Random Tournament 2022!

Well, I sort of took a hiatus around 2.4. Had to find a new job and move cities and so D2 was less of a priority for a while, but the itch has returned! I have an assassin from a tournament that is still parked, but she was less fun than I was anticipating, so I will leave her for now.

I greatly enjoyed the last Random Tournament, and would appreciate someone rolling me a character. I was going to leave it totally up to chance, but since there's no rerolls on this one, I will chicken out and request a Druid with Mace and Axe weapon rolls. Thanks!
 
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@Norcim Congratulations on the Guardian and that slick looking Chains ! Kudos to you for planing that toon so nicely. Thank you for the write-up, it was a nicce read, following you through the acts.

Meninore continued on through the acts without any real issues for now. Impale gave way to LF which dominated any mob packs over 2-3 enemies. Bosses were taken care of by the merc which wields an ethereal Insight polearm (Larzuk'd)

Some screenshots along the way:


Screenshot086.png

forgot to SS Diablo's Death

I found a pretty impressive Druid pelt:
Screenshot092.png

Screenshot093.png


Screenshot094.png

Stats after the Moo Moo level:

Screenshot096.png
I think I never hit 49 in Normal before. Seems strange...

PS: Added @CaseyJones deeds. Sorry mate :( GL on the next run

Code:
 D2R Forum Name        Character Name       Class   Level  Post #    Location               Score
-- --- ----------        --------------       -----   -----  ------    --------               ----
SP Yes Grisu             Medea                Ass     87     121       Guardian                18
SP Yes Norcim            Sorrow               Sor     87      63       Guardian                18
   Yes gregth            The Reckless         Nec     56      64       NM River Of Flame        8
SP No  PhineasB          Randi                Ass     56     104       NM Palace                7
SP Yes Oblivious         Meninore             Ama     49     283       NM Rogue Encampment      6
   Yes Dazliare          Kaltrexia            Sor     32     113       Panda Fortress           3
   Yes Nona              Sister_Ariel         Sor     ??     153       Panda Fortress           3
   Yes Babyhell          Saraya               Sor     21     237       Pandemonium Fortress     3
   Yes little birdy      hiepsi               Pal     22     208       Arcane Sanctuary         1
   Yes Irenicus          Norman               Pal     17      38       Lut Gholein              1
   Yes m4ke              Random_Sorc          Sor     17     223       Lut Gholein              1
   No  Arjan             ???                  Bar     17      34       Outer Cloister           0
   Yes djmbbandie        Kat                  Ass     16      80       Black Marsh              0
SP Yes Miron             Quan Chi             Nec      1      30       Rogue Encampment         0
   Yes coju              ???                  Bar      1       5       Rogue Encampment         0
   Yes Vildecor          ???                  Pal      1      77       Rogue Encampment         0
   Yes AntiRush          ???                  Nec      1     169       Rogue Encampment         0
   Yes djmbbandie        ???                  Dru      1     185       Rogue Encampment         0
   Yes Jcakes            ???                  Ass      1     195       Rogue Encampment         0
   Yes Vang              ???                  Sor      1     199       Rogue Encampment         0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our departed                                                           Died against/in
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Yes AntiRush          RandomI              Ass     61       9       Hell Flayer Jungle      12
SP Yes CaseyJones        Smurf                Pal     25+     280      Tal's Tomb               1
   Yes little birdy      lenna                Sor     24      59       Normal Diablo            3
   Yes Vang              Terror               Nec     ??      17       NM Arcane Sacntuary      6
   Yes little birdy      lennatwo             Sor     19      59       Jungle Act III           2
   Yes djmbbandie        Grim                 Nec     20     157       Catacombs                0
   Yes Arc1212           Random               Ama     27      81       Act V                    4
   Yes Arc1212           Bones                Nec     14     161       Act I Barracks           0
SP Yes Jcakes            Hephaestus           Pal     48+     18       NM Cold Crow             6
   Yes Vang              RagerX               Bar     ??     141       The Ancient's Way        4
   Yes little birdy      artemia              Ama     50     146       NM Durance of Hate       7
   Yes Arc1212           Crash                Bar     32     177       Baal's Throne Room       4
   Yes m4ke              Random_Pala          Pal     73      44       Hell Jail Level 2       10
 
Well, I sort of took a hiatus around 2.4. Had to find a new job and move cities and so D2 was less of a priority for a while, but the itch has returned! I have an assassin from a tournament that is still parked, but she was less fun than I was anticipating, so I will leave her for now.

I greatly enjoyed the last Random Tournament, and would appreciate someone rolling me a character. I was going to leave it totally up to chance, but since there's no rerolls on this one, I will chicken out and request a Druid with Mace and Axe weapon rolls. Thanks!
@skoolbus' random Druid:

Skills:
Elemental
7 Volcano
8 Tornado
9 Armageddon
10 Hurricane

Shapeshifting
17 Fire Claws
20 Fury

Summoning
23 Oak Sage
27 Summon Dire Wolf
29 Spirit of Barbs

Equipment
Weapons:
Giant Axe (Axe -> 10)
Club (Mace -> 1)
Maul (5-Maces -> 7)
Crossbow (12-Crossbow -> 2)
Repeating Crossbow (12-Crossbow -> 4)

Shields
Kite Shield (4)
Spiked Shield (3)

Body Armor
Leather Armor (2)
Hard Leather Armor (3)
Field Plate (11)

Helms
Great Helm (5)
Crown (7)

Druid Pelts
Wolf Head (1)
Hawk Helm (2)

Gloves
Chain Gloves (3)
Light Gauntlets (4)

Belts
Belt (3)
Plated Belt(5)

Boots
Boots (1)
Heavy Boots (2)

Hmm...only partially synergised elemental spells and the weapons are more suited to a Shapeshifter, which doesn't seem like a good option...Hope that a partially synergised Hurricane/Armageddon hybrid is something you always wanted to try! Good luck and I am looking forward to reading your updates :)
 
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@Grisu Thanks for rolling for me!

I had time to read through the thread, and congratulations to @Grisu and @Norcim ! Very impressive achievements and great reads (and a CoH!🤯)!

A side question just to clarify, am I allowed to put 1 point into Werewolf and/or Wearbear and use it in order to be able to use shape shifting skills?

I've made a fire elemental druid before, so I want to try and attempt a different build, but I may have to be a little flexible depending on gear drops. A challenge awaits!
 
@Grisu Thanks for rolling for me!

A side question just to clarify, am I allowed to put 1 point into Werewolf and/or Wearbear and use it in order to be able to use shape shifting skills?
In last year's version we were allowed to do so - not sure about this year though...but we are allowed to use oskills, so if you find something with +Wereform... :)
 
In last year's version we were allowed to do so - not sure about this year though...but we are allowed to use oskills, so if you find something with +Wereform... :)

@Grisu Thanks for rolling for me!

I had time to read through the thread, and congratulations to @Grisu and @Norcim ! Very impressive achievements and great reads (and a CoH!🤯)!

A side question just to clarify, am I allowed to put 1 point into Werewolf and/or Wearbear and use it in order to be able to use shape shifting skills?

I've made a fire elemental druid before, so I want to try and attempt a different build, but I may have to be a little flexible depending on gear drops. A challenge awaits!
Yes, you can put one point into wereforms for using their skills.
 
Thanks @Vang and @Grisu !

@Oblivious That pelt is pretty sweet! My Druid is jealous 😜.

Time to introduce Fenrir, my entrant into the tournament. I admit that I was excited to get started before I got my roles, so he cleared the Blood Moor and the Den before I was rolled. He just used the starter equipment and no skills so I knew he would follow whatever he skills he was fated to be allowed. This manner of play was surprisingly foretelling as to how his Act I was to go. As you can see in his allowable skills, only Oak Sage is available before level 18! Coupled with only being able to melee with basic Clubs before gambling a Maul.... You get the picture, it wasn't too fast. I had picked Fenrir in the hopes that he could be a wolf (or at least a bear), and it's possible, though probably not going to happen.

Anyway, onto the more exciting part, the drops! His first S/U was an Artic Furs in the level 2 of the Cave. The first useable S/U came from one of Treehand's crew:
Screenshot201.png

These will definitely see use throughout the playthrough, certainly for Diablo, if not sooner. He found a couple more S/U throughout the act, surprisingly mostly uniques. He had abysmal luck assembling MF gear. No MF jewelry and his gloves gave 6%. I never managed to even fill my merc's armor with chipped topazes... I did get lucky on my first maul gamble at ~level 16 and scored a great rare that took him through the rest of Act 1 and most of Act 2.

Andy easily fell to the Dire Wolves on /p8. I don't play many druids, so I don't believe I've used them before and was quite surprised how quickly they kill everything. I hope they're able to keep up throughout the playthrough.

Screenshot203.png

I had saved 2 Gem Shrines throughout the second half of the act, so was able to make a PEmerald, a nice little bonus.

Fenrir kept using the Dire Wolves exclusively up until the Canyon of the Magi. I was still trying to decide what build to ultimately go with. I wanted to try a Fire Claw or Maul build, but realistically, he will have serious AR issues and not having access to good Lycanthropy is such a major turnoff. I don't want the tedium of recasting a shapeshifting skill before every engagement, or worse, unshifting at an inopportune moment and dying. By the same token, I can't pump the synergies that add duration to Hurricane and Armageddon, so those will have to be recast every 12 seconds... At that point, I decided that Tornado was the only feasible option to try and make it through the game with. I quickly discovered that Tornado deals physical damage, when I encountered a PI wraith type monster in one of the false tombs. I didn't bother getting a weapon with elemental damage and just left it. I'll have to come up with something for NM and Hell.

A couple more S/U's dropped in Act 2, this was probably the coolest:
Screenshot207.png

Pretty early to see some Sigon pieces, would have been great to have for a caster with +1 skills, but it's not one of Fenrir's allowed types, so it got sold.

One of the more scarier encounters so far, was this boss beetle pack:
Screenshot208.png

After that, Fenrir cleared out the rest of the tombs and once again, the wolves took down Duriel on /p8 with no sweat:
Screenshot209.png

With that, Fenrir is relaxing in Kurast until his next play time. I'm still not sure what exactly his final build is going to look like. I am having a really hard time shaking a crazy idea of maxing the Wolves, Spirit of the Barb, and hiring a Thorns merc and trying for a damage reflect build. It seems somewhat plausible, but at the same time would be completely stonewalled at certain points. I might try it, and just be prepared to respec if it's too tedious, well see.
 

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I have a good bit of available time for gaming here during the holidays, so was able to play a bit more. Fenrir has made it all the way to Act II NM, I haven't played a wind druid before, but they are... strong. Ludicrously strong. Act V and NM Act I were essentially sprints. But picking up after Duriel, Fenrir found a very nice jewel:

Screenshot210.png

Probably will be used at some point, have to see how the gear shakes out. A little bit later, he found a Steelclash, which he equipped since it had better resists than the rare he was using. Didn't have any other notable finds or interesting encounters to report before easily killing Meph:

Screenshot213.png

In Act IV, Fenrir began pumping Hurricane to synergize with Tornado. The damage really started taking off, most mobs didn't survive a direct hit. The Hellforge dropped an Eth and flawless topaz. The fight against Diablo was one of the easiest times I can remember a character having in normal:

Screenshot215.png

In Act V, I began adding Hurricane to the mix. The duration is at the base, so it has to be recast every time he approaches new mobs. Only a very small price to pay. I got a screenshot of him accompanying 7 barbarians, he might have had more closer to Shenk, but I didn't get a screenshot of that.

Screenshot216.png

His first exceptional S/U:
Screenshot217.png

In haste, I sold it when I went back to town. I think it may have been worth saving and trying an Act V merc. The Act II one will be pretty nice to wield an Insight, but compared to most casters, his mana issues are pretty mild. The rest of Act 5 was no issue, the Ancients died fast on /p8, same with Baal and his minions:

Screenshot218.png

After Baal, he killed Cows and Nihl. I immediately started up NM and it was more of the same. Charging as fast as possible into as many mobs as possible and spamming Tornados. He struck absolute gold cubing rings/ammys with this:

Screenshot220.png

The countess dropped an Io and Amn, quite nice of her. I've been gambling a lot of gloves, hoping for a unique. Got a Cleglaw's gloves, but no uniques yet. After that, it was an easy Andy fight:

Screenshot223.png

With that, Fenrir is level 53 about to start Act II. He's maxed Tornado and Hurricane, with 9 in Dire Wolves. So far, the wolves rarely die, so I don't feel the need to put more points in there yet. I didn't realize that Spirit of Barbs had been changed to just reflect a flat amount of damage. Reflecting 347 damage a hit at level 20 seems totally useless when Tornados are flying everywhere, so I think the next skill to get maxed will be Oak Sage. In my last post, I wasn't too certain on what his build would wind up being, but it seems pretty clear at this point it will Tornado + Hurricane and survive.

He found 2 separate 3os Hawk Helms, but neither had any skills :cautious:. I put 3 PTopaz in one anyway and amazingly I didn't immediately find a much better candidate. So far, body armors have been the toughest equipment to come by. He's using a Stealth Hard Leather Armor, 3os armors he can use are elites, and putting PTopaz in a 2os armor doesn't sit well. The merc is still using a 2 chipped topaz armor :ROFLMAO:. The other highlight was a rare gambled club, +2 Druid skills and 40% IAS. Really hoping for a Vipermagi armor, that would all but ensure he is adequately equipped to go the distance, so I may try and start gambling for it.

Next stop, Radament!
 

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I am back after an extended break - been crazy busy with work but now I am done for the year.
I can't remember what happened to my last character - so can someone roll me a new completely random one?
 
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@Jcakes , here is your random 🥁 (drumroll) ... Barbarian !

Skills (1, 6, 8, 12, 15, 19, 24, 26, 27) -
Warcries: Howl, Battle Cry, Grim Ward
Combat Masteries: Axe Mastery, Throwing Mastery, Increased Speed
Combat Skills: Stun, Leap Attack, Concentrate

Weapons -
Sword (7) Long Sword
Axe (6) Large Axe
(1) Sword (8) War Sword
(6) Polearm (6) War Scythe
(11) Wand (1) Wand

Armors (4, 6, 15) - Studded Leather, Scale Mail, Ancient Armor
Helms (4, 7) - Full Helm, Crown
Shield (2, 6) - Small Shield, Tower Shield
Gloves (1, 4) - Leather Gloves, Light Gauntlets
Belts (4, 5) - Heavy Belt, Plated Belt
Boots (1, 3) - Boots, Chain Boots
Barb Helms (2, 5) - Fanged Helm, Avenger Guard

Good luck!
 
Yeah, not exactly the best rolls as the skills don't synergize very well at all... but I hope you can find a way to make it work!

I felt inspired this weekend to take another crack at the random Paladin that was rolled for me back in October. I started over from scratch. hiepsi the random Pally is sitting at level 26 at the start of Act 3 Normal. I maxed Might and now I am pumping points into Vengeance. It's slow but works well enough with the Bastard Sword that I gambled. My A2 merc with a crummy rare Voulge hits harder than I do, so I'm letting him do as much work as possible. Once I can get an 'Insight' on the merc, I'll be pumping out more consistent damage with Vengeance without having to chug blue pots all the time.

Short term goals are to find a nice War Scepter and eventually transition from the 2H sword to a scepter and shield. After maxing Vengeance, I will start pumping points into Holy Shield.
 
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Picking up where we left off, Fenrir had just arrived in NM Act II, which was cleared relatively quickly. Despite not having fully synergized Tornado and Hurricane, they both do a lot of damage. He found a fair number of uniques and a couple sets, though none that he could use. Surprisingly, I don't have a single screenshot from the act except this one. Unfortunately, while clearing a false tomb, he bit off a little more than he could chew:

Screenshot224.png

I didn't give Kaa enough respect. I also didn't think that he would easily one shot the Oak Sage, which then would mean Fenrir would die in 2 hits, max. And that's just what happened. Should have played it a bit slower and safer, but since every single monster so far was killed by charging in headfirst and dishing out a ton of damage, I didn't realize I needed to make the shift to playing safer until it was too late! Undone by my own hubris!

I may try again, or may try a different tournament idea, since I've been itching to play a spearazon. Good luck everyone still going!
 
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After a long while I got back to playing Meninore. The play through Act 1 NM got sluggish and took a great deal of patience. It was mostly the strugglers after clearing the packs with LF that took a while to take down. I have not found any good upgrades for my 2h spear so Impale was kinda useless. I was however happy to find this beauty off an monster, the odds are I believe astronomically small Screenshot108.png

Andariel was safe an slow. Using Impale and a cold source on the weapon, she was really slow. Dropped nothing. I am sitting tight in A2 for the time being. Stats are as follow:

Screenshot109.png

PS: sorry for not updating the table. Maybe next time.
 
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Awesome! I'm still pounding away at my sorceress, just hit Act 3 last week.
 
Sorceress died in act 5 nm, someone roll me a random druid please.
 
That's a bummer @Vang . Gimme a couple minutes here and I will roll a Druid for you.

My Paladin bit the dust recently too and I was going to call it quits for this tournament... but why not take one more spin!? Can you roll me a new random character? I have already tried and failed with Sorc, Amazon, and Paladin... so please pick a random class out of the remaining classes (Assassin, Barb, Druid, Necro).
 
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