Experienced Meph tele sorcs Q

[ZtruK]

I was wondering if anyone would be willing to write up a guide or just post in here the strats for Meph tele farming (moat trick (is it needed as orb/tk?), ways to tele down, how to avoid brem & friends, downing meph etc). I read the guide on the sorcy forum but the links are all dead and he assumes you can see the pics in his description.

I don’t use any map hacks so everything is blacked out. I’ve heard to go clockwise from the WP. I’m practicing in norm but still end up in situations I think would be sticky in NM and probably death in Hell.

Also, In experimenting trying to avoid bream and clan I have failed pretty miserably. I’d say 80% of the time I pull someone.

Thanks for any info provided.

EasyOut

[Master Zap]

here's a mini guide for this
http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=143676

hope that helps

[ZtruK]

Yea, that's the one I read with dead links. It's hard to know what "this point" is so I'm currently just expernenting in Norm. Are the mobs and lcoations even the same in NM and Hell?

[AgentMarth]

The mobs are not always in the same spot, in any difficulty, that is the problem.

TBH, I like to go toe to toe with Mephy and tank him with my Merc. If you want to feel safe, a Kelpie or some source of 50%+ slow is VERY helpful. With Orb/TK, if you have an Insight/Prayer Merc, and 750+ mana, I find that (with Max Block) I can tank him well enough with Merc, any damage taken is regenerated fast enough via Med/Prayer, or if you hit below half mana, drink a blue. So I just port up right in the dead center, lead him out, chill him, static, then orb. You can move back for the sweet spot with orb, but sharing hits with Merc helps keep him alive, and in turn you alive as well, even if it takes a tad longer.

Or you can always use a tap wand on switch to help your Merc tank him if he has a good poke stick for leech. You just lose out on your weapon switch that way.

I never use the moat trick, because I always get unwanted company. Also, in HC, not being the proper level for you area can kill you, so just level up a bit before Hell Mephy.

[Master Zap]

the mobs are in different places , generaly I find them to the right of the side of the map after entering the arches, but sometimes they are straight on the that center "finger". Fastest thing to do is tele past them right ontop of meph, static and walk off leaving the merc to attack while you sweetspot orb meph.

[ZtruK]

Ok so all that stuff about leading Brem off and sticking him somewhere etc is only needed if you are “moating”? I can basically tele right up the pipe to mephy and not worry about any of the counsel guys following me or random hydras and junk?

[AgentMarth]

Pretty much. At that point, all you need to worry about is Mephy, and the occasional Blood Lord who is a bit close. Hence why I lead him to the center of that circle.

Just one thing of note, I can't think of his name, but the council dude on the far right, is ALWAYS mana burn, if you see him coming, move. Mana burn = ES collapse and that not good around Mephy.

[STINGER]

You cant "effectively" use the moat with Orbs, it is just the same as if you cross it and fight him from "sweet spot" range. The whole point of moating him is getting him to the point where he doesnt even attack with his orb and jsut sits there moving in your "blizzard" or other long range skills. Thus since there is no Orb from him it allows you to run with poor resists and/or higher MF. Generally my first set of MF gear is a Light Plate with Topaz hopefully one with +life or somehting usefull that can be shopped in NM thus your D is pretty low.

With an Orb build just go up and give him a big fat kiss, static him and back off to Orb range and smoke him.

Personally I like Blizz just because I can run him safer with early poor gear and use the moat that and its easier to dodge Mephs Orb from farther range. Most of the time if the right side is bad the left isnt, or you just draw out the council which is easy, or kill them. They are good exp and can give good drops so it doesnt bother me to just kill them if they get stupid enuff to tick me off :)

Kelpie Snare, Blackhorns or somehting like that early can be really nice for the merc to slow him down. Later with higher lvl and good leech on Merc and your build being stronger you wont need it, Meph sort of stands still naturally most of the time.

Once my Sorcs get strong I just get in his face and smoke him no matter what skill I am using. Meph cant touch a well built 80-85+ Sorc.

[TheDarkSide]

I hate the Moat trick too and prefer the Orb > Static > Static > Orb to death technique .. And I can vouch for the greatness of the Kelpie Snare as well . My current Meph Fd'ers Defiance merc used it until level 75 or so and he just stands toe to toe with Meph whilst I Orb him to death .. I got him a Reapers Toll now and he doesnt flinch or break a sweat tanking Meph ...

[xXxfunbobxXx]

if ur itnerested in a kelpie snare i prob have one i can toss u free also moating meph with orb is a bad idea cause it doesnt work well thats all i can say for now i guess

[ZtruK]

Thanks for all the info guys, I got the idea now. Since I’ll probably try to First Drop Hell Meph for a while (might be tough with 1 acct) until I get good MF gear I’ll just kill the council members right inside the first door for exp at least.

Funbob I’ll defiantly take you up on that Kelpie. I’ve been looking for a good 4 sock pole for Insight but from what I read, Kelpie is the way to take down Meph.

Thanks!

Z

[AgentMarth]

I’ll probably try to First Drop Hell Meph for a while (might be tough with 1 acct)

I find what works well, is to have like a Necro clear out the Pits for the 5 Mins to temp perm, then switch to a Sorc / FD'er. Or something like a Barb key run or the likes.

Yeah I feel stupid for not catching the Orb Moat trick thing, definitely don't do that.

[ZtruK]

Couple more questions of you guys:

Last night when running meph, teleporting through Dur2 a boss pack I must have zipped by Amped me. What do you guys normally do in that situation? (save and exit?) I was a little freaked out but kept going. I could see bad things happening from that though.

The other problem I had is after about 20 runs, I got banned. I tried again in a couple hours and was still banned. How do you guys avoid this? Just by running Andy or something? I don’t know if this was caused by the meph runs or the muleing or both.

Thx,

Z

[Matt]

You not being able to connect is just from rejoining games too fast. If you're using 2 chars in the same game, which I usually do when I magic find, it'll be easiest for you to quit and remake your game with one of them, then when you quit with the second one, don't immediately join the game, go back to the account screen, select your character, and then join.

Also, whether muling or running mephisto, try to stay in games 2-3 minutes per on average before rejoining or making a new one. You can quickly rejoin safely once or twice without a problem, but if you continue to do it much more than that, you're risking getting temp banned.

As for the amp, I usually find a safe spot, go to town, and talk to Alkor to get the amp removed, then continue on my way. If you cant find a safe spot for whatever reason, save and exit or continue teleing without any stops, depending on the situation.

Also, not sure if it's been mentioned, make sure if you're a block sorceress, which it sounds like you are, always teleport in 'walk' mode, NOT run mode to keep your blocking maxed!

-Matt

[STINGER]

Yep, port to town and remove it....

When I MF I do Andy/Pindle/Meph and maybe a lvl 85 area depending on how things are going. As a First Dropper for Meph you could do Andy/Meph and Tombs Act 2 to increase your time in game. at least Andy/Meph would help avoid that also, maybe take your time more. i am sure if you are going that fast you probably leave certain drops lay, or skip boss packs. When I do Andy i kill all the popular Champ/Boss packs. If you run taht area enuff you learn that certain rooms nearly always have a champ or boss in it especially the "corner" rooms which also can have big prize chests. There is another room type that nearly always has champs in it but I cant think of how to describe that one, its kind of long and rectangular.....you can usually see a colored glow when you pass these kinds of rooms.

I also increase me game lengths by taking stuff to town and also shopping. In Act 1 Hell Charsi can give you Artisan Towers or Deflecting. I beleive she can also sell Artisan Pavise of Deflecting but VERY rare. Whenever you run something in Act 1 Hell I suggest shopping Charsi every time you are in town it would be a mistake if you dont as those shields can be very useful and use to be highly tradeable.

You can also do the Mosuleum or maybe Countess.

Another option is simply selling stuff.....if a magical Elite Armor or wand drops go to town, sell to Charsi and see if she has a shield.

[ZtruK]

Thanks guys. I guess the time between getting amped and finding the safe spot is what’s scary :P

About the “walk while teleporting thing”, do I need to do that if I am only teleporting? If I hold tele down while in run mode (even if I don’t take any steps) I won’t have 75% block?

[Tai.]

When you're registered as "moving" in run mode it cuts your block in 1/3rd so you'll have 25% block if maxed.

At least that's how I've always understood it, it might be wrong, but I always do it and it's yet to lower my block, so it won't hurt and it might help.

Cheers
-Tai

[TheDarkSide]

I do Meph , Summoner , Countess , and sometimes Andy with my Fd'er and never get banned for being too fast ..

:grin:

[STINGER]

I do Meph , Summoner , Countess , and sometimes Andy with my Fd'er and never get banned for being too fast ..

:grin:

Since my MFer is a Trapper....no sorc yet, I do so many places if I get banned someone at Blizz should be shot!

Andy/Meph/Countess/Summoner/Pindle/Eld/Shenk/Pits sometimes I add more or drop some or whatever feels freaky.