Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
- Thread starter jiansonz
- Start date
Insane Wayne
Active member
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
I have fond memories of the original Random tournament, it actually prompted me to join this forum! I also recall the result: a zombie charge knocking me into a gloam-lightning ambush, instant Deeds!
I decided to avenge that character, and rolled myself a Barbarian with a BA merc. Nice combo, I was really looking forward to it because my previous barbs had all used ranged mercs. However, I made the outrageous error of clicking on one last chest as I answered the phone, and left him to roast in ambient fire! Slain by trap! lolz noob. Why did I not follow the cardinal rule of pausing the game? :hammerhead
I suppose it's because I'm always reckless in the very early stages.) Unbelievable...
Moving right along after that indignity, I rolled a necro. Not my first choice, as I am currently playing one in the Peasants tourney. But then I rolled a barb merc, which is new for me and a welcome surprise. Plus, as I read through the thread, I realized I will benefit from the wise advice of jiansonz. Indeed, I have already profited from the "necro shield of spikes" recipe (more on that later).
A trip to the random name generator produced "Blacky", which I shortened to Black. Nice name for a necro. Black's development has been wonderfully awkward, in many aspects, in good ways and bad. Just the sort of wackiness I expect from a random tournament, which makes it fun. For starters, I knew I'd have to be a fighting necro for most of Normal difficulty. I decided to play at p7. Plus, I needed some help from Clay Golem for early tanking. I waited until level 6 to place my first skill points, to maximize the possibility of landing a point in Clay. The first point went to Poison Dagger. The good news was that it was then grayed out, increasing the odds to get Clay. The bad news is, I missed Clay on each subsequent attempt! This was a sign of things to come, Black's random skill rolls have been incredibly awful!
Stat points have been bizarre as well. I rolled so many points into dex (my least favored option) that I suspected my new die may be flawed, which I replaced out of paranoia. :crazyeyes: Dex, and now Energy, continued to receive abnormal attention, neglecting the preferred categories of Str and Vit.
Not all the news is bad though. Black has done well in finding fighting gear, and handy shrines. I led a mob of rogues back to the Blood Moor for a trap. Aside from damage, Fire Shrines inflict a form of PMH, which made Black's job much easier while fighting with a weak sword.
Rakanishu dropped a Stoutnail, a pretty decent beating stick for the early game, especially considering I was woefully short on Str necessary to equip a scepter. I noticed a few Fallen perishing due to the "Attacker Takes Damage of 6" mod. It just so happened I had a flawed skull in my stash (the result of a shrine misclick, I was mad about it at the time) and I decided to place it in a 2os necro head. Soon I put another one in after the next chipped skull / gem shrine combo. With additional ATD from a rare belt/armor, Black had ATD 24. I ran through the mob to negate my defense/blocking, and watched as Fallen beat themselves to death!
An early game-changer dropped in the Black Marsh, a new weapon. Oh man, it's the wondrous dagger I've always failed to get in the early game, despite thousands of gambles! At last! With this dagger, though, comes potential conflict. For example, Countess dropped a Tal, a rare treat which I'd probably put into a weapon for immediate use. Not possible with the Gull! However, Gull + amp + weak skellies + eventual Clay Golem, was enough to get me through Act 1. The MF was evident too, I found several S/U's, including a wand with an unfamiliar graphic.
To start Act 2, I shopped a 3os breast plate (still too weak for a Ring Mail). I steadily added +damage jewels, which eventually spilled over into a 2os necro head with +Amp (which is still my only source of Amp!). Here is my current armor/shield combo. Also I had a few small/large charms of shock. It was sufficient for OK progress, with some help from a couple switch-buffed skellies averaging ~25 damage each with skill shrine bonus. They were able to survive well enough. I often tanked for them, absorbing a lot of damage myself. After I fetched the cube and found some Els, I normalized my stash of crude necro heads, re-rolling their staffmods to no avail.
Dedicated circlet gambling produced a Static circlet, which I was grateful for. It just about doubled my max damage. I deal ~ 30-200 damage, not counting poison or Amp. I just need to make it to Act 5, and will reduce the player setting as necessary to make it bearable. Duriel was killed at p1. Finally, I loaded my supply of worthless magical necro heads and cubed them into shields "of spikes". None of the results were helpful, but the resulting staffmod rerolls yielded a combined resale value of over 60K gold from Ormus.
[highlight]Stats:[/highlight]
Str 39 (24 random points) way too low!
Dex 69 (44 random points) nearly 2:1 ratio over Str, weird and likely wasteful...
Vit 42 (27 random points) grrr...
Ene 60 (35 random points)
[highlight]Skills:[/highlight]
3 Skeleton Mastery
2 Raise Skeleton
3 Clay Golem <---- finally lucked out with a few points
2 Golem Mastery
1 Skeletal Mage
5 Teeth <---- these came too late to be of any use, what a waste
2 Bone Armor
3 Poison Dagger
0 Corpse Explosion <---- damn
0 Amp Damage <---- double damn, I am screwed!
6 Dim Vision <---- WTF?! Make it stop!
1 Confuse <---- further opening up the wrong branch of the Curse tree!
nothing in Iron Maiden, Life Tap, Weaken, Terror, or Decrep either. So much for the 1-point wonders!
[highlight]Gear:[/highlight]
Gull Dagger
gemmed Preserved Head, +7 max damage, +3 amp <--- I am dependent on this!
Static Circlet
gemmed Breast Plate, adds 4-14 damage
rare Belt, +4 to Life, Fire Resist 17%, 24% FHR
rare Heavy Gloves, Fire Resist 20%, Cold Resist 19%, 8% MF, ctc Frost Nova <--- opting for some resists/novae instead of plain MF.
Heavy Boots of Luck (31)
Vulpine Amulet of Chance (15)
Fortuitous (15) Ring of the Jackal (5)
Snake's (8) Ring of Chance (15)
weapon switch: skellie buff wand/shield
[highlight]Black the Necromancer, vanilla, level 27, Act 3 Normal, Kurast Docks[/highlight]
I have fond memories of the original Random tournament, it actually prompted me to join this forum! I also recall the result: a zombie charge knocking me into a gloam-lightning ambush, instant Deeds!
I decided to avenge that character, and rolled myself a Barbarian with a BA merc. Nice combo, I was really looking forward to it because my previous barbs had all used ranged mercs. However, I made the outrageous error of clicking on one last chest as I answered the phone, and left him to roast in ambient fire! Slain by trap! lolz noob. Why did I not follow the cardinal rule of pausing the game? :hammerhead
I suppose it's because I'm always reckless in the very early stages.) Unbelievable...Moving right along after that indignity, I rolled a necro. Not my first choice, as I am currently playing one in the Peasants tourney. But then I rolled a barb merc, which is new for me and a welcome surprise. Plus, as I read through the thread, I realized I will benefit from the wise advice of jiansonz. Indeed, I have already profited from the "necro shield of spikes" recipe (more on that later).
A trip to the random name generator produced "Blacky", which I shortened to Black. Nice name for a necro. Black's development has been wonderfully awkward, in many aspects, in good ways and bad. Just the sort of wackiness I expect from a random tournament, which makes it fun. For starters, I knew I'd have to be a fighting necro for most of Normal difficulty. I decided to play at p7. Plus, I needed some help from Clay Golem for early tanking. I waited until level 6 to place my first skill points, to maximize the possibility of landing a point in Clay. The first point went to Poison Dagger. The good news was that it was then grayed out, increasing the odds to get Clay. The bad news is, I missed Clay on each subsequent attempt! This was a sign of things to come, Black's random skill rolls have been incredibly awful!
Stat points have been bizarre as well. I rolled so many points into dex (my least favored option) that I suspected my new die may be flawed, which I replaced out of paranoia. :crazyeyes: Dex, and now Energy, continued to receive abnormal attention, neglecting the preferred categories of Str and Vit.
Not all the news is bad though. Black has done well in finding fighting gear, and handy shrines. I led a mob of rogues back to the Blood Moor for a trap. Aside from damage, Fire Shrines inflict a form of PMH, which made Black's job much easier while fighting with a weak sword.
Rakanishu dropped a Stoutnail, a pretty decent beating stick for the early game, especially considering I was woefully short on Str necessary to equip a scepter. I noticed a few Fallen perishing due to the "Attacker Takes Damage of 6" mod. It just so happened I had a flawed skull in my stash (the result of a shrine misclick, I was mad about it at the time) and I decided to place it in a 2os necro head. Soon I put another one in after the next chipped skull / gem shrine combo. With additional ATD from a rare belt/armor, Black had ATD 24. I ran through the mob to negate my defense/blocking, and watched as Fallen beat themselves to death!
An early game-changer dropped in the Black Marsh, a new weapon. Oh man, it's the wondrous dagger I've always failed to get in the early game, despite thousands of gambles! At last! With this dagger, though, comes potential conflict. For example, Countess dropped a Tal, a rare treat which I'd probably put into a weapon for immediate use. Not possible with the Gull! However, Gull + amp + weak skellies + eventual Clay Golem, was enough to get me through Act 1. The MF was evident too, I found several S/U's, including a wand with an unfamiliar graphic.
To start Act 2, I shopped a 3os breast plate (still too weak for a Ring Mail). I steadily added +damage jewels, which eventually spilled over into a 2os necro head with +Amp (which is still my only source of Amp!). Here is my current armor/shield combo. Also I had a few small/large charms of shock. It was sufficient for OK progress, with some help from a couple switch-buffed skellies averaging ~25 damage each with skill shrine bonus. They were able to survive well enough. I often tanked for them, absorbing a lot of damage myself. After I fetched the cube and found some Els, I normalized my stash of crude necro heads, re-rolling their staffmods to no avail.
Dedicated circlet gambling produced a Static circlet, which I was grateful for. It just about doubled my max damage. I deal ~ 30-200 damage, not counting poison or Amp. I just need to make it to Act 5, and will reduce the player setting as necessary to make it bearable. Duriel was killed at p1. Finally, I loaded my supply of worthless magical necro heads and cubed them into shields "of spikes". None of the results were helpful, but the resulting staffmod rerolls yielded a combined resale value of over 60K gold from Ormus.
[highlight]Stats:[/highlight]
Str 39 (24 random points) way too low!
Dex 69 (44 random points) nearly 2:1 ratio over Str, weird and likely wasteful...
Vit 42 (27 random points) grrr...
Ene 60 (35 random points)
[highlight]Skills:[/highlight]
3 Skeleton Mastery
2 Raise Skeleton
3 Clay Golem <---- finally lucked out with a few points
2 Golem Mastery
1 Skeletal Mage
5 Teeth <---- these came too late to be of any use, what a waste
2 Bone Armor
3 Poison Dagger
0 Corpse Explosion <---- damn
0 Amp Damage <---- double damn, I am screwed!
6 Dim Vision <---- WTF?! Make it stop!
1 Confuse <---- further opening up the wrong branch of the Curse tree!
nothing in Iron Maiden, Life Tap, Weaken, Terror, or Decrep either. So much for the 1-point wonders!
[highlight]Gear:[/highlight]
Gull Dagger
gemmed Preserved Head, +7 max damage, +3 amp <--- I am dependent on this!
Static Circlet
gemmed Breast Plate, adds 4-14 damage
rare Belt, +4 to Life, Fire Resist 17%, 24% FHR
rare Heavy Gloves, Fire Resist 20%, Cold Resist 19%, 8% MF, ctc Frost Nova <--- opting for some resists/novae instead of plain MF.
Heavy Boots of Luck (31)
Vulpine Amulet of Chance (15)
Fortuitous (15) Ring of the Jackal (5)
Snake's (8) Ring of Chance (15)
weapon switch: skellie buff wand/shield
[highlight]Black the Necromancer, vanilla, level 27, Act 3 Normal, Kurast Docks[/highlight]
jiansonz
New member
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
Welcome, Wayne. I had a feeling I would manage to lure you in.
LOL @ your barbarian´s demise. (Yes, one should always pause the game...)
Weird progress for Black indeed. :crazyeyes:
Does he use Poison Dagger with Gull?
I would not be annoyed over the points in DV. Now you have so many that with +5 necro skills (quite reasonable later - 2 from wand, 1 each from voodoo head, amulet and headgear) you start to approach 'user friendly in Hell'-territory. It may well turn out to be the your most important skill later. Compare with my extra points in Weaken and Life Tap...
Welcome, Wayne. I had a feeling I would manage to lure you in.
LOL @ your barbarian´s demise. (Yes, one should always pause the game...)
Weird progress for Black indeed. :crazyeyes:
Does he use Poison Dagger with Gull?
I would not be annoyed over the points in DV. Now you have so many that with +5 necro skills (quite reasonable later - 2 from wand, 1 each from voodoo head, amulet and headgear) you start to approach 'user friendly in Hell'-territory. It may well turn out to be the your most important skill later. Compare with my extra points in Weaken and Life Tap...
OldSoldier1
New member
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
I agree with jiansonz on the DV for end game. AI curses are great but you need extra points for usefulness in hell.
Calavera rescued Cain last night at level 14, per usual. Better update after act I is finished. I am glad I don't have to wait for act V to get my merc, as she's already slower than I'd hoped (I'm stubborn on /P8).
I agree with jiansonz on the DV for end game. AI curses are great but you need extra points for usefulness in hell.
Calavera rescued Cain last night at level 14, per usual. Better update after act I is finished. I am glad I don't have to wait for act V to get my merc, as she's already slower than I'd hoped (I'm stubborn on /P8).
Insane Wayne
Active member
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
Yeah I suppose DV is an acceptable dumping ground for random points. It's been useful against Coldcrow and palace cellar archers. But I am stuck in a rut in my Curse and Bone trees, continuing the improbable buildup of DV/Teeth despite 16 skill options. Amp may be a lost cause. Betrayed by chance! Et tu, random.org?
I definitely use PDagger with the Gull. The extra AR is handy and the poison is a bonus. But I'm not religious about it, if mana's low I just continue with default "attack".
Yeah I suppose DV is an acceptable dumping ground for random points. It's been useful against Coldcrow and palace cellar archers. But I am stuck in a rut in my Curse and Bone trees, continuing the improbable buildup of DV/Teeth despite 16 skill options. Amp may be a lost cause. Betrayed by chance! Et tu, random.org?
I definitely use PDagger with the Gull. The extra AR is handy and the poison is a bonus. But I'm not religious about it, if mana's low I just continue with default "attack".
ILikeRocks
New member
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
Ah, I dislike act 2 sooooooooo much!!!!! But Korweil is trudging along. About to enter the Palace now, at lvl 24, trying to go through as fast as possible!
Good to see IW here, always a pleasure to read his writeups! I will update better after I get through this act...
Well, It was rough, but Korweil has made it through act 2 and 3!!!
I forgot to lower the player setting when i fought duriel, so It took about 20 minutes and all of my purps, plus about 151251351j2r121r1 trips to town to buy more pot!! /p 8 duriel is not fun!
Act 3 is by far my favorite act to play through though, so it was def worth it to kill duriel!
I had my first real NDE here, The new preview for the new Transformers movie came on, and I didn't pause it and a Shaman dude came over and tried to light me on fire! I looked back and my merc was using CB and getting nowhere and I was down to a sliver of life, luckily I had a couple of Greater Healing potions I had found and got back up there along with my 9% ll I made it through!
The Diffused Fane was fun, A stair trap right as I went through was a bit unexpected and I decided to run as fast as I could through it and into some of the big furry guys were in the room next to it! so my one point in Howl plus leap to knock them back some got me through that!
The rest was pretty easy with quite a few rune finds, I am up to 3 Tals now, which might end up in a weapon if I can't find anything to go along with them. I am not using RWM so Spirit for my merc is out, He is using a random sword I gambled, Milabregas orb shield, Stealth armor I made for him and some random hat with some MF on it. He can kill the little guys like the dolls in the durance, but he died twice to the Council members on lvl 3. He lived through Meph as I was the one taking all the attacks. but his Lightning is doing a reasonable amount of dmg.
Meph was a wuss, and he only dropped a rare axe which sucked, a blue axe which was worse, a mana pot and his soulstone. Kinda disappointing but oh well. I made it up to lvl 31 which made me happy as I got one point into Berserk which will make the CS a more bearable as long as I make it there. So far I have been using my Double Swing and Leap attack mostly. With 3 points into DS and 1 point into LA plus +1 to my skills from my helm helps me out quite a bit!
I am looking forward to making it to Hell, although I have never used the A3 Light merc before and I will need some way to give him some +Skills and some more FCR.
Korweil, Lvl 31, Act 4 Normal
Ah, I dislike act 2 sooooooooo much!!!!! But Korweil is trudging along. About to enter the Palace now, at lvl 24, trying to go through as fast as possible!
Good to see IW here, always a pleasure to read his writeups! I will update better after I get through this act...
Well, It was rough, but Korweil has made it through act 2 and 3!!!
I forgot to lower the player setting when i fought duriel, so It took about 20 minutes and all of my purps, plus about 151251351j2r121r1 trips to town to buy more pot!! /p 8 duriel is not fun!
Act 3 is by far my favorite act to play through though, so it was def worth it to kill duriel!
I had my first real NDE here, The new preview for the new Transformers movie came on, and I didn't pause it and a Shaman dude came over and tried to light me on fire! I looked back and my merc was using CB and getting nowhere and I was down to a sliver of life, luckily I had a couple of Greater Healing potions I had found and got back up there along with my 9% ll I made it through!
The Diffused Fane was fun, A stair trap right as I went through was a bit unexpected and I decided to run as fast as I could through it and into some of the big furry guys were in the room next to it! so my one point in Howl plus leap to knock them back some got me through that!
The rest was pretty easy with quite a few rune finds, I am up to 3 Tals now, which might end up in a weapon if I can't find anything to go along with them. I am not using RWM so Spirit for my merc is out, He is using a random sword I gambled, Milabregas orb shield, Stealth armor I made for him and some random hat with some MF on it. He can kill the little guys like the dolls in the durance, but he died twice to the Council members on lvl 3. He lived through Meph as I was the one taking all the attacks. but his Lightning is doing a reasonable amount of dmg.
Meph was a wuss, and he only dropped a rare axe which sucked, a blue axe which was worse, a mana pot and his soulstone. Kinda disappointing but oh well. I made it up to lvl 31 which made me happy as I got one point into Berserk which will make the CS a more bearable as long as I make it there. So far I have been using my Double Swing and Leap attack mostly. With 3 points into DS and 1 point into LA plus +1 to my skills from my helm helps me out quite a bit!
I am looking forward to making it to Hell, although I have never used the A3 Light merc before and I will need some way to give him some +Skills and some more FCR.
Korweil, Lvl 31, Act 4 Normal
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Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
Okay, I'm in. Meet Sunchild, the Sorceress with a Defiance merc.
Hmmmm, what a crazy roll. Sorc, the most skill based character?!? I suppose she'll turn into a merc-supporter, scouting with Hydras and using Static to hurt enemies as much as I can.
Okay, I'm in. Meet Sunchild, the Sorceress with a Defiance merc.
Hmmmm, what a crazy roll. Sorc, the most skill based character?!? I suppose she'll turn into a merc-supporter, scouting with Hydras and using Static to hurt enemies as much as I can.
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
Huh? Whazzat? A jiansonz tournament? Now that's something to wake from my D2 hiatus!
My roll was a sorc with an A3 fire merc. Uh, I'm going to declare an instant death for her and take a mulligan. :whistling: My real character will apparently be a druid with a barbarian merc. Let's call him Amp, for the absent minded professor. (Now why did I put that point there again?)
Sounds like fun, here we go!
Huh? Whazzat? A jiansonz tournament? Now that's something to wake from my D2 hiatus!My roll was a sorc with an A3 fire merc. Uh, I'm going to declare an instant death for her and take a mulligan. :whistling: My real character will apparently be a druid with a barbarian merc. Let's call him Amp, for the absent minded professor. (Now why did I put that point there again?)
Sounds like fun, here we go!
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
That is an awesome screenshot!
Really an honest mistake; only funny because you've guardianed two naked characters :crazyeyes:
That is an awesome screenshot!
Insane Wayne said:
Really an honest mistake; only funny because you've guardianed two naked characters :crazyeyes:
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
Wow, playing Sunchild was one of the most fun times I've ever had playing Diablo II.
At the Pit, I had about 25 strength, 50 dex, 25 vit, and 60 energy. Insane horrible rolls on my stats. Consistently bad. I was saving up all my skills for level 18 to be sure that I got Teleport at that level, so I was an 80 health no mercenary Sorceress taking down monsters with 1 point Ice Blast and a rare Scimitar.
I encountered a certain Seethe Web in the Underground Passage. Lightning Enchanted Tainted type. (Interesting note: immune to lightning. That was irrelevant though.) His hits were lethal; his lightning orbs burned off about half my health, and the lightning that emanated from him as I attacked him was enough to force me into terrifying hit recovery.
There was no way for me to tank the guy so I bought a long bow from Gheed, and portaled back down. An insane battle commenced, with me dodging an orb, desperately firing an arrow or two, then dodging the next orb, while trying to weave in between his sparks that dealt ugly damage themselves, but were especially fearful because they could lock me in place to get hit by one of his orbs. There was very little room to maneuver in the cave, so I had to hit-and-run to one end then brush right past him (lightning everywhere) and go the other direction.
At first I was missing too much, and he was healing faster than I was dealing damage to him, but my aim improved and I slowly started whittling him down. However, I wasn't dodging perfectly by any means, and was gulping potions like a maniac. He was three arrows from death. I ran out of potions. I got locked by a spark and hit by one of his orbs, and suddenly I had no visible health remaining. I ran to another end of the cave with him following, grabbed a health shrine, finished him off, and burst into hysterical laughter. This was the most intense battle I've ever had in Diablo II, and it happened in Act I normal!
I met another Seethe something-or-other monster in the Hole, a Lightning Enchanted Rogue Archer. I was able to tank her hits with potions and take her down with a bow, although it was still pretty scary.
The Forgotten Tower was a horrifying ordeal. On level 2 I encountered an extra strong Goat Man pack. I failed several times to position them correctly in a door so I could take them one at a time -- I would get too close and three of them would attack me, or I would back too far away and they would come pouring through the door and I would have to run to another door, and mess up again, and then I ran into a dead end and had to run around them, but I got hit by a wraith and sent into hit recovery, at which point I was halfway surrounded and being put into hit recovery and my health dropped to 25% but I gulped a quick rejuv and a Light Healing Potion and got out of there. Finally I managed to position myself correctly and took down the pack. On several floors (including that one) the entrance room was too brutal and I had to run blindly into the darkness waking up monsters just to get some breathing room. I had a feeling of deep satisfaction as I dealt the final blow to the Countess, and to my shock two Tal runes dropped!
The end was rather lame. I was methodically clearing the Tamoe Highlands and the Pit, and was close to level 18. I hadn't muled in a long time and had tons of items on the ground. 3 set items, rings, charms, all of my most useful stuff. Then Diablo II crashed. Blech. I'm just going to restart.
Wow, playing Sunchild was one of the most fun times I've ever had playing Diablo II.
At the Pit, I had about 25 strength, 50 dex, 25 vit, and 60 energy. Insane horrible rolls on my stats. Consistently bad. I was saving up all my skills for level 18 to be sure that I got Teleport at that level, so I was an 80 health no mercenary Sorceress taking down monsters with 1 point Ice Blast and a rare Scimitar.
I encountered a certain Seethe Web in the Underground Passage. Lightning Enchanted Tainted type. (Interesting note: immune to lightning. That was irrelevant though.) His hits were lethal; his lightning orbs burned off about half my health, and the lightning that emanated from him as I attacked him was enough to force me into terrifying hit recovery.
There was no way for me to tank the guy so I bought a long bow from Gheed, and portaled back down. An insane battle commenced, with me dodging an orb, desperately firing an arrow or two, then dodging the next orb, while trying to weave in between his sparks that dealt ugly damage themselves, but were especially fearful because they could lock me in place to get hit by one of his orbs. There was very little room to maneuver in the cave, so I had to hit-and-run to one end then brush right past him (lightning everywhere) and go the other direction.
At first I was missing too much, and he was healing faster than I was dealing damage to him, but my aim improved and I slowly started whittling him down. However, I wasn't dodging perfectly by any means, and was gulping potions like a maniac. He was three arrows from death. I ran out of potions. I got locked by a spark and hit by one of his orbs, and suddenly I had no visible health remaining. I ran to another end of the cave with him following, grabbed a health shrine, finished him off, and burst into hysterical laughter. This was the most intense battle I've ever had in Diablo II, and it happened in Act I normal!
I met another Seethe something-or-other monster in the Hole, a Lightning Enchanted Rogue Archer. I was able to tank her hits with potions and take her down with a bow, although it was still pretty scary.
The Forgotten Tower was a horrifying ordeal. On level 2 I encountered an extra strong Goat Man pack. I failed several times to position them correctly in a door so I could take them one at a time -- I would get too close and three of them would attack me, or I would back too far away and they would come pouring through the door and I would have to run to another door, and mess up again, and then I ran into a dead end and had to run around them, but I got hit by a wraith and sent into hit recovery, at which point I was halfway surrounded and being put into hit recovery and my health dropped to 25% but I gulped a quick rejuv and a Light Healing Potion and got out of there. Finally I managed to position myself correctly and took down the pack. On several floors (including that one) the entrance room was too brutal and I had to run blindly into the darkness waking up monsters just to get some breathing room. I had a feeling of deep satisfaction as I dealt the final blow to the Countess, and to my shock two Tal runes dropped!
The end was rather lame. I was methodically clearing the Tamoe Highlands and the Pit, and was close to level 18. I hadn't muled in a long time and had tons of items on the ground. 3 set items, rings, charms, all of my most useful stuff. Then Diablo II crashed. Blech. I'm just going to restart.
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Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
Intense wakiki! Isn't it funny what D2 can throw at you sometimes? I sometimes find the game throwing me things that are real "WTF moments". Its always good to get through them though. Bad luck with the game crashing. Keep trying though!
@Insane Wayne. Good to see you join in the fun Wayne
. I chuckled at your barb being burnt by the stash trap hahahaha. Almost makes Wendy's efforts look quite impressive hahaha :nod:.
Just a smallish update. I haven't had much time at all to play due to Uni and work. However Kane is doing very nicely and just killed the countress. I will update in more depth when i complete the act. Don't know when that will be....hopefully i can find some spare time.
Intense wakiki! Isn't it funny what D2 can throw at you sometimes? I sometimes find the game throwing me things that are real "WTF moments". Its always good to get through them though. Bad luck with the game crashing
. Keep trying though!@Insane Wayne. Good to see you join in the fun Wayne
. I chuckled at your barb being burnt by the stash trap hahahaha. Almost makes Wendy's efforts look quite impressive hahaha :nod:.Just a smallish update. I haven't had much time at all to play due to Uni and work. However Kane is doing very nicely and just killed the countress. I will update in more depth when i complete the act. Don't know when that will be....hopefully i can find some spare time.
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
Heh, thanks for the condolences guys. I wasn't too bothered really, it would have been much worse for that to happen in Act V. And truly, I had a blast playing such an underpowered character.
I rerolled an Assassin with a Cold Rogue as her ally. Boy, did that feel different! I went from the most underpowered starter to the (arguably) most overpowered. Especially since my first skill point went to Tiger Strike! And then I found an Ethereal Katar. I just blasted through to the Dark Wood with ease. The only slight hiccup was a champion group of Rogue Archers in the Cave, one of which was a Ghost. (I didn't have my ally with me yet). It definitely wasn't as satisfying to play her....but I might be able to actually finish the game with this one. (The Assassin strikes me as being arguably the best character for random skill points)
I cleared the entire game up to Tristram (excluding the Dark Wood, which I ran through) before killing Coldcrow, but no Gull this time either. The day that drops for me, I will probably have a heart attack! No good finds, and only 2 Topazes so far, but I did find a Gem Shrine on the Blood Moor - where else? - so now I have a pretty Flawed. I decided to power shop for a Sash with strength, figuring it would help me get to the 36 required for a Ring Mail....I was expecting to get something with 1 or 2 strength on it, just a small bonus to help out, but I the first strength Sash I saw had five. Sheesh! Wait... I did find a charm with 7 cold resist and 1 strength. That's my nicest find so far.
The Randomness has been treating me okay. All of my stats are about even, and level 7 was kind enough to give me BoS, although I did get forced to dump 2 points into Dragon Talon. I'm holding all my skill points, attempting to get Fade as high as possible.
I had the exact same reaction!
I had been looking for tournaments to join but most of them had annoying scoring to keep up with. Thanks for not doing that to us, jian.
Heh, thanks for the condolences guys. I wasn't too bothered really, it would have been much worse for that to happen in Act V. And truly, I had a blast playing such an underpowered character.
I rerolled an Assassin with a Cold Rogue as her ally. Boy, did that feel different! I went from the most underpowered starter to the (arguably) most overpowered. Especially since my first skill point went to Tiger Strike! And then I found an Ethereal Katar. I just blasted through to the Dark Wood with ease. The only slight hiccup was a champion group of Rogue Archers in the Cave, one of which was a Ghost. (I didn't have my ally with me yet). It definitely wasn't as satisfying to play her....but I might be able to actually finish the game with this one. (The Assassin strikes me as being arguably the best character for random skill points)
I cleared the entire game up to Tristram (excluding the Dark Wood, which I ran through) before killing Coldcrow, but no Gull this time either. The day that drops for me, I will probably have a heart attack!
No good finds, and only 2 Topazes so far, but I did find a Gem Shrine on the Blood Moor - where else? - so now I have a pretty Flawed. I decided to power shop for a Sash with strength, figuring it would help me get to the 36 required for a Ring Mail....I was expecting to get something with 1 or 2 strength on it, just a small bonus to help out, but I the first strength Sash I saw had five. Sheesh! Wait... I did find a charm with 7 cold resist and 1 strength. That's my nicest find so far. The Randomness has been treating me okay. All of my stats are about even, and level 7 was kind enough to give me BoS, although I did get forced to dump 2 points into Dragon Talon. I'm holding all my skill points, attempting to get Fade as high as possible.
Sounds like fun, here we go!
I had the exact same reaction!
I had been looking for tournaments to join but most of them had annoying scoring to keep up with. Thanks for not doing that to us, jian.
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
There are too many good tournaments going now. After Vincent died, I started a Paladin named Randall, who was actually lucky enough to get an Act 1 merc (cold). Then I parked him and tried a couple of other tourneys. True to form I died fairly quickly, and now I'm back to Randall again. He's doing fairly well with his stat rolls, but his skill rolls have been useless except for an early 5 points in Might and a couple of prerequisites for skills I'd like to pick up later.
Randall, Paladin, level 12, Dark Wood
There are too many good tournaments going now. After Vincent died, I started a Paladin named Randall, who was actually lucky enough to get an Act 1 merc (cold). Then I parked him and tried a couple of other tourneys. True to form I died fairly quickly, and now I'm back to Randall again. He's doing fairly well with his stat rolls, but his skill rolls have been useless except for an early 5 points in Might and a couple of prerequisites for skills I'd like to pick up later.
Randall, Paladin, level 12, Dark Wood
OldSoldier1
New member
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
Wakiki, that fight was pretty neat. I had a similar experience with my assassin this weekend. In the Jail, the very first room after descending the stairs was a nice open room but it had a ghost boss pack in it, with about four or five more regular ghosts in on the mix. I tried to separate them by going to another room, but that happened to be Pitspawn's pack, so I got to fight them both at the same time. That was harrowing! I believe it is jiansonz's mojo that is creating all of these crazy situations. GL with your assassin, I have high confidence in mine as well. I just hope to have some blade fury and fade points before too long!
Wakiki, that fight was pretty neat. I had a similar experience with my assassin this weekend. In the Jail, the very first room after descending the stairs was a nice open room but it had a ghost boss pack in it, with about four or five more regular ghosts in on the mix. I tried to separate them by going to another room, but that happened to be Pitspawn's pack, so I got to fight them both at the same time. That was harrowing! I believe it is jiansonz's mojo that is creating all of these crazy situations. GL with your assassin, I have high confidence in mine as well. I just hope to have some blade fury and fade points before too long!
jiansonz
New member
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
Pete continued his tough struggle in River of Flame, against Urdars, Stranglers and Abyss Knights. Pretty good draw, with none of that nonsense with tons of little ones spawning.
Crappy HF drop: Eth rune and no rubies or topazes.
I did not know if I should fear Iron Maiden or not. The runeworded Flail is not particularly damaging, but the top damage is substantial. Then factor in a decent STR bonus, plus I didn´t know if hitting Amped monsters would make IM do more damage. I figured it would, so I pondered if I should maybe use Weaken instead...
But anyway, I lured all monsters far away from the OB Knights. I let the golem tank for a couple of seconds to see if it got hit by a curse. If it didn´t, I moved in to fight. The OB Knights themselves were taken down by thrown javelins (or if I was sure it was only one, in melee while I was Decrepified).
I had to be very careful against the Infector´s pack. Those Infernos are extra powerful, and can fry a golem (or me!) in an instant. Made sure to separate them before taking any of them on. The Vizier´s pack was no picknick either.
Time for the showdown against Diablo, then. First thing he did was putting me in a Bone Prison! OK, time to switch to the TP staff, pop out of prison and give him the finger. HA!
After that, he was focused on the golems.
Absolutely no trouble at all from here. A tried and true method since Classic, and it´s still every bit as good.
(I often read about Fishymancers having trouble here. I think they make it far more complicated than it needs to be, with the need to keep up a Decrepify "hold" on Diablo, precise Clay Golem castings, getting off to a good start, having a merc with good gear, etc. Why bother? Golem + IM works every time, even without a merc. Don´t have a point in Iron Maiden? Just buy a wand with it. Geez...)
Pete ran through the Foothills, only killing monsters that completely blocked his passage. When he reached a defense line in the Highlands, he checked if there was a barb prison there. If yes, he established a foothold at the edge of the defense line, and worked on it until reaching the prison. Barbarians got saved and Pete could hire a companion, Drus. Yay!
Drus got Pete´s old MF items and I bought him a Massive Great Sword. The rest of Act V has been absolute heaven for Pete! Total domination, thanks to his new friend. The golem helps Drus tank, and I can always throw in a few seconds of Life Tap to help him, if needed. Or get him some other tanking help.
(that´s from an Amber Grim Wand with +1 Revive. I was pleased to find a wand with only +1 and no more expensive skills. It even had a useful prefix. If course a 'Summoner´s' wand would have been better, but I don´t complain. And it cost "only" 117k.)
MF craze later in the act. I think Insane Wayne has said something along the lines of that once you get the MF ball rolling, it can have tremendous power. I have chosen to go with it for now, paying much less attention to 'survivial gear' than what may be healthy. I raked in Goldwrap, Milabrega´s Orb and then in the WSK level 2, a green amulet. "Oh please let it be Tancred´s or Angelic!". It was Angelic. Cool! I now wear a 3-combo with an extra ring that gives me:
+100% MF (old amount for the jewelry slots was 52%)
+115 Life (sweet!)
Replenish Life +12 (nice to heal all small scars)
+1 All Skills
+10 DEX
Fat bonus to AR (good when I use Crushflange - it works even without the Sickle)
+50 Mana
I wish I´d had Decrepify against Baal, as it would have subdued him even more. As it was now, he could still hit Drus with physical attacks (nothing the occasional red potion couldn´t fix). His spells and his teleport ability were gone, though, and we slowly wore him down.
[Highlight]Destroyer Pete the Necromancer, level 48, NM Blood Moor next.[/Highlight]
(status report and table update coming later - too tired right now...)
Pete continued his tough struggle in River of Flame, against Urdars, Stranglers and Abyss Knights. Pretty good draw, with none of that nonsense with tons of little ones spawning.
Crappy HF drop: Eth rune and no rubies or topazes.
I did not know if I should fear Iron Maiden or not. The runeworded Flail is not particularly damaging, but the top damage is substantial. Then factor in a decent STR bonus, plus I didn´t know if hitting Amped monsters would make IM do more damage. I figured it would, so I pondered if I should maybe use Weaken instead...
But anyway, I lured all monsters far away from the OB Knights. I let the golem tank for a couple of seconds to see if it got hit by a curse. If it didn´t, I moved in to fight. The OB Knights themselves were taken down by thrown javelins (or if I was sure it was only one, in melee while I was Decrepified).
I had to be very careful against the Infector´s pack. Those Infernos are extra powerful, and can fry a golem (or me!) in an instant. Made sure to separate them before taking any of them on. The Vizier´s pack was no picknick either.
Time for the showdown against Diablo, then. First thing he did was putting me in a Bone Prison! OK, time to switch to the TP staff, pop out of prison and give him the finger. HA!
After that, he was focused on the golems.
Absolutely no trouble at all from here. A tried and true method since Classic, and it´s still every bit as good.
(I often read about Fishymancers having trouble here. I think they make it far more complicated than it needs to be, with the need to keep up a Decrepify "hold" on Diablo, precise Clay Golem castings, getting off to a good start, having a merc with good gear, etc. Why bother? Golem + IM works every time, even without a merc. Don´t have a point in Iron Maiden? Just buy a wand with it. Geez...)
Pete ran through the Foothills, only killing monsters that completely blocked his passage. When he reached a defense line in the Highlands, he checked if there was a barb prison there. If yes, he established a foothold at the edge of the defense line, and worked on it until reaching the prison. Barbarians got saved and Pete could hire a companion, Drus. Yay!
Drus got Pete´s old MF items and I bought him a Massive Great Sword. The rest of Act V has been absolute heaven for Pete! Total domination, thanks to his new friend. The golem helps Drus tank, and I can always throw in a few seconds of Life Tap to help him, if needed. Or get him some other tanking help.
(that´s from an Amber Grim Wand with +1 Revive. I was pleased to find a wand with only +1 and no more expensive skills. It even had a useful prefix. If course a 'Summoner´s' wand would have been better, but I don´t complain. And it cost "only" 117k.)
MF craze later in the act. I think Insane Wayne has said something along the lines of that once you get the MF ball rolling, it can have tremendous power. I have chosen to go with it for now, paying much less attention to 'survivial gear' than what may be healthy. I raked in Goldwrap, Milabrega´s Orb and then in the WSK level 2, a green amulet. "Oh please let it be Tancred´s or Angelic!". It was Angelic. Cool! I now wear a 3-combo with an extra ring that gives me:
+100% MF (old amount for the jewelry slots was 52%)
+115 Life (sweet!)
Replenish Life +12 (nice to heal all small scars)
+1 All Skills
+10 DEX
Fat bonus to AR (good when I use Crushflange - it works even without the Sickle)
+50 Mana
I wish I´d had Decrepify against Baal, as it would have subdued him even more. As it was now, he could still hit Drus with physical attacks (nothing the occasional red potion couldn´t fix). His spells and his teleport ability were gone, though, and we slowly wore him down.
[Highlight]Destroyer Pete the Necromancer, level 48, NM Blood Moor next.[/Highlight]
(status report and table update coming later - too tired right now...)
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Merlin The Wizzard
New member
Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II
Hah, if this tourney is interesting enough in concept to attract such topnotch, hardcore diablo heroes as Old Soldier and Insane Wayne, not to mention jiansonz himself, all praise to the mighty magicfind guide creator, this tournament is probably several leagues out of my reach... think: Kindergarten football = me, the tourney = Dallas Cowboys.
Nuf said.
I will lurk it out from the sidelines I think. I have developed a scaring propensity for lurking.
Hah, if this tourney is interesting enough in concept to attract such topnotch, hardcore diablo heroes as Old Soldier and Insane Wayne, not to mention jiansonz himself, all praise to the mighty magicfind guide creator, this tournament is probably several leagues out of my reach... think: Kindergarten football = me, the tourney = Dallas Cowboys.
Nuf said.
I will lurk it out from the sidelines I think. I have developed a scaring propensity for lurking.
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