Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

I forgot to mention the Griswold fight in the last update, so I´ll do it here instead. He spawned Stone Skin Extra Strong - absolute nightmare for Mizan. I did not even try to keep him alive...

After I had run the upper edge of Tristram and fired 200+ Crushflange blades, there was hardly a dent on Griswold. I understood I had to "hire" some help. Fortunately, this level had spawned with lots of Carver packs. They are fire immune, so they could tank Griswold while I fried him. It wasn´t so easy to arrange, but it worked. Gris managed to find a way to get one swing at me (while I was cursed!) but my 20% blocking kicked in. What a great time!

I had smooth progress in Tamoe Highlands, Cloister and Barracks. No merc deaths at all there! Smith getting owned by a fence. :yes:

Crunch time this session was, like so many times before, Pit level 2. Already before the Devilkin from the first two guaranteed packs saw us, an ambush was on. I actually killed that pack without any Mizan death (it cost two full purples, though), but when the Devilkin entered the scene and we were mopping up, there were four (regular) archers peppering a few too many arrows into Mizan. Annyoing, as that death was avoidable.

The worst was yet to come. I had hoped the upper right corner (close to shaman #2) would be a calm spot I could use as an operation base. Not so, archer minions there, with Fanaticism by their feet! Next up, we get cursed and Mizan dies less than a second later. And he has 1500 life...

RUN!!

Upon return, I managed to lure two minions to the tiny starting room. CoS is great against these corrupted archers, because it stops their fast movement. No Fanaticism on these minions, so the boss had to be some distance away. Terrified, I creeped slower in that direction. "No Mizan, stay back!"
A familiar arrow pattern showed itself. Oh crap, that boss is Fanaticism Cursed Multishot! :nervous:

I had a plan that just could work, but that required the boss to stand with her back against a wall and she did not want to cooperate. When I tried to find a good situation to go for it, Mizan died for the third time. Sigh. Then I waited right by the entrance, hoping to coax the boss to round the corner. I had tagged her with CoS, so I could follow her movement even when she was outside my line-of-sight. Here she comes.

*Life Tap*

"Mizan, GET HER!"

*Mind Blast*
*Mind Blast*
*Spam two blue bulbs´worth of Mind Blast*

"Mizan, do no care about that stupid Devilkin. Not now!"
"OK, you killed it. Now PLEASE kill that wench before I run out of mana!!"

"YES!! That´s a good lad."

After that ordeal, the skeleton boss pack was no big deal. Neither was anything in the Jail (including Multishot Spectral Hit Fouldog). No Mizan deaths down there, sweet!

Ended the session with about 850k gold left. Even though I played very well today, I still lost almost 200k. This is not looking good. Andariel, you are pretty much my only hope...give us a Bonehew or something...


[Highlight]Conqueror Maryam the Phoenix Striker and Mizan the HF Guard, level 78, Hell Catacombs next.[/Highlight]

 

[Insane Wayne]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

*Spam two blue bulb´s worth of Mind Blast*

Nice pin!

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

It is the start of the Catacombs areas that will determine how easy they are going to get. If you can secure some decent space, you can use the terrain and doors to your advantage. Maryam and Mizan advanced slowly and carefully.

Second floor was interesting and unusual, because there were five Dark One boss packs in a rather small sub-part of the floor. Annoying because of all the resurrections, but at least Dark Ones are not hard to kill. Mizan´s HF does give us a decent chance of shattering corpses and Maryam did her best to freeze them with PS 3rd charges. One of the bosses was this nice fellow. Maryam often appreciates that she has other options than going melee...

No spider bosses on this floor, just a Champ pack. They beat up Mizan quite a bit (he had to tank two at a time) but I saved him with potions, Life Tap, one tactical retreat but mostly by beating the crap out of them with PS lightning attack (so he didn´t need to suffer for long). I must say I really like the fully synergized version of the lightning attack!

Third floor was of course treasure hunting time. MF armor, helm and amulet on. Maryam´s resists really suck in this getup, so she used a lot of CoS to subdue spitters and Banished. Two Ghoul boss packs here, thankfully with wussy abilities. Got a flawless topaz from a regular Ghoul. Nice! Now I am only a Gem Shrine away from a Coral ring.

Oh yeah, I started the session with a belt imbue. Apparently, Charsi saw my need for lightning resist:
Plague Harness
Demonhide Sash
Defense: 34
Durability: 11 of 12
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0x819883a3
+15 to Maximum Stamina
Lightning Resist +16%
Replenish Life +7
Attacker Takes Damage of 2
14% Chance to cast Level 5 Charged Bolt when struck

I lose out on the 30-something +life on my old Plated Belt, but this one felt better. Life replenishing is also nice - to silently heal those tiny scars before they add up.

I had a goal against Andariel (other than to kill her, obviously): no more than one merc resurrection and try to win the fight without drinking any of those valuable rejuves. I had a feeling I will need a bunch against Duriel.

Mizan died soon, of course. Now followed 20 minutes of running around the blood pool and BF use with Crushflange. Very hard for her to hit Andariel (really crappy AR) but Maryam had one advantage over Andariel: far superior foot speed. Maryam´s titanic VIT score means that she needs only minimal stops to fully regain her stamina. She could run for as long as was needed, no problem.

Eventually, Crushing Blow had done its thing, and further hits were quite meaningless. Andariel down to about 10% life. What now? Should I bring in Mizan and try to sneak in a PS Meteor while he was going down? Or try myself? I had made one try at meleeing when Andi was at about 15% life and that did not go well at all. Very scary, but then the big danger came from stacked poison hits, while I was whiffing to release the one charge I had. At that time, I had no antidotes in the belt. I decided to bring a column of those. The plan was to take a step back as soon as I got hit, then drink both healing and antidote.

Lure in Andariel, back off one step so her stab missed. NOW!
Yes, Andi decided to spray poison and Maryam went 'Hit, hit', charge and release in less than a second! Back off one step again, and run the small circle around her. Heh, one Flame burst was all it took now. She must really hate fire.

Chipped emerald + amethyst plus Diamond as potential wildcard-making socketables. The helmet was a War Hat of the Sun, giving a slight AR improvement over the Skull Cap of Radiance. The boots were these:
Wraith Tread
Wyrmhide Boots
Defense: 56
Durability: 9 of 12
Kick Damage: 65 to 100
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x976ea26b
+10 to Maximum Stamina
Fire Resist +34%
Adds 1-11 lightning damage
16% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
5% Chance to cast Level 3 Frost Nova when struck

Lacking in foot speed but with better fire resist than my other pair. Plus they have MF. I may use them in trophymob areas, depending on the terrain and enemies. Also nice to know that Dark Elder will no longer be able to curse me with really crappy boots...


[Highlight]Conqueror Maryam the Phoenix Striker and Mizan the HF Guard, level 78, Hell Lut Gholein Sewers next.[/Highlight]

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

I was a bit concerned about the Sewers. Lots of fire immunty and unleechable critters. OK, unleechable does not mean much because Life Tap works anyway (as long as they are not PI).

Second floor started with a dangerous Invader boss pack, but thankfully, the terrain was to our advantage. The boss zipped around quite a bit after this screenie was taken, so I had to deal with Might against all the minions.

I could not save Mizan from Radament´s wrath. I tried, and I did manage to pull him away and give him potions when he got damaged, but the poison was too much and he was more hurt than I thought. The fire immunity + magic resistance made me avoid PS completely. It would take many PS lightning bursts and that would probably be painful. And it would be impossible to kill him safely anyway (because of the FE, I would have to time it so the lightning damage upon impact would not kill him, but the returning lightning arcs would (giving me a chance to step out) - too damn dangerous!). So it was BF with Crushflange all the way. Took a darn long time near the end.

Merc resurrections are still consuming too much money. I wish I had muled off gold in late NM when I had a full stash + inv and just left gold piles and sellable potions/scrolls in the field. Idiot! I vowed to do everything I could (without compromising my own safety!) next session to keep Mizan from dying. And what happened next: the very first boss pack in the Rocky Waste (CE something beetles) killed him. Crap...

The Waste was packed with boss packs - almost ten of them. Beetles, Huntresses and Slingers. I played very well in the rest of the area, and nervously entered Stony Tomb. Just a regular Horror pack to meet us. Nice.

The second floor also had a calm start. The first room I chose to open was the one that is neither the treasure room nor Creepy´s lair. I opened the door and saw a Horror boss pack. Saw the boss abilities and shuddered. "This will not be easy." I pulled back to try to meet them in the doorway, ready with Mind Blast. Nobody came out. I peeked in again and could not believe my luck. Look at this - Jackpot! We could hit them but they could not hit us (or even find their way to us).

Creepy was in a bad mood today. Extremely high damage potential with such a setup. How do I solve this? Well, for starters, get him to follow us so we lose his minions. Hmm, he is fully vulnerable to fire, so it probably takes only one Meteor to kill him (if I can keep him in the afterflames).

*Mind Blast him into a wall*
*Mind Blast* Close in.
*Mind Blast*
* Phoenix Strike* Hit.
*Mind Blast*
*Attack* Hit!
*Mind Blast*
Back away a bit.
*Mind Blast*
Back out of CE nova range.
*Mind Blast* until victory.

Very interesting co-dependance here. Alone, Mizan would die in less than 5 seconds, but without him, Maryam could never have pulled off any reasonably safe Phoenix Striking.

No Mizan deaths since that CE beetle back. Loose change I collected covered about 2/3 of a merc resurrection. I am now down to a little more than 700k gold. Slowly falling into the abyss...

Another danger I will have to be more observant about: CE death novas. I suffered two this session, having -37% cold resist! Lost about half the life bulb those times. This happens when I focus on the early part of fighting a boss pack, laying down flames and try to make sure Mizan is not taking too much damage (Mind Blast, Life Tap, potions, retreats) Sometimes I do not even see the boss before it dies in the flames. Sirian calls these bosses ED, Extra Dead Enchanted. They are so powerfully dead, you are amazed by their ability! I have to watch out better for CE EDs...

I still pump Fade (the last couple of level-ups have each provided 2 %-units extra resists) but I forget to use it in some situations.


[Highlight]Conqueror Maryam the Phoenix Striker and Mizan the HF Guard, level 78, Hell Dry Hills next.[/Highlight]

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Dry Hills was rather wussy, with vultures and both types of cats. Only one melee cat boss, thankfully. The only loot I got from the vultures (of stuff not obtainable from non-trophymob monsters) was a rejuve potion and a crappy rare Spetum worth exactly 31000 gold. Blah...

Halls of the Dead put up a good test of skill and patience. First floor was not too bad, but the second and third floors were tough. Second floor opened up with a regular mummy pack and some javelin cats. Every time me or Mizan peeked around the first corner, we got severely damaged by javelins. Those can´t come from regular monsters. We got chilled a lot by them, too, so I used some thawing potions when it was time to move forward. Here is the worst culprit.

The waypoint room was guarded by an LE Stone Skin something Hollow One. I did my best, but I was not able to prevent a merc death here.

This is a great build for handling Mummy Sarcophagi. Maryam can actually beat them even when she misses her 'blocking assault'. The sarcophagus has 0 defense, so there is soon a VERY hot patch of flames next to it. Newly spawned mummies last for about 2 seconds. I just need to pack a few antidotes and I´m good.
That said, I really don´t want any Hollow Ones around when I attack the sarcophagus, especially not bosses. I thought I would be forced to kick one such boss out of sarcophagus room, but I managed to lure it out without getting into spawning range.

It was tough and it was dangerous, but we made it through. It gave me a nice confidence boost. Gold is now down to 670k (but with a fully charged Life Tap knife pack).


[Highlight]Conqueror Maryam the Phoenix Striker and Mizan the HF Guard, level 79,
Hell Far Oasis next.[/Highlight]

 

[Grisu]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Finally Shockfrosted defeated Andariel. Andariel herself was easy, but those Tainteds in the Catacombs made life hard, even with 89% Lightning Resistance…there were other nasty boss packs, too, like CI LI ones (1, , 2, , 3), Extra Strong extra fast Fana ones , LE Conviction Bosses.
But thanks to Smite and Malice weapon on my merc they all went down eventually…

Oh, got some nice drops on my way, too: There was this nice unique Thresher in the Mausoleum …unfortunately not from a bounty mob. Then a Thul Rune from a Fallen (usable – yay!), Set Heavy Bracers (not usable), this amulet , which turned out to be this one :shocked:…not usable for me, of course
Oh, and almost…

Well, anyways, I’m now level 79 and imbued some nice pair of gloves at Charsi’s:

Stone Hold
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 82
Durability: 9 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 83
Fingerprint: 0x196469bb
+31% Enhanced Defense
+12 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +7%
22% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+5 to Light Radius
20% Increased Attack Speed
5% Bonus to Attack Rating

Could prove useful

Well, on it goes to Act II Hell…that’ll take some time…those tombs…

 

[Grisu]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Got some time to make some progress with my Shockfroster...no good screenies though, since situations were a bit ... dangerous sometimes. Esp. those Hollow Ones (LI) with their skeletons (CI). Fortunately I managed to kill those skeletons a bit faster than the Hollow Ones revived them, so I got to land some blows on the Mummies till I again faced 4 to 5 skeletons, which I had to bring down again, and then hit the mummy another few times.

Smite worked perfectly in those situations, when there was only one Mummy. But if there were more...well, I was quite thankful for the Malice weapon on my merc, although keeping him alive proved to be a quest of its own
Esp. this stair trap cost me about 40 minutes to overcome...

There were a few bounty mobs on my way, but not too much. Blood Witch the Wild decided to drop only weapons again, so I now have an even bigger supply of weapons to choose from...most of them crap *cough*

Here are her drops from Hell mode:
Grim Scratch
Zweihander
One-Hand Damage: 42 to 63
Two-Hand Damage: 60 to 97
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Dexterity: 94
Required Strength: 125
Required Level: 30
Sword Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xa55c74ba
+80% Enhanced Damage
+314 to Attack Rating
+8 to Minimum Damage
Adds 1-4 cold damage over 3 seconds
Repairs 1 durability in 33 seconds

Maiden Javelin of Vileness
Throw Damage: 6 to 22
One-Hand Damage: 8 to 14
Quantity: 78
(Amazon Only)
Required Dexterity: 47
Required Strength: 33
Required Level: 17
Javelin Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x7dfe8d24
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)

Some time after the Halls of the Dead I remembered that I forgot to clear 2 rooms on level 1, so I went back there and good that I did.

Now I think I will be switching from /p3 to /p1...it was really tedious sometimes till monsters went down...

[highlight]Conqueror Shockrosted the Teslafroster and Jemali, the BA Town Guard, level 81, Hell Palace next.[/highlight]

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Big congrats to Grisu and his Shockfroster for making it all the way to Jerhyn´s Palace! :thumbup:

Why so much cheering? Well, he´s the leader at the moment, and will (unfortunatly for me) stay that way unless someone starts a new character and is very succesful.

Maryam had a relatively easy time in the Far Oasis, but very tough in the Maggot Lair. There were bosses against whom merc resurrections would be futile. In fact, I am proud that Maryam could actually kill Foul Maggot (great name - it really was a foul maggot!) and survive it. Fade is great sometimes.

Coldworm was Cursed, which was very bad news for us. Especially for Mizan. I could soon shelve the Life Tap plans I had for keeping him alive. Amped damage en masse was just too much for him. As I have said many times before, I am constantly withdrawing gold from my account. He died a few more times, and I decided to try without him.

Maryam tried her best - she really did. I´ve had trouble here with previous Phoenix Strikers as well, but more than once, Death Sentry has given me an extra edge to win. That skill is of course banned in this tourney. I seemed to make progress now and then, spreading huge flame carpets and lightning storms while keeping most of the room blinded or Mind Blasted, etc. But the Amp was tough for Maryam. Coldworm´s poison aura made sure Amp was active pretty much all the time. (With a merc, it is possible to avoid the poison aura if you do not enter the room yourself for quite a while, but I had no such luxury). Maryam´s blocking sucks, and sometimes big bites were very scary. Many healing (and mana) potions were shopped and used. I took bigger and bigger risks in order to progress. Several NDEs where I still did not use purples, because I figured I could back off and rely on reds. It only worked so many times, until...oops.

I can´t say I am disappointed. I understood the risks I was taking, and I was willing to take them, in desperation of otherwise facing a defeat by Coldworm. I know I could have started a new game, plowed through the Lair again and hoped for easier Coldworm abilities, or maybe dashed in and picked up the Staff without fighting or something, but that´s not how I play. I play 'do or die', and this time the big worm and her army had me beaten. Simple as that.

Big thanks to Merlin for coming up with the idea and hosting the tournament! :yes:

It is possible that I try once more. Yes, with a PS assassin! Maybe that time, I´ll get a good bow from a bounty-SU so I can have a rogue merc. Because I know I could have won vs. this Coldworm with a rogue merc if she had a decent bow.


[Highlight]Conqueror Maryam the Phoenix Striker and Mizan the HF Guard, level 79, slain by Coldworm´s Breeding Chamber. R.I.P.[/Highlight]

 

[Grisu]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

...oops.

:shocked: That are a lot of maggots :shocked:

I'm really sorry to hear about your deeds! I have to say - if it wasn't for you and your iron will to carry on some weeks (or already months??) back, I probably wouldn't have picked Shockfrosted up again.

Huge congrats though for making it that far! Your progress reports were always not only fun but quite inormative, too, and I learned a lot about playing more safe by your tournament posts! I think a big "Thank you!" ist due

One of the main reasons I didn't die yet to all those Beetles is my lightning resistance of 90%...that Holy Thunder RW really is awesome. I can't imagine how you managed to survive all those beetles and LE bosses with probably less lightning resistance...

About the gold: I was lucky to roll Fallens as Act I bounty mob - there are myriads of them and so I managed to build up some wealth...but I'm afraid, that this pile of gold will disappear very fast in Act III (bountymob Council )

Anyways, congrats to you for making it that far and thank you for being a great competitor, from whom so much is still to learn! :thumbup:

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Alright, I am at it again! Third try - this time with a character named Mavi.

A good thing with this build is that it works pretty well with any merc type, so the item drops will decide which one(s) I use.

Bountymobs:
Corrupted Rogues (The Countess, Battlemaid Sarina)
Bat Demons (Icehawk Riftwing)
Willowisps (again)
Vile Mothers (again)
Frenzytaurs
Baal

Hmm, Countess is an interesting draw. I think I´ll kill her on /p2 so I´ll get (hopefully) fewer items that I must use, and the best chance for runes. The rules for the runes are unusually nice for this tournament - they do not count as socketables I must use before regular bountymob socketables. But RWs or crafted items made from Countess runes (or runes cubed from Countess runes) get SU property. I see a good chance for a nice 'Steel' weapon (or maybe I´ll get an Eth that I can combine with Qual-Kehk´s runes for a Holy Thunder...)

Baal can sure drop nice stuff even in Normal. On the other hand, he´s so late in the game so the Hell drop is quite meaningless.

I had planned to play longer yesterday but I was simply too tired, so...

[Highlight]Mavi the fledgling Assassin, level 7, Cold Plains next[/Highlight]
(there´s a good chance I´ll see my first bountymob monsters there)

 

[Insane Wayne]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

RIP Maryam. That was a very eerie deeds screenshot!

I vaguely remember an epic Coldworm battle I had long ago, with a fairly weak character lacking both crowd control and AoE spells. I totally botched the approach to the breeding room and had to retreat. I also had a difficult time positioning the rogue merc. I was stuck deep in the narrow passageway. The maggots quickly bred out of control and flooded the corridor, leaving no choice but to kill them painstakingly in single-file. For every dozen we killed, another dozen babies took their place, and this cycle went on for ages. Every now and then an adult maggot would get in line.

But they finally thinned out, and I killed some more adult maggots. Coldworm hatched more mother maggots, which laid new eggs, but they eventually stopped too. I believe the maggot supply can always be exhausted, although I'm not sure if there's a fixed amount of spawns. Regrettably I was forced to endure this maggot marathon with no choice in the matter. (I would've preferred to roll the dice and charge in against Coldworm.) Then again, I suppose I should've been grateful to survive relatively easily, even though it took forever.

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

I believe the maggot supply can always be exhausted, although I'm not sure if there's a fixed amount of spawns.

I know there is in Normal and NM, not sure about Hell (it´s quite large, at least). If there is indeed a fixed amount, I think that in order to reach the end, you can´t move away too far or be away from the place for too long, because I think Coldworm will "reset" if that happens.


An adult maggot will generally only lay two eggs (but I think the maggots that are guest monsters in Halls of Pain are exceptions).

The reason the rogue merc thing works is that there is a sweet spot where the merc can see Coldworm, but Coldworm can´t see her (so Coldworm won´t spawn any maggots). Sure, it takes a long time but it gets the job done. A standard chippie-cubed Cruel elite bow is good enough for this.

If Maryam had a source of PMH or OW, I think she could have placed herself in the sweet spot and exhausted all the young (with PS), then aimed at Coldworm with BF. With a good number of mana potions in inventory, the adult maggots in the line of fire could have been overcome. As it was for me, she´d have no chance to overcome the life regeneration. Coldworm can´t be poisoned, and the base physical + elemental damage from any of her weapons would have been too small when Coldworm would be low on life and CB no longer of much use.

 

[Insane Wayne]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

I was curious to test Coldworm's spawning abilities, because I frequently take risks to quickly infiltrate her burrow, often with teleport charges. So I did a little experiment. I fired up my No-Vit Blizz sorc. Her merc is defensive-oriented, a true tanking merc with HF aura and 55 PDR. (His weapon ain't bad either, an upped Amned Kelpie, 700-1800 damage.) Ideal setup for safe and slow maggot extermination. I teleported to the Maggot Lair (p1, Hell) and quickly found my way to the breeding chamber. I placed the merc right at the entrance, close enough to Coldworm to piss her off. Emilio hacked away steadily as she spawned maggots, which quickly laid eggs. Within ~6 minutes they were all dead. I made sure to teleport around the chamber to pick off any wandering adults. Coldworm stopped spawning. I also noted that she stopped attacking early during the test. After Cursing us immediately with her proximity poison attack, she did not strike again.

I let her live, portaled to town, and killed a couple minutes gambling. When I returned to Coldworm, she did not spawn any new maggots. I left again and this time I wasted more time gambling for several minutes. The extra time did indeed reset her behavior. She spawned adults immediately, two at a time. I tele'd to the chamber entrance and let Emilio start over. As before, 6 minutes later, they were all dead. I did a quick Eldritch run, and this also reset Coldworm. Another 6 minutes, all maggots dead again, and I was convinced the spawn count was identical, although I never did count them exactly. All three visits showed the same pattern, an early Cursing attack from Coldworm, and then nothing at all. This time I let Emilio kill her, which triggered her usual proximity strike poisoning death-nova.

I can see how this approach would be maddening for a low-damage restricted build, especially above p1. Coldworm's regen is certainly formidable.

This little test was especially amusing for me, because during my brief Eldritch run, he dropped this. A grand reward! :grin:
1 run = 1 awesome EU. I will quit while I'm ahead.

 

[Morathi1]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Very nice research Wayne that is interesting regarding Coldworm's spawning abilities :thumbsup:.

I must take this into consideration....if i ever make it to Hell Act 2 .

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Nicely done test, Insane Wayne. It´s comforting to know that there is an end to the maggot spawning, but at the same time frustrating for me because when I look at the screenie, I realize that I could maybe have won had I managed to get Mizan into that exact position. He would have needed Life Tap, potions and extra killing help from my Meteors. If a quick trip to town for healing/refill does not reset Coldworm, there would have been a chance.

IIRC, the longest battle I have won here went on for about 45 minutes.

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

The drop from the Countess "cursed" me with only two items, an amulet and a crappy magical Long Bow. Mavi equipped this bow herself (on switch), beause I soon found a rare Long Bow that was better for the merc. No trouble during the rest of the act.

Countess also gave me two Nef runes. Too bad, I had really hoped I could make a Steel weapon not too far into the game...

I hired a Prayer guard and gave him the best spear/polearm I´d found, an "almighty" non-magical Trident. I have always thought these mercs are overpowered for Normal. Even with such a measly weapon, this merc rarely needs any help at all, even on /p8.

Bat demons was a bad Act II draw, because they can only be found in Halls of the Dead. I found no more than about 20 of them. And there are of course no corrupted rogues in this act. Act III has the potential for more bountymobs, because all three of my prey types can spawn there (and there will be two SUs waiting).

Current Junk:
* Rare Skull Cap with a little lightning + cold resistance
* Amulet of Greed (SU status)
* 1s Katar
* 2s Leather Armor
* Small Shield (I also have an ethereal Large Shield I can bring in for boss fights, like vs. Duriel)
* Heavy Gloves
* Ring of the Apprentice
* Sash
* (no second ring)
* Heavy Boots

Weapon switch
* Crappy magical Long Bow (SU status)

Merc:
* Crimson Skull Cap
* Trident
* 2s Leather Armor


[Highlight]Mavi the (currently FoF/CoT) Assassin, level 27, Canyon of the Magi next[/Highlight]

 

[Grisu]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Good progress there, jiansonz!:thumbup: Bat Demon is really a bad draw, though

Shockfrosted meanwhile moved to Act III Hell. Shortly before reaching Duriel (I went for him first and then cleared the other tombs) I reached level 82. Duriel himself was smitten till not much of his health was left, and thanks to 100% OW and PMH from my merc (Malice) he finally went down presenting a typical Duriel drop.

In the other tombs I encountered some yucky bosses - fortunately the name was worse than the mods.

Now I'm off into the Jungle - the first trophy mob will be in Travincal though. Ah well, I hope I don't encounter Convicition aura Gloams on my way there

[highlight]Conqueror Shockrosted the Teslafroster and Jemali, the BA Town Guard, level 82, Hell Spider Forest next.[/highlight]

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Act III has been very interesting so far. I lucked out and drew Gloams both in Great Marsh and in one floor of Swampy Pit. Their 4x drop rate for misc_good items showed and I could add some gems to the collection, plus a charm and some jewelry.

Sarina dropped magical Chain Boots and Long Battle Bow. Now I had two SU status weapons, both bows. So the only way I could keep a weapon for my Prayer merc was to equip both bows myself. So there was no elemental MA skills avilable for a while. Good thing I´ve taken a point in Venom, so Mavi could still do some damage. She preferred to use Blade Fury instead of Attack, both because the rate of fire is higher and that arrows cost money...

Merc used a Scythe for a while (dropped by bats in Swampy Pit) and then, for a very short (and glorious) time, a Poleaxe dropped by a bat minion in the Sewers. Then Icehawk Riftwing showed up gave me two rare weapons, and I suddenly had to make a decision: go with a weaponless Prayer merc or switch mercs. I chose the latter. None of my SU status bows are any good, so I hired a cold mage instead.

Mavi is now back to tanking duty. I added the 5 points from the Lam Esen quest to STR, taking it to 48, just enough for my best armor. Since Mavi does not yet have a SU status Claw, Fists of Fire can not be used now. But my level 2 PS (with good fire synegy) can. The two of us cleared out the rest of Sewers. Quite easy, except for one boss. For being Normal difficulty, our battle against the Holy Freeze Horadrim Ancient boss was almost epic. :grin:


Current Junk:
(my last report had errors; I have not yet found any 2s armors)

* Rare Skull Cap with a little lightning + cold resistance
* Amulet of Greed (SU status)
* rare Throwing Axe with a little AR bonus (extra so vs. undead) and 21/4 poison damage
* Superior Chain Mail (87 def.) (in bountymob areas, I use a 1s Leather Armor with chipped topaz instead)
* Small Shield (I can borrow ethereal Large Shield from the merc for tough fights)
* Heavy Gloves
* Ring of the Leech (4%)
* Light Belt
* Ring of Warding (MD reduced by 1)
* magical Chain Boots (useless ability I don´t remember ; SU status)

Weapon switch
* Crappy magical Long Battle Bow (SU status)

* Large Charm with +2 STR

Merc:
* Crimson Skull Cap
* ethereal rare Scimitar (just a little bonus AR and damage; SU status; Mavi can borrow it for tough fights - the base speed of a Scimitar is nice)
* 1s Leather Armor
* ethereal Large Shield

[Highlight]Mavi the Phoenix Strike Assassin and Phaet the Cold Iron Wolf, level 31, Upper Kurast next[/Highlight]

 

[Grisu]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

Nice to see updates from you, jiansonz!

Meanwhile, Shockrosted has beaten Mephisto. Take a deep breath, this is going to be a long story *g*

The journey started off with this boss - mark the aura, till I reached Kurast I will have had enough of them. Of course, there were other bosses, too, but not necessarily nicer ones. Also this combination appeared on 2/3 of all bosses, I guess: CI, LI. Yuck :yuck:

The Kurast Dungeons held only one stair trap, which wasn't dangerous at all due to 90% Lightning Resistance

After clearing the whole Jungle and entire Kurast, finally my trophy mob appeared: The first Council Member. He left me this. Then another, who dropped this (not useful at all). Then the 3rd, who dropped these - my first "must use" gloves, which are ethereal...

What's that cloud? Oh, I see - It's Mephisto's door bell.

This was only one of 4 nasty Boss dolls on level 1. How I survived, I do not know. But I did. Found IK Stone Crusher from a chest - of course I'm not allowed to use that one. Oh, that boss almost killed me on his death due to CE. I had around 10 HPs left, I guess... Then I had to leave my laptop, so I had to run through the entire level 2 ignoring all monsters to find the WP. Here's a pic of how far I ran, although the pic itself is from a fight after finding the WP and taking up the game again - hence the fighting.

So I started clearing level 2, and there were a lot of Vampire bosses, the nastiest being LE CE Extra Strong, followed by LE Extra Strong and an aura I don't remember. I cursed when a boss dropped me an unique Thresher in the Durance level 2 - not usable, since the only drops I can use from Act III monsters are those from the Council Members. So down I went to level 3.

Then again some trophy mobs: Here's Council SU #4, offering this drop (again, not very useful). I have no screenie of #5, since there were some Champion Vampires nearby and I was in a hurry to defeat them all. Member #6 on the other hand was somehow unpleasant due to HF aura, but once I knocked him against the pillar and kept on smiting he was done (thanks to Malice weapon from my merc).

Mephisto himself was quite easy. First, some Smite to trigger CB from my Goblin Toe boots, then Zeal+Holy Shock until he rewarded me with this really really awesome drop :jig: More on it in a minute. But first: "GO GO GO" to Panda Fortress

Well, first, here are my drops from the Council SUs:

[highlight]Garnet Trellised Armor of Thorns[/highlight]
Defense: 138
Durability: 54 of 64
Required Strength: 61
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x6179687d
Fire Resist +25%
Attacker Takes Damage of 3

[highlight]Emerald Elder Staff of Readiness[/highlight]
Two-Hand Damage: 80 to 93
Durability: 31 of 35
Required Dexterity: 37
Required Strength: 44
Required Level: 55
Staff Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xa46cc407
Poison Resist +38%
10% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to Frozen Orb (Sorceress Only)
150% Damage to Undead

[highlight]Viridian Bramble Mitts[/highlight]
Defense: 91
Durability: 7 of 7
Required Strength: 40
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x6266ac7e
Poison Resist +11%
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

[highlight]Decapitator of Readiness[/highlight]
Two-Hand Damage: 49 to 137
Durability: 30 of 40
Required Dexterity: 33
Required Strength: 189
Required Level: 54
Axe Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x863b3e64
10% Increased Attack Speed

[highlight]Greater Claws of Blight[/highlight]
One-Hand Damage: 18 to 37
Durability: 29 of 52
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 76
Required Strength: 76
Required Level: 33
Claw Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x7620ad8d
+7 poison damage over 3 seconds
+1 to Mind Blast (Assassin Only)
+3 to Venom (Assassin Only)
+1 to Claws of Thunder (Assassin Only)

[highlight]Sturdy Helm[/highlight]
Defense: 22
Durability: 23 of 24
Required Strength: 26
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x1f9a9889
+18% Enhanced Defense

[highlight]Knout of Venom[/highlight]
One-Hand Damage: 13 to 35
Durability: 28 of 30
Required Dexterity: 73
Required Strength: 82
Required Level: 25
Mace Class - Fast Attack Speed
Unidentified
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xcbbf93cc
+21 poison damage over 4 seconds
150% Damage to Undead

[highlight]Tireless Light Plated Boots[/highlight]
Defense: 9
Durability: 17 of 18
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 10
Unidentified
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xe33b35dc
Heal Stamina Plus 50%

[highlight]Strong Gauntlets of Fortune[/highlight]
Defense: 22
Durability: 15 of 24
Required Strength: 60
Required Level: 12
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x6dabc089
+40% Enhanced Defense
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

[highlight]Giant Sword of Readiness[/highlight]
One-Hand Damage: 3 to 16
Two-Hand Damage: 9 to 28
Durability: 46 of 50
Required Dexterity: 34
Required Strength: 56
Required Level: 3
Sword Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x981d1eb8
10% Increased Attack Speed

Nothing really useful among it, although those Gloves might have been a substitute to the ones I used* before I found my first SU forced gloves (those ethereal ones above).

*Stone Hold
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 82
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 83
Fingerprint: 0x196469bb
+31% Enhanced Defense
+12 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +7%
22% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+5 to Light Radius
20% Increased Attack Speed
5% Bonus to Attack Rating

But justice was served with Mephisto's drop:

[highlight]Demon Limb[/highlight]
Tyrant Club
One-Hand Damage: 95 to 172
Durability: 39 of 65
Required Strength: 133
Required Level: 63
Mace Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x74d32d0e
+198% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +19%
Adds 222-333 fire damage
12% Life stolen per hit
123% Damage to Demons
150% Damage to Undead
Level 23 Enchant (15/20 Charges)
Repairs 1 durability in 20 seconds

[highlight]Aldur's Advance[/highlight]
Battle Boots
Defense: 45
Required Strength: 95
Required Level: 45
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xf4fab7cf
+50 to Life
+180 to Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 32%
Fire Resist +50%
40% Faster Run/Walk
10% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
Indestructible

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
+15 to Dexterity
+15 to Dexterity
+15 to Dexterity
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***

[highlight]Havoc Hand[/highlight]
Demonhide Gloves
Defense: 48
Durability: 7 of 12
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x9359d6b3
+34% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +5%
3% Mana stolen per hit
20% Increased Attack Speed
Level 3 Inner Sight (6/27 Charges)

[highlight]Fiend Mantle[/highlight]
Field Plate
Defense: 159
Durability: 29 of 48
Required Strength: 55
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xd2bfe87f
+14 to Strength
+50% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +7%
Attacker Takes Damage of 6
Socketed (2: 0 used)

[highlight]Raven Goad[/highlight]
Halberd
Two-Hand Damage: 29 to 111
Durability: 28 of 28
Required Dexterity: 37
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 19
Polearm Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x378a71a3
+66% Enhanced Damage
+163 to Attack Rating
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

[highlight]Throwing Spear of Maiming[/highlight]
Throw Damage: 12 to 34
One-Hand Damage: 5 to 19
Quantity: 75
Required Dexterity: 65
Required Level: 5
Javelin Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xbfec4edd
+4 to Maximum Damage

That Demon Limb will solve my AR problems and help me fighting those many LI CI bosses, Aldur's Advance might well be worth a switch from Goblin Toe (which will be used for Bosses and LI CI in the future only, I guess), the gloves offer 20% IAS and Inner Sight for further reducing CtH problems, and the armor could replace either mine or my merc's. I'll see what I can socket there (e.g. I have spare Ort, Thul, 2 Perfect Rubies).

That's it from me this time, I'll write an update once I'm done with Act IV (or dead...).

[highlight]Conqueror Shockfrosted the Teslafroster and Jemali, the BA Town Guard, level 83, Hell Outer Steppes next.[/highlight]

 

[lAmebAdger]

Re: Tournament : The Bountyhunter's heaven

awesome drop, it seems like luck plays a huge role in this tournament!

i really hope you make it to the end, actually i hope both of you make it, because the tournament is over and it's not about winning, but completing

(still too chicken to participate myself T_T, even though i get a lot of inspiration from the writeups)