I begun the next step of my journey not immediately in Burning Hells, but in Pandemonium Fortress. Thanks to Ormus' magicks and Cain additional information, we found our way in the Pandemonium Fortress, under ownership the very same angel - or rather archangel - I once met.
This divine being was known as Tyrael, the archangel of Justice. He, as the only one from Angelic Council, truly supports humanity against their fight with demons. Tyrael told me what I have to do in order to destroy Mephisto's soulstone and banish it's spirit to the abyss. He also asked me to find the creature named Izual and end his suffering. Izual was Tyrael's former warrior and friend, an fallen angel.
I found him in Plains of Despair and I ended his life. Foul creature has betrayed the heaven willingly! If such holy creature as angel can become so corrupt, what chance does humanity have? Humans can be corrupted even more, throught corrupted ideology...
No. I will cleanse Zakarum. And then I will return to my faifth. But Prime Evils have to go first.
After slaying countless minons of Hell, I finally found my way to River of the Flames. There, I searched and found the Hellforge, where Mephisto's soulstone could be destroyed. The forge was protected by large demon, who was probably the smith there. It brought back memories of Rouge's Monastery. In the strange way it was kind of... refreshing.
Using creature's Hellforge hammer I have smashed Mephisto soulstone. And surprisingly, I felt like I accomplished something. I felt like Zakarum can be really redeemed right now, that Lord of Hatred is no more. It will require time, effort, understanding the concept of the Light and lot of work, but maybe the recovery is possible. Who knows... maybe when it all ends, I can help in rebuilding my former faifth... Or at this point, it is even former?
Regardless.... First, I'll hunt Diablo in his Chaos Sanctuary in the Realm of Terror....
..........
Here where journal of the Faithless ends. The champions of the mortal word, the Druid and the Assasin among them, who followed after him have found his (and Durga's) scorched corpses on the eastern part of Chaos Sanctuary. And they finished what the Faithless could not.
Even if the Faithless has ultimately failed, he is still a legend amongs the Crusader order. Crusaders speak of his courage and dedication, even as he lacked his faifth and later - how he began to believe again and planned to cleanse Zakarum of corruption. That was a goal that ultimately could not be done, but for Crusaders, the journey and their way of life has meaning in itself. Life of the Faithless had meaning in intself as well. His deeds of valor will be remembered.
..........
Ok, while I planned him to die (I did mention that I won't be doing Nightmare and Hell difficulties with him, didn't I?), he died in the first of the opportunities I considered for him. I planned him to die in order to write a story bit with an hero who had failed. I was wondering when I'll let him die, and thought of these opportunities:
1) Dying against Diablo's minons in Chaos Sanctuary. This is what happened, and what's more important - while that was the opportunity, I didn't actually planned that. I was surpsised by how fast he died against Inferno's from Venom Lord. If @God 's memory serves him well, he might remember my question about fire damage outpout of Ghould Lords and Venom Lords/Balrog in his Enhanced Edition mod, because frankly I don't recall the damage being this huge. I mean, Venom Lords were always devastating with this, but this time around I wasn't even able to drink a potion in time. And I don't recall Zaraki having that kind of problem... Well. It happened and I adjusted my story bits for that.
2) Dying against Diablo. Still a failure, just more epic.
3) Dying against the Ancients and being deined access to Worldstone. Pretty bad endin.
4) Dying against Lister the Tormentor.
Overall, I am pleased I've done this playthrought and was able to write a story around it.
Now, for some news. First of, I am currently out of "phase" for Diablo 2 and I am not currently feeling like playing it. So, no new characters from me for a while for Diablo 2.
But, I plan two things for Diablo 3 to share here.
First will be the Darkening of Tristram event in January. I will create character in a new season, bring up the difficulty to expert/master and then beat the entire event and write about it here in some interesting way.
Second, eventually Necromancer will be avaliable to play in Diablo 3 and I would be willing to write a playthrought throught campaign, with me increasing the difficulty after each Act I beat.
Until then, please don't let this topic die. I would fancy to read some updates here.
I was surpsised by how fast he died against Inferno's from Venom Lord. If God 's memory serves him well, he might remember my question about fire damage outpout of Ghould Lords and Venom Lords/Balrog in his Enhanced Edition mod, because frankly I don't recall the damage being this huge. I mean, Venom Lords were always devastating with this, but this time around I wasn't even able to drink a potion in time.
I do remember them as hard as that. They hardest encounter for Paladins on Normal IMO, maybe after Bhaal's last wave of minions, not sure (I still have nightmares about those). I have a Zealot which I believe I used full Rejuvs and 75% fire resistance on to get through that fight besides the Act 2 merc instead of the act 3 one I had prior to failing it for the first time.
I guess people are just being quietly mindful of the Balance as they are waiting for the arrival of a Necromancer, or the D2EE update to be released very soon, or whatever
I guess people are just being quietly mindful of the Balance as they are waiting for the arrival of a Necromancer, or the D2EE update to be released very soon, or whatever
About Necromancer, I doubt that. I have an impression that among the contributors to this topic I'm the only one willing to do something D3-related here. I am, however, open to possibility that I am wrong.
I'm the only one willing to do something D3-related here
...and quietly mindful of the Balance as you are waiting for the arrival of a Necromancer. I mostly meant you, friend But you can always tell us about your Veradani monk, or another of the Nephilim, if you so desire. In seeing your D3 gameplay, more might feel inclined to give the game a try. Or maybe not; I don't really know.
So, the palace harem, and the Arcane Sanctury both have some foes with elemental damage. Because that i was thinking about raise Yahiko's resistances. This can be accomplishable with a good shield the easiest. First i lamented about making an Ancient pledge, but than i had a better idea. I will gamble a rare shield with two sockets, and put two perfect diamond in it! Let's see if i have the money for this?
Perfect, and i only spent some 350 000 gold piece on that
Now i have to gather another perfect diamond...
This time i'll go for Bone Ash after stony field, instead of Treehead, Bone Ash has a little more interesting possible drops. I'll see, if it's not too much hassle to reach the skeleton.
A berserker headgear, and a level up! Now Yahiko can use balanced axe without the Stealth armor. Another Death Guard, and Another Cleglaw shield.
And no one suspected a chest will give Yahiko's first unique: The magnificent Biggin' Bonnet!
Ok, now Yahiko have the other perfect diamond, and affordable resistances with that.
The next thing i would like to acquire is a teleporting staff. I'm not sure, what level needed to see that at Drognan, i thought that level 12 will be enough, but apparently he not sell yet items with level 24 requirements. I would like to step in the palace with teleporting, because there are annoying map structures and it much faster with a staff like that, but i'm eager to try out my gear so i go in.
Ok, i must be mistaken, and level 24 items can be obtained at Ormus first. However you can cube staff and gems, and it can possibly have level 24 affixes.
It has little chances for a teleporting staff to turn up that way of course.
Fire Eye:
The Summoner:
Anyway, no reason to wait any longer, time to face Duriel! On the way to the chamber there was a Cathan ring in a... chamber pot.
The fight against Duriel was somewhat long, but there were no real danger. The cannot be frozen suffix shined. Yahiko drunk one big purple potion to summon additional wolves, and Fazel drink one too. In the end Fazel falled, but Duriel too. The loot was Cleglaw's Tooth, and a rare boot with 23% magic find.
Yahiko could travel to Kurast after the Dark Wanderer. And he bought his teleporting staff at Ormus:)
Yahiko reached the level 24, and now he can use the teleporting staff. Which is good, because the Flayer Jungle is full of dead ends. Hratli is really far from Kurast center, so i use the waypoint and Charsi to repair the throwing axe, which is needed frequently. I use also the three Stony field shrines for possible prebuff. I sold the Cleglaw items, they would be good with the gloves slowing, and the full set has a good amount of crushing blow, but i won't like to go melee in the future. Finally Yahiko reached lower Kurast.
Farming the council members
the first mentionable find: an Amn rune!
Then a Razortine for my mercenary:
After some time i went on to meet with Mephisto. In the lower Durance of Hate one of the Council Member dropped a Sigon gauntlet for me:
Mephisto went down without much complaint.
So, Yahiko reached Act IV, and after freeing Izual
and destroying Mephisto's soulstone
he have to open the seals to face Diablo. Before this i would like to use the resources at hand to upgrade the gear of Yahiko and Fazel. I managed to gamble all of Yahiko's wealth by searching a rare armor with two sockets. I sold a one socketed
in the process, which i deeply regret now Now i have to go with a second option, to craft a blood armor. The rare would have the benefit of a possible upgrade to an exceptional version. We shall see how the crafting goes. The other question is, what i should make with the Amn rune. I would like to use it in the armor upgrading, but now that option is gone. I can still upgrade my shield, but i would like to change that in the near future, because it's blocking is not too high. The obvious option is to make a Strenght weapon for my mercenary. I like the current one, Razortine with it's slow effect, but it's damage output was a little low against the bosses (mostly Izual, but Mephisto too), and the crushing blow of Srenght will maybe help in this. For the blood armor i need a thul rune too, and for that i have to do some Countess run, because i have just two Ort now. On the way to the Forgotten tower i visited Travincal too, and i didn't regret it. Besides one sellable set and unique i found a Ral too.
A Tal and a Ral at the Countess, now i need only one Ral!
Next i found a Tal in Travincal,
and i added the Durance of Hatred to the tour too this time, which gave me some sellable items and a level up. And a two socketed Breast plate! Now i need to change my priorities and do some gemshrine run for a Perfect Amethyst to the upgrade! I need the Thul rune for the rare upgrade too. Iratha's cuff at Mephisto. The full Iratha's set would be great, but i don't think i could collect that. Even with another itm from the set my current Death gloves outperform this. An unique gloves in the Forgotten tower! And with an additional Tal i could cube the Thul rune. Now for the Amethyst. A group of blood lords managed to kill Fazel in Travincal and in the Durance of hatred too, but Mephisto gave a compensation in two set drop for this. An Angelic Mantle and a useful Sander's boot! I managed to make the upgrade at last.
Now i need only reach level 30, and decide what to put in in those sockets. Maybe i keep it myself with two perfect topaz
I am a warrior in the Crusader's Order. I share my name, my armor and my shield with my master, and his master, and the crusader before him. My name is Barrosh, and the purpose of my life is to find how to cleanse Zakarum faifth from corruption.
This is not only mission. I am also inspired, like my master was, by deeds of the Paladin known as the Faithless. To pursure a goal is a great deed in itself, even if in the end death is all that awaits you.
Anyway, I stood before the Tristram Catheadral, and the town was on fire. I have entered the dark place, with intend to seek out the Dark Lord of Terror.
The place was horryfing and filled with demonic creatures. How such holy place could fall so low, I cannot comprehend...
I am not sure why I did it. I knew I did not have to, but I did that regardless. I was walking past closed chamber, reeking of blood and something made me enter it and faced the Butcher demon. It attacked in a blind fury and if it was not for my considerable battle experience, I would be hacked up in mere seconds. Despite my heavy armor, I was forced to dodge incoming slices - I was not even sure if my shield could take them. The bloodthirsty demon was really strong, but in its rage it was not avare of its defences. Nor it minded if it was bleeding from multiple wounds. In the end, victory was mine. And so was its weapon.
As I ventured down in the deeper levels of the Catheadral, I felt that strange feeling once again. It made me enter royal tomb and face King Leoric himself, or rather his cursed, undead self in service of the Dark Lord. Even with its undead guardians, the Black King was no mach for me. His crown I looted radiated with strange power.
I've entered the Catacaombs and then ventured down to natural, hot caves with no interruptions at all. Well, for crusader like me, demons cannot be really considered and interruption. They are just parts of my daily life.
Then, I entered the place that I could not identify. What was this place? It was neither tomb, nor dungeon, nor cave, nor uin. The air inside was neither cold nor hot, and only brought the scent of blood, torture, death and terror. Then it struck me. I was in hell.
I must be getting close...
And the creatures I faced there were certainly on the whole other level than the ones I encountered before. There were huge fire-breathing demons, there were succubi casting spells powered up from their own blood, as well as from blood of tortured souls. Most notable were armor-clad warriors, who were all that was left from the proud warriors they once were. They used their swords and shields with notable skill, and they attacked with feriocity, even as their eyes only spoke of sadness of their existence. I understood that, and I gladly assisted them in ending their life, feeling pity for them as I acted. One of them was an exception to this, the one named Warlord of Blood. This man was a beast in life, as he was now, not really dead, nor alive. Well, until now, that is.
Finally, I found my way to the place that looked like a dark altar, with a child corpse on top of it. Its life was sacrifaced in some dark ritual, no doubt. Then, I heard laugh of a mad man, and cries of succubi. I turned around and recognized the trash this man was. The traitor, arc-bishop Lazarus. He was the one who freed the Dark Lord of Terror to this world!
His succubi harlots crawed for my blood and suffice to say the only thing they got was weight of my mace to their heads. The arch-bishop deluded himself that his spells could kill me, but they could not penetrate my shield that was strenghtened up by my faifth. The full strength of my righterous wrath put down the foul excuse of a human being to rest. Now, I see the dark portal before me. Portal to the Dark Lord Himself....
I had to turn three levers to face the Dark Lord, slaughtering his minions, before facing the Demon in person. His body was huge and misshapen and almost reptilian-like. The fire of the hells himself burned within the creature, as it rushed to kill me, assisted by its last minon, formerly known as Sir Gorash.
I felt the same sadness from Sir Gorash as from the rest of his comrades, so I ended his misery quickly, before engaging in battle Lord of Terror himself. He spat fire and lightning upon me, cast spheres made of hellfire, and just by stomping the Dark Lord could summon columns of flames, rushing in every direction. As we fought our long battle, a strange sense of familiarity struck me, it was as I had experienced this before. Finally, we exchanged the blows - my mace crushed the demon's throat, while its claws pierced my armor. I felt agonizing pain, but the creature's blow was poorly aimed, letting me live. The Dark Lord lied death, and I stood before his corpse, bleeding heavily from my wounds.
Then, I got strange feeling. I picked up the stone the creature had on its head. The moment I do this, horrible image appeared before my eyes. The Dark Lord's image shattered, showing me the dead body of prince Albert, the youngest from Leoric's family. Then, I watched helplessly as my own hand raised the shar red shard to the height of my head, and then, without warning, thrusting it into my forehead...
I woke up a mere moment before the strike, covered in sweat and shivering. Was that all dream? And why I am shivering like that, when I, Barrosh, fought the Death itself and emerged victorious? It does not make sense...
Especially since after my discovery short time after. I really hope that Myrian, Shen or Eirena can somehow explain this... I am supposed to believe all that was only a dream, when I found a sharp, red and glowing stone shard lying beside my shield...?
Especially since after my discovery short time after. I really hope that Myrian, Shen or Eirena can somehow explain this... I am supposed to believe all that was only a dream, when I found a sharp, red and glowing stone shard lying beside my shield...?
Drawing upon my arcane gamedev lore: 'Twas Diablo's doing. He trolled everyone. His real soulstone was left behind, and likely hidden away by his consort. That's why you never actually get to destroy it in D2. Or at least that's the way I choose to see it, having seen the ancient 1998 E3 trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxnWjyvmpnI Diablo can never be destroyed
@God Normally, I would laught at "'Twas Diablo's doing. He trolled everyone", but considering how he freaking trolled every other Evil and player characters in Diablo 1 and 3, I'll say its possible, lol.
...As for the future, and the obvious question about other Blizzard classics that may be due for an update, the short answer is to keep your expectations in check. "Now that StarCraft: Remastered is announced, we want to think about classic Blizzard games as a service, and to that end we’re primarily focused on StarCraft for now," Stilwell said. "We don’t have announcements to make about other classic games at this time."
I'm not sure how far this will go and whether the updates will be regular.
Meet Yahiko, a future Wind Druid (who has just cleared the Den of Evil).
Version 1.13c, PlugY enabled.
He found his first chipped topaz on the Cold Plains. The Mausoleum and the Dark Wood brought two more.
Yahiko's companion, Paige, was given a socketed hunter's bow for additional fire, cold and poison damage.
Yahiko is going to be a Wind Druid, which means all starting skills go to the Oak Sage and Cyclone Armor. So for a quite a few starting levels he will be a melee combatant.
One simple Hand Axe was fine against The Countess and the Smith.
Andariel took 1 minute (the end of the video shows stats, skills and inventory).
Because Andariel dropped a topaz and Yahiko's equipment is far from spectacular, Yahiko will try to visit the demon several times before setting off for the Act II.
Mine run with Yahiko (the summoner) ended at Hell difficulty when i tried to farm the Countess. I didn't found a proper solution against PI monsters without the elemental skills. Otherwise, i liked the druid a lot, Nightmare mode was a one sitting session with Yahiko, Heart of the Wolverine, Grizzly and a desert mercenary did the main job and Yahiko could assist from the back mostly.
Yahiko is now much better equipped and ready to proceed to the Act II.
20 lvl, 33% chance of Crushing Blow, 75% Fire Resist, 480 Attack Rating, 552 Defence (thanks to the sand merceranry's aura), 58% better Magic Find chance, 20% faster run/walk, 2 mana stolen per hit.
The alternative weapon+shield setup gives 45% chance to block, 75% Cold Resist, 15% life stolen per hit.
Funny that even 50 runs didn't provide the full Cleglaw's Brace set. But Arctic Furs + Arctic Binding is my favourite low-level combination for armor and belt.
He also found many other unique and set items, which might have situational uses:
First off, the ladder is resetting on May 30th, next Tuesday, so it would be a great time to start a new character.
Having said that, and having played nearly EVERY other significant ARPG, it is impossible to pinpoint just one thing that makes Diablo 2 STILL stand head and shoulders above all of them nearly 2 decades later. For one thing, it's the classes. In every other ARPG, there are classes that just seem off-the-wall for the sake of it, or make no sense. The classes in Diablo 2 are essentially perfect. There is the first (and still best) implementation of a the skill tree. The fact that the synergies and skills allow you to play each class 4 or 5 completely different ways. The art-style. The peerless soundtrack by Matt Ulleman.
But clearly, it's the loot. It's how enjoyable the grind can be. The fact that at a certain point, you aren't even picking up 95% of what drops, because you are in a demon-killing slot machine, looking for that perfect line-up. The fact that the areas reset and you can do runs (World of Warcraft owes just as much to Diablo 2 as Everquest). Runes, my god, has their EVER been a better supplemental gearing option that Runewords?? Gems that makes sense. A crafting system that serves just enough of a purpose and doesn't go overboard with nonsense. Items (like Tyrael's Might) that you might see drop once in a decade of constant play. New Game+ before New Game+ existed (and still never bettered). Quests and rewards that you actually need to strategically think about using (Charsi and the Socket quest in Act V). And of course, Hardcore Mode, the ultimate rogue-like (and the original vision for the first game).
One could go on and on. I'm not even sure the team that made Diablo 2 even consciously made it this good. Their later efforts suggest that wasn't the case. It's proof that lighting may never strike again once it happens. If Diablo 2 isn't the best CRPG ever made, it's absolutely in the top 5.
Comments
I begun the next step of my journey not immediately in Burning Hells, but in Pandemonium Fortress. Thanks to Ormus' magicks and Cain additional information, we found our way in the Pandemonium Fortress, under ownership the very same angel - or rather archangel - I once met.
This divine being was known as Tyrael, the archangel of Justice. He, as the only one from Angelic Council, truly supports humanity against their fight with demons. Tyrael told me what I have to do in order to destroy Mephisto's soulstone and banish it's spirit to the abyss. He also asked me to find the creature named Izual and end his suffering. Izual was Tyrael's former warrior and friend, an fallen angel.
I found him in Plains of Despair and I ended his life. Foul creature has betrayed the heaven willingly! If such holy creature as angel can become so corrupt, what chance does humanity have? Humans can be corrupted even more, throught corrupted ideology...
No. I will cleanse Zakarum. And then I will return to my faifth. But Prime Evils have to go first.
After slaying countless minons of Hell, I finally found my way to River of the Flames. There, I searched and found the Hellforge, where Mephisto's soulstone could be destroyed. The forge was protected by large demon, who was probably the smith there. It brought back memories of Rouge's Monastery. In the strange way it was kind of... refreshing.
Using creature's Hellforge hammer I have smashed Mephisto soulstone. And surprisingly, I felt like I accomplished something. I felt like Zakarum can be really redeemed right now, that Lord of Hatred is no more. It will require time, effort, understanding the concept of the Light and lot of work, but maybe the recovery is possible. Who knows... maybe when it all ends, I can help in rebuilding my former faifth... Or at this point, it is even former?
Regardless.... First, I'll hunt Diablo in his Chaos Sanctuary in the Realm of Terror....
Here where journal of the Faithless ends. The champions of the mortal word, the Druid and the Assasin among them, who followed after him have found his (and Durga's) scorched corpses on the eastern part of Chaos Sanctuary. And they finished what the Faithless could not.
Even if the Faithless has ultimately failed, he is still a legend amongs the Crusader order. Crusaders speak of his courage and dedication, even as he lacked his faifth and later - how he began to believe again and planned to cleanse Zakarum of corruption. That was a goal that ultimately could not be done, but for Crusaders, the journey and their way of life has meaning in itself. Life of the Faithless had meaning in intself as well. His deeds of valor will be remembered.
Ok, while I planned him to die (I did mention that I won't be doing Nightmare and Hell difficulties with him, didn't I?), he died in the first of the opportunities I considered for him. I planned him to die in order to write a story bit with an hero who had failed. I was wondering when I'll let him die, and thought of these opportunities:
1) Dying against Diablo's minons in Chaos Sanctuary. This is what happened, and what's more important - while that was the opportunity, I didn't actually planned that. I was surpsised by how fast he died against Inferno's from Venom Lord. If @God 's memory serves him well, he might remember my question about fire damage outpout of Ghould Lords and Venom Lords/Balrog in his Enhanced Edition mod, because frankly I don't recall the damage being this huge. I mean, Venom Lords were always devastating with this, but this time around I wasn't even able to drink a potion in time. And I don't recall Zaraki having that kind of problem... Well. It happened and I adjusted my story bits for that.
2) Dying against Diablo. Still a failure, just more epic.
3) Dying against the Ancients and being deined access to Worldstone. Pretty bad endin.
4) Dying against Lister the Tormentor.
Overall, I am pleased I've done this playthrought and was able to write a story around it.
Now, for some news. First of, I am currently out of "phase" for Diablo 2 and I am not currently feeling like playing it. So, no new characters from me for a while for Diablo 2.
But, I plan two things for Diablo 3 to share here.
First will be the Darkening of Tristram event in January. I will create character in a new season, bring up the difficulty to expert/master and then beat the entire event and write about it here in some interesting way.
Second, eventually Necromancer will be avaliable to play in Diablo 3 and I would be willing to write a playthrought throught campaign, with me increasing the difficulty after each Act I beat.
Until then, please don't let this topic die. I would fancy to read some updates here.
"No one can stop Death..."
I guess people are just being quietly mindful of the Balance as they are waiting for the arrival of a Necromancer, or the D2EE update
to be released very soon, or whateverBut you can always tell us about your Veradani monk, or another of the Nephilim, if you so desire.
In seeing your D3 gameplay, more might feel inclined to give the game a try. Or maybe not; I don't really know.
Diablo II Enhanced Edition
revision: Rogue
Yahiko and the Chamber of Secrets
So, the palace harem, and the Arcane Sanctury both have some foes with elemental damage. Because that i was thinking about raise Yahiko's resistances. This can be accomplishable with a good shield the easiest.First i lamented about making an Ancient pledge, but than i had a better idea. I will gamble a rare shield with two sockets, and put two perfect diamond in it!
Let's see if i have the money for this?
Perfect, and i only spent some 350 000 gold piece on that
Now i have to gather another perfect diamond...
This time i'll go for Bone Ash after stony field, instead of Treehead, Bone Ash has a little more interesting possible drops. I'll see, if it's not too much hassle to reach the skeleton.
A berserker headgear, and a level up! Now Yahiko can use balanced axe without the Stealth armor.
Another Death Guard, and Another Cleglaw shield.
And no one suspected a chest will give Yahiko's first unique:
The magnificent Biggin' Bonnet!
Ok, now Yahiko have the other perfect diamond, and affordable resistances with that.
The next thing i would like to acquire is a teleporting staff. I'm not sure, what level needed to see that at Drognan, i thought that level 12 will be enough, but apparently he not sell yet items with level 24 requirements.
I would like to step in the palace with teleporting, because there are annoying map structures and it much faster with a staff like that, but i'm eager to try out my gear so i go in.
Ok, i must be mistaken, and level 24 items can be obtained at Ormus first.
However you can cube staff and gems, and it can possibly have level 24 affixes.
It has little chances for a teleporting staff to turn up that way of course.
Fire Eye:
The Summoner:
Anyway, no reason to wait any longer, time to face Duriel!
On the way to the chamber there was a Cathan ring in a... chamber pot.
The fight against Duriel was somewhat long, but there were no real danger. The cannot be frozen suffix shined. Yahiko drunk one big purple potion to summon additional wolves, and Fazel drink one too.
In the end Fazel falled, but Duriel too. The loot was Cleglaw's Tooth, and a rare boot with 23% magic find.
Yahiko could travel to Kurast after the Dark Wanderer.
And he bought his teleporting staff at Ormus:)
(Personally I think you spend way too much on that shield...)
Yahiko and the High Council
Yahiko reached the level 24, and now he can use the teleporting staff. Which is good, because the Flayer Jungle is full of dead ends.Hratli is really far from Kurast center, so i use the waypoint and Charsi to repair the throwing axe, which is needed frequently.
I use also the three Stony field shrines for possible prebuff.
I sold the Cleglaw items, they would be good with the gloves slowing, and the full set has a good amount of crushing blow, but i won't like to go melee in the future.
Finally Yahiko reached lower Kurast.
Farming the council members
the first mentionable find: an Amn rune!
Then a Razortine for my mercenary:
After some time i went on to meet with Mephisto. In the lower Durance of Hate one of the Council Member dropped a Sigon gauntlet for me:
Mephisto went down without much complaint.
So, Yahiko reached Act IV, and after freeing Izual
and destroying Mephisto's soulstone
he have to open the seals to face Diablo. Before this i would like to use the resources at hand to upgrade the gear of Yahiko and Fazel.
I managed to gamble all of Yahiko's wealth by searching a rare armor with two sockets. I sold a one socketed
in the process, which i deeply regret now
Now i have to go with a second option, to craft a blood armor. The rare would have the benefit of a possible upgrade to an exceptional version. We shall see how the crafting goes.
The other question is, what i should make with the Amn rune. I would like to use it in the armor upgrading, but now that option is gone. I can still upgrade my shield, but i would like to change that in the near future, because it's blocking is not too high.
The obvious option is to make a Strenght weapon for my mercenary. I like the current one, Razortine with it's slow effect, but it's damage output was a little low against the bosses (mostly Izual, but Mephisto too), and the crushing blow of Srenght will maybe help in this.
For the blood armor i need a thul rune too, and for that i have to do some Countess run, because i have just two Ort now.
On the way to the Forgotten tower i visited Travincal too, and i didn't regret it. Besides one sellable set and unique i found a Ral too.
A Tal and a Ral at the Countess, now i need only one Ral!
Next i found a Tal in Travincal,
and i added the Durance of Hatred to the tour too this time, which gave me some sellable items and a level up.
And a two socketed Breast plate!
Now i need to change my priorities and do some gemshrine run for a Perfect Amethyst to the upgrade!
I need the Thul rune for the rare upgrade too.
Iratha's cuff at Mephisto. The full Iratha's set would be great, but i don't think i could collect that. Even with another itm from the set my current Death gloves outperform this.
An unique gloves in the Forgotten tower!
And with an additional Tal i could cube the Thul rune. Now for the Amethyst.
A group of blood lords managed to kill Fazel in Travincal and in the Durance of hatred too, but Mephisto gave a compensation in two set drop for this. An Angelic Mantle and a useful Sander's boot!
I managed to make the upgrade at last.
Now i need only reach level 30, and decide what to put in in those sockets. Maybe i keep it myself with two perfect topaz
I am a warrior in the Crusader's Order. I share my name, my armor and my shield with my master, and his master, and the crusader before him. My name is Barrosh, and the purpose of my life is to find how to cleanse Zakarum faifth from corruption.
This is not only mission. I am also inspired, like my master was, by deeds of the Paladin known as the Faithless. To pursure a goal is a great deed in itself, even if in the end death is all that awaits you.
Anyway, I stood before the Tristram Catheadral, and the town was on fire. I have entered the dark place, with intend to seek out the Dark Lord of Terror.
The place was horryfing and filled with demonic creatures. How such holy place could fall so low, I cannot comprehend...
I am not sure why I did it. I knew I did not have to, but I did that regardless. I was walking past closed chamber, reeking of blood and something made me enter it and faced the Butcher demon. It attacked in a blind fury and if it was not for my considerable battle experience, I would be hacked up in mere seconds. Despite my heavy armor, I was forced to dodge incoming slices - I was not even sure if my shield could take them. The bloodthirsty demon was really strong, but in its rage it was not avare of its defences. Nor it minded if it was bleeding from multiple wounds. In the end, victory was mine. And so was its weapon.
As I ventured down in the deeper levels of the Catheadral, I felt that strange feeling once again. It made me enter royal tomb and face King Leoric himself, or rather his cursed, undead self in service of the Dark Lord. Even with its undead guardians, the Black King was no mach for me. His crown I looted radiated with strange power.
I've entered the Catacaombs and then ventured down to natural, hot caves with no interruptions at all. Well, for crusader like me, demons cannot be really considered and interruption. They are just parts of my daily life.
Then, I entered the place that I could not identify. What was this place? It was neither tomb, nor dungeon, nor cave, nor uin. The air inside was neither cold nor hot, and only brought the scent of blood, torture, death and terror. Then it struck me. I was in hell.
I must be getting close...
And the creatures I faced there were certainly on the whole other level than the ones I encountered before. There were huge fire-breathing demons, there were succubi casting spells powered up from their own blood, as well as from blood of tortured souls. Most notable were armor-clad warriors, who were all that was left from the proud warriors they once were. They used their swords and shields with notable skill, and they attacked with feriocity, even as their eyes only spoke of sadness of their existence. I understood that, and I gladly assisted them in ending their life, feeling pity for them as I acted. One of them was an exception to this, the one named Warlord of Blood. This man was a beast in life, as he was now, not really dead, nor alive. Well, until now, that is.
Finally, I found my way to the place that looked like a dark altar, with a child corpse on top of it. Its life was sacrifaced in some dark ritual, no doubt. Then, I heard laugh of a mad man, and cries of succubi. I turned around and recognized the trash this man was. The traitor, arc-bishop Lazarus. He was the one who freed the Dark Lord of Terror to this world!
His succubi harlots crawed for my blood and suffice to say the only thing they got was weight of my mace to their heads. The arch-bishop deluded himself that his spells could kill me, but they could not penetrate my shield that was strenghtened up by my faifth. The full strength of my righterous wrath put down the foul excuse of a human being to rest. Now, I see the dark portal before me. Portal to the Dark Lord Himself....
I had to turn three levers to face the Dark Lord, slaughtering his minions, before facing the Demon in person. His body was huge and misshapen and almost reptilian-like. The fire of the hells himself burned within the creature, as it rushed to kill me, assisted by its last minon, formerly known as Sir Gorash.
I felt the same sadness from Sir Gorash as from the rest of his comrades, so I ended his misery quickly, before engaging in battle Lord of Terror himself. He spat fire and lightning upon me, cast spheres made of hellfire, and just by stomping the Dark Lord could summon columns of flames, rushing in every direction. As we fought our long battle, a strange sense of familiarity struck me, it was as I had experienced this before. Finally, we exchanged the blows - my mace crushed the demon's throat, while its claws pierced my armor. I felt agonizing pain, but the creature's blow was poorly aimed, letting me live. The Dark Lord lied death, and I stood before his corpse, bleeding heavily from my wounds.
Then, I got strange feeling. I picked up the stone the creature had on its head. The moment I do this, horrible image appeared before my eyes. The Dark Lord's image shattered, showing me the dead body of prince Albert, the youngest from Leoric's family. Then, I watched helplessly as my own hand raised the shar red shard to the height of my head, and then, without warning, thrusting it into my forehead...
I woke up a mere moment before the strike, covered in sweat and shivering. Was that all dream? And why I am shivering like that, when I, Barrosh, fought the Death itself and emerged victorious? It does not make sense...
Especially since after my discovery short time after. I really hope that Myrian, Shen or Eirena can somehow explain this... I am supposed to believe all that was only a dream, when I found a sharp, red and glowing stone shard lying beside my shield...?
'Twas Diablo's doing. He trolled everyone. His real soulstone was left behind, and likely hidden away by his consort. That's why you never actually get to destroy it in D2.
Or at least that's the way I choose to see it, having seen the ancient 1998 E3 trailer:
Diablo can never be destroyed
Normally, I would laught at "'Twas Diablo's doing. He trolled everyone", but considering how he freaking trolled every other Evil and player characters in Diablo 1 and 3, I'll say its possible, lol.
PS:MOAR playthroughts.
...As for the future, and the obvious question about other Blizzard classics that may be due for an update, the short answer is to keep your expectations in check. "Now that StarCraft: Remastered is announced, we want to think about classic Blizzard games as a service, and to that end we’re primarily focused on StarCraft for now," Stilwell said. "We don’t have announcements to make about other classic games at this time."
Meet Yahiko, a future Wind Druid (who has just cleared the Den of Evil).
Version 1.13c, PlugY enabled.
He found his first chipped topaz on the Cold Plains. The Mausoleum and the Dark Wood brought two more.
Yahiko's companion, Paige, was given a socketed hunter's bow for additional fire, cold and poison damage.
Yahiko is going to be a Wind Druid, which means all starting skills go to the Oak Sage and Cyclone Armor. So for a quite a few starting levels he will be a melee combatant.
One simple Hand Axe was fine against The Countess and the Smith.
Andariel took 1 minute (the end of the video shows stats, skills and inventory).
Because Andariel dropped a topaz and Yahiko's equipment is far from spectacular, Yahiko will try to visit the demon several times before setting off for the Act II.
Mine run with Yahiko (the summoner) ended at Hell difficulty when i tried to farm the Countess. I didn't found a proper solution against PI monsters without the elemental skills. Otherwise, i liked the druid a lot, Nightmare mode was a one sitting session with Yahiko, Heart of the Wolverine, Grizzly and a desert mercenary did the main job and Yahiko could assist from the back mostly.
Yahiko is now much better equipped and ready to proceed to the Act II.
20 lvl, 33% chance of Crushing Blow, 75% Fire Resist, 480 Attack Rating, 552 Defence (thanks to the sand merceranry's aura), 58% better Magic Find chance, 20% faster run/walk, 2 mana stolen per hit.
The alternative weapon+shield setup gives 45% chance to block, 75% Cold Resist, 15% life stolen per hit.
Funny that even 50 runs didn't provide the full Cleglaw's Brace set. But Arctic Furs + Arctic Binding is my favourite low-level combination for armor and belt.
He also found many other unique and set items, which might have situational uses:
This game is all about
rolling forfinding items.Having said that, and having played nearly EVERY other significant ARPG, it is impossible to pinpoint just one thing that makes Diablo 2 STILL stand head and shoulders above all of them nearly 2 decades later. For one thing, it's the classes. In every other ARPG, there are classes that just seem off-the-wall for the sake of it, or make no sense. The classes in Diablo 2 are essentially perfect. There is the first (and still best) implementation of a the skill tree. The fact that the synergies and skills allow you to play each class 4 or 5 completely different ways. The art-style. The peerless soundtrack by Matt Ulleman.
But clearly, it's the loot. It's how enjoyable the grind can be. The fact that at a certain point, you aren't even picking up 95% of what drops, because you are in a demon-killing slot machine, looking for that perfect line-up. The fact that the areas reset and you can do runs (World of Warcraft owes just as much to Diablo 2 as Everquest). Runes, my god, has their EVER been a better supplemental gearing option that Runewords?? Gems that makes sense. A crafting system that serves just enough of a purpose and doesn't go overboard with nonsense. Items (like Tyrael's Might) that you might see drop once in a decade of constant play. New Game+ before New Game+ existed (and still never bettered). Quests and rewards that you actually need to strategically think about using (Charsi and the Socket quest in Act V). And of course, Hardcore Mode, the ultimate rogue-like (and the original vision for the first game).
One could go on and on. I'm not even sure the team that made Diablo 2 even consciously made it this good. Their later efforts suggest that wasn't the case. It's proof that lighting may never strike again once it happens. If Diablo 2 isn't the best CRPG ever made, it's absolutely in the top 5.
It's LITERALLY called New Game+ when you restart post-win.
Radament.
Halls of the Dead
Maggot Lair
Yahiko found his first 2 Magic Find rings, 7% and 15%, but they will stay in the treasure chest till Duriel.
In the Claw Viper Temple the druid found Bloodrise the Morning Star (granting 5% life stolen per hit).
With 328 HPs because of the Oak Sage the Summoner's magic damage was not a problem.
Duriel awaited.
Yahiko is still of the lvl 22. So he will most likely make several additional visits to the huge bug.