As of this morning, me (FoxBolt) and Attika (Featt) finished the first known Ironman game with a never before done pair of Rogue and Mage.

We spent a lot of time redoing games on dlvl1 over and over until we got a PS; that was the only thing that would make this game possible. We found our PS on one, then I joined the game with a fresh mage and bought my town purchases without consulting him (as he already knew what had dropped on 1 and I didn't).

This game was VERY friendly with books and staves. I found THREE books of Lightning, a book of Firewall, THREE books of Mana Shield (one went to Att for 16), 2 books of heal, 1 book ho, and 1 book hb for Diablo. We had one death this game, and it was at the very end, but Attika managed to finish Diablo without reviving me, so we saved all 7 of our Res scrolls for Nightmare. We also found a BF on 4 which gave Attika the ability to solo and save lots of potions. I don't know how many reds he has left, but I carried over 20 small blues, 12 small yellows, and 11 big yellows.

Here's the story of Dlvls 15 and 16.

Level 15.
Enemies: Soul Burners, Balrogs.
Drops: Split-Skull shield, Naj's Puzzler, Executioners Blade, Ring, Ring Mail-20. 2 cauldrons.

Compared to 13 and 14, this floor was a nightmare. Once we cleared the first area (which had no cover), we used teamwork for the entire level. Attika killed single soulies using shish-kebobs, and brought all Rogs to me (some came 4 at a time or more!) to zap with Lightning. Thanks to the PS I could stand my ground against 2 or 3 rogs at a time (and I had to intercept them to have a clear shot anyway), but I was visiting the PS after almost every battle, and we had very little resist to work with (topaz 13% ring).

Jade gave up Exe blade, Vex gave up Split-Skull, and Laz gave up Naj's Puzzler (we ID'd after 15 was clear) which turned me into a powerhouse with 20% resist all and +20 magic. I believe Bloodlust gave up a Long Sword. Other than that, no noteworthy drops.

After 15, we used the Glimmering shrine on all of our best items, and our jewelry. We ended up with:

Mail of the Tiger +44.
Awesome Armor.
Awesome/Tiger armor.
Sword of Speed.
Sword of Vampires.
Shield of Absorption -3.
Red Amulet of Might. 11/8.
Amulet of the Moon +7.
Topaz ring +12 all res.
Pearl ring +25 magic res.
Accuracy ring +11 dex.
Saintly/Wolf Breast plate.

We also used one of our 3 remaining ID scrolls on the Naj's Puzzler. Brought me to 370 mana.

Level 16.
Enemies: Usual.
Drops: Amulet, Small Shield (Indestructable), Long War Bow (magic), book MS.

A long hallway effectively quarted the level. I needed 420k to lup while att needed 480k. We decided to try and share kills as much as possible. Att killed BK's after I tagged them with my TK stick (35 charges), and I roasted Advos with my Firewall spell. I reached Lv23 by the time I started on outer Quad 3 (cleared outer/inner 1 and 2, and outer 4 first). I cleaned the rest of outside quad 3, then threw the lever and Att cleared inside 3.

Then we marked Diablos position and I set directly south of the cage. Att threw the levers and bailed out of the first TP while I led Diablo (Mana Shield with 300+ mana) to the center of Quad 2. He almost had me a few times, but I had Naj's Puzzler (Teleport charges) to stay ahead of him, and I teleported straight to the long hallway as soon as he was in the center...right into a BK sandwich. I managed to break free, but they damaged my armor severely and it was no longer usable. Had to go to unid'd Aut Leather.

We began clearing bodyguards. Once Att had reached 23, I decided to burn my 2 Apoc scrolls on the cage. I killed a few and lured the incoming BK's to att. He then finished the cage off, and there was no last drop.

We went to town, packed up, loaded our belts with pots, and got ready for the final showdown. Screenshots of my stats will be available at the bottom.

We went to Quad 2 and burned one of two infra scrolls to see Diablos exact position. I had Attika set in the northwest corner, then I lured Diablo into her swing. As soon as it was safe, I swung around Diablo, threw up a Golem and began opening up with Holy Bolts. Unfortunately, after about 30 bolts I stopped paying attention to my mana and drank too late; my MS went down before it registered. Diablo threw an Apoc and I died instantly (Only had 40 life because of the -25 from Puzzler). Fortunately, my Golem stayed in attendance and Attika finished him 5 seconds later.

That one death was the ONLY death we had for the entire game.

We got booted to the channel sporting dots, then we made a game for the free res, heal, and ID from grateful townsfolk. Some of the items we got were absolutely amazing.

Sword of Swiftness.
Lapis/Moon Breast Plate. (35/5)
Knights Staff of Golem (33 tohit, 24 charges). Good for tagging.
Ring Mail of the Stars (10 all).
Dragons Amulet of Wizardry (58/29)!!!

With the amulet, mail, and Naj's puzzler, I have almost 500 mana. The knights stick will allow me to tag enemies in NM for a while, at least until I (hopefully) find a book of TK.

So that's it. The first ever recorded IM victory with a Rogue/Mage duo. I want to continue this game to nightmare because of the great equipment, but Attika doesn't want to. Attika, if you don't want to continue this game right now, AT LEAST save the character so we can keep playing at a later time. I really think that this is a game that we can take all the way to Hell mode, and I'd hate to throw it away after we did so well. Let me know your thoughts.

Posted Feb 20, 2008

Ironman rules

Ironman Strategy Guide