Median XL released!

Re: Median XL released!

Hey, thanks for the tips :) Didn't know that Astroga is the toughest of them all, perhaps I'll try my soso luck with Quov'Tsin or whatever he was called :p In urgent need of some nice uniques, or even not nice - got 2 arcane crystals and 3 shards already, I'm the half way through :P

...and Quov'Tsin would be just about the second hardest individual boss in the mod. :p

As for the uniques, from my experience farming Kurast 3000BA is a pretty nice source of uniques in Terror (Normal). I was getting 1-5 uniques per full clear on p1. Only problem is that it might take some time per run.


 
Re: Median XL released!

Hahhahaa, I don't choose the options right, do I? XD

Will try this then, so and so I'm stuck at nightmare, so why not :)
 
Re: Median XL released!

nebux said:
i think that the median mod by laz is good as it is.

I thought you would know better. I did stated that I won't play, and my original post was nothing more than a "feedback" of what I think. Nothing is perfect, and it is not possible to please everyone. I don't think laz would mind to hear different opinion.

The mod is his project, no one but himself can decide what it may look like. Different opinion or ideas is never a bad thing (even a bad idea can be useful, at least you know what not to do).

My current priority for my "spare time" does not allow computer games. I should get more practice on guitar (by the way, I suck at music, my learning progress is much slower than "normal" people).:punk:
 
Re: Median XL released!

Hahhahaa, I don't choose the options right, do I? XD

It might be a good idea to try the regular uberquests before you dive into the stuff that Laz added because people asked for harder challenges ;)

On the topic of finding uniques, keep in mind that some of the uberquest areas have a drop bias. In essence, certain item qualities/types are more likely to drop in uberquest are than in another. IIRC, Tran Athulua has a bias towards uniques.



 
Re: Median XL released!

I heard that. Dune explained to me that the Drifter Cavern has a bias towards gold. He makes ~600K a run he told me, which he spends on GF orbs, 15% ED orbs, OW orbs etc.

He's currently in the middle of helping me in Tran. I'm looking at uniques to upgrade, as my survivability is slightly lame.
 
Re: Median XL released!

Tried to do Astroga on normal today, it's minions swept me away :/

Well, you have uberquests ranked from Easy to Impossible. Astrogha and Quov Tsin are not uberquests, but would rank somewhere around Impossible. I think only a few people beat QT yet, and noone beat Astrogha...

Before you ask 'it's Normal, why shouldn't it be easy?' -- because I didn't actually want them to appear in Normal in the first place but this useless game engine doesn't allow for that... also, for the 'fear of god' effect.

And generally, any great sorceress tips will be appreciated (fire/cold sorc or cold/lite).

Seems like you have a problem with taking too much damage. (Of course, the 'defensive' trees are the other two, you picked both offensive trees) Try freezing enemies with Shatter, making them run with Cold Fear, and using a lot of Inner Fire.


How is your defence? Sorcs actually have decent life in Median, on par with amazons and assassins, and sorc-specific armour has the highest defence in the game. You'll need to 'R' to switch to walk mode if you don't want your defence to be ignored by the monsters (stupid game grr blah sputter), but walking is quite fast too.

Defence helps for a fire/cold sorc, but it really HELPS for a lightning sorc with Warp Armour. Max that thing.

An unusual but semi-effective solution is to max Moonstrike and take a swipe at the monsters when the fight starts, giving you the buff even if you don't care to go melee for the rest of the fight.


As for items, forget shields unless you're completely paranoid. Vitality helps, but not tremendously so at 2 hp per point (druids get 1 hp...). Energy is a good idea for a fully offensive build like this, and use a staff for the much faster base cast rate. Stack up on +% spell damage/-% resists.

Fire/cold has the power to go totally offensive, between Flamefront's range and coverage and Flamestrike which is the most powerful spammable AoE in the game... with endgame equipment its damage creeps into the seven figures at ground zero. For fire immunes, spam a field of Abyss in front of you.

This has the disadvantage of causing a big whirlpool in your mana orb. Solution - Mana Sweep. MOAR DMGZ to the whole screen and instant full mana orb. The timer may seem long at first, but at level 17 and up the timer is zero, making it spammable.


Lastly, if you don't have the latest version (1.80) yet, get it - it isn't really a huge patch, but one of the things it does is improve Abyss. There was an issue where the circle had gaps in it and monsters took no damage, making it useless.

......

muzzz said:
And any tips for a nice summoner necro? Should I max it's minions without totems or what... O.o

There are two routes.

1: The 'zergfest' build that masses every minion (except possibly darklings due to their somewhat low life expectancy of 0.01 seconds under fire) and uses some damaging totem.

You don't really need the damage totem because the minions will do 'enough' damage between the Lamia's flat damage boost curse (Doom) and the Void Archon's amp damage aura. Still, it doesn't hurt to quadruple your damage again and it certainly doesn't hurt to have something else besides physical damage. So max both Howling Totem and Death's Fury Totem (don't worry: increasing returns).

You will totally need Bend the Shadows. About when you reach the centurion mark, your minions will start to die by getting stuck behind the swarm and getting out of range. Bend the Shadows allows you to move your army, keep them with you and move your totems as well. You can do without it, if you use Sacrifices and cast the totems at every fight... but BtS may be easier.

Also, Mana Tide Totem so you can actually replace your losses without getting addicted to mana potions.

2: Small number of strong minions. This usually involves the Void Archon, Lamia for their stacking ability and that damage curse, and one or more Shadows for the life aura.

Rush to Howling Totem and ignore Death's Fury Totem. The reason is that Howling scales with base minion damage and DFT does not, so you would have to pump DFT which you don't want to do because you're getting the super saiyan skill at level 90: Rathma's Chosen. Cast this on a single minion and it becomes invulnerable and does magic damage of the instant kill variety.

Void Archons do splash damage in a sizable area, the same as a naginata or warp blade.

60K magic damage in an area delivered by an invulnerable minion with a slowing aura is a nice combination.

For magic immunes, you have that Howling Totem and a swarm of Lamia, which are good at eating enemies because they fly and stack. Or if you minor in crossbows, wait for their curse to go off and shoot a 40 shard Buckshot in their face, amplified by the flat +damage curse.

......

Drifter Cavern

Island of the Sunless Sea is not a hard uberlevel, provided you avoid the bosses. Malic only has a slow moving poison one hit kill. Lucion emits an immunity shield on nearby enemies. If you're already struggling in Act 1 Terror, then this may be too much even on Hatred... stick with the regular monsters for a while.

......

No summoning at all, just my necro and his weapons! (...) These are the skills I'll max:

Buckshot (for melee)
Angel of Death (for Boss-killing)
Deathstrike (for long-range killing? I haven't tried it yet)

Angel of Death requires a melee weapon, the other two require a crossbow. Hope you like the letter 'W'.
:whistling:

Anyway, the necromancer was meant to use minions and was balanced for this; even if you don't want them for defence, you'll want them for offence (Void Archon's slowing amp damage aura, Lamia's flat damage curse). At least get Talon's Hold, if only for the slow, and Unholy Armor because the necro gets 1 hp per point.

The closest to a minionless necromancer (a what? a necromancer that doesn't summon the dead? huh?) would be a necromancer with one point into any summoning skill, and Soulshatter. Alternate between casting a minion and eating it - it may be a bit slow, but the enemies are stunned the entire time so it doesn't matter. A more advanced tactic would be to summon 40 darklings, run into battle and click wildly.

Still I'd recommend you to look into the force multiplication potential of the various minion curses/buffs and totem buffs... You can make a necro that never sees an icon at the top left of his screen, but between the VA, Lamia, Blood Tide Totem, Talon's Hold, Howling Totem and so on, you'll be a lot stronger if you follow your calling...



 
Re: Median XL released!

Whoa, great help there, Laz, appreciate it!

Tbh, I'm playing on the inner fire + abyss + cold soul + mana sweep combo, the gear is the problem. I'll make some runs and it shall be alright perhaps. Maybe I wasted too much points in ice elementals, thought of them as good tanks :P
 
Re: Median XL released!

Awww... :confused:

If the creator of Median says that my build isn't so good, well, my expectations start to fade...
The fact is that for years I've played D2 with a summoner necro (an overlord 'till 1.09, a quasi-overlord thereafter) and now I'm totally sick of minions. I'd like to make a build who could stand his ground even without a hireling.
Plus, I always wanted to try a meleemancer but never did for lack of proper equipment (uber-runewords).

/whining mode off.

Well, I'm just at the start but the build is still enjoyable, so I think I'll play with him some more. When he won't kill anymore, I'll try out some of your suggestion.
And thanks a lot for the reply :wave:
 
Re: Median XL released!

i decided to make a new barb and attempt the 500 stat point challenge :) my first barb is nearly 90 now and i made a few mistakes with his stats and skills right at the start. i hope to put them right this time.

is it worth putting 15 orbs with summon bane monster or shredder or daystar on an ammy? which would be most useful to a barb and are any of them long term viable?

is it worth putting 15 points into wyrd? i like the skill as its damage is based on weapon but the only thing that seems to change with more points is the casting delay timer.

is there an optimum level for guard tower as a synergy for fortress? what range is best?

i decided on an act 3 merc this time. he has and provides a white shell around us both. i *think* it replenishes life and mana? but its hard to tell..?

thanks again Brother Laz for all your work. greatly enjoying Medianxl :)

--
edit just remembered

i found a bull shield (1) with one socket and i decided to keep it to upgrade to the unique version. i placed a low blue jewel in it and found a "hidden jewel bonus"

this was fine. when i had accrued 4 acane crystals i was ready to remove the jewel but the 3 tps didnt work. i had to use 3 p gems as well :P this is a bit harsh in my view :D
is there any way to predict the hidden jewel bounses?
 
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Re: Median XL released!

the secret jewelword was from some versions back. try to put more jewels in an item with more sockets an see what's happening. now try to do tran yourself
 
Re: Median XL released!

the jewelword works in 1.80.
i did tran with my other barb for FE. my new one is only clvl35 and not ready yet. but he will do it alone and so far he hasnt spent any stat points either.

i assume that act3 mercs need fcr. i cant see any swords with fcr though, miss spirit now :(
 
Re: Median XL released!

is it worth putting 15 orbs with summon bane monster or shredder or daystar on an ammy? which would be most useful to a barb and are any of them long term viable?

I find the summons pretty fragile, but I also think they definately have their uses. Since they all do a rather high amount of elemental damage of some sorts, I've used them to help with immunity issues. And then you can just use them as extra tanks, distractions, bait, etc. I usually have at least 1p in one of them for each character.

is it worth putting 15 points into wyrd? i like the skill as its damage is based on weapon but the only thing that seems to change with more points is the casting delay timer.

Wyrd I think is a great skill for any build that uses weapons, but lacks a AoE attack for some reason. 1p Wyrd is pretty nice by itself, especially with +skills, as an utility skill to add some extra damage on enemies.


is there any way to predict the hidden jewel bounses?

It's pretty easy. For every socketed jewel you get +5 all resist, + 5 all stats. So a one socket item would be +5/+5, a three socket item would be +15/+15, etc.


 
Re: Median XL released!

thanks Low Key, very helpful to get the perspective of someone who has used the skills.

i think i will leave guard tower at 1 pt for now. i have noticed that some of the fortress towers dont hit anything but maybe with a few more + skills they will.

i found a rare ammy with +2 to skills and damage reduced by 10 :D
 
Re: Median XL released!

fortress have your AR so you need to improve it
cruising in destructiun with my pounce zon. killed duriel and now farming kurask3k in terror for gear improvement. ac 500 is hard so i need good gear now
 
Re: Median XL released!

re-started a sorc, since the fire/cold one turned out to be kinda messed up. this time I'm going with lightning and fire and for now everything is okay, lvl 22 and I've got one arcane crystal so far, Andy dropped 2x Tower shield uniques in one run :D
 
Re: Median XL released!

is there an optimum level for guard tower as a synergy for fortress? what range is best?

I haven't used the skill much myself. But I've often read that you'll want at least enough range for the towers to hit something in the center.

i decided on an act 3 merc this time. he has and provides a white shell around us both. i *think* it replenishes life and mana? but its hard to tell..?

This is the most recent list of hireling skills I know off.



 
Re: Median XL released!

nebux, afaik fortress has no effect on ar. more points into the skill lowers the spell timer and massively increases the mana cost.

muzzz, thanks, when i have a few spare points ill try adding 1 at a time to tower and see when the arrows hit the middle.

many thanks for that link, there doesnt seem to be much detailed info about the mercs yet. for now i am putting + lit damage and -enemy lit res orbs into his sword. ill worry about fcr later when i have an armour for him i like.

ScionOfStorm said:
Andy dropped 2x Tower shield uniques in one run
i have been searching for any tower shield since i saw that the unique was useful for an act3 lit merc and do you think i can find one?! let alone the unique! i'd gladly give you an arcane crystal for one of those :)
 
Re: Median XL released!

many thanks for that link, there doesnt seem to be much detailed info about the mercs yet. for now i am putting + lit damage and -enemy lit res orbs into his sword. ill worry about fcr later when i have an armour for him i like.

Laz said that the hireling info will be added to the Median site somewhere in the future. I'm guessing sometime after his well-deserved break. But at least all the skills are described on the main site.

I assume you're using an Abjurer, since you're enhancing lightning damage. How's his Banish working for you?

i have been searching for any tower shield since i saw that the unique was useful for an act3 lit merc and do you think i can find one?! let alone the unique! i'd gladly give you an arcane crystal for one of those :)

If I'm really "must have, now" about an item, I usually gamble for it. Just getting a particular item type shouldn't take too much time. It's another story if you're picky about the tier. But unless you specifically want a low tier version, you can always use the uptier recipe. Remember to use it before using the unique creation recipe, to save on PGems.

EDIT: and why not add a small status update. My cold/poison/charm druid did great in the first three acts of Hatred. But now he's struggling a little. I'm having trouble evading the attacks of the Heretics in Act 4. And the fact that I forgot to account for the Hellcat aura isn't helping much. I'm basically stuck with summoning one-point Acid Fiends whenever they're around. If only they weren't cold immune, so I could just spam Hunting Banshee from off-screen. :rolleyes:

My necro hasn't seen much action last week. But I'm going to try Rathma Square and the Cathedral of Vanity this weekend. If all goes well, I'll have an AC500-upgraded charm by monday :grin:



 
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Re: Median XL released!

dune, I arcane dusted them, if not - I'd give you gladly one :(

I suppose Andy drops them quite often with nice mf, not really sure :S

My lite/fire sorc is doing just fine - lvl 57 and act V. I have some problems with baal's minions though - especially that final machine-spawnage. And I wonder why the waves keep coming and coming - I thought you must kill the first wave, in order the second to come and etc.?

But hey, no worries, got a long staff tier 3 and 3.5 arcane crystals, soon there will be the almighty unqiue long staff tier 3 ^^
 

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