The Untwinked Level 99 Progress Thread, Revenge of the 99ers

[ceegee]

that is a nice helm for an untwinked zealot starting hell indeed!
I remember that my first untwinked barb got arreats from nightmare Baal quest
Why not RWM?

In my own weird way I believe beating single player without any mod is more pure and challenging. Curious if there's a reason they divided certain runewords to only be available on battlenet?

 

[Kitteh1]

In my own weird way I believe beating single player without any mod is more pure and challenging. Curious if there's a reason they divided certain runewords to only be available on battlenet?

I appreciate what you mean! There was an SPFer who wasn't around for too long but he played HC vanilla only and he sometimes made a video of himself selling Death's Web etc to vendors, just to rile us all up

 

[GalaXyHaXz]

Did he ever sell a Tyreals or HR?

I think the reason they kept some runewords and the uber quests ladder-only was to encourage people to start fresh after the reset and play on the ladder instead of non-ladder.

 

[Kitteh1]

I don't think her found Tyraels', and HRs I guess are universal haha I think that was a part of it, it also added some level of economy swings to non-ladder when a new wave of runewords fell into the market.

 

[Dezrok]

Wondering if I can bring my lvl 92 BlizzSorc to the party?

Started her a couple of weeks ago and now it seems she is going to be heading to 99.

 

[Kitteh1]

Mate, if she is untwinked, book her a room at hotel crazy.

 

[Dezrok]

Thanks @Kitteh

And so I will introduce the delightfully untwinked Matriarch Salome to the tourney/craziness. You can read about most of her progress so far in this thread.

I will add her to the table once I've pulled together her S/U and Grail info. Am in the middle of a rather bountiful Pindle session, so looking forward to the update

Edit: Added to tables. 213 p3 Pindle runs pushed Salome to level 92 with grail drops of Earth Shifter, Arkaine Valor, Death's Fathom, Bloodmoon, Lightsabre, IK Soul Cage, Vamp Gaze and a Gul!

Progress Update

Name          (C)            SC/HC    Class  Level/exp   Extended Stash  #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths  # of Hours
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy      Perkele         SC      Barb      99             No            -          -            -           -
Pb_pal        Eleanor         SC      Sorc      99             No         3068        437            5           -
NanoMist      Izuna           SC      Sin       99             No         5109        470            4         360
PhineasB      Mercy           SC      Sin       99             Yes           -        475           11           -
Neksja        Aura            SC      Paladin   98.50          Yes        8606        464            -           -
T72on1        Neverland       SC      Sorc      98.25          Yes        2190+?      477           13         270?
PhineasB      Hiatus          SC      Sorc      98.25          Yes           -        457           21           -
hasuprotoss   Reina           SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1751        384            -           -
Tarantella    Tarasha         HC      Sorc      96             Yes           -          -            -           -
Grim          Furious_Blonde  SC      Ama       96             Yes           -          -            -           -
ffs           HelpYourself    SC      Sorc      96             Yes           -          -          many          ?
XyleneCyanol  Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
ThomasJohnsen xInTheBuffx     HC      Sorc      95             Yes           -          -            -           -
darkstarhub   Neptune         SC      Sorc      95             Yes           -          -            -           -
PhineasB      Phaedrus        SC      Pala      94             Yes           -        274           12           -
Reyz          Qty             SC      Sorc      93             No            -          -            -           -
Dezrok        Salome          SC      Sorc      92             Yes         453        251            -           -
Chaostar      Prairie         SC      Sorc      91             Yes         659        261           12         126
OldSoldier    Battleforge     HC      Pala      91             Yes           -        236            -           -
tokerdin      tokeress        SC      Sorc      91             yes           -          -            -           -
Zenigma       Ayura           SC      Barb      91             No            -          -            -           -
Gynli         Amazon          SC      Amazon    91             Yes           -          -         many           -
Southpaw      Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
Qwernt        CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           ?          -        Dont want to know
MercMan       Este            SC      Ama       90             Yes        1212        278            2  Classified
Me2Nik        Fugu            HC      Ama       90             Yes          80
Yng           Kyrie           HC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
Lynchgrinch   Tattersail      SC      Sorc      89             Yes           ?        321         too many    lots
Yng           Sophie          SC      Sorc      89             Yes           -          -            6           -
LiquidClear   Sally           SC      Assn      **             Yes         225          -            1           -
liquid_mage   zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc      **             Yes           -        160            -           -
Neksja        Turirao         SC      Druid     87             Yes         191        124            5           -
Gladstone     Socrates        HC      Druid     86             ?             -          -            -           -
Zenigma       Gnosis          SC      Druid     86             No            -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb    Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     86             No          115         94           19         idk
Naturallog    Athos           HC      Barb      84             No          159        105            0           -
Lord Molyb    Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       83             No           28         25            0         idk
Qwernt        AmaAgainstAll   SC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          -            -           -
Gambit        Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Lord Molyb    But_Why         SC      Sin       81             Never        55         51           53
Jean Avila    SpeedAdict      SC      Ama       77             No            -          -            -          50
logo          Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
TwentyMule    Rayne           SC      Sorc      76             Yes         195        140            ?           ?
Gripphon      Ryu             SC      Sorc      76             Yes           -          -         over 9k       13
Darke Rahl    Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0
Vildecor      Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax    Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
TrU           Henryk          SC      Barb      41             Yes           -          -           22          12
Gambit        Colossus        SC      Pal       39             Yes           0          0            0           0
Smancer       Smancer         SC      Necro     26             Yes           1          -            -           -
Ergroilnin    Erilinda        HC      Sorc      20             No            -          -            -           -
Kitteh        Kaylin          SC      Ama       19             Yes           -          -            0           -
hackedagainanda Hugo          HC      Barb      16             Yes           -          -            -           -

The Fallen

Name (F)    Name (C)       SC/HC   Class   Level/exp   Extended Stash   #of S/U   Grail/504   #of deaths   # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju        NintyNine_orRiP HC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          0            0         a few
TwentyMule  Valus           HC      Barb      76             Yes           -          -            1           -
Pb_pal      Stevesy         HC      Paladin   76             Yes           -          -            0           -
Tenecabo    OldShatterhand  HC      Druid     49             Yes           -          0            1           -
coju        fB              HC      Sorc      29             Yes           1          1            0           2
Kitteh      Verallus        HC      Druid     26             No          N/A        N/A            0          N/A
logo        Rolex           HC      Barb      21             Yes           0          0            0           1

 

[ceegee]

So i've been having trouble making the transition from nightmare to hell. I decided i needed to get a better weapon and add some damage if I was going to move forward. So I decided to grind some nightmare meph not really knowing exactly what it is I was looking for. To my surprise in one run I seemed to upgrade two items and one of them an end game item!!

View attachment 6825 View attachment 6826

I tried testing out the hand of blessed light vs the rare dimensional blade, and it's tough, but I think the hand eeks out the rare just a little with kill speed, and the +2 pally skills is nice for holy shield/fanat. I thought about upping the rare dimensional blade to phase blade and putting a nice jewel in it some day down the road, but it's tough to hang on to as it takes up a lot of space. Do you guys think the rare dimensional blade is worth keeping?
Dimensional Blade

 

[Yng]

Wouldn’t waste the Pul TBH, not enough ED. Too many better options.
You could try NM Andy if you bugged her for Butcher’s.

 

[NamelessPenguin]

@Trapin' No, and definitely not a socket quest. Be patient, you will reach LK at some point, at become efficient at farming runes for better weapons. From the looks of it, eBoTD seems like your only option. Perhaps Travincal is better for that one.

 

[drmalawi]

So i've been having trouble making the transition from nightmare to hell. I decided i needed to get a better weapon and add some damage if I was going to move forward. So I decided to grind some nightmare meph not really knowing exactly what it is I was looking for. To my surprise in one run I seemed to upgrade two items and one of them an end game item!!

View attachment 6825 View attachment 6826

I tried testing out the hand of blessed light vs the rare dimensional blade, and it's tough, but I think the hand eeks out the rare just a little with kill speed, and the +2 pally skills is nice for holy shield/fanat. I thought about upping the rare dimensional blade to phase blade and putting a nice jewel in it some day down the road, but it's tough to hang on to as it takes up a lot of space. Do you guys think the rare dimensional blade is worth keeping?
Dimensional Blade

Nice finds!

I would have upped that Dim Blade only if it were ethereal...

Try find a headstriker sword, have soloed zealots with that one upped, it is really nice It might not be good enough for reaching lvl 99 tho. Heavens light is a good weapon and can be found in act 1 Hell.

 

[ffs]

@Gynli Great, welcome! I hope that Faith is farmed quickly and/or a WF drops for you.

@Dezrok Same to you, and grats on that Fathom, that's an amazing find for an untwinked Sorc. What's the roll? Pictures please!

@Trapin' I totally agree with @NamelessPenguin, definitely don't use a socket on some random item that will clearly not be your end game gear, you only have three of those quests. This is a long journey, be patient and keep running, the upgrades will come 100%!

 

[NamelessPenguin]

@Trapin' Like @ffs says, I would only socket items, I knew 100% were going to follow me until the end. I found a eth Reapers, which I chose to punch a hole in, because that's what the Merc is going to use all the way. I feel it was the right decision.

You found that Guilliams, which is probably going to follow you all the way, so I would consider socketing that one. But I'd much rather do some tests first, see if something works better for you. Maybe a CoA could replace that helm, since you can get CB+DS from Gores, but that requires some luck, ofc.

And If you found a superior eth BA, that would also be a very good candidate for a socket quest, if you aim for BoTD.

If you find a HoZ (which I presume is end gear), I would still wait to socket it, to see if it would be better served elsewhere. On your Merc, perhaps.

Point is. Don't use your sockets until you are 100% certain it is an item you can't live without.

 

[Dezrok]

[USER=381885]@Dezrok Same to you, and grats on that Fathom, that's an amazing find for an untwinked Sorc. What's the roll? Pictures please! [/USER]

Ask and ye shall receive!
View attachment 6828
The +cold skill damage is pretty good, the resists not so much ... but regardless it has given a massive boost to Salome's damage output and she is happy to handle p3 now ... probably could go to p5 except that the merc still needs to do the CI kills.

Being honest, I didn't even realise what I had found until after I'd ID'd it and even then it took a bit of time to sink in. I've never seen one of these before and never expected to, one of those items that just wasn't on my radar at all and I didn't bother screenshotting the drop.

Some drop shots for other recent finds:
View attachment 6829
That Gul.

View attachment 6831
First ever Lightsabre.

View attachment 6832
A -5/+3 Cold Facet (if only it was the other way around).

I've just finished reading the Wheel of Time series (again) and so now have a bit of reading time to go through all the posts in this thread to see what gems of wisdom I can find. Looks like it will be almost as epic as Robert Jordan!

One thing I'm thinking about is whether it is worth the Strength investment for a Spirit shield. I'm using Lidless Wall at the moment, so one less skill and 15% less FCR (along with the FHR, mana and resists) and I have already boosted my strength to 97 to wear Skullders ... but another 60 points of strength (okay 59 points) to equip Spirit seems excessive. Spirit would definitely get us within reach of the 105 FCR breakpoint, but that doesn't seem to be so important for Blizzard, which is on a timer anyway.

 

[Albatross]

@Dezrok since you are playing SC now it's definitely worth it to push for a spirit. You won't really miss the HP and you'll get a decent boost in damage (speed) and gear flexibility (more MF).

 

[ffs]

Time for a small post-MFO update. HelpYourself is at around 50% progress towards 97. Only minor gear changes, couple of charms and possibly the below ring drop. Still grinding Baal, picking up speed again after switching back to Griffon's and CM now that the MFO is over. I'm still including Baal for the extra drops though, given that it only means a minor drop in XP/h in comparison to waves only (at least in her case at 96). Runs are not too eventful, and I mean that mostly in a good way. It's smooth sailing again, she did not have any further NDEs and seems very safe at some 2400-2500 HP, depending on different setup tweaks I'm switching back and forth for some reason.

Her progress speed is fine, I can actually see myself really going through with this madness at this point. After timing her runs at Baal and Nihl, and with the help of this extremely helpful post by @NanoMist, I calculated her remaining journey to lvl 99 to take another ~120 hours or so (provided no deaths). Still an intimidating amount, but it actually seems doable.

As stated before her end game gear is essentially complete, the only meaningful upgrade remains additional skillers. However, a potential minor upgrade (and thus most useful MFO drop I guess) was maybe this:

Spoiler

View attachment 6840
But I'm still undecided between this and her recently found BKWB. At least for Baal runs, Mana is not too much of an issue and the ~50 extra life could make all the difference at some point.

Other nice drops:

Spoiler

View attachment 6841
Now at 2 Bers and 3 Surs that are not being put to use. I am serious: If the remaining runes required for two Dreams drop, she will hit 99 as Bear Sorc. She's got the necessary bases and remaining gear assembled already.

View attachment 6838
Very nice, but not as nice as her crafted +2/FCR/+10@ ammy which enables her to use one +1 ring instead of FCR. So no use for this one unfortunately.

View attachment 6839
This was cool and painful at the same time. Eth Tomby is such a rare and extremely high potential find, almost perfect ED roll too, but it rolled one socket

More nice finds included eth Nightwing's Veil, 2x Azurewrath, 2x Cerebus' Bite, Boneflame, and in general really a lot of eth uniques. Guess I'll have to count at some point and enter the eth grail thread. No real game changers, and since I'm back at ~70 MF I don't expect too many exciting drops too often going forward.

Oh and of course this dropped 20 minutes after MFO ended:

Spoiler

View attachment 6837
Amazing roll and would have been an amazing score, but 20 minutes too late.

 

[Nano]

@ffs - I'm glad the tables were useful, great work planning out the final stretch to 99. 120 hours remaining for 99 at level 96.5 is very fast. I also found a 1 socket Eth Tomb Reaver during the MFO, so I feel your pain as well.

 

[Dezrok]

@Dezrok since you are playing SC now it's definitely worth it to push for a spirit. You won't really miss the HP and you'll get a decent boost in damage (speed) and gear flexibility (more MF).

Sounds like I'll need to use my first respec soon then, will be a good opportunity to refine a few skill points that were used for leveling and are no longer needed as well.

Did a few more Pindle runs. Every time I'm about to leave him he does something like this:

Spoiler

View attachment 6856
Just need one more Mal for a CtA.

Other notable finds from 200 p3 runs were: 2x Shadow Killers, Verdungo's, IK Stone Crusher and 39% Chancies.

Edit: Dropped by LK to see if I had a decent map. Casually teleporting around looking for camp fires. Randomly cast Blizzard on a Boss pack and:

Spoiler

View attachment 6857

So now ...
View attachment 6858

 

[ffs]

@NanoMist yeah 120 hours is more like a rough estimate, and that would be pure run times. Given I won't be playing like a machine all the time and also do different things for change of pace, I'm really currently estimating something like 130-150 hours of actual in game time with her.

Her Baal runs are fast at some 2.5 minutes, but what's really good news is her Nihl times, which I believe I may eventually be able to push to around 20 seconds with a good map. More so than other chars, lightning Sorc can focus him down really quickly. In fact I'm curious if there is a faster build for running Nihl at all. Only did a few runs to get an idea, but on a clearly suboptimal map I was at around 25s. Assuming a better map and considering the occasional XP shrine, I treated Nihl runs as 20s. Whether that's true remains to be seen, but since I don't want to get discouraged I'll only recalculate this at 98.

 

[Nano]

A couple of runners, including myself, faced the issue of lengthy save & exit times with Nihla runs. For me, it was adding something like 7-8 seconds onto each run, which is a big deal when the runs are so short. If you don't have this issue, then I can see 120 hours being very possible.