Introduction To Myself & Current Character

LizardSike

Member
Dec 16, 2020
25
41
13
Hey SPF, I came across this site while browsing diabloii for info and figured I'd sign up here seeing as that place is pretty dead and this looks like a community that fits what I'm looking for.

Rules I follow:
1. No mods I only play regular D2.
2. No character backups as Ivan Drago would say "If he dies, he dies"
3. No P8 cheesing such as popping chests. I typically only use P8 in the beginning of normal to gain levels a bit quicker.
4. I do have ladder runewords enabled
5. I don't multi instance
6. I don't trade, everything is self found and every character has to find their own gear.

I try to keep the experience as pure as the game was originally intended.

Current Character:
My current character is a summon Druid named LizardSike. Currently level 85 farming Pits/Andy. When I had first reached hell and was doing my first pit runs I had 0% MF, it took me about 3-4 days and I was finally able to get it up to 162 and boy did just that make a world of difference today my drops were much improved.

drops.png

I'm now working towards getting 3 more Ptopaz to put in the Griswold's to get me to 234. Right now the only parts of my build that I have the items for are Gore Riders, Frostburn and Spirit shield so still lots to be found. I'm a Sur rune away from a Bramble and I'm trying to make an Obedience for my merc but still need a Fal.

With my best items on here is where Lizard currently sits.
stats.png

What's Next:
I'd really like to get my Merc obedience for some killing power and a bramble for myself for mana before moving onto Act 2. I'm confident I can hold my own in A2 but not dying is of the most importance, so I'm taking my time and making sure I'm ready before moving on. I've died many times from moving on to early when I wasn't ready because I had ants in my pants and this time I don't want to make that mistake. Luckily I have all my stat resets still and my normal socket quest.

I'm not quite confident to up the player count in pits yet some of the archer packs can be totally brutal even with shockwave but once I get this Griswolds socketed gear should be coming in at a decent enough pace. I still don't have a great plan for physical immunes. I've put my extra points into Fissure but I need to figure something out to deal with them better. I've seen people mention using a bow but haven't looked into it much as I don't have to worry about them in Pits, I get the occasional one in Andy but it doesn't affect me but I know once I get to Arcane its going to be a problem.

There is no time limit to finishing this character its just important that I do get my first HC clear, after that I'd like to do the same thing with every other class in the game but that is a ways down the road. I'll continue to update my progress or lack there of at the end of each day hopefully culminating in downing Baal in HC Hell once and for all. Look forward to being a part of the community, take care for now.
 
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Meh, it would make me unhappy to only have 3 sockets quests, but I guess dudu is a class which doesn't need them for weapon and armor anyway. (4s flails drop in cow normal, if you want it badly and 3s armors are shopped from a2)
 
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Welcome to the community! There's lots of knowledgeable people here if you ever need any advice. Good luck with the druid! I also like playing HC with self-found characters, it's nice to see someone else who does the same.
 
Welcome! A summon druid guide is actually what brought me to Diabloii.net years and years and years and years ago. Glad to see others enjoy the build. Look forward to reading your posts dude.
 
Welcome! Glad you found the new forum!

@d2lover 4os flails cannot drop directly from cow level (nothing in normal can drop 4os bases directly). The white flails dropped there have a good chance of 4os in the cube though.
 
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@d2lover its hardcoded somewhere (at least in modern version, anything I say, I'm never claiming to know anything about old versions). In normal nothing can drop with >3os and in nm nothing can drop with >4os. Cube recipe and larzuk just behave regularly based on ilvl so you can still get them that way.
 
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YIKES.png
Nothing quite like starting your day off with a close call. First run of the day still sleepy eyed and I walked right into 5000 archers waiting for me on the steps while my merc watched from afar.

Drops.png
So I had to back out of that run and start a new one, my first actual run ended in a double unique ring drop from Andy unfortunately it was a RavenFrost and a Dwarf Star. I then went on a really bad run of finding nothing but picking up 3 perfect Topaz to bring my MF up a bit more. My last few runs ended up with some chance guards which were an upgrade over the MF gloves I was using, an Um rune (which I don't have any plans for atm) and a 20 life/8 fire SC.

I had quite a few close calls today, my resistances are sitting around 30 each with all my MF gear on and the lightning mobs in Pits shred me if I'm not careful. At the end of the day I'm sitting at 253MF which I think will be about as high as I go unless I get a Shako. Gained a level as well so I'm sitting at level 86

TLDR Breakdown of Accomplishments Today:
1. Acquired 3 PTopaz to socket in my Griswold's
2. Gained a level
3. Upgrade previous rare MF gloves with some Chance Guards
4. 20 life/8fire SC
5. Um Rune
6. Went from 162MF to 253MF
7. Didn't die :ROFLMAO:
 
why you run Pits, I hate those **** archers :(
I like that there are no physical immunes. I've thought about running ancient tunnels but the PI + its kind of claustrophobic in spots for my summons to really work efficiently. I probably will do ancient tunnels sooner than later though.
 
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Glad to have you here, LizardSike! Summoning "beastmaster" druids are also my all-time favorite builds.
 
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Welcome to the SPF! Glad you find your way here - it is not openly promoted on the old site after all!

Seems like you know your way around the game well enough! Since nobody else did the routine welcome: May your drops be green and golden (and orange by now, I guess :unsure:)!

*kicks shins
 
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Thanks for all the welcomes.

Today was pretty productive on my 4th run of just farming Pits/Andy I found a Wizardspike. With its 75 Resist all I was then confident enough to go find Ancient Tunnels and add it to my farming rotation. This allowed me to keep my 253MF and have full resistances, I did have to give up my +2 to Druid skills weapon but it was well worth it. Another huge benefit of the Wizzardspike was that I could bank all my +Resist charms and swap them with +life ones, I'm currently sitting at roughly 2.2k health. After finding the spike I adjusted my rotation to be Rakanishu > Tower(for now looking for a shael) > Pits > Andy > Ancient Tunnels.
I was able to pick up a Nagel off Andy for a little extra MF bringing me to 271MF, a Baranars Star which seems to work decent enough for physical immunes, a poor mans Maras (Saracens) and a 1 to summoning GC. There weren't any close calls today now that I'm at max resists so that was nice, now its just a matter of getting things to drop. I picked up a level as well so I'm at 87.
Drops12-21.png

TLDR Breakdown of Accomplishments Today:
1. Found a Wizardspike allowing myself to hit max resists and swap +res charms for +life.
2. Gained a level
3. Small upgrade to MF by 18.
4. 1 to Summoning GC
5. Upgrade my MF rotation to include Ancient Tunnels & Rakanishu
6. Found an okay option for dealing with PI's in Baranar's Star
7. And most importantly didn't die :ROFLMAO:

Questions I have:
I'm debating between armors for my merc its between Duress or Treachery. My merc is using a non eth CV Insight eventually once I can find a Thresher or Giant Thresher + Fal I'd like to give him an Obedience. As I understand it the Treachery might not be that great with my current weapon and Duress would be better but if I'm not worried about my current weapon and plan on giving him an obedience I should make Treachery for that right?

His other gear is a Lionheart and a Face of Horror mask with a Ptopaz.
 
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So that's how my day started. First run of the day found an Eth Giant Thresher rolled it in the cube got 6 sockets 😭. On the very next run I find a Thresher but it was 4 sockets 😭. To make myself feel better I then made my merc a treachery. Found a 12%MF Tal Belt to up the MF a little more, then a 4OS Dusk Shroud which was higher Def than the Archon Plate I planned on using a Lazurk socket on so that was a decent upgrade. I then went on a big dry run of finding nothing, I started to get a bit frustrated constantly dealing with my merc being stupid and hiding behind walls or just standing in the open doing nothing on top of not finding anything. So I decided I was going to just start pushing through Act 2 and take a break from grinding out MF runs.

I got through Act 2 a bit easier than expected and broke my personal best as I've never cleared A2 on solo HC, then I decided to push on into act 3. Everything was going smoothly until I had to go into the Kurast sewers, had quite a close few calls with the undead soul killers which was my fault for trying to run through a lot of the map instead of taking my time. Breezed through council, had 1 or 2 close calls in Durance and killed Mephisto easily. Mephisto dropped a 33%MF Gheeds bringing my total MF to 300 and a Hone Sundan which I upped and popped in 2 Amn's and a Shael (Thanks to @d2lover and @saracen85 for the advice). This helped greatly with my mercs killing power and now MF runs are quite a bit easier although I have to manage my mana a bit now, once I have Bramble made it should be a bit better.

Excited that I cleared act 3 I figured well lets see how far we can push it. I went into act 4 and the second pack I fought dropped a Vex so now I have all the runes for HOTO just not the base. I got Izzy down and headed to the forge where I got a Gul rune and a perfect emerald which I needed to up the Hone Sundan. I decided to quit pushing after that as some of the mobs were taking longer to kill (but at the time I was still using insight) and decided to head back to MF runs for a bit. I picked up another Nagel(22MF) off Andy bringing my total MF to 322.

So what started out as a rough day turned out to be fantastic I did have to make a lot of sacrifices to my bank including vendoring lionheart and a bunch of small charms but it was worth it. Next up I'm hoping to find a 4OS Flail for Hoto, a Sur rune for Bramble, a helmet for myself (Jalals or Shako), a SOJ & Bul Kathos Wedding band and I think I have this run in the bank finally.


TLDR Breakdown of Accomplishments Today:

1. Got trolled with 2 threshers
2. Upgraded my future Bramble armor
3. Got frustrated with bad luck and decided to push through act 2 into act 4.
4. Upgraded MF from 253 - 322
5. Had a few close calls
6. Got a new merc weapon an upped Hone Sundan with 2 amn's and a shael in it for now
7. Picked up a 33% Gheeds
8. And of course I didn't die 😀

 
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Earlier post than normal but I think its worth it.

Did a few MF runs early got nothing started feeling frustrated again and decided now that I had a decent merc weapon why not go try to down Diablo. He went down really easy, Infector of Souls on the other hand took a while. High off this kill I decided to push until I defeat Baal or die.
Diablo down.png

Ancients was pretty easy much easier than I was expecting. I worked my way through the keep had to down a few times chugging through health pots but all in all pretty easy. I couldn't believe I was planning on farming up all this gear when I could clear this stuff almost the entire time. Finally got to Baal and he went down like cake, felt like a weight off my shoulders. It might be a minor accomplishment but I've been chasing this on and off for a while.
Baal Down.png
DONEEEEEEEEEEEE.png
stats at end.png

Character name : LizardSike
Character type : Hardcore Druid
Character level : 88
Character exp : 1426247082

Strength : 134
Energy : 20
Dexterity : 55
Vitality : 321
Stat Points Rem : 0
Skill Points Rem: 10

Life : 1179 / 837
Mana : 561 / 194
Stamina : 509 / 467

Gold (Inventory): 454822
Gold (Stash) : 2500000

Number of Items : 73

1: Eth Rune

2: Garnet Small Charm of Vita

3: Small Charm of Vita

4: Large Charm of Vita

5: Small Charm of Good Luck

6: Static Large Charm of Vita

7: Ocher Small Charm of Blight

8: Garnet Large Charm of Sustenance

9: Large Charm of Sustenance

10: Um Rune

11: Ko Rune

12: Thul Rune

13: Ruby Small Charm of Blight

14: Cobalt Small Charm of Strength

15: Coral Small Charm

16: Beryl Small Charm of Life

17: Shimmering Large Charm of Greed

18: Tome of Town Portal

19: Um Rune

20: Eth Rune

21: Ohm Rune

22: Horadric Cube

23: Vex Rune

24: Lum Rune

25: Amn Rune

26: Hel Rune

27: Ral Rune

28: Thul Rune

29: Raven Frost - Ring

30: Frostburn - Gauntlets

31: Trainer's Grand Charm

32: Small Charm of Sustenance

33: Perfect Topaz

34: Perfect Topaz

35: Perfect Amethyst

36: Emerald Small Charm

37: Hel Rune

38: Saracen's Chance - Amulet

39: Dwarf Star - Ring

40: Small Charm of Vita

41: Nightsmoke - Belt

42: Stalwart Large Charm of Sustenance

43: Gul Rune

44: Small Charm of Sustenance

45: Small Charm of Sustenance

46: Dusk Shroud

47: Small Charm of Sustenance

48: Gheed's Fortune - Grand Charm

49: Insight - Colossus Voulge
'RalTirTalSol'

50: Wraith Noose - Amulet

51: Snake's Small Charm of Vita

52: Coral Small Charm

53: Super Healing Potion

54: Super Healing Potion

55: Super Healing Potion

56: Super Healing Potion

57: Garnet Grand Charm of Sustenance

58: Grand Charm of Vita

59: Highlord's Wrath - Amulet

60: Nagelring - Ring

61: Tal Rasha's Fine-Spun Cloth - Mesh Belt

62: Nagelring - Ring

63: Chance Guards - Chain Gloves

64: Griswold's Heart - Ornate Plate
Perfect Topaz
Perfect Topaz
Perfect Topaz

65: Gemmed Winged Helm
Perfect Topaz
Perfect Topaz
Perfect Topaz

66: Wormskull - Bone Helm

67: The Mahim-Oak Curio - Amulet

68: Baranar's Star - Devil Star

69: Gerke's Sanctuary - Pavise

70: Gore Rider - War Boots

71: War Traveler - Battle Boots

72: Wizardspike - Bone Knife

73: Spirit - Monarch
'TalThulOrtAmn'


Mercenary Items :
1: Treachery - Embossed Plate
'ShaelThulLem'

2: The Face of Horror - Mask
'Ko'

3: Hone Sundan - Ghost Spear
'AmnAmnShael'

I finally completed a Solo Self Found Untwinked HC No Mods run. I didn't expect to clear Hell any time soon I was expecting to have to grind out more gear so I'm quite not sure what I want to complete next as I didn't give it much thought. I did start a sorceress P8 run but I think I might need a HC break for a little bit. Maybe a grail run? A SC 99 run? Any other ideas or suggestions?
 
Very well played, @LizardSike ! 🥳 You have skillfully accomplished something which I have not.

As for your next project, here's my recommendation: see what folks are trying to accomplish in this years goals topic thread, and see if anything there inspires you.
 
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