2020 Spring RFL Sign Up and Running Thread: Round 2 (Travincal)

[Babyhell]

If you expect me to knock him from the top spot, then we are in trouble..

You have to believe...He won't drop a Zod this time!

 

[Pb_pal]

I'm in!

--

Please state IF you are running 1.07.
-------------------------
PhineasB
Hutton
Babyhell
Nano
art_vandelay
b1ur
Arctodus
Gripphon
Kstil3227
entwilighter
ffs
CaseyJones
Ghonn
D2DC （1.07）
Peytron
Luhkoh
MrBlonde
Pb_pal
-------------------------

 

[zemaj]

I'm seriously going to try to remember to run this time... really...

--

Please state IF you are running 1.07.
-------------------------
PhineasB
Hutton
Babyhell
Nano
art_vandelay
b1ur
Arctodus
Gripphon
Kstil3227
entwilighter
ffs
CaseyJones
Ghonn
D2DC （1.07）
Peytron
Luhkoh
MrBlonde
Pb_pal
zemaj
-------------------------

 

[ffs]

So... anybody not running with Blizzard Sorc?

 

[b1ur]

I can use my zealot for variety... But then again I like dem blizzehs

Uuuh, I might do a set with the wwsin

 

[art_vandelay]

Blizzard Sorc is so first set...

 

[WoRG]

meh... motivation low, council can't drop anything I need for grail, though charms and jewels (and runes ofc.) are always nice...maybe I'll run it Hardcore, I have an untwinked HC barb I've been playing in 1.07 (that's been really different and challenging!), my HC grail isn't nearly as far along... or maybe I'll run in modern for a change (Facets!! Colored Runes!)

Please state IF you are running 1.07.
-------------------------
PhineasB
Hutton
Babyhell
Nano
art_vandelay
b1ur
Arctodus
Gripphon
Kstil3227
entwilighter
ffs
CaseyJones
Ghonn
D2DC （1.07）
Peytron
Luhkoh
MrBlonde
Pb_pal
zemaj
WoRG 1.07
-------------------------

WoRG

 

[Pb_pal]

So... anybody not running with Blizzard Sorc?

I might dabble with my Venomancer that I used a couple years back to keep it fresh if it gets tedious along the way.

I likely won't change his gear, so it would be as follows:

Fun Necro Circlet

Spoiler

Skull Horn
Circlet
Defense: 22
Durability: 33 of 35
Required Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0x1429e30e
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 51 Poison Nova when you Die
+2 to Poison and Bone Skills (Necromancer Only)
+20% Faster Run/Walk
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Adds 37 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
-5% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+5% to Poison Skill Damage
+83 to Mana
Fire Resist +24%
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Rainbow Facet

Rainbow Facet
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0x29f9c51
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 51 Poison Nova when you Die
Adds 37 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
-5% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+5% to Poison Skill Damage

DWeb + Facet

Spoiler

Death's Web
Unearthed Wand
One Hand Damage: 22 - 28
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Level: 66
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0x643d2c50
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 23 Venom when you Level-Up
+2 to All Skills
+2 to Poison and Bone Skills (Necromancer Only)
Adds 37 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
-54% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+5% to Poison Skill Damage
+9 to Mana after each Kill
+9 Life after each Kill
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Rainbow Facet

Rainbow Facet
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0x504316bf
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 23 Venom when you Level-Up
Adds 37 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
-5% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+5% to Poison Skill Damage

Enigma
Homunculus + facet (+5/5)
Trangs Gloves
Maras amulet
SoJ/Dwarf Star
Arach
rare boots with FR/LR/MF

7/8 Skillers with various mods, depending how much room I want for picking stuff

'Insight' Iron Golem
Might merc - Steel Shade (Cham), CoH, Infinity


He was quite entertaining to run with, and he even kept pace decently with the Blizzys out there, so I'll see how I feel when the time comes.

 

[ffs]

I experimented with a bunch of characters after round 1 ended. Namely Bone Necro, PN Necro, Nova Sorc, Trapper and Zealot. Some of them have the advantage that council spawning closely is not super essential, so at least it didn’t always involve lots of map rolling. Thing is they were all quite far bit behind Blizzy and WW Barb run times though...

Probably I’ll be boring and non-innovative this year. Will do a set with Blizzy, and if I feel like doing a second set I might go to Barb (that’s what I did last year) even though his item cluttering issues are really frustrating. No meaningful upgrades on either of them since last RFL, except for maybe a charm here or there...

 

[zemaj]

So... anybody not running with Blizzard Sorc?

It's like one of two things WW barb (which is, imo, one of the most straight-up fun builds, period) is actually good at, so of course that's what I plan on doing... might even try running up a new barb (LOL), since XP kinda falls off after lvl93 (current barb is lvl94++)

Also, I'll go ahead and field the inevitable response: if you didn't like Whirlybarb, it's because your gear sucked. Try it again with appropriate gear. Its friggin amazing how much difference 3-4%ML and HFD make...

 

[D2DC]

I am wondering what the other 1.07 runners do for Trav? Because I plan on doing mixed runs, my LK and Bazaar racks + Trav. Do you start/stop the timer for each component? I always assumed that 1.07 RFL would be 1 rune = your score. But, if Jo's and Zod's are raining down.. I may need to actually keep track of time somehow..

 

[ffs]

if you didn't like Whirlybarb, it's because your gear sucked. Try it again with appropriate gear.

On paper he's OP but item cluttering is a big problem for him (and ironically, the better the map, the bigger that problem). That's what was frustrating to me, not the fights themselves. FWIW, a couple of runs with him from last RFL with equipment shown at the end:

Spoiler

He was geared alright, only upgrades I can think of are, let's say, questionable from my perspective.

 

[Arctodus]

I’m going with a WW barb myself. I reskilled my untwinked frenzy barb into one. With full Item find also. I made a stupid mistake though with stat points; I gave him enough dex to wield dual Grief (396/40 and 398/40, I might add )... but with Raven Frost on... And I don’t have any other +18 dex ring in his stash. Item Find will lose some of its luster with that mistake. Oh well. I’ll try to do 2 sets anyway.

Working on finding a better Trav map and getting a better feel with that build right now. I found a map with all the Council together except Toric. Should I aim for better or the perfect map is really rare ?

 

[b1ur]

It took me about 2h to roll an almost perfect map for my Blizzeh, it should be less for a Barb since they're much less map dependent. But you at the very least want all of the members in the same place. Ideally close together. On the balcony. Near the end of it.

 

[art_vandelay]

@Arctodus Getting all of them together on the balcony is already a good map, the most important thing is that they don't have a lot of room to scatter. A perfect map takes forever to roll, but a decent balcony (all of them on the balcony, but not necessarily dead end) is well within reach, a few hours I would say... but of course it's D2 and you never know.

***

I want to give Zealot a shot and I feel like the best results can be reached with a 2H setup due to the higher ranges possible. However I'm having trouble getting the runs to stabilize. My life bulb is jumping up and down erratically and I have to pot way too much which is something I don't have to do at all with the 1H setup.

I'm sure a really good 2H setup can push 25s easily but 1H is already sub 30s if I skip PI Ismail regularly.

 

[maxicek]

Please state IF you are running 1.07.
-------------------------
PhineasB
Hutton
Babyhell
Nano
art_vandelay
b1ur
Arctodus
Gripphon
Kstil3227
entwilighter
ffs
CaseyJones
Ghonn
D2DC （1.07）
Peytron
Luhkoh
MrBlonde
Pb_pal
zemaj
WoRG 1.07
maxicek
-------------------------

Running with a Barb.

 

[Peytron]

*checks under cushions for runes



I do still have 3 Cham runes, but besides those all I have is 1 Ist and 1 Mal left . Hoping to replenish the supply after this round now.

 

[b1ur]

Since everyone and their mother is running a Blizzard sorcie I have an interesting question. How do you deal with the scattering behavior? Half of my runs are extremely fast, the other half not so much. If I land on the perfect spot initially the run goes very well, they group up on my merc and Blizzard wipes them in a blink of an eye. If however for some reason (mainly lack of experience running a Trav Blizzard) I don't land on the perfect spot initially they scatter around just enough so that I have to chase at least 2 or 3 with Ice blasts. Which is annoying considering I only have 500 mana. And also since it's HC and I don't want to lose 30% Fathom, Infinity, CoH and whatnot the 'sweet spot' seems to be right in front of them and if a take a step back to stop taking damage they sometimes begin to scatter. The map is really good. Not Gripgod good but they're clumped together almooooost at the very end of the balcony.

Anyway, I'll time my runs and if I can reach <25-8s average I think I'll call it a day and try to improve during the RFL so I don't burn myself out early

Edit: avg 22:995 over 6 runs. I should be fine

Edit2: Here's an example of the bad runs with gear and crap. I'll take criticism on both accounts! <3

 

[ffs]

@b1ur runs and map look fine, the only "not quite perfect" thing I notice is that they barely (or maybe not quite 100%) seem to stand within the Blizzard radius. This would also explain having to chase some of them down with IB. If you're saying sometimes they melt immediately, it sounds like they do actually fit into the radius, but with little to no margin of error re Blizzard placement, so that if you're off a little bit maybe not all of them get hit. Indeed it seems Trav maps have a "sweet spot" that makes them just stand in place if you land there. Last RFL, I made a brief vid with commentary on that, and Blizz Trav running in general:

Spoiler

Tips/tricks vid with sweet spot etc:

Batch of runs without commentary:

 

[b1ur]

@ffs That's a very informative video, I'm sure I've watched it at some point but I forgot!

So after watching it and examining more closely what you're doing I came up with a couple of setbacks of mine which need addressing:
- Switch out HF Merc as it's masking my view of what's Blizzard actually hitting. Might is not an option since I don't want to reroll maps. Defiance maybe?
- Practice, practice, practice. Both sweet spot landing and Blizzard placement. Latter will be easier with no HF obstructing my view.
- Maybe respec since I don't reach the last minions with Static (I noticed that earlier) but also wait until I confirm my sweet spot 100%.
- Since Toorcs position on my map is sort of central he always dies despite me not maxing CM but all synergys instead. I'll keep an eye if he survives longer than he should and move points to CM accordingly.

All in all a lot of things to improve. I would also think about sacrificing a bit of +life for more inventory space since if I aim towards efficiency stash/Cain visits have to be brought down to a minimum. Anyway, sweet spot landing should be number 1 priority since at this time it will definitely save me the most time overall.

Thanks!