Tournament: Envious of the Green and Gold

jdkerr said:
I have two primary decisions to make at this point.
(1) What build? I have been playing to this point as a trapper for leveling purposes, but I intend to be a Phoenix Strike build. Should I switch now, or should I postpone the switch for a while? On the one hand, I want to play the bulk of as a PS assassin; the whole point of being a trapper is to move through the early, boring areas quickly. But for me, that includes NM Act 2 (ugh -- Act 2 is such a pain), so perhaps I should wait. On the other hand, it would be nice to jump in with my primary skill right away. I am leaning toward switching now.
(2) What mercenary? I currently have an Act 3 cold mercenary (with unexceptional gear), but Baal dropped a "Bloodthief" Brandistock, which has life steal and open wounds, so an Act 2 mercenary is now an option. I am leaning toward the Act 2 mercenary for two reasons. First, the open wounds could be helpful in certain contexts. Second, the blessed aim aura could help Phoenix Strike. On the other hand, I have been enjoying the glacial spike business (although it will become less useful as more immunities begin to appear).
Click to expand...
(1)If you never played a PS Assassin before, then it would probably be a good idea to respec now to get an idea of how to play that build. Might be tough to learn a new play style under the pressure of NM boss packs... :crazyeyes:
On the other hand, if you're already experienced with that build, why not go trapper first? I would definitely be switching now, but that's just me (plus, I never respecced in tourneys so far, except for when it was mandatory)

(2) You don't necessarily need a BA merc for PS (it grants AR bonus), but for the finishing strike, which will most likely be a normal attack without any skill to boost AR. Depends on your equipment, I guess. If you have full Cleglaw's or ITD, then you can probably stay with your Mage merc.
 
Just minor update, Thor made it yesterday to City of Damned waypoint, nothing interesting dropped, no danger for him at all...Next update will be (hopefully) after killing Big D, it will be interesting battle with p8 setting
 
The progress is so painful I actually consider putting some points in energy and extra 3-4 points in warmth. Although it's highly unlikely I might actually do it because I can't see no future improvement in the mana pool except if some uber charms drop. Insight is out of the question and so is Spirit sword both of which are great mana pot addiction 'antidotes'.

On the bright side I found an Ethereal Partizan in the Crystalline Passage so the merc still scores some kills here and there. Still no third S/U weapon. In fact in the whole Act V so far the only S/U are Sigon's Gage and Vidala's Snare.

Other than the mana issues maxed Blizzard dominates everything with ease. I don't know where future points will go, most likely Firewall as Blizzard does enough damage as it is and I have no backup for Nightmare unless I find a nice merc weapon anytime soon. I have the runes and gems both for a weapon and armor upgrade, hopefully Baal will be nice to me.

Doing full clears except waiting for the small groups of Shambling Undeads/Rot Walkers/etc. to resurrect. Everything up to Crystalline Passage is cleared including the Frozen River and Nihlathak's levels. Glacial Trail next.

[highlight]Selene the Blizzwaller and Chalan the Prayer merc, Level 44, 10 S/U Equipped, Glacial Trail [/highlight]
 
srrw said:
I can't see no future improvement in the mana pool except if some uber charms drop.
Click to expand...

Frostburn can drop. :badteeth:

Be thankful for as long as your merc can use that eth. Partizan. I do not understand why your progress is painful when you have this. A "standard" Savage Partizan isn't doing much more damage, and I do not need my character to deal damage at all to progress at a decent pace if my merc has one of those. Plus, you can always whip out Static Field when he runs into a Possessed Frozen Horror or something else with a ton of life.
 
Code: 
Name          Character    Class       Diff.   Area               Level    S/U's Equipped
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archone       Chicken      Necromancer  Completed                    87          15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jiansonz      Martina      Amazon       NM       Far Oasis           54          13
felixbavaria  Bruno        Druid        NM       Cold Plains         48           9
srrw          Selene       Sorceress    NM       Rogue Camp          48          11
jdkerr        Phusis       Assassin     NM       Rogue Camp          47           9
RIP           Thor         Paladin      Normal   Pandemonium Fortr.  32          10
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kitteh        Briony       Assassin     Normal   Kurast Docks        28           9
Glenstorm     Irene        Assassin     Normal   Kurast Docks        27           3
Immortal_S    GreenGoldie  Paladin      Normal   Kurast Docks        27           4
Tox FTW       Oatmeal      Paladin      Normal   Dry Hills           22           2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jason         Qirana       Amazon       Normal   Stony Field         22           4
Grisu         Meronym      Assassin     Normal   Rogue Camp          21           2
kestegs       SankeEyes    Sorceress    Normal   Lut Gholein         21           3
Morathi       Yates        Barbarian    Normal   Lut Gholein         20           0
igloosPat     Hennifer     Assassin     Normal   Great Marsh         29           3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jerametrius   Passion      Paladin      Normal   Lut Gholein         20           2
CDM           BK           Druid        Normal   Outer Cloister      17           2
djmbbandie    Cassie       Amazon       Normal   Black Marsh         17           1
kstarm        Malice?      Necromancer  Normal   Outer Cloister      17           0
Archone #2    TBA          TBA          Normal   Rogue Camp           1           0

Finished Normal including the Moo Moo Farm. Drops through all of Act V and the Cow Level include Sigon's Gage, Vidala's Snare, 2x The Chieftain, Tancred's Skull and Arctic Horns. Baal's drop was horrible.

Skills and Stats before starting Nightmare:
Stats

  • Strength: 42
  • Dexterity: 25
  • Vitality: 120
  • Energy: 35

Unspent Stat Points: 98

Life: 444
Mana: 146


Skills
Cold

  • Blizzard: 20
  • Ice Blast: 10
  • Prereq's, Cold Armor and Cold Mastery: 1

Fire

  • Firewall: 6
  • Prereq's, Warmth and Fire Mastery: 1

Lightning

  • Static Field, Telekenesis, Teleport: 1

Unspent Skill Points: 3

Gear before starting Nightmare:
Selene
  • Head: Tancred's Skull
  • Amulet: Vidala's Snare
  • Weapon1: Bloodrise
  • Shield1: Milabrega's Orb
  • Weapon2: Arcanna's Deathwand
  • Armor: Arctic Furs
  • Gloves: Bloodfist
  • Belt: Arctic Binding
  • Ring1: Angelic Halo
  • Ring2: Empty Slot
  • Boots: white Bloots

Merc
  • Head: Berserker's Headgear
  • Armor: Arctic Furs
  • Weapon: Empty Slot

I prefer the weaponless merc over the Mage as I need a tank and I do pretty decent damage.

The mana problems is still a huge drawback. I needed half an inventory to clean a single level of the Worldstone Keep. Any suggestions on how I can fix that? Or at least make it bearable? I have some gems pilling up so the first ilvl49+ grand charm will be rerolled until I get a Seprent's prefix.

I was thinking putting 3-5 points in Warmth. It's a synergy to Firewall anyway so it's not that big of a waste.

[highlight]Destroyer Selene and Chalan the Weaponless, Level 48, S/U Equipped 11, NM Rogue Camp[/highlight]
 
srrw said:
The mana problems is still a huge drawback. I needed half an inventory to clean a single level of the Worldstone Keep. Any suggestions on how I can fix that?

Or at least make it bearable? I have some gems pilling up so the first ilvl49+ grand charm will be rerolled until I get a Seprent's prefix.

I was thinking putting 3-5 points in Warmth. It's a synergy to Firewall anyway so it's not that big of a waste.
Click to expand...


Wow, is that synergy new in 1.13? I haven't noticed it before.

I have a suggestion, but it would make her a totally different character as far as gameplay goes (at least for the time being) and you might not like that.

Respec to Blaze instead of FW, ease up on the Blizzard synergy for the time being and make Blaze your main killer until your mana pool is significantly bigger. Blaze is usually extremely mana efficient (depending on enemies, of course).

This requires a merc switch because you can't be an efficient Blaze user with a melee merc. I'd go with a Lightning mage or an Act I merc (since you have some set bows even if they are bad).
 
Ok, query forJiansonz as I believe you do a lot of tournament play;I have two characters at home for this tournament. My amazing girlfriend foolishly allowed me to install D2 on her laptop, but I'm thinking I'll play a different tournament at hers. If I play a tournament gone by, can I 'resurrect' it in the thread, or would I have to revive it in a new thread? Or perhaps I don't even need to post?
 
Just a quick uptade. Couldn't resist.

Pumping up Warmth up to slvl5 and investing 40 points into energy (something I've never, ever done before except on a ES Sorcy) solved the mana issues. Not completely, but it's bearable now.

Met my first CI FI in the Cold Plains no other than good old Bishibosh. I though there was no way possible I could kill him since the merc does NO damage but I remembered I had Bloodrise on my main switch. Static down to 25% and then hit him for 2 minutes and he eventually died. After 3 Boss packs next to each other I get a Sigon's Shield from a chest? OK.

As for the Mausoleum and the Crypt, a picture says more than a thousand words: #1, #2 !!!, #3, #4 !!!, Oh.. there's more?!, Manald,
Voulge -> Bill

"Hi, how are you?" - Sincerely, Luck

[highlight]Destroyer Selene the Blizzwaller and Chalan the (not-so)-Mighty, Level 48, S/U Equipped [idk], NM The Cave Next[/highlight]
 
Last edited:
Today we interview Cassie and Ithera live from the Inner Cloister.

Cassie: I want a weapon! Any set or unique weapon! I'm getting desperate! (now using a three socketed chipped emerald long bow to kill things)

DJ: Tell us about the Smith.

Cassie: I ran in circles around a weapons rack and he chased me. Ithera shot arrows at him.

Ithera: It was kind of amusing listening to you scream....

Cassie: This is why I need a weapon.

DJ: How many NDEs to wraith packs have you had in the Jail levels?

Cassie: three. One to a lightning enchanted, one to an extra fast, and another to a spectral hit pack.

DJ: This is why Cassie will be on hiatus for a while. I plan to start another character while she recovers from running around boss packs and letting Ithera shoot them.

[HIGHLIGHT] Cassie, the level 19 scared passivezon, Inner Cloister, with her good fire merc Ithera (Now on Hiatus)
Catherine, the level 1 to be future FO/CL sorc headed for the Blood Moor.[/HIGHLIGHT]
 
Kitteh said:
Ok, query forJiansonz as I believe you do a lot of tournament play;I have two characters at home for this tournament. My amazing girlfriend foolishly allowed me to install D2 on her laptop, but I'm thinking I'll play a different tournament at hers. If I play a tournament gone by, can I 'resurrect' it in the thread, or would I have to revive it in a new thread? Or perhaps I don't even need to post?
Click to expand...

I know you asked jiansonz, but maybe I can help out ;-) I do that all the time - posting in tourney threads gone by (Bountyhunter, Obsession, Random tournament...). It's usually no big deal and this way people reading about your progress can more easily check out the tournament rules and other characters from that tournament. You don't need to post, but I usually like to read about the progress people make in tournaments, be it new tournaments or old ones already finished :)
 
Act II was fun. I do not really know why, but I find Immolation Arrow to be such a satisfying skill to use. It's sort of like a 'Phoenix Strike 1st charge light', from a distance, that you can apply fast. I think it helps that it is also very powerful in NM. It takes a tough boss/minion to require more than 2 hits and some merc stabs.

I found Skystrike in Lost City. I switched to that. I lose a little physical damage per hit and mana steal compared to Blastbark Gothic Bow but it is better in every other way. I have not noticed mana steal working with Immolation Arrow anyway (or maybe the combo of the damage and my mana steal value is just far too small?). I get a good number of shots, then I need to drink blues, rest quite a bit or gather loot and visit Fara. A good thing with Skystrike is that if I face a fire immune boss with high physical resistance (so it's tough for Ahsab as well), I can switch to Attack and do on average 125 lightning damage per hit, and it's a fast bow.

In the seven tombs, I could finally fill my second ring slot. First with another Cathan's Seal, then I could switch to Manald Heal. Other finds in the act include Rockfleece (from Duriel), Soulflay, Milabrega's Robe, Rakescar, Ironstone, Razortine, Griswold's Edge and Twitchthroe. Twitchthroe is a really nice armor. I will make use of that if I can find a merc weapon/helm with life steal or if I switch to an Act I merc.

I am currently building up Decoy. It's at level 16 now. Decoy is vulnerable to poison - often goes down fast if she is poisoned but can "survive" a huge amount of punishment if she's not. Must have an enormous regeneration rate.


[Highlight]Destroyer Martina the Immozon and Ahsab the Might Guard, level 60, 14 S/U items equipped, NM Spider Forest next[/Highlight]
 
Last edited:
Code: 
Name          Character    Class       Diff.   Area               Level    S/U's Equipped
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archone       Chicken      Necromancer  Completed                    87          15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jiansonz      Martina      Amazon       NM       Far Oasis           60          14
felixbavaria  Bruno        Druid        NM       Cold Plains         48           9
srrw          Selene       Sorceress    NM       Rogue Camp          48          11
jdkerr        Phusis       Assassin     NM       Rogue Camp          47           9
RIP           Thor         Paladin      Normal   Pandemonium Fortr.  32          10
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kitteh        Briony       Assassin     Normal   Kurast Docks        28           9
Glenstorm     Irene        Assassin     Normal   Kurast Docks        27           3
Immortal_S    GreenGoldie  Paladin      Normal   Kurast Docks        27           4
Tox FTW       Oatmeal      Paladin      Normal   Dry Hills           22           2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jason         Qirana       Amazon       Normal   Stony Field         22           4
Grisu         Meronym      Assassin     Normal   Rogue Camp          21           2
kestegs       SankeEyes    Sorceress    Normal   Lut Gholein         21           3
Morathi       Yates        Barbarian    Normal   Lut Gholein         20           0
igloosPat     Hennifer     Assassin     Normal   Great Marsh         29           3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archone#2     Ms_Piggy     Assassin     Normal   Lut Gholein         20           3
Jerametrius   Passion      Paladin      Normal   Lut Gholein         20           2
CDM           BK           Druid        Normal   Outer Cloister      17           2
djmbbandie    Cassie       Amazon       Normal   Black Marsh         17           1
kstarm        Malice?      Necromancer  Normal   Outer Cloister      17           0

So I started my second character this tourney, and yet again I wanted to pick something I really hate on bnet. This time a MA Assa... The delay/lag during online play is so annoying!!

Now she can TigerStrike without missing (due to lag) and I looove it! ;)

My first S/U was death belt, and after that Gull Dagger. Which breaks about every 3-4 min! Very frustrating!
And TS doesnt add alot of dmg due to the low base dmg. Still, she hits at the speed of light with BoS! :nod:

EDIT: When Ive figured where/how to share my Andy drop I will! But she dropped the death gloves!

EDIT2: Here we go.. http://tinypic.com/r/akuyxe/6
 
Last edited:
Have finally finished playing GreenGoldieII through Act III and IV. No NDEs apart from Mephisto's iceball of death just missing by a hair's breadth while I was retreating. Big D was taken on /P3 as was the Venom Lords seal, their inferno attack hurt way too much even with the newly acquired Hotspurs!

Doing full clears is finally starting to pay dividends for the most part. Found Goreshovel the unique broad axe (now on secondary switch), Manald Heal, Hotspur, Hand of Broc (gambled), Steelclash (yay!) and Vivalda's Bow (nay, now Merc has to go weaponless) in Act III. Act IV yielded Chance Guards (yay!) and the Diggler, which is now paired with Steelclash and replacing the Berserker's Axe.

Hopefully will get around through Act V some time next week.

GreenGoldieII the Teslafroster, Level 34, 8 S/U items equipped, Harragoth WP
 
Log in to Reply / Create Site Account
Remove Ads - Go PurePremium

Latest posts

Back
Top