The Hardly Able Crew

[ShadowHM]

InspiredHope took a tour of the Spider forest on her own, and managed to claim an Eye and the waypoint. She then hooked up with HardlyAble for a tour of the Flayer Jungle. They parted ways after claiming a Brain and another waypoint.

HardlyAble forayed onwards while InspiredHope took a break on the weekend. BamBam warned me that Thrashers were going to be a challenge, when we met in the Seven Samurai game. So, InspiredHope gulped and went back into the fray, in an attempt to catch up to the intrepid HardlyAble.

The trip from the Jungle to Lower Kurast was fairly uneventful, although she and Hal both fared poorly against a Cursed Flayer Boss. Stormeye fell due to his propensity to leave his minions behind and charge after a fleeing opponent. Once he was separated from his minions, he fell, albeit with a lot of potion gulping by both InspiredHope and Hal.

There were no other Thrashers met while clearing Lower Kurast, and the mission was to find waypoints this tour, so they proceeded into the Bazaar. Soon after the entrance, they met this fellow.





He chased them all the way back into Lower Kurast, killing Hal four times in the process. Extra Strong whacks hurt.

They met another Thrasher boss, who was not as difficult to dispatch, despite his Holy Freeze.






But when they saw this boss, peeking at him through the window of an abandoned building, there was a conference.






Hal started reminding his employer of the high cost of hospital bills, and pointed at the low level of the cash box. He reminded her that this mission was ostensibly a scouting one, to find waypoints. He even resorted to the 'This mission has taken more time already than planned' argument. InspiredHope had to sigh and agree. The less-than-intrepid twosome snuck out of the building and circled warily around, looking for that next waypoint.

Once they found it, they doubled back and paid a visit to Sarina Battlemaid, judging her to be the least time-consuming of the next two quests. (InspiredHope was perfectly happy by this point to avoid finding out about how she would fare against Stygian Dolls in the Sewers until the next adventure.)

Sarina was protected by another Flesh Hunter Boss who managed to kill InspiredHope almost immediately. Luckily, she had set a portal in the one cleared room, and could sneak out to re-claim her body and try again.

Sarina herself came very close to killing the two again (InspiredHope will now cease tempting fate by trying to take screenshots in battle).





Next quest: Finding a Heart and learning whether she can block fast enough to avoid at least some Stygian Doll explosions.

[KingOfPain]

GGG reclaimed the Tome this morning. Getting there was rough, FI everywhere. The worst part is having to dodge Litning and Blizzards. Always living on the edge of 1-2 hit kill. Sabrina and co on OTOH was not much of a problem. GGG can shut them down quick enough to avoid being over crowded, then Life Tap to keep the boy toy alive. Sabrina and most monster down there are very accommodating to GGG's problems being Cold Immune only.

I am just wondering what kind of equipment Hope has. I saw her mule with some fancy butter knives I wonder if I could offer her a Stormy to make GGG's good golly more durable.


KoP

[ShadowHM]

I am just wondering what kind of equipment Hope has. I saw her mule with some fancy butter knives I wonder if I could offer her a Stormy to make GGG's good golly more durable.


KoP

The mods on a Stormshield are extremely nifty. The increased chance to block would be helpful; the 35% faster block would allow her to hit another breakpoint; the damage reduction would be really helpful. The resists are low, although there is likely a way to compensate for that.

Alas - she has low strength, and I don't see any way to get to enough to hold a Stormshield and still be able to get her corpse back with one click (so as to be back in the fray fast enough not to die again right away - with no spells at her disposal, she has no way to hold off the baddies long enough to re-arrange, I suspect).

Str 73
Dex 231
Vit 163
Energy 15

Unallocated points: 55
Clvl 79

Hell Resists: 75/75/75/51


Current equipment:

Rockstopper Hat - 30% FHR, damage reduction, vitality and resists, socketed with a + minumum damage/cold damage jewel

Duress Mage Plate - Mainly for the 40% FHR, although it is not bad for defence, not to mention the 18% enhanced damage, the cold damage, crushing blow and open wounds. (thanks BamBam for the Um rune)

Rare Amulet - +min damage, + life, lightning resist, poison resist (she has been crafting amulets, but has not created a keeper yet)

Ravenfrost ring - +249 AR (thanks, Occhi), more cold damage, cannot be frozen, cold absorb

Rare Ring - +110 AR, 4% life steal, +dex, cold resist

Laying of Hands gloves - IAS, increased damage to demons, fire resist (Still dithering over swapping in Lavagouts to imrove AR - hence the unallocated attribute points, even though she really only needs 15 more str for the Lavagouts)

Hsaru's Boots and Belt - +790 AR (currently) cold and fire resist

Upgraded Spineripper - ITD, Prevent Monster Heal, IAS, dex, life steal. Still unsocketed because I just cannot decide what to put in it.

Moser's Shield - Resists, Fast Block (missing 2 measly points for Fastest Block), Increased Chance to Block

Weapon Swap: Poignard of Dim Vision (slvl 7) to help prevent swarming and a Rhyme Bone Shield (Fastest Block)

In her stash, she has a Fleshripper and a Ghostflame, both of which she deems less effective than the Spineripper (although she cannot yet bear to mule them off, just in case )

In her backpack, she carries 7 Steel Grand Charms and some small resist charms. There is just enough space left for a cube and 6 spare potions (constantly needed).

She has achieved Fastest Hit Recovery (86%) and a 75% chance to block. Her AR is still a pitiful 3033 (which translates into a 56% chance to hit a Thrasher in Act 3 ).



For what it is worth, I rejected the Angellic Amulet/Rings route for AR because I would have to forgo useful mods in those slots. The Hsaru's Boots/Belt is only two slots taken up, albeit for a lower AR boost. But then I can wear the Ravenfrost and other AR ring for some additional life steal. Besides, somebody has to get through Hell with that combo - it may as well be me.

With apologies for the fashion digression to that intrepid naked Barbarian, HardlyAble, who casts such nice spells for the well-dressed Amazon scampering ahead of him.

[KingOfPain]

If you are willing to spend 37 more points in strength or make it to a total of 110, consider the following set up:

ThunderGod Vigor - Req 110 str
Adds 1-50 Lightning Damage
5% Chance To Cast Level 7 Fist Of The Heavens When Struck
+20 Lightning Absorb
10% To Maximum Lightning Resist
+20 To Strength
+20 To Vitality

This would be an awesome choice - Get healed by LEBs. Not to mention the free Lite Fury/Strike skill you can't use just for a touch of irony.

Or, if you need to make up for resists

IK Belt IK Belt - Req 110 str
+25 str
LR 31
FR 28

This would give you 130 - 135 str
The next step involves 2 items set bonuses from the Aldur set

Aldur boots and Plate combo - Req for plate - 115 str (no prob after belt switch)
+30 dex
+150% bonus to AR
+20 Str
LR 40-50
FR 40-50
+50 life
+15 Vit
40 Fast W/R

Awesome AR boost from Dex and % bonus.
Should not have FR and LR problem after this, so TGV belt - That's also 155 hp boost from belt, plate and boots

This would give you a subtotal of 150-155 str

Put 1-6 more point in str and wear a Stormy, but I would change the hat to

Guillaume's Face - Req 115 str
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
15% Deadly Strike
35% Chance of Crushing Blow
+15 To Strength

This will give you more than enough str to equip Stormy, and the mods makes up for dmg you lose from replacing the plate.

If you want to save a bunch of str you can always socket a Hel somewhere. And finally

Storm Shield - Req - 156 str
[size=-1]+ (3.75 Per Character Level) 3-371 Defense (Based On Character Level)
+25% Increased Chance Of Blocking
35% Faster Block Rate
Damage Reduced By 35%
Cold Resist +60%
Lightning Resist +25%
+30 To Strength

Another 30 str boost
[/size]
Personally, I have not been a fan of FHR, or know how much you feel you need. I think you should be ok in the resists department, so you can always Shael the hat for 20 FHR. I am guessing you will have just a tad more DR from this setup (too lazy to calculate the DR of a Duress mage plate). When you consider your extra HP boost, you are blocking 75% of hits, and have that damage reduced by 35%, I am not sure you need FHR at all

KoP

[ShadowHM]

[size=-1]
[/size]
Personally, I have not been a fan of FHR, or know how much you feel you need. I think you should be ok in the resists department, so you can always Shael the hat for 20 FHR. I am guessing you will have just a tad more DR from this setup (too lazy to calculate the DR of a Duress mage plate). When you consider your extra HP boost, you are blocking 75% of hits, and have that damage reduced by 35%, I am not sure you need FHR at all

KoP

I, on the other hand, have been a fan of FHR ever since I tried out a Zen Rogue in D1, after Charis posted a write-up on it (You probably helped him test them. )

InspiredHope gets hit a lot. Even blocking 75% of them leaves a lot of monster whacks coming through. With zero crowd control, apart from care in choosing where to fight and when to retreat and straggle the monsters out, she needs to stay out of Hit Recovery animation so as to be able to flee err.. retreat when overwhelmed.

Having said that, I am game to try out an equipment re-organization, to see how it goes. She would be losing some handy cold damage without the Duress armour, but (as long as Hal is alive and swinging) she *should* be able to make that up on most PI's with his Decrepify. Extra strength will give her extra damage too. Should the new set-up not work out, she could always don the previous gear and head back into the fray.

P.S. Duress in the mage plate yielded 704 DR. I reckoned that defence was probably lower on the 'need' list than good blocking, so I didn't want to spend the strength points needed to wear the Shadow Plate or Sacred Armour that would have really given Duress a stellar defence rating.

[Bam-Bam]

Hardly_Able's Journey through Hell (Part 3a)

The Dark Forest of Ewing--AHEM--Spider Forest

Sir Robin rode north through the dark forest of Ewing accompanied by his favorite minstrel...AHEM Stop that!

Anyway Hardly set out from the Kurast docks, running after the Dark Wanderer, only to be met by silly worms. No problem. Next up, swarms of fetishes.

I have heard many people say they hate Act 3, especially the jungles. I love the jungles. The sounds of the jungles, and the cries of the fetishes/flayers/soul killers and their shamen are to me the most entertaining in the game. Sometimes it is all I can do to keep from giggling (and dying) when I hear the next pack of those little buggers come charging

Now, to the first of the MANY bosses in the forest, brimming over with that cold enchantment Hardly so loves.



Not much trouble here. Fetishes do not have much life, so even boss packs go down relatively quickly. Now for the first sign of trouble--fast regenerating, high life, Thrashers. This chap was no picnic, and Haseen took at least one dirt nap from his pack.



Hardly decided that he would definately try to keep Haseen away from these chaps. Sometimes even just two normal treebeasts would threaten to send Haseen into a mud-filled dream. The first area turn-off held nothing other than another cold enchanted, extra strong boss.



The next boss, his pack, and at least two other fetish pack managed to push Hardly and Haseen all the way back from the turn-off. They even managed to send Haseen to a dirt-filled slumber when they cut off his escape route. Hardly started to worry that his bankroll was quickly going down the tubes.



Finally, as Hardly neared the clearing housing the entrance to Sszark's cavern, a pack of champ Thorned Hulks blocked his path. The fight took about ten minutes to knock down three of the champs, but the fourth one [stayed up] was a bit more of a problem. That ghostly Thorned Hulk required Hardly to break out the flying axe with PMH and the arcing weapons, since he took little physical damage and was regenerating it all within seconds. That last champ took over ten minutes for Hardly to kill. Now on to the cavern, where Hardly met with heavy resistance right from the start.



Yep, right at the entrance. Add another pack of spiders into the mix, and things got a bit hairy. Foreshadowing of things to come, unfortunately. Hardly generally tries to keep a portal open close by when engaging cursed or extra strong packs, so he can quickly skip back to town to heal up Haseen. Purple pots don't grow on trees, and are rare even when every body is horked for pots or items. Not much further along, Hardly runs into another not-so-easy boss.



Great. Extra fast, cold enchanted. Separate the pack, and keep those hyped up arachnids off our tail. Actually the fight went better than Hardly originally expected, and he thought things might go smoothly here in the cavern.

Wrong.

Haseen: Hmm, that looks like Sszark...

Hardly_Able: Ok, let's run back a little...get some room. Wait?!! Is that another boss??!!

WHAM!

Hardly_Able: Well, Hi there Meshif. How's the ship? Good? Nice to see you again, too.

Yeah, that was two bosses, and Sszark with holy fire, so that the pulse curses as soon as anyone draws close. Hardly had one more visit to Meshif, leaving two sets of weapons on the cavern floor. Hardly picked up the trusty cruel throwing spears from his trunk, and set off back to the cavern with Haseen in tow. The two companions managed to run around a bit, knock off a few minions, and then isolate Sszark, lighting up the cavern with lots of pretty sparklies.



Notice the two bodies on the minimap. Sszark, in hell, completely naked with two cruel throwing spears shopped in A5 nm. Fun!

Time to find that other boss, and complete Hardly's revenge.



So let's review--two boss packs--Extra Strong, cursed, lightning enchanted, aura (holy fire) enchanted, and extra fast, extra strong, magic resistant. The extra fast caused the second death--as Hardly was scurrying around trying to clear space around his first body, he got caught by the boss, and was unable to break free.

Hit recovery? Who needs hit recovery?



Ah, yes.

Now, Hardly was rather pleased that he managed to recover all his gear, and dispatch those two nasty spiders. He figured exterminating the rest of the cavern would be a piece of cake compared to the last fight.



Wrong. After battling this guy for about five minutes, Hardly ran out of the cavern. The arcing weapons had little to no effect on this creepy-crawly, especially since Hardly was not able to connect very often. Boris gets to live another day.

Out of the cavern, and back to the forest. Only one more thing to do--find the waypoint and secure some progress along with the eye. This fetish blowdarter was all that stood in Hardly's way...



A bit more than a pinprick. That little bugger was nasty. Thank goodness he was not cold enchanted, as that would have made for quite a fight.

With the eye in hand, and the waypoint secure, Hardly decided to call it a night, and resume his journey in the morning.

(to be continued)

[Bam-Bam]

Hardly_Able's Journey through Hell (Part 3b)



Hardly's a Lumberjack, and He's OK


He carries axes, so trees beware!



That pack wasn't too bad. The next walking tree posed a bit more of a problem. Nothing like a frenzied, stone skin, quick healing walking tree bearing down on you when you're cursed, right? :rolleyes:



Ok, now one would think that a nekkid barbarian is in tune with nature, right? Well, Hardly does NOT like hugging trees, ok? Especially when they try to give him a chilling frenzy hug. [shudder]



Hardly_Able: I'm a nekkid Lumberjack and I'm ok. I sleep all night and I chuck all day.

Haseen: He's a nekkid Lumberjack, and he's ok. He sleeps all night, and he chucks all day.

Hardly_Able: I cut down walking trees, I eat my lunch. I repair at Hralti. On Wednesdays I go horking, and have fat rejuvs for tea.

Haseen: He cuts down walking trees, he eats his lunch. He repairs at Hralti. On Wednesdays he goes horking, and has fat rejuvs for tea.

Hardly_Able: [in unison with Haseen] I'm a nekkid Lumberjack and I'm ok. I sleep all night and I chuck all day.

Haseen: [in unison with Hardly] He's a nekkid Lumberjack, and he's ok. He sleeps all night, and he chucks all day.

Hardly_Able: I cut down walking trees, I taunt and leap, I like to press wild flowers. I never wear any clothing, and my backpack's full of charms.

Haseen: He cuts down walking trees, he taunts and leaps, he likes to press wild flowers. He never wears any clothing, and his backpack's full of charms?

Hardly_Able: [in unison with Haseen] I'm a nekkid Lumberjack and I'm ok. I sleep all night and I chuck all day.

Haseen: [in unison with Hardly] He's a nekkid Lumberjack, and he's ok. He sleeps all night, and he chucks all day.

Hardly_Able: I cut down walking trees, I wear broken gloves, cracked sash, but no bra. I wish I'd been a twinkie, just like my dear papa!

Haseen: He cuts down walking trees, he wears broken gloves, cracked sash, but no bra. :blink:: I wish he'd been a twinkie, just like his dear papa!

Hardly_Able: [in unison with Haseen] I'm a nekkid Lumberjack and I'm ok. I sleep all night and I chuck all day.

Haseen: [in unison with Hardly] He's a nekkid Lumberjack, and he's ok. He sleeps all night, and he chucks all day.

Thankfully, before Hardly and Haseen could break into another chorus, InspiredHope arrived and prodded the companions onward. Just when Hardly was sure they were destined for a trip to Gloamsville, InspiredHope spotted the Jungle, and the four travellers left the forest (and silly lumberjack songs) behind.


You Know Where You Are? You're in the Jungle, Baby!


InspiredHope's and Hardly's welcome to the Jungle was this pack of blowdarters



Each one of those darts was worth at least a third of Hardly's life. At least they weren't cold enchanted, right? Next up, more darts, this time doubly elemental, with a little extra punch.



Still, not cold enchanted. Life is good. :rolleyes: Of course, that boss was withing a short jungle call of his twin, Seethe Ripper (redux). You can see the death explosion of the Seethe Ripper, the first right by Hardly's feet as he chucks away and Haseen, InspiredHope, and her boytoy slice up this juiced up pack of flayers.



Now to the Flayer Shamen bosses. The first one fell without too much fuss, after all, he was only cursed, magic resistant, and spectral hit. The next offeriing of Shamen boss has a bit more punch. Here he is, after Inspired cut him down to size.



The next Flayer Shamen boss made an immediate impression on Hardly.



Nothing like a little elemental damage coupled with conviction. Hardly was extremely happy to have three tanks wailing away at this guy, while Hardly kept his distance.

Wonder what this chap ate? That's some serious heartburn!



Another poster boy for tums, only this time his heartburn hurts everyone else. Note how Hardly is positioned WELL away from this guy.



Other than all those bosses, and a few others not worthy of pictures (Hardly has to fight sometime, you know ), the four companions managed to grab the gidbinn, and located the entrance to the flayer dungeon. Time for dank, dark, close quarters fighting. Everything Hardly loves about the indoors.


If You Had a Brain, You Would Not Go Here




Manacles! Ooh oooh oh oh. My idea of heaven is to be allowed to be put in manacles... just for a few hours. They must think the sun shines out o' your arse, sonny.


First level of the dungeon was not too bad...sure, swarming packs, ghosts, and lightning bats. The bosses were not too bad. First was this guy, who got chopped down to size right quick.



The other boss on level one was a cursed, fire echanted chap, again not too much trouble for Hardly and InspiredHope. Unfortunately, the second level would not be so easy. The group soon found themselves facing two boss packs, one of ghosts and a fanaticism enchanted group of bats. Initial contact is made...



Things turned ugly within seconds. Hardly lost count how many times Meshif helped him up from a nice prone position on the docks in Kurast. Hardly and Inspired took turns trying to lure the ghosts to a spot where they could be dispatched one at a time, which took about ten minutes of pell mell fighting. Finally, the ghost boss was isolated and surrounded.



Hardly would alternate between the arcing weapons and his normal axes depending on whether the boss was hit with the decrep from InspiredHope's boytoy, Hal. You can see InspiredHope is playing FireEngineRed at this point. Kudos went to Hal in this fight--he pretty much took out the ghost all on his own.

Hardly and Hal then turned their sights to the pack of fanatic gloombats, while InspiredHope (aka FireEngineRed) and Haseen hung back.



Funny, while Hardly was trying to take out this pack of bats, he felt a deep chill. Uh oh, that means that these bats are from yet ANOTHER boss pack.



You can see InspiredHope's body there between Hardly and the chiller bats. I think we fought for about 10-15 minutes to clear a path to her body. But wait...Hardly noticed that there were too many bats for just one boss pack...Uh oh! The good news is that Inspired got her gear back, but the bad news is that there was YET ANOTHER cold enchanted bat around that corner. Hardly and Inspired RAN, using up some real estate to string out the pack and re-engage.



Finally the two re-equipped warriors and their companions dispached the last of the FOUR bosses.



Definately a tough fight in close quarters. After this cluster of bosses, the remaining trip to the last staircase was uneventful. In fact, things were too quiet even on the third level of the dungeon, which caused a bit of angst for the four travellers. At last, they ran headlong into the Witch Doctor's lair, where Hardly got the chills, and had to rely on InspiredHope, Hal, and Haseen to do the heavy lifting.




Guardian of the Gateway


With their newly acquired brains, the companions found the jungle waypoint with little difficulty, at which point InspiredHope decided to end her journey for the evening. Hardly pressed on, sensing that the edges of Kurust were nearby. Sure enough, he quickly spotted some heaps of gold on the ground, and he knew that Stormtree would be nearby. Time to don the red and black plaid of the lumberjack one more time. Hardly and Haseen taunted Stormtree's minions out one-by-one, slowly chopping away at their life as the pair retreated along the banks of the jungle rivers. Finally Stormtree was left with no minions. Hardly and Haseen squared off with the guardian of the gateway to Kurast.



Stormtree put up a valiant fight, but the night was Hardly's. The pair of exhausted warriors entered the ruins of Kurast, knowing that the long jungle trek was now behind them....(to be continued)

[Bam-Bam]

Hardly_Able's Journey through Hell (Part 3c)


The Calm before the Storm

After felling Stormtree, Hardly_Able and Haseen entered the ruins of Kurast City, thankful to be rid of the endless twists and turns of the Flayer Jungle. The pair also looked forward to a brief rest back at the Docks when they found the Lower City waypoint. The new denizens of Kurast City (Zakarumites and Hell Buzzards) were not exactly impressed with the pair, and immediately set out to send them packing back to the jungle (if not plant them in the Kurast Cemetary).



This pack was not too difficult, other than the tendencies of Zealots to run away when low on life. Taunt manages to take care of the minions, and the boss chose unwisely--Haseen slew him right on that spot. The next pack could have been trouble, but they went down surprisingly fast, with only one repositioning needed.



In fact, the worst part of the trip to the Lower City waypoint was the collection of extra fast bosses clustered right around the death site of ol' Rot Fist the Cold. First up, an extra fast, double elemental enchanted buzzard.



Then a pack of Zakarumites on No-Doz ™. Thank goodness for taunt, because the danger of chasing down these characters is that Hardly will then wake up even more monsters, which is not a good thing.



Shortly after the death of this corrupted soul, Hardly and Haseen found the Lower City waypoint, and headed to the Docks for a well-deserved rest. The trip from the Spider Forest waypoint to the Lower Kurast waypoint was another marathon run, and the two companions needed to recover their energy to press further onward towards Mephisto.


Quick Trip to the Bazaar

After a restful evening late night and morning at the Docks, Hardly and Haseen set out again from the Lower Kurast waypoint in early afternoon, hoping to wind their way to the Bazaar waypoint. The resistance from the citizens of New Kurast City was bit greater than Hardly remembered from last evening. This time, the pair of companions were assailed by Doom Apes, Zakarumites, and hell buzzards. The first Hell buzzard boss (teleportation, magic resistant, cold enchanted) lulled Hardly into a false sense of security. If it's slow, it dies. Unfortunately for Hardly, the remainder of the Lower City had already hit the java.



The aura was holy shock, and these apes ran Hardly back to town on several occasions to heal Haseen and regroup. Hardly knew that Doom apes have a quirky nature--they tend to run off at random times in the battle, which can make for interesting situations if you go chase them. Generous use of taunt was the rule, but the boss managed to run to where Hardly's pursuit woke up more mosters. Of course, it was another pack of cold enchanted Doom Apes



The worst of the Ape bosses was on the other side of the city, as Hardly finished up his hut-by-hut search on the way to the Bazaar.



Not good. Thankfully the other mods were minor--it was enough for Hardly to manage this hyped up, erratic crowd. After felling this Ape, Haseen spotted the entrance to the Bazaar, and the two travellers headed out to grab milk, eggs, bread, and tp (is it snowing in DC again? ).

The Bazaar proved to be even more trouble. First up, fanatic faithful.



That pack was not what Hardly would call "fun", but at least they did not have any other mods to add to their speed or physical damage. Next up, a fanatic Sexton and his cronies.



Again, could have been worse, but there was lots of running about--especially when the Sexton's Lightning could take out a third of Hardly's life, and well, you know Hardly does not like the cold. Hardly and Haseen quickly ran into another Sexton boss and his lackeys.



You can see that Hardly decided to stop off at the local Dairy Queen on his way to battle this boss. Haseeen spotted the waypoint soon after the death of this boss, and the pair headed back to the Docks again.


Hardly Forgot the Bread

It seems Hardly and Haseen forgot the bread on his last trip...so back the to Bazaar they go. From the looks of the first boss, this trip is not going to be pretty.



"Great," Hardly groaned. More walking trees. This first boss was NASTY. Portal retreats were the plan of the day, but it still took at least 10 minutes for Hardly and Haseen to dispatch Mr. Sparky-Freeze. Next up was pack of extra fast Faithful, where the boss was also stone skin. Still Hardly would gladly take nasty Faithful over Thorned Hulk bosses. Sadly that wish would remain unfulfilled.



Anything to increase the physical damage of these frenzy-barks is a bad thing . Hardly continued keeping a safe portal up to quickly visit Ormus for healing. Pots were not plentiful enough to keep Haseen alive by drinking--plus, the treebeasts have no liquids to hork for pots (though they can be horked for items). Before another showdown with a walking tree, Hardly dispatched a fire enchanted Faithful boss without much ado. Next up, another ho-hum walking tree.



Ugh. The only fortunate thing about this battle was the fortuitous location of that well, which kept Haseen alive and well until another tree fell. Just a few yards away, Hardly is convinced that the trees are inbreeding.



Two cold enchanted, extra fast treebeasts in a row. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not Hardly's night. Surprisingly, this fight only lasted less than five minutes. House-to-house fighting was next up for the two companions, as they caught this Sexton boss just after he and his mates had hit the expresso.



Unfortunately, with no real way to lure him out of there, Hardly had to brave the blizzard to get Haseen to engage and put some axes on target. At least Hardly had the good sense to get the heck out of dodge before the boss's cold enchanted death explosion. Right around the corner, some more Faithful stepped out of Charbucks after a few too many Venti expressos.



Oh, and lest we forget the walking trees--Hardly found one more before he headed off to Temple. Cold enchanted, cursed, stone skin--no problem.



Hardly was more lucky than good in the placement of the well, but the battle took long enought that the well recharged. Having dispached of the last (he hoped) of the walking trees, Hardly headed off to the Ruined Temple to visit a certain Battlemaid.

Hardly set a portal a the top of the stairs, refreshed his warcries, took a deep breath and prayed that there was some room at the bottom. Down the steps, and....no instant death. Ok, time to inch forward, as spiders and flesh hunters started coming out. Hardly had to retreat up the stairs to have his and Haseen's hides several times, but then he finally managed to have a wall to his back, and clear throwing room to take out flesh hunters, who thankfully came forth out of the reach of their Battlemaid's Fanaticism aura. Even so, Hardly managed to use up all but two of his fat purples, and had to resort to reds to save the stock. Before Sarina came forth, there was the matter of the spider boss.



That guy was NASTY. Mucho poison, with two damage-enhancing mods on top of a normal hard-hitting attack. Hardly did everything he could to string out the pack, knowing that if Haseen got into the pack it would be curtains within seconds. After smashing the spider, Hardly turned his attention to his main quarry.



Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good ™. Sarina and her minions never charged forth as a unit (as they so often do), so Hardly was able to dispatch about half of the minions unenhanced by the aura, and then only two minions attacked with their leader. That left three or four flesh hunters to dispatch after the BattleMaid's death. Overall, Hardly could have faired much worse in this encounter. As it was, the potion supply was seriously depleted, and in the shot above, he was poisoned and mana burned from a spider bite. Another five points saved.

(to be continued)

[Bam-Bam]

Hardly_Able's Journey through Hell (Part 3d)


In Search of....Ed Norton

Just before going to the Ruined Tempble to retreive Lam Esen's tome, Hardly ran into a skittish, skinny chap on the Docks

"Hey, Hey, Ralphie boy. I heard from the boys in the sewer there that Khalim's Heart is stashed not too far from where I've been woikin'. What'dya say we head on down there and then go bowling?"

"Hey Norton...the name's Hardly, and I...have a date with an Battlemaid foist."

"Ok there, Hardly-boy, I'll just head on down there and clear the path.

"Norton, wait...."

Hardly and Haseen headed into the sewers, hoping to quickly grab a heart and pop up in the Upper City. First up, a sparking mosquito boss.



Hardly took out the next boss, a mummy, across one of the many streams of sludge. Speaking of sludge, Hardly soon ran into his first Greater Mummy boss.



So far, so good, Hardly thought. No nasty exploding dolls, or endless waves of horrors. Unfortunately, when Hardly spotted the entrance to the second level of the sewer, Icehawk riftwing's minions came charging, and managed to corner Hardly, taking him out within a few seconds. Hit recovery is a luxury Hardly does not exactly have.

On his way back to retreive his body, Hardly ran into this chap, and had to break out the backup weapons.



After a unexpectedly long battle with that mummy boss (stone skin + backup weapons = lots of chucking), Hardly recovered his body and squared off with the big bad bat.



This time, Hardly taunted the minions out one-by-one to avoid getting swarmed. Poor execution on the initial encounter--Hardly should have sailed though this one without much trouble.

Heart in hand (exactly where Norton said, by the way :P ), Hardly and Haseen made their way to the sewer exit to Upper Kurast. Luck finally smiled on Hardly, as Haseen spotted the waypoint after the duo only had to dispatch one lighning enchanted Zealot boss.


The Cleansing

In every difficult journey, there are times where you think that you cannot take one more step, fight one more battle, or climb one more hill. Hardly's next sojourn was one of those times. After a good rest from the toils in the sewers, Hardly and Haseen stepped off the Upper Kurast waypoint, took in the boost of Hardly's warcries and steadied themselves for battle.

Within moments, Hardly groaned, hearing the familiar creaking steps of Trees-that-walk. Of all the foes he and Haseen had faced in Kehjistan, the Thorned Hulks consistently presented the most problems to the duo. At times, Haseen would be in danger from two normal tree beasts. Fortunately, the first boss was trapped in a holey building.



The next pitter-patter of barked feet brought on a holy-freeze, cold-enchanted boss.



Hardly kept his distance, while trying to keep Haseen alive. As you can see from the shot, this was not easy. The next boss was a bit of a break--a cursed hell buzzard. Unfortunately, that was the last bit of good news for the rest of the trip through Upper Kurast. As Hardly and Haseen approached the causeway to Travincal, and extremely nasty pack rushed forth, Haseen took one final dirt nap, and Hardly took off running. Extra fast, fanatacism and cold enchanted. At this point, Hardly had insufficient cash to buy any more of Miracle Max's super-sized, chocolated coated, revive Haseen from mostly-dead pills. So Hardly ran, and chucked, and ran, and chucked. Each minion was taunted and separated from the boss. After about fifteen minutes, Hardly managed to find a nice location from which he could attack the boss.



Now, Hardly knew that there was no way he was getting through to the Travincal waypoint without Haseen, but he also knew that Miracle Max was cash-only. So Hardly readied his arms, and proceeded to clear every last square inch of Upper Kurast. No basket left intact, no skeleton unturned, no corpse unhorked, and no stash left intact. No monster would live, or Hardly would end his quest unfulfilled. With no tank, Hardly had to use every trick in the book.



One hour later, Hardly managed to cleanse the Upper City and scrape together enough cash to pay off Max. Haseen's might aura was a welcome sight and sound as the two companions trudged up the causeway to Travincal.

Desperate Times

Hardly and Haseen stepped onto the Kurast Causeway, and were immediately met by a boss pack of Temple Guards.



Hardly managed to taunt the minions out one-by-one, and Haseen convinced the boss to charge the duo to his demise. Then Hardly got hit by a lightning bolt and saw the start of a blizzard. Before retreating, he did manage to taunt one zealot out for Haseen to dispatch. This continued as Hardly lured out one, two, three...seven zealots to their doom--each time having to quaff a healing potion to regain life from the lightning or blizzards being cast by the Heirophants.

Finally, no one would answer his taunts. He had seen no minions charge forth, so Hardly guessed that his assailants were Champion Heirophants. Only one thing to do. CHARGE!!! Hardly hoped that he could outrun the blizzards and get Haseen into range, so that the Heirophants would concentrate their fire on the desert warrior and allow Hardly to chuck away from relative safety.

Alas, it was not to be.



Hardly is broke, and his body is in the no-man's land of two or three Champion Heirophants. There is no way he's going to make it to the waypoint. All his battle to cleanse the Upper City, raise cash to revive Haseen. All of it was in vain, and he would have to go repeat areas just to continue his quest. Over two and one-half ours of progress flushed down the tubes. Surely Hardly has met his match.

"No. I am NOT going down to a trio of corrupted priests that don't have the common decency to use a weapon to cut me down."

Hardly returned to the Causeway via the Upper Kurast waypoint, checked his four potions his tunic, and prepared to retreive his gear and light the Travincal waypoint. When the first blizzard started falling, he lept, landing within feet of his gear. He grabbed his axes, broken gloves, cracked sash, broken boots, and cracked circlet, drank a small rejuv, and lept again. When he hit the ground again, he was in Travincal proper. Zealots charged, and vampires started lighting firewalls, dropping meteors, and shooting fireballs at Hardly. Heirophants shot lightning and dropped blizzards in his path. Everytime Hardly ran into a pack, he'd leap over them--sometimes getting hit by passing blows, fire, lightning, or ice. One last leap, and he landed just outside the building containing the waypoint and right next to three zealots. Hardly ran for his life, lighting the waypoint and re-appearing on the Docks, barely alive, but with progress secure. He barely had enough cash to repair his axes and was only able to salvage one full rejuv.



(to be continued?)

[Sullla]

Exciting stuff so far! If you really need money, I'm sure some of the folks here will be willing to give Hardly_Able a hand.