I buckled down for a p7 clear of the Outer Steppes. None of the Act 4 monster types are natively PI, so I hope to go p7 all the way. We explored quite a bit before seeing any monsters, and ran into an ambush. A leaper boss pack led the charge, skittering all around us and wreaking havoc. Ravens pecked at a few, but were distracted by regular knights and corpse-spitters. Retreat!
Those little leaper minions hit hard. I pulled eveyone back to the
steps. I watched from my cozy spot while Jemali handled everything. I used wolves to box out certain monsters and let others in. When we were free to explore again, I idly cast a hurricane. The damage is negligible, and the graphic can be distracting, but I noticed something awesome right away.
Leapers can't penetrate the hurricane's perimeter! Even if they jump at me, they're instantly knocked outside its radius when they land. Also, it will pin them against a wall (just like Arctic Blast does). I'm glad to find a use for this skill beyond the synergy value.
Corpse-spitters at p7 are tough to kill. For one thing, they're immune to poison, so I make sure Jemali lands an occasional shot with Malice to stop their healing. Also, I use a vine to devour the nearby corpses, because a corpse-spitter will eat them up and gain a massive life boost. Lastly, they're physical-resistant, negating lots of Jemali's damage. I hit a Stone Skin (PI) boss, and unpacked the
amp stick. It worked so well, it became a full-time practice against all champs/bosses.
Melee knight packs are also difficult, because they
poison their targets which greatly reduces the wolves' tankability. Even with life leech, Jemali can't handle more than two. I used raven blinding and/or boulders to
separate them, offering myself as bait. I bet that Fanat boss got pretty pissed at me.
Next up, the Plains! How about a little Burning Soul lightning action?
First monster type:
Venom Lords. Pfftt! Diablo will have to do better than that.
Second type,
Doom Casters. I love these guys. Practically harmless and easy to kill.
Last chance for souls...
nope. By that point, I'd already traveled down the edge of the map a bit without encountering lightning. So I figured the souls would be a no-show. It's kind of a let-down; I was pumped up for the challenge. Perhaps Cosmo will see them later in his adventures.
Izual got the amp treatment, with Hone Sundan for damage.
Pushover.
The City of the Damned rattled me. I had a few close calls, against Abyss Knights and Dark Familiars (bats). Cosmo's worst NDE yet occurred against a pack of Knights. While mopping up some weak stranglers, I noticed a dense group of Knights "dancing". They were all repeating their ranged firing motion in perfect unison, rocking back and forth, but no shots came out! It looked hilarious. In reality, their shots were
invisible (a group bug I guess) and when I tried to grab a screenshot, I was blasted by a full volley. I slammed a purple, but not before noticing my life was down to a few hundred, tops. Maybe less, there was very little red. I guess I have Cyclone Armor to thank, again. We regrouped and approached the pack, and they began behaving normally. My theory is the display bug was related to
Multishot graphic overload, but who knows. Lesson learned.
The stupid bats are midnight blue/black, and hard to detect until they drop on you. Usually, my ravens flush them out, or one of the many wolf scouts I cast far ahead of me. During a tense battle with a brutal
Knight pack, I strayed towards a spot I thought was clear, and a bat pack descended on me. I was very close to a full mobbing, losing my cyclone armor and going into hit recovery once. One or two had hit me, and I scrambled away before the rest of the pack reached me. Phew...
Looking forward to Hellforge!
Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 86, Act 4 Hell, River of Flame