06-19-2006, 04:46 PM
Quote:I do not plan on jumping into Hell blindly and unprepared. If it requires me to do a bit of item hunting before I achieve my goal, then so bet it. If I have to get up to Hell / Countess and spend a month killing Hell Countess / NM Baal / NM Mephisto, I will. I don't mind picking up the game for 20 to 30 minutes and doing boss runs, it's relaxing from my daily life. I realized this game would be sort of an item hunt ( I admit more so than I expected), so after I get up to the Countess in Hell I'll be in item hunt mode.
-MonTy
Hell/Countess is not really viable for farming unless you are high lvl and have good gear. She herself is nothing, but getting to her is a real chore. The bow rogues are a real PITA and so are the mana burn/phys immune ghosts. Stick to Nite/Baal as he can drop some decent elite uniques. Since you do not WW, you can really benefit from a low elite unique 1-hander. It'll be difficult to get it, but not impossible. Another possibility is to try farming one of the crypts next to Blood Raven. I think the one called the Mausoleum is the one that has very high lvl monsters (like the highest in the game) and it is way easier to do than running the Countess.
GL, you'll need it.
-A
Quote:>Let me put it this way. After experimenting with other builds along the way here and there, I realized a long time ago that the only fun Barb at least to me is a WW Barb.
I'm not disputing your or anyone else's personal preference and experience, I'm talking about the relevance of it, mostly in the context of a solo\sp\notwink Concentrator w\shield. You brought up an excellent point regarding the potential trouble of Hell Mode for most melee builds. That's incredibly relevant. What you or I personally find enjoyable, probably not so much.
>For a WW Barb, BOTD is by far the best weapon and the only one that makes a Barb viable in Hell MP.
Again, considering we're talking about a 1h Concentrator in solo SP, that has little to no bearing on the debate. But for what it's worth, although I disagree that a BotD is the best and only weapon for a WWinder, I don't for a second dispute that a Whirler needs a raw heavy damage weapon not only to kill but to leach, so he won't run out of gas in order to whirl, so he could survive. Especially since WW doesn't work with CtC effects iirc.
But in the context of a solo 1h Concentrator, he's probably better served with a fast weapon that has CtC AoE effects, to compensate for his 1 on 1 attack style and lack of raw damage. A Schaeffer like you mentioned, or Crescent Moon or a LawBringer might be a better fit. Out of the 3, iirc only Schaeffer and CMoon is potentially available to him as an endgame weapon, since he's not in Online Ladder.
> I cared about that stuff in D1 and in fact all my warriors in D1 were completely pure from start to finish.
So was mine. Not out of any need to get an 'ultra pure super l3git eagle scout' badge or anything silly like that. If anything I was too lazy to trade even between my own chars.
> D2 is different and besides, if by far the most fun I could have was using a weapon requiring a Zod, so be it.
Unless you're talking about Open Realms or a test char situation, then I guess we just have to agree to disagree. Mostly because (at least imo) of how little it applies to the original topic, I think if we start throwing out very high end items like BotD, or me mentioning an Act2 Merc is powerful when kitted out with a Doom weapon and clad in a Chains of Honour, we might as well be talking about a different game. Because in a lot of ways it is a different one than what the original poster is playing.
I'll readily admit I myself don't play the game in 'stock' form much nowadays. I'm mostly into mods or offline sp with the runes. txt file enabled. I'm tired of seeing bliz patches putting most of my chars into a coma, so while I disagree with you on the ZOD, I think I see where you're coming from. Especially if you had a high level char that got hit with 'improvement' during the change to 1.10. My lvl 80 1.09 Martyr got Schiavoed in 1.10. But hey I guess I should thank my lucky stars my Martyr didn't get improved the way the Amazon's Immolation arrow did. Bliz sure made an example out of her on that one.
You are right. When we start talking high-end rune words, it is no longer the same game. However, it is the only real viable option for a Barb.
-A