Skunkbelly's Ultimate Tournament Challenge

Yes... a little... too quiet...

Eliot the Necromancer is proceeding steadily through Act2. He was only 71 when I got him, way too low in my opinion. So I'm attempting a full clear of Act2 (minus the extra tombs, I'm thinking) in order to level him a little bit. Working so far, as he's into lvl 75 and about to venture into the palace.

Despite his low lvl, he is a Necromancer, who is a well-rounded character and has plenty of crowd-control potential, so the going is safe. One near death I can remember, but he's doing fine.
 
I'm pretty much just using HD to run LK for the Superchest rune investigation that is ongoing. While a sorc would have likely be a better choice, the sin does have quite nice speed and crowd control. Actually Sin might be better since you can't teleport in town and Kurast is sooo far from the WP. So far only up to a Lum in the rune department but I did find a Pali def aura charm, an 8% res all large charm, and a 26 life 16% res lightning large charm (really need lightning res charms) in addition to a 389% ED rare lance and a Lycander's Flank.

Also hoping I can make it back around to some characters I've already played. As it currently stands I will get Bishop should I and he make it to Act 5. Only played him for Act 4 Normal so I don't think I messed him up too much :rolleyes: .
 
Well I just killed Tennyson the Conc. Barbarian. I have to admit that it was not an accident. He was in my opinion a terrible character to play, I tried 10-12 times to get to Radamant and got bored before clearing the first level of the sewers each time. I had to hit each non unique/champion monster at least 10 times and for the uniques it was more like 30 times. Each hit felt like it was taking an eternity. I've never played a Conc barb before, and I now officially never ever ever plan to play one ever ever again.

I apologize to whomever was Tennyson's creator for wasting your character in such a way.

Up until now this tournament was a lot of fun, I'm sorry it had to end this way but I would probably have died soon anyway. Thank you Skunk for your amazing dedication to this tournament! I'm certain that you've put a lot of time into it, and everyone is greatful!

Some of you might be interested to know that I was able to run from town in Act 2 to the Claw Viper temple naked before he was killed. He was naked because I took all of hes gear off, that I will be returning to Skunkbelly in the next day or so.

I have received Olga (I think that's the name) from purplelocust already, but I will pass her along to Hrus sometime in the next 10 minutes.

Good luck everyone!
-hpd
 
RIP, Tennyson! Sorry to hear about the death, hp_sauce. He was the last surviving barb. So now by my count there are 2 Assassins (HD and Olga), a sorc (Dickinson), 2 Amazons (Notley and GertudeStein), 2 Necros (Eliot and Lowell) and a paladin (Bishop) remaining.


I was the last to have Tennyson before you and I have his stats on another machine that I can post later. I found him very tedious in Act 1- he had 20 points in Axe Mastery but I had no suitable axe and used the (very recently acquired in the Hell bonus stash) Dangoon's Teaching with a single point in Mace Mastery. My real problem was that he was underlevelled to the point where his Howl didn't scatter monsters in most areas- I'm sure you had it even worse in Act 2. In the areas where Howl did work, it was Howl and Taunt and it was not speedy going. I found the Countess an ordeal and this character was totally unsuitable for running her for runes, which I was too bad since I do have some gaps that I had hoped to fill in somewhat. I did end up visiting the Countess a few times, maybe ten, each time vowing that it would be the last... I think he came in at level 71 and left at 74 but I can post the specifics later. By the time he left me with gear he could Howl the monsters away on the first and I think second levels of the tower, but not the lower ones unless he had a skill shrine en route which gave him a couple more. I felt bad about him not being high enough level but he was too low of a level coming in, so it was players 1 all the way for me, with a fair amount of avoiding battles with Howl when I could manage it.

He and his merc were quite dependent upon leech for survival, so I'm not surprised the sewers with the skeletons there were serious trouble.

That is the second time a barb has died in the act right after I played him- the other was Frost, who was also an ordeal.
 
Hp_Sauce said:
Well I just killed Tennyson the Conc. Barbarian.
Click to expand...

RIP Tennyson (and welcome to the Act 2 graveyard). I played him in Act 1 of Nightmare. This is what he looked like when he showed up:

clvl: 40
Str: 120
Dex: 45
Vit: 110
Ene: 10

Concentration: 4 + 1 in all prereqs + 1 in Bezerk
Axe Mastery: 14; 1 in Mace Mastery, Iron Skin, Increased Stamina, Increased Speed, and Natural Resistances
Battle Orders: 10; 1 in all other warcries except for Find Item and Grim Ward.

When he left, he was:
clvl: 50
Str: 135
Dex: 63
Vit: 127
Ene: 10

Concentration: 5
Battle Orders: 20

This was the only Barbarian I played in the tournament and didn't have too many problems with him. I actually don't remember much about him other than thinking that Battle Orders was actually a pretty cool skill (I've never really played a Barbarian past normal Andariel).

Continued good luck to the living
Patiently waiting for everyone to become Guardian so I can start the next one...

Edit:
@purplelocust: Skunkbelly must have had a surplus of Dangoon's Teaching because I got one of those as well for my reward



 
Ohomemgrande said:
@purplelocust: Skunkbelly must have had a surplus of Dangoon's Teaching because I got one of those as well for my reward
Click to expand...
I'm sure I sent in at least two of them as part of my original ante, and I'm sure there were others. I have a greater appreciation for it now- like other weapons that have damage that increases with level, it can actually be much more useful that it appears!



 
Here are Tennyson's stats from when I had him:

Tennyson on arrival into Hell Act 1:
L71 S135 D93 V207 E10
Conc 13 Berserk 8
20 Ax 1 Sword 1 Mace 3 NatRes
1 FI 1 BC 1 WC 20BO


Tennyson on departure
L74 S135 D93 V222 E10
Conc 17 Berserk 8
20 Ax 1 Sword 1 Mace 3 NatRes
1 Find Item 1 Battle Command 1 War Cry 20 BO

I put all his points into what I was using as his main attack, Concentrate. Berserk I used as a backup attack but the stun on War Cry was too short to really use Berserk comfortably except against physical immunes, where there was no other choice. I was tempted to put some points in Howl to improve safety but I didn't.
 
Sorry to hear that Tennyson got bored to death. I was very happy not to have a melee character for Act 2 Hell with all of the unleachables there and my lack of a good weapon.

I had Tennyson in Act 2 NM and he was slow to kill things but incredibly sturdy. Since my best weapon was (and still is) a Cloudcrack, I stuck a point into Sword Mastery and the rest of my points (6) went into Zerk for 'diversification'. Don't remember exactly what I did with the stat points, but apparently I didn't add anything into Energy since he was:
Str-135
Dex-92
Vit-127
Eng-10
when he left me. Pretty sure I dumped into Dex to be a little nicer than my previous play with Frost.
 
Finished A2 with Bishop. It was quite easy with Haeven's Light I have found and personalized previously. Also my merc did almost better damage than me with that Fanaticism.
No real threats this time, but it could be because I played very cautiosly. Only ExtraStrong Radament scored a critical, left me with ~100 life. I was more afraid about Fangskin, but I played agressively against him, drank ~6 full rejuvis in short time, but he and his pack was defeated in few seconds.

Found quite interesting charms:

Serpent's Grand Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0xd4fdef3c
+45 to Mana
7% Faster Run/Walk

Fine Small Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xdcc8967c
+14 to Attack Rating
+3 to Maximum Damage
3% Faster Run/Walk

Bishop sent to Hoop76.

It's a shame that Hp_Sauce killed Tennyson, with the Haeven's Light, I would welcome him.

EDIT: Guys what you have done to Olga? She returned as completely different character than I started. (Well, maybe it's better :wink3: )
 
Notley has passed on. I got one hit KOed by Fangskin. After looking at the screen through the deeds writing saw that the little :censored: was FE, Cursed, and had Might Aura. I was planning on not even having to mess with her, but she spawned right on top of the alter. Oh well, I don't know how much further she could have gotten anyway. I just didn't have the gear for her.
Stats looked like this when she died:

Notley-Lvl 77
Strength=87
Dex=188
Vit=155
Energy=40

Stats:
Max-Cold and Freezing Arrow-8 in Guided Arrow-3 in Immolation Arrow. 1 in all other bows except Strafe.
Passive had 16 in Valk, 2 in Dodge and Avoid, 4 in Critical Strike and 1 in all else.
No Spear/Javelin skills

She did great where there were no CIs but then struggled where there were. I think it took around 2 hours to get to the Claw Viper second lvl.

Anyway, I had already been sent the next Character, So Lowell is on the way to Purplelocust, and the stash is on its way back to Skunk with a bonus that I found with going through. Just a Homunculus.
Can't wait for the next Tourney.

Gl all
EJB
Edit: I also left the Skillers I found in there..I don't play HC except for tournements so If you don't want em, Toss em. Thanks again Skunk..
EJB
 
I continue to be envious as I read. This was what was keeping me interested in playing. Can't wait for the next one. And patiently following the outcome of this one.
 
Sorry to hear about the death of Notley, EJB! The idea of rerolling Fangskin's placement and mods after two hours to get there is a very tough one!

I received Lowell and will start A3 with him this weekend. He was the character I started so everyone alive has seen him now and he seems to be in fine health. By my count we have:

Code: 
Live players            Hell A3 character
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skunkbelly         GertrudeStein - Amazon             
Brak               HD - Assassin 
PurpleLocust       Lowell- Necromancer   
Hrus               Olga  - Assassin
Hoop76             Bishop- Paladin      
JoeBruce           Dickinson - Sorceress     
Billybgame         Eliot - Necromancer

at most 7 guardians left in us now!

I think that except for Brak, JoeBruce and Billybgame, we're all seeing characters we've seen before now. Good luck to all!
 
RIP HP_Sauce and EJB. Sorry to hear it.

Edit: Yikes. Very busy times for me. I just went to load up GertrudeStein's gear, and I see the merc was passed to me dead. This, with my money woes. Not good, in act 2 Hell. I sure hope this isn't my undoing.

When's our deadline for this act, anyway?
 
Brak said:
I'm pretty much just using HD to run LK for the Superchest rune investigation that is ongoing. While a sorc would have likely be a better choice, the sin does have quite nice speed and crowd control. Actually Sin might be better since you can't teleport in town and Kurast is sooo far from the WP. So far only up to a Lum in the rune department but I did find a Pali def aura charm, an 8% res all large charm, and a 26 life 16% res lightning large charm (really need lightning res charms) in addition to a 389% ED rare lance and a Lycander's Flank.
Click to expand...

Nice chest finds! I was running LK for the latest mini-MFO as well as the superchest data project, ending just now.

For running LK superchests with a sorc, which I think can be faster than an assassin, I look for a map where the chests are close enough to the WP so that I can make a loop, and that way go back to a smaller town than the Kurast Docks. I prefer the Pandemonium Fortress as the WP is close to where you appear on loading and there is easy access to shopping there and the stash is close. So that way I go PF -> LK -> loop and pop chests -> back to LK WP -> back to PF. The extra time to go back the WP (teleporting) is less than the long walk in town from where you spawn to the Kurast Docks WP, even with a lot of FRW.



 
Sorry to hear about Notley's demise EJB. I had her in Act 1 just before you. Fangskin can really be a pain, especially with those mods:shocked: . I imagine even your Valk was gone in a split second. That was the hardest part of Act2 for me with Lowell outside of the time I also died of frustration in the Maggot Lair. I had to grab a second batch of meat shields, and I ended up getting cornered so that I couldn't walk anywhere upon entrance to the level (but could still click on the stairs). Considered giving up, but I was lucky that my Necromancer nook was not in line with the projection of his Lightning bolts and I had enough meat shields to do the job.

Notley was a pretty decent Frost Maiden when I got her. And I was incredibly happy she was a Bowazon as my Bonus stash had a Lycander's in it (crossing fingers in case I make it to Gertrude). But I found FA to be incredibly mana hungry. I could only get off 5-7 shots per blue ball. So after adding my Den of Evil point to FA, the rest went into Guided Arrow. Also did this because I was running into a lot of Cold Immunes and since I had a decent physical dmg bow, GA was pretty efficient with auto-aim/auto-hit (did I mention I'm a little wussy when it comes to not getting near monsters?:point: :embarassed: <-me). After doing the Countess, decided it wasn't worth the risk especially with a Sorc slated for Act 3 and LK.

@purple locust, Thanks for the tip that sounds like a good plan for minimizing run time. I have enjoyed the Sin for LK for a couple reasons. Can't talk about her skill placement, but we all know about the many good crowd control skills sins have if you just want to run by a pack of monsters. Burst of speed is also great, if one has it. But my number 1 favorite reason is NO KEYS!!! Don't know why, but everytime I get a Sin passed on to me in this tourney, I'm excited because I don't have to keep track of how many keys I've got (I know it takes a lot of mental effort). I also intentionally rolled a map with only one bonfire near the WP so I don't get in over my head waking up too many foes. It's slower but I'm not dead...yet.
 
Tomorrow (Saturday) is the deadline to have completed Act 2 Hell. There are still three players (Hoop, JoeBruce, and Billybgame) who need to finish.

HOWEVER, we can be a little more patient at this stage, I think. If you could all make sure you finish up by Wednesday at the latest, that'd be great. I don't want us to get too far off schedule.

RIP to the fallen. It's fun... of the 7 characters left, I've only played 3. Four big surprises still await me. Wish there was still a Barb left for my Arreat's Face, though... it's an item I've never managed to find before, so I was looking forward to wearing it. Sigh.
 
skunkbelly said:
RIP to the fallen. It's fun... of the 7 characters left, I've only played 3. Four big surprises still await me. Wish there was still a Barb left for my Arreat's Face, though... it's an item I've never managed to find before, so I was looking forward to wearing it. Sigh.
Click to expand...

Wow, you've only played 3 of the 7. I've played six of them, and I think a lot of people are starting their second pass. So it looks like all of Skunkbelly's characters are the ones that are dying. And everyone blames me for making the bombs.



 
Eliot has vanquished Duriel. In fact, the boss was surprisingly easy.

It was getting to him that proved most difficult. Tal Rasha's tomb had a certain immunity that made it particularly difficult for Eliot to get through the dungeon. His merc, armed with a lowly but effective Kelpie Snare, did quite a lot of killing. Had some rather intense moments - once in the Canyon I was set upon by I don't know how many boss packs; they were literally coming out of the sand; I'd guess about six or eight total - but with some clever spell casting and a little luck I was able to high-tail it out of there and regroup.

This was definately my biggest challenge. I do not envy you, Billy. Getting him through Act3 is doable, but will not be easy, especially with your recent monetary issues. The main issue is the low lvl of the mercenary; Eliot is just under 78 after I put 6 levels on him through Act2. I took some pity on Billy and resurrected the merc before I exited out the final time. Eliot will be sent before I turn in later tonight.
 
That's if I live that long, JoeBruce. I've been pondering how to raise some money to ressurect him, without lots of risk. Might try some Radamant runs, I guess.

Glad to hear about some flexibility, Skunk. I might be able to get done tomorrow. But, maybe not. Working afternoons lately limits my gaming time, and I've got some stuff going this weekend, too. Might be able to get a lot done Sunday night.
 
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