Tournament: Envious of the Green and Gold
- Thread starter Morathi1
- Start date
Windowed mode heavily improved my computer's performance. My laptop is 6 years old, and in full screen mode, I get anywhere from 6 to 16 fps, but in windowed mode, I get 24/25 no matter what is happening on screen. My roommate gets 120 fps in windowed mode, 30 full screen.
You're right, though on my machine for whatever reason, sometimes when I tab out, the resolution freaks out and I have to reset my monitor. Windowed mode doesn't have this problem
jiansonz
New member
Too bad there, Dazliare.
Can I join the club?
View attachment 5669
The two Causeway temples were brutal. I got through the Fane but not the Reliquary. Main weakness of this character has been the bad lightning resist (33% as of now) and a Holy Shock archer boss in the first room forced me to push deeper into the dungeon. I was down to two purples, so I would not have been able to make much of a stand. I ran past a snake boss pack and managed to escape through a portal in the upper-right room. When I got back, I thought maybe I had a chance against base monster packs of archers and beetles (that I could all hold still with Shockwave). But the snake boss found us (Extra Strong CE Stone Skin...yuck!). TP out again. Check the situation by the entrance. Still too dangerous with the archer pack. OK, so I'll try to flee the other way, but the path was blocked by snakes and beetles. I wanted to TP out but I got stunlocked and surrounded (as the screenshot shows).
[Highlight]Eric the Werebear, level 85, Hell Disused Reliqueary, R.I.P.[/Highlight]
I had a good run, I think. Shockwave/Maul WB is a great build for these restricted HC tourneys.
It's a shame I never found a more powerful merc weapon than Hwanin's Justice.
Not sure if/when I start another character here, but if I do, it will be a Berserker or a Fist of the Heavens build.
Can I join the club?
View attachment 5669
The two Causeway temples were brutal. I got through the Fane but not the Reliquary. Main weakness of this character has been the bad lightning resist (33% as of now) and a Holy Shock archer boss in the first room forced me to push deeper into the dungeon. I was down to two purples, so I would not have been able to make much of a stand. I ran past a snake boss pack and managed to escape through a portal in the upper-right room. When I got back, I thought maybe I had a chance against base monster packs of archers and beetles (that I could all hold still with Shockwave). But the snake boss found us (Extra Strong CE Stone Skin...yuck!). TP out again. Check the situation by the entrance. Still too dangerous with the archer pack. OK, so I'll try to flee the other way, but the path was blocked by snakes and beetles. I wanted to TP out but I got stunlocked and surrounded (as the screenshot shows).
[Highlight]Eric the Werebear, level 85, Hell Disused Reliqueary, R.I.P.[/Highlight]
I had a good run, I think. Shockwave/Maul WB is a great build for these restricted HC tourneys.
It's a shame I never found a more powerful merc weapon than Hwanin's Justice.
Not sure if/when I start another character here, but if I do, it will be a Berserker or a Fist of the Heavens build.
edistotiger
New member
With edistotiger in this one, and jian likely coming back, I think I'll give it another go. Any character requests? FoH sounds like a blast, but I don't know much about paladins. Was thinking I might read through Jiansonz posts and give the werebear a try, considering I've never played a bear, let alone a HC one. Another thought would be a bonemancer, though I'm not sold on that idea.
I will say I don't want to play a lightning fury amazon, and I'm not particularly keen on playing a sorceress, though I might be convinced with the right build.
I will say I don't want to play a lightning fury amazon, and I'm not particularly keen on playing a sorceress, though I might be convinced with the right build.
edistotiger
New member
I'm not entirely sure where I'm headed with this assassin build either. Hoping for kick/trap, but gear availability here is so unpredictable I may have to adapt. It's also possible I push this high player setting thing a bit too far and lose her early.
The Ancients' Way began without too much incident; a pack of Dark Lancers and a few Bone Mages. However, turning a corner I ran into these guys. Time to back up in the direction I came and separate them using smite, run/walk tricks, and town portals. Eventually I was able to whittle down the pack until only the boss remained; he was dispatched with smite lock and Bors whacking away with hiss (upped) Vile Husk. For the rest of the way I was very cautious in my movements, so as not to draw out another full pack of Frenzytaurs like that one. This caution was rewarded when I was able to lure out a 4-pack of champions one at a time and fight them by a well. The rest of the clear went smoothly.
I decided to put the Icy Cellar on hold until after I had tried my luck with the Ancients, as Hell Ancients is one of my favorite fights in the game and the Icy Cellar, home to such terrors as Gloams, Hell Lords, Dolls, Vipers, etcetera, is a place rife with potential death for even the most prepared warrior.
For the Ancients I had packed a secret weapon, I had found in the Crypt, unneeded to this point: Spellsteel! Both Teleport and Decripify charges I felt would be extremely useful to be able to split up the three Ancients. I rerolled them two times as the first two times the tell tale sign of Conviction appeared. On the third go round there was no Conviction, so I made a go of it. Using the charages from Spellsteel I was able to separate them, so that I faced Korlic and Madawc at the top of the map while Talic was left at the bottom. The teleport charges were easily the MVP of that fight, as they allowed me to keep Bors alive and keep him from aggroing all three at once.
The WSK opened with a welcoming party that while not extremely difficult had to be dealt with with some finesse: get Wizardspike from the stash. Continuing up the hall to the northwest, the action began as an extra fast Frenzytaur packed charged. I was able to retreat into the opening hall and town portal out, by getting Bors to tank long enough to Decrepify the pack. On reentry the situation looked like this. From there I maneuvered so as to teleport into the small nook visible to the northwest. Upon doing so, I was left with only two Frenzytaurs; a much more even fight. I temporarily left the rest of the pack behind to be able clear some more of the level, in case I needed to flee/teleport at some point. Quickly I ran into this large pack which I drew away from their Hierophant healers; as you can see Bors is showing his mettle. After them look who's coming around the corner: a fanaticism Frenzytaur pack, yuck! With a few tricks and evasive maneuvers I able to separate the pack and take down the boss. Returning to the entry chamber, I was able to take down the boss I had left parked there as well. There were no other Death Lord boss packs on the level, so the rest was cleared without too much drama.
Levels 2 and 3 were pretty tame in comparison to the first, as level 2 had Greater Hell Spawn, Soul Killers, and Horror Poison Mages while level 3 had Fetishes, Rancid Defilers, and Horror Lightning Mages. Just one fight of note : again Wizardspike to the rescue!
At this point it was time to explore the Icy Cellar. I was somewhat fortunate here as the lineup of Ghosts, Abominables, and Sirens was about as good as could be expected. Here's Hoar playing the role of bouncer, so as to let Bors concentrate on a single foe. While here's the dynamic duo swinging away on a ghost boss as a Siren champion fires away. That ghost boss' drop did add another useful tool in the form of Enchant charges which were used as a prebuff the rest of the way. The rest of the cellar went smoothly, but with no drops of note.
Finally, it was tome for the Throne of Destruction. It was somewhat slow going with Serpent Magi, Hell Witches, and Undead Soul Killers. Especially since I was taking extreme caution with the Soul Killers' death explosions. But I eventually made it up to the waves, the first of which was dispatched easily. The second wave was handled with much greater care: drawing out the Death Mages and then ushering the Unravelers out one at a time using smite. For the third wave I switched to Wizardspike and was able to them down without incident. The fourth wave took some splitting up, but was still relatively routine. For Lister and his minions I again used teleport and other tactics to split them up. I was able to handle two at a time until only Lister himself remained.
After dispatching Lister, Baal was simply a formality: teleport on him and zeal away until drop. Hoar and Bors finished up at level 87 after killing Baal.
tl;dr: A frost/fana untwinked single pass paladin made guardian thanks to a toolbox which included Wizardspike, Spellsteel, Goblin Toe, The General's Tan Do Li Ga, Todesfaelle Flamme, and an upped The Vile Husk on the merc.
I decided to put the Icy Cellar on hold until after I had tried my luck with the Ancients, as Hell Ancients is one of my favorite fights in the game and the Icy Cellar, home to such terrors as Gloams, Hell Lords, Dolls, Vipers, etcetera, is a place rife with potential death for even the most prepared warrior.
For the Ancients I had packed a secret weapon, I had found in the Crypt, unneeded to this point: Spellsteel! Both Teleport and Decripify charges I felt would be extremely useful to be able to split up the three Ancients. I rerolled them two times as the first two times the tell tale sign of Conviction appeared. On the third go round there was no Conviction, so I made a go of it. Using the charages from Spellsteel I was able to separate them, so that I faced Korlic and Madawc at the top of the map while Talic was left at the bottom. The teleport charges were easily the MVP of that fight, as they allowed me to keep Bors alive and keep him from aggroing all three at once.
The WSK opened with a welcoming party that while not extremely difficult had to be dealt with with some finesse: get Wizardspike from the stash. Continuing up the hall to the northwest, the action began as an extra fast Frenzytaur packed charged. I was able to retreat into the opening hall and town portal out, by getting Bors to tank long enough to Decrepify the pack. On reentry the situation looked like this. From there I maneuvered so as to teleport into the small nook visible to the northwest. Upon doing so, I was left with only two Frenzytaurs; a much more even fight. I temporarily left the rest of the pack behind to be able clear some more of the level, in case I needed to flee/teleport at some point. Quickly I ran into this large pack which I drew away from their Hierophant healers; as you can see Bors is showing his mettle. After them look who's coming around the corner: a fanaticism Frenzytaur pack, yuck! With a few tricks and evasive maneuvers I able to separate the pack and take down the boss. Returning to the entry chamber, I was able to take down the boss I had left parked there as well. There were no other Death Lord boss packs on the level, so the rest was cleared without too much drama.
Levels 2 and 3 were pretty tame in comparison to the first, as level 2 had Greater Hell Spawn, Soul Killers, and Horror Poison Mages while level 3 had Fetishes, Rancid Defilers, and Horror Lightning Mages. Just one fight of note : again Wizardspike to the rescue!
At this point it was time to explore the Icy Cellar. I was somewhat fortunate here as the lineup of Ghosts, Abominables, and Sirens was about as good as could be expected. Here's Hoar playing the role of bouncer, so as to let Bors concentrate on a single foe. While here's the dynamic duo swinging away on a ghost boss as a Siren champion fires away. That ghost boss' drop did add another useful tool in the form of Enchant charges which were used as a prebuff the rest of the way. The rest of the cellar went smoothly, but with no drops of note.
Finally, it was tome for the Throne of Destruction. It was somewhat slow going with Serpent Magi, Hell Witches, and Undead Soul Killers. Especially since I was taking extreme caution with the Soul Killers' death explosions. But I eventually made it up to the waves, the first of which was dispatched easily. The second wave was handled with much greater care: drawing out the Death Mages and then ushering the Unravelers out one at a time using smite. For the third wave I switched to Wizardspike and was able to them down without incident. The fourth wave took some splitting up, but was still relatively routine. For Lister and his minions I again used teleport and other tactics to split them up. I was able to handle two at a time until only Lister himself remained.
After dispatching Lister, Baal was simply a formality: teleport on him and zeal away until drop. Hoar and Bors finished up at level 87 after killing Baal.
tl;dr: A frost/fana untwinked single pass paladin made guardian thanks to a toolbox which included Wizardspike, Spellsteel, Goblin Toe, The General's Tan Do Li Ga, Todesfaelle Flamme, and an upped The Vile Husk on the merc.
edistotiger
New member
Congrats on finishing Sput!
I'm up to lvl 24 and just finished clearing the Maggot Lair. Nothing particularly eventful has happened so far. /P8 is still going pretty smooth other than using more and more mana pots
I got a nice merc weapon from Andy and some Death's gloves from the Halls of the Dead.
Current skills are 12 Dragon Talon (enough for 3 kicks) and 1pt in a bunch of other stuff like BoS, Fade, MB, Shadow Warrior, and some pre-reqs. I also just got LS although it's difficult to use atm due to my pathetic mana pool. I want to get 18 in Dragon Talon soon and i hope to do that before Duriel. TBH i probably shouldn't have bothered putting any pts into traps before getting 18pts in DT.
Long-term i would like to end up with something like this (pretty much standard K/T i think):
18+ Dragon Talon
20 LS
20 DS
3 Fire Blast
11 SM (for rare weapons and armor)
1+ Fade
1+ MB
1 BoS
1 CoS
4? Pre-reqs
I'm also wondering if it's worth sinking 3 more pts into the MA tree to get Dragon Flight.
If i completely strike out on crushing blow items i may need to go in a different direction. I've gotten two untwinked Guardians using this build, but I've always had access to Strength and/or Black runewords, and other nice pieces like Rhyme, Lore, Insight, etc. I don't know how well this build will work without some of that. I have a feeling this challenge will really make me appreciate some oft-overlooked items.
I'm up to lvl 24 and just finished clearing the Maggot Lair. Nothing particularly eventful has happened so far. /P8 is still going pretty smooth other than using more and more mana pots
I got a nice merc weapon from Andy and some Death's gloves from the Halls of the Dead.
Current skills are 12 Dragon Talon (enough for 3 kicks) and 1pt in a bunch of other stuff like BoS, Fade, MB, Shadow Warrior, and some pre-reqs. I also just got LS although it's difficult to use atm due to my pathetic mana pool. I want to get 18 in Dragon Talon soon and i hope to do that before Duriel. TBH i probably shouldn't have bothered putting any pts into traps before getting 18pts in DT.
Long-term i would like to end up with something like this (pretty much standard K/T i think):
18+ Dragon Talon
20 LS
20 DS
3 Fire Blast
11 SM (for rare weapons and armor)
1+ Fade
1+ MB
1 BoS
1 CoS
4? Pre-reqs
I'm also wondering if it's worth sinking 3 more pts into the MA tree to get Dragon Flight.
If i completely strike out on crushing blow items i may need to go in a different direction. I've gotten two untwinked Guardians using this build, but I've always had access to Strength and/or Black runewords, and other nice pieces like Rhyme, Lore, Insight, etc. I don't know how well this build will work without some of that. I have a feeling this challenge will really make me appreciate some oft-overlooked items.
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@edistotiger: Thanks. That skill plan looks to me that it should work, especially if you play more the trapper than the kicker. I also completely agree that crushing blow is an immense help for characters dealing with underpowered weapons; Goblin Toe was one of the items Hoar used extensively.
@Dazliare: What are your reservations about a bonemancer? They are one of my favorite builds, especially with Revives. Note also that a close reading of the rules seems to imply that Insight iron golems are fair game. I'd also like to see someone give a Hydra sorc a go if that appeals to you. Maybe combined with Glacial Spike?
@Dazliare: What are your reservations about a bonemancer? They are one of my favorite builds, especially with Revives. Note also that a close reading of the rules seems to imply that Insight iron golems are fair game. I'd also like to see someone give a Hydra sorc a go if that appeals to you. Maybe combined with Glacial Spike?
I think I would love playing a bonemancer, but two things - I really hate starting necromancers, though I suppose I could go through act 1 as a summoner. The other thing is my brother played one on the realms awhile back, with basically perfect gear, and he was really squishy, though that may have been due to not utilizing curses and bone wall/prison. On second thought, this could be a realllly fun playthrough
Okay now that I think about it, bonemancer might be my next try. A hydra sorc sounds like a blast in theory, but I would think that without pretty excellent gear, it'll be an exercise in patience. Hard to say without trying it.
edistotiger
New member
I haven't played a bonemancer in forever (numerous patches ago), but i would think survivability would be OK with bone armor getting synergy pts from bone wall and bone prison which also both increase bone damage. Resists could be an issue, but i think that's always going to be the case in this challenge, and you would at least have some curses like decrep / terror / confuse / whatever.
Going summoner until you get revives might make things a lot easier though. If you can stomach the maggot lair once as a summoning necro of course
Going summoner until you get revives might make things a lot easier though. If you can stomach the maggot lair once as a summoning necro of course
Yeah since the respect option is allowed in this tourney, I would say that going through Act I as a summoner would be a good idea. If you are lucky enough, you could probably do this without need for respec using heads and wands with +Raise Skeleton and +Skeletal Mastery.
Just because it hasn't been mentioned, you will definitely want to invest, at least one point but probably several more, in Dim Vision. This curse reduces the squishy factor by many times, especially if it has a nice large radius.
Just because it hasn't been mentioned, you will definitely want to invest, at least one point but probably several more, in Dim Vision. This curse reduces the squishy factor by many times, especially if it has a nice large radius.
Congratulations Sput! Awesome stuff.
Commiserations jiansonz and Daz.
@edistotiger - welcome to the tourney and good luck. Just adding on the 'what happens if you quit mid-area?' question. Full clears aren't compulsory, single pass is. I always err on the side of caution and skip areas rather than risking redoing them ... of course that only matters if something happens that makes me quit mid-area, which doesn't happen much. However, it seems I might be being a little too cautious based on other people's responses.
Lastly, a little plug for the ctc tourney. If anyone is thinking of starting up a new tourney character I can recommend it as a fine alternative.
Commiserations jiansonz and Daz.
@edistotiger - welcome to the tourney and good luck. Just adding on the 'what happens if you quit mid-area?' question. Full clears aren't compulsory, single pass is. I always err on the side of caution and skip areas rather than risking redoing them ... of course that only matters if something happens that makes me quit mid-area, which doesn't happen much. However, it seems I might be being a little too cautious based on other people's responses.
Lastly, a little plug for the ctc tourney. If anyone is thinking of starting up a new tourney character I can recommend it as a fine alternative.
jiansonz
New member
Sput, well done with the final playing and update! Big congrats!
That WSK 1 level sure had it's tense moments. Nice playing and planning (teleporting, securing space, etc)
I can see why Smite was used against that Cursed + Fanaticism boss (scary!).
LOL @ Korlic's wimpy abilities. Some of the ones you really want to draw with a character like this.
In the Talic fight, which of your items is responsible for Amping him?
Spellsteel! Just like my amazon used at the Summit in this very tourney. For her, the Decrep was almost as important as the teleporting.
I had no idea Todesfälle Flamme has Enchant charges.
PI Lister - yuck!
That WSK 1 level sure had it's tense moments. Nice playing and planning (teleporting, securing space, etc)
I can see why Smite was used against that Cursed + Fanaticism boss (scary!).
LOL @ Korlic's wimpy abilities. Some of the ones you really want to draw with a character like this.
In the Talic fight, which of your items is responsible for Amping him?
Spellsteel! Just like my amazon used at the Summit in this very tourney. For her, the Decrep was almost as important as the teleporting.
I had no idea Todesfälle Flamme has Enchant charges.
PI Lister - yuck!
edistotiger
New member
Apparently all i can find is set shields. I got a 2nd Cleglaw followed closely by a Civerb.
