The Hall of Legends

[jjscud]

This intro will be a bit haphazard for the moment, I will clean it up later. First, this thread is not meant for comments, its purely an archive of those characters, and the players, that have reached 99 in the 1.1x patches.

Short term. I'll be reposting the 99ers in this thread, 1 per post. I'll start right of with Strijdje's Wind_Whisperer in this post so that if its kept clean, the post number will match the char's number on the 99 list. Like many other threads, I'll be moving over the main post first and then making a second pass to clean things up. It may take a little while, I tend to get very inspired to work on one of my current 99 attempts whenever I work on this.

Help: Sure, I'll include my list with most of the fixed links. There are two I still need to hunt down. If the players is still active, I'll PM them and ask them to post the writeup themselves. Otherwise, if you're bored (I've heard that's a thing but I'm not convinced) feel free to add a writeup or two.

This is BOLD, ITALIC, Third color from bottom left (#D14841) and font size 18

I'll remove this mess list once all the writeups have been added.

Rank    Class    Name    Player    Build    Old Link
--------    ---------------    -------------------    ----------------    ------------    -----------
1    Druid    Wind_Whisperer    Strijdje    Wind    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/wind_whisperer-completed-his-99-quest-d.220518/
2    Barbarian    Lycan    Strijdje    Wolfbarb    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/patriach-lycan-a-strange-pat.266603/
3    Sorceress    Fortuna    tweety    BlizzBall    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/fortuna-is-level-99-the-insanity-ends.423203/
4    Sorceress    Ayla    Grogs    Blizz    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/an-end-to-insanity-ayla-is-99.454061/
5    Sorceress    Kara †    DarkChaos    BlizzBall    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/the-end-of-a-journey-kara-is-99.491380/
6    Paladin    Julius    Grogs    Hammerdin    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/julius-reaches-level-99.513057/
7    Paladin    Mayhem    Marvel    Hammerdin    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/a-wanderer-seeks-his-final-destination-mayhem-reaches-level-99-de.524293/
8    Amazon    ShieldMaiden    jjscud    Lightning    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/the-long-journey-has-ended-shieldmaiden-is-99.528890/
9    Assassin    Mave-II †    DarkChaos    Lightning/FB    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/another-chapter-closes-mave-ii-is-99.530291/
10    Paladin    Nikola †    DarkChaos    Holy Shock    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/lightning-strikes-twice-thrice-nikola-is-99.561050/
11    Sorceress    Miranda    jjscud    Lightning    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/the-long-long-journey-is-over-miranda-hits-99-and-completes-the-grail.676151/
12    Necro    Scarecrow    Marvel    Skelliemancer    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/a-scarecrow-from-beyond-the-normal-field-has-scared-the-last-crow-first-99-necro-sp.691373/
13    Sorceress    Cindy    Callador    Lightning    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/cindy-reached-for-the-skies-and-made-it-there.721537/
14    Sorceress    Nemesis    Zaliqai    Lightning    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/death-becomes-but-a-minor-inconvenience-nemesis-reached-level-99.736387/
15    Paladin    Uber_Ploppy    DX    Hammer    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/my-lvl-99-champion-is-complete.741791/
16    Sorceress    Mihana    Eric Xanthu    Blizzball    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/mihana-99-joins-the-hall-of-heroes.773903/
17    Paladin    AdmiralAckbar †    Wielanja    Hammer    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/my-hc-99-project-is-complete.780613/
18    Sorceress    Lighting    elevenlang    Lightening    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/mat-lighting-level-99-sorceress.781912/
19    Amazon    Azalea    Ugla    Lightning    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/azalea-made-it-through-lvl99-thread.788439/
20    Amazon    FuryPhys    EatSleepDiablo    Lightning  
21    Paladin    Maxamillian    Asmodeous    Schaeferdin    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/maxamillian-level-99-schaeferdin.806801/
22    Sorceress    Chainlightning    Cyrax    Lightning    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/lightning-doesn%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%84%A2t-strike-twice-a-99-thread.808116/
23    Sorceress    Helina    LD50    Lightning    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/one-step-closer-to-madness-helina-is-lvl-99.811374/
24    Sorceress    Blower    inter    Blizzard/Nova    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/lightning-strikes-thrice-and-hell-freezes-over-lvl99-ifr.814094/
25    Paladin    HolierThanThou    Kimppi    Hammerdin    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/hail-to-the-hammer-holierthanthou-reaches-99.821967/
26    Amazon    Mio    frozzzen    LF/CS    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/facet-nova-never-felt-that-good-mio-reaches-level-99.830790/
27    Sorceress    Diiieeeeee *    zgpmf    Lightning    http://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/My-first-99-thread.835612/
28    Paladin    Possessed    Cyrax    Hammerdin    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/hammering-my-way-to-the-top-%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C-possessed-reaches-99.837104/
29    Amazon    PureDamagezon    zgpmf    LF    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/no-sun-tan-this-summer-puredamagezon-reaches-99.839220/
30    Paladin    Spatha_Lux    WoRG    Vengeance    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/a-hero-from-the-past-hacks-his-way-to-the-very-top-level-99.840957/
31    Paladin    Samsara †    Corrupted    Hammerdin    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/a-journey-ends-the-story-of-a-hardcore-level-99-paladin-and-more.840988/
32    Amazon    Lightning_speed    Cyrax    LF/CS    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/the-hand-of-blessed-lightning-%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C-another-to-reach-99.845719/
33    Sorceress    Allegro    ziambe    Lightning    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/a-tale-of-two-travelers-a-99-thread-and-story-of-origins.847492/
34    Paladin    Narkis    Helvete    Hammerdin    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80WhU3O0nSM
35    Paladin    Jeffy    jeffy    Hammerdin  
36    Sorceress    Coldtest    CRG    Lightning/CL/FW    http://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/Coldtest-is-clvl-99.853912/
37    Paladin    Vodka    Grape    Hammerdin    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/hammered-by-vodka-99-level-paladin.901803/
38    Necro    Raising_dead    Cyrax    Skelliemancer    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/i-am-number-four-raising_dead-reaches-lvl-99.912089/
39    Barbarian    Perkele *    zticazzy    WW-barb    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/death-by-spaghetti-whirlwind-perkele-reaches-99.933850/
40    Sorceress    Eleanor *    Pb_pal    Blizzard/Nova    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/eleanor-hits-99-the-untwinked-journey-is-complete.937139/
41    Assassin    Izuna *    NanoMist    Lightning/FB    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/ascent-to-99-izuna-reaches-the-vertical-limit.937388/
42    Amazon    Sylvia    hackedagainanda    LF/CS    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/sylvia-throws-to-new-heights.922348/
43    Paladin    Fordyl    Kitteh    CS Hammerdin    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/fordyl-reaches-99-the-end-of-a-journey-and-the-beginning-of-another.943392/
44    Assasin    Mercy *    PhineasB    Lightning/FB    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/a-merciful-ending-untwinked-assassin-reaches-99.943507/
45    Sorceress    Hiatus *    PhineasB    Lightning    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/the-hiatus-is-over-untwinked-sorceress-reaches-99.959456/
46    Sorceress    HelpYourself *    ffs    Lightning    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/with-a-little-help-from-my-friends-untwinked-sorc-hits-99.961907/
47    Sorceress    IceTea    Grape    FB/Meteor    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/taste-of-nostalgia-icetea-hits-level-99.962978/
48    Paladin    Aura *    Neksja    Hammerdin    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/aura-untwinked-99-hammerdin.963653/
49    Sorceress    Sophie*    Yng    Lightning    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/the-summit-sophie-the-untwinked-99er-sorceress.963842/
50    Sorceress    Neverland*    T72on1    FB/Meteor    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/a-long-journey-comes-to-an-end-neverland-reaches-99.964718/
51    Sorceress    itssoftcore*    Bewitch    FB/Meteor    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/a-not-so-long-journey-comes-to-an-end-itssoftcore-reaches-99-untwinked.964991/
52    Paladin    Phaedrus*    PhineasB    Hammerdin    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/a-blessed-journey-untwinked-paladin-reaches-99.965051/
53    Necro    Ric*    ffs    Fishymancer/Novamancer    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/ric-untwinked-necro-finally-wins-ce-battle-and-hits-99.965550/
54    Barb    Mayhem*    Bewitch    WW/Conc    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/mayhem-the-untwinked-barb-hitted-99.966564/
55    Necro    Pestilence*    PhineasB    Novamancer    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/an-explosive-conclusion-untwinked-necromancer-hits-99.966617/
56    Druid    Klaus*†    Pb_pal    Fissure    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/the-flame-burns-eternal-klaus-the-untwinked-hc-fire-druid-reaches-99-and-guardian.966773/
57    Barbarian    ResTTe*    ResTTe    WW/Conc    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/barbarian-madness-my-sc-untwinked-99-melee-barb.966932/
58    Paladin    Lucid*    ffs    Vengeance    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/breath-of-the-dreaming-%E2%80%93-untwinked-paladin-reaches-99.966957/
59    Amazon    Quinta*    PhineasB    LF/CS    https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/cursed-a-nihlathak-love-story-untwinked-amazon-hits-99.966972/
60    Sorceress    Arkana*    Luhkoh    FB/Meteor    https://diabloii.net/forums/threads/all-spelled-out-arkana-the-untwinked-sorceress-reaches-99.967060/

Originally posted by Strijdje on Jul 11, 2004

Wind_Whisperer completed his 99 quest

Yes, you read correctly, my patriach wind_whisperer the winddruid has reached the golden level 99, pure 1.10 that is

picture number 1

finally he made it, sleep here i come

but before that, the stats

Strenght: 50
Dexterity: 202
Vitality: 283
energy: base

Block 75%
Resitance Fire 75%, Cold 75%, Lichtning 75%, poison 35%

Skill
Cyclone armor, Hurricane, Twister, Tornado and Oak sage maxed
Rest in Dire wolves and 1 in grizzly

Equipment
Nightwings 5/5 cold facet
Enigma breastplate (so i could save str points and invest in max blocking AND high vit)
Magefists
Arachnids belt
Stormshield 5/5 coldfacet
Stone of jordan
Ravenfrost
Wartravellers (49%)
Crafter ammy, 19% fcr, +2 druid skills, res to lichtning, poison and fire, +9% mana recovery

charms,
8 elemental skillers with +life... lowest one is +27 life, highest one is +43 life
2 elemental skillers with +6 strenght and +6 dexterity
rest filled up with small mf/res charms
like this one for example
Fingerprint: 0x932563bc
Cold Resist +11%
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Holy Freeze merc, lvl 98
eth vampire gaze 7/7/20%
eth stone
eth reapers/sheal

Runs where pretty much along these lines
1. join game
2. cast wolves, ravens, armor etc
3. pindle
4. wsk wp, tele to the throne if i was xp running i did only the 5 waves of minions, mfing i did baal aswell
5. next

i even found out the wsk has a standard layout so its pretty easy to find the stairs.... saw this after lvl just made it to lvl 94


Well then, like icebird and me calculated i needed about 3.5k runs to lvl from 98 to 99... being those theonly 1 i really counted i dont know the exact number for the rest, i was getting a small 90 thousand xp a run, so i kinda gave up counting around lvl 92

Well there ya go, my new pride and joy, i dont think i EVER invested so many hours of gaming into a computergame and goal....

dont notice the guardian just wanted his full name on it

picture #2

i would like to thank everyone who helped during all those wsk runs,
you all know who you are and yes you all helped in one way or another, i dont think my windy could have done it without all of you

and 1 big thanks for waimea, for the pointless chats 4 o'clock in the night, and keeping me motivated to keep mfing/xp-running :lol:


next goal: sleep

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by Strijdje on Oct 23, 2004*

*Lycan hit 99 around Oct 2005 but never posted a traditional 99 writeup of this char so this is the best record we have of it.

Patriach Lycan, a "strange" pat

I know i dont post her alot anymore... basicly never, but thats due other reasons, i thought it might be cool to posts this here aswell, so it could be a sort of an motivation to get some more of these chars in the world...

Well, i was planning on making a wolfbarb a few days ago... reasons was
a) he could achieve an awesome amount of life, but the problem was that he would be lacking damage
b) the max block, i thought i could go without with

So my plan was to use my eth 1.07 Great Poleaxe Breath of the Dying weapon.... so i would save alot of points cause i dont have max block, and due the 30 to all attributes... curious how much life i could achieve, i went on my quest together with Shadow who started a Blizz sorceress...

His Gear:
- Ethereal 1.07 Great Poleaxe BoTD runeword in it
- 1.07 arkains, socketed with a perfect ruby (currently 170 to life, and 212 to vit, +38 life from the ruby)
- Thundergods (for the +20 str bonus) for non gloams area's im using a 39/15 verdungo's
- 5% Bul Kathos ring
- Perfect Ravenfrost (250 AR, 20 dex)
- Atma's scarab (the 20% AR bonus and the AMP are perfect for this build)
- Gore riders
- Dracul's grasp
and off course, the helmet which inspired me to make this build
Wolfhowl stats:
+11 to Strength
+15 to Dexterity
+12 to Vitality
+38 to Life
+138% Enhanced Defense
+6 to Feral Rage
+6 to Werewolf
+6 to Lycanthropy
+3 to Warcry Skills (Barbarian Only)
Level 15 Summon Dire Wolf (18/18 Charges)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

He is still lacking in AR, which i solved with enchant charges, but im still thinking abou tmaybe using a angelic ammy/ring combo for some extra AR chance to hit average monsters is arou 75% which is enough for me, bosses and champions around 70% so if thats around 75% i'll call it a day

For buffing i used a +3 Cry sword and a HoTO, 2 bul kathos rings, an arachnids belt and a +3 cry/94 life ammulet.

Stat points, i invested zero in energy, and almost nothing in dex.. used items like draculs (+10) t-gods (+20) BotD(+30) to be able to equip most of my equip.. for example, if i do, i need to equip dual ravens and a cats eye after my first body pick up otherwise i can equip the botd due the 70 dex req

Base stats:
Strenght:108
DEx:32
Vit: 370
Energy: 10


Skills are pretty simple i guess
Maxed Weapon mastery (polearm)
Maxed Shout
Maxed Battle orders
Maxed Iron Skin
Natural resist 10
Preq: 1
Cool fact, combat skills, zero

His trusty sidekick:
KAsim, the level 82 might merc
Eth reapers (amn)
Levithian "um'ed"
Eth gaze, pruby (18% 6/6)

Well that short of let me lacking n resitances and AR/damage.. off course i wanted loads and loads of life, so obvious choices where off course charms like below, my invent was pretty much full with these..
Shimmering Small Charm of Vita
+18 to Life
All Resistances +5

and Fine Small Charm of Vita
+20 to Life
+20 to Attack Rating
+3 to Maximum Damage

off course those where some of the best charms, but you'll get the picture


And well.... to show i managed to combine High life with a high damage... the next screenshot will be my proof ^^ ok ok, i know its gear that isnt exactly average, or even rich, but its possible just so you all know
ow, the two grand charms are 1 15% res all, and 1 14% res all

First screenie is one with a BK ring and a Raven frost, second is with a BK ring, and a Wisp projector and the oak sage of the ring

here
here


SO to conclude, he turned out to be pretty sick, atleast above my expectations
I would like to thank both Sint and liquid_Evil for their info on wolfbarbs, and Shadow for running with me in our quest to get a pat/mat within a few days

Next for him will be to gain some levels till 90, put the first 4 levels into strenght and the last 2 in dex so that i dont have to equip items to get my body after a death after that, PvP and lvling for more life

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by tweety on Feb 4, 2006

Fortuna is level 99, the insanity ends

The epic battle between my sorceress Fortuna and Baal has ended. After almost 7000 Baal runs the final level of 99 was reached. The journey took about 1.5 years of on and off playing and there were many moments when I thought I would never make it, but in the end, I did

Stats

Character name : Fortuna
Character type : Sorceress
Character level : 99
Character exp : 3520485254

Life 1324 (2197) (after BO)
Mana 552 (792)

stats

Strength : 90
Energy : 45
Dexterity : 25
Vitality : 425

Skills: cold, fire, lightning

Max firebolt, fireball, 1 in firemastery
Max blizzard, iceblast, 10 icebolt, 13 cold mastery
1 static, 1 teleport

Gear

Harlequin Crest (ptopaz)
Deaths Fathom (5/4 cold facet)
Mara’s Kaleidoscope 29%
Ormus Robes Blizzard 15% cold damage (Um)
Sanctuary Troll Nest 67%
Stone of Jordan
Bul Kathos Wedding Band
Arachnids Mesh
War travelers 50%
Magefist

Might Merc
Eth upped Kelpie Snare (Amn)
Eth upped Guardian Angel (jewel of fervor)
Kiras Guardian 70%

Best finds
A good part of the grail was collected during these Baal runs of course, including lots of TC87 items. The finds that stand out however was a Ber rune from Baal and 3 Deaths Webs. Rune findings from Baals minions were a bit disappointing, nothing better than 3 Puls.

Next up
An untwinked guardian would be nice.

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by grogs on May 2, 2006

An end to insanity: Ayla is 99

Ayla the Bliz Sorceress has killed Baal for the final time. 12 months after her creation and some 7000 Baal runs later she has finally retired, and to tell you the truth I'm slightly sick of her:wink2:

When I started this madness I don't think I realised just how big an effort it would be. It certainly won't be something that I repeat in a hurry.

Well here she is........

Stats

Strength : 142
Energy : 100
Dexterity : 43
Vitality : 300

Skills: Max Bliz, Ice Blast, Ice Bolt, Glacial Spike, Cold Mastery (+ prereq)
1 point wonders - SF, TK, Teleport, rest in Warmth

Equipment: (Socketed with)

Harley (pTopaz)
Tal's Guardianship (pTopaz)
Snowclash
2x SOJ
Tal's Ammy
Chancies (40% mf)
War Travs (50% mf)
Spirit Monarch (33% fcr)
Death's Fathom (5/5 facet)

and on switch: Bonehew Ogre Axe (Hel, Hel)

In the backpack: 4x Cold Skillers, 40% mf Gheeds, 15x 7% smfc, 4x shimmering small charms

Merc Gear:
Upped and Eth Kelpie (Shael)
Tals Horadic Crest (jewel of Fervor)
Gladiator's Bane


As for finds, I'm still missing 6x TC 87's from the grail. Rune drops fell below expectations (maybe I was hoping for too much??)

Best finds: Ber (minions), Lo (minions), 2x Stormlash, CoA, Mangs, 2x Windforce, and tons of others to numerous to mention.

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by DarkChaos on Aug 28, 2006

The End of a Journey - Kara is 99

Well folks... the journey to 99 is finally over. Kara, my Blizz/Fireball sorc hit 99 at approximately 10:15AM PST, this morning of August 28th. Truth be told, I never thought I could do it, I expected to die before hitting 99, but after thousands upon thousands of Baal runs I got so used to evading monsters that I hardly got hit after awhile. Add to that the awesome gear and high health of the character (although I had only about 2.2k until late into 98) and I got used to even taking Conviction+LR gloams. There were not very many runs that I rerolled because of bad spawns.

It's taken me the better part of a few months, and this last month I was playing no less than 10 hours a day, some days upwards of 15. These last 2 days I played about 14 just to push through to that final goal. I'm too lazy (and tired, after all those Baals!) to do a full writeup so I'll try and keep it short.

Screenshots:

Level 99 Stats and Looks (very ugly!)

Cold Skill Tree

Fire Skill Tree

Lightning Skill Tree


And the gear...


Helm: Nightwing's Veil (Cold Facet)
Amulet: Crafted +2 sorc, resists, FCR
Weapon1: Death's Fathom (Cold Facet)
Shield1: Lidless Wall (PDiamond)
Weapon2: 'Call to Arms' Crystal Sword
Shield2: Lidless Wall (MF jewel) - for prebuffing BO
Armor: 'Chains of Honor' Dusk Shroud
Gloves: Magefist
Belt: Arachnid Mesh
Ring1: The Stone of Jordan
Ring2: The Stone of Jordan
Boots: Waterwalk
Charms: 8x Cold Skillers - 5 'of Vita'
Small charms boosting resists and life - resist charms 'of Vita' // 'of Sustenance'
Merc Weapon: Upg'd Ethereal Kelpie Snare (Amn)
Merc Armor: Upg'd Guardian Angel (Um)
Merc Helm: Eth Andariel's Visage (Um)


And there you have it folks. I think I need to get some real sleep now.

Next projects? I will see, it depends on how busy I will be with real life this next year.

Thanks to:

tweety for inspiring the build and getting to 99
the IRC crowd for putting up with me for 10 hours a day
The SPF for being here!
Plenty of individuals, too many to name!

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by grogs on Nov 22, 2006

Julius reaches level 99

And so ends the journey for Julius the Hammerdin. My 2nd SP 99er in 1.11. Julius took 5 mothns to get from 1 - 99, 3 of those months were from 98 -99, still much quicker than my Bliz sorc.......

Anyhow, here he is:

LCS

Gear and skills are what you'd expect from a Baal running hammerdin... inventory was filled with 7 skillers (started with 8, but was convinced by Corr that Gheeds was the better option), 40% Gheeds, 7%smfc's and the cube, in which resided a lash that was equipped to smite Baal (over and over and over )

All in all a pretty fun character to take to 99. He'll now suffer the same fate as Ayla the Bliz sorc and be retired from all active duty.

Next up... I need some gear and then will do it all over again with the next class

A big thanks to all in IRC, especially Marvel, those comps made the journey far more enjoyable:wink3:

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by Marvel on Jan 3, 2007

A wanderer seeks his final destination, Mayhem reaches level 99

A journey almost like everyone else's but with the determination to reach to the last station. He will remain with the pride and joy i had playing him all the way from his entrance in this world of beasts and demons to his last battle.

This is one of the characters i put most time and perfection in with the close to best gear possible he's one of my first ultimate killers.
From now on he will be one of my main area runners and will retire from Baal.

Screenshot.

Stats

Gear:
Shako (Ptopaz)
Herald of Zakarum (Um)
Maras (30%)
War Travelers (48%)
2xStone of Jordan (I started out with Raven Frost first just because i made cresent moon in a phase blade and needed the dex, Now using 2 Soj's and Lash)
Enigma (made it in BP so i could go with base str)
HotO (35% crap rolled second time aswell but will make more of these)
Arachnid mesh
Magefist

On switch CtA, HoZ and in cube Lash

In stash 40% Gheeds and 7skillers not enough with life yet but will cube a few thousand gems i have collected while Baaling so there will be more futher on. Also one with str so i could use enigma with base str. Above sc's with 7mf/res so i could get max res on all, also had another setup with 15-20life/11res sc's so i could go with more life.

A special thanks goes out to:
Grogs especially for all the time we had Baaling made it more enjoyable.
The mIRC crowd

Good Luck jjscud im waiting for your thread next =)

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by jjscud on Jan 20, 2007

The long journey has ended, ShieldMaiden is 99

Ok, this is going to be a long post so read or skip, your choice.

ShieldMaiden as 99

Final Stats
LCS + Skill Screen

Not so obvious stats:
Blocking: 49%
FWR: 95%
FHR: 29%
IAS: 65%


Final Gear

[B]Equipment:[/B]

Harlequin Crest
Shako
Defense: 123
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 62
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x359e429a
+2 to Strength
+2 to Energy
+2 to Dexterity
+2 to Vitality
Damage Reduced by 10%
Adds 1-74 lightning damage
50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to All Skill Levels
100% Chance to cast Level 41 Nova When You Level Up
+147 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+147 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
+5% to Lightning Skill Damage
-4% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Socketed (1: 1 used)


Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x280a885
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
All Resistances +27
+2 to All Skill Levels


Tal Rasha's Guardianship
Lacquered Plate
Defense: 930
Durability: 55 of 55
Required Strength: 83
Required Level: 71
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x4888319a
+400 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 15
Fire Resist +40%
Lightning Resist +57%
Cold Resist +40%
**% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Requirements -60%
15% Increased Attack Speed

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
10% Faster Cast Rate
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***

Socketed (1: 1 used)


Titan's Revenge
Matriarchal Javelin
Throw Damage: 129 to 247
One-Hand Damage: 114 to 211
Quantity: 140
(Amazon Only)
Required Dexterity: 151
Required Strength: 107
Required Level: 55
Javelin Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x88bf6f0c
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity
+199% Enhanced Damage
+25 to Minimum Damage
+50 to Maximum Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
+2 to Amazon Skill Levels
Required Level +7
30% Faster Run/Walk
+2 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)
Replenishes Quantity
Increased Stack Size


Head Hunter's Glory
Troll Nest
Defense: 546
Chance to Block:  45%
Durability: 74 of 74
Required Strength: 106
Required Level: 75
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x9c1df0e6
+380 Defense
+311 Defense vs. Missile
Fire Resist +29%
Lightning Resist +21%
Cold Resist +25%
Poison Resist +37%
Adds 1-74 lightning damage
+7 Life after each Kill
30% Increased Attack Speed
100% Chance to cast Level 47 Chain Lightning When You Die
+5% to Lightning Skill Damage
-5% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Socketed (3: 3 used)


Razortail
Sharkskin Belt
Defense: 105
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x32cf41d5
+15 to Dexterity
+145% Enhanced Defense
+10 to Maximum Damage
+15 Defense
Piercing Attack [33]
Attacker Takes Damage of 99 (Based on Character Level)


Lancer's Gauntlets of Alacrity
Defense: 13
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 60
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 89
Fingerprint: 0x45a5528d
20% Increased Attack Speed
+3 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)


Natalya's Soul
Mesh Boots
Defense: 140
Durability: 66 of 66
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x12403343
+103 Defense
Lightning Resist +24%
Cold Resist +25%
+50 Maximum Durability
40% Faster Run/Walk
Heal Stamina Plus 24% (Based on Character Level)


Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x6f25502c
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+222 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen


Blood Spiral
Ring
Required Level: 74
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x54da3ed0
+5 to Strength
Fire Resist +21%
Lightning Resist +27%
Poison Resist +24%
6% Mana stolen per hit
10% Faster Cast Rate


Call to Arms (Switch)
Caduceus
'AmnRalMalIstOhm'
One-Hand Damage: 134 to 156
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Dexterity: 70
Required Strength: 97
Required Level: 66
Mace Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x3442b2ea
+264% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Increased Attack Speed
+6 to Battle Orders
+1 to Battle Cry
+5 to Battle Command
+3 to Meditation (Paladin Only)
Prevent Monster Heal
150% Damage to Undead
+1 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (5: 5 used)


Lidless Wall (Switch)
Grim Shield
Defense: 282
Chance to Block:  45%
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 61
Fingerprint: 0x55eba2f1
+10 to Energy
+87% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 10%
+1 to Light Radius
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
+5 to Mana After Each Kill


Thundergod's Vigor (in backpack)
War Belt
Defense: 151
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 110
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x35fb67bb
+20 to Strength
+20 to Vitality
+186% Enhanced Defense
+10% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Adds 1-50 lightning damage
+3 to Lightning Fury (Amazon Only)
+3 to Lightning Strike (Amazon Only)
+20 Lightning Absorb
5% Chance to cast Level 7 Fist of the Heavens when struck


Demon's Arch (in cube)
Balrog Spear
Throw Damage: 179 to 278
One-Hand Damage: 146 to 281
Quantity: 80
Required Dexterity: 85
Required Strength: 117
Required Level: 68
Javelin Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xbcf54904
+199% Enhanced Damage
Adds 232-323 fire damage
Adds 23-333 lightning damage
7% Life stolen per hit
30% Increased Attack Speed
Replenishes Quantity
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

[B]Merc:[/B]

Vampire Gaze
Grim Helm
Defense: 252
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xbe7134fa
+100% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 15
Damage Reduced by 19%
All Resistances +15
Adds 6-22 cold damage over 4 seconds
7% Life stolen per hit
8% Mana stolen per hit
15% Slower Stamina Drain
Socketed (1: 1 used)


Guardian Angel
Hellforge Plate
Defense: 1931
Durability: 45 of 60
Required Strength: 186
Required Level: 66
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 72
Fingerprint: 0xb6cc0051
+199% Enhanced Defense
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
Fire Resist +13%
+15% to Maximum Fire Resist
Lightning Resist +13%
+15% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Cold Resist +13%
+15% to Maximum Cold Resist
Poison Resist +13%
+15% to Maximum Poison Resist
+1 to Paladin Skill Levels
+4 to Light Radius
Required Level +7
30% Faster Block Rate
245% Bonus to Attack Rating Against Demons (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)


Kelpie Snare
Stygian Pike
'Amn'
Two-Hand Damage: 146 to 633
Durability: 19 of 35
Required Dexterity: 87
Required Strength: 158
Required Level: 56
Spear Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xb93aa8e3
+10 to Strength
+170% Enhanced Damage
+30 to Minimum Damage
+50 to Maximum Damage
Fire Resist +50%
7% Life stolen per hit
Required Level +7
Slows Target by 75%
+122 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)

[B]Charms:[/B]

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 83
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x7c27c91e
+41 to Life
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x45d280b1
+39 to Life
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xa5a1f297
+37 to Life
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x5a163da6
12% Faster Hit Recovery
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x306ea8b3
12% Faster Hit Recovery
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x3a5e30ac
7% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x7fae1b75
7% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x6e652eae
7% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)


Shimmering Small Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x7088becc
+2 to Strength
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm of Dexterity
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x5cd67856
+1 to Dexterity
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0xadf22694
All Resistances +5

Shimmering Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x29eb6c7f
+14 to Life
All Resistances +4

Shimmering Small Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 52
Fingerprint: 0x74985a3d
All Resistances +4
3% Faster Run/Walk

Sapphire Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x58d5ade1
Cold Resist +10%
5% Faster Hit Recovery

Garnet Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xa8d3eaec
+20 to Life
Fire Resist +9%

Where it all Began
When I first bought D2, I made a Barbarian, ran around the Blood Moore for 2 minutes and then turned the game off for a year. When I turned it back on, I made a bow wielding Amazon. I say "bow wielding" because I had no concept of a build, I just tossed a couple point in most skills and went on my way. Due mostly to stubborness I pushed her through Hell, taking 2 and a half hours to beat the ancients (after a couple attempts failed around the 2 hour mark) and then a half hour to beat Baal, all on P1. So, my stubborness had won out but it was a long and tiring process.

Shortly after that, Zarhrezz posted this thread about the fastest P8 Baal killer. After having my own half hour battle with P1 Baal, I was looking for somthing powerful and this thread appeared at the perfect time to spell it out. After reading over the different builds discussed, I decided to stick with the Amazon class but this time use a javelin and shield, and thus ShieldMaiden was born.

ShieldMaiden was my first pre-planned char, if you can call her planned. I didn't read a guide (still don't like them) but rather looked at Charged Strike, read off its synergies, and went for it. Oh what a difference it made, once I had a few skills placed she just tore through everything. Eventually I reached NM Meph and began running him. I stayed there quite a while because even though ShieldMaiden wasn't untwinked, I had no useful gear to speak of. After spending some time with NM Meph I moved on, reached Hell and then suffered ShieldMaiden's first death while leveling on NM Baal. I quickly learned the joys of LI's but after crossing a good portion of Hell with a poorly built bowazon carrying an upped (once) Doomslinger, I managed it just fine. ShieldMaiden eventually was Mat'ed and started in on a chunk of Pindle runs and reached level 90 doing so.

Again, shortly after reaching 90 a thread appeared that changed my thinking. Grogs posted this thread about the long road to 99. After pushing all the way to level 90, continuing on to level 99 seemed like a good idea. (Yes, I was still a bit clueless, though I don't know how you can't be clueless unless you've done it before). I continued running Pindle until the exp gain got tight and around the time I started looking at switching to Baal, the 99 thread appeared. I quickly joined (I actually had the lowest char on the list for the first couple pages) and the rest is history.


Fun Facts
ShieldMaiden was not not technically my first char but she was my first one with the ability to run most MF targets and run them she did. She's done runs in the following areas (generally in the thousands).
NM Meph
Hell Meph
Hell Countess
Cows (< 1000)
Pindle (many thousands)
WSK/Baal (> 6000)

During all that time, she's found a few decent items, here are a few of the highlights

Rune Finds
Cham
Ohm x2
Vex
Ist
Mal 4+
Multiples of Um and Lower


Item Finds
Tyrael's Might
Schaefer's Hammer
Darkforce Spawn
Death's Fathom
Azurewrath x5
Boneflame x5
CoA x2
Templar's Might
SteelRend x2
Shadow Dancer
Griffon's Eye
Death Cleaver
Windforce x2
SoJ x3
Maras x2
and many more


And the last fun fact, during this time I started keeping track of:
ShieldMaiden's finds off of Hell Baal and her own Hell Baal, ilvl 99 grail stands at about 40 items to go.

Last but not least
Thanks to:
Zarhrezz for inspiring me to build ShieldMaiden
Grogs for getting me thinking about 99 and then letting me draft off him as he blew by me a couple times
Tweety for making the 99 thread and making the trip to 99 much more enjoyable.
Ragnarod, of all the racing that took place, he gave me the tightest race for quite a while.
Hrus and Factory both threatened my spot as top Zon and kept me moving.
DC blew past me last summer, he was too fast to draft off of but it was my wake up call and got me going again.
Marvel a good run for it late in the journey and alot of encouragement.
Corrupted - encouragement and joing in on the last run
IRC Crowd - even more encouragement.




*Hands baton to DC

So, anyone know how well a CL/FO sorc does on baal runs?

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by DarkChaos on Jan 24, 2007

Another Chapter Closes - Mave-II is 99

Mave-II my Assassin hit 99 tonight after months of Baaling, but I won't bore you with stories, let's get to it.

Not feeling very creative and am lacking for time so I'll just post the usual for now:

Stats

Skills: 20 in all Lightning Synergies, 20 in Fireblast, 1 in Mind Blast, 1 in Fade, 1 in WB, 3 unspent.

Gear:

Helm: Shako (Ort)
Amulet: Crafted +2 assy, resists, FCR
Claw1: 3traps/3 LS (res-all, +stats jewels)
Claw2: 3traps/3 LS (res-all, +stats jewels)
Weapon2: CtA (+4 BO)
Shield2: Lidless Wall - for prebuffing BO
Armor: Enigma
Gloves: Magefist
Belt: Arachnid Mesh
Ring1: The Stone of Jordan
Ring2: The Stone of Jordan
Boots: Waterwalk
Charms: 8x Traps Skillers - with +life and FHR
Small charms boosting resists and life
In cube: Wand with Lower Resist Charges - for the Big Man himself
Merc Weapon: Upg'd Eth Kelpie Snare (Amn)
Merc Armor: Rattlecage
Merc Helm: Eth Andariel's Visage (Um)

Not all that much to say so I'll keep it short, à la Marvel. Was all-in-all a fun character. I don't play RWM so no über-hax Infinity for me. Although probably even better-geared than my first sorc, try as I might I couldn't get the run time down under 4 minutes, whereas my sorc had no problem averaging 3. So all in all it took a lot longer than my sorc, only recently have I been back to my usual hardcore pushing for the 99. I was afraid that my sorc would die when I played it, but on this one I was very confident I could do it. The retarded amounts of life, coupled with Cloak of Shadows, Teleport, and Mind Blast made for one tough cookie. And yes, you read correctly, my merc used Rattlecage. I can't remember when I tried it out first but I had the idea that the CB% might help bring Baal down faster, since CB is still effective at P3. I was right. The terror proc on the armor was a bit annoying but I learned to get used to it, and it was worth it for the CB. Finds were mediocre, nothing big like Mang's or Web's, and rune drops were absolutely abysmal this time around (I don't think I saw anything above Lem or Pul).

Big thanks to the Single Player community, as always... and especially to the IRC crowd. Marvel, Grogs, jjscud for the 99s while I was doing the project, and pretty much everyone else.

One last thing to add:

The char screen is starting to look pretty good.

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by DarkChaos on May 26, 2007

Lightning Strikes Twice (Thrice!) - Nikola is 99

Guess lightning does strike twice, or thrice, in this context.


After the last ~10 days of D2 binge and near exhaustion I managed to finally hit 99 with Nikola. Really fun character that I enjoyed thoroughly, and pretty much every aspect of every piece of gear and skill synergized very nicely. I love synergy in characters. Anyways, here he is:


Stats


Skills:

20 Holy Shock
20 Resist Lightning
20 Salvation
20 FoH
8 Redemption
7 Vigor
1 Holy Shield


Gear:

Weapon: Crescent Moon PB
Shield: Exile
Armour: CoH
Helm: Griffon's (IAS/LR jewel)
Amulet: Highlord's
Belt: Arachnid Mesh
Ring: Raven Frost
Ring: BK Ring
Gloves: Crafted gloves (20 IAS, CB, leech, resists)
Boots: Rare Boots (30+ fire/lit/cold res, 30FRW)
Charms:8x Offensive Skillers with +life
7 Lightning Damage/life Small Charms
5 life/resist Small Charms
On switch: CtA/Spirit


Merc: (Holy Freeze)

Weapon: Infinity
Armour: Fortitude
Helm: Guillaume's (Ort)


Need to rest now, too much d2. I actually fell asleep at the computer last night trying to finish the character as fast as I could. Half the level in 10 days is pretty insane to say the least, I didn't even do that on my sorc. Closing thoughts... 3:30 or a bit longer on Baal runs, very safe char. Even when lifetap didn't work I was able to handle fanat lister or mobs with nasty mods in general. Charge to throne, use FoH to kill OK's (though IM only damaged me heavily - didn't kill me), then proceed to wipe the floor with Baal's minions. Baal himself was quite slow actually even with 75% CB on the merc and Static Field and 10% CB of my own, at 4fpa. I wished the whole time I'd have more life, somewhere closer to my Trapsin and Hammerdin but overall he was quite safe and I never really had any close calls. Doll bosspacks with nasty mods were the only thing to really watch out for, Gloams were not a problem.

Before anyone brings it up, yes, he's melee. I don't care if he's not physical - that's too much of a risk in HC. He's melee, so Dash and everyone else can just shut up about it. Your argument about "a sorc is melee if she casts in melee range" is useless because a sorc is not forced to be melee, while a zealot is forced to be melee. IM was still a danger anyways, that's why I used FoH.

Drops from minions and Baal once again were not that amazing, considering the amount of time spent on said runs. Baal really does suck for TC87s :\

Can't think of anything else to say now seeing as my brain is pretty fried.


EDIT: Part of my charscreen now...

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by jjscud on July 22, 2008

The long, long journey is over. Miranda hits 99 and completes the GRAIL

Well I held off a bit but now is the time.

At ??? (sometime during lunch) this happened.

And just 6 minutes later (2 baal runs) this happened.

This completed the SC Self Found Grail for me.


Stormlash
Scourge
One-Hand Damage: 10 to 286
Durability: 32 of 65
Required Dexterity: 77
Required Strength: 125
Required Level: 82
Mace Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Unidentified
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xe23b4c8e
+258% Enhanced Damage
Adds 1-473 lightning damage
30% Increased Attack Speed
150% Damage to Undead
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 30
33% Chance of Crushing Blow
+9 Lightning Absorb
20% Chance to cast Level 18 Tornado on striking
15% Chance to cast Level 10 Static Field on striking

Final Flavie Report (contains traded runes but no traded items)


About Miranda

LCS + Skills

Final Gear

Equipment:

Griffon's Eye
Diadem
Defense: 231
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 76
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x198da175
+176 Defense
Adds 1-74 lightning damage
25% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
100% Chance to cast Level 47 Chain Lightning When You Die
+13% to Lightning Skill Damage
-23% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Socketed (1: 1 used)


Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x5b6f3ffd
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
All Resistances +28
+2 to All Skill Levels


Skin of the Vipermagi
Serpentskin Armor
Defense: 279
Durability: 23 of 24
Required Strength: 43
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x28a5b0dc
+120% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 11
All Resistances +35
Adds 1-74 lightning damage
30% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
100% Chance to cast Level 41 Nova When You Level Up
+3% to Lightning Skill Damage
-4% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Socketed (1: 1 used)


Heart of the Oak
Flail
'KoVexPulThul'
One-Hand Damage: 1 to 24
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Dexterity: 35
Required Strength: 41
Required Level: 55
Mace Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xc220669e
+10 to Dexterity
All Resistances +37
Adds 3-14 cold damage over 3 seconds
7% Mana stolen per hit
Replenish Life +20
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
40% Faster Cast Rate
75% Damage to Demons
150% Damage to Undead
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+3 to All Skill Levels
Level 4 Oak Sage (25/25 Charges)
Level 14 Raven (60/60 Charges)
Socketed (4: 4 used)


Lidless Wall
Grim Shield
'Ist'
Defense: 279
Chance to Block:  40%
Durability: 69 of 70
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 51
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xd5a28deb
+10 to Energy
+85% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 10%
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+1 to Light Radius
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
+5 to Mana After Each Kill
Socketed (1: 1 used)


Arachnid Mesh
Spiderweb Sash
Defense: 132
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 80
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xd12e2587
+110% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
Slows Target by 10%
Level 3 Venom (11/11 Charges)


Chance Guards
Chain Gloves
Defense: 27
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0xdb09af4d
+27% Enhanced Defense
+25 to Attack Rating
+15 Defense
200% Extra Gold from Monsters
40% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to Light Radius


Amber Greaves of Luck
Defense: 15
Durability: 23 of 24
Required Strength: 70
Required Level: 19
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 93
Fingerprint: 0xb9ca6d59
Lightning Resist +35%
35% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items


The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x98a7059e
+20 to Mana
Adds 1-12 lightning damage
Increase Maximum Mana 25%
+1 to All Skill Levels


Wisp Projector
Ring
Required Level: 76
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0xc1bd45cc
11% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
19% Lightning Absorb
10% Chance to cast Level 16 Lightning on striking
Level 5 Heart of Wolverine (13/13 Charges)
Level 7 Spirit of Barbs (11/11 Charges)
Level 2 Oak Sage (15/15 Charges)


Call to Arms (Switch)
Double Axe
'AmnRalMalIstOhm'
One-Hand Damage: 18 to 49
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 43
Required Level: 57
Axe Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xe9c2ccc0
+279% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Increased Attack Speed
+5 to Battle Orders
+3 to Battle Cry
+3 to Battle Command
Prevent Monster Heal
+1 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (5: 5 used)


Lidless Wall (Switch)
Grim Shield
Defense: 342
Chance to Block:  40%
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x519e5bac
+10 to Energy
+127% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 10%
+1 to Light Radius
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
+3 to Mana After Each Kill

Merc:

Vampire Gaze
Grim Helm
Defense: 252
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xbe7134fa
+100% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 15
Damage Reduced by 19%
All Resistances +15
Adds 6-22 cold damage over 4 seconds
7% Life stolen per hit
8% Mana stolen per hit
15% Slower Stamina Drain
Socketed (1: 1 used)


Guardian Angel
Hellforge Plate
Defense: 1931
Durability: 45 of 60
Required Strength: 186
Required Level: 66
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 72
Fingerprint: 0xb6cc0051
+199% Enhanced Defense
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
+5 to Maximum Damage
Fire Resist +15%
+15% to Maximum Fire Resist
Lightning Resist +15%
+15% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Cold Resist +15%
+15% to Maximum Cold Resist
Poison Resist +15%
+15% to Maximum Poison Resist
+1 to Paladin Skill Levels
+4 to Light Radius
Required Level +7
30% Faster Block Rate
245% Bonus to Attack Rating Against Demons (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)


Infinity
Great Poleaxe
'BerMalBerIst'
Two-Hand Damage: 273 to 752
Durability: 28 of 28
Required Dexterity: 89
Required Strength: 169
Required Level: 63
Polearm Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x670c2f5c
+296% Enhanced Damage
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
35% Faster Run/Walk
Prevent Monster Heal
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
50% Chance to cast Level 20 Chain Lightning When You Kill an Enemy
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges)
+49 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
-50% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Charms:

Sparking Grand Charm of Greed
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xa2bec8f4
25% Extra Gold from Monsters
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)


Sparking Grand Charm of Greed
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xfe396940
22% Extra Gold from Monsters
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)


Sparking Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x102be9d1
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)


Sparking Grand Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x14e5f92c
+17 to Life
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)


Sparking Grand Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x1e84c492
+10 to Life
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)


Sparking Grand Charm of Dexterity
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x4323331e
+5 to Dexterity
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)


Sparking Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 52
Fingerprint: 0xcdf6b6e5
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)


Sparking Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xa4ae79bc
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)


Gheed's Fortune
Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 62
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xceafe4a2
121% Extra Gold from Monsters
40% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Reduces All Vendor Prices 15%


Shimmering Small Charm of Dexterity
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x40c86dff
+2 to Dexterity
All Resistances +4


Shimmering Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0xadf22694
All Resistances +5


Shimmering Small Charm of Incineration
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 37
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xde6e03be
All Resistances +5
Adds 6-10 fire damage


Shimmering Small Charm of Dexterity
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x5cd67856
+1 to Dexterity
All Resistances +5


Shimmering Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 61
Fingerprint: 0xea8521d
All Resistances +5


Shimmering Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x29eb6c7f
+14 to Life
All Resistances +4


Shimmering Small Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 52
Fingerprint: 0x74985a3d
All Resistances +4
3% Faster Run/Walk


Shimmering Small Charm of Lightning
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xcb22809b
All Resistances +4
Adds 1-9 lightning damage


Shimmering Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 68
Fingerprint: 0x197d6617
All Resistances +5


Shimmering Small Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x7088becc
+2 to Strength
All Resistances +5

Miranda's Story

Way back when I finished ShieldMaiden (my first 99) I had no real intention of stopping Baal running so I was already planning for another 99. The one thing I wanted to do different was to teleport to baals throne, running took sooo long. I also didn't want to do a build that had already been done and I wanted to be able to deal with most immunities. At the time I considered a CL/FO sorc but other's said that adding a second element to a Light sorc would weaken her too much. So I didn't have the exact answer but I needed a break anyways.

Then, some time later, Denton posted this famous thread about the sub 2:30 light sorc. Between the speed and the ability to deal with almost any monster I knew I had my build. A couple months passed and I was shocked that what appeared to be the most efficient Baal runner wasn't really being used to run baal. After a couple more weeks I decided that if no one else was going to take one of these to 99, I would. There was only one problem, I didn't actually have an Infinity.

I did have a Sur and a couple Lo's from Aman and Nepeta so that I could easily cube one Ber and I knew where to get another. I decided that if the Infinity was primarily going to be for this sorc, she would be resonsible for finding it. So I started a new sorc, named Miranda, quested in my slow plodding manner, until Corrupted laughed at the hours each act was taking me and said each act should be more like 15 - 20 minutes. That sounded crazy to me but I went for it, I held down tele and managed the next act in about 30 minutes. A more concerted effort and I was cruising through acts in 20 minutes or less, right up until I hit LK.

At LK I stopped immediately, this sorc wasn't leaving there without a Ber. To make a long stoty short, it took over 6000 runs, on top of the 12K I had already done but she found it. With a base GPA from Joosh (thanks again) I had Infinity with 24 hours and by the next day she was Baal running.

The rest is basically history, though if you look at my gear you will see that I decided not to go with Spirit and the 200FCR as Denton and DC did. In retrospect, Not bothering with 200FCR was not a big deal but I still should have made Spirit. The FHR alone would have made up for the slightly lower HP pool. Still here I am, I never quite reached Denton and Dc's top times but my best time of 2:22 it still quite respectable.


During all that time, she's found a few decent items, here are a few of the highlights

Rune Finds
Ber
Vex
Gul
a few lower ones but really not all that much


Item Finds
Stormlash
Death's Fathom x2
Azurewrath x3-4
Templar's Might x2
Quite a few other tc87s


And the last fun fact, while making my first 99, I started keeping track of Hell Baal finds and my Hell Baal, ilvl 99 grail stands at 25 items to go.


Last but not least
Thanks to:
Whoever suggested I go pure lightning way back in ShieldMaiden's 99 thread (Ulga I think it was)
DC and Denton for demonstrating just how good a pure light sorc could be
Aman and Nepeta for 2 Lo's that went into the Infinity
Corrupted for convincing my to stop taking several hour long stolls through each act
IRC Crowd - lots of encouragemen, good disussions, and spam

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by Marvel on Sept 6, 2008

A scarecrow from beyond the normal field has scared the last crow, First 99 Necro SP

There was once in a time a great field of heroes but with one curse which couldn't be lifted until the scarecrow made his entrance and stepped out from the shadow into this world of destruction.

The story start's with me finishing my last 99 paladin and at that time i already had a new character in mind, to make an even more expensive baal runner than my previous one
and to be different from the cookiecutter builds.
So at that time i looked at both infinity and pride for my necromancer but come to conclusion that infinity was the better of these two due to making corpse explosion a good choice even on players8 and also with conviction give skellies/merc the ability to hit more.

I started doing loads of LK runs to meet the required amount of runes for ebugged beast and 2x ebugged griefs, infinity, fortitude, also trying to get better charms to perfect my dream runner: Scarecrow.

My run times were average 4mins, fastest runs were about 3.30mins.
Therefor making this one of the fastest baal running MFers, 330+ MF.

Scarecrow LCS

Equipment:

Weapon: Arm of King Leoric (socketed with 30% lit res jewel) for tele to throne and revive skellies switch this to Ebugged beast zerker axe
Armor: Enigma BP
Shield: Homunculus (UM)
Helm: Shako (PT)
Gloves: Trang-Oul's Claws
Boots: War Traveler 50%
Belt: Arachnid Mesh
Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope 30%
Rings: The Stone of Jordan
Charms: 7x Graverobber skillers with str/dex various stats also Gheed's Fortune 40%
two different setups of small charms 15-20life/11res and the other setup 7mf/11res

Switch: CtA / Lidless Wall


Merc: (Might)
Armor: Fortitude AP
Weapon: Infinity GPA
Helm: Guillaume's Face (ias jewel)




Special drops during this character:

Rune Finds
Ber Rune
Sur Rune
And a few lower


3xMang Song's
Quite a few other Tc87's so maybe im going to take time for a haul from both my 99ers 12k ish baal runs.


Thank's goes out to:
Grogs for making alot of Baal comps back in the days
Corrupted for gear advice
and the rest IRC crowd for all their support

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by Callador on April 5, 2009

Cindy reached for the skies and made it there!

Today I completed one of my longterm goals in D2 when Cindy, my lightsorc hit the final level


The journey to 99 was long - it took over 1 year, 2 MFO's, 2 Baalathon's, Pentathlon and over thousand misc. runs to reach the goal. Now that's done I feel a little empty now. It might take some time to get used to idea that I don't "have to" run Baal for a while :whistling:

The mandatory character info:

[highlight]Cindy[/highlight]
Stats: screeny above
Build: 200 FCR pure lightning sorceress
Skills: Maxed Charged Bolt, Lightning, Chain Lightning and Lightning Mastery.
One point in Warmth, Telekinesis, Teleport, Thunderstorm, Ice Bolt, Ice Blast, Frozen Armor and Shiver Armor. Final point will go to Thunderstorm most likely.


Equipment:
Weapon 1: Heart of the Oak
Shield 1: Spirit
Weapon 2: Beta Call to Arms
Shield 2: 4xIst Monarch
Helmet: Griffon's Eye
Armor: Skin of the Vipermagi
Gloves: Magefist
Belt: Arachnid Mesh
Boots: Storm Tread (rare)
Amulet: Ghoul Wing (crafetd)
Ring1: Beast Touch (rare)
Ring2: Stone of the Jordan

Readouts:

Heart of the Oak
Flail
'KoVexPulThul'
One-Hand Damage: 1 to 36
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Dexterity: 25
Required Strength: 31
Required Level: 55
Mace Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x77a39363
+10 to Dexterity
All Resistances +34
Adds 3-14 cold damage over 3 seconds
7% Mana stolen per hit
Replenish Life +20
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
40% Faster Cast Rate
75% Damage to Demons
150% Damage to Undead
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+3 to All Skill Levels
Level 4 Oak Sage (25/25 Charges)
Level 14 Raven (60/60 Charges)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Spirit
Superior Monarch
'TalThulOrtAmn'
Defense: 168
Chance to Block:  42%
Durability: 94 of 96
Required Strength: 156
Required Level: 54
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xb7c52fe0
+22 to Vitality
+109 to Mana
+13% Enhanced Defense
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Lightning Resist +35%
Cold Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
Increase Maximum Durability 12%
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
55% Faster Hit Recovery
35% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to All Skill Levels
+6 Magic Absorb
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Call to Arms
War Axe
'AmnRalMalIstOhm'
One-Hand Damage: 37 to 66
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Strength: 67
Required Level: 57
Axe Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0xe9985a50
GUID: 0x1b348b 0x1b348b 0x0
+271% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Increased Attack Speed
+15 to Battle Orders
+11 to Battle Cry
+10 to Battle Command
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (5: 5 used)

Gemmed Monarch
'IstIstIstIst'
Defense: 144
Chance to Block:  42%
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Strength: 156
Required Level: 54
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xc195b727
100% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Griffon's Eye
Diadem
Defense: 236
Durability: 19 of 20
Required Level: 76
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xe21537ed
+181 Defense
Adds 1-74 lightning damage
25% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
100% Chance to cast Level 41 Nova When You Level Up
+15% to Lightning Skill Damage
-25% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Skin of the Vipermagi
Wyrmhide
'Um'
Defense: 1014
Durability: 22 of 24
Required Strength: 84
Required Level: 57
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xd31d9fdd
+120% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 13
All Resistances +50
Required Level +7
30% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Magefist
Battle Gauntlets
Defense: 63
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Strength: **
Required Level: 30
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xd5e6cc82
+30% Enhanced Defense
Regenerate Mana 25%
+10 Defense
Adds 1-6 fire damage
Required Level +5
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to Fire Skills

Arachnid Mesh
Spiderweb Sash
Defense: 138
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 80
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xdee8848a
+120% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
Slows Target by 10%
Level 3 Venom (11/11 Charges)

Storm Tread
Heavy Boots
Defense: 7
Durability: 13 of 14
Required Strength: 18
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x725d4840
+11% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +22%
Lightning Resist +35%
24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Faster Hit Recovery

Ghoul Wing
Amulet
Required Level: 89
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 92
Fingerprint: 0x563028c6
+9 to Dexterity
+15 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 8%
All Resistances +16
+2 to Sorceress Skill Levels
20% Faster Cast Rate

Beast Touch
Ring
Required Level: 60
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x9d8a81d7
+38 to Life
+81 to Mana
All Resistances +10
10% Faster Cast Rate
Half Freeze Duration

The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xd42b4876
+20 to Mana
Adds 1-12 lightning damage
Increase Maximum Mana 25%
+1 to All Skill Levels

Charms:

Sparking Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x7acf026e
+40 to Life
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Sparking Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x70175290
+37 to Life
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Sparking Grand Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 53
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x7382b9c3
+34 to Life
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Sparking Grand Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 53
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x66f5a075
+33 to Life
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Sparking Grand Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 76
Fingerprint: 0x4091b7a8
+30 to Life
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Sparking Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xdbc8cfc9
12% Faster Hit Recovery
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Sparking Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x6205c35
12% Faster Hit Recovery
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Gheed's Fortune
Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 62
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x194ac9f8
136% Extra Gold from Monsters
40% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Reduces All Vendor Prices 11%

Shimmering Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x65c27529
+18 to Life
All Resistances +5

Ruby Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x5d66d16c
+19 to Life
Fire Resist +11%

Coral Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xbab9b9bd
+19 to Life
Lightning Resist +9%

Ruby Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0xb9567946
+16 to Life
Fire Resist +11%

Cobalt Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x52dc393
+20 to Life
Cold Resist +9%

Coral Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0xf16a41ec
+19 to Life
Lightning Resist +8%

Amber Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x1287974a
+16 to Life
Lightning Resist +11%

Sapphire Small Charm of Good Luck
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 33
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x4a70e248
Cold Resist +11%
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Cobalt Small Charm of Good Luck
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 33
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x7a99c8ec
Cold Resist +9%
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Ruby Small Charm of Good Luck
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 33
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0x29dee5c9
Fire Resist +11%
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

+ Tome of Identify

Mercenary:
Name: Jemali
Type: Act 2 Holy Freeze Merc
Level: 98
Weapon: Infinity
Helmet: Andariel's Visage
Armor: Fortitude

Readouts:

Infinity
Cryptic Axe
'BerMalBerIst'
Two-Hand Damage: 195 to 1008
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Dexterity: 93
Required Strength: 155
Required Level: 63
Polearm Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x44b5374e
+298% Enhanced Damage
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
35% Faster Run/Walk
Prevent Monster Heal
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
50% Chance to cast Level 20 Chain Lightning When You Kill an Enemy
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges)
+49 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
-47% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Andariel's Visage
Demonhead
Defense: 368
Durability: 5 of 20
Required Strength: 102
Required Level: 83
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xf472f980
+30 to Strength
+138% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist -3%
Poison Resist +70%
+10% to Maximum Poison Resist
10% Life stolen per hit
35% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to All Skill Levels
15% Chance to cast Level 15 Poison Nova when struck
Level 3 Venom (20/20 Charges)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Fortitude
Archon Plate
'ElSolDolLo'
Defense: 1575
Durability: 39 of 60
Required Strength: 103
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xc573418e
+200% Enhanced Defense
+300% Enhanced Damage
+15 Defense
Damage Reduced by 7
Fire Resist +28%
Lightning Resist +28%
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Cold Resist +28%
Poison Resist +28%
Replenish Life +7
+1 to Light Radius
25% Faster Cast Rate
12% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
20% Chance to cast Level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+111 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Deaths:
Yeah, I suffered few of those during the progress. 3 deaths in 97 and one in the early 98, more on earlier levels. Most of later deaths were caused by dolls, some earlier ones by Gloams + Lower Resist/Conviction (I learned to stack light resist hard way...)

Finds:
Well with thousands of Baal runs you'd expect to find something nice. And I did. Here's what I think were the most notable finds:
2 x Mang Song's Lesson (one, two), Astreon's Iron Ward, Sur, Stormlash, Schaeffer's Hammer, Griffon's Eye, Shadow Dancer's, 2 x Windforce, multiple other TC87 set/unique items, and lots of other stuff.
Of course this recent drop has to be mentioned here also.


Future:
Well, I have put a lot of effort on Cindy's gear, so she is going to hit the PvP scene. She might also make an appearance at MP Hell Baal games
And what comes to me, I think I'll start running AT for remaining grailers and LK for some runes. Grail-1, here I come!

Thanks:
There is lots of people who have helped me in their own way during the journey so I'm just going to say
"Thanks to fellow Baal runners (old and new) for friendly competion, all people who participated in MF tourneys, people I traded items with, IRC crew for support and funny moments, San for being my neighbour and witnessing the final runs and finally the whole SPF for being such a awesome community. Without SPF this wouldn't have been possible"

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by Zaliqai on Aug 12, 2009

Death becomes but a minor inconvenience, Nemesis reached level 99

Name: Nemesis
Occupation: Nemesis to Baal :evil:
Build: Lightning Sorceress
]Mercenary: Holy Freeze with Infinity​

Three days ago on the last day of the MFO my Lightning Sorceress reached level 99. She may not be perfect and she isn't exactly original but she's mine, she did it and so I love her . And with that said I'll save the rest of my yadda yadda for later so it'll be easier for you to skip it.


[highlight]Statistics and Skills:[/highlight]

Name:       Nemesis
Class:      Sorceress
Experience: 3520485254
Level:      [URL="http://picasaweb.google.com/zaliqai/Nemesis#5368852912821956002"]99[/URL]

            Naked/Gear/After BO
Strength:   151/161
Dexterity:  30/60
Vitality:   369/401
Energy:     35/35
HP:         916/1255/2325
Mana:       231/455/843
Stamina:    531/663
Defense:    7/1555
AR:         100/100

[URL="http://picasaweb.google.com/zaliqai/August2009MFO#5368398894307065442"]LCS[/URL]

Fire:       176/136/76
Cold:       149/109/49
Lightning:  233/193/133
Poison:     100/60/0

MF:         302       Block:      9
GF:         154
FR/W:       25
FHR:        60
IAS:        0
FCR:        120

All skills also get an extra +1 from BO

Warmth: 1/11

Charged Bolt : 20/37
Static Field : 6/23
Telekinesis : 1/18
Nova : 20/37
Lightning : 20/37
Chain Lightning : 20/37
Teleport : 1/18
Lightning Mastery : 20/37

Frozen Armor : 1/11

Since Nemesis was destined to run Baal in the Januari MFO I looked for 300 MF first and then kill speed and survivability. I'm sure others could have done better but I was very happy with her gear and performance. After the Januari MFO I thought about changing gear to improve kill speed but never did. I do like a bit of MF!

[highlight]Equipment:[/highlight]

Helmet: Griffon's Eye (Perfect Lightning Facet)
Amulet: Tal Rasha's Adjudication
Armor: Tal Rasha's Guardianship (Perfect Topaz)
Weapon 1: Heart of the Oak
Shield 1: Spirit
Weapon 2: Beta Call to Arms
Shield 2: Spirit
Belt: Tal Rasha's Fine-Spun Cloth
Ring 1: Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Ring 2: Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Gloves: Rare Light Gauntlets
Boots: War Traveler

[highlight]Equipment Readouts:[/highlight]

Griffon's Eye
Diadem
Defense: 217
Durability: 19 of 20
Required Level: 76
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0xe264e6fe
+160 Defense
Adds 1-74 lightning damage
25% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
100% Chance to cast Level 47 Chain Lightning When You Die
+18% to Lightning Skill Damage
-25% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Rainbow Facet
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xe3195350
Adds 1-74 lightning damage
100% Chance to cast Level 47 Chain Lightning When You Die
+5% to Lightning Skill Damage
-5% to Enemy Lightning Resistance

Tal Rasha's Adjudication
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x3ffa37f7
+50 to Life
+42 to Mana
Lightning Resist +33%
Adds 3-32 lightning damage
+2 to Sorceress Skill Levels

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
10% Faster Cast Rate
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***

Tal Rasha's Guardianship
Lacquered Plate
Defense: 941
Durability: 54 of 55
Required Strength: 83
Required Level: 71
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x2a446d97
+400 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 15
Fire Resist +40%
Lightning Resist +40%
Cold Resist +40%
112% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Requirements -60%

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
10% Faster Cast Rate
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***

Socketed (1: 1 used)

Heart of the Oak
Flail
'KoVexPulThul'
One-Hand Damage: 1 to 36
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Dexterity: 25
Required Strength: 31
Required Level: 55
Mace Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 28
Fingerprint: 0x227b7fd9
+10 to Dexterity
All Resistances +35
Adds 3-14 cold damage over 3 seconds
7% Mana stolen per hit
Replenish Life +20
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
40% Faster Cast Rate
75% Damage to Demons
150% Damage to Undead
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+3 to All Skill Levels
Level 4 Oak Sage (25/25 Charges)
Level 14 Raven (60/60 Charges)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Spirit
Monarch
'TalThulOrtAmn'
Defense: 147
Chance to Block:  42%
Durability: 82 of 86
Required Strength: 156
Required Level: 54
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0x55045e19
+22 to Vitality
+93 to Mana
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Lightning Resist +35%
Cold Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
55% Faster Hit Recovery
35% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to All Skill Levels
+4 Magic Absorb
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Tal Rasha's Fine-Spun Cloth
Mesh Belt
Defense: 98
Durability: 14 of 16
Required Strength: 46
Required Level: 53
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x80be78fd
+20 to Dexterity
+30 to Mana
15% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Requirements -20%
37% Damage Taken Goes to Mana

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
+60 Defense
10% Faster Cast Rate
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***

Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Ring
Required Level: 58
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x5cd63d51
+50 to Maximum Stamina
5% Life stolen per hit
+1 to All Skill Levels
+49 to Life (Based on Character Level)

Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Ring
Required Level: 58
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x410eb537
+50 to Maximum Stamina
5% Life stolen per hit
+1 to All Skill Levels
+49 to Life (Based on Character Level)

Wraith Grasp
Light Gauntlets
Defense: 13
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Strength: 45
Required Level: 30
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x17107aa5
+11% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +28%
Lightning Resist +28%
Adds 1-4 fire damage
22% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

War Traveler
Battle Boots
Defense: 124
Durability: 48 of 48
Required Strength: 95
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xf1409b34
+10 to Strength
+10 to Vitality
+159% Enhanced Defense
+15 to Minimum Damage
+25 to Maximum Damage
+30 Maximum Durability
Attacker Takes Damage of 8
48% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
25% Faster Run/Walk
40% Slower Stamina Drain

[B][U]Switch:[/U]
[/B]
Call to Arms
War Scepter
'AmnRalMalIstOhm'
One-Hand Damage: 35 to 60
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Strength: 55
Required Level: 57
Mace Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x206ed384
GUID: 0xad4e99b1 0x70c98c15 0x0
+256% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Increased Attack Speed
+14 to Battle Orders
+10 to Battle Cry
+20 to Battle Command
+2 to Holy Shield (Paladin Only)
+1 to Redemption (Paladin Only)
Prevent Monster Heal
150% Damage to Undead
+2 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (5: 5 used)

Spirit
Monarch
'TalThulOrtAmn'
Defense: 144
Chance to Block:  42%
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Strength: 156
Required Level: 54
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x7ccddc15
+22 to Vitality
+91 to Mana
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Lightning Resist +35%
Cold Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
55% Faster Hit Recovery
26% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to All Skill Levels
+7 Magic Absorb
Socketed (4: 4 used)

[highlight]Body Retrieval Kit:[/highlight]

Wizardspike
Bone Knife
'Hel'
One-Hand Damage: 23 to 49
Required Dexterity: 60
Required Strength: 30
Required Level: 61
Dagger Class - Fast Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x61424f1d
Regenerate Mana 15%
All Resistances +75
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
Requirements -20%
50% Faster Cast Rate
Indestructible
+2 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Moser's Blessed Circle
Round Shield
Defense: 171
Chance to Block:  57%
Smite Damage: 7 to 14
Durability: 64 of 64
Required Strength: 53
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x87045819
+207% Enhanced Defense
+25% Increased Chance of Blocking
All Resistances +63
30% Faster Block Rate
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Shadow Torc
Amulet
Required Level: 35
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0xeb013e83
+15 to Dexterity
Magic Damage Reduced by 1
Lightning Resist +23%
48% Extra Gold from Monsters
+1 to Sorceress Skill Levels

Storm Circle
Ring
Required Level: 48
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xe5be1d96
+15 to Dexterity
+60 to Mana
Lightning Resist +25%
+1 to Mana After Each Kill

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Heals 100% Life and Mana

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Heals 100% Life and Mana

[highlight]Charms:[/highlight]

Gheed's Fortune
Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 62
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x15ebc2c8
154% Extra Gold from Monsters
40% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Reduces All Vendor Prices 11%

Sparking Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xbe060c00
+40 to Life
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Sparking Grand Charm of Maiming
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x32acb4ce
+4 to Maximum Damage
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Sparking Grand Charm of Maiming
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xce36e5c2
+3 to Maximum Damage
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Sparking Grand Charm of Craftmanship
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xb6c1741a
+1 to Maximum Damage
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Sparking Grand Charm of Flame
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 57
Fingerprint: 0x6ee8bc19
Adds 1-2 fire damage
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Sparking Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0xd3591fbf
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Sparking Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xe19db6f1
+1 to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only)

Amber Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x484d0337
Lightning Resist +10%
5% Faster Hit Recovery

Amber Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x3647e8dd
+18 to Life
Lightning Resist +11%

Amber Small Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x38c6d826
+10 to Life
Lightning Resist +11%

Ruby Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x22dc4a56
+16 to Life
Fire Resist +11%

Ruby Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0xceb03737
+15 to Life
Fire Resist +10%

Ruby Small Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x2486bb5a
+7 to Life
Fire Resist +11%

Ruby Small Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x27a8c7c6
Fire Resist +11%

Cobalt Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xb95ed24c
+20 to Life
Cold Resist +9%

[highlight]Mercenary:[/highlight]

Name:       Ahsab
Race:       Desert Mercenary
Type:       Def-Nightmare
Experience: 114095874
Level:      98
Dead?:      false (once in a while true)

            Naked/Gear/
Strength:   209/235
Dexterity:  169/169
HP:         2287/3267/
Defense:    1629/3949
AR:         1256/1256

Fire:       182/142/82
Cold:       187/147/87
Lightning:  187/147/87
Poison:    257/217/157

[highlight]Mercenary Equipment:[/highlight]

Infinity
Cryptic Axe
'BerMalBerIst'
Two-Hand Damage: 193 to 999
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Dexterity: 93
Required Strength: 155
Required Level: 63
Polearm Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x7015e9e3
+294% Enhanced Damage
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
35% Faster Run/Walk
Prevent Monster Heal
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
50% Chance to cast Level 20 Chain Lightning When You Kill an Enemy
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges)
+49 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
-52% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Fortitude
Archon Plate
'ElSolDolLo'
Defense: 1852
Durability: 31 of 31
Required Strength: 93
Required Level: 63
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x4d42878d
+200% Enhanced Defense
+50% Enhanced Defense
+300% Enhanced Damage
+15 Defense
Damage Reduced by 7
Fire Resist +25%
Lightning Resist +25%
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Cold Resist +25%
Poison Resist +25%
Replenish Life +7
+1 to Light Radius
25% Faster Cast Rate
12% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
20% Chance to cast Level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+123 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)

Andariel's Visage
Demonhead
Defense: 468
Durability: 11 of 11
Required Strength: 92
Required Level: 83
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xc697930b
+26 to Strength
+102% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist -5%
Poison Resist +70%
+10% to Maximum Poison Resist
9% Life stolen per hit
35% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to All Skill Levels
15% Chance to cast Level 15 Poison Nova when struck
Level 3 Venom (7/20 Charges)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)

Ruby Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xf4b9cea3
Fire Resist +25%
15% Increased Attack Speed

[highlight]The Story:[/highlight]
About 18 months ago I made a pure Lightning Sorceress named Sparkalicious. She didn't really have a purpose at the time, I just wanted to try out a pure Lightning Sorceress. If memory serves correctly she eventually reached level 89, probably in some multiplayer games here.

Then 7 months ago I decided to enter the MFO in the Baal category and therefore needed a good runner. Since the MFOs are pretty much the only thing I can excel at in Diablo II I wanted to use the fastest runner possible. I had seen a couple of Lightning Sorceress' with Infinity Mercenaries in action and since they are probably rivaled by none when running Baal she is what I chose to run with. Despite a couple of misspent points in strength and dexterity I thought Sparkalicious would work fine so decided not to remake her.

I renamed Sparkalicious to Nemesis after the Greek Goddess of Vengeance. I thought the name would suit her perfectly as she was about to become Baal's Nemesis by inflicting terrible vengeance upon him...many, many times.

After I practised with her enough to get to level 91 she entered the MFO and was very successful, reaching level 97 in the process. At that point I thought I was almost to 99 already (I had no idea) so may as well keep going. Then when I did find out what was needed, and after swallowing a couple of times, I decided I would still give it a shot. She hadn't died once yet (except during the practise runs where I had tested the range of doll explosions).

I took a short break from running Baal after the MFO but soon continued running him with Nemesis, probably a bit too soon. I was trying to pickup and/or ID something right before Lister spawned but was a little too slow and then when I tried to teleport onto the throne I right-clicked a little faster than I moved the cursor and ended up right in the middle of Lister and his pack of thugs. I was able to chug a couple of Full Rejuvs but it wasn't enough...ouch! Fortunately I was then able to recover the body without another death.

Not long after that I entered the Baalthon with Nemesis, probably too soon again. At this point Nemesis was level 98 and suffered another death...double ouch! Too much playing causing a lack of concentration are probably what killed me. I only remember seeing a single doll. I probably hadn't BOed properly, had taken some damage and may not have noticed a curse on me. I'm still not sure why that single doll was able to kill me and that not even knowing is probably the best sign that I wasn't focused enough anymore. One little boom was enough in any case. And then while trying to recover the body I suffered another death from a doll that had hidden behind a pillar. I had finally been able to coerce my merc to move ahead and scout and he'd moved beyond that pillar so I assumed it was safe. However, the moment I reached that pillar I heard the deadly pitterpatter of tiny little feet. I could do nothing more than think "uh-oh" before all three of us were dead. Oh well, nothing else to do but try and recover both bodies. This time I was naked and mercless because of a sudden cashflow problem :badteeth:. Thankfully this didn't pose a problem because the way to the first body had already been cleared and the second body was just beyond that and I was able to recover both with no more problems.

Those were the only deaths I suffered, though too many if you ask me , and there were plenty of close calls, especially towards the end of the recent MFO. Eventually though she made it and I am now a tired but very happy DII player!

[highlight]Finds:[/highlight]
Yes, she found some really nice ones. Among them were 5 grailers and a couple of nice runes: Mang Song's Lesson, Griffon's Eye, Earth Shifter, Stormlash, Azurewrath, Vex and Cham and plenty of (semi)useful charms, jewels, jewelry, magic, rare, set and unique items. This now puts me at grail -7. The Gheed's Fortune and Amber SC of Balance I'm using were also found by her.

[highlight]Thanks:[/highlight]
My fellow Kittens! old and new (Jaedhann, Darkoooo, Joosh, Grisu and Paradigmshift) for their company during the long hours!
Jaedhann for the Griffon's Eye and then some!
Joosh for his running tips!
Krovak for mentioning his body retrieval kit in Januari's MFO!
The SPF and SPTF! I probably wouldn't be playing the game without them!
All those people that spend their time writing guides and providing other useful information!
The Moderators for their time and effort in keeping the forums clean and pleasant!
jjscud, Drixx and others for organizing the MFOs and other competitions!
Exclamation marks!!! (I probably should have put these first)

Thanks,
Zaliqai

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by DX-Crawler on Sep 19, 2009

my lvl 99 champion is complete

Done

So finally it's done my Hammerdin reached lvl 99 without making it to patriarch, he will remain Champion which imo is a better title than Pat.

Some History

Had two other attempts to make it to 99 doing Baalruns, one wolfbarb sitting on 97,5 sick of his slow runs and death because of Iron Maiden and one hammerdin sitting right above 3 billion mark was made with a loaned enigma and character more or less retired after he wanted the enigma back.

Getting a new Enigma

After a fortunate Jah rune in MF in January 2009 I started running LK like a mad man and after about 4200 runs a Ber dropped for me which made it possible to make an Enigma Mage plate.

Getting new Hammerdin started

So 14 march I made my new enigmadin with the full intent of saving the ancients until lvl 98 and only doing diabloruns. Hammerdins are great in CS and since CS gives more exp/minute than Baalrun so why not. Was abit amazed about how fast diabloruns was and how good the exp was and much easier than Baalruns too since you know what monsters you will meet along the way no surprising Conviction gloams bosspack waiting to fry you. And a big bonus is that you can have expshrine on you when you kill diablo which was very much needed when getting up at 97, 98.

I quickly hired an act3 cold merc and gave him a "Lawbringer" Crystal sword. The knockbackfrom Sanctuary aura is great against Lord de Seis pack.

Was moving along very well and on lvl 95 my first shocks came pretty rapidly. First this and same night I got my only Stone of Jordan in CS despite finding 74 unique rings (ght have missed 1 or 2) A few nights later still on lvl 95 my biggest shock came in this gem.

With those drops it wasnt too hard getting motivation up for more running. And on lvl 96 it was time for next nice rune a Vex this time.

Reaching 98 I took a small turn down to Nihlathaks temple since the exp/minute was even better down there but after a few million of exp I thought it was too dull and went back to good ol CS again. And stayed there.

Complete

So enough rambling time for the char. uber_ploppy

The gear isnt too hard to figure out standard enigmadin equipment

Harlequin crest /perfect topaz
HotO 39 all res
Magefist
Enigma
Soj
Rare ring FCR and Fire resist (thanks Corr)
2 palla ammy with 22% MF 37 Fire resist 19 poison resist
Arachnid mesh
Spirit Akaran Targe 35% FCR
War travs 50% MF

Switch Beta CtA +12 BO and Lidless Wall

Charms being Combat palla skillers mostly plain ones and 1 gheeds fortune 38% MF
Small charms department is invested much MF and resist and some charms have both.

Life 3120 and mana 844

Mercenary Act 3 Cold merc

Steel Shade (unique Armet incase you wonder) ty RTB for giving me that tip when I had 19 million left for 99
Lawbringer Crystal sword
Up'd eth Um'd Shaftstop
Moosers Blessed Circle w 2 perf diamonds

Stats without/with gear

25/113
189/202
361/395
15/23

Resistance was 75, 75, 75, 75 with fire resist high enough to maintain 75 fire res even after LR and high enough to face venom lords with Conviction aura while have Lower resist curse on you.

Hmm think that wraps it up pretty well. Wont be doing any more 99:ers for quite some time now. awaiting 1.13 maybe blizz increase maxlevel to 150 or something.

Thanks to all who help me out with helpful tips and even items and all the nagging on me being a slacker made me keep running.

And finally a recording of my lvl 99 run

http://s412.photobucket.com/albums/pp210/DrFluff/?action=view&current=level99diablorun.flv

Edit Added Arachnid mesh for belt, ty Essosay

some other items that needs to be mentioned. 5 Stormlashes, 2 Grandfathers, Templars Might, Eth Earthshifter, Crown of Ages, and 2 Windforces, 2 nats Mark, 3 IK Armor and alot of other nice items

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by Eric Xanthu on July 17, 2010

Mihana (99) Joins the Hall of Heroes

Mihana is done with Baal as of July 17, 2:50pm Eastern Time.

Getting 99 certainly teaches you a lot of skills, but it really doesn't require anything except willpower and time. Say you make a perfect run, every single trick and strategy goes your way, you burn through in less than 3:00. Congratulations. Do it another 3500 times. Now that I'm waaaay older than my HS/College days and my reflexes are going, having a task that even a broken-down nag like me can accomplish was kinda fun.

The downside is that the endless repetitions pretty much suck all the Diablo fun out of you. I became a lifeless drone. Felt no twitch when my second Dweb dropped. Mang Song? Gee, I guess that replaces the one I traded. DFathom? Yawn, maybe it's better than the mediocre one I'm using. Cham? Ok I guess. Wish it was a Ber.

Basically, 99 was work, until the spark of life returned to me at the last Baal kill. So the psychology of getting to 99 is pretty messed up. It's like taking a hacksaw to the floor bolt of a new toilet: you know it's going to take 15 minutes of frustrating, mind-numbing work. You know you can't go too fast or you'll lose your groove. If you cheat and use a sawzall you'll crack the porceline. Most people would say "screw it" and leave the bolt sticking up. Except my wife would yell at me and tell me she won't have guests staring at a 3 inch bolt stickout of the toilet when they come to visit...

Hang on. That got weird at the end.

The inspiration for this crazy trip was Dark Chaos, who was cranking out a stupid number of 99s when I was relatively new to the SPF. I swore I'd never do that--95 is high enough, thanks!--but the idea just kept hanging around and hanging around and then one day I was going for it and didn't know why. As for the character choice: I remember DC saying Kara was ugly and me thinking "No wai!" Once I had the gear, I decided to give it a shot. The conversion from MF-freak to 99-freak was not hard. So a big thanks to DC.

I'd like to call out grogs as my special dedication, though. Of everyone on the board above me, Ayla is the most impressive to me. That's a PURE BLIZZ sorc WITHOUT CTA. 1000 hp and 33 fire res...everyone on the board deserves big props but I think Ayla is the most impressive of them all. I almost didn't go for CtA just so I could match it.

To everyone else in the Hall of Heroes: I re-read your threads when inspiration ran low. Thanks! And to all the 98s working their way up now, keep at it. You helped push me toward the end...I couldn't have more people pass me for being lazy!

Ok, enough of that. The meat:

Str 125/161
Dex 25/46
Vit 395/432
Ene ???/yeah right
Health 968/1990
Mana 445/746

Those base health/mana values might be off a bit...I forgot to check before I stripped my charms.

Gear
DFathom (22 w/ a 3/3 cold facet)
Spirit Monarch
CtA (BO 5) + Spirit Monarch
Nightwing's (12% w/ a sexy rare res jewel)
Blizz Ormus (14/14/14 w/ a scintillating jewel)
Arachnid Mesh
Magefist
Sandstorm Trek (I can't get enough of t3h vits)
Crafted sorc ammy (from a trade iirc)
BKWB and a rare for res/life/mana
7 Chilling GCs with newb mods and 1 Burning GC
Lots of small charms for res, balance

Idiot went through many gear changes but in the end it was:
Act 2 Defiance Merc w/ upped Kelpie, GA w/Sol, Kira w/Sol
I probably should have switched to Might merc at 97-98 but I didn't feel like re-rolling my map. I'm stubborn.

Proof of Concept
We'd like to nuke everything with blizzard but we have cold immunes. So we take a page from Tweety and try fireball as a backup. Does it clear our difficulties and does it give us any new tricks? Shouldn't we be using a better sorc like infinity-light?

Getting there
I had a nice map, except every 100 runs or so I teleported right into a pack of mana burning snakes. Ugh. That nearly got me a few times. Clearing the throneroom was very fast and easy, even before 1.13. There were a few times I didn't feel like dealing with an intense setup, but the fireball was plenty fast at clearing the witches and the OKs.

Wave 1
Best case: Blizzard melts them all before they can scatter or my GS holds them all in place.
Worst case

Wave 2
Best case: I keep the Ancients off the stairs, blizzard melts them, and the skeletons stay grouped up for fast fireball cleanup.
Worst case: Dolls and Gloams revived to stab me in the back. Skeletons scatter across the throneroom forcing me to kill 1 at a time.
Reality: I pick off small packs at a time. The fireball was not a perfect solution to this wave, but it usually got the job done. I was not overly impressed with the improvement over a pure blizz.

Wave 3
Best case: A blizzard sorc can, with some luck, freeze the entire pack with GS and wipe them out before a single hydra is cast. That saves many seconds waiting for the next wave. Sadly I never mastered how to do this reliably.
Worst case (rare): With his super-high Fire Res, this is basically FICI.

Wave 4
Best case: These guys were designed and play-tested to die so fast to blizzard that you never even see them on the screen. I often double-checked p8 dealing with these guys.
Worst case (extremely rare): With his super-high Fire Res, this is basically FICI...hmm, that sounds famililar.
Reality: I don't pay attention to the venom lord near me. He hits me and I laugh until I see he's Manaburn and I have to drink another blue.

Wave 5
Best case: They sometimes filter down through the blizzards without scattering. Because of their large footprint, they can die as fast as wave 4. Which is good, because sometimes these guys have sick mods that kill even 98 mercs.
Worst case: Lister is FICI. The pack melts. My merc pokes Lister with Kelpie and now it takes me 6.5 HOURS to lure him outside of the throneroom so Baal will leave. He's just not worth the time to kill with an upped Kelpie...maybe if I had an eth, but my gear was fairly newbish for a 99.
Reality: The ugly mods could get my merc dead and me scrambling. I definitely downed some purples here...2k hp goes fast to cursed extra fast fana blah blah blah. Mana burn could be pretty scary here.

The Big Guy
Best case: Baal's tentacles have a really awesome glitch that I don't know the exact mechanics of (WARNING: observation mixed with speculation follows). Basically if he's standing on a tentacle, any blizzard strikes that hit the tentacle will do damage to Baal. Sometimes Baal will summon a huge tangle of them right on top of himself and one blizzard will kill him in about 1-2 seconds. I was never able to control this, sadly.
Worst case: For no reason other than to mess with me, Kelpie refuses to trigger. Baal burns my mana, summons a clone, goes on a teleporting spree, and hits me with a limit break of chain spells. Much forum-forbidden language ensues.
Almost as bad: Baal decides to park himself on a railing where blizzard absolutely cannot hit him. I have to hide behind a pillar until he walks away from it or teleports. If the merc Kelpies him on the railing, he'll never leave and I'll have to CB him to death (not kjewl).
Reality: 1 Blue potion of steady "Blizz Staticx5 Blizz CBx4 Blizz etc." 2 Blues if he hits me with mana burn before Kelpie kicks in.
Baal's Deadliest Attack. What is this, 1.07? Off to Act IV I guess...

Close calls
Never blow up dolls while cursed.
Never walk through your own blizzards!
Never leave a huge pack of nightmare just outside the throneroom, forget it's there, and then teleport back into it while luring FICI Lister out. Ugh.

So was it worth it? Yeah probably.

Included for reference: What the xp bar looks like with 1000 runs to go. 500 runs to go.

Thanks for reading!

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by wielanja on Sep 18, 2010

My HC 99 project is complete

After four months of living in the chaos sanctuary AdmiralAckbar took down the ancients and hit the final level.

This goal was something that I always thought about pursuing, but never took all that serious until this spring. My first attempt was on a meteorb sorc that ended up wiping to some nasty pack doing baalruns. Immediately following that I made a new sorc that got iced in LK while trying to piece together an infinity. At this point I decided I needed something sturdier than a sorc so AdmiralAckbar was born.

From that point on pretty much all my video game time went into leveling my pally. I took an occasional break to play some lan starcraft and made two guardians but other than that it was all about getting 99.

For the near future I will retire the pally but will likely use him for some mfing down the road. For the time being I need to make my character screen a little more balanced.

And finally, the gear.
Shako (ptopaz)
Enigma Mage Plate
HotO (40%)
HoZ (Um)
Upped Magefist
Fully Upped Hotspur Boots
Arachnid Mesh
Mara's (29%)
SoJ
BKWB

In the inventory I had a 37% gheeds, 3 plain pcomb gcs, and a bunch of sc's of vita. What I like about the gear is that most of it was found while leveling in the cs. He found the HoZ, the hotspurs, the arachnid mesh, maras, SoJ and the BKWB. In fact he didn't even piece the enigma together until lvl 96.

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by elevenlang on Oct 8, 2010

Mat Lighting, level 99 sorceress

Finally, lighting reachs level 99 after 5000+ baal runs.

The project really get serious after the infinity I got thanks to the new 1.13 patch. From that point, I stop the blova project at 94. and start the baal runs with Ms lighting.

I had always thought the skill lightening to be lighting. so comes the name. She is the typical lightening sorc.

Name: Lighting
Class: Sorceress
Experience: 3520485254
Level: 99

Naked/Gear
Strength: 126/156
Dexterity: 25/30
Vitality: 399/431
Energy: 35/66
HP: 975/1057
Mana: 230/329
Stamina: 560/610
Defense: 6/1455
AR: 75/145

Fire: 178/138/78
Cold: 179/139/79
Lightning: 179/139/79
Poison: 201/161/101

Charged Bolt: 20/36
Static Field: 1/17
Telekinesis: 1/17
Nova: 20/36
Lightning: 20/36
Chain Lightning: 20/36
Teleport: 1/17
Thunder Storm: 6/22
Energy Shield: 0/0
Lightning Mastery: 20/36

warmth 1/11

gear:
Griffon's Eye (UM rume)
Powered Amulet of the Locust(+3 lightening 4% life leaach)
Nature's Peace
Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Arachnid Mesh
War Traveler
Chains of Honor
Chance Guards
Eschuta's Temper(+20% to lighting skill, +6all +29 fire jewel)
spirit Monach.

Merc: defence Act2
Ethereal Veil of Steel
Ethereal Guardian Angel( upped defence 2082, UM rune)
Ethereal Infinity Colossus Voulge

The trip

the trip of baal runs was kind of boring when you just level up, but get more excited when you getting closer to level up. Especially when I get to 50M or so to the level 99 about 10 days ago. Also, a good unique item here and there get the process much less boring. the ethereal Guardian angel I got during mid 90s, after that the merc really got much durable.

Nothing to much to say with lightening and infinity combo. It can do all the killings fast. so the merc don't need to do the killing at all. the main job is just to hold that infinity up. I use the 4th row on the belt for antidote and give the merc one after wave 2. The Maxed resistance also helped the merc survive the wave 3 much better. Also the CTA helps a lot too.

Only unsolvable is the LI lister even with infinity. usually I just save and start a new run. Also the merc might be killed within seconds when the wave 4 or 5 are spawned with auras (fan or might) or being extra strong. I just try to teleport when I see those and try to keep merc not surroundded.

Baal is nothing to lightenings. just try to keep away from the mana burn. I usually tele to baal and static baal to half and then tele to the top of the T shaped area and lightenings Baal. Most time I get far enough to avoid the manaburns. then it is just matter of seonds.

The MF:

I did not pack much MF on the gear, but it still got me ~5000 set and unique items during the trip from baal.
Griffon's Eye, Steelrend, Gargoyle's Bite, The Cranium Basher, The Grandfather are the TC 87s I got from baal.

Executioner's Justice, Windforce, Ghostflame, Stormspire, Death's Fathom are from waves and pindle runs during the low 90s.

the dissapointing point of the runs is that I never find a lighting rainbow facet. I got all other 6 and never get the lighting 2. :scratchchin:

The Runes comes often when the patches just come out, but for no reason, I got only a Ohm and 3 Vex during the 98-99 runs.

The next step:

another level 99? maybe not. I will do a lots of more baal runs for the MF though. I will start a blizzballer and see if I have enough fun to run baal and waves at p3/p8. I did find the equipment I want for my berserk though, I will see how that goes.

 

[jjscud]

Originally posted by Ugla on Dec 19, 2010

Azalea made it through; lvl99 thread

Matriarch Azalea, lvl99 pure lightning javazon

version: 1.11->1.12 SC, vanilla
born & matted: October 2007

Wait! Is this really more than three years?

Back in May 2007, I matted a bowzon named Azalea. She was not very successful and eventually got deleted.

Several months later, while writing the guide on a pure lightning javazon, I decided to try out yet another of her variations. Since I liked the name, I started Azalea (#2) and matted her in a few days. I have no screenshots from her questing period, except for the encounter with Hell Ancients. It pretty much explains why I called the build "Fury". Unlike her namesake, the reborn Azalea did not receive her own mat thread, though I made a few comments on the build itself within the guide.

While Baal-running later that year, Azalea proved to be a powerful character, potentially superior to my other javazon. In the spring of 2008, I had two lvl96 javazons, and was eventually forced to make a choice. Azalea won, partly due to better statpoint allocation, but namely because Decoy beats the buggy Avoid in terms of general usefulness.

In the upcoming months, I was slowly "pursuing" Viraya (lvl97 milestone, for the last four years or such ), without any clear goal beyond that. With the year drawing to its end, Hrus's old zon was finally caught. Too bad Azalea had already used all three Malah's elixirs. I am uncertain of when exactly did the encounter occur. Anyway, one partial goal was fulfilled, and the new year 2009 was only just beginning.

Still amazed how fast that last portion of the level went by, I took the opportunity and immediately started conquering the next one. The examination period is a great time of the year, once you get on the other side of the barricade. Better yet, if you teach mere one subject, attended by a small group of students. What a time it was.. However, jj's ShieldMaiden had been lvl99 for almost two years, and I was starting to wonder if I could push myself through the same ordeal.

Azalea's progress of the early 2009 can be easily tracked, thanks to the increasing number of screenshots I stored to document her MF accomplishments. I had a short break mid-March, programming days and nights in preparation for the "Algoritmy" conference which took place in the Tatra mountains in Slovakia. I resumed running upon return, and hit lvl98 on March 26th. I guess at this point I was already "doomed", though the last chapter had to wait for a long, long time.

I finally got some decent results in my PhD study, and tried to make the most of it. I also joined some other project at work, which meant D2 was put aside almost completely. In the autumn, I spent the weekends working on my grandparents' house and garden, only playing a little bit on weekdays. Hence, after a year or so since lvl98, the white line barely reached one fifth of the box :unimpressed:.

To make matters worse, I had to start writing the thesis. Nevertheless, the runs were a welcome break whenever I felt too tired from writing, and I maintained slow but steady progress on both fronts. During the summer, I focused more and more on writing, skipping D2 completely throughout September. I submitted the thesis on September 30th, and after only a few days of resting, I jumped from one nightmare right into the other.

I was sitting at the 3.4 billion mark since the end of August, which still represented over 1350 Baal-runs. On the other hand, I had basically no vacation until October, which now finally came to good waste. I enjoyed a short "off duty" period while visiting Japan from 13th to 21st of November. I reached ~75% of the exp bar before my departure, so you get the idea what the last three and half weeks were about. At long last, it is over!

Ok, enough chit-chat for now, and let me show some numbers..

Stats (naked/main/switch)
str 120/165/145
dext 125/198/158
vita 320/345/345
erg 15/20/20
unspent 5

life 1464
mana 327
block 60%/50%

Resists (main/switch/tele amulet)
fire 75/69/54
cold 60/53/30
lightning 85/85/67
poison 47/40/17

Breakpoints
FRW 67%
IAS 65%
FCR 25%
FHR 57%
MF 39%

Skills (javelin, passive, switch)
20 Charged Strike, Lightning Fury, Lightning Strike, Power Strike
19 Lightning Bolt
1 Decoy, Dodge, Pierce and all prerequisites
unspent 1

slvl35 CS: 10 bolts 1-7247
slvl38 LF: 39 bolts 1-3031
slvl16 Jab: 292-743 LCS with AR 4076, 49% Critical, 10%CB (Mara's)
slvl14 Jab: 321-763 LCS with AR 3780, 42% Critical, 10%CB (Atma's)
slvl7 Pierce: 63%
slvl7 Dodge: 42%

Gear
Griffon's Eye (-20/+11) socketed with a -4/+5 facet
Mara's Kaleidoscope (30%res)
SoJ + Raven Frost
'Treachery' Wyrmhide
crafted Vampirebone Gloves with +2java/20%IAS
Thundergod's Vigor ( Full rejuv, Heal, TP scrolls, Mana )
rare War Boots (35%FR/37%LR/30%FRW)
Titan's Revenge + 'Sanctuary' (70%res) Troll Nest
rare Blade with slvl3 Lower Resist charges + Moser's (2*pDiamond)

Griffon's Eye
Diadem
Defense: 244
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 76
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x58a17ba7
+189 Defense
Adds 1-74 lightning damage
25% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
100% Chance to cast Level 41 Nova When You Level Up
+16% to Lightning Skill Damage
-24% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Rainbow Facet
Jewel
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x8729be2d
Adds 1-74 lightning damage
100% Chance to cast Level 41 Nova When You Level Up
+5% to Lightning Skill Damage
-4% to Enemy Lightning Resistance

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xf4d12a96
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
All Resistances +30
+2 to All Skill Levels

Rune Mark
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 98
Fingerprint: 0xd330021
Fire Resist +8%
5% Mana stolen per hit
+2 to Amazon Skill Levels
10% Faster Cast Rate
Level 2 Teleport (25/25 Charges)

Atma's Scarab
Amulet
Required Level: 60
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x806ddba3
Poison Resist +75%
+39 poison damage over 4 seconds
Attacker Takes Damage of 5
+3 to Light Radius
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
5% Chance to cast Level 2 Amplify Damage on striking

The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x2b0a84a0
+20 to Mana
Adds 1-12 lightning damage
Increase Maximum Mana 25%
+1 to All Skill Levels

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x98db2730
+18 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+239 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Treachery
Wyrmhide
'ShaelThulLem'
Defense: 467
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 84
Required Level: 50
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x29d56b76
Cold Resist +30%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
45% Increased Attack Speed
20% Faster Hit Recovery
25% Chance to cast Level 15 Venom on striking
5% Chance to cast Level 15 Fade when struck
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Shadow Fist
Vampirebone Gloves
Defense: 117
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 57
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 94
Fingerprint: 0x6018ed6
+20 to Life
+10 to Maximum Stamina
+78% Enhanced Defense
3% Life stolen per hit
20% Increased Attack Speed
10% Chance of Crushing Blow
+2 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Thundergod's Vigor
War Belt
Defense: 157
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 110
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xd879395d
+20 to Strength
+20 to Vitality
+198% Enhanced Defense
+10% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Adds 1-50 lightning damage
+3 to Lightning Fury (Amazon Only)
+3 to Lightning Strike (Amazon Only)
+20 Lightning Absorb
5% Chance to cast Level 7 Fist of the Heavens when struck

Raven Brogues
War Boots
Defense: 100
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 125
Required Level: 38
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x13f3bc3c
+6 to Dexterity
+86% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +37%
30% Faster Run/Walk
Half Freeze Duration

Titan's Revenge
Ceremonial Javelin
Throw Damage: 76 to 204
One-Hand Damage: 76 to 150
Quantity: 140
(Amazon Only)
Required Dexterity: 109
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 42
Javelin Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xe298949d
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity
+186% Enhanced Damage
+25 to Minimum Damage
+50 to Maximum Damage
9% Life stolen per hit
+2 to Amazon Skill Levels
30% Faster Run/Walk
+2 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)
Replenishes Quantity
Increased Stack Size

Sanctuary
Superior Troll Nest
'KoKoMal'
Defense: 445
Chance to Block:  65%
Durability: 74 of 74
Required Strength: 106
Required Level: 57
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x56dd45ff
+20 to Dexterity
+14% Enhanced Defense
+142% Enhanced Defense
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Magic Damage Reduced by 7
All Resistances +70
20% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Faster Block Rate
Level 12 Slow Missiles (60/60 Charges)
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Bramble Horn
Blade
One-Hand Damage: 4 to 15
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Dexterity: 51
Required Strength: 35
Required Level: 36
Dagger Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x1e09feda
+12 to Attack Rating
Adds 3-8 fire damage
Adds 1-157 lightning damage
10% Increased Attack Speed
Hit Causes Monster to Flee 100%
Level 3 Lower Resist (82/82 Charges)

Moser's Blessed Circle
Luna
Defense: 354
Chance to Block:  70%
Durability: 84 of 84
Required Strength: 100
Required Level: 52
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x8c0b6847
+219% Enhanced Defense
+25% Increased Chance of Blocking
All Resistances +63
Required Level +7
30% Faster Block Rate
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Inventory
5 java skillers with 2*life, FRW, FHR, +dext
Gheed's Fortune (39/-14)
8 SCs with resists, life, mana, and FHR
Horadric Cube
Tome of Identify
Atma's Scarab
rare amulet with +2zon skills and teleportation charges
2*3 free slots

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x59cc0b63
+25 to Life
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 50
Fingerprint: 0x1d9126df
+17 to Life
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 52
Fingerprint: 0x72647aac
7% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x2ab0e5d6
12% Faster Hit Recovery
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Harpoonist's Grand Charm of Dexterity
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 64
Fingerprint: 0x232cbb6f
+4 to Dexterity
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Gheed's Fortune
Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 62
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x36f1c894
126% Extra Gold from Monsters
39% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Reduces All Vendor Prices 14%

Amber Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0xe7307959
+18 to Life
Lightning Resist +11%

Amber Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0x5a21624b
Lightning Resist +10%
5% Faster Hit Recovery

Coral Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 20
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 83
Fingerprint: 0x8c09acd1
+14 to Life
Lightning Resist +9%

Serpent's Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 40
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x6e9580a1
+20 to Life
+17 to Mana

Serpent's Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 40
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: **
Fingerprint: 0x2dbdcb0
+14 to Life
+17 to Mana

Ruby Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 64
Fingerprint: 0xbb5ee712
+20 to Life
Fire Resist +11%

Jade Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x8480a566
+18 to Life
Poison Resist +9%

Jade Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0xe4351178
+17 to Life
Poison Resist +8%

Stash
another stack of Titan's
rare amulet with teleportation charges, 15%res, +life/mana
Tal's plate

Titan's Revenge
Ceremonial Javelin
Throw Damage: 73 to 196
One-Hand Damage: 73 to 145
Quantity: 140
(Amazon Only)
Required Dexterity: 109
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 42
Javelin Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x4f565bc5
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity
+172% Enhanced Damage
+25 to Minimum Damage
+50 to Maximum Damage
9% Life stolen per hit
+2 to Amazon Skill Levels
30% Faster Run/Walk
+2 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)
Replenishes Quantity
Increased Stack Size

Eagle Mark
Amulet
Required Level: 48
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 91
Fingerprint: 0x781ed690
+4 to Strength
+15 to Life
+63 to Mana
All Resistances +15
Level 2 Teleport (22/25 Charges)

Tal Rasha's Guardianship
Lacquered Plate
Defense: 881
Durability: 55 of 55
Required Strength: 83
Required Level: 71
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xd0b3291c
+400 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 15
Fire Resist +40%
Lightning Resist +40%
Cold Resist +40%
112% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Requirements -60%
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Chalan (lvl98, Holy Freeze merc)
Andy's (Ort)
Guardian Angel (Um)
eth upped Kelpie Snare (Shael)

Guardian Angel
Templar Coat
'Um'
Defense: 825
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Strength: 118
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xe3d6afb3
+200% Enhanced Defense
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
Fire Resist +15%
+15% to Maximum Fire Resist
Lightning Resist +15%
+15% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Cold Resist +15%
+15% to Maximum Cold Resist
Poison Resist +15%
+15% to Maximum Poison Resist
+1 to Paladin Skill Levels
+4 to Light Radius
30% Faster Block Rate
247% Bonus to Attack Rating Against Demons (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Andariel's Visage
Demonhead
'Ort'
Defense: 330
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Strength: 102
Required Level: 83
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x2d3b44c4
+30 to Strength
+113% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist -30%
Lightning Resist +30%
Poison Resist +70%
+10% to Maximum Poison Resist
10% Life stolen per hit
20% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to All Skill Levels
15% Chance to cast Level 15 Poison Nova when struck
Level 3 Venom (20/20 Charges)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Kelpie Snare
Stygian Pike
'Shael'
Two-Hand Damage: 143 to 622
Durability: 33 of 35
Required Dexterity: 87
Required Strength: 158
Required Level: 56
Spear Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xf3db3ce9
+10 to Strength
+165% Enhanced Damage
+30 to Minimum Damage
+50 to Maximum Damage
Fire Resist +50%
Required Level +7
20% Increased Attack Speed
Slows Target by 75%
+123 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)

Now for some longwinded remarks..

Maps
While running for lvl98, I used one map the whole time. It was by far the most generous map in terms of drops, despite the fact that my MF was already abysmal at that stage, iirc 45% (Gheed's + one 6%SC). WSK2 had a standard 1-corner topology, while WSK3 hosted several bosspacks, as well as a shrine and a well, which often saved me the trouble TPing home to get rid of IM.

With the "big" level ahead of me, I was considering a reroll, but why would I reroll a map like this? Because it was a Templar's, that's why. Seriously, no, but at some point I just felt it was time for a change. I was punished for my faithlessness - which is, honestly speaking, kinda hard to avoid in vanilla, esp. if you lack Avoid itself. OK, back on topic..

I rolled a rather "sterile" map with only a half screen long (and mostly deserted) WSK3 and no stair-traps. The runs were safe and consistent, but also boring and fruitless. Nevertheless, I cut a good portion of the level, before I decided to reroll again.

Now, this was truly something. Except that Azalea was not born as a sorceress. But wait! As every 1.12 player, I never stopped dreaming about finding a Jah, while the more pragmatic part of me kept crafting amulets. I did not exactly craft one, but I gambled a rare with +2zon skills and teleport charges in the process. Definitely not bad, if you compensate the loss of resists from ditching the Mara's. Time to put on the purple abomination, and we are all set.

This seed was obviously very fast, even though I only used teleport to skip WSK2,3 and then walked down the Throne. The problem was that once in ~10 runs, there was a stair-trap right bellow the entrance, counting one or two packs! Naturally, I kept another amulet with teleportation and resists in stash as a backup, yet the place never stopped frightening me.

One day, I had enough and rerolled the map one last time. This one shows certain tendency to spawn Souls with Conviction on the second floor, but maybe it was just my long-term absence in the Keep. WSK3 is quite long, with many bosspacks along the way. As it turned out later, the map contains a nice set of shrines in the first act - one in Stony Field, three in Dark Wood, and two in Black Marsh. There is one more shrine in Spider Forest and the common one in RoF.

The idea to incorporate exp shrines in the runs raised by Cyrax in the lvl99 thread led me to reexamine the previous map seeds and even roll several new ones - which all sucked in this aspect. My precious old map did not fare any better. The "tele-map" looks poor at first - act1 offers only three nearby shrines, each in different area. When I looked into latter acts, though, I discovered three more solitaires in Flayer Jungle, Kurast Bazaar, and RoF, all of them visible only a step away from their respective WPs. Checking six different locations is a clickfest, but it amused me for a while (unlike the new series of nasty stair-traps). I switched back to the last, Soul-infested map, and almost got fried on the second run by yet another convicted pack. The remaining ten percent of the level went without further incidents.

Deaths
I got fried by Souls twice in one day shortly before reaching lvl98, but it didn't stop me from eventually finishing it that very night. Two more deaths followed while still trying some gear adjustments - rather irrelevant, since you can't go lower than the level's base.

Now for the shameful part..
I got killed TWICE by.. Lister. Yes, you see right. The first time, I was jabbing one of his LI reincarnations. My attention faded, Decoy evaporated, decrep kicked in, merc missed twice in a row, got knocked back, and two quick consecutive hits finished me off. Next time rejuv first and think later! The other case was a simple Amp+FE instant kill.

The last death came from one of those stair-traps on the "tele-map" - I tried to be a hero against a fanatic Frenzytaur pack, pressed Esc, but decided to fight my way out of this. At least I managed to lure them away from the entrance before I died. Happened ~74% through the level. This was the ugly side of an otherwise cool map. The ever present danger of an unrecoverable death (read -10% of the exp bar) was far too intimidating.

I cowardly Save&Exited in two situations that carried the symptoms. Once it was Souls with convicted dolls, the other time "just" two packs of dolls with Might and god knows what else. If I had the nerve to printscreen that first episode, I could have added a large heading "Welcome to the Throne", making it my no.1 Baal-running screenshot. On the other occasion, I got a surround and reflexively chickened out.

I remember well the instant kill from a single doll at the very beginning of the level. The "brilliant" idea to apply criticals to their blasts changes each and every encounter into a Russian roulette (1000+ max damage according to Onderduiker, twice as much when amped). Decoy works wonders in normal situations, just not if you can't even move away from the stairs.

Gear adjustments
Once I focused all my Baal-running effort on Azalea, I started to optimize her gear more and more towards performance rather than MF. The moment I laid my hands on a Griffon's, the green pilot's cap got dumped. The good old Skullder's soon followed, and the SCs of luck were replaced with vita ones. I added a second stack of Titan's in the stash to reduce repair trips between the runs.

Upon reaching lvl98, I replaced the column of antidotes with TP-scrolls, thus removing the tome. This allowed me to move Atma's from Cube to inventory and add one more SC. Lately, during my shrine-runs on the "tele-map", I started to swap amulets to resolve my resists issues, so that I could keep wearing 'Treachery'. The amulet got its spot in the inventory, right next to Atma's, one SC was added to stack LR a bit more, reducing the free space to 2*3 slots. The Tal's plate was moved to stash as a backup. I kept this setup till the end, shaving off a few seconds by teleporting on Baal, and also by reducing Chalan's causalities vs Lister's gang. Atma's Scarab was used against unbreakable LIs with either annoyingly high %DR (LIster, various Stoneskin bosses, Blood Lords), or against dangerous frenzytaur bosses (better leech for Chalan).

I successfully tested using Amp + CE charges from 'Black' against LIster, but the constant repairing, reassigning hotkeys, and sacrificing 2*3 slots in the Cube bothered me to such extent, that I returned to the slow, yet comfortable Amp + Jab solution.

This guy just keeps dying. And I'm not just talking his IM suicides. He falls to packs of witches, Souls+OK combo, and generally any pack of frenzytaurs I fail to eliminate within a second or so. His audacity towards the Lister's pack never ceases to astonish me.

Just for the record, I tried to experiment with a Might merc for a while, but the resulting IM damage was way too high for my fragile amazon.

As far as Chalan's gear is concerned, I used to experiment before, but always returned to the listed setup. Putting off GA in CtA-less vanilla pretty much equals feeding him to hydras, and I really appreciate Kelpie against Baal, immune LIsters, as well as other unbreakable bosses. Kira's seems like an overkill with an already 'Um'-ed armor, plus I like the IAS on Andy's.

With a careful use of Decoy, many of the merc's deaths can be prevented. My other "invention" was to put on the teleportation amulet already after the third wave - for maps where I didn't use it permanently, that is. I switched back to Mara's at the beginning of the next run to preserve the hotkey for Teleport.

Why no CtA
I realize that using a CtA prebuff would save me hours of time just by increasing Chalan's life expectancy, not to mention Azalea's own deaths. However, speaking of vanilla, CtA represents a powerful weapon I would like to see in a suitable base (+3bow/+15% MB/GMB). No luck so far.

MF, grail, runes, and items in general
Azalea was the one who found my only Death Fathom long time ago. During my push towards lvl98, she completed the remaining sets and found the only TC87 I was still interested in - a Windforce. There were in fact two of them, but I failed to take a screenshot of the first one. Soon after, that elusive golden Aegis finally dropped from Baal himself. Not that I was in the mood for crazy experiments anymore. I got my third Templar's as mentioned above, but the bigger part of the final level was dry as the deserts of Lut Gholein. Well, I did find the last TC3 (Knell Striker) and some golden Bloodlord Skull. In any case, the MF screenshots from various stages can be found here.

I'm currently sitting at G-6, and don't feel the urge to search for any of the following items:
Tyrael's, Astreon's, Death Web, Earth Shifter, Stormspire, the Grandfather.

As Hrus already said in the lvl99 thread, my rune-drops were abysmal. The highest rune for the last two levels was an Ist this November. Go figure.

I was picking selected types of rares, charms (GC/SC), jewels, magic amulets, circlets and coronets. I am positive the amber SC of vita Azalea carries was found during the last level. Unfortunately, I was distributing the blue items in the respective stashes, and thus lost track of the older finds.

Azalea crafted several nice items. I tried namely for caster/safety amulets and blood gloves, and to a lesser degree blood amulets. The rest of her pGems was rerolled by my retired bonemancer Randalf on Baal's GCs, resulting in two skillers of vita, a few skillers with other useful mods, but mostly plain skillers, Serpent, or Steel GCs, sometimes with a decent suffix.

I will try to update this section later with some of the readouts.

Playstyle
I was using the 3/8/3 setting since ages, mostly as a matter of convenience - the only writing occurs during pauses. It also turned out safer against dolls, as you don't accidentally blast the entire pack while surrounded (without the multiplication from Pierce, you don't 1-hit kill a /p3 doll). On the other hand, the risk vs pretty much everything else grows adequately..

I was killing the majority of monsters, only occasionally parking troublesome OKs (LI+HF), or possessed Souls. I ignored the unbreakable skeletons mages on the third floor, sometimes killing their bosses for items.

Decoy helped immensely as a scout (for Conviction), as a distraction (vs Frenzytaurs and curses), and with luring the dolls to (or far away from) Baal. In case some slain dolls remained in the vicinity, I positioned myself elsewhere and cast a Decoy near the suspect corpses. I further used Decoy to distract the hydras, as well as the Ventar's and Lister's waves. Finally, it was a reliable decrep conductor in case I had to poke Bartuc or Lister. Iirc, the only LIster Azalea had ever parked was the original Hell-quest one. He was fanatic and was slaughtering the merc while barely taking any damage himself.

I always felt so much safer once Fade had triggered. The stacked resists and the reduced curse duration are priceless. The increased LR provided by Tgods allowed me to tank Souls in WSK2, which is the most reliable method of Fade activation. Doesn't always work so smooth with those convicted packs..

The exp-shrines brought a new element in otherwise monotonous runs, and though their economical tradeoff (exp/time) is arguable, the change of the stereotype was more than welcome. I reduced Baal to a sliver of life, TPed out to pick a shrine, and finished him off. There were only few cases when he managed to overwrite it with his defense curse.

Thanks to
jjscud - for supreme example, which was the main source of my motivation
Hrus and the rest of the czech D2 group - for various discussions on and off topic, their encouragement and friendship
Grisu and queenEm - for visiting us in Prague
nepeta, HolyPade, and SirMurdalot - for MPing with me and Hrus back in the old days
all players, who have written the history of the lvl99 thread

And of course thanks to everybody for reading! Feel free to raise any questions.

 

[EatSleepDiablo]

Matriarch PhysFury, Level 99 Amazon

After defeating Baal for the 7,000+- time, I managed to reach 99 in July 2011. Instead of taking the traditional victory lap by posting a 99er thread right away, I got bogged down on my side project of databasing all my S/U drops from WSK 2-4, waves 1-5, and Baal. For me, getting to 99 was just a means to an end. Back then, like today, I was really about the loot.

Documenting every run represented a line on loose leaf paper, double sided. Run #1: no drops ("x" on the line). Run #3300: Soul Harvest (1st wave) + Brainhew and Bloodrise from Baal. Second to last run: Jah (WSK 2 chest), IK Gloves (WSK 4), Demon's Arch from Baal. More than 2 runs without a drop was pretty rare. In the first 25 runs, for example, I had 57 S/U drops + a Lum.

I am guessing 7,000 runs were needed in total, but I stopped recording the run number. I figured the database I would write (and did) would take care of that.

Fast forward nine years. Not sure if I even got half way through databasing the inch thick of loose leaf paper I compiled. My 99er write-up was never finished (and posted) as a result, until @jjscud reached out to complete his work here. Many thanks jj for the push.

What follows was largely written during the time I was running. Since I still have the computer where her July 2011 back up was saved, I transferred her over, dusted her off, and ran her a bit before completing this. Pretty studly. Some sacrifices on +skills, -LR, etc., but not too much bothers her, which is saying something in WSK.

Without further adieu:

My twist on a standard build made viable by Infinity. My WSK runner:

STATS
Strength: 20 (181)
Dexterity: 274 (332)
Vitality: 271 (313)
Energy: 15 (15)

DAMAGE (w/ demon limb/BO; from LCS)
Jab 908-1597
C Strike 856-1508 (1-6318 lightning damage)
L Fury 938-1723 (1-2628 lightning damage)

Life: 1271 (2078 with BO)
Mana: 353 (626 with BO)

AR: 12,097 (w/ Demon Limb; from LCS)
MF: 315
IAS: 55
FRW: 102
FHR: 55
ML: 7
LL: 18
Resistances: Fire 75 (overstacked @ 92)/Cold 13/Light 85 (overstacked @98)/Poison 67

SKILLS
Javelin and Spear (w/ BO):
Charged Strike 20 (36)
Power Strike 20 (36)
Lightning Bolt 20 (35)
Lightning Fury 20 (39)
Lightning Strike 20 (39)
2 in prerequisites

Passive and Magic (w/ BO):
Critical Strike 1 (12)
Penetrate 1 (12)
Pierce 4 (15; 80%)

GEAR
Head: Andariel’s Visage (Ruby Jewel (29%) of Fervor)
Amulet:

Spoiler: Crafted Ammy

Corruption Noose
Amulet
Required Level: 89
Fingerprint: 0xdb5a38fa
Item Level: 90
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Amazon Skill Levels
+10% Faster Cast Rate
7% Mana stolen per hit
+12 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 6%
All Resistances +19
Lightning Resist +27%

Weapon: EthTitan’s (upped)
Shield: Spirit
Switch: Call to Arms / Spirit
Chest: Enigma BP <-- I first saw this with Stijdjae's Windy and thought it crazy. It isnt.
Gloves: Laying of Hands
Ring 1: Raven Frost
Ring 2:

Spoiler: Rare Ring

Stone Finger
Ring
Required Level: 66
Fingerprint: 0x62f97196
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+89 to Attack Rating
+17 to Strength
+14 to Dexterity
+3 to Life
Lightning Resist +20%
Fire Resist +26%

Belt: Thundergod’s Vigor
Boots: Rare (20FRW, 32LR, 33FR, 25MF)

Backpack: Gheed’s (39%MF), 3 skillers (+life; dex; FRW) and SCs with MF and various mods.

Chest: demon limb; 1 additional set of upp’d ethTitan’s

MERC
Act 2 Offensive
Helm: Andy’s (Ruby Jewel (27%) of Fervor)
Weapon: Infinity eGPA
Armor: Fortitude eAP

THE SKINNY
I have run WSK with a variety of popular builds but each have their shortcomings for me:
* Lite Sorc: must focus on +skills (often at cost of MF), park/rely on merc for unbreakables; fragile; 2/20 crafted ammy important
* Pure LF: leach problems with low AR, park/rely on merc for unbreakables
* Fishyzon: love FA but its a mana hog; bow side weakens CS too much, same issues with leaching

What I wanted to accomplish with this build:
* Have a back-up attack (i.e. Jab) that eliminates weapon exchanges so CtA could stay on switch
* No parking LIs <-- my OCD doesnt allow it
* Max block with Spirit
* Reliably leach
* High FRW and IAS
* Carry high levels of MF without sacrificing too much

By bolstering the physical attack, my secondary actually enhances the primary. In effect, aside from 2 prerequisites + Jab, all remaining skill points are employed in the primary attack. Not many builds can claim that.

Witch bosses are the only ones that sometimes spawn PI/LI, but I do enough elemental damage with demon limb and charms to dispense them (with merc's help).

ODDS AND ENDS
Gear choices allow for base strength, even with Spirit Monarch. Points are first prioritized for max block, then rest into Vit.

I have experimented with Highlords, Gores, Griffons (with perfect facet), +2/20 gloves, etc. but my current setup seems to run best while maintaining a high lvl of MF. Andy's probably appears an odd choice, but the +2 skills, 10LL, PR, IAS (35 w/jewel), and +str are keys to the build. Also eliminates the nuisance of poison from the second wave.

While teleport is available via Enigma, it is rarely used. First and foremost, she's a MFer that runs to throne room.