Killing Baal @ /p8 Hell

[grogs1]

Killing Baal @ /p8 Hell

We've had a discussion in the Beacon's Billboard about this and I'd like some advice from the Forum on the issue. Plus, trying to keep the OT thread OT :thumbsup:

A run down so far:

I've decided to attempt to get a char to lvl 99, the candidate is a lvl92 Hammerdin. I'm running the WSK and Throne Rm at /p8 and killing Baal at /p1 till lvl95. After lvl95 I'll up Baal to /p8 also ~ it's quicker atm to run the Minions to gain exp than to spend time on Baal.

this from the Beacon's:

Quote:
Originally Posted by corax
@grogs: for baal killing get yourself a large amount of CB. say gullimane face and a strength weapon on switch and 1 pnt into fanat. then switch to your strength weapon and whatever shield you choose. look for things like OW and stuff on it. baal pwnage. then smite him till hes say bout 1/4 hp. then its hammertime.



The only problem is that I have Naj's puzzler on switch for tele ~ the only way I can kill (safetly) Lister and his minions on /p8 is to wait till they spawn, then tele ontop of Baal, that way only 1 minion at a time will attack and the merc can give as good as he gets. Cheesy? maybe. Effective? hell yes.

I've got 2 thoughts:
1)Merc loaded with CB (Gullimane's + hone sudan)
2)Merc with Gullimane's + Kelpie snare + rattlecage (25%CB I think its that one)

thoughts??????

-Grogs

EDIT: To add arguments to the above -

1) Loads of CB (105% w/ rattlecage), theoretically good. I just think with the low damage and lack of resists, the merc will get dead very quickly

2) Still 60% CB, bugger all leech, but the 75% slow should make Baal a pussycat????? Or do you need more slow than that to stop Baal from doing any of his nasty attacks?? I'm pretty sure I read that he won't summon his clone or teleport (the main reasons I want him slowed), I could be wrong though


Any suggestions would be welcomed

-Grogs

 

[Summoned]

As mentioned in the other thread, good luck. :uhhuh:

You MUST get a good map, my sorceress had one where she could warp to Baal's seat in roughly 10-15 seconds. 3 teleports every level. I would suggest, instead one of those +3 combat skills amulets with teleport charges (pretty rare). It's going to be really hard (even for a hammerdin) to kill P8 Baal without insanely high damage, especially alone. Crushing blow sounds good on paper, but you're taking away 1/90 of his life every time it triggers (1/10 on bosses, 50% physical resistance, divide by 4.5 due to players8, I think). It'll only be effective for the first few hits, however, you can smite with a Crescent Moon Phase Blade (-35% enemy lightning resistance + static field = uber). That'll wipe off half his health in somewhere around 5-10 seconds.

After that, it's all hammers, and there's really not much you can do unless you actually went for 100% crushing blow and can smite at 6-7 frames.

 

[grogs1]

1. use tele ammy instead of puzzler. Ammy can fit in cube.
2. merc - decrep from reapers or slow from Kelpie will do. You can do well w/ cb.
3. If you're serious about getting to 99, put Guillame's in cube and Exile + Stormlash on switch and invest 1 pt into fana. When fighting baal, switch to fana, put on face, and go to switch and smite the hell out of Baal. 15% CtC Static and 68% CB kills fast.

Its a long term goal that I have, I know it'll take a great deal of time, (I estimate around 2500hrs of play time) so it's not something that will happen overnight.

My merc currently uses Reapers, sure it slows baal. I thought that I read somewhere that if you had enough slow Baal loses the ability to 'attack', that is aside from is mana drain.

The rest sounds like a good idea, thanks

-Grogs

 

[Summoned]

From the Arreat Summit:
Static Field is Lightning damage, and can be resisted through Lightning Resistance.

Static Field is not affected by Conviction and Lower Resist.

I think the second part is misleading. It's very likely that only positive resistance affects static field, much like how crushing blow is worked out. So since Baal has so much lightning resistance, the -35% should help. An experiment would be to see how much life you're taking away from Baal with and without conviction, but I'm pretty sure it's effective.

 

[corax1]

@summoned: CB scales with the players setting IIRC. and if baal is decrep then it will always do 1/10 of current life.

 

[grogs1]

As mentioned in the other thread, good luck. :uhhuh:

You MUST get a good map, my sorceress had one where she could warp to Baal's seat in roughly

The main reason I got this in my head was the map that young Pala has.

The WP is right next door to the lvl 3 stairs, maybe a 7~8 second walk, and the walk to the Throne is about the same.

We'll see how it goes.....

-Grogs

 

[Summoned]

Arreat Summit Again:
The life removed is also scaled with number of players. So that if a monster has 450% more life due to 8 players (or whatever the value is) the life removed is further reduced by the same amount (450% would equal multiplying by 4.5 so the life removed by Crushing Blow is divided by 4.5).

 

[grogs1]

Arreat Summit Again:
The life removed is also scaled with number of players. So that if a monster has 450% more life due to 8 players (or whatever the value is) the life removed is further reduced by the same amount (450% would equal multiplying by 4.5 so the life removed by Crushing Blow is divided by 4.5).

Right so the more CB the better.....

I also like the cresent moon idea - I've tried out baal @/8 to see what it was like - I do ~8700 - 8800 with current equip (could get it up over 10k with gear changes), and hammering away isn't an option.

I'll do some testing tonight and come up with some times with different gear and let you know.