"Rare Pleasure" Tournament

jiansonz said:
Isn´t it nice when things like this work out to your advantage? But, as a bowazon, why didn´t you just hit him once with the flail, then shoot him down from across the river? That would have been far less painful.
Click to expand...

Is PMH permanent then? I'm not sure exactly how it works. I figured that if I tried this I would get him down to a sliver at the point that the PMH wore off, then I would have to try and get around back to him before he had fully healed. It just seemed more straightforward to stand and fight.
 
BFD said:
I was wondering if I use a Gem Shrine to upgrade a gem dropped from the Hellforge would I still be allowed to use it in a socket?

Second question, as it seems my hour to edit is up, after we unequip a gambled item can we re-equip the same item in the same spot at a later point?
Click to expand...
Skunkbelly obviously gets the final word on this, but my vote would be:
No socketing of upgraded Hellforge gems. (To me this goes against the intent of the rules on sockets.)

You can re-equip gambled equipment which was removed, as long as it goes back in the same slot as before. (If not, we'd be in trouble every time we put down our gambled weapons to equip the Hellforge Hammer or Khalim's Will!)​

edit: since I'm posting anyway, here's my current score:
Ursula
Werebear
Quests: 26 (next stop: Baal!)
Waypoints: 38
Level: 35
Score: 55​
 
UPGRADING HELLFORGE REWARDS:

You cannot use upgraded hellforge rewards in sockets, with one exception: if you find three gems of the same type all from hellforge rewards (in different difficulties, obviously) then you *could* upgrade them and put them in a socket. For example, you find two flawless diamonds with your normal hellforge, and a third with your NM hellforge... you could upgrade these three, and use them in a socket. This is very unlikely to happen, of course, and it also would take some serious patience... but if you're willing to wait and get lucky, go for it.

You *could* however upgrade such rewards to use for a different purpose. For example, if I had a flawless ruby from the hellforge, I could upgrade it to make a perfect ruby with a shrine (or with two other flawless rubies)... I would not be allowed to put the perfect ruby in a socket, but I *could* use it to craft a pair of blood gloves.

ABOUT GAMBLED ITEMS:

Yes, if you gamble an item, you may take it off, and put it back *in the same slot* later.
 
Ursula has finished Normal. Obligatory end of difficulty update:

Code: 
Name             Build           Level   Act/Diff.  Forum Name         Pts
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HCTornNecroI     Bonemancer         54    4/NM      Thov                99
Chillibit        Freezealot         41    1/Nm      Slothman            71 R.I.P.
Plak             Frost Zealot       27    1/Nm      Sint                70
Rare-Skunk       Barb (Frenzy)      37    1/NM      Skunkbelly          63
Undead_WingWong  Bonemancer         33    1/Nm      Starving_Poet       61
Ursula           Shockwave bear     36    1/NM      jgreg7              61
Fang             Javazon            37    1/NM      phatbrava           60
Arial            Firewall/Tstorm    39    1/NM      BFD                 58
Phrozen_Phire    Firezon            41    5/Norm    skoolbus            53
JagerMeester     Summon/WereWolf    25    4/Norm    Horobi              45 R.I.P.
Freddie          Lord of Mages      32    4/Norm    jiansonz            32
Wolronett        Sorceress-Cold     31    3/Norm    Wolron              27 R.I.P.
LuckyCharm       ConcBarb           24    3/Norm    OpethAZ             23
Yorel_X          Shadow-sin         24    3/Norm    Reid Fleming        22
CrossCheck       CrossbowZon        28    3/Norm    Crazy_Bear          22
Inferno          HolyFireadin       27    3/Norm    SuperSavage         21 R.I.P.
Patsy            Leap Barb          20    1/Norm    Radagast            20
Fenris           RabidFury Wolf     20    2/Norm    Quickdeath          16 R.I.P.
Bremm            Tesladin           25    2/Norm    Nacaa               15 R.I.P.
Halisstra        HydraSorc          20    2/Norm    Liliel               9  R.I.P
GlacialTyro      Frost-Zealot       13    1/Norm    SeDnA                6 R.I.P.
Jonathan         Hunter Druid       23    2/Norm    Cattleya             5   
Freezydinny      Frost Zealot       18    2/Norm    Rickyson1            2
Coraxasn         MA-Sin             20    2/Norm    tinantlu             1
Elolroel         Charged Boltress   13    1/Norm    goltar25             0 R.I.P.
Fred             Zealot+             1    1/Norm    jjscud               0
Rarnonn          Jailkeeper          1    1/Norm    Mordalles            0
Sarah            Javazon             1    1/Norm    Hrus                 0
Halisstra        HydraSorc           1    1/Norm    Liliel               0
SirStuckup       DS / frenzy         1    1/Norm    water_moon           0
DeadRinger       F Nova/Tstorm       1    1/Norm    JicamaEater          0
Pokey_poke       Lightning strike    1    1/Norm    Shermo               0
AndOne           Tesladin            1    1/Norm    Poopie_Pants         0
DeadKnight       Avenger             1    1/Norm    Frosty               0
Jenna            Javazon             1    1/Norm    XtasyGrizzly         0
Miko             MA-Sin              1    1/Norm    RikerKirk            0
Portia           Sorceress           1    1/Norm    TRJS                 0
Reinard          Ranger              1    1/Norm    BennB                0
Victor Shen      Meleemancer/Curses  1    1/Norm    Insane Wayne         0
Voberadin        Thornsadin          1    1/Norm    Vober                0
Slayer           Berserker           6    1/Norm    Immortal_Slayer     -2
DeadKnight       Avenger             6    1/Norm    Frosty              -2
Icy_Hot          Bowazon            15    1/Norm    Exarkun             -4
WalkingDead      Hybrid Zon         12    1/Norm    MAAM                -6
So far this has indeed been a "rare pleasure"! (I can't remember the last time I actually killed Nihlathak or the cow king.) RL will interfere for a week or so, but I'll be back for more. Maybe then I'll finally find an amulet...
 
Finally a update from BennB

Code: 
Name             Build           Level   Act/Diff.  Forum Name         Pts
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HCTornNecroI     Bonemancer         54    4/NM      Thov                99
Chillibit        Freezealot         41    1/Nm      Slothman            71 R.I.P.
Plak             Frost Zealot       27    1/Nm      Sint                70
Rare-Skunk       Barb (Frenzy)      37    1/NM      Skunkbelly          63
Undead_WingWong  Bonemancer         33    1/Nm      Starving_Poet       61
Ursula           Shockwave bear     36    1/NM      jgreg7              61
Fang             Javazon            37    1/NM      phatbrava           60
Arial            Firewall/Tstorm    39    1/NM      BFD                 58
Phrozen_Phire    Firezon            41    5/Norm    skoolbus            53
JagerMeester     Summon/WereWolf    25    4/Norm    Horobi              45 R.I.P.
Freddie          Lord of Mages      32    4/Norm    jiansonz            32
Wolronett        Sorceress-Cold     31    3/Norm    Wolron              27 R.I.P.
LuckyCharm       ConcBarb           24    3/Norm    OpethAZ             23
Yorel_X          Shadow-sin         24    3/Norm    Reid Fleming        22
CrossCheck       CrossbowZon        28    3/Norm    Crazy_Bear          22
Inferno          HolyFireadin       27    3/Norm    SuperSavage         21 R.I.P.
Patsy            Leap Barb          20    1/Norm    Radagast            20
Fenris           RabidFury Wolf     20    2/Norm    Quickdeath          16 R.I.P.
Bremm            Tesladin           25    2/Norm    Nacaa               15 R.I.P.
Halisstra        HydraSorc          20    2/Norm    Liliel               9  R.I.P
GlacialTyro      Frost-Zealot       13    1/Norm    SeDnA                6 R.I.P.
Jonathan         Hunter Druid       23    2/Norm    Cattleya             5   
Freezydinny      Frost Zealot       18    2/Norm    Rickyson1            2
Coraxasn         MA-Sin             20    2/Norm    tinantlu             1
Elolroel         Charged Boltress   13    1/Norm    goltar25             0 R.I.P.
Fred             Zealot+             1    1/Norm    jjscud               0
Rarnonn          Jailkeeper          1    1/Norm    Mordalles            0
Sarah            Javazon             1    1/Norm    Hrus                 0
Halisstra        HydraSorc           1    1/Norm    Liliel               0
SirStuckup       DS / frenzy         1    1/Norm    water_moon           0
DeadRinger       F Nova/Tstorm       1    1/Norm    JicamaEater          0
Pokey_poke       Lightning strike    1    1/Norm    Shermo               0
AndOne           Tesladin            1    1/Norm    Poopie_Pants         0
DeadKnight       Avenger             1    1/Norm    Frosty               0
Jenna            Javazon             1    1/Norm    XtasyGrizzly         0
Miko             MA-Sin              1    1/Norm    RikerKirk            0
Portia           Sorceress           1    1/Norm    TRJS                 0
Victor Shen      Meleemancer/Curses  1    1/Norm    Insane Wayne         0
Voberadin        Thornsadin          1    1/Norm    Vober                0
Slayer           Berserker           6    1/Norm    Immortal_Slayer     -2
DeadKnight       Avenger             6    1/Norm    Frosty              -2
Icy_Hot          Bowazon            15    1/Norm    Exarkun             -4
WalkingDead      Hybrid Zon         12    1/Norm    MAAM                -6
Reinard          Ranger             14    1/Norm    BennB                -6

Not much of a start, screaming all the way to the bottom....

Finally picked up a Short Bow Dmg 3-5, +2 min, +1 Max, +1-2 Fire, +1-3 Lightning, +6 poison over 2 sec, +59 to attack.

Quite nice for a starting weapon.....

No Gambles (yet)
Weapon, Armour, Helm slots used at the moment
rogue merc still naked
Cruising along quite nicely, don't know for how much longer though
 
Well, I'm taking advice from AlterEgo, can i still join this tourney? I haven't seen a new register to the tourney for some time but yet I still see people level 1 and in norm act1 so.. is this this Tourney still joinable?
 
Sorry, it is too late to join this one. But there will be others :)

Alas! Rare-Skunk was completely and quickly pwned by a FE lightning beetle in the NM Far Oasis. Happened unbelievably fast... :( RIP.
 
Code: 
Name             Build           Level   Act/Diff.  Forum Name         Pts
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HCTornNecroI     Bonemancer         54    4/NM      Thov                99
Chillibit        Freezealot         41    1/Nm      Slothman            71 R.I.P.
Plak             Frost Zealot       27    1/Nm      Sint                70
Rare-Skunk       Barb (Frenzy)      44    2/NM      Skunkbelly          83 R.I.P.
Undead_WingWong  Bonemancer         33    1/Nm      Starving_Poet       61
Ursula           Shockwave bear     36    1/NM      jgreg7              61
Fang             Javazon            37    1/NM      phatbrava           60
Arial            Firewall/Tstorm    39    1/NM      BFD                 58
Phrozen_Phire    Firezon            41    5/Norm    skoolbus            53
JagerMeester     Summon/WereWolf    25    4/Norm    Horobi              45 R.I.P.
Freddie          Lord of Mages      32    4/Norm    jiansonz            32
Wolronett        Sorceress-Cold     31    3/Norm    Wolron              27 R.I.P.
LuckyCharm       ConcBarb           24    3/Norm    OpethAZ             23
Yorel_X          Shadow-sin         24    3/Norm    Reid Fleming        22
CrossCheck       CrossbowZon        28    3/Norm    Crazy_Bear          22
Inferno          HolyFireadin       27    3/Norm    SuperSavage         21 R.I.P.
Patsy            Leap Barb          20    1/Norm    Radagast            20
Fenris           RabidFury Wolf     20    2/Norm    Quickdeath          16 R.I.P.
Bremm            Tesladin           25    2/Norm    Nacaa               15 R.I.P.
Halisstra        HydraSorc          20    2/Norm    Liliel               9  R.I.P
GlacialTyro      Frost-Zealot       13    1/Norm    SeDnA                6 R.I.P.
Jonathan         Hunter Druid       23    2/Norm    Cattleya             5   
Freezydinny      Frost Zealot       18    2/Norm    Rickyson1            2
Coraxasn         MA-Sin             20    2/Norm    tinantlu             1
Elolroel         Charged Boltress   13    1/Norm    goltar25             0 R.I.P.
Fred             Zealot+             1    1/Norm    jjscud               0
Rarnonn          Jailkeeper          1    1/Norm    Mordalles            0
Sarah            Javazon             1    1/Norm    Hrus                 0
Halisstra        HydraSorc           1    1/Norm    Liliel               0
SirStuckup       DS / frenzy         1    1/Norm    water_moon           0
DeadRinger       F Nova/Tstorm       1    1/Norm    JicamaEater          0
Pokey_poke       Lightning strike    1    1/Norm    Shermo               0
AndOne           Tesladin            1    1/Norm    Poopie_Pants         0
DeadKnight       Avenger             1    1/Norm    Frosty               0
Jenna            Javazon             1    1/Norm    XtasyGrizzly         0
Miko             MA-Sin              1    1/Norm    RikerKirk            0
Portia           Sorceress           1    1/Norm    TRJS                 0
Victor Shen      Meleemancer/Curses  1    1/Norm    Insane Wayne         0
Voberadin        Thornsadin          1    1/Norm    Vober                0
Slayer           Berserker           6    1/Norm    Immortal_Slayer     -2
DeadKnight       Avenger             6    1/Norm    Frosty              -2
Icy_Hot          Bowazon            15    1/Norm    Exarkun             -4
WalkingDead      Hybrid Zon         12    1/Norm    MAAM                -6
Reinard          Ranger             14    1/Norm    BennB                -6
 
Some good progress for Freddie. /p8 Izual took ages to kill, of course, but the fire golem took all Izzy´s blows without problem (he was aided by the Prayer aura from the merc, and there was a cold mage helping out as well). I put the two reward skill points into Raise Skeletal Mage, taking it to level 6 (which means that Freddie can now summon 4 of them).

I found a really cool rare staff on the Plains: with TELEPORT charges!! Only one problem: it´s ethereal. I didn´t know that you can´t recharge such items (I tried both vendor and recipe) so I have used up more charges than I should have. There are 13 charges left now. I will likely keep this weapon on the switch for the rest of the game. It certainly has life-saving potential.

The teleporting staff meant that Diablo plummeted way down on the threat meter. :D I forgot to take down the players setting, so it became a long fight. The 'slow as dirt' tactics worked quite well, but Diablo hardly took any damage during this. I switched over to Fire Golem + Iron Maiden. I have good experience with this method. I´ve beaten 1.09 Hell Diablo with these skills (both at level 1). Twice.
No problem here either, but I must have gone through over 10000 gold worth of mana potions...

Diablo dropped a nice rare 14% lightning resist Belt.

Freddie, Lord of Mages
Level: 35
Next area: Blood Foothills
Score: 37 pts
 
rarnonn killed andy in a tough fight. haha, he lured andy into the front room where all the bodies lay of the slayn monsters, and then kept on corpse exploding the bodies underneath andy. the last part of andy's health was taken by lev 1 teeth. haha. now, i can kill andy one more time, and head to act 2. :clap:

Quests: 6x2 = 12. Waypioints: 9x1 = 9. Level = -16.
Score: 5.
 
Code: 
Name             Build           Level   Act/Diff.  Forum Name         Pts
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HCTornNecroI     Bonemancer         54    4/NM      Thov                99
Plak             Frost Zealot       29    1/Nm      Sint                86 R.I.P.
Rare-Skunk       Barb (Frenzy)      44    2/NM      Skunkbelly          83 R.I.P.
Chillibit        Freezealot         41    1/Nm      Slothman            71 R.I.P.
Undead_WingWong  Bonemancer         33    1/Nm      Starving_Poet       61
Ursula           Shockwave bear     36    1/NM      jgreg7              61
Fang             Javazon            37    1/NM      phatbrava           60
Arial            Firewall/Tstorm    39    1/NM      BFD                 58
Phrozen_Phire    Firezon            41    5/Norm    skoolbus            53
JagerMeester     Summon/WereWolf    25    4/Norm    Horobi              45 R.I.P.
Freddie          Lord of Mages      32    4/Norm    jiansonz            32
Wolronett        Sorceress-Cold     31    3/Norm    Wolron              27 R.I.P.
LuckyCharm       ConcBarb           24    3/Norm    OpethAZ             23
Yorel_X          Shadow-sin         24    3/Norm    Reid Fleming        22
CrossCheck       CrossbowZon        28    3/Norm    Crazy_Bear          22
Inferno          HolyFireadin       27    3/Norm    SuperSavage         21 R.I.P.
Patsy            Leap Barb          20    1/Norm    Radagast            20
Fenris           RabidFury Wolf     20    2/Norm    Quickdeath          16 R.I.P.
Bremm            Tesladin           25    2/Norm    Nacaa               15 R.I.P.
Halisstra        HydraSorc          20    2/Norm    Liliel               9  R.I.P
GlacialTyro      Frost-Zealot       13    1/Norm    SeDnA                6 R.I.P.
Jonathan         Hunter Druid       23    2/Norm    Cattleya             5   
Freezydinny      Frost Zealot       18    2/Norm    Rickyson1            2
Coraxasn         MA-Sin             20    2/Norm    tinantlu             1
Elolroel         Charged Boltress   13    1/Norm    goltar25             0 R.I.P.
Fred             Zealot+             1    1/Norm    jjscud               0
Rarnonn          Jailkeeper          1    1/Norm    Mordalles            0
Sarah            Javazon             1    1/Norm    Hrus                 0
Halisstra        HydraSorc           1    1/Norm    Liliel               0
SirStuckup       DS / frenzy         1    1/Norm    water_moon           0
DeadRinger       F Nova/Tstorm       1    1/Norm    JicamaEater          0
Pokey_poke       Lightning strike    1    1/Norm    Shermo               0
AndOne           Tesladin            1    1/Norm    Poopie_Pants         0
DeadKnight       Avenger             1    1/Norm    Frosty               0
Jenna            Javazon             1    1/Norm    XtasyGrizzly         0
Miko             MA-Sin              1    1/Norm    RikerKirk            0
Portia           Sorceress           1    1/Norm    TRJS                 0
Victor Shen      Meleemancer/Curses  1    1/Norm    Insane Wayne         0
Voberadin        Thornsadin          1    1/Norm    Vober                0
Slayer           Berserker           6    1/Norm    Immortal_Slayer     -2
DeadKnight       Avenger             6    1/Norm    Frosty              -2
Icy_Hot          Bowazon            15    1/Norm    Exarkun             -4
WalkingDead      Hybrid Zon         12    1/Norm    MAAM                -6
Reinard          Ranger             14    1/Norm    BennB                -6

Alas, Plak is no more..
after a tedious fight trough act 1 NM with a load of NDE's Plak funally reached Andariel. Packed with potions he lured the demon queen to the stairs so Plak allways had a refuge to go when the fight would get hard. Sadly enough Azrael couldn't face Andariel very long, every time he faced her it only took one spray of poison and one hit before he would fall again. Luckily Plak could stand his ground a little longer and after a lot of tp's Andariel was at about half life. That time Plak loaded his holy shield, drank some more antidotes and ran down with Azrael to fight her again. The moment Plak entered the 4th floor, Andariel sprayed a poison attack and when Plak ran up Azrael had allready bit the dust. Plak deceided to try to hit her a few times before running back again not letting the run be invane...
With two succesive hits Andariel took away allmost every bit of life Plak had. He turned around, ran away but at the same time Andariel sprayed another round of venom.

I hit esc right before the poison would've hit Plak, but then realised I was a man and hit esc again. About a nano second later Plak only be remembered by his deeds.

Plak had finished every quest and collected every waypoint up to this point but I allready knew he wouldn't last long. Alot of the fights done in NM were very hard and the monsters would often take big chunks of his life with single hits... on /p1. Maybe being only level 29 and having around 300 life had something to do with it :uhhuh: I hoped I would've come to act 2 though.. oh well, can't have everything.

------------------------
Plak
Frost Zealot
Quests: 32 (27 in Normal, 5 in Nm)
Waypoints: 48 (39 in Normal, 9 in Nm)
Cow Kings: 3 (1 Kill in Normal)
Level: 29
[highlight]Score: 86[/highlight]
Unequipped slots: None
Gambled slots: None
------------------------

Good luck to those still standing!
 
Code: 
Name             Build           Level   Act/Diff.  Forum Name         Pts
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HCTornNecroI     Bonemancer         68    4/Hell    Thov                124
Plak             Frost Zealot       29    1/Nm      Sint                86 R.I.P.
Rare-Skunk       Barb (Frenzy)      44    2/NM      Skunkbelly          83 R.I.P.
Chillibit        Freezealot         41    1/Nm      Slothman            71 R.I.P.
Undead_WingWong  Bonemancer         33    1/Nm      Starving_Poet       61
Ursula           Shockwave bear     36    1/NM      jgreg7              61
Fang             Javazon            37    1/NM      phatbrava           60
Arial            Firewall/Tstorm    39    1/NM      BFD                 58
Phrozen_Phire    Firezon            41    5/Norm    skoolbus            53
JagerMeester     Summon/WereWolf    25    4/Norm    Horobi              45 R.I.P.
Freddie          Lord of Mages      32    4/Norm    jiansonz            32
Wolronett        Sorceress-Cold     31    3/Norm    Wolron              27 R.I.P.
LuckyCharm       ConcBarb           24    3/Norm    OpethAZ             23
Yorel_X          Shadow-sin         24    3/Norm    Reid Fleming        22
CrossCheck       CrossbowZon        28    3/Norm    Crazy_Bear          22
Inferno          HolyFireadin       27    3/Norm    SuperSavage         21 R.I.P.
Patsy            Leap Barb          20    1/Norm    Radagast            20
Fenris           RabidFury Wolf     20    2/Norm    Quickdeath          16 R.I.P.
Bremm            Tesladin           25    2/Norm    Nacaa               15 R.I.P.
Halisstra        HydraSorc          20    2/Norm    Liliel               9  R.I.P
GlacialTyro      Frost-Zealot       13    1/Norm    SeDnA                6 R.I.P.
Jonathan         Hunter Druid       23    2/Norm    Cattleya             5   
Freezydinny      Frost Zealot       18    2/Norm    Rickyson1            2
Coraxasn         MA-Sin             20    2/Norm    tinantlu             1
Elolroel         Charged Boltress   13    1/Norm    goltar25             0 R.I.P.
Fred             Zealot+             1    1/Norm    jjscud               0
Rarnonn          Jailkeeper          1    1/Norm    Mordalles            0
Sarah            Javazon             1    1/Norm    Hrus                 0
Halisstra        HydraSorc           1    1/Norm    Liliel               0
SirStuckup       DS / frenzy         1    1/Norm    water_moon           0
DeadRinger       F Nova/Tstorm       1    1/Norm    JicamaEater          0
Pokey_poke       Lightning strike    1    1/Norm    Shermo               0
AndOne           Tesladin            1    1/Norm    Poopie_Pants         0
DeadKnight       Avenger             1    1/Norm    Frosty               0
Jenna            Javazon             1    1/Norm    XtasyGrizzly         0
Miko             MA-Sin              1    1/Norm    RikerKirk            0
Portia           Sorceress           1    1/Norm    TRJS                 0
Victor Shen      Meleemancer/Curses  1    1/Norm    Insane Wayne         0
Voberadin        Thornsadin          1    1/Norm    Vober                0
Slayer           Berserker           6    1/Norm    Immortal_Slayer     -2
DeadKnight       Avenger             6    1/Norm    Frosty              -2
Icy_Hot          Bowazon            15    1/Norm    Exarkun             -4
WalkingDead      Hybrid Zon         12    1/Norm    MAAM                -6
Reinard          Ranger             14    1/Norm    BennB                -6

It's funny how the more this character progresses, the less exciting these updates become. He seems to have a knack for not finding any useful rares (although PLENTY of weapon rares drop), so once again, the equipment on him is pretty much the same as its always been. Again, no NDE's thanks to liberal use of bone prison and the golem. Once nothing can move, it's usually only a couple shots from bone spirit (which has replaced bone spear in most situations by now) to kill the enemy on players 1.

Seeing as how this character has all the skills he needs, I'm going to make a run for guardian at my current level. Of course, the bosses on the way will add some levels, but it's basically going to be a sprint to Baal to try to keep my score as high as possible.

With the imbue from NM, the result was worthless, and sold back to Charsi. The socket quest was used in a shrunken head that has decent resists, and a Ral was put in to aid with low fire resists in Hell. The caster weapon crafting result was actually pretty decent, this is the weapon in use on HCTornNecroI at this point.

Grim Crack
+11 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 6%
Poison Resist +37%
6% Life stolen per hit
Increase Maximum Mana 3%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to Bone Prison (Necromancer Only)
+2 to Decrepify (Necromancer Only)

I'm looking forward to what he can do in hell.

Score:
Level: 68 - -68 points
WPs: 78 - +78 points
Quests: 54 - +108 points
Cow King: Norm + NM - +6 points

Total: 124 points
 
Condolences to the fallen. This tourney is tougher than I thought, and it's showing!

Took CrossCheck through the remaining parts of act III. I levelled her to 30 in the temples in upper Kurast, then moved on to travincal. With the Valk now in action the council was straightforward (no rares dropped though) and it was on to Meph. Meph was a pain because he killed the merc and the valk pretty quickly, but at least the Valk was recastable. Only problem is that Immolation Arrow and recasting Valk don't work well together. Anyway, it wasn't really dangerous just a pain. Meph dropped 5 rares, one of them (chain boots) actually made it onto CrossCheck's equipment. She still hasn't found a rare amulet... it's getting annoying. Her resists suck, her damage sucks, but at least she is a very safe char.

CrossCheck
Act 4 Normal, lvl 31

Quests 36 pts, WP 28 pts level -31 pts total score: 33.
 
I didn´t tell you in the last update, but Freddie had very nice topaz luck with the Hellforge. Two big topazes, which went straight into the socketed armor. To take full advantage of this boost to MF, Freddie decided that he wanted to wear that armor himself (even if it meant getting 10 more points in STR). It´s a pretty cool armor:

Cruel Flange
Scale Mail
Defense: 60
Durability: 28 of 36
Required Strength: 44
Required Level: 18
Item Level: 22
+8 to Life
Lightning Resist +16%
Cold Resist +17%
44% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
5% Chance to cast Level 3 Frost Nova when struck
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Of course, a Breast Plate would have been better than a Scale Mail. Then again, summoner necros are rarely in a hurry...


I have kept a non-magical Grim Wand. Since we are forced to use the first imbue in Normal, this will be it. Rarely have I been this certain of how to use an imbue. Grim Wand at level 45. If it doesn´t turn out really good, I will eventually upgrade it.

Say what?!?
(Hehe, I´ll let you think about why I would want to do such a thing...)


Freddie now has 5 points in Dim Vision. It has been nice against imps (stops their teleporting) and Lashers (I keep them Dimmed so they can´t whip their minions into bombers (=> more iTAmZ!)).

Decrepify has been very useful against Frenzytaurs, Lashers and Crush Beasts (to make life easier for my two tanks).


Future skill plans:

Will be maxed:
Skeleton Mastery
Raise Skeletal Mage
(no surprise there!)

Will receive a hefty investment:
Golem Mastery (not having to recast a golem every few seconds will allow me to monitor the battles better, and use curses more efficiently)
Dim Vision (must get the duration user-friendly for higher difficulties)
Bone Prison (needs more life (and less casting cost!) to be useful, and it boosts Bone Armor more than extra points in BA itself.)
Corpse Explosion (more like wishful thinking, the skill points are very tight for this character)

Will get one point:
Life Tap
Lower Resist

Since I won´t keep the current Prayer merc when I get to act 2 NM, I may gamble a nice weapon for him once I have an Amn (so I can upgrade a rare weapon). His current Brandistock isn´t particularly powerful.


Freddie, Lord of Mages
Level: 39
Next area: Crystalline Passage
Score: 40 pts
 
Okay, time for my Necro's long-overdue introduction. Presenting: Victor Shen
To promote tournament diversity, I set up some guidelines...

-----No poison/bone spells (except CE)
-----No wands. +skills will not be critical for me, and I wanna hit stuff. So, no wands.

Without my starter wand, I needed a visit to an attack shrine to defeat p8 Corpsefire with my fists. Woohoo! He dropped a rare club. I soon upgraded to a rare javelin, followed by a rare spear. My fire rogue went weaponless for a short while, until composite bows were available for gambling. I soon scored a keeper. That helped a lot.

Strangely enough, I found several uniques in Act 1, including Hand of Broc and a couple of those level 3's that some like to hunt for. "Felloak" is a new one for me, I can't remember having seen it before. p8 Andariel was handled easily thanks to constant clay golems and fire arrows. She dropped a pile of rares, including a so-so voulge that went straight to my new Defiance merc. I switched Victor's spear with a more impressive model appropriate for Act 2. It worked OK with amp damage, and I like the safety its range provides. I built up my golem mastery during Act 2. The fight with Duriel was a laugher, thanks to Life Tap and Decrep.

For Act 3, I switched to a one-hander/shield. I desperately needed the resists. Ormus' gift ring had no resists, and fire damage presented a threat so I had to be careful. Vitality is an important investment for HC, it's a pity necros only get 2 life per point. That makes resists all the more important. I tried out a fire golem, hoping that its Aura would draw monsters to it. However, the Holy Fire damage didn't interrupt monsters that were headed for Victor, and I found myself running and fighting a lot. Eventually I decided that the Clay Golm seemed to be a superior monster magnet. It's a lot easier with him to manage my curses and watch my merc. The Mephisto battle was another cakewalk. He gave me a nice heavy belt with 24% FHR, +25 life, and +30 lightning resist.

Hellforge gave me an Amn and some garbage gems. I like the rune, but the only potential with the gems is the P Amethyst which could boost Merc AR/Str. Not terribly useful; I was hoping for a P Diamond/Topaz/Ruby.
Diablo had me concerned, my fire resist was only 30something and my lightning resist was 10! Nevertheless, I tried him at p8. After he toasted both my merc and golem within a second, it crossed my mind that I'd made a huge mistake. Over the next ten minutes I tried combinations of Golems/Curses. Finally I hit on a winner: Decrep + Fire Golem. But I had to be perfect with the hotkeys, casting, and positioning; and that left me without a finger over the rejuv key. If I slipped up and missed a cast (which happened a few times) the merc got wasted. The battle took about 30 minutes. Success!

Act 5 was manageable without too much danger. I leveled rapidly on p8, strengthening my clay golem and decrep. I found a rare shamshir with ED, +min/max, and mana steal that provided meager help to my group's efforts. The leech was useful to keep my blue filled. I used a lot of CE, which works better against Amped baddies. It's fun too, though not terribly effective on p8. I was gambling like crazy for improved gear, but nothing was quite good enough to expire a slot, except for an unusual set of balanced knives that are definitely end-game worthy. If I get to Hell, I'll do more "damage" with rapid PMH than with any weapon. And they never miss, despite my deplorable AR. I put some thought into my imbue, and spent the latter half of Act 5 looking for an ethereal Halberd or War Scythe. I finally got one (a Halberd) in the WSK, to be imbued after killing Baal.

The Ancients and Baal were fodder for my Curses. Life Tap against Ancients and Decrep for Baal. I cleared the cows without incident. I was feeling good as I started Nightmare. First, I imbued the ethereal Halberd. I liked the results enough to upgrade it to this. Not bad. I like the speed. I got lucky with the requirements too, my merc was only barely able to equip it (thank God the etherealness lowered the str requirement. I really should do a little research now and then.) For the sockets, I could insert the Amn, but I'm holding off on that. And I still didn't have a rare jewel! Despite full-clearing Normal on p8, I failed to find a rare jewel or an amulet. Pffft!@#$%:rant:

As I house-cleaned my stash and mixed up my gear, I made a stupid mistake. I accidentally socketed my two-socket rare armor with a Ral rune, the one I got for the barb rescue! Crap!
The armor isn't horrible, but I intended to gamble light armors throughout NM to score a 2-socket rare with better life/resists. Dammit. Well it's not the end of the world, I needed resists anyway so I decided to equip the armor and put in the Ort rune as well.

Act 1 NM had some tense spots, especially in the caves, but I made it through alright. Akara's rare ring gave me a small much-needed resist boost. Still lacking an amulet, I decided to craft a safety amulet. Garbage! Not even a single resist or life/mana. My next attempt will probably be another amulet, or maybe blood gloves.

For Act 2 I pondered my merc choice. Holy Freeze would certainly keep me safer....
Screw it. I hired a Might Merc. I want to stay with p8 and do more damage. It will be more fun that way, for CE too. No cold-shattered corpses for Victor!

Is there a booby prize for crappiest rare? I'd like to submit this.

Victor Shen, level 56, Act 2 NM, Jerhyn's Palace
Score: 69 (I think)
 
jiansonz said:
I have kept a non-magical Grim Wand. Since we are forced to use the first imbue in Normal, this will be it. Rarely have I been this certain of how to use an imbue. Grim Wand at level 45. If it doesn´t turn out really good, I will eventually upgrade it.

Say what?!?
(Hehe, I´ll let you think about why I would want to do such a thing...)
Click to expand...
Hmm.... will you upgrade it to raise the level requirement, and then reroll it with skulls? That's my guess.

jiansonz said:
Cruel Flange
Scale Mail
Defense: 60
Durability: 28 of 36
Required Strength: 44
Required Level: 18
Item Level: 22
+8 to Life
Lightning Resist +16%
Cold Resist +17%
44% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
5% Chance to cast Level 3 Frost Nova when struck
Socketed (2: 2 used)
Click to expand...
That's a sick armor. I could hardly hand-pick a better choice for what I was seeking. All kinds of potential there, especially after you find a Hel rune. Nice work! :clap:
 
Insane Wayne said:
Hmm.... will you upgrade it to raise the level requirement, and then reroll it with skulls? That's my guess.
Click to expand...

You´re on the right track. Grave Wands have qlvl=49. The way normal/exceptional wands work, this means that Grave Wands have a minimum affix level of 50, no matter the item level. My most desired prefix (Necromancer´s) has affix level 50. So a Grave Wand can be rerolled with skulls and always have a chance to spawn with Necromancer´s.

Of course, I could just as well reroll a found rare Grave Wand (or imbue one, then reroll if needed) but they are high-end exceptional items and won´t be found for a long time (and finding a rare one is, well, rare. :D )

Crafting a Grave Wand is also a good idea for me. The more chances, the better.
 
jiansonz said:
You´re on the right track. Grave Wands have qlvl=49. The way normal/exceptional wands work, this means that Grave Wands have a minimum affix level of 50, no matter the item level. My most desired prefix (Necromancer´s) has affix level 50. So a Grave Wand can be rerolled with skulls and always have a chance to spawn with Necromancer´s.

Of course, I could just as well reroll a found rare Grave Wand (or imbue one, then reroll if needed) but they are high-end exceptional items and won´t be found for a long time (and finding a rare one is, well, rare. :D )

Crafting a Grave Wand is also a good idea for me. The more chances, the better.
Click to expand...

With your usual playstyle, how much PSkulls for rerolls do you expect to have until the end of NM? With my playstyle I have around 8-10 Perfect gems at the end of NM without rerunning areas. Skulls are twice rarer and you need six of them for one reroll....
 
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