[US East SC L] A Group test for next ladder season (Untwinked) der

[Ghist]

A little bit of background first. When thinking about ladder play I always seem to return my thoughts to first 3 weeks of 1.10 ladder and remember how much fun it was. At first I just played in normal public games and kept pushing forward with random people and on 2nd day of ladder me and 2 other players in 8 player game killed Hell Baal as 1st players in 1.10 ladder in Europe. From there on I started doing Hell Baal runs and a group of about 10-12 people formed and we ended up playing private Baal games. Sometimes someone was not online but due to having more than 8 people that regularly played together we had no real problems on getting a good party together. We also at one point started just sharing drops, which was quite enjoyable. In case someone died we always helped to get the body back. Basically most active people on the group could be found from top 20 positions from overall ladder rankings. Needless to say that due to being so visible on ladder top positions made people on the group a prime target for all hackers/script kiddies and many players took a hit with that account password recovery bug. This, the fact that some people started using hacks to advance in ladder race and my upcoming moving made me quit ladder race 3 weeks from the start of a ladder season. At that time most of the players in a group were between levels 94-96.

So as a preparation for upcoming ladder season I was thinking that I would like to test forming a good group, which would play together regularly starting untwinked from level 1 all the way to level 90 or more if people want to continue. This would not be continuous gaming but more likely a set times during a week in the evening when everyone could play for 2 to 3+ hours and if applicable more on weekend if everyone agrees. The drops would be shared first based on improving the group and secondarily as a way to balance the wealth coming from drops. For example if an Arreat's Face drops then if the group's barbarian does not have one yet, then it logically goes to him. This of course is a subject of further discussion and I'm confident that satisfactory method can be found.

When thinking about group composition we would have to keep in mind that builds based on best possible items are really not possible, so you can forget Enigma, BoTD and other high end runewords. If we get lucky we might be able to get runes for one, but it's unlikely. Also synergies between different character skills are highly valued as there really is no point in having 8 fire sorceresses in a team. A balanced team will be able to complete the game without any real speed bumps on the way. When finished at level 90 or maybe even 94 if people are willing to continue everyone should have a nice amount of good items and in case if we continue all the way to level 94 we all would have a great character for crafting and gambling. This would also be a good way to start playing again as the items you have or don't have play no role in this type of game. :thumbsup:

My possible playing hours are between 6 to 11.30 PM Central time. This does not mean I would be online all the time between this time, but I can quite easily plan games between those hours. My account is: Ghist2 in case you have any questions you want to ask me in private or you can post your possible playing times and questions here on this forum.

One additional thing: I don't want to see any cheating in these games and that means no Maphack. You heard it right, no MH or any other cheats like pickit. :spy:

[Metroid_01]

Sounds like a nice idea to me, i dunno what hours ill be on...but depending on when the ladder season ends i might be able to get on d2 as early as 4 pm. i think if we are to do this, though we need to call classes, so we can organze a balenced party.

anyway im in, acct Metroid_01

[oogthecaveman]

sounds like a good team. I may have to move to east when the ladder resets. depending on ping that is... does anyone know what Perth people ping like on useast?

[Ghist]

I do agree that the group should be planned as a whole group to avoid some of the pitfalls I have encountered with various groups I have played with earlier. There are several good choices that can be used. I try to briefly summarize few of them:

1. All paladin "Aura" party. This party would be pretty good on HC ladder due the fact that there are several very good group composition options giving huge bonuses to the group overall. for example this group could have 95% elemental resistances in hell naked. :surprise: This group is also very fun to play. The problem in here could be that some characters would not be that nice to play alone.

2. Physical damage group. This is one of the ideas I have never seen completely done, but t would be mostly based on delivering a huge physical damage. The required party members would be: 3 Paladins with Conviction, Fanaticism and Concentration auras, 2 Druids with Heart of the Wolverine and Oak Sage, 1 Barbarian with BO. Necromancer with AD and Multishot Amazon. This group should be able to dish out ridiculous physical damage, have very high life and hit with almost every swing regardless of AR. Conviction aura paladin could be switched to Sorceress for accessing Teleport and one form of area elemental damage.

3. Elemental Party. this one would mostly consist of Sorceresses with some support. Barbarian for BO, Paladin for Conviction, Trapper assassin for good lightning damage and maybe one hybrid Necro for additional crowd control and LR. This group would have a nice bonus of being really fast at doing Hell Baal runs and it could MF Baal very easily without losing hardly any speed over just doing Baal's Minions. A variation of this group uses 2 Conviction paladins so the group can split in some places and clear some areas even faster.

You can come up with other group ideas too. I'm not actually thinking on waiting until ladder resets before playing this out, but I would like to get some experiences on how this group would play out in untwinked environment that is going to be the situation when next ladder season starts. This would be a good opportunity for some players start from scratch and get a high level character without much frustration and some nice items eventually. :drool:

[y2krazy]

Since I dabbled in trying to run a clan, but have not been able to stay online and focused frequently enough as my first year in college has come to an end(a dreaded one, to say the least --- professors that don't care if you come to class really add to the disenthused feeling that takes me over when wanting to attend class). So, it would be nice to be a part of a "group" for once that is on regularly and that doesn't steal your stuff or scam your items(had an experience recently with a clan member --- one that I don't want to remember).

Anyways, for now I am willing to drop the clan scene and just get on some fun and enjoyable gaming. Let me know if you got an open spot! ^^

-y2k-

[AntiSheep]

I too would be interested in something like this. My account is *LonelyRenegade, let me know if you've got a spot. I can play weekdays, afternoons and evenings, EST.

[Ghist]

I too would be interested in something like this. My account is *LonelyRenegade, let me know if you've got a spot. I can play weekdays, afternoons and evenings, EST.

So far, we have a spot for everyone that has already posted on this thread. So that would make 5 players. We still need 3 more before more detailed planning can start.

[oogthecaveman]

As for the makeup, how about a powergroup:-
1 single tree sorc
1 barb (I'd like to see a frenzy barb with maxed shout and BO - goes well with the other builds)
1 druid (anything build that incorporates a high level oak sage)
1 summon necro specialising in skeleton warriors with poison nova as a backup skill
1 paladin with fanat as main aura
1 paladin with holy freeze as main aura
1 paladin with conviction as main aura
1 other char (the reason I haven't included a conc pally here is because from what I understand conc and fanat don't stack, and I reckon the bonuses from fanat would serve the party better than concentration, but then YMMV)

This group would rip through enemies with alarming speed. The mercs could be a mix of act2 and 3 mercs to add to the chaos (blessed aim, might, defiance, lightning, cold, fire, and the rest as you please)

[chicagobullit]

i'm interseted in playing the role of the summons necro. i've been playing necros almost exclusively since i bought the game. i've been playing non ladder the whole time and i'm looking forward to the ladder reset. let me know-
*chicagobullit

[fhpchris]

I'm in!

I'm a big fan of the all pally team. I can play all the time. *fhpchris

[Ghist]

Actually this team is pretty much all out physical damage with a minor splash of elemental damage. I do agree that this party composition is effective especially on early part of the game on normal and through NM.

Barbarian and druid would take care of the life problems quite nicely and reduce the risk of dying considerably. Actually in the group we played in Europe ladder we had 1 barbarian and one nice ww druid, which I remember quite warmly as he was a really cool guy. When our default Sorceress was still too weak to teleport, the druid ran to Throne. Having both is highly recommended, but in case we would have to drop one, I would keep barbarian due to BO boosting both life and mana. one very good option for a druid would be making bear with Fire Claws. I've seen one on early ladder days and it was really good. Stupidly high life, great tanking abilities and huge physical and fire damage.

Summon necro is excellent as it keeps the group from being swarmed and is very good crowd controller with curses. Especially Dim Vision and Attract are real life savers. I played summoner necro last time when ladder started and retired at level 96 on ladder week 3. This build is so strong that it can solo 8 player games without great gear using some intelligence. The only thing with this build is that it's frowned upon at high levels as people already have very good gear and they only complain about necro lag, while it really takes a combination of things in addition to skeletons to really lag the game. Summoner hybrid might be the best choice as that would let the necro finish act bosses faster due to hirelings doing less damage to act bosses. This build is IMHO the best build at retrieving character corpse from crowded areas. I remember being called to help with corpse retrieval outside our games on several occasions. Bone skills would be good secondary skill set. I have tried both poison and bone and noticed that as hybrid Summon/bone worked a bit better than Summon/poison hybrid.

Out f this group I would drop Holy freeze paladin as that can be taken care of by act2 NM mercenaries having the same aura. Also due to having conviction AR is not much of an issue as monster defense is reduced by about 90%. I would probably also drop that last unnamed paladin making it 2 paladins dropped and replace those with Trapper Assasin and one extra sorc. Then we could have both Blizzard sorc great for overall damage and then Meteor Sorc, which, aided by Conviction, would be excellent boss finisher having lots of MF. With these changes we would get massive benefit from Conviction.

Well, this is one possibility and I guess we will have much more discussion on group composition once we get full 8 players. Since chicagobullit and fhpchris are also joining us, that's 1 more player required before we have full group.

fhpchris: Would you still be interested if we end up having other character composition than full paladin party. You could of course play paladin as in any group we'll have at least 1-2 paladins.

[y2krazy]

I just want to thank you for helping me transfer all that stuff, Ghist(can I call you by your real name on here?)! Sometimes when I ask people to help me xfer, they take something out of what I drop, and neglect to inform me they did. Can't wait to get this "team" on the road, so let me know when things are in order, and if anyone wants to contact me, feel free to e-mail me, AIM me @ Moai03, or MSN me @ Metal_Fantasy@msn.com. ^^

-y2k-

[uncleanspirit]

i'm interested in this. The Lord only knows when they will reset the ladder. If they do count me in with a wind druid.

[Ghist]

i'm interested in this. The Lord only knows when they will reset the ladder. If they do count me in with a wind druid.

Seems we would have 8 players, so we can start more detailed planning. Just remember that I would like to play this before next ladder starts and also after it starts. :clap:

One practical extra thing to keep in mind with group dynamics is the effect of next delay, which can be a real pain unless taken into account when planning characters. Following snippet is taken from Assassin forums 1.10 FAQ. I urge you to read it carefully and to really understand what that means. We really do not want to have multiple nextdelay skills since it might be that your skill does no damage at all or your attack prevents another char from dealing damage:

Q: What's this NextDelay thing mean?

A: NextDelay is a property that activates a hidden "hit timer" that limits how often any attack from that group can damage a single target. This works similarly to the infamous spell timer, which limits how often any spell in that group can be cast. The difference is that the hit timer doesn't prevent you from attacking, it just sets everyone's chance-to-hit that monster (with a hit timer attack) at zero until the timer runs out.

Here's a list of skills that are affected by NextDelay, and the lengths of them:

25-Frame Delay (1 second)
Shock Web
Blade Sentinel
Twister
Tornado

10-Frame Delay (0.4 seconds)
Volcano (initial eruption)

6-Frame Delay (0.24 seconds)
War Cry
Grim Ward

5-Frame Delay (0.2 seconds)
Fissure
Volcano (small fireball)

4-Frame Delay (0.16 seconds)
Multi Shot
Strafe
Lightning Strike
Chain Lightning
Nova
Frost Nova
Poison Nova
Shock Wave
Fist of Heavens (Holy Bolts)
Wake of Fire
Claws of Thunder (only 2nd and 3rd charge charges have Next Delay. 1st charge does not trigger Next Delay)
Phoenix Strike (only 2nd Chain Lightning and 3rd Chaos Orb charge have Next Delay. 1st charge does not trigger Next Delay)
Dragon Flight
Battle Cry
Battle Command
Battle Orders

So, the moment a certain skill from the list damages a monster, it prevents every other skill on the list from hitting the said monster for the original skill's NextDelay duration (whether from you or any other character).

[AntiSheep]

I'd be interested in playing any kind of druid needed. Why don't we try and set a time for everyone to meet in a channel and talk in real time? I think that would speed the planning process up considerably. If there are no objections, I would suggest this Sunday night at 9:00 EST, in channel MadLeetHax0rz, for obvious sarcastic reasons.

[oogthecaveman]

If you're going to quote times, use zulu time (GMT). I know for a fact that my 21:00 EST is the better part of a day ahead of yours.

One thing about the party - I'd still really like to see the holy freeze paladin, his freeze is far better and he'll survive far better than a merc and also give us access to the freeze before nm. But then again, I wouldn't choose to go one, but I'd still like to see it left in as an option.

[Ghist]

One thing about the party - I'd still really like to see the holy freeze paladin, his freeze is far better and he'll survive far better than a merc and also give us access to the freeze before nm. But then again, I wouldn't choose to go one, but I'd still like to see it left in as an option.

Nm defensive act2 mercenary maxes HF at level 55 having total of 17 in that skill. Skill level 17 slows by 53% while skill level 20 slows by 54%. Even with having +10 to skills using level 30 HF, it will only slow by 56%. This difference is really small. The only significant difference is the area of effect, which can be countered by having 2 HF mercs. I do agree however that HF paladin is an option and not a bad one at all. It would go well with Avenger having Conviction aura always on.

Lets see what characters each player would like to play. Characters I definitely want to see on party are: Barb, druid, conviction paladin and necro.

Player -- Preferred character
Antisheep -- Druid?
chicagobullit -- Necromancer (Summoner+)
fhpchris -- Paladin/Amazon/Barbarian
Ghist -- Blizz or Meteor sorc
Metroid_01 -- Unknown
oogthecaveman -- Unknown
uncleanspirit -- Wind Druid
y2krazy -- Any character goes

[oogthecaveman]

I can play pretty well anything, but I'd like to try for either a frenzy barb or if you need an extra elemental attacker, possibly a lf amazon or lightning trapper. I've got a level 1 barb set up on a new useast acct if we're going to do a test run at any stage...

I was thinking... add a poison/summon necro in the mix, you'd have every type of damage covered, and poison necros dish out gratuitous damage when they want to...

Just think though:-
holy freeze + decrepify + clay golem = stationary enemies
Then you add the world of pain that's coming at them at the same time and it starts to sound like fun.

[AntiSheep]

If there are no objections, I'd like to play a fireclaws ww, with maxed oak sage, of course. The characters I see missing from the list right now then are the paladins. For best effect I'd think we would need both a fanatacism paladin and a conviction paladin. The holy freeze ought to be okay on mercs, if just because no one really wants to play a HF pally. Volunteers?

[uncleanspirit]

If anti sheep want to play a druid and we only want one in the group thats fine. I'll switch to a barb. I think we should look at how we'll function together. Its been my experience the a group built around these characters function really well in Baal runs

1) BO Barb - Warcries
2) Hammerdin - magic
3) Wind Druid - Physical/Cold plus OS
4) Javazon - Lightning
5) Summon Necro - Minions Physical/Elemental
6) Meteorb Sorcy - Fire Cold
7) Support Char - maybe strafe zon
8) Support Char - maybe avenger

Getting all the different Act 2 merc aura's is great plus a cold merc and lightning merc from act 3.

This is just my opinion and any way we finally go will be fine with me. As long as we have a good time and kick some minions butt I'll be happy :uhhuh:

Oh, probably should post my account: *uncleanspirit

Once we get this off the ground. I'll probably create a new account just for this group. I'll post it when we start.

[Ghist]

Just think though:-
holy freeze + decrepify + clay golem = stationary enemies
Then you add the world of pain that's coming at them at the same time and it starts to sound like fun.

That's why the preferred curse on act bosses is pretty much always Decrepity. Those bosses really move on slow motion and they tend to move less than normally, like Baal for example does not teleport that much with that curse on.


If anti sheep want to play a druid and we only want one in the group thats fine. I'll switch to a barb. I think we should look at how we'll function together. Its been my experience the a group built around these characters function really well in Baal runs

6) Meteorb Sorcy - Fire Cold
8) Support Char - maybe avenger

In 8 player group meteorb sorceress can barely damage monsters with FO. That's why single element sorc would be better in large group. Avenger should be in any group as the synergy it gives to almost all characters in game. The only mainstream build that does not get huge benefit is hammerdin.


Getting all the different Act 2 merc aura's is great plus a cold merc and lightning merc from act 3.

I would go with following mercenaries:
1. NM act 2 Holy Freeze merc ()
2. NM act 2 Holy Freeze merc ()
3. NM act 2 Might merc (Necromancer)
4. NM act 2 Thorns merc ()
5. Norm act 2 Defiance merc ()
6. Open
7. Open
8. Open

Act 3 cold and lightning mercs would be good for those spots, but it's really matter of taste.


As long as we have a good time and kick some minions butt I'll be happy :uhhuh:

We sure will kick monsters' butts like there is no tomorrow... :buddies:


I'll probably create a new account just for this group. I'll post it when we start.

I will also create us a group mule account and perm those mules using my 2nd computer.


Current preferred character roster looks following:

Player -- Preferred character
Antisheep -- Druid(fireclaws werewolf, likes Conviction)
chicagobullit -- Necromancer (Summoner+)
fhpchris -- Paladin/Amazon/Barbarian
Ghist -- Blizz or Meteor sorc(not meteorb)
Metroid_01 -- Unknown
oogthecaveman -- Barbarian(frenzy)/Amazon(lf)/Assassin(trapper)
uncleanspirit -- Druid/Barbarian
y2krazy -- Any character goes

More about conviction aura paladin. He's our Point Man, not just a support character, which means he's usually the first in line spearheading group movements unless group is temporarily divided to 2 sub groups in order to move though some areas faster. Point Man determines the speed of the game and no one should be rushing much ahead of Point Man. Keeping that in mind, our Point Man should not bottleneck any combat points like doorways, but to move forward and take on the baddest boss in sight. If we have people that get left behind, then Point Man should slow down a bit in order to regroup. This "responsibility" means that Point Man should have the best defense and good weapon in use all the time. This effectively means he will get current best armor and shield we have found and other gear to maxed resistances. :flip:

Another good approach to untwinked gameplay is to use designated "collectors" for various items. Since this is a no-twink game, we will be finding, crafting and gambling all the items we use. For that reason, we will have designated collectors. We will pick up any runes, gems, rings, ammys, socketed items and other items that seem of use to the party or otherwise good to keep for trading or for your other characters when we later divide the loot.

List of proposed collectors
Rune Collector: collecting, cubing and holding all runes the party finds
Blue Ring & Ammy Collector: hold all unwanted rings and ammys to cube up for party use
Gem Collector: collect all gems of flawed or better quality for cubing/party use
Skull Collector: collect ALL skulls to be cubed for party
Chip Collector: collect/hold all chips (except skulls and diamonds) for making weapons/for party use
Diamond Collector: collect ALL diamonds for cubing/party use
Sock Collector: collect and hold socketed items (2 or more sockets) for later use/rune words

Gem Shrines-Only the skull and diamond collectors will hit these shrines. We will be needing all the skulls and diamonds we can get for weapon leeching and shield resists. We will be saving our P skulls for cubing head gear later as well. Skull and diamond collectors are the only players exempt from picking up other gems while out in the field. This will allow them to carry only one diamond/skull in their inventory at one time so that they do not have to dump gems to hit the shrine. This can be changed so that for example we decide to remove diamond collector and use Ptopaz collector for getting us good quality gems for socketing those to weapons for early elemental damage.

Another nice this is that we will hit hellforge 8 times per difficulty, so that means we can pretty much guarantee any runewords having runes up to UM and one or 2 up to Gul. :thumbsup:

[AntiSheep]

This sounds really great. I'm envisioning great piled heaps of the bodies of our foes. See you all sunday night.

[y2krazy]

As for a "preference" on a character build for me, I would enjoy doing the opposite of your(Ghist's) sorc --- either meteor or blizz --- to balance the fire/ice element... ;)

-y2k-

[eNatural]

Hey, dunno if im too late but im incredibly interested in this. I would be interested in playing the role of a Fireclaw druid, i just came back to d2 some 3 days ago, and already have my current fireclaw bear @ 80 untwinked, and i do pretty well in most areas. I did mess up a bit on vitality, but im fine on life in a party with Bo on me, let me know, id be happy to restart another FC bear and build him around the party.

also, i would be interested in making either a pally or a sorc, was going to plan one of these two out anyway, so if you guys =could use me i'd make one of the 3, pally preferably, as my sorc was going to be for mf.

I wont be able to get on for a couple more hours, hit me up on AIM if you can, fel0n1ous is my SN.

*eNatural

[Ghist]

As for a "preference" on a character build for me, I would enjoy doing the opposite of your(Ghist's) sorc --- either meteor or blizz --- to balance the fire/ice element... ;)

-y2k-

I would be making a pure fire sorc. :idea:


Hey, dunno if im too late but im incredibly interested in this.

*eNatural

Thanks for showing that interest: We do have a full group, but in case someone cannot make it or does not want to start soon, then you are most welcome. I believe we are going to start playing next week.



This sounds really great. I'm envisioning great piled heaps of the bodies of our foes. See you all sunday night.

So if someone did not find out yet, we are going to meet on battle.net on channel "TheGroup". In case that one is already reserved, whisper to account Ghist2 for asking new channel.

Meeting times on Sunday are:

9 PM EST
8 PM Central
2 PM GMT

[Bloodangel666]

Hey, this sounds pretty cool, i am the brother of lonelyantisheep and i would like to join this if there is room, i can play whatever you guys need me to.

[Ghist]

OK, here we have the results of our late Sunday meeting:

Players and characters

Antisheep -- Conviction Paladin with ???? Merc
chicagobullit -- Necromancer with Might? Merc
Ghist -- Meteor Sorceress with Holy Freeze Merc
uncleanspirit -- Concetrate Barbarian with ???? Merc
y2krazy -- Blizzard Sorceress with ???? Merc
Reserved #1 -- Any char with area lightning damage
Reserved #2 -- Druid with ???? Merc
Reserved #3 -- Open, could be Fanaticism paladin


In order to be fair towards fhpchris, Metroid_01 and oogthecaveman, I hope you can confirm your participation by Monday evening 4/26/04 9 PM EST (8 PM Central). If not then the spots go in order of first email on this thread by given person. We have 2 people on the waiting line at the moment: eNatural and Bloodangel666 in that order. They did also participate our Sunday evening meeting.

I need everyone to think about your mercenary as those will be handy later on in a game or even early in a game. Eventually we will want to have a mercenary that's within 1 level from the character level. Look for proposed mercenaries list from one of the earlier emails.


First game(The Gathering)

The first game will be on Wednesday 4/28/04 10 PM EST (9 PM Central). For those relying on GMT it's 4/29/04 3 AM GMT. We all gather on channel: TheGroup before starting the game. Before we rush out to Blood Moor I'm going to take a screenshot of the whole party for archiving and maybe someone can post it on their web pages. I can already almost hear the monsters on Blood Moor trembling in fear... :uhhuh:

[y2krazy]

I have plenty of webspace at your leisure ... over 400 MB of space to be exact at this moment!

I am really looking forward to this group and it's adventures, but it's still in the air as to whether or not I will be able to make the Wednesday evening game(I'll try to make it, but another person may have my attention at the time). Gaming is good for the soul! ^^

My account for the group will be *y2krazy so that it shalt not be forgotten because it is what I use on here. :)

-y2k-

[oogthecaveman]

Sorry I didn't make it, I was out all weekend and didn't have net access. I'll bite the bullet and play the fanat paladin, because I really think one is necessary for the good of the group.
You may call me picky for this, but I'm not too sure if a concentrate barb is the best choice of barbarian. Considering the conviction pally is the tank, a quicker killing barb might be a better choice...

Anyway, my email is kurt_c0bain@westnet.com.au and my acct is *dr_d

[uncleanspirit]

Sorry I didn't make it, I was out all weekend and didn't have net access. I'll bite the bullet and play the fanat paladin, because I really think one is necessary for the good of the group.
You may call me picky for this, but I'm not too sure if a concentrate barb is the best choice of barbarian. Considering the conviction pally is the tank, a quicker killing barb might be a better choice...

Anyway, my email is kurt_c0bain@westnet.com.au and my acct is *dr_d

Concentrate has synergies with Battle Orders and Shout.

Give me Act 2 Defiance Merc

[Ghist]

Since oogthecaveman confirmed his participation the current confirmed player list looks like this:

Players and characters

Antisheep -- Conviction Paladin with ???? Merc
chicagobullit -- Necromancer with Act2 Might? Merc
Ghist -- Meteor Sorceress with Act2 Holy Freeze Merc
uncleanspirit -- Concetrate Barbarian with act2 Defiance Merc
y2krazy -- Blizzard Sorceress with ???? Merc
oogthecaveman -- Fanaticism paladin with ???? Merc
Reserved #1 -- Any char with area lightning damage
Reserved #2 -- Druid with ???? Merc

[oogthecaveman]

One last thing - the only reason I haven't listed a hammer paladin is for their ultra cheesiness. Yeah, they're great for slaughtering stuff, but they just don't sit well with me for some reason.

[Ghist]

One last thing - the only reason I haven't listed a hammer paladin is for their ultra cheesiness. Yeah, they're great for slaughtering stuff, but they just don't sit well with me for some reason.

I have the same reasoning here. Blizzard just screwed up big time with that character type. Irresistible massive area damage, best blocking in the game, huge gains from Vitality, excellent FHR and blockrate. In essence best qualities of fighter type character married with higher damage than most sorceresses can dish out without having to worry about any immunities. That is just plain sick. :rant:

[call911pj]

A little bit of background first. When thinking about ladder play I always seem to return my thoughts to first 3 weeks of 1.10 ladder and remember how much fun it was. At first I just played in normal public games and kept pushing forward with random people and on 2nd day of ladder me.......

Hey I would be more than happy to join you league. I am a fair player, dont cheat, etc... I just wanted to know, what's the difference between ladder and non-ladder and at the end of the ladder season, do my characters get erased. I will be able to play at almost any time after 3:00 pm and am quite flexible any time. I would appreciate a response. :thumbsup:

-Pete

my account username is: call911pj on US EAST LADDER

[call911pj]

Since oogthecaveman confirmed his participation the current confirmed player list looks like this:

Players and characters

Antisheep -- Conviction Paladin with ???? Merc
chicagobullit -- Necromancer with Act2 Might? Merc
Ghist -- Meteor Sorceress with Act2 Holy Freeze Merc
uncleanspirit -- Concetrate Barbarian with act2 Defiance Merc
y2krazy -- Blizzard Sorceress with ???? Merc
oogthecaveman -- Fanaticism paladin with ???? Merc
Reserved #1 -- Any char with area lightning damage
Reserved #2 -- Druid with ???? Merc


===============================================

I can play/lvl up a druid, I have a sorc wit chain lite and i also have a phoenix assassin if needed. Plz take this into note. :scratch:

-pete

[call911pj]

===============================================

I can play/lvl up a druid, I have a sorc wit chain lite and i also have a phoenix assassin if needed. Plz take this into note. :scratch:

-pete

I also have a fanat paladin if needed and a summoning necro

Also a suggestion: why dont we make a channel, say... anything that sounds good to meet in. alrighty, wish i could join, thanx, and no hard feelings if i cant... :howdy:

[Ghist]

As I mentioned earlier us hitting hellforge total of 24 times and counting in some runes we will definitely find during our playtime, we will almost certainly have access to any rune words requiring runes up to Mal-Gul. We might not get Mal-Gul, but given the fact that hellforge is not the only place where these can drop I have added those into this short analysis of some of the useful rune words. I start from new rune words this time.

Crescent Moon (Shael Um Tir) A nice rune word, which is best in the hands of fast hitting character as the cream of this weapon is chance to cast high level static field. Another good target for this weapon is putting it to elite polearm and giving it to act2 mercenary. On my summoner Necromancer I used it on my might merc and it really did make huge difference on killing speed. A good thing to remember is that Fanaticism helps a lot in speeding up attacks thus increasing Static field triggering frequency.

Delirium (Lem Ist Io) +2 to skills is very nice on this rune word and making it to either druid pelt or barbarian helmet with innate skills is gravy. +5 total to Tornado, Fire Claws or Battle Orders is just crazy. This helmet is also very good on character that is a bit fragile, since those when hit triggers are real lifesavers. I used this one on my summoning necro and I can honestly say this helmet saved my char many times in situations where any other helmet would have just let my char die off. There is nothing like getting swarmed by frenzytaurs in frenzy and getting saved by triggered effect.

Gloom (Fal Um Pul) I do not remember ever seeing this armor on anyone or they just have not talked about it. It has a nice defense and good resistances, but considering the runes and the fact that you can have more resists and FHR on Smoke rune word with the price of only Nef and Lum, it seems a bit lacking. It would be good as a mercenary armor if made on ethereal elite armor.

Kingslayer (Mal Um Gul Fal) This rune word is once again very good on fast hitting characters as it has good ed%, IAS and Crushing Blow. Not forgetting Prevent Monster Heal which makes this very good against monsters with high regeneration rates like Diablo clone for example. This weapon also gives 1 point Vengeange skill that can be used against physical immunes in case Amplify damage cast by necromancer does not remove immunity. Bad side about this rune word is the fact that it requires many very good runes, that could be used on other rune words.

Passion (Dol Ort Eld Lem) Iron Maiden can be a real pain on many melee characters completely shutting them down unless they have Berserk or use some very low physical damage wand/orb with high elemental damage. Getting Berserk skill is the primary benefit of this weapon. Getting Zeal skill is just a small bonus as many of the melee characters really are better attack forms if they aren't Paladins. Normally I would see this weapon on weapon switch in case of encountering Oblivion Knights.

Sanctuary (Ko Ko Mal) Very nice rune word for making a shield with lots of essential mods in one package. Of course it's missing DR, but the experience as shown it to be very good shield on sorceresses teleporting down to Throne on Baal runs. Making this in good paladin base shield is just funny sometimes as you can have more than +100% to all resistances just from the shield. Although I think most paladins will prefer HoZ over this one. =20 to Dex on this rune word helps nicely in achieving 75% blocking.

Stone (Shael Um Pul Lum) Nice armor with very high defense. The biggest bonus on having this armor seems to be a huge bonus to faster hit recovery making it easy to reach almost whatever FHR breakpoint you will be looking for. This one is really good on mercenary armor if made on high defense ethereal elite armor. In this case the defense can be over 3000 from the armor alone.

Another update about the group composition coming up around 9 PM Central today.

[Ghist]

Hey I would be more than happy to join you league. I am a fair player, dont cheat, etc... I just wanted to know, what's the difference between ladder and non-ladder and at the end of the ladder season, do my characters get erased. I will be able to play at almost any time after 3:00 pm and am quite flexible any time. I would appreciate a response. :thumbsup:

-Pete

my account username is: call911pj on US EAST LADDER

Thanks for showing your interest on this playing group. the primary group composition should be decided this evening since we had 2 spots free. Reservations for those spot are going to fhpchris and Metroid_01 providing they will let me hear about whether or not they will participate by 9 PM EST on this evening. If I do not get a confirmation from these people by that time then the spots are filled in the order of first email on this thread. Currently we have 3 players on the waiting line.

When ladder season ends all ladder characters along with their gear will be moved to non-ladder and everyone on ladder starts again from scratch. As what comes to difference the fact that when new ladder season starts you start with nothing using 1st level character. then ladder hell is harder than non-ladder hell and some items can only drop in ladder games. In ladder you also have some cube recipes that are not available on non-ladder.


I can play/lvl up a druid, I have a sorc wit chain lite and i also have a phoenix assassin if needed. Plz take this into note. :scratch:

I also have a fanat paladin if needed and a summoning necro

We do all start playing from level 1 untwinked meaning you cannot transfer any equipment from your other characters for your new character. We are probably going to need some filler characters during some of our games as with 8 players it is not so easy to find common playing time, that would fir for everyone. In case we need to get more players if someone cannot make it to the next agreed game, then the first person from a waiting list can be invited. Notice that the character played by that invited player should be also untwinked and really close to the level of the other players in the group. is players in the group are on level 21-22, it's quite ok to come in with character that is between levels 19 to 24. In no case should that character have done any of the quests that the group has not completed. Keeping this in mind I will write a post on this thread after each game letting everyone on the waiting list know the current situation with levels and how far we have progressed in the game.

[AntiSheep]

As I'll be the point man for the group, I think it would be best for me to get an act 2 Holy Freeze merc, so everything will be nice and slow by the time everyone shows up. By the way, my brother, Bloodangel666, really wants that lightning fury javazon spot. See you all wednesday night.

[Metroid_01]

Woo 30 min to cutoff and Metroid makes it ^^.
ty very very very much Ghist for the reminder, i woulda been very annoyed if i missed this. :winner:
neway i guess ill put in a wind druid, was planning to make one anyways.
ooh and 1 suggestion.. we need a sorta tag or something, just for these chars to make them "noticed" remember VET anyone? that group of about 6 ppl TOOK OVER the us east sc ladder for atleast a month. i think it would be pretty interesting if we did that.. what do you all think? obviously this assumes we stick it through whenever ladder resets...that would be nice tho eh?
hey anti we need ur bro in here if thats the case, if he is good with lightning zons this group is calling for im :)

Edit: ooh sry, merc... well most of the a2 guys are taken. i could go with norm offencive (blessed aim i think) but we got a convict pally dont we? that means ar is pretty much pointless. so i think id just stick with a good old act1 norm bowazon. if anyone wants me to take another though, i have no complaints.

continuing to analyze the party. depending on the type of nec we get.. that lightning chara is going to be absolutely vital. we have convict which at 20 or so has -150% res, and a necro can get -50-60% res with 10 to lower resist. i suggest that we rethink how this party works a bit if that is the case.
elementalists will tear through all very easily even in hell. 2 paladins and a barb are shields, if i am to make a wind druid, i will need to have "some" taking ability to get my hits in. i think this can work out nicely.

[AntiSheep]

It looks like my brother won't be in, since eNatural is next in line.

Antisheep -- Conviction Paladin with Holy Freeze Merc
chicagobullit -- Necromancer with Act2 Might? Merc
Ghist -- Meteor Sorceress with Act2 Holy Freeze Merc
uncleanspirit -- Concetrate Barbarian with act2 Defiance Merc
y2krazy -- Blizzard Sorceress with ???? Merc
oogthecaveman -- Fanaticism paladin with ???? Merc
Metroid_01 -- Wind Druid with Act 1 Merc
eNatural -- FC Druid with ???? Merc

Physical - Fanatacism Pally, Conc Barb
Poison - Necromancer(?)
Fire - Meteor Sorc, FC Druid
Ice - Blizzard Sorc
Lightning - None
Fire/Ice/Lightning - Conviction Pally
Physical/Ice - Wind Druid

Tanks - Two Pallys, Conc Barb, FC Druid, Wind Druid
Casters - Two sorcs, Necro

We're still short a source of lightning damage. I think the only characters we could live without as things stand are the fanatacism pally and the druids. Fanatacism because that pally himself and the conc barb are the only ones relying on physical damage from melee attacks, and the druids because the elemental damage they have is already covered. If one of you guys would switch to a LF Amazon or a lightning trapsin, that would give us four casters and 4 tanks, as well as every type of damage, a more balanced party than the one we have now, in my opinion.

[oogthecaveman]

What about switching the fireclaws druid (since fire is more than covered with a single tree sorc) and putting in a tesla zealot? It means another source of phys damage and very painful elemental hitting (5 x 5K of lighting with zeal once you max holy shock and the synergies, not to mention close to 1K of lightning damage from the aura). I'd say keeping the fanat paladin would be a smart idea, because once the skeletal warriors start arcing up, the bonus fanat gives them is amazing.
At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter if you're down on one element, no monster is immune to 3 and the damage output of the entire group is pretty sickening.

Wouldn't the wind druid be classed as a caster?
Anyone care to do the maths and work out how powerful the skeletal warriors would be when they were maxed and fully buffed by the team (bo, shout, oak sage and fanaticism)

[Metroid_01]

Yah we might wanna get some source of lightning damage into this party. wind druid is a caster, but a very odd kind of caster. he deals in physical damage and is also pretty good at taking a hit. hes like a sorta caster/melee, but doesnt actually melee anything. id hafta say the wind druid is as much caster as ww and smite are melee in MOST pvp duels. ogg we dont need math for the skellies, we allready know they would prolly die less than half the players at that point :-D they are gonna be absolutely SICK.
i really think the best source of lightning damage is a light fury zon. they can hit almost everything on screen, they do excellent damage and they dont have to suffer from the terrible results of many things melee charas have to. although telsa is more centered for the one immune unique that will be when he is most truely needed.
(not saying telsapally is useless, just that when elementalists like that are most useful is when the other elements or physical damage are being negated.)
its really about what you want more. the zon will take out large groups faster, but the paladin will take out small groups/uniques faster. having 3 paladins may not be a great idea anyways, then item wars start to occur.
as is we have 2 paladins, 2 sorcs, 2 druids, a nec, and a barb. items are allready going to be hard to split up, its best if we do not make too many of 1 class to further complexify things.

[oogthecaveman]

I forgot about the gear... ok, zon then.

[Bloodangel666]

Hey guys, just wanted to say im sorry that i couldnt make it in and good luck to u guys, hope u do well on the ladder

[Metroid_01]

Hehe ty, coughstopkissingupcough :P
seriously though, just keep payin attention. if an opening happens it could be you. like...someone said earlier if one is out a certain day, someone in line can take that persons place for a while. i mean the line is what? like 2 ppl long? you have a good shot of getting some action in.

[AntiSheep]

So, oog, metroid, and eNatural, if one of you guys would be willing to switch to a LF amazon, that would take care of everything pretty nicely, i think.

[oogthecaveman]

Even though the wind druid is a wierd mishmash of phys and cold damage, I'd still like one in the group. I've already stated that I don't think the group can function to full potential without a fanat paladin ( I mean, I wanted to play a frenzy barb, but I don't think we should be thinking about giving someone a beast runeword just yet...), so keeping that in mind, the best choice would be removing the fire druid who is outgunned by the meteor sorc.

I'll be switching from fanat to whatever aura is best for the party at any given time, so meditation, cleansing and salvation are all on the cards, and that's why I want 2 paladins - at least one offensive aura at all times.

[Ghist]

Monday night update:

Players and characters

Antisheep -- Conviction Paladin with Act2 Holy Freeze Merc
chicagobullit -- Necromancer with Act2 Might? Merc
Ghist -- Meteor/FB Sorceress with Act2 Holy Freeze Merc
uncleanspirit -- Concentrate Barbarian with Act2 Defiance Merc
y2krazy -- Blizzard Sorceress with ???? Merc
oogthecaveman -- Fanaticism paladin with ???? Merc
Metroid_01 -- Druid with Act1 Rogue Merc
eNatural -- Any char with area lightning damage




As I'll be the point man for the group, I think it would be best for me to get an act 2 Holy Freeze merc.

I agree completely and we can have more than one HF merc in the group. :thumbsup:


continuing to analyze the party. depending on the type of nec we get.. that lightning chara is going to be absolutely vital. we have convict which at 20 or so has -150% res, and a necro can get -50-60% res with 10 to lower resist. i suggest that we rethink how this party works a bit if that is the case.
elementalists will tear through all very easily even in hell. 2 paladins and a barb are shields, if i am to make a wind druid, i will need to have "some" taking ability to get my hits in. i think this can work out nicely.

I do agree that we want to have lightning element on the party in area of effect form. Good choices for this role are Trapper Assassin and LF Amazon. I did not mention Lightning Sorceress due to having too many sorcs and because CL has Nextdelay and so does Tornado, so effectively CL sorc would be missing a lot if playing in same group with Wind Druid.

BTW, think about having both AD and Conviction on monsters at the same time and then necro using CE. Quite interesting results. LR and conviction can also be used together to 1st break immunity and then lower it even more. only one of the 2 breaks immunity, other one lowers resistances fully. :idea:


Hey guys, just wanted to say im sorry that i couldnt make it in and good luck to u guys, hope u do well on the ladder

Do you want us to put you on the filler list?


I'll be switching from fanat to whatever aura is best for the party at any given time, so meditation, cleansing and salvation are all on the cards, and that's why I want 2 paladins - at least one offensive aura at all times.

Our Fanaticism paladin is our 2nd in line Point Man in case we divide the group in 2 in some areas to clear them up faster...


1 suggestion.. we need a sorta tag or something, just for these chars to make them "noticed" remember VET anyone? that group of about 6 ppl TOOK OVER the us east sc ladder for atleast a month. i think it would be pretty interesting if we did that.. what do you all think?

Well it's up to players. I do not want to force naming convention unless everyone is OK with it. What comes to the group name I'm open for suggestions. My own suggestion is The 5th Element or in short form 5E. The reasoning behind the name is that at this point I assume would would have 4 damage types + Conviction paladin(5th). In case we get poison too, then we could just up the number by one. The thing with Conviction is that it helps to deal all those 4 damage types in one way or another.


I hope everyone can make up their mind about what merc to choose. In case chicagobullit will make summoner or hybrid summoner, then it would be nice for someone to have Thorns merc. Returned damage would be about 970%, then factor in possible AD and monsters get hit back 19 times the damage they inflict.

[oogthecaveman]

oogthecaveman -- Fanaticism paladin with Thorns Merc


Our Fanaticism paladin is our 2nd in line Point Man in case we divide the group in 2 in some areas to clear them up faster...


I guess that makes sense. I'll take the phys damage group and sheep takes the others.



I hope everyone can make up their mind about what merc to choose. In case chicagobullit will make summoner or hybrid summoner, then it would be nice for someone to have Thorns merc. Returned damage would be about 970%, then factor in possible AD and monsters get hit back 19 times the damage they inflict.

I've decided to bite the bullet and choose a thorns merc. Considering that I'm most likely going to get hit a lot and be hanging around the necro a fair bit, it makes sense that I should probably get that job. Now if I can just equip myself with an exile runeword and stick a doom weapon on the merc...

[Ghist]

One more thing, please choose a collector from the list below for your character. Our Point Man is excluded from collecting role for obvious reasons. I can start by taking the role of rune collector. During the game, especially at late parts of NM we will be crafting a lot and eventually once we start getting flooded with perfect gems, we can start cubing up skill grand charms.

List of proposed collectors
Rune Collector(=Ghist): collecting, cubing and holding all runes the party finds
Blue Ring & Ammy Collector: hold all unwanted rings and ammys to cube up for party use
Gem Collector: collect all gems of flawed or better quality for cubing/party use
Skull Collector: collect ALL skulls to be cubed for party
Chip Collector: collect/hold all chips (except skulls and diamonds) for making weapons/for party use
Diamond Collector: collect ALL diamonds for cubing/party use
Sock Collector: collect and hold socketed items (2 or more sockets) for later use/rune words

[chicagobullit]

hey guys whats up. about wednesday night- we are all starting from scratch right?
for my build, i'm going to need the might merc.
now do you want me to be a summoner/poisoner? that is my current build and it's doing fine because i play solo. i can solo all of hell but i am also wearing full trangs, sojs, maras, etc. i don't know how viable poison nova is in players 8. it also lags the whole room.
i was thinking of the fishymancer build. if you're not familiar with it check the build guides at the top of the necromancer forum.
i would put a lot of points into corpse explosion because IMO it is one of the most powerful spells in the game, and can take down a whole pack of enemies at once.
i wont use any mages or revives. i wanna keep lag to a minimum.
my ladder accnt will be *chicagobullit2
-john

[Ghist]

hey guys whats up. about wednesday night- we are all starting from scratch right?

You got that right, we all start from level 1 with a fresh character meaning they have no quests, no waypoints ad no items from other characters.


for my build, i'm going to need the might merc.

Having played summoner in ladder I was pretty sure about you wanting to have Might merc.


now do you want me to be a summoner/poisoner? that is my current build and it's doing fine because i play solo. i can solo all of hell but i am also wearing full trangs, sojs, maras, etc. i don't know how viable poison nova is in players 8. it also lags the whole room.
i was thinking of the fishymancer build. if you're not familiar with it check the build guides at the top of the necromancer forum.

Fishymancer would work very nicely. Poison works OK too, but really requires quite a gear to be really effective on 8 player games. It's doable though, but often means having less minions in order to pump LR and get other curses.


i would put a lot of points into corpse explosion because IMO it is one of the most powerful spells in the game, and can take down a whole pack of enemies at once.
i wont use any mages or revives. i wanna keep lag to a minimum.
my ladder accnt will be *chicagobullit2
-john

CE is a very good skill even on 8 player games.

[Ghist]

Here's some cube recipes we will be using on normal and early parts of NM. This is by no means comprehensive list of all cubing recipes, but contains those recipes that I could easily see us using during the game:

6 Perfect Gems (1 of each type) + 1 Amulet (any quality) = Prismatic Amulet
Since this recipe always produces an amulet with 16% to 20% to all resistances, I could easily see some use for almost any character in case we have not been lucky enough to find better amulets otherwise. Amulet created by this method has a chance to get suffix too, making it potentially a very good amulet.

Diamond (any quality) + 1 Staff + 1 Kris + 1 Belt = Savage Polearm Class Weapon
Once we get to act2 I see many of us hiring act2 mercenary and then we are in need of good weapons for them. Here's our answer. This weapon will get 66% to 80% enhanced damage and can also receive suffix too.

3 Normal Gems and 1 Socketed Weapon = 1 Socketed Magic Weapon (of same type)
Here we have the good old 1.09 chipped gem recipe in a slightly different package. This one works only once and produces 1-2 sockets in addition of making the weapon magical with possibility of getting both prefix and suffix. Item level(30)

3 Chipped Gems + 1 Magic Weapon = Socketed Magic Weapon
Same as the above, but has lower item level(25)

3 Flawless Gems + 1 Magic Weapon = Socketed Magic Weapon
Same as the above, but has higher item level(30)

Armor, Weapon, Shield and Helmet socketing recipes
These recipes work on non-magical items and produce random number of sockets only limited by max number of sockets on an item. It's always a bit of a gamble to use these, but it can save some time instead of waiting to find already socketed item with correct number of sockets. I have used socketing for formula sometimes on Paladin shields. Say you happen to find nice base paladin shield with no sockets and 35% inherent resistance to all. You know the max number of sockets it can get is 4, but you would rather get one with 2 sockets for Rhyme or 3 for Ancient's Pledge. Then I definitely would try it out. especially since Rhyme has all important Cannot be Frozen mod.

Armor and Weapon quality upgrade recipes for Rares and Uniques
Since rares can be so much better on 1.10 than they ever were on 1.09, especially weapons, we really should pick up every rare we encounter and at least verify the mods. One good example of just picking up a normal quality rare once resulted me getting following weapon after 2 rare upgrades: Diamond Bow with following mods: 439%ed, 20% IAS, 235 AR, 1-133 lightning damage and 4% Mana Leech.

In addition to these there are 4 different types of crafted item categories, which can result in pretty amazing items for developing party and in the end some of those items can be the most valuable items with effects that cannot be duplicated by any available uniques, sets or rares.

[uncleanspirit]

Here's some cube recipes we will be using on normal and early parts of NM. This is by no means comprehensive list of all cubing recipes, but contains those recipes that I could easily see us using during the game:



Being a hardcore player only in 1.09, here are what I feel are the three most important cube recipes in hardcore and softcore. I use these more then any other recipe.

3 health potions + 3 mana potions = 1 partial rejuvenation potion

3 health potions + 3 mana potions + any gem = 1 full rejuvenation potion

3 partial rejuvs = 1 full rejuv

Also in the early game us melee types should look at these rune words. They are cheap and will beat just about any low level unique out there:

Steel Tir + El
+20 ED
+3 min dam
+3 max dam
+50 AR
50% Open Wounds :thumbsup:
+1 Light
+2 mana/kill
+25 IAS

Strength Amn + Tir
+35 ED
25% Crushing Blow :thumbsup:
7% Life Steal
+2 mana/kill
+10 vit
+20 str

[Metroid_01]

Also in the early game us melee types should look at these rune words. They are cheap and will beat just about any low level unique out there:

Steel Tir + El
+20 ED
+3 min dam
+3 max dam
+50 AR
50% Open Wounds :thumbsup:
+1 Light
+2 mana/kill
+25 IAS

Strength Amn + Tir
+35 ED
25% Crushing Blow :thumbsup:
7% Life Steal
+2 mana/kill
+10 vit
+20 str

Yah those are nice, dont forget for casters,
Leaf (tir + ral) (staves)
Adds 5-30 Fire Damage
+3 To Fire Skills
+3 To Fire Bolt (Sorceress Only)
+3 To Inferno (Sorceress Only)
+3 To Warmth (Sorceress Only)
+2 To Mana After Each Kill
+ (2 Per Character Level) +2-198 To Defense (Based On Character Level)
Cold Resist +33%

and lore (ort + sol) rather cheap caster helm
+1 To All Skill Levels
+10 To Energy
+2 To Mana After Each Kill
Lightning Resist +30%
Damage Reduced By 7
+2 To Light Radius

Stealth (tal + eth) amazing caster runeword and very cheap as well (armors)
Magic Damage Reduced By 3
+6 To Dexterity
+15 To Maximum Stamina
Poison Resist +30%
Regenerate Mana 15%
25% Faster Run/Walk
25% Faster Cast Rate
25% Faster Hit Recovery

i personally like the runeword Nadir (nef + tir) but its 5/9 charges for cloak when u make it is really damaging to the gold. (helmets)
+50% Enhanced Defense
+10 Defense
+30 Defense vs. Missile
Level 13 Cloak of Shadows (9 Charges)
+2 To Mana After Each Kill
+5 To Strength
-33% Extra Gold From Monsters
-3 To Light Radius


nadir is prolly better for melee chars, but the other three are excellent caster runewords, and the rarest rune between them is sol (lvl 27 or 29).


Edit: about your earlier post Ghist, as for collecting items i can do anything you wish. i tend to be a bit of a packrat, collecting stuff i believe i can sell for lotsa gold so i would be best suited taking on gems or something small.

[Ghist]

Also in the early game us melee types should look at these rune words. They are cheap and will beat just about any low level unique out there:

Steel Tir + El
+20 ED
+3 min dam
+3 max dam
+50 AR
50% Open Wounds :thumbsup:
+1 Light
+2 mana/kill
+25 IAS

Strength Amn + Tir
+35 ED
25% Crushing Blow :thumbsup:
7% Life Steal
+2 mana/kill
+10 vit
+20 str

These 2 rune words are quite good ones really. As a rune collector it will be my task to keep record on which rune words we can make at any point. Tir El should be achievable late act1 or early act2 for sure. With Steel I believe by the end of Act3 or mid Act4 we can have our first Amn rune for making this nice early level rune word.

By early Act5 we will get our hands on total of 8 Ort + 8 Ral + 8 Tal for sure. Also before that we have done Hellforge 8 times too. Some people might need these for making Ancient's Pledge, but with some additions we will have some nice alternatives as Ancient's Pledge is just for resistances and same or more can be obtained by using diamonds in a shield. I believe our resident Point Man would be very interested on this weapon once he gets his Conviction aura:

Holy Thunder Eth + Ral + Ort + Tal
+60% Enhanced Damage
-25% Target Defense
Adds 5-30 Fire Damage
Adds 21-110 Lightning Damage :surprise:
+20 Poison Damage Over 1 Second
+10 To Maximum Damage
Lightning Resistance +60% :thumbsup:
+5 To Maximum Lightning Resistance
+3 To Holy Shock (Paladin Only)
Level 7 Chain Lightning (60 Charges)


Using only runes from El to Amn there are 10 different runewords to choose from and some of them are actually quite good. Since we have 8 players in the game we will see lots of runes dropping.

[uncleanspirit]

Are we still meeting tonight and if so, is it going to be the same times and place we met before? I'll be online under my main account tonight and I'll also be checking this thread on occcasion also. I posted the previous meeting times below and the channel was The Group I think.

Meeting times are:

9 PM EST
8 PM Central
2 PM GMT

[Ghist]

Are we still meeting tonight and if so, is it going to be the same times and place we met before? I'll be online under my main account tonight and I'll also be checking this thread on occcasion also. I posted the previous meeting times below and the channel was The Group I think.

Meeting times are:

9 PM EST
8 PM Central
2 PM GMT

We are still going to play today after the realm maintenance is done. It should be done by 9 PM Central. The first game will be on Wednesday 4/28/04 10 PM EST (9 PM Central). For those relying on GMT it's 4/29/04 3 AM GMT. We all gather on channel: TheGroup before starting the game.

BTW: Since y2krazy cannot make it today we can take 8th player to fill his spot from the waiting line if someone is interested. :creep: :creep: :creep:

[Metroid_01]

ah....10 pm. it seems so far away. :hanky:
hehe i hope to see atleast the 7 remaining people there tonight... im starting to get real excited.

[AntiSheep]

How is this waiting/filler list going to work? Are they going to play the absentees characters for them, or just bring in random ones? I'm wondering because the former could be kind of tricky and the latter doesn't seem very helpful, since we all want to level up together.

[Metroid_01]

I believe..someone allready covered this. what we plan to do is have the people in line keep within a few lvls of us.. for instance is all of our charas are around lvl 25, you could join in being from like 22-28 or something, and level with us as a "filler" to cover the 8th spot.

[AntiSheep]

I get that, I think, but why? Why have random characters come along if they're not going to be part of our super group dynamic, and if the real character who isnt there is falling behind. Would they have to make that up on their own?

[Metroid_01]

Probably, but well either way the person is gone. we arent stopping an entire day of work just for a single person. i guess that person is gonna hafta catch up on his own, but until he does i guess the ppl in line get some action ^^. remember this isnt my idea either, and plus this is yer choice, you dont HAVE to keep up. its only a suggestion in case you want to be with the group for a while. i gotta admit its gonna be really really boring for you though. no matter what there will be that extra space, so why not add someone in if they are relitively close in lvl.

[Ghist]

I get that, I think, but why? Why have random characters come along if they're not going to be part of our super group dynamic, and if the real character who isnt there is falling behind. Would they have to make that up on their own?

I can create another character and play with that person who was left behind so that that person catches up with others for the next game.

On 1st game, since we start from level 1, a filler character is of course a "copy" of a missing person. I think we have to discuss what to do in case we are not in level one and all agree on how to make it work...

[Cod]

i play on west so i won't be able to get involved, but with a large party like this, you've got to have an enchantress. every merc, every melee player, an entire necro summoning army getting a poopload of fire damage, i see nothing wrong with that. she probably wouldn't be able to do much killing herself though in an 8 player game without some very good gear, but i think having an enchantress would help you guys out a lot.

[AntiSheep]

I think the best way to do would be to just play with seven people, and have someone help the missing character out later, or have them catch up on their own. On the topic of enchantresses: it might help, but I think we're better off the way things are configured now.

[Metroid_01]

I dont think anyone noticed the enchantress thing. the idea is nice though. its too bad we are starting in less than 3 hours or else that might have been put in there...somehow :). Either way, Ghist can *sorta* use his sorc like an enchantress, we just gotta get him some nice sorc skill items ^^. 1 pt to enchant with high mastery and fair + skills is still very useful.

[oogthecaveman]

The enchantress is a nice idea, but you really only need one for power levelling a group. Enchantresses are also a pretty boring class to play, especially in this group because she would get none of the good melee equipment, that going to the 2 paladins with the barbarian in line behind them, the druid after that...

I'll be collecting diamonds if nobody has any objections...

I'm a bit of a necro fiend, so I'm going to have a bit of a rant about the fishymancer:-

Corpse explosion isn't really a top spell for 8 player games, the damage doesn't scale and you'd be best served putting points into a more useful skill. One point is fine when +skills are taken into account (which is later game when you'd want to spam it on occasion).
I know people have a real affinity for amp damage, but I also think it's a one pointer, save your points for decrepify. Decrepify reduces phys resistance by 50% and amp damage increses phys damage by 100% both of which mean the same thing. Factor in the slowdown and your skeletons get more hits in which means more damage.
Try pumping clay golem with about 10 points or more, this makes him practically invulnerable even in hell 8 player games. The slowdown on hell baal is sickening.
Leave revives at 5 points only. This is more than enough (I usually go with 1-3) and will net you at least 15 minions later in the game.
Once you've maxed this build out (say level 70 or so) why not try maxing mages. The conviction from the lead paladin means they'll actually be hurting enemies with decent damage.
Don't forget to life tap when the guys in the front line are in need of healing - one hit and full health is a good thing...

Ok... that's a lot more than I was intending to write, but I think it was helpful... no?

[oogthecaveman]

Apparently I'm wrong about the amp increasing phys damage by 100%, it actually lowers it by 100%. So amp is better at improving damage... I still like decrepify better.

[Ghist]

List of collectors
Rune Collector(=Ghist): collecting, cubing and holding all runes the party finds
Blue Ring & Ammy Collector(=eNatural): hold all unwanted rings and ammys to cube up for party use
Gem Collector(=y2krazy): collect all gems of flawed or better quality for cubing/party use
Skull Collector(=chicagobullit): collect ALL skulls to be cubed for party
Chip Collector(=Metroid_01): collect/hold all chips (except skulls and diamonds) for making weapons/for party use
Diamond Collector(=oogthecaveman): collect ALL diamonds for cubing/party use
Sock Collector(=uncleanspirit): collect and hold socketed items (2 or more sockets) for later use/rune words

[Ghist]

1st game session update

This is mostly for y2krazy. We finished all quests in Act 1 and moved to start of Act2 without making any quests from act2. Everyone is on level 17 at the moment. I do not know about everyone but seems we did not get any unique or set item drops. Others can correct me if I'm wrong on this. However we saw quite many rares.

The next step is to agree new gaming time and hopefully it will start earlier. During weekdays I'm pretty much available after 6 PM Cental time and usually can also play anytime during the weekend. So please post here when would be good time for you and when you have something that will definitely prevent you from participating the game. I can then compile those times to a list which will help us in trying to fit the games to our calendars.

Next time: Death to Duriel :buddies:

[oogthecaveman]

Any time suits me.

[y2krazy]

This is mostly for y2krazy.
Thanks for the update, as it is good to know I was not forgotten. ^^

Also, in preparation for my absence, I started a character and lvled her up to an appropriate level in around 4 hours(I got a little carried away once I hit the 20s), but once the ladder resets, I won't be playing as often as I am right now so lvling won't come by as fast, unless that's not a bad thing. Which also brings up a new question from me(forgive me if it's already been addressed); are we to play our group characters only on our scheduled meeting times, or shall we lvl them when we have the time as well? Just a thought I had when posting this, so I figured I would ask while it was on my mind.

I hope the "session" went well, and I'll try my best not to miss any more of them. :grrr:

PS - Did eN pass on those items I came around to in my pre-absence lvling? Those were the better items I found, and I wanted to be sure you all had them while I was away in case they were to become useful. I'll be online late tonight, so if anyone's online, feel free to msg *y2krazy(or *y2k[CoD] if I am not on *y2krazy)...

-y2k-

[uncleanspirit]

The next step is to agree new gaming time and hopefully it will start earlier. During weekdays I'm pretty much available after 6 PM Cental time and usually can also play anytime during the weekend. So please post here when would be good time for you and when you have something that will definitely prevent you from participating the game. I can then compile those times to a list which will help us in trying to fit the games to our calendars.



Right now I'm available weekdays after 6pm eastern. I can dedicate probably 2 or 3 weekday nights and varying times on the weekend. Bsically, if you let me know in advance I probably could be there. When the ladder resets I'm going to be online for ALOT for a while.

As for playing alone, I dont have a problem with it as long a you remain untwinked and 100% legit. ie: using only what you find or what someone in this group gives you and not being in games invloving tweaks or hacks. I thought the idea of this group was to make a run at the top ladder spots after reset. If it is, then we need to play as much as possible when we are online even if the rest of the group isn't there. I feel the key will be getting everyone up to hell baal as quick as possible so we can start working together during the runs.

Thoughts, comments, opinions

[Ghist]

I started a character and lvled her up to an appropriate level in around 4 hours(I got a little carried away once I hit the 20s

So how far did you get both level and quest vise?

Can you also tell us which are your playing times and when you definitely cannot participate as that will help us to find common playing times?


When the ladder resets I'm going to be online for ALOT for a while.

Well personally if I'm not traveling at the time of ladder reset I'm going to be disappointed if I do not get to Hell Baal at the end of day 2 on new ladder. I did it once and I can do it again. On first days of ladder Baal runs are for those who can play co-op games as there will not be lots of great gear available at that time. Hell is where our group dynamics will really kick in.


As for playing alone, I don't have a problem with it as long a you remain untwinked and 100% legit. ie: using only what you find or what someone in this group gives you and not being in games invloving tweaks or hacks. I thought the idea of this group was to make a run at the top ladder spots after reset. If it is, then we need to play as much as possible when we are online even if the rest of the group isn't there. I feel the key will be getting everyone up to hell baal as quick as possible so we can start working together during the runs.

I would try not to play only alone, but have other players from the group playing in same game too. However I would really like to play with the group a lot ASAP to get us to Hell. If we all go solo, then suddenly we have some characters that will get left behind so much that they cannot catch us anymore and then we'll have to start waiting. When new ladder really starts then everyone most probably will play as much as they can and if someone cannot make it, we will need to rush them when they get online in order for them to catch up. I do not know if any of you have extra computers that could help us filling "empty" spots in the game, but at the moment I have 2 comps and if I go and buy one more copy of D2 I could use my old laptop too as 3rd comp. If only playing pubbies we do not get as good gear as in our own game since there are bound to be lots of cheaters in pubbies with their MH and pickit on.

[y2krazy]

So how far did you get both level and quest vise?
Well, in about 4 hours, I got to a hefty lvl 45 with my ice sorc, and stopped at nm Baal(for obvious lvling reasons).



Can you also tell us which are your playing times and when you definitely cannot participate as that will help us to find common playing times?
Until mid-may, it's really sketchy on weekdays for the times I'm on, but it's usually in the morning and in the late night, I'd say from 8am-11am CST and/or 6pm-11pm CST(time I get online) to 2am-5am CST(time I fall asleep while playing, wake up, and shut down LoD). Weekends are usually dependent upon what I have going on, and I can be on all day, but only for an hour at a time, or I could be on for 20 hours of the day --- once again, it all depends on what I have going. Once summer begins, I may not have as much time on B.Net because a job will have my attention, so times cannot really be said right now; however, I expect to have weekends off, and the latest my job will hold me is around 6pm CST ... so, anytime after that on a weekday would be manageable. Then there's getting time in with my lovely woman, going to Astroworld with her(we got season passes or summer), and possibly even taking a summer class. So, as you see, there are a lot of variables to think about right now, and really the only way I can tell you an exact time, is for you to ask me when I am online(the night, or a few nights before), preferrably via AIM if I am not on B.Net, so that we can confer about it. ^^

-y2k-

[Ghist]

Well, in about 4 hours, I got to a hefty lvl 45 with my ice sorc, and stopped at nm Baal(for obvious lvling reasons).

I assume you did not make it to nm baal without help from other chars in 4 hours? Well, it will take us a bit longer to get there then and I assume we are in level 45 when we enter NM act 1. :scratch:

[Metroid_01]

Well, in about 4 hours, I got to a hefty lvl 45 with my ice sorc, and stopped at nm Baal(for obvious lvling reasons).



Geez man, thats definitely rushed ><. i have to refuse to believe its possible you covered all of norm and nm in 4 hrs, it took our party over an hour to do norm act1.. i dont think that was the point of this all... :/
but you kept a low lvl, so you can stick with us once we get there, which will likely be round act1-2 nm as Ghist said.
neways, im fine any times after 4:00 pm weekdays, and weekends are a bit more random.

edit: some typos

[Metroid_01]

sry for the double post, but its been a few hours with no activity goin on here... whats the plan for the next few days Ghist? im guessing we are not meeting tonight...is that correct?

[Ghist]

sry for the double post, but its been a few hours with no activity goin on here... whats the plan for the next few days Ghist? im guessing we are not meeting tonight...is that correct?

Seems people do not remember that I asked them to post here their good playing times. Lets try to have 2 more game sessions this week.

2nd game session
Friday 4/30/04, 7 PM Cental
Friday 4/30/04, 8 PM EST
Saturday 5/1/04, 1 AM GMT


I'm open for changes to this playing time, but we should try to get the game rolling...

3rd game session
Some time on this week's Sunday. Please post your suitable times here if you have not done it earlier.

[Metroid_01]

I think tomorrow is our best bet, we can start at any times and easily run later because unless someone has plans that will take the night anyways, they likely will not have obligations early on a saturday. we can easily stay on as long as we can keep our eyes open :).
sunday will likely work as well, but possibly closer to early in the afternoon?

as of now i can be on at ur planned time for tomorrow.

[uncleanspirit]

I'll try and make it Friday. I might be a little late. If so, start without me. I'll catch up.

[y2krazy]

I assume you did not make it to nm baal without help from other chars in 4 hours?
I played as if I were working with the group, and went quest by quest in as many 8-player filled games as I could be in(at times, I was in games as low as 3 people). Sometimes I just get caught up in the game and don't realize how much I've lvled in the last hour, so whenever the ladder resets, I won't go ahead of everyone and guess where to stop, but instead I will catch up the next day to prevent me from getting [too] far ahead... :bonk:

-y2k-

[AntiSheep]

I'm available weeknights from around 8:00-12:00 EST, weekend evenings, and occasionally during the day on both weekdays and weekends. Btw, things went really great last night.

[Ghist]

Btw, things went really great last night.

They did, there are some areas where we can easily improve though. Following practical things we did or did not do:

Reading this thread often(daily is preferred)
This is to keep up with what's going on and helping to organize playing times

Common Camp times
Mostly this worked fine, just once I think we had a situation where half of the group were in camp and other half still in killing fields for some time. One really good suggestion came during a day that since we of course pick up a lot of items during the game and once we get to camp drop any of those items to the front of the campfire we think someone in the team might want to use. To make sure that people have checked those items out and have taken what they want to use, when player id done they move to the stash. then rest of the items are sold to vendors. Selling unwanted items to vendors will mostly cover resurrection costs of our mercenaries. We might want to use some signaling on doing the camp trip like:

CAMP? -- asking for camp time
wait -- asking to wait for a moment before camp
ready? -- asking if anyone is not finished yet in camp
wait -- in camp, asking others to wait a bit

Regroup when moving to new area
The idea is to gather group together whenever changing areas. This has multiple benefits like Barbarian able to use their warcries, having full exp bonus due to players being in same area and making sure that no-one will get left behind.


Some collected gaming time possibilities can be seen in 2 lists below. Just to make times more readable I'm going to use Military hours and EST as our base time. CST is EST -1 and GMT is EST + 5.

Weeknights
20:00 - 24:00 -- AntiSheep
18:00 - 01:00 -- Ghist
19:00 - 24:00 -- y2krazy
18:00 - 24:00 -- uncleanspirit
17:00 - 24:00 -- Metroid_01
Any time -- oogthecaveman
Undefined -- eNatural
Undefined -- chicagobullit

I haven't got answer from eNatural and chicagobullit yet, but I believe eNatural will have quite flexible hours based on seeing him online a lot.

Weekends
evenings mostly -- AntiSheep
Any time is fine -- Ghist
Undefined -- y2krazy
Undefined -- uncleanspirit
Undefined -- Metroid_01
Any time -- oogthecaveman
Undefined -- eNatural
Undefined -- chicagobullit

NOTICE: We have a game planned on Friday (today) at 8PM EST (7 PM CST). We know that y2krazy will join us later if we play that and can get to level 45 before that. eNatural cannot make it, but I already talked with him ad he has no problem on leveling to the point we will be in after the game.

[chicagobullit]

i'm in on friday night.

[AntiSheep]

Me too. See you all tonight.

[Ghist]

2nd game session update
We finished both Act2 and Act3. In Act4 we have Only diablo left. Before calling it a day we did helforges and now we can make following runewords: Steel, Nadir and Malice. We have few perfect gems, but I do not know the exact count of what we have. We are all between levels 26 and 27. We also lost you resident necromancer due to a job he just got (good luck with the job :clap: ). We will get a replacement necro on our Sunday game and the player is Antisheep's brother. He will be playing our resident necromancer from now on. :thumbsup:

The proposed next gaming session time will be 2nd of May (Sunday) 6 PM EST. Please post here if you can or cannot make it?

I decided to put up some character info about my char. Knowing strenghts and weaknesses of characters helps with item distribution and then we know who's good at what.

Zarithas character info
Level: 27
Str: 41
Dex: 25
Vit: 60
Enr: 90
Fireball damage: 292-345
Meteor damage: 283-332
Defense: 69
Block: 3%
Life: 191
Mana: 217
Fire res: +9%
Cold res: +10%
Lite res: +5%
Psn res: +20%
Magic Find: 69%

[y2krazy]

I think it would be pointless to post my stats now as they are much higher than the stats of your sorc, Ghist. As for gems, I found a lot of flawed, regular, and flawless --- I think I got a perfect Topaz from my forge, in addition to a Nef rune. As for leveling, I was a little off in my estimation to what level I was at when I stopped. I thought(forgive me for thinking...) that it was obvious enough what I last saw, but I logged on about 5 minutes ago and found out it was not the correct level. To my surprise(and what a surprise it was!), my char was at lvl 67(omfg...), and I have no idea where the other 22 levels came from, but somehow they are there now(I must have been on the wrong character when I thought I was on a non-group account I have), so I have to wait even longer before I can play with you all. I hope the reset comes before then so that we can all play together ASAP. I won't ever level before a missed day, as what I see now is the direct effect of my estimation and guessing to what level should be sufficient to make a stopping point at.

Anyways, I am going to keep up with this thread until one of two things happen:

(1)You guys catch up to where this char is, or (2)the ladder resets.

I hope you all are doing great without me, but when we start the new session of ladder chars, I will have learned from these "mistakes" and taken a more proper and though-out course of action. I'll be keeping up with everything, so let me know when you feel a good time for me to join would be! ^^

-y2k-

[Ghist]

Actually y2krazy will recreate the character playing in untwinked game. I shall make another untwinked char and play with him and catch up with the group so Y2krazy can also participate on Sunday's game

[Metroid_01]

Allright, heres the gem count. i still have a couple chipped and flawed but alot of norm-perf.

ruby 2 flawless 1 flawed
sapphire 2 flawed 1 perfect
topaz 2 chipped 1 normal 2 flawless 1 perfect
amythist 1 chipped 1 normal 1 flaweless 2 perfect
emerald 1 flawed 1 flawless

(i have several skulls and diamons on me waiting for their respective holders as well.)
i have 1 of every grade of skull
2 flawed 1 normal and a chipped diamond
i also have nef and ith runes that i happened to grab waiting for the rune collecter.

edit: uh i guess ill throw out my char stats

str-75
dex-45
vit-80
en-43

85-105 tornado
10-76 1 handed
69-108 with my big bad maul ^^
250 hp
180 mana
177 def
23% blocking
resist:
fire-9
cold-31
lightning-12
poison-8

[oogthecaveman]

guys.. you really shouldn't be putting any points into energy. I know it helps you now, but it hinders you end game...

[Ghist]

guys.. you really shouldn't be putting any points into energy. I know it helps you now, but it hinders you end game...

I know, but I do not want to be using twice as many potions I carry at the moment. Those would not fit to my inventory. I know that when one plays twinked, it's possible to manage with base energy. However doing same on untwinked environment will easily get frustrating as 3-4 casts empty the mana ball. I'm not going to put more points into energy anymore, putting those points into str, dex and vitality will be main focus now. I guess I start heavy dex investments around level 40 as In hell I do want to have good blocking. Since I'm going to be carrying MF gear, I cannot count on having lots of mana producing items until late game.

[uncleanspirit]

Here's my barb's stats:

level: 27
str: 80
dex: 69
vet: 65
nrg: 10

Concentrate damage: 68-106
defense: 154
stamina: 205
life: 304
mana: 72

fire resist: 7
cold resist: 0
light resist: 9
Poison resist: 11

1 point so far in prereq. everything else in concentrate and bo. At some point i need to level my merc (hes only 15) since he'll be with us the whole game. I need resist gear and a better axe

[y2krazy]

Starting over wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, so now I can join everyone on the next session as long as life permits it. I look forward to assisting with my Icy Shards very soon! ^^

Ali-Orba's Character Info
Level: 28
Strength: 50
Dexterity: 43
Vitality: 60
Energy: 70
Blizzard Damage: 78-131 [lvl 1]
Frozen Orb Damage: 0 [lvl 30 requirment]
Defense: 225
Block: 14%
Life: 187
Mana: 236
Fire Res: 0%
Cold Res: +52%
Lightning Res: 0%
Poison Res: +34%
Magic Find: 46%

BTW - Would you mind posting everyone's acct names for the group chars they are using please --- so I can add them to my group acct. Thanks.

-y2k-

[oogthecaveman]

Caveman_Priest's Character Info
Level: 25
Strength: 80
Dexterity: 93
Vitality: 60
Energy: 15
Zeal Damage: 38-64
Zeal With Conc: 47-74 << so throw me a decent weapon ok?
Defense: 233 << lacking here too
Block: 49%
Defense with Holy Shield: 361
Block with Holy Shield: 65%
Life: 231
Mana: 51
Fire Res: 23%
Cold Res: 19%
Lightning Res: 71%
Poison Res: 10%
Magic Find: 0%

Acct Name: *Dr_D

[Metroid_01]

Well it's up to players. I do not want to force naming convention unless everyone is OK with it. What comes to the group name I'm open for suggestions. My own suggestion is The 5th Element or in short form 5E. The reasoning behind the name is that at this point I assume would would have 4 damage types + Conviction paladin(5th). In case we get poison too, then we could just up the number by one. The thing with Conviction is that it helps to deal all those 4 damage types in one way or another.


WOW, i didnt even notice this post until just now. i thought everyone ignored me ^^.
i wasnt trying to say we hafta make a tag, but i thought it would be really really cool.
i use VET as an example, because i dont know bout u guys but when i saw 6-7 ppl with the VET tag on the top (literally 1-7 or so) of the us east sc ladder i thought....damn that rocks. i believe if u look now there are three of em in the top 25 or so. and so you all know, im just saying if we plan to do something like this when ladder resets...mebbe we could try?
i dont mind the suggestion at all, works for me...

the acct i will use is Metroid_02
ogg, i NEED energy, it may hinder me a drop later, but as you can see im going with just a bit. but as of now i really really really need the boost because my now crappy tornadoes cost 10 mana a piece.
hey unclean i know what u need, theres a type of axe called like great axe or something. i forget exact damage, its like 20somethin to 33 or so. and get this..its a fast weapon. i woulda been using one of these babies on my druid ut my maul is alot better than what i have found so far.


edit: messed up the quote tag.

[AntiSheep]

My bro and I can't make it tonight, I'm sorry to say, we'll catch up on our own later. Peace.

[Ghist]

One more practical thing regarding Experience shrines. I propose that at the beginning of a gaming session we'll check out who's on lowest level and that person takes all exp shrines during that session. At the moment we are spread out between levels 25 and 28. This should even it out a bit.
:idea:

[feerie]

Wish I've had read this thread earlier. I love the idea of this group and believe it will really work out well.

I can assume that there aren't any spots left for me. But I'd be willing to stay on wait line and see how it goes.

I play untwinked, and legit as all the members of this group are.

Q. If I am on the wait list, should I be lvling alone to catch you up?

p.s /uncleanspirit
nice to see you here again.

[Ghist]

Wish I've had read this thread earlier. I love the idea of this group and believe it will really work out well.

I can assume that there aren't any spots left for me. But I'd be willing to stay on wait line and see how it goes.

I play untwinked, and legit as all the members of this group are.

Q. If I am on the wait list, should I be lvling alone to catch you up?

Well, I guess we'll have to discuss how wait list works today before we start the game. The general rule has been that if a person misses a game session they will get to the same point and level as the rest of the group after the session that they missed is finished. I will make sure that after each session I will make a post here telling everyone where we ended up and putting up some other relevant information. I expect us to finish normal today.

Rune word update
Runes storage:
2 El
3 Eld
5 Tir
3 Nef
1 Eth
2 Ith
1 Ral
1 Ort

Available rune words:


Leaf (2 socket Staves)
Malice (2 socket Melee Weapons)
Nadir (2 socket Headgear)
Steel (2 socket Swords/Axes/Maces)
Zephyr (2 socket Bows)


In addition to this, our lucky man (y2krazy :thumbsup: ) managed to create Stealth Plate armor, which would be best on our Point Man at the moment. Since our 1st Point man is not participating the game today, then it goes to our 2nd in line Point Man, should he want that armor.

[Metroid_01]

In addition to this, our lucky man (y2krazy :thumbsup: ) managed to create Stealth Plate armor, which would be best on our Point Man at the moment. Since our 1st Point man is not participating the game today, then it goes to our 2nd in line Point Man, should he want that armor.

ooooh.......we dont have either rune for that word yet ^^. im so jealous lol. and dont forget Ghist i have a ith and nef on my druid fer yah.

Edit: when did we get an eth..... :scratch:
oh well, that means we will be able to make another of those beautiful armors very soon.

[chicagobullit]

[QUOTE=Ghist]2nd game session update
We finished both Act2 and Act3. In Act4 we have Only diablo left. Before calling it a day we did helforges and now we can make following runewords: Steel, Nadir and Malice. We have few perfect gems, but I do not know the exact count of what we have. We are all between levels 26 and 27. We also lost you resident necromancer due to a job he just got (good luck with the job


i still have the same job, just different hours. i was involved in a project that allowed me to flex my hours. now that its done, i have to go back to my rotation which is 2 weeks of 3-11 and then 2 weeks of 7-3.
it was a pleasure playing with you guys, everthing was organized and efficient. it was a relief not hearing "f'n noob that was my drop!".
but it worked out good for me, after i left friday night, i did a little mf'ing and found a death's web :yep: and an arreats.
i'll see you when ladder resets.
-john

[Ghist]

3rd game session update
This time we decimated Diablo and Baal. Just to make sure we did thorough work with Baal, we killed him 9 times total. Now we are between level 42 and 43 ready to brave ourselves in Nightmare difficulty next time we play. On a sidenote Baal was kind to us dropping Waterwalk boots, which were put to good use on our 2nd Point Man.

Next game Session
Next game session is on Wednesday 5/5/04 7 PM EST (6 PM CST). We will meet on channel: TheGroup before starting the game.

[oogthecaveman]

Yep, big thumbs up for that. The bonesnap was nice too..

[Ghist]

I'm sad to inform that eNatural will be leaving the group as he wants to play more with twinked characters and is waiting for the ladder to reset before playing untwinked again. I wish him good luck with twinked play :howdy:

That opens an issue of having one free spot for a character that does lightning damage (preferably Trapsin, LF javazon or Tesladin). This spot goes to one of the following players: call911pj, fhpchris, feerie. Whoever from that list first replies here will get the spot. :creep: :creep: :creep:

The new member must level his/her character up to level 42 untwinked by the time of our next game which is on Wednesday. Next time we will start NM difficulty.

[feerie]

I'm sad to inform that eNatural will be leaving the group as he wants to play more with twinked characters and is waiting for the ladder to reset before playing untwinked again. I wish him good luck with twinked play :howdy:

That opens an issue of having one free spot for a character that does lightning damage (preferably Trapsin, LF javazon or Tesladin). This spot goes to one of the following players: call911pj, fhpchris, feerie. Whoever from that list first replies here will get the spot. :creep: :creep: :creep:

The new member must level his/her character up to level 42 untwinked by the time of our next game which is on Wednesday. Next time we will start NM difficulty.


I wish to join. hope i am the first one to reply.
I already have a clvl 17 LF Javazon(untwinked). Will lvl my char up to lvl 42. Won't be that difficult. I will be on 8:30 pm (eastern) Wednesday. I hope that's not too late.

btw. my acc is
*feerie

[y2krazy]

After a very nice evening of playing some louyrd uf distrouktun, here are my updated character stats:

Ali-Orba's Character Info
Level: 42
Strength: 80
Dexterity: 63
Vitality: 70
Energy: 89
Blizzard Damage: 236-299 [lvl 7]
Frozen Orb Damage: 147-157 [lvl 10]
Defense: 316 (Ancients' Pledge Tower Shield)
Block: 25%
Life: 222
Mana: 304
Fire Res: 73%
Cold Res: +75%
Lightning Res: +58%
Poison Res: +75%
Magic Find: +46%

It's too bad we lost someone today. A fond farewell to eNatural, and I hope his days with Diablo are many and well spent! ^^

-y2k-

[Ghist]

I wish to join. hope i am the first one to reply.

You were the first one. Welcome to our merry group. :clap:

Which lightning based non-sorc character shall bless us with his/her presence in the next game session? :scratch:

[feerie]

You were the first one. Welcome to our merry group. :clap:

Which lightning based non-sorc character shall bless us with his/her presence in the next game session? :scratch:

that will be me with my LF Javazon

[y2krazy]

that will be me with my LF Javazon
I found a zon ammy that gives +1 to all skills along the way to our current position, so if you need it, msg *y2krazy(or *y2k[CoD]/*y2k[BSi]) and I'll send it your way... ;)

-y2k-

[oogthecaveman]

do you use a program for those character dumps or do you do format it yourself?

[Ghist]

do you use a program for those character dumps or do you do format it yourself?

I just do it myself manually.

[uncleanspirit]

that will be me with my LF Javazon

Welcome aboard feerie :wave:

Here are my current characters stats (resists are for nighmare difficulty)

STR: 113
DEX: 99
VIT: 90
NRG: 10

Fire Resist: 50
Cold Resist: 70
Light Resist: 47
Poison Resist: 36

Damage: 102-207
Defense: 339
Stamina: 318
Life: 473

[Ghist]

Zarithas character info (in NM)
Level: 43
Str: 66
Dex: 35
Vit: 105
Enr: 96
Fireball damage: 935-1091
Meteor damage: 2809-2979
Defense: 102
Block: 9%
Life: 315
Mana: 320
Fire res: +9%
Cold res: -17%
Lite res: -25%
Psn res: +9%
Magic Find: +47%

[Metroid_01]

Yes, yesterday was a great day for us all i would say.
here are my druid's stats
Rasengan's Character Info (nm)
lvl-42
str-81
dex-79
vit-115
en-43
Tornado Damage- 402-441
defence-363
blocking 21%
Resistances
fire-90
cold-36
lightning-18
poison-56
393 hp
211 mana

Hehe im really enjoying messin with font ^^.

[feerie]

I've spent hours last night lvling my LF Javazon up to clvl 42.
Uncleanspirit helped me from clvl 18 - 22. (Thank You.)
Now I am ready to join this group. :lol:

My current stats (NM)
Furyhipp
Level: 42
Strength: 80
Dexterity: 96
Vitality: 100
Energy: 33
Lightning Fury Damage: 1-464

Defense: 340
Block: 35%
Life: 441
Mana: 103
Fire Res: -9%
Cold Res: -11%
Lightning Res: +8%
Poison Res: -12%

ps : I know the coming session is on Wednesday 7pm (eastern).
Can we do it on 8:30pm(eastern) ?
I really don't wanna miss this session.

[Ghist]

ps : I know the coming session is on Wednesday 7pm (eastern).
Can we do it on 8:30pm(eastern) ?
I really don't wanna miss this session.

I can live with that but we should try to accumulate at least 2,5 hours if not 3,5 hours of gaming time. Does anyone object changing from 7 PM EST to 8:30 PM EST on Wednesday

[oogthecaveman]

I do. The time is set, he can turn up late. There is a reason it started earlier this time.

[Ghist]

I do. The time is set, he can turn up late. There is a reason it started earlier this time.

OK, then when Feerie shows up, we need to recreate the game and get him to same area/quest where we are.

Feerie, since you will be 90 minutes late, I'm sure we have finished act1 meanwhile. You can do act1 alone if possible before the game or then we have to help you out fast when you come online.

[oogthecaveman]

I know it was warned against, but I got bored and did some nm countess runs. Picked up a stash full of stuff that's probably useful. Highlights included: a shael and eth in one drop (I've got dibs on these), a few +1 pally skills weapons, plenty of gems, dol rune, thul rune and a couple of amns.

[y2krazy]

Looks like I will not be able to make tonight's session unless I get done up here at campus within the next 20 minutes or so; therefore, I don't think I'll be able to make it before 7pm or 8pm CST... :'(

Damn these finals!! :mad:

-y2k-

[uncleanspirit]

Another good gaming session last night. I was kind of tired last night (busy at work earlier) so thats why I was kindof quiet while we were gaming. I'm going to be away this weekend (going to bush gardens with my wife and her side of the family ) Ill be back some time late Sunday.

Here are my updated character stats after last nights session:

Cadroth lvl 56
STR: 138
DEX: 128
VIT: 115
NRG: 11

Concentrate Damage: 221-640
Defense: 504
Stamina: 353
Life: 548
Mana: 71

Fire Resist: 50
Cold Resist: 67
Light Resist: 47
POison Resist: 66

Skills:
Shout: 17
Battle Orders: 23 (maxed) :yep:
Concentrate: 13
All other skills I have only haver 1 pt in them

Equipment:
Helm: IK Will
Armor: Stealth Plate Mail
Gloves: Eagle Knock Chain Gloves (20 IAS, 1-4 Fire Dam, 90 def, 7 str, light resist 17
Belt: Dire Harness Belt (17 FHR, +1 str, 21 life, 5 mana, cold resist 9)
Boots: Havoc Greaves (49 def, cold resist 33, fire resist 20, half freeze)
Ammy: Sounding Amulet
Ring1: Plague Coil Ring (78 ar, 6 ll, 1 nrg, resist light 4)Ring2: Corruption Master Ring (+14 ar, 3 dex, 20 max stamina, half freeze, +1 mana/kill)
Weapon: Bloodletter
Shield: Ancients Pledge Kite Shield

Needs: still looking for that godly 1 handed axe and at some point i need to find a better shield (would like sanctuary at some point)

[y2krazy]

Well, I am up to lvl 52(I think), so I've only got a few more till I catch up, but I think I will not be able to make Friday's session either because my fair lady will be coming down to spend the day and night with me, then we're gonna head off to Astroworld with our shiny, new season passes; but unfortunately that comes at the cost of missing yet another session with this phenominal group of players, nay, people. :'(

Best of luck if I am not able to make it(I will post here tomorrow with a solid response), and I look forward to getting in another session very soon! ^^

-y2k-

[Ghist]

Yesterday's session was a very successful one. We got some useful gear for our Point Man which will help him a lot in his task. Now that Point Man has at least 65% FRW, he's having no problem on staying in front and leading the group. Our new resident Javazon joined the team also and was the primary killer of large mobs thanks to maxed LF. We id all the quests up to Izual and ten few of us went to find 2nd wp of act4 (NM). Levels of the characters were between 55 and 60. In preparation for next session each player should try to get Hellforge done as otherwise we have to make separate games for each character next time we play. This would save a lot of time. Next session will start from last WP of Act 4 (NM). The Necromancer will join our ranks on the next session too.

The next planned session is on Friday 5/7/04 7 PM EST

Next week's first session is on Monday 5/10/04 7 PM EST

Once again if you know you will not make it to the session, please, post it in this thread.

[uncleanspirit]

The next planned session is on Friday 5/7/04 7 PM EST

Next week's first session is on Monday 5/10/04 7 PM EST

Once again if you know you will not make it to the session, please, post it in this thread.

I'll miss the Friday session. Have fun guys. I'll try and level my character so he'll be ready for Monday's game.

[y2krazy]

The next planned session is on Friday 5/7/04 7 PM EST

Next week's first session is on Monday 5/10/04 7 PM EST

Once again if you know you will not make it to the session, please, post it in this thread.
I will most likely be able to make tonight's session because miss thang doesn't get off of work until 9pm CST, which gives me about 3-4 hours to hang with the group! ^^

[Metroid_01]

Yes, our last session was incredibly successful. it was literally raining uniques and set items out there. beyond that we were able to cover 3 1/2 acts in a single session, and i personally gained around 13 lvs. we worked together amazingly, and there was NOTHING that could last more than around 5 sec vs us unless it was an end act boss...not that they lasted that much longer :).
anyway, ill be at tonight's session i hope to see a good crowd again.

edit: i cant spell ><

[Ghist]

Just a minor update on the runes. I moved those runes I had in my stash to group mule account.

Current runes on group mule account
3 El
3 Eld
3 Tir
5 Nef
4 Eth
3 Ith
4 Tal
5 Ral
6 Ort
2 Thul
2 Amn
1 Sol
1 Shael
1 Dol
1 Hel
1 Io

[oogthecaveman]

I'll be having that sol. And a perfect emerald too.

[oogthecaveman]

also, do you mind if I take all the runes under ral? They're really only good for cubing and I'll just cube them up, keeping at least one at all times. Unless people are planning on crafting blood gloves, then I guess we better keep the nef runes as well...

[Ghist]

also, do you mind if I take all the runes under ral? They're really only good for cubing and I'll just cube them up, keeping at least one at all times. Unless people are planning on crafting blood gloves, then I guess we better keep the nef runes as well...

You taking all runes Under Ral is fine for me. When thinking about possible crafted items, these ones specifically come to my mind:

Blood Gloves(Nef) Excellent for melee chars and also our Javazon would love +2 to skill tree gloves.

Blood Ring(Sol) Excellent for melee chars...

Blood Amulet(Amn) Excellent for melee chars and +2 amulet might be good for casters alike.

Safety Amulet(Thul) Potentially best amulet for melee and any char that aims for 75% blocking. This amulet can have 1-10% increased blocking, which on top of the range means huge savings on dexterity

Caster Amulet(Ral) Potential to get really awesome amulet with up to 20% FCR.

Caster Belt(Ith) FCR, FHR and resists on these are quite desireable for casters.

Caster Boots(Thul) More mana and other mods, but takes many tries.

[oogthecaveman]

Yeah, the only stuff I generally craft is caster amulets (crafted +2 skills, 25% resist all with 25%mf and a couple of other mods on USWEST) caster boots (more mana and faster runwalk is pretty easy to get) and blood weapons. Blood rings are a bit expensive for the rune they ask for. Once we start swimming in sols I'm happy to do it, but we can survive on leech rings until then.

One thing to keep in mind. If we can find a weapon suitable for crescent moon (ettin axe or colossus voulge maybe?) the barb could use the 288% upgraded bonesnap I currently have (surely he wouldn't need a shield with maxed shout and BO). I'd love to have a crescent moon polearm of some sort for taking hell baal down, but I think I may have trouble with resists if I did that...

I was thinking maybe a passion runeword for stan...

[y2krazy]

Update as of the most recent session(with a little catching up):

Ali-Orba's Character Info --- resistances are from Hell
Level: 71
Strength: 91
Dexterity: 127
Vitality: 130
Energy: 110
Blizzard Damage: 1691-1801 [lvl 25 - maxed]
Frozen Orb Damage: 406-427 [lvl 25 - maxed]
Defense: 652
Block: 44%
Life: 450
Mana: 415
Fire Res: +45%
Cold Res: +29%
Lightning Res: +58%
Poison Res: +19%
Magic Find: +69%

Weapon: Carrion Heart Sacred Globe
Helm: Lore Death Mask
Armor: Stealth Gothic Plate
Amulet: Tal Rasha's Adjudication Amulet
Shield: Moser's Blessed Circle Round Shield
Gloves: Laying of Hands Bramble Mitts
Ring 1: Bone Band Ring --- needs an upgrade
Belt: Goldwrap Heavy Belt
Ring 2: Wraith Grip Ring --- needs an upgrade
Boots: Sharkskin Boots of Fortune --- needs an upgrade

-y2k-

[oogthecaveman]

you reckon you can give the laying of hands to someone who needs them?

[oogthecaveman]

oh, and I've picked up some stuff for our barb when he's on next...

[oogthecaveman]

add to that a spectral shard

[oogthecaveman]

ahh.. just check the mules to see what I've found. I'll just add to them when I get full of items

[fhpchris]

Did the ladder reset?

Hmm I am sorry i missed everything ...

[oogthecaveman]

hasn't reset... we're just running a test

[uncleanspirit]

Im back from my trip Busch Gardens was a good time. I take it you guys are all at around 70. I'll work to get there by Monday evening.

Would look to craft some blood weapons at some point. My ideal setup is going to be Uber blood zerker axe and a certain unique shield if it drops.

[oogthecaveman]

I've been saving ort runes for that very endeavour. Next someone will need to shop 20 or 30 zerker axes...

[uncleanspirit]

I'm at 60 right now. Tryin to get to Baal before we start gaming. need to beat the ancients

[Ghist]

During our Monday session we did not venture to Hell as some of us expected, but did some NM Baal runs to get items and to get all characters to at least 75. Highest level was 78 if I recall correctly. We ended up finding few useful items like 2 Arreat's, Skin of Vipermagi(33%), Moser's Blessed Circle, TO Gloves, Demon Limb and a bunch of rares.

Next time we will finally venture to Hell. I will later today post the stats of my own character with Hell resistance penalty calculated in.

This week we have multiple sessions!

1. Wednesday 8 PM EST

2. Friday 7 PM EST

3. Sunday 6 PM EST


These sessions should be enough to finish the Hell difficulty and start doing some hell runs. If you know you are not going to make it, please post it in this thread.

[Metroid_01]

Yesterday was an extremely successful session. though lvling was slooooooooow, we benifited from the very generous drops from baal. hell difficulty should be an interesting challenge, and i would suggest we dedicate the first half hour to an hour of our next session to putting together runewords, sockets and all that because once we step into hell it will be MUCH harder.

Oh on a side note...
POST 100!




oh and no...i dont care if u have like 2000 more posts than me ^^, im happy with my post count...

[oogthecaveman]

I wouldn't suggest runewording yet, we really need to just take it slowly and not waste our good runes. I guess what it means is I'll be running around with salvation on most of the time, screaming like a girl when enemies come toward me. Someone has a defiance merc right?

[y2krazy]

I will not be able to make the Wednesday session(today) because I will be going up to see my Mom for a late Mother's Day. I should, however, be able to mae the Friday and Sunday evening sessions without a hitch! ;)

Best of luck in tonight's session, everyone, and I hate not being able to contribute directly at this time when real life is so hectic... :(

-y2k-

[uncleanspirit]

Resists for Hell diff.

Cadroth
Level: 75

STR: 192
DEX: 190
VIT: 145
NRG: 11

Concentrate Damage: 378-714
Defense: 1044
Stamina: 507
Life: 729
Mana: 85

Fire Resist: 26
Cold Resist: 49
Light Resist: 54
Poison Resist: 62

Skills:
Concentrate: 24 (maxed) :thumbsup:
Shout: 23 (maxed) :thumbsup:
Battle Orders: 23 (maxed) :thumbsup:
Axe Mastery: 8
1 point in all other skills I have

Equipment:

Helm: Arreat's Face
Armor: Stealth Plate Mail <------- need to improve
Gloves: Eagle Knuckle Chain Gloves
Belt: Bladebuckle
Boots: Loath Shank Wyrmhide Boots
Ammy: Sounding Amulet <------- need to improve
Ring: Plague Coil
Ring: Havoc Turn
Weapon: Vipersong Francisca <--- need to improve
Shield: Ancients Pleadge Kite Shield <----- need to improve

Basically, I'm looking for A good Beserker Axe, a high block shield, Armor that has a high defense on it, and an ammy that give more then +1 to warcries

[Ghist]

Resists for Hell diff. If there are 2 values if a field, then 1st value is with mf items and second, with minimal mf (survival gear)

Zarithas
Level: 78

STR: 97
DEX: 149
VIT: 145
NRG: 96

Fire Ball Damage: 3316-3764 / 4379-4917
Meteor Damage: 6627-7070 / 9125-9652
Defense: 220
Stamina: 310
Life: 455 / 483
Mana: 369 / 431
Max MF: 269 :thumbsup:

Fire Resist: -16 / 22
Cold Resist: -42 / 20
Light Resist: -19 / 32
Poison Resist: 22 / 60

Skills:
Meteor: 20 / 23 (maxed)
Fire Ball: 20 / 23 (maxed)
Fire Bolt: 18 / 21
Fire Mastery: 20 / 23 (maxed)
1 point in all other skills I have

Equipment:

Helm: Iratha's Coil
Armor: Stealth Plate Mail
Gloves: Viridian Chain Gloves of Fortune
Belt: Goldwrap
Boots: Ghoul Spur Chain Boots
Ammy: Amulet of Luck / Skull Mark
Ring: Drake's Ring of Fortune
Ring: Ghoul Knot
Weapon: Gull / Blood Gyre smoked Sphere
Shield: Rhyme Kite Shield / Moser's Blessed Circle + 2 pdiamond

I'm looking for more balanced mf equipment, that would let me survive in hell.

[oogthecaveman]

I'm thinking pit runs are the order of the day here...

[Ghist]

I'm thinking pit runs are the order of the day here...

Pit runs are good for finding those socketed elite items for the runewords too.

[AntiSheep]

I can't make it tonight, have to go see P. Diddy in A Raisin in the Sun. Should be able to e there friday and sunday, though.

[uncleanspirit]

This week we have multiple sessions!

1. Wednesday 8 PM EST

2. Friday 7 PM EST

3. Sunday 6 PM EST


These sessions should be enough to finish the Hell difficulty and start doing some hell runs. If you know you are not going to make it, please post it in this thread.

1. Wednesday - will be present

2. Friday - will not be present

3. Sunday - will be present but I might be a little late

[uncleanspirit]

A couple of things I think we need to discuss......

1. The title of this thread is [US East SC L] A group test for next season (untwinked)

I have always taken this to mean that only items found by the group can be used by party members. There were alot of accusations flying around yesterday. Personally, I can give you my word that I will follow this rule and only use items which I find by the barb I'm playing or given to me by another group member. Bringing gear into this group defeats its purpose. If you tell me that you are playing untwinked I will take you at your word. Unless it is proved otherwise.

2. The use of hacks and cheats. I dont want to turn this into a discussion into what is a "hack" or what is an "add-on." Here is what was stated in the first post in the thread.




One additional thing: I don't want to see any cheating in these games and that means no Maphack. You heard it right, no MH or any other cheats like pickit. :spy:

This was a deciding factor in why I joined this group. I also take this as any discussion of where these hacks can be found. Last evening not only was someone asking were to find a hack, another person actually admitted to using hacks in group games. Once again, I will give you my word that I will not ever use any hack or add-on in a group game or any other game for that matter and will never ask where to find one. I just ask that you give me your word that you will do the same. I will believe you until its proved otherwise.

A person is only as good as the word they keep. If the rest of the group members can't make the same promises I just made, this group probably isn't for me. I'll return all of my barbs equipment and leave the group with no hard feelings.

[Ghist]

A couple of things I think we need to discuss......

1. The title of this thread is A group test for next season (untwinked)

I have always taken this to mean that only items found by the group can be used by party members. There were alot of accusations flying around yesterday. Personally, I can give you my word that I will follow this rule and only use items which I find by the barb I'm playing or given to me by another group member. Bringing gear into this group defeats its purpose. If you tell me that you are playing untwinked I will take you at your word. Unless it is proved otherwise.

It means exactly that. The Group should only use items that have been found using our group characters. I can give my word about not bringing any outside items or using hacks as that is clearly stated on my thread starting post. I once stopped ladder race when I started seeing too many people with hacks around.


2. The use of hacks and cheats. I dont want to turn this into a discussion into what is a "hack" or what is an "add-on." Here is what was stated in the first post in the thread.



This was a deciding factor in why I joined this group. I also take this as any discussion of where these hacks can be found. Last evening not only was someone asking were to find a hack, another person actually admitted to using hacks in group games. Once again, I will give you my word that I will not ever use any hack or add-on in a group game or any other game for that matter and will never ask where to find one. I just ask that you give me your word that you will do the same. I will believe you until its proved otherwise.

I found those questions about where to find a hack very disturbing, let alone the fact that a person used mh albeit temporarily to see if characters were twinked. I will give you the same promise as uncleanspirit that I will never use any hack or add-on in a group game or any other game for that matter and will never ask where to find one. That has been my principle all the time I have played D2.


A person is only as good as the word they keep. If the rest of the group members can't make the same promises I just made, this group probably isn't for me. I'll return all of my barbs equipment and leave the group with no hard feelings.

This might end up with breaking the group, but I have no will to play if people have to resort on cheating on these games. So I'm with you on this one. :hanky:

[U]I expect everyone to answer to uncleanspirit's post!

[feerie]

I will make this short.

I give my word that I will play untwinked and will not use any 3rd party add-ons/softwares (maphacks, pickit, etc..)

[AntiSheep]

I wasn't there yesterday, and I'm not sure what happened, but I give my word that I play untwinked and don't hack, I never have done these things in the group, and I will not in the future. If players have violated these rules, which I seem to get the impression they have, I think they ought to be warned that any repeat offense will result in a forthwith banning from the group, forever. Anyone with me?

[Bloodangel666]

Sorry for asking about map hack yesterday but my friends have been bugging me, aka the kid who's sorc we destroyed, for where to get a map hack. But I promise I will not use it in group games and will play untwinked.

[SomeCoolGuy]

Hey guys im a friend of Extructio, not the stupid sorc, if you ever get a opening in your group i would like to join if possible. my acct is Pyro_Guy90

[oogthecaveman]

I'm the person in question who used MH. You'll have to excuse me for being curious, but I just wanted to see what the group was using. I'm kinda disappointed that I had to stoop so low, but I think it's justified with what I discovered...

I'd like to think it's obvious that I don't MH during runs or we would have made it to hell a lot sooner than we did.
One thing I do have to admit though, MapHack honed my pathfinding skills, showing me the patterns in the maps (such as the exit being anticlockwise from the worldstone2 and clockwise from the durance2 wp) and also gave me a feel for which way the exit will probably be in other maps.

[Metroid_01]

I as well, give my word that i will NOT use any items that were not found be me or another in this group IN AN UNTWINKED GROUP GAME...and obviously no hacks whatsoever.
(course i cant afford ne useful twinked items on ladder at this point anyways :hanky: )
the reason for why maphack was used wasnt meant to be malicious...and i would say it accomplished its goal. that doesnt make it a good idea to do here..especially since that it was explained we were specifically NOT to do this. obviously i cannot control who uses maphack outside of the games, nor can i in them for that matter. To whoever it was that wanted to know where the maphack was gotten from.....thats just stupid. sure you may be truthful about not using it with us, but it is still a hack and it against the EULA and if blizz feels so inclined can end your account in a heartbeat.
Anti sheep, interestingly we found out both in the same day..i wont mention any accts, though they previously have been. heres more or less what i recall happening...

maphaxxor ^^: hey twinkedperson i saw you using XX, xx and xx...
me: hey wait how can u see if twinked person had xx (it was a belt)
at which point he admitted to using maphack, and the twinked person admitted to using twinked items. (now both claim they dont use often, and the maphack person said he only used it to check gear, and the twinked person said he only used occasionally for a very few occasions or something along those lines.) either way...interesting game that turned out to be, but we have it behind us now and i completely agree that if one is caught using twinked items or maphack from now on he should just be asked to leave...(not kicked out...just not reinvited lol :P)
although i guess i mighta kicked up old dirt, dont take this as a"hostile" action against either person, personally i disagree with the choices but do not dislike the people or anything...just giving the general idea of what happened that day. its dead, and should stay dead i did little more than inform.. (you can call me the d2 media ^^.)


another thing, i likely wont be able to join you guys until LATE tonight, because i will be out from around 6:00 pm.
good luck with the game....but outta curiousity where ARE you guys anyway, i had to leave before arcane in our last session so im sure im behind now but i dunno how much, and with mising most of tonight its gonna be a pain.

[Ghist]

another thing, i likely wont be able to join you guys until LATE tonight, because i will be out from around 6:00 pm.
good luck with the game....but outta curiousity where ARE you guys anyway, i had to leave before arcane in our last session so im sure im behind now but i dunno how much, and with mising most of tonight its gonna be a pain.

Well, we didn't actually go to arcane at all if I recall correctly as we were starting to have too few people and it was better to stop there. So Monday's session was quite short one. We are currently between levels 76 and 78. Hopefully today's session will be longer and also fruitful in form of finding nice items for us.

[Metroid_01]

woo..i seem to get so lucky like that. well either way you guys will be well into act3 by the time i arrive....maybe act4 even. keep all those jalal's which i know are gonna drop when im gone for me. :)

[Ghist]

woo..i seem to get so lucky like that. well either way you guys will be well into act3 by the time i arrive....maybe act4 even. keep all those jalal's which i know are gonna drop when im gone for me. :)

We sure will keep all those Jalal's :lol:

When you get back, I guess you can make a game and we'll fast track you to the same point where we are. This is Hell we are talking about and most characters will welcome some help on the way.

[Ghist]

This week we have multiple sessions!

1. Wednesday 8 PM EST

2. Friday 7 PM EST



We had 2 players, so there never was a game really as by 8 PM EST we still got only 2 players. I hope to see you all on Sunday 6 PM EST and please post here if you can or cannot make it. Today's session really went to South. :rant:

[oogthecaveman]

I'm sorry, but I had the mother of all headaches at 7 this morning and wasn't in any sort of shape to play...

[AntiSheep]

See ya Sunday.

[y2krazy]

Well, it seems that I haven't had much time to play lately, and I really don't want to leave this group because of issues I may have with time; however, it seems that it might come up, so I would really like to see one of three things happen very soon:

(1) The ladder resets so that someone doesn't have to "catch up" if i were to need to leave",
(2) I get more time to be online and able to make the games, or
(3) someone catches up as a precaution to me having to suddenly, and unfortunately, leave The Group.

I will keep everyone posted on this important issue, and I will try my hardest to make Sunday evening's session(at this time, I have no other obligations). I do appologise for not making tonight's session as it seems that every day that we have one, I am with my woman --- either visiting her, or her visiting me. We see each other once or twice a week, but that is all. :(

Oh, as for the issue regarding MH, I don't see or feel the need to use it in any way, shape, or form when playing untwinked. You gain nothing from using it, and while you may be able to see the map, it doesn't help you get better items or gain exp faster --- to sum it up: I don't condone the use of MH, nor will I ever be one to utilize it.

Anyways, I will most likely be at the session on Sunday evening, so I will talk more about it there. Thanks for keeping us up-to-date with everything, Ghist, unlike many of us(mainly myself)...

-y2k-

[Metroid_01]

Sorry i couldnt attend last night, i wasnt even back at my home till 10:30 pm lastnight.
Damn...that really is too bad for us to have so few arrive. but a few had legit excuses and besides we have had rather nice attendance every single night otherwise...still i plan to be out sunday.
Yah know what Y2k even if you cant make it id say this was partially successful, we came through as a group throughout normal and nightmare difficulties, and id say that we did an amazing job to be getting so far...so easily concitering we are completely untwinked. obviously the ultimate goal is to get to hell baal minimum...but we cant give out yet...2 more nights and baal will be destroyed!!

[uncleanspirit]

I'll be there tonight (sunday). I might be a little bit late though.

[feerie]

I will not be able to attend tonight's session.
Will catch you guys up next week.

[Metroid_01]

Ok, i will be late tonight...but not as bad as last time...i think. actually i have no idea, but hopefully ill get some time in.

edit: sorry bout this everyone...i thought id be out but my plans are gonna be a bit later than i thought.

[Ghist]

Interesting...It's 6 PM CET on Sunday and not a one person is on group channel or logged on with their group accounts... :rant:

What is going on? Are our gaming times bad or something else? I'm all open for suggestions on game times. The only reserved time for me is Thursday 7-9 PM EST. Other than that I'm pretty much free outside of office hours.

I will be online with either Ghist2 or Ghist5 accounts in case someone would show up for few hours.

[oogthecaveman]

Sorry, but I've been ill lately and early mornings are hard for me. I can probably make 8 or 9 o'clock games, but will struggle with anything earlier.

[Ghist]

We ended up playing a bit, finished of Dueriel and Mephisto. About half of the group showed up between 1.5 to 3 hours late. Some had good reasons :thumbsup:

Next game on Monday 5/17/04 at 8 PM EST

[Metroid_01]

Yah, i came in around 2 hrs late, and i believe ghist was the only one on.. after a bit of problems (winace uses SO many resources...an i lagged like a mother for 30 min) we got a group of 4-5 going and rocked duriel and mephy. rocky start but the game turned out awesome...by the way ghist did D ever come?
(note to all you who werent there we got around 15-20 soj messages by the time...i inevitably got off.)

next game is monday at 8 eh.....good i have a few.... ><...hours....lol

[Ghist]

by the way ghist did D ever come?


The big D never came, I counted that my char in that game got almost 40 SOJs sold messages, but no big D. At 01:20 AM CET I just left the game and went to sleep. I have now experienced this long wait for 2 times. Both times I was waiting in the game for about 6 hours and received well over 30 messages, but no big D. It might have been that the number of required SOJs has been drastically upped by serverside changes.

I believe we will devastate both Diablo and Baal today :howdy:

[Ghist]

All good things have an end it seems. Today our group officially ceased to exist and was disbanded before/after defeating Hell Diablo. There were several reasons for this that lead to this situation, but it all started to go downhill from the moment we found out about 2 players breaking the rules of no twinking and using mh (even though it was only done to see if one player was twinking). Then we had a problem of several people not showing up for games and in our last game today we were faced with the thing known as "untwink depression" as few players felt their character was not helping or doing any notable damage. This lead to a constant discussion about abandoning current character and switching to another character type/build.

Thanks to every group member for making this group so fun to play with despite the problems we had in the end. :worship:

However, the core of the group decided to give it another go, this time alternating between different characters and making adjustments to the builds we used during this test. It seems that as a test we were successful. We actually got some results which will help us next time. After all I had fun playing with this group and I hope others also had some pleasant memories about our games. At best we went through everything like a hot knife through butter in nm and hell, but in hell we were suffering from missing few group members, slowing us down considerably. :thumbsup:

I will be posting another thread for forming the next group on Wednesday with a little bit more formulated rules based on what we learned during our adventures in the world of Sanctuary. Seems we will have opening for 3 more players in the next group.

The following is an inventory of what we had on group mule. This does not include any items on the characters, but when dividing we should keep in mind what each player already got via their character. There were other lesser items which I did not feel needed to be included on the list, so those are free for everyone.

Perfect gems & skulls
5 Diamond
5 Amethyst
4 Emerald
4 Ruby
8 Sapphire
10 Topaz
16 Skull
= 42 total

Runes
21 Nef
8 Ith
28 Ral
18 Ort
5 Thul
2 Amn
3 Sol
3 Shael
1 Dol
2 Hel
2 Io
2 Fal
1 Pul
1 Um

Jewels
1 25%ed
1 34%ed / 2 dex
32 craft jewels

Socketed and normal items
1 Balrog Skin (3 sock, 464 def)
1 Superior Dusk Shroud (no socks, 524 def)


Notable Magic items
1 +3 traps claw


Notable Rare items
Circlet with +2 Cold skills, 98AR, 19 str. 16% all res, DR 2



Notable Set items
Tal Rasha's Lidless Eye (2, 1, 1)
Sazabi's Mental Sheath

Notable Unique items
The Gavel of Pain
Riphook
Arreat's Face


Charms
1 sc 5%fhr
1 gc +1 Combat skills(paladin)
1 lc 61AR, 5 Dex

[Metroid_01]

Well since nobody has put in to this any imput i think ill make a post...besides im waiting on ur new post today Ghist :).
As a test this was very sucessful, although we finished just one act shy of hell Baal we did excellently as a group. we kept together having strong sessions of atleast 5 people until we came around to our finishing act2 hell game. during that game as most know there were problems arising from the use of maphack and twinking, but i wont go any further into it. this as Ghist said caused a sort of downward spiral to the eventual break of the group when we lost two people in the same day on monday.
this test taught us several things about how to make this work, and our second session is planned to begin rather shortly. we truely did accomplish alot like this, our group was very well balenced, having virtually no trouble in any areas of the game. in fact we were so well done, that when we reached hell diablo (at this point we were just 3, we lost 1 early act4, and another after we had finished doing forge runs) i would say we beat him in under 30 seconds. discounting the use of static, which i honestly dont know if it was used or not we dropped Diablo like a fly. our team was a well oiled machine, there was nothing we couldnt destroy with amazing speed. it was a shame that we had to end it so suddenly.
i hope to see all of you that didnt make it into this last time out here for this one, with a couple new openings it could mean you, just please...abide by the rules to prevent another disaster from occuring!
To those of you that had left our group early, it was great working with all of you...i can say there was anybody there that i really had any problem being with, and its just a shame that this couldnt go all the way.
anyway now to wait..... :sleep:

[oogthecaveman]

what about restarting in HC this time? would make an interesting change, and cowboys could quite happily run off on their own and die...

[Metroid_01]

Haha i love that...great suggestion. Ghist appears to be allready workin on this behind the scenes so im hopin he reads this and conciters it.

edit: yah....cept if we die its over and that is very likely to happen rofl :P

[AntiSheep]

Yeah. Someone dieing messes up the whole group if we do it HC. Or, worse yet, we could all get wiped out in a massive lag-spike. Ridiculous crap like that happens sometimes, and it would really suck. Ergo, I vote we continue to be SC.(Ha! I used "ergo" in a sentence! I pwn that matrix dude!)

[oogthecaveman]

Yeah, but if we played hardcore where if you die you don't resurrect (visa vie real life), wouldn't it be more exciting? Concordantly, I believe this a good idea. Ergo.

[Ghist]

Yeah, but if we played hardcore where if you die you don't resurrect (visa vie real life), wouldn't it be more exciting? Concordantly, I believe this a good idea. Ergo.

Well, just got character killed by Connection Interrupted and it was just not a game, but my mule comp got disconnected too, so I vote against HC, even though I like the idea, but given the problems I have had with my connection I will not want to lose a character to connection problems. Had this problem 3 times this week already and 2 times it ended up killing my character.

[oogthecaveman]

Umm.. that second post was a joke.

[Ghist]

Seems no-one wanted any extra items from the leftovers, but I did expect the person who took Um, Pul, Fal, +1 Paladin Combat gc, Arreat's Face etc to at least tell others that he/they took those. (Those were the best items on our mules) :scratch:

[Metroid_01]

lol, someone claimed all the good stuff off the mules? well thats a surprise, but then again i dont have any classes that truely benefit from that stuff, so to whoever that was.... nice job :thumbsup: hehe.

(i got last post so HA Ghist!)