WSK - Worth The Effort?

[Mraezk]

WSK - Worth The Effort?

*waves*

I've been pondering this lately from an XP / MF point of view. At first glance it seemed to be the best lvl85 areas, due to the amount of creatures in it, but lately I've had my doubts.

With 450-500ish MF, my Sorc can do /players 8 Pindle, Meph, the Pits, and most of the Ancient Tunnels in the time it takes for a WSK Clear +Bhaal kill. My Necro is about the same, although with much less MF of course. XP does seem a little faster there, but due to Gloams and Oblivion Knights this is kinda off set since both seem capable of nearly instantly killing just about any type of character, especially gloams.

So anyhow, Is there any real benefit to this place that I'm overlooking? Of course, at level 95ish(?) or so, Bhaal is about the only source of XP but before that I can't see much of a point of going anywhere near it. Mind you, I'm still annoyed at losing a few hours of XP due to a single freakin' gloam, so I might be biased at this point.

 

[HBeachBabe]

*waves*

I've been pondering this lately from an XP / MF point of view. At first glance it seemed to be the best lvl85 areas, due to the amount of creatures in it, but lately I've had my doubts.

With 450-500ish MF, my Sorc can do /players 8 Pindle, Meph, the Pits, and most of the Ancient Tunnels in the time it takes for a WSK Clear +Bhaal kill. My Necro is about the same, although with much less MF of course. XP does seem a little faster there, but due to Gloams and Oblivion Knights this is kinda off set since both seem capable of nearly instantly killing just about any type of character, especially gloams.

So anyhow, Is there any real benefit to this place that I'm overlooking? Of course, at level 95ish(?) or so, Bhaal is about the only source of XP but before that I can't see much of a point of going anywhere near it. Mind you, I'm still annoyed at losing a few hours of XP due to a single freakin' gloam, so I might be biased at this point.

for getting those high levels over 90+, Baal is pretty much your only option. Baal is also the only one who can drop Arachnid Mesh, Tyreal's Might and Azurewrath

 

[Shade]

for getting those high levels over 90+, Baal is pretty much your only option. Baal is also the only one who can drop Arachnid Mesh, Tyreal's Might and Azurewrath

The Champions/Uniques in 85 areas (including WSK) can also. Diablo can too but he can be more trouble than Baal sometimes... (edit: actually Diablo can't drop Tyrael's, but you're not likely to find it anywhere in any case - just kill everything in sight and cross your fingers)

Having died to Gloams a few times I can heartily recommend Thundergod's Vigor as a solution to any Gloam-related problems. Top up your resists with charms and other stuff if needed - they won't harm you once you've got 85% LR and the absorb on TGods (unless they spawn with Conviction, but I've taken them down unharmed too - just stay away and dodge the bolts).

Oblivion Knights should be nearly harmless to a Sorc unless your resists are low. If you're a Cold sorc, you're also in trouble - teleporting past them is often your best bet.

With a decent WSK map and enough FCR, a Sorc should be able to just teleport through the first two levels, but you might want to clear a path to the Throne itself in case you have an 'accident' and need to recover your corpse.

Aside from experience gains, there's not that much to recommend the WSK if your character is vulnerable to stuff there. If you can resist the lightning of Gloams and deal with OKs, then it's a great place to MF - about 7-8 boss/champ packs per floor, with 5 extras at the end and Baal. (Quite a few of my Unique finds there have been from regular monsters, so don't forget them either! ) - you don't need full MF regalia, because survival is more important.

If you're only after items you might want to stick with your cycles of Pindle/Meph/Pit/Tunnels. If you want XP too, kit yourself out for the WSK.

(edit: I'm not that fast a typer, I just had a head start )

 

[colony]

The WSK is really the only way to lvl up past 90 in 1.10. TGods + 85 light res almost completely kills gloam damage, as long they don't have a conviction aura.

Meph can also drop Arachnid's Mesh and Azurewrath, but not Tyraels. But some monsters in the other lvl 85 areas (just Champions and uniques I think) can drop Tyraels, but with a very low chance.

edit: Shade can type faster than me and he said everything I said but better...

 

[Chimaira]

Baal is also the only one who can drop Arachnid Mesh, Tyreal's Might and Azurewrath

I've gotten an Arachnid Mesh from Mephisto...World Stone Keep is definitely not for everyone, but the characters that can do it well (Hammerdin, Wind druid, Lightning Zon) I'd say it's worth it. It also depends how far you are in your MF "career"...If you are relatively new like me then Mephisto is a much better place, but later on when you want to find the really choice items...Baal is the way to go. Also at that time it's probably also the only reasonable place to gain experience. I don't really find the Pits/Ancient Tunnels/other lvl 85 areas worthwile since the monsters there don't exactly have stellar drop chances, but it's nice if you want to MF a place that isn't too dangerous.

Edit: Looks like I'm the slowest
Edit2: Looks like Kefir-Tribe is the slowest

 

[Kefir-Tribe]

A small tip. Against Glooms there's one excellent counter named Thundergod's Vigor.

Baal is also the only one who can drop Arachnid Mesh, Tyreal's Might and Azurewrath

IIRC, that's not true. Mephisto can drop Arachnid Mesh and I think he can drop Azurewrath too. I don't know about Tyrel's though, but maybe Pindle.

 

[FodderCannoned]

my sorc doesn't have enough str to equip tgods, but can make it through wsk with a wisp projector, plus it allows you to keep tals set bonus if you are using tals

 

[dune6836]

for getting those high levels over 90+, Baal is pretty much your only option. Baal is also the only one who can drop Arachnid Mesh, Tyreal's Might and Azurewrath

i have ilvl87 arachnid mesh and azurewrath pb. both came from hell meph. never found tyreals might.

 

[Feceset]

Well, I've found very high end runes in the WSK.

I either found Sur and Lo, or 2x Lo, but between WSK and Halls of Pain I've gotten a Ber.

 

[Mraezk]

Yes, I too got my mesh off Meph too. Atma has Azurewrath listed for him as well.

Does the Thundergods belt really make that big a difference? I've yet to find one (Hopefully it isn't a NM Meph item. ) Are there any other lightning absorb items?

My Necro has 75% Lightning resist, and 1 bolt will usually drain his health bulb almost entirely. The problem usually is that there is rarely just 1 bolt headed towards him. Throw in that weird stun/hit thing that seems to happen with the bolts too, and its very frustrating. Not to mention Bhaal's habit of casting bolts every so often while fighting on the upper levels. ( I assume its him, its his laugh at least).

I think I may just avoid the place until I can find one of these belts. Especially when considering Xp loss from death tends to quite noticeable at this point. Even at lvl 95 or so, I'd think Diablo would be at least safer/faster choice for XP in the long run, for non-amazon's at least.

 

[Chimaira]

My necro only has 11% lightning resist and he can manage...although it does get hairy sometimes. The absorb on T-gods will only really be noticeable if you have high resists (around 75% or more). How much life does you necro have?? Gloams are dangerous but shouldn't be that dangerous...If I recall correctly they should do about 200-300 damage which shouldn't amount to much after 75% resist.

 

[Mraezk]

Hm, around 550 or so. He's not using a shako or other +life items however. Most of his gear and charms focus on + summon, resists, mana. Since its rare (outside of gloams at least) for anything to actually hit 'em, and this lets his army clear areas even faster then my sorc. He has about 60 or 70 stat points left over that I was saving for boosting str should the need arise, that could go into vit possibly.

 

[Steven Q Urkel]

Are there any other lightning absorb items?

Lightsabre has +25% lightning absorb. T Gods (already mentioned) has absorb lightning +20. Hmmm....anybody know what the difference between those two is?? I certainly dont.

 

[Chimaira]

550 is kind of low, especially if you don't have all the high-end gear. My advice to you is to get a shako...just kidding. I think you should focus a bit more on vitality...the only really str requirement heavy item you should be equipping is Marrowwalks (118str???) so save some points for that if you have it/plan on getting it and then put the rest into vitality. Or alternatively play a bit safer and use Clay Golem and curses more...if you were a total expert it would be possible to go with base vitality but everyone makes mistakes once in a while so a little vitality is good to have.

Do you really need the mana?? Amplify Damage costs next to nothing. CE can be a bit drain intensive, but you could drink a potion. Since you're standing still behind your army most of the time, why not pick up a potion and drink it. Then you can replace those mana charms with some life charms. I do have a Shako so mana is not so much a problem for me, so please disregard this advice if you're really in need of mana...that really annoyed me before I got the shako.

 

[Chimaira]

Lightsabre has +25% lightning absorb. T Gods (already mentioned) has absorb lightning +20. Hmmm....anybody know what the difference between those two is?? I certainly dont.

Exactly what it says...one is a % while the other isn't.

1000 damage taken

Lightsabre absorbs 20% = 200 damage absorbed and 200 damage healed
T-gods absorbs 20 = 20 damage absorbed and 20 damage healed

Two Lightsabres is almost immortality to lightning attacks...I think absorb is capped at 40%... wasn't so in 1.09 I think.

 

[Mraezk]

Hmm, he is using Trang's claws, Trang's scales, Arm of King Leoric, Homunculus, Marrowalks, Lore, 2 Nagel Rings, and a Goldwrap already. Other then the helm, rings, and belt I'm not sure it can improve much. I like his mana high since CE is highly spammable and clears rooms/groups faster then just about anything.

I do like the idea of sticking a Lightsabre on 'em as for an alternate weapon. Since that'd let me get a use out of one of the things, and plus swords are both pointy and shiny.

 

[Fafner]

Chimaira, a hammerdin can't run WSK with anywhere near the safety of Necro, Sorc, LF zon. He has no tank or teleport, an extra fast pack of Frenzytaurs would slaughter him and do. Not to mention Listers pack with the wrong mods. Hammerdin is doable but not a walk in the park.

That aside...risk/reward analysis of WSK is higher than any other reasonable MF place. I see it as the only place to go for xp for high characters or a leisurely stroll with a well equipped necro.

I run it with LF-zon players 1-3, and although I don't have griffon's eye, I've got pretty much everything else I need. I wouldn't head near the place without reasonable lightning resist or a way of quickly dealing with IM curse/oblivion knights.

WSK isn't for kids...in terms of MF, run after run. If you draw the right monsters you can clear the whole thing, and when this happens I usally do. If not, I think it's better just to head to Baal rather than lose your xp to overconfidence.

One equip note, Tals armour + p-topaz is decent MF with some resists. A little better than a Skullder's + Um.

 

[Chimaira]

Chimaira, a hammerdin can't run WSK with anywhere near the safety of Necro, Sorc, LF zon. He has no tank or teleport, an extra fast pack of Frenzytaurs would slaughter him and do. Not to mention Listers pack with the wrong mods. Hammerdin is doable but not a walk in the park.

Sorry... I guess I was mislead by some people with Enigma who said WSK runs were a walk in the park for a Hammerdin . I've been told that the damage he deals is enough to destroy Lister without him getting near...guess I shouldn't believe everything I'm told

Mraezk: I just want to mention that Lightsabre has a very high dex requiremnt (136... I think), so unless you're going for max block it's probably not worth it, despite being cool. In my opinion it would be a crime against humanity for a skellymancer to have max block

 

[kabal]

Hammerdin can do the Baal runs pretty easily. Only things that are really dangerous are vipers, dolls, and very large packs of succubi. Frenzytaurs and Lister's bunch aren't a problem because with enough FCR a hammerdin can keep them locked in hit recovery.

With that said, Baal runs aren't worth the effort if you're only looking for items. Pindle runs take less than 30 seconds, and the equipment for a Pindle-running LF zon is dirt cheap. IMO Pindle is the one stop shop for all your MF needs if you don't mind trading for items that you need. Hell Meph isn't bad either since he frequently drops uniques, but I think that in the long run Pindle wins out.

Edit: How is an LF zon supposed to be safer than a hammerdin? Valk just doesn't cut it against some of the nastier monsters in the WSK. A properly equipped hammerdin should be a tank by himself and shouldn't have problems with any melee monsters unless there's an FE boss or he's completely surrounded.

 

[Chimaira]

IMO Pindle is the one stop shop for all your MF needs if you don't mind trading for items that you need.

What does this mean?? why trade when you can MF I find that Pindle doesn't drop enough goodies to be worthwile. Act boss running is better if you have the right character for it.

Valk just doesn't cut it against some of the nastier monsters in the WSK.

Not quite true, she can tank pretty much everything, depending on how high her level is and what equipment she spawns with. Also she can be recast which is a big bonus, there is also Decoy which actually makes a decent tank/distraction.