09-11-2003, 11:39 PM
OK guys, I think the race for the Imbue is pretty much nailed down, give or take 5 minutes, 30 minutes seem to be reasonable. Now, I've decided to give the longer race a try, as usual 1 player, no twink, no aid.
The ultimate target is, of course, killing Baal, and as so rush to the Hellforge in Nightmare. The limit is the level 20 and ancients quest, so I decided to take a look at what could be the best character for just running ahead without looking back, move forward and still get exp. The Blaze Sorceress.
To accomplish this task there're basically four parts:
- Lvl. 1 to lvl. 6, as usual. The best pseudo-area-of-effect for this task will be charged bolt. Tempting as it might be, don't add a single point to warmth. Once you pass this first phase you'll be set since Blaze is not very mana intensive.
- lvl 6 to lvl 12: Poison pots will carry you through this. The biggest problem is that you'll likely have to kill Andy before you get to level 12 (no point wasting time leveling up, your target is level 20 in act 5, something you'll reach FAR earlier), but a single poing in static field will do wonders for you.
- lvl 12 to lvl 18: Run and blaze. Keep a few stamina potions in the inventory at all times, very useful. A point in a chilling armour might be worth considering (since this isn't hardcore and it's just an experiment, I didn't use it, and several deaths afterwards with precious minutes lost I though it was a mistake). Then you'll have teleport. Teleport eats mana (you should be giving yourself nothing but life. High strength is useless, high dex as well, mana is not an issue and mana pots can be bought) so use it wisely. As soon as I got teleport I didn't miss the cold armours (but given the particular task at hand, wasting one skill point there might still be recommended).
- lvl 18 on: Blaze + teleport and you'll have tons of fun.
FACT: You have to kill the council. I smashed the orb without killing them all and I couldn't enter the portal I did BACK TO durance level 1 (KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!!). I so wanted to smack someone (last waypoint was Lower Kurast).
FACT: Twinking could be a good idea. Even with high life (heck, as of level 20 I have over 300) you'll be a sitting duck if you have no faster hit recovery. Due to the nature of this particular game, picking up stuff to sell and gambling is out of the question, too time consuming.
FACT: Cash WILL be a problem with this playing style. Using plenty of pots (and "recharging" poison pots) and not picking up much loot.
FACT: You'll reach level 20 very early.
FACT: Kurast and the Durance can't be done faster with any other character.
Times:
Malus: 30:12 lvl. 8
Andy: 51:20 lvl. 10
Staff: 1:32:56 lvl 14
Amulet: 1:37:15 lvl 14
Canyon: 1:57:27 lvl 16
Duriel: 2:13:18 lvl 17
Jade Figurine: 2:17:44 lvl 17
Gibbdin: 2:39:41 lvl 19
Tome: 2:51:18 lvl 20
Khalim's guts: 2:52:36 lvl 20 (time when the last piece was obtained)
Khalim's Flail: 2:55:15 lvl 20
Mephisto's Soulstone: 3:00:05 lvl 20
I was quite astonished when I saw the time too :) I wasn't going to get the malus, but I came accross it and was level 8 already, so why not.
Andariel wasn't too hard, I died once since I was careless, but I could have survived if I had prepared myself properly. The jail has to be the worst part, when you're really underpowered and the maps can be a pain to find the way down.
The Maggot Lair is horrible, with no teleport you have to move continuously and tempt monsters to follow you. Very slow advance, and the final room with the queen was packed with scarabs. Not pretty.
Having no faster hit recovery really hurt in the viper temple. Those charges really get to you when you're such low level. And Duriel, thanks to the annoying freeze and my lack of rejuvenation potions (I can't cube them anymore, well, at least without gems, and those are not so abundant, remember the lack of loot of this build?), well...
The palace is really easy to just skip, the stairs are always in the same place.
The arcane sanctuary is annoying if you find the summoner in the last possible place he can be. The portals quadrant has to be done with charged bolt because blaze just doesn't cut. Same for the summoner himself.
The jungles go on for ever and ever. And is it me or the packs of flayers are a lot more dense than they used to be? I'm talking "bring down my athlon XP with 1.5 Gb of memory to its knees" kind of dense. Unbelievable.
As soon as you hit Kurast you'll finish in the blink of an eye. See how the time between the Tome and killing Mephisto was less than 10 minutes, including having to kill the council and that "I can't enter my own portal" moment (KHAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!).
Assault to Diablo's fortress tomorrow, I'm too tired today :lol:
It'll include the hellforge, but I'll skip Anya and Nithalak (sp?) in act 5 if possible (do they block any later quests?).
The ultimate target is, of course, killing Baal, and as so rush to the Hellforge in Nightmare. The limit is the level 20 and ancients quest, so I decided to take a look at what could be the best character for just running ahead without looking back, move forward and still get exp. The Blaze Sorceress.
To accomplish this task there're basically four parts:
- Lvl. 1 to lvl. 6, as usual. The best pseudo-area-of-effect for this task will be charged bolt. Tempting as it might be, don't add a single point to warmth. Once you pass this first phase you'll be set since Blaze is not very mana intensive.
- lvl 6 to lvl 12: Poison pots will carry you through this. The biggest problem is that you'll likely have to kill Andy before you get to level 12 (no point wasting time leveling up, your target is level 20 in act 5, something you'll reach FAR earlier), but a single poing in static field will do wonders for you.
- lvl 12 to lvl 18: Run and blaze. Keep a few stamina potions in the inventory at all times, very useful. A point in a chilling armour might be worth considering (since this isn't hardcore and it's just an experiment, I didn't use it, and several deaths afterwards with precious minutes lost I though it was a mistake). Then you'll have teleport. Teleport eats mana (you should be giving yourself nothing but life. High strength is useless, high dex as well, mana is not an issue and mana pots can be bought) so use it wisely. As soon as I got teleport I didn't miss the cold armours (but given the particular task at hand, wasting one skill point there might still be recommended).
- lvl 18 on: Blaze + teleport and you'll have tons of fun.
FACT: You have to kill the council. I smashed the orb without killing them all and I couldn't enter the portal I did BACK TO durance level 1 (KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!!). I so wanted to smack someone (last waypoint was Lower Kurast).
FACT: Twinking could be a good idea. Even with high life (heck, as of level 20 I have over 300) you'll be a sitting duck if you have no faster hit recovery. Due to the nature of this particular game, picking up stuff to sell and gambling is out of the question, too time consuming.
FACT: Cash WILL be a problem with this playing style. Using plenty of pots (and "recharging" poison pots) and not picking up much loot.
FACT: You'll reach level 20 very early.
FACT: Kurast and the Durance can't be done faster with any other character.
Times:
Malus: 30:12 lvl. 8
Andy: 51:20 lvl. 10
Staff: 1:32:56 lvl 14
Amulet: 1:37:15 lvl 14
Canyon: 1:57:27 lvl 16
Duriel: 2:13:18 lvl 17
Jade Figurine: 2:17:44 lvl 17
Gibbdin: 2:39:41 lvl 19
Tome: 2:51:18 lvl 20
Khalim's guts: 2:52:36 lvl 20 (time when the last piece was obtained)
Khalim's Flail: 2:55:15 lvl 20
Mephisto's Soulstone: 3:00:05 lvl 20
I was quite astonished when I saw the time too :) I wasn't going to get the malus, but I came accross it and was level 8 already, so why not.
Andariel wasn't too hard, I died once since I was careless, but I could have survived if I had prepared myself properly. The jail has to be the worst part, when you're really underpowered and the maps can be a pain to find the way down.
The Maggot Lair is horrible, with no teleport you have to move continuously and tempt monsters to follow you. Very slow advance, and the final room with the queen was packed with scarabs. Not pretty.
Having no faster hit recovery really hurt in the viper temple. Those charges really get to you when you're such low level. And Duriel, thanks to the annoying freeze and my lack of rejuvenation potions (I can't cube them anymore, well, at least without gems, and those are not so abundant, remember the lack of loot of this build?), well...
The palace is really easy to just skip, the stairs are always in the same place.
The arcane sanctuary is annoying if you find the summoner in the last possible place he can be. The portals quadrant has to be done with charged bolt because blaze just doesn't cut. Same for the summoner himself.
The jungles go on for ever and ever. And is it me or the packs of flayers are a lot more dense than they used to be? I'm talking "bring down my athlon XP with 1.5 Gb of memory to its knees" kind of dense. Unbelievable.
As soon as you hit Kurast you'll finish in the blink of an eye. See how the time between the Tome and killing Mephisto was less than 10 minutes, including having to kill the council and that "I can't enter my own portal" moment (KHAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!).
Assault to Diablo's fortress tomorrow, I'm too tired today :lol:
It'll include the hellforge, but I'll skip Anya and Nithalak (sp?) in act 5 if possible (do they block any later quests?).