Orange You Glad That Rune Dropped: Craft-Centric Tournament

Big update for me. Was planning on doing a bit more RFL running after completing my first set, but decided I wanted some hc action instead yesterday. We last left off in a1 hell. Well I decided to say screw p3 and semi clears, and just started rushing ahead on p1. Wanted to wrap up some of my projects :). The gear was feeling good, and while the hydras were still slow, they worked well on p1, with their off-screen and around the corner capabilities being quite nice sometimes.

Started off blitzing through and saving cain. Here was the reward ring. Was not better than my others.
YoLzewu.jpg


Man act 1 goes by fast when you dont stop for anything at all. After saving cain, it took no time to get to andy, and fortunately things were totally uneventful, and she went down easy enough.
JYKI2Nl.jpg


At the start of a2 I went ahead and did radament, so I'd have a waypoint to use to shop fara. I had a bad teleport into a pack near him, and the hp went down fast, but I must have been ready. Because I rejuvd so quickly and tele'd out that I didn't see what the life total got to. Not sure if was super close call or just kinda dangerous. Anyways got done with him, and was time to shop my merc an elite spear to craft. The lance was really losing its luster. The damage was imperceptible from it even on p1. Anyways first elite spear was a ghost spear, and I crafted it like a fool.
CDZaZl0.jpg


Nice result, but realized after ofc that it's wayyyy too much dex for my merc so started shopping a war pike. Eventually got one and got this result.
H2sjfRE.jpg


A little ed and max dmg anyways. Decided that was good enough since I really didnt want to shop another from her, and proceeded on. About double the damage I had on my previous lance.

After radament, a2 was uneventful and easy. No ndes. And duriel went down like a sack of potatoes.
l5jMzEN.jpg


Next was a3. Fortunately I didnt get burned in the jungle with my blind teleporting shenanigans, so we made quick work of it. I totally forgot to do the gidbinn, so didnt see what that reward ring was. The council felt like a high pressure fight and I was looking a little intense and white knuckling it by the end, but ultimately they didnt get me under half hp. Mephisto was moat-tricked with hydras, which is very slow but works seamlessly. Forgot to screenshot his death unfortunately. He didn't drop anything interesting.

That's where I left off yesterday. Today I was feeling eager and took on chaos! I did do izual for the fire mastery points. A couple of scary might packs were teleported through in the plains of despair, but fortunately none got a hit off before i was outta there. I was thinking I would skip the hellforge since not much point in risking my life for it this close to the end. But I accidentally found it before chaos, so figured why not.
EMlinD7.jpg


Accidentally picked up a gem before taking the screenshot. In chaos I extended tele'd straight to the pentagram, then cleared all the monsters around it. And I full cleared the wings of the seal bosses before spawning them. This took some time of course, but was quite safe. I had a big scare though. Infector was FI/CI and after staticking him down to half and pinning him against the wall with tk, my merc seemed like he wasn't going to be able to outdamage his regen. What would someone do in this situation? I was wondering if I'd have to reset which would ofc violate the single pass rule. So is pmh or open wounds just totally mandatory in a tourney like this, or is there some other trick or some exception for resetting in a situation like this?

Anyways after that scaring me, I was like lets just leave the merc on him for a while and see what happens. Took the merc about 5 minutes to kill him, but apparently the life bar was indeed trending down :). It yoyo'd between a sliver and like 15% for what seems like ages, but he did die! And then... CI/FI de seis 😭. I was worried yet again thinking there was no way the merc could do enough dmg while decrep'd. But fortunately de sies's life bar stayed about constant while merc was decrep'd and went downwards when not. He died too, and probably faster than infector somehow.

For diablo himself, I just stayed right on top of him to be inside the lightning hose, and even though my merc died halfway through the fight, I was able just to tank him drinking some healing pots. Didn't need a rejuv.
Dr4M2yK.jpg


Next up a5. Felt so good to extended tele through all those open areas. They took so long to full clear in normal and nightmare. I stopped to kill shenk, which took a while with hydras, but cant complain when you can basically stay off screen. I was thinking I'd skip the anya quest similar to what I was thinking on hellforge. But I found the entrace to frozen river before the exit to crytalline passage, so I decided to check it out. Spawned with lancers and creepers. Teleported to frozenstein, looked for a clear spot nearby to start clearing toward him, and eventually ended up cheesing him like this.
4XvMJ0D.jpg


Hydras ftw. Ofc before he was dead the dumb merc moved to the left too much and brought him across the bridge, but was no problem by then.

Next up ancients. I didn't think they'd be a problem with sorc, so I didnt even bring extra pots besides 8 or so in my inventory. Well I ran out right before the end and was one pot short, so had to drink a rejuv for mana haha. But they did go down. And I didn't gain a level from them (went from begin 77 to like 85% through it). Next up was wsk, which I was definitely scared of. I was still going to try and tele straight through, but I knew this would a scary place to do so.

Got cursed and ran into might flayers in lvl 1
...but made it through before they hit me and found a clear spot to town and get the curse off. :p

In lvl 2, got stunlocked right outside the waypoint area by suicide bombers within a couple of other packs. Was super dense, and I sas blasted by like 4 of the bombers in quick succession :(.
Just kidding again :D. Still alive. I had to rejuv a couple of times before I got out, but I made it through.

In lvl 3 ran into some fana ghosts which were scary, but I won't tease another spoiler. I was gone before they attacked. Then I found an early door to throne room.

Shew that was scary. But we're still alive! In the throne room, had CI vamps and witches along with unravelers. I cleared the whole throne room, including the wings to have somewhere to retreat while fighting the waves, and that took a while, but was safe. Hydra is really nice against those witches. Wave 1 was easy. The merc just could not handle the poison from wave 2, so after wasting a lot of gold on resurrections, I took the second half of wave 2 out with no merc. Wave 3 went down eventually with kiting and frozen orbing. Same with wave 4. Wave 5 took a long long time. I walked them to the entrance to the throne room and halfway back up the other side before they all went down. But it was slow and steady and the hp was fine throughout.

Then baal was a pushover. Just stood with my back to a wall so he wouldnt push me away, and stood there holding down orb and drinking healing and mana pots. Returned to town to restock a couple of times, but it didn't take long.
DVKpFQn.jpg


Woohoo! First ever guardian!
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Super pumped, and will get a guardian thread up soon. Very glad she made it through. I plan to farm meph and lk with her evetually and start a proper attempt at hc mfing. Thanks everyone for a super fun tourney! Especially @PhineasB for creating it and hosting!

***

Code:
Forumite     Character         Class   Lvl   Progress
--------     ---------         -----   ---   --------
Skiff        ColdFever         Sorc    77    Guardian
Vang         *Spokane          Zon     81    Guardian
PhineasB     Orange            Zon     85    Guardian
OldSoldier   GaranDarkslayer   Pal     83    Guardian
Norcim       Valryka           Zon     86    Guardian
Luhkoh       Amaresu           Sorc    78    Guardian
Grisu        Lugh              Barb    84    A4 H
Pb_pal       Elding            Pal     78    A4 H
Jocular      Cranky            Barb    71    A5 NM
Babyhell     *ItsATrap         Sin     57    A3 NM
Vildecor     Rowena            Sin     53    A2 NM
Dazliare     Svetlana          ***     49    A1 NM
CaseyJones   RunsWithLava      Dru     30    A3 N

Code:
Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
zemaj      OUGNecro    Nec     33    A3 N
Jocular    PopeJohn... Pal     48    A1 NM
Vang       Solidify    Sor     54    A1 NM
 
Grats! Still waiting on my first G, I’ve been playing again for a few months but I haven’t warmed up enough to tackle it yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Luhkoh
One more act down, one to go.

Despite a rather annoying welcome party to the Outer Steppes, Act 4 started off well. Elding smoothly (Doom Casters are not exactly difficult LIs to deal with) made his way to the Plains of Despair and:

a0t8Wxq.jpg


Damn. Luckily his 85 LR keeps him rather safe, so it ended up just being more of an annoyance (I'm talking about YOU, Mana Burn) than anything though he did have to be careful not to get surrounded too much as the merc wasn't quite as sturdy. Found Izual, killed him easily, and moved on the the LI-Bat-and-Strangler-infested City of the Damned where we found this beauty of a GC:

sjYs9ud.jpg


Nice! Through to the Rof where we drew Spawners (ugh), Urdars (Yikes), but luckily Stranglers again for the only LI. Not great, but not bad. We found the Forge extremely quickly. Check the mini map, I don't think I've ever seen one this close to the entrance before.

kbTy54r.jpg


Hephasto was dealt with and we nabbed a Pul for our efforts. Onwards, a couple of nasty Urdar packs like this guy before the duo worked their way up to the CS where he found an Amn and had to deal with this rather annoying PI/LI en route to the seals and then big D.

HncqkXU.jpg


Easy enough, couldn't even fry the merc. Home stretch!


Elding the Tesladin, lvl 78 - Hell Harrogath

***

Code:
Forumite     Character         Class   Lvl   Progress
--------     ---------         -----   ---   --------
Skiff        ColdFever         Sorc    77    Guardian
Vang         *Spokane          Zon     81    Guardian
PhineasB     Orange            Zon     85    Guardian
OldSoldier   GaranDarkslayer   Pal     83    Guardian
Norcim       Valryka           Zon     86    Guardian
Luhkoh       Amaresu           Sorc    78    Guardian
Pb_pal       Elding            Pal     78    A5 H
Grisu        Lugh              Barb    84    A4 H
Jocular      Cranky            Barb    71    A5 NM
Babyhell     *ItsATrap         Sin     57    A3 NM
Vildecor     Rowena            Sin     53    A2 NM
Dazliare     Svetlana          ***     49    A1 NM
CaseyJones   RunsWithLava      Dru     30    A3 N

Code:
Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
zemaj      OUGNecro    Nec     33    A3 N
Jocular    PopeJohn... Pal     48    A1 NM
Vang       Solidify    Sor     54    A1 NM
 
My own short update:
Plowed through normal on P8 except I dropped to P1 for CS Seal pops and Diablo, P1 for Ancients, and P3 for Baal.
Destroyer.jpg

Cleared the cows and picked up a couple of plain crystal swords so I used my larzuk quest to punch 4 sockets in one, made a spirit in it and personalized by Anya.
SpiritSword.jpg

Sitting at lvl 47.9 heading in to NIghtmare. I tried a couple crafts, Safety war spear that turned out junk...holding on to it in case I don't find enough to craft a new one in Act 2 NM when he has to switch weapons. And crafted a caster amulet to fill that one empty gear slot for now. Not horrible though no great mods. The mana and mana regen will help, bit of FCR anyway.

CasterAmmy1.jpgSafetySpear.jpg

Code:
 Forumite     Character         Class   Lvl   Progress
--------     ---------         -----   ---   --------
Skiff        ColdFever         Sorc    77    Guardian
Vang         *Spokane          Zon     81    Guardian
PhineasB     Orange            Zon     85    Guardian
OldSoldier   GaranDarkslayer   Pal     83    Guardian
Norcim       Valryka           Zon     86    Guardian
Luhkoh       Amaresu           Sorc    78    Guardian
Pb_pal       Elding            Pal     78    A5 H
Grisu        Lugh              Barb    84    A4 H
Jocular      Cranky            Barb    71    A5 NM
Babyhell     *ItsATrap         Sin     57    A3 NM
Vildecor     Rowena            Sin     53    A2 NM
Dazliare     Svetlana          ***     49    A1 NM
CaseyJones   RunsWithLava      Dru     47    A1 NM

Code:
Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
zemaj      OUGNecro    Nec     33    A3 N
Jocular    PopeJohn... Pal     48    A1 NM
Vang       Solidify    Sor     54    A1 NM
 
ItsATrap has quested again!

Short update for now - i'll put a more detailed and imaged story update when NM is completed (hopefully).

As a reminder, ItsATrap is not single pass since end of Normal, therefore she gets various psettings and no full clear (lots of running indeed).

Anyway, she is now A5 NM, leveling a bit at Eldritch, probably until clvl 65 before pushing towards the ancients. As a trapper with an ungeared merc... well, she is questing alone with her Shadow Master, and has used her NM respec (first one) before entering CS to switch to lightning traps.

Runewise, she noticeably found a Ko and a Lem, which is nice, as Hellforge delivered a Dol.

Also, she will probably use a double claws build to get access to Weapon block, instead of using a crafted shield.

See you on next update!

Edit : a bit more of progress, now arrived at Act 2 Hell, farming to complete merc gear - switched to Holy Freeze one for control. Clvl 75.

Code:
Forumite     Character         Class   Lvl   Progress
--------     ---------         -----   ---   --------
Skiff        ColdFever         Sorc    77    Guardian
Vang         *Spokane          Zon     81    Guardian
PhineasB     Orange            Zon     85    Guardian
OldSoldier   GaranDarkslayer   Pal     83    Guardian
Norcim       Valryka           Zon     86    Guardian
Luhkoh       Amaresu           Sorc    78    Guardian
Pb_pal       Elding            Pal     78    A5 H
Grisu        Lugh              Barb    84    A4 H
Babyhell     *ItsATrap         Sin     75    A2 H
Jocular      Cranky            Barb    71    A5 NM
Vildecor     Rowena            Sin     53    A2 NM
Dazliare     Svetlana          ***     49    A1 NM
CaseyJones   RunsWithLava      Dru     47    A1 NM

Code:
Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
zemaj      OUGNecro    Nec     33    A3 N
Jocular    PopeJohn... Pal     48    A1 NM
Vang       Solidify    Sor     54    A1 NM
 
Last edited:
Been away for a bit and finally got a chance to catch back up on this thread.

Congrats on the first guardian @Luhkoh! First one is always special, and doing it via a single-pass tournament makes it even better! Hopefully she finds you all the HC goodies moving forward!

@Pb_pal: I'm jealous of your 85 LR around gloams. Can't wait to see Elding go all the way!

@CaseyJones and @Babyhell: love the updates, keep them coming!
 
Goodness, my progress is glacial, I realize I haven't played/posted in a couple of months, so some of these accomplishments happened a while ago, but big congrats to @Vang, @PhineasB ,@OldSoldier, @Norcim, and @Luhkoh on the guardians! Very impressive!

Now for progress, which I'm sure is quite the letdown after a few months, not even any pics! Agni progressed steadily through Act I. I have been putting skill points into skeletons and mages, thinking that would really speed up my progress and make normal a breeze. I've only ever played 2 Necros, and never dabbled with summons, and I am underwhelmed with their killing power so far. Coupled with blocking my merc at every door frame, and I may be respec'ing sooner rather than later. I'll give them a fair shot in Act II, and then decide. Countess dropped 2 Tir runes, so I'll try and reroll a savage polearm and equip it when I start back up. Nothing else noteworthy to report throughout the act.

Andarial was surprisingly easy on /p3, she vaporized all my summons instantly, but the merc never died and I only had to make one town trip to buy more antidotes. No uniques dropped throughout the entire act, despite me equipping topaz socketed armor and helm just out of habit. Those will be ditched along with the rogue merc, when I start on Act II. I do hope to be able to spend more time playing D2 in the next month or so, we'll see.

Agni, level 20 (eventual) Meleemancer, Lut Gholein
 
One final trip for Elding.

Up through the foothills it was quick since there were no LIs. Shenk soon fell and he moved up into the crystalline passage. No LIs in there so it was quickly through to the Frozen River where we WERE met with LIs; Gloams. As with A4 Elding is safe against them with 85 LR, but they sure slow things down, as do guys like this:

JIKNIPu.jpg


We saved her, sold her shield back to her, and headed down to Nihlathak. After fighting through two levels of LI beetles, Night lords (frenzytaur variant) and quill rats we finally made it to the halls of Vaught and:

oznFeQe.jpg


Sigh. I could try and forge through them, but the only reason I'd want the reward is to personalize the Kelpie I found previously for the merc, and that would realistically be only for the Baal fight. I really don't like the idea of trying to fight them using Zeal and getting locked in while poison clouds fly, so Elding is going to take his lumps and leave Nihlathak alive, and continuing instead through guys like this he hit 80 just in time to face the Ancients.

After a few re-rolls due to immediate amp.

Korlic and Talic separated first:

XNrtCZz.jpg


Korlic fell first as he was not LI, and even though Talic was he wasn't overly dangerous. I got him positioned so that he wouldn't WW so we were able to take him out without eating too much into our pot supply. Last up it was Madawc

roAD2nP.jpg


LI of course (I think he's guaranteed to be in Hell, right?). Pretty benign mods, though the mana burn was a pain and we ran out of blues. Nevertheless, bingo.

Alright! that was relatively harmless, and it was time to tackle the WSK. Level 1 had LI Zealots, which weren't so bad as long as I could get the Heirophants out of the way firs. WSK had gloams so it was slow. WSK3 had no LIs and was a breeze. Throne had dolls, so it was very carefully through there.

Wave 1 was easy, wave 2 we led a bunch of skellies away and then went for the unravellers. Wave 3 was easy aside from an LI Bartuc, though he was mostly just an annoyance. He melted the merc but Elding managed him just fine on his own. He pinged us to 81 and officially maxed out HS. Wave 4 had to be led out in small groups until we could safely take on Ventar. Same, as usual, with Lister's pack

9Ml4vwF.jpg


It was still a pretty tough fight with just the two of them, but in the end they fell and it was down to the last fight. I was expecting to get fully screwed over by the fact I couldn't get to Nihl to unlock the Kelpie for the merc, but it turns out those fears were unfounded.

ZmW40OS.jpg


He didn't even summon his clone! So all in all it was a relatively safe, albeit quite bloody, anticlimactic fight to end his journey. Baal left a Fleshrender behind, and that's that.

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Thanks to @PhineasB for creating and hosting this very fun tournament, and thanks to everyone who participated for the motivation along the way!

Elding the Tesladin, lvl 81 - Guardian


Code:
Forumite     Character         Class   Lvl   Progress
--------     ---------         -----   ---   --------
Skiff        ColdFever         Sorc    77    Guardian
Vang         *Spokane          Zon     81    Guardian
PhineasB     Orange            Zon     85    Guardian
OldSoldier   GaranDarkslayer   Pal     83    Guardian
Norcim       Valryka           Zon     86    Guardian
Luhkoh       Amaresu           Sorc    78    Guardian
Pb_pal       Elding            Pal     81    Guardian
Grisu        Lugh              Barb    84    A4 H
Babyhell     *ItsATrap         Sin     75    A2 H
Jocular      Cranky            Barb    71    A5 NM
Vildecor     Rowena            Sin     53    A2 NM
Dazliare     Svetlana          ***     49    A1 NM
CaseyJones   RunsWithLava      Dru     47    A1 NM

Code:
Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
zemaj      OUGNecro    Nec     33    A3 N
Jocular    PopeJohn... Pal     48    A1 NM
Vang       Solidify    Sor     54    A1 NM
 
@Pb_pal Nice job, congrats!

Been able to play a bit and Agni has made decent progress. Steadily made my way through Act II. Finally had my first S/U drop, a classic!
Screenshot001.jpg

I also managed to score my first perfect gem (emerald) in the lost city thanks to two gem shrines after I got the cube. I imagine that's the quickest that's ever happened, perfect tournament for it as well. The rest of the act went by fairly uneventfully. I had toned down my skeleton usage, typically using about 1/3 of the total I could summon. They are decent distractions, but dim vision makes that kind of unnecessary. I messed up and forgot to assign a point into decrepify before Duriel, so the fight was slightly more difficult than it needed to be, but still not bad on /p3. The drop was nothing to write home about.
Screenshot003.jpg

Act 3 was when I could equip my merc with my Sharp Partizan of the Leech socketed with an Ith rune. Killing speed doubled at that point. Agni took Waheed's old Bill with an Ith and -15% req jewel. That was the end of him using wands and shields! The rest of Act 3 was pretty easy, basically spam dim vision and pick off baddies one at a time. Mephisto died without an issue on /p3.
Screenshot004.jpg

Agni had to be more careful in Act 4. His resistances are suffering, basically coming solely from the charms he's accrued. He's using a stealth runeword breast plate and a full helm with damage jewels. The rest of the equipment slots are white items or useless reward rings. Still, was able to get to Diablo with no issues. Diablo was a nightmare on /p3. I could not keep the merc alive for long, no matter how much decrep or life tap I cast. I must have revived him 20 times at least during the fight.
Screenshot005.jpg

Act 5 was a lot of fun. Power leveling throughout. Agni also transitioned (perhaps permanently) to using a bow. I found a 2 socket superior long war bow and made the Zephyr runeword (Ort Eth). I don't remember ever making this runeword, but it's pretty good for normal. I can't in good conscious describe his damage as 'good' but it's certainly OK. It's much less stressful using the bow, I get hit less often so I don't have to worry about drinking health potions. For sure my end game goal now is to end up using a Harmony runeword. This will also solve the eventual PI problem. We'll see how manageable using bows will be in a tournament where I have to use all crafted items :ROFLMAO:.

It was either level up once more to get enough dex to equip the Zephyr long war bow, or respec. Since I hadn't summoned any skeletons in two acts, I respec'ed and reclaimed about 10 wasted skill points. His skills are now:
20 Dim Vision
6 Decrep
2 Amp Damage
1 in all other curses

1 Teeth/CE
1 Clay Golem, summon resist, summon mastery
~10 unspent skill points

I'll probably max CE and pump Decrep and maybe Lower Resist. Right now, more points in these just increases the mana cost too much. I also switched mercenaries. I went with a Blessed Aim aura instead of Prayer. Necromancer AR is abysmal and even on normal I barely had a 50% chance to hit.... Not sure what it will be like in Hell with no easy way to boost it.

Agni had his first NDE. When Frozenstein died, his cold nova hit Agni, wiped out 75% of his health. That was with a modest (for Agni) 24% cold resist. Other than that, no real danger to report. Ancients died pretty quick on /p1. Throneroom was pretty easy as well, even Lister and crew could be handled 3 at a time on /p8 with no issue. Baal was a slogfest on /p3. He immediately summoned a clone and the whole fight was just a chore. Eventually Agni prevailed.
Screenshot006.jpg

That was actually the second Skull Splitter he's found. Nihaltek and Cows were quickly dispatched after Baal, Cows dropped an Amn rune, my best rune so far. Agni has had poor rune luck, there just have not been many drops, despite mostly full clearing.

Agni hasn't left the Blood Moor in NM yet, but he has started crafting. His resists are just so pitiful. I may have to ditch the Stealth Breast Plate and just throw on a 3x Ort armor just so I don't get vaporized by the first lightning bolt I see. Seems like a huge waste of my only 3 Ort runes to use for just 1 act, but they won't do much good if he's dead. He's level 47, so gambling ilvl 51 items is pretty much a waste of money. I managed to get 1 ammy, but quit after that. Here's the highlight of his gear going into Act 1 NM.
Screenshot007.jpg
Certainly happy with the first boot attempt. Shame the resist on the ammy was poison. I'll probably wait until I can reliably gamble ilvl 51 before crafting any more. His lightning resist is -20 and his cold resist is 1.... We'll see how far I get in NM. If anyone has read this far and has any ideas on how to boost them, I'm all ears.

Agni, level 47 Necromancer, Blood Moor NM
 

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  • Screenshot007.jpg
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RunsWithLava is truckin along.
Late in Act 1 Nightmare found a white Alpha Helm, decided to give Charsi a chance...and she came through nicely! Well, at least on the skill selections, the other rolls were quite low.
CharsiImbue.jpg

Wrapped up Act 1 Nightmare with this Andy drop, she really delivered on the gems :)
AndyDrops.jpg

After that it was off to Act 2 for some crafting fun!
Here are the mats I was able to cube up to:
craftMatsAct2Start.jpg

At this time I had a personalized Spirit Sword, a Charsi imbued Helm, 2 quest reward rare rings, Crafted Gloves and a Crafted amulet from earlier sessions, but still a white belt, white boots, a socketed shield, and Stealth runeword for armor that would need replaced. Plus my whole merc gear would need replaced. While in town, my mercenary, Mizan, picked up a new skill, and upgraded to a holy freeze aura (sometimes random just works, the highest level defensive merc happened to also be named Mizan ;) )

So, plans for the crafts were blood armor for merc, blood helm for merc, safety spear for merc, caster boots, caster belt, hit power shield, hit power armor, and 2 attempts for hit power rings.

I wasn't really interested in what base mods were on hit power items...but I didn't have the PGems for other crafts so will work to replace those later.

Anyway, safety spear (second attempt) was even worse than the first attempt in a previous session so the merc was equipped with the first craft. Here are the blood crafts for merc:
MercBody.jpgMercHelm.jpg

And the crafts for myself of note:
RingCraft.jpgShield.jpg

The ring was the best of the 2 crafts and was a small upgrade over the lesser of the 2 quest rings so I put it on. The shield pulled through lucky with that @19 all res...this may be my end game shield, have larzuk punch it at the end of NM and drop a PDiamond in it? Will have to see if any better crafts emerge.

All geared up, we cleared out the sewers and brought down the mighty Radament
Radament.jpg

And here are the details:
Code:
Name:       RunsWithLava
Class:      Druid
Experience: 67902804
Level:      53

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   76/104
Dexterity:  35/38
Vitality:   214/236
Energy:     20/31
HP:         531/555
Mana:       124/280
Stamina:    325/325
Defense:    8/368
AR:         145/285

Fire:       103/63/3
Cold:       83/43/-17
Lightning:  108/68/8
Poison:     85/45/-15

MF:         0       Block:      8
GF:         115
FR/W:       20
FHR:        73
IAS:        0
FCR:        51

Raven: 1/4
Poison Creeper: 0/0
Oak Sage: 1/4
Summon Spirit Wolf: 1/4
Carrion Vine: 0/0
Heart of Wolverine: 0/0
Summon Dire Wolf: 1/4
Solar Creeper: 0/0
Spirit of Barbs: 0/0
Summon Grizzly: 2/6

Werewolf: 0/0
Lycanthropy: 0/0
Werebear: 0/0
Feral Rage: 0/0
Maul: 0/0
Rabies: 0/0
Fire Claws: 0/0
Hunger: 0/0
Shock Wave: 0/3
Fury: 0/0

Firestorm: 4/7
Molten Boulder: 8/11
Arctic Blast: 0/0
Fissure: 20/23
Cyclone Armor: 0/0
Twister: 0/0
Volcano: 20/24
Tornado: 0/0
Armageddon: 0/0
Hurricane: 0/0

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0x81bc9e4d
Item Level: 9
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Viper Finger
Ring
Required Level: 5
Fingerprint: 0x319c5456
Item Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15 to Attack Rating
+1 to Dexterity
+6 to Mana
Lightning Resist +10%
Fire Resist +9%
Magic Damage Reduced by 1
+1 to Light Radius

Shimmering Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 10
Fingerprint: 0xa37273e5
Item Level: 24
Version: Expansion 1.10+
All Resistances +11

Flail
One Hand Damage: 1 - 24
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Strength: 41
Required Dexterity: 35
Fingerprint: 0x6be0f90
Item Level: 27
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+150% Damage to Undead
2 Sockets (0 used)

Ruby Grand Charm of Strength
Grand Charm
Required Level: 22
Fingerprint: 0xd3521bfd
Item Level: 33
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+6 to Strength
Fire Resist +30%

Lapis Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 7
Fingerprint: 0x53b09aab
Item Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Cold Resist +18%

Wraith Torc
Amulet
Required Level: 64
Fingerprint: 0x74eaa460
Item Level: 48
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Necromancer Skill Levels
+9% Faster Cast Rate
+16 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 8%
Level 1 Twister (22/22 Charges)

Raven Grasp
Sharkskin Gloves
Defense: 60
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0x24fb0799
Item Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
12% Chance to cast level 4 Nova when struck
3% Life stolen per hit
5% Chance of Crushing Blow
+51% Enhanced Defense
+12 to Life
Lightning Resist +14%
55% Extra Gold from Monsters

Coral Grand Charm of Strength
Grand Charm
Required Level: 15
Fingerprint: 0xd0ffdde9
Item Level: 39
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+6 to Strength
Lightning Resist +22%

Viridian Small Charm of Life
Small Charm
Required Level: 14
Fingerprint: 0xb9cb8ca9
Item Level: 24
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10 to Life
Poison Resist +7%

Russet Small Charm of Flame
Small Charm
Required Level: 10
Fingerprint: 0x12648b40
Item Level: 30
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 1 - 2 Fire Damage
Fire Resist +7%

Russet Small Charm of Strength
Small Charm
Required Level: 10
Fingerprint: 0x8c148c58
Item Level: 5
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Strength
Fire Resist +6%

Russet Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 10
Fingerprint: 0x9bac1a1
Item Level: 22
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +6%

Coral Large Charm
Large Charm
Required Level: 18
Fingerprint: 0xd09f5073
Item Level: 36
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Lightning Resist +11%

Beryl Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 1
Fingerprint: 0xe3ed7905
Item Level: 36
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Poison Resist +5%

Crimson Small Charm of Strength
Small Charm
Required Level: 5
Fingerprint: 0x3e761ade
Item Level: 20
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Strength
Fire Resist +5%

Key
Fingerprint: 0xfe909a72
Item Level: 38
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Blood Visage
Alpha Helm
Defense: 62
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 30
Required Strength: 44
Fingerprint: 0x9b7e49bf
Item Level: 56
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Druid Skill Levels
+1 to Summon Grizzly (Druid Only)
+1 to Volcano (Druid Only)
+1 to Shock Wave (Druid Only)
+2 to Life
+5 to Mana
Poison Resist +5%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 250%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Flawless Amethyst
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +100 to Attack Rating
Armor: +8 to Strength
Shields: +24 Defense

Gale Blazer
Demonhide Boots
Defense: 64
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0xf0f077c6
Item Level: 53
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Run/Walk
+78% Enhanced Defense
+15 to Mana
Increase Maximum Mana 3%
Regenerate Mana 9%
60% Extra Gold from Monsters

Plague Fringe
Sharkskin Belt
Defense: 34
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Level: 44
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0x6d7fea39
Item Level: 54
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+7% Faster Cast Rate
+9 to Strength
+20 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 10%
Poison Resist +28%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Raven Wrap
Field Plate
Defense: 104
Durability: 48 of 48
Required Level: 25
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0x14eac60
Item Level: 44
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 4 Frost Nova when struck
+18% Faster Hit Recovery
Cold Resist +13%
Lightning Resist +11%
Attacker Takes Damage of 9

Eagle Eye
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x5241b8c9
Item Level: 52
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 4 Frost Nova when struck
+110 to Attack Rating
+5 to Strength
+2 to Dexterity
+11 to Energy
Cold Resist +12%
Attacker Takes Damage of 4

Greater Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 150%

Greater Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 150%

Greater Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 150%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Horadric Cube
Fingerprint: 0xde97c1bb
Item Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Super Healing Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenish Life +320

Super Healing Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenish Life +320

Super Healing Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenish Life +320

Super Healing Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenish Life +320

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

RunsWithLava's Spirit
Crystal Sword
TalThulOrtAmn
One Hand Damage: 5 - 15
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 25
Required Strength: 43
Fingerprint: 0x501b7b42
Item Level: 28
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+35% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
7% Life stolen per hit
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+94 to Mana
+6 Magic Absorb
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune

Tal Rune
Required Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
Armor: Poison Resist +30%
Shields: Poison Resist +35%

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%

Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14

Carrion Guard
Gothic Shield
Defense: 35
Chance to Block: 21
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Level: 50
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0x9e1ab90b
Item Level: 54
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 4 Frost Nova when struck
5% Increased Chance of Blocking
All Resistances +19
Poison Length Reduced by 75%
Attacker Takes Damage of 8
9% Damage Taken Goes To Mana

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Mercenary:

Name:       Mizan
Race:       Desert Mercenary
Type:       Def-Nightmare
Experience: 18206496
Level:      53
Dead?:      false

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   130/130
Dexterity:  102/102
HP:         817/847
Defense:    592/774
AR:         890/890

Fire:       119/79/19
Cold:       100/60/0
Lightning:  100/60/0
Poison:    100/60/0

Loath Shell
Plate Mail
Defense: 155
Durability: 46 of 60
Required Level: 28
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0x9b00b464
Item Level: 54
Version: Expansion 1.10+
3% Life stolen per hit
+33% Enhanced Defense
+18 to Life
Fire Resist +19%
Magic Damage Reduced by 1
+1 Life after each Demon Kill


Skull Mask
Helm
Defense: 27
Durability: 12 of 24
Required Level: 33
Required Strength: 26
Fingerprint: 0x54df89ee
Item Level: 54
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Nova when struck
2% Life stolen per hit
10% Deadly Strike
+45% Enhanced Defense
+10 to Energy
+12 to Life


Storm Prod
War Spear
Two Hand Damage: 16 - 46
Durability: 24 of 30
Required Level: 37
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 25
Fingerprint: 0xf97d5efe
Item Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
25% Enhanced Damage
+4 to Minimum Damage
+5% Enhanced Defense
Damage Reduced by 3
Magic Damage Reduced by 2

Enjoying the journey so far. Happy with my choice of a Fire druid, so far it has been pretty smooth sailing. Fissure dropping groups easy and the merc and bear keep it pretty safe. The fire immunes encountered so far have been pretty easily handled by the merc and bear with some solid help by Volcano. Choosing a Spirit sword for personalization has worked out every bit as well as I expected...actually very rarely do I even have to drink mana pots anymore. It allowed me to drop to 1 row of mana and keep and extra row of Full Juvies just in case. I have used a couple of those to keep the merc up but mostly just sailing along.

Code:
Forumite     Character         Class   Lvl   Progress
--------     ---------         -----   ---   --------
Skiff        ColdFever         Sorc    77    Guardian
Vang         *Spokane          Zon     81    Guardian
PhineasB     Orange            Zon     85    Guardian
OldSoldier   GaranDarkslayer   Pal     83    Guardian
Norcim       Valryka           Zon     86    Guardian
Luhkoh       Amaresu           Sorc    78    Guardian
Pb_pal       Elding            Pal     81    Guardian
Grisu        Lugh              Barb    84    A4 H
Babyhell     *ItsATrap         Sin     75    A2 H
Jocular      Cranky            Barb    71    A5 NM
Vildecor     Rowena            Sin     53    A2 NM
CaseyJones   RunsWithLava      Dru     53    A2 NM
Dazliare     Svetlana          ***     49    A1 NM
skoolbus     Agni               Nec    47   A1 NM

Code:
Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
zemaj      OUGNecro    Nec     33    A3 N
Jocular    PopeJohn... Pal     48    A1 NM
Vang       Solidify    Sor     54    A1 NM
 
Well, Agni has survived Act I NM, now that the suspense is out of the way, I can give a short update.

Agni had started out into the Blood Moor with negative lightning resist and 1 cold resist. It wasn't too bad at the beginning, Dim Vision is probably the best skill in the game, I wish I had played more necromancers over the last 20 or so years. I had a nice pattern for entering Tristram.

Screenshot012.jpg

Agni found some interesting items in Act I, possibly the most interested dropped in Tristram. I'm pretty sure it was Griswold that dropped it, but not positive as I didn't see it drop, just noticed it after he was dead.

Legend Sword of Measure
One-Hand Damage: 26 to 56
Two-Hand Damage: 54 to 94
Durability: 34 of 44
Required Dexterity: 100
Required Strength: 175
Required Level: 44
Sword Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xe2b9871c
+4 to Minimum Damage

I am quite sure I've NEVER seen an elite item that soon at the start of NM. I kept it thinking maybe Agni can cube it into something useful, either for himself or an Act 5 merc.

The first epic battle for Agni was Treehead. I had got the scroll and rescued Cain without killing anything in the Dark Wood on my last session. Unfortunately, when I started the new session, the waypoint was "populated". Treehead and his pack by himself would have been easily dispatched, but Agni managed to snag an additional 2 unique packs and 1 champ pack of vile lancers/hunters. Since I had nowhere safe to retreat to, there was some high quality curse spamming and kiting. 30 minutes later, and the dust had settled and Agni was on his way. The Countess dropped a Thul and Eld.

Agni intended to clear The Pits, but there were two unique packs and friends right at the entrance and I was unable to really make any progress before Gulzar was killed. The two options were to sprint onward spamming Dim Vision and pray for a safe spot or turn around and admit defeat. As a necromancer, Agni had no trouble living to fight another day, perhaps he can clear it out on Hell. Another typical battle, just your average everyday OHKO waiting to happen.

Screenshot015.jpg

A few other finds in the act included 2 Manald Heal rings and a 4 socket eth Partizan. I had 1 Sol rune at this point, and debated making an Insight and personalizing it, but didn't make up my mind until after Act I. Andariel managed to kill Gulzar about 20 times, but eventually Decrep and Clay Golem spam managed to keep him alive long enough he could finish her off. Her drop would have been decent if I could use it, the amulet was a Nokozan.

Screenshot017.jpg

After killing Andy, Agni went on a crafting binge. Both Agni and Gulzar have all item slots filled either with quest rewards or crafts. The highlight of Agni's crafting (and by comparison his Charsi imbue):
Screenshot018.jpg

And Gulzar's pride and joy (and one of the quirkier items I've seen):

Screenshot021.jpg

That Charsi imbue will be replaced with my second Charsi imbue as soon as I find another exceptional bow. Insight is not really particularly helpful to Agni, so I have thought about Hel'ing at a later point and trying a different runeword, but would the personalize stay? Or is that still outside of the spirit of the rules, @PhineasB ?

The rest of the gear (minus the boots previously crafted) will be replaced once I can craft something better.

Agni, level 52 Necromancer, Lut Gholein
 
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