The Untwinked Level 99 Progress Thread, Revenge of the 99ers
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NanoMist
Diabloii.Net Member
Just to clarify, I didn't lose much progress because I didn't have much progress to begin with. 400 runs deep is approximately 3%, so I wasn't subject to the full 10% exp. loss in hell. I'm past 10% now, meaning a death with body retrieval would probably cost me ~300 runs.
Same here, doing other things and putting Izuna on a lighter schedule. At the rate I'm going, finishing before 2017 would be good!
Pb_pal
Diabloii.Net Member
@NanoMist - Ah, that makes sense. 300 runs lost is a rough ticket, about 7 million XP (or 2.5-3 hours for Eleanor).
@Grape - I will definitely record some runs, although my machine can only produce videos with embarrassingly low quality (it's a ~10 year old laptop still running Vista). I'll see what I can do about getting some better quality vids, or maybe you guys will just have to settle for some extra pixels in there
.
@Grape - I will definitely record some runs, although my machine can only produce videos with embarrassingly low quality (it's a ~10 year old laptop still running Vista). I'll see what I can do about getting some better quality vids, or maybe you guys will just have to settle for some extra pixels in there
.
T72on1
Diabloii.Net Member
Nice going there @Pb_pal and @NanoMist !!! Good luck on the rest of the journey to 99. And yes Pb_pal, 4hp left is way too close. Better try to squeeze in some more hit points it seems.
As for myself ...
.
I finally hit level 97 after 59 hours and 25 minutes. Almost half of that (29 hours and 10 minutes) was actually spent on gaining xp in 1088 CS runs. The rest was for LK (4 hours and 10 minutes) early on and RoF superchest runs (almost 3 hours) and Pindle runs for the MFO (23 hours and 10 minutes) when I was at about 75% to 97. I had no deaths, not even close calls in the CS, so that compensates for my rather slow runs somewhat.
Btw, first part of the CS runs were done including De Seis on /p1 and Diablo on /p8 whenever Infector didn't spawn CI. After I had rerolled my map to get a good RoF map, I stopped doing that and only did the first 2 seals, including any boss packs I'd encounter near the seals and between the 2, with an occasional stop for other bosses. That definitely sped things up considerably.
Drops were quite terrible since my last update quite a while ago, except for my Pindle run results. Especially runes were really frustrating: only an Um early on from RoF and a Mal from Pindle. But in the CS? Nothing but a couple of Ko's and Lum's. Really frustrating, especially with all the HRs floating around in this thread alone, while I'm some 75 hours without a HR now, and only got one single HR in the CS. Ah well, I guess things can only get better, right?
Right (and I mean right) after the MFO I got one terrific drop. Other notable drops were a WWS, Steel Carpace, Stormshield and a Halaberd's Reign. O yes, and my fourth cold skiller, the first that wasn't a plain one:
And yes, I sorted that in my inventory properly afterwards.
I also found this dual leech ring, although I don't know if it's any good:
I'm not sure what I'll do next. Probably take a break from CS, or at least lower the intensity. Although it actually hasn't been that intense, except for the MFO maybe, and the last few sessions after my holiday to make the push to 97. Besides those, my playing sessions were always shorter than 2 hours, so no wonder it took me so long to hit 97 ...
So yeah, I might do some more RoF or LK runs. Or take a break from my Sorc altogether and continue the MF Barb I started. Problem with that one is that I'm still missing so many items for him (Arreat's, dual Grief and Enigma to begin with) that that doesn't make much sense yet. I'll have to think about it for a bit.
The Fallen:
As for myself ...
.
I finally hit level 97 after 59 hours and 25 minutes. Almost half of that (29 hours and 10 minutes) was actually spent on gaining xp in 1088 CS runs. The rest was for LK (4 hours and 10 minutes) early on and RoF superchest runs (almost 3 hours) and Pindle runs for the MFO (23 hours and 10 minutes) when I was at about 75% to 97. I had no deaths, not even close calls in the CS, so that compensates for my rather slow runs somewhat.
Btw, first part of the CS runs were done including De Seis on /p1 and Diablo on /p8 whenever Infector didn't spawn CI. After I had rerolled my map to get a good RoF map, I stopped doing that and only did the first 2 seals, including any boss packs I'd encounter near the seals and between the 2, with an occasional stop for other bosses. That definitely sped things up considerably.
Drops were quite terrible since my last update quite a while ago, except for my Pindle run results. Especially runes were really frustrating: only an Um early on from RoF and a Mal from Pindle. But in the CS? Nothing but a couple of Ko's and Lum's. Really frustrating, especially with all the HRs floating around in this thread alone, while I'm some 75 hours without a HR now, and only got one single HR in the CS
. Ah well, I guess things can only get better, right?Right (and I mean right
) after the MFO I got one terrific drop. Other notable drops were a WWS, Steel Carpace, Stormshield and a Halaberd's Reign. O yes, and my fourth cold skiller, the first that wasn't a plain one:And yes, I sorted that in my inventory properly afterwards
.I also found this dual leech ring, although I don't know if it's any good:
I'm not sure what I'll do next. Probably take a break from CS, or at least lower the intensity. Although it actually hasn't been that intense, except for the MFO maybe, and the last few sessions after my holiday to make the push to 97. Besides those, my playing sessions were always shorter than 2 hours, so no wonder it took me so long to hit 97 ...
So yeah, I might do some more RoF or LK runs. Or take a break from my Sorc altogether and continue the MF Barb I started. Problem with that one is that I'm still missing so many items for him (Arreat's, dual Grief and Enigma to begin with) that that doesn't make much sense yet. I'll have to think about it for a bit.
Code:
Name (F) Name (C) SC/HC Class Level/exp Extended Stash #of S/U Grail/504 #of deaths # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zticazzy Perkele SC Barb 99 No - - - -
Pb_pal Eleanor SC Sorc 98.25 No 2945 431 5 -
NanoMist Izuna SC Sin 98 No 2672 437 2 239
T72on1 Neverland SC Sorc 97 Yes 1594 394 11 148.5
hasuprotoss Reina SC Sorc 95 Yes 894 316 - -
PhineasB Mercy SC Sin 95 Yes - 328 9 -
XyleneCyanol Fishie HC Sorc 94 No - - - -
Tarantella Tarasha HC Sorc 94 Yes - - - -
Reyz Qty SC Sorc 92 No - - - -
PhineasB Hiatus SC Sorc 91 Yes - 278 13 -
Southpaw Njord SC Druid 90 Yes - - - -
OldSoldier Battleforge HC Pala 90 Yes - 236 - -
Qwernt CanbeOnlyBlizz SC Sorc 90 Yes - - Dont want to know
LiquidClear Sally SC Assn ** Yes 225 - 1 -
Lord Molyb Cruise_Control SC Necro 84 No 104 87 16 idk
Gambit Mallenroh SC Sorc 81 Yes 0 0 0 0
logo Digimon HC Nec 76 Yes 85 65 0 -
Darke Rahl Bells HC Ama 74 No 19 - 0 0
Zenigma Gnosis SC Druid 61 No - - - -
ioupainmax Durnik SC Paladin 52 Yes 50 42 - -
Lord Molyb Verisimilitude SC Ama 50 No 12 9 0 idk
Zenigma Ayura SC Barb 48 No - - - -
Kitteh Darozzo HC Druid 45 No - - - -
TrU Henryk SC Barb 41 Yes - - 22 12
Gambit Colossus SC Pal 39 Yes 0 0 0 0
Smancer Smancer SC Necro 26 Yes 1 - - -
Ergroilnin Erilinda HC Sorc 20 No - - - -
Code:
Name (F) Name (C) SC/HC Class Level/exp Extended Stash #of S/U Grail/504 #of deaths # of Hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coju NintyNine_orRiP HC Sorc 81 Yes - 0 0 a few
Tenecabo OldShatterhand HC Druid 49 Yes - 0 1 -
coju fB HC Sorc 29 Yes 1 1 0 2
Kitteh Verallus HC Druid 26 No N/A N/A 0 N/A
logo Rolex HC Barb 21 Yes 0 0 0 1T72on1
Diabloii.Net Member
Complaining always helps ...
Both dropped in the first 25 CS runs I did today. Unfortunately no Nightwing's, but the Veil of Steel is a first ever for me as well .
Now to get those HRs ...
Questions:
- Do I still run CS from 97 - 98, or Nihl instead? I asked before, but I can't find the answer, and with all the fuss about Nihl lately ...
- If CS is still the place to be, do I still just run the first 2 seals on /p8, or /p1 seals and /p7 Diablo? Or a mix of both?
Code:
Death Cleaver
Berserker Axe
One Hand Damage: 89 - 264
Durability: 18 of 26
Required Level: 70
Required Strength: 138
Required Dexterity: 59
Fingerprint: 0xafcf777f
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+40% Increased Attack Speed
272% Enhanced Damage
-33% Target Defense
66% Deadly Strike
+9 Life after each Kill
Code:
Veil of Steel
Spired Helm
Defense: 396
Durability: 29 of 60
Required Level: 73
Required Strength: 192
Fingerprint: 0xac76816f
Item Level: **
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+60% Enhanced Defense
+140 Defense
+15 to Strength
+15 to Vitality
All Resistances +50
-4 to Light Radius
+20 Maximum DurabilityNow to get those HRs ...
Questions:
- Do I still run CS from 97 - 98, or Nihl instead? I asked before, but I can't find the answer, and with all the fuss about Nihl lately ...
- If CS is still the place to be, do I still just run the first 2 seals on /p8, or /p1 seals and /p7 Diablo? Or a mix of both?
Pb_pal
Diabloii.Net Member
@T72on1 - Awesome finds!
As for where to level for 97-98, it's status-quo if you want the most efficient. /p8 Vizier + Infector (with convenient boss packs). Here is the post I think you're referring to, although it is lacking information about Nihl. If you want to include Diablo for variety you can (explained in the link), but personally I wouldn't bother.
Let's look at /p8 Nihl's numbers for comparison:
XP/run: 29952 (that's only Nihl, no other monsters)
time: 30s/run (optimistic, but doable if you have an Infinity)
so ~60k a minute is an optimistic viewpoint of how much XP you will get from him.
For comparison, I was getting 80k/min doing Vizier/Infector. Granted those Nihl numbers aren't including shrines, but as we've seen in the last little while shrines probably don't add a whole lot of improvement to your overall running time, just decrease the overall number of runs you have to do (still a benefit). One huge thing to consider though is that you probably won't die doing CS runs (since you didn't die last level), whereas the risk of death (and therefore lost time and motivation) running our little necromancer friend is fairly substantial.
I seriously doubt Nihl would ever be more efficient at 97 than doing the Gripp run, but as always, you should take some runs and compare your numbers to see.
Good luck!
As for where to level for 97-98, it's status-quo if you want the most efficient. /p8 Vizier + Infector (with convenient boss packs). Here is the post I think you're referring to, although it is lacking information about Nihl. If you want to include Diablo for variety you can (explained in the link), but personally I wouldn't bother.
Let's look at /p8 Nihl's numbers for comparison:
XP/run: 29952 (that's only Nihl, no other monsters)
time: 30s/run (optimistic, but doable if you have an Infinity)
so ~60k a minute is an optimistic viewpoint of how much XP you will get from him.
For comparison, I was getting 80k/min doing Vizier/Infector. Granted those Nihl numbers aren't including shrines, but as we've seen in the last little while shrines probably don't add a whole lot of improvement to your overall running time, just decrease the overall number of runs you have to do (still a benefit). One huge thing to consider though is that you probably won't die doing CS runs (since you didn't die last level), whereas the risk of death (and therefore lost time and motivation) running our little necromancer friend is fairly substantial.
I seriously doubt Nihl would ever be more efficient at 97 than doing the Gripp run, but as always, you should take some runs and compare your numbers to see.
Good luck!
zticazzy
Diabloii.Net Member
Howdy! I'm not playing much lately (the Perkele's saga has fulfilled my destiny as a D2 player), but I keep lurking on the forum quite often, and to me this is still the best thread around.
@Pb_pal @NanoMist @T72on1 nice going people! I really hope to see at least another 99 thread from you guys by the end of the year. Btw I can confirm: one death w/ body retrieval = ~7.28 mil / ~2.30 hours loss
@Grape you reminded me of some nihla runs I recorded some time ago. The music was suggested by Youtube and is quite fitting, especially in the end.
Bye!
@Pb_pal @NanoMist @T72on1 nice going people! I really hope to see at least another 99 thread from you guys by the end of the year. Btw I can confirm: one death w/ body retrieval = ~7.28 mil / ~2.30 hours loss
@Grape you reminded me of some nihla runs I recorded some time ago. The music was suggested by Youtube and is quite fitting, especially in the end.
Bye!
T72on1
Diabloii.Net Member
@Pb_pal Thanks once again, and sorry for my rusty memory. Do you think that normal boss packs are still worth it at 97? I can't get my running times below 1 minute, and I'm figuring it's because of those boss packs. Maybe I should just do another xp/hour test.
@zticazzy Thanks. I don't expect me to finish before the end of the year, but you never know. Did some more CS runs this evening, and I'm still not bored of them, so that is a good sign.
As a change of pace, I also tried 20 Tranvincal runs. To my surprise, I liked them, and they went really well. Not in terms of killing speed, because bad map, getting used to it, ... but in terms of survivability. Only my merc bit the dust a few times when amped, but the hydras didn't pose the slightest problem. I guess I'll have to do some reading on Travincal runs and then might do some HR hunting there, just as a change of pace and because I have never done so. Also the Council seems to drop quite some S/U, and iirc they are also a rather good source for jewelry, so you never know .... Btw, does a Blizz Sorc wait for her merc to kill the CI boss, or should I just skip him?
Edit: I didn't miss my start, as I got this one while rerolling maps:
I also got my 4th Seraph's Hymn, making it my most found unique amulet.
Still rerolling maps. Currently have one where I have all but the CI boss and one minion outside on the balcony. Might settle on this one for a while. Or shouldn't it take too long before I get one with everyone outside?
@zticazzy Thanks. I don't expect me to finish before the end of the year, but you never know. Did some more CS runs this evening, and I'm still not bored of them, so that is a good sign.
As a change of pace, I also tried 20 Tranvincal runs. To my surprise, I liked them, and they went really well. Not in terms of killing speed, because bad map, getting used to it, ... but in terms of survivability. Only my merc bit the dust a few times when amped, but the hydras didn't pose the slightest problem. I guess I'll have to do some reading on Travincal runs and then might do some HR hunting there, just as a change of pace and because I have never done so. Also the Council seems to drop quite some S/U, and iirc they are also a rather good source for jewelry, so you never know ...
. Btw, does a Blizz Sorc wait for her merc to kill the CI boss, or should I just skip him?Edit: I didn't miss my start, as I got this one while rerolling maps:
I also got my 4th Seraph's Hymn, making it my most found unique amulet.
Still rerolling maps. Currently have one where I have all but the CI boss and one minion outside on the balcony. Might settle on this one for a while. Or shouldn't it take too long before I get one with everyone outside?
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Crazy Runner Guy
Diabloii.Net Member
I wouldn't recommend it either.
I've banged out 250M XP @ clvl 98 worth of Nihl runs /w Coldtest (Lightning/FW) and 80M XP /w Lady_Fury (LF/CS) - no deaths /w either. Coldtest had 2,197 hp, max block, 35% PDR, 60% FHR, 14 PDR. My zon has ~2,450 hp, 43% PDR, 11 PDR, max block, plus D/A/E's passive bonuses, and still with both of them I felt neither really had enough life. A bad draw in Nihl's throne room could just eat up HP like it was nothing. And both of those characters were twinked to the gills.
Also, I love this thread.
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Pb_pal
Diabloii.Net Member
@T72on1 - As you say, it's a bit of a grey area for those bosspacks. It's tough to get an accurate measure of how efficient they are variable, and it depends on the monster types too. Basically what I did was kill any bosspacks (except OKs) if they were by the seals, but the only ones I stopped for in transit between the seals were the finger mages, as it only took (for me) typically one Blizzard to kill them. That way I just stopped, threw a Blizz at them and kept on going.
I don't have any numbers for this but my gut tells me that the most efficient way is to just go for the seal bosses, and kill any Venom lord/Finger Mage boss packs that happen to spawn near them in the seal areas.
I don't have any numbers for this but my gut tells me that the most efficient way is to just go for the seal bosses, and kill any Venom lord/Finger Mage boss packs that happen to spawn near them in the seal areas.
PhineasB
Diabloii.Net Member
Good to see the activity and continued progress in this thread. Congrats @T72on1 on hitting 97.
I'll add a brief update, because I haven't been able to play much at all since my last post due to work schedule and haven't made any progress on levels. I did a couple 15-30 minute sessions when I finished up work before going to sleep, and then was able to spend a few hours last weekend. I mostly focused on Mercy, who is now 2/3 of the way to 96.
I was really getting tired of minion runs (occasionally threw in Baal), so I decided to switch up between Baal and CS. In the first few CS runs, Mercy got a Pul and a Gul, which allowed a reroll of the CtA after cubing some runes. It's a major upgrade and means I don't have to recast Battle Orders during CS runs and only once during Baal runs. No major item drops, but Mercy finally got a second 4os Monarch for Spirit, which helps with the additional +1 skill on the CtA switch.
I'm going to play some more this afternoon and hope that Mercy hits 96 before the weekend ends. At that point, I may focus on LK runs with Hiatus to try to improve charm collection to allow reasonable CS runs for her.
I'll add a brief update, because I haven't been able to play much at all since my last post due to work schedule and haven't made any progress on levels. I did a couple 15-30 minute sessions when I finished up work before going to sleep, and then was able to spend a few hours last weekend. I mostly focused on Mercy, who is now 2/3 of the way to 96.
I was really getting tired of minion runs (occasionally threw in Baal), so I decided to switch up between Baal and CS. In the first few CS runs, Mercy got a Pul and a Gul, which allowed a reroll of the CtA after cubing some runes. It's a major upgrade and means I don't have to recast Battle Orders during CS runs and only once during Baal runs. No major item drops, but Mercy finally got a second 4os Monarch for Spirit, which helps with the additional +1 skill on the CtA switch.
I'm going to play some more this afternoon and hope that Mercy hits 96 before the weekend ends. At that point, I may focus on LK runs with Hiatus to try to improve charm collection to allow reasonable CS runs for her.
T72on1
Diabloii.Net Member
Cool !!! Great to hear about your running.I haven't had a chance to play for days because of work/training as I am back running far earlier than anticipated, but will hopefully play Mon/Tue/Wed and update then
I too, would like to confess that I have a crush on this thread.
Pb_pal
Diabloii.Net Member
Alright @Grape, ask and ye shall receive! Here are some Nihl runs.
Small note before watching, this is my most updated strategy that I'm working on right now. Even though I have a 3-shrine map I'm only checking 2 of them (one on Pain, one on Vaught). The reason for this is that the 2nd shrine on the halls of Pain is in a slightly cumbersome spot just off of the direct path to the stairs (you can see it on the mini-map as I fly passed it), and I can only check it reliably without doing the quest screen tele trick. This obviously loses time, but also just makes the runs much more clunky. So I've opted to skip it to make the runs both quicker and smoother, which I'm quite pleased to trade off with the extra shrine.
The play is sloppy, the video is choppy (as I said, my machine is a little rough around the edges), but hopefully this gives you a bit of a sense of what it's like.
The only thing I noticed is that there weren't really any runs with vipers in this set, which is a bit of a shame. Other than that though, you can see me lose a couple XP shrines, get an XP shrine kill, and even kill him so fast I thought he teleported (2nd last run).
Small note before watching, this is my most updated strategy that I'm working on right now. Even though I have a 3-shrine map I'm only checking 2 of them (one on Pain, one on Vaught). The reason for this is that the 2nd shrine on the halls of Pain is in a slightly cumbersome spot just off of the direct path to the stairs (you can see it on the mini-map as I fly passed it), and I can only check it reliably without doing the quest screen tele trick. This obviously loses time, but also just makes the runs much more clunky. So I've opted to skip it to make the runs both quicker and smoother, which I'm quite pleased to trade off with the extra shrine.
The play is sloppy, the video is choppy (as I said, my machine is a little rough around the edges), but hopefully this gives you a bit of a sense of what it's like.
The only thing I noticed is that there weren't really any runs with vipers in this set, which is a bit of a shame. Other than that though, you can see me lose a couple XP shrines, get an XP shrine kill, and even kill him so fast I thought he teleported (2nd last run).
RadTang
Diabloii.Net Member
I know the pain.. wanted to get better armor for Bone RW. Lost my patience and used the weaker than Vipermagi mage plate that I have acquired. So far, nothing better dropped for me. At least I have +2 to all necro skills which is the way to go for me.
My new hammerdin just hit 70. I converted from classic at 53 after hell act 2 so all ancients are alive. After that I had to go to farm NM Andy for a bit, leveled in NM CS/hell act 1 and then finally was able to farm hell Andy.
Luckily I found spirit bases quite quickly. First an 4os Akaran Targe with 45 all res and while the block rate is pretty bad the resists and +skills were sorely needed. Soon after that a 4os broad sword dropped so now I have double Spirit, Lore helm, Duriel's shell and Nokozan's Relic to fix fire resist hole. Rest are pretty bad rares.
This character will probably never actually make it to 99 but we'll see. I have done the gear farm part for couple of characters over the summer and hopefully I won't lose all hope during it.
Luckily I found spirit bases quite quickly. First an 4os Akaran Targe with 45 all res and while the block rate is pretty bad the resists and +skills were sorely needed. Soon after that a 4os broad sword dropped so now I have double Spirit, Lore helm, Duriel's shell and Nokozan's Relic to fix fire resist hole. Rest are pretty bad rares.
This character will probably never actually make it to 99 but we'll see. I have done the gear farm part for couple of characters over the summer and hopefully I won't lose all hope during it.