Golemancer Attempt No.1

Great post. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

I've got a couple of points though.

About the Malice IG *cough*prayer merc*cough*
You mentioned earlier about making an IG from Ancients Pledge but that the runeword doesn't have any attack mods - this is true, but you could make it in a +ED% pally shield......
@SSOG About the mojomancer, I guess theoretically you could use IM to kill act bosses and the ancients?
For an act1 weapon upgrade, melody and zephyr might be doable
Melody
Shael + Ko + Nef
+50% Enhanced Damage
+300% Damage To Undead
+3 To Bow and Crossbow Skills (Amazon Only)
+3 To Critical Strike (Amazon Only)
+3 To Dodge (Amazon Only)
+3 To Slow Missiles (Amazon Only)
20% Increased Attack Speed
+10 To Dexterity
Knockback

Zephyr
Ort + Eth
+33% Enhanced Damage
+66 To Attack Rating
Adds 1-50 Lightning Damage
-25% Target Defense
+25 Defense
25% Faster Run/Walk
25% Increased Attack Speed
7% Chance To Cast Level 1 Twister When Struck

Something else you might find useful is the poor mans teleport - using a tp to reposition your 'army' - cast a tp, go through it and straight back to put Aliza and golem where you want them.
 
Phew - real life can really eat into your time, can't it? Work has been crazy so no D2. :sad2: Maybe later today? :smiley:

@yiuman -
Malice IG- Prayer will counteract the life drain, but then you cannot use a Might merc. This will offset the effect of the additional damage from Malice - but it will also go some way to redressing the balance between the merc and the IG in terms of who actually is doing the killing. This really ought to be tested.
Ancient's Pledge IG - I hadn't thought of using an ED% pally shield. Another thing to test!
Melody Bow - some useful mods even without the Amazon-only skills. The runes are well beyond me at the moment but would be reasonably affordable after the NM HF - if the build can get that far!
Zephyr Bow - easily affordable at this time.

The problem with the two Bow runewords is I will lose some or all of my elemental damage/poison-PMH/chilling ability. Alternative sources will be required. Lots to think about!

@tuvard - in SP, press enter to open a chat window and type /players 8 (there's a space between the "s" and the "8". You can use numbers 1 to 8 inclusive to adjust the difficulty. The setting you use stays with any game you start, with any character, until you actually close down Diablo 2 entirely.
 
Two Searches

It was Balboa's task now to locate Anya, lost under mysterious circumstances somewhere along the Crystalline Passage. The passage itself is dangerous enough, but the Frozen River was over-run with Frozen Creepers, Stygian Harlots and Abominables - at one point, Sparky had disappeared under a deluge of the hulking beasts.
Worse was to follow - a creature by the name of Frozenstein ... Nevertheless, the obstacles were overcome, with Anya located and freed.
The adventure in the 'Passage had a sting in the tail - a boss pack of 'Harlots overwhelmed Sparky and threatened to do the same to Balboa and Aliza. In desperation, and cornered, Balboa raised a clay golem between himself and the ravening hoard. Gumby's influence soon turned the tide and order was restored.

Anya's revelations led Balboa to his second search of the day - the traitor, Nihlathak. A hastily cast portal enabled our group to find the last elder's temple - but that was when the trouble began. A more mainstream necromancer should find little to trouble him in the garden of Pindleskin - there are ways to lay the unqiuet dead to final rest. As it was, Balboa was engaged in a pitched battle with an enemy that all too frequently renewed itself. Aliza's arrows shattered the occasional corpse but it was still a long fight. The commotion drew Pindleskin and his minions out into the garden, but the end result was never in doubt.

Once in the temple, the situation looked bleak. Enemies that were slain raised themselves from the ground and renewed the fight. Balboa's progess was a process of inching forward but fighting rearguard actions at regular intervals. Sometimes things got tough.
There was a long running battle all the way to the corner that the Traitor had hidden himself in - it was almost a relief to have the end in sight.
It was fortunate that a skill shrine had boosted Balboa's abilities earlier; he took the opportunity to create a stronger golem (and bone armour) under the shrine's influence. Without this, the end result may well have been different. Nihlathak was a crafty and resourceful opponent, more so than anything Balboa had yet encountered. A cat and mouse game unfolded - Nih teleported whenever he was pinned down by Aliza's shafts or directly confronted by Sparky's fire. Balboa needed to Confuse the minions that Nih revived in small numbers, whilst dodging Corpse Explosions and all the while keep AmpDam cast upon the enemy necro. The fight lasted maybe as long as ten minutes, and cost Balboa a number of blue pots - the mana cost of spamming the two curses was somewhat ruinous. Eventually, it became apparent which necromancer would win this fascinating contest and Balboa started to laugh, in relief and delight. In time, the traitor found his reward.

There were still strong enemies to be vanquished after this but Balboa's confidence was high now, and nothing that remained in the temple could stand against him.

The Glacial Trail lies before us now, but a major milestone has been passed.

The Stats and, ummm ...
115 Stats and 8 Skill Points unspent
Imbue and Socketing quests unspent
I'm currently looking for socketables to create runewords in - a bow for Aliza, armour for Balboa, an item to creat a Rusty out of, etc. I've decided, if Aliza gets an enhanced damage bow, I will create a Rusty with poison and cold mods - see how that goes.
A single skill point has been placed most allowed skills now, and 13 in CG, 9 in GM and 2 in IG - I must have accidentally put a second point in there! No matter, more points will follow.

Golemancer GumbyBalboa - Level 43, Act 5, The Glacial Trail
 
yeah nice reward from Nitla :cry: ... so far so good ur mancer still going on yeah good maybe i today kill Nitla too but now don't have time :undecided: ...

co soon:wave:

Greet Sivy
 
The Approach to the Summit

The air became thin as the team made their way towards the summit of Mt Arreat. This had the effect of heightening the sense of anticipation we all felt. The panoramic views were breathtaking, contributing to the growing sense of awe.
As we travelled the Ancients Way passage, great numbers of hell-spawned creatures stood in our path. The iron golem that Balboa had whimsically conjured from a magical sword proved unequal to the task. A sturdy fire golem replaced it.
A small detour led us to a cavern swarming with Drifters and Vile Temptresses; the initial rush was terrifying. Balboa created Confusion amongst the horde and the creatures fell upon each other. An undead creature of great power proved no match for the fiery golem - Aliza'a arrows finished the monster off.
Danger was ever present, but Balboa's curses meant that it was held at bay. In an icy cellar, there were times when the pressure really was on. Another time, a fearsome boss Frozen Scourge was rendered harmless when he and his minions were unable to approach our group.

All too soon, we reached the end of the Ancients Way and were confronted by the entrance to the Worldstone Keep. Balboa felt the time was right to prepare his strongest Clay Golem yet. He equipped himself with the Crushflange and some magical rings that might help him wield the unique mace more effectively. Eventually, he could no longer put off the ordeal of the Ancients.

Korlic and Talic attacked Gumby whilst Madawc rushed Aliza and Balboa. Balboa's plan of splitting the Ancients and attacking them one at a time faltered and failed. Yet, incredibly, the Ancients were soon in trouble. Aliza alternately poisoned and chilled Madawc - the fearsome fighter was unable to close with Balboa. It was simplicity itself to dodge the slow lunges of Madawc and his thrown axes were ineffectual. Despite Aliza's under-powered bow, the elemental and physical damage took its toll and Madawc was abruptly no longer a threat.
Gumby in the meantime had survived the initial onslaught from Korlic and Talic entirely on his own, although not unscathed. Nevertheless, the erstwhile golem held and slowed the remaining pair of Ancients whilst Aliza sprayed arrows at them both from safe distance. Balboa's Crushflange was in his hand but he hadn't so much as raised it against a foe. Although the combined might of two Ancients meant that Gumby eventually fell apart, he was raised again - whole and fresh, and too strong for the weakened enemy he faced. Korlic fell next, and finally Talic.

Balboa wasted no time, and pressed forward into the 'Keep itself. At times, the denizens therein filled the corridors but Balboa's curses prevented the team being over-whelmed. It wasn't long before the Worldstone Keep waypoint was found. And ... was that a trace of fear that could be heard in the laughter of Baal as it reverbrated throughout the Keep?

Tech Talk
Prior to the Arreat Summit, I was in some doubt as to whether I had the firepower to deal with the Ancients. I haven't yet found an upgrade for Aliza's weapon, nor was I confident that I had available a sufficiently hurty stick if I decided I wanted an Act 2 merc for the job. In the end, I decided that with a strong enough tank, Aliza could chip away at the Ancients given sufficient time. Besides, she's come this far, I want her to finish the game (in Normal, anyway) if at all possible. Just in case, I equipped the Crushflange for myself, plus some +AR rings for good measure but my services were not required. I put my ten unspent Skill points into GM (now slvl 19!) and, just in case, 75 Stat points into Vitality (life is nearly 500 now).
In the end, the Ancients proved easier by far than either Diablo or Nihlathak. I now have 55 spare stats and 1 spare skill point. Not many options left now if Baal proves to be difficult.

Golemancer GumbyBalboa - Level 46, Act 5, Worldstone Keep Level 2
 
I have faith that you (or more likely aliza :P) can kill baal. Gumby and decrep will render baal almost useless, so i predict the greatest threat to ouwill be the tentacles that baal summons.

Anyway congrats on taking out the ancients.
 
wow nice... good luck with baal but for u with ur clay golem and decrepify it's will be easy battle :smiley: ... i fighting with amp and IG = no slow baal... u can stay in one place him :grin:
btw you use CE??... my necro found nice deamon head with +2 revive but i don't use them yet and from few sec ago i buy nice wand +2 skills, +3 decrepify it's very good for me because i think in later nightmare and hell decrepify can be my priority curse but time look this :wink3: ... ok i go play now...
cu soon :wave:

Greet Sivy
 
I'm currently trying to talk myself out of using an IG (with OW or some form of enhanced damage) and decrepify, to deal with Baal. I think that will be a bad idea with Decrepify only lasting 4 seconds and each cast costing me half of my mana :rolleyes:

No CE for me, Sivy. The golem and the merc (mostly the merc, Sindus!) are my killers.

Hopefully tonight's the night!
 
hmm i using CE from time to time... fallen and shamans was big pain for me moments ago... but one fallen gave me a SOL rune and i can make lore now :jig: ... i think about using a RWMod... it's sux for me that we can't have all rune words from the game... grrr hate blizz for that :undecided:
good weapon to OW from IG is Malice - give 100% OW and is easy to make - Ith + El + Eth - my nec use this rw now on crystal sword :-)
ok i go play further :wave:

Greet Sivy
 
Does an IG made from Malice really die? I thought that -replenish thing didn't work.

Fire golem would be useless in hell. Its useless even with infinity and lower resist actually...

Its going to be IG for you...gumby just can't deal that damage. Unless you get a merc that can get crushing blow or open wounds.

You are going to need crushing blow to deal with Hell monsters.
 
yeah Malice golem can die but only when mosters kill him :smiley: ... - replenish don't work... IG has lots heal replenish (~+90/s) my golem in all 1 act worked very well and he is maked from polearm Malice and OW is cool and works great and don't die any time only with Andy fight he can 5-6 chance to die but Andy only hit him :undecided: ... monsters can bit him even with fanaticism + cursed and cursed + might... rest n/c :laugh: ...
i must say for me IG rox actually but maxed clay golem + maxed mastery is great too because tons of hp and slow work nice too...
i don't tests fire golem but hmm nice build for Golem-mancer will be FG max + mastery max+ lower resist (1-5 more is useless) + poison nova and rest in poison synergy... it's can be fun and nice build... when i die my golemancer i make that mancer :D
:wave:

Greet Sivy
 
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The final confrontation

Balboa's plan for his meeting with Baal had undergone several revisions. The smart money was on a Gumby/AmpDam combination, with further slowing being delivered by Aliza's elemental damage bow. The merc had recently found a Superior Razor bow with three sockets - a great upgrade, especially with a flawless sapphire, and perfect topaz and emerald inserted.
Instead of betting smart, Balboa raised an iron golem from a war spear socketed with the Malice runeword, just to see what happened. Mindful of Rusty's fragility, a second special weapon was prepared, a battle axe with the Steel runeword inserted. Surely two golems with Open Wounds capability would be enough? A superior maul with three sockets was later found, to provide Balboa with access to an elemental damage golem, should the runeword golems prove too delicate. Strength in depth.

Thus armed, Balboa's team re-entered the Worldstone Keep. The Malice Rusty cut through his enemies with pleasing effectiveness and with little sign of taking damage. Any life drain from the Malice was more than compensated for by Rusty's regeneration rate. Aliza's uprated bow and elemental damage were also making their mark. It was only through the combined efforts of Death Lords and Stygian Furies that Rusty displayed any sign of distress. Balboa felt confident of his teams abilities.
Once in the Throne Room, Baal himself cast Decrepify on our team but, oddly, took no other action whatsoever. Balboa ran around in circles trying to provoke the last remaining Prime Evil, but nothing worked. How strange! (Balboa decided that he had dreamt the whole encounter, but in reality, I needed to Save & Exit in order to progress!)

When Balboa entered the Throne Room for the second time, things started off well enough. Achmel, on the other hand, presented a significant obstacle. At some point, with both Balboa and Aliza poisoned and on the run, the Malice Golem perished. Cursing, Balboa retreated and prepared his Steel golem. This was not the plan, Malice was meant to be Balboa's answer to the Lord of Destruction. No matter. The Steel golem proved effective against the last remaining Kurast Council members - Bartuc being among the first to fall.
Things went badly wrong against Ventar the Unholy and his Venom Lords. Even employing hit'n'run tactics, the Steel golem could not survive the assault of four or more of the swift demons - eventually he fell.
Balboa was left with his last iron golem option, the maul with added elemental damage. When he cursed the last two Venom Lords with Confuse, Baal threw his Minions of Destruction at us. Led by Lister the Tormentor, the Minions struck at our last Rusty and the remaining 'Lords alike. Such was their fury, no creature lasted long against them. In utter desperation, Balboa threw Gumby at the ravening Minions. Attack and retreat, hit and run, finally, some gains were made. The way to the Worldstone Chamber was clear.

Balboa confronted Baal with the powerful Clay Golem which had outfaced Lister and all his horde. Battle was joined, but Balboa had one final card to play - an Iron Golem was cast upon the long-hoarded Crushflange, which Andariel had left behind so long ago. The weapon, so powerful and yet so useless in his hands, was Balboa's answer to the weakness of his golems' attack. Casting Decrepify on Baal, and with Aliza's arrows further slowing the monster, Ball was helplessly pinned by the Golem's ferocity. Crushflange's essence lent fire resistance to the golem, and he was able to simply shrug off Baal's cold attack. What followed was inevitable.

Meet Slayer GumbyBalboa.

Random blurb
Balboa has 65 Stats and 1 Skill point to spend. GM is maxed, CG is 13 and IG 3. 1 point in most of the rest of his allowed skills (but not LR or BP. Possibly no points will go into these two although one in LR is probably a good idea.)
Normal difficulty was beaten at /Players 8, single pass and mostly full clear (some of Act 2 Sewers got left and I missed the red portal in the Frozen Tundra in Act 5 (I may go back for this).
I wonder how long I can keep the Crushflange Golem alive!

Slayer GumbyBalboa - Level 48, Act 1 Nightmare, Rogue Encampment
 
LozHinge the Unhinged said:
Balboa's plan for his meeting with Baal had undergone several revisions. The smart money was on a Gumby/AmpDam combination, with further slowing being delivered by Aliza's elemental damage bow. The merc had recently found a Superior Razor bow with three sockets - a great upgrade, especially with a flawless sapphire, and perfect topaz and emerald inserted.
Instead of betting smart, Balboa raised an iron golem from a war spear socketed with the Malice runeword, just to see what happened. Mindful of Rusty's fragility, a second special weapon was prepared, a battle axe with the Steel runeword inserted. Surely two golems with Open Wounds capability would be enough? A superior maul with three sockets was later found, to provide Balboa with access to an elemental damage golem, should the runeword golems prove too delicate. Strength in depth.

Thus armed, Balboa's team re-entered the Worldstone Keep. The Malice Rusty cut through his enemies with pleasing effectiveness and with little sign of taking damage. Any life drain from the Malice was more than compensated for by Rusty's regeneration rate. Aliza's uprated bow and elemental damage were also making their mark. It was only through the combined efforts of Death Lords and Stygian Furies that Rusty displayed any sign of distress. Balboa felt confident of his teams abilities.
Once in the Throne Room, Baal himself cast Decrepify on our team but, oddly, took no other action whatsoever. Balboa ran around in circles trying to provoke the last remaining Prime Evil, but nothing worked. How strange! (Balboa decided that he had dreamt the whole encounter, but in reality, I needed to Save & Exit in order to progress!)

When Balboa entered the Throne Room for the second time, things started off well enough. Achmel, on the other hand, presented a significant obstacle. At some point, with both Balboa and Aliza poisoned and on the run, the Malice Golem perished. Cursing, Balboa retreated and prepared his Steel golem. This was not the plan, Malice was meant to be Balboa's answer to the Lord of Destruction. No matter. The Steel golem proved effective against the last remaining Kurast Council members - Bartuc being among the first to fall.
Things went badly wrong against Ventar the Unholy and his Venom Lords. Even employing hit'n'run tactics, the Steel golem could not survive the assault of four or more of the swift demons - eventually he fell.
Balboa was left with his last iron golem option, the maul with added elemental damage. When he cursed the last two Venom Lords with Confuse, Baal threw his Minions of Destruction at us. Led by Lister the Tormentor, the Minions struck at our last Rusty and the remaining 'Lords alike. Such was their fury, no creature lasted long against them. In utter desperation, Balboa threw Gumby at the ravening Minions. Attack and retreat, hit and run, finally, some gains were made. The way to the Worldstone Chamber was clear.

Balboa confronted Baal with the powerful Clay Golem which had outfaced Lister and all his horde. Battle was joined, but Balboa had one final card to play - an Iron Golem was cast upon the long-hoarded Crushflange, which Andariel had left behind so long ago. The weapon, so powerful and yet so useless in his hands, was Balboa's answer to the weakness of his golems' attack. Casting Decrepify on Baal, and with Aliza's arrows further slowing the monster, Ball was helplessly pinned by the Golem's ferocity. Crushflange's essence lent fire resistance to the golem, and he was able to simply shrug off Baal's cold attack. What followed was inevitable.

Meet Slayer GumbyBalboa.

Random blurb
Balboa has 65 Stats and 1 Skill point to spend. GM is maxed, CG is 13 and IG 3. 1 point in most of the rest of his allowed skills (but not LR or BP. Possibly no points will go into these two although one in LR is probably a good idea.)
Normal difficulty was beaten at /Players 8, single pass and mostly full clear (some of Act 2 Sewers got left and I missed the red portal in the Frozen Tundra in Act 5 (I may go back for this).
I wonder how long I can keep the Crushflange Golem alive!

Slayer GumbyBalboa - Level 48, Act 1 Nightmare, Rogue Encampment
Click to expand...

Congratulations! I thought it was pretty epic at the end. The weapon you gained from near the beginning used to defeat the lord of destruction. It was truly movie-esque. Anyway, keep up the good work. :smiley:



 
Such peotic irony, killing the last boss in the game with a weapon dropped by the first boss. I'm glad to hear you made it to nightmare. It should be interesting to see what happens now.
 
gratz LozHinge... Slayer GumbyBalboa yeah sounds nice :flowers:
if u will be careful and u will be runing rescue ur golem to heal in town in before he will die u can play with crushflange golem long time... my Malice golem is for me since 5 akt normal... now i'm in act 2 nightmare after killing Radament :thumbsup:

Greet Sivy

btw i'm interesting what weapon use Aliza and how is her dmg??
 
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It's a Nightmare ...

Balboa's journey into Nightmare Diablo started smoothly. Crushflange Rusty seemed equal to any task and was Aliza's match in terms of killing power. Even the Den of Evil held few terrors. Bishibosh's encampment was teased apart and destroyed in stages - it took time and patience, though. Rusty was not invulnerable - sometimes crowds required Confusing, to allow him a breathing space. Perhaps it was over-confidence that caused the problem that followed ...

The prospect of an encounter with Blood Raven was one which troubled Balboa. He had heard of a crazy Amazon who had taken on the demon and ended up filling the Stony Field with Blood Raven's raised undead.
With the tactics needed to beat the former Rogue captain in mind, Balboa engaged the enemy in the Burial Grounds.
At first things went well. Aliza followed Balboa's lead, ducking under the out-stretched arms of zombies to carry the fight to Blood Raven herself. There were early successes but also setbacks as the demon dodged and hid behind her army. The cat and mouse game took up more and more of Balboa's concentration. He glanced over at the Crushflange golem, who seemed to be tanking ten or twelve zombies without distress - and threw himself whole-heartedly into the fight.
Stupid mistake ... at some point, Rusty went down under a host of undead creatures and was nowhere to be seen when Balboa next glanced in his direction.
Fool. Balboa's rage and disappointment warred within him for a few moments. Gumby was recalled to service - here was a summoning that could easily tank the entire army of zombies. Aliza and Balboa re-doubled their efforts to bring down Blood Raven, whose speed and agility meant that most attacks failed to strike their target. In his frustration, Balboa tried ever more outré strategies to get to grips with his slippery foe. Finally, the chance came - Blood Raven was backed against a wall by Gumby and pinned down by Aliza's shafts. Even Balboa raised a weapon to assist in this - although the damage he caused was negligible, he was able to inflict a chilling effect that further slowed the Turned Rogue. They end came soon after, although the victory felt hollow.

Rusty made a re-appearance in the Dark Wood - cast from a Rare Axe with potent anti-undead qualities. Against "normal" foes, he was less effective. Nevertheless, he proved his worth in Tristram. A Rare Maul was later found - enhanced damage (and even more damage against the undead) plus a rather amusing additional ability - this version of Rusty almost compensates for the loss of Crushflange. His strength against normal monsters is greater than that of Crushflange, but the crushing blow will surely be missed against Bosses.

The Countess has been defeated (she provided the Team with Dol and Nef runes) and the Black Marsh Waypoint secured. A Wormskull bone helm was found in some dank underground hole at some stage. Some lightning resistance has been sacrificed to accommodate this new addition.

Random musings
A gruelling and disappointing day, overall, but progress has been made. The loss of Crushflange was unnecessary and galling.
75 Stats and 2 Skill points unspent. There is pressure to spend some points on Strength in order to equip better items. Wormskull has made Balboa's curses slightly more effective, as well as his other skills, of course. Base IG skill is up to 5. All other base skill points unchanged. It's fun collecting Rare items for possible use as a Rusty. I'm trying to collect socketables that can provide useful Runewords - I have another Malice waiting in the wings.

Some answers
@Gluttony, Sindus and Nimbostratus- thanks very much! Balboa is very much at home in Nightmare, but it's still only Act 1. It will get very testing very soon.

@Sivy - stupidity cost me my Crushing Blow golem. I won't make the same mistake again.
Aliza is using a 3-soc Razor Bow, with flawless sapphire and perfect emerald and topaz. Her kill speed will soon become too slow - I'm looking for socketables to stick a runeword in, but not much has turned up as yet. A good unique would be nice!

Slayer GumbyBalboa - Level 50, Act 1 Nightmare, Black Marsh
 
To the Monastery and Beyond

Balboa has collected a number of different Rare items from which to create his Iron Golems. In fact, this subject has become something of an obsession for him. Whereas his primary focus was previously on what Uniques and Set Items he can locate, now he is experimenting, looking for the optimum Rare item that would provide a highly versatile Rusty.

The current version was adequate, doing good damage and, of course, had the entertaining Nova effect. This was especially useful against creatures like Foul Crows, with their small life pool but annoying damage. Balboa's team cleared The Hole in the Black Marsh, but it was time consuming and moderately hard work. His mana pool is at long last sufficient to cast multiple curses - Dim Vision, Terror and AmpDam were extremely useful in the Hole.
The Tamoe Highland was dangerous. Bands of skeletal mages and archers roamed at will - sometimes in appreciable numbers. It was in the 'Highland that Balboa's armour upgrade finally dropped. The rare Leather armour he had been wearing since probably around Act 1, Normal was replaced by Darkglow. Six Stat points were used to make the 36 Strength required.
By the time Balboa's team reached the Barracks, Balboa wanted to experiment again with Rusty - somewhat carelessly, the golem was sacrificed against a mob and the next version prepared. This time, poison, enhanced damage and another CTC Nova was combined with 100% monster flee. The experiment, predictably, wasn't a success - the golem's Terror overwrote Balboa's careful choice of curses, and Rusty spent most of his time chasing after the fleeing monster. Initially amusing, this soon proved tiresome and another new version raised - a Rare broadsword with enhanced damage.
The latest Rusty was beaten into a new shape by The Smith and didn't last long. As a temporary measure, Sparky made a brief reappearance. He was capable of reasonable damage, but was far too fragile.
A trip back to the Rogue Encampment led to a new Rusty - a Rare Flamberge with LL, ED and IAS. He's useful but nothing special. He was instrumental in dismantling an enemy stronghold in one of the Jail levels ... this one was a tough nut to crack. A group of Fallen later attempted their own version of a stronghold - Aliza could scarcely hold her bow for laughing.
The Cathedral presented the most heavily modded boss to date - a regular Renaissance man indeed!

Balboa has a couple of alternative Rustys in mind but isn't sharing at this point. A third, longer term, alternative has recently presented itself, as a result of finding an Amn rune in a chest.

With only a single Aliza NDE to mark progress so far today, the Catacombs L2 WP is available and preparations for Andariel are now in the making.

Stats
79 Stats and 4 Skill points unspent
Best switch resists: F80, C57, L80, P75
I have to say, the tactical battles are the best part of all this. Killing speed is not quick, but it's not impossibly slow either. Trying to bludgeon your way through the game simply won't work. Almost every encounter requires some thought as to curses to be used, merc/golem placement and, quite often, the need for strategic withdrawals. This challenge is really improving my gameplay!

Slayer GumbyBalboa - Level 52, Act 1 Nightmare, Catacombs Lvl 2
 
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