[2018] Tournament: Set/Unique Worshippers 2017 [by jiansonz]

[Grisu]

Alexander has just defeated the ancients in combat. However...

Upon entering the Worldstone Keep he hit a wall. Right at the entrance he met two groups of Zakarum Zealots together with some nasty Blood Lords. He tried to run past to see if he could find a quiet area, only to meet even more Zealots, Priests and Blood Lords. He managed to retreat back to the summit of Arreat to catch some breath but there was no way he'd get through those monsters alive. I saw no other alternative than to save and exit.

This was the first time in the tournament that I have had to quit the game because of a blocked path. There have been times where it's been looking a bit tricky, but not impossible. This time I had no chance. It was way to scary to take a screen shot but if you have ever met Zakarumites together with blood lords in the Keep, you know the place is packed full.

Let's hope the entrance is cleared before tomorrow.

 

[Grisu]

Sounds terrifying! Not to make this worse, but I'm pretty sure there's a rule that says you can't S&E to save your life

 

[Grisu]

It was! There were Zealots everywhere! It feels like the packs here are double the size of the ones in Kurast.

I'm actually not sure of what the rules say here. Just to make it clear, Alexander was in Harrogath when I quit the game.

 

[Grisu]

Finally had some time to progress a bit more today so finished off Act 3. Forgot to lower P setting on first move onto Meph so retreated without my minion army who died fast and went back on P1 which was nice and easy Only got a Isenharts armor out of the drop which was fine as sods law was going to be a weapon drop which would mean merc weapon less unless i fluked one he could have.

Onto Act 4 next whenever i get around to it

[HIGHLIGHT]Set/Unique Worshippers Leaderboard[/HIGHLIGHT]

Player:            Name:           Class:       Build:            Level:  S/U found:  Area:
----------------   ------------    -----------  ----------------  ------  ----------  ----------------
jiansonz           Viridissima     Amazon       Valkyrie/CS       84      133         Hell Act III Spider Forest
Grisu              Oberon          Druid        Fire Claws        84      109         Hell Act III Kurast Docks
OldSoldier         AndrewNiteTorch Paladin      Charge            76       76         Hell Act I Cold Plains
Dezrok             Roland          Paladin      Avenger           52       40         NM Act II Lut Gholein
PhineasB           Quinta          Amazon       Valk/Passive/?    48       26         NM Act I Cold Plains
zoo                Alexander       Paladin      Holy Shock        48       51         NM Act I Rogue Camp
Caliph             ??              Assassin     Dancer            ??       ??         NM Act I Rogue Camp
OldSoldier         Brigid_Crane    Sorceress    Balls of Fire     49       ??         NM Act I Stony Field
Wolron             Pam             Amazon       Bowzon            48       31         NM Act I Rogue Camp
Dazliare           Pestilence      Druid        Rabies           35?        >2        Act V Harrogath
Drystan            Goldilocks      Amazon       ??                32       12         Act IV Panda Fortress
jiansonz           Mirex           Paladin      FoH/Conviction    32       17         Act IV Panda Fortress
kstuart            Chocopower      Necromancer  Fishymancer       31        8         Act IV Panda Fortress
Charlo             Talameer        Paladin      Thornadin         26        5         Act III Kurast Docks
ioupainmax         Habacalva       Sorceress    Melee Enchantress 22        3         Act II Dry Hills
GothamsBeard       Envy            Amazon       Elemental Bowzon  ??      ???         Act II Lut Gholein
hackedagainanda    Conrad          Paladin      Frost Zealot      ??      ???         Act II Lut Gholein
RedTang            PaniSuka        Sorceress    FO/Lightning      ??      ???         Act I Outer Cloister
Oakbrain           Olyssia         Assassin     Lightning Trapsin 18        0         Act I Outer Cloister
TwentyMuleTeam     TwoHearted      Druid        Fury              13        0         Act 1 Underground Passage

[HIGHLIGHT]Set/Unique Martyrs[/HIGHLIGHT]

Player:            Name:           Class:       Build:            Level:  S/U found:  Area:
----------------   ------------    -----------  ----------------  ------  ----------  --------------------
Southpaw8668       Wuzhul          Necromancer  Skelliemancer     67      ???         NM Act IV Chaos Sanctuary
Charlo             KulKanta        Druid        Ele-Summoner      59      28          NM Act III Kurast Sewers
zoo                BorisTheBlade   Paladin      Holy Shock        56      33          NM Act II Ancient Tunnels
Oakbrain           Jathnolf        Barbarian    Berserk/War Cry   54      ???         NM Act II Far Oasis
zoo                Jens-Rune       Barbarian    Whirlwind         51      27          NM Act I Tamoe Highland
Wolron             Durbanex        Druid        Summoner          49      25          NM Act I Dark Tower
Skunkbelly         NewestSkunk     Sorceress    FO/FB             34      16          Act IV Diablo

 

[Grisu]

@zoo:
Hm, this a difficult situation, and at the moment I don't know how to handle it. The rules don't cover it because it has never occured to me that a player wouldn't try to get through a situation like you describe, do-or-die style. I know I would have. (Blame my always-single-pass mindset...)

It feels really harsh to disqualify Alexander since you weren't fully aware of my intention that you don't get a 'second chance' at an area. If you had known that, you would have been more desperate and tried anyway.

(If this had been an optional area like Swampy Pit, it would have been much easier to just avoid that area.)

 

[Grisu]

So, I've been thinking...

Even though it felt a little like giving up, I didn't think that what I did was against the rules. I read rules from other single pass tournaments as well to try to get some clarification on the matter. I also read the rules for this tounament again right before I ending the session. My interpretation of them is that Save & Exit is not allowed to save a character in immediate trouble but as long as you are in town or an area cleared of all mosters, it is fine to quit the game.

Having said that, had I known it would disqualify Alex to Save & Exit when I did, I am honestly not sure it would have changed my decision. With Alexander, I feel like I have come a long way already with my limited experience. I have cleared all areas in the game up until now, save for one temple in Nightmare Kurast. All this on "Players set to 8", including act bosses and the ancients. Alexander has also found two Lem runes, one Mal rune and one Vex rune. Killing speed is still more than fine. Monsters are getting very dangerous though. Conciderig Alexes finds so far and the hours spent playing him, it's getting hard for me to give up on him if I can avoid it.

I know I haven't spent anywhere near as many hours in Diablo II as other people around here but playing in this tournament has made it even more clear that I have much to learn still. To me the situation Alex ended up in looked impossible to get through. To more experienced players, the situation might have been manageable. Reading all these progress updates reminds me that this is a game of strategy and to make the right call in these crucial situations requires a lot of experience and knowledge. I just have to accept that I don't have enough of that yet.

All in all, if this is as far as Alex makes it in the tournament, so be it. We had a good run.

 

[Grisu]

Hey everyone.

So I haven't played D2 in quite a while (years, actually had to reinstall), but was missing the old tournament days, so decided to come back and check it out. I've played in several tournaments before and see a couple familiar names.

This one looks like fun. I'm going to go somewhat easy since I've been away so long, and not play a character who is weapon dependent. So enter Haramis, the Meteorb sorceress.

I don't expect great success, since I'm a bit rusty, but I've always found these challenges fun to try.

 

[Grisu]

So Haramis ventured out into Act 1 on Players 8
The game seemed to know what tournament I was playing, as one of my very first drops was a chipped topaz. Then another one before I even found the Den of Evil. So I was able to get a bit of magic find early on. Didn't seem to make a lot of early difference though.

I remembered to put a point into Static Field right away, which made Blood Raven fairly easy. The crypt seemed to be mocking me with a chest with 3 rares.
View attachment 9087

I found Rixot's Keen Short Sword out of a chest in the Black Marsh, and with the charms I'd found that had +to assorted elemental damage, I did some decent early damage. The crushing blow was nice, but would have been more beneficial to those who don't have Static Field. But I'll take it.View attachment 9088

The Countess was nice enough to also drop a unique, this time Axe of Fechmar Large Axe, which went in my weapon 2 slot.
View attachment 9089
I had to notice the irony of choosing to play a character that doesn't rely on melee damage (after the first few levels anyway) and having my only 2 uniques so far both be melee weapons.

I stopped for the night in the Outer Cloister, eager to venture out again soon.

Haramis, level 17 sorceress in Outer Cloister, Act 1 Normal, uniques found: 2

Now, to see if I can remember how tables work...

 

[Grisu]

[HIGHLIGHT]Set/Unique Worshippers Leaderboard[/HIGHLIGHT]

Player:            Name:           Class:       Build:            Level:  S/U found:  Area:
----------------   ------------    -----------  ----------------  ------  ----------  ----------------
jiansonz           Viridissima     Amazon       Valkyrie/CS       84      133         Hell Act III Spider Forest
Grisu              Oberon          Druid        Fire Claws        84      109         Hell Act III Kurast Docks
OldSoldier         AndrewNiteTorch Paladin      Charge            76       76         Hell Act I Cold Plains
Dezrok             Roland          Paladin      Avenger           52       40         NM Act II Lut Gholein
PhineasB           Quinta          Amazon       Valk/Passive/?    48       26         NM Act I Cold Plains
zoo                Alexander       Paladin      Holy Shock        48       51         NM Act I Rogue Camp
Caliph             ??              Assassin     Dancer            ??       ??         NM Act I Rogue Camp
OldSoldier         Brigid_Crane    Sorceress    Balls of Fire     49       ??         NM Act I Stony Field
Wolron             Pam             Amazon       Bowzon            48       31         NM Act I Rogue Camp
Dazliare           Pestilence      Druid        Rabies           35?        >2        Act V Harrogath
Drystan            Goldilocks      Amazon       ??                32       12         Act IV Panda Fortress
jiansonz           Mirex           Paladin      FoH/Conviction    32       17         Act IV Panda Fortress
kstuart            Chocopower      Necromancer  Fishymancer       31        8         Act IV Panda Fortress
Charlo             Talameer        Paladin      Thornadin         26        5         Act III Kurast Docks
ioupainmax         Habacalva       Sorceress    Melee Enchantress 22        3         Act II Dry Hills
GothamsBeard       Envy            Amazon       Elemental Bowzon  ??      ???         Act II Lut Gholein
hackedagainanda    Conrad          Paladin      Frost Zealot      ??      ???         Act II Lut Gholein
LacertaCK          Haramis         Sorceress    Meteorb           17        2         Act 1 Outer Cloister
RedTang            PaniSuka        Sorceress    FO/Lightning      ??      ???         Act I Outer Cloister
Oakbrain           Olyssia         Assassin     Lightning Trapsin 18        0         Act I Outer Cloister
TwentyMuleTeam     TwoHearted      Druid        Fury              13        0         Act 1 Underground Passage

[HIGHLIGHT]Set/Unique Martyrs[/HIGHLIGHT]

Player:            Name:           Class:       Build:            Level:  S/U found:  Area:
----------------   ------------    -----------  ----------------  ------  ----------  --------------------
Southpaw8668       Wuzhul          Necromancer  Skelliemancer     67      ???         NM Act IV Chaos Sanctuary
Charlo             KulKanta        Druid        Ele-Summoner      59      28          NM Act III Kurast Sewers
zoo                BorisTheBlade   Paladin      Holy Shock        56      33          NM Act II Ancient Tunnels
Oakbrain           Jathnolf        Barbarian    Berserk/War Cry   54      ???         NM Act II Far Oasis
zoo                Jens-Rune       Barbarian    Whirlwind         51      27          NM Act I Tamoe Highland
Wolron             Durbanex        Druid        Summoner          49      25          NM Act I Dark Tower
Skunkbelly         NewestSkunk     Sorceress    FO/FB             34      16          Act IV Diablo

 

[Grisu]

Continued on and managed to get 2 pair of gloves in the remainder of Act 1:
Hand of Broc
View attachment 9110
and Death's Hand
View attachment 9111

Because I don't have any other set gear yet, and because I was still spending a lot of time hitting things, I opted for the mana and life leech from the Hand of Broc. I did, however, use the massive poison resist and shorter poison length from Death's Hand for both Andariel and Radamant, which was helpful. Andy dropped nothing of interest:
View attachment 9112

I pushed on into Act II, and was very surprised to find that no Defensive mercs were available to hire. That won't work for me, so tried leaving town to reset him. That didn't work, so I saved and exited the game. Upon returning, I found a much better selection and Azrael joined the fight.

Haramis and Azrael continued on through several more areas, making full use of glacial spike to foil the evil plans of the various types of resurrecting creatures that abound in the dungeons of Act II, as well as ample use of teleport in the Maggot Lair. But despite the effort, I didn't have anything else of interest drop. So Haramis is just wearing 2 weapons and gloves so far.

Haramis, level 24 Meteorb Sorc, Far Oasis, 4 drops

 

[Grisu]

Apparently Blizzard think Haramis has cold hands, and needs to wear ALL the gloves. I've found a total of 10 S/U so far, and 4 of them have been gloves, 2 of them were Hand of Broc.

So Haramis set out to finish Act 2. She made it as far as the Palace waypoint when I realized I had missed the Lost City waypoint, so since it was still the same session, I doubled back to figure out where I had missed. Turns out, I missed an entire area, which included both the waypoint and the Ancient Tunnels. In the Ancient Tunnels, Haramis got her 2nd pair of Hand of Broc. With only 5 S/U to that point, having a repeat made me sort of sad.

Continuing on, there was no more excitement to be seen. In the last little bit of hallway in the real temple, right before going after Duriel, I came across an Angelic Mantle Ring Mail. That was it for act 2.

Duriel was a snap, thanks to Static Field, but didn't have any love.
View attachment 9124

On into Act 3, I ran into trouble in the Arachnid Lair with The Diggler
View attachment 9125
Unfortunately, that was Haramis' 3rd weapon. A 2 handed axe, a 1 handed sword, and this. Neither of the available helpers can use any of those, so I had to make Azrael go weaponless. However, he was doing most of my damage, so things slowed down. I was able to kill stationary monsters with Meteor fairly fast, but I was in the jungles of act III, where very few monsters are willing to stand still long enough for the Meteor to strike. However, I had just hit level 29, so I had only one level to go before I got frozen orb, which, while it chugs the mana, is a beast for taking out mobs that scatter to the 4 winds.

In the Spider Forest, the same group that dropped Jade Figurine also gave me some Cleglaw's Pincers,which was my 4th pair of gloves so far.
View attachment 9126


Spider Cavern netted my first ring, which was nice, since I'm opting to not use quest reward rings, and thus had none so far. Unfortunately, it was Cathan's Seal, which is probably among the least useful for a caster, but better than nothing.

Great Marsh coughed up an Isenhart's Horns, which I put on Azrael, since he isn't doing enough damage right now to get the killing blows, so I would rather lose the magic find on him than on Haramis.

Haramis, level 30 Meteorb Sorc in Spider Forest, 10 S/U found

Edited to add that I just realized that I'm in Act 3 now and Act 3 Mercs can use swords. So I think I'm going to put Rixot's Keen on an Act 3 Merc and put Diggler on Haramis instead when I play next.

 

[Grisu]

Nice, angelics mantle! Not a bad combo if you happen to grab the jewelry.

I wonder how many gloves you'll end up with

 

[Grisu]

Haramis and Azrael set out again. I decided that the melee distraction was more important to me right now than the damage, so I left Azrael weaponless. I did decide that the Diggler was of more use to me though, for the resists, so put that on. It is ethereal, with only 11 points of durability, but since I don't hit things, that should be ok.

I had a very nice find in the Sewers
View attachment 9142
The regen mana is VERY appreciated.

Right before going up against Mephisto, a champion pack of Death Lords (?) dropped my 2nd chest armor, so Haramis is now sporting Hawkmail, which was a large defense upgrade.

View attachment 9143

Mephisto himself gave up a Coif of Glory Helm, which was my 2nd helm. I put it on for the defense vs. missle.

View attachment 9144

We continued on into act IV. I don't know if it was the Coif of Glory or something else, but the many ranged mobs in act 4 certainly seemed less dangerous than the act 3 ranged creatures had been. Act 4 was no issue other than one close call with Infector of Souls. I used 2 potions while teleporting and barely got away.

The Chaos Sanctuary was all about the weapons. On the approach to Diablo, I got a Berserker's Hatchet, and then Diablo (who was on P8 because Static Field is awesome) gave me this drop:
View attachment 9146
Hellcast Heavy Crossbow
Goreshovel Broad Axe
Crushflange Mace

... None of which my helpers could use, and none of which were really upgrades over the Diggler. So that makes 7 weapons, only one of which is usable by any of the mercs. So I'm going to hire an act 5 merc when I can and put Rixot's Keen on him, just to have a melee helper with a weapon.

So now I'm in Act 5 and ready to set out in search of a new mercenary, as well as still needing boots, a belt, a shield (or a 2 handed caster weapon) and another ring.

Haramis and Azrael, level 35 in Harrogath, 17 S/U

 

[Grisu]

[HIGHLIGHT]Set/Unique Worshippers Leaderboard[/HIGHLIGHT]

Player:            Name:           Class:       Build:            Level:  S/U found:  Area:
----------------   ------------    -----------  ----------------  ------  ----------  ----------------
jiansonz           Viridissima     Amazon       Valkyrie/CS       84      133         Hell Act III Spider Forest
Grisu              Oberon          Druid        Fire Claws        84      109         Hell Act III Kurast Docks
OldSoldier         AndrewNiteTorch Paladin      Charge            76       76         Hell Act I Cold Plains
Dezrok             Roland          Paladin      Avenger           52       40         NM Act II Lut Gholein
PhineasB           Quinta          Amazon       Valk/Passive/?    48       26         NM Act I Cold Plains
zoo                Alexander       Paladin      Holy Shock        48       51         NM Act I Rogue Camp
Caliph             ??              Assassin     Dancer            ??       ??         NM Act I Rogue Camp
OldSoldier         Brigid_Crane    Sorceress    Balls of Fire     49       ??         NM Act I Stony Field
Wolron             Pam             Amazon       Bowzon            48       31         NM Act I Rogue Camp
Dazliare           Pestilence      Druid        Rabies           35?        >2        Act V Harrogath
LacertaCK          Haramis         Sorceress    Meteorb           35       17         Act V Harrogath
Drystan            Goldilocks      Amazon       ??                32       12         Act IV Panda Fortress
jiansonz           Mirex           Paladin      FoH/Conviction    32       17         Act IV Panda Fortress
kstuart            Chocopower      Necromancer  Fishymancer       31        8         Act IV Panda Fortress
Charlo             Talameer        Paladin      Thornadin         26        5         Act III Kurast Docks
ioupainmax         Habacalva       Sorceress    Melee Enchantress 22        3         Act II Dry Hills
GothamsBeard       Envy            Amazon       Elemental Bowzon  ??      ???         Act II Lut Gholein
hackedagainanda    Conrad          Paladin      Frost Zealot      ??      ???         Act II Lut Gholein
RedTang            PaniSuka        Sorceress    FO/Lightning      ??      ???         Act I Outer Cloister
Oakbrain           Olyssia         Assassin     Lightning Trapsin 18        0         Act I Outer Cloister
TwentyMuleTeam     TwoHearted      Druid        Fury              13        0         Act 1 Underground Passage

[HIGHLIGHT]Set/Unique Martyrs[/HIGHLIGHT]

Player:            Name:           Class:       Build:            Level:  S/U found:  Area:
----------------   ------------    -----------  ----------------  ------  ----------  --------------------
Southpaw8668       Wuzhul          Necromancer  Skelliemancer     67      ???         NM Act IV Chaos Sanctuary
Charlo             KulKanta        Druid        Ele-Summoner      59      28          NM Act III Kurast Sewers
zoo                BorisTheBlade   Paladin      Holy Shock        56      33          NM Act II Ancient Tunnels
Oakbrain           Jathnolf        Barbarian    Berserk/War Cry   54      ???         NM Act II Far Oasis
zoo                Jens-Rune       Barbarian    Whirlwind         51      27          NM Act I Tamoe Highland
Wolron             Durbanex        Druid        Summoner          49      25          NM Act I Dark Tower
Skunkbelly         NewestSkunk     Sorceress    FO/FB             34      16          Act IV Diablo

 

[Grisu]

Only time for a quick update this round.
Haramis has advanced to Frozen Tundra , at which point, she experienced the bug where all the mobs ignore the helper and go after her. That is a Bad Thing (R), so it was time to save and exit. (What causes this, anyway? Had it twice already)

She has hired Elgifu, the Barbarian, and it is nice to have a helper again who does at least some damage.

Along the way, she found 5 new set items
Arcanna's Flesh Light Plate (Abaddon)
Infernal Torch Grim Wand (Arreat Plateau)
Angelic Wings Amulet (Arreat Plateau) just a couple feet after the Grim Wand
Sander's Taboo Heavy Gloves (Glacial Trail)
Sigon's Wrap Plated Belt (Frozen Tundra)


The Arcanna's Flesh went on my merc temporarily, until I got the Angelic Wings, at which point, I put on the 2 pieces for the set bonus, and moved my Hawkmail over to the merc. The set bonuses were some nice defensive for Hardcore. Come on Angelic ring! It was unfortunate to have to take off Civerb's amulet with it's 40% mana regen, but worth it. I was using mana so quickly anyway that the regen doesn't really have time to help much. I chug mana potions constantly

Infernal Torch did me no good at all, so into the stash.

More gloves (!!) did me no good either, so into the stash for them as well

I did equip Sigon's Wrap, as it was my first S/U belt. Yay to getting to keep 4 rows of potions.

So Haramis, level 43 in Frozen Tundra, 22 S/U found

 

[Grisu]

I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Act 5 mercs are amazing, and the Crushing Blow from Rixot's should be noticable (although your static is kinda redundant here so maybe not)

 

[Grisu]

I've only seen this happen if you move so far ahead of the merc that he/she auto-teleports to you.
The bug isn't always triggered by the teleport, but quite often.

(Interesting note: for my Amazon in this tournament, at this stage, the bug would actually be a bonus. My main focus is trying to arrange fighting situations that keep him out of trouble.)

 

[Grisu]

AFAIK the bug happens inevitably when your merc teleports to you. At least for me it always has. The bug will reset once you get your merc killed and revive them. It's tought to get them killed though when no monsters attacks them

 

[Grisu]

Ok, that is very good to know. So if he gets too far away, I will be sure to teleport myself to catch him up. Thanks!

 

[Grisu]

For being half an Act on Hell difficulty, the last two sessions have been rather uneventful. I wouldn't say boring, but almost...

Sszark is of course always a force to respect, though. This version had defensive random abilities. Once I had a stable fighting situation, Viri helped out with her spear. Note the long range:

View attachment 9164

Got Gloams in the Marsh, so I advanced with caution. Decoys were used for scouting quite a bit, and I continued with that in Flayer Jungle because it had those 8-packs of melee Soul Killers you don't want to suprise you.

Once again, the Gidbinn bosspack took a long time to spawn, and didn't drop any Gidbinn this time either (same as in NM). EDIT: Turns out I hadn't spoken to Hratli to start the quest. But shouldn't this quest work anyway?

First floor on Swampy Pit sure woke me up. I scouted with a Decoy in a hallway, stumbled a bit with my movement and happened to get hit by 2-3 Gloam Lightnings. Cold Lightnings, while I held my shield (=> only just above 50 lightning resist). It was a long time since I was under any sort of threat, so I probably overreacted a little with rejuves. Better that than the other way around, of course.

One minion was first to follow into the entrance room, and it dropped a Pul rune! For a large part of Viri's life, that has been at the top of her wish list, but now she doesn't need it. Fazel's weapon is already elite, and while a Lance of Yaggai Ghost Spear would have been pretty cool indeed, there's no way Viri will ever meet the very high STR/DEX demands of that weapon type.

Last room of second floor was chaotic and nasty: View attachment 9169
The Conviction upped the danger for Fazel a lot, both from shamans and a Gloam pack. And about 2 seconds after the screenie, Fazel died and we were Cursed.

"You must be an Amazon..."
Huh?
Oh yeah, this must be the first time in the act he's needed a resurrection!
That says something about the safety of our progress.

I thought for sure there would be at least two bosspacks in that room, but it was actually just one - Conviction Cursed something mummy boss - but the other monsters, the terrain, etc. created a perfect storm of mercenary danger.


S/U finds: boring, boring
Isenhart's Case #4 (Spider Forest)
Cathan's Visage #3 (Spider Forest)
Sander's Taboo (Arachnid Lair)


[Highlight]Viridissima the Amazon and Fazel the HF guard, level 84, Hell Kurast Bazaar next, 136 S/U items found.[/Highlight]