Hello,

I have been playing D2 since release, mostly on BNet playing ladder and LLD. I took a hiatus for awhile but I have been playing SP with Plugy for the past few years. I recently reformatted my hard drive and decided to start over. I want to take a different approach this time, instead of just MFing for Grail Items, I thought it would be fun to try and go for lvl 99 while tracking what Items I find instead of just pure MFing. I built a web app to track items as they are found including if/ it was found (for Normal, Eth, and Perfect), date/time found, subsequent qty found, and what order it was first found. I want to see how many of each item I find on my path to 99 and go from there.

The play style is different than a pure MF build as I would be doing more Chaos, Baal, or even Nihlathak runs for XP, with some MF runs sprinkled in there, so I need a more robust character. I have always liked Windy Druids so I am leaning towards that as I have the Bear as a tank, Oak Sage for some life, Hurricane for Cold damage, and Tornado for Physical damage. I could have a few points in Fizure to help when needed.

I know a Hammerdin is the default character for this, or even a Bone Necro could do well. I am looking for advice on well rounded characters that can run many locations with high survivabilty and is fun to play. I am open to suggestions. I have to keep in mind early game and building the character so a build that is not crazy gear dependent will be easier in the beginning but can also scale up and be a good end game char.

I will most likely start a log on the forum of my progress, albeit it might be slow progress as I only play 1-2 hours a day.

Thanks, squirlz

Java on would be a good shout. Tough to get infi, but obviously even without it she can handle most of hell np

And you can make her on a budget

This post was edited by bob(Cs2) on Jan 29 2020 08:18am

IS this the website youre talking about? https://d2-holy-grail.herokuapp.com/

When it comes to pure xp i always loved the bowazon

No, I built my own website that tracks more details. It is very basic now as far as styling but it has more functionality.

I will research some guides for Zons, since I am using plugy I have unlimited respecs.

Hammerdin or light sorc with infinity. But I mean hammerdin can easily stack 300+ mf without sacrificing a damn thing, it’s also completely impossible to die on a hammerdin as long as you have a pulse (irl).

most accurate comment About hdong in a Long while

For sp? Telezerk for dia+nihla. But i havent done the maths about losing time/exp when doing baal, or what time is lost when youre 98 and need baal but kill waves slowly...or w/e is best in terms of exp per time
Imo quick dia+nihl and repeat > baal but thats my subjective opinion..

I settled on the druid as that seems more fun to me as I will be able to switch up runs as I get bored. The hammerdin seemed to cliche, I have had many of those over time as well and need a change. The Sorce kind of falls in the same boat, I have done it a lot in the past and is more limited on where it can run unless I respec, which can be annoying. The Zon was the runner up, I have not played her a lot, but I have had a few Javazons but never a Bowazon so I was a little intimidated.

I also want to track my time, so I added a timer function to my Grail Log Web App so I can log my time.

I did find my first unique as well, the Stoutnail. I will most likely start a progress thread to keep tabs on things. I will have to develop some kind of report for this.

Thanks everyone for their input.

Yes SP, I might not do ancients until 98 so Baal might be out of the question. I have D2Info so when I get higher in levels I can see what my avg XP per minute is and see where I am getting the best XP. Clear speed and Players X commands will play a big roll. But mostly I am looking to have fun along the way as to not lose interest.

hammerdin with shako