Folcwold and his brother made it:
Progress was faster than expected because the monster rolls were about as easy as could be for an underpowered, lowish-life Frenzy Barb. At the start of the session, we used the socket quest on the Darksight and added a pDiamond for more AR, with Enchant it was closing in on 10k and a good cth.
We cleared Glacial Trail and Drifter Cavern, with a
Windhammer dropping along the way. Infernal Pit had witches, but other rolls were easy, so no trouble with Taunt. We hugged the wall on the Tundra because the PI Berserkers rolled, and no Moon or Blood Lords in Ancient's Way.
Ancients was shockingly easy. No amp, no auras, and it took about a half minute of running to split two off (
Talic,
Korlic). I initially had Talic by himself as you can see in the picture, but the merc pulled the other two in, so we had to reset. Then it was
Madawc, and he got pulled to a pillar that Folcwald and Frisian had their packs so whirls weren't really an issue.
WSK was tame. Level 1 was the hardest, with Hierophants, Shambling Hoard and the witches that amp. I took the stairs down when I found them, wondering what was in store in WSK 2: serpents, cadavers, skeleton mages
Easily managed, with WP right by stairs down, so we went back to finish WSK 1. Then WSK rolled sprites, soul killers (blowdart), and Blood Boss/Fire Boars! Throne Room had amp witches, Blood Lords, and serpents, but nothing tough with a little care. One decrep-unbreakable Blood Lord boss took a lot of potions but wasn't really dangerous.
Waves were easy, and I didn't even need to use taunt. Knockback for wave 2 was decisive. Frisian died to the hydras once (mostly because I was slow with a purple), and we drew out Ventar and Lister in groups, with
Lister again delivering with a great roll. Baal hung out at the top of gangway, and was easily dispatched:
We then returned to finish off Nihl, with the trend of good monster rolls continuing. None were troublesome, no Vipers, etc.
Nihl went down, and we personalized the Darksight.
All quests were completed, and it was full-clear except A3 Hell jungle areas and surface areas in A5 Hell. He had one socket quest and all three imbues unused. Quite a fun playthrough. Summary of final gear is below, and I'll add link to Guardian write-up with full readouts when it's finished.
Thanks for hosting
@OldSoldier and good luck to all the entrants still pushing through!
Folcwald
Stats with gear: 185 Str; 153 Dext; 187 Vit; 10 Energy
Skills: Frenzy, BO maxed, Double Swing/Sword Mastery 11 each, Natural Resist 3
Gear (key stats noted):
- LoH
- Rare Plated Belt (24 FHR, life, 29 LR, 19 PR)
- Rare Boneweave Boots (30FRW, 39 CR, 13 FR)
- Treachery Mage Plate
- Darksight (socketed with pDiamond)
- Rare Amulet (+1 Barb life, mana, 39LR)
- Crafted Ring (AR, life leech, 10 strength, 19 life, 13 MF)
- Rare Ring (AR, 18 CR, 16 LR, 12 MF)
- Main: 2s Ferocious Balrog Blade (socketed with pAmmy and dual damage jewel/Vile Husk (socketed with pAmmy)
- Switch: Spirit/Demon Limb
- Charms: mix, with focus on AR/Resist/Vita/Sharps
Merc (A5):
- Guillame's Face
- Treachery Scarab Husk
- Lawbringer Balrog Blade
Cheers!