ONE HELL OF A CHALLENGE

The easy part was over. Ahead lay the true test of Ember's capabilities pushed to their utmost limits: the Land of Endless Fire Resistance. Just getting a foothold in Hell would be a monumental undertaking, and if I managed to survive there, to work my way through to the Chaos Sanctuary, the fight of Ember's life awaited: the pinnacle of her quest, the ultimate challenge -- and I'm not talking about Diablo.

First things first. Ember had some unfinished business in Act Three to attend.

I made darn sure that I kept that little bastard within sight of the Gidbinn pyre. I was not going to let the game rip me off a second time. I had earned the right to that quest the first time around. No Spectral Hit this time out: Cold/Lightning enchanted.

The ring was, frankly, crap. Ember would never use it, but I kept it anyway in place of the old Duriel ring.

Working from the Flayer waypoint to the village put Ember within twenty percent of leveling. I decided to level her one last time before undertaking the Outer Steppes. So she jumped to the Kurast Bazaar and worked the areas there and in Upper Kurast that she'd skipped the first time around. The only fight of note was a Cantor boss who convinced me, after two minutes, to seek alternative sources of experience. The next thing I knew, Ember was adding five more to Vit and gaining another two damage from Fire Mastery @ 9. More importantly, I as the player had warmed up and would not have to face the worst part of Ember's challenge (aside from the end of the Sanctuary) while dead cold. After all, playing dead cold was a good way to end up cold and dead.

Ember began Act Four at clvl 38 with the following skills, stats and equipment:

Firebolt @ max (+3 from staff)
Fire Mastery @ 9
Warmth @ 13

Str 12, Dex 25, Vit 153, Nrg 80

Primary Gear:

Gemmed Battle Staff: +3 Firebolt, +2 Frozen Armor (unused), w/ flawless ruby and diamond, normal amethyst
Greyform: +20 Cold and Fire Resist, -3 Magic Damage - gambled Act 3 Normal
Burgundy Leather Gloves of Tiger: +18 Fire Resist, +29 Life - bought from Gheed in NM
Amber Light Belt of Tiger: +32 Lightning Resist, +28 Life - bought from Gheed in NM
Rare Boots: Faster Run, Fastest Recovery, +14 Lit Resist, +11 Life, +7 Stamina - gambled Act 2 Normal
Rare Ring: +37 Lit Resist, +29 Life, +1 Light, +130 AR - gambled Act 1 NM
Ring: -2 Damage, +35 Cold Resist - flesh spawner boss, Outer Steppes in Normal
Amulet: +45 Fire Resist, +12 Dex - beetle boss in the Disused Fane in Normal
Rare Cap: Fastest Recovery, +53 Life, +2 Light, +8 Poison Res, +3 Mana - gambled Act 1 NM

Alternate Gear:

Rare Quilted Armor: +49 Lit Resist, +29 Cold Resist, +34 Life, -50 Poison Dur, -20 Req - gambled Act 1 NM
Rare Light Belt: +26 Cold Resist, +15 Lit Resist, Fastest Recovery, +19 Life, +6 Mana - gambled Act 1 NM
Rare Boots: Faster Run, Fastest Recovery, +24 Fire, +11 Poison, +18 Mana, +3 Life - gambled Act 3 NM
Ring: +22 Lightning Resistance, -2 Magic Damage
Hand of Broc, Hotspur, Snakecord, and Bloodfist saved for High Durability Rare purposes (gambling).

Assorted junk that would never see the light of day, saved "just in case" and which need not be enumerated here. Just in case of what, exactly, I don't know. Maybe an eleventh hour gambling hit that would require reshuffling gear. Well... don't hold your breath. Items were the least of my worries now and getting less and less of my attention by the hour.

Ember was overmatched. That's the reality. Remember how painstaking it was to work through Tal Rasha's Tomb against the burning dead? Act Four would be like that end to end, struggling constantly to survive, to maintain control of cleared areas, to establish space in which to work and then to keep the number of opponents at any given time to a low enough number not to lose control.

Ember was badly overmatched. There was no hope at all of walking into Hell and holding her own against its denizens. The one thing she had going for her, is that I knew this, accepted the truth, embraced the challenge. I could not allow the enemy to set the battle conditions, not at any point. I had to dictate my terms to them and lead them into compliance.

That's my greatest tactical strength as a gamer: choosing the battleground and setting the terms of the engagement. I rose to the highest ranking in competitive internet Descent, overcoming numerous opponents with more raw talent and/or superior computer equipment, setting records that would stand for years, by controlling the tempo of the game and dictating terms of engagement on the battlefield through tactics alone. These opponents were far craftier and far more dangerous than Diablo's limitless minions. But this leads to the real test Ember had to face: winning not just one fight as an underdog, not just a dozen fights, but a whole tournament of bouts, and she had to go undefeated the whole way. What's worse, I personally had to endure all the way through to the City Waypoint or it would all go for naught. From City to River WP would not be that bad: I could probably do it in an hour or two, depending on the opponents. Then there would be another grueling test of endurance and precision all the way to the end.

And the vision I just laid out assumed that everything went according to plan, in a best-case scenerio all the way down the line. We all know how likely THAT would be. :)

To have any chance at all, Ember needed room to work. Since the game provided no room, I would have to create some for her. Without Teleport, my only means for escaping a jam without quitting the game was the Town Portal. If I could get the attention of monsters near the entrance, then lead them far enough away that they would not return on their own, escape through a portal, then use the stairs to re-enter Hell, I could gain a foothold at the cost of setting up a dreadful mess in another part of the playfield. If I should have to cross through that area again, filled with a whole mob of angry monsters all bunched together, to reach the Plains of Despair, Ember would be in serious trouble. Yet what choice did I have?

In fact, the only tool Ember had for coping with mobs too large for her to defeat was to lead them somewhere off the beaten path and Portal Park them. As long as Ember did not get trapped before she opened a portal and stepped through, the plan could work. If I hesitated too long and got swarmed, I'd have to quit out (or die) and all progress would be lost.

Let me emphasize that: ONE mistake and all progress could be wiped out just like that. Even if Ember lived, such a disaster might end her quest. I can't overemphasize how grueling this was going to be, and if it proved monumentally tedious, requiring more flawlessless in both tactics and execution than I could manage, I might not have the will (as a player) to make additional attempts.

This was more complex than victory or death. Ember's fate might also be defeat through surrender. There were limits to how far I would personally go to see this quest through to its desired end. My plan did not include trial and error, with limitless Save and Exit and unending repetitive do-over attempts. I wanted to get this right the first time, and as hard as it would be, I would be more inclined here to press the limits and risk Ember's death rather than surrender all her progress. The farther I managed to get, the more committed I would become. I might quit out in the first half hour, for example, to try again another day; but at some time there would be a point of no return, and not even I had any real idea of when that time might come.

And so it begins, in a frenzied mass of peril with death snapping at Ember's heels.

Venom Lords, Doom Casters, and Corpulents. Consider that one prayer answered, one smile from the fates, one sign of hope: no Cliff Lurkers and no Flesh Spawners. Corpulents were the easiest foe for Ember to handle: no fire resistance and no pups. Venom Lords would be ungodly tough, they would be quick and dangerous, two dozen shots apiece under ideal conditions (one on one), but they are the poster childs of my Tempting Fate tactic and Ember could handle them in small numbers. Casters are nasty opponents on the River and in the Sanctuary, but here in the early sections, they can't escape out over lava, to come back later and haunt you. As such, there was no great emergency to preventing them from getting away. They could be tracked down later and butchered in some corner. Thus, just wear them down to below half health and let em run. On the down side, they are fire resistant. Sixteen shots apiece under ideal conditions, figure ten to twelve hits to cause one to flee.

I walked Ember. It took a steady nerve to walk, knowing that I was absolutely walking her right into a hopeless situation, but for the hope of escape through a portal. I needed to keep the attention of all the chasers, though, or at least as many as possible. North I walked, then north and farther north. We finally came to the corner and Ember gave it a wide berth, turning east, now moving toward the lower right corner of the screen. The mob was growing by the second, now easily approaching two dozen in number. Down and down I walked, amazed at how far I'd been able to go. I figured the farther the better, although there might be such a thing as too far, if I parked this whole army on the doorstep of the stairs to the Plains.

Some small chasms appeared ahead, forcing Ember down a relatively narrow area, and I sensed her outing coming to a close. Sure enough, the next moment several Doom Casters showed up, blocking Ember's path forward. I had to run now, turning inland, away from the north edge of the Steppes, between small chasms. Ember is completely surrounded and I have less than moments to get her out of there.

Portal opens, she steps through. So far so good.

To my delight, I find that Ember is now able to set foot in Hell.

The first battle has been won without a shot being fired.

The next task was to scout and see just how much territory I bought with that insanity. Ember doesn't have to venture far to find a Venom Lord and a Corpulent. Microloop fighting back and forth in front of the gate, Tempting the balrog continuously. Tempt shoot shoot shoot, Tempt shoot shoot.

Witness Countess Ember's first kill in Nightmare Act Four:

Twenty-five shots. Nearly two minutes of give and go. Two minutes!

I buckled up and settled in. Unless Ember got killed quickly, this was going to be a very long day.

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