All Alone Tournament III

Well Princess_Diana continued the struggle, beginning at the WSK 2 WP. The WSK level 3 spawned with Oblivion Knights, which in groups of four were pretty much unkillable by my valkyrie. The Valk does so much damage that a single hit with IM killed her, and when decrepified she didn't take any damage but couldn't deal any, so that level was pretty tough. We did find and kill one unique OK, this guy. I don't know how to get their handle to show up on the screen because I have to hit alt before the print screen key to get the picture to show up properly; perhaps I am doing something wrong. But hitting alt during this battle caused me to race toward the LE bolts :yikes: but no fear they missed. I didn't clear out part of this level due to the OKs, but fortunately the stairs down were guarded by about 100 various Doom Knights, Fire Boars, Lashers, Demon Sprites and OKs, which en masse were fertile grounds for Lightning Fury. Princess_Diana smacked them down as fast as they could come, with the corridor blocked with a big valkyrie and a decoy here and there to absorb demon sprite fire. I didn't realize that there could be so many types of monsters in the same area, but Boars and Lashers and again Doom and Oblivion Knights must be a package deal.

The throne of destruction was perhaps the craziest one I've ever had before, and there was only one single redeeming quality about it: no burning souls! There were however, very many doom knights, about 20 oblivion knights, horadrim ancients (who had a NASTY habit of resurrecting both doom AND oblivion knights BEHIND me) and claw vipers. If the claw vipers had been burning souls it would have been deeds for sure, my skills aren't good enough for that maelstrom. I basically ran around and depleted my throwing spears until the horadrim ancients (probably 10-12 of them in the level, in groups of 3 and 4) were all dead, then I focused on the doom knights because they came to me, and then the OKs. My valk died a lot, but obviously Princess_Diana didn't. Sorry no screenshots of this, but it was crazy because for some reason the game doesn't have a good resurrection animation for the knights, so when they got resurrected, all I could see was a dead knight's body sliding along the floor toward me and then BAM they were vertical again. I don't remember seeing this before.

Princess_Diana utterly smashed all minions with little effort. It did take all 40 throwing spears to finish Lister's wave, but the valk didn't lose a sliver and I never got touched by anything. If there was anything LI, I didn't see it and the valk destroyed it in a hit or two. The only wave I retreated toward the door was the council wave, which always seems to throw up hydras and be extra fast, so I didn't see all the action. Ventar and Lister were cake. Here is my inventory before heading into the big fight. The belt contained two healing and two mana and 12 full rejuvs. I had another 3 full rejuvs in the cube, along with a bunch of perfect gems and a lightning ring which I didn't use. I ran around the throne until I was back to full on throwing weapons.

This was easily the hardest battle I've ever fought. The clone showed up almost immediately and began to push me around with the cold arrow attack. When I was foolish and had my bow out too long I got frozen (lack of CBF on Rhyme) which usually meant festering appendages. I must admit those stupid things are a blessing and a curse to this build. They caused me to use nearly all my potions but provided LF fodder for when Baal was in their midst, greatly reducing his life whenever I could get a couple off. With no slows target gear or boss attack skill I relied jointly on LF, poison javelin (still level 1) MA and strategic casting of valkyrie. I knew he'd quit casting so often if I got the valk into melee range, but that was hard since he teleported about every 10 seconds. I kept a decoy up as much as feasible, but his strange mobility changed my orientation and rendered the decoy unusable nearly all the time. I tried the hiding trick but it didn't seem to work much. It took about 6 recasts of valkyrie, which never took any noticeable damage, to get a couple of hits. And I must say, that valk hit him really hard. I'd gone from 18 rejuv potions to 5 and he still had just under half life, and I was using them fast because of the appendages appearing everywhere. The valk went in and got two quick hits, and they must have been doubled due to Critical Strike because all of a sudden he was down to 1/4 and I had hope. I switched to MA after using every javelin I had left and getting him to a sliver, used one last Full Rejuv potion to top up life bulb, which had been vacillating between full and less than 1/2 far too quickly, and he went down with a puke and a thud. For that effort, he dropped a rare jewel, which I'll keep for now, Sparkling Mail (left), Blade Bone (I think, the unique double axe, but nevertheless, left on the ground) and three other junk rares, all of which remained on the ground. Here's my real reward.

Code:
[highlight]Alive Characters[/highlight]  
[b][u]Forum Name      Character       Build      Class        LVL   ACT         WP   [/u][/b]     
OldSoldier      Princess_Diana  MA/LF       Amazon      71  A1 Hell  Rogue Camp
Mursilis        Anubis          Summoner    Necromancer 63  A5 NM    Harrogath
skoolbus        OneFingaPushup  Trapper     Assassin    52  A2 NM    Lut Gholein
jiansonz        Evangelina      Phoenix     Assassin    52+ A2 NM    Dry Hills
Crazy_Bear      Jane_Doe        Javazon     Amazon      ??  A5 Norm  Crystal Passage
Breaker         Nosiop          Poison      Necromancer 36  A5 Norm  Frigid Highlands
Chern           All_Alone       Summoner    Druid       33  A4 Norm  River of Flame
Zodwizard       HC_Rainwalker   Fire-Hunter Druid       29  A4 Norm  Pand Fortress
Anraxas         To_easy         Summoner    necro       28  A3 Norm  Kurast Docks
WestXylophone   SoloFirer       HolyFire    Paladin     26  A3 Norm  Kurast Docks
SinningThings   Rapunzel        Trapsin     Assassin    25  A3 Norm  Kurast Docks
stephan         Louise                      Assassin    23  A3 Norm  Kurast Docks
Silverslasher   Forlorn         fire/summon Druid       28  A3 Norm  Kurast Docks
Cygnus          Lycus           Hammers     Paladin     25  A2 Norm  Harem
Friiser         HCAll_Alone     Summoner    Necro       22  A2 Norm  Far Oasis
Docturnal       Angriez         Fishyzon    Zon         21  A2 Norm  Rocky Waste
Ron             Bamboozle       Passive     Amazon      17  A2 Norm  Sewers Level 2
San             Sigrdrifa       PsnJava/MA  Zon         21  A2 Norm  Lut Gholein
thewamp         Athena          PJ/FA       Amazon      20  A2 Norm  Lut Gholein
Tweety          Remi            Boner       Necromancer 19  A2 Norm  Lut Gholein
Brak            Tojolobal       Quesodin    Paladin     19  A2 Norm  Lut Gholein
Ohomemgrande    Lonely          Trapper     Assassin    19  A2 Norm  Lut Gholein  
Credge          YinMKII         --          Necro       17  A1 Norm  Jail Level 1
Butzull         Spinster                    Amazon      ??  A1 Norm  Outer Cloister
Hoop76          Lone_Ranger                 Paladin     15  A1 Norm  Outer Cloister
ZeN             DieAlone        Fishy       Necro       14  A1 Norm  Outer Cloister
GreyEagle       LoneEagle       Trapper     Assassin    17  A1 Norm  Tamoe Highlands
mjosh           Electrolyte     light sorc  Sorceress   15  A1 Norm  Black Marsh
Feared          April_Ethereal  Summoner    Necro        ?  A1 Norm  Black Marsh
Farfus          Farfus          Healbot     Paladin     12  A1 Norm  Stony Field
FromBeyond      HesHardcore                 Barbarian   11  A1 Norm  Stony Field
SonOfBaal       IHateYouAll     Trap/Summon Assassin    11  A1 Norm  Stony Field
Quickdeath      Eve             Cold        Sorceress   10  A1 Norm  Stony Field
Sindus          LonelyMaiden    Enchantress Sorc         7  A1 Norm  Stony Field
Chizz           Trapper         ?           Assassin     6  A1 Norm  Stony Field
AlienBoyz       DocWho          Summoner    Necro       12  A1 Norm  Cold Plains
Chymaera        Marius II       BlizBolt    Sorceress   10  A1 Norm  Cold Plain 
Liquidcore      ThaDru          Wind/fire   Druid        6  A1 Norm  Cold Plains
Vang            WirtsOldMan                 Barbarian    1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp
tripsu          InsaneEnvy                  Amazon       1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp
rY xD           Illidan         Berzerker   Barbarian    1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp
adny            Scorch          Hydrasorc   Sorceress    1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp
Gabriel74       Smelly          Lightning   Sorceress    1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp
Retawd          Sinistral       --          Assassin     1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp
Darkstrikes     lighamus                    Amazon       1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp

Dead Characters
Forum Name      Character       Build       Class       LVL   ACT         WP         
Butzull         Warnie          Hunter      Druid       75  A1 Hell  Outer Cloister
Breaker         PokePoke        Lancebarb   Barb        36  A4 Norm  River of Flame  
inSTAALed       EmoPhil         Ele         Druid       28  A4 Norm  River of Flame
whoisfu         WhoIsZon                    Amazon      35  A4 Norm  Chaos Sanctuary
jiansonz        Kevin           HF Zealot   Paladin     31  A3 Norm  Disused Reliquary
Silverslasher   Sizzlingpain    Trap        Assassin    28  A3 Norm  Kurast
EmperorMoo      GumbyKicksAss   Golemancer  Necro       26  A3 Norm  Flayer Jungle
Jabash          RunAway         Blade/Shdw  Assasin     28  A2 Norm  Duriel's Chamber
Anraxas         ibone_alone     ranger      Paladin     27  A2 Norm  Duriel's Chamber
newco           KissMyBoots     Hybrid      Assassin    27  A2 Norm  Duriel's Chamber
Crazy_Bear      Silent_Bob      Psn/Mage    Necromancer 27  A2 Norm  Duriel's Chamber
EmperorMoo      BertieWooster   Summoner    Necromancer 25  A2 Norm  Duriel's chamber
Sindus          Sindus          Comando     Necro       25  A2 Norm  Summoner
inSTAALed       HumanMeatBlock  Con         Barb        21  A2 Norm  Halls of Dead
Colorless Green Omega                       Assassin    21  A2 Norm  Halls/Dead2
EJB             WheresEveryone              Druid       22  A2 Norm  Radament
EmperorMoo      GotArrers       Mageazon    Amazon      21  A2 Norm  Radamant  
ShockTactics    Frostshock      Frostadin   Paladin     20  A2 Norm  Radamant
Chymaera        Marius          BlizBolt    Sorceress   14  A1 Norm  Black Marsh
chizz           Chizzy          Summoner    Necro       11  A1 Norm  Jail level 1
EmperorMoo      Wordsworth      Summon      Necromancer 11  A1 Norm  Tamoe Highland
Anraxas         ibone_alone     bone        Necro        8  A1 Norm  Countess
Liquidcore      FightingLove    Sniperzon   Amazon       6  A1 Norm  Stony Field

My gear:

Wraith Circle
Ring
Required Level: 23
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 38
Fingerprint: 0xe4ec35f6
+2 to Strength
+12 to Energy
+3 to Mana
+80 to Attack Rating
2% Mana stolen per hit <--- this has been a blessing
+1 to Mana After Each Kill

Sigon's Gage
Gauntlets
Defense: 12
Durability: 11 of 24
Required Strength: 60
Required Level: 6
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0x93a3f2cb
+10 to Strength
+20 to Attack Rating

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
30% Increased Attack Speed <--- please give me the boots, someone!
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***

Grim Grasp <--- junk, really
Ring
Required Level: 14
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 36
Fingerprint: 0xcce52244
+6 to Mana
Replenish Life +5
14% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 2 Fire Bolt (6/25 Charges)

Gemmed Full Plate Mail
Defense: 150
Durability: 40 of 70
Required Strength: 80
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x19b163ec
+6 to Energy
+7 to Mana
All Resistances +10
24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
30% Increased Attack Speed
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Sander's Riprap
Heavy Boots
Defense: 5
Durability: 8 of 14
Required Strength: 18
Required Level: 20
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xd52e7c36
+5 to Strength
+10 to Dexterity
+100 to Attack Rating
40% Faster Run/Walk

Plague Buckle <--- I love this belt! I'd never seen 190%ED on a belt before.
Battle Belt
Defense: 113
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Strength: 88
Required Level: 43
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 64
Fingerprint: 0x7833ba68
+33 to Life
+190% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +24%
Cold Resist +29%
Required Level +5
17% Faster Hit Recovery
Repairs 1 durability in 20 seconds

Russet Amulet of Luck
Required Level: 19
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 52
Fingerprint: 0x844577f4
Fire Resist +15%
32% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Coral Ring
Required Level: 13
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0x60488a23
Lightning Resist +28%

Prismatic Amulet
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 50
Fingerprint: 0xa6fa5ee9
All Resistances +20

Duskdeep
Full Helm
Defense: 54
Durability: 19 of 30
Required Strength: 41
Required Level: 17
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 41
Fingerprint: 0x630f9689
+40% Enhanced Defense
+8 to Maximum Damage
+17 Defense
Damage Reduced by 7
All Resistances +15
-2 to Light Radius

Skull Scratch
Short Spear
Throw Damage: 21 to 37
One-Hand Damage: 8 to 21
Quantity: 18
Required Dexterity: 40
Required Strength: 40
Required Level: 19
Javelin Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 61
Fingerprint: 0xf33e5ad2
+69% Enhanced Damage
+5 to Minimum Damage
Poison Resist +9%
+5 to Mana After Each Kill <--- this keeps high-density LF going and going...
Replenishes Quantity

Rhyme
Kite Shield
'ShaelEth'
Defense: 16
Chance to Block: 53% <--- I found a better shield but still need another Eth, so I dropped it.
Durability: 27 of 30
Required Strength: 47
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 47
Fingerprint: 0xe825d210
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
Regenerate Mana 15%
All Resistances +25
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Faster Block Rate
Cannot Be Frozen
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Eagle Eye
Jewel
Required Level: 13
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x4f82817e
+9% Enhanced Damage
+3 to Minimum Damage
41% Damage to Undead
+36 to Attack Rating against Undead

Gemmed Gothic Bow <--- come on, Ko!
'TirIthSol'
Two-Hand Damage: 19 to 59
Required Dexterity: 118
Required Strength: 95
Required Level: 27
Bow Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 55
Fingerprint: 0xd0cea888
+9 to Minimum Damage
+9 to Maximum Damage
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Socketed (4: 3 used)

Ocher Large Charm of Life
Amber Large Charm of Pestilence
Large Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm of Frost
Russet Small Charm
Crimson Small Charm of Life
Small Charm of Sustenance
Beryl Small Charm of Thunder
Septic Small Charm of Sustenance
Tangerine Small Charm of Flame
Small Charm of Vita


edit: Wayne I left you out of the table mostly because your posts are a mastery unto themselves and I don't want to ruin that mystique and brilliant style. I did update the others as best that I could.
 
Last edited:
OldSoldier said:
I don't know how to get their handle to show up on the screen because I have to hit alt before the print screen key to get the picture to show up properly; perhaps I am doing something wrong.
I think you need to reassign D2's screenshot key in the game control settings. For example, I use the Space Bar.

OldSoldier said:
Sorry no screenshots of this, but it was crazy because for some reason the game doesn't have a good resurrection animation for the knights, so when they got resurrected, all I could see was a dead knight's body sliding along the floor toward me and then BAM they were vertical again. I don't remember seeing this before.
Cool combo. I've never drawn that pairing so I've never seen that eerie effect with knights, only with occasional smaller resurrectables. Must be trippy. Good job getting past them. Souls would've been the ultimate challenge, in part because IIRC they are also resurrectable.

OldSoldier said:
edit: Wayne I left you out of the table mostly because your posts are a mastery unto themselves and I don't want to ruin that mystique and brilliant style. I did update the others as best that I could.
lol. Thanks, but although Asteria is a somewhat aloof elitist, she will take her place in the table eventually like everyone else. My opinion about the table is that it's useful, but distracting if it's used too often. I think you picked a good time to update it. No worries, I'll plug myself in next time it's appropriate.

edit: that is indeed an awesome belt!
 
@OldSoldier I've seen those sliding knights in the throne room before too when the Mummies and OK's spawn together. That is one nasty combination. You did well to get through it. Good luck in Hell!

Jane_Doe has pushed her way as far as the frozen tundra now. Still cursed, she hasn't found any magical maiden or ceremonial javelins... one normal ceremonial stack in the river of ice and that's it. She didn't even get to use that stack because her dex wasn't up to it until another 2 levels after that. She did find an ort and was able to make 'Ancient's Pledge' in a tower shield to help her resists. Unfortunately this also used up her only Ral, meaning if she does find a Thul then she will have to wait for another Ral to upgrade her belt. She has kept an Iratha's Collar with hopes of reaching NM Andy and having the super poison resists available. She also found a charm that I think is pretty nice:

Septic Small Charm of Blight
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 13
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 38
Fingerprint: 0xb7932ad6
+42 poison damage over 6 seconds

I know it's not uber or anything, but I was imagining how sweet it would be if you could find 10 or 15 similar for low level twinking. Right now it serves well to prevent monster regen when not using plague javelins.

Act V also continues to provide good experience, and she has now reached lvl 44 after doing full clears of everything up to the end of the Frozen Tundra. Next up, Ancients Way!

CB
 
Nice work Old Soldier! Looking forward to seeing you kick butt in the Monastery to get some tournament vengeance for Warnie. ;)

Spinster has finished off Andariel in normal. Nothing much to write home about, no good finds or anything yet...just to say that Act 1 on a high players setting for her without a merc was about as tough or tougher than almost anywhere in the game was for Warnie! Act 2 might be a bit better now I have CS, but I can't wait for L24 and of course L30 for Miss Valk. ;)

Will update Spinster in the table when she progresses a little more...thanks for adding here OS. ;)

Butz. :dunce:
 
Very nice work OldSoldier, that is a VERY good belt it looks like. If we get one more destroyer that will be the most of any All Alone tourney. Still mourning the loss of my latest HC death, but perhaps I'll play again this weekend.
 
I've been getting addicted to this chars progress, so she has seen a lot of play time in the last few days, so here is one more update for today.

She breezed through the ancients way and the ancients were easy too. WSK posed no problems on p8, nor did the normal monsters of the Throne room. With all that cleared, the minions started. Colenzo was easy of course, but then came Achmel. Jane_Doe had been putting points into LF and here she turned to it. It quickly brought down all the skellies and all the mummies but Achmel. On the other hand it also used up 2 mana pots. With no friends Achmel was a bad target for LF now, so Jane_Doe switched to the bow while the Valk went melee. He was only at about 1/4 life, but soon the Valk was dead and Achmel was back to 1/2 life.... uh oh. His regen was faster than I could damage him. I lured him out of the throne room to get him away from Baal's decrep but even then with the Valk and Jane they couldn't bring his life down. She had been relying on poison for preventing this problem, and of course he was immune. So he got parked. Taking this as a warning, I switched to p3 before heading back to the throne area. Waves 3 and 4 went down no problem, but then lister's pack. I figured they could be poisoned... I was wrong. I got a couple with LF, but then realized I was totally out of mana pots... Oh no! I had already picked up all that had fallen in the throne room too. Lister's pack could have been killed, but the time requirement made me give up and park them as well. And now, Jane_Doe had to face Baal with no mana pots and one stack of javelins. (plus bow of course)

As it turned out, it was a long battle waiting for mana regen, but it was pretty easy. Run to baal, throw plague jav, run away, repeat. She had to sacrifice the arrows she had to make more javelins, but after about 25 minute he fell. He did even drop a useful item, the gloves that are in her equipment list. In the throne room, a great helm with good resists also dropped so resists in NM should be Ok.

Destroyer Jane_Doe, lvl 46 Amazon.
Main skills: poison jav 10, plague jav 13, LF 7, Valk 7, Magic arrow 1

Equipment:
Code:
Fiend Shell
Great Helm
Defense: 45
Durability: 30 of 40
Required Strength: 63
Required Level: 13
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 35
Fingerprint: 0x27d47e05
+3 to Energy
+27% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +27%
Lightning Resist +20%
10% Faster Hit Recovery

Plague Wrap
Breast Plate
Defense: 91
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Strength: 30
Required Level: 13
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0xae8c909f
+32% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +27%
Attacker Takes Damage of 1
Repairs 1 durability in 20 seconds

Ancients' Pledge
Tower Shield
'RalOrtTal'
Defense: 33
Chance to Block:  49%
Durability: 40 of 60
Required Strength: 75
Required Level: 21
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0x6bafaa6b
+50% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +48%
Lightning Resist +48%
Cold Resist +43%
Poison Resist +48%
10% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Brimstone Clasp
Belt
Defense: 8
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 14
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 26
Fingerprint: 0x3bfcfdef
+1 to Life
+45% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +28%
Cold Resist +17%
67% Extra Gold from Monsters
Repairs 1 durability in 20 seconds

Havoc Finger
Demonhide Gloves
Defense: 64
Durability: 8 of 12
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 35
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 60
Fingerprint: 0xfefddab2
+7 to Maximum Stamina
+80% Enhanced Defense
Poison Resist +24%
3% Mana stolen per hit
20% Increased Attack Speed

Fiend Brogues
Light Plated Boots
Defense: 9
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 12
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 26
Fingerprint: 0xb1e97542
+3 to Dexterity
+21 to Maximum Stamina
Lightning Resist +5%
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Repairs 1 durability in 33 seconds

Iratha's Collar
Amulet
Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0xda40461b
Poison Resist +30%
Poison Length Reduced by 75%

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
All Resistances +15
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***

Ocher Ring of Regeneration
Required Level: 9
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 23
Fingerprint: 0xcac93c5
Lightning Resist +16%
Replenish Life +3

Nagelring
Ring
Required Level: 7
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 22
Fingerprint: 0xeb3dd105
+51 to Attack Rating
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
Attacker Takes Damage of 3
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Javelin
Throw Damage: 6 to 14
One-Hand Damage: 1 to 5
Quantity: 39
Javelin Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 1
Fingerprint: 0xb734c7fc

plus assorted charms
 
Wow it looks like all amazons playing right now...

I know that before I got the decoy (I didn't put any points whatsoever in CS) my life as an amazon was miserable. Then the valk showed up and everything was A-O-K. I'm impressed in Jane Doe's fight, Baal was hard for me both times around, and I was stacked with potions both times. I can't imagine going in with no ammo or mana potions; that's just crazy and testament to a great run!

I played my afterlife character today, perhaps I'll try to get a couple more waypoints tomorrow.

Good hunting everyone!
 
Evangelina is moving along nicely in act 2. It feels like she is 'ahead' of the game now, something that hasn´t been the case for a long time. Phoenix Strike is maxed, Shadow is high level and take a lot more punishment now.

One of the chests in an end room in the Maggot Lair turned out to be a 'super chest', and I scored the 5% chance of it dropping rares. Five rares popped out, three of them worth identifying. One of them was these awesome boots:

Grim Tread
Chain Boots

Defense: 16
Durability: 13 of 16
+66% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +32%
Poison Resist +20%
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Faster Hit Recovery

I saved Ancient Tunnels for later in case the Claw Viper Temple would be tough. First room in CVT, I met two boss packs: Embalmed and Salamanders. One of the bosses was apparently Cursed (no time to really check!) and things got scary. I should have fled outside, but I fled deeper into the dungeon instead (will I ever learn??). Evangelina blazed past another Embalmed boss pack and ran into a pack of normal Embalmed, plus some snakes. The Shadow happened to teleport exactly to where I needed her the most. Nice! Good use of Cloak of Shadows and shadow recasts slowly allowed me to gain a foothold here. The rest of level 1 was easy, but a Conviction + LE Salamander sure had me retreating a long way. That battle turned when the shadow found a sweet spot where no sparks hit her.

For level 2, I unsommed the shadow. Can´t have her waking up more monsters than necessary. Calm when I enter. I am ready with CoS, then Shadow Master and Mind Blast if necessary. I reach the upper-left part without seeing any monsters. The left side of the level turned out to host two spawn packs of Embalmed. Evangelina killed them on her own, starting off with (and repeating it often) a 3rd charge Phoenix Strike to minimize the risk to get poisoned. After they were dead, I sneaked towards the altar stairs. With her new boots, Evangelina is pretty fast, so I decided to make a run for it when I saw am opening. She squeezed by one of Fangskin´s minions and a couple of Embalmed. Then it was pretty much a piece of cake. However, two Embalmed eventually found their way up here and the latter poisoned me. A nervous wait (with potion drinking) to get rid of the poison.

I think it took me 10 minutes to sort through all the loot in here. :azn: Best find was an Ort rune, allowing me to finally upgrade the War Hammer. The damage isn´t huge, but it´s better than before and most importantly, the bigger damage + leech allows me to use BF non-stop if I want to. I can also heal up easily without potions. From a little more than half life, Blade Fury-ing 3-4 regular monsters takes her back to full.

I found a new Phoenix Strike weapon in Jerhyn´s palace:

Shadow Razor
Claws

One-Hand Damage: 15 to 42
Durability: 174 of 192 <- it´s a failed unique
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 46
Required Strength: 46
Required Level: 24
Claw Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 50
Fingerprint: 0xad139bad
+91% Enhanced Damage
+39 to Attack Rating
+14 to Maximum Damage
Adds 1-8 lightning damage
7% Life stolen per hit
+1 to Martial Arts (Assassin Only)

I have left the game running at the AS waypoint now, because the current shadow has ctc Amp. That is rare and useful.

[Highlight]Evangelina the PS Assassin, level 57, NM Arcane Sanctuary next.[/Highlight]
 
Wow jiansonz, those are pretty much end-game boots for an untwinked char, only unfortunate thing (and this is being perfectionist) is that it's a pity the PoisR isn't LR or FR. Excellent though... good FRW, good MF, FHR, dual high resist values...drool! ;)

Spinster has made it to the Arcane Sanctuary and done one arm. She's hit the first milestone of 24 and has decoy, but has yet to cast one in anger. Interestingly, even though I'm packing a bunch of topazes in armour and helm, I've found a single gold to this point (Diggler) and no greens. Come on MF...work! ;)

Butz. :dunce:
 
Wow jiansonz, those are pretty much end-game boots for an untwinked char, only unfortunate thing (and this is being perfectionist) is that it's a pity the PoisR isn't LR or FR. Excellent though... good FRW, good MF, FHR, dual high resist values...drool!

It's particularly sweet in this tournament as town trips are a no-no. I generally gamble FRW/MF/dual resist boots with nearly every single unrestricted character I play, I think it's because there aren't very many affixes that can appear on rare boots. Also, the highest affix level needed is 25 for the highest resist prefixes (up to 40%), so the gambling can start from mid act 2.



 
Jane_Doe is discovering what a cruel game DII can be....

She has started her journey in NM. The blood moor and Den of Evil were done on p8, but the high poison resistance (and high hp of zombie types) of undead made killing zombie packs painfully slow, although there was no real danger. To make things more enjoyable the players setting has been on 5 since then. With this the undead packs are still not bad, and the demon and animal types drop very quickly.

The first few areas turned up nothing special, one ort rune, a hel rune, and the occaisional gem. No weapons or amour worth mentioning. The gem cache was large enough that she decided to create a prismatic ammy, which came out at 17 res all. Blood Raven was brought down, the stony field cleared, and then it was off to the Dark Wood. First the tunnel though. First pack in the tunnel drops a 47% res all 'The Ward'. Higher blocking than the Ancients Pledge, so switch there. In the second level, a Sigon's Belt drops. After going 3 belt slots for so long, Jane decides to switch. It costs a bit in resists, but you never know, she might get lucky and get more parts too. After arranging gear for a bit, I decide to drop the rare belt, seeing as her resists are still good enough, and storage is such a problem. Next find, in the hole in the black marsh: 44% MF tarnhelm. Nice find! But now that means giving up more resists with the helm! Wouldn't be so bad it I could get my belt back... but it's too late. Well, resists haven't been critical yet, so on goes the tarnhelm, the great helm gets dropped. On to the countess and now Iratha's crown drops. With the ammy she already had it gets too def, and the ammy gets a bonus 15% res all... but what about the MF! So now she has to choose between MF and resists. I decided to do countess with the Tarnhelm, then make up my mind. Finally, in the 5th level, Infernostride. Not great boots, but better resists again.... so bye bye MF boots. Countess dropped Tal Thul, then it was back to decisions with the helm. In the end, she dropped a couple of charms and chippies to make room to save both. Since it is becoming obvious that she will never have a magical maiden javelin, there is no point in the chippies for rerolling after all.

Destroyer Jane_Doe, Act I NM, Black marsh WP.
 
Jane_Doe is discovering what a cruel game DII can be..

Yikes! Don´t scare us like this. You made it sound like it was over...


You are right about agonizing decisions about what to keep, though. Evangelina just gave up a really nice Coral (25%) Plated Belt of Stability, because lightning resists are nearly maxed at the moment, and hence I prefer the crafted Mesh Belt I have (for the +life and OW).

In a more 'normal' tournament, that belt would have been kept for sure, since it would have allowed more equipment options/freedom later.



 
Princess_Diana made it to the Cold Plains WP, which was right inside the entrance to the area, so she stopped there. No items of note (I am really just looking for runes and Sigon's boots right now) but I did clear the blood moor and den of evil. It was really great to clear the corpsefire area because there were a bunch of shamans in the same area and the game is slow when only the valk can do the killing, and nothing there was LI, so lightning fury took them all down in seconds. It's at least 100 times faster going when I can use that spell in large groups.
 
Jane Doe has continued along through Act 1, clearing as she goes. She's on the lookout for good exceptional craftables now, but nothing so far. Goals for crafting right now are hitpower gloves for the knockback and blood belt for the OW. (I would try a safety javelin too if I had one to try with...) In this last section she found a Hawkmail, which she used to replace the Iceblink she was wearing. She also found a Wizendraw, but it just didn't seem worth replacing the bow she already had, which is just a rerolled reflex bow. Her rune collection is also growing, with finds of ort, sol and thul. Again, it's getting hard to decide what to keep. In any case, she made it to the inner cloister WP without incident, and has reached lvl 50 in the process.

CB

Code:
[highlight]Alive Characters[/highlight]  
[b][u]Forum Name      Character       Build      Class        LVL   ACT         WP      [/u][/b]  
OldSoldier      Princess_Diana  MA/LF       Amazon      71  A1 Hell  Cold Plains
Mursilis        Anubis          Summoner    Necromancer 63  A5 NM    Harrogath
skoolbus        OneFingaPushup  Trapper     Assassin    52  A2 NM    Lut Gholein
jiansonz        Evangelina      Phoenix     Assassin    57  A2 NM    Lost City (Temple Complete)
Crazy_Bear      Jane_Doe        Javazon     Amazon      50  A1 NM    Inner Cloister
Breaker         Nosiop          Poison      Necromancer 36  A5 Norm  Frigid Highlands
Chern           All_Alone       Summoner    Druid       33  A4 Norm  River of Flame
Zodwizard       HC_Rainwalker   Fire-Hunter Druid       29  A4 Norm  Pand Fortress
Anraxas         To_easy         Summoner    necro       28  A3 Norm  Kurast Docks
WestXylophone   SoloFirer       HolyFire    Paladin     26  A3 Norm  Kurast Docks
SinningThings   Rapunzel        Trapsin     Assassin    25  A3 Norm  Kurast Docks
stephan         Louise                      Assassin    23  A3 Norm  Kurast Docks
Silverslasher   Forlorn         fire/summon Druid       28  A3 Norm  Kurast Docks
Cygnus          Lycus           Hammers     Paladin     25  A2 Norm  Harem
Friiser         HCAll_Alone     Summoner    Necro       22  A2 Norm  Far Oasis
Docturnal       Angriez         Fishyzon    Zon         21  A2 Norm  Rocky Waste
Ron             Bamboozle       Passive     Amazon      17  A2 Norm  Sewers Level 2
San             Sigrdrifa       PsnJava/MA  Zon         21  A2 Norm  Lut Gholein
thewamp         Athena          PJ/FA       Amazon      20  A2 Norm  Lut Gholein
Tweety          Remi            Boner       Necromancer 19  A2 Norm  Lut Gholein
Brak            Tojolobal       Quesodin    Paladin     19  A2 Norm  Lut Gholein
Ohomemgrande    Lonely          Trapper     Assassin    19  A2 Norm  Lut Gholein  
Credge          YinMKII         --          Necro       17  A1 Norm  Jail Level 1
Butzull         Spinster                    Amazon      ??  A1 Norm  Outer Cloister
Hoop76          Lone_Ranger                 Paladin     15  A1 Norm  Outer Cloister
ZeN             DieAlone        Fishy       Necro       14  A1 Norm  Outer Cloister
GreyEagle       LoneEagle       Trapper     Assassin    17  A1 Norm  Tamoe Highlands
mjosh           Electrolyte     light sorc  Sorceress   15  A1 Norm  Black Marsh
Feared          April_Ethereal  Summoner    Necro        ?  A1 Norm  Black Marsh
Farfus          Farfus          Healbot     Paladin     12  A1 Norm  Stony Field
FromBeyond      HesHardcore                 Barbarian   11  A1 Norm  Stony Field
SonOfBaal       IHateYouAll     Trap/Summon Assassin    11  A1 Norm  Stony Field
Quickdeath      Eve             Cold        Sorceress   10  A1 Norm  Stony Field
Sindus          LonelyMaiden    Enchantress Sorc         7  A1 Norm  Stony Field
Chizz           Trapper         ?           Assassin     6  A1 Norm  Stony Field
AlienBoyz       DocWho          Summoner    Necro       12  A1 Norm  Cold Plains
Chymaera        Marius II       BlizBolt    Sorceress   10  A1 Norm  Cold Plain 
Liquidcore      ThaDru          Wind/fire   Druid        6  A1 Norm  Cold Plains
Vang            WirtsOldMan                 Barbarian    1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp
tripsu          InsaneEnvy                  Amazon       1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp
rY xD           Illidan         Berzerker   Barbarian    1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp
adny            Scorch          Hydrasorc   Sorceress    1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp
Gabriel74       Smelly          Lightning   Sorceress    1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp
Retawd          Sinistral       --          Assassin     1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp
Darkstrikes     lighamus                    Amazon       1  A1 Norm  Rogue Camp

[highlight]Dead Characters[/highlight]
[b][u]Forum Name      Character       Build       Class       LVL   ACT         WP   [/u][/b]        
Butzull         Warnie          Hunter      Druid       75  A1 Hell  Outer Cloister
Breaker         PokePoke        Lancebarb   Barb        36  A4 Norm  River of Flame  
inSTAALed       EmoPhil         Ele         Druid       28  A4 Norm  River of Flame
whoisfu         WhoIsZon                    Amazon      35  A4 Norm  Chaos Sanctuary
jiansonz        Kevin           HF Zealot   Paladin     31  A3 Norm  Disused Reliquary
Silverslasher   Sizzlingpain    Trap        Assassin    28  A3 Norm  Kurast
EmperorMoo      GumbyKicksAss   Golemancer  Necro       26  A3 Norm  Flayer Jungle
Jabash          RunAway         Blade/Shdw  Assasin     28  A2 Norm  Duriel's Chamber
Anraxas         ibone_alone     ranger      Paladin     27  A2 Norm  Duriel's Chamber
newco           KissMyBoots     Hybrid      Assassin    27  A2 Norm  Duriel's Chamber
Crazy_Bear      Silent_Bob      Psn/Mage    Necromancer 27  A2 Norm  Duriel's Chamber
EmperorMoo      BertieWooster   Summoner    Necromancer 25  A2 Norm  Duriel's chamber
Sindus          Sindus          Comando     Necro       25  A2 Norm  Summoner
inSTAALed       HumanMeatBlock  Con         Barb        21  A2 Norm  Halls of Dead
Colorless Green Omega                       Assassin    21  A2 Norm  Halls/Dead2
EJB             WheresEveryone              Druid       22  A2 Norm  Radament
EmperorMoo      GotArrers       Mageazon    Amazon      21  A2 Norm  Radamant  
ShockTactics    Frostshock      Frostadin   Paladin     20  A2 Norm  Radamant
Chymaera        Marius          BlizBolt    Sorceress   14  A1 Norm  Black Marsh
chizz           Chizzy          Summoner    Necro       11  A1 Norm  Jail level 1
EmperorMoo      Wordsworth      Summon      Necromancer 11  A1 Norm  Tamoe Highland
Anraxas         ibone_alone     bone        Necro        8  A1 Norm  Countess
Liquidcore      FightingLove    Sniperzon   Amazon       6  A1 Norm  Stony Field
 
That Amp-casting Shadow Warrior survived more than three legs of the Arcane Sanctuary, including the Summoner. She was very good to have against the highly physical resistance Specters and Ghoul Lords. Once it triggered, I was quick to take advantage of that with Blade Fury, and if there were corpses already, with Death Sentry.

The Summoner had Evangelina put on her fire resist amulet. -5% resistance against him felt like too much of a gamble.

Lots of gems, ring and amulets dropped in the AS. I craft more and more items now, especially Safety and Caster Amulets, plus Blood Gloves. I may even try an 'expensive' Blood Ring, especially if I can find a second Sol rune. I avoid crafting boots now - it´s very unlikely I can improve on the ones I wear.


[Highlight]Evangelina the PS Assassin, level 57, NM Canyon of the Magi next.[/Highlight]
 
Poor Monaxia had to endure a god-awful tour through Tal's Tombs. All seven had unravellers and at least one additional type of resurrectable monster. On top of that, two tombs (including the gigantic true tomb!) had the evil trifecta of skeletons/mummies/ghosts! :banghead:

Fortunately, my p8 killing power is still formidable, and CS broke through the dense packs allowing me to charge the unravellers. Or, I let the minions bunch around the valk, and I snuck around them for the kill. I got myself into trouble several times, surrounded and/or poisoned, but managed to break out. I had a severe NDE when a bunch of unravellers hit me with ranged attacks. Went down to 71 life. Yikes... I think I need to work on vitality a little. I got lucky with the mummy caskets, plugging them up before they spawned out of control. Somehow I scored a perfect block (not one mummy!)

Asteria, always on the move, consumed a steady stream of mana. In a dead-end corner, amongst nasty flies and corpses, I found an awesome ring to help her blue supply: Bahamut's (+115 mana) Ring of the Mind (+6 Energy). Wow! :thumbsup: For this, I ditched my lesser MF ring. Also, I took advantage of an opportunity for a free "repair". I dumped my 4s plate mail (which had Ort+sapphires) and replaced it with a new 4s plate mail with 65/70 durability. I added a new Ort, which leaves me with 3 sockets for topaz or whatever else strikes my fancy. Best of all, no more ugly blue armor!
p8 Duriel had no chance. No problem with the slug.

CS works wonders against large monsters. Every bolt hits. Sszark's pack went down in a few seconds. My good ring luck continued. I found two more big mana rings, with potentially useful suffixes:
Bahamut's (101) Ring of Dim Vision (level 2 with 22/25 charges)
Great Wyrm's (83) Ring of Telekinesis (level 2 with 24/25 charges)
Very cool. I learned from Superdave's thread that Telekinesis is useful for opening evil urns. Without access to safety portals, those charges will be handy against dangerous urn-spawn, e.g. snakes/frenzytaurs.

I'm still looking for other useful charges, ID'ing wands for Lower Resist and shields/knives for Terror. No luck there. I've seen a few "of Attract", but I left them. I went from 40 scrolls down to 12, but recovered most of that from Dungeon ghosts. I cubed my second Shael rune, and upgraded the Nightsmoke belt. It was a tough choice over Goldwrap. However, I'm still wearing the Goldwrap, and hope to throughout NM. Upgrading the Nightsmoke provided another free "repair". It went from 8/16 durability to 15/16! :grin:
I also found a lot of rare belts, but they all sucked, especially this POS. Nightsmoke is my Hell-worthiest belt.

No problems clearing the forest areas or Kurast. I found a new helm, Sazabi's Basinet. +1 skills and good resists roll (17 and 20), but only 14/30 durability. I had to throw out my current helm, which had +mana/level, 29% fire resist, and auto-repair. Tough loss, but Sazabi's +skill is very useful. Of course, my mana took a big hit. I considered switching my final MF ring for +mana, but I soon found a Serpent's (51) GC of Dex. To make room for it, I decided to drop my 23% Cobalt GC. To my amusement, I discovered I already had dumped it, accidentally, for some random junky GC!! That kind of crap can happen when you repeatedly strip/re-equip gear. Oops...

No exciting adventures in the Kurast temples. A couple minor stairtraps, but no worries. Ditto for the sewers. Asteria has a new javelin. Plain white maiden jav with +2 skills. Good stack size. The auto-repair jav is on the switch.

Potetntially useful stuff I left on the ground:
Nadir superior bone helm. I made this when all the ingredients happened to fall close to each other. I decided to pass on it and keep the Teleport Circlet instead.
Io rune (2nd I've dropped, one more would equal Lum)
Sol rune (Asteria's seventh)
Jewel of Fervor (I replaced it with another JoF with 7% lightning resist prefix)
Steel (115) GC
Rattlecage
Whitstan's Shield
Garnet (29) Ring of Shock
Sigon's Belt

Other stuff: Entrapping GC, Lion-Branded GC of Frost, Bloodletter, Crainte Vomir, Pompeii's Wrath, Dark Clan Crusher, The Gnasher

For now, I've given up on crafting. I just don't have the room to assemble ingredients. Earlier I tried Caster Gloves/Ring, Blood Boots, and a Safety Amulet. They were all garbage. I probably should've kept that Sol rune, for a Safety Jav like crazy_bear mentioned, or maybe a Blood Ring.

[highlight]Destroyer Asteria, 1.11 CS Amazon, level 63, Act 3 NM, Travincal[/highlight]
MF: 131%
 
The Lass and her Axe

Playing Evanglina has become quite relaxing. Crowd control is good, damage output is good, Shadow is growing ever better. But I think I have learned my lesson so I won´t get too cocky. :rolleyes:


Short session today, only the Canyon and two small tombs, but some very nice finds:

* 25% Fire Resistance Grand Charm (Yes, was that ever needed!) :thumbsup:

* Butcher´s Pupil (It slices, it dices, it even juliennes! And it never gets dull! My new PS weapon. I like the range, but the speed is actually a bit on the slow side, even with the 30% IAS)

* This wand:
Demon Knell
Wand

One-Hand Damage: 2 to 4
Durability: 9 of 15
Required Level: 24
Staff Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 48
Fingerprint: 0x9084d8e7
+46 to Mana
Fire Resist +34%
6% Life stolen per hit
+1 to Golem Mastery (Necromancer Only)
150% Damage to Undead
+1 to Curses (Necromancer Only)
Level 2 Life Tap (57/75 Charges)

Duriel, watch out! With Butcher´s Pupil hits that do about 200 damage and with Life Tap going, I think my potion supply will last as long as I need it to.

The Golden Chest of Joy in tomb #1 produced an interesting drop.
(btw, I did ID the Cestus, it was total crap)


[Highlight]Evangelina the PS Assassin, level 58, five more NM tombs to clear.[/Highlight]
 
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