Insane Wayne
Active member
Me too. But lately, my HF luck has been great, so I was probably overdue for a letdown.
Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 vanilla HC naked Druid
- Thread starter Insane Wayne
- Start date
Insane Wayne
Active member
Now that my Hellforge possibilites are history, I tried my luck with an imbue. I gave Charsi an ethereal ogre axe, and she served up some junk. No love from Charsi! I have one imbue left, which I'll save for another eth weapon.
I was glad to see a lack of spawners and maggots, as I cleared the last bit of River of Flame. I don't think I've ever been through Act 4 without enduring spawners, what a lucky break! The only tough spot was a Cursed Conviction Knight pack. I went through dozens of wolves against them, and a few merc rejuvs.
I knew the Oblivion Knights in the CS would drive me nuts, so I initially avoided them as much as possible. I pulled back against packs of melee monsters and enticed them to follow, killing them out of range of the curses. If any OKs followed us, the next best thing is to cast a wolf right on them, provoking a Decrep curse rather than the dreaded IM. With the fighters gone, I used boulders to knock the OKs to the wall, where they are easy to pin. But lining up the boulder shot wasn't always easy; they are a slippery bunch! And the decrep tactic didn't always work either. Jemali suffered 4 IM deaths. And I hit a new low in resists! Woohoo!
The other monsters were much easier. Venom lords were rarely a threat, and I can easily bottleneck them anyway. The incredibly wide range of this venom boss caught me off guard, but I escaped after losing my cyclone armor. A silver medal goes to Storm Casters, for the category of "least intimidating manifestation of Berserker." (Gold medal goes to Berserker Itchies).
I did the seal bosses at p8. As usual, the Infector of Souls was the most dangerous. He had Might, and they destroyed my wolves too quickly. I had to tease them apart in pairs. De Seis and the Grand Vizier were much less painful.
It seems sensible that a character with -80 resists would want to tackle Diablo at p1. But I really wanted to minimize that "no-drop" chance, so I settled on p3. Jemali had Hone Sundan, Twitchthroe, and Tal's Mask. I carried Kelpie so Jemali could land an intermittent slowing jab. We met big D as he spawned at the seal, and he immediately focused on Jemali, ignoring the wolves, no matter where I positioned my team. Uh-oh. Can Jemali handle the heat? Apparently he could. Thanks to his massive life pool, he consistently survived Diablo's firestorm with a little life left. The lightning hose was a non-factor. Jemali was too close to be affected. After every firestorm, I tossed him a purple. He landed rapid Crushing Blows and Diablo faded quickly. As for me, I simply stood outside the star where firestorms couldn't reach me, (although fire novas could). After every nova, I refreshed my Cyclone Armor. I felt comfortable enough to open my inventory, swap weapons as necessary, and hand-feed Jemali's rejuvs (it sucks not having a belt!)
When Diablo was slivered, I portaled out and gave Jemali the MF armors. I assisted with Arctic Blast. Diablo actually shattered from the cold, so I didn't get to enjoy his death throes. His drop was garbage. :sad2:
The final chapter in Cosmo's story is about to be written: Act 5 Hell.
I'm tempted to hire a Holy Freeze merc, for extra defense against frenzytaurs and safety in general. Tough call.
Latest Finds:
Jewel of Envy (At last! Cosmo's first. Good chance Jemali will use this.)
Saracen's Chance
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 86, Act 5 Hell, Harrogath[/highlight]
I was glad to see a lack of spawners and maggots, as I cleared the last bit of River of Flame. I don't think I've ever been through Act 4 without enduring spawners, what a lucky break! The only tough spot was a Cursed Conviction Knight pack. I went through dozens of wolves against them, and a few merc rejuvs.
I knew the Oblivion Knights in the CS would drive me nuts, so I initially avoided them as much as possible. I pulled back against packs of melee monsters and enticed them to follow, killing them out of range of the curses. If any OKs followed us, the next best thing is to cast a wolf right on them, provoking a Decrep curse rather than the dreaded IM. With the fighters gone, I used boulders to knock the OKs to the wall, where they are easy to pin. But lining up the boulder shot wasn't always easy; they are a slippery bunch! And the decrep tactic didn't always work either. Jemali suffered 4 IM deaths. And I hit a new low in resists! Woohoo!
The other monsters were much easier. Venom lords were rarely a threat, and I can easily bottleneck them anyway. The incredibly wide range of this venom boss caught me off guard, but I escaped after losing my cyclone armor. A silver medal goes to Storm Casters, for the category of "least intimidating manifestation of Berserker." (Gold medal goes to Berserker Itchies).
I did the seal bosses at p8. As usual, the Infector of Souls was the most dangerous. He had Might, and they destroyed my wolves too quickly. I had to tease them apart in pairs. De Seis and the Grand Vizier were much less painful.
It seems sensible that a character with -80 resists would want to tackle Diablo at p1. But I really wanted to minimize that "no-drop" chance, so I settled on p3. Jemali had Hone Sundan, Twitchthroe, and Tal's Mask. I carried Kelpie so Jemali could land an intermittent slowing jab. We met big D as he spawned at the seal, and he immediately focused on Jemali, ignoring the wolves, no matter where I positioned my team. Uh-oh. Can Jemali handle the heat? Apparently he could. Thanks to his massive life pool, he consistently survived Diablo's firestorm with a little life left. The lightning hose was a non-factor. Jemali was too close to be affected. After every firestorm, I tossed him a purple. He landed rapid Crushing Blows and Diablo faded quickly. As for me, I simply stood outside the star where firestorms couldn't reach me, (although fire novas could). After every nova, I refreshed my Cyclone Armor. I felt comfortable enough to open my inventory, swap weapons as necessary, and hand-feed Jemali's rejuvs (it sucks not having a belt!)
When Diablo was slivered, I portaled out and gave Jemali the MF armors. I assisted with Arctic Blast. Diablo actually shattered from the cold, so I didn't get to enjoy his death throes. His drop was garbage. :sad2:
The final chapter in Cosmo's story is about to be written: Act 5 Hell.
I'm tempted to hire a Holy Freeze merc, for extra defense against frenzytaurs and safety in general. Tough call.
Latest Finds:
Jewel of Envy (At last! Cosmo's first. Good chance Jemali will use this.)
Saracen's Chance
[highlight]Conqueror Cosmo, 1.11 naked HC Druid, level 86, Act 5 Hell, Harrogath[/highlight]
Insane Wayne
Active member
Huh? I've noticed they have CBF, but I'm not aware of any monster that isn't slowed by HF (though they may be immune to the cold pulses). Can anyone confirm this? Is it a certain type of frenzytaur?
edit: based on screenshots I took during my naked zon project (she used a HF merc) it looks like Death Lords (WSK) are indeed immune to HF (no blue coloring). Other types had the blue color. Thanks for the heads up. :thumbsup:
Last edited:
Lol, that OK must have been angry, that his spell worked with reduced effectiveness:grin:
A silver medal goes to Storm Casters, for the category of "least intimidating manifestation of Berserker." (Gold medal goes to Berserker Itchies).
Platinum medal for Berserker Foul Crow Nest!
GL in act 5:thumbsup:
Kazlinthebarb
New member
Simply awesome reading. I cant wait till tomorrows update. I think thats the reason I come to work... Your resists are not that bad... mine are -60 to -80 with gear. :grin:
madnessmedic
New member
hmm ive been wanting to something similiar to this but the problem is that I want to do something all characters could do fairly. So can a Paladin do this without gear? or maybe a Barb. I guess a singer might be able to do it and the paladin would have to be a hammerdin or maybe somethin else. I can see trapasin. Ok so maybe this is doable by all classes. What do you think wayne? what class do you think would be the hardest under your personal rules/goals?
I think a trapsin would be the easiest to pull of, with traps and a shadow, there would not be very much danger. A paladin has no minions, so only a merc for tanking, that might not be as safe.
I personally think barbs or paladins would have a hard time, due to no minions, but they still have auras/bo's, so my guess would be sorcs, yeah they have spells and all, but not much else and no gear would make it hard.
I personally think barbs or paladins would have a hard time, due to no minions, but they still have auras/bo's, so my guess would be sorcs, yeah they have spells and all, but not much else and no gear would make it hard.
madnessmedic
New member
i was thinkin this order of difficulty
Necro - Summoner too easy
Druid - Another summoner
*** - traps and shadow
Sorc - powerful with synergies
Barb - at least has massive life increasers and can stun
Pal - imo sscrewed lol
Necro - Summoner too easy
Druid - Another summoner
*** - traps and shadow
Sorc - powerful with synergies
Barb - at least has massive life increasers and can stun
Pal - imo sscrewed lol
Insane Wayne
Active member
@Krovak-- good call, Berserker Crow Nest. I had a feeling someone would suggest a platinum medal for a weak monster type I forgot about.
@RTB/Nerigazh-- Thanks for the info. Must be a very small number of monster types immune to HF. Maybe some late-Act5 ghosts/defilers along with certain frenzytaurs.
@chrisx-- no plans for another naked character. Not for a while at least.
@madnessmedic-- If I had to rank easiest to toughest, for me personally with my rules:
Necro: awesome tanks, crowd control, useful spells, but beware those champ gloams.
Assa: Shadow/CoS, some Mind Blast/Fade, and traps. (But I'm not experienced with them)
Druid: Summons/Sage, with handy spells.
Zon: valk is the best tank in the game (can solo any boss/Ancients), D/A/E, but no real crowd control.
Sorc: Powerful spells/Teleport, but she's fragile. No FCR. No items/charms = little mana. Points in energy? (Again, I lack experience.)
Barb: max BO, Battle Cry, War Cry for stunning, 10+ Howl. Natural Resists. Leap attack for escape. Superb crowd control. I would rank them higher, but what about hell Ancients? I'd have to be lucky finding merc slowing gear in order to separate them.
Pala: I can't even comment. I'm a total noob with them. My guess is they'd be the most difficult.
@RTB/Nerigazh-- Thanks for the info. Must be a very small number of monster types immune to HF. Maybe some late-Act5 ghosts/defilers along with certain frenzytaurs.
@chrisx-- no plans for another naked character. Not for a while at least.
@madnessmedic-- If I had to rank easiest to toughest, for me personally with my rules:
Necro: awesome tanks, crowd control, useful spells, but beware those champ gloams.
Assa: Shadow/CoS, some Mind Blast/Fade, and traps. (But I'm not experienced with them)
Druid: Summons/Sage, with handy spells.
Zon: valk is the best tank in the game (can solo any boss/Ancients), D/A/E, but no real crowd control.
Sorc: Powerful spells/Teleport, but she's fragile. No FCR. No items/charms = little mana. Points in energy? (Again, I lack experience.)
Barb: max BO, Battle Cry, War Cry for stunning, 10+ Howl. Natural Resists. Leap attack for escape. Superb crowd control. I would rank them higher, but what about hell Ancients? I'd have to be lucky finding merc slowing gear in order to separate them.
Pala: I can't even comment. I'm a total noob with them. My guess is they'd be the most difficult.
I just wanted to express my deepest respect for you, well, everyone doing something challenging like this. I haven't read everything because I only found this thread a few days ago, but I really love the way you talk about your adventures and decorate it with screenshots. For a moment I thought it wouldn't be that hard, when I saw that you had cyclone armor for elemental damage absorbtion and 2.5k life with oak sage. However, it must still be awesomely challenging, especially untwinked. So:
Good work, keep it up!
Good work, keep it up!
I dont think a pal would be screwed, it would be tough but there is a possiblity, and one very similar to what your doing already minus minion crowd control:
Squire -
20 Holy bolt
20 Prayer
20 Concentration
1 cleansing
1+ Meditation
1 to prereq
Basically keep your merc alive with holy bolt and active cleansing aura with prayer's passive regen bonus. Do weapon/armor switch, and baby him like a squire would a lord. Kinda like your already doing. Use a HF merc for better crowd control.
You could add 20 in FOH which also sends out holy bolts (which rip undead, who are typically the physical immune ones), is self targeting, and can be done from far away.
Your damage may not be great and it may take a while but I dont think the pally would be totally undoable.
Credit goes to LordPaul, who has this old guide reposted on pally forums.
-roninDOG
Squire -
20 Holy bolt
20 Prayer
20 Concentration
1 cleansing
1+ Meditation
1 to prereq
Basically keep your merc alive with holy bolt and active cleansing aura with prayer's passive regen bonus. Do weapon/armor switch, and baby him like a squire would a lord. Kinda like your already doing. Use a HF merc for better crowd control.
You could add 20 in FOH which also sends out holy bolts (which rip undead, who are typically the physical immune ones), is self targeting, and can be done from far away.
Your damage may not be great and it may take a while but I dont think the pally would be totally undoable.
Credit goes to LordPaul, who has this old guide reposted on pally forums.
-roninDOG
On HF immunities and chill effectiveness: apart from Death Lords (which are HF-immune in normal and nightmare as well), in act 5 hell, dolls, gloams and ghosts have a chill effectiveness of 0 (Arreat Summit numbers )
But act 1 & 2 ghosts in hell have zero chill effectiveness as well, and I'm pretty sure I've been able to chill that lot with HF.
)But act 1 & 2 ghosts in hell have zero chill effectiveness as well, and I'm pretty sure I've been able to chill that lot with HF.
