The 0 Deaths XmaX Challenge

[Eric_The_Red]

Hi guys,
After a very good run my Bow ranger finally bit the dust this morning at level 65. When i scouted a party of dragonians i thought it was free of heroes but there was one in the distance i didnt see. So i died right outside the generals repose cave. RIP Ulysses...

Ok heres the mission if you choose to except it.
To complete normal,epic and legendary without dying. The hard part is to complete it all while running XmaX in all its glory(not x2,x3 or x4)from start to finish. The other requirement is to have a minimum of 150,000 kills(75k total if u let your pets do the killing). Also to have killed every major monster in the game(All telkines,typhons,manticores,hydras, dragon liches, hades and yes even toxeus and his secret area entourage).

The good thing is that you're allowed to use any items you've found with previous characters. However, all items must be legitimate so no bugged items such as homados or other items that give u super speed that isnt in its definition. Also absolutely NO defiling to increase attribute points,multiple masteries, socked blue or purples etc. No cheating allowed, play with pride people! Its the final frontier in the game. Of course if u die the challenge is over for you.:headbang:

The New Element of the Challenge!
Ok guys so you've tried the challenge twinked but have you ever tried it untwinked and with no pots, I know it sounds hard but I believe it can be done. I think its a real test of your metal and it really relies on luck to get the right drops. Team play is allowed in this challenge but 'team' does not mean you can bring in a twinked friend to help you lol! Team means both of you are around the same level and are both participating in the the no pots challenge. If you can complete this challenge then you can truly consider yourself a Legend of the game.


LEGENDS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.


THE IMMORTALS (Completed Challenge)
1. Persona: Conqueror, Level 69. Kill Count [206138]
2. MagicMissile - Ranger, Level 68. Kill Count [160322]
3. CAP007 - (Exceter) Level 67 Templar [169,649]
4. Gasconron - (Rayearth) Level 67 Conqueror [150037]
5. Zerit: Champion, Level 65. Kill Count [150001]
6. yerkyerk: Soothsayer, Level 65. Kill Count [30607]



UNTWINKED NO POTS LEADERBOARD
1. Zerit - () 58 Templar, Epic Rhakotis
2. TimelordDC - (Timelord) 46 Hunter, Plains of Judgement
3.
4.
5.



TWINKED LEADERBOARD
1.
2. TimelordDC - (Persephone) 63 Harbinger, Legendary Rhakotis
3. The Fallen One - (Storm) 62 Thane, Legendary Athenian Catacombs
4. Creslyn – (Lisen) 60 Prophet, Epic Styx
5. Eric The Red - (Hannibal) 59 Conjurer, Epic Athens
6. Zerit - () 57 Diviner, Epic Act 1 Labyrinth
7. Persona - (Swann) 53 Hunter, Epic Parnassus
8. Eric The Red - (Hercules) 54 Guardian, Epic Sparta
9. Gasconron - (Lajoya) 48 Elementalist, Epic Delphi
10. Runefang - (Enoch) 48 Haruspex, Epic Parnassus



NOTABLE R.I.Ps
1. Eric_The_Red - (Captain America) 69 Conqueror, Legendary Hades Throne Room
2. Nzone - (Sophia) 60 Juggernaut, Epic Hades Throne Room

[Barnacle_Ed]

You are SO on

think i'll go with a stalwart Templar...figure i can play one without too much guilt since the challenge is so hard lol

[Eric_The_Red]

nice another contender. Im gonna try a conqueror.

[Poinas]

You're on.

I'm doing either a Harbinger, Spellbreaker, Templar or Conqueror.

Though with a Conq I'm currently at lvl 54 Legendary act 1 x3, have a Harbinger of lvl 75 and Spellbreaker kills faster than a Templar..Spellbreaker it is :rockon:

[Barnacle_Ed]

changed my mind and went with my good ol' prophet...i have ridiculous amounts of gear that boost lightning damage :whistle:


currently level 9 and about to take on Nessus.


current build: http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Prophet&master1=8&master2=9&sa=0&m1=10-1-1-0-0-1-0-0-12-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&m2=0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

[Eric_The_Red]

I chose a conqueror (CaptainAmerica). Hes currently level 20 and im about to hit the gorgons. Very hard to get used to someone who has no ranged attacks when ur used to playing archers lol. So far so good guys, prepare to die medusas!

[Barnacle_Ed]

damn i'm falling behind...still in Megara lol


i almost forgot my love affair with Storm, but i'm starting to remember again. squall, spellbreaker, repeat, collect loot :rockon:

[Eric_The_Red]

omg Ive cracked 500 hrs on xfire. I'm truly addicted to this game now. Medusas were a lot harder than i remembered with my archers. Its a whole new dimension with a defender build.

[Poinas]

Keep it going guys..lvl 11 at Megara. Going to max Warfare mastery and Battle Stndard as soon as possible. 1 skill point in other essential skills.

[ffreakk]

Damn i was away and everybody is having fun.. I ll join too :D.. Im a little late so i ll cheat.. I go Haruspex :p

[Barnacle_Ed]

does anyone else find it ironic how the class Spellbreaker doesn't have the ability Spell Breaker?


speaking of Spell Breaker, i 3-hitted Polyphemus using it :whistle:

[mamba]

Ok, I gave this one a try today, so far I actually think once you made it past level 5 or so (and noone should die before that anyway) this actually is easier than the regular game.

Thanks to the excess mobs, I have a few more levels than I would ordinarily have anywhere I went so far (just recovered the olive branch, just gained level 16), resulting in me being stronger than I would usually be at that point in time.

I guess the naked challenge finds the winner faster, here someone might actually finish legendary with xmax and 0 deaths ;)

I have not yet made my mind up on what to be, I started with Dream and consider Warfare, Hunting and Spirit as secondary. Currently I have a very specific build in mind which will require Warfare, but maybe I'll rethink that.

[nitrobobby]

Oh well died right outside helos...

[Barnacle_Ed]

naked hardcore xmax would be pretty awesome, Mamba...

[mamba]

Hehe, then I'd die right outside Helos too :)

[Barnacle_Ed]

well, we sure as hell wouldn't be playing melee classes lol...


somehow i can't see my Harbinger trying to face hades in just a teal tunica

[Eric_The_Red]

Progress report... CaptainAmerica(Conqueror) is now 27 and is crash tackling everything in sight. Got to Rhakotis last night. Just waiting till level 29 so i can get my next weapons.

[Graphtina]

I tried to have a 0 deatyh x-max char but I ALWAYS died from lag spikes. You just can't challange aprx. 17000 dmg from crits in 1 sec.

[Eric_The_Red]

can definitely be done. I figure if i can get 3/4 of the way through legendary asia with a ranger then its possible to do it. Theres nowhere to hide if ur a conqueror though. So i think it might be a lil harder as melee or easier depending on how u build ur char.

[Jin]

naked hardcore xmax would be pretty awesome, Mamba...

Ok, I'm just too much in the naked hardcore challenge to give it up now, but this one also sounds like the kind I like and I don't have time for both of them. So count me in for a Naked Hardcore 0 Deaths XmaX Challenge from scratch (edited for grammar/vocabulary reason, Courtesy of Barnacle_Ed).

I'll start right now with a probably druid to be. That is, if I can restrain myself from going melee... paladin or thane anyone ?

[Eric_The_Red]

0 chance of pullin that one off

[Jin]

I don't say I stand a chance, but that's just me... I'm already lucky if I finish normal. ;)

Anyway, that's the way I like it so that's the way I'll try it. :happy:

Sage it will be, lvl 5, just defeated the three chamans... I'll be slow so don't wait for me. ;)

EDIT :mmmh... maybe druid afterall. HoO and Briar Ward should come in rather handy.

[Barnacle_Ed]

From SCRATCH Jin?



taking it to the next level, lol

[Jin]

From SCRATCH Jin?



taking it to the next level, lol
And once again, the crapiness of my English skills shows up. Thanks for the correction, Ed, I'm going to edit it right away.

Anyway, I'm just not going to twink, not because of some personal ethics but just because I'm not good at finding, sorting, storing and using stuff. :lol:

BTW, how do you, guys who like me do not have a wonderful computer but still a decent one (IMHO), deal with Xmax lags ? I've already lowered my settings but I guess I'll have to try the 'remove broken/normal items' mod to help some more : Squall is still very laggy when cast on satyrs' encampments.

[Eric_The_Red]

Back on topic... CaptainAmerica(conqueror) is now level 35. I'm currently farming around egypt. Best advice i can give any of you attempting the challenge is to level as much as you can in egypt. Cuz u dont wanna make it all the way to typhon only to get splattered.

[solikka]

Hi!

This challange sounds like fun and VERY hard but it worth a try:D
I haven't decided yet which masteries would be my choosing but i'll let you know when I'm started the challange. I hope I'll live through greece:D

A little bit OFF:
If I start a custom map, is it normal that after a short loading it throws me back to the main quest character selection screen? I thought that only custom chars can be played on custom maps. It's not a problem for me, but i'm just couruios if it's a bug or it is the way it's meant to work.

[Asmodeous81]

Thats the way xmax works. You play a normal character with a max spawn game. Nothing else changes.

Tonight i will have to start a stormcaller and try this out. My bank has about 200% cast speed in it on various items so that should be a nice run. Not sure what to combo with storm will have to wait.

[Eric_The_Red]

Welcome to the challenge the more the merrier. Remember you will have to fight toxeus so make sure you pick a build you think u can kill him with.

[Jin]

I'm afraid I have to withdraw. :( Despite my repeated attempts to fix it, I still have to face way too many lags for my build to work on the 'long' run. It's been fun so far, but it won't be anymore when I'll face real threats. So, my lvl 19 druid will rest on mount Parnassus until she meets her gallant prince, marry him and live happily ever after...

Have fun.

[Creslyn]

Sounds like a fun challenge. Btw, IIRC xmax buggers up a few boss fights, anyone remember which ones?

[Barnacle_Ed]

haven't a clue, Creslyn


well my progress in the middle of the week has significantly slowed...damn classes. at least i still get a long weekend :rockon:

[Eric_The_Red]

the only boss fights affected by xmax are the invocation quest and the first telkine occasionally. Ok quick update... level 42(chang an) and im about to make a run at typhon. wish me luck

[Creslyn]

Well, what the hell. Might give it a shot with a sorcerer.

[Barnacle_Ed]

christ Eric


you ARE addicted lol

[Eric_The_Red]

Amazing what a broken leg will do with your gaming hrs lol. I just got to the 3 bulls and hit colossus half way across the bridge and couldn't get through lol!

[Halvor]

Giving this one a try, naked hardcore was too slow for me, lol.

Challenger, lvl 14 Haruspex

The first character I completed the whole game with was a spear/shield Haruspex, not sure if I am going to go spear or bow with this one. Both have their good pts as far as survivability goes.

[Eric_The_Red]

Update... Im up to level 45 on my conqueror. Just made it past Medea's Grove. Had a critically close call in asia with a dragonian hero "something magebane". Beware of this dmg reflector guy. In wusao caverns the plague lords can be pretty nasty and theres tons of em, thank goodness for warhorn :). Typhons were pretty easy except for that annoying zeus message thats keeps on popping up every time u drop one. Toxeus was even easier. How are the rest of you going?

[mamba]

You are on a roll, I progress slower, arrived in Egypt and now am just past the library (level 25 now and just switched to my first Sabretooth :) ).

[Creslyn]

Just reached Rhakotis a bit earlier, taking a break before pressing on. Currently 24 and still pure storm, only chancy bits so far have been the trapped limos and the telkines.

[Barnacle_Ed]

WAY the hell back in Parnassus...expect that to change in the next 4 days.


current build: http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Prophet&master1=8&master2=9&sa=0&m1=16-0-1-6-0-1-8-0-12-0-0-0-1-9-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&m2=1-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

planning on maxing static charge before focusing on dream for a bit

[Asmodeous81]

I have been trying this with a DW sword slayer build. I am currently level 13 and i am just before the cyclops (forget town name). I have a feeling that my run will end there as i do not have alot of twink armor for my character and only have 2 soulcarvers waiting for him in the bank.

As for xmax messing up bosses the only place it messes me up is in the sphinx before the last room. Not enough towers spawn to awaken all the statues so i can never complete that room.

**No sooner do i post this then i die to the 3 liches in the ruins before the cyclops. Lag + stun resulted in my death. Good luck to those that are able to run these but i cannot compete till my computer is upgraded.

[Eric_The_Red]

Yeah thats the only quest affected by it other than the first telkine which sometimes has no telkines. Yeah if you dont have good gear it can be an impossible mission. Ok im about to start my campaign in hades today. Well done to all of you still chugging along.

[Asmodeous81]

I have actually have nessius not spawn for me as well with xmax. I would guess there is a small chance of any "boss" style creature not spawning correctly with it.

[Creslyn]

Suppose an addendum to the rules could be if you encounter a bug with a boss, beat it on xmax, then replay it on normal (just so you can pass it), then turn xmax on again immediately after.

[mamba]

I have actually have nessius not spawn for me as well with xmax. I would guess there is a small chance of any "boss" style creature not spawning correctly with it.

Nessus didn't spawn for me either the first time around (I restarted to actually kill him), all others showed up as expected so far.

[Eric_The_Red]

Yeah Talos will also do that sometimes in epic and legendary(just doesnt show up). I know for a fact that the invocation quest will not work on xmax so just kill em all for xp then redo it without the mod.

[Asmodeous81]

Just wondering, who is Toxeus. I have seen his name mentioned a few times in this thread.

[mamba]

A hero skeleton which you will find in the secret passage or randomly in Greece (the two versions differ).

[Eric_The_Red]

Update: Level 49 and im about to fight cerberus and his 2 twin brothers. I think hes probably the toughest boss for melee fighters to deal with. Any further progress from you guys?

[Creslyn]

Had a busy few days, so still tooling around egypt, about to grab the eye off the scorp king at level 29. Should finish up egypt tonight, then be off to the orient. Also, thinking about going prophet rather than sorcerer for the energy regen, but haven't got to the point where I have to choose yet. Squall + Lightning Bolt still clearing everything easily, with Spell Breaker for the bosses.

[mamba]

Just got myself my 3rd bag, need to push str now (so far I was going equally for dex and str), everything is basically killed in one hit, for the tougher ones I can Phantom Strike ;)

[Creslyn]

Well, just through the ice caves now at 35, and taking a short break before pushing on to Chang'an. Did run into a small problem with 3x Barmanu, which could prove fatal in legendary (if I get that far). Squall + meteors means they don't fall in one easily dodged spot, but all over the damn place! With 3 Barmanu's casting, not sure how I'll survive seeing as it only takes a handful of hits to wipe out my prophet, and I'll be needing squall to knock down his resists.

Oh well, worry about it when I get there.

[Saint the Rogue]

Started on this challenge aswell, allthough currently lvl 12 or so. Figured a conqueror with a focus on defensive skills first, would be a good choice.

[Eric_The_Red]

Yeah barmanu in legendary will definitely be a problem. I almost died there when attempting this with a Ranger a while back. I think if you get hit once your pretty much dead. The good part i noticed was that they all cast it pretty much in unison. So if you dodge the first bullet i think you get an interval where you wreak some havoc on the monkey boys

[Creslyn]

That's the problem. With a squall on, the bloody things fill the screen with 3 casting at once lol

ed: Anyways, now up to Rhodes at level 39. Typhon almost did me for a couple of times, really need to up my resists some.

[Eric_The_Red]

Ok i just crushed the cerberus triplets. Level 50 and halfway to Hades Palace.

[Barnacle_Ed]

ugh, lagging behind still...


labyrinth >.>

[Creslyn]

Haste makes waste (and a short end to your challenge). Plenty of time to catch up :D

Oh, short war story. Was having a rough time with the dragonian lancers in the obsidian halls today, as my resistances aren't particularly good, and vitality was 0. Decide to start using distort reality (no TR yet, just 4 or 5 points in DR including +skills) for the brief stun and a bit of extra damage. Get a massive mob charging me, toss off a squall followed by an lb, then hit dr, but didn't notice it doing anything. Was puzzled, then panicked, as I started getting pwned by a dozen or so lancers.

Worse was to come. Had 91% recharge at this point, so I tried to spam more lb's, but nothing was happening! Panicking, slurping pots like mad, and resorted to spamming squalls and dr's. Survive the scrap with something like 200hp and that bloody drumbeat going nuts, and figure out what happened.

I happen to have dr set on hotkey 2, just above w. Which is weapon swap, and I have lb on my lmb, but only on my first (only) weapon set. So there I was sitting in the middle of a dozen lancers, swinging my fists because I'd accidentally hit w instead of 2 lol.

[Viper_Sweden]

Lightning Bolt works better if you've got on the RMB (or somewhere else) than it does if you have it on the LMB...

[Creslyn]

True, but it only really matters when you've got the full 100% recharge. And it only matters when you've actually got it on either button. Going to set up my alt weapon set with lb/sb to avoid a reoccurrence ;)

[Eric_The_Red]

Cool at least you survived

[Creslyn]

Well, now level 44 in the city of lost souls. Was worried about Charon x3, but he turned out to be the easiest boss fight I've had yet. Didn't even get to call the waters once lol. Having no significant difficulties yet, but I expect that to change once I hit the tower and start running into machae and melinoe, as my DA is just pants and piercing resist is still a bit low (others are good now though).

Mostly using spammed squalls to kill things, with distortion wave on lmb to slow tougher mobs and keep them in the aoe, and lightning bolt as a panic button and for hero mobs/bosses, along with spell breaker.

[Barnacle_Ed]

hmm. i'm using squall, DW, and spell breaker myself, but i'm considering not going lightning for awhile...just sucks down energy like crazy and spell breaker is already a damn fine bosskiller.


maybe once i can equip my full adept's gear...:whistle:

[Creslyn]

Heh, there's plenty of -recharge options available pretty early on before you can equip adepts gear. Get yourself a staff of the magi, toss on a yuya's garb or mirage, nab that shamans boots, oracles wreath and some pythian clasps complete the set :D

[Eric_The_Red]

Hope its going well guys cuz this S*** is about to get real when we get to epic. How did you guys do against typhon with your casters? BTW Just finished normal and hades didn't cause any problems for me with colossus and battle standard, much harder enemies ahead though. This is my 7th char thats gone through normal unbeaten.

[Creslyn]

Heh, had to cheese typhon x3. One lightning bolt had the drumbeats going, so it turned into a run in, squall, lb, out session. Course, only had about 22% elec resist at that point, realised it after and fixed up some better gear lol.

[Poinas]

How about a leaderboard in the first post?

[Eric_The_Red]

Leaderboard sounds good. I'm gonna need all your current information: build, level, where your up to. Just post it following this thread

[Creslyn]

Alright, just took out hades x3, sitting on level 48 with skills as follows: titancalc (http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Prophet&master1=8&master2=9&sa=7&m1=32-0-1-4-0-1-8-0-12-0-12-0-6-12-0-0-1-1-11-1-0-0&m2=32-0-0-1-0-1-0-1-0-0-0-1-2-0-1-1-1-4-0-0-1-0)

And here's a pic just for the pretties, after taking the portal and before getting into epic

http://www.freewebs.com/creslyn/images/lisen.JPG

[mamba]

Level 36, Harbinger, just arrived at the chinese wall (the town past it).

[Viper_Sweden]

^Zhidan...

[Tennai]

Hey everyone :) I was reading this thread and it inspired me to try the xmax mod which is a total blast to play. As a result I've actually been doing this challenge (the naked one too! yay for 2x challenge). I didn't really mean to or anything, I just wanted some fun with a gigantic horde of monsters. It just so happened that I wasn't dying and by the end I was able to go far enough that I want to post here about it. I'm pretty sure we're not talking legendary here or anything, but it's very fun to see just how far a build can take you, especially with xmax. So I'm throwing my hat in the ring!

Skills: Soothsayer (http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Soothsayer&master1=2&master2=4&sa=0&m1=16-0-0-2-0-0-0-0-0-4-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&m2=16-1-16-1-1-0-1-0-0-1-0-1-0-4-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0)

Currently level 21 going with a Pet & Ternion build. Just killed 3x act1 Telkines and boated to egypt! Wheee HOW LONG CAN IT LAST? DUN DUN DUNNNN!

3x Marbles! God this was hard!
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2664/screenshot15zt8.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshot15zt8.jpg)

Status :)
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/2552/screenshot16mk9.th.jpg (http://img87.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshot16mk9.jpg)

And finally, as a direct result from undertaking this challenge, I am proud to present...

HANG IN THERE BABY
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/2513/hangintherebabymz8.jpg

[Barnacle_Ed]

EPIC picture


will post stats when i have the time to do so. maybe tomorrow.


i can say without much doubt i'm near the bottom of the pack but, hey...slown n steady wins the race right?

[Tennai]

Just to update, I've just killed Brennus or whatever that monkey king's name is. I must admit I completely wussed out on the fight, so it went something like this: Plague, run away, Plague, run away, repeat. After a couple dozen times of that, my pets killed them in 1 hit each. I know that's a terrible way to do this challenge, but hey... I suck at this game anyway and if I can cheeze in a boss fight then I'm going to take it. ;)

Act II Telkines
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9069/marbleex3.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=marbleex3.jpg)

Welcome to the Hanging Gardens!
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/7007/statusyx3.th.jpg (http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=statusyx3.jpg)

Death by Plague
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/5561/monkeyjl7.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=monkeyjl7.jpg)

This pet centered build is really rocking for xmax, even on bosses. With heart of oak and maxed out pets they can take huge amounts of punishment (with my backup healing of course). I've even started to throw in the spirit skill that lets you charm monsters. I really want to try a super -recharge build for this challenge, it might almost work with my own 5 pets plus a horde of other charmies. Who knows? I'll have to research just how much -recharge I can manage on an act3 normal mode character first... advice anyone? :)

[mamba]

Just killed Typhon, I am a little lower level than I would have liked to be, as I will only start to get in my gear at level 43 and up, but he wasn't particularily difficult anyway ;)

In fact after weakening all 3 Typhons, they all fell so fast that there was only one Zeus speech :p

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/8759/3typhonsil4.th.jpg (http://img120.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3typhonsil4.jpg)

[Barnacle_Ed]

I'm sad to say that Durza the Prophet met her demise in the Minoan Labyrinth...the minotaur bosses were just too powerful for her to run away from :(


i'm thinking of restarting either as a Ritualist or as a Warden.


EDIT: went with Ritualist...wolves more or less massacre everyone, though boss fights are a good bit longer so far. planning on maxing Heart of Oak, grabbing Nightmare, and ToC next.

build: http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Ritualist&master1=4&master2=9&sa=0&m1=10-1-16-1-1-1-1-0-1-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&m2=4-0-1-1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

[Eric_The_Red]

Good to see your all making progress. I've been a bit busy of late, but will continue from epic sparta where i left off asap. Unlucky Ed at least you made it past normal(a challenge in itself with a caster). Welcome Mamba and Tennai. Please update your builds guys so i can put you on the leader board. I need your build, level and point in the game(last place you saved). Also tell me if i need to improve on anything to make the leaderboard look better. Any suggestions are welcome

[mamba]

I am currently in the plains of judgement (past the city, on my way to the tower) and finally in my end-game gear. I went for a very specific set of items and so far it is working nicely ;)

My build looks something like this

http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Harbinger&master1=3&master2=9&sa=0&m1=32-6-1-6-6-0-2-0-6-0-0-0-6-1-0-0-0-0-6-4-0-0&m2=32-0-0-0-0-1-12-1-0-0-8-0-12-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-0

pretty boring actually :)

[Poinas]

^Post the items :)

I'm currently at Memphis, lvl 25 Warrior.

[mamba]

Well, the items are secondary (not that mine are bad), it's the charms I socketed them with that matter ;)

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/5176/xmaxtu0.th.jpg (http://img222.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xmaxtu0.jpg)

I wonder when / if I will run out of steam as my damage isn't that great, but my regen sure is ;)

[Tennai]

Gasp :O mind if I ask the secret equipment list for your near instant regen?

and as a side note, am I to assume that everything's legit for this challenge? I.E. all greens/blues/purples? I know it says not the bugged stuff, but otherwise its all good? Can I wear purples in normal mode?

[mamba]

Maybe as the next challenge, we should try this version of xmax :

http://www.titanquest.net/forums/modifications-editor/19944-monster-2x-3x-4x-5x-xmax-monster-pets.html

Just tanked 6 Hades at once with it :)

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/6840/hadesx6cu5.th.jpg (http://img85.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hadesx6cu5.jpg)

This is not my char for this challenge (but my regular Harbinger), but it is her gear :) wasn't sure I could make it (by simply tanking) and didn't want to get my death that way. The warning sound ringed once, but other than that they were no problem - granted, it was still in normal :)

[mamba]

Gasp :O mind if I ask the secret equipment list for your near instant regen?

It is actually pretty straightforward

Persephone's Caress (axe) gives 50 HP/s regen, dual-wielded for 100/s
Legendary Viny Growth charm with +% Health regen completion bonus on all 4 armor pieces
Legendary Ankh of Isis on all jewelry (I only used it on the rings as I wear the Pendent of Immortal Rage)
Maiden's Kiss artifact
some items with 'of Regeneration' suffix (helmet in my case)

Oh, while taking the screenshot my trance was off, otherwise regen would be 1842/s ;)

Now don't go the same route I did for this challenge ;)


and as a side note, am I to assume that everything's legit for this challenge? I.E. all greens/blues/purples? I know it says not the bugged stuff, but otherwise its all good? Can I wear purples in normal mode?

that is my understanding of it, wear whatever you please as long as it can drop in game and is not one of the bugged items.

[Barnacle_Ed]

here's the build i'm thinking for on my ritualist: http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Ritualist&master1=4&master2=9&sa=0&m1=24-1-16-12-8-1-1-0-16-1-1-1-0-0-6-12-0-8-0-0-0&m2=32-0-1-1-0-8-1-6-5-0-8-0-12-1-1-1-6-1-0-8-1-0

i'll proably max out the plague line with my last few points, but i'm still thinking on it.

[Tennai]

If you don't mind my asking ed, why the 1 point into distortion wave? If just for the slow, why 1 point into it's low dot burn synergy? And why 1 into phantom strike but max synergy? If you're going melee wouldn't maxing ps for the bigger %damage be better?

Otherwise it looks cool and hope it takes you far :)

[Barnacle_Ed]

alrighty,

PI was a misclick. I'm human and screw up with the best of em >_>

Maxed Dream Stealer is for better AoE capability. I'll also be playing with +4 skills, yielding +95% total damage on dream stealer, which isn't too shabby at all. I'm still figuring out exactly how I'll spend the last couple points, but i'll worry when I get there

[Creslyn]

Judging by the fact that you have Accelerated Regrowth maxed, I'm guessing that you aren't using (much) -recharge gear. In which case, a few more points into Plague (base) would give you a duration ~= cooldown, which is nice for bosses.

As for my toon, been a bit busy last week or so, but Lisen will be marching on through epic Sparta soon enough :D

[Eric_The_Red]

Nice i like the regen idea but damage will be a pain in the *** later on but it wont be too bad wih onslaught. I'm trying desperately not to use Ainios but i might not have a choice in legendary. My character is completely defense based with a huge DA (2880) and -40% shield recovery time without quick recovery. Ill begin my epic campaign today. Ill post the highlights

[Tennai]

Woohoo I just completed typhoon x3! YAY THIS IS SO FUN! First the pics, then the story.

Telkine with zero pet deaths
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/7043/telkineul6.th.jpg (http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?image=telkineul6.jpg)

More plague ftw
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/6099/titanpl6.th.jpg (http://img233.imageshack.us/my.php?image=titanpl6.jpg)

Woohoo
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/1917/status2oc7.th.jpg (http://img233.imageshack.us/my.php?image=status2oc7.jpg)


Going through the orient wasn't too bad, the EASIEST monsters in the whole act for me were the draconians. I'm not kidding. Basically I would plague on in the middle, they'd all rush at my group, and I would RUN INTO THEM and then procede to just run circles around them until they dropped like flies 5 seconds later. I found that with plague giving them -total speed and -damage resist, and deathchill giving them -hp% and -total speed and -damage, and then my +40% (+55% with the pack howl) run speed, they were like silly putty. I'd come out of most groups without ever taking a single blow. Even the takedown rushing ones in typhoon's cave were easy. Plague + deathchill = insane power. It was like watching panzer tanks vs geckos. Good times. :)

Typhonx3 was easier than I thought. I didn't have to cheeze it by running back to the path, I just ran around the arena like a crazy person, recasting my summons whenever possible and using plague at every chance. They all died within 5~seconds of each other. Wahahaha!

Side note: I can't believe I waited until right before typhon's cave to get spirit ward + its synergy! HOLY CRAP ITS SO USEFUL WHAT WAS I THINKING? Act 2 would have been a cakewalk...

Summary for the leaderboards:

Leona (Lv 37 Soothsayer)
Just arrived at Rhodes
Play style: Running circles around crippled plague victims
Wearing a bunch of purples and blues for +5 all skills and +3 nature
Titan Calc: Soothsayer (+3 to nature +5 to spirit) (http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Soothsayer&master1=2&master2=4&sa=5&m1=31-1-0-1-1-0-1-0-0-15-1-5-0-0-1-0-1-0-0-0-0&m2=24-1-12-1-1-1-1-0-1-1-1-1-0-12-1-1-0-1-0-0-0-0)

Now on to bigger, scarier lands. :headbang:

[Barnacle_Ed]

@ Creslyn: thanks for the tip...melee gear generally doesn't have much -recharge, so I'm preparing for the worst

@ Tennai: see you in Hades, my fellow pet builder

[Eric_The_Red]

Ok just made it to delphi in epic heres my pic:
1123
PS...Make sure you guys attach ur kill counts.
@Everyone: No hacked items allowed. No bugged items. No defiling. No skipping quests or bosses. No altering of any kind is allowed. All items must be legitimate.

[Tennai]

Just got to the city of... ely-something? The good place in the underworld (does this make sense?). The city right after cerberus. God that was a quick and freaky fight.

Ok first once I hit level 40 I switched to a -100% recharge build and got the outsider. He's pretty cool, looks like a giant linebacker. But now he's an instant summon which is pretty hot. I made my way though the underworld with little problem, although my mortal enemy are now those stupid flying uh, poison bomb lobbing things. They lag my computer to death.

Around the 3rd domain I got frustrated with lag and giant rooms of a billion monsters each. So I figured if I have to lag...

do it in style:
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/8075/charm1ik1.th.jpg (http://img522.imageshack.us/my.php?image=charm1ik1.jpg)

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/9418/charm2jp5.th.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/my.php?image=charm2jp5.jpg)

http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/171/charm3eh7.jpg

This worked fantastic and when I reached cerberus I had a large army of 20+ helpers. Well wouldn't you know this was my first cerberus fight and I didn't know what to expect. It turns out the entire army is destroyed on the first 'make the floor glow with acid haha everything just died'. :( but my liche and outsider were still alive! 2nd problem I encountered is about 1 second after the shock of seeing them all dead, I noticed my health was already at half and dropping quickly, and the potion button didn't seem to be enough oomph to stop it.

Lucky for me I had switched to that instant recharge build, so I just clicked it like mad on myself about 3-5 times a second with regrowth and only stopped for a split second to resummon the outsider and liche. I didn't know how long I could do this until suddenly, after about 30 seconds of this (and a couple blue pots), they were all dead. I don't know how or why but they died and I was still alive!

HURRAY FOR HEAL TANKS!

Next up: I have no clue I don't like the underworld anymore. It will surely kill this challenge for me :O

side note: I want to go back to greece please

[Eric_The_Red]

Nice overkill on the mind control! Thats hilarious

[Eric_The_Red]

Ok guys keep sending me updates. The leader board only contains info i can scrape together from what you tell me so keep it coming. Creslyn what build is ur character?

[mamba]

Just killed the 3 Hades', they were kind enough to drop the overlord, so I went into the SP as well, it was a letdown. Only one of each, I was looking forward to 3 Toxeus :)

In any case, from now on it is epic for me.

[Tennai]

Congrats mamba! I gotta catch up to you :O I just reached per...god you know I can't spell anything from mythology to save my life. The chained up hades wife person. I'm also too lazy to look it up. 3x bone titan went down in about 15 seconds. I entered the room, plague'd one of them (I think at least the -speed and -resist worked?) and then ran to the other side of the room. By the time I reach the wall (5 seconds?) I hear the ding and the boss dead box appears, then again, then I plagued the 3rd one and it died. I'm not trying to brag, Im sure everyone's got their uber boss stories, but considering this is the farthest I've EVER gotten with any character, I was surprised. Maybe the outsider summon is just that good? I dunno. LUNCH TIME!

[Creslyn]

Ah, thought I'd included that before. Lisen is a prophet, -recharge build mostly using squall, lb, and dw. I'll post a current titancalc when I check the stats later (will edit this post).

edit: Alright, Lisen is currently sitting on level 50 at epic Delphi, with 63,563 kills to her name. She's a Prophet, with this (http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Prophet&master1=8&master2=9&sa=8&m1=32-0-1-6-0-1-8-0-12-0-12-0-6-12-0-0-1-1-12-1-0&m2=32-0-0-1-0-1-0-1-2-0-0-1-3-1-1-1-1-4-0-0-1-0) skill setup.

[Tennai]

WOOHOO! Beat hades and the secret passage. ROCK ON BABY! Can you say EPIC? My only dissapointment is that my kill count is super low, but as stated in another thread somewhere, pets don't count for your kill-o-meter. :(

I win!
http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/7979/hadeswu9.th.jpg (http://img108.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hadeswu9.jpg)

Zero recharge pet master plague mind controll ternion ftw!
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/3914/status1kc7.th.jpg (http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=status1kc7.jpg)

Sad kill-o-meter :cry:
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/3914/status1kc7.th.jpg (http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=status1kc7.jpg)

Since this was my first time through the SP I was scared... so I have to admit once I discovered I could cheeze my way through... I took it. Notice the door is CLOSED and I'm 100% safe (good bye toxeus... I win)!
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/9797/cheapgb4.th.jpg (http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cheapgb4.jpg)

Mr. Turtle sez, "I luv u"
http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/1204/turtleyd1.jpg

:rockon:

[Scylla]

Hmm... Taking another applicant?

Druid (untwinked), level 38 now, in Chang'an. About to take on the terracotta warriors, about 35k kills on the meter (likely due to Squall killstealing my wolves all the time XD).

I'm playing TQ at a friend's house so i can't post a couple of screenshots, but i'm keeping a journal of my progress in my sig.

Edit: Tennai, your secondary resists pic links to your primary one... Your killcount apparently likes to hide? ^^;

[Eric_The_Red]

Hahaha you think normal toxeus is the killer. Hes nothing special it's the legendary one thats hard. Tennai, what rings are you using?

Scylla this is a twinked challenge. Ultimate Immortal challenge is the untwinked equivalent. But you're more than welcome to join the challenge untwinked.

[Tennai]

Oops I'll have to reupload that shot later today for the status screen thanks for catching that.

@Eric those are I think jade rings of some kind, I'll have to log in to see their exact name, but yeah jade something. Dropped off of Typhon, they both have +15% ele resist AND +10% ele resist AND +1 skills each (they're blue rings) and some other less important stats. So +50% resist and +2 skills... yeah I like that. Probably better stuff out there I just don't know it / have it. :)

[Creslyn]

Jade bands, yeah they're handy to have. For similar (better) stuff, look for crystal and black pearl jewellery :)

[Eric_The_Red]

Not bad rings but they don't add any skills

[Tennai]

When I was farming these on my assassin (for the +poison damage) from typhon, I had my 2nd one drop with + skill. After seeing that I kept farming til another +skill one dropped. I saw some with and some without, some with 15% ele, some with +27% poison, etc. I guess theres room for variation? I didn't think blues had +skill variation but my bands and my character skill screen with +2 skills taught me otherwise. :)

side note: here's that low kill-o-meter I was talking about.

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/5497/statusfa6.jpg

other side note: won't get to start epic yet going to be busy for the next week or two IRL but I hope to keep checking in from time to time. ;)

[Creslyn]

Those three uniques (rings and amulets for each) can spawn with +skills prefix. Jade only gets divine, but the other two can get sacred.

[Tennai]

Sweet thanks for that info... going to be hunting me up some +4 skill happiness when I hit epic typhon (or at least I HOPE to be getting that far, maybe on another character lol).

[Eric_The_Red]

Are you sure? I've never heard of an epic or legendary item spawning a totally different attribute and ive been playing this game for a long time.

[Creslyn]

Only a few uniques can spawn with affixes, such as those jewellery pieces and Pythian gear (vestments, armbands).

[Barnacle_Ed]

in the labyrinth again...wish me better luck this time around :rolleyes:


bosses take a good deal longer on the Ritualist (the guy in Athens was a ridiculous fight), but with ToC, DF, and a group of meatshields, my second attempt should prove more worthwhile.

[Eric_The_Red]

Ok just made it past the 3 Talos bots which were no match for my conqueror. And ive stopped at Rhakotis for the night lvl 56.

[Eric_The_Red]

Ok guys ive focussed my efforts on this challenge and have done some serious mileage today. I'm almost up to shangsung in epic asia. Here are some pics from me reaching the 100k in kills mark.
1130
Here is the manticore taking a serious beating...
1131

[Barnacle_Ed]

Meahwhile, yours truly has finally made it to regular egypt... :rolleyes:


the telkine fight was brutal. over 25 potions burned, pets resummoned countless dozens of times, and had a few calls several times closer than i would have liked. guess i'll need some better bosskillers and quick!

[Eric_The_Red]

Must be tough with a ritualist early on. You know the first telkine turns your summoned allies against you.

[Barnacle_Ed]

Must be tough with a ritualist early on. You know the first telkine turns your summoned allies against you.

ugh, don't remind me...


i guess grabbing a few Scrolls of the Storm Witches before that was a bad idea too >_>

ahhhh well. its all in the past now and i'm going to sink a few points into PS and a few more in Survival Instinct so the giant scarab doesn't mop the floor with me.

[Eric_The_Red]

Oh man this challenge is getting crazy. At level 61 I've just gone past asia and on to hades. Asia has definitely been my bogey level in the past and wusao cavern was harder than its ever been. Its probably the fact that i'm playing a melee class. FYI watch out for the plague lords! Got down to around 400 health twice. Typhon wasn't that bad but i took my time killing em. Dragon Liches were pretty annoying when they slowed me but were pretty easy with battle standard and colossus. I plowed through toxeus as well but i'm pretty sure the legendary one is the hard one. Ive enjoyed the one hit kills while theyve lasted but they have officially stopped in epic rhodes.

[Eric_The_Red]

Hi guys,
Just going past plains of judgement. Where those empusas are becoming a pain in the *** especially the poison ones considering i only have 53% res against poison. Conquerors are so fun, i'm really enjoying this build. Here's an updated pick lvl 63...
1136

[Eric_The_Red]

Finally i've made it to legendary! I even survived a dactyl death wave. Still level 63. The colossus+battle standard combo really seems to crush everything in its path. Toughest enemies i've faced so far have been the plague lords in wusao mountain and typhon. The albino spiders and warden of souls were also pretty nasty but manageable with sleep resistance. All other enemies were swept aside by the colossus+standard wave. Now it really gets hard! I'll post another update when i get past the hydras.

[Poinas]

I've started a new char, a Guardian. He's going to wear nothing but Gigantes items to make it all the more interesting. Only at lvl 10 now. Started as a Wanderer and got wolves to lvl 7 and 1 pt in HoO. Now rushing for Pulverize. At lvl I'll get to wear Alcynoneus' Mask and Greaves :rockon:

[Eric_The_Red]

Cool i havent been able to find a good alcynoneus mask yet or greaves at all. Same with Anakplete armour which seems impossible to find. Anyway a Guardian would be a good build for this challenge. Melee with wolves appeals to me.

[Poinas]

Lvl 30, getting closer to Chang'an. So far so good. Already wearing legendary version of Alconyneous' Mask and Greaves. I'll get my gauntlets at lvl 40. My armor has pretty crap affixes.

OA is going to be a bit of a problem for this build..none of my end game armor pieces, weapon or shield grant dex/OA..

Got rid of wolves in act 1 before Knossos. They did what they were supposed to, chow down some satyr while I'm at low lvl. See you again in legendary!


http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u14/Poinas/Guardian_1.jpg
You try anything funny with this merchant, and I'll cut your balls off!

BTW Eric, why do you have so much DA? Wouldn't you be better off with some other greaves? What affixes/relic those Batrachos greaves have?

[Eric_The_Red]

Purifying of pegasus with a herakles might relic dmg bonus. Mainly using em for resistances. Not sure theres any better greaves i should be using. I could use argonauts or athenas battle greaves i suppose but they dont do as much damage and offer the same or less resistances. My guy's doing pretty well though so i dont wanna mess with success.

[Poinas]

Pretty nice pair of greaves, I'll give you that.

Of the Pegasus seems to be ultra rare. I've found only 3 pair of boots with that affix in the last 5 months of active playing.

[Tennai]

Checking in! Been busy as scheduled but hope to jump back in soon. Still sitting on the start of epic with my uh, boy I already forgot (spirit + nature). Not sure if I want to keep going or not... the whole pet thing has gotten a bit old. I'd probably have more fun running through with something either more challenging (melee build of some kind?) or something ungodly cheap (low/zero recharge spear-hunter/dream? haha). Then again people say that in legendary (epic too?) the wolves turn into real hyper-destroyers. Hmm what to do what to do. Congrats to everyone's progress thus far KEEP ON ROCKING! :headbang:

[Creslyn]

Lisen's still alive also. Had to take a bit of a break, but got her heading through epic Egypt now. Currently sitting at the village of Sais, and am somewhat concerned about the upcoming manticores, as her DA is all of a godly 245 ;) If she survives that, she'll probably get through the rest of epic unscathed til I hit the Wusao caverns, where the dragonian lancers will likely give me fits again.

[mamba]

I arrived at whatever town lies beyond Chang'an (Jade Palace portal). Health regen makes me pretty much unkillable.

I tend to save, make a backup of my char and just stand next to the 3 bosses for a minute or so, to see if they actually could potentially kill me. I then reload and kill them in a real fight.

Barmanu was the only one who managed to kill me that way by a lucky shot, I had been standing next to them for a minute or so when he actually manged to kill me with his 5th snowball attack ;) Noone else managed to get my health below 50% or so.

Oh, and I do not count that as a death, as I said this is purely experimental and I restore the backup after those trials. If there are objections to this, I can stop doing so - I just am curious how good protection via health regen actually is ;)

[Eric_The_Red]

It's all well and good doing it with another character but to do it with the same character your using just doesn't sound right to me.

[Poinas]

Made some good progress, everything's pretty sweet at the moment. Though my OA is 510, and I'm wearing all but one endgame item :confused:

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u14/Poinas/Barth_1.jpg

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u14/Poinas/Barth_2.jpg

With energy shield of the mask on. It absorbs 500 dmg of any kind, and triggers upon taking melee damage. It has no cooldown time, so it's on pretty often. It doesn't last long though.

I love the buffs that trigger every now and then..the energy shield, quick recovery from the shield, adrenaline and strength of the pack.

I have 92% block and 2,55 s of shield cooldown. With the quick recovery from the shield, 99% block and 0,15 s of shield cooldown.

[mamba]

It's all well and good doing it with another character but to do it with the same character your using just doesn't sound right to me.

Well, I am not interested i creating a second identical char just for that, so I guess I'll stop ;)

[Eric_The_Red]

That's a pretty cool looking character Poinas. Gotta love the alcynoneous gear. Anyway, I'm currently rebalancing my characters gear for the legendary journey. Sux having to do this considering how much success ive had with his current gear. My main objective is to have an avoid projectile percentage over 80 and a lot of plus skills. Not to mention high resistances. I love my ancile shield but i think im gonna have to give it up :(

[Eric_The_Red]

damn aionios is the only solution

[Feartheflames]

Thinking of giving this a go, just one question though...

Relics on Uniques? I'm guessing its not allowed? Been using Xmax but have TQdefiler allowing me to relic up Blues and Legendarys (Only if they can be used on that slot, but removing the color coding basically)

Just wanted to check before making a new char

[Poinas]

How about adding 100000 str, dex and int to my char..is that allowed too?

[Eric_The_Red]

Sorry guys no cheating allowed in this challenge. So its a no to both questions. Check the rules

[Barnacle_Ed]

I'm pretty sure Poinas was being sarcastic. At least, I hope he was :rolleyes:


I've been out a good while. Part of me wants to restart as a Warden/Slayer, part of me wants to keep up my Ritualist. Probably won't have time for both...life is kicking my butt right now.

[Eric_The_Red]

Yeah i try to stick to one character. Otherwise i never end up finishing them.

[Eric_The_Red]

Had to make a lot of sacrifices but ive come up with an end game build.
1144
1145

[Poinas]

I'm pretty sure Poinas was being sarcastic.

You got that one right.

@Eric, what's the amulet?

[Eric_The_Red]

Sacred of guile socked with a legendary raptor tooth. I was doing like 2440 average dmg b4 legendary but unfortunately another -50% in res has screwed up my damage output and everything else for that matter. So i've lost around 500 base dmg, 25% in projectile avoidance, 450 DA(which doesnt really matter), -40% shield recovery time which sux. The thing with projectile avoidance is that it works really well at around 80-100% but anything less than that and you take a fair bit of dmg even with 80 pierce res, especially in epic hades and legendary.

[Pyrite]

Would an Ancile work? 100% shield block for the duration of Quick Recovery, and +20% avoid projectiles when it's on cooldown - although your resistances will take a beating, it may not matter so much when you block everything. And since you're a conqueror, you can take advantage of the +2 to Warfare skills. Might be something to aim for.

BTW... +8 to all skills... nice.

[Barnacle_Ed]

Unless you're fighting a huge amount of casters, of course.

Restarted as a Paladin...the lack of storm on my ritualist was just too foreign for me.

She's now level 19 in Athens. Focusing heavily on defense first, followed by rushing for squall once i get colossus form and pulverize.

[Pyrite]

Most casters' energy bolts count as projectiles, though, right? I've been trying out a Conqueror in Legendary, and so far (Egypt), the only attacks from common mobs that get past the shield block are Maenad sorceresses (lightning AOE?), Shade mages (some weird spell) and sandwraiths.

EDIT: And just wondering about the conditions of this challenge... if items from other characters are allowed, does that include legit items obtained from custom item maps?

[Eric_The_Red]

Good to see another person interested in the challenge. Any item found with any of your previous characters in the game. Any legit non bugged item is allowed. 20% avoid projectiles doesn't really do anything even having 50% only helps a little with the amount of xmax archers in epic and legendary. I cant risk having small amounts of resistances cuz chances are you will get a one hit special from either a hero or legendary monster.

[Pyrite]

Haven't really got the time to try it out at the moment, but I may consider in the future... Good luck to whoever's attempting this.

EDIT: Heh, didn't see that you'd already tried and given up on Ancile. My bad.

[Eric_The_Red]

Yeah its too hard to balance resistances with it, tried just about everything. Keep in mind i was trying to keep the +skills and avoid projectile balance and not to mention secondary resistances

[Creslyn]

Well, finally got around to facing the manticores, and to my utter surprise Lisen actually survived :D

Managed to get them focused on the wisp and nightmare, and though I had to do a bit of dancing around, was far easier than I thought it would be. So, on to the valley of the kings soon.

[Eric_The_Red]

Jeez I keep trying to get this build right but ive finally found a way to use ancile. Yes thats right no Aionios! Unfortunately i have to wear aphro's favour :( . Anyway, i've just crashed through the gorgons and will be throwin down with the Hydras sometime tomorrow. Lol i went back and farmed Wusao in epic and almost died, watch out for the plague lords guys, worst area in xmax for melee, but manageable if you've got colossus and battle standard :) .

Heres my new armor changes
1146
1147

[Eric_The_Red]

Just thought i'd post this shot since its the first real challenge in legendary.
1149

[Eric_The_Red]

Level 66 officially the highest level ive been with 0 Deaths! Just checked in to Rhakotis

[Creslyn]

Nice work!

[Barnacle_Ed]

Wow, nice going Eric...


Currently, Endzeit the Paladin (+1,000 points if you get the reference) is about to take on the Gorgon sisters. I'm a bit worried since she lacks both Colossus form and squall...guess it'll have to be shield charge + batter to dish out most of the punishment.

Current build: http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Paladin&master1=8&master2=5&sa=0&m1=1-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&m2=24-1-1-1-6-1-0-1-6-1-1-1-0-1-6-1-0-1-0-0-0

[Eric_The_Red]

Thanks guys. I'm quite proud of this character having to go toe to toe with everything. He really is the ultimate tank. I've just killed the Manticores here's a shot:
1151

[Eric_The_Red]

Level 67!

[Tennai]

Wow great work eric, keep it going! I've been messing around with a hunter/dream character, I got bored with watching my pets do all the work. Now I almost get bored with clicking :P doing quite well, too well for normal (+5k dmg record, 750 DPS at level 21, 171 HP regen). My setup is allowing me to fall asleep and not die. Not bragging, it's only normal, but I'm hoping it gets challenging soon. You're rocking steady glad to see it! KEEP IT GOING!

[Barnacle_Ed]

Well the Gorgons went down eventually. Stun resistance helped a bunch, and getting the healing sister out of the way quick...


And possibly the fact that i now have like 1k armor and +5 all skills at lv 21. Captain's Signet + Armor Handling + Revenant Plate = AWESOME!

[Saint the Rogue]

Grrr, i'm so pissed at myself now. My dear harbinger Ophelia died for the first time inside Hade's palace... because i forgot to hit the spacebar before picking up the phone ><

Any advice for a new character? I'm very excited about completing this challenge as i naturally lose all interest in my chars when they die :( Played a brigand, conqueror and elementalist through legendary (with deaths though) and now a harbinger aswell. I need something new. Considering something with the Spirit mastery as i find it rather intruiging and have'nt tried it yet.

[Barnacle_Ed]

Grab something with good survivability and/or a decent AoE...


Spirit + Defense is surprisingly underrated, but would make a good build if you're up for the challenge of trying a hybrid.

[Eric_The_Red]

Welcome to the challenge Saint. Spirit Defense sounds pretty damn solid. Spellbreaker is also pretty effective i've heard. I had my toughest battle yet yesterday and it wasnt from someone i expected to be hard. It was the sleep lord who guards the portal to Asia. I got down to around 30% health and yes, i actually had to use a health potion. Its funny he slowed me right down in colossus form(and actually hurt me while in colossus) and i'm pretty sure I would have died if it hadn't been for the ancestral warriors but then again maybe my artifact(knot of isis) would have saved me. We'll i'm off to take on asia where my nemesis the damage reflecting dragonian hero awaits. Hopefully i'll make it out alive this time.

[Eric_The_Red]

Ok just took out Barmanu and i'm leveling at a retarded snails pace. Still 67

[Eric_The_Red]

I'm officially in new territory because this is farther than ive ever been with 0 deaths. Just killed the dragon liches and i'm about to take on the bulls. I'm now level 68.
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[Eric_The_Red]

Just made it past Wusao and the dragonians. I'm about to take on Typhon...

[Eric_The_Red]

What an incredible battle, lasting around 20 mins as i dared not attack them without colossus form. I made a last minute decision to use the arcane mirror artifact instead of the knot of isis which proved to be vital as they all used their life draining attack at the same time which almost killed me several times even with 178% life leech resistance. Anyway, on to hades.

[Tennai]

Incredible! Hope you can see it through! :D

[Barnacle_Ed]

Daaaaamn Eric...slow down, eh?


In all seriousness, great job man. I honestly don't think I could get that far myself, so power to ya :rockon:

[Eric_The_Red]

Thanks guys, this is no easy task by any means. I'm up to Styx and you can really tell that the normal enemy is getting tougher the farther i get. I'm having to use battle standard and colossus a lot more frequently. I thought i'd rate the bosses ive fought so far in order to give you guys an idea of how tough they are for a melee build in legendary.

Hydras 4/10: Surprisingly easy, probably wouldnt be if not for colossus and poison res. However, i just stood there beating on em and my health didnt move
Talos 5/10: Pretty easy, health moved a lil with the stun stomp.
Manticore 4/10: Always pretty easy with high projectile avoidance
Telkine 2, 6/10: Not as easy as one would think, sun rays are deadly but easy to avoid.
Asia Portal Guadian 9/10: This guy is no one to mess around with, my health got down to around 25% with colossus on, not sure what kind of damage he does(possibly sleep) but he's all kinds of nasty.
Dragon Liche 5/10: I was actually surprised how easy this guy was but i did put on some slow resistant greaves.
The Bull 9/10: Lets just say you'd better have some serious bleeding res 88 is not enough. I was lucky because it did enough to slow it down just enough for me to hit rally and then a health potion. Good luck fighting this guy cuz you'll need it.
Typhon 10/10: These dudes leech life in unison and even with 178% Res they will still just about kill you. And im guessing everybody knows not to get hit by those meteors.
Toxeus 7/10: He's nothing much if you have colossus.
Grey Sisters 8/10: Just the sheer numbers makes it harder than it should be.
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[Saint the Rogue]

Gonna try this with a Dream oriented character - Justicia. Maybe adding Defense as the 2nd. mastery.
Edit: Remembered i got a lvl7 pyromancer that has been using Xmax from the beginning, gonna try him. Inferno (original name, right :D ) on the way!

[Eric_The_Red]

Ok just brought up level 69 and im passing through the end of plains of judgment.

[Eric_The_Red]

Hi guys,
Just crushed cerberus, i'm almost there. This is one tough challenge but i gotta say that asia is a lot harder than hades.
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[Eric_The_Red]

Dead by the hand of Lord Hades in legendary level 69

[Arkeyla]

Wow, so close to the end, too! That must have really gotten on your nerves to get whomped at the last boss...

[Tennai]

NOoooooooooooo eric :O that really bites. How close did you get? Kill any of the 3 before they killed you? What got you? Would more resists have saved you? I'm scared now ><

[Poinas]

You didn't have vitality resistance against Hades..?

[Eric_The_Red]

You can see my res on the last photo i posted(76 i think). I didnt even get one before colossus ran out, i got one down to his final form and 2 down to second form. I could have paused and restarted it but doing that goes against my morals. He was just doing way too much damage for me to handle even with rally and health pots. I had a good run though and i hope someone eventually finishes this challenge, but its not easy. Anyway, this was my final character, i hope ive proven that its possible to complete this challenge. I wont be playing TQ anymore so i wish you guys all the best.

[Poinas]

You can see my res on the last photo i posted(76 i think).

That would be life leech resistance from Visor of the Shadowlord. So you had no vitality resistance. And Hades can deal vitality dmg in the thousands with a single sickle sweep, and a lot with his other attacks too. Having replaced your other Apollo's will with a ring enchanted with Demon's Blood would have done the trick, and you could've completed the challenge. Well done anyway, to get that far. Still I'm a bit surprised that with Colossus and Battle Standard at your disposal, you didn't get them beaten.

I'm currently at the entrance of Epic Tower of Judgement. 9,4k HP and 2,2k DPS. Hordes of Machae archers can't do any real dmg. I considering of going with a different kind of item setup, because I hate the mind control of Aphrodite's Favor. At one point I had six Trodgolytes on my command. My DPS is a bit too low for my tastes too. I just did that one more run and found Sapros the Corrupter (my fourth ever) :rockon:

Typhons were really really easy. I just stood there taking meteors on me. With +4 skills, one pt in Colossus and one in Sanctuary has allowed for easy boss killing.

[Saint the Rogue]

I'm very sad to hear this Erik. We were all rooting for ya. Such an awesome acomplishment, very good work.

[Eric_The_Red]

Thought all that vitality and life leech stacked, oh well i guess it doesnt considering all the damage i was taking against hades. Hope fully ur wolves will have better luck against him.

[Eric_The_Red]

Hey guys dont forget to keep me up to date with your characters so i can post them on the leader board.

[yerkyerk]

I decided to have a go at this - I never completed the game in hardcore (0 deaths) and I never even tried the XMax before today, so don't expect much.

I made Maid Max (bad pun). Currently, she's killing of satyrs and harpies with an overpowered snowball. She's at level 7 and travelling to Leonidas. I've not selected a mastery yet - I think my best bet would be a Soothsayer, but I already got 2 of those, so that's too boring. I'll probably choose defensive masteries. Stupid crows almost got her killed twice.

[Soull]

Hey all, Ive decided to have a shot at this, even though I will be literally
taking this blind xD (Havent played long, so Ive never seen epic nor hades^^)
but hey it will be a laugh right? ;) Im gonna do it with a conquerer since that
was the next class I wanted to try.

Regarding the mod ive heard it multiplies the number of enemies you meet?
Can someone point me in the direction, and by how many times do we
have to multiply them by?

Looking forward to this ;)

EDIT : I has a look around for the mod and found it. So we are going up agains x10 mobs eh?^^ this will be crazy xD But did you actually fight 10 Manticores at the same time?

Oh and im playing with a Conquerer named Mythic ;)

[Poinas]

There's "only" 3 bosses at the same time, not 10. Mobs get multiplied by 3-6x.

[Soull]

ah that makes sense... making headway slowly through Helos, though
im used to doing kamikaze runs and staying alive on normal, this
is a lot more hit and run, and pulling 1-2 at a time^^ but it requires
strategy, so im having fun^^

But those packs of boars are a pain in the behind... sometimes they follow
you sometimes they wont, and sometimes they all decide you look tasty xD

Ok, Ive finally got the 3 shamans down... its not much, but its a start:P

[yerkyerk]

Well, good luck soull! Congrats on the shamans. The start will be rather difficult, but since you level much faster it's not going to be as hard as it at first might seem. Are you playing untwinked?

I'm currently at level 26ish on my way to beat the second Telkine.

For anyone interested, I'll post my progress in a seperate thread, because of possible spoilers. It's located here: http://www.titanquest.net/forums/immortal-throne-spoilers/22805-maid-max-xmax-hxc.html


There's "only" 3 bosses at the same time, not 10. Mobs get multiplied by 3-6x.

Btw, Poinas, are you still doing this? Your last report was over a month ago.

[Barnacle_Ed]

Anyone know if it's possible to use both xmax and masteries mod at the same time? I think this would add a new dimension to the challenge...

[yerkyerk]

I would guess that loading one mod cancels out the other mod automatically.

Wouldn't be much of a challenge either, since the masteries mod is rather unbalanced, and it's easy to pick an overpowered character.

[Soull]

Well, good luck soull! Congrats on the shamans. The start will be rather difficult, but since you level much faster it's not going to be as hard as it at first might seem. Are you playing untwinked?

I'm currently at level 26ish on my way to beat the second Telkine.

For anyone interested, I'll post my progress in a seperate thread, because of possible spoilers. It's located here: http://www.titanquest.net/forums/immortal-throne-spoilers/22805-maid-max-xmax-hxc.html



Btw, Poinas, are you still doing this? Your last report was over a month ago.

Thanks ^^ as far as being twinked, I have only a lvl 29 Assasin and 16 Ranger, so ive only got him fel blade and a green chestpiece. Hoping
I get really lucky and get captains shield or Obsidia armour :D

[Poinas]

Btw, Poinas, are you still doing this? Your last report was over a month ago.

Yup, in the beginning of act 2 L with a Guardian lvl 58 (no more using only gigantes stuff) and act 3 epic with a lvl 46 Haruspex.

I'm also trying to finish my Thane (A4 L), Bone Charmer (A4 L), and Diviner (A1 L), leveling a Pyromancer (A2 N) and doing naked hardcore challenge..so the progression is very slow.

[Soull]

Well im going on holiday for a week now, but when I get back ill
continue with the challenge ;)

For an update : I killed the 3 Nessus centaurs, they were a pain in the *** >.<
Also ive bin getting some very strange drops.... things which are useful to me
a bit.. but not quite:P For example Fell Blade (+2 to Lethal Strike) and Solid Companion I think, a blue shield for hunters, but is a upgrade for me.

Buuut I got the recipe for chaos cube which is a great conquerer artifact :D
(No idea how im gonna get the demon blood though...)

But yeah, good luck all :)

[yerkyerk]

Yup, in the beginning of act 2 L with a Guardian lvl 58 (no more using only gigantes stuff) and act 3 epic with a lvl 46 Haruspex.

I'm also trying to finish my Thane (A4 L), Bone Charmer (A4 L), and Diviner (A1 L), leveling a Pyromancer (A2 N) and doing naked hardcore challenge..so the progression is very slow.

Good, gives me some time to catch up with you. And beat you :) Meh, I'm the most concerned about entering Act 4...


Edit: http://thumbs.photo.net/photo/5617877-sm.jpg

Didn't even make Act 4, got killed by a bunch of Tigrans in China while I was checking out my character screen... level 32.

[Barnacle_Ed]

on xmax + masteries mod:


he released a version with xmax integrated, its on the dl page of the masteries site.


think i'll make a new char this weekend and go at this with no starting gear...should be FUN!

[yerkyerk]

Bah, as long as I'll make new characters, I might as well do all hardcore.
So I introduce, Yerk, my namesake:
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee33/yerkd2/Yerklevel2.jpg
The no-good almost died twice; once because of a while horde of swines, the other because of satyrs. He's showing zero promise...

[Viper_Sweden]

^ Looks like King Diamond... ;)

[baconmaster]

Hmm, i saw this challenge yesterday and thought it was interesting, and ive started it now.
got a lvl 6, going to be a conqueror, still only just past helos, at the first rebirth fountain after it.
the beginning was far harder than i thought, had to run back and hide behind the guards a few times o.o
but this is definitely a good challenge :D
i hope i make it to the end ^^
good luck to everyone else doing this :3

[Barnacle_Ed]

Alright, new character. This one's unique since she's in Masteries...


Janna the Archer is level 5 and has just beaten the 5 Satyr Shamans (shamen?). Planning on having her go Boyer for improved survivability and energy production instead of all-out AoE damage with Alchemy (I think it'll turn out better in the long run).


By the way: way of the flaming arrow ROCKS early game :headbang:

[Barnacle_Ed]

Janna has picked up Construction mastery and taken down Nessus with no trouble at all. If any of you go for the masteries mod, landmines are AWESOME for multiple enemies.

[yerkyerk]

Aargh!! killed by the 3 Barmanu's at level 30... what a shame... my namesake is a wussy...

Anybody got suggestions for my next character? I'm thinking either Spellbinder or Ranger, or else a summoner class that has no Nature and Spirit in it...

[Barnacle_Ed]

Personally, I'd avoid a summoner...3x first telkines is MURDER when they turn all your precious pets against you. Spellbinder is an awesome class, btw. Sadly underrated though.


Janna is level 11 now. Farmed Nessus for a couple easy levels, now she's moving on to Megara.

[yerkyerk]

Hmm.. Ranger seems more appealing for me atm. I love summoners... always fond of petbuilds. Ranger would be a petbuild too, let the wolves take the heat while me and the Nymph fire away from a safe distance.

[Barnacle_Ed]

That could work...you'd still have the DPS to down the telkines if you only spec into wolves early game (3x wolves ROCK early game btw...)

[yerkyerk]

I definetely do not worry about the 1st Telkines with pets - I've often did that, and it wasn't even very hard. Anyway, I've made a Ranger. The aspect of actually hurting my enemies instead of letting my pets do all the major work is nice too for a change.

Somehow I think I will return to the SoothSayer again. It was my first class and I tend to polish a specific character until it's perfect. In this case that means getting it alive through Normal, Epic and Legendary. I'll tweak my next Soothsayers a lot more though.

[baconmaster]

Gah, fighting 3 Alastors was much harder than i thought, i got absolutely raped :/
Conqueror has failed for me :O

[yerkyerk]

Alastor has in xMAX normal has often been a big pain for all my characters - I usually circle strafed around them while summoning pets, hoping they'd do some damage.

A tip for 3 Alastors; (select for spoiler)
stand outside the door opening, than lure one of them to you with a ranged attack or a pet, and kill them off one by one. Make sure you don't go to far so the door will close and trap you inside the chamber. A bit cowardish perhaps, but very effective.

[Poinas]

Another tips for Alastor x3, one of the toughest fights (if you enter the arena):

Defence: few points in Shield Charge, 3 pts in Disruption. Shield Charge Alastors, and then run around in circles until SC recharges. Stock up on health- and mana potions.

Dream: 1 pt Phantom Strike, max Dream Stealer. Same as with Shield Charge.

Storm: Max Squall and/or Lightning Bolt (synergies not needed) and cast them from the door, don't let them close behind you.

Rogue: Traps. Put as much points in there as you can. Don't enter the room where Alastors are. Throw the traps just a little way into the room, if you throw them too close to Alastors they'll get destroyed too soon.

Earth: Max Eruption and cast it from the door.

Hunting: Just use your bow from the door, you need some +% projectile speed, from Marksmanship dor example

[Barnacle_Ed]

I'll probably end up using the underhanded Hunting tactic on my Bowyer...her damage is awesome but her survivability currently leaves a good bit to be desired.


Haven't had a chance to play recently due to technical woes, but there all sorted out now. I hope...

[baconmaster]

After i had died the first time, they split up, and i was able to kill them one by one. It was still hard, but possible, unlike when they were grouped together >.>
It would probably be easier with pets/ ranged attacks, but a low level conqueror was kinda outgunned in the fight, especially when they summoned a firing squad of skeletons :O

That and i was kind of used to just charging in blindly and raping him >.>
He's never been very hard for me before =/ (never done it in x3 in norm tho...)

[yerkyerk]

yea, x3 gives a whole new dimension to bossfighting.. Wussy freezing and stunning bosses usually become a big pain in a threesome..

I'm curious as to how 3x normal Typhon will be, one was a pain already. Oh well, stairdancing all the way probably.

[yerkyerk]

Hm, I decided to give another SoothSayer a try - I love the build. The only disadvantage is that, once they die, I refuse to play them. I already got 2 high level Soothsayers, no need for more. Whereas I could play on with other characters. Oh well... she's called Yerk Krey and is at level 22 right now, starting in Egypt. I heavily invested in health points this time.

I've parked my Ranger at level 14 somewhere in Greece - he was nice to play, but a bit too boring and slow.

[Irma2]

Another tips for Alastor x3, one of the toughest fights (if you enter the arena):

I'd also like to add:

Earth: Do not even open the door if you have the CD with you. His Taunt property will aggro the Alastors, then it's bye-bye to shooting them safely from the doorway without them noticing. They become alert and will open fire and toss bags full of skellies at you the moment you appear in the doorway. Instead, disband the CD before you even get near the Alastor arena.

Or, if you must keep the CD with you (maybe he's +4 from a Mastery shrine and you don't want to lose him), then don't open the door to Alastor's arena at all. Stand outside and cast Eruption in the chamber without opening the door.

It might also help to set him on Defensive mode, I haven't tried that option.

[yerkyerk]

Well, I just pummeled 3 Barmanu's in the ground with my 5th Soothsayer - no sweat at all. The stunning is kinda annoying though, I had to rely mostly on poisoning and running back and forth... not in the mood to die because I took them head-on again. So my last xMAX hxc character is avenged.
Now it's off to kill the Tigran Mobs right before Chang'an, since they were responsible for the death of my first xMAX hxc character. Than it's off to Typhon.

[Soull]

hmm yerk, im kinda contemplating on how to do 3 Barmanus, im not
there yet, but I just did Barmanu with my Assassin... and just 1 of
them is a pain >_>. Im guessing since im conquerer and higher level
I wont die in 1 meteor storm, but I dunno if I could handle 2:P

soo hard with meelee char though, you cant see the stun till too late :(

[yerkyerk]

Well, the stun is indeed a problem with them. They can get you in stunlock and bombard you to death... I suggest to take at least some scrolls with you to give you either pets or resistances.

Perhaps you could practice with another non hxc character on them? See what you're up against. Personally I like to explore the game with xMAX with my hxc character, but it's rather annoying to start all over again (ofcourse, that's also the kick in hxc).

[Soull]

hxc? well im sure my ranger will see barmanu before my conquerer,
which imo will be a lot easier, since the stun spreads out I wont have
to even dodge it half the time, but if my pets get hit by meteor storm
things could turn ugly :P

[yerkyerk]

hxc = hardcore. I'm too lame to type the full word :)
If your pets get killed, they're going after you, so be careful with that. I like running around bosses in circles while my pets finish them off. Standing still for too long will result in almost instant death against some bosses. I'm not sure what attacks are used by Barmanu's, but looking at the meteors it seems like a smart idea to raise fire resistance.



edit: I'm currently level 37, just defeated the Third Telkine. Piece o' Cookie. But I'm a bit reluctant to fight 3x Typhon. I knew how long it took with my first character to beat him (dying a couple of times too) and this will be a lot tougher... Oh well, I got almost all resistances very high, and equipped some SBC's... I've got enough firepower to take them on...

Those who are about to die, salute you
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee33/yerkd2/YerkKreylvl37.jpg

[baconmaster]

Ok, trying the challenge again with a bow haruspex, we'll see how this goes x3
Most bosses should be a bit easier since i'll have the range on them now

[yerkyerk]

Well, good luck baconmaster. Go all-out with twinking I'd say.

I just beat 3x Typhon - I expected it to be harder. They did kill my pets quite often though. They won't be so lucky in Epic...
I just went and cleared the Secret Passage - the xMAX mod doesn't seem to influence that part? Too bad...

The annoying thing was that Zeus started rambling after I killed Typhon... I want a mod in which I can make him pay for all the unneccesary and annoying gibberish he gave me, while sitting at a safe distance from the battlefield.

[Sova]

The defiler has a built in mod that will disable the Zeus speech.

I use it extensively, especially when farming tiffy on xmax ;)

[yerkyerk]

Almost gone!

I fought the 3 Cerberuses just a few minutes ago and they almost ripped me to shreds. I underestimated them, I knew it'd be tough but with the items I had equipped I thought it wouldn't be too hard. Man, was I ever wrong.
I decided to stand still in the passage, waiting for the dogs to attack me. Than they came at me, more vicious than I could remember from previous encounters. They quickly lay waste to my pets and trapped me in the small narrowing corridor. I tried to run away, but they blocked my path. Luckily, I could finally escape, recasting my pets. They were quickly obliterated, only my Liche King could stand for a little while (I was glad I invested that 1 point in Wraith Shell not long before this epic battle). After he was killed, two remaining dogs came at me. While I was recasting my pets they lowered my healthbar faster than the Apollo 13 went down. Deathward activated, but I didn't think I would make it. Ever potion-gulping I ran back to the corridor, luckily I survived this and healed myself. Now there was only one doggie left. Ofcourse, the poor doggie didn't stand a chance on his own against a fully healed and equipped petmancer and he was quickly vanquished.

Note to self; next time you encounter powerful bosses, make sure to pack up some scrolls.


The defiler has a built in mod that will disable the Zeus speech.

I use it extensively, especially when farming tiffy on xmax ;)

Good idea perhaps... but it's only a minor nuisance, so I'll leave it as is for now.

[Soull]

hmm I usually leave scrolls alone, (unless for artifacts of course),
I havent tried them due to their high price and the fact that its 1 shot.

How much damage do these scrolls do?

[yerkyerk]

Scrolls do all kind of different things. I usually leave them alone too, mainly because of the 1-shot thing. But in hardcore against tough bosses that have a good chance of doing you in I think you should take every measure to prevent death from happening - if using scrolls gives you just that bit of advantage, go with them.
some scrolls lower resistances, some summon pets, some do damage, some give damage abilities etc...

[Poinas]

Keep the stories rolling, yerk :happy:

[yerkyerk]

Keep the stories rolling, yerk :happy:

I love to tell them, but I do not plan to get a in any more near-death encounters with a hardcore character :)
Anyway, here's the remaining report on my quest to beat Hades. Quite a long read...

After barely escaping the clutches of the guardian dogs of hell, I went on to Elsyium. Not much news there, I easily wiped out every being that dare cross my path. Gotta hand it to those Machae, Melinoe and Empusa's; they're a brave, but stupid bunch of critters. Ofcourse I got the quest to escort a messenger to a warcamp. This went smoothly and after the message was passed I decided to take a break.

After the break, I decided to go back at it again and take 4 archers with me to strengthen the pass. I wanted them to stay alive, since I figured I could use some extra firepower against Hades. Sadly, 3 out of 4 of my poor mates got send to the void before I ever got to the pass. The last one seemed to be a tough guy, he didn't plan to die on me. But the monsters didn't seem to be to eager to attack the pass while I was holding it with my overwhelming army. I tried to take several 'breaks' before they showed up (eventually I had to do it without the xMAX mod because the monsters didn't show up, a known bug?). After their pathetically weak waves and a new break I decided to move on.

Not much news for a long time, I did a thorough exploration of the Upper War Camp, sending every foul creature within back to the eternal void. After entering Hades Palace I heard grumbling and saw the ground trembling before me. Right than I realized I had forgotten the Typhon brothers... they came rising from the ground, using the advantage of surprise against me. However, they probably didn't realize Death had taken quite a toll on their once magnificent powers and I quickly kicked their ***** for all time.

Merrily hopping through Hades palace of darkness, I dispatched many unwary foes to their eternal damnation. Until I finally ran into the first and only Dactyl... he obstructed my path and he one-wave shot all my pets, save for my ever-vigilant Liche King. I quickly walked up the stairs and made my stance there, but unlike his pathetic brethren, the Dactyl didn't seem eager to follow. I decided to resummon my army and go down again to destroy the annoying metallic beings. The Dactyl didn't agree with my plans and with a single shot vanquished my pets again. Than I decided to enslave the pesky hump of scrap, which worked quite well. I should try offering him a more permanent bribe next time, as I found out he's quite good at mob slaying. All good things must end though and after I abused him on his own minions I decided to let him rest at the junkyard he helped creating.

After that, it was on to Hades to attain eternal glory. I made preparations, summoned a fat Cyclops to aid me in battle and entered the arena. There was no fast reduction to my health, but the 3 Lords of the Underworld did destroy my pets rather quickly (safe for the 1,000 year old floating corpse I so lovingly call Liche King ofcourse). But the sacrifice of the pack of wolves, a noble forest spirit, one morbidly obese Cyclops and an Outsider wasn't in vain, as they did kill all 3 Hadeses. Unfortunately, they needed to be killed twice.. But running around them in tight circles, poisoning them and resummoning part of my army was too much for them and the regicidal tendencies of Yerk Krey prevailed over the power of the Dark Lords.

Now it's on to Epic. I can't wait to bring my 'no wolves left behind' program in practice.

[Soull]

I just got to the underworld last night on my assasin, I think im gonna do
this act first, since ive never played it, and if I went in with my conquerer not
knowing anything id die at the first turn xD

[yerkyerk]

Underworld? Well, that's gonna be a lot more dangerous than anything you've been up to so far.

As far as my progress;
I walked into a village and saw a fat farmer screaming they were harassing his stupid horse and I had to save it. Luckily for me, the creatures were almost starved to death and paid no attention to me at all, they did not even try to harm me when I started pounding them.
After sending them to Hades, I decided to move on to the village. I saw a bunch of hungry unarmed Satyrs trying to negotiate with the villagers, but the brave villagers rammed their brains to mash before they could even speak.
When I entered the village, the village elder immediately started complaining about some pesky little satyr tribe in the neighbourhood. They had been there for ages, but he felt that it was time for them to disappear - to the eternal hunting grounds. Sounded fine by me, he was offering a buckload of money to do it. So I smashed in the head of every last one of the annoying mongrols, I felt so heroic doing that.

But seriously... Epic sucks. Big time. I haven't met a single opponent that was even worthy of calling a minor threat.
I stood before 3x Epic Manticore with my own character taking their hits, didn't even break a sweat. I can pretty much just stand there and tank whatever stuff is coming for me. It's ludicrous.
But even though it can currently hardly be called a challenge, I decided to make "Marduk's Tablet of Destiny". This nice little artifact should make my 5th soothsayer nigh immortal. I'm looking forward to meeting some real resistance.
Currently at level 55, with +-5600health, +-770DA, a bunch of armor, almost all resistance maxed and a 50% shieldblock.
Here's a picture for those who are interested;
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee33/yerkd2/YerkKreylvl54.jpg

[nemhauser]

Here's a picture for those who are interested;
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee33/yerkd2/YerkKreylvl54.jpg


father and son?

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n89/jackierose_2000/martian-1.jpg

[yerkyerk]

http://www.sadman64.net/images/rofl.png

[skullmaster]

Hey guys, I know I'm really late, but Im joining in in the challenge!
Think I'm gonna give harbringer a try!
Wish me luck :P

[yerkyerk]

Welcome to the party and good luck!

I've learned that tanking Barmanu isn't a smart idea ever. After killing 2 out of 3 Barmanu's, I thought I could tank the third one... Think again. My healthbar dropped down faster than a Ferrari pulls up. Lucky for me I had Marduk's Tablet of Destiny installed as a failsafe device and I found out it worked.
A lot later I battled the 3 bulls, being overconfident from my easy victories over pretty much anything but Barmanu, I thought I could tank the Bulls. Wrong again. Marduk helped me out again, though I would've survived this battle without it. The bulls were annoying though, their flames kept killing off my pets.
Some rather annoying enemies for a Soothsayer are specific skeletal mages in Act 3. They remove all buffs from a character, leaving me to feel naked.
The caves that lead to the third telkine are filled with them. My computer always has big problems inside caves and even bigger problems with smoke and fire particals. Throw xMAX on top of that and that particular is becoming a total pain. Luckily I have two failsave devices (Marduk and Deathward), lots of pets to take the hits, lots of health, effective damage decreasing capabilities and a big shield.

Here's a nice screenshot that I took during the battle. Took about 7-8 seconds before the next frame popped up...
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee33/yerkd2/screenshot214.jpg

I also took care of 3x Typhon, but other than being an annoying pain in the [hindpart just below a persons torso], he's been easy. Now I've arrived in Act 4.

[Soull]

my conquerer... is still stuck in tegea :P

[Barnacle_Ed]

Yerk: enslaved spirit + -100% recharge. I'm telling you, it's basically amazing with a full on pet build :p

Congrats on getting so far in the challenge by the way!



Janna is stuck in Megara until further notice since life is being a real ***** right now...and I finally got my hands on Brawl.

[Soull]

hehe that comes out in england tommorow, I cant wait xD

[skullmaster]

Hmm, guys, I think I suck a bit...
I died at lvl 1 in Helos xD
Should watch my steps better I suppose

[Poinas]

MotormanHitler, lvl 51 Haruspex in Plains of Judgement, Epic and Barthlomew, lvl 59 Guardian in Memphis, Legendary.

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u14/Poinas/HCs_1.jpg

Hitler managed to oneshot three Bandaris with maxed Study Prey and Phantom Strike :happy:

Bartholomew 4-shotted Scarabaeus with Sapros and Plague. I was worried about his DPS, but it is fine. 600 dex, Pendant of Immortal Rage and Veteran's lance solved his OA problems.

[Dirhavel]

Figured I'd join in on the fun, I started a caster diviner yesterday. He's currently lvl 12 and just got to Megara. So far so good, DW gets the job done!

[akaneko]

Just to ad my poor unsuccessful self:

i tried this twice so far, first time i got shouted at, bound and spanked by Nessus while his groupies covered the shamefull scene with their bodies. Second time i made it to the Giant Limos' just before Athens which then happily sucked me dry, afterwards chuckling at the Demon Blood which it found in my backpack... all on normal mind you.

Have to admit i got a little over my head after running through the warcamp with trance of wrath and legions of satyrs simply dropping dead from my sheer awesomeness :p

[Soull]

well guys, Im taking a break because I just got Bioshock... so im gonna be obsessed with that for a week :D

[Persona]

Just thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. I didn't even notice this but I've already been doing it for my Spear and Shield Haruspex. I'm a bit of an over achiever *cough*. Level 57 at the moment, I just finished normal and been running through Epic Greece, stopping only to farm Nessus for a bit (And got a Thorny Maul! Bah, I'll stick to my Trident)>.>. Almost died on 3x normal Typhon a lot of times. Sad to say I had to run down the stairs so often. Took me the better part of half an hour to beat them. Charon and his water wave attack nearly took me down as well. Cerberus was a joke, seriously. Really scary moment with Hades, was down to under 100hp on the last Hades but managed to chug a potion just before I took him down. Toxeus was easier than Charon, in my opinion.

Currently farming for a good epic SBC, so I'm just running through Epic Greece, I'm more or less one shotting most bosses with Study Prey + Phantom Strike. I've got upwards of 3000dps, 80%CAP and 2100+ DA all on self farmed equips.... I think I could do a lot better if I brought some stuff over from my other characters. I am not looking forward to 3x epic Typhon, though.

[Soull]

you finished normal at level 57? O.o

[Persona]

To be exact, I beat Hades x3 and Toxeus at level 52. I spend a lot of time looking for equips that will put me over the top for my next run for a long while.

4ish levels spent farming Anourans. That was fun. Can't really complain, got a +42% DA and 18% movement pair.

3-4 levels hunting a Homados till I remembered that I installed the fix patch, so the Homados is essentially useless.

1-2 levels on Soldier's Unyielding Will for +115 DA, +15% AS and 13% chance to dodge attack.

I think a further 2ish levels were spent on Lamias, to net myself a Ceremonial Ismene's Helm.

The other 5 levels, I've gotten from Epic stuff so far. Took down Nessus like 50ish times, since each run only takes me 40 seconds. Gorgon queens is similar, I'm running them 'cause all 9 takes me roughly a minute. I'm trying to get something that adds to CAP, otherwise I've already got a +24%AS SBC, which should be good enough to last me for awhile.

Current monster kill count is just under 100k, which will probably be rectified by the time I get the SBC with the affix I want.

Frankly, I love games like TQ and D2 for the farming potential, as can be seen by the crazy amount of time I spend farming for stuff, even in normal. I play games like this for the sake of collecting everything and trying to build the best character I can without relying on my other characters so I tend to go all out each time I go through this.

[yerkyerk]

Ah, so you play the game untwinked? That's good :) It would go way too slow for me though - I like farming for stuff, just don't want to do it over and over again.

Btw, Poinas, got any near-death encounters? Your character takes the lead by a longshot, being in Legendary Memphis. I'm still stuck in Epic act 4. I think it's a shame the secret passage enemies don't get multiplied - they would pose a serious challenge.

I want to try to be the first one to actually complete this thing challenge. I don't think that'll happen, since I don't have too much time and I think someone will soon finish the challenge. Oh well, at least I'll probably complete the race with my current contestant.

Though I'll never get the required killcount of 150,000 (I rely on pets), I think it's more important not to abuse game 'options', like quitting right before ones character would get killed.

[Poinas]

No, there have been no close calls that I can think of. I had over 9000 HP through most of epic, and now about 7,5k. High HP and resistances have been very helpful.

[Persona]

7.5k HP, nice I'm at half that amount right now. Resistance wise, my highest is at 34, poison, lowest is piercing, -8. Good thing most things don't hit me, not even arrows. If I could find an arrow dancer scroll here and there for key boss fights(Do these even appear in Epic? I haven't found a single one in Normal or Epic so far.), it's all good.

Still on Gorgons. I'm about to give up on them and just head onwards to finish Epic as soon as I can, to get on to Legendary (Assuming I don't die) and start farming there. I've already got my +4 skills for now, so I should be pretty safe to move onwards. Not really looking forward to fighting Typhon x3 again, though. Meh.

[Soull]

No, there have been no close calls that I can think of. I had over 9000 HP through most of epic, and now about 7,5k. High HP and resistances have been very helpful.

I dont know the full details about difficulty penalties, but I thought
that they only affected your resistances? or do they do something
with health + energy aswell?

[yerkyerk]

9k hp is a sick amount of health...

@soull, no there's no health/energy penalty. But in Legendary there are indeed heavy penalties to resistances, forcing one to equip +resistance gear instead of +health gear. I assume that's what messed up Poinas' health. Although 7,5k is still a lot.

I'm wondering how my fight with 3x Epic Cerberus will go...

[alex_gio1983]

After a long time i decide to play again wtih tq...
Sadly i erased everything from my previous games so now i got no items/char/relic!
Just started out a dream char, let's see if she can survive with xmod!

[oddyseuss]

what gave you the idea to call your charrie Ulyssess? that is the greek name for Oddyseuss

[Soull]

My conquerer just got owned by 3x Cinder Bones :(

now im pissed, time to take revenge !

My new character : Combo - Guardian is ready to kick
the **** out of everything he sees:twisted:

[yerkyerk]

Too bad for your conqueror. What level was he/she?

And good luck with your new character!

[Soull]

he was level 13, due to take on polyphemus :P

and nevermind about the new character, she got her *** handed to
her by an angry mob of boars :P I might try the challenge again
later, im not feeling too lucky ^^

[Dragon]

I'm going to try it with an Ranger.

Level 6, no problems found, using Telliam's Will :)

[sinithar]

Sounds really fun. Going harbinger.

Currently sparta, level 9, no probs, no moster spared

[Dragon]

Level nine, just killed three Nessus' and in the first cave from there I found a Turquoise Bow from the ratmen!! Awesome!

[Soull]

I was considering a harbringer.... ithink I might try it