Clan FaZe

[vaudeville]

This will be another long post(s) here which I was thinking of keeping to ourselves in case it turns out to be pretty useful, but I wanted to get it off my chest.

The point here essentially is to consider what optimum strategy ought we to pursue either as a clan or just as friends to get through the game as quickly as possible and obtain as much items of the items needed after the reset. I suppose I'll split the following into three parts:

A) Getting through the normal game
B) The Division of Grinding Labor
C) Other grunt work/finishing touches

Part A should be straightforward enough although we'll have to remember that we're going to start off with less than crap once the reset happens. So far as I understand, the Javazon, Shield throw barb, Necromancer, and possibly a smiter (perhaps a lightning sorceress too just to have someone speed through any parts), ought to be the builds we first go with (if the Druid is vamped up as promised then perhaps we can include one as well). The tricky part comes with part B although I think all the builds mentioned above will be viable there.

I will also say, that I'm wondering whether it will be the right move to proceed through nightmare and hell difficulty by doing nightmare and hell cows prior to completing the rest of the difficulty. That would seem like the best thing to do (it certainly is for the last difficulty).

[vaudeville]

Part B will be the kicker. What ought we do to maximize our efforts to get the stuff we want at the minimum time aside from purchasing gold with real money perhaps? It may also behoove us all to start making extra character(s) and rush them before going all out with grinding (or try to multi-task with farming cows). Before doing this of course, we should make sure we've done all the necessary quests and got all the necessary waypoints. After that, I submit the following suggestions.

1) First and foremost all clan members should seek to equip their fellow comrade with the starting gear they'll need asap regardless of any immediate payback. In other words, if by some chance I should find an Immortal King helmet, I will give it to any shield throwing barbs we have and hope for the same as a necromancer (or javazon). The same sentiment ought to apply for torches as well, but we should wait to do torch runs until after we've rushed a number of separate characters so that we can try to do torches and annihilus charms at the same time.

2) As soon as step one is done or at least a few characters have obtained there starting equipment gear from doing cows, we ought to split into separate divisions.

Shield Throw Barbarian(s) division: If I'm not mistaken, the shield throw barbarian ought to be handle abaddon or whichever pits don't have summoners without much trouble. That person should look for the occulus ring along with any other set piece items still missing for other clan members or other useful uniques which may drop.

a) Additional Note 1: Perhaps the above should begin stockpiling extra set piece items found for other characters we should make and for possible new clan members.

Sorceress (or any person with odium or even enigma that can deal with bosses such as a javazon or smiter) division : should go for keys.

Javazons and smiters divisions: ought to specialize in collecting fragments and essences

All divisions should of course deal with regular cows and Plaguelands until which time most if not all starter equipment has been obtained.

I'm not sure yet whether inferno cows should be tackled yet or any time soon unless the new patch that will coincide with the reset makes inferno cows more worthwhile. I'm sure all of you are in agreement that as things stand now, that the only reason to do inferno cows is to get the cow queen set and the cache for ryleh (which of course won't be useful anytime soon since we'll have a field day with Cthulhu) both of which can wait for later. I think we should only do inferno cows in the beginning just for the levels and boosting new characters we have (or new potential clan members).

I'd like to point out a few things here before continuing.

First, though it will probably be difficult to get us all together at one time, we ought to at least get frag and key runs to coincide together in the hopes of increasing the chances of getting either.

Secondly, the Countess can drop decent runes albeit not great of course but enough perhaps to stockpile on for future massive rune crafting. In other words, if you can, toss any runes above Thul to Mal my way or to whomever is interested in crafting a lot of runes.

Thirdly, the point of going for fragments as well is less to do with actually getting abyss spheres, never mind Belial charms or any other goodies such as divine gems which may drop (since the worldstone event will probably be too hard for us to handle) but more to do with us having something to trade with others who perhaps are either ahead of us in terms of equipment or willing to dare do the worldstone event. I think we will be better off waiting and trading in what fragments we get for guaranteed items we could use to trade with.

Fourthly, we should gather as much (and by much I mean stash full) perfect gems as possible to craft as many grand skill charms as possible not just so that we have something to trade with but also something we can use.

Fifthly, either we ought to craft as much necessary items (likely rings and amulets in general and possibly boots, gloves, and belts for the Javazon and Smiter) we can or grind the hek out of the plaguelands for good rares so that we can completely equip our characters (I'm probably going to look into this soon and see how effective such can be). Runewords also are another consideration to take into account. I think its fair to say that the Javazon and Smiter (or even early zealers) will have to rely on crafted items and ruenwords until they get endgame material, so we ought to be mindful of that. Tor runes will be completely essential for these builds.

Sixthly, we should also remember to look for regular monarch shields, regular dimensional swords or flails, 4 socket polearms or regular polearms, a decent regular helmet or 3 socket one, and a decent regular armor to use for future runewords if necessary.

3) Rush numerous new characters we have and new friends and future clan members (if such hasn't been done already).

4) Do uber runs once we're satisfied with the above results (or perhaps have too many keys on us that we want to get rid of.

[Zealer]

If its not too late to join in Id be keen to run with a Zealer , id need few rushes to at least 40ish then I could rush up any recruits.

[vaudeville]

Part C

We ought to assume by now that all our main characters have the following

1) A torch and annihilus charm
2) depending on the build type, all of there starting gear (as mentioned this may be problematic for the Javazon and Smiter or Zealer).
3) that all such characters are somewhere between levels 80 to 90
4) that we have enough high runes to make enough runeword equipment needed for certain builds and to help us get by for the real end-game difficulty (add to that non-perfect facets and dispensable enchantments that might help a little).

The next step should be getting up to levels 95 across the board so that our characters can use Abyss Spheres and Belial tomes in the future. This will of course mean inferno cows. We may in the meantime cease farming such until we can get one player with a paladin with the cow queen set. No other build/character should matter (with the possible exception of a find item barbarian perhaps if only to boost mf).

After that I think we should turn to dealing with the Lich King to get the Plaguebringer and Frostmourne sword for the Necromancer and Zeal Paladin (and if needed death's advance and the scourgelord's belt). If the Lich King's drop rate (never mind overall difficulty) is as bad as it is now, then we should not bother fighting him any more once we get the above two items for awhile.

Next dreamlands which should be doable for both the Necromancer and Smiter or Zeal paladin(s) with the above equipment obtained (Note: I've mentioned this elsewhere, but my poison necromancer doesn't have that much of a problem with 3/4 of the dreamland bosses and that's without even imperfect facets).

After this I'm not a hundred percent sure what ought to be done. Perhaps we could first try getting alkor's charm and then naturally more grinding because the next step ought to be either trying out the crucible or going for abyss spheres. Both will be very difficult to do, so much so that I would counsel that we let others beat us to the punch. If they want to be the first to complete the crucible or get an abyss spheres, then more power to them. I think we would be better off grinding more, perhaps get up to level 15 in the crucible and not be concerned if we can't get further than that since Cain can drop decent equipment (hopefully he still drops a guaranteed scroll). It would probably be better for us to spend time obtaining puzzlebox maps, extra runes, excellent rares or crafted items, Cthulhu or Cow queen set items, and any other new game items that we can trade with for the Thunderfury sword (assuming it won't be downgraded too much) or nephalem amulets, but I leave what direction we ought to go from here to your judgment.

I should mention for clarification that another division or reshuffling should be made once the Plaguebringer and Frostmourne have been obtained wherein poison necromancers and smiters or zealers will be assigned farming dreamland bosses while everyone may keep to what they've been doing. It'll all depend on our luck of course. After that, we ought to be able to trade in for most other stuff our main characters will want.

[vaudeville]

If its not too late to join in Id be keen to run with a Zealer , id need few rushes to at least 40ish then I could rush up any recruits.

I'd have to talk to Fearsom1 for that. Just so you know, things are pretty quiet both in the clan and in the server (both probably due to the incoming reset). Help me out a bit with crafting, and I'll consider recommending you be a member.

[Jared]

yea clan faze!

http://annihilus.net/showthread.php?t=10194

[vaudeville]

Seems like crafting (outside charms) may not be particularly worthwhile after all at least outside the very long term. It seems you could probably get very OP items in certain cases, but I would imagine doing so would be the near equivalent of winning the lottery. I'll still try to give it a shot later at some point, but we're still going to need tons of perfect gems.

[vaudeville]

A few alterations to Part B after some more thought.

1) Assuming spectating for experience is still a thing with the new patch, we should rush as many characters (future builds we plan to use later and even mules) as possible all in one fell swoop (keep in mind that I'm not talking about a few characters but at the very least cumulatively amongst ourselves at least 64 characters). Cows should still end up fulfilling this role which we'll need to do anyway to stock up on perfect gems, runes, starting gear, cow organs, and anything else of some use.

2) We should do full rushes (i.e. additional quests and waypoints) for all potential playable characters (mostly those that can use starting green set items) we plan to use and/or could at any one point be used to do any of the following tasks under the "divisions" idea (i.e. making any type of sorceress just to farm keys if any one gets bored doing anything else).

3) Try to do a few inferno cow games just to gain as much levels as possible for our main playable characters.

4) Do the Plaguelands (assuming the new patch makes such still worthwhile in general) just to pick up decent rare rings and amulets (among other things) to complete any missing items needed.

5) Split into at least 2 teams. One team will go primarily for keys (i.e. sorceresses in particular and probably bowzons too or any other build/character not useful for the next named group/task) and another team (poison and/or summoning necromancer and a smiter/zealer and maybe also a shield throwing barbarian) that will farm the Lich King primarily for at least 1 Plague Bringer dagger and 1 Frostmourne (among other things). The point of doing both is so that we ought to be strong enough to handle doing uber runs with say over 24 characters in one game in order to try to increase our chances of getting more annihilus charms per run. The extra characters involved should make things difficult for whomever we select deal with the uber prime evil bosses, so that's why I figure we might as well try to get the above two items anyway (they'll be needed for farming dreamland bosses anyway). Any one else may be welcome to farm anything else that could be of value, but I think the above should come first no matter how boring it will get.


Everything else should fall accordingly from there assuming no big changes are made. I still think inferno cows ought to be avoided unless the new patch makes such more viable than it is now. Otherwise such should only be done to get levels and even the Cow Queen set even if it may be nerfed.

[vaudeville]

Part C should be changed up too though the same assumptions (and more) should apply.

1) I'll mention it again. If we haven't gotten our main playable characters to level 95 yet, then we should do so immediately.

2) The Dreamland Bosses should be farmed next. Assuming no massive changes are done to the following items we're going to want : the Shrieking Lich, the eyeball charms, cthulu caster set, dreamland puzzle boxes, divine gems, and if we're very fortunate the mark of the dragon slayer. Additionally Cthulhu should be killed as many times as possible until he drops at least 1 Frostfire bow and 1 Fullmoon helmet (I mentioned the latter in case the shapeshifting druid is buffed to such an extent that he may actually be very useful). We should also consider discontinue farming DL bosses (in the meantime) once we've gotten enough decent eyeball charms (for max resistances) for all characters we plan to use to do the crucible. The Lich King may also be farmed to some extent just so that a few other players have the necessary items to help them beat Dreamland bosses.

a) Additional Note: While the above is done with any smiters, zealers and poison necromancers, other players should solely farm regular cows for organs and then inferno cows so that we can try opening caches as soon as the altar has been opened. Also note, I think I read somewhere that it was supposedly possible to "recharge" the key to the Cthulhu boss with an orb. If that is so, then please, whoever gets the key, don't throw it away.

3) After the above, we probably ought to grind more just to be sure we have enough to deal with the worldstone event and the crucible. We should try to get one or two character(s) (perhaps a BO/find item barbarian or a support paladin) who may serve as future crucible leaders as much charms, damage reduction runes or scrolls (or such which gives life), or plus 1 enchantment scrolls or jewels (the ones with plus skills) as possible (which ever seems most reasonable and available). I think we ought to try doing the worldstone event first, since so long as we're able to activate such and defeat the bosses there, then we're guaranteed to get something we will need and want (all magic users need belial's tome and any abyss sphere gotten is never a bad thing. The other reason why I think we should do such first is because if I'm not mistaken, the immunities of some of the bosses in the worldstone event changes making getting the Thunderfury sword (assuming that too isn't nerfed) not too worthwhile (especially if the bosses are immune to lightning and physical damage. I also assume the worldstone event ought to take less time hopefully. How often we should do this I'm not sure (that is in relation to putting off doing the crucible). Perhaps till at least we've gotten one person with a Barbarian, Paladin, and even an Assassin and Druid abyss spheres (the latter pair included only if they prove very viable with the new patch). I don't find the necromancer Abyss Sphere necessary to have compared to Belial's tome (I imagine the same thought applies to both the Amazon and Sorceress too). In my opinion the main aim ought to be to get Belial's tome for magic users so that grinding will be even easier. In any case, assuming we didn't get any puzzle boxes yet (or the Key of Justice), we ought to try going all the way in the Crucible. If we can't or if perhaps it somehow takes too long (say over 30 to 45 minutes) just to get to Cain (which shouldn't be the case), then we ought to consider grinding more and see how (if that is the case) others have fared better.

Additional notes
1) Could try to get a few Alkor's charms at least for any physical character used in the crucible and a BO barbarian. I don't think we'll need more than that till later.

2) Perhaps even by the time of farming the Lich King or Dreamland bosses, we ought to make sure of getting a BO/find item Barbarian with as much warcry charms on him as possible (if not for buffs, then to make sure find-item is almost guaranteed to work).

[vaudeville]

The following is a proposed guide on how we ought to split what we find or get early on (say about a month) after the reset

The Spoils of War Part A (covers general items all players should get with no strings attached)

the spoils of war part A.txt

The Spoils of War Part B (covers particular items certain players should get and when)

the spoils of war part B .txt

The Spoils of War Part C

the spoils of war part C.txt

Again edited and expanded with another part added