First MF runs in Hell

[parkerbsb]

I took the advice from some of the members of this board (mostly Bodom Saint). Finally got my bliz sorc ready to MF in Hell. Just wanted to post my findings after 1 evening. :D
+1 Cold skill, 31 life Grand charm
+2 max/18 ar/19 life
Gheeds
198% bartucs
Tals orb (2 fire/lit, 1 cold)
Aldurs weapon.

I ran Meph and Andy, 3 times... that's it!

I noticed I was having trouble with all the CI's in Durance3, any advice on how to get rid/avoid them would be appreciated

[chaca]

I took the advice from some of the members of this board (mostly Bodom Saint). Finally got my bliz sorc ready to MF in Hell. Just wanted to post my findings after 1 evening. :D
+1 Cold skill, 31 life Grand charm
+2 max/18 ar/19 life
Gheeds
198% bartucs
Tals orb (2 fire/lit, 1 cold)
Aldurs weapon.

I ran Meph and Andy, 3 times... that's it!

I noticed I was having trouble with all the CI's in Durance3, any advice on how to get rid/avoid them would be appreciated


Very nice results. The cold skiller and the max charm may have just doubled your wealth. As far as the CIs in Durance3, Try to use the moat trick. If they still come after you, try and get a decent merc (I use a HF merc with reapers, Gaze, and duriels shell/shaftstop). Let the merc tank the CIs while you static. Be reminded that Meph will slaughter your merc unless his res is maxed and he is a high level.

[Sartok]

Ahh those are frightening results... nice finds.

Mainly the first two, lucky bum you...

[cuibono]

I noticed I was having trouble with all the CI's in Durance3, any advice on how to get rid/avoid them would be appreciated

You shouldn't be fighting anything in Durance 3 except Meph. As soon as you go down the stairs, teleport across the wall. Bartuc's crew might be there. Ignore them. Teleport toward the moat, then once more toward Meph. Kill Meph. Check out the drop. Repeat. Once in a while blood lords will be clustered around Meph and you might have to kill them since sorcs aren't all that durable. (A Hammerdin or other hardy build can ignore them while picking up loot.)

[Filo01]

You shouldn't be fighting anything in Durance 3 except Meph. As soon as you go down the stairs, teleport across the wall. Bartuc's crew might be there. Ignore them. Teleport toward the moat, then once more toward Meph. Kill Meph. Check out the drop. Repeat. Once in a while blood lords will be clustered around Meph and you might have to kill them since sorcs aren't all that durable. (A Hammerdin or other hardy build can ignore them while picking up loot.)


ok don't ingnore bartus's he drops so nice and well as those other council memeber to the right and left !!! -- go cat 5 merc if ur blizz sorc azurewarth/shaft /gaze that cheapest gear u cna get onto him with out him dieing !! remmber the hel ruen on azure dex req to high :P !!!

add pindle to that run he take like 20 secounds if ur blizz sorc :P 1 blizz muahahahahha dead --(plus azure should help a crap load)

[melianor]

ok don't ingnore bartus's he drops so nice and well as those other council memeber to the right and left !!! -- go cat 5 merc if ur blizz sorc azurewarth/shaft /gaze that cheapest gear u cna get onto him with out him dieing !! remmber the hel ruen on azure dex req to high :P !!!

add pindle to that run he take like 20 secounds if ur blizz sorc :P 1 blizz muahahahahha dead --(plus azure should help a crap load)

As they are CI a pure Cold Sorc will have problems killing them, so yes he needs to avoid them! on the long run i think Meph will drop alot more consistent than those bosses. Also less tiem consumed doing those runs, which in effect will result ni more items after a loner time. Even if you use your Merc to kill them it will take quite a bit.

[parkerbsb]

Thanks for the reply guys! I'll take that into consideration. Yeah Brem's crew is not my problem most of the time, but if I Tele too close to mephy he can really hurt! For my build (still sub-par items) I find it safer to use the moat trick. If Brem's crew wakes up I usually just Bliz them twice.

I didn't get as much as I would have liked for the cold charm, one of the guys I trade with has given me alot of stuff over the past month (34 spirit, tal's ammy, 34% wartravs). Nothing great, but stuff I needed, I gave it to him for Tal's armor, Steel Carapace, and Leviathan.

My new question is this, would I be better off wearing Whitstans with a pdiamond (max resists, max block) and trading out one of my perf nagles for a 10% fcr ring to tank Meph, or should I stick with the higher MF and use the moat trick (wich is slightly slower).

Thanks again, you guys rock!

[Oooooooooohhhhh!!!!!]

My new question is this, would I be better off wearing Whitstans with a pdiamond (max resists, max block) and trading out one of my perf nagles for a 10% fcr ring to tank Meph, or should I stick with the higher MF and use the moat trick (wich is slightly slower).

Thanks again, you guys rock!

Faster runs > 30% MF

What shield are you using now? Also, I believe FCR doesn't apply to timered spells, so it won't help your blizzard. Of course it would help if you use fireball or another spell like that in between blizzes. If you use FB or something similar, check your break points to see if the extra 10% would actually help you reach a lower frame per cast.

It's not a lot of help, but it's some. Happy hunting!

O

[parkerbsb]

Well I'm using a 34% FCR spirit sheild, FCR doesn't make it much faster to cast timered spells (well like 1 fps faster every 2 seconds). But it makes Tele'ing to Meph alot easier.
With Tal's full set on you get 50% FCR, so I would need 13% more fcr to acheive the 63% breakpoint. I guess I should stick with Wizspike/Spirit on switch to teleport thru, then switch to Whitstans (pdiamond) to tank Meph.

I'll try out that for a few days and post the difference in speed/killing power in reation to the moat trick with spirit.

any other advice is of course welcome.

[theBlackKnight]

Well I'm using a 34% FCR spirit sheild, FCR doesn't make it much faster to cast timered spells (well like 1 fps faster every 2 seconds). But it makes Tele'ing to Meph alot easier.
With Tal's full set on you get 50% FCR, so I would need 13% more fcr to acheive the 63% breakpoint. I guess I should stick with Wizspike/Spirit on switch to teleport thru, then switch to Whitstans (pdiamond) to tank Meph.

I'll try out that for a few days and post the difference in speed/killing power in reation to the moat trick with spirit.

any other advice is of course welcome.

wiz spike + trangs/mage + 2 pdiam mozers / whitstans is what you need for a teleport switch, because you want to be able to resist any elemental attacks, and also have some faster hit recovery if you can get it.

[hellraiserXR]

I use a HF merc with reapers, Gaze, and duriels shell/shaftstop

Interesting:

After around a week of doing 10-some meph runs every so often, I got Shaftstop and duriels. Just the other day, I found reapers.

[Tshy]

your results are incredible, never in my years of playing have i found either of those charms :thumbsup:

[parkerbsb]

Ok I've tried different sheilds and weapons for speeding thru, Here's what I've found.
Wiz/Stormsheild (I have a spirit, figured why not get SS too). Very easy to survive anything that hits me, rarely get swarmed and blocklocked. Switch to my Occy/Spirit for faster boss killing. I now run with 480 MF :D
What is a good time to be able to run Meph and Andy? I find I'm doing it in about 4 min on average for both.

Also side note I've found 2 more sc's (2/19/8life) and (3/15/crap mod like cold damage I forget).

Last question. I have negative poison resists in hellmode, do you guys think that is detrimental to my MF'ing? If so what should I switch out
New Gear:
Harlequin Crest (ptopaz'd)
Stormsheild (clean) / Spirit
Waterwalks (I need Wartravs I know)
Tal's belt
Chancguards (40%)
Occulus (clean) / Wizspike (clean)
Tal's armor (clean)
2 nagles (30, 30)
Tal's ammy

Blizzard sorc level 82 (all synergies maxed but Icebolt/cold mastery)

[BodomSaint]

i don't think poison resistances are that important. the damage done by poison is divided among such a long duration it hardly becomes dangerous and even if, one trip to town and you're cured or if you're to lazy for that take a couple of antidotes with you. Those also have the nice habbit of improving your poison res for a short time

[chaca]

The only way negative poison res is detrimental to your MFin is if you die. And if you are worried about it, then do what Bodomsaint said, pop an antidote potion and you have 50 extra poison res for 30 secs.

As far as running Meph fast, well the higher your level the faster it'll be. My 89 Bliz sorc can drop meph in 10 seconds. But I don't have to worry about using the moat trick. I tele right up next to him, let my merc take the hits, bliz, static, static, bliz, dead.

Meph drops a lot faster if you can get within static range. Again, the merc comes into play.

What really speeds up the run is your FCR. The faster you tele the quicker the runs go.

[Filo01]

you wouldn't need posion res 4 meph running ( a few good teleports while casting blizz should take care of him in short time) !! but if u ran andy i'd recomend more posoin res her minion can make very short work or a posioned sorc (act5 merc + azure helps with this... )

[Bionic]

I have about 280 mf on my sorc and I have the worst luck finding items from Meph or Andy. Just yesterday Meph did drop G.Bane and I was so so happy, I usually just rush my characters for forge and trade for items that I cant find. Ive done countless runs and I havent found a Shako yet.

[parkerbsb]

a few antidote potions will make things much easier! Thanks guys.

I found my first shako off bremm (he was in my way in getting to Meph so he died...) so just keep trying you may get one dropped in the weirdest places!

Also Bodom I've been running the tunnels in A2, are you sure it is a mlvl 85 area? I havn't seen anything even decent drop yet... :(

[BodomSaint]

it IS a lvl 85 arae, but that's not a guarantee for decent drops. just like the pits, tunnelrunnung can be very frustrating but sometimes VERY rewarding as well (i found a Ber and a Tyraels Might down there). It's a matter of Luck and repetition. i've done hundreds of tunnel runs

[parkerbsb]

Ok cool I figured as much, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't wasting time.

Also I'm thinking about Um'ing my Shako and Tal's armor for better resists, I figure you are the right people to ask:
So I'd have
Shako (UM)
Tal's Armor (Um)
34% Spirit Sheild (Stormsheild pdiamond on switch)
Occulus (ist) (Wizspike on switch)
Tal's ammy
Tal's Belt
2 pnagles / p chancies
and waterwalks (need to get wartravs I know...)

Still pushing 450MF after charms (incedentaly how many is too many?)
with better resists/DR if I am teleing thru Durance2 (starting to hate the dolls again).

Does that sound good? Or should I switch out the nagles for 10%FCR /resists rings and the pchancies for magefists and ptopaz the armor/helm?

I know I'm asking alot of questions but I want to get more effecient and you all seem to know MUCH more than I do.

Any comments appreciated :D

[BodomSaint]

lets see...

with your main gear (Occy and Spirit i guess?) you have 125 Res cold, 90 res fire, 158 res light and 85 Poison res (BEFORE Hell penalty, with all 3 Anay quests solved) am i right? If yes, i'd definately stick the two Ums in. This would max out your Light res and help with you imho terrible Fire res.

However, i am still not a big fan of Spirit, a dual PDiamond'ed Mosers (upped would be best) would serve you better imho. It has much more res all than Spirit and a decent block as well (and you could save two Ums and PTopaz your stuff). The only drawback would be the loss of two skills but that comes with a big load of more safety. With max res and max block you can even tank meph for a short duration of time (long enough to kill him ;))

Dolls are a major nuisance but can be avoided by very fast cast rate. Unfortunately with your setup you run short of 1 (one!!!) friggin % to reach another BP (your FCR is 104 with Spirit and Wizzy, I'm just thinking loud atm ;) but you need 105% for 8 frame casting according to the german calc) so stick to Wizzy and SS.
One more note about the Undead Stygian Dolls: they might be hitting quite hard, but their real danger is their death-explosion, and you are not the one killing them while tele'ing, it's your merc, so just take his weapon away from him (but remember to give it back once arrived in durance 3. Try it, the dolls won't go boom anymore and your sorc will reach level 3 a lot more often alive than before ;)

[parkerbsb]

... Then I could switch out the SS for the siprit break the 105 FCR BP. I'm starting to like that idea. I rarely use my merc (he's only lvl 60somthing with a crap weap) so I wasn't worried about that so much... it's mostly when I'm teleing thru and get nailed by a mana burn pack... or tele into the middle of a group of them. I usually get nailed 'cuz I don't have even the first BP for FHR... Now I've gotta find a Mosers, I'm sure that won't be hard tho.

Thanks again Bodom!

[parkerbsb]

I just ran the calculations (I couldn't earlier 'cuz I was at work)
With the spirit setup I'm at 84 FCR versus 50 for the mosers setup... where did you get the 104 rate from Bodom?

Just to compare my calculations (they could be wrong I can't check in game right now).
With the mosers setup I'd have 78%Fire/Cold,111%Lit,and 38%Poison resists in hell mode. 50FCR so not even breaking the 1st BP.
With Spirit I'd have 15% Fire,83%Lit,50%Cold,10%Poison.84FCR so breaking the 1st BP.
Seeing as I want to teleport faster I calculated this: Wizspike/ Spirit gets me to 104 but has Huge resists (max across the slate in hell mode). Should I drop one nagle for a FCR ring?

[BodomSaint]

I just ran the calculations (I couldn't earlier 'cuz I was at work)
With the spirit setup I'm at 84 FCR versus 50 for the mosers setup... where did you get the 104 rate from Bodom?

Just to compare my calculations (they could be wrong I can't check in game right now).
With the mosers setup I'd have 78%Fire/Cold,111%Lit,and 38%Poison resists in hell mode. 50FCR so not even breaking the 1st BP.
With Spirit I'd have 15% Fire,83%Lit,50%Cold,10%Poison.84FCR so breaking the 1st BP.
Seeing as I want to teleport faster I calculated this: Wizspike/ Spirit gets me to 104 but has Huge resists (max across the slate in hell mode). Should I drop one nagle for a FCR ring?

you answered you question by yourself. the 104% are with wizzy, spirit and tals.

for fast teleporting you can switch to wizzy and spirit. so there's no real reason to get mor FCR on your killing switch (occy/Mosers).

let's get this straight: all you need for the next BP in your teleporting set up is one single %. So try to trade for a 35% FCR spirit and you're set. untill then you can swap a nagel and get a 10% FCR ring

[parkerbsb]

Yeah I would LOVE to get a perf FCR spirit, but trying to get someone to trade those now is like trying to convince the farmer to let you sleep in the same room as his virginal daughter :D

I guess people are worried that ladder season will be ending soon :(

Thanks for all the input if you ever decide to come to e/sc/l let me know I'm sure I can get you started.