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Vessel of Hatred

The Passive Aggressive Tournament

Me and my fire-poking buddy are moving on nicely. I do experince an increasing need to separate monsters with Teleport, lest Waheed gets killed a lot even if he drinks reds like crazy.

The Izual reward points completed my 62 skill points investment to maximize Enchant damage, as far 'native' skill points go. Any extra boost needs to come from gear (or skill shines) now. You can see the current damage in this screenie from my fight with the Heffer (who was quite tame - aura is Blessed Aim):
SissyNM09%20Heffer_zpsro7haipf.jpg


HF drop was bad. Shael rune, and no topazes.

My nice ethereal gloves broke in a fight against maggots earlier in the RoF. Bought some temporary Gauntlets of Fortune*, which are now replaced by my old 15/25 Lapis Leather Gloves of Fortune.

(* spent a million gold trying to gamble some better gloves, but that attempt failed)

Waheed got into a great position against Diablo, close enough for the LI to miss. Plus Diablo missed(!) several melee attacks in a row. I still needed to resurrect Waheed twice later (a single Firestorm wiped him out while I was busy clicking down potions from inventory to belt and failed to teleport him away), but it was still an easy and safe fight.


Crappy monster draw on the Foothills. Vultures (bad for drops) and fire archer skeletons (dangerous, at least for Waheed). More Burner archers on the Highlands, otherwise pretty easy draw with the exception of a boss pack of Night Lords in Abbadon. CE + Cursed. The boss and a minion killed Waheed and it was good that I was very ready to quickly teleport away...


Recent finds:
* First armor is fully topazed
* Second armor has two PTopazes (it's a Jeweler's Gothic Plate of Amelioration bought from Larzuk)
* Ko rune
* Tearhaunch

I am on the lookout for a <nice resist prefix> Plated Belt of the Whale now. I check all the red ones Larzuk offers.


I have recently figured out something nice for my future axe plans. All the two-handed elite axes have 4 sockets max at ilvl 1! I am bound to find a couple of low quality Feral Axes, probably one or two already here in Nightmare. It is also the fastest axe type, which is nice. What isn't nice is the ridiculous 196 STR requirement (although Lionheart will help a bit on the way).


[Highlight]Destroyer Sissy the Axe Enchantress and Waheed the Defiance guard, level 69, NM Crystalline Passage next[/highlight]
 
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Damn nice progress Jiansonz!

Real life has been quite hectic for me, so haven't had any time to progress with Carrisa! Hopefully this weekend i can get through at least half of Act 2! I am falling so far behind! Ah well, slow and steady with me, i tend to get too carried away when i rush characters and end up killing them through reckless actions.
 
@Morathi - Don't worry about the progress. Like I said before, I've already got another char planned after this one, so you'll have some company from me at least! :)

jiansonz said:
The Izual reward points completed my 62 skill points investment to maximize Enchant damage, as far 'native' skill points go. Any extra boost needs to come from gear (or skill shines) now. You can see the current damage in this screenie
Click to expand...
Wow that is some awesome damage output! Very impressive. :)

jiansonz said:
* Second armor has two PTopazes (it's a Jeweler's Gothic Plate of Amelioration bought from Larzuk)
Click to expand...
Calabi hasn't managed any other PTopazes after filling her first armour yet. Kasim is still wearing the 3-flawed armour from A2/3 Normal.:rolleyes:

--

Calabi has moved on up through the Glacial Trail and Frozen Tundra without anything interesting happening. The standard tactic is to throw a decoy into a group, cast slow missiles, cast inner sight and wait for Kasim to kill everyone with Decoy re-casts as needed. I'm starting to look forward to when we are finished the treasure hunting portion of the journey, so that Calabi can become more involved in the fighting. For now it was time to get some revenge for our new friend Anya.

First two levels were no problem.

We stepped down into the Halls of Vaught and were immediately rushed by a bunch of Night Marauders, together with a Wretched Defiler. Good, Calabi thought, these guys can be dealt with easily. Kasim took care of them, and we picked a wing to explore. We were inching forward as slowly as the random exploring patterns of Kasim and the Valk would allow, when all of a sudden we saw green. Tomb Vipers. Serves me right for half-complaining about how unexciting Act V has been so far.

They spit their poison clouds and Kasim ran towards them, and his death. Retreat and raise Kasim, give him a little lecture about not being so reckless, and head back down. We could subdue the snakes as long as we could get a decoy in between them all. This forced them into melee-mode, and Kasim could then kill them without worrying about the poison. The problem was this was not easy to achieve very reliably, with other monsters around, and Kasim and the valk running around triggering ranged attacks. After one wing cleared, 400K+ in resurrections, and countless merc deaths(many to this fine gentleman, courtesy of an evil urn) we decided there had to be a better way. So we left Kasim dead, and cast a new valk using a +1 P+M Skills amulet we keep in our stash. This allowed us to cast her at slvl 8 with her weapon upgrade. It's amazing the difference it made. The valk went from being just a meat shield to occupy monsters, to a meat shield that could actually kill, even at a reasonable pace.

Luckily the 2nd wing didn't have too many snakes present, so we were able to clear it out fairly easily. The 3rd wing was a mix of sheer terror and lots of running away. We were immediately confronted with two packs of snakes. It was not easy work seperating the snakes from each other, as they are quite quick and their charge attacks would knock the decoy around all over the place. We had one huge NDE where 3 seperate snakes all charged the decoy in turn knocking her way back. Calabi tried to run to re-position but the poison spears came flying. She Avoid/Evade-ed the first, but got caught in the animation, and the next two (and possibly a third? I couldn't tell) smacked her. I didn't check the numbers on the life bulb, all I know is that I couldn't see any red. She must have had under 20 life left.o_O Well with most of my rejuvs, a few more NDEs(though not quite as horrifying), and a ring with Dim Vision charges that was dropped by a snake(fittingly), we were able to seperate out the packs, eventually getting them all alone so that Calabi could valiantly hack them in the spine.

Nihlathak's wing was nicer to us, as it didn't boast too many snakes. Kasim made his reappearance and we killed Nilly without troubles. He dropped us only a blue studded leather for our troubles. How nice of him. :rolleyes:

So that was easily the most terrifying part of Calabi's journey so far. If she is lucky enough to make it that far in Hell and there are snakes present, you can rest assured she will let Nihlathak live out the rest of his days down there in peace. So with her(read: my) nerves spent, she is taking a break before heading up through the Ancient's Way.

Calabi hit 72 somewhere in the temple, which meant that Penetrate has now been maxed (along with Decoy). We have 13 skill points saved up, so that whenever we finish our treasure hunting (or whenever the need arises) we can switch from a slvl 7 valk directly to a maxed one. Considering how well she did in the Halls of Vaught with just her first weapon upgrade, I'm very excited to see what a difference this will make. I'm sure Kasim will appreciate the help as well. The rest of the skill points are currently distributed evenly throughout CS/Dodge/Avoid. I am aiming to have them all at 50% before +skills (thats slvl 8/12/7 respectively). After that (if Calabi gets there :p) I'm not sure, just whatever I see fit I suppose, depending on the diminishing returns on those skills. Either that or I will pump Slow Missiles to get a longer duration. We'll see.


[highlight]Destroyer Calabi the Axe-wielding Amazon, with Kasim the Blessed Aim Guard - lvl 72, NM Ancient's Way Next[/highlight]

I most likely won't be able to update this weekend, so I figured a new table was in order to at least get all the newcomers added. :)

Code: 
Table of Heroes:
Forum Name     Class        Char Name      LVL    ACT      Area
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pb_pal         Amazon       Calabi         72     A5(NM)   Ancient's Way
jiansonz       Sorceress    Sissy          69     A5(NM)   Crystalline Passage
Zylo           Druid        Hoyt           59     A3(NM)   Kurast Docks
djmbbandie     Assassin     Natasha        31     A3       Upper Kurast
sivaeB         Necromancer  Toast          27     A3       Kurast Docks
felixbavaria   Sorceress    Swoosh         25     A2       Lut Gholein
Morathi        Assassin     Carrisa        21     A2       Lut Gholein
pharphis       Sorceress    SlamDoorsShut  18.5   A1       Jail Lvl 1
Jocular        Assassin     ?????          14     A1       Stony Field/Dark Wood(?)
jamesixgun     Druid        John           6      A1       Rogue Encampment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
I don't even have any runes yet for leaf, so I keep being tempted to just settle with +3 enchant. *sigh*
 
Ah. If I were you I would only bother with the shopping once you've got the runes. Go have some fun, one might even drop on the way. Patience is overrated (just don't tell jiansonz I said that..). ;)
 
I think a Nadir helmet and/or integer damage reduction gear would have saved you a lot of trouble down there. Just sayin' :)

My enchantress has a +1 Enchant staff.
 
felixbavaria said:
I think a Nadir helmet and/or integer damage reduction gear would have saved you a lot of trouble down there. Just sayin' :)

My enchantress has a +1 Enchant staff.
Click to expand...

That is a fantastic point. I should probably mule that back on from my stash so that I can actually use it if need be.:rolleyes:
 
Funny, I was just random questing yesterday and took a look at the shop and there was one there with 3 enchant and some other add. I passed it up since I already have a couple sitting around. Don't know what your guys problem is. =P
 
I'm in.

With a Druid, since I've never gotten one past Act II Normal.

Jeez, I haven't played in ages... Hi guys ^^


sidenote: I hate the new forums, too flashy for mah tastes... I will need some getting used to.
 
I also haven't played in quite some time, and I used to do HC Classic Ladder characters almost exclusively. Now I've found my way here to the single player section and I'm joining my very first tournament. It's also the first time I've done the single-pass thing, so yay, new and different.

I've got Beldric the Barbarian, currently level 10 and ready to head into the Stony Field. I've had it on /players 8 the whole time, and no trouble so far.
 
Hm.. I guess i'll try some more shopping ;(

edit: shopped + 2 enchant, +1 shiver armor, 2os staff and found arctic's light belt in sewers, which I cleared. I think I'll do a very lengthy session sometime this weekend where I do most of A2 since I'll want to do it all at once

edit 2: I also managed to gamble a 33% MF circlet and a 20 frw circlet which I'll hang onto for shipping :D
 
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@srrw - Welcome to the tourny! Are you going the Hunter/Summoner route?

@ranagrande - A Barb, nice! This is my first time playing single pass as well, it's definitely a new experience, but a great one! Best of luck!

@Morathi - Windowed mode ftw. Are you talking in-game resolution? 800x600 for me.
 
The group has beaten Act 3 and 4, the fights seem to be getting longer and longer, we really need to find a better weapon for Waheed if were going to keep the players 8 hype up, maybe we can make him a Malice or something hopefully!

Mephisto - This fight was easy, Iron Golem was a great tank, the only threat in Act 3 was High Council, which we had to lure one at a time, and those monsters in the water that shoot poison are annoying.

Act 3 Drops - Skewer Sabre, Sanders Taboo, Isenharts Case, Snakecord, again nothing useful for Toast..

Our Hellforge and Diablo - This fight was very long and costly, I did finally manage to lure him to wall so the Golem could tank while Waheed could poke him to death, overall very scary fight. Anyways thanks for level Diablo.

[highlight]Toast the Golemancer with Waheed the Defiance guard, lvl 34, Harrogath.[/highlight]
 
GL to all the new participants.

@Morathi: Non-windowed mode for me.

@Pb_pal: nice going!
As for your skills, I would not have invested any extra points in Evade. I think that skill is damn dangerous. When I want to move my character, I prefer that my character takes some hits but actually moves to where I point, quickly, NOW! I usually want +skills to not work with Evade.



Several quite dangerous happenings for Sissy over the last sessions:
* Halls of Valor had huge Flayer melee packs. I think 12 is the spawn pack size. I had to be very alert every time I entered new territory. A few times I was a little slow to react, and it got dangerous. VERY dangerous once or twice. Sissy is a frail little flower, she almost can't block (9%) and her life is still well below 700.
* WSK 3 had Doom Knights early on. A double pack killed Waheed. Sissy decided to flee up the stairs. They had almost surrounded her. A misclick at that stage would have been ugly indeed. After resurrection and teleport around the corner, we ran into a boss Knight pack instead, plus some lightning mages. I spent about 5 full purples so Waheed could stand his ground against the minions - I could not afford to be pushed back to those two packs we tried to escape earlier.
* Throne level had Vile Witches combined with Burning Souls and Assailants. Very dangerous combo with Amp-tossing witches and those very speedy and Zealing Assailants that are camouflaged against the red background. And even if the Soul's Lightning shots aren't that scary in Nightmare, it adds up if the other enemy types are around at the same time.
* Baal hit (shieldless) Sissy twice with his 'poke-me-in-the-eye' attack when she hadn't realized that she was his target (it looked like Waheed was closer).

Once again, the 'Strength' Battle Scythe was awesome against an act boss.

Recent finds:
* Second armor got fully topazed in Halls of Valor (IIRC) Waheed now uses the Ancient Armor, making his Defense exceed 4000.
* Io rune (somewhere in the temple)
* Lava Gout unique Battle Gauntlets. I did not know what this was when it dropped => very exciting to identify. Hm, looks promising but I sure hope the ctc level 10 Enchant doesn't override my Enchant. Do you know if it does? I sure can't actively cast a lower level Enchant than the one that's running, but is ctc different?
* Sureshrill Frost. I wonder if those Frozen Orbs can do anything useful if I get a couple of levels in Cold Mastery...
* Sazabi's Mental Sheath (only S/U from Baal)
* Haemosu's Adamant
* Three plain Feral Axes. My first attempt with the socket recipe was a success. Now gimme that Lem rune!!!
* Ethereal Ogre Axe. Ethereal means the STR requirement isn't insane (but the base damage is...). Waheed wll get there quite soon. Drop gods, bring us an Um rune while you're at it. :)

I think I got unlucky with one drop aspect in this last act. I have not seen any elite armors.

Shiver Armor is now level 14. If I get far in Hell, I will be able to max it and still get a native Energy Shield. Could be worth the investment - I am not fond of lots of gear switching. I currently have two different orbs with +ES, and I plan to use ES most of the time in Hell difficulty. One orb has +1 and one has +3. I do not have much mana so I should probably go with the lower skill level. Ideally, the skill level should be such that the life- and mana pools empty at the same time. Then again, I regenerate mana real fast as long as Waheed has Insight, so maybe the mana recovery between two hits is big enough to actually matter (meaning, I can go an ES level higher).


[Highlight]Conqueror Sissy the Axe Enchantress and Waheed the Defiance guard, level 75, NM cows next[/highlight]
 
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