Which old guardian thread was it that contained a diary of this famous Black Hack? It was quite funny but I can't seem to find it.
The Passive Aggressive Tournament
- Thread starter Pb_pal1
- Start date
I think I found it, by who else than Insane Wayne. The diary starts in this Conqueror/Guardian thread:
Conqueror Jolt, the Elemental Necro, HC vanilla untwinked single-pass
Black Hack's diary begins on page 2. He actually continues the diary here:
Tournament: The Descendants of Midas
The diary picks up on page 15 and carries through sporatically. Time for a fun read!
EDIT:
Just for easiness/lazyness/so I don't have to go rooting again, I'll break it into the parts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Conqueror Jolt, the Elemental Necro, HC vanilla untwinked single-pass
Black Hack's diary begins on page 2. He actually continues the diary here:
Tournament: The Descendants of Midas
The diary picks up on page 15 and carries through sporatically. Time for a fun read!
EDIT:
Just for easiness/lazyness/so I don't have to go rooting again, I'll break it into the parts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
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Yes I found the continuation in the Midas tournament but not the beginning, just looking at Guardian threads as I were. Thanks a lot Pb_pal!
jiansonz
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I'm a bit late to the congrats party for Calabi...
Mega congrats to your first Guardian! It was entertaining all the way to read your updates. You've also beaten my highest level Guardian. Even my strong characters get played no higher than /p3 on Hell, so they don't go higher than 87.
It's a very solid build. My first SPF tourney Guardian (single pass, untwinked, full clears) was a very similar character. Tournament was called 'The Tankazon Tourney' but she was more of a Valkazon, really. Merc was Holy Freeze (imagine what that did for the Valk's tankability...).
You found two Fal runes and didn't make an Obedience? Lack of Ko, lack of a decent base, or other priorities?
And Sissy SO wants that axe! When I planned her journey, I was almost sure I would have one even before Nightmare was over.
And regarding the diary of Black Hack, I wrote an entry (inspired by Insane Wayne, of course) that describes an encounter in late Normal for my Blaze/Lightning Sorc in the Exposure tourney.
Mega congrats to your first Guardian! It was entertaining all the way to read your updates. You've also beaten my highest level Guardian. Even my strong characters get played no higher than /p3 on Hell, so they don't go higher than 87.
It's a very solid build. My first SPF tourney Guardian (single pass, untwinked, full clears) was a very similar character. Tournament was called 'The Tankazon Tourney' but she was more of a Valkazon, really. Merc was Holy Freeze (imagine what that did for the Valk's tankability...).
You found two Fal runes and didn't make an Obedience? Lack of Ko, lack of a decent base, or other priorities?
And Sissy SO wants that axe! When I planned her journey, I was almost sure I would have one even before Nightmare was over.
And regarding the diary of Black Hack, I wrote an entry (inspired by Insane Wayne, of course) that describes an encounter in late Normal for my Blaze/Lightning Sorc in the Exposure tourney.
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@Pb_pal what a journey for Calabi, I have still never completed a single-pass character. Everyone seems to really enjoy passive-zons I will have to try one out soon.
As for joining with another character, I hope you do. Great write-ups, plus you will probably finish your second before Rocky makes it to NM.
As for joining with another character, I hope you do. Great write-ups, plus you will probably finish your second before Rocky makes it to NM.
I am thinking of joining in my first tournament! The table seems to be a bit old though?
PB_pal: do you have a newer one with your guardian in it? (Congrats by the way)
PB_pal: do you have a newer one with your guardian in it? (Congrats by the way)
I meant to mention this is her Guardian post, but I owe you a special thanks for your help. I read and reread both that tournament and the re-incarnation of it, both Brynhilde and Sapphidia were huge inspiration for my char.
A mix of the three really. When I found my 2nd Fal in A2 Hell, I didn't have a Ko (or even extra Lums I don't think) or a base. Kasim also didn't have any options I was happy with for end-game armour, so I bit the bullet. It also gave him the strength to equip a CV, so I went for it. I ended up finding enough Lums to cube a Ko by about mid-A4, so had I waited I could have done it. In the end, I'm happy with my choice, as you never quite know what you'll find.
Woops! Guess I slacked a bit on the table updates there. You are more than welcome to join! I will add a new table here, and when you decide on a char/name, I'll add him/her in.
@Bee - Definitely put it on the to-do list, they're fun. In the meantime, good luck with Rocky!
--
EDIT: adding queenEm to the table. Good luck!
Also noticed I missed RIP_Vladimir's progress in the last update, sorry Daz!
Code:
The Proven (Guardians):
Forum Name Class Char Name LVL ACT Area
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jiansonz Sorceress Sissy 87 --- Full Game Clear
Pb_pal Amazon Calabi 88 --- Full Game Clear
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Heroes:
Forum Name Class Char Name LVL ACT Area
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zylo Druid Hoyt 59 A3(NM) Kurast Docks
thefranklin Druid FollowTheBear 52 A2(NM) Lut Gholein
sivaeB Necromancer Toast 49 A2(NM) Lut Gholein
felixbavaria Sorceress Swoosh 51 A1(NM) Inner Cloister
bladejj Necromancer Relic 48 A1(NM) Cold Plains
srrw Druid PurpleHaze 48 A1(NM) Rogue Encampment
djmbbandie Assassin Natasha 32 A4 Pandemonium Fortress
kestegs Necromancer WallE 32 A4 Pandemonium Fortress
ranagrande Barbarian Beldric 28 A3 Kurast Docks
Bee Barbarian Rocky 28 A3 Kurast Docks
Dazliare Amazon RIP_Vladimir 28 A3 Kurast Docks
pharphis Sorceress SlamDoorsShut 23 A2 Far Oasis
Morathi Assassin Carrisa 21 A2 Lut Gholein
Jocular Assassin ????? 14 A1 Stony Field/Dark Wood(?)
jamesixgun Druid John 13 A1 Dark Wood
Interdasting Druid Interdasting 12 A1 Stony Field
queenEm Amazon LittleGirl 1 A1 Rogue Encampment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Fallen (RIP):
Forum Name Class Char Name LVL ACT Area
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Southpaw8668 Necromancer Hallow 61 A3(NM) Great Marsh
Southpaw8668 Amazon Contessa 15 A1 Andariel
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Ok, then I want to present LittleGirl! Amazon still too scared to move out into the world but she is getting there...
FollowTheBear has progressed through act 2 nm into act 3. There was one NDE of note, and it was due to impatience with the revivers in the tombs. I really, really, really hate them. The druid's options for corpse disposal are not good. There was more backtrackng than I care to admit. The best approach I found was to clear out some of the skellies, then summon bear on top of the reviver. This was effective when there was not large groups of revivers and skellies in the same room. When there was large groups....groan. It was watching paint dry with how long it took to drag skellies away or to get a vine to actually dispose of some corpses. The only saving grace was if I got close enough, they unravelers (if not unique) would be blinded pretty easily by ravens.
I had two great drops, one that can very well be my hell shield, And a "that is the first time I have ever found one of those" kind of drops. I thought it was pretty cool!
Duriel was easy. I shot him with the Edge Bow as he killed himself due to thorns. His drop was abysmal. The boots did have dual resist fire/cold.
This took a long time, lotta unravelers around here at the entrance:
Running into the next room didn't help. There were a LOT of skeletons around:
When I made the wp, there was a pack in there? Not a very safe wp (you can see the shadow of the reviver:
Maggot lair wasn't too bad. Summoning the bear on anything that moved was effective. I just stood outside this room for quite awhile and let the crew clean up:
Merc do something 1:
Merc do something 2 (I could have taken a lot of these):
Action shot of Kaa. My bear does 3x the damage of my merc now, still haven't upgraded him from a savage partizan from normal:
Destroyer FollowTheBear and Hazade, level 60.4, Kurast Docks.
I had two great drops, one that can very well be my hell shield, And a "that is the first time I have ever found one of those" kind of drops. I thought it was pretty cool!
Duriel was easy. I shot him with the Edge Bow as he killed himself due to thorns. His drop was abysmal. The boots did have dual resist fire/cold.
This took a long time, lotta unravelers around here at the entrance:
Running into the next room didn't help. There were a LOT of skeletons around:
When I made the wp, there was a pack in there? Not a very safe wp (you can see the shadow of the reviver:
Maggot lair wasn't too bad. Summoning the bear on anything that moved was effective. I just stood outside this room for quite awhile and let the crew clean up:
Merc do something 1:
Merc do something 2 (I could have taken a lot of these):
Action shot of Kaa. My bear does 3x the damage of my merc now, still haven't upgraded him from a savage partizan from normal:
Destroyer FollowTheBear and Hazade, level 60.4, Kurast Docks.
jiansonz
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- Jun 22, 2003
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What I usually do is to lure back the skeletons a bit, have them killed, then cast Solar Creeper right on their corpses (often spamming it a few times). And since that always takes me below max mana, the creeper starts to eat. Works well enough.
Right, the only thing corpse disposal does in that case is prevent resurrections if you open a new door or if the Unravelers move. Basically the same thing as having no corpse disposal.
I couldn't even count the number of times I led skellies away, returned to kill the guardian, and a new set of skelloies was there that belong to the next guardian in the room. It was disheartening.
Another complaint: Heart of the Wolverine. I have 7 points into it. If I put 13 more points in, it gives as much damage as +2 skills to summon grizzly! How weak! So I have 7 or 8 skill points saved because I don't know what to do with them. That and 110 stat points. I am thinking I will need to take advantage of lycanthrooy and chill out in bear form for hell a lot. The 2 life per vit is low.
I couldn't even count the number of times I led skellies away, returned to kill the guardian, and a new set of skelloies was there that belong to the next guardian in the room. It was disheartening.
Another complaint: Heart of the Wolverine. I have 7 points into it. If I put 13 more points in, it gives as much damage as +2 skills to summon grizzly! How weak! So I have 7 or 8 skill points saved because I don't know what to do with them. That and 110 stat points. I am thinking I will need to take advantage of lycanthrooy and chill out in bear form for hell a lot. The 2 life per vit is low
.
jiansonz
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I wouldn't say that. If an Unraveler can't see any undead, it will often more towards you. And if you have a pile of undead corpses there, this is BAD, whereas if you have disposed of them, you don't care. It's even a good thing, because then you can get the Unraveler out of the picture before involving skeletons from packs further inside. At least for me, this is important.
Also, the vines aren't completely hopeless at eating corpses in a full-on fight either, if you are down a bit in life (Carrion Vine) or mana (Solar Creeper) and can keep the Unravelers busy by forcing them to melee something.
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Was able to make a bit more progress over the weekend. I had no troubles clearing up to the Outer Cloister with players 8. Just took a long time with these weak spirit wolves. One more level until Dire Wolves though. Can't wait for those puppies.
I found many more Topazes as well! Thank goodness for that. From 2 socketed gems to 7!
Nothing special from Countess though. I think it was an El rune? Heh.
Oh and I found an incredible rare spear for my soon-to-be act 2 merc. 20-30 base damage hallelujah!
Interdasting, level 17 Druid, Outer Cloister
I found many more Topazes as well! Thank goodness for that. From 2 socketed gems to 7!
Nothing special from Countess though. I think it was an El rune? Heh.
Oh and I found an incredible rare spear for my soon-to-be act 2 merc. 20-30 base damage hallelujah!
Interdasting, level 17 Druid, Outer Cloister
While that is certainly good damage for a Spear, it pales in comparison to a simple Poleaxe (18-39 weapon damage without ED), which you can gamble from Elzix at the beginning of Act II.
Huh. Now my interest to rush to act 2 is somewhat deflated. Thanks!
No but really, thanks. Never thought of that. I still have a long way to go to mastering the game.
No but really, thanks. Never thought of that. I still have a long way to go to mastering the game.
Huh. Now my interest to rush to act 2 is somewhat deflated. Thanks!
No but really, thanks. Never thought of that. I still have a long way to go to mastering the game.
1 Diamond (any quality) + 1 Staff + 1 Kris + 1 Belt (any type and quality) --> Savage Polearm Class Weapon
Can net you some really great weapons for this stage of the game. Worth a few tries if you're going with an A2 merc. Good progress so far!
Just a brief update. RIP_Vladimir is in the Chaos Sanctuary in Normal, somewhere around 34? I'm at work, so I can't check right now...
RIP_Vladimir defeated Diablo last night. 75% fire and lightning resistance, 75% chance to block, 50% chance to dodge, and some life leech on the weapon meant that I didn't have to use a potion the entire fight, while tanking the big guy by myself. I'm hoping to keep the rogue merc throughout the game as she's proving quite useful in many areas. We're level 35.
Nice job Daz! And rogue merc.
Big D's quite the...D. Kudos to your victory over evil.
I myself have also completed an act as well. Time has allowed me to finish off Andariel. But first, we have to go through the goodies from Act 1!
Smith was a joke, and Jail posed no problems aside from a LE Wraith that forced me to use four mana potions. I think I had twenty casualties from summoned wolves.
Luckily, my first drop was this little beaut. Deathspade turned out to be much stronger than the 2-7 rare dagger I had before, now at 14-18. And the +4 MEK will be invaluable once summons start to get shredded to bits.
Not too long after (literally like 5 minutes!!!) we found a ring. A NAGELRING! Bring on the excitement. I had my adrenaline pumping then. It rolled a cool +51 AR, 3 PDR+MDR, and 22% MF. Whooo!
Andariel posed few issues, aside from destroying many wolves. Their deaths were not in vain.
Mandatory stat+skill proggie
(1 in Arctic Blast and 4 in Cyclone Armor are missing from this picture.)
Duriel here I come.
Interdasting, level 19 Druid, Lut Gholein
Big D's quite the...D. Kudos to your victory over evil.
I myself have also completed an act as well. Time has allowed me to finish off Andariel. But first, we have to go through the goodies from Act 1!
Smith was a joke, and Jail posed no problems aside from a LE Wraith that forced me to use four mana potions.
I think I had twenty casualties from summoned wolves.
Luckily, my first drop was this little beaut. Deathspade turned out to be much stronger than the 2-7 rare dagger I had before, now at 14-18. And the +4 MEK will be invaluable once summons start to get shredded to bits.
Not too long after (literally like 5 minutes!!!) we found a ring. A NAGELRING! Bring on the excitement. I had my adrenaline pumping then. It rolled a cool +51 AR, 3 PDR+MDR, and 22% MF. Whooo!
Andariel posed few issues, aside from destroying many wolves. Their deaths were not in vain.
Mandatory stat+skill proggie
(1 in Arctic Blast and 4 in Cyclone Armor are missing from this picture.)
Duriel here I come.
Interdasting, level 19 Druid, Lut Gholein
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