Forum Name Character Name Class Level Last Waypoint Points
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Vang Shockingly Sor 25 Kurast Docks 6
SP b1ur Lynn Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
SP Vildecor Daphydae Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
SP Grisu Pynache Ama 15 Black Marsh 0
SP CaseyJones Turgruel Pal 1 Rogue Encampment 0
Swamigoon Cuckoo Dru 17 Halls o' Dead 2 3
Please pause for a moment of silence laughter (attached). The cube was so close!
@CaseyJones I believe it was discussed previously in one of the years and the general consensus was it really only applies to randomly rolled characters who are at a disadvantage already.
I would be more in favor of making the weapon not limited to your choices over additional restrictions (and rolls) to even out the mercenaries to a level playing field in damage output power potential.
I would be more in favor of making the weapon not limited to your choices over additional restrictions (and rolls) to even out the mercenaries to a level playing field in damage output power potential.
That would be fine as well. It just seems to be quite a handicap for some vs others with how large a role the merc can play. With my rolls on Turgruel, I am not impacted this time around, I just found it a very unbalanced rule. If it was already discussed and decided it's desired though, I guess we can just live with it too
Yeah, it really only affects randomly rolled characters, or those who don't choose their weapons. I'm ok with the restriction and should be able to play around it.
RIP @Swamigoon! That sucks! Look like you got surrounded after entering the room? Do you plan on giving it another go?
I don't mind either way. Sure, I can only use Long Battle Bow on Act I mercs and Throwing Spears on Act II mercs, but I can either equip Act III or Act V mercs without any weapon restrictions (although Insight would indeed be nice with Multishot...)
@Swamigoon: Sorry about the deeds! Are you up for another roll? *takes out dice*
@Vildecor Yes, I'll try again. #10 in Vang's initial rules post says unlimited replays are okay.
@Grisu Hang on, let me kiss the dice for luck. Wait, what's that greasy film on your dice? Ugh, never mind, I'll just keep my lips to myself. Roll away. Druid again, but random weapon classes this time.
@all so two options. We could add a M along with SP to denote mercenary restrictions as well which would be the less invasive option without changing rules. (So you could have SP/M for a pure character) but would need to be noted on next update if you choose to keep current restrictions, or wait until next year. If it improves participation I'm all for adopting the minor denotation for this year personally, but since we have a few players just let me know if you objective before people start getting to areas where it may matter more (Other than Amazon and using Rogues for the most p
@Vang - I think you can just amend the rules for this year's edition to lighten merc restrictions, nobody is far enough for it to make a big impact. Also, if people want to keep limiting themselves further and abide by the current rules instead, I see no reason why they can't do that. Extra restrictions are just extra bragging rights in the tournament world.
--
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
Silika, the absurdly luckily rolled (thanks @b1ur and @Vildecor!) assassin has officially set out. A couple notes on my plans for her before I begin. I'll be playing her single pass, but I won't be full-clearing everything. Also, I know stats don't need to be random, but since she got such a fortuitous roll on her skills, I'm going to randomize her stats as well. This is partly for challenge and fun, and partly so that I don't have to think about Stat point allocation at all.
--
Even though she's allowed to keep it, I ditched her starting buckler, but kept her katar since it's one of her allowed weapon types. Out on /p8, she quickly picked up some leather armor and cleared out the moor. First chipped topaz in the Den, sweet! Popped it into a hard leather armor, and a chipped sapphire into a new katar and she quickly killed Corpsefire.
Shortly after that she hit 8 in the Cold PLains and hired a fire rogue and went straight for Blood Raven. She dropped what would have been an awesome find for this stage in any other tournament, but alas Silika couldn't figure out how to wield it.
So far Silika has been pumping her first forever skill; fire blast. Once she hit 12 in the Underground Passage she started investing into the first of her 'Normal' skill rolls, Charged Bolt Sentry. It's too mana heavy to use much right now, but it definitely is helping to soften up mobs.
Another unusable unique in the Countess' Tower that I really would have liked to use, while the lady herself dropped a solitary El. Up through to the Smith who died easily, she found a decent small shield to use which is nice.
Through the jail, we killed Bone Ash and headed through the Cats where she hit 18 and got access to another Normal Skill in Shadow Warrior. That helped take the heat off her a bit and after gambling herself a decent little pair of boots, and finding yet another unusable s/u, she made it to Andariel without issue.
The fight itself was easy, prebuff Silika and the merc with antidote potions, have the shadow tank, pop up some CBS and then fire blast her while chugging blue pots. Andariel dropped crushflange (unuseable) and the group went on into Act 2.
Here is what her lcs looks like at the end of the act, stat rolls have been quite vita/strength heavy so far which is great, but man is it painful putting points into energy (though honestly, it helps right now with CBS). She's still sitting at a grand total of 2 chipped topaz, so hopefully that changes soon!
Silika, the Trapsin - lvl 18, Lut Gholein
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Code:
Forum Name Character Name Class Level Last Waypoint Points
----------------- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------------------- -------
Vang Shockingly Sor 25 Kurast Docks 6
SP b1ur Lynn Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
SP Vildecor Daphydae Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
SP Pb_pal Silika Asa 18 Lut Gholein 3
SP Grisu Pynache Ama 15 Black Marsh 0
SP CaseyJones Turgruel Pal 1 Rogue Encampment 0
Swamigoon Cuckoo Dru 17 Halls o' Dead 2 3
8. Any merc allowed. They must use your Armor, Helm, Shield. Weapon is not included in this as it can unfairly balance mercenaries, but you are free to keep mercenary restriction to your rolls.
8. Any merc allowed. They must use your Armor, Helm, Shield. Weapon is not included in this as it can unfairly balance mercenaries, but you are free to keep mercenary restriction to your rolls.
NDE's galore! Shockingly finally managed to take down Mephisto. Ormus really helped out with an awesome ring early one, getting my lightning resist up along with a 19%LR/+19life amulet.
I've had to get decent a dodging everything as the majority of my gear is subpar but my gloves and boots add solid resist and massive gold find so I can gamble away all my hard find loot and gold. (Orb for example adds +2 life!)
Code:
Forum Name Character Name Class Level Last Waypoint Points
----------------- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------------------- -------
Vang Shockingly Sor 28 Fortress 9
SP b1ur Lynn Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
SP Vildecor Daphydae Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
SP Pb_pal Silika Asa 18 Lut Gholein 3
SP Grisu Pynache Ama 15 Black Marsh 0
SP CaseyJones Turgruel Pal 1 Rogue Encampment 0
Swamigoon Cuckoo Dru 17 Halls o' Dead 2 3
Turgruel made some great progress! Act 1 I did near full clears up until the Monestary (Tir + Nef from P8 Countess)....then I started just clearing to objectives. Gambled all my gold away as that seemed the only way to get full helms, scale mail, heavy boots, chain gloves in Act 1 but at least was able to equip my merc and myself that way (all but a belt anyway, have to wait a bit on that).
Mostly just chugged along on normal attack and strangling gas potions. Found a nice scepter early which helped some with defense, especially before I managed much gear.
In the catacombs I found my first wearable pally shield...it'll do nicely. Actually found a couple more with a standard white one having 9% res all that I am using currently.
After a few trips back to town, I vengeance burned Andariel to ash and didn't get much useful for the effort. The spear will go on the merc at the start of Act 2 until something better comes along.
Finished the act with 1 flawed topaz and 6 chipped topaz just waiting for socketed gear to place them in so only a lowly 9% MF from an amulet for this fight.
Finished Act 1 at level 19 with no real NDE's. I did have to be careful around a couple of LE bosses and one cursed one though. Once in Lut Gholein, I did some shopping.
I also purchased a couple 2 socket Scale Mails and 2 sock Full Helms...homes for the topaz...Now I'm looking better! Still only a single row of potions though, that is a drag.
That last chipped topaz to complete the kit and now sitting at 85MF on self +36 MF on merc...not bad Finished off Radament and returned to town to end this session.
Charge chains are fun...but very mana hungry...going to have to come up with some mana solution. Mostly I charge chain my mana away, then normal attack along side the merc with my holy freeze aura until it fills back up again, chugging mana pots each time another one drops. Mostly happy with the skills that rolled up for normal difficulty. Until next time...
Code:
Forum Name Character Name Class Level Last Waypoint Points
----------------- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------------------- -------
Vang Shockingly Sor 28 Fortress 9
SP CaseyJones Turgruel Pal 20 Act 2 Sewers 3
SP b1ur Lynn Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
SP Vildecor Daphydae Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
SP Pb_pal Silika Asa 18 Lut Gholein 3
SP Grisu Pynache Ama 15 Black Marsh 0
Swamigoon Cuckoo Dru 17 Halls o' Dead 2 3
(No screenshots this time...I'll do better in Act 2!)
The rolls were interesting...the obvious character is a Hammerdin through Normal, although the odds of getting Hammer+Concentration again in NM/Hell are poor. The two weapons that I rolled - Military Pick and Crystal Sword - are weak but speedy, so going for big elemental damage on auras makes the most sense to me. I honestly have never tried Sanctuary before; it seems to encourage big single wallops, but that isn't happening with my weapons, although the flat damage will certainly help in Normal.
All told, my plan is to Hammer through Normal, then hope for Zeal or Smite off my NM roll. As such, I'm locking in Holy Freeze for some dual-aura action - maybe my NM rolls will yield an actual combat skill
For the first time since my very first Paladin in 2000, I didn't put my first skill point into Might. Instead, I put a single point into Defiance at clvl 6, which did very little at this point - the only low-end armor available to Vegas are Boots and his trusty starting Buckler I was able to shop a Scepter with some +damage, which did a lot of work, given that his next weapon wouldn't open up until I got the gold to gamble Crystal Swords.
Blood Raven fell, and I was happy to have a mercenary - but I'm playing on pure rolls, so she can't equip any weapons! Regardless, her 3-6 damage wasn't unappreciated, especially since Vegas wasn't exactly a powerhouse himself. She did, however, sport a 2os Ring Mail, which will be a good candidate for Stealth if I find the runes for it. I also shopped a 3os Ring Mail, which had 3 Chipped Topaz by the end of the act; ironically, I found a Death's Grip, which is one of the best untwinked items...for any other character
I did almost the entirety of Act 1 on p8, although I forgot to set it for the Barracks (oops). Progress was slow, since Vegas' only skill was slvl 1 Defiance; the +defense, however, did make a difference as he had a few NDEs versus Extra Strong monsters in the back half. I was concerned that my Barracks blunder would only get me to clvl 17 by Andariel, but I was thrilled to hit 18 in Cats 2 - the 10-15 damage from Holy Freeze was a godsend, and even at slvl 1/1 Hammer/Concentration could soften up packs. Andariel was difficult, but plenty of antidotes + Hammering + Holy Freeze carried the day - I really felt the lack of belt slots during the fight!
I called it a night after hitting the Sewers 2 waypoint; sadly, Act 2 mercenaries still can't use Vegas' weapons, and the damage deficit is only getting greater and greater. I might retire mercenaries entirely until I can hire an Iron Wolf with a Crystal Sword + Tower Shield.
Weapon progression was: Short Sword -> +damage Scepter -> some junky blue Crystal Swords -> rare with some ED%, leech, and self-repair. The self-repair was most exciting, since Crystal Swords are expensive to keep up! I also found some rare Boots with okayish mods, but still no FR/W. Countess coughed up a Tal, which I was thrilled to see - only need an Eth now for Stealth.
Code:
Forum Name Character Name Class Level Last Waypoint Points
----------------- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------------------- -------
Vang Shockingly Sor 28 Fortress 9
SP CaseyJones Turgruel Pal 20 Act 2 Sewers 3
SP b1ur Lynn Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
SP Vildecor Daphydae Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
SP DariusTriplet Vegas Pal 19 Act 2 Sewers 3
SP Pb_pal Silika Asa 18 Lut Gholein 3
SP Grisu Pynache Ama 15 Black Marsh 0
Swamigoon Cuckoo Dru 17 Halls o' Dead 2 3
@DariusTriplet I think you misread the original mercenary rule. They only use your weapon if they can equip it, otherwise they are free to use whatever (for example mine uses a pike as soon as I gamble it)
The updated rule removes the restriction entirely, though your free to keep your weapon as their only option if they can equip it. Don't make it so hard on yourself!
I have reach Act 5. Nothing to other than I forget to reduce players5 to 3 prior to Diablo, rewarded with unique Bone Shield. The fight was uneventful but was good place to take a break until after dinner and stuff around the house before I finish Act5 tonight as I pressed onto the Highlands thus far!
Can someone please roll my NM skills up?
Forever Skills:
3-6: Fire Wall
2-5: Lightning
2-3: Telekinesis ->3-4: Blaze
2-6 Chain Lightning (locked from normal skill rolls)
Normal Difficulty Skills:
2-4: Nova
3-1: Fire Bolt
1-4: Ice Blast
2-10: Lightning Mastery
Code:
Forum Name Character Name Class Level Last Waypoint Points
----------------- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------------------- -------
Vang Shockingly Sor 35 Highlands 13
SP CaseyJones Turgruel Pal 20 Act 2 Sewers 3
SP b1ur Lynn Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
SP Vildecor Daphydae Ama 20 Lut Gholein 3
SP DariusTriplet Vegas Pal 19 Act 2 Sewers 3
SP Pb_pal Silika Asa 18 Lut Gholein 3
SP Grisu Pynache Ama 15 Black Marsh 0
Swamigoon Cuckoo Dru 17 Halls o' Dead 2 3
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