Xzar reached the Lost City and in nearly complete darkness made his way to the Claw Viper Temple. He found a chipped topaz and immediately put it into his breast plate. Later, he upgraded his gloves for even better MF chance.
In one chest Xzar found a gnarled staff providing the Blaze spell for a sorceress. It was a pity Isendra, a wizard Xzar heard about, was nowhere close.
Xzar had gathered a lot of shiny gems in his adventures. He decided to significantly increase the damage of his companion, Klaudia, and put the best of his gems into a long bow.
Approaching the main claw viper in the temple, Xzar blinded all other vipers there and then killed the beast with its own power - with poison.
These are Xzar's stats and skills now (as he reached the 20th level):
Nothing spectacular in terms of damage or defence, but high resistances and a high dodge chance.
@CrevsDaak - if the normal paladin build bores you, might I suggest going 100% for Vengeance and its synergies? I did the calculation once and the damage potential was rediculous, though managing the mana cost and skill distribution really makes the early->mid game interesting
@SethDavis yeah, I've already went with a build like that, focusing on another skill earlier on (can't remember the name right now, the one right under Sacrifice...) and it's pretty good until you start to get swarmed with heavy hitting creeps or abusive ranged creeps (basically, once you get into Diablo's Temple, before that it's mostly good against everything). Also it doesn't help that my run with a Paladin like that is at Diablo but is still level 30 lol, so I can't get the juice I want from Vengeance. I think right now I'm gonna go with a Hammerdin, I don't think anything can go wrong on that one lul (I have already started playing but I need moar tiem to write my stuff ^^).
My GF is leaving town fri-sun.. I get that creeping feeling that I'm gonna go up to the attic and try to find my old copies of Dii/ToB! :P You guys write the most amazing playthroughs, thanks to both @O_bruce and @JuliusBorisov. I've never actually played the game like this I've only really played the game competitively (execpt for my very first barbarian which I played offline on my brothers computer)
Just so you know you can take your serial number for Diablo II (also Starcraft and Warcraft III, for that matter), log into battle.net (create an account if necessary) and add those serial numbers to your account. Once you do that, Diablo II (and Starcraft and Warcraft III if you add those too) are permanently on your account. If your serial is for a battlechest you'll just need one to get both Diablo II + ToB, but if not you just have to enter the second SN.
The benefit is never worrying about lost or misplaced CDs ever again and being able to download the games whenever you want.
I can't get Diablo 2 to work properly with my current Windows 8 computer and ATI graphics card. The 800x600 playing area comes up in a tiny little box in the center of my screen, and nothing I can do in my graphics card settings changes it. Has anybody here heard of that problem before, and/or know how to fix it?
I won't be able to play it if I can't get it correctly displayed. I don't want to change the default resolution, only to have the default resolution display properly.
There're hordes of enemy archers in the Harem. They usually attack very quickly and can kill you in seconds. But Dim Vision worked wonders against these archers.
This skill was very useful in my probably the most favourite area in D2, Arcane Sanctuary. All those specters and ghoul lords just stood still and waited for their fate.
I usually a little bit scared of the main villain here, a strong wizard. As soon as Xzar saw powerful magic, he switched to another curse - Weaken. Even at the 1st level, this curse lowers target's damage by 33%.
With the help of this curse Xzar defeated the "Summoner".
This pair of gloves Kaelis has found will come in handy against Andariel. And the belt will come handy against Duriel....
Or in general if you find more pieces. It is a set for amazon, after all. @lefreut can I ask about Kaelis' stats and skills choices? What are you intending to use?
I can't get Diablo 2 to work properly with my current Windows 8 computer and ATI graphics card. The 800x600 playing area comes up in a tiny little box in the center of my screen, and nothing I can do in my graphics card settings changes it. Has anybody here heard of that problem before, and/or know how to fix it?
I won't be able to play it if I can't get it correctly displayed. I don't want to change the default resolution, only to have the default resolution display properly.
Have you downloaded the latest patch?? It's entire purpose was getting it to run on modern machines. If that doesn't help, set your application and the video test to XP Service Pack 3. Then download the d2 glide wrapper (just Google it) and put it in the game folder. Run the video test, and it will recommend switching it to Glide. Do so. That should work for any machine.
@JuliusBorisov , thank you, the "-nofixaspect" command was what I needed. I'm not using "-w", because I don't want to play in a window. However, "-nofixaspect" alone makes it playable for me.
The last post is the overall problem I have with Duriel and to a lesser extent, Diablo himself. For certain classes and builds, the only viable "tactic" is using a town portal to get back to town and resurrect meat shields to have any hope of surviving. It couldn't have initially been designed that way, but good luck figuring out any other strategy if you are a ranged character (unless you are a Sorceress with Blaze).
Tale of Isendra continues. She hates bugs. And snakes. Very much.
Isendra had Drogan search for potential location of Staff of Kings and it turned out it's probably buried somewhere below Far Oasis. Isendra didn't waste any time.
As it turned out the oasis was just swarmed by hordes of Beetles. Each of them was discharging charged bolts upon being injured, giving Isendra some hard time. Luckily, the Sorceress found out that freezing the bugs with Glacial Spike prevents them from doing that, as long as they are frozen. That fact helped our heroine a lot.
Soon, she found a maggot nest. Swarmed with, of course, more despicable beetles. The sorceress used the tight corridors to her advantage
Sometimes, she was finding more open spaces and did massacre inside of them.
Finally, the Sorceress found the biggest worm she has ever met, and it protected the chest holding the Staff of Kings. She slew the maggot, but decided to erase the particular thing from her memory (hence no screenshot). Staff of Kings belonged to her!
Drognan proved to be useful again, pointing out that Amulet of The Viper was to be found in... the walley of Snakes. That's just fitting. Isendra had to get through the Lost City to get there, thought. As soon as she did that, the solar eclipse occurred.
Drognan (of course!) said it was magical in nature and it was Claw Vipers doing. Destroying their sacred altar would bring the light to the world again. All more reason to visit Valley of the Snakes. Isendra cleared the Lost City (and it's sewers) of the minions of (stinking) evil. Among notable opponents, there was and ancient-looking zombie:
Finally, Valley of Snakes. And the Claw Viper temple.
Isendra learned to hat the goddamn Claw Vipers/Salamanders to the core. The creatures had a powerful charge-like attack, that no shield nor armor can stop. And the creatures were fond of using that particular attack few times in a row. Things were only worse when they were attacking in group. Sometimes, ordinary healing potions just weren't effective enough - Isendra had to use full rejuvenation potions. And that was shameful, indeed! Wasting such precious potions on those damn reptiles!
Isendra finally reached the lower part of the temple, where the altar was.
She engaged with danngerous, nearly deadly battle with Fangskin and his minions. They were strong and fast, in addition Fangskin itself was disrcharging electricy. After all, the Sorceress managed to won, but her memory of the event was fuzzy. She was too busy keeping herself alive for remembering exact details. She destroyed the alter and snatched the Amulet of the Viper
She decided to sue the amulet until she would need full Horadric Staff restored.
Isendra's stats and skills:
And Drognan, again, had some interesting information to provide....
I think it would be fun to watch a video of the players here taking on Diablo together in a battle.net game
I don't know about other participants, but I had my character in single player offline, so only open battle.net would do. Even then, I have problems connection to the battle net. The idea of recording the fight, however, is pretty cool.
Things were only worse when they were attacking in group. Sometimes, ordinary healing potions just weren't effective enough - Isendra had to use full rejuvenation potions. And that was shameful, indeed! Wasting such precious potions on those damn reptiles!
It's always better to do exactly that as an alternative may lead to an end. You'll find more potions, it's not a problem. So, Isendra was smart enough to stay safe, good job!
I see Kaelis is only of the level 21, and yet she managed to defeat Duriel. Amazing! My necromancer is already of this level, and just started exploring the tombs. I feel I'm not ready for Duriel yet.
The adventure of Xzar
Xzar is obsessed with dragons with feet like rabbits items enhancing the MF chance. He just can't miss any opportunity to improve the odds of getting a new shiny item. This is why he was so glad to see Heavy Boots of Fortune with 25% chance in stocks:
In the Canyon of the Magi Xzar found a Ral rune, the second Ral rune during this adventure. So Xzar became closer to the Ancient's Pledge Rune word (Ral+Ort+Tal into shields) which would give high resistances to all magics.
On another monster in that area Xzar found a flawed topaz. It was time to change a cap on Klaudia - the cap Xzar had made at the start of the Act I:
Although Xzar knew the Symbol of the True Tomb of Tal Rasha, he decided to clear all fake tombs first, because he heard a great treasure could be found in them. He started with the one with the symbol "O" at the entrance:
And what a joy it was when one champion monster there dropped a unique item, a long bow!
It was Raven Claw. It could fire Explosive arrows (!!!) Even while Klaudia had a long bow equipped with 3 best gems Xzar had found, it was a no-brainer (to start using a new bow).
The explosions the long bow provided helped immensely:
Before clearing the second tomb, with the [] symbol, Xzar managed to buy a pair of gloves to reflect his boots - again with the 25% MF chance.
And again, what a luck! I mean it's cool to find unique armors and weapons but as the game progresses you need better ones. But unique rings and amulets stay relevant much longer. And Kaelis managed to find Nagelring, one of my favourite rings in the game! It's interesting, @lefreut , that you don't have the Horadric Cube in the intentory. I always have it there because it provides the additional space. But again, you don't have many charms in the intentory and still have enough space. The inventory of Xzar is already nearly full, and he didn't even finish the Act II. Do you sell charms?
The Tale of Isendra continues: The Arcane Sanctuary and Jazreth
Drognan told Isendra a way to find the Tomb of Tal Rasha. The great (now deceased) Vizjerei mage, know as Horazon, was fond of recording the events of great significance. Among these events, surely the imprisoment of Baal, the Lord of Destruction must have been recorded in the sorceror's journal. The journal was to be found in Horazon's Arcane Sanctuary.
And where that Sanctuary was located? According to Drognan, Lut Gholein lies upon the ruins of former Vizjerei fortress, meaning that investigating the town is going to be required. Drognan also shared other bit of information - the Vizjerei mage, who visited Lut Gholein sometime ago also was searching for Arcane Sanctuary. And his name? No one else than Jazreth, Isendra's lost friend.
That was enough for the sorceress to resume her investigation. Before she could do that, Jerhyn approached her and told her truth about the current situation in the city. It turns out that Jazreth decided to investigate the cellar below the palace first. Then, he dissapeared, and then horde of monsters started to came out of the palace cellars, killing the harem girls ( ) and forcing the town guards to fight them off. The fight was desperate and without progress. Perhaps Arcane Sanctuary lies below the Palace. Horazon, after all, was fond of summoning demons. Isendra began her mission.
It turned out that both Harem levels and Cellar levels were invaded by monsters from hell. Hardly any harem girl or guard managed to survive their attack. Isendra massacred every monster that dared to cross her way. She was relieved that she didn't found Jazreth's corpse along the way. On the deepest level of the cellar, Isendra found the portal to the Arcane Sanctuary, guarded by Fire Eye.
Isendra crossed the portal and found herself in the Arcane Sanctuary. The view was beyond any explanation.
The sorceress started to explore the place, slaughtering the Khazra, Ghoul Lords and Ghosts. One she used Poison Shrine to her advantage during the fight:
On the south corner of the sanctuary, Isendra has found a mage. Was it Horazon? No, he shouldn't be alive. The mage started casting Glacial Spike at her, Dodging the spells, Isendra managed to get closer. It was then that she forgot to breathe for few second.
It was not Horazon. It was not some random mage. It was no one else than Jazreth himself.
The same Jazreth that was her friend. The same Jazreth that fought against Diablo below Tristram, alongside prince Aidan. Isendra had a lot of questions Jazreth weren't going to answer. She was reluctant to attack, but he was not. Unfortunately, she had little choice. Her old friend went utterly mad. With great pain, Isendra performed teleport to appear before him and swung her fiery-enchanted Flail twice. That was enough. Her old friend died at her feet.
Old Jazreth wouldn't let himself to be defeated this easily. Old Jazreth definitely would know better than trying demonic magic. But Diablo definitely corrupted his mind. The Dark Wanderer... no, Diablo.... will pay for this! Isendra checked the Horazon's Journal to find the information about Tal Rasha's tomb. And she did.
She then went through the portal to the Canyon of the Magi, where the tomb is located.
Thare was seven Tombs out there, only one being the true one. Isendra recorded symbol of the true tomb, however:
Isendra decided to rest for a while. She decided to vent some of her sorrows in Atma's inn, and then decided to gamble a bit. She finally felt lucky, as she managed to won this wonderful flail:
After exploring all the Tombs in the Canyon of the Magi, right after killing the last monster before entering the Tal Rasha's chamber, Xzar reached the 24th level, which granted him an access to the Decrepify curse - a combination of Weaken and Amplify Damage curses + a speed reduction to the target.
For the battle against Duriel Xzar finally changed his much-loved unique club to a mundane dagger, for insane poison damage and attack rating due to his specialization:
As soon as Xzar entered the chamber, he cursed Duriel. Not long after that, Duriel already had less than 50% of life, while Xzar, Klaudia and even a clay golem all were in full health.
Duriel's health became less than 5%, and Xzar let Klaudia (whose MF chance was added to Xzar's) to finish the demon off.
Not a single town portal was needed! Only one full rejuvenation potion was used.
And the reward... Xzar was SO pleased to see the loot after Duriel:
Yes, it was a light belt from the set Xzar already had known about. It was Arctic Binding. Because Xzar already had Arctic Furs (an armor), the combination of these 2 items provided immense bonuses - 72 to Defense (based on character level) and 40% better chance of getting magical items! It was even more than the Xzar's armour with 3 topazes, which immediately was given to Klaudia. Another important factor of the new combination was +10 to all resistances.
As soon as Xzar reached the Act III, he changed his dagger for the best he could buy:
These're Xzar's stats at the start of the Act III:
His chance of getting magical items is improved by 136%, with Klaudia offering additional 49% on top of that (to make it +185%).
But it still required a good preparation - I mean, the necromancer needed to be of the 24th level to face him. Because I would not attack it without Decrepify.
Comments
Xzar reached the Lost City and in nearly complete darkness made his way to the Claw Viper Temple. He found a chipped topaz and immediately put it into his breast plate. Later, he upgraded his gloves for even better MF chance.
In one chest Xzar found a gnarled staff providing the Blaze spell for a sorceress. It was a pity Isendra, a wizard Xzar heard about, was nowhere close.
Xzar had gathered a lot of shiny gems in his adventures. He decided to significantly increase the damage of his companion, Klaudia, and put the best of his gems into a long bow.
Approaching the main claw viper in the temple, Xzar blinded all other vipers there and then killed the beast with its own power - with poison.
These are Xzar's stats and skills now (as he reached the 20th level):
Nothing spectacular in terms of damage or defence, but high resistances and a high dodge chance.
Just so you know you can take your serial number for Diablo II (also Starcraft and Warcraft III, for that matter), log into battle.net (create an account if necessary) and add those serial numbers to your account. Once you do that, Diablo II (and Starcraft and Warcraft III if you add those too) are permanently on your account. If your serial is for a battlechest you'll just need one to get both Diablo II + ToB, but if not you just have to enter the second SN.
The benefit is never worrying about lost or misplaced CDs ever again and being able to download the games whenever you want.
I won't be able to play it if I can't get it correctly displayed. I don't want to change the default resolution, only to have the default resolution display properly.
You need to add -w to your gamepath in the command line, and then -nofixaspect with a space before the -
There're hordes of enemy archers in the Harem. They usually attack very quickly and can kill you in seconds. But Dim Vision worked wonders against these archers.
This skill was very useful in my probably the most favourite area in D2, Arcane Sanctuary. All those specters and ghoul lords just stood still and waited for their fate.
I usually a little bit scared of the main villain here, a strong wizard. As soon as Xzar saw powerful magic, he switched to another curse - Weaken. Even at the 1st level, this curse lowers target's damage by 33%.
With the help of this curse Xzar defeated the "Summoner".
Or in general if you find more pieces. It is a set for amazon, after all. @lefreut can I ask about Kaelis' stats and skills choices? What are you intending to use?
Good luck in the Act III to Kaelis!
Isendra had Drogan search for potential location of Staff of Kings and it turned out it's probably buried somewhere below Far Oasis. Isendra didn't waste any time.
As it turned out the oasis was just swarmed by hordes of Beetles. Each of them was discharging charged bolts upon being injured, giving Isendra some hard time. Luckily, the Sorceress found out that freezing the bugs with Glacial Spike prevents them from doing that, as long as they are frozen. That fact helped our heroine a lot.
Soon, she found a maggot nest. Swarmed with, of course, more despicable beetles. The sorceress used the tight corridors to her advantage
Sometimes, she was finding more open spaces and did massacre inside of them.
Finally, the Sorceress found the biggest worm she has ever met, and it protected the chest holding the Staff of Kings. She slew the maggot, but decided to erase the particular thing from her memory (hence no screenshot). Staff of Kings belonged to her!
Drognan proved to be useful again, pointing out that Amulet of The Viper was to be found in... the walley of Snakes. That's just fitting. Isendra had to get through the Lost City to get there, thought. As soon as she did that, the solar eclipse occurred.
Drognan (of course!) said it was magical in nature and it was Claw Vipers doing. Destroying their sacred altar would bring the light to the world again. All more reason to visit Valley of the Snakes. Isendra cleared the Lost City (and it's sewers) of the minions of (stinking) evil. Among notable opponents, there was and ancient-looking zombie:
Finally, Valley of Snakes. And the Claw Viper temple.
Isendra learned to hat the goddamn Claw Vipers/Salamanders to the core. The creatures had a powerful charge-like attack, that no shield nor armor can stop. And the creatures were fond of using that particular attack few times in a row. Things were only worse when they were attacking in group. Sometimes, ordinary healing potions just weren't effective enough - Isendra had to use full rejuvenation potions. And that was shameful, indeed! Wasting such precious potions on those damn reptiles!
Isendra finally reached the lower part of the temple, where the altar was.
She engaged with danngerous, nearly deadly battle with Fangskin and his minions. They were strong and fast, in addition Fangskin itself was disrcharging electricy. After all, the Sorceress managed to won, but her memory of the event was fuzzy. She was too busy keeping herself alive for remembering exact details. She destroyed the alter and snatched the Amulet of the Viper
She decided to sue the amulet until she would need full Horadric Staff restored.
Isendra's stats and skills:
And Drognan, again, had some interesting information to provide....
To be continued....
---
@lefreut Congrats! I don't know about other participants, but I had my character in single player offline, so only open battle.net would do. Even then, I have problems connection to the battle net. The idea of recording the fight, however, is pretty cool.
The adventure of Xzar
Xzar is obsessed with
dragons with feet like rabbitsitems enhancing the MF chance. He just can't miss any opportunity to improve the odds of getting a new shiny item. This is why he was so glad to see Heavy Boots of Fortune with 25% chance in stocks:In the Canyon of the Magi Xzar found a Ral rune, the second Ral rune during this adventure. So Xzar became closer to the Ancient's Pledge Rune word (Ral+Ort+Tal into shields) which would give high resistances to all magics.
On another monster in that area Xzar found a flawed topaz. It was time to change a cap on Klaudia - the cap Xzar had made at the start of the Act I:
Although Xzar knew the Symbol of the True Tomb of Tal Rasha, he decided to clear all fake tombs first, because he heard a great treasure could be found in them. He started with the one with the symbol "O" at the entrance:
And what a joy it was when one champion monster there dropped a unique item, a long bow!
It was Raven Claw. It could fire Explosive arrows (!!!) Even while Klaudia had a long bow equipped with 3 best gems Xzar had found, it was a no-brainer (to start using a new bow).
The explosions the long bow provided helped immensely:
Before clearing the second tomb, with the [] symbol, Xzar managed to buy a pair of gloves to reflect his boots - again with the 25% MF chance.
Drognan told Isendra a way to find the Tomb of Tal Rasha. The great (now deceased) Vizjerei mage, know as Horazon, was fond of recording the events of great significance. Among these events, surely the imprisoment of Baal, the Lord of Destruction must have been recorded in the sorceror's journal. The journal was to be found in Horazon's Arcane Sanctuary.
And where that Sanctuary was located? According to Drognan, Lut Gholein lies upon the ruins of former Vizjerei fortress, meaning that investigating the town is going to be required. Drognan also shared other bit of information - the Vizjerei mage, who visited Lut Gholein sometime ago also was searching for Arcane Sanctuary. And his name? No one else than Jazreth, Isendra's lost friend.
That was enough for the sorceress to resume her investigation. Before she could do that, Jerhyn approached her and told her truth about the current situation in the city. It turns out that Jazreth decided to investigate the cellar below the palace first. Then, he dissapeared, and then horde of monsters started to came out of the palace cellars, killing the harem girls (
It turned out that both Harem levels and Cellar levels were invaded by monsters from hell. Hardly any harem girl or guard managed to survive their attack. Isendra massacred every monster that dared to cross her way. She was relieved that she didn't found Jazreth's corpse along the way. On the deepest level of the cellar, Isendra found the portal to the Arcane Sanctuary, guarded by Fire Eye.
Isendra crossed the portal and found herself in the Arcane Sanctuary. The view was beyond any explanation.
The sorceress started to explore the place, slaughtering the Khazra, Ghoul Lords and Ghosts. One she used Poison Shrine to her advantage during the fight:
On the south corner of the sanctuary, Isendra has found a mage. Was it Horazon? No, he shouldn't be alive. The mage started casting Glacial Spike at her, Dodging the spells, Isendra managed to get closer. It was then that she forgot to breathe for few second.
It was not Horazon. It was not some random mage. It was no one else than Jazreth himself.
The same Jazreth that was her friend. The same Jazreth that fought against Diablo below Tristram, alongside prince Aidan. Isendra had a lot of questions Jazreth weren't going to answer. She was reluctant to attack, but he was not. Unfortunately, she had little choice. Her old friend went utterly mad. With great pain, Isendra performed teleport to appear before him and swung her fiery-enchanted Flail twice. That was enough. Her old friend died at her feet.
Old Jazreth wouldn't let himself to be defeated this easily. Old Jazreth definitely would know better than trying demonic magic. But Diablo definitely corrupted his mind. The Dark Wanderer... no, Diablo.... will pay for this! Isendra checked the Horazon's Journal to find the information about Tal Rasha's tomb. And she did.
She then went through the portal to the Canyon of the Magi, where the tomb is located.
Thare was seven Tombs out there, only one being the true one. Isendra recorded symbol of the true tomb, however:
Isendra decided to rest for a while. She decided to vent some of her sorrows in Atma's inn, and then decided to gamble a bit. She finally felt lucky, as she managed to won this wonderful flail:
Now, to the Canyon of the Magi.
Isendra's stats and skills:
--- Since you're rolling hardcore character, I recommend also keeping some +life charms just in case.
After exploring all the Tombs in the Canyon of the Magi, right after killing the last monster before entering the Tal Rasha's chamber, Xzar reached the 24th level, which granted him an access to the Decrepify curse - a combination of Weaken and Amplify Damage curses + a speed reduction to the target.
For the battle against Duriel Xzar finally changed his much-loved unique club to a mundane dagger, for insane poison damage and attack rating due to his specialization:
As soon as Xzar entered the chamber, he cursed Duriel. Not long after that, Duriel already had less than 50% of life, while Xzar, Klaudia and even a clay golem all were in full health.
Duriel's health became less than 5%, and Xzar let Klaudia (whose MF chance was added to Xzar's) to finish the demon off.
Not a single town portal was needed! Only one full rejuvenation potion was used.
And the reward... Xzar was SO pleased to see the loot after Duriel:
Yes, it was a light belt from the set Xzar already had known about. It was Arctic Binding. Because Xzar already had Arctic Furs (an armor), the combination of these 2 items provided immense bonuses - 72 to Defense (based on character level) and 40% better chance of getting magical items! It was even more than the Xzar's armour with 3 topazes, which immediately was given to Klaudia. Another important factor of the new combination was +10 to all resistances.
As soon as Xzar reached the Act III, he changed his dagger for the best he could buy:
These're Xzar's stats at the start of the Act III:
His chance of getting magical items is improved by 136%, with Klaudia offering additional 49% on top of that (to make it +185%).