'Three Way Dance II' - H.C 1.10 Tournament

[angiras]

Quote: "Are people, especially those in the lead (i.e. in hell somewhere) just slowing down majorly and not updating at all?"

I cant speak for the others, but as for myself, yes, I have slowed down dramatically. Its one thing to blaze through Nml and NM in a few days of intense playing, but as you know things become a lot more difficult in Hell. After losing my pally, Ive decided to take it very sloooow...and to carefully think about each move before I make it...and not to play for long hours...makes for bad judgements.

Hell is not generally a lot of fun for an untwinked and gimped hardcore character, capable of using only two trees. It is more like work, at least to me. So in the meantime ive started another hardcore character (trappasin) to provide some lighter fun in between, and to pursue my Septavirate quest.

Both of my surviving team members have made it through the maggot lair in Act II Hell now...whew, talk about work for the necro! But I probably wont give a full update until they reach kurast docks...assuming that they survive that long.

Andy was very stingy. However, in the dark bowels of the catacombs I did find a ravenfrost, (cant use it) and in the hellish intestines of the maggot lair I found a kelpie snare (yay) for my zon's merc. But rune drops have been poor...as usual.

 

[madmaxxam]

Are people, especially those in the lead (i.e. in hell somewhere) just slowing down majorly and not updating at all?

I've slowed down a lot. After getting my first conqueror over a week ago, I decided that I didn't want to burn out. I've since gotten my second character half way through Act 5 NM, but I've decided to change it up a bit, and have also been playing some UT2004, and focusing a bit on real life also. That, and girlfriend issues have slowed me down. You don't want to be playing HC with a wandering mind.

A quick update though:

[highlight]Team History Class[/highlight] – 173 points
Destroyer Cleopatra - (Sorc - Cold/Light.) – lvl 69 - Act 5 NM
Destroyer Rasputin - (Necro - Summon/Curse) – lvl 66 – Act 5 NM
Conqueror Ieyasu_Tokugawa - (Druid - Summon/Elem.) – lvl 78 – Act 1 HELL

Tokugawa isn't actually in Hell, I've been running baal since killing the CK. levels have gotten slow, but I want to hit 80 before hell.

Cleopatra has rescued anya, waiting to kill nith. Almost all of her res are 75 in NM, poison is only about 60. CI monsters are a problem, but she's gonna skip half of Hell to be a meph runner anyway.

Rasputin is waiting for a better shield, better wand... better equipment in general.

 

[AndiDi]

[highlight]Team Bavarian Forest (AndiDi) [/highlight] – 82 points
Resl – (Amazon – Passive/Bow) – lvl 24 – Act II Nml - 11 points - R.I.P. Duriel
Destroyer Hias – (Necro – Summon/Curses) – lvl 50 – Act II NM - 37 points
Destroyer Sepp – (Paladin – Combat/Offensive) – lvl 49 – Act I NM - 35 points

Hias: WP: Lot Gholein - Flirting with Atma
Sepp: WP: Black March - Doing Countess runes

The last week Sepp has done countless countess runs. I found some runes, but not as many as I have expected. After cubing I got 2xAmn, 1xSol, 1xShael, 2xDol, 2x Hel. I am now one Ort short of a Lore Crown for Hias. And I got all the runes for a Honor or a King's Grace Scepter for Sepp. I am only waiting to find the right socketed weapons.

Hias stepped into Nightmare for the first time this weekend and went through Act I like a hot knive through butter. No problems at all. Not even Andariel was very difficult. I plan on running her a bit, maybe I can get her to drop a Skin of Vipermagi.

Recent Set/Unique Items:
- Skystrike (The second)
- Sigon's Wrap (The second)
- Rockfleece
- Bladebuckle
- Culwen's Point
- Visceratuant (Ethereal)
- Isenhart's Case
- Vidala's Barb
- Bloodfist (The second)
- The Ward
- Sparking Mail
- Goblin Toe
- Tancred's Crowbill (Andariel)
- Bloodletter (Andariel)
- Sigon's Visor (Andariel)

 

[XorceR1]

Seroiusly, what's with the lack up updates to this thread lately? Are people just playing that much they can't take time out to update? Granted, I haven't been able to play since last Tuesday, but still.
crg

Well, as I've said earlier I have currently no computer. BUT if everything goes as planned, my roommate will bring his comp in tomorrow so I will start D2-ing
right away. :surprise:

I see you're all progressing well, I wish you good luck. :thumbsup:

 

[CRG]

[highlight]Team Renewal - Points 66[/highlight]
Hera - (Ama Javelin/Passives) - Lvl 37 - Act 5 Norm - 22 Points
Hades - (Nec Poison/Curses) - Lvl 37 - Act 5 Norm - 22 Points
Fogged_Mirrors - (Sorc Lightning/Cold) - Lvl 37 - Act 5 Norm - 22 Points

A huge update for me. It's not the conquerers I wanted to have, but then again, I went to Lake Calhoun (Minneapolis) and did about 15 miles of biking today.

Early this morning (I played from midnight to 4 am, then from 9-noon), FM finished up act 3. Mephy was easy, and I once again realized how much FO just rocks.

Act 4 was a fun one too. Big D dropped me a unique War Hat, which is going to be used quite promptly once I get through Baal.

As usual with all my characters, I ran Shenk/Eldritch till clvl 37. This, of course, leaves them nice and ripe to smoke through the rest of norm. Quite a nice deal if you ask.

As for Hera, LF is demolishing everything. However, the best thing about it is it's 10% synergy for Charged strike.

Hades is going to be the most interesting of the bunch. In my entire D2 career, I have only played 1 necro before this, and that was my fishymancer (now retired to MF). Bone Spear is killing well for him, but I need to get better at using curses and Bone wall/prisons in conjunction.

I'll probably put FM through the rest of norm later tonight (I work till midnight), so I'll update tomorrow.

crg

 

[Mage11]

OK, Starm has made her way to the Horadric Cube, and then continued on to the Far Oasis waypoint. Only a couple of NDE's this time, particularly against Radament. I have to stop switching to teleport when I'm trying to cast lightning.

Congratulations to the new Destroyers and Conquerors. Keep up the good work. I hope to get there eventually, but for now (and the next month or so) it's slow & steady for me.

Sara will be next to go, as I'll be chasing a cube for her.

[highlight]Team Mage1 (Mage11) [/highlight] – 20 points
Sara – (Amazon – Passive/Bow) – lvl 20 – Act II Nml - 6 points
Klaudia – (Assassin - MA/Shadow) – lvl 22 – Act II Nml - 7 points
Starm – (Sorc - Cold/Light.) – lvl 22 – Act II Nml - 7 points

 

[kramph]

Team Marvel (kramph) – 48 points
Red Skull – (Necromancer – Summoning/Curses) – lvl 28 – Act IV Nml – 18 points
Emma Frost – (Sorceress – Cold/Lightning) – lvl 28 – Act IV Nml – 18 points
Jubilee – (Amazon – Bow/Passive) – lvl 24 – Act III Nml – 12 points

Prize Stash (17) – Set Items (12); Unique Items (5)

Emma has made it through the third act. Nothing really noteworthy happened or dropped.

Next up, Jubilee...

 

[crazy_bear]

Seroiusly, what's with the lack up updates to this thread lately? Are people just playing that much they can't take time out to update? Granted, I haven't been able to play since last Tuesday, but still.

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I have been busy with work for the last couple of weeks so my playing time has diminished a lot. As well, I played my HC Sept project char in the time I got, since she is less time consuming than 3WD.

Anyway, here is my update.

Team Toasted_Nuts (crazy_bear) – 118 points
Destroyer Hazelnut - (Amazon - Passive/Bow) – lvl 60 – Act IV NM
Last Quest completed: Defeated Meph (49 pts)
Walnut - (Druid - Summon/Elem.) – lvl 33 – Act IV Nml – R.I.P Diablo (20 pts)
Destroyer Peanut - (Sorc - Cold/Light.) – lvl 62 – Act IV NM
Last Quest completed: Defeated Meph (49 pts)

Well, I got Hazelnut caught up to Peanut this weekend in the playing time I got. I set the players at 4 instead of 8 to speed things up, and this definitely made a difference in time to complete the acts. The one problem with bowazons is they really don't seem to do that much damage compared to some builds. What surprised me most was that she finished act III at lvl 60, which is the same level as Peanut finished it, even though Peanut stayed at p8. (Though she has since gained levels running Meph) Anyway, Meph dropped 5 rares and a Venom Ward for Hazelnut. The best was the one below, which I upgraded to exceptional. (Had to find a chipped topaz to upgrade three thuls to an amn... ever tried to find a specific chippy in NM... :rant: . Still, Andy dropped it before the countess dropped an amn)

Death Quill
Ashwood Bow
Two-Hand Damage: 38 to 60
(Amazon Only)
Required Dexterity: 77
Required Strength: 56
Required Level: 29
Bow Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x8b6c6d7f
+107% Enhanced Damage
+29 to Attack Rating
+5 to Minimum Damage
Adds 2-11 fire damage
+5 to Light Radius
Required Level +5
5% Bonus to Attack Rating
90% Damage to Undead
+92 to Attack Rating against Undead
+2 to Bow and Crossbow Skills (Amazon Only)

So now it's time to see what Act IV and the hellforge bring! I am mostly hoping for better armour... it's about time to replace that Stealth breastplate that she's been using since act I normal.

 

[Jaffa Tamarin]

[highlight]Team Gods of Egypt (Jaffa Tamarin)[/highlight] – 37 points
Anubis – (Necro - P&B/Curse) - lvl 28 - Act III Nml - 12 points
Horus - (Druid – Shape/Summon) - lvl 29 - Act III Nml - 13 points
Sekhmet - (Sorc – Cold/Fire) - lvl 28 - Act III Nml - 12 points

All three did Duriel at players 8 with no problems.

Onward into the jungles of Kurast. Wheee!

 

[kramph]

Team Marvel (kramph) – 54 points
Red Skull – (Necromancer – Summoning/Curses) – lvl 28 – Act IV Nml – 18 points
Emma Frost – (Sorceress – Cold/Lightning) – lvl 28 – Act IV Nml – 18 points
Jubilee – (Amazon – Bow/Passive) – lvl 27 – Act IV Nml – 18 points

Prize Stash (18) – Set Items (12); Unique Items (6)

Jubilee went through the third act. The merc died several times vs Mephisto. He is going to have a hard time vs Diablo.

Next up, Red Skull...

 

[aidennz]

Seroiusly, what's with the lack up updates to this thread lately? Are people just playing that much they can't take time out to update?

crg

Again can only speak for myself but now that my holidays have come up I seem to have even more work from uni then before :hanky: (it's probably really just me putting it off). I have statictics, accounting, programming and digital media design assignments. I have also been distracted by NWN and moving so I have a bit of a lack of time/will to play d2. Next thing will be stdying for exams but I hope to make a lot of progress before then. If not then around about november I'll be making some major progress since it'll be my summer holidays.

 

[simeonb]

Not much play time for me (and it will probably stay that way for some while, so I'm pleased this isn't a race!).

I did manage to get Nursie past Andy and on to her cube though. Also knocked Radament over for the skill point.

[highlight]Team Blackadder (simeonb)[/highlight] - 21 points
Queenie - (Amazon - Bow/Passive) - lvl 26 - Act II Nml (12 points)
Nursie - (Assassin - Shadow/Trap) - lvl 22 - Act II Nml (7 points)
Edmund - (Druid - Shape/Summon) - lvl 11 - Act I Nml (2 points)

 

[Dornak]

I was goiong to play on the weekend but couldn't summon up any enthusiasm for a very slow crawl through the arcane sanctuary with Mort.

Instead I did the old 'I wonder what is installed on my HD' trick and ended up playing Spellforce for most of the weekend.

I'll think I'll take a bit of a break from D2 for a bit and then come back with revived interest later.

 

[nemar]

[HIGHLIGHT]Team HALL OF FAME[/HIGHLIGHT] – 138 points


Destroyer Andariel - Necromancer - Summon / curses – lvl 73 - 57 points – actV - nm
Destroyer Baal ......- Assasin - Trap / Passive .......... – lvl 63 - 49 points – actIV - nm
Destroyer Diablo ...- Amazon - Passive / bow .......... – lvl 59 - 49 points – actIV - nm
Be Afraid, we are back ! !

longs runs from Andariel who stop at the last way point in act V.

 

[Hiedran]

[highlight]Team Melee (Hiedran)[/highlight] - 93 points
Destroyer Axe - (Druid - Shape/Summon) - Lvl 43 - Act I NM - 31 points
Destroyer Claw - (Assassin - MA/Shadow) - Lvl 46 - Act I NM - 31 points
Destroyer Mace - (Paladin - Combat/Offensive) - Lvl 47 - Act I NM - 31 points

Woo! Two weapon slots open up + one helmet slot. Thinking about it, I shoulda made Axe get the weapon first instead of the helmet, but oh well.

Bad merc choice for Axe (Frost mage named Scorch) made things tougher than normal. Scorch's levels just weren't keeping up with Axe's (21 vs 43.) I dropped down to players 1 so I can rush him to Lut Gholein. Even still I could barely hurt Lister and gang. I eventually parked them since I couldn't isolate them enough for the CB on my Strength runeword great axe to kill them.

The only nifty thing out of the Moo Moo Farm was a Bloodrise unique morning star, which I promptly socketed with a p.skull. Come on Sol rune!

 

[erimatbrad]

The only nifty thing out of the Moo Moo Farm was a Bloodrise unique morning star, which I promptly socketed with a p.skull. Come on Sol rune!

Bloodrise is an excellent upgraded weapon. I've used one in the S/U worshipper tourney, and used it well up into hell with my somewhat skilled Fanatazealot. The only reason I stopped using it (as my primary) was because he found a Djinn Slayer...

 

[kramph]

Team Marvel (kramph) – 57 points
Red Skull – (Necromancer – Summoning/Curses) – lvl 30 – Act V Nml – 21 points
Emma Frost – (Sorceress – Cold/Lightning) – lvl 28 – Act IV Nml – 18 points
Jubilee – (Amazon – Bow/Passive) – lvl 27 – Act IV Nml – 18 points

Prize Stash (21) – Set Items (14); Unique Items (7)

Red Skull has finished the fourth act. He got nailed by the lightning hose of death from Diablo which was nearly the death of him. :scared: Diablo dropped a rare razor bow which will help out Jubilee.

Imp Horn
Razor Bow
Two-Hand Damage: 12 to 40
Required Dexterity: 62
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 21
Bow Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0x393738ca
+62% Enhanced Damage
+153 to Attack Rating
+5 to Maximum Damage
5% Mana stolen per hit
10% Increased Attack Speed

Next up, Emma Frost...

 

[erimatbrad]

[highlight]Team Eddings (erimatbrad)[/highlight] - 190 points
Conquerer Polgara - (Sorc - Light./Cold) - lvl 80 - Act I Hell
Conquerer Liselle - (Amazon - Jav./Passive) - lvl 66 - Act V Nm
Destroyer Zedar - (Necro – P&B/Curse) - lvl 49 - Act V Nm

Yet another Conquerer for Team Eddings! Liselle managed to triumph over the big bad himself today.

Things are getting a bit scary with LI enemies. For now, I've got Deathbit on switch (courtesy of Eldritch), and hope to find something better eventually. It's not so bad, but there are better things.

Anya gave Liselle a crappy bow, which was infuriating because of it's crappiness and the fact that it was, indeed, a bow.

The Ancients were Spectral Hit, Aura Enchanted (Conviction), and... erm... I think Extra Strong.

Really, nothing that our team couldn't handle. My Valkyrie didn't come close to dying, my hireling was a very healthy boy, not even coming close to biting it...

I panicked a bit in WSK when I was faced with Gloams, but they didn't do any damage to anyone in my party, so that worked out to my advantage. They were just slow to die with built-in lightning immunity.

Baal took a fairly long time to die, mainly because he kept jumping around the map... and the fact that my hireling was more interested in attacking appendages that were on the other side of the map. I eventually charged struck him down. A few rares, no uniques, no sets... nothing worth keeping.

Cows were incredibly fun. Mowing them down by the dozens with a swift click... ah, how fabulous.

The King didn't drop anything worth having -- he did leave a Matriarchial Spear, which left me muttering, wishing it had been something more along the lines of the throwing variety.

I'll level her on the fabulous Elditch / champion pack that spawns near him (not Shenk) and Pindleskin combo. Two or three runs of those on p8 level her, and it's very fast to boot!

I'm not overly excited about taking Zedar through... but I'm sure he'll make it. The only other thing I can think of mentioning is that Liselle found yet -another- Lum rune, bringing my count up to three. Still no Fal for me! I'm hoping to come across a good 2 socket (and then three socket) elite armor for some Smoky and Lionhearted goodness...

 

[CRG]

[highlight]Team Renewal - Points 74[/highlight]
Hera - (Ama Javelin/Passives) - Lvl 37 - Act 5 Norm - 22 Points
Hades - (Nec Poison/Curses) - Lvl 37 - Act 5 Norm - 22 Points
Destroyer Fogged_Mirrors - (Sorc Lightning/Cold) - Lvl 51 - Act 5 Norm - 30 Points

Here's some good news. I got my first Destroyer last night, as FM cruised through Baal on /players8. Since then, she has been running to 51, and is waiting to do the Mo-Mo farm till right before she enters NM. Currently, she's MF'ing for a Vipermagi.

And now here's the bad news. ATMA somehow became corrupted yesterday, and thus, along with some other bad stuff has happend to my computer, all because of the Sasser virus. Ick. So my computer tower is sitting at the ITS helpdesk, getting reformated.

More good news. I backed up all of my characters before the wipe, including some other important files. As a result., I am now the owner of a spiffy 128 mb USB drive.

More bad news. I lost everything stored in ATMA, including my TWD stash. however, with the stash, the only item that wasn't a normal/set/unique was a lone Whitstan's guard. Everything else I'm sure everyone has found and has multiple copies of their own.

More good news. There really isn't any more good news. Sorry. So I'll be out of comission for a while, at least a week, I think.

crg

 

[crazy_bear]

Just a very quick note to celebrate:

Hazelnut did act V quests one and 2. From the Hellforge she got an Um!

I was very happy. I didn't even realize an Um could drop. Very useful rune.

Onward, and good luck to all