Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 vanilla HC naked Druid [by Insane Wayne]

[Vildecor]

Another great part of the story of Cosmo.

Really looking up for the next adventures of this itemless char.

 

[Vildecor]

Each of the session summaries are so much fun to read, keep it up Wayne, they really are awesome. Hope you do another char after this.

I have a question though. It's just about the "rolling". How did you keep creating different weapons until you got that Cruel Pike for Jembali? What is the cube recipe?

 

[Vildecor]

You put a magical weapon in the cube, and add 3 chipped gems or 3 flawless gems. You'll get a new magical weapon (same type) with a random prefix and/or suffix, and guaranteed to have 1 or 2 sockets (assuming the weapon can have sockets). If you don't like the result, try again. You can also use 3 standard gems after the first attempt.

When all else fails during the search for a nice untwinked weapon, this recipe will usually produce a decent result, eventually.

 

[Vildecor]

Ok cool, I finally grasp the concept of "rolling".

Look forward to your next part!

 

[Vildecor]

Great read!

Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[Vildecor]

Is he named after Cosmo Kramer, by chance? If Kramer were going to be a D2 character, he'd definitely be the goofy, mumbling druid.

 

[Vildecor]

No, he isn't, although the thought occurred to me afterwards. I agree that Cosmo Kramer would definitely be a druid, on a life-long quest to find the nexus of the universe.

 

[Vildecor]

Tal's False Tomb #5, A Detailed Report:

Most of my updates tend to cover several large areas, and highlight a few scattered battles. This time, I decided to provide a start-to-finish report of a small area. One of the oft-ignored Tal's false tombs seemed like a good choice. Small, dangerous, and densely-packed.

I entered the tomb at p3, into a narrow hallway, and immediately noticed a set of urns. I resisted the urge to smash them. I moved past them and quickly woke up some monsters. This is the reason for saving the urns. Although rarely a factor, intact urns/barrels have saved me a few times, especially with delicate builds lacking any real crowd control. There is no doubt in my mind that without the urns, a pack of p3 Stone Skin Extra Fast gorebellies (not to mention the PI/teleport boss), so close to the entrance, would have easily pounded us back with no hope of advancing past them. Instead, we killed them in a simple series of one-on-one battles with the wolves/merc holding each other in place preventing knockback. An occasional sacrificial wolf kept the boss near the back of the line for a while, which attracted some skeletons. No problem, they waited their turn just like the rest. The boss created a scare by teleporting several times, landing right next to me; but the Open Wounds finished him off.

Just around the corner, a boss pack of ghoul lords awaited. Ravens are awesome against these guys, keeping the minions blinded thus eliminating their greatest threats: speed, ranged attacks, and scattering behavior. Plus they are unable to retreat to safety for super-fast healing. Pinning the boss was easy.

I found myself right next to the treasure room. No hope of entry; we were attacked by a double pack of ghoul lords. Boss #1 side-by-side with Boss #2, assisted by skeletons. There were too many to take on. I pulled back a bit and lured some into the hallway. Ravens pecked them and we mopped them up. Finally I got into the room and had some breathing space, easily avoiding the boss lightning.

Back to the main intersection, I attempted to peek into the center hallway. But we were hammered with Conviction and a Curse and my wolves were insta-killed. I ran back to the treasure room and used wolf recasts to pull apart the mob. Even in small groups, they killed my wolves like flies and I went through plenty of mana.

Here was the source of the Curse, a sneaky unraveller (already the 6th boss). Before he hit the ground, more skeleton minions advanced, courtesy of boss #7 hiding in the shadows less than a screen away. After stepping over its corpse, we entered an easy room with normal monsters.

The next hallway was a dead-end formation with several little alcoves. All 3 monster types attacked us, including a boss pack of ghouls whose leader teleported and harassed me. Cyclone armor absorbed the firewall, and I bowled him backwards across the screen. With his Stone Skin he was practically PI, so I kept him away from Jemali for now.
Champ ghouls butted in, and their immunity to ravens made them difficult to track. However, boulders knocked them to the walls and they were soon trapped. The pesky teleporter was saved for last. Near the end, he tried to raise his arms and teleport, but the boulders rolling through him interrupted his casting, ruining his chance for escape.

Final wing, and we were greeted by a horde of skeletons. I kept a steady burst of Arctic Blast sweeping across them, improving the wolves' tankability. Plus, about 20% or so will shatter at death, saving the vine some trouble. The vine is often too late to arrive, so any corpse-disposal freebies are quite welcome. At least half the skeletons get a second life, resurrected by unravellers off-screen. Once in sight, I can dash in and blind them, giving the vine ample time to eat all the corpses.

After clearing one last small room, the tomb was fully cleansed. I paused on my way out, to thoughtlessly smash the final safety urn which had made the whole thing possible. To the next tomb!

Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 83, Act 2 Hell, Duriel

 

[Vildecor]

Amazing story Insane Wayne! Can i ask You about Your skill distribution?I mean, how many points You have at skills like Boulder and Arctic blast?Just one or more?I'm playing him in naked tourney, so thats the reason for my question...Thank You for answer.RIP

 

[Vildecor]

All that work and strategizing in the 5th false tomb and look how tiny the map is in the last screeny :laugh: O and keep up the stories they are a blast to read!

 

[Vildecor]

This makes me proud to be named Cosmo...

Gotta love that Cruel prefix... it's practically a Breath of the Dying with some subtle differences.

EDIT: How are you taking out Physical immunes? I read the whole thread but must have missed it... you said that Arctic blast wasn't doing much of anything. Boulders?

 

[Vildecor]

This makes me proud to be named Cosmo...

Gotta love that Cruel prefix... it's practically a Breath of the Dying with some subtle differences.

EDIT: How are you taking out Physical immunes? I read the whole thread but must have missed it... you said that Arctic blast wasn't doing much of anything. Boulders?

OW from his merc :wink3:, a slow but deadly process (unless of course of the monster's health regenerates faster than OW damages )

 

[Vildecor]

Can i ask You about Your skill distribution?I mean, how many points You have at skills like Boulder and Arctic blast?Just one or more?I'm playing him in naked tourney, so thats the reason for my question...Thank You for answer.RIP

1 point in Boulder, which gives me all the knockback power I need. I use it for crowd control. Boulders can't really damage Hell monsters unless you max it and synergize with 20-40 points, preferably with +skills.

6 points in Arctic Blast, which gives me greatly improved range and chill duration compared to level 1. Again, I only use it for crowd control. It's synergized with 19 points in Cyclone Armor and lists 151-180 damage/sec, but this is definitely incorrect. The true damage is far less.

How are you taking out Physical immunes?

for now, entirely with Open Wounds.

(unless of course of the monster's health regenerates faster than OW damages )

Fortunately that is impossible. OW prevents healing while active, aka "negative life regeneration". For OW to trigger, the monster must first take a tiny bit of non-physical damage. Jemali only deals physical damage, so it's up to me to get it started. Usually the poison vine works. Or I can hit it with cold/fire.

 

[Vildecor]

I was lucky the True Tomb didn't spawn any PI ghosts. After a stairtrap entrance of CE Extra Strong beetles, gorebellies, and skeletons; I went to p5. Most of the bosses were beetles, which included a troubling number of teleporters, but everything worked out OK. The staff chamber was the very last room I explored, perfect for a full clear.

I alternated Jemali's weapons against Duriel. Kelpie for slowing and the Strength thresher for damage. A level 1 bear did most of the tanking, while I used Arctic blast for additional slowing. The bear needed many recasts but overall he did the job. Duriel's drop was terrible, no help at all.

Bad monster roll in the final false tomb, including a stairtrap of ghosts and skeletons. The unravellers stayed out of sight and some of the apparitions were resurrected, wasting time and effort. Eventually they were all eaten. The map was small, and the final wing (short hallway and treasure room) had four boss packs of ghosts. I managed to lead the first boss away for an easy kill. When I returned to the hallway, the rest of the ghosts (probably 20) were bunched up in a quivering defenseless single unit, on top of each other and stuck halfway in a pillar. Easy pickings.

The tombs were fully cleared, but where the heck was Kaa the Soulless? I went back to an empty tomb, previously cleared, and found him in small area I overlooked. :duh:

I began Act 3 at p7. No problems as Jemali skewered the helpless flayers. When blinded by ravens, they are easily killed. Ravens also prevented those stupid apes from running away. I found another utility polearm for special use against PIs. Quick weapon with 40% IAS and amp damage. It's superior for killing p7 PI bosses than OW alone. Once the amp triggers, I give Jemali the war pike. It requires lots of switching but it's much quicker.

I tried the Spider Cavern at p7, and regretted it instantly. Immediately a PI Stone Skin Cursed Spectral Hit poison spider boss rushed us. I rolled a boulder at it and ran blindly the other way, portaling out when I hit a pack of fire spiders. When I came back, I had left the Poison boss behind. There were about 8 fire spiders, and the battle was cramped and tense because I was scared to retreat an inch lest I re-awaken the poison boss. I stood next to spiders and had to bowl them off me in between wolf recasts.

Around the corner was a Fanaticism LE Teleport spider pack, but I had enough room to bottleneck them. Same with Sszark. I worked around in a circle and eventually killed the entrance minions. Jemali used the new amp stick against the boss.

Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 84, Act 3 Hell, Arachnid Lair

 

[Vildecor]

Wow. Just speechless over your dedication and ability to have fun with the game. Amazing posting too with all the hyperlinks. :jig:

 

[Vildecor]

Players 7 in Act3 of Hell with a naked character :flip:Keep out the good work. I probably don't have to tell you but be VERY careful, becuase 1 stray attack or explosion could be the end of everything you created.

 

[Vildecor]

Our journey continued through the dense jungle, still doing p7, and loving the lack of PIs! Great Marsh was gloam-free, packed with flayers (both types) and zombies. Groups of flayers swarmed in, were blinded, and dropped like flies; leaving awesome piles of loot. Gotta love those boss shamen, which are 2 bosses in one giving me an extra drop. Of course, there were plenty of difficult fights as well. I recall Fanaticism melee flayers and others which required retreats and regrouping. And the sight of this zombie boss made poor Jemali wet his pants. Wolves died as quickly as I could cast them while I used up half my merc rejuvs.

Flayer Jungle was more of the same, living up to its name. Waves of flayers. At one point we took on too many. During a hectic battle trying to dodge them, I took a couple pops from this little bugger, which caused a panic. That's always the risk when trying to track a large number of speedy monsters.

Good monster rolls in the Flayer Dungeon, which can have big-time Deeds potential. I faced a mixture of flayers, undead dolls, and bats. I had an NDE on level 2, thanks to a teleporting doll. As you can see from his mods, he packed a helluva punch, and naturally he teleported right on top of me. I went into instant hit recovery and had a hard time getting away as he struck again. I escaped after slamming a purple. The Witch Doctor also had fearsome mods, but Jemali got him easily after the vine ate the minions.

Swampy Pit was more of a challenge. Multiple doll and bat packs on level 1, with killer combinations of Holy Freeze, Might, Cursed, and more. The pace slowed down substantially. Very tense.
Even worse on level 2. The first room had a huge mass of flayers, shamen, and a zombie boss crushing my wolves. We cleared them out and I took a risk raising to p7, without knowing the third enemy type.

Gloams! I handled the normal ones OK, with raven blinding. But then we hit a dreaded champ pack. I did my best to duck around pillars and dodge the bolts, but it was tough in the narrow parts. I got hit with a stream that ate my Cyclone Armor and dealt 572 damage on top of that! The horrors of -80 resists! Jemali finished them off as I cowered around a corner.

Back in the forest, we finally cleared a way to Kurast. Stormtree's pack required separation. No major problems. The experience gain has been tremendous, I'm already at level 85.

Notable finds:
Sazabi's Cobalt Redeemer Cryptic Sword
Fine Grand Charm of Maiming (+9 max/+31 AR)
Thul, Amn

Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 85, Act 3 Hell, Lower Kurast

 

[Vildecor]

That Zombie looked scary...

Keep those posts coming!

 

[Vildecor]

I love clearing Lower Kurast on a high player setting. Mmm... all those treasure chests exploding with glittery goodness... Cosmo was like a kid in a candy store. Leapers, apes, and Zakarumites were barely able to slow us down, thanks to raven blinding keeping them still for easy kills. In addition to raking in gold, a lowly outdoor chest dropped a nice merc weapon!

IIRC this is the first Hone I've ever seen, unusual considering my years of play. It will replace the Strength thresher for my CB needs; however, for general play, Jemali still uses his double-Shael 230% cruel war pike. CB is not as effective at p7. Also, I lack Shael runes for the Hone. If any numbers expert out there thinks I'm making a mistake not using the Hone, please let me know. If I find a Lum rune for an elite upgrade, that's a whole other story. On that note, I found 2 Dol runes within seconds of each other. Now I can cube a Lum if I find either an Io or another Dol.

I quickly hit the Kurast Bazaar WP, and started a new game to use a socket quest. I added a camphor jewel of fervor to Jemali's Shako. All of his weapons hit a new breakpoint. I still have Tal's helm available if he needs leech, and a plain jewel of fervor in my stash.
My new map spawned thorned hulks and 2 types of zealots. Some of those hulk bosses were brutal, but all were defeated.

The Ruined Temple:
Scary start against a pack of wailing beasts. These guys can't be knocked back with Boulders, and chose to pound on me forcing me to run. I stood too close to the next doorway, and meteors from an FELE vampire boss rained on us. Some of Serena's minions also came at me. I had no choice but to run blindly down a side hallway. Luckily it was clear. I set up a successful doorway bottleneck and safety portal. Success! 5 more points for Vitality!

The Disused Fane:
Without a doubt, this was the most intense temple battle I ever fought.
I stupidly took them on at p7. Disastrous opening! Wailing beasts advanced from one side, Cursed poison spiders from the other. I had precious few seconds before the beasts reached me, and I used them to bowl the spiders backwards. Wolves barely lasted a few seconds. I had to get out of there now. I bowled one more spider minion back out of the way, and ran through the spider-side doorway to escape the beasts. I took poison hits which drained my life to 1 in a few seconds. The next room was empty, and I ran to the opposite wall and cast a TP. The spiders followed and soon overwhelmed my troops. I let them die, and as the spiders approached me, I portaled out, attempting to park them near the wall, as far from the main door as possible. Before re-entering, I cleared some more outdoor area and blew off some steam. More importantly, I needed to reinforce my rejuv supply for the nasty battle sure to follow.

When I returned through the main door, the small starting room still had too many beasts/spiders, and the boss wandered in. Crap. I ran into the spider room again (still no other choice) and fought against a few poison spider minions. But that position didn't hold for long. The spider boss, more minions, and some wailing beasts soon joined us. My troops can't tank at all while poisoned and Cursed. There was no hope of outlasting them. I ran blindy to the next new room, headfirst into Might Extra Fast melee rogues! Immediately I backtracked a little and tried a skinny edge hallway. The fast rogues easily kept up with me. More blind running, along the outer wall, past the large center room, dodging more spiders and beasts, with the rogues still pecking at my heels. Next room, I ran into an Extra Strong Fanaticism pack of beasts! :yikes:
Somehow I shimmied through them, taking a massive hit just as I reached the final skinny edge hallway. By then a couple wolves caught up to me (or teleported to me) and I was able to get away, ditching the beasts but not the rogues. I ran into the final room (completing a full lap) and scrambled to mount a sloppy defense against rogues and yet more spiders, and re-stocked my belt. I tried to cast a portal, only to realize I'd run out!! :embarassed: Heart attack!! I froze.

My troops were dead, and I made a run for the staircase exit, again with the rogues behind me. I squeezed past a spider and escaped. My hands were shaking, so I took a break to calm my nerves. With a fresh army, I re-entered. My belt held 3 rejuvs and an antidote. I used them all while breaking out of the first room and getting past the Cursed spiders. Double deja vu! This is crazy stuff! The persistent rogue boss still plagued me. I started running a new lap around the edge. I finally ditched her with a quick run and portal exit. I ran through the Fanaticism beasts again, and bottlenecked them from the edge hallway, maintaining just enough distance from that last big occupied room. Finally, I had some control. With a clear corner room, the rest was easy.

The Forgotten Temple:
No breaks for Cosmo. Another frightful entrance. Two boss rogue archer packs, with snakes and beetles waiting to enter from the next room. Ravens blinded some archer minions, but wolves still perished every couple seconds. Jemali steadily worked his way through the mob while I kept a wolf-shield around him. Scary but manageable.

The Forgotten Reliquary:
Woohoo! No stair trap. CEFE Poison spiders, and Extra Strong Cursed Teleport vamipes. No problems.
Really looking forward to the last two temples.
At this stage, running out of portals is inexcusable. I'll be more careful about that.

Latest finds:
Serrated (+3) Grand Charm of Sustenance (+35)
Glacial Circlet of Enlightenment
some elemental damage for the merc, for possible use against PIs.

Hone Sundan
Yari
Two-Hand Damage: 98 to 199
Durability: 28 of 28
Required Strength: 101
Required Level: 37
Spear Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x6dd06682
+170% Enhanced Damage
+20 to Minimum Damage
+40 to Maximum Damage
45% Chance of Crushing Blow
Repairs 1 durability in 10 seconds
Socketed (3: 0 used)

Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 85, Act 3 Hell, Upper Kurast

 

[Vildecor]

Uh, oh. That was fun. To read. Oh.

:embarassed:

Anyway, while reading your stories i've noticed you were quite lucky taking on temples compared to me. Every time i make a blind run im greeted by another boss pack. Still, nothing nearly as, um, *can't find suitable word* happened to me, ever. Amazing job getting out of there alive