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Hellforge rushing is the process in which someone rushes multiple characters to Hell for the act IV quest II reward, which is a random rune drop between hel and gul. This process is used by a few members of the SPF as a methodical way to acquire higher runes such as Vex, Ohm, Lo and sometimes even Jah or Ber.
Most members choose to do these rushes in 1.09, where there are no level restrictions on the Baal quests normal and nightmare, as well as less quests needed to reach hell, which allows for faster rushes.
However, some members feel that switching back is a little cheesy/don't want to deal with the hassle/don't want to restart and twink a sorc. This is a guide for these people.
The concept behind 1.11b rushes is that although you normally have to be lvl 20/40 to complete normal/nightmare, any character who is partied with a character that can get a quest, will also get the quest. So, if I am lvl 40, and I am killing Baal for the first time, anybody partied with me, is eligible to recieve that quest, be he lvl1 or 99.
Therefore, for every one character you lvl up to lvl 40, you can get 6 more into hell.
What you will need
One Enchantress
One Sorceress/teleport character capable of easily blasting through acts 1-3 in hell.
One set of twinking gear.
One or more computers that can handle running (between all of them), 8 instances of Diablo.
The Enchantress
Skill Distribution:
20 Warmth
20 Enchant
2 Prereqs
Rest into Fire Master
You want to have a high level of enchant, but after a certain point it becomes overkill. Level 45 to be able to wear +3 ammys/circlets will usually give you enough damage on your enchant, unless you are lacking more that +5 to fire skills/+8 to echant, in which case it may be advantageous to level up more to boost your firemastery/wear better items.
Ideal Gear:
+3 Fire skills circlet (w/ FRW ideal)
+3 Fire skills amulet
Spirit Shroud/Skin of the Vipermagi
+3 enchant leaf staff
harmony bow on switch
Mavina's Belt
Mage Fists
Dual SoJ
Sanders Riprap
In Inventory:
Frw charms/Burning skillers
Cube
Tome of TP
Your job is to enchant so its nice to get as many +fire skills as possible. Also, since you will be helping your rushee trist run, you will want to have a lot of FRW to get there quickly. Probably the most ideal version would be a high level enchantress with maxed teleport and 105 FCR, but this serves the purpose well enough.
As long as your enchant reaches at least 1k damage, you are good to go. Dual SoJ's are ideal gear, but they are certainly not needed. Neither are the burning skillers. Get about +10 to enchant and you are good to go. I had +14 on mine and no charms.
The Rusher (sorc):
Skills:
Go with any type of sorc that you know will not have trouble rushing a character through acts 1-3 in hell. I chose a Blizz Sorc, which works fine with a might merc. IF you are a dual element sorc and not very well outfitted, you may struggle with Mephisto/Duriel with eight people in the game, but otherwise, a Blizz sorc, a MeteoOrb, a Blizzballer or a well geared Lightning sorc are all good choices.
Gear:
There are no strict guidelines. You just want to hit 105 FCR and have maxed resists to Fire and Lightning in Hell. I don't think cold or poison resists are needed.
With Charms it hits
Hits 105 FCR, 1k life, no block, 500 mana and 360 MF.
Basically its just my MF sorc but with Ravenfrosts/Dwarf stars for added protection insteadof two*nagels.
Merc:
Do the normal merc thing. One item I highly recommend for RWM/RRM users is the runeword "Insight". A godsend for teleporters, this will save you a lot of mana pots.
Twinking Gear:
Khalim's Completed Flail
2*Cathans Seal
1*cathan's amulet
1*Cathan's helm
1*twitchthroe/Stealth
1*Death's Hand
1*Death's Sash
1* Hsaru's boots
1*Ravenclaw on switch
1*Vidala's Fetlocks in stash.
I usually just place all the items on the intended rushee via ATMA so I auto equip when I can wear each piece. You don't really need any of these (other than the boots/ravenclaw) but they help. The rushee can be any character you like. I like the paladin for he is able to use zeal and then vigor later on, as well as salvation.
The rushing
lvl 1-15: (10-15 minutes)
The Enchantress creates a normal game, and the rushee joins. The Enchantress parties the rushee, runs to Tristram (using harmony switch) and opens a tp for the rushee inside tristram (right next to the portal). She then enchants the rushee and goes back to town and types players 8.
Switch to the rushee, and go back through the RED portal and kill rakanishu, then clear tristram, picking up wirt's leg.
Repeat until rushee is lvl 15. It is advised to pick up two wirt's leg (one on each character).
lAct 1 and 2: (10-15 minutes)
Host with the rushee and join with your high level rusher.
Join with the six other mules. Tele to the Catacombs lvl 4, open a portal behind one of the pillars in the main room and go back to town with your rusher. Enter the tp with your rushee. Enter the tp with your rusher and kill Andy.
If you are using one computer and there is significant lag, tell the six mules to leave after this. If not, let them chill in game (but remember to bring them all to act 2)
Tele to the Maggot lvl 3, open up a TP and use the rushee to collect an staff.
Tele to the Temple of the Vipers and teleport onto the uprised place where the amulet is. Open up TP, switch to rushee and collect amulet.
Drop the rushee your cube and tell him to make the staff. Go kill the summoner, then go kill duriel (if you told your other six mules to leave, rejoin before you kill duriel).
Important note: if your rushee dies at any point, as long as you do not press ESC upon the death screen and the rusher kills the boss near the corpse, the rushee will get the quest. Therefore, always go in first to danger situations with your rushee.
lvl 15-20 (5-10 minutes).
Leave with your high level rusher (and your six other mules if you have lag). Rejoin with your enchantress. Enchant the rushee, and let him clear out two tombs; he should hit lvl 20 at players 8. At lvl 15 you will be able to use raven claw and you will be a killing machine.
lvl 20-25-7. (5-10 minutes).
Open up the cow level with your enchantress, enchant the rushee and let him go ballistic. Extra Wirt's leg is well, just in case.
Act 4 & 5 (10-15 minutes)
Remember, the rushee only has to be there for Diablo's Death.
Then do Ancients & Kill Baal (with the six other mules in game)
lvl 25-7 - 40 (30-60 minutes)
Powerlevel the rushee to lvl 40 using Baal runs (either hosted and tele'ed for by rusher or self done). A lvl 49 orbtress with max CM/orb and an insight merc would probably be the fastest, but a high level sorc works decently.
Nightmare (20-40 minutes)
Hell Act1-3 (20-30 minutes).
Collecting Hellforges (30-60 minutes).
Remember, no matter how many people are in the game, only one rune drops so you have to do it all seperately. What I like to do is to tele there with a sorc, clear with a zealot and collect the hellforge with the mule, as Hephaesto is very quick at making mince meat of mercs.
Conclusion
1.11b hellforge rushing is better if you are only looking to acquire such as rune as Ohm or Lo as you do not need to remake wealth. Otherwise, if you plan on making multiple high runes such as Jah and Ber, 1.09 is far more efficient.
I also made this to prove that 1.11b hellforge rushing is very doable and actually in some cases better than 1.09 self-forgeing. The rushing part of it isn't very detailed, so if you have problems, either post in this thread, or look at the (stickied) rushing guide in the community forum.
And just for fun, the results of my recent 7*7 hellforge rushing project which I did over the last 4 days (including today). I may or may not collect the nightmare forges, depending on how lazy I am.
1: Mal Rune
2: Lem Rune
3: Lem Rune
4: Mal Rune
5: Fal Rune
6: Um Rune
7: Lum Rune
8: Lum Rune
9: Fal Rune
10: Hel Rune
11: Io Rune
12: Ko Rune
13: Io Rune
14: Gul Rune
15: Gul Rune
16: Lem Rune
17: Ko Rune
18: Um Rune
19: Gul Rune
20: Mal Rune
21: Um Rune
22: Hel Rune
23: Ist Rune
24: Um Rune
25: Gul Rune
26: Lem Rune
27: Lem Rune
28: Ist Rune
29: Mal Rune
30: Lem Rune
31: Lem Rune
32: Ko Rune
33: Lum Rune
34: Um Rune
35: Fal Rune
36: Lem Rune
37: Lem Rune
38: Lum Rune
39: Lem Rune
40: Hel Rune
41: Hel Rune
42: Ist Rune
43: Lem Rune
44: Mal Rune
45: Fal Rune
46: Um Rune
47: Lum Rune
48: Ko Rune
49. Gul Rune
Most members choose to do these rushes in 1.09, where there are no level restrictions on the Baal quests normal and nightmare, as well as less quests needed to reach hell, which allows for faster rushes.
Small nitpick, the ancients quest still has the 20/40/60 level requirement in 1.09. it's just that you don't need to complete the quest to get into the WSK. As long as your rusher has the WSK 2, WP your good to go.
Great guide! I will definitlly make some hf rushes
One thingy though, When does the other 6 dudes have to be in game? if you have lag and decide to quit after you done andy?
And when do they need to me at the place where the stuff happens? ie: do they have to be in the chaos sanc when big D goes down? Do they have to be inbaal throne room/duriels lair/mephistos durance etc. when the boss dies? or can they just chill in town while your rusher kills everything and then come strolling to next act? is it is like that, I dont understand why you need to have a rushee with you?
And one more thingy, is this perfevtly ok in the forum eyes? to self rush like this ? I think its awsome, great guide once again
edit: sorry, it just came to my mind that the rushee has to host the game and must therefore be level 20/40 do to ancients in norm/nm, but doesnt chars. that are just standing in town getting the quest if they are teamed with the rusher when baal is killed? why does the rushee have to be there? =)
?
Great guide! I will definitlly make some hf rushes
One thingy though, When does the other 6 dudes have to be in game? if you have lag and decide to quit after you done andy?
as long as one of the characters that needs the quest is present when Andarial is killed all will get the quest reward. EDIT: Obviously the other 6 rushees need to be in game and partied
Quote:
And when do they need to me at the place where the stuff happens? ie: do they have to be in the chaos sanc when big D goes down?
One of the rushees does (dead or alive)
Quote:
Do they have to be inbaal throne room/duriels lair/mephistos durance etc. when the boss dies? or can they just chill in town while your rusher kills everything and then come strolling to next act? is it is like that, I dont understand why you need to have a rushee with you?
as above
Quote:
And one more thingy, is this perfevtly ok in the forum eyes? to self rush like this ? I think its awsome, great guide once again
Depends on who you talk to I'd mention it if you trade.
edit: sorry, it just came to my mind that the rushee has to host the game and must therefore be level 20/40 do to ancients in norm/nm, but doesnt chars. that are just standing in town getting the quest if they are teamed with the rusher when baal is killed? why does the rushee have to be there? =)
?
Because the rusher won't be getting the quest. it only works when you are partied to someone else who is "killing" Baal for the first time and therefore "getting" the quest.
Also, I think it falls under legitimate, but cheesy. All in all, I think this is "less cheesy" that 1.09 self forge-rushing, although, still admittedly rather cheesy. Put it in your trader profile.
Admittedly doing this takes away the joy of finding runes while questing/mfing. Before I did hellforge rushes, I'd get excited about every mid rune drop (fal-pul) but now its just like, meh, whatever/
However, I don't think it works with range either. I just retested it in game, and even though the pally is carrying a bow, the sorc's damage after enchant remains about double the pally's. Or is it just the LCS lying to me?
Could you add it in sometime later (to put rest of the points into fire master)?
The way fire mastery works is confusing, and the LCS does lie. Here is my understanding, after reading MongoJerry's excellent guide and playing many enchantresses and enchanted characters:
Sorc enchanting someone else: gets mastery bonus at the time it is cast, and it shows on the LCS. Even though the description of Enchant mentioned that the bonus is less for ranged, it is not.
Sorc enchanting herself for melee: gets mastery bonus twice. Once at the time of casting, and once at the time of actual melee. The LCS lists the double bonus damage.
Sorc enchanting herself for ranged: gets mastery bonus once. I think the level of mastery used is the one at the time of casting. The LCS lists the double bonus damage, erroneously.
So for enchanting others, you do want max warmth/enchant/FM and as many +skills / + fireskills as possible, as Hrus suggests.
I like the format in which it is written. It's like reading a cookbook:
Ingredients (what you will need)
One onion
One potato
One clove of garlic
Preparation (the rushing)
Peel potato and slice into wedges. Crush garlic with...... fry over a medium fire......
I also occasionally do HF v 1.11 rushing. But I'll only do it with one char at a time. Twinked to the eyeballs, points in FO and CM, Static Field and Teleport. Once I hit Eldritch, I run him at /p8 until clvl 35-ish, then I do Baal runs until clvl 42-ish. By that time FO and CM will have about 10/10, and then I just tele past all the non-essential stuff. Takes me on average 3-4 hours per rush.
I'm working on a Jah for you know what.....
Cheese? Cheese? No cheese here, it was the mouse, guvnor.
I'd mention it if you trade.
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