The village of Ambrossos is just a quick pit stop. Here i get two small side tasks. I learn about a master blacksmith who hides somewhere in the wilderness and i meet a trader who was attacked near some old ruins and abandoned all of his merchandise there - i get to loot it for free... and later on i did but couldn't find anything useful. The master blacksmith is a famous and he sometimes gets a lot of rare loot in his stash... some people even like to farm him, but i'm not gonna bother.



NOOO! Game! Stop putting these awesome affixes on slow weapons, please! Also, look at the price on that beast! That's why gold is so important... i'm not buying it though



If you ever struggle to get enough strength for gear, look for one of these. I'll buy it and stash it for now, but soon i'll have to look for resistance rings, so i'm not sure if i'll make use of it past level 15. Still, it's better to have it and not need it, than the opposite.

The Olive Grove - this area is very easy to miss, but it's very important as it is part of the Proper Offering side quest - I have to collect a sacred olive branch and deliver it in Delphi - the reward is random permanent bonus to one of my elemental resistances. I got 5% fire resist for it and happy with that.



After i kill the Spider Queen, i get an amazing drop from her chest - an epic amulet



What's great about it is the Blade Honing skill - it's part of the Rogue Mastery tree and it's a buff skill that reserves a portion of my mana pool when i activate it. It grants more pierce ratio and piercing damage - it's better used with swords and daggers, less useful for axes and completely useless for maces except for the small physical damage boost from the amulet.

Level 14 - 3 more points in the Defensive tree. The attribute point distribution continues to be 1:1 dex/str



The Master Blacksmith hides in a small forest with a barely visible passage to his camp... The only interesting item he has to offer is another troll rare weapon



I finally reach the beautiful city of Delphi. After i speak with the local oracle, she sends me to further investigate the monster attacks. For that i need to travel through the Parnassus Caves

I can use my Thornwall shield now, but i like the Outrider's Buckler so much that i decided to wear it a little longer, maybe till the end of act 1



I bought these bracers from the Delphi trader... i have no use for the elemental damages, but the attack speed boosts my DPS output. The health regen is not that good anymore, especially now that i have dropped a few of the recovery items.



A satyr trader in Parnassus Hinterlands - after all these years, i still don't know what's the story behind this guy. He doesn't seem very happy to see me but i can still trade with him.



This post was edited by KillingIsMyBusiness on Oct 22 2020 01:14pm

Parnassus Hinterlands is a huge area and a large satyr army has set camp here. Everywhere you look there's satyrs of any kind. But part of the camp is empty... a large portion of the army is missing, marching towards Athens, to siege the city. I have to reach Athens and join the battle.



Level 15 - 3 more points in the Defense tree



Ah, the Pythian Caves! The lair of Medusa and her gorgon sisters. This is a major farming area. It's the second best place to farm what is probably the most overused monster infrequent item in the game - the Stonebinder's Cuffs. They give elemental resistance and +1 to all skills on normal, while the epic version grants+2 to all skills and the legendary version +3 to all skills. Plus to skills gear allows you to exceed the level cap of any skill, up to 4 levels above the level cap - only then a skill reaches its full potential, and the legendary Stonebinder's Cuffs make that potential easy to achieve. They can also roll with Alacrity (+35% attack speed) which is the dream for any class... however the odds of them rolling with that suffix is around 97 000:1 The normal version is not that special, but i will still try to get them, only not in this spot, but latter... at a better place. They're not hard to get...



This post was edited by KillingIsMyBusiness on Oct 22 2020 01:49pm

I target Euryale first, as she has the ability to heal the others. Medusa, of course, can petrify me for a duration. The third one (forgot the name) has a strong spear attack - Calculated Strike, which is a skill from the rogue mastery. After Euryale is killed the fight becomes a piece of cake. I did 3 runs here but didn't get the Stonebinder's Cuffs... i expected not to



Gorgon Geomancers and Gorgon Profaners can also drop Stonebinder's, while the smaller gorgons have a different set of MI's that are more useful for hunters and mages

I'm out of the caves and i finally reach the other side of the same bridge that was destroyed by the cyclops back in Megara. Soon i'll reach the battlefield outside Athens...



This post was edited by KillingIsMyBusiness on Oct 22 2020 01:34pm

Near the Athen's siege i encounter a small group of soldiers. I'm informed of a lost greek patrol somewhere in the Athens swamps and sent to find them. They're also guarding this Limos demon and want me to kill it for them, because apparently they're not good enough to do it themselves. Limos demons have the ability to drain your health pool and replenish themselves. This guy here is not scary, but in later acts i will need a good amount of vitality resistance to counter these enemies. I always do this quest because it rewards with a random weapon.



Unfortunately the idiots can't recognize my class apparently and reward me with a spear... with a bit of luck, this could have been a green or even a blue sword.



Level 16 - 1 point in the tree, 1 point in the second Battle Awareness synergy to get all these useful mobility resistances (i'll be maxing them later).

Last point goes in the Shield Charge synergy, so i can hit more enemies and disrupt their skills - this will also be maxed later on



On normal and epic difficulty the swamps are mostly occupied by turtles and ichtians, but on legendary difficulty, the Larnean Hydra will spawn here, guarding the chest with the best loot table in the first 3 acts, minus the the act 3 main boss who is much better to farm. I find the lost patrol nearby this location.



Oh come on! By saying that i always get Shroud of Eternal Night in my playthroughs, i totally cursed my luck in this one... I may consider crafting this for the physical, vitality and stun resistances, but man, i get nothing on the offense side... I'm gonna have to be patient.

Mulgor Flamespear - a fire enchanted centaur hero. With my lame 5% fire resist, he poses a threat



After i clear the battlefield, i'm greeted by a familiar face at the gates of the city



I learn about a dangerous sorcerer who went down the Athen's catacombs in search for something. I have to chase him there, but first we visit the Acropolis