I have a late entry to announce! I've been meaning to post an update for a while now, but always got distracted... :uhhuh:
I decided to play a Summons Druid, for two reasons:
1. Never played a Druid
2. Never had more than one minion
My Druid, named Oberon, features maxed Ravens as a permanent part of his little zoo army. I have absolutely zero experience with them, but what the heck, I'll try anything once.
All of my early skill points went into Raven, to boost their damage quickly. I figured Act 1-2 Normal was the only time their damage would be useful. Indeed, when I had 5 ravens, pecking away with 17-19 damage per hit, they did a fair job of racking up kills. Far more importanty, the frequency they caused "blinding hits" increased big-time. I'm guessing high-level ravens trigger high-level Dim Vision, hopefully with a decent duration if I reach Hell.
I soon gambled a fine
rare broad axe to make life easier. Not bad for "required level 3". Early on, I noticed Druids can swing some big two-handers "Very Fast", according to their stats as I browsed Charsi. No complaints from me.
Fiona the Fire Rogue was helping me out, (Isolde was available at a higher level, but I understand she's taken) until Act 2, when I hired a Defiance Merc and gave him an Eld-Eld rare bardiche with LL. After cubing several diamonds with the polearm recipe, I scored a Savage Partizan of the Leech, for future use. Nice.
As for Oberon, by Act 3 I cubed a Brutal Maul w/ 2 sockets. I gladly used a +damage/MF jewel to make
this. Skill-wise, I continued to develop Dire Wolves, with only one point going to the pre-req Spirit Wolf. Our combined damage, assisted by level 1 Spirit of Wolverine and rapid p8 leveling, soon overwhelmed our foes. I tried out Carrion Vine as well, and appreciated the life bursts and corpse disposal it provided.
The Witch Doctor dropped some
awesome boots! I've been on a hot-streak with boots lately. I also found Milabrega's shield, and the MF it provided marked the end of my two-hand weapon attack. By Act 4 the Merc and wolves were easily outpacing me on kills anyway, so I didn't need the maul anymore. I saw my worst Hellforge drop ever. (Eld, PSkull, Sapph)
Early in Act 5 I found my first Shael rune, and made a "Rhyme" Tower Shield. I had no problems finishing Act 5. I maxed Dire Wolf and began building Grizzly for the passive damage bonus for the wolves. I plan to use the wolves more than the Grizzly, to ensure my Merc scores most of the kills for the extra MF. The ravens have been working better than I'd hoped. Their constant harassment turns monster mobs into
stumbling, bumbling fools.
A very unusual find in a bonus lava area: a demon dropped a MINOR healing potion. I never saw a minor potion that late in Normal. Game error perhaps?
Act 1 NM started well, I quickly found a
String of Ears Demonhide Sash. I like the stats, but I can't help wondering if a plain ole' Resistance Belt of the Whale would be better, especially considering that Druids only get 2 life per stat point (how disappointing when I learned this!) Also, I'll probably build Oak Sage, which could double all my sources of life.
A Tristram monster dropped a new
merc weapon. It's no Hone Sundan, but I'll take it. I upgraded a
one-hander for Oberon, to help out a bit.
I tried to cube a 4-socket gothic plate before Andariel. I wasted a precious PTopaz on the attempt, and ended up with 1 lousy socket! Doh! My Topaz luck has not been good. My merc is still wearing the 3-chip topaz ring mail from Normal Charsi. Embarrassing! (At least he has a Circlet of Luck.) Oberon is wearing a 3 PTopaz Artisan's Great Helm and a 3-Normal Topaz Breast Plate.
However, my rune luck has been fantastic! By the end of Act 1, I had
FIVE Shaels, along with a Sol, and a couple Amns/Thuls. Best of all, I found an Io from a coffin in the Catacombs. That was high on my wishlist, for making a "Black."
At this point, I was running dual PC/Mac systems, sharing a monitor in my home office. (I should have done this long ago.) So I installed ATMA on the PC and starting building my first-ever stash, via email transfer. Good timing, since I soon found some potentially useful
freezing items, dropped simultaneously from different monsters.
I hired a Might Merc to start Act 2. I'll use him throughout NM. I might switch to a Rogue if I reach Hell, or possibly continue with Might. Item drops will help decide for me. I'll probably use a "Black" for endgame, although I did find an
excellent weapon in the desert. Sweet! I rolled 160% on the ED, which is OK, and the +1 druid skill is nice, with other great mods too. A great weapon switch (with Sigon's shield) for casting summons and applying PMH.
Other useful finds so far:
Sigon's Gloves, Boots, and Shield
Crimson (+6 min damage) Jewel of Fervor
Hawkmail
Peasant Crown
Ocher (20%) Ring of Fortune (21%)
Oberon, Summons Druid, level 56, Act 2 NM, Jerhyn's Palace
"vanilla" 1.10 HC
Total MF: 263%, and 324% for Fazel´s kills
RIP to the recently fallen... good progress guys!
and congrats on the Conqueror WoL, some good finds there too :thumbsup:
I made some attempt to get Goblin Toe, but it turned out as expected: I didn't find any and it got boring soon enough. Now I'm on my way towards Duriel, and then A3. As always, the first really big obstacle will be Diablo (or me getting careless).
R.I.P IllBeDeadSoon
. Then in the Frigid Highlands I found a Captain's Grand Charm of Lightning (+1 Off Auras).
5 points in poison creeper...
