[1.05b] Duchess Memoriodei (Amazon) [Level 40 | A1 Hell | Hardcore | Retired]

fearedbliss

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Well folks, it's been a long time since I've started a new character (and try to be consistent with that same character / stash / universe). I've switched back to my Windows 10 (Dark Mode) computer for experiencing Diablo II on my primary offline gaming computer again. I'll still continue to maintain Cactus support for Wine, but I really do love playing Diablo II on Windows. I'm happy Wine is supported though since if stuff hits the fan, we know we have a relatively guaranteed path to continue playing Diablo II through Wine. But given my plan of just buying old Windows 10 (or Windows XP / 7) machines if I ever need another offline Windows gaming computer, it may be a while before Wine becomes the main way I experience D2, I would believe it would never happen in reality, but let's see what the future holds. Either way, we have a backup plan if all other backup plans fail.

This also means that I won't be streaming D2 since my gaming computer has no internet. But it's ok, I will continue to upload my playthrough sessions on my server and also on my youtube channel. With that said, let's begin.

With Memorial Day coming up here in the US, it was a perfect opportunity for me to start a fresh new universe in Cactus (stash/label). This universe will be 1.05b based, and will be hardcore only. This will be a "Player-based SSF" run thus all characters will be sharing items and twinking each other as time goes on. This is different from "Character-based SSF" where each character only uses the items that specific character found (no twinking). More info on these differences, here. Since about 1-2 years ago I had made a 1.05b Javazon on HC that I was really enjoying, Lora (most of the images in that link are dead), I wanted to remake her again and push pass Level 32-33. The funny thing is that since this is classic, Javazons can only use white javelins, but the interesting thing is that at least until Level 30 (and most likely a lot higher honestly, at least until the LF (and maybe CS) can get to a high enough level and have enough mana leech that I can substitute the main weapon for a Javelin), I have been playing the Javazon with other Melee gear (Sword/Flail/Mace + Shield). The javazon actually plays very well with regular melee weapons and a shield, and on HC it's safer for her to go that way because Chance to Block is based on the shield percentage as shown, combine that with high levels of Dodge/Avoid/Evade, and the nice combination of support skills (Inner Sight, Slow Missles, Decoy, Valk), you end up with a really nice, defensive, and offensive character that doesn't necessarily need to use Javelins. Now due note that this is playing D2 in a different way, and pre-LOD is a lot closer to Diablo 1 as I have said for many years, so for existing D2 players, you need to approach D2 pre-LOD like D1. If you need to, go play D1 first, get used to its pacing and game philosophy, and then move to Diablo II 1.05b, you will find it A LOT more enjoyable than if you go from modern D2 or Resurrected, and then were to expect that type of game play, game speed, item philosophy possibilities.

Memoriodei is this new Amazon. She is currently Level 11 and has completed A1 norm. You can find here videos either on my server or on youtube.
 

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Finished A2. Everything went relatively smoothly and I was able to find some nice upgrades. Just playing carefully and slowly. Just enjoying the present moment. I was able to also find a Boneflesh Plate Mail from Duriel quest drop so I'm really happy about it. The 144 defense, 5% life leech, and a little bit of AR+defense helps a lot, and also since it's unique it has 255 def, I believe all uniques may have 255 durability but not sure, I know all of them tend to have a lot of durability. I also found a Cathan's ring so that's an additional 6% life leech, soon I'll have 11% life leech. I need 3 levels to get up to 65 str (63 str req for boneflesh), but if I get to Kurast Bazaar before then I can get the extra 5 stat points. Looking forward to progressing on this char. I used Imbue quest on my broad sword, it was alright, nothing special but it did become my main weapon due to the huge damage increase, but it would have been nice to get some IAS as well and some life/mana leech. So it was still worth it to imbue. For future chars I can save imbue since I'll have gear to twink them.
 

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Smooth progress continues for Memoridiodei. Solid upgrades in A3 and she is pretty defensive right now and Critical Strike is currently at 49% chance of success. I want to get it 50/51% at least to tip the scales, then I'll focus on more evade/avoid/etc. Decoy is coming up as well so that's useful.
 

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The deed is .... done, and perfect for the Memoriodei weekend lol.
 

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I've been grinding on Normal difficulty and have reached level 27. Experience and killing was getting too slow given I haven't gotten any weapon upgrades since I imbued my broad sword in Act 2 lol. So since I normally grind Outer Steppes in A4 since it's a relatively safe melee friendly area without any ranged magic spellcasters (It does have those mana burning spirits, but no elemental types of attacks like Oblivion Knights.. although I think the mana burn is a type of elemental damage IIRC.. but maybe it's magic), I decided to take a risk and switch to a pike. This means the Amazon is exclusively relying on her passive avoid/dodge/evade abilities and general resistances and HP for survival, and also my mana/life leech. This is extremely risky but it's what I'm gonna do to make the experience faster and more enjoyable. I'll need to not be too reckless (which I normally am not on HC), but it's even more important now. The nice thing about switching to a pike is that I got a HUGE damage increase, and also I'm now able to relatively easily farm Outer Steppes on p8! The nice thing is that leech is directly affected by the player count because the more life the monsters have, the higher my leech. So if my leech wouldn't be viable on p1, it is completely viable on p8. I'm not really running out of life or mana at all now. You can see that my base max damage (in the screenshots below) went from 29-45 with my broad sword, to 36-163 with the pike with Jab equipped (max damage 178 with normal attack skill). Now the icing on the cake, of course I'm now using a Level 1 Jab with this pike. In pre-lod, the Jab ability is not affected by weapon speed, which means I hit at the maximum speed even with a slow weapon. This is similar to how Whirlwind is also not affected by weapon speed as well. I also finished the DoE quest in A1 NM to pick up the skill point and use it to get Jab.
 

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Everything has been progressing smoothly. I've been able to switch from p8 Outer Steppes to p5 River of Flame which has been nice. Better items, more exp. Currently level 31 and I now have Valk. At level 32 I'll finally be able to catch up to Lightning Fury. Gonna max that out and be a LF zon, I need to be able to get as high as damage of LF as possible given that any jav I equip can only be white. With 5% mana leech on p8, I believe I should be able to leech enough mana to sustain the LF, but I'm fine boosting my mana leech a bit and/or put as many points as necessary into energy. I also decided to finish the Hellforge quest, but before that I muled off a Hellforge Hammer for future characters to twink :D.
 

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Did a few runs today and found an Iceblink! From my understanding this is one of the best armors in the game in prelod. Hitting any white monster with it will fully freeze them, so GG. Although any superuniques, bosses, and (probably) champions will chill them a lot. I'll need to get used to it but I was able to "tag" maybe like 3 monster and rotate between them quickly to essentially kill all of them while they are completely frozen. I've only ever found an iceblink in 1.05b one time many years ago I believe in Act 3, but at that time I didn't know it was that good. Now I know and will cherish it lol.
 

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:D, dat sigon's shelter doe.
 

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Just grinding still. I gambled a nice upgrade for my pike and also got another Sigon's Shelter. In the meantime picked up a few more levels, currently 36.
 

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I finished A1 NM and currently progressing through A2. Staff has been retrieved, currently in Lost City heading over to viper temple. I'll be saving my imbue quest until I can get a nice high damage exception weapon (upgrade from pike).
 

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Completed A2 NM. I got a Unique Flail from Duriel, seems to be a very good twinking weapon (better than hellforge hammer IMO).
 

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I was able to finish A3 and A4 NM and defeat Diablo. Memoriodei is now in A1 Hell and is now a Duchess. I think I'm gonna take a break from this character and may or may not come back to her. She's pretty strong in a lot of ways but I don't think I can confidently beat Hell atm with her current gear. If you've watched the playthrough through NM, you'll notice that while it may seem I'm playing relatively smoothly, if I'm not careful, she will get killed, all across A1-A4 NM. So it definitely required a lot of energy for me to keep her alive. In HC in general you should be paying attention either way, but I need to pay extra attention with Memoriodei lol. Either way, it's been fun so far and she has definitely collected different pieces that can be used for future HC 1.05b chars. I was also able to gamble a few more items including a Nagel, which means that I could technically just chill in normal, grind gold, and just farm a manald heal, and then infinite sojs, which I can't complain about :). There was a split second where I almost died to NM Diablo, but luckily I got out of there alive. Normally I can tank Diablo's lightning hose at point blank range (safest spot for the most part for a melee char in prelod), however that's assuming you are using a shield, or at least it feels that way. Since I've been playing NM with a 2 handed spear (Jab), it meant that the lightning hose hit me pretty hard and quick. I can only assume that if the zon didn't have any points in avoid/dodge/evade, she may have been dead for sure.

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Great journey brother! I am watching your Youtube videos because I am a big fan of pre 1.10 Diablo 2. Really love there are still people keeping the classic version of the game alive. Too bad you ain´t gonna continue with Memoriodei, but I remain hopeful that some other interesting character journey will commence soon. I will be there to watch.

Take care! Adam
 
Thanks for the support @broxigaarr. I may still continue her in the future when she gets stronger, at the moment it would be risky to play Hell with her current state haha. But I will definitely be starting up another char and twinking them with what Memoriodei has collected!
 
Yeah, I think you want to get another 15-20 levels before seriously starting hell. A few builds like WW barb/sorc can handle hell as low as level 30-35 due to the balance: WW barb can leech so well they basically stay immortal, and no immunities lets sorc use orb for everything. But most builds want to be 55-60 to safely start. I'd say it's something like:
- 1.00-1.06: 55-60
- 1.07-1.09: 60-65
- 1.10+: 70-75
Sadly the grind for XP gets really slow after about 70 in pre LoD, reminiscent of the fact the game was designed to have 50 player levels like diablo 1 and changed at the last minute.
 
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