Do you actually need these friends and family?
Anything Goes D2 Lounge!
- Thread starter NorthDakota
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Do you actually need these friends and family?
Gogogo then!
There is one thing I wanted to change before hosting next Zodthon to make it better.
I wanted to allow only areas where Zod can drop, ban all other areas from it. Last time I allowed LK poppables to be ran for it and it feels very wrong to me since Zod can't drop in LK at all. Feels kinda stupid otherwise since LK is simply masterrace when it comes to runes, and someone running LK might win unless someone goes crazy on cows or gets Zod in other areas. So, allowing only areas where Zod can drop directly makes sense.
That is my suggestion anyway. Everything is up to you now.
From this moment on I name you the master of Zodthon!
May dark force be with ya.
There are some things I'd like to point out.
Beast is cool, but main purpose of it is to boost ias and damage of your merc to kill that first creep so you can start your CE chain faster. Impact on skeletons is not impressive as explained. I do think Beast is still best option available for pure skeletonmancer because of that. However that is only assuming you solved your fcr and other problems first.
Beast goes in zerker axe, yes, because zerker axe is potentially useful for barbarian as well, but he does have his Griefs after all. If you use Beast, fanaticism will speed up your merc and Fortitude is simply unbeatable option. Without Beast we could argue what is the influence of added ias, but no matter how much IAS do you add, nothing beats Fortitude in damage output.
Obedience is cool, but is best option ONLY if you plan on running Baal/Diablo a lot. Against regular creeps Insight is strongest possible runeword regarding DPS because when rolled, it can get up to +6 critical strike (make sure you get at least 5), and that alone makes all other runewords (Obedience, Botd... you name it) inferior to it (I'm quite confident that 15% DS on helm doesn't make then measure up to Insight since Insight can get over 50% easily AND offers meditation aura). Also it solves your mana issues. Quite epic runeword and quite dps powerful too. Why Obedience might be better for bosses is because of 40% crushing blow. However, if you plan on using Guilaume's, your merc already has solid enough crushing blow and in that case I would consider Insight to be superior even against bosses since it will solve all mana issues AND make merc kill faster before actual boss.
As last note, last time I actually used Obedience was like... 4 years ago? Not worth it when there are magnificent trio of Reaper's/Insight/Infinity. Never seen anything that can beat at least one of those for any character out there. If you want dps, Insight beats everything because of critical strike. If you need curse, Reaper's! If you need aura, Infinity. That's it. There are some very specific options of using Pride runeword for added damage too in some cases. Skeliemancer is the one if you are willing to make Pride golem (hahaha!) etc.
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Just gained a level AFTER death.. didn't think that was possible? Playing bowazon with immolation arrow. Dead, but made a kill during brief period before merc dies. Gained a level from it. 
Yea, A5 normal.
Xios
New member
Just gained a level AFTER death.. didn't think that was possible? Playing bowazon with immolation arrow. Dead, but made a kill during brief period before merc dies. Gained a level from it.
I guess you could call that a real parting shot, eh?
Just gained a level AFTER death.. didn't think that was possible? Playing bowazon with immolation arrow. Dead, but made a kill during brief period before merc dies. Gained a level from it.
You know what they say. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Oh wait...
Well, after death, your hair and nails keep growing. And, you still pee and poop. So, why not gain some experience while you're at it!! lol.
T72on1
New member
Sooooo ... do you already know when you'll host the Zodthon, @Grape ?
I'm still not sure what I'll do for running Travincal: use my 99er Blizzard Sorc for it, or level my WW Barb (currently level 55) and use him? I assume the Barb actually has the potential of being the better Travincal runner of the 2, but
1) I'm far more experienced with the Sorc
2) I already have a hard time with all the loot from the Council with my Sorc, so add horking to that, and my brain might go nuts trying to figure out if something good dropped
3) the Barb is only level 55 now. I assume ideally he should be at least level 87 or so to run Travincal, probably even 90 or higher. Not sure if I'll manage to level him up in time.
4) I don't have Enigma (I lack a Jah rune), Arreat's or Highlord's Wrath yet, so gear would be suboptimal unless I get very lucky.
I'm still not sure what I'll do for running Travincal: use my 99er Blizzard Sorc for it, or level my WW Barb (currently level 55) and use him? I assume the Barb actually has the potential of being the better Travincal runner of the 2, but
1) I'm far more experienced with the Sorc
2) I already have a hard time with all the loot from the Council with my Sorc, so add horking to that, and my brain might go nuts trying to figure out if something good dropped
3) the Barb is only level 55 now. I assume ideally he should be at least level 87 or so to run Travincal, probably even 90 or higher. Not sure if I'll manage to level him up in time.
4) I don't have Enigma (I lack a Jah rune), Arreat's or Highlord's Wrath yet, so gear would be suboptimal unless I get very lucky.
T72on1
New member
Not sure. I assumed that in a Zodthon you can run whichever area you like. So I would take Travincal, as I found that a lot of fun last time I did it with my Sorc, and also because I still lack of lot of unique jewelry and I don't have a character that can do Cows (unless I get my Sorc to level 98 and Mat her by that time).
Now that you mention it though, I think Travincal was excluded with last Zodthon. Hmm, that would be a bit disappointing for me ...
Now that you mention it though, I think Travincal was excluded with last Zodthon. Hmm, that would be a bit disappointing for me ...
I'd like to run RoF if that's one of the options.
@T72on1 I'm probably following @Gripphon 's advice and making it so that we run only areas where Zod is possible.
BUT, we will run Travi as usual if there's going to be RFO before Zodthon. As Gripphon, I can also host whenever there's the biggest interest.
So, which one would you like to have first, and when is the best time? (I was thinking like either RFO or Zodthong sometime in January and then the other like 1-2 months later, maybe?)
EDIT: I opened a thread for this.
BUT, we will run Travi as usual if there's going to be RFO before Zodthon. As Gripphon, I can also host whenever there's the biggest interest.
So, which one would you like to have first, and when is the best time? (I was thinking like either RFO or Zodthong sometime in January and then the other like 1-2 months later, maybe?)
EDIT: I opened a thread for this.
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During last Zodthon Travincal was excluded because it is too superior area compared to others (except LK) in a way someone running Travincal is almost guaranteed winner if someone else doesn't find Zod. For any other area I'd say it is fairly ok to aim to find like 2 Ber+ runes for top 5 score. For Travincal, depending on who is playing, it is quite realistic to have 4 Ber+ runes in top 5 score, or even all 5. It is simply too strong area compared to others, and well idea of Zodthon was to actually inspire people to run something else than just LK and Travincal all the time. It opened doors to cows for example, or any other alvl85 are which is ran only for unique items and not runes.
I felt that giving Travincal option to Zodthon was nothing else than another copy of RFO, but with different scoring system. That was my reasoning last time.
But now it is your job guys to beg @Grape to put Travincal in, haha
@T72on1
Without Enigma barb will never ever come close to what sorc can do in Travincal, even if she doesn't have Infinity. Everything you said points out to play sorc instead (even if you don't have Infinity. If you do, then sorc is in-pair with best geared 1.07 stuff barb, or at least she can be). Only problematic part for sorc is to roll a map. If you roll maps with dedication 4 times in a minute (meaning you tele there, s/e while watching what kind of map you got, don't kill anything, roll again), you could aim to get decent Travincal map for sorc within an hour (decent map = all minions are packed toward the dead end on balcony, even if they are not perfectly packed together).
Don't know what kind of gear you have available for sorc, but I could help you make her work perfectly. She is not expensive to make efficient (minus Infinity ofc) and does not need unrealistic gear to make her work (meaning you don't need Fathom, some crazy amulet and stuff).
I felt that giving Travincal option to Zodthon was nothing else than another copy of RFO, but with different scoring system. That was my reasoning last time.
But now it is your job guys to beg @Grape to put Travincal in, haha
@T72on1
Without Enigma barb will never ever come close to what sorc can do in Travincal, even if she doesn't have Infinity. Everything you said points out to play sorc instead (even if you don't have Infinity. If you do, then sorc is in-pair with best geared 1.07 stuff barb, or at least she can be). Only problematic part for sorc is to roll a map. If you roll maps with dedication 4 times in a minute (meaning you tele there, s/e while watching what kind of map you got, don't kill anything, roll again), you could aim to get decent Travincal map for sorc within an hour (decent map = all minions are packed toward the dead end on balcony, even if they are not perfectly packed together).
Don't know what kind of gear you have available for sorc, but I could help you make her work perfectly. She is not expensive to make efficient (minus Infinity ofc) and does not need unrealistic gear to make her work (meaning you don't need Fathom, some crazy amulet and stuff).
T72on1
New member
@Gripphon Ok, so for my Barb, my best bet is to make him a Frenzy Barb if I want to have fun (no need to discuss, matter of personal preference 
) or a MF Barb, which would in practice mean a Berserk Barb for Pits, right? Or is a WW Barb or other kind of Barb still good for mf'ing in some areas? I've seen your (and those of others) vids on Pit Berserker and Pindle Berserker, and while I admire what you guys are pulling off there, I doubt I'd be any good at those.
As for my Sorc: it's the 99er Blizzard Sorc. For the 1800+ Trav runs she has done so far, she only averaged 39 second runs. Near the end, when I was only picking up good runes and occasionally some unique items or rare rings, she was getting closer to the 30 second limit. I always teleported back to the waypoint, so I could start in Act 4.
Gear is Shako (unsocketed then, now socketed with a Facet), Tal's amulet, CoH, HotO, Spirit, Snowclash, War Travelers, Trang's gloves, 10% fcr / resists ring, Dwarf Star, Gheeds, 6 cold skillers, one GC with life and fire res, small charms with +20 life. CtA and Spirit on switch. Maxed fire res, fire absorb from Dwarf Star, some 2150 life.
Safety wasn't an issue when I was running Travincal. I had a map where all Council members were outside on the balcony, except for the CI one. Since I don't have Infinity, that didn't matter much. The members weren't tightly packed, but rather close to each other, so I guess you'd define it as 'decent'. I'm a Sur or Ber short of making Infinity, so it certainly isn't out of my reach by far. The problem is I keep finding Ohm runes and to a lesser extent Cham 
.
@Grape I think I was mixing up ZodThon and RFO, thinking they were a different name for something the same: a contest to find the best runes. I get the difference now. I'll post in the thread you just opened. Thanks !!!
) or a MF Barb, which would in practice mean a Berserk Barb for Pits, right? Or is a WW Barb or other kind of Barb still good for mf'ing in some areas? I've seen your (and those of others) vids on Pit Berserker and Pindle Berserker, and while I admire what you guys are pulling off there, I doubt I'd be any good at those.As for my Sorc: it's the 99er Blizzard Sorc. For the 1800+ Trav runs she has done so far, she only averaged 39 second runs. Near the end, when I was only picking up good runes and occasionally some unique items or rare rings, she was getting closer to the 30 second limit. I always teleported back to the waypoint, so I could start in Act 4.
Gear is Shako (unsocketed then, now socketed with a Facet), Tal's amulet, CoH, HotO, Spirit, Snowclash, War Travelers, Trang's gloves, 10% fcr / resists ring, Dwarf Star, Gheeds, 6 cold skillers, one GC with life and fire res, small charms with +20 life. CtA and Spirit on switch. Maxed fire res, fire absorb from Dwarf Star, some 2150 life.
Safety wasn't an issue when I was running Travincal. I had a map where all Council members were outside on the balcony, except for the CI one. Since I don't have Infinity, that didn't matter much. The members weren't tightly packed, but rather close to each other, so I guess you'd define it as 'decent'
. I'm a Sur or Ber short of making Infinity, so it certainly isn't out of my reach by far. The problem is I keep finding Ohm runes and to a lesser extent Cham .@Grape I think I was mixing up ZodThon and RFO, thinking they were a different name for something the same: a contest to find the best runes. I get the difference now. I'll post in the thread you just opened. Thanks !!!
@T72on1
Now that I think of it, I kinda think we had similar discussion before, your sorc does ring a bell of some kind. Gear seems good to me, though you do use quite a lot of charms in inventory. For longer playing I'd use at least 4x4 space to pick stuff on. I use 5x4 so from time to time I can run several minutes without visiting stash. Also if you use one Dwarf star, you don't really profit from fire resistance charms. Hydras with Dwarf alone will hardly damage you I think, regardless of your fire resistance. Option is to use Soj instead of Dwarf Star + Arachind instead of Snowclash, and then use Hellmouth gloves. They will actually heal you nicely if hydras target you. Just an idea, but you could test it. That way you will have similarly strong spells, more BO levels, more mana and healing from hydras.
MF barb means either zerker or singer for pit. Zerker is a bit faster, but harder to play, while singer is to play and watch tv at the same time. Any of those works great. You could try AT concentrate barb if you feel like high apm playing style (hype!), or you could try WSK zerker (hype-ier!).
Now that I think of it, I kinda think we had similar discussion before, your sorc does ring a bell of some kind. Gear seems good to me, though you do use quite a lot of charms in inventory. For longer playing I'd use at least 4x4 space to pick stuff on. I use 5x4 so from time to time I can run several minutes without visiting stash. Also if you use one Dwarf star, you don't really profit from fire resistance charms. Hydras with Dwarf alone will hardly damage you I think, regardless of your fire resistance. Option is to use Soj instead of Dwarf Star + Arachind instead of Snowclash, and then use Hellmouth gloves. They will actually heal you nicely if hydras target you. Just an idea, but you could test it. That way you will have similarly strong spells, more BO levels, more mana and healing from hydras.
MF barb means either zerker or singer for pit. Zerker is a bit faster, but harder to play, while singer is to play and watch tv at the same time. Any of those works great. You could try AT concentrate barb if you feel like high apm playing style (hype!), or you could try WSK zerker (hype-ier!).
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T72on1
New member
No SoJ or Arachnid's yet 
. And I neeed the gloves for fcr, at least until I find that Arachnid's.
I tried my CS runs with 75% fire res and 66% fir res, both with Dwarf Star. The latter made me feel a lot more squishy.
If Pit Zerker is only a tad faster, I might try the Singer first. I always wanted to make one, sounds a good time to try one if I can actually make a very useful character out if it at the same time.
Thanks for the advice. And yes, you might have provided me with similar info in the past in another thread. I really should keep a document with all the info around, or at least the links to it, as after some time I'm usually too lazy to find back those threads. Sorry about that.
. And I neeed the gloves for fcr, at least until I find that Arachnid's.I tried my CS runs with 75% fire res and 66% fir res, both with Dwarf Star. The latter made me feel a lot more squishy.
If Pit Zerker is only a tad faster, I might try the Singer first. I always wanted to make one, sounds a good time to try one if I can actually make a very useful character out if it at the same time
.Thanks for the advice
. And yes, you might have provided me with similar info in the past in another thread. I really should keep a document with all the info around, or at least the links to it, as after some time I'm usually too lazy to find back those threads. Sorry about that.CS is actually different because hydras have pvp penalty when they damage you, while firelords fire does not have any penalty. So, against hydras magic damage reduction is massive reduction in damage taken, I think somewhere around 30 you completely negate hydra damage even if you had -100% fire resistance. Not the case with firelords.
Also, not sure how is real comparison between zerker and singer for general players. If played in best possible way, zerker is like ~12-13% better farmer, but is also possibly more straightforward. All you do is target monster and that is it. With singer you should first learn how to position yourself so that your merc (your like 80% damage output) to target boss first. But that is the only "problem" for playing singer. Once you learn that, you can play him blind. Almost.
Also, not sure how is real comparison between zerker and singer for general players. If played in best possible way, zerker is like ~12-13% better farmer, but is also possibly more straightforward. All you do is target monster and that is it. With singer you should first learn how to position yourself so that your merc (your like 80% damage output) to target boss first. But that is the only "problem" for playing singer. Once you learn that, you can play him blind. Almost.
