After a brief return to Baal I decided that I would be unable to handle the decreased xp efficiency and so it looks like my 1.11b Hammerdin will be doing the second half of clvl 98 the same way I did the first half: Chaos Sanctuary. The complete failure to find a single unique TC 87 during the two months that it took me to go from clvl 98 to clvl 98.5 had me a bit discouraged about continuing with the Chaos Sanctuary but the xp efficiency was too great to ignore and so I decided ... I'd just hope for a change of item finding luck
. That's not much of a 'plan' but hey, it seems to have worked! In the last week I ended my TC 87 dry streak and found some nice goodies around the edges!
First, my third Gul Rune found while leveling through clvl 98:
Next I stopped off to bop a random unique monster I spotted along my way. The unique didn't drop anything interesting but one of his comrades most certainly did:
This is only the fourth eth Berserker Axe I've found since my July restart. The first three were without sockets and cubed in order to four, one, and three sockets. So after failing to get usable cube rolls on my last two eth Berserker Axes it was nice to find one that's good to go from the start. Now that I have two four socket eth Berserker Axes I'm really hoping to find/roll a five socket one as I've got a Vex and now three Guls burning a hole in my rune stash. Are there better weapons in which I could make 'Death' ... probably, but I've always had a real Berserker Axe fetish. Why? The name just looks so cool. The graphic has always appealed to me (I can't wait for the matching appearance in my characters hand in D2R). And then there's the scarcity. Berserker Axes are rare, and eth Berserker Axes are really really rare. There's just something so satisfying about finding these. During my last round of SP play (2009-2014) I bypassed the rarity issue and in a single evening went and racked a whole bunch of eth Berserker Axes in 1.07 and then went and made all manner of 1.10+ runewords in them (ATMA haxing included). It was fun for a while but ultimately turned sour ... where's the triumph in beating up on monsters with weapons that were never meant to exist (both the ATMA haxing ... but also the 1.10+ runewords in 1.07 bases). Anyhow, this time around I think I've got things right. When I get around to making an Oath in this Berserker Axe it's stats won't be as good as one made in a 1.07 base but the triumph will feel much greater!
And speaking of Berserker Axes, here's the TC 87 that ended my Chaos Sanctuary dry streak:
Death Cleaver
Berserker Axe
One-Hand Damage: 87 to 258
Durability: 24 of 26
Required Dexterity: 59
Required Strength: 138
Required Level: 70
Axe Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x69ed558d
+264% Enhanced Damage
+7 Life after each Kill
40% Increased Attack Speed
-33% Target Defense
66% Deadly Strike
Despite my Berserker Axe fetish, I've never used a Death Cleaver. I suppose it's stats are nice enough, but I can't see a scenario where an eth Oath Berserker Axe wouldn't be better ...
And then there were a few other random items:
Shimmering Small Charm of Dexterity
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xff206dab
+1 to Dexterity
All Resistances +5
Shimmering Jewel
Required Level: 12
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x25d1b9ea
All Resistances +10 <--- Woohoo, a +10 roll with no suffix raising the required level.
And speaking of level requirements, none is nice:
Death Gyre
Jewel
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 94
Fingerprint: 0x10fc867f
+10% Enhanced Damage
Cold Resist +5%
+20 poison damage over 2 seconds
Requirements -15%
What a surprise to get a rare jewel from Hell Diablo that rolls with four mods that don't have a level requirement! I really like this jewel but can't quite decide what to do with it. My standard twinking plan at clvl 2 is Rixot's and Arctic Furs. Then Biggin's Bonnet and full Hsarus at clvl 3, and switching from Rixot's to a crystal sword with six +4 to Minimum Damage jewels a.s.a.p. None of those items that can be socketed would benefit from lower requirements ... hmm ...