Random Tournament 2020 Stay/Shelter-in-Place/Home Edition

I feel sort-of ripped off! No Blood Witch in the Halls, AND no Dark Elder in the Lost City!

What the heck!

Edit: Found the Elder, I didn't know he could spawn THAT far away from the trapdoor! Opposite corners of the map! Even separated by stairs!

Edit #2: @Dazliare (or anyone for that matter, but Daz rolled me up) can you please roll me my shields? I have an opportunity to use one, but I don't have a type rolled!
 
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Bump because I found a Sigon's shield, and I would love to use it as a pre-buff/hork boost. Or, I have a couple of stuffies with MF I could add to a socketed shield to help while I stand around and watch the merc kill literally everything while I hork! I need a shield roll please!
 
Ah! Sorry!!

Rolling 1 through 8 according to arreat summit order:

1 - Buckler

Sorry!
 
Fighting Duriel
It's been a while now that I haven't played BrianTribute, my Druid whom roll was so poor that he went Werebear without attack skill (a bit of reminder for @logoutzero mainly). So he ended at Canyon of the Magi waypoint, some parts of the Arcane Sanctuary still to be cleared. Let's see how it turned out!

First good news was the find of an eth rune, which allowed the craft of a Malice:
CUXVXBbl.jpg

The replenish amulet wasn't replenishing anymore but fully compensates for the life drain, so it was a good combo.
Given a close arrival in front of Duriel's room, he went back to complete it in an unvisited Arcane Sanctuary leg, and entered Act 2's ending fight at clvl27.

At evidence given the limitations, the fight was pretty tough, but somehow, with the help of Malice...
Well it obviously wasn't enough. The chosen path of much Strength left enough life for questing, but not enough to tank Duriel, who was hitting like a truck. The fight had been taken on p7 - I realized in her room that I forgot to put it back to p1 after completing the level in Arcane Sanctuary. So well, he is still alive, but out of the Tournament...
 
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@Babyhell: That is tough and sad!

Some thoughts though:

1. only one normal rejuv seems kinda not enough for Duriel, I guess? Didn't you have more? I usually have at least a dozen full rejuvs at that point if not more (at p8 esp).
2. your merc seemed to be teleport-bugged, because Duriel ignored him. Which is great if you have another tank (wolves for example, Valkyrie etc - Duriel will keep attacking the minion, and your merc has free reign to attack at will without getting into hit recovery - i.e. he gets way more hits in) but bad otherwise, because you don't get breathing air. Usually if you get knocked back by Duriel he will turn to your (nearer) merc, but as Duriel is chasing after you, I am pretty sure of the bug happening. If I notice this before the fight against Duriel, I usually try to get my merc killed - that will reset the bug. You can do that by stripping him of gear and place him in front of some ranged monsters (the bug only works at melee range)
3. I suppose you prebuffed with Thawing potions? If not: swallow like 10 of those and give 10 to your merc (duration stacks).
4. Have you tried making a Malice RW for your merc instead and equip something different yourself?
5. and in addition to that: did you have any points in Hunger? That and a higher damage weapon might have made the fight somewaht safer, depending on gear and skill setup.
6. Why not use TPs during the fight to restore your health in town and restock on potions? The first thing I do when entering Duriel's chamber is cast a TP before I engage and before he is right in my face.

Honestly, your skill rolls were pretty brutal though, so no shame to dying to Duriel! He is the first gatekeeper, esp. in single pass (Diablo being the next IMO)!
 
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Well I didn't find much rejuvs, and I only had a couple left after Summoner's fight. Given the health pool of the werebear form, I honestly swallowed much of the normal healing ones too, so they were all kept since start of the Canyon's area.

I didn't know about that bug for the merc...I was surprised by how Duriel kept following me, but well...I don't know if it would have changed really much.

For merc I couldn't make a second Malice - I found the Eth for the sword during that last run, it hadn't been enough.

Given the rolls, I definitely should have forget about single pass. I tried... I failed!

Won't start another for now, I'll keep on the BBBBBB tournament run for now :)
 
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@Babyhell I had a bit to drink last night, and didn't notice what your video was actually about. Condolences on the defeat!

@Grisu gives some good points, I'll combine two and echo my thoughts:

With the bugged out merc, this can be an advantage against Duriel, and other act bosses. Act bosses have extremely high weighting towards mercs, and Duriel specifically with Holy Freeze and knockback, can shut down Act 2 mercs and prevent nearly all their damage. Unless your own personal Single Pass limitations include not TP'ing out, next time I would try having Duriel chase you against a wall (but not a corner, important!) so that he doesn't knock you around. While he's focusing on you, chug pots until you cannot out-heal his damage, then TP away and recover. This gives the merc un-interrupted opportunity to put damage on the board. A slow and tedious process, but I've beaten the bug this way a few times. A lucky gamble with ctc Amp or poison damage can help greatly here.

Also, hang on to skulls for sockets, and anything that drops with attacker takes damage, as these mods can add up a bit of damage while you're tanking all the hits anyway.

Another useful trick I've used, is using the Savage Polearm recipe, then using the 3x chip re-roll. Yeah, you lose the Savage damage, but it doesn't account for all that much at this stage (except on Partizans, but good luck equipping a Partizan on a merc by Duriel in a restricted playthrough) and gives you access to other prefix possibilities, as well as a couple of sockets for further customization.

Sorry I missed that last night! Better luck with your Barb!
 
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Update on the last table I found, it lacks quite a bit of updates....anyway I update my status!

Code:
     Forum Name        Character Name       Class   Level  Last Waypoint          Points
     ----------------- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------------------- -------
     Babyhell          Frida                Ama     84     WSK 2 Hell             45 (Guardian)
SP   Grisu             Pynache              Ama     79     Hell Lut Gholein       39
     Vang              Bludgeon             Pal     76     Black Marsh H          31 (RIP)
SP   Jcakes            Rurisk               Pal     73     Rogue Encampment H     30
     Vang              Avenged              Dru     64     River of Flame NM      25 (RIP)
     Vang              Eli                  Bar     53?    Spider Forest NM       22 (RIP)
SP   Pb_pal            Silika               Asa     57     NM Kurast Docks        24
SP   Dazliare          IronChad             Bar     49     NM Dark Wood           18
SP   Vildecor          Daphydae             Ama     48     Rogue Encampment NM    18
SP   Jcakes            Nightshade           Asa     47     Rogue Encampment NM    18 (RIP)
SP   DariusTriplet     Vegas                Pal     41     Rogue Encampment NM    18
     Jocular           TheGoldenCalf        Ass     48     Rogue Encampment NM    15
     Vang              Aergh                Nec     31     Rogue Encampment NM    15
     Vang              Shiv                 Asa     46     Rogue Camp NM          15 (RIP)
     QueenEm           Groot                Dru     45     Rogue Camp (NM)        15
     Vang              Shockingly           Sor     35     Highlands              13 (RIP)
     Swamigoon         Niminy               Bar     28     Arreat Plateau         13 (RIP)
     QueenEm           RandomQueen          Sorc    31     Pandemonium Fortress   10 (RIP)
     Swamigoon         Witgat               Dru     22     Canyon o' Magi          4 (RIP)
SP   Babyhell          BrianTribute         Dru     27     Canyon of the Magi      4 (S&E vs Duriel)
     Swamigoon         Cuckoo               Dru     17     Halls o' Dead 2         4 (RIP)
SP   CaseyJones        Turgruel             Pal     20     Act 2 Sewers            3
SP   b1ur              Lynn                 Ama     20     Lut Gholein             3
     intersilva        ?                    Ama      1     Rogue Camp              0
 
Code:
     Forum Name        Character Name       Class   Level  Last Waypoint          Points
     ----------------- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------------------- -------
     Babyhell          Frida                Ama     84     WSK 2 Hell             45 (Guardian)
SP   Grisu             Pynache              Ama     79     Hell Lut Gholein       39
     Vang              Bludgeon             Pal     76     Black Marsh H          31 (RIP)
SP   Jcakes            Rurisk               Pal     73     Rogue Encampment H     30
     Vang              Avenged              Dru     64     River of Flame NM      25 (RIP)
     Vang              Eli                  Bar     53?    Spider Forest NM       22 (RIP)
SP   Pb_pal            Silika               Asa     57     NM Kurast Docks        24
SP   Dazliare          IronChad             Bar     49     NM Dark Wood           18
SP   Vildecor          Daphydae             Ama     48     Rogue Encampment NM    18
SP   Jcakes            Nightshade           Asa     47     Rogue Encampment NM    18 (RIP)
SP   DariusTriplet     Vegas                Pal     41     Rogue Encampment NM    18
     Jocular           TheGoldenCalf        Ass     48     Rogue Encampment NM    15
     Vang              Aergh                Nec     31     Rogue Encampment NM    15
     Vang              Shiv                 Asa     46     Rogue Camp NM          15 (RIP)
     QueenEm           Groot                Dru     45     Rogue Camp (NM)        15
     Vang              Shockingly           Sor     35     Highlands              13 (RIP)
     Swamigoon         Niminy               Bar     28     Arreat Plateau         13 (RIP)
     QueenEm           RandomQueen          Sorc    31     Pandemonium Fortress   10 (RIP)
SP   logoutzero        Odin                 Bar     30     Flayer Jungle           6
     Swamigoon         Witgat               Dru     22     Canyon o' Magi          4 (RIP)
SP   Babyhell          BrianTribute         Dru     27     Canyon of the Magi      4 (S&E vs Duriel)
     Swamigoon         Cuckoo               Dru     17     Halls o' Dead 2         4 (RIP)
SP   CaseyJones        Turgruel             Pal     20     Act 2 Sewers            3
SP   b1ur              Lynn                 Ama     20     Lut Gholein             3
     intersilva        ?                    Ama      1     Rogue Camp              0

Shame on me for forgetting about tables!
 
And down goes Mephisto!

2 points in Berserk, but honestly I'm not using it much. I parked on Mephisto with it, and helped out on some Death Lords when he was getting overwhelmed, but for the most part, I'm poking things enough to aid the merc's killspeed. At right near 200% MF for merc kills, so I let him kill everything. I also hork everything. Hasn't provided much of use, kept me swimming in pots of the next quality up compared to the vendor, which is pretty nice. I've gambled somewhere around 600K, mostly on Leather Gloves and Heavy Boots. A few Plated Belts along the way, hoping for some stats and resistances. I have another 500K in the bank.

Screenshot043.jpg

He dropped set Gauntlets, and Chainmail, and some rares. More gold, I guess! I'm feeling pretty good about doing this without GoMule, but the digital hoarder in me is crying at every chipped gem and useless rune I vendor or leave behind.
Code:
     Forum Name        Character Name       Class   Level  Last Waypoint          Points
     ----------------- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------------------- -------
     Babyhell          Frida                Ama     84     WSK 2 Hell             45 (Guardian)
SP   Grisu             Pynache              Ama     79     Hell Lut Gholein       39
     Vang              Bludgeon             Pal     76     Black Marsh H          31 (RIP)
SP   Jcakes            Rurisk               Pal     73     Rogue Encampment H     30
     Vang              Avenged              Dru     64     River of Flame NM      25 (RIP)
     Vang              Eli                  Bar     53?    Spider Forest NM       22 (RIP)
SP   Pb_pal            Silika               Asa     57     NM Kurast Docks        24
SP   Dazliare          IronChad             Bar     49     NM Dark Wood           18
SP   Vildecor          Daphydae             Ama     48     Rogue Encampment NM    18
SP   Jcakes            Nightshade           Asa     47     Rogue Encampment NM    18 (RIP)
SP   DariusTriplet     Vegas                Pal     41     Rogue Encampment NM    18
     Jocular           TheGoldenCalf        Ass     48     Rogue Encampment NM    15
     Vang              Aergh                Nec     31     Rogue Encampment NM    15
     Vang              Shiv                 Asa     46     Rogue Camp NM          15 (RIP)
     QueenEm           Groot                Dru     45     Rogue Camp (NM)        15
     Vang              Shockingly           Sor     35     Highlands              13 (RIP)
     Swamigoon         Niminy               Bar     28     Arreat Plateau         13 (RIP)
     QueenEm           RandomQueen          Sorc    31     Pandemonium Fortress   10 (RIP)
SP   logoutzero        Odin                 Bar     32     Pandemonium Fortress    9
     Swamigoon         Witgat               Dru     22     Canyon o' Magi          4 (RIP)
SP   Babyhell          BrianTribute         Dru     27     Canyon of the Magi      4 (S&E vs Duriel)
     Swamigoon         Cuckoo               Dru     17     Halls o' Dead 2         4 (RIP)
SP   CaseyJones        Turgruel             Pal     20     Act 2 Sewers            3
SP   b1ur              Lynn                 Ama     20     Lut Gholein             3
     intersilva        ?                    Ama      1     Rogue Camp              0
 
Screenshot059.jpg

It's been a long time since I've done this in a tournament with a melee character. Holy moly did I forget how tough this guy is!

Gambled a set Plated. That makes 3 set gambles so far (2 others Leather Gloves)
Screenshot056.jpg

*giggle*
Screenshot052.jpg

Could be useful. Maybe.
Screenshot046.jpg
 
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Anyone have any thoughts as to what I might be thinking about having Larzuk punch?

For argument's sake, I'm ignoring runes over Vex as far as runewords are concerned. Also, playing Vanilla, so no ladder-only!

I'm writing off weapons, as both Fuscina and Yari will turn out with 4 sockets. I don't see an exceptional 'Passion' as being very, well, exceptional :p I'd have to look up to see if Yari can even drop, I've seen Fuscina already, and seen a Ghost Armor. Yari looks to be 8 quality levels higher than Fuscina, so it might not drop for a while still, anyway.

Fanged/Lion helms at this point will hit 3 sockets, if a plain one falls. A 3os hat is handy, especially if it comes with a built in skill (Natural Resist, lookin' at you!) but, is it really worth it from Larzuk? For the right skill, probably. As for runewords, 'Delirium' (not very likely methinks) or 'Radiance' (not quite end-game)

I can't even get a 2os shield until Heaters. I totally would have used a reroll had Buckler been included from the start. At least mid-late game, I have the potential for 'Rhyme' for the resistance boost and CBF. Meh.

Defense isn't a huge deal thanks to Berserk, so I'm not overly concerned with what base ends up in the torso slot. 'Myth' and 'Lionheart' or quite good candidates, even likely to be possible, with 'Duress' not extremely outlandish to think of. 'Treachery' rounds out the 3 socket armor words, yet, 'Treachery' is probably the only one I would want in a better defense armor (for the merc) anyway, and 3os isn't a Larzuk friendly number to aim for.

Best candidate is the eth Twitchthroe, which is basically a placeholder until 'Treachery' anyway. I had a Tarnhelm drop, that would have been a splendid candidate. Set options aren't very broad, certainly Natalya's Grim Helm would be beautiful, not sure if this can drop, I'd have to look it up. It would be a no-brainer for a socket.

Assuming I don't get any useable set/unique drops before heading off to cows, I don't really see a great option at this point. Any advice?
 
@logoutzero : I was going to make a lame dad-joke about having "Larzuk Punch" (ingredients: apple cider, lemon juice, loganberry sherbet, ginger ale, and nutmeg), but I couldn't think of a good punchline to make the joke really funny. Sorry.

Perhaps the mercenary has a gear slot that Larzuk could help improve?
 
Punchline ^^;

The merc is currently equipped with a FHR/2os (plus junk) rare with Topaz Bone Helm, body is plain 3os Breastplate with Topaz, and a 'Malice' Spetum. I did find a plain Bone Helm since posting, so I have 1 new option at least. I feel like the chances are pretty good to find a naturally 3os helm, but in the interest of single pass playstyle, I need to find something to use it on!
 
I see. I often have some ethereal unique or rare weapon on my mercenary, and then I use Larzuk to put an amn rune in that weapon so that the mercenary gets some extra survivability. But if your Malice runeword is better than any other mercenary weapon you might have, Larzuk might be better used some other way. Maybe gamble another socketable hat, and hope it gets better than the junk mods on your merc's FHR helm?
 
I do believe Odin has met his match at the Minions of Destruction. I'm parked in town, and going to walk away from it for a little while.

I think I'm going to have to give up a big chunk of the Ral/Ort/Tal/Thul runes I've been working so hard to hang on to, just so I can have enough inventory space to carry enough pots to heal-tank long enough to take down 1 at a time.

I have not really enjoyed this character much. I end up using Bash more often than Berserk just because it leeches. Bash has ~90 average damage, while Berserk is closer to ~160, plus crit chance from mastery. I'm feeling quite frustrated after the trek through Act V, and am now feeling quite defeated.

I gambled from 1.3M down to 400K, reselling along the way, only on Tridents, which if memory serves me weren't much over 10K each. I did this once clvl was high enough to support Exceptional upgrades at every possible ilvl. I nailed a total of 3 Fuscinas, all magical. Unfortunately, I had to dump my chippies to make room for juvies, runes, and jewels I wanted to save. I thought I might be able to roll a decent socketed magic Fuscina, but space limits have stifled me.

I've got max fire res, the others are in the 60's (less poison) 1100 life under Battle Orders. 1k Bash attack rating, 2k Berserk. LCS says that's 72%/80% to hit, which feels about right. I'm hoping that I only feel like I've hit a brick wall because I haven't been enjoying this playthrough, and maybe a break and some fresh fingers will allow me to best Lister and his gang. Otherwise, this may be where Odin's tale ends in this material plane. Luckily, there are infinite others :)

Edit: Came back, gambled another 400k on Tridents (trying to save some money for merc revives!) and nailed a beauty! 7% life leech, some damage/AR, barb skills, and a socket! Stuck an Amn rune in that badboy, and we steamrolled Lister!

Confidence soaring, I dove headfirst into the chamber after Baal! The fight went effortlessly, thanks to the new weapon. Alas, in my haste, I didn't even notice I was out of TPs...

The battle raged on, micromanaging swapping the new hurty stick with the 'Malice' to keep the crab bleeding, until I ran out of pots. Then, I played this cat and mouse game where I stayed at a medium range to try and urge the appendages so I could leech back to full health on them. This approach worked very well, until both the true, and cloned versions both rolled to go into uber mode at the same time. I gave it my best.

Screenshot076.jpg


Lesson folks! Check your stupid tomes before going after Baal... /sad panda

Code:
     Forum Name        Character Name       Class   Level  Last Waypoint          Points
     ----------------- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------------------- -------
     Babyhell          Frida                Ama     84     WSK 2 Hell             45 (Guardian)
SP   Grisu             Pynache              Ama     79     Hell Lut Gholein       39
     Vang              Bludgeon             Pal     76     Black Marsh H          31 (RIP)
SP   Jcakes            Rurisk               Pal     73     Rogue Encampment H     30
     Vang              Avenged              Dru     64     River of Flame NM      25 (RIP)
     Vang              Eli                  Bar     53?    Spider Forest NM       22 (RIP)
SP   Pb_pal            Silika               Asa     57     NM Kurast Docks        24
SP   Dazliare          IronChad             Bar     49     NM Dark Wood           18
SP   Vildecor          Daphydae             Ama     48     Rogue Encampment NM    18
SP   Jcakes            Nightshade           Asa     47     Rogue Encampment NM    18 (RIP)
SP   DariusTriplet     Vegas                Pal     41     Rogue Encampment NM    18
     Jocular           TheGoldenCalf        Ass     48     Rogue Encampment NM    15
     Vang              Aergh                Nec     31     Rogue Encampment NM    15
     Vang              Shiv                 Asa     46     Rogue Camp NM          15 (RIP)
     QueenEm           Groot                Dru     45     Rogue Camp (NM)        15
SP   logoutzero        Odin                 Bar     48     Worldstone Keep 2      13 (RIP)
     Vang              Shockingly           Sor     35     Highlands              13 (RIP)
     Swamigoon         Niminy               Bar     28     Arreat Plateau         13 (RIP)
     QueenEm           RandomQueen          Sorc    31     Pandemonium Fortress   10 (RIP)
     Swamigoon         Witgat               Dru     22     Canyon o' Magi          4 (RIP)
SP   Babyhell          BrianTribute         Dru     27     Canyon of the Magi      4 (S&E vs Duriel)
     Swamigoon         Cuckoo               Dru     17     Halls o' Dead 2         4 (RIP)
SP   CaseyJones        Turgruel             Pal     20     Act 2 Sewers            3
SP   b1ur              Lynn                 Ama     20     Lut Gholein             3
     intersilva        ?                    Ama      1     Rogue Camp              0
 
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