Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

[soulmanz]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

ok, proper update time

kaylen (grossest name, im gonna actually only refer to him as lupus from now on) has stormed through half of act one, just having rescued cain

so far he has randomly turned out ok, its not a 'build' but not too many wasted points

he is a werewolf (3 in ww and lyc) running a 1 point feral rage. 4 point poison creeper, 1 point oak sage. he has lost 3 points into the elemental tree, but that aint the end of the world. its a pity his last point went to arctic blast, because it opens up another elemental skill, thereby increasing the odds of rolling elemental skills

stats are running off kilter. 48 in energy! 41 vit and mid 30s str and dex. i have 13 str points made up in charms just to wield a 2 handed axe, although now that he is, lupus' damage reaches around 40+ while raging

quite a skill, that feral rage. just need some mana leech

anyway, no NDEs. coldcrow was killed almost entirely by the creeper. life is pushing 160 i think (with oak sage, and shifted) so feeling pretty secure. it is nice to be playing at 'full power' in the sense that i am not hoarding 100 stat points

have found 5 cipped topaz', but unfortunately the 2 sock pelt im wearing (+1 spirit wolf) is etheral (durability 11). dont wanna waste the chippies!

overall, a fun experience, and enjoying a character i wouldnt play normally, with a skill progression i wouldnt use. a few early points in WW really speeds up attacking

no real issue without a stupid rogue merc at the moment. i did accidently talk to kashaya, but easily ran the merc into a pack of tainted types, and she bit the dust within a minute of hiring

so

[highlight]Lupus, WW Druid with(out) Barbarian Merc, level 15, Dark Woods[/highlight]

 

[soulmanz]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

just to keep bumping this, i just realised i hadnt played a WW since 1.10, and feral rage having a faster attack speed is awesome. it is really notice-able

im starting to like this character, almost wish it wasnt true hardcore because it is fun

several pluses -
1. the point in AB wasnt waster as i now have a point in cyclone armour, for a 40magic damage absorb pre-buff
2. my last level up kicked a bit of butt - 3 vit, 1 str, 1 energy (why? WHY? always with the energy. i guess it helps me raging away)
3. put the chips in the etheral pelt, im not really getting hit enough to worry, the durability is still on 11, so my MF is now around 80

no updates really (sitting in tomoe, level 17, no big changes), just loving the bonus of a skill change i wasnt aware of. gogo feral rage!

 

[soulmanz]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

so i will keep talking to myself! not sure why this tournie didnt get as much love as some others, its a fair bit o fun

Lupus raged onwards, despite poor skill rolls (2 in werebear, for example) and nowhere near enough str (i cant even use a broad axe, let alone a great axe, and thats with +13 str from charms).

Running horribly low on inventory space, as in stash and self full of chips, everything past the cathedral was p1, except andy, not that it helped with her cruddy drop.

A quick sprint to the halls of the dead, and a cubed-up Lupus sits happily in Lut Gholein, lolling about, tongue hanging out of mouth.

Of course, all that jewellry resulted in no MF gains. Made a savage battle scythe which i may get stats to equip halfway through hell difficulty!

Elzix does sell great axes every about 30-40 screens now, but even if i dumped all my gear and socketed every amythest i have i would be 3 str short to use one.

The only S/Us to drop were an Arctic belt and Angelic ring, the ring sitting firmly on finger (claw) with the multiplied +20 life looking pretty nice from here

Anyway, heres the
LCS

also shows SS tree, the other trees are pretty irrelevant

[highlight]Lupus, Druid awaiting Baba merc, level 19, Lut Gholein[/highlight]

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

Yay, that´s a fair bit of life there! A good number of the stat points going to vitality, that´s nice.

Good luck in the quest for your barb merc. My necromancer had some really tough times before getting his merc. His 'Steel' Flail was pretty sweet in Act II, but seriously lacking in /p8 Act IV.

 

[cenyth]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

It's so relaxing to play a build that I didn't plan out beforehand, although it makes it hard to depend on skills for killing things.

Using a bow is more fun than I thought, but it gives me a newfound hatred of archer boss packs (since I can't use a shield to block attacks like I normally always do).

[highlight]randint, Bow Sorc, lvl 22, Dry Hills[/highlight]

 

[QibingZero]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

I love this idea for a tournament - so much so that I'm going to cease lurking and actually post.

I've rolled up a druid (Heisenberg) with a cold rogue, which should keep my interest because I've never really played a combination anywhere near this - at least past Normal. Already, just starting out, my mind wanders to Insane Wayne's HC naked druid. Even with random skill points, this probably won't turn out as difficult as that. That thread was always a source of wonder and inspiration, and now it will be doubly so.

So far, I've had no real difficulty at all. Receiving some decent summons early, along with the merc, Act 1 is quick and easy. I even picked up a nice little Stoutnail early on, thanks to Rakanishu. Nothing to complain about, though that's the only item of note so far.

My skill points place me as a summoner, currently:

1 Firestorm
2 Arctic Blast
1 Cyclone Armor
2 Raven
3 Poison Creeper
3 Spirit Wolves


I spent the first couple points, and when I received one in Raven and one in Creeper, I decided that I would save the next few points until level 6. It payed off, and my build actually looked okay. Saving most of the next points for level 12, random.org decided I needed more points in my summons, and a couple in (actually useful) Elemental skills. I will now probably hold off until 18, hoping that I can continue to have a somewhat decent build by keeping the Shapeshifting points relegated to a lower and lower percentage. However, I'm sure it's just a matter of time before that tree gets opened up as well.

Stat points:

Strength - 27
Dexterity - 36
Vitality - 40
Energy - 32

Too low of Strength for some of the early equips has been the only issue. Before the last 2 rolls, it was at 22.

[highlight]Heisenberg, level 14 (2 levels of points unspent), just reached Dark Wood waypoint[/highlight]

 

[soulmanz]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

Brief update, havent got very far, but a few great things have happened

Lupus has cleared the stony tomb, which was tricky as it was full of lightning burning dead mages with cold enchanted bosses, so perma frost was the way of the day. No meat shields is fun! at least the poison creeper and oak sage soak up some aggro, but OS is lvl 1, and PC lvl 5, so they go down quick

But on the good side, a few bonuses.

1 - the last level up gave me 4 str, so i could use my egar a little easier
2 - cleglaws gloves dropped, which is almost a necessity for a melee without a merc build. slows target and knockback Ftw!
3 - a 2 socket pelt with +2 to cyclone armour, +3 arctic blast and +2 molten boulder dropped. the cyclone is gravy, and combined with the gloves gives me a solid shot at a hunter build if the random.org gods stop pumping my SS skills
4 - i made a steel runeword in a battleaxe. i was using a great axe before that, so the lower reqs were heavily endorsed! now i can wear my MF armour again, instead of my fruity purple amythest chainmail. i also got rid of a few str charms, so my inventory is a bit more manageable. and its a damage boost, open wounds and IAS top it off. and some +mana per kill for my feral rage needs

so all in all a pretty good short play session. its a little worrying i feel the need to start using 'safety' gear over MF gear in act 2 normal, but thats the fun of it hey?

[highlight]Lupus, level 21, Druid with barb merc in the post, Dry Hills[/highlight]

 

[UllaV]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

Sacrificed few numbers to Lady Fortuna and the result was Woof the druid who will be accompanied by a fire rogue.

I've not played many druids so I hope this tourney let's me experiment with him.

I'll start tomorrow.

Ulla

 

[That Canadian Fellow]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

I'll be starting in this tournament in the next 8-9 hours. Crunched the numbers, and came out with:

'Odd' the Barbarian wielding an offensive desert mercenary.

I'm dreading the masteries tree.

:steam:

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

I'll be starting in this tournament in the next 8-9 hours.

Welcome! And that goes for you too, UllaV.

an offensive desert mercenary.

Is that Normal Offensive (Blessed Aim) or Nightmare Offensive (Might)?

I'm dreading the masteries tree.

Good call. It will generally soak up far too many skill points, especially in the beginning (and if you get unlucky with "unlocking" paths down the other skill trees).

 

[That Canadian Fellow]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

Oh damn, didin't think about that. Just did the numbers for difficulty, and got Hell. Ouch.

:crazyeyes:

'Odd' the Barbarian is sitting at level 7 thanks to a couple experience shrines in the Blood Moore & Den of Evil. Stopped at the Cold Plains WP for now so I can continue leveling my non-tournament Paladin. The RNG has been a cruel, cruel lover. Attributes are nicely distributed, with little going into Energy, but my skills are an absolute abomination.

1 Find Potion
1 Axe Mastery
1 Mace Mastery
2 Polearm Mastery
1 Spear Mastery
1 Leap

No Bash, no Double Swing. Looks like I'll be frogging around, screaming at dead bodies, and being horrible at everything in one collective fail.

Woe is me.

Fun though !

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

Oh damn, didin't think about that. Just did the numbers for difficulty, and got Hell. Ouch.

You rolled an Act II merc. After that roll, you need to determine which aura he´s going to get. There are 6 different versions, and all of them should be equally likely. Normally, you´d just throw a six-sided die or something, but it seems you only rolled between Offensive, Combat and Defensive, and got Offensive. Fine, but now you need to roll between Blessed Aim or Might, and they should have equal chance to be picked. Flipping a coin would be a natural thing to do here...
You can´t roll for 'difficulty', as both the Normal and Hell difficulty mercs have Blessed Aim, while the Nightmare version has Might. So the probabilities are off in that case, as Blessed Aim would be twice as likely as Might.

 

[UllaV]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

Woof started his adventures today and quickly cleared the Blood Moor and the den of Evil. Then he started to follow the left wall of the Cold Plains to find the entrance to the Monastery Graveyard. Just at the gateway he had his eight birthday and went to hire Divo the fire rogue to help him to kill Blood Raven. Poison Creeper helped him and Divo to get rid of Blood Raven.

Onwards his adventures went. Cain got rescued and lastly he cleared the Black Marsh and the Hole. Tower will be done next time.

Here are few fotos he took while time permitted:

First mf gloves (gambled at level 12)
First mf boots (gambled at level 14)
first mf amulet (found somewhere)
Only S/U was gambled (before the mf boots)

Level Strength Dexterity Vitality Energy Skill
2        2         2         1      -    werewolf
3        2         2         1      -    lycantrophy
4        -         2         1      2    firestorm
5        -         3         1      1    firestorm
6        -         3         -      2    lycantrophy
7        1         1         2      1    poison creeper
Den                                      lycantrophy
8        1         2         1      1    werebear
9        -         3         1      1    raven
10       1         1         2      1    firestorm
11       -         1         2      2    firestorm
12       3         -         1      1    molten boulder
13       1         3         1      -    arctic blast
14       -         2         1      2    oak sage
15       -         -         2      3    fissure
16       2         1         1      1    arctic blast
Total:  13        26        18     18

Those last 2 points to strength raised Woof's strength to 36(1) so finally he could buy 3os ring mail. That was the reason why I played past rescuing Cain. I think Woof will become the most dexterious druid there is

He's whacking monsters with a gemmed bardiche:

Gemmed Bardiche
Two-Hand Damage: 1 to 27
Durability: 14 of 50
Required Strength: 34
Polearm Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 8
Fingerprint: 0x37d90e2
+12 to Maximum Stamina
+19 poison damage over 3 seconds
Requirements -15%
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Normally as a werebear, but when he needs more running speed as a werewolf. +2 to lycantrophy from a wolf head helps. Let's see how Woof developes.

(1) He has +2 strength from rare sash and three +2 strength large charms in his inventory.

[highlight]Weredruid Woof with his fire rogue sidekick Divo, Black Marsh, level 16[/highlight]

Ulla

 

[That Canadian Fellow]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

You rolled an Act II merc. After that roll, you need to determine which aura he´s going to get. There are 6 different versions, and all of them should be equally likely. Normally, you´d just throw a six-sided die or something, but it seems you only rolled between Offensive, Combat and Defensive, and got Offensive. Fine, but now you need to roll between Blessed Aim or Might, and they should have equal chance to be picked. Flipping a coin would be a natural thing to do here...
You can´t roll for 'difficulty', as both the Normal and Hell difficulty mercs have Blessed Aim, while the Nightmare version has Might. So the probabilities are off in that case, as Blessed Aim would be twice as likely as Might.

Ah, that makes sense.

Alright, rerolled.

1 was for Blessed Aim
2 was for Might

Rolled a 2. Looks like I'm running solo for awhile. I doubt he'll make Act 2 NM before he is kiboshed. We shall see !

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

@UllaV: must be nice to have Oak Sage and Fissure already. Level 1 Fissure is quite powerful in the early game.


@That Canadian Fellow: Might was the merc I had in the first Randomly Challenged tourney, with an amazon. I don´t remember how tough it was for her to go mercless for six acts.

Hopefully you´ll get some useful warcries to help you out.

 

[Docturnal]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

The other tournaments arent going my way, so Ill try a this one out.

Alana_Tibbles the amazon with her trusting Barbarian Merc enters the fray!

 

[cenyth]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

Fangskin nearly killed me. Charged and hitlocked against the hall wall, I had 1/3 hp left (1 hit from fangskin), no rejuve pots left and 1 normal healing pot. Teleport saved me.

It didn't save me against Duriel though. After one trip to town, I forgot to check my town portal tome before jumping in, and ended up trapped in his chamber. This turn of events meant I was doomed to run out of pots, but Duriel whacked me down even before then.

I had been worried about surviving in Act 3, with Inferno as my strongest skill (lvl 6) but it looks like that isn't relevant anymore.
I think I might have made it if I had taken off all the mf gear and put on decent stuff. (Like the Bloodfist, Angelic armor/amulet combo, unused and in stash). >_<

Skills:

Spoiler

Fire Bolt: 3/3
Warmth: 4/4
Inferno: 6/6
Fire Ball: 1/1
Enchant: 1/1

Charged Bolt: 1/1
Telekinesis: 3/3
Lightning: 1/1
Teleport: 1/1

Ice Bolt: 2/2
Frozen Armor: 2/2
Frost Nova: 1/1
Ice Blast: 2/2
Shiver Armor: 1/1

[highlight]randint, bow sorc, lvl 28, Duriel RIP[/highlight]

 

[SteveIgnorant]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

I'll give it a shot...

Amazon with AII defense/holy freeze mercenary. I don't think im going to get very far!

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

[U]Forum name      Character       Lvl    Merc         Area reached[/U]

jiansonz        Pete (N)         83    A5           Hell Canyon of the Magi 
Insane Wayne    Black (N)        60    A5           NM Spider Forest
XxUberStarxX    Sir_Lionell (P)  56+   A2 Bl. Aim   NM Spider Forest (Arcane Sanctuary  R.I.P. (mobbed by ~15 monsters))
Butzull         Fate (As)        57    A1 Cold	    NM Arcane Sanctuary
XxUberStarxX    Cador (B)        42    A3 Lightning NM Black Marsh
OldSoldier      Calavera (As)    40+   A2 Bl. Aim   Frozen River  R.I.P. (Frozenstein´s death nova + Prowling Dead Charge)
Rhia            Slapdash (P)     34    A1 Cold      Harrogath
Oscuro          ? (D)            27    A1 Cold      Chaos Sanctuary  R.I.P. (Diablo)
ILikeRocks      Korweil (B)      33    A3 Lightning Chaos Sanctuary  R.I.P. (De Seis´pack and OB Knight Champ pack)
stillirise      Lorem Ipsum (S)	 32    A3 Fire	    Pandemonium Fortress
XxUberStarxX    Stifler (B)      29+   A5           Disused Reliquary  R.I.P. (Holy Shock archer boss & crew)
jgreg7          Amp (D)          25    A5           Spider Cavern  R.I.P. (Sszark the Burning)
sheayua         ? (As)		 26    A2 Bl. Aim   Spider Forest
cenyth		randint (S)      28    A5           Tal Rasha´s Chamber  R.I.P. (trapped with Duriel)
ILikeRocks      Dorrin (P)       25    A2 Prayer    False Tombs
StevehRogers    Lottie (As)	 27?   A3 Cold      Canyon of the Magi
buraz           Oblivion_Bob (N) 27    A5           Canyon of the Magi  R.I.P. (mobbed by Steel Scarabs)
JayeM           Randall (P)      23    A1 Cold      Arcane Sanctuary  R.I.P. (The Summoner)
Merlin the W.   Scarface (D)     26    A5	    Arcane Sanctuary  R.I.P. (mobbed by Hell Clan)
Islandstone     Randy (N)        25    A1 Cold      Palace Cellar  R.I.P. (Extra Fast Blunderbore pack + archers)
wakiki          Moonchild (As)   25    A1 Cold      Palace Cellar
jjscud          MustNotBeNamed(N)25    A1 Cold      Harem           R.I.P. (CoD unknown)
LprMan          ADHD (N)         25    A1 Fire      Harem
JayeM           Vincent (N)      21    A5           Claw Viper Temple lvl 2  R.I.P. (Fangskin & Co)
Oscuro	        ? (Asn)	         20    A2 Might	    Halls of the Dead  R.I.P. (Bloodwitch the Wild)
Oneofakind      Ran_D (D)        21    A3 Unknown   Halls of the Dead WP
soulmanz        Lupus (D)        21    A5           Dry Hills
jgreg7          Neddy (N)        20    A2 Holy Fr.  Dry Hills
FatFree         Kastle (P)       21    A3 Lightning Sewers lvl 3  R.I.P. (Radament's resurrected Horror)
Fenrix          Maleagant (P)    20    A1 Fire	    Lut Gholein
Machete         Shazza (Ama)     20    A1 Cold      Lut Gholein
Dolph           MrsRandom (Am)   19    A3 Unknown   Lut Gholein
Rhia            Aimless Andy (D) 19?   A2 Thorns    Jail lvl 2   R.I.P. (Pitspawn Fouldog & 2 minions)
jdkerr          Bbrcc (Asn)      17    A3 Cold      Jail lvl 1
RGValdearg      RandomGuy (P)    18    A3 Fire      Jail lvl 1
JayeM           Barbie (Am)      11    A3 Unknown   Barracks     R.I.P. (Black Rogue boss pack + archers)
JayeM           Fate (As)        18    A2 Unknown   Barracks     R.I.P. (CoD unknown)
mrsplifferton   Randazon (Am)    17    A5	    Outer Cloister
Morathi         Kane (D)	       A1 Cold	    Outer Cloister  Lost (reformatted HD without backup)
wakiki          Sunchild (S)     17    A2 Defiance  Tamoe Highlands  Retired (D2 crash that resulted in lost items)
Merlin the W.   Str._Danny (B)   17?   A3 Lightning Tamoe Highlands  R.I.P. (Cursed skeleton archer bosspack)
DSnail          Jallen (B)       16    A2 Might     The Hole
sethyboy 	Ragnar (B)       17    A1 Cold	    Black Marsh?
UllaV           Woof (D)         16    A1 Fire      Black Marsh
Vang 	        WoG (N)          16    A2 Prayer    Black Marsh
DemonofWrath    ? (As)           15    A3 Cold	    Black Marsh
shizwiggle      Raila (S)        15    A5	    Black Marsh
PandadudeSP     Modnar (P)       14    A2 Might     Black Marsh  Retired ("Too much hassle to be enjoyable")
Morathi         Keith (B)        15?   A5           Tristram  R.I.P. (mobbed to death because the mouse had bad batteries!)
QibingZero      Heisenberg (D)   14    A1 Cold      Dark Wood
Lostprophet     Bill (As)        13    A3 Cold      Underground Passage
Poida		Swamp (S)        12    A1 Fire	    Stony Field
Poppis          Jarp (B)	 12    A5           Stony Field
Mostly_Harmless Harry (D)        12    A2 Holy Fr.  Stony Field
Docturnal       Erratikk (As)    12    A1 Unknown   Stony Field
Butzull         Fate (Asn)       12    A1 Cold      Stony Field
zarfen          Joanne (Am)      12    A1 Fire	    ?
Poppis          Sherah (S)        ?                 ?            R.I.P. (Nasty archer pack in Act I)
Insane Wayne    ? (B)             ?    A2 Bl. Aim                R.I.P. (Chest trap)
Morathi         Wendy (S)         9    A5           The Cave     R.I.P. (Coldcrow's pack)
QuickSlash      Random Genius (D) 9    A2 Def. (?)  Cold Plains
Fellow		Odd (B)           7    A2 Might     Cold Plains
Equalizer       Equazon (Am)      4    A5           Cold Plains
Pendeleu        Agatyr (N)        6+   A2 Bl. Aim   ?
Pyrohemia       Iron_Wolf (Am)         A3 unknown
Pipboy          Lex (P)                A2 Prayer
sirpoopsalot    ? (P)                  A2 Thorns
Gahzban         ? (Asn)                A3 Cold
Amoeba          Napkin (B)             A3 Lightning 
Poppis          Sherah (S)             A5
Kassul          ? (S)                  A2 Defiance
newco           Shangalar (N)          A2 Prayer
spikewilbury    Jester (D)             A1 Fire
thewamp         Tyche (Am)             A5
SteveIgnorant	? (Am)		       A2 Holy Fr.
Docturnal       Alana_Tibbles (Am)     A5
FaNCy           ? (N)                  A2 Offensive (unknown if Bl. Aim or Might)
Morathi         Luella (As)            A1 Fire
dlav   		bloody-hell (As)  7     ?

It´s starting to get lonely at the top.

This tourney has attracted a lot of players, but most of them seem to lose interest rather quickly. Did I make it too hard? Too boring?
(However, some great efforts by XxUberStarxX who has managed to get three characters into the top 11 since the last table update!)


Well, I´m still having fun. :thumbup:
Pete and Drus are enjoying some ridiculous /p3 pwnage in Hell. This is certainly one of the best character/merc combos I´ve ever had.

Even so, Pete still screwed up a bit and got himself trapped in the AS, between a Specter on one side and three Specters on the other side. The Clay Golem was there to distract at least one of them but Drus was stuck on some stairs close by. And just when Pete tried to use Terror, he got hit and all his mana got drained. Bone Armor got depleted (it´s pretty wimpy). I had to drink a couple of rejuves to save myself and so I could cast Terror.

Had a nice level-up, with two points in VIT and another level in Revive.


[Highlight]Conqueror Pete the Necromancer and Drus the Barbarian merc, level 83, Hell Canyon of the Magi next. [/Highlight]

 

[Grisu]

Re: Tournament: The Randomly Challenged II

Nice going, jiansonz! :thumbup: Always a pleasure to read your tourney updates A shame I didn't have much time back then when the tourney started - now might be a bit late to start, especially when trying to Guardian my Obsession tourney sept along the way :crazyeyes:

Good luck and I hope to see updates from more people here!