NORMAL

Rather than simply retrace Hotfoot's path, with Blaze, Hydra, and some Firewall, I'm taking Astra down an alternate path: that of Blaze and Meteor. Firewall and Hydra will likely stay at skill level 1, base. (I still need hydra for scouting and perhaps certain rare occasions).

Unlike Hotfoot, Astra will not be constrained by any restrictions other than that of skills (including from Staves). So if I should decide to redo some areas, skip fights, reroll bosses' random abilities, quit and save at any point I deem appropriate, or sandbag for items/experience... it's all good. I intend to get Astra to 3dots, and that will at times mean playing it safe. Perhaps if she makes Queen, I'll go back to clear any areas/bosses/quests/waypoints I skip.

Astra had an inauspicious beginning:

Starting right out of the gate with a LEB? Astra just clvl 4, with slvl 1+1 firebolt? Fun stuff. :)

Astra's skill path plan followed Hotfoot's 100% identically, up to clvl 18. As such, I have no new comments on gameplay from this time. Astra lived through it, easily. At clvl 19, their paths finally began to diverge, but not by much! Instead of pumping some into Firewall, Astra kept adding to Blaze. So the rest of Act 2, Duriel (he's easy to Blaze in Single Player), and the first half of Act 3... really not much new there, either. Astra had slightly more Blaze power, slightly less Firewall power, and slightly less help from equipment. Astra had MUCH worse item and gem luck than Hotfoot through that stretch. But that was no big deal.

On the other hand, Hotfoot didn't get her Magefist until clvl 30, well into NM. Astra got hers on the second try, at clvl 23! So right there, her firewall went up to clvl 1+1, and that made some things easier.

The first critter to give Astra a real fight was noteworthy enough to get its picture taken, and came just inside the gates of Kurast:

Astra did not yet have fastest run boots (hey I told ya her eq sucked) and this holy freeze leaper and crew actually forced Astra back into the Jungle a short way. Had to "Sprint" in effect, and kill them with Blaze, because they weren't impressed with slvl 2 Firewall. Yet how do you Sprint when you can't outrun the enemy, thanks to being chilled? I got it done but it was some work.

Finally Meteor on the scene, and starting right off with slvl 1+1, I put it right to work. Geleb and crew ate Meteors (Geleb was toughest, being FEB). Bremm and crew ate Meteors. Meph's uberdrop was junk.

A lot of meteor use in Act 4, but still most things were killed with Blaze. Equipment woes persisted, particularly with crap jewelry. Heph I killed with Blaze, De Seis and Diablo with Meteors.

Diablo was actually pretty easy to kill with Meteor. That was a pleasant surprise. He died to slvl 4 Meteor much easier than to slvl 4 Blizzard on Bluebonnet's run through normal.

Some item improvements had started to come late in Act 4. I bought a nice armor and helm from Hratli. In fact, I got a fantastic helm: Amber of Stability, 48% Lit Resist, Fastest Recovery. What that means is that the belt and boots are free for other things. Hotfoot had to stick with a plain old plated belt of stability because her boots and helm were both vital yet neither had fastest hit recovery, and having AT LEAST one of those on your eq is essential to a Hot Babe, who has neither cold nor teleport for escapes. The armor was a Strong Gothic of Mammoth, 182 DR and +35 Life. From Jamella I got a Ruby wand of Magus, and that maxed my previously weak Fire Resistance.

Astra completed a Full-Clear of normal. All areas cleared, and cleared only once. She was only mid-clvl-26 though, and I wanted to get some more levels of Meteor under her belt. So I farmed parts of Act 4 over and over again until I leveled her up to clvl 30. I killed Diablo what? Four more times? Five? Not sure. But I did turn up a rare ring (alas, not very good), some boots with fastest run finally, a ring +41 Lit Resist, +38 Life, and upgraded several diamonds, switching over at first to a tower shield with one diamond, then two.

At slvl 30, I added points to Fire Mastery, Hydra, and Meteor, and prepared to enter Nightmare.

- Sirian

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