I really wish you could have dodged Fend this time or maybe fended if off! But sometimes there is no evading your fate! At least make sure to avoid avoid as @Vildecor said! It is really annoying.
But LF + CS + PS as a synergy and Decoy for distraction is great! The only thing now is your damage types. Ice Arrow probably doesn't do enough damage in Hell, so I'd rely on a Act II HF merc for Cold and physical damage for those LI/PI monsters.
Forever Skills:
Dragon Claw -> Fire Blast
Phoenix Strike
Death Sentry
Lightning Sentry (locked in from Normal Difficulty Skills)
Normal Difficulty Skills:
Lightning Sentry
Dragon Flight
Shadow Warrior
Charged Bolt Sentry
Dragon Talon
Armor:
Light Armor
Great Helm
Small Shield
Gauntlets
Heavy Boots
Light Belt
Weapons:
Katar
Cestus
Kris
Out into Act 4, Silika hasn't seen any real gear upgrades for a while, but she did find a Sol which will help with a future Insight. She found Izual shortly after that and spent some time enjoying the scenery while LS whittled him down.
Still very easy going for her (no surprise), so soon she was through to Hephasto and then the Forge, which produced a Thul. She took the CS a bit slow, even though she's still super powerful. I'm very wary of getting too hurried and launching her forwards to her death due to the ease with which she kills. Soon enough it was cleared, as were Vizier, De Seis, and Infector. I was a little bit worried for the Diablo fight, so I popped it down to /p3 and went for it. Diablo fried the merc and shadow instantly, but Silika opted to hang around and play run-and-gun with him
She used up all the pots she brought along, but it worked! Diablo left an extremely colourful drop of all unusable base types. I decided to ID the boots anyways just to see what I got and.. I wish I didn't.
Those are pretty nice for this stage of the game, but hopefully Malah can find someone who rolled the right base type to sell them to. Oh well! Here's how Silika stands with her randomly-rolled stats so far:
Well, RNG has dictated that energy caught up with dex, that's a shame. Luckily though STR and VIT are still managing conitnual increases, so thats great.
Silika, the Trapsin - lvl 32, Harrogath
Could someone please roll up her NM skills for me? Her forever skills are in the spoiler at the top of the post. Thanks!
--
Code:
Forum Name Character Name Class Level Last Waypoint Points
----------------- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------------------- -------
Vang Bludgeon Pal 76 Black Marsh H 31 (RIP)
Babyhell Frida Ama 73 Rogue Encampment Hell 30
SP Grisu Pynache Ama 53 NM Lut Gholein 18
SP DariusTriplet Vegas Pal 41 Rogue Encampment NM 15
Vang Shiv Asa 46 NM Rogue Camp 15
SP Jcakes Rurisk Pal 48 Rogue Encampment NM 15
SP Jcakes Nightshade Asa 47 Rogue Encampment NM 15 (RIP)
Vang Shockingly Sor 35 Highlands 13 (RIP)
SP Vildecor Daphydae Ama 35 Harrogath 12
SP Pb_pal Silika Asa 32 Harrogath 12
QueenEm RandomQueen Sorc 31 Pandemonium Fortress 10 (RIP)
SP Dazliare IronChad Bar 28 Kurast Docks 9
Swamigoon Niminy Bar 21 Canyon o' Magi 3
Swamigoon Witgat Dru 22 Canyon o' Magi 4 (RIP)
Swamigoon Cuckoo Dru 17 Halls o' Dead 2 4 (RIP)
QueenEm Groot Dru 21 Lut Gholein 3
SP CaseyJones Turgruel Pal 20 Act 2 Sewers 3
SP b1ur Lynn Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
Blade Fury is actually a great roll, and I don't mind leaving the Shadow behind at all (I typically don't take them in HC tournaments anyway). Would have loved CoS or MB, but I'll save those for the Hell roll.
It might not get a ton of use in NM, but it would be a great skill to roll in Hell as it carries CB/OW/PMH/Knockback, which makes it potentially very situational useful. IF I use it I'll at least get some screenies for ya!
Since this is my first druid; I a not sure what to expect.
Forever skills:
Tornado
Fissure
Heart of the wolverine
Normal skills
Armageddon
Twister
Raven
Grizzly Bear
Dire wolf
Now, I am lvl 24 and have just tried out Tornado. Up until now I have only used summoning and that has been fairly easy. I tried Twister when I got that but how on earth am I suppose to kill anything with tornado??? How do I use it? It seems it andomly blows around and does very little damage. (yes only at first level I now, but still...)
Should I try to lock one of my summons and hope for another summon skill in NM?
@queenEm in my opinion summons are not strong enough to hold to Hell and beyond. My bet would be on Tornado or Fissure, but it will require synergies, that hopefully would come on NM rolls (Cyclone armor/Hurricane). That's just about the skill lock.
For Tornado and it's usability, it's a tough try without Insight...I'd start to use it in NM, especially with hurricane, and stick to summons in Normal (you got the best tools for that - HoW, Dire and grizzly). I must admit that my only elemental windy druid is neither random not untwinked, and clvl 39... maybe @Pb_palhas more to offer in terms of experience.
Grizzly is such an amazing re-castable tank that it's extremely valuable to HC druids. Anything to take that much heat away from you and merc is great. He's also perfectly serviceable with just a single point, so the synergies are not even necessary for him, which means you're not gambling on your NM/Hell rolls. With more points he can actually do good damage too, especially once coupled with your HotW roll. Add in an Act2 merc (aura of your choosing) and you've got yourself a very solid front line which can deal good physical damage while keeping your druid out of the action.
Going through Hell with bad rolls for your other skills and WITHOUT a Grizzly would likely be very difficult, I'd way rather take a gamble on a synergy rather than a big difference maker like Grizzly.
I'm not a huge fan of Tornado, and since you'll already have physical damage coming from merc/Grizzly in better numbers, I wouldn't bother investing there. So for your druid I would focus on Fissure and just hope you roll a synergy or two for NM and Hell. If you don't roll a synergy that's alright, you'll just be taking more of a backseat and be on 're-cast Grizzly where needed' duties.
--
As for your progression (some of this you can disregard since you're already underway) my suggestion if you were to be starting at lvl 1 would be to max Fissure ASAP, and then put points into Grizzly for the remainder (once you hit 30 you should put 1 in there regardless). Points to HotW and Dire Wolves as you need them to buff your shortcomings, and that should get you through Normal pretty well.
Now, since you're already underway and have been focusing on summons anyways, that's a very viable path to go for Normal as well, so you can just keep on going that route with no issues. A synergized Grizzly in Normal with HotW to compliment it should be pretty indestructible. Just keep some mana pots handy so you don't get caught unable to re-summon.
Personally I'd max dire wolf and grizly for normal with 1pt How. Direwolves are great for most monsters cos you get 3 of them. Grizzly better for bosses.
I'd second locking Grizzly.
Tornado does good damage when fully synergies, but it is an awkward skill to aim. You get the hang of it with time, but it's predominantly a melee range caster.
Shiv has withdrawn from the tournament due to violation (on purpose) of a S&E to avoid deeds.
Really dumb of me to get in that predicament. But I'm excited to have her alive because I found this:
Bonesnap
Maul
Two-Hand Damage: 177 to 252
Durability: 31 of 31
Required Strength: 59
Required Level: 24
Mace Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x27cb842c
+294% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +30%
Cold Resist +30%
200% Damage to Undead
40% Chance of Crushing Blow Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)
Looks like necromancers are not well represented in this tournament, so I'll take one with Wands x2 and a sword. Someone roll me up when they get a chance.
Literally I'll either guardian one or die trying, literally and figurately I imagine.
Google