Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Since the drops really don´t matter (I am only allowed to pick up certain junk...) the Lasher/Overlord areas got quite intersting. No pressure in preventing the Slayers, etc. from mutating, as long as we killed them before they blew up voluntarily (so we secured the XP). Therefore, I hired a cold mage. I also used Mind Blast quite often, to stop the bombers in their tracks. We got almost every one of them.

I found a Gem Shrine in Pit of Acheron, so now I have a perfect emerald - only a jewel away from crafting my ethereal Bounty-SU shield.

Phoenix Strike level 11 1st charge (backed by FoF level 11) is massively overpowered at this stage of the game.

I will alternate merc types through the act. Bombers - freeeze mage. Reanimated - Prayer merc. The rest: doesn´t matter.

[Highlight]Mary the PS Assassin and Jelani the Cold Mage, level 40, Crystalline Passage next[/Highlight]
 
So how fare the rest of you? Grisu? Fabian? Jaelen?
Even Butzie has been quiet :P

Sorry for the long absence...wanted to complete my Pindlethon first (done now) and now I was mental enough to sign up for the Mephathon, for which I want to get my Afterlife Angel through Hell and then level her in the Mephathon...so, errr, it could be quite some time till I update again :undecided:



 
I checked my screenies and I was indeed mistaken. I didn't see my first slinger until the desert, NOT in the Sewers 3. I must have got my lines crossed with the other underground areas that they appeared in.

In terms of updating, I have similar issues to Grisu in that I'm trying to get my Septavirate Sorc to Hell Meph for the Mephathon, so I can intersperse the tournaments with the off Meph run session. Oh, that and I have lots of active tournaments at the moment...however, I am doing a round-robin, and after playing 2 of them through an act over the weekend, it's Bobbie_Fetts turn next...perhaps even tonight! :)

Butz. :dunce:
 
Vampires: ...Tal Rasha´s Tombs...
Bugger, I've made the Canyon of the Magi WP, and came back to see if I have to do the false tombs...I was pretty sure I did, but wanted to make double sure. I hate the false tombs. :(

What makes it worse, is that wherever they spawn, the vampires are in the vast minority compared to the other critters. If I had goats or ghosts I'd be rich now...but I suppose at least I got 2 "keepers" in the Arcane Sanctuary. A flawed topaz and a 3-socket ring mail. :)

Oh well, onwards and into the tomb, and the tomb, and the tomb, and the tomb, and the tomb, and the tomb, and the tomb.

Actually, that might have to wait until next session.

[highlight]Bobbie_Fett, L26 GS/FB Sorceress, Act 2 Normal, Tombs next.[/highlight]

Butz. :dunce:

Edit: Ok, I had time to do 1, 6 to go. If I remember correctly, as it's been a while since I stepped in them, the one with this guy, who we used to hunt in 1.09 tournaments, is bigger than the other 5 false tombs...right? I'll be happy if it is. :thumbsup:



 
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If I remember correctly, as it's been a while since I stepped in them, the one with this guy, who we used to hunt in 1.09 tournaments, is bigger than the other 5 false tombs...right? I'll be happy if it is. :thumbsup:

Yes, Kaa´s tomb is about three times as big as a 'standard' false tomb. Those usually have about 5 rooms.



 
I thought Kaa was awesome... He is by far the most heavily enchanted hero in the game. Of course, as an unraveller he also packs a punch in damage, but you dont have to worry about his speed, at least... not at all :P

Is it just me when I feel terribly inferior when reading all those stat + equipment and enhanced damage calculation posts? There is a topic for the reasonably rich sorceress out there, and I decided to quit reading it after page 1. How does one even learn all these things? I never see all this info one frames per second and breakpoints, or how much damage is applied to ES due to one specific attack, or whatever... is it some sort of console command?
 
Is it just me when I feel terribly inferior when reading all those stat + equipment and enhanced damage calculation posts? There is a topic for the reasonably rich sorceress out there, and I decided to quit reading it after page 1. How does one even learn all these things? I never see all this info one frames per second and breakpoints, or how much damage is applied to ES due to one specific attack, or whatever... is it some sort of console command?
Nope, no console command. Just a dedication of a number of people to deciphering the inner workings of the game and deducing the optimum builds based on the actual game code.

The experts here REALLY know their stuff. All us lesser mortals can do is hope to pick up little pieces of it as we go along. :)

Butz. :dunce:



 
Well then, there was an end to this snore fest of an act. :tongue:

In WSK level 1, I noticed Blood Stars flying around. Woohoo, Bountymob time!
(had to check the AS. Yes, Vile Vitches are indeed what I call a 'Type II succubus'. Even though they are species #2 of 5 in advancement, they are the only type of stygian fury that don´t know how to cast Amp. Weird. Even the lowly Sirens can cast it. OK, so they don´t show up until NM, that may be an explanation. I have to see how Vile Witches behave in NM...

Anyway, Phoenix Strike has now been maxed, Fists of Fire is at level 11, Fade at level 3 (haven´t used it yet), every other skill I use is at level 1 (Venom, CoS, Mind Blast, Dragon Flight, Blade Fury and all the prerequsites.

My act 5 bounty critters dropped very few interesting items. Best was a simple Plated Belt. I pondered if I should imbue that, my Chain Boots, a Poleaxe or a Tower Shield. I figured foot speed might be important if I want to use Fade, so I went for the boots (they also have great resist potential).
Hmm, not great, but could have been far worse, I guess:

Glyph Track
Chain Boots

Defense: 9
Durability: 12 of 16
Kick Damage: 6 to 12
Required Strength: 30
Required Level: 38
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 53
Fingerprint: 0xee0ac1da
+6 to Dexterity
Fire Resist +8%
Lightning Resist +12%
Poison Resist +11%
20% Faster Run/Walk
14% Chance to cast Level 5 Nova when struck

Socket reward, then. What to socket? The Tower Shield would get 3 sockets. But I´m not so sure I´d like the speed penalty, or the extra STR points needed to use it. Besides, I´ve already invested two big diamonds in my 3s Kite Shield, so it looks like a bad idea. My future crafted (I hope) bounty-SU Kite Shield could probably use a socket, but not before it´s crafted...

The helms I use are already 2-socketed. I do not have anything else. Same with armor. (Might have been better to save the Breast Plate I got on the Throne level and get 3 sockets in it, but I didn´t think of it at the time.) I do not have a sword for my freeze merc yet (I´ve sold the old ones). One of my weapons is a throwing weapon (no socket possible).

That leaves my rare Wrist Blade. The one I use all the time. My gift from Andariel. Sure, why not. I put in a chipped sapphire, because it´s by far the most useful weapon socketable I have at the moment (the damage is too low to warrant a flawless skull, that´s for sure...). Behold the mighty artifact that shall make the Nightmare monsters tremble with fear: :grin:

Mary's Shadow Razor
Wrist Blade

One-Hand Damage: 5 to 11
Durability: 52 of 52
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 33
Required Strength: 33
Required Level: 3
Claw Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 12
Fingerprint: 0x38d8b0e
+15% Enhanced Damage
+19 to Attack Rating
+1 to Maximum Damage
Adds 1-2 fire damage
Adds 1-3 cold damage over 1 seconds
10% Increased Attack Speed
Socketed (1: 1 used)


An attempt at scoring calculation:

Wiped out:

Act 1: Skeleton Archers (uncommon): +2
They spawned in one more act: +2

Act 2: Slingers (common) +1
They were in no other acts: +5

Act 3: Thorned Hulks (common): +1
They were in no other acts: +5

Act 4: Megademons (uncommon) +2
They were in no other acts (if you exclude Ventar): +5

Act 5: Stygian Furies (rare) +3
They were in no other acts: +5


5 acts completed: +15
39 Waypoints: +39
27 quests: +27
Bonus for all quests, all waypoints : +1

Character level 49: -49

Total: 64 points


[Highlight]Destroyer Mary the PS Assassin and Vanji the Cold Mage, level 49/48, Moo Moo Farm next[/Highlight]
 
That reads about right jiansonz... Good work though! Can't have been easy with that wrist blade, allthough the phoenix strike totally roxxorz of course :P
Question : Why did you use the naming quest on a wristblade you were allowed to use on the first place, but didnt give an extra point? (Given that it was andy's drop?)
 
Can't have been easy with that wrist blade

It has been very easy (although Baal scared me with two consecutive melee hits that probably took my life down to <100), except for the last part of act 1 where I had to get creative with prerequisite skills and drink quite a number of potions.


That reads about right jiansonz...

Nope, I just saw that it´s wrong, reading your fictional example. The bonus for all quests, all WPs is +1 per act, not per difficulty. So I should add +4 to the score because of that, and an extra +2 becuase I wiped out skeleton archers (uncommon) in Act II. So the correct total score should be 72.



Question : Why did you use the naming quest on a wristblade you were allowed to use on the first place, but didnt give an extra point? (Given that it was andy's drop?)

I used the reward on something to secure the point as a finished quest. I see nowhere in the rules that a personalization changes the status of an object. Maybe I missed somthing...



 
Page 10, post 92. Apparently, I had not thought about quest rewards.... While thinking it out, it struck me that the naming quest from anya would be ESPECIALLY appropriate for bountyhunters, so, I reckoned to give that one some extra value. Serves me right to launch such an elaborate event as my first tourney, eh?
 
Bobbie_Fett finished off the False Tombs and proceeded to slay the big bug. She reached the exalted heights of level 28 at the end of Act II, which is probably as high as I've ever had a character (I don't usually full clear the early parts of the game).

There weren't any highlights in terms of keepable items dropped, in fact, I think I've come to the conclusion that vampire class monsters must have a significantly reduced chance to drop weapon and armour class items, because in all the ones I've killed, those types of things have been VERY few and far between...damnit!

If that is the case, and combined with the fact that slingers mostly drop bows, and the bog demons are almost non-existant in Act 3 (even though they are listed as rare I think), my chances for decent items remain very limited in the coming act. :(

She's starting to develop a pretty potent fireball, but at this stage is downing blue potions like they are going out of fashion...I probably haven't left a blue potion on the ground anywhere in her travels yet.

Current score:
WPs (19*1): +19
Quests (12*1): +12
Acts (2*3): +6
Perfect Acts (2*1): +2
SU Bonus (0*2): +0
Level 28: -28
Vampires (Rare) in Act I: +3
Slinger (Common) in Act II: +1
Vampires (Rare) in Act II: +3
[highlight]Total: 18[/highlight]

She'll now go on the bench for (hopefully) a short while as I rotate through my other tournament characters.

[highlight]Bobbie_Fett, L28 FB/GS Sorc, Act 3 Normal, Sszark next.[/highlight]

Butz. :dunce:
 
Deeds! :cry:

Mausoleum. Cursed LE Hungry Dead boss and one of its minions. The boss was the first to come out of a doorway. I was actually smart enough to go 'around the block' in an attempt to fight some minons first, so I could lay down a good enough fire carpet to take out the boss. Killed one lone minion, and approached the next. The terrain was annoying - it was hard to get next to the minion. I wasn´t precise enough, and my new extra footspeed probably made it harder. This made it take too long before I was in postion and during this, the boss had time to find its way into the room and now circled the minion and the obstacle. I was soon going to be blocked in! This was when I should have fled. I counted on my mighty flames to take out the minion fast so I could go out through the doorway. But sometimes critters get lucky and are hit by very few of my fire segments, and this was one such time. The bolts damaged (less than 20% resist!) and Amped me. The boss reached me, and one hit was enough....

Sheer stupidity, carelessness and cockiness are what killed me.

[Highlight]Destroyer Mary the PS Assassin and Vanji the Cold Mage, level 49/48, R.I.P. Final score: 76 [/Highlight]
(I finished two more quests and found two more WPs)

This was way too much fun and a tough and inspiring challenge. I´ll go at it again! :tongue: Mary has an older (and hopefully wiser...) sister named Maryam.
She will hunt:
Zombies (Corpsefire, Dark Elder)
Vulture Demons
Willowisps
Vile Mothers
Siege Beast (Thresh Socket)
Andariel
 
RIP Mary. Still, very impressive to make it that far! Congrats!
Heck, carelesness kills me all the time. Yesterday I was MP ing with a friend, who actually only plays Diablo when I am around. He played a sorcie, I was building a fishyzon... He died :P Act 1 Normal, Against Pit Spawn the cute little doggie. The time before that, he wasted a pally against Radament...

Wanting to go too fast, thinking the danger of the quick road is negligible...
Well, I wish you the best of luck. Corpsefire can drop 'nice' rares, but you just might get screwed... Still plenty of zombies in act 1, and probably some in act 2 and 3 as well. Vulture demons aren't all that bad... Willowisps... That is a bountymob you'd rather not encounter i take it? :P

Vile mothers are fine, but the siege beasts suck. Ver few, and hard to separate the drops besides... Besides the Baal's minions probably the worst bountymob in Act V.

@Butzie... Steady progress eh? I have actually seen good drops from vampires... I guess you were just unlucky :( Well, I am currently trying to put some mileage on the throwerbarb, who has been neglected for far too long IMHO. After that, Pasmani gets to find out how effective his cooking fires are in the scorching desert heat....
 
Well, I wish you the best of luck. Corpsefire can drop 'nice' rares, but you just might get screwed... Still plenty of zombies in act 1, and probably some in act 2 and 3 as well.
Vulture demons aren't all that bad...

Yeah, those are probably decent draws.

Willowisps... That is a bountymob you'd rather not encounter i take it? :P
Actually, I like that draw. I have a lot of respect for these guys (past Normal) but they have never managed to kill me. They are good for drops in this tourney, I think. They spawn in packs of four, so when they do spawn, there are usually a lot of them. They are of the 'wraith' category of monsters (along with the actual wraiths and finger mages), which means they have a much better (4x) chance than most other monsters to drop 'misc. good' items (runes, gems, charms, jewels). Since we can´t use drops from chests and other containers in this tourney, we are seriously handicapped by the lack of good socketables and charms.

Vile mothers are fine
I HATE THEM! After snakes, it´s the monster type I seriously despise the most. An approriate bounty monster for me, I guess. :azn:

but the siege beasts suck. Very few, and hard to separate the drops besides...
There are three huge areas that hold a good number of them. But as you say, I have to be alert to see who drops what. When I used PS 1st charge on them with Mary, the imp on top of them would usually die about 0.3 seconds after the Siege Beast...



Now for something completely different - some rules clarifications and questions:
* Have I interpreted the rules correctly if I assume that once a shopped item can no longer be equipped, the only thing we can do with it is to sell it back to the vendors? Can we even do that, or do we need to dump it on the ground? Does starter items count as shopped items?
* If I want to e.g. cube a Savage polearm, all four ingredients must be trophymob items, right?
* Can we
- shop potions for some cube recipes (resist rings and rejuves)?
- shop TP Tome/Scroll for the unsocket recipe and to create the cow portal?
I assume we can, since we are allowed to shop these items that are not equipped.
* If I find a throwing potion pack from a trophymob, am I allowed to "repair" that pack by selling it to a vendor and buying it back?
* Corpsefire dropped a crappy rare Leather Armor for Maryam. Does she have to wear it, or can she put it on her merc and use a regular trophymob armor herself?



 
Yeah, those are probably decent draws.
Appropriately, that the mob that killed you will be one of your avenger's bountymobs :P

Actually, I like that draw. I have a lot of respect for these guys (past Normal) but they have never managed to kill me. They are good for drops in this tourney, I think. They spawn in packs of four, so when they do spawn, there are usually a lot of them. They are of the 'wraith' category of monsters (along with the actual wraiths and finger mages), which means they have a much better (4x) chance than most other monsters to drop 'misc. good' items (runes, gems, charms, jewels). Since we can´t use drops from chests and other containers in this tourney, we are seriously handicapped by the lack of good socketables and charms.

Wow. I had no idea, and I have played this game for ages... eheheh. Damn, where do you get those pearls of wisdom?

I HATE THEM! After snakes, it´s the monster type I seriously despise the most. An approriate bounty monster for me, I guess. :azn:

Actually, in Act 4, I dont mind them that much. While I dont like summoner class mobs, I like the ranged attackers in this act a lot less. (gloams, finger mages, bloody oblivioan and abyss knights, not to mention those Regurgitators). I especially dislike the abyssknight packs. Sometimes, all the warning I get that they spawned is when a barrage of elemental bolts zings my way in the middle of a fight... As for the Mothers, well, I cant recall ever having much trouble dropping them... I usually have issues GETTING to them to do damage, but once there... :P

There are three huge areas that hold a good number of them. But as you say, I have to be alert to see who drops what. When I used PS 1st charge on them with Mary, the imp on top of them would usually die about 0.3 seconds after the Siege Beast...

Well, perhaps so, but those huge areas hold other mobs as well, and invariably larger numbers of them. Seriously, Siege beasts are NOT a good draw for this act.

Now for something completely different - some rules clarifications and questions:
You know, I too feel it sucks that I had to keep modifying rules etc. I apparently haven't given everything enough thought... Oh well, hopefully I'll do better in the future. On to your kwestjons.

* Have I interpreted the rules correctly if I assume that once a shopped item can no longer be equipped, the only thing we can do with it is to sell it back to the vendors? Can we even do that, or do we need to dump it on the ground? Does starter items count as shopped items?
Yes. The central idea is only bountymob drops count. I give the option of using shopped items simply as a means to have something equipped in those slots until the time you get to your mobs. Starting eq is treated the same way as shopped equipment. Both can be sold if you feel like it, to get some return for the money investment.

* If I want to e.g. cube a Savage polearm, all four ingredients must be trophymob items, right?
Yes. However, if only one of those 4 items is a SU trophymob drop, it inherits the SU quality as well, which means it doesnt have to be switched out if you get an unlucky SU mob drop.

* Can we
- shop potions for some cube recipes (resist rings and rejuves)?
- shop TP Tome/Scroll for the unsocket recipe and to create the cow portal?
I assume we can, since we are allowed to shop these items that are not equipped.

You can shop and use all items that you are allowed to sell from all drops as well, yes. (which means, to clarify, red/blue/black/yellow/white potions, scroll of TP and identify. Keys may be shopped, but are rather useless, since chestdrops cannot be used.) So you can shop potions etc for recipes, provided the other ingredients did drop from trophymobs. And that last one kinda rules out the cowlvl, huh? :P But heck, if you want to antagonize yourself by not being able to use potentially useful drops, be my guest. :P

* If I find a throwing potion pack from a trophymob, am I allowed to "repair" that pack by selling it to a vendor and buying it back?

Good question. I think that is ok, though. I never made a rule about not being able to buy back trophymob items, and I can't see why you shouldn't be able to do so. Might be a drain on an already strained money supply train though...

* Corpsefire dropped a crappy rare Leather Armor for Maryam. Does she have to wear it, or can she put it on her merc and use a regular trophymob armor herself?

Yes. Treat ALL available equipment slots the same, so in effect you have 3 weapon, 2 body armor and 2 helmet slots


 
sorry to hear about your deeds jiansonz. It is always stupidity, carelessness and rushing that causes my HC deeds.

Anyway goodluck with Maryam....i assume she is an assassin? as you said Mary's sister. If it is an assassin are you planning on the same build? or a different one?

anyway goodluck
 
Gah, deeds! :cry:

It was a little bit of carelessness, and a little bit of lack of concentration, and a little bit of being stingy on the purples, and Meph got me. I think it's the first time he's EVER got me in any tournament (from memory).

I went in to Static him, copped a bit of a pounding but was still ok, retreated around the back of the Merc drinking a few reds, and thought I'd be ok. I had 2 normal rejuvs, and that was all I'd found (that I could pick up anyway) in the entire tournament, I was yet to use one.

I thought I was safe, but the merc decided to disengage and walk towards a wall, Meph launched at me and, due to the very limited equipment and therefore basically no resists, deeds.

It was an interesting challenge but I won't be having another crack at this one. I'm pretty sure I could go deep into the game, but I found it a bit too frustrating...the number of small charms I left rotting unidentified on the ground, not to mention all sorts of other normal keepers (and purple potions as bad or worst of all) was starting to really get to me, I'm a real packrat by nature.

I guess when I see a character I've spent 11 hours and 26 minutes on bite the dust (yeah, I time and log the sessions these days, sad I know), and I don't really regret the passing too much, it's a bit of a hint to move on. :wink2:

The sad thing is, my bounty mobs had been SOOOO few and far between (which made it even worse), but I was about to get into the part of the game where they would be pretty abundant. *sob*

Final equipment:
Weapon: 2 socket double axe (empty)
Shield: Rare Buckler (+3 life, +15%Def, MDR by 1, LR 12%, PR 5%, Attacker 1 dam)
Helm: Viridian Full Helm (+13%PR)
Armour: Lapis Studded Leather of Frost Shield (+15%CR, 5% chance of Lvl 3 Frost Nova)
Belt: Light Belt
Gloves: Heavy Gloves
Boots: Hsarus' Iron Heel
Amulet: Bronze Amulet of the Apprentice (+10AR, +10%FCR)
Ring1: Russet Ring of Thawing (+12%FR, Half Freeze)
Ring2: Iron Ring of Remedy (+34AR, Poison Reduced by 25%)

Switch Weap: 2 Socket Spiked Club (empty)
Switch Shield: Bone Shield

Merc:
Helm: Helm
Armour: 1 Socket Chain Mail (empty)
Weapon: Iron Voulge of the Leech (+34AR, 5%LL)

Unkeepable Green/Gold:
Arcanna's Deathwand
Civerb's Icon
Civerb's Ward
Deathspade
Hsarus' Iron Heel
Isenhart's Horns
Leadcrow
Nagelring
Rusthandle
Swordback Hold

Current score:
WPs (27*1): +27
Quests (17*1): +17
Acts (2*3): +6
Perfect Acts (2*1): +2
SU Bonus (0*2): +0
Level 31: -31
Vampires (Rare) in Act I: +3
Slinger (Common) in Act II: +1
Vampires (Rare) in Act II: +3
Bog Demons (Rare) in Act III: +3
[highlight]Final Total: 31[/highlight]

I hadn't been in the back corner of Meph's room, so I don't know if the vampires were all done, but I know the Bog Demons were, they were only in the Marsh, and there was a grand total of 8 of them, all standard varieties! :(

Good luck with Maryam jiansonz, I'll be watching. ;)

Butz. :dunce:
 
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