Death From Above

[Bam-Bam]

My leap attack barbarian's solo quest though hell was completed last night. Let's just say the last week of playing this guy were intense. He managed to make it though Acts 4 and 5 with a single death--lagging badly after opening an evil urn that popped a snake boss, and I almost survived even that bad luck. No save and exit for body recovery...I made hid do it the hard way :P.

While this guy certainly was not the most challenged of builds, he is only my 3rd 3-dot, and my first guy to solo hell pretty much all the way. I refused any use of an aura merc, sticking with Bors (go on, Bors chop his head off ), my A5 normal Barb companion thoughout the game.

Memorable moments included the Plains of Despair, which was mostly AKs and Burning souls, including a conviction AK boss pack nested within at least 3 or four packs of souls ; gloams in the frozen river (no surprise there), and a throne draw of oblivions/dumb knights, souls, and vampires (tough, but could have been worse). He full cleared hell up through the latter part of A5 (except for all the false tombs and the swampy pit), where I skipped the cellar (went back to it after Baal), the pit off the Frozen Tundra, and parts of the WSK (I moved on after satisfying myself that I could handle all the combinations of the draw). Entered hell at 70 and finished at 83. Total hell deaths while questing after A2 were 3, once in A2 to overlapping boss packs with might/curse, a manaburn/cursed/fanat thresher pack in upper kurast, and the lag-induced death in A5 to a manaburn (other mods not remembered) snake pack on the glacial trail. Had another death running in A2 with KoP and his son...I lept into a boss pack and was dead in 3 seconds...I still don't know what mods that pack had.

He wore Sigon's set through nightmare, which was then switched for the IK set (sans armor). Weapons of note were bonesnap (though nm diablo), bloodtree stump (dropped by nm diablo), windhammer ogre maul (through clvl 76), and IK maul. He wore a durial's shell throughout hell, upgrading it to elite in early A4. Other equipment included a manald's heal ring and ravenfrost, both of which dropped in nm. Ammy was a +1 barb skills with teens to most resists. With charms, skills and socketing, I managed to max fire and lightning res by A4 hell.

Tactics evolved over time. There was lots of potion horking--this guy loved to drink. With no shield, and a slow attack, he would usually drink a pot after every battle, if not during. For some packs, I would leap, leap, leap to separate the masses (especially PI packs of ghosts), then leap attack/zerk to pick off individuals. Other, less dangerous pack would get lots of short-hop leap attacks. When LA would give knockback to the attacked monster (depended on the terrain), that monster would be separated and soon dead. Otherwise, most packs were alt-LA (allows for LA when in melee range), which would generally mean less controll over which monster in the pack was targeted. That make for slower progress. Taunt/howl were used to control crowds, since being swarmed was the biggest problem for a slow attacker (other than manaburners). Big time dangerous areas (read gloams/souls) were handled by chockpoints and lots of taunting.

Some other snippets--

Maggot lair--I was able to leap in a grab the staff, but could not taunt enough to keep the mothers from filling the room, and I could not kill the crowd fast enough. Shishak popped in with his summoner to help me clear out the room--thanks again.

Durance--dolls, dolls, dolls on Dur 2. That, coupled with urdars and vampires made for a fun ride. KoP and his son popped in that game, so at least half of Dur 2 was soloing in a 3 person game. Definately made for a fun, intense session. Bremm was not fanat, not conviction, Dur3 was a walk in the park. Before I started A5, I helped a friend though A3--and that time Bremm spawned conviction...drank like a fish

I had bought a wand with lifetap charges to use in areas with non-leechables (A2 temples and arcane came to mind). I never had to use it, though there were many town trips when there were not many corpses to hork (plains especially--souls and AKs did not support pot finding).

The leap attack bug was mostly manageable--it usually happened once a night. Quit save and exit, then return to the game. I do not recall any deaths due to that bug. Desynch was a REAL pain. There were times where more than half of my leap attacks were whiffs, even with a decent attack rating and landing right on the monsters' heads. Of course, celebrating a significant victory by hopping all over the screen, spamming war cries also can not be overrated.

The fun factor with this guy was enormous. Leaping across half a screen to deliver a smack on the head is great for the soul! I'd like to try this hardcore some time, but the amount of desych I experienced on the realms makes me think that I would need some good luck to make it to guardian solo. Maybe someday.

Now for a couple of shots from the end.



Note the bare-legged fashion.

Now it's time to show off the reward for a solo Hell victory. I am not sure Tyreal approves...



I hope you enjoy the pictures/report as much as I enjoyed playing this guy.

[Scrape]

Thanks for the write-up.

I always enjoy reading gameplay stories about D2, especially when I have not been playing much.

Of course, celebrating a significant victory by hopping all over the screen, spamming war cries also can not be overrated.

It reminds me of those barbarians that, when lag would kick in, would take advantage and whirlwind continuously as if in a state of joy.

[KingOfPain]

Hey, I see wires on your back in the first picture. Must get them digitally removed.
I always thought the fins on dem helms look a tad too big that it can tip a baba on his side. At that angle you look like you are fresh meat hung for Baal.

I can almost feel your pain the few times we fought together. And the story at the Maggot's Lair, especially, brought back painful memories. I don't remember seeing you taking advantage of Taunt and Battle Cry much, for their damage reduction property. What's up with that?

Glad you enjoyed the journey, and much congrats to your finally victory. You deserve the GLOW

Thx

KoP

[Bam-Bam]

Taunt was used extensively thoughout A3-A5 hell. I would also use warcry to stun mobs after leaping into them (non boss packs usually).

Though I used it sporadically, I am somewhat embarrassed to say I probably did not use battlecry as extensively as I should have. That probably would have made my transition into hell much easier.

As it was, in A4 and A5, dangerous boss packs (manaburn/fanat/might/cursed for example) were thinned by leap or howl, then either taunted back or just attacked individually. Most single monsters would be put into stunlock by a successful LA, and then quickly finished off by another LA or two, or a quick zerk swing.

I found that by the end of the game, the combination of my shout-augmented defense and the continuous leap attacking was keeping me from taking too many hits. Overlapping witch packs were a pain with all the bloodstars in the air, and in general, I would take out the ranged attackers first, either by taunting them, or tempting/long-range LA. I found that I had enough of a feel for the rangers' movement that I could rain death on them from above. Couple that with rangers' general low health (think skelly mages and archers), and they were usually crushed with a single leap attack.

For most of the time, I had warcry keyed up on dual-echoing switch setup. It was not used that often, and, in retrospect, battlecry would have been a more effective (and more used) cry. Live and learn.

[KingOfPain]

It has been a long time since I played with LA. Why the questions, and thanks for the answers.
So high slvl LA 's Knockback is effective enough to give you working room, thinning the crowd?
Would you usually have time to LA again before monsters gang up on you again?
How oftem do you die in midair. I seem to remember a lot of deaths in mid jump.
Does Alt LA offer the same knockback effect?

KoP

[Bam-Bam]

I could have sworn I already answered this---post must have gotten swallowed (op error most likely).

High level LA does not give an area knockback like leap. What was happening was that individual monsters would be knocked back, further separating them from the group and allowing them to be quickly killed.

As far as leap attacking into a mob, I usually would leap attack on the edge of a mob, hopping back and forth. This kept me open to fewer attacks. An alternative approach would be to leap into the middle, causing the crowd to be knocked back, then choosing a specific target for leap attack. I tried as much as possible to concentrate on one or two monsters, separating them and finishing them off. If I was leap attacking back and forth across a crowd, I would not have as much control over which monster was targeted. This would make the battle last longer, since individual monsters would have more time to regenerate life.

I cannot recall dying in mid-air during my solo run, but I have since then...running baal. Running from wsk2 to the throne room can be a bit hairing in an 8 player game. Of course, I would then mock the sorcies for being too wimpy to teleport :P.

Alt-leap attack had the same properties as a normal leap attack, except that you could launch while in melee range. The biggest problem with alt-leap attack was that pressing alt revealed all the junk on the ground. This made for difficult targeting if lots of monsters had died (especially bosses).

Sorry the answers took so long, I must have screwed up my original post.

[Sirian]

You posted on the old hosting after the transfer started.

[ShadowHM]

Originally posted by Bam-Bam@Sep 29 2004, 12:32 PM


High level LA does not give an area knockback like leap. What was happening was that individual monsters would be knocked back, further separating them from the group and allowing them to be quickly killed.

Hi

From a Barbarian *noob*:

I have been dithering over whether Leap or Leap Attack would be the better skill for DunmaglasBNB to spend points on.

The notion was that the stun and knockback would act as both curse and benefit to the party. He would Leap (or Leap Attack) to a group of monsters and then Leap (or Leap Attack) out of the fray (so as not to be killed by companions) and commence throwing things at them.

The skill descriptions at the Arreat Summit website don't really help much. Leap Attack is supposed to grant an AR and damage bonus as well as the stun and knockback effect, which would be helpful if it actually benefited a Thrower. Suggestions from those who have played Barbarians are solicited.

[Bam-Bam]

If I were playing a bnb thrower, I would invest more heavily in leap. It is probably worth putting one point into leap attack, since at one point you can transport yourself as far as a high level leap.

Moderate to high level leap would be nice for a leaper, since you would be able to knockback the monsters and then pepper them with your throws. If you invest enough into the skill, you could hop in place a few times, which would probably end up knocking back the monsters into a wall, where they would be extremely vulnerable to throws and other ranged attacks.

Leap can also be a left mouse button skill, so you could have an easy quick tandem of leap leap throw, or various other combinations.

[KingOfPain]

Sometimes it is hard to explain and there's nothing like a first hand experience, so try it out for yourself.

Account KingOfPain4, HardlyDavidson. Spend the points however you like. May be you can write up something on L/A ^_^


KoP