The oSkill Sept -- Planning and Progress Thread

[PhineasB]

Wigand, WolfBarb with eTomby and Reaper's A2 Merc, Level 86, A4 Hell
I had actually progressed Wigand to A3 the evening after posting my last update, and then took him through A3 this weekend after being out of town for a bit over a week and then very busy at work upon returning. Progress continues to be smooth, but that isn't really a surprise:

I summarized the stats in the last post, but I figured it was worth a screenshot. I'm pumping strength for extra damage just because, and have been putting skill points to open up Berserk as a PI solution after some slow going in A2 with unbreakable PIs:


He's full cleared all A85 areas and the A3 temples, and picked up a Pul in the Clawviper Temple, but otherwise nothing of note. I hope to finish A4 this evening and push into A5, but likely won't finish him up until next weekend.

 

[PhineasB]

Patriarch Wigand, WolfBarb with eTomby and Reaper's A2 Merc, Level 88

I finished up A4 and A5, except Nihl, last weekend after my last update, and polished off the pasty one earlier today. He stayed p7 the whole way with full clears for A85 zones and the A5 red portals. He powered through, with the fortune of no spawners in A4 (not because the Hags would be a challenge, only slow for a pure melee character). HF provided an Ist, which was nice:

The biggest challenges came in Crystalline Passage, with PI Frenzytaurs (including two boss packs, one with an overlapping Champ pack that required a retreat to string them out - see below). By that point, I had Berserk skilled and with a few extra points, so I could take down 1-2 at a time fairly quickly that way. I still ended up using 7 big purples throughout, all from the boss pack encounters.

Then Nihl's level had skeleton archers, witches, and the PI temple dogs, so no leech and red stars of death. Fortunately, the first arm I chose was Nihl, so I could focus on the Ice Spawns between attacks on decrep'ed witches after first targeting Nihl. I ended up needed a big purple when he briefly got stuck between witches and temple dog, but otherwise really no trouble with due care.

Ancients were simple, even with amp, as were the waves, and then Baal fell:




It's been a while since I did the eTomby Fury Druid Reever, so I can't compare experiences with full accuracy. But this guy ended up being stronger than I'd expected, or maybe more accurately, he was nearly as OP as Reever, and I'd expected him to be noticeably less so. In all, I think he used less than 10 big purples, and most of those were for PI Frenzytaurs. So a great character, and fun to use the eTomby again.

Hoping to get Pat write up posted tomorrow, and maybe even start the Druid in this sept. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten a 4os War Pike yet (since I started this sept and deceided I wanted War Pike for the Zerker Zon, three white ones have dropped, and two socketed ones, but no luck). So I may also start a Beast wielding Commandomancer in what will be the capstone Sept for this Sept Sept to have another one to play if I don't have the weapon for the Zon.

 

[PhineasB]

StormFront, 2H Vengeance Hurricane Druid with Infinity A2 Merc, Level 72, A1 Hell

Okay, the sixth character in the Sept is ready to tackle Hell. Standard twinking for Druid, Envy gear to Fissure once it was unlocked, with 3x Tir shield and helm, and then running as a Fire Druid until level 65 when Enigma gave the Strength bump needed to equip Feral Axe for A5 NM. He then played through A5 NM as the final build (with some gear tweaks to come).

Concept: Vengeance with a hard-hitting two-hander. Feral Axe provided the fastest attack for damage ratio, based on what I saw, with added benefit of needing little dexterity. Because I planned to have Infinity to boost effect of the rainbow elemental damage, AR shouldn't be an issue. I like the slowing effect from Hurricane, and I was planning to use Cyclone Armor to offset low resists, so Hurricane was selected over Armegeddon for background elemental damage. One-point Grizzly and Spirit of the Wolverine (to help with AR and damage) round things out. Focus will be on +skills, to boost Vengeance, and Enigma is helpful to keep the merc and his auras close.

Progress: Fairly standard playthrough, Fissure is OP. Lum from NM HF. Once he switched to final build in A5 NM, it was interesting. He was plenty strong on p8, even without optimal charms, but definitely had some moments where care was needed. With resists in the negative for Hell, I'll need to be more cognizant of elemental damage when in melee, and especially Gloams will require care. I am going to start out at p5 for A1 but suspect he may need to drop to p3 in later acts because he's a little fragile, especially around lots of monsters with projectiles. The Grizzly and Spirit help by providing another target besides StormFront and the merc.

Current gear is below:
- Vengeance Feral Axe (261% ED roll)
- Swtich: CtA / Spirit
- Enigma
- Shako (Ambergris JoF)
- Gores
- 20 IAS Blood gloves with 10% CB, LR and MF
- Rare belt with 24 FHR, 19 strength, 36 life, and CR and LR
- Mara's (29@)
- BKWB and 250/19 Ravenfrost
- Backback: 6 Natural GCs (minor secondary mods), 2 Steel GCs of Balance, 8 SCs with balance (mix of resists and fine)

Resists are in the red except lightning (26%), so I might need to revisit charms (swap Skillers for Shimmering). But the other stats are solid: 86 FHR breakpoint, 9-frame attack, >1500 life, Hurricane slowing monsters that get close. Should be an interesting playthough!

Merc:
- eth Infinity Thresher
- eth Fortitude
- eth Vamp w shimmering charm with damage

 

[PhineasB]

StormFront, 2H Vengeance Hurricane Druid with Infinity A2 Merc, Level 83, A4 Hell
So this has been interesting. Vengeance hasn't been as strong as I had expected at 9 frames, and the regular need for casting Hurricane (only 50 seconds) and the buffing skills (Cyclone Armor, BO, BC, and Spirit) makes for herky jerky play. But he's been quite fun and able to make it through the first three Acts at p5:



He had one death, from killing Fire Eye, who was LE (maybe MSLE) and FE, and who had torn through the CA before the death explosion. I had a near death with LE/CE/FE Griswold (93 HP) in same circumstance, so it seemed to be an issue

Which got my creative juices flowing as a way to boost resists to positive territory without dropping below 86 FHR, 9-frame IAS, or too many skills (or too much life/vita). Shako was nice for +2 skills and vita/mana, but as he was nearing lvl 82, I thought that CoA could really flesh out the build, especially because strength was already accounted for with the weapon. I can't recall off the top of my head the character that used this, but ED% jewels theoretically help the rainbow damage as much as the lost +skill, and the FHR allowed focus in charms on vita and resists to offset loss of Shako and get all (but Cold) resists positive.

Crown of Ages
Corona
Defense: 357
Durability: 29 of 50
Required Level: 82
Required Strength: 174
Fingerprint: 0xf73f4c5c
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Indestructible
+1 to All Skills
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
75% Enhanced Damage
+50% Enhanced Defense
+108 Defense
+8 to Dexterity
All Resistances +29
Damage Reduced by 14% 2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Ruby Jewel of Daring
Socketed: Ruby Jewel
 
Ruby Jewel of Daring
Jewel
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0xe5070e02
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
35% Enhanced Damage
+8 to Dexterity 
Ruby Jewel
Jewel
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0x70fa75df
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
40% Enhanced Damage

The loss of 15 IAS in the jewel in Shako was offset by dropping the rare belt for Nos Coil, and my annoyance at poison damage (and FHR) was addressed by eth Treks. So a shift in three slots, and opened up vita and resists in the SCs.

As noted game play is engaging, except for when I have to hide behind merc and Grizzly for Stygian Dolls and heavy hitters with lots of elemental damage around. He's finished all quests and full-cleared all A85 areas and the A3 Temples. He will be dropping to p3 for A4 and I hope to keep it there through the finish.

Updated gear is below:
- Vengeance Feral Axe (261% ED roll)
- Swtich: CtA / Spirit
- Enigma
- CoA 29@ (2 x Ruby Jewel for 80% ED)
- eth Trek (70% PR)
- 20 IAS Blood gloves with 10% CB, LR and MF
- Nos Coil
- Mara's (29@)
- BKWB and 250/19 Ravenfrost
- Backback: 6 Natural GCs (minor secondary mods), 2 Steel GCs of Balance, SCs (mix of resists, fine, vita and 3 balance to hit 86)

Merc:
- eth Infinity Thresher
- eth Fortitude
- eth Vamp w shimmering charm with damage

 

[LouB]

Is the Vengeance Axe using the runeword Kingslayer?

 

[PhineasB]

@LouB yes, it’s the Kingslayer rune word, with a solid ED% roll. With only the +1 skill on the rune word, it’s part of why I focused on +skills over class specific +skills.

 

[PhineasB]

Patriarch StormFront, 2H Vengeance Hurricane Druid with Infinity A2 Merc, Level 85

StormFront made it through the last two Acts this week, unscathed but definitely requiring care. As planned, I dropped to p3 for A4 and was able to maintain that for A5. Hurricane ended up being a key part of his offensive package, made noticeable by how much more challenging high-life, unbreakable CI monsters were. This was illustrated by a quadruple pack in the Plains, with a cursed PI/CI Spawner boss and Spawner champ pack mixed in with two thankfully non-CI Corpse Spitters, which required some tactical retreats to avoid getting swarmed while cursed. I missed one of the Corpse Spitter bosses:


We also encountered a nasty unbreakable CI Blunderbore boss who was extra fast and required a teleport retreat part way through to keep the merc upright. HF was a Gul, which was a nice reward before Diablo fell:


Act 5 was easier, even with the unbreakable CIs, I guess because they are lower life / don't have high physical resists. Smooth sailing up to Ancients, who fell easily after one reroll due to amp. WSK was another matter, with Spawners again in level 1, including several bosses with one particularly nasty with amp, and level 3 OKs with the PI witches, including several nasty bosses:




With care, and a few tactical retreats, it was managed pretty easily, although you can see that I used a full row of big purples in WSK3. After that, waves were easy and Baal fell in about two minutes:

Aside from the Gul from HF, he didn't have any notable finds. All in all, a fun character, if a bit fragile and requiring lots of management to keep the various buffs up (given how important they were to the build). Hoping to get the Pat write up posted in the next day or so.

One character left in this Sept, but still don't have the 4os War Pike, so I will probably focus on my untwinked 99er sorc and start the Commandomancer in my other sept.

 

[PhineasB]

Zerka, 2H Berserkazon with Valk and A1 Faith Cold Rogue, Level 71

Okey dokey, one difficulty level left in the Sept (preceded by some leveling to equip Kira's at 77)! Shortly after I posted StormFront's Pat write up, my untwinked 99er Sorc had two white War Pikes drop in short order. The second cubed to 4os, and we were able to focus on finishing this Sept, with the third reroll getting close to max ED%, and calling it good:


Concept: Berserk with a 2H-er, spears allow 9-frame for zons with 80 IAS total and Faith Rogue, with a War Pike. Done! Valk will be helpful support along with Decoy (and not much else to use skills on), with some base AR to get high cth and CoH and Kira's giving resists. Highlord's, 20IAS gloves and a fervor jewel in Kira's, plus the 25IAS on the Passion, get to 9-frame, with dual leech allowing left click standard attack to top off the red and blue bulbs. Should be fun!

Progress: Standard twinking for my Zons, Envy gear -> +damage gear -> Charged Strike at 27 when Insight available -> Lightning Fury at lvl 42 and Titan's Revenge availability. She hit 66 in CS, with re-spec and switch to final build with Passion War Pike for A5 NM.

She was quite powerful on p8, using a 15IAS jewel’ed Shako to hit the 80IAS breakpoint. FHR may be a challenge to hit 86 breakpoint, but 60 should be easily attainable.

Current gear is below:
- Passion War Pike (203% ED roll)
- Swtich: CtA / Spirit
- CoH
- Shako (Ambergris JoF) -> Kira’s with TBD fervor jewel
- Gores
- 20 IAS Blood gloves with 10% CB, LR and MF
- Rare belt with 24 FHR, 19 strength, 36 life, and CR and LR -> may become Arachnid’s or Dungos
- Highlord’s
- 250/19 Ravenfrost (likely keeping for dext and AR boost) and ML ring
- Backback: 8 GCs with AR or Sharp and mix of FHR and Vita; no SCs equipped, but will add some to boost resists until Kira’s and then likely focus on FHR

Merc:
- Faith (2/14)
- eth Fortitude
- eth Vamp w shimmering charm with damage

I will probably do 2 NM Baal runs and see how close that gets her to 77, and maybe do a few more or switch to some Cave runs in Hell (if I can manage reasonable resists).

 

[PhineasB]

Zerka made it to Mat at lvl 84, with updates on the Hell playthrough in her Mat thread. Sept completed!