Need help in Hell

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FlawlessImperfection

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Need help in Hell

Hello, I'm somewhat new to these forums so forgive me for being unaware of something that had been previously mentioned. Also sorry for the wall of text.

I have a pure lightning sorc from a while back (I took a break from D2 but left it isntalled) and I started levelling it again. I'm currently at 72 with iffy gear, a decent (imo) NM Act 2 merc with might aura, most skill points in the right place, and a general idea of what I'm doing.

My sorc just got into a hell and she's already having troubles with LI in Act 1. I figured that the merc could take LIs while I just blast down everything that isn't. When I run into them, it takes forever for him to just kill one... and that's if there's only one. Two or more and he's dead. I've tried doing NM Baal runs with players set to 8 but then it turns into more of a Baal walk due to how long it takes to kill everything.

How do I handle LIs? Ways to get better gear would also be nice, as half of my items are just rares with +MF and only a few to +skills. Runewords don't seem to be a likely solution for me as it seems NM Countess doesn't like to drop any runes other than the low level ones... and I don't see myself farming the amount needed to keep xmuting them all the way up.

Help is very appreciated, thanks in advance
 
Re: Need help in Hell

From your description, it seems like your merc needs a bigger weapon. Try to get some Crushing Blow on his gear as well.

1 point Glacial Spike can help tremendously, to freeze LI monsters for your merc.
 
Re: Need help in Hell

His current gear seems alright.. right now he's wearing:
Head - Sazabi's Mental Sheath
Body - Hwanin's Refuge
Weapon - Husoldal Evo (Unique Bec-De-Corbin)
Damage his about 400-1400

Thanks for tip :)
 
Re: Need help in Hell

An even bigger stick always helps of course when the merc is the only one doing damage to those immunes. When I struggled with my first pure light sorc, I decided to run hell countess until I could make Obedience in an eth Tresher (took something like 200 runs to find the missing Fal, but at least I found two lucky Mals on the way!). The result? About 3.5x average base damage compared to your Husoldal Evo, further multiplied by Might and Enchant. Needless to say, immunes got a lot easier!

Try NM baal with /players 3 or so if 8 is slowing you too much. The difference in drop frequency isn't very big and you could get a notable speed boost.
 
Re: Need help in Hell

The biggest thing your merc is lacking right now is life leech - it's really something an act2/act5 merc NEEDS to have to survive long term.

For cheap, I'd suggest crafting some 'Blood' armour & helms - hopefully getting some resists/FHR in the process if you're willing to make more than a couple of crafts. If you've got Tal Rasha's mask, that's an awesome helm for him too. There are lots of other options with leech of course, so scour your stashes/mules and you might have something already.

Like Delvin said, some runewords are tolerably cheap too, so keep your eyes open for ethereal polearms with 3-5 sockets. Sooner or later you'll find a decent one, and then you can make (hopefully) a small number of NM/Hell Countess runs to get the necessary runes.

Husoldal Evo isn't horrible for a cheap weapon, but there are better options available. (Any chance you have an Hone Sundan (unique Yari)? - stick a Shael and a couple of Amn's in that and you're pretty much set).


As for a tactic for fighting lightning immunes... Telekinesis. Yes, that pitifully-damaged lightning spell is very nice for one simple reason: Knockback (which will stun a monster). It works against lightning immunes, and if you spam it you can almost cause stun-lock. And stunned monsters aren't going to be much of a threat, afterall.

For usage, try to separate out only 1-2 monsters, then run (don't teleport) around so the monster is between you and the merc and spam TK - this will push the monster right into your merc, stunning the monster while the merc attacks with ease. If there are walls/pillars/whatever nearby you can "pin" the monster up against those too (which is easier, but you can't always rely on the terrain to help you out).

Jiansonz's suggestion of Glacial Spike is probably better, but if you don't want to spend any points in your cold tree, TK is your best tool for lightning immunes (err... unless you're just willing to teleport past everything - which is another worthy solution :p).
 
Re: Need help in Hell

I guess I'm lucky... have Tal Rasha's Mask in my stash from a couple days ago. Stuck that on my merc and it seems to be better. I'm working my way towards putting Memory in a 4 socket staff I have, only missing Io rune.

Very helpful advice, many thanks

Another problem I seem to have is that I'm running out of mana quite fast. I don't tend to invest points into energy as most people get their mana and regen from items but I'm at about 350 mana with a level 4 warmth (+3 from items). Are there any particular items to try and farm from NM bosses or am I going to have to go through hell before I start finding the good stuff?
 
Re: Need help in Hell

Ok, your problems can be solved by a single item change. Get your hands on an elite insight polearm for your merc. This will provide you with the needed mana regen, and if you use an ethereal elite weapon, he'll do pretty sick damage.

Finding a 4os elite polearm that the merc can actually equip (thresher or cryptic axe have pretty low str reqs), even a nonethereal one, can take a while. If you don't have another char in hell that could farm the pits or somewhere for one, you're probably better off trading for one. Your speed through hell will go much more quickly. Fortunately, once you have a good ethereal elite insight, you can use it on pretty much every character's act 2 merc =)
 
Re: Need help in Hell

Just tried to do a NM Baal run.. got owned but those invisible whispy things that shoot lightning at you. Merc was doing crap damage and they slaughtered him.
I have no way of getting anything gear other than endlessly killing NM bosses for loot
=[

Please also note that any weapons/armor I have access to are pretty much exceptional level and low-mid level runes. Socketed items seem rare to me (etheral + sockets seem even more rare... dunno if I've even seen one). This is my highest level char so this is all I can work with.
 
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Re: Need help in Hell

To get socketed items ditch your mf items and equip skill/res items. Then run areas like NM Bloody Foothills. You won't find eth tresher but you will find grim scythe with four sockets. Use that for the Insight. Then move to Hell and start runnig the Pits and you'll find 4 soc tresher. The runes on Insight are so low that you can make two or three of them every time in a better weapon. Remember that scythe type polearms (six of them) are the fastest polearms, so use them.

Ulla
 
Re: Need help in Hell

You can also buy a wand of Lower resist and use it on weapon switch. Most LI monsters are breakable. The damage will be low if you don't have any items with -resistance mod, but it helps anyways and it's better than just standing there behind your merc.
 
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