Tarantella
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
I thought players were restricted to one type of summons only or a merc.
I thought players were restricted to one type of summons only or a merc.
The Certain Death Tournament.
- Thread starter wakiki
- Start date
jiansonz
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
Nice one! I like parantheses use, and abuse. Here is a lovely little example, from a Planescape:Torment walkthrough written by a guy named Nicholas Yu:
After this interlude (I think this is a really cool word and like to use it a lot. (Don't use it in casual conversation though, or people will think you're a pretentious bastard. (And they'd be right. (I also like to use parentheses in pointless editorial comments.)))), I went back to being a Fighter.
Even if it isn´t entirely correct - no need for that many parantheses - I think it´s glorious.
Nice one! I like parantheses use, and abuse. Here is a lovely little example, from a Planescape:Torment walkthrough written by a guy named Nicholas Yu:
After this interlude (I think this is a really cool word and like to use it a lot. (Don't use it in casual conversation though, or people will think you're a pretentious bastard. (And they'd be right. (I also like to use parentheses in pointless editorial comments.)))), I went back to being a Fighter.
Even if it isn´t entirely correct - no need for that many parantheses - I think it´s glorious.
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
Damn.
Guess I should have paid better attention. Just one (multi)shot of magic missiles and of_Worlds's 82 hp (with 25% es) were gone...
I really needed to make Destroyer for that char name to make sense.
At least it was fun while it lasted. I put every skill point (except for es, static, tele) in either lightning or chain lightning and every stat point (after reaching 36 str) into energy. Add to that a +1 light skills/+3 lightning staff and she played like a fully "grown up" sorc (in terms of speed and killing power). Only the ndes to every single ranged champion or boss pack were slightly scary
Back to my GwE Trapsin then; maybe I'll even write the long overdue update on her progress...
[highlight] of_Worlds, level 26 Lite Sorc, Tal's Tomb - RIP [/highlight]
Damn.
Guess I should have paid better attention. Just one (multi)shot of magic missiles and of_Worlds's 82 hp (with 25% es) were gone...
I really needed to make Destroyer for that char name to make sense.
At least it was fun while it lasted. I put every skill point (except for es, static, tele) in either lightning or chain lightning and every stat point (after reaching 36 str) into energy. Add to that a +1 light skills/+3 lightning staff and she played like a fully "grown up" sorc (in terms of speed and killing power). Only the ndes to every single ranged champion or boss pack were slightly scary
Back to my GwE Trapsin then; maybe I'll even write the long overdue update on her progress...
[highlight] of_Worlds, level 26 Lite Sorc, Tal's Tomb - RIP [/highlight]
Hp_Sauce
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
What happens when your pure Energy sorc does battle with Succubus or Baal and they cast Blood Mana on her? Will you just flee (by foot, because teleport will kill you) and come back when it's worn off? Does Blood Mana even still exist? I haven't seen it since 1.09 when I stopped playing SC, and life became important. But I can see it being a problem for some builds in this tournament (if it does still exist).
I left your screenshot open and went to get ready for work. When I returned to my PC I glanced, saw the deeds screen and thought "Oh no! I died! Did I forget to pause the game?"... but then I realized it was still just your screenshot. Anyway, Rip.
-hps
What happens when your pure Energy sorc does battle with Succubus or Baal and they cast Blood Mana on her? Will you just flee (by foot, because teleport will kill you) and come back when it's worn off? Does Blood Mana even still exist? I haven't seen it since 1.09 when I stopped playing SC, and life became important. But I can see it being a problem for some builds in this tournament (if it does still exist).
I left your screenshot open and went to get ready for work. When I returned to my PC I glanced, saw the deeds screen and thought "Oh no! I died! Did I forget to pause the game?"... but then I realized it was still just your screenshot. Anyway, Rip.
-hps
Cor Blimey
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
Well, my main experience with ES sorcs is on a ladder restart for 1.10.
Blood mana just works as usual. Afaik blood mana is not damage as a proportion of max mana, it is damage proportional to the mana cost of a spell. I.e. business as usual despite 4000 mana.
However, in this tournament, I imagine it is a fairly nasty curse for any casters (Energy shield aside) so, with low health, spamming 50 mana spells would hurt. But it is still far less dangerous than iron maiden.
I am afraid, with an ES sorc in this tournament, black souls would be near insta-kill. But I suppose they are too for any other build as well...
edited for atrocious spelling.
Well, my main experience with ES sorcs is on a ladder restart for 1.10.
Blood mana just works as usual. Afaik blood mana is not damage as a proportion of max mana, it is damage proportional to the mana cost of a spell. I.e. business as usual despite 4000 mana.
However, in this tournament, I imagine it is a fairly nasty curse for any casters (Energy shield aside) so, with low health, spamming 50 mana spells would hurt. But it is still far less dangerous than iron maiden.
I am afraid, with an ES sorc in this tournament, black souls would be near insta-kill. But I suppose they are too for any other build as well...
edited for atrocious spelling.
Mournblade
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
Ok, rejoining with a spearazon. Probably keep a weapon/shield on switch. Will use a mercenary the whole time, but also plans to have Decoy. I believe that was ok.
[highlight] Svelte Savage, Spearazon, Level 1, Rogue Encampment[/highlight]
Ok, rejoining with a spearazon. Probably keep a weapon/shield on switch. Will use a mercenary the whole time, but also plans to have Decoy. I believe that was ok.
[highlight] Svelte Savage, Spearazon, Level 1, Rogue Encampment[/highlight]
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
Hehe, Han, love that rare ring. Someone else had an awesome 24% MF ring with lightning res but I forget who that was.
Mournblade, RIP for Mouse. Diablo has claimed so many lives this tournament...and welcome back, too!
Hp, welcome to the tournament! It's good to see your posting. You sorta recruited me here and I don't see you around enough.
Just post highlighted summaries (like you did in your update) and I'll take care of the table.
Morathi, for some reason readon about your Druids makes me want to try those builds. Hehe.
Cor Blimey, welcome! Mercs are not allowed with summoners, so this poses a problem for Skellymancers. At the start of each session, a Necro may clear the Blood Moor on /p1 for corpses, and not pick up any items. This may be done once at the start of each session, if you ended the previous session with an army. Once you get to Nihlathak's Temple, use his garden instead.
If your army runs out mid session, you may not keep clearing out previously cleared places (Moor or otherwise). You can save places for corpses and clear them later.
Fade, natural resistance, and resistance auras may not be used to boost resists over 50. You can still use them to boost resistances to 50, then devote item slots to other uses that might otherwise be devoted to resists. Shrines and potions may be used. No limit on damage reduction. Also, decoy does not count as a summon (neither do Druid vines/spirits/ravens).
scrcrw, RIP man. Those mummy dark bolts have claimed more than one life this tournament. (Didn't someone else die to them?) They deal about 30% health to most characters, so multishot is pretty much insta-death.
Got to go, I'll finish respoding later.
Hehe, Han, love that rare ring. Someone else had an awesome 24% MF ring with lightning res but I forget who that was.
Mournblade, RIP for Mouse. Diablo has claimed so many lives this tournament...and welcome back, too!
Hp, welcome to the tournament! It's good to see your posting. You sorta recruited me here and I don't see you around enough.
Just post highlighted summaries (like you did in your update) and I'll take care of the table.Morathi, for some reason readon about your Druids makes me want to try those builds. Hehe.
Cor Blimey, welcome! Mercs are not allowed with summoners, so this poses a problem for Skellymancers. At the start of each session, a Necro may clear the Blood Moor on /p1 for corpses, and not pick up any items. This may be done once at the start of each session, if you ended the previous session with an army. Once you get to Nihlathak's Temple, use his garden instead.
If your army runs out mid session, you may not keep clearing out previously cleared places (Moor or otherwise). You can save places for corpses and clear them later.
Fade, natural resistance, and resistance auras may not be used to boost resists over 50. You can still use them to boost resistances to 50, then devote item slots to other uses that might otherwise be devoted to resists. Shrines and potions may be used. No limit on damage reduction. Also, decoy does not count as a summon (neither do Druid vines/spirits/ravens).
scrcrw, RIP man. Those mummy dark bolts have claimed more than one life this tournament. (Didn't someone else die to them?) They deal about 30% health to most characters, so multishot is pretty much insta-death.
Got to go, I'll finish respoding later.
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Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
Well, my first tourney back, and this one's a doozy...
Toddetta the Strafe(possibly)zon (never played any amazon past act I normal before... let alone in a no vit tourney...) has cleared the blood moor and is soon to venture in to the den of evil... not much of note yet, no gems, nothing particularly useful.
Todetta level 5 Amazon Den of evil
Well, my first tourney back, and this one's a doozy...
Toddetta the Strafe(possibly)zon (never played any amazon past act I normal before... let alone in a no vit tourney...) has cleared the blood moor and is soon to venture in to the den of evil... not much of note yet, no gems, nothing particularly useful.
Todetta level 5 Amazon Den of evil
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
Nice that you noticed that there are much faster claws than long sword. And LS trapper don't need +2 all if she can buy +3 Traps/+3 LS claw.
Blade Tallons and Greater Claws are -20, Greater Tallons -30. But when buying from Anya Blade Tallons are the way to go if they get the staffmods you want.
Meanwhile like I wrote pester Drognan for the best he's ready to give. And make the Spirit, if you find the Amn, but give it to your Act III merc, he gets the most of it.
Ulla
It is pretty useful to him, actually. Long sword is faster than Broad swords and Crystal swords so they will get to the fastest trap laying breakpoint quite easily IIRC. The FHR should definately not be neglected in this tournament, and the +vitality and mana probably makes it better than claws for this tournament.
Awesome progress, guys. And yes, I read every single update and enjoy it a lot
Edit: Easily was not exactly true. But Long Swords have WSM of -10 while the other two have 0, so it reaches trap laying breakpoints more easily. You still need quite a bit of IAS (89) to reach the fastest trap laying speed with a Long Sword compared to the fastest claw (WSM -30) which needs 42% IAS.
Nice that you noticed that there are much faster claws than long sword. And LS trapper don't need +2 all if she can buy +3 Traps/+3 LS claw.
Blade Tallons and Greater Claws are -20, Greater Tallons -30. But when buying from Anya Blade Tallons are the way to go if they get the staffmods you want.
Meanwhile like I wrote pester Drognan for the best he's ready to give. And make the Spirit, if you find the Amn, but give it to your Act III merc, he gets the most of it.
Ulla
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NagisaFurukawa
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
Thomh: I do believe you were right the first time. I never found trap laying speed a problem with PvM trappers, and they've used some crazy slow weapons. 66 life, and huge FHR/FCR (not to mention skills/mana)? Hard to argue with such a broken item. The biggest reason I'd use it, however, is the FCR. Cloak of Shadows negates many things, but there are some enemies you'll need to spam Mind Blast against to keep in check. In those cases, you'll really want to have better cast rates.
Ulla: I've never seen Blade Talons with staffmods, so probably only Greater Talons..
My character is moving along slowly. It's been one area cleared, followed by 100 LK runs, followed by another area cleared.
. I'll update if/when he reaches the end of Act 1. One thing of mention to note would be the unique Spiked Club he fetched off Blood Raven. Pretty nifty mods for an item I'd usually leave on the ground. :whistling:
Thomh: I do believe you were right the first time. I never found trap laying speed a problem with PvM trappers, and they've used some crazy slow weapons. 66 life, and huge FHR/FCR (not to mention skills/mana)? Hard to argue with such a broken item. The biggest reason I'd use it, however, is the FCR. Cloak of Shadows negates many things, but there are some enemies you'll need to spam Mind Blast against to keep in check. In those cases, you'll really want to have better cast rates.
Ulla: I've never seen Blade Talons with staffmods, so probably only Greater Talons.
.My character is moving along slowly. It's been one area cleared, followed by 100 LK runs, followed by another area cleared.
. I'll update if/when he reaches the end of Act 1. One thing of mention to note would be the unique Spiked Club he fetched off Blood Raven. Pretty nifty mods for an item I'd usually leave on the ground. :whistling:Ohomemgrande1
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
I have built an ES sorc with all points into energy except for enough strength to equip gear.
Based on my experience, I would think that an ES sorc would be a very viable build in this tournament. You will definitely choose a mercenary (sorcs don't have minions) that can carry Insight (assuming you're RWM (which helps the build out oh so much)). A fully synergized ES costs about 40 points so you have enough left over to get a very strong Frozen Orb (20 FO, 20 CM) or a decent dual-tree (Frozen Orb/Firewall/Nova combination). The Mat write-up I linked had FO/Nova but I decided that I liked Frozen Orb to be stronger so I rebuilt her to be the 20 FO/CM build and she easily made matriarch. But, both builds are viable.
As far as blood mana curse goes, it's just an annoyance. If you get hit, you just drink a red pot and it tends to replenish as fast as the curse affects you. Just need to pay attention (which is the norm in HC) but it's not that big of a deal. Certainly not as dangerous as a mana burn bosspack
edit: oh yeah, souls aren't that big of a deal either. The ES takes most of the damage and then what's left over can be absorbed by your resists. Actually, poison is the most dangerous of the elemental attacks since it bypasses the ES.
I have built an ES sorc with all points into energy except for enough strength to equip gear.
Based on my experience, I would think that an ES sorc would be a very viable build in this tournament. You will definitely choose a mercenary (sorcs don't have minions) that can carry Insight (assuming you're RWM (which helps the build out oh so much)). A fully synergized ES costs about 40 points so you have enough left over to get a very strong Frozen Orb (20 FO, 20 CM) or a decent dual-tree (Frozen Orb/Firewall/Nova combination). The Mat write-up I linked had FO/Nova but I decided that I liked Frozen Orb to be stronger so I rebuilt her to be the 20 FO/CM build and she easily made matriarch. But, both builds are viable.
As far as blood mana curse goes, it's just an annoyance. If you get hit, you just drink a red pot and it tends to replenish as fast as the curse affects you. Just need to pay attention (which is the norm in HC) but it's not that big of a deal. Certainly not as dangerous as a mana burn bosspack
edit: oh yeah, souls aren't that big of a deal either. The ES takes most of the damage and then what's left over can be absorbed by your resists. Actually, poison is the most dangerous of the elemental attacks since it bypasses the ES.
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Alfonso the Great
Member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
TheAragorn rolls on and on and on.
The Bloody Foothills were fantastic. Gained a level and a half. The merc's aura plus TheAragorn's sheer ownage resulted in many of these situations. Didn't make them any less useless, but still. One of them popped a rather nice ring that may see use in later NM or Hell. And then this beauty came to be. I ditched my old Act 1 composite bow in a heartbeat. The firing speed is much slower, but the increased AR (especially against demons) ensured more of my arrows were striking home, and despite the decreased firing speed I ended up doing more damage.
Shenk was namelocked and annihilated while the merc tanked the bejesus out of the mobs. Aside from the Foothills, though, I really hate the Act 5 outdoor areas. The silly fortifications wind up getting the merc stuck more often than not and the last thing I wanted was to trigger the dreaded merc bug. The hell portals are much more fun, though. Like shooting cows in a corral. I also experienced a funky enemy spawn. Yep, the Overlord and its brood popped into being in the lava. They even dropped loot...I'm actually rather surprised a Stone of Jordan didn't drop and thereby be uncollectible.
Contrary to popular belief, I don't think it's fickleness so much as maliciousness that prompts RNG drops. Wait, no, I take that back. The Nakozan Relic is actually rather appreciated. Immediately thereafter, of course, the merc set off a pack of champion frenzytaurs as well as a unique Abominable and his horde. The merc drank potions and together we racked up quite a body count..
Anya was freed without incident and before we descended into Nihlathak's demesne I decided to do some shopping. She refused, absolutely REFUSED, to give up Greaves of Luck with halfway decent (25%+) Fire or Lightning resist. I snagged some 24% FR/18% MF light gauntlets, a perfect set of Greaves of Luck, and eventually an acceptable (23% LR, 28% MF) set of greaves. This was with 400 inventory refreshes, easy. The gauntlets went on, as did the perfect Luck Greaves, while the other set was stashed at Atma's.
Look what showed up. I didn't screenshot it, but I also snagged a second Angelic Ring because I figured it was a silly Cathan's. Unfortunately, two Angelic Rings plus a sickle do not +100% MF make.
Nihlathak was killed exactly as you might think. His teleporting accomplished diddly so long as I held down my left mouse button. When he finally spawned an Ice Boar that got a little too close to comfort before dying, I simply repositioned. How 'bout them apples? Bonus for the set item a boar spit up.
Hitting the Arreat Plateau, I learned the RNG is not without a sense of humor. By this point I had Holy Shock maxed and was working on Resist Lightning, so I didn't even need to shoot to unleash the carnage. I hope gremlins spawn all the time in NM/Hell, but I just know I'm going to get Slingers.
This is always a nice thing to see when playing untwinked. Pity its mods can't be transferred onto a bow. I also snagged a three socket ethereal pike here. Cue Malice!
And here we are. Guess who forgot to dial back to /p1 before spawning them, and forgot that he forgot until it was essentially done and over with? Also, weirdly, Korlic refused to leave me alone. It wasn't the merc bug; Talic cheerily beat up on Hazade the whole time. Had a NDE a few times when I got surprise Leap Attacked in the middle of loosing an arrow, but I came well-prepared with purples and reds.
I celebrated by doing some gambling at Anya's, burning through my 350k+ inventory gold in the hopes of a rare circlet/ring/amulet. Heh...what are the odds? My weird stroke of luck continued. Although having ~240% MF helps in that regard.
Ventar is much less threatening than the Infector of Souls, even if he and his group are just as mobful. Lister and his cronies ended up being kited eeeeeeverywhere and taken down in ones and twos.
The moment of truth. And did it ever get on. Yes, I realize that's the Baalclone. Baal's fun tendency to teleport while clonespawning did nothing to stop the namelock fury, until I inevitably had to turn my attention to the clone. My bow tore the clone a new one...does +x% damage to demons apply only to raw the weapon damage, or also to bonuses from, say, Holy Shock? Seemed like the latter.
Here we are getting back to business. My position there kept about half of Baal's attacks from hitting while allowing me to fire with impunity. The frost chisel could still knock me back (but with 40% cold resist it was relatively tame) and his fire ring could still mess me up (though only for about 1/4 of my total health), but he was still much less stressful than Diablo.
It took a little while, but here's the result. And, of course, having Space mapped to my screenshots resulted in "Congratulations Destroyer TheAragorn" popping immediately to the main screen.
Anyhow, TheAragorn has gotten 1/3 of the way to complete victory...or to irrevocable death. Vishnu help me if the cows turn me to hamburger.
[highlight]Destroyer TheAragorn, Ranger Paladin, Level 46, Moo Moo Farm[/highlight]
TheAragorn rolls on and on and on.
The Bloody Foothills were fantastic. Gained a level and a half. The merc's aura plus TheAragorn's sheer ownage resulted in many of these situations. Didn't make them any less useless, but still. One of them popped a rather nice ring that may see use in later NM or Hell. And then this beauty came to be. I ditched my old Act 1 composite bow in a heartbeat. The firing speed is much slower, but the increased AR (especially against demons) ensured more of my arrows were striking home, and despite the decreased firing speed I ended up doing more damage.
Shenk was namelocked and annihilated while the merc tanked the bejesus out of the mobs. Aside from the Foothills, though, I really hate the Act 5 outdoor areas. The silly fortifications wind up getting the merc stuck more often than not and the last thing I wanted was to trigger the dreaded merc bug. The hell portals are much more fun, though. Like shooting cows in a corral. I also experienced a funky enemy spawn. Yep, the Overlord and its brood popped into being in the lava. They even dropped loot...I'm actually rather surprised a Stone of Jordan didn't drop and thereby be uncollectible.
Contrary to popular belief, I don't think it's fickleness so much as maliciousness that prompts RNG drops. Wait, no, I take that back. The Nakozan Relic is actually rather appreciated. Immediately thereafter, of course, the merc set off a pack of champion frenzytaurs as well as a unique Abominable and his horde. The merc drank potions and together we racked up quite a body count..
Anya was freed without incident and before we descended into Nihlathak's demesne I decided to do some shopping. She refused, absolutely REFUSED, to give up Greaves of Luck with halfway decent (25%+) Fire or Lightning resist. I snagged some 24% FR/18% MF light gauntlets, a perfect set of Greaves of Luck, and eventually an acceptable (23% LR, 28% MF) set of greaves. This was with 400 inventory refreshes, easy. The gauntlets went on, as did the perfect Luck Greaves, while the other set was stashed at Atma's.
Look what showed up. I didn't screenshot it, but I also snagged a second Angelic Ring because I figured it was a silly Cathan's. Unfortunately, two Angelic Rings plus a sickle do not +100% MF make.
Nihlathak was killed exactly as you might think. His teleporting accomplished diddly so long as I held down my left mouse button. When he finally spawned an Ice Boar that got a little too close to comfort before dying, I simply repositioned. How 'bout them apples? Bonus for the set item a boar spit up.
Hitting the Arreat Plateau, I learned the RNG is not without a sense of humor. By this point I had Holy Shock maxed and was working on Resist Lightning, so I didn't even need to shoot to unleash the carnage. I hope gremlins spawn all the time in NM/Hell, but I just know I'm going to get Slingers.
This is always a nice thing to see when playing untwinked. Pity its mods can't be transferred onto a bow. I also snagged a three socket ethereal pike here. Cue Malice!
And here we are. Guess who forgot to dial back to /p1 before spawning them, and forgot that he forgot until it was essentially done and over with? Also, weirdly, Korlic refused to leave me alone. It wasn't the merc bug; Talic cheerily beat up on Hazade the whole time. Had a NDE a few times when I got surprise Leap Attacked in the middle of loosing an arrow, but I came well-prepared with purples and reds.
I celebrated by doing some gambling at Anya's, burning through my 350k+ inventory gold in the hopes of a rare circlet/ring/amulet. Heh...what are the odds? My weird stroke of luck continued. Although having ~240% MF helps in that regard.
Ventar is much less threatening than the Infector of Souls, even if he and his group are just as mobful. Lister and his cronies ended up being kited eeeeeeverywhere and taken down in ones and twos.
The moment of truth. And did it ever get on. Yes, I realize that's the Baalclone. Baal's fun tendency to teleport while clonespawning did nothing to stop the namelock fury, until I inevitably had to turn my attention to the clone. My bow tore the clone a new one...does +x% damage to demons apply only to raw the weapon damage, or also to bonuses from, say, Holy Shock? Seemed like the latter.
Here we are getting back to business. My position there kept about half of Baal's attacks from hitting while allowing me to fire with impunity. The frost chisel could still knock me back (but with 40% cold resist it was relatively tame) and his fire ring could still mess me up (though only for about 1/4 of my total health), but he was still much less stressful than Diablo.
It took a little while, but here's the result. And, of course, having Space mapped to my screenshots resulted in "Congratulations Destroyer TheAragorn" popping immediately to the main screen.
Anyhow, TheAragorn has gotten 1/3 of the way to complete victory...or to irrevocable death. Vishnu help me if the cows turn me to hamburger.
[highlight]Destroyer TheAragorn, Ranger Paladin, Level 46, Moo Moo Farm[/highlight]
Cor Blimey
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
nice writeup.
Try using the bonesnp with 1-point charge to put some serious knockback pain on any pesky bosses, particularly if they are lightning immune. Also, if you are really (stupid) confident with a particular act boss such as Andy then the crushing blow could be really nice. Zeal it up
edit: @ the demons bonus, afaik it works as a multiplier to final physical damage, much like deadly strike or critical strike. Unfortunately, a lot of the reference links here http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=36666 were 404'ing on me (curse my out of date bookmark archive)
nice writeup.
Try using the bonesnp with 1-point charge to put some serious knockback pain on any pesky bosses, particularly if they are lightning immune. Also, if you are really (stupid) confident with a particular act boss such as Andy then the crushing blow could be really nice. Zeal it up
edit: @ the demons bonus, afaik it works as a multiplier to final physical damage, much like deadly strike or critical strike. Unfortunately, a lot of the reference links here http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=36666 were 404'ing on me (curse my out of date bookmark archive)
Alfonso the Great
Member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
Oh, I'd love to, but I'm a ranger through and through. Bows and crossbows only when it comes to killing, I'm afraid. No points in Charge or Zeal, and I've got Holy Freeze for the inevitable LIs. CI/LI...well...I've got a merc and Holy Fire was a prereq....
Try using the bonesnp with 1-point charge to put some serious knockback pain on any pesky bosses, particularly if they are lightning immune. Also, if you are really (stupid) confident with a particular act boss such as Andy then the crushing blow could be really nice. Zeal it up
Oh, I'd love to, but I'm a ranger through and through. Bows and crossbows only when it comes to killing, I'm afraid. No points in Charge or Zeal, and I've got Holy Freeze for the inevitable LIs. CI/LI...well...I've got a merc and Holy Fire was a prereq....
Cor Blimey
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
I would like to enter with a character, after some deliberation on strategy.
I proudly present "Sir Healzealot" (pun intended /groan), a Merc-Buffing Flexible-Aura Holy-Bolter Fanat/Charge Coward Paladin. Class: Adrenaline Medic.
I will use a potent combination of 1-5 point wonder auras, switching between them as required, while attacking with a combination of FoH to cause lockdown, charge to give them a smacking and a smattering of cautious smite against bosses (for no AR worries). Holy Bolt will be a mainstay of this build, and Sir Healzealot relishes the day he can triumphantly give Lord de Seis and nasty Unravellers a good bolting. Souls will fear me!
Projected build: stats: enough for gear/enough for max block with Holy shield/0/rest, respectively, leaving a float of 30 points for when high req gear is found. Skills: in no particular order: 20 prayer, 6 vigour, 20 Fanat, 20 HB, 6 Holy shield, 1 cleansing, rest into conviction for PIs or more vigour for charge or hammers for HB damage. 10 prereqs. Basic build complete at level 70.
Current Status: Act 1, normal, rogue's camp. Level 1, 0 xp.
Current Strategy: players-8 kill-stuff-strategy
Current Possessions: 1 Short Sword, 1 Buckler, 1 Scroll of Identity and 1 Scroll of Town Portal. 1 Huge Ego.
Current Most-wanted: Thul and Amn runes
I would like to enter with a character, after some deliberation on strategy.
I proudly present "Sir Healzealot" (pun intended /groan), a Merc-Buffing Flexible-Aura Holy-Bolter Fanat/Charge Coward Paladin. Class: Adrenaline Medic.
I will use a potent combination of 1-5 point wonder auras, switching between them as required, while attacking with a combination of FoH to cause lockdown, charge to give them a smacking and a smattering of cautious smite against bosses (for no AR worries). Holy Bolt will be a mainstay of this build, and Sir Healzealot relishes the day he can triumphantly give Lord de Seis and nasty Unravellers a good bolting. Souls will fear me!
Projected build: stats: enough for gear/enough for max block with Holy shield/0/rest, respectively, leaving a float of 30 points for when high req gear is found. Skills: in no particular order: 20 prayer, 6 vigour, 20 Fanat, 20 HB, 6 Holy shield, 1 cleansing, rest into conviction for PIs or more vigour for charge or hammers for HB damage. 10 prereqs. Basic build complete at level 70.
Current Status: Act 1, normal, rogue's camp. Level 1, 0 xp.
Current Strategy: players-8 kill-stuff-strategy
Current Possessions: 1 Short Sword, 1 Buckler, 1 Scroll of Identity and 1 Scroll of Town Portal. 1 Huge Ego.
Current Most-wanted: Thul and Amn runes
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Cor Blimey
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
-I don't care about blood curse at all, normally. But in this tournament a sorceress will have (39+lvl) hitpoints, plus up to about 100 from allowed items. At level 70 this is just over 200). This is not a lot...casting your preferred orb would kill you in 10 seconds (on the working assumption that 1 orb per 2 seconds, 40 mana =40 health lost per two seconds).
-secondly, 20 points of Telekinesis absorbs roughly 0.8 dmg per mana lost. At level 70 (about the level for entering hell on a one-pass only game) liberally assuming all stat points into energy, her base mana is (33+70*2+5*2*71)=883 mana, plus maybe a couple of hundred more from gear. Let's call it 1200 mana, possibly more if you forget any pretence at resists and go sapphires throughout and so on. A players-1 soul in Hell WSK does around 200 average damage, but if the whole bolt passes through you then you are struck multiple times (up to 5 times from each lightning bolt). So that is, up to 500 absorbed by your e-shield (0.5*200*5). 500 to your health where it goes through the resistance mechanism, so assuming the max allowed resistance of 50% your health pool takes 250 damage.
Conclusion: a sorceress will not survive, regardless of e-shield, a full hit of soul lightning. Given they come in packs of around 4..that is a lot of kiting and frenetic dodging
This would be true except for a couple of points.I have built an ES sorc with all points into energy except for enough strength to equip gear.
Based on my experience, I would think that an ES sorc would be a very viable build in this tournament. You will definitely choose a mercenary (sorcs don't have minions) that can carry Insight (assuming you're RWM (which helps the build out oh so much)). A fully synergized ES costs about 40 points so you have enough left over to get a very strong Frozen Orb (20 FO, 20 CM) or a decent dual-tree (Frozen Orb/Firewall/Nova combination). The Mat write-up I linked had FO/Nova but I decided that I liked Frozen Orb to be stronger so I rebuilt her to be the 20 FO/CM build and she easily made matriarch. But, both builds are viable.
As far as blood mana curse goes, it's just an annoyance. If you get hit, you just drink a red pot and it tends to replenish as fast as the curse affects you. Just need to pay attention (which is the norm in HC) but it's not that big of a deal. Certainly not as dangerous as a mana burn bosspack
edit: oh yeah, souls aren't that big of a deal either. The ES takes most of the damage and then what's left over can be absorbed by your resists. Actually, poison is the most dangerous of the elemental attacks since it bypasses the ES.
-I don't care about blood curse at all, normally. But in this tournament a sorceress will have (39+lvl) hitpoints, plus up to about 100 from allowed items. At level 70 this is just over 200). This is not a lot...casting your preferred orb would kill you in 10 seconds (on the working assumption that 1 orb per 2 seconds, 40 mana =40 health lost per two seconds).
-secondly, 20 points of Telekinesis absorbs roughly 0.8 dmg per mana lost. At level 70 (about the level for entering hell on a one-pass only game) liberally assuming all stat points into energy, her base mana is (33+70*2+5*2*71)=883 mana, plus maybe a couple of hundred more from gear. Let's call it 1200 mana, possibly more if you forget any pretence at resists and go sapphires throughout and so on. A players-1 soul in Hell WSK does around 200 average damage, but if the whole bolt passes through you then you are struck multiple times (up to 5 times from each lightning bolt). So that is, up to 500 absorbed by your e-shield (0.5*200*5). 500 to your health where it goes through the resistance mechanism, so assuming the max allowed resistance of 50% your health pool takes 250 damage.
Conclusion: a sorceress will not survive, regardless of e-shield, a full hit of soul lightning. Given they come in packs of around 4..that is a lot of kiting and frenetic dodging
Tarantella
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
Welcome CB and goodluck with the paladin!:wave:
Continuing in act 2 the top two sewers levels were tackled at p4 with archer bosses being carefully watched. The lower level was cleared at p1 with patience at the end waiting for the valkyrie to move forward and engage Radament whilst the decoy was kept on the spawn point.A brief interlude in nightmare level for crafting 5 blood belts was disappointing, the best not better than the Gloom's trap. A matriarchal javelin was imbued too with reasonable results. Returning to hell the outer areas were cleared at p4 in complete safety, a magewrath dropping in the far oasis, followed by a clearance of the halls of the dead(a cranebeak dropped there), the stony tomb and the maggots lair(all at p1) . Then onward to the lost city at p4, ancient tunnels and the viper temple at p1, to the arcane temple waypoint also at p1 before clearing the palace during which, after much wastage of gold gambling finally this small object of desire dropped off a skeleton archer.
The Temple itself was cleared at p8 (not many bosses there) netting another sol, amn, thul, a 36 life grand charm and a ruby (32% ED) jewel. Tactics here as per the maggots lair included the casting of the valkyrie as opposed to the normal tactic of letting her wander inscrutably at maximum buff strength.
The canyon and real tomb were then done at p1. The valkyrie, now level 30, tanked impeccably and after about three dozen javelins(~7 minutes or so) Duriel dropped (not before I'd swapped on my two mf rings-had been running at 0 mf mainly till then to get white elite armours and possibly a monarch to drop) a cracker, 198 ED Gimmershreds!
There followed by a complete tomb clearance (who ever does those?) all at p1. There were well over two dozen bosses occupying the tombs but the valkyrie coped well with those too allowing Damasque to complete act 2 with barely a scatch to show for it.
Before proceeding to act 3 The pits were finally cleared at p3 in a bit of an anticlimax as the smallest map was generated and there was only one weak archer pack on level 2. Apart from the haul of gold this very nice small charm dropped and level 83 timely reached as the stragglers were bumped off.
Tarantella Damasque Skirmisher Kurast Docks(H) Level 83
Welcome CB and goodluck with the paladin!:wave:
Continuing in act 2 the top two sewers levels were tackled at p4 with archer bosses being carefully watched. The lower level was cleared at p1 with patience at the end waiting for the valkyrie to move forward and engage Radament whilst the decoy was kept on the spawn point.A brief interlude in nightmare level for crafting 5 blood belts was disappointing, the best not better than the Gloom's trap. A matriarchal javelin was imbued too with reasonable results. Returning to hell the outer areas were cleared at p4 in complete safety, a magewrath dropping in the far oasis, followed by a clearance of the halls of the dead(a cranebeak dropped there), the stony tomb and the maggots lair(all at p1) . Then onward to the lost city at p4, ancient tunnels and the viper temple at p1, to the arcane temple waypoint also at p1 before clearing the palace during which, after much wastage of gold gambling finally this small object of desire dropped off a skeleton archer.
The Temple itself was cleared at p8 (not many bosses there) netting another sol, amn, thul, a 36 life grand charm and a ruby (32% ED) jewel. Tactics here as per the maggots lair included the casting of the valkyrie as opposed to the normal tactic of letting her wander inscrutably at maximum buff strength.
The canyon and real tomb were then done at p1. The valkyrie, now level 30, tanked impeccably and after about three dozen javelins(~7 minutes or so) Duriel dropped (not before I'd swapped on my two mf rings-had been running at 0 mf mainly till then to get white elite armours and possibly a monarch to drop) a cracker, 198 ED Gimmershreds!
There followed by a complete tomb clearance (who ever does those?) all at p1. There were well over two dozen bosses occupying the tombs but the valkyrie coped well with those too allowing Damasque to complete act 2 with barely a scatch to show for it.
Before proceeding to act 3 The pits were finally cleared at p3 in a bit of an anticlimax as the smallest map was generated and there was only one weak archer pack on level 2. Apart from the haul of gold this very nice small charm dropped and level 83 timely reached as the stragglers were bumped off.
Tarantella Damasque Skirmisher Kurast Docks(H) Level 83
Cor Blimey
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
nice...
Valk is amazing with good passives. If only there were a way to know if she had a cruel pike and so on.
Hmm, from reading a few posts it sounds like people are pinning a lot of hope on +mf equipment. I had not imagined that that would be effective on a one-pass only game. I suppose that makes it even more critical for those last tricky two acts. I have not had much experience with a one-pass game...no-twink games, yes. But one-pass...hehe I can only imagine the tension on your HF drops, the one and only time you get to kill the countess, even a fallen is potential LeWt.
How did you cope with lightning resistant souls in NM WSK? I assume you are a lf'er.
nice...
Valk is amazing with good passives. If only there were a way to know if she had a cruel pike and so on.
Hmm, from reading a few posts it sounds like people are pinning a lot of hope on +mf equipment. I had not imagined that that would be effective on a one-pass only game. I suppose that makes it even more critical for those last tricky two acts. I have not had much experience with a one-pass game...no-twink games, yes. But one-pass...hehe I can only imagine the tension on your HF drops, the one and only time you get to kill the countess, even a fallen is potential LeWt.
How did you cope with lightning resistant souls in NM WSK? I assume you are a lf'er.
Cor Blimey
New member
Re: The Certain Death Tournament.
Untwinked, I would say Valk.
@scottasin: It really depends. Your merc can add a nice aura..no one can deny the utility of Holy Freeze or the extra defence of Defiance.
However, if you have semi-decent passives then Valk can easily outstrip you merc in terms of survivability (there are fantastic synergies between the passives and Valk). Plus, you can spam as much as needed during boss fights and so on. Unfortunately, Blondie is a bit dopey and it can be hard to get her to engage, sometimes.
Given that it will be hard to give your merc sufficient life leech for Hell (~20% mark with a decent damge weapon), I would personally go for Blondie.
edit: update: gem shrine 5 metres outside of the Rogue Camp...soo annoying, oh well a nice chipped topaz for Sir_Healzealot. Just about to enter the Den of Evil now. I am paranoid about missing even a single fallen, and have been implementing an iterated 'reducing-radius' search pattern to find every single stack of arrows, piles of 2 gold and the elite cracked sash. It is suprisingly fun being level 5 before even reaching the Den.
I have been reconsidering my Pally build. I do not think FoH is viable untwinked. I am going to concentrate on charge (with a 2 hander on switch), and just generally stay the hell out of the way of things with Vigour and keeping my merc alive with HB.
Untwinked, I would say Valk.
@scottasin: It really depends. Your merc can add a nice aura..no one can deny the utility of Holy Freeze or the extra defence of Defiance.
However, if you have semi-decent passives then Valk can easily outstrip you merc in terms of survivability (there are fantastic synergies between the passives and Valk). Plus, you can spam as much as needed during boss fights and so on. Unfortunately, Blondie is a bit dopey and it can be hard to get her to engage, sometimes.
Given that it will be hard to give your merc sufficient life leech for Hell (~20% mark with a decent damge weapon), I would personally go for Blondie.
edit: update: gem shrine 5 metres outside of the Rogue Camp...soo annoying, oh well a nice chipped topaz for Sir_Healzealot. Just about to enter the Den of Evil now. I am paranoid about missing even a single fallen, and have been implementing an iterated 'reducing-radius' search pattern to find every single stack of arrows, piles of 2 gold and the elite cracked sash. It is suprisingly fun being level 5 before even reaching the Den.
I have been reconsidering my Pally build. I do not think FoH is viable untwinked. I am going to concentrate on charge (with a 2 hander on switch), and just generally stay the hell out of the way of things with Vigour and keeping my merc alive with HB.
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