BabyNinetyNiner - a Zealer way to 99

[Babyhell]

On acts 3 and 4, most of BabyNinetyNiner's progress has been based upon boss running - Mephisto opened it due to a very good map, then Diablo and CS gave good stuff.

The flayer dungeon dropped this MF circlet:

Then these MF boots on the road to Travincal:

Council gave a nice present:

And RNG gave this fcking map! Hope to get something similar in Hell!

Mephisto's first death gave the Milabrega's crown...will be used by merc until Howltusk came to drop

Forge: Ral + PSapphire

First Diablo kill upgraded merc armor:

Then when running CS/Diablo, the first Amn drop, opening the Strength RW possibility:

This eth Tannr Gorerod provided a huge merc damage boost!

Gambling time: was trying to upgrade the belt, and at some point i saw a circlet, and boom!

Diablo kept delivering - now will have to find PDiamonds:

On the very next run, the somehow perfect base for the Strength RW at current level:

Magefist and druid circlet:

But with some life leech and other useful stats: merc upgrade!

Arrived at lvl 35, decided to go to Harrogath. Stopped at lvl 37, just found entry to Crystalline passage, and on the way found this GC, that will replace a low AR/gold find one:

See you on next update!

 

[Babyhell]

Leveling from 44 to 49 has been doing Baal runs and Pindle runs, alternating somehow not to get tired of repetition.

Real deal started on a Baal run, in WSK levels - a huge merc upgrade!

Well i could use it for myself due to autorepair, but i'll see that in nightmare.

Then MF has risen again dropping a second Nagel, with 26MF

After a few Baal runs and no good drop, i went back to Pindle. Few runs later...

Not a huge armor, but the CBF mod is nice to have for Nightmare - for now the Stealth FRW is better!

And the very next run! *Crushing blow has arrived*

Finally, on the 49 hit, RNG gave that present...

3/3! Well i'm not a Barbarian. But as a Zealer, still a huge upgrade...

Not losing life leech is nice too

See you on next update!

 

[Jocular]

Nice progress! I recently respec'd my fc/mauler 99er to fury wolf.

Forgive if you've already written, but where are you planning to level? I luckily found atma's and am debating whether or not trav is a possible area to take me from 90-93 without optimal gear.

 

[Babyhell]

Hey

Here I planned gear as options that can be targeted. But somehow RNG can break this hardly - bloodletter + spirit shroud + high resists rare shield cannot be planned, and I guess it'll be powerful enough to go through nightmare, maybe only thing to plan is upgrading if it is worth it for end nightmare/start of hell.

No i haven't planned high leveling process, but at least with optimal gear (or at least the good resists high enough and a lot of life leeching) Trav is a real option, leveling my barb there during RFL had been quite efficient.

Now i know i like leveling in CS due to nice drops I can have there, and Diablo can be really quick once decent crushing blow rate is hit. I would go Baal running only if I get/have the goal to find a good map, but it can be for last levels - I know some prefer to keep ancient's for last level therefore let Baal running aside : well i'm not taking that road

Anyway i'm not very experienced at targeting the best places for leveling, I'm mostly about fun and variety to keep me going!

 

[Babyhell]

Getting to 52 (Fanaticism maxed now) has been done sharing Pindle and Baal again.

Nice few drops:
This new helmet for merc!

Two shields then, a Rhyme base and a Moser's. Base is damage modded:

Moser's is always good to have

Finally, Pindle gave a second Nagelring, a 24MF that will replace the 17MF one.

See you on next update!

 

[Jocular]

Hey

Anyway i'm not very experienced at targeting the best places for leveling, I'm mostly about fun and variety to keep me going!

I'm the same way, as much as I know efficiency is what D2 thrives on I can't help but go crazy if I run the same place time after time with no change of scenery.

 

[Babyhell]

Added drop/craft timeline!

See here!

Spoiler: Timeline copy

Dropped/crafted items along the way. Only noticeable rares are described.

Normal chapter clvl 1 -> clvl 52
A1
Andariel Bloodfist
Andariel Gorefoot
Andariel Nagelring 17MF
? Stealth armor
A2
Lut Golhein Falchion Steel runeword
? Crystal sword Steel runeword
? Stealth armor upgrade
A3
Kurast areas 23MF rare boots 10bootsfhr/frw dual res
Council Max dmg Ar gc
A4
CS War scepter +2 Zeal Strength runeword
Diablo eth Tannr Gorerod (merc weapon)
Diablo rare Crown shield 2os 35 res 15fbr/10block chance
Gambling Rare circlet +1 paladin skills 13 res 3life leech half freeze
A5
Pindle Nagelrings (24, 26 MF)
Pindle The spirit shroud
Pindle Bloodletter
Pindle Goblin toe
WSK Skin of the flayed one (merc armor)
Baal minions Akaran targe 2os damage ar modded (Rhyme base)
Baal Strings of Ears
Baal Rockstopper (merc helm)
Baal Moser's

 

[Babyhell]

Start of Nightmare:
See here in UT99er thread.

Spoiler: Copy

BabyNinetyNiner hit lvl 54, doing NM countess /p1 and Andy /p5 runs.

Some nice drops - and i'm starting to think that he is a Barb inside...

Iratha's crown dropped early in NM...set piece after few minutes, good start!

Sigon's first drop were the gloves...

A nice Goldwrap!

After many runs /p1, countess delivered the first Sol rune. Due to resistances, I will keep the Spirit shroud/rare shield with 74 all res combo for now, so I hope to get a Shael while questing. Sol can be for either a new weapon or a Lore runeword, but as I have the paladin circlet I guess I keep it for a Honor base or Fortitude (lol).

...and the second Sigon's was the belt!

Andy wasn't bad on first kill

This paladin is a Barbarian, for sure!

Andy delivered a Nokozan...

And nice MF boots.

Last drop before level 54... don't know if I will ever use it, but it's still nice to have in stash!

 

[Babyhell]

[Copied to UT99er thread]

BabyNinetyNiner hit lvl 60 at Act 4, while running Diablo NM.

Act 2 and 3 were more or less a run through, as they were not efficient XP-wise. Therefore he ran to act 4 and started to run Diablo NM hoping for HoZ and some other end-gear parts i had planned to farm here or while doing Baal runs.

First nice drop happened to be a GC of PSN res, in Act 2, Arcane Sanctuary:

Then Act 3 delivered that:

Spoiler

Nothing... some runes and flawless gems, but nothing else worth a screenshot or a dump

Act 4 started to deliver when lava appeared:

Well, still 1/3rd of a Lum for Smoke!

Hellforge was really nice:

Shael finally found in CS

Now i can make Rhyme, but i really need a res base and/or an armor with resists too.

Last drop before real deal:

And here we go, on the 4th or 5th run iirc:

Followed, quite some runs after, by this second set piece:

Afterwards i went to the lvl 60 - well, almost, and travelled to Harrogath. Last CS gc was really nice for a Zealer:

Time to level a bit to replace Horadric gloves by LoH - first time ever i drop it before lvl req, and it will be time to run Baal!

See you on next update

 

[Babyhell]

After Anya rescue, BabyNinetyNiner leveled at Pindle, up to 69 (may go a bit further while leveling is really quick there on /p5 or /p7)

Drops started very well - sc is usable by him at least:

Then dual res boots with FRW

A spirit base for later

If i need mana leech at some point:

Upgraded the Stealth...

...but smoke is getting closer (2nd Io rune)

Decided to socket the Guillaume's... it is my targeted end-game helm anyway!

Finally found a Rhyme base with some resists instead of damage/AR!

The current stats... fire res is now maxed thanks to LoH

So i'll go Ancients probably after level 70, and run Baal until 80 before entering Hell. That's the plan!

See you on next update!

 

[Babyhell]

Decided to quickly craft the spirit akaran rondache. What a blast...
Before

After

Definitely a switch shield only

Time to find a sword now, or wait for a Cta ?

Leveled up to 70, no 4os sword on this half of level... let's go ancient's now!

 

[Babyhell]

Yeehaa!

So on the run to Ancients, BabyNinetyNiner took almost a level - a quick jump to Pindle sealed the deal - therefore they were fought at lvl 71

And no spoiler, they died...using Rhyme was the good decision, as two of them were cold enchanted

4th wave gave the first Hel rune... right before Hell unlocking

My first bahamut's amulet ever

And this axe, with some additional features could have been huge rare...

Then Baal delivered a Goldskin...

...that i used on the next runs

Not that it was particularly better, but at least it has some resists than can compensate the use of Rhyme on that point.

Finally, before a last Pindle run that made BabyNinetyNiner hit lvl 74, i gambled for a new amulet. Except for FCR and the lack of life leech/AR, this one will be hold until Mara's i guess!

Eagle Mark
Amulet
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0xc65278ee
Item Level: 69
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Paladin Skill Levels
+10% Faster Cast Rate
4% Mana stolen per hit
Replenish Life +8
All Resistances +19
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana

Here is the dump of the nice ones i got beside

Ghoul Scarab
Amulet
Required Level: 34
Fingerprint: 0xa2ced280
Item Level: 76
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Summoning Skills (Necromancer Only)
+10 to Strength
Poison Resist +20%
Magic Damage Reduced by 3

Entropy Mark
Amulet
Required Level: 35
Fingerprint: 0x168c98c3
Item Level: 73
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Hydra when struck
+1 to Barbarian Skill Levels
+1 to Maximum Damage
+12 to Dexterity
Fire Resist +25%
9% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Athletic Amulet of Life
Amulet
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0xd70f68e7
Item Level: 73
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Passive and Magic Skills (Amazon Only)
Damage Reduced by 4

Glacial Amulet
Amulet
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0xb8e386bb
Item Level: 69
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Cold Skills (Sorceress Only)

See you on next update!

 

[Babyhell]

BabyNinetyNiner is still running Baal nightmare, hitting lvl 79 last night. Some big stuff dropped or gambled (how could i miss gambling feature, it's so effective!).

Will go to Hell at lvl 80 or at Gore rider drop, whichever comes first. For now, the 70's drops!

Ravenfrost...low one, but CBF is still present

36 MF!

Nice magic amulet

Baal deliveries

And very nice grand charms!

Finally, this gambled ring...only missing all res or MF

Dread Master
Ring
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0x774a06a2
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+96 to Attack Rating
4% Mana stolen per hit
7% Life stolen per hit
+10 to Strength
Poison Resist +19%

See you on next update !

 

[Jocular]

oh my god that amulet...

 

[Babyhell]

Not used to that stuff... @T72on1 said it can be used in some build, i'll see that later But it's a nice protection amulet

 

[T72on1]

Yeah, I still drool over that amulet. Pair that with a nice chromatic circlet of everlasting and you have a splendid base for a PDR build. Heck, the circlet might not even need the chromatic part if you can get your resists elsewhere .

 

[Babyhell]

Lvl 80 hit, after something like 25/30 more Baal runs. At this level, just put everything in /p1, except for Baal who is still giving his 2000k+ xp per run.

Things started with a nice jewel

Then a nice Sniperipper

Some nice SCs at different times

Magefist and angelic rings

Finally, some unused stuff dropped for gold when lvl 80 has been hit

Well, sadly no new boots/Gore riders drop, i'll have to find ones somewhere else, count on Goblin toes vs bosses, and keep FRW boots for questing.

See you on next update... in Hell!

 

[Babyhell]

BabyNinetyNiner is now running Hell, killing only champs/uniques here or there while questing until started to run Countess for a Lum and, hopefully, find some Smoke base.

First part has been to upgrade the resistance shield, gamble some resistances boots, and find in muled dropped charms the best combo to maximize resistances.

Using those last boots, we started running hell in this situation:

Not bad

Nothing of interest went before Countess runs - i went straight to Cain, dropped low sets/runes, so... time to get the Lum/last Io for Smoke at Countess!
First run delivered a Tarnhelm - low grailer for me!

And a huge weapon upgrade, socketed on the next runs with 2 Shaels (last breakpoint at 86, so it's good with LoH) and a 11 max dmg jewel (i had the three stashed, but I wanted to confirm it was better than the bloodletter before using Shaels - and yes, it is really good one to use!):

Last drops were on the path:
A Cta base:

And unbelievably...oO

Yes!!!

Dropped this SC on the last run, now at 59 cold res, 75 others:

Sapphire Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x7bf4e77b
Item Level: 69
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Cold Resist +10%

See you on next update!

 

[Babyhell]

After enough sessions to craft to Lum (3 Hel + 2 Io), BabyNinetyNiner tried his luck in Black Marsh Hole and ran to Andy to try to drop something.

First passage in Hole dropped a Ko...

...and a 6os Phase blade. 5 are enough for me, RNG!

Afterwards went to run to Andy, as no real xp could be gain on the way apart from uniques/champs, as usual. First drop in the catacombs happened to be a 211 rasha's after few Andy's runs:

And this time Andy gave something useful long-term wise - an essence.

After some other Andy's useless runs, it was time to get back to the Hole in order to drop elite armor(s) - an Andy's rare Dusk shroud drop remembered me that i was after bases, not rares or S/U (apart from Gore riders still and Mara's, to be honest).
Just to show, map is really good for that: Hole right north from waypoint, and tower not that far either!

And after some high strength req bases, finally this fulfilled the Smoke needs:

At the end of the run, a unique amulet went to pop from chest...

Next time! May be used for Travincal runs later, so not that useless

In the end, Smoke had been crafted

And it helped with resists and freeing some space in inventory

Now 82, may well take the Lut Gholein road next session.

See you on next update!

 

[Babyhell]

BabyNinetyNiner has been doing Hole/Pits in order to drop Phase blade bases and hit lvl 83 - stopped kinda close to it. After a plain superior and a 2os one, got two plain bases to craft (from the Hole), and they went 4 and 5.

While trying to find those, the necessary Mal rune went to drop in the Pits, allowing to complete his Grief PB.

Very good roll on damage, not so good on IAS, but for a fanazealer it doesn't count anyway!

Grief
Phase Blade
EthTirLoMalRal
One Hand Damage: 31 - 35
Indestructible
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 25
Required Dexterity: 136
Fingerprint: 0x68ae69a3
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
35% Chance to cast level 15 Venom on striking
+32% Increased Attack Speed
Damage +392
Ignore Target's Defense
-25% Target Defense
+153% Damage to Demons (Based on Character Level)
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
-24% to Enemy Poison Resistance
20% Deadly Strike
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 to Mana after each Kill
+13 Life after each Kill
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Eth Rune
Socketed: Tir Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ral Rune

Other drops of the session were:
A Fortitude base ?

Can i get back my Hels and Ios ?

Must bug it at some point...

No use for it, but always a good drop!

And a Mentalist skiller. Going to take the dust somewhere!

Next session, Grief will allow to have settings on p5 or p7 instead of p3 (at least for 85 areas). May go right to LK now, when i find/craft a 4os elite armor and an Harmony runeword - got the runes, need a base too.

See you on next update!