Grizabella, the Realistic Fighter Mage

[MongoJerry]

GRIZABELLA: COWS Part IV, The Bosses



It turns out that I had done a better job of taking out the bosses' minions than I had thought. There were only a handful of normal cows left when I returned to the King's corral and they were easily separated and killed. Then, it was time to take care of the bosses. First up was Star Maim the Unholy who fell quickly.



Then came Warp Jade the Howler and Soul Cloud the Sharp (the other cow in the above screenshot). I may have gone to town once in this fight.



Then came the most satisfying fight of all -- Steel Fang. The fanat aura enchanted amp cursed boss who caused so much trouble from the beginning turned out to be the last cow to die before Grizabella faced the Cow King.

[MongoJerry]

GRIZABELLA: COWS Part V, The Cow King



The Cow King was tough. Really tough. Not only was he Immune to Fire, Immune to Lightning, and Magic Resistant but even physical damage wasn't doing much to him. I don't know how to read mpq's, but I would guess that either he has a boatload of hit points or he has a large amount of physical resistance (probably both). I tried Berserk for a while but I was hardly denting him. Just in case he was regenning, despite the fact that shouldn't have been since he's not immune to poison, I started hitting him with my 'Call to Arms' blade which has Prevent Monster Heal. The King didn't seem to get damaged any faster. Out of paranoia, I kept using the 'Call to Arms' blade.

Even though Grizabella and her merc had excellent resistances, the King's lightning was still troublesome. We were quaffing potions like mad and I quickly lost count of the number of times we went to town.

But then I noticed something that you can see in the screenshot above. My merc had gotten into a position that allowed all of the lightning coming off the King to miss him. I moved around to the top where there was another lightning "hole" and started wailing on the King. Now that neither of us were being hit by lightning, things were easier. My merc was able to leech back all of the life he lost whenever the King hit him. There was no longer any need to go back to town.

The King still had a boatload of hitpoints, though, and for a while I was paranoid. I kept up the Battle Orders for a while but then decided to let it expire to see if my merc would still survive. He could. The King was completely focused on the merc and the merc was leeching back all the damage the King could deal. I laid a book on my mouse button and watched for a while. Everything was going smoothly. I turned on the TV in the next room but paced back and forth between the rooms in order to keep an eye on the fight.

At the 30-minute mark, the King's life bar was down to the "i" in King. Nothing else had changed. I settled in for a two hour fight. I turned up the volume on my computer's speakers so that I could hear them in the next room, went into the next room, and sat down to watch some TV.

Fifteen minutes later, I heard a frightening noise. I jumped out of my chair, sprinted into the computer room, and beheld an ugly scene on my computer screen.

[MongoJerry]

[/QUOTE]

I don't want to disappoint you, but just for the sake of accuracy, MDR has always been applied before resistances, and it is further penalized against frame based attacks such as Firewall too. The following might be of some interest to you:

Article #1: Tommi's Damage Modification Mechanics. See section 3, Applicatoin Order. ES/BA are now applied first in v1.10 though.
Article #2: Tommi's MDR vs. Frame Based Attacks. Still valid in v1.10 I think.

I'll check that out. You're probably right, but if that's true, then I'm a little confused about why Grizabella took no damage when she stood in the Summoner's Firewall in hell difficulty. I'll do some reading and experimenting.

I didn't go through the rest of your posts in detail, but a quick search for Life Tap turned up empty, so I'll make the routine suggestion that you purchase a Wand of Life Tap and use that to keep your merc alive. It should save you quite a few potions and mouse clicks for teleport. Using Life Tap would obviously conflict with Delerium, but it is something worth considering when you encounter champion packs or other hard hitting bosses.

Yeah, that's a good idea. You could use it once you've isolated the boss from his minions. But usually once you've isolated the boss, you can take him down. But, yeah, it could help. The awkward part is that with 'Call to Arms' on weapon switch, you'll have to sub in the wand using your inventory screen. That's obviously not an option during a fast moving fight.

It does give me an idea for the Ancients, though. Is Battle Cry considered a curse? (It appears over the head, so I'm not sure) In other words, would Life Tap override Battle Cry? If not, then it would definitely be helpful to both Lifetap and Battle Cry the Ancients.

[Olon97]

Fifteen minutes later, I heard a frightening noise.  I jumped out of my chair, sprinted into the computer room, and beheld an ugly scene on my computer screen.

So... was "Fire Enchanted" from the Cow King enough to 1-hit kill Grizabella (without the benifit of BO presumably)? Must admit I'm curious what happened. :P

[MongoJerry]

So... was "Fire Enchanted" from the Cow King enough to 1-hit kill Grizabella (without the benifit of BO presumably)? Must admit I'm curious what happened.

With these posts, I've brought the Lurker Lounge up to the present with the updates I've given the diabloii.net beta test board. I'm being evil and waiting until tomorrow to give the final update. I've already gotten 10 "Argh! The Suspense is killing me!" posts at diabloii.net. :lol:

[Bolty]

Argh! The Suspense is killing me!

Seriously, these posts are superb. Excellent writing, and a gripping tale. It's fabulous to see all these previously-ignored skills like Confuse now becoming so crucial. The underutilized curses that a Necromancer possesses and other classes can obtain via items can make or break a party.

I await the conclusion.

-Bolty

[Obi2Kenobi]

I take offense at that! My favorite curse is confuse. :D

[MongoJerry]

GRIZABELLA: THE FINALE



Boy, the Cow King sure is messy when he dies. What an ugly scene.

But, Grizabella was victorious! It was a rough ride, but Grizabella accepted the challenge of hell difficulty and emerged victorious in the end!

I don't know why the King died when he did. Like I said, I was preparing for a two hour fight and wasn't in the room when he died. Maybe there's a display bug with the hit point bar. Or maybe there's something in the AI that says, "If a guy's been wailing on you for 45 minutes, just die already." Actually, I noticed this phenomenon with Vilehand but I didn't mention it, because I thought it might've been a one-time thing. In his case, I watched Vilehand and he had about 20% of his life left when he suddenly went splat. I don't know why.

Nope, I didn't get squat. *shrug*

I'm glad you all enjoyed reading about the adventures of Grizabella. I had a blast both playing her and writing up her adventures. It was a real kick every time I read a post cheering Grizabella on. Those posts made me concentrate harder and play better to make sure that Grizabella didn't disappoint her fans.


FINAL THOUGHTS

1. It's possible to play a fighter mage in hell! It may take a lot of patience and trickery to do it, but gosh darn it I finally got to play a fighter mage.

2. If the runewords don't change in the final release, run, don't walk, to make your 'Call to Arms' and 'Delirium' items. I'm serious when I say that 'Delirium' is the most powerful item in the game. Can you imagine a bowazon armed with a 'Delirium' crown and a 'Call to Arms' weapon on weapon switch? That bowazon will never die. And don't worry, caster sorceresses, you can use 'Delirium,' too. Just give it to your mercenary (do they turn into Undead Stygian Dolls, too? I'll have to try it).

Of course, if everyone's using 'Delirium' crowns, it'll drive necromancers crazy as the Confuse curse will override necromancer curses. Necromancers may end up having to be asocial.

3. Grizabella may have been victorious, but the lack of a good way to deal with fire immunes was definitely a constant problem. If someone were to make a fighter mage on the realms, I'd suggest trying to collect a few high damage lightning jewels or charms. Assuming that Lightning Mastery still increases item elemental damage (this should be tested), that should give a decent secondary attack. Of course, it's tough to give up jewel slots and charm slots that could be used for resistances and life, but even a couple hundred damage points of lightning would be worth it.

Alternatively, one could take the points I spent in Chilling Armor and spend them on Thunderstorm. I never regretted having Chilling Armor, since it significantly changed the chances of getting hit by a lot of monsters. However, Thunderstorm would be helpful against tough fire immunes.

4. Also, if one were to actually build a fighter mage on the realms, every effort should be made to get as many +skill items as one can. The power of Enchant increases dramatically with each +skill (remember, both Enchant and Fire Mastery get increased). Plus all the other skills like Zeal, Berserk, Battle Cry, Battle Command, Battle Orders, Chilling Armor, and Energy Shield all improve with +skills. Make sure to try to get +all skills items rather than +sorceress skills items, because you want to boost your barbarian and paladin skills, too.

[whereagles]

Yeah nice story. Reminded me of Sirian's tales eheh.

[Rumgut]

Hats off, excellent post.

[spear of light]

Bravo! You played her very well. The Amazon Basin sorceress forum seem to think that melee sorcs are doa in 1.10. I believe you proved otherwise. I have an 80th level melee sorc that is a blast to play. Not an uber character, but one that keeps you engaged in the game with time flying by. I have 22 skill points left, so I will max enchant and finish up maxing thunderstorm and hydra. I was afraid that the patch would render her unplayable in act 5 hell where she mainly hangs out, but your success shows it can be done. Per your advice, I think delerium will be her first runeword. I plan on doing another melee sorc when the patch comes out, maxing warmth, enchant and possibly blizzard for crowd control.

[Occhidiangela]

Thanks for the time and effort you put into sharing your journey with us. :D

Way to go.

[channel1]

Well done. I think the Spirit of Sirian lives on! And to think, there won't be any debates with Max Schaefer. :S

Most of my time in 1.10 has been with a Bowazon and a Summon Necro with at least one point in everything. With those characters, I 100% agree about Delirium, it's fantastic on a Melee Merc, and probably on an Act1 merc as well. The chance to cast Delirium is a curse, but worthwhile. Although it only has a 1% chance to cast, it seems to be 100% chance to cast at the worst time. :) Even so, I haven't died as a result of getting bone-ified yet, but my usual strategy when that happens is to run like hell.
In both the Zon and Necro, I use a Bow with Call to Arms. That way, I can get Delirium's Confuse to trigger from a distance. Once the monsters pack together, the Merc's Delirium keeps Confuse going. The Zon's normal Hell weapon is Silence for the +Resist All, in Nightmare she sticks with Call to Arms.

I found Breath of the Dying to be the best Melee Merc weapon, once the Poison Novas (Novae?) start flying it's usually all over.
Crescent Moon was useful for Diablo, and necessary for Baal. Otherwise, I didn't find the Static Field to be as effective as Poison Nova in handling most situations.

The killer armor for non-Sorceress types looks like Enigma. Teleport is THE Merc-saver. Too bad it gives no resistances, combined with Call to Arms and Delirium you really scratch to get resistances above zero in Hell.

You never mentioned what I've found to be the best weapon for my Necro, and I assume would also be best for a "normal" Sorceress. Maybe even good for your Melee Sorc, I suppose you just never ran across the Vex to make Heart of the Oak.
Heart of the Oak, besides giving a big +3 to all skills, has Oak Sage, which, combined with the Battle Orders from your Call to Arms will give you and your crew serious life. The BO will stay up after weapon swap, but the Oak Sage only stays up as long as the Heart of the Oak is equipped.

The only downside with Heart of the Oak is keeping the poor l'il Level 4 Oak Sage alive. It's not bad when you can keep track of what is going on, but with Confuse getting cast, and in areas with lots of range attackers, it becomes totally - uh, Confusing. When my Necro did the Nightmare Frozen River, with lots of Gloams around, he naturally Revived all the Gloam corpses he could find. When he ran into THREE packs of Gloams, the Gloam-bolts were flying across the screen in every direction, and there was no way to tell what was a bolt from a Revived Gloam or one that was still kicking. :) After recasting the Oak Sage 4 times in half a minute, I gave up and just went for the kills.

The Realm economy is going to be absolutely nuts when 1.10 goes live. I think Runes are going to be SO overpriced, that you will be able to get almost any Set/Unique/Rare item for the Runes that are used in what will be perceived as the "Best" items. I bet that there will be players using Delirium within the first two days, even money says the first will be within 24 hours. :)

-rcv-

[MongoJerry]

Well done. I think the Spirit of Sirian lives on!

Thankyou, that's a huge compliment. I still remember Sirian's stories of Ember vividly.

Most of my time in 1.10 has been with a Bowazon and a Summon Necro with at least one point in everything. With those characters, I 100% agree about Delirium, it's fantastic on a Melee Merc, and probably on an Act1 merc as well. The chance to cast Delirium is a curse, but worthwhile. Although it only has a 1% chance to cast, it seems to be 100% chance to cast at the worst time. :) Even so, I haven't died as a result of getting bone-ified yet, but my usual strategy when that happens is to run like hell.

Heh. I know what you mean. Actually, it wasn't too bad for me. As long as I wasn't being swarmed, I usually kept right on fighting, since I did just about as much damage in undead form as in normal form. :) The big problem was that I couldn't teleport, so if it looked at all like the situation was getting dangerous, I'd tp to town and wait the curse out.

I found Breath of the Dying to be the best Melee Merc weapon, once the Poison Novas (Novae?) start flying it's usually all over.
Crescent Moon was useful for Diablo, and necessary for Baal. Otherwise, I didn't find the Static Field to be as effective as Poison Nova in handling most situations.

Well, yeah, sure, if you happen to have a spare Zod lying around. What makes Crescent Moon great is that it only requires an Um. Jeez, I only just noticed that. I'll have to keep that in mind. That would've been great to arm my merc with. Level 17 Chain Lightning, level 13 Static Field. Man, that would've been great against those pesky fire immunes!

The killer armor for non-Sorceress types looks like Enigma. Teleport is THE Merc-saver. Too bad it gives no resistances, combined with Call to Arms and Delirium you really scratch to get resistances above zero in Hell.

Without a doubt it would be useful, but I think arguments can be made for other armors. Enigma would be fantastic for a summoner necromancer, since it'd be great to be able to teleport a whole army on top of a designated target. But for PvM fighter characters, I think good arguments can be made for 'Chains of Honor'. +2 all skills, +200% damage to demons, +100% damage to undead, 8% life leech, +70% enhanced defence, +20 strength, replenish life +7, all resists 65%, damage reduced by 8%, 25% magic find. I mean, what's not to like?

You never mentioned what I've found to be the best weapon for my Necro, and I assume would also be best for a "normal" Sorceress. Maybe even good for your Melee Sorc, I suppose you just never ran across the Vex to make Heart of the Oak.
Heart of the Oak, besides giving a big +3 to all skills, has Oak Sage, which, combined with the Battle Orders from your Call to Arms will give you and your crew serious life. The BO will stay up after weapon swap, but the Oak Sage only stays up as long as the Heart of the Oak is equipped.

You're right it's great for casting characters, but it wouldn't work well for a melee sorceress. I looked at it for Grizabella, but you're basically suggesting replacing the 'Passion' phase blade with a 'Heart of the Oak' mace of some kind. HotO doesn't have any enhanced damage (ok, +75% to demons, but that's it) or increased attack speed. Plus, 'Passion' has Zeal and Berserk which can come in very handy -- Zeal for groups and Berserk for physical immunes. Also, HotO can't be used in a Phase Blade, so you can't take advantage of Phase Blades' incredible speed and natural indestructibility, which saves a lot on repair costs. Finally, what you're saying about Oak Sage sounds good, but it's not practical. Battle Orders runs out every couple of minutes and every time you switch weapons, the Oak Sage will die. The cost of repairing all those charges would get prohibitively expensive unless by some miracle you have an unlimited supply of Ort runes to cube repair with. Besides, 'Passion' comes with 'Heart of the Wolverine' charges on it, so even if you did have unlimited cash or Ort runes, you could still get some attack bonuses that way. I just don't think HotO is worth it.

Heck, as long as we're dreaming, the best weapon for a melee sorceress would be a 'Beast' weapon which gives a level 9 Fanatacism aura to her party and lets her turn into a werebear which gives bonuses to life, defence, damage, and attack rating. She can't teleport in that form, so she would have to switch forms depending on the situation, but all in all 'Beast' would definitely be the best weapon. You just have to find the Ber and Mal runes to make it.

The Realm economy is going to be absolutely nuts when 1.10 goes live. I think Runes are going to be SO overpriced, that you will be able to get almost any Set/Unique/Rare item for the Runes that are used in what will be perceived as the "Best" items. I bet that there will be players using Delirium within the first two days, even money says the first will be within 24 hours.

That might be hard to do in ladder games, especially hardcore ones, which is all I'll play. People'll have to get to hell just to start looking for those runes. I give it three days. :D

[MongoJerry]

Incidentally, if you'd like to play Grizabella, I updated her to 1.10s (yeah, I used ATMA, oh well -- I wanted to keep playing her) and uploaded her to my website. You can download her by clicking on the following link:

Grizabella

As an added bonus, I made a 'Crescent Moon' Giant Thresher and placed it in her stash. That's the weapon my merc would've been using the whole time, if I'd realized 'Crescent Moon' only needed an Um.

[Iolair]

Thank you. I really enjoyed reading about Grizabella and her adventures. It perfectly describes what a good D2 game is IMO. Making fun challenges for oneself, playing underpowered characters and still being able to get through with the use of tactics and wits.

I too remember Ember and her firebolts. Both your and Sirians story are good reads and in the same class. Thanks again!

Oh, my husband liked the story too, we have begun to call her Grizzie :)

[Obi2Kenobi]

There's also Psycop... Telekinesis as the main killing spell, firebolt for lightning immunes. :) (only on the staff, I believe)

[MongoJerry]

There's also Psycop... Telekinesis as the main killing spell, firebolt for lightning immunes.  (only on the staff, I believe)

Sadly, Telekinesis doesn't have any synergies. *shrug*

The main problem with these kinds of low-power sorceress builds, and believe me I've been thinking about them a lot, is that monster life regen rates are so incredibly high now. Grizabella couldn't do any damage to Poison Immune monsters in hell using her 'Passion' blade, because the monsters repaired all the damage as fast as she dealt it. She had to switch to her 'Call to Arms' blade which has Prevent Monster Heal to do any damage to them. An underpowered casting sorceress doesn't have the luxury of simply putting in a poison charm in her inventory or of using a Prevent Monster Heal weapon. The only options I see are equiping your merc with poison dealing items or having your sorceress toss a choking gas potion at the monsters before she attacks them with her spells.