Please meet Ric, an untwinked 99er Necromancer. Following HelpYourself, an untwinked 99er Sorc I finished earlier this year, he is my second untwinked 99er, the 12th completed character in the untwinked 99er challenge, and AFAIK the SPF's first untwinked 99er Necro.
Here's his final moment of glory, followed by a summary of his gear, loot and progress along the way:
Gear and Build(s)
Starting off with the gear and build used for running Nihlathak (also shown in the end of the video):
The above is what he ran for the last two levels from 97 to 99. Before that he was a Fishymancer (and will be going forward) using more or less the following gear, in particular for Pit and Baal running:
GoMule dump:
The Drops
While the gear he used himself was rather straight-forward, he had a number of sweet drops along the way. My personal favorites:
He really found an abundance of high runes. Apart from the runewords he made for himself (Enigma, Infinity, Beast, Fortitude, Hoto and 3x CtA), these are the Ist+ runes he has left to play with or has in the meantime passed on to other characters:
EDIT: This is where they ended up.
With gear and drops out of the way, this is the brief version (well, sort of) of his journey:
The Beginning
I first considered taking a Necro into the 99er challenge in November 2017. My Sorc was mid-90s at the time and I thought it would be nice to have another character to go back to for a change of scenery. I can't remember exactly whether I named him after the mad scientist vibe from Rick and Morty or after the Walking Dead character (because, you know, dead stuff). What I do know is that his journey started with a typo – I really meant to call him "Rick".
But 99 takes a long time, and there was no time to lose, so instead of creating another Necro and adding a "k", I went on to charge into the Blood Moor.
The plan from the outset was to go with a Summoner build at first, given the ideal gear mainly consists of relatively common S&Us and runewords, which could all be farmed rather reliably. He pretty much followed the plan the whole way and was played as a Summoner until 97.
I don't remember much from the initial playthrough as he advanced to his first pit stop in Hell LK, which is when I entered him into the 99er thread. His first goal was to farm Enigma of course, and with an early Ber drop before even having a Harmony bow, he was off to a quick start. He had enough to make his first CtA (+3 BO) shortly after. Some dry spells followed, but he made consistent progress towards Enigma, with further rune drops reported here and here. I mostly focused on my Sorc at the time, so progress was slow in the beginning. But following a lucky streak and a funny "long distance battle" with @PhineasB (who had started running LK for Enigma with his Necro as well), he had assembled the ingredients for the ultimate game changer in February 2018, and made his Enigma.
He then went for a mix of Pit, Pindle, Meph and LK runs in order to get a few key pieces of S&Us. Around this time he also made an eth bugged Fortitude, considerably increasing his overall power due to the importance of the Merc setup for basically every Necro. Around this time a crazy thing happened when within ~6 hours of Pit running he found two Zods (and also made his Beast).
Getting the Missing Items & Baal Boredom
When @Grape hosted the 2018 RFL, I chose to run with Ric for two rounds of the tournament instead of going with more optimized rune finding characters. I was hoping to farm Infinity, the last major runeword he needed at the time. This worked out almost perfectly, collecting a suitable base and the runes for Infinity except for one Sur from running Cows during the first round of the RFL. Updates and non-qualifier drops posted here and here, including a +2 Necro/10 FCR craft amulet that he used for most of the time until 99. After the first RFL round ended, he went back to LK and quickly got the last Sur to make Infinity. The remaining core items he was looking for were Arachnid Mesh and Andy's Visage for Merc, so I continued running the Pit with him for the last RFL round in hopes of getting them. Alas, while finding a lot of stuff (think: MFO garbage), he was out of luck with these particular items. After RFL, he switched back and forth between Pit runs and Baal waves, including Pindleskin after raising the army there, until hitting 95.
At 95 it became increasingly hard to justify running the Pit any longer in terms of XP. While I still mixed things up from time to time, I almost exclusively moved to Baal waves. After a few XP gain tests, it turned out that Ventar runs were most efficient at first. He made his way to 96 this way and then started to include Baal. At this point, Baal runs were driving me almost crazy (IMO this is really the dullest experience in D2, I'd take LK over this any time).
I was still missing Arachnid Mesh and Andy's Visage – both of which I considered crucial in increasing XP gain efficiency in later stages. So at one point I decided to take a welcome break from Baal runs and go on a killing spree against Hell Mephisto. After ~800 runs he finally had both items, plus his first eth Titan's – an item I've been hoping to get for a long time (he would later get a second one from Pindle). He then went back to Baal, having his core gear assembled. Shortly after he socketed the Andy's with an IAS/28 ED jewel and made a Hoto (though not using it yet), while making his way to 97.
The Final Grind
I was constantly testing all sorts of runs in hopes of not having to run Baal. After simulating different approaches with twinked Necros, it turned out that running Nihlathak provided pretty much the same XP gain as Baal for 97-98. However, it made sense to stick with Baal for safety reasons. While I continued running Baal until 97.15 because of that, I suddenly decided I've had enough and switched to Nihlathak. What I found the most effective Necro strategy against Nihlathak turned out to be quite simple: Have a strong Merc, spam CE and don't die. Despite having found only one P&B skiller at the time, I respec'ed to PN which I found was the way to go (at least without many skillers). With his new target providing refreshed motiviation, Ric quickly moved onwards to 97.3 and 97.5, i.a. picking up a Cham along the way.
When MFO came around, he went on a break for a while until I picked him up again in October, moving to 97.7. He was welcomed back by Nihl with these nice drops (including Mang Song's Lesson) and more goodies to follow.
Soon afterwards he hit 98, as good drops kept coming, including a perfect 45 life Burning GC and his first +1 skill ring with BKWB. While he was far away from breaking any XP gain records (in particular in comparison to my previous character getting some ~4.2-4.5m XP/h), I was nonetheless quite happy with his pace at ~3.4-3.5m XP/h when I ran the numbers and recorded a few runs:
As far as safety goes, he did have a number of NDEs, but got away by the skin of his teeth most of the time. There were two deaths for 98-99. One I'm still not sure how it happened (likely missed the BO cast), and the second one in classic Nihl running fashion, namely courtesy of those "working as intended" Viper clouds. At least he recovered the corpse in both instances, and picked up a second P&B skiller and a few other things (as well as these).
In November I hosted a little MF tourney and participated with Ric to get him on track to finish this year. Despite the second death occurring during the tourney, he did fine overall and managed to get to 98.5, with his tournament haul not being too shabby either, i.a. picking up a 30@ Mara's. Things became more and more hectic at work towards the end of the year with little time to play D2. Still I managed to squeeze in a few runs here and there. Slowly progressing, Ric hit 98.66 and 98.8, and in the meantime improving to a +4 BO CtA with his third try. The last few weeks in December though, RL was extremely busy, and he had to wait for the holidays to hit 98.9 a few days ago. I took a few breaks in between all that holiday feasting to put in the last ~10 hours over the last few days: He hit 99 today with a very strong finish in terms of drops, including a perfect 15 IAS/30 FR RJoF, the elusive Astreon's Iron Ward (overall grailer, putting me at -1 with Tyrael's remaining) and his second BKWB.
The Future
Same as with my Sorc, Ric will likely stay untwinked and at the very least serve as my go-to Fishymancer for testing purposes. While I started a third character in the 99er challenge, a "strictly melee" Paladin currently in Normal, making 99 with Ric will probably be my last major D2 project for quite a while. I decided to quit my job a few months back and will now take it easy for a while, fly out to sunny places to go backpacking until starting a new job in spring. For better or worse, I doubt I will have any opportunity (or desire even) to play until then.
There are one or two Mat/Pat projects on my list that I hope to wrap up before I leave. In any case, I'm sure I'll be back at some point!
Thanks...
...for reading, and in particular major thanks to the whole 99er crowd – too many to name or single out, and really everyone being active in it provided the necessary motivation for me to do this... again. Thanks for the support and discussion, it was a fun run!
***
Here's his final moment of glory, followed by a summary of his gear, loot and progress along the way:
Gear and Build(s)
Starting off with the gear and build used for running Nihlathak (also shown in the end of the video):
Code:
Hoto 36@ (eth Flail)
+2 Necro, 10% FCR craft amulet
Shako, socketed with a -5/+4 poison facet
Enigma BP
35% Spirit
BKWB
Dwarf Star
Arachnid Mesh
TO Claws
Aldur's Advance
Switch: +4 BO CtA (eth Crystal Sword), Spirit
Merc (Might):
- Andariel's Visage, socketed with 15 IAS, 28% ED jewel
- Infinity (eth CA)
- Fortitude (eth bugged Great Hauberk)
Inventory: 2x P&B Skiller, assorted life/resist/mana charms, one FHR SC
Skills: Max PN and synergies, max Golem Mastery, rest CE (18 at 98)
Corpse recovery kit:
Smoke, +6 PN White, +3 BO CtA, Shako, Mara, 2x Dwarf Star, RhymeThe above is what he ran for the last two levels from 97 to 99. Before that he was a Fishymancer (and will be going forward) using more or less the following gear, in particular for Pit and Baal running:
Code:
Beast Double Axe
+2 Necro, 10% FCR craft amulet
Shako PTopaz
Enigma BP
35% Spirit
2x BKWB
Arachnid Mesh
TO Claws
WT
Inventory: 7x Summon Skiller, assorted life/resist/mana charms
Skills: Max CE, RS, SM, GM, some Summon Resist and ADGoMule dump:
Code:
Name: Ric
Class: Necromancer
Experience: 3520485254
Level: 99
Naked/Gear
Strength: 84/162
Dexterity: 25/27
Vitality: 451/475
Energy: 25/28
HP: 1124/1860
Mana: 221/531
Stamina: 613/883
Defense: 6/1466
AR: 80/90
Fire: 140/100/40
Cold: 102/62/2
Lightning: 122/82/22
Poison: 65/25/-35
MF: 179 Block: 2
GF: 100
FR/W: 85
FHR: 60
IAS: 40
FCR: 80
Amplify Damage: 1/14
Dim Vision: 1/14
Weaken: 0/0
Iron Maiden: 0/0
Terror: 0/0
Confuse: 1/14
Life Tap: 0/0
Attract: 1/14
Decrepify: 0/0
Lower Resist: 0/0
Teeth: 1/14
Bone Armor: 1/14
Poison Dagger: 20/33
Corpse Explosion: 18/31
Bone Wall: 0/0
Poison Explosion: 20/33
Bone Spear: 0/0
Bone Prison: 0/0
Poison Nova: 20/33
Bone Spirit: 0/0
Skeleton Mastery: 0/0
Raise Skeleton: 1/12
Clay Golem: 1/12
Golem Mastery: 20/31
Raise Skeletal Mage: 0/0
Blood Golem: 1/12
Summon Resist: 1/12
Iron Golem: 1/12
Fire Golem: 0/0
Revive: 0/0
Harlequin Crest
Shako
Defense: 114
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 62
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0xdfb26117
Item Level: 75
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 51 Poison Nova when you Die
+2 to All Skills
Adds 37 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
-5% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+4% to Poison Skill Damage
All Stats +2
+148 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+148 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Damage Reduced by 10%
50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Rainbow Facet
Rainbow Facet
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0x3895fe24
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 51 Poison Nova when you Die
Adds 37 Poison Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
-5% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+4% to Poison Skill Damage
Beast Clasp
Amulet
Required Level: 89
Fingerprint: 0x92b328fd
Item Level: 91
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Necromancer Skill Levels
+10% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Strength
+1 to Energy
+20 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 10%
Lightning Resist +16%
Burly Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xba0d0408
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15 Defense
+20 to Life
Russet Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 17
Fingerprint: 0xb0bcefea
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+14 to Life
Fire Resist +6%
Amber Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x4223a875
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
Lightning Resist +10%
Lizard's Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x51376769
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life
+7 to Mana
Garnet Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0x21f39116
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+13 to Life
Fire Resist +9%
Coral Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xe11e2de8
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Lightning Resist +9%
Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x8ab0c3c6
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xc83ff13
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x2961a6c9
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Amber Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x800d5ad8
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+5% Faster Hit Recovery
Lightning Resist +11%
Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xe97fd16f
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Shivering Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x583c2363
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 3 - 5 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
+20 to Life
Russet Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x8146db77
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
Fire Resist +6%
Call to Arms
Double Axe
AmnRalMalIstOhm
One Hand Damage: 18 - 49
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 43
Fingerprint: 0x1a4d6288
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+40% Increased Attack Speed
279% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 to Battle Command
+3 to Battle Orders
+4 to Battle Cry
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Amn Rune
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune
Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Ral Rune
Required Level: 19
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
Armor: Fire Resist +30%
Shields: Fire Resist +35%
Mal Rune
Required Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal
Armor: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Ist Rune
Required Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Ohm Rune
Required Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Enhanced Maximum Damage
Armor: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x7b2a5f6f
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Ruby Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 23
Fingerprint: 0x6b96194a
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+22 to Life
Fire Resist +28%
Aldur's Advance
Battle Boots
Defense: 44
Durability: 17 of 18
Required Level: 45
Required Strength: 95
Fingerprint: 0x391f1517
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Indestructible
+40% Faster Run/Walk
+50 to Life
+180 Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 32%
Fire Resist +50%
10% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
Set (2 items): +15 to Dexterity
Set (3 items): +15 to Dexterity
Set (4 items): +15 to Dexterity
Smoke
Breast Plate
NefLum
Defense: 119
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Level: 37
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0xb9273397
Item Level: 31
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
+75% Enhanced Defense
+280 Defense vs. Missile
+10 to Energy
All Resistances +50
-1 to Light Radius
Level 6 Weaken (18/18 Charges)
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Nef Rune
Socketed: Lum Rune
Nef Rune
Required Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Knockback
Armor: +30 Defense vs. Missile
Shields: +30 Defense vs. Missile
Lum Rune
Required Level: 37
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +10 to Energy
Armor: +10 to Energy
Shields: +10 to Energy
White
Bone Wand
DolIo
One Hand Damage: 3 - 7
Durability: 15 of 15
Required Level: 35
Fingerprint: 0xf67b22ec
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Poison and Bone Skills (Necromancer Only)
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Bone Spear (Necromancer Only)
+4 to Skeleton Mastery (Necromancer Only)
+3 to Bone Armor (Necromancer Only)
+3 to Poison Nova (Necromancer Only)
Hit Causes Monster to Flee 25%
+10 to Vitality
+13 to Mana
Magic Damage Reduced by 4
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Io Rune
Dol Rune
Required Level: 31
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Hit Causes Monster to Flee 25%
Armor: Replenish Life +7
Shields: Replenish Life +7
Io Rune
Required Level: 35
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +10 to Vitality
Armor: +10 to Vitality
Shields: +10 to Vitality
Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0x12ad918d
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
All Stats +5
All Resistances +30
Lapis Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xfe0fef10
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Cold Resist +7%
Fungal Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x87649fc3
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Poison and Bone Skills (Necromancer Only)
Fungal Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xf065eca6
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Poison and Bone Skills (Necromancer Only)
Harlequin Crest
Shako
Defense: 126
Durability: 7 of 12
Required Level: 62
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0xcd2e7703
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
All Stats +2
+148 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+148 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Damage Reduced by 10%
50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Trang-Oul's Claws
Heavy Bracers
Defense: 67
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 45
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0xfc2838ef
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Curses (Necromancer only)
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+25% to Poison Skill Damage
+30 Defense
Cold Resist +30%
Arachnid Mesh
Spiderweb Sash
Defense: 137
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 80
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0xf52f0ed5
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Slows Target by 10%
+118% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
Level 3 Venom (11/11 Charges)
Tangerine Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x8850bc26
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Lightning Resist +3%
Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x494a16c3
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Lizard's Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xb18252b8
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
+3 to Mana
Ruby Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x5d01fd8b
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+11 to Life
Fire Resist +11%
Dwarf Star
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x55e5447d
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40 to Life
+40 Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 15%
Fire Absorb 15%
Magic Damage Reduced by 15
100% Extra Gold from Monsters
Enigma
Breast Plate
JahIthBer
Defense: 823
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0x3aad8739
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+45% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Teleport
+757 Defense
+74 to Strength (Based on Character Level)
Increase Maximum Life 5%
Damage Reduced by 8%
+14 Life after each Kill
15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
99% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based on Character Level)
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Jah Rune
Socketed: Ith Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune
Jah Rune
Required Level: 65
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Ignore Target's Defense
Armor: Increase Maximum Life 5%
Shields: +50 to Life
Ith Rune
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +9 to Maximum Damage
Armor: 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
Shields: 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%
Dwarf Star
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x6dc564a6
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40 to Life
+40 Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 15%
Fire Absorb 15%
Magic Damage Reduced by 15
100% Extra Gold from Monsters
Serpent's Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0x427d3972
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+17 to Life
+14 to Mana
Snake's Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xf7d9490c
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life
+9 to Mana
Rhyme
Unraveller Head
ShaelEth
Defense: 10
Chance to Block: 28
Durability: 19 of 20
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 18
Fingerprint: 0xf04b38ba
Item Level: 32
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40% Faster Block Rate
20% Increased Chance of Blocking
Adds 2 - 7 Poison Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
+2 to Corpse Explosion (Necromancer Only)
Regenerate Mana 15%
All Resistances +25
Cannot Be Frozen
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Eth Rune
Shael Rune
Required Level: 29
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +20% Increased Attack Speed
Armor: +20% Faster Hit Recovery
Shields: +20% Faster Block Rate
Eth Rune
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: -25% Target Defense
Armor: Regenerate Mana 15%
Shields: Regenerate Mana 15%
Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x97516394
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Dwarf Star
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x7cb6661f
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40 to Life
+40 Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 15%
Fire Absorb 15%
Magic Damage Reduced by 15
100% Extra Gold from Monsters
Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Ring
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0x831fd904
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
5% Life stolen per hit
+49 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+50 Maximum Stamina
Snake's Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xbd4a919f
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
+10 to Mana
Flawless Ruby
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 10 - 16 Fire Damage
Armor: +31 to Life
Shields: Fire Resist +28%
Coral Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x1f564961
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+18 to Life
Lightning Resist +8%
Horadric Cube
Fingerprint: 0xf2e78de5
Item Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Ring
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0x7336bef1
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
4% Life stolen per hit
+4 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+50 Maximum Stamina
Heart of the Oak
Flail
KoVexPulThul
One Hand Damage: 1 - 36
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 31
Required Dexterity: 25
Fingerprint: 0x76b82240
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to All Skills
+40% Faster Cast Rate
+75% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
7% Mana stolen per hit
+10 to Dexterity
Replenish Life +20
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
All Resistances +36
Level 4 Oak Sage (25/25 Charges)
Level 14 Raven (60/60 Charges)
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ko Rune
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Pul Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Ko Rune
Required Level: 39
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +10 to Dexterity
Armor: +10 to Dexterity
Shields: +10 to Dexterity
Vex Rune
Required Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Mana stolen per hit
Armor: +5% to Maximum Fire Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Fire Resist
Pul Rune
Required Level: 45
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +75% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
Armor: +30% Enhanced Defense
Shields: +30% Enhanced Defense
Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%
Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 142
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0x20af0e73
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+35% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+100 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+3 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune
Tal Rune
Required Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
Armor: Poison Resist +30%
Shields: Poison Resist +35%
Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%
Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%
Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Call to Arms
Superior Crystal Sword
AmnRalMalIstOhm
One Hand Damage: 26 - 82
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 33
Fingerprint: 0xb0023ca7
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+40% Increased Attack Speed
274% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 to Battle Command
+4 to Battle Orders
+4 to Battle Cry
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Increase Maximum Durability 14%
Ethereal
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Amn Rune
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune
Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Ral Rune
Required Level: 19
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
Armor: Fire Resist +30%
Shields: Fire Resist +35%
Mal Rune
Required Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal
Armor: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Ist Rune
Required Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Ohm Rune
Required Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Enhanced Maximum Damage
Armor: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 133
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0x6c55d248
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+30% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+99 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+4 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune
Tal Rune
Required Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
Armor: Poison Resist +30%
Shields: Poison Resist +35%
Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%
Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%
Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Mercenary:
Name: Azrael
Race: Desert Mercenary
Type: Off-Nightmare
Experience: 114123178
Level: 98
Dead?: false
Naked/Gear
Strength: 209/236
Dexterity: 169/169
HP: 2287/2386
Defense: 1671/5390
AR: 2066/2066
Fire: 160/120/60
Cold: 190/150/90
Lightning: 190/150/90
Poison: 260/220/160
Fortitude
Great Hauberk
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 3363
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 108
Fingerprint: 0x3e08afe8
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+25% Faster Cast Rate
300% Enhanced Damage
+200% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+99 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +28
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune
El Rune
Required Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +50 to Attack Rating
+1 to Light Radius
Armor: +15 Defense
+1 to Light Radius
Shields: +15 Defense
+1 to Light Radius
Sol Rune
Required Level: 27
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +9 to Minimum Damage
Armor: Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Damage Reduced by 7
Dol Rune
Required Level: 31
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Hit Causes Monster to Flee 25%
Armor: Replenish Life +7
Shields: Replenish Life +7
Lo Rune
Required Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Deadly Strike
Armor: +5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Andariel's Visage
Demonhead
Defense: 356
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 83
Required Strength: 102
Fingerprint: 0xe5f9c31
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
15% Chance to cast level 15 Poison Nova when struck
+2 to All Skills
+35% Increased Attack Speed
28% Enhanced Damage
10% Life stolen per hit
+130% Enhanced Defense
+27 to Strength
+10% to Maximum Poison Resist
Fire Resist -30%
Poison Resist +70%
Level 3 Venom (20/20 Charges)
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Realgar Jewel of Fervor
Realgar Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0x56b44962
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
28% Enhanced Damage
Infinity
Cryptic Axe
BerMalBerIst
Two Hand Damage: 192 - 884
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 155
Required Dexterity: 93
Fingerprint: 0xab150a5b
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
50% Chance to cast level 20 Chain Lightning when you Kill an Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
293% Enhanced Damage
-48% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
+49 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges)
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%
Mal Rune
Required Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal
Armor: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%
Ist Rune
Required Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic ItemsThe Drops
While the gear he used himself was rather straight-forward, he had a number of sweet drops along the way. My personal favorites:
- 2x eth Titan's
- 2x Zod
- Astreon's Iron Ward
- Mang Song's Lesson
- perfect 30 FR RJoF
- perfect 45 life Burning GC of Vita
S&U:
eth Stone Crusher
Crown of Ages (1os)
2x BKWB
4x Azurewrath
Schaefer's Hammer
Ravenlore (-18 EFR, 23@)
eth Hone Sundan 178 ED
Earth Shifter
2x Cranium Basher
Grandfather
Redeemer
eth Demon's Arch
eth Hellslayer
Executioner's Justice
8x Eschuta's Temper (best +3/19 Lightning)
5x Alma Negra
3x Tomby (all non-eth)
Dragon Scale
Death Cleaver
Spirit Keeper
29 Rainbow Facets (almost three times of the amount my Sorc found in 99 levels)
Rare/Craft/Magic:
2/20 FCR Pally amulet
2/20 FCR Druid Circlet
2/15 FCR Druid amulet
2 Sorc/2 Nova/20 FCR/life/mana rare orb
15 IAS/30 FR jewel
15 IAS/28 ED jewel
15 IAS/32 ED jewel
20 FCR, LL, resists amulet
20 FCR, 19 MF amulet
Skillers:
77 total (11 with life)
Largest sets were Entrapping (10), Sparking (7), Graverobber's (7), Chilling (6), Natural (6)
Sharp GCs: 13 total (3 with life)
Fine SCs: 31 total (4 with life)
Shimmering SCs: 8 total (no good secondary mods)
Life/single resist SCs: 21 total
eth Stone Crusher
Crown of Ages (1os)
2x BKWB
4x Azurewrath
Schaefer's Hammer
Ravenlore (-18 EFR, 23@)
eth Hone Sundan 178 ED
Earth Shifter
2x Cranium Basher
Grandfather
Redeemer
eth Demon's Arch
eth Hellslayer
Executioner's Justice
8x Eschuta's Temper (best +3/19 Lightning)
5x Alma Negra
3x Tomby (all non-eth)
Dragon Scale
Death Cleaver
Spirit Keeper
29 Rainbow Facets (almost three times of the amount my Sorc found in 99 levels)
Rare/Craft/Magic:
2/20 FCR Pally amulet
2/20 FCR Druid Circlet
2/15 FCR Druid amulet
2 Sorc/2 Nova/20 FCR/life/mana rare orb
15 IAS/30 FR jewel
15 IAS/28 ED jewel
15 IAS/32 ED jewel
20 FCR, LL, resists amulet
20 FCR, 19 MF amulet
Skillers:
77 total (11 with life)
Largest sets were Entrapping (10), Sparking (7), Graverobber's (7), Chilling (6), Natural (6)
Sharp GCs: 13 total (3 with life)
Fine SCs: 31 total (4 with life)
Shimmering SCs: 8 total (no good secondary mods)
Life/single resist SCs: 21 total
He really found an abundance of high runes. Apart from the runewords he made for himself (Enigma, Infinity, Beast, Fortitude, Hoto and 3x CtA), these are the Ist+ runes he has left to play with or has in the meantime passed on to other characters:
Code:
1x Ist
1x Ohm
6x Lo
2x Sur
2x Ber
4x Jah
1x Cham
2x ZodEDIT: This is where they ended up.
With gear and drops out of the way, this is the brief version (well, sort of) of his journey:
The Beginning
I first considered taking a Necro into the 99er challenge in November 2017. My Sorc was mid-90s at the time and I thought it would be nice to have another character to go back to for a change of scenery. I can't remember exactly whether I named him after the mad scientist vibe from Rick and Morty or after the Walking Dead character (because, you know, dead stuff). What I do know is that his journey started with a typo – I really meant to call him "Rick".
But 99 takes a long time, and there was no time to lose, so instead of creating another Necro and adding a "k", I went on to charge into the Blood Moor. The plan from the outset was to go with a Summoner build at first, given the ideal gear mainly consists of relatively common S&Us and runewords, which could all be farmed rather reliably. He pretty much followed the plan the whole way and was played as a Summoner until 97.
I don't remember much from the initial playthrough as he advanced to his first pit stop in Hell LK, which is when I entered him into the 99er thread. His first goal was to farm Enigma of course, and with an early Ber drop before even having a Harmony bow, he was off to a quick start. He had enough to make his first CtA (+3 BO) shortly after. Some dry spells followed, but he made consistent progress towards Enigma, with further rune drops reported here and here. I mostly focused on my Sorc at the time, so progress was slow in the beginning. But following a lucky streak and a funny "long distance battle" with @PhineasB (who had started running LK for Enigma with his Necro as well), he had assembled the ingredients for the ultimate game changer in February 2018, and made his Enigma.
He then went for a mix of Pit, Pindle, Meph and LK runs in order to get a few key pieces of S&Us. Around this time he also made an eth bugged Fortitude, considerably increasing his overall power due to the importance of the Merc setup for basically every Necro. Around this time a crazy thing happened when within ~6 hours of Pit running he found two Zods (and also made his Beast).
Getting the Missing Items & Baal Boredom
When @Grape hosted the 2018 RFL, I chose to run with Ric for two rounds of the tournament instead of going with more optimized rune finding characters. I was hoping to farm Infinity, the last major runeword he needed at the time. This worked out almost perfectly, collecting a suitable base and the runes for Infinity except for one Sur from running Cows during the first round of the RFL. Updates and non-qualifier drops posted here and here, including a +2 Necro/10 FCR craft amulet that he used for most of the time until 99. After the first RFL round ended, he went back to LK and quickly got the last Sur to make Infinity. The remaining core items he was looking for were Arachnid Mesh and Andy's Visage for Merc, so I continued running the Pit with him for the last RFL round in hopes of getting them. Alas, while finding a lot of stuff (think: MFO garbage), he was out of luck with these particular items. After RFL, he switched back and forth between Pit runs and Baal waves, including Pindleskin after raising the army there, until hitting 95.
At 95 it became increasingly hard to justify running the Pit any longer in terms of XP. While I still mixed things up from time to time, I almost exclusively moved to Baal waves. After a few XP gain tests, it turned out that Ventar runs were most efficient at first. He made his way to 96 this way and then started to include Baal. At this point, Baal runs were driving me almost crazy (IMO this is really the dullest experience in D2, I'd take LK over this any time
).I was still missing Arachnid Mesh and Andy's Visage – both of which I considered crucial in increasing XP gain efficiency in later stages. So at one point I decided to take a welcome break from Baal runs and go on a killing spree against Hell Mephisto. After ~800 runs he finally had both items, plus his first eth Titan's – an item I've been hoping to get for a long time (he would later get a second one from Pindle). He then went back to Baal, having his core gear assembled. Shortly after he socketed the Andy's with an IAS/28 ED jewel and made a Hoto (though not using it yet), while making his way to 97.
The Final Grind
I was constantly testing all sorts of runs in hopes of not having to run Baal. After simulating different approaches with twinked Necros, it turned out that running Nihlathak provided pretty much the same XP gain as Baal for 97-98. However, it made sense to stick with Baal for safety reasons. While I continued running Baal until 97.15 because of that, I suddenly decided I've had enough and switched to Nihlathak. What I found the most effective Necro strategy against Nihlathak turned out to be quite simple: Have a strong Merc, spam CE and don't die.
Despite having found only one P&B skiller at the time, I respec'ed to PN which I found was the way to go (at least without many skillers). With his new target providing refreshed motiviation, Ric quickly moved onwards to 97.3 and 97.5, i.a. picking up a Cham along the way.When MFO came around, he went on a break for a while until I picked him up again in October, moving to 97.7. He was welcomed back by Nihl with these nice drops (including Mang Song's Lesson) and more goodies to follow.
Soon afterwards he hit 98, as good drops kept coming, including a perfect 45 life Burning GC and his first +1 skill ring with BKWB. While he was far away from breaking any XP gain records (in particular in comparison to my previous character getting some ~4.2-4.5m XP/h), I was nonetheless quite happy with his pace at ~3.4-3.5m XP/h when I ran the numbers and recorded a few runs:
As far as safety goes, he did have a number of NDEs, but got away by the skin of his teeth most of the time. There were two deaths for 98-99. One I'm still not sure how it happened (likely missed the BO cast), and the second one in classic Nihl running fashion, namely courtesy of those "working as intended" Viper clouds. At least he recovered the corpse in both instances, and picked up a second P&B skiller and a few other things (as well as these).
In November I hosted a little MF tourney and participated with Ric to get him on track to finish this year. Despite the second death occurring during the tourney, he did fine overall and managed to get to 98.5, with his tournament haul not being too shabby either, i.a. picking up a 30@ Mara's. Things became more and more hectic at work towards the end of the year with little time to play D2. Still I managed to squeeze in a few runs here and there. Slowly progressing, Ric hit 98.66 and 98.8, and in the meantime improving to a +4 BO CtA with his third try. The last few weeks in December though, RL was extremely busy, and he had to wait for the holidays to hit 98.9 a few days ago. I took a few breaks in between all that holiday feasting to put in the last ~10 hours over the last few days: He hit 99 today with a very strong finish in terms of drops, including a perfect 15 IAS/30 FR RJoF, the elusive Astreon's Iron Ward (overall grailer, putting me at -1 with Tyrael's remaining) and his second BKWB.
The Future
Same as with my Sorc, Ric will likely stay untwinked and at the very least serve as my go-to Fishymancer for testing purposes.
While I started a third character in the 99er challenge, a "strictly melee" Paladin currently in Normal, making 99 with Ric will probably be my last major D2 project for quite a while. I decided to quit my job a few months back and will now take it easy for a while, fly out to sunny places to go backpacking until starting a new job in spring. For better or worse, I doubt I will have any opportunity (or desire even) to play until then.There are one or two Mat/Pat projects on my list that I hope to wrap up before I leave. In any case, I'm sure I'll be back at some point!
Thanks...
...for reading, and in particular major thanks to the whole 99er crowd – too many to name or single out, and really everyone being active in it provided the necessary motivation for me to do this... again.
Thanks for the support and discussion, it was a fun run!***
Google