined with a Sturdy Bone Shield of Deflecting and some new 20-25% MF gloves + boots, I sprinted through the desert until I found the Halls of the Dead, proceeding to clear the tomb and subsequently use the newly acquired cube to start cubing some gems and freeing up some much needed space in the stash.

My previous untwinked character was a bowazon, and despite finding a multitude of sets and uniques, I never once managed to find what would have been a fantastic little pair of gloves. Too bad they're useless in this tournament, and largely useless for this character anyway.

The Halls of the Dead provided a good introduction to dealing with Unravelers, as we routinely found ourselves dealing with wave after wave of undead. With our slow kill speed, fights often got bogged down and I had to resort to hit-and-run tactics to take down Unravelers while Neeraj dealt with the masses of skeletons:

It took too long for comfort to bring down a single Unraveler before the skeletons would catch up to me, so this was always a risky endeavor.

It took me a while to remember, but by the time I reached the seven Tombs I remembered the power of taunt. With taunt, I could simultaneously shut down Unravelers' reviving tendencies as well as draw them toward me, thus reducing the frequency with which I found myself in situations like this:

*Howls*
*Skeletons bounce off one another and return to attacking me*
*Howls*
*HOWLS*
*Runs away*


As we progressed, I started horking more and more routinely, and always horked ghosts for the hope of improving my rune stash a little more quickly. I also found several low level set items throughout the act, and horking Ancient Kaa yielded my first unique sword of the game:

If only I could use it!

Although a very low level weapon, the tolerable %ED and hefty dual leech meant that I stashed this sword as the current 'best contender' for upping and personalizing down the road. I plan to devote enough stash space to keep one possible best personalization contender at all times, so this is it for now.

Around level 26 I started gambling Flamberges, and got something decent before too long. The leech on my previous sword was negligible, and this one seemed to kill a little faster, so I kept it. I also kept an Amp sword on switch, and that paid off as I actually encountered my first PI of the playthrough. Other finds included a 20% lightning resist grand charm, which pairs nicely with the 20% fire resist GC I found in Act 1, and a very nice gambled Plated Belt:

Dual resist + FHR is hard to beat on a belt at this point.

I don't have any pics of the Duriel fight. It was easy. No pre-buffing with thawing potions, and no trips back to town. Just wack away and pot as necessary. The drop was decent, and I really wish I could use the amulet (Nokozan Relic) as I move into act 3 and all those inferno-spewing shaman.

This tournament has really been forcing me to reconsider my typical item management, which has been refreshing. In the second half of the act, I started saving chippies 3 at a time and then gambling/rerolling magical Flamberges. I eventually cubed a Vicious Flamberge with 1os and dropped in an Ith; this is the sword I will be taking into Act 3. No screenshot, but it really isn't much to look at anyway. I'll probably continue rerolling Flamberges throughout Act 3, combined with gambling, in the hopes of finding something better. I finished Act 2 at level ~28.4. I'm looking forward to unlocking level 30 skills, even if Natural Resistance will be the most exciting immediate reward of that milestone.

Good luck to everyone moving forward!

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          35     SC       Harrogath             -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre    Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

That was a too heavy bag/The buried ones
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Babyhell6 said:
BabyBeasts hit Arret's Plateau wp, and lvl 38.5.

After Diablo difficulties, I decided to use the reset quest and move some wolves points into Werebear form and shockwave, and reorganize summoning skill tree.

So for now, here's my skill tree status:
FMsgqCrl.jpg

c2i07pal.jpg


Currently pumping Grizzly to 10 i guess, then will pump Werebear as i dropped some very nice Maul since last time.

Game trolled me twice... let's see how!

Soon after the reset to Shapeshifting summoner, here's what i dropped:
WSeD5XGl.jpg


Really ? As if it wasn't enough, a nice circlet went to drop:
5lFY8Ucl.jpg


Almost perfect for a summoner at that level :) ... :(

Then i got a small update on gloves, to have 25MF instead of 12
Ckzwowyl.jpg


Some new shield... well, not of real use, but still better than the one i was holding
1rMYmu8l.jpg


And finally, it seems that the game accepted that i was a shapeshifter:
uVCec79l.jpg


Attack speed seems nice, but it is just really low in fact... i keep it to Shael it, i guess it can be worth an upgrade also once Shael'd. I'll have to check if it worth two Shaels or i can put an Amn in for life leeching.

Well, see you on next update, and congrats to NM already runners!

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          38     SC       Arreat Plateau        -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre    Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

That was a too heavy bag/The buried ones
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
T72on1 said:
@Dazliare Condolences on the loss, but good to see you are getting back into the challenge !!!

@PhineasB Nice progress !!
Rosy Maple said:
@Dazliare
Goodness, sorry about the death! I'm glad you're entering again.

We return to Malice, slayer of Andariel and crusher of watermelons! Sitting in Atma's bar, mourning her lost companion. "Blaise was a dead shot and a great guide. And always skimpily dressed." She got kicked out before too long (smashed a table into splinters under her heel) and wandered out into the desert, drunk and alone.

1662345330693.png
It wasn't long until she had the cube in hand! It's made a big difference on her backpack. That scimitar's only interesting affix is a 5% chance to cast Amplify Damage. Sorry I forgot to take a screenshot!

1662345345554.png
Found this in the maggot lair! Selecting weapons for a kicksin is really interesting. Prevent Monster Heal seems like it'll be important later.
1662345357289.png
Got a nice shield too
1662345373623.png
After stomping her way through the entire desert, Malice somehow ended up in outer space. She decided she needed help dealing with this. Enter Emilio! The two worked out a system where Emilio would walk in and get his face chewed while Malice stood back and mind blasted everything. It worked surprisingly well for a while, until the two confronted Duriel and Emilio was immediately smashed into a thousand little chunks of blueberry sorbet.
1662345381846.png
Here's the drop, completely useless! (Shhh ignore the fact that Emilio's alive in this shot, that's just a ghost ........)
1662345387865.png
Now in Kurast, Malice once again mourns the loss of her companion who is definitely irrevocably dead. She stares out across the black water and contemplates the futility of life. (I'm having too much fun rolling with the 'mercs die on act boss' tradition for now, though I'll probably keep the A3 guy through A4.)

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          38     SC       Arreat Plateau        -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre    Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

That was a too heavy bag/The buried ones
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Babyhell said:
Small update for BabyBeasts: running through A5, hit the Frozen Tundra WSK llvl 2 wp, didn't take Anya's portal yet, currently at lvl 45.4, always at /p7, pumping Werebear.

Will post a story update later, maybe even when Slayer title is acquired. The main noticeable update is a finally nice rare amulet for now: nothing really huge, but almost everything useful - 1 druid skills, 11 all res, a low but still 8 MF, one point of damage reduction, some mana on damage taken, and 14 to Energy. So for a Werebear summoner, pretty helpful at this level!

Also the first Amn crafted - probably socketed in some rare weapon in the coming sessions.

Finally, going to Ancient's, found a +2 Werebear superior druid pelt... not much of a deal, but 3os, will get flawless topazes soon!

See you on next update!

Edit: small update on level and correction on amulet description. Added pelt.

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          45     SC       Ancient's way         -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre    Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

That was a too heavy bag/The buried ones
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
ArtOfSenf said:
@Babyhell too bad about the amulet drop after the respec but not too bad in terms of the circlet... It's +nec summoning and therefore only a few dex + res. Not too much of a loss in this case?

Nice progress everybody!
 
jonnyphive said:
Small update for me again. This week I managed to clear all the jungle areas and through the Kurast Bazaar, now sitting at level ~30.8. Next up is the Sewers, one of my least favorite areas in the game. I will be gone camping in Michigan's Upper Peninsula for the next week, so I won't have any updates for a while. I hope everyone else manages to make some good progress in the meantime!

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          45     SC       Ancient's way         -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre    Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

That was a too heavy bag/The buried ones
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
ioupainmax said:
Maybe the title of the deeds table should be called 'The Unburdened'...
Babyhell said:
ioupainmax said:
Maybe the title of the deeds table should be called 'The Unburdened'...
Freedoooooom!
Dazliare said:
jonnyphive said:
Small update for me again. This week I managed to clear all the jungle areas and through the Kurast Bazaar, now sitting at level ~30.8. Next up is the Sewers, one of my least favorite areas in the game. I will be gone camping in Michigan's Upper Peninsula for the next week, so I won't have any updates for a while. I hope everyone else manages to make some good progress in the meantime!

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          45     SC       Ancient's way         -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre    Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

That was a too heavy bag/The buried ones
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Enjoy the UP! It's pretty up there
jonnyphive said:
Dazliare said:
Enjoy the UP! It's pretty up there
Thanks! The scenery is indeed wonderful up there. My wife and I haven't been up there since we started having kids. This will be the biggest trip with our 3 boys and our travel trailer yet, so it will be an interesting experience and a good test run for further/longer trips in the future. For the first half of the week we'll be near Mackinaw, and then we're heading up to Munising and Pictured Rocks for the second half. Hopefully the weather holds up. Then I get the 4th and 5th of July off of work the following week... so only 3 work days for me over the next two weeks. Can't wait!
Babyhell said:
Still not Slayer, but took the time to kill Nihl... hit lvl 46.3 after clearing :)

hsVpm4gl.jpg


Current status alongside the two upgrades. The flawless topazed antlers:
Zc6QoC4l.jpg

New boots with some FRW:
xlRZHAUl.jpg


@ioupainmax : updated the deeds table title using your proposal :)

See you on next update - only way to go is get to Baal, hope to complete this level at least and defeat him at lvl 47!

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          46     SC       WSK level 2           -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre    Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Maltatai said:
Late to the party but anyway, Theodora the sorceress joins the tournament. I'll probably never have time to finish it but its fun to start new characters.The sorceress professor Theodora "Red Tape" Tape is constantly pestered by her insufferable students and has set out on a relaxing monster hunting trip to calm her shattered nerves, and hopefully discover new ways to remove her [thread=759]arch-enemies[/thread] from the school and the world for good.

Now at level 15 and zapping things apart with charged bolts.
Babyhell said:
Welcome @Maltatai !

BabyBeasts is now Slayer!

Doing this end run at /p8 except for Baal at /p3. Almost enough to hit lvl 48 total:
qjHJGMvl.jpg

d2l19Lal.jpg


I fcked up the Slayer title screenshot, but nevermind :)

A5 drops and upgrades can be seen here!

See you on next update Nightmare!

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus      Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida        Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts    Druid          47     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen        Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb          Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice        Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin         Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick         Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre    Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna       Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail      Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris         Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara       Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence      Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA           TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name     Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste        Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
ioupainmax said:
Babyhell said:
BabyBeasts is now Slayer!
My mind read that as something else and then I wondered why your Druid was called that...
Kstil3227 said:
Better joining late than never...Grail grind getting boring right now (46 left)...Incoming the new Captain America! Conviction/Vengeance Paladin.
1662345946140.png1662345955607.png
Kstil3227 said:
Update #1 for Captain America...he has ventured all through out Act 1, slaying anything in his path. He bested Andariel with no problems. Andy was so kind to drop 2 rare belts, Hsaru's Belt and eth Biggon's Bonnet. Found a handy hand axe for a solid beginning weapon. Finished at lvl 19.5. Off to act 2 he goes in desperate need of the cube to make room as he is currently very overburdened. Skill trees as of now as well
1662346003269.png
1662346013820.png
1662346019119.png
1662346025426.png
1662346036016.png1662346043781.png1662346050513.png
Kstil3227 said:
The runners
Code:
Forum Name Hero Name Class Level HC/SC Last Waypoint Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB Septimus Druid 54 SC Dry Hills NM -
Oakbrain Izaida Assassin 49 HC Black Marsh NM -
Babyhell BabyBeasts Druid 47 SC Rogue Encampment NM -
hackedagainanda Oxygen Paladin 42 HC Cold Plains NM -
jonnyphive Barb Barbarian 30 HC Kurast Bazaar -
Rosy Maple Malice Assassin 28 HC Kurast Docks -
Chaostar Triin Amazon 25 HC Arcane Sanctuary -
Jocular Flick Druid 23 HC The Maggot Lair -
Dazliare Melisandre Assassin 21 HC Lut Gholein -
Ghonn Orianna Amazon 21 SC Lut Gholein -
Pb_pal Thangail Paladin 20 HC Lut Gholein -
Kstil3227 CaptainAmerica Paladin 19.5 HC Lut Gholein
Hutton Boris Necromancer 15 HC Dark Wood -
CaseyJones Ninjara Assassin 14 HC Dark Wood -
Peytron Lawrence Barbarian 1 SC Rogue Encampment -
srrw TBA TBA 0 HC Rogue Encampment -


The Unburdened
Code:
Forum Name Hero Name Class Level HC/SC Last Waypoint Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare Tryste Sorceress >32 HC Pandemonium Fortress -
Babyhell said:
ioupainmax said:
My mind read that as something else and then I wondered why your Druid was called that...
My druid would have been called BabyBeard if he was a real Slayer... don't you think? ;)
Babyhell said:
Table correction for @Kstil3227.

Kstill, do not copy, it will break the table: just reply to last post with table, and then remove the useless parts (the quoted parts).

Welcome!
The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          47     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin      19.5     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Kstil3227 said:
Update #2 on Captain America. He has traversed the desert in search of Duriel. There was not too many challenges that proved difficult to overcome. I few nice drops and gambled items have helped along the way. Found the full 3 piece Hsaru set (Fara paid ok for the sales), Tarnhelm (decent gold pocketed) dropped from Duriel along with a few rares, no upgrades from those drops specifically. The stash has few spots left to fill after using the cube to upgrade gems, runes, and FULL Rejuvs!! HC life savers! Merc got a nice upgrade from gambling as well.


1662346331809.png
1662346338254.png
1662346343266.png
1662346355380.png
1662346361885.png

Captain America sits at lv 26.5 in Kurast awaiting the trek through the Jungle.



Welcome!
The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          47     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Kstil3227     CaptainAmerica     Paladin   26.5   HC       Kurast Docks         -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Kstil3227 said:
3rd Act completed for Captain America at lvl 30.6...had to fight a bunch of HULKs through the jungles along side 1000s of AntMan like creatures (or so it felt like 1000s). A few upgrades came in act 3...2 new rare rings with some res and random mods. found a nice pair of dual res booties, missing the FRW mod but they will work when I swap off the 25% mf booties...Mephisto proved to be a worthy fight, Emilio put up a valiant effort in helping, Mephisto took the Captain down to less than 100hp twice but in the end he prevailed! Stash is still jammed full of gems, runes, jewels, and Full Rejuvs...time for a break til tonight when its Diablo's turn to be defeated on the route to Baal!

1662346415511.png
1662346419923.png
1662346424255.png
1662346428757.png
1662346432825.png
1662346437264.png


Welcome!
The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          47     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Kstil3227     CaptainAmerica   Paladin       30.6   HC       Pandemonium         -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Maltatai said:
Theodora has charged Andariel unpayable sums for electricity and advanced to level 21 in the early Act II. Two envious jewels and a minimum damage jewel and an ith rune from the countess sped up things for the rogue Elle who survived the ordeal. She has been relieved by the town foll Fazel. He was lucky to get a gambled rare pike with enhanced damage and amplify damage upon entering into employment, along with an amber circlet. Theodora is gathering mana items and a stylish green staff with+2 to charged bolt. The earlier staff was better but not so green.
Babyhell said:
Hey @Maltatai ! I added you to the runners' table, I let you correct with more precise details, like HC/SC status ;)

@Kstil3227 : better method to update table is cut/paste your existing line and put it at the right place :)

Small tip: on PC, when editing the lsst waypoint location, I press the Insert button on keyboard, it will replace letters as I write. Therefore I only have to take care about replacing the possible last characters by spaces ;)

The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          47     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin      30.6     HC       Pandemonium           -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Kstil3227 said:
Update #4 for Captain America. His favorite act always goes too quickly, but all in all it wasn't very exciting. gambled a new merc weapon from Jamella which was tremendously helpful. Izzy took forever to kill like usual (/p8 settings), Forge was decent for the gemgs. Came across a great blocking shield but per rules it was sold immediately...CS wasn't terrible. Only trouble some spot was Diablo himself, making sure to avoid the Lightning hose at all costs...Emilio had many deaths and ultimately had to be left un-resurrected for the remainder of the fight. Drops worth nothing of use for the Captain...gauntlets would have been nice for a bowazon for the time being. Crafted 2 sets of Blood Gloves, one eh pair with some life and Cold Res. Finished at lvl On to Harragoth, and then Summit to take on the ancients and ultimately Baal himself.


@Babyhell thanks for all the help with cleaning up the tables and helpful tips. Feel free to let me know if there's anything else I need to do differently...brand new to this posting stuff. still messed up the table somehow :confused:


The runners
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          47     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin      34   HC       Harragoth           -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
1662346556552.png1662346568567.png1662346579171.png1662346588677.png1662346595690.png1662346602436.png1662346610047.png1662346645918.png1662346679924.png

The Unburdened
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Babyhell said:
@Kstil3227 welcome to the hidden level: Harragoth! ;)

If I remember correctly there is a guide somewhere which describes how to update/handle a table correctly, I'll try to find it out
 
ioupainmax said:
Babyhell said:
@Kstil3227 welcome to the hidden level: Harragoth! ;)

If I remember correctly there is a guide somewhere which describes how to update/handle a table correctly, I'll try to find it out
It's in my sig...
ioupainmax said:
Fixed it for you!

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          47     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        34     HC       Harragoth             -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Babyhell said:
@ioupainmax for sure you knew there was some guide somewhere... i just didn't remember it was yours ;) I don't see your signature tho, i must have some configuration disturbance somewhere :confused:

So @Kstil3227 - and anyone who may be interested afterall - here's the link, and it's pretty complete:
ioupainmax's guide to table handling

Didn't have time to play this week-end, but was glad to see new people here!

GL runners!
Babyhell said:
Well did take my dose of D2... hit Cold plain's NM and cleaned Den of evil, hitting lvl 48 in the process, on /p8.

Pumping back Grizzly now, will max it before improving any other skill. Nothing to disclose really, so here's a state. And i'm full in cube and stash, btw... i'll have to sell some useless rocks!

Would have said Hubearity, but i'm not in Akara's head...
FnicrDpl.jpg


The only drop kept on this - short - session:
EihhTW7l.jpg


Going max vita... but will need to put some dex/find some AR somewhere:
ASz3YzCl.jpg


See you on next update!

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          48     SC       Cold plains NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        34     HC       Harragoth             -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Kstil3227 said:
Act 5 update on Captain America...cleared every monster from town to Anya, gained 6.5 lvls doing so, which allowed me to max Vengeance, next up is maxing conviction. Currently sitting at the Glacial Trail WP with Anya safely back in HarrOgath. My reward for her rescue was actually an upgrade for once with the shield having 2 os and 14 all res, which my 2 flawless diamonds went into nicely for a total of +42 all res :):)...now the work week starts, so hopefully there will be time to finish Act 5 this week. Stash has 1 empty slot left, cube has 6 open slots and inventory has 10...so there's still a little left before being OVERBURDENED. Found my first AMN rune which is always great! cubed up most of the runes and made another THUL. Now to find a replacement armor for myself and hopefully an upgradeable pike better than the one Emilio has to use the recipe on. Also have 2 perf. topaz's ready for a helm or armor.

1662347617038.png1662347625586.png1662347633236.png1662347640703.png1662347647567.png1662347653817.png1662347661333.png

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          54     SC       Dry Hills NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          48     SC       Cold plains NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        41.5   HC       Glacial Trail         -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
PhineasB said:
Nice progress @Babyhell and welcome to the tourney @Kstil3227

Septimus moved along through A2 NM as breaks from Nihl runs with the untwinked 99er necro. Up through Temple, then the Palace to AS, then AS to the true tomb and Duriel, and finishing things up in the false tombs earlier this evening. Truly nothing of note/use to him up until the tombs, except a Ring of Fortune (22). A Ko dropped in the true tomb, and then the Duriel fight was a chore with the weak firestorm, involving 4 trips back to town. Drop was fun, with Rixot's, but not useful for him:
1662347716642.png
1662347722825.png
1662347728570.png
The tombs were a challenge, with 6 of 7 having Unravellers. He picked up Ko #2, as well as a GC from a Ghost champ that allowed him to start using up pgems that were crowding the stash (but no useful reroll yet):
1662347735602.png
And then almost ended his journey. We were in a narrow hallway between rooms, with several Unraveller packs and slow going unable to get a foothold. So he moved ahead to target an Unraveller with Volcano and a new Grizzly, but that woke up an extra fast amp'ed pack of Ghosts and Champ beetles. He ran back, but was blocked in by resurrected skeletons and had no escape route. Summoning Grizzly by him relieved some pressure, but the merc had been amp'ed and died, and he was still boxed in. So he took a gamble and ran through to the other room, which had another couple Unraveller packs. But he summoned Grizzly and managed to get past them and out through the room to an area he'd already cleared for the escape. Here's the safe landing spot with TP open:
1662347742291.png
The last had Kaa, who was a joy with a Champ pack of Unravellers and at least one other plain Unraveller. But he was safely managed, and Septimus moves onto A3:
1662347753117.png
I don't plan to full clear early jungle areas, but it may be a while before he moves through that stretch. I'm hoping to get some Baal runs in with one of the other untwinked 99ers and will be gone most of next weekend into the next week, with family visiting the rest of the week.

Good luck to all the participants!

* * *

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          60     SC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          48     SC       Cold plains NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        41.5   HC       Glacial Trail         -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       21     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Dazliare said:
Fairly large update for Melisandre -

Act 2 is complete! Upon reaching Lut Gholein, I quickly shopped a Bone Shield of Deflecting, which not only looks awesome on an assassin, but makes reaching and maintaining max block much more achievable. I had almost no block on Tryste because sorcs don't have great stat growth, and I'm noticing a huge difference. I'll definitely keep max block for Melisandre.

I was pretty lucky in gambling gloves and boots of fortune in act 1, so I spent some gold gambling circlets in Act 2. This one would have been great for another character:

1662347789317.png

I held onto it for a bit for the +dex and all res, but pretty quickly sold it for space

I leveled entirely with wake of fire and Shadow Warrior from 24+, and found the tombs to be a lot of fun. Wake of Fire is so good against large groups of fodder like skeletons. I found this unique amulet in one of the tombs:

1662347796532.png

Nokozan Relic, and Lysander was happy to take it off my hands. Duriel himself was annoying, but not dangerous. His drop was junk:

1662347802469.png

In act 3, at level 30, I swapped over to lightning sentry/death sentry. A bit slower than wake of fire, but that will change in a few more levels. I kept gambling circlets, and I found this excellent one, but then accidentally vendored it and didn't have enough gold to buy it back :(

1662347807402.png


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          60     SC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          48     SC       Cold plains NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        41.5   HC       Glacial Trail         -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       32     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Babyhell said:
This circlet...so sad! :(
jonnyphive said:
Great progress to so many. It's very cool seeing this tournament going so strong! Loving my vacation but still pretty excited to get back to Barb when the dust settles late this weekend!
Kstil3227 said:
ACT 5 Complete for Captain America! Finished at level 48.75ish, still need to run norm cows to finish up normal completely...cows aren't happening now though. Next time. On to the finish of ACT 5. Left the glacial trail and proceeded up to the Frozen Tundra...chased down all the little Rascals and took on all the beasts til there was no more left. Ran in the Ancient Tunnels full head of steam...boy did those Slashers and Frenzytaurs have a different plan than I did...I had to keep a close eye on that health globe. It depleted very fast at times when multiple spikes + Frenzytaurs were on me...but Captain America would not give up and pushed onward to the Summit. Madawc, Kolic, and Talic were no match for the Captain and his side kick Emilio...only took 2 belt fulls of Health/Mana pots...Proceed down into the World Stone Mr. America. No challenges there, nor in the throne til Lister hit us like a Mac Truck on the freeway! I had to separate them into groups of 2. Got them all down and onto Baal on p8...no dropping players setting til I am into NM somewhere (hopefully far into NM). Baal had promising drops for sure. Rare Gothic Plate with FHR, Life, and Res. (BIG UPGRADE), War Sword from Throne room was soon nul and void after Baal dropped a rare Rondel with +138% damage, 30% IAS, +Necro skill :mad: but still boosts damage so it'll work for NM, circlet was junk for a Pally +2 PnB and fire res. :(….Baal was all about a necro when a Pally killed him. Thanks for nothing (Except that armor and weapon :);))

So once in NM, depending on res. I have duel res booties & 20 all res. circlet in the stash, also still have my crafted blood gloves to use. Rocked 100% MF exactly in Act 5. (25%MF on gloves, boots, ammy and circlet) I have gems, jewels, and runes lined up ready to craft some safety amulets once I reach a better crafting lvl. (+% to block) will help on a lot in NM. Also I am ready to upgrade a weapon for either myself or Emilio, gotta check the exceptional weapon req. for STR and DEX. Could also upgrade the Gothic Plate once the Captain can meet the REQ. stats.

Til next time STAY SAFE AND GOOD LUCK!

1662347849090.png1662347920909.png1662347931796.png1662347941983.png1662347948953.png1662347956484.png1662347963781.png


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          60     SC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          48     SC       Cold plains NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        48.75  HC       Rouge Camp NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       32     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Kstil3227 said:
I didn't move myself ahead of Oxygen do to the waypoints...per level yes but I was going off of farther progress. If its based on char level then I will move accordingly.
Babyhell said:
Kstil3227 said:
I didn't move myself ahead of Oxygen do to the waypoints...per level yes but I was going off of farther progress. If its based on char level then I will move accordingly.
Yes it is (or at least it is how I do :D), you can update I guess ;)

Also, if you remove the final QUOTE closing tag(s) at the end of your updates, it'll be perfect!

Great progress btw, congrats for accessing nightmare!
Kstil3227 said:
Small update....Cows are dead. Gained a whopping 3,430 exp :Do_O. Cows were no match for Captain America. Most only took a 2-3 hits to become ground beef. 2 unique drops on the Moo Moo Farm...Gore Foot and Tarnhelm. found 3 runes (Tal, Ral, Sol) so not a total waste worth of runes and gathered up 200k+ in gold for gambling and such.

until next time. Stay Safe and Good Luck.

Also updated the table based on Lvl/exp. :p

1662348051409.png1662348058326.png1662348065429.png1662348074145.png
The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          60     SC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        48.75  HC       Rouge Camp NM         -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          48     SC       Cold plains NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       32     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Dazliare said:
Melisandre has completed Act 4, which puts me squarely in one of my favorite sections of any single pass playthrough. I really like act 5 in general, and in normal you get so much xp from it. Not to mention the affixes that open up in the level 40s for gambling.

That last part of act 3 went without a hitch - 75% block makes things a lot safer. I found a gem shrine in one of the temples and used it to upgrade a flawless ruby:

1662348114935.png

I used this to make my first crafted item on this character, which came out ok:

Hailstone Strap
Belt
Defense: 5
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 28
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0xc7760f9a
Item Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+17% Faster Hit Recovery
2% Life stolen per hit
9% Chance of Open Wounds
+1 to Strength
+19 to Life
+4 to Mana
Poison Length Reduced by 25%

I also gambled these unbelievable boots:

Death Shank
Boots
Defense: 2
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x8c374465
Item Level: 32
Version: Expansion 1.10+
12% Chance to cast level 4 Nova when struck
+20% Faster Run/Walk
Heal Stamina Plus 50%
Cold Resist +23%
Fire Resist +22%
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Dual res, mf, frw, oh my!

Act 4 was quick and painless, with very little to speak about. I went through ~400k gold gambling amulets, circlets, and more boots (I wanted some boots of luck for the killing blow on big D, but nope), with no luck.

Here is Diablo's drop:

1662348124867.png

Nothing great, but I'm sooo excited for act 5. I'll get started tonight!




The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          60     SC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        48.75  HC       Rouge Camp NM         -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          48     SC       Cold plains NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       35     HC       Harrogath             -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned          -
Babyhell said:
BabyBeasts ran a bit this morning, hitting Stony field waypoint and lvl 50 on /p8. Nothing to be worth a screenshot during the process, but it will be better next session for sure!

(Well i'm more about the untwinked pally for now, but when I read last update, I had to level a bit just to have...two druids at the top!)

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          60     SC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        48.75  HC       Rouge Camp NM         -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          48     SC       Cold plains NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       35     HC       Harrogath             -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned          -
Kstil3227 said:
Captain America has bested Andariel and all of Act 1 in NM on /p8. Made to lvl 53, 2 away from having conviction maxed...then onto redemption/holy shield...Vengeance is a very very mana hungry but the damage is practically doubled with the lower res and lowered defenses. The S/U drops were abundant this act...Chieftan, Rakescar, Iceblink, multiple Cathan's Rings, Kelpie's Snare and Gold Skin among them...plus Andariel dropped Tancred's Boots, Vidala's Boots, Beserker's Double Axe and a rare +1 bow skill gloves...but Captain America did up Emilio's weapon from a pike to a Lance which was a great deal of help on the damage front. Random mob in Outer Cloister gave the Captain a great belt upgrade (24 FHR, 32 life, 27 Cold Res and 28 Light res. :D:D) Griswold dropped a rare Ancient armor with some life on it, so Emilio is rocking that armor for now.

Belt Uprade
1662348201786.png

Gambled some circlets, non helpful for the captain but 2 of them were nice mods for other chars.
1662348212108.png
1662348220060.png

Tried to craft some safety amulets for the inc. block. 2/4 were nice for a sorceress, the other 2 junk.
1662348248146.png

First of 2 Io runes dropped in Act 1 as well. Only screenshot the first one. The other fell in Lvl 4 right outside of Andy.
1662348259783.png

Andy's kill screen with the drops...nothing of value...(total gold less than 15k)
1662348267429.png

Character stats as of end of Act 1 NM, 111% MF, 72% FHR
FHR breakpoint of 86% may be are to achieve without more FHR charms.
Resist could be 65/77/76/56 if I switch out my MF gear for the gear in the cube. Haven't had a issue with resists yet but its always good to have the gear if needed. Could max resists if I cubed a +20all res prismatic amulet (16-20 roll) with all the Pgems I have.
1662348277646.png

Stash/Inventory and Cube still have little to no room.
1662348285580.png1662348292609.png

@Babyhell Can't be having 2 of the same chars #1 and #2...not in my book :D;).
@PhineasB You're next on the chart...I'm coming for you...:cool:o_O:);)

Got lucky to have a good weekend of play time...Mother in-law took my kids to a lake for the weekend so I was kid-free...missed the kids being around but also good to just relax as well.


Til next time. Stay Safe and Good Luck!


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          60     SC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        53     HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          48     SC       Cold plains NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       35     HC       Harrogath             -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned          -
jonnyphive said:
@Kstil3227 Nice progress! Also I am jealous of your play time-heavy weekend. Haven't had a kid-free, low-obligation weekend like that in a lonnnngg time but if I did I would absolutely sink a hefty chunk of time into D2. Ah well, a guy can dream...
Babyhell said:
I won't go into a run against a super hero...but for sure once it happened, you will never be able to do something against that #History :p:D;)
Babyhell said:
Removing my lower line...:oops:

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          60     SC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        53     HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       35     HC       Harrogath             -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Kstil3227 said:
Ya i definitely took full advantage of this weekend being able to play D2 as much as I did.

@Babyhell :D
 
Babyhell said:
Adding BabyFire on the list. I'll try to go toward the fast running untwinked topic with her and probably some reboots, but as it stands the handling is compatible with this tournament, so i add her here too :)

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          60     SC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        53     HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       35     HC       Harrogath             - 
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
Babyhell        BabyFire       Sorceress      15     SC       Lut Gholein           -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Kstil3227 said:
Captain America has made it to the Palace in Act 2. Done with the dreaded sand areas which had beetles right out of town, the awful maggot lair (single target in small areas with little bugs is terrible) and Viper Temple (Those snakes packed a punch). Glad to have some full rejuvs handy when fangskin and his minions hit me a couple times...Once Emilio and the Captain hunkered down in the corner and took them on 1-2 at a time it wasn't bad.
1662348691118.png


One Notable drop from this portion of Act 2 would be Magefists. (Stony Tomb lvl 1)
1662348698983.png

The two other notable things that came from this portion of the run would be a +1 paladin crafted ammy and a +15 IAS Jewel!! not much life or mana, but it have 28 fire res. I crafted 4-5 safety ammys with no such luck...found a few ral runes and jewels, decided what the hell lets roll 2 caster ammys for the mana and see if I get lucky with either and BOOM! first roll. :):):D.
1662348705535.png
1662348714093.png

The Captain has lvl'd to 56.5, with the palace, arcane and all tombs remaining....should be close to hitting lvl 60 by the end like @PhineasB did with Septimus...
1662348730165.png


Still got little to no room in the inv/stash/cube but that what this run is all about....being OVERBURDENED!
1662348738425.png
1662348745455.png


After thoughts sitting here typing this update...what do use the socket quest from Normal Act 5 on...an all res pally shield for 4os and put 4 P-Diamonds in for the res...or socket a wep for the IAS jewel...decisions, decisions. Also still have the NM imbue quest from charsi, which I feel like that would be best used on a circlet/coronet...oh the joys of using quest rewards. Lastly, 600K to gamble with...keep going after circlets I guess...I got a 20 all res circ and a 25mf circ...but I guess I can possibly gamble a rare +skill circ with res as well.

Enjoy the holiday!

Stay Safe!


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          60     SC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        56.5   HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       35     HC       Harrogath             - 
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      30     HC       Kurast Bazaar         -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
jonnyphive said:
I have finally finished A3 with Barb! I've realized that in addition to having little to no playtime most days, choosing a barb for this tournament was not the best idea with respect to moving swiftly through the game. Everything takes ages to kill, although with max block, ~75/40/60/20 resists, and BO (nearly 500 life now), nothing is remotely threatening yet. I suspect that Diablo will be the first real challenge.

As for Act 3, the jungle areas were a long, blurry slog. I don't remember much, but I do remember encountering a potentially dangerous foe right outside the docks:

Fortunately, Battle Cry + max block made tanking for Neeraj an uneventful affair. I don't use Battle Cry often, but I'm always glad it's there when I need it - it's a really undervalued one-point wonder. It also helped weaken Sszark's attacks.

Although useful items for Barb were scant in this act, I found some very nice white/gray items that would have been incredibly useful for a necro or druid in this tournament. One find that really did excite me, though, was this magic ring:

That immediately replaced a plain 12% mf ring. Due to the large number of competing skills wanting additional skill points (with BO taking priority over the others), I was worried about the eventual loss of Howl's effectiveness with only 1 point added. Fortunately, this nifty made-for-MFing barb helm staved off the need to add more points for quite a while longer:

Ormus' rare ring was crap (like usual), although several interesting (yet unusable) set/unique items dropped along the way, including Sander's Riprap (those would've been nice to use!) and Isenhart's Lightbrand (sadly still competitive with my weapon at this point).

Not long before fighting the council, I finally managed to cube myself a slight weapon upgrade:

Although the life leech was a nice touch, I'm still rocking a Prayer merc and that healing keeps up with all but the toughest enemies so a +damage suffix would've been preferred. Still, beggers can't be choosers and at this point I am constantly begging for any kind of weapon upgrade, so I popped in a pair of Ith runes and off we went, with slightly increased killing speed. After making this weapon, I started saving a few chippies (yep, I somehow still have room to do that!) so I can start cubing any exceptional swords I come across - I believe gladiuses can drop anywhere in Act 4, and others follow soon thereafter. I'll also get into gambling swords more once I gain a few more levels - ideally I'd leave this task for nearer the end of Act 5 once I've banked a nice amount of money and hopefully have found the runes/gems to have the option to upgrade any nice finds.

The 6 temples, the council, and Meph were all yawn-inducing battles. Barb is just too tanky right now. I suppose forgoing the "maximum MF until you can't sustain it" mantra in favor of a more balanced approach lends itself to that, though. For instance, I gave up 25% mf gloves for fire res / 11% mf gloves, and am using a rare 2-os BP with flawed topazes rather than a gray with 3.

Anyway, here's how the battle with Mephisto went: 1) Swing sword and absorb/block his attacks. 2) Recast BO, BC, and/or Battle Cry as needed. 3) Win. The fight took maybe 3-4 minutes total, with 1 greater healing and 2 greater mana potions used. The drop held potential, but the sword wasn't good enough to save. I was honestly more excited with the 11% lightning resist jewel of envy I found shortly before fighting Meph - that will be two jewels of envy muled off this character for use in twinking gear. Barb ended Act 3 at level ~32.4.

Good luck to all as you reach tougher and tougher areas. Hopefully I'll find some playtime over the 4 day weekend to keep building some momentum and climb that leaderboard!

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          60     SC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        56.5   HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       35     HC       Harrogath             - 
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Kstil3227 said:
@jonnyphive Barbs are hard to go fast with untwinked...I struggled and inched my way through with a untwinked HC concentrate barb which i switched to Beserk in Hell act 2...I was so relieved to have finished him...but it’s painful to run at times cause the damage doesn’t keep up at times and it takes a little while to deal single target damage all the time
jonnyphive said:
@Kstil3227 Yep, that's pretty much exactly my experience. I didn't mind single-target attacks with my 14k damage 2H 'Death' Berserker, but this is just a bit less powerful :p. I was originally planning to use 1 point Concentrate + Berserk (synergized by BO and Howl), and whirlwind, but at this point I think the points will be too spread out, would necessitate a Blessed Aim merc (thereby restricting my damage potential even more), and would require a really lucky sword drop, so I may end up focusing in on pure Berserk so, although the attacks will still be slow and single-target, at least they should pack a decent punch later on.
Dazliare said:
I feel you! I splatted a barbarian in the skill less tournament in act 3 hell with literally no points spent in skill tress. I had a lot of fun since most folks would think a skill-less character is impossible, but it was slowwwwww
Kstil3227 said:
Dazliare said:
I feel you! I splatted a barbarian in the skill less tournament in act 3 hell with literally no points spent in skill tress. I had a lot of fun since most folks would think a skill-less character is impossible, but it was slowwwwww
Never thought about a skillless character...that would be rather interesting and extremely slow later on...definitely a challenge I may try on my own soon
Dazliare said:
I shopped a thing :)

1662349019251.png
Kstil3227 said:
Happy Holiday! Captain America has pushed his way past Duriel and all of Act 2...palace and Arcane was a breeze, no real challenges there...the 7 Tombs on the other hand, wow! the Unravelers and Gorebellies the Captain had to deal with were rough...Captain America couldn't keep up with the resurrection of skellies--SO that meant time to use the first Respec and get a point into redemption and also holy shield for the block chance! Once that change was made the tombs with the skellies became a little more manageable.

1st or 2nd tomb he opened a door to be greeted with 2 boss packs of Gorebellies...blessed aim/fire enchanted, might aura/tele, then in the same tomb another room had a boss pack of Gorebellies with Spectral Hit/Extra Strong...these guys packed a punch...had to fully separate into small groups of 2 max...One did drop a nice +25 psn SC
1662349038609.png
1662349047431.png1662349053835.png
Going the through tombs and finally came across Ancient Kaa! once I separated his minions the Captain dismissed him with ease even though his extra strong/LE/Fanatiscm stats were a bit scary but Emilio kept the focus of other monsters on him which definitely helped out.
1662349063203.png
The real tomb spawned a lot of Unravelers and Beetles which with Redemption wasn't terrible.
Defeated Duriel, another decent +25 psn sc & twitchthroe were the highlights of the drops...
1662349070995.png1662349080212.png
did manage to gamble an upgrade for the circlet (even though it has druid skills. the +life/mana, mana leech and %ed are nice), gambled a terrible blue +1 pally circ as well (sold), and crafted an upgraded set of blood gloves.
1662349110459.png1662349129313.png
up to Level 60 and onto Kurast now. Resists are looking solid for now as well.
1662349137713.png


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          60     SC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        60     HC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       35     HC       Harrogath             - 
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
1662349154221.png
PhineasB said:
Nice progress @Kstil3227 and @jonnyphive Keep it up!

Septimus continued his progress, completing A3 NM over the last two days. It was fairly uneventful, with minimal upgrades. The main one came early, with a caster craft that was an improvement over his plain MF ammy by 3%, with some other minor mods as a bonus:
1662349219914.png
This was as he was moving through the early jungle areas at p7, but not full-clearing. He ended up full-clearing the Marsh after picking right instead of left for the edge to hug and having mostly cleared before finding the Flayer Jungle.

We moved back to full-clearing the Kurast levels, temples, and Trav, but just grabbed the body part in Sewers (but again picking the wrong direction and covering most of the level). He picked up Boneflesh and Bing Sz in Kurast Bazaar, which were promptly sold, along with this cute orb, which muled off at the next break for possible twinking use with other characters:
1662349230798.png
Temples were easily managed, with one potential stair trap that could have been an issue if it had rolled boss packs:
1662349239515.png
Trav was straightforward, with this annoying boss who regenerated life and ran away enough to make it a 5 minute process to finally take him down:
1662349250635.png
The crew has no prevent monster heal or poison damage, so that was a flag to make sure that gets addressed in the near future. On his way to Meph, he picked up a 20MF ring to replace the 14MF/+life one, and a 10FR/5 life SC, which was nice. He dropped down to p3 for Meph, and it went smoothly with only 1 town trip required:
1662349265604.png1662349272077.png
He's built up quite a bit of gold, so he will gamble, likely focusing on polearm weapons in hopes for a merc upgrade. Resists are currently maxed in fire, cold, and poison, and almost 50 for lightning, with nearly 1000 life with oak cast. MF is at 266, which I hope to keep at least through the end of NM. But I will need to keep my eyes open for a good armor, helm, and rings for Hell, as resists will be barely positive for all elements except fire, and then only at ~40.

I've been pumping Tornado, but looking at stats and skills, I think I may end up using a respec to move away from the hybrid. A maxed grizzly will do more much damage as unsynergized Tornado, and the extra points can go to firestorm for targeting high-life non-FIs in Hell. I also think I will abandon Oak, as he isn't really able to stay alive in NM with only 5 skill points, and I expect it will only get worse in Hell.

I have also been thinking about Charsi rewards, and think I will save those for pelts. I can't remember if the staff mods stay intact (I think not, but can't remember for sure), but that seems like the best place to hope for major luck, but I may also consider using circlets.

* * *

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          64     SC       Pand. Fortress NM     -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        60     HC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       35     HC       Harrogath             - 
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
jonnyphive said:
@PhineasB That orb is a great find! Especially at clvl 30, what a damage boost for a sorc!
Babyhell said:
Yes that's some big mid lvl orb, will accelerate future twinked runs for sure :eek:
Dazliare said:
Melisandre has completed normal, minus cows. I might do cows later, but we'll see - I'm not a big fan of the cow level to be honest, but it's a lot of items and gold...

On top of that shield I showed off previously, I did some gambling. No direct upgrades for now since I'm still primarily focused on MF gear, but I did find this SWEET amulet for later

1662349335835.png

WSK was straightforward. In WSK3 I ended up finding Isenhart's Helmet, Cathan's Mesh, and Milabrega's Orb all in one room, so that was interesting. I found a few uniques too (short war bow and scimitar). Baal's drop was fine. I haven't ID'd the Quhab yet, though most claws in normal are terrible since skills can't spawn yet

1662349344749.png

Victory screen:

1662349352046.png



The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          64     SC       Pand. Fortress NM     -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        60     HC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -

jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Kstil3227 said:
Captain America is on to Act 4...the jungles proved to be a pain with all the little fetish people running around everywhere, not hard to kill or any threat of taking down the Captain just annoying tracking them down to kill them all. None of the temples were of any trouble, was quite surprised none had a stair trap of monsters waiting either, so that was a good thing. Lured the council out 1-2 at a time and dismissed them with ease. Down in the Durance of Hate the Captain went in search of Mephisto. Cleared all 3 levels with little to no challenge...decided not to lower the players setting for Mephisto and took him on at /p8! Man did it take awhile to kill him with all that life...after many trips to down he finally went down and had terrible drops as usual.

Somewhere in the jungle a nice GC dropped :)
1662349400593.png

Then in the Kurast Bazaar a LUM rune drops from a small stash :D
1662349408730.png

The first skiller GC dropped shortly after the Lum run in the sewers from an undead champion pack
1662349416209.png

Decided to head back to Act 1 and use the Charsi reward on a superior Circlet that dropped in Upper Kurast, again other skills not for a paladin...but the life and all res was used for an upgrade.
1662349423711.png

1 action shot of the Mephisto fight and the drops afterwards
1662349433027.png1662349439602.png

Gambled some "war Hammers" and this nice damage boost weapon came along...it's pure damage jumped well above the Rondel the Captain was using.
1662349447267.png

Lvl 64, in Act 4, with max Resists...I will gladly take that.
1662349454317.png


Until next time, stay safe and good luck.
Kstil3227 said:
Tables

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          64     SC       Pand. Fortress NM     -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        64     HC       Pand. Fortress NM     -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Rich (BB code):
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Jocular said:
Rejoining this after realizing that the summoner druid build no longer can hold my attention after making 3 of them :p

So DontTazeMe is joining the fray, a bone necro! And after playing so many physical damage builds I'd forgotten how much fun casters are, especially in the beginning of the game when mana resource management is so important. And, since insight won't be used (unless I get uber lucky and find a +3PnB/+3BP wand and won't need 'White'), this mana problem will follow me to the end! I'm looking forward to it, honestly. Insight is just so overpowered. So here's the stats at lvl 18 as DontTazeMe mops up The Jail. Check out how much I've put into energy :p The plan is to get to ~350 mana and then put the rest into vitality.

Code:
Name:       DontTazeMe
Class:      Necromancer
Experience: 365577
Level:      18

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   36/36
Dexterity:  25/26
Vitality:   34/34
Energy:     70/70
HP:         108/144
Mana:       149/149
Stamina:    115/115
Defense:    6/83
AR:         80/95

Fire:       7/-33/-93
Cold:       18/-22/-82
Lightning:  16/-24/-84
Poison:     0/-40/-100

MF:         45       Block:      7
GF:         50
FR/W:       0
FHR:        10
IAS:        0
FCR:        0

EDIT: Shopping for wands, A Story:
lLOzkkY.jpg

Almost...

QCYE8Xw.jpg

:(:mad::confused::rolleyes: Serves me right for ranking shopping as a higher priority than saving the city.

TxB11U9.jpg

:eek::eek::eek::cool:
If I don't manage to get the runes for White I'm going to be so pissed :p This would give +9Bone Armor/+7 BSpear/+5 Teeth


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          64     SC       Pand. Fortress NM     -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        64     HC       Pand. Fortress NM     -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Rich (BB code):
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare said:
I skipped cows for now, and have started Nightmare. I have passable cold and fire resistances, but poison and lightning are both negative. Luckily, Fade brings everything positive. Rakanishu spawned with Conviction aura, which was super scary, but keeping him at max range was effective. I did find one decent drop in this belt:

Eagle Lock
Plated Belt
Defense: 17
Durability: 17 of 24
Required Level: 19
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0x1c4c0499
Item Level: 40
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Hit Recovery
+48% Enhanced Defense
+7 to Strength
+30 to Life
Lightning Resist +18%

Life, strength, FHR, Lightning Res - what's not to like?

I also found a second Nokozan Relic, and a Blastbark Long War bow. Both vendored.

In late act 5, I got some luck cubing rings and snagged a 33MF amulet of luck, so my gear is looking pretty decent.

Lastly, I found a 4OS Gothic Plate. I only have 1 perfect topaz, which I dropped into the gothic plate. It's not an improvement yet, but will be once I find another flawless topaz or a gem shrine. Normally I would get a 3os helmet from Larzuk, but rare circlets with MF can be really good and shouldn't be too outrageous to gamble, and my topaz luck has been garbage thus far

Act 1 NM complete up through Dark Wood


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          64     SC       Pand. Fortress NM     -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        64     HC       Pand. Fortress NM     -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       49     HC       Dark Wood NM          -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
Rich (BB code):

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Jocular said:
Nice belt!

Question for the smart ones: how much mf% is optimal when trying to get magic/rares and avoid sets/uniques? I was looking at this graph and it seems around 200 (or a bit below 200) is a good cutoff point?

Magic-find-diminishing-returns.jpg

https://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Magic_find_diminishing_returns#
jonnyphive said:
@Jocular I don't have too much math-y to say on the subject, but since magics and (especially) rares are really important in this tournament and rares track closely with sets on that effective MF graph, I would say that the general "more = better" principle still applies (so long as it doesn't hinder safety, of course) as you cannot readily separate the most desirable items (rares) from the least desirable (sets). My thought process for this tournament has been that since sets and uniques are generally unusable (except for the personalization reward), I've been stacking MF like I normally would in a tournament, but with a bit more safety mixed in as well. For instance, a rare 2os BP with resists+FHR and 2x flawed topaz, rather than the 3x flawed gray BP I normally put together.

Also, considering how rarely sets and uniques tend to drop anyway, you won't be missing out on many "could've been a rare!" set or unique items you may find, further supporting the idea of more = better.
Jocular said:
Hmm, that makes sense. I just thought I remembered seeing someone talking about an optimal amount of mf for finding rare rings when Trav running recently and hoped they might see this post.
 
jonnyphive said:
Well, if my logic is wrong then I certainly hope someone else comes along to correct me, because that would be fantastic information to have. :)
Jocular said:
I went into the archives:rolleyes: and found it:
https://www.diabloii.net/forums/thr...p-and-running-thread-2nd-round.966374/page-11

Gripphon said:
@ffs

What I meant is we compare our best rings, not the number of them. Sweet spot is between 170-186 MF for highest drop odds according to german calculator, so ideally anything above 170 to also have better odds at facets.

Gripphon, if you have a mo', do you remember what you meant by this? You're responding to someone asking the optimal amount of mf% for rare rings from trav. Is this just for rings? Or is this the optimal amount of mf if one wanted to maximize rare drops of all item types above anything else. Thanks!
PhineasB said:
Sorry, I can't add anything to the "sweet spot" for rare odds question. But I can add an update!

Our intrepid explorers progressed to the Frigid Highland, stopping after taking down Shenk. As foreshadowed in my last update, Septimus used his NM respec to go pure fire, abandoning the hybrid elemental approach. It was p7 full-clear, except Diablo and de Seis (see below), but drops were pretty limited.

The Plains rolled gloams, which was managed easily enough. And Izual was much easier than expected, taking a little more than a minute, which was nice:
1662430977709.png
A nice pair of rare boots dropped (I think in City of the Damned), which replaced 17 LR boots of luck (32MF) that he'd shopped earlier in the act. Basically, I figured the small loss of MF was well worth the higher lightning resist and other mods. HF was a Lem:
1662430990175.png1662430996324.png
My persistence in using all his gold to gamble Polearms paid off, with what was a major upgrade and increased physical damage on the merc's weapon by nearly 75% once up'ed:
1662431011088.png
That set the stage for CS, which was as tough as I had expected. The FI knights hit hard, and the OKs mostly cast amp to make it even harder. The druid could do little except target the OKs with volcano because he couldn't focus damage on the FI knights being targeted by merc and grizzly. So there were quite a bunch of strategic retreats to stretch out the FI knights, and also a few merc resurrections needed.

Infector had the hook layout, so we cast a TP and came back from the WP to avoid any risk. I had planned on bumping down to p1 for Diablo, and given difficulty with FI knights, I decided to clear everything but de Seis and then go to p1 for him and Diablo. Safely navigated, with a nice FCR ring dropping in CS, and then Diablo dropping nothing useful:
1662431019669.png1662431025027.png
It was nice to be away from FIs again in the Foothills, and uneventful up to the first WP.

I hope to shop a 4os gothic plate with useful secondary mod from Larzuk this evening, but will likely run out of patience and go back to Nihl runs with the untwinked necro.

Good luck!

* * *

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          67     SC       Frigid Highland NM    -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        64     HC       Pand. Fortress NM     -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       49     HC       Dark Wood NM          -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
Rich (BB code):

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Pb_pal said:
I'm still going!

First order of business upon reaching the desert was to say goodbye to the Rogue and hire a Town Guard to help with tanking duties. We hired ourselves a Prayer merc and headed straight for the cube. Once we found it, we cubed our chippies (other than diamonds of course) and made some much-needed stash space, as well as a new weapon for the merc. Combined with Concentration (even at slvl 1), the merc worked through the second act like a hot knife through butter. Thangail gladly embraced his new role as merc-follower-and-occasional-smiter-for-crowd-control to take advantage of the mercs extra MF.

Thangail worked his way to the Staff of Kings before realizing he forgot to go back and kill Radament, so naturally that was his next job. He hit lvl 24 in the Lost City which opened up Holy Shield and Conversion. Conversion for now is not being used, but I am excited to see how it will help with crowd control later on.

A nice little addition to the eth grail in the CVT, and Fangskin was no match for the merc (or smite, for that matter). The duo cruised their way through the Arcane Sanctuary (finding an unuseable Cathans Seal along the way) and headed directly for the true tomb.

Duriel was actually easier than I thought he'd be. Vengeance and the merc took him down handily, with only a handful of merc resurrections needed.

VKP6Byz.jpg


Off to the jungle!

Thangail the Smite/Conversion Paladin with Fazel The Prayer Guard - lvl 25(I think), Kurast Docks

* * *

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          67     SC       Frigid Highland NM    -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        64     HC       Pand. Fortress NM     -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       49     HC       Dark Wood NM          -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      32     HC       Pandemonium Fortress  -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -
Rich (BB code):

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
jonnyphive said:
Hmm, well if that "sweet spot" is true, that's very good to know. I'm still around 120% MF for me and 146% MF for the merc, so either way not quite there yet.

@PhineasB Nice progress. You and @Pb_pal's Klaus are really making fire druids look appealing. I think I'll make and Aldur's set-based one, most likely incorporating some fire facets into all those sockets. Once I find the armor, at any rate.

Barb has completed Act 4 and is resting in Harrogath, so it's time for an update!

I've been a bit delinquent in showing stats/skills for Barb so far, so I promptly took a picture of the wrong skill tab for everyone. At least you can still get a feel for his stats:

As you can see, I have no more than 1 point in any combat skill, although that will start to change once BO is maxed. I have 5 in FI and 5 in Sword Mastery; other than that it has been pre-reqs and BO only. Also, my damage remains pitiful, and it's even worse when using Normal Attack (which is most of the time due to lack of mana leech). I have started hoarding +elemental damage charms to scrape and claw for every little bit of hurt I can manage. The upside, I suppose, is that I can contribute to the team's total damage output while scoring very few kills myself, thereby allowing Neeraj's added MF to be applied the vast majority of the time. I found this interesting sword in Jamella's shop and seriously considered ditching my magic/socketed flamberge for it.

Izual was not much of a threat, although he took a long time to bring down (as you'd expect). Still, I managed to grab what is now probably my favorite Izzy death animation screenshot:

Pretty cool how he's collapsing in on himself.

The remainder of the three "above ground" areas were all pretty straight-forward, with a nice pair of runes dropping not long after finishing off Izual. No need for them yet, but still nice to have. We continued to use the terrain to our advantage, although that was less helpful when dealing with Stranglers and their homing missiles.

In the River of Flame, we came across large groups on a handful of occasions, but I've come to realize that the RoF is one of the easiest areas to pin enemies down into nice safe funnels, such as while fighting this Venom Lord boss pack:

I next found a Sol rune, thereby solidifying what I consider very good rune drops for A4 normal (Thul, Amn, Sol). This helped mitigate the mild irritation I had toward my Hellforge drop. At least the perfect diamond and normal topaz were nice to see. Hephasto easily dealt with. Due to our low damage, enemies that like to run away and regenerate were getting irritating quickly so I started taunting such enemies routinely, to keep them in melee range:

Too bad Taunt doesn't work on OKs.

In the Chaos Sanctuary, we found Milabrega's Rod and Isenhart's Obligatory Case, and earlier in the act we found Ichorstring. All were promptly sold. We also continued to find items very appropriate for this tournament, but just for the wrong class.

The Infector and De Seis went down with careful management (I used Leap Attack to jump over a chasm and avoid being swarmed by Infector's group rather than go with the TP/run back method), and then it was time for /players8 Diablo - the death of many unsuspecting tournament players. Not this guy though, not today. Between maxed fire/light resists, 500+ life, and max block, Diablo was a puppy. I used two full rows of reds and blues, but didn't reposition once during the fight. Taking his lightning hose in the face without flinching was sure enjoyable:

The fight was so safe that I started playing around to try and get some of those nice "ring of fire" screenies people post here from time to time:

Success!

Diablo didn't target the one doing 90% of our team's damage (Neeraj) once. Not the smartest demon out there. The drop was disappointing, as all the Act bosses' drops have been so far. At least he didn't drop some fantastic item that I can't use due to tournament restrictions - that takes some of the sting out of the bad drops for sure.

Barb gained 3 levels in Act 4, and is ready to march on Shenk before engaging in some lengthy power shopping.

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          67     SC       Frigid Highland NM    -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        64     HC       Pand. Fortress NM     -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       49     HC       Dark Wood NM          -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      35     HC       Harrogath             -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Gripphon said:
Jocular said:
Gripphon, if you have a mo', do you remember what you meant by this? You're responding to someone asking the optimal amount of mf% for rare rings from trav. Is this just for rings? Or is this the optimal amount of mf if one wanted to maximize rare drops of all item types above anything else. Thanks!
That is for rings specifically, jewels are also around similar area. I didn't check for other rare items. It depends does item have set or only unique version and so on.
Pizzaparty said:
Sounds like a fun tournament. Maybe too hard for a unique/runeword worshiper like myself but what the heck! I want to wear something else than stealth and lore for a change. Maybe one of those colorful shining armors! Character class is still undecided.
jonnyphive said:
@Pizzaparty These tourneys are as much a competition against yourself as they are against other players :). I've found that they can be really useful for better understanding various skills and seldom used items, and I generally consider myself a better player after playing a character in this manner. Still, if you're concerned about making it relatively far, consider a caster in a tournament like this - much less item dependent! I apparently am a glutton for punishment because I went quite far in the opposite direction :p. Good luck!
Jocular said:
Gripphon said:
That is for rings specifically, jewels are also around similar area. I didn't check for other rare items. It depends does item have set or only unique version and so on.
Gotchya, thanks. I think I'll play around with it and see if I can figure out the answer.
Dazliare said:
Melisandre has completed Act 1 in nightmare, finishing at level 52. Nightmare thus far has been noticeably more difficult than normal, which is to be expected. I had one pretty scary experience with Pitspawn Fouldog (immune to lightning and lightning enchnated!) because without Fade, our lightning resistance is only 11. Keeping him at the edge of the screen with shadow master worked pretty well, but one stray bolt would take out ~40% of our HP,

The beginning of the act started normally. Our gear is pretty good, so we didn't spend any time shopping in Act 1 aside from gambling. Funnily enough, we found another Infernal Step:

1662431424349.png

A bit later, we found our second unique amulet. Another Nokozan Relic. Another vendor

1662431435976.png

Fighting Andariel went without a hitch. 75% block with 71% poison resistance with antidotes meant that we could sit right in front of her and let Lightning Sentry do the work. Her drop left something to be desired:

1662431442627.png

The highlight of the act came from one of the corpses behind Andariel - an ethereal Partizan. I've been trying to decide what to use imbues on, and while the obvious answer is claws, I think the chance of getting something decent is really low, so I'd rather use my three imbues on things with a decent chance of being useful right now. Here is the result of imbuing that ethereal Partizan. This is probably the first imbue I've used in 10 years, and is a huge improvement over what Emilio was using previously.

1662431449820.png

We've also been slowly filling a 4os gothic plate with perfect topazes. We're up to three so far

One question for all you lovely people. Should I Larzuk a perfect diamond into this shield? I'm thinking yes

Scintillating Gothic Shield of Deflecting
Gothic Shield
Defense: 33
Chance to Block: 36
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Level: 21
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0x9e5c8f6c
Item Level: 45
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Block Rate
20% Increased Chance of Blocking
All Resistances +15

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          67     SC       Frigid Highland NM    -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        64     HC       Pand. Fortress NM     -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       52     HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      35     HC       Harrogath             -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
jonnyphive said:
@Dazliare Well, you can shop a Scintillating Tower Shield of Deflecting from Normal Larzuk, which gives you 5% slower run speed but better blocking, so there's that option to consider. He should also sell an Artisan's Tower Shield of Deflecting, which would be a fantastic shield for this tournament. I'm currently trying to shop one of those myself; we'll see if I run out of patience before progressing with something less optimal. I guess my overall point is that while it is a nice shield, you can shop something arguably better, relatively easily, and have Larzuk socket that, or spend a little more time shopping and get something *much* better without burning a socket quest. It all depends on how much time you care to spend shopping!
Jocular said:
Agree, shopping an artisans of 'preferred suffix' is probably everyone's best choice for a shield.
Jocular said:
Having some trouble deciding what to keep and what to ditch...which circlet would you keep for your barb merc? I feel like the everlasting circlet could be worth a trip to Lazruk to see if I get two sockets. But the Rune Shell is so damn useful at the moment with the lightning damage and life leech. Thoughts?

Code:
Circlet of Life Everlasting
Circlet
Defense: 24
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0x4e331188
Item Level: 45
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Damage Reduced by 21

Rune Shell
Circlet
Defense: 21
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 18
Fingerprint: 0x19d7ed17
Item Level: 32
Version: Expansion 1.10+
23% Enhanced Damage
Adds 1 - 115 Lightning Damage
4% Life stolen per hit
Lightning Resist +20%
Magic Damage Reduced by 2
jonnyphive said:
@Jocular I can certainly see the temptation of the Circlet of Life Everlasting, but I think in most cases the leech will be more important for keeping your merc upright, and with the item restrictions in this tournament that could be hard to come by otherwise. Add in the other useful mods and I think the second is more worth keeping.
Kstil3227 said:
Captain America has managed to fight his way through the greatest place in Diablo 2, ACT 4!!

Great double rune drop to start it off in the Outer Steppes
1662431524756.png

Fire up the Hellforge for a good drop please....:D
1662431532318.png
Then a Sol rune :confused:, used it to craft some blood rings...:confused:
1662431541135.png
1662431547845.png

Naj's Circlet dropped on the way up to CS
1662431555469.png


The close calls didn't happen until he entered the Sanctuary with the OK's and DK's...amp damage and then getting hit by the DK's took a chunk out of the Captain. So he retreated and had to slowly re-engage to drag them out 1-2 at a time until the entire Sanctuary was empty except for the seals to be hit. First up was Vizier, he went down easy with no worries. Second was de Seis, that amp damage with fanat=OUCH! half health in 1 shot :eek::eek:, so The Captain and Emilio had to be extremely cautious on how to enter this fight, after re-treating and re-engaging we manage to defeat de Seis and his minions. Last was Infector, did the tp to wp deal so we didn't get trapped in the hook, dragged the minions out a couple at a time til Infector himself came out, then just stood and swung the hammer until he dropped. Onto to Diablo himself at /p3.

This fight was pretty lack luster, Captain America was able to face tank the whole fight including the dread Lightning hose, which made the fight over fairly quickly. Also managed to capture a pretty crazy screenshot of Diablo being "Popped" into ice just after releasing another Lightning Hose.
1662431562745.png
1662431569683.png
The drops had a lot of rares including an amazing War Hammer than once up'd was a big upgrade for the Captain!
1662431579234.png
1662431586700.png

Onto to the land of the Barbarians! Act 5 at Lvl 67, max resists, and 1K max damage (practically 2K with conv/veng)
1662431597346.png


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          67     SC       Frigid Highland NM    -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        67     HC       Harrogath NM          -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       52     HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      35     HC       Harrogath             -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Jocular said:
Really solid progress, @Kstil3227! You're making me want to finally get around to finishing an untwinked Avenger (I've started a couple but didn't get past NM).

Also:
lRQny2j.jpg


Code:
Chromatic Small Shield of Amicae
Small Shield
Defense: 10
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 22
Fingerprint: 0x88b8e008
Item Level: 54
Version: Expansion 1.10+
All Resistances +64
Damage Reduced by 11 2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Perfect Diamond
Socketed: Perfect Diamond

Perfect Diamond
Required Level: 18
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +68% Damage to Undead Armor: +100 to Attack Rating Shields: Cold Resist +19%
Lightning Resist +19%
Fire Resist +19%
Poison Resist +19%
Perfect Diamond
Required Level: 18
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +68% Damage to Undead Armor: +100 to Attack Rating Shields: Cold Resist +19%
Lightning Resist +19%
Fire Resist +19%
Poison Resist +19%

P.S. Yes this took forever to shop :p I was trying for an Artisan's Kite Shield of Equilibrium, but decided to call it quits and give a roll of the dice when this came up.
Babyhell said:
That's a nice survival shield for leveling!
Jocular said:
Really solid progress, @Kstil3227! You're making me want to finally get around to finishing an untwinked Avenger (I've started a couple but didn't get past NM).

Also:
lRQny2j.jpg


Code:
Chromatic Small Shield of Amicae
Small Shield
Defense: 10
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 22
Fingerprint: 0x88b8e008
Item Level: 54
Version: Expansion 1.10+
All Resistances +64
Damage Reduced by 11 2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Perfect Diamond
Socketed: Perfect Diamond

Perfect Diamond
Required Level: 18
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +68% Damage to Undead Armor: +100 to Attack Rating Shields: Cold Resist +19%
Lightning Resist +19%
Fire Resist +19%
Poison Resist +19%
Perfect Diamond
Required Level: 18
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +68% Damage to Undead Armor: +100 to Attack Rating Shields: Cold Resist +19%
Lightning Resist +19%
Fire Resist +19%
Poison Resist +19%

P.S. Yes this took forever to shop :p I was trying for an Artisan's Kite Shield of Equilibrium, but decided to call it quits and give a roll of the dice when this came up.
jonnyphive said:
@Jocular Awesome shield. Pretty hard to beat if you aren't aiming for max block!

I can only hope I have the patience to stick with shopping Larzuk until something good finally pops up...
Not the ATSoD I'm hunting for, but Larzuk was kind enough to sell me this surprisingly high damage sword to replace the Flamberge I built in A3:

The huge damage range is less than ideal, but its average damage is ~20 points higher than my last sword, so it's worth losing the life leech with how tanky I am at this stage. I also bought an Artisan's Great Helm of Balance, which lets me exceed the 48% FHR breakpoint and start boosting my MF. Between these two little pickups and glancing at red body armors for a chance at Artisan's of the Colossus, seeing 4/5 of Larzuk's armor screens contain 0 Tower Shields has been less discouraging than I would've expected by this point. I did buy a plain TSoD just in case my patience eventually runs out, though. I put it in my cube for the moment so it doesn't slow me down while shopping.

I guess I'll update the table while I'm here:


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          67     SC       Frigid Highland NM    -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        67     HC       Harrogath NM          -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       52     HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      39     HC       Arreat Plateau        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Kstil3227 said:
Half way through Act 5 with Captain America. The Captain couldn't save all the Barbarians under attack in the foothills (personal "side quest" I try to do each time I explore the Foothills) but in the end he took down Shenk and earned a 2nd Larzuk socket quest (still have yet to use the normal one:oops:).

Within the first few monsters of Act 5 the first exceptional unique drops (SkyStrike Edge Bow) Which was vendor'd for a small amount of gold.
1662431763619.png

Onto the plateau and underground area of Acheron. Great mid-rune drop happened in Acheron. KO RUNE!! Found a couple of Hel runes as well which in turn cubed into an Io to go along with the other two previously found, then found a flawed topaz and cubed the 3 Io runes into another Lum to make 3! So now Captain America is hoping a flawed Amethyst drops to cube the 3 Lums into a 2nd KO rune...(then maybe, just maybe get some luck and a MAL rune drops somewhere in hell....Sanctuary runeword possible with personalize quest??? only hopes and dreams at this time though)
1662431773118.png

head to Mala to fill up on pots and she doesn't have room for Mana Pots...:mad::mad:...time to run to the wp and back to reset her.
1662431780754.png

Into the Crystalline Passage we go...a Magic Boneweave armor drops...then ID it and BOOM! Merc armor upgrade.
1662431787947.png
Another Sol rune drops in the passage, which was quickly used for crafting a blood ring...not bad on this craft with high AR/small amount of life and Cold Res.--small upgrade for 1 ring which is always a good thing.
1662431795025.png

Next up was the Frozen River to rescue Anya. No real challenge here until I get to Frozenstein. Extra Strong, Fanat, and CE...fun fun. Had to really work hard to separate this boss pack to make it manageable...but the reward from his drops plus Anya's reward was good to replace the shield and weapon the Captain had been using since the previous Act (weapon) and Anya in normal (Shield). No sockets but the FHR put him above the 86% breakpoint and didn't give up too much in the resists. This also put the block chance up to 73% with holy shield active.
1662431806869.png
1662431813826.png

Glacial Trail and Drifter Caverns finished up this halfway run of Act 5. Drifter caverns dropped a second exceptional unique in Hexfire. Which was sold after popping the chest in the Caverns on a trip to town.
1662431821849.png

Up to Level 71 and onto Nihlathak, then traverse the Frozen Tundra on the way to Ancient's Way...but that'll be another day.
1662431830247.png

Until next time. Stay safe and good luck.

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        71     HC       Glacial Trail NM      -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          67     SC       Frigid Highland NM    -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       52     HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      39     HC       Arreat Plateau        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       14     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
 
CaseyJones said:
Ninjara continues the challenge...
Picking up where we left off in the dark wood. The hairy beasts slain and a most peculiar scroll retrieved. I always did like treasure maps but alas, this was but a magic sequence. Once the stones were alight, we entered into dear old Tristram. They really need to hire a decorator because...whoa...yeah...it was that bad. Who hangs an old man for show anyway? The town smith was a bit angered by the remark and tried to chase Ninjara down to his demise.
1662432091937.png

With Cain safe to camp, Ninjara continued on in to the marsh wary of this Countess figure she had read much about in a moldy tome. Surely she couldn't still be alive! OK, those virgins really had the key to eternal youth, just not immortality. She dropped a nice ITH rune, my first this run.
1662432099854.png

As if hero's don't have enough to do, the smith Charsi asks for a favor. Yes, if I see it I will bring it back. Wait, you didn't tell me a huge bloodthirsty maniac was keeping it! Are you sure we're friends? Bit of a hassle but he didn't so much as scratch me.
1662432107417.png

Imbued a wrist spike I had found in the jail level. Nothing real fancy but it was an upgrade for Ninjara.

On to Andariel, a pretty uneventful trek to and through the monastery. Turns out the spider lady doesn't mix well with fire. Another easy barbecue, slightly crispy on the outside, full of loot on the inside!
1662432116705.png
1662432125316.png

The ring made for a nice upgrade, nothing else much of note. Just more gems to squeeze into the ole rucksack.

And into the desert...
Here's a character sheet at the start of Act 2:
1662432134252.png

Hopefully the next update will come with less time in between.

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        71     HC       Glacial Trail NM      -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          67     SC       Frigid Highland NM    -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       52     HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      39     HC       Arreat Plateau        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
jonnyphive said:
Can I get a Hallelujah!?

The most persistently I've ever shopped for one specific item. Feels gooooood.
Pizzaparty said:
Are you gonna get resists on it or even more FBR? :)
Babyhell said:
Congrats @jonnyphive ! Pdiamonds time?
jonnyphive said:
@Pizzaparty @Babyhell There will be at least two pdiamonds, and then either a third pdiamond or a shael depending on needs for Hell. If I go pure Berserker, I'm leaning toward shael to bump up my FBR by another frame since I'll be blocking constantly. But, then again, a Berserker has Howl which means that getting swarmed will rarely if ever be an issue, thereby reducing the chance of block-lock. Between that and how my resists look upon entering Hell, I'll make my decision at that time. For now 1 pdiamond is in and a second will go in as soon as I get one.
Babyhell said:
I like the Shael path: not to costly anyway!
jonnyphive said:
Yeah, I'll definitely be tempted to pop a shael in there sooner than later if I keep feeling interrupted by the blocking animation. I guess resists shouldn't be too much of a problem with a barb either way, so it might be worth assuming I'll do well enough with resists elsewhere. We'll see how long I can hold out before deciding...
Kstil3227 said:
The Captain has done it!! Nihlathake, The Ancients and Baal have been defeated in Nightmare! Outside of the Vipers in Nihlathak's temple :oops::mad:, there wasn't really any challenge that was overly difficult to conquer in the 2nd half of Act V. Only used 1 full set of pots in the fight against the ancients. Each Baal wave was taken care of with carefulness and ease. Dragged waves 4 and 5 out of the throne and separated them into packs of 2-3 and just chopped them down.

On the way to Nihlathak 2 very nice charms dropped. 7% MF sc and an 8 all res. LC
1662432240310.png1662432248758.png

Found a nice armor upgrade from Larzuk while selling loot.
1662432281786.png
1662432289791.png

Another LUM rune drops in the WSK lvl 1 (Still needing to find a Flawed Amethyst to make KO #2)
1662432298773.png

Came across an interesting sword from Larzuk as well but had no use for it and no room to keep it.
1662432308239.png

Baal himself didn't spawn a single clone, so Captain America and Emilio just stood toe to toe and took Baal down. Drops looked promising with all the rares, nothing but gold collecting, the PIKE did roll eth and with 95% ED, so that'll be upgraded with the cube and see if it gets more damage for Emilio.
1662432329473.png1662432340371.png

CONQUEROR CAPTAIN AMERICA!!!
1662432348156.png

Ending stats after NM Baal. Resists will surely be needing a bump once Hell begins. Got a 4os shield with 15 All res ready to go. Still have both Larzuk socket quests open and still have yet to personalize anything so there is still much more room for upgrades and improvements.
1662432361872.png


Lastly for NM is the Secret Cow Level. Not much experience to be had i'm sure, but maybe some rune luck and possibly a base for anya to personalize for a runeword...:)

Til next time. Good luck and stay safe!

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        74     HC       Rogue Encampment Hell      -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          67     SC       Frigid Highland NM    -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       52     HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      39     HC       Arreat Plateau        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon         25     HC       Arcane Sanctuary      -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
jonnyphive said:
@Kstil3227 Great progress! You've really shot up to the top of the board since joining! Good luck in Hell. Any consideration to Hel'ing out that nice armor for better resists if you can't swing it otherwise?
Kstil3227 said:
@jonnyphive thanks

Ya I will consider Hel’ing out the armor if needed to better help with resists if I can’t make the 4 P diamond or possibly 1-Shael and 3 P diamond shield work. Hell will be completely different than NM for sure. So there will be many changes Im sure in the beginning, but’s the fun part of this game. Always having to adapt and change to survive
jonnyphive said:
@Kstil3227 Oh right that shield should probably get the job done! But I agree about the fun in making adjustments - two of my favorite moments in the game are when you first arrive in A2 normal, because there's a lot of potential with all the nice whites and grays the merchants sell combined with getting the cube, and the beginning of hell, when you usually need to rework a lot of your gear just to not immediately die in the Moor.
Vildecor said:
jonnyphive said:
@Kstil3227 Great progress! You've really shot up to the top of the board since joining! Good luck in Hell.
I second this. Very nice and quick progress. Looking forward to seeing how Hell difficulty treats you as well as (maybe) the first personalized item so far?

I had to join, of course. I've decided to play an amazon. I was torn between going Strafe/FA and a Spearzon using LS/CS. As I haven't any experience beyond normal with a Spearzon, I picked the latter. Plus, with a Valk and an Act II merc, that will make a trio of heroes poking things with very long sticks. Sounds like a winner.

Once she cleared out most of the Moor, Alanna bought a +4 max dmg spear from Charsi. One of her first rare drops questioned her weapon choice:

1662432489408.png
Alanna says "These sticks are too short and not thick enough! They're practically big arrows. No thanks."

Soon after, Charsi sold her an upgrade that saw plenty of work in demon killing.

1662432507431.png

The countess dropped an Ith rune which was promptly sold. Not in any of the crafting recipes I have my eyes on and not really worth holding onto while waiting for a socketed rare to drop. Glove and boot gambling at lvl 17 yielded a nice pair of 12 fire resist, 23 MF gloves as well as some boots with another 24 fire resist. The spear was also replaced with a 29% ED brandistock.

I had some fun in the jail level killing goatmen through the bars. When I came across a Fanaticism boss pack of goatmen, I quickly retreated the nearest cell to lock myself into, but my mercenary apparently didn't seem to see the tactical advantage to this:

1662432531452.png

I used a TP, had a quick talk with the merc, then proceeded with the original plan.

1662432549614.png

It's a good thing the goatmen didn't seem to notice the open cell door. I sadly wasn't able to use the same process for Pitspawn's pack. Instead I let my merc take most of the lightning bolt crossfire while I stayed on the outskirts jabbing away.

Got a TC3 drop in the Catacombs, but it was so ugly it got sold to Charsi.
1662432570472.png

Once charged strike got 3 points at lvl 20, it got used more frequently for bosspacks and devilkin packs. But already, Alanna was very ready to finish the first act and get a dedicated meatshield to take the heat off of her.

Andariel had some nasty guard dogs welcoming visitors to the bottom of the catacombs:

1662432583280.png

Once that nastiness was cleared out, it was time to face Andariel herself. Nothing a good handful of antidote pre-pots can't handle, yes?

1662432595322.png

Of course! No problemo. Charged strike ate her up nice and good.

1662432608342.png

Is that a rare Trident I see?

1662432622805.png

I will totally accept this upgrade!

Overall, the Barracks thru the Catacombs was a bit of a slog. About as expected though. The addition of an Act II merc, the new weapon, and more powerful Charged Strike will speed things up nicely though. In truth, I just can't wait for the pretty screenshots of Lightning Strike.

Until next time, stay alive everyone!

Added myself to the table and moved Triin to the unburdened. May she RIP.

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        74     HC       Rogue Encampment Hell      -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          67     SC       Frigid Highland NM    -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       52     HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      39     HC       Arreat Plateau        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Babyhell said:
nice to see new people joining and questing. Hell! Wonderful! I'll be back soon as my untwinked pally is now running LK, BabyBeasts will be my breathing char :)
Pizzaparty said:
I have joined the party with level 18 necromancer LocoPete. He is a poisoner type of necromancer currently stabbing monsters with the "dagger of bear".

I am also interested to know what players setting you are using and are you doing full clears or something else?

vTRVAxz.jpg

Andariel got something like 85 poison resistance on normal.

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        74     HC       Rogue Encampment Hell      -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          67     SC       Frigid Highland NM    -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       52     HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      39     HC       Arreat Plateau        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare said:
Welcome! I'm near the end of act 2 in nightmare, and thus far it's been players 8 and full clears all the way. I'll keep doing that as long as I can, though I'll probably have to back off the psettings in act 4
Vildecor said:
I've also cleared everything on p8. I usually lower it for Ancients and Baal, depending on the strength of the character. Same thing applies for NM, though I lower settings for Travincal due to the FE bug on Geleb Flamefinger.
PhineasB said:
Inspired by the great progress by @Kstil3227 and others, Septimus resumed his journey and took out NM Nihl before pausing at a great WP in Glacial Trail that is on the other side of the wall from the exit to Frozen Tundra (and a teleport staff shopped). He continues p7 setting, with mostly full clears (not being too thorough on Frigid Highlands and Arreat Plateau.

No major upgrades but a couple pick-ups that may replace other stashed items when we transition to Hell. The first one was a Scintillating Amulet of of Mammoth:
1662432781255.png
This is 6@ lower than other amulet, which has life replenish. I think the straight +life will offset lower resists (with Oak), but I'm really hoping for an upgrade on caster or rare to make those obsolete. He also picked up a 33MF amulet of luck, which is currently equipped.

We picked up a Ko on the way to Nihl after tagging the Glacial Trail WP. The second level was challenging due to FI goats and hierophants healing groups, and then the vipers on Nihl's level were a challenge, with Durga needing resurrection three times before it was cleared. Nihl was also tough, but managed with patience and caution, and he was kind enough to drop this:
1662432790026.png
1662432796481.png
Not useful for Septimus, but an upgrade for my overall stash :) We hadn't full-cleared the second level so we went back to finish that up. A third flawless amethyst finally dropping to allow me to cube socket the eth flail he'd had on switch for a while, and the 50% chance paid off:
1662432805151.png
I plan to fill it with Tir runes and will drop 3s Tir'ed sword once we have enough. The main thing is that it will be base for HotO if we can get a Vex on this playthrough. If not, it will be a nice base if he transitions to an untwinked 99er :eek:

As far as uniques, he found an eth Hexfire, SoE, and this usually nice drop for tourneys:
1662432813961.png
All got vendored due to playthrough restrictions. I plan to hold off on personalization until end of A3 H if possible, hoping for a great drop to dictate that decision. In the meantime, I'm saving gold to go on a major gambling spree if he makes it to Hell. He will also hopes to pick up two plain exceptional pelts for imbues at that point.

Good luck to all, and keep up the great progress!

* * *

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        74     HC       Rogue Encampment Hell -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          72     SC       Glacial Trail NM      -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       52     HC       Lut Gholein NM        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      39     HC       Arreat Plateau        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian       1     SC       Rogue Encampment      -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
peytron said:
Well, it took a very long time to take him down, but we did it!
1662432851776.png

Finally finished normal difficulty at level 38. It was a very slow go. I decided I was going to play an axe wielding berserker barbarian at the very beginning without knowing much about it. I didn't realise the couldn't leech, and the killing speed is quite slow with axes only.

His gloves were found in act 3, and they may be with us for a while:
1662432859991.png

Almost found some CB gear I would have personalised:
1662432869523.png

Of course they turned out to be ethereal.

An Ormus ring I actually would have liked if I were an untwinked caster:
1662432878355.png

Now on to fight some cows before hitting nightmare difficulty.
Dazliare said:
Act 2 Nightmare complete!

Still P8 all the way, and a bit of a slog through the tombs. I had one time where I absolutely thought I was dead - an amp damage boss beetle pack cornered me. I went through all my big purples, but managed to run away just in time. Death Sentry is fully up and running, and feels pretty excellent. First interesting bit was this when I was gambling circlets. I've gambled a few sets, and one unique, in my D2 career, but never in a tournament, so this was cool:

1662432902194.png

Neat little drop in one of the tombs:
1662432909853.png

Duriel was super easy, even on P8. A few trips to town for mana potions, and the traps did the job nicely. His drop was junk:
1662432917350.png

I'm thinking I'll go to A5 in normal and try to shop a new shield, but we'll see. Level 60, Act 3 next!



The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        74     HC       Rogue Encampment Hell -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          72     SC       Glacial Trail NM      -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       60     HC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      39     HC       Arreat Plateau        -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      38     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
jonnyphive said:
@peytron Those gloves are very nice - attack speed is so helpful for a Berserker as otherwise your attacks can get interrupted by frequent blocking / hit recovery thanks to the 0 defense. Are you going to craft some blood gloves for CB? Might make for some tough storage decisions if you manage to roll a nice pair. I just crafted my first pair and they have 20% IAS + 8% CB so I already had to make room in my stash, as I don't want to give up my MF gloves most of the time quite yet despite the blood gloves turning out so well.

Nice progress @PhineasB @Dazliare and whoever else I missed. I left my game paused after killing Lister's group, so just Baal + cows before an update for me. Hopefully in the next day or two.
 
peytron said:
jonnyphive said:
@peytron Those gloves are very nice - attack speed is so helpful for a Berserker as otherwise your attacks can get interrupted by frequent blocking / hit recovery thanks to the 0 defense. Are you going to craft some blood gloves for CB? Might make for some tough storage decisions if you manage to roll a nice pair. I just crafted my first pair and they have 20% IAS + 8% CB so I already had to make room in my stash, as I don't want to give up my MF gloves most of the time quite yet despite the blood gloves turning out so well.
Thanks! My initial intention was to use mostly blood crafts, but once I figured out the leech issue I haven't crafted any. I'm sure I will need CB from somewhere eventually, so stashing my rubies until then. Will likely end up with crafted gloves, axe, and belt.

P.S. I realised I forgot to update the table, but seems likes someone friendly has done that for me already :).
PhineasB said:
Septimus finished up A5 NM, taking out Baal and roasting some Cows, and is ready (well, maybe) for Hell.
1662433801066.png
He full-cleared everything from this stretch, Frozen Tundra through Cows, p7 except for Ancients at p1 and Lister/Baal at p3. There is something oddly satisfying about the Cow level with fissure. I'm not sure what, but it was lots of fun :) The update on first part of A5 NM is here.

It was smooth sailing to Ancients with no drops of note. I guess I missed the screenie for Korlic (or maybe he dropped too quickly after I got a solid foothold :D), but here are the other two:
1662433810585.png
1662433826341.png
WSK 1 was simple with no FI rolls, but WSK 2 rolled Gloams. It was safe enough focused on dodging bolts and the movement generally drawing them into the fissure field, but this guy took some care:
1662433835710.png
The waves were surprisingly easy, with one tactical retreat for Ventar's mob. Lister was fairly easily managed by retreating all the way to the entrance and then going back to grab the pack 1-2 at a time, as illustrated in this action shot on Lister himself:
1662433845138.png
Baal was also fairly easy, with only one town trip needed for mana potion refills. His drop contained nothing useful:
1662433854927.png
1662433863252.png
As noted, Cows were fun, but nothing useful dropped. In fact, the only drop of potential use was this 2os shield with faster block/rate and LR:
1662433872824.png
It got the 2 pDiamonds stashed, but the loss of other resists compared to plain 3os tower shield makes that the winner for now. We then gambled through 2M gold on circlets, with a +2 elemental roll that is stashed. It probably bests the 20FCR/17@ one from earlier, with the added damage balancing the bump to resists that can be offset elsewhere. He also shopped +84 life belt with 14LR to replace the plain +100 life one.

The stash is surprisingly manageable after selling off some other items that had been stashed but are now bested elsewhere, plus some runes that won't be needed:
1662433883984.png
We will likely spend more time shopping for high FR gloves with other modifier and maybe a 3s tower shield with useful secondary mod. He will also need an armor upgrade for himself when he fully transitions from MF set up, but he can always go back to NM to shop.

[Edit: It turns out the A1H vendors are better sources of what I'm looking for (tower shields, gothic plate, gloves, and maybe boots) due to the item types and inventory space. I've really never shopped in Hell difficulty, so I'm glad I checked out of curiosity. After clearing to the first WP, this will be more efficient power shopping!]

The merc has the 4s jewelers gothic plate he's shopped (of swords as secondary mod) socketed with Ort/Ral/Thul/Jade JoF and a life steel circlet in addition to that rare partizan posted earlier. So all his resists are 65+, with life leech and 99/227 damage with extra cold damage. I'm thinking that this weapon may be upgraded if he can luck out with an Um.

Septimus has all positive resists for Hell with his current MF gear (264%), with ability to max lightning and get fire to >40 by dropping one MF ring, and maxing lightning and nearly maxing fire and cold if he drops all MF jewelry. So I am thinking of dropping one ring for A1 H, and then likely converting to full survival gear, with the hopes of some solid upgrades before then.

Keep up the good progress, and stay safe!

* * *

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        74     HC       Rogue Encampment Hell -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          74     SC       Rogue Encampment Hell -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       60     HC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      39     HC       Arreat Plateau        -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      38     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        25     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare said:
Haven't found a triple res pair of boots in a longggg time. These made me laugh. Dropped off a spider in Spider Cavern NM. I think I'll probably just vendor them honestly. The boots I'm using are fantastic, with MF to boot1662433999967.png
Pb_pal said:
The merc continued to just plow his way through everything as Thangail set out into Act 3. Monsters are becoming a bit more dangerous now, but as you can see below, even the really dangerous ones like Sszark are rendered quite useless by Smite.

83nVC8V.jpg


Thangail has a few points into Holy shield by now which both allows Smite to do *decent* damage, and gives a good duration on HS itself. He's still following the mercs footsteps, but it's nice to be able to contribute in the more dangerous situations. Soon enough he had found the Gidbinn and.. wait a minute, received a decent ring for it!

It's by no means incredible, but he's using it and that's a rare enough thing for me! Endugu was soon killed and we found a Ral in a nice leisurely jaunt through the Swampy Pit. Soon enough Stormtree was killed, as was Sarina, and the brain was retrieved before plodding up through the Travincal. The Council members were separated out and dealt with easily, and before he knew it Thangail was facing Mephisto.

FnqB2nf.jpg


He took a pretty long time, which I can imagine will be a trend with bossfights in the future. Through lots of merc resurrections we eventually got him, and he even left some nice boots for us as a parting gift!

--

Thangail set out into the underworld and quickly hit lvl 30 in the Outer Steppes, giving him access to his end-game aura Fanatacism. Definitely noticed an attack speed increase for Smite, which helps with controlling larger groups, so that's great! He found our first consideration for a personalization too:

06Fc1Lh.jpg


It's not much, but the CBF may prove very useful later as it's going to be tough to come by. He's hanging on to it for now until something a little more valuable comes along. The duo soon found Izual, and with Thangail taking the brunt of the attacks the merc was free to whittle him down to nothingness. The next gear upgrade happened when the merc hit 31 and got enough strength to equip his Savage Bill we had been hanging on to. Between that and the growing power of Fanatacism, he's still mowing through things with ease.

The RoF went by in a flash and hephasto was drawn out and easily dealt with. The knockback and stun of Smite are extremely good (obviously) against big single bad guys like him.

UQyrORu.jpg


Hellforge dropped us an Ith, and it was off to the CS!

Pretty much status quo through there, really. It was slow, but it wasn't too dangerous as long as we were mindful of who was around us. Being able to consistently stun entire mobs is some pretty seriously effective crowd control at this stage.

The Diablo fight was... long.

rgnbR7L.jpg


Lots of chasing, lots of hose-dodging, lots of town trips to revive the merc and buy potions. Eventually though the duo was successful!

After that they took a quick trip up to Shenk, and there they sit at level 35. I'm going to give him a bit of a rest for now I think, I'm just not feeling him that much and I'd like to focus on finishing Klaus. I'm sure I'll come back to Thangail at some point when I'm more in the mindset of slow single-attack HC tournament plodding. In the meantime, best of luck to everyone still going!

Thangail the Smite/Conversion Paladin with Fazel The Prayer Guard - lvl 35, Frigid Highlands


* * *

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        74     HC       Rogue Encampment Hell -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          74     SC       Rogue Encampment Hell -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       60     HC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      39     HC       Arreat Plateau        -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      38     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands          -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
jonnyphive said:
Barb has finished normal! After spending much time shopping and fighting in A5, it will be nice to head back to the Rogue Encampment for a while.

The trip up the Bloody Foothills was largely uneventful, still working side-by-side with Neeraj, trying to deflect as many hits as possible to allow him to focus on dealing damage. Along the way, we found our first 3os barb helm and another unique sword; unfortunately both were deemed useless and subsequently sold. Between BO and max block, getting surrounded was a convenience rather than a threat, as we had to do less moving around to find our next target. Before long, Shenk was alone, and soon we ventured into the Frigid Highlands to rescue some helpless barbarians (this sounds like an oxymoron to me). It was here that I started using Taunt religiously. Those demon imps are insanely frustrating for a low-damage, single-target melee fighter like Barb, so being able to corral packs of them in a matter of seconds was a godsend:

Despite having no melee attack to speak of, these little buggers couldn't resist the power of Taunt and obediently sauntered up to get cut down. Taunt made the outdoor areas of Act 5 far less frustrating than usual - I could even taunt over fortification walls and have the imps teleport right to me! At level 38, Neeraj achieved an even 1000 life, a nice little OCD-satisfying visual when looking at the merc screen. The hellish dungeons had the usual mix of Night Lords and Overseers+Enslaved, and all were easily dealt with by our duo. Another unique amulet (Eye of Etlich) was found and sold, before parking at the Arreat Plateau waypoint.

At this point, we settled into what I expected to be a tedious, frustrating power-shopping experience. As reported a few days ago, shopping Larzuk, despite only selling Tower Shields ~1/4 of the time, wasn't too bad, and we were ultimately rewarded with what we came for, as well as that nifty crystal sword that helped pump up our damage a little bit more. I popped my only perfect diamond into the shield and resolved to wait before deciding what else to put in it.

The Crystalline Passage held its fair share of tough battles, including this chilly confrontation:

Barb looks pretty badass with that crystal sword held over his head in the face of such danger.

A short time later, my first two Shael runes dropped in fairly quick succession. Right after buying that fancy new shield. Hmmm. The Frozen River was a little tedious but never very dangerous with all the natural chokepoints, and more useless green and gold (23% Nagel) junk continued to fall. Someone in Frozenstein's pack dropped an Angelic Halo, and shortly thereafter Anya was freed. Her reward was interesting but useless. After finding and selling various sets and rares, a regular diamond dropped in the Drifter Cavern, allowing me to cube up another perfect diamond. And that was all I had patience for - I went ahead and completed what I find to be a rather sexy item, likely to stick around until death or guardianship:

The resists are always welcome, but the real gain from this was the jump from 5 FPB to 4 FPB - it may not seem like much but it was a 20% time reduction, and I noticed the difference in block speed immediately. This will become increasingly important when I transition to using Berserk more and more often. As of now I am 100% in favor of the socketing decision I made - we will see if I feel the need to Hel the shield later on to make room for more of something else (P Diamond, Eld, Sol?).

Feeling empowered by my shiny new toy, we pressed on and cleared the Frozen Tundra of its countless tauntable gremlins, soon finding ourselves in yet another Hell-like dungeon. Taunt ruled the day there as well.

The Ancients' Way was essentially more of the same as the previous underground areas, except with one extremely notable drop:

With its 25% increased chance of blocking, 20% FHR, and 20% IAS, Twitchthroe is nothing but pure goodness for this particular character. It is stashed for the moment, but I am severely tempted to personalize this thing every single time I look in my stash. Unless I find some spectacular unique sword or Arreat's Face, I will probably end up personalizing this sooner or later. The goal is to wait until at least the end of Nightmare to do so, then respec and enjoy the significant bump to my life pool thanks to needing so much less dex to achieve max block. It's really nice how conveniently this armor pairs with the shield in that regard. Shitsnot was a pain as usual for melee fighters, but he too fell.

I dinged level 45 fighting Pindleskin's bunch, and somewhere in the Halls of Anguish I found another unique sword and maxed my gold. As was the plan for a while, I took a moment at this juncture to gamble 450k of gold on Flamberges, in the hope of finding something good enough to upgrade to a Zweihander. I didn't get anything phenomenal, but this was deemed good enough due to the modest enhanced damage, IAS, and AR. The result carried me through the rest of Normal (once I could equip it):

Nihlathak died his usual ghoulish death, and one of his pals dropped me a decent rare MF ring upgrade. I also found a nifty belt in the Halls of Vaught which I then upgraded and equipped. The fight with the Ancients was entirely forgettable, as I positioned myself to tank Talic and Korlic while Neeraj poked away at whoever was closest to him.

As usual on Normal, the WSK was very tame and soon I found myself clearing the throne (under heavy fire). With Howl, Baal's first two waves were easily dealt with, and the third wave's Hydras were laughable against our maxed fire resists. Wave 4 was taken care of with Taunt, while Wave 5 was a bit more of a hassle due to the Minions' immunity to Taunt. Still, we were able to pull out 2-3 at a time and whittle them down.

There was one last thing to do before fighting Baal, and that was to craft some Blood gloves to get some CB for what would inevitably be a very long battle. The resulting gloves were pretty damn nice...

...for when I'm finally a high enough level to wear them while fighting NM Duriel. Oh well, easy come easy go. Stashed for now. The Baal fight itself was, as expected, long and tedious, but in spite of a good deal of teleporting around, he behaved and didn't summon a clone until the very end. By then it was too late, and Barb was a Destroyer. The boots were stashed until I'm forced to make a decision on storage space, but blood gloves will probably suffice for my CB needs.

The Secret Cow Level was easy, even if the King and his unique companion served as the welcome party. No notable finds there; just some more gold for gambling. I did find Vidala's armor, of which I only had one, so that was muled off at the end of the play session. Random observation: I have already found (and sold) the entire Angelic Raiment set. Kind of cool to have that happen before the end of Normal.

The last order of business was to buy two resonant throwing weapons from Anya (never got the WP so I could power shop her), followed by a respec to better focus my skills. I ended Normal at level 48.5, and have the following stats and skills to begin NM: Warcries (2x resonant switch), Combat Masteries (Concentrate damage/AR), Combat Skills (Berserk damage/AR). I am hoping to max Berserk next, maybe with a few more points added to Howl to ensure it remains effective.

Apologies if this post was too long for anyone, but Act 5 was pretty eventful for me and I'm really enjoying some of the recent developments. Good luck to all!

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        74     HC       Rogue Encampment Hell -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          74     SC       Rogue Encampment Hell -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       60     HC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      38     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands      -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
PhineasB said:
Nice continued progress, everyone!

As for Septimus, he completed the first Act of Hell, with solid playtime as I took a break from my untwinked 99ers this week. I decided to keep the MF set up and try to full-clear the act on p1. Except for a stretch where I forget to change back to p1 from p7 after cheesing a sparkly chest, Septimus managed all the FIs with relative ease.

Based on that progress, I will likely keep MF set up through A2, although he will bypass areas if there are annoying FI rolls, most likely the burning dead/archers (need to check Wiki to remember what the rolls are through the Act).

* * *

It was smooth sailing to Blood Raven, who was annoying (but not at all dangerous) due to constantly moving but well outside Fissure fields. After at least 5 minutes, she finally cornered herself and the merc and grizzly were able to take her down.

That was followed by an *almost* great drop with a mechanics tower shield of deflecting, but only 1s :( I haven't had the patience to power shop for more than 10 minutes twice, but may settle in once we move away from MF set up. For now, plan 3s pdiamond shield is fine. And then a second *almost* drop, with a yellow CV, which was eth when I moved it into the inventory . . . but rolled with no ED or other good mods, except -20% requirements that would have allowed merc to wield it. The partizan outperformed it, so it was vendored (there was a second yellow elite polearm, and Ogre Axe, with no ED later that also got vendored).

The Tower provided the first PI/FI boss, but the mercs cold damage was enough to whittle it down without too much trouble. Higher life/undead rolls will be trouble, so we will either need to come up with a solution or feel okay with bypassing such rolls. Countess provided nothing of use.

We encountered our first somewhat threatening situation in the Jail, with this pack of FI posing some risk with might, amp, and extra fast between them (boss 1 and boss 2). There were also a champ pack behind them but they didn't follow when the team retreated. The merc died for the first time, but a quick TP upon retreat allowed a reorganized engagement that was fairly easily managed.

We picked up a decent set of cold/poison resist gloves, which are the two elements that are lowest when he transitions away from MF gear and are currently stashed. Andy was easily managed by playing ring-around-the-blood-pool, but no useful drops.

* * *

In terms of the stash, throughout the act he shopped a 3s armor with 10 DR, gambled a +2 elemental circlet (which prompted him to sell the 17@ circlet of magus), and picked up a +2 elemental amulet with life replenish. So he can up his firepower and attain close to maxed fire and lightning resists and ~50 for cold/poison, with the main need some solution for high-life dual immunes that regenerate faster than merc's cold damage, but also the option to just skip those bosses. Mainly, a merc weapon upgrade is the biggie.

We will likely go back to the untwinked necro this weekend, so Septimus may not progress much until the necro gets that last 30M to 99 :)

Good luck to everyone else in the meantime!

* * *

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          78     SC       Lut Gholein H         -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        74     HC       Rogue Encampment Hell -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       60     HC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      38     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands      -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         20     HC       Lut Gholein           -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Vildecor said:
Alanna gambled a Pike of the Leech for Azrael, her new Prayer mercenary and headed into the sewers. I'd only stashed rejuvs and topazes at this point, so I didn't need to rush to get the cube first. Radament was easily handled after most of his minions were pulled away and killed. The rare Trident I got from Andariel just wasn't doing it for me, so I decided to gamble Brandistocks. This one made the grade and we even nabbed a nice circlet after a level or two.

Armed with a faster hurt stick and using the occasional Charged Strike, everything went quite smoothly and quickly. Finds along the way were Cathan's Sigil, Cleglaw's Claw, and Serpent Lord.

Champion packs of unravellers in the false tombs were the only mobs that posed any real threat to Alanna (meaning actually needing to use health potions) thanks to over 70 lightning resist most of the act with the rare circlet. Gambled a circlet of luck (34%), but will hold on to it until I find a few more resist charms and/or rare upgrades for other gear with cold/light res.

Ancient Kaa almost dropped poor Azrael who was blocking the charged bolts for me. In the same tomb, we sacrificed 6 MF to equip this new amulet. Other tombs yielded Duskdeep and Leadcrow.

At one intersection in the true tomb, I kept hearing a ghost, but had trouble finding where the mob was at. I finally spotted it.

nnYaVXV.jpg


He apparently spawned on the other side of the wall here. Not much I can do about that. Players setting was dropped from 8 to 3 for the Duriel fight, as will probably be the case for each Act boss and ancients. His drop was junk with no upgrades.

Charged Strike is up to 11 points now and any extra/quest bonus points will be dropped in here as I start to boost Lightning Strike after level 30. Still undecided what my backup skill will be. I may try to go for 20 in Impale, since extra points in Jab don't increase damage all that much. Super slow, but I will have a merc, Valkyrie and Decoy to handle any pressure.

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          78     SC       Lut Gholein H         -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        74     HC       Rogue Encampment Hell -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       60     HC       Kurast Docks NM       -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM        -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM        -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM        -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      38     SC       Rogue Encampment NM   -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands      -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks          -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein           -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein           -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail              -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood             -
srrw            TBA            TBA             0     HC       Rogue Encampment      -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Jocular said:
Go for fend! It's fun :D
Vildecor said:
It’s very tempting and I may end up giving up the Valk to go for Fend. I’ll hold off until I can’t stand Impale any longer probably.
Dazliare said:
Act three Nightmare finished! Much less tedious for an assassin since cloak of shadows and death sentry do really well against the hordes of fetishes and flayers. I already posted these boots, but wanted to post them again because they make me laugh

1662433999967.png

I found this belt from an armor rack. Ultimately vendor fodder, but racking uniques is always interesting

1662434750078.png

I did the mostly in two sessions. One session to Lower Kurast, then the second half this morning. Today started with this terrible champion pack. They kept healing each other and we couldn't get them to split up. ~10 minutes later, we managed to drag one away and kill it, then it took another 5 minutes to drag a second one away, which allowed us to overpower the remaining two

1662434795565.png

Baezil's Vortex from a random vampire. I screenshotted it because I couldn't remember what it was, and wasn't sure if I would end up personalizing it. Alas, it's basically useless for this playthrough

1662434807328.png

This is how the fight with the high council went. This boi was fire enchanted, and we forgot to turn down the players settings, so we were very afraid of his death. This was about as far away as I could stand without Alhizeer losing interest. It ended up being ok

1662434816012.png

This was the first elite item I noticed to screenshot. I found a bunch more after that, so I probably found several before it as well, but I like to screenshot the first elite item I find in a playthrough

1662434828305.png

Mephisto's drop was uniquely terrible. P8 all the way, with a Lower Resist wand from Ormus

1662434836882.png

We did manage to find a few upgrades in act 3. We found a 3os great helm, which now has 3 perfect topazes punched in. We also found a 22MF ring of fortune, which was an upgrade over the old 15MF one.

We made ~7 crafts throughout the act (mostly limited by jewels), but all were basically junk and vendored. Our stack of perfect gems is getting too big!

Level 64. NMA4 next


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          78     SC       Lut Gholein H           -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        74     HC       Rogue Encampment Hell   -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      38     SC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
1662434885558.png
PhineasB said:
Nice progress @Dazliare Have you considered using pgems that aren't needed for crafting to reroll GCs? At this point in your playthrough, any GC that drops can roll as a skiller or solid resist roll, and you never know if you get a nice secondary mod.
Kstil3227 said:
Captain America has slain some NM cows, ventured through Act 1 of hell and taken down Andariel. Slower process than I would like but we managed to slog through it. Didn't do a complete 100% full clear but cleared the vast majority of all areas, especially the lvl 85 areas hoping for a miracle drop. Still nothing worth personalizing yet, but I'm sure that will come soon...I hope :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Great Skiller GC dropped in the cows...too bad it wasn't a pally skiller:(
1662434929083.png

Decided to roll a protector shield with 15 @res. in the cube for sockets and came out with 4! :D:D...not bad resists in hell act 1
1662434945603.png

No drops worth noting til the countess double rune drop...and almost an amazing helm drop :(:(
1662434954650.png

Decided to gamble some amulets for a possible upgrade...and BOOM! thank you Gheed! Granted I sacrifice 18 fire res and 1 all res...but the extra skill increases over all damage and the chance to block by 8% so i'll take the trade off.
1662434962778.png

Down to Andy we went and down Andy went. Bonesnap Maul decided to make an appearance. Only to be promptly sold.
1662434969718.png
1662434979892.png

Onto to the desert of Lut Gholein @ level 76.
1662434989176.png

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          78     SC       Lut Gholein H           -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        76     HC       Lut Gholein H   -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      38     SC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
peytron said:
Game over at level 43 in Nightmare:
1662435035163.png

Amplify damage + archers = too much damage taken too quickly. Really we should have just backed out when we saw the pack, but oh well.

I think we are going to try again with an Amazon! (Now excuse me while I try to update this table).


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          78     SC       Lut Gholein H           -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        76     HC       Lut Gholein H   -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     SC       RIP     -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         1      SC       Rogue Encampment        -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Dazliare said:
Oh no! That stair trap looks terrible :( Glad to hear you'll try again though!


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          78     SC       Lut Gholein H           -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        76     HC       Lut Gholein H   -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         1      SC       Rogue Encampment        -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     HC       Inner Cloister?       -
Vildecor said:
Condolences on the loss. Nice to see you give it another go.
Kstil3227 said:
@peytron condolences on the loss buddy. Glad to see your right back at it though.
Kstil3227 said:
A day off from work due to the weather, means a morning full of D2! Captain America has slowly and carefully navigated the desert, Palace, Arcane Sanctuary and the 1 real tomb to Duriel. Once Duriel was confronted it was a war of attrition and gold :eek::eek:, soo many trips to town for health and mana pots...but in the end it was The Captain that prevailed victorious and claimed the goodies that were left behind. There was some very decent drops in Hell Act 2.

Lets start the drops off with LUM rune #5
1662435135205.png

Then somewhere in the Far Oasis The Captain was scrounging up everything for gold and came across this random weapon upgrade.
1662435142786.png

Once the staff room was located in The Maggot Lair lvl 3, it took quite some time getting to the chest though. o_O:(
1662435150864.png

I spy something with my "Lidless" eye near a "Wall" in the Lost City. (not a caster so it was sold :confused::confused:)
1662435157789.png

Ancient Tunnels dropped a nice weapon base...now to find a way to use it possibly
1662435170293.png

After the Palace, Captain America had 4 choices to make in the Arcane...4th way was the correct choice and came with a nice rune to start.
1662435179368.png

After a very uneventful tomb...just extremely slow with all the Unravelers and skellies, came the fight with Duriel.
1662435189761.png

After a long while, and many trips to town. This is was Duriel left to be sold.
1662435199038.png

Rare Jewel was a keeper for sure. Damage and 10 All res. :D:D
1662435210412.png

Level 78 and ready for the trek through the Jungle.
1662435220282.png

Good Luck and Stay Safe!!

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        78     HC       Kurast Docks H   -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          78     SC       Lut Gholein H           -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         1      SC       Rogue Encampment        -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     HC       Inner Cloister?       -
T72on1 said:
Condolences on the loss.
hysteretiq said:
Hey everyone! I stumbled across this website somehow and had to join this tournament. This is my first time on this forum and really my first experience in hardcore, so hopefully I don’t die too quickly. The only other hardcore character I’ve ever made was an assassin that died to the smith in normal. So here goes nothing.

I’m going with DirtyHippie the druid, since druids can have nice meat shields and I don’t play them too much. Never done a fire druid before, but I may respect to wind later on.

Apparently I can't post images because my account is new. Just use your imagination and I'll do my best to describe.


The Den of Evil started out a little crowded. There were 5 or 6 shamans right near the entrance.


Got a sweet charm in the Den of Evil. Not a bad way to start off. 6psn dmg, 7 fire resist.

Encountered first rare in the mausoleum. Just a sash with 5 cold resist/1 str/1 light radius, but still exciting to get started collecting yellows.

I found a total of three monster shrines in Act 1. That, combined with 5 or so experience shrines let me get to 20 before taking on Andy.

And I found my first unique in the Cathedral. Didn’t bother picking it up, but it is a spear (Dragon Chang).

Found neat 3@ charm in the catacombs. Too bad it’s a GC and will take up a lot of space in my inventory, but that's what being overburdened is all about.

I've now encountered two random (non-Bishibosh) fire immunes. Good thing my wolves are pretty strong.

Andy was fairly easy. Just kept resummoning wolves as needed while Basanti (fire arrow) and I plinked away with arrows. We are both using 3-socket long bows. Mine has 2 chipped rubies and a chipped sapphire, and hers has chipped ruby, sapphire, and topaz (probably should have saved it for MF, but dat DPS doe). I’ve already seen 3 fire immunes now (Bishibosh + two more), and the lightning damage is a noticeable improvement.


Some nice boots I shopped after killing Andy. (20 fire resist, 19 mf).



So far, so good. A near-death experience on Blood Raven, of all things. She shot me a couple times right between my minions while I was thinning the zombie mob.

So far, I still have 10 unused skill points. 1 point into each fire spell, 1 in the summons. My dire wolves are the only thing with multiple points, and they’re level 4 now (I'm level 21).

I’ve been having pretty bad luck with the druid pelts. Most of them (probably 75%) have had no staff mods, and the ones that did, had lycanthropy and/or raven.

I still don’t have any MF on my rings or ammy yet, so hopefully I’ll find something soon. I probably should have saved rings and ammys to reroll in the cube, but I wanted cash for gambling. Do you guys usually save the bad rolls for cubing?

Anyway, I realized I forgot to take on the countess, so I’ll go back and do that before charging forward to the cube to free up some space.

Should I be pumping dex to max block since I'm playing hardcore? Or just go pure vita?
peytron said:
We're not wasting any time getting back at it. There is a lot of catching up to do so off she goes with her spear:
1662435291165.png

Quested through to the end of act 1. No super finds but a couple decent polearms for the mercenary we will hire in act 2:
1662435298328.png

1662435307109.png

Shopped a 3os spear that we will cube up some gems to put in, until then we will stick with our "spear of the leech".


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        78     HC       Kurast Docks H   -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          78     SC       Lut Gholein H           -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Stony field NM          -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         18     SC       Lut Gholein        -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     HC       Outer Cloister       -
 
Babyhell said:
@hysteretiq welcome! I'd go vita personally, especially if you decide to use summons and the one who boosts life :)
Jocular said:
@hysteretiq

Hello! Good to always have new faces around here. Check out this mf guide, it'll give you a few pointers on how to optimize your single pass tourney experience: https://www.purediablo.com/forums/t...ass-early-game-magic-finding-by-jiansonz.190/
T72on1 said:
@hysteretiq Welcome, and good luck in this tournament !!
jonnyphive said:
@hysteretiq Welcome to the forum and the tournament! The guide @Jocular referenced is truly great and is really the go-to guide for getting the most out of your tournament experience - of course, feel free to use as much or little of the advice as you like though.

I think @Babyhell has a good point; if you go heavy into Oak Sage it gives more return if you are vita over block. Plus with summons you hopefully won't be getting hit as often. The counterpoint here is that you can use caster gear with max block on one switch and then a bow/xbow on the other if you want to get in on the action yourself - dex helps with both block and ranged attacks so you could put it to pretty good use that way. Really just depends what kind of character you see yourself playing 50 levels down the road!
Dazliare said:
Quick Update! We did all of act four minus Chaos Sanctuary last night. We set the player settings down to 5 - we were worried about fire and lightning resistant enemies being too much of a pain on players 8. It turns out that was a great decision!

Outer Steppes was really easy with venom lords, spawners, and corpse eaters. No lightning resistance there, and only venom lords have appreciable fire resistance. We wondered if players 5 wasn't needed

Until we arrived in the plains of despair. Burning Souls are super scary - and we had several hairy situations. They also have 100 Lightning Resistance. We have a wand of lower resist, but we don't use it much as life tap is better for keeping our mercenary alive. I'm very glad we weren't on players 8 here. Izual was no problem, but dropped nothing useful:

1662435638351.png

On to the City of the Damned. Oblivion Knights, corpse eaters, and DAMNED! Even in Nightmare, they are immune to lightning. We almost perished right at the entrance by getting surrounded, but a lucky town portal out allowed us run back from town and separate things. Life tap allows Alhizeer to kill the Damned on his own, then once one or two die, Death Sentry takes care of the rest.

Then I found something which I can only remember finding one other time - the Cathedral of the Damned! This little set piece is so thematic, and I've never found it on a tournament character, so that was a treat!

1662435646922.png

River of Flame was no problem. Urdars, Vile Mothers, and Stranglers - no lightning resistance or even immunity. Once fanaticism urdar pack was scary, but otherwise no issues. The Hellforge gave a perfect diamond and a sol rune. Boring.

We'll finish Act 4 tonight!
Dazliare said:
Sorry for double post. Welcome @hysteretiq! Stay safe, and may all your drops be yellow!
Dazliare said:
Act 4 complete!

Quick question - if I want to shop an artisan's tower shield of deflecting, should I shop Larzuk in NM or Normal? Does it matter?
jonnyphive said:
@Dazliare I shopped mine in normal, and I suspect that this is as good or better of an option than in NM, since what vendors can sell is more restricted in normal, as opposed to NM and Hell where it is based on your clvl. So, it's likely that Larzuk has a higher probability of selling one in normal than in NM. It took me somewhere in the ~3 hr range to get one, but I have no idea where in the probability range that falls.
Dazliare said:
jonnyphive said:
@Dazliare I shopped mine in normal, and I suspect that this is as good or better of an option than in NM, since what vendors can sell is more restricted in normal, as opposed to NM and Hell where it is based on your clvl. So, it's likely that Larzuk has a higher probability of selling one in normal than in NM. It took me somewhere in the ~3 hr range to get one, but I have no idea where in the probability range that falls.
Much appreciated! I'll probably start trying tonight, though we'll see how long I can shop without falling asleep haha
jonnyphive said:
I did a lot of my shopping during breakfast in the ~20-30 min I have before everyone wakes up and the chaos begins. 15 minute shopping endeavors never felt too boring and ended up getting me there quicker than I thought. I would definitely recommend at least watching TV while you shop!
hysteretiq said:
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome, and for posting a link to that guide. It was really helpful to read.

It looks like I'm still on probation, so no screenshots in this post either.

DirtyHippie went back to Act 1 to kill the countess, who kindly dropped a Tal rune, then resumed questing in Act 2. I'm trying to get a better idea of which items sell for a lot of gold to minimize my trips to town. I already knew that throwing weapons were good, but also anything with staff mods is going to sell pretty well. So wands, scepters, staves, pelts, etc.

Most of the act has been pretty smooth sailing so far. A close call in the Palace Cellar with several packs of horror archers and blunderbores. Then I had another one in one of the false tombs when I ran into a room full of scarabs. I'm getting better about not letting my health get too low, and that seems to be helping.

I decided to fire Basanti and get a defensive guard, Azrael. He seems to be a lot better at killing stuff so I can take better advantage of his MF gear. I found a 3 socket superior spetum with pretty good damage and decided to socket it with 2 Ith runes and a max dmg/enhanced damage jewel I found. Then I saw that I could gamble a Pike and immediately replaced the spetum, wasting those runes. OOPS.

Tombs and Canyon of the Magi had some nice drops, but not for this run. Isenhart's armor, Vidala's boots, Berzerker's Headgear, and Umbral Disk small shield. Selling the boots and shield made me sad, but I was OVERBURDENED and couldn't keep them. I did find a Ral rune in one of the false tombs, so that's the highest rune I have right now. I'm going to hoard Rals and Iths for crafting caster gear later on.

I'm level 28 right now. I think I may respec to wind once I get to 30, but that won't be until Act 3. I saved the true tomb for last, which is my next task. I'm a little nervous since Duriel kills my untwinked softcore characters all the time. See you on the other side!
jonnyphive said:
hysteretiq said:
I'm getting better about not letting my health get too low, and that seems to be helping.
Pretty important for hardcore, it would seem. ;)

Yep, pikes are gamble-able at level 20 so even at the end of Act 1 you can get yourself a pike (and circlets IIRC); it's nice to hit level 20 prior to getting to Act 2 so you can immediately hire and equip a very effective killing machine (even untwinked and stuffed with MF gear) right off the bat.

As for me, progress has been very slow lately as we are preparing for another vacation tomorrow, so no finishing Act 1 NM for a couple more weeks most likely. I did find Tancred's Hobnails though, which were promptly muled off as those are an overall grailer for me. Now I can finally use that boots + amulet combo on some twinked characters early-game to get that juicy 78% MF boost.
Dazliare said:
I spent almost 4 hours yesterday trying to shop a 3 socket tower shield of deflecting. No luck yet, but I'll probably keep trying tonight if I don't feel like playing Morrowind. I'm so excited for Act 5 Nightmare though!
Babyhell said:
Woops!

After a pretty nice gc drop...
lx0v8XXl.jpg


.. i guess i shouldn't have played like i do lately with my pally..!
YmGwuixl.jpg


Dead at Dark wood, 50.3, snapped right when WereBear form ended :(

Well...i have a lvl 50 druid now, as a pure summoner it is not an easy path... won't go the same route, particularly under untwinked/limited conditions. He will now go twinked and try to find his way towards hell being boosted... i'll see!

Nice experience anyway, now i have the sorc BabyFire still running :)

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        78     HC       Kurast Docks H   -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          78     SC       Lut Gholein H           -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         18     SC       Lut Gholein        -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     HC       Outer Cloister       -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
Bry said:
Haven't played Diablo in a while and decided I wanted to come back to it. I think this is a great tournament to start with, and also start over from nothing.

New Assassin joining: SpicyChxSand
She is going to focus on Traps, Fire until she switches to lightning when things start to not die. I'll go into more detail when it gets interesting.

Current Level: 14
Current Area: Dark Wood

Everything has been easy since putting points in wake of fire.

Items (Important stats only)
Weapon1: Rare Katar (nothing)
Weapon2: Rare Katar (+1 mana after kill)
Helm: White Cap
Armor: White Leather Armor
Amulet: Magic
Ring1: Magic (FCR)
Ring2: Magic (FCR)
Belt: White Sash
Boots: White Boots
Glove: Magic Leather Gloves

Merc
Weapon: Long Bow (3 Soc, chipped sapphire, emerald, ruby)
Armor: Rare Hard Leather Armor ( FHR, Light Resist)
Helm: White Skull Cap

We will see how I do with this table.


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        78     HC       Kurast Docks H   -
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          78     SC       Lut Gholein H           -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         18     SC       Lut Gholein        -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       14     SC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     HC       Outer Cloister       -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
PhineasB said:
@Babyhell - Sorry about the deeds
@Bry - Welcome and good luck with the Assassin!

* * *

Septimus continued his journey, finishing two Acts since his last update. There were some very nice drops, given his needs, one in particular that was timely and allowed him to avoid retirement due to inability to complete a quest in the face of immune roll of monster that couldn't be skipped. But more on that below!

Act 2. He ended up full-clearing A2 on p1, except for one amp'ed PI boss that had to be parked due to faster life regen than damage could be applied. Before setting out, he dropped the 3s pTopaz armor for the 3os with damage reduction that he'd shopped, with Thul and Tal added to bring those resists up (keeping the third open to preserve flexibility depending on future needs). Lightning was ~60 and fire isn't really an issue for Act 2, but there is lots of poison and a frost nova from cold enchanted boss toward the end of Act 1 had taken off more than half his life. MF was still still just shy of 200, so not a full transition to questing gear.

The first notable drop was actually pretty remarkable, but not as much of an upgrade as it might have been if I had gone the Windy route:
1662435861708.png
I had gambled a plain +2 elemental circlet earlier that was promptly sold. He then picked up his first skiller of Hell, which happened to be for a Druid but the wrong tree. He then got another great circlet drop, this one for the merc with higher life leech than the prior and 15@ with little iPDR to boot.

All this was before Coldworm, and then an interesting drop (Skull Collector) that made me think briefly about personalization, due to +2 skills, MF, and huge mpk. Even though the current weapon doesn't add anything except mpk, giving up the shield would have required dropping all other MF gear and still having dangerously low resists. I kept it stashed for a while, but ultimately sold it when space started getting tight from pgems.

We encountered a nasty boss in Viper Temple, who took some managing due to another boss and champ pack plus a couple regular Unravellers nearby. This started my worrying about a solution for a nasty FI/PI boss (e.g., amp'ed, might, fanaticism, conviction). I had runes for Harmony, except Tir, but no elite 4os base, as well as runes for Treachery, except Shael, but no base. So I kept on the lookout for those ingredients, with plans to likely personalize one if I could make it.

Fangskin was easily managed. This was the first playing session since I had suggested to @Dazliare using pgems on GC rerolls given the possibility of nice resist with secondary mod, and we got this beauty:
1662435892094.png
Only the fifth GC reroll, so it worked out nicely for Septimus :) It also provided good flexibility around resists, with 23 resist roll GCs for fire and lightning, along with this one. The next session included Palace to Arcane and the True Tomb, with a third session finishing off the Canyon and 6 remaining tombs. Not useful for him, but while doing a quick check when selling off gear in Act 1, he got these:
1662435917496.png
My first pair and kind of funny to find after trying for them with some power shopping on my untwinked Zon before giving up and sticking with 2/20 rares :rolleyes: The Duriel fight was pretty straightforward, needing only one trip to town to restock Mana pots. As expected, drops were useless. Well not really, because he picked up that Tir!

In one of the tombs, we encountered a PI/CI blunderbore, who was also fire enchanted and amp'ed. I thought he'd be manageable due to fire damage, but the Grizzly kept him in place while he was alive so he didn't move through fissure and I couldn't get it to hit for some reason when he was stationary. Merc died immediately if Grizzly wasn't a distraction, and he regenerated faster than Fissure did damage if he chased while we retreated. So after 2 merc resurrections, I finally parked him. Aside from that, nothing of note except items to sell for gold.

At this point, we dropped MF set up, with +2 elemental amulet and that circlet from above replacing MF ammy and 3s pTopaz helm. He still has one MF ring equipped for now, and his rare boots and gloves also have MF for at least a slight chance at a major gear improvement. But I think he can make it through with current gear.

Act 3. One session saw him play direct through the early jungle areas, grabbing the first two body parts, and then just running in to grab the LK WP. It went smoothly. I had been worried about Sszark, but he was handled with relative ease. For the next session, we full-cleared all the Kurast areas, the Temples, and Travincal, and mostly cleared the Sewers due to choosing left when level 2 was almost immediately to the right :mad:

LK delivered big time on the charm front, with a Garnet (9) SC of Vita (20) (pic), and then lots of gems that allowed a GC reroll and this staggering bit of luck:
1662435944450.png
Rerolling those GCs has really paid off :D He encountered an almost stair trap in the Ruined Temple that was easily managed in the end, with no others in the remaining 5 temples.

I had been worried about the Council, and in particular the potential for PI/FI roll creating problems. You can see where this is going . . . . Fortunately, a timely drop while clearing Trav provided a potential solution, with poison damage and the bow allowing switch to Cold Rogue if needed. Turned out that it was needed!
1662435963332.png
Ismail also had the Flail, so parking him wasn't an option. The cold damage on Durga's polearm wasn't enough to even dent his life bar, so we went to plan B. As shown above, we got Paige, gave her the bow, and then drew Ismail to that narrow area to cast Grizzly behind and keep him pinned for Paige to target. It took a little more than 7 minutes in the end, but it was accomplished and the Flail acquired. Geleb and Toorc also took some care, particularly due to a conviction aura mixed in, but they were managed.

We then went direct through the Durance to Meph, who was shamelessly moated :p Septimus swapped in the MF helm for the last bit, but drops were not useful except for gold.

He's in pretty decent shape, I think, with resists at 59/62/76/68 and +5 elemental skills, with 66 MF. Resists can be improved by 9@ by dropping 23MF ring for a stashed FCR rare ring, which may happen before tackling RoF and CS.

He also has nearly 2.5M gold, so he will gamble at least 1.5M of it before tackling Act 4. I'd welcome input on where he should focus his gambling. I think amulet is the piece of his gear that can most improve, although the +2 elemental and life regen are nice. I'm also thinking of sticking with Paige, so maybe bows or just holding out for a 4os elite base?

Good luck to all the other entries!

* * *

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          82     SC       Pandemonium Fortress H  -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        78     HC       Kurast Docks H          -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         18     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       14     SC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     HC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
PhineasB said:
Septimus is nearing the end of his journey, however it ends. He tagged the Frozen Tundra WP and rescued Anya, so Pindle and Nihl are next, then Ancient's Way, then Ancients, and then WSK and Waves/Baal. The underpowered nature of the build, given playthrough restrictions is starting to show; based on experience over the last act and a half, the rolls (bosses and guest monsters) may dictate his fate.

Act 4. Outer Steppes were scary, with all bosses FI oblivion knight type and, I'm not kidding, every single one rolling Fanaticism. Wisdom being the better part of valor, after the first, he just ran from the remaining four before finding the steps. It feels sort of lame running through a level, but I wasn't going to have fun breaking up those packs and whittling them down with Volcano, and I decided I wanted to keep things fun, especially knowing what awaited in CS :p

No gloams in the Plains, but Doom Knights and almost FI venom lords, along with Casters. We full-cleared this level around to Izual, who went down much faster than I'd expected, and then took the stairs when we found them. City of the Damned didn't have any FIs, so we full-cleared it, although this boss was annoying with fire enchanted and eating corpses to regenerate, but the team eventually got him. The first unique elite dropped; either of the other TC81 weapons would have actually been useful and candidates for personalization, but not Wraith Flight :confused:

RoF was surprisingly easy wtih Blunderbores, spawners, and Maggots. Hephasto was managed, and HF provided a Ko. I'd been secretly hoping for, but not expecting an Um, as a weapon upgrade option.

We ended the session at the WP in preparation for CS, which I figured could take an hour or so, and went a little faster. As a preview of why:
1662436045288.png
It wasn't unsafe, just requiring patience to pull the Doom Knights out and retreating to a narrow corridor as needed. The Grizzly was recast constantly, with occasional trips back to town for mana pots. To ensure Septimus could safely retreat for seal bosses, we cleared the full CS and then took the seals in counter clockwise order. Vizier wasn't a problem. As always, de Seis took some care, but the roll was pretty lucky. He just pulled the minions out of fanaticism range, and then tackled the boss. Infector was the real worry, especially with possibility of FI/PI roll, but it wasn't quite that bad. Still, with extra fast, the minions weren't interested in being drawn out, so we just retreated to the southwest portion and the narrow hall for a choke point, that made it manageable despite cursed mod:
1662436056380.png
Diablo was the next worry, but I figured Septimus could just run around casting fissure if needed. It was, as this approach didn't work, so here's a more representative sample of the fight
1662436069462.png
:D But Diablo eventually fell, with nothing useful dropping.

Act 5, Part 1. The guest monster rolls in the Bloody Foothills and Frigid Highlands were awful. All FI for the fist (imps and slingers and nothing else, which I didn't think was possible), and then FI imps, burning archers (high fire resist), and slingers for Frigid Highlands. Lots of fast moving enemies and projectiles, with one FI and another high fire resist, are not ideal :rolleyes: We just ran through Bloody Foothills, and managed the Highlands with care to free the Barbarians and find and full-clear Abbadon. Which also had some tough rolls, including two FI/PI bosses, with this one the toughest.

Arreat Plateau had kinder rolls, and Pit of Archeron was fairly straightforward. We cleared Crystalline Passage, Glacial Trail (and Drifter Cavern), and up to the Frozen Tundra WP (to minimize having to run through an area upon restart and to avoid tagging WPs in case he becomes my untwinked 99er entry), then backtracked to the Frozen River and Anya.

This was almost as exciting as my tourney playthrough with Quinta :eek: Gloams and witches, with this boss that was surrounded by lots of regular witches and gloams and decided to hang out over the canal for a while getting things off to a fun start. Then he hit this stretch with four bosses right together (three witches and a gloam): one boss to the northwest, two in the corridor immediately the south, and one further down that corridor to the southeast. Almost exactly like Quinta's experience, and like her, it was fortunate they spawned here rather than in an open area, allowing Septimus to run out cast fissure and then take cover. It was too hairy to take screenies during the fight, but I think the maxed LI and iPDR made a big difference.

After that Frozenstein was a bit of a let down :) That's the thing about the Fire Druid, if the enemy moves and isn't FI or high resist, it's easy. It's the mostly stationary and/or FI that are trouble, especially when there are lots and in open spaces.

I'm not sure if he'll progress further before we head out for a short backpacking trip on Wednesday, so he may not make the last push until after MFO. Keep up the good progress, everyone!

* * *

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          83     SC       Frozen Tundra H         -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        78     HC       Kurast Docks H          -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         18     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       14     SC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     HC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
Kstil3227 said:
Captain America took a journey through the dreaded jungles of Kurast. It lacked any real excitement, just tedious chasing all the little flayer guys. The real work came in the temples with one ugly stair trap with a boss pack of beetles and goul lords. Lots a lightning and fire flying around. Sorry no screen shots for safety reasons...the Captain and Emilio would hop in the temple and kill maybe 1 or 2 then hit the stairs out, potion up in town and repeat. Finally won that fight and could proceed to the next one. LK map had 2 camp fires which may come in handy if the Captain survives to re-run them for runes after the tourney. Sewers were boring, Upper Kurast the same. Travincal was bothersome with all the Zealots running around and healers by the dozen it seemed like. Once it was down to just the council, Captain America pulled them out 1-2 at a time and took them all out. Down into the Durance we go. DOLLS!! Every level had DOLLS!!:oops::eek: Slowly but surely Emilio took them out while the Captain stayed far enough away to avoid the explosion. Then into level 3 for Mephisto. Bremm Sparkfist spawned with Fanat. so that was tricky because there was also a boss pack of Goul/Blood Lords right next to him. The Captain had to be on his toes moving around and dodging the meteors and fire balls while attacking Bremm and his minions. The other two council members in level 3 were very easy to deal with by themselves. The fight with Mephisto wasn't too terrible as long has the Captain kept a close eye on his health and made sure to back away when Mephisto attacked with cold or charged bolts. After about a 5 minute fight, Mephisto was dead and left a huge loot of rares. None worth keeping but it did make a total sale of over 120k which was well needed.

Found a plain Phase Blade, so we went to the cube for a possible 3 or 4 socket roll...FAIL!
1662436152479.png
1662436161619.png

The clearing of the Great Marsh had 1 amazing drop for a SC. :D:D
1662436169246.png

LUM rune #6 drops in the Flayer Dungeon...still needing a chip amethyst or a flawed amethyst to drop so we can upgrade to KO
1662436175650.png

Exceptional Unique sighting in the temples...Blackthorn's Face...promptly sold of course.
1662436185679.png

A druid pelt decided to also make an appearance right before Mephisto...sold of course as well.
1662436192509.png

A glimpse of the ending to the Mephisto fight along with the all rare drop. (minus the topaz)
1662436198761.png
1662436204382.png

Onto to Act 4 @ level 80. .

Wont have much playtime this week...wife is on some meds for her 8mm kidney stone that decided to come out of nowhere this weekend. So its full on dad duty with soccer practices & gymnastics for my 7 Y.O, and therapy/Psychiatrist apppointments for my 14 Y.O. plus having to help with the 2 youngest ones (2 & 1 Y.O.). Its a full house here and when mom is down it gets a little rough. Wouldn't have it any other way though.

Good luck and stay safe all...be back at it when the time opens.

Great progress @PhineasB
Welcome to the tourney @Bry
Condolences on the loss there @Babyhell

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          83     SC       Frozen Tundra H         -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        80     HC       Pandemonium Fortress H          -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         18     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       14     SC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     HC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
Bry said:
Awesome progress for the 2 in Hell @PhineasB , @Kstil3227

SpicyChxSand has been progressing smoothly. I haven't had a big block of time yet so everything has been in like 15 minute blocks.

Act 1 had no surprises. The fire traps did a great job getting to Andariel and cooking her while the shadow protected the merc.

Act 2 has been pretty uneventful also. If I can keep drinking mana potions to get traps down then everything dies and the merc and shadow are safe. I did hire an act 2 merc Chalan. He does a great job killing things he is equipped with a magic pike that was gambled. I have tried crafting a few savage polearms but nothing has been good enough to beat just the magic pike. The 3 of us are just about to start running through the palace.

I did figure out that mana after kill does not apply to traps. So that is unfortunate. I also remembered that FCR also does not apply for traps. I haven't played in a while and things has slipped my mind. But not that I know I can try and get better items. I am curious if anyone knows, When is it possible to shop/gamble claws with +skills (even low skills fire blast, wake of inferno, shadow)? I have played this game for almost 15+ years and I still don't understand a lot about shopping and gambling. I did read up a little about gambling the other day but it didn't help with the level of claw + skills.

Current Level: 24
Current Area: Palace

Items (Important stats only)
Weapon1: Rare Katar (10% IAS)
Weapon2: Rare Katar (nothing)
Helm: Soc Skull cap ( 2x flawed Topaz)
Armor: Soc Leather Armor ( 2x chipped Topaz)
Amulet: Magic (Gold Find)
Ring1: Magic (FCR)
Ring2: Magic (FCR)
Belt: Magic Belt (little life and resist)
Boots: Magic Heavy Boots (20%mf)
Glove: Rare Chain Gloves (Resists)

Merc
Weapon: Magic Pike
Armor: Rare Chain Mail
Helm: Soc Skull Cap


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          83     SC       Frozen Tundra H         -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        80     HC       Pandemonium Fortress H  -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       24     SC       Palace                  -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         18     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     HC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
Babyhell said:
@Bry just in case, as you are playing trapsin, and I see two fcr rings: traps laying is all about ias, it is not related to fcr. Just saying, maybe you use this fcr for something else, but if not, you'd take advantage of this 12 life ring you'll drop on next session ;)

Welcome back!

Edit: I read your post to quickly, you're already stating it. I did the mistake when I came back so... :)
 
peytron said:
Bronte is trying to catch up to where Lawrence was when he died. Normal difficulty completed at level 40:
1662501666514.png

She certainly kills everything fairly quickly with charged strike, but she also takes damage rather quickly as well. We have been learning how to use decoy, and so far so good.

She found us a grailer while we were clearing cows before heading to nightmare difficulty. My first piece of the Cow King`s set:
1662501678363.png

Our equipment is decent so far, nothing crazy but her best pieces:
1662501688274.png
1662501696853.png

1662501705023.png


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          83     SC       Frozen Tundra H         -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        80     HC       Pandemonium Fortress H  -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         40     SC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       24     SC       Palace                  -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     SC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
hysteretiq said:
Oops I didn't mean to click right after pasting the table. Anyway, here is an update on my progress:

Duriel wasn't quite as scary as I thought. I just constantly summoned wolves to distract him while my merc poked away, similar to my fight with Andariel. I'm going to name this method "Barrage of Expendables". Duriel dropped 3 uniques: Nokozan Relic, Nagelring, and Stoutnail (spiked club). I'd post the screenshot, but I'm still "on probation" due to the newness of my account.

Act 3 was pretty straightforward. I found Bloodrise, Civerb's Shield and Scepter, Cathan's ring and Sander's gloves before getting to the Flayer Jungle. I also found some amazing heavy boots with 33LR, 31FR, and 15mf. Definitely worth the 4mf reduction to wear them.

On hitting level 30, I decided to respec to wind, then immediately found 2soc antlers with fissure. A little bummed, I decided to gamble away my life savings and got a rare bone shield with deflecting, cold resist, poison resist, and damage reduced by 1. My previous shield was a bone shield of deflecting, so that was an easy switch. I also got some boots with 33mf, so I stashed my dual resist boots to save for Diablo or another scary area.

I'm keeping my block rate around 50% since I'm terrible at aiming these tornadoes and usually end up running close to the enemies to tornado them point-blank.

The rest of Act3 went fine. Travincal was a little tough because my fire resist was only 20. I gambled a rare pike afterward with 5% ctc Amplify Damage! That, combined with the 46% enhanced damage and 36% enhanced damage against demons makes this guy a beast. And I shouldn't have to worry about physical immunes for a while (if they show up).

Durance of Hate gave me a Tarnhelm, which I would have reserved for potentially personalizing but I was too Overburdened and had nowhere to put it. I'm sure I'll get cool stuff in NM/Hell anyway. I almost died a couple times in Durance 3 due to my low fire resist and all the vampires casting meteors and fire walls everywhere. Mephisto fell to the tried and true Barrage of Expendables technique, and dropped worthless junk for me to vendor.

Act 4 didn't spawn any souls in Plains or City, so nothing too crazy. The Diablo fight, however, was terrifying. My resists were in the 40's, but the lightning hose and firestorm attacks still did tons of damage. He also killed my grizzly and my merc immediately. After a couple revives, I decided to take him on without my minions.

He had me running around in circles to avoid his lightning hose, casting tornadoes whenever I could. Eventually I ran out of stamina and mana, and he took the opportunity to Prison me and follow up with a firestorm. I panicked and thought my short time on this world was already over, but spamming all my full rejuvs somehow spared my life.

After that, I swapped to my resist boots and played much more conservatively until he was at a sliver of health. Then I swapped my boots back and went in for the kill. He dropped a Rogue's Bow and some junk.

On to Act 5!

Let's see how bad I screw up this table:


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          83     SC       Frozen Tundra H         -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        80     HC       Pandemonium Fortress H  -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         40     SC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
hysteretiq      DirtyHippie       Druid        35     HC       Harrogath        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       24     SC       Palace                  -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     SC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
Dazliare said:
Im something like 10 hours in to power shopping a shield. Please send help
PhineasB said:
Septimus ended up making the final push this week after all, and WSK was the roughest stretch I can recall playing. Let's just say that I'm really glad his boots have some FRW on them :)

We picked back up at Pindle and full-cleared down to Nihl. He got off to a good start with two small charms (shimmering SC and SC of Vita) that were his final gear upgrades. With Anya reward, resists were maxed even when dropping a couple low roll resist SCs. The halls of pain served up a bit of a challenge with Hell Lords and Hierophants, including these two bosses that rolled close enough together for the Hierophant boss and about 5 regular ones to make life tough (boss 1 and boss 2). Nihl's level rolled vipers, spiders, and witches, but that was managed with care and Nihl eventually taken out after casting grizzly into the CE area to absorb most of the danger before wading in.

The team full-cleared the rest of Frozen Tundra from the WP and Ancient Way/Snapchit, with a good roll of no Moon Lords in Ancient Way. I decided to take the first Ancients roll with only one FI and no amp, and after 5 attempts, it was on (Madawc, Talic, Korlic). I couldn't separate them for a while, so the fight dragged on, but Septimus eventually prevailed after 15 minutes or so:
1662501822277.png
Then WSK, with a lovely FI/PI Hell Lord boss as a stair trap. He madly ran to the right and encountered another Hell Lord boss pack (this one cursed) and a vampire boss pack. Merc drops immediately, oak poofs, so he continues his mad dash hoping to get clear and cast a TP scroll, but it's a dead end. A sharp left and dodge, grizzly recast on Hell Lord in pursuit, and retraces to the stairs with the original boss thankfully not noticing him until he had gotten by and then a hard left and 4 hierophants and team waiting . . . but enough room to cast a TP scroll and regroup.

He had picked up a 3os legend sword and had ingredients for Lawbringer, so I had that as a fall back option to personalize for an A5 merc. But I decided first to retrace from Frozen Tundra WP and see if he could get a foothold at the stairs without getting swarmed. As luck would have it only the FI/PI boss and one minion and a couple fanatics were there after all the running around:
1662501833650.png
You can actually see the portions of the map that had been revealed on the first attempt, but he got his foothold, and eventually was able to carefully engage the vampire boss and then the second Hell Lord who'd fortunately gotten stuck down by the dead end. That then allowed a slow and steady clear. We called it a day and left the game running until the next evening.

WSK2 had gloams, skeleton mages, and greater spawns (or whatever they are called), so nice rolls for Septimus. Gloams were managed with care and level cleared. Then WSK3 was a repeat of WSK1, with a Hell Lord boss greeting him at the stairs, prompting another mad dash. That's never a good strategy, and he'd already gotten away with it once. Immediately to the right another dead end with a Hell Lord champ pack prompting a panicked u-turn and sprint. Casting Grizzly a bit in front as he ran way saved him because he finally got some separation and around a corner where some regular Hell Lords were waiting but provided room to TP scroll away:
1662501847113.png
Again you can see how he fled, and this was a much longer run before getting to safety. So he was super lucky :eek: and slowly worked his way back around to that northwest corner to draw out the champs and finally the boss. The other monsters were defilers and witches, with the other bosses one of those two, so quite manageable.

The Throne Room had vipers, witches, and marauders. Waves were straightforward, with a retreat to draw out most of Ventar's crew, and then a second engagement and retreat to draw out the rest, getting them in a bottle neck of sorts using a column just outside Baal's room. Lister was tedious, drawing them out one at a time and slowly whittling them down with Volcano and the merc. But Lister was thankfully not FI/PI, so he was taken down. We actually took a break part way through his pack, and returned earlier this evening to finish him off.

Baal was a nightmare. The oak and merc couldn't stay alive, the Grizzly was similar, and with the low damage from Septimus, it was going to be a long haul. But then Baal was as aggressive as I can ever remember, recasting a clone so there were always two of them, actually telebombing Septimus several times and casting the clone on top of him also, and casting tentacles everywhere and on top of Septimus consistently. Or maybe it's just that I haven't fought him before with such an underpowered character :rolleyes: Anyhow, Baal almost got him several times with life under 100 HP, and Septimus used all but one of the ~20 big purples that he had saved up in the stash.

After deciding to leave the merc down and giving up on summons after misclicking on hotkeys once and having a close call, we had barely made a dent in Baal's life bar. So Septimus shopped at Drognan and picked up a wand with lower resist charges after 5 minutes or so, and reengaged solo. About 40 minutes (with a couple short breaks as I got frustrated), and several close calls later, he had Baal slivered, and delivered the final cast of fissure to finish him off.
1662501878514.png
I have to say that I am proud of getting this guy through, but the last two Acts were not exactly fun and became a bit tedious. I think it's just a function of picking limited builds in these tourneys with restrictions, as I had a similar experience with Quinta.

Still, I enjoyed the tourney and it was a great way of getting another class moving along in an untwinked setting. Thanks to @Dazliare for hosting and other participants for encouragement and keeping things interesting with your updates. Good luck to everyone still going!

I'll do a Pat write up with full gear run-down, hopefully this weekend when I'm back from a quick backpacking trip.

* * *

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          84     SC       Patriarch               -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        80     HC       Pandemonium Fortress H  -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         40     SC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
hysteretiq      DirtyHippie    Druid          35     HC       Harrogath        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       24     SC       Palace                  -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     SC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
Babyhell said:
Congrats @PhineasB!

Will add update on BabyFire soon, she joint after her failed attempt on untwinked fast running experiment (2hours on first act, was far from overburdened at that time). She is now at Travincal waypoint following this tournament ruling, will add her in the table (i thought I already did so, but it seems I had an ip ban and didn't take time to add her in the end) with story probably when normal mode is finished, I have some stuff to gather and I prefer taking the little time I have at home at night for playing, and writing on my mobile on my day time ;)

Nice to read you all, huge progress!
Dazliare said:
@PhineasB Now you should personalize an item! Huge congrats on finishing :) When I made this tournament, I didn't think anyone would actually pat/mat/guardian
jonnyphive said:
Nice progress everyone! I'm back from vacation and finally managed to rescue Cain in NM. Hopefully progress will speed up now.

Huge congrats to @PhineasB for being the first to finish (blazing speed through Hell!) and not even using the personalization option!

@Dazliare Hang in there! I guess I got pretty lucky with how quickly I found mine - or you've just had rotten luck so far. That shield is bound to pop up sooner or later!
Babyhell said:
Well... nevermind, she died on an afk move due to a baby urgency - i hit another button than escape, or not pressed down enough...

That's why i can't play HC characters, I combine lazy and urgency moments!
Babyhell said:
Congrats @PhineasB!

Will add update on BabyFire soon, she joint after her failed attempt on untwinked fast running experiment (2hours on first act, was far from overburdened at that time). She is now at Travincal waypoint following this tournament ruling, will add her in the table (i thought I already did so, but it seems I had an ip ban and didn't take time to add her in the end) with story probably when normal mode is finished, I have some stuff to gather and I prefer taking the little time I have at home at night for playing, and writing on my mobile on my day time ;)

Nice to read you all, huge progress!
jonnyphive said:
Condolences, @Babyhell. I lost my first HC char to a "failure to pause" and certainly know the feeling of small children trying their best to deeds you!
peytron said:
Strike 2.

1662502045797.png

Made it a little further this time, level 62. We were surrounded and just could not break away or hit the potions fast enough. I think playing two handed characters on players 3 may be a bit too risky, but I wanted to build these characters anyways.

Time to break out the Bone Spear Necromancer. Perhaps the third time will be the charm...


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          84     SC       Patriarch               -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        80     HC       Pandemonium Fortress H  -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
hysteretiq      DirtyHippie    Druid          35     HC       Harrogath        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       24     SC       Palace                  -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Peytron         Viduus         Necromancer     1     SC       Rogue Encampment        -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         62     SC       City of the Damned NM -
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     SC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
Kstil3227 said:
Ended up staying awake after everyone was sleeping to be able to have some D2 playtime. Captain America pushed through Act 4 like a champ! Some nasty spots did occur here and there. First were the souls in the Plains...had to do a lot of dodging and dragging. The souls went down easy but the lightning hit hard.

The outer steppes dropped a flawed amethyst that was greatly needed and appreciated to cube the LUM runes to a second KO Rune.
1662502106642.png
1662502113694.png
1662502121473.png


After the plains were done, the city wasn't fully cleared but found the waypoint and down into the River of Flame we go. It spawned maggots, flesh spawners and Urdars. That took some time to clear out. Hephasto spawned might aura and extra strong. Had to put Emilio in front to take the force of the hits. Took him down and that granted the Captain a Fal Rune from forge.
1662502129530.png

Onto the Chaos Sanctuary we go. Venom Lords were quite dangerous in packs due to the fire and having only 55 fire resist. Dragged them around to split them up and pushed onward after slaying them all. Fal Rune #2 dropped in the sanctuary.
1662502140091.png

Vizier was easy.

De Seis spawned with Blessed Aim for some reason which I was not complaining about for sure. He did however spawn Extra Strong, Multi-Shot, and Fire Enchanted so that was interesting to dodge the missile attacks. Emilio and the Captain cornered him and took him down.
1662502149638.png

Now onto the hardest seal of all for the Captain. Infector spawned with Extra Fast but no aura. Took off running after popping the seal, managed to separate all minions from him except 1. Took the minion down and Infector as well. Popped the seal.

Diablo time!! Had to really watch for the "fire wall" spawn in front of him along with the dreaded "lightning hose", after a decent time of running and timely hits in between the attacks Captain America prevailed victorious!
1662502157500.png

Drops were all sold and an Essence which was stashed in the cube for a possible token later if we survive Act 5.
1662502172561.png
Lots of runes ready for a weapon or shield to drop that is worthy of using.
1662502182298.png
Level 80 still but only 6 million til 81! Resists are holding steady for the Captain.


Until next time. Stay safe and Good Luck All. 1 more act to go til Guardian!

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          84     SC       Patriarch               -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        80     HC       Harrogath H             -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      48     HC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
hysteretiq      DirtyHippie    Druid          35     HC       Harrogath        -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       24     SC       Palace                  -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Peytron         Viduus         Necromancer     1     SC       Rogue Encampment        -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         62     SC       City of the Damned NM -
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     SC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
Dazliare said:
Still no shield. At this point my stubbornness is winning though
jonnyphive said:
@Dazliare I'm impressed by your persistence! Good luck!!

@Kstil3227 Ah, I'm all too familiar with needing to outlast the other members of the house to get some quality D2 time in. Who needs sleep? Nice progress! So close!

@peytron Sorry for the deeds! Impressive persistence giving it a third go. Any thoughts on how you're going to build him up? I've always been a fan (in the untwinked/HC setting) of max bone spear, bone wall, and bone prison - great crowd control, solid damage, and a huge physical damage barrier from the fully-synergized bone armor.

As for me, it's time for a proper update - finally got a nice chunk of time to finish off A1 NM and kill Radamant. Nightmare started off as expected - similarly slow killing with noticeable increases in danger around uniques as compared to in Normal. Still, 830+ life, max block, and maxed fire/light resists made most situations fairly straight-forward.

There were some interesting early finds, including this amulet (stashed but later discarded for space) and Tancred's Hobnails - an overall grailer for me! Those were muled off at the earliest opportunity.

As early as the fight with Bishibosh I could tell that things would be messier than in Normal:

Howl is now getting regular use, as getting swarmed is actually starting to take down my health at a noticeable pace. I've decided to put skill points toward Berserk and Howl fairly evenly for the sake of keeping up my CC while still getting good +damage and +AR from Berserk (although I still mostly use Conc due to good enough damage/AR and half the mana cost).

Blood Raven fell without issue, and I once again found that liberal usage of Taunt makes life much easier than chasing down archers. Neeraj and I apparently fused into some strange sword, shield, and spear-holding hybrid person to take down Griswold.

After clearing Tristram, my money was maxed out again so I did some gambling and came up with this nifty circlet for Neeraj. Such a find seems pretty mundane at this stage but it would have been an incredible item if gambled earlier in the game. Due to continuing storage space restrictions, I went ahead and upgraded Twitchthroe, thinking that if I do ever end up using it I'll probably want it upped one way or another (even if only for aesthetics). I also burned my last Amn to upgrade a decent rare pike into a lance, giving Neeraj a modest damage boost. Unfortunately, the lance lacked leech and this became more and more of a problem as the act wore on. I've since started keeping my eyes out for supplies to craft a Blood Armor for him. I was also surprised (and encouraged) to see the 'Cruel' prefix spawning already (although it won't be available on rares consistently for a few more levels). This item had no value but I loved seeing all four elemental damage types added to a rare - probably the first time I've ever seen this! I tried my hand at crafting a blood ring (stashed due to decent resists but later sold after making a slightly better one later). I also stumbled across these nice gauntlets, which were an immediate upgrade over my magic lightning resist / magic find gloves.

Throughout the rest of the pre-Cloister areas, things went smoothly except for a few tougher spots - usually when facing uniques with tough mods and lots of support. I took the Countess at /p1 for the better rune drop rates, and was promptly disappointed. Stingy old hag. I encountered what I considered to be the first "true" threat of the game in the Pit Level 2, as two skeleton packs immediately pushed us back, nearly to the entrance, and between the two bosses we had to fight Might-enhanced skeletons while amped:

I had to act quickly at this stage as being pushed back any further could've made subsequent efforts to re-enter the area suicidal, so we stood our ground and drank potions liberally. Fortunately, this tactic worked and we were able to take down the second boss without having to move again. One hit from a boss while amped here took roughly 2/3 of my health - had this been Hell difficulty, this scenario likely would've resulted in either death or a loss of full clear status. Max block limited me to only taking one truly nasty hit, luckily.

Pitspawn Fouldog had to have his pack separated, but he ultimately fell with little fanfare. The Smith was forgettable, and while sporting an impressive number of mods, Bone Ash was just a paper tiger. The first three levels of the Catacombs were easy (albeit tedious), lulling me into a false sense of security heading down into the final area. That first room on level 4, though...

This was the second "true" threat I encountered. I *think* it was only a triple boss pack, but I didn't have time to check thoroughly or look at all the mods. These zombies weren't responding particularly well to Howl (justifying my decision to start boosting it sooner than later), and I couldn't kill even a single zombie before the horde was upon me. Neeraj fell quickly, and I made that risky decision we all dread - a mad, blind dash into an adjacent room. Fortunately that room only held Devilkin and shamans, so I was able to work my way back from left to right in relative peace before slowly luring in the zombies with Taunt. After that, standing toe-to-toe with the Maiden of Anguish felt like child's play. I had to go back to town three times for more potions and/or to resurrect Neeraj, but I was never in any real danger. After all the excitement of Level 4, Andy's drop was especially disappointing:

After that letdown, I moved on to Act 2 and fought through a small section of the Sewers before heading back to the surface. Why? Because I was pumped to replace Neeraj with Hazade the Might merc, and wanted to switch mid-area to feel the difference in power. The damage boost wasn't huge, but adding ~75(?) average damage per hit was still VERY welcome, and the rest of the Sewers went without much problem. The big find came immediately after hiring Hazade, so he is my new good luck charm:

Hexfire is nothing special, really, but it does have decent damage (rolled 147%ED and has a flat +35-40 damage built in) and perhaps most importantly, ITD! This could be really handy in an untwinked setting. Still, it's no home run find and thus it has been stashed next to the Twitchthroe, as my two current best candidates for personalization. I'll probably at least wait until the NM Hellforge before committing - Hexfire as an Elegant Blade wouldn't be a bad weapon at all. I continued to find and vendor boatloads of low level sets and uniques, and I also found Hel, Io, and Ko during this update.

With the Book of Skill cashed in, Barb now has the following skills:
-Battle Orders - 20
-Berserk - 11
-Howl - 10
-Sword Mastery - 5
-One point wonders and pre-reqs - all 1 (includes Battle Cry but not Leap)

I have two +2 Warcries sticks on switch, which when combined with BC give a level 25 BO and level 6 Find Item. Also helps beef up Howl for when I'm approaching a nasty situation but am still out of combat range. I have 125 Str to wield Zweihanders, enough Dex for max block, and the remaining points in Vita. This leaves me with 999 life after BO, at level 54.

Continued luck to all the runners!

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          84     SC       Patriarch               -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        80     HC       Harrogath H             -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      54     HC       Sewers Level 2 NM       -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
hysteretiq      DirtyHippie    Druid          35     HC       Harrogath               -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       24     SC       Palace                  -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Peytron         Viduus         Necromancer     1     SC       Rogue Encampment        -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         62     SC       City of the Damned NM -
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     SC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
peytron said:
@jonnyphive

I'm not entirely sure how to build him, but I figure max Corpse Explosion, and max Bone Spear with synergies. I figure we can use some Revives and a Clay Golem for tanking. I shopped a 2os +2 Bone Spear wand already with the hopes of personalizing a White Rune Word. Not sure how long it would take to shop a +3.
jonnyphive said:
@peytron Personally I've never had trouble shopping +3/2os; I can't recall it ever taking >1 hr (and I have done it 3+ times). But then again I also had much better luck than Daz with the ATSoD, so take my comment with a grain of salt. :p
Dazliare said:
jonnyphive said:
@peytron Personally I've never had trouble shopping +3/2os; I can't recall it ever taking >1 hr (and I have done it 3+ times). But then again I also had much better luck than Daz with the ATSoD, so take my comment with a grain of salt. :p
I'm convinced you manipulated the rng in your favor
jonnyphive said:
@Dazliare I swear no such shenanigans were had. I do feel bad for unintentionally misleading you, however. I really hope your persistence pays off soon.
Dazliare said:
jonnyphive said:
@Dazliare I swear no such shenanigans were had. I do feel bad for unintentionally misleading you, however. I really hope your persistence pays off soon.
I know haha - I wasn't accusing you of anything, just ranting :)

We'll see if I keep trying tonight, or play Morrowind or work on my Paladin instead
Bry said:
I've had very little time to play in the last week. I've had to play in short 10-20 minute bursts. Which means I some areas were not cleared and I think i'm slightly under the level I should be but not too far off. Everything has been players 8 and it has been going well.

Just killed Diablo. The fight went pretty quick, the shadow died about 30 times, Chalan only once surprisingly. But he was just about useless during the entire battle. I had to run around to avoid the fire and lightning hose. All he did was run after me, instead of attacking Diablo. The traps eventually did the job. So far fire traps are doing great.

Current Level: 33
Current Area: Harrogath

Items (Important stats only)
Weapon1: Wrist Blade (20% IAS)
Weapon2: Katar (10% IAS)
Helm: Circlet (20%FRW / 37Mana / 6@resist / 16% MF )
Armor: Soc Leather Armor ( 2x chipped Topaz)
Amulet: Magic (8@resist)
Ring1: Magic (26%Cold Resist)
Ring2: Magic (7Mana / 12%MF)
Belt: Belt (23% Cold Resist)
Boots: Heavy Boots (20%mf)
Glove: Heavy Gloves (14% Light Res)

Merc : Chalan
Weapon: Eth Sup Pike (14%ED)
Armor: Chain Mail (17%FHR / 11% Light Res / 6% Fire Res )
Helm: Full Helm (10%FHR / 28% Cold Res / 22% Light Res / 5% Fire Res)




The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          84     SC       Patriarch               -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        80     HC       Harrogath H             -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      54     HC       Sewers Level 2 NM       -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
hysteretiq      DirtyHippie    Druid          35     HC       Harrogath               -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       33     SC       Harrogath               -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Peytron         Viduus         Necromancer     1     SC       Rogue Encampment        -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         62     SC       City of the Damned NM -
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     SC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
Bry said:
Another update, little bit longer this time. I had some time to play.

Normal was fairly straight forward. The fire traps have been just fine all the way through. Drops haven't been that exciting except for a polearm dropped by Nihlathak. I don't think I've ever picked up such a high damage weapon in normal. So that will be my merc's weapon for the future.
1662502820045.png

Getting to the throne room and clearing it out was easy. The waves were a little more tricky. Wave 1 went by quick with the traps and mind blasts. Wave 2 was the same way. Wave 3 gave a little trouble and killed my merc and shadow plenty of times. Wave 4 was tricky, I finally decided to mostly use mind blast to convert about half the monsters to fight each other while my merc killed 1 at a time. Wave 5 took some running around and lots of traps. Baal was surprisingly easy just took a while. I stayed barely on the screen with him and planted traps at a distance. He didn't move much which helped a ton. Drops were nothing useful.


1662502828409.png

Act 1 in nightmare was smooth. Still going at players 8. As long as the monsters are not fire immune I can kill them eventually with the traps. My merc is doing decent damage and I was searching for a ort + amn + P saphire for the whole act, so I can up the rare polearm. I finally got enough sapphires to cube up to a flawless and complete the 3 I needed. Upping the polearm was a great choice and now that I have a might merc from act 2 he damage tripled. This will help so much when dealing with fire immunes. The traps are slowing down with the speed of killing so I am thinking about switching to lightning, but I want to see how far I can go with the fire.
I'm thinking about socketing the polearm when I can and putting in a sheal or an amn. Not sure yet.
1662502836895.png

Current Level: 53
Current Area: Harrogath

Items (Important stats only)
Weapon1: Cestus 20%IAS
Weapon2: Blade Talon 30%IAS
Helm: Circlet (20%FRW / 37Mana / 6@resist / 16% MF )
Armor: Soc Gothic Plate 44%Mf
Amulet: Magic 31% MF
Ring1: Magic 12% MF / 7Mana
Ring2: Rare 19% Fire Resist / 11 Mana
Belt: Belt (23% Cold Resist)
Boots: Grieves 31%MF
Glove: Light Gauntlets 24%MF

Merc : Razan
Weapon: Partizan 10%IAS / 427%ED
Armor: Demonhide Armor 24%FHR / 28%Cold / 7%Poison
Helm: Full Helm 10%FHR / 28% Cold Res / 22% Light Res / 5% Fire Res


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          84     SC       Patriarch               -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        80     HC       Harrogath H             -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      54     HC       Sewers Level 2 NM       -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       53     SC       Palace NM               -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
hysteretiq      DirtyHippie    Druid          35     HC       Harrogath               -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Peytron         Viduus         Necromancer     1     SC       Rogue Encampment        -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         62     SC       City of the Damned NM -
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     SC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
 
Vildecor said:
That's a pretty sick polearm! Nice find.
Dazliare said:
That polearm is so sick! I'm still shopping, though it's honestly keeping me from playing Melisandre at this point. I may give up eventually, but plan to try some more tomorrow
jonnyphive said:
I had to look up Nihlathak's level in normal after seeing that polearm... is 68 (Arreat Summit) right? That seems crazy high but certainly explains how he could drop something with those crazy mods. Anyway, I'm finding Barb to be a real slog right now so I'm taking a break from him for the moment so I don't get sick of the game altogether. I still plan to pick him back up before too long but I don't know exactly when yet.
Dazliare said:
jonnyphive said:
I had to look up Nihlathak's level in normal after seeing that polearm... is 68 (Arreat Summit) right? That seems crazy high but certainly explains how he could drop something with those crazy mods. Anyway, I'm finding Barb to be a real slog right now so I'm taking a break from him for the moment so I don't get sick of the game altogether. I still plan to pick him back up before too long but I don't know exactly when yet.
I feel you! I've never done a barbarian in a tournament because as single pass with no RW weapons, they can be really tedious. I did one in the skill-less tournament, and didn't really have any trouble continuing on there, but I had a few things going for me:

1) After a while I was the only one alive, and would get several replies after every update
2) I didn't think it would be possible to make to nightmare, let alone well into hell
3) The novelty of playing a character with no skill tree. You to really think outside the box sometimes
jonnyphive said:
Well, when the thought crossed my mind that it wouldn't be so bad if he got killed, I figured I should step back for a little while because when I'm in the right mood he's a ton of fun and every area I clear feels like an accomplishment, which is a nice feeling with a game I've played so many times. Plus getting a guardian and a tournament guardian are two of my long term goals, so this one could possibly accomplish both. I'll pick him back up before too long!
Dazliare said:
Hi friends!

Still no shield, though I've barely been trying this past week.

I realized though - I'm planning to play classic WoW with my brother, though we won't be starting for another month or so (actual release date is next Tuesday in the US). That gives me a month before I would be shelving Melisandre for quite a while, so I think I'm going to move on for a bit. I'll finish up NM today or tomorrow, then see where my resists are. If I'm really hurting, I may just larzuk some sockets into my scintillating gothic shield of deflecting

How do trappers deal with LI's in hell? I've never actually played a trapper, and I don't really have enough skill points between now and then to get fire blast up and running. I suppose life tap on groups should allow my mercenary to kill things, though that would be really tedious.
jonnyphive said:
@Dazliare As far as I know, Fire Blast is really the way to go. Do you have any respecs available? Otherwise lots of crowd control to let your merc do his thing...

Edit: AS @Bry says below, the CE from Death Sentry should go a long way (especially at the lower p settings you're likely to use in Hell) provided you/your merc can get the first kill. Some savvy herding of mobs could nearly eliminate your need to directly deal with LIs, come to think of it.
Bry said:
@Dazliare
I'm about to switch to lightning traps, fire is taking too long to kill anything even on P3. I am planning on letting my merc kill light immunes while I convert enemies with mind blast. That's what I've been doing so far for fire immunes and it works pretty well. Your merc just needs to do enough damage. Also death sentry does corpse explosion once the merc kills 1 monster it should help to throw 1 of those down. I haven't run into this yet but those are my plans.
Kstil3227 said:
Captain America is still alive and well! "Mid-Way" through Act 5. It was a rough and slow go out in the Foothills...All bone archers :oops::eek:, but slow and steady won out. Made it to Shenk and took him down. His drop was quite nice for the Grail.
1662503195585.png
1662503202736.png
Ondal's Wisdom! Muled off to the grail.

Along the way Captain America came across a nice ETH Boneweave. Decided to E-bug it and see what sockets...o_Oo_O
1662503220798.png
1662503231141.png
1662503242308.png
2 SOCKETS!! Quite possible the item to personalize...maybe...Smoke?? Will wait and see what Nihl. and the Glacial Trail brings...wouldn't mind trying to make Guardian without using the reward...time will tell...

Thresh Socket didn't want to be left out of the drop pictures...he coughed up IK Boots.
1662503254918.png

Down into the Crystalline Passage and onto to Anya...decided to be crazy and open an Evil Urn :eek::eek:...
1662503266916.png
1662503276884.png
Only 1 Siren was hiding in there. Woo...got lucky? :rolleyes::rolleyes:

No worthy drops til the River's end at Frozenstein and his minions. One nice small charm to add to the inventory.
1662503286904.png

Well currently at Lvl 81 with solid @res.
1662503306370.png

The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          84     SC       Patriarch               -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        81     HC       Crystalline Pass. H     -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      54     HC       Sewers Level 2 NM       -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       53     SC       Palace NM               -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
hysteretiq      DirtyHippie    Druid          35     HC       Harrogath               -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -
Peytron         Viduus         Necromancer     1     SC       Rogue Encampment        -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         62     SC       City of the Damned NM -
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     SC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
PhineasB said:
@Dazliare I strongly recommend fire blast, as the back up for LIs. They tend to be lower life enemies, and with IAS the damage can be solid at higher levels. With CE from death sentry helping out, it's a faster (and safer, as a result) approach, I would think.
peytron said:
We have entered Nightmare difficulty at level 41:
1662503355850.png

Kill speed has been decent so far, the only problem is the number of mana potions we are constantly drinking. We have maxed Bone Spear, and put a few extra points into Corpse Explosion. One point into Amplify Damage and Decrepify, along with getting a Clay Golem with one point in most synergies and 3 points into Revive for extra meat shields.

We made about 50 trips to Drognan trying to find a 2 open socket wand with +3 to Bone Spear, but the best we could get is +2. Nothing super special gear wise so far, best drop was our belt from Duriel that we will up for extra slots, and a few rares to fill in the gaps.
1662503367450.png
1662503375557.png
1662503382953.png
1662503389204.png
Faster Cast Rate rings and amulets round out the gear for now. Onward we go into the Blood Moor.


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          84     SC       Patriarch               -
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        81     HC       Crystalline Pass. H     -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      54     HC       Sewers Level 2 NM       -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       53     SC       Palace NM               -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Peytron         Viduus         Necromancer    41     SC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
hysteretiq      DirtyHippie    Druid          35     HC       Harrogath               -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         62     SC       City of the Damned NM -
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     SC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
Dazliare said:
Really fast update because I'm super triggered right now. My NM Crystalline Passage rolled ice dudes, ghosts, and gloams. Gloams are LI, but I can at least make things work with CoS + life tap wand

EXCEPT I'VE POPPED 5 EVIL URNS AND EVERY SINGLE ONE HAS BEEN AN AMP DAMAGE GLOAM

brb deleting d2.exe
Dazliare said:
Melisandre has achieved Conqueror status! Act V is typically my favorite part of any single pass character, and this was no different. Overall, Act V was quite straightforward, with a few really rough patches. I started at players 8, but turned it down to 5 in the Frigid Highlands. Players 8 probably would have been possible, but it was extremely tedious, and I probably would have given up at some point.

I was mistaken earlier - the terrible Gloams were in Frozen River. Fire Blast + Alhizeer tanking with Life Tap makes Gloams actually doable, but I'm not exaggerating when I say 5 evil urns popped 5 amp damage gloams. It was just awful.

This super chest in the drifter cavern was pretty cool. Nagelring and the staff is pretty rare, but I vendored both

1662503469433.png

This dropped in the Infernal Pit. I considered trying to punch some holes in it for a potential personalize, but realistically the only polearm RW I would personalize is Obedience, but I don't have a Fal rune, and I'm so short on inventory/bank space anyway that I decided it wasn't worth it

1662503478366.png

Traps make for some fun tactical decisions. I could hide behind this wall while my traps killed the Night Lords no problem

1662503490719.png

This is one of my favorite inventory art items, so I thought it was worth the screenshot

1662503499670.png

Then this dropped. Alihizeer doesn't get many kills anyway, so I have no problem replacing his topaz'd armour with this. I'll probably put this on Melisandre to start Hell for the DR and life, then swap it back to Alhizeer once durability gets low.

1662503511234.png

Baal's drop was useless as usual. P3 for the waves and baal himself. I could have done the waves on P5 no problem, though the minions would have been tough. Baal himself was pretty straightforward

1662503523308.png

Woo!

1662503532098.png

Next stop is to see if NM Charsi will cough up a shield or not. Will report back later
Dazliare said:
WE DID IT BOYS!!

1662503558583.png

Hell Charsi
peytron said:
Dazliare said:
WE DID IT BOYS!!

1662503558583.png

Hell Charsi
Hail Charsi!
Kstil3227 said:
We a heavy heart and anger if I'm being honest, I am reporting that Captain America has met his match. He could not overcome the Prowling Dead before entering Nihlathak's temple. He fought with valor til the end. I'm debating about re-entering or just starting a new D2 project outside of my Holy Grail. Until next time...possibly. Take care.

1662503608194.png


The Overburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PhineasB        Septimus       Druid          84     SC       Patriarch               -
Dazliare        Melisandre     Assassin       64     HC       Pandemonium Fortress NM -
jonnyphive      Barb           Barbarian      54     HC       Sewers Level 2 NM       -
Bry             SpicyChxSand   Assassin       53     SC       Palace NM               -
Oakbrain        Izaida         Assassin       49     HC       Black Marsh NM          -
hackedagainanda Oxygen         Paladin        42     HC       Cold Plains NM          -
Peytron         Viduus         Necromancer    41     SC       Rogue Encampment NM     -
Pb_pal          Thangail       Paladin        35     HC       Frigid Highlands        -
hysteretiq      DirtyHippie    Druid          35     HC       Harrogath               -
Rosy Maple      Malice         Assassin       28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Vildecor        Alanna         Amazon         28     HC       Kurast Docks            -
Ghonn           Orianna        Amazon         21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
Maltatai        Theodora       Sorceress      21     SC       Lut Gholein             -
CaseyJones      Ninjara        Assassin       19     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Pizzaparty      LocoPete       Necromancer    18     HC       Lut Gholein             -
Jocular         DontTazeMe     Necromancer    18     HC       The Jail                -
Hutton          Boris          Necromancer    15     HC       Dark Wood               -

The Unburdened
Rich (BB code):
Code:
Forum Name      Hero Name      Class       Level     HC/SC    Last Waypoint         Personalized Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kstil3227       CaptainAmerica Paladin        81     HC       Crystalline Pass. H     -
Peytron         Bronte         Amazon         62     SC       City of the Damned NM -
Dazliare        Tryste         Sorceress     >33     HC       City of the Damned    -
Chaostar        Triin          Amazon        >25     HC       Canyon of the Magi    -
Jocular         Flick          Druid          23     HC       The Maggot Lair       -
Peytron         Lawrence       Barbarian      43     SC       Outer Cloister        -
Babyhell        BabyBeasts     Druid          50     SC       Dark Wood NM          -
Vildecor said:
@Kstil3227 — Condolences on the loss of Captain America. He definitely had a good run. Losing a HC character always hurts, especially ones you spend a good amount of time on. Getting that far and dying can downright throw you into depression.

Good luck in your future endeavors, whatever they may be.
PhineasB said:
NOOOOOO!! That’s brutal @Kstil3227

RIP Captain America. Good luck in whatever the future endeavors end up being
Dazliare said:
@Kstil3227 I'm so sorry dude! Making it to A5H and not finishing the game is just terrible :(

Of course, I do hope you re-enter, but I completely understand if you don't
jonnyphive said:
Oh no! Cap was making such great progress! So sorry about the deeds. :(

@Dazliare Congrats on the shield! What are you putting in the sockets? Looks like you're at a FBR rate of 4 frames and could drop to 3; I find 4 pretty good with Barb but of course 3 would be approaching Holy Shield-speed levels.
 
Dazliare said:
jonnyphive said:
Oh no! Cap was making such great progress! So sorry about the deeds. :(

@Dazliare Congrats on the shield! What are you putting in the sockets? Looks like you're at a FBR rate of 4 frames and could drop to 3; I find 4 pretty good with Barb but of course 3 would be approaching Holy Shield-speed levels.
I haven't decided yet - I have a Shael I could use, and nothing else really jumps out at me unless I stumble upon some great jewel. I was actually thinking of just throwing another diamond in there so I have more wiggle room with my other gear. For example I'm using a 20@ circlet right now - maybe I gamble a +1 sin skills circlet with no resists on it, and it would be nice to be able to use that
jonnyphive said:
@Dazliare I tend to agree with your thinking - I find a block rate of 4 frames plenty fast on Barb, and 57% res all would be great for flexibility like you say. Given the tournament restrictions, flexibility is a thing of beauty.
Dazliare said:
Melisandre has made it to the Inner Cloister in Hell difficulty. I never expected to make it this far! Boss monsters dropping full rejuvination potions is a great bonus.

First thing we did was struggle like crazy against Lightning Immunes. It just wasn't working, even with life tap. So I respecced, got rid of all my unused skills (shadow master etc) and have fire blast maxed. LI's are still a challenge, but quite manageable now. Fire blast will take out one or two, then death sentry takes care of the rest

In respeccing, I also gained about 100 more hp. I had been keeping block maxed with a gothic shield, which has a lower base block rating than my smexy new tower shield. Cloak of Shadows is seeing liberal use, and luckily no crashes yet. Did they fix the bug in 1.14 maybe? No NDE's for Melisandre herself, the the mercenary dies relatively often. His damage output isn't amazing, and the only thing really keeping him alive is potions and life tap, which just isn't quite effective enough when he's amped.

I moved some gear around for hell, losing some MF, but gaining some mana and lots of resists. Here are a few readouts

Grim Talisman
Amulet
Required Level: 34
Fingerprint: 0xb7765bd5
Item Level: 43
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Assassin Skill Levels
+14 to Strength
Replenish Life +7
+86 to Mana
Cold Resist +38%

This rare amulet is just so sexy

Gambled a lovely circlet

Prismatic Circlet of Amicae
Circlet
Defense: 30
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 43
Fingerprint: 0x51577b02
Item Level: 77
Version: Expansion 1.10+
All Resistances +20
Damage Reduced by 14

Those are the only upgrade from this session. I did run into a cool drop that I considered personalizing:

1662504588286.png
Stats and all res are nice, but ultimately not that needed. Plus the belt I'm wearing is actually quite good

1662504602415.png

This ring dropped in the Jail. Manald Heal. Wouldn't be a bad personalization, but not very good either to be honest
jonnyphive said:
Nice progress, @Dazliare! Still keeping that third socket open for now on the new shield?

As for me, I've spent some time reflecting on Barb and he has now undergone some significant changes. I took him for a test drive clearing the NM Halls of the Dead and things feel much smoother now. I'll give details at my next major update, but I do plan on picking Barb back up for real again very soon.
ioupainmax said:
Dazliare said:
This ring dropped in the Jail. Manald Heal. Wouldn't be a bad personalization, but not very good either to be honest
Can't personalise jewellery as far as I know.
Dazliare said:
ioupainmax said:
Can't personalise jewellery as far as I know.
Oh wow, if this is true I had no idea!
peytron said:
Well, we died during transport today. Level 60 in Nightmare Flayer Jungle. Easily could have killed those flayers on that bridge, but didn't want to gain those XP points. Could have drank some potions, but didn't want to use them all up. Could have hit save & exit, if I was hardcore I probably would have.

We had already cleared the Flayer Jungle and Lower Kurast. When I came back to the game we had to run through to get to the Flayer Dungeon, but that is very difficult to do in Act 3 without killing anything.

Good luck to those still running!
Dazliare said:
I'm still kicking! Haven't updated much recently for a lot of reasons, but I'm in Canyon of the Magi Hell. Here's the highlight so far :)

1662504678786.png
Dazliare said:
Act II done!

This was a pretty cool drop, and I seriously considered personalizing it. Unfortunately, the stats themselves just aren't very good, so I decided to vendor it

1662504697544.png

First HR!! I keep hoping to find Lem to personalize a Treachery, though this is neat. I'm not sure I'll use it at all tbh

1662504708949.png

Duriel's drop is pretty interesting, but ultimately useless

1662504717883.png

The highlight of today's play session though, was this armour that Alhizeer is now wearing. I wish it had life, but I may actually Larzuk this one just for style

Dread Wrap
Boneweave

Defense: 2163
Durability: 23 of 23
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 148
Fingerprint: 0xd1ecb875
Item Level: 83
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+17% Faster Hit Recovery

+185% Enhanced Defense
+3 to Dexterity
Lightning Resist +28%
Fire Resist +27%

Ethereal

I have fire blast maxed which makes FI's basically no problem. Gameplay is really smooth with traps, though I did have to skip one tomb because of an amp damage beetle pack stair trap :'(
jonnyphive said:
Nice progress, @Dazliare! That armor is sick, all things considered. Are you giving any consideration to a Defiance merc now given that huge defense on the armor? Probably just depends on if you need the crowd control from HF or if you need a sturdier merc...

As for me, I'm happy to report that Barb is on the move again... very slowly. It takes ~10 hits to kill a regular scarab in the NM Far Oasis, and I'm using a single target attack, so you all can imagine what that pace is like. I am still enjoying it with some of the changes I've made, though, although I'll wait to reveal the changes in detail until after Act 2.

Good luck to the remaining runners!
skoolbus said:
Been feeling the itch for D2 recently. I've been thinking of what I wanted to play all day and I'm going to enter with a trap assassin. My only guardian ever was a fire trapsin, so I think I'll try again for the lightning trapsin. I was wanting to try a leap attack barbarian, but I don't have a whole lot of time for D2, so I'll start out with a build with high killing power. Good luck to everyone who has already started!

Gerudo the trapsin, level 7, Cold Plains
Dazliare said:
Two dolls blowing up was enough to one shot me :(

1662504800013.png
jonnyphive said:
Damn! Sorry to hear that, @Dazliare. You were really starting to get close, too.

Yeesh, not many runners left now...
CaseyJones said:
Ouch Daz...3rd times a charm? (As in, going for a 3rd entry?)

Yeah, and my D2 time has been taking a back seat to everything else so not much progress for Ninjara lately.
skoolbus said:
RIP Mel :( Good luck if you decide to give it another shot!

Gerudo has been cruising through Act I and Act II. Clock of Shadows and Lightning Sentry make it quick and easy, just what I wanted. Andy dropped Bloodfist, not a bad unique barring gear restrictions, but was sold. Act II dropped a million set items, mostly Cathan and Isenguard junk. I did find a very nice charm in the Arcane Sanctuary.

Shimmering Grand Charm of Greed
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 10
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 19
Fingerprint: 0x376975d0
All Resistances +10
25% Extra Gold from Monsters

Also had a great circlet gamble for Act II.

Rainbow Circlet of Luck
Defense: 21
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 19
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 26
Fingerprint: 0x94b63f91
All Resistances +8
26% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items


Gerudo the trapsin, level 28, Kurast Docks
Dazliare said:
Holy moly that charm and circlet!
skoolbus said:
Didn't have anything else I had to do this weekend, so I had a ton of time to play Gerudo. Act III was where things began to take off with LS. Mobs of Flayers melted before me! It was smooth sailing. I shopped a teleport staff to moat trick Meph, who's drop was forgettable. Act IV was super annoying, for whatever reason, I was getting CoS bugged all the time, and my game kept crashing. It might have had something to do with me casting it pretty much on cooldown. After that, I stopped using it unless necessary. I killed Diablo on /p3, even then he melted the moron.

Act V was amazing. So many uniques (all useless) dropped. I got a Doomslinger, which I don't think I've ever seen before, would have been nice on an Amazon! I also got so many runes I started vendoring them. Got 3 Shael which I'm keeping as those can always find a use. Inventory management has become the largest issue in this tournament. I had about half my stash filled with full rejuvs, but ditched them after I killed two of the ancients without ever seeing them. The third died with no problem. After trying for over 2 hours to shop a 3os helm from Larzuk, I gave up and tried my luck socketing my MF circlet at Larzuk, but unfortunately got just 1 socket. Stuck a PTopaz in anyway. I killed Baal and his minions at /p8, no sweat. Baal dropped garbage.

It was immediately apparent upon looking at my resists once I began nightmare that I was permanently switching from BoS to Fade. Act I went pretty smooth, LS even without CoS still makes the game pretty easy at this point. The Tainted monsters that hurl the lightning balls are a huge pain to kill, I'm not sure how I'm going to tackle them in Hell. I finally had an act boss drop a useful item! Andy dropped a Spirit Shroud. I'm going to ponder whether I should vendor it or save it for a potential personalize. I probably won't be able to play again for a couple of weeks, so I'll have plenty of time to think it over. Also had a Bladebuckle and Manald ring drop in lvl 4 Catacombs, both sold.

Gerudo the trapsin, level 53, NM Lut Gholein
Dazliare said:
You guys are making me want to try again! I'm on the tail end of a vicious depression, and D2 sounds super fun right now, but so do all my other games lol. Classic wow is taking most of my time the past few days
jonnyphive said:
Nice progress, @skoolbus! Sounds like you'll pass my progress in no time!

@Dazliare gogo with try #3! I'm sure it'll take me a while to finish (unless I die early :rolleyes:) so you'll still have company in this thread for the foreseeable future.

I just got back from a family camping trip (trying to squeeze in what outdoor activities we can before the temperatures drop off too much) and am still progressing with Barb slowly but surely. I'm close to beginning the always-tedious task of clearing Tal's Tombs, but am actually looking forward to it for once as Barb feels much sturdier and more enjoyable to play lately. I've also started crafting more and more Blood gear and am finding storage to be a real issue, saving much of that gear for the inevitable changes needed for Hell.
jonnyphive said:
Act 2 NM complete! Things started encouragingly enough, finding my first exceptional unique sword in the Sewers. Hexfire is nice enough, but unless I'm lucky enough to find Lum + Pul to upgrade it, it just won't cut it in Hell. I found a Ko on Level 2, and before long Radamant was isolated and taken down.

The first couple of desert areas were simple enough, but the Stony Tomb and especially the Halls of the Dead really turned into a slog. The hordes of Burning Dead, backed by Unravelers, were proving particularly problematic. I had been trying to start using Berserk more for its superior damage, but I was forced to accept that Berserk's 0 defense plus blocking is as problematic as advertised. Even after switching back to a 1-pt Concentration (+BO synergy), I was running into increasingly dangerous situations, culminating in this:

Yikes. This was the breaking point where I stopped playing Barb for a few weeks, and mulled the situation over while recklessly cruising around with some softcore characters. Ultimately, I decided to burn my second respec and use my personalization quest. My thinking was that I almost certainly won't be an offensive powerhouse at any point, and I already have a very nice shield (the ATSoD w/ 2x pdiamond + Shael), so why not focus on the defensive side of things? So with that, I respec'd into a pure Concentrate barb and personalized and socketed Twitchthroe. For skills, I maxed Concentrate and BO right away, followed by 1-pt wonders and War Cry / Howl for crowd control - I'm currently testing both out, plus Howl is a synergy for a 1-pt Berserk (solution for PIs). After equipping Twitchthroe, my life immediately jumped by over 400 points while maintaining max block. I then finished up the remainder of the Halls of the Dead, and both safety and kill speed were noticeably improved.

Whenever I max out my inventory's gold, I gamble Long Swords and the occasional Pike. I'm still using the Zweihander I had previously gambled (see below), but I gambled what will be a slight improvement once I find an Amn to upgrade it to a Rune Sword. Unfortunately, I haven't seen an Amn in a long, long time and as such I have been extra short on storage space while I wait for one to drop.

The rest of Act 2 was relatively uneventful, as my new setup allowed me to safely wade into the fray and soak up hits while Hazade and I slowly but surely cleared one area after another. I really liked the outcome of this battle, as you can see just how many dried corpses were attacking me by the time I finally knocked out the sarcophagus spawning them:

I also gambled a decent pike (see below) for Hazade, and once I have some extra Amns I will upgrade it and socket it for leech. In the meantime I crafted him a Blood armor to ensure he has leech. This allowed me to stop storing the 8-square weapon in my cube and slowly but surely free up more space.

About the 7 tombs: The first five tombs were all small ones, and only one of those had Unravelers + Burning Dead. Of course, Kaa's tomb was 100% undead (Unravelers, Burning Dead, mummies, and wraiths), and it took a long time to clear with having to kite the Burning Dead out one room at a time. Battle Cry was invaluable in reducing the damage we took, and Taunt was always helpful to pull Unravelers into the mix when we were ready for them. It also greatly reduces their tendency to resurrect undead. Kaa himself was a beast, and was accompanied by a champ pack of unravelers:

One hit from Kaa while Amp'd easily took over half of my 1700 life. Hazade didn't stand a chance against these guys. It was lucky that we were able to pull two champs away from the rest initially - I'm not sure how we would've done enough damage before needing to retreat otherwise.

I tested an unsynergized Berserk as a PI solution, and it worked well enough. Eventually I'll put ~10+ points into Howl and that should help boost kill speed. Compared to Ancient Kaa, Duriel was a pushover, only requiring one trip back to town for more pots, and never generating any real threat. I used some Blood gloves for most of the fight before switching back to my main MF gloves. The drop was forgettable, except for an ethereal Spineripper that contributed to my ethereal grail.

So here sits Barb the level 60 Concentrate Barbarian, at the Kurast Docks, feeling confident moving forward. Here is a gear breakdown:

Barb:
Helm: Artisan's Great Helm of Balance w/ 3x ptopaz
Amulet: Slayer's Amulet of Luck
Weapon: 'Bone Thirst' Zweihander
Armor: Up'd Twitchthroe w/ ptopaz
Shield: Artisan's Tower Shield of Deflecting w/ 2x pdiamond + Shael
Gloves: 'Brimstone Clutches' Gauntlets
Ring 1: Garnet Ring of Chance
Belt: 'Bramble Strap' Mesh Belt
Ring 2: 'Entropy Circle' Ring
Boots: Viridian Greaves of Luck
Switch weapons: 2x +2 warcries sticks. Will upgrade @ Anya's portal in A5.
Hazade:
Helm: Prismatic Circlet of Luck
Weapon: 'Havoc Scourge' Pike w/ Shael + 1 open socket
Armor: 'Viper Flange' Blood Craft

Stats/skills (w/ BC and BO):
Combat Skills
Combat Masteries
Warcries


Well, this has been kind of a long and thorough update, but I haven't posted any progress in a while so it seemed like a good time for one. Good luck to remaining runners and anyone else who joins!
 
skoolbus said:
@Dazliare I would recommend giving it another go for sure!

I had more time than I suspected this weekend and played Gerudo some more. Finished up Act II, always walking a fine line of using CoS and risking a crash, or spamming mind blast. I'm at the point now that I don't use CoS unless it's an emergency or something like gloams I need to deal with.

Act II didn't bring much in the way of excitement. I thought I could handle Duriel on /p8, but when I saw how quickly he ate my merc, I regretted that. I was lucky if the merc lived long enough for me to lay 5 LS traps and hit Duriel with a lower resist charge. Eventually I gave up reviving him and kited Duriel around the room. Not fun, but effective. The drop wasn't anything useful.

I started crafting a lot in Act II. Basically as soon as I get a Ral, Thul, Amn, or Jewel, I'm crafting something. Trying to upgrade my merc's helm and armor, my gloves and rings.

I'm currently at the WP in Lower Kurast, and I read earlier in the thread that you can't personalize jewelry, which is a shame! In the flayer dungeon, this beauty dropped, my first one ever!

The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 51
Fingerprint: 0x880ba710
+20 to Mana
Adds 1-12 lightning damage
Increase Maximum Mana 25%
+1 to All Skill Levels

I had more good luck in the flayer dungeon, also finding a Peasant Crown and this beauty of a jewel:

Scintillating Jewel of Daring
Required Level: 26
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 50
Fingerprint: 0xcb084557
+2 to Dexterity
All Resistances +12

Really just posting an update because I'm excited to share about finding a SoJ, despite the irony of not being able to use it.

Gerudo the trapsin, level 60, Lower Kurast
skoolbus said:
Well, Gerudo will have to go ahead and bow out. I hit the wrong key and swapped weapons to my teleport staff instead of mind blast. This resulted in me teleporting straight into the middle of about 20 venom lords and oblivion knights in the chaos sanctuary. I mashed my full rejuvs, and probably wasted about 5 of them in my frantic attempt to remain alive before I hit esc. I tried three times to unpause, rejuv, and do ANYTHING, but it was not meant to be.

Rather than go down with honor, I took the cowardly way out and S&E'ed. I am bummed. I was in no way in any danger of dying if I didn't inadvertently teleport into the middle of a huge group and then hit another hotkey in my confusion. I will have to be more careful and not click as fast in the future. I had been using the ground in town as an extended stash during each D2 session, so I lost my sweet 30%FRW/40%LR boots and my Spirit Shroud.

I will eventually continue playing Gerudo, first I must decide about attempting to continue under the (majority) of the rules of the tournament, or begin using an extended stash and use that sweet SoJ I muled off the other day and just go for guardian. I wish those still remaining the best of luck!

Gerudo the trapsin, level 66, shamefully quitting in the Chaos Sanctuary
jonnyphive said:
Barb has finally finished full-clearing Act 3 Nightmare. For this stage in the game, if I were to rate Barb on a scale of 1-10, he is about a 2 in kill speed and a 9 in safety. It makes for an exceedingly dull experience (although I am sure that will change sooner or later). Neither overwhelming numbers nor Conviction gloams posed any real danger. Well, reviewing my screenshots, I do recall that Fanatic Stormtree was a bit touch-and-go, but careful use of Taunt to pull away his minions made things very manageable. Of course I stayed well clear of Geleb before he popped. Zealots constantly running away and being healed was extremely frustrating, but at least Taunt greatly helped shorten their leash so Barb and his net -10% FRW didn't need to chase them down too frequently.

My concern is that this very lopsided defense/offense is simply delaying the inevitable. Even the strongest defense eventually gets overwhelmed by a nasty combo of mods in Hell. All I really need is one good sword gamble and things will speed up dramatically, however, so I am picking up and selling rather frequently considering the tight inventory space.

Other than a couple of minor charm changes, I didn't have any gear changes since my last update. Oh, he did find this fantastic small charm that I am sorely tempted to mule off and transfer to softcore, but to me it would undermine Barb's development. Hopefully Barb (and by extension, that charm) will survive!

Barb, level 64 Concentrate Barb, onward to Act 4!
Dazliare said:
That charm makes me moist
jonnyphive said:
Well that just made me laugh out loud at work, thanks for that @Dazliare. Early in A4 I found another nice one although with a gold find suffix, so not quite as gg as that one. They actually add like 25 to my max LCS damage which is sadly significant at this stage.
TwentyMuleTeam said:
Well after reading through this thread I can't help but join. Bremusa, the soon to be CS/plague javazon, has made her way into the Tamoe Highlands. Together with her trusty rogue mercenary, they've made quick work of their foes, as expected.

I've had terrible luck thus far gambling, and only 3 chipped topaz to speak of to this point. Countess dropped a Tal, and I've found plenty of other gems that I've stashed for now. This is my first tourney in years and my first play through without an extended stash, so it should be fun!

I'll add Bremusa to the table after she's made some more progress. Thanks for hosting @Dazliare
jonnyphive said:
Welcome to the tournament, @TwentyMuleTeam! Good luck! It was getting lonely in here...
Dazliare said:
TwentyMuleTeam said:
Well after reading through this thread I can't help but join. Bremusa, the soon to be CS/plague javazon, has made her way into the Tamoe Highlands. Together with her trusty rogue mercenary, they've made quick work of their foes, as expected.

I've had terrible luck thus far gambling, and only 3 chipped topaz to speak of to this point. Countess dropped a Tal, and I've found plenty of other gems that I've stashed for now. This is my first tourney in years and my first play through without an extended stash, so it should be fun!

I'll add Bremusa to the table after she's made some more progress. Thanks for hosting @Dazliare
Welcome! I may try this one a third time, though Classic WoW has been taking most of my free time recently...
jonnyphive said:
Barb has finished A4 NM. Act 4 is always nice when play time is limited as it makes it feel like I've made more progress than I really have. But first, I forgot to show Meph's drop from A3:

The Chance Guards were average (33%), and the rest was junk. It's odd that with this character having already used his personalization quest, the most exciting part of these drops is the rares.

Act 4 with its wide open areas presented a new challenge for this character, as if I did not advance carefully and retreat liberally, it was easy to get surrounded. Fortunately with Barb being as tanky as he is, situations like that still weren't very concerning as long as it wasn't a boss pack with nasty mods. The Outer Steppes was also kind enough to yield another nice small charm.

The Plains of Despair took a while, as there was no shortage of gloams to hunt down or dodge, depending on how many showed up at any one time. Izual himself was expectedly easy; although his incessant use of frost nova slowed things down, he inevitably gave up and collapsed in on himself. The best thing to come out of the Plains of Despair wasn't those two skill points though, it was the long, long-awaited Amn rune drop. Although upgrading a newly-gambled sword I have waiting in the stash would have given me some much needed storage space, I instead opted to upgrade Hazade's rare pike into a lance as it would net our team a much bigger BPS boost.

The City of the Damned wasn't particularly noteworthy, other than the fact that this map had a lot of large structures to explore. These evil forces took way too long to break for being made out of glass.

Some Extra Fast, Conviction Pit Lords did their best to impersonate the bane of CS hammerdins, but were easily dispatched, as was Hephasto. The Hellforge drop was actually quite good:

Too bad Pul is good for upgrading unique exceptional weapons, and Um is needed for rares. Maybe we'll luck into a second Pul at some point.

The RoF also yielded my first elite sword drop, a white Falcata! Imbuing white elite swords is one of the few means I'll have of possibly acquiring a decent elite weapon, so I immediately took this back to Charsi, who promptly disappointed me. Damn. One down, two to go.

All I'll say about the Chaos Sanctuary is that while I didn't mind fighting the Grand Vizier or the Infector, or even Diablo, I hated having to constantly chase down un-tauntable oblivion knights while decrepified. That took a hugely disproportionate amount of time, and it virtually assured that we fought all our battles while cursed in one fashion or another, as the OKs had to be hunted down one at a time after every big melee. For the Diablo fight, I put on my Blood gloves, took the obligatory standing-in-the-bugged-lightning-hose pic, and hacked away. Big D was even kind enough to only target me, allowing Hazade to participate for the whole fight, which surely helped speed things up. I took one trip back to town to refill red pots, but it was over before long, and Diablo's drop was surprisingly decent for once...

...except for this tournament, where the only rare dropping being a non-Barb class specific made this drop a disappointing tease. If only I were a caster and/or hadn't already used my personalization quest! The weapon, while only decent, likely would've been end-game for Barb once upped - That Pul rune would've been begging for a Lum companion right about now.

Barb, level 67 Concentrate barbarian, NM Harrogath. The Bloody Foothills are next!
jonnyphive said:
No major update yet, but I am approaching Nihlathak's temple - as an untwinked Conc barb with severe gear restrictions and glacial killing speed. All I can think is:

itsatrap.jpg


Anyone have any suggestions for how to navigate the temple's many charging zombies? I think I have a reasonable plan in mind but would gladly listen to any suggestions.
skoolbus said:
@jonnyphive I don't have any actual advice, only thing I can think of put it on /p1, have shield, and BO every 30 seconds? I skipped Nihl on NM (and am planning to skip him on Hell as well).


I decided to continue Gerudo under the tournament rules (though I broke the no S&E rule in the Chaos Sanctuary). I put it on /p1 and went to the River of Flame waypoint. First champ I encounter, drops a Titan's Revenge. I would have probably second guessed my decision if I was playing a Javazon... Anyway, to mitigate any potential XP benefits of rerunning a large portion of this map, I kept it on /p1 for the whole area (I had cleared ~half on /p8 before). This time, taking extra care not to tele into large groups of dangerous mobs, Gerudo was able to summon and kill Diablo with ease. He dropped a potential game changer in an eth Bonesnap. IIRC blade fury doesn't use durability, so that would have been about the best blade fury weapon I could hope for on a single pass. I quickly decided that my 0 point investment in blade fury couldn't justify using my only set/unique/runeword item. Diablo also dropped a second Heart Carver.


Act 5 rained great drops. I found 2 Ko runes in/around the Crystalline Passage. I found a 34 resist all Skin of the Vipermagi in the Drifter Cavern (I think). Found too many other great items for an untwinked character to list, muled all of them off save the Vipermagi armor, thinking that is certainly a candidate for the personalize. Gerudo was able to cruise on players 8 the whole act, save ancients and baal. Ancients didn't pose much of a threat. Baal and his minions were easy.


I was very nervous starting out Hell, Gerudo's resists were hovering in the mid 50s and 0 points in weapon block. I cleared about half the act on /p3, pretty much until I ran into my first conviction boss pack. Seeing the moron get instantly vaporized, and all of my resists in the negative, made up my mind to personalize the Skin of the Vipermagi. Once I got to the outer cloister (good spot to go back to normal), I personalized my Vipermagi. I kept the 4 PTopaz gothic plate in the stash to swap to for act bosses.


Seeing FR/LR/CR at 75 and poison at 55 gave me a lot of peace of mind. The rest of Act 1 went pretty smoothly. Act 2 was even easier, no difficult monsters. Fangskin didn't pose an issue. I had been doing pretty much full clears up until the Arcane Sanctuary, where I cleared 3 paths and didn't bother with the fourth (you know which one). I also skipped all the false tombs, deciding to just make a push for guardian.


Act 3 was an absolute nightmare. Short of seeing no gloams, I have nothing positive to say for it for a character with lightning damage. The army of LI flayers was the easy part. The Urdars were unbearable. The council was a 45 minute fight, trying to lure each one out individually, and spamming mind blast to keep the merc alive.


I flirted with death numerous times in the Durance of Hate. Level 2 had an unkillable (and not converted with mind blast) boss pack in the first room. I foolishly brought them right back to the stairs. This was like 3 NDEs in one. I eventually managed to blindly teleport several rooms away to where it was semi-safe. I never went back that way. Level 3 was equally horrible, I tried to just moat trick Meph without attracting any attention. Of course what happened was I attracted the attention of everything at once. 45 minutes later, I was able to moat trick Meph. He didn't drop anything noteworthy.

Sorry for the wall of text, with any luck, the next one will be for guardian! Or more likely, a deeds...

Gerudo the trapsin, level 80, semi-playing by the rules in Harrogoth
skoolbus said:
I just figured out where my screenshots were going, so I have a picture this time!

1662505606934.png

As you can see, Gerudo killed Baal and became a guardian! This is my second guardian (very ironic that my first was a fire trapsin), but first tournament one.

Now that the important stuff is out of the way, I'll pick up where I left off last post. Act IV was extremely slow. Despite no gloams, every LI boss was also FI, which meant I had to resort to mind blasting nonstop for the merc's abysmal damage to slowly whittle away at them. It would have been a good idea to shop a throwing weapon with prevent monster heal, but for some reason I didn't. I seriously contemplated skipping hellforge because Hephaesto was FI/LI. I slogged it out though, got a Ko rune. Yay....

The first time I cleared out the chaos sanctuary, the mods on all the seal bosses were perfect. Nothing remotely dangerous, no immunities I couldn't easily deal with, piece of cake, never even saw Lord De Seis. Yes, I said first time. I have no idea what happened, but when I killed Diablo I didn't get credit for the quest. I TP'ed back to town to swap armor to my 4 PTopaz armor, but I did it super late, and my only guess is that a LS bolt was in the air when I went through the TP, so Diablo died .01 seconds after I was in town and I didn't get credit. If it wasn't that, I have no explanation. His drop was nothing of any use. The second time in the chaos sanctuary was horrendous. Polar opposite from the first. I lured the balrog one out, hoping it was like Baal's minions, but eventually resigned myself to having to kill him. FI/LI, extra fast, cursed, extra strong. Even mind blasting him into a wall was perilous. This time I did shop a prevent monster heal weapon. Doing everything again cost me about a third of my remaining gold (~500k) with the numerous merc revives. I was nervous I'd run out of gold in Act 5.

Act 5 I was still moving in straight lines from area to area, minimizing kills to the extent it was safe. Outdoor areas were filled with archers. I decided to risk using CoS again (hadn't used it in hell up to this point). Really wasn't too bad for the most part, LI's were very uncommon. Found a second eth Bonesnap and a Tal's Mask right around Eldritch. Used my socket quest on my +2 Assassin skills/20% IAS claw, got two sockets and stuck two Shaels in. Probably a waste, but didn't need any more resists in my Vipermagi and didn't have a PRuby to stick in it. Skipped Anya, and all side areas, so I moved through the act quickly. Had to reroll the ancients twice, before the merc lasted more than .2 seconds. I put a point into Shadow Warrior and Shadow Master right before the ancients. Thankfully I realized that I wasted the Shadow Master point because she would cast CoS and crash the game. Oh well.

On my third try on the ancients, I got the whirler separated first. Don't remember his mods, but he wasn't LI and had nothing remotely dangerous, and he was more interested in the Shadow Warrior than me, so that was nice. After a lot of teleporting around, I managed to get the leaper on his own. Also not LI and also didn't have anything scary. When I got him down to ~1/4 life, he killed the merc and gave chase to me. Managed to finish him with LS without getting hit. The axe thrower was LI and extra strong, and would kill off the shadow with 2 (maybe 3) axes. I switched over to my lower resist balanced knife and rejoiced when I saw it would break his LI! It was slow going, and I ate a fair number of axes running around. Fortunately getting hit with both left me with a solid 350ish life and my rejuv mashing was spot on. I got very nervous when the potions I dropped on the ground all disappeared and I had 2 mana potions left, 0 health, and 6 full rejuvs. Thankfully that was enough.

Gerudo navigated through the WSK pretty well, minimizing unnecessary areas. WSK 2 and 3 had gloams, but CoS works wonders. Only encountered 1 gloam boss pack in the Throne level. The stairs to the Throne level had a fairly decent stair trap, but CoS and liberal mind blast made it not too bad. Baal's minions were very easy, as was the Baal fight.

Overall, your cookie cutter lightning trapsin. Very fast killspeed, very very safe being a ranged assassin. I had a good deal of luck with MFing (though that wasn't particularly helpful in this tournament) and only 1 real NDE in the hell durance (other than my S&E in NM Chaos Sanctuary). I had been muling off items I knew I wouldn't/couldn't use, so I'll probably give Gerudo some of those back and grab some more WPs and complete all the quests. I'm still using the same circlet I gambled in act 2 normal....

@Dazliare thanks for hosting the tournament! I will 100% not be joining again. I am a compulsive packrat and it was too tedious going through hell having to drop charms to pick up every blue item I knew I could sell. I can't handle that level of tedium again lol.

I'll post a guardian thread with my gear/stats and whatnot, this post is already far too big.

Good luck to @jonnyphive, @TwentyMuleTeam, and anyone else still going!

Gerudo the trapsin, level 82, Guardian
jonnyphive said:
Congrats @skoolbus, and impressive pace through Hell! Always nice to see more finishers in a tough tournament like this.
Dazliare said:
We're back my friends!

Leandra the enchantress will probably die prior to reaching Nightmare, but currently level 10!
jonnyphive said:
Welcome back, @Dazliare! Enchant + static + merc seems like a good way to get through NM, honestly. Between TP repositioning, the relatively high fire damage you can give your merc, and a decent radius static to soften enemies up first, you'll probably find that your merc can rip through most of norm and NM fairly safely - especially if you use your personalization on some sick spear/polearm drop. :p

As for me, Barb has finally completed NM! Well, except for cows, but that'll be wrapped up later today or tomorrow.

The journey up Mount Arreat started calmly enough, steadily swatting away rats and cats on the way toward Shenk. We found a Fal near Shenk, meaning I am now "just" a Pul or Um away from being able to upgrade an exceptional rare weapon to elite. Too bad I have yet to score something worthy enough.

Having max block and max fire res was a big help in the Frigid Highlands, as burning dead archers were everywhere. I again relied heavily on Taunt to give Hazade and I a battle position in which we didn't have to constantly go after the archer groups:

The above situation was beneficial to us as Hazade and I could stack on top of one another, allowing me to block most attacks coming toward us while Hazade could attack with impunity.

I was thankful for the many natural choke points in Abaddon, as dolls + frenzytaurs are not a nice combination to get surrounded by. One or two at a time were easily managed, though. Hooray for bridges!

There were frenzytaurs in the Glacial Trail, but nothing too dangerous, and the Frozen River was fairly tame as well - mostly non-dangerous melee mobs rather than gloams and witches firing from across the river in every direction. This may be the first time that I got a truly usable reward from Anya, as this helm will be what I use when starting Hell:

The +3 BO is huge, and the +1 to Increased Speed is surprisingly useful as well. I avoided spending any skill points in Inc Stam/Speed in an effort to squeeze every bit of damage out of this character I can (by putting points into synergies instead), so a free boost to my R/W speed (which is currently -10%) will be greatly appreciated. Combined with 2os to plug whatever gaps there are in my Hell setup, this helm is surprisingly good. Thanks Anya (for once)!

Most of Act 5 went by smoothly, with difficulty generally ranging from easy and fairly fast to a slow yet safe grind when lots of chilling monsters were around. One irritating drop, however, came on my way to visit Nihlathak, as some random mob dropped a Bloodletter. Had I waited to use my personalization quest, I would have now had access to a Bloodletter Falcata, as I have Pul + Lum for upgrading exceptional unique weapons to elites. The decent %ED, raw damage add, and a Shael in the socket would allow for a very solid 4 FPA whirlwind weapon. On the other hand, I might also have already deeded Barb, as he was getting into quite a grind earlier in the game before personalizing the Twitchthroe and respeccing. So, easy come, easy go, for this one. Anyway, the Halls of Pain had zealots/heirophants, grotesques, and maggots, which was an irritating spawning/healing combination, but it made the Vipers in the Halls of Vaught seem relatively easy by comparison. Sure, they ate my merc pretty quickly, but I slapped on my Amulet of Life Everlasting (saved for almost an entire difficulty for this exact situation) as soon as I saw them and they barely touched me. I'll be holding onto that amulet for Hell.

Nihlathak inevitably fell, and soon it was time for the Ancients. As expected, the battle was very slow, and eventually the extra potions I dropped on the floor poofed, and my sword broke (it started at full durability...). So in the end I sat back and watched Hazade duel with Talic, ready to give him a full rejuv if needed. It was never needed, and Hazade carried us down into the WSK. I also gambled a very nice belt that might see use in Hell.

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened in the WSK, but the Throne of Destruction had a dangerous almost-stair trap waiting for us:

See those Mighty Doom Knights at the top of the screen? I was able to Taunt away one or two individually before accidentally waking up the whole pack, but fortunately spawns were light nearby and we were able to run just enough to split them up and pull them away from the unique with the aura. As in the CS, Oblivion Knights were incredibly irritating with their tendency to cast decrepify and run away. Usually most battles distilled down to me and Hazade painstakingly chasing down OKs long after everything else had been taken care of.

All 5 waves were surprisingly easy; 4 of the 5 can be safely Taunted, and having already cleared the throne, it was easy enough to break up Lister's pack and take them out 1-2 at a time. Barb is very sturdy against single enemies. The fight with Baal took a good 15 min, even with my blood gloves on, and it looked like this most of the time:

The clone was spawned almost immediately, which was only really irritating when it distracted Hazade from the real target. Still, I was perfectly content to tank against Baal and his clone while Hazade and I slowly chipped away. Baal fell, and Barb became a Conquerer.

My plan now is to chop up some beef, then complete the Den of Evil in hell before respeccing one final time and swapping all my gear over. Selling off my MF gear will be fantastic for freeing up inventory space - I don't plan to worry much about MF in Hell.

Barb, level 75 Concentrate Barbarian, Hell Rogue Encampment.
Dazliare said:
That barb helm is sweet
jonnyphive said:
Yeah, I think I had already selected it and was on my way to selling it when I realized I had actually seen a flash of something useful. With this helm, I should be casting BO at level 30 in Hell (2x echoing weapons, helm, BC), which is a really nice boost to health!
Dazliare said:
Leandra has finished Act 1. I levelled through most of it with Frost Nova just for grins, though it wasn't particularly effective. I found an early jewel of envy, which I dropped into a longbow for my fire mercenary and she carried most of the act.

At level 18, I used my normal respec to swap to Enchant as I didn't want to kill Andariel with Frost Nova. I've been swapping between 1h/shield, and this decent Bardiche:

Dread Nails
Bardiche
Two Hand Damage: 1 - 27
Durability: 39 of 50
Required Level: 3
Required Strength: 40
Fingerprint: 0x11b96dda
Item Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+16% Damage to Demons
+45 to Attack Rating against Demons
Adds 1 - 8 Lightning Damage
Fire Resist +6%

I plan to gamble a few Pikes in act 2, which should increase my damage output tremendously. By the end of Act 1, I was actually surprised how effective my damage was, though I can already tell this character is going to be a real challenge.

One thing I will need to sort out is how I want to handle stats. I went into this thinking that it wouldn't be worth going 1H/shield since the damage output won't be great unless I find a good 1H, and the block frames on a sorc are really rough, so I would have to sacrifice loads of vit to make that work. On the other hand, I can already tell AR is going to be a problem. Having enough strength for a decent weapon is also going to be a challenge. So we'll see how things go. I may read up on a few Mat/Guardian threads for ideas.

A 'Passion' definitely isn't out of the question, though I might have to get lucky with a Lem. I'm also not entirely convinced that's a good option without supporting gear. I'm worried about being locked into a slow Zeal animation.

So lot's of questions, but we're making progress!
jonnyphive said:
@Dazliare One thought regarding weapon choice: Since your main source of damage will be fire rather than physical, consider focusing on a fast 1-handed weapon rather than something with high physical damage. High physical damage weapons require multipliers, which paladins and druids excel with (for example), but sorcs lack entirely. Rather, I would think that the focus should be on applying fire damage quickly, meaning that a fast weapon would be preferred. By extension, since physical damage won't be great either way, and since you'll be up close and personal with your fighting, a shield and one-handed weapon may make the most sense. Deal fire damage quickly and block 3/4 of incoming attacks... What about a 'Steel' flail? Some of the highest early-game physical damage, and one of the fastest attack speeds you can manage initially untwinked, should easily carry you through normal with smart investment in Enchant + synergies/mastery.

Edit: Similar thought process to Holy Fire/Freeze/Shock pally: weapon speed >> physical damage. Also, Enchant has a %AR boost, so any AR you can get from equipment (Fools mod!!) will get at least *some* multipliers from skills (unlike physical damage). :)
Dazliare said:
Arcane Sanctuary is done. I'll probably finish Act 2 tomorrow, at which point I'll give a proper update. This character is surprisingly insanely strong right now
 
Dazliare said:
I've been kind of obsessed with jigsaw puzzles, and haven't played as much D2, but I'm back with a brief update!

This character is a power house. She can take a fair bit of damage, so I need to be careful, but between Leandra and Jemali everything just melts. We gambled this circlet for Jemali:

Armageddon Visage
Circlet
Defense: 49
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 19
Fingerprint: 0xc2342555
Item Level: 26
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 2 - 7 Damage
+63 to Attack Rating
Adds 1 - 100 Lightning Damage
+61% Enhanced Defense
+6 to Strength

That plus Enchant puts his damage max damage at nearly 500 in act 3 normal. Leandra also found this long sword, which is a bit of an odd item, but one that I think is really neat

Beast Barb
Long Sword
One Hand Damage: 3 - 19
Durability: 43 of 44
Required Level: 12
Required Strength: 55
Required Dexterity: 39
Fingerprint: 0xb766533f
Item Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 1 Amplify Damage on striking
+10% Increased Attack Speed
Fire Resist +8%
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Repairs 1 Durability in 33 Seconds
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Emerald Jewel

Emerald Jewel
Jewel
Required Level: 12
Fingerprint: 0x3fe3030d
Item Level: 20
Version: Expansion 1.10+
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

CTC Amp, attack speed, resist fire, and a socket for an MF jewel? Yes please!

Anyway, act two is done, as well as Spider Forest and Great Marsh.We're level 29
Dazliare said:
I'm not very good at writing interesting write ups (maybe I should practice more!), but Leandra has completed Act 3. Not much to say really. I like act 3 overall, though the sewers and flayer dungeon drive me a bit batty. I'm working from home for most of tomorrow, so may have some time to start working through act 4
Sid said:
Hey, getting a bit stir crazy and bored during coronatine and found your tourney. Simple, easy to remember rules appealed to me so I went ahead and made a character late last night. Didn't have a build in mind so I decided to use dice... random class, random tree, random first skill. Nothing else random after that though - just wanted a starting point.

So I ended up with Druid, Fire Tree. There's only one skill available at level 1 in that tree, which is Fire Storm. So Fire Druid it is. After looking it over, I think I'll go Fire Storm, Fissure, Volcano, Grizzly. Not sure about the rest. Without a maxed wind skill to synergize it, I'm not sure Armageddon is worth getting. I played an elementalist druid before and I remember being underwhelmed with it. I remember liking the mid-tree fire skills better. Instead, I'll dump the rest into the Summoning Tree. Probably one of the creeper vines - the life-stealing one (Carrion?) or maybe Poison Creeper to help with FIs.
Dazliare said:
@Sid - glad to see it! Good luck!! :)
Sid said:
Thanks! :)

Haven't played for a few days but am about to play some now. I'm just about to start act 2 (still normal).

Act 1 was relatively uneventful. Once, I survived a champion that frost nova'd on death with probably 10 or less HP, but other than that was never seriously threatened. Nothing much dropped either. Got a Tal, Nef, and El rune (Nef was from Countess). Most of my gear is rare or socketed - no uniques or set items have dropped yet. My stash is full of chippies. Had to sell some of them at the end. Not sure why I'm bothering, can't remember if it's worth saving them to cube them but I have no other use for stash space atm so why not.

The druid fire spells are quirky, which I knew, but that's part of what makes them fun to play IMO. So far my points are pretty evenly distributed among Fire Storm, Molten Boulder, and Fissure. Using Fire Storm/Fissure atm. Had a decent LB with my merc, so she did a lot of damage for me in the cathedral/jail/andy, but I didn't really need her. I prioritized poison res on items, and am carrying a 3 socketed shield with emeralds - poison res is around 65% I think. Andy wasn't much of a problem, just kite her through fissures, drink mana potion, repeat. Although of course I was too impatient to just do that so I got up in her face with fire storm a couple times, which was fun. Her poison novas still hurt a little, even with good resistance, but not so much to worry me - just drink a pot.

So now it's off to act 2. Anxious to get the cube. And the skill points for the first quest, IIRC (the book).

Played all on /p8 of course (probably goes without saying - does anyone not start out on /p8?).
Sid said:
Oh, I also found a 3-socketed trident in the jail I think it was, and wanted to save it for my act 2 merc. That was when I had zero stash space and was even carrying around some chippies. So I put it in my weapon switch slot. Woulda just carried it - I haven't actually used a weapon since I got molten boulder - but I need my shield for the res. Until that dawned on me out of necessity, I had forgotten all about the weapon switch. Not that I needed it anyway, but I might have found a use for it. Maybe an alternate shield for lightning res or something. Hmm, might still do that actually...
Dazliare said:
@Sid - Good luck in act 2! Getting the cube is a huge boon in this tournament
 
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