The Exposure Tournament

[HC Gunther]

Re: The Exposure Tournament

Crushing blow and other skills that scale off of enemy life lose their effectiveness with the increase of players in the game, as damage calculations are based on the original life of the enemy, not the scaled life. This means that crushing blow is really only good for about a 5% damage boost rather than the usual damage. Against bosses, this is even more apparent.

It's still good to have CB on player 8, but at that point actual damage is going to be more important. Same applies for corpse explosion, ect.

I fought Izzy with a CB weapon and at the beginning, I could see his health bar jump a little. I researched CB and found out that a CB for a boss or a champion does 1/8 their life at /p1. At /p8, enemies have 450% of their /p1 life, so a CB does 1/(8*4.5) of their life or 1/36. That is a shade less than 3%.

 

[HC Gunther]

Re: The Exposure Tournament

Lonelybear has landed at the Kurast docks
* I started by gambling for Circlets, hoping for a Circlet of Luck. Instead, I got a Mechanic's Circlet of Chance (6% MF) with two sockets. I had enough chipped topazes to make a flawed and put that in one socket. When I entered the Palace, I searched a Dead Guard and got another flawed topaz. That took the circlet to 32% MF, which I am very unlikely to beat gambling
* Harem Level 2 was awful with lightning skeltal archers and cold skeletal mages. I used a variety of tactics - pop in, roll a boulder and run away; Shockwave to stun and then Maul them; just meleeing in both human and bear form
* The Palace Celler levels each had only one type of ranged, which made things much easier. Dimoak's Hew fell in the Palace Cellar
* Once I started using Shockwave, I found it quite useful. I use it to stun ranged enemies so I can close with them, to freeze enemies like Ghoul Lords that run away when I attack them, to stun Unravelers to stop their Unholy Bolts and occasionally to slow down a pack that is charging me
* I had trouble with the Summoner until I remembered to chug thawing potions. Once I did that, I could stay on the platform with him long enough to kill him with MB's
* In the Arcane Sanctuary, an Angelic Mantle dropped
* In a False Tomb, an Angelic Sickle fell
* I had almost 300K gold when I hit level 27 and I started gambling for Boots of Luck. I blew it all and got trash. I kept gambling and finally got a pair - with 26% MF. I gambled more and then saved my money to gamble for a rare Maul. I got an incredible one on my first try - I am not sure how I got one this awesome
View attachment 5222
* I killed Duriel on /p8. A fairly easy battle until all of my greaters reds were gone, then it was a little more touch-and-go. I had gambled some Heavy Gloves of Readiness to increase my attack speed and I wore some rare boots for 30% Cold Resist, but I forgot to switch to my MF gloves and boots once Duriel was down to a sliver. Oh well, I still got a S/U - Bladebone

Skills:
Werewolf: 1/1
Lycanthropy: 1/1
Werebear: 1/1
Feral Rage: 1/1
Maul: 1/1
Fire Claws: 1/1
Hunger: 1/1
Shock Wave: 2/2
Firestorm: 1/1
Molten Boulder: 13/13
Arctic Blast: 1/1
Fissure: 1/1
Cyclone Armor: 1/1
Twister: 1/1
Volcano: 1/1
Tornado: 1/1

Name           Character       Class       Location         Level  Points
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
sequana        BlackDeath      Necromancer H Pandem. Fort.    86     351
Tarantella     Uta-Refson      Necromancer H Lut Gholein      79     302
ChrisTheMean   Scaven          Barbarian   H Cold Plains      72     277
Hanshotfirst   Hester          Sorceress   H Rogue Camp       74     276
ancalagon      Umbriel         Assassin    NM Kurast Docks    59     200
Old Soldier    Thalestris      Amazon      NM Kurast Docks    59     195
bladejj        Elsa            Assassin    NM lost City       54     ??
skoolbus       Gorm            Barbarian   NM Dark Wood       49     ???
norcim105      Rufeo           Paladin     NM Rogue Camp      48     119  
SoulManZ       Nevermore       Druid       NM Rogue Camp      39     ???
jiansonz       Smaragd         Necromancer Harrogath          35     ???
jiansonz       Faith           Assassin    Pandemonium        32     ???
HC Gunther     Lonelybear      Druid       Kurast             28      71
Krazy_Solo     Furious         Druid       Canyon of Magi     27      65
skoolbus       Sylvia          Assassin    Palace             25      ???        
wikkid         Rabidwolfkin    Druid       Lut Gholein        24      ??
jdkerr         Kobe            Assassin    Halls of the Dead  23      50
GCanada        PoohBear        Druid       Lut Gholein        20      42
liquid_mage    Wulfgar         Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42
scrcrw         Nagisa          Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42?
Hanshotfirst   Hector          Paladin     Lut Gholein        20      42
Vang           Deadite         Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42?
Morathi        Heath           Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42
ILikeRocks     Gragamel        Paladin     Lut Gholein        21      41
Brak           TheStreak       Paladin     Inner Cloister     19      37
CM             Lisbeth         Assassin    Inner Cloister     18      36
DaveW          Blades          Assassin    Lut Gholein        18      36
Shaandore      Irreducible     Paladin     Black Marsh        17      30
Bluechip       BABarakas       Barbarian   Outer Cloister     16      ?
daed           Strafy          Amazon      Stony Field        12      19
wielanja       Beowulf         Barbarian   Stony Field        12      19
Sorcererbob    Cabaret         Sorceress   Stony Field        12      19
Ashmer         Fuzzy           Druid       Stony Field        12      19?
wakiki         Polemos         Barbarian   Cold Plains         7      11
Quickdeath     Limber          Amazon      Cold Plains         6       9
NightCraweler  Ragran          Barbarian   Rogue Camp          1       2
vague          Benkei          Barbarian   Rogue Camp          1       2
Aznagroth      Lucille         Amazon      Rogue Camp          1       2
weezaard       Sonny           Barbarian   Rogue Camp          1       2
Techzod        QuickClaw       Druid       Rogue Camp          1       2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
RIP:
kestegs        Running_Scared  Sorceress   H False Thomb      84     302
ChrisTheMean   TheLoner        Paladin     NM Underground P   48     148
HanShotFirst   Frost-Fang      Druid       River of Flame     33     100
Morathi        Dorian          Paladin     Flayer Dungeon     30      80
HC Gunther     Abbott          Paladin     Spider Forest      28      75
Krazy_Solo     Burn_Notice     Druid       Duriel             27      67
Morathi        Diago           Druid       False Tomb         27      ??
Krazy_Solo     Auriel          Amazon      Halls of the Dead  22      48
Krazy_Solo     Snave           Druid       Act II             21      46
weezaard       Addams          Druid       Sewers 3           20      42
Krazy_Solo     Nispart         Assassin    Andariel           20      39
GCanada        MsGarrison      Assassin    Jail               18      35
tavaritz       Boner           Necromancer Barracks           18      35
Wikkid         BloodQuencher   Barbarian   Kurast Docks       28      28
Bluechip       SeymourKrelborn Necromancer Tal Rasha's Tomb   23      23
Dark Matter    BoneyM          Necromancer Stony Field        12      20
weezaard       konnichiwa      Assassin    The Cave           11      17
Quickdeath     Blink           Assassin    Barracks           15      15
Vang           Leeloo          Amazon      Catacombs 3         1       2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retired:
Jason Maher    Vanessa         Amazon      Moo Moo Farm       48     136
Dark Matter    Arthur          Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42
Jason Maher    Fanven          Paladin     Dark Wood          15      25
mattinm        Kamikaze        Necromancer Rogue Camp          1       2

[highlight]Lonelybear the Werebear, level 28, Spider Forest next[/highlight]

 

[jiansonz]

Re: The Exposure Tournament

and then saved my money to gamble for a rare Maul. I got an incredible one on my first try - I am not sure how I got one this awesome

To get so high ED at this stage, you must have rolled both an ED prefix and an 'ED + AR' prefix.

 

[HC Gunther]

Re: The Exposure Tournament

Lonelybear has cleared Act III through Lower Kurast

* I was feeling good when I started the Act, having cruised through the Canyon and beat Duriel on /p8. Then things went South. The fleshies that the Dark Wanderer summoned kick my butt and I had to flee to town several times to heal. Then the bosses for the Golden Bird quests were a Champion Thorned Hulk and a Possessed Thorned Hulk. The Champion wasn't too tough, but I struggled mightily against the Possessed Thorned Hulk. I could knock his health down, but it took a lot of life and mana to do so. If I took a break to heal, he was back to full health. Eventually, I manuevered him close to a well so I could restore myself quickly when my life and mana got low and I finally took him out. Note to self: equip or put into stash a posion charm
* After that, things went pretty smooth. A Ral dropped and I made a Leaf staff. Once I get Armageddon, that will rock
* I continued my futility at gambling Boots of Luck. I started with almost 300K gold, blew all of that, bloew most of the money I made in levels 27 and 28 and only one Boots of Luck and that one is 26% MF
* Woot! At level 29, I finally got a good set of Boots of Luck! MF 34%. That takes my MF to 178%.
* I just realized that if I get an Amn, an Ort, a Perfect Sapphire and 124 strength, I can up my rare Maul. Should be able to do that before I face Big D
* In the Flayer Jungle, I got a Hsarus' Iron Stay, a Sigon's Gage, a Civerb's Cudgel, a Blood Crescent and an Angelic Halo. The sparkly chest in the Swamp Pit dropped a Vidala's Snare.
* Near the Gidbinn village, I hit clvl 30 and got Armageddon. It is awesome, but crazy nuts. There is a slight delay, then loud fireballs starting crashing down. I shockwave stuff, run up to them and they are dead. I decided to not have it on often as (a) it takes a huge (35) amount of mana to cast and (b) it is too loud and distracting. I cast it once when I am attacked by a pack and then use Hunger as it is falling to tank back up my mana
* The bottom of the Flayer Dungeon was Witch Doctor Endengu, who I had a tough time hitting with my fire attacks and I couldn't tank him because of his fire breath. Eventually, I tried Volcano and he repeatedly ran over the point of damage. Multiple Volcanos eventually took him down
* Stormtree was a tough fight. Again, I should have had poison but didn't. Armageddon, Hunger and a couple of fat purples finally got him
* In Lower Kurast, I got an Isenhart's Case, a Cleglaw's Claw, a Swordback Hold and an Ethereeal Stormguild
* The S/U drops have been amazing in number, but I don't have any of them equiped

Name           Character       Class       Location         Level  Points
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
sequana        BlackDeath      Necromancer H Pandem. Fort.    86     351
Tarantella     Uta-Refson      Necromancer H Lut Gholein      79     302
ChrisTheMean   Scaven          Barbarian   H Cold Plains      72     277
Hanshotfirst   Hester          Sorceress   H Rogue Camp       74     276
ancalagon      Umbriel         Assassin    NM Kurast Docks    59     200
Old Soldier    Thalestris      Amazon      NM Kurast Docks    59     195
bladejj        Elsa            Assassin    NM lost City       54     ??
skoolbus       Gorm            Barbarian   NM Dark Wood       49     ???
norcim105      Rufeo           Paladin     NM Rogue Camp      48     119  
SoulManZ       Nevermore       Druid       NM Rogue Camp      39     ???
jiansonz       Smaragd         Necromancer Harrogath          35     ???
jiansonz       Faith           Assassin    Pandemonium        32     ???
HC Gunther     Lonelybear      Druid       Lower Kurast       30      81
Krazy_Solo     Furious         Druid       Canyon of Magi     27      65
skoolbus       Sylvia          Assassin    Palace             25      ???        
wikkid         Rabidwolfkin    Druid       Lut Gholein        24      ??
jdkerr         Kobe            Assassin    Halls of the Dead  23      50
GCanada        PoohBear        Druid       Lut Gholein        20      42
liquid_mage    Wulfgar         Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42
scrcrw         Nagisa          Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42?
Hanshotfirst   Hector          Paladin     Lut Gholein        20      42
Vang           Deadite         Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42?
Morathi        Heath           Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42
ILikeRocks     Gragamel        Paladin     Lut Gholein        21      41
Brak           TheStreak       Paladin     Inner Cloister     19      37
CM             Lisbeth         Assassin    Inner Cloister     18      36
DaveW          Blades          Assassin    Lut Gholein        18      36
Shaandore      Irreducible     Paladin     Black Marsh        17      30
Bluechip       BABarakas       Barbarian   Outer Cloister     16      ?
daed           Strafy          Amazon      Stony Field        12      19
wielanja       Beowulf         Barbarian   Stony Field        12      19
Sorcererbob    Cabaret         Sorceress   Stony Field        12      19
Ashmer         Fuzzy           Druid       Stony Field        12      19?
wakiki         Polemos         Barbarian   Cold Plains         7      11
Quickdeath     Limber          Amazon      Cold Plains         6       9
NightCraweler  Ragran          Barbarian   Rogue Camp          1       2
vague          Benkei          Barbarian   Rogue Camp          1       2
Aznagroth      Lucille         Amazon      Rogue Camp          1       2
weezaard       Sonny           Barbarian   Rogue Camp          1       2
Techzod        QuickClaw       Druid       Rogue Camp          1       2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
RIP:
kestegs        Running_Scared  Sorceress   H False Thomb      84     302
ChrisTheMean   TheLoner        Paladin     NM Underground P   48     148
HanShotFirst   Frost-Fang      Druid       River of Flame     33     100
Morathi        Dorian          Paladin     Flayer Dungeon     30      80
HC Gunther     Abbott          Paladin     Spider Forest      28      75
Krazy_Solo     Burn_Notice     Druid       Duriel             27      67
Morathi        Diago           Druid       False Tomb         27      ??
Krazy_Solo     Auriel          Amazon      Halls of the Dead  22      48
Krazy_Solo     Snave           Druid       Act II             21      46
weezaard       Addams          Druid       Sewers 3           20      42
Krazy_Solo     Nispart         Assassin    Andariel           20      39
GCanada        MsGarrison      Assassin    Jail               18      35
tavaritz       Boner           Necromancer Barracks           18      35
Wikkid         BloodQuencher   Barbarian   Kurast Docks       28      28
Bluechip       SeymourKrelborn Necromancer Tal Rasha's Tomb   23      23
Dark Matter    BoneyM          Necromancer Stony Field        12      20
weezaard       konnichiwa      Assassin    The Cave           11      17
Quickdeath     Blink           Assassin    Barracks           15      15
Vang           Leeloo          Amazon      Catacombs 3         1       2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retired:
Jason Maher    Vanessa         Amazon      Moo Moo Farm       48     136
Dark Matter    Arthur          Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42
Jason Maher    Fanven          Paladin     Dark Wood          15      25
mattinm        Kamikaze        Necromancer Rogue Camp          1       2

[highlight]Lonelybear the Werebear, level 30, Kurast Bazaar next[/highlight]

 

[Immortal_Slayer]

Re: The Exposure Tournament

Hi all,

I'd like to sign up my hybrid Amazon CoverGirl, who is currently aiming to be a Charged strike/Lightning Strike spearazon with freezing arrow for immunes. Things progressed quite slowly until level 20ish when CS started to pick up and began tearing through most monsters (except skinny skeletons...). Andy and Duriel both went down without much issue thanks to their large bodies to absorb the bolts.

Mana has been a constant issue, so my belt and some parts of my inventory need to constantly be stocked with blue potions. It got a little better when I found an amulet that had both +21 to mana and 8% damage goes to mana. Weapon is still a chipped sapphired brandistock which has served me well thus far. Not much in terms of finds thus far, only Clegaws gloves being of note, which may come in handy during boss fights.

CoverGirl the CS/LS Spearazon, Level 28, Kurast Docks

 

[HC Gunther]

Re: The Exposure Tournament

Hi all,

I'd like to sign up my hybrid Amazon CoverGirl, who is currently aiming to be a Charged strike/Lightning Strike spearazon with freezing arrow for immunes. Things progressed quite slowly until level 20ish when CS started to pick up and began tearing through most monsters (except skinny skeletons...). Andy and Duriel both went down without much issue thanks to their large bodies to absorb the bolts.

Welcome! Very nice progress.

Not much in terms of finds thus far, only Clegaws gloves being of note, which may come in handy during boss fights.

Not many of the early S/U's are useful for this tourney, so you aren't missing much. Lonelybear has 21 S/U's, but isn't using any of them.

 

[HC Gunther]

Re: The Exposure Tournament

Lonelybear was killed by Serpent Magus in the Forgotten Temple. I could hear the snakes, but couldn't see them. I went through a door to fight some Blood Divers when the Serpent Magus struck, pining me up against the side of the door. I tried to hit a fat purple, but was too slow. I don't know if it would have made a difference as they had me pinned and stunned. I will probably re-enter with a Blaze/Frozen Orb Sorceress.

Some thoughts:
* Shockwave and Hunger are very nice skills and complement each other well. A typical fight was I would Shockwave a group to stun them, use Maul and Fireclaws to take out all but one, then use Hunger to restore my red and blue balls
* Armageddon was disappointing. It was too random and too chaotic. I would charge a group with it on and I had no idea which of them would die or when. With all the noise and effects, it was hard to see what was going on in the fight. Sometimes I would kill everything and not take any damage. Other times, I would get smacked around and one or two enemies would survive the spell
* The build really needed to do damage at a distance. Not being able to cast Molten Boulder while in bear form was a major drag

Name           Character       Class       Location         Level  Points
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
sequana        BlackDeath      Necromancer H Pandem. Fort.    86     351
Tarantella     Uta-Refson      Necromancer H Lut Gholein      79     302
ChrisTheMean   Scaven          Barbarian   H Cold Plains      72     277
Hanshotfirst   Hester          Sorceress   H Rogue Camp       74     276
ancalagon      Umbriel         Assassin    NM Kurast Docks    59     200
Old Soldier    Thalestris      Amazon      NM Kurast Docks    59     195
bladejj        Elsa            Assassin    NM lost City       54     ??
skoolbus       Gorm            Barbarian   NM Dark Wood       49     ???
norcim105      Rufeo           Paladin     NM Rogue Camp      48     119  
SoulManZ       Nevermore       Druid       NM Rogue Camp      39     ???
jiansonz       Smaragd         Necromancer Harrogath          35     ???
jiansonz       Faith           Assassin    Pandemonium        32     ???
Krazy_Solo     Furious         Druid       Canyon of Magi     27      65
skoolbus       Sylvia          Assassin    Palace             25      ???        
wikkid         Rabidwolfkin    Druid       Lut Gholein        24      ??
jdkerr         Kobe            Assassin    Halls of the Dead  23      50
GCanada        PoohBear        Druid       Lut Gholein        20      42
liquid_mage    Wulfgar         Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42
scrcrw         Nagisa          Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42?
Hanshotfirst   Hector          Paladin     Lut Gholein        20      42
Vang           Deadite         Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42?
Morathi        Heath           Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42
ILikeRocks     Gragamel        Paladin     Lut Gholein        21      41
Brak           TheStreak       Paladin     Inner Cloister     19      37
CM             Lisbeth         Assassin    Inner Cloister     18      36
DaveW          Blades          Assassin    Lut Gholein        18      36
Shaandore      Irreducible     Paladin     Black Marsh        17      30
Bluechip       BABarakas       Barbarian   Outer Cloister     16      ?
daed           Strafy          Amazon      Stony Field        12      19
wielanja       Beowulf         Barbarian   Stony Field        12      19
Sorcererbob    Cabaret         Sorceress   Stony Field        12      19
Ashmer         Fuzzy           Druid       Stony Field        12      19?
wakiki         Polemos         Barbarian   Cold Plains         7      11
Quickdeath     Limber          Amazon      Cold Plains         6       9
NightCraweler  Ragran          Barbarian   Rogue Camp          1       2
vague          Benkei          Barbarian   Rogue Camp          1       2
Aznagroth      Lucille         Amazon      Rogue Camp          1       2
weezaard       Sonny           Barbarian   Rogue Camp          1       2
Techzod        QuickClaw       Druid       Rogue Camp          1       2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
RIP:
kestegs        Running_Scared  Sorceress   H False Thomb      84     302
ChrisTheMean   TheLoner        Paladin     NM Underground P   48     148
HanShotFirst   Frost-Fang      Druid       River of Flame     33     100
HC Gunther     Lonelybear      Druid       Ruined Temple      31      86
Morathi        Dorian          Paladin     Flayer Dungeon     30      80
HC Gunther     Abbott          Paladin     Spider Forest      28      75
Krazy_Solo     Burn_Notice     Druid       Duriel             27      67
Morathi        Diago           Druid       False Tomb         27      ??
Krazy_Solo     Auriel          Amazon      Halls of the Dead  22      48
Krazy_Solo     Snave           Druid       Act II             21      46
weezaard       Addams          Druid       Sewers 3           20      42
Krazy_Solo     Nispart         Assassin    Andariel           20      39
GCanada        MsGarrison      Assassin    Jail               18      35
tavaritz       Boner           Necromancer Barracks           18      35
Wikkid         BloodQuencher   Barbarian   Kurast Docks       28      28
Bluechip       SeymourKrelborn Necromancer Tal Rasha's Tomb   23      23
Dark Matter    BoneyM          Necromancer Stony Field        12      20
weezaard       konnichiwa      Assassin    The Cave           11      17
Quickdeath     Blink           Assassin    Barracks           15      15
Vang           Leeloo          Amazon      Catacombs 3         1       2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retired:
Jason Maher    Vanessa         Amazon      Moo Moo Farm       48     136
Dark Matter    Arthur          Barbarian   Lut Gholein        20      42
Jason Maher    Fanven          Paladin     Dark Wood          15      25
mattinm        Kamikaze        Necromancer Rogue Camp          1       2

 

[Immortal_Slayer]

Re: The Exposure Tournament

It sure took a while, but Covergirl has finally beaten Normal Baal and the Cow King! Managed to get through all of Act 4 and 5 today in one very extended gaming session. Nothing too difficult, given how powerful Charged Strike is, but there were slight issues with anything that hit too quickly (Frenzytaurs) or those that stunned (Abominables), as I felt like I kept getting into dodge/evade locks and couldn't carry out my attacks. The fact that I'm using a slow Maiden Pike doesn't help things. Amulet and belt with CTC Frost Nova were real blessings, as they helped slow the groups down enough that I would be able to land my strikes first, or so that I could do hit-and-runs.

Have found a number of uniques/sets, but nothing of mention. Most of my keepers are rares from gambling, with the best being my 30% FRW, 32 LR, 17 CR, 17MF boots.

Not sure when I'll be give CoverGirl another good run like I did today, but will see what I can do!

CoverGirl, LS/CS/FA zon, Level 48, Act 1 NM

 

[Immortal_Slayer]

Re: The Exposure Tournament

CoverGirl has met a disappointing end to her run. She was killed while trying to obtain the Scroll to rescue Cain, when Treehead Woodfist spawned Cold enchanted along with his extra fast. As soon as he landed one hit, CoverGirl got stuck in hit recovery and got mobbed by all his fellow tree-men. Thinking back, I should have just tried to TP out rather than try to land a LS to try kill one of them while surrounded. I was also playing too overconfident.

A few lessons from playing CoverGirl.
1) I really can't stand D/A/E while having the zon in melee range all the time, it just seems to mess with any attempts I make to attack. Given that this was also with a 2H spear, the slow attack speed and the dodging animation just makes things worse.
2) LS felt a bit underwhelming, even though I had 20 points in CS as synergy. If enemies were next to each other, the LS would only bounce once, then end. It fared well with scattered monsters, but as soon as one of them moved (thereby causing the LS bolt to miss), it lost effectiveness. If I had a merc or decoy, it may have fared better.
3) Charged strike is ridiculously powerful and just shreds most things. Skinny monsters are pain to deal with though.

Unsure if anyone's still competing, but best of luck to everyone who's got their characters parked somewhere!

RIP CoverGirl, Level 48.

 

[jiansonz]

I picked up my Blaze Sorc the other day, and have moved forward a bit in Nightmare. It's tough! Seriously, this part (early NM) is supposed to be the easy part for a character, but for Stella, the easy part was Normal after she hit level 12 and got her main skill.

Blaze is weaker for me than usual, because I have not started to pump Fire Mastery yet (just one point), because I want my secondary skill, Lightning, to be up to snuff when I am going to seriously need it. Doom Knights in Act IV will be fire immune here in Nightmare. Lightning is a major diappointment this far. I have 18 points in it, and one point in the Mastery. Near-useless mana hog at this stage. OK, my gear is still insanely focused on MF (I can't help it!) so I suppose I could make it better with some +skills, FCR and +mana.

First challenge in NM was the Quill Rats. After some painful close encounters, I figured out that the best way to beat them was to circle close to them 2 laps with Blaze, then move away from firing range so they start to wander. This way, they are guaranteed to wander into some flames.

The same basic plan worked sometimes against the Fallen Shamans but sometimes they were annoying and found spots with no flames, so I had to start over the Blazing.

Bishibosh was LE, and therefore FE+LE. Oh crap. Fortunately, he has little life, so my Malice Giant Axe did the job nicely. I had to be careful because those sparks (and his fire) hurt. Stella has fire resist in single negative number and lightning resist is even worse (-19). The Frost Novas gave her a little more time in the short fight bursts, and also showed me where the chance to avoid sparks was bigger. I appreciated the long range of Giant Axes.

The Plains/Crypt/Mausoleum/Cave session was very smooth sailing, and gave me some hope that this character may at least have a chance to beat how far my Poisonmancer made it in this tourney (NM Far Oasis).

An easy clearance of Stony Field had me celebrate by trying to get Stella to write her name in flames. This is my second, not very good, attempt. Much harder than I thought.

The Underground Passage entrance area nearly put an end to this challenge. There were two early boss packs that I happened to wake up, spitters and melee rogues. Mana Burn was in there. I have recently played a lot of Diablo 1 (Single Player Ironman bowless Rogue runs) and there, Town Portal works differently than in D2. The portal appears on the spot on the ground you click on when you cast it, whereas in D2 it always appear on the character's position. In the thick of things, I got this wrong three times. I could not get enough free space around me so the portal would be safe to enter, or even clickable (those rogues are SO FAST!). Eventually, I was out of potions (insane MF setup has me wearing Arctic Binding with only 8 slots) and mana, and almost out of life. I managed to get out the exit again, ran to the WP, went to town and restocked potions.

The portal I cast earlier allowed me to establish a 'beach head' a bit away from the entrance, where there were only two regular spitters. Lucky that all the other monsters here had followed me back towards the entrance! I laid down some Blaze and spammed Glacial Spike to hold them still. See map here. I had hoped to first secure more space further into the dungeon, but I soon ran into an FE spitter boss that I realized I would need lots of space to fight. So I fled from that boss with teleport and started to sneak towards the entrance and nibble small pieces of the monster packs there. There was a certain narrow stairs passage that was great for burning rogues in.

My plan for the start of UGP level 2 was to make a concentrated Blaze patch by the entrance, then spam GS (for corpse shattering) as the Fallen burned. Perfect!

Dark Wood was packed with fast melee rogues, and I had to portal park Treehead's gang because they spawned so close to the large fenced area that I had not cleared it yet. Eventually did that - this included a fight with a nasty CE + FE purcupine boss. I hit it once with my axe, then spammed Lightning from long range (and needed a bunch of red and blue potions).

The plan was to hit Treehead with Static and Lightning from behind the safety of the fence. (It's not that I can't kill him with Blaze, but he gets very fast when he's hurt, and I did not know if he was CE or something, in which case I may well get stunlocked and killed if he catches me!).
The plan was good, but Stella's Lightning damage output was too low to overcome Treehead's regeneration. She stepped up to the fence and whacked once with her axe, and despite the Stone Skin, she hit! Game over for Treehead.


[Highlight]Destroyer Stella the Blaze + Lightning Sorceress, level 49, NM Black Marsh next.[/Highlight]