Golemancer Attempt No.2
- Thread starter LozHinge the Unhinged
- Start date
LozHinge,
I forgot to ask you this in my last post, but if you had to do it all over again...Would you have used more rare items you find in your adventure for Rusty and saved the lower runes you used for "Strength", "Malice", etc. in earlier parts of the game for cubing up now?
~timevalue
I forgot to ask you this in my last post, but if you had to do it all over again...Would you have used more rare items you find in your adventure for Rusty and saved the lower runes you used for "Strength", "Malice", etc. in earlier parts of the game for cubing up now?
~timevalue
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
Thanks very much, timevalue. That Pul was a shock!
Re your question, 95% of the rares I have found have been useless for Rusty purposes - certainly in NM and beyond. They simply don't do the damage. I have a few good ones still ATMA-stashed, and tend to have one spare in my in-game stash at all times.
I've been reluctant to use items I know to be useless as I have tried not to allow Rusty to be simply a passenger in this experiment. The use of runewords has allowed Rusty to be a killer alongside the merc. Sometimes Malice Rusty kills as little as one monster to the merc's three, sometimes (esp with Ghosts, etc) Rusty can be the faster killer. The point isn't to win the game (I'd use the Might merc + Clay Golem if it was), but to see whether an IG can be a significant killer throughout the entire game.
Originally, I had thought that I would easily find enough runes to keep me in Strength and Malice - this has almost, but not quite, been the case. I could have hoarded the runes in ATMA and used a lesser IG through most of the game - but for me that would have defeated the object. It's not a bad strategy for success though, I have to say.
I've been playing the game as though it was HC as far as possible. With the scarcity of useful runes, I have to work harder to keep Rusty alive, which is an extension of the HC ethos. Someone playing this kind of character for fun would be able to re-run the Countess and then your rune shortage would effectively disappear. I'm tempted to do this myself once the experiment is over. Balboa may ultimately be twinked with runes from my Summonancer, in which case who knows what runewords will be possible?
Re your question, 95% of the rares I have found have been useless for Rusty purposes - certainly in NM and beyond. They simply don't do the damage. I have a few good ones still ATMA-stashed, and tend to have one spare in my in-game stash at all times.
I've been reluctant to use items I know to be useless as I have tried not to allow Rusty to be simply a passenger in this experiment. The use of runewords has allowed Rusty to be a killer alongside the merc. Sometimes Malice Rusty kills as little as one monster to the merc's three, sometimes (esp with Ghosts, etc) Rusty can be the faster killer. The point isn't to win the game (I'd use the Might merc + Clay Golem if it was), but to see whether an IG can be a significant killer throughout the entire game.
Originally, I had thought that I would easily find enough runes to keep me in Strength and Malice - this has almost, but not quite, been the case. I could have hoarded the runes in ATMA and used a lesser IG through most of the game - but for me that would have defeated the object. It's not a bad strategy for success though, I have to say.
I've been playing the game as though it was HC as far as possible. With the scarcity of useful runes, I have to work harder to keep Rusty alive, which is an extension of the HC ethos. Someone playing this kind of character for fun would be able to re-run the Countess and then your rune shortage would effectively disappear. I'm tempted to do this myself once the experiment is over. Balboa may ultimately be twinked with runes from my Summonancer, in which case who knows what runewords will be possible?
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
A Tomb, a Tunnel and an End
Balboa stared at the entrance to the Seventh Tomb for some time. Jemali and a Malice Rusty wandered nearby, the metal warrior clanking and clattering, the desert mercenary whistling tunelessly. The tension was palpable.
There seemed little point delaying any longer, so we entered the last, true Tomb of Tal Rasha. The reception was hot and enthusiastic, but Dim Vision soon calmed things down. With the Unravellers unable to raise slain skeletons, it was simply a matter of grinding our way through their ranks. A champion pack of Unravellers provided a greater challenge, but a combination of Life Tap, Attract and AmpDam kept them in check. Unfortunately, at one point, Balboa wasn't careful enough during one of his customary advance and retreat maneouvres - Rusty was unable to fight his way free from the mob surrounding him and instead of teleporting back to the group, he disappeared. To make matters worse, the Goreshovel replacement golem disappeared during the very next encounter. Balboa was almost getting used to these disappointments though, and instead of raging, he calmly recast the Iron Golem from the Humongous Giant Axe he pick up long, long ago. Extra care was taken to keep this golem safe.
The very last room we found contained the Orifice, but getting there was tricky - the preceeding room contained an Unraveller and his skeletons, plus a Mummy Sarcophagus. Balboa's best efforts to shut the sarcophagus down met with failure and in the end, we needed to slay all the Dried Corpses it contained. Lose a style point. The final chamber saw Steel Scarabs and Burning Dead, all moving with a disconcerting turn of speed. The answer to this puzzling behaviour was found to be this fellow. He fell to our fighters and we inserted the Staff into the mechanism. A pretty light show followed.
Instead of braving the next chamber and whatever lay within it, Balboa decided that we needed to return to the Lost City, to explore the Ancient Tunnels beneath it. My own thought was that we should not delay our mission in this way, by the Golemancer was insistent.
I'm glad we did. There were a couple of treasures in those Tunnels worth having - a Sol Rune which is always handy plus a unique Ancient Axe. The Minotaur combines Crushing Blow with Slow, plus some fair damage to boot. Imagine an Iron Golem with Clay Golem slowing ability ...
The battles in the Ancient Tunnels seemed simple after our experiences in the Tombs. No ranged attackers were encountered and the larger packs were tamed with Decrepify. Some of the Bosses' special abilities were painful, and this chap was capable of doing serious damage. In the end, though, it was a walk in the park.
Our encounter with Duriel in the final Tomb chamber was, dare I say it, very easy indeed. Decrepify held the demon in place whilst the crushing blows of Jemali's Strength Giant Thresher and the Humongous Rusty reduced the bug's health in gratifying chunks. Duriel only ever targetted the golem (unless Balboa got too close), so we had to portal back to Town on, I believe, three occasions, perhaps four, to restore Rusty's health. Had the bug targetted Jemali, Balboa's supply of potions would have been sufficient. When Duriel was near the end of his endurance, Balboa threw the Malice War Spear to Jemali to adminster the final coup de grace. A straightforward finale to a long, somewhat testing campaign.
We wait now in Kurast Docks. and gather news in that part of the world.
Stats and Such
104 Stats and 10 Skill points unspent. Best resists are F70, C27, L80, P48 - still no further Cold Res charms, how odd. I can max Poison Res if I carry a couple of Grand Charms in my stash, but this severely cuts down what I'm able to pick up in my travels.
The False Tombs were hard, hard, HARD! The true tomb was, by contrast, a breeze, as were the oddly archer- and mage-free Ancient Tunnels. Duriel was, well, a joke. I was tempted to hit him with my wand just to see what happened :grin:
The jungles of Act 3 will be very challenging, I reckon. Expect to see some points spent on DV soon ...
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 86, Act 3, Kurast Docks
Balboa stared at the entrance to the Seventh Tomb for some time. Jemali and a Malice Rusty wandered nearby, the metal warrior clanking and clattering, the desert mercenary whistling tunelessly. The tension was palpable.
There seemed little point delaying any longer, so we entered the last, true Tomb of Tal Rasha. The reception was hot and enthusiastic, but Dim Vision soon calmed things down. With the Unravellers unable to raise slain skeletons, it was simply a matter of grinding our way through their ranks. A champion pack of Unravellers provided a greater challenge, but a combination of Life Tap, Attract and AmpDam kept them in check. Unfortunately, at one point, Balboa wasn't careful enough during one of his customary advance and retreat maneouvres - Rusty was unable to fight his way free from the mob surrounding him and instead of teleporting back to the group, he disappeared. To make matters worse, the Goreshovel replacement golem disappeared during the very next encounter. Balboa was almost getting used to these disappointments though, and instead of raging, he calmly recast the Iron Golem from the Humongous Giant Axe he pick up long, long ago. Extra care was taken to keep this golem safe.
The very last room we found contained the Orifice, but getting there was tricky - the preceeding room contained an Unraveller and his skeletons, plus a Mummy Sarcophagus. Balboa's best efforts to shut the sarcophagus down met with failure and in the end, we needed to slay all the Dried Corpses it contained. Lose a style point. The final chamber saw Steel Scarabs and Burning Dead, all moving with a disconcerting turn of speed. The answer to this puzzling behaviour was found to be this fellow. He fell to our fighters and we inserted the Staff into the mechanism. A pretty light show followed.
Instead of braving the next chamber and whatever lay within it, Balboa decided that we needed to return to the Lost City, to explore the Ancient Tunnels beneath it. My own thought was that we should not delay our mission in this way, by the Golemancer was insistent.
I'm glad we did. There were a couple of treasures in those Tunnels worth having - a Sol Rune which is always handy plus a unique Ancient Axe. The Minotaur combines Crushing Blow with Slow, plus some fair damage to boot. Imagine an Iron Golem with Clay Golem slowing ability ...
The battles in the Ancient Tunnels seemed simple after our experiences in the Tombs. No ranged attackers were encountered and the larger packs were tamed with Decrepify. Some of the Bosses' special abilities were painful, and this chap was capable of doing serious damage. In the end, though, it was a walk in the park.
Our encounter with Duriel in the final Tomb chamber was, dare I say it, very easy indeed. Decrepify held the demon in place whilst the crushing blows of Jemali's Strength Giant Thresher and the Humongous Rusty reduced the bug's health in gratifying chunks. Duriel only ever targetted the golem (unless Balboa got too close), so we had to portal back to Town on, I believe, three occasions, perhaps four, to restore Rusty's health. Had the bug targetted Jemali, Balboa's supply of potions would have been sufficient. When Duriel was near the end of his endurance, Balboa threw the Malice War Spear to Jemali to adminster the final coup de grace. A straightforward finale to a long, somewhat testing campaign.
We wait now in Kurast Docks. and gather news in that part of the world.
Stats and Such
104 Stats and 10 Skill points unspent. Best resists are F70, C27, L80, P48 - still no further Cold Res charms, how odd. I can max Poison Res if I carry a couple of Grand Charms in my stash, but this severely cuts down what I'm able to pick up in my travels.
The False Tombs were hard, hard, HARD! The true tomb was, by contrast, a breeze, as were the oddly archer- and mage-free Ancient Tunnels. Duriel was, well, a joke. I was tempted to hit him with my wand just to see what happened :grin:
The jungles of Act 3 will be very challenging, I reckon. Expect to see some points spent on DV soon ...
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 86, Act 3, Kurast Docks
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
Kurast and Other Garden Spots
Balboa had spent the sea voyage in his cabin, and seemed to be talking to a couple of spirits called Huey and Rawlff. Out on deck, we all acquired nice tans, yet the Golemancer's palid complection had taken on a greenish tinge. Odd. Once we arrived at the Kurast Docks, Jemali commenced what proved to be a marathon session of complaints about the dank, muggy air.
The Spider Forest provided us with some fairly difficult customers, but we were rewarded by means of a Jade Figurine dropped by one of the bosses. Returning to the Docks, Balboa engaged in some wheeling and dealing with Meshif and Alkor. Trinkets were exchanged but I wasn't privvy to what the point of all that was.
The Spider Cavern was a rude awakening. A monstrous spider by the name of Sszark the Burning, plus his minions, made our lives Hell almost the instant we entered the Cavern. The fighters could not tank them and the confines of the tunnels made Terror somewhat ineffective. Spamming Decrepify and Life Tap only delayed the inevitable and so a running battle ensued. We were driven back, past the entrance and into unexplored territory - and straight into another Boss group of Spiders. An emergency Portal was created in the nick of time and we escaped, but the problem of making progress through the Cavern remained.
We re-entered the fray via the entrance, ignoring the certain death of the Town Portal and set about our work. A quick weapon change for Jemali meant that he now was using the Malice War Spear, which as ever was a better bet against Stone Skins. With our enemies before us (instead of all around us) Sszark was soon tamed, and we moved on to the second Boss. He was eventually trapped and killed. A Fiend boss was next, and after that, all Balboa needed to worry about was keeping an almost permanently poisoned Jemali alive between battles.
A chest was located that contained Khalim's Eye and the final tunnels cleansed of evil. A challenging mission, but with the Eye and a couple of nice socketables dropping, plus a Sol rune, a job well done. We pushed on through the forest and have found a Waypoint, plus an entrance to another undergound lair that reeks of arachnids. Ugh.
Stats and Random
No change at this point, 104 Stats and 10 skills unused.
Some nice weapons have been found, highlights being a 3os Pike and another Soul Harvest, this time ethereal. If I can find an Ith and an Eth, I should be OK for Open Wounds Rustys - they are definitely superior to their Crushing Blow counterparts (Rusty is currently a Humongous Giant Axe).
I remember how hard Sszark was in NM, Hell was nearly as bad but didn't take as long.
In reply
@boodah - it makes me very happy to know that people are enjoying the read and the ride. Sorry it's a bit patchy at the moment, RL is being unreasonably demanding at the moment.
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 86, Act 3, Arachnid Lair (Spider Forest)
Balboa had spent the sea voyage in his cabin, and seemed to be talking to a couple of spirits called Huey and Rawlff. Out on deck, we all acquired nice tans, yet the Golemancer's palid complection had taken on a greenish tinge. Odd. Once we arrived at the Kurast Docks, Jemali commenced what proved to be a marathon session of complaints about the dank, muggy air.
The Spider Forest provided us with some fairly difficult customers, but we were rewarded by means of a Jade Figurine dropped by one of the bosses. Returning to the Docks, Balboa engaged in some wheeling and dealing with Meshif and Alkor. Trinkets were exchanged but I wasn't privvy to what the point of all that was.
The Spider Cavern was a rude awakening. A monstrous spider by the name of Sszark the Burning, plus his minions, made our lives Hell almost the instant we entered the Cavern. The fighters could not tank them and the confines of the tunnels made Terror somewhat ineffective. Spamming Decrepify and Life Tap only delayed the inevitable and so a running battle ensued. We were driven back, past the entrance and into unexplored territory - and straight into another Boss group of Spiders. An emergency Portal was created in the nick of time and we escaped, but the problem of making progress through the Cavern remained.
We re-entered the fray via the entrance, ignoring the certain death of the Town Portal and set about our work. A quick weapon change for Jemali meant that he now was using the Malice War Spear, which as ever was a better bet against Stone Skins. With our enemies before us (instead of all around us) Sszark was soon tamed, and we moved on to the second Boss. He was eventually trapped and killed. A Fiend boss was next, and after that, all Balboa needed to worry about was keeping an almost permanently poisoned Jemali alive between battles.
A chest was located that contained Khalim's Eye and the final tunnels cleansed of evil. A challenging mission, but with the Eye and a couple of nice socketables dropping, plus a Sol rune, a job well done. We pushed on through the forest and have found a Waypoint, plus an entrance to another undergound lair that reeks of arachnids. Ugh.
Stats and Random
No change at this point, 104 Stats and 10 skills unused.
Some nice weapons have been found, highlights being a 3os Pike and another Soul Harvest, this time ethereal. If I can find an Ith and an Eth, I should be OK for Open Wounds Rustys - they are definitely superior to their Crushing Blow counterparts (Rusty is currently a Humongous Giant Axe).
I remember how hard Sszark was in NM, Hell was nearly as bad but didn't take as long.
In reply
@boodah - it makes me very happy to know that people are enjoying the read and the ride. Sorry it's a bit patchy at the moment, RL is being unreasonably demanding at the moment.
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 86, Act 3, Arachnid Lair (Spider Forest)
Golems do share the Clvl of the caster, so that would be how his OW is calculated.
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
@Feonn - thanks! I have a couple of poison res GCs stashed which I will bring out it if I start getting problems with poison. My inventory is normally full of charms which makes picking up drops tricky. I wish that lazy git Jemali would carry stuff ...
@dutes - many thanks. MM picked up your question.
@Mad Mantis - thanks for answering that. I knew this to be the case, I just wish Rusty would attack more often than once per second or so. IGs are just so nerfed.
I had a wonderful moment in last night's session in the Arachnid Lair, a Spider boss was slivered but then my fighters ignored him. He killed himself on Rusty's Thorns :grin: YESSSS! (now I'm torn again between points in IG and DV :scratch: )
@dutes - many thanks. MM picked up your question.
@Mad Mantis - thanks for answering that. I knew this to be the case, I just wish Rusty would attack more often than once per second or so. IGs are just so nerfed.
I had a wonderful moment in last night's session in the Arachnid Lair, a Spider boss was slivered but then my fighters ignored him. He killed himself on Rusty's Thorns :grin: YESSSS! (now I'm torn again between points in IG and DV :scratch: )
You don't have any other good charms than perhaps? I wouldn't bother putting charms in all your slots. If you think you might find a good item, just drop a charm (as you play Sp you don't have to worry about noobs picking it up) and ID it, just always have a Tome of ID on you, stash what you find and pick up your charm(s) again. 2 GC's can make a pretty big difference
Hope to hear a new episode soon :grin:
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
A new episode will (hopefully) be posted tomorrow, featuring my very own version of the film, "A Bridge Too Far" :grin:
The associated screenshot has to be my favourite to date :laughing:
The associated screenshot has to be my favourite to date :laughing:
blockcipher
New member
Just out of curiosity, what are your skills at the moment? I tried looking real quick, but I didn't find them.
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
From memory, I have maxed BG/CG/GM, 1 in FG, ? in IG, 1 in all curses except LR (0), 5 in DV. 1 in BA/BW, 1 in SR. I'll post a report when I do my next update (hopefully tonight!).
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
The benefits of maxing the IG are less than of maxing its synergies. The additional defence you get for points in IG is fairly negligible in Hell. I had considered the increased damage for Thorns to also be negligible but I'm beginning to wonder about that now, having seen more than a few monsters finish themselves off on it in Hell.
The skill plan I'm using allows me to pump either DV or IG. I'm waiting to see which skill will be the better choice (I currently have 10 skill points unspent). Certainly, DV has saved my life on countless occasions. The jury is still out, as survivabilty > all other considerations.
The skill plan I'm using allows me to pump either DV or IG. I'm waiting to see which skill will be the better choice (I currently have 10 skill points unspent). Certainly, DV has saved my life on countless occasions. The jury is still out, as survivabilty > all other considerations.
All Golems are. Blizz had a great idea, but they didn't really follow through.
LozHinge the Unhinged
Active member
Jungle Stories
Balboa said to us that as we had enjoyed the Spider Cavern so much, he would treat us to a visit to the Arachnid Lair. At what point a Duskdeep helm was thrown at the back of his head, I'm not entirely sure ... the evidence against Jemali was circumstantial at best.
The 'Lair was almost a repeat of the 'Cavern, except for the Giant Lampreys that made for a truly arduous slog. We had quite a running battle with a 'Lamprey boss and his pack, plus this fellow. A tricky job was endlessly complicated by Fiends and their boss.
Having cleared the 'Lair, the relative openness of the Jungle was a relief. Relief is, of course, a relative term and invariably short-lived. Non-blindable Gloams are never the most comfortable opponents. Champion Shamans made our lives very difficult, with their powerful fire attack and high mobility. Our fighters fought them in battles that ranged across a fair bit of territory, and more than once Balboa had to put himself into the line of fire in order to position his forces correctly. We faced ever greater numbers of Gloams, but Dim Vision tamed them, by and large.
In time, we came upon a bridge. Balboa is always wary of such features, as crossing them leaves you vulnerable to attack by the swift Soul Killers and Flayers, at which point Gloams target you when you have little or no room to maneouvre. There was no sign of trouble, save for the Water Watcher next to the bridge that was hurling poison at the merc and the golem. Balboa was heartily sick of having to look at a green mercenary so we danced past the 'Watcher to the other side ... straight into an ambush. With the 'Watcher guarding the bridge against our retreat, Gloams and Flayers charged us, and a second pack of Flayers, complete with Shaman, raced to cut us off from safety. A picture is worth a hundred words but suffice it to say, Dim Vision yet again saved our lives.
Balboa normally sneers at Winged Nightmares, but an aura-enchanted boss pack threatened to tear us to pieces. Yet another Shaman Boss we encountered dropped a unique Sallet, which has replaced Jemali's Duskdeep Helm. Jemali's smile was the brightest thing in the Marsh.
We have secured Waypoints for the Great Marsh and Flayer Jungle, and located the entrances to The Swampy Pit and Flayer Dungeon. The prospect of again going underground soon made the mercenary's smile vanish.
Stats, etc
Still have 104 Stats and 10 Skills unspent. Still undecided whether to boost DV or IG, there's good arguments for both.
Skills are as follows: Hard Points (with +Skills)
The Rockstopper is the first I've found! I'm delighted with it as, with Atma's Wail, Jemali has 60% FHR. He has to work for a living now instead of taking coffee breaks during fights :grin:
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 86, Act 3, The Swampy Pit
Balboa said to us that as we had enjoyed the Spider Cavern so much, he would treat us to a visit to the Arachnid Lair. At what point a Duskdeep helm was thrown at the back of his head, I'm not entirely sure ... the evidence against Jemali was circumstantial at best.
The 'Lair was almost a repeat of the 'Cavern, except for the Giant Lampreys that made for a truly arduous slog. We had quite a running battle with a 'Lamprey boss and his pack, plus this fellow. A tricky job was endlessly complicated by Fiends and their boss.
Having cleared the 'Lair, the relative openness of the Jungle was a relief. Relief is, of course, a relative term and invariably short-lived. Non-blindable Gloams are never the most comfortable opponents. Champion Shamans made our lives very difficult, with their powerful fire attack and high mobility. Our fighters fought them in battles that ranged across a fair bit of territory, and more than once Balboa had to put himself into the line of fire in order to position his forces correctly. We faced ever greater numbers of Gloams, but Dim Vision tamed them, by and large.
In time, we came upon a bridge. Balboa is always wary of such features, as crossing them leaves you vulnerable to attack by the swift Soul Killers and Flayers, at which point Gloams target you when you have little or no room to maneouvre. There was no sign of trouble, save for the Water Watcher next to the bridge that was hurling poison at the merc and the golem. Balboa was heartily sick of having to look at a green mercenary so we danced past the 'Watcher to the other side ... straight into an ambush. With the 'Watcher guarding the bridge against our retreat, Gloams and Flayers charged us, and a second pack of Flayers, complete with Shaman, raced to cut us off from safety. A picture is worth a hundred words but suffice it to say, Dim Vision yet again saved our lives.
Balboa normally sneers at Winged Nightmares, but an aura-enchanted boss pack threatened to tear us to pieces. Yet another Shaman Boss we encountered dropped a unique Sallet, which has replaced Jemali's Duskdeep Helm. Jemali's smile was the brightest thing in the Marsh.
We have secured Waypoints for the Great Marsh and Flayer Jungle, and located the entrances to The Swampy Pit and Flayer Dungeon. The prospect of again going underground soon made the mercenary's smile vanish.
Stats, etc
Still have 104 Stats and 10 Skills unspent. Still undecided whether to boost DV or IG, there's good arguments for both.
Skills are as follows: Hard Points (with +Skills)
Code:
Curses
DV 5 (12)
LR 0 ( 0)
The rest 1 ( 5)
Summons
CG,BG 20 (25)
GM 20 (27) *
FG 1 ( 6) *
SR 1 ( 7)
IG 8 (13) *
The rest 0 ( 0)
Psn/Bone
BA 1 (7)
BW 1 (5)
* pre-buff values
Stats Str 36 (42), Dex 25 (27), Vit 325 (325), Erg 25 (41)The Rockstopper is the first I've found! I'm delighted with it as, with Atma's Wail, Jemali has 60% FHR. He has to work for a living now instead of taking coffee breaks during fights :grin:
Champion GumbyBalboa - Level 86, Act 3, The Swampy Pit
