Single Pass Untwinked P8 Fury Druid - Fenrir

[duck]

Update. Wow, hell is hard as ****.

My merc dies way too easily. I can't get my hits going without someone tanking for me. It's been hit and run. The lack of CC is really hurting this Fury Druid. My Frenzy Barb had Howl and Taunt to help.

I felt I definitely needed gear upgrades asap. Firstly, I made a Smoke Armour for my Merc (will swap around with myself). Not much impact though, since I don't think the lack of resistance was what's troubling us.

Next thing was to make a Lawbringer. A 3 Soc Legend Sword dropped in Brood Moor. But I didn't realise that I needed 10 more Str to use it. Thankfully, I kept Strength charms in stash for such emergencies.

This is such a lifesaver. Together with Holy Freeze, it's just enough CC and damage amp for my Merc to survive and take down enemies. I'm mostly using Lawbringer now, and switching to my Bonesnap to sneak some hits when safer. I got a feeling I can still go greedy with 4PTopaz armour.

Cleared Blood Raven, Mausoleum and Crypt. Gain few levels along the way, and put 10 points into Str. Don't need the charms anymore.

 

[LouB]

It's why it is call HELL

 

[duck]

I FINISHED THE PITS. I HAVE FOUND MY FAL. THAT IS ALL FOR TODAY'S UPDATE!

 

[duck]

Ok, an update. I have just finished Hell A1. Overall, a lackluster run, with no notable drops that would improve my gear except for possible Obedience via Fal rune.

Countess was a literal bitch. Look at what I got.

So was Andy. She dropped me a Chance Guards, which is no longer that useful now. To make matters worse, look at the MF roll.

What a start to hell. Lawbringer again is a lifesaver, but I'm hoping to find Threshers or CAs soon to make Insight (or Obedience if I got runes for Ko).

 

[duck]

Sorry I have not been updating for a month. Basically felt burnout with D2 and didn't feel like playing. You see, I always hated Act 2 for melee characters. Mummies are slow to kill, Sarcophagus spawns plenty of them, and Greater Mummies often revives them. Then there's Maggot's Lair & Arcane Sanctuary in which the merc's pathing is really shit and I need to micromanage a lot. Lastly, the Harem/Palace Cellar are filled with Horror Archers/Mages which are very painful when you're not with optimal gear. Basically, Act 2 is a long slow grind.

I have finally cleared Arcane Sanctuary, and am left with the 7 Tombs + Duriel. The journey unfortunately yielded no equipment of value for my Druid. I've been praying for Threshers to drop to upgrade my Insight, unfortunately the only 2 dropped with 2/3 sockets

Anyway I will take my time with this, and I reckon I will update in a month's time with the conclusion of Act 2!

 

[drmalawi]

Yeah act 2 hell can be very frustated for untwinked melee chars, especially on p8

Hope you can prevail and bring us more updates!

 

[DarkMaster]

I am currently in A5 Crystalline Passage. Slingers are a big pain because their javs deal elemental damage. I also read that apparently there's a bug with them in LoD, in which they ignore Merc or summons. I suppose that's why I get constantly hit by them. I have died like 5-6 times from them already sadly.

A month late but that's by design actually, they have 100% pierce from monprop.txt (data file that handles certain monster bonuses like pierce on A5 slingers and crushing blow on gorebellies) so it pierces right through your merc/summons and continues on to hit you. They certainly hurt and they've got a pretty good chance to hit with the old missile attack rating bug on monsters.

 

[duck]

A month late but that's by design actually, they have 100% pierce from monprop.txt (data file that handles certain monster bonuses like pierce on A5 slingers and crushing blow on gorebellies) so it pierces right through your merc/summons and continues on to hit you. They certainly hurt and they've got a pretty good chance to hit with the old missile attack rating bug on monsters.

I see! Good to know. It was interesting because while I'm used to the usual scary stuff like Burning Souls, Bone Fetish, Death Lords etc, it's these guest monsters like Poison Viper and Slingers that surprised me with how hard they are to deal with haha