MF/RF tournament results - Balancing the Finds

ffs

Well-known member
Feb 7, 2017
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Hi!

Thanks everyone who participated in the Balancing the Finds tournament.

Now it's time for the results!

And the winner is ... *drumroll* ... @Grisu! With an impressive score of 130 points and including a Zod and Astreon's Iron Ward.

Fun fact: @Nano and I have both won MF/RF tournaments with that same combo (here and here), so Zod + Astreon's definitely seems to be a thing for this kind of format! :)
1GrisuZod71.8Astreon's Iron Ward27.8Cerebus' Bite11Ohm10.1Death Cleaver9.3130
2BabyhellDeath's Web27.9Ravenlore14.6Jah18.3Lo15.1Sur13.789.6
3LuhkohCham27.5Lo15.1Lo15.1Sur13.7Sur13.785.1
4GynliCham27.5Lo15.1Spirit Keeper14.2Sur13.7Halaberd's Reign10.480.9
5ffsAstreon's Iron Ward27.8sur13.7Griswold's Redemption11.3Vex10.6ohm10.173.5
6IpsilanteeBer20.5Sur13.7Sur13.7Cerebus' Bite11Alma Negra9.168
7maxicekAstreon's Iron Ward27.8Sur13.7The Grandfather9.3Leviathan5.7Steel Carapace8.164.6
8ExcaliburDeath's Fathom16.8Lo15.1Cerebus' Bite11Demonhorn's Edge7.9Demonhorn's Edge7.958.7
9Pax1990Death's Fathom16.8Shadow Dancer10.7Vex10.6Alma Negra9.1Demonhorn's Edge7.955.1
10J-DogSur13.7Schaefer's Hammer11.6Griffon's Eye10.7Heaven's Light9.8Executioner's Justice9.355.1
11EatSleepDiabloSpirit Keeper14.2Griswold's Redemption11.3Crown of Ages10.7Executioner's Justice9.3The Grandfather9.354.8
12DudzyOhm10.1Death Cleaver9.3The Grandfather9.3Gargoyle's Bite9.3Alma Negra9.147.1
13IrenicusSpirit Keeper14.2Ghostflame9.3Giant Skull8.1Arkaine's Valor7.8Blood Raven's Charge6.746.1
14MulliganGul7.1Head Hunter's Glory7.8Griswold's Honor9.8Ohm10.1Griswold's Redemption11.346.1
15Aldosur13.7Alma Negra9.1Ondal's Wisdom7.8ist7.5Wolfhowl7.345.4
16SevenArkZGriffon's Eye10.7Executioner's Justice9.3Steel Pillar9.3Dracul's Grasp5.9Wolfhowl7.342.5
17ApilaCrown of Ages10.7Gargoyle's Bite9.3Ist7.5Steel Shade6.6Spike Thorn6.640.7
18KruemelmonschdaVex10.6Halaberd's Reign10.4Giant Skull8.1M'avina's Caster5.2Um5.139.4
22SwamigoonDarkforce Spawn19.3Blood Raven's Charge6.7Frostwind4.6Naj's Puzzler3.1Lem2.636.3
19PhineasBHalaberd's Reign10.4Arkaine's Valor7.8Steel Shade6.6M'avina's Caster5.2Arachnid Mesh5.935.9
20nepetaImmortal King's Soul Cage4.3um5.1Leviathan5.7Spirit Ward8.1Schaefer's Hammer11.634.8
21KartongenVex10.6Ohm10.1Mal5Pul3.4Pul3.432.5
25FriiserIst7.5Mal5Widowmaker4.3Bul-Kathos' Tribal Guardian3.8Trang-Oul's Girth3.223.8
23Jpy----------0
24Pb_pal----------0
26Nona----------0

A lot of cool and useful finds across the board, very happy to see those results.

Glad to see so many people run and have fun, let's do this again some time!

But for now let's seet hose haul pics everyone!
 
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Getting this out of the way as I'll be traveling later today and tomorrow. :)

I split my set 50/50 between D2R HC Pit Barb (Singer) and 1.14 LK with 200 FCR Sorc as I suddenly wanted to farm a couple of Bers.

With the Barb I was hoping mostly to find Griswold's shield to finish my HC set sept in D2R, but no luck there. Astreon's dropped super early after 25 minutes or so. Another nice find was Gris caddy which has 4os and is an upgrade over the 3os one I had found previously. Other than that not much to note except for a few TC3s, pictured alongside the TC87s here:

Screenshot152.png

As it seems I'm in the process of getting sucked into PvP in 1.14, I then switched to LK Sorc as I found myself wanting a couple of high runes. The haul wasn't shabby for 10h of LK:

Screenshot051 - rune haul LK.jpg

Afterwards I continued running LK because I wanted 2 Bers (for CoA). Two extra Surs dropped within another 6-7 hours or so, but unfortunately only the one above during the 20h set.

Non-qualifiers were very good though.

Happy holidays everyone!
 
Woooohooo, a Zod is a winner on its own. Congratz @Grisu !
It seems like items dominated in this tournament. Used to see plenty more runes.
Will post my haul pic once I get home. I also prepared a video identifying my finds!
Congratz everyone and once again thanks for hosting @ffs
 
Thank you for hosting this, @ffs!

This was really fun - not only because of my score but because it really pushed me to make some progress with my UT99er, levelling from 77 to 92.

I posted some run statistics here.

Imagine my surprise when in Pindle run #177 the Zod dropped - I was hitting Esc and staring at the screen for a minute or so. My daughter found me this way and asked:
"What are you doing?" - "Staring at one of the rarest items one can find in this game" - "Is it good?" - "Well..." :rolleyes:
Screenshot048.png


It was only a short time later when Astreon's dropped.
Screenshot073.png
From there, it was really only cosmetics. Some LK running inbetween netted me an early Ohm.
Screenshot088.png

It went into a Call to Arms for which my luck continued:

And here is the long awaited haul pic, which seems far less impressive than ffs' rune haul pic. I think when it comes to usefulness, I'd rather have @ffs drops. (Yeah yeah, I know, ID'ing items is a noob mistake for haul pics ;-)

Screenshot103.png

Thank you everyone for participating and congrats on all the awesome finds! Hope to see you all around next time!
 
Thanks for hosting @ffs and congrats to @Grisu!

I joined this tourney with the fresh U99er fishy, hoping to find upgrades for pretty much every gear slot;
Shako, War Travs, Arachnids, Hoto, etc were all on the wish list.

Unfortunately, i found none of the above...
but the merc did get a nice upgrade overall, with an Andy's visage and a new Fortitude. :)
1640604576014.png

Haul pic with 2nd Andy's and fortitude on merc.
Screenshot064.png

Was so sure Tomby and Andy's visage (x2) would be part of my final qualifiers until I looked up the scores.
The points for Spirit Keeper and Halaberd's Reign were definitely a big surprise. :oops:

And looking at the only rune 3 drops now; perhaps the D2 gods wanted me to make a Pride instead?
 

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Thank you for hosting the tournamen ffs, it's been a blast.

Congratulation to Grisu for posting 130 points. Quite insane.

Congratulations to everyone with the nice finds as well.
 
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Congratulations @Grisu - Nice finds, any plan for the Zod?

I started running Pindle at level 80. I made Wealth in a Mage Plate, but the very first run dropped a Skullder's (I found three altogether). Then after about 20 runs:
Caduceus BTF Tournament.png
With decend CB and slow, this is actually a pretty good candidate for a kick weapon for Baal. Possibly even one of the best, although Stormlash would still be my top pick.

I carried on until I hit level 87 which was just under 10h. Grandfather dropped near the end. I was kind of hoping for a lucky Jah drop, but of course it wasn't happening.

Switched to LK and managed to squeeze a Sur out in about 1000 runs:
LK Sur BTF Tournament.png

That took me to 3 Sur/8000.

Code:
Astreon's Iron Ward 
Caduceus 
One Hand Damage: 126 - 147 
Durability: 54 of 70 
Required Level: 60 
Required Strength: 97 
Required Dexterity: 70 
Fingerprint: 0x11f2b476 
Item Level: 86 
Version: Resurrected 
+4 to Combat Skills (Paladin Only) 
+10% Increased Attack Speed 
242% Enhanced Damage 
Damage +63 
159% Bonus to Attack Rating 
+150% Damage to Undead 
Adds 80 - 240 Magic Damage 
33% Chance of Crushing Blow 
Slows Target by 25% 
Damage Reduced by 7

The Grandfather 
Colossus Blade 
One Hand Damage: 68 - 363 
Two Hand Damage: 157 - 499 
Durability: 45 of 50 
Required Level: 81 
Required Strength: 189 
Required Dexterity: 110 
Fingerprint: 0xbf73bde5 
Item Level: 86 
Version: Resurrected 
Unidentified 
Indestructible 
172% Enhanced Damage 
+187 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level) 
50% Bonus to Attack Rating 
All Stats +20 
+80 to Life

Also found Tal's Mask (finally) for the Merc. Trang's Girth too which is useful for the LK runs for the CbF when using Harmony.

I started a second batch and ran Pindle to level 89. No gold TC87 this time, but I did find three Tal's Armour within about 50 runs of eachother.

I'm still looking for some items like Magefist, Goblin Toe and/or Gore Rider, so I will be paying Meph or Andariel a visit once I manage to finish Enigma. I need some bling too.

Thanks @ffs for hosting. I really liked the format, so hope we can do it again.
 
Impressive results people! Congrats @Grisu !

I ran mostly Vizier killing elites on the way with different mixture of player settings. Hammerdin was my weapon of choice though he was missing CTA and Hoto so that kept the player settings at P1-P3 most of the time (Vizier at p7 usually). River of Flame and Pits also got a few minutes of running.

I didn't see any runes above GUL in 19 hours. Discouraged by this I went to LK for a hail mary attempt in the last hour. That got me the SUR. Usually desperation doesn't net you anything good but this time it did.

Here's some pics:
Screenshot093.png
Screenshot094.png
Screenshot095.png
Screenshot096.png
Screenshot097.png
Screenshot098.png
(eth Hone Sundan, +3 Enchant/15% fire dmg Ormus, 3/-3 cold Facet, GUL was already used to make CTA at the time of screenshot)

I'd say the drops reflect the way of running rather well. Found 3 rare Sacred Armors, 2 rare Unearthed Wands and 1 rare Archon Staff. You definitely need at least one big hitter to reach top 5 in these competitions. Wasn't meant to be this time. Overall the haul is nice considering the fresh start after D2R so many grailers were found.

Thanks @ffs for hosting and hopefully we'll have competitions with this many participants in the future as well!

EDIT:

Forgot about non qualifiers which were great! Already posted these but who's counting:
Screenshot063.png
Screenshot078.png
 
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Nice finds all! That score is insane @Grisu! I didn't have the best luck ever and my run speed was pretty abysmal but still happy with my score. The Ohm rune came with like 10 minutes left to go so that was a nice surprise, need to make a countess runner now and get the other runes for a Call to Arms. Also happy i found a IK Soulcage as i want to make a IK WW barb at some point. Overall i found lots of grailers and plenty of useful stuff.

Cant wait until the next one! Thanks for hosting this @ffs


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Demon Limb
Tyrant Club
One Hand Damage: 92 - 167
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 133
Fingerprint: 0x44b583b1
Item Level: 87
Version: Resurrected
188% Enhanced Damage
+123% Damage to Demons
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 222 - 333 Fire Damage
10% Life stolen per hit
Fire Resist +20%
Repairs 1 Durability in 20 Seconds
Level 23 Enchant (8/20 Charges)

Immortal King's Soul Cage
Sacred Armor
Defense: 1001
Durability: 52 of 60
Required Level: 76
Required Strength: 232
Fingerprint: 0xbf66e002
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
5% Chance to cast level 5 Enchant when struck
+2 to Combat Skills (Barbarian Only)
+400 Defense
Poison Resist +50%
Set (2 items): +25% Faster Hit Recovery
Set (3 items): Cold Resist +40%
Set (4 items): Fire Resist +40%
Set (5 items): Lightning Resist +40%
Set (6 items): +50% Enhanced Defense


Credendum
Mithril Coil
Defense: 109
Durability: 15 of 16
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 106
Fingerprint: 0xf0bf27c9
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
+50 Defense
+10 to Strength
+10 to Dexterity
All Resistances +15


Demon's Arch
Balrog Spear
Throw Damage: 111 - 172
One Hand Damage: 91 - 175
Quantity: 80
Required Level: 68
Required Strength: 127
Required Dexterity: 95
Fingerprint: 0x358ab5c2
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
+30% Increased Attack Speed
178% Enhanced Damage
Adds 232 - 323 Fire Damage
Adds 23 - 333 Lightning Damage
10% Life stolen per hit
Replenishes quantity

Gargoyle's Bite
Winged Harpoon
Throw Damage: 31 - 217
One Hand Damage: 76 - 99
Quantity: 80
Required Level: 70
Required Strength: 76
Required Dexterity: 145
Fingerprint: 0xe89b5962
Item Level: 85
Version: Resurrected
183% Enhanced Damage
Adds 293 Poison Damage Over 10 Secs (250 Frames)
9% Life stolen per hit
Replenishes quantity
Level 11 Plague Javelin (11/60 Charges)

Djinn Slayer
Ataghan
One Hand Damage: 80 - 141
Durability: 20 of 22
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 138
Required Dexterity: 95
Fingerprint: 0x6470790b
Item Level: 85
Version: Resurrected
208% Enhanced Damage
+116% Damage to Demons
+271 to Attack Rating against Demons
Adds 250 - 500 Fire Damage
5% Mana stolen per hit
+7 Lightning Absorb
2 Sockets (0 used)

Tomb Reaver
Cryptic Axe
Two Hand Damage: 115 - 525
Durability: 35 of 65
Required Level: 84
Required Strength: 165
Required Dexterity: 103
Fingerprint: 0xf867e5b5
Item Level: 87
Version: Resurrected
+60% Increased Attack Speed
250% Enhanced Damage
+161% Damage to Undead
+320 to Attack Rating against Undead
All Resistances +50
10% Reanimate as: Returned
+13 Life after each Kill
67% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+4 to Light Radius
1 Sockets (0 used)

Eschuta's Temper
Eldritch Orb
One Hand Damage: 18 - 50
Durability: 25 of 30
Required Level: 72
Fingerprint: 0xb3895fe9
Item Level: 85
Version: Resurrected
+1 to Sorceress Skill Levels
+40% Faster Cast Rate
+12% to Lightning Skill Damage
+15% to Fire Skill Damage
+30 to Energy

Trang-Oul's Wing
Cantor Trophy
Defense: 183
Chance to Block: 40
Durability: 11 of 20
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0xab88100f
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
+2 to Poison and Bone Skills (Necromancer Only)
30% Increased Chance of Blocking
+125 Defense
+25 to Strength
+15 to Dexterity
Fire Resist +38%
Poison Resist +40%
Set (3 items): -25% to Enemy Poison Resistance
Set (4 items): Replenish Life +15


Ohm Rune
Required Level: 57
Version: Resurrected
Weapons: +50% Enhanced Damage
Armor: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist

Gul Rune
Required Level: 53
Version: Resurrected
Weapons: 20% Bonus to Attack Rating
Armor: +5% to Maximum Poison Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Poison Resist

Trang-Oul's Guise
Bone Visage
Defense: 224
Durability: 33 of 40
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 106
Fingerprint: 0xfd18d0e7
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
+25% Faster Hit Recovery
+82 Defense
Replenish Life +5
+150 to Mana
Attacker Takes Damage of 20


Stormshield
Monarch
Defense: 136
Chance to Block: 47
Durability: 44 of 86
Required Level: 73
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0x5c682030
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
Indestructible
+35% Faster Block Rate
25% Increased Chance of Blocking
+3 Defense (Based on Character Level)
+30 to Strength
Cold Resist +60%
Lightning Resist +25%
Damage Reduced by 35%
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 10

Aldur's Deception
Shadow Plate
Defense: 774
Durability: 55 of 70
Required Level: 76
Required Strength: 115
Fingerprint: 0x4dfec95e
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
+1 to Elemental Skills (Druid Only)
+1 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)
+300 Defense
+20 to Strength
+15 to Dexterity
Lightning Resist +45%
Requirements --50%
Set (2 items): +15 to Vitality
Set (3 items): +15 to Vitality
Set (4 items): +15 to Vitality


Alma Negra
Sacred Rondache
Defense: 498
Chance to Block: 48
Durability: 58 of 68
Required Level: 77
Required Strength: 109
Fingerprint: 0xc4500dca
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels
+30% Faster Block Rate
20% Increased Chance of Blocking
50% Enhanced Damage
66% Bonus to Attack Rating
+202% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 8

Head Hunter's Glory
Troll Nest
Defense: 578
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 66 of 74
Required Level: 75
Required Strength: 106
Fingerprint: 0x3ee0fb06
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
+411 Defense
+323 Defense vs. Missile
Fire Resist +25%
Poison Resist +39%
+5 Life after each Kill
1 Sockets (0 used)

Wizardspike
Bone Knife
One Hand Damage: 23 - 49
Durability: 22 of 26
Required Level: 61
Required Strength: 38
Required Dexterity: 75
Fingerprint: 0x651ac3bd
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
Indestructible
+50% Faster Cast Rate
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
+2 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Regenerate Mana 15%
All Resistances +75

Demon Limb
Tyrant Club
One Hand Damage: 98 - 178
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 133
Fingerprint: 0xc0db3e64
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
208% Enhanced Damage
+123% Damage to Demons
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 222 - 333 Fire Damage
9% Life stolen per hit
Fire Resist +15%
Repairs 1 Durability in 20 Seconds
Level 23 Enchant (8/20 Charges)

Wraith Flight
Ghost Glaive
Throw Damage: 126 - 355
One Hand Damage: 78 - 252
Quantity: 75
Required Level: 76
Required Strength: 79
Required Dexterity: 127
Fingerprint: 0xa955320c
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
180% Enhanced Damage
13% Life stolen per hit
+15 to Mana after each Kill
Replenishes quantity
Ethereal

The Grandfather
Colossus Blade
One Hand Damage: 69 - 182
Two Hand Damage: 160 - 320
Durability: 31 of 50
Required Level: 81
Required Strength: 189
Required Dexterity: 110
Fingerprint: 0x4b0fbe10
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
Indestructible
177% Enhanced Damage
+2 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
50% Bonus to Attack Rating
All Stats +20
+80 to Life

Death Cleaver
Berserker Axe
One Hand Damage: 80 - 237
Durability: 18 of 26
Required Level: 70
Required Strength: 138
Required Dexterity: 59
Fingerprint: 0x67af0a72
Item Level: 87
Version: Resurrected
+40% Increased Attack Speed
234% Enhanced Damage
-33% Target Defense
66% Deadly Strike
+7 Life after each Kill

Arkaine's Valor
Balrog Skin
Defense: 1372
Durability: 27 of 30
Required Level: 85
Required Strength: 165
Fingerprint: 0x2bf32a09
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
+1 to All Skills
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
+165% Enhanced Defense
+0 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
Damage Reduced by 14

Ormus' Robes
Dusk Shroud
Defense: 406
Durability: 11 of 20
Required Level: 75
Required Strength: 77
Fingerprint: 0xe92cb6df
Item Level: 87
Version: Resurrected
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+12% to Cold Skill Damage
+11% to Lightning Skill Damage
+10% to Fire Skill Damage
+3 to Shiver Armor (Sorceress Only)
+20 Defense
Regenerate Mana 14%

Giant Skull
Bone Visage
Defense: 453
Durability: 32 of 40
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 106
Fingerprint: 0x3977eb16
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
10% Chance of Crushing Blow
Knockback
+317 Defense
+32 to Strength
2 Sockets (0 used)

The Gladiator's Bane
Wire Fleece
Defense: 1274
Durability: 28 of 135
Required Level: 85
Required Strength: 111
Fingerprint: 0xe52b3dba
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
+154% Enhanced Defense
+50 Defense
Damage Reduced by 17
Magic Damage Reduced by 20
Cannot Be Frozen
Poison Length Reduced by 50%
Attacker Takes Damage of 20
+103 Maximum Durability

Messerschmidt's Reaver
Champion Axe
Two Hand Damage: 177 - 283
Durability: 26 of 75
Required Level: 70
Required Strength: 167
Required Dexterity: 59
Fingerprint: 0x11cf2496
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
200% Enhanced Damage
+2% Enhanced Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
100% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 20 - 240 Fire Damage
All Stats +15
+25 Maximum Durability
 
Great tournament, ffs!
The most prolific of my runners was my new full Trang-Oul's necromancer, who advanced from levels 84 to 86 running in the Pit. I also did a few Ancient Tunnels and Mephisto runs with my blizzard sorc, a few Baal runs with my CL/FO sorc, and I spent a lot of time looking for runes with my hydra sorc, teleporting and popping LK chests, and also with my LF zon herding cows and racing through Arcane Sanctuary. I was disappointed that I didn't find very many runes, but I still found a few interesting S/Us with the rune runners.

My first 20h set netted my best score, with two very nice unique grailers among my top five finds:
R1ubs.png <-- grailer!

R1umb.png

R1ucs.png<-- grailer!

I2ses.png

B8lem2.jpeg (several hundred LK runs, but alas this was the best rune to show up there.)
My second set scored disappointingly lower:
R1ufv.jpeg

Q2uarmet.png

B8ums.png

J8ssp.jpeg <-- grailer!

R1ubst.png

A few other nice finds:
I2mal.png
J8ulm.png
K8ubc.png
P2ubk.jpeg
Q2scs.jpeg
Q2uea.png
R1umb.png
R1uom.png
 
Great tourney @ffs! Unfortunately forgot to take a haul pic. I ran all runefinding areas, as I wanted to finish the runeword grail. Ran just over 9 hours in cows with the fissure druid before killing the king. He found me cham, sur, ohm. Then I ran a smattering of other things. Less than 2 hours each of arcane sactuary nova sorc, trav poison necro, trav zealot, trapsin cows, nova sorc cows, and trav blizzy. The trav zealot found a Lo, and the trav blizzy found Lo and sur. Huge congrats to @Grisu with an insane score.
 
Really fun tourney and congrats to all the competitors and congrats the winner @Grisu with that massive score!!

Forgot to take a haul pic but did a write-up.... ended up running LK 156 times and the rest was all /p3 Mephisto and Council for my submitted set.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This tournament couldn't have had better timing for me and it provided needed motivation to attempt and complete 6 primary goals.

1. Make Infinity with HRs from previous LK runs

2. Find enough HRs to make Enigma. Back when I was active on the old forums, this is something I had the runes for, but never ended up making before losing all saves/backups.

3. Make Enigma/Call to Arms to run Mephisto more effectively and to try and farm the Council.

4. Reach character level 93 so I can start my gambling career. Hopefully find many missing sets/uniques while doing this.

5. Find Arachnid Mesh so I can optimize caster builds.

6. Enjoy the ride and sharpen up my reflexes for future goals in D2R.

The prelude

It was interesting thinking about how I was going to approach this tourney. I didn't use a strategy that gave me a chance at big ticket TC87s. Instead, like the stubborn mule I can be sometimes, I chose to continue running LK until I found a Sur (or Ber ;). I think I was around 4200 runs before the tourney started. My map was decent and I didn't want to reroll it so I was ready to tele! But first I had to make something...

To infinity and beyond


I found a 4os Superior Eth Thresher soon after joining this community and it just felt right to use it to compete in the tourney! I had other options like a 4os Eth Giant Thresher or 4os Eth Cryptic Axe (no eth GPA unfortunately) but the Thresher was the one for me. After a few clicks of the mouse, this shiny Merc stick was brought into existence and some say that Mephs council members collectively shat themselves at that very moment!

Infinity
Superior Thresher
BerMalBerIst
Two Hand Damage: 73 - 856
Durability: 36 of 36
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 142
Required Dexterity: 108
Fingerprint: 0x72bcf6a6
Item Level: 80
Version: Resurrected
50% Chance to cast level 20 Chain Lightning when you Kill an Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
306% Enhanced Damage
-48% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
+47 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Increase Maximum Durability 12%
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges) Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune

With Infinity made, I was ready to start the tourney!

Welcome (back) to the Jungle; You can taste the bright lights, but you won't get them for free

I decided to keep track of my runs and time using an old but sufficiently reliable system of pen and paper + timer with stopwatch feature. With the longer load times in D2R, exiting a game and entering a game was the perfect amount of time for me to quickly jot down a tally mark and press a button if I needed to stop the clock.

I found a Gul rune from a Superchest within 10 runs and it gave me a boost of confidence! Around run #50, 2 Pul runes dropped within runs of each other. Then came run #156 and with it, a Ber!


Average LK run came out to around 52 seconds including mob kills, poppables, trips to the stash, etc...

My overall luck in LK was higher than average and allowed me to make these two runewords.

Enigma
Mage Plate
JahIthBer
Defense: 1004
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0x6c13a071
Item Level: 81
Version: Resurrected
+2 to All Skills
+45% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Teleport
+751 Defense
+70 to Strength (Based on Character Level)
Increase Maximum Life 5%
Damage Reduced by 8%
+14 Life after each Kill
15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
94% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based on Character Level) 3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Jah Rune
Socketed: Ith Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune

Call to Arms
Flail
AmnRalMalIstOhm
One Hand Damage: 3 - 84
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 41
Required Dexterity: 35
Fingerprint: 0x9beda54f
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
+1 to All Skills
+40% Increased Attack Speed
251% Enhanced Damage
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
+6 to Battle Command
+6 to Battle Orders
+2 to Battle Cry
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items 5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Amn Rune
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune



The Durance of Hate lvl 3 is calling, do you accept the charges?

After finding a suitable map, Meph went down extremely quickly. For runs #1-250, only Meph was targeted along with the super chest, a couple regular chests, and armor rack. These runs didn't produce much in terms of qualifiers, but it did drop a perfect BK Ring!

I lost my map soon after that BK ring drop and re-rolled a map with much better placement of council members. Targeting them became much safer and reliable and I felt much better about my runs overall. I was rewarded with a 35% ED Ruby Jewel of Fervor from a council member early in the runs and then a Mal Rune shortly after. I found some neat qualifiers during this stretch such as a nicely rolled Wolfhowl from Meph, a 44 resist all Sacred Rondache from the Armor Rack, and a 190% Eth HoZ (still need to find a non-eth version). During this stretch of runs, Meph dropped another BK Ring!

I popped the Super Chest most runs along with any poppable that was on my Durance lvl 3 tele route. This paid off nicely with a Sur from the Super Chest.


While riding the high from that Sur drop, I managed to make it to level 93 and it felt great! The council didn't want to be one-upped by a chest, so they decided to drop a Sur of their own!


During the last few runs of set #1, the council dropped another Mal and a chest dropped an Ist (3 of these have dropped for me compared to 7 Surs)

I don't wanna get off this ride yet!!!

As lucky as I was running Meph, I didn't manage to find Arachnid Mesh. I mostly play casters and this is an essential item for endgame optimization so I wanted it badly. I made a resolution to keep running Meph until I found Arachnid Mesh, RNG be damned. After nearly 900 more runs, set#2 was complete and I still had no Arachnid Mesh. However, I managed to find 2 SoJ, a better Maras (28 rather than 21) and a +14% Blizz Ormus! The 1st of those SoJ got turned into this Anni soon after finding it!

Annihilus
Small Charm
Required Level: 70
Fingerprint: 0xa104cbba
Item Level: 99
Version: Resurrected
+1 to All Skills
All Stats +17
All Resistances +15
+8% to Experience Gained

Unwrapping an unexpected gift on Christmas

With both sets complete and not enough time to start a 3rd, it was extremely difficult to find the motivation to run Meph and company anymore. I had to remind myself of all the future caster builds I'll make and how fun it will be to equip that beautiful sash on all of them when they reach 80! After 287 additional Meph/Council runs, I needed a break, so I took a couple days off! On Christmas day, I had an hour of free time and decided to run Meph a few times. Run #3 (#2290 overall) and it finally drops praise RNGsus!!!

Arachnid Mesh
Spiderweb Sash
Defense: 121
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 80
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x49c57c72
Item Level: 87
Version: Resurrected
+1 to All Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Slows Target by 10%
+93% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
Level 3 Venom (11/11 Charges)

Results

Set #1 was by far the highest scoring set because of the Ber and 2 Sur drops. They were joined by an Eth Cerebus Bite and an Alma Negra to make the score an even 68! I feel very lucky with this score based on the targets I chose to run!
 
Congrats @Grisu, definitely a Zod is a wincon...But I'd sell any win for the DWeb!

Disclosure video. No sound this time ;-)

Oh well I'm in vacation, so...I'll make it that short this time.

Like last year, a lot of fun, clearly one of my favorite format, and well a real bunch of grailers crossed during or right after the tournament. Also already a new Patriarch thread to be created using this great tool ;-)
 
And here are my results. Not all the items are qualifiers but I felt it was a shame to leave them behind.
I found a few more which I identified and didn't bother posting.
Bad luck with runes I guess considering I was constantly farming at P8 but I am always satisfied if I get at least one.

HAUL.png

Funny thing is that I was getting uniques like "Slayer Guard (Arreat's Face)", "Totemic Mask (Jalal's Mane)", "Grim Helm (Vampire Gaze)" I was like "Hell yeah these are some awesome qualifiers" only to find out they are exceptional items and are not even on the list. Don't know, never really bothered whether they were elite or not in the past.

I was also quite surprised with the points some of the items had and was quite disappointed with the Death's Fathom at 16,8. I though it was somewhere 25+. In any case, this item alone was worth all the effort and pumped my excitement to the heavens.
Can we all agree that it is the best item in the tournament? :love::love:

Screenshot032.png
 
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TOP 21 PLACEMENT. HELL YEAH!!! ;)

Really nice finds everyone. I will try to post a short summary of my finds here aswell, with the small window I have now.

I ran all LK with my sorceress, with a horrendous 1:25 average runtime. (I have a really bad picking behaviour that needs addressing. I think not checking every rare and staff-mod item would shave off an insane amount of that. Still... I can't leave them, and I am ok with that and it's effect on my efficiency... for now.) Manage about 16 h (seems to have missed starting the clock on the last 1-ish hour). Quite happy with the results, even if I really wanted that Jah that Enigma and another for Faith... and one for Ice... and one for Dream... and another for a second Dream....

Jewels: 88 (one of which is a 40/15 :cool: )
Flawless: 1235-787 (edit: 448, is the number. I did intend to update that subtraction to a number before I posted. :p )
Runes (lum+)
Lum: 4
Fal: 1
Lem: 2
Pul: 2
Mal: 1
Vex: 1
Ohm: 1
Charms: 1 skiller (warcries), 2 6% mf SC, and a bunch of other nice ones. Harder to condense though, so I will leave it at that.
Rares: Some nice which will be saved (and likely never used) in such a dedicated stash. One coronet with 2 cold skills/19 all res/34 lightning res feels worth a mention though.
 
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I got a bit sidetracked with my fledgling untwinked assassin. I was never a real contender for this and in ~10hrs had 4 qualifiers: hel, pul, demons arch, and viperfork (for some reason I didn't know this item existed!). Awesome job everyone and it was super fun to see all the loot and progress!!
 
@ ffs: Thank you for hosting!

@ all: What epic finds and results! Thank you for sharing!

I started with 12:30 h Pindle @ 3, where I almost found everything noteworthy. Then 7:30 h cows @ 3 followed, without many results. Especially not finding any rune about Pul was a big disappointment. :cry:

As this was my first tournament I totally forgot to take a good screenshot. However I saved most qualifiers on a separate stash:

MFRF_12-2021.PNG

Last but not least a Fleshripper is missing, as it still sits on my Amazon. Might be useful for doing Ubers, right?

Happy holidays everyone!
 
I spent probably 14 hours or so doing The Pit (p1), and 6 hours doing Travincal (p3) on my untwinked Fury Druid. So it's safe to say my setup was "sub-optimal" in every regard!

3 of my top 5 came from The Pit (Ondal's, Sur, and Wolfhowl) with the other 2 coming from Travincal (Alma Negra, Ist).

My qualifiers were pretty medicore, as evidenced by my placing. But my non-qualifiers were pretty good, so I shan't moan too much.

One of my earliest qualifiers was equipped for the remainder of the set, which made me look like a Joker cosplay...
Screenshot037.png


Coming into this my Top 3* wishlist was Jalal's, Ravenfrost, and Highlord's and I was able to check off two of those!
Screenshot027.pngScreenshot048.png

Also just found this in LK- decision now over whether to make Chains of Honor, hold off for Enigma (obviously very janky to use on a Werewolf but probably still worth it if I actually want to push for 99)...
Screenshot052.png



*The item that is invariably at the top of any wishlist for me is Tomb Reaver. It's not that rare, but I think it's such a cool item and I've never found one... Found not one but two failed unique Cryptic Axes in this set alone. :(
Screenshot033.pngScreenshot047.png
 
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