Self-Found Gems Challenge (updated for Bestiary!)

I like the self-found gem idea, but not so keen on normal/unique armors. Gonna try it with gems only. :P

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Perq wrote:

I like the self-found gem idea, but not so keen on normal/unique armors. Gonna try it with gems only. :P

The self found gems is a nice way to force you in using some skills you would never normally use.
The hardest part is getting your first active skill gem, I had to make it to the Ship Graveyard before getting one.. and with bad luck it could take even more... most people would consider this ubearable, but if you can handle the initial pain it can be fun.


Now I'm level 40, at the end of Act IV.
For now I'm not facing big problems (apart from the low dps).. at the moment, despite the normal gear I'm using, I have acceptable defenses and life pool for ACT IV... I'm problably going to have issues dealing with Innocence and onwards in ACT V though... will see.

My problem with normal gear is that it kills a lot of decision making. You just slap anything on you and thats it.

Meanwhile, selffound gems add a lot of decision making - you have to great stuff on-go that fits things that you just found. They become the defining factor, the rest is puzzle you have to fit into it.
For me the normal armor requirement simply gets rid of the puzzle. :V

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Perq wrote:

My problem with normal gear is that it kills a lot of decision making. You just slap anything on you and thats it.

Meanwhile, selffound gems add a lot of decision making - you have to great stuff on-go that fits things that you just found. They become the defining factor, the rest is puzzle you have to fit into it.
For me the normal armor requirement simply gets rid of the puzzle. :V

Normal armor/gear still forces you to take decisions.
You have to adapt your skill tree to compensate the lack of defenses and resists.

It also makes uniques exciting again... I was very excited when the two uniques I have so far dropped, they now make a difference (instead of being just vendor trash)


That said... I see your point and agree with you, this is just an extra layer of challenge for when you have enough of current league and really need a very different twist.

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Perq wrote:

My problem with normal gear is that it kills a lot of decision making. You just slap anything on you and thats it.

Meanwhile, selffound gems add a lot of decision making - you have to great stuff on-go that fits things that you just found. They become the defining factor, the rest is puzzle you have to fit into it.
For me the normal armor requirement simply gets rid of the puzzle. :V

I'm not sure what you mean by the puzzle thing. But you certainly can do the challenge and just use any gear. I just like the added challenge with the normal/unique for most slots.

It's actually much easier than it was before. Because I updated it for Abyss to allow Stygian Vise and Abyss Jewels, that's one more rare slot. And also previously I had it as you could only use 1 crafted weapon slot. Meaning your quiver/offhand/shield would be normal/unique. I thought this was too limiting in terms of what you could potentially play.

But it's kind of nice since it's easier to get to the mid-acts. But if you can get past Kitava, things will start to get very tough with the resist penalty and the heavy elemental damage in acts 6-8.

So that forces a lot of decision pain and ingenuity in how you make up for it.

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FrancescoV wrote:

Now I'm level 40, at the end of Act IV.
For now I'm not facing big problems (apart from the low dps).. at the moment, despite the normal gear I'm using, I have acceptable defenses and life pool for ACT IV... I'm problably going to have issues dealing with Innocence and onwards in ACT V though... will see.

Nice, level 40 well done! I will probably be pushing further on my SSFGems character this weekend, but I'm interested to see how you do against kitava and beyond! Good luck!

BTW Juggernaut was a great choice with the endurance charges adding phys damage reduction and resists!

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jolsen26 wrote:

Nice, level 40 well done! I will probably be pushing further on my SSFGems character this weekend, but I'm interested to see how you do against kitava and beyond! Good luck!

BTW Juggernaut was a great choice with the endurance charges adding phys damage reduction and resists!

Yeah Jug is going to help in this case, but I don't like to rely on endurance charges for resists... a big hit taken in the wrong moment can destroy you.
So I will try to stay as close to the cap as possible with the base resists, even replacing my coral rings if necessary.

Anyway.. Kitava is down :)
In all honesty I wasn't worried much by ACT V Kitava, Innocence was scaring me a lot more.
And in fact I had a couple of close calls with Innocence, the low dps forced me to expose my char and take risks, it was a long fight.
On the other hand I was able to almost facetank Kitava, mind you it wasn't a relaxing fight.. had to costantly use flasks... but never really felt in danger of ripping like with Innocence.
I guess which of the two is more threatning depends on the build you are playing.

Finished ACT V at level 48, never farmed a zone so far (altough I go for almost full clear of the areas to maximize the exprience gained)

Well. Things were going well, had a bunch of defensive stuff (stibnite, bismuth, decoy totem).

I got an erasmus' gift for first prophecy and got warlords mark. It was helping leech with firestorm.

But I never found a single usable support.

I found a Lion's Roar and was thinking about maybe doing something melee, but nothing ever materialized.

Then I got overwhelmed in the abyssal depths in act 5.

Might start again tomorrow.

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jolsen26 wrote:

Well. Things were going well, had a bunch of defensive stuff (stibnite, bismuth, decoy totem).

I got an erasmus' gift for first prophecy and got warlords mark. It was helping leech with firestorm.

But I never found a single usable support.

I found a Lion's Roar and was thinking about maybe doing something melee, but nothing ever materialized.

Then I got overwhelmed in the abyssal depths in act 5.

Might start again tomorrow.

I'm sorry to hear that, I guess the lack of an usable support starts to be very penalizing after the first 3-4 ACTs.

I'm still up and running, now level 66 in ACT 9.
Found Added Lighting Damage support in ACT 8 which was a serious boost, before that I was still using the same setup as of ACT 2, Static Strike + Ruthless + Ancenstrall Call (which I have to admit was a lot better than what you had)

Found Meginord's Vise gauntlets in ACT 6 and Maligaro's Cruelty in ACT 8 (this inside an unique Jeweller's box, together with a couple of unusable threshold jewels), both aren't exactly exceptional for my current build but still they add some life to the pool, so I consider me lucky.

As defensive stuff I also got Stone Golem, Purity of Fire and Arctic Armour, pluse Enfeeble triggered by CWDT... not the best way to curse but better than nothing.

I have sacrificed some damage in favor of more defensive nodes, and despite the added difficulties I'm quite tanky and confided I can make it to Kitava.

Damn dude, you are rockin' it!

Hope you kill Kitava! If you continue I'd be interested to know what strategy/goal you set after that

I'm going templar. Not sure if that's wise, but we'll see.

Any rules for death?