LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
Aargh, no!
RIP Princess_Diana, her deeds will be remembered! Well played, OS. :thumbsup:
RIP Princess_Diana, her deeds will be remembered! Well played, OS. :thumbsup:
All Alone Tournament III
- Thread starter skoolbus1
- Start date
crazy_bear
New member
Oh no! RIP Princess_Diana!
That's very sad to hear, especially being the 3rd char to make it to act 3 hell, and the 2nd to end there. :sad2:
Still, great work to get there!
CB
That's very sad to hear, especially being the 3rd char to make it to act 3 hell, and the 2nd to end there. :sad2:
Still, great work to get there!
CB
Insane Wayne
Active member
Yuck! Not the stinking sewers!! :tongue: That was a tough monster roll.
RIP Diana, you had a good run.
Icehawk's pack is lethal. They caused Asteria's most severe NDE. Cold, lightning, and physical damage; with a fast attack. What's your decoy level? Even a high-level decoy would die quickly, but I'm surprised the valk went so fast. Decoy points give the valk more resistance.
Good luck with your next character.
RIP Diana, you had a good run.
Icehawk's pack is lethal. They caused Asteria's most severe NDE. Cold, lightning, and physical damage; with a fast attack. What's your decoy level? Even a high-level decoy would die quickly, but I'm surprised the valk went so fast. Decoy points give the valk more resistance.
Good luck with your next character.
Sinningthings
New member
OS!!.. RIP Diana. Sill you have to feel good about your play. Act 3 hell with a hard core char. is good at the best of times.
Well, when I started off, I see none of the frigid highlands explored. Yay, wasted two hours last time I played, so I start out on p8 to clear it all over again. Very soon, I get to one of the barb prison's, I see that it is empty. I think to myself, that's odd, my shadow doesn't seem that good and I know I couldn't have opened it. I check my quest log and I've already gotten it (from last time when it crashed). I stop for a second, put it on p1, and run like the wind through the rest of the frigid highlands and to near the end of the arreat plateau, where I put it on p8, kill thresh socket, and go into the ice cave (or whatever it's called).
The first thing I run into is a few abomibles, takes ages to kill on p8 with me dancing around trying my best not to get hit, and I immediately switch to p3, which was a good killing/safety speed and it remains there until ancients way. On the way, I get the first gold I've seen in ages, unfortunately, it's utter garbage and I don't bother running backwards looking for an ID scroll.
Ancients didn't offer too much trouble. I don't believe I got hit once and I don't think I recast my shadow (I had been summoning new ones for a while looking for a good one) and I use two lower resist charges. The WSK was not much fun, with level two being a bigger pain than necessary. Luckily wall hugging and CoS let me not get hit too often. Amazingly, I was able to kill all baal's minions without sucking down too many potions. Baal was a different story. He was relentless with appedages and spawned a clone early. Several potions later, after much running around and getting hit, I killed baal. He dropped a maelstrom and a bunch of garbage, but since I left a potion behind for an ID scroll a while ago, I id'ed the rare flail and was even worse than my expectations.
Best find of the act was easily this ammy.
Hmmm, I seem to be a little low leveled, but since I haven't felt the need to use about 19 skill points, perhaps I'll do alright.
[highlight]Conqueror OneFingaPushup, level 69, act 1 Hell, Rogue Camp[/highlight]
The first thing I run into is a few abomibles, takes ages to kill on p8 with me dancing around trying my best not to get hit, and I immediately switch to p3, which was a good killing/safety speed and it remains there until ancients way. On the way, I get the first gold I've seen in ages, unfortunately, it's utter garbage and I don't bother running backwards looking for an ID scroll.
Ancients didn't offer too much trouble. I don't believe I got hit once and I don't think I recast my shadow (I had been summoning new ones for a while looking for a good one) and I use two lower resist charges. The WSK was not much fun, with level two being a bigger pain than necessary. Luckily wall hugging and CoS let me not get hit too often. Amazingly, I was able to kill all baal's minions without sucking down too many potions. Baal was a different story. He was relentless with appedages and spawned a clone early. Several potions later, after much running around and getting hit, I killed baal. He dropped a maelstrom and a bunch of garbage, but since I left a potion behind for an ID scroll a while ago, I id'ed the rare flail and was even worse than my expectations.
Best find of the act was easily this ammy.
Code:
[highlight]Alive Characters[/highlight]
[B][U]Forum Name Character Build Class LVL ACT WP [/U][/B]
Insane Wayne Asteria CS Amazon 83 A5 Hell Drifter Cavern
skoolbus OneFingaPushup Trapper Assassin 69 A1 Hell Rouge Camp
SinningThings Rapunzel Trapsin Assassin 51 A2 NM Lut Gholein
Fingerzam Happiness TS/DTail Assassin 47 A1 NM Roque Camp
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
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
Butzull Silencia Amazon 24 A2 Norm Lost City
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
tripsu InsaneEnvy Amazon 18 A2 Norm Lut Gholein
Credge YinMKII -- Necro 17 A1 Norm Jail Level 1
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
Elendoras TheBarbWhoCould Barbarian 14 A1 Norm Dark Wood
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
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
Schmeat SchmeatOhs*t Necromancer 1 A1 Norm Rogue Camp
Mordeth Destitute Hybrid Paladin 1 A1 Norm Rogue Camp
[highlight]Dead Characters[/highlight]
[B][U]Forum Name Character Build Class LVL ACT WP [/U][/B]
jiansonz Evangelina Phoenix Assassin 81 A3 Hell Durance of Hate lvl 3
OldSoldier Princess_Diana MA/LF Amazon 80 A3 Hell Sewers
Mursilis Anubis Summoner Necromancer 75 A2 Hell Cellar lvl 3
Crazy_Bear Jane_Doe Javazon Amazon 78 A2 Hell Cellar lvl 2
Butzull Warnie Hunter Druid 75 A1 Hell Outer Cloister
Ilshad StyxofThunder CS Amazon 55 A2 NM Far Oasis
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
Butzull Spinster Amazon 26 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
CDRToast Isolated Bow/Trap Assassin 22 A2 Norm Halls/Dead2
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 FieldHmmm, I seem to be a little low leveled, but since I haven't felt the need to use about 19 skill points, perhaps I'll do alright.
[highlight]Conqueror OneFingaPushup, level 69, act 1 Hell, Rogue Camp[/highlight]
OldSoldier1
New member
I'll only try again if you get guardian... as if you need more motivation!
My points were something like this: 11 in MA, 20 in LF and Valk. Decoy also had 11 and the rest (3-4 likely) were going to go there. The rest of the points were all over the passives map, including (I think) 5 in critical strike, 4 in penetrate and 5 in pierce, and I think D/A/E was 2/1/2. I didn't realize that the AR was bugged so I probably wasted many of the points in MA and penetrate, but it was nice being able to fire without interruption to help the valk, as the poison charms were the difference much of the time. With the replenishing javs I was able to live off the land with zero resources if patient.
With the passive amulet I think the valk had 3080 hit points, which lasted her all of about 4-5 seconds against Icehawk. She was untouchable until then unless poisoned. She'd probably last that long against Diablo! Anyway, all of the bats were resting comfortably and I dumbly threw a lightning javelin at them and made them mad, and they went after us. Only one followed me and the rest smashed the valk, but that one went as fast as I could with 46% FRW and by the time I decided to stop and face one, the valk was down and the rest joined in the attack against me. I got a couple more LF shots off, killing a couple but got into block lock and they were hitting for 200-300 a pop, forcing the use of many rejuv potions (I died with some left, not sure how many). I tried casting another valk, but should have stayed with frantic LF attempts. I went down and Icehawk couldn't have been more than a sliver or two from entering his patented chicken run-away mode. Dang!
7 characters in hell is pretty incredible! Keep going all, I really enjoy this thread.
crazy_bear
New member
@ Skoolbus: Nice going, conqueror #7 for the tourney!
Well, here is the first update for Vink, since I said I would post if he survived normal Duriel.
Vink started his questing in the rogue encampment like all would-be heroes. Seeing no-one worth talking to he headed into the Blood moor and proceeded to show the assorted demons, undead, and animals who was new in town. The countess dropped an El, but by the time he had reached the inner cloister he was lvl 19 and had been joined by a couple of dire wolves, an oak spirit, a vine and a number of ravens. At this point nothing could really stand up to the combined army and the arrows from Vink's gemmed hunter's bow. An additional wolf was added at lvl 20 and Andy wasn't a threat at all as she couldn't get rid of the wolves and she soon dropped a bunch of stuff that wasn't useful, except for a standard topaz. This turned out to be a nice start to a p. gem as Vink found 2 gem shrines in the sewers of lut gholein! The things people dump down their toilets these days... :laugh:
Radament was pretty easy, though he took out as many wolves as Andy, and Vink headed for the outdoor areas of Act 2. There he acted like any typical hunter druid, letting the minions carry the heavy load, and continuing to plink away with arrows. Soon the stony tomb, maggot lair, halls of the dead, ancient tunnels and serpent temple were all cleared, as well as the outdoor areas in between. Having good corpse control sure makes a difference vs the resurecting mummies! :thumbsup: The ravens were also very effective in keeping the archers in the cellars minimally dangerous.
In the arcane the ability to summon the wolves at any location simplified the narrow pathways, and when the tombs were reached the corpse disposal of the vines (both solar and carrion as needed) kept the mummies from getting too tough.
Duriel on the other hand was a true challenge. I changed the players setting to 3 and stocked up on potions after placing the staff in the altar. Tornado is at lvl 5 now that Vink made 28, and does respectable damage but aim and mana make it hard to use. Duriel swatted wolves like they were nothing, and both mana and healing pots were drunk like water. Starting with 10 greater healings, 9 mana and 7 full rejuv Vink survived with 2 full rejuv pots left.
Duriel's drop... well, it's duriel after all. :tongue:
So, with that out of the way, act 3 calls. The next deadly encounter I expect to be Diablo. Norm D has killed several druids I have started.
Uniques found: felloak, umbral disk, diggler.
Runes: Ral, Eth
Skills: Raven 5, Dire Wolf 5, Tornado 5, assorted others 1.
I'm planning to max Hurricane first, and grizzly after that. Wolves will probably be better for most of act 3, and Vink is keeping an eye out for +mana gear.
Vink lvl 28 druid, Kurast Docks
Well, here is the first update for Vink, since I said I would post if he survived normal Duriel.
Vink started his questing in the rogue encampment like all would-be heroes. Seeing no-one worth talking to he headed into the Blood moor and proceeded to show the assorted demons, undead, and animals who was new in town. The countess dropped an El, but by the time he had reached the inner cloister he was lvl 19 and had been joined by a couple of dire wolves, an oak spirit, a vine and a number of ravens. At this point nothing could really stand up to the combined army and the arrows from Vink's gemmed hunter's bow. An additional wolf was added at lvl 20 and Andy wasn't a threat at all as she couldn't get rid of the wolves and she soon dropped a bunch of stuff that wasn't useful, except for a standard topaz. This turned out to be a nice start to a p. gem as Vink found 2 gem shrines in the sewers of lut gholein! The things people dump down their toilets these days... :laugh:
Radament was pretty easy, though he took out as many wolves as Andy, and Vink headed for the outdoor areas of Act 2. There he acted like any typical hunter druid, letting the minions carry the heavy load, and continuing to plink away with arrows. Soon the stony tomb, maggot lair, halls of the dead, ancient tunnels and serpent temple were all cleared, as well as the outdoor areas in between. Having good corpse control sure makes a difference vs the resurecting mummies! :thumbsup: The ravens were also very effective in keeping the archers in the cellars minimally dangerous.
In the arcane the ability to summon the wolves at any location simplified the narrow pathways, and when the tombs were reached the corpse disposal of the vines (both solar and carrion as needed) kept the mummies from getting too tough.
Duriel on the other hand was a true challenge. I changed the players setting to 3 and stocked up on potions after placing the staff in the altar. Tornado is at lvl 5 now that Vink made 28, and does respectable damage but aim and mana make it hard to use. Duriel swatted wolves like they were nothing, and both mana and healing pots were drunk like water. Starting with 10 greater healings, 9 mana and 7 full rejuv Vink survived with 2 full rejuv pots left.
Duriel's drop... well, it's duriel after all. :tongue:
So, with that out of the way, act 3 calls. The next deadly encounter I expect to be Diablo. Norm D has killed several druids I have started.
Uniques found: felloak, umbral disk, diggler.
Runes: Ral, Eth
Skills: Raven 5, Dire Wolf 5, Tornado 5, assorted others 1.
I'm planning to max Hurricane first, and grizzly after that. Wolves will probably be better for most of act 3, and Vink is keeping an eye out for +mana gear.
Vink lvl 28 druid, Kurast Docks
Oh noes! RIP Diana, but fantastic effort to get that far!
Well done skoolbus, here's hoping you can push on through and punish Icehawk for it's insolence!
Good luck with the Ancients and WSK Insane_Wayne. I'm watching eagerly for the next update!
Our house move is almost complete, so I'll be able to get back into playing soon...hoorah!
Butz. :dunce:
Well done skoolbus, here's hoping you can push on through and punish Icehawk for it's insolence!
Good luck with the Ancients and WSK Insane_Wayne. I'm watching eagerly for the next update!
Our house move is almost complete, so I'll be able to get back into playing soon...hoorah!
Butz. :dunce:
Insane Wayne
Active member
Although the Ancients' Way was only a stone's throw away from the waypoint, it was not without drama. That refreshing well sure was convenient!
Ancients' Way wasn't dangerous, but very frustrating, overrun with Fallen. My problem was their chill resistance. Freezing Arrows were ineffective; they thawed after a fraction of a second. Most of the valk's kills didn't shatter, and the shamen seemed to have an infinite resurrection range. What a pain! The other monsters were easy, frozen beasts and quill rats.
I battled the Ancients before trying Icy Cellar.
Korlic: Mana Burn Spectral Hit
Talic: Mana Burn Magic Resistant
Madawc: Teleportation LE (LI)
Not particularly dangerous, but very resistant to a CS zon. Asteria was helpless to do much. Good thing the valk was up to the challenge. Korlic and Talic stayed in a constant pattern, while the valk stood still and whittled them down. After Korlic died, I helped against Talic. Madawc was an eager teleporter, zipping around dozens of times. I pricked him with the Malice knife every now and then. He fell eventually.
WSK 1 had a nasty triple pack near the entrance. FE Holy Fire LI jabbers, FELE Flayers, and champion amp damage witches! They easily overwhelmed the valk. I tried to decoy-park them and ran out the entrance. I re-entered (with the teleport helm, just in case), and fought the jabbers. Decoys held off a few more, luckily most of the mob stayed out of awareness range. No problems after that.
Level 2 had poison mages, boars, and mummies. Total cakewalk! Terrified mages fled from the immune valk, straight into a corner. One of them dropped a magical diadem. At the time I had 2 scrolls left, and used one. It was an Athletic Diadem! +3 passive skills! I didn't have room for it, but I borrowed it (and a skill shrine) to cast a level 28 valk. At that level she spawns with all the rare equipment upgrades. Her extra damage came in handy, against LI mages on level 3. I handled the imps and flayers. Easy level.
Another rough entrance awaited us on the Throne level. Extra Fast FE Mana Burn witches and Oblivion Knights! Oh man, what a nightmare! Curses flying everywhere, witches zipping around at the speed of light... holy crap! Asteria's sheer lightning power bailed her out. That, and some luck (IM was cast, but quickly overwritten by another curse.) Around the corner was a viper boss pack. Tough map! Unfortunately, later I lost my super-valk to IM. Oh well, good while it lasted.
I had no problems with the minion waves. The valk solo'ed Achmel's pack, while I stayed way back out of the poison aura range. His regen was tough to overcome, but the valk prevailed with help from my arrows. I was ready for Baal, but then I remembered I had to do the Icy Cellar first! :duh:
I dived right in. After an easy stairtrap of snow beasts, I got a wonderful surprise. Gloams! I broke out the Malice dagger. Asteria's psychotic stabbing performance would've made Hitchcock proud. Little thought was given to durability; I wouldn't be needing the knife after this level. I figured I might as well keep stabbing, to lower their defense 100 per hit. And stab she did! Soon we encountered boss #2. Next to boss #3! With support from boss vipers. And could there possibly be more dangerous gloams? Of course! I gulped down potions, but I was able to replace them from the numerous bosses/champs, and stockpile extras. No good finds. Time for a showdown with Baal...
First, I dumped all non-essential items. Keys, tome, both daggers, etc.., making room for more potions. (Actually, I "retired" the items to the town stash.) Baal fled the T-strip just as I reached him. Bummer. He cloned and spammed tentacles. I had to retreat. After several charges, I hurt him some, but my potions were running out. I realized I couldn't outlast him. I was doomed to run out of potions, and one of two things would happen:
1. I'd get killed.
2. I'd be forced to hit-and-run, waiting several minutes to regen life with my emergency amulet. Again and again and again.
Neither option was acceptable, so I reached into my bag of dirty tricks. I changed helms, teleported into the T-strip, and teased Baal until he came towards us. The valk attacked him, and I ran out, then back up along the outside border. The valk, momentarily confused, stayed in the T-strip, alone against Baal (and eventually his clone). I watched safely from my vantage point. It's a cheap trick I discovered accidentally in a past tourney. Baal cloned again, and together they killed the valk. This was unexpected, but I was prepared for the possibility and ran to the base of the strip, casting a new valk up there (this time with the bow and maiden amulet for +4 total skills). The new stronger valk resumed her duties, and outlasted Baal after a long fight. He dropped nothing noteworthy. Yep, it's a dirty trick, but in a no-holds-barred tournament like this, I'm glad to abuse Baal's weaknesses! :grin:
Poor Asteria, physically and psychologically scarred from her difficult solo journey, retired to a filthy hut deep in the wilderness. Sadly, her anti-social personality worsened. After several years, her descent into madness was total. No longer able to speak, she grunted and barked at passers-by, like that boomerang-throwing feral kid from the Road Warrior movie. Future adventurers would be wise to steer clear of her, you just might hear her lurking in the bushes...
[highlight]Guardian Asteria, 1.11 CS Amazon, level 84, retired, Complete Game Clear[/highlight]
Later I'll do a follow-up post with final stats, skills, and gear. Good luck to the remaining participants! I'll be following closely.
Ancients' Way wasn't dangerous, but very frustrating, overrun with Fallen. My problem was their chill resistance. Freezing Arrows were ineffective; they thawed after a fraction of a second. Most of the valk's kills didn't shatter, and the shamen seemed to have an infinite resurrection range. What a pain! The other monsters were easy, frozen beasts and quill rats.
I battled the Ancients before trying Icy Cellar.
Korlic: Mana Burn Spectral Hit
Talic: Mana Burn Magic Resistant
Madawc: Teleportation LE (LI)
Not particularly dangerous, but very resistant to a CS zon. Asteria was helpless to do much. Good thing the valk was up to the challenge. Korlic and Talic stayed in a constant pattern, while the valk stood still and whittled them down. After Korlic died, I helped against Talic. Madawc was an eager teleporter, zipping around dozens of times. I pricked him with the Malice knife every now and then. He fell eventually.
WSK 1 had a nasty triple pack near the entrance. FE Holy Fire LI jabbers, FELE Flayers, and champion amp damage witches! They easily overwhelmed the valk. I tried to decoy-park them and ran out the entrance. I re-entered (with the teleport helm, just in case), and fought the jabbers. Decoys held off a few more, luckily most of the mob stayed out of awareness range. No problems after that.
Level 2 had poison mages, boars, and mummies. Total cakewalk! Terrified mages fled from the immune valk, straight into a corner. One of them dropped a magical diadem. At the time I had 2 scrolls left, and used one. It was an Athletic Diadem! +3 passive skills! I didn't have room for it, but I borrowed it (and a skill shrine) to cast a level 28 valk. At that level she spawns with all the rare equipment upgrades. Her extra damage came in handy, against LI mages on level 3. I handled the imps and flayers. Easy level.
Another rough entrance awaited us on the Throne level. Extra Fast FE Mana Burn witches and Oblivion Knights! Oh man, what a nightmare! Curses flying everywhere, witches zipping around at the speed of light... holy crap! Asteria's sheer lightning power bailed her out. That, and some luck (IM was cast, but quickly overwritten by another curse.) Around the corner was a viper boss pack. Tough map! Unfortunately, later I lost my super-valk to IM. Oh well, good while it lasted.
I had no problems with the minion waves. The valk solo'ed Achmel's pack, while I stayed way back out of the poison aura range. His regen was tough to overcome, but the valk prevailed with help from my arrows. I was ready for Baal, but then I remembered I had to do the Icy Cellar first! :duh:
I dived right in. After an easy stairtrap of snow beasts, I got a wonderful surprise. Gloams! I broke out the Malice dagger. Asteria's psychotic stabbing performance would've made Hitchcock proud. Little thought was given to durability; I wouldn't be needing the knife after this level. I figured I might as well keep stabbing, to lower their defense 100 per hit. And stab she did! Soon we encountered boss #2. Next to boss #3! With support from boss vipers. And could there possibly be more dangerous gloams? Of course! I gulped down potions, but I was able to replace them from the numerous bosses/champs, and stockpile extras. No good finds. Time for a showdown with Baal...
First, I dumped all non-essential items. Keys, tome, both daggers, etc.., making room for more potions. (Actually, I "retired" the items to the town stash.) Baal fled the T-strip just as I reached him. Bummer. He cloned and spammed tentacles. I had to retreat. After several charges, I hurt him some, but my potions were running out. I realized I couldn't outlast him. I was doomed to run out of potions, and one of two things would happen:
1. I'd get killed.
2. I'd be forced to hit-and-run, waiting several minutes to regen life with my emergency amulet. Again and again and again.
Neither option was acceptable, so I reached into my bag of dirty tricks. I changed helms, teleported into the T-strip, and teased Baal until he came towards us. The valk attacked him, and I ran out, then back up along the outside border. The valk, momentarily confused, stayed in the T-strip, alone against Baal (and eventually his clone). I watched safely from my vantage point. It's a cheap trick I discovered accidentally in a past tourney. Baal cloned again, and together they killed the valk. This was unexpected, but I was prepared for the possibility and ran to the base of the strip, casting a new valk up there (this time with the bow and maiden amulet for +4 total skills). The new stronger valk resumed her duties, and outlasted Baal after a long fight. He dropped nothing noteworthy. Yep, it's a dirty trick, but in a no-holds-barred tournament like this, I'm glad to abuse Baal's weaknesses! :grin:
Poor Asteria, physically and psychologically scarred from her difficult solo journey, retired to a filthy hut deep in the wilderness. Sadly, her anti-social personality worsened. After several years, her descent into madness was total. No longer able to speak, she grunted and barked at passers-by, like that boomerang-throwing feral kid from the Road Warrior movie. Future adventurers would be wise to steer clear of her, you just might hear her lurking in the bushes...
[highlight]Guardian Asteria, 1.11 CS Amazon, level 84, retired, Complete Game Clear[/highlight]
Later I'll do a follow-up post with final stats, skills, and gear. Good luck to the remaining participants! I'll be following closely.
Last edited:
jiansonz
New member
:thumbsup: Cool!:thumbsup:
I like dirty tricks in these kinds of tournaments. :azn:
That was a great Ancients roll! No nasty aura, no Cursed, no Extra Strong, etc.
Throne level very rarely disappoint. That was a WILD start!
If I had made it though, I would have strayed from the All Alone rules, hired a a merc, started to use the stash, gamble, etc. and started back in Normal and completed all remaining quests, plus cleared up the areas we haven´t done (Tristram, Nihlathak´s areas and the cow level) in all three difficulties. Just so I could have really called the character a Complete Game Clear Guardian. But your situation is different, since this is far from your first amazon Guardian...
OldSoldier1
New member
Well done, you are indeed a master! I wouldn't have imagined it was possible for the valk to tank Baal in hell but there it is! I don't think any other summon could have done that. Truly inspiring! Could you have gone back to fetch that diadem for more valk recasts later on, or had it timed out? I'd have made it a point to keep space for that. When did you start to ditch your runes and gems/jewels for potions? My plan would have been act V at the beginning to stockpile full rejuv potions.
crazy_bear
New member
Simply amazing Wayne. :thumbsup:
Truly an incredible feat, to accomplish Guardian with these restrictions.
CB
@Skoolbus: Harder?!?! ACK!
Truly an incredible feat, to accomplish Guardian with these restrictions.
CB
@Skoolbus: Harder?!?! ACK!
Maybe make no summons as well? :laugh: Though I honestly don't see it possible to beat the game without summons. Nah, it'll probably be something really fun where you don't have to spend five minutes deciding what to drop to make room for tal rasha's staff. Maybe allow for some reruns? But I don't see how it can be remotely difficult if reruns are allowed.... Hmmm gonna be thinking about this one for a while.
Also, everyone should note, only a little over a month left to register!! Best get your characters killed now so you have plenty of time to restart:tongue:. (jk)
Insane Wayne
Active member
Good thing, because I only brought one TP scroll for rerolling.jiansonz said:
No, you're right. I forgot about the illegal areas. My Complete Game Clear* gets an asterisk. Hell Halls (w/evil urns) and Hell Cows can be perilous, no survival guarantees there. But I think they'd need to be done with the same restrictions. Maybe Asteria can be coaxed out of her hut, to try those areas.jiansonz said:
Probably not. At least, not an untwinked summons that could actually do some damage. IIRC that's the 3rd time I used that tactic. The valk needs to be well-synergized.OldSoldier said:
The +3 diadem had surely timed out. I wanted to keep it, but I still needed my teleport circlet, daggers, and some jewelry. My inv was almost completely filled with charms. The few runes/gems I carried were all used in the Glacial Trail when I found the jeweler's armor. (I had given up on crafting by that point). My last Ral repaired Sazabi's helm, prematurely. I didn't collect extra potions until the very end. Icy Cellar and a couple saved areas of the WSK. Not all of my extra potions were full rejuvs.OldSoldier said:
That's awesome Wayne, great work and a joy to read and follow! Right up there as one of the (or perhaps THE) most impressive tournament Guardian/s I've ever seen. An inspiration.
Quick question: In a single pass tournament, particularly with no gambling, a drop or two can make all the difference. With that as a lead-in...Without the teleport circlet do you think you would still have survived all that was thrown at you?
IIRC Fangskin and perhaps another one or two places were much simplified (or perhaps even made possible at all) by it.
Butz. :dunce:
Quick question: In a single pass tournament, particularly with no gambling, a drop or two can make all the difference. With that as a lead-in...Without the teleport circlet do you think you would still have survived all that was thrown at you?
IIRC Fangskin and perhaps another one or two places were much simplified (or perhaps even made possible at all) by it.
Butz. :dunce:
Insane Wayne
Active member
Ah yes, the Circlet of Teleportation!
I spend a lot of resources trying to get Teleport for all my characters, assuming it's allowed. I've gotten it by cubing 3 rings to an amulet, or gambling amulets/circlets. In this tourney, lacking access to portals, tele is twice as valuable IMO. Asteria got her circlet in Act 2 Nightmare. Keeping it meant sacrificing many opportunities for crafting, but I felt it was worth it.
Without it, my approach to Fangskin would've been different. Worst-case scenario: Fang's pack spawns close to the entrance (which is what happened), I'm blocked from the "top-side" route (also happened) and the valk/decoy get knocked to the wall leaving me little room to maneuver. In Asteria's favor, she has a powerful attack that puts snakes in hit recovery and quickly kills them. Quick enough to cut down their numbers before the valk is killed. I'd give the snakes a 15% chance of killing me (assuming Fangskin targets Asteria directly) and an extra 25% chance because they were Cursed. So, a 60% survival rate, vs. 95% with Teleport. (Altar contained an unraveler pack, so it wasn't 100% safe.)
Then there was the Infector of Souls seal boss near Diablo. They were on pace to kill the valk, she might've lasted 10-20 seconds. With Decoys, maybe I could stretch them apart and squeeze through. They were resistant to CS, focusing on one long enouigh to kill it would be tough. There were too many to fit around the valk, a couple were likely to focus on me. Each valk recast would risk losing space. Hard to guess, but I'd give myself 60-70% chance to escape, after killing 2 or 3. It would cost me many potions for sure. With tele I had 100% chance.
Finally, De Seis' pack. His Fanat Extra Strong fighters wasted the decoy/valk. But I could recast and string them out a little. They are skinnier than the other seal packs, and I had a little more room. I could probably manage to run past them, I did it in the original tourney. One hit might lock me up though. Hit recovery = deeds. 80-90% survival. 100% with teleport.
To sum up, if we accept my numbers as semi-accurate, I'd have about 25-40% chance to survive all 3 events, vs. 95% chance with teleport. So I'd probably die! But I still had reasonable chances.
I spend a lot of resources trying to get Teleport for all my characters, assuming it's allowed. I've gotten it by cubing 3 rings to an amulet, or gambling amulets/circlets. In this tourney, lacking access to portals, tele is twice as valuable IMO. Asteria got her circlet in Act 2 Nightmare. Keeping it meant sacrificing many opportunities for crafting, but I felt it was worth it.
Without it, my approach to Fangskin would've been different. Worst-case scenario: Fang's pack spawns close to the entrance (which is what happened), I'm blocked from the "top-side" route (also happened) and the valk/decoy get knocked to the wall leaving me little room to maneuver. In Asteria's favor, she has a powerful attack that puts snakes in hit recovery and quickly kills them. Quick enough to cut down their numbers before the valk is killed. I'd give the snakes a 15% chance of killing me (assuming Fangskin targets Asteria directly) and an extra 25% chance because they were Cursed. So, a 60% survival rate, vs. 95% with Teleport. (Altar contained an unraveler pack, so it wasn't 100% safe.)
Then there was the Infector of Souls seal boss near Diablo. They were on pace to kill the valk, she might've lasted 10-20 seconds. With Decoys, maybe I could stretch them apart and squeeze through. They were resistant to CS, focusing on one long enouigh to kill it would be tough. There were too many to fit around the valk, a couple were likely to focus on me. Each valk recast would risk losing space. Hard to guess, but I'd give myself 60-70% chance to escape, after killing 2 or 3. It would cost me many potions for sure. With tele I had 100% chance.
Finally, De Seis' pack. His Fanat Extra Strong fighters wasted the decoy/valk. But I could recast and string them out a little. They are skinnier than the other seal packs, and I had a little more room. I could probably manage to run past them, I did it in the original tourney. One hit might lock me up though. Hit recovery = deeds. 80-90% survival. 100% with teleport.
To sum up, if we accept my numbers as semi-accurate, I'd have about 25-40% chance to survive all 3 events, vs. 95% chance with teleport. So I'd probably die! But I still had reasonable chances.
