Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
While I was in the arcane sanctuary, an odd thing happened. I've never before been
8 points from leveling up without leveling up. At least not that I've noticed before. I was actually going to town for some other reason at the time (for inventory, potions, etc.).
I was doing pretty well (especially after re-hiring a merc, this time a desert guard), and had been pretty safe, so I got cocky and decided to go after
Ancient Kaa the Soulless. I was expecting a tough fight, but he wasn't too hard. Lots of dodging unholy bolts and running from lightning sparks, but nothing too bad.
Duriel also proved pretty easy, partly because of the better of the 2 savage polearms I'd rolled up for the merc. I had to put some amythysts in the merc's hat so he could lift it, but it was worth it. Expecting a tougher fight, I sent the decoy and merc in first, then joined them w/ shield and scepter. I'd switched around gear, taking off my mf gloves and rings (all 47% of my mf) for cold res and min damage. I did get hit once, and it took about half my life ball, but that wasn't anything a red potion couldn't fix. I fed a fair number of potions (including one purple) to the merc, but I didn't end up needing to go to town for anything.
Granted I wasn't wearing any mf at the time, so I didn't expect much for a drop, but even so,
this drop was pathetic. The worst I've ever seen, in fact, and I have a habit of not wearing any mf at all.
I put 2 Tirs in a hat, a regular skull in the empty bow slot, and use a 4% mana leech ammy, but even so, I have a pretty bad mana potion addiction. It's getting better, though, with more shots for the same cost in strafe and a cheaper decoy. I've been working on my tactics a little bit, and often end up fighting lots of things
offscreen. Here I'm fighting Sszark the Burning, although the only reason I knew that when I took the screenshot was that he spawned where he always does.
In the flayer dungeon, I found
ravenclaw! Although it isn't an improvement over my current bow, it would be great for an enchantress or a fire ranger. I've made both of those on ladder, but had always had to wait until they could equip kuko or demon machine before.
Found this nice ammy in Act II:
Code:
Mentalist's Amulet of the Tiger
Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0xbd9e8f40
+27 to Life
+1 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)
However, I haven't gotten much use out of it, since I need mana leech so bad. It did help a bit with Duriel, though.
I also have a full quota of life charms, the SC is +8, the LC is +10, and the GC is +7. Worse than the SC, oddly enough. :scratchhead:
[highlight]Shatterproof, Strafer, Lower Kurast, lvl 28[/highlight]