Diary of a Madman :: The Uber Challenge and Me

[Helikz]

Well, after completing normal and most of epic with 0 deaths with a diviner I decided to make another real attempt at the uber challenge.

I know I could likely complete the challenge with a haruspex, but the thought of simply grinding until the point where i could equip the last of my DA items and become immune to everything didn't seem very appealing. Then add the fact that late game uber with a spex is boring. Even with the added thrill of attempting with 0 deaths, it's just not interesting, other than dactyls and maybe hades, NOTHING CAN KILL YOU...

I was left with a decision on what to build.

Runefang (the only other person to complete normal with no deaths on uber to this point) turned me on to playing a thane. I tried it for a couple hours with a midlevel (25) toon I engineered with defiler, noting the particular strengths and weaknesses. I have to say, it kills with amazing speed for an aoe class. the combination of spell breaker and squall looked like it could likely handle most of normal and the beginning of epic, but the problem with elemental damage and no effective way to apply -resist seemed like it would overcome the build in a3 epic. This would force a switch to melee, and I think it would just be a matter of time before it became an underpowered or overexposed harbinger (which is my farming toon).

I originally said in my RIP post for my diviner, that i was going to try a brigand, but working this out in my head, a brigand would get overwhelmed in a4 epic. Not to say it's not possible to complete with the class, it would take a measure of luck. Hoping that the was only one dactyl per pack, or that you could avoid the DWave long enough for take down to recharge was fine, but then I thought to myself. MY main qualm with hunting classes is the lack of serious room clearing power that ternion and squall gave me. I did however really like the idea of mandrake.

It's the nuts.

I shouldn't have to tell you.

You should know by now.

Ok, you do.

I thought up a warlock. Not too much different from my diviner, traps to decoy, lich, and ternion spreading poison.

Ok, so the type of toon was set. Time to gear it. Done. I already have an extremely well geared ternion diviner, but without the benefit of the lucid dream tree, it would take some seriously strained stats to get melee immune. Oh wait.... I have mandrake, ravages, flash powder and a partridge in a pear tree.... melee immune is totally unrequired, melee resistant is easy, and easily acquired. 100% ctap is also easy, and probably the only required defensive stat for uber epic and legendary. Machae archers in legendary do well over 2k per arrow, and they LOVE to swarm.

so. Without phantom strike and sapros to spread a retarded amount of -resist, and no need to be melee immune my required strength is just enough to wear SBC. and I believe that rogue mastery may provide all but a couple points. But a problem is that most caster armor will not drop with that wonderful veterans of the glade combination that I abuse. Time to consult the spreadsheet.

BINGO.

Ethereal Cage.... lets go get one.

after 6 hours of farming yesterday, I landed an ethereal cage with 27% ctap. Respectable enough, and the stat requirements aren't terrible at all. I could use it in the 20's somewhere.

Before you ask why I don't use shopMI and just get what i want, I don't believe in it. It's a easy game, and with ubermod there are 6 bosses, maxed spawns, farming is easy, and who knows what else you will find. I hadn't played uber before trying the challenge with my diviner, and honestly, I couldn't go back to regular TQIT, the gear in uber is hilariously strong, and vanilla TQIT is so easy a half retarded sloth with no hands could probably get through it.

OK. Next step, lets come up with some target builds.

Act 1. Get the good stuff in spirit first. I finished a1 with my diviner at level 31 (imagine that, the same level I can use a harrowing suffix). I know... it's a lot of grinding, but tbh, a1 is easy, and there are lots of places to churn out big xp numbers in a1, so I can only assume I'm going to do the same this time through.

Figuring +6 skills at level 31 (hallowed helm, +3 SBC, Sacred Necklace) looking something like this: here




Now, it's time to get there.

I'll update this thread regularly and basically let the masses know what's going on, but I have a feeling about this toon.

Name: VX

Game: Killing stuff

[Helikz]

OK, sitting pretty at 18. kinda no lifed it this afternoon. 3 more levels until the rogue comes out. obviously there's not much to playing a ternion early in a1. farm centaurs, avoid monstrous boars wherever possible, move to tegea, farm arachnos, kill polyfata**, rejoice, kill arachne, little less rejoice (she's still easy).

moving slightly faster with this toon than with my diviner, mostly because I know what to expect. I'm used to the hero families that pop out every so often, and all the other little uber surprises that are hiding around every corner. still not done for the night, but you know how it goes. probably farm war camp and gorgons for a while.

6 pack of bawls for 5 bucks. pretty good deal. Thank god the wife is out of state this weekend.

I'm fairly sure everyone knows how to roll the early levels of uber, but I guess authoring this for the lowest common denominator wouldn't hurt. 1-8 or so is painfully slow. While i'm pretty sure you can just barrel through if you're not worried about pulling off a no-death run, no deaths is the point of this thread, so I'll walk you through it. 1-6ish is helos. you probably will insta-die to trappers if you leave helos before 6, and TBH, I haven't killed the shaman gang before that. Theurgists don't have it easy early on, they don't really get strong until the mid teens, so it's basically a race to that point.

6-9+ is just the trip from helos to sparta. The problem with uber is, many mobs are lethal. kite a lot and you'll get by, and learn what you can potion-tank. basically, you can tank most singles except a monstrous boar. they hit for 250 ish. it hurts, run away, find it's leash point (the magical line they won't cross), and exploit the **** out of it. Back to the problem part, because mobs being deadly isn't really the problem, it's the fact that most people tend to shy away from combat early on. Kill everything you see. mobs aren't going to get any easier, and you need to level up anyways.

Sparta's a great place to play for a while. there are 2 camps that aren't going to be a huge challenge, and if you get in trouble, you can drag crap into sparta. Nessus isn't easy with 6 of him (and his associated spawns) there, but you can isolate him and take them down one at a time, just make sure the entire area's clear before pulling him. a boar pull while you're on nessus is deadly unless you start running and hope for the best. I generally like to be at least 13 when I hit tegea. Maxing lore, ternion, and deathchill first, and basically mopping up arachnos until you feel you're ready to take the trip to megara. lvl 16 or 17 will do, as you'll gain an additional level with quest turnins and action between tegea and arachne.

Notable bosses:

Nessus: Split him into singles. He doesn't hit very hard, you can tank him with potions, but can still be deadly in multiples. Make sure you clear the entire area first.


Polyphemus: This is a major waypoint. most people who play uber expect to die to poly. he's no easy task for a spirit based toon early in the game. don't even attempt him before making deathchill, ternion, and lore. You will more than likely die, and have to start over.


Skeleton of the blade (skeleton raiders quest): kite the **** out of him. he hits pretty hard, and there are 5-6 of him. run out the entrance of the dungeon.clock a few shots, wait for them to leash, run back in. it takes a few minutes, but they'll die, and hopefully you'll live.


Arachne: She's not difficult with any measure of poison resistance, but you may or may not have said resistance, so you can break her up into singles for the first 4, then you will have to take the last two on simultaneously. no big deal, farm harpies for poison resistance if you feel like it.


more tomorrow, I've been playing quite a while, and it's sleepy time, VX is level 29, kicking rocks in minoan. hour or so to 31, than an hour or so after that, she'll be 37-38. Impossible you say? nah. I will reveal my secret, which you may already know, but if you don't... the first one's free, the rest you have to pay for.

[bonobo4]

Well done Helikz! Glad you're trying again, though why are you putting this here and not in my Uber challenge thread?

[ASYLUM101]

Yeah, warlock is a pretty crazy build. I've always enjoyed rogue for it's awesome skills, and spirit... well everyone knows how amazing spirit is. I tried a melee warlock and got her to level 25.. she's actually really f*cking strong.

But good job on uber, my only uber attempt got me killed at nessus. haha.

[bonobo4]

Originally Posted by ASYLUM101

Yeah, warlock is a pretty crazy build. I've always enjoyed rogue for it's awesome skills, and spirit... well everyone knows how amazing spirit is. I tried a melee warlock and got her to level 25.. she's actually really f*cking strong.

But good job on uber, my only uber attempt got me killed at nessus. haha.

Same here, I beat Nessus, but forgot to get the health fountain, so I had to kill him again, and, well, he killed me.

[Helikz]

Originally Posted by bonobo4

Well done Helikz! Glad you're trying again, though why are you putting this here and not in my Uber challenge thread?

Because I'm doing this more as a guide to a challenge and a diary than a simple "I killed XXX and i'm currently level XXX" Didn't want to clog up your thread with a thread of my own.

Originally Posted by ASYLUM101

Yeah, warlock is a pretty crazy build. I've always enjoyed rogue for it's awesome skills, and spirit... well everyone knows how amazing spirit is. I tried a melee warlock and got her to level 25.. she's actually really f*cking strong.

But good job on uber, my only uber attempt got me killed at nessus. haha.

Yeah, I hardly take any damage. it looked really good on paper (i.e. calc) and it's fortunate that it works out to play just as well.

Anyways.

I popped through Minoan for a while, hit the magical level 31, and dropped the telkine like a bad habit, barreled through the first part of egypt, and made it to Giza.

Giza is where i turn over more levels per hour than anywhere else. To be specific, the honor guard room. with a spirit class, this room is just begging to be farmed. Spirit ward makes this flat out easy. the undead casters are the majority of the damage being tossed around, and you're taking virtually no damage from them. the only threat in the room as far as I'm concerned is the tainted revenant guys. They have deathchill aura, which is bad news. it can kill you quickly when combined with everything else. If you sequence the room right, you won't have to deal with them though, and if you have to deal with them, just retreat to the door of the room, they're faster than everything else, and they'll seperate themselves naturally with that speed. anyways, there are the 4 sets of canopic shrines, break the first set on the left, kill the honor statues, move all the way across the room, break the set opposite the ones you just broke, kill the statues, then mop up the rest. the entire run takes about 2 minutes, and will yeild 1/3rd of a level at 31.

Here's a snapshot of what i was wearing at 31 (35 now), and will probably wear clear into hades, with the exception of one ring.



The one ring.



the relics will change as my stats and level do, but, for the most part, the gear will remain the same throughout most of normal.


Little boss strategy update from where I left off:

Gorgons: split off the healer! if you don't, you're either going to die flat out, or just take a week to kill the gorgons. neither is any fun...

Alastor: I kill him from the door. cheesy, but effective....

Minotaur: thank god for poison. This makes him flat-out trivial. he won't be confused for the most part, but he'll be so slow he's easily kitable. the combination of deathchill and your lich will kill most of them. run in a big circle around the edge of the room, profit.

Megalesios: if you're using harrowing, he'll die in 4 seconds flat, if not, make sure you have good vitality (100+) and lightning resistance. DESUMMON YOUR LICH. he will enslave the lich, and the lich will kill u before he has a chance to. Make sure you kill the limos, they will heal him.

[Galadd]

So, you just said heck Ill just farm a veterans ethereal cage of the glade and here it pops.
Defiler?

[bonobo4]

Originally Posted by Galadd

So, you just said heck Ill just farm a veterans ethereal cage of the glade and here it pops.
Defiler?

after 6 hours of farming yesterday, I landed an ethereal cage with 27% ctap. Respectable enough, and the stat requirements aren't terrible at all. I could use it in the 20's somewhere.

Did you not read this bit Galadd?

[Galadd]

Originally Posted by bonobo4

Did you not read this bit Galadd?

I did, I did

[Helikz]

Originally Posted by Galadd

So, you just said heck Ill just farm a veterans ethereal cage of the glade and here it pops.
Defiler?

Farming alastor for 6 hours yielded about 40 cages, runs take about 60sec seems it isn't too rare... i got 1 with the combination i was looking for, and immediately thought to myself...

stats could be better, ctap is ok, it's 3 a.m, how long do I want to invest in this?

thing is, they ALL drop with melee stats and about half were prefix/suffix. Quite a few were veterans of the garbage or worthless of the glade.

and no, I don't use defiler to modify anything except potion stacking, showing prefix/suffix, and showing damage, even though, with this toon it's pretty pointless. I rarely use health or mana potions, and my damage is always pretty much whatever I harrow away.


I will admit though, farming doesn't normally go that way, I farmed minoan for a couple days straght to find my SBC of guile. I have about 40 usable (maybe) SBC now and I recycle the SBC of guile on ALL of my toons.

I wish I could find a set of alacrity... I'm almost convinced they don't exist in the real world.