SoulToTheHighestBidder - A death poll for the 3 month hardcore league (circa v1.3)
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SoulToTheHighestBidder is now level 46 and has reached the Forest Encampment in Act 2 Cruel difficulty.
Adventures
Spoiler
Adventuring time is still fairly limited and a fair amount of game time has been taken up with gear management. Still, Merveil was kind enough to quickly fall over to 7 zombies and a 4-link SRS setup.
Living Blood bosses were the worst fights, as the “puncture” ground slam makes short work of zombies running to hit the boss and the length of the ground slam was enough to hit my summoner, on a few occasions. It was particularly awkward having a Living Blood boss working in tandem with Hailrake, when on Tidal Island. Minions didn't do very well against that combination, and so I separated them by leading Hailrake forward, killing him, and then fighting the Living Blood boss by courageously hiding behind a rock and summoning raging skulls. Masters ...I've had all masters except Vagan in the hideout, and so I've got their crafting benches available. Catarina is level 5, Elrion is level 4, Haku is level 4, Tora is level 3, and Vorici is level 3. Elrion finally offered a Cast When Damage Taken gem for sale, and so that was immediately purchased. I also bought a lightning warp gem from Catarina, when she offered it, and a purity of ice gem from Vorici. Basic Stats
Spoiler
Life = 985
ES = 583 Mana = 441 Armour = 429 (19%) Evasion = 222 (14%) Resistances = 64/53/50/-20 (fire/cold/lite/chaos)* * Resists are for cruel difficulty, and not counting the (currently) +20% bonus to elemental resists from using Purity of Elements Passives …
Spoiler
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgMAGyVLrukC34pr230YbRnZWyyc7IpTUkWdmuDr7riTzfp8gxEt-eiCxyj60_sNfFfJ2t2nCEVHMtGIQFqRqH1JsdfP-TfviJMntAzquv6zvYJXK5AzpqxqrKcrNbkRUMk9HNz6gCqY2QsVUB1P
Getting the 8th zombie is up next, followed by whatever seems to make sense … I'm not sure what that will be yet. Gear …
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^
^ The last two items are the “on weapon switch” gear, to more quickly level up the associated gems. I made a big error when taking quest gems earlier in the game, and RNG is taunting me for it. I chose raise spectre over desecrate in Act 2 normal. That was a bad choice because Catarina sells the raise spectre gem, while no master sells desecrate. To remind me of my mistake, the game engine has proffered up raise spectre as a found gem twice, plus Catarina has put it on sale at least once. In contrast, I've not yet found the desecrate skill gem. On a similar note, luck with finding resist gear continues to be quite poor. Master crafts are being used to plug holes, for now. Hopefully I'll find noticeably better resist gear so that I can stop using the purity of elements aura and use discipline instead. Also, I would (still) very much like to get a jade flask, as SttHB (still) has a low life pool and -20 chaos resistance. On a more positive note, I found a white 5 socket, 4 link Crusader Chainmail, used an alchemy orb on it, and it turned out well enough for SttHB to wear it. Also, a “+6 to items” rare gemcutters strongbox proved very helpful, as it yielded spell echo, which is currently being used for raging skulls. Now that prestige classes will finally leave lab in 4.0, will GGG get it right this time or will they find new ways to repeat old mistakes?
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SoulToTheHighestBidder is now level 50 and has reached the Sarn Encampment in Act 3 Cruel difficulty.
Adventures
Spoiler
Act 2 cruel is usually a simple run. Damage tends to be more than enough to cut a swathe through mobs and finishing the act successfully usually comes down to not getting over-confident or careless. This time around was no exception.
Masters ... Elrion is now level 5, which allows me to keep Haku and Vorici in his hideout. Vorici was invited to the hideout because it's very attractive to level him up as high as possible, but SttHB will fail a lot of his daily missions. He also provides an opportunity to practice fighting lots of rogue exiles, which is very helpful for a hardcore player. He's a long term addition to the hideout. I'd like to get Haku to level 5 (or 6), and then swap him out for Tora (now level 4) or Catarina (now level 5). Swapping between Catarina and Tora for the third hideout slot will keep happening until Elrion reaches level 7 (if he ever does) or Zana gets a hideout invite (if SttHB lives long enough for that to happen). Basic Stats – resists are for cruel difficulty
Spoiler
Life = 1038
ES = 1124* Mana = 479 Armour = 429 (16%) Evasion = 377 (17%) Resistances = 75/74/75/-20 (fire/cold/lite/chaos) * with the discipline aura running, which it always is, as of now Passives …
Spoiler
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgMAGyVLrukC34pr230YbRnZWyyc7IpTUkWdmuDr7riTzfp8gxEt-eiCxyj60_sNfFfJ2t2nCEVHMtGIQFqRqH1JsdfP-TfviJMntAzquv6zvYJXK5AzpqxqrKcrNbkRUBzc-oAqmNkLFVAdT35Zf8YnqfIev5fJPY9G
With the Grave Intentions notable and a couple of stat boosters now taken, the next priorities are to reach the Death Attunement, Unnatural Calm, and Deep Thoughts notables. Gear …
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^ The Aurumvorax was a recent and very lucky find which, if SttHB makes it that far, should ease the transition to Merciless difficulty. The two items listed just before the Aurumvorax are the “on weapon switch” gear, to more quickly level up the associated gems. There are still some clear weak points and I'm (particularly) still hoping for an amethyst flask, to better handle chaos damage. Still, luck in finding gear has improved and the build is starting to come together better, as the gear snapshot probably suggests. Looking forward, flasks haven't received much currency investment, up to this point. I've also been stockpiling armourer's scraps, rather than using them. I'll start dipping more deeply into the “quality items” part of the currency stockpile in A3 cruel, ahead of taking on Dominus. Now that prestige classes will finally leave lab in 4.0, will GGG get it right this time or will they find new ways to repeat old mistakes? Last edited by EnjoyTheJourney on Dec 26, 2014, 11:26:00 AM
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SoulToTheHighestBidder is now level 59 and has reached Lioneye's Watch in Act 1 Merciless difficulty.
Adventures
Spoiler
Act 3 cruel took some time and offered up some good gear, along with some close calls. I mostly leveled in Cruel Docks.
Regarding close calls, Bond of Chaos was easily the most dangerous Bloodline mod because negative chaos resist and a small life pool means that quick reactions tend to be needed every time one of those packs shows up. Leap attack, whirling blades, lightning warp, or flicker strike “Bond of Chaos” mobs could be almost instant death, especially with no amethyst flask (still). On that note, I'll switch to CI as soon as is practicable, now that I'm in Merciless difficulty. With -60 chaos resist and a small life pool, SttHB would fall over almost instantly to significant chaos damage. For Cruel Dominus, I swapped out the “item rarity” gem I usually use and put “minion damage” in its place. I kept vulnerability on him and cast convocation whenever he was winding up for his “Touch of God” attack. I've never seen Cruel Dominus go down so fast. Masters ... Elrion is about mid-way to level 6. I also have Tora and Vorici in the hideout. Tora is one more daily mission away from reaching level 5, while Vorici just made it to level 5. I'll probably put Catarina in as a replacement for Tora, as her missions are relatively safe for a CI character that is still leveling up and getting her to level 6 opens up a helpful vendor recipe for currency. Basic Stats – resists are for Merciless difficulty
Spoiler
Life = 1175
ES = 1481* Mana = 426 Armour = 441 (11%) Evasion = 538 (16%) Resistances = 49/49/62/-60 (fire/cold/lite/chaos) * with the discipline aura running, which it always is, as of now. Passives … Gear …
Spoiler
The gloves were a very lucky find. As another bit of good luck, I was very glad to be proved wrong about what gems Masters sell. Even though it's not listed in the wiki, Vorici has the “desecrate” gem in his sales list. I bought it right away, as it hadn't yet dropped. My biggest gearing priorities now are getting energy shield to a good total, to support the shift to CI, getting resists and armour up, getting a CWDT set-up working, getting enough mana and mana regen to run arctic armour full time and keep leveling it up, and finding skills for bosses, such as Vaal Discipline, Vaal Grace, Vaal Haste, or Vaal Summon Skeletons. Flasks also still need a fair amount of investment. Wow, that's a big “to do” list, now that it's written down. Now that prestige classes will finally leave lab in 4.0, will GGG get it right this time or will they find new ways to repeat old mistakes?
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SoulToTheHighestBidder is now level 63 and has reached the Forest Encampment in Act 2 Merciless difficulty.
Adventures
Spoiler
I leveled SttHB up to level 63, before setting out from “The Climb” waypoint all the way to take down Merveil. I still have two missions to clean up in Act 1 Merciless (Hailrake and Fairgraves), which I'll do next, before going adventuring in Act 2 Merc.
For the Merveil fight, I debated running Purity of Ice to try to keep my minions upright longer. But, I stuck with Discipline, also bringing along 8 zombies, 2 undying evangelist spectres, and the vulnerability curse. With raging skulls also being summoned, Merveil went down relatively quickly and she didn't kill any zombies or spectres. The most dangerous encounter was with a Living Blood boss, which was apparently able to use a ranged chaos damage skill of some kind (desecrate, perhaps). When fighting that boss, I noticed a subtle skill animation near SttHB and tapped a hotkey for a “Cautious” life flask very shortly before SttHB's life hit zero. Also, when in the Southern Forest, just after killing Merveil, I noticed that a single white snake took close to a quarter of SttHB's small life pool with one or two projectiles (SttHB had less than 1300 life at the time). Chaos damage from the Living Blood boss and the non-magical snake inspired me to quit delaying about switching SttHB to CI, which I then did after reaching the Forest Encampment in Act 2 Merc. One issue I haven't yet figured out is the timing for dropping raging skulls and relying solely on zombies and spectres. Masters ... Elrion, Catarina, and Vorici are level 5 and in the hideout. Elrion is getting noticeably close to level 6. I still fail Vorici's missions quite often, so he is just barely level 5. Tora and Haku are also level 5, and not in the hideout. Basic Stats – resists are for Merciless difficulty
Spoiler
Life = 1
ES = 2774* Mana = 509 Armour = 271 (6%) Evasion = 989 (21%) Resistances = 56/75/72/100 (fire/cold/lite/chaos) * with the discipline aura running, which it always is, as of now Passives …
Spoiler
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgMAGyVLrukC34pr230YbRnZWyyc7IpTUkWdmuDr7riTzfp8gxEt-eiCxyj60_sNfFfJ2t2nCEVHMtGIQFqRqH1JsdfP-TfviJMntAzquv6zvYJXK5AzpqxqrKcrNbkRUBzc-oAqmNkLFVAdT35Zf8YnqfIev5fJPY9Gw21ca4RI99eboU25EJdEBMy8Xyp0VayYVmMV14auLL_BxQ==
I'm undecided about whether to get Zealot's Oath or Essence Surge next. After that, I'll probably fill out some more minion nodes. From there, I'll wing it. Gear …
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The gear setup below helped to make the shift from life / ES hybrid to a chaos inoculation (CI) character. I'll provide more details about how I carried out the shift to CI in a post to follow directly after this one.
On a related topic, in games with magic find gear, you can get a virtuous cycle going by getting a good IRR (or magic find) total relatively early. That seems to be what's happening with SttHB, with the item rarity gem in the SRS links from a relatively early stage of the game. Here is some of the gear in her stash, not yet equipped … Putting together the different available pieces, while keeping currency use under control and defenses in good shape, will be an interesting challenge. Now that prestige classes will finally leave lab in 4.0, will GGG get it right this time or will they find new ways to repeat old mistakes? Last edited by EnjoyTheJourney on Jan 4, 2015, 2:46:46 AM
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To shift to CI, I first saved 4 passive points while leveling up, so that I could get the Infused Shield notable at the same time I took the Chaos Inoculation keystone.
For gear, I ran Merc Fetid Pool while leveling up, in the hopes of getting either magic / rare / unique gear that needed no currency investment (preferred choice) or white items that could be improved through crafting (my back-up plan). Fetid Pool was chosen to balance safety* with a desire to get the item level as high as possible, to find better base items and better magical affixes. In the end, I relied on crafted gear to make the switch. First, I used a transmute orb on a white Crypt Armour with 6 sockets that I found in Fetid Pool. It took only a few alteration orbs before I got “+94 to energy shield” as an affix and another mod. After that, I used a regal orb on that armour. Then I added a Haku craft to boost evasion and energy shield, to further improve its defensive stats. I also used a Vorici craft to guarantee 4 linked sockets, to finish up with crafting SttHB's current chest piece. To upgrade SttHB's shield, I used an alchemy orb on an Angelic Shield and got lucky enough with resists that is was an improvement over what was previously being used. It is not ideal, but it is now equipped. Finally, all defensive pieces (except the boots) were improved through the use of scraps, to make them all function a little bit better. * In Fetid Pool, bone rhoas are potentially dangerous. But, moving SttHB forward in an arc (never going forward in a straight line), casting a curse to lead minions around, and minimizing opportunities for flanking attacks kept SttHB from taking heavy damage from charging attacks. Now that prestige classes will finally leave lab in 4.0, will GGG get it right this time or will they find new ways to repeat old mistakes? Last edited by EnjoyTheJourney on Jan 4, 2015, 3:14:46 AM
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SoulToTheHighestBidder is now level 66 and has reached the Sarn Encampment in Act 3 Merciless difficulty.
Adventures
Spoiler
Switching to CI paid off while in Act 2 Merc. I ran across a Chaos Bond leap slam pack in Vaal Pyramid (croaking chimerals) that jumped from off-screen and probably would have killed SttHB almost instantly, if the switch to CI hadn't been made.
Something like that could easily have happened in Act 1 (goats, submerged mobs, avian retches running all around, guest mobs) and I was lucky enough to not have it happen until after the CI switch. Most of the rest of Act 2 Merc was straightforward. Masters ... No changes to mention here. Basic Stats – resists are for Merciless difficulty
Spoiler
Life = 1
ES = 2865* Mana = 854 Armour = 271 (5%) Evasion = 1033 (16%) Resistances = 56/75/72/100 (fire/cold/lite/chaos) * with the discipline aura running, which it always is, as of now Passives …
Spoiler
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgMAGyVLrukC34pr230YbRnZWyyc7IpTUkWdmuDr7riTzfp8gxEt-eiCxyj60_sNfFfJ2t2nCEVHMtGIQFqRqH1JsdfP-TfviJMntAzquv6zvYJXK5AzpqxqrKcrNbkRUBzc-oAqmNkLFVAdT35Zf8YnqfIev5fJPY9Gw21ca4RI99eboU25EJdEBMy8Xyp0VayYVmMV14auLL_BxarEhWAdFPrSH8creA==
I'll head for the Faith & Steel notable next to build up ES, resists, and armour a little more. I'd like a little more flexibility when gearing up for maps and getting Faith & Steel will help with that. Gaining immediate access to the Sovereignty aura cluster is also attractive. I did some math for Zealot's Oath and Essence Surge and I'll defer (and may skip) both of them. SttHB already has 45% faster ES recharge and Essence Surge wouldn't shorten the recharge delay by enough to make a huge difference, in most situations. At least for now, those 4 passive points can probably be put to better use. Also, SttHB's overall ES total and life regen are currently too low to make taking Zealot's Oath a high priority. Gear …
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I still don't have the right mix of gear to put a CWDT arrangement in place. It's a bit challenging to find the motivation to drop raging skulls right now, in any event, because they currently add quite a bit to damage. Now that prestige classes will finally leave lab in 4.0, will GGG get it right this time or will they find new ways to repeat old mistakes? Last edited by EnjoyTheJourney on Jan 5, 2015, 2:56:05 PM
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SoulToTheHighestBidder is now level 68 and has finished up the Fixture of Fate quest in Merciless difficulty library / archives. The remaining quests for Merciless difficulty are Piety, Dominus, and Swig of Hope. All other Merc quests are done.
I’d like to run Merc Piety to level up, gear up, and build up a bigger map pool. But, SttHB has a relatively low ES pool (about 2800 ES) and very low physical resistance (armour now provides 4% “tooltip” physical resistance). I also lag and desynch regularly, which would make trying to regularly bypass or fight Merc Kole very dangerous. So, I’m not eager to run Piety until after finding some gear upgrades. I’m particularly eager to build up ES and armour, to address SttHB’s biggest defensive weaknesses, while also keeping resistances at least where they currently are. I’m also hoping to toughen up zombies by moving their gems into a helmet with +1 or +2 to minion gems as an affix. Hopefully I’ll find a way to wear Boots of Ullr, which would make it easier to drop raging skulls and substitute in a CWDT setup in the sockets freed up by dropping raging skulls. Merc library will be my farming / leveling zone of choice, until gear upgrades are found. The level 67 designation for the library leaves room for some good gear, especially from magic / rare / unique mobs and from +level strongboxes. I'll probably need to do some crafting, unless I'm very lucky in finding rares or uniques. Now that prestige classes will finally leave lab in 4.0, will GGG get it right this time or will they find new ways to repeat old mistakes?
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SoulToTheHighestBidder is now level 70 and has defeated Piety in Merciless difficulty . The remaining quests for Merciless difficulty are Swig of Hope and Dominus. All other Merc (and all Cruel, and all Normal) quests are done.
Adventures
Spoiler
There were a few hairy moments along the way from level 68 to level 70. For example, I got a bit too aggressive getting up close and personal with members of a “phylateral link” pack on a “3 magic packs” rare strongbox, and SttHB lost about 75% of her ES pool. I made some other mistakes, as well, but was fortunate enough to survive all of them.
I waited until the gear pictured below was assembled and SttHB was level 70, before going after Piety. Piety changed to her fire form shortly after that battle started, which did not go well for her. With the vulnerability curse on her, Vaal Haste active, and minions focused on her, she fell over shortly after the battle started, not having taken down a single minion. Piety would have been much tougher if she had switched into her archer form. Kole actually ended up being a tougher fight, as he killed all the zombies and 1 evangelist before falling himself. After defeating Piety, I took SttHB to the waypoint in Sceptre of God, to have easy access to Merciless difficulty Evangelists, as spectres, using desecrate. Piety runs are up next. Masters ... Both Elrion and Catarina are level 6 now. Vorici is now starting to be noticeably above level 5, although still closer to level 5 than level 6. Basic Stats – resists are for Merciless difficulty
Spoiler
Life = 1
ES = 4121* Mana = 1006 Armour = 714 (10%) Evasion = 899 (16%) Resistances = 75/75/72/100 (fire/cold/lite/chaos) * with the discipline aura running, which it always is, as of now The ES total is up noticeably and physical resistance from armour is slightly better. Passives …
Spoiler
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgMAGyVLrukC34pr230YbRnZWyyc7IpTUkWdmuDr7riTzfp8gxEt-eiCxyj60_sNfFfJ2t2nCEVHMtGIQFqRqH1JsdfP-TfviJMntAzquv6zvYJXK5AzpqxqrKcrNbkRUBzc-oAqmNkLFVAdT35Zf8YnqfIev5fJPY9Gw21ca4RI99eboU25EJdEBMy8Xyp0VayYVmMV14auLL_BxarEhWAdFPrSjHa3McAaZp4qU2KVsnAfxyt4
I took Faith & Steel, and then followed up with the “Dreamer” notable. I wanted more mana for SttHB so that I can keep leveling up clarity and arctic armour. Next up will be “aura effect” nodes. I'd like to amplify the benefits of clarity and discipline, for better mana regen and a bigger ES pool. Gear …
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I found and/or crafted several upgrades, which are visible below. I also made a silly error when doing the Haku craft for the Champion Shield, as I wanted to get “armour + ES %”, but by mis-clicking I only added “% ES” instead. The shield was a lucky find, with only a Haku craft added to it, as was the ammy. The currently used helmet was (obviously) a lucky find, for the moment. I'm actually hoping, though, to use the Praetor Crown shown further down in this post, once I can wear it without pushing down elemental resistances.
Flasks received a fair number of alts, to improve their affixes. Getting the “Dousing” suffix on the Ruby flask was a desirable change, as was getting the “Heat” suffix on a Sapphire flask. I'd like to get a mana flask of warding at some point, but that hasn't been organized yet. There are a few interesting items that currently sit in the stash, and have not yet been touched. I'm hoping to find room for all of them (except perhaps the gloves) at some point. The armour above is item level 70, and so it is a good candidate for blowing a lot of alteration orbs until a high “+ ES” affix is generated, and then giving it the “regal + master craft” treatment. The Praetor Crown doesn't have a Haku craft yet because I'm waiting to see if a second resist or “armour + ES %” would be the better choice. Now that prestige classes will finally leave lab in 4.0, will GGG get it right this time or will they find new ways to repeat old mistakes? Last edited by EnjoyTheJourney on Jan 12, 2015, 12:36:08 PM
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Grats!
Shower thought: no two rares are the same. So rares are unique, while uniques are not. On the other hand, uniques are rare, while rares are not.
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"Thank you (!) for the good wishes. :) Now that prestige classes will finally leave lab in 4.0, will GGG get it right this time or will they find new ways to repeat old mistakes?
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