Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

Pala the Impalazon has had an uneventful start. She used the starting javelin for a couple of levels, until she was strong enough to wield a Trident. She bought one with three sockets from Gheed and soon put a chipped sapphire in it. My plan is to put +damage jewels in the other two sockets, but I have not found any such jewels yet. So this is still her main weapon.

Impale is rarely used yet, for three reasons:
- The chance to lose durability is very large at low skill levels.
- It eats mana quickly. This should be easily fixed with the slightest bit of mana steal (due to the high damage).
- It´s a very slow attack, so I´d like to have a reasonably long-lasting Decoy before it becomes my main skill, in order to avoid taking huge damage against mobs.

I still let Treehead Woodfist and Griswold taste Impale, though. :badteeth:

I have decided that the elite spears that require a lot of strength will be out of my league, so my endgame spear will likely be a Ghost Spear (as I can shop these from Hell Fara), or maybe a Matriarchal Spear. The Ghost Spear has the highest combined STR/DEX number requirement, but since I am a going to have javelin + shield on the switch and want max blocking for tight situations, I am getting a lot of DEX anyway.

I think that late Act I will be quite hard for Pala. I am stubborn with /players 8, and that part of the game is pretty hard without a merc if you have bad damage output. But I can probably Jab myself through it if needed, and when I get one more level, I can equip Brandistocks. They do the same damage as a Trident but are much faster. I´ve seen a couple of Brandistocks in the gambling window.

It´s weird playing without MF hunger. For the late game, the only equippable things that MF helps with are rare jewels.


Pala the Impalazon, level 15, Black Marsh next.


I still need to know if Lightning Bolt is a banned skill or not.

 

[kestegs]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

-For example, Power Strike is fine because it adds lightning damage to your attacks. Charged Strike is out because you basically cast charged bolt with it when attacking. If you're confused, just ask!

Host has not had any activity in 2 weeks now, so we may be on our own here...

IMO: I think you are fine to use lightning strike, the majority of the skill is based on your weapons damage, that's where I base my thought on it. in the above example it fits a lot more into the power strike area if you ask me. also wasn't sure if you were going to max it or just use 1 point, I almost think I would stick with 1 point to keep the mana cost down, and If you aren't pumping synergies for it, it doesn't seem worth maxing.

hopefully he will show back up soon...

Been running normal council with my Frenzy Barb, actually really enjoying things. Frenzy is a cool skill, Its only at level 5 now, I can't imagine the speed at level 20+. almost to level 30 then I will finish up act 4 with much safer resists.

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

It may look weird that I write a second update before even the first act is done, but I feel like doing it.

Going wihout merc is a huge difference for me. All those Fallen tend to just die around you when you have an archer companion. Now I have to poke every one of them myself.

I gambled a Brandistock of the Bat. As I had thought, the mana steal is enough to at least break even when using Impale or Jab (unless I fight skeletons, of course). Against bigger foes, Jab is the fastest killer, but Impale is better against monsters I can 1-hit kill with it. Impale isn´t that slow with this type of weapon either.

Pit level 2 was very hard for Pala. There were two archer boss packs (Spectral Hit and Multiple Shot). Twice, I was forced to retreat, lest I would risk running out of potions completely.

After that ordeal, I figured that I´d better gamble some gear with good Defense. High Defense combined with my high level should make me take not so many hits. I got myself a Breast Plate of the Jackal and a Full Helm of Light. That helped quite a bit.

Every gear piece I wear except the jewelry has been gambled. On the switch, Pala has a Short Spear of Gore (10-30 throw dmg) and a Strong (42 Def.) Bone Shield of Blocking.

I long for the Horadric Cube now. My plan is to reroll a magical Spetum with chippies until I get one with the Brutal prefix, then put 1-2 flawed skulls in it.

Since Countess gave me a Tal rune, my armor plan for early Act II is to buy a 2s Splint Mail and make Stealth in it as soon as I find an Eth rune.


Pala the Impalazon, level 19, Catacombs next.


@kestegs: Alright, I will assume Lightning Bolt (not Strike, that one´s definitley banned since it casts a Chain Lightning effect) is OK to use. I do plan on maxing it. This build is not tight for skill points, the mana cost of lvl 20 LB isn´t even double that of lvl 1 (plus I am going to have mana potions that give me more than my maximum mana, so I am going to throw LB like mad while the mana orb fills), and 170 more average lightning damage is worth it, imo. There may even be some skill points left for synergies.

BTW, do you (or anyone else) know if Critical Strike and/or Pierce works with Lightning Bolt?

 

[Morathi]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

@jian. I remember asking the same questions regarding Lightning Bolt a while ago. From memory, CS doesn't work with Lightning Bolt, as i believe, the lightning damage is calculated once you throw it, not at the point of impact. Don't take my word for it though, this is just from my vague memory.

I don't think it works with pierce either....not sure though.

 

[crazy_bear]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

@jiansonz: I'd also say Lightning Bolt should be allowed and fits the theme, since it's based on your weapon.

As for Anders, he hasn't received a lot of playing time, but has progressed about half way through Act 1, and is now at the Jail WP. WB has such a slow base attack it is very interesting managing him. I hoped to get
the runes to make a 'steel' weapon to speed up the attacks so I did a few countess runs. I never thought there would be a day I couldn't get an El from the countess but it seems the new drop odds for 1.13 make an El tough to find.

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

Pala´s first Impale victim, all the way back in The Cave.

I played more carefully in Act II, and managed to get the Horadric Cube without too much fuss. Used nearly all my chippies on magical Spetums. No Brutal or even Vicious, but this is not too shabby. Pala barely needs any potions now against leechable enemies. She´s 1-hit killing most monsters (even beetles and such).

The helm is socketed with +damage jewels, but will probably be switched out for a gambled Circlet soon.

Getting close to my planned runeword armor. I´ve bought the base item and found Nef and 3x Tir.

Pala will turn 24 this session, which means she will get Decoy. Once she levels up, I will cube nearly all my rings/ammies, hoping for some nice Cobalt/Coral/Garnet ones.


Pala the Impalazon, level 23, Far Oasis next.

 

[Kretschmer]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

Hey, back after a bit of a hiatus - between work and school, life has been nuts! It's great to see so much interest in the tournament; I look forward to catching up to the rest of you folks.

jiansonz, I deleted my last fishyzon and don't remember the specifics of lightning bolt. Doesn't it just add X damage to your javelin without any special piercing or other effects? If so, that'd make it like vengeance, power strike, etc.

 

[kestegs]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

Glad your back! :wave:

Lightning bolt is very similar to vengeance actually, now that you mention it, hadn't thought of that

Here's the AS link if you wanna check it for yourself

And your not that far behind really, I don't think anyone has hit NM yet, this feels like a much more leisurely tournament to me, since it is not single pass.

 

[skoolbus]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

OrangeAvenger has killed Duriel. He had weapon issues for Act 2, where I respec'ed at the start and got Fanat and ditched Holy Fire, but then I didn't have a decent weapon, and was forced to use a bad crafted flail. What I would end up doing was running through the whole act, killing just what I needed to (maggot lair, viper temple, arcane sancuary, duriels tomb) on /p1, getting to Act 3 and shopping a Battle Hammer. The craft turned out decent and it's given me acceptable killing speed. I also crafted some boots and tried about five times for a better weapon, but none of them were keepable. Once I was better equipped, I went back through Act 2, doing a full clear to get as much xp as I can, since I'm having a hard time hitting monsters I want to get a higher level. I gave up clearing all the false tombs halfway through because each one it seemed had a champ pack of the ressurecters which took ages to kill. Here's the weapon I'll be using for a while, not amazing, but gets the job done.

Stone Crack
Battle Hammer
One Hand Damage: 63 - 117
Durability: 16 of 55
Required Level: 44
Required Strength: 100
Fingerprint: 0x5163fc9a
Item Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 4 Frost Nova when struck
69% Enhanced Damage
Adds 4 - 19 Damage
+150% Damage to Undead
Attacker Takes Damage of 6

Still haven't bothered crafting any body armor, I'm not hurting much for resists thanks to the pally shield from Anya, and I'm trying to wait to make an exceptional armor.

OrangeAverger, lvl 59 Zealot, Kurast Docks NM, 7 crafts

 

[Kretschmer]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

I'm thinking about entering the tourney but I am still playing 1.12- would it be OK to enter a 1.12 character? I don't know of any advantages that would imply, as rune drops are worse I don't have respec.

Shouldn't be a big deal. This was more for 1.0X characters, and to prevent gaming the crafting possibilities of specific patches.

 

[purplelocust]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

@Kretschmer: great, thanks, I'll start a paladin shortly with plans for Holy Fire or Conviction zealot-type build.

 

[skoolbus]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

Been cruising along with OrangeAvenger up through the City of the Damned. I found my first poison charm in the Kurast Bazaar, so no more regenerating monsters... The end of Act 3 was a pain, and I put it on p1 in Upper Kurast and kept it there the rest of the act. I'm really worried about the exploding dolls in Hell (if I get that far) as these ones were doing ~500 damage to me. The Sewers Level 2 had a boss pack of them, extra fast, fanat, still p8, so I grabbed the Khalim piece and ran for it. I've also been crafting a bunch lately, but none of it has been any good.
Put it back on p8 for Act 4, it's been slow going and pretty uneventful. I'm looking forward to the hellforge, hope to get some emeralds and and an Ort rune.

OrangeAvenger, level 64 Zealot, River of Flame NM

 

[purplelocust]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

I've started Altjira, who is now in act 2 norm as a Holy Fire paladin, which is quite a quick character out of the gate. I assume we can't count quests until they are completely grayed out, so I don't have my imbue quest as I'll hold that for the future. So I have 5 quests * 2 + 9 WP - 20 levels for a total of -1 point. It looks like it's been a little while since the table was updated.

Spoiler

Active :

Forum Name       Character     Class      Act       Level   Points      Crafting
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vague            Armsman       Barb       5 norm      33       54           1
ancalagon        BurnWithMe    Assassin   1 NM        48       58           3 
kestegs          Intangerine   Barb       4 Norm      26       37           0
Kretschmer       Furby         Druid      2 Norm      20        2           0
nemty            Craftsman     Necro      2 Norm      22        1           0
HappeningKT      Kaioken       Paladin    1 Norm       1        0           0
Purplelocust     Altjira       Paladin    2 Norm      20       -1           0
Raver            Frenzy        Barb       1 Norm      16       -3           0
Tavaritz         The_HandyMan  Barb       1 Norm      15       -5           0

Deeds :

Forum Name       Character     Class      Act       Level   Points      Crafting
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ancalagon        Dernhelm      Assassin   3 Norm       22      ??           0

 

[crazy_bear]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

Anders has defeated Andariel and moved on to Act 2. Overall it was pretty uneventful going though act 1. No surprising drops, no NDE's. It seems to me that with the level difference between character and monster, plus the extra def of webear that Anders doesn't get hit that often. As well, having a large life pool helps. The attacks are slow but damaging.... still hoping for that El. Perhaps he can cube a decent polarm to try, or just chippy a two handed axe and look for a good result.

Anders, lvl 20 Werebear, Act 2 Normal, Lut Gholein.

(I'll figure out the score when Anders gets a little further on)

CB

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

Pala didn´t have much trouble in the rest of Act II, except against Duriel (on /players 5).

Decoy lasted about 2 seconds, so there wasn´t much use summoning them. Pala herself got hit quite a bit when she tried to Impale Duriel. Can you guess how slow Impale is when you´re Holy Frozen? That´s right, pretty much impossible to get it off before you go into hit recovery.

Instead, I ended up Jabbing him to death with my rare Throwing Spear (+4 min. damage and some cold damage). The Jab damage doesn´t look impressive, but it got the job done. Pala was very thankful for her Strong Bone Shield of Deflecting here.

Early Act III was easier than late Act II, mostly because all monsters are leechable, and they are either slow or can usually be Impaled to death in one hit. Main weapon (for a long time) was a 28% Deadly Maiden Spear 'Ith' + flawed skull (rerolled with chippies).

The swarms in Kurast Bazaar were bothersome. They have high physical resistance, requiring 5-6 Impales each. Mana steal was practically none, so I dedicated one column of the belt for the blue drinks.

I tried Lightning Bolt but that was even worse - still needed something like 4-5 throws, and by that time half my mana was gone...

A nice find in this place changed things around: a 3-socketed +11% ED Superior Maiden Spear. I had the required runes in my stash so I could make this. Pretty nice damage, huh?

I stopped Impaling the swarms, and simply poked them (with Attack) one time on each. Then I just needed to move around, and they died without me taking any hits. The Thrashers now died in two hits (compared to 3-4 with the old spear) and the Faithful required only one hit. Often, they were still standing after that hit, and fled. Thinking like a venomous snake that had scored a bit, Pala knew they were doomed anyway. She just had to follow the trail of blood to find the loot. :badteeth:

Even though my rare belt offsets the life drain a bit (it has +3 replenishing, and Malice has -5), I still wanted some life steal. Mana steal is also nice, because it helps me to have mana for my Decoys (at the low level it´s at, Decoy is still pretty expensive) without potion drinking. I have never bothered with life/mana steal this early in a character´s life (I usually ride behind the merc. :wink. Actually, I haven´t bothered much with it in the late game either, because then my mana pool is usually large enough for me to be able to kill enough monsters to get a town trip´s worth of loot. So I didn´t really know what non-weapon items that can get life/mana steal, and had to go check the AS.

OK, so off-weapon life/mana steal can spawn on gloves, circlets, rings and amulets. Gloves are by far the cheapest gambles, but my gloves is a really nice rare with 10% IAS, 20% fire resist and some MF, so switching out those creates new problems. (I really need that IAS, btw.) Circlet is also quite nice with 11% resist all and +8 max damage. Amulet has 11% MF and my rings have lightning resist/+2min damage and cold resist/+1 max damage. With my new weapon and some charms I´ve recently found, those rings aren´t really needed so I had already thought about replacing them with MF rings. One (my third highest in MF value - still a decent 13%) is a rare that also has life steal. Put that one on. My 20% Nagelring is better than my current amulet so I want to use it. OK, it looks like I am gambling amulets. 350k - that´s at least a couple of ammies.

I hit paydirt on the third try. I love you, Alkor!


Pala the Impalazon, level 31, Kurast Sewers next

 

[purplelocust]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

Altjiri is now in A3 after smooth run through Act 2 on /players 8. Slight upgrades in gear, nothing too impressive though. He may run Andy some more as he has very little MF so the quest drop boost is looking attractive. He did get Crushflange and the Hsarus boots and belt from her in about 10 earlier runs so we'll see what else drops.

Score: 11 quests * 2 + 19 WP - 25 levels for a total of 16 points.

Spoiler

Active :

Forum Name       Character     Class      Act       Level   Points      Crafting
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vague            Armsman       Barb       5 norm      33       54           1
ancalagon        BurnWithMe    Assassin   1 NM        48       58           3 
kestegs          Intangerine   Barb       4 Norm      26       37           0
Purplelocust     Altjira       Paladin    3 Norm      25       16           0
Kretschmer       Furby         Druid      2 Norm      20        2           0
nemty            Craftsman     Necro      2 Norm      22        1           0
HappeningKT      Kaioken       Paladin    1 Norm       1        0           0
Raver            Frenzy        Barb       1 Norm      16       -3           0
Tavaritz         The_HandyMan  Barb       1 Norm      15       -5           0

Deeds :

Forum Name       Character     Class      Act       Level   Points      Crafting
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ancalagon        Dernhelm      Assassin   3 Norm       22      ??           0

@jiansonz: nice gamble!

 

[Charlo]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

Might start up a char in this

 

[kestegs]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

Intangerine has completed normal, now starting NM at lvl 39. My weapons are just terrible however, just using 2 magic war axes. my plan is to run countess for a while and eventually get up to high enough level to gamble some naga's to craft with. I think I may try to craft for some cb pretty soon however, since my damage is just too low. Most of my gear in fact is pretty bad, and I nearly died to a FE/CE death explosion in the cold plains. Frenzy is up to lvl 15 now, and the FRW is just insane! a very fun skill to use so far.

 

[skoolbus]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

Bah, died to Infector of Souls. I put it down to /p1, but he was conviction and I got surrounded, coupled with ~60 FR before conviction and my health just plummeted. Bummed that I died there, OrangeAvenger was doing quite nice other than that. Oh well. Good luck to those still alive!

 

[jiansonz]

Re: Tournament - The Craftsman's Children

@skoolbus: Sorry to hear that. Wow, Conviction in combo with Spectral Hit and those Infernos! Nasty stuff.



Pala has clearly been 'ahead of the game' lately. The current part of the game is easy for her. There are two things that have me worried for the times ahead, though:

* Coming up with enough decent crafts for Act II NM. I have 11 item slots to fill, and so far only 2 perfect (crafting) gems. I am better off with runes in general, but I really need at least two Sol runes to make weapons (spear + javelins). Otherwise I´ll have to use imbued weapons (or maybe the Anya reward, if it isn´t a bow) for a while.

* The dedicated STR/DEX point placement I have to do (endgame weapon type requires 122/163!) leaves Pala with a scary-small life pool. It´s only about 325 as of now. I will favor Blood crafts when I can, as they all come with guaranteed +life.

I took on Mephisto with Impale, spamming Decoy often. It was a scary fight, but not too bad.

I found Crushflange in Act IV, and I used that to bring down /p3 Diablo to low life levels, then finished him off with Impales. I found it best to move in and poke him when he was busy vaporizing the Decoy with his lightning attack.

I made a new discovery in that fight: Diablo´s 'Cold-Hand Smackage' attack has an area of effect. He was hitting the Decoy with it, and Pala who was standing close behind the Decoy also turned blue and took damage.

He dropped a fabulous item: Twitchthroe. I am sure going to enjoy that for the next two acts! :thumbup: It has led me to at least start considering using a Pike for a while. They are generally far too slow to Impale with (if you have no IAS, it´s a 52-frame attack! Geez...).

20% IAS gloves can be gambled later in the act (e.g. ilvl 44+ Leather Gloves). I need to check an IAS calculator to see what kind of attack speed I´ll have with 40% IAS and a Pike. Of course, there is also a possiblity to get some IAS on the weapon itself.


Pala the Impalazon, level 35, Bloody Foothills next



(Sidenote: I think that the Chaos Sanctuary has lost most of its feel of dread now that Iron Maiden is gone. Sorry, I don´t like it. Not one bit. Even when I play this kind of character, that really benefits from its removal.
It´s just a lot more dull (you could almost say 'dumbed down') now. I liked that change of pace where you really had to think about what you were doing here.)