Diablo II: Frost Maiden Skill Layout

A Frost Maiden is a ranged Amazon fighter that uses Freezing Arrow to vanquish her enemies. The skill setup is as follows:

Critical Strike - 1
Inner Sight - 1
Dodge - 1
Cold Arrow - 1

At level six Cold Arrow becomes available. It will have to be used sparingly as the mana cold is fairly high. However monsters at this point can still be dealt with by using starting gear, or anything picked up along the way. Bosses are the only monsters that require skills to be utilized.

Cold Arrow - 7
Avoid - 1
Slow Missile - 1

At level twelve Cold Arrow has become much more deadly and while it is still used sparingly, makes short work of any monsters it is used on.

Cold Arrow - 11
Ice Arrow - 1
Penetrate - 1

At level eighteen Ice Arrow becomes available. Only one point will be placed in this skill. While it is a synergy of our eventual final skill Freezing Arrow, it only gives a bonus to the cold length of the skill. Since length is nerfed in Hell it is a waste of skill points to use Ice Arrow for that function, instead charms and +cold items are obtained (Ravenfrost) as each separate item adds to the cold length time. However even with one point, Ice Arrow is extremely useful in Normal to freeze monsters in their tracks so they can be dealt with easily.

Cold Arrow - 16
Evade - 1
Decoy - 1

At level twenty-four Cold Arrow has become the weapon of choice to deal with any monsters, so mana is an issue that needs to be managed constantly.

Cold Arrow - 19
Freezing Arrow - 1
Pierce - 1
Valkyrie - 1

At level thirty all of the main skills become available. Freezing Arrow replaces Cold Arrow as the skill of choice due to it's splash damage. The Valkyrie provides an excellent, resummonable tank to keep monsters away from the player character and Pierce provides the opportunity for Freezing Arrow's damage to multiply against packs.

Cold Arrow - 20
Freezing Arrow - 20

By level forty-seven the damage of Freezing Arrow has been maximized and the player is cruising through each level. Mana management is a constant concern however so FA cannot be used against all targets and a regular attack must be used, along with allowing the mercenary and valkyrie to deal with many of the monsters while they are frozen by FA.

Valkyrie - 20

At level sixty-five the valkyrie is maximized and provides the most durable tank possible in the game. This takes much of the heat off of the mercenary and allows him/her to require far less resurrections. Also at this point the character is completed with her main skills. Now it is time to choose a backup skill.

There are two options, Magic Arrow or Immolation Arrow. Magic Arrow requires an additional 19 points and is completed at level seventy-nine, while Immolation Arrow requires an additional 21 points and is completed at level eighty-one. Each has it's desired points, however I suggest Magic Arrow as the better backup skill. When maximized MA requires zero mana and also does not use a physical arrow, so it can be fired indefinitely. This comes in very handy when mana has been drained or when an arrow supply is limited, such as the Ancients battles.

Items with plus skills are extremely helpful due to the scaling factor of the cold skills and the need to increase some of the utility skills that receive only one hard skill point, such as Pierce. A high damage bow is a necessity to allow MA to be a viable backup skill, otherwise the player will be relying heavily on the mercenary and valkyrie to deal with all cold immune monsters.

Diablo II: No Vitality Tournament Part II

The concept of the No Vitality tournament is simple, no stat points are allowed to be placed in vitality at all. This is the only restriction. Equipment and charms that add to life or vitality are fine to be used at any time. For obvious reasons equipment with +life/vitality mods are highly sought after.

This is my second attempt at this tournament, the first was Bob the Fishymancer who was successful in becoming a Guardian. For the second attempt I created Atropos, who was to become a Frost Maiden. The idea of Frost Maidens is that they use Freezing Arrow to deal with most of their enemies. A backup skill is necessary for cold immune monsters, and I chose Magic Arrow as this backup. As it turns out MA was very underpowered due this being an untwinkled tournament and my bad luck at finding a decent bow. So I had to rely on my merc and valkyrie to deal with such monsters.

Still Atropos was successful in defeating Baal in Hell and become my second Guardian. I won't go into detail as to her journey, the Guardian thread already has all that information.

As with Bob, I'm not sure what to do with her next. Frost Maidens are not very good magic finders and cold immune monsters are present in most of the normal places I could run, such as the Pits or other level 85 areas. Since I'm not much of a HC fan outside of tournaments I'll probably leave her be. Still, with two done I intend to play the other five classes in all upcoming tournaments to eventually get one guardian of each class. That is a very, very long term goal considering how many of my tournament characters have even gotten to Hell difficulty, much less completed it.

Travian Update

A while back I posted about an online game I was sucked into called Travian. Well the servers last quite a while, for example the Speed server I am on currently lasts on average about five months. This particular server is nearing it's endgame status. The Natars were released today and as a result now all of the large alliances are warring with each other to gain access to these villages and the treasure they protect. However smaller alliances such as the one I am in, TRoS, are left mostly alone at this point in time.

Either way the game has been fun to play, although a bit more time consuming that I originally planned for. The issue with this game is that everything takes a certain amount of time to build, train or travel to. This keeps the player logging in on a constant basis to ensure that nothing is idle for too long, whether it be troops or building queues. For this reason quite a few people play dual accounts where there are multiple people that log into the same account to ensure it is being played 24/7. Not really something I can compete with, so I don't even try.

I learned quite a bit from the .US server I played first and was able to take that knowledge over the the .COM server for this second round. That said, I still am far away from knowing everything about this game so I'm making my share of mistakes. I haven't decided yet if I want to play another round or not. The time commitment is staggering and I don't want Travian to gain control of my life the same way Space: Glory through Conflict did. I found myself skipping out on real life things to keep an eye on the game and I'm determined not to get that obsessed this time around. My mind is not yet made up however, it will greatly depend on how many of my current mates continue onward and how many abandon the game for other ventures.

Diablo II: Mephathon

The Mephathon is a new magic finding tournament extremely similar to the Pindlethon. The basic premise is that you must run Mephisto in Hell two thousand times. The person with the most interesting/rares drops wins. Along the way of course lots of good items will be found that will help out future characters. This is the main reason I joined, as I normally don't like magic finding, but if it is part of a competition then I'll do it.

This one was a bit rough as it fell right after the most recent Pindlethon. That's four thousand magic finding runs in a relatively short time span (for me). Obviously quite a few good items fell that give me some great ideas for future characters. Most notably is the M'avina's bow from this tournament and the helm and armor from the Pindlethon. Finishes the set for me so a Frost Maiden is in the works somewhere down the road.

Overall this Pindlethon was very productive, so here are the elite set/unique drops.

IK Stone Crusher--15
Dangoon's Teaching--13
Laying of Hands--11
Dark Adherent--8
Arioc's Needle--7
Wizardspike--7
Bonehew--4
Ethereal Edge--3
Windhammer--1
Gimmershred--1
Demon Limb--5
Jade Talon--3
Djinn Slayer--5
Bloodmoon--3
Natalya's Shadow--2
Credendum--8
Nord's Tenderizer--9
Razor's Edge-- 1
Ormus' Robes--2
Sandstorm Trek--1
Baranar's Star--4
Rune Master--1
Demon's Arch--1
Flamebellow--1
The Reaper's Toll--1
Harlequin Crest--1
Shadow Killer--4
Eschuta's Temper--1
Hellslayer--4
Lightsabre--3
Viperfork--2
Hellrack--1
Arachnid Mesh--2
Dracul's Grasp--2
The Gladiator's Bane--1
Marrowwalk--1
Stormshield--4
Stoneraven--4
Nosferatu's Coil--2
Spike Thorn--4
Steel Shade--5
Soul Drainer--2
Wolfhowl--1
Andariel's Visage--1
Verdungo's Hearty Cord--2
The Redeemer--1
Boneshade--1
Sazabi's Ghost Liberator--1
Naj's Light Plate--1
Firelizard's Talons--1
Eaglehorn--1
Warshrike--1
M'avina's Caster--1

Rings/amulets were also included, so here were those finds.

Carrion Wind--1
Dwarf Star--7
Gheed's Fortune--5
Highlord's Wrath--1
Metalgrid--1
Nature's Peace--3
Rainbow Facet--4
Raven Frost--5
Saracen's Chance--1
Telling of Beads--2
Wisp Projector--2

Overall I had fun competing, even if I was completely outclassed (again). Now I'm done magic finding for quite a while, I even had to skip the MFO (magic find olympics) that started a few days ago due to MF burnout.

OL Games: Travian

Travian is an online real-time browser game set in ancient Roman times. The basic premise of the game is that each player chooses one of three races and begins with a single village. From there each player must improve their village, expand to new ones, go to war with their neighbors and conquer them. It's a war game, pure and simple as anyone attempting to "simcity" their way through the game will quickly be turned into a resource farm for everyone else.

There are multiple servers for dozens of countries, so I joined the US speed server where everything happens three times faster than the normal servers. I severely doubt I'd play a normal server, as waiting a full day to build a single field is simply a bit too slow for me. I ended up joining with a few people from the Diabloii.net forums, simply to test out the game. The server we were on had been running for about three months up to that point, so we were at quite a disadvantage.

Thankfully I ended up on the fringe of civilization so for the most part and was left alone to discover how the game worked. I was able to build up my first village, found a new one and conquer a pair of oasis squares. Along with this I build a decent sized army, practices raiding several inactive players and even destroyed three of them. All in all the game was fun, but I definitely shouldn't play more than one server at a time or I won't get any work done. I do have to be careful with this game, it is very similar to Archmage and Space: Glory Thru Conquest of which I became very addicted to. Thankfully we can assign sitters to watch over the account while I am away doing things in real life, so I can actually have a life.

Now that the US speed server ended earlier this week our group has moved to the COM speed server which has been running for only a single month. This means we won't be at quite as much of a disadvantage and we can take everything we learned in the US server with us. Should be interesting the second time around.

Diablo II: Martial Arts Assassin Skill Layout

A martial arts assassin is a melee fighter who relies mostly on charge up skills and kicks to deal damage to their enemies. Along with these they have several utility skills that provide excellent crowd control of monster packs. The skill setup is as follows:

Tiger Strike - 1
Claw Mastery - 1
Dragon Talon - 1
Psychic Hammer - 1
Burst of Speed - 1

At level six Burst of Speed becomes available, which enables the assassin to move and attack at extremely fast speeds. This skill will be the key to this build, as it will allow charge-ups to be obtained in rapid succession and therefore damage dealt to monster packs released with minimal time in between. Only one hard point here is needed as plus skills from equipment will handle the rest of the needed leveling.

Fists of Fire - 1
Dragon Claw - 1
Tiger Strike - 3
Cobra Strike - 1
Weapon Block - 1
Cloak of Shadows - 1

At level twelve to major skills become available; Cobra Strike and Cloak of Shadows. Cobra Strike allows the character to leech mana and life from monsters at extremely high rates, keeping the bulbs full at all times. Cloak of Shadows is the assassin's main crowd control skill, and should be utilized whenever a pack of monsters is encountered. Only one point is desired in both of these skills, as plus skills from equipment will handle the rest of the leveling needs.

Tiger Strike - 5
Claws of Thunder - 1
Dragon Tail - 1
Fade - 1
Shadow Warrior - 1

At level eighteen Shadow Warrior becomes available, which makes an excellent tank. This will allow the character to attack monsters at the edge of the pack for charge-up purposes before unleashing damage into the heart of the monster's formation.

Tiger Strike - 10
Blades of Ice - 1
Dragon Flight - 1

Dragon Flight is used in special circumstances only to teleport the assassin across the field. Extremely handy to escape from trapped positions and provide some breather room to regroup.

Tiger Strike - 14
Phoenix Strike - 1
Shadow Master - 1

At level thirty the ultimate tank becomes available, Shadow Master. The Shadow Master has the ability to cast their own Crowd Control spells, such as Mind Blast and Cloak of Shadows, which makes survivability for the main character exponentially easier. There is also the down side however, Mind Blast will be cast on a monster the main character is attack fairly often and this can lead to some confusing battles.

Tiger Strike - 20
Phoenix Strike - 20
Dragon Tail - 20

At level sixty-eight all of the main skills are maximized and now a decision must be made, which synergy to Phoenix Strike to dump the remaining points into. Since Dragon Tail provides extra fire damage then Fists of Fire is not really a consideration. Either of the two remaining options (cold/lightning) are viable and helpful, however the decision for me was quite easy. I found it extremely difficult to see how many glowing charge-up balls were floating around the character. Either monsters, barrels, trees or spell effects blocked the view of these charge-up indicators, so whenever they were released it was virtually impossible to tell what element was going to be given. Since lightning is the second of three charge-ups it is harder to force this skill to be released as cold, which is the last charge-up. As a result I suggest Blades of Ice as the synergy to increase.

Blades of Ice - 20

At level eighty-three the character is complete. Not many pieces of equipment are requirements for this character, however items with plus skills are extremely helpful due to the scaling factor of the martial arts skills and the need to increase some of the utility skills that receive only one hard skill point. Along with this a high damage set of boots is needed to provide the bulk of the damage from Tiger Strike and Dragon Tail. Goreriders or Shadow Dancers are the best choices for this.

Diablo II: Matriarch Nemesis

Nemesis is a recreation of a martial arts assassin I had started both on Battle.net and Single Player but never finished. On Bnet I quit and moved to SP, and on SP I restarted before I finished. As a result I've never even gotten an assassin into Hell, such an oversight had to be corrected.

As can be expected Normal was a bit difficulty to begin with, but once Tiger Strike was maximized the questing was fairly basic. Tactics weren't really required yet, even untwinkled. I did however have great difficulty once more skills became available. Up to this point I've always utilized the F* keys for my skills as normally I use no more than six skills overall. However for an assassin this simply wasn't possible. As a result I had to bind the A-S-D-F-Q-W-E-R-T keys, as I was finding myself getting more and more frustrated by the fact I couldn't select the needed skills quickly enough. Obviously this lead to some confusion for a while right after the switch trying to use potions, as my hand was in a different location. I can attribute a few Normal deaths to this issue.

Nightmare on the other hand, wasn't quite as easy as expected. A trip into the Blood Moor lead to a triple boss pack that killed off my poor barbarian mercenary and shadow master almost instantly and required lots of running around and trips back to town for potion restocks before they were eliminated. The mods weren't very dangerous, it was the cold damage the undead inflicted that was the problem. Being slowed simply didn't mesh with how Nemesis was intended to be played. So I muled on a pair of 20% faster attack speed gloves and a Ravenfrost ring to correct that issue.

Afterwards progress was fairly good. Charge-ups were used everywhere, no more normal attacks. The most dangerous monsters were either manaburn or undead, due to the inability to leech from them. Up until Act IV the normal packs were manageable, as were the act bosses. Duriel required some thawing potions as Nemesis still has zero, well now -30%, cold resistance. Duriel was also the only act boss to require a trip back to town to restock on health potions, both Andariel and Mephisto were easily dealt with due to the ability to leech from them.

Act IV lead to more problems due to the ramped up health/damage of the monster packs. Just stepping out of the staircase lead to a doom knight boss pack (extra fast, cursed) that killed Nemesis at least five times. They were accompanied by a few pit lords that took three sets of charge-up and release cycles to kill a single one. The weapon/boots Nemesis had were simply
lacking enough punch to deal with the monsters. So a few more items needed to be muled on; Gore Riders and a Bartuc's Cut-Throat. Afterwards Nemesis was able to deal with the monster packs, it still wasn't a breeze but manageable.

At arriving at the Chaos Sanctuary she realized something, Cloak of Shadows apparently doesn't affect Oblivion Knights, as they kept cursing her. This lead to several deaths to IM before the player settings were dropped to one for the rest of the level. The same held true in the WSK against the Oblivion knights that spawned there as well. Lovely. Ended up with a nasty roll for the 3rd level, Revivers coupled with a level simply full of Gloams. It was just plain silly, but being stubborn I refused to reroll the map, and died several times as a result.

Finally Hell was reached, which means Nemesis can be twinkled up to her eyebrows, and she was: helm, armor, rings, amulet, belt and a second weapon to join the twinkled main weapon, boots and gloves already present. After that she simply ran, literally, through Hell. With all of the bonus skill points given by equipment Nemesis had Burst of Speed up to a very respectable level, too much actually. Took quite a bit of getting used to how fast she could move.

One thing that did cause problems is the fact that more often than not I could not see how many light balls were circling her feet. This became a problem when using Phoenix Strike, I had no idea which elemental attack was going to be released. This lead to many of them being wasted due to being directed on immune monsters, but also to 17 skill points being unused at the end of the game. Since I couldn't control which element to release I didn't want to use the points in synergies when a need may arise for them later. No need arose however so I think I'll dump them all into Blades of Ice, since the last charge is a little easier to control even if Claws of Thunder was my first choice when planning the character.

Nemesis didn't encounter any terrible problems until the Chaos Sanctuary in Act IV, due to the Oblivion Knights and IM. Since Cloak of Shadows doesn't affect OKs she struggled greatly in this area and received her first death in Hell, then several more followed close behind. This was a signal for things to come in Act V, as in the Bloody Foothills Nemesis and her companions were greeted with hordes of ranged monsters. Cloak of Shadows was used liberally to allow Nemesis to clear out small packs at a time. Going was slow but steady until the Ancients.

The Ancients had a dangerous set of mods. Talic (Whirlwind) was extra fast and spectral hit enhanced while Korlic was extra fast and stone skin. Of course both of them zeroed in on Nemesis and completely ignored her companions. This resulted in several minutes of her running around (with BoS enabled) with both hot on her heels. Since they were just as fast splitting up the Ancients simply wasn't possible, so hit and fade tactics had to be used to eliminate Madawc first and then corner Talic and Korlic behind a pillar where they couldn't see Nemesis. At this point they engaged Alhizeer and the Shadow Master, mostly the Shadow Master. This was good as Nemesis had run out of purple and red potions by this point.

Eventually they fell, then the WSK gave an extremely challenging combination of monsters to test Nemesis' skill and courage. Level 1 was easy, level 2 had Souls and Snakes, level 3 had Oblivion Knights and level 4 was fulled with Souls, Hell Witches and Death Lords. The last level was virtually unfair, fighting cursed with Amplify damage constantly against multiple bosspacks and champion packs of Death Lords, who in my opinion are the most dangerous melee monsters in the game.

Needless to say many mercenary resurrections were required, but eventually Baal was engaged and defeated, even though he felt his clone needed to remain a constant companion. Nemesis used a little trick to deal her damage; she charged up on the festering appendages that Baal kept summoning then released their charges on Baal himself. Since she had issues hitting Baal this was the only way to drop the Lord of Destruction.

Stats:
Level 81
Strength - 94(161)
Dexterity - 86(116)
Vitality - 295(305)
Energy - 25(35)

Life - 1095(1267)
Mana - 145(184)

Lightning Resistance - 75
Fire Resistance - 75
Cold Resistance - 75
Poison Resistance - 75

Skills:
Tiger Strike - 20(29)
Phoenix Strike - 20(29)
Dragon Tail - 20(29)
Dragon Flight - 1(10)
Fade - 1(7)
Shadow Master - 1(7)

Equipment:
Weapon 1: Bartuc's Cut-Throat (Shael)
Weapon 2: Jade Talon (24% CR jewel)
Armor: Duriel's Shell
Boots: Gore Rider
Belt: +15 Strength, FR 25%, LR 25%, 24% FHR, PLR 25%
Gloves: PR 25%, 20% IAS, +2 Martial Art skills
Helm: +18 Resist All, 6% Mana steal, +2 Assassin skills
Ring 1: +7 Strength, +22 Mana, LR 28%
Ring 2: Nature's Peace
Amulet: The Mahim-Oak Curio

Mercenary (Holy Freeze Desert Warrior):
Helm: Tal Rasha's Crest
Armor: Shaftstop
Weapon: The Reaper's Toll

Hellforge
NM: Um
Hell: Hel