Tournament: Envious of the Green and Gold

[Kitteh]

If it wasn't single pass, item restrictions wouldn't be as restrictive because you could just grind the gear.

Name          Character    Class         Area               Level    S/U's Equipped 
------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Morathi       TBA          TBA           Act 1  Normal       1           0
jiansonz      Martina      Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
felixbavaria  Alf          Druid         Black Marsh         16          0
Kitteh        Briony       Assassin      Inner Cloister      18          2
djmbbandie    Cassie       Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
Grisu         Meronym      Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0

Skewer and whatever its called (small shield), both in level x of the Jail, in very quick succession.

[felixbavaria]

Name          Character    Class         Area               Level    S/U's Equipped 
------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Morathi       TBA          TBA           Act 1  Normal       1           0
jiansonz      Martina      Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
felixbavaria  Bruno        Druid         Far Oasis           24          5
Kitteh        Briony       Assassin      Inner Cloister      18          2
djmbbandie    Cassie       Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
Grisu         Meronym      Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0

Removed Alf from the list, re-entered with Bruno.

Bruno the Bear, Zanarhi the Desert Guard and Ivy the Carrion Vine make smooth progress through Act II. Andariel died quickly to Bruno's fire enchanted paws. Bruno is still allowed to wear his emeralded Large Axe, with Cleglaw's Shield on switch, while Zanarhi is wielding the mighty Dragon Chang. Three other S/Us have dropped: Gorefoot (meh), Arctic Furs and Biggin's Bonnet (the latter two went on the merc).

MVP in the Halls of the Dead goes to Ivy. Corpse disposal and always near full life, hell yeah.

Bruno, level 24 Werebear Druid, 5 S/Us equipped

[jiansonz]

Martina the Amazon and Gwinni the archer made it safely through the first act. Long Bow with +2 max jewel, Scepter and Pilums on throwing switch were plenty good enough. Near the end of the act, Martina upgraded to Superior Grand Scepter and Spiked Shield. She also found Death's Guard and Arctic Binding in the Catacombs. Nice, a set combo already in Act 1.

I was torn between my usual desire of heavy MF and the risk of finding 3 S/U weapons (none of which Act I-II mercs could use (which would also cut off my two planned main skills Jab and Immo Arrow!)) too soon.

My new Prayer buddy was given a Spetum. Martina chose a Flail and also bought a nice Bone Shield.
Progress was pretty easy. I found two green amulets in early Act II: Civerb's and Cathan's.

Made it all the way to Far Oasis before my first S/U weapon dropped: Skewer of Krintiz from Beetleburst. Then when Fire Eye dropped Crushflange I started to get a little nervous about the prospect of a weaponless merc for the last part of the act. In the Arcane Sanctuary, my merc got an upgrade when a low quality Poleaxe dropped. I could "de-crapify" it in the cube right away. In one of the false tombs, a Ghoul Lord champ dropped a keeper: Arctic Mitts. What a great boost! Maxed cold resist now, even more Defense, a little IAS, +70 (!) life.

Isenhart´s armor dropped in a false tomb and Cleglaw's Pincers dropped in the true tomb, but thankfully, no more S/U weapon before the Duriel fight. Of course, it wasn't as important in that fight as for the general killing because I took on Duriel at /p3. Swinging Crushflange, of course. Easy fight, but now the sunny days of the mighty Poleaxe were over.

I switched to a Cold Iron Wolf, gave him the Skewer and bought him a Bone Shield. His first mission was to take care of some unfinished business back in tomb #6.

As crappy as it is, Bladebone is still the best weapon I have for general damage dealing (at least it's fast...). Martina was not strong enough to use it without the STR bonus from Hsaru's buckler, so that had to be used alongside it until she could level up once more. Now she can use both Bladebone and Arctic Mitts without the need for a STR boost on weapon or shield. She just needs the +5 bonus from two Arctic pieces, and that is not going to be taken off anytime soon.

We do not kill fast in Act III, but we do kill at a bearable speed. Just. Martina has a poison charm, you know, and Telash's ice blasts are pretty good. I was a bit nervous about Sszark. I had the option of borrowing the Skewer (it has +10 DEX) in the fight, which would have led to a really nice 55% blocking but instead, I chose Crushflange. I took cover behind my level 6 Decoy, swung wlidly at the spot and knocked Sszark back repeatedly. The ice barrage did most of the damage but also slowed down the spider so I could get many chances at hitting.

Great Marsh was a long slog against zombies, fetishes and treebeasts. Game is still open (paused). I have seen that we will face melee Flayers (those 8-packs) and Soul Killer Shaman (i.e. mixed shaman/soldier/blowdarter) packs in the Flayer Jungle. Thanks to my sturdy Decoy and Slow Missiles (which cuts shaman flamethrowing distance down to almost nothing), this should be easy, I think.


Martina the Amazon and Telash the Cold Mage, level 29, 9 S/U items equipped, Flayer Jungle next

[Morathi]

You have been busy Jiansonz! . Good progress so far!

As far as my own progress, i have a character underway, currently making my way through Act 1 (Dark Wood next up). Will post an official update at the conclusion of Act 1.

[felixbavaria]

The rest of Act II had a few interesting S/U drops - Shadowfang from a random zombie boss in the Lost City, both the set and the unique Large Shield (the unique one has at least some blocking and LR while the set one is rather useless). Furthermore, Berserker's Axe, meaning that we can only use S/U weapons from now on. Since Double Axes have abysmal attack speed in bear form (28 fpa), Bruno is wielding Shadowfang now, which deals damage at 22 fpa. Duriel was very easy (taken at /p3), and his drop was very useful: Bloodfist! An endgame worthy item in this tourney.

Bruno the Werebear and Zanarhi the BA merc, level 27, Kurast Docks, 8 S/Us equipped

[Jason Maher]

I just realised that being forced to equip S/U weapons pretty much rules out Lightning Fury. Dammit. First respec coming up.

[Tox FTW]

Name          Character    Class         Area               Level    S/U's Equipped
------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Morathi       TBA          TBA           Act 1  Normal       1           0
jiansonz      Martina      Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
felixbavaria  Bruno        Druid         Far Oasis           24          5
Kitteh        Briony       Assassin      Inner Cloister      18          2
djmbbandie    Cassie       Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
Grisu         Meronym      Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0
Tox FTW       Tipsey       Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0

I'll take a shot at this tourney. Entering with Tipsey the Kicker. Maybe I'll be able to make it into NM this time.

[Glenstorm]

I'd like to start off by reintroducing myself. I joined here quite a few years ago, and participated in the Hell Unleashed MP groups, and a small number of tourneys - most of which I dropped out of due to a lack of free time. No one can really stay away from D2 forever though, so when I felt nostalgic I came looking around here to see what you guys were up to. Surprisingly, I saw a lot of the same faces that I remember reading tournament reports from way back in the past, and I was suddenly flooded with the urge to take another stab at this. So even though I have even less free time than before, I've decided to join up with an Assassin (which appear to be in vogue) and see if I can actually guardian one of these tournaments.

Irene had a fairly uneventful act I. She hungered for green and gold, but found nothing but a sea of yellow. Emeralds were abundant, and used to adorn her companion, Klaudia's, bow. However, despite finding nearly a full stash's worth of chipped gems, the coveted topaz was in short supply. Irene found her first topaz in the crypt, and the final two back to back in the catacombs. The most satisfying topaz find, however, was when Irene ran up to Rakinishu, fists on fire, and popped him in the face - causing him to choke up a badly chipped topaz he was hiding who-knows-where.

Speaking of fiery fists, Irene invested heavily in Fists of Fire; I've never really used the skill before but I'm quickly finding it one of my favorite melee skills in the game - the melee explosions are just so satisfying. I really like the tactical use of the skill, and will probably take Irene all the way into being a phoenix striker.

The search for beautiful sets and uniques went about as poorly as the hunt for topaz (It's almost as if they're related...). Irene found a smelly hat at the bottom of a hole, and was pretty disappointed with Andariel's secret treasures.

But all her bad fortune is behind her, as a great desert lies ahead. If there's one thing I learned from Indiana Jones, tombs in the desert always have the best treasure!

Name          Character    Class         Area               Level    S/U's Equipped
------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
jiansonz      Martina      Amazon        Flayer Jungle       29          9
felixbavaria  Bruno        Druid         Kurast Docks        27          8
Glenstorm     Irene        Assassin      Lut Gholein         20          1
Kitteh        Briony       Assassin      Inner Cloister      18          2
Morathi       TBA          TBA           Act 1  Normal       1           0
djmbbandie    Cassie       Amazon        Rogue Camp          1           0
Grisu         Meronym      Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0
Tox FTW       Tipsey       Assassin      Rogue Camp          1           0

[pharphis]

Welcome back and good luck

[Glenstorm]

What, that's it? Kind words and a smile? No brutal assault on my shins?