- Jul 9, 2008
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Guardian LFStrafe, the Cheese-Wielder
So Guardian #2 came along a lot quicker than the first. Of course, I was using an easier build (LF is just disgusting for about 90% of the game) and was able to mule on some equipment.
Boring stuff
20 LF, Penetrate, and Valk, with random points thrown in Crit, Decoy, D/A/E, Pierce, and whatever else caught my eye. 10 or so in Strafe, which will be maxed if she continues to level, for lack of anything better to do.
Str 90, Dex 190, Vit 230. Titan's/Moser's, with a Lycander's Aim on switch, the rest filled out with rares, crafts, Crow Caw for OW, and (as always) Natalya's Soul. Merc was carrying a Hone Sundan for CB, Tal's Mask and SotFO for 17% LL (he dies often, I don't care. Archers in the Pit eat him faster than I can pump Juvs into him. Valk > Merc by a long shot. Oh, and while I'm here in the parenthesis, I traded for his armour thinking the Replenish was integer PDR for some reason, probably hysterical blindness or wishful thinking or something. Still got some use.)
Gear of note
The amulet is a "for lack of anything better" item, but looks good as a general-purpose mid-level amulet.
Her Deeds of Valour Will Be Remembered
Only one death this time, but it hurt. As the screen says, level 75, by some crazy archer pack in the Pits. Two-shotted from offscreen. Lost an ethereal Titan's (15x%, but still more damage than the good non-eth one upthread), a near-perfect Hone Sundan, and a crafted belt even better than the one I finished with (24% FHR, 50+ Life, and dual resists. That cost me a lot of Tals. *sigh*) Not sure what else I had on her at that point. :tombstone:
A shot of her with the eth Titan's, in front of the best bosspack ever
Hellforges: Amn/Pul. Failed to collect Hell due to untimely death. I've had crazy luck so far on normal Hellforges, but I'd much rather have two Guls from Hell than two Amns from normal. Can't have it all, etc.
Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
Lots of fun, with a large asterisk. I floated through the game on the back of LF, right up until Hell Ancients. There things took a turn for the worse. All three of them ignored my merc and Valk completely and went straight at me (ever had this happen? Where an enemy will ignore your merc even when he's between you and it and attacking? It's no fun on top of the mountain.)
I ran around the mountaintop for a good ten minutes, trying to separate them and keep away from the Leaper's Leap (I could take one good hit from it, but that was it...I love 70% FRW for reasons beyond impatience). Eventually the merc and Valk pinned the thrower against the cliff side, allowing me to snipe him from the safety of a pillar with the other two unsuccessfully searching for me offscreen. I managed to pull the same trick with the Whirler (who at about 25% life remaining took a few shots at the Valk, but otherwise stood there and let my minions poke holes in him for some reason), and the Leaper. Probably wouldn't have survived the battle otherwise.
Note of consequence: I went in with only the 8 Full Juves on my belt and took them out on the first roll (though it was a good one: one FI, one CI, one FICI if memory serves.) First time I've done either of those things with Hell Ancients.
WSK was difficult if not quite as stroke-inducing. My WSK 2 *and* 3 maps were extremely short, and after the Ancients fight I was grateful for it (I've never done WSK runs with a Hardcore character, and don't see myself doing them anytime soon.)
While Baal is usually an anticlimax after the Old Guys, this character had more trouble with him than any I've ever played. He was not intimidated by 1-767 LF damage, unsurprisingly. He cloned himself often (I think four times before he finally went down), and had a habit of filling the screen with tentacles, pinning me against walls and other cheap tricks.
When he hit about 10% life he threw the most impressive Baal tantrum I've ever been witness to; five rapid-succession cold-wedge thingies put my merc in his usual position, and then he cloned himself and the two of them filled the screen with tentacles and fireworks. Sorry, no screenshot, was busy reminding myself to breathe, pushing back the memory of my many attempts to get my first Destroyer (the last of which had Baal literally slivered before dying to a similar hissy-fit.)
After dropping a pair of Dancers for my first Guardian, Baal resumed business as usual for the second.
Screens From My Vacation
Apart from the above, LF made everything easy. Plus her questing/levelling finds weren't bad for a character with either 6 or 9 MF (can't remember). A few pics from what was essentially a tourist trip through the game:
Worst Duriel quest drop ever (Nightmare)
Deathbit from NM Pindle
A Ko from an unwelcome guest in NM Act 5
Travs from a few minutes later (went back to grab the WP).
My LFant found a Thunderstroke, lol
Yes, I took this one into the Pits at level 75 too. Instead of speedy death, this time I got presents! I've now found five Fals over 2½ characters.
Sazabi's Pretentiously-Named Something-or-Other
Hellforges: Thul/Fal/Pul
Dude, why Strafe? Strafe is teh lame!
I disagree. Pew pew pew!
Into the Unknown
After having so much fun killing LIs with Strafe, making laser noises the whole time (not kidding), I'm going to try a bowazon. This character is pretty good at Pit runs (now that I've learned, the hard way of course, to watch out for archers) and will probably build me some HC wealth while I'm bored of questing low-level characters (or restarting them after Deeds). For now, though, I just rolled a pretty-much-perfect map with the sorc and am off to bash my head against the wall that is LK. It owes me. :nod:
See you next time, badly-rendered old guy.
So Guardian #2 came along a lot quicker than the first. Of course, I was using an easier build (LF is just disgusting for about 90% of the game) and was able to mule on some equipment.
Boring stuff
20 LF, Penetrate, and Valk, with random points thrown in Crit, Decoy, D/A/E, Pierce, and whatever else caught my eye. 10 or so in Strafe, which will be maxed if she continues to level, for lack of anything better to do.
Str 90, Dex 190, Vit 230. Titan's/Moser's, with a Lycander's Aim on switch, the rest filled out with rares, crafts, Crow Caw for OW, and (as always) Natalya's Soul. Merc was carrying a Hone Sundan for CB, Tal's Mask and SotFO for 17% LL (he dies often, I don't care. Archers in the Pit eat him faster than I can pump Juvs into him. Valk > Merc by a long shot. Oh, and while I'm here in the parenthesis, I traded for his armour thinking the Replenish was integer PDR for some reason, probably hysterical blindness or wishful thinking or something. Still got some use.)
Gear of note
Code:
Titan's Revenge
Ceremonial Javelin
Throw Damage: 77 - 207
One Hand Damage: 77 - 151
Quantity: 128
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 109
Fingerprint: 0x5555a49a
Item Level: 60
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)
+2 to Amazon Skill Levels
+30% Faster Run/Walk
191% Enhanced Damage
Adds 25 - 50 Damage
9% Life stolen per hit
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity
Increased Stack Size
Replenishes quantity
Soul Winding
Mesh Belt
Defense: 56
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0xbf1f4c9a
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+17% Faster Hit Recovery
2% Life stolen per hit
6% Chance of Open Wounds
+37% Enhanced Defense
+22 to Life
Fire Resist +16%
Stone Clasp
Amulet
Required Level: 15
Fingerprint: 0x518a6652
Item Level: 34
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+21 to Life
Cold Resist +29%
All Resistances +9
Fire Resist +30%
The amulet is a "for lack of anything better" item, but looks good as a general-purpose mid-level amulet.
Her Deeds of Valour Will Be Remembered
Only one death this time, but it hurt. As the screen says, level 75, by some crazy archer pack in the Pits. Two-shotted from offscreen. Lost an ethereal Titan's (15x%, but still more damage than the good non-eth one upthread), a near-perfect Hone Sundan, and a crafted belt even better than the one I finished with (24% FHR, 50+ Life, and dual resists. That cost me a lot of Tals. *sigh*) Not sure what else I had on her at that point. :tombstone:
A shot of her with the eth Titan's, in front of the best bosspack ever
Hellforges: Amn/Pul. Failed to collect Hell due to untimely death. I've had crazy luck so far on normal Hellforges, but I'd much rather have two Guls from Hell than two Amns from normal. Can't have it all, etc.
Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
Lots of fun, with a large asterisk. I floated through the game on the back of LF, right up until Hell Ancients. There things took a turn for the worse. All three of them ignored my merc and Valk completely and went straight at me (ever had this happen? Where an enemy will ignore your merc even when he's between you and it and attacking? It's no fun on top of the mountain.)
I ran around the mountaintop for a good ten minutes, trying to separate them and keep away from the Leaper's Leap (I could take one good hit from it, but that was it...I love 70% FRW for reasons beyond impatience). Eventually the merc and Valk pinned the thrower against the cliff side, allowing me to snipe him from the safety of a pillar with the other two unsuccessfully searching for me offscreen. I managed to pull the same trick with the Whirler (who at about 25% life remaining took a few shots at the Valk, but otherwise stood there and let my minions poke holes in him for some reason), and the Leaper. Probably wouldn't have survived the battle otherwise.
Note of consequence: I went in with only the 8 Full Juves on my belt and took them out on the first roll (though it was a good one: one FI, one CI, one FICI if memory serves.) First time I've done either of those things with Hell Ancients.
WSK was difficult if not quite as stroke-inducing. My WSK 2 *and* 3 maps were extremely short, and after the Ancients fight I was grateful for it (I've never done WSK runs with a Hardcore character, and don't see myself doing them anytime soon.)
While Baal is usually an anticlimax after the Old Guys, this character had more trouble with him than any I've ever played. He was not intimidated by 1-767 LF damage, unsurprisingly. He cloned himself often (I think four times before he finally went down), and had a habit of filling the screen with tentacles, pinning me against walls and other cheap tricks.
When he hit about 10% life he threw the most impressive Baal tantrum I've ever been witness to; five rapid-succession cold-wedge thingies put my merc in his usual position, and then he cloned himself and the two of them filled the screen with tentacles and fireworks. Sorry, no screenshot, was busy reminding myself to breathe, pushing back the memory of my many attempts to get my first Destroyer (the last of which had Baal literally slivered before dying to a similar hissy-fit.)
After dropping a pair of Dancers for my first Guardian, Baal resumed business as usual for the second.
Screens From My Vacation
Apart from the above, LF made everything easy. Plus her questing/levelling finds weren't bad for a character with either 6 or 9 MF (can't remember). A few pics from what was essentially a tourist trip through the game:
Worst Duriel quest drop ever (Nightmare)
Deathbit from NM Pindle
A Ko from an unwelcome guest in NM Act 5
Travs from a few minutes later (went back to grab the WP).
My LFant found a Thunderstroke, lol
Yes, I took this one into the Pits at level 75 too. Instead of speedy death, this time I got presents! I've now found five Fals over 2½ characters.
Sazabi's Pretentiously-Named Something-or-Other
Hellforges: Thul/Fal/Pul
Dude, why Strafe? Strafe is teh lame!
I disagree. Pew pew pew!
Into the Unknown
After having so much fun killing LIs with Strafe, making laser noises the whole time (not kidding), I'm going to try a bowazon. This character is pretty good at Pit runs (now that I've learned, the hard way of course, to watch out for archers) and will probably build me some HC wealth while I'm bored of questing low-level characters (or restarting them after Deeds). For now, though, I just rolled a pretty-much-perfect map with the sorc and am off to bash my head against the wall that is LK. It owes me. :nod:
See you next time, badly-rendered old guy.