Tournament: Envious of the Green and Gold

If it wasn't single pass, item restrictions wouldn't be as restrictive because you could just grind the gear.


Code:
Name          Character    Class         Area               Level    S/U's Equipped 
------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Morathi       TBA          TBA           Act 1  Normal       1           0
jiansonz      Martina      Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
felixbavaria  Alf          Druid         Black Marsh         16          0
Kitteh        Briony       Assassin      Inner Cloister      18          2
djmbbandie    Cassie       Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
Grisu         Meronym      Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0

Skewer and whatever its called (small shield), both in level x of the Jail, in very quick succession.
 
Code:
Name          Character    Class         Area               Level    S/U's Equipped 
------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Morathi       TBA          TBA           Act 1  Normal       1           0
jiansonz      Martina      Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
felixbavaria  Bruno        Druid         Far Oasis           24          5
Kitteh        Briony       Assassin      Inner Cloister      18          2
djmbbandie    Cassie       Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
Grisu         Meronym      Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0

Removed Alf from the list, re-entered with Bruno.

Bruno the Bear, Zanarhi the Desert Guard and Ivy the Carrion Vine make smooth progress through Act II. Andariel died quickly to Bruno's fire enchanted paws. Bruno is still allowed to wear his emeralded Large Axe, with Cleglaw's Shield on switch, while Zanarhi is wielding the mighty Dragon Chang. Three other S/Us have dropped: Gorefoot (meh), Arctic Furs and Biggin's Bonnet (the latter two went on the merc).

MVP in the Halls of the Dead goes to Ivy. Corpse disposal and always near full life, hell yeah.

[highlight]Bruno, level 24 Werebear Druid, 5 S/Us equipped[/highlight]
 
Martina the Amazon and Gwinni the archer made it safely through the first act. Long Bow with +2 max jewel, Scepter and Pilums on throwing switch were plenty good enough. Near the end of the act, Martina upgraded to Superior Grand Scepter and Spiked Shield. She also found Death's Guard and Arctic Binding in the Catacombs. Nice, a set combo already in Act 1.

I was torn between my usual desire of heavy MF and the risk of finding 3 S/U weapons (none of which Act I-II mercs could use (which would also cut off my two planned main skills Jab and Immo Arrow!)) too soon.

My new Prayer buddy was given a Spetum. Martina chose a Flail and also bought a nice Bone Shield.
Progress was pretty easy. I found two green amulets in early Act II: Civerb's and Cathan's.

Made it all the way to Far Oasis before my first S/U weapon dropped: Skewer of Krintiz from Beetleburst. Then when Fire Eye dropped Crushflange I started to get a little nervous about the prospect of a weaponless merc for the last part of the act. In the Arcane Sanctuary, my merc got an upgrade when a low quality Poleaxe dropped. I could "de-crapify" it in the cube right away. In one of the false tombs, a Ghoul Lord champ dropped a keeper: Arctic Mitts. What a great boost! Maxed cold resist now, even more Defense, a little IAS, +70 (!) life.

Isenhart´s armor dropped in a false tomb and Cleglaw's Pincers dropped in the true tomb, but thankfully, no more S/U weapon before the Duriel fight. Of course, it wasn't as important in that fight as for the general killing because I took on Duriel at /p3. Swinging Crushflange, of course. Easy fight, but now the sunny days of the mighty Poleaxe were over.

I switched to a Cold Iron Wolf, gave him the Skewer and bought him a Bone Shield. His first mission was to take care of some unfinished business back in tomb #6.

As crappy as it is, Bladebone is still the best weapon I have for general damage dealing (at least it's fast...). Martina was not strong enough to use it without the STR bonus from Hsaru's buckler, so that had to be used alongside it until she could level up once more. Now she can use both Bladebone and Arctic Mitts without the need for a STR boost on weapon or shield. She just needs the +5 bonus from two Arctic pieces, and that is not going to be taken off anytime soon.

We do not kill fast in Act III, but we do kill at a bearable speed. Just. Martina has a poison charm, you know, and Telash's ice blasts are pretty good. I was a bit nervous about Sszark. I had the option of borrowing the Skewer (it has +10 DEX) in the fight, which would have led to a really nice 55% blocking but instead, I chose Crushflange. I took cover behind my level 6 Decoy, swung wlidly at the spot and knocked Sszark back repeatedly. The ice barrage did most of the damage but also slowed down the spider so I could get many chances at hitting.

Great Marsh was a long slog against zombies, fetishes and treebeasts. Game is still open (paused). I have seen that we will face melee Flayers (those 8-packs) and Soul Killer Shaman (i.e. mixed shaman/soldier/blowdarter) packs in the Flayer Jungle. Thanks to my sturdy Decoy and Slow Missiles (which cuts shaman flamethrowing distance down to almost nothing), this should be easy, I think.


[Highlight]Martina the Amazon and Telash the Cold Mage, level 29, 9 S/U items equipped, Flayer Jungle next[/Highlight]
 
You have been busy Jiansonz! :). Good progress so far!

As far as my own progress, i have a character underway, currently making my way through Act 1 (Dark Wood next up). Will post an official update at the conclusion of Act 1.
 
The rest of Act II had a few interesting S/U drops - Shadowfang from a random zombie boss in the Lost City, both the set and the unique Large Shield (the unique one has at least some blocking and LR while the set one is rather useless). Furthermore, Berserker's Axe, meaning that we can only use S/U weapons from now on. Since Double Axes have abysmal attack speed in bear form (28 fpa), Bruno is wielding Shadowfang now, which deals damage at 22 fpa. Duriel was very easy (taken at /p3), and his drop was very useful: Bloodfist! An endgame worthy item in this tourney.

[highlight]Bruno the Werebear and Zanarhi the BA merc, level 27, Kurast Docks, 8 S/Us equipped[/highlight]
 
Code:
Name          Character    Class         Area               Level    S/U's Equipped
------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Morathi       TBA          TBA           Act 1  Normal       1           0
jiansonz      Martina      Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
felixbavaria  Bruno        Druid         Far Oasis           24          5
Kitteh        Briony       Assassin      Inner Cloister      18          2
djmbbandie    Cassie       Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
Grisu         Meronym      Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0
Tox FTW       Tipsey       Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0
I'll take a shot at this tourney. Entering with Tipsey the Kicker. Maybe I'll be able to make it into NM this time.
 
I'd like to start off by reintroducing myself. I joined here quite a few years ago, and participated in the Hell Unleashed MP groups, and a small number of tourneys - most of which I dropped out of due to a lack of free time. No one can really stay away from D2 forever though, so when I felt nostalgic I came looking around here to see what you guys were up to. Surprisingly, I saw a lot of the same faces that I remember reading tournament reports from way back in the past, and I was suddenly flooded with the urge to take another stab at this. So even though I have even less free time than before, I've decided to join up with an Assassin (which appear to be in vogue) and see if I can actually guardian one of these tournaments.

Irene had a fairly uneventful act I. She hungered for green and gold, but found nothing but a sea of yellow. Emeralds were abundant, and used to adorn her companion, Klaudia's, bow. However, despite finding nearly a full stash's worth of chipped gems, the coveted topaz was in short supply. Irene found her first topaz in the crypt, and the final two back to back in the catacombs. The most satisfying topaz find, however, was when Irene ran up to Rakinishu, fists on fire, and popped him in the face - causing him to choke up a badly chipped topaz he was hiding who-knows-where.

Speaking of fiery fists, Irene invested heavily in Fists of Fire; I've never really used the skill before but I'm quickly finding it one of my favorite melee skills in the game - the melee explosions are just so satisfying. I really like the tactical use of the skill, and will probably take Irene all the way into being a phoenix striker.

The search for beautiful sets and uniques went about as poorly as the hunt for topaz (It's almost as if they're related...). Irene found a smelly hat at the bottom of a hole, and was pretty disappointed with Andariel's secret treasures.

But all her bad fortune is behind her, as a great desert lies ahead. If there's one thing I learned from Indiana Jones, tombs in the desert always have the best treasure!

Code:
Name          Character    Class         Area               Level    S/U's Equipped
------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
jiansonz      Martina      Amazon        Flayer Jungle       29          9
felixbavaria  Bruno        Druid         Kurast Docks        27          8
Glenstorm     Irene        Assassin      Lut Gholein         20          1
Kitteh        Briony       Assassin      Inner Cloister      18          2
Morathi       TBA          TBA           Act 1  Normal       1           0
djmbbandie    Cassie       Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
Grisu         Meronym      Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0
Tox FTW       Tipsey       Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0
 
Like the Tourney, hate the table. I couldn't get stuff to work right on it without redoing half the spacing. If someone wants to add me to that ^ one, cool. If not, I'll be on my own little one... all alone.

[TABLE="width: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]Name[/TD]
[TD]Character[/TD]
[TD]Class[/TD]
[TD]Area[/TD]
[TD]Level[/TD]
[TD]S/U's equipped[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Crawlingdeadman[/TD]
[TD]BartholomewKuma[/TD]
[TD]Druid[/TD]
[TD]Cold Plains[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
 
Like the Tourney, hate the table. I couldn't get stuff to work right on it without redoing half the spacing. If someone wants to add me to that ^ one, cool. If not, I'll be on my own little one... all alone.

[TABLE="width: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]Name[/TD]
[TD]Character[/TD]
[TD]Class[/TD]
[TD]Area[/TD]
[TD]Level[/TD]
[TD]S/U's equipped[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Crawlingdeadman[/TD]
[TD]BartholomewKuma[/TD]
[TD]Druid[/TD]
[TD]Cold Plains[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Paste it into notepad and straighten it there :)
 
Speaking of fiery fists, Irene invested heavily in Fists of Fire; I've never really used the skill before but I'm quickly finding it one of my favorite melee skills in the game - the melee explosions are just so satisfying. I really like the tactical use of the skill, and will probably take Irene all the way into being a phoenix striker.

I agree, it´s a satisfying skill to use once you have a couple of levels in it. Did you go claw/shield or dual claws here in the early game?



Telash the Iron Wolf made lots of little flayer ice cubes in the jungle. I was wrong in my last update - there were not many shaman packs in the Flayer Jungle (that one I met was a boss, and in Normal difficulty, boss packs are totally unrelated to your main monster draw). It was melee Flayers and Flayer blowdarters instead, with the occasional Slime Prince (gotta love that monster name!) thrown in. Plenty of shamans in the side alcoves and dungeons, though.

I was surprised at how easy Martina and Telash killed Stormtree. Level 7 Decoy is sturdy indeed, and Slow Missiles will sometimes do weird things with enemy LE bolts. Bladebone has a nice range - it's easy to reach enemies from behind a Decoy.

Two more green jewellery pieces have dropped: another Cathan's Sigil and a Cathan's Seal. I gave up the double regeneration boost on Civerb's Icon for some goodies on the Cathan's combo - some life steal and most notably 15-20 fire damage. Every bit helps...


[Highlight]Martina the Amazon and Telash the Cold Mage, level 31, 10 S/U items equipped, Kurast Sewers next[/Highlight]
 
Count me in pls, i do play 1.11, but thats not problem, according to the rules...Always wanted to try Fist of havens skill, now is the Thors time :-)

Code:
Name          Character    Class         Area               Level    S/U's Equipped
------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
jiansonz      Martina      Amazon        Flayer Jungle       29          9
felixbavaria  Bruno        Druid         Kurast Docks        27          8
Glenstorm     Irene        Assassin      Lut Gholein         20          1
Kitteh        Briony       Assassin      Inner Cloister      18          2
Morathi       TBA          TBA           Act 1  Normal       1           0
djmbbandie    Cassie       Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
Grisu         Meronym      Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0
Tox FTW       Tipsey       Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0
RIP           Thor         Paladin       Rogue camp          1           0
 
Bruno has reached the Lower Kurast WP. NDE with Szark who spawned right next to the entrance and killed the merc instantly. The next moment Bruno shifted back from bear form. Not good.

The unique Shaman dropped Hsarus' Boots, not bad. Unfortunately, Bruno's nice +1 Fire Claws antlers with 2 flawed topazes had to be replaced by Cathan's mask that dropped from a chest in LK.

Tried gambling for S/Us and got a few endgame worthy rares, if only they were allowed.

[highlight]Bruno the Werebear, level 30, Lower Kurast, 9 S/Us equipped[/highlight]
 
Long introduction following:

Once upon a time, in a country far, far, far away from whatever country you may live in, there lived a girl called London Hilton. She was very rich, because her daddy owned a chain of taverns all through the world, where people forked over large amounts of money in a box on which the following message had been placed: 'Please fork over large amounts of money, for I have a teenage daughter.'

This particular teenage girl liked lots of shiny golden and green items to accessorize with, and so she took her daddy shopping with her on a sporadic basis. For her, sporadic was about twice a week. For daddy, each time felt like the Lord of Terror himself had gotten a hold of his heart and squeezed whenever his daughter would come around and say: 'Oh daddy, I GOTTA have this or I will just DIE!'

As she was nearing her eighteenth birthday, she took daddy shopping again. She had found a lovely little cuirass to wear, namely Haemosu's Adamant. She liked the swirly patterns... After daddy had bought that one, she pointed excitedly at Ondal's Almighty. She figured it would blow all this wannabe 'crown' wearers away at the coming dance.
So once Daddy had mortgaged his thirteenth tavern for the second time to pay for it, and promised a loanshark his third kidney as collateral for the cash to buy the crown, little London skipped home happily... leaving Daddy Dearest to carry the loot of the day.

Sadly enough for daddy though, the street is very long, and all sorts of shopowners had discovered the joy that was London Hilton, so they had all flocked to that street just to sell their wares to her. And since they had gotten to know her taste quite well over the years, about every other window display managed to catch her interest. And this time, it was M'avina's True Sight that caught her eye. So by the time daddy had caught up with his offspring, she was happily admiring her reflection as she was wearing the diadem. Daddy took one look at the price tag, realized that he had no more organs left to use as collateral, barring his heart which the Lord of Terror just now squeezed extra hard. So he fainted on the street.

When he came to, London was perched over him and said: "Daddy, you had me worried! If you had died, I wouldn't be able to buy that diadem! It will be epic!"

But daddy had had enough. With a roar he stood up and said: "I just bought a crown for you, and now you want a diadem? Forget it! If you want a diadem, you can go and fetch one yourself!"
London pouted: "But daddy!!!! You have money, and I don't, and if I go and make money, I could chip my fingernails..."
Daddy wasn't mollified: "Wear gloves. You have about 4000 pair at home anyway. I'm done. I'm not buying anything for you anymore!"
London became worried: "But daaaaddy... I really need this to be happy. Don't you want me to be happy?"
Daddy said: "I am not stopping you pumpkin pie. If you want it, go get it. All of the items you see in these shops are delivered by adventurers who kill demons for them. So learn how to kill demons, and get your own!"

London was quite vexed with her daddy about that, but sadly, all her wheedling didn't help this time. If she wanted it, she had to go kill yucky things. So she went out to see what she could learn in order to kill yucky things. Her first option was magic, since she figured that would be really cool. Especially fireballs and stuff, because she could totally use those as special effects on her party, or like, to torch whichever women dared to enter with outdated fashion or an outfit identical to her own. Sadly enough, London did not have any magical talent whatshowever. She was quite amazed by that, because she knew herself to be an incredibly talented, bright young lady, but alas, she couldn't gainsay the facts. So she decided to try the bow.

Three months, twenty different teachers (of which three were accidentally killed by unlucky shots, which raised the costs to hire more enormously) and 10 different bows later, she had to come to the conclusion that she wasn't capable of firing a single good shot. That really left only one option.

So she went to the arena, and said to the battle master: "I want to learn how to wield a big sword, so I can kill demons and get my own diadem." The arenamaster was a man of little words and much cynicism, so rather then try to talk her out of it, he just handed her a huge Zweihander. All of the fghters were entertained for the next half an hour, while the poor girl tried to lift the sword to the ready position. Finally, exasperated, she tossed it back on the sand and left.

But London was not defeated, not by a long shot(pardon the pun). She went to the gym, and started to work out. She had to have that diadem, and for that, she needed to be able to lift that sword. It took her all of three days, however, to find out that going to the gym was a lot of hard work with very little to show for it. London did not like that, and so she looked for alternative options. And being a resourceful, still reasonably rich girl opens a lot of doors. It also opened the door to the illegal drugs. There was this one drug, 'ye olde testosterone', which purportedly would help her quickly gain muscletone, with some minor side effects. London liked the 'quickly gaining muscle' bit, and didn't pay much attention to the rest, so she bought the entire stock against three times the going rate.
Over the next three months, she religiously worked out and used the wonderdrug. To great effect, she was pleased to note. Her strength multiplied twentyfold, and her biceps were now truly impressive. Something else had grown as well, namely her pecs. Sadly enough, her more womanly bits had sort of disappeared in the mass of pecs she had on her chest. Another side effect seemed to be hair loss. That annoyed her mightily, but as mentioned, she was resourceful. Eventually, she just shaved herself bald, barring one braid hanging down the back of her neck. Her tone of voice had also changed slightly. Whereas she used to be a dulcet soprano, she now sounded like a gnarled, veteran sergeant cussing his men out.

She felt she was ready for another go in the arena.

Once there, she walked to the rack with the zweihander in it, and lifted the entire rack with one arm. Then she walked over to the arena master, lifted him with her other arm, and asked him, in her sweetly, not so dulcetty veteran sergeant voice: "Enough of a demonstration for you?"

The arena master was far too busy being strangled to enjoy the demonstration, but he got the point of her message almost immediately. So he started teaching her how to handle swords and axes and other big, menacing weapons. He charged her five times the normal amount, mostly because she kept on making the same rookie mistakes. Finally, after about two months of practice and more of that 'ye olde testosterone' crap in her body, he figured she was capable enough not to stab herself in the foot anymore, and so he took the last of her money, and gave her a lift to an encampment far, far away. London was finally ready to collect her own collection of lovely green and golden items!

PS. This character is entirely fictional. If by coincidence any reader should share the first name with any of the characters, this should be considered to be entirely coincidental.

So yes, London_Hilton will be a Barbarian. I probably won't be playing very often, as I don't do much diablo at all these days, but I'll see if I can't do a bit every now and then. :)
 
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