The Certain Death Tournament.

[Ohomemgrande1]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

I'm using a new key setup, since I couldn't distinguish between my F# keys, and my number keys automatically, so kept using potions when trying to swap skills, and pushing "Alt-F4" on numerous occasions, trying to drink a mana potion. I'm now using Space for ScreenCapture (since I can never find PrtSc on this keyboard,) 'z' for close screens, and QWER for skills. I don't know where to put my Quest Log, or swap weapons, so if anyone has a good keyboard layout they use on a laptop, it would help greatly.
I'm actually liking skills being QWER, but I don't have town portal hotkeyed anymore, which has been a danger on multiple occasions, [highlight]and can only use 4 hotkeys.[/highlight]

I'm confused why you can only use 4 hotkeys. I think you can bind up to 15.

My "standard" setup (on laptop or otherwise) is to use ASDFG as my "main" skills. QWER is reserved for my 4 potion rows. I use T for weapon switch. ZXCV are for "lesser-used" skills or prebuffs. BO/BC/Shout go there for Barbs. Sturdy minions like the Valk or Golems also reside down there. B is reserved for my Tome of TP. Finally, 123456 are reserved for any leftover spells that I rarely use. For things like the Merc, Inventory, quests, etc., I use UIOP. Screen capture is CAPS LOCK, and the mini-map is bound to ~. I tried using SPACEBAR for screen capture but ended up taking a lot of useless pics when typing "/players 8" or whatever

Oh yeah, Josephine is resting in Harogath while I try out the Yellow Bellies tournament.

 

[kavarin]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

What a difference a drop makes. After bemoaning the lack of decent weapon drops, Andy coughs up a fairly useless dark clan crusher and a green bill. On paper, it doesn't look much better than the savage partizan that the merc had been using. In practice, however, the vastly increased weapon speed means that I can pretty much stand back and let the merc score all of the kills. The occasional ice blast reduces bodies so less find items but increases safety. A few dangerous critters need to be slowed with the General's (hint hint RNG, Cleg's would be nice!) but on the whole, things are looking much better. I stashed the steel cleaver and moved over to using the General's fulltime.

Oh, Andy herself was the only real challenge in the whole of A1NM. I have no life leech and the merc has very little so it was impossible to tank her. Still, neither of us died which is always good I guess.

I traded the prayer merc for the might of Azrael Radament easily killed him a couple of times which was disappointing and expensive but the journey down to him was fairly safe due to liberal use of taunt.

The Stony Tomb gave the best set of drops yet - a 263ED Bonesnap (which has been stashed for now), a rock fleece and a +2ww,+4sm bloodletter. I'll save that for Duriel as it looks expensive to repair - the initial hit was 20k!

And surprisingly enough, I'm actually starting to enjoy playing this guy.

[HIGHLIGHT]Destroyer DeadTwo, Level 53 BO Barb accompanied by Azrael Might Merc, Dry Hills[/HIGHLIGHT]

 

[LozHinge the Unhinged]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Much scariness was endured by WitherBow and her temporary friend, Amplisa, in the second half of Act 2. She has survived, by the skin of her teeth in the case of Duriel. Little or no item wealth has been accumulated ... the most urgent requirement must be a weapon upgrade as her gemmed Longbow isn't really cutting it at /players 8. I have 4 Nefs I can experiment with, so I just need a decent bow. One Cold Damage SC so far, I hope I can find more, to increase my Freeze time in the near future.

Duriel himself was battled at /Players1 - just as well, he nearly killed poor WitherBow on a couple of occasions (how unsporting of him!). The weird thing though was Duri's drop - what is wrong with this picture?

Spoiler

Where is the TP scroll? Never had this happen to me before :scratchchin:

Anyway ...

[highlight]WitherBow, MS/FA Bowazon, Level 28, Kurast Dock[/highlight]

 

[wakiki]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Cool, many of us seem to be in the same area (Act III NM). Not progressing at the same pace (you guys will pass me very quickly), but it's still cool to see five-ish updates within a few days with everyone nearby.

Before clearing the tombs, Shadow_Salad decided to trade a few Magic Finding items for safety gear. He swapped his MF/resist gloves for Bloodfists, and his MF/life amulet for this beauty:

Spoiler

Storm Talisman
Amulet
Required Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0x742cfd59
Item Level: 48
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+20 to Life
Poison Resist +40%
Replenish Life 5
10% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to Poison and Bone Skills (Necromancer Only)
All Resistances +12

I'd call that end-game worthy, although improvable. The gear changes brought S_S's health to 328, boosted his resists to 47/37/45/37, but lowered his MF to 240.

Shadow Salad cleared all of the tombs without incident, except a few chancy moments with Mummy Sarcophagi. One he tried to block, but accidentally imprisoned himself next to a beetle. It was dishing out uncomfortable damage, but he only had to use one potion before the prison dropped and he escaped.

Duriel was taken down on /p8, but did far too much damage for the desert merc to handle, even with Life Tap. S_S was prepared for this, however. He hired a Fire Arrow Rogue and spammed bone prisons all over Duriel while she whittled him down with an Edge Hunter's bow. The fight took 20 minutes. (Come to think of it, I should have shopped a better bow, haha.)

In addition to finding the usual random uniques (hawkmail, stormguild, bloodrise, cleglaw's tooth, etc.), S_S found a Shael Rune in the Canyon! (I usually have so much trouble finding these so it feels good to find one so early.) Also, a 287% (very high roll) Bonesnap. If I could upgrade it, that thing almost seems end-game viable. It only really lacks IAS...

I've been leveling Corpse Explosion and spending much time sitting back behind a Bone Wall, cursing for my mercenaries and casting CE, so I'm no longer comfortable calling myself a Meleemancer. I still melee alot, but only when the situation is very safe, so it doesn't really "count," heh.

[highlight]Shadow_Salad, level 60 Curse/Prison/Melee Necro, safe at the Kurast Docksp/highlight]

* * *​

Docturnal, RIP man. If it makes you feel any better, Tal Rasha's Tombs have claimed the most characters in this tournament so far. (Of course, that has to do with how much space they take up, but still. They are dangerous for sure.)

scr, how did you come up with your character name? Every time I see him, I think of the Brian Eno track "Becalmed" from Another Green World.

jian, have you used Attract yet? I haven't found a wand or head myself. How's it treating you? Does it keep bosses occupied?

Drystan, perhaps less respect is unfair...I forgot about Extra Fast packs being sped up. I need more information to add your character, by the way.

kavarin, nice progress! It's always good to see someone beat his/her earlier record. By the way, did you update really fast or something? You are already in A2 NM and weren't on the table yet! Sorry if I forgot to add you earlier.

Loz, that is indeed very weird.

* * *​

Man, I had alot of catching up to do after Christmas! Here's the table:

Forum Name     Character       Class            Location               Level
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tarantella     Damasque        Skirmisher       (H)World Stone Keep L.1  84
ancalagon T.B. Shatterproof    Strafer          (H)Pandemonium Fortress  80
Mursilis       Jaheira         Trapsin          (H)Spider Forest         78 RIP
Drystan        Argoel          Sorceress        (H)Palace Cellar L. 3    80 RIP
scrcrw         Soapbubble      Strafeazon       (H)Far Oasis             78 RIP
HanShotFirst   Hadriela        Frozen Orb/TK    (H)Rogue Encampment      74
HanShotFirst   Mara            Traps            (N)Throne of Destruction 73 RIP
scrcrw         Kaiko           Blade Fury Asn   (N)Throne of Destruction 72 RIP
Tarantella     Amarantine      Skirmisher       (N)Throne of Destruction 72 RIP
Ohomemgrande   Josephine       ES/FO sorc       (N)Pandemonium Fortress  64
HanShotFirst   Ulquiorra-san   Bone Necro       (N)Mephisto              64 RIP
LozHinge T.U.  WitherStick     Psn Daggermancer (N)Mephisto              62 RIP
jiansonz       Morte           Mojo/Bonemancer  (N)Lower Kurast          62
soulmanz       SparkyPancakes  Novawaller       (N)Great Marsh           58 RIP
wakiki         Shadow_Salad    Crse/Prisnmancer (N)Kurast Docks          60
Hp_Sauce       AlreadyDead     Trapper          (N)Kurast Docks          58
scrcrw         Becalmed        Wind Druid       (N)Kurast Docks          58
Alfonso T.G.   TheAragorn      Ranger Paladin   (N)Tal Rasha's Tomb      59 RIP
Morathi        Drake           Fire Druid       (N)Arcane Sanctuary      58 RIP
HanShotFirst   Helen           FA/Strafer       (N)Halls of the Dead L.1 54 RIP
MOOsaccre      Zapsarrap       Orb/Fireball     (N)Dry Hills             53
kavarin        DeadTwo         BO Barb          (N)Dry Hills             53
scrcrw         Jenna           Poison Java      (N)Radament              53 RIP
Morathi        Iago            Fury/Rabies      (N)Pit Level 2           50 RIP
Bluechip       Inevitability   Sorceress        (N)Black Marsh           44 RIP
Thomh          Uzumati         Fire Claws Bear  (N)Dark Wood             49
kavarin        Roadkill        Fire/Wolf        (N)Underground Passage   49 RIP
NagisaFurukawa Rin             Strafer          (N)Underground Passage   46 RIP
Tarantella     Mortiphye       Summoner Hybrid  (N)Cold Plains           48
jdkerr         Lifeless        Wind Druid       (N)Rogue Encampment      48
cenyth         Teff            ES Sorceress     Baal                     48 RIP
Alfonso T.G.   Fishyzon        Fishyzon         Baal                     48 RIP
Mournblade     Svelte_Savage   Spearazon        Baal                     41 RIP
EmperorMoo     MELIKECAKE      Concbarb         Crystalline Passage      37 RIP
Ohomemgrande   GeneralJoe      Summon Necro     Bloody Foothills         32 RIP
MOOsaccre      Wallerina       F-wall/T-storm   Diablo                   36 RIP
HanShotFirst   Scorn           Fire Druid       Diablo                   34 RIP
Mournblade     Mouse           Golemancer       Diablo                   31 RIP
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
pepitosari     SassyAssasin    Assassin         River of Flame           33 RIP
Brutass        Icybiatch       Frost Maiden     Mephisto                 29 RIP
Brutass        Sparkles        Lite/Orb Sorc    Bremm Sparkfist          27 RIP
MOOsaccre      Moossacre       Bowzon           Ruined Temple            32 RIP
Zelator        WitchOfEndor    CE/Curse Necro   Flayer Jungle            29
crazy_bear     Britta          Trapsin          Kurast Docks             28
Lozhinge T.U.  WitherBow       MS/FA Amazon     Kurast Docks             28
soulmanz       SwayBabySway    Passivezon       Kurast Docks             27
Cor Blimey     Sir_Healzealot  Cowardin         Kurast Docks             25
Morathi        Blake           Zerker           Tal Rasha's Tomb         28 RIP
scrcrw         of_Worlds       Light Sorc       Tal Rasha's Tomb         26 RIP
Docturnal      Zmeli_Khat      Necromancer      Tal Rasha's Tomb         26 RIP
JayeM          Glassjaw        Barbarian        Tal Rasha's Tomb         25 RIP
Bluechip       Vitamin         Throwbarb        Tal Rasha's Tomb         23 RIP
Lostprophet    Cody            Blaze/G.Spike    Harem Level 1            24
PepitoSari     Kratos          Barbarian        Fangskin                 25 RIP
Brutass        Jezabelle       Javazon          Lost City                23
scrcrw         Clodius         Throwbarb        Maggot Lair level 3      21 RIP
Morathi        Sibella         Cold Sorc        Maggot Lair              24 RIP
JayeM          Glasscannon     Assassin         Maggot Lair              20 RIP
JayeM          Trixie          Bladesin         Rocky Waste              20 RIP
scottasin      Todetta         Amazon           Rocky Waste              21
holiecows      HolieTraps      Assassin         Lut Gholein              21
pepitosari     KillAll         Sorceress        Lut Gholein              21
QuickDeath     CandleintheWind Javazon          Lut Gholein              20
scottasin      Toddetta        Amazon           Lut Gholein              20
Jason Maher    Lurz            Summoning Druid  Lut Gholein              20
Bluechip       Murderherder    Hunter Druid     Lut Gholein              19
scrcrw         Summer          Blizzsorc        Andariel                 19 RIP
EmperorMoo     Magrat_Garlick  Trapsin          Andariel                 18 RIP
Myth           RAWR            Throwbarb        Inner Cloister           19
JayeM          GlassEye        Necromancer      Jail Level 2             17 RIP
Galningen      KingLeoric      Bonemancer       Jail Level 1             19
UllaV          Tilsit          Blizballer       Jail Level 1             18 RIP
sirpoopsalot   QuestionMarks   ES/GS Sorc       Barracks                 18 RIP
Brutass        Snatch          Trapsin          Barracks                 18 RIP
Bluechip       Sickness        Poison Javazon   Barracks                 15 RIP
MOOsaccre      VikingJoe       Conc/Find Item   Outer Cloister           17 RIP
NagisaFurukawa Isumi           Trapper          Forgotten Tower          15 RIP
Docturnal      Toxarys         Strafezon        Black Marsh              15 RIP
Mournblade     FreddieMercury  Singer           Dark Wood                15
XxUberStarxX   Inevitable      Chargadin        Stony Field              12
Shaandore      Fastpoison      Psn/Feral Rage   Stony Field              12
mattinm        TomCruise       Leap/Howl/Ward   Stony FIeld              12
NagisaFurukawa Kirei           Bonemancer       Cold Plains              8
Lostprophet    Bill            Fred Phelpsin    Cold Plains              8
Galningen      Blade           Bf/Light Traps   Cold Plains              6
EmperorMoo     BraveSirRobin   Mojomancer       Cold Plains              6
MOOsaccre      Kharne          Fireclaws Bear   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
Machete        Benny           Bow Barb         Rogue Encampment         1
Zefimas        Susannah        Bowzon           Rogue Encampment         1
EmperorMoo     Circe           Sorceress        Rogue Encampment         1
cenyth         Cytohu          Windy Druid      Rogue Encampment         1
Docturnal      Zmeli_Khat      Poisonmancer     Rogue Encampment         1
Morathi        Alice           Valk/Undecided   Rogue Encampment         1

 

[jiansonz]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

jian, have you used Attract yet? I haven't found a wand or head myself. How's it treating you? Does it keep bosses occupied?

I try Attract now and then, but it feels rather flimsy and chancy to me. It tends to bring more chaos into the fighting situation, not less. It may be like Whirlwind and Zeal, that I simply do not like the skill. I think I am going to abandon the Attract idea, and instead look for a head with Dim Vision/CE that I can make Rhyme or Splendor in (these skills are too low in tier to be found on heads that drop now, but they can spawn on 'normalized' heads).

I am getter better all the time at using Bone Wall/Prison. I think those skills (and Decrepify) are my best tools for dealing with bosses and Champs. In a tough fighting situation, I prefer to use the tools I know how to use.

 

[kavarin]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

kavarin, nice progress! It's always good to see someone beat his/her earlier record. By the way, did you update really fast or something? You are already in A2 NM and weren't on the table yet! Sorry if I forgot to add you earlier.

Cheers Wakiki, and no worries. My first update covered all of normal as I was always thinking just a bit more and then I can post

 

[crazy_bear]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Wow, good progress all.

I've been away for a while so I haven't had a chance to play much until the last couple of days. Happily, Britta is still alive and progressing.

She worked her way through act 3 without incident, letting Waheed lead the way as much as possible. The jungles had a strange layout that led her to the flayers pretty quickly through a side path, and the first part of the Flayer Jungle seen was the clearing with the dungeon and Gidbinn. With LS gaining strength it was no trouble keeping things clear, and mana potions dropped quickly enough to replenish the supply used. No exciting drops to report, though I should be counting angelic mantles... it seems this is Britta's green breastplate.

She cleared the kurast tombs and found one nasty stair trap. I have no idea how people manage to get screenies of this... ouch. On the one to the right of the causeway Britta landed in a Snake boss pack, there was an archer pack on the left edge of the screen, and about 10 or so regular scarabs around. If this had been NM Britta would have been toast, but as it was CoS + Merc + traps + keep running and drinking was enough to clear them out.

At some point in Trav the monsters starting ignoring Waheed completely. It made for some interesting moments in the Durance, as Britta circled and Waheed took free hits. Keeping the dolls away was particularly tricky!

Even Meph ignored Waheed, which was interesting as Britta moated him, but Waheed got trapped on the same side. Meph couldn't reach Britta, and didn't attack Waheed who was next to him. Here is the result, with Waheed still next to meph's final spot.

Act IV is a nice quick act, so Britta quickly took care of that as well. Up to the City WP was done in the same session as the end of act 3, and the ignoring continued, which was a challenge with the abyss knights and Izual. Izzy hit hard enough to be a worry in melee and running in circles it was tough to get much damage in. Eventually Britta managed to trap him in a stairway with the merc which took care of the problem. After this, the rest was as you would expect for normal. Best drop was a Thul, Hellforge drop was a Tal. The CS didn't pose any problems with LS leading the way, and the layout was even the easy one for the seal bosses. My biggest worry was being prisoned by D, but he never used it and here is the drop. The belt is a nice find, but until I can get resists rearranged better I can't really use it.

[highlight]Britta, lvl 35 trapsin, Normal Harrogath[/highlight]

 

[Docturnal]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Decided to give it a final attempt. Just cleared out the cold plains and killed blood raven with my bear. Not sure what will be the main attack of him later on, but at this point its maxing lycanthropy thats on the agenda. Already got slightly less than 200 life in bear form thanx to my oak sage and kill almost anything within two swings with my mighty claw on p8. The safety of a decent armor class also makes me consider maxing werebear and going with a high str build for armor. We'll see how it turns out.

[highlight]Papa_Bear the werebear druid lvl 12, Cold Plains WP[/highlight]

 

[Drystan1]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Ohomemgrande - I can only "physically" use 4 hotkeys, because of where the keys are, and my current setup. I don't want to configure too much, but cannot use the F# keys because of accidental Alt-F4's and the risk of hitting the wrong key and not drinking a potion. But for now, 4 keys is all I really need, and I'm getting used to it.

Anyways, Act III's layout was actually very fast, and Argoel reached level 30 part way through the Act. That meant a quick trip to the Rogue's Encampment, for a visit to Akara. I was a little unsure whether a level 1 Frozen Orb would hold up on /players8, but invested skills in ES, and FOrb/CM, saving enough points to keep Forb/CM equal for ~10 hard points. Stats were enough for gear, and then all Energy.
Frozen Orb was great, and Act III went pretty quickly, with only a couple of hiccups, again from getting used to the keyboard layout. There weren't any stair traps (even though I only went in the temple for the Tome, and skipped side areas.) The Council weren't all that bad either, but Mephisto was actually more dangerous than I expected him to be, and almost got another NDE there.

Act IV was a cake walk, with nothing getting in the way. The only notable part of the whole Act was fighting with Diablo, but just kept my distance, and Orbed him, retreating after a ring of fire was cast. No notable drops from either Act III or IV, but still improving my MF whenever possible.


The levelling process is a lot easier and much faster for Argoel in 1.13, but also more enjoyable (to a degree,) because you can waste the points early on for damage. The early boost in cold skills, then moving to FireWall sped up the process a lot, and then when I did get to level 30, Frozen Orb was levelled and could keep up at its peak potential. This is both a positive and negative IMO, as it also takes some of the 'character' out of the character, and also removes some of the challenge.
I am actually surprised how quickly Argoel has progressed. Acts I and II took the longest, but III and IV went very quickly in one session.
I do have to say, that WolfBarbs will be a LOT easier and accessible to reach now, and so will some other builds, which is also a positive and negative - everyone can enjoy one, but it's no longer unique, since it actually took patience to make one with a normal attack.

Drystan, perhaps less respect is unfair...I forgot about Extra Fast packs being sped up. I need more information to add your character, by the way.

Haha - I was just teasing over 'less respect' for a no-vit tourney Guardian.
I didn't know extra fast were actually sped up - it was just a surprise when Fallen charged at me like that. So are Extra Fast Frenzytaurs also sped up? That'll be a horror!

[highlight]Drystan, Argoel, 1.13* Sorceress, Harrogath, Level 32[/highlight]

 

[crazy_bear]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Britta entered Harrogath fresh off a victory over the second of two prime evils and keen to finish off the last of them. However, the first order of business was to deal with the siege. Turns out those Barbs must be a bunch of wimps because in no time at all she had cleared the bloody foothills, freed some barbarian soldiers and released anya from her prison, impressing the heck out of the local population.

Getting Malah's reward for rescuing Anya did pose some equipment problems with managing resists to keep them below 50. So Britta gambled some new MF boots, shuffled some charms and was able to get it eventually. This did bring her overall MF up to 284 as well, which I think is the highest I've ever reached in normal untwinked. The key is of course Gull, she also has: 3 chippy ring mail (must be time to replace this by now), circlet of luck (35%). magic boots (32%) rings (10 and 14%) rare gloves (27%) milebrega's shield, and amulet (22%). It's nice to be able to do this and still be safe with such a resilient char.

So what did all this MF bring? Nilly - dropped all gold! A few greens here and there, such as cathan's mesh, two cathan's seals, Beserker's mail, Tancred's pick. No more uniques, lots of rares and magicals, but none kept.

So then came the ancients.... once again, they ignore the merc. Trap, run, trap run, trap.... they did go down with just a couple of hits on Britta.

WSK: another green ring.... Angelic Yay! Well, it would be useful if she could find a more angelic gear.... still, better than another cathan's!

Throne room: it's clear the ignore the merc feature has fully set in. Everything targets Britta exclusively. Fortunately not too much got close with traps launched ahead. the minions are easy enough, Bremm was a pain because of being fast but mind blast kept him back without too much risk. Lister took a while, but basically didn't cause any real risk.

Baal: what a pushover! j/k. Those fire bolts and tentacles hurt when you have very little life! However, a trapsin is pretty darned safe, and the result wasn't a surprise: DROP. Look at the golds.... too bad none were helpful!

So Britta has moved on to NM. Here is the LCS at the end of Normal, it's going to be interesting figuring out what to do to rearrange gear again.

edit: I meant to mention runes... Britta was rune lucky as well, finding both a Sol and an Amn in Act 5. I'm not sure what the result will be yet, but both have great uses.
CB

[highlight]Britta, lvl 48 Trapsin, NM Rogue Encampment.[/highlight]

 

[kavarin]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

A few highlights from act 2:

...Azrael chose a bad time to level up in the halls of the dead. This was a brutal stairtrap that had DeadTwo chugging full rejuves like they were going out of fashion.

...There was a really nice pair of amber boots of luck (32/35) in the maggot lair but due to the resistance restriction, DeadTwo was unable to wear them. By the time he made it to Coldworm, hundreds of maggots had spawned. It took Azrael 10 minutes of constant hacking to make it through this mess and I'm still not sure whether Coldworm stopped spawning or Azrael managed to kill them faster than they were spawning.

...DeadTwo scooted on over and jumped up to the altar. Fangskin's mob were furiously impotent at the stairs and he was able to portal in and out and slaughter them at his leisure.

...It had to happen finally. This boss regenerated faster than Azrael could damage him. From this point on, it was a frequent occurance on stone skin bosses. Fortunately, when DeadTwo joins in, a poison charm allows them to take the boss down together (although I see a [highlight]malice[/highlight] in his very near future) and with one ability dedicated to defence, the boss is usually one of the less dangerous ones.

...I eventually realised that the amber boots of luck could be switched in if the amber amulet of the tiger was switched out for an mf amulet and then the missing life could be more than replaced with Sander's heavy gloves. This gave a net gain of +12 life (+24 after BO) and 20IAS. And look at this nice little milestone - 600 life after BO.

...DeadTwo met a few dangerous critters in the false tombs. Kaa is possibly my favourite SU. The holy freeze aura added to the fun here. And let me just say I always like to keep fe bosses at an arm and a legs length at least.

...When prebuffed, the merc is extremely tough. Here he is taking on a double bosspack without assistance. Cheers dude!

...I originally thought that the 4% life leech on the circlet wasn't making much difference but at an average of 550 damage per hit, he should be leeching around 11 life after the nightmare penalty. Then let's say he attacks 4 times per second with a 75% chance to hit. Cool - he is gaining 30 life per second from critters with no physical resistance. For larger unleechable packs, sometimes DeadTwo has to help out with warcry.

...I managed to level DeadTwo to 60 just before entering Duriel's chamber. I dropped to p3, prebuffed the merc and added the lifetap wand to the weapon switch. As usual, the General's was the primary weapon - DeadTwo may not get many kills, but this is much safer (although having said that, with max BO, level 1+1 conc and might activated, average damage is not *too* shabby at ~150). A couple of times Duriel knocked back the merc and turned on DeadTwo, but the life was leeched back pretty quickly.

# --

And one from act 3:

...Sszark was extra fast. Man that spider could move. DeadTwo lured him away from the chest and then popped through a portal, returning from town. He then snagged the heart safely as Sszark's minions were stunned and prodded into submission. Then I had a decision to make: try and kill Sszark or leave him to rot. The second option is obviously safer but I can't leave it alone. After a short brutal fight (no time for battle screenies), DeadTwo was still standing and Sszark was not. You can see from this screenshot how far the spider had chased him before it was possible to escape.

[HIGHLIGHT]DeadTwo, Level 60 BO Barb with Azrael the Might Desert Guard, Spider Forest[/HIGHLIGHT]

 

[Kretschmer]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

I've decided to enter the fray with Tombstone, yet another wind druid. I did a hardcore/untwinked windy before and immensely enjoyed it; cyclone armor is also the only possible way I can see myself surviving hell.

The Den was uneventful on /players 8, with a few lackluster rares dropping. Dinged level 6 by the end - huzzah - and immediately put a point in oak and arctic blast. Good GOD arctic blast is weak (even against level 1 fallen); that bug really makes wind leveling a pain. Time to start hoping for a +1 or +2 fissure helm to get me to 24...

Why does everyone hope for topazes early on? To boost MF ASAP?

[Highlight]Tombstone, Wind Druid, Cold Plains, Level 6[/highlight]

 

[Drystan1]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

The initial boost to MF isn't very noticable, but every bit helps. If that 20% so happens to roll a unique dagger, then that's another 100% MF from Act 1 forwards. If it happens to drop some nice early uniques/sets, then that's an extra bonus to MF, and consequently survival later on. This guide by jiansonz gives the best way to get MF early on to boost your chances at rare/unique/sets later on.

It really shows in later game, if you've got some special uniques that boost MF (there's Tahnhelm, Gull, Angellic combo etc if you're lucky.)
Otherwise, from properly boosting MF throughout Normal, you can end up with 200+% (in this tournament - MF rules to Merc apply here limiting MF,) in Nightmare untwinked. The first 'generally accepted noticable' boost of MF is around 100% that rares appear more often.
Since you can end up with an ~minimum of 200% in NM, it boosts your chances of finding the Goldskins, Duriels Shell, Butcher's Pupil, etc, which can actually be used in Hell - especially if untwinked! - where the real survival gear is needed.
Now, the most optimal for an MF'er without sacrifising too much speed/survival, and considering dimishing returns on a MF-designed char, is around 300-400% IMO. After that, the MF gains are too small, that in my case (HC player,) the amount of safety/speed lost is not worth the small bonus to MF [in most cases.]

So basically, th initial MF isn't that important - not many Hell-worthy weapons can drop in early Normal. But IF a small amount of MF makes the RNG drop a Gull dagger (we're all hoping,) that's a substantial boost to MF that can be used in NM for a higher chance at Hell-worthy gear, including rares.
In addition, a 3-socket armour with low topaz's gives ~30 MF. That, combined with gloves, boots, rings, helm and amulet can get you past the first noticable (IMO) boost of ~100 MF.


Anyway, an update with pictures!

Act V went fairly well, and I'm adapting to my keyboard layout. I'm on holidays from work, so that's why the updates have been frequent. I'll be busy the next few months, but [part of me] hopes that I'll have some D2 time to relax and update.

Throughout Act V, Argoel did some shopping, including trading some gold, boots and gloves for these magically-endowed items:

Amber Greaves of Luck
Greaves
Defense: 15
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 19
Required Strength: 70
Fingerprint: 0xaf7154ce
Item Level: 43
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Lightning Resist +40%
30% Better Chance of Getting

Garnet Gauntlets of Fortune
Gauntlets
Defense: 12
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 13
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0x250c674a
Item Level: 45
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +22%
24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Argoel has progressed further into the depths and peaks of Mount Arreat, where Baal the Demon has constucted his stronghold, and found an AMN rune while saving Anya, which will hopefully be for an Insight when she learns about Insight in 1.13.
Other than that, Argoel's Frozen Orb took care of everything, including the Minions of Destruction, and moved towards her true task: Baal.
Baal released an anguished roar, and dropped the spoils of his conquest against the inhabitants of Sanctuary.

Cow level wasn't interesting at all - Frozen Orb = dead normal cows, but she had almost 200% MF at this point.

Argoel, [highlight]Level 45 1.13* Sorceress, (NM) Rogue Encampment[/highlight]

Alas though, the following morning, Argoel woke to find that she had not slain the demon Baal. His powers were such that he had created an illusionary world, where he could not be truely defeated. She lay beside her magically-endowed items, ready to venture forth, in order to destroy the Demon Baal and his legions.

 

[LozHinge the Unhinged]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Normal Mephisto has been slain by means of a cheesy moat trick, plus I dropped to /players 1 (from p8). Despite all this, he nearly killed WitherBow with a single snowball. Yikes.

Act3 went well, and was cleared at p8 save for the Kurast Temples (p1). Just as well, a stair trap of Beetles in one of the Causeway temples would have been Deeds at a higher P-setting. This Act saw Level 30 pop up - goodbye Amplisa, hello Valkyrie, hello Frozen Arrow. My first character to use FA - this is a great skill! Skill points are going into Valk and Cold Arrow (FA synergy), points in FA will wait until I sort out a mana solution. I am hoping to collect many Cold Dam SCs - I have two so far.

Notable drops include Hotspur (a grailer for me) and this nice circlet:

Cruel Brow
Circlet
Defense: 30
Durability: 21 of 35
Required Level: 18
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 21
Fingerprint: 0xf42f67d4
+23 to Life
+5 to Maximum Damage
Damage Reduced by 2
Adds 6-19 cold damage over 1 seconds
+1 to Combat Skills (Barbarian Only)

I haven't used the circlet yet, I'm still wearing a helmet socketed with Chipped topazes. I imagine the headgear swap happening prior to meeting Diablo.

Resists are a healthy 32/39/45/12; Life 187; Standard attack damage is 63-143, using a Vicious Long War Bow of Maiming, 34%ED, +3 Max, 5-30 Fire (Ral) and KB. The bow was cubed twice, 3 chippies to give sockets, and 3 normal gems to re-roll. It's nice but very upgradeable. MF is at 137%, thanks in part to a nice Nagelring that dropped somewhere in the Act. Weapon switch is a rare Stag Bow (imbued by Charsi) which has 5% LL, and sees occasional use, if I want to heal up.

[highlight]WitherBow, MS/FA Bowazon, Level 31, The Pandemonium Fortress[/highlight]

 

[scrcrw]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Note to self:
Playing HC sober - good fun and very safe.
Playing HC drunk - great fun and surprisingly safe.
Playing HC hungover on January 1st - not so much on both counts...

I guess it was bound to happen, since my standard tactic was to run up to monsters and kill them in melee range. Everything went down in 1-3 tornados (at /p8) so that was pretty safe (+ the Insight/Prayer combo). Until I ran into that extra strong + ? goatman unique (who left the scene of the crime and refused to pose for a screenie)...

No notable events or finds in A3 and A4 NM, HF was Ko. Diablo and Mephisto were easy enough with 1200+ damage absorbing cyclone armor (level 26 elemental skills at time of death iirc).

Don't think I'll reenter in this tournament, six certain deaths are enough :crazyeyes:
Thanks for the great tournament, wakiki, and good luck to everyone still going!

[highlight]Becalmed, Wind Druid, level 68, Pit of Acheron NM - RIP[/highlight]

 

[LozHinge the Unhinged]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Bah! It is an awful feeling when your character kicks it in an optional area of the game. Commiserations, scrcrw Those goats are deceptively dangerous.

You're wrong on one point, though - six certain deaths is nowhere near enough! Hope you change your mind

 

[LozHinge the Unhinged]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

Woohoo, double post!

Big D is dead and WitherBow isn't! A level five Valk is a wonderful thing

I forgot to put my super-circlet on (duh) which is a shame as the 18% MF Helmet didn't seem to help much - just a Bonesnap and some useless rare/blues.

Anyhoo,

Resists 39/50/45/12; Life 187; now using the rare Stag Bow more often than not, it's faster and outputs more damage for some reason (or seems to). MF is currently 170%.

The fight with Diablo was a rush and showed me that the Valk is superior to a merc at this stage of the game.
Highlight Drop: a SC with 7%FR and 1-2 Cold damage. Nice.

[Highlight]WitherBow, MS/FA Bowazon, Level 34, Harrogath[/Highlight]

 

[Hp_Sauce]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

I guess it was bound to happen, since my standard tactic was to run up to monsters and kill them in melee range.

That's the funnest way to play my friend! :yes:

I seem to have taken a lot of screen shots over the last 2 days. There isn't much need for me to type.

Danger.
Making a mess.
Useless to me.
Fal Rune.
Stair trap / Fixed.
Potentially awesome, but completely useless boots.
Useless itamz, but pretty cool drop from a chest.
Another Stair trap.
Ouch.
Action shot.
Mephisto.
Welcome at the Outer Stepps. I swear there was at least 2 boss packs and a champ pack involved in this. There was no other special monsters for the entire level, they were all contained in this one space.
Nearly perfect (but completely useless) SoE.
Dol Rune NM Hell Forge.

[highlight]AlreadyDead, Trapper, River of Flame (NM), Level 64[/highlight]

-hps

Edit: Diablo didn't start out so well.
Many NDE's later, he fell.

[highlight]AlreadyDead, Trapper, Harrogath (NM), Level 65[/highlight]

 

[kavarin]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

My hork every unique policy paid off. I think Skystrike is only the third exceptional unique that has dropped for DeadTwo and it comes courtesy of 29% in Find Item (slvl 1 +2 from equipment +1 from battle command). And here is my second crushflange. I think it will be impossible to wield it in this tournament due to the huge fire resist boost.

Who on earth does Swampy Pit in hardcore? (Okay, okay, you can all put your hands down guys). There's gloams, and dolls and really bad stuff. You must be joking if you think I'm going in there with 650 life.

We hammered on this guy for around 10 minutes before I remembered about berserk.

This was mildly terrifying in the ruined temple. (I should have made a shockbear). On first meeting Sarina's mob, the merc was instantly in the yellow and (prebuffed) he is a brute with more than 2k HP. DeadTwo has 671, still pretty good for this tourney but a bit low for my taste and this action. For some reason I was thinking Sarina was Extra Fast, Extra Strong which with Fanaticism would be nice. It turns out she is actually Spectral Hit. Anyway, I took two TPs out of the end rooms, returning via the waypoint before the back of the mob was broken. I think that if I had missed a (1+1) warcry, DeadTwo would have been put in hit recovery and dead in less than a second, but the life bulb stayed comfortingly fullish.

The unique partizan dropped in the Kurast Bazaar which got me to thinking. It is a pretty low-end one: 178%ED (range is 160-220) and 110AR (range is 100-200) but is it better than Hwanin's on the merc? Hwanin's has top end ferocious and quickness plus a smidge of lightning and a good AR boost. On the downside, it's a Bill! Pierre Tombale has +3 to barb skills and mana leech which don't benefit the merc at all. But the LCS had a decent damage boost, plus there is 55% deadly strike. It's got to be better right? In my field testing I'd say that Hwanin's was superior, at least from a survival perspective the ice blast is pretty handy. Checking the weapon speed calculator shows the merc has a 5.5 frame attack with the bill vs a 8 frame attack on the partizan. That is almost one and a half times quicker. Anyway, nothing beats field testing so the merc is sticking with Hwanin's at the moment.

Now I'm thinking of a hell-viable weapon. I haven't been the luckiest in the weapon drops department. I think the best options so far purely from drops are Bonesnap (upped?), Hwanin's and the Pierre (I know, I know: shopping a huge cruel sword from Larzuk ftw! Is that possible in NM?). Without a treachery, 17 frames is the realistic attack speed I'd be looking at from the Pierre. That sucks. Anyway, I've still got two and a bit more acts to go during which DeadTwo may die or find a better weapon.

[HIGHLIGHT]DeadTwo and Azrael, Level 62 BO Barb and Might Desert Guard, Upper Kurast[/HIGHLIGHT]

 

[scrcrw]

Re: The Certain Death Tournament.

You're wrong on one point, though - six certain deaths is nowhere near enough! Hope you change your mind

Argh ... Trying hard to resist the lure of this tournament right now


Well, actually that's a lie. I already fired up LoD and created a new HC character (wtf is a toon? :thumbsdown. At least her life span will probably be measured in seconds... I think the name says it all.

[highlight] Enchilada, lvl 1 Sorceress, Rogue Encampment [/highlight]