The Certain Death Tournament.

[EmperorMoo]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

@EmperorMoo: I'd rather just leave your Mojomancer in the table. Is that okay with you? You are allowed to have multiple people in the tournament, and also, I hate seeing people's progress wasted. And who knows?...you might want to pick him up again. If you deleted him, I could put "retired" next to his name. Another option would be for you to ceremonially kill him. In any case, thanks for rejoining!


BathtubPancake had a blast after the Travincal. I absolutely love the structure of Act III: the exhausting, difficult swamps, then the city regions, each getting more difficult and the landscape getting more and more imposing. Then you cross the enormous Causeway and into the stone city itself. Epic!

I'm happy for BraveSirRobin to stay in the table, I just wasn't sure if you wanted to remove chars that aren't going to move.

It's also nice to see people mention parts of the game they really enjoy, instead of complaining about The Maggot Lair etc. Personally, I'm always glad to see Act 4 (my personal favourite): Good quest rewards, and I do like the graphics in the RoF.:thumbsup:

 

[Thomh]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Uzumati has made the rank of Destroyer, but not without some major hiccups along the way. I have three different version of D2 installed on my computer (Vanilla, RRM/RWM and just RWM), and I accidentaly opened the RWM one when playing this session. Spacebar is definately not hotkeyed as screenshot there, so there are unfortunately no pictures this time

I`m really glad I didn`t go throught with my original plan of getting an act1 merc.....Uzumati just can`t tank anything and especially not Frenzytaurs. We met a couple of Champions of the said monster type in the Pit of Acheron (I think it was there) and it was a truly horrible experience. Shockwave doesn`t work on them and the Ghostly Lord melted my merc very quickly. I had to resort to getting in one hit at a time and quickly TP out of there. They eventually died, but that was not a pleasant experience.

The next awful battle was against Nihlatak, and to be honest I have no idea why I even bothered taking him out. Melee against his crazy arctic blast is just stupid. All the precious rejuvs accumulated through act5 were spent trying to tank him before I just gave up and let Emilio die about 15 times to take him out. His drop wasn`t even worth a screenie, and I know one certain bear that won`t be seen in Nilly`s dungeon in NM if he makes it that far.

I lowered the player settings to 1 before Baals waves as I didn`t know if Shockwave worked against all of them and had no intention of finding out it doesn`t midcombat. Turns out it works on every single one of them except the Superuniques, so I definately lost some experience there.

2 weird things this tourney forced me to do that I have never done in a tournament before:

1: Not read the scroll of resistance until I was finished with the Cow level. I had to choose inferior equipment to keep Uzumati below the 50% cap on lighting and it didn`t seem to be worth it.

2: I used the socket recipe on a Gothic Plate. It did roll 4os, so I was lucky with that one. The reason is that the body armor is probably the last thing I`m going to replace when switching to survival gear, and I didn`t want to use my precious Topazes in a Great helm and then find a sweet 3os druid pelt and make my initial topaz investment a waste.

GoMule readout as Uzumati entered NM: Edit: Entered some numbers that doesn`t show in Gomule, they are all highlighted and unfortunately taken from memory

Spoiler

Name:       Uzumati
Class:      Druid
Experience: 38411764
Level:      47

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   115/117
Dexterity:  21/21
Vitality:   25/25
Energy:     20/22
HP:         144/196 [highlight] 519 in Werebear form[/highlight]
Mana:       112/112
Stamina:    130/141
Defense:    5/214
AR:         75/187 [highlight] 1200 with Blessed Aim from merc[/highlight]
[highlight]Damage:     550 Average for Fire Claws[/highlight]

Fire:       87/47/-13
Cold:       89/49/-11
Lightning:  89/49/-11
Poison:     72/32/-28

MF:         224       Block:      2
GF:         10
FR/W:       0
FHR:        0
IAS:        25
FCR:        0

[highlight]Skills[/highlight]
Werewolf: 1/1
Lycanthropy: 20/20
Werebear: 1/1
Feral Rage: 1/1
Maul: 1/1
Fire Claws: 20/20
Shock Wave: 1/1

Firestorm: 1/1
Molten Boulder: 1/1
Fissure: 1/1
Vocano: 2/2

[highlight]equipment[/equipment]

Hexing Circlet of Luck
Circlet
Defense: 21
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 19
Fingerprint: 0xd00e21f9
Item Level: 31
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Curses (Necromancer only)
26% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Nagelring
Ring
Required Level: 7
Fingerprint: 0x7b853058
Item Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+62 to Attack Rating
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
Attacker Takes Damage of 3
15% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Blessed Chain Boots of Luck
Chain Boots
Defense: 16
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 19
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0xa1689a4
Item Level: 32
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+63% Enhanced Defense
35% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Dread Chain
Plated Belt
Defense: 16
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 9
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0xc2eaeab3
Item Level: 30
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 3 Frost Nova when struck
+36% Enhanced Defense
+1 to Strength
+6 to Life
Fire Resist +19%
Poison Resist +15%

Amulet of Luck
Amulet
Required Level: 19
Fingerprint: 0xa86c049f
Item Level: 35
Version: Expansion 1.10+
35% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Gemmed Gothic Plate
Gothic Plate
Defense: 130
Durability: 55 of 55
Required Level: 15
Required Strength: 70
Fingerprint: 0x27342586
Item Level: 38
Version: Expansion 1.10+
80% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Flawless Topaz
Socketed: Flawless Topaz
Socketed: Flawless Topaz
Socketed: Flawless Topaz

Order Grasp
Ring
Required Level: 9
Fingerprint: 0xe1d90995
Item Level: 12
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Energy
+6 Maximum Stamina
Lightning Resist +16%
Fire Resist +11%
15% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items


Cobalt Leather Gloves of Fortune
Leather Gloves
Defense: 3
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 13
Fingerprint: 0x4a1950ae
Item Level: 28
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Cold Resist +25%
18% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Steel
Scimitar
TirEl
One Hand Damage: 5 - 10
Durability: 21 of 22
Required Level: 13
Required Dexterity: 21
Fingerprint: 0xd219d76d
Item Level: 20
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+25% Increased Attack Speed
20% Enhanced Damage
Adds 3 - 3 Damage
+50 to Attack Rating
50% Chance of Open Wounds
+2 to Mana after each Kill
+1 to Light Radius
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Tir Rune
Socketed: El Rune

Gemmed Superior Tower Shield
Superior Tower Shield
Defense: 23
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 67 of 67
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 75
Fingerprint: 0xdb073853
Item Level: 24
Version: Expansion 1.10+
All Resistances +47
Increase Maximum Durability 12%
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Perfect Diamond
Socketed: Flawless Diamond
Socketed: Flawless Diamond

[highlight]Charms[/highlight]

Lapis Small Charm of Strength
Small Charm
Required Level: 10
Fingerprint: 0xd3bcf7da
Item Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Strength
Cold Resist +7%

Small Charm of Greed
Small Charm
Required Level: 15
Fingerprint: 0xd03223f5
Item Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Extra Gold from Monsters

Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 23
Fingerprint: 0x970368e
Item Level: 33
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+22 to Life

Ocher Large Charm of Life
Large Charm
Required Level: 12
Fingerprint: 0x9c402b70
Item Level: 24
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+14 to Life
Lightning Resist +9%

Ocher Small Charm of Frost
Small Charm
Required Level: 10
Fingerprint: 0x20b8237a
Item Level: 10
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 1 - 2 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
Lightning Resist +7%

Rugged Small Charm of Life
Small Charm
Required Level: 14
Fingerprint: 0xb8f7a84b
Item Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10 to Life
+5 Maximum Stamina

[highlight]Mercenary:[/highlight]

Name:       Emilio
Race:       Desert Mercenary
Type:       Off-Normal
Experience: 11257562
Level:      46
Dead?:      false

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   122/122
Dexterity:  95/95
HP:         705/705
Defense:    499/607
AR:         877/925

Fire:       114/74/14
Cold:       91/51/-9
Lightning:  91/51/-9
Poison:    91/51/-9

Dread Mask
Circlet
Defense: 43
Durability: 20 of 35
Required Level: 18
Fingerprint: 0xca283a9c
Item Level: 26
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+7 to Maximum Damage
+48 to Attack Rating
4% Life stolen per hit
+41% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +23%
Poison Length Reduced by 75%


Gemmed Superior Breast Plate
Superior Breast Plate
Defense: 65
Durability: 55 of 55
Required Level: 5
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0x5a8d7fe1
Item Level: 20
Version: Expansion 1.10+
35% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Increase Maximum Durability 10%
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Flawed Topaz
Socketed: Flawed Topaz
Socketed: Chipped Topaz

Savage Partizan of Excellence
Partizan
Two Hand Damage: 65 - 131
Durability: 51 of 65
Required Level: 23
Required Strength: 113
Required Dexterity: 67
Fingerprint: 0x1b1db565
Item Level: 50
Version: Expansion 1.10+
75% Enhanced Damage
+6 to Minimum Damage

[highlight]Town Stash against archers:)[/highlight]

Nadir
Helm
NefTir
Defense: 37
Durability: 18 of 24
Required Level: 13
Required Strength: 26
Fingerprint: 0x9edbd2f8
Item Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+50% Enhanced Defense
+10 Defense
+30 Defense vs. Missile
+5 to Strength
+2 to Mana after each Kill
-33% Extra Gold from Monsters
-3 to Light Radius
Level 13 Cloak of Shadows (9/9 Charges)
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Nef Rune
Socketed: Tir Rune

NM has been a lot easier that I thought, with the exception of a cursed Coldcrow. She was not that bad, but a couple of merc resurrections was needed. Uzumati is still going at it on players 8, but I`ll probably tone it down a bit very soon. The loot in NM is much better than normal, though, so there has been a couple of gear upgrades:

Nagelring 
Ring 
Required Level: 7 
Fingerprint: 0x7681097a 
Item Level: 37 
Version: Expansion 1.10+ 
+72 to Attack Rating 
Magic Damage Reduced by 3 
Attacker Takes Damage of 3 
24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items [highlight] Replaced my inferior Nagelring[/highlight]

Gemmed Antlers 
Antlers 
Defense: 19 
Durability: 12 of 20 
Required Level: 30 
Required Strength: 24 
Fingerprint: 0xa9d2eb70 
Item Level: 38 
Version: Expansion 1.10+ 
+1 to Solar Creeper (Druid Only) 
+1 to Hunger (Druid Only) 
+2 to Armageddon (Druid Only) 
64% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items 3 Sockets (3 used) 
Socketed: Flawless Topaz 
Socketed: Flawless Topaz 
Socketed: Perfect Topaz [highlight]Replaced the circlet easily:)[/highlight]

Other finds include an Amn rune and a Bonesnap. The Amn will be used in Spirit, but I`ll need to find a 4os sword for that.

[highlight]Thomh, Uzumati, Fire Claws Bear, Dark Wood, lvl 49[/highlight]

 

[JayeM]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

GlassEye is cruising along nicely with a clay golem and a couple of skeleton mages. With 0% MF, he's getting 0 interesting drops, except for Hsaru's belt and a gambled 2os short battle bow. He is about to head to Tristram to free the old man.

[highlight]JayeM, GlassEye, Necro, Dark Wood, 13[/highlight]

 

[Bluechip]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

I'm re-entering with Vitamin (like min vita?), my single throw/double throw barb. He's currently level 14 and in the inner cloister. Barbs get 2 life per level = this won't be fair to Baal. Plus battle orders? Too easy.

 

[NagisaFurukawa]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

With zero resistances and naturally low life, the usually weak fire and lightning attacks in early A2 were surprisingly painful, so Rin swapped to a Prayer mercenary for some cheap tanking and healing. The extra damage from his gambled 22% ED Pike was nice as well, as she had essentially been reduced to an Ice Arrow (level 1) spamming, blue potion chugging monster with just the rogue by her side. Even traps hurt quite a bit, which has me questioning whether it'll be worth it to hit poppables in later difficulties (assuming she gets there alive, ). The usual suspects were moderately annoying (salamander types, cold mages), but nothing caused her much trouble (though progress has proven gruelingly slow). The Summoner does worry her though, as does the potential for getting swarmed, which is probably why she stopped, at least for the time being.

I don't play untwinked much (read: at all), so I'm not sure if her 114 MF is enough. Only 2 boring set items so far, so she could probably use more. Her gear isn't that great at this point. Not very many high MF rolls, aside from a 35 MF circlet, and few things have noticeable resist rolls. 28 FR, 19 CR, 31 LR, and 19 PR currently. At least her mercenary is a pretty nice elemental sponge, with resists of 66/69/68/50, as well as 25 poison length reduction.

Notable Finds: 27 FR / -15% requirements jewel and a 10 FHR, 7 life, 30 FR, 9 LR belt. The jewel would be pretty useful for me in SC, so that's kind of nagging me at the moment. .

[highlight]Rin, Strafer, Arcane Sanctuary, Level 25[/highlight]

EDIT: What's up with this "blog it!" thing?

 

[wakiki]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Welcome to the tournament, Mursilis!

Here's the new table, guys:

Forum Name     Character       Class            Location               Level
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
scrcrw         Kaiko           Blade Fury Asn   (N)Throne of Destruction 72 RIP
Tarantella     Amarantine      Skirmisher       (N)Throne of Destruction 72 RIP
HanShotFirst   Ulquiorra-san   Bone Necro       (N)Mephisto              64 RIP
Drystan        Argoel          Sorceress        (N)Kurast Docks          58
Bluechip       Inevitability   Sorceress        (N)Black Marsh           44 RIP
Thomh          Uzumati         Fire Claws Bear  (M)Dark Wood             49
jdkerr         Lifeless        Wind Druid       Halls of Pain            44
ancalagon      Shatterproof    Strafer          Harrogath                33
Brutass        Tane            Summ/Fire Druid  Diablo                   30 RIP
nermind        EatMyBones      Bonemancer       Chaos Sanctuary          34 RIP
EmperorMoo     FineFingers     Strafezon        Chaos Sanctuary          31 RIP
wakiki         BathtubPancake  Charge/H.Freeze  River of Flame           34 RIP
cenyth         Teff            ES Sorceress     Lower Kurast             30
Tarantella     Damasque        Skirmisher       Spider Forest            26
soulmanz       SwayBabySway    Passivezon       Kurast Docks             27
JayeM          Glassjaw        Barbarian        False Tomb               25 RIP
kavarin        Roadkill        Fire/Wolf        Canyon of the Magi       28
NagisaFurukawa Rin             Strafer          Arcane Sanctuary         25
Mournblade     Mouse           Golemancer       Arcane Sanctuary         24
PepitoSari     Kratos          Barbarian        Fangskin                 25 RIP
Morathi        Sibella         Cold Sorc        Maggot Lair              24 RIP
JayeM          Glasscannon     Assassin         Maggot Lair              20 RIP
scrcrw         Jenna           Poison Java      Halls of the Dead L.2    23
Mursilis       Jaheira         Trapsin          Dry Hills                22
holiecows      HolieTraps      Assassin         Lut Gholein              21
QuickDeath     CandleintheWind Javazon          Lut Gholein              20
pepitosari     SassyAssasin    Assassin         Lut Gholein              20
HanShotFirst   Scorn           Fire Druid       Lut Gholein              20
Morathi        Drake           Fire Druid       Lut Gholein              20
wakiki         Shadow_Salad    Meleemancer      Inner Cloister           19
Bluechip       Vitamin         Throwbarb        Inner Cloiser            15
sirpoopsalot   QuestionMarks   ES/GS Sorc       Barracks                 18 RIP
Brutass        Snatch          Trapsin          Barracks                 18 RIP
Bluechip       Sickness        Poison Javazon   Barracks                 15 RIP
EmperorMoo     MELIKECAKE      Concbarb         Outer Cloister           16
Brutass        Sparkles        Lite/Orb Sorc    Outer Cloiser            11
JayeM          GlassEye        Necromancer      Dark Wood                13
XxUberStarxX   Inevitable      Chargadin        Stony Field              12
Shaandore      Fastpoison      Psn/Feral Rage   Stony Field              12
Ohomemgrande   GeneralJoe      Summon-necro     Cold Plains              12
Galningen      Blade           Bf/Light Traps   Cold Plains              6
EmperorMoo     BraveSirRobin   Mojomancer       Cold Plains              6
Brutass        Sparky          Lite/Orb Sorc    Den of Evil              6  RIP
Kefka          Fergie          Trappa           Rogue Encampment         1
maareek        DeathtoCurtains Berserker        Rogue Encampment         1
Myth           RAWR            Throwbarb        Rogue Encampment         1
Machete        Benny           Bow Barb         Rogue Encampment         1
Galningen      KingLeoric      Bonemancer       Rogue Encampment         1
Zefimas        Susannah        Bowzon           Rogue Encampment         1

Shadow Salad has progressed to the Inner Cloister. Dim Vision is now at level 14. Monsters generally get Dim Visioned then picked off one by one without ever attacking. DV also stops Fallen-class monsters from running around when one of their kin dies. It's just ridiculous. Pitspawn? He came at us with Amp Damage and was mowed down before he could hit Gaile for a fourth time. His pack never attacked us at all.

Notable finds: a gem shrine, two similar claws on the Tamoe Highlands, Hsaru's boots, and the Arctic Furs. Also a +10 life large charm and a +8 life jewel.

[highlight]Shadow_Salad, level 19 Meleemancer, Inner Cloister waypoint[/highlight]

 

[Brutass]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Since the Deeds of 3 characters over the weekend I am being very cautious now. Well, the first deeds being Tane was not due to any rashness on my part, it was just a very bad tempered Diablo and his hose that caused that death. However, I hope that my impatience will not take over and the cautious approach will prevail. Sparkles, my Lite/Orb sorc is progressing well but I have the constant feeling that at any moment she could experience a 1 hit death; it has been a close thing at times. I think it may prove a prudent move to throw some skill points into ES if she gets that far (lvl 24 i think) to try and mitigate her very low life

Sparkles, Lite/Orb Sorc, lvl 14, Black Marsh

 

[HanShotFirst]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Scorn cleared out every last corner of Act 2 at Players 7 and had a really easy time doing it. Things that had bothered my Bone Necro really had no effect on my new Fire Druid. The lightning beetles and uniques with elemental enchantments were no issue as Scorn had a point placed in Cyclone Armor (one turned out to plenty for Act 2) and the Unraveler’s ‘spider missiles’ that had bothered my Bone Necro still hurt when they hit but the ability to cast fissure or volcano and then run around while the skill was still damaging the monster(s) really made things much safer as Scorn could usually dodge the missiles with ease. Really, the only things that slowed Scorn down were physical obstacles such as the layout of the Maggot Lair and some of the branches of the Arcane Sanctuary (the merc was useless and it was impossible to cast volcano and fissure in some locations . . . or, they could be cast but wouldn’t hit anything for some reason . . . a bit annoying but no big deal). And speaking of things that were no big deal, Duriel comes to mind. Duriel was done at Players 7 (as was everything else) and was super easy . . . Scorn was expecting trouble but Pratham (combat merc) tanked superbly well and Scorn didn’t have to tp out once! So, Pratham tanked and Scorn casted Volcanoes and the ‘battle’ was super safe and done in a flash.

Duriel dropped nothing of interest but the finds were good leading up to the boss. The first set/unique find of Act 2 was the same as in Act 1 . . . Hsarus’ Buckler. Hsarus’ Boots were found soon after in the Halls of the Dead (sadly neither was of use to Scorn). More useful was Isenhart’s Helm found in the Arcane Sanctuary, especially after Isenhart’s Armor was found in the Tombs (both went on the merc for a nice defense and resistance boost). Other finds included a Cathan’s Ring, Berserker’s Axe, and a Ral Rune (I can’t remember the last time I found a Ral Rune so early . . . excluding the Countess of course). There were a number of good gambles but probably the most useful was this rare pike that Scorn gambled for Pratham at level 21 . . . it was the very first pike that Scorn gambled (what luck)!

Here were Scorn’s stats at the end of Act 2.

[highlight]Scorn, Fire Druid, Kurast Docks, Level 28[/highlight]

 

[kavarin]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

@kavarin: Remember, we don't want MF on mercs.

Yes, its gone - the merc now has a circlet with poison and armour with +9 life.

# --

I'm not sure whether it is the defiance or the high life that made Duriel so easy. I accidentally spawned him on p8 but he could barely mark the merc. He took out the sage once which left me scrambling a little. So on to act 3. And despite fully clearing the spider forest and the marsh Roadkill still hasn't quite hit level 30.

An equipment upgrade: The heavy belt of the wolf has been upgraded to a plated belt of the tiger with +21 life (1 more!).

And I love act 3. +20 life from the golden bird quest + the jungles. Good stuff.

[HIGHLIGHT]Roadkill, Level 29.9 Fire Druid, Flayer Jungle[/HIGHLIGHT]

 

[soulmanz]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

hmm .. is it wrong to play another character? i am pretty bored with swaybaby, amazons never did it for me and she was the last hope

i will leave it to the gods (wakiki), but i have in two days got a new sorc to the same point with the same restrictions, always wanted to make a nova sorc, and now i have!

the reason SparkyPancakes (long story) has come so far so quickly is twofold -
1. the countess dropped me a ral
2. drognan sold me a +3 firewall staff (with 2 sockets)

thus with the ubiquitous tir, i am the proud owner of a +6 firewall staff, which will be my hell secondary skill

and +6 to firewall = instant death for anything even at players 8

she has had a great run really, early days were tough, waiting for nova and firewall. shopped staffs always ruled the day, i spent all of my act 1 money upgrading staffs - +2 ice blast was a favourite

then blaze happened, and a +2 blaze staff made VERY easy work of Andariel, who didnt even kill my rogue, even on P8. and she dropped a crushflange, which isnt useful for me, but a BF sassy may get her hands on it soon

act 2, as mentioned, was an extreme breeze. even burning dead dropped in seconds to firewall

i never play sorcs so the freedom of teleport is such a breath of fresh air. the maggot lair specifically was a massive joy, as was teleporting onto the Summoner's platform, FWing him, and teleporting away

no real NDEs, a few mummies dropped my ball quick but only cos im pretty lazy with this character

notable gear - bupkiss really. dury dropped a +1 summoning (druid) and 69% GF amulet, which im wearing as im in total goldfind mode. my MF wasnt getting where i wanted it so i switched over. champion mummies are dropping 1-2K gold!

stats are 54 str, 90ish energy, rest base. currently making the pre-reqs for ES (didnt plan very well, got carried away pumping FW and nova, simultaneously! idiot!)

eventual goal will be a nova/FW/ES telebomber. we will see how hardcore play enjoys that

so can i swap out? i am happy to permanently park swaybaby, for this competition at least. she will continue onward, but i was just bored. wasnt gonna play her anymore anyway. dont really wanna deeds her for no reason

if its cool

SparkyPancakes, Novawaller sorc, level 26, Kurast Docks

 

[Morathi1]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Act 2 started with the hiring of Emilio the Prayer merc and the departure of Aliza the Fire Rogue. I like that choice (for now), because I want to keep Drakes's life topped off at all times.

We pressed the advantage of Fissure and continued to pump it. Many of the monster deaths were one-hit kills. Even scary mobs of Bettles, were wiped clean in a single casting! Things are looking bright for Drake!
Once we retrieved the cube it was a Savage Polearm cubing party. After 15 or so shots we finally managed to cube a Savage Partizan, nice! Every chipped gem I had accumulated to that point was consumed to roll it. I lost count, but I'd guess it took about 40 tries until I managed to get a decent roll. I placed in one of its sockets a rare jewel and it became Emilio’s new weapon .

At level 24, Drake got so excited that instead of placing his first point into Volcano, he accidently placed a point in Solar Creeper :doh:. I think his firey obsession is causing him to make irrational decisions . I guess all is not lost however, as Solar Creeper provides a “safe” source of corpse disposal. Still annoying though, as I never planned placing a single point in it .

Duriel was tackled on p/8. I went in with an advantage, having pre-buffed my Oak’s with a skill shrine. Unfortunately it died straight away, so much for that! Emilio did a good job tanking, only needing 1 resurrection. The battle didn't last long and the drop was worthless :yuck:.

PS. Why did couldn't the "mammoth rule" be capped at 35 and not 30? *sigh*


S/U’s for the Act:
* Skewer of Krintiz- used very briefly before being replaced by a “steel” flail
*Storm Guild- currently using
*Hsarus’s Iron Hell
*Cathan’s Mesh
*Isenhart’s Lightbrand
*Iratha’s Cuff

[highlight]Drake the Fire Druid, Level 28.2, Normal Kurast Docks, life = 133 (180 with Oaks), aided by Emilio the Prayer merc[/highlight]

 

[wakiki]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

@soulmanz: Retiring/parking characters is fine in this tournament.

Nice progress guys. It's cool seeing Han happy about Isenhart's armor, hehe.

 

[scrcrw]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

tl;dr Made Destroyer. No problems.

I made some good progress with my Poison Java over the last few days.
Act 2 was quite easy. Plague Javelin did its work and once I got that Savage Halberd cubed the merc went into overdrive (as usual). Drops were still very bad. No Set and only 2 useless uniques (axe and some crappy polearm). Towards the end I got an Eth though, so I could finally make Stealth (mainly for the frw and faster mana reg). I also forgot to turn the player settings before Duriel, so Jenna had to take him at /p8. Not much of a problem though, merc only died once. No nde in the entire act.

Act 3 was much of the same Plague Jav became stronger and stronger and my merc accelerated the killing process somewhat. Somewhere in the Flayer Jungle the first useful unique dropped, a lovely Duskdeep Helm. First nde when Jenna got trapped in some corner and two shamans decided to simultaneously barbecue her. A Quick Full Juvie took care of that. Otherwise things were going really smooth. I was even confident enough to take a screenshot while standing in a half-defused stair trap.
The high council went down without a hitch and Mephisto was "moated" as usual. His drop was quite bad but a chest on his platform yielded a shiny unique amulet. Astonishingly it turned out to be not the usual Nokozan but a shiny Eye of Etlich. The +1 skill is very nice, the rest would have been better on Kaiko.

Act 4 was again just mindless poison/wait action. Not a single nde or even merc death. Hellforge drop was an El, which is symbolic for the overall quality of rune drops. It actually took till Act 5 to find a Tal (and eventually even a Thul...). In the CS Jenna got hit rather badly by some elemental missiles a few times since I had gotten so careless. Nothing dramatic though.
For Big D I dropped to /p1 for the first time and as a result took him down quickly and easily.

Most troubling in Act 5 was having to stash the Resistance Scroll from Malah... Otherwise still smooth going. Eventually I managed to gamble some +1 java skill gloves and found some maiden javelins (also +1) for a level 23 plague javelin with 12+ points in the sinergy. This increased my kill speed even further.
Ancients at /p1 went down in seconds. Lister & friends at /p8 were more troublesome since they seemed to have really high poison res. level 1+3 lightning fury helped a lot. After that intense fight I forgot to switch /p1 for Baal, so the encounter was quite long and sometimes scary when he cloned himself. Even got cursed with blood mana since Jenna had 215 life and 216 mana... Eventually Jenna made it and is now my second Destroyer.

Edit: Should probably mention that I forgot to shop a wand with LR charges until after Lister and Baal...

After Baal I also did Nihlatak and the Cow Level. On the way to Nihlatak my first Thul dropped (even though I did a full clear of Act IV and V)... The Cow Level was ridiculously easy though, Poison worked well.

Stats and equip starting NM:

Name:       Jenna
Class:      Amazon
Experience: 39219693
Level:      48

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   60/60
Dexterity:  120/127
Vitality:   20/20
Energy:     100/100
HP:         164/217
Mana:       212/218
Stamina:    129/144
Defense:    30/195
AR:         570/4116

Fire:       66/26/-34
Cold:       73/33/-27
Lightning:  78/38/-22
Poison:     84/44/-16

MF:         23       Block:      75
GF:         14
FR/W:       45
FHR:        49
IAS:        0
FCR:        25

Magic Arrow: 0/0
Fire Arrow: 0/0
Cold Arrow: 0/0
Multiple Shot: 0/0
Exploding Arrow: 0/0
Ice Arrow: 0/0
Guided Arrow: 0/0
Strafe: 0/0
Immolation Arrow: 0/0
Freezing Arrow: 0/0

Inner Sight: 1/2
Critical Strike: 1/2
Dodge: 1/2
Slow Missiles: 1/2
Avoid: 1/2
Penetrate: 1/2
Decoy: 1/2
Evade: 1/2
Valkyrie: 0/0
Pierce: 1/2

Jab: 0/0
Power Strike: 0/0
Poison Javelin: 19/22
Impale: 0/0
Lightning Bolt: 1/4
Charged Strike: 0/0
Plague Javelin: 20/23
Fend: 0/0
Lightning Strike: 0/0
Lightning Fury: 2/5

Russet Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 10
Fingerprint: 0x3ecab934
Item Level: 2
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +7%

Azure Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 1
Fingerprint: 0x1759fc72
Item Level: 8
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Cold Resist +5%

Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 14
Fingerprint: 0xeb1da185
Item Level: 19
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Cobalt Heavy Boots of Haste
Heavy Boots
Defense: 6
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Level: 16
Required Strength: 18
Fingerprint: 0xdbb780db
Item Level: 28
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Run/Walk
Cold Resist +24%


Death Master
Ring
Required Level: 13
Fingerprint: 0xeefe5283
Item Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Bonus to Attack Rating
+81 to Attack Rating
+8 to Life
Replenish Life +5
Lightning Resist +10%
8% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+5 to Light Radius

Ring of Chance
Ring
Required Level: 9
Fingerprint: 0xb4d2aac1
Item Level: 22
Version: Expansion 1.10+
15% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Beryl Small Charm of Greed
Small Charm
Required Level: 15
Fingerprint: 0xdce9ee6f
Item Level: 22
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Poison Resist +4%
9% Extra Gold from Monsters

Doom Winding
Plated Belt
Defense: 8
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 13
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0xf0ac7faf
Item Level: 32
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+24% Faster Hit Recovery
+12 to Life
+6 to Mana

Coral Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 15
Fingerprint: 0xa84c696b
Item Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Lightning Resist +24%

Duskdeep
Full Helm
Defense: 47
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 41
Fingerprint: 0x75d339d2
Item Level: 28
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+8 to Maximum Damage
+31% Enhanced Defense
+12 Defense
All Resistances +15
Damage Reduced by 7
-2 to Light Radius

Russet Large Charm
Large Charm
Required Level: 12
Fingerprint: 0xeaf98c26
Item Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +8%

Large Charm of Life
Large Charm
Required Level: 9
Fingerprint: 0x38506c5c
Item Level: 26
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+13 to Life

Harpoonist's Chain Gloves of Remedy
Chain Gloves
Defense: 9
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 15
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0x5f1599fb
Item Level: 27
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)
Poison Length Reduced by 25%

Russet Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 10
Fingerprint: 0xc291323e
Item Level: 22
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +7%

Snowy Small Charm of Dexterity
Small Charm
Required Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0x8ad0ccbd
Item Level: 42
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 1 - 2 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
+1 to Dexterity

The Eye of Etlich
Amulet
Required Level: 15
Fingerprint: 0xb4c3cfd2
Item Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
Adds 1 - 5 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (103 Frames)
4% Life stolen per hit
+24 Defense vs. Missile
+5 to Light Radius

Jenna's Stealth
Breast Plate
TalEth
Defense: 68
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0xf36b629
Item Level: 20
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+25% Faster Run/Walk
+25% Faster Cast Rate
+25% Faster Hit Recovery
+6 to Dexterity
Regenerate Mana 15%
+15 Maximum Stamina
Poison Resist +30%
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Eth Rune

Viridian Small Charm of Greed
Small Charm
Required Level: 15
Fingerprint: 0x73d37468
Item Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Poison Resist +6%
5% Extra Gold from Monsters


Yew Wand of Lower Resistance
Yew Wand
One Hand Damage: 2 - 8
Durability: 15 of 15
Required Level: 36
Fingerprint: 0x2a5463be
Item Level: 53
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Terror (Necromancer Only)
Level 1 Lower Resist (67/67 Charges)

Bone Shield of Deflecting
Bone Shield
Defense: 13
Chance to Block: 40
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Level: 8
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0xed25e3a5
Item Level: 20
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Block Rate
20% Increased Chance of Blocking

Ceremonial Javelin
Throw Damage: 18 - 54
One Hand Damage: 18 - 35
Quantity: 80
Required Level: 26
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 109
Fingerprint: 0x5e41d0cd
Item Level: 35
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Mechanic's Bone Shield of Deflecting
Bone Shield
Defense: 13
Chance to Block: 40
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0x1359bcd0
Item Level: 20
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Block Rate
20% Increased Chance of Blocking
All Resistances +19
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Perfect Diamond

Mercenary:

Name:       Alhizeer
Race:       Desert Mercenary
Type:       Comb-Normal
Experience: 11795296
Level:      47
Dead?:      false

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   124/133
Dexterity:  97/97
HP:         730/735
Defense:    519/697
AR:         890/905

Fire:       93/53/-7
Cold:       106/66/6
Lightning:  93/53/-7
Poison:    93/53/-7

Wraith Horn
Circlet
Defense: 46
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 24
Fingerprint: 0xdf21756a
Item Level: 29
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Cast Rate
25% Enhanced Damage
+49% Enhanced Defense
+7 to Strength
+36 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Magic Damage Reduced by 3


Ghoul Mantle
Plate Mail
Defense: 132
Durability: 50 of 60
Required Level: 9
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0x1e65b98e
Item Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15 to Attack Rating
+13% Enhanced Defense
+2 to Strength
+5 to Life
Cold Resist +13%
+1 to Light Radius


Savage Partizan
Partizan
Two Hand Damage: 57 - 127
Durability: 63 of 65
Required Level: 23
Required Strength: 113
Required Dexterity: 67
Fingerprint: 0x1f2c241
Item Level: 50
Version: Expansion 1.10+
70% Enhanced Damage

I also began playing NM a bit. On the way to the Den of Evil an Amn dropped, my highest rune to date. Immediately I noticed that all Undead on NM seem to have huge poison res. My now lvl 2+2 LF gets way more use than I expected... Also my (white) maiden javelins are gone because I accidentally threw all of them. Still haven't found new ones. Amazon-only javelins drop very rarely for me (~3-4 white ones on normal in total).
As a result I also noticed that I had extremely neglected my mercs equipment (at the end of the code above) since Plague Javelin was so overpowered in Normal. It was a pleasure though annihilating Bloodraven's minions with PlagJav and LF.
All in all it seems I will have to work a bit more in Nightmare...

Edit: I keep wondering why I ever put points in vita early on with (ranged) scl chars. Investing in damage, block and convenience (=more mana) works so much better. In NM and Hell constant dying may be a bit of an inconvenience though...
(pretty sure Jenna will be struck down pretty soon because of my hybris )

[HIGHLIGHT] scrcrw, Jenna, Poison/LF Java, Stony Field NM, level 48 [/HIGHLIGHT]

 

[soulmanz]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

haha, i for some reason thought we could only have +10 to life on each size charm, and have thrown away better charms than that. was gonna tell you (scrcrw) but checked back and the rule doesnt exist!

damn it

 

[ancalagon the black]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

@NagisaFurukawa: If you run straight away from the trap when you hear the creaking sound, then turn and keep going at a slight angle to your original direction, you can avoid getting hit by any traps. You'll be far enough away not to get hit by novas, and the fire or lightning bolts travel in straight lines, so going slightly sideways is enough to make them miss.

The only thing this doesn't work with is barrels. Those things always seem to hit fairly hard, but not ever be too hard, so I wonder if they use some sort of crushing blow formula or something.

I started act V on /p8, for the xp, and it worked quite well for that despite being quite slow. Going from Harrogath to Shenk gave me 2 levels by itself. However, the going was very slow, and eventually I got sick of it. I wasn't doing enough damage, was playing on too high a /p setting for going quickly, and didn't have enough mana leech+damage to make strafe self-sustaining, so I had a terrible blue potion habit. I'd been hoping for a 2os exceptional bow to make Zephyr in, but all I'd found was a 3os Razor bow.

So I decided to stuff a Nef and 2 flawed skulls in it, and then put 2 +9 max damage jewels in a bone helm. Now with 8% total mana leech and more damage, keeping strafe going was easy. Also, having dialed down the /p setting to 5, along with the much improved damage output made playing her much faster (if not exactly fast).

I also cubed up a psapphire, in preparations for making hitpower gloves (so I wouldn't have to keep socketing every single bow with a Nef), but I haven't made them yet, since I'm trying to stay patient and wait for ilvl 51+, and the guaranteed 3 affixes.

Found an ethereal hellplague.

Here I'm using a choke point to both keep monsters bottled up and to kill them faster.

I found a shael, which is probably the best rune I've ever found in normal. I also found a sol a bit later on, so my rune luck was definitely up. I don't remember for sure, but I think hellforge was an el, so the improvement was definitely appreciated.

I found a sharp gc as well.

I leveled the valk to 8, to get her a better weapon, as well as to make her more tanky. The ancients were not that bad. The valk had no problem whatsoever tanking them, and Madawc's axes weren't so bad that they were worrying.

I gained a level at lister, who wasn't hard at all, since by then I'd put a point in Freezing Arrow, and the valk was nearly invincible.

The valk wasn't quite invincible, though, as she demonstrated when we entered the Worldstone Chamber by dying once, and letting her life bar bounce all over the place. At first I was trying to fight Baal in the same way that I fought Diablo, using guided arrow, but this wasn't very effective, since his elemental attacks (though powerful) weren't enough to instakill me, and he kept summoning tentacles (and clones). So I switched to strafe.

Though the valk only died once, she got recast several times for positioning purposes. I would have kept on recasting her, except she eventually spawned with ctc amp. I kept that valk, and she amp'd Baal a few times, which visibly increased the damage rate of strafe and was greatly helpful despite its relatively short duration. Baal's drop was pretty good for 0% mf, although nothing actually useable dropped.

Then I did cows, and it was a shooting gallery.

[highlight]ancalagon, Shatterproof, Strafer, NM Rogue's Camp, lvl 45[/highlight]

 

[soulmanz]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

ok, so the more fun of my characters stomps (telestomps?) onwards

SparkyPancakes has cleared through Act 3 and 4, at players 8 for all except big D, and really he coulda been done too. He did drop a nice bonesnap for me though

Notably she is wearing only goldfind gear, with pitiful resists and other stats. Only NDE was a slow minded moment where I sat there thinking "oh Venom Lords, spitting fire, better move" and she slivered by the time she got out of there

massive firewall continues as a dominant force. the kicker was level 30 (hit by dropping izzy) and a point in FM (with leaf became 4 points!) pumped damage to around 1300 per second

the only thing i dont like about this character is i cant map nova to left click. then i could sit with tele and nova on switch, and firewall on leaf switch

still only 1 point in ES, although i feel i need to up that soon. i cant decide if i should max FW, TK, ES or nova

considering dying is out i should probably do something about ES. I only have about 6 pts in TK, and was really hoping to wait to be able to make a +3 ES memory, but runes are hard to come by. not really sure what way to go

Gambled so many circlets (as with all my GF most mobs drop 600-1000 gold) but nothing wothwhile really. Im wearing a rare +20% frw, +20% fcr, +9 all res, cbf (i think) circlet. OK, so that one is ok

Wearing stealth

Not much more to report. Council was pretty tough on P8 just cos the fire immune one kept getting in the way. Chaos sanctuary was a killer because the OKs forgot any curse but IM, so merc died like 10 times.

Anyway
SparkyPancakes, Novawaller, level 32, Harrogath

 

[wakiki]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Wow, I don't know how you guys progress so fast.

I updated the table. I'm about to tackle the Palace Cellars. Full update after Duriel.

 

[soulmanz]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

ha, like i said, get firewall (or blaze, or fireball) and a staff that is essentially +6 to skill, +3 to fire mastery, +3-6 to warmth. if you use fire bolt, then you can get +9 to firebolt

all for ral and tir

then stomp normal and nightmare

same goes for enchant + ravenclaw/kuko. its pretty much unfair

 

[Tarantella]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Damasque set off again from Kurast at a cracking pace finding her first unique (the diggler!) and a tal rune deep in the spider forest, an eth came later and the extra speed from the stealth armour breast plate proved mighty handy later in the Durance (A near doll experience?). The Kurasts were painstakingly and steadily cleared providing a useful variety of gems and charms, Vidalas boots and another Cleglaws sword. Mephisto was dealt with at range with only minor injuries sustained.Soon after Izual was slain the trusty Haseen wished Damasque well in her search for Amarantine and waved a cheery farewell.*

Calling on her valkyrie aides Damasque made short work of denizens the perilous realm(p3) and despatched the evil that was Diablo(p1), getting a very handy Treads to bolster her speed and life still further after The Grand Vizier had previously dropped a plain level 16 circlet of haste.Keeping armour and shield light, her block high and her distance at all times even with the enemies stengthened (act 5 all at p8 except The Ancients and Baal) she had no problems apart from mana shortages. She found a Sigons shield(held on swap) in Abaddon, a thul and Sanders gloves clearing Nihlathak's halls and a green amulet (Vidalas indeed!!) during the cow clearance. Other nice items found along the way included a 9 to all shimmering jewel, this grand charm, a rare jewel from Baal along with a rare throwing spear with good fire damage which she took to nightmare with her.


Tarantella Damasque Skirmisher Rogue camp(N) level 48



*Artistic euphemism once again.

 

[Mournblade]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Whew, I was really worried about Duriel, but made it past him. Figured if he came after me and hit me once, I would get locked in hit recovery and that'd be it. When I first entered his chamber, my golem decided to scout out the place and ignored Duriel for a few seconds. Once he heard me running around screaming like a girl, he came to the rescue. I had to recast him 4-5 times and kept recasting iron maiden, and plucking away with the bow. Cleared canyon and all tombs before that, so now sitting in Kurast.

Notable finds:
-Deathspade Axe
28%EG GC
79%EG amulet
2 ith runes, tal rune, other lesser ones
rare splint 10FHR, 3 dex, 8%LR, 10%FR, MDR1, 127 def

This guy moves pretty slow, but having fun, and feels safe.

[highlight]Mouse the Golemancer, Kurast Docks, Level 26[/highlight]