Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 vanilla HC naked Druid
- Thread starter Insane Wayne
- Start date
Insane Wayne
Active member
Before continuing, I assigned some of my saved skill points. 4 went to Raven, maxing it. There are high-level areas coming up, and I want the maximum % chance-to-blind. Also, the blinding duration increases, and the ravens themselves last longer. 10 points went to Cyclone Armor. I might place more here. The important thing is that I avoid hit recovery in case I'm blind-sided by an elemental attack.
I cleared the Black Marsh, at p3, against weak monsters. Good thing, because I was very rusty. It feels weird to go from an aggressive character like my Boulder Druid, back to such a fragile build. I gradually became re-acquainted with my limitations.
The Hole opened into a stair-trap, which I quickly bottle-necked on some stairs. The boss teleported many times, often firing at me from behind. Teleporting is a serious threat to Cosmo. Jemali's Kelpie slowing allowed me dodge him in a small space, without panicking. Immediatley following was a nasty double-boss pack. A CEFE Afflicted pack mixed with a horrible Multi-Shot archer boss. Just what I needed, another teleporting threat! I went through some purples there.
Right after that mess, another teleporting archer! She started teleporting every second. I wonder why some bosses rarely teleport, and other go nuts with it? This gal, I pinned with Boulder.
No problems entering level 2. I saved the sparkly-chest area for last. There's always at least one boss pack there. My wolves rounded the corner and vanished. I recast and caught a glimpse of the offender. Hmm... they don't seem that bad. What gives? Jemali dropped like a rock. I snuck around the other side.
Another archer pack, that explains it! I lured them apart and blinded the minions.
In comparison, the Pit was tame. Plenty of tough packs on level 1, but I already had enough clear space. Boulders helped cripple the melee packs. I've learned a lot about this skill and am glad to use it often, lining up monsters and inflicting group stun. I stayed at p3 for level 2, summoning up my newest pet: Solar Creeper. Its main purpose is for corpse disposal. Previously I used Carrion Vine, but it won't eat when I'm at full life (and taking deliberate damage isn't wise when you're naked). Solar Creeper gave me much better control. Easy clear until I reached the bottom, and found a champ skeleton pack and Extra Fast Extra Strong LE archers. We retreated to the top and separated them.
Jemali is still decked out in full MF armor, but we found nothing of use. Just some gems and a $3 million+ necro head.
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 78, Act 1 Hell, Outer Cloister[/highlight]
I cleared the Black Marsh, at p3, against weak monsters. Good thing, because I was very rusty. It feels weird to go from an aggressive character like my Boulder Druid, back to such a fragile build. I gradually became re-acquainted with my limitations.
The Hole opened into a stair-trap, which I quickly bottle-necked on some stairs. The boss teleported many times, often firing at me from behind. Teleporting is a serious threat to Cosmo. Jemali's Kelpie slowing allowed me dodge him in a small space, without panicking. Immediatley following was a nasty double-boss pack. A CEFE Afflicted pack mixed with a horrible Multi-Shot archer boss. Just what I needed, another teleporting threat! I went through some purples there.
Right after that mess, another teleporting archer! She started teleporting every second. I wonder why some bosses rarely teleport, and other go nuts with it? This gal, I pinned with Boulder.
No problems entering level 2. I saved the sparkly-chest area for last. There's always at least one boss pack there. My wolves rounded the corner and vanished. I recast and caught a glimpse of the offender. Hmm... they don't seem that bad. What gives? Jemali dropped like a rock. I snuck around the other side.
Another archer pack, that explains it! I lured them apart and blinded the minions.
In comparison, the Pit was tame. Plenty of tough packs on level 1, but I already had enough clear space. Boulders helped cripple the melee packs. I've learned a lot about this skill and am glad to use it often, lining up monsters and inflicting group stun. I stayed at p3 for level 2, summoning up my newest pet: Solar Creeper. Its main purpose is for corpse disposal. Previously I used Carrion Vine, but it won't eat when I'm at full life (and taking deliberate damage isn't wise when you're naked). Solar Creeper gave me much better control. Easy clear until I reached the bottom, and found a champ skeleton pack and Extra Fast Extra Strong LE archers. We retreated to the top and separated them.
Jemali is still decked out in full MF armor, but we found nothing of use. Just some gems and a $3 million+ necro head.
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 78, Act 1 Hell, Outer Cloister[/highlight]
espr
Member
Well done wayne. 
I've got a similarly styled druid going for the naked tourney. I considered 40 points in the elemental tree as well, for dealing with physical immunes. Namely firestorm and fissure, as they synergize well, and do respectable damage with only 40 points, however, their damage is really poor until you can get them both up fairly high. So far, I think I've opted to go the merc route (act1 or act3) to deal with them.
I have a couple of questions for you, if you don't mind?
Are you finding the cyclone armour points worthwhile so far? It seemed to me that it absorbed such a low amount of damage that it would be practically negligible without synergies. Not even buying enough time to get away from something like a gloam's beam at -80 res. Do you think it's worth more than one point spent to avoid the hit recovery frames, or is it's absorbtion actually noticeable?
Do you find your wolves do enough damage without the grizzly passive bonus? I'm guessing a might merc makes a fairly large difference there, but how would you rate how they do with (and maybe without?) the aura?
Thanks in advance for any answers, and good luck!
I've got a similarly styled druid going for the naked tourney. I considered 40 points in the elemental tree as well, for dealing with physical immunes. Namely firestorm and fissure, as they synergize well, and do respectable damage with only 40 points, however, their damage is really poor until you can get them both up fairly high. So far, I think I've opted to go the merc route (act1 or act3) to deal with them. I have a couple of questions for you, if you don't mind?
Are you finding the cyclone armour points worthwhile so far? It seemed to me that it absorbed such a low amount of damage that it would be practically negligible without synergies. Not even buying enough time to get away from something like a gloam's beam at -80 res. Do you think it's worth more than one point spent to avoid the hit recovery frames, or is it's absorbtion actually noticeable?
Do you find your wolves do enough damage without the grizzly passive bonus? I'm guessing a might merc makes a fairly large difference there, but how would you rate how they do with (and maybe without?) the aura?
Thanks in advance for any answers, and good luck!
Insane Wayne
Active member
When I started this build, I thought ahead to Hell Difficulty and decided that the greatest threat would be Gloam lightning. It comes flying in from way off-screen, sometimes at unpredictable angles, and often in multiple streams. I'm pretty good at dodging it, but far from perfect. At -80 lightning resist, 1 or 2 streams is enough to put me in hit recovery, during which time I might be targeted with many streams. RIP Cosmo.
The armor has 0 resists, which is far better than -80. 1 point is not enough, because the excess damage would spillover and be applied at -80. If I get to Act 3 I will likely max armor (absorbs 268 damage). Hopefully I can take 2 (maybe 3) hits without hit recovery, allowing me to dodge/retreat. By that time, ravens will kick in w/blinding and I'll have better position.
Assuming Hell Difficulty:
max Wolves alone = very weak damage, even at p1.
max Wolves + Might = 3x better damage, okay at p1, poor at p3.
max Wolves + max Grizzly synergy = same as above
max Wolves + Might + max Grizzly = 5x better damage, respectable at p1-p3
I don't use my wolves for damage. They are flexible tanks which allow the merc to score kills while wearing MF armor. I'm happy if they take down nuisance Fallen, or merely assist in off-setting monster healing.
DX-Crawler
Banned
I play in the naked tournament and I will try and use heart of wolverine see if that will do any good damagewise
DX
DX
Insane Wayne
Active member
The Jail and Catacombs are always packed with chests, so I went to p5. Fortunately there was only one level that had PI ghosts, and very few of them. I had a new alternate weapon for Jemali, courtesy of Charsi. It's nothing special, but most of the monsters on these levels were demons, so the timing was good.
I was prepared for Pitspawn, and handled him easily. However, later I was not so careful, and had two careless NDEs. The first involved a ton of arrows flying at me from a side-room (while my troops battled a boss pack.) I dodged most of them but still needed a rejuv. I spotted a second boss, backed up by a third. A barrage of ravens shut them down.
The second NDE was much worse. I ran headfirst into this Afflicted boss. I reversed out the door but got clipped with lightning balls, losing at least 1000 life after the cyclone armor poofed.
Andariel's level was packed with monsters including many bosses. None were dangerous, but this zombie boss took a while to bleed to death. I kept Andariel occupied with wolves on one side, while the merc and I stayed on the other. I fought the battle with my inventory open, gulping dozens of blues to keep up a constant stream of wolves. Jemali jabbed with the eth spear, because I've not yet found a suitable 2-socket for Strength. Her p3 drop was garbage.
No good finds for Jemali lately. I saw a few rare elite spears, but they were worthless. Additional finds: Gerke's Sanctuary (rolled poorly) and an interesting singer helm.
I happened to notice that Cyclone Armor is a great synergy for Arctic Blast. I hadn't planned on using it for damage, but if I max the Armor and add 6+ points to Arctic Blast, I'll have a weak (but noticeable) attack to help against the PIs. We'll see.
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 79, Act 2 Hell, Rocky Waste[/highlight]
I was prepared for Pitspawn, and handled him easily. However, later I was not so careful, and had two careless NDEs. The first involved a ton of arrows flying at me from a side-room (while my troops battled a boss pack.) I dodged most of them but still needed a rejuv. I spotted a second boss, backed up by a third. A barrage of ravens shut them down.
The second NDE was much worse. I ran headfirst into this Afflicted boss. I reversed out the door but got clipped with lightning balls, losing at least 1000 life after the cyclone armor poofed.
Andariel's level was packed with monsters including many bosses. None were dangerous, but this zombie boss took a while to bleed to death. I kept Andariel occupied with wolves on one side, while the merc and I stayed on the other. I fought the battle with my inventory open, gulping dozens of blues to keep up a constant stream of wolves. Jemali jabbed with the eth spear, because I've not yet found a suitable 2-socket for Strength. Her p3 drop was garbage.
No good finds for Jemali lately. I saw a few rare elite spears, but they were worthless. Additional finds: Gerke's Sanctuary (rolled poorly) and an interesting singer helm.
I happened to notice that Cyclone Armor is a great synergy for Arctic Blast. I hadn't planned on using it for damage, but if I max the Armor and add 6+ points to Arctic Blast, I'll have a weak (but noticeable) attack to help against the PIs. We'll see.
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 79, Act 2 Hell, Rocky Waste[/highlight]
Arreat_mercenary
New member
Keep the good news coming Wayne!
Really looking forward to next adventures of Cosmo.
This thread is a real thing to see, and something to show to the "normal" b.netters which thinks a caster without HotO, Shako, Mara's, CoH (or Enigma), spirit, arachnid, two SoJ's and the typical rest can't finish Act I Hell.........
Really looking forward to next adventures of Cosmo.
This thread is a real thing to see, and something to show to the "normal" b.netters which thinks a caster without HotO, Shako, Mara's, CoH (or Enigma), spirit, arachnid, two SoJ's and the typical rest can't finish Act I Hell.........
Insane Wayne
Active member
Act 2 Hell. Time to get serious about a better merc weapon! We need more raw damage against the resistant multitude of undead!
I power-shopped Fara for 2 magical war pikes (which took about 15 minutes). I re-rolled both of these using the large gem stash I'd accumulated since Act 1 Normal. Whenever one pike emerged as the front-runner, I'd roll the other. After burning through all my chipped/normal gems, my best result was low-end Ferocious with one socket. I started to get nervous, and tapped my flawless collection.
With 80% of my gems gone, I hit a keeper. It's only a low-end cruel, and lacks a suffix; but at least it has 2 sockets. I still had a partial load of gems with me, so I rolled the other pike a bit. I got another Cruel (minor damage improvement plus lame suffix) but only one socket. Thus I settled on the original.
The socket-fillers were easily chosen, but it was expensive. I used my only Shael, and my 3 Sol runes to cube a second Shael. I'm at the mercy of the game to provide more of these runes in case I need them down the road.
Jemali tested his new pike in the Sewers, at p5. He's still wearing his P-Topaz armors. With Might, he's dealing pretty good damage. He can usually stab his way out of trouble despite lacking resists/leech. Of course, I'm continually spraying Arctic Blast and rolling Boulders to help him defensively.
No major threats in the Sewers. One boss pack after another; all fell without any drama. Here's a glimpse of Jemali's damage and life stats.
Yep, that's a Shako he's wearing. After following a long narrow hallway on level 2, some random boss coughed it up. I sold the 3-topaz helm and Jemali now wears the Shako full-time. Assuming the +skills works, that's an extra 20% damage from Might. My only gripe is that +life/character level is not enhanced by Oak Sage.
Harlequin Crest
Shako
Defense: 130
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 62
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0x14a0b311
+2 to Strength
+2 to Energy
+2 to Dexterity
+2 to Vitality
Damage Reduced by 10%
50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to All Skill Levels
+120 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+120 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 80, Act 2 Hell, Rocky Waste[/highlight]
I power-shopped Fara for 2 magical war pikes (which took about 15 minutes). I re-rolled both of these using the large gem stash I'd accumulated since Act 1 Normal. Whenever one pike emerged as the front-runner, I'd roll the other. After burning through all my chipped/normal gems, my best result was low-end Ferocious with one socket. I started to get nervous, and tapped my flawless collection.
With 80% of my gems gone, I hit a keeper. It's only a low-end cruel, and lacks a suffix; but at least it has 2 sockets. I still had a partial load of gems with me, so I rolled the other pike a bit. I got another Cruel (minor damage improvement plus lame suffix) but only one socket. Thus I settled on the original.
The socket-fillers were easily chosen, but it was expensive. I used my only Shael, and my 3 Sol runes to cube a second Shael. I'm at the mercy of the game to provide more of these runes in case I need them down the road.
Jemali tested his new pike in the Sewers, at p5. He's still wearing his P-Topaz armors. With Might, he's dealing pretty good damage. He can usually stab his way out of trouble despite lacking resists/leech. Of course, I'm continually spraying Arctic Blast and rolling Boulders to help him defensively.
No major threats in the Sewers. One boss pack after another; all fell without any drama. Here's a glimpse of Jemali's damage and life stats.
Yep, that's a Shako he's wearing. After following a long narrow hallway on level 2, some random boss coughed it up. I sold the 3-topaz helm and Jemali now wears the Shako full-time. Assuming the +skills works, that's an extra 20% damage from Might. My only gripe is that +life/character level is not enhanced by Oak Sage.
Harlequin Crest
Shako
Defense: 130
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 62
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0x14a0b311
+2 to Strength
+2 to Energy
+2 to Dexterity
+2 to Vitality
Damage Reduced by 10%
50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to All Skill Levels
+120 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+120 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 80, Act 2 Hell, Rocky Waste[/highlight]
Super job Wayne!! 
I'm almost inspired to come out of retirement to try some nekkid characters. Almost... :tongue:
I think you made the right decision with cyclone armor. If it hasn't already saved your life, you can be sure it will at some point. Best of luck through the rest of hell!
I'm almost inspired to come out of retirement to try some nekkid characters. Almost... :tongue: I think you made the right decision with cyclone armor. If it hasn't already saved your life, you can be sure it will at some point. Best of luck through the rest of hell!
Insane Wayne
Active member
I knew this next session would be very dangerous, and lugged Jemali's alternate gear with me for the start of each underground level. I also spent my remaining skill points. Cyclone Armor is at level 17 and Arctic Blast is level 6. That's another 2 yards range and almost 2 full seconds chill length. Now I can spray a wide range and keep everything chilled.
Stony Tomb opened into a small 3-way. I quickly plugged up a side door, bottlenecking a double Horror pack: Holy Shock/Spectral/Stone Skin and Extra Fast/LE. I was satisfied I had control, so I gave Jemali his MF armor mid-battle.
The next wing was a world of hurt. The wolves/merc couldn't hold the door against FE Cursed Might horrors, even with my chilling assistance. Jemali died and I had to retreat to my safety portal. Second try, I lured them out and killed them in small groups. The beetle pack right behind them (Extra Strong/Spectral) still had a Might aura and I had to retreat again, out of the its range. A CE/Spectral mage pack was responsible for the duplicate aura. 3 boss packs in one tiny halllway!
Level 2 had a stair trap of horrors and poison mages. No bosses. I had plenty of antidotes with me. As usual, Creeping Feature had powerful mods. Chilling wouldn't slow him, so instead I rolled boulders through him. The stunning effect helps.
I saved the treasure room for last, guarded by an Extra Strong Cursed LE beetle boss. :devil: Ouch! Stony Tomb is rarely an easy trip.
Halls of the Dead had minor stair trap action each level. Normal skeletons were crunched up by my vine, eventually. If I'm lucky, Jemali will shatter a few while I chill them. I faced 3 champ packs of unravellers, and separated them with boulders. Bloodwitch led the way assaulting my team, and was quickly killed. Another Cursed boss gave me some trouble, but nothing would deny me my lame sparkly prize. That chest seriously needs an upgraded drop potential. :unimpressed:
The outdoor areas were safe, but time-consuming. Bug swarms, and many of the beetle bosses (including Beetleburst) were PI. Open Wounds slowly took them down. Leapers were cold immune, yet Arctic Blast still worked for knocking them back and pinning them against walls. Just outside the Maggot Lair, I met PI beetle Puke Cloud, and a few minutes later fought his PI twin brother Puke Cloud #2, this time with Fanaticism!
Deeper in the Lair, I had my worst NDE yet. I peeked around a corner to see what Jemali had discovered. Immediately as I took the screenshot I started taking massive damage from an invisible source, which continued as I retreated around the corner slamming my rejuvs. At one point I'd been at less than 1/4 life. So AlterEgo was right, Cyclone Armor did save my life. I assumed that lightning bolts must have snaked around my merc and bent around the corner a bit.
I soon had a chance to test that theory. Another twin brother!. As soon as I got within a certain range, I took a couple massive pulse hits, though I could see no bolts and had 3 bodies to block the passage. When I saw it was teleport I freaked and bolted. It did eventually teleport, backwards and nowhere near me. Jemali got him. Perhaps those CEFE beetles had some kind of bugged proximity damage.
Inside Coldworm's burrow, Jemali got Tal's Mask and was able to leech enough to tank the mob with wolf recasts.
Next session, I finished the Far Oasis, starting with a big mess! Good news: no PI bug swarms. Lost City was also free of PIs except for a few PI zombies. When I encountered them, I occupied the boss while Jemali killed the rest with his war pike. Using Boulders, I can keep a melee monster helplessly out of reach. After the group fell, Jemali drained the boss with "Malice" and occasionally slowed him with Kelpie.
As if 3 regular weapons weren't enough, Jemali now has a fourth. Lost City provided an ethereal thresher with 2 sockets. Awesome merc "Strength", and finally a source of CB against bosses. :grin:
I went to p7 for the Ancient Tunnels. No stair trap, but I soon roused a zombie boss and champ pack. I ran out the door, and used rapid entries and exits to tease over the fringe of the mob. Otherwise, the stupid wolves would wander too far in and attract all of them. It worked, and I isolated the fanatic and boss. Just as the boss fell, the vine woke up another small bunch. Good timing. With a solid foothold, we slowly and safely cleared the level. Lots of tough boss packs, but I had many bottlenecks available. Unfortunately, no great finds there. My latest useful stuff:
Sol rune
Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0x6f1d38fc
15% Increased Attack Speed
Camphor Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x89077547
Lightning Resist +6%
15% Increased Attack Speed
Strength
Thresher
'AmnTir'
Two-Hand Damage: 24 to 284
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Dexterity: 108
Required Strength: 142
Required Level: 53
Polearm Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x95d6f1a5
+20 to Strength
+10 to Vitality
+35% Enhanced Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
25% Chance of Crushing Blow
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (2: 2 used)
Non-useful finds:
Ravenfrost (Cosmo's found two of these)
Tarnhelm (35%)
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 81, Act 2 Hell, Viper Temple[/highlight]
Stony Tomb opened into a small 3-way. I quickly plugged up a side door, bottlenecking a double Horror pack: Holy Shock/Spectral/Stone Skin and Extra Fast/LE. I was satisfied I had control, so I gave Jemali his MF armor mid-battle.
The next wing was a world of hurt. The wolves/merc couldn't hold the door against FE Cursed Might horrors, even with my chilling assistance. Jemali died and I had to retreat to my safety portal. Second try, I lured them out and killed them in small groups. The beetle pack right behind them (Extra Strong/Spectral) still had a Might aura and I had to retreat again, out of the its range. A CE/Spectral mage pack was responsible for the duplicate aura. 3 boss packs in one tiny halllway!
Level 2 had a stair trap of horrors and poison mages. No bosses. I had plenty of antidotes with me. As usual, Creeping Feature had powerful mods. Chilling wouldn't slow him, so instead I rolled boulders through him. The stunning effect helps.
I saved the treasure room for last, guarded by an Extra Strong Cursed LE beetle boss. :devil: Ouch! Stony Tomb is rarely an easy trip.
Halls of the Dead had minor stair trap action each level. Normal skeletons were crunched up by my vine, eventually. If I'm lucky, Jemali will shatter a few while I chill them. I faced 3 champ packs of unravellers, and separated them with boulders. Bloodwitch led the way assaulting my team, and was quickly killed. Another Cursed boss gave me some trouble, but nothing would deny me my lame sparkly prize. That chest seriously needs an upgraded drop potential. :unimpressed:
The outdoor areas were safe, but time-consuming. Bug swarms, and many of the beetle bosses (including Beetleburst) were PI. Open Wounds slowly took them down. Leapers were cold immune, yet Arctic Blast still worked for knocking them back and pinning them against walls. Just outside the Maggot Lair, I met PI beetle Puke Cloud, and a few minutes later fought his PI twin brother Puke Cloud #2, this time with Fanaticism!
Deeper in the Lair, I had my worst NDE yet. I peeked around a corner to see what Jemali had discovered. Immediately as I took the screenshot I started taking massive damage from an invisible source, which continued as I retreated around the corner slamming my rejuvs. At one point I'd been at less than 1/4 life. So AlterEgo was right, Cyclone Armor did save my life. I assumed that lightning bolts must have snaked around my merc and bent around the corner a bit.
I soon had a chance to test that theory. Another twin brother!. As soon as I got within a certain range, I took a couple massive pulse hits, though I could see no bolts and had 3 bodies to block the passage. When I saw it was teleport I freaked and bolted. It did eventually teleport, backwards and nowhere near me. Jemali got him. Perhaps those CEFE beetles had some kind of bugged proximity damage.
Inside Coldworm's burrow, Jemali got Tal's Mask and was able to leech enough to tank the mob with wolf recasts.
Next session, I finished the Far Oasis, starting with a big mess! Good news: no PI bug swarms. Lost City was also free of PIs except for a few PI zombies. When I encountered them, I occupied the boss while Jemali killed the rest with his war pike. Using Boulders, I can keep a melee monster helplessly out of reach. After the group fell, Jemali drained the boss with "Malice" and occasionally slowed him with Kelpie.
As if 3 regular weapons weren't enough, Jemali now has a fourth. Lost City provided an ethereal thresher with 2 sockets. Awesome merc "Strength", and finally a source of CB against bosses. :grin:
I went to p7 for the Ancient Tunnels. No stair trap, but I soon roused a zombie boss and champ pack. I ran out the door, and used rapid entries and exits to tease over the fringe of the mob. Otherwise, the stupid wolves would wander too far in and attract all of them. It worked, and I isolated the fanatic and boss. Just as the boss fell, the vine woke up another small bunch. Good timing. With a solid foothold, we slowly and safely cleared the level. Lots of tough boss packs, but I had many bottlenecks available. Unfortunately, no great finds there. My latest useful stuff:
Sol rune
Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0x6f1d38fc
15% Increased Attack Speed
Camphor Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x89077547
Lightning Resist +6%
15% Increased Attack Speed
Strength
Thresher
'AmnTir'
Two-Hand Damage: 24 to 284
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Dexterity: 108
Required Strength: 142
Required Level: 53
Polearm Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x95d6f1a5
+20 to Strength
+10 to Vitality
+35% Enhanced Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
25% Chance of Crushing Blow
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (2: 2 used)
Non-useful finds:
Ravenfrost (Cosmo's found two of these)
Tarnhelm (35%)
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 81, Act 2 Hell, Viper Temple[/highlight]
Arreat_mercenary
New member
Wayne, you have incredible patience in order to try p7 in hell with a naked char! Truly, you are insane! :wink3:
Still, it's a true show of gameplay techniques, I really hope that cosmo gets his shiny title of guardian......
Keep the news coming!
Edit:
@AE: Hey there man! Good to see you!
Still, it's a true show of gameplay techniques, I really hope that cosmo gets his shiny title of guardian......
Keep the news coming!
Edit:
@AE: Hey there man! Good to see you!
Insane Wayne
Active member
Claw Viper Temple was served up just the way I like it. 100% snakes. Not even a mummy casket. After defeating a boss pack stair trap, I went to p7 and gave Jemali his MF armors. The temple map seemed pretty small. Plenty of normal snakes but only a few bosses and champs.
Level 2 is serious business. Jemali got Tal's helm and Twitchthroe. I also carried the Kelpie and buffed Jemali's cold/poison resists. One of Fangskin's minions quickly tried to rush us, but the boss leash snapped him back. This was bad news; Fangskin was certainly in a dangerous position and too close to the entrance. I ran about halfway to the altar and cast a portal. That way, if we were beaten back to the entrance, I'd have a chance for a back-door path to the altar. I lost a tournament HC character in Hell because I got hopelessly trapped at that damned entrance, and I didn't want it to happen again.
As I was casting the TP, Fangskin's gang rushed us with support from additional salamanders. Skeletons and mummies marched in from the other side. I rolled a couple boulders through the snake side, stunning them and allowing the skeletons to bunch up around my troops. This had an unintended and beneficial bonus. With so many bodies, the snakes were partially bottlenecked by their comrades, and were hampered trying to get at Jemali. Better for him to tank a few skeletons and only 1 or 2 snakes, rather than all snakes. I kept casting boulders and wolves at a furious pace. The mana creeper ate the skeleton corpses. I didn't have much room and it was risky getting optimal boulder angles. A couple times, a snake's pathfinding would cause it to wander around the entire mob (including myself) trying to get at a certain wolf. It's a creepy feeling, but it's best to stand still and let it complete the lap. After it slithers around me (ignoring me like a statue) I can knock it away with a boulder. Soon the crowd thinned out a bit, and I took a better position. I went through about 8 purples for Jemali, and a few for myself due to Fangskin's CELE+aura.
After a little mummy mop-up, I snatched the amulet, and bid an eager farewell to viper level 2, my most feared area in the whole game.
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 82, Act 2 Hell, Jerhyn's Palace[/highlight]
Level 2 is serious business. Jemali got Tal's helm and Twitchthroe. I also carried the Kelpie and buffed Jemali's cold/poison resists. One of Fangskin's minions quickly tried to rush us, but the boss leash snapped him back. This was bad news; Fangskin was certainly in a dangerous position and too close to the entrance. I ran about halfway to the altar and cast a portal. That way, if we were beaten back to the entrance, I'd have a chance for a back-door path to the altar. I lost a tournament HC character in Hell because I got hopelessly trapped at that damned entrance, and I didn't want it to happen again.
As I was casting the TP, Fangskin's gang rushed us with support from additional salamanders. Skeletons and mummies marched in from the other side. I rolled a couple boulders through the snake side, stunning them and allowing the skeletons to bunch up around my troops. This had an unintended and beneficial bonus. With so many bodies, the snakes were partially bottlenecked by their comrades, and were hampered trying to get at Jemali. Better for him to tank a few skeletons and only 1 or 2 snakes, rather than all snakes. I kept casting boulders and wolves at a furious pace. The mana creeper ate the skeleton corpses. I didn't have much room and it was risky getting optimal boulder angles. A couple times, a snake's pathfinding would cause it to wander around the entire mob (including myself) trying to get at a certain wolf. It's a creepy feeling, but it's best to stand still and let it complete the lap. After it slithers around me (ignoring me like a statue) I can knock it away with a boulder. Soon the crowd thinned out a bit, and I took a better position. I went through about 8 purples for Jemali, and a few for myself due to Fangskin's CELE+aura.
After a little mummy mop-up, I snatched the amulet, and bid an eager farewell to viper level 2, my most feared area in the whole game.
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 82, Act 2 Hell, Jerhyn's Palace[/highlight]
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
This is a truly entertaining thread. The combination of danger, stylish gameplay and good story-telling is compelling. Thanks, IW!
Arreat_mercenary
New member
Really Wayne, you should write comics or novels....
My respects for your gameplay techinques.
My respects for your gameplay techinques.
Insane Wayne
Active member
None of the Act 2 Palace monsters are natively PI, so I stayed at p7. I had a difficult time against those big hulks. They hit hard, and regenerated quickly. My poison creeper halts their regen, but they HATE the creeper and often killed it instantly, so I had to constantly recast it. Damage from my Arctic Blast is indeed bugged; way less than the LCS indicates. I can't inflict any real damage, but I do appreciate the extened range. Whenever Jemali got knocked back, he'd usually target a new monster (allowing the original to heal). I spent a lot of time backing him up to hold him in place.
No real danger until I ran into a brutal boss pair. The brute's Holy Freeze and Black Hack's cold damage slowed my army to a crawl. I parked them, and worked around the rest of the level, clearing plenty of space to later draw them apart. We killed Black Hack, and spent forever wearing down the PI boss with Open Wounds. What a grind.
The rest of the Palace had an incredible assortment of ranged packs with dangerous elemental mods. Whenever a wolf went down, stray arrows came flying from multiple directions. My Cyclone Armor worked overtime to limit the damage, and I rarely lost more than 500 life. To cap things off, Fire Eye rushed us emitting tri-elemental bolts. I sent him reeling backwards with a boulder, pinning him against the wall and standing between the bolt streams.
Up next, the Arcane Sanctuary. I will probably drop to p1 because of ghosts.
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 82, Act 2 Hell, Arcane Sanctuary[/highlight]
No real danger until I ran into a brutal boss pair. The brute's Holy Freeze and Black Hack's cold damage slowed my army to a crawl. I parked them, and worked around the rest of the level, clearing plenty of space to later draw them apart. We killed Black Hack, and spent forever wearing down the PI boss with Open Wounds. What a grind.
The rest of the Palace had an incredible assortment of ranged packs with dangerous elemental mods. Whenever a wolf went down, stray arrows came flying from multiple directions. My Cyclone Armor worked overtime to limit the damage, and I rarely lost more than 500 life. To cap things off, Fire Eye rushed us emitting tri-elemental bolts. I sent him reeling backwards with a boulder, pinning him against the wall and standing between the bolt streams.
Up next, the Arcane Sanctuary. I will probably drop to p1 because of ghosts.
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 82, Act 2 Hell, Arcane Sanctuary[/highlight]
Insane Wayne
Active member
Awfully tedious clear of the Arcane Sanctuary, at p1, against ghosts. Jemali used OW to slowly kill them, the only "non-physical" damage we can muster. He exhibited true moron essence, getting stuck at every platform and pacing around cluelessly. Usually I can switch to walk and push him along (Maggot Lair-style), but for some reason he was immune to nudging for the whole session. After clearing one wing, I reloaded the game and that fixed it. Still, it was a draining exercise in patience; one harmless ghost pack after another. Aside from that opening screenshot, they were all normal and boring.
I accidently equipped a weapon, an ethereal superior dagger. Behold Cosmo's awesome attack power! Sometimes I'll temporarily hold white staves/wands. It's impossible for them to spawn with mods helpful to me, and I don't even use "attack", so overall it's insignificant. On rare occasions I'll see a sneaky cracked circlet that wound up on Cosmo's head. Impossible to notice unless I open my inventory. Theoretically, the +defense could have a effect (million-to-one chance), but I don't worry about it. I just toss it away and move on.
The action picked up during my p5 sweep of the Canyon. I faced an exciting assortment of beetles, spear cats, and gargantuan beasts. Plenty of bosses and champs. After a hectic opening, I carved out a little safety pocket and worked towards an edge.
I started my first False tomb at p1. After confirming the absence of ghosts, I went to p5. Good progress aside from a snag against two PI mummy bosses. I bowled away the Holy Freeze boss while Jemali maliced his partner.
The second tomb was intense. We quickly encountered a CEFE Spectral pack of gorebellies, along with LE Spectral Extra Strong beetles. I had a short hallway, and two doorways, to work with. And I needed every inch. Luckily no ghosts again, so I switched to p5. The third monster type was unravellers, which came in many colors with nasty mods. The map was so big, I expected to find Kaa, but no such luck. I made a rare switch to "Attack" and shut down a mummy casket, but I failed on my next attempt and we had to kill all the mummies until it collapsed on its own. :grrrr:
My latest finds:
3-socket boneweave (just in case Duress becomes an option)
Grim's Burning Dead
3 Small Charms of Vita (+16, +18, +20 life) :tongue: what a time to be charmless...
Amn rune
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 83, Act 2 Hell, False Tomb #3[/highlight]
I accidently equipped a weapon, an ethereal superior dagger. Behold Cosmo's awesome attack power! Sometimes I'll temporarily hold white staves/wands. It's impossible for them to spawn with mods helpful to me, and I don't even use "attack", so overall it's insignificant. On rare occasions I'll see a sneaky cracked circlet that wound up on Cosmo's head. Impossible to notice unless I open my inventory. Theoretically, the +defense could have a effect (million-to-one chance), but I don't worry about it. I just toss it away and move on.
The action picked up during my p5 sweep of the Canyon. I faced an exciting assortment of beetles, spear cats, and gargantuan beasts. Plenty of bosses and champs. After a hectic opening, I carved out a little safety pocket and worked towards an edge.
I started my first False tomb at p1. After confirming the absence of ghosts, I went to p5. Good progress aside from a snag against two PI mummy bosses. I bowled away the Holy Freeze boss while Jemali maliced his partner.
The second tomb was intense. We quickly encountered a CEFE Spectral pack of gorebellies, along with LE Spectral Extra Strong beetles. I had a short hallway, and two doorways, to work with. And I needed every inch. Luckily no ghosts again, so I switched to p5. The third monster type was unravellers, which came in many colors with nasty mods. The map was so big, I expected to find Kaa, but no such luck. I made a rare switch to "Attack" and shut down a mummy casket, but I failed on my next attempt and we had to kill all the mummies until it collapsed on its own. :grrrr:
My latest finds:
3-socket boneweave (just in case Duress becomes an option)
Grim's Burning Dead
3 Small Charms of Vita (+16, +18, +20 life) :tongue: what a time to be charmless...
Amn rune
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 83, Act 2 Hell, False Tomb #3[/highlight]
