Golemancer Attempt No.2
- Thread starter LozHinge the Unhinged
- Start date
Nimbostratus
New member
Nice job getting this far. And perhaps instead of just a patience contest, maybe you and SD oughta have a minion fight. Iron Golem vs Decoy ftw :laugh:
Oh, and this may be of interest to you- I find that whenever I use a portal to return to town, then go back to the area, many of the corpses lying around disappear.
Oh, and this may be of interest to you- I find that whenever I use a portal to return to town, then go back to the area, many of the corpses lying around disappear.
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
The Maggot Lair ... Part 1?
Just a quick update on how the 'Lair went. Actually, getting there was a bit ticklish, due to a random Black Raptor boss exploding on death and givind Balboa a NDE. Another 25 points were sunk into Vitality.
The 'Lair itself won't make for interesting reading, a succession of tough bosses made for another marathon session at /players 5.
Notables include Dire Wound, which required a weapon switch - Jemali used the Malice Voulge which slowly (oh so slowly) brought the boss down. A desperate situation occurred on Level Two, when Balboa was flanked and caught from both sides. To make things worse, he seemed to be pinned to the spot, only able to pivot around in place, and taking hits. Fortunately, he was able to reach an emergency portal.
One cause for concern was Rusty's apparent inability to damage anything. I could see his Thorns aura doing something, but this was out-stripped by the monsters' regen. I checked in ATMA to confirm that the golem was still a high damage killing machine with elemental damage ... nope, Rusty was a great sword with no special abilities. WTH? How did that happen? A new Rusty was created from a Strength Feral Axe. Things went a bit smoother then, with Rusty even managing to solo some enemies.
I then hit a re-inforced brick wall - Coldworm's chamber. An hour or more was spent without making any real progress. My vision was getting a bit blurry by the time I decided that the big maggot is going to be parked for now, and re-attempted when Balboa and Jemali have some more levels under their belts. Disappointing, but the balance is too much in favour of the maggots at this point. I have no doubt though that we can beat the bug at a later date.
Stat and Random
89 Stats and 7 Skill points spare
By this point in the game, I'd have thought I would have found at least one Hone Sundan. Oh well.
Rusty can tank most things, but a dozen Sand Maggots and a host of their young are just a bit too much. I have a weapon in mind that I found back in Nightmare for Rusty, it may see action against Duriel.
Jemali is just too frail at this point for a Level 85 area. He needs Decrepify and Life Tap to be rotated with Amp Dam, just to keep him alive.
Thoughts of /players 3, /players 3 toment me.
In reply ...
@Josiphos & Nimbostratus
I'm not in SD's league, but I may well get there :grin:
Decoy vs Rusty - we'll see D3 before we see the end of that battle :wink3:
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 83, Act 2, The Maggot Lair
Just a quick update on how the 'Lair went. Actually, getting there was a bit ticklish, due to a random Black Raptor boss exploding on death and givind Balboa a NDE. Another 25 points were sunk into Vitality.
The 'Lair itself won't make for interesting reading, a succession of tough bosses made for another marathon session at /players 5.
Notables include Dire Wound, which required a weapon switch - Jemali used the Malice Voulge which slowly (oh so slowly) brought the boss down. A desperate situation occurred on Level Two, when Balboa was flanked and caught from both sides. To make things worse, he seemed to be pinned to the spot, only able to pivot around in place, and taking hits. Fortunately, he was able to reach an emergency portal.
One cause for concern was Rusty's apparent inability to damage anything. I could see his Thorns aura doing something, but this was out-stripped by the monsters' regen. I checked in ATMA to confirm that the golem was still a high damage killing machine with elemental damage ... nope, Rusty was a great sword with no special abilities. WTH? How did that happen? A new Rusty was created from a Strength Feral Axe. Things went a bit smoother then, with Rusty even managing to solo some enemies.
I then hit a re-inforced brick wall - Coldworm's chamber. An hour or more was spent without making any real progress. My vision was getting a bit blurry by the time I decided that the big maggot is going to be parked for now, and re-attempted when Balboa and Jemali have some more levels under their belts. Disappointing, but the balance is too much in favour of the maggots at this point. I have no doubt though that we can beat the bug at a later date.
Stat and Random
89 Stats and 7 Skill points spare
By this point in the game, I'd have thought I would have found at least one Hone Sundan. Oh well.
Rusty can tank most things, but a dozen Sand Maggots and a host of their young are just a bit too much. I have a weapon in mind that I found back in Nightmare for Rusty, it may see action against Duriel.
Jemali is just too frail at this point for a Level 85 area. He needs Decrepify and Life Tap to be rotated with Amp Dam, just to keep him alive.
Thoughts of /players 3, /players 3 toment me.
In reply ...
@Josiphos & Nimbostratus
I'm not in SD's league, but I may well get there :grin:
Decoy vs Rusty - we'll see D3 before we see the end of that battle :wink3:
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 83, Act 2, The Maggot Lair
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
The Viper Temple (alt. title - "Aargh!")
The Valley of the Snakes - enough to drive a chill down the spine of even a non-ophidiophobe. Balboa drove us through the Lost City in search of the snake temple Drognan had mentioned. Personally, I though that the Lost City wasn't such a bad a place, you could decorate, put up a lick of paint, and you have your choice of (run-down) apartments ...
There were lots of unfriendly residents in the 'City - many of these urbanites had developed pretty thick, nay, stone, skins. In Hell, stone skin + regeneration <= invulnerable. Amp Damage can swing the odds somewhat in your favour, but Balboa had other ideas. "Use this", he said to Jemali, swapping a puny Voulge for the merc's Hyperion Spear with ED and Cold damage. Yes, Malice was what we needed. The stone skins bled just fine once Open Wounds was in the equation. Possessed creatures are not Ampable, but Open Wounds works well on them, too.
Once underground, slow but steady progress was made. The Claw Vipers (and to a lesser extent, the Salamanders) are glass cannons. Even Rusty was able to kill them, one on one, and it was funny to see them kill themselves on his Thorns aura. In groups, it was necessary to Decripify the serpents, to ensure that their damage output was matched by the fighters' regeneration abilities. When required, Balboa would Life Tap for Jemali's benefit.
We had some mishaps, of course. Balboa had clumsily knocked over an urn whilst some Salamanders approached us - two magical swords appeared from nowhere and we were driven back.
Alarm bells sounded when a particularly nasty customer turned up, but Balboa threw the Malice Voulge to Jemali and order was restored.
Balboa can be a canny tactician at times (even if he is cataclysmically clumsy) - he often used doorways to control the battle. The downside of that is that Jemali, peanut brain that he is, sometimes fails to grasp what is required of him in these circumstances. More than once, he stood back and watched Rusty go about his business, presumably lost in admiration of Balboa's martial and leadership abilities. Rusty was terribly slow dispatching the Vipers on his own - his Thorns aura doing the bulk of his job. One memorable moment was when Balboa, exasperated by the merc's behaviour, literally shoved the shamed spearsman into the fray. Jemali (simpleton that he is) was not content to stop at the doorway to engage - no, he rushed through the door and was promptly surrounded by Salamanders and Vipers. Screaming in frustration, Balboa led the retreat and reclaimed Jemali from a death I'm not sure he didn't really deserve.
A fly in the ointment was a Mummy Sarcophagus in one of the rooms, which effectively blocked our progress in that direction. Balboa led us back down an alternative route to by-pass this problem - only to discover another Sarcophagus in a corridor. It was Rusty, probably the true brains of our outfit, who discovered the means to overcome this difficulty. He simply stood against the Sarcophagus door, preventing further Dried Corpses from emerging. Encouraged by this success, Jemali slew the other 'Corpses and joined in Rusty's efforts to destroy the box. Unfortunately, the diminishing returns of Rusty's Crushing Blow meant that eventually, damage inflicted was matched by regen. Balboa checked his backpack for the Malice Voulge as Open Wounds is effective in these cases - only to find that he had left it in his stash in town! An impass ... until Balboa remembered that he can inflict poison with his own melee attack. I cannot remember when Balboa last swung a weapon in anger (not counting the times he has attempted to strike Jemali), so his lapse may be forgivable. With Balboa's help, we were triumphant.
Another Sarcophagus was encountered and destroyed, this time with Balboa putting his neck in the noose and blocking the door. Encouraged by this success we retraced our steps to the room with the parked Sarcophagus. This trick, although risky, really works.
Descending to the next level, we instead somehow found ourselves back in Town. I'm at a loss to explain this, but Drognan informed us that we must clear the Temple again. The Gods are strange in their ways (and annoying as Hell).
Stats and - Aargh!
94 Stats and 8 Skill points free
Lessons learned: Malice >> Stone Skin, Thorns > Claw Vipers
My damage output and defence is much improved when I am able to position Jemali behind Rusty. I wish I had a Skill which allowed me to force them to do this.
Things were going so well! I descended to the Viper Altar level and immediately experienced a crash. *&%$£* it! All that hard work ... Well, all I can do now is (cross fingers it was a one-off) re-run the Temple at /players 1 until I reach the Altar and switch back to /p5. Irritation in extremis.
The one bright spot - I found an amulet in my stash recently which, when I id'd it, turned out to be:
Hexing Amulet of Teleportation
Required Level: 48
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x172415d4
+1 to Curses (Necromancer Only)
Level 2 Teleport (11/25 Charges)
I've never used teleport in anger (I don't believe in it), but it's a temptation now :grin:
I should thank Insane Wayne - one of his posts described how he stood against a Sarcophagus door to keep it shut, so I was aware of the tactic. However, this is the first time I was able to successfully use it myself. The main problem with me using this trick is that you need to use a pitifully vulnerable Necromancer as the door-stopper. Nervy stuff!
Anyway, back to the 'Temple
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 84, Act 2, The Viper Temple
The Valley of the Snakes - enough to drive a chill down the spine of even a non-ophidiophobe. Balboa drove us through the Lost City in search of the snake temple Drognan had mentioned. Personally, I though that the Lost City wasn't such a bad a place, you could decorate, put up a lick of paint, and you have your choice of (run-down) apartments ...
There were lots of unfriendly residents in the 'City - many of these urbanites had developed pretty thick, nay, stone, skins. In Hell, stone skin + regeneration <= invulnerable. Amp Damage can swing the odds somewhat in your favour, but Balboa had other ideas. "Use this", he said to Jemali, swapping a puny Voulge for the merc's Hyperion Spear with ED and Cold damage. Yes, Malice was what we needed. The stone skins bled just fine once Open Wounds was in the equation. Possessed creatures are not Ampable, but Open Wounds works well on them, too.
Once underground, slow but steady progress was made. The Claw Vipers (and to a lesser extent, the Salamanders) are glass cannons. Even Rusty was able to kill them, one on one, and it was funny to see them kill themselves on his Thorns aura. In groups, it was necessary to Decripify the serpents, to ensure that their damage output was matched by the fighters' regeneration abilities. When required, Balboa would Life Tap for Jemali's benefit.
We had some mishaps, of course. Balboa had clumsily knocked over an urn whilst some Salamanders approached us - two magical swords appeared from nowhere and we were driven back.
Alarm bells sounded when a particularly nasty customer turned up, but Balboa threw the Malice Voulge to Jemali and order was restored.
Balboa can be a canny tactician at times (even if he is cataclysmically clumsy) - he often used doorways to control the battle. The downside of that is that Jemali, peanut brain that he is, sometimes fails to grasp what is required of him in these circumstances. More than once, he stood back and watched Rusty go about his business, presumably lost in admiration of Balboa's martial and leadership abilities. Rusty was terribly slow dispatching the Vipers on his own - his Thorns aura doing the bulk of his job. One memorable moment was when Balboa, exasperated by the merc's behaviour, literally shoved the shamed spearsman into the fray. Jemali (simpleton that he is) was not content to stop at the doorway to engage - no, he rushed through the door and was promptly surrounded by Salamanders and Vipers. Screaming in frustration, Balboa led the retreat and reclaimed Jemali from a death I'm not sure he didn't really deserve.
A fly in the ointment was a Mummy Sarcophagus in one of the rooms, which effectively blocked our progress in that direction. Balboa led us back down an alternative route to by-pass this problem - only to discover another Sarcophagus in a corridor. It was Rusty, probably the true brains of our outfit, who discovered the means to overcome this difficulty. He simply stood against the Sarcophagus door, preventing further Dried Corpses from emerging. Encouraged by this success, Jemali slew the other 'Corpses and joined in Rusty's efforts to destroy the box. Unfortunately, the diminishing returns of Rusty's Crushing Blow meant that eventually, damage inflicted was matched by regen. Balboa checked his backpack for the Malice Voulge as Open Wounds is effective in these cases - only to find that he had left it in his stash in town! An impass ... until Balboa remembered that he can inflict poison with his own melee attack. I cannot remember when Balboa last swung a weapon in anger (not counting the times he has attempted to strike Jemali), so his lapse may be forgivable. With Balboa's help, we were triumphant.
Another Sarcophagus was encountered and destroyed, this time with Balboa putting his neck in the noose and blocking the door. Encouraged by this success we retraced our steps to the room with the parked Sarcophagus. This trick, although risky, really works.
Descending to the next level, we instead somehow found ourselves back in Town. I'm at a loss to explain this, but Drognan informed us that we must clear the Temple again. The Gods are strange in their ways (and annoying as Hell).
Stats and - Aargh!
94 Stats and 8 Skill points free
Lessons learned: Malice >> Stone Skin, Thorns > Claw Vipers
My damage output and defence is much improved when I am able to position Jemali behind Rusty. I wish I had a Skill which allowed me to force them to do this.
Things were going so well! I descended to the Viper Altar level and immediately experienced a crash. *&%$£* it! All that hard work ... Well, all I can do now is (cross fingers it was a one-off) re-run the Temple at /players 1 until I reach the Altar and switch back to /p5. Irritation in extremis.
The one bright spot - I found an amulet in my stash recently which, when I id'd it, turned out to be:
Hexing Amulet of Teleportation
Required Level: 48
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x172415d4
+1 to Curses (Necromancer Only)
Level 2 Teleport (11/25 Charges)
I've never used teleport in anger (I don't believe in it), but it's a temptation now :grin:
I should thank Insane Wayne - one of his posts described how he stood against a Sarcophagus door to keep it shut, so I was aware of the tactic. However, this is the first time I was able to successfully use it myself. The main problem with me using this trick is that you need to use a pitifully vulnerable Necromancer as the door-stopper. Nervy stuff!
Anyway, back to the 'Temple
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 84, Act 2, The Viper Temple
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
Players 1 was a breeze by comparison, bearing in mind I only cleared my route to the stairs, not the whole level. The original clearance took a few hours :shocked:
No, what really sucks, really, really sucks, is what just occurred to me this morning - I have to clear the Maggot Lair again. I had parked Coldworm before the crash as I wanted some more levels before trying him again. Even on P1, I cannot imagine this will be fun
As an aside, I have parked the Ancient Tunnels too, for now. /p5 in Level 85 areas with an under-powered build and under-levelled to boot is a recipe for tears. :dizzy: Mind you, I'm level 84 now, so getting there ...
No, what really sucks, really, really sucks, is what just occurred to me this morning - I have to clear the Maggot Lair again. I had parked Coldworm before the crash as I wanted some more levels before trying him again. Even on P1, I cannot imagine this will be fun
As an aside, I have parked the Ancient Tunnels too, for now. /p5 in Level 85 areas with an under-powered build and under-levelled to boot is a recipe for tears. :dizzy: Mind you, I'm level 84 now, so getting there ...
Great read, awesome even, makes me itch for for doing something similar.. 
If advices are welcome though I have one that hopefully would fit this endeavour.
Attract, it is an often neglected curse that can really turn the tide when figthing rough monsters with a lot of minions, not only do you kill the target faster, you draw a lot of attention from yourself and your possé.
Keep up the great adventure and nice writing, looking forward to gumbys next excursion..
If advices are welcome though I have one that hopefully would fit this endeavour.
Attract, it is an often neglected curse that can really turn the tide when figthing rough monsters with a lot of minions, not only do you kill the target faster, you draw a lot of attention from yourself and your possé.
Keep up the great adventure and nice writing, looking forward to gumbys next excursion..
LozHinge,
Do you plan on leveling up a bit more before taking on Coldworm in the Maggot Lair? Maybe that merc polearm damage-per-second trick I talked about in my thread might help solve the problem?
You do an amazing job writing stories and putting in all those screenshots during critical moments....hats off to you!:thumbsup:
Many of my B.Net screenshots have my "map" superimposed on top of the screen but when I forget to turn the map off it shows my game name and password :tongue:
~timevalue
Do you plan on leveling up a bit more before taking on Coldworm in the Maggot Lair? Maybe that merc polearm damage-per-second trick I talked about in my thread might help solve the problem?
You do an amazing job writing stories and putting in all those screenshots during critical moments....hats off to you!:thumbsup:
Many of my B.Net screenshots have my "map" superimposed on top of the screen but when I forget to turn the map off it shows my game name and password :tongue:
~timevalue
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
@Barimen - glad you're enjoying Balboa's adventures! It's tough going at /players 5 in Hell, as it was at /p8 in NM. There have been times when I have had to partially re-run small portions of the map (after computer crashes, and such), which I've done at /P1 - by comparison, that's been really fun!
As for Attract, that's a two-edged sword - on the one hand, it can relieve the pressure on merc and golem, but if you use it next to an unexplored area, you tend to get over-whelmed by additional monsters that come rushing in. It does have it's uses though, especially if you have the monsters bottle-necked at a doorway and you are taking hits from ranged attackers. A useful curse under the right circumstances.
@timevalue - I think I'll need to be at least lvl 85 for Coldworm and the merc will need to be as well. That way, merc and golem won't be at a disadvantage, AR-wise. I'll manage to level-up quite easily, I think, as I can hit the Arcane Sanctuary and some of the false tombs before I need to go back to the Maggot Lair. (Note to self - don't forget the Ancient Tunnels before leaving Act 2.)
I recently had an attempt at crafting a savage polearm and got piece of trash for my pains. However, I am now collecting belts that drop, plus any staves and krises I find. Finances are tight for purchasing these items (merc resurrections are required sometimes), but I'm spending some time picking up items to sell in town to build up my reserves. To be honest though, I'm concentrating mainly on runewords and the occasional useful rare weapon for the merc's use and for use as spare parts for making more Rustys.
As for Attract, that's a two-edged sword - on the one hand, it can relieve the pressure on merc and golem, but if you use it next to an unexplored area, you tend to get over-whelmed by additional monsters that come rushing in. It does have it's uses though, especially if you have the monsters bottle-necked at a doorway and you are taking hits from ranged attackers. A useful curse under the right circumstances.
@timevalue - I think I'll need to be at least lvl 85 for Coldworm and the merc will need to be as well. That way, merc and golem won't be at a disadvantage, AR-wise. I'll manage to level-up quite easily, I think, as I can hit the Arcane Sanctuary and some of the false tombs before I need to go back to the Maggot Lair. (Note to self - don't forget the Ancient Tunnels before leaving Act 2.)
I recently had an attempt at crafting a savage polearm and got piece of trash for my pains. However, I am now collecting belts that drop, plus any staves and krises I find. Finances are tight for purchasing these items (merc resurrections are required sometimes), but I'm spending some time picking up items to sell in town to build up my reserves. To be honest though, I'm concentrating mainly on runewords and the occasional useful rare weapon for the merc's use and for use as spare parts for making more Rustys.
I don't know if you can do this on single-player or not, but...couldn't you go back to the vendors in Act 2 Normal and buy a cheap kris, staff, and belt for a song? I think the vendors in previous difficulties still sell the low-level dirt cheap items....throw in a chipped diamond and you still get a shot at a savage polearm?
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
The Temple and The Palace
Balboa had hustled us through the first level of the Claw Viper Temple, disturbed (as were we all) by the sense of deja vu we were experiencing. The stairs to a second level were located with uncanny ease.
Having decended the stairs, we cautiously circled around a central altar and were immediately charged by a powerful force of Claw Vipers and Embalmed. Balboa cast an emergency portal ("Just in case, lads", he said, "I've got every faith in your capabilities.") Thankfully, Decrepify slowed the vicious creatures' attacks.
Worse was to come, Salamanders and their leader, Fangskin. A fearsome battle ensued, but the victory was ours. The Sun was free!
No rest for the wicked, though. "Who are you calling 'wicked'?", asked Balboa but I pretended not to hear him. We had returned to Lut Gholein for a well earned break but instead were summoned before Jerhyn, the ruler of that city. "I think we have rats in the Palace Cellars - I'll relax the rules concerning alcohol if you can exterminate them for me". "We aren't extermi- oof", said Jemali, just prior to Balboa's elbow meeting his diaphragm and thus an agreement was reached.
Searching through the chambers beneath the Palace, looking for rats and other valuables, we were met by a completely unpleasant reception party. "Not my idea of harem girls", yelled Jemali, whereupon two creatures the size of houses crashed in upon us. "Sod this for a game of soldiers", commented Balboa mildly, and he led us back up the stairs. "Let's go the other way, chaps", says the erstwhile golemancer and for once there was total agreement amongst us.
We found another way down, much more to our liking. Inevitably, things took a turn for the worse. At some point, Balboa's attention had wandered - between dodging arrows, keeping the merc alive in the face of Blunderbores and such, our latest Rusty perished - a Malice Executioner Sword that was doing fair damage. Pity, as all we had to replace him with was the Malice Voulge that Jemali regularly uses plus a rare War Club with ED and LL. Balboa opted for the latter, but this was largely ineffective it has to be said.
A succession of battles with boss packs ensued. The Blunderbores were very damaging and couldn't be tanked without Decrepify. Groups were broken up with Terror and Dim Vision. Dune Beasts provided a diversion, but they were scarcely better. Balboa tried wherever possible to bottleneck our enemies at doorways, casting DV upon the ranks of archers beyond. When we were caught out in the open, it was touch and go - Jemali was knocked flying many times and Rusty was not immune to their blows. When faced by boss Blunderbores and their minions, Jemali had to switch to Malice to do any appreciable damage against them.
Invaders were extremely irritating foes. When wounded they would run off and lead the two fighters - never the sharpest tools in the bag - into rooms full of archers. Balboa's orders were ignored and once again he resorted to drastic measures to impose his will. Nevertheless, the golemancer's tactics were paying off and we at last approached the final few rooms. One last nasty puzzle and one final nasty boss, and we were done. The portal to the Arcane Sanctuary and its Waypoint belong to us.
Stats and Talk
No change in stats or skills
The loss of yet another Malice Rusty was a blow as it temporarily left me without a killer golem. I couldn't afford to sacrifice Jemali's alternative weapon so I had to make do with a stop-gap. I will try to keep more options in my stash in future. To this effect, I now have in my in-game stash a War Spear with Malice runes, a Giant Thresher with Strength and a Stygian pike with further Strength runes (I won't insert the runes until required). The Malice Voulge will be Rustified, but all this leaves me without any spare Iths and only Nefs to make Eths. Oh well. Jemali will retain the pSapphire/pSkull socketed rare Hyperion Spear for when I need to have a source of cold/slow.
It's worth saying, those Blunderbores really hurt. Careful man-management and use of curses were needed else my two fighters simply wouldn't have survived. Yikes, CB sucks when you're on the receiving end.
There were two occasions when decending further into the Cellars when I had to go back up the stairs and try the other route down. There seems to be a right way and a wrong way to approach this part of the game - you need to be flexible. The Cellars, with their numerous archers and Blunderbores, is one of my least favourite areas in the game, yet on this occasion I enjoyed the technical challenge. It was tough, and without DV probably impossible for this character, but satisfying (as long as you're not in a hurry).
In reply
@timevalue - I am trying to limit my backtracking in the game, so going back to Normal/NM is a bit of a grey area as far as my self-imposed rules are concerned. I may be forced to go back to NM, if I eventually have to get myself a Might Merc. Another step towards cookie-cutterdom :embarassed:
Changing difficulties will reset my maps (as I'm playing SP), but with re-running being forbidden to me, I guess this matters not.
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 84, Act 2, The Arcane Sanctuary
Balboa had hustled us through the first level of the Claw Viper Temple, disturbed (as were we all) by the sense of deja vu we were experiencing. The stairs to a second level were located with uncanny ease.
Having decended the stairs, we cautiously circled around a central altar and were immediately charged by a powerful force of Claw Vipers and Embalmed. Balboa cast an emergency portal ("Just in case, lads", he said, "I've got every faith in your capabilities.") Thankfully, Decrepify slowed the vicious creatures' attacks.
Worse was to come, Salamanders and their leader, Fangskin. A fearsome battle ensued, but the victory was ours. The Sun was free!
No rest for the wicked, though. "Who are you calling 'wicked'?", asked Balboa but I pretended not to hear him. We had returned to Lut Gholein for a well earned break but instead were summoned before Jerhyn, the ruler of that city. "I think we have rats in the Palace Cellars - I'll relax the rules concerning alcohol if you can exterminate them for me". "We aren't extermi- oof", said Jemali, just prior to Balboa's elbow meeting his diaphragm and thus an agreement was reached.
Searching through the chambers beneath the Palace, looking for rats and other valuables, we were met by a completely unpleasant reception party. "Not my idea of harem girls", yelled Jemali, whereupon two creatures the size of houses crashed in upon us. "Sod this for a game of soldiers", commented Balboa mildly, and he led us back up the stairs. "Let's go the other way, chaps", says the erstwhile golemancer and for once there was total agreement amongst us.
We found another way down, much more to our liking. Inevitably, things took a turn for the worse. At some point, Balboa's attention had wandered - between dodging arrows, keeping the merc alive in the face of Blunderbores and such, our latest Rusty perished - a Malice Executioner Sword that was doing fair damage. Pity, as all we had to replace him with was the Malice Voulge that Jemali regularly uses plus a rare War Club with ED and LL. Balboa opted for the latter, but this was largely ineffective it has to be said.
A succession of battles with boss packs ensued. The Blunderbores were very damaging and couldn't be tanked without Decrepify. Groups were broken up with Terror and Dim Vision. Dune Beasts provided a diversion, but they were scarcely better. Balboa tried wherever possible to bottleneck our enemies at doorways, casting DV upon the ranks of archers beyond. When we were caught out in the open, it was touch and go - Jemali was knocked flying many times and Rusty was not immune to their blows. When faced by boss Blunderbores and their minions, Jemali had to switch to Malice to do any appreciable damage against them.
Invaders were extremely irritating foes. When wounded they would run off and lead the two fighters - never the sharpest tools in the bag - into rooms full of archers. Balboa's orders were ignored and once again he resorted to drastic measures to impose his will. Nevertheless, the golemancer's tactics were paying off and we at last approached the final few rooms. One last nasty puzzle and one final nasty boss, and we were done. The portal to the Arcane Sanctuary and its Waypoint belong to us.
Stats and Talk
No change in stats or skills
The loss of yet another Malice Rusty was a blow as it temporarily left me without a killer golem. I couldn't afford to sacrifice Jemali's alternative weapon so I had to make do with a stop-gap. I will try to keep more options in my stash in future. To this effect, I now have in my in-game stash a War Spear with Malice runes, a Giant Thresher with Strength and a Stygian pike with further Strength runes (I won't insert the runes until required). The Malice Voulge will be Rustified, but all this leaves me without any spare Iths and only Nefs to make Eths. Oh well. Jemali will retain the pSapphire/pSkull socketed rare Hyperion Spear for when I need to have a source of cold/slow.
It's worth saying, those Blunderbores really hurt. Careful man-management and use of curses were needed else my two fighters simply wouldn't have survived. Yikes, CB sucks when you're on the receiving end.
There were two occasions when decending further into the Cellars when I had to go back up the stairs and try the other route down. There seems to be a right way and a wrong way to approach this part of the game - you need to be flexible. The Cellars, with their numerous archers and Blunderbores, is one of my least favourite areas in the game, yet on this occasion I enjoyed the technical challenge. It was tough, and without DV probably impossible for this character, but satisfying (as long as you're not in a hurry).
In reply
@timevalue - I am trying to limit my backtracking in the game, so going back to Normal/NM is a bit of a grey area as far as my self-imposed rules are concerned. I may be forced to go back to NM, if I eventually have to get myself a Might Merc. Another step towards cookie-cutterdom :embarassed:
Changing difficulties will reset my maps (as I'm playing SP), but with re-running being forbidden to me, I guess this matters not.
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 84, Act 2, The Arcane Sanctuary
Nimbostratus
New member
Nice job getting this far, Loz. Though I'd be very careful about using bonewalls. They seem to lure in critters from LONG ways away- I've accidentally lured out Mephisto while still in one of the side rooms of the Durance before. ._.
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
Thanks, Nimbostratus.
I've noticed the effect you mention regarding Bone Walls - I only employ them when I know I can deal with the consequences (much the same as with Confuse and Attract curses).
Yikes @ getting Mephisto coming after you before you're ready! :shocked:
I've noticed the effect you mention regarding Bone Walls - I only employ them when I know I can deal with the consequences (much the same as with Confuse and Attract curses).
Yikes @ getting Mephisto coming after you before you're ready! :shocked:
Nimbostratus
New member
Yeah, that was probably one of my worst Meph runs ever, even as a summoner. Council member + boss pack + particularly nasty mods + Meph = ow.
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
The Arcane Sanctuary
Balboa and Jemali paused when we stepped from the waypoint, and even our new Malice Rusty seemed to pause in mechanical mid-stride. An incredible path through the Heavens!
We randomly chose the path leading North-East (if such terms have any relevance in this strange place) and were greeted by a pack of Ghoul Lords. Dim Vision made them easy prey. Stiffer opposition was provided by a champion pack of Specters. DV, Decrepify and AmpDam made for very straightforward progress, with only the occasional Lightning Spire giving us serious pause for thought. Expecting a long search for the Summoner, we had by chance picked the right spur first time. Despatching the creator of the Sanctuary himself was a simple matter.
By prior arrangement, Jemali was employing a Strength Giant Thresher and a Malice War Spear according to need, with Balboa holding onto the spare weapon. The 'Thresher made relatively short work of the Lightning Spires we met. Balboa was tagged a few times by stray bolts, but suffered little harm from them.
Things became interesting when we started to encounter portals, but at least we had an idea of what we were getting into - unlike Stair Traps! The creatures in the 'Sanctuary were no match for our fighters under most circumstances and the pavements ran red with their blood.
The structure of this place made for some challenges, however - Balboa needed to be quick with his curses to manage our foes. When lightning bolts started crashing in on our group, Balboa prudently kept a safe distance. At any given time in such an environment, our forces could become separated, but either fighter was able to deal with many situations on their own. Larger groups demanded a more unified approach, of course. As ever, Decrepify stabilised matters before they could get out of hand.
Poor Jemali found that his sense of balance was upset - Balboa had no idea he is prone to vertigo. He needed to "take a moment" occasionally, but Rusty was up to the job. We did run into one particularly tricky situation - we needed to portal across to another platform that was over-run by Hell Clan and Ghoul Lords. Balboa managed to Terror the creatures away from the target portal and DV them in place long enough for us to establish a beachhead.
In the end, though, the strange celestial provided us with a more gentle distraction than we have been accustomed to of late.
Stats and Random
No change in Stats and Skills. I made the decision to stash two poison res grand charms as I am fed up with having practically no spare inventory space whilst carrying the merc's spare weapon. Poison res is down to 48% now, but I won't worry about this until I go back to the Maggot Lair (which may be next). Other resistances on best switch are F79%, C27% and L80%. I don't seem to be able to find any cold resist charms at the moment.
When Jemali attacked the Specters alone, his best damage was done with the Malice stick. If he and Malice Rusty attacked together, he seemed to do more damage with his Strength stick. I'm not sure why this is, perhaps my observation was faulty. Question - when Malice reduces the enemy's defence, does this reduction count for other players/minions?
I was able to observe Rusty's Thorns aura at work sometimes. I even saw it get a kill on one occasion. Regen generally overwhelms the damage it does, certainly in respect of Hell Clan, but it made me wonder what would happen if IG were maxed. Currently, Rusty is pre-buffed at slvl 13. I have 8 Skill points to spend as of now, but I'm hedging my bets as I know I will need more points (maybe all 8) in DV soon.
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 84, Act 2, The Maggot Lair, Part 2
Balboa and Jemali paused when we stepped from the waypoint, and even our new Malice Rusty seemed to pause in mechanical mid-stride. An incredible path through the Heavens!
We randomly chose the path leading North-East (if such terms have any relevance in this strange place) and were greeted by a pack of Ghoul Lords. Dim Vision made them easy prey. Stiffer opposition was provided by a champion pack of Specters. DV, Decrepify and AmpDam made for very straightforward progress, with only the occasional Lightning Spire giving us serious pause for thought. Expecting a long search for the Summoner, we had by chance picked the right spur first time. Despatching the creator of the Sanctuary himself was a simple matter.
By prior arrangement, Jemali was employing a Strength Giant Thresher and a Malice War Spear according to need, with Balboa holding onto the spare weapon. The 'Thresher made relatively short work of the Lightning Spires we met. Balboa was tagged a few times by stray bolts, but suffered little harm from them.
Things became interesting when we started to encounter portals, but at least we had an idea of what we were getting into - unlike Stair Traps! The creatures in the 'Sanctuary were no match for our fighters under most circumstances and the pavements ran red with their blood.
The structure of this place made for some challenges, however - Balboa needed to be quick with his curses to manage our foes. When lightning bolts started crashing in on our group, Balboa prudently kept a safe distance. At any given time in such an environment, our forces could become separated, but either fighter was able to deal with many situations on their own. Larger groups demanded a more unified approach, of course. As ever, Decrepify stabilised matters before they could get out of hand.
Poor Jemali found that his sense of balance was upset - Balboa had no idea he is prone to vertigo. He needed to "take a moment" occasionally, but Rusty was up to the job. We did run into one particularly tricky situation - we needed to portal across to another platform that was over-run by Hell Clan and Ghoul Lords. Balboa managed to Terror the creatures away from the target portal and DV them in place long enough for us to establish a beachhead.
In the end, though, the strange celestial provided us with a more gentle distraction than we have been accustomed to of late.
Stats and Random
No change in Stats and Skills. I made the decision to stash two poison res grand charms as I am fed up with having practically no spare inventory space whilst carrying the merc's spare weapon. Poison res is down to 48% now, but I won't worry about this until I go back to the Maggot Lair (which may be next). Other resistances on best switch are F79%, C27% and L80%. I don't seem to be able to find any cold resist charms at the moment.
When Jemali attacked the Specters alone, his best damage was done with the Malice stick. If he and Malice Rusty attacked together, he seemed to do more damage with his Strength stick. I'm not sure why this is, perhaps my observation was faulty. Question - when Malice reduces the enemy's defence, does this reduction count for other players/minions?
I was able to observe Rusty's Thorns aura at work sometimes. I even saw it get a kill on one occasion. Regen generally overwhelms the damage it does, certainly in respect of Hell Clan, but it made me wonder what would happen if IG were maxed. Currently, Rusty is pre-buffed at slvl 13. I have 8 Skill points to spend as of now, but I'm hedging my bets as I know I will need more points (maybe all 8) in DV soon.
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 84, Act 2, The Maggot Lair, Part 2
Good work so far in the Arcane Sanc, I'm suprised that thorns proved to be useful (or at least better than useless) generally at anythign higher than players 1 the damage that monsters inflict compared to their health makes it a highly useless aura (and iron maiden a pretty useless curse).
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
Thanks, dutes. I wouldn't call Thorns "useful" - not at golem slvl13, anyway. It was capable of taking off a 20th or so of a Hell Clan's life and on at least on one occasion, that was enough to kill it. Against Claw Vipers, the effect was more noticeable, against Dried Corpses it's hardly even detectable. The monster's physical damage output to life ratio is what's important here.
With a 20+ slvl IG though, the aura may well approach useful (but still not get there!).
I haven't used IM in Hell and probably won't, unless it's by accident.
With a 20+ slvl IG though, the aura may well approach useful (but still not get there!).
I haven't used IM in Hell and probably won't, unless it's by accident.
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
Of Maggots and Tombs
Balboa had the idea to look up an old friend in the Maggot Lair and we of course were invited to the re-union.
Expecting nothing but grief, I was astonished when the golemancer strode confidently through the warren and up to Coldworm's chamber. You see, Balboa had a plan. When we reached the final chamber, he Dim Visioned the roomful of maggots and used his Telekinesis ring to pop the chest in the corner. His great idea was to run in and out before the room spawned another army of maggots, picking up the Staff on his way. What actually happened was DV stopped the maggots cold. A moment's pause revealed that the new Malice Rusty and Jemali (using his Strength Giant Thresher) were more than up to dealing with these creatures. With DV holding them motionless, and the improved weapons we had available, victory was ours (after a time).
We returned to the Arcane Sanctuary and used its portal to locate The Canyon of the Magi. Balboa wanted to work methodically, so once the Canyon was cleared, we took the first Tomb.
The fighting was fierce, and double boss packs were common. The action in the rooms was often very hectic.
In the second Tomb we were spared Unravellers but encountered some very powerful Gorebelly bosses. They were manageable if handled right.
More of the same in Tomb number three, including Ghoul Lords and this unpleasant fellow. It was in this tomb that we suddenly lost Malice Rusty - we had been running to establish a defensible position and the golem just vanished. With some irritation, Balboa cast a new Rusty from a Strength Stygian Pike and we threw ourselves into the battle once more.
The fourth Tomb gave us quite a bit of trouble. We had three directions to choose from and the first two had enemies we simply could not face without a bit of room to maneouvre, Fortunately, our third and last option was one we felt we could handle. As long as we have somewhere we can run to, to re-group and plan our next move, we stand a chance. Dim Vision is a very useful curse when facing Unravellers. With no means of disposing of corpses, it was vital that we prevented monsters from being revived. One room provided very stiff resistance indeed. Liberal use of AmpDam and Attract turned out to be the solution - Jemali had his hands full, but Rusty excelled himself, slaying a Beserker Unraveller by himself. It was very unfortunate that another mysterious vanishing took our Strength Rusty from us. A very serious blow indeed, as we had only a Rare Ogre Maul with Cold damage left for a new golem. Jemali needs his Giant Thresher and Malice War Spear, so we were out of options. The 'Thresher works for most creatures, but Apparitions, Stone Skins and certain other bosses required the Malice touch.
In the fifth Tomb, we encountered Ancient Kaa, who slaughtered Jemali where he stood. We returned though and took our vengeance. It was in this tomb that Balboa had a lucky escape - he had lost some life from some charged bolts and quickly chugged a red pot - at the same time an enchanted boss had died and the golemancer was caught in the explosion. A close call.
The sixth Tomb and the last false one provided some of our toughest challenges. It was here that we lost our last Iron Golem, slain by a boss pack of Gorebellies. Gumby made a return to our team, nearly twenty thousand hit points of slowing. Even so, Gorebelly bosses were able to hurt the Clay Golem. An Extra Fast Apparition boss pack chased us a fair way once we had cleared part of the Tomb - we couldn't believe how fast they moved. We had to Terror away the minions and deal with the boss on his own.
Balboa had thought that a Hel rune was going to be the top prize for this session, but one of the Apparitions surprised us. Rather worringly though, we had found little in the way of useful runes for our efforts. An Eth or two, some Els, etc. Either too little or too much!
Our next plan is to prepare our weapons, and take on the true tomb of Tal Rasha - and see where that leads us.
Stats and Such
99 Stats and 9 Skill points free
The lack of useful runes (read, Iths and Eths) has reached critical now. I have managed to cube up an Ith so I now have a Malice Feral Axe Rusty. In reserve is a Goreshovel Unique Broad Axe (60% OW), a Rare Ogre Axe with Cold Damage, and a Humongous Unique Giant Axe with 33% CB. If I have no more golem glitches, I think I have the goods for dealing with Duriel.
I did have the runes, after cubing, to make Honor in a Decapitator. In the end though, it was too much resource into one weapon and I decided against it. All in good time.
The false Tombs were tough, but I was mostly on my game for it and I believe this was easier than the challenge in NM mode. Perhaps I'm finally learning how to play this character!
Oh, and my first ever Pul rune! :grin:
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 85, Act 2, Tal Rasha's True Tomb
Balboa had the idea to look up an old friend in the Maggot Lair and we of course were invited to the re-union.
Expecting nothing but grief, I was astonished when the golemancer strode confidently through the warren and up to Coldworm's chamber. You see, Balboa had a plan. When we reached the final chamber, he Dim Visioned the roomful of maggots and used his Telekinesis ring to pop the chest in the corner. His great idea was to run in and out before the room spawned another army of maggots, picking up the Staff on his way. What actually happened was DV stopped the maggots cold. A moment's pause revealed that the new Malice Rusty and Jemali (using his Strength Giant Thresher) were more than up to dealing with these creatures. With DV holding them motionless, and the improved weapons we had available, victory was ours (after a time).
We returned to the Arcane Sanctuary and used its portal to locate The Canyon of the Magi. Balboa wanted to work methodically, so once the Canyon was cleared, we took the first Tomb.
The fighting was fierce, and double boss packs were common. The action in the rooms was often very hectic.
In the second Tomb we were spared Unravellers but encountered some very powerful Gorebelly bosses. They were manageable if handled right.
More of the same in Tomb number three, including Ghoul Lords and this unpleasant fellow. It was in this tomb that we suddenly lost Malice Rusty - we had been running to establish a defensible position and the golem just vanished. With some irritation, Balboa cast a new Rusty from a Strength Stygian Pike and we threw ourselves into the battle once more.
The fourth Tomb gave us quite a bit of trouble. We had three directions to choose from and the first two had enemies we simply could not face without a bit of room to maneouvre, Fortunately, our third and last option was one we felt we could handle. As long as we have somewhere we can run to, to re-group and plan our next move, we stand a chance. Dim Vision is a very useful curse when facing Unravellers. With no means of disposing of corpses, it was vital that we prevented monsters from being revived. One room provided very stiff resistance indeed. Liberal use of AmpDam and Attract turned out to be the solution - Jemali had his hands full, but Rusty excelled himself, slaying a Beserker Unraveller by himself. It was very unfortunate that another mysterious vanishing took our Strength Rusty from us. A very serious blow indeed, as we had only a Rare Ogre Maul with Cold damage left for a new golem. Jemali needs his Giant Thresher and Malice War Spear, so we were out of options. The 'Thresher works for most creatures, but Apparitions, Stone Skins and certain other bosses required the Malice touch.
In the fifth Tomb, we encountered Ancient Kaa, who slaughtered Jemali where he stood. We returned though and took our vengeance. It was in this tomb that Balboa had a lucky escape - he had lost some life from some charged bolts and quickly chugged a red pot - at the same time an enchanted boss had died and the golemancer was caught in the explosion. A close call.
The sixth Tomb and the last false one provided some of our toughest challenges. It was here that we lost our last Iron Golem, slain by a boss pack of Gorebellies. Gumby made a return to our team, nearly twenty thousand hit points of slowing. Even so, Gorebelly bosses were able to hurt the Clay Golem. An Extra Fast Apparition boss pack chased us a fair way once we had cleared part of the Tomb - we couldn't believe how fast they moved. We had to Terror away the minions and deal with the boss on his own.
Balboa had thought that a Hel rune was going to be the top prize for this session, but one of the Apparitions surprised us. Rather worringly though, we had found little in the way of useful runes for our efforts. An Eth or two, some Els, etc. Either too little or too much!
Our next plan is to prepare our weapons, and take on the true tomb of Tal Rasha - and see where that leads us.
Stats and Such
99 Stats and 9 Skill points free
The lack of useful runes (read, Iths and Eths) has reached critical now. I have managed to cube up an Ith so I now have a Malice Feral Axe Rusty. In reserve is a Goreshovel Unique Broad Axe (60% OW), a Rare Ogre Axe with Cold Damage, and a Humongous Unique Giant Axe with 33% CB. If I have no more golem glitches, I think I have the goods for dealing with Duriel.
I did have the runes, after cubing, to make Honor in a Decapitator. In the end though, it was too much resource into one weapon and I decided against it. All in good time.
The false Tombs were tough, but I was mostly on my game for it and I believe this was easier than the challenge in NM mode. Perhaps I'm finally learning how to play this character!
Oh, and my first ever Pul rune! :grin:
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 85, Act 2, Tal Rasha's True Tomb