Before continuing through Kurast, I took some time to shop Fara for another war pike. I had a meager collection of gems so I did some rerolls. Pffft! Nothing I rolled was able to top Pierre Tombale's, not even close. To boost Mizan's damage, I stashed the Shaftstop and made the
Duress. Without the PDR, Mizan went into hit recovery more often, but the 70% FHR from Duress and Pierre's helped counter that. And the CB helped too, even at higher player settings.
Against my better judgment, I began clearing the Kurast temples at p5. I want better drop chances, as I'm still seeking merc weapon improvement. Nasty start in the
Ruined Temple. Antidotes and rejuvs were used in abundance. Blinding from the Woestave kept the spiders from retreating, at the cost of a weaker attack, but it was necessary. I used lots of valk/decoy recasts for improved position. Poison took them down quick.
Things got tougher. Then I spawned a poison-immune valk, which helped a great deal. I used decoys to break off stragglers, and slowly cleared that mess. Great battle.
Sewers were also very tough, with undead dolls running around. Again I gave Mizan the Woestave, to keep them blinded and still. CELE Icehawk made a surprise early appearance, in the center of the map, during a tough battle with champ dolls and mummies. Blinding doesn't work on champs, so they were zipping back and forth. Under the constant threat of doll death-bursts and slow-moving CELE bolts, I lost track of Icehawk, and his death nova stopped at my toes. Another close call. :nervous:
For the last two temples, I went down to p1. I entered directly in the face of 3 serpents. That's me, not the decoy,
taking a beating. I needed a quick rejuv. I decided to stay put, rather than run and risk attacting more attention. Holy Freeze and monster slow, plus Dodge, allowed me to tank and drink potions long enough for my team to kill them over my shoulder. Staying put was the right move; there was a shocking bat boss pack a few steps away, and a fanat beetle boss pack still in the first room! At p1, they were quickly killed, although Mizan needed a few rejuvs.
The center of the Travincal had a most unwelcome sight. Eight heirophants (4 champs among them) having a party. Normally I'd use knockback to separate them, but the multiple corners and ledges made that impossible to manage with my merc. Eventually, I coaxed a couple away and killed them. I thought the rest would have to be abandoned. However, after awhile there would be a lull in their healing, and we'd get another kill. I spent about 15 minutes on those guys, but I got 'em.
I cleared the Durance at p3. No major problems. Weird map on level 2, the WP was in the center. Never saw that before. My best finds were runes: I scored Lum, Shael, and Amn.
p5 for level 3. Bremm's attributes weren't very hurty. He dropped an ethereal magical stygian pike, but it was garbage. Wyand had a strange drop, 3 gems! Nothing else.
I used the moat trick with Meph. My valk was cold and poison immune, and beat him down to a sliver. I unsummoned her and led the merc in for the final hit, dressed in his MF gear. This was a bit dangerous. Meph shot at me, but I dodged him. Mizan scored the kill. Meph dropped 4 rares (2 elite) and two uniques, including Titan's Revenge. Nothing was helpful.
Act 4! Spawners and gloams! When I hit the Plains of Despair, we fought both. Throughout the whole map, I ran from column to column, shielding Alkithoe from gloam bolts. I cast Slow Missiles when I could, otherwise I counted on Mizan to blind them. At p1, Open Wounds hurt them bad. I took one massive blast, several bolts at once. I feared I might die, but Evade kicked in enough and my life only dropped to about 1/3.
No spawners or maggots in the River of Flame, so I did p3. I was pumped up for the Hellforge drop. I had lots of helpful possibilities. Lem would get me an ethereal "Passion" thresher. Pul would allow an exceptional unique upgrade to elite. Um would renew my hope for a Crescent Moon.
Hooray! After nearly four complete Acts, I finally have the means to make a worthy merc weapon. Better late than never! Looks like Mizan will soon have Pierre Tombale's Cryptic Axe! More good news at the Hellforge: I leveled to 86 and Hephasto dropped the unique vambraces. Always nice to see an EU-drop, even if you can't use it.
Next up, Big D! I vow to get a picture of Alkithoe punching him.
Conqueror Alkithoe, 1.11 naked HC zon, level 86, Act 4 Hell, Chaos Sanctuary