The Untwinked Level 99 Progress Thread, Revenge of the 99ers

1750 or so LK runs done, 1 Mal one Ist and one Sur to show. Did about 200 today averaging about 43sec but was getting slightly annoyed and impatient so decided to switch my gear and run Pindle on p3 more for a break than anything else. Getting impatient and playing HC are not a mix I want to employ.

Kinda Glad I switched.

Spoiler

Delighted, looking at the way its dropped I am assuming its from a Minion and not Pindle himself. Either way, means I am only a Sur away from Enigma but still looking for my Ohm for CtA. Back to LK we go I guess.


PS - I was so exicted by this, I almost forgot to pick it up after taking screenie, worse still, my inventory was full so had to open inventory to drop it into cube. Nearly lost it twice!!! Can you imagine??

 

That is awesome! Those screenies are dangerous. I was fiddling around with trying to get a screen of a Lem when I was farming countess for treachery and then ended up s/e'ing without picking it up. In this case it obviously would have been so. much. worse. But that is awesome and I'm glad you successfully picked it up! Congrats!!

 

That is definitely a terrible streak of bad luck in LK you have had there. Glad Pindle more than made up for it !!!

 

I was so happy with LK as had Sur so early but then it bit me. Hopefully another Sur will be forthcoming so I can start TPing around to speed up my timings and find my Ohm......

 

Only rule for LK – hang in there and trust the math.

 

Zic has made it to 98.2 while settling into Nihl runs for the long haul!

I got my softcore "test" sorc to level 90 just MFing and trying to find some half suitable gear in order to run. While the initial runs were a bit more nerve racking, getting into a rhythm and adding Delirium to my merc made huge differences. Once I got comfortable on my softcore sorc, I decided to start giving it a try on Zic.

Zic's current gear for the Nihl runs:

Spoiler

• Shako (with Sol)
• Ormus Robes (+3 Lightning and +15% lightning damage )
• Bloodfist gloves
• Arachnid belt
• Aldur's boots
• Chromatic Ammy of Life Everlasting (21 all res, 22 PDR)
• Nature's Peace (11 PDR)
• BKWB
• HotO
• Stormshield (with fire res/all res/dex/-req jewel)

And for the moron:

• Delirium
• Treachery
• War Scythe (with 5x Shael + Gul)

I feel fairly comfortable with Zic's survivability. She has max block, 2.1k HP with BO, 40 PDR, 45% DR, and 75/75/75/58 resists. She also hits the 60% FHR and 78% FCR breakpoints. The merc is set up to activate confuse as quickly as possible, hitting (what I believe to be) the fastest attack breakpoint at 145% IAS, adding a Gul for more AR (and thus more likely to strike and proc the CTC). War Scythe was obviously used to minimize damage in order to avoid killing mobs and causing unnecessary Corpse Explosions. I really haven't had any NDE, but I know I have a LONG road ahead of me.

Completed run times right now are around 25-30 seconds (probably closer to 30) which I am happy with considering the lack of Infinity. I had never used a run counter until now and I should have probably used on more in the past, it is quite nice! I rolled the map with the WP in the room with the pillars, it seemed to have the shortest distance to the stairs. However, I have maybe 1 shrine along the way and have seen folks with as many as 3? Do they take one of the longer WP-to-stair maps in order to maximize the number of shrines?

She does have to S&E when Nihl is lightning immune obviously, no way of breaking that at the moment. I am considering switching out the Sol in my Shako for a -5/+4 lightning facet to provide some additional damage when he spawns with some extra lightning resists but isn't quite immune. I regret using a socket quest on my merc's old Reaper's Toll that could probably be more useful now, but can't change the past.

I think the biggest upgrade I could get would be a Griffon's Eye (judging by the Item Find Thread, everyone is getting this but me ). This would allow me to switch out my Ormus Robes for my old CoH, which may allow for more flexibility in my remaining gear and some charms. Either way, I am quite happy with my current set up.

Nihl has had a couple nice gifts for me early on, and I will share those once I am home from work and have screenshots. Otherwise, I will do my best to avoid the deeds and update again at 98.3!

Happy leveling everyone!


**

Hall of Fame

Code:

Forumite         Character        SC/HC  Class  Level  Exp   Date        E/S  S/U   Grail  Deaths  HoursH
---------------  ---------------  -----  -----  -----  ----  ----------  ---  ----  -----  ------  -----
zticazzy         Perkele          SC     Barb   99     3.52  2016-07-12  No      -      -       -      -
Pb_pal           Eleanor          SC     Sorc   99     3.52  2016-11-09  No   3068    437       5      -
NanoMist         Izuna            SC     Sin    99     3.52  2016-12-25  No   5109    470       4    360
PhineasB         Mercy            SC     Sin    99     3.52  2017-05-23  Yes     -    475      11      -
PhineasB         Hiatus           SC     Sorc   99     3.52  2017-12-25  Yes     -    471      21      -
ffs              HelpYourself     SC     Sorc   99     3.52  2018-04-29  Yes     -    447       -      -
Neksja           Aura             SC     Pala   99     3.52  2018-08-08  Yes     -    481       -      -
Yng              Sophie           SC     Sorc   99     3.52  2018-08-26  Yes     -      -      10   <300
T72on1           Neverland        SC     Sorc   99     3.52  2018-10-21  Yes  lots    483      13    350+
Bewitch          itssoftcore      SC     Sorc   99     3.52  2018-11-07  Yes     -      -       -      -
PhineasB         Phaedrus         SC     Pala   99     3.52  2018-11-12  Yes     -    401      13      -
ffs              Ric              SC     Necro  99     3.52  2018-12-26  Yes     -    463       -      -

Questing Heroes

Code:

Forumite         Character        SC/HC  Class  Level  Exp   Date        E/S  S/U   Grail  Deaths  Hours
---------------  ---------------  -----  -----  -----  ----  ----------  ---  ----  -----  ------  -----
Buckcrazy        Zic              HC     Sorc   98.2   3.29  2019-02-13  Yes     -      -      NA   lots
Bewitch          Mayhem           SC     Barb   97     3.15  2018-09-13  Yes     -      -       -      -
PhineasB         Pestilence       SC     Necro  97.25  3.03  2019-01-01  Yes     -      -       -      -
Pb_pal           Klaus            HC     Druid  97.25  3.03  2019-01-22  Yes     -    408      NA      -
Gynli            Amazon           SC     Ama    97.14  3.00  2019-01-20  Yes     -      -       -      -
darkstarhub      Neptune          SC     Sorc   97     2.96  2018-07-23  Yes     -    470       -      -
Ashenshugar      Natur            SC     Druid  97     2.96  2018-11-20  Yes  2529      -       -      -
PhineasB         Quinta           SC     Ama    96     2.71  2019-01-19  Yes     -    374       4      -
Me2Nik           Fugu             HC     Ama    95     2.50  2019-02-03  Yes   Lots      -       -      -
T72on1           ShouldBeEasy     HC     Pala   95     2.49  2019-01-04  Yes  lots    306      NA    98.5
teddeeboy        Atheyanore       SC     Sorc   95     2.49  2019-02-03  Yes   300+    -       8     many
Hutton           Terrahork        HC     Barb   94     0.00  2019-01-12  Yes     -      -      NA      -
Quinneczech      Blackwell        HC     Barb   94     2.29  2019-01-18  -       -      -      NA      -
Zenigma          Ayura            SC     Barb   93     2.12  2018-09-08  No      -      -       -      -
sanguillen       GordonChen-UT    HC     Necro  92     2.00  2019-01-02  Yes     -      -      NA      -
Potent           Challenge(CL)    SC     Sorc   92     1.96  2018-07-30  no      -      -       -      -
Trapin'          ceegee           SC     Pala   92     1.92  2018-08-16  No      -      -       -      -
Tatterson        Titaani          SC     Barb   91     1.84  2018-11-27  Yes     -      -       -      -
Zenigma          Gnosis           SC     Druid  91     1.79  2018-04-26  No      -      -       -      -
liquid_mage      zDadColdSorc     SC     Sorc   91     1.89  2019-02-04  Yes     -    223       -      -
Smittyphi        TheLongRun       SC     Sorc   91     1.76  2019-02-04  Yes    30      -     Yes      -
Neksja           Aurora           SC     Sorc   90     1.70  2018-09-08  Yes     -    215       -      -
MizzouFTW        Mariah           SC     Sin    **     1.36  2019-01-28  Yes     -     -        -      -
BasicBhoy        Belgarath        HC     Druid  **     1.36  2019-01-29  Yes     -      -       -      -
TwentyMuleTeam   Chore            SC     Sin    **     ?.??  2019-02-09  Yes     -      -       -      -
AlexTheNextOne   Orion            SC     Pala   87     ?.??  2018-07-22  No      -      -       -      -
T72on1           Grapelike        SC     Barb   87     1.25  2019-01-24  Yes    98     82      13     37
Burgomaster3     Hastur           SC     Druid  86     1.14  2018-07-02  Yes     -      -       -      -
sanguillen       DirkStruan-UT    HC     Pala   85     1.10  2018-12-19  Yes     -      -      NA      -
PhineasB         Death            SC     Barb   85     1.10  2019-02-03  No      -      -       0      -
Luhkoh           Arkana           SC     Sorc   85     1.06  2019-02-03  Yes     -      -       -      -
Bobbo            Barbamel         HC     Barb   84     1.01  2019-01-11  Yes     -      -      NA      -
Kitteh           Gwynt            HC     Druid  83           2018-10-28  Yes     -      -      NA      -
nepeta           finistere        SC     Sin    83     1.14  2019-01-04  ?       -      -       1      4
kstuart          Nena             SC     Sorc   80     0.70  2019-01-13  Yes     -      -       -      -
Vildecor         Trina            SC     Ama    80     0.68  2019-02-19  Yes     -      -       0      -
Klonki           Dualizt_Ann      SC     Sorc   74     0.40  2018-09-29  Yes     -     37       1     15+
Babyhell         IpBanPrevales    SC     Sin    70     0.00  2019-02-09  Yes     -      -       3      -
Irenicus_Mfs     Morgana          HC     Sorc   69     0.26  2018-12-09  Yes     -      -      NA     14+
Pb_pal           Stevesy          HC     Barb   51     0.00  2019-01-07  Yes     -      -      NA      -
RIP              Sucell           HC     Druid  47     0.03  2018-12-08  Yes     -     20       -      -
Grape            Coke             SC     Barb   42     0.00  2018-12-06   ?     14     14       0      -
Izzak            Bones            SC     Necro  42     0.**  2019-01-10   -      -      -       1      -
MizzouFTW        Hocus            HC     Sorc   01     0.00  2018-10-28  Yes     -      -      NA      -
ffs              Lucid            SC     Pala   01     0.00  2018-11-22   ?      -      -       0      0

Resting Heroes

Spoiler: Resting Heroes

Code:

Forumite         Character        SC/HC  Class  Level  Exp   Date        E/S  S/U   Grail  Deaths  Hours
---------------  ---------------  -----  -----  -----  ----  ----------  ---  ----  -----  ------  -----
hasuprotoss      Reina            SC     Sorc   97     2.96  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes  1751    384       -      -
Tarantella       Tarasha          HC     Sorc   96     2.72  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     -      -       -      -
Grim             Furious_Blonde   SC     Ama    96     2.72  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     -      -       -      -
CrustyRusty      Space_Oddity     SC     Ama    95     2.49  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     -      -       -      -
XyleneCyanol     Fishie           HC     Sorc   95     2.49  YYYY-MM-DD  No      -      -       -      -
ThomasJohnsen    xInTheBuffx      HC     Sorc   95     2.49  2017-03-31  Yes     -      -       -      -
NamelessPenguin  Rockatansky      SC     Barb   95     2.49  2017-12-14  Yes     -      -       -      -
Dezrok           Salome           SC     Sorc   95     2.49  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes   792    318       -      -
teddeeboy        Atheyanore       SC     Sorc   93     2.15  2018-01-15         300+    -       5    many
Reyz             Qty              SC     Sorc   93     2.10  YYYY-MM-DD  No      -      -       -      -
Chaostar         Prairie          SC     Sorc   91     1.76  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes   659    261      12    126
OldSoldier       Battleforge      HC     Pala   91     1.76  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     -    236       -      -
kyndig           DrearyAura       HC     Sorc   91     1.76  2018-02-20  Yes     -      -       -      -
tokerdin         tokeress         SC     Sorc   91     1.76  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     -      -       -      -
Lord Molybdenum  Verisimilitude   SC     Ama    90     1.62  2018-06-02  No     98     77       3      -
Southpaw         Njord            SC     Druid  90     1.62  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     -      -       -      -
Qwernt           CanbeOnlyBlizz   SC     Sorc   90     1.62  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     -      -       ?      ?
MercMan          Este             SC     Ama    90     1.62  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes  1212    278       2      ?
Lynchgrinch      Tattersail       SC     Sorc   89     1.48  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     -    321       ?      ?
LiquidClear      Sally            SC     Sin    **     1.36  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes   225      -       1      -
Lord Molybdenum  Cruise_Control   SC     Necro  87     1.25  2018-06-02  No    128    101      22      -
Neksja           Turirao          SC     Druid  87     1.25  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes   191    124       5      -
Gladstone        Socrates         HC     Druid  86     1.15  YYYY-MM-DD  -       -      -       -      -
hackedagainanda  Hugo             HC     Necro  85     1.05  2017-12-17  Yes     -      -       -      -
DaveW            Long_Term        SC     Sorc   84     0.97  2018-05-02  Yes Heaps      -    Lots     30+
Naturallog       Athos            HC     Barb   84     0.96  YYYY-MM-DD  No    159    105       0      -
Xul's Gull       Xul              HC     Necro  81     0.74  2018-03-26  No      -      -      NA      -
Qwernt           AmaAgainstAll    SC     Sorc   81     0.74  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     -      -       -      -
Gambit           Mallenroh        SC     Sorc   81     0.74  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     0      0       0      0
Lord Molybdenum  But_Why          SC     Sin    81     0.74  YYYY-MM-DD  No     55     51      53      -
aarrgus          Acala            SC     Barb   80     0.68  2017-12-30  Yes     -      -       5      -
ioupainmax       Durnik           SC     Pala   79     0.63  2018-06-28  Yes   177    111       0      -
Jean Avila       SpeedAdict       SC     Ama    77     0.52  YYYY-MM-DD  No      -      -       -     50
logoutzero       Digimon          HC     Necro  76     0.48  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes    85     65       0      -
Gripphon         Ryu              SC     Sorc   76     0.48  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     -      -       ?     13
Darke Rahl       Bells            HC     Ama    74     0.40  YYYY-MM-DD  No     19      -       0      -
Smittyphi        SliceNDice       SC     Sin    70     0.30  2018-03-27  Yes    15      -       6      -
Xul's Gull       Araphel          HC     Necro  60     0.12  2017-12-21  No      -      -       -      -
Burton Roberts   Arizona          SC     Ama    56     0.08  2018-06-12  No      -      -      15     38
Lord Molybdenum  Essa             SC     Sorc   55     0.08  2018-06-02  No     20     19       5      -
Sleepybear123    Rob_theBarb      HC     Barb   50     0.05  2018-01-06  Yes     -      -       -     10
Pijus            AGoodBoy         HC     Druid  45     0.00  2018-05-29  Yes     -      -      NA      -
TrU              Henryk           SC     Barb   41     0.02  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     -      -      22     12
Gambit           Colossus         SC     Pala   39     0.02  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     0      0       0      0
Smancer          Smancer          SC     Necro  26     0.00  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     1      -       -      -
drmalawi         Liv              SC     Sorc   24     0.00  2018-05-01  Yes     -      -       0      -
RIP              Espada           HC     Necro  24     0.00  2018-06-01  Yes     -     13       -      -
BKC              FearsomeFreddie  SC     Necro  23     0.00  YYYY-MM-DD  Yes     -      -       -      -
Ergroilnin       Erilinda         HC     Sorc   20     0.00  YYYY-MM-DD  No      -      -       -      -
DaveHutt         Alice            SC     Ama    13     0.00  2018-05-18  Yes     -      -       1      -

The Fallen

Spoiler: The Fallen

Code:

Forumite         Character        SC/HC  Class  Level  Exp   Date        E/S  S/U   Grail  Deaths  Hours
---------------  ---------------  -----  -----  -----  ----  ----------  ---  ----  -----  ------  -----
RIP              Kaira_II         HC     Sin    95     2.55  2018-09-06  Yes     -    399       -      -
Kitteh           Gwynt            HC     Druid  87     XXXX  2018-11-07  Yes     -      -       -      -
Bewitch          itsreal          HC     Sorc   87     1.xx  2018-04-24  No      -      -       -      -
MizzouFTW        Pure             HC     Necro  86     1.15  2018-01-10  Yes     -      -       1      -
Vildecor         Celia            HC     Ama    84     0.99  2018-05-30  Yes   125     97       1      -
coju             NintyNine_orRiP  HC     Sorc   81     0.74  2016-04-07  Yes     -      -       1      -
RIP              Attila           HC     Barb   78     0.59  2018-09-26  Yes     -     73       -      -
TwentyMuleTeam   Valus            HC     Barb   76     0.48  2016-10-27  Yes     -      -       1      -
Pb_pal           Stevesy          HC     Pala   76     0.48  2017-06-19  Yes     -      -       1      -
weezaard         Cypher           SC     Druid  66     0.00  2018-02-21  Yes     -      -      20+     -
Tenecabo         OldShatterhand   HC     Druid  49     0.04  2016-06-16  Yes     -      0       1      -
Pijus            Pyrestarter      HC     Druid  36     0.00  2018-05-21  Yes     -      -       1      -
coju             fB               HC     Sorc   29     0.00  2016-04-09  Yes     1      1       1      2
Kitteh           Verallus         HC     Druid  26     0.00  2016-03-25  No      -      -       1      -
logoutzero       Rolex            HC     Barb   21     0.00  2016-03-26  Yes     0      0       1      1

 

@buckcrazy amazing dude! Super excited to see a HC 99er. We’re all rooting for you. Don’t rip on us! No distracted play. Hand on ESC. Teleport in such a way where you avoid the center of boss packs!

 

@sir_cyclops I am no stranger to ESC, that's for sure. Thanks for the well wishes!

As for the gifts Nihl has given me early in my runs...

Spoiler

 

@buckcrazy Run times are a good factor of course, but especially for xp gain, there exists an xp meter. See this post for the link. I really loved using it, especially from 98 - 99. For a long time, 2.5 M/hour was considered as a benchmark. I was getting close to 3M/hour near the end, but some were even way above that. A lot depends on how many runs you have to abort, and how bad your S&E times are (bad for most people, me included).

Speaking about aborted runs ... those are a big deal for efficiency. Seeing that you already got a Ber from Nihl, I'd definitely make an Infinity for your merc when you can.

Quote from a very long time ago, which I found while looking for that xp meter. But definitely applies to Grapelike it seems. Not for Threshers, but in my case for a good base, ideally for Grief, otherwise for Oath or Death. Grapelike just can't seem to get good bases to drop (quite some PBs, but never the right amount of sockets when dropped or in the cube).

 

@T72on1 Now I might be off, but looking for that grief base, and I assume we're talking PB's there, I have a vague recollection of reading that LK can't rack PBs, not sure if that's true though, but might be nice to check that before you put too many hours in searching for that rack.

If you keep running the pits the PB's will come though. Hang in there!

 

Hmm ok, that is good to know about LK and Phase Blades.

Anyone can confirm this? Also, any tips on other places which might be good to rack a good sword base for Death, Oath or Grief?

 

A quick google got me this, it's not where I read it, but it seems there might be something to my previous comment at least.

https://www.diabloii.net/forums/thr...-single-player-and-phase-blades-der-0.657486/

 

I guess cows is always nice for bases. But as I stated earlier. Pits seems like as good a place as any since you'll get some MF done while you're at it.

Edit: Sorry, I missed you asking specifically for racks. nvm me going on about the pits and cows

 

@Bobbo @T72on1 I believe LK rack can technically drop phase blades (LK racks are alvl 79 and pbs are qlvl 73), but it's such a small likelihood as not be considered, since racks almost never drop crystal-type swords. It's the same as bows or whatever where they can be dropped but it's way way less likely. I think I read about this in that big rack running thread here and then again on mrllama's video on racks.

Edit: So if we disregard phase blades, you could rack a zweihander for grief near anywhere, a colossus sword anywhere alvl 81 or higher, and a colossus blade cannot be racked. Highest pertinent alvl in the game is 85, racks are alvl-1, and cblade is qlvl 85. TC doesn't matter with racks, and a berserker axe similarly cannot be racked. Are there any other relevant bases?

 

Balrog Blades look like a good base to me too. That's only for Oath though, as they have 4 sockets max.

No Cows for now. Trying to keep my Ancients until 98.

 

Ah yeah sorry I was looking death and grief only. Balrog Blade, Champion Sword, and Highland blade can all be racked at LK for an oath base.

 

First off, nice job and great progress! As for shrines, Nanomist and I did a pile of testing way back when we were first hitting Nihl in here and it turns out on runs of your speed, shrines don't actually made any considerable distance in a purely xp/time sense. The extra time of checking and clicking the shrines basically negates the extra XP over the long haul.

What they DO help with is that they lessen the amount of total runs you have to do, and therefore the danger of dying. This is obviously especially handy for HC. For what it's worth, I didn't bother with shrines for the last ~75% of the level (or something along those lines) with Eleanor as I preferred a more fluid and direct approach. Basically, it's up to you what you prefer as it won't drastically change much in the long run, but for HC I think the general advice would be to roll a map that has 1-3 shrines along your path (regardless of which map you roll, though the pillar one is the shorted path) that you can check without wasting time, and run that. Do what is comfortable for you, that's the best way to endure you make it to that final ping.

 

@T72on1 Thank you for the XP link. I was wondering if that were possible, seeing as the run counter checks save times what would be stopping from it checking the XP while also checking save times and sure enough, someone had already made it!

As for the Infinity, I think you've convinced me to finally install RWM. Along with the Nihl drop, I also had one at the end of my CS runs. With the two of them just BER-ning a hole in my stash, probably wouldn't hurt to put them to use.

@Pb_pal Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Right now I have a sweet spot to pull up the LCS and teleport directly from WP to stairs and it feels fairly safe. I am glad to hear that it isn't a huge difference in saved time going between shrines and no shrines, but I agree that the fewer the runs the better for HC. I will have to think on this one a bit more, but your insight should help.

 

@buckcrazy how much time is it going to save you? It would be SWEET to do HC 99er without RWM. But I don't think I could leave those Ber unused if I were you... so it's a tough call.

 

@Bobbo @Bewitch Random question, but I was reading through old posts and was surprised to see the ut99er barbs going with phase blades for grief rather than zweihanders. Are the repairs too annoying?