The Certain Death Tournament.

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Nice progress guys. Especially impressed with all the Nightmare progress...I can't believe scrcrw is about to get to Hell. Maybe I didn't make this tournament hard enough after all! Well, we will see, we will see....

Drystan, I added you. holiecows, welcome to the tournament! And it's good to see you back, Morathi. If I make a barb, I'd probably make a Leaper or a Thrower. I'd like to point out that we do have two barbs outside the Encampment, but it's definitely an underplayed class (and I can see why -- one of them is dead).

Here's the new table:

Code: 
Forum Name     Character       Class            Location               Level
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
scrcrw         Kaiko           Blade Fury Asn   (N)Harrogath           65
HanShotFirst   Ulquiorra-san   Bone Necro       (N)Lut Gholein         52
Tarantella     Amarantine      Skirmisher       (N)Rogue Encampment    47
nermind        EatMyBones      Bonemancer       Chaos Sanctuary        34 RIP
EmperorMoo     FineFingers     Strafezon        Chaos Sanctuary        31 RIP
ancalagon      Shatterproof    Strafer          Lower Kurast           28
wakiki         BathtubPancake  Charge/H.Freeze  Kurast Docks           28
Drystan        Argoel          Sorceress        Kurast Docks           28
Brutass        Tane            Summ/Fire Druid  Kurast Docks           24
cenyth         Teff            ES Sorceress     Canyon of the Magi     26
Bluechip       Inevitability   Sorceress        Canyon of the Magi     25
soulmanz       SwayBabySway    Passivezon       Canyon of the Magi     25
jdkerr         Lifeless        Wind Druid       Harem Level 1          25
PepitoSari     Kratos          Barbarian        Fangskin               25 RIP
Morathi        Sibella         Cold Sorc        Maggot Lair            24 RIP
JayeM          Glasscannon     Assassin         Maggot Lair            20 RIP
Thomh          Uzumati         Fireclaws Druid  Far Oasis              24
Mournblade     Mouse           Golemancer       Dry Hills              20
JayeM          Glassjaw        Barbarian        Lut Gholein            19
sirpoopsalot   QuestionMarks   ES/GS Sorc       Barracks               18 RIP
Bluechip       Sickness        Poison Javazon   Barracks               15 RIP
kavarin        Roadkill        Fire/Wolf        Outer Cloister         17
holiecows      HolieTraps      Assassin         Dark Wood              15
QuickDeath     CandleintheWind Javazon          Dark Wood              14
XxUberStarxX   Inevitable      Chargadin        Stony Field            12
NagisaFurukawa Rin             Strafer          Stony Field            12
Shaandore      Fastpoison      Psn/Feral Rage   Stony Field            12
Galningen      Blade           Bf/Light Traps   Cold Plains            6
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
EmperorMoo     Brave Sir Robin Mojomancer       Rogue Encampment       1
pepitosari     SassyAssasin    Assassin         Rogue Encampment       1
Morathi        Bahram          Barbarian        Rogue Encampment       1
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Been a busy week here at EM towers, and BraveSirRobin (full marks to anyone that gets it) the mojomancer has only just cleared the Den of Evil.

Hopefully, progress will pick up next week as RL slows down a bit.

[highlight]EmperorMoo, BraveSirRobin, Mojomancer, Cold Plains, lvl6[/highlight]
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Well, that wasnt too bad. Cleared the Canyon, 5 of the tombs (got Kaa) and whupped Duriel, all at players 8

i swapped my 3 flawed topaz chainmail for Darkglow, which dropped this act, which pushed my cold res to 49, turns out it was irrelevant as i sure as hell wasnt gonna get hit. My decoy (= me exactly plus 30% life) was a 1 hit kill, so i stayed well clear. threw potions to my merc, decoyed when he got knocked back, a bit later the slug died and gave me nothing

i imbued a circlet i had found, but the outcome was useless

in fact, a far longer battle was me and merc vs physical immune ghost boss, i think i do about 20 elemental damage, and merc does 20 poison (over time) so it took about 10 mins of button holding. wasnt gonna park that fool

so

SwayBabySway, PassiveZon, level 27 (3 from valk!), Kurast Docks
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Act 3 went by fairly well for Argoel. I was uncertain about Heirophants casting Blizzard and taking a hit from that, but managed to keep the merc in front. I had to complete the Gidbinn quest twice, as the first time it didn't drop! Second time was on /players 1, with the Possessed Flayer at /pl8.

Mephisto was done on either players 8 or players 3, I'm not sure, as I was pretty close when I realised I had to lower it. It was dangerous though. He was such a bad shot, he missed the merc right in front of him, and shot Argoel with a spell, taking 3/4 life.
I tried to trap Meph in a corner, but attracted meteors and fireballs my way. From that point on, I retreated numerous times, and ended up using the moat for the moat trick (I normally use a corner.) Mephisto's drop was actually decent.

Also, a fairly nice Circlet Imbue!
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

RIP Kaiko.

The grim reaper lurked right at the entrance to the throne. When I realized the danger it was already much too late. The Shadowmaster went down in a second and one or two hits later Kaiko lay in the dust.

Up to that point things had been going really well in Act V. I had pressed on pretty quickly but even though reached level 72 (/p8 all the way). The WSK was fully cleared since there were no dangerous monsters around. The ancients went down on easily (on /p1). I had even remembered to finally make a Strength claw for some cb against baal. It wasn't meant to be... Max life at the end was about 430.

Good luck to all the other participants. May your quest be more successful :thumbup:.

Maybe I'll reenter after a suitable period of mourning. A singer barb seems quite interesting :scratchchin:

[HIGHLIGHT] scrcrw, Kaiko, Throne of Destruction NM, level 72, RIP [/HIGHLIGHT]
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Ouch. Nasty pack! Hate those fast Infidel things, but as a stair trap by the looks of it, with Might and Extra Strong!

RIP Kaiko. Best of luck with the Singerbarb - they are an interesting character to play, although mine had no restrictions.

scrcrw said:
Goal: Not announcing deeds in my next post
Click to expand...
Congrats on making your goal (;)), and setting the bar so high!
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

EmperorMoo said:
Been a busy week here at EM towers, and BraveSirRobin (full marks to anyone that gets it) the mojomancer has only just cleared the Den of Evil.

Hopefully, progress will pick up next week as RL slows down a bit.

[highlight]EmperorMoo, BraveSirRobin, Mojomancer, Cold Plains, lvl6[/highlight]
Click to expand...

Mojomancer? Tourney not hard enough already? :D
Good luck EM, and to BraveSirRobin, too. Hope he finds the Grail and doesn't fall to yjay nasty killer rabbit. :thumbup:



 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

GlassJaw has finally avenged his sister GlassCannon by clearing out the Maggot Lair! Sadly he had to let Blaise take on most of the beetles due to his low lightning res...she could pick them off with her bow from a distance and neither of them took any damage. GJ couldn't resist wading in and slicing/dicing some of them though. He also, after much gambling, got a decent rare circlet that takes the place of the Infernal Cranium and allows his ponytail to swing free. With 120 life, his stats are 71/56/25/38.

A noobish question: does "magic dmg reduced by x" include elemental damage?

[highlight]JayeM, GlassJaw, Barbarian, Far Oasis, 22[/highlight]
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

JayeM said:
A noobish question: does "magic dmg reduced by x" include elemental damage?
Click to expand...

Yes, that text is way old, and misleading. I am fairly sure it helps against fire/cold/lightning damage.

(I am not even sure if it helps against actual Magic damage (i.e. Bone Spirit and such).)



 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

scrcrw said:
RIP Kaiko.

[HIGHLIGHT] scrcrw, Kaiko, Throne of Destruction NM, level 72, RIP [/HIGHLIGHT]
Click to expand...

Condolences on Kaiko's deeds. Oh so close, she could just about taste it

Good Luck on the Singer should you decide to re-enter


 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

@scrcrw: NOOOOoooooooo!

Well, I have a couple of condolences to say. The first is that for a first-time joiner/tournament player, getting to act V NM in a really difficult tourney is awesome. Really well done.

The second is that that is a REALLY brutal enemy. Not only are the mods brutal, but those guy's have Zeal which is deadly even without Extra Strong/Might. Plus, they enchant themselves with cold damage. If I recall correctly, jiansonz lost his Impalazon to a Champion version in Act V NM as well. (Incidentally, reading that thread is what made me start posting in this forum. Which makes him indirectly responsible for you posting here as well. ;))

@Drystan: That is a very cool circlet. Especially if you are an ES Sorceress. What type of Sorc are you? The only thing that Circlet is missing is MF.

@JayeM: Yes, Magic Damage Reduction works against all elements, and I highly recommend it for the Summoner. His Firewall deals 5 damage, but attacks 25 times per second. So if you have 4 MDR, he will deal 25 damage per second instead of 125 (which would probably be insta-death in this tournament).
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

EmperorMoo said:
BraveSirRobin (full marks to anyone that gets it) the mojomancer has only just cleared the Den of Evil.
Click to expand...
Brave Sir Robin ran away.
(No!)
Bravely ran away, away!
(I didn't!)
When danger reared it's ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled.
(No!)
Brave Sir Robin turned about (I didn't!)
And gallantly he chickened out...

An excellent name for this tournament.

scrcrw said:
RIP Kaiko.
Click to expand...
Awwwwwwwwww.
:cry:

Bladefury sins are my favorite build, it was great to see one doing so well.


I took a fair number of screenshots, but most of them didn't turn out that well. I found a 19 life gc, which instantly replaced my 7 lifer, and a nice shield, which would have replaced my shield on switch, except that it has too much resistance on it. :banghead:

When I made level 30, I again turned on my merc, this time letting him do battle naked with extra fast blunderbores. It still took him a bit to die, and then I bravely ran away, away, summoning my decoy behind me to take the heat off, while I boldly escaped to town. I then returned with a valk, and hid behind her while finishing them off.

Ended up doing equipment swaps to get my 0% fire res to 48% for the council members, then switching back around to get 50/50 cold/light for Meph. Several fairly close calls with both vampires and Meph, since single elemental attacks could take away huge chunks of my life ball. I started trying to take on Meph on his turf, but after a couple of close calls I gallantly chickened out, and used the moat trick.

In Act IV, I bumped up the /player setting to 8, and left it there, hoping to do some leveling before Diablo.

Izzy took forever, but the Valk could tank him forever, so it was just a matter of spamming magic arrows to refill my mana ball for strafe. He dropped a rare reflex bow, though, and I was getting excited until I looked a the mods. I don't remember what they were, so it can't have been even remotely useful. I did find a rare stag bow in the river of flame, though, which had 2os and almost as much damage as my old bow. It also had +1 bow skills, bumping my strafe to 8 and giving me a 4 minimum arrow strafe. So I Nef'd and flawed skull'd it and put it to work.

Hephasto was a pushover, and the hellforge rewarded me with an El. Cleared the entire Chaos Sanctuary still on players 8, then immediately switched to /p 1 for the seal bosses and big D. I took Infector's pack first, boldly using a town portal and running back from the waypoint. It may not have been necessary, but I usually play fragile ranged chars, and they usually die or NDE there unless I do that -- and that's with plenty of life and resists. There was only one dangerous moment with the seal bosses -- returning to Infector's corner to pop the last seal, I wasn't watching where I was going, assuming that everyone was dead. There were 2 of Infector's minions still breathing, however, and they breathed fire on me and took out 2/3 of my life.

Switched to guided arrow for big D (no idea why I didn't think to do that for Meph), and started fighting. The valk didn't last much longer than the decoy, and Diablo's fire ring was pretty bad. Mostly it only took about 1/2 my life per hit, but I did have one very scary NDE from it, I can only assume that 2 of the fire ring patches overlapped on me. Eventually I did take him down, but his drop wasn't very interesting. Might have had something to do with my 0% MF, though. :whistling:

[highlight]Ancalagon, Shatterproof, Strafer, Harrogath, lvl 33[/highlight]


 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Well, Acts 4 and 5 went by pretty easily as well. Izual took some time on /pl8, and /pl3 Diablo was actually quite fun, although I did keep away as much as possible. Teleport back, cast Orb, teleport to hide. Rinse and Repeat.
/Pl3 Baal also went smoothly. Firewall wins against static bosses!

With a Frozen Orb that does 161-171 damage with -65% Enemy Cold Resist, and Firewall with 2164-2196 damage, things were pretty straight forward. No real NDE's, and very few dangerous moments or spawns.
Both Diablo and Baal drops were interesting, but nothing that will make a playstyle difference. The merc's armour was dropped from Baal.

I have to say, that 50% resist rule is fairly dramatic. I had to rearrange my items a few times, and was looking forward to NM where I could equip more. Then, I wanted to make Ancient's Pledge, but realised that would mean all my other items would come off.

Argoel's Approximate Stats Entering NM
Hardcore Sorceress, Level 46

Strength : 38
Dexterity : 25
Vitality : 10
Energy : 150

Stat Points Rem : 92

Life : 204 / 106
Mana : 458 / 357


[highlight]Items ordered by ~quality, at start of NM[/highlight]

Code: 
[b]Argoel's Loath Crest[/b] Imbued and Personalised
Circlet
Defense: 52
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 35
Fingerprint: 0xd44c1610
[b]+14 to Energy
+38 to Mana[/b]
+70% Enhanced Defense
[b]+1 to Sorceress Skill Levels
20% Faster Cast Rate[/b]

Entropy Knot
Ring
Required Level: 9
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x937e6a42
+1 to Strength
+77 to Attack Rating
[b]Fire Resist +18%
Cold Resist +18%
10% Faster Cast Rate[/b]
Half Freeze Duration

Drake's Gnarled Staff of the Icicle
Two-Hand Damage: 4 to 12
Durability: 30 of 35
Required Level: 24
Staff Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0xc194c531
+28 to Mana
Adds 1-3 cold damage over 3 seconds
[b]+2 to Energy Shield (Sorceress Only)
+3 to Shiver Armor (Sorceress Only)[/b]
150% Damage to Undead
Socketed (2: 0 used)

Stealth
Ghost Armor
'TalEth'
Defense: 103
Durability: 14 of 20
Required Strength: 38
Required Level: 22
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 38
Fingerprint: 0x74b30ea4
+6 to Dexterity
+15 to Maximum Stamina
[b]Regenerate Mana 15%[/b]
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
Poison Resist +30%
[b]25% Faster Run/Walk
25% Faster Hit Recovery
25% Faster Cast Rate[/b]
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Clasped Orb
One-Hand Damage: 5 to 12
Durability: 27 of 40
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 18
Orb Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 35
Fingerprint: 0x9fc34b71
[b]+29 to Mana
+2 to Teleport (Sorceress Only)
+2 to Fire Wall (Sorceress Only)[/b]

Carrion Track
Light Plated Boots
Defense: 11
Durability: 10 of 18
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 16
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 33
Fingerprint: 0x55b9108e
[b]Fire Resist +12%
Cold Resist +20%
Poison Resist +8%[/b]
53% Extra Gold from Monsters
[b]20% Faster Run/Walk[/b]
10% Faster Hit Recovery

Sander's Taboo
Heavy Gloves
Defense: 29
Durability: 13 of 14
Required Level: 28
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0xc9d9376d
[b]+40 to Life[/b]
+24 Defense
Adds 8-10 poison damage over 3 seconds
20% Increased Attack Speed

Angelic Halo
Ring
Required Level: 12
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 22
Fingerprint: 0xa0fb9d30
+20 to Life
Replenish Life +6

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
+564 to Attack Rating (Based on Character Level)
50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***

Bone Shield
Defense: 20
Chance to Block:  40%
Durability: 27 of 40
Required Strength: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0xb1656346
Socketed (2: 0 used)

Bronze Amulet of Fortune
Required Level: 12
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 16
Fingerprint: 0xd8bff9ae
+13 to Attack Rating
22% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Snake's Belt of the Jackal
Defense: 5
Durability: 12 of 16
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 4
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 13
Fingerprint: 0x9359620a
+4 to Life
+6 to Mana


Charms

Code: 
Tangerine Small Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 14
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 14
Fingerprint: 0x2aa2e5e5
[b]+10 to Life[/b]
Lightning Resist +4%

Large Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 9
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 38
Fingerprint: 0x82adab39
[b]+12 to Life[/b]

Grand Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 6
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 13
Fingerprint: 0x3b6273c9
[b]+12 to Life[/b]

Foul Grand Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 10
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 22
Fingerprint: 0xad44fc77
+6 to Strength
+15 poison damage over 4 seconds

Grand Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 10
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0x49139f1e
+5 to Strength


Runes

El Rune x1
Eld Rune x3
Tir Rune x2
Nef Rune x1
Eth Rune x2
Ith Rune x2
Tal Rune x2
Ral Rune x3
Ort Rune x1
Sol Rune x1
Amn Rune x1


Mercenary Items

Code: 
Malice
Superior Pike
'IthElEth'
Two-Hand Damage: 20 to 101
Durability: 28 of 28
Required Dexterity: 45
Required Strength: 60
Required Level: 15
Spear Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 22
Fingerprint: 0xde22237a
+14% Enhanced Damage
+33% Enhanced Damage
+50 to Attack Rating
+9 to Maximum Damage
Drain Life -5
Increase Maximum Durability 12%
+0 to Light Radius
-25% Target Defense
Prevent Monster Heal
-100 to Monster Defense Per Hit
100% Chance of Open Wounds
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Soul Horn
Circlet
Defense: 21
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 16
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 34
Fingerprint: 0xc506a2e6
[b]+19 to Life
Replenish Life +9
10% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items[/b]
+1 to Mana After Each Kill
Level 2 Charged Bolt (25/25 Charges)

Cruel Suit
Breast Plate
Defense: 208
Durability: 32 of 50
Required Strength: 30
Required Level: 22
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 60
Fingerprint: 0x2adfbab
[b]+20 to Life
Fire Resist +19%
Cold Resist +30%[/b]
+141 to Defense (Based on Character Level)


Just for information purposes, Argoel was created before the MF rule was in place, so the MF items were swapped out. I didn't even realise the Circlet had MF, as it was put on the merc to replace his 2topaz'd cap.


Also, in regards to Larzuk socketing:

Crystal Sword
One-Hand Damage: 5 to 15
Durability: 16 of 20
Required Strength: 43
Sword Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0xf664ae42

Socketlist:
Crystal Sword, Ilvl 26-40, 4 sockets
Crystal Sword, Ilvl 40+, 6 sockets

I think the sword falls in the 4 sockets catagory, but would like someone with more knowledge here to come in. Would this get 4 or 6 sockets, as I'm looking at a Spirit Sword?

@Wakiki - Mainly a OrbWaller, with some ES coming in. I'm not sure how soon I'll start levelling it up, but Firewall is done (2k damage,) and Orb is nearly viable for /pl1 H, so fairly soon I think.

[highlight]Drystan, Argoel, Sorceress, (N) Rogue's Encampment, lvl 46[/highlight]
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Diablo and Mephisto almost killed me, but they didn't. I won't make Spirit because it wouldn't be fair to Diablo's minions, and I'm all about fairness. I've found 6 set items: Cathan's staff, Cathans ring, 3X Cathan's armor, and one civerb's mace, all of which are useless and terrible. I've found 2 uniques - the chieftan i think, and crushflange, both of which are terrible.

Inevitability, level 32 - alive - ~198 life.
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Whew! Finally can report some progress. Full clears at /p8 is slow work in ActI.

My javazon had a couple of times when her bulb got low - after all this is the No Vitality Tourney. She's found no S/Us yet, and just found her first +life item (a +7 life ammy) and then a + 7 life lc. Just after getting to the Outer Cloister I equipped these in town and watched as CandleintheWind's life soared to 100!

She has only a little bit of MF on board -about 30%. I'm not going overboard on MF in Acts 1& 2, I mean what's could I find that would make a big difference? :crazy:. I have found a couple of -25% poison duration items which I am stocking up on in anticipation of Andariel. Rules say that resists can't get above 50% (actually her's are all 22% or lower) but there are no restrictions on having -75% poison duration! Bwaa-haa-haa!

Gambling has supplied Candle a trident for jabbing, and a nice shield and chain boots.

[highlight]Quickdeath, CandleintheWind, Javazon, Outer Cloister, lvl18 [/highlight]
 
Last edited:
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Played Mouse the last couple nights. Completed staff, Fangskin gave me a scare, but never really got below 1/2 life. Had a NDE in the Palace where it's dark and had a couple mages standing right next to me in a corner. :) Currently in Arcane, cleared top two arms, one being the Summoner, fairly easy, cast golem on his platform and fill him with arrows from a safe distance. Will clear bottom two arms next session, then move on to Canyon. No special finds besides a 3 socket breast plate and 3 socket composite bow. Armor will probably get TIRs for the mana per kill, will help feed my level 1 CE, and keep me from carrying too many pots around. Gems in the bow for quicker kills.

Level 24
Life 86
Resists 15 / 40 / 16 / 6
Stats 57 / 85 / 15 / 40

Clay golem is level 14, with mastery at 5. Life is 1110. How important is it to get 1 point in Summon Resist for the Duriel battle?

[highlight] Mouse the Golemancer, Arcane Sanctuary, Level 24 [/highlight]
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

@Drystan: Heh, I've had to rearrange my items a couple of times, too. I had some plain MF gloves and boots ready in case my resists got too high. It was originally way more dramatic -- 40% in normal, 20% in NM, and 0% max in Hell. :D I don't know if I commented on it earlier, but that ring is amazing. Your merc MF is fine. Your character isn't technically restricted, and in NM with the new rule you can have up to 35% anyway.

@Bluechip: Agreed with all except Crushflange...that CB can be nice! Unless you are referring to the fire resist...you would have to have 0% on the rest of your equipment, heh.

@Quickdeath: I'd check out jian's early MF guide. The early MF tends help you find more blues and yellows, which increases your income, which allows you to gamble more items for more mf and resists, all of which increases the chance that you will find useful a Gull Dagger or Chancies, or set combos, and it all snowballs into the later game when you find the more important stuff. It really is worth it imo, especially since the monsters are so easy in acts I & II.

@Mournblade: You will probably be fine without it, but you may as well get one point. One point into Iron Maiden would probably be the most useful of all (if you don't have that yet).
_______________________________

I fought my way through the jungle today, finding some useful equipment and suffering some scary moments. Early on, I let a flayer graze my shoulder with an inferno. My health drained to about half. Nice! Looked at my fire resist, and it turned out I had 0. No wonder. ;)

I could try to dispatch them with charge. Of course, if I made a mistake and charged them into a wall without killing them, they could fry me. Or I could let Iantha handle them. I decided not to make any mistakes. :) I used the same tactic that I did against the mummies in Act II. I zealed at their minions, then once I had some clear space, circled the shamans until I had charge room. Bam bam bam! Dead. I did get brushed a few times and drained to ~half health. It was so exciting though! Sometimes it's worth playing "imcorrectly" just for the adrenaline rush.

The scariest NDE came right when I entered the Great Marsh. I never worry about Gloams in Normal difficulty, but then I got lightning and I noticed my health drain to about 25%. Turns out it was a Lightning Enchanted boss pack. Elemental enchanting adds alot of damage to Gloams in normal difficulty.

I did gamble some nice boots:

Gale Track
Boots
Defense: 2
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0x3f2c7e91
Item Level: 30
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+21 Maximum Stamina
Fire Resist +24%
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
10% Faster Run/Walk
12% Chance to cast level 4 Nova when struck

I'm not using them at the moment though because I have a pair of plain 33% MF boots. Also found this decent long sword:


Fiend Needle
Long Sword
One Hand Damage: 3 - 19
Durability: 44 of 44
Required Level: 9
Required Strength: 55
Required Dexterity: 39
Fingerprint: 0xfb21889
Item Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+75 to Attack Rating
Lightning Resist +7%
+12 poison damage over 3 seconds
4% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
Repairs 1 Durability in 33 Seconds

I even like the Lightning resist! Hehe. It's not great (no +damage), has many "miscellaneous" mods which I like. And I also found two Gem Shrines so now I have my first perfect topaz. :thumbup:

[highlight]BathtubPancake, level 30 Holy Freeze Chargadin, Lower Kurast[/highlight]
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Teff reached lvl 30, and can't figure out if she likes Frozen Orb or Blizzard better. She'll be going Frozen Orb due to lack of skill points, but Blizzard has some nice things on the orb...like longer range, not getting stopped by obstacles, and higher crowd damage.

I found an amulet of the centaur (+.75 life per clvl I think).
Is it allowed, not allowed or allowed until it reaches 30 life? (I think the last one, but just making sure.)

[highlight]Teff, ES Sorceress, Lower Kurast, lvl 30[/highlight]
 
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Ulquiorra-san is through NM Act 2. Players 7 was used throughout the NM Act 2 and full clears were performed. Most everything was pretty easy but some parts were a bit time consuming. The biggest obstacles were Unravelers that were found in The Halls of the Dead, The Claw Viper Temple, and most of Tal Rasha’s Tombs. Regular Unravelers weren’t too bad but could be troublesome when there was an entire room full of them . . . Champion and Unique Unravelers were worse as dim vision didn’t work on them. The most memorable battles were against the Ancient Kaa (and four or so Unravelers that were next to him . . . and of course all their minions). Ulquiorra couldn’t kill Kaa himself (too much inherent magic resistance and too fast a regeneration rate I guess) so Leharas had to do the dangerous and dirty work (after every undead corpse was corpse exploded by Ulquiorra . . . did I mention some parts were time consuming? . . a dead end full of five Unravelers sure doesn’t let a corpse sit on the floor for long so most of the undead minions had to be killed multiple times . . . ugh). Another ‘interesting’ battle was against a room full of Unravelers that had not one, but two uniques and at least three regular Unravelers . . . so again, every undead corpse had to be corpse exploded (so the undead monster usually had to be killed multiple times . . . ugh).

I considered dropping the full clear but kept it going mostly in hopes of finding some good items (because next to nothing good had dropped leading up to the Tombs). The best (and really only good) drop that came before the Tombs was a Thul Rune that went into a three socketed gothic plate that Ulquiorra had been saving since Act 5 to create Peace for Leharas. The drops in the Tombs continued to be horrible with the only noteworthy item being Hwanin’s Armor (the chance to cast static field made it seem like an appealing item for Leharas but it’s probably not better than the Peace that he is already weaing . . . so I tend to doubt that it will ever even see any use). After finding nothing of use leading up to Duriel expectations were high (especially at Players 7) but as usual the slug refused to drop anything of any use (probably it was Duriel’s way of showing displeasure for Ulquiorra using the oh so cheap bone prison maneuver . . . if I got hit with that I’d be grumpy too).

Here were Ulquiorra-san’s stats at the end of NM Act 2.

[highlight]Ulquiorra-san, Bone Necro, NM Kurast Docks, Level 60[/highlight]

EDIT: I apparently shouldn't play or post while I'm feeling sleepy . . . It occured to me while brushing my teeth that the Hwanin's Armor gives plus 100 life . . . So ignore that part about me putting it on the merc or not using it . . . I really don't know what I was thinking . . . Ulquiorra will certainly be using it . . . And now, time for bed! . . Oh yes, and with this revelation I now take back any grumbling about bad item finding luck . . . I was very lucky! . . Cheers!
 
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