Halp. Im n00b :(. Why cant I Hellforge?

[Steven Q. Urkel]

So Ive been spending the past couple of months rushing characters in 1.09d, with the intention of completing their Hellforge quests in 1.10s. Over this weekend I thought I'd go ahead and forward a few characters and try to collect some runes. Unfortunately, Im having major troubles.

Now, let me start by saying it has been a long time - I mean a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time since I have done any Hellforge rushing/collecting, or played ANY kind of D2 at all really. But I could have sworn that the last time I was doing Hellforge rushes, each character that got rushed could complete the quest in both Nightmare AND Hell (and probably Normal as well, if I had taken the time to do it). However, of the 3 characters that I have opened in 1.10s so far, 1 of them has only been able to complete the quest in Normal difficulty only, and the other two havent been able to complete the quest at all!!!!!!

For the character that DID successfully complete the Hellforge quest, I think Ive figured out how he was able to do it. After Mephisto fell in 1.09d Normal difficulty, he picked up his soulstone. That soulstone was in his inventory when he created a game in 1.10s Normal difficulty. He partied up with the Sorc, got the hammer, and smashed the soulstone at the Hellforge (got an Amn rune too LOL). But now whenever I take him to the River of Flame in Nightmare or Hell, after I pick up the Hammer and send him to the Hellforge, he just starts screaming, "I cant!!!!! I cant!!!!!" or "Impossible!!!!!"

Im guessing this may be related to the fact that he isnt currently holding a Soulstone at the time we killed Hephasto and picked up the hammer. But doesnt D2 block you from picking up more than 1 soulstone on the same character? I was under the impression that as long as a rushed character had not yet completed the quest, a Soulstone would be automatically added to the Hellforge for you, and you would just have to destroy it.

I did have a read of the 1.09 Rushing Guide from the sticky thread, but it only tells you how to do the rushing. I dont need help with the rushing, because I have close to 100 characters parked in Act IV Hell who are trying to earn me some runes.

I turn to you now, the Single Player Forum, in my hour of need. Can anyone tell me what Im doing wrong, and what I need to do to fix it? Someone, ANYONE, please help. Im begging you. If it turns out Ive made a grevious error somewhere in this project Im going to be having a bit of a nutty.

 

[WoRG]

1. Host game in appropriate difficulty with toon without quest.
2. Talk to Cain in Pandemonium Fortress, he'll give you soulstone and activate quest if it isn't already.
3. Find Haephasto and kill him, grab hammer, touch hellforge, smash stone, collect rune & gems
4. Repeat until out of characters who haven't done quest...

Sounds like you're skipping step 2
The 'touch hellforge' part of step 3 actually places the soulstone on the hellforge, it's not there automagically...

WoRG

 

[Steven Q. Urkel]

Holy Hephasto HiJinx, Batman!!!! It worked!!!!! WoRG is genius.

Now I just gotta pray that ole Hephy wont spawn Immune to Cold and Fire, cause my Moron has had trouble trying to solo him in the past. Ive been thinking of building up Fishymancer or Lite Zon to bring as backup, I just havent been able to MF a complete gear set for them yet lol.

 

[art_vandelay]

Now I just gotta pray that ole Hephy wont spawn Immune to Cold and Fire, cause my Moron has had trouble trying to solo him in the past. Ive been thinking of building up Fishymancer or Lite Zon to bring as backup, I just havent been able to MF a complete gear set for them yet lol.

Hammerdin is actually the easiest choice for the collections. If you really have 100 chars parked you can even make him a HotO from some of the rewards.

 

[Steven Q. Urkel]

Well I have been picking up lots of flails in 1.09d. Surely one of them has to have the right ilvl for 4os, right?

But IIRC Spirit is ladder only, and I dont know if I'd be able to hit enough FCR breakpoints without the boost from the shield. Pretty sure I do have a Viperskin I could give him, but outside of that I dont know what I'd do for the rest of his gear lol.

 

[art_vandelay]

Well I have been picking up lots of flails in 1.09d. Surely one of them has to have the right ilvl for 4os, right?

But IIRC Spirit is ladder only, and I dont know if I'd be able to hit enough FCR breakpoints without the boost from the shield. Pretty sure I do have a Viperskin I could give him, but outside of that I dont know what I'd do for the rest of his gear lol.

Spirit was not included in the game files in the 1.10s beta and accordingly there is no RWM for it either.

You could go for the 75% FCR breakpoint because you are essentially only using him to take on the River of Flame at players 2. A HotO together with Vipermagi means you only need one more source of FCR, for example Trang Oul's Claws. The rest can be resist and skill equipment, a HoZ would be ideal I think.

If you have not committed to 1.10s farming yet (i.e. the rushees are still in 1.09d) I would advice farming Hellforges in 1.10a and then using the ATS utility (made by the creator of ATMA) to transfer the runes from 1.10a to 1.10s. (Just opening a 1.10a character in 1.10s will delete their items)
This has the added benefit that you can create a 1.10a CtA (which doesn't cost an Ohm) which helps with Andariel runs and Hellforge collections.

 

[WoRG]

Hmmm... good advice here, but before committing ~80% of your first forwardable betaCtA to 1.10a HotO & CtA, what are your longer term goals? If you think you might want to run in 1.10a for a +2 skills betaBKWB, then it's definitely worth it, but if you just want to roll a good forwardable betaCtA or two, then save the runes, do 1.10s and use a Wizspike on your Hammerdin (compared to HotO, you lose 3 skills, but gain 10FCR, 35-45@rez, and a bunch of mana... with Vipermagi, you already hit 75fcr breakpoint, and can get 125fcr breakpoint with Trang's/Magefist + 25fcr from rings/ammy/circlet)

And while you're making beta RWs, consider Crescent Moon... the extra %ed and CtC Static are well worth the 1.10a/s Um. Beta Delirium is LoL, but IMO not really worth the 1.10a/s Ist, unless you just happen to end up with an extra after making your CtA(s)...

WoRG

 

[Steven Q. Urkel]

@WoRG Did someone say Delirium?

Delirium Bone Visage
'LemIstIo'
Defense: 361
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Strength: 106
Required Level: 63
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x8123b3e8
+10 to Vitality
+261 Defense
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to All Skill Levels
33% Chance to cast Level 18 Confuse on striking
10% Chance to cast Level 14 Mind Blast when struck
20% Chance to cast Level 13 Terror when struck
1% Chance to cast Level 50 Magic Shrine when struck
Level 17 Attract (38/60 Charges)
Socketed (3: 3 used)

More than likely I only made this because my Moron doesnt have a Vamp Gaze or Andys Visage, and I figured I may as well get some CtC Crowd Control out of him if I cant get any leech. Or maybe I just think Bone Visages look cool. Who knows.

And if I had some better gears I would absolutely consider making a run at unique rings in 1.10a. Im going to need at least 1x SoJ anyways for Diablo Walks the Earth, so why not double dip and find a couple rings that I might actually use instead of sell? But Tals Guard is impossibly rare in 1.09d, so unless I can beg/borrow/steal the 1.07 crowd to farm one for me, I may be S.O.L. (and I dont mean the rune xD). Heck I havent even been able to get good old uncle Mephy to cough up a Swirling Crystal or unique Tschako in 1.09d. Granted, I havent done a TON of MFing, because more MFing is less rushing, and my D2 is limited due to work. But trying to start 1.10a now would essentially mean starting untwinked, and thats just not something I fancy at the moment.