MFO Summer 2021 Signups and Running Thread

[jjscud]

I'll get Pindle started off. Hoping for more competition. I'll join a team if that's the only way to make another team, but I know I'm out of town (camping, so no D2, probably) from the 3rd through the 6th. If I don't get some competition, I'll probably switch to A85.

-------------------
Baal
-------------------
PhineasB [1.14d SC FAM]
maxicek [1.14d SC FAM]
Pb_pal [1.13d HC FAM]
Vildecor [1.14 SC FAM]
Grisu [1.14d SC FAM]

-------------------
Pindle+
-------------------
jjscud [1.13c SC FAM]

-------------------
Level 85 Areas
-------------------
Excalibur [1.14d SC FAM]
Trim [1.14d SC FAM]
Apila [No Claiming]
Nagisa [1.14d SC FAM]
saracen85 [1.14d SC FAM]
Luhkoh [1.14d SC FAM]
Albatross [1.14d SC FAM]
ffs [1.14d SC FAM]
queenEm [1.14d SC FAM]
Nano [1.14d SC FAM]
Babyhell [1.14D SC FAM]
John Remedy [1.14d SC FAM]

-------------------
Teams
-------------------


--------------------
Available for teams
--------------------
Baal
Pb_pal
PhineasB
Vildecor
Grisu

Pindle

A85
Excalibur
Trim
Babyhell
John Remedy

 

[Excalibur]

Uh guys, I am afraid I have to remove myself from the list.
A friend is coming for vacation so I won't have time during the weekends.

-------------------
Baal
-------------------
PhineasB [1.14d SC FAM]
maxicek [1.14d SC FAM]
Pb_pal [1.13d HC FAM]
Vildecor [1.14 SC FAM]
Grisu [1.14d SC FAM]

-------------------
Pindle+
-------------------
jjscud [1.13c SC FAM]

-------------------
Level 85 Areas
-------------------
Trim [1.14d SC FAM]
Apila [No Claiming]
Nagisa [1.14d SC FAM]
saracen85 [1.14d SC FAM]
Luhkoh [1.14d SC FAM]
Albatross [1.14d SC FAM]
ffs [1.14d SC FAM]
queenEm [1.14d SC FAM]
Nano [1.14d SC FAM]
Babyhell [1.14D SC FAM]
John Remedy [1.14d SC FAM]

-------------------
Teams
-------------------


--------------------
Available for teams
--------------------
Baal
Pb_pal
PhineasB
Vildecor
Grisu

Pindle

A85
Trim
Babyhell
John Remedy

 

[Grisu]

After some test runs and some calculations I am not sure if I should run Baal...

One Baal run with my Hammerdin takes around 4 mins at p1/p7/p3 (waves 1+2/ waves 3-5 / Baal).

One AT run with my Blizzy takes around 1:20 at p7, netting me the same XP per minute as a Baal run at level 97, while at the same time netting drops from 15+ boss packs as compared to waves+Baal...Sure, I found this while doing some test runs,

Spoiler

but it was in the throne room...good or bad omen?

What do the experienced runner say? Is it worth spending more time going from 98 to 99 in AT (appr. 31k AT runs needed vs. 3.5k Baal runs - so almost 3x the amount of time spent) because I get more drops?

But thinking about it: I could also kill the Ancients with my Blizzy once I hit level 98 and then switch to Baal runs, which would probably be as fast as the Hammerdin at running Baal. So the overall time would be the same.

In my experience, Baal drops are terrible But I will listen to you guys and your expertise And of course, there is less competition in the Baal category and thus a better chance to get a medal

 

[ffs]

@Grisu If that drop came from a Baal wave monster it would count. If you're prioritizing XP, the best target for a Blizzy by far until 98 is CS, but that's when focusing on seal packs which do not count towards drops here. When focusing on drops in MFO categories (AT vs Baal), for sure AT should net more items, but XP is worse so it's just down to what you prioritize personally (MF vs XP). I'd stick with AT for better items and also to keep ancients, finishing 98-99 at Nihl + Ancients in the end.

@PhineasB Not sure if this was asked or is explained in the rules without me seeing it, but can we sign up in one category for both SC + HC? I might run with my untwinked HC 99er Barb after all. (Just remembered this sept that I started before kind of going on hiatus back in February. Need to farm some stuff for those sept characters.) I'll have to check whether he has a decent Pit map since I don't want to lose his Nihl map, if not I'll stick to SC.

 

[Grisu]

@ffs: oh dear, it's been so long I fan Baal that I forgot that minion waves counted! Well then, I guess I used up my luck running Baal already, did I? Yeah, item wise AT seems like the better choice. It's not that it matters that much, with like 10-15 hours I will be able to spend. But yeah, I'll switch to A85, if that is ok with everyone. I can squeeze those in better inbetween cooking, taking care of children etc.


Why do Ancients in the end? I think for HC it won't matter when I will do the Ancients as long as I am level 98?

-------------------
Baal
-------------------
PhineasB [1.14d SC FAM]
maxicek [1.14d SC FAM]
Pb_pal [1.13d HC FAM]
Vildecor [1.14 SC FAM]


-------------------
Pindle+
-------------------
jjscud [1.13c SC FAM]


-------------------
Level 85 Areas
-------------------
Trim [1.14d SC FAM]
Apila [No Claiming]
Nagisa [1.14d SC FAM]
saracen85 [1.14d SC FAM]
Luhkoh [1.14d SC FAM]
Albatross [1.14d SC FAM]
ffs [1.14d SC FAM]
queenEm [1.14d SC FAM]
Nano [1.14d SC FAM]
Babyhell [1.14D SC FAM]
John Remedy [1.14d SC FAM]
Grisu [1.14d HC FAM]

-------------------
Teams
-------------------


--------------------
Available for teams
--------------------
Baal
Pb_pal
PhineasB
Vildecor


Pindle

A85
Trim
Babyhell
John Remedy
Grisu

 

[Swamigoon]

I'm looking forward to dumping lots of blizzards atop lots of pindles.

-------------------
Baal
-------------------
PhineasB [1.14d SC FAM]
maxicek [1.14d SC FAM]
Pb_pal [1.13d HC FAM]
Vildecor [1.14 SC FAM]


-------------------
Pindle+
-------------------
jjscud [1.13c SC FAM]
Swamigoon [1.14b SC no mods]

-------------------
Level 85 Areas
-------------------
Trim [1.14d SC FAM]
Apila [No Claiming]
Nagisa [1.14d SC FAM]
saracen85 [1.14d SC FAM]
Luhkoh [1.14d SC FAM]
Albatross [1.14d SC FAM]
ffs [1.14d SC FAM]
queenEm [1.14d SC FAM]
Nano [1.14d SC FAM]
Babyhell [1.14D SC FAM]
John Remedy [1.14d SC FAM]
Grisu [1.14d HC FAM]

-------------------
Teams
-------------------


--------------------
Available for teams
--------------------
Baal
Pb_pal
PhineasB
Vildecor


Pindle
Swamigoon

A85
Trim
Babyhell
John Remedy
Grisu

 

[Gripphon]

I'm just here so I can hopefully keep Albatross's boots for another year. Most likely piloting a highly questionable AT blizzy like usual. I don't ever yoink items, but no claiming looks uglier than the pretty link color.

Oh there he is, the future champion. Congratz!

Happy hunting, everyone. You stand no chance, but I foresee Tyrael's is awaiting to be claimed.

 

[Excalibur]

Hey @Gripphon!

Don't you need Pgems?

 

[Gripphon]

Hey @Excalibur
I wouldn't mind having some. Feel free to let me know on pm what you had in mind

 

[Excalibur]

Hey @Excalibur
I wouldn't mind having some. Feel free to let me know on pm what you had in mind

Back in the days you were trading HRs for Pgems and everyone were in a hurry to trade as much as they can.

 

[Grisu]

Back in the days you were trading HRs for Pgems and everyone were in a hurry to trade as much as they can.

Really? Must have missed that! Shows how crazy the game evolved with all that LK running and increased tube drop odds... I probably have 15k+ PGems, but maybe 5 runes Sur+...

EDIT: Realising that it should have said rune drop odds, not tube drop odds...typing on mobile has its snares (can you even say that in English?), I suppose...

 

[Pb_pal]

ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN!!!!


I have warmed up my wolf barb for some Baaling and now he will take a small rest before getting his hands (paws?) dirty in the MFO. And the other Baalers better watch out, because he'll be running extremely inefficiently at /p8 in the Throne Room (until he hits 98 that is), a blistering run time of ~4-4.5 minutes and have a killing blow on Baal with a whopping

*checks GoMule*

97% MF.

HOWEVER, that is slated to shoot right up to 98% if he hits 98 during the competition!

I thought I'd hit everyone in the Baal category with that knowledge now, so that they can use this final week before the competition starts to adjust their running strats accordingly.

 

[ffs]

Hype hype!!

I'm still torn too many options, too little resolve. Optimized MF Barb for best shot at Tyrael's? Untwinked HC 99er Barb running Baal for decent XP, but inefficient MF-wise? Or run Pit with HC Barb despite bad map and worse XP? Decisions... Guess I'll just have to see what I feel like literally the day before this starts.

@Gripphon gogo join!

 

[Babyhell]

@Pb_pal alright, let's hype a bit!

On my side, I will run the Pits with ZerkAndDestroy (first post is not up-to-date, as there were some trades).

Clvl 94 Berserker, sitting on 744/624MF, but only 50%hork. He will need to be leveled up to correct some flaws, but he's at least sitting on a pretty nice collection of MF small charms.

On my previous map, apart from lucky sessions, he was around 4 to 5 qualifiers per hour (I'm not a great runner, and playing HC lately will not help handle him anywhere close to perfection). Hopefully the new map will deliver a bit more, but that's all about quality anyway!

Good warm-up everyone, on my side it will be a little break before start.

See you there!

 

[Grisu]

I'll be running AT with my level 96 Blizzy in HC. I will be doing /p7 runs for the XP as well. So I need like 80 seconds for 1 run (5.2 boss packs) as compared to 60 secs on /p1. MF is around 540 or so, not entirely sure though (writing from memory).

There is really only one thing left to find for me with my HC grail being at - 1 for years: Tyrael's. Then I guess I can retire and start D2R from scratch

 

[Babyhell]

@Grisu stars are in line: get your blue trophy

Spoiler

while warming up

 

[Grisu]

@Babyhell: Blue trophy? Had enough of those already, like today with my Bountyhunter Tournament Necromancer:

Spoiler

And to be honest: I don't know if it wouldn't be best to have it drop while warming up - that way, nobody could claim it

BTW, MF is 538...yay for my memory!

 

[maxicek]

I have two Assassins with Baal maps rolled. I'm going with a Kick Trap hybrid on the first one - build recommended to me by @Nagisa several years back. I have a whoppin 259% MF, I'm just really hoping to be quicker than a plain trapper. I don't normally kill Baal when I level my Assassins, so I need to adjust for this. If I hate it I will run pure traps on the other Assassin.

 

[ffs]

Back from a short vacation just in time. I seriously considered switching to Baal and run with my untwinked HC 99er Barb. But as much as I'd like to grind XP with him, currently I'm just not feeling like Baal runs, nor any other options that fits MFO categories and his needs as well. So he'll have to sit tight for a bit and I'll stick to SC for MFO.

Will be starting with Pit Berserker, but I might mix in some AT running. In particular the newer promising AT builds such as Berserk/Conc hybrid and FB/Blizzard Sorc could be fun.

Also secretly hoping my S&E delay has miraculously disappeared in my last 6 months of inactivity, so that I can maybe improve upon a couple of HoR scores.

 

[Trim]

Anyone who talks about HoR improvements scares me. I'm already old-man-slow with numerous inefficiencies, so to think of someone consistently going 2x or even 3x faster per run places a faint shadow over my efforts. Or maybe it'll light a fire to go 3x as hard myself. We'll see.

Rolled up an AT map over the weekend. All the packs are front loaded in the first 50% of the area so I don't have a lot of distance to cover which may give me some speed. Downsides are that I've never seen the max number of possible pack spawns, and they tend to be clumped together which may lead to the need of sifting through drops to see everything. The early deciding factor to stick with it is that I found a yellow Sacred Armor in the couple dozen test runs I did, so I'm taking that as a sign to keep the map. If I feel the need to reroll partway through the tourney, I will -- pretty sure I did exactly that last year, too.

Serious hype building! Technically 36 hours until I can get started. It's right around the corner!!