Median XL Hardcore Challenge - Mitsuki
- Thread starter Drystan1
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Played a little farther with my sorc.
I decided to do the Nihlathak levels, to level up to 50 for the challenge.
Rightaway I felt it was quite dangerous, and I thought I really need RIP somewhere on my equipment. But I didn't have an arcane crystal handy and kept putting it off.
And I found a unique ring! Id'd it, expecting some crap, but I got
Halls of vaught was very scary at the entrance but I was already halfway through 49 and just wanted to get it over with. Then this happened. Ahh
I decided to do the Nihlathak levels, to level up to 50 for the challenge.
Rightaway I felt it was quite dangerous, and I thought I really need RIP somewhere on my equipment. But I didn't have an arcane crystal handy and kept putting it off.
And I found a unique ring! Id'd it, expecting some crap, but I got
Halls of vaught was very scary at the entrance but I was already halfway through 49 and just wanted to get it over with. Then this happened. Ahh
Congrats on the progress. I agree that it did feel quite a bit easier (compared with MXL classic.) A lot of the danger mobs (the Shock/Flash wasps in A1 Stony Field) were weakened or their attacks removed. It's about knowing the area, what's in it, and how to avoid it. The Countess' Deathstrike, as you mentioned, is a good example, as are Detonators. Once you know where the insta/deadly deedz are, and what causes them, they're fairly predictable and easier to avoid.
That's a very nice ring! Would love to find one of those.
GG Noob.
Sorry to hear about her deedz. RIP Maya.
Was there anything around that Shock Monkey? How quick was it?
That's a very nice ring! Would love to find one of those.
GG Noob.
Sorry to hear about her deedz. RIP Maya.Was there anything around that Shock Monkey? How quick was it?
Yep, empyrean band is one of the best rings out there. Endgame viable, and often best-in-slot due to the huge range of MOing options.
Have a dozen of em in SC but still losing the perfect one hurt.
I don't think shock monkeys are that dangerous. It's more a combination of factors, of which Nihlathak's CE is the biggest one.
Thing is I was just too hasty. Nihlathak levels are best done when having the RIP mod ( catalyst of destruction cube recipe ), and that also helps against storm shamans. Anyway those levels are the hardest in the game. Personally I think RIP is absolutely necessary, as well as some methods to deal with thorn aura monsters for meleers ( this isn't as hard as one might think, just needs some creative thinking ), around 40% overstack on resists to counter mythal casting enemies, and having higher level helps a lot. I didn't have any of those things and was constantly dipping under 50% life, but I went ahead anyway, overconfidence really.. 'it's still hatred and not that dangerous' - well no. lesson learnt I guess.
Nice thing about ultimative is that it's very easy to start out with a new character again, due to way more gold and better drops and everything. Very HC friendly, that way.
Have a dozen of em in SC but still losing the perfect one hurt.
I don't think shock monkeys are that dangerous. It's more a combination of factors, of which Nihlathak's CE is the biggest one.
Thing is I was just too hasty. Nihlathak levels are best done when having the RIP mod ( catalyst of destruction cube recipe ), and that also helps against storm shamans. Anyway those levels are the hardest in the game. Personally I think RIP is absolutely necessary, as well as some methods to deal with thorn aura monsters for meleers ( this isn't as hard as one might think, just needs some creative thinking ), around 40% overstack on resists to counter mythal casting enemies, and having higher level helps a lot. I didn't have any of those things and was constantly dipping under 50% life, but I went ahead anyway, overconfidence really.. 'it's still hatred and not that dangerous' - well no. lesson learnt I guess.
Nice thing about ultimative is that it's very easy to start out with a new character again, due to way more gold and better drops and everything. Very HC friendly, that way.
I think I did mention the build, but probably at the start of Railgun's journey, quite a while ago (not going to search through for it tonight - too tired XD). She's a Fire/Cold sorc - the cold is just the Shatter the Corpses spell - not sure the exact name, but using both the Fire and Cold +life / +defense passives with a primarily Fire attack (depending on situation.)
No progress here - been busy with Christmas, and have been away from home quite a lot.
Good luck with Terror.
No progress here - been busy with Christmas, and have been away from home quite a lot.
Good luck with Terror.
Mikoto Misaka attempted to Railgun herself to defeat Accelerator. But it had a different effect. Somehow, she fired herself through time and space, into a world with demons, angels, spirits, and a world so far behind the technological growth within Academy City. In her world, only one was predicted could potentially reach level 6.
But screw that! The demons and spirits of the world she had Railguned herself into were stronger than any Ability user. They had powers that the humans of her world could only imagine. And through fighting through these demons, and to protect those around her, Misaka managed to reach level 120!
[/lore]
LvlSix_Railgun ran Baal a few times to get the Tokens, swirly mini-game quest and the final levels, and to reach her ultimate - Level 120. Unfortunately, I tend to feel something is over when it 'advancement' is over OR when the final quest is over. In this case, there is still Destruction difficulty, but her 'advancement' is completely. She won't reach any more levels, so I had mixed feelings about her being complete. I will push on into Destruction, but not sure how much progress I can make.
No real scary moments in Act 5 Terror. Except for Witches. She was charging forward, when she charged almost head first into a Witch. And then a second one. And third. Damn, we really should get a little more warning. They only telestomped my minions, but some of them got pretty close.
I know there are threats in Nihlathak's tomb and Chaos Sanctuary, but those were taken on very cautiously. Baal himself was a pushover.
But screw that! The demons and spirits of the world she had Railguned herself into were stronger than any Ability user. They had powers that the humans of her world could only imagine. And through fighting through these demons, and to protect those around her, Misaka managed to reach level 120!
[/lore]
LvlSix_Railgun ran Baal a few times to get the Tokens, swirly mini-game quest and the final levels, and to reach her ultimate - Level 120. Unfortunately, I tend to feel something is over when it 'advancement' is over OR when the final quest is over. In this case, there is still Destruction difficulty, but her 'advancement' is completely. She won't reach any more levels, so I had mixed feelings about her being complete. I will push on into Destruction, but not sure how much progress I can make.
No real scary moments in Act 5 Terror. Except for Witches. She was charging forward, when she charged almost head first into a Witch. And then a second one. And third. Damn, we really should get a little more warning. They only telestomped my minions, but some of them got pretty close.
I know there are threats in Nihlathak's tomb and Chaos Sanctuary, but those were taken on very cautiously. Baal himself was a pushover.
Well tbh finishing terror is only just getting started 
Destruction is really hard, and after that there are all the uberquests.
Depends upon what you want to do, some magic finding, ubering for charms, great runes, etc. Of course with the hardcore restriction it is all the more difficult.
Lvl 1-120 is considered 'early game' in Median XL. Some pros can do the whole levelling in around 5 hours.
Gratz though! Happy new year.
Destruction is really hard, and after that there are all the uberquests.
Depends upon what you want to do, some magic finding, ubering for charms, great runes, etc. Of course with the hardcore restriction it is all the more difficult.
Lvl 1-120 is considered 'early game' in Median XL. Some pros can do the whole levelling in around 5 hours.
Gratz though! Happy new year.
She will be continuing. I'm just pointing out what, in my opinion, is a design flaw. It removes one dimension of character progression/development, which I personally find a drawback. I love the character development part of RPG/stories, and without it, progression may be on/off style. We'll see. I am going to be away from home for a few days with work, so probably have time to push into Destruction. Or watch some shows and read AGoT book 3.
I've also been slack with images, so I'm updating with a few clickies.
The Act 5 Veteran Monster: Bane Hunter: Their attack fires out a spectral blade assault - I don't know how much damage it would cause, as I kept well away.
Yay! Misaka's first Set item. Since then, she's found a few more, including a Set Amulet that doesn't currently do anything, so I assume it's for an Uber Boss. Maybe it'll give bonuses when you equip it with other sets, or maybe it's just for the quest. I'll get a pic of it for next update.
Reaching Level 120 on a Baal run. It didn't take too many more runs to finish her off, but thought I might screenie it anyway. This is her current, and favourite item: Teganze Pendant
I've also been slack with images, so I'm updating with a few clickies.
The Act 5 Veteran Monster: Bane Hunter: Their attack fires out a spectral blade assault - I don't know how much damage it would cause, as I kept well away.
Yay! Misaka's first Set item. Since then, she's found a few more, including a Set Amulet that doesn't currently do anything, so I assume it's for an Uber Boss. Maybe it'll give bonuses when you equip it with other sets, or maybe it's just for the quest. I'll get a pic of it for next update.
Reaching Level 120 on a Baal run. It didn't take too many more runs to finish her off, but thought I might screenie it anyway. This is her current, and favourite item: Teganze Pendant
The 'spectral blade attack' is the sorceress ability bladestorm ( melee tree ). I don't think the bane hunters are too harmful, however one of the ubers also uses this ability ( Lord Primus ) and that one is painful, from what I remember.
In ultimative, set items drop in terror Ubers and some parts of Act 5, that's why you were able to find some. In classic set and sacred uniques only drop on destruction.
I agree, that the end of levelling phase stops a certain path of character development, but there are many other things such as items, charms, etc. which will improve your character. Besides, nearly all RPGs/ARPGs have some sort of level cap. Torchlight is at 100, Diablo 3 at 60.
In other news, Ultimative XII was released today. Forums are very excited. I might upgrade, not sure though.
P.S. Is that a T6 Staff of roses that I see, or a sacred craft?
In ultimative, set items drop in terror Ubers and some parts of Act 5, that's why you were able to find some. In classic set and sacred uniques only drop on destruction.
I agree, that the end of levelling phase stops a certain path of character development, but there are many other things such as items, charms, etc. which will improve your character. Besides, nearly all RPGs/ARPGs have some sort of level cap. Torchlight is at 100, Diablo 3 at 60.
In other news, Ultimative XII was released today. Forums are very excited. I might upgrade, not sure though.
P.S. Is that a T6 Staff of roses that I see, or a sacred craft?
Finished upto Act 2 terror first part ( sewers and getting the staff ). Currently lvl 84 and will be preparing for LC2.
I did not however do the countess or witch queen minigame.. really don't want to mess around with witches at this point. Maybe later.
I don't know if they changed it in ultimative but the drop rate feels different. Earlier I got a Jah once in Terror sewers and lots of shrines and sacred items. Now one single vex, and a much smaller number of sacred items, shrines. I attempted crafting a little bit but it didn't really work out, this was the best I got and I'm not even a fire sorc.
I did not however do the countess or witch queen minigame.. really don't want to mess around with witches at this point. Maybe later.
I don't know if they changed it in ultimative but the drop rate feels different. Earlier I got a Jah once in Terror sewers and lots of shrines and sacred items. Now one single vex, and a much smaller number of sacred items, shrines. I attempted crafting a little bit but it didn't really work out, this was the best I got and I'm not even a fire sorc.
Yeah, T6 Staff of Roses - I'll try get some readouts of her gear in the near future.
LvlSix_Railgun progressed through A1 Destruction, with one, two, three, maybe four, dangers. The Butcher, The Butcher, The Butcher, and... The Butcher. Hotkey fail - instead of casting Ice Elementals, Railgun blinked straight into him. I didn't even notice until I had had a few Moon Gem health things. And he hit hard, but less than 8400 damage. Other than that, not a challenge. Bring on A2 (and more Witches)!
Or all three of them combined. Yay for time! And loving A Game of Thrones book 3. I don't know why I don't read it more often. I still have four more books after this one too!Drystan said:
LvlSix_Railgun progressed through A1 Destruction, with one, two, three, maybe four, dangers. The Butcher, The Butcher, The Butcher, and... The Butcher. Hotkey fail - instead of casting Ice Elementals, Railgun blinked straight into him. I didn't even notice until I had had a few Moon Gem health things. And he hit hard, but less than 8400 damage. Other than that, not a challenge. Bring on A2 (and more Witches)!
Martin's books are excellent. I have read them many times.
And book 3 ( A storm of swords ) is easily the best one.
Ok, got my sorc going a bit further. I reached Lvl 90 at around the end of act 2, so for the LC2 I decided to take a video of it. It was unexpectedly harder than I thought and rewatching I see that I dipped down to about half hp once which shouldn't have happened. It's been a while, really, and I think they have more mages in ultimative, and supermaxing resists wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. ( Stupidly I forgot about 'Kali' RW gloves, which would have helped me get my FR to 95% instead of 82%. Ah, hindsight ) Also, I added a later video to show the items used.
[youtube]U1kN4mo4SNo[/youtube]
Played for a bit after that and now at lvl 96, about to finish act 3.
And book 3 ( A storm of swords ) is easily the best one.
Ok, got my sorc going a bit further. I reached Lvl 90 at around the end of act 2, so for the LC2 I decided to take a video of it. It was unexpectedly harder than I thought and rewatching I see that I dipped down to about half hp once which shouldn't have happened. It's been a while, really, and I think they have more mages in ultimative, and supermaxing resists wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. ( Stupidly I forgot about 'Kali' RW gloves, which would have helped me get my FR to 95% instead of 82%. Ah, hindsight ) Also, I added a later video to show the items used.
[youtube]U1kN4mo4SNo[/youtube]
Played for a bit after that and now at lvl 96, about to finish act 3.
LoL. Nice vid! I got a lot more fireballs my way, even though I lured them off one at a time. Maybe just trying to lure them off triggers ranged/caster AI, while your aggressive (take them all on at once!) tactic put them more towards melee AI. I do think they generally prefer melee AI. I like those panther-y summons: they seem sturdier than the Ice Elementals, and look sweet.
Nice progress. I know Ultimative dumbed down the Manglers in late Act 3 (around Travincal and some of the Kurast areas,) but the Cruciators in the Durance were somewhat annoying (they seemed to shoot through walls, and did some damage in Hatred - the DoH was easier in Hatred though I felt.) Good luck with the Durance, and Mephisto (not that he really needs much luck.)
Nice progress. I know Ultimative dumbed down the Manglers in late Act 3 (around Travincal and some of the Kurast areas,) but the Cruciators in the Durance were somewhat annoying (they seemed to shoot through walls, and did some damage in Hatred - the DoH was easier in Hatred though I felt.) Good luck with the Durance, and Mephisto (not that he really needs much luck.)
Update. I completed Act 3 and 4. Now lvl 107.
I made a new belt ( T6 sash ), it has 4 rows and that is really nice to have. IIRC in classic only sacred belts have 4 rows and all others have only 2.
I have two evil eyes of clawstom and landmass, and none of the other two. Typical..
Did you do all of the challenges and minigames?
I made a new belt ( T6 sash ), it has 4 rows and that is really nice to have. IIRC in classic only sacred belts have 4 rows and all others have only 2.
I have two evil eyes of clawstom and landmass, and none of the other two. Typical..
Did you do all of the challenges and minigames?
Wow. That is fast progress. XD Congrats.
LvlSix_Railgun has completed: (just running through a list)
LC0
LC1
LC2
Ennead Challenge + Kurast 3000 BA
Trial of Fear (Kill Butcher on Terror); Trial of Greed (666,666+ gold); Three more Trials remaining
Minigame 1 - Witch Queen: Kill the Countess on Terror
Minigame 2 - Crowned: Get close and personal (not that much!) with a Terror Witch
Minigame 3 - Mirror Mirror: Baal's Shardspawns have 1% CTC red-swirley-overlay. Kill them til you get it, and cube your charm
Act Boss tokens to get +1 Signet of Skill (x3 maximum completed)
All the easy ones so far. I want to do King Koth in Terror. It's apparently pretty easy, but I'll still see what happens with the SC sorc. Are there any other easy ones that (or even just uber levels) that shouldn't be too dangerous, considering I can survive a Destruction Butcher hit.
LvlSix_Railgun has completed: (just running through a list)
LC0
LC1
LC2
Ennead Challenge + Kurast 3000 BA
Trial of Fear (Kill Butcher on Terror); Trial of Greed (666,666+ gold); Three more Trials remaining
Minigame 1 - Witch Queen: Kill the Countess on Terror
Minigame 2 - Crowned: Get close and personal (not that much!) with a Terror Witch
Minigame 3 - Mirror Mirror: Baal's Shardspawns have 1% CTC red-swirley-overlay. Kill them til you get it, and cube your charm
Act Boss tokens to get +1 Signet of Skill (x3 maximum completed)
All the easy ones so far. I want to do King Koth in Terror. It's apparently pretty easy, but I'll still see what happens with the SC sorc. Are there any other easy ones that (or even just uber levels) that shouldn't be too dangerous, considering I can survive a Destruction Butcher hit.
This thread has become a conversation for two people xD
I know you wanted to start a hamachi network for people here to play MXL, but from the response here I don't think there will be any interested people.
King koth is fairly easy, it is almost the same thing as Tal Rasha except that you don't have to stack resistance. The damage will be physical, you can stack defense and pdr instead. Erawan ( Nih RW armor ) + Truce ( vith belt ) + ice elemental aura will get you to 50% DR, and you can use Ljosalf ( ber staff ) for lionheart proc to increase def. If that much preparation seems bothersome, you can kite around and pop moon cookies , I guess that works too.
The other two are more difficult, esp Fauzt. To begin with, a build like fire/cold won't work in Fauzt because you won't be able to kill neon fiends ( fire/cold/lightning tri immunes ), so probably have to respec to poison. Fauztinville monsters are very fast and high damaging. I highly suggest using chronofield to slow them and 50% pdr to protect against necrobots and slicer blades. Finally, fauzt is huge, huge, huge. I can give you maps and other help if you want , cause navigating in there is really tricky at times.
Don't know much about the new Tran Athualua, but I heard that ultimative added arrowside proc in terror and destruction TA, turning it from a relatively safe farming area into a death trap. Aside from that, luring is tricky, you will need maps and strategy to get the timing right.
BRC is the hardest of the challenges and not to be lightly taken. I would personally wait a while for better gear ( like a complete set ).
I know you wanted to start a hamachi network for people here to play MXL, but from the response here I don't think there will be any interested people.
King koth is fairly easy, it is almost the same thing as Tal Rasha except that you don't have to stack resistance. The damage will be physical, you can stack defense and pdr instead. Erawan ( Nih RW armor ) + Truce ( vith belt ) + ice elemental aura will get you to 50% DR, and you can use Ljosalf ( ber staff ) for lionheart proc to increase def. If that much preparation seems bothersome, you can kite around and pop moon cookies , I guess that works too.
The other two are more difficult, esp Fauzt. To begin with, a build like fire/cold won't work in Fauzt because you won't be able to kill neon fiends ( fire/cold/lightning tri immunes ), so probably have to respec to poison. Fauztinville monsters are very fast and high damaging. I highly suggest using chronofield to slow them and 50% pdr to protect against necrobots and slicer blades. Finally, fauzt is huge, huge, huge. I can give you maps and other help if you want , cause navigating in there is really tricky at times.
Don't know much about the new Tran Athualua, but I heard that ultimative added arrowside proc in terror and destruction TA, turning it from a relatively safe farming area into a death trap. Aside from that, luring is tricky, you will need maps and strategy to get the timing right.
BRC is the hardest of the challenges and not to be lightly taken. I would personally wait a while for better gear ( like a complete set ).
I think there's a couple lurkers, but not sure what happened with EmporerMoo. Obscuro and jimsfriend have some experience with Median/Ultimative, so not sure if they're still following. EM was going to start a blind (blind blind) HC run, so maybe some of the early one-hit kos got him. It's not too difficult, but only because we already know most of the danger spots. It took a while in MXL classic before I learnt what the dangerous mobs were, but once you pick them, it is much easier. And, Ultimative has weakened some of those danger mobs anyway. It's a hard mod to start, but once you run through a few times, and ID things like the Countess Dark Meteor (thingy), Witches, and the like, they're fairly predictable to avoid.
That said, I'm probably just going to make Guardian status (if I make it that far,) and end it there. I know there's a lot of one-hit-ko's and dangers in the Uber areas, and those really aren't HC-friendly. One hit-KO's at this late stage would be sad. Making it through Normal in MXL Classic (harder than Ultimative) was pretty sweet, and progressing through Hell in Ultimative is pretty cool. LvlSix_Railgun is already half way through A2 Destruction (/Hell), having completed all quests so far, including the Countess and her Witches.
This is The Butcher on Destruction, who gave Railgun a scare after a clear hotkey fail, where she Blinked right on top of him. Or a screenie of his corpse and loot anyway.
Also, the Set Amulet (Tal Rasha's Talisman) which appears to be for an Uber Quest, as it has no stats or attributes.
More clickies coming soon.
That said, I'm probably just going to make Guardian status (if I make it that far,) and end it there. I know there's a lot of one-hit-ko's and dangers in the Uber areas, and those really aren't HC-friendly. One hit-KO's at this late stage would be sad. Making it through Normal in MXL Classic (harder than Ultimative) was pretty sweet, and progressing through Hell in Ultimative is pretty cool. LvlSix_Railgun is already half way through A2 Destruction (/Hell), having completed all quests so far, including the Countess and her Witches.
This is The Butcher on Destruction, who gave Railgun a scare after a clear hotkey fail, where she Blinked right on top of him. Or a screenie of his corpse and loot anyway.
Also, the Set Amulet (Tal Rasha's Talisman) which appears to be for an Uber Quest, as it has no stats or attributes.
More clickies coming soon.
Yeah. Shame, cos it'd be a fun mod MP-style. Although, my laptop barely handles it in SP, so I imagine I'd lag heaps in MP. Way too many effects for my poor laptop to handle.zaphod said: