My first Matriarch, Olena

[AJK]

I finally made it for the first time through Hell! My n00bsorc, err. meteorb Olena braved many dangers, fought foul beasts, hid cowardly in corners, but emerged triumphant.

Before this build, I tried two characters to beat Hell, but they never made it past the Den of Evil. A fanatic zealot (sucked due to lack of good gear) and a lightsorc (sucked due to lack of gear, no block, 175 energy, and more build mistakes).

I decided not to let the third attempt suck as well, and followed a guide (and a good one). A meteorb is indeed a versatile and safe build!
Normal and Nightmare (pwned all with FOrb) passed uneventfully. One of the splinters of Meph's soulstone morphed into a Mal at Nightmare Hellforge.

Hell was really something different, I had to be careful now (damn). I quickly noticed that going max block complemented my playstyle (kamikaze) pretty well, and I lived past the Den of Evil! Here are some of the key moments in Hell, familiar to all I guess.

Andariel: Weakness to fire, end of story.
Duriel: My merc tanked, I lived.
Mephisto: Can't remember much except that I didn't die.
Hellforge: An Um (and Mal in Nightmare???)
Chaos sanct. & Diablo: Merc seems to think that IM means 'attack harder'. Merc was also attracted to the pretty pink lightning of Diablo. Yes, a lot of resurrection fees.
Nhihlhahthahk: Death by merc. I just stood in a corner as far away from the corpses as possible.
Ancients: Chicken as I am, I waited until level 88 before facing them. I killed them in two tries. First try: went splat because of whirwind attack in under five seconds. Second try: tele'd like crazy and put my merc in front of the bullies, spamming FOrb or fireball. So this is how it feels to play hardcore, it was the only time during the game that I really stressed out.
WSK: Died a couple of times (fanatic charger zombies, gloams), but managed to slay Baal with relative ease.

End stats: See Pic.

My gear:
Shako + PTopaz
Tal's Ball-On-A-Stick
Tal's ammy
Tal's belt
Skin of the Vipemagi with res all jewel (+49 res all total)
upgraded Visceratuant with PDiamond
Magefist
Stone of Jordan | 10% FCR+extra resists ring

Merc gear:
Rockstopper
Reaper's Toll
Shaftstop

One last question for y'all: How come my merc easily beats waves 1,2,4 and 5 at the Throne Room, but dies quickly to wave 3? Is it because of the hydras? He has 75% fire resist.

[Jude]

Congratulations, AJK!
Jude

[Tracul]

Gratz on the Mat AJK! Nice one! Actually my merc dies a lot too to wave 3...my guess is that the poisondam fr wave 2 is actually the reason for death. Very very potent poison that is.

[Skullcaptain]

Congrates on your Mat.!!~~!!

[handofnaz]

Congratulations! Meteorbs indeed rock very hard.

Merc seems to think that IM means 'attack harder'.

Hahahahaha.

One last question for y'all: How come my merc easily beats waves 1,2,4 and 5 at the Throne Room, but dies quickly to wave 3? Is it because of the hydras? He has 75% fire resist.

I agree, the poison from wave 2 may have helped kill him. Though I read somewhere that even with maxed resistances, the sheer volume and frequency of bolts fired from Council Hydras can render resists irrelevant. I've had very many mercs with 75% fire die in Travincal, and a couple in the Throne room.

[maxgerin]

One of the splinters of Meph's soulstone morphed into a Mal at Nightmare Hellforge.

Here are some of the key moments in Hell, familiar to all I guess.

Hellforge: An Um (and Mal in Nightmare???)

I was under the impression that NM Hellforge can only drop an Um for its highest...

--maxgerin

[Naab]

gongratziolations and jubilations...Damn that song always goes to my mind when i see these kinds of threds.

[corax]

woot sauce my little friend. now let us drink and be merry. the kind of merry that wears tights. not leotards. huzzah!

[Ana]

Congratz on the Mat, AJK!

[Slothman]

Great retelling of Olena's journey through the game AJK!
brings back a lot of memories for me anyway as my 1st or 2nd mat was a meteorb too
- you have some pretty decent gear on her and the merc - what kind of items did you try on your fanazealot and lightsorc?