March of the Doomed - Running Thread

Another Act completed. Things are still going pretty smoothly, even more so since I switched mercs for a Holy Freeze aura. My damage is still ok, though I can hopefully find some upgrades around the time I hit Act IV/V when monster life gets a lot higher. I decided to sacrifice some MF for a bit more survivability when I found this:

Screenshot001.png

This will still likely be replaced by a Smoke armor once I find something decent with 2 sockets.

Screenshot004.png

Duriel slowed us, we slowed him back. It was a rather long fight. The ring turned out to be a Dwarf Star. The only other drop of note was a Nokozan Relic from AS and a 4os Tusk Sword that may become a Passion sword if I see a Lem soon. Not for the Zeal/Berserk, but for the ED mainly.

Rich (BB code):
How to fill the table
SP SC SR D2R Forum Name        Character Name       Class   Level Location                Score  Date
-- -- -- --- ----------        --------------       -----   ----- --------                -----  ----
         D2R Dazliare          Sentinel              Pal    01    Rogue Camp              Higher than Babyhell
         D2R Vang              Swoon                 Bar    81    Guardian                45     01/27/2022
SP       D2R Jcakes            Hades                 Nec    84    Guardian                54     02/04/2022
         D2R Babyhell          TheDeadman (it.2)     Nec    83    Guardian                51     02/09/2022
         D2R Vildecor          MacLeod               Bar    51    N Kurast Docks          21     02/22/2022
SP       D2R Grisu             Karrin                Asn    ??    Kurast Docks            06
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to ashes (aka Deeds)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         D2R Vang              Refractor             Dru    67    Frozen Tundra NM        27
SP       D2R ffs               Pound                 Pal    77    H Claw Viper Temple     39
         D2R D4di56lu3         DevaZR                Asn    68    Nihlathak's Temple      27
SP       D2R lizard            Appolonia             Ama    50    The Pit NM              18
         D2R Vang              HoboJones             Dru    46    Pand. Fortress          15
         D2R Babyhell          TheDeadman (it.1)     Nec    22    Arcane Sanctuary        03
         D2R Vang              Cronan                Bar    14    Lut Gholein             06
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ready for my next damnation.

Rich (BB code):
Act Damnation          Royal Seal used (skill only)
No1 Howl               N
No2 Polearm Mastery    N
No3 Battle Cry         N
No4 Grim Ward          N
No5 Battle Command     N

NM1 Inceased Stamina   N
NM2 -                  N
NM3 -                  N
NM4 -                  N
NM5 -                  N

He1 -                  N
He2 -                  N
He3 -                  N
He4 -                  N

Reset used (if any)
Normal    during <Act>
Nightmare during <Act>
Hell      during <Act>
 
Sorry to hear about your deeds, @D4di56lu3! No flippant remarks from me here - it is great how far you've made it for your 2nd try in HC! It was a blast to read about Deva's journey and I wish you better luck next time!

Those charges really do some serious damage, even non-critical hits can sometimes one-shot you. I always take out all the minions in front of the temple first (well, my merc does it while I hide cowardly behind him) and wait for all resurrections to happen, which can take some time. Only then will I proceed to Pindle's mob to prevent being backstabbed (back-charged?) from one reanimated (not the name, the actually risen anew) undead...

Hope to see you in another (HC) tournament soon!
 
Screenshot006.png

Mephisto has been slain! I'm ready for another damnation.

I'm definitely feeling underleveled, and my hit chances are pretty trash right now as well. I'm looking at about a 50% ctc most mobs, which is no fun. Still, nothing too difficult yet. Mephisto took ages to kill. I think I'll run Countess until I get an Io and make a Black weapon. Then reroll maps and do some Meph running before continuing.

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Screenshot004.png
Screenshot005.png

Rich (BB code):
How to fill the table
SP SC SR D2R Forum Name        Character Name       Class   Level Location                Score  Date
-- -- -- --- ----------        --------------       -----   ----- --------                -----  ----
         D2R Dazliare          Sentinel              Pal    01    Rogue Camp              Higher than Babyhell
         D2R Vang              Swoon                 Bar    81    Guardian                45     01/27/2022
SP       D2R Jcakes            Hades                 Nec    84    Guardian                54     02/04/2022
         D2R Babyhell          TheDeadman (it.2)     Nec    83    Guardian                51     02/09/2022
         D2R Vildecor          MacLeod               Bar    54    N Pandemonium Fortress  24     03/01/2022
SP       D2R Grisu             Karrin                Asn    ??    Kurast Docks            06
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to ashes (aka Deeds)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         D2R Vang              Refractor             Dru    67    Frozen Tundra NM        27
SP       D2R ffs               Pound                 Pal    77    H Claw Viper Temple     39
         D2R D4di56lu3         DevaZR                Asn    68    Nihlathak's Temple      27
SP       D2R lizard            Appolonia             Ama    50    The Pit NM              18
         D2R Vang              HoboJones             Dru    46    Pand. Fortress          15
         D2R Babyhell          TheDeadman (it.1)     Nec    22    Arcane Sanctuary        03
         D2R Vang              Cronan                Bar    14    Lut Gholein             06
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ready for my next damnation.

Rich (BB code):
Act Damnation          Royal Seal used (skill only)
No1 Howl               N
No2 Polearm Mastery    N
No3 Battle Cry         N
No4 Grim Ward          N
No5 Battle Command     N

NM1 Inceased Stamina   N
NM2 Double Throw       N
NM3 -                  N
NM4 -                  N
NM5 -                  N

He1 -                  N
He2 -                  N
He3 -                  N
He4 -                  N

Reset used (if any)
Normal    during <Act>
Nightmare during <Act>
Hell      during <Act>
 
@Babyhell Congrats on your Guardian! Impressive to manage without having to use a seal!

@Norcim Glad you're back! I'm very excited for 2.4 as well. Good luck on the Pally, your damnations look very brutal so far. :cry:

Been a while since I played Terra, since I was finishing out my Random Tournament character (Odin the Barbarian who made Guardian, yay). When last I left her, I had just gone on a gambling spree for Repeating Crossbows. She did manage to snag a rare Cho-Ku-Nu with 20%IAS and a little AR/%ED/max damage/cold damage. I used it all throughout Act III, and it does ok damage. I believe the last time I used a crossbow was a Buriza in 1.09, so it's cool to actually give them a go. At this point though, Terra is becoming more of a FA zon than a multishot zon. I try and do a mix between FA and MS, but I wind up using just FA more often than I'd like. The other thing that's very worrisome is her survivability. I'm foregoing resists to try and increase AR, damage, and MF. Hopefully I can keep the MF on until after Act I hell, but there's a really good chance she deeds before getting there.

With that, Act III has been cleared on /p8, including Meph, which was made possible by the CB on this:

Screenshot126.png

The Insight Bill is still used for normal questing, but the CB on that will make all remaining boss fights a breeze. Unfortunately I'm struggling with finding good runes to socket it with. She's only found 2 Shael runes, one is in there, but the other went to upping her Goldwrap. The Great Marsh delivered another fantastic find for a bow wielding amazon:
Screenshot128.png

I'll be making a Harmony bow once I find an elite base, I'm sure. Harmony should be good enough of a weapon to get her through hell if she makes it there. A potential end game amulet was found in the Ruined Temple:
Screenshot129.png

It was a Mahim-Oak, giving a 10% bonus to AR, which I'm sure will eclipse anything besides Angelics, but I haven't found Angelic ammy yet and I'd rather spend gambling money on bows. The 10 to all stats and 10 resist all would be very welcome as well.

Some of the other drop highlights of the act were: 15% IAS jewel, Trang Gloves, Crainte Vomir, and a Milabrega's armor. Meph drop was not useful:
Screenshot150.png

Shame she's not a melee character. Having the choice to use a Crainte Vomir or a Butcher's Pupil.... You don't get options like that too often. Wish it had been Lycander's Aim and Buriza I was debating between :ROFLMAO:. Terra didn't use any skill points this act, but need another damnation, please.

Rich (BB code):
Javelin and Spear (6)
01 Jab 1
06 Power Strike 1, Poison Javelin 1
12 Impale 0, Lightning Bolt 1
18 Charged Strike 1, Plague Javelin 1
24 Fend 0
30 Lightning Strike 0, Lightning Fury 0

Passive and Magic (26)
01 Inner Sight 1, Critical Strike 7
06 Dodge 1
12 Slow Missiles 1, Avoid 1
18 Penetrate 1
24 Decoy 5, Evade 1
30 Valkyrie 1, Pierce 7

Bow and Crossbow (29)
01 Magic Arrow 1, Fire Arrow 0
06 Cold Arrow 15, Multiple Shot 7
12 Exploding Arrow 0
18 Ice Arrow 1, Guided Arrow 1
24 Strafe 1, Immolation Arrow 0
30 Freezing Arrow 3

Rich (BB code):
Act Damnation          Royal Seal used (skill only)
Fire Arrow             N
Impale                 N
Evade                  N
Guided Arrow           N
Fend                   N

Critical Strike        N
Magic Arrow            N
NM3 -                  N
NM4 -                  N
NM5 -                  N

He1 -                  N
He2 -                  N
He3 -                  N
He4 -                  N

Reset used (if any)
Normal    during <Act>
Nightmare during <Act>
Hell      during <Act>
 
It's been a while since my last update. I had some vacation time off for the first time in a few years so I went out of town, away from computers for a while!

The TLDR for this post. RIP Styke and Ilzan in the Forgotten Temple. I'd been writing the update as I went, so I'll just run through the gameplay up to that point.

We started Act 2 at level 53, and hit 54 as we finished clearing the sewers. Vigor is at level 19, so one more level to finish the synergy and then it doesn't matter as much anymore if it gets damned later.

Because we switched Ilzan from Blessed Aim to Holy Freeze, our chance to hit dropped quite a bit. I'm now running 1 point Conviction as the main aura for the reduced enefy defense, which keeps our chance to hit around 95% effectively at this point. I had been running a 1 point Concentration for most of Act 1, but the damage increase isn't that significant with it at only being at level 1. I may put points into Concentration if I makes it past Meph and BH remains available; that could be looked into as a secondary form of damage. Possibilities, but we'll wait until Act 4 (if we survive) to make any real decisions on skill points.

We found our missing Sol rune almost immediately as we stepped into the Rocky Waste. I'm holding out for a bit on any decisions with it until it feels necessary:
Screenshot001.png

Check out this small charm drop from the Halls of the Dead Level 2. This is probably the best small charm I've ever found in a tournament, and possibly one of the best I've ever found.
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The fight with Fangskin was tense, as we got rushed pretty quick. I saw a good charge line on one of his minions so I was able to charge chain that guy back to the alter area, then run around the alter and TP out on the other side. We were then able to separate the minions. Styke took one charge from Fangskin which knocked off about half his life, which was disconcerting to say the least. No exciting drops happened until the Claw Viper Temple Level 2, where another Sol dropped. I used this Sol to upgrade the Bonesnap, and still have one in reserve for a future insight opportunity. I also used up most of my saved stat points for Vitality since I was worried about getting killed by a 2 or 3 shot attack (this sentence turned out to be some spot-on foreshadowing for later):
Screenshot004.png

We encountered out first PI monster, a ghost boss in the Arcane Sanctuary. A 1 point Vengeance took it down with no fuss, but I forgot to try out Sanctuary because I think it removes PI from undead monsters but couldn't remember for sure. I tested this out later and it does indeed seem to ignore PI for undead monsters.
Screenshot005.png

I had been using a new 3 socket breast plate with 2 perfect topazes since the Dry Hills, and finally was able to get a third PTopaz in during the Arcane Sanctuary. I decided not to wait until I had a 4 socket armor since I always seem to have a hard time finding them. MF is up to 213 for Styke now. We found the Summoner on the last leg that we cleared. Same thing happened to us in Normal. I picked up a plain Gothic Staff here, and am tempted to roll it in the cube for an Insight base.

We found a Pul in the first room of the first false temple! Being halfway to an Exceptional Unique weapon upgrade is exciting, especially since Pul is definitely harder to come by than Lum in a single pass playthrough.
Screenshot006.png

While in the same first false tomb, we scored another great drop in the Angelic Amulet! I had found one of the rings in Normal, so we have a great source of AR available moving forward that would let me change out the Hsarus for a better boots and belt combo! We're staying with Hsarus for now to keep the MF and leach from our current ring and amulet.

No major issues the rest of the way. Duriel was no problem, so we'll go with the customary photo of the fight with Ancient Kaa. We finished Act 2 at level 60.
Screenshot007.png

Cleansing got damned by Duriel. This one hurt, as I was using this regularly anytime Styke got cursed or poisoned and it was really helpful in not having to go back to town all the time to get rid of those.

I decided to do some gambling for boots and circlets before starting Act 3, with a few potential circlet options that would be better for surviving that the 72MF Great Helm that I've got stashed. I had 3 Amns available and had stashed a 3 socket Long Bow from Normal, so I decided to make an Edge bow for the reduced cost before I started. This should also come in handy for any shopping I may do later. Picked up another Bonesnap in the Spider Forest, this time at 287ED, which would be a huge improvement over the current one if I had a spare Sol. I have one stashed in case I want to make Insight in something.

I finally found another Sol in the Flayer Jungle and decided to upgrade the new Bonesnap to a War Club to get a good damage boost now but without losing any flexibility later to swap weapons if something better comes along.
Screenshot011.png

A Ko rune dropped in the Kurast Baazar, which was a nice surprise. Maybe a Harmony awaits?
Screenshot012.png

We had our first scare in a while in the Ruined Temple; we didn't hit a stair trap which was nice, but quickly got rushed by Sarina's pack. I cast Lifetap on them so Ilzan would survive, but by the time I got it off and weapon swapped back to the Bonesnap he was already dead and they were right on top of Styke. One of the nice things about maxed Vigor is I was able to toggle that and outrun them to the stairs to escape. If the stairs hadn't been there I'm not sure I would have gotten a TP off and been able to get through it. It's times like this when having lowish life and no blocking options are really not ideal. (Man, the foreshadowing was strong during the writing of this update). But Styke got out, resurrected Ilzan, then came back through and with Lifetap up in time they went down without a fuss.

The time of reckoning for Styke and Ilzan would strike us in the Forgotten Temple. Man these places can be rough and as I so aptly foreshadowed myself from the Ruined Temple, "having lowish life and no blocking options are really not ideal". I'll also then add in that CE/Cursed archer packs make that situation much less ideal, especially when backed up by a Spectral Hit/Teleport archer pack. Thirdly, I really like the enhanced graphics and lighting experience of D2R, but it can be tough to see in the caves and temples and places like that. That's the whole idea of the enhanced graphics making it more dark and gloomy, but I definitely wasn't able to see the second archer pack in that room until I was already dead and was scrolling over the bosses trying to figure out what happened.
Screenshot014.png
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Styke has always been a bit squishy in NM, and his life can bounce around decently if he does get hit since we have no DR and only 737 life. So when I popped into that room and took an arrow that brought the life down by 100 or so, I wasn't super concerned. I hit a healing pot and cast Lifetap on the pack while pulling Styke further into the room to get Ilzan in here. Ilzan could maybe have tanked the first pack of archers with Lifetap up, so I thought running further in would be a good idea...

The final sequence wasn't an instakill, but Styke got chilled (no CBF since I'd switched from Death's to Hsarus belt) by that first arrow and then cursed almost immediately. I couldn't see the volley of arrows heading his way from both packs, but I had time to get in 2 juvies while attempting to turn around before it was deeds. Not sure I was going to survive even if I'd gotten to the rest of the juvies once I'd made the decision to run into the room. I wouldn't have been able to get a TP off and use it, so it was try to run and pot and get lucky. It'd been a longer play session and ultimately I just wasn't paying as much attention to Styke as I needed to considering how he was put together.

Losing Styke didn't hurt that much as he was only level 63. I'm too rusty of a player and the character is a tough one to build untwinked even without the limitations of the tournament. I'll probably find another tournament to enter, maybe do a pass of the Green with Envy tournament as part of @Vang's Tournament of Tournaments. I seem to prefer tournaments that are more restrictive of equipment and more flexible with skills/stats. Styke had almost 10 skill points saved when he died because I didn't want to waste them on a skill that could get damned.

Thanks for hosting @Babyhell, and good luck to all remaining participants!

Ripsaw - Sewers Level 1
Tancreds Pick - Dry Hills
Face of Horror - Halls of the Dead Level 1
Vidalas Bow - Halls of the Dead Level 1
Whitstans Guard - Far Oasis
Cathans Ring - Far Oasis
Bloodthief - Lost City
Cathans Ring - Claw Viper Temple
The Diggler - Harem Level 2
Clegaws Gloves - Arcane Sanctuary
Nokozan Relic - Arcane Sanctuary
Wizendraw - Canyon of the Magi
Sanders Cap - Canyon of the Magi
Magnus Skin - Canyon of the Magi
Cathans Armor - False Tomb
Angelic Amulet - False Tomb
Dark Clan Crusher - False Tomb
Butchers Pupil - Kaa's Tomb
Clegaws Sword - Kaa's Tomb
Sazabis Helm - True Tomb
Sigons Gloves - Duriel
Vidalas Boots - Spider Forest
Sparkling Mail - Spider Forest
Bonesnap - Spider Forest
Woe Stave - Great Marsh
Sanders Boots - Great Marsh
Aldurs Boots - Flayer Jungle
Riphook - Swampy Pits Level 2
Culwens Point - Flayer Dungeon Level 2
Wormskull - Flayer Dungeon Level 3
Acannas Deathwand - Lower Kurast

Code:
Act Damnation          Royal Seal used (skill only)
No1 Holy Fire            N
No2 Might                N
No3 Holy Shield          N
No4 Holy Shock           N
No5 Fanaticism           N

NM1 Thorns               N
NM2 Cleansing            N
NM3 -                    N
NM4 -                    N
NM5 -                    N

He1 -                    N
He2 -                    N
He3 -                    N
He4 -                    N

Reset used (if any)
Normal    during <Act>
Nightmare during <Act>
Hell      during <Act>
 
RIP Styke, you got punished bad on the damnations, no doubt about it.

Terra set out into Act IV on /p8. It was very laborious, and now she uses FA almost exclusively just to keep everything frozen so Waheed can poke them. She did find a superior Spider Bow and debated imbuing it, but Spider Bow is such an awful elite bow, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Gloams in the Plains of Despair were quite perilous, Terra has barely positive resists, so the bolts hurt bad. Good thing she didn't encounter any unique packs of them, it's very possible she would have been fried by random bolts.

She did have a lot of luck with runes and drops, she found 2 Hel runes which is 1 more than my last 3 Guardians combined, so I was excited for those. She also found a unique Lance, Ancient Axe, Twin Axe, and 2 set Ammys (Cathan's and Civerb's). Hellforge drop was meh:

Screenshot159.png

I did drop it to /p3 for Diablo, the merc with Hone Sundan tore him apart very quick:Screenshot162.png

Pretty bummed that the Rune Bow, Sallet, and Cuirass didn't roll unique. Any of those would have been amazingly useful. Time for another damnation. Been very lucky with them so far, fingers crossed!

Rich (BB code):
Javelin and Spear (6)
01 Jab 1
06 Power Strike 1, Poison Javelin 1
12 Impale 0, Lightning Bolt 1
18 Charged Strike 1, Plague Javelin 1
24 Fend 0
30 Lightning Strike 0, Lightning Fury 0

Passive and Magic (26)
01 Inner Sight 1, Critical Strike 7
06 Dodge 1
12 Slow Missiles 1, Avoid 1
18 Penetrate 1
24 Decoy 5, Evade 1
30 Valkyrie 1, Pierce 7

Bow and Crossbow (29)
01 Magic Arrow 1, Fire Arrow 0
06 Cold Arrow 15, Multiple Shot 7
12 Exploding Arrow 0
18 Ice Arrow 1, Guided Arrow 1
24 Strafe 1, Immolation Arrow 0
30 Freezing Arrow 3

Rich (BB code):
Act Damnation          Royal Seal used (skill only)
Fire Arrow             N
Impale                 N
Evade                  N
Guided Arrow           N
Fend                   N

Critical Strike        N
Magic Arrow            N
Lightning Strike       N
NM4 -                  N
NM5 -                  N

He1 -                  N
He2 -                  N
He3 -                  N
He4 -                  N

Reset used (if any)
Normal    during <Act>
Nightmare during <Act>
Hell      during <Act>
 
Before venturing further, MacLeod spent some time at the Countess, and far too much time at Mephisto. For the Countess, I was after an Io rune to make Black to finally get some crushing blow going. During the hunt, I found an Aldur's Rhythm to replace the rare sword I'd been using for even more damage. After many runs, I finally got my rune.

IVXcTQW.png


I had a 3os War Hammer stashed, but while running I found a 3os Morning Star that I used for a base instead since it was faster. I then re-rolled maps until I got a good Mephisto map and spent way too much time running him for gear. For non-single pass runs where I don't have gear restrictions, I tend to have gear targets before I start Hell difficulty. I was hoping for 3 piece IK, a merc helm/body armor combo that gave @ res/ll/dmg reduction, and any weapon upgrades for me or the merc would just be gravy.

JMYzXE9.png

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FqkbSoA.png

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I came away very satisfied. All but the Fleshrender and IK belt dropped within the first...6-8ish hours of farming him. I'd gotten my 3-piece IK set, but I really wanted the belt for the fire and lightning resist, so I spent even more time farming until the belt dropped. I don't know the total time spent at Mephisto, but I started farming him at level 55.1 and ended at level 64.7. After that marathon, questing in Act IV was done at lightning speed with zero danger.

On the way to the hellforge, I found a Lem rune, which is always nice to find in an untwinked setting. The hellforge itself gave me another Io rune. The Chaos Sanctuary was quickly cleared and soon after Diablo fell as well.

krFtchi.png


Both Battle Orders and frenzy are at 20 points, and now I'm dumping more into Double Swing. With how much leveling I did at Mephisto, I probably won't need to do so much in Act V, but I want to at least be level 75 before venturing into hell difficulty.

Rich (BB code):
How to fill the table
SP SC SR D2R Forum Name        Character Name       Class   Level Location                Score  Date
-- -- -- --- ----------        --------------       -----   ----- --------                -----  ----
         D2R Dazliare          Sentinel              Pal    01    Rogue Camp              Higher than Babyhell
         D2R Vang              Swoon                 Bar    81    Guardian                45     01/27/2022
SP       D2R Jcakes            Hades                 Nec    84    Guardian                54     02/04/2022
         D2R Babyhell          TheDeadman (it.2)     Nec    83    Guardian                51     02/09/2022
         D2R Vildecor          MacLeod               Bar    65    N Harrogath             27     03/09/2022
SP       D2R Grisu             Karrin                Asn    ??    Kurast Docks            06
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to ashes (aka Deeds)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         D2R Vang              Refractor             Dru    67    Frozen Tundra NM        27
SP       D2R ffs               Pound                 Pal    77    H Claw Viper Temple     39
         D2R D4di56lu3         DevaZR                Asn    68    Nihlathak's Temple      27
SP       D2R lizard            Appolonia             Ama    50    The Pit NM              18
         D2R Vang              HoboJones             Dru    46    Pand. Fortress          15
         D2R Babyhell          TheDeadman (it.1)     Nec    22    Arcane Sanctuary        03
         D2R Vang              Cronan                Bar    14    Lut Gholein             06
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ready for my next damnation.

Rich (BB code):
Act Damnation          Royal Seal used (skill only)
No1 Howl               N
No2 Polearm Mastery    N
No3 Battle Cry         N
No4 Grim Ward          N
No5 Battle Command     N

NM1 Inceased Stamina   N
NM2 Double Throw       N
NM3 War Cry            N
NM4 -                  N
NM5 -                  N

He1 -                  N
He2 -                  N
He3 -                  N
He4 -                  N

Reset used (if any)
Normal    during <Act>
Nightmare during <Act>
Hell      during <Act>

Edit: I forgot to mention, due to my low level vs Mephisto resulting in <40% chance to hit when starting out, I swapped from a Holy Freeze merc to a Blessed Aim merc. I may eventually go back to Holy Freeze later on, but we'll see.
 
Another bit of progress to report. The first noteworthy drop, and the unquestionable best in slot for a certain Amazon build:
Screenshot164.png

Unfortunately that is not the build that Terra is. However, it still provides some useful mods, and she may put it on from time to time. Right now she's using an upp'ed Goldwrap for the IAS and MF. I spent a little time gambling circlets. I always gamble circlets and never really understood why people gambled coronets until I gambled a Jeweler's Circlet of the Bat. Mana steal is a very desirable mod, but only getting 2 sockets was a major letdown. I sold it too hastily, it was worth considering for hell. After I switched over to coronets, I got this beauty:

Screenshot168.png

It was sold too because she doesn't really need any of those mods, but I could easily see using that on a non-sorc tournament character. In the Crystalline Passage the first good elite bow base dropped! It was a Blade Bow, so I took it to Larzuk and viola!
Screenshot169.png

A potential end game bow (barring a second Ko rune, Goldstrike, or WF :ROFLMAO:) at last. This brought a dramatic improvement to all aspects of life. I should have been a little patient, because very shortly after 2 more Blade Bows dropped, and I probably would have gotten 4 sockets via the cube on one of them. Oh well. I also found a low quality Mat Bow, and gave it to Charsi, though the result was no good. Continuing on through the Frozen Tundra brought another phenomenal drop (from the catapult too!), and possible end game armor:
Screenshot170.png

All of the mods (15% IAS, 15% FHR, 35%OW, 15 dex) are very prized. I think it unlikely Terra finds something better. The Ancients weren't too bad, though she may have trouble on Hell. She had to restart them at one point because she got stuck and couldn't move no matter what I did. She managed to split them up alright, but they always attacked Terra, never the decoy or valk or merc.... If that happens again in Hell, that will not be fun. She found this in the WSK, and I'm quite shocked that it dropped:
Screenshot173.png

I would have thought that would have been gold, but alas, triple durability. Right when Terra stepped down into the Throneroom:
Screenshot174.png

That's always what you want to see, but I guess better over there than right at the foot of the steps! Anyway, the Gloams weren't much trouble. Terra full cleared the whole act (minus Ancients) on /p8, and Lister and Baal on /p3.
Screenshot175.png

I probably should have received my damnation before Cows, but I forgot, so if it's one of the skills I was using (FA, MS, valk, decoy) I'll just use my first seal on that skill. I had quite a few runes drop in the Cows (it was done on /p8 too), this was the the most impressive screen shot I could get:
Screenshot176.png

The other finds from Act V not worth posting the screenshots of include: Aldur's helm, Visceratuant Defender, Stormrider Tabar, Hawkmail Scale Mail, and second Hone Sundan Yari. Terra did a bit of Blood boots crafting and got one potentially usable pair. It has fire resist, but I think she could use other resists more, so it's in the stash for now.

I also think I messed up by not putting points into Penetrate before it got damned, her AR is not good, and I don't expect it will ever get very good. The plus side is she shoots a lot of arrows fast, so she still does good damage, but I worry about Hell. I will spend a little bit of time going through gear and charms to get her ready for Hell. I think she could continue in MF gear for a little bit, most of Act I isn't too dangerous. The worry is any cursed, extra strong, or spectral hit archer pack will probably melt her if I get hit with multiple arrows. Guess that's why I have decoy. And with that, time for a (belated) damnation please!

Rich (BB code):
Javelin and Spear (6)
01 Jab 1
06 Power Strike 1, Poison Javelin 1
12 Impale 0, Lightning Bolt 1
18 Charged Strike 1, Plague Javelin 1
24 Fend 0
30 Lightning Strike 0, Lightning Fury 0

Passive and Magic (36)
01 Inner Sight 1, Critical Strike 7
06 Dodge 1
12 Slow Missiles 1, Avoid 1
18 Penetrate 1
24 Decoy 15, Evade 1
30 Valkyrie 1, Pierce 7

Bow and Crossbow (31)
01 Magic Arrow 1, Fire Arrow 0
06 Cold Arrow 15, Multiple Shot 9
12 Exploding Arrow 0
18 Ice Arrow 1, Guided Arrow 1
24 Strafe 1, Immolation Arrow 0
30 Freezing Arrow 3

Rich (BB code):
Act Damnation          Royal Seal used (skill only)
Fire Arrow             N
Impale                 N
Evade                  N
Guided Arrow           N
Fend                   N

Critical Strike        N
Magic Arrow            N
Lightning Strike       N
Penetrate              N
Strafe                 N

He1 -                  N
He2 -                  N
He3 -                  N
He4 -                  N

Reset used (if any)
Normal    during <Act>
Nightmare during <Act>
Hell      during <Act>
 
Last edited:
Thanks to being well over-geared now, MacLeod flew through Act V. Not many screenshots to show, as nothing notable was found. The Ancients fight required me to use my Bloodtree Stump weapon swap to take care of Physical Immune Korlic. As you can see in the screenshot below, I still hadn't taken the concentrate skill off of the left-click, but it was never used.

Screenshot001.png
Screenshot002.png
Screenshot003.png

The Baal waves were super easy, including Lister's pack who I dragged to the doorway to negate the Decrepify curse. Thanks to the merc's Kelpie Snare, Baal basically just sat there and took his beating until he fell.

Screenshot004.png

This guy is a blast to play right now, and I'll probably level up on Baal runs to 75 before clearing out NM cows and entering Hell difficulty.

Rich (BB code):
How to fill the table
SP SC SR D2R Forum Name        Character Name       Class   Level Location                Score  Date
-- -- -- --- ----------        --------------       -----   ----- --------                -----  ----
         D2R Dazliare          Sentinel              Pal    01    Rogue Camp              Higher than Babyhell
         D2R Vang              Swoon                 Bar    81    Guardian                45     01/27/2022
SP       D2R Jcakes            Hades                 Nec    84    Guardian                54     02/04/2022
         D2R Babyhell          TheDeadman (it.2)     Nec    83    Guardian                51     02/09/2022
         D2R Vildecor          MacLeod               Bar    68    N Harrogath             30     03/15/2022
SP       D2R Grisu             Karrin                Asn    ??    Kurast Docks            06
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to ashes (aka Deeds)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         D2R Vang              Refractor             Dru    67    Frozen Tundra NM        27
SP       D2R ffs               Pound                 Pal    77    H Claw Viper Temple     39
         D2R D4di56lu3         DevaZR                Asn    68    Nihlathak's Temple      27
SP       D2R lizard            Appolonia             Ama    50    The Pit NM              18
         D2R Vang              HoboJones             Dru    46    Pand. Fortress          15
         D2R Babyhell          TheDeadman (it.1)     Nec    22    Arcane Sanctuary        03
         D2R Vang              Cronan                Bar    14    Lut Gholein             06
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ready for my next damnation (skill please).

Rich (BB code):
Act Damnation          Royal Seal used (skill only)
No1 Howl               N
No2 Polearm Mastery    N
No3 Battle Cry         N
No4 Grim Ward          N
No5 Battle Command     N

NM1 Increased Stamina  N
NM2 Double Throw       N
NM3 War Cry            N
NM4 Concentrate        N
NM5 -                  N

He1 -                  N
He2 -                  N
He3 -                  N
He4 -                  N

Reset used (if any)
Normal    during <Act>
Nightmare during <Act>
Hell      during <Act>
 
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