My hardcore Challenge - Unique Of-a-Kind

[Al-T]

That would be too risky for me as I am forever clicking outside of the window, especially when mobbed by nasty critters, which is not a problem in softcore as.....cue my song in my signature but would be foolhardy in the hardcore tournament [I prefer playing full screen anyway. It's just a personal preference].

Progress report: Get_Hans wasted Andariel a couple of days ago and it only took 5 hits from Psychic Hammer to bring her down. The rest of my chars, apart from maybe sorc (static at L40) and necro (army + amp dmg), will have a much harder time killing her due to their relatively low damage.

I am hoping, with my week off work this week, that I get all my chars to ActII but only time will tell.
----
Question for Phlebiac/Hans:- Is my assassin allowed to buy items from Lut Gholein I know she can't do any levelling/questing but I am hoping she can buy jewels and Hel runes to make rare jewels in order to cube the 6 common scrolls I have for Unique jewels

[Phlebiac]

I would say no, since she may not take on the travel until all her sisters and brothers have arrived to join her.
But I don't like to decide such things on my own. What do you guys think about it?

About full screen mode:
My eyes are not the best and when playing windowed, things are so small on the game screen, that I hardly can read anything, so I prefer fullscreen as well, even if it was never designed for widescreen monitors.
I like my amazon with a little more flesh on her hips .

[Hans]

Question for Phlebiac/Hans:- Is my assassin allowed to buy items from Lut Gholein I know she can't do any levelling/questing but I am hoping she can buy jewels and Hel runes to make rare jewels in order to cube the 6 common scrolls I have for Unique jewels

I would say no since this tourney is meant that all 7 characters journey together.

[Al-T]

Fair enough guys. I'll just do some runs on Andariel instead

[Phlebiac]

So di I.

Rats, who came up with that stupid idea of limiting Posters to level 50 chars?

I just finished the fifth poster and none of the chars that could make use of them is even close to 50.

But on the other side, I just made my first major ChoM and a unique narrow charm (out of curiosity).
Now I am uncertain on which char should get it. It has +6 to Nec, Bar, Pal and Sor and is lvl 16.

[Tanis788]

Well, sad news to report. Loki came to his death in the catacombs after being trapped in a corner and whalloped to death.

I had plenty of life, so I could have exited the game if I felt like it, but as I don't play that way, Loki is dead at 49.

Thankfully, he was able to get plenty of charms/jewels/and a unique bow making it easy for my amazon, who I shall be creating next.

R.I.P Loki.

[Al-T]

So di I.

Rats, who came up with that stupid idea of limiting Posters to level 50 chars?

I just finished the fifth poster and none of the chars that could make use of them is even close to 50.

But on the other side, I just made my first major ChoM and a unique narrow charm (out of curiosity).
Now I am uncertain on which char should get it. It has +6 to Nec, Bar, Pal and Sor and is lvl 16.

Well I guess you are a few hundred tourney points ahead of me but I am still not near completing my first poster

+6 I guess it's not a "Plecibo" charm then

Well, sad news to report. Loki came to his death in the catacombs after being trapped in a corner and whalloped to death.

I had plenty of life, so I could have exited the game if I felt like it, but as I don't play that way, Loki is dead at 49.

Thankfully, he was able to get plenty of charms/jewels/and a unique bow making it easy for my amazon, who I shall be creating next.

R.I.P Loki.

That is a bummer. I felt the same way when my assassin (1st incarnation) bought it. I just had to try and get out of it without hitting escape. It's in the mentality (yes I know "limited" ) Cue song....

I get knocked down but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down. I get knocked down but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down. I get knocked down but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down.

[Tanis788]

Well I guess you are a few hundred tourney points ahead of me but I am still not near completing my first poster

+6 I guess it's not a "Plecibo" charm then

Hmm, I completed my first when my Necro was level 35, Mammoth. not even close to completing a second though.

[JrEye]

Now that I am on a new pc (with a wide screen monitor) think window will work best, its still the same resolution just different since its not in full screen its not made to fit the monitor size

getting back into leveling, should have essentially 0 load lag with 8GB of Ram and a Quad Core Processor

[Al-T]

Just as well ZyEl doesn't use "Glidewrapper" or you would seriously annoy me with your 1680X1050 resolution and perspective mode
---

Back on topic....Ama has finally beaten Andariel but it was a close run thing. Merc died twice on the way from catacombs level 2 and "Get_Phlebiac" was at 15 life when Andariel finally copped it . 2 down, 5 to go

[Phlebiac]

Well I guess you are a few hundred tourney points ahead of me but I am still not near completing my first poster

I'd say 150 points is nothing in a tournament that goes up to 70k points. But in the start it may be an advantage to have some luck with drops.

+6 I guess it's not a "Plecibo" charm then

It is a white Plecibo and since it has 90-270 damage on it as well I think I will give it to the barbarian. He could make the best use of the damage.

I also have two really nice amulets down the road, once my chars reach level 72. I got them from unique of-a-kind with twos of swords and claws and both have +5-7 to several chars and around 2000 life...
Hope anyone survives long enough to wear one of those precious .

[JrEye]

paladin should have easy leveling for a bit, gemmed alot of lvl 1 req chamrs with +poison, starting out the gate dealing 159-189 damage lol

[Likalo]

I'm now ready to enter the fortress, but I saw "friend" I for sure didn't miss...

Those bone golem hurt bad,are their damage mainly physical or magical

As for you Phlebiac, you're unique narrow charm and your 8-10 ChoM make me question myself "In what did I threw myself in..." lol

Al-T, How the Hell did you finish act1 with 2 characters in the 40 It took me forever to go vs the countess hahaha I'll be in act1 for long, that's for sure

[Phlebiac]

That stupid Paladin killed Andariel today.
Next will be the Barbarian and he is doing really nice with the charm. He will need a little bit more life and leech eventually but should be tough enough to free cain during this week.
Oh, and I found a jack of spades and a jack of clubs. That was really cool .

I tried to build me a crafted helm with charges of Dire Wolves but it turned out to be level 72 .
So Anton used his imbue to get a nice +skills belt for even more fire damage. --> Level 49

Well, didn't expect much from him anyways .

Edit: Likalo, my Druid is level 104 now and he did most levels with runs in the cloister at those four golden chests. His damage output is really ridiculous. With 64 ravens and 15 Dire Wolves he rips through almost everything on players 127 in no time while he is protected by his elemental shield and a bone shield from an item plus his bear form giving him lots of life. That way it is really easy to get lots of stuff for cubing and of course gold to buy elixiers. I don't regret choosing him as my first char for one moment. It was a little bit hard to get to the level for dire wolves but by keeping my ravens maxed at all the time I could dish out quiet some damage early on.

[Al-T]

I'm now ready to enter the fortress, but I saw "friend" I for sure didn't miss...

Those bone golem hurt bad,are their damage mainly physical or magical

As for you Phlebiac, you're unique narrow charm and your 8-10 ChoM make me question myself "In what did I threw myself in..." lol

Al-T, How the Hell did you finish act1 with 2 characters in the 40 It took me forever to go vs the countess hahaha I'll be in act1 for long, that's for sure

Phlebiac can be considered a "veteran" when it comes to ZyEl. He has taken a few catnaps but always comes back and is highly conversant with how the mod plays. Also, if you notice Phlebiac's character levels, it is easy to see why he is doing so well. A lot of farming with the Druid has got him all that nice gear.

I am at the opposite end of the spectrum in that I hate farming, so where most of you will play at "Players 8 to 127" I generally play at "Players 1" (until I need to ramp it up for levelling) which allows me to finish acts earlier. Also, Psychic Hammer on my assassin does over 2K damge so that's a "no brainer" and Andariel has low fire resistance, hence my amazon took her down with Fire Arrow although she almost died in the process.

My sorc will use static field so she will be able to do it in the 40s but I'll have to make sure she has decent life and poison resistance. Necro will be able to do it easy enough also with a skel army and amp dmg when he is in the 40s (skeleton mastery will help a lot when he gets it). Barb with double-swing should be okay also as long as his poison resistance and attack rating is reasonable. I do worry about my Druid and Pala though. They will be the hardest challenge. Druid's shapeshifting skills won't be good enough to rely on solely (not enough time in wereform at low levels) so I am going to have to mix his skills a bit. Pala will be able to stun lock with smite then use sacrifice or might but I'll have to make sure I have decent damage and life + regen life. Pala and Druid might be in the 50s when they beat Act I but we shall see

[Tanis788]

That's an odd way of looking at it.

I hate farming as well, which is why I play at player 8 straight threw. I can get a healthy amount of items without having to farm later on. I just take what I have aquired threw questing to help out my other characters.

Amazon is level 24 I believe. It was very quick with the summon charms and unique jewels I had saved for some damage. if she dies however, I have nothing saved to make round three any easier.

[Al-T]

That's an odd way of looking at it....

Not really when you consider I will probably be in Act5 faster . Hmmm let me think...."Meph runs or Matrix and Killing Grounds runs" (or maybe Al-T knows another area that is even better)

[Likalo]

To Phlebiac: Yes, I remember lvling in the inner cloister as well, but my point is that my barbarian played in players1 earlier and had a hard time vs those nasty bone golem. I for sure need more life and more defense, since I got some nice resist.

To Al-T: Double Swing... Not for now, that's for sure... Shield FTW!! Saved my life far too many times.

For sure, since I didn't even played in nm and the cow lvl, I can say I'm learning threw this tourney... That's probably why I'll be impressed whenever you do things Well, I'm having fun, so what ever if I pass threw act1 at lvl 150? lol

Good luck with your paladins guys, but why are they considered "hard character" to play with? Want to know because Hans once wrote the 3 "hardest character" are the sorceress, the necromancer and the paladin... the 3 characters I started with

[Al-T]

Double-swing will only work if I have good life leech and replenish life as well as good all round resistances with emphasis on poison resist. I'll probably hit the Escape key loads of times with him though

Necromancer is probably the hardest of all characters to play in the Insanity levels. Having said that I haven't tried one in 4.4C only the beta version before and his summons were like wet paper bags in those areas. Maybe the summons have been beefed up for 4.4C but only Kato or Myhrginoc could answer that and Kato is having a catnap and Myhrg has resigned (hopefully just temporarily). Also a long time ago someone posted that you could use his "Revive" skill on dead creatures like succubi and ryokin that cast "Drain life". They were WRONG. It does not work in the Insanity levels, at least it never has for me. If it works for anyone else please let me know as I will then suspect I have a corrupt mod installation and re-download it. Also his bone skills and most curses don't do enough damage for the end-game but are fantastic everywhere else.

Not to dampen your enthusiasm too much however, a necro can breeze through all the usual quests in all modes excepting the Insanity levels. I suspect we are all going to have to craft a bow/xbow or other weapon with lots of elemental and physical damage for him to survive and make it to 10K. He will be an interesting challenge for all of us .

Sorceress only suffers early on in ZyEl, in that she either has to spread her skills to survive or picks a low level skill on one of her trees and uses that until she is a much higher level. A good choice for a sorc is 1 point on "Ice Blast" and lots on "Charged Bolt". This is just to begin with. A good merc is also a must have for the sorc. At later levels she can breeze through all modes and even do the Insanity Levels with her own skills but unlike other chars (Barb, Druid, Ama, Asn), she can't ramp up the "Players " setting too high and will be slower levelling, although faster than the poor necro.

Paladin isn't too bad if you don't mind being stun-locked all the time in the Insanity levels and have the wherewithall to survive. Blessed Hammer is a poor choice for the end-game as it doesn't do enough damage while leaving you sadly exposed to the Armageddon of attacks in there. One of the tips I put on the Wiki might help with him, using conversion you can convert some of the monsters to fight for you and although they don't do much damage to other monsters, it does take the heat off you and means it is less likely you are constantly stun-locked. He should level about the same rate as the sorc.

I hope this is of some help and hasn't put you off. Even if none of us get all 7 characters to 10K it is still a lot of fun playing and seeing how each other progresses. I guess that's why we call it "Mentaldom"

[Phlebiac]

Don't be too worried about the druid Al-T.
As I mentioned before, stick with ravens and wolves and you should be fine for act 1.
Unlike the skeletons, which are really weak, druid summons semm to have recieved a huge upgrade.

Being called a veteran by someone like you...
I'm flattered .

By the way I hate farming as well, but on the other hand, I am a packrat and sometimes that side gets the better of me and forces me to collect as much stuff as I can.
Speaking of which what would you suggest to do with the Treasure Cards?
I made a few amulets with the first twos I found and now I keep collecting them to make higher sets and see what it brings me. I save all the outcomes in an Onenote file, so if someone could teach me how to enter something in the wiki I might even share that info with you .
Any other hints on TCards or what are you doing with them?
If ever low on gold in the early game you could try this by the way. It seems like you always get a crafted amulet for 7 twos of the same suit. From spades onwards those amulets usually have really nice skill bonusses and sell for a nice prize.

[Hans]

I have the same experience as Al.

Necro:
I will try to build the biggest Necro army that has ever been seen. For that I will need teleport charges. Use the same technique used for the 1.10+ necro summons. I will likely have a Crossbow that shots Explosive Arrows. I do not remember if the fire damage will add to the explosion area in 1.09. I hope shear numbers and that teleport will help to focus the army and to keep them.

Sorc.:
The sorc is the toughest to start due to them having low life. They start to really shine around level 120 when they have all their top skills including Hydra. You will need to pay attention to damage caps for Hydra and some of the lightning skills. I would still recommend using a bow. I may go Melee with her and go max Mana and Life. Energy Shield may make her very tough to kill.

Paladin:
For a melee fighter he does not have some of the bonuses as the Druid or Barb (life increasing skills) and the passives of the Barb. I have been pumping points into prayer at the start has a free healer. If you go melee you will need Zeal. The greatest advantage for the paladin is the use of Auras. The greatest disadvantage is the use of Auras. You can have only one active at a time. For some Auras you may be able to use Aura Switching and for a brief moment both Auras will be active. Late game I may go with a Holy Freeze Aura for the slowing effect. I will also need increase damage reduction as well as faster hit recovery and faster block. You do not want to get into stun luck or block lock, that is one quick way to die.

[Al-T]

[EDIT] @ Phlebiac (I guess Hans was posting at the same time as me...stop messing up my posts Hans )

I'm not unduly worried about my Druid but I will take your advice and use his summons for Act I at least and maybe beyond but to get to 10K and survive in the Insanity levels I am guessing I will have to aim for him being a shapeshifter mainly (massive life boost). Just thinking ahead (It's a bit like my assassin using Psychic Hammer..won't be any use later on/end-game where she will be mainly martial).

Well, treasure cards are relatively new and I haven't spent much time trying them out (in softcore or hardcore). I have done more or less the same as you for the tournament and made a few nice amulets with 7 x 2s and I am keeping the rest for later on. The problem with TCs is that the high level cards don't drop very often even in the Insanity levels. Kato is aware of this and will probably sort it out for the next version but as he is having one of his famous catnaps who can say how long it will take. I am thinking that beyond say values 7 or 8 of any suit will be a no go without a lot of effort directed solely towards TC collection which will detract from the rest of the tournament. Those are just my thoughts, based on current experience of TCs, so I'd advise not worrying about trying to make any higher than 6/7/8. I could be wrong though and someone who has looked into them more than I may have a different answer.

As for gold find, I have just slayed Andariel with my necro at level 36 (3 down 4 to go. Having a week off work is giving me a nice advantage. )and I must say I am impressed with the drops he has been getting, especially since I am still only using "Players 1". Quite a few claw type weapons with high level asn skills on them or necro heads and wands with high level necro skills boosts the price in a similar way to your suggestion about amulets made from TCs. I pick up everything

As for editing the Wiki, it should be easy enough for you to create a new page or edit an existing one. Give me some more details on what you want to do/are trying to do and I'll gladly help .

----

[EDIT 2]

Energy Shield may make her very tough to kill.

Only in normal questing. If you get mobbed in the Insanity levels with a sorc, a high level energy shield merely delays your death as you can't cast spells due to the constant pounding on the mana orb (even with a few "rollovers"). You will also be stun/block locked and without serious twinking we will all be hitting the Escape key a lot.....yet another reason why the sorc is hard to level to 10K. Bottom line...make a bow for your sorc and by all means use enchant. Like I said on the Wiki, 1 less element to craft for but it ain't gonna be easy

[EDIT3] I just re-read all of the above and some of my earlier posts.....and while I didn't mean any of them to be, they sound like an arrogant "a**ho*e" wrote them. I'ts not meant that way. Hopefully you will all read between the lines, take the advice you think is worthwhile and discard the rest as the rantings of a madman. Sorry, Al

[Phlebiac]

[EDIT3] I just re-read all of the above and some of my earlier posts.....and while I didn't mean any of them to be, they sound like an arrogant "a**ho*e" wrote them. I'ts not meant that way. Hopefully you will all read between the lines, take the advice you think is worthwhile and discard the rest as the rantings of a madman. Sorry, Al

No offense taken at all.

I just see it as you are one of the players with the most practice around here so it is only natural that have more to say and more insight than others.

But now that you are on that point, maybe you could let us in on that secret farming spot you mentioned earlier .

Edit:
I tried to tinker around with the treasure cards site on the wiki but the site is protected. Is there something I can do to create new pages in a subcategory? If I click on "new page" it only lets me create pages at http://zyel.wikispaces.com/.

Edit2:
I just looked around in the RW section and found a nice one for my barbarian. But for that I would need two weapons with six sockets when I am level 40. Is that doable or should I look for something else?
Is there a limit on the possible number of sockets in an item depending on the itemlevel in 1.09?

[Tanis788]

Not really when you consider I will probably be in Act5 faster . Hmmm let me think...."Meph runs or Matrix and Killing Grounds runs" (or maybe Al-T knows another area that is even better)

Ahh, but the early levels are the hardest, I'd rather get more items to help my level 1 characters than wait until all my characters are in act 5 to get some goodies.

[Tanis788]

Not really when you consider I will probably be in Act5 faster . Hmmm let me think...."Meph runs or Matrix and Killing Grounds runs" (or maybe Al-T knows another area that is even better)

Ahh, but the early levels are the hardest, I'd rather get more items to help my level 1 characters than wait until all my characters are in act 5 to get some goodies.