The quest for level 99- progress thread

[Garnier]

Laying a few hundred runs between you and the beginning of the level should do the trick

But seriously, this is the most difficult part. Once you see some white in there, you will know that it is doable (in finite time). Get 50+% through and you will finish just due to the inertia..

Big events like the MFO or Baalathons were always a great way to draw your mind away from the exp-bar, which is so important in the beginning. When it finished, you could just tell yourself "only 4-6 more to go", or such. In reality, two or three did the trick for you as you spent the periods between them patiently adding 5-40 runs per day. The actual number is not as important as the fact you set up a system and stick to it.

A close friend of mine has been edging towards 99 for the past couple months, he has a Javazon in which he teleports to EXP shrines through one of the Act 1 waypoints and gets unreal EXP for 98 off Baal. It's a nice trick to do.

[jjscud]

A close friend of mine has been edging towards 99 for the past couple months, he has a Javazon in which he teleports to EXP shrines through one of the Act 1 waypoints and gets unreal EXP for 98 off Baal. It's a nice trick to do.

No, its not.

Baal curses you almost instantly, its nearly impossible to do.

[Garnier]

No, its not.

Baal curses you almost instantly, its nearly impossible to do.

I'll ask him to make a youtube, he gets Baal down to almost no health, then gets a shrine and it's a couple Charged Strikes from killing him. I'll have to ask him next time he's on. Believe me it works.

[jjscud]

Hmm, I would be very curious about run times and how much exp he gains off of it. It seems like I've seen this discussion before but I didn't have enigma when I was running baal so I've never tried it.

[DarkChaos]

There is something to this, actually. This trick is already used for Diablo runs in the CS as he won't curse you and you can look for a shrine during the time it takes Diablo to spawn. We've always ruled out doing it on Baal as he curses you very quickly though... but assuming it works most of the time, the gains can be fairly significant.

A 50% increase in the exp from killing Baal gives you around a 25-30% increase in exp overall for that run. I'd be interested to know on what percentage of runs your friend successfully gets an exp shrine without it taking too long, and on what percentage of runs the trick is actually successful.

If those percentages are high (say both >80 or >90 percent) and it doesn't take long to find a shrine, the trick can significantly boost your exp/time (maybe by up to 15-20%). It would be worth doing on slower-running characters (4:00-5:00) - I suspect it wouldn't be worth it on characters who run Baal quickly (<3:00).

[Mungojerry]

Time it takes to search for exp shrines surely must be > time to do another baal-run with infi-javazon build. And he does curse you instantly, so small chance for success drops it even further.

[Garnier]

Well I have talked to him on AOL messenger for the past hour or so. He says he doesn't always do it but it depends what mood he's in. He says he doesn't disagree that its most likely a waste of time but he enjoys seeing his EXP jump off a successful EXP kill of Baal.

lol

[EatSleepDiablo]

My typical experience at 98:

WSK2-4 1 2 3 4 5 Baal Total
4526 2068 6918 6168 9009 6768 48654 84111

Not sure how fourth spawn exceeds Lister, but this was result of my sample near the end.

Re: experience shrines

They spawn rarely (maybe 1.5 in 10) and would give additional 24,000+- exp points for the time it took took TP back to town, tele to them, and tele back to town?

Methinks the returns would be slim...

[Ugla]

We discussed this with Cyrax last autumn and I actually did the last portion of The Level with exp-shrines. You can find my observations in Azalea's lvl99 thread (second post, section dealing with maps).

With some practice, it is easy to leave Baal one CS from death before you TP out, which makes the technique fairly reliable. Of course, you need a good map to make it worthwhile. Rolling one can be quite a pain, plus many would not "betray" their trusty map they already got used to.

Two things to consider:
1) while exp shrines can improve your exp/time ratio, they always decrease your kill/time ratio, and thus your magic or rune finding odds.
2) however, shrines also decrease the overall threat, as checking for them is a low-risk business. This essentially gives you a short break each run.

[Asmodeous]

Hmmm.

Typical. I don't read about exp shrining baal untill I'm 20 odd million xp away from 99.
I have an advantage atm. Its the middle of winter here and its bucketing down. Nothing else to do but play games!

I have been working on 11 runs per million or 90,000 each. A little bit higher than eatsleepdiablo's numbers, but as a runner compared to telewalking, I'm cleaning the entrance way prior to the throne room as you usually encounter a boss pack there so thats why Im getting more xp per run. I need that area clear as I run back to draw waves 4 & 5 out of baals decrep range.

I think I remember 2-3 shrines near the countess tower on my map, I might experiement there with finding an xp shrine for the final baal kill. Quite easy to beat baal down to that last pixel with a melee build.