- Jan 24, 2008
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Ker-splat!
And Baal (and the rest of Normal) is down for the count!
My Concentrate Barb has done a players 7 clear of Act V.
Out of the gates the question was: Do I use the big slow axe, or the small fast flail? I was guessing axe.
Savage Giant Axe of Slaughter
Two-Hand Damage: 38 to 97
Durability: 48 of 50
Required Strength: 70
Required Level: 19
Axe Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 41
Fingerprint: 0x9721d7f6
+74% Enhanced Damage
+19 to Maximum Damage
The General's Tan Do Li Ga
Flail
One-Hand Damage: 2 to 57
Durability: 26 of 30
Required Dexterity: 35
Required Strength: 41
Required Level: 21
Mace Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 28
Fingerprint: 0x92344ee6
+55% Enhanced Damage
+1 to Minimum Damage
+20 to Maximum Damage
+25 Defense
5% Mana stolen per hit
20% Increased Attack Speed
150% Damage to Undead
Slows Target by 50%
I was wrong. Neither was great ... or even good ... but the axe proved to be slow ... far too slow ... and it left me needing to replenish mana. So the choice was clear, The General's Tan Do Li Ga, Flail (henceforth to be referred to as TG's). TG's didn't do much damage against players 7 monsters, but the mana leech at least meant that it was self sustaining (and there's nothing not to like about the Slows Target by 50%
). I also decided that I'd drop my mf boots for Sigon's. With Sigon's belt and boots I got the 10% life leech bonus and I started to feel like a real melee character! Fast attack speed, 10% life leech, 5% mana leech, ~650 life, what's not to like? Oh right, the damage ... With TG's, I was self sustaining (not needing life or mana potions), but slow, oh so slow. I was whacking through monsters in more than a half dozen hits. The merc, using a savage partizan, wasn't doing much better. We were super safe, I think my health only budged off full once or twice the entire act ... but felt a little too slow and steady ... like we were waiting for something to go BANG!
A white partizan dropped in the Frigid Highlands.
It turned out to be ilvl 33!
Side note: It was also the only white partizan we saw the entire act ...
And then the big one:
We found out what Frozenstein keeps in it's nasty little pocketses!
After rescuing Anya, I recognized that the Glacial Trail wp was one teleport from the entrance and after grabbing the wp took a little break. I showed Larzuk the white partizan and then created:
Insight
Partizan
'RalTirTalSol'
Two-Hand Damage: 129 to 264
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Dexterity: 67
Required Strength: 113
Required Level: 27
Polearm Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 33
Fingerprint: 0xe7be535d
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
+253% Enhanced Damage
+9 to Minimum Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
+75 poison damage over 5 seconds
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+6 to Critical Strike
35% Faster Cast Rate
230% Bonus to Attack Rating
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Level 13 Meditation Aura When Equipped
Socketed (4: 4 used)
So let the conspiracy theories commence! My Insight rolls in this tournament have been: 248% ED, 255% ED, 257% ED, and now 253% ED! ... and a perfect Critical Strike roll to boot! My understanding of the tournament rules is that the Barb can't use this due to the +Critical Strike mod ... so it went straight to the merc. And what a difference it made! For starters, Leharas refused to be called just Leharas. From that point on, he insisted on being referred to as 'Leharas the Reaver'. And I suppose why not? If you're killing everything in one or two hits I suppose a special moniker is appropriate ...
With Leharas reborn as, Leharas the Reaver, the rest of Act V was very different. The new plan was that Arthur didn't bother killing anything entirely all by himself. His new job was to run into mobs and tag everything with the Slows Target by 50% effect ... and then provide some decoy duty ... while Leharas wiped the floor with everything in sight. At last, now there's an effective team plan! Nothing could stand against the duo, and it was particularly satisfying to watch speedy foes like Frenzytaurs slowed to a crawl before being slaughtered by Leharas the Reaver! The only monsters that required special consideration were Baal's Plucked Chickens. They were led out of the Throne Room and then Arthur teleported back into the Throne Room via a side chamber. Baal was so alarmed by this magic trick that he fled. With their dark overlord deserting them, the Plucked Chickens then lost all unit cohesion and I was able to pick them off one or two at a time. Easy peasy. Baal himself was even easier. I had thought that you needed Slows Target by 75% to totally disable Baal ... turns out 50% does the trick. I teleported onto Baal at the get go and the battle never moved. He never cloned, or sent up tentacles, or teleported ... he just sat there attacking in slow motion, occasionally impotently attempting a special move ... but to no avail. Leharas the Reaver, kept on him, and soon enough he was dead.
He dropped a couple nice items and a good number of set/uniques were found throughout Act V.
Here's the complete list of set/uniques that resulted from a full clear of Act V:
With 140 mf (+96 mf if the merc kills ... which was quite a lot)!
Wormskull, Bone Helm (Frigid Highlands) <-- Sweet! I've only been able to gamble 3% LL on circlets.
The Jade Tan Do, Kris (Abaddon)
Soulflay, Claymore (Pit of Acheron)
Isenhart's Parry, Gothic Shield (Drifter Cavern)
Venom Ward, Breast Plate (Halls of Anguish)
Arctic Binding, Light Belt (Halls of Anguish) <-- See below.
Arctic Furs, Quilted Armor (Halls of Pain) <-- The 40% mf bonus would have been nice ... long ago ...
The General's Tan Do Li Ga, Flail (Worldstone Keep Level 2) <-- This one's perfect .
Vidala's Barb, Long Battle Bow (Worldstone Keep Level 3)
The Battlebranch, Poleaxe (Baal) <-- Again, would have been nice ... long ago ...
Frostburn, Gauntlets (Baal) <-- Cool, but probably not needed on the Necro ...
So, the Wormskull is on deck. I haven't needed life leech on the merc ... yet ... but when I do, I'll drop the merc's mf helm for the Wormskull. The fact that the second General's Tan Do Li Ga, Flail to be found is perfect, makes upping it much more appealing (yes, I know it's only a 10% ED range ... but still). However, the problem remains, that I'd need a Sol Rune to up a normal weapon ... and so far I've only had the one. Just as well I suppose, the Bone Necro is going to take on NM Act I & II before the Concentrate Barb plays again ... perhaps I'll find something better ...
However, before the Bone Necro could take over, there was one last bit of business left in Normal: Cows. As is often the case, the initial entrance got messy. Despite being careful, multiple waves of cows came all at once ... which was a bit of a problem since only Leharas was doing the killing. However, a bit of teleporting and some TP'ing got things under control, and once there was some room to maneuver it was smooth sailing. Arthur slowed and provided decoy duty, and Leharas, excuse me, Leharas the Reaver, killed. And we were richly rewarded for killing with Leharas' additional +96 mf:
Haha! My most wanted set/unique, right near the entrance! With the boots and belt that meant the gloves got a 30% IAS bonus and the boots picked up another 50 mf!
With the additional 50 mf , here's the set/uniques that resulted from the players 7 Secret Cow Level:
190 mf (+96 if the merc kills ... again, which was nearly always).
Rogue's Bow, Composite Bow (The Secret Cow Level)
Sigon's Gage, Gauntlets (The Secret Cow Level)
Hsarus' Iron Fist, Buckler (The Cow King)
Arctic Binding, Light Belt (The Secret Cow Level)
With the three part Sigon's, and the Angelic amulet/ring, I'm feeling pretty complete . It'd be neat if my Bone Necro found a super-awesome weapon for the Barb in NM Act I or II. But a Sol Rune would do ... and I suppose even if that doesn't happen, being the debuffer/crowd controller for the merc should work for the foreseeable future. It was a nice play session .
Up next: The Bone Necro gets to take the Insight Partizan out for a spin! I'm really looking forward to casting whatever, whenever, without thinking about the mana cost! It should be great fun! And since I got three out of the four things I asked for last time I asked: I'd like a four socketed sword. I have the runes, now I just need the base . Oh, and perhaps the Angelic armor for the Barb ... but I don't really have my heart set on that ... if in doubt, please drop the sword .
And Baal (and the rest of Normal) is down for the count!
My Concentrate Barb has done a players 7 clear of Act V.
Out of the gates the question was: Do I use the big slow axe, or the small fast flail? I was guessing axe.
Savage Giant Axe of Slaughter
Two-Hand Damage: 38 to 97
Durability: 48 of 50
Required Strength: 70
Required Level: 19
Axe Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 41
Fingerprint: 0x9721d7f6
+74% Enhanced Damage
+19 to Maximum Damage
The General's Tan Do Li Ga
Flail
One-Hand Damage: 2 to 57
Durability: 26 of 30
Required Dexterity: 35
Required Strength: 41
Required Level: 21
Mace Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 28
Fingerprint: 0x92344ee6
+55% Enhanced Damage
+1 to Minimum Damage
+20 to Maximum Damage
+25 Defense
5% Mana stolen per hit
20% Increased Attack Speed
150% Damage to Undead
Slows Target by 50%
I was wrong. Neither was great ... or even good ... but the axe proved to be slow ... far too slow ... and it left me needing to replenish mana. So the choice was clear, The General's Tan Do Li Ga, Flail (henceforth to be referred to as TG's). TG's didn't do much damage against players 7 monsters, but the mana leech at least meant that it was self sustaining (and there's nothing not to like about the Slows Target by 50%
). I also decided that I'd drop my mf boots for Sigon's. With Sigon's belt and boots I got the 10% life leech bonus and I started to feel like a real melee character! Fast attack speed, 10% life leech, 5% mana leech, ~650 life, what's not to like? Oh right, the damage ... With TG's, I was self sustaining (not needing life or mana potions), but slow, oh so slow. I was whacking through monsters in more than a half dozen hits. The merc, using a savage partizan, wasn't doing much better. We were super safe, I think my health only budged off full once or twice the entire act ... but felt a little too slow and steady ... like we were waiting for something to go BANG!A white partizan dropped in the Frigid Highlands.
It turned out to be ilvl 33!
Side note: It was also the only white partizan we saw the entire act ...
And then the big one:
We found out what Frozenstein keeps in it's nasty little pocketses!
After rescuing Anya, I recognized that the Glacial Trail wp was one teleport from the entrance and after grabbing the wp took a little break. I showed Larzuk the white partizan and then created:
Insight
Partizan
'RalTirTalSol'
Two-Hand Damage: 129 to 264
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Dexterity: 67
Required Strength: 113
Required Level: 27
Polearm Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 33
Fingerprint: 0xe7be535d
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
+253% Enhanced Damage
+9 to Minimum Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
+75 poison damage over 5 seconds
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+6 to Critical Strike
35% Faster Cast Rate
230% Bonus to Attack Rating
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Level 13 Meditation Aura When Equipped
Socketed (4: 4 used)
So let the conspiracy theories commence! My Insight rolls in this tournament have been: 248% ED, 255% ED, 257% ED, and now 253% ED! ... and a perfect Critical Strike roll to boot! My understanding of the tournament rules is that the Barb can't use this due to the +Critical Strike mod ... so it went straight to the merc. And what a difference it made! For starters, Leharas refused to be called just Leharas. From that point on, he insisted on being referred to as 'Leharas the Reaver'. And I suppose why not? If you're killing everything in one or two hits I suppose a special moniker is appropriate ...
With Leharas reborn as, Leharas the Reaver, the rest of Act V was very different. The new plan was that Arthur didn't bother killing anything entirely all by himself. His new job was to run into mobs and tag everything with the Slows Target by 50% effect ... and then provide some decoy duty ... while Leharas wiped the floor with everything in sight. At last, now there's an effective team plan! Nothing could stand against the duo, and it was particularly satisfying to watch speedy foes like Frenzytaurs slowed to a crawl before being slaughtered by Leharas the Reaver! The only monsters that required special consideration were Baal's Plucked Chickens. They were led out of the Throne Room and then Arthur teleported back into the Throne Room via a side chamber. Baal was so alarmed by this magic trick that he fled. With their dark overlord deserting them, the Plucked Chickens then lost all unit cohesion and I was able to pick them off one or two at a time. Easy peasy. Baal himself was even easier. I had thought that you needed Slows Target by 75% to totally disable Baal ... turns out 50% does the trick. I teleported onto Baal at the get go and the battle never moved. He never cloned, or sent up tentacles, or teleported ... he just sat there attacking in slow motion, occasionally impotently attempting a special move ... but to no avail. Leharas the Reaver, kept on him, and soon enough he was dead.
He dropped a couple nice items and a good number of set/uniques were found throughout Act V.
Here's the complete list of set/uniques that resulted from a full clear of Act V:
With 140 mf (+96 mf if the merc kills ... which was quite a lot)!
Wormskull, Bone Helm (Frigid Highlands) <-- Sweet! I've only been able to gamble 3% LL on circlets.
The Jade Tan Do, Kris (Abaddon)
Soulflay, Claymore (Pit of Acheron)
Isenhart's Parry, Gothic Shield (Drifter Cavern)
Venom Ward, Breast Plate (Halls of Anguish)
Arctic Binding, Light Belt (Halls of Anguish) <-- See below.
Arctic Furs, Quilted Armor (Halls of Pain) <-- The 40% mf bonus would have been nice ... long ago ...
The General's Tan Do Li Ga, Flail (Worldstone Keep Level 2) <-- This one's perfect
.Vidala's Barb, Long Battle Bow (Worldstone Keep Level 3)
The Battlebranch, Poleaxe (Baal) <-- Again, would have been nice ... long ago ...
Frostburn, Gauntlets (Baal) <-- Cool, but probably not needed on the Necro ...
So, the Wormskull is on deck. I haven't needed life leech on the merc ... yet ... but when I do, I'll drop the merc's mf helm for the Wormskull. The fact that the second General's Tan Do Li Ga, Flail to be found is perfect, makes upping it much more appealing (yes, I know it's only a 10% ED range ... but still). However, the problem remains, that I'd need a Sol Rune to up a normal weapon ... and so far I've only had the one. Just as well I suppose, the Bone Necro is going to take on NM Act I & II before the Concentrate Barb plays again ... perhaps I'll find something better ...
However, before the Bone Necro could take over, there was one last bit of business left in Normal: Cows. As is often the case, the initial entrance got messy. Despite being careful, multiple waves of cows came all at once ... which was a bit of a problem since only Leharas was doing the killing. However, a bit of teleporting and some TP'ing got things under control, and once there was some room to maneuver it was smooth sailing. Arthur slowed and provided decoy duty, and Leharas, excuse me, Leharas the Reaver, killed. And we were richly rewarded for killing with Leharas' additional +96 mf:
Haha! My most wanted set/unique, right near the entrance! With the boots and belt that meant the gloves got a 30% IAS bonus and the boots picked up another 50 mf!
With the additional 50 mf
, here's the set/uniques that resulted from the players 7 Secret Cow Level:190 mf (+96 if the merc kills ... again, which was nearly always).
Rogue's Bow, Composite Bow (The Secret Cow Level)
Sigon's Gage, Gauntlets (The Secret Cow Level)
Hsarus' Iron Fist, Buckler (The Cow King)
Arctic Binding, Light Belt (The Secret Cow Level)
With the three part Sigon's, and the Angelic amulet/ring, I'm feeling pretty complete
. It'd be neat if my Bone Necro found a super-awesome weapon for the Barb in NM Act I or II. But a Sol Rune would do ... and I suppose even if that doesn't happen, being the debuffer/crowd controller for the merc should work for the foreseeable future. It was a nice play session .
Code:
SP Forum Name Characters Level Furthest WP Points
-- ----------------- ---------------- ------ ---------------------- -------
Y Hanshotfirst Sorc/Sin 88/87 Guardian x2 200
N PhineasB Necro/Druid 81/80 (H) Harrogath 184
N Booble Sorc/Druid 54/65 (H) Rouge Encampment 124
N Crudesash68 Zon/Paladin 46/50 (N) Lut Gholein 67
Y skoolbus Druid/Sorc 48/49 (N) Dark Wood 60
Y Pb_pal Sorc/Zon 45/44 (N) Rogue Encampment 60
Y Hanshotfirst Necro/Barb 48/48 (N) Rogue Encampment 60
Y Gynli Zon/Necro 32/48 (N) Rogue Encampment 51
N Swamigoon Sin/Druid 45/33 WSK2 41
N DariusTriplet Sorc/Zon 31/24 River of Flame 32
Y Vildecor Zon/Sorc 21/20 Lut Gholein 12
Y Maltatai Druid/Druid 21/15 Lut Gholein Sewers 9
N CaseyJones Sorc/Druid 15/23 Lut Gholein 9
Y b1ur Paladin/Druid 20/1 Lut Gholein 6Up next: The Bone Necro gets to take the Insight Partizan out for a spin! I'm really looking forward to casting whatever, whenever, without thinking about the mana cost! It should be great fun! And since I got three out of the four things I asked for last time I asked: I'd like a four socketed sword. I have the runes, now I just need the base
. Oh, and perhaps the Angelic armor for the Barb ... but I don't really have my heart set on that ... if in doubt, please drop the sword .
)
. The good news is that the second skill tree unlock went to the Concentrate Barb. The bad news is that his normal socket quest reward item, the Partizan Insight, went down with the Bone Necro ... Looks like Leharas is no longer going to be 'Leharas the Reaver' ... too bad because I'm not sure taking on NM with The General's Tan Do Li Ga Flail is much of a plan without a good weapon on the merc. So, here we go ... the two skill tree Concentrate Barb takes on NM minus his best item ... watch the obituaries ...
. Still, it leaves me feeling ... unsettled ...
. The Manald Heal rolled 7% mana leech! Which is great! When I find a better weapon for the Barb, I have a +20 mf magic ring that'll get replaced by this Manald ... you know, assuming it doesn't come with mana leech.
. I figured you must be playing Vanilla since you hadn't made a Spirit or Insight ... but I suppose when you're lucky enough to find a Razorswitch on both characters, there's not much need. Great progress, keep up the good work! 
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