[Tournament] The first and probably only truly untwinked tournament

[Grisu]

The first and probably only truly untwinked tournament

I wanted to post this some days ago, but didn't have the time...still I hope, there's some interest!

For a new game, the rules might be a bit tough, but hey! We're the SPF!

Rules:
- Single Pass (i.e. if you have to quit the game, start from the latest WP/Quest but don't track backwards unless you have to in order to find your way to the next area)
- Since the game is new, this is untwinked (at least for the first character)
- HC or SC till first death (death disqualifies this character, you may keep him/her but have to start over for this tournament)
- If you die, you start over with a new character. Feel free to use artisan upgrades and gold found with your characters before. Make sure to keep note of the number of attempts (see section "Winner")

Winner:
Overall winner is the one to complete the game in Hell difficulty with the lowest number of attempts. 2nd and 3rd winner will be the one to complete NM/Normal with the lowest number of attempts.

Good luck!

Table of Heroes

Forum Name      Character      Class       Location              Level     Attempt
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grisu           Rasputin       Monk        A1 Old Tristram Road   2           1

[Jason Maher]

I would have failed multiple times already, so I'll pass. Not interested in Inferno difficulty?

[Grisu]

I would have failed multiple times already, so I'll pass. Not interested in Inferno difficulty?

Not interested in doing it single pass for the first time... feel free to try it though!

Also, single pass doesn't seem to be people's preferred way of playing a new game...I will still use this thread as a progress thread for Rasputin though and mark the quest progress as "spoiler"

[TheReadMenace]

I don't know if it's single pass that's stopping us from joining. I think it's more the timing. Personally, I've got myself two different characters (one MP, one SP, both SC) and the fact that I've died once with one and still carried on - not to mention the fact that I've made progress with the artisans & have items in my stash from after my death - it wouldn't feel "right" entering this tournament after having certain advantages.

Besides, I can't just join with my third character and say that it's my first attempt. I've seen a few things that other players haven't, so I can potentially do better than someone starting completely fresh. Then there's the fact that I'm more interested in progressing with my current character that's already been disqualified from this tournament.

I think this would have been an interesting tournament, but it's kinda more for those that go HC only. As it stands, when my SC characters die, I'm not forced to restart. ...Nor will I. For now, the only time I'm going to make new characters is to start a completely new class.

In the event that more of us have seen the contents of the game, I think HC/SC death tournaments will get more attention. As it is now, however, I think the last thing any of us playing SC characters wants to do is start all over again. Good idea, but wrong time I'd say.

(All of this is personal opinion, so feel free to discuss your own perspective, potential tournament participants. Especially those of you who will/are playing strictly HC)

[Grisu]

Good thoughts, TRM. You're probably right about the timing. As I already play HC, this wasn't a problem for me...so I will use this thread as a progress journal for my Monk as I said before :-)

[Grisu]

So these are the adventures of Rasputin, the Monk from Russ...err, somewhere from Sanctuary.

Act 1

Spoiler

When I arrived in Tristram, I had to fight away dozens of Zombies, because apparently the guard couldn't do it. Whimps. Turned out they were not even true guards but some farmer boys playing soldier - no wonder New Tristram didn't stand a chance against the Undead that were awakened by the falling of a flaming star.

Not long, and a first encounter with a vicious unique Thrall, Bane, told me everything I needed to know: I was far too strong for even the mightiest of my enemies. Meditation and contemplation has made me a Fist of God, and nobody could stop me from my grizzly duty - even if it meant slaying the undead wife of the Blacksmith before his eyes.

He told me to get the crown of a former King, Leoric, who turned mad some decades ago and terrorised Tristram with his arbitrary and harsh sentences and succumbed to the Lord of Terror eventually, becoming the Skeleton King. Now he bars my way to the fallen star, so I had to find and repair the crown and place it on his head king. I destroyed him easily, with the aid of some Templar, who seems blind to the need of being in balance, but not before I showed the Skeleton King, that he will rather destroy 15 of his own minions than me.

The oddest thing then happened: I discovered, that the fallen star was...a man! A man with no memory, lost as was his sword and the message he ought to deliver. A message of great danger, he whispered. So I set forth to retrieve the broken pieces of his sword, only to find out, that Maghda, a lady unknown to me but head of some mysterious Coven worshipping Belial, had outmaneuvered me one time too many and got her hands on the pieces. She held Leah and her Uncle Deckard Cain prisoner, torturing them in order to reforge the weapon, when suddenly Leah unleashed powers I hadn't ever seen before - the power of the Horadrim, freeing herself and her dying uncle, while Maghda escaped. Before he died, the old man's last deed was to put the pieces back together, to form a sword - a sword of the legends, that of Tyrael, the angel of justice. Maghda had taken him with her though, so we didn't have a chance to find out, why he came to Tristram.

I ventured forth to find Tyrael and bring him back his sword and used the services of a Scoundrel, who is far too talkative but complemented my fighting style better than the Templar. He helped me survive the horrors and stenches of Leoric's torture chambers, only to finally meet Maghda. But before I could bring justice to her, she disappeared, releasing the Butcher, a legendary Demon I only had heard whispers and rumours about by some traveling bard.

With my (+5 Life per Hit/1% Life Stealing) weapon and the Way of the Hundred Fists, Exploding Palm (for the bleeding effect), Serenity and Breath of Heaven, he was a piece of cake though - no need to find a cellar door to close behind me and shoot through the bars, if you know what I mean...

Oh, and on my way, I met what must have been the mother of all spiders...It guarded some precioussssss, and a precious it was indeed.

Act 2

Spoiler

Off to the desert! (Act 2...desert...hmmm...some memories in the back of my mind...Lut Gholein or something...Ar, I can't remember!) Anyways, found my first gem - and good lord, I don't have to learn the properties of the gems completely from scratch!

I won't bore you with my long walks through the desert, but let me tell you this: I wonder, how those cultists could have overcome even a farmer boy. I mean: One hit and they drop! Pathetic. There are beasts more dangerous out there, and they haven't claimed the territory...a mage helped me to see through the illusions cast by the Coven, and so it was an easy road to Maghda, who dropped quickly under my assault with Way of the Hundred Fists. Usually, I prefer Thunder Clap because of the Teleport to target and splash damage, but against single targets, Way of the Hundred Fists seems the way to go/punch!

Now I have to go see the Emperor - Leah has been captured, and I'm afraid the Emperor is but a puppet of Belial. You will hear from me soon!

[Grisu]

Hah! Me canz post again!
Don't know, had "Standard Editor" enabled in my setting because I disliked the enhanced interface, and somehow with the last forum update that caused problems...anyways, I'm back with a sad message:

Rasputin, the HC monk, has died at level 30 in late Act III. It was Sin the Unforgiven, and I had 2k+ life at the moment I started the fight. I was dead in under one second, couldn't even press the key for Serenity anymore.Must have been a critical hit and/or multiple hits at once. It's a shame, really, esp. after

Spoiler

Belial was such an easy Act Boss - I didn't even have to use a potion.

Well, that's why I started a SC monk to finish at least the storyline, but I also started a new single pass HC character:

Enter Dhalsim, the Witch Doctor!

[jjscud]

Table of Heroes

Forum Name      Character      Class       Location              Level     Attempt
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grisu           Rasputin       Monk        A1 Old Tristram Road   2           1
jjscud          Hope           DH          Skeleton King          9           2

I'm in. I had a tough time trying to convert from SC to HC in D2 when I had a lot of wealth in SC. But I really enjoyed going HC only in Tourchlight and I'm trying it in D3. So far its relatively easy going, though that's what I thought with my first attempt until I stepped into a dungeon and ran into a boss and champion pack right near the entrance.

[Grisu]

Good to see you join, jjscud! It'll be interesting to see how well your Demon Hunter fares in HC!

Meanwhile Dhalsim reached Act 2 without much trouble. Some interesting skills, I'm currently undecided if I should use exploding toads as AoE spell or Zombie Dogs+Sacrifice (takes up 2 skill slots though...with exploding toads I could hotkey Horror as crowd control, which might be more important for HC).

btw, one of the funnier items I found so far:


Table of Heroes

Forum Name      Character      Class       Location               Level     Attempt
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grisu           Dhalsim        WD          A2 Black Canyon Mines   18          2
jjscud          Hope           DH          Skeleton King            9          2

Fallen Heroes

Forum Name      Character      Class       Location               Level     Attempt
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grisu           Rasputin       Monk        A3 Arreat Crater Lv2    30          1

[skunkbelly]

I don't think I have the nerve to enter a tourney before I've even had a chance to try all of the classes, but I'm glad to see that someone's giving it a go... promises great things for the future of our illustrious SPF!

Sad to know there'll be no SUTC character-swapping madness in DIII, due to the DRM nonsense... but that's, um... "progress?"