2H Melee Sept -- Progress and Theorycrafting

Paladin: Coeus (Zealing Conviction Abbott with Insight Stave) with Floria (A1 Rogue Merc with Faith)
Status: A5 H, Level 82

Coeus finished the next two Acts, full clearing the A85 areas and finishing all quests. A3 was actually fun -- flayers did no damage :) At p3, boss packs could generally do enough damage to require a healing pot, but otherwise. Dolls were a pain, as were Blunderbore types that were in the Forest and the first two Durance levels. Interestingly, the Frenzied Trees weren't really an issue, even though I thought they also had crushing blow (but maybe I'm misremembering) -- they went down very quick. He also got a map that required going through the Marsh to get to the Jungle, but access to level 2 of the Sewers was the immediate area I explored upon entering from Upper Kurast.

A4 required more care, as monsters took longer to take down and did more damage. Blunderbores appeared again in ROF, but most importantly the Hags. I avoided them in the surface areas, but they were in both ROF segments, which slowed things down a lot but weren't really dangerous. Vengeance was handy to take down the Hags faster, but hard to use effectively when swarmed with lots of little worms. Sanctuary also made its appearance to avoid getting swarmed by undead in CS. In all, he has enough utility skills to solve most situations.

The only screenshot worth using was a PI Hephasto who went down quick:
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HF was a Lem. He completed through Shenk, and the skeleton archers didn't do any damage, which was fun :) I was considering whether to drop to p1 for A5, but I think I'm going to stick with it. I may, however, skip the portal areas if it gets too slow. Hoping to finish him up this weekend.
 
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Paladin: Coeus (Zealing Conviction Abbott with Insight Stave) with Floria (A1 Rogue Merc with Faith)
Status: Patriarch, Level 84
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Coeus made it through the rest of A5, with a few breaks mixed in. He ended up staying p3 the whole way (except Ancients at p1) and full cleared WSK and the portal areas. I haven't finished the Nihl quest, but otherwise he did all quests through Hell.

It wasn't tedious, which had been a worry, but he mostly lucked out with rolls for his build.
- As noted, Flaming Archers did not damage, and same for imps and carver shaman packs. So the rolls that are often annoying in surface areas were actually kind of fun because I just walked around and attacked the ones that I felt like taking down without too much worry.
- The only challenge in surface areas was two overlapping boss packs of Skeleton Archers with Might and Amp. It turned out both bosses had those mods, which I should have realized given area Might covered. And there was Siege Beast champ pack mixed in, that took off chunks of life with the Amp. Once I figured out the second boss had Might also, I retreated, took out the champ pack, and then took out both bosses.
- I was worried about PI Moon Lords, and they rolled in the first Portal area he explored. And normal ones didn't do any damage! I guess I had mis-estimated their damage output. I just stood there with two of them and lost a handful of hitpoints only occasionally (assuming they were crit hits) that were easily recharged before the next time. And there were no bosses. And they didn't roll in Ancient's Way.
- Sanctuary was a star utility skill, especially for the Anya rescue. Shambling Horde and Ghosts, with lots of Ghost bosses, and witches. Here's the only example that turned out, with Amp:
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The knockback kept him from getting swarmed, which would be especially challenging with mana burn Ghosts.
- But the Moon Lords showed up again and were probably the most dangerous roll. This Champ pack in Glacial Trail took off big chunks of life, with the Returned from the Rogue's Faith a huge help.
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If it hadn't spawned, I'm not sure he would have made it through death-free, as it hadn't been possible to separate them and he couldn't handle three at a time on the damage front. And then the Throne Room had a stair trap with mana burn that he managed to run away from without waking up two more bosses that were lurking in the main corridors:
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He was able to mostly tank the other two packs drawing a few out at a time, but the mana burn on the first boss pack was tough and he'd definitely have gotten overwhelmed if he'd faced two of them as a the same time, especially with the mana burn.
- Otherwise the rolls were very kind, including WSK. Vipers could damage him but not much (and health potion was enough if facing lots), Hags were only annoying, and Hierophants and OKs were fairly easy to manage (magic damage from bone spirits could take off noticeable hps, but again a health potion was enough if he was tanking with multiple spirits landing). This triple boss pack of Hierophants in WSK was tedious but not dangerous (missed the screenie of the third, but you can see him up above Vile Thorn):
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- Ancients at p1, with one reroll due to Amp. Otherwise, we split two off and simply tanked, focusing first on Talic who had Might aura. We had to use all but one health potion and a few big purples for the Whirler until we could get positioned against a wall. But he didn't drop below 50% of the bulb.
- Waves were tame, with Lister's gang tanked at the entrance to that room (Spectral, Extra Fast, and Extra Strong, but no aura or amp). Baal took more than 5 minutes, never dangerous. I almost dropped to p1 but figured it was worth sticking to p3 and Coeus would eventually prevail.

The finds were limited as expected with only 23% MF, but he picked up an Ist in Ancient's Way:
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In all, quite an engaging playthrough and I'm glad to have given this build a shot. I'm hoping to post a Pat thread tomorrow. Thanks for following along!
 
Sorceress: Hestia (Doom Enchanted BearSorc) with TBD (A2 Might Merc with Infinity)
Status: A1 H, Level 69

The Sorc is almost ready to tackle Hell, but some runs with other characters for socketables will need to happen first. Why? Feral Axes can get only max 4 sockets, not 5 as needed for the Doom 😐

I had wanted Feral Axe for fastest base speed. Champ Axe is only a little slower, but I don't have any 5os versions, and they get 6os at Larzuk. Threshers have the same base speed as Champ Axes and average damage is nearly the same, and I have a few of those. But I like the tighter damage spread for the Champ Axe, so I will likely get a level or two with my respeced Bone Necro (now a Poisonmancer) in the Pit and see if we can pick up a Champ Axe.

Other than that, standard leveling to level 27 as melee character, then Insight on the merc and Charged Bolt to zip through the game. Planned equipment is CoH, Mara's, 2 sorc skill circlet socketed with 15 IAS jewel, Drac's (when available, before then likely blood gloves), Gores, Trang belt, 2x BKWB). Maxed Enchant + Synergies and Cold Resist for Doom HF damage. I think she'll be pretty solid!
 
Sorceress: Hestia (Doom Enchanted BearSorc) with Gulzar (A2 Might Merc with Infinity)
Status: A1 H, Level 74

My Pit Necro leveled from lvl 85 to half way to lvl 89. No Champ Axes at all for 85-88, then two plain ones dropped next to each other in a Carver nest room on the map. Fingers crossed that we would be finished, first got 2os :( and second got 5os :). Utterly relieved, we then crafted her Doom:
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Very solid roll, approaching max ED, but lowest possible -cold resist, which if one was good and the other bad is the way I'd prefer it. We then geared up, did 2 NM Baal runs to get the hang, and then cleared the Blood Moor and Den.

I had forgotten to swap in the Might merc initially, so went back to NM and then cleared a bit of Cold Plains with full set up (and Might). At p8 she is quite solid and fast at p8. I don't think she's as fast as Dual Dream set up, but that's not really a knock on this set up. I think Amp will be a problem, due to low-ish life for a Bear form character, but I've focused on FHR and AR to try to make sure she can keep dishing out damage.

I ended up leaving strength at minimum to equip Doom, which rules out Spirit shield. I may adjust that to get the extra +skill for Bear and Enchant, but she's fine for now. I'm not prebuffing Enchant with Magefist and better +skills from orb, just for simplicity of play. On resists, she's 67/49/75/60, which is quite comfortable. I ended up going Ravenfrost/BKWB/SoE rather than Trang's belt and 2x BKWB for AR/dext, and the extra life leech and damage reduction is likely helpful.

I hope to be able to work through the first two Acts this weekend, planning to keep on p8 as long as possible. Detailed gear rundown is below.

Current gear:
- Doom Champion Axe
- Beast War Axe / Lidless
- CoH
- SoE
- Volcanic Circlet of Amicae, w 2 sockets using Um and Ambergis (29 LR) JoF
- 20 IAS Blood Gloves (don't need IAS and will likely swap for Dracul's when equippable)
- Gores
- 29@ Mara's
- Ravenfrost (250/19) and BKWB
- Backback: 8 Burning skillers with life, dext, strength or FHR, Resist SCs with FHR, 4 Steel SCs with FHR/vita/cold damage)

Merc:
- eth Infinity
- eth Fortitude
- eth Vamp with shimmering jewel (will swap for version with elemental damage in a few levels when latent resists increase)
 
Sorceress: Hestia (Doom Enchanted BearSorc) with Gulzar (A2 Might Merc with Infinity)
Status: A4 H, Level 85

Hestia picked back up at the Cold Plains WP, and has progressed to A4, at p8 all the way, completing all quests, and full-clearing all A85 areas. She moved very quickly, largely due to being more powerful than expected, but also aided by some nice maps: Countess had several immediate turns to doorway; AS has the Summoner on the arm I picked first; A3 was straight into Flayer Jungle from the Spider Forest WP and avoiding the Marsh, and this gem of a Durance map:
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But she's also quite powerful and safe, even with the lowish life. I guess the FHR makes a difference. She also hasn't encountered an FI/PI so far, which was a worry. Don't get me wrong, she's encountered quite a few unbreakable FIs with latent high Physical Resists, but those tend to be lower life and the cold damage from HF (with mastery) does the job.

Even with amp, she's been plenty safe, with two or three instances of needing to fall back when life tap hadn't triggered promptly. The most dangerous encounter so far was Council, where the first mob that is unbreakable FI charged out from the Temple steps, and the boss had Amp and Might aura. We had to use 4 big purples as the life bulb yo-yo-ed, but really not too bad. Stunning monsters, like Urdars and frenzied types require so care also to avoid getting surrounded, but that's standard fare for a melee build.

Finds have been decent also, with an Um in Tower level 2, a Pul in Rocky Waste, and this nice skiller from the True Tomb:
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As noted in the last update, she swapped in Dracul's and the merc has an elemental damage jewel in an eth Vamp now that his resists are maxed with Fortitude. I may end up finishing A4 this evening, and definitely on track to finish her off this week, and finish up this Sept!
 
Sorceress: Hestia (Doom Enchanted BearSorc) with Gulzar (A2 Might Merc with Infinity)
Status: Matriarch, Level 87

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Alright, she is complete and so is this Sept! She ended up finishing A4 on Sunday evening after my last update, not really encountering any issues. There were lots of FI rolls in the first three areas, including at least one base monsters type that weren't breakable, but her damage was high enough elsewhere to manage well. Hell forge was an Io to go with the Ko from NM.

As expected, A5 was more challenging, depending on monster roll. I played to Crystalline Passage, with Anya rescue, in one session (WP was right near the exit); then to Frozen Tundra WP, which right at Ancient Way entrance in a second; and finished up this morning before work, finishing up the Nihl quest a little while ago after work. She waltzed through most of it, but there were four particularly nasty areas:

- Abaddon: yes, the first weird portal area almost got her repeatedly. It wasn't Moon Lords, no, it as the skeleton archers that did massive poison damage. I'd never noticed it before, and maybe because her resists were 49% for that element, but she lost >120 hps every few frames and it lasted a while. There were lots of portal trips back, and on the third one I decided to buy a row of antidotes, which solved the issue mostly, but still required lots of care.

- WSK1: the amp witches rolled, along with Blood Lords and skeleton mages, and there was a quadruple boss pack with Fanatacism and HF, among other mods, three witches and one Blood Lords. At least they were all life-tap-able, but even when it triggered, it required a few strategic retreats due to red balls of death and amp.

- WSK3: OKs and the PI witches. Oof, this was her crytonite. Hard hitting red balls of death, not life-tap-able, with amp usually cast by OKs and FI Doom Knights charging in. A quad pack of three witches and an OK boss almost got her, with multiple strategic retreats and a couple merc resurrections mixed in. She went through all her purples, but eventually prevailed.

- Achmel: he was the hardest of the waves, Fanatacism and LI, within Baal's decrep range, and they tore up the merc and prompted a quick retreat to portal out and resurrect. It took another town trip to reset the poison damage and top the life bulb before he fell.

Ancients were pretty tame, no amp on first roll, and the whirler requiring use of two purples, but otherwise no issue. Lister was also manageable, drawing them out to first doorway (and out of decrep range). The merc decided to charge them and get stuck in their midst and stun locked, and of course dying. I resurrected him, got life tap trigger, and just backed into the corner, which seems risky with that pack, but limited the number of them that could attack at any given time and limiting knock back so I could target the same monster until dead and avoid regen issue. Baal fell in a heap:
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So she was p8 the whole way, full-clearing all A85 areas and the portals, making it through without a death. And she managed to pick up the highest rune I've had drop on questing, with the Cham besting the Ber that one of 7x7+2 Zons picked up in WSK:
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So she partly paid for herself :D In all, quite a fun playthrough, and a good use of creative 2H weapon for the Enchantres in the Sept. I'm hoping to get the Mat write up done by Saturday, and then I will do a post summarizing the set and key thoughts on each character, before closing out this Sept. Thanks for reading!
 
Thanks @D2DC Yes, I think the Champ Axe was definitely the right choice once I decided to go with BearSorc and Doom (and realized Feral Axe wasn't an option). I think it was the best mix of average damage (with tighter spread than Thresher) and minimal stat points for heavy hitting 2-hander. And she looked pretty sick toting the big axe (even though she was usually shifted and couldn't tell). The latent 45 IAS, with the base speed, made 8-frame easy to hit. I know some prefer no slower than 7-frame for shifters, but I find 8 workable, and hitting 7 would have required some sacrifices on gear that I didn't feel like making :)
 
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