The "When It Rains, It Pours" Tournament

[Billybgame]

Forum Name    Character   Char Name     LVL   ACT        WP         Score                              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Horobi        Necro         Rathma      44     A1NM   Rogue Camp      47
Sint          Assassin       Pia        35     A5     Harrogath       39
dune6836      Necro        Rainy_Day    32     A5     harrogath       39
newco         Druid       Haleakala     32     A4     River of Flame  36  RIP
jiansonz      Druid         Vince       36     A5     Harrogath       35
SuperSavage   Amazon       MaryJane     29     A3     Kurast Bazaar   25  RIP
skunkbelly    Barb       ThunderSkunk   25     A3     Flayer Jungle   23
AlterEgo      Assassin    DoWithout     22     A3     Kurast Docks    19
Billybgame    Sorceress    Willow       21     A2     Canyon of Magi   8  RIP
Docturnal     Sorc.    FrozenTearsOBHF  22     A2     Lost city        7  RIP
D.Master      Amazon      Cassandra     14     A2     Lut Gholein      6
Wolron        Paladin    FeastRFamine   17     A1     Cats Lvl2        3  RIP
Syzerian      Paladin       Siege       14     A1     Inner Cloister   2
LynKyle       Necro           ?          1     A1     Rogue Camp       0
OpethAZ       Assay      Thunderstorm    1     A1     Rogue Camp       0
Cattleya      Barb          Henry       11     A1     Dark Woods      -1  
EJB           Pally        Hawkeye      21     A1     Cats Lvl2       -4  RIP 
Greyeagle     Amazon       Osprey       15     A1     Dark Wood       -5

Willow is no more.

Knew she was frail and wondered how well she'd do. Not too bad, so far, and I was eager to get to 24 and get some crowd control skills. Had just gambled a rare bone shield, too.

Found Duriels entrance rather quickly, and readied myself. Upon entering, static fielded him, and he was less than half life. But, he was putting a serious hurt on me, so I started to run. Noticed right off that he was completely ignoring my merc. I've not seen that one, I don't think. I teleported, and TPd for more health pots, having drank 6 in no time flat. Quite worried, I re-entered. It was as if my merc wasn't there. He pummeled me again, and I fled in terror. Just as I hit the teleport Fkey, I saw the Deeds screen.

I think that the bosses usually target whoever does the most damage. Is this what happened? At least I think ,and it seems, that's how it works. The mercs weapon wasn't too great, so far, so maybe that's why he only targeted me? The merc may as well not have even been there. Duriel kept charging around at me, so he couldn't hit him, either. I know a Necro or Amazon sure wouldn't like this. Not too fair for my Sorc.

Another thing troubled me, that I had been noticing with this character. When I suffered some damage, at times I went from running to walking. I had this happen several times, and I'd have to hit R again to resume running. I think this might have happened right there vs Duriel, too. What gives with that? I've never ever seen this happen to my character before. In the wrong situation, that is bad news. And, I think it was here.

Good luck to the rest of you.

P.S. Duriel was done on P1

[Sint Nikolaas]

Here's a nice one:
What if you don't have an Abaddon in act 5? It's possible to spawn an infernal pit and pit of Asheron... :shocked:

[jiansonz]

Here's a nice one:
What if you don't have an Abaddon in act 5? It's possible to spawn an infernal pit and pit of Asheron... :shocked:

What are you talking about? All three areas are always there. Abaddon is located on the Frigid Highlands.

[dune6836]

Forum Name    Character   Char Name     LVL   ACT        WP         Score                              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
dune6836      Necro        Rainy_Day    43     A5     finished        50
Horobi        Necro         Rathma      44     A1NM   Rogue Camp      47
Sint          Assassin       Pia        35     A5     Harrogath       39
newco         Druid       Haleakala     32     A4     River of Flame  36  RIP
jiansonz      Druid         Vince       36     A5     Harrogath       35
SuperSavage   Amazon       MaryJane     29     A3     Kurast Bazaar   25  RIP
skunkbelly    Barb       ThunderSkunk   25     A3     Flayer Jungle   23
AlterEgo      Assassin    DoWithout     22     A3     Kurast Docks    19
Billybgame    Sorceress    Willow       21     A2     Canyon of Magi   8  RIP
Docturnal     Sorc.    FrozenTearsOBHF  22     A2     Lost city        7  RIP
D.Master      Amazon      Cassandra     14     A2     Lut Gholein      6
Wolron        Paladin    FeastRFamine   17     A1     Cats Lvl2        3  RIP
Syzerian      Paladin       Siege       14     A1     Inner Cloister   2
LynKyle       Necro           ?          1     A1     Rogue Camp       0
OpethAZ       Assay      Thunderstorm    1     A1     Rogue Camp       0
Cattleya      Barb          Henry       11     A1     Dark Woods      -1  
EJB           Pally        Hawkeye      21     A1     Cats Lvl2       -4  RIP 
Greyeagle     Amazon       Osprey       15     A1     Dark Wood       -5

r.i.p willow.
--

harrogath was freed from oppression without any trouble at players3, and my exp is moving along nicely.

i found and cleared abaddon on players 8..
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4180/abaddon3dn.jpg
the blood lords are quite nasty in there, if you are prone to standing toe to toe with monsters you will want to take great care.

i kept..
3 tp scrolls
a circlet with 3 more def than the cracked one i already had, which is now sold.
ruby jewel of ennui adds 1-17 lightening damage 28% fire res
2 socket bone shield
7 super mana pots
i replaced all the greater heal pots in my belt with super heal pots.
received 55108 gold from items sold, giving me 73504 in total now.
--
anya was rescued and she invited me to accept a bottled head with no necro skills at all worth 315 gold. i said thankyou.
--
i have paused forward progress at this point so that i can gain a few easy levels while the pindle garden portal remains open.
i want access to decrepify before i face baal. this will require 3 points. i want my army to have 50% resistances so thats another point. i would like a few more in skeleton mastery too and i want corpse explosion before starting NM.
--
"there's a waypoint here" called out zanarhi as we worked our way through the halls of pain toward our confrontation with nihlathak.
"are you sure?" i called out, backtracking to his position. sure enough, there it was, looking for all the world as if it had never been trodden upon.
--
nihlathak was "a sad little man" but he took a while to take down because he kept teleporting all over the shop. no danger though, a few lost skeletons was the only price for victory.
--
the ancient way wp was activated when both zanarhi and myself were clvl41. i had 10 skill points to spend...
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/500...entsway4ww.jpg
1 weaken
1 terror
1 decrepify
1 blood golum
1 iron golum
1 revive
1 summon resist
1 skeleton mastery
1 teeth
1 corpse explosion

so, 8 new skills for me to play with
i have 33% chance to block and 22 stat points saved.
--
the ancients showed very little enthuiasm at all and we quickly cleared the wsk for some extra exp before facing baal.
--
lister spawned with spectral hit but that the worst of the lot and he fell without a commotion.
baal killed most of my army before i got chance to decrepify him but once it was cast he was a lamb to the slaughter.
he dropped nothing of use..
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/7140/baaldrop2da.jpg
--
when i returned to charsi to call in her debt to me, she claimed never to have seen me before! i was about to remind her about the hammer when zanarhi wandered round the corner.
charsi's voice trailed off as she saw him, "hi there" she cooed "my name is charsi"
"less talk" zanarhi grunted, taking charsi firmly in hand and leading her into the nearby tent.
"oh my!" she giggled..

of course i have no idea what happened after that but sometime later i noticed two things. firstly, a quirky smile had appeared about her eyes where none had been before, and second, she now seemed only too willing to imbue my circlet...

i got 71 ar 34% enhanced defence, 14 energy. i sold it for 15,813 gold.
--
i used both the socket quest and the personalisation reward on the steel clash. i will wait and hope to get a perfect diamond for it. so far i have only 2 chipped.. a way to go then

i have 116,517 gold stashed now. think i will wait till after NM den before gambling again.
--
so, introducing destroyer rainy_day..
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2541/destroyer2yx.jpg

-43 for level
39 for wp's
54 for completed quests
total 50 points.
--
i dont need to use the few skill points i have now. so i await the area i am allowed to re-run.. i'm hoping for act5 although act4 would be ok too
good going all. no more updates from me for a while as i am away until thursday. good luck all. dune

[skunkbelly]

Forum Name    Character   Char Name     LVL   ACT        WP         Score                              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
dune6836      Necro        Rainy_Day    43     A5     finished        50
Horobi        Necro         Rathma      44     A1NM   Rogue Camp      47
Sint          Assassin       Pia        35     A5     Harrogath       39
newco         Druid       Haleakala     32     A4     River of Flame  36  RIP
jiansonz      Druid         Vince       36     A5     Harrogath       35
SuperSavage   Amazon       MaryJane     29     A3     Kurast Bazaar   25  RIP
skunkbelly    Barb       ThunderSkunk   25     A3     Flayer Jungle   23 RIP
AlterEgo      Assassin    DoWithout     22     A3     Kurast Docks    19
Billybgame    Sorceress    Willow       21     A2     Canyon of Magi   8  RIP
Docturnal     Sorc.    FrozenTearsOBHF  22     A2     Lost city        7  RIP
D.Master      Amazon      Cassandra     14     A2     Lut Gholein      6
Wolron        Paladin    FeastRFamine   17     A1     Cats Lvl2        3  RIP
Syzerian      Paladin       Siege       14     A1     Inner Cloister   2
LynKyle       Necro           ?          1     A1     Rogue Camp       0
OpethAZ       Assay      Thunderstorm    1     A1     Rogue Camp       0
Cattleya      Barb          Henry       11     A1     Dark Woods      -1  
EJB           Pally        Hawkeye      21     A1     Cats Lvl2       -4  RIP 
Greyeagle     Amazon       Osprey       15     A1     Dark Wood       -5

Thunderskunk is no more. He got swarmed by Flayers and flayer shamans, and his 20 fire resistance couldn't take the heat. Despite sucking down oodles of potions, he couldn't squish the little buggers fast enough to break free. His deeds of valor will be remembered!

Incidentally, as far as I can recall, this is the first time I've lost a character in normal difficulty in a couple of years. Yikes. That's what I get for taking a few months off from the game

Good luck to those still standing!

[Greyeagle]

Forum Name    Character   Char Name     LVL   ACT        WP         Score                              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
dune6836      Necro        Rainy_Day    43     A5     finished        50
Horobi        Necro         Rathma      44     A1NM   Rogue Camp      47
Sint          Assassin       Pia        35     A5     Harrogath       39
newco         Druid       Haleakala     32     A4     River of Flame  36  RIP
jiansonz      Druid         Vince       36     A5     Harrogath       35
SuperSavage   Amazon       MaryJane     29     A3     Kurast Bazaar   25  RIP
skunkbelly    Barb       ThunderSkunk   25     A3     Flayer Jungle   23 RIP
AlterEgo      Assassin    DoWithout     22     A3     Kurast Docks    19
Greyeagle     Amazon       Osprey       31     A3     Flayer Jungle    9 
Billybgame    Sorceress    Willow       21     A2     Canyon of Magi   8  RIP
Docturnal     Sorc.    FrozenTearsOBHF  22     A2     Lost city        7  RIP
D.Master      Amazon      Cassandra     14     A2     Lut Gholein      6
Wolron        Paladin    FeastRFamine   17     A1     Cats Lvl2        3  RIP
Syzerian      Paladin       Siege       14     A1     Inner Cloister   2
LynKyle       Necro           ?          1     A1     Rogue Camp       0
OpethAZ       Assay      Thunderstorm    1     A1     Rogue Camp       0
Cattleya      Barb          Henry       11     A1     Dark Woods      -1  
EJB           Pally        Hawkeye      21     A1     Cats Lvl2       -4  RIP

Okay, a weekend away from the internet but not D2 makes for a long update.

We left off with Osprey nearing the Black Marsh. I didn't have the fortitude to run areas to get level 16, so I hit the waypoint at 15.

Skills assigned:

13 magic arrow
1 critical strike
1 dodge

As predicted I went on a killing spree. The +13 dmg from magic arrow helps a lot this early in the game. I took on Cat 4 and Andy at players 8, I felt confident and wanted the drops. It turned out easy enough, although it cost me a couple healing potions.

Best part of Andy's drops:

Glyph Bolt - Hunter's Bow
+21 to Attack Rating
+2 to Minimum Damage
+3 to Maximum Damage
Lightning Resist +7%
Poison Resist +6%
10% Increased Attack Speed

Needed a belt and took one gamble:

Eagle Lock - Belt
Fire Resist +8%
Lightning Resist +27%
71% Extra Gold from Monsters
17% Faster Hit Recovery
Repairs 1 durability in 33 seconds

This is probably an endgame item, meaning of course that I will die still wearing it.

Act II goal was level 24 by the lost city way point. Early on it was apparent that this would take some xp runs. I have only a limited tolerance for runs, but it wouldn't take too many. Shrines, levels, and waypoints weren't enough to make progress reasonable with my rogue merc. So, I hired a prayer merc. This guy is a god for this tourney. No more potions, no more running back to town. Fun again! I'll be keeping this guy until I get a life leech item, then probably back to rogue for cost concerns.

I reached level 26 and assigned skills at the lost city:

+2 critical strike
+2 avoid
+2 evade
+1 inner sight
+1 slow missiles
+3 decoy
+1 penetrate

Aside from the merc change I've hit upon another good idea. Only use players 8 for xp and drops, players 1 for most other areas. So, I took arcane at players 8. Money, but not much other useful stuff. The rest of Act II was taken at Players 1, including Duriel. Three merc resurrects and the bug bit the dust.

Act III goal was level 30 by the great marsh way point. This was achieved by a reasonable number of spider forest runs. There were a couple boss packs early that made the xp runs quick. Skills assigned:

+2 decoy
+1 valkyrie
+1 pierce

At this point I went to players 8, since the Valk should make things easier, and I want levels by rof. I got a lucky swampy pit location, right next to the waypoint. After running back and forth I found a couple useful items.

Ocher Small Charm of Greed
Lightning Resist +7%
5% Extra Gold from Monsters

Blood Knot - Ring
+1 to Life
+115 to Attack Rating
Magic Damage Reduced by 2
Cold Resist +27%
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
10% Faster Cast Rate

Viridian Ring of the Leech
Poison Resist +13%
4% Life stolen per hit

Ruby Jewel of Knowledge
+3 to Energy
Fire Resist +22%

The leech ring meant that I could go back to a rogue. Splint mail and etheral full helm made the rogue feel fit for the area. I've donned the ring mail that was being used by the previous merc.

I've gambled a set of light gauntlets and about 4 short war bows with nothing to write home about. Not much luck on the money front, so I haven't even though about gambling a circlet.

score calculation:

-31 level
+16 way points
+24 quests
===
+9 total

[jiansonz]

Act II goal was level 24 by the lost city way point. Early on it was apparent that this would take some xp runs.

How come? Seems like you had no trouble at /p8. Without repeating any area, I reached level 25 before finding that waypint.

I got a lucky swampy pit location, right next to the waypoint.

Swampy Pit is always next to the waypoint. :cool: Choosing this place as treasure area was nice of skunkbelly.



Some excellent finds there! That awesome belt and the resist ring are better than anything I have seen yet (and I am in act 5...).

[DementiaMaster]

Duriel strikes again! I always get whooped by that beast. I thought that Guided Arrow would be enough and that I could hit-and-run but his charge attack for the best of me. My amazon was way too frail, I should have waited until level 24....

Level: 18-14= -4
Quest: +8
WPs: +8

Forum Name    Character   Char Name     LVL   ACT        WP         Score                              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
dune6836      Necro        Rainy_Day    43     A5     finished        50
Horobi        Necro         Rathma      44     A1NM   Rogue Camp      47
Sint          Assassin       Pia        35     A5     Harrogath       39
newco         Druid       Haleakala     32     A4     River of Flame  36  RIP
jiansonz      Druid         Vince       36     A5     Harrogath       35
SuperSavage   Amazon       MaryJane     29     A3     Kurast Bazaar   25  RIP
skunkbelly    Barb       ThunderSkunk   25     A3     Flayer Jungle   23  RIP
AlterEgo      Assassin    DoWithout     22     A3     Kurast Docks    19
D.Master      Amazon      Cassandra     18     A2        Canyon       18  RIP
Greyeagle     Amazon       Osprey       31     A3     Flayer Jungle    9 
Billybgame    Sorceress    Willow       21     A2     Canyon of Magi   8  RIP
Docturnal     Sorc.    FrozenTearsOBHF  22     A2     Lost city        7  RIP
Wolron        Paladin    FeastRFamine   17     A1     Cats Lvl2        3  RIP
Syzerian      Paladin       Siege       14     A1     Inner Cloister   2
LynKyle       Necro           ?          1     A1     Rogue Camp       0
OpethAZ       Assay      Thunderstorm    1     A1     Rogue Camp       0
Cattleya      Barb          Henry       11     A1     Dark Woods      -1  
EJB           Pally        Hawkeye      21     A1     Cats Lvl2       -4  RIP

[Greyeagle]

How come? Seems like you had no trouble at /p8. Without repeating any area, I reached level 25 before finding that waypint.

Did I make it sound easy for P8? Outside areas were easy enough at P8, but inside areas are another matter. I need room to run and disengage temporarily, mainly due to low resists and limited health potions (choice due to funds at this stage). So, I didn't take the enclosed areas at p8. The maggot lair, stony tomb, and such were done at at p1. I wanted to be very safe getting to level 30 and the valk. Even with the valk I probably won't take stair trap areas at P8 due to low resists, we'll see though.

Some excellent finds there! That awesome belt and the resist ring are better than anything I have seen yet (and I am in act 5...).

Yeah, that belt is a gem. It was even kind enough to have a repair mod so that it won't ever cost me another penny.

[jiansonz]

I don´t know how some of you people can go through act 5 so fast. It´s huge!
(hmm, maybe not all of you do a /p8 full clear, waiting for all shambling undead to have a chance of waking up again...)

Am I the only player who absolutely love fighting imps? :grin:


Anyway, progress is steady, and few resources get used up. A potion here, a TP scroll there.

Abaddon was a letdown. No fancy merc weapon and not much wealth. Best finds were the runes Eth and Ort.

I have fought 3 Frenzytaur boss packs: two FE and one LE. The LE pack could actually bring down the life of my bear, so much that a recast was needed. Nothing else except Diablo has even put a dent in that furry behemoth.

Anya´s reward was a Spirit Mask without staffmods, worth ~2700 gold. Meh.

Here´s an obscure cube recipe I have used 4 times to get a little extra money:
1 axe + 1 dagger -> set of throwing axes
A pack of throwing axes is worth about 550-670 gold, so if the combined value of the axe and the dagger is less, a cubing is adviced.


Also, if you can spare some cash (by not selling the ingredients) and need antidote potions, consider this recipe:

Strangling Gas Potion + healing potion -> antidote

Try to use small packs (e.g. you can pool together a pack of 14 and a pack of 16 to make one of 25 and one of 5, then use the small one for the recipe) so it gets less costly.


Vince the Druid
Level: 44
Next area: Nihlathak´s Temple