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

[Albatross]

@ffs a blizz sorc can do hell baal runs with a strong merc but you might have to restart sometimes if the throne room is filled with witches which are CI.

Apart from those, only the 2nd wave spawns naturally CI monsters and those are the mages which can be easily cleared once you've dealt with Achmel. Some of the bosses, like Bartuc and Lister, can become CI. You can park them to save time.

I used to run baals with a blizz sorc, teleporting on p1, clearing the first two waves on p1 (if I'm lazy), doing the rest on p8 and finally baal on p3, but if your only goal are the essences you can run everything on p1 for speed.

 

[Pringlesman]

I've been working on a physical bowazon for this. Currently level 75 and just finished Nightmare. I'm planning on doing Chaos runs until 98 and then doing hell ancients for that 40 million payoff. Any suggestions? I'm really not looking forward to doing the elevendy billion LK runs to get all the runes to make a Faith.

 

[Crazy Runner Guy]

I've been working on a physical bowazon for this. Currently level 75 and just finished Nightmare. I'm planning on doing Chaos runs until 98 and then doing hell ancients for that 40 million payoff. Any suggestions? I'm really not looking forward to doing the elevendy billion LK runs to get all the runes to make a Faith.

Yes, will share experiences later.

 

[Pb_pal]

Run 3078 - Pul
Run 3082 - Pul

Then we had ourselves a nice 500+ run dry streak before:

Run 3602 - Sur

Always pop the poppables. Always.

After some fiddling with the cube Stevesy had a new toy:

He even made something for his mercenary friend too! (after reviving him for the first time since he started LK runs. Sorry Jemali!)

I would have made more RWs, but I don't have any suitable bases . Stevesy is going to take a rest for now, and next up he will try to make his way to Act 4 and get the Fortress WP before rolling a nice circular LK map.


Other finds:
- Trangs Shield

 

[Crazy Runner Guy]

I've been working on a physical bowazon for this. Currently level 75 and just finished Nightmare. I'm planning on doing Chaos runs until 98 and then doing hell ancients for that 40 million payoff. Any suggestions? I'm really not looking forward to doing the elevendy billion LK runs to get all the runes to make a Faith.

Yes, will share experiences later.

I have an inkling in my mind to make a bowazon and take him to clvl 99. Here's what I have discovered:

1. Most importantly, know that no one has made it to clvl 99 with a pure-bowazon because she lacks the ability to kill any of the big three (Baal; Nihl; D) quickly with physical damage. This is largely a function of a) CB is nerf'd with missile weapons; and most importantly; b) Guided Arrow doesn't pierce anymore. It did, up to five times, in v1.09. That went away in v1.10.
2. Second most importantly, Faith - wearing it yourself - is the best bow, period. 7 fpa, ITD, and Fanat Aura top anything else, even WF. Using WF also requires you to use a Faith Merc (which then cuts your damage boost from it by 1/2, requires you to use Atma's, gives you less skills, means need more res (faith has 15% all), don't get natural ITD and need points in Penetrate, and limits your tanking ability and your damage from non-arrows). About the only thing WF gives you that faith doesn't is Knockback, a socket (which will be shael'd...), mana leech, and a huge damage # in your inventory, but not where it matters. I can't, can't, can't stress enough how much superior Faith is than any other bow. Don't waste your time with any other other bases (Mat, Shadow/Diamond/Ward, or GMB should be your only options).
3. Your non-bow equipment - specifically how much IAS you want to carry - will dictate what bow you can use. If you want to use Reapers and can get 45% on your helm (i.e. Mav's circlet or jeweler's circlet), you can make it in a GMB. Next up is 65/70% in a Shadow/Diamond/Ward. Next up is 45/50% in a Mat bow. Each has its benefits, but a Mat bow with its lowest IAS gives you the most options. I have mine (+1 all/slvl 15 Fanat, which I re-rolled once to get) in a 10% Superior Shadow Bow, and wouldn't turn back or make another one. GMB limits you too much (b/c you need IAS in every slot you can to get it, and if you roll an slvl 12 Fanat, you can't use LoH...). Given the untwinked nature of it, I'd suggest Shadow Bow (LoH + HW + IAS's helm + Nos's Coil) or Mat (LoH + HW + ias jewel'd helm).
4. Review the Amazon IAS tables.
5. Review the TABLE in the "In-Depth Bow Comparison" thread. This is the reason I made my Pride.
6. I would suggest running Throne to clvl 98 b/c nothing else is as effective or safe. Lister with a physical-damaging Bowa is also difficult because of his blocking % and PDR%. If you're going to run Baal, and I would suggest you do, I would to Ventar runs to clvl 98. Sucks (e.g. Lister + Baal = ~33% of your XP/run @ clvl 96), but there is no real alternative.
7. Running CS to clvl 98 isn't really an option. It's hard to keep yourself safe and your merc safe, and even your Valk safe with all of the physical damage + Amp/Decrep going around. Also, a bowa decrep'd is no fun.
8. You have two options for merc weapon (A2 Merc): Reaper's or Pride runeword (in an eth Thresher or Giant Thresher, preferably the former). I have tested both, and either works. The only sticking point with Pride is that you must use Atma's Scarab and get enough pierce that you are comfortable with to make it work.
9. Surprisingly, you don't need Razortail (as good as it is). With Faith, you're have enough skill points around to push Pierce up to 90%. That's plenty, trust me. The only loss there is the +10 max damage from Razortail. This leaves you open to use either Nos's Coil (10% IAS + LL) or a caster belt (for the FCR).
10. You need at least 68% FCR for teleport, perhaps only going less if you have REALLY good WSK maps and are OK with that speed to teleport from Throne stairs to main room, or are OK running that. You'll get 35% from Spirit.
11. Getting the requisite IAS and FCR will require some gymnastics. Faith has no natural IAS. I like this build though b/c every piece of gear fits, and no slot is a "fill-in-what-you-can/need/are missing from other equipment-here." Every slot matters.
12. Charms are Sharp GC's of Life or fine SC's of Life, with enough fire/light res to make you comfortable. Gloams hurt, but can be neutralized by Slow Missiles. Once you're to the waves, res isn't something to worry about. Carry antidotes in your belt to deal with wave 2.
13. You need Fortitude (or in the alternative, CoH), and you can swap to it after you sweep the throne.
14. Use Decoy at the top of the stairs to draw Baal's decrep away, much like a Baal-running LF zon would do.
15. Go for about 1,500 life after BO; everything else into DEX. You need the damage. The AR boost when Faith's true ITD doesn't work v. Uniques doesn't hurt either.
16. None of the above really solves the problem of going 98->99. My best guess right now is that a Fire-based zon, using the same Faith and merc /w Infinity/G-Bane/Delerium, could do it vs. Nihl, but I haven't tested it enough to trust it. I can get 40-45 secs/run, which is slow, but I think it can be speeded up. Other option is an Hand of Justice in a +3 Bow Mat Bow (for the -20 enemy fire res, mostly) and getting a total of 75% IAS (HoJ has 33% naturally). Fire DPS is about the same re: Faith v. HoJ b/c Faith is 7 fpa and HoJ is 9 fpa.
17. I have tested using MS v. Nihl, and I don't trust it. The merc does too much damage and leaves corpses everywhere. Unless you've got Tyreal's to swap on him (for the Monsters RIP mod), you're going to have CE trouble. I also am not sure yet if the Monsters RIP mod applies to all arrows in MS or only the center two (much like ML/LL/procing mods do); that needs testing.
18. Skills are suggested to be max'd Strafe, enough arrows in MS to be comfortable, enough Crit Strike to be comfortable (I usually get to about 71%), high slvl Valk (at least 17, cast on switch), enough pierce to be comfortable /w equipment, 1 in GA, and rest in D/A/E.
19. Read this: 99 Theorycrafting thread -> search results for "bowazon"

Specifically applicable re: the above to untwinked:

1. Zons are generally bad at runefinding in the typical LK-running instance because the need Enigma to teleport and their teleporting speed is so terrible. Me thinks that if you're going to be serious about this, your best bet is either strafing at the Council or MS'ing at Cows. B/C you need Faith, Enigma, Fort (2x, preferably), CtA, and maybe Pride, you're going to need a LOT of runes. Maybe also running Pindle (small, tightly packed group)?
2. It bears repeating: I can't, can't, can't stress enough how much superior Faith is than any other bow. Much like a elemental-damaging character is made stupendously superior by his/her merc using Infinity, you'll be shocked as to how much better Faith is. Don't waste a socket quest on a WF or Eaglehorn.
3. You won't have access to a v1.07 Valk Wing (30% each FCR/FHR/IAS/FRW), the best bowazon helm, hands down. This limits your helm choices and I would be loath to expend a socket quest in untwinked play on a magic circlet that you NEED two sockets from if you go that route. But hey, chance it if you desire. Other options are Mav's (30%); 2os CoA, Stealskull (10% IAS already), Andy's (20% IAS).

Not sure what else to say. Good luck!

 

[Pringlesman]

Thanks for the tips. I know no one has successfuly done a SP lvl 99 bowzon, it's a large part of the reason I want to do it. I'm surprised about Diablo being a difficult kill. I remember doing a WF/Faith/LoH combo on Bnet and taking down diablo no problem.

I hadn't 100% decided on my end game bow. I was planning on letting drops determine this. But my favorite character of all time was that WF/Faith zon and I wanted to recreate it. But reliably finding a WF seems like it would take forever. But probably no worse than finding a +3 Bow 4 socket GMB. (And to think I currently have both bows just rotting away on a mule.) I had 2 zons planned depending on what end game bow I found first.

Spoiler: WF

Helm: 3 socket life helm with 3x IAS jewels with best mods I can get.
Armor: Fort
Weapon: WF with OHM or ed/ias jewel depending on merc faith
Ring: Raven
Ring: Life leech ring
boots: War Travs
Belt: Nosfs (Razortail if I have to IAS jewel the weapon)
Gloves: LOH

Merc: Rogue
Weapon: Faith (Great bow base?)
Armor: Fortitude
Helm: Andy (Ias Jewel)

95-100 ias

or

Spoiler: GMB Faith

Helm: 3 socket life helm with 3x IAS jewels with best mods I can get.
Armor: Fort
Weapon: GMB Faith
Amulet: Cats
Ring: Raven
Ring: Life leech ring
boots: War Travs
Belt: Nosfs
Gloves: LOH

Merc: Might
Weapon: Pride thresher or Giant Thresher
Armor: Fort
Helm: Andy (Ias Jewel)

95 IAS and pray I get a level 13+ faith

The nice thing about this is between the two builds I only use a total of three socket quests. So doing one does not stop me from doing the other.

Man I wish I could get a 1.07 Valk wing on my bowzon, that would be amazing with an ed/ias jewel in it. But alas it's not in the cards.

 

[Crazy Runner Guy]

Thanks for the tips. I know no one has successfuly done a SP lvl 99 bowzon, it's a large part of the reason I want to do it. I'm surprised about Diablo being a difficult kill. I remember doing a WF/Faith/LoH combo on Bnet and taking down diablo no problem.

How many players in game? Doing it quickly ~5K times @ /p7 is what you're after.

The other problem with Big D is that his damage, particularly his fire damage, has greatly increased. He still has the lightning hose, which can be partially negated by straight PDR/MDR. You can't leech off of him, and he does increased damage to mercs. You'd need a way to slow him to a crawl (e.g. like what was done in early v1.10 with Kelpie Snares v. Baal) to really make your merc safe. Otherwise you're going to be spending a lot of gold resurecting him. Using a A1 merc is just asking for getting lightning hosed/Firestormed to death.

You don't necessarily have this problem with Baal, but then with him you also have him with more life than Big D by a long shot.

I hadn't 100% decided on my end game bow. I was planning on letting drops determine this.

Good idea; I am not a fan of constant MF running and so much of the end game gear for this zon is either stuff that can/should drop or runes which can be reliably farmed from known spots, given sufficient time, and the same with a reliable base (Cows, e.g.). No guarantees, but likely better than running Pindle until a WF drops, e.g.

Spoiler: WF

Helm: 3 socket life helm with 3x IAS jewels with best mods I can get.
Armor: Fort
Weapon: WF with OHM or ed/ias jewel depending on merc faith
Ring: Raven
Ring: Life leech ring
boots: War Travs
Belt: Nosfs (Razortail if I have to IAS jewel the weapon)
Gloves: LOH

Merc: Rogue
Weapon: Faith (Great bow base?)
Armor: Fortitude
Helm: Andy (Ias Jewel)

95-100 ias

or

Spoiler: GMB Faith

Helm: 3 socket life helm with 3x IAS jewels with best mods I can get.
Armor: Fort
Weapon: GMB Faith
Amulet: Cats
Ring: Raven
Ring: Life leech ring
boots: War Travs
Belt: Nosfs
Gloves: LOH

Merc: Might
Weapon: Pride thresher or Giant Thresher
Armor: Fort
Helm: Andy (Ias Jewel)

95 IAS and pray I get a level 13+ faith

The nice thing about this is between the two builds I only use a total of three socket quests. So doing one does not stop me from doing the other.

I don't see Enigma or any FCR in there. How are you planning to get anywhere quickly enough to make the run worthwhile? Running to Baal might work (e.g. Cat's Eye), but that's not preferable either. And it isn't too much fr/w too (e.g. mine has 30% (Valk Wing) + 45% (Enigma) + 25 or 30 (Travs or Gores), and I wouldn't want to run to Throne with that if I didn't have to).

Both builds lack either Atma's or Reaper's. The damage boost from either is too significant to pass up.

re: bow choice for A1 merc /w Faith. This is another reason to make it in Diamond/Shadow/Ward bow - if you decide to use it on an A1 merc, you can't do so if you drop your faith into a Mat/GMB. Her damage isn't going to be too significant, so skip going with a Great Bow (I believe you would choose it for the -10 WSM, but don't - it has worse average damage than a Mat bow if you decide to wear it yourself.

Man I wish I could get a 1.07 Valk wing on my bowzon, that would be amazing with an ed/ias jewel in it. But alas it's not in the cards.

Best socket is res all/IAS. You need the res in every slot you can on a build like this. Do some searching and other will say Cham is the best, but with a Zon's IAS needs and limited slots to get it, you can't/shouldn't expend a slot to get one mod (CBF) when that same mod is available elsewhere in a slot that you can't get IAS in.

 

[ffs]

Always interesting to see how different of an approach you can take to Bowie, I'm following very different paradigms than @Crazy Runner Guy .

I was convinced that WF + Faith merc is superior after considering: To get 7 fpa GMB Faith you'd have to drop Razortail - which most rightly consider a must, and dropping it is a really really big deal for your overall damage output (especially when running areas like CS or WSK). Using other Faith bows to get to 7 fpa and Razor will on the other hand lower the base damage even more, with nothing gained in the end in terms of DPS. WF + Faith merc provides 7 fpa + Razor very comfortably which beats out any 7fpa Faith + Razor setup in terms of DPS, and gives a lot of wiggle room for helm and amulet slots. Also having knockback is actually a big advantage, as switching out LoH for knockback gloves is not an option due to the extreme loss in damage. To me the advantages of using Faith yourself just don't make up for this as they improve things where the amazon either doesn't need improvement or, at the other end, where she can't improve enough anyway: Having good resists with a bowie is neither necessary nor possible without crippling her damage, and +15 isn't much more than a drop in the ocean anyway. ITD and AR bonus are great but you have plenty of skill points to spend freely, so maxing penetrate is not an issue at all, and finally the extra skills from Faith are nothing more than "nice to have" as they don't significantly increase either damage or survivability. Also, while the A2 merc is sturdier, it's not like you have to rebuy the A1 lady all the time either.

Finally I'd never use Enigma on a Bowie. I think Enigma is great for Javazon because of Griffon's Eye providing 25% FCR, which gets you to 99% or 68% (which I consider minimum) on switch super easy. For a bowazon, you have to use Wizzy + Spirit to only get to 68% which is not safe enough to teleport constantly without CtA, and no matter how you get additional FCR, it's going to hurt big time in terms of DPS or other things, and even more restricting your gear choices.

Just my very different 2 cents on bowies.

 

[Pringlesman]

How many players in game? Doing it quickly ~5K times @ /p7 is what you're after.

Honestly I don't remember. It's been a few years since I had that character.

I don't see Enigma or any FCR in there. How are you planning to get anywhere quickly enough to make the run worthwhile? Running to Baal might work (e.g. Cat's Eye), but that's not preferable either. And it isn't too much fr/w too (e.g. mine has 30% (Valk Wing) + 45% (Enigma) + 25 or 30 (Travs or Gores), and I wouldn't want to run to Throne with that if I didn't have to).

Between War Travs and Harmony on switch I figured I would have enough FRW. And honestly if I was to be teleporting I would just abuse the animation switch bug to teleport at 7 frames. But with good baal maps teleporting isn't necessary anyways.

Both builds lack either Atma's or Reaper's. The damage boost from either is too significant to pass up.

I forgot to list amulet on the first one, meant to list list Atma's on the WF build.

re: bow choice for A1 merc /w Faith. This is another reason to make it in Diamond/Shadow/Ward bow - if you decide to use it on an A1 merc, you can't do so if you drop your faith into a Mat/GMB. Her damage isn't going to be too significant, so skip going with a Great Bow (I believe you would choose it for the -10 WSM, but don't - it has worse average damage than a Mat bow if you decide to wear it yourself.

Fair point.

Best socket is res all/IAS. You need the res in every slot you can on a build like this. Do some searching and other will say Cham is the best, but with a Zon's IAS needs and limited slots to get it, you can't/shouldn't expend a slot to get one mod (CBF) when that same mod is available elsewhere in a slot that you can't get IAS in.

It's just going to be a pain to find one ias/res all jewel not to mention 3-4.[/quote][

 

[PhineasB]

Very nice @Pb_pal! Congrats on the Enigma. And best of luck to the new entrants, particularly those contemplating the challenge of a bowazon.

Phaedrus hit level 92. He finished 250 Meph runs, with little useful to show other than his first Gheeds (34% MF). He did also find Carrion Wind and Reapers.

He mixed in some RoF runs before finishing the last 100 Meph runs, due to super chest map roll with 3-5 boss packs in between WP, and then finished off the level there. From RoF, the finds were a Pul, Stone Crusher, and a BKWB, which was quite welcome for the +skill.

One death from cursed might Megademon boss + Champion Urdar pack, but it took only four runs to make up the lost XP after a body recovery. He generally bailed pretty quick on any run with tricky spawns in RoF to avoid deaths, but this was basically an insta-kill because I didn’t notice the cursed mod on the boss pack.

I had really hoped for at least on high rune from the runs to level, but no such luck. He is now back to LK, having rolled a nice little map for a character without teleport. The goal is another 500 runes found, and then he may do another level and roll some caster ammys. I doubt he’ll have runes for Enigma by then (only the Sur from the first 500 runes found in LK). But he should have runes for CtA and maybe another skiller to allow some more efficient RoF runes for XP. It would definitely be more efficient to just focus on the Enigma though, so we’ll see.

Hiatus will also get some sporadic play, but the LK runs with Phaedrus will be the main focus, along with some questing for two new characters.

Progress Update

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      99             No         3068        437            5           -
NanoMist      Izuna           SC      Sin       99             No         5109        470            4         360
PhineasB      Mercy           SC      Sin       99             Yes           -        475           11           -
Neksja        Aura            SC      Paladin   98.50          Yes        8606        464            -           -
T72on1        Neverland       SC      Sorc      98.17          Yes        2190+?      475           13         270?
hasuprotoss   Reina           SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1751        384            -           -
PhineasB      Hiatus          SC      Sorc      97             Yes           -        394           19           -
Tarantella    Tarasha         HC      Sorc      96             Yes           -          -            -           -
XyleneCyanol  Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
ThomasJohnsen xInTheBuffx     HC      Sorc      95             Yes           -          -            -           -
darkstarhub   Neptune         SC      Sorc      95             Yes           -          -            -           -
Grim          Furious_Blonde  SC      Ama       94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz          Qty             SC      Sorc      93             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB      Phaedrus        SC      Pala      92             Yes           -        246           12           -
Chaostar      Prairie         SC      Sorc      91             Yes         659        261           12         126
OldSoldier    Battleforge     HC      Pala      91             Yes           -        236            -           -
tokerdin      tokeress        SC      Sorc      91             yes           -          -            -           -
BKC           Meteorbin       SC      Sorc      91             Yes           -          -            -           -
Zenigma       Ayura           SC      Barb      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw      Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
Qwernt        CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           ?          -        Dont want to know
MercMan       Este            SC      Ama       90             Yes        1212        278            2  Classified
Me2Nik        Fugu            HC      Ama       90             Yes          80
Lynchgrinch   Tattersail      SC      Sorc      89             Yes           ?        321         too many    lots
LiquidClear   Sally           SC      Assn      **             Yes         225          -            1           -
liquid_mage   zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc      **             Yes           -        160            -           -
Neksja        Turirao         SC      Druid     87             Yes         191        124            5           -
Gladstone     Socrates        HC      Druid     86             ?             -          -            -           -
Zenigma       Gnosis          SC      Druid     86             No            -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb    Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     86             No          115         94           19         idk
ffs           HelpYourself    SC      Sorc      85             No            -          -          many          ?
Naturallog    Athos           HC      Barb      84             No          159        105            0           -
Lord Molyb    Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       83             No           28         25            0         idk
Qwernt        AmaAgainstAll   SC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          -            -           -
Gambit        Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Lord Molyb    But_Why         SC      Sin       81             Never        55         51           53
Jean Avila    SpeedAdict      SC      Ama       77             No            -          -            -          50
Pb_pal        Stevesy         HC      Paladin   76             Yes           -          -            0           -
logo          Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
TwentyMule    Rayne           SC      Sorc      76             Yes         195        140            ?           ?
Gripphon      Ryu             SC      Sorc      76             Yes           -          -         over 9k       13
Darke Rahl    Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0
Vildecor      Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax    Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
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            -          -            -           -
hackedagainanda Hugo          HC      Barb      16             Yes           -          -            -           -

The Fallen

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
TwentyMule  Valus           HC      Barb      76             Yes           -          -            1           -
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           1

 

[BKC]

Well i made a terrible mistake, i muled a Skulders onto Meteorbin breaking her untwinkedness... so i removed her from the list! Maybe i put poison_vic back onto it i am not sure.

Progress Update

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      99             No         3068        437            5           -
NanoMist      Izuna           SC      Sin       99             No         5109        470            4         360
PhineasB      Mercy           SC      Sin       99             Yes           -        475           11           -
Neksja        Aura            SC      Paladin   98.50          Yes        8606        464            -           -
T72on1        Neverland       SC      Sorc      98.17          Yes        2190+?      475           13         270?
hasuprotoss   Reina           SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1751        384            -           -
PhineasB      Hiatus          SC      Sorc      97             Yes           -        394           19           -
Tarantella    Tarasha         HC      Sorc      96             Yes           -          -            -           -
XyleneCyanol  Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
ThomasJohnsen xInTheBuffx     HC      Sorc      95             Yes           -          -            -           -
darkstarhub   Neptune         SC      Sorc      95             Yes           -          -            -           -
Grim          Furious_Blonde  SC      Ama       94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz          Qty             SC      Sorc      93             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB      Phaedrus        SC      Pala      92             Yes           -        246           12           -
Chaostar      Prairie         SC      Sorc      91             Yes         659        261           12         126
OldSoldier    Battleforge     HC      Pala      91             Yes           -        236            -           -
tokerdin      tokeress        SC      Sorc      91             yes           -          -            -           -
Zenigma       Ayura           SC      Barb      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw      Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
Qwernt        CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           ?          -        Dont want to know
MercMan       Este            SC      Ama       90             Yes        1212        278            2  Classified
Me2Nik        Fugu            HC      Ama       90             Yes          80
Lynchgrinch   Tattersail      SC      Sorc      89             Yes           ?        321         too many    lots
LiquidClear   Sally           SC      Assn      **             Yes         225          -            1           -
liquid_mage   zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc      **             Yes           -        160            -           -
Neksja        Turirao         SC      Druid     87             Yes         191        124            5           -
Gladstone     Socrates        HC      Druid     86             ?             -          -            -           -
Zenigma       Gnosis          SC      Druid     86             No            -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb    Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     86             No          115         94           19         idk
ffs           HelpYourself    SC      Sorc      85             No            -          -          many          ?
Naturallog    Athos           HC      Barb      84             No          159        105            0           -
Lord Molyb    Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       83             No           28         25            0         idk
Qwernt        AmaAgainstAll   SC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          -            -           -
Gambit        Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Lord Molyb    But_Why         SC      Sin       81             Never        55         51           53
Jean Avila    SpeedAdict      SC      Ama       77             No            -          -            -          50
Pb_pal        Stevesy         HC      Paladin   76             Yes           -          -            0           -
logo          Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
TwentyMule    Rayne           SC      Sorc      76             Yes         195        140            ?           ?
Gripphon      Ryu             SC      Sorc      76             Yes           -          -         over 9k       13
Darke Rahl    Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0
Vildecor      Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax    Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
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            -          -            -           -
hackedagainanda Hugo          HC      Barb      16             Yes           -          -            -           -

The Fallen

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
TwentyMule  Valus           HC      Barb      76             Yes           -          -            1           -
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           1

 

[ffs]

@BKC Sorry about that, but how does that even happen? Also if you haven't equipped it, does it still mean she's twinked?

As for HelpYourself, she's been mixing up running LK, Mephisto and Pindle, though mostly LK. I really enjoy building those runewords, including looking for bases, rolling sockets in them, being super annoyed when your awesome defense roll elite armor rolls one socket etc. ... stuff you just don't have when playing twinked.

She continued to be hot after her amazing Sur + Vex + Pul, Mal, Ist start in LK: Two more Vex runes within the next 5-6 hours, which allowed her to build CtA (+3 BO). However, since then there's just nothing in the HR department, the last 6-7 LK hours only netted one Pul and lower. However, eth bugging a hellforge plate got me a nice 4os base which is currently used as a 4.4k defense Stone but will of course become Fortitude once a Lo drops. Meph was moreover kind enough to drop Tal's amulet, Snowclash, 47% War Traveler's as well as a perfect [email protected] Viper. Especially happy about the latter which is super awesome, as I don't think I'll even go for CoH with the next Sur from LK but rather save for Infinity or mule them over to my other characters' stash.

I think I might use my first Larzuk quest for the Viper -- unless anyone here stops me? The only other item I really need to socket is a Shako, everything else is runewords. Maybe at some point an Andy's for Merc as well or something, but I think I should be fine using the quest and having 2 left.

Stuff she's still looking for:
High priority: Shako, Soj/BK, Arach.
Lower priority: eth 4os elite polearm; Lo rune; skillers.

Probably going to go back to running only Meph for a while to try and get those uniques, only mixing it up when things get too boring.

As far as levelling goes she's at ** (eighty eight) right now, but I'm taking it easy as there's no rush, though I go for Pindle on /p8 to speed things up as he quickly enough even with ~250% mf gear and Blizzballer spec.

Couple screenshots of highlights so far:

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Progress Update

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      99             No         3068        437            5           -
NanoMist      Izuna           SC      Sin       99             No         5109        470            4         360
PhineasB      Mercy           SC      Sin       99             Yes           -        475           11           -
Neksja        Aura            SC      Paladin   98.50          Yes        8606        464            -           -
T72on1        Neverland       SC      Sorc      98.17          Yes        2190+?      475           13         270?
hasuprotoss   Reina           SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1751        384            -           -
PhineasB      Hiatus          SC      Sorc      97             Yes           -        394           19           -
Tarantella    Tarasha         HC      Sorc      96             Yes           -          -            -           -
XyleneCyanol  Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
ThomasJohnsen xInTheBuffx     HC      Sorc      95             Yes           -          -            -           -
darkstarhub   Neptune         SC      Sorc      95             Yes           -          -            -           -
Grim          Furious_Blonde  SC      Ama       94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz          Qty             SC      Sorc      93             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB      Phaedrus        SC      Pala      92             Yes           -        246           12           -
Chaostar      Prairie         SC      Sorc      91             Yes         659        261           12         126
OldSoldier    Battleforge     HC      Pala      91             Yes           -        236            -           -
tokerdin      tokeress        SC      Sorc      91             yes           -          -            -           -
Zenigma       Ayura           SC      Barb      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw      Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
Qwernt        CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           ?          -        Dont want to know
MercMan       Este            SC      Ama       90             Yes        1212        278            2  Classified
Me2Nik        Fugu            HC      Ama       90             Yes          80
Lynchgrinch   Tattersail      SC      Sorc      89             Yes           ?        321         too many    lots
LiquidClear   Sally           SC      Assn      **             Yes         225          -            1           -
liquid_mage   zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc      **             Yes           -        160            -           -
ffs           HelpYourself    SC      Sorc      **             No            -          -          many          ?
Neksja        Turirao         SC      Druid     87             Yes         191        124            5           -
Gladstone     Socrates        HC      Druid     86             ?             -          -            -           -
Zenigma       Gnosis          SC      Druid     86             No            -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb    Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     86             No          115         94           19         idk
Naturallog    Athos           HC      Barb      84             No          159        105            0           -
Lord Molyb    Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       83             No           28         25            0         idk
Qwernt        AmaAgainstAll   SC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          -            -           -
Gambit        Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Lord Molyb    But_Why         SC      Sin       81             Never        55         51           53
Jean Avila    SpeedAdict      SC      Ama       77             No            -          -            -          50
Pb_pal        Stevesy         HC      Paladin   76             Yes           -          -            0           -
logo          Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
TwentyMule    Rayne           SC      Sorc      76             Yes         195        140            ?           ?
Gripphon      Ryu             SC      Sorc      76             Yes           -          -         over 9k       13
Darke Rahl    Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0
Vildecor      Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax    Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
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            -          -            -           -
hackedagainanda Hugo          HC      Barb      16             Yes           -          -            -           -

The Fallen

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
TwentyMule  Valus           HC      Barb      76             Yes           -          -            1           -
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           1

EDIT: There we go!

Spoiler

 

[PhineasB]

Phaedrus did a set of 250 runes found in LK. The first 50 led to nothing higher than an Io, the next 50 has a Gul and a Mal, and then nothing higher than Lem, Ko and Fal for the last three 50 runes sets to 250. No major charm upgrades, although he did find a Sounding Skiller with + life and a cold skiller.

He saves some time with a teleport per run on this map, so I was able to keep track of the number of runs using Naj’s Puzzler: 9 repairs plus a few extra = 625 runs for 250 runes, for ~2.25 runs/rune found. Also, it turns out Phaedrus had found 600 runes in LK (not 500) prior to hitting level 92, so he’s at 850 runes found from LK, or about 2000 runs. Still 5 Surs from Enigma :\ A little break from Phaedrus is in order, so I'll probably do some CS runs with Hiatus and focus on questing the two new characters this week.

 

[Pb_pal]

Woops.

Well it seems it wasn't meant to be after all. Here's how it happened:

Stevesy was teleporting through the Durance to get to Meph and make it to A4, and got caught up in a fanat mummy pack. He slammed all his rejuvs and just barely made it out and across the wall and landed right in the centre of this pack of beauties.

Should I have tried to teleport blindly through to Meph? Nope. Should I have done it with only one column of rejuvs? Definitely Nope. My only regret is that he never even got to become a bear.

That's alright though, truth be told my playtime will be severely limited for the forseeable future and I just wouldn't have had the time to complete this in any reasonable way, so I'll take this as a blessing in disguise to work on some of my stalled tournament characters and get back to some questing.

Best of luck to all remaining runners! I will be watching.

--


Progress Update

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      99             No         3068        437            5           -
NanoMist      Izuna           SC      Sin       99             No         5109        470            4         360
PhineasB      Mercy           SC      Sin       99             Yes           -        475           11           -
Neksja        Aura            SC      Paladin   98.50          Yes        8606        464            -           -
T72on1        Neverland       SC      Sorc      98.17          Yes        2190+?      475           13         270?
hasuprotoss   Reina           SC      Sorc      97             Yes        1751        384            -           -
PhineasB      Hiatus          SC      Sorc      97             Yes           -        394           19           -
Tarantella    Tarasha         HC      Sorc      96             Yes           -          -            -           -
XyleneCyanol  Fishie          HC      Sorc      95             No            -          -            -           -
ThomasJohnsen xInTheBuffx     HC      Sorc      95             Yes           -          -            -           -
darkstarhub   Neptune         SC      Sorc      95             Yes           -          -            -           -
Grim          Furious_Blonde  SC      Ama       94             Yes           -          -            -           -
Reyz          Qty             SC      Sorc      93             No            -          -            -           -
PhineasB      Phaedrus        SC      Pala      92             Yes           -        246           12           -
Chaostar      Prairie         SC      Sorc      91             Yes         659        261           12         126
OldSoldier    Battleforge     HC      Pala      91             Yes           -        236            -           -
tokerdin      tokeress        SC      Sorc      91             yes           -          -            -           -
Zenigma       Ayura           SC      Barb      91             No            -          -            -           -
Southpaw      Njord           SC      Druid     90             Yes           -          -            -           -
Qwernt        CanbeOnlyBlizz  SC      Sorc      90             Yes           ?          -        Dont want to know
MercMan       Este            SC      Ama       90             Yes        1212        278            2  Classified
Me2Nik        Fugu            HC      Ama       90             Yes          80
Lynchgrinch   Tattersail      SC      Sorc      89             Yes           ?        321         too many    lots
LiquidClear   Sally           SC      Assn      **             Yes         225          -            1           -
liquid_mage   zDadColdSorc    SC      Sorc      **             Yes           -        160            -           -
ffs           HelpYourself    SC      Sorc      **             No            -          -          many          ?
Neksja        Turirao         SC      Druid     87             Yes         191        124            5           -
Gladstone     Socrates        HC      Druid     86             ?             -          -            -           -
Zenigma       Gnosis          SC      Druid     86             No            -          -            -           -
Lord Molyb    Cruise_Control  SC      Necro     86             No          115         94           19         idk
Naturallog    Athos           HC      Barb      84             No          159        105            0           -
Lord Molyb    Verisimilitude  SC      Ama       83             No           28         25            0         idk
Qwernt        AmaAgainstAll   SC      Sorc      81             Yes           -          -            -           -
Gambit        Mallenroh       SC      Sorc      81             Yes           0          0            0           0
Lord Molyb    But_Why         SC      Sin       81             Never        55         51           53
Jean Avila    SpeedAdict      SC      Ama       77             No            -          -            -          50
logo          Digimon         HC      Nec       76             Yes          85         65            0           -
TwentyMule    Rayne           SC      Sorc      76             Yes         195        140            ?           ?
Gripphon      Ryu             SC      Sorc      76             Yes           -          -         over 9k       13
Darke Rahl    Bells           HC      Ama       74             No           19          -            0
Vildecor      Celia           SC      Ama       59             Yes          52         43            0           -
ioupainmax    Durnik          SC      Paladin   52             Yes          50         42            -           -
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            -          -            -           -
hackedagainanda Hugo          HC      Barb      16             Yes           -          -            -           -

The Fallen

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
TwentyMule  Valus           HC      Barb      76             Yes           -          -            1           -
Pb_pal      Stevesy         HC      Paladin   76             Yes           -          -            0           -
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           1

 

[Kitteh]

@Pringlesman
I was actually thinking that if I reenter this it would also be as a borazon possibly, so maybe we could go for it and provide each other with some competition, plus also learn from each others experiences? Could be fun! My current plan is to go Act 2 merc with reapers and run Baal, mostly because Fordyl ran CS and the extra safety of decrep plus another tank is appealing, plus might Attack speed though...

@Crazy Runner Guy
I know this is going back a bit, but I've been occupied haha Please don't repair with Real. For somebody who saves for crafting amulets, it is SO SO terribly painful You cruel person...

 

[Grape]

@Pb_pal ouch, RIP.

Well, there's some few (if not more) hundred hours of future D2 playing time reserved for something else

Still, would've been awesome to see some Bear Pala action.

 

[Pb_pal]

Still, would've been awesome to see some Bear Pala action.

I might revive him in another attempt some day, but almost certainly as SC and twinked next time.

 

[LiquidClear]

@Pb_pal

I liked your post, but not in the sense that I like that you died. I'm not that much of an ass. No, really.

Maybe you could pursue some sort of bear on SC now instead? I am a D2 wildlife advocate, so I vote yes.

 

[T72on1]

@Pb_pal Condolences . Sad to see you go out of this tournament.

 

[PhineasB]

RIP, Stevesy. Ouch, that must have been so painful. This is why I don't ever envision myself seriously going the HC route:

Should I have tried to teleport blindly through to Meph? Nope.

Even if I know something is a bad idea and that a slower approach makes more sense, I still sometimes do the thing I know is a bad idea. If that one mistake was RIP, loss of character progress, and loss of gear . . . ? I'll stick to SC for the most part, thanks

I look forward to seeing some twinked, SC Bear pally vids soon