Return to TitanQuest

[hoopsguy]

Found the Master Blacksmith in Lower Delphi. Naturally, he does not have a single item (outside of rings and amulets) that I can use. Even with the attributes heading north due to 8 deaths over the last three levels SonOfSquid is not capable of using equipment intended for his level.

There is a bridge that leads to Criasoes Falls. One step closer to Delphi. Lots of Satyrs, Centaurs, and Boars in these parts. There is one very tough Satyr hero, who has a fireball (area) attack and a lot of health. It takes close to ten potions to finish him off. Those guys are tough to identify early in the conflict, as a hero does not look different than other foes until you highlight them. So there is a pretty good chance that the initial part of the conflict involves taking a lot of damage before you figure out what the heck is different. Those 1-2 seconds are very meaningful for the frail SonOfSquid.

[hoopsguy]

Actually, I was wrong on the post above. The heroes will have a star above their head. It still is not something I pick up on every time, but it is there. I realized this when running into a Satyr Brute hero who had the Onslaught skill. This allowed him to get stronger as he hit us, and I think it may also increase attack speed. Either way, the glowing yellow rings around a foe suggest that SonOfSquid should not get in close combat. Retreat, net, and time to get reacquainted with the bow.

There are a new group of Satyrs here, called pillagers. These are archers who shoot flaming arrows. Slowly but surely, it is getting a little more important to address resistances. But it is a hard juggling act when I'm already paying much more attention to health-bonus items than normal. Oh well, one more fun consideration for this particular challenge.

[hoopsguy]

Next is the Delphi Highlands. I'm wondering just how many more "Delphi-territories" we are going to pass through before finally arriving at the town. Satyrs, Boars, and Centaurs continue to be the flavor of the morning until we encounter a hill that is littered with Maenads. They seem easier this time around than the previous encounters, although I have not seen the sorcerers who maul us from afar.

Scratch that, as I die to them again. Two traps from their Rogues just chopped through my health with help from archers. Sigh - stupid death here.

After avenging the death we are met by the guards at the walls of Delphi. Actually, it looks like the Maenad have penetrated the outer wall but the guards have kept the invaders away from the heart of the city. The chief of the guard tells us that the enemy launched a ferocious attack last night. He seems pretty jaded about the whole thing, lamenting that "Apollo did not send down lightning, we warriors have protected the temple".

There are a number of refugees here, people who have fled their villagers hoping that the walls of Delphi could provide shelter. Delphi is an impressive town. In addition to the Oracle, there are all of the main services. Here are the unique aspects of this town:

1.) Storyteller shares legend of the Trojan War
2.) Avenge a man who was killed by a boar-man (side quest)
3.) First instance of a "Mystic", a service that allows you to realign points spent on spells. I do not need to do this quite yet, but it is potentially a pretty helpful service. The cost was listed at 250 GP per point moved.

[hoopsguy]

The Oracle channels Apollo and provides a prophecy. It tells of three foes, including one to the south in sand and another to the East. A hero will emerge to face these foes, then must face their final fear.

The source of the monsters will be revealed when I travel through the Parnassus Caves. On the other side of the caves is the answer I seek.

[hoopsguy]

One last note on the Oracle: as a reward for the offering SonOfSquid was granted a +5% bonus to Electricity. Nice to get some help with the resists.

The Parnassus Foothills are all spiders, all the time. These are pretty manageable with the Herbal Remedy spell. That one is getting very regular use, since there is an accelerated healing rate in addition to the poison resist. It can get challenging to juggle all of the spells (we are not using Takedown much, for example) but Ensnare and Herbal Remedy are constants at this point in the game.

There is a hero spider here, who is a pale comparison of the one that was guarding the olive branch. After defeating him we continue south and find the entrance to the caves.

First up in the caves - Ratmen. There does not seem to be too much difference between these guys and the Satyrs. Archers, close quarters, fighters, and a rogue class that hits harder than the others. They have some poison attacks (similar to spiders) but my initial thought is that these guys should not slow us down. Hopefully I have not just issued the "Maenad jinx". Level 13 arrives at this point.

[hoopsguy]

Health: 618
Energy: 352
Strength: 81
Intelligence: 57
Dexterity: 88

Resist Cold 30, Lightning 5% (+5), all others zero

DPS: 60/19
Combined Armor: 67
Block%/Damage: 8% chance block 36

Health Regen: 1.00
Energy Regen: 1.97

Offensive Ability: 104
Defensive Ability: 104

Greatest Monster Killed: Polyphemus - Cyclops
Monsters Killed: 2328 (+393)
Greatest Damage Dealt: 53
Total Deaths: 12 (+1)
Gold: 196,459 (+42,410)

Equipment:
Deathweaver's Legtip w/Achilles Valor
Tough Garland of Brawn
Pupil's Crude Buckler of Strength
Centaur's Cuirass (damn old item at this point)
Embossed Armbands of Endurance
Light Simple Wraps
Hardy Ring of Agility
Protective Loop of Insight (another one I would like to be able to upgrade at some point)
Protective Necklace of Agility

Very few changes, as I did not apply any points on death and did not get any new equipment. So, I've basically died once per level up to this point in the game. I'm having some problems with the toughest bosses, but otherwise I'm at a point where my equipment is good enough to compensate for the innate weakness of the character.

[hoopsguy]

Death #14 comes quickly, to a new type of Spider. This one was called an overseer and he dropped me in a web and hit very, very hard. The poison resist did not matter much. Going to have to be careful with those guys, and probably start pulling spiders again rather than wading in like I have with them and the Ratmen recently.

Further into the dungeon I run into three hell hounds. There is no way for me to live through that taking it head-on, so I'm casting ensnare while falling back. But I run out of healing potions and have to flat out flee. The hounds chase me most of the way back to Delphi ... that is highly unusual as monsters normally let you off the hook after a short pursuit.

We avenge ourselves on the Hell Hounds, who were waiting around outside the cave, then head into the cave to make short work of the Boarman, thus avenging the widow's husband. But an Overseer again kills us as he webbed us as we fled. He, and four of his pals, ate away at my health until it was gone. The Overseer is not tough on his own, but he has been a real nuisance in groups. Somehow the entangle abilities of the Centaurs have not slowed us down, so I have to assume his entangle holds longer, does more damage, or some combination of the two.

[hoopsguy]

There are more Overseers, which now elicit an immediate "retreat" response. There are also more Hell Hounds and Limos. I have to be pretty cautious with the hell hounds since their breath knocks off basically half the health if I catch it full bore. But the Limos, for whatever reason, do not seem so bad. I think it is a combination of the healing with Herbal Remedy, plus slowing them down with the Ensnare. No matter the reason, they are not nearly as big a threat to SonOfSquid's health as the other monsters mentioned above.

[hoopsguy]

The remainder of the Parnassus caves are not that hard. My uber-cautious approach keeps the death count down. One item that I found is pretty intriguing.

Protective Embosses Armbands of Quickness:
27 Armor (same as current)
12% Fire Resist
+10% Attack Speed (would move my DPS up 5)
I would have to give up 75 health bestowed by my current unit. Ideally, I would like to make up that health before equipping this but I'll keep it around for now.

[hoopsguy]

Not much action in the Parnassus Hinterlands, the first region outside of the caves. Just a few Maenads, although there is a new one called an Alchemist that throws poison bombs and shoots electricity. From there, we find the Parnassus portal (designated teleport spot, this is the 4th of 7 in Greece) and there is a Satyr who acts as a trader by the portal. Just like most of the others selling goods, I cannot use most of his wares.

I'm now finding more green items. The cap for sales at this point in the game is 10K. Now, since I'm cheap and operating under a fairly tight set of budgetary restrictions, I do not like selling items that hit the cap. Those items are going into my storage area so I can sell them later in the game for full value.

[hoopsguy]

Actually, the Parnassus Hinterlands are a lot bigger than I thought. There are quite a few Satyr camps on the part that is across the bridge from the first area.

There is a "vast war camp here - for an army of monsters!" Well, I do see that the Satyr camps are piled right on top of each other and there are a ton of them. But we still do not have much in the way of info on what is driving these monsters to attack the cities.

And death comes at the hands of Satyrs. Ugh - two Brutes plus a shaman in the back. But that was maybe the worst one of the game. No way those guys should be killing me. I had plenty of room to keep running and just got a little too aggressive.

[hoopsguy]

I'm going to take a tweak here even though I really do not feel like I need it much for this portion of the game. But I'm dying, so I still should take some help to stay consistent with the ruleset I established. Plus I bypassed points on my last two deaths before this one. I'm due. I add one point to DEX, which translates into four points on the attribute. Perhaps this will help me find a better spear. I'm pretty sure I'm going to want to use Takedown again sometime in the near future.

[hoopsguy]

Got stuck on a corner, again killed by a pair of Satyrs. This is getting really annoying. It is messing up my stats

Edit - hmm, game crashed on me just after the death? I wonder if I got stuck (could not tell where I was stuck) or if the game was just locking up? Either way, I'm guessing I'm stuck with another death.

[hoopsguy]

Health: 618
Energy: 352
Strength: 81
Intelligence: 57
Dexterity: 92 (+4)

Resist Cold 30, Lightning 5% (+5), all others zero

DPS: 60/19
Combined Armor: 67
Block%/Damage: 8% chance block 36

Health Regen: 1.00
Energy Regen: 1.97

Offensive Ability: 108 (+4)
Defensive Ability: 108 (+4)

Greatest Monster Killed: Polyphemus - Cyclops
Monsters Killed: 2729 (+401)
Greatest Damage Dealt: 53
Total Deaths: 16 (+4) - very poor level, all in all. None of the deaths was a "good" death, as in to something I should not defeat 95% of the time
Gold: 240,845 (+44,384)

Equipment:
Deathweaver's Legtip w/Achilles Valor
Tough Garland of Brawn
Pupil's Crude Buckler of Strength
Centaur's Cuirass (damn old item at this point)
Embossed Armbands of Endurance
Light Simple Wraps
Hardy Ring of Agility
Protective Loop of Insight (another one I would like to be able to upgrade at some point)
Protective Necklace of Agility

[hoopsguy]

OK, this is really, really disappointing. I cannot find this character when I loaded up just now. I've never had this happen before with any of my games.

Sigh - I'm going to see if I can get another character up to this point in the game following the same rules and then I'll continue this. SquidIII is now in progress.

[hoopsguy]

False alarm. Apparently Immortal Throne does not install over the top of Titan Quest, but is instead a separate install. I had clicked on the TQ loader, not the IT loader. Oh well, I have a couple of hours (and nearly 8 levels) sunk into SquidIII but this is not his dynasty as long as SonOfSquid is still around and kicking.

[hoopsguy]

Lower war camp - that is the name of the next region. I'm mildly concerned that this implies a number of additional war camps with different directional names.

My god, there are a TON of Satyrs. And they have some new friends in Boarmen, who look like larger versions of the Brute Satyrs. The Boarmen have an earthquake attack, although it does not seem to have much impact on SonOfSquid.

To the south is a pocket of undead. Nothing new here, just a bunch of skeletons, zombies, and liches throwing cold and fire.

Finally, after pushing through the last batch of Satyrs and their allies, there are a set of ruins. And we rescue a man who warns us about the upcoming foe: a creature who can turn you to stone. Hmm, that narrows down the options quite a bit, eh?

It is worth noting that the intro cut-scene to Titan Quest features a creature that looks an awful lot like a medusa.

[hoopsguy]

The ruins are the Upper War Camp, and ruins = undead.

Upper War Camp starts with Undead and shifts to Rat Men. Two groups that SonOfSquid has fared pretty well against and in the early rounds there is no change to that assessment. There is also a new weapon that will be equipped.

Hunters Short Bow of Proficiency:
11-20 Damage, 25% Piercing, Very Slow
+22 Offensive Ability
+1 to all skill (Hunting)

We lose out on some health and 2 DPS, but this is a pretty significant jump for skills. I will want to have this and eventually find something to slot it with to do more damage or provide some extra benefit.

Speaking of slotting items, I finished another relic. This one will likely never be used. In fact, it may be the most useless one in the game.

Essence of Golden Fleece:
Can only slot torso armor
-15% Energy Cost
+90 Energy (completion bonus)

[hoopsguy]

There are a collection of statues outside of a foreboding entrance. I delay my entrance until clearing out each and every Ratman in the camp, but eventually it is time to go face the next big challenge. I'll start with about 50 potions for this encounter and see if it is enough.

[hoopsguy]

And SonOfSquid is finally victorious (without a death first) against a main foe. There are a trio of Gorgon Queens in the chamber; the leader is named Medusa and has an attack that paralyzes for a few seconds. There was a lot of running around and imbibing potions, but the guts of the fight were sustained runs of close-combat. Medusa was the last to fall and there are a slew of chests to open.

There is a woman named Feiyan that we rescue. She is very annoyed with herself for falling to the Gorgons. Apparently she comes from the far east, where she begun tracking a great sorcerer called a Telkine. It sounds like the Telkine is responsible for assembling this army, although he is no longer here. The Telkine's armies have marched on Athens. Feiyan tells me that if I want to slay the Telkine I had better find it before she does. She marches off. Well, I guess this starts to explain what has been going on here in Greece ...

[hoopsguy]

I've continued to accrue 10,000+ items, so it is time to purchase some additional storage for the Caravan. The cost to do this is 10,000, and I think I'm now up to 5 items that are priced at that level. This purchase will quickly pay for itself once the cap is moved up at stores.

Level 15 arrives, and for the first time in quite awhile there are no deaths while achieving the level.

Health: 618
Energy: 352
Strength: 81
Intelligence: 57
Dexterity: 92

Resist Cold 30, Lightning 5%, all others zero

DPS: 60/17 (-2)
Combined Armor: 67
Block%/Damage: 8% chance block 36

Health Regen: 1.00
Energy Regen: 1.97

Offensive Ability: 108
Defensive Ability: 108

Greatest Monster Killed: Polyphemus - Cyclops
Monsters Killed: 3289 (+560)
Greatest Damage Dealt: 53
Total Deaths: 16
Gold: 300,920 (60,075)

Equipment:
Deathweaver's Legtip w/Achilles Valor
Tough Garland of Brawn
Pupil's Crude Buckler of Strength
Centaur's Cuirass (damn old item at this point)
Embossed Armbands of Endurance
Light Simple Wraps
Hardy Ring of Agility
Protective Loop of Insight (another one I would like to be able to upgrade at some point)
Protective Necklace of Agility

I've got several items that I would like to work into the mix, but I'm stuck because I need the attribute bonuses that are associated with current weapons. Particularly the +12 with my shield.

[gi]

The 15% energy cost reduction helps for pure caster. I've used it before to great effect since at some points you can run out of energy faster than the recharge for potion taking.

[hoopsguy]

Originally Posted by gi

The 15% energy cost reduction helps for pure caster. I've used it before to great effect since at some points you can run out of energy faster than the recharge for potion taking.

Is that really something that you want to slot in Torso Armor, even for a pure caster? Particularly at lower levels, they need to have some kind of protection and torso is the target of 40-60% of attacks (forgetting the exact number). I would expect that even pure casters would be hoping for some kind of defensive/protection relic for slotting.

I would not sneer at this item quite so much if you had a little more flexibility in slotting it. But limiting it to "Torso" only seems pretty restrictive ... it is was "all armor" I would probably feel differently.

[gi]

It was all I had at the time Plus it was also multiplayer, you can specialize

[hoopsguy]

There are a few remaining Gorgons between us and the exit to the building. We emerge in the Athenian Passageway, which has a lone merchant and a lot of Centaurs.

Another double Huntress/Maenad death. It is hard to run from them when you are in the middle of the battle and they are shooting at you along with a pair of traps. In this case I didn't get the last healing potion down quickly enough. Meh.

I put another point into the Hunting mastery, in order to have a little more health and 2 more points of STR + DEX.

In addition to Maenad's, there are Centaurs and Boars in this area. This is an area where I have had problems in the past. For whatever reason, the combination of Centaurs + Maenad in a group has been very successful at damaging my previous characters. But it did not seem as much of an issue this time, since SonOfSquid has such a defensive playstyle by default. There are relatively few times that I just wade into battle and find myself stuck, which is usually the problem with these encounters. The Centaurs use their green aura power, which seems to translate into increased damage on attacks on me, setting up the Maenad nicely. But they never get numbers and this is not a problem.

[hoopsguy]

Kephisos Valley - more of the same from the previous region. However, there is one unique challenge here. Some Spartans have trapped a Giant Limos, but do not have the werewithal to finish him off. Hmm, I'll clear the rest of the area out first and come back to this.

I do find a pretty cool item here, but it is not something that I can use.

Oracle's Leggings:
30 Armor
12% Pierce Resist
+24% Lightning Damage
+32% Energy Resist
+11% Movement
Set: Oracle's Garments (4 items)
Requirements: 104 INT (10% reduction)

Set items - much like relics, although having every extra item in the set provides a cumulative bonus. They are nearly impossible to assemble with a single character. The usual route to compiling all the pieces is to trade in multi-player, or save them across alts in single player. I'll stash this one in my caravan (multi-player section) for another alt, who I'll make sure has a lightning staff equipped to maximize this item at an early level.

[hoopsguy]

The Limos battle is a side quest, so the rules of the dynasty are that I have to undertake the encounter. This is bad news, because this Limos has a ton of health and I have to fight him in an enclosed space. I could try to run around and throw the net on him, but he is going to recover health quickly when he steals it from me. That also negates some of the advantage in using Takedown to swipe 8% of his health at a time. Nonetheless, I think that is still the approach I'm going to need to take, so the Deathweaver's Legtip goes by the side. Oh, and I'll need plenty of potions.

Nothing doing - I'm not making a meaningful long-term dent in the health of the Limos. Time to look for other adventure and come back to him shortly, hopefully with better gear or a new trick or two up my sleeve. But I do not want to leave him too far in the rearview mirror. I'll finish him before entering Athens.

[hoopsguy]

There is another major encampment to the north of the Limos. We fight our way through Satyrs, Centaurs, Boarmen, and a few scattered Maenads. To the west of that is an Athenian cementary that is full of all kinds of undead. SonOfSquid plows through this as well, hunting for something that will provide an edge against the overpowered Limos.

But nothing arrives. I was hoping for some killer item, or maybe finishing a relic that would help. One option that would be exceptionally useful against the Limos is some kind of energy leech attack. If I could get him so that he was unable to launch his health stealing attack then this encounter would be pretty brief. But I have nothing of the sort in the inventory.

I've also been actively looking at shops for items. I'm up to about 35K that I can spend on an item, and I'm a motivated buyer. That should get me most yellow items, but is not going to get me green items since they normally list anywhere from 50-125K.

[hoopsguy]

Death at the hand of a Satyr champion. I did not even get a chance to identify what he did, other than hurt me very badly along with the rest of his crew of Satyr magi. I felt good about charging a couple of magi, but saw the star over the heroes head too late.

There have been a slew of Champions recently. I've probably taken out 4-5 of them over the last 2-3 regions. Among them were a Snapping Turtle, Undead, a couple of Satyrs, and now this one who handed us death #18. I'm going to invest a point in STR to see if I can create a little more flexibility with items in my inventory.

[hoopsguy]

Busy, busy, busy. Three developments while gearing up for the Limos and approaching Athens.

1.) Completed the Boars hide, which required five fragments. This item can be slotted on any armor and provides +14 Armor. It immediately goes into the leggings, which is the item providing the -10% Requirements. I've had a number of options to pick up better armor, but the 10% Requirements is very necessary. So I now have 24 Armor instead of 10 Armor covering the legs.

2.) Found a blue item, a shield called the Labrynthine Shield:
10% chance to block 78 damage
13% Pierce Resist
+19% Damage
+52 Health
Part of Labyrinthine Warsuit (5 pieces)
Requirements: STR 104 (116/-10%)

I'm not going to be able to use this for awhile, especially since +12 STR is coming from my current shield.

3.) Level 16


Health: 718 (+100)
Energy: 352
Strength: 81
Intelligence: 57
Dexterity: 94 (+2)

Resist Fire 20 (+20), Cold 30, Elec 5, Poison 9 (+9), all others zero

DPS: 65/17 (+5/0)
Combined Armor: 95 (+28)
Block%/Damage: 8% chance block 36

Health Regen: 1.00
Energy Regen: 1.77 (-.20)

Offensive Ability: 110 (+2)
Defensive Ability: 94 (-14)

Greatest Monster Killed: Gorgon Queen - Medusa
Monsters Killed: 3893 (+604)
Greatest Damage Dealt: 53
Total Deaths: 18 (+2)
Gold: 366,413 (+65,493)

Equipment:
Deathweaver's Legtip w/Achilles (have not found anything close)
Arachnos Helmet *
Pupil's crude Buckler of Strength
Centaur Cuirass * (same type of armor, different bonuses)
Protective Emobssed Armbands of Quickness *
Light Simple Wraps w/Boars Hide * (slotted Boars Hide)
Hardy Ring of Agility
Protective Loop of Insight
Protective Necklace of Agility

* - denotes new/changed item from last level

Getting the +6 of STR from Hunting Mastery + STR add on deaths allowed me to swap out my old helm with had a +6 modifier and bring in some other equipment. The net result is much better armor and resistances, while sacrificing a smidge of defensive ability.

[hoopsguy]

Back to the Limos - and dead fast. His poison slowed me and then he hit me a couple of times while I was figuratively walking in quicksand.

OK, not sure what to buff up here, but I need something to fight this guy. If I cannot beat the Limos then there are a couple of others later who are going to be problems as well. I try putting another point into Ensnare, but know that this is not a good long-term strategy for boss monsters, since many of them are not impacted by Ensnare.

Dead again - he slurps up too much health for me. I'm just not good enough to stand toe to toe with him. Fighting from range is hard in the enclose space, and he is throwing poison all over the place, which slows me down further even with 38% resist (have Herbal Remedy granting +30%). This is the first foe where I have not really had a plan on how to beat him.

[hoopsguy]

3rd time is the charm, as I learn that the Limos is not getting as much health back each time as I thought. I had put another point (translates into 4) into STR but I do not think that made all that much of a difference. Same equipment, largely same approach, but I seemed to be able to hang in there a little longer, get to the healing potions a little faster, and basically do what needed to be done to win the fight.

[hoopsguy]

Leonidas is here, outside of Athens. Hmm, a Spartan general at Athens? He tells us that Sparta has realized they need to align with the other Greeks to drive off these forces. They just waged battle against the enemy and the Telkine departed in the middle of the battle, which allowed the Greeks to emerge triumphant. Leonidas has heard tales of skirmishes within the city and asks us to investigate.

After dispatching some undead in the city walls, we meet a panicked man who tells us about the Order of Prometheus. It seems that they have a stronghold in Athens and their leader is trapped within the catacombs of that building. He asks us to rescue his leader, lest the "rest of the world suffer the same fate". Hmm, sounds dire.

The town has every shop out there. The storyteller shares a tale of how a young Hermes took cattle from Apollo in order to create the first lyre.

The Order of Prometheus is based out of the Parthenon. There are two waves of defenders outside the building. The first is Ratmen, who fall under assault from the town guard, supplemented by SonOfSquid. The second is gorgons; the town guard does not take participate in these battles. Onto the first level of the catacombs.

[hoopsguy]

The second level of the Parthenon reveals a couple of goodies:
1.) A second arcane recipe - unfortunately, it is a duplicate of the "Deathrattle" we found back at Sparta
2.) Our future spear - just need to bone up on DEX to be able to equip this and have something that will give the Deathweaver's Legtip a run for its money. It is a unique item names Shadowstring:
30-46 Damage, 50% Pierce (!!!), Very Slow
16 Energy Leech/sec
6-10 Vitality Damage
14% Life Leech Resist
+10 DEX
+12 Offensive Ability
Req: DEX 104 (116/-10%)

I do not think that I've discussed Piercing damage yet. The way damage is calculated in TQ is pretty complex. Basically, each piece of armor has a rating. The sum of these numbers is the "Combined Armor" rating I've listed in the level reports. Anyway, armor absorbs 66% of non-special damage (Fire, Cold, the stuff listed in resists) up to 2x the armor rating. So if someone has a chest armor rated 50, then it would absorb up to 0.66 * (50*2) = 66 points of damage. If an attack does 39 points of damage, the armor would absorb 26 points, allowing 13 points of damage to be sustained by the character.

Piercing damage completely bypasses armor. It is subject to the "Piercing Resist" resistance, but armor does not impact it. So, this weapon does 30-46 damage. In the example above, if 39 points of damage were delivered then the armor would absorb 26 points. However, in this case the 39 points of damage are split 50/50 between Pierce and "Normal" damage. So 20 points of damage goes immediately through (subject to Pierce Resist) and 19 * .33 is also applied. This weapon would deliver 26 points of damage instead of 13 points of damage. This adds up quickly when the weapon is swung repeatedly at a foe.

Edit - forgot to note that SonOfSquid is now the proud owner of a Scroll of Arcane power, purchased for 15,000. That is the 2nd of three components for the Deathrattle.

[hoopsguy]

There are a total of five levels of catacombs, filled with undead and a smattering of demons + bats. We do see one new monster, a large undead called a Fire Revenant. I was not able to discern anything special about them, other than they took a few more hits than the average undead and (I assume) they had a close-range fire-based attack.

At the conclusion of the fifth level there is a closed door marking a "big encounter". Time to get as many potions as necessary ...

[hoopsguy]

Just before the mystery big encounter, I find a couple of interesting items in the inventory.

Protective Ring of Strength:
9% Cold Resistance
+13 Strength

I had almost purchased a ring recently that gave +12 Strength. I wanted to do this in order to swap out my shield with the +12 Strength bonus, allowing me to look at new weapons. To do this, I would need to remove my current ring giving +7 INT, which would create some other issues. The solution to this is to apply one point of INT on my next death, then pull the trigger on these changes.

Archimedes Mirror (completed relic):
Slots with shields
9% chance of 50% Damage Reflected
+95 Health

It is not a great relic, but it is something that I'll definitely use. I've got a pair of so-so relics specifically for shields. I've also picked up a spare "Valor of Achilles", which is very good for weapons. The potential successor to the Deathweaver's Wingtip will probably be slotted with this item.

OK, back to the big bad guy looming in the lowest level of the Parthenon.

[hoopsguy]

Alastor is the guys name, he fires all kinds of elemental attacks (primarily cold, but multiple types) and summons in a bunch of undead who fire energy attacks as well. Every time the undead are killed he brings in a fresh batch. My initial strategy is completely ineffective and I burn through a number of potions along the way. New strategy - potion going in to attack him, hang there for 1-5 seconds, retreat, heal. Need a lot of potions for this. I really wish I had a better spear so I could better leverage Takedown, but the remaining attacks are so weak by comparison that I just cannot do it.

Portal back to town, load up on 85 potions (had 50 for initial battle) and attempt #2 . Result - needed 90-95, but he is hanging by a thread and did not heal between teleports last time. That is unusual, most of the bosses are fully healed when you return from teleporting.

Attempt #3 - pretty short and sweet.

Upon defeating Alastor a door opens and we meet Phaedrus, the leader of the Order of Prometheus. He tells us the following:
1.) The Telkine is a minor Titan. The Titans are the precursors to the gods
2.) The Telkine is headed to Knossos to destroy an artifact that allows humans to communicate with the godly realm. We are supposed to stop him
3.) There is a boat waiting for me. I should meet an agent of the Order of Prometheus at the docks to depart for Knossos immediately

[hoopsguy]

Remember Feiyan, the woman who we rescued from the Gorgons? She is the Prometheus agent I'm meeting at the docks and she is unhappy that I'm being sent after the Telkine instead of her. She "supposes she wishes me luck ... one way or another (she) will see the Telkine dead". While I'm doing the heavy lifting around here, she is being sent on an errand to the east.

Off to Knossos. This is the last city we will visit in Greece.

[hoopsguy]

The lands outside of Knossos, both Heraklion Heights and Omphalion are filled with Maenad, with one notable exception - a Minotaur. Overall, the Minotaur seems cut from the same cloth as the Boarmen we have faced. He has a fast charge attack with his axe, but did not seem to be a big threat. Now if there were a whole group of them, that might be a little different ...

Triton's Ridge is the next region. I've been assigned a pair of side quests here and I'm hoping to stumble across one of them soon, if not make it to the home of the Telkine.

There are a new type of Maenad here that have a hard hitting attack and seems to be tough to pick up (translucent?) - will have to record the name next time I see them.

Level 17 also arrives.
Health: 718
Energy: 352
Strength: 85
Intelligence: 57
Dexterity: 94

Resist Fire 19 (-1), Cold 30, Elec 5, Poison 9, all others zero

DPS: 65/17
Combined Armor: 95
Block%/Damage: 8% chance block 36

Health Regen: 1.00
Energy Regen: 1.77

Offensive Ability: 110
Defensive Ability: 94

Greatest Monster Killed: Alastor - Scoure og Archeron
Monsters Killed: 4421 (+528) - less kills than jump from 15 to 16, maybe because of more special foes?
Greatest Damage Dealt: 60 (+7) - guess this is byproduct of getting a critical hit somewhere with improved DPS from last level? Not sure
Total Deaths: 20 (+2)
Gold: 464,915 (98,580)

Equipment:
Deathweaver's Legtip w/Achilles (have not found anything close)
Arachnos Helmet
Pupil's crude Buckler of Strength
Centaur Cuirass
Protective Emobssed Armbands of Quickness
Light Simple Wraps w/Boars Hide
Hardy Ring of Agility
Protective Loop of Insight
Protective Necklace of Agility

[hoopsguy]

Side quest - Xanthippus, the official healer of Knossos, is up in the mountains in Triton's Ridge and has not returned since the arrival of the Telkine. The people have been concerned about his welfare, but afraid to locate him because of all of the monsters. Well, I've found him. And he tells us that he cannot help the village without his staff, which is in the cave behind him guarded by spiders.

Good news - we get the staff back. Bad news - webbed by Overseer and death #21. God, I really hate those frigging spiders. I got cocky while fighting powered up by the Battle Marker and paid the price.

Xanthippus seems happy to have his staff back, but less than enthused about returning to the villager. Oh well, not my issue. I've got a Telkine to loot.

I put a point into INT, swap rings (out with INT + Cold, in with STR + Cold) and bring a new shield into the mix. Oh, and I can now use Shadowstring, which brings the DPS rating up 1 and allows me to use Takedown since it is a spear. It has been a really good run for the Deathweaver's Legtip, but I'm now moving on. So with all of these equipment changes the next level report will have some pretty major shifts compared to most of them recently.

[hoopsguy]

We find an ancient tomb, which should be the home for our second side quest - the Undead Tyrant. Inside the tomb is an item that looks pretty darn good, but is not usable just yet.

Veteran's Double Axe of Strength:
23-31 Damage w/Average Speed
+15% Damage
+12 STR
+16% Offensive Ability
+18% Attack Speed
Req: 103 STR (127, -19% Req Reduction)
This is also a rare item, which means it could be slotted. I'm pretty sure that this will do more damage inherently than our spear, but it would probably be close when factoring in the Pierce. But with the right slotted item, this would be a beast. Probably at least 3-4 levels away from being able to use this, but it will be stashed in the caravan.

The Undead Tyrant has a couple of tricks up his sleeve. Lots of health, the warfare ability to deal extra damage (yellow circle under him) for spurts, and a quick charge attack. But SonOfSquid is prepared for these battles like never before. Having both Ensnare and Takedown means that I'm able to maintain distance, only closing when I feel like it. I suspect this will be a common formula for tough foes that are not so large that Ensnare is useless. The Tyrant is worth a whopping 6,000 experience points, or about 4x that of most "hero" creatures.

[hoopsguy]

Kairatos Bluff - there are Maenads and a few more Minotaur here. After wading through them we encounter a merchant in the woods. We are close to the endgame, I can feel it.

Sure enough, Knossos Palace is right here. The grounds are very large and well covered by a mixed bag of creatures: undead, hell hounds, bats, and a new foe. Automatai, or animated bronze sets of armor. There are two classes, with the Champions being the ones with more hit points and that hit harder.

After clearing the grounds, SonOfSquid descends into the Minoan Labryrinth. Hmm, wonder what kind of creatures we will find in here?

[hoopsguy]

The Labyrinth is massive. I'll mark my progress by save/progress points. Shortly after hitting the second point I hit Level 18.

There is a ton of new equipment listed here, but only one that I've obtained recently - the Robust Ring:
+14% STR
+8% Health
Net is that I lose 4 points of Strength, but I'll pick it up in the long run with a pair of rings that combine for something like 25% increase in STR.

Health: 795 (+77)
Energy: 300 (-52)
Strength: 81 (-4)
Intelligence: 65 (+8)
Dexterity: 104 (+10)

Resist Fire 19, Cold 17 (-13), Elec 19 (+14), Poison 0 (-9), Pierce 0, Bleed 0, Vitality 14 (+14), Energy 19 (+19) Stun 30 (+30), Disrupt 0

Note - I've added an item (Gorgons Crown) that helps with some of the secondary resists. I'm concerned with getting stunned by some of these Minotaurs later in this, enough that I'm swapping out a number of primary resists to do this.

DPS: 65/20 (0/+3)
Combined Armor: 99 (+4)
Block%/Damage: 9% chance block 57 (+1%/21)

Health Regen: 2.00 (+1.00)
Energy Regen: 1.85 (+0.08)

Offensive Ability: 116 (+6)
Defensive Ability: 114 (+20)

Greatest Monster Killed: Alastor - Scoure og Archeron
Monsters Killed: 5017 (+596)
Greatest Damage Dealt: 97 (+37) - big jump, Takedown w/spear for the win
Total Deaths: 21 (+1)
Gold: 555,358 (90,443)

Equipment:
Shadowstring *
Gorgon Crown *
Light Reinforeced Buckler of Reasoning w/Archimedes Mirror *
Centaur Cuirass
Protective Emobssed Armbands of Quickness
Light Simple Wraps w/Boars Hide
Hardy Ring of Agility
Robust Ring *
Protective Necklace of Agility

[hoopsguy]

Hit the 4th save point in the Labyrinth and still going strong. There was one new minotaur that had the yellow circle ability, but it was easy enough to deal with him ... just followed the Undead Tyrant playbook while taking out the other two regular minotaurs along with him. I've also seen the area on the map where the (assumed) Telkine is at, but the maze makes it tough to take a direct route.

Another save point, and I'm swimming in Minotaurs at this point. There is both a bat hero and a minotaur hero to defeat here, but I've found the doorway. Destiny awaits ... well, it does as soon as I load up with about 80 potions.

[hoopsguy]

It is not a Telkine, but instead a really, really big minotaur. He has a huge amount of health, the hyper-attack yellow circle ability (need to look up the name of this), and four freeze traps that fire around the room. I can't take out the traps because I'm running from him. So I'm having to dodge them and deal with him at the same time. I went through about 25 potions while knocking his health down to maybe 70%. This is going to be tough.

Hmm, I may find myself spending a couple of points/deaths on this guy. What to do next? Ensnare does not work on him (giant monster), so maybe more damage on Takedown? That seems like the best bet, so that gets the point this time around.

Attempt #2 - misclick very early in fight. Only good thing I got done was taking out one of the traps. I add points to DEX, hoping for more flexibility with my character later on as right now I'm having some issues with high DEX requirements. That, coupled with having a -10% requirements on my shield, makes for some ineligible equipment when I switch to my lousy bow.

Attempt #3 - I quickly take out the 2nd bottom trap (the four are configured in a square) and manage to take out a 3rd as well. I also learn that Ensnare does briefly hold him, but he isn't held long. Still, this is pretty big news. I mix Ensnare + Takedown, along with having more room to run in the room, and parlay it into a triumph over the Minotaur with about 15 potions to spare. Whew - that was hard, although I should have been able to do it with just one death.

OK, so where is the Telkine???

[hoopsguy]

The majestic chest in this room reveals a very cool item, one that my other character (who is somewhere around Level 31 or 32) will thank me for transferring.

Obsidian Bracers:
54 Armor
2% Damage Resist
13% Lightning Resist
+13 STR
+15% Offensive Ability
+11% Attack Speed
Set: Obsidian Armor (5 pieces)
Requirements: Strength 132 (163/-19%)

The Telkine is close, just past this chamber.

[hoopsguy]

Well, I guess wiping the floor with the Telkine makes up for the extra death against the Minotaur. The Telkine is in an area called the Room of the Conduit. When we arrive the Telkine throws up a wall of fire that is impenetrable and then animates four large statues to attack us. They have considerably more hit points than the Automatai we fought earlier, but no new attacks of note. After dispatching the first of the statues the Telkine joined the battle, throwing bolts at us, as well as summoning in 2 Limos from time to time. The only really tricky part was when there were multiple statues, Limos, and the Telkine to juggle. That was navigated by retreating to a point where only the Limos would pursue.

Upon killing a Telkine a large orb appears. Touching it releases a slew of items. It is like a Christmas stocking. However, I must have not been very good as my stocking did not contain a single green item, blue item, relic shard, or artifact recipe. This is really poor luck, based on past experience.

There is an agent of Prometheus here who cannot believe that a mortal defeated the Telkine. If he really wanted to be impressed, he should have checked out the Minotaur Lord. But I digress. He tells me that the Telkine did succeed in taking out the Conduit, which is the instrument used to allow mortals to talk with the Gods. He fears that we are cut off from them in our time of need.

The solution? Go to Egypt, meet with a man named Imhotep. Imhotep knows more about the conduit than anyone else in the world. He may be able to address this problem. There is a ship waiting for me.

[hoopsguy]

Final wrap-up for Greece:

Level: 18
Health: 787 (-8)
Energy: 300
Strength: 81
Intelligence: 65
Dexterity: 108 (+4)

Resist Fire 24 (+5), Cold 29 (+12), Elec 31 (+12), Poison 0, Pierce 0, Bleed 0, Vitality 39 (+25), Energy 39 (+20) Stun 114 (+84), Disrupt 0

Got huge jumps here from Gorgon Sash and the Demons Blood relic that was slotted in a ring.

DPS: 70/20 (+5/0)
Combined Armor: 109 (+10)
Block%/Damage: 9% chance block 57

Health Regen: 4.00 (+2.00)
Energy Regen: 1.85

Offensive Ability: 120 (+4)
Defensive Ability: 118 (+4)

Greatest Monster Killed: Megalesios - Telkine
Monsters Killed: 5311 (+304)
Greatest Damage Dealt: 134 (+37) - another big jump, Takedown w/spear for the win
Total Deaths: 23 (+2)
Gold: 595,105 (+39,747)

Equipment:
Shadowstring
Gorgon Crown
Light Reinforeced Buckler of Reasoning w/Archimedes Mirror
Gorgon Sash *
Protective Emobssed Armbands of Quickness
Light Simple Wraps w/Boars Hide
Hardy Ring of Agility
Robust Ring w/Demons Blood * (added relic)
Protective Necklace of Agility

Other Stats:
Completed 9 relics
Found one artifact recipe (2 copies)
Points not spent
- 28 Attribute Points
- 41 Spell Points
Purchased Items: recover Valor of Achilles relic, purchase additional Caravan space, purchase Scroll of Arcane Power (component for Deathrattle artifact)

[hoopsguy]

I wanted to take care of one bit of business in Egypt before calling it a night: selling off the 10K+ goods I did not intend to use. I hit the caravan and found four of them. The first three all listed from 12-14K. However, the fourth one (an Amulet) was capped at 25K. Which means that it is going back in storage for now. Considering amulets only take up one slot, I'm happy to leave it there for a full payout later in the game.

My Caravan (just the SonOfSquid part) is about 50% full. I've got one more opportunity to expand the space, but it will cost 500,000. Which, based on my ruleset, means that I'll need to have 5,000,000 on hand to pull the trigger.

[gi]

Very poor luck on the orb. I've never seen that. Good luck in Egypt!