- Mar 14, 2020
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Naranja, Hammerdin, Orange You Glad Tourney, Level 83 (A3 H)
It's been awhile, almost 17 months, since my last update. But my annual goals included finishing my HC Tourney Sept, and after I ticked off my second-to-last remaining goal with the untwinked 99er Sorc hitting 98, I figured it was time. Paladin was the last remaining character, and the third attempt was sitting in A1 Hell, so time to dust him off.
Act I
There was a reason he was sitting there, as noted in my last update above: Zeal with Holy Freeze barely cut it at p1 for the Moor and Den, and no weapon upgrades were imminent. When I started back up at Plains WP, a Champ pack of CI Wailing Beast types was right by the WP. My merc went down twice with barely a dent in any of their HPs, so I called it for the HF build and used the respec to Hammerdin. Much better! His strength wasn't as high, so I crafted a Hitpower Scepter, and then, at first S&E, this wand on second attempt:
A blue War Fork dropped, so crafted a meh weapon, which was a slight upgrade over the Imbued Partizan, with the fire damage pretty nice with the IAS:
Akara reward ring was useless, and Countess drop was Amn and Ith. Mixed in was a caster ring that was generally unhelpful but had loads of mana, which eased quality of life, and Dim Vision charges, which I thought would be nice for Pit and other areas with projectile nasties, and a helm upgrade now that blood helm was unnecesary (it was the best of three attempts):
I shifted to p3 after Countess and kept it there the rest of way for A1 and all of A2. Smooth sailing, and Andy dropped with ease. A 27@ 4os Akaran Targe also dropped along the way, so I went back to NM to personalize:
Act II
Pretty straightforward, if a bit slow due to Unravellers. Things started off with a nice Cold resists SC of Vita, and then some Magic Immune / PI goodness.
You can see that I initally planned to use Holy Bolt, but it was too slow, so I gave Smite a shot, and it worked well. The merc also got a weapon upgrade in early A2 (forgot the screenie): a Hyperion Spear drop crafting into 76% ED with Prevent Monster Heal.
The tombs were rough, with four areas spawning MI Unravellers, including several overlapping boss packs, and some with the Sarcophagi (that seem to produce mummies indefinitely when Unravellers are around?) Anyhow, we tackled the true tomb first and took down Duriel.
Kaa's tomb was especially challenging, with multiple boss Unravellers, including one with a Champ pack mixed in; lots of retreating to draw out the skeletons, and a few times needing to approach from another side, and sometimes just exploring another if I was getting frustrated to avoid making a mistake. But he got an Ist for his troubles, before taking down Kaa from a safe distance with Holy Bolt the only option:
I will transition to p1 the rest of the way. I'm also going to abandon the full clear, especially for A3 jungles, with the main focus on getting him through safely at this point. Depending on monster rolls and areas, I may full clear along the way though. Highlight of A2 was this drop in AS, maybe to become an Insight for the merc for the end of A5:
* * *
It's been awhile, almost 17 months, since my last update. But my annual goals included finishing my HC Tourney Sept, and after I ticked off my second-to-last remaining goal with the untwinked 99er Sorc hitting 98, I figured it was time. Paladin was the last remaining character, and the third attempt was sitting in A1 Hell, so time to dust him off.
Act I
There was a reason he was sitting there, as noted in my last update above: Zeal with Holy Freeze barely cut it at p1 for the Moor and Den, and no weapon upgrades were imminent. When I started back up at Plains WP, a Champ pack of CI Wailing Beast types was right by the WP. My merc went down twice with barely a dent in any of their HPs, so I called it for the HF build and used the respec to Hammerdin. Much better! His strength wasn't as high, so I crafted a Hitpower Scepter, and then, at first S&E, this wand on second attempt:
A blue War Fork dropped, so crafted a meh weapon, which was a slight upgrade over the Imbued Partizan, with the fire damage pretty nice with the IAS:
Akara reward ring was useless, and Countess drop was Amn and Ith. Mixed in was a caster ring that was generally unhelpful but had loads of mana, which eased quality of life, and Dim Vision charges, which I thought would be nice for Pit and other areas with projectile nasties, and a helm upgrade now that blood helm was unnecesary (it was the best of three attempts):
I shifted to p3 after Countess and kept it there the rest of way for A1 and all of A2. Smooth sailing, and Andy dropped with ease. A 27@ 4os Akaran Targe also dropped along the way, so I went back to NM to personalize:
Act II
Pretty straightforward, if a bit slow due to Unravellers. Things started off with a nice Cold resists SC of Vita, and then some Magic Immune / PI goodness.
You can see that I initally planned to use Holy Bolt, but it was too slow, so I gave Smite a shot, and it worked well. The merc also got a weapon upgrade in early A2 (forgot the screenie): a Hyperion Spear drop crafting into 76% ED with Prevent Monster Heal.
The tombs were rough, with four areas spawning MI Unravellers, including several overlapping boss packs, and some with the Sarcophagi (that seem to produce mummies indefinitely when Unravellers are around?) Anyhow, we tackled the true tomb first and took down Duriel.
Kaa's tomb was especially challenging, with multiple boss Unravellers, including one with a Champ pack mixed in; lots of retreating to draw out the skeletons, and a few times needing to approach from another side, and sometimes just exploring another if I was getting frustrated to avoid making a mistake. But he got an Ist for his troubles, before taking down Kaa from a safe distance with Holy Bolt the only option:
I will transition to p1 the rest of the way. I'm also going to abandon the full clear, especially for A3 jungles, with the main focus on getting him through safely at this point. Depending on monster rolls and areas, I may full clear along the way though. Highlight of A2 was this drop in AS, maybe to become an Insight for the merc for the end of A5:
* * *
Rich (BB code):
Tournament of Tournaments Participation and Score Table
D2V Forum Name Tournament Name+YR Class Level Location S&E HC/SC Score
---- ---------- ----------------- ----- ----- ---------- ---- ----- -----
D2R HanShotFirst BulgingBiceps2020 Barb 86 Guardian 0 HC 15
D2R Kstil3227 Committed2015 Druid 83 Guardian 0 HC 15
D2L PhineasB OrangeYouGlad 2021 Pally 83 H A3 0 HC N/A
D2R Cattleya 12 Labors 2011 Ama 63 NM Pandemonium 0 SC 08
D2R D4di56lu3 Committed2015 Ama 61 NM Kurast Dock 0 SC 07
D2R coju 12 Labors 2011 Nec 36 Harrogath 0 SC 05
D2R D4di56lu3 WotC & BotK 2021 Druid 35 Harrogath 0 HC 04
D2R Flan WhatsYourPoison2004 Ama 28 Pan Fortress 0 HC 03
D2R lizard IgottheBlues2005 Druid 25 Lut Gholein 0 HC 01
D2L D2DC 12 Labors 2011 Dru 20 Lut Gholein 0 SC 01
D2R skoolbus SUWorshipper2018 Sin 20 Lut Gholein 0 HC 01
D2R Babyhell Overburdened 2019 Sorc 04 Cold Plains 0 SC 00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to ashes (aka Deeds)
D2R Vang IgottheBlues2005 Asn 74 Lwr Kurast H 0 HC 12
D2R skoolbus Naked 2007 Pally 54 Far Oasis NM 0 HC 06
D2R Oblivious 12 Labors 2011 Pally 54 NM Halls otD 0 SC 06
D2R Vildecor SUWorshipper2018 Ama 50 NM Black Marsh 0 HC 05
D2L PhineasB Env of G&G 2013 Pally 49 NM Tower 0 HC N/A
D2R Kstil3227 BrotherBear2004 Druid 34 Pan Fortress 0 HC 03
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