@Smittyphi if you can manage the quests leading up to it, I’d recommend LK as you won’t have much killing power early on in Hell but you can still be very efficient in LK with just BoS/Harmony/40 FRW boots and a decent map.
Pindle is nice if you can get to him.
Pit is ok but there’s a lot of LIs and the Archer packs hurt. AT is good.
Whatever area lvl 85 you think you can manage if you can’t bother getting to Pindle.
@Smittyphi: You may try Mauzoleum/Crypt as those areas can give You anything in the game and are loaded with melee monsters - No danger from archers at all...this area is best for Fire based character, though
@Smittyphi@weezaard I think @PhineasB is going to post the final version soon, but here's the draft of the 99er compendium he is currently working on which includes answers to these questions.
In short though, for most characters it's either Pits or AT (depending on build) until early to mid 90s, then either CS or Baal until 98. For 98-99 you'll run either Nihlathak, Diablo or Baal. For Trappers, and it seems most lightning based builds in general, the most efficient way to level for most of the 90s seems to be Baal running. It's what both @PhineasB and @NanoMist went with and I did it as well with Lightning Sorc for most of the 90s until 98.
@ffs , @T72on1 - Thanks for the kind words. This thread is so incredible, I'm just glad to add a little bit to the pile of awesomeness in here.
I'll echo that a Trapper will have the most success in the Pits/AT or Baal/Wave running (feel free to do testing and see if it's faster to exclude Lister and his cronies if they take too long to kill/are too dangerous at first, and Baal likely won't be worth it until the mid-90s or so unless you want some drops). CS is not a very good option due to the auto-targeting of LS not going for the seal bosses reliably. Basically though, find a lvl 85 area that you like and find safe enough, and hang out there for a while. Pindle can be nice in the lower 90s as well, if you're in need of a stepping stone to beef up a bit.
To add what's already been said, I wouldn't underestimate Pindle as a target for early-ish leveling in Hell. Sure, you have to get through A3 and A4 (and early part of A5) compared to AT or Pits, but the runs are pretty straightforward once you get there, you will get the +10@ resists bonus from Anya quests, and the drops are decent. Eldritch is a nice little option for early 80s also. You also then have the option to mix up Pindle, LK, and Pits/AT for variety.
For a trapper in the early leveling/gear accumulation stage, Pindle runs with a lower resist wand on switch makes it manageable at higher p-settings, and her BoS makes for quick runs. You can test out different targets and decide which you prefer. For me, at least, running through Pits when slightly underpowered was a bit of a slog and I welcomed the option to change things up. Good luck!
Agreed, in fact after those initial Meph runs, my Sorc ran Pindle until the Griffon drop at 91 I think. Since I let that dictate her build, it meant the rest of her gear was mostly runewords obtained from LK, so AT or Pits wasn't necessary in terms of S&Us, and Baal waves quickly ended up being the most efficient in terms of XP.
Kind of a fun fact she has only spent maybe 20 minutes total in AT or Pits.
I like running those areas though, another reason I enjoy running with Fishymancer he'll likely stay mostly in Pits until mid 90s apart from the occasional trip to LK.
Thanks to good advice, I was able to tele my way to Act 2 and am proudly stomping through AT in Hell with my now lvl. 80 sorc. Finding many good runeword base items and several uniques. I would assume I can stay in AT until exp drops off. Not sure when that will be. Thanks again for helping me to progress.
You should be good to go in AT until lvl 92 - 93 or so. Can even go as high as 95, which I did on my HC Blizz Sorc, but usually CS double seal runs are a better option from let's say 93+.
Farming Mephisto now. I am technically Hell qualified. I raced through act IV and V. Half of my deaths have come while holding a 5 month old. I have yet to find a yellow or gold belt. Finally broke down and crafted a blood belt. I'll come back and post a picture later. But as of right now, I'm waiting for the good NM Mephisto drops to rain from the sky. It's been disappointing. Oh, and I'm guessing on the XP. I'll update that, too.
So a question. My XP right now says 132647440. Would that be .13?
Double update! Finally had the time to do more running than just 20-30 minute sessions here and there this weekend. Ran a bit with Sorc to keep her moving, as I had aimed to hit 3.4b and ideally 2/3 of the level with her before travelling starting next weekend.
Not too many drops to report on in her case since last update was only some 25m XP ago. Worth mentioning were SoJ #3, Arach #4, Cold skiller #3 (still only 2 Lightning), Felloak, Horizon's Tornado and another Lightsabre.
Ric on the other hand had quite the ride. He's at 91 now, halfway to 92. Did some more 2 hrs of LK running since last update, during which another Sur dropped. Since I didn't have an Infinity base ready, but was looking for an upgrade to increase the player settings for his runs, and as I had planned to build this at some point anyway, I thought why not just go for it:
I must admit this was a bit of a gamble: For my twinked Fishymancer I tested Beast vs. Hoto a few times (in particular for cow running) and found Beast was a little bit better. But for untwinked I wasn't too sure as I was a bit worried about CE range, since he's still lacking P&B skillers and stuff like Arach and + 1 rings. It turned out to be quite the improvement though, CE range is fine for Pits and first corpse gets delivered noticeably quicker. Same for other mobs being chipped away at up a bit more by skellies, softening them up more for those CE chains. P5 runs are a breeze now, whereas P7/P8 is also perfectly doable, but a bit slow. I guess that will only change with Infinity.
Speaking of which, of course soon after making Beast he found an eth 4s CV. :/ Had I found it before, I probably would have saved for Infinity first... but whatever. I guess this gives me the chance to find a better base along the way... It's currently used as an Insight (which cost me almost every Hel I had to get a semi-decent roll), resulting in the IG being put to CB duties with IK Stone Crusher instead. Also started to burn through all those amethysts from LK crafting amulets (cheating a little bit, checking ilvl in GoMule as he's not 93 yet ). Crafted a couple of nice ones, but not for Nec unforunately. But he can craft many more, it's actually just the lack of gold income that's holding him back at the moment. He also picked up his first Gheed's, which happened to get a perfect 20% low roll. Anyway, screenshots:
Apparently I screwed up the screenshot with it on the ground, but here's the Sur that enabled Beast:
His to do list stays pretty much the same. High priority: Arach, Andy's Visage for Merc, and Infinity. Hoping for a better base than CV to drop. But if he's as unlucky as HelpYourself was with eth Threshers/GTs, I'll again just get the runes and go with the CV base. Lower priority would be War Travs, Aldur's or any other good boots really (still using rares with MF/resists), +1 ring(s) and a better ammy. I do like his current +1/10 FCR/60 life + resists one, but +2 would be better ofc. All in all this means pretty much Pits, maybe some Meph/Andy running mixed in, and unless he gets pretty lucky with runes I guess one last LK stint for Infinity.
Saying hi once again to this wonderful forum and members in it! I have played PoE and GD to much so i need to come back to my big love, some sweet spellcasting! I added myself but i don't know what E/S and S/U stands for?
Saying hi once again to this wonderful forum and members in it! I have played PoE and GD to much so i need to come back to my big love, some sweet spellcasting! I added myself but i don't know what E/S and S/U stands for?
Welcome @Klonki - it's good to see long-timers returning to the forum and joining this adventure! And great progress @ffs !
As for me, mini-update! Phaedrus has been making some progress, inspired by @ffs to get back to things after a slight distraction with the Unique/Set tourney. He hit a nice round 2.8B, so about 4 hours to half-way to the level.
Unfortunately, he’d be another tenth of the way there if not for his first death since getting Enigma. But more on that later. He got an early Um, followed by Death Cleaver and a Pul. Then a nice drop (although honestly would have preferred a rare TC87 that contributes to my overall grail): View attachment 8469
Exact same -ePR as the first one I found during my 7x7, and 2 worse than the one found by Mercy. But the only one that is +2PnB!
Code:
Death's Web
Unearthed Wand
One Hand Damage: 22 - 28
Durability: 15 of 18
Required Level: 66
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0xd2448893
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Unidentified
+2 to All Skills
+2 to Poison and Bone Skills (Necromancer Only)
-46% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+7 to Mana after each Kill
+8 Life after each Kill
I got a little too excited by the find and swapped out a couple vita SCs and War Trav for Aldurs for MF shortly after that. When Phaedrus had just hit 98.2, I was getting tired and decided to do “one more run” before bed, which netted a Mal. Rather than S&E, I decided to finish the run, Infector spawned right on top of Phaedrus (very, very rare) and he was convicted. Tired = slow reaction = red letters.
I didn’t have corpse retrieval kit and decided to cut my losses since being tired had contributed to sloppiness and the death. I told myself it is only about 2.5 hours at this point. Oh well. Swapped back the vita charms and Aldurs . . .
Just before getting back to 96.2, another Pul dropped, and then Giant Skull (1os) right around the quarter mark. A little earlier today, we had Cham #2 drop (first was from RoF runs before Enigma): View attachment 8470
Pestilence also has gotten more time, for a total of 125 runes found, so not much to show. I already posted the second PnB skiller of Vita, and the only other notables are Vex #2 and Um #3.
@Yng - yes, definitely a typo (that has now been corrected!)
Edit: Forgot to ask @ffs - I assume that is slotted for an eBoTD IG? In all seriousness, congrats! That's the one I'm still waiting on for rune drop grail and to make the eTomby.