Spot - 1.10 - Part 9 - Barbarian starts from scratch - Act 4 NM (+Meph running)
Zodiac Dog
bludgeons his way through the 1.10 beta patch.
If you missed the earlier posts, this is the ongoing log of a single player
barbarian character going through the 1.10 beta starting from scratch. As
you may have gathered, the barbarian is called Morrissey - his rogue
companion is called Blaise.
At the end of my last report I mentioned that I was going to take Morrissey
back to do some NM Mephisto runs. Well I did - 75 of them to be exact. His
equipment changed a bit over the course of the runs - but most were done
with around +200% MF.
On the eleventh run Meph dropped a rare bastard sword:
http://www.morrison26.fsnet.co.uk/armabas.jpg
Fairly nice - it would be a lot nicer if it were a gothic sword though...
Checking the recipe I find that Morrissey would need an Amn and an Ort to
upgrade it. He has the Amn - but not the Ort. :( I go back to Act 1 and
I've already killed the Countess once when I realise that what Morrissey
*does* have is 3 Rals - Dohhh! Two handy bits of cubing later and:
http://www.morrison26.fsnet.co.uk/armagoth.jpg
Now we're cooking with gas! This'll do nicely for now. While going down to
the Countess Morrissey did find a Steelclash though - so he didn't
completely waste his time (well - yes - he did actually...). ;)
So - back to Meph. I found that having Goblin Toe was an *enormous* boon
when doing these runs - it makes short work of what would otherwise be an
interminable hacking session. Meph is totally unleechable from what I can
see BTW - mana potions come in very handy. His frost nova is a PITA as
well - The Spirit Shroud sorts that one out - it's amazing how much quicker
it goes when he can't chill Morrissey and slow him down.
This, then, is a list of the sets and uniques Morrissey 'obtained' from
Meph:
Normal Sets
Angelic Mantle, Hsaru's Iron Heel, Berserker's Hauberk (2), Cathan's Seal
(2), Cathan's Visage (2), Cathan's Mesh (3), Cathan's Rule, Sander's
Superstition, Sander's Riprap, Cleglaw's Tooth (2), Sigon's Shelter, Sigon's
Sabot, Arctic Mitts, Arctic Horn, Isenhart's Case (3), Isenhart's
Lightbrand, Isenhart's Horns, Vidala's Fetlock, Vidala's Barb, Tancred's
Skull, Death's Touch, Iratha's Cord
Exceptional Sets
Hwanin's Justice, Milabrega's Robe, Natalya's Soul, Rite of Passage,
Whitstan's Guard
Normal Uniques
Axe of Fechmar, Crushflange, Manald Heal(4%), Blastbark, Bloodrise,
Goldwrap, Spectral Shard, Rusthandle, Raven Claw, Tearhaunch, Wizendraw,
Soulflay, The Chieftain(ethereal), The Salamander, Stoutnail, Dimoak's Hew,
Kinemil's Awl, Gleamscythe, Swordback Hold (2), Frostburn, Howltusk, The
Diggler, Ichorstring, Sparking Mail
Exceptional Uniques
Langer Briser(49%MF), Stormspike, Zakarum's Hand, Bloodletter(+3WW, +2SM),
Pompeii's Wrath, The Spirit Shroud, Bartuc's Cutthroat(191%), Headstriker
Nice to see Cathan and Isenhart still doing their bit for the 'proliferation
of crappy items' campaign...
He also got these from chests and the like he opened on the way down:
Arcana's Flesh, Iratha's Cord, Venom Grip
It's a strangely liberating feeling to be able to sell a Bartuc's to Ormus
for the paltry sum he offers for it. I've done this sort of thing before
with single player characters (I'm hoping for a Buriza to sell back next).
;)
Anyway - running bosses is alive and well from what I can see - provided
you've got a character who's cut out for it. It's certainly possible to get
multiple sets/uniques in one drop too:
http://www.morrison26.fsnet.co.uk/mephdrops.JPG
The observant among you will have noticed that Morrissey found another
Manald Heal (his third!). Again - back to Ormus it went, 'this magic ring
does me no good'. ;))
After these runs Morrissey's first choice equipment looked like this:
Helmt: Tarnhelm (49%MF)
Armor: The Spirit Shroud
Belt-: Rare Mesh Belt http://www.morrison26.fsnet.co.uk/morrbelt02.jpg
Glove: Rare Heavy Gloves http://www.morrison26.fsnet.co.uk/morrglv01.jpg
Boots: Goblin Toe
Ring1: Rare Ring http://www.morrison26.fsnet.co.uk/morrring02.jpg
Ring2: Manald Heal (7%)
Amult: Rare Amulet http://www.morrison26.fsnet.co.uk/miscamu01.jpg
RHand: Headstriker
LHand: Rare Gothic Sword http://www.morrison26.fsnet.co.uk/armagoth.jpg
While Blaise still had:
Helmt: Biggin's Bonnet
Armor: Rare Serpentskin Armour
http://www.morrison26.fsnet.co.uk/blaisearm01.jpg
Weapn: Rogue's Bow
I tried the other unique bows I found out for a bit - I didn't like them.
She seems more useful with her 'humble' Rogue's Bow. It's the 50% IAS on
the fast base bow I think - coupled with the 30% deadly strike and the +100%
damage to undead, the whole seems greater than the sum of its parts.
Doing the Mephisto runs took Morrissey to level 59.
Morrissey's attributes (with equipment) were:
STR: 139 DEX: 92 VIT: 125 ENG: 10
LIFE: 750/1485(BO) MANA: 80/158(BO)
36 attribute points unassigned.
I decided to finally spend some of his skill points before going on to Act 4
(mainly to help has AR).
His skill distribution:
Bash(1), Stun(1), Concentrate(1), Berserk(1), Leap(1), Leap_Attack(1),
Whirlwind(0), Double_Attack(1), Double_Throw(1), Frenzy(8)
Sword_Mastery(13), Axe_Mastery(0), Mace_Mastery(0), Pole_Arm_Mastery(0),
Throwing_Mastery(0), Spear_Mastery(0), Increased_Stamina(1),
Increased_Speed(1), Iron_Skin(1), Natural_Resistance(4)
Howl(1), Taunt(6), Battle_Cry(0), War_Cry(0), Shout(1), Battle_Orders(20),
Battle_Command(0), Find_Potion(0), Find_Item(0), Grim_Ward(0)
0 skill points unassigned.
Resistances: FR75 CR75 LR75 PR64
And now - Act 4...
Morrissey runs out into the Outer Steppes and he's soon belting around
'Frenzy'ing away like a madman. There's nothing here to really bother him.
Boss packs of corpulents and venom lords are swiftly dispatched with a bit
of common sense (and a couple of big swords!). Onto the Plain of Despair
and not one - but two - types of annoying mana draining undead. A bit of
'Taunt'ing to get them in close and then Frenzy away. Thankfully mana potion
drops are very plentiful. Izual is taken care of in seconds - crushing blow
plus cannot be frozen plus a fast attack equal curtains for the big blue
guy. To show his disdain he drops Bladebone for Morrissey... Morrissey
also finds a Natalya's Soul in a chest here.
Through the City of the Damned without any new problems and it's on to the
River of Flame.
A chest half-way down the River coughs up Tancred's Weird for Morrissey.
Hephasto spawns spectral hit, cursed, holy freeze enchanted. The holy
freeze is annoying but he still goes down without too much of a struggle.
The Hellforge pops out a Hel rune (apt if you think about it). ;)
A badly timed 'leap-attack-can't-drink-potions' bug leads to an annoying
death against the Infector - but once Morrissey recovers his corpse he makes
short work of the seal bosses. The last of the minions takes Morrissey to
level 61.
Diablo proves a lot quicker to kill than in Normal - I put this down to
crushing blow probably. Morrissey even shows him the disrespect of
switching to his Langer Briser to finish him off - for a bit more magic
find. Diablo responds by acting like an incontinent dog and dropping a big
pile of crap... >sigh<
So Morrissey has now made it past Act 4 NM - Act 5 NM is next up.
David
--
zodiacdogATmorrison26DOTfsnetDOTcoDOTuk
ald
<madeup...@madeupplace.com> wrote:
>Right - I'm back again with more from Morrissey the barbarian as he
>bludgeons his way through the 1.10 beta patch.
>
<snippety-do-dah>
>So Morrissey has now made it past Act 4 NM - Act 5 NM is next up.
>
>David
Ovarb! :-) Thanks for another interesting read, hopefully the drop
from D in Hell will be better, since it seems that D is dropping the
most good items, at least from what I'm reading. I'll be looking
forward to reading more. SBPP! :-)
ald