Maybe I just can't solo

[Narthon the Bold]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

I do have a few keys already, I'll keep running countess. I thought the countess keys were pretty worthless though, since they are easiest to get.
No, I'm on East/SC/L, not EU, thanks though.

As for "spirit packs": why the hel?

 

[sirpoopsalot]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

As for "spirit packs": why the hel?

Because the runes are cheap enough (and the shields are rare enough) that they're easy to reroll for a good amount of FCR.

For example, a common setup for a sorc is full Tal's set and Magefists - that's 70 FCR. If you have a perfect FCR Spirit (+35) you can get the 105 FCR breakpoint without needing FCR rings. Anything less than 35 FCR and you need an FCR ring on top of the shield + Tal's + gloves...

 

[MrBill]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

(1.) Your resists are FAR too low for Hell... I'm surprised you made it as far as you did, so take that as a compliment to your playing abilities! Personally I will never voluntarily play any character in Hell with resists less than '50' across the board (maybe 40 or so for Poison... but don't get tagged by Radament or a zombie in the Ancient Tunnels), but then again I only do Hardcore so if you're willing to sneak back and reclaim a corpse in SC once in a while, I suppose you could get away with less. However with negative or zero resists you are going to die a LOT, especially to boss and Champion type monsters with ranged elemental attacks (Gloams come to mind here...)

(2.) I'd suggest an Act 2 Normal (Prayer) Merc with an Insight (Ral-Tir-Tal-Sol) Runeword in any decent 4 socket polearm (a Bill or Halberd will do, but preferably something more damaging, say an ethereal Partisan or Bec-De-Corbin). The Merc's Prayer aura will synergize with the Meditation aura of the Insight, meaning that Waheed will be able to take a lot more punishment before he goes down.

For your Merc's armor, Duress is a good Runeword (but the Um rune can be expensive), so in a pinch, see if you can get him something like Boneflesh (up this one to a Templar Coat in the cube) or Toothrow for Open Wounds (an upped Rattlecage is useful for the Crushing Blow, too, but some players don't like the Monster Flee chance that it also has). You may want to craft a Blood hat for Waheed in the cube, so he has at least a little life leech and Deadly Strike, although remember this doesn't work against Undead, of which there are plenty in Act 2. (Stealskull is also good, so the hat isn't as important as the Insight.)

As an Orb / Meteor Sorceress, your best tactic in most cases is hit and run; teleport within range of what you're after, quickly fire an Orb or two to slow them down, then either let the Merc handle them or drop a Meteor on them. The second that it looks like the bad guys have you locked in their sights, Teleport away. You don't have a lot of hit points, so you will have to use better mobility to offset that limitation.

Good luck!

Cheers

Mr. Bil

 

[Blazelight]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

It's almost as effective as standing on your left foot under a gibbous moon and crowing like a rooster when you pop the forge. That's gotten me a Gul every time so far.


In case that wasn't clear, I'm being sarcastic. It IS nonsense that repairing the hammer affects the rune drop from the forge.

Hehe your sarcasm was crystal clear, somebody told me that it helped, and if it does or not, i have gotten Mal,gul,gul,mal so im gonne keep doing it, hehe, but now will look at it as my lucky charm or something :thumbup:

 

[Narthon the Bold]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

Well, I obtained and pdiamoned the mosers... and my resists are still terrible.

Fire -5
Cold 30
Lightning 22
Poison -5

I guess I should start shopping for a tal's helm and a torch. Anyone need junk jewels?

 

[Borje]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

You put two pdiamonds in the Mosers? Strange you are still that low in res.. The next things you should look for is Skin of the Viper Magi, as high res as you can afford, but any will do..

Sin/druid torches are probably the ceapest so you should try for one of those!

Like MrBill said, try to obtain a decent Insight for your merc. If your merc is beefy enough to do some Countess runs with, do them and you will soon have the runes or runes tradeable for the Insight runeword!

You said you had a couple of keys, offer them along with your junk jewels and whatever perfect gems and runes you have and say you need those things and you will be fit!

Also keep a track of the FCR and make sure you hit 105%!

 

[Narthon the Bold]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

Well. the mosers replaced the ancient's pledge in a large shield, which was my previous main source of resists, so it didn't make up much difference. I haven't done the resist quest in hell yet, maybe you were expecting that. I can't really get their anytime soon, since I'm solo and can't survive in act 2, let alone 5. I have the runes for an insight, just need to find a decent pole arm to put it in.

I have a bid in for a skin, hopefully it will go through. I didn't see and torches in my price range in on the trade forum.

 

[Borje]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

Make a thread asking for a random torch - just take the ceapest with the best res =) you can also try to obtain a non-eth elite polearm (make sure it's got low enough str reqs) or an eth exceptional polearm, as suggested allready, from trading! Don't be shy, make your own thread and see if anyone got something - these shouldn't be that expensive..

Once you get the torch and the insight Aim to get pgems/runes/keys to trade for a Lem and a Ko to up your Mosers, after that it's time to stat for max block! Do you have any unspent statpoints? I just realized that uped mosers doesn't have the great Block% I thought, had it confused with uped Viscer. At lvl 80 you will need around 200 dex - if the dex for max block is remembered correctly:

dex=150*Clvl/ShieldBlock+15

anyone plz correct me if I'm wrong...

GL with that Vipermagi!

 

[Narthon the Bold]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

I obtained the vipermagi and na ik belt, so with those, resists will be good. I feel funny making a trade thread with my low wealth, but I guess I will. Should I look for any eth exc or elite polearm and use a cube recipe to add sockets, or should I be asking for a 4 socket one?

I don't have any unspent statpoints, but I can dedicate whats left to dex if you think that would be useful.

Thank you again for all of your help. It is much appreciated.

 

[Narthon the Bold]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

I found an ethereal bonehew from hell Duriel. The high damage and two open sockets make it seem like a very nice option, since I still haven't been able to find or buy an acceptable 4 socket polearm for my merc. What do you guys think, and what should I put in the sockets? ShaelAmn? AmnAmn?

I also found a toothrow, which I have put him in. He is surviving much better.

 

[Borje]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

Eth Bonehew is a very nice item for your merc. What helmet is your merc wearing? does he gain any IAS or LL from it? The speed breakpoint for a merc with an Ogre Axe is 20 37 63 105. He is at the 20 BP since Bonehew offers 30 IAS. I would recomend you to put a Shael and a Amn in it. If you want to you can then put a IAS jewel in your helmet (get him Tals Mask) to hit the next BP. After that he should have no problems staying alive!

However it is very hard to compare this weapon to an Insight since insight is used to solve your mana problems. How is your mana doing? I mean the occasional pot isn't that big of a problem and if you have decent +skills you get pretty low teleport costs so teleporting to the countess (probably the longest teleport there is) wouldn't require that many pots... You could most likely get a pretty nice eth elite polearm if you traded that eth Bonehew away..

About the elite polearms CVs are the cheapest because they get 4 sockets from larzuk, but they are not ideal. They require 200 str when they are eth and that must be reached from items. Most used options (though perhaps out of price range) is Andariels Visage, Chains of Hounor and Stone. However there is a crazy awsome and cheap alternative: Lionheart Runeword Body Armour its spelled Hel+Lum+Fal and it holds these mods:

+20% Enhanced Damage
Requirements -15%
+25 To Strength
+10 To Energy
+20 To Vitality
+15 To Dexterity
+50 To Life
All Resistances +30

Yepp, it truly is amazing! The best item to put this in is an eth bugged (cube socketed) 3 os armour with the highest possible defence, but if you can't afford that just find some decent defence armour!

How are you sproting? What are your res like, how well are you doing and what level are you? Curious to see how well youa re doing =)

EDIT: Just think I should say that the IAS jewel in your helmet isn't a must, it's just if you feel like hitting the BP, he'll be doing fine with just ShaelAmn in the weapon.

 

[Narthon the Bold]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

Work has been really busy, so I haven't had a huge amount of time to play in the last couple weeks.
I'll post my current stats so you can see how I'm doing.

All values are with equipment in hell:
Level 81
Str 127
Dex 155
Vit 249
Energy 36

Resist
Fire 52
Cold 75
Lightning 75
Poison 25

Skills
Fireball 26
Meteor 26
Fire Mastery 19
Frozen Orb 24
Cold Mastery 8

Equipment:
Spirit Phase Blade 35% faster cast
Tarnhelm w/ p topaz
Moser's Blessed Circle w/ 2 p diamonds
Skins of Vipermagi 29% resist all
IK Belt
Waterwalk
Magefist
Ravenfrost
Dwarf Star
Crafted Ammy +1 fire skills, 15% faster cast, 12% resist all 6% mana regen

Merc:
Level 81 Act 2 holy freeze
Fire resist 60% all others 45%
Stealskull (10% ias, 5% ll)
Toothrow
Ethereal 295% ED bonehew, 2 open sockets

I have no major mana problems, though I do drink mana pots often. "Infinite" mana would be nice, but I don't see it as a major need.
I am in act 3 of hell, have done no quests yet, but I'll be getting that bird shortly...

 

[Kyrandia]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

If you use Fireball much more than Meteor (like most meteorbers do) then you should stop maxing Fire Mastery and put your next 10 skill points in Firebolt instead. The Firebolt synergy will increase the Fireball's damage more than Fire Mastery will. Use the skill calculator if necessary.

 

[Narthon the Bold]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

I do find I use fireball more, but I use the Meteor on the bosses... I've been putting the points into cold mastery recently, as I use frozen orb a ton when doing countess runs.

 

[sirpoopsalot]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

I do find I use fireball more, but I use the Meteor on the bosses... I've been putting the points into cold mastery recently, as I use frozen orb a ton when doing countess runs.

FYI, for Countess runs, level22 Cold Mastery (-125%) is the highest you'll want to go (including +skills from gear). Increasing CM beyond that point is a waste in Countess runs though.

Also, others may feel differently, but I support your extra investment in your cold skills. I found with my recent meteorb that although the fire skills were fantastic, I consistently wished for a stronger cold attack.

 

[tnpdemon]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

Heh I don't wanna hijack your thread here, but I"m having the same problems.

Stats:
Lvl 81
Str 108
Dex 59
Vit 262
Energy 167

Hell Resists:
Fire -23
Cold -17
Light 61
Poison -23

Helm: Tal's Death Mask
Armor: Skulders with P topaz (I need much better armor)
Weap: Lidless Eye
Shield: Grim with Rhyme
Belt: Nightsmoke
Gloves: Ghoul Grip Bramble Mitts (crafted item)
Boots: Pain Nails Chain Boots (another thing I could easily up)
Two Nagelrings
Saracen's Chance Ammy

I've also got a 14 to attr/11 res hellfire.

Merc:
Duriel's Shell Cuiress, Hwanin's Splendor Grand Crown and a 4os bill with insight. He's got 64-75 across the board on resists.

I know the Skulders is dece for MF but not great for d, and I was plowin through Nightmare with CL/FO. Some of the 'better' stuff (Skulders, Suriels Shell, Lidless Eye, Helltorch and one of the Nagelrings) I got from a guy who just had clogged mules. It sounds like I need a Tal's Armor. What will that cost me? I'm sure pgems won't do, and shael is best rune right now, I do have some peices of IK on a barb I don't play much, and i've found a sigon's shield, gloves, boots and belt. I can't really even get through countess without gettin kicked hard a few times.

If you guys could shoo me in the right direction I'd appreciate it.

 

[Nimbostratus]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

tnpdemon: Your main problem is probably resists. Switch out the MF gear for things that give you better survivability.

Survival > killing speed > MF. Can't kill things if you die first, and MF doesn't apply if you're not killing things.

 

[Narthon the Bold]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

I've found that I can get amazing things for pgems, rals, and junk jewels. I just got a Harliquin's Crest and I am having very little trouble in act three of hell (other than my stash fills up with runes and gems too fast). The advice given to me in this thread was a huge help.

 

[Borje]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

Yes, pgems, rals and junk jools can get you a long way! once you move up a notch in your gear you should aim for Full Tals, it is hans down the best meteorber gear and three of the pieces are quite cheap and the amu goes for around Pul-Um on EU and armour is ~Mal so it isn't that expensive!

I'm glad we could help!

 

[Narthon the Bold]

Re: Maybe I just can't solo

I upgraded my merc's stealskoll to a tal's helm. I may try to go full tal at some point, I just don't feel ready yet.