The Official Ex-RuST SCL "Journey to Hell" Group Thread

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wathombe

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The Official Ex-RuST SCL "Journey to Hell" Group Thread

This thread is intended for the organization of and discussion about the runeword search team's softcore ladder "Journey to Hell" group.

First, I would like to credit forum member jeyeltee with the "Journey to Hell" idea. He put together a "JtH" group this past September, which evidently went well. The following guidelines are based on his template.

Guidelines:
  • The group will consist of eight players, mostly ex-RuST members, each playing a different character class, with only one character class repeated.
  • All eight characters will start at level one, and the party will play through from the beginning of act one normal to the end of act five hell, completing all quests (i.e., the intent is not to "rush").
  • The party will attempt to play at a designated time each night, as many weeknights as possible, and on weekends as players are available. If at least five members of the group can play, a game will happen.
  • The party will be completely "untwinked," i.e., players may ONLY use gear found either by their own party character or another party character. Trading/swapping WITHIN the party is encouraged.
  • There should be NO THIRD-PARTY PROGRAMS used during group games (e.g., maphack, pickit, et cetera).
  • I will maintain a party roster and a progress report tracking the highest quest, waypoint, and level achieved during the most recent group game (i.e., five players or more). If a group member misses a group game, they should try to catch up to the highest quest, wp, and level on their own, with the help of one or more other group members, if possible. Group members SHOULD NOT advance PAST the highest quest, wp, or level achieved by the group during the most recent game.
  • LIMITED mf runs outside of group games are fine, as long as players do not exceed the highest quest, wp, or level of the group.

I think that's about it for the guidelines. If I remember anything else important, I'll post it further down.

These are still the open questions:
  • What realm? (Since we're playing untwinked, realm doesn't really matter. USWest was the first suggestion, but Sokar might play if we go with Asia.)
  • What time? (10 to midnight PST is the current suggestion, being most convenient for wathombe and freakinrican.)

So far, the following RuSTers have expressed at least slight interest:
  • wathombe
  • freakinrican
  • Be-Were
  • alphaomega4
  • Ax2Grind
  • Sokar Rostau
  • Cheetah

If interested, please post your acct(s), desired realm, desired time, and desired character build. E-mail and messenger IDs might also be helpful. freakinrican has already requested either a curse necro or a sage pally. I'd like to play a (bow?) enchantress, or, failing that, some sort of necro or druid. Other than that, we're wide open.

Should be fun.
 
Perferred Build: i was planning to be an enchantress with orb as backup instead of firewall, if there is a big disadvantage to this (besides it taking up to like lvl 90ish b4 she could be considered "finished") plz tell me

HC Issue: i wouldnt mind goin hc at all, but i doubt most ppl will think like this, so i dont at all mind goin sc

Realm: this also makes absolutely no difference, seeing as it is untwinked, i dont see anyone being tempted to borrow items since that really defeats the purpose of playing Journey to Hell

Time: eh, problems here, 10-midnight PST is 1-3 here EST which wont be possible unless this is all done over break (17th-3rd), i may have a 8-5 job though over break which means i wont be able to play up until 3 in the morning

i will do my best though, maybe we could do it with like 9 or 10 ppl since its doubtfull all 8 of us will be able to make it every single time at the normal time

wathombe: you take the enchantress, i will take a javazon

Acnt: alphaomega4444@xxxx
IM: crork210 Email: [email protected]
 
tlaloc24
West Softcore
Hours: 9pm-12am M-F Weekends on a case by case basis.
Looking to do Shockbear Druid or Dragon Talon Assassin, but a Windy Druid may be better for a party. (I'll leave it up to the group)

[email protected]

Let me know what goes down.
 
USWest is the obvious first choice due to everyone having at least one account there for technical support purposes (like Blizzard offers any real TS). I have one character there at L21, so the account will already exist.

Second choice would be either USEast, since it's the largest realm, or the closest Asia realm for Sokar. I'm not sure which that is, or if you even get to decide, but for eastern players the ping might very well be unplayable.

I regular with someone who is based in Alaska, and there's a slim chance he might join, be he's more interested in getting at least one CLvl99 on his roster, so don't count on it right now. Anytime is good for me when he's not online, when he is I tend to roll with him. That reminds me, I need to talk to everyone about non-JoTH issues concerning hell hellforge rushes in RuST.
 
the downside to enchant orb is the skill part mainly, i have a lvl 80 enchantress on hcl useast and you wont get past lvl 75-80ish without tons of hell baal runs which i dont know if were gonna be up for at least initially, and a lvl 15 orb with neither mastery or ice bolt maxed is only like 120-150 dmg per bolt with little to no pierce, which imo isnt anything once you get to hell, whereas at that point if we have some fire gear for you a lvl 15 firewall (with max mastery and a few bonus points to put it to like 22ish) would be roughly 6k, which i think would be alot more helpful to the party...
 
sry for the double post, i just think imma add the builds to this thread so anyone new can critique or change my ideas.
ideas for best party build...

Amazon - Javazon... the only amazon build that doesnt depend on gear, plus a shield is always a good thing, plus they supply heavy lightning dmg, skill build, 1 in every passive skill (yes every one), no bow skills, and max out Lightning fury first, charged strike second than any other lightning skill synergy.

Assasin - Trapasin... Again without gear the most feasable party build is a trapasin, Max out all lightning traps if possible, but get blade fury (or whatever the one that lets you throw the small blades rapidly) as well for ranged leech.

Barbarian - Run of the mill Melee Barb, skill build (1 in every war cry except grim ward, and the bottom left war cry (the one that does dmg to an area) and max out shout/bo, find item is a hugely resourceful skill, and on the left side of the warcries i dont know the name but the one that reduces enemies (plural) dmg and defense by a % is huge too with just 1 skill in it) along with maxed out xxx mastery (whatever you want, with the new low end runewords, it seems sword would be nice for Oath), maxed out concentrate, 1 in whirlwind 1 in beserk, and 1 in all of the combat masteries besides the weapons...

Druid - Elemental druids seem the most feasable and helpful, they provide huge physcial and cold dmg, skill build - max out oak, max out hurricane and tornado then get cyclone armor, and and other skill points into twister... its also a good idea to get a bear for an extra tank, he does wonders with just 1 skill point.

Necromancer - Summonancer is best party friendly necro build (minus lag).. basic skill build - max skeles max mastery, get a point in lower resists and in decrepify, from here ive found the best follow up skills are max skele mages and max corpse explosion (get 1 in all summon skills except fire golem, mainly because revives can be a huge help and iron golem gives you something to use those mid lvl useless uniques for :-))

Paladin - this one can go either way, Avengers i think are the most helpful party builds, that is, max conviction, vengence, and then resists fire/light/cold (better to max these than the resists all aura) while getting at least 1 point in holy shield, the conviction aura does wonders for the team, (mainly because this team is oriented 75% towards elemental dmg), the other decent build would be a Smiter imo, fanatacism + smite + synergies maxed, but thats more dependant on gear.... (note cheesadins are HUGELY dependant on gear to make them good)

Sorceress - (i think we should have 2 sorcs) - The best 2 builds team wise would be an enchantress with firewall as her backup skill, and some form of cold sorc, i would suggest pure blizzard as they can clear the way very well, and with conviction is deadly... Build for enchantress is self explanatory... max warmth/enchant/mastery/firewall and get 1 in mana shield / tele / and the first cold armor, the blizz one is similar, get 1 in tele and mandshield, 1 in the first cold armor, then max out blizzarrd, mastery and then blizzards synergies

And thats my ideal 8 person party from every class, it brings ALOT to the table, Physical Dmg - Barb + druid + necro skeles
Cold dmg - Sorc + druid
Fire dmg - Enchantress + everyone
Lightning Dmg - Assasin + Amazon
All elements - Necro Mages + Pally
Not to mention -150% all enemy resists from pallies aura and -95% ish defense (so youll hit like 99% of the time, and also +400% is defense from baba shout, +150%ish life from oak and +125%ish life/mana from bo...

Then we can add mercs for everyone... i suggest mainly all act2 mercs, 1 of each aura type, and we can get them some nice weapons with the new runewords, id say at least 1 with insight, maybe an act1 merc just for harmony so we all super fast, and a bunch with obediance lol....
 
Evening, all.

Great response; I think we might actually get a group together.

So far, for 10 to midnight PST, we have the following players in:
  • wathombe: bow enchantress
  • freakinrican: cursemancer or sage pally (is that the same as a cleric?)
  • AlphaOmega4: javazon (time may be a problem, although we might finish within your break)
  • tlaloc24: werebear or dragon talon assassin
  • Ax2Grind: (what build?)
  • Be-Were: (what build?)
No more word yet from Cheetah or Sokar.

As for realm, unless Sokar pipes up and wants in, we'll stick with West.

As for missing builds, we need one barb, one necro or pally (whichever freakin doesn't take), one druid or assassin (whichever tlaloc doesn't take), and one extra of one class (probably paladin or sorc). I could be convinced to switch to a singer barb or a summoning druid if someone desperately wants to play an enchantress (lmk, AO4). So freakin, tlaloc, Ax, and Be-Were, let us know what you want to play.

We could potentially get started Thursday or Friday, depending on everyone's schedules (my wife and I are going to see Jimmy Carter at a book signing Wednesday night). Stay tuned...
 
I'd be up for this... I was a small time contributer in RuST....

The build I would like to do is a Singer Barb though, some may want a more conventional build.
From the above list, I like the avenger and the enchantress, very cool and party friendly. The others: menh. I'd think a less conventional build would be more fun. For example:

A frostmaiden for the amazon, or maybe a Mageazon
Avenger for the pally
Venomancer
Assasin - i dont really know, i never play them
Druid - summoner might be fun
Singer barb
Enchantress
Wildcard

It seems something like that might be more the playgroup's style (forgive me if that was presumptous (I'm sure i spelled that wrong)) than the builds above. Perhaps this is an unfounded fear, but I would be very dissappointed if the Cold sorc killed everything while we watched.

Thats just my 2 cents. PM me if I can get in on this.

PS. Hours : the 9-12 Pacific should be fine for me, maybe a little late but not too much so.

edit: when I say above, I mean 2 posts up... wathombe managed to post while i was typing :)
 
Salvation avenger (with Dragon body armor, Dream helm and Doom one-hander/Ice missile weapons) could double as an elite form of storm ranger, running max-synergized holy fire/freeze/shock at all times. If the merc (not sure which kind, but not a holy freeze or prayer, obviously) used the conviction polearm I think this build would be ideal in any party. Just needs great defense, attack rating and poison resistance support.

Oh, yeah, and LOTS of high runes. =]

I wouldn't mind this build, since I made him in non-ladder east and have in mind preliminary gear before the elite runewords. It'd also be interesting, given not getting anything outside the accounts for this purpose, trying to get even one of these runewords without trading. We'd need to do a lot of forge rushes. Speaking of which, how does that factor into the mix? As long as it's our characters would it be alright? Certainly get some practice for season three should we all be here.
 
Another few questions.

When is there considered an end to the group's intra-activity? IOW, when do we say to ourselves 'I feel like starting another character and, therefore, another group?'

What if we wind up with more than eight people, do we have two groups with two characters and only trade within those groups or only within our own group?

10-12PST is 1-3EST, kind of late but that's when the regular I play with goes to work. Are there other times available with other players that allows them to continue playing? Obviously not questing unless more than four players are present, but that at least means we might be able to play with the second group.
 
Just a comment, for example, Ax2Grind, since we will be starting from scratch and using only what items we find i think your pally will be somewhat unfeasable, heh although a good idea, i just dont think it will work out too well, as far as the build i do, i dont care too much, i have had good practice with all those builds (as all my chars are aimed similarly) because my chars are (besides my sorc) party oriented...

Again i say aim the builds at low +skill and only decent to good dmg on weapons (low end runewords like grief, oath, harmony, etc) because just going through the game with minimal time for mfing we prolly wont find that great stuff to make certain builds work too well, (i have a mageazon with mavs full set max out cold synergies and even with mavs +25% cold dmg bonus its only 1900 dmg, which in hell isnt all that much, although if we do have an avenger it does decent, but without all the +skills mageazons arent quite what i would consider powerful :-/)

Again I would be up for whatever build/char is left, but the 4 core chars i think we need are an enchantress (backupspell whatever), a conviction pally (avenger seems most feasable), Barb with max bo/shout (concentrate or zerk seem most feasable primaries since bo/shout add to either), and a necro with summons (max skele/mastery is fine, but 25ish/25ish mages are at about 400 dmg a piece and if you get that even higher they are up around 600 to 800 dmg a piece which for 13-14 mages adds up fast :-))
 
Be-Were said:
Assasin - Trapasin... Again without gear the most feasable party build is a trapasin, Max out all lightning traps if possible, but get blade fury (or whatever the one that lets you throw the small blades rapidly) as well for ranged leech.

Druid - Elemental druids seem the most feasable and helpful, they provide huge physcial and cold dmg, skill build - max out oak, max out hurricane and tornado then get cyclone armor, and and other skill points into twister... its also a good idea to get a bear for an extra tank, he does wonders with just 1 skill point.

Then we can add mercs for everyone... i suggest mainly all act2 mercs, 1 of each aura type, and we can get them some nice weapons with the new runewords, id say at least 1 with insight, maybe an act1 merc just for harmony so we all super fast, and a bunch with obediance lol....
Click to expand...

Well, I can't play a trapasin, just not my style, had been having some success with my wind druid. The only thing there is that it takes a LONG while to max everything out, to get all the synergies.... plus oak sage. However, I think that this will be my best choice and a beneficial one to the team.

Wath, sign me up for a Windy.
 
I'm very very interested, but the time frame doesn't work for me at all. I'm only available consistently between 9pm and 11pm eastern. Maybe I need to try to organize a second group on USEast?

I'd be interested in doing an Avenger, Enchantress, Meteorb, Blizz, or Light sorc. I'd love to play with this group, but there's just no way I can be up after midnight more than once a week.
 
Morning, all.

Okay, I think we're getting close.

Time: 10 to midnight PST seems to be the consensus for group playing. It looks like there will be a few people who want to start a little earlier, during which time any players who are on can do mf and other runs, as long as they do not level or quest past the group, and as long as they are group-character-only games (more on this below).

Realm: I haven't heard from Sokar, and it looks like we'll have 8 without him, so we'll go with USWest. Games will probably be rustjthx // x (with "x" being a numeral), unless that's too much of a mouthful.

Roster: Here's the best list I can assemble so far, given everyone's stated preferences and, um, anti-preferences:
  • wathombe: bow enchantress (static field back-up)
  • alphaomega4: javazon (let us know if the time is going to work for you)
  • dnmorton: singer barb (excellent!)
  • freakinrican: cursemancer or sage paladin
  • tlaloc24: wind druid
  • Ax2Grind: salvation avenger (if you think this is feasible without top gear)
  • Cheetah: necro (if freakin plays a pally) or second of some class
  • Be-Were: trapasin

Other: As for forge rushes, the spirit of the idea is to play the eight characters untwinked, without rushees, without mules, et cetera. If the group strongly disagrees and feels it would be more fun with some forge rushes, that's fine, too. Whatever the most people think will be the most fun. As for how long the party plays together as an untwinked "Journey to Hell" group, the answer is in the name. After we kill Hell Baal (and it will be great if all eight of us can be on for that session), then we can twink our characters, play with others, do whatever we want. The fun is playing through all the quests with some subset of the same eight characters, WITHOUT using the resources that we would normally use with several accounts full of characters. Think of it as the beginning of a very small, exclusive, ladder season. ;)

I should have some time today to put together either a spreadsheet or a (rudimentary) website with guidelines, roster, progress tracker, et cetera. You all know I do love the spreadsheets, but I do realize a website would be easier to check. No promises, though.

Beyond that, I think we should be good to go as soon as schedules permit, hopefully either Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night. I need to track down freakin, as I don't think he's popped into this thread yet (his JtH posts were in the main RuST thread). Stay tuned.

EDIT: Whoops! Missed tlaloc and Cherokee.

tlaloc: Sounds good. I fixed the roster above, and you're set.

Cherokee: I myself can't play that early, unfortunately, although I know some of the others can. I think Remlin posted in the other thread with some interest in a group with an earlier timeframe, so maybe there would be enough people for an East group? We could use this thread to organize that group, too. The other possibility is that you play with us as an alternate: you can play with those in the group who are on earlier and/or keep up solo, then hopefully play with the whole group once a week or so.
 
Ah

wathombe said:
Other: As for forge rushes, the spirit of the idea is to play the eight characters untwinked, without rushees, without mules, et cetera. If the group strongly disagrees and feels it would be more fun with some forge rushes, that's fine, too. Whatever the most people think will be the most fun. As for how long the party plays together as an untwinked "Journey to Hell" group, the answer is in the name. After we kill Hell Baal (and it will be great if all eight of us can be on for that session), then we can twink our characters, play with others, do whatever we want. The fun is playing through all the quests with some subset of the same eight characters, WITHOUT using the resources that we would normally use with several accounts full of characters. Think of it as the beginning of a very small, exclusive, ladder season. ;)
Click to expand...
So the point is just getting to hell Baal together without the help from other people and then tweak all we want. Alright, I understand that. This might also get us some practice with each other for LS3, but more over it forces us to rely mostly on skills points and technique instead of a magic finder. I might want to play something along a hardcore style, then; something that keeps targets in front of and off of me, like a druid summoner with Harmony blade bow, since that has low runes and it's a build I haven't made quite yet.

First thing's first, though. If there are more than eight people there should be multiple groups. Cherokee would best be served by this as the other group might play earlier. If he indeed plays from 9-11EST, then there should be others that play from 6-8PST. This correlates to those who want to play before western primetime television shows and other things. You want to play from 10-12 PST (1-3EST) which is after western primetime for the most part. These could be the two main times, give and take an hour each, say 5-9PST and 9-1PST? Everyone could still play on west, but what does this mean for trading between both groups? Forge rushes would be out until we defeat Baal, but if the intention is to play as if all eight (the maximum in a game) were there all the time then in would only be intrasquad. If the intention is making sure all the gear is legitimate but as long as everyone from RuST is somewhere playing then it would be fine. Depends on the definition of the Journey, I suppose, but I still say that after we all beat Baal we can help each other out.

If it turns out playing in different groups would be no different than playing in different realms, and all of us playing on the same realm doesn't make much sense if we want to fix these characters up with elite gear after beating Baal (harder for us easterns when playing west) then we may very well make a group here. Still, I was kind of looking forward to playing with you guys over there.

Second, we need more than just the build details, we need the gear they're going after. Last thing we need is two people wanting the exact same set/unique/rune. If this means a formal leader that makes those decisions then we need a consensus, otherwise a list for the gear would be appropriate.

For instance, I say Harmony blade bow because it's the lowest level bow that doesn't get its level raised by the runes, has a 4OS maximum (so it might be found in nightmare) and requires relatively low stats (low str, mid dex) but has all the additional properties a summoner would want: valkyrie, revives, vigor (more useful for druid summoners than summonmancers) and decent damage. Always thought a DS should wield a bow so as not to conflict with other pure druid builds' gear, and this would be ideal. This could replace a necromancer summoner allowing that cursemancer to have free reign, but I'd still like the first Metalgrid that falls (merc/golem thorns, spirit of barbs and iron maiden... ow!).
 
Keen. (I am so not getting anything done at the office this morning. I love researching new characters!)

Roster: If Ax plays a summoning druid, that makes druid our double class, which is fine by me. Further, as Ax points out, they won't compete for gear, since the summoner will be using bows. Roster now stands as:
  • wathombe: bow enchantress
  • alphaomega4: javazon
  • dnmorton: singer barb
  • freakinrican: cursemancer or sage paladin
  • tlaloc24: wind druid
  • Ax2Grind: summoning druid
  • Cheetah: necro or paladin (here, too, Cheetah and freakin might want to coordinate)
  • Be-Were: trapasin

Time: We might as well be on separate realms if there will be two groups, but then West probably loses Ax and alphaomega, unless one or both of you want to play in both groups (and I was looking forward to playing with both of you, too). I personally like the idea of only the eight characters intra-trading. Again, open for discussion, whatever everyobdy thinks is best.

My build: I'm opting for a ranged enchantress rather than a melee enchantress since the entire intent here is party play. For a ranged enchantress, though, I need a bow with exploding arrows or bolts to be most effective in combat, which means a Raven Claw or Hellcast at middle levels, and a Kuko Shakaku or Demon Machine at later levels. Is it too risky to count on finding these in an untwinked group? Granted, the enchant will still help the party/mercs/minions and even a normal bow will still carry enchant, but exploding arrows or bolts are best for a bow enchantress. Further, I would be a bit hesitant to play a melee character as my first sorc build. Thoughts?

I think that's everything for the moment...
 
I'd say play it by ear, wathombe. In the early levels (even up to 30ish) you don't really need to decide on melee or ranged. If an exploding arrows weapon has dropped, then your choice is clear. If not, then you decide. The problem may take care of itsself in the early levels. Given that you are not going to abandon the enchantress idea altogether (I hope not) then why worry now.

OT: Dual wielding Spirit swords on a singer: so cheap, so good. <drool>


Can't wait for that one.

PS : I second the only 8 characters intra-trading. It seems more in keeping with the intent of this group
 
dnmorton: Great advice, thanks.

Gotta run to a lunch meeting, back later. I don't think a website is going to happen (unless someone else wants to design it), but I think I can publish a multi-page spreadsheet as a web page, which might be easier for everyone. I'll play around with it when I'm back.
 
I would be up for joining just need a EST/PST - AEDST translation (lol). It occurred to me that when it's 1am there it's probably about midday here? If so that wouldn't conflict with my Baalruns as my running mates are never on at that time anyway and I tend to MF or train new characters.

Just one thing concerns me though, and it was brought up by someone else a few posts ago. Cold sorcs, lightning zons and Trapsins are VERY powerful even with crap gear, and would be doing the majority of the killing. Believe me it is no fun at all to be running around trying to attack monsters that are dead before you can swing your weapon. There is a need for hit power characters but if we have, say, a LF Javazon, Blizz/Orb sorc, a Trapsin and a Poisonmancer (all extremely powerful) they will be doing the majority of the killing (and as a side effect levelling a bit faster than the rest of the group) and everyone else will end up rather bored of being spectators.

Also I would add that for our purposes the characters should be designed not with "post-game" strength but "in-game" party friendly usefulness in mind. I for one would only ever play my character in this group and would never play outside of it.

I would suggest:

Hybrid Zon - 20 Guided, 20 Freezing, 20 Poison Jav, 20 Plague Javelin, 20 Valk (maxing Poison Jav (Plague synergy) last otherwise the build will never be finished), 1 point in Strafe. This supplies Magic Damage, Freeze (the purpose of Freezing Arrow is not high damage but to hold the nasties in place while you do other unmentionable things to them), Poison Damage and a very powerful Tank in the Valkyrie.

Martial Arts assassin - Whether a kicker or otherwise, the build is strong without being overpowering, provides all but Magic Damage and another very strong tank in the form of a maxed Master. Shadow Disciplines are also very party friendly (except when they over-ride other curses hmmm....). An MA/Traps hybrid is also a possibility, in order to deal fixed place lightning damage during melee (set traps then get in there and fight).

Curse/Summoner Hybrid - An even distribution between all useful curses and summon skellies, mages and Clay Golem (with some Iron Golem in the likely case a Metalgrid doesn't trun up) together with their masteries. Revives are unnecessary as these are provided by the Druid. This is likely the build I would like to play as I only have 2 necros on Asia and havn't played either too much despite the fact necros are my second favourite character (after Zonnies!). Also, Sokar of Rostau was an Egyptian God of the Underworld which is very appropriate for the build :) .

Tri-Elementalist Sorc - Providing all elements, again, without being overpowered. Thunderstorm would be a fun addition. Ice Blast would be very party friendly for the same reasons as those stated for the zon (keeping melee players alive). Fireball for general killing. Of course Blizzard and Meteor would not be overpowered for a Tri-Elementalist so can always use them. (Does Cold Mastery reduce an enemies cold resist for the duration of Blizzard only from Sorc attacks or are their resists also lowered for the Amazon in this time?).

A second Paladin is probably more useful to our purposes than a second Sorc.

MF: Randomly finding items on the way is inevitable but it is likely we will end up with five chars wearing Isenharts Useless Armour, one in Sigon's, one in Arctic and one in some Rare. I suggest a set number of MF runs in which the entire group participates. At the end of each Act a new game is created and either all the MF hotspots (Mausoleum, Pits, Andy in Act 1 for example) are hit or eight boss runs are completed, one for each party member.

Blizzard has made it so that (as of 1.10) you get an experience penalty for killing monsters below your level. This means that a certain method must be taken into consideration. Assuming everyone gets a more or less equal amount of experience and every area in all acts is cleared ONCE (this means only one Baalrun), the entire party will be around level 50 by the time they reach NM. That's all well and good but when we go into NM no-one will get more than 2 levels in Act 1 as the penalty is in effect and does not go away until Act 2. I have done this in /players8 mode SP and was very disappointed. But, by the time we reach Hell Baal we will be about 5-6 levels higher than we would be if we skipped some areas (I mean places like underground areas, the least often visited places (after Act 3) in the game).

There was something else I wanted to add, but I forget what it was atm so I'll post again when I remember.

EDIT: Forgot to mention Druids and casters in general. Wind Druids are also quite powerful and I think that a Hunter (Bow Summoner) is much more appropriate for this group. One of the major reasons for my suggestions is that as it stands the party will be made up of one melee character, 2 summoners and 5 casters which means the weight of the world is on the Avenger. If he dies that leaves the Summoners more open to attack and if they are dead the other casters and hence the whole party are in grave danger. While I like the idea of the Singer, I think a melee Barb of some description is called for.

My party suggestion:
Cleric OR Tri-Elementalist
Avenger
Plague/GA/FA Zon
Bow Enchantress
Hunter
Frenzy or Concentration Barb (MUST have some Berserk for Iron Maiden)
Curse/Summon Necro
MA Assassin

This deals all types of damage without any character overwhelmingly more powerful than the other. It also lessons the likelyhood of arguments over FCR items if the party is caster dependent
 
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