[VH-HC] Ironman Contest

[locklere]

[size=85]I'm going to steal locklere's format for reporting my exploits because I just totally love his style. Kudos to you, mate.

Yours was a pleasure to read -- looking forward to further updates, & good luck down there!

[Duende]

Well, I have done well considering I still haven't finished the game. I haven't had much luck regarding quality drops, but I had plenty pot drops to work with at the beginning. I'm running kinda low right now, on floor 7, because I went into a Phase Portal and it was hella hard. I've gone into... 3 or 4 phase portals so far. I think I'm gonna max Dual Wielding ASAP because I'm lacking in damage, using 1 SP for Frost Shield at clvl15. Hmm, any suggestions?

Clvl: 9 ; Flvl: 4
Slash Attack: 1
Shadow Armor: 3
Dual Wielding: 5
Titan Stomp: 1
Entropic Aura: 1
Armor Expertise: 1

This is me after killing Brink


After killing the Sisters


And this is where I am right now. Notice I'm running out of regular health pots. I got some big ones but that's it. Gonna have to be really careful. I got Draining Touch I but it's useless right now.



EDIT: Well, I killed the Overseer. Cost me all my Mana Pots. Anyway, I put a point on Doomquake and found it awesome against the slow monsters. Take em close to a wall or any other obstacle and you hit multiple times with it. That's how I killed the Overseer, took it to one of the corners and spammed Doomquake. Sadly, a Pigmy Boss killed me. Was barely scratching him and the fireballs 1/3 of my HP per hit.


And that's the end of Tango and his pet Cash. Dunno what I'm gonna try next. Maybe doomquake. For now I'm gonna go cry for my char.

[locklere]

/mourn
/single tear

[Duende]

My second attempt ended at Brink. I ended up against him with 2x 44dps weapons which glanced about half of the time even with 3pts in DW (I was saving all my pts to decide later what to do).

[Rensje]

Yours was a pleasure to read -- looking forward to further updates, & good luck down there!

Thanks, I try! I may be going for a real piece of fan fiction soon, now that I know how the story ends and have seen a bit of the (mindnumbing) Shadow Vault.
Anyway, continuing from this post..
---

Grissom's Journal: Orden Mines, Day 2

I rested for awhile before continuing my journey down. The air is thick and moist and I go out of breath quick in a fight. The creatures down here don't share my inconvenience, it seems they're well adjusted. And yet it doesn't seem like they've been here for a long time. The spiders might have been, but never before were they as vicious as they are now. Something changed them and something caused the sudden appearance of all the other monsters..

I know it's not just the Ember itself. Something's stirring in the deep. As I was about to get up and get going again, the caved rumbled and shook from deep down, causing loose rock to fall from the ceiling and hit me on the head, denting my leather cap. Shaken, I slowly got to my feet, picked up my gear and set off.

Sniffles went ahead to scout out hidden monsters and valuable treasure as he always did, but this part of the mine seemed largely abandoned by miners and monsters alike. I found some emptied chests and dead adventurers along the way, but it wasn't until I found a live miner that I was really surprised! He told me that a band of mercenaries had gone down before me and when I told him that the way behind me was cleared, he dashed for the cave's exit, leaving me alone in the dark once more.



It was as if Sniffles could smell my growing despair and sense of abandon, starting to scratch my leg and howling at me as I looked around to decide which tunnel I would take next. All I could do was pet him and whisper that things would be okay, but with every word I could feel my sense of security fade.

On the third level down I finally caught up with Brink, the man I had set after on Syl's behalf. he was visibly shaken and daren't venture any further on his own, but he wasn't about to turn back either. We decided to gang up and keep one another company. Good thing too, because it wasn't long before we were ambushed by waves of bat-like creatures with ghastly eyes and menacing claws. The toughest of the bunch left me with a sturdy looking pot helmet, very cold to the touch. I put it on; oddly enough it seemed to fit perfectly. I could have sworn it was too small to fit my head when I held it in my hand, but at this point nothing really surprised me anymore.


(I changed the story somewhat so the continuityis a bit off, but bear with me.)

Together the three of us continued. We found some more magical artifacts along the way, including a couple of strange rings and necklaces worn by the Ember-using mages amongst the bat creatures. Brink wouldn't have anything to do with them, so I equipped them myself and gave the spare ones to Sniffles. If the items weren't cursed I hoped their special properties would help to keep my dog safe. In any case, it made him bark in appreciation.

Another level we crossed without encountering much that could stop our advance. Some spider-infested tunnels and a caved in antechamber filled with hammer-wielding rats, but we were getting used to it by now. We quickened our pace down and made it to a large, open space at the very center of the mine. It was here that we met with the large armoured creature that seemed to have coordinated the attack on Torchlight earlier.

I stopped in my tracks, the creature didn't yet seem to be aware of our presence. Brink however stormed ahead with renewed vigor and challenged the creature with a question about Alric's whereabouts. He got his answer as master Alric appeared before him, standing on a ledge. What happened next caught us both by surprise.

Master Alric, obsessed with and consumed by the powers of the glowing Ember, cast a spell on Brink before he ever got the chance to jump out of the way. I rushed to his aid but I got there too late; sceraming in mortal agony I saw my companion transform into something huge and hideous, almost golem-like. I had gotten too close, the spell hit me too and I could feel the force of the Ember piercing me, filling the blood in my veins with malicious energy. When the effect wore off, Alric disappeared and Brink slowly got to his feet. I attempted to get his attention by speaking to him, but as soon as he became aware of my presence he charged me, his eyes burning with bloodrage.

The fight that ensued was brutal. Brink's strength was inhuman, his powers lethal. He blasted me with the power of all elements, having me dodge thunder and ice to get to him. He hit me hard several times, but after a while I finally managed to strike him down, tears rolling down my face. There was nothing I could have done for him anymore, but Brink hadn't deserved his fate; I felt like a murderer.

I tried to block out the dark thoughts that were clouding both my vision and judgement and set off down the path again. I came upon a large and shining portal, which I approached with caution. As I got closer, I noticed someone stepping out of it. Syl. She asked if I was okay and I told her what happened. She gasped for air when I told her what happened to Brink and how I had to destroy him after what Alric had done to him. Her eyes got wet with tears, but she didn't cry. Instead, she instructed me to chase Alric down to see if he could still be saved from the effect of Ember, and to cleanse me in the process..



To be continued..

[BlastTyrant]

And that's that - death by ember tree invisible breath spam.

Sorry to hear that. We were rooting for you.

*story*

Best of luck, and keep 'em coming.

[locklere]

I started a new ironman today... updates coming soon!

[locklere]

I started a new ironman today... updates coming soon!

Black Palace phase portal at level 9, to a platform immediately in front of two zealot spawnpoints. I had Heal Self I, a healing potion, Entropic Aura, and Shadow Armor on constantly, and they still overpowered me. Goodbye, unique mace... goodbye, unique chest armor...

[Duende]

This is as far as I'm going with this one

I got the first glyph, but I just found no good weapons or like, anything good at all, and I'm not gonna spend another level running from pygmies and chugging pots, so I'm taking a portal to get better equips.

It's fun, but once I reach the ruins it goes downhill unless I find good weapons. The first two tilesets, piece of cake, because they're mostly slow, Entropic Aura and Shadow Armor being all you need. But then they get all fast, and they hit super hard when you got crap armor. Meh. So far I've tried 4 runs, this being the 4th.

[BlastTyrant]

Black Palace phase portal at level 9, to a platform immediately in front of two zealot spawnpoints.

Yeah, that same portal ended my L29 (non-Ironman) Alchemist's life. Not a whole crapload you can do when you're dead before you can react.

[jackx]

Started a Vanquisher, just got done killing Brink. Easy going so far, had some decent drops (pistol, Frost I).

Pics later when I get back from uni.

Edit: Duende, no Titan Stomp? That'd have made your life a lot easier in the ruins IMHO...

Edit2:

[Duende]

Started a Vanquisher, just got done killing Brink. Easy going so far, had some decent drops (pistol, Frost I).

Pics later when I get back from uni.

Edit: Duende, no Titan Stomp? That'd have made your life a lot easier in the ruins IMHO...

I used it on my first run and found it somewhat useful, but then I learned how to go without it. It's not the mobs that get me, that I can handle by falling back, it's pretty much every monster getting a shot at me before I can kill them that chips my health away. I had to use 2 slash attacks PER pygmy. And the champions took countless hits to down.

BTW, I found some success on my previous run by using Soul Rend. The electric damage helps a lot when you got a crap weapon. I remember killing Overseer without having to spam pots (although I think it was mostly because I discovered how to take him on). On Wimpy I had I think 7 unused SP before calling it quits, could have put them there.

[Mcrat]

Heh you guys are crazy. But in a good way

I'll happily join in the Ironman contest once I finish the game playing normally on VH-HC...

[jackx]

Aye, Pygmies are annoying when you can't 1-shot them, I couldn't either for most of the ruins, but I found I could still kill them without getting hit most of the time. Start swinging early so you hit them the moment they come into range, take a step back, swing again. You'll have to kill them one after the other/in small groups that way, which is where TS comes in - it breaks up groups, and you can usually keep those you stun from coming after you further if you run off-screen.

I've avoided Soul Rend so far, it's too slow to be much use on its own IMHO, as you'll almost inevitably get hit in return. Might work with some additional slow-down effects on the mob though, i.e. if you get Frost.

Edit: Progress with the lady... still fairly smooth sailing, but I'm fairly convinced now that Vanquisher isn't the class for me. Not sure if I'll keep going, but for today I've done my share of running away. Gear drops have also been abysmal, lots of rares and uniques, but all for Destroyer and Alchemist. It doesn't really matter, but shiny new gear might've kept me motivated to continue with the boring playstyle for a bit longer...

[Rensje]

Hey Jackx,

Well done on your progress so far, but I have a question! I thought about the limitations of this topic's challenge, and looking back at the first post it says that this challenge is issued out to mêlèe Destroyers only. Furthermore, use of any form of ranged attack is prohibited for the purpose of this specific challenge. I love how you're keeping track of your various characters' exploits on this forum, but for your Vanquisher this might not be the right topic?

I don't mean this in a bad way, mind you, I like reading about what you're doing, you seem one of the better hardcore players here!

Anyway, I'm posting from work right now, but check back here later for the next chapter in Grissom's hardcore dungeon delving diary!

[jackx]

Yep,sorry about that. I realized too late that I'd ended up posting the Vanquisher in the wrong topic after I announced her in a differet one last night, but in any case, she's been shelved for now.

Started a new Destroyer, Keiler, with his trusty imaginary pet, "Wutz"... again, made it past Brink. The Stone mace is loot from the Brink fight, but he had the scimitar and a 60 dps hammer going into it, so it wasn't too hard.




And here's a good action shot from a bit earlier

[locklere]

Love how the troll's attack animation ends, but it still does damage if you run up to it afterward. What's that take, about 3 seconds for a dev to fix? When's the new patch coming out to fix all these bugs?

[Voj]

Tenderized rat face.

[jackx]

I think the last hour of gameplay can be summed up as a resounding "SCREEEEECH".

Past the sisters again, but I had to kite like a dozen constructs on each of the two floors... now my ears hurt, and I'm tired. More tomorrow, including the obligatory pic.

Edit:



Regarding the troll attacks - that's a general problem with AoE/hits-multiple-targets swings. Slash is affected in the same way, which is why it's so useful for hit and run - much less timing-sensitive than normal attacks. Would be nice if it synched better with the animation, or if at least the trails/shockwave stayed for as long as it's doing damage.

[BlindShooter]

Can ranged *spells* be used?