The Conduit
Through her the fire and fury are channeled.
Class: Sorc
Skill Priority: Warmth, Inferno, Fire Mastery, Thunder Storm, Lightning Mastery

Prologue

After the Skirmisher died abruptly I thought for a long while on which Off Brand Build to try next.

This build seems particularly weak and stupid lol. That make it a perfect palate cleanser between builds I would otherwise try harder to succeed at. Not that I won't try here, it's just that I won't mind so much if she doesn't even make it out of Normal.

Onward to Act 1!

A1 Norm

Well as it's a SSF that means the shared stash is NOT ALLOWED! Toss it on the ground! So Sad.

Start the adventure in the usually manner, pick up as many javelins as I find and throw them at things.

Really not much to report when it's A1 Norm. I didn't die and Andy is dead.

Surprisingly, I am really enjoying this character so far. Lots of bobbin and weavin. Setup and conquer. Early days though obviously. Can definitely tell I'll have to bulk up at some point. Gonna have to get tanky!

Hey look, pictures this time!

Gear, Skills, Stats A1 Norm End (Level 19)

Fighting certain monsters with his spell is just exhausting. Ghoul Lords, Cave Leapers, basically anything bouncy or jitterey.

Rush to Viper grabbing WPs along the way when suddenly.... EPIPHANY!

"Dude farm countess and make a Leaf" Good idea brain.

Run Countess for about 45 mins. No Ral 1 Tir. But enough Tals to build a Stealth and make a Ral in cube. Also able to build Malice.





Neato.

Inferno is the absolute best spell I've ever used in Maggot holy crap lol.

0-3 the Sanctuary again. Wheeeeeeeeeee! Well xp never hurt anyone. Learn T-Storm before Durry. One of the super chests is full of rares. They aint great. Summoner drops Hsaru Belt.

Druiel dies slow but he dies. Had just enough Full Rejuvs to keep merc alive the entire time. He drops doo doo butter. A3 tomorrow!

A3 Norm

The usual A3 goes off without a hitch, but I can start to see the issues that will arise with this build. I knew they'd be there, that was mostly the point of trying this. It just remains to be seen if they become insurmountable.

For instance, I ran into a champ Heirophant pack and could not sustain the dps required to kill one before the others healed it

Both Duriel and Meph had to be hard tanked by the merc while I stood there and slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwly drained their life. Lots and lots of potions. This does not bode well for the Diablo fight.

Thought I think Storm is going to make a big difference with Diablo, as weak as it is. I can run around in a circle for 20 minutes, I used to play Everquest.

Trash and stuff still dying at a decent clip, but still considering what to do with NM respec should I make it (I foolishly wasted the norm respec).

Gear, Skills, Stats A3 Norm End

A4 Norm

Well, when I am able to respec i'll dump everything into fire and go full 20/20/20. feel like I spec'd the tstorm too early. But by 60, should I even bother? well I'm still gonna!

Getting to Diablo is pretty slow, but the fight itself was surprisingly easy. Had to rez merc about a dozen times, but that's his job.

On the way towards him I built a Strength for merc, nothing much more has dropped for me. D dropped a crown and gloves and they..........[alt tabs back in]......... have L Res. ok then.

Already posted gear and skills update above. Let's see where I'm at post Baal.

This post was edited by Pseudofate_D2R on Dec 9 2021 10:49pm

A5 Norm

Save Anya and rush to WSK wp right away. During the travel a Sol drops and I can make a Lore and some Vidala Boots drop to make go run very fast. Upgrade Stealth with a Field Plate.

Decide to kill Baal before I strap on the small amount of MF gear I have and start Trifecta farming. Baal drops some boots with MF and a Circlet that would have been fantastic for the last playthrough. +2 Shapeshfit 30% FRW.

Farming and leveling is fairly uneventful. Still not much shift in the gear department. Decide to move on to NM at 48.

A1 NM

We did it! Flamethrower got past Normal! And the reward is.... NM monsters shitting on my merc!

Respec! And dump 20 Warmth, 20 Inferno, rest into the T-Storm path and 1 to frozen armor again. I thought about going with max radius Static Field but decided to stick to the plan. I'll max T Storm, then Lit Mastery, Then Fire.

But my god the merc. Gonna make me go broke. I gotta rush through A1 ASAP and grab Holy Freeze version and get him tanky.

[SOME TIME LATER]

Plan goes off fairly smoothly. Rush to Andy, Static her down, storm kite her. Grab Holy Freeze merc. He's just as squishy. Jump back to Norm to see if Larzuk can provide an armor upgrade on the fly.

TIL if you switch between difficulties it resets the map.

Think I'll farm Count and Andy again for a few levels. Try to get some upgrades, runes, bases, gems.

A2 NM

I'd like to be able to say I'm enjoying this 100% But, and again I knew what I was getting into with these skill choices, but this, even now in only A2 is a slog.

Inferno killing some stuff slow as balls, other stuff it's doing fine. Merc dying constantly even with Freeze. His gear isnt anything to write home about, but still.

I'm accomplishing the act tasks but it's exhausting. Been utilizing Field a lot more. Jumping into the fray with merc, zapping, falling back and casting Inferno into the crowd.

I do some Arcane super chest runs before heading to Duriel.

[SOME TIME LATER]

That was pretty lucrative. Couple of gear upgrades including Magefist, tons of gems, a Io, Lum, and Fal.

The real payoff is determining that the new playstyle is working well. Merc tank initiate, zap zap zap, burn.

Head to Duriel. Same strat. Doesn't drop anything relevant.

Gear, Skills, Stats A2 NM End

A3 NM

Enjoyment levels have risen! But ya know what I don't enjoy?

Finding Great Marsh immediately only to discover it's one of those dead end marshes that only leads to the WP.

Do the usual LK/Trav wp grab then start going after organs. Sewer is nice for the first time ever and I find the staircase to level two immediately.

Hooooooooo boy. Council time. Andddddddddddddddd.... that was surprisingly easy. Hey here's an idea, lets get the fuck downstairs before I die here again unexpectedly.

A friggin GC finally drops in this act. Reroll it twice. SKILLER!.......... cold. eat a dick RNG.

Tele around Durance till I find Meph. Inferno feels like it is doing absolutely nothing. But he dies regardless. Perseverance!

No huge upgrades since the last pics. Onward to A4!