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Nov 13 2020 09:23am
That's something i never even thought i would try, but i did some tests on Hardcore Elite difficulty and it's a total blast to play. I had a successful HC Veteran character on TL 2 before, but the difference with Elite is huge. The rules for the completion of this challenge are simple:

Rules:

1. Self-found and self-sustained characters only
2. Hardcore
3. Elite Difficulty
4. Reach level 100
5. Reach Demigod status
6. Complete at least one of the max level Mapworks dungeons
7. Reach NG+5 and kill the Level 120 Netherlord
8. Map re-rolling allowed
9. Game exits allowed
10. Do it with the Embermage.


Optional goals but not necessary:

1. Clear Tarroch's Tomb


A few things to address before the start:

What's NG+5? That's the fifth and last "new game+" you can start with a character. All enemies there will be level 120. After that you can continue doing new games, but they will always be NG+5 with the same monster level and difficulty. So in total i have to beat the game 5 times, each time with increased monster levels. Thank god the game is actually short. Only 3 acts and if i clear everything (which i'm not in later replays) it should take me no more than 8-10 hours for each replay. The regular playthrough will be slower though, a lot slower. The plan is to do my leveling form 55-100 in the Mapworks after i beat the regular game, then breeze through the rest of the replays, until NG+5

Tarroch's Tomb is an Arena type of dungeon where the goal is to clear 10 waves of enemies varying from level 100 to 150 if i'm not mistaken. The last boss of the dungeon is actually level 200 and it is the toughest bastard in the game. The reason i made this dungeon optional is because it is not a place for a self found characters... i will need an insane gear setup to beat that place. So if (and that is a big IF) i'm successful with my other goals, i might try my luck there, to see how i'll last before i die.

There are 32 fame tiers in the game. The highest one and the on i'm aiming at is Demigod. You increase fame by killing champion monsters. For each new fame tier, the character receives 1 skill point... so it's basically like a secondary leveling system. Achieving Demigod status is a slow process, i will reach level 100 before that.

Monsters and bosses in this game do not re-spawn when you exit the game. So my only reliable way of farming gear is by re-rolling the maps. The maps are randomized so farming will not be very enjoyable. I will try to reduce it to the minimum.

Exiting a game to save your life also calls for a map re-roll, because you randomly exit the game in the middle of a fight the game saves your character at that exact spot and with the monsters too. So if you reload your character without re-rolling the map, you will die! Map re-rolling takes you back to main hub area of the current act you're in, removing you scroll portals. The good news, your waypoint portals remain active, so at the very least it spares you from some of the backtracking.

Why as an Embermage? Well, he is the biggest glass cannon of the bunch, but he also has the best damage and AoE skills in my opinion. It is also the character i know best how to play with, so that's why. I think he offers the best chances for completing this.

All that that being said... let's try this and see what happens. I'm willing to bet that i will lose a few of characters before i beat the regular game. Only the ones who have tried untwinked elite, know how hard this challenge will be.

This post was edited by KillingIsMyBusiness on Nov 13 2020 09:24am
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Nov 13 2020 09:30am
Bald has to be the best look for a mage, isn't it?



There are 14 pets to choose from, but the moment they added a bulldog, they removed any possible choice for me. Pets can be very useful tanks in the casual and normal, but on Elite, he will flee non-stop from enemies when his health gets dropped in an instance. Barbosa's main purpose in this walk, will be to run back to town, sell items and buy potions and scrolls for me



Okay, let the pain begin! Can i even beat act 1? Let's find out!



This post was edited by KillingIsMyBusiness on Nov 13 2020 09:31am
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Nov 13 2020 09:42am
In Elite even the starting tutorial area is extremely dangerous and i'll be struggling for health and mana potions from the get go



First level up. All attributes in the game can be useful for a mage. Strength adds to critical damage on all types of attack, including elementals. By default the crit damage is 50%, which i'm happy with, so no points in Str. Dexterity increases the dodge chance and critical chance.... both are only 2% by default, so i will get dex to at least 50 points. Focus is the most important. It increases elemental damage and execute chance for dual wielders. I'm not going to be dual wielding but the damage will be nice. My plan is to have 350 points invested in focus by level 100. Vitality increases physical armor, the health and the blocking chance. I care mostly about blocking, so 100 points by max level, should be enough to reach a respectable +50 block chance with the right shield. Health can be increased in other ways, in fact the default health bonus from leveling is way bigger. So investing 200 points in health instead of 100 is not going to make a big difference on the embermage



The build i have in mind is the "Prismatic Embermage". Very powerful at later stages but also the biggest glass cannon. Still, i believe it's safer for HC Elite than any self found mele class
I will explain more about the build concept later. For now, one point in Prismatic bolt is enough. It shoots multiple elemental bolts and auto aims at enemies, but some times the bolts take weird ineffective trajectories that piss me off. This will be my main skill throughout the whole wt. The damage scales with levels as well as point investment



This post was edited by KillingIsMyBusiness on Nov 13 2020 09:45am
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Nov 13 2020 09:53am
I'm also will be using only wands, because they're one handed and will allow me to equip a shield. They also shoot projectiles that can fill my charge bar if i run out of mana and can't use my skills.



Speaking of the charge bar... this is one of the most important mechanics in the game. What i need is to have my charge bar full and active at all times, which is impossible to achieve at this stage. Right now it slowly fills as i hit enemies with skills or default attacks, when filled it gives 25% skill damage, remove mana consumption completely... but these effects only last for a few second. My entire style of play will focus on filling the charge bar as fast as possible and never spend money for mana potions. Elite difficulty punishes the player with less gold drops and you already burn through health potions, so having enough money for potions and gear is a tough challenge.



That's a promising start. I can get that faster cast rate wand, but first i have to complete the quest and kill the Fallen Guardian - big skeleton dude in the first optional dungeon.



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Nov 13 2020 10:00am
I almost forgot to respec the one skill point in the useless starter skill. You can respec the last 3 invested skill points, but there are no full respecs here... careful planing is necessary



By level 4 i have 3 points in Prismatic Bolt



And 1 point in Charge Mastery. And this skill will do the fast refilling charge bar trick. When maxed, i will get a 60% faster charge and 90% slower charge decay... However, reaching max level in a skill normally happens past level 90... you can't just max a skill in your first 15 level ups :D I will also have gear with faster recharge by then a large mana pool, so basically i will never have worry about mana consumption

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Nov 13 2020 10:04am
Every time i come face to face with a champion, i'm pushed to the beginning of the dungeon... these enemies die extremely slow on Elite. But they also give fame points!



There are unique enchanters that can be found randomly in dungeons or overworld areas. These guys are very important for the end game. I be heavily relying on two of them - the one who adds sockets to items, the guy who upgrades items with attributes



Another interesting thing about gear is the requirements to wear it. I want to wear these boots, but i don't want to invest points in dexterity right now. If i just wait until i reach the level requirement, then the attribute requirement drops and i can wear them without investing in dexterity. That means all types of items can be worn by any class, with the exception of a few class specific uniques

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Nov 13 2020 10:07am
The game punishes me severely with my Guardian map roll



There's no room to move, i'm forced to quit and re-roll the map. That brings me all the way back to the hub area and i have to walk all the way here again.



So far i'm equipping whatever health and mana gear i can find. But soon i will focus mainly on gear with 1-2 sockets, attribute bonuses and if possible, faster cast speed.

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Nov 13 2020 10:09am
Damn! I get the same map layout for the boss fight... What are the odds?



At least this time i manage to clear the enemies around the Guardian, i can now run circles around him



That was a bit shitty for a first boss fight

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Nov 13 2020 10:11am
Oh no... i get the worst possible champion spawn after the Guardian! Rock Lords are extremely tough and summon dozens of Shadowings that slow you down and hit like a train



This was horrible. It took way more effort than the boss



A nice catch - i'll buy it, but i'll have to restrict myself from shopping because items aren't cheap and i can barely sustain myself right now. I can't even afford to buy town portal scrolls, they cost 400 gold a piece



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Nov 13 2020 10:14am
And i'm broke again!



The Temple Steppes - the first major area in the game. There are a bunch of quests to complete here, and i'm going to be exploring the whole thing. Every act has 2 or 3 wide open areas like that and hide all sorts of quest, secrets and surprises... sometimes unpleasant ones



I have gained my first level of fame! I'm now barely known... i'm a long way from becoming a demigod

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