Orange You Glad That Rune Dropped: Craft-Centric Tournament

[PhineasB]

Correct, jewelry is pretty limited until crafts can be made. Only the reward rings until then.

Edit: Orange has built the staff in A2 and is ready to tackle the Palace. Runes were dreadful in A1, only a Nef from Countess, but it wasn't an issue due to chippies. Akara ring was +1 max damage, so not the worst possible. We almost hit 21 at Andy after good XP luck but no gem shrine luck to balance it out (likely due to S&E at Cloister WPs?). Charged Strike was available by Andy, plus 3 chipped diamond shield and potions, so pretty easy, with 2 socket scepter doing the bulk of the work until then. A1 Normal is really quite easy.

A2 presented a totally different challenge, with only weapon socketing available resulting in knockback (Nef). And only a plain belt. So white/grey it was, and after going straight to Halls, we got an El to accompany the Cube, allowing Halberd cube roll that got 2 sockets. And this Partizan that will eventually be equipable with a -15% jewel and a rune hopefully before the end of A2:

We ended up making Nadir for +mana and other mods (cloak of shadow charges), but it would have been better probably to just go with two Tirs for mana. Oh well, it's fine for now, and cloak is available if needed, which is more likely in A3 jungles.

I nearly got her killed on Fangskin due to misclicking thinking that I was casting decoy only the amulet platform but instead running forward, with Fangskin and Co to the Southeast and charging. She managed to run around to the west, dodging Unravellers and skeletons with only two health potions preventatively chugged, and TP'ing out from the platform before re-establishing a foothold. It would have been a remarkably dumb deeds, so glad she could get through.

We still haven't gotten a rune higher than Eth (cubed up from Nefs), so hoping the runes pick up to improve resists. Partial table update is below, and I'll update on first post next weekend. Keep up the safe progress all!

* * *

Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     20    A2 N
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     25    A2 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     1     A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N
Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    1     A1 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

 

[skiffcz]

Just a small correction, to get the highest single res affixes on imbued boots, you'll want to wait until level 23, since the item's quality level / 2 is subtracted from the ilvl to determine affixes. I plan on doing the same thing to see if I can get some nice early double res boots (probably not).

Well I was at least right about one thing - I suck at this

Fortunately I can compensate with quick fingers and cookiecutter build. And a bit of a luck, too. Akara upgraded her normal ring (+1 energy, +10 mana) for a much useful one in Nightmare:



The rest of the act was easy. ColdFever had only like, 5 NDEs? One does not normally think of FHR as The Survival Stat, but packs of brutes backed with cold enchanted archers tend to change ones perspective. I got stunlocked a LOT. Full purples were consumed and pants browned. Fortunately, teleport always connected in the end and ColdFever was able to reform the lines and punish those nameless savages who dared to shoot her hair! I managed to not blunder for once and lowered the /psettings to 1 right after descending to the lowest level of the tower and countess handed over some goodies:



Still no SOL for merc weapon though At least I now had enough AMNs to cube it up. Just one. Sooo. Time to choose. It's time to choose.

SUBJECT: Insight (ColdFever's Partizan)
STATUS: Created
Awaiting asskicking

Well, I just found 4os Partizan and no suitable staff. The self-weilding alternative was 4os Voulge and ... well .. that was not really what I had in mind. Because ColdFever already have an acceptable rod she got from Anya, she can always personalize a more powerful stick for merc at the beginning of Hell, or craft him a safety spear and personalize an insight staff for herself. Speaking of which, hello Ancient Tunnels my old friend:



This was next to last monster. Literally five second after that, from the last monster +2FO/+1ES/+1FW plain white that can get 4os from Larzuk dropped. Options are there. Pity this didnt happen in A1, I would have went for it, but I already burned my personalization on the Partizan.

To wrap it up, ColdFever is now level 56, about to clear Arcane Sanctuary with Bizzard and slowly building her Hydra for when its needed. And she is now clad in beautiful orange gear too! Total of 20 pieces of gear were crafted. The limiting factor were Pgems, actually, I have more enough runes and jewels. However, to be honest, the first batch is more than capable of pushing ColdFever through the rest of the game, if need be. I mean, hydra/blizzard can make it through naked, so what am I even talking about

Spoiler: Her current gear and merc

Name:       ColdFever
Class:      Sorceress
Experience: 89283626
Level:      56

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   56/60
Dexterity:  25/27
Vitality:   244/244
Energy:     35/46
HP:         583/722
Mana:       145/221
Stamina:    363/371
Defense:    6/247
AR:         75/197

Fire:       123/83/23
Cold:       116/76/16
Lightning:  117/77/17
Poison:     48/8/-52

MF:         7       Block:      3
GF:         54       FR/W:       10
FHR:        42       IAS:        0
FCR:        15

Fire Bolt: 1/3
Warmth: 1/3
Inferno: 0/0
Blaze: 0/0
Fire Ball: 1/3
Fire Wall: 0/0
Enchant: 1/3
Meteor: 0/0
Fire Mastery: 0/0
Hydra: 3/5

Charged Bolt: 0/0
Static Field: 0/0
Telekinesis: 0/0
Nova: 0/0
Lightning: 0/0
Chain Lightning: 0/0
Teleport: 0/1
Thunder Storm: 0/0
Energy Shield: 0/0
Lightning Mastery: 0/3

Ice Bolt: 1/1
Frozen Armor: 1/1
Frost Nova: 1/1
Ice Blast: 20/20
Shiver Armor: 0/0
Glacial Spike: 1/1
Blizzard: 20/21
Chilling Armor: 0/0
Frozen Orb: 0/0
Cold Mastery: 10/10

Gale Stalker <--- Charsi imbue from normal
Boots
Defense: 2
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 10
Fingerprint: 0xb1c712e9
Item Level: 18
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Run/Walk
+2 to Dexterity
+8 Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 50%
Fire Resist +20%
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Dread Grasp <--- Ormus ring from normal
Ring
Required Level: 16
Fingerprint: 0xb96a2d32
Item Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+51 to Attack Rating
+7 to Energy
+10 to Life
Cold Resist +24%
Half Freeze Duration

Eagle Loop <--- Akaras reward from nightmare
Ring
Required Level: 24
Fingerprint: 0x726057dd
Item Level: 30
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+61 to Attack Rating
+5 to Life
+4 to Mana
Lightning Resist +13%
Level 1 Ice Blast (22/22 Charges)

Death Collar <--- the prismatic is great, but there is definitely some room for improvement, there go my future ametysts
Amulet
Required Level: 34
Fingerprint: 0xd60924ee
Item Level: 54
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+6% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to Maximum Damage
+4 to Strength
+11 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 6%
All Resistances +9

Bitter Buckle <--- *drooly smiley face*. Second Try! Done crafting belts for sure.
Sharkskin Belt
Defense: 33
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Level: 44
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0xb92d4fff
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+9% Faster Cast Rate
+11 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 5%
Cold Resist +28%
Lightning Resist +5%
Fire Resist +26%

Fiend Shell <--- mechanic's ftw! Larzuk still unused.
Field Plate
Defense: 101
Durability: 48 of 48
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0x2f4ed12d
Item Level: 54
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 4 Frost Nova when struck
+22% Faster Hit Recovery
+5 to Mana
Cold Resist +30%
Lightning Resist +30%
Attacker Takes Damage of 5
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Ort Rune

Havoc Clutches <--- these are 1 of 4 rolled, I just took the ones with extra resists. PlanB was to imbue some.
Gauntlets
Defense: 18
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0x9cce20ab
Item Level: 53
Version: Expansion 1.10+
14% Chance to cast level 5 Nova when struck
+14% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +5%
Fire Resist +30%
Damage Reduced by 2
Magic Damage Reduced by 1
54% Extra Gold from Monsters

Carrion Cowl <--- Yep, this is prety much it, it just waits for Larzuk to make it even godlier.
Crown
Defense: 54
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Level: 28
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0xbd6ea3a0
Item Level: 46
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19% Enhanced Defense
+4 to Energy
Lightning Resist +10%
Fire Resist +18%
Damage Reduced by 2
Magic Damage Reduced by 1
Repairs 1 Durability in 33 Seconds

Skull Whorl <--- Anyas reward from normal
Eagle Orb
One Hand Damage: 2 - 5
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 30
Fingerprint: 0xe241f33b
Item Level: 41
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Fire Skills (Sorceress Only)
Adds 9 - 23 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
+3 to Lightning Mastery (Sorceress Only)
+1 to Blizzard (Sorceress Only)
+1 to Teleport (Sorceress Only)
+28 to Mana
Magic Damage Reduced by 2

Doom Emblem <--- Im not Larzuking this yet. Not good, not terrible.
Kite Shield
Defense: 33
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 33
Required Strength: 47
Fingerprint: 0xf882f2ca
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+68% Enhanced Defense
Magic Resist +5%
Lightning Resist +14%
Poison Resist +19%
Damage Reduced by 4
Magic Damage Reduced by 2

Name: Razan
Race: Desert Mercenary
Type: Comb-Normal
Experience: 19682958
Level: 56
Dead?: false

Naked/Gear
Strength: 139/144
Dexterity: 110/115
HP: 955/987
Defense: 693/832
AR: 982/186580

Fire: 108/68/8
Cold: 120/80/20
Lightning: 138/98/38
Poison: 108/68/8


Dire Veil <--- I mean, he needs -some- helm I guess. The LL is good though.
Helm
Defense: 29
Durability: 16 of 24
Required Level: 37
Required Strength: 26
Fingerprint: 0xbce59b22
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
3% Life stolen per hit
8% Deadly Strike
+56% Enhanced Defense
+13 to Life
Cold Resist +12%
Poison Length Reduced by 25%

Rune Jack <--- mechanic's saved this, but I will definitely roll some hellforge plates in the future
Plate Mail
Defense: 110
Durability: 58 of 60
Required Level: 23
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0x5d367d8e
Item Level: 37
Version: Expansion 1.10+
1% Life stolen per hit
+19 to Life
+5 to Mana
Lightning Resist +30%
+3 Life after each Demon Kill
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Ort Rune

ColdFever's Insight <--- great roll when not really needed - I fully expect the Hell replacement to be terrible
Partizan
RalTirTalSol
Two Hand Damage: 122 - 250
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Level: 27
Required Strength: 113
Required Dexterity: 67
Fingerprint: 0x9f9c9aef
Item Level: 38
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Level 17 Meditation Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Cast Rate
234% Enhanced Damage
+9 to Minimum Damage
189% Bonus to Attack Rating
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
+6 to Critical Strike
All Stats +5
+2 to Mana after each Kill
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Tir Rune
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune

Spoiler: Rest of the crafts for reference

Blood Strap
Sharkskin Belt
Defense: 59
Durability: 10 of 14
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0x66b2fc2
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+9% Faster Cast Rate
+61% Enhanced Defense
+7 to Strength
+34 to Life
+21 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 7%

Blood Suit
Field Plate
Defense: 132
Durability: 43 of 48
Required Level: 40
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0x31858a0d
Item Level: 46
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 4 Frost Nova when struck
+18% Faster Hit Recovery
+25% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
Attacker Takes Damage of 4

Blood Talisman
Amulet
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0x6f4897c3
Item Level: 50
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Summoning Skills (Druid Only)
+7% Faster Cast Rate
+18 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 8%
+19 Maximum Stamina

Cruel Casque
Helm
Defense: 22
Durability: 12 of 24
Required Level: 31
Required Strength: 26
Fingerprint: 0x289c8806
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
3% Life stolen per hit
8% Deadly Strike
+16% Enhanced Defense
+10 to Energy
+23 to Life

Dread Visor
Helm
Defense: 17
Durability: 22 of 24
Required Level: 25
Required Strength: 26
Fingerprint: 0x9661f75f
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Hit Recovery
1% Life stolen per hit
9% Deadly Strike
+22 to Life
Repairs 1 Durability in 33 Seconds

Gale Touch
Gauntlets
Defense: 20
Durability: 20 of 24
Required Level: 46
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0xa129c5ea
Item Level: 54
Version: Expansion 1.10+
3% Mana stolen per hit
+28% Enhanced Defense
+5 Maximum Stamina
Cold Resist +26%
Damage Reduced by 1
Magic Damage Reduced by 2

Hailstone Badge
Kite Shield
Defense: 40
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 26 of 30
Required Level: 46
Required Strength: 47
Fingerprint: 0xf82a014e
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+17% Faster Hit Recovery
+101% Enhanced Defense
Magic Resist +8%
Damage Reduced by 3
Magic Damage Reduced by 2
Half Freeze Duration

Hailstone Touch
Gauntlets
Defense: 23
Durability: 18 of 24
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0x9eefd3e8
Item Level: 52
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+38% Enhanced Defense
+3 to Dexterity
Cold Resist +6%
Poison Resist +15%
Damage Reduced by 2
Magic Damage Reduced by 2

Plague Guard
Kite Shield
Defense: 41
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 27 of 30
Required Level: 46
Required Strength: 47
Fingerprint: 0x17b35a56
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+106% Enhanced Defense
Magic Resist +7%
Lightning Resist +7%
Fire Resist +5%
Damage Reduced by 3
Magic Damage Reduced by 1

Rune Cloak
Field Plate
Defense: 104
Durability: 45 of 48
Required Level: 27
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0x451ddaef
Item Level: 47
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 4 Frost Nova when struck
+16% Faster Hit Recovery
+19 to Life
Damage Reduced by 1
Attacker Takes Damage of 4

Rune Coat
Field Plate
Defense: 326
Durability: 38 of 48
Required Level: 44
Required Strength: 44
Fingerprint: 0xe6fcb72c
Item Level: 50
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 4 Frost Nova when struck
+19% Faster Hit Recovery
+225 Defense (Based on Character Level)
Poison Length Reduced by 50%
Attacker Takes Damage of 15
Requirements -20%

Spirit Guard
Kite Shield
Defense: 21
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 37
Required Strength: 47
Fingerprint: 0x7ce15ad5
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Defensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
+11% Enhanced Defense
Magic Resist +10%
Damage Reduced by 1
Magic Damage Reduced by 4
Repairs 1 Durability in 33 Seconds

Stone Torc
Amulet
Required Level: 46
Fingerprint: 0xe23265d0
Item Level: 52
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Paladin Skill Levels
+18% Faster Cast Rate
+3 to Dexterity
+19 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 6%

Thats all for now! Until next time, Im out.

Spoiler: Literally ...

May your drops be Orange&Orange!

* * *

Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     20    A2 N
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     25    A2 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     1     A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

 

[Norcim]

Valryka the CS/something zon started her journey on 1/7. Progress through to the Stony Field was straight forward. Thrown javs work great for early levels, and at level 8 we quickly hired Maeko the fire rogue to help out. A 3 soc hunters bow with chippies for Maeko made quick work of the early game. Valryka mostly spent her time tossing Poison Javelins at crowds and herding monsters through the trail while Maeko did most of the killing.

I put a few points into Power Strike for the early game and then we were making excellent progress. Bought a 3 socket spear and stuffed it with topazes (kind of fun to be able to use these for something other than MF in the early game) since we didn't have the mana to sustain Power Strike or Poison Javelin for long. Rescuing Cain provided us with a Beryl Ring of Greed - 9%PR,29%Gold, so not that bad compared to what it could have been.

Was hoping for a Tal Eth drop from Countess for an early Stealth possibility, but she decided we were only worthy of the Eth... First Tal that drops will go towards this.


Smith was no issue. Imbue will be saved for later, likely on a ceremonial javelin if our crafting luck is poor.


Valryka hit 18 in the barracks, which feels earlier than normal for me but we've had excellent experience shrine luck so far. She has a serious addiction to the blues, 40 mana just doesn't last very long with CS. Hoping for a bunch of Tir drops in Act 2; mana per kill would go a long way towards helping to solve that issue for now. First rune from a normal drop was a Ral in the Catacombs Level 3.


Andy was no problem on P8. I burned 2 chipped emeralds in a large shield at some point in the Catacombs so we'd have max PR after antidotes. CS just tears up large baddies, even at low levels. Valryka just downed a bunch of antidotes and went to town. Took a few health and mana pots but we were never in any danger and she went down pretty quick. We had wanted an Emerald or Ruby from her drop so if we ever hit some gem shrines we could get a perfect gem quickly for an early craft, but she decided a Diamond was best for us.


Valryka was level 20 at the end of Act 1, and re-geared herself before venturing out to get the cube in Act 2. We sold our socketed gear and hired Kasim, a prayer merc, to replace Maeko. We started with a plain 2 socket helm that is waiting for Tirs to drop. Also wearing a plain 2 socket breast plate for Stealth once we see the first Tal, and we bought a few 2 socket bone shields in case nothing better is found and we want Rhyme later. We also bought a set of plain pilums just because it felt funny to still be using our starting javs. Kasim got a plain spetum.

We started out making a beeline for the cube so we can roll savage polearms and then re-roll them with chippies. We were hoping to find an early Ith on the way to the cube so we could socket it in the mercs weapon instead of using our only Ral but it never dropped. I rolled 6 savage polearms, and in an interesting twist got 4 bills, 1 scythe, and 1 halberd. The bills were nice but Kasim is lacking strength to use them, and without being able to socket ameythsts probably won't for a while. I saved one for re-rolling with chippies later. I rolled the halberd in the cube 8 times without getting any mods of note, and finally settled on an Iron Halberd of Venom which had 2 sockets. In went the Ral, and Kasim is ready to roll!

We tore through the sewers, picking up our first Tir (one of the reasons I really like tourneys, I got super excited to see a Tir drop!). It went right into Valryka's helm. Scored a second Tir in the Dry Hills; this one also went into the helm.




The 2 Tirs made a huge difference in the play through since with good tactics and CS being super powerful early we weren't nearly as reliant on having a huge pile of mana pots taking up space in the inventory. Strategy was to try to use CS when its likely to score a kill with one hit, which is most of the time if Kasim gets a hit in or if the monster has caught a stray bolt or two already. Large baddies typically go down in one shot.

We found a rare 2 socket full helm in the Lost City that had +6 to energy and some LR. It got our third Tir (Lost City), and then I cubed up the 3 Elds we had found to make another one. The LR was extra helpful since I had skipped the Maggot Lair until clearing all of the Lost City. Had a bit of a scare in the Maggot Lair when we hit a room of scarabs backed by Conviction. I couldn't see the boss in the room until we got hit with the Conviction, and Valryka caught a few bolts as she tried to move backwards. Not a NDE, but it kept us on our toes.


We were hoping for a rune bonanza in the AS, and especially a Tal to finally complete our Stealth but we only got a Ral and Eth... I write my notes as I do the play through and then come back later and clean them up. Turns out complaining about drops in my notes is the same as doing it on the forum, as early in the Canyon of the Magi a Tal finally dropped:


Now with a Stealth and 3 Tirs socketed (2 helm, 1 shield) we are just plowing through the game. It didn't actually occur to me that I could use Tirs in a shield until this point, Valryka was just running around still with her 2 socket bone shield with nothing in it... Kasim suffered his first of what will likely be many deaths at the hands of Ancient Kaa.


Found another Tir (4 total now) that also went into the bone shield, and at +8 mana per kill mana pot management is so much better now. The only times it's really needed now are when fighting boss monsters. We also found our first Maiden Javelin of any kind in the true tomb. White +1 J&S will work nicely! Duriel was a total pushover. 2 mana pots, 1 healing pot for Kasim, and no troubles.


Valryka is currently level 28 and is about to enter the jungles. Not sure what to do at level 30 in regards to LF or LS. I'm tempted by LS because I've never actually used it before and we wouldn't have to repair javelins all the time since I doubt we'll get anything with self-repair via craft/imbue. Either way we'll likely continue to pump CS for a bit and put a few points into Valk before we make any decisions.

Spoiler: Current Runes

El - 7
Eld - 2
Eth - 2
Nef - 1
Ral - 1
Tal - 1
Tir - 1

Spoiler: Set/Uniques

Still keeping track of these for fun, but obviously without any MF focus the drops have been few and far between:

Clegaws Claw - Tristram
Berserkers Hatchet - Far Oasis
Clegaws Gloves - Kaa's Tomb
Arcana's Helm - False Tomb
Gleamscythe - Duriel

Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Norcim     Valryka     Zon     28    A3 N
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     20    A2 N
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     25    A2 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     1     A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

 

[Dazliare]

Writing this from the office, so I don't have any screenshots, but Taliesin the hunter druid has finished up through the Dark Wood, though not yet rescued Cain. So far, my spirit wolves have actually been really good. The first 7 levels were a bit slow just because I didn't want to put a bunch of points in poison creeper or raven, and only having one wolf who does almost no damage is just bleh, but once i got a few more wolves, things started moving much more smoothly. We'll see how things go as I progress through the game

 

[Pb_pal]

Off he goes!

And of course, in a tournament where MF doesn't matter, he immediately finds a topaz. That's okay though, it'll be going into a weapon for some tasty lightning damage as soon as he finds something socketed (which he found shortly thereafter). He cleared out the den before heading back out through the Cold Plains. Here he grabbed a merc, a new weapon, and switched temporarily to Holy Fire before killing Blood Raven and moving up to Cain.

Akara's completely useless ring was sold back to her and off Elding went to find the Countess who did not impress with her rune drop:

He hit 18 on his way to Andy and switched to Holy Freeze for now to help keep the monsters in control. He made his way down to Andy's chamber, drank some antidotes, popped it to /p3 and went for it.

Easy enough. Through to Act 2!

Elding the (future) Tesladin, lvl 19 - Lut Gholein

* * *

Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Norcim     Valryka     Zon     28    A3 N
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     20    A2 N
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     25    A2 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     19    A2 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     1     A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

 

[Norcim]

Good luck to all new participants! I'm really looking forward to everyone's updates once the crafting restriction kicks in, should be fun to talk through the options for trying various recipes.

Valyrka began Act 3 by finding the Spider Cavern really close to town, and Kasim got smoked by Szark for his second death. We found our first gem shrine later in the Spider Forest and used it on a flawless ruby we'd been able to cube up to by this point. It was the only flawless gem I had at the time and I thought I could do an early blood helm craft for Kasim, but that would have to wait until we either found another Ral or got to a good muling spot first.


We hit gloams in the Great Marsh and the Swampy Pit; we're hoping not to have that happen if we make it that far in Hell. Made level 30 in the Flayer Jungle, so we were able to add a Valkrie to our party! I had a few skill points saved from earlier in the journey, so the plan was to put a point into CS and Valk every level for the next few levels so we get a sturdy valk for later in Act 5. Even at level 1 though she can take a beating at this stage of the game. Ormus took pity on our poor hero and gifted her a surprisingly good ring.


Found a Ral in the Flayer Dungeon, so I crafted Kasim's first blood helm after we finished clearing it out. I probably should have waited longer so we could get an extra affix but I was on a roll and didn't want to go play with suffix/affix calculators to see what ilvl I would need, and I wanted him to have some early life leech so this will do for a while. Also it's a crafting tourney, so got to start crafting! It replaced a white helm, so this should be a nice boost to his survivability.


Had a nice rune haul in LK: 2 Tir, Ith, Eth, and Ral. The Ith went into Kasim's halberd. Council was no problem; the valk died for the first time but she lasted long enough to give Valryka and Kasim a chance to kill most of them. I'd kill for a Durance 2 map like this in NM or Hell for a non-single-pass character without access to teleport.


We did have a close call in the Durance 3 with a pack of blood lords? (I can't recall what they are called, but the meteor casting guys). Got caught by a meteor or two, and with our current 7 FR the life bulb dropped really quick. Mephisto went down easy, 2 healers and 2 mana pots and it was all over and we had a bunch of junk to sell.

The only potential gear upgrade other than the Ormus ring came in the form of a 3 socket tower shield. I'm debating using it to boost fire resist before the CS and Diablo, but will hold off for a bit since I don't want to burn unnecessary Rals or rubies before then. I also would really like to get a 4 slot belt. We haven't seen any plain white plated belts yet, and no rare belts at all that we could potentially upgrade. This is one of the areas where having no MF is really hurting.

We did find an early Ral in the Outer Steppes, so we were thinking about putting that in the tower shield. I'm debating whether or not I want to burn the first personalization on a Rhyme shield. I can't think of another way to get CBF without a lucky drop (that would have to be personalized as well) and I think it would be difficult to craft a shield that could get close to those stats. If I put enough strength in for the tower shield now I'd likely go with a Rhyme in a tower shield for the blocking since we'll have decent dex to use ceremonial javelins. I could maybe then pair this with a safety amulet for increased blocking percentage. Decisions decisions...

We got burning souls in the Plains of Despair. They aren't dangerous to us in Normal but they are annoying, since Valryka is constantly getting stuck in Dodge/Avoid/Evade locks and whiffs a lot. Izual took a lot longer than I thought he would given how powerful CS is at this point of the game. I think I drank 12 mana pots bringing him down.

Found our first Thul rune in the City of the Damned. Hellforge gave us an Ort, which we also hadn't found yet, and a perfect ammy.


As you can see from the last photo, I bit the bullet in the River of Flame and put a Ral and 2 Tirs into the tower shield. Valryka was feeling very sturdy except for venom lords, who've been able to bounce her health around quite a bit with their infernos. I was feeling confident that if I got through Big D we would be safe for a while unless I made a big mistake or got super unlucky, but facing him with minimal fire resist seemed like a poor decision. I think zons look cool with tower shields (and super cool with the tower shield breast plate combo), so that's a definite plus. Valryka is very gilded these days; here she is showing off her new look in town:


Finally found a plain plated belt right before facing the Infectors seal, who we had left for last. Was really nice to have 4 belt slots before Diablo. We got the U layout, so I threw up a tp so we could bail and come back from town if needed, but the Valk tanked them all while Kasim eventually bit it. I could have saved him but I didn't want to use any of my full rejuvenates before the Diablo fight. I felt bad, but having those potions was worth the ~10k cost to resurrect him. Also scored a very decent set of boots from a venom lord boss.


I was thinking I'd upgrade them before Big D for the bonus light resists since I'd gotten a perfect amethyst from the Hellforge, but I forgot I had muled off all my runes at the RoF waypoint so I couldn't actually do it before the fight... I decided to go down to P3 for the fight with Big D and it went really well. Valk and Kasim went down quickly but Valryka went toe-to-toe and CS tore him up.


Now that we're in Act 5 I'm thinking of holding off on upgrading the rare boots. They are super cool, but I don't want to burn our only Thul since I need a few for the first round of crafting coming up in Act 2 NM, which is only 2 acts away. If we get some early rune drops in Act 5 I might re-consider, just for style points.

I'm curious to get people's thoughts on burning an early personalization on Rhyme? I won't do it until Act 2 NM just in case something awesome drops, but I'm feeling tempted right now. Probably won't find a Shael now that I've said all that...

Valryka the CS zon, level 35, Act 5 Normal

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Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress

--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Norcim     Valryka     Zon     35    A5 N
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     20    A2 N
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     25    A2 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     19    A2 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     1     A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress

--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

 

[OldSoldier]

@Norcim, I think using a personalization reward on a Rhyme is a great idea. I might do it myself depending on how good of a paladin shield I can find with two built-in sockets.

In my own journey, my paladin, named GaranDarkslayer (gotta love those paladin name generators) felled Andariel just now. Using a +3 Holy Fire scepter made it much easier to do so (as did the quite-a-few hard points in Holy Fire). All the runes he found so far were the Tal from the Countess and a Tir in the catacombs. On to act 2!


GaranDarkslayer, level 20 paladin, Lut Gholein

 

[Dazliare]

I'm so glad I decided to try a hunter druid - this is the build I've been wanting to play for years!! I love pet builds, but I hate that you have to use corpses to make a necro work. I'm sure this build will suck soon, but right now I'm having so much fun.

I finished act 1 in two sessions, then did the first half of act 2 today. No runewords yet, though stealth, malice, nadir, steel, etc will all be usable soon. I also found my first candidate for personalization - a Blood Crescent Scimitar, with a pretty nice 15 all res. I doubt I'll end up actually personalizing it, but still it's nice to see. I also haven't imbued anything yet - I might try to work out the optimal level to imbue a pelt for wolves, but I also kinda can't be bothered. Isn't there also some bug ethereal class items and imbues that give them a really good shot at +skills?

Anyway, life is good right now, and I can't wait to make more progress on this meme build

 

[Babyhell]

ItsATrap stopped at Outer Cloister waypoint, having cleant every inch so far, and is less than 360XP close to lvl18 and Shadow Warrior.

She is wearing mostly white items (for non socketables), and for each socketable any gems really...for now it doesn't matter, fire traps are efficient enough, and mana pots are found quite often due to p8 (and yes... I did forget to set it back to p1 for the Countess, but she delivered a Ral nonetheless). Speaking about the Countess, the rare ring dropped alongside the rune was... decent.

Well... well. She must have laughed a bit more than usual when she died -_-

Happy to have her journey going forward a bit, it will be a long one, like any SP one!

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Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Norcim     Valryka     Zon     35    A5 N
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     20    A2 N
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     25    A2 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     19    A2 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     17    A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

 

[Norcim]

Welcome to the newly starting characters! May all your drops be Orange!

We pick up Valryka's journey in Act 5. We found our first Amn from a poppable right after Eldritch. Made level 37 in the Frigid Highlands and maxed out CS. A cursed pack of blood lords in Abaddon murdered Kasim instantly and actually took the Valk out pretty quick. We hadn't been using any tactics lately since CS is overpowered, but this was the first time Valryka had to retreat and set up the battle with Decoy. The decoy could only take 2 hits but that was enough to string the pack out a bit. Valryka could take them out pretty quick as long as they weren't beating on her. Found 26MF Chance Guards in the Arreat Plateau; not bad for 0 MF.


I had thought I had stashed a 2 socket tower shield for a potential future Rhyme but when I checked it wasn't there, so I must have sold/dropped it. Luckily we found another one in the Arreat Plateau, so once a Shael drops we'll be making Rhyme. We immediately hit an extra fast boss pack of moon lords in the Crystalline Passage. Wasn't a stair trap but we didn't really have any room to retreat without going out the entrance. Fortunately the Decoy lasted long enough for the Valk to engage, then she and Kasim tanked while Valryka took them all out. This could be dangerous in later difficulties.


I decided to go with LS instead of LF knowing I can respec later if I get a great set of self-repair javs. Plus I've never really used it before, so I'm looking forward to learning how to use it. I'd been keeping a few skill points saved in case I hit a point where the Valk starts dying too easily so I could give her an immediate boost. I've been waiting to start using LS until it gets a few more points so it can bounce around more. Straightforward progress through to rescue Anya. I had my fingers crossed when talking to Anya; I really didn't want to get bow from her. Success! This will be our new weapon moving forward until we craft/imbue something better.


It's not a world beater by any means, but it's much better than the white maiden javs we've been using and we can actually keep using it past Act 2 NM. So far I haven't seen a single blue maiden jav, so I was starting to get worried that we wouldn't be able to craft any javs by Act 2 NM. I've found a few white maiden javs at this point and have been keeping the highest ilvl ones for an emergency imbue if we got to Act 2 NM and didn't have any other way to keep using javs. Plus, these javs are golden (they might actually be yellow but I'm not @Pb_pal so I'll let it slide) so they go with the look. That makes 3 out of 3 pretty decent quest drops.


The unique glove train continued with Bloodfists in the Halls of Anguish. We went and took out Nihlathak before proceeding to the Glacial Trail since the CP waypoint was really close to the Glacial entrance, so that made for a good starting point for a new session. Finally found a Shael in the Frozen Tundra!


It went right into a Rhyme Tower Shield. We had 50 saved stat points at this time (level 45), so I decided to burn them in dexterity since we have a shield with great blocking. I needed them eventually for a ceremonial javelin, so it did double-duty. At that time we still needed 9 more stat points in dex for ceremonial javelins, but that put us at 71% block, which is nice. Ultimately I will let this slide closer to 50% as we progress. I was feeling a little nervous facing the Baal waves with ~500 life with a char that is getting into monsters faces, but with the blocking, dodge, avoid, evade, decoy, and Valk I thought we'd should be OK.

We took the Ancients on p1 and and made sure to grab a quick screenshot right at the beginning since the whole fight lasted maybe 7 seconds. I do very much enjoy CS!


I've started using LS more situationally lately since it is starting to have enough power to be effective. It was really nice in the Frozen Tundra for chasing down imps, and in the Throne for bouncing off witches. It isn't powerful enough at p8 to kill anything in one chain, but it did softens things up nicely for CS to mop up. Waves were all pretty easy. Wave 3 took a bit longer because the hydras made Valryka whiff a lot and the boss was LE. Lister' wave wasn't that bad. We just lured them out of decrep range and went toe-to-toe with them. Took a few pots for Valryka and Kasim but wasn't dangerous, and the level 5 Valk had no issues tanking them.


Baal on p3 went down super fast. It only took a single mana pot, and that was mostly because we got mana burned running past him to get the Valk and Kasim into the fight. Quest drop wasn't half-bad! The Sol is our first (and was really needed for Safety weapons), and Spectral Shard is always fun to see. If Valryka was a caster (in a world where Spirit wasn't so easy to make) this would have personalization potential.


Finished up with a BBQ, which was a really fun place to play with LS. I can't wait until the LS bounces 20 times with each attack! A bunch of gems dropped but no runes and nothing else of note. Finished Normal without seeing a single blue maiden javelin or spear, so we are feeling super thankful to Anya at the moment for granting us a usable weapon if that kind of luck continues.

I'm feeling very confident for NM at the moment, since CS/LS should just flatten everything for a while and pretty much all our stat points will go to Vita. Priorities will be upgrading Kasim's weapon for when LI's start to show up, and hopefully shoring up some resistances once the crafting restriction kicks in. LE beetles in Act 2 are what's scaring me at the moment.

Valryka, Level 48 CS/LS Javazon, Act 1 NM

Spoiler: Current Runes

Amn - 2
El - 9
Eld - 4
Eth - 7
Ith - 3
Nef - 2
Ort - 4
Ral - 4
Shael - 1
Sol - 1
Tal - 4
Thul - 3
Tir - 8

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Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress

--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Norcim     Valryka     Zon     48    A1 NM
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     20    A2 N
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     25    A2 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     19    A2 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     17    A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress

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[PhineasB]

Nice update @Norcim and nice to see the Zon makes such smooth progress. Hopefully it bodes well for Orange who had taken a pause while I leveled character for MP avenger sessions. But she’s back moving and is at the start of A4. I’ll do a full update when she finishes the Act.

 

[Pb_pal]

@Norcim - Great progress! Looks like the javs are in fact Yellow (light, to be specific), due to the 'Static' prefix (giving the lightning damage). I'll let it slide.

--

Off into the desert, found first non-countess rune (el) on the way to the cube. First order of business was to roll a socketed polearm, and he got a decent one on the first try.

Not ideal by any means, but good enough for now. And yes, I know that's a crafting rune so that should be a no-no to 'waste' on an uncrafted item, but I just couldn't pass up that extra damage. Will I regret this later? We'll have to wait and see!

Normally I keep all my chipped gems, but since I want to craft ASAP in NM I cubed the rest up and this is how it looks now. Off to Radament before heading back out to grab the staff (he hit 24 on the ay down and could officially become a Tesladin) and amulet (and a Tir!). that allowed Elding to make a brand new weapon

Onwards with increased power (and Elding actually contributing now!) it was through the Arcane Sanctuary quickly and straight to the true tomb, and finally duriel.

He went down easily and neither of the polearms were worth keeping to potentially upgrade for the merc. Oh well, hopefully something decent crops up along the way.

Elding the Tesladin, lvl 26 - Kurast Docks

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Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress

--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Norcim     Valryka     Zon     48    A1 NM
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     26    A3 N
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     20    A2 N
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     25    A2 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     17    A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress

--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

 

[PhineasB]

Alright, the Zon is to A5 Normal, with a close call after forgetting to change p-setting for Diablo. But we took down Duriel mid-week last with nothing of note dropping, before pausing to level up a Necro for the Avenger MP playthrough. Once he made it at the end of last weekend, we picked up again at the start of A3. Ormus gave a semi-useful ring and Meph fell:

CS is quite powerful, of course, but we've started investing in CS for A5 open areas. After HF (El), we were able to equip the merc with the Partizan (Skull and El in sockets), and crafted some blood gloves in hopes of some resists (but clvl was too high), and had the close call to lightning hose after forgetting to drop to p3. But some full purples saved the day and Diablo fell:

We also got a gem shrine in A3 to get pAmmy for A2 NM crafting, with double flawless on Emerald and Sapphire, and Topaz, with some Tals and Rals and an Ort. So we're hoping for more gems and higher runes in A5. Will hope to finish that Act this weekend, along with MP session. At least for now, I'm planning to skip Valk (and D/A/E issues), with focus on decoy and LS synergies through at least NM if she makes it that far. Then we'll assess options for LIs, but jab may prevail with HF A2 merc. TBD for sure!

* * *

Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Norcim     Valryka     Zon     48    A1 NM
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     35    A5 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     26    A3 N
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     20    A2 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     17    A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

 

[Vildecor]

Rowena has finished Act II. When she hit level 23, she went to Charsi to try an imbue on some boots. The results were, of course, underwhelming:

She continued on, finding a good amount of runes and gems. A gem shrine in the palace allowed her to get her first perfect gem - an emerald, as it was the only flawless quality gem she had at the time. A pair of socketed Blade Talons dropped in the Arcane Sanctuary, replacing the Cestus for speedier attacks. She also crafted a Steel Flail once she had the runes, though it's sitting in the weapon switch until Phoenix Strike is available. Set/unique finds this session: Chance Guards (34%), Cathan's Mesh, Civerb's Ward, and Leadcrow.

She's been hanging on to all the resistance charms she's found, stashing away the lower end ones as she gets upgrades. I'll probably be switching from BoS to Fade once I'm able to use Phoenix Strike with the Steel Flail, so that will help out on that front as well. I also forgot to mention the Akara ring reward was a 9 cold resist ring. Haven't socketed any runes in any equipment yet, as kill speed and safety are still just fine right now. Cloak of Shadows was rarely used, mostly for the Horror Archers and in the false tombs when dealing with rooms with multiple Unravellers. At level 28, Fists of Fire is now level 20! I can't wait to drop Meteors galore very soon!

Duriel's drop:

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Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Norcim     Valryka     Zon     48    A1 NM
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     35    A5 N
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     28    A3 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     26    A3 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     17    A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
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[PhineasB]

Orange completed A5 with ease, and runes showed up in force: 3 x Sol, 2 x Shael, Amn, and a few more Rals. Looking back, I realized she was really low level at the end of A4, so I wonder if I forgot to increase p-settings at some point. But I can't think of when it would have occurred, so more likely just bad XP shrine luck and monster rolls. She was only a few pixels shy of lvl 36 anyhow, but finished at lvl 49, so A5 helped make up the difference.

The Blood gloves were equip-able part way, and really don't make a noticeable difference. But like Norcim, Anya was kind, delivering a zon javelin without too much else of use besides a +skill. I finished Baal and Cows before taking down Nihl. A few pics during the progress:




Nice moo moos

LS was quite fun for A5, and handy for the demon sprites and long, densely packed hallways. We have Normal Anya personalization and Charsi imbue, hoping to save the imbues for circlets. We can make Rhyme for Anya reward, but I'm going to see how the crafting goes once she hits late A1 and then reassess.

Good luck on the progress all!

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Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Norcim     Valryka     Zon     48    A1 NM
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     49    A1 NM
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     28    A3 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     26    A3 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     17    A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

 

[OldSoldier]

Good progress everyone! Keep it up!

GaranDarkslayer felled the pesky bug and foul Mephisto, using a healthy dose of holy fire so far. Not much else to say, but he did get a good ring from Ormus, and is headed to the Pandemonium Fortress to hopefully create some more pandemonium in the ranks of evil.







GaranDarkslayer, level 32 Paladin, Pandemonium Fortress

 

[zemaj]

So need a different project to work on before I burn out, and I do love some crafting, so I guess I'm in for this one. Let's see how long it takes my impatience to kill a new hardcore char...

Going to set a new minimal for this tourney so far and start off as a Skellimancer on account of how not good I am at HC... may respec later on, depending on how things go. I have always wanted to try crafting wands too, so that's something to look forward to as well.

Character name is OUGNecro, at least until I get further along... best not to get too attached, too soon.

EDITED: formatting a table on mobile sucks...

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Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Norcim     Valryka     Zon     48    A1 NM
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     49    A1 NM
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     28    A3 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     26    A3 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     17    A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N
zemaj      OUGNecro    Nec     1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
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[Norcim]

Nice progress everyone! I had a bit more time to proceed, but play time will probably slow down over the next week or so.

Once more into the breach! Valryka began Act 1 with a steady dose of LS. Starting to get the hang of when to use it and when to just use CS. Large scattered packs are so much fun to watch LS bounce around on. I wasn't able to grab a screenshot but we ran into our first Black Hack in the Cold Plains. Not sure if anyone else remembers reading Insane Wayne's play-throughs from years ago but I've always kept an eye out for Black Hack because of that. This was a nice drop early in the Cave!


We found our highest rune to data, an Io, in the Mausoleum. Straightforward progress to rescuing Cain. Here's the team fighting Griswold. There was a skeleton boss who tried to get in on the action but caught enough stray CS bolts on his way over that he perished right as he joined the fight.


The Akara ring was ok (3 LL,92 AR, 7 mana), we used it to replace the original Akara ring that had 9PR and extra gold. I remembered to change the player settings before the Countess this time, and she delivered with a bunch of orange:


Drops have been pretty poor, which is to be expected with just 25MF. However, Valryka has found a couple sets of really nice rare boots already. I would have loved any of these on other tourney chars, but figures these would drop when they can't actually be used...

Spoiler: Rare boot readouts

Bone Trample
Light Plated Boots
Defense: 16
Durability: 13 of 18
Required Level: 13
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x8fef4389
Item Level: 28
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Nova when struck
+10% Faster Hit Recovery
+37% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +19%
Poison Resist +20%
19% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Dire Brogues
Chain Boots
Defense: 11
Durability: 10 of 16
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0xad8ad450
Item Level: 33
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+13% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +38%
Poison Resist +29%
Half Freeze Duration
17% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Loath Track
Heavy Boots
Defense: 6
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 18
Fingerprint: 0xb73f617b
Item Level: 39
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Run/Walk
Heal Stamina Plus 25%
Lightning Resist +26%
Poison Resist +37%
22% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Repairs 1 Durability in 20 Seconds

Pitspawn was a pretty good battle, though we were never in any danger since the Valk took most of the beating. Scored a Sharp Grand Charm in the Jail Level 3. Could be very useful with Jab/Fend as a backup for LIs. We had a pretty tough fight against an extra fast tainted boss pack as soon as we opened the door to the Inner Cloister. We spent a few trips bouncing back and forth through the way point to re-cast the Valk and heal Kasim since healing pots weren't working fast enough to keep him alive. No NDEs but we needed to be on our toes because it could have gotten dangerous.


We actually hit another boss pack of extra fast tainted right at the entrance in Catacombs 1. This time the boss also had holy freeze, so this was really tough. Valryka has to get right into monsters faces to use CS/LS; being slowed causes all sorts of issues with D/E/A triggering. I would try to pick a monster on the edge of the pack to target but they had a tendency to move right when I clicked on them, so Valryka would run right into the pack instead of attacking and start triggering D/E/A instead of attacking or retreating. I was able to get a handle on the situation with good use of Decoy and combat casting the Valk on the opposite side of the pack. After we cleared it out I found a second boss drop, so there must have been a boss rat man pack involved at some point but LS took care of that before I'd noticed it.


Pretty poor drops all through the act, but we did find 3 flawless rubies within 3 rooms of each other in the Catacombs Level 3, so that was pretty cool. We also found our first blue maiden javs in the Catacombs 3, so we can try a safety craft later if we want. This might depend on if we can craft a decent safety spear for Kasim first though, and we currently only have 2 Sols. Took Andy on P8. Kasim and the Valk didn't last very long, but Valryka would just cast a Valk, get a few CS hits in while Andy killed the Valk, then run around until the timer finished and we could re-cast the Valk. Took a bunch of mana pots but wasn't that bad. Grabbed an early screenshot, Kasim is about 2 seconds from biting the dust:


Valryka, level 52 CS/LS Zon, Act 2 NM

So we've made it to the Orange part of the tourney! My crafting plan was as follows (I'll post all the read-outs in a spoiler below):

I had been intending to craft a safety amulet for the increased blocking chance, but only had 2 perfect emeralds at the start of Act 2 so I wanted to save those for safety weapons. Crafted a blood amulet instead, with excellent results!

I couldn't gamble a mesh/sharkskin belt, probably because at 52 we just aren't a high enough level yet. I have a recollection of mesh belts being sold at starting at level 54. Decided to do a hit power belt just for now, since I didn't want to burn any ammys/rubies on a 3 slot belt since I'll re-craft once I get a 4 slot belt. Actually had to craft a second hit power belt since the first one had a required level of 53... That one will be equipped once we gain 1 more level since it has strength and LR and the current one is very replaceable.

Decided to only craft one safety spear right now since I want to save my last Sol for a Lance/Yari. Got a decent pike craft, so hopefully Kasim will be able to survive for a while with a bit of extra LL from his blood armor and a more damaging weapon.

Also decided to craft a hit power ring since I had spares of Amns and sapphires and got a decent replacement for the NM Akara ring.

Final gearing change was a personalization of the Rhyme Tower Shield. Kasim (I re-hired Kasim as a HF merc, which actually took a few tries to get that combo to show up...) and Valryka are finally fully geared up and ready for Act 2. Everything we are using is crafted except for the javs, one ring, and the personalized Rhyme, so we're feeling quite orange!

Spoiler: Current Runes

Amn - 5
El - 9
Eld - 4
Eth - 7
Hel - 1
Io - 1
Ith - 5
Nef - 2
Ort - 5
Ral - 4
Shael - 1
Sol - 1
Tal - 3
Thul - 2
Tir - 9

Spoiler: Current Stats/Skills

Name: Valryka
Class: Amazon
Experience: 58792720
Level: 52

Naked/Gear
Strength: 75/84
Dexterity: 109/118
Vitality: 141/141
Energy: 15/15
HP: 535/644
Mana: 91/163
Stamina: 256/256
Defense: 27/330
AR: 515/3756

Fire: 58/18/-42
Cold: 72/32/-28
Lightning: 99/59/-1
Poison: 88/48/-12

MF: 38 Block: 68
GF: 50
FR/W: 16
FHR: 0
IAS: 0
FCR: 0

Inner Sight: 1/2
Critical Strike: 1/2
Dodge: 1/2
Slow Missiles: 1/2
Avoid: 1/2
Penetrate: 1/2
Decoy: 1/2
Evade: 1/2
Valkyrie: 6/7
Pierce: 0/0

Jab: 1/3
Power Strike: 4/6
Poison Javelin: 1/3
Impale: 0/0
Lightning Bolt: 1/3
Charged Strike: 20/22
Plague Javelin: 0/0
Fend: 0/0
Lightning Strike: 15/17
Lightning Fury: 0/0

Spoiler: Current Gear

Valryka:
Havoc Knot (Normal Ormus)
Ring
Required Level: 10
Fingerprint: 0xc274d18e
Item Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Charged Bolt when struck
3% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +3
Poison Resist +17%
+1 to Mana after each Kill

Pain Greaves (Caster craft)
Demonhide Boots
Defense: 33
Durability: 6 of 12
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0xf40791d6
Item Level: 54
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Run/Walk
+14 to Mana
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
Regenerate Mana 5%
Poison Resist +7%
5% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Imp Hold (Caster craft)
Demonhide Gloves
Defense: 45
Durability: 9 of 12
Required Level: 40
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0xa3c771c5
Item Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Bonus to Attack Rating
+27% Enhanced Defense
+5 to Dexterity
+10 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 8%
+2 to Mana after each Kill
+5 to Light Radius

Bramble Carapace (Caster craft)
Light Plate
Defense: 170
Durability: 46 of 60
Required Level: 40
Required Strength: 41
Fingerprint: 0xefe04da8
Item Level: 50
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+58% Enhanced Defense
+26 to Life
+11 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 7%
Cold Resist +10%
Lightning Resist +30%
+3 to Mana after each Kill

Order Emblem (Blood craft!)
Amulet
Required Level: 43
Fingerprint: 0xf984b8bb
Item Level: 50
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Amazon Skill Levels
+6% Faster Run/Walk
3% Life stolen per hit
+1 to Strength
+15 to Life

Glyph Veil (Blood craft)
Helm
Defense: 17
Durability: 16 of 24
Required Level: 41
Required Strength: 26
Fingerprint: 0x9322ed1e
Item Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
14% Chance to cast level 5 Charged Bolt when struck
2% Life stolen per hit
6% Deadly Strike
+14 to Life
Cold Resist +6%
Fire Resist +16%
Poison Resist +17%

Eagle Strap (Hitpower craft)
Heavy Belt
Defense: 11
Durability: 16 of 18
Required Level: 34
Required Strength: 45
Fingerprint: 0x5bcba466
Item Level: 50
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 4 Frost Nova when struck
+60% Enhanced Defense
+5 to Mana
Attacker Takes Damage of 4
7% Damage Taken Goes To Mana

Doom Strap (Hitpower craft for level 53)
Heavy Belt
Defense: 6
Durability: 15 of 18
Required Level: 53
Required Strength: 45
Fingerprint: 0xabfc1ed0
Item Level: 53
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 4 Frost Nova when struck
+15 to Strength
Lightning Resist +10%
Poison Length Reduced by 25%
Attacker Takes Damage of 7
7% Damage Taken Goes To Mana

Beast Circle (Hitpower craft)
Ring
Required Level: 52
Fingerprint: 0xf9c7adbd
Item Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 4 Frost Nova when struck
4% Life stolen per hit
+7 to Strength
+2 to Dexterity
+5 to Mana
Attacker Takes Damage of 5
8% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Storm Branch (Anya quest)
Maiden Javelin
Throw Damage: 9 - 26
One Hand Damage: 11 - 18
Quantity: 80
Required Level: 18
Required Strength: 33
Required Dexterity: 47
Fingerprint: 0x3df9ef0a
Item Level: 42
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)
Adds 3 - 4 Damage
+62 to Attack Rating
+70% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
Adds 1 - 87 Lightning Damage
4% Mana stolen per hit

Valryka's Rhyme
Tower Shield
ShaelEth
Defense: 25
Chance to Block: 44
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 75
Fingerprint: 0xc5312f18
Item Level: 33
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40% Faster Block Rate
20% Increased Chance of Blocking
Regenerate Mana 15%
All Resistances +25
Cannot Be Frozen
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
2 Sockets (2 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Eth Rune

Kasim:
Pain Shell (Blood craft)
Helm
Defense: 16
Durability: 13 of 24
Required Level: 26
Required Strength: 26
Fingerprint: 0x1cab398b
Item Level: 28
Version: Expansion 1.10+
3% Life stolen per hit
7% Deadly Strike
+28 to Life

Wraith Suit (Blood craft)
Plate Mail
Defense: 113
Durability: 31 of 60
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 65
Fingerprint: 0x5e3adeb9
Item Level: 52
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15 to Attack Rating
1% Life stolen per hit
+56 to Life
Damage Reduced by 3
+1 Life after each Demon Kill
+1 to Light Radius

Hailstone Mar (Safety craft)
Pike
Two Hand Damage: 18 - 84
Durability: 16 of 25
Required Level: 32
Required Strength: 60
Required Dexterity: 45
Fingerprint: 0xcfd0c86
Item Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
34% Enhanced Damage
+42 to Attack Rating
7% Mana stolen per hit
+8% Enhanced Defense
Damage Reduced by 2
Magic Damage Reduced by 2

Charms providing:
54 Life
27 Mana
34 LR
21 CR
7 FR
12 PR

***

Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Norcim     Valryka     Zon     52    A2 NM
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     49    A1 NM
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     28    A3 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     26    A3 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     17    A1 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N
zemaj      OUGNecro    Nec     1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress

--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

 

[Babyhell]

So... well, Act 1 is completed, all on p8, and a clean full clear (like, I mean, I never did that so precisely before). And surprisingly, ItsATrap fought Andy at clvl 21 oO

What was noticeable so far was... grmf. Countess was kind to drop a Ral (p8, so... I'm happy with that). And... that's it. Not even an El or Eth or whatever!!! I mean, come on... :-/

So now it will be time to... hope for a Tir to craft her weapon of choice for a veeeerrrrry long time. And somehow get naked due to A2+ limitations (well in fact white/grey items, but it's kinda the same - now grey/white with defensive desert merc, and an Akara ring with 8 LRes...yeehaa)!

Nice to read detailed progress and gear, thanks for sharing ;-)

See you!

***

Active

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------
Skiff      ColdFever   Sorc    56    A2 NM
Norcim     Valryka     Zon     52    A2 NM
PhineasB   Orange      Zon     49    A1 NM
Vildecor   Rowena      Sin     28    A3 N
Pb_pal     Elding      Pal     26    A3 N
Babyhell   ItsATrap    Sin     21    A2 N
Grisu      Lugh        Barb    1     A1 N
zemaj      OUGNecro    Nec     1     A1 N

Deeds

Spoiler: Deeds

Forumite   Character   Class   Lvl   Progress
--------   ---------   -----   ---   --------

 

[OldSoldier]

@Norcim, I fought a Black Hack tonight as well, a maggot type nearly at the hellforge. I loved reading IWs posts on those fights.

GaranDarkslayer made it past Diablo tonight. Here's some shots. Level 35.9 and ready to take on Baal!

Got this sweet amulet. Too bad we can't use it.


HF drop. Not too bad, even though the skull was a waste.


Took the big guy on /P3. Good thing too, as I went through about half my purple stash beating him. Since the drops are no big deal I don't see why we would punish ourselves except for extra challenge, which a holy fire paladin cannot reasonably expect to win in a fight like this.