Isendra didn't waste any time and started to massacre monsters on the Canyon of the Magi. Soon, she felt her power growing and she realized just a little more training and she'll became able to cast Blizzard. Then, she went to explore fake Tal Rasha's tombs first, before exploring the true one. First of all, treasures could be find here. Second, she'll probably needed additional power before entering the true tomb, since she'll be likely facing Baal or Tal Rasha in combat. One of the Lesser Evils, such as Duriel or Azmodan was also a possibility, although an absurd one. What kind of Demon Lord would be stupid enough to guard a god-forgotten Tomb for all eternity? That's absurd! It made a sense with Andariel and the monastery, since she got some influence that way, buy guarding ancient forgotten tomb is a different story. (yes, I am making fun of the "plot")
And finally, Isendra wanted vengence for Jazreth. Doesn't matter on what kind of monsters. Scarabs, burning dead, wraiths or Diablo himself. And that made her much more agressive and more reckless.
Meanwhile, Isendra found flail with 2 sockets and put Tir and El runes inside of it, creating the "Steel" runeword.
In the 3rd fake tomb, Isendra, as usual, was massacring the burning death and greater mummies. She found a dead end, but at the same time, she sensed there is a next room just behind the wall (aka I saw this on the minimap). She used teleport to get there.
What she found herself between burning dead and two greater mummies. No big deal. The unholy bolts from the greater mummies were dealing heavy damage, but Isendra managed to take down one before using light health potion and teleporting herself out of danger. Or so she had thought.
Low on life, she teleported away, only to eat 3 or 4 unholy bolts from the grater mummies that were hiding in the shadow. And that was the end. Isendra paid the highest price for her recklessness (and player's stupidity).
The tale of Isendra ends once and for all
--- First of all, no screenshots this time. Because every screenshot I've taken looked like this:
To prove it:
Why? I have one clue. I was having ShadowPlay application on and ready, since I wanted to record the battle against Duriel for you guys (and gals, if any is reading this) and I think it was it that made screenshots look like this. A shame, really.
---
Wow, that was stupid way to die. But that is what is best while playing hardcore character. I cannot recall even one of my hardcore character to die in an epic way. They always went in stupid ways that could easily be avoided. In this instance, I was being impatient (and since this session would be a long one, I wanted to clear all the tombs as soon as possible) and my decisions weren't smart because of that. After second teleport, I was already on low life and, noticing incoming projectiles, instead of teleporting again or using full rejuvenation potion, I panicked and instead used another light healing potion. The life regeneration wasn't enough to survive 3 or 4 unholy bolts that stunlocked me.
When Isendra died. My first reaction was silence, then facepalm, then laughter. I am a little ashamed about myself, since my hardcore characters usually managed to survive at least to the act 4 nightmare. The record was act 3 hell. But this is unacceptable. She had ~260 defense, ~340 attack rating, 239 life points, 34% block rate and still died like that. Damn, she was starting to be competent at what she did and she had to die. Whatever.
What know? I don't know. I have no idea what character play this time. In the right time, I could do Diablo 3 hardcore playthough, but that would work only at the beginning on the seazon, when my resources are literally none. I could start another D2 playthough, but I don't know which character to use and what to make of those. If you have suggestions, you can let me know.
Also, it was fun to contribute here. First time in my life I was roleplaying in Diablo 2 to this extent.
So sad to see Isendra die! Her deeds of valor will be remembered!
I enjoyed your RP reports, @O_Bruce, I truly did. I hope you'll find a new motivation to start again. I would enjoy any character, from any game, with your reporting style.
And for the screenshots part. I saw @jjstraka34 mentioned inability to make screenshots in D1, and now you're saying there's a problem with making screenshots in D2. I use a small program, called "snapper" http://www.michielovertoom.com/software/snapper/ that lets you make screenshots in the JPEG format. It saves them in a separate folder (which you determine), and actually creates new files, different from those D2 makes. I use this program for making screenshots in all my games, although @BelgarathMTH reported one day he had troubles with this program and his IWD screenshots. I guess it depends on the OS.
Very sad @O_Bruce , I am really enjoying the playthroughs and the roleplaying stories. Having died more than a few times in D2, I usually would start another character of the same type, but change up the skills a bit maybe so I knew that I could win with that character. And of course you find completely different items. Maybe Ishandra could go looking for her big sister?
ahhh, unravelers used to be so much fun. The hardest thing in the act used to be clearing a room that had a champion unraveler with a group of unraveler minions. I seem to recall them patching that out though.
I'm just so glad I chose Dim Vision for my necromancer - while clearing all the fake tombs I too saw rooms full of those enemies. If not for Dim Vision, I don't know if I would write any future updates on Xzar. This curse took all general enemies out of battle, so that the rogue companion could quickly dispatch them, and then with another curse I could defeat a champion monster.
The adventure of Xzar
In the Act III, with all its ranged and quick enemies - the whole jungle are full of flayers and fetishes, Dim Vision helped as well. It blocked any abilities of shamans, so no inferno or resurrection of enemies:
Flayers, soul killers - it didn't matter:
For minibosses Xzar used Decrepify - and enemies were being killed so fast that I couldn't even make screenshots timely:
The start of the Act III brought 2 new unique items for Xzar - Heavy Gloves and a Morning Star:
While Xzar still preferred to keep his gaulents with 25% MF chance and thus didn't put on "Bloodfist" gloves, he changed his weapon for the new morning star, "Bloodrise" (so much blood in names):
He could easily switch between his poison dagger (for tough enemies) and new morning star (for everyone else) if needed. "Bloodrise" came exactly when his previous unique weapon, the knockback club from the Act I, became weak.
Hi guys. I have confirmed that the issue with the screenshots I had was due to have ShadowPlay active. But using snapshot program @JuliusBorisov provided, I am able to capture screenshots normally. I have some ideas regarding characters to play as, but I still have to decide which one to pick.
1. Barbarian, two handed swords, berserk as main attack. High damage, relying on insane amount of life rather than defense. 2. Sorceress, Frozen Orb + Hydra. One of my fav builds. 3. Amazon - Spears - Jab and Fend 4. Druid - Werewolf form, Fire Claws + Rabbies. No summons. 5. Amazon - Passive skills only - "Passion" runeword in 1-h weapon crucial.
Also and finally, a question. This is "No Reload" topic runs. Does that mean "hardcore characters only" or "hardcore characters only without grinding"? Because that's huge difference.
Glad to hear, @O_Bruce. From the options your provided, another sorc run would become a kind of revenge for Isendra, but it's up to you.
I think the main thing here is to avoid death. I'm not an expert in grinding, I just play as I think is safer to progress. For example, I waited till the necromancer reached the 24th level before facing Duriel. @lefreut is waiting till the 30th level to challenge Diablo. I think it's fine. I like MF, so maybe, if Xzar reaches that stage, he'll try numerous Nightmare Mephisto runs in order to get something.
The adventure of Xzar
After finding and returnind the Gidbinn dagger to Ormus, Xzar was rewarded with a nice ring providing *1 to Mana after each kill.
Thanks to his blinding curse, Xzar could let himself explore the Swampy Pit. Undead Soul Killers were a reason of several my older D2 attempts, but in this case they were quite safe:
In the Flayer Jungle Xzar found a Tal rune. No he only needed an Ort rune to enchant a shield with powerful protective magic.
The Flayer dungeon was full of general soul killers and their undead counterparts. Agains, thanks to Dim Vision, packs of these enemies couldn't besiege Xzar and their threat was hugely defused:
Decrepify worked wonders against champion undead flayers:
No screenshot yet, because i got blank pictures like @O_Bruce (I thought i launched snapper, but i was wrong it seems.) I'm just refreshing my memories about the game anyway (interface, quick buttons, skill system, items, it's all like new to me).
Meet Joneleth, the Necromancer:
To end, like THIS! I lose all my magic, and i'm banished to this weird place on the end corner of the Universe. I must watch my every step, because i'm weaker than a child now. My revenge, my godhood is gone...
But life is... strenght. And i WILL get back the power i had once.
My might come back to me slowly however.This world's magic works differently, but my first weapon is patience now. Today i raise skeletons, but with every day and every death i'll grow.
I'm not sure yet, honestly, i have no clue about the skill system (what is strong, what is not), just roll with the flow. Speaking about John, i'll start with curses and golems i think.
It's cool to have new participants! Good luck to the fellow necromancer.
Xzar: How about this, Irenicus? I teach you about necromancy! Irenicus: You bore me, mageling! ... Bah, wait ...
Anyway, you can only choose if your character is hardcore before the start of the game.
The adventure of Xzar
Ruined Temples in Kurast can be very tricky, but not with blind enemies:
In Upper Kurast Xzar found a unigue armor, "The Centurion". Although it was of no use for Xzar, it was still very pleasant to see that Xzar continued to find new unique items.
Xzar reached the old city of Travincal, and found the High Counsel, which consisted of demons who resembled a bit pit fiends. The Decrepify curse helped to lower their speed, so that Klaudia could take them down. While in the battle, Xzar noticed that some items dropped by enemies were not usual, but couldn't identify them before all and each members of the High Counsel were defeated.
Those were set items, Cathan's Mesh and Sigon's Sabot. Xzar also found a flawed topaz, and now Klaudia got a new Horned helmet (it provided a 4% better MF chance than her previous helmet with 2 chipped topazes).
Comments
Isendra didn't waste any time and started to massacre monsters on the Canyon of the Magi. Soon, she felt her power growing and she realized just a little more training and she'll became able to cast Blizzard. Then, she went to explore fake Tal Rasha's tombs first, before exploring the true one. First of all, treasures could be find here. Second, she'll probably needed additional power before entering the true tomb, since she'll be likely facing Baal or Tal Rasha in combat. One of the Lesser Evils, such as Duriel or Azmodan was also a possibility, although an absurd one. What kind of Demon Lord would be stupid enough to guard a god-forgotten Tomb for all eternity? That's absurd! It made a sense with Andariel and the monastery, since she got some influence that way, buy guarding ancient forgotten tomb is a different story. (yes, I am making fun of the "plot")
And finally, Isendra wanted vengence for Jazreth. Doesn't matter on what kind of monsters. Scarabs, burning dead, wraiths or Diablo himself. And that made her much more agressive and more reckless.
Meanwhile, Isendra found flail with 2 sockets and put Tir and El runes inside of it, creating the "Steel" runeword.
In the 3rd fake tomb, Isendra, as usual, was massacring the burning death and greater mummies. She found a dead end, but at the same time, she sensed there is a next room just behind the wall (aka I saw this on the minimap). She used teleport to get there.
What she found herself between burning dead and two greater mummies. No big deal. The unholy bolts from the greater mummies were dealing heavy damage, but Isendra managed to take down one before using light health potion and teleporting herself out of danger. Or so she had thought.
Low on life, she teleported away, only to eat 3 or 4 unholy bolts from the grater mummies that were hiding in the shadow. And that was the end. Isendra paid the highest price for her recklessness (and player's stupidity).
The tale of Isendra ends once and for all
---
First of all, no screenshots this time. Because every screenshot I've taken looked like this:
To prove it:
Why? I have one clue. I was having ShadowPlay application on and ready, since I wanted to record the battle against Duriel for you guys (and gals, if any is reading this) and I think it was it that made screenshots look like this. A shame, really.
---
Wow, that was stupid way to die. But that is what is best while playing hardcore character. I cannot recall even one of my hardcore character to die in an epic way. They always went in stupid ways that could easily be avoided. In this instance, I was being impatient (and since this session would be a long one, I wanted to clear all the tombs as soon as possible) and my decisions weren't smart because of that. After second teleport, I was already on low life and, noticing incoming projectiles, instead of teleporting again or using full rejuvenation potion, I panicked and instead used another light healing potion. The life regeneration wasn't enough to survive 3 or 4 unholy bolts that stunlocked me.
When Isendra died. My first reaction was silence, then facepalm, then laughter. I am a little ashamed about myself, since my hardcore characters usually managed to survive at least to the act 4 nightmare. The record was act 3 hell. But this is unacceptable. She had ~260 defense, ~340 attack rating, 239 life points, 34% block rate and still died like that. Damn, she was starting to be competent at what she did and she had to die. Whatever.
What know? I don't know. I have no idea what character play this time. In the right time, I could do Diablo 3 hardcore playthough, but that would work only at the beginning on the seazon, when my resources are literally none. I could start another D2 playthough, but I don't know which character to use and what to make of those. If you have suggestions, you can let me know.
Also, it was fun to contribute here. First time in my life I was roleplaying in Diablo 2 to this extent.
I enjoyed your RP reports, @O_Bruce, I truly did. I hope you'll find a new motivation to start again. I would enjoy any character, from any game, with your reporting style.
And for the screenshots part. I saw @jjstraka34 mentioned inability to make screenshots in D1, and now you're saying there's a problem with making screenshots in D2. I use a small program, called "snapper" http://www.michielovertoom.com/software/snapper/ that lets you make screenshots in the JPEG format. It saves them in a separate folder (which you determine), and actually creates new files, different from those D2 makes. I use this program for making screenshots in all my games, although @BelgarathMTH reported one day he had troubles with this program and his IWD screenshots. I guess it depends on the OS.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Diablo/comments/fe6qt/for_people_who_want_to_get_diablo_2_to_run_with/
Hahah!
" Players should be warned when more than one is in the chamber, the danger of death is very high. "
Me: no sh*t.
The adventure of Xzar
In the Act III, with all its ranged and quick enemies - the whole jungle are full of flayers and fetishes, Dim Vision helped as well. It blocked any abilities of shamans, so no inferno or resurrection of enemies:
Flayers, soul killers - it didn't matter:
For minibosses Xzar used Decrepify - and enemies were being killed so fast that I couldn't even make screenshots timely:
The start of the Act III brought 2 new unique items for Xzar - Heavy Gloves and a Morning Star:
While Xzar still preferred to keep his gaulents with 25% MF chance and thus didn't put on "Bloodfist" gloves, he changed his weapon for the new morning star, "Bloodrise" (so much blood in names):
He could easily switch between his poison dagger (for tough enemies) and new morning star (for everyone else) if needed. "Bloodrise" came exactly when his previous unique weapon, the knockback club from the Act I, became weak.
1. Barbarian, two handed swords, berserk as main attack. High damage, relying on insane amount of life rather than defense.
2. Sorceress, Frozen Orb + Hydra. One of my fav builds.
3. Amazon - Spears - Jab and Fend
4. Druid - Werewolf form, Fire Claws + Rabbies. No summons.
5. Amazon - Passive skills only - "Passion" runeword in 1-h weapon crucial.
Also and finally, a question. This is "No Reload" topic runs. Does that mean "hardcore characters only" or "hardcore characters only without grinding"? Because that's huge difference.
I think the main thing here is to avoid death. I'm not an expert in grinding, I just play as I think is safer to progress. For example, I waited till the necromancer reached the 24th level before facing Duriel. @lefreut is waiting till the 30th level to challenge Diablo. I think it's fine. I like MF, so maybe, if Xzar reaches that stage, he'll try numerous Nightmare Mephisto runs in order to get something.
The adventure of Xzar
After finding and returnind the Gidbinn dagger to Ormus, Xzar was rewarded with a nice ring providing *1 to Mana after each kill.
Thanks to his blinding curse, Xzar could let himself explore the Swampy Pit. Undead Soul Killers were a reason of several my older D2 attempts, but in this case they were quite safe:
In the Flayer Jungle Xzar found a Tal rune. No he only needed an Ort rune to enchant a shield with powerful protective magic.
The Flayer dungeon was full of general soul killers and their undead counterparts. Agains, thanks to Dim Vision, packs of these enemies couldn't besiege Xzar and their threat was hugely defused:
Decrepify worked wonders against champion undead flayers:
Patiently, Xzar reached lower Kurast:
You've got Unraveller Head from Diablo. Nice way to avenge Isendra.
No screenshot yet, because i got blank pictures like @O_Bruce (I thought i launched snapper, but i was wrong it seems.) I'm just refreshing my memories about the game anyway (interface, quick buttons, skill system, items, it's all like new to me).
Meet Joneleth, the Necromancer:
To end, like THIS!
I lose all my magic, and i'm banished to this weird place on the end corner of the Universe. I must watch my every step, because i'm weaker than a child now. My revenge, my godhood is gone...
But life is... strenght. And i WILL get back the power i had once.
My might come back to me slowly however.This world's magic works differently, but my first weapon is patience now. Today i raise skeletons, but with every day and every death i'll grow.
Is Joneleth a hardcore character?
Xzar: How about this, Irenicus? I teach you about necromancy!
Irenicus: You bore me, mageling! ... Bah, wait ...
Anyway, you can only choose if your character is hardcore before the start of the game.
The adventure of Xzar
Ruined Temples in Kurast can be very tricky, but not with blind enemies:
In Upper Kurast Xzar found a unigue armor, "The Centurion". Although it was of no use for Xzar, it was still very pleasant to see that Xzar continued to find new unique items.
Xzar reached the old city of Travincal, and found the High Counsel, which consisted of demons who resembled a bit pit fiends. The Decrepify curse helped to lower their speed, so that Klaudia could take them down. While in the battle, Xzar noticed that some items dropped by enemies were not usual, but couldn't identify them before all and each members of the High Counsel were defeated.
Those were set items, Cathan's Mesh and Sigon's Sabot. Xzar also found a flawed topaz, and now Klaudia got a new Horned helmet (it provided a 4% better MF chance than her previous helmet with 2 chipped topazes).