The Fresh Meat Tourney

[Cius]

The Fresh Meat Tourney

"Ah fresh meat!" - The butcher

So, after jiansonz recent thread on the adventures of Isolde a thread started about interest in a D1 tourney. After many expressed interest in the slow lovin of D1 this was the result. The fresh meat tourney!

Rules
- Any character is allowed
- Any "build" is allowed
- HC single pass is required. This means only save when no monsters are around and if you die then so long.
- SP mode only (not MP) due to quests and each difficulty will be played through once single pass style (a lot easier to do in D1)
- D1 or Hellfire are permissable, just state which one you are doing.
- Saving before hitting a Cauldron or random shrine is allowed ONCE! If you don't like the result you can re-load and then leave the cauldron as is.
- Items can be stored in town but at the end of each difficulty no muling applications are allowed. You can only carry to the next act what you can fit on your person. (there are smart ways to transfer wealth though if you think about it)


Comments
The rules above are made so as to allow our inspiration, Isolde, to be automatically entered into this tourney.
No muling applications
Style points are awarded for people that put restrictions on themselves such as Isolde not using a bow at all. Warriors are also encouraged as while they are powerful in normal in NM and Hell they do not scale as well as the other 2 characters. Hellfire characters are also allowed including Barbarian and Bard.
Add yourself to the table as you go!

Forum Name      Character       Class           Location               Level
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cius            Milamber        Mage            lvl 2                  4

I'll kick it off with Milamber who is a mage who hates using melee. Spells are first choice in all cases. Even if it means being dirt poor in the early game he has to use spells first and foremost and buy mana pots/charges when he runs out even if he would rather melee for a while and save some cash. Melee can only be used when he literally has no other way of casting (all mana, charges, and money depleted). Reason I went the easy route is that I never knew how to get into NM and Hell with SP characters so I have only played D1 to the end of normal. Seeing as it will be my first trip to NM and Hell I want the strongest character. Later on I may try a rogue.

[soulmanz]

Sweet, im in with the samurai rogue tetsu-ko.

I posted the samurai rules (by ReiRee) up before, but here they are again

Spoiler

Rules
The Samurai's goal as a player is to reach the level of Mastery, however only through trials of skill and combat can they do this. A Samurai's main weapon are her fists... for close combat is furious... however, the denizens of hell require something more than just skin. Two handed swords, ( or one handed swords without shields ) are acceptable, as are staves, and bows, when applicable. A shield may only be used upon the reaching of the Protector status. The rights to magic are attained as mastered.


Ranks
The Initiate of the Bow
(clvls 1-7)
Every level, 5 points are added to Dex.
Only a bow may be used, for it is the Samurai's goal to understand the weapon.
Any light armor may be worn, but no helm, for the Samurai's aim depends on her good eye sight.

The Initiate of the Fist
(clvls 8-14)
Every level, 3 points are added to strength, 2 points to vitality.
No weapon or shield can be used.
Any armor may be worn, as with a helm, except for plate.

The initiate of the Blade
(clvls 14-19)
Every level, 2 points are added to strength, 2 points to vitality, and 1 point to dexterity.
Only a sword may be used, no shield. Two handed sword preferred.
Any armor, as with a helm, except a plate.

The Initiate of Magic
(clvls 20-24)
Every level, 5 points are added to magic.
No weapon may be used, to encourage the use of magic to defeat foes. Any helm may be used, but only armor that does no encompass the torso may be used (Cloaks, Capes, etc. ).
Magic can be used from this time on, unless indicated.

The Initiate of the Staff
(clvls 25 and 26)
Every level, 5 points are added to vitality.
Only a staff may be used.
Any armor can be used, excluding plate mail. Same for helms.

Upon reaching the level of 27, the Samurai must discover her purpose. She descends through the levels of hell to the level of 15. As destined by fate, the first enemy to cross her path becomes her mortal foe. No matter what, the Samurai must combat monsters of this genre to no end. The level must be cleared of the heathen, for it is the reason she has come to be. If at any time the Samurai runs from the level of foes and has no intention to return, the samurai must be cleansed...

Purification by Fire
A Firewall is cast, as the Samurai drops her items, and then walks across. (If the Samurai has no Fire Wall, than another person may FireWall for her.) The Samurai is not to return to her items, and must leave.

The Initiate
(clvls 27-29, after the Discovery of a Purpose)
Every level, the Samurai may apply points as wanted.
Any weapon may be used that the Samurai has used before.
Any armor may be used, including plate mails that require under 80 Strength.

The Protector
Upon reaching level 30, the Samurai must adopt the codes of chivalry, and help 10 people in their journeys. The Samurai may use a shield to further help, but may not attack. She can use magic, but deal no damage, only heal, or give.

Samurai of the Stars
(clvls 30-34)
The Samurai may apply points to attributes as wished from here on.
Any weapon may be used that the Samurai has used before.
Any armor may be used, including plates that require 80 strength.
As part of maintaining the code of chivalry, the Samurai must help 5 people through this section before she may be tried again.

The Second Trial: The Acceptance of the Stars
To prove a samurai's dedication to the Stars, a Samurai must play a game in which 3 Items of the Stars are found. The Samurai may not gain any experience during these trials, (so playing in Normal difficulty is advised.)

Samurai of Faith
(clvls 35 to 39)
Any Weapon may be used, as before.
Any armor, including plates that require 90 strength may be used.
As part of maintaining the code of chivalry, the Samurai must help 5 people through the section before she may be tried again.

The Third Trial: The Acceptance of the Gods
To prove the God's acceptance of the Samurai's power and prowess, the Samurai must defeat a level with her mortal foe with only a sword in hand. No armor may be used, though magic is allowed. No other monster besides the mortal foe may be hurt, only the foe.

The Master
(clvl 40+)
The Samurai is now a master of weapons and may use any weapon, excluding bulky mauls, hammers, maces, and axes.
Any armor may be used.
Chivalry is still a virtue of the samurai, so 1 person must be helped each level that the Samurai attains.

Well, all that minus helping people (saving the world not chivalrous enough?)

essentially a 'fighter/archer/mage' build with limitations throughout most of the game (up till level 40 and onwards). the early game is very interesting, which i will come to in a minute.

So Tetsu-ko began her journey, vowing to uphold her family's Bushido code. Immediately she noticed both a brown well and a bleeding corpse at the church, and realised she had her first quests.

As an Initiate of the Bow she was required to kill with a bow (easy) and put all stat points into dex until level 8. Straight forward indeed. She proceeded to perforate her way through skellies, fallen, zombies and those dog things. Nothing of interest happened, other than finding a weird shrine. These are probably close to the best shrines in the game. More on this later.

Proceeding to level 2, she faced more of the same. The monster types get a little confused, but I think it was ghouls (bigger zombies), skele captains and maybe hidden (the cloaking awesome headpopping death enemies). 3 experiences of note -

1. another weird shrine! these things add +1 to the max damage of a weapon, which is a big deal. As far as I know this alters BASE damage, so any enchantments and stat multipliers come on top of this. As base damage max in the game is often near 20, this is a very big deal. +2 would equal 10% more damage, especially knowing the samurai code largely relies on 2-handed swords.
But I had a huuuuuge decision to make. I had to beat the butcher before level 7 (well, level 8, i misread the build). Once reaching level 8, a Samurai becomes an Initiate of the Fist. No weapon. Punch and kick monsters to death. The butcher. THE FREAKIN BUTCHER. Considering no stat points into vit, that seems unlikely.
So I gave in to fear, and used both weird shrines on a hunters bow, increasing damage to 2-7.
I do have buyer's remorse. I coulda saved them, and then buffed some mega lord's sword of speed or something, but i figure I have 3 difficulties to find more shrines. I will not wallow in self-pity, even though ...

2. The Butcher was a walk over. Trap him somewhere, like in the stairs or behind a door, and he drops like a ponce. Sold the cleaver.

3. Cleansing the water supply. I got hit by goatmen twice, and both times scared the bejeezus out of me. Knocked off at least a third of life, and they attack fast. The bow was really a powerhouse for this stage of the game though, and there were no NDEs.

The ring of truth for the water supply kicks some butt. As soon as I hit level 8 I paired it with my cap of health for a total of -2 enemy damage, pretty useful early on. Also have a +10 dex ring on the other hand, which combined with the early pumping of dex gives me a healthy 84% to-hit base.

Also managed to find leather armour of magic, and bought a sword of magic so I can learn the books I'd been hoarding. firebolt, charged bolt, healing and telekinesis added to the repertoire.

Level 3 was half cleared when I hit level 8. The bow went back into the town 'stash' and it was kung-fu flying feet action. Difficulty jumped a few notches, as I was facing Devilkin (tough fallen types), Burning dead captains (strong skeletons), corpse bows (skele archers) and the easier skele captains. Corpse bow bosspack was a bit of fun considering I had to run up to kick them to death, especially cos they were surrounded by burning dead captains, but no real problems. My high dex also has the benefit of pumping AC, along with my sturdy leather armour (+52% defense!), so it felt like I never got hit, except when I got mobbed by 3 burning dead captains.

So
Tetsu-ko, level 9, Dlvl 4, Samurai Rogue

kinda hate having the table in every post, so I will leave it for now.

[jiansonz]

Fun!

As Isolde is actually sort of a true and strong "build" (as I found out in the diablo wiki) I like to make the game harder for myself. I am going to enter with a Warrior named Reginald. I have only one simple additional rule for him:

Reginald may only use two-handed weapons.
(he´ll have to punch some monsters in the beginning)

This should lead to some interesting strategy choices. Warriors aren´t that bad with bows. Staves can provide useful charges, he will be able to hit pretty hard with the big weapons, etc. He´ll take a lot of damage, but Warriors get good life and can pump Vita more than the other classes.

[scrcrw]

I'll kick it off with Milamber who is a mage who hates using melee. Spells are first choice in all cases. Even if it means being dirt poor in the early game he has to use spells first and foremost and buy mana pots/charges when he runs out even if he would rather melee for a while and save some cash. Melee can only be used when he literally has no other way of casting (all mana, charges, and money depleted). Reason I went the easy route is that I never knew how to get into NM and Hell with SP characters so I have only played D1 to the end of normal. Seeing as it will be my first trip to NM and Hell I want the strongest character. Later on I may try a rogue.

^this. I'm sure I'll manage to die quickly somehow and then start a more crazy character. I'll use a different name though Update once I get him started.

Great tournament name btw

[soulmanz]

man, level 4 is handing tets her butt on a platter. just fully cleared it, but damn!

kicking things is hard work. managed to draw several tough enemies on this level. easy were hidden, rotting carcasses and blinks (stupid bats), but i also managed to draw the levelled up scavengers (cant remember the name, but they are fast, and HURT) and flesh clan (goat men). Not only that, of the 3 bosses, one was a bat, 1 a scavenger, and one a goat man!

i now have almost no potions left. and i almost died several times, the boss scavenger could take 3/4 of my life in a single hit. if my AC was any lower id be a goner

level 11 heading to level 5, which stinks cos i still have 3 more levels till i can use a sword

gharbad the weak was left alone (dont think i can beat him with kicks yet) and a goat shrine was saved .... but i tried it. cant believe my luck ... another weird shrine!

by the way, it was never clarified ... are we allowed to try shrines before we buy (test them with a save, then save them or discard them)? I advocate yes purely because getting bum-stabbed with a permanent loss of life or mana will piss off a lot of people

oh and as a warning to D1 Newbies - in the cats/lower church - STAY AWAY FROM BLACK DEATHS (fluro yellow and black zombies). You lose a permanent hit point if they hit you

edit:
DAMN IT! dont worry, she aint dead yet. but as expected dlvl 5 (1st catacombs level) at lvl 11 with only KICKING as a weapon is deadly. and I got the WORST enemy draw. Goat archers, Horror archers, gloams (charging tougher bats) and Horror CAPTAINS! with no proper doorways for most of the cats, directly down the stairs I had to fight 3 horror captains simultaneously. 3 NDEs later and no red potions left, im a bit pissed. I need to find the secondary stairs (or is it now open in town?) so i can get back to town without running (walking) 4 tedious dungeon levels

im keeping upbeat. damn you and your rules ReiRee

edit2: highlighted question for emphasis

[Cius]

by the way, it was never clarified ... are we allowed to try shrines before we buy (test them with a save, then save them or discard them)? I advocate yes purely because getting bum-stabbed with a permanent loss of life or mana will piss off a lot of people

If you read the rules you will see that saving for the random shrines is allowed a single time.

Just to clarify though:
- Saving before normal named shrines who's effect is freely available in the wiki is expressly forbidden
- Saving before hitting a goat shrine or cauldron (I think those are the only random effect shrines) is allowed a single time. However, if you wish to keep the effect you may not re-load. So for instance if you get a shrine that changes all your potions to rejuvenation potions you can't go back to your save point and fill your inventory with normal potions for the free upgrade. You either stick with the one's you had or reload and pretend the shrine no longer exists. We expect you to stick to the honour system here as obviously we have no idea if you abused this or not. There are several shrines that can be abused that way (filling inventory with gold, rejuve's, weapon's, durability, etc). Don't do it!

Good progress everyone. Reading about the kicking I remember when I first played with a really good warrior I saved before fighting diablo and tried a few ways to kill him. First I did it with full gear easily enough, then I did it with a dagger. Then just a shield, and finally I punched him to death. Was easier than I thought it would be. I seem to recall knockback played a role, either for me using it or him using it on me. Was at least 15 years ago I think so my recollection is a bit fuzzy on the details.

Thanks for the table update Grisu.

[jiansonz]

Just to clarify though:
- Saving before normal named shrines who's effect is freely available in the wiki is expressly forbidden
- Saving before hitting a goat shrine or cauldron (I think those are the only random effect shrines) is allowed a single time. However, if you wish to keep the effect you may not re-load.

Another reason Isolde won´t take part in the tourney. She has violated both of these rules.

[Cius]

Ah well, guess I miss-read Isolde's rules then as well
Anyways, I hate tourney's that change rules mid way so lets just stick with the current system as what we currently have seems to me to be the lightest abuse of the save re-load option.

[jiansonz]

Yes, I agree. Your rules for the shrines are fair and reasonable.

[Grisu]

Entering Seth, the Sorcerer Ranger, who may only use ranged weapons and magic, but no melee weapons or shields. Don't know how easy/hard that one will be, but we will see for sure! I mean, I haven't played the game in the last half of my life :rolleyes:

Good luck everyone and here's an updated table:

Forum Name      Character       Class           	Location       Level
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
soulmanz	Tetsu-ko	Rogue Samurai		lvl 5          11
Cius            Milamber        Mage            	lvl 2          4
jiansonz	Reginald	Warrior 2handed		lvl 1          1
scrcrw		??		Mage			lvl 1          1
Grisu		Seth		Sorcerer Ranger		lvl 1          1