Titan Quest dynasty - slow ride through "Legendary" play

[hoopsguy]

The Formicids seem a fair amount easier than what I've been facing earlier in the evening. They don't have too many hit points and don't hit that hard, although they do try to mob us. But we push them aside, with the only real challenge coming from their queen. She fires electricity and stands up to a lot of abuse before falling to our attack and yielding the quest item.

We have our new leggings - close enough to the current item with real protection included.

Priestess's Leggings:
52 Armor (upgrade of 20 without moving artifact)
18% Elemental Resistance (-3%)
+15% Elemental Damage (-3%)
+20% Energy Regeneration (-1%)
12% Movement (-6%)
-9% Reduction to all Requirements

Once we slot this with something nice I'll feel much better about our overall armor even though it involves a series of small give-backs. 4 points of DPS for 21 points of armor (yes, more complex than that) seems like a decent trade.

Top sale value here appears to be 60K.

[hoopsguy]

Level 34 arrives, and not a moment too soon.

Spells - two points into dream mastery and one point into my wolves. If I'm going to keep the pets around I feel like I'll need to commit to them in terms of health/energy/attack. Because right now they are getting slapped around.

Attributes - one to strength, one to intelligence.

Health: 2450
Energy: 979
Strength: 191
Intelligence: 324
Dexterity: 170

Resistances: Fire 18, Cold 45, Electricity 42, Poision 41, Piercing 0 (would like to address this), Energy 35

DPS: 322
Combined Armor: 258

Health Regeneration: 2.32
Energy Regeneration: 8.95
Offensive Ability: 200
Defensive Ability: 212
Cast Speed: 110
Run Speed: 122

Total Deaths: 28
Gold: 2,161,582

Best Item: Grim Orb Staff of Rime w/Valor of Achilles
Worst Item: Amber Flask (relative to other artifacts this is pretty lousy)

[hoopsguy]

As we emerge from the formicid hole we come across a group of pseudo-centaurs called Lamia. They move quickly in very narrow confines, which makes retreating a bit of a challenge. But they are not that physically overpowering so slugging down potions seems like a reasonable plan of attack. The Anteoks that travel with them are a little more of a problem when it becomes a hand-to-hand battle.

We find a recessed chamber called the Great Hall of Propontis back in the swamps. We are successful taking down the first hero here but learn - much to our dismay - that there is a second one back behind him as he fries us with his lightning strikes. He has a number of spiders and undead with him and it requires some patience to work through all of them so we can bring the attack against him without distractions. All in all, lots of loot in here and we stack up pretty well against the undead.

Further back in the swamps we find the tree that is one of the potion ingrediants. This area is just swarming with frog-men who are relentless in their attack. It takes a sustained push to finally dislodge them so I can collect the ingrediant.

I stop for the night upon finding the ruins - another quest lies here. Just a ton of stuff to do right now but I need sleep.

[nilodor]

Are your pets weaker now then before you battled the titan, or have you put enough points back into them to make up for the ones you redistributed?

[hoopsguy]

The pets are weaker - I have not yet revisited the mystic. I was just getting crushed in the one region, at a rate of about one death every third fight, but that settled down after popping my last level and moving on to fighting the frogs and undead. So I didn't pull the trigger on reallocating the points just yet.

In general, I like to give stuff a decent trial run, which usually means I stick with an idea too long before making a change. But I think I probably need to buff the pet health a little more at the expense of one of my Dreams spells. That would bring about 6-8 points back to re-allocate for the health of the pets. Then next level put a couple of points into their attacks, maybe swapping a couple of more points off other spells I don't use much (Pets and Heart of Oak are the keepers, everything else is negotiable), and see how that works.

The alternate is to really change gears and make more of a warrior/mage build where I invest in multi-attack spells. I never got to that point while fighting Typhos, but that would have been the next step in the progression. But I really think that build makes more sense when I get further along with my Dream magics - I'm expecting this to be a more viable option by Level 40 or so.

Somewhere in the early/mid 40s I should max out Dream magic at 32/32 and from that point on all levels will be going directly into spells instead of building mastery. When building mastery I'm also helping my attributes and making new spells available. I think that has a greater value than any individual spell in just about all cases.

[Peregrine]

Well I'm having fun with my melee guy, but I've hit a stone wall. There's this Neanderthal Warlord guy in the mountains, I don't know what the deal is, but I'm fighting him then suddenly from off screen these ice things fly in and kill me. I can't figure out if he has a partner or what, but I don't think I can beat him, that thing just murders me.

[hoopsguy]

Peregrine, I talked about that guy - he is an absolute load. The good news is that you don't have to kill him to move on with the plot.

He makes a motion when the ice attack is coming - move away from him when this happens and re-engage afterwards. The good news is that this is practice for Typhos, who employs a similar attack.

I don't think it matters a whole heck of a lot how good your armor is in terms of surviving this attack. And if he has stunned you before launching this attack (another of his abilities) then you are just going to die, nothing much you can do about this. But if you have items that help with stun I would equip them prior to the battle to try and reduce the likelihood of this happening.

[hoopsguy]

Post #159 is where I recount the battle with him, although not in great detail because he didn't kill me this time around. I don't recall having too hard a time with my defender going against him, but since that was my 2nd alt to face him (first was a hunter/rogue) I knew what to expect. Hopefully the advice above helps.

[TonyR]

You make this game really tempting to buy. I'm seriously considering getting it.

[PiemasterUK]

Hey there, I'm still enjoying this game and am constantly reading this thread up to the parts I have completed. I have just got to Athens myself.

One thing weird I found. The Ancient Tomb near Athens (that you found in post 101) was filled with very under-levelled monsters and loot for me. Lots of skelletons between levels 2 and 5, where most monsters at this stage in the game are more like 8-15. The loot was similarly unexciting. Not sure if this is a bug or just something quirky.

[hoopsguy]

I'm expecting to get back to detailing the adventures of the Colossal Squid over the weekend.

TonyR - I've had a lot of fun with it and found the replay value to be pretty high as you switch between alts. I'm guessing the pricetag is pretty reasonable right now as well, since the original has been out for awhile. If you tack on the expansion pack the two together will probably cost about the same as a new game. The game is very playable without the expansion, but you lose out on the caravans (huge for inventory management), arcane formulas (additional item that can be equipped), a mastery (Dreams), and some additional content post-Olympus.

[hoopsguy]

Originally Posted by PiemasterUK

Hey there, I'm still enjoying this game and am constantly reading this thread up to the parts I have completed. I have just got to Athens myself.

One thing weird I found. The Ancient Tomb near Athens (that you found in post 101) was filled with very under-levelled monsters and loot for me. Lots of skelletons between levels 2 and 5, where most monsters at this stage in the game are more like 8-15. The loot was similarly unexciting. Not sure if this is a bug or just something quirky.

Interesting - going back to that post I don't recall the creatures being underleveled. I had just started getting to a point in the game where my item turnover was slowing down a little bit, which is what made the loot uninteresting. But I do recall there being a really high amount of item drops there, to the point where I had to "town portal" a couple of times to unload everything.

[hoopsguy]

We pick up the adventures of the Colossal Squid in the jungles of Soronis ...

Across the bridge lie teh Tsakonian Ruins. The "Wealth of Ancient Kings" treasure is reported to be here. What is clearly here are Anourans, aka frog-men. And Hydradon's, the fire-breathing raptors who wipe out my pets pretty quickly if they unleash the breath attack. Throw in a couple of plant-creatures and you've got a party.

We fall quickly to a Frog-man hero, despite drinking a potion. He stuns, making a retreat tough. That was a pretty wasted death

What wasn't nearly as disheartening was the death at the hands of the Lich Queen. That alter is in the back of one of the former buildings in the ruins. She is a load, and we learn the hard way that she rains lightning in a manner like Typhos or the Neanderthal Warlord. I may save her for a rainy day after that initial encounter. Or, maybe one more level as there is still a ton to explore here in these ruins.

[hoopsguy]

The Anourans always come in big groups, and there are many groups crawling around the ruins.

We make our way into the Great Tomb of Aegmius and learn that some of the skeletal sorcerors can summon a spell equivalent of "Battle Standard". We take that as a mandate to blow it away before returning fire on the undead. The undead are actually Tsakonians and some of the items show up as Tsakonian - pretty cool to infuse a sense of history.

Upon further review, the "Battle Standard" equivalent is called a "Spirit Siphon". I'm guessing that sucks away energy when in range. That doesn't happen much for us as I attack from long range. But I would expect it to be troubling for close-combat types looking to use energy.

We find a girl trapped by some of the undead. She tells us that her brother is also trapped in these ruins and asks us to help. There is a ton of loot in this room, so time to sell.

The merchant has an intriguing item at a bargain price of 227,914. I say bargain because I'm around 3 million gold when making the purchase.

Medallion of the Lynx:
+17% Total Speed

With that alone, my DPS only goes down 4% compared to my Dreadful Talisman of Servitude w/Raptor Tooth that is tweaked for damage. Color me impressed. I'll look for the appropriate item to slot this with and equip it in the near future.

King Aegimius isn't much of a threat, and we dispatch him without a second thought. However, the brother is not in these ruins - must be elsewhere.

[hoopsguy]

We rescue the boy and gain some experience for our troubles - 25K is the going rate at this point.

We have now cleared out the ruins except for the Lich Queen. I'm going to take another shot here because I'm intrigued. And probably dumb. But it doesn't prove to be that big a deal as there is a low rumbling noise to indicate that the lightning storm is coming. We dodge about fifteen of them over the course of the battle and quaff a few potions, but the fight is pretty by-the-numbers. Another win for the Squid.

The lich speaks to us, and is bitter that we have condemned her to another thousand years of undeath for a book of recipes. She says the contents are very dangerous to "dabblers" and hopes that we are condemned to Hades. Pleasant chick.

The person who hired me seemed to think that the lich would age me with her attacks - hmm, would have been good to know prior to the fight. She gives me an arcane formula and tells me to take the potion back to Rhodes for the mother. The formula isn't a killer as far as I'm concerned, unless I'm looking to deal fire damage. It requires two artifacts to create it, so I guess I expected more.

The mother is very grateful for the potion, calling us a gift from the gods. All in a days work, ma'am.

[PiemasterUK]

How on earth did you kill Alastor? I am also playing a nature-based character and I got abused by him all day. The wolves went down faster than regrowth could heal them. I could just about stay alive by running in circles casting Regrowth on myself, but by doing that I could barely keep up with killing the skeletons, let alone the boss himself.

Eventually I descended to dirty cheating tactics. I found that if you open the door and stand in the doorway, he won't attack you, but you can wand him to death. I'm intrigued that you managed to kill him legitimately and am interested how you did it.

[hoopsguy]

He was tough for me. I ran around in circles and let my pets attack him while he focused on me. But I couldn't let his summoned creatures really get a foothold, because then there were too many people firing ice bolts that slowed me, which meant I would take hits. Basically I chewed through a few potions while evading, keeping the skeletons from backing up, and spinning off new summoned creatures when available.

It doesn't sound like my formula was too different than yours - maybe I had more levels at the time I fought him? Or better equipment? Or just a little better execution, based on having played against this boss and all the others in the first three acts multiple times with different alts.

It was the first hard fight in the game - well, 2nd as the Cyclops is not a walk in the park either.

[PiemasterUK]

Actually I didn't find the Cyclops too hard with this character.

Step 1 - Get in a few cheap shots while he is focussing on the Spartan soldiers.

Step 2 - Once all the spartans are dead, kite him over the bridge to the point just before he would turn back.

Step 3 - Wait for him to do his big hammer attack, dodge out the way, get in a couple of quick wand shots.

Step 4 - Run away until he turn back and starts to go back over the bridge.

Step 5 - Get in a couple more cheap wand shots. He will turn around and come back to you.

Then go back to step 3 and repeat. All the time, let your wolves chip away at him and recast them when necessary. In fact, I have actually done him with 4 characters now, using approximately the same method each time. The nature build had the advantage of having the dogs speed things up.

You may be right about having more levels than me on Alastor. I was only level 15.

[hoopsguy]

Interesting - I didn't use the bridge at all on the Cyclops, but ran him around the hill a little to the left of the bridge.

I didn't think he was all that hard, but he was the first boss in the game that I had run into that was overpowered compared to my character at the time - where I couldn't go in swinging and rely on potions to keep me alive while tanking him.

[hoopsguy]

We found another Tomb in the ruins, the Great Tomb of Dorus. There are a number of undead in here, mostly archers and spellcasters. We find a locked cell bearing the "Ancient Lock - Moon Sign" ... nope, don't have that.

And there is another "Ancient Wooden Door" that is locked (sealed by quest). So it looks like I'm not going to be clearing out this Tomb just yet ...

As we make our way around the tomb we find more demons - the ones from earlier that laid heavy damage on us. Not ideal, but we make our way through. And Lamia's, the tougher Satyr's who don't represent as much of a threat. So, we now have seen basically every monster type roaming the ruins here.

Further back is the Temple of the Gray. I'm guessing this is where we will find the Greay ones, who hold the Eye that Medea has requested.

[hoopsguy]

So the fight was pretty winnable, if only I had more potions. The three Gray's are all crowded in a pretty tight room, and they fire different long-range spells. The spells chew through the pets pretty quickly, so I just need to stick and move, summon pets, and heal when I decide to take a stand and fire down on a Gray. I get through one of them and about halfway through the second before running out of potions and health.

The best attack for the Grays was an area attack that quickly took away health if you hung around. So it is key to keep moving against them, even when you decide to commit to attacking them.

Medea takes the eye and provides us a vision. Pain, suffereing, loss, folly. The underworld is "writhing in turmoil" with war engulfing the living world. We must enter Hades to stop this from unfolding. We should seek Tiresias in Hades.

I want to finish up a couple of the side quests before doing this - I'm finally starting to find my groove with this and would like to see if I can bulk up a little more before heading down there.

[hoopsguy]

Ding Level 35. Two points on Dream Mastery bring me to the halfway point (16/32) and open up four new spells. Not yet, the other point is going into helping out the wolves by putting a point into Howl (2/12) for more armor and damage. Attribute points to Intelligence and Dexterity.

Health: 2552
Energy: 996
Strength: 195
Intelligence: 334
Dexterity: 174


Resistances: Fire 18, Cold 45, Electricity 42, Poison 41, Piercing 0 (should address this at some point), Energy 35

DPS: 325
Combined Armor: 258

Health Regeneration: 2.32
Energy Regeneration: 9.05
Offensive Ability: 205
Defensive Ability: 217
Cast Speed: 110
Run Speed: 122

Deaths: 36
Gold: 3,296,761

Best Item: Grim Orb Staff of Rime w/Valor of Achilles
Worst Item: Amber Flask (better artifacts are close, I think)

Interesting note - the best monster killed is still listed as the Ancient Demon Bull from Act III.

[hoopsguy]

For those who don't read Werewolf, this is breaking news (posted in wrong thread, damned tabbed browsing):

And we have our first completed Monster Charm from Act IV.

Hydradon Hide:
+75 Health
+20% Less Damage from Beasts
Completion Bonus: 21 Armor
Can enhance all amor

Nice - I like the armor bonus a lot. It is going onto the Pristess's Leggings to bring the armor up to 73. That should distance it a great deal from the other items I'm seeing in shops.

[hoopsguy]

So we find the Tomb of Tsakonian Queens while wandering through the wilderness looking for the potion items. Here we meet Queen Alkiste, who delivers us the Moon Key when she falls. We now have the Sun and Moon keys, which means we can head back to Dorus' hangout and move a little further. Hopefully we can find the mondo treasure that is promised here ...

Next target - the Cybe Mushroom, which is the 2nd of three ingredients for the potion. I don't think I've mentioned it, but the potion gives +6 Strength and +80 Health. I want that before heading to Hades, and I also want Duros' treasure.

The last ingedient is a night blossom petal. This is guarded by a special plant creature who throws numerous barbs that really just cut through our defenses. The attacks are fast as well, meaning it is in-and-out with a new set of pets and heavy potion usage. But I have all three parts for the potion now.

Or apparently I don't, as Lampido tells me to come back with all three ingredients. So I go back to the tree that I visited earlier - I've now been to all three locations in the past ten minutes - and see if that takes care of the issue. Nope - and I've got all kinds of room in the inventory, so that isn't the problem. Looking in the inventory the only item I see is the Nightblossom petal. Man, this is aggrevating.

[hoopsguy]

And it isn't that hard, once I realized that an item is dropped when I touch the tree/root/whatever. Had to do extra walking to retrieve the items, but all is well. Player error, not game error, which is the better option all things considered.

The potion brings Squid's strength up to 201. Very nice.

[Eilim]

Just wanted to pop in and say I've really enjoyed reading your dynasty, and let you know you've inspired another purchase of the game+expansion. Been looking for a "diablo" type game for a while for the PC, as my normal diablo fix "Fate" has been loosing its replay value recently for me.

[hoopsguy]

I haven't played "Fate" at all - is it fun?

Work has been nightmarish this last week - may try to sneak in a little gameplay this weekend, but will definitely be moving onto Hades next week in full force.

[TonyR]

I too purchased the game and expansion, just waiting for it to arrive after being shipped on the 17th.

[Eilim]

I liked it a lot, but has started to get stale, but then again I've been playing it almost regularly for almost 2 years now. I'd describe it as a "diablo-lite". With random loot/dungeons/quests(albeit simple ones), its basically designed for loot/level whores like I sometimes can be.

You can download and check out the demo here: Fate

[Eilim]

Dola

Now for a little more thread derailment.. (We should create a "FOFC Titan Adventurers Tavern" dynasty thread for all the people your dynasty has caused to pick up the game to share their experiences. ) I just had to show off my new helm to somebody. Here's my level 16 defender sporting his new headwear:



I *so* want a full set of Obsidian armor now, don't even care about the stats

[hoopsguy]

Hmm, my character is 19 levels higher and looks about 10% as cool I'll see if I can get a screenshot up sometime soon.

I'm saving for items in the Imperial set (have the Greaves, which is one of the six components for Imperial Raiment) and the four-piece Lazarus Armor (have the bracers). Of course, neither of those are for this character.

If you want the Obsidian Cresecent I've got that item - we can get a multi-player game going and you will have two of the five items at that point.

Obsidian Crescent:
36-45 Damage
Speed: Average
2% Damage Resistance
+26 Offensive Ability
+50% Damage to Beastmen
Required Level: 13
Strenght: 155, Dexterity: 80

[hoopsguy]

It takes forever and a day to make our way back to the Great Tomb of Dorus with the correct items in hand, but we finally manage to back-track across the ruins and find it. We use the Moon Key to gain entry into the room, where we find an Ancient Lever. Well that is just begging to be pulled, right?

This opens a few new chambers, all stocked with the same kind of undead we plowed through earlier. And, the man himself, King Dorus. He is pretty routine, with his only trick being an attack that puts us to sleep. Still, nothing that registers even mild concern as we dispatch him with ease.

Next is the Sun lock, which we open with the Sun key. And another lever - which we again feel compelled to pull. This opens up another chamber, which upon entering we learn that we have completed the quest for "Wealth of Ancient Kings". +40K experience and a series of chests to open. Nothing earth-shattering here, with the best item probably being a 3rd part of a relic from the Orient. Nice to finish those off, in the event it is needed for an artifact later ...

[hoopsguy]

Level 36 came in right at the start of the Tomb. So time to add the points for that before heading into Hades.

Two more points towards Dream Mastery bring that skill up to 18/32. The last point goes into Dissemination, which is the group heal spell. Attribute points head to Intelligence and Dexterity.

Health: 2878
Energy: 1013
Strength: 205
Intelligence: 342
Dexterity: 178

Resistances: Fire 18, Cold 45, Electricity 42, Poison 41, Energy 35 (will need to increase these at some point)

DPS: 327
Combined Armor: 280

Health Regeneration: 2.32
Energy Regeneration: 9.13
Offensive Ability: 210
Defensive Ability: 221
Cast Speed: 110%
Run Speed: 122%

Gold: 3,986,926
Deaths: 39

Best Item: Grim Orb Staff of Rime w/Valor of Achilles (haven't found a staff that touches this, although there have been a couple of hand-to-hand weapons that are in same ballpark)
Worst Item: Amber Flask (better artifacts, just need a little work to get them)

Greatest Monster Killed: still the damn bull from the Orient. Go figure.

[hoopsguy]

Hmm, Hades is not as scary as I thought it would be. In fact, Epirus - the refugee camp where we begin - looks just like any other village.

We learn that a pack of well-coordinated monsters laid an assault on the city of Paseron. The Storyteller here tells a tale of an unnamed hero who overthrew Typhon at Mount Olympus. Good story

Epigenes, a guard, asks us to help find survivors from the attack in the ruins of Paseron. Magical Jewelry and 32K experience are ours if we complete this task.

The town healer asks me to help find Admetus, who went to gather supplies for him.

The people here fear the gods have left them. The monsters are like none they have ever encountered before, led by a fierce captain named Proseia. If we were to defeat this one perhaps their ranks would dissolve?

Our first look at these fierce new monsters reveals foes we faced before - Lamia. The new-breed centaurs. Color me less than impressed. Throw in some standard undead, and I really don't get why this is so terrifying. Of course, not everyone in the land has defeated Telkines and Titans, so maybe a little understanding for the common man is needed here ...

Just a little bit into the wilderness we stumble across the Ossuary of the Thesproti. I think this means "tomb with lots of fog".

New arcane formula, this one is a long way off:
Eye of Heavens
Skyfire Pendant (artifact)
Song of the Serpent (artifact)
Tortured Soul (completed charm)

I don't have any of that stuff, although I want it as this looks like a pretty cool artifact. It grants a Tidal Wave power as well as damage bonuses for Cold and Lightning, along with a couple of other powers.

[hoopsguy]

We make our way to Paseron and get a little more info. There are monsters everywhere in the streets, and survivors are hiding from them. We are to go into town and extract all the survivors, while dealing with the monsters in whatever way we see fit. Ideally, they hope we see fit to deal out a lot of pain ...

The new enemy is named Keres, and they have a mixture of archers and warriors in our initial encounters. Nothing all that intimidating so far.

We see dead people - there are spirits that appear to be watching the action. Not undead, like we have been putting down since the start of our journey, but passive shades.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this in the past, but when you find foes who are purple (quest-related) they seem to drop just a sick amount of loot.

The guard thanks us for his help and says that he will see the survivors are safe. Yep, you do that.

[hoopsguy]

The Keres fall under the classification of demon, as do our next foes - Empusas. They are winged creatures that throw poison or fire from afar, depending on the variant.

Within the city of Paseron we find a group of guards who join us in our battle. Nice to see some others taking up arms against these foes.

Proeseia was a more challenging foe than most we have faced recently. She had a life-stealing power as well as a lot of health that prolonged the battle. It seemed like the pets were able to do decent damage while I retreated and quaffed potions.

The adventure ends, for now, at the outskirts of Paseron.

[hoopsguy]

The spirits lead us towards Pindos Mountains, where we enter a passage called the Passage of Souls. Looks like we are moving on to Hades ...

The scenery here is reminiscent of the intro scene - where you pick your character - with the Immortal Throne expansion. Lots of flickering green lights amidst a rocky landscape. And we emerge in Hades - Dark Grove.

We find more Keres here, including spellcasters, along with Empusas. The scenery is dark, but littered with bright purple flowers. Not quite how I pictured Hades.

I find a bizarre item after an encounter with a Keres hero:

Form W-900 (unique):
Grievances and Tribulations, Underworld division
Please remove bottom copy for your records

Please describe the nature of your complaint:
Sword in belly.

Please describe what wean do to help:
Remove sword from belly.

Additional comments/concerns:
Ouch.


It appears someone has a sense of humor ... note that this is a unique item, not a quest item.

[hoopsguy]

We meet a shade who speaks - he seems unsure of what to do, but fears the creatures. Perhaps he doesn't realize he is dead? It seems he does eventually, but doesn't see the Ferryman to take him to his final resting place.

We seem to have come across something resembling a village here at Charon's Dock. One of the shades warns of a great beast lurking in the waters of the Stygian Marsh.

One shade appears to have attempted to man the boat but he was taken by daemons.

It appears no one is going anywhere until I find Charon the boatmaster. So off I go on another errand. There is a temple here named the Shrine of the Golden Bough. Hmm, maybe I need to study up on my mythology as this is not familiar to me. In the middle of the shrine is a glowing blue statue, although I don't see any way to act on this object.

I make the switch on my armor, which has no impact on my Combined Armor.

Priestess's Vestment w/Hydradon Hide
52 Armor
+16% Intelligence
+58% Helath Regeneration (up 16%)
+40% Energy Regeneration (down 1%)
+5% Energy
+75 Health
+20% Less Damage from Beasts
+16% Armor Protection
Lose out on +6% Pierce Damage (we don't pierce) and 33% chance of 36 Piercing Retaliation. DPS goes up 18 points with the Intelligence boost - should see some differences in stats between levels when comparing 37 with 36.

[hoopsguy]

We pick up another Arcane Formula that requires a pair of artifacts. Interesting, but we are a long way from having these. The good news is that the third item with this one is a scroll we already own. So one out of three isn't bad ...

There are some new Formicids in Hades - not any tougher than the earlier ones, based on early reviews. But Formicid Captains - different matter, although I'm not sure why just yet. I do know that the one hurt me pretty badly, but I wasn't able to identify the attack type. We also meet a special monster - a Troglodyte Hero - who was guarding the captured shade.

He will run the ferry but cannot move Charon's boat without the oar, which Charon appears to have discarded. So my sidequests are now merging together ...

I've now encountered four Captains and each of them has hurt me pretty badly. They don't have a ton of health, but they just deliver sick damage.

We also encounter our first "trap" in quite some time while investigating a Formacid dwelling. Somewhat similar to the temple earlier, I find a glowing pink fire in a camp, but it is not a device that I can impact.

As we venture further "south" (does direction really make sense in this land?) we meet Troglodytes. They are big meathead creatures, similar to the Neanderthals we saw in Asia. I believe this is the first time I've encountered a hero before meeting the regular creatures.

[hoopsguy]

As we move into a territory called "Unfinished Bridge" we hear a voice telling us to "Stay back!". The main quest updates, telling us that we must defeat Charon. O-kay.

It is a dreadfully unfair fight, as he summons spirits and drops a hurricane on top of us. Game/set/match. I'm not sure what I do for an encore here.

We dodge his water spouts for a little longer in the sequel, and learn that he doesn't have all that many hit points. Maybe the third time is the charm, but I still don't have a real battle plan yet.

OK, I killed him but he didn't die - what the heck? I need a ruling here ... it looks like he took on a new form? This is pretty sick - I'm positive the damn bull is not my toughest foe after this crap.

He has a hitch in his motion when he summons the water attack, which is his toughest in terms of damage. He swats away pets like nothing since Typhos. I've died something like 6-7 times and have his second form down to about 40% health before I ran out of potions in that battle. There are times where he engages hand-to-hand and he is pretty weak in that area. But there have been two times where he dropped back-to-back hits on me that we 2 second battles, with the Squid being the loser both times. And he has a stun attack as well, which is lights out most of the time when he lands it.

OK, a quick check on the forums makes it pretty clear on some strategy I was missing out on ... the water attack only comes through certain areas which are easy enough to avoid. With that in mind, his other attacks don't do enough damage to really make him all that tough. I feel a little dumb, but I'm past him.

[hoopsguy]

Charon's essence is similar to the Telkines - a big pile of items emerge. The important one, in terms of plot, is his oar.

Tiresius is beyond Charon, and he gives us a vision.

Great heroes die a second time, but never a third.
Gods who should go, stay.
Gods who should intervene have departed.
The living must take their place beside the dead.
Sve the dead from dying.
Come to Elysium.
Come soon.
Come now.
Come.

Well, that is pretty clear.

We travel down the road until making our way to the Stygian Marsh, which is reputed to be home to the great beast. We do find a number of crabs here. And wander into a cavern loaded with Formacids, including what must have been one Captain as they chewed through us quickly. Man, lots of deaths on this level after a couple of pleasant levels leading up to 36.

[hoopsguy]

The cavern is named "Daemon Storeroom" and it is indeed loaded with Formacids. In addition to the Captain there are a pair of Priestesses and a slew of grunts. There are also Troglodytes here, along with an "Otherworldly Chest" in the back that has very wordly (mundane) items.

We defeat a Trog listed as the "Jailor" and behind him see a Soul Cage. Opening these release trapped shades. Beyond these cages we find some of our old friends the Anourans (pygmies). It is in battle with these guys that I find a unique staff.

Delysid (unique)
32-86 Lightning Damage (current is 38-47)
Speed: Very Slow (current is slow)
+29% Electrical Burn Damage
+19 Intelligence
+20 Dexterity
+200 Health
+1.3 Energy Regeneration per second
+2 to Lucid Dream
+2 to Summon Nightmare

The staff is a train wreck in terms of DPS and I'm not far enough along in my dream masteries to really think twice about this.

[hoopsguy]

Ding Level 37. Two more points on Dream Mastery put it at 20/32 - on pace for maxing out at level 43. I also pop Heart of Oak up to 9/12, giving an extra 5% health. Attribute spending goes to Intelligence and Dexterity again.

Health: 3195
Energy: 1078
Strength: 209
Intelligence: 398
Dexterity: 182

Resistances: Fire 18, Cold 45, Electricity 42, Poison 41, Energy 35

DPS: 348
Combined Armor: 280

Health Regeneration: 2.48
Energy Regeneration: 9.66
Offensive Ability: 214
Defensive Ability: 226
Cast Speed: 110
Run Speed: 122

Gold: 5,467,044
Deaths: 50

Toughest Foe: Charon - Ferryman of the Styx (good)

Best Item: Grim Orb Staff of Rime w/Valor of Achilles (really like my new armor as well)
Worst Item: Amber Flask

[hoopsguy]

We free more shades from soul cages. The Stygian Marsh is a big territory and there are a number of paths through here.

Another cave, this one is the Den of Tantalus. We find a very cool spear here - perhaps this will go to my hunter. It is one of the six items making up the Panoply of the Moirae.

This looked like it might be a big cavern, but the second level is contained by water we can not traverse. So out we head.

The Stygian Lurker was a big Hydradon who didn't breathe. That made him a lot easier. The reward for defeating him was a +4 bonus to Strength, Intelligence, and Dexterity. Way too good for what was involved, but I'll take it.

We emerge in the City of Lost Souls after battling our way through a ton of Anouran and crabs. There are a bunch of shades here at first glance. None of whom are interested in talking. So we head into the building set into the mountain and find Keres who are interested in fighting.

This area seems to be some kind of a jail cell - or at least that is what I perceive based on all the barred rooms I'm unable to access. We push on to the Upper City of Lost Souls.

Here we encounter a mixture of Formacids and Trogs. And it is going OK until one of their Captains shows up when we are in the middle of battle with 5-6 others. I hate those guys; time to go claim tombstone #51.

There are a series of stone staircases both up and down here, and opponents come from all directions. Not tough opponents, except for the Captains, but a lot of them. Still, this is the most consistently challenging combat I've seen since early in Act IV.

[hoopsguy]

The City of Lost Souls is big. We are now in our third region here, the Lower City of Lost Souls. This is Trog country, as they surge us with more numbers than we have seen in the past (5 or more). Demons try the same tactics, but we are able to hold them off with stategic retreats and ample potion usage.

That doesn't work quite as well as we come across 10+ demons, with spellcasters who sleep us. Death #52, special delivery. The return battle is more satisfying - just need to be a little more cautious in these areas where the enemy is bunched together.

We find a shade who wants to talk. He tells us that Hades owns all the wealth of earth and that miners on earth take it from him bit by bit. This shade is eager to raid Hades' vault in the middle of the city. He doesn't actually know there is treasure there, but he plans to heist it and become a legend. 100K experience is our if we can find a way into the treasury.

In another room we find glowing symbols on the ground, but have no key to help us understand them. What we do have is a new form of demon, who look a little like flying octopi. They poison from range and on death.

We meet more shades, who tell of Charon missing, judges not judging, and an uprising in Elysium. Apparently Hades and Persephone are also in the middle of a domestic issue.

We also learn that the first humans were created by Prometheus from the ashes of a Titan slain by Zeus. Some of the ashes of that Titan still remain in an urn here in the Underworld. If we are able to defeat the guardian, we'll get an extra two skill points for our efforts.

The way to the Elysian Fields has been blocked, as no judgements are being rendered by the three judges. This appears to be part of our main quest now.

We learn of a caravan that is arming the daemon army and are asked to sabotage it.

The daemons captured the Necromanteion, the Oracle here where the dead communicate with the living. We have been asked to cleanse this area of daemons.

This is a good place to call it a night. It is the first full-service town we have found in Act IV.

[damnMikeBrown]

I can't beat the neanderthol nor can I even come close to Typhon. Typhon just blows some electricity at me and 1 shots me. I'm level 35 or so with the earth fire/spirit summoner masteries. The fire is fun...I just go in, wave my hands, and hoards die.

Problem for me is I'm playing on a laptop that is below system specs. Even with everything turned down/off, I'm slow. Reacting to mobs is just very difficult to do.

[hoopsguy]

I'm short on memory in my system - only 512MB - and I share your pain on the mobs. In many of my deaths I'm a step slow retreating when I come around a corner too aggressively and get jumped.

With both the Neanderthal and Typhon they give you warnings with their motion that they are going to unleash the super-damage attacks. If you take that away from the Neanderthal - which isn't too hard to do if you aren't unlucky with a stun first. See if you can equip items to increase Stun Resistance to minimize this.

With Typhon - that is a different animal. But you can't extend the battle long enough to do damage if you can't avoid his meteor shower attack. That took me a few tries before I got better at avoiding it - he just has enough other tricks in his arsenal that it is still an uphill battle.

[hoopsguy]

The next area is the Salt Flats and the landscape is unique compared to what I've seen so far. It looks like there are green pools of water interspersed with the flat terrain. The inhabitants are new as well, as we encounter a weak winged demon and a slow dinosaur (Odontotyrannus) type. This is some of the easiest combat we've encountered since Asia.

However, the daemon caravans are not as weak. We destroy one and are ambushed by a group of guardians. There are four of them and they move fast and hit hard. They are named Machae, specifically the Warden sub-class (yellow foes).

The guy who hired us to take down the caravan wants to introduce my to a friend. I'm to seek out the shade Pylades, who will determine if I'm ready to meet their friend Keuthonymos. Pylades tells me he can be found in the lower daemon camp, and should be identified by his ... skin condition.

I'm also solicited to bring the Mirror of Psyche to the wife of Orpheus, so she might gave upon him. It appears that he spurned Erato, a muse who sought his love

[hoopsguy]

There is another shrine we find, this one named the Hecatean Agora. It has similar glowing floor markings as the ones I found earlier, only larger. In combat here I win the Lazarus Helm, the second of four items in the Lazarus set. And I'm strong enough to use this item, although there is sacrifice involved.

Lazarus Helm (unique)
96 Armor (jump of 51)
22% Stun Resistance
15% Chance of 1-14 Lightning Retaliation
+18 Intelligence (compared to +10% - loss of about 20 points)
+57 Energy
+28 Defensive Ability

Lose out on 35% Energy Leech Resist, 23% Slow Resist, +1.0 Energy Regen per second and +7% Increased Experience (a killer). The slotted item (which can be moved) offers 12 Armor, 6% Armor Protection, and 16% Poison Resistance.

Hmm, I'll have to make a decision on this one. DPS only shows a dip of one point and Intelligence goes down 6. So this looks like it is pretty clearly better with the possible exception of the experience bonus. I'll switch for now - the armor will really go up with moving the slotted Udjat of Horus.

The inhabitants of this temple are challenging, including a Keres hero who summons ice demons and a pack of casters who accompany him. They drop a pair of interesting staves (staffs?), each of which has Dream spells associated with it. Maybe when I start investing more points in the actual spells instead of the masteries ...

We decide to call it a night upon finding the next save point.

[TonyR]

Just got into playing this game in what free time I get, so I don't want to spoil the gameplay. I'm enjoying myself so far.
I'd be interested in doing multi-player maybe even a multi-player fofc dynasty.