The Three-Legged Race Tournament

HC deeds suck, sorry to see it!
I 100% messed that up myself. Ignored a few warnings, rushing to kill Mephisto on P8 and not setting it to P1 because I needed to be somewhere in 15 minutes. A hard but well learned lesson is how I am going to view this and hope my zon has a better run.
 
That hurts, glad you trying again.
Well, it took me 4 runs with the countess and an awefull lot of visits to Gheed but I finally have my Stealth studded leather armor back :) so that's a start.

I am enjoying my new lightning amazon a lot better then the windydruid so far. I am going to miss that passive tree skill for the time being, but she'll pull through if I can remain patient and not mess up big time again. But being a newby with HC will probably see me mess up sooner or later once again
 
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@Arjan Sorry about the deeds, good luck on the replacement character.

After the last update for our intrepid duo, it was time to begin Ifrit's journey through Hell. After both Shiva and Ifrit completed NM, Ifrit unlocked the summoning tree. He respec'ed and maxed Oak Sage (giving him ~2k life!) and put a point into Grizzly. It was immediately apparent that with Oak Sage and Grizzly, Ifrit would be virtually unkillable (I think his life dipped below 1k once so far in Hell 🤯). It was also clear that a single point in Grizzly is more than enough. Only extreme situations or act bosses threaten it. That freed up the skill points I'd been saving for Volcano/Fissure synergies.

That said, while Ifrit likely won't die, he isn't going to win any awards for killing speed. I use Volcano for FI's, and it works, but it's not very fast, since it randomly knocks mobs back and the Grizzly also knocks back, it's hard to keep them still for long. Non FI's go down pretty quick with Fissure on /p1. The first pretty cool drop was from Bonebreaker:
Screenshot186.jpg

Two uniques! Both were sold for gambling money (Ifrit may have a problem with that...). The next drop cemented the merc as a lean mean fighting machine:
Screenshot187.jpg

A Lem rune! Coupled with a 3os dusk shroud that dropped, this made for Azrael's end game armor:

Treachery
Dusk Shroud
'ShaelThulLem'
Defense: 461
Durability: 18 of 20
Required Strength: 77
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 69
Fingerprint: 0x131448d2
Cold Resist +30%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
45% Increased Attack Speed
20% Faster Hit Recovery
25% Chance to cast Level 15 Venom on striking
5% Chance to cast Level 15 Fade when struck
Socketed (3: 3 used)

This is the first time I've ever made a Treachery (don't have much luck with Lem runes) and I'm amazed at how great it is for the merc. I expected it would be good, but he's unkillable with it and Tal's mask.

Things were pretty uneventful for a while. Countess dropped a Sol rune. Then, a decent drop in the Catacombs:
Screenshot191.jpg

He has it on switch, and he has a lot of MF armor/jewelry in his stash, but it only ever comes out for act bosses. At this point, his gear is pretty good, so MF isn't necessary. Andy went down fast on /p3, and her drop was interesting:

Screenshot192.jpg

More MF, and two set amulets! They were Civerb and Angelic, so no help there. I was hoping for two more Tal ammys, cause why not 😛. Act II was very straightforward, I started doing semi full clears. Annoying areas (Maggot lair, that one arm of the Arcane Sanctuary, etc) I do the minimum to get through, and areas without narrow passages where Fissure really is hampered typically get full cleared. At this point, I'm not concerned with experience on Ifrit, I'm quite confident he could dispatch Baal if I was at him, no sweat, so I'm kind of trying to just power through. The worst area was Tal Rasha's Tomb. This was the first and last tomb I went in. The only mobs in there were Unravellers and their FI skeletons, undead Wraiths, and the mummy tombs. Every unique pack was Unravellers, and there were over 10 of them that I saw (though I probably cleared most of the tomb). It was agonizing luring skeletons away in droves, spending time in town to despawn corpses, and eventually whittling away at Unravellers. The opposite of fun. Duriel was handled on /p3:

Screenshot195.jpg

I went ahead and kept on chugging with Ifrit. I am wowed at how sturdy he is, I had no idea Druids were this strong. This is the first character where getting amped really has no impact on him. Don't get me wrong, I still go cleanse it, but only unique mobs with 3 nasty mods even can dent the merc and bear. Even Sszark was no threat. The highlight of the act was this drop:
Screenshot196.jpg

A second Gul rune!!!! So, at this point, between Ifrit and Shiva, they have the means to make a HoTO! As tempting as it is to combine their stashes and give it to Shiva, I am going to finish without sharing items. Ifrit may still be able to make one himself, he's only a Gul or Vex away, and the HF can drop Gul.... I found a familiar item:
Screenshot198.jpg

And promptly threw it back down on the ground. 210 strength is impossibly far off for Azrael. I spent a little time gambling and crafting amulets, but nothing very good. Amulet and gloves are the two items an easy improvement could be made in Ifrit's gear, though both of them are good enough. I did manage to craft a good ring, though have to be clvl 82 to use (Ifrit is 81 currently).

Entropy Turn
Ring
Required Level: 82
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x36d4bfce
+5 to Strength
+42 to Life
+7 to Maximum Stamina
+20 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +24%
2% Life stolen per hit

Somewhere in the Durance Ifrit finally got hit with the ignore merc bug, so far it had been smooth sailing for him. Luckily, with mobs still attacking the Grizzly and Oak Sage, it was bearable, and for Meph it was nice since he never went after the merc. Meph was killed on /p3, dropped junk.

I'll probably continue through Act IV with Ifrit next, then pick Shiva back up in Act III. Playing Ifrit is so exciting, his survivability is unparalleled (max block, max resists, 2.4k life, 7 frame FHR) combined with very lucky/good drops, and while he still has a way to go, I've never been this optimistic about a HC character making guardian. He plays like a twinked character, not a single pass tournament character. Act IV is sure to be slow, but nothing that is a showstopper.
 

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I found a familiar item:
View attachment 66897

And promptly threw it back down on the ground. 210 strength is impossibly far off for Azrael.

Well, since you brought up grey Colossus Voulges:

Screenshot840.jpg

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Uh oh, because it's my most wanted item ... but I no longer had a sure-fire method of socketing it. My NM socketing quest went to a 199% ED Duriel's Shell (it seemed like an unarguable decision at the time). So I could sit on it until Act V ... or I could take the 50/50 shot and get to use it for pretty much all of Act II, and then III and IV. After clearing the Sewers and taking a break for some soul searching I decided I'd go for the 50/50. I gathered the materials and hit transmute:

Two Sockets.

No screenshot or readout ... I threw it on the ground and exited the game and didn't play again for the rest of the day :cry: .

Ouch. Just ouch. For a character that depends on the merc for killing that would have been amazing. To be so close to having exactly what I needed, but then ultimately being denied ...

... ouch ...

I was nearly driven mad with hopeless longing ... but I've since picked up the pieces and moved on ... well, I've started to move on ... I'm still not quite through all the stages of grief ... maybe this post will help ...

*Sigh*

@skoolbus - Great progress! Glad to hear your Druid is so much fun!
 
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Fine. I didn't need that eth Colossus Voulge anyways ...

Screenshot879.jpg

Hell Duriel and the rest of it's buddies have been defeated!

It was players 5 most of the time. The Arcane Sanctuary and Tal's Tombs were done at players 3 due to PI Specters:

Screenshot866.jpg

Game play was more of the same. War Cry to stun foes. Taunt to draw in ranged foes and stragglers. Battle Cry to weaken. Merc kills ... unless foes are PI ... then Barb kills via Berserk. Simple. Easy to remember. And often rather photogenic:

Screenshot877.jpg

The most major (positive :p ) development came early:

Screenshot845.jpg

Skull Gnash
Tyrant Club
One-Hand Damage: 108 to 196
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Strength: 133
Required Level: 55
Mace Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0x7312b62b
+238% Enhanced Damage
+113 to Attack Rating
4% Life stolen per hit
4% Mana stolen per hit
Attacker Takes Damage of 6
150% Damage to Undead
5% Chance to cast Level 4 Frost Nova when struck

I'd been crafting all the elite one-handed magic axes and maces that I'd come across, and finally got something worth having! Cruel damage and dual leech ... that'll work for now! And it came just in time. There were a great many PI foes throughout Hell Act II. The early PI foes (mostly Sand Flies) were weak enough that I was able to keep the game at players 5. The Specters in the Arcane Sanctuary and Tal's Tombs were made of tougher stuff, and I decided I'd drop down to players 3 in the interest of getting things done in some reasonable amount of time :D .

The merc also got a new item:

Screenshot861.jpg

A four socket Superior Great Poleaxe, with +2 to Attack Rating and 12% Increased Durability. Not exactly the sort of item that you dream about finding in AT, but we'll take it!

Insight
Superior Great Poleaxe
'RalTirTalSol'
Two-Hand Damage: 172 to 452
Durability: 61 of 62
Required Dexterity: 99
Required Strength: 179
Required Level: 63
Polearm Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x8a6ca0c8
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
+256% Enhanced Damage
+2 to Attack Rating
+9 to Minimum Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
+75 poison damage over 5 seconds
Increase Maximum Durability 12%
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+1 to Critical Strike
35% Faster Cast Rate
229% Bonus to Attack Rating
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Level 12 Meditation Aura When Equipped
Socketed (4: 4 used)

A great ED% roll ... but again with the +1 to Critical Strike :( . So, probably about the same damage as the Colossus Voulge Insight the merc was already using. But, there was one huge difference. With much lower requirements I was able to Hel out the PAmethyst in the merc's Duriel Shell in favor of a Sol Rune, and swap out the rare circlet with +strength (amongst other things), back to Tal's Mask. So while a damage boost would have been nice (I'm looking at you eth Colossus Voulge) ... I guess I'll settle for a boost in survivability ... not that the merc struggling with the Barb stunning everything in sight ... you know, except champions and uniques ...

I wasn't quite sure of what to expect in Tal's Tombs, where, you know, there's a high concentration of champions and uniques. But they turned out to be no big deal. The merc proved pretty tanky with his new gear configuration and Arthur had answers for any problems the monsters could throw at him. Berserk handled all the PIs. War Cry with Taunt shut down the regular Unravellers. Find Item denied the champion and unique Unravellers of corpses. I had fun stunning the stunners (Blunderbores) ... and even generally managed to get into position to block otherwise annoying Sarcophaguses.

Duriel was pretty easy too. The General's Tan Do Li Ga Knout was used for slowing. Crushflange then got swapped in for Crushing Blow. And the merc did his thing on the opposite side of Duriel. I tried Life Tap but decided that Battle Cry was more effective. After a few retreats to town to restock health potions and refresh thawing potions, Duriel went out with a whimper.

As you could see up top, Duriel dropped a unique ring. Ooh aah. I remember reading that Duriel is a great place to find SoJs ... or maybe it's that Ravenfrost I've really been wanting:

Screenshot880.jpg

GO FISH!

Here's the complete list of set/uniques that resulted from a full clear of Hell Act II at players 5/3:
With 319 mf (+23 mf if the merc kills ... which was pretty much always).

The General's Tan Do Li Ga, Flail (Dry Hills)
Brainhew, Great Axe (Halls of the Dead Level 1)
Milabrega's Diadem, Crown (Halls of the Dead Level 1)
Seraph's Hymn, Amulet (Halls of the Dead Level 2)
Hawkmail, Scale Mail (Far Oasis)
Gerke's Sanctuary, Pavise (Lost City) <-- Woohoo!
Berserker's Headgear, Helm (Lost City)
The Battlebranch, Poleaxe (Palace Cellar Level 2)
Iratha's Collar, Amulet (Arcane Sanctuary)
Nagelring, Ring (Arcane Sanctuary)
Skullder's Ire, Russet Armor (Tal Rasha's True Tomb) <-- Neat, but I'm getting 100 mf through Angelic armor, amulet, and rings.
Berserker's Headgear, Helm (Tal Rasha's True Tomb)
Nagelring, Ring (Duriel)
The Centurion, Hard Leather Armor Duriel)
Aldur's Rhythm, Jagged Star (Tal Rasha's False Tomb) <-- Sure, where were you in NM?
Wizendraw, Long Battle Bow (Tal Rasha's False Tomb)
Sigon's Sabot, Greaves (Tal Rasha's False Tomb)

Hmm, I would have expected more ... especially using Find Item on every corpse. Oh well, I got one good one:

Screenshot855.jpg

Gerke's Sanctuary
Pavise
Defense: 251
Chance to Block: 74%
Smite Damage: 10 to 17
Durability: 67 of 172
Required Strength: 133
Required Level: 44
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0xdb514e5
+218% Enhanced Defense
+30% Increased Chance of Blocking
Damage Reduced by 13
Magic Damage Reduced by 16
All Resistances +27
+100 Maximum Durability
Replenish Life +15

Not a bad roll :) . I have enough stat points saved that I could use it to get to max block ... but my resistances would take a big hit (I'm currently using a three PDiamond Kite Shield) ... I think I need to find an armor that has high resistances before I can equip this ...

Also in the category of future use:

Screenshot882.jpg

Wow! An Um Rune in 1.11b! I'd gone straight to Duriel before the False Tombs in hopes of finding a sweet weapon ... and here I find the most critical component for one at the start of the first False Tomb! So yeah, I'm thinking I'll create a Crescent Moon. I have a three socketed Highland Blade but might hold out for a three socketed Legend Sword. Both have the +2 range which will let me hit stuff from behind the merc ... but the Legend Sword is about a frame faster ... so, if I can find a Legend Sword and get a three socket roll ... cool ... if not ... oh well. Either way, I think a Highland Blade or Legend Sword would work pretty well (y) .

So after twelve acts, I think I'm almost set on gear :p . If I can find an armor with high resistances then I'll be good to go. Currently I'm using the Angelic armor with the amulet and rings ... so I'm getting 50 fire resistance ... but if I could find something like a Lum Rune (Smoke), Duriel's (again), Skin of the Vipermagi, or Goldskin, then I should be able to cover the rest of the needed resistances with charms so that I can swap in the Gerke's and a Crescent Moon. It's a bit harder than it sounds because my Blade of Ali Baba is granting a grand total of 84 various resistance points ... so a lot more are needed from somewhere ... Hey, I know, maybe I could find an Arreat's or a Kira's ... that'd fix everything :p .

Code:
SP  Forum Name         Characters        Level   Furthest WP             Points
--  -----------------  ----------------  ------  ----------------------  -------
Y   Hanshotfirst       Sorc/Sin          88/87   Guardian x2                200
N   PhineasB           Necro/Druid       83/83   Guardian x2                200
N   Booble             Sorc/Druid        74/70   Matriarch / Deeds          174
Y   skoolbus           Druid/Sorc        74/74   (H) Blood Moor             124
Y   Hanshotfirst       Barb/Necro*       85/56*  (H) Kurast Docks           112
N   Crudesash68        Zon/Paladin       46/50   (N) Lut Gholein            67
Y   Pb_pal             Sorc/Zon          45/44   (N) Rogue Encampment       60
N   Swamigoon          Sin/Druid         45/45   WSK2                       60
Y   Gynli              Zon/Necro         32/48   (N) Rogue Encampment       51
N   DariusTriplet      Sorc/Zon          31/24   River of Flame             32
N   Arjan              Druid/Necro       28/28   Khurast Docks              24
N   Dazliare           Sin/Sin           28/28   Kurast Docks               24
N   Zedwardson         Sorc/Necro        13/26   Kurask docks               16
Y   Maltatai           Druid/Druid       24/24   Far Oasis                  14
Y   Vildecor           Zon/Sorc          21/20   Lut Gholein                12
N   CaseyJones         Sorc/Druid        15/23   Lut Gholein                9
N   Zedwardson         Druid/Paladin     3/18    Lut Gholein                7
Y   b1ur               Paladin/Druid     20/1    Lut Gholein                6

Up next: Maybe I'll find some cool stuff and end my mfing career ... or not. What I'm doing is working, so I suppose there's no big rush to make changes.
 
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Just as a aside, need to build up my Ice Sorc more in my Sorc/Necro team. The Necro is ready to do act 3, the Sorc is having a hard time with Andy. I just need to learn how to play a sorc better. (One reason why I made her is I never play Sorc and learning the tricks to play them.
 
SP Forum Name Characters Level Furthest WP Points -- ----------------- ---------------- ------ ---------------------- ------- Y Hanshotfirst Sorc/Sin 88/87 Guardian x2 200 N PhineasB Necro/Druid 83/83 Guardian x2 200 N Booble Sorc/Druid 74/70 Matriarch / Deeds 174 Y skoolbus Druid/Sorc 74/74 (H) Blood Moor 124 Y Hanshotfirst Barb/Necro* 85/56* (H) Kurast Docks 112 N Crudesash68 Zon/Paladin 46/50 (N) Lut Gholein 67 Y Pb_pal Sorc/Zon 45/44 (N) Rogue Encampment 60 N Swamigoon Sin/Druid 45/45 WSK2 60 Y Gynli Zon/Necro 32/48 (N) Rogue Encampment 51 N DariusTriplet Sorc/Zon 31/24 River of Flame 32 N Arjan Druid/Necro 28/28 Khurast Docks 24 N Dazliare Sin/Sin 28/28 Kurast Docks 24 N Zedwardson Sorc/Necro 17/26 Kurask docks 17 Y Maltatai Druid/Druid 24/24 Far Oasis 14 Y Vildecor Zon/Sorc 21/20 Lut Gholein 12 N CaseyJones Sorc/Druid 15/23 Lut Gholein 9 N Zedwardson Druid/Paladin 3/18 Lut Gholein 7 Y b1ur Paladin/Druid 20/1 Lut Gholein 6

Screenshot from 2021-09-06 12-03-40.png
Well finally out of act 1 normal with my freeze sorc.
 
@HanShotFirst A bit late for this, but while it's a shame you didn't get 4 sockets in the eth Colossus Voulge, I definitely think you made the right choice using the socket reward on your Duriel's to equip the first one. Finding an eth elite polearm that Larzuk will give 4 sockets (which I think is ONLY the Colossus Voulge) probably happens 1 out of 10+ characters doing single pass, so you could never hoard that reward hoping for the perfect drop. But glad you're progressing along fine without the eth Insight.👍
I'm impressed by your Buddhist monk like patience, still using find item on every corpse... Seems to be paying off though, some more great drops. An Um in 1.11 is amazing.

On to Shiva and Ifrit, big update for them. Pretty much right after my last update, I kept going with Ifrit in Act IV. It went very well, much better than NM. The merc having the Treachery and having a Grizzly made it quite bearable (ha!). I still did the bare minimum of killing up through the Chaos Sanctuary. I had high hopes for the hellforge drop, the chance to make a HoTO on an untwinked single pass character....

Screenshot200.jpg

Anyway, back to reality. A second Lem rune did drop in the Chaos Sanctuary, but I never used it for anything. The seal bosses weren't too bad, did have to TP out and ran back from the WP for De Seis, mostly out of caution. Before I got to Act IV, I thought the 1 point Grizzly was invincible, but I was corrected very quick in Act IV. Urdars and Doom Knights turned him into a cuddly teddy bear. Eventually took down Diablo, I forgot if it was /p1 or /p3.
Screenshot202.jpg

At this point, I did switch back to Shiva, in order to keep them within 1 act of each other, but to make the post flow better, I'll continue Ifrit's story. Before starting Act V, Ifrit went back to norm or NM (I forget which) and used his second socket quest and personalize on his helmet to put a PRuby in it. I figured I might as well use it and a PRuby was the best option. Ifrit was not fortunate with Act V spawns. The first few areas were predominately FI's and Slingers, so he pretty much just hugged the edge of the map and skipped the maximum possible (except to grab WPs and do quests) while maintaining safety. One of the underground areas brought about a unique pack that would really have tested how sturdy Ifrit was. A pack of cursed, fanat, Frenzytaurs. Rather than fight with honor, I booked it as fast as I could and TP'ed out. I went another way and never saw them again. That was the only real excitement up to the Ancients. I rerolled them several times until I got some manageable mods and I didn't accidently let the merc die. Big thanks to @HanShotFirst for the suggestion earlier in the thread to bring a life tap wand to the fight. That's such a smart idea.

Once the Ancients went down, it was a short trip through the WSK to get to the throne room. Throne of Destruction was horrible, Doom Knights, Pit Lords, Assailants (basically everything FI). I had to park 2 unique bosses before I even got to Baal's minions... The minions weren't bad, Lister and crew was the toughest, though fighting them 2/3 at a time, Ifrit eventually whittled them down. Baal was tackled on /p1. Glad I didn't raise the players setting, because it was a long fight. No CB on the merc. But eventually, Baal went down.

Screenshot214.jpg

Amulet was The Rising Sun. After that, Ifrit went and killed the Cow King and Nihlathak. Both of those went smoothly. At the end, Ifrit was level 83.

So now it's Shiva's turn. Between FO and Hydra, Shiva mostly flew through Act III. The Flayers in the Flayer Jungle were CI, so that was the only part where she (barely) slowed down. The first screenshot I have was an odd jewel:
Screenshot203.jpg

I had thought it would just change to "Adds 6-7 damage", but apparently not. Shiva also has a great LK map (though she hurried through LK once and won't be going back).
Screenshot204.jpg

Council and Durance weren't bad. Around the Durance I think I figured out why I kept getting plagued with the ignore merc bug. It seems that if your character is walking (not running) as Shiva was a good portion of NM and nearly all of Hell, then your merc 'walks' too. Merc walking is slower and stupider than a baby crawling. Once I went back to running, the merc was like Usain Bolt, and I don't think I had any more issues with him getting ignored. Kind of frustrating since I spent all these points in Dex for 50% block on Shiva and running for the most part negates that. Meph was easily killed on /p3.
Screenshot205.jpg

Act IV wasn't bad, did get Flesh Spawners, so it was a game trying to get Hydras to take them out. Shiva's Hell hellforge dropped the highest rune that either Shiva or Ifrit got from the hellforge:
Screenshot206.jpg

They did not have luck at the hellforge, that's for sure. Chaos Sanctuary and Diablo were no match for Shiva. Diablo went down on /p3:
Screenshot207.jpg

Before starting Act V, I finally went ahead and used the Um rune she found in Act IV NM to make the merc a Duress. Unfortunately, the only 3os armor I had was a Cuirass (tried socketing MANY elite armors, but never got 3). Within 5 minutes of leaving Harrogath, I found 2 elite 3os armors... Oh well, Cuirass is still fine. I also burned through the rest of my chippies, trying to improve over a Spire of Honor for the merc. This is the best I got:

Cruel Cryptic Axe
'Amn'
Two-Hand Damage: 103 to 469
Durability: 53 of 65
Required Dexterity: 103
Required Strength: 165
Required Level: 59
Polearm Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0x82f4f61f
+213% Enhanced Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Low role, 1 socket, and no suffix, but even still, a considerable upgrade.

Shiva's Act V spawns were quite nice. Other than Imps and some skeletons, no ranged attackers, and very few CIs. As such, she cleared much more of the outdoors areas than Ifrit (though still mostly went in a straight line to the next area). Had a pretty handy drop on the way to save Anya, though at this point she really didn't need it:
Screenshot208.jpg

Ancients fight wasn't bad, her low life was a slight cause for concern. I never ate 2 rounds of axes from Madawc, but I think she would have survived it. The merc with the life tap charges was a champ. The WSK spawns were favorable. Both of these characters were very lucky not having Dolls ever in the WSK. Baal's minions stood no chance, and neither did he on /p3.
Screenshot211.jpg

So all that's left is Cows and Nih, should be easy. Right?

Like an idiot, I forgot to change back from /p3 when I reloaded her. I first went in to kill Pindle, thinking he doesn't stand a chance against FO. Well, /p1 Pindle probably wouldn't, but /p3 was a different matter. He of course was cursed, and the merc didn't live long. Shiva quickly got surrounded. At this point there is extreme panic. I hit esc to give me a chance to think about my options. Killing everything was ruled out, one charge attack did about 900 damage and Pindle's FE would surely 1 shot her if I managed to kill him. I could try and run past them into the Halls of Anguish or try and run back out the red portal. I might be able to escape out of a TP too. In the end, I decided to run back out the red portal. Horrible decision. Chugging purples mostly at random as she sprinted back towards the red portal, knowing that 2 charges would spell deeds, and I ran out of rejuvs, still with a little bit to go. By some miracle, she escaped, this was the aftermath once my nerves calmed back down:
Screenshot213.jpg

Very very lucky to still be alive. After that, I was much more careful, not rushing one bit, and managed to kill Pindle and continue. I still didn't realize it was on /p3, and it was laborious until it finally hit me why everything was taking so long to kill. Nihlathak managed to hit Shiva with a CE, which also nearly killed her, but thankfully he died. After that, she went and killed the Cow King. And with that, both Shiva and Ifrit get a much deserved retirement.

Screenshot212.jpg
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I'll post their stats and gear in another post, this one is probably long enough as it is. These are my first Sorc and Druid Guardians, so that's exciting. I've lost a couple of Sorcs in Hell before, I got very lucky Shiva managed to survive all the NDEs. I probably won't play any more single pass untwinked Sorcs. They are just so fragile. I had only ever played 1 or 2 Druids before Ifrit, but I'd definitely play another one (though not a fire one).

Thanks @Pb_pal for hosting and your valuable insight into fire Druids! Good luck everyone still going!

Code:
SP  Forum Name         Characters        Level   Furthest WP             Points
--  -----------------  ----------------  ------  ----------------------  -------
Y   Hanshotfirst       Sorc/Sin          88/87   Guardian x2                200
N   PhineasB           Necro/Druid       83/83   Guardian x2                200
Y   skoolbus           Druid/Sorc        83/85   Guardian x2                200
N   Booble             Sorc/Druid        74/70   Matriarch / Deeds          174
Y   Hanshotfirst       Barb/Necro*       85/56*  (H) Kurast Docks           112
N   Crudesash68        Zon/Paladin       46/50   (N) Lut Gholein            67
Y   Pb_pal             Sorc/Zon          45/44   (N) Rogue Encampment       60
N   Swamigoon          Sin/Druid         45/45   WSK2                       60
Y   Gynli              Zon/Necro         32/48   (N) Rogue Encampment       51
N   DariusTriplet      Sorc/Zon          31/24   River of Flame             32
N   Arjan              Druid/Necro       28/28   Khurast Docks              24
N   Dazliare           Sin/Sin           28/28   Kurast Docks               24
N   Zedwardson         Sorc/Necro        17/26   Kurask docks               17
Y   Maltatai           Druid/Druid       24/24   Far Oasis                  14
Y   Vildecor           Zon/Sorc          21/20   Lut Gholein                12
N   CaseyJones         Sorc/Druid        15/23   Lut Gholein                9
N   Zedwardson         Druid/Paladin     3/18    Lut Gholein                7
Y   b1ur               Paladin/Druid     20/1    Lut Gholein                6
 

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Here's a summary of Ifrit/Shiva.

Character name : Ifrit
Character type : Hardcore Druid
Character level : 83
Character exp : 930327223

Stats: Naked/Total
Strength: 75/80
Dexterity: 200/200
Vitality: 210/235
Energy: 20/26

Life: 608 (naked)/1099 (with gear)/ 2829 (with Oak Sage)

LCS:
Screenshot217.jpg

Skills:
Firestorm 10/16
Molten Boulder 20/26
Fissure 20/26
Volcano 20/26

Raven 1/6
Spirit Wolf 1/6
Dire Wolf 1/6
Grizzly 1/6
Oak Sage 20/25

Gear:
'Spirit' Crystal Sword
'Rhyme' Tower Shield
+2 Druid Skills Antlers socketed with PRuby
35 resist Skin of the Vipermagi socketed with 15 resist all/+7 life jewel
16% LR/23% MF Heavy Gloves
Infernostride Demonhide Boots
Rare Demondhide Sash (+33 life, 11% LR, 20% CR, 24% FHR)
2 Crafted Rings
Rare Amulet (12% FR, 31% CR, 3 MDR, +1 elemental skills)

Also used a +3 summoning skill amulet to prebuff Grizzly/Oak Sage at the start of a session.

Merc Gear:
Husoldal Evo (unique Bec-de-Corbin)
Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
'Treachery' Dusk Shroud

Spirit
Superior Crystal Sword
'TalThulOrtAmn'
One-Hand Damage: 5 to 15
Durability: 22 of 23
Required Strength: 43
Required Level: 25
Sword Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x3666fe4e
+22 to Vitality
+89 to Mana
+1 to Attack Rating
+250 Defense vs. Missile
Adds 1-50 lightning damage
Adds 3-14 cold damage over 3 seconds
+75 poison damage over 5 seconds
7% Life stolen per hit
Increase Maximum Durability 13%
55% Faster Hit Recovery
26% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to All Skill Levels
+4 Magic Absorb
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Rhyme
Superior Tower Shield
'ShaelEth'
Defense: 27
Chance to Block: 64%
Durability: 65 of 67
Required Strength: 75
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 66
Fingerprint: 0x8f54f8e
+7% Enhanced Defense
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
Regenerate Mana 15%
All Resistances +25
Increase Maximum Durability 11%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Faster Block Rate
Cannot Be Frozen
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Ifrit's Hierophant's Antlers of Energy
Defense: 23
Durability: 19 of 20
(Druid Only)
Required Strength: 24
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 61
Fingerprint: 0xaa25eeff
+3 to Energy
+38 to Life
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
+3 to Spirit of Barbs (Druid Only)
+1 to Solar Creeper (Druid Only)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Ifrit's Skin of the Vipermagi
Serpentskin Armor
Defense: 279
Durability: 23 of 24
Required Strength: 43
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 44
Fingerprint: 0x43256584
+7 to Life
+120% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 9
All Resistances +50
30% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Ocher Heavy Gloves of Fortune
Defense: 6
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Level: 12
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 20
Fingerprint: 0xc652584e
Lightning Resist +16%
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Infernostride
Demonhide Boots
Defense: 102
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x34916435
+144% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
Fire Resist +30%
+10% to Maximum Fire Resist
Adds 12-33 fire damage
62% Extra Gold from Monsters
+2 to Light Radius
20% Faster Run/Walk
5% Chance to cast Level 8 Blaze when struck

Bramble Buckle
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 33
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 24
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 62
Fingerprint: 0x996e1300
+33 to Life
+15 to Attack Rating
Lightning Resist +11%
Cold Resist +20%
+1 to Light Radius
24% Faster Hit Recovery

Doom Gorget
Amulet
Required Level: 19
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 64
Fingerprint: 0x6105f135
+3 to Energy
+30 to Attack Rating
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
Fire Resist +12%
Cold Resist +31%
+3 to Light Radius
+1 to Elemental Skills (Druid Only)

Raven Touch
Ring
Required Level: 73
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 74
Fingerprint: 0x8deb0218
+3 to Vitality
+8 to Minimum Damage
Damage Reduced by 4
Magic Damage Reduced by 1
Fire Resist +9%
Cold Resist +22%
10% Faster Cast Rate

Entropy Turn
Ring
Required Level: 82
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x36d4bfce
+5 to Strength
+42 to Life
+7 to Maximum Stamina
+20 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +24%
2% Life stolen per hit

Merc Gear:
Husoldal Evo
Bec-de-Corbin
Two-Hand Damage: 58 to 281
Durability: 47 of 55
Required Dexterity: 91
Required Strength: 133
Required Level: 44
Polearm Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x860f7972
+194% Enhanced Damage
+241 to Attack Rating
+20 to Minimum Damage
+32 to Maximum Damage
Replenish Life +20
20% Increased Attack Speed
Prevent Monster Heal

Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Death Mask
Defense: 129
Durability: 17 of 20
Required Strength: 55
Required Level: 66
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 52
Fingerprint: 0x71797161
+60 to Life
+30 to Mana
+45 Defense
All Resistances +15
10% Life stolen per hit
10% Mana stolen per hit

Treachery
Dusk Shroud
'ShaelThulLem'
Defense: 461
Durability: 18 of 20
Required Strength: 77
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 69
Fingerprint: 0x131448d2
Cold Resist +30%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
45% Increased Attack Speed
20% Faster Hit Recovery
25% Chance to cast Level 15 Venom on striking
5% Chance to cast Level 15 Fade when struck
Socketed (3: 3 used)


Character name : Shiva
Character type : Hardcore Sorceress
Character level : 85
Character exp : 1079883998

Strength: 80
Dexterity: 155
Vitality: 245
Energy: 35

Life: 654 (naked)/ 1061 (with gear)

LCS:
Screenshot218.jpg

Skills:
Frozen Armor 1/6
Shiver Armor 1/6
Chilling Armor 1/6
Ice Bolt 1/6
Ice Blast 1/6
Glacial Spike 1/6
Frost Nova 1/6
Blizzard 1/6
Frozen Orb 20/25
Cold Mastery 14/19

Fire Bolt 1/6
Fire Ball 11/16
Warmth 1/6
Enchant 1/6
Hydra 20/25
Fire Mastery 20/25

Gear:
+2 Sorc skills Crystalline Globe
'Rhyme' Heater
Rare Circlet (12% MF, +1 sorc skills, 30% FRW)
'Smoke' Light Plate
Bloodfist
Rare eth Scarabshell Boots (+3 dex, 29% FR, 38% CR, 24% MF, 20% FRW) <-- 2/8 Durability left!
+88 life, 18% LR Plated Belt
Tal's Ammy
+30 life, 19% LR magic ring
+33 life magic ring

Merc Gear:
213% Cruel Cryptic Axe socketed with Amn
Crown of Ages socketed with 2x Sol
'Duress' Cuirass

Arch-Angel's Crystalline Globe
One-Hand Damage: 10 to 26
Durability: 29 of 30
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 42
Orb Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 52
Fingerprint: 0x54a58375
+21 to Mana
+2 to Sorceress Skill Levels

Rhyme
Heater
'ShaelEth'
Defense: 104
Chance to Block: 62%
Durability: 87 of 88
Required Strength: 77
Required Level: 43
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 76
Fingerprint: 0x49d1dc11
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
Regenerate Mana 15%
All Resistances +25
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Faster Block Rate
Cannot Be Frozen
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Rhyme
Heater
'ShaelEth'
Defense: 104
Chance to Block: 62%
Durability: 87 of 88
Required Strength: 77
Required Level: 43
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 76
Fingerprint: 0x49d1dc11
+20% Increased Chance of Blocking
Regenerate Mana 15%
All Resistances +25
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Faster Block Rate
Cannot Be Frozen
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Smoke
Light Plate
'NefLum'
Defense: 166
Durability: 56 of 60
Required Strength: 41
Required Level: 37
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 50
Fingerprint: 0x7e3c0a85
+10 to Energy
+75% Enhanced Defense
+280 Defense vs. Missile
All Resistances +50
-1 to Light Radius
20% Faster Hit Recovery
Level 6 Weaken (18/18 Charges)
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Ocher Plated Belt of the Whale
Defense: 10
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 60
Required Level: 37
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0x756843d8
+88 to Life
Lightning Resist +18%

Bloodfist
Heavy Gloves
Defense: 17
Durability: 13 of 14
Required Level: 9
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 62
Fingerprint: 0x3c0d34a3
+40 to Life
+12% Enhanced Defense
+5 to Minimum Damage
+10 Defense
10% Increased Attack Speed
30% Faster Hit Recovery

Bone Track
Scarabshell Boots
Defense: 119
Durability: 2 of 8
Required Strength: 81
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 71
Fingerprint: 0x426ec4fc
+3 to Dexterity
+21% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +29%
Cold Resist +38%
24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
20% Faster Run/Walk
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

Tal Rasha's Adjudication
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0x3334cd2d
+50 to Life
+42 to Mana
Lightning Resist +33%
Adds 3-32 lightning damage
+2 to Sorceress Skill Levels

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
10% Faster Cast Rate
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***

Ocher Ring of the Tiger
Required Level: 43
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 74
Fingerprint: 0x82f7273c
+30 to Life
Lightning Resist +19%

Ring of the Mammoth
Required Level: 60
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0xd6479e0f
+33 to Life

Merc Gear:
Cruel Cryptic Axe
'Amn'
Two-Hand Damage: 103 to 469
Durability: 53 of 65
Required Dexterity: 103
Required Strength: 165
Required Level: 59
Polearm Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 25
Fingerprint: 0x82f4f61f
+213% Enhanced Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Crown of Ages
Corona
'SolSol'
Defense: 377
Required Strength: 174
Required Level: 82
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x4e5451d5
+50% Enhanced Defense
+128 Defense
Damage Reduced by 14
Damage Reduced by 13%
All Resistances +28
30% Faster Hit Recovery
+1 to All Skill Levels
Indestructible
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Duress
Cuirass
'ShaelUmThul'
Defense: 502
Durability: 31 of 50
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0x5e4a31b6
+150% Enhanced Defense
+16% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +15%
Cold Resist +45%
Poison Resist +15%
Adds 37-133 cold damage over 2 seconds
40% Faster Hit Recovery
33% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
-20% Slower Stamina Drain
Socketed (3: 3 used)
 
@skoolbus - Congrats on the dual Guardians!

I enjoyed the write-ups, and it was fun to be in the same part of the game as another player ... but I suppose with my Buddhist monk approach I was bound to be left behind :p .

Also, congrats again on those great finds! That Skin of the Vipermagi and it's jewel is awesome! And of course that Crown of Ages is the stuff of legends!

On a side note, I was just curious as to why you didn't make an Insight with either character ... other than the one in the lance ;) . It seems like that would have helped both your characters throughout their journeys. Though, don't get me wrong. It's great to see someone make it all the way without doing so! When I saw that 213% ED Cryptic Axe I couldn't help but think: 'You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!'
 
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@skoolbus - Congrats on the dual Guardians!

I enjoyed the write-ups, and it was fun to be in the same part of the game as another player ... but I suppose with my Buddhist monk approach I was bound to be left behind :p .
Thanks! I enjoyed playing at the same pace too, but my patience ran out at the end of Act II Hell, and at that point my thoroughness went down and desire to go from point A to B as fast as possible won out. Sorry to leave you hanging here at the end :p

Also, congrats again on those great finds! That Skin of the Vipermagi and it's jewel is awesome! And of course that Crown of Ages is the stuff of legends!
There's no beating around the bush, both my characters were extremely lucky with finds. I doubt I'll ever see another CoA again, but it was cool to use once! Looking it up in ATMA, a guess of 300MF shows about a 1 in 50,000 chance of it dropping! 🤯 Probably safe to say I won't see another.

On a side note, I was just curious as to why you didn't make an Insight with either character ... other than the one in the lance ;) . It seems like that would have helped both your characters throughout their journeys. Though, don't get me wrong. It's great to see someone make it all the way without doing so! When I saw that 213% ED Cryptic Axe I couldn't help but think: 'You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!'
There were a few reasons, the biggest is my reluctance to make runewords in anything other than 'great' bases. For some reason I want to go from the early game weapon straight to the end game weapon with no in between. There's no reason for this mentality since I found the runes to make a dozen Insights, so maybe next character I'll be able to break it (though my next character is a 'melee blues' paladin using only blue items, so he won't be using runewords). This also hurt me by waiting until one act to go to spend my Um rune for Duress, despite Shiva's merc being an utter trainwreck all through Hell (even with the CoA) and when I did spend it, it was in something I probably had in NM, a non-eth Cuirass. I kept having these dreams of socketing an eth elite armor (and tried with the few I found) and getting over 1k defense. I do remember seeing one 4os Partizan (non eth) somewhere in NM, but I didn't deem it 'great' at the time. In hindsight, I definitely should have made one in that.

I also did not have good luck with socketable drops or cubing them, I have no 4os polearms in either their stashes, so either one never dropped or by the time it did, I was probably further in Hell and wasn't going to bother at that point. I know I tried cubing many elite weapons, but never got the right number of sockets. Ifrit really didn't need an Insight in Hell, he never had mana issues. Shiva for sure could have used it.
 
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@skoolbus congrats on your dual Guardians! It's been a pleasure reading about their journey!

little progress update on my journey: Guthrie is dead and burie... picked clean by Mephisto's minions. Enter Othrea a Lightening zon.
We went like lightning throught act I and because we had so much fun we decided to stay a bit longer for some countess and Andy runs. The list of drops in act I were:

Infernal Cranium (3 times)
Cleglaws claw
Hsarus iron Heel
Hsarus Iron fist
Deaths Guard
Arctic bindings
Bloodfist (2 times)

I got the runes for another Stealth studded leather to replace the one which Guthrie lost upon dying in 4 countess runs. Took me more visits to the shops to get the studded leather armour to put them in.

Been picking some runewords I'd like to collect, and since some of them are Ladder only I had to install the RWM thingie. This might have made me feel even more on edge then running a HC game on P8 but I think I did it! (The game works so far... didn't try and do a ladder rune word yet).

We're halfway through act II now. Just finished the Maggots and made a better MF helmet with 2 regular Topaz in it.
 
I don't normally update after Act III, but it seems like it's been eventful.

First off, the -5 Grailer:

Screenshot938.jpg

Ghostflame
Legend Spike
One-Hand Damage: 145 to 221
Required Dexterity: 57
Required Strength: 55
Required Level: 66
Dagger Class - Fast Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xee0fdd50
+217% Enhanced Damage
+108 magic damage
13% Mana stolen per hit
+2 to Light Radius
Ignore Target Defense
Indestructible
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

Wowza! What a surprise. I played 2006-2014 and have been back at it for a bit more than a year but had never found one of these. It was found via Find Item on a pack of Champion Blunderbore (Mauler) corpses :D . It's not the most impressive unique melee weapon, but it beats the damage on the crafted Tyrant Club I had been using. The few remaining PIs that were left in Hell Act III, got to feel it's sharp jab:

Screenshot941.jpg

For those keeping score, my remaining Grail items are:

Tyrael's Might, Sacred Armor (TC 87)
The Cranium Basher, Thunder Maul (TC 87)
Astreon's Iron Ward, Caduceus (TC 87)
Dragonscale, Zakarum Shield (TC 84)

That would have been a great way to end Hell Act III, but the actual end was even better! I was clobbering P3 Mephisto, switching between The General's Tan Do Li Ga Knout, and a Crushflange Mace. The merc was poking away with his Great Poleaxe Insight. Our combined damage was a bit greater than expected. Before I knew it we were at the end of Mephisto's hit points when I remembered: Hey, I should really go get the Blade of Ali Baba (+86 mf) out of my chest for the killing blow. I opened a TP but was too slow, before I could use it the merc delivered the killing blow. The drop:

Screenshot948.jpg

Exactly what I had been hoping to find 😁 .

Duriel's Shell
Cuirass
Defense: 570
Durability: 26 of 150
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x46ad8ec0
+15 to Strength
+181% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +20%
Lightning Resist +20%
Cold Resist +50%
Poison Resist +20%
+100 Maximum Durability
Cannot Be Frozen
+1 to Defense (Based on Character Level)
+1 to Life (Based on Character Level)

Better lucky than good eh?!

The rest of Hell Act III was more peaches and cream. After doing Tal's Tombs at players 3, I decided that I couldn't go back to players 5. Players 3 felt like the right comprise between forward progress and keeping no-drops to an acceptable rate.

Game play was more of the same. War Cry to stun foes. Taunt to draw in ranged foes and stragglers. Battle Cry to weaken. Merc kills ... unless foes are PI ... then Barb kills via Berserk. Yes, that's a copy and paste from what I wrote about Hell Act II ... so how about some new action shots:

Screenshot897.jpg
It's calmest in the eye of the storm.

Screenshot914.jpg
No. No. Attack the merc. If you target the Barb you get stunned.

Screenshot930.jpg
Trapping the stair trappers is always fun.

So, yeah. Not much to report. The most dangerous foes were perhaps the Champion Blunderbores who's corpses coughed up the Ghostflame. They came racing into the screen while I was in very tight quarters in the Durance Level 2. They can't be (reliably) stunned, and have a stun attack with knockback of their own ... They stunned the merc and knocked him aside ... Two of the four Bluderbores were then turning their eye towards Arthur ... Who was cornered on a platform. Recognizing the mortal danger, I was just able to teleport out via the staff on switch ... If they'd managed to start landing blows ... things could have gotten messy ... fast ... But that's how this character plays, right up close to disaster, but so far managing to avoid it :D .

So let's talk drops:

Here's the complete list of set/unique that resulted from a full clear of Hell Act III at players 3:
With 319 mf (+23 mf if the merc kills ... which was pretty much always).

Goldstrike Arch, Gothic Bow (Spider Forest)
Duskdeep, Full Helm (Spider Forest)
Iratha's Cord, Heavy Belt (Spider Forest)
Blastbark, Long War Bow (Spider Forest)
Bonesnap, Maul (Flayer Jungle) <-- 215% ED
Cathan's Seal, Ring (Flayer Jungle)
Haemosu's Adamant, Cuirass (Flayer Dungeon Level 1)
Rakescar, War Axe (Flayer Dungeon Level 1)
Sigon's Shelter, Gothic Plate (Flayer Jungle) <-- Completes the set.
M'avina's Tenet, Sharkskin Belt (Flayer Jungle)
Milabrega's Diadem, Crown (Great Marsh)
Death's Touch, War Sword (Great Marsh)
Pus Spitter, Siege Crossbow (Great Marsh)
Soul Harvest, Scythe (Flayer Jungle)
Ripsaw, Flamberge (Flayer Jungle)
The Salamander, Battle Staff (Lower Kurast)
Berserker's Hauberk, Splint Mail (Kurast Bazaar)
Crainte Vomir, Espandon (Ruined Temple) <-- Oh how I wanted you in NM Act III.
The Jade Tan Do, Kris (Sewers Level 1)
Firelizard's Talons, Feral Claws (Upper Kurast)
Fleshrender, Barbed Club (Forgotten Reliquary)
Que-Hegan's Wisdom, Mage Plate (Ruined Fane)
Civerb's Cudgel, Grand Scepter (Travincal)
Berserker's Hauberk, Splint Mail (Durance of Hate Level 1)
Ghostflame, Legend Spike (Durance of Hate Level 2)
Isenhart's Case, Breast Plate (Durance of Hate Level 2)
Arcanna's Flesh, Light Plate (Durance of Hate Level 2)
Haemosu's Adamant, Cuirass (Durance of Hate Level 2)
Angelic Wings, Amulet (Durance of Hate Level 2)
Milabrega's Orb, Kite Shield (Durance of Hate Level 3)
Tancred's Skull, Bone Helm (Mephisto)
Duriel's Shell, Cuirass (Mephisto)

Ha ha! Now that's what I'm talking about. Much more on par with the 30 set/uniques found in Hell Act I ... I knew Hell Act II, 17 set/uniques, was being cheap :LOL: . And a Grailer! And the armor with resistances that I've been wanting! Which brings me to decision time ...

Do I want to be the hero that I thought wanted to be, or I should I be happy remaining the hero that I am? I could equip:

Tal's Mask
Duriel's Shell
Crescent Moon (either in the 3os Highland Blade I have, or I also have a white Mythical Sword and three white Legend Swords).
Gerke's Shield
Verdungo's Belt (15% DR)
Crafted Blood Gloves
Rare Resistance Boots or Goblin Toes
Angelic Rings and Amulet

That's pretty sweet gear for an untwinked single pass character! ... But changing gear so far into Hell could be dangerous ... and I'm not sure how much of a melee character I could really be without the Combat Masteries tree ... I mean, when I go melee now ... even with my mf gear setup ... I'm still plenty effective ... so, would equipping all the 'good' gear make me that much more effective ... hmm ... It could just get me killed ... but probably not, I'd have max block and good damage reduction ... so perhaps the question is: Would using the gear I've found, coupled with more melee action, be more interesting than keeping the high mf and seeing what drops? Hmm, I do like seeing set/uniques drop ... Hmm. Decisions. Decisions.

Code:
SP  Forum Name         Characters        Level   Furthest WP             Points
--  -----------------  ----------------  ------  ----------------------  -------
Y   Hanshotfirst       Sorc/Sin          88/87   Guardian x2                200
N   PhineasB           Necro/Druid       83/83   Guardian x2                200
Y   skoolbus           Druid/Sorc        83/85   Guardian x2                200
N   Booble             Sorc/Druid        74/70   Matriarch / Deeds          174
Y   Hanshotfirst       Barb/Necro*       86/56*  (H) Pandemonium Fortress   118
N   Crudesash68        Zon/Paladin       46/50   (N) Lut Gholein            67
Y   Pb_pal             Sorc/Zon          45/44   (N) Rogue Encampment       60
N   Swamigoon          Sin/Druid         45/45   WSK2                       60
Y   Gynli              Zon/Necro         32/48   (N) Rogue Encampment       51
N   DariusTriplet      Sorc/Zon          31/24   River of Flame             32
N   Arjan              Druid/Necro       28/28   Khurast Docks              24
N   Dazliare           Sin/Sin           28/28   Kurast Docks               24
N   Zedwardson         Sorc/Necro        17/26   Kurask docks               17
Y   Maltatai           Druid/Druid       24/24   Far Oasis                  14
Y   Vildecor           Zon/Sorc          21/20   Lut Gholein                12
N   CaseyJones         Sorc/Druid        15/23   Lut Gholein                9
N   Zedwardson         Druid/Paladin     3/18    Lut Gholein                7
Y   b1ur               Paladin/Druid     20/1    Lut Gholein                6

Up next: Hell Act IV. Perhaps with my dream gear ... or perhaps having realized I had my dream gear all along (y) .
 
Thanks @Arjan and @Pb_pal!

@HanShotFirst Some more great finds! Pretty cool that you've found the whole Sigon set, not to mention everything else and your other proposed setup. Can't wait to see if you go for it. Just curious, what's your life at?
 
Hell Act IV has been fully cleared at players 3!

I chose not to change my gear setup. I brought the items on and tried them out but it just didn't work:

Screenshot949.jpg

I mean, Tal's purple dino mask with a pony tail sticking out the back ... it just really clashed with the green Gerke's shield ... the Duriel's Shell however did look great. Aside from the problem of 'Barb look so stupid', there was the little issue of resistances. Even with the net 110 resistances offered by Duriel's Shell I was still coming up short ... I was at about 30 for all resistances ... not good. I suppose if I was really invested in making this setup work I could have found a way ... but I'm happy with the high mf setup I've been using so I decided to leave things the way they've been.

So Hell Act IV was more of the same. War Cry to stun foes. Taunt to draw in ranged foes and stragglers. Battle Cry to weaken. Merc kills ... unless foes are PI ... then Barb kills via Berserk. Yes, that's a copy and paste from what I wrote about Hell Act III (and Hell Act II :p ) ... so how about some new action shots:

Screenshot953.jpg
A stunned Spawner spawns nothing!

Screenshot965.jpg
The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm. (It's the last thing they'll expect).

I was most worried about Gloams in the Plains of Despair, but I didn't get them :) . The most dangerous moment came in the River of Flame when a pack of champion Regurgitators swarmed through the cracks in some stunned monsters and pinned Arthur against the lava stream. They were hitting hard :oops: . After a quick fat purple I decided I'd go for the ever risky switch to the teleport staff ... I made the switch and took a fair bit of damage but got the teleport off and managed to land on a clear out cropping a bit upstream. Crisis averted ... but if I didn't have the teleport staff on switch I'd have been totally trapped and beaten to death for sure!

Oh, another close call came at De Seis. His fanatic Doom Knights came rushing right to the seal but I had them stunned with the merc out front for a bit of added safety. But then De Seis cast Iron Maiden on the merc ... so there's Arthur all alone with a bunch of angry stunned Doom Knights that are more than capable of killing him should they break free ... And De Seis is shifting his interest to Arthur. That was another teleport across some lava situation. I resurrected the merc and went back in ... and the Doom Knights again came swarming. This time De Seis had shifted to a Might Aura ... Arthur caught the first few to show up with well time stuns but one slipped through and with a Might aura, plus Amp, plus extra fast and strong ... he delivered quite the impressive blow o_O . Fat purple! Stun! Stun! Stun! ... I managed to catch the rest of the Doom Knights as they approached ... had two hit me at once ... that could have been game over ...

But it wasn't, and soon we were facing Diablo for the last time. We used the same game plan as NM:

Screenshot967.jpg

Merc on one side, Barb on the other. The General's Tan Do Li Ga Knout was used for a hit or two for slowing, and then Crushflange was switched to (for crushing blow). Life Tap wand was on switch, and did prove to be more useful than Battle Cry. As I was manually switching between The General's Tan Do Li Ga Knout and Crushflange I at one point got all tangled up with the wrong item on the cursor and on switch ... fortunately Diablo was being well entertained by the merc at the time. I made one trip to town to buy more health potions (and grab my Ali Baba) but otherwise it was a very simple fight. This time, I got the Ali Baba equipped in time, and was rewarded with:

Screenshot968.jpg

Ooh. Neat.

Razor's Edge
Tomahawk
One-Hand Damage: 102 to 179
Durability: 16 of 28
Required Dexterity: 67
Required Strength: 125
Required Level: 67
Axe Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 94
Fingerprint: 0x3f496e3e
+210% Enhanced Damage
40% Increased Attack Speed
-33% Target Defense
50% Chance of Open Wounds
50% Deadly Strike

And a pretty good roll too. But I think I still like my crafted weapon for PI Berserking better:

Skull Gnash
Tyrant Club
One-Hand Damage: 108 to 196
Durability: 64 of 65
Required Strength: 133
Required Level: 55
Mace Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0x7312b62b
+238% Enhanced Damage
+113 to Attack Rating
4% Life stolen per hit
4% Mana stolen per hit
Attacker Takes Damage of 6
150% Damage to Undead
5% Chance to cast Level 4 Frost Nova when struck

I tried the Ghostflame at the end of Act III and discovered that the rangeadder of zero was a bit of a liability. Sadly, tomahawks also have a rangeadder of zero ... So, the Razor's Edge would hit for more damage ... but I probably couldn't find a way to do it without the monster(s) attacking the Barb instead of the merc ... not good. So I think I'll just keep using my crafted scrap of pallet with nails sticking out of it ... it's better for my scrappy street fighter vibe anyways ;) .

Another notable find came from the first monster past the River of Flame wp:

Screenshot961.jpg

I wonder what it could be:

Screenshot962.jpg

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x522ebf30
+5 to Strength
+5 to Energy
+5 to Dexterity
+5 to Vitality
All Resistances +26
+2 to All Skill Levels

Neat! I don't need it ... can't use it on this character ... I need the Angelic amulet/rings to have enough attack rating to be effective ... but it was fun to find, and did seem to validate my decision to stick with my high mf setup (y) .

Here's the complete list of set/uniques found in Hell Act IV (full clear with Item Find used on every corpse):
With 325 mf (+23 mf if the merc kills ... which was pretty much always).

Soul Harvest, Scythe (Outer Steppes)
Rite of Passage, Demonhide Boots (City of the Damned)
Wall of the Eyeless, Bone Shield (River of Flame)
Mara's Kaleidoscope, Amulet (River of Flame)
Isenhart's Case, Breast Plate (Chaos Sanctuary)
Skull Splitter, Military Pick (Chaos Sanctuary)
Razor's Edge, Tomahawk (Diablo)

I also found a three socketed Legend Sword ... but I think I've moved past creating a Crescent Moon. My crafted tyrant club is doing fine as a switch weapon and the Blade of Ali Baba is a more interesting thing to be holding ... so, I guess I don't need it.

Now, what could get me to put down the Ali Baba:

Crainte Vomir
Espandon
One-Hand Damage: 23 to 77
Two-Hand Damage: 53 to 119
Durability: 36 of 44
Required Dexterity: 61
Required Strength: 73
Required Level: 42
Sword Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0x4159d5d8
+199% Enhanced Damage
Damage Reduced by 10%
50% Increased Attack Speed
20% Faster Run/Walk
-70 to Monster Defense Per Hit
Slows Target by 35%

I found it in Hell Act III but didn't realize at the time that it was one point off perfect ED. And furthermore, that a Lum Rune and Pul Rune is needed to up it ... I got a Pul Rune from the NM Hellforge ... what could the Hell Hellforge drop be:

Screenshot960.jpg

Ah, darn it! That would have been such a stylish weapon! Just perfect for how I've been playing this character ... it'd be just like when I was running around with The General's Tan Do Li Ga Flail ... only better ... because Crainte Vomir has some really attractive mods ... oh well. I suppose I could use it as an Espandon, but without meaningful damage, it's not nearly as neat. Maybe I could find a Lum Rune in Act V :p ...

Code:
SP  Forum Name         Characters        Level   Furthest WP             Points
--  -----------------  ----------------  ------  ----------------------  -------
Y   Hanshotfirst       Sorc/Sin          88/87   Guardian x2                200
N   PhineasB           Necro/Druid       83/83   Guardian x2                200
Y   skoolbus           Druid/Sorc        83/85   Guardian x2                200
N   Booble             Sorc/Druid        74/70   Matriarch / Deeds          174
Y   Hanshotfirst       Barb/Necro*       86/56*  (H) Harrogath              121
N   Crudesash68        Zon/Paladin       46/50   (N) Lut Gholein            67
Y   Pb_pal             Sorc/Zon          45/44   (N) Rogue Encampment       60
N   Swamigoon          Sin/Druid         45/45   WSK2                       60
Y   Gynli              Zon/Necro         32/48   (N) Rogue Encampment       51
N   DariusTriplet      Sorc/Zon          31/24   River of Flame             32
N   Arjan              Druid/Necro       28/28   Khurast Docks              24
N   Dazliare           Sin/Sin           28/28   Kurast Docks               24
N   Zedwardson         Sorc/Necro        17/26   Kurask docks               17
Y   Maltatai           Druid/Druid       24/24   Far Oasis                  14
Y   Vildecor           Zon/Sorc          21/20   Lut Gholein                12
N   CaseyJones         Sorc/Druid        15/23   Lut Gholein                9
N   Zedwardson         Druid/Paladin     3/18    Lut Gholein                7
Y   b1ur               Paladin/Druid     20/1    Lut Gholein                6

Up next: It's do or die time! ... I feel like either could happen :D . I do have some options still:

Screenshot969.jpg

Screenshot970.jpg

I could sink the skill points into Berserk (currently at 10) ... but I don't really need to. If I knew I'd be using dual Angelic rings I probably would have left it as a one point wonder.

The stat points are a different story. If I dumped 143 stat points into vitality that'd result in 1132 more life after Battle Orders. That's more than a 50% increase! But then, that's it. All I am, is all I will ever be (no respecs in 1.11b). I've still got dreams of finding a Moser's and hitting max block and/or finding a Lum Rune and wielding the most stylish untwinked single pass weapon ever! But I'm running out of time ... perhaps this character is getting too old to have dreams ...
 
I put the Zon in the table because she nearly is where Guthrie fell.

She is a blast to play with. When she enters a room everyone falls to the ground in awe... and smouldering with lightening burn, that too.
CS is awesome and made the fight with Duriel non-excistent. The merc had time to blink and mutter "that's one big ass demon.... corps"
Level 30 brings the arrival of LF. And that's the cool stuff. Probably am gonna miss the piercing option for a long while, but we'll manage. For now I mainly use it when I do Countess runs because them cool runewords don't come cheap. I decided I want Peace, Rhyme, Lore and Insight asap. 4 so polearms don't drop soon I think so I have time for that one (Sol don't drop soon either).

act II drops where little. half way through act III and I have more allready. Still the list:
- cathans Sigil
- Milabrega's orb
- deathspade
- blood cresent


SP Forum Name Characters Level Furthest WP Points -- ----------------- ---------------- ------ ---------------------- ------- Y Hanshotfirst Sorc/Sin 88/87 Guardian x2 200 N PhineasB Necro/Druid 83/83 Guardian x2 200 N Booble Sorc/Druid 74/70 Matriarch / Deeds 174 Y skoolbus Druid/Sorc 74/74 (H) Blood Moor 124 Y Hanshotfirst Barb/Necro* 85/56* (H) Kurast Docks 112 N Crudesash68 Zon/Paladin 46/50 (N) Lut Gholein 67 Y Pb_pal Sorc/Zon 45/44 (N) Rogue Encampment 60 N Swamigoon Sin/Druid 45/45 WSK2 60 Y Gynli Zon/Necro 32/48 (N) Rogue Encampment 51 N DariusTriplet Sorc/Zon 31/24 River of Flame 32 N Arjan Necro/Zon 28/28 Khurast Docks 24 N Dazliare Sin/Sin 28/28 Kurast Docks 24 N Zedwardson Sorc/Necro 17/26 Kurask docks 17 Y Maltatai Druid/Druid 24/24 Far Oasis 14 Y Vildecor Zon/Sorc 21/20 Lut Gholein 12 N CaseyJones Sorc/Druid 15/23 Lut Gholein 9 N Zedwardson Druid/Paladin 3/18 Lut Gholein 7 Y b1ur Paladin/Druid 20/1 Lut Gholein 6
 
He did it again…. And with he I’m not sure if I mean myself or Mephisto.

Anyway, act III went fairly well until I got to the sewers level 2. Again I pressed escape and exit when I was near my stash and again most of my charms were still lying about in the sewers.

since my resistance weren’t all that bad I decided to go ahead and take on Mephisto. And that went pretty well. I had him down for the count, only a single javalin was needed for the kill. And that was when he launched one of his orbs, which I tried to outrun. That ended… poorly.

since I am now a certified donkey I decided to:
- not play HC anymore until I have my skills up
- to stop in the TLR for now and focus on making a FAM Pat/Mat Sept and collecting the cool stuff
- try and not feel bad about my failures

I liked playing the fury zon so she will be my first try at a FAM matriarch. I have the wolf, but he cut a few corners that would make him tainted so him and his spoils of war are off limits. I made dedicated stashes in ATMA for these 7 heroes so there can be no mix up.
 
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- try and not feel bad about my failures
They're not failures if you learned something from them! My HC tournament graveyard is quite sizeable, and I expect it to keep growing. Condolences on the deeds, we'll see you back out there at your next attempt. :)
 
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