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2 MAN-IRONMAN: CAVE’IN TRIPLECROWN
Introduction
I started playing Ironman Diablo during 2014 summer. I was getting bored of the regular game but still loved Diablo and wanted a harder challenge. Browsing the internet, I found out about Ironman challenge and decided to give it a shot, it seemed impossible! I started streaming some IM attempts on twitch.tv and eventually people started to get interested in the run and some of them joined me. A few months later, after a lot of learning, determination and dead runs, I started to see some normal victories and even one epic hell victory with L0rdRage Carson and Foxhound. Unfortunately, after that hell victory, we never got a chance to play with this team again.
During spring 2015, I met Moto on my stream and we quickly became good friends. She was interested to play Diablo since she was previously playing some Dungeon Siege Ironman so we started doing 2 man attempts and eventually we beat Diablo on normal. The nightmare continuation didn't go so well on the other hand, we died on floor 14 due to lack of Stone Curse spell. It was a little heartbreaking and it took us a few months before trying another attempt. In October, we both had a lot of free time and decided it was time to beat our last record of Nightmare floor 14. Our gameplay was sharper and our knowledge deeper so we felt pretty confident, all we needed was the luck to cooperate.
This is the story of me and Moto playing a Warrior / Sorceress duo who journeyed for 5 days straight into the dark dungeons of Tristram's Cathedral, braving against all odds the hordes of merciless demons to eventually come back victorious from the depths of hell. We used standard Ironman Cave-In rules as well as trainers to level up to 30 for hell continuation to save us precious time.
Players
Warrior: Baba
Sorceress: Moto
NORMAL DIFFICULTY
Town
The strategy for normal shopping is pretty simple, Moto sold her staff for 130G and the heroes purchased three Scrolls of Identify as those are one of the most valuable resources for Ironman. With 30G remaining, Baba purchased some rags, a cap, and gave his club to Moto before the pair took the road to the Cathedral.
Cathedral (Normal Difficulty)
Cathedral 1
Baba went solo while Moto got occasional zombie kills left behind for her. They were easy with the club and allowed her get some experience without hurting the Warrior's level. A Glimmering Shrine was found, but unfortunately nothing magic dropped beside a short staff that ended up being +10 Mana and quick attack; not too bad!
Notable drops: 4 Scrolls of Resurrect, 2 Books of Healing, Snake Short Staff of Readiness
Enemies: Zombies, Skeletons, Fallen Ones and Scavengers.
Character Levels: Baba level 3, Moto level 1
Cathedral 2
Warrior floor again, Baba went hunting with Moto not too far behind. Usually he had a club at this point but for whatever reason it was forgotten on floor 1, so he was getting his ass handed to him by the Rotting Carcasses, and Boneripper. Moto got to help with a newly found Staff of Holy Bolt and Book of Heal Other. She spotted a Stone Shrine and a Staff of Inferno also dropped, so the wizard went nuts on Bladeskin the Slasher's pack and burned them to ashes. Thanks to some clutch level ups no potions were used on the floor. Butcher is stair trapped, bowed down, and drops a Ring.
Enemies: Fallen Ones, Carvers, Rotting Carcasses and Skeletons
Notable drops: Staff of Holy Bolt, Staff of Inferno, Book of Heal Other, Spiked Club [Bladeskin], Ring [Butcher], Morning Star, Blade.
Character levels: Baba level 5, Moto level 2
Cathedral 3
A plain Falchion was found early on the stage which helped Baba to kill the plague eaters; otherwise he used the morning star to kill undeads. He spotted an uncommon amount of archers in a corner not too far from the stairs which was assumed to be Leoric's army and decided to come back later. When facing larger archer packs, Moto used the Staff of Holy Bolt to thin them out so Baba could step in and finish them without taking too much damage.
Rotcarnage and his band of ghouls stood no chance against the Warrior and his blunt weapon. The rest of the floor was pretty easy. A Leather Armor was found in a sarcophagus as the team was preparing for Leoric. Moto used a couple of Scrolls of Firewall to clear some of the archers so that Baba would be able to reach a corner where almost twenty archers were firing on a wall where he stood; the perfect spot! Moto came in from the flank to blast them with her magic and eventually Leoric showed up only to get stone cursed by the wizard who had picked up a scroll previously. Before he can even swing his giant sword, the Skeleton King falls into a pile of bones.
Enemies: Burning Dead Archers, Corpse Axes, Plague Eater and Ghouls
Notable drops: Staff of Firebolt, Book of Holy Bolt, Leather Armor, Falchion [Leoric]
Character levels: Baba level 8, Moto level 6
Cathedral 4
This wasn't a very excited stage for the most part other than a Staff of Lightning that dropped along with the first Scroll of Identify of the run. The heroes ran into Spineeater and his group of Bone Gashers pretty early on the level. Moto pulled out the Inferno Staff and burned them down at a door. Baba advanced through the floor at a good pace while Moto supported with firebolts from behind. All of those staves were allowing her to keep up pretty nicely on experience and hit level 8 just before clearing the last corner of the dungeon. Careful gameplay and pretty easy enemies allowed the heroes to use no potions during the Cathedral!
Enemies: Flesh Clans, Black Deaths, Dark Ones, Bone Gashers and Corpse Captains.
Notable drops: Staff of Lightning, Scroll of Identify, Scroll of Resurrect, Longsword
Character levels: Baba level 10, Moto lvl 8
Catacombs (Normal Difficulty)
Catacombs 5
For the first half of the stage Moto just stood back and had some pork chops and sweet potatoes while Baba worked his way steadily through the dungeon. Occasionally, she had to take a pork chop break to Holy Bolt some of the nastier rooms packed with Horror Archers. Once dinner was done, a satisfied wizard joined back in the action to tag enemies with her staves. Studded Leather Armor dropped to increase the Warrior's armor and he's finally able to charge the archer groups.
They found Foulwing pretty late on the floor in a long hallway and decided to stand ground and fight. That quickly became a bad situation as Moto can't heal Baba properly and hit the bats twice with her heals instead. The team backed up a bit to split the boss from his swarm of Glooms and Baba was able to overcome the frenzied bat... That was a painful battle!
Enemies: Glooms, Horror Archers, Shadow Beasts, Winged demons
Notable drops: Studded Leather Armor
Character levels: Baba level 12, Moto level 10
Catacombs 6
The stairs are right beside a Skeleton room and the duo immediately go for it to be safe from potential Fire Clans ambush. This was the last floor with undeads, so it's time for the Sorceress to empty the Staff of Holy Bolt and not spare any charge. The second room reveals a bunch of Glooms, Hiddens and Winged Demons. It looks as if they were safe from goats and they decide to speed up the pace a bit. None of those enemies were difficult for the Warrior so he finishes the level smoothly. An Eerie shrine was found for Moto along with a Book of Lightning to give her some firepower!
Enemies: Glooms, Winged Demons, Stalkers and Horror Captains
Notable drops: Book of Lightning, Staff of Firebolt, Book of Heal Other
Character levels: Baba level 14, Moto level 10
Catacombs 7
A bad map layout allows for an ambush right at the start and Baba decided to go for the door first and plug it. As he opens it, he realized it's a fake door and enemies can circle around it. Before they can even react, three Fire Clans, three Hiddens and some Familiars are cornering the pair but they fought bravely to survive! Multiple enemies attempting to flank our heroes would keep happening until they found a better door, so Baba tried to scout carefully in order to not pull too many Fire Clans at once; they were the only real danger there. A Staff of Mana Shield with 9 charges dropped, and this made for a very happy wizard with guaranteed Mana Shields until the end of normal difficulty!
Baba finally found a real door a bit north of the stairs, and from that point on there were no problems fighting the goats at the plugged door. The Staff of Firebolt proved to be useful against the annoying Familiars and the Staff of Lightning was used against packs of Fire Clans. A Stone Shrine was spotted, and allowed Moto to recharge both in order to keep the fun going! A plain Bastard Sword dropped from a barrel at the end of the stage; that was a really good damage upgrade for the Warrior!
Enemies: Fire Clans, Stone Clans, Hiddens and Familiars
Notable drops: Staff of Mana Shield (9), Book of Heal Other, 2 Scrolls of Identify, Bastard Sword
Character levels: Baba level 15, Moto level 12
Catacombs 8
The party had a really nice room to start with that was closed with a lore book and two doors to choose whatever direction they wanted to go. They chose the east door and found Poison Spitters along with Mud Men behind it. That meant two things; Chaoshowler and Baron Sludge were waiting somewhere on the floor to ambush unwary adventurers, so the heroes would have to progress carefully. More than one Mud Man meant they had to run back to a door, but the dogs were falling fast enough and the Warrior was able to hold his ground against them.
Bloodstones were also present on the stage and they were kicking Baba's ass pretty solidly since he was still using a Buckler, and a Cap. Moto had to join the party and use her Lightnings to soften them up. At this point, it was not even a problem with all the potions she had. One or two Lightnings per Bloodstone did the trick and she even had the Staff of Lightning to save more Mana.
Chaoshowler and company were found in a long hallway and Baba stopped right in front of the spit range. They were shot down with a combination of bow and firewall scrolls. The first death of the run occurred when some desync happened while Baba was on low HP and got hit by a single Lightning that was meant for a dancing Bloodstone. Squish! Ear drops; down one Resurrect Scroll. At least that Bloodstone dropped a Kite Shield, 10AC, so that was a fair armor upgrade for the Warrior and now he can take more than one Mud Man at a time. Baron Sludge was fought at a plugged door, but him and his minions had an annoying AI making the fight a lot longer than it should have been. Lightnings were doing wonders against packs of Bloodstones! A room full of them (twenty or more) was cleared without taking damage using some nice corner tactics. Unfortunately, the Staff of Lightning was not recharging well and Moto decided to leave it behind at the end of the floor as it was running pretty low on charges (1/12).
Enemies: Poison Spitters, Mud Men and Bloodstones
Notable drops: Book of Holy Bolt, Kite Shield (10AC), Scroll of Identify
Character levels: Baba level 16, Moto level 14
Caves 9
This was where the game really began. Moto and Baba were hoping for easy monsters but the Caves are usually unforgiving. A Lava Lord was the first enemy to welcome them as they took their first steps on the floor. Once again, these demons would require some softening with Lightning to reduce their combat time with Baba; the less they swung their double attacks the better. If more than one showed up, it most likely required some healing during the battle.
Moto was very close to leveling up and asked for some Mud Runners to tag with the Staff of Firebolt since she was out of Mana. Baba found a bridge with Breakspine and his charger horde behind it, they were easily chopped to pieces with the Bastard Sword. Refusing to use a potion, a greedy Warrior died to a single infuriated Lava Lord; three scrolls left. At that point potions were used when needed as he couldn't afford to keep dying.
The wizard was participating to almost every kill on the floor with either Firebolts or Lightnings, so the experience was still juicy for her! With luck on their side they managed to find many potions, and at the end of floor 9 they were only short one red and three blues potions compared to what they had originally descended with. A Scroll of Teleport dropped and Moto stashed it to eventually park Diablo if they made it that far.
Enemies: Mud Runners and Lava Lords
Notable drops: Short War Bow, Skull Cap (4AC), Scroll of Teleport, Studded Leather Armor
Character levels: Baba level 17, Moto level 16
Caves (Normal Difficulty)
Caves 10
Good news; there was a doored fence right next to the stairs that would provide security against a potential swarm of enemies which could be pretty frequent in the Caves. Baba carefully took a few steps in the darkness and got hit by an Obsidian Lord charging out of the shadows. The beast took more than half of his health! A couple more steps revealed an Obsidian Lord joined by a Storm Rider. Heavy hitters, fast attackers, and a 42 AC Warrior; that's not a good mix. He definitely needs better armor.
A slow and painful floor began. Moto supported with her Staff of Firebolts (which as still almost fully charged) against the Storms while Baba did his best to fight around corners out of lightning and charge range. Almost every single Storm was pulled back to the fence for better protection against their Lightning attacks. Moto had to constantly heal Baba, but many potions were found on the way and they were still both sitting on thirty or more. A nasty Nova chest almost killed the curious Warrior and left him with 10 HP. Phew!
Blackstorm was discovered behind a gate and killed without any problems with the sword stunning him with almost every swing! Finally, a Ring of the Tiger (+43HP) drops from the boss. That should surely help Baba to take some beating.
About half-way through the stage Baba found a new door to work with and Moto moved north to join him. A Ring Mail (20AC) dropped and the Warrior has some semblance of wearing armor now. They kept a steady pace with some solid corner tactics and barely took damage for the second half of the dungeon. Thankfully for them, The Flayer and his frenzied Storm Rider minions were the last enemies found on the floor and the team had the perfect setup to fight them between a lava lake and a wall.
Enemies: Storm Riders and Obsidian Lords
Notable drops: Ring of the Tiger (43HP)[Blackstorm], Ring Mail (20AC)
Character levels: Baba level 18, Moto level 16
Caves 11
There was a fake door at the entrance which was better than nothing at all. Three Frost Chargers were behind it and were good enemies for Moto to tag as she was pretty close to leveling up again. The first Obsidian Lord dropped a lower AC magic Ring Mail and the Sorceress would hold onto it until she leveled up to get the 25 strength required.
This was pretty much a Warrior level as there were primarily melee monsters, and the wizard stood back to get occasional tags with her staff. Baba found a pen so that the team was now completely safe from chargers swarming them. Shortly after, he spotted a lonely Bluehorn on a bridge while his minions are standing on the other side of the lake so he decided to challenge him to a duel. Bad idea; after about five seconds Baba was forced to retreat because the Bluehorn was shredding him apart. The horned boss was brought to the pen but even then it didn't matter. He was just stronger than the Warrior, so Moto had to use a Scroll of Stone Curse to help him finish it off.
There was about a dozen beasts across a lake including some boss minions, so the Sorceress was able to finally empty her Staff of Firebolt for some free kills. The bridges were helping a ton and the duo was able to keep most of battles to one on one. A magic Chain Mail (21AC) dropped, but the low armor class was barely an upgrade. Then, a plain Crown (11AC) also dropped; however, that was an upgrade! The stage was completed without any incident.
Enemies: Obsidian Lords, Frost Chargers
Notable drops: Magic Ring Mail (17AC), Magic Chain Mail (21AC), Ring, Crown (11AC)
Character levels: Baba level 19, Moto level 17
Caves 12
Once again there was a fake door right at the start and Baba took position in front. Five Pit Beasts immediately respond with acid attacks and promptly started charging the door, but the Warrior held them with minimal damage. A few more steps into the dungeons revealed four Flayed Ones and two Amulets dropped from them back to back! One of them was identified; Amulet of Vigor (+18Vit). That made Baba pretty tanky with a total of 185HP. He spotted a gated fence with a bunch of Fire Drakes inside of it, one of which dropped a Staff of Fireball with 68 charges which would make for an awesome weapon in Hell later on.
At that point the team had so many red potions that even Moto had a full belt on her. That meant she had been spending more Mana than she had found, and to fix that Baba decided he would be drinking reds for the duration of this floor instead of asking the Sorceress for heals. Three red potions were used against Viperflame's snake pack but at least there had been a bridge to fight them at, so it wasn't that bad in the end. The lack of armor really began to show against the Fire Drakes, but the heroes manage to get out of the Caves in almost one piece!
Enemies: Pit Beasts, Flayed Ones, Fire Drakes
Notable drops: Amulet of Vigor (+18Vit), Amulet, Staff of Fireball (68), Elixir of Magic
Character levels: Baba level 20, Moto level 17
Hell (Normal Difficulty)
Hell 13
Three vipers welcome the heroes in Hell; one of them was a Gold Viper and the other two were Cave Vipers. The gold snakes were eating Baba alive, so the wizard decided it's time to use that Staff of Fireball and turned on her game face. She cleared about a quadrant and a half solo before the staff dried out and from that point Baba took the relay. With a Chain Mail (21AC) and no dexterity adder, Baba was drinking the reds potions one after the other against the Gold Vipers, and he was starting to get frustrated by not seeing any plate armor dropping. Out of nowhere, Moto starts using Inferno spell against lined up vipers and it was proving really effective! At least it softened them up enough to reduce the battle time considerably just like Lightnings did earlier. A Staff of Firewall dropped but it was a War Staff and the strength requirement was a bit too high for the wizard to use it, so it was left behind.
The Succubi proved to be no match for Baba's sharpshooting skills. Using the 4-tiles rule, stairs, and shish-kebabs to kill them proved to be a complete success. He had a little incident as he was retreating from two vipers. He ran into a third one blocking the escape path to the setup! The Warrior tried to kill it before the chasing vipers could catch up, but this only got him killed. Moto cleaned up with her spells and got Baba back to his feet, and even got a level up by doing so. A couple of Rings dropped from the last quadrant and they decided to identify both of them as well as the amulet from last floor. Ring of the Tiger (+49HP) and Ring of the Stars (+10 to all stats)! Amulet of Vim on the other hand was left on the floor. They were hoping for some magic or Mana adding items, but the Warrior was up to 215HP and 70 dexterity which was what really mattered for now.
Enemies: Gold Vipers, Cave Vipers, Succubi
Notable drops: Ring of the Stars (+10All), Ring of the Tiger (+49HP)
Character levels: Baba level 21, Moto level 19
Hell 14
The stairs were in the big hallway once again, so Baba decided to take a few steps north and turned around a corner with a bunch of shish-kebabs around it. Snow Witches and Succubi are waiting for him, but it was not a problem with the 4-tiles trick; they were bowed down for free. Splint Mail (34AC) drops from a dead body, finally, some armor!
After clearing about half of both north quadrants, the party was feeling pretty confident about this floor since it only contained witches with bad AI. They were getting stuck everywhere: corners, shish-kebabs, stairs... They killed about two dozen witches and started moving a bit faster. This was a very bad idea as they pulled five Hell Spawns that followed them all the way to the north-west corner. Dead end; the team had no choice but to engage them in an expensive battle. Baba was furiously chasing them in the corners one by one while Moto was dancing her life to dodge the Bloodstars in the tight area. Both players survived, but had to drink a few potions each to stay alive.
Hell Spawns being very smart are one of the worst enemies one can possibly get in an Ironman run, along with Soul Burners, which are just a bit harder. There was no real safe way to kill them efficiently if more than one was pulled. It was either up to Moto stone cursing them (which she has no form of), or Baba had to chase them in corners. Baba pulled three more from a hallway and realized it was time to retreat again. A couple of potions later they managed to get rid of them. The resources were suddenly draining very fast and the two heroes are starting to lose hope as every corner they turned had a colorful mix of witches waiting for them.
A Staff or Firebolt dropped, and at first they were a bit disappointed that it was not a better spell, but it rapidly proves extremely useful. As Baba was dancing around dodging Bloodstars desperately looking for an option, Moto steps in with the staff and started unloading on the witches. The dance and shoot strategy was working beautifully as long as Baba doesn't misstep. The strategy involved worked by having the dancer (Warrior) moving diagonally back and forth in a way to where he is immune to all projectiles while the wizard stayed behind to blast the demons with whatever spells she has available. The Staff of Firebolt was recharging well and lasted for a full quadrant. As it was running out of charges, the last witch of the area dropped a Staff of Firewall as a replacement!
Baba pulled Stareye the Witch and moved to the south east quadrant, cornered her, and killed her with no pity. He decided to use his last Scroll of Identify on a Ring and got a 14-dexterity adder! This was where things started to heat up. Having been very low on resources, Baba could not keep chasing Hell Spawns and drinking his last potions in the process, so he suggested that Moto went all in with the Staff of Firewall. The witches had to go through a five-tile opening, so the plan was to pull as many witches as possible without dying, bring them back to this choke, and Firewall them all at once. Baba pulled his best dance moves ever as he began activating entire rooms of assorted witches and forced them to fire their slow Bloodstars from the choke point. Moto was there waiting to lay down her Firewalls and the duo gets to hear all the succubi burn in a weird moaning symphony. They rinse and repeat until the staff was emptied and soon realize that the map was almost cleared! They killed nearly one hundred witches with that strategy and that will from now on be known as the Great Witch Massacre. Moto scanned over the mess she had just made and found a very welcome Book of Stone Curse among the pile of scorched demons.
The Warrior finished off the last few straggling witches and the team was ready to pack for floor 15. Baba had less than a belt left and Moto had about the same, and there was no scroll to identify potential loots. Even after the amazing turn of events on floor 14, only one thing can truly save them; a Purifying Spring early on floor 15.
Enemies: Snow Witches, Succubi, Hell Spawns
Notable drops: Staff of Firebolt, Staff of Firewall, Splint Mail (34AC), Gothic Shield (19AC), Field Plate (44AC), Ivory Full Helm (38AC), Ring of Accuracy (14Dex), Book of Stone Curse.
Character levels: Baba level 21, Moto level 20
Hell 15
...and an early Purifying Spring they got! Moto doesn't even put her Mana Shield (her staff had low charges) up since she is able to spot the fountain in the room right next to the stairs! Ironman runs live and die by luck, and this one was allowed to live another floor only because of the infinite Mana pool. A single Hellspawn was guarding it which was turned into dust rapidly. What a nice timing on the Book of Stone Curse at the end of floor 14! At this point, they don't really care about what enemies are on the stage as all they have to do is keep pulling a low number of them at a time, stone curse, heal up, and refill Mana on the spring. If everything went well, the team would finish the floor with a potion gain and possibly some better equipment for floor 16.
It took the party about an hour and a half to clear the entire map of all the snakes and witches including Bloodlust, Rex Vex, Black Jade, and the Archbishop Lazarus. Toward the end of the floor, the duo got rewarded for their efforts, a Staff of Healing (38 charges) drops from a random enemy! This was more than they could hope for as Moto can recharge the staff, and in the worst case it would last a hundred charges total. A Staff of Stone Curse (10 charges)also drops which would save a lot of resources against nasty Advocates on floor 16. Not many potions were found on the floor but they still got a small gain nonetheless; eight for Baba and ten for Moto.
Enemies: Snow Witches, Hell Spawns, Azure Drakes
Notable drops: Magic Crown, Magic Blade, Magic Short War Bow, Staff of Healing (38), Staff of Stone Curse (10), Bastard Sword [Bloodlust], Tower Shield [Red Vex], Mace [Lazarus].
Character levels: Baba level 23, Moto level 20
Hell 16
The heroes arrived in a long hallway which may or may not be a good thing depending on how many enemies are in there with them, but only two Blood Knights are slain before they reached the north end of the map. They started working their way around cage 2 and thankfully it's not very packed. By using the corners and walls to freeze enemies they managed to clear the perimeter rather easily. Occasional Advocates would teleport in the middle hallway and Moto had to use the Staff of Stone Curse to get rid of them.
Baba decided to start working cage 1 as it was the worst of all, so they might as well get it done. The progress was steady and Baba trades about one charge on the Staff of Healing for every Advocate. Sometimes it was possible to get free kills, and other times would require having to eat a few Fireballs to get the job done. He had no Fire Resist, but thankfully a lot of HP to compensate... Not enough apparently, because he still died trying to split a pack of Advocates. At least he does so out of Advocates range so Moto was able to get him back on his feet easily.
When two or more Blood Knights are pulled, Baba strung them around cage 2 until they split up. He made enough progress to get access to cage 1 and was able to clear the inside efficiently with the wizard freezing the mages. The duo started fighting Advocates from the inside of cage 1 and it seemed to be working well until they realized the cage was surrounded by around six of them. They decided to bail out but Moto got caught in the Fireball barrage and perished inside the cage. This was when it got intense. One mistake from Baba and it was all over. He has to somehow make it to Moto's body and revive her. After a lot of dancing, and a few very close calls, Baba killed the three Advocates guarding his companion's corpse and brought her back to life. Moto dropped the last Resurrect Scroll near the stairs and they finished cleaning up cage 1 successfully. A Full Plate Mail 74 AC dropped from the last Advocates in the quadrant; Baba is up to 101AC! With this AC and Dexterity, Blood Knights can't touch the Warrior anymore.
As the pair progressed south in the middle hallway they encounter Sir Gorash. He was stone cursed twice and drops Leather Armor which could end up being useful. At the south end of the hallway they are forced to run back dodging a deadly hail of Fireballs and Baba has to use a couple of potions to survive the retreat; he was down to six. The wizard decided it's time to send her Golem pet 'Sheldon' to break up the pack, and it worked great as a couple of them teleported out of the main group closer to the middle section where Baba was waiting with his Short War Bow. It would take them about fifteen minutes to kill the other four Advocates camping the south area, but they eventually managed to get them. Moto got a bad recharge on the Staff of Healing and lost half the charges, so now it was down to 19.
Cage 3 was pretty populated and it took them about half an hour to clear it with their usual freeze and shoot tactics. The Staff of Stone Curse dried out in the process, but it was all good because at that point they were almost done killing regular enemies! Baba went to hide in the north west corner while Moto pulled the levers in cage 3. Carefully, she hugged the wall to about the middle of quadrant 4 and fires a Holy Bolt towards Diablo. He responds loud and clear and Moto started running to the cage 2 maze. The Dark Lord was fast and if it wasn't for the occasional Apocalypses, he would catch up on the fleeing wizard. She made it inside the maze with Diablo on her tail and used the Teleport scroll to get out, and left the final boss trapped inside. The team was now able to access the inside of cage 4.
While fighting one of the last Advocates, Baba swaps his sword to his bow too fast and completely locks up. His character cannot move, and nothing he is clicking is responding. He drank a couple potions in panic, but quickly realized that he is stuck and the advocate will kill him no matter how many potions he consumed. He accepted his fate and died honorably. Moto got the last Resurrect Scroll left at the stairs and forced the Advocate to teleport away from Baba's body before getting him back up. The Warrior got his sweet revenge on the Advocate and obtained a level up from it! The only thing left on the floor was the Lord of Terror himself!
Baba and Moto were down to their very last potions; two small reds and two big reds on the Warrior's belt and about the same for the Sorceress. Also, she doesn't have any form of Firewall to burst him down, so they were going to rely on Baba's survivability and the Sorceress' magic to beat him. They walked inside of cage 2 and as soon as they turned the corner Diablo welcomed them with an Apocalypse cast. Baba charges at him and Moto followed right behind. The Holy Bolts stunned the demon about 75% of the time and the fearless Warrior was still untouched when the Dark Lord finally falls! Victory!
That was it! Against all odds, they had made it! Lilith's plan to take them out on floor 14 failed and the spring from 15 saved the day! Baba and Moto got to bring all those nice loots to Nightmare difficulty along with about 60 000 gold that Moto had been picking up since caves.
Enemies: Advocates and Blood Knights
Notable drops: Full Plate Mail (74AC), Leather Armor [Gorash], Amulet, Staff of Stone Curse
Character levels: Baba level 24, Moto level 20
NIGHTMARE DIFFICULTY
Town
After beating Normal, the heroes received their sweet reward of being able to use NPCs in town. Deckard Cain would be their first stop in order to see what kind of treasure was returned from Hell. Hopefully there would be something useful for Moto because at this point she wasn't wearing anything of use for a Sorceress.
Notable identifications from Cain:
King's Bastard Sword +165% Dmg / 90% To Hit (!)
Tower Shield of the Tiger 19 AC +45 HP
Crown of Harmony 8 AC
Sapphire Amulet of the Wolf +59 Lightning Resist / +37 HP
Short War Bow of the Stars +9 All Attributes
Crystal Leather Armor +43 Magic Resist
Crimson Staff of Healing +31 Fire Resist
King's Bastard Sword was absolutely amazing and was more than enough to carry the adventurers all the way to the end. This was an amazing find thanks to Bloodlust! The Tower Shield of the Tiger was really good for an Ironman Warrior and it would be hard to find better, which definitely made it a keeper. Crown of Harmony was better than a plain Crown so there was no reason to take it. The amulet would help a lot against anything with lightning attacks, such as storms or certain mages. The bow was nice to have and Moto got some Magic Resist from the Crystal Leather Armor. This wasn't exactly an upgrade for the wizard but it could still prove useful against ranged attacks in the future. The rest of the items were pretty bad and were sold to Griswold.
Next, the team went to visit Adria with low expectations from previous experiences. To their great surprise, she has a Book of Lightning for 3,000G and an Azure Staff of Healing with 30 charges for 4,000G! Not bad at all. Both adventurers purchased and went along with all of the full yellow potions available.
Wirt had a Club of the Heavens and a Weird Hunter Bow of the Heavens. They decided to pass on both since Baba already had sufficient weapons.
The last stop for the heroes was Griswold! Baba decided to replace his plain Full Plate Mail with a Ring Mail of Accuracy (+11Dex) for 5,500G which was quickly sold and replaced by a Breast Plate of the Stars (+8 all stats) for 52,000G. He figured the loss of 3 dexterity wasn't a big deal for all of those extra stats. The heroes purchased 5 Resurrect Scrolls each and the potions they needed with the 12,000G that was left over. The remaining gold was left as a tip for Odgen, and the heroes once again proceeded on the path to the Cathedral.
Baba's stats entering the Cathedral:
Str 113 HP 251 AC 67
Magic 27 Mana 46 FR 0
Dex 92 To Hit 186% MR 0
Vita 70 Dmg 42-66 LR 0
Spells: None
Moto's stats entering the Cathedral:
Str 30 HP 85 FR 31
Magic 118 Mana 274 MR 43
Dex 15 LR 59
Vita 20
Spells: Heal Other 4, Healing 2, Lightning 2, Holy Bolt 2, Stone Curse 1, Telekinesis 1
Cathedral (Nightmare Difficulty)
Cathedral 1
A very confident duo entered the dark dungeons of Tristram. This should be a breeze with Baba wielding his powerful King's Bastard Sword, but that doesn't mean that things should be rushed. About two minutes into the floor, Moto replaced her Crimson Staff of Healing with only 17 charges left with a plain Staff of Healing (32). They figure that the extra charges would help more in the long run than the Fire Resist. No book rooms nor shrines were found, sadly.
Enemies: Skeletons, Zombies, Fallen Ones and Scavengers
Notable drops: Staff of Healing (32)
Character levels: Baba level 24, Moto level 20
Cathedral 2
Enemies: Corpse Captains, Scavengers and Fallen Ones
A library containing a Book of Telekinesis was spotted right away. As the team progressed and moved closer to the Butcher's room, Baba asked if it should be stone cursed but Moto decided against it. She was right as the Butcher never got close to Baba and was stuck in the King's Sword the whole time! The demon dropped a two-handed Great Sword which was useless. Two Elixirs of Strength were looted in a hallway and a book room had one Scroll of Identify. Moto received a level up at the end of the stage as well!
Notable drops: 2 Elixirs of Strength, Scroll of Identify
Character levels: Baba level 24, Moto level 21
Cathedral 3
There was a Purifying Spring in the first room! Moto unleashed the beast against the hordes of undead while Baba took care of the Plague Eaters. The Warrior finally got to read a Book of Healing but doesn't have the Mana to use it yet, unfortunately. Two Scrolls of Identify dropped from a Skeleton Tome room and a Book of Heal Other from another book case about half way through the dungeon. This was an overall good stage for resources! Leoric stood no chance against the Holy Bolt spam and was barely harder than a regular enemy.
Enemies: Horrors, Burning Dead Captains, Ghouls and Plague Eaters
Notable drops: Book of Healing, Book of Heal Other, 2 Scrolls of Identify
Character levels: Baba level 24, Moto level 21
Cathedral 4
The stairs were close to a library with a single Flesh Clan Archer in it which gave us some indication that AI freezing could be used on this floor. A Scroll of Identify and a Scroll of Mana Shield were found and would be preciously kept for later as Moto still didn't have the spell available. There were many Flesh Clan Archers and they kept slipping hits through Baba's block. A few Scrolls of Healing were used as needed, along with some potions to keep up with the archers' damage. Melee monsters were handled at doors as per usual.
Moto got an extra 4 Mana from an Eerie Shrine! A Book of Holy Bolt, a Scroll of Identify, and a Scroll of Mana Shield are picked up towards the end of the floor. Some goat also dropped a Ring that Moto put on her finger as she was wearing no jewelry at the moment.
Enemies: Flesh Clan Archers, Flesh Clans, Rotten Carcasses and Devil Kins
Notable drops: 2 Scrolls of Mana Shield, 2 Scrolls of Identify, Book of Holy Bolt, Ring
Character levels: Baba level 24, Moto level 21
Catacombs 5
The heroes started in a big open room and immediately a Stalker came out of the shadows to charge the Warrior. Baba pulled his sword out of its scabbard and split the demon's head clean. Those should be pretty easy for him as long as there was not too many surrounding him at once. Moto snatched a Book of Lightning from a library which put its spell level up to 3.
A nasty archer room with about 15 of them was being problematic at first but the duo decided to use the dancing tactics with Holy Bolt support to successfully clean up without taking too much damage. The undead archers eventually force the Staff of Healing to see some use, but it's better to use those it than the potions. Wrathraven is proving to be a ferocious foe and Baba has to retreat from the bat during a door battle, the Sorceress drinks her first big blue to save the situation.
Enemies: Flesh Clans, Stalkers, Burning Dead Archers, Burning Dead Captains and Blinks
Notable drops: Book of Lightning, Ring
Character levels: Baba level 25, Moto level 21
Catacombs (Nightmare Difficulty)
Catacombs 6
Baba was welcomed by three Horrors Captains whom instantly put him into a stun lock which his partner had to intervene with holy magic. The team was progressing slowly due to Deathspit and his spitter pack waiting somewhere on the floor. A Ring dropped and Moto decided to leave the one from the Cathedral behind to put the on the new one. Deathshade Fleshmaul got sliced into pieces like the pack of goats he was found with.
The Warrior found Deathspit in a long hallway which was perfect for a free bow kill. Deathspit dropped a Ring and Moto left the one from floor 5 behind. A magic Helm also dropped during a Stalker massacre, so the Sorceress put it on for potential future boosts. A Divine Shrine provided an extra 2 full yellow potions and Baba gambled two Goat Shrines hoping for a Glimmering Shrine after having loaded his inventory with blue items, but triggered an Eerie and Spiritual Shrine. The team packed up their stuff and prepared for serious business on floor 7.
Enemies: Horror Captains, Acid Beasts, Stone Clans and Stalkers
Notable drops: Ring, Ring [Deathspit], Scroll of Identify, Scroll of Mana Shield, magic Helm
Character levels: Baba level 25, Moto level 21
Catacombs 7
As he entered the stage, Baba cracked a barrel and found a unique Small Axe. The players debated for a bit on what do to with it and concluded that the Staff of Healing was a safer choice, so they left the axe there. Next, the first death of the Nightmare run occurred when Moto was surrounded by Hiddens and Familars before she could retreat to safety. The lack of Mana Shield costed a Resurrect Scroll!
Baba and Moto were rapidly reminded why they hate floor 7 as they opened a door containing half of a dozen Night Clans Archers with a few of their Fire Clan cousins. The Warrior was forced to drink a potion as he stepped inside of the deadly room by mistake but the power of the King's Sword cannot be underestimated! It stunned and killed the goats in place as they turn the corners in an attempt to chase him.
Even Blightfire stood absolutely no chance. After splitting his demonic archer pack in three, he was stun locked in a door as every hit was landing and severely wounding him. After a tough fight with about two dozens of Fire Clan Archers guarding a library, the heroes were rewarded with the a Scroll of Identify and Mana Shield combo again, and with a Book of Stone Curse as a bonus! Gorestone fell to the same fate as Blightfire as him and his coward archers were sliced and diced in the door grinder. This very annoying stage was well handled by a patient Baba and no more than a dozen charges were used on the Staff of Healing.
Enemies: Unseens, Familiars, Night Clan Archers and Fire Clan Archers
Notable Drops: Ring, Scroll of Teleport, Scroll of Identify, Scroll of Mana Shield, Book of Stone Curse
Character levels: Baba level 26, Moto level 21
Catacombs 8
A single Illusion Weaver ambushed the Warrior and quickly met the trusty King's Sword. The team proceeded with caution to the nearest door which happened to be a book room and about eight Bloodstones guarding a Book of Telekinesis and a Book of Holy Bolt were slain. Again, Moto stood back for this floor as Baba goes hunting as there was no need to put the defenseless wizard at risk.
Baba reached a big book room and opened the door. It was full of Illusion Weavers, but they aren't coming out and are just looking at him from inside. Every time Baba stepped in he put himself in danger of getting stun locked by three Weavers, but at the same time he can't leave the front of the door because that would let an unknown amount of those invisible demons out. When Moto arrived to help, Baba was completely surrounded by Illusion Weavers on her screen and she started spamming her Stone Curse spell. Meanwhile on Baba's screen, nothing is happening and he quickly told the wizard to stop wasting her Mana. They both decided that they should get out of this messy area before a horde of Weavers appear out of thin air to put an end to the run. A few of them followed and Baba killed them at the first library as he attempted to slowly move out again to make his way to the scary Weaver infested room.
He killed a few more on the way and made it to the door once again. Three weavers appeared, one after another, and suddenly the Warrior is surrounded, stun locked and mercilessly killed by the deceitful Weavers. The near naked wizard was forced to use a Scroll of Mana Shield and then had to somehow make it to Baba's body alive and clear it from the ambushing monsters. She made it without encountering anything, but as soon as she resurrected him the weavers reveal themselves and Baba had to run for his life with a single Ring of Accuracy for equipment while Moto casted Lightnings everywhere down the hallway to zone the enemies back. One by one, the Illusion Weavers were zapped by the outraged wizard and after getting stun locked once and drinking six potions, she was able to retrieve all of Baba's equipment and return it to the mentally shaken Warrior. He got his things back together and continues hunting. That was quite the way to start the stage and an unbelievable save by Moto!
The room was finally cleaned and the team was rewarded with a Book of Stone Curse for Moto and a Book of Healing for Baba. A Purifying Spring was found soon after, and Moto does a lot of back and forth trips to the fountain to able to support Baba against the buggy Illusion Weavers. A Staff of Healing with 22 charges dropped but is left behind because both inventories are full. Even after using about a belt of potions each, the duo left the floor with no potion loss thanks to amazing luck from drops and chests!
Enemies: Bloodstones and Illusion Weavers
Notable Drops: Book of Holy Bolt, Book of Stone Curse, Book of Healing
Character levels: Baba level 26, Moto level 21
Caves (Nightmare Difficulty)
Caves 9
The pair spawns in a small fence with a door making it impossible for them to get surrounded. Horned Demons were basically free enemies and multiples could be taken at a time by a confident Warrior. Hellstones were a bit tougher and needed to be cornered or doored. A nice maze of fences and walls allowed Baba to take care of the bigger packs without having to take projectile damage and he progressed at full dash speed in probably the easiest dungeon 9 he's ever seen. Not even 20 minutes after entering the Caves, he wiped the blood from his sword and announced to his companion that there were no enemies left on the map. Easy foes usually meant poor loots, and the only useful things that dropped were a Scroll of Mana Shield and a lot of potions.
Enemies: Horned Demons and Hellstones
Notable drops: Scroll of Mana Shield
Character levels: Baba level 26, Moto level 21
Caves 10
This was another Warrior stage with only melee enemies! The King's weapon locked the gargoyles in place and they were never able to retreat. The Staff of Healing was getting used here and there because the Frost Chargers were slipping some blows past the Warrior's block. Once again, Baba was progressing fast and one by one the demons were falling to his powerful swings. Goldblight of the Flame was chilling in the southeast corner as he was activated by a couple bow shots. Baba quickly retreated to a door and swapped back to sword and shield to meet the gargoyle boss whom was easily killed, but drops junk. Baba received a level up and began pumping Vitality because he didn't need any more damage at this point. Pretty uneventful floor for the most part and it barely took 30 minutes to clear.
Enemies: Frost Chargers and Blood Claws
Notable drops: Nothing!
Character levels: Baba level 27, Moto level 21
Caves 11
As the players went down the stairs, they spotted an empty pen and quickly ran in for safety. This proved to be a wise decision as Baba turned a tight corner and pulled six Obsidian Lords and a couple of Cave Vipers right away. They are killed at the door and it looked like it was going to be another melee floor for the Warrior! Just like the last two stages, Moto got to stay in her pen and enjoy some tea.
Baba went hunting solo but had to be careful as these Obsidian Lords are nothing like the Horned Demons, and they could potentially kill him with a few lucky hits. His block was holding up well with 101 Dexterity, but the charge attacks were very nasty if they caught him on the move. Continuing down south, Baba stopped in front of a lava river with over a dozen enemies angrily looking at him from the other side then he realized he could swing his sword across the lava stream and took care of the pack without any issues. One of them dropped an Elixir of Vitality, delicious!
An Amulet dropped from a chest and it was identified in hopes of replacing Baba's Amulet of Vigor +18. No luck though as they got a Gold Amulet and ToHit% is probably the last thing they need, so Baba tosses the jewel behind him. A barrel dropped another Amulet and after pondering for a few minutes, they decided to spend another Scroll of Identify on it as it could benefit both of them. Amulet of the Wolf. Damnit! At least it was +40HP which was a 4HP boost for Baba, but it was not worth the scroll. With two wasted scrolls at this point, they just laugh it off and continue their quest with five more left.
Moto recharged the Staff of Healing for the first time only losing three charges on it! As she was searching the floor for potions, she found a few barrels behind a wall and one of them dropped a Ring. Jewels from this floor apparently cannot be trusted, and the Sorceress stashed it for later. The pace was insane as it only took another thirty minutes to clear another cave stage!
Enemies: Obsidian Lords and Cave Vipers
Notable drops: Elixir of Vitality, Ring, Gold Amulet (21% ToHit), Amulet of the Wolf (+40HP)
Character levels: Baba level 27, Moto level 21
Caves 12
There was no ambush near the spawn point which was always a good thing. Baba scouted two Flayed Ones that he killed effortlessly and then two Slayers that caused a bit more trouble. The Balrog demons are annoying for one reason; they keep casting their Inferno spell on the Warrior which slowly but surely chips his HP down. Baba had no fire resistance, but with almost 300 HP he can take the heat.
A sharp corner exposed him to five Slayers at one point and he was forced to hold them at a bridge. The reason why he didn't run back to safety with Moto was because there was no safety zone to begin with! The Slayers would have surrounded both heroes and the wizard would have been forced to use one of her 4 Scrolls of Mana Shield. She definitely wanted to save those for Hell, and so far she had been doing a really good job at it. All in all, Baba got toasted and was forced to use a full red to fend off the fire breathing fiends.
As Baba acquired more space on the stage, he was starting to handle the Slayers much better by splitting them so that way he wouldn't have to take free Infernos to the face whilst killing multiple enemies at the same time. A Scroll of Identify dropped from a chest which put the scroll count back to six! The game was trying to tempt the players by dropping another Amulet but they just kept it for later. The Staff of Healing was down to 5/29 charges after killing all 65 Slayers that were present on the map.
Enemies: Flayed Ones and Slayers
Notable drops: Book of Guardian, Scroll of Identify, Amulet
Character levels: Baba level 27, Moto level 21
Hell (Nightmare Difficulty)
Hell 13
The room the heroes start in has two staircases which means no enemies to ambush them and Moto gets to holds on her Scroll of Mana Shield for now. Also there is a perfect 4-tile setup around the first corner and Baba is able to bow down nearly a dozen Snow Witches before he has to go in and engage the Vipers. The last snake of the first room drops an Elixir of Vitality, free 2 HP for the Warrior. This just happens to save his life during the next battle with a couple stubborn witches as Baba tries to fight them with his corner tactics but because of the obstacles, the witches are able to circle around and get to fire on him freely. He gets hit a few times but manages so retreat successfully with one single Hit Point left, phew what a clutch Elixir!
Baba has many close calls with the Snow Witches but manages to retreat every time with just enough health to swap to his Staff of Healing without killing himself by taking off the Tower Shield of the Tiger. Entering the third quadrant, he spots a glow coming toward him and takes position at the corner, Witchmoon is nothing more than a regular succubus with a lot more HP and doesn't last more than ten seconds under Baba's stun lock.
The Warrior gets impatient in the last quadrant and takes a fight he should have not taken. He gets caught retreating by a bunch of witch projectiles and perishes. That forces Moto to use a Scroll of Mana Shield and a few potions to get rid of the Cave Vipers and Snow Witches but the wizard manages to clean up and gets a Ring in the process. She then resurrects her companion who can finish the last quadrant without any other incident. Amulet of the Moon +7 is identified, Baba can now use his Healing spell!
Enemies: Snow Witches and Cave Vipers
Notable drops: Elixir of Vitality, Elixir of Magic, Scroll of Identify, Ring, Amulet
Character levels: Baba level 28, Moto level 21
Hell 14
The stair room was pretty tight and only had a single 3-tiles entrance. Baba carefully scouted the opening but still lured three Balrogs that cornered him right away. Moto had no line of sight to heal Baba as the demons were blocking him, so she began to fire some Lightning to help kill them. This became the strategy for the whole floor as a few Lightnings are cheaper on Mana than Heal Other and Baba could refill his HP with the staff after the battles.
The Warrior took a few more steps outside of the stair room and saw 4 red Bloodstars coming at him which made him immediately retreat to his corner. He was relieved to see a couple Succubi line up for the free kills in front of him as Hellspawns would have meant a lot of trouble. This floor wouldn't be too bad as long as they keep the Balrog pulls at one or two at a time. With Moto participating for every Balrog kills, she quickly got a level up!
The lack of Fire Resist was really starting to show and he had to use the Staff of Healing after every Balrog, but at least it's recharging very well.
Nothing noteworthy happened for the next two quadrants. Just the usual struggle with Balrogs and their Infernos, but with patience the team progressed steadily without any death. After clearing the entire floor of over 80 Balrogs, the very last one dropped a Book of Fireball. A new fire spell for the wizard! Baba cleaned up the remaining few Succubi and was able to roll on two cauldrons... "Mysteries are revealed in the light of reason"! Here was what was discovered:
Ring of Brilliance +12 Magic
Ring of Perfection +27 Dexterity
Gold Ring +26% to hit
Garnet Amulet + 42% Fire resist
Ring of Sorcery +16 Magic
This was quite the roll for precious loot! Baba gave Moto the Ring of the Stars (+10 all stats) that she paired with the Ring of Sorcery to get a nice Mana boost. Baba received a huge dexterity adder and was up to 116! He also kept the Ring of Brilliance to get the extra Mana needed for the Healing spell. The Garnet Amulet would be a priceless asset on 16 so they were really happy to see it. New record for Baba and Moto, let's go!
Enemies: Balrogs and Succubi
Notable drops: Elixir of Vitality, Book of Fireball, Ring
Character levels: Baba level 28, Moto level 22
Hell 15
With no ambush whatsoever, Baba and Moto were able to carefully make their way to the room in the middle of the quadrant. As the duo got closer, they spot their first enemy as 3 Magistrates start teleporting around. Moto was having none of that and turns two of them into stone while Baba runs around to finish them off and cornered the last one for a free kill. Next, a couple Soul Burners are waiting around the corner but Baba took care of them with stun lock tactics. Those could be deadly if too many were pulled and he couldn't start chasing enemies around until he had a lot more space to work with. They swapped the Sapphire Amulet of the Wolf on Baba to reduce the Magistrate's damage to almost nothing and he was able to bow them down without having to move at all.
As Baba advanced in the hallways, he developed a new tactic against Magistrates. He forces the mages to teleport around by dancing near them until one splits from the group and charges it. Usually he got a couple hits with the sword before the mage teleported away and that was when he switched to his bow to seal the deal as they were much easier to shoot down that way than at full health. He made it safely to Lazarus' room and called Moto for magic support. The Warrior moved in front of the room and instantly an Advocate teleported out and started spamming his Fireballs at him. With the Sapphire Amulet of the Wolf still on, he had no fire resistance and quickly died to the mage's fire blasts. Moto took a step back and prepares to engage the Advocate with its own medicine. One Stone Curse and a few Fireballs later she was able to bring the Warrior back to life and gave him the Garnet Amulet.
Baba killed a second Advocate with the bow before pulling both Vex and Jade at once. It was time to retreat all the way to the stairs! Only Black Jade followed and Baba charged the witch as Moto turned her into stone. Red Vex was next and suffered the same fate. Lazarus snuck out of his room, but Moto was alert and caught him in a Stone Curse loop right away allowing Baba to jump on the occasion and kill the traitor without effort!
As he entered the third quadrant, Baba spotted a glow behind a wall and got to engage Bloodlust in an intense corner duel that would last about a minute. Eventually, the succubus fell in her own puddle of blood being no match for the mighty Warrior. The room in this quadrant had an Armor Rack packed with about a dozen Magistrates. One by one, Baba forced the mages out and shot them down. The rack was holding a magic Gothic Plate and for some reason he decided to use a Scroll of Identify before even checking if it had any noticeable modifier on it. Baba face palms as he moused over the Gothic Plate and notices "Indestructible" on it. Unfortunately, he had nothing else to identify in his inventory and was forced to waste a scroll on a Gothic Plate of the Ages which was a rookie mistake! There were still five scrolls left and nothing worthy dropped from any of the four bosses anyway.
Once again, Baba was impatient with the annoying Soul Burners and got caught retreating from a bad fight, dying in an open area. It took Moto two full blues to get rid of the very spell resistant Soul Burners and be able to resurrect the Warrior once again. A magic Splint Mail drops from a barrel and this time it was stashed before making a hasty decision. The last quadrant was loaded with Magistrates and the poor Staff of Healing was getting overused! Surprisingly, another Glimmering cauldron reveals a Cobalt Splint Mail +50% and a Ring of Sorcery +19. They didn't really expect anything from the boss drops so they didn't load Baba's inventory with items beforehand. It was very unlikely that the Morning Stars or the Long Sword were better than the King's sword anyway and Moto still got a tiny upgrade. All in all, the floor was clear and the pair packed up for the final floor!
Enemies: Magistrates and Soul Burners
Notable drops: Ring of Sorcery (+19Magic), Cobalt Splint Mail (+50%LR)
Character levels: Baba level 28, Moto level 22
Hell 16
The heroes spawned right next to cage 2 which is always the one they start with to give them space against the Blood Knights. Only three of them were around the cage so they got some breathing room right away which made for a good start!
They hugged the wall north of cage 4 and slowly worked their way around it with Moto stone cursing every Advocates on her way. When they reached the middle of the map, a deadly barrage of Fireballs stopped the progression west and they decided to approach them from the choke point instead where they could use the walls to their advantage. Baba still took quite a few fiery projectiles to the face before being able to split them properly.
As he was retreating from an absurd amount of Advocates, one of them teleported right under his cursor and made him shoot an arrow! This very short pause for the firing animation proved to be a fatal mistake and Baba got torched. Moto got rid of the obnoxious mage and put Baba back on his feet.
Slowly, he was able to bring some of them to the middle room where Moto was waiting to freeze them but the stubborn pack that stopped the team from going west earlier was now stopping them from going anywhere at all! The Warrior eventually forced the Advocates to teleport far enough to where he was able to circle behind cage 3 with Moto. Together they clear two hallways, but once again they are stopped before reaching the corner by another group of Advocates holding each others hands. This group was even harder to deal with as the hallway was much tighter than the middle area and they decided to go back where Baba can at least dodge the projectiles properly. With a lot of patience, he was able to clear the middle and approach the dangerous corner from the south. This time the Advocates were more cooperative and one by one they got lured out of their group and killed. The very open cage 1 made it easy to break mage packs and abuse their AI from the middle room. Book of Golem dropped but with a 100 Mana cost, they couldn't rely on that unless it was absolutely needed. Gorash was found in the north east corner and it took two Stone Curses to bring him down for a magic Long War Bow that would possibly get identified at Cain.
A dozen Advocates were camping above cage 1 and seeing Baba struggle with the situation made Moto step in and begin stone cursing the mage as soon as she got them into her line of sight. The lever was pulled and it was time for cage 2. The maze proved to be harder than usual as the Warrior kept pulling the Advocate's attention inside the tiny hallways full of obstacles. He was forced to drink two potions where both times were one hit away from death. After getting cooked a few times, Baba cleared the cage and pulls the lever.
Moto had just under two belts left of full blues and yellows which should be enough to curse every Advocate left inside cage 3 and 4. That didn't prevent Baba from making mistakes like dropping his shield inside the room during a panic moment and getting punished almost instantly for it. The wizard put Baba back on his feet and he finally used the last charge on the staff before leaving it behind. Moto gave him the Azure Staff of Healing as a replacement, but hopefully she wouldn't have to recharge it before Hell which made it so there was only 30 charges to work with. With cage 3 cleared, Moto parked Diablo in the maze with a Scroll of Teleport and they finish up cage 4 without any incident. Time for for the final boss!
He was waiting for them in the usual hallway and without any hesitation, the trio charges at him because this time they have Sheldon flanking! The golem used some crazy strategic maneuvers to trap the Diablo between him, the Warrior, and a spike; what a genius! Moto's Holy bolts are stunning relentlessly as Baba was chopping the demon lord furiously with his mighty King's sword, and moments later blood starts spewing out of the Dark Lord's chest! Good game!
The Garnet Amulet combined with solid teamwork were the saviors for the final stage. That King's Bastard Sword was truly the back bone of this adventure, it may carry our heroes very far! Their synergy has become really on point after a couple days of intense gameplay and the only thing that they were worried for Hell was the lack of Mana Shield. Still, she was carrying over 80,000 gold, so let's hope for some goodies from the town folks!
Enemies: Advocates, Blood Knights
Notable drops: Long War Bow [Gorash], Book of Golem
Character levels: Baba level 29, Moto level 22
HELL DIFFICULTY
Town
After a long and exhausting Nightmare run, Baba and Moto finally received a nice break from undeads and demons. They were going to have a fun time shopping in Tristram with all that gold stashed previously by the wizard. First of all, they went to the Elder Cain and got their loots identified:
Garnet Bastard Sword of Sorcery +41 LR / +19 magic
Long War Bow of the Stars +8 to all stats
That bastard sword was an amazing Sorceress weapon, but the only downside was the 50 strength required to use it. The long war bow was slightly better than what Baba was using so he decided to take it with him.
They went to visit Adria next and for once she had exactly what the wizard was hoping for; a Book of Mana Shield! Moto purchased it without hesitation to her relief. Baba recharged the Azure Staff of Healing to full and Moto picked up an extra Scroll of Identify.
Wirt offered Baba a Godly Quilted Armor of the Mammoth and Moto a Sapphire plate.
Griswold on the other hand had some interesting items for the duo. He was selling an Awesome Helm of Precision (+17Dex) for 5,000G and a Great Helm of the Stars (+9 all stats) for 16,000G, so both were bought. Baba also repaired all of his worn out gear while he could.
Moto traded her Ring of Sorcery (+16Magic) for Ring of the Stars +10 all stats to be able to wear both the great helm and the bastard sword. If she was to die she wouldn't be able to reach the crucial 50 strength without the Ring, so she had no choice. The pair purchased 13 Scrolls of Resurrect and loaded their inventories with potions, and followed the road to the ruined Cathedral one last time.
Baba's stats entering the Cathedral:
Str 120 HP 273 AC 76
Magic 26 Mana 45 FR 0
Dex 133 To Hit 206% MR 0
Vita 75 Dmg 51-75 LR 0
Spell: Healing 2
Moto's stats entering the Cathedral:
Str 64 HP 77 FR 75
Magic 213 Mana 484 MR 0
Dex 35 LR 50
Vita 29
Spells: Heal Other 5, Healing 2, Lightning 3, Holy Bolt 5, Stone Curse 3, Fireball 1, Firebolt 8, Mana Shield 1, Golem 1
Cathedral (Hell Difficulty)
Cathedral 1
Baba soloed the entire stage without getting hit once and one-shot every enemy on the way. No book rooms or useful shrines, but some minor resources were found.
Enemies: Skeletons, Zombies, Fallen Ones and Scavengers
Notable drops: Scroll of Identify, Book of Healing
Character levels: Baba level 30, Moto level 30
Cathedral 2
Baba went solo once again but had to be a bit more careful than before. Due to his insane block rate he was getting locked in place by packs of enemies. Moto found a Book of Heal Other in a library earlier in the dungeon which brought the cost of the spell down a little bit more. The Butcher was stone cursed to prevent any unfortunate events from happening. Nothing else noteworthy occurred during the floor.
Enemies: Fallen Ones, Scavengers, Burning Deads and Corpse Captains
Notable Drops: Book of Heal Other
Character levels: Baba level 30, Moto level 30
Cathedral 3
Baba spotted a glow behind a wall with a ton or archers around the corner, so he immediately assumed it was King Leoric and called Moto for reinforcement. The legion of Skeleton Archers wouldn't let the heroes step into the room and the wizard couldn't kill more than a dozen from the outside. Moto then spotted a Scroll of Golem on the ground and sends the golem in. To their surprise, it killed another dozen by itself before getting smashed by the Skeleton King who went for the Warrior as its next target. Leoric slipped a couple hits on the Warrior and Baba perished before Moto could even react! The undead king then turned for the wizard who unleashed a rain of holy bolts toward it. She successfully avenged her friend and revived him with a scroll.
A couple of minutes later, Rotcarnage and his pack of hungry have a feast on Baba's corpse after stun locking him to death. Bad gameplay from the Warrior as there was no excuse for dying. He was starting to get annoyed by these rookie deaths, but shrugged it off and put his game face on.
Enemies: Ghouls, Devil Kins, Skeleton Archers, Blinks
Notable drops: 2 Scrolls of Identify, Book of Healing
Character levels: Baba level 30, Moto level 30
Cathedral 4
The duo had a door to start the stage smoothly. They soon ran into an Eldritch Shrine which was a nice surprise! Baba got to convert over two belts of red potions into yellows. Spineeater's minions were doored while he was stone cursed and slain away from his group. He dropped a Kite Shield that Moto decided to put on for some protection.
Blackash the Burning on the other hand proved to be a much tougher opponent as he turned the Warrior into a pin cushion. Moto cleaned up the undead pack with her holy magic but took a lot of arrow damage doing so. The team finally reached a book room containing a couple of Scrolls of Identify, and due to being very limited on inventory space they decided to use one on Moto's kite shield. The identification brings them an Azure kite shield (+29% LR). The wizard now had maximum resistance against both fire and lightning!
Baba asked his companion for her rings to be able to use his healing spell but unfortunately Moto accidently suicides when she took off the Ring of the Stars. One more resurrect scroll down the drain, but the heroes are staying positive as they bought a lot of scrolls for that reason.
Enemies: Hiddens, Rotting Carcasses, Bone Gashers and Burning Dead Archers
Notable drops: 3 Scrolls of Identify, Scroll of Resurrect, Book of Phasing, Book of Healing, Book of Holy Bolt, Kite Shield [Spineeater]
Character levels: Baba level 30, Moto level 30
Catacombs (Hell Difficulty)
Catacombs 5
There were a lot of doors and the team got to pick the direction they wanted to proceed through. Since only melee enemies were scouted, Baba took the lead and brought packs of demons back to the door setup where Moto was plugging the side of so that the Stalkers couldn't leak in. One of them dropped a Staff of Healing (32) and the players were relieved to see it. Moto put her sword back in its scabbard and left her shield behind along with three potions to carry the new staff. This was a very easy floor overall. Baba got to level 31 for his effort.
Enemies: Stalkers, Stone Clans, Glooms and Overlords
Notable drops: Book of Heal Other, Staff of Healing (32)
Character levels: Baba level 31, Moto level 30
Catacombs 6
The floor was mostly melee enemies and Baba was able to fight them efficiently with solid door setups. On the other hand, the horror archers were very dangerous for the Warrior, so instead of charging them Baba would pull the undeads' attention and let Moto blast them with her holy bolts. Her spell only had a 3 Mana cost he she's able to kill a lot of archers with a single globe.
A battle against a dozen horrors was fatal for Moto who stepped a bit too far into their room. Baba had to save his friend from the remaining five skeletons watching over her body. He charged them but got immediately locked into block stun by the arrows and could barely get a swing off. The lonely Warrior had to drink four of his big potions to survive the fight but managed to get the wizard up.
They encountered the first Stone Clan Archers in the last quadrant and they had to fight about a dozen of them before the dungeon was clear. The team almost refilled on potions thanks to generous chests and enemies.
Enemies: Familiars, Glooms, Overlords, Stone Clan Archers and Horror Archers
Notable drops: Elixir of Vitality, Book of Healing
Character levels: Baba level 31, Moto level 30
Catacombs 7
Baba and Moto were really hoping they don't have to fight Night Clans here as those goat demons were deadly, especially the archers. They went straight for the first door available to prevent enemy flanking and were happy to see a mob of melee opponents on the other side when Baba opened it. The Horned Demons and Acid Beasts were falling rapidly to the Warrior's powerful attacks and he advanced confidently into the dark catacombs. If he had to fight more than one, he would just funnel them through a door to keep it safe.
At one point, Baba pulled about 8 beasts and miss-stepped trying to run to safety and ended up being trapped in a corner. At first, he thought he was going to die right there, but somehow he managed to kill a couple demons and cleared a path to the door with only a single potion used. He also got a resurrect scroll back instead of losing one! Baba finished the stage without breaking a sweat and both heroes still had full inventories of resources.
Enemies: Horned Demons, Mud Men and Acid Beasts
Notable drops: Elixir of Magic, Scroll of Resurrect
Character levels: Baba level 31, Moto level 30
Catacombs 8
The duo had to deal with a pretty bad ambush in a big open room. Four Poison Spitters and two Mud Men came out of the shadows to charge the heroes but Moto was ready and calmly stone curses them repeatedly until Baba kills them all. After fending off the ambush they reached a door, but it got really messy when Baba opened it. About twelve Bloodstones started firing at the Warrior who had to back off a tile to get out of the stun lock. Their fast attacks made it difficult for Baba to even fight back, but the Warrior stood his ground with the wizard keeping him healthy. This was mostly a Warrior floor, so Moto got to stay behind a door for the most part and just supported the Warrior with heals. Chaoshowler and his band were bowed down in a small hallway with just enough room for Baba to stay out of spit range. Baron Sludge and his invisible minions stood no chance against the mighty Warrior, and once both bosses were down the rest of the stage was cleared without any events. After a few bumps in the earlier floors the team was finally pulling it back together and both players were feeling confident. Moto hit a Cryptic Shrine to refill her Mana and the determined pair got ready to enter the perilous caves.
Enemies: Poison Spitters, Mud Men and Bloodstones
Notable drops: Elixir of Magic, Scroll of Resurrect
Character levels: Baba level 31, Moto level 30
Caves (Hell Difficulty)
Caves 9
The most rudimentary fence protected Baba and Moto from getting ambushed by Oozedrool. The Warrior took a few steps into the dungeon and spotted more Poison Spitters along with some Blood Claws. With some patience and careful gameplay using bridges and doors, Baba cruised through the entire floor without using a single potion or requesting the wizard's help once. Some charges were used on the Staff of Healing but that was to be expected against spitters. Altogether the stage was very easy for him and barely took half an hour to clear.
Enemies: Toad Demons, Poison Spitters and Blood Claws
Notable drops: 2 Elixirs of Magic
Character levels: Baba level 31, Moto level 30
Caves 10
Upon entering the dungeon, Baba took exactly two steps east towards a narrow and immediately was spotted by a Storm Rider. It just happened to be the team's worst nightmare. The Flayer and his frenzied demons are right around the first corner! Baba had no choice but to hold position where only two enemies were able to attack him. Moto stone cursed the two storms attacking the Warrior, but a desync happened and on Baba's screen only one of them was turned to stone while the other is still fighting with tenacity. Due to being constantly in block-stun from the double attacks of the demon, Baba took a long time to kill it. Meanwhile, The Flayer and the rest of his minions were getting impatient they started cooking the poor Warrior with a constant lightning beam. He fought bravely for his life, drinking one potion after the other until his entire belt was empty, but eventually falls from being overwhelmed by the merciless monsters.
In Baba's mind, it was all over, no team could survive this kind of ambush on Hell difficulty. It was only a matter of seconds before Moto also got shredded to pieces, but the wizard's final cry never came. With her back against the corner, she started unloading everything she had in an ultimate attempt to push the assault back. Fireballs were flying left and right over Baba's body, hitting and stunning the bigger big chunk of the enemy group who for some reason were still feasting on their meal instead of charging for the lonely Sorceress. All of The Flayer's minions got torched while he just stood on the Warrior's corpse, and when the boss finally realized that Moto was the real threat it was already too late as he got turned into stone and sent back to the fiery abyss! Baba couldn't believe his eyes when he got resurrected and bowed down to the exhausted wizard who shined brilliantly during the team's darkest hour. Sixteen potions were used, but against all odds the adventure got to continue!
The smashed up Warrior proceeded very slowly and he was relieved to find a pen where he and Moto could hide inside of. At one point, when he was running back to safety, Baba lost sight of a pit beast and turned around to find where it went. The sneaky demon was right around the corner ready to catch him on the move, and tore him apart only to run back into the shadows. The beast was nowhere to be found when Moto stepped in to revive her companion. Baba carefully checked every corner of the area, and this time he was ready when the creature jumped on him and got the last word.
That was easily the most brutal dungeon so far, draining a big portion of the team's resources, but they survived and that was what matters.
Enemies: Storm Riders, Toad Demons and Pit Beasts
Notable drops: Ring
Character levels: Baba level 31, Moto level 30
Caves 11
No ambuscade this time and Baba gets to scout two Lava Lords normally. He went back to his corner tactics to minimize the damage taken as much as possible and relied mostly on the staff to refill his health.
A lava lake and the river maze made it hard for the Warrior to fight against ranged attacks and he had another death while trying to retreat from Lava Lords. This time it didn't cost anything other than the resurrect scroll since he died so far away from the sniping demons. Moto stone cursed the rabid dogs across the lava streams so Baba is able to bow them down without missing a shot. Once the lake area was cleared, the dungeon went much more smoothly.
Baba opened a chest with a magic Splint Mail and the team agreed to identify it hoping for a dexterity, magic or all stats booster, but got +18 vitality which was useless for both heroes. One of the Lava Lords felt more generous and dropped a shiny little dagger; the Wizardspike! It was better for Moto than her current weapon because of the Mana bonus and the extra resistances but she still kept her sword for the final floor. The duo celebrated every time they found a potion as they had some catching up to do!
Enemies: Lava Lords, Pit Beasts and Flayed Ones
Notable drops: Wizardspike
Character levels: Baba level 31, Moto level 30
Caves 12
The team spotted a door upon entering the dungeon and slowly moved toward it. Their worst fears quickly became a reality as they were attacked by two Lava Maws and a Maelstorm. These two enemies were the deadliest of the fast attackers and them being combined together was really bad news for the heroes. This was going to be a very long and tiring floor but at least some Flayed Ones were also present which cuts the number of dangerous enemies by a bit.
The strategy was to stone curse every lightning demon unless Baba got the first hit and stun locked it with his trusty King's Sword. It was cheaper to stone curse them because otherwise Baba would get torn apart in long battles and even more Mana would have to be spent healing him. He still had to heal up after every single battle with a staff that was drying out slowly but surely. The Sapphire Amulet of the Wolf was doing wonders against the Maelstorms by reducing their lightning damage to almost nothing. Baba was really happy he kept it.
The dogs covered the ground around the door with acid puddles and three of them proved to be too much for the Warrior. At least Moto had enough space to fight back with her lightnings and was able to get her teammate back up. With 517 Mana at her disposal, she was able to cast nine stone curses per globe, and in the end they cleared the stage of the 42 Maelstorms with more fear than harm. Baba got his last level up of the adventure and decided to put the points into vitality. The worst still had yet to come, but the heroes were glad they would never see one of those boiling lava mazes again.
Enemies: Maelstorms, Lava Maws and Flayed Ones
Notable drops: Amulet
Character levels: Baba level 32, Moto level 30
Hell (Hell Difficulty)
Hell 13
Moto used a Scroll of Infravision, but it didn't matter as the duo was ambushed at the stairs by half a dozen maelstorms. The Sorceress had to stone curse every single one of them. Meanwhile, Baba was forced to drink five of his remaining sixteen potions to barely survive the encounter; what a start!
They decided to identify two rings and one amulet from the caves:
Crimson Ring of the Thieves +30% Fire Resist
Cobalt Ring of the Thieves +50% Lightning Resist
Garnet Amulet +44% Fire Resist
That was a lot of resistance, but as of that moment it didn't help all that much. Baba couldn't give up any of his dexterity rings and had the Sapphire Amulet of the Wolf to cut the lightning damage anyway.
With nowhere to hide, Baba almost put an end to the run by pulling five more Maelstorms at once. Moto desperately distributed stone curses left and right, but the Warrior still died instantly when two of the demons start mauling him. The wizard backed up behind the stairs and prepared to engage the savage monsters. Once again, the fireballs were doing fantastic work against the lightning demons and she came out of the chaotic battle victorious.
Just after getting revived, Baba died again to a mixed group of storms and vipers. Moto rinsed and repeated to save the run once more and got a Staff of Golem as a reward. At this rate, the heroes were starting to feel that the end was near. Every pull was potentially lethal and they still hadn't been able to leave the initial stair room! Twenty-two Maelstorms were slain before the team was finally able to move out. Baba perished three more times to the claws of the Maelstorms while clearing the north quadrant. The players were beginning to accept the fact that the run wouldn't survive to the end, but they continued in search of a glorious death.
All the staircases were located in the south quadrants so that meant there were very few enemies left to kill. Baba hunted a few more vipers in the hallways and all of sudden the floor was completely cleared! Although it was looking grim for the heroes, the future was uncertain, and they still haven't ran out of resources. It was time to see what awaited them on the next floor.
Enemies: Maelstorms and Cave Vipers
Notable drops: Staff of Golem, magic Full Helm
Character levels: Baba level 32, Moto level 30
Hell 14
A Scroll of Infravision revealed some kind of succubus and vipers around the starting zone. Baba engaged the snakes and his defenses were holding strong. The witches were not a problem, because their dumb AI allowed the Warrior to be able to kill them with corner stun lock or simply shoot them down with his bow. After having sent over 300 storm demons back into the abyss, this floor was a blessing and ensured a potion gain for the heroes.
Baba soloed the entire stage like a champion, only requiring help from Moto for Fangskin himself. A glimmering cauldron revealed a Glorious Breast Plate and Blessed Great Helm; junk. The plain staff of healing finally depleted, but the Azure staff was still at full charges with only two more floors to go!
Enemies: Gold Vipers, Fire Drakes and Snow Witches
Notable drops: Ring Mail [Fangskin], magic Breast Plate, Ring
Character levels: Baba level 32, Moto level 30
Hell 15
The team spawned in the north west quadrant, just behind Lazarus' cage. Baba chose to move south and lured two Doom Guards back the staircase that formed a perfect choke point. Only one of them at a time was able to fight the Warrior who came out on top without a scratch. He was able to make his way to the southwest quadrant and clear it entirely before getting stuck in some obstacles trying to dodge Snow Witches' projectiles, and died in the process. Moto, who until now was sitting back at the stairs, had to take on the succubi with a combination of stone curse and fireballs and would from now on stick with the Warrior to keep an eye on him.
The Sorceress took no chance when Baba pulled Bloodlust from the east hall and turned her into stone repeatedly until she was nothing more than a pile dust. She dropped a unique short staff; The Protector. Moto decided to carry it for good measure. They slowly made it to a heavily witch packed northeast quadrant, but there was a very nice setup allowing the mage to pull the succubi's attention safely behind a wall. Baba was then able to step in from the flank and bow down around 30 of them with this strategy.
When they reach Lazarus' room, Black Jade was the first one to come out. Moto stoned her and Baba starts smacking on her, but then an Advocate randomly teleported out to assist the witch and the heroes had to back out. The Warrior nearly died when Jade hit him in the back for over half his health with one hit! She was lured back into the previous quadrant and finished off next to a Fountain of Tears. Red Vex was lured out and killed right outside the room, and once only the archbishop remained Baba gave the countdown before the duo charged inside to give the traitor his final punishment.
Before going down for the final floor, they decided to spend their last identify scrolls on the available items and got the following:
Mail of the Tiger +42 HP
Mail of Sorcery +20 Magic
Amulet of Precision +17 Dexterity
Both heroes were happy to get a small boost before 16. The last two floors helped the potion count a lot, and now Baba had 8 while Moto had 20. The potion count should be sufficient for a clean victory! They still had to be extremely careful with only a single resurrect scroll left, only one mistake was allowed.
Enemies: Doom Guards and Snow Witches
Notable drops: Ring, Amulet, The Protector [Bloodlust], Chain Mail [Black Jade], Short War Bow [Red Vex], Ring Mail [Lazarus]
Character levels: Baba level 32, Moto level 30
Hell 16
Here they are; the final act! This was where everything would culminate. Every decision in the adventure was taken with this specific stage in mind. This was where legends were made and the heroes had everything they needed in order to succeed. They both put their most serious game face on as they spawn in the very middle of the great hallway.
A fireball connected with Baba while wearing the Amulet of Precision and took almost half his health. After getting his beard roasted, he immediately put back the Garnet Amulet on and realized that not having the correct jewelry could cost the run, so he constantly reminded himself to double check. Moto sent Sheldon to break up the group of mages in the north part of the hallway and the golem accomplished his mission beautifully as the Warrior was able to kill them from distance.
The wizard did some quick math and came to the conclusion that she could stone curse every single Advocate on the floor and still have about a belt of potions left for Diablo. Baba got occasional free kills, but for the most part the party didn't risk fighting Advocates toe to toe even with both characters at maximum fire resistance as the fireballs were just too dangerous.
The first Blood Knight encountered was Sir Gorash himself, and with his 4,400 HP it took several stone curses to keep him immobilized while Baba slowly took him down one slash at a time. The outside of cage 2 and 4 were cleared at the cost of two potions for Baba and three for Moto. The staff of golem was highly helpful as Sheldon was constantly on a new mission with Baba supervising his actions and taking advantage of every Advocate that he split from the pack. Every stone curse that didn't land because of desync was a loss of precious Mana. It takes a lot of efforts to clear cage 1 of all enemies and the heroes were down to 6 and 11 potions by the time they entered cage 2.
After clearing all the Blood Knights from the inside, the duo decided to take a little break and let the golem do some work. He was able to trap unlucky mages in corners and keep them in a teleport loop while he got a hits off every now and then. Sheldon took between two and five minutes to kill a single Advocate, but with their unshakable patience, Baba and Moto just let the golem do his thing. Eventually, the untiring stone elemental came out of the cage victorious; what a boss!
The team used the same strategy for the inside of cage 3, but this time Baba got impatient and tried to help the golem... without his fire resist on. He got toasted by three back to back fireballs in the face and the last resurrect scroll was used to get him back up. This was it; no more mistakes allowed! They left Sheldon at his art. Moto successfully parked Diablo once cage 3 was cleared. The team had just enough resources to be able to safely finish cage 4. Once there were no enemies left, the heroes got ready for the final confrontation with the Dark Lord.
Here is their stats before the fight:
Baba: (5 Potions left)
Str 122 HP 277 AC 78
Magic 19 Mana 40 FR 0
Dex 143 To Hit 211% MR 0
Vita 75 Dmg 54-78 LR 0
Spell: Healing 7
Moto: (7 Potions left)
Str 54 HP 103 FR 75
Magic 246 Mana 585 MR 15
Dex 39 LR 15
Vita 29
Spells: Heal Other 6, Healing 2, Lightning 3, Holy Bolt 7, Firebolt 10, Stone Curse 3, Fireball 1, Mana Shield 1, Golem 1, Phasing 2
The lack of Firewall here was absolutely scary, and this was going to be a long and tedious battle against Diablo. Hopefully the low amount of potions would be sufficient. Baba and Moto wish each other the best of luck before heading back inside of cage 2.
The Lord of Terror was ready for them and as soon as Baba turns the corner, he blasted the Warrior with his Apocalypse for over 200 damage. Every hit that slipped by Baba's shield left him with a sliver of health forcing him to drink every time. The minute that followed seemed to last a year and after drinking every potion on his belt, he announced to Moto that he's completely out of juice as she was desperately spamming Holy Bolts to keep the boss stunned. The Sorceress had to seal the deal fast as she would not last long against the fury of the Dark Lord without her companion holding it in place. Baba deflected a few more attacks , and moments later Diablo finally met his doom, overwhelmed by the wizard's holy fire. They had done it! At last, after five days of perilous adventures, hell was conquered by the glorious heroes and evil was cast back into the fiery abyss from whence it came!
Enemies: Advocates and Blood Knights
Author:
Baba
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