ISO: Ironman Overview

[Morbid]

ISO: Ironman Overview

Hey everyone.

Diablo II is quickly starting to become boring (yes, when's that reset coming? :wink2: ) for me, so my friends and I have taken up to doing Ironman Tourneys to pass the time.

I'm hoping to find some strategies and insights regarding this. And for those of you who aren't familiar with Ironman:


You take new Hardcore Characters and level them to X, and then you duel them until the death. Usually it's 9 or 12, and there are restrictions, like no Prayer for Paladins, no Psychic Hammer for Assassins, and so forth.

I would like to know what a good character to use is. I played as an Amazon today, using Poison Javelin mainly. 4 in Dodge, 1 Jab, and 4 in Poison Javelin. Was pretty much a failure. An Assassin won the tournament today.

But yes. If you have an tips or ideas for me they would be welcome.

Thanks.

~TG

 

[Von Lazuli]

I have played these tournies before... usually the duels go forever as you simply have absolutely no gear. (I assume you play no-twink Ironman)

Ideas:
Bash Barb (Self explanitory. Use a sheild)
Double swing Barb (With bash as the synergy and the speed of double swing along with the availibility of Masteries this is a very strong option)
Tiger Strike Assassin (An old favourite... Usually it is a struggle to find a decent weapon for them though)
'Leaf' Staff Fire Boltress/Fire Trapper (Only for higher levels (20ish) but this is a very strong no-twink duelist.)

It is very hard to build a no-twink ironman though... usually the winner is decided through luck in drops and the availibility of gem shrines.

Anyway, here is a generic no-twink setup:
2 socket helm with 2x flawed rubies (Go Go gem shrines!)
Decent-ish rare Armour or Armour with rubies.
Either a good rare weopon or a weapon socketed with the best jewels you can swing.
Eld socketed sheild. (Pelta Lunata is a godsend!)
The rest of your equipment is just whatever you can swing. Notable drops are:
Bloodfists
Unique Scimitar and Sabre (Skewer of Kritniz and whatever the other one is)
Arctic Furs
Umbral Disc
Greyform
Biggin's Bonnet...

However it is much more likely you will be running with whatever rares you can swing in a no-twink environment.

Laz

Oh... and whisper/PM me before the start of the next one of these...

 

[MortenMblah]

I once read about an ironman being won by a Frost Nova sorceress and utilizing the cold time to whack the enemy. Looking up on b.net the cold time for a lvl9 frost nova is 15 seconds. Anyone can enlighten me on the pvp penalty reduction?

A max energy sorc with skills depending on how big a frontload you can deliver by whack-a-moling the guy sounds reasonable to me. I would go either 9pt. frostnova if I found some killerweapon or gems, and 1pt. frostnova + 8pt. icebolt, if I didn't find any good weapon and had to find the biggest icebolt staff available.

The ranged enemies would be tough, but mana conservation and running them down will be the determining factor, I think.

 

[Morbid]

Von, I think you posted a twink-setup

Best item I had for the last one was simply a 2os Hard Leather Armor with 9% ED and a Chipped Ruby / +2 Minimum Damage Jewel in it. To find those sets / uniques would take longer than lvl 9.

I might try that Bash Barb next time. Built-in Knockback for the win Only problem is I don't think Eld Runes drop a whole lot from Blood Moor to the Dark Wood, which is where we stopped last time.


Morten, I don't think a Sorceress is any good in an Ironman. They rely too much on spells, and they don't do a whole lot of damage. I've actually never seen one perform...

 

[Rabbitz]

Try this... Dont put a lvl cap on it, keep lvling on but... There is the option to slaughter eachother.

 

[Morbid]

That would be great, except the rules are to get to level 9. Now... any suggestions?

 

[MortenMblah]

In the ones I've been for quite some time ago, the winner was pretty much decided by the fastest attacker for melee(BoS Assa) or some nifty poison ama/holy fire pally.

I haven't done the math for the sorceress, and head calculations tell me that lvl8 icebolt gives around a 1:1 mana:dps. Is it practical to shoot an icebolt at the enemy and run while he is in attack animation? If the majority of the enemies are ranged, you could just go lvl8 frost nova and 1pt warmth and outplay them in the kiting game.
If the enemies are around 100-200 hp, you should have more mana from energy to kill them, before you run out.

Another one is a 5pt. raven + 4 pt. molten boulder druid giving you 5 ravens to hope for a blocklock with, and a molten boulder doing some 10 instant dam and 6 burning dam.

The necro might somehow work with clay golem and poison dagger, or clay golem/amp/raise skeletons(if allowed before fight).

Try seeing their strength in a single player game and see what items you can find.