Chaos Sanctuary was actually quite easy. Same setup. Merc Valk in front, I slow missile and shoot from far. Easy peasy. For Diablo, I just had to dodge Diablo's Red Lightning and Firestorm while shooting volleys of arrows in between. Shit drops as expected. Ever since I "upgraded" both merc and my armour to 4 PTopaz, our drops have been poor



I have made my way to Arreat Plateau already. I'm starting to feel a lack of damage. Really need a Ko and good Elite Bow base to drop soon, or my WF/WWS/Buriza M A N I F E S T E D

Since I'm Clvl 69, it's time to start my crafting spree. Used up all the PSap and Nef that I had. Here are the results.





Some decent rolls. Most likely using Havoc Hold as my main glove for now. For boss killing, I'll use Carrion Grip. May try Cleglaw's if I really need the slow. We'll see.

Bitter fist looks nice
Only if it rolled higher and if it was possible to have ias haha
Didnt know pluckeye even existed in this game lol good read ty

Proceeding on with Artemis. I have switched my gloves to Carrion Grip. Figured I don't need the KB yet.

Generally didn't have any issues all the way to Frozen Tundra. Many Skeleton Archers and Gloams, so I had to be careful and constantly spam Slow Missiles. The Halls of Anguish was really fun. Tight corridors with loads of Flayers, so I was raining Strafe arrows non stop. Felt like I was doing a lot haha.

Drops wise, nothing to shout about. Sadly this dropped instead of Razortail.



I also had another Unique Amulet drop, but it was useless for me.



Other cool uniques which may have been useful for other characters were Islestrike, Ginther's Rift and Headstriker. If only they were Exceptional Bows/Crossbows instead.

I also got a Trap GC and Jav GC. Interesting drops, albeit useless.

Lastly I forgot to share the Jeweller's Armour which I shopped and put 4 PTopaz. Any idea what's the best mods possible that I could shop? Like is with 60 Life or 24FHR possible?



Onwards to Ancient's Way. Will most likely be finishing NM Baal + Cows within 2 sessions. Let's go!

Pewpew

Hoping you find that Buriza before starting hell




This post was edited by Pharaohmon on Jun 22 2025 08:15am

NM Baal done. The whole process was not difficult, just tedious as I had to constantly revive merc + spam pots. Very costly in terms of gold...



Argh, why wasn't it an Exceptional Bow...

The ring was a 15% Nagel by the way. It beat my earlier 16% Nagel. Wtf. I did roll a 27% MF magic ring though, so whatever. Just annoyed.

Finished Cows too. First time I feel KB is necessary. Had to manage the crowd as merc wasn't surviving and I wasn't dealing enough damage. Thankfully, my merc is HF, otherwise I doubt I'd be able to do this. No good drops, except a Unique Crossbow. M A N I F E S T

Now onto serious business. I went to try out Hell and cleared Blood Moor/Den. We're facing severe damage issues. My arrows barely hurt, while merc/Valk are not dealing enough. Moreover, there were 2 PI champions I faced, both of which took forever to kill with Magic Arrow. I think this is no longer a feasible PI solution. Unfortunately, I don't see a smooth path of progression going forward unless I get a major weapon upgrade. I'm already using Edge Spider Bow though, so it has to be top Unique Bows or maybe Harmony.



A rare Siege Crossbow with 5% Amp did give me an idea though. Perhaps I should gamble for Composite/Double/Great Bow and hope to get the 5% Amp with other decent mods. Fast attack speed to break immunity and beef up my damage. Budget WWS I suppose.

I probably may also need to be less greedy and equip Guillaume instead of 3PTopaz helm. I'll also respec and remove points from Magic Arrow.

Lots to consider. Any suggestions?

Lastly, found this rare Elite Gorgon Crossbow. Anyone can help crunch some numbers to see if it's better than Edge? Don't like the slow attack speed though...



This post was edited by Ducko on Jun 22 2025 09:40am

1 pt in FA for crowd control, coupled with cold dmg charms for more freeze duration
might merc will be mandatory, soon or sooner..
guil face can help.. a bit

Gl

I had the same idea about FA. Leveling up soon, will test it out. Also thinking about Might Merc...

Just had a thought about cubing up my spare Emeralds/Ame/Skulls/Diamonds. Going to use them to reroll any SC I find in Hell and hope for +Cold Damage mods.

This post was edited by Ducko on Jun 23 2025 05:04am

Typical with my luck so far, spending all my PGems on rerolling the SC yielded no results. At least I have something to do with all my gems instead of hoarding haha.

The switch to Might Merc turns out to be what I badly needed. The best defense is still a good offense. It's all about adjusting my playstyle and using FA for some crowd control. I think we're doing ok. The plan is still the same, gamble a Composite/Double/Great Bow with Amp to replace my current rare Siege Crossbow. Then also hope for Ko to drop, and make Harmony in a Great Bow, Matriarchal Bow or any other elite base (I reckon the damage difference is not significant). I'm also keeping a lookout for an elite Polearm base to upgrade my Merc's Insight. It would be a good damage boost too.

​For now, I'm still running primarily with my MF gear. I have kept Guillaume and 1 set of Ang Ring/Ammy in stash. I'm mostly at 80%+ CTH, which feels good enough so far.

Anyway, Stony Field/Dark Wood/Tristram done. Found my 2nd Fal Rune (useless, but maybe can cube to Lem if 1 more drop?). Next session will be Black Marsh to Outer Cloister. Don't have high hopes for Countess knowing my luck...

If you can clear pits, you can find the gg items there

This is a single pass run, so no farming any spots twice. Gotta work with what drops or what I can realistically achieve.