I lost my first HC CB Sorc to Ancient Kaa. *sniff*.

My new HC CB Sorc had this Skill Plan:
2: CB
3: Warmth
DoE: FA
4: Warmth
5: CB
6: CB
7: SF
8: Warmth
9: CB
10: TK
11: CB
12: Nova (CB @ 5, Warmth @ 3, FA @ 1, SF @ 1, TK @ 1, Nova @ 1)
13: CB
14: Warmth
15: CB
Rad: Ltng
16: CB
17: SF
18: TP (CB @ 8, Warmth @ 4, SF @ 2, TP @ 1, 4 others @ 1)
19: CL
20: CB
21: SF
22: CB
23: Warmth
24: TS (CB @ 10, Warmth @ 5, SF @ 3, TS @ 1, 6 others @ 1)
25: TS
Izual: CB, SF?
26: TS
27: CB
28: TS
29: CB
30: LM (CB @ 13, Warmth @ 5, SF @ 4, TS @ 4, LM @ 1, 6 others @ 1)

After my first HC death, I really did not know what to do differently. Kaa killed me - a LE/MR/ES boss. Finally, I decided, I would use SF for tough bosses, but keep it short-range. Pumping it would bring on the temptation to use it all the time and become another SF/pick-your-favorite-finisher Sorc. Second, if I cannot trap them out of melee range, I needed to remember AND USE my CB tactics - jump in their face and let them have it, preferably from that sweet spot in the SW.

Act I started like this:
Swing!
Hit!
Swing!
Miss!
Repeat as necessary.

The Cave had a LEB Skeleton, and it was safer to melee him. It ALSO had a Mana Burn Boss Zombie, and I HAD to melee him. Other than that (Swing, Hit, repeat ad nauseum), the first part was simple . . . and boring. I killed Raven at clvl 6, and found a nice rare quilted armor in the Mausoleum. Then I returned for my free Rogue, and was given Aliza. The Crypt had three bosses, and Aliza stood back and let me deal with them. Sadly, she was lost early in the Stony Field.

I was still using a superior club at clvl 8, but I had found a light belt of stability, a skull cap with Fast Hit, and a small shield with +9 mana/MD-1, plus minor rings and amulet. I entered Tristram at cvl 8, and found FOUR Carver shaman with packs, plus a 4-pack of Returned archer champs just North of the Portal! That used up half of my light belt, but I figured the worst was over. Gris is slow, and that means I can avoid him. There should be another skel archer boss pack in the SW, and the rest is clean-up. In the SW, I found a Cursed Boss Night Clan instead of the Returned Archers! Keeping this story short, I ran. At first. Eventually, I fought back. And after Gris (like I said, slow - and I used SF, mainly as a test), I found a 4-pack of Night Clan champs!

I suppose I should not complain, since I hate archers most of all, and this is the fewest I have found in Tristram. There were a few stray archers with Gris, but not enough to give me a hard time. I found NO gems at all, and only a small shield that tempted me for the Vulpine factor. But MD-1 is worth more to me right now, when my resists are small-to-nonexistent. I also finally had enough gold to afford a staff, so I started haunting Akara for a CB+3. Considering the trouble I went to in Act II with my now-deceased CB Sorc, I decided to settle for CB+3/Fast cast, not wait for Fastest, and then save my money to gamble for Frostburn & Nightsmoke, and maybe Tarnhelm.

I was welcomed to the Marsh by a Vile Archer boss, but managed to stay out of the way of her death explosion. The next boss, a carver shaman, did get me. I went down to a sliver, and I suppose it was good that I had killed most of his minions first or they might have finished me off. I decided it was carelessness that had killed me. I will have to remember Sorcs are fragile . . . and I pumped Vitality when a Blood Hawk Nest advanced me to clvl 10{:) I will try to keep my base life equal to or greater than my mana, and then BE CAREFUL!!

After clearing the surface, I went for the Tower, and found my first Tower stair trap. A contigent of Ghosts and a Dark Archer Boss pack were waiting, and I almost emptied my belt dealing with them. I was too busy to get a picture of the boss - usually I have time at the end of a fight! The next level held a Ghost Boss pack and not much else. It took some time, with a retreating fight, to kill that one. Level 3 had a Dark Archer Boss, with mana burn. Ouch! You could not get close enough to hit her because she runs, and when you shoot it out, her arrows steal your mana so you have to hit her, then see above. I wasted a minor blue, then cornered her and clubbed her to death. Level 4 had no boss, no champs, and only 6 monsters - 4 Blood Clan and 2 Dark Archers. What's up there? Previously, each level had it's own boss or champ pack. Level 4 had Ghost champs, but they are not mana burn, so they died easily. I lured out the Countess' minions, then took her on. This time she took more bolts before dying, so she hit me once - you could see the flame from her hit, but that was all. She dropped a vicious saber, which replaced my enhanced damage club. I asked Charsi what she thought:

"I don't know, Yenkabolta, with your hair tied back you kinda look like Errol Flynn in "Swashbuckler".

"All right, thanks Charsi!" I ran off to check Akara's stock of staves.

"It wasn't a compliment...she didn't hear me. Oh well, if she's happy with it..."

I jumped into the Hole with my new sabre, and sliced up everything in sight. Maybe I should look for an ITD weapon and go melee/CB. Hmmm. There were TWO Misshapen boss packs on level 1, and level 2 had a Dark Archer CE boss pack with a boss I never separated from her pack, much less a screenshot. But I know she was a CEB, because I was zapped by her death throes. There was also a 4-pack of Carver shaman, but I never saw another boss pack on level 2. I made clvl 11 down there, and raised CB to slvl 5, and pumped vitality again. Next up, mana, then strength, I think. I need 60, but I will probably stop at 55, unless I gamble Frosties early. That way I can keep raising energy/vitality, and be only 1 level away from using Frosties whet I find them.

The Highlands greeted me with . . . Dark archers, spike fiends, and Returned archers. AAAARRRRGH! NO melee monsters at all! I ran out of mana fast, because they stayed too far away to blast them. Talk about being tempted to skip full clear! I killed them all eventually, but there was a lot of time wasted recharging mana. Fortunately, these are monster classes, and there were some melee variants wandering around. I watched a Dark Lancer drop Shadowfang! I almost switched, but decided even 25% blocking is better than nothing. There was yet another Misshapen boss, this one aura-enchanted, who had me back to the Highland entrance before I could dispose of him plus his pack. It is much harder without a staff to raise my CB slvl; YenkCB had bought a CB+2 by now, and I am still meleeing when my mana runs out.

I made clvl 12 early in the Pit, and decided I needed firepower, so I bumped CB to slvl 6, and will add Nova next level. The Bone Warriors crumpled nicely to CB, and even the Dark Archers were dying in 2 medium-range shots. I thought maybe a socketed CB staff would give me a nice melee weapon for Normal difficulty, but there has been nothing better than plain CB+2, not socketed. Just before entering the Monastery, I saw a long staff of CB+3, and at 6900, it was cheap enough I could afford a better one if one should come along. I also started checking Gheed for belts, chain boots, & skull caps, and the first belt to come along turned out rare! Poison duration -25%, fire resist 9%, +8 mana, +3 life. That should last through Act II or until Nightsmoke! Act IV will require high resists, and maybe Act III. Nothing of note occurred through the jail; see monster, see monster die. A Bone Archer Boss proved stubborn and I used most of my light belt of stability, and later Pitspawn charged out of a chamber! Isn't there a leash law in this town? I thought he was SUPPOSED to be in a kennel (behind a closed door). But he still died, and I even avoided his death throes. Yaay!

I wandered through the rest of the jail and into the inner cloister. Flamespike was SO much easier with CB - he can run, but he can't avoid THE WAVE! Muuuhahahaha. I was feeling tough, and the cathedral immediately humbled me. I destroyed the obligatory devilkin shaman and his brood, took one more step, and found a Tainted Boss (Snot Shield the Mauler - Extra Fast) AND a Wraith Boss (Snot Shield the Mauler - Stone Skin) WITH their packs chasing my tail right out of there. Note their names are identical. The only reason I am certain they are not pictures of the same monster is the enhancement had changed. Weird. I made a fighting retreat, killing a few minions before being pushed into the inner cloister. There I had wounded enough of the Tainted that they kept their distance, and I was able to separate them from the Wraiths enough to take care of the Wraiths. But I STILL had to make a run back to camp before finishing the Tainted. Stepping out of the WP they were, of course, waiting. I spammed CB all over them and pretty soon was down to the Boss. He was pretty hyper, but alone was not so tough as he claimed. Then, back in the Cathedral, Bone Ash showed his ugly face. MR makes a tough foe for any Sorc, but I had poison duration -25% x 2, and just had to drink a few minor reds, and one minor blue, plus some happy feet. Exciting, but never a critical time. I made clvl 14 right after entering the Catacombs, and added another point to Warmth, and points to Energy.

There was a NASTY Shaman Boss pack guarding the "treasure room" on Cat 1. I counted 5 minions, who set up a crossfire of fireballs, plus the Boss. By this time I had been buying minor reds because I had used up everything else I found. Their rate of heal was insufficient to keep up with the crossfire from the pack, and twice I retreated while drinking purples just to stay alive. Slow and steady wins the race, and I whittled away at the Boss. I would do some damage and have to retreat, heal, restock, and repeat. I made one town trip, too, before I killed the Boss. He had to go first because he kept raising the minions I killed! Once he was down, I was able to mow down one minion, then I still had to retreat & restock, before I could kill the rest. Somewhere in there, one minion had wandered away from the main pack, which made it easier for me to kill the rest. There was also a Shaman Champ pack that were obstinate. But the Shaman Boss was the worst fight through Cat 2.

I hired Wendy (fire arrow) for the last 2 levels. We were greeted by a welcoming crew, Flesh Eye, a TP Ghoul Lord and pack. Yikes! I figured she was toast, but she stood back and let me deal with them. But it turned out that she was addicted to doors. She kept opening doors I left alone.

"Don't you know that curiousity killed the cat?"

"But I'm not a cat. I'm a Rogue!"

"Look, if you just throw open a door like THIS, you never know what . . . uh oh."

I had opened a door on another Afflicted Boss pack. Yikes! They were after us, and we fought hard. Bolts from me and arrows from her were all over the place, and so were the Afflicted. Once they were hurt, they ran away, and if you got too close, they ran again. Pretty soon we were surrounded, but then the CB's started killing them. Soon there was just one minion and the Boss, and I thought we were out of trouble.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Oh No! Wendy died. I looked around, but her arrow had taken the minion with her, and I redoubled my attacks on the Boss. He fell quickly. Nuts! So close to surviving that one. The rest of the level was uneventful.

I ended up in the stairway of level 4 alone. Completely alone. It was even empty of monsters. Weird. So I hired Heather, an Ice Arrow wench, and we went into the next room. It had ANOTHER Afflicted Boss (Sin Skin the Wraith - Spectral Hit) and his pack. Was the first pack a foreshadow of this entire Act? I emptied my mana ball, then saw the poor girl about to die, so I ran for the TP. We made it back for healing, then returned. This time we wiped them out, and went around the room clearing away the Devilkin and Shaman. Another quick trip for healing, and I opened the door . . . with TK this time. Remember what happened the last two times I opened a door with a Rogue nearby? Yes, it was A THIRD Afflicted Boss (Sin Skin the Wraith - Stone Skin), my fourth or fifth for the Act!

Note the names - identical again, just different enhancements.

I tried to stop them at the door, but I needed to get away from their @#$%@ breath weapon. That allowed the whole pack to get through, and one of them cornered Heather. She never had a chance; my hands were full just staying alive. I gave up when I heard her cry out, and ran for the TP yet again. After healing, I really let them have it. Through all this, Andi never stirred. A couple of devilkin wandered out, then a ghoul, and FINALLY my stray bolts woke her. And, yes, another pack of Afflicted! At least one was a minion, but I think it was a leftover, because I never noticed a boss. Of course, I was busy with the ghouls, devilkin, and Miss Halitosis herself, so I could have missed it. After nearly being surrounded and trapped by her cohorts, I ran for the TP. When I returned, she was waiting, and we fought for a few seconds before I had to run for the stairs. I came back down, and this time it was just us in the stairway. After a brief discussion of tactics, we settled on spellcasting, and we duked it out this way until she was nearly dead. Then she charged.

Have I mentioned what happens when someone charges into my CB attack? Heheheh. Fried chicken! And so she died. She dropped a normal amethyst, and 2 chipped skulls. Amethyst is the only gem with no real use. Why not a diamond? Oh well. Act I completed, HC, clvl 16, with only slvl 7+3 CB, and an occasional slvl 1 SF, for offense.

Act II started with a run to Drognan. He had a gnarled of the Magus with FB+3/Warmth+2. Why not CB? I was so despondent I ran down to throw myself into the river, but when a Burning Dead threw himself at me, I responded instinctively. ZAP! Oh well. The first and third levels were straightforward, and only the burning dead archers slowed me down on the second. I spent quite a while waiting for mana to recharge, and made extra trips to town to recharge and check Drognan. I am sure he was getting tired of seeing me because he kept offering staves of Magus or Apprentice with CB+2, or Magus with FB+3. Finally, after completely clearing the second level, he was eager to greet me.

"Allow me to advise you. This gnarled staff goes so well with your eyes, my dear."

"I was really looking for something in green."

"Just try it out. I'm sure it will grow on you."

"What's this? CB+3 and Magus? I think I love you!"

I made clvl 16 in the far end of the third level, and decided to add CB and save Ltng for Rad's tome. Heh. Getting ahead of myself, aren't I? Adding the points to Vitality gave me a base Life of 115 & mana of 105. There was a skill shrine just around the corner from Rad's lair, so I took blatant advantage of it. That gave me CB 8+3+2, and once I cleared the entrance (temporary, I know), I ran through and blasted away on the old man. I had poison duration -25% x 3, so I just let him breathe on me while I drank 2 purples and 2 light blues to keep my spells coming. Towards the end there were enough monsters banging on me to drink some light reds, too, but he was almost dead anyway. He actually a dropped a useful ring - poison resist 27%. But I still have zero ltng resist, which will have to change.

I entered the Rocky Waste. After the initial greeting committee, I was more formally welcomed by a Huntress Boss & Slinger Boss, with their packs. This was my first Slinger Cat Boss, and she ran me most of the way back to town, but she died eventually. Cliff Leapers are FUN! Zap them, watch them skitter back faster than the bolts, then get hit again and die! It is pretty rare that one moves enough to get out of the way of an entire wave of bolts, too. Several times, one was caught by my FA, and I zapped without apparent effect. But when it unfroze, it jumped over and landed on the other side, dead. Darn it anyway *g* .

Why are Sorc's so fragile? No decent equipment ever drops for us. My first amulet in Act II was Mana+1. I had a piece of junk mana+2 from Act I, so the new one went into the trash can, err, Fara's stock. The other reason we have trouble surviving is . . . stupidity. I KNOW Creeping Feature has a dying Frost Nova, I could SEE his life was low, and I STILL got caught by it.

*in unison* STUPID!!

Down to 1/4 life, too. That could have been the end with a slightly tougher boss.

"You mean like Ancient Kaa?"

Ouch, low blow. YenkCB died to Kaa.

"Yeah, remember that lesson, Mister. I don't want to die because of YOUR senior moment."

All right, I'll be more careful. I'll even let you hire a merc.

"One of THOSE losers? Oh, all right. They are good for one fight, and they do tank for me, but that's a lot of moolah, you know."

Would you rather die?

"Hmmm. Good point. I"ll take a dozen."

By the end of the Stony Tomb, I had armor with MD-1 & ltng resist 11%, plus I gambled a pair of cheap boots with ltng resist 17%, and I eventually found a useful amulet of ltng resist 27%. Wow. Quite a run of ltng resists. Maybe I should decide I need +skills items *g* .

I wandered my way through the deserts to the Halls of the Dead, and after disposing of some stubborn bosses, I cubed some potions. Truthfully, I had saved enough minor and light blues to cube 5 full rejuves right away, and before I reached the Far Oasis I made it 6! I saved the normal blues for myself; since I had 130 mana, they were useful. The minor and light blues were not. The only time I use mana potions is when I am completely out of mana and one spell is insufficient. I do not drink one even then unless there are too many monsters to dodge while recharging. So a potion that restores 1/3 or even 2/3 is not worth carrying . . . except to collect for cubing. I also tried cubing a garnet ring and came up with 21%. Certainly better than my current fire resist. That gave me hope, and I plan to cube a cold ring for the viper temple, and then, if I find another topaz, cube THAT into a ltng ring for the palace. . . unless I find another useless ring first{:)

I entered the Far Oasis with it's maggots wearing poison duration of -50% & -25% x 2. I enjoy watching myself turn green then instantly red. When I encounter a Maggot Boss pack I look like a Christmas tree - red/green/red, green/red, green/red/green/red/ green/red. They could spit all they want, and I lost maybe 3 life points unless I wandered too close and let one bite me. I think I will remember this equipment configuration for the Tombs with their Guardian Mummies. I gambled Hsaru's Stay, and stashed the rare belt for the Tombs. +20 Life & 20% cold resist would be needed for the Viper Temple. The rare had +3 Life, +20 mana, minor fire & ltng resist and -25% poison duration, but Hsaru's extra life would probably be necessary for Duriel. I encountered a weird effect in the Lair. A maggot would be near death, then disappear!

He would reappear a second or two later, as if he had TP'd, but without health noticably restored. I first saw it with the Bosses, 2 of them right next to each other, both spectral hit, on Lair level 2. Then, later, a normal maggot and rockwork in close proximity, did the same thing. Weird!

I also decided to change my skill plan slightly. I had originally wanted CL for the Maggots, but did that section before acquiring it. So I will swap points on the way to TS, and do it this way:

19: CL->CB
20: CB->SF
21: SF->CB
22: CB->CL
23: Warmth->evaluate need; perhaps do CB instead.
24: TS (CB @ 11/10, Warmth @ 4/5, SF @ 3, TS @ 1, 6 others @ 1)
25: TS
Izual: CB x 2
26: TS
27: CB
28: TS
29: CB
30: LM (CB @ 15, Warmth @ 4, TS @ 4, SF @ 3, LM @ 1, 6 others @ 1)
DoE: CB
31: LM
32: LM
33: LM
34: LM
Rad: CB
35: TS

The Lost City had a Marauder TP Boss with the usual Poison Cats guarding the entrance. He was a pain, but I drank a purple and gunned him down eventually. Then I found Dark Elder. He had built his own castle, complete with artillery (fire towers). Three of them arranged in a triangle with protective walls outside. To get one, you had to take fire from all three! They are not very Ltng resist, so it took less than a full mana ball to get one . . . while DE and company are pounding on you and cats are throwing poison and Marauders are swinging four arms in unison! Fortunately, there was a well a safe distance away. I made 4 trips to the well and one Town trip (to sell stuff and recharge) before all was quiet!

Down in the Tunnels I ran into Dragon Hearth the Impaler - a LEB Plague Bearer. He was not really fun, but I found a new tactic. There is a double square at the entrance, which makes a wonderful merry-go-round. Shoot the boss, then duck around the corner and let his bolts wander around, wait for him to follow you, and repeat. Painless, if a little slow. But Slow also means careful, and this is HC, where the only prize is a Booby prize . . . for death. I also ran into the sleep bug. If you put my computer to sleep with D2 in full-screen mode . . . it 'automatically" "Save and Exit"'s. I was almost done with the tunnels when I had to leave for a moment. When I came back, all the partial rejuves I left in town were gone, and I had to redo the Lost City from the WP to the Tunnels, and from the Tunnels to the Valley. AAAAAGGGGH!! I felt no need to empty the Tunnels again, though, so I ran to the sections I had not cleared, killed what I found, grabbed a screenshot of the complete map, and left for the Valley.

Temple level one was a walk in the park. I used a minor purple to kill one mummy generator, and a few reds when life was lower than 3/4, but mana was fine. I went into level 2, and was soundly rejected. 3 hits right away, and no minions dead. I went up and healed, then came down and triple-TP'd onto the altar, where I found 2 skels, and 2 Guardians below to raise them when I killed them. After the third time I got tired of this and shot the Guardians, until Fangy got lonely and decided to wander around to the stairs. Yipes! Somewhere in here I kicked the altar accidentally, too. I watched carefully, but he did not seem to want to climb the stairs. An AI bug, perhaps? I shot him safely from the top of the stairs, and he wandered around until I killed him. Strange behavior to my eye, but I am not complaining. I used no full rejuves, and only 1 partial and 1 blue to speed the dying process.

The Harem level 2 was full of Burning Dead archers! I thought they were not supposed to appear until the Cellars. Ouch. Much returning for healing and recharging mana. The first group of monsters dropped a Rare Bone Shield - 60% Block, poison duration -25%, MD-1, poison resist 18%, fire resist 23%, mana +9. Wow! I stashed it for Act III; that kind of blocking/resist/MD combo is worth buying & stashing a wand. There were archers all the way down this time. Usually the third level is free of archers, and I appreciate the respite, but this time I fought them all the way to Fire Eye. As if to make up for the hard time killing archers, he died much more quickly than I expected. I made clvl 21 down here and put the points toward mana and SF, now at slvl 3.

I found a usefel belt in the AS! Fire resist 17%, and life +27. I lost cold resist, but that is less important until Kurast, and the life will be important, so I sold Hsaru's and wore the heavy belt. I made clvl 21 in the AS, and put points into Vitality, and pumped CB to slvl 10+3. Drognan had a Drakes staff with CB+3/Warmth+1/mana +17, but without the Magus so I left it alone. So close . . .

I had been saving money since I found the shield, hoping to need it for a staff, or maybe a wand. Near the end of the AS, I started gambling again. I got chain boots of Ltng 24% . . . I was wearing chain of Ltng 26%. Sigh. I was so disgusted I gambled a pair of heavy gloves, too, and got . . . Bloodfist! Just the ticket after I leave the poison of Act II. Act III has its own poison, but it is not as prevalent. I will be happy there with 50% duration.

The second False Tomb held Kaa. It also held a surprise. This is the first time I have seen a Greater Mummy revive an apparition. It cannot be news to regular players, but it was a nasty surprise to me! I was returning after exhausting and recharging mana, shooting a Revived, when suddenly I saw the "resurrect" graphic, and an Apparition appeared on top of me! Aagh! (smaller case.) Fortunately FA was on at the time. It got one hit and I had time to shatter it before it melted. By now I had forgotten I wanted to hire a merc for Kaa. When I was close, I stocked up with 6 full rejuves, 3 in my belt, and a pack 3/4 full of potions. This time, after disposing of a number of lesser beasts, I accidentally found a sweet spot offscreen from Kaa, just out of range of his magic attack, and ALMOST out of the path of _his_ CB's. I stood there for a while, drinking normal blues, and occasional minor purple when a CB hit me. Then I remembered the need for a screenshot! I dashed in, took one, and ran out . . . all the way out.

That brief exposure had me drinking a full rejuve! The fact that I was casting CB the entire time had NOTHING to do with it. I saw my CB's had mowed down a large number of minions, so I dashed in again to retire 2 more minions, and dashed out drinking a full rejuve. What a punch he packs! Finally I had him down to a sliver, and came in for the kill. Kaa retired - the toughest boss my CB Sorc has met yet! He killed YenkCB, but not Yenkabolta! It takes CB a LONG time to kill high-hp monsters at long range. Perhaps I was overly cautious?

My fourth False Tomb Boss dropped a pair of Coral Chain Boots of the Wolf with 3% more Ltng resist than my current ones and +17 Life! I am apparently starting a collection of +Life equipment. I have Bloodfist +40, rare belt +3 (worn), stability belt+20 (stashed), amulet +22 Life (stashed), and now chain boots +17. I still have only 30/26/40/25(-50/25/25 %) resists, but I have a 2 cold resist rings stashed, although one is only 8% - cubing material.

The end of the fifth False Tomb presented an interesting problem. My pack was full of potions. In the last False Tomb, I finally rearranged it a little. Minor purples are relatively common, and do not restore enough bulk mana to be valuable at this point in the game, so I put a row on my belt and the rest onto the ground in town. I put a row of full rejuves on my belt, and several more in my pack. That left room in the cube for (most of) my super blues, with a few spares in my pack. Normal blues, which restore most of my mana from empty, got a row, and all the spares are in my pack. The best of my reds, greaters, went on my belt with one left over in the pack. All lesser reds went on the ground in town with the minor purples. The lesser blues also went into the cube for eventual cubing, but I am saving my remaining chips. One sapphire, for a cold ring, 2 diamonds for upgrading, and one topaz (need 2) for a ltng ring are all I have left. But now I have, err, had, about a dozen full rejuves . . . in Act II! I was so happy I gambled again. This time I got rare Chain boots, with Fastest Hit and cold & ltng resist, but I would have lost too much ltng resist, so they went, regretfully, back to Elzix. The True Tomb is next, and the big question is whether I should use my shield/wand combo for Duriel, which worked without a death for my SC CB Sorc, or try the CB/TP combo. Death is not an option in HC! OTOH, Yenkacb had WotE for a shield, which HAD to make a difference. Maybe I will use the staff.

Remember my potion juggling? I quit for the night after the 6th False Tomb, and that made it unnecessary . . . because I forgot to pick up my potions before quitting. Big Sigh. I only lost partial rejuves and lesser reds, but still . . . Big Sigh. I went through the True Tomb much slower. There were almost no empty rooms, and the place was lousy with Apparitions, backed up by Ghoul Lords, which in turn were backed up by Revived with their hordes of Burning Dead - fortunately melee! The Apparitions were sometimes revived, but fortunately not the Ghoul Lords or I think it would have been impossible for a non-freezing Sorc! As it was I routinely needed at least one blue, and usually all my belted reds to clear one large room . . . and if it was adjacent to an open door, it took much longer and many more potions. I got used to quick town trips to recharge mana and check Drognan. Finally I cleared the Tomb. Near the end I found another topaz! Yay!

I donned all my +Life gear, boosting Life to 255! Then a Fast Cast ring and a mana +11 ring brought mana to 158, almost 100 less than Life. I hired Greiz's cheapest merc, and tried to set up a Portal in his lair, but failed. For a while I cast CB, then TP'd to the other side, but I was running right through my mana after 2 crossings! Finally I let him get close and blasted CB in his face. He only took about 3 before I noticed his life was a sliver. I tried to get a picture, but he was already dying! Wow. He must have been MAJORLY nerfed since 1.03. I never needed SF for Duriel, but this is still Normal. He dropped a rare Bone Helm with fire/cold resists in the teens and +Life. I put it on in favor of my previous -50% poison duration helm. So ended Act II, at clvl 22 (49k needed for 23) and CB slvl 10+3. I am keeping my rare belt; it is now my only poison duration. I also looked at my resists, and decided I needed additional full rejuves more than ltng resist, so I cubed those topazes.

I found a fellow wanderer in the Spider Forest and called a greeting, but he did not respond. So I sent him a message, and he still did not respond, but he did give me a litter of kittens to play with. What a nice guy. I will have to do something nice for him the next time I see him. My third Thorned Hulk dropped a flawed diamond. Wow! What a start. I made clvl 23 in the Forest, and decided extra Warmth is not really needed. I have too many mana potions unused, and while Warmth is nice, I want to max CB. I left SF at 3; I am only using it for very high HP bosses, and LEB's are being shot down from a distance, too far for SF. Have I talked about the crummy monster drops? Near the end of Act II I saw Civerb's Cudgel go by. Excuse me? I am a SORCERESS! The Forest dropped Vidala's Long Bow . . . again. Hello? Is there some POINT to this? I am not an AMAZON, either!

I mowed my way through the various woods. That's the way it seemed, most of the time. I did have one nasty fight in the Marsh, a pack of Gloam Champions. At least, the champs probably thought it was nasty. It was in the Flayer Jungle I found a fortuitously placed well, and I was able to basically wipe it out from end to end. There were so many Flayers dropping magic and superior armors & helms that when I was away from the well I could justify a town run. This was also responsible for . . . Nightsmoke! Yes, after wasting at least 20 gambles on 2-strap belts, I got it! Yeah! Right after that, Asheara offered a Splint Mail with -75% poison and +49% Ltng resist. Wow! I could hardly wait to pull off my old leather (not even hard leather). I also swapped my Ltng resist amulet for +22 Life. I kept the amulet, though, because EVENTUALLY I will find better boots. I am still using chain boots with fire/ltng 17/21%. Not even Fast Run! I have been gambling every pair of chain boots; soon I will surpass the number of belts I have gambled. NOTHING worth keeping. Oh well. I am also hoping for a helm with cold & fire resist to show up. I am still wearing that rare bone mask, and I HATE it! I get the WORST case of hathead, you know? I feel like I am 8 years old wearing a store-bought Halloween mask, remember those? I made clvl 24 near the end of the Jungle, and put my first point into TS. If I kept it active, which requires an effort at slvl 1, I noticed it making a difference. I remember Yenkacb was VERY happy with TS, at slvl 3, in the RoF. I plan to push it to 3 initially, then slowly raise it to 5 or so, depending upon +skills items. I still gamble skull caps when I see them, hoping for the Tarnhelm.

Lower Kurast was uneventful. Lots of armor to sell in town, nothing usable for a Sorc. Not even a pair of (Frostburn-possible) gauntlets to gamble. I quit when I found the Bazaar WP. The next day was easier than I expected. The Bazaar was no problem, and the Sewers long and tedious. I found a Gem Shrine on Sewers level 2! Only my second, and now I have a normal diamond. I also found a flawed topaz; I am saving it for possible cubing to make a coral ring.

There was one Cursed Horadrim Ancient Boss, Devil Venom who proved troublesome; I was considering a full rejuv when I realized I had not drunk a red recently. That brought my health back up, and he soon died. There was a Bat Boss, too, but he was only notable for his death explosion, which I am REALLY going to have to pay attention to in NM. I am FAR too casual about those. My Life is only 256, and that is with Bloodfist's +40 and some other +Life items. I plan to pump Strength on the next two level-up's for Frosties, then Vitality for a while. My mana is doing pretty good at 180; I will have to see how the RoF goes, though. I remember those spell-casting knights requiring LOTS of CB's *g* . Potions have become plentiful again, perhaps I can use some mana potions to speed up my progress? This is HC; what is the prize for going too fast? Yes, I thought so. Never mind. I will start cubing the greater manas if they become too much trouble *g* . I find myself wishing there was another use for cubing blues - perhaps to make a mana regen ring? Oh, now there's a thought. Imagine +10% regen on a ring or amulet!

I finished the Bazaar, then the two temples, and tried to get a handle of my growing pile of rings and amulets. Unfortunately, I could not afford to do much. So I cubed some diamond chips(!), and decided to take the flawed skull I found and make it perfect in hopes of finding a good socketed helm and sufficient resists elsewhere so I can wear it. Hey, everyone needs a dream, right? I almost missed taking screenshots in the second temple there. The boss was a bat, and he was dead before I could pinpoint him. The only problem with CB is sometimes you do not know exactly what you have killed! I leveled up here, too, and found the tome, so I brought my Strength to 59 (+1 from Cobalt ring) and started adding to mana. Only 1, but hey! every bit counts. TS at slvl 2 is noticably better, and I remember TS @ 3 sometimes getting monsters before I could get a bolt out. TS @ 4 ought to be just right{:)

Upper Kurast was no big deal, although Vile Grin the Impaler, a MR Thorned (Bramble?) Hulk chased me back to the Bazaar. The Ruined Fane had a serious stair trap. Dragon Slime, an Aura Enchanted Corrupted Archer Boss was backed up by a contigent of serpent mages and beetles. I had a fun time cleaning them out, but they never quite pushed me up the stairs. I did both Upper temples, then I wiped out the last two temples on the Causeway, and moved on up to Travincal. I had the usual greeting - a Heirophant pack led by Gloom Heart, a CEB. I concentrated on the Boss, and my stray bolts took care of all but one minion. That was enough; he healed the boss twice before I got tired of watching. I turned on him, and he was dead REAL fast *g* . That left the boss with no healing, and he died. I did better this time, hugging the west section to acquire the WP, and NOT waking the Council right away. That happened to Yenkacb, and she was fighting Toorc along with half of Travincal. It was only Normal, of course, but Toorc chased her all the way to the Bazaar, trailing Blaze most of the way. He was too fast for her to keep it running all the time! This time Toorc was on the west veranda, where my bolts could get him. He did not care for my actions, and raised Hydras around me. I stood on the veranda of the house just a little further west, and was able to kill him relatively safely. I played with the others, but when I was close enough to bombard them, they raised too many hydras around me. At one point I was chased back to town by those hydras; they pack a mean punch when they come by the dozen. I got tired of that, and just charged in . . . well, to be precise, my CB's charged in, and I followed. I soon ran out with Ismail in tow, and dealt with him. Then I mowed down the rest of the council minions too fast for picture taking! Geleb was almost an afterthought. He was huddled in a corner of the veranda in the SE, and hardly protested.

The Durance had a nice greeting for me. Pulse Sludge the Quick was a Cursed Blood (Night?) Lord Boss, and he forced me to drink a full rejuve, plus a few blues and reds. After that, level two was easy *g* . I found a skill shrine right next to the Bazaar WP, and stopped there on the way to level 3. Level three had an even better greeting - a Night Lord Champion pack that brought Bremm with them! Yikes! I skipped around a LOT, drinking purples of both kinds, with an occasional super blue. I took the stairs twice before I could dispose of the Champions, including one town trip to restock my pack and belt. Then I went back for Bremm. He had healed! Aargh. I gritted my teeth and played happy feet, as Sirian puts it, but even with Faster boots he was faster, and I went through my belt AGAIN and took the stairs to restock it. I was getting pissed now. I went back to the skill shrine, then returned.

I found him huddled in the corner. Huh? What's this? He had over half health, but I never argue with AI bugs like this. I mowed him down to less than 1/4 before he moved in, but he moved too late. Slvl 11+3+2 CB has 18 bolts averaging 10 points. At least a quarter (I think) were hitting him in the corner, and the closer he got, the more he got. He had time to hit me once, I drank a full rejuve out of fear/habit, then he died. Whew. After that, the other two were "routine" super-unique boss fights. So to speak. I made a decision to NOT restock my belt with 8 full rejuves, and returned to using partials along with normal reds. I did leave one, though. I am not a complete fool.

Yenkabolta had a tougher time with Mephisto than Yenkacb. Of course, if I had not stood still and let him beat on me it might have been different. I did this until my belt was empty, then I returned to town. I did it again, and Meph still had almost 1/2 his life. I decided some strategy was called for. After all, if I wanted to stand still and beat on monsters, I could do that with a Barb{:) I went back again, and this time when he came for me, I ran. Then I turned and almost immediately ran again, because those cold balls of his were hitting for half my life! Soon he got tired, aand started throwing lightning. This I could sidestep and then throw my own bolts, which I did. This worked much better, and when he charged, I ran, rinse and repeat, until he died. I was picking up the loose change when a meteor was suddenly targeted on me!

"@#$(&$#!" I said!

It turned out there was a Night Lord hidden all the way in the back of the level. HE did not last, of course, but for a moment I thought I had missed an entire section!

Mephisto dropped (drum roll please) a RARE . . . Great Maul. Double Whoopee. Strength required, 99. Yeah, right. I sighed, and cleaned up my town piles. Not much left, the council forced me to use all but 2 greater reds and 2 greater blues, and I had one full rejuve in my belt, with 4 more in the cube. And I was worried about wasting all those good potions. I should have known better.

I went on into Act IV. The first two monsters, DK's, each dropped greater blues. My potion worries seem to have been unfounded. A little while later, I found the Boss of the Steppes. He was a Corpulent. His minions came at me single file.

Batter up!
Whack! Ting!
Whack! Ting!
Wow! Two minions, two amulets! I like this.
Batter up!
Whoops! Hey, no fair throwing three at once! And that one was a duster, too! Stand right here and say that to my face!

The Boss didn't like my eliminating them one at a time, and came after me. He forced me to drink one of those blues, but he died, and dropped a blue crystal sword or some such. The amulets turned out to be garbage, of course, but it's the principal. If enough amulets drop, EVENTUALLY one will be useful, right? Since I entered Travincal, I had been trying the 3 ammies into 1 ring (and back) formulas, trying to cube a decent jewelry. I tried it three times, and decided to go back to selling them. Oh well. I had one nasty chase towards the end, and found myself cornered by Balrogs. Did I mention what happens when monsters rush headlong into my CB's. Oh, I said it before? Several times? OK, I will not repeat myself. Only higher-level GS has worked as well for me (I said 'for me") in this usually desperate scenario.

Time for the Plains, I said.

"NOT!"

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Me!"
"Me!"
"Me!"

I had Pit Lord Champs chasing me back up the stairs! I took them down, but could not set foot upon the Plains until they were all dead. There was a nice circle of nothing where I could race Izzie fairly close to the stairs. I did just that, and for one crazy moment we really were dancing! I saw him turn about 3 full circles at full speed, like a ballet dancer up on point. I was so astonished I forgot to shoot him! We went round and round, and TS did a substantial amount of the damage. So did CB *g* . I spent a lot of time waiting to recharge mana, and when I noticed how TS was hitting Izzie every time, I made a point of keeping it going. He hit me once, and slowed me twice, and I drank 2 greater reds, and one minor purple to recharge mana when I was tired of my slow progress. But slow and steady wins that battle, and this time I was actually off-screen when my CB's got him. He pushed me most of the way to clvl 26. I put both points to CB - slvl 13+3!

I had to look hard to find the stairs, but I made it down to the City of the Damned, where I found . . . Damned! Duh. Lots of Damned. And when they were dead, I found more Damned. Oh wait, there's a Stygian Hag with her young. And behind her, there were (all together now) more Damned. I had one nasty fight where I ran out of mana and waited for it to recharge. As Julia Roberts said, 'Big mistake." That left about 6 wounded, which meant they went into shoot mode. Yikes! I reconsidered putting both points into CB instead of one to Warmth. I also started drinking. Heavily. I drank 3 greater reds, 2 supers, 1 minor purple, 1 greater blue, and 2 super blues. Just for 6 Damned, you say? Ridiculous!

Yes, for just 6 Damned. And the 6 Damned that were right behind them. And the 3 DK's that came up. And the 2 Hags with Young that followed. And the 6 Damned that finished this group. I kid you not. And it was not, "kill 6 Damned, kill 6 more, kill 3 Dk's, okay now 2 Hags." It was, shoot 6 Damned, and while shooting wake up 6 more, which join the shooters, and while running to avoid some of their breath (can't avoid it all) wake up 2 DK's, and when I turn to deal with them, see baby Hags coming from 2 directions, think "Oh No 2 of them", decide the Damned were better . . . You get the picture yet? Did I mention there were a lot of Damned? And I was only at that weird bridge formation! While this was exciting, it was never really threatening. The only hard hits were from the DK's, and if I let the Damned shoot and hit me all at once (yes, I did - ONCE) they could take me down to half-life in one volley. But I learn fast, and I moved fast too once I realized what I had stepped in. Bolts were flying EVERYWHERE for a while, plus that Damned breath weapon (groan{:), and it was hard to see what was dead for a while. Finally I was done, so I sorted out my belt, restocked what I could, collected the salable, cast a TP . . . and was attacked again.

"By what?" you ask.

Must you? Pretty soon I was in the thick of it, with no DK's this time, but Pit Lords instead. I finished them off, started picking up the salable stuff, and this time was able to return to town. I finally had my first chance at Frosties. Dex +5. Bleah. Oh well. I restocked and came back. I took two steps and found . . . yes. Another long fight, but I was learning. This time I did not hesitate when I ran out of mana. Gulp! Pretty soon another pack was dead. This repeated every time I broached new territory. Finally I cleared the City, and quit for the night. All the way through 3 Acts and the first 3 areas of Act IV, I had seen 1 (one) pair of regular gauntlets for gambling. OTOH, the amulets and rings I have found so far in Act IV gave me about MD-4 and D-2 for the Big D.

I re-cleared the area around the WP, thinking I might be running for my life if the River stairs were trapped. They were not, and I cleared the River fairly routinely. Even Rot Drool, a MR Strangler Boss that chased me most of the length of the river because I was unwilling to stand, cast, be hit, and drink, was not really life-threatening. When I found the WP there were two areas unexplored. I chose the one closest to the stairs. Mistake! I managed to clear out some of Heph's followers, but eventually he came out and followed me to a long crack where I could stand and cast, mostly. Sometimes he would find the end and come after me, and sometimes he would wander off. He swung three times, and hit once for 1/2 my life, and a curse. I ran a LONG time until I was opposite him, then waited until the curse wore off before I retrieved him. TS did a great job here, and landed the next-to-last blow, but ultimately he fell to CB.

His forge yielded a perfect skull, flawless topaz and amethyst, and normal sapphire - I was hoping to socket a helm, and now I have the skull. I am waffling between ruby and sapphire - I need both life & mana! OTOH, I have no ruby at all *g* . I did not want a black helm, but I may be stuck with one, waiting for a perfect sapphire or ruby. Oh well.

I went through the maze fairly easily. Are potion drops a Blizzard North joke? I must have seen a dozen thawing potions drop in my last session. In Hell. Thawing Potions. In Hell. Think about this. Oh well, I thought it was funny. The Stranglers were not too tough, and the Pit Lords died easily, especially with a TS bolt in them. I saw some real use from TS through here. Three times it took out a monster, in one shot, that was just coming on screen, and I know it hits offscreen, so there were probably more. I got through the maze, and entered the CS. Initially, I saw monsters in three or four, so I was never chased out. I was at the second L when I encountered a group of OKs. These chased me to the entrance, but only one or two at a time.

Then a purple beauty showed up - Venom Lord Champion. All alone. OK, not ALONE alone, but only the one champ. I kept pressing inward, and I was most of the way to the left-side seals before I saw the rest. Hoo boy, did I find the rest! They were FAST, but do you remember what happens when a monster runs up into my CB's? Hehe. The closer they run, the harder they fall. At close range even Champs die in 3 shots. This is something that has been true since about the Catacombs in Act I. Unless I am majorly distracted, no normal, non-mr, non-lr monster gets close to me with over half it's life. Usually it is less than 1/4, and sometimes I have wished I did not have to "waste" an entire CB on the sliver of life I see. Even here in the CS the champs were down to half their life before they were close enough to swing . . . and none completed it. The OK's were a real pain. I did a lot of running away from what I think are Bone Spirits. Balls of light with rays sticking out that shoot a LOT further than the SC's mana drain? Anyway, after being hit once I decided I did not want to try it while cursed, or take 3 at once, or one from a Minion/Champ/Boss. The Storm Casters were tough, too. They usually took three good shots, to die, and I tried not to get that close, so four was the minimum.

The seals were interesting. I like to take on De Seis first, if only because his is the only single seal. I have not memorized which seals do nothing, so I figure I might as well finish one certain fight. This time it was different. I opened it, then ran around the corner without looking back. Nothing. ??? Very cautiously, I took a peek. Still nothing. Hmmm. I decided maybe I should go back to town, maybe that will "reset" the seal. I went around the next corner, and THERE THEY ARE! THEM AND THEIR GRANDMOTHERS TOO! They jumped me from a direction I thought was absolutely safe, and no snake (maybe an eel{:) has ever slid a more tortorous path zigging around the maze of cold, poison, fire, and spirits than I did. I ran FAST out of their sensing range, took a deep breath and a deeper drink - one cold shot hit me in the back after I was past them, as I ran a straight path an instant too long for safety - and headed back into the fray. The lesser knights were circling their Lord like satellites, and I was able to use this to peel off two or three (never just one{:( and take them down towards the entrance. This went on until there were only three left, plus De Seis. Then I dove into him with a passion, drinking occasionally and running non-stop, and the flying bolts (they were everywhere *g* ) took down first one minion, then himself when he was off-screen, then the other minion. Whew! I restocked my belt, and was looking around for dropped items worth selling, when Wham! Remember I said there were THREE plus De Seis? I did not know it at the time, but one was stuck behind the corner of the "L", and he had not forgotten me! One alone was no problem, though.

Next seal I woke the Vizier, which was good. Really. I told myself I was HAPPY that I now had a harmless seal saved. I kept repeating that because they materialized RIGHT ON TOP OF ME. Once again, I was running, but they must be partly immaterial, because I swear I ran right through two of his minions, or maybe they died to a ("a" means many, you know) CB in the face. I was casting behind me, running, casting behind me, and once I think I cast over my shoulder without turning around{:) I trapped them in the inside of the "L" with only a few still chasing me. OK, one was the Vizier, well, I can keep running around and try again. Here we go, there's the whole bunch, and again I trapped most of them . . . but not the Vizier. OK, one more time on the merry-go-round, trap most of them . . . he's STILL behind me. But now there are only 2 minions. I decided it would not get better, so I looped back around and started fighting. I went round with them in that space where the SC's will not escape, until he died to a point-blank CB. The rest was routine, with me tempting a couple to escape, killing them, rinse and repeat. By the way, to me, "routine" includes panic-stricken-run-out-of-their-range-so-I-can-dump-a-few-potions-in-my-belt. I do this so much that it IS routine. Really. But this time routine meant using not more than a couple of greater reds.

I opened up the Infector of Souls, but this time they appeared in the dead end, instead of between me and running room. So I ran and cast, rinse and rep . . . wait a minute, he just SWUNG at me! That #@$*& is faster than my Fastest Run boots. Yikes! My strategy suddenly changed . . . even faster than he ran{:) I was going to get some distance, then fast-cast until he was close enough to tempt Fate, and repeat. This was no longer an option. Instead, I ran. Every time I stopped to cast, he swung. Sometimes he would hit. This was a tougher fight than I expected! I even drank a full rejuve once, rather than look through my pack for a red. Restocking was NOT an option. One time my fingers slipped and I doubled back through the short, narrow passage between the wall of the CS and the end of the "L" . . . and there was another Venom Lord already there! I said my prayers, certain I was doomed, but I somehow slipped around without taking a death blow. I was reaching for the full rejuve when . . . zap. Yes, it was a quiet zap. Just another TS bolt, right?

Well, "just" another TS bolt killed the Infector! Wow. I could NOT believe I had been let off the hook twice in quick succession. His minions ran up and fried 1-2-3 in the order they came, and I was trying to dry my sweaty hands in an empty Chaos Sanctuary. Three Seal Bosses dead. Just one monster left.

I restocked, and re-armored. I went for the amulet of 22 Life, the MD-2 ring, and waffled over the ruby ring, or the Gidbinn with Fast Cast and D-1 to go with Nightsmoke's D-2. The ring also has poison resist 7%, ltng resist 13%, and +8 max stamina. I finally decided on the Gidbinn, knowing I would probably not have time to regret a mistake . . . but something told me I might need casting speed, and I know Fastest boots can outrun, mostly, his Red Death . . . which is my greatest threat, besides melee.

"Go ahead, Diablo. Charge me. Please run straight into my CB's as fast as you can."

When I taunted him, I did not tell him I would not stick around for his swing. Hehehe. So sorry. I opened the last two seals, and threw a couple of exploratory CB's his way.

Finally I was close enough for him to cast his ring of fire. All right, I can take this. I blasted, he blasted, I blasted, he charged, I blasted then sidestepped about 1/3 the screen and blasted some more. He stopped charging and looked around, puzzled.

"Here I am!" Blast!

He blasted red this time while I was fast-casting! Oops. I ran, but had to drink. Do not bother asking. I have NO pictures of his Red Death. None. Never will. Is that clear?

I returned and we resumed the dance. Once I was really hit by his red death and drank a full rejuve, and once I had nothing BUT full rejuves and ran away to restock. Feeling brave, I put in a full row of super-blues, too, instead of one on top and the rest purple. Thus armed, I returned, and eventually . . .

He died. I kept TS going almost the entire time, but CB got the kill. I was NOT going to wait for TS to finish him off, because although I was tempted, I remembered the only prize in HC is for survival. He dropped . . . Arcanna's Light Plate. Useless by itself, if I can find the entire set it would be fun. Only four items, I suppose it is remotely possible. I saved it, then, when the timer ran down, I forgot to collect my rare skull cap, spare boots, and a set of magic plate mail worth more than the 20K max that I was going to sell in NM. Oh well. I would rather have the title than the gold. Countess! My first!

One last sour note. Through Normal, I was given 1(one) pair of gauntlets in all the gambling screens. They were Dex+5, OK, I understand, those are the odds. But why only ONE shot at Frosties?

I had one major advantage through Normal. By the Highlands I had a staff of CB+2, and by the Monastery I had CB+3. In Act II I added Fastest Cast, and in Act III another Fast. This added a LOT of firepower to a "normal" Sorc's clvl vs. damage curve, and it really showed when I started rebuilding my SC GS Sorc. I had a VERY hard time with her because she never had a natural slvl greater than one until clvl 19. Staves can raise this . . . to a max of 4. Yenkabolta had slvl 8+3 at clvl 19. I am wondering when I will be outgunned. I know Ember made it to Duchess, but Firebolt has one advantage - all its' damage is in one fast, compact, straight-flying(!) bolt. CB is STILL great for crowd control, though. This may make the difference for Hell difficulty. I understand Hell is crowded *g* . But first, Nightmare! Will it be mine, or theirs? Muhahahaha.

- Yenkster

| Yenkabolta's Adventures in Nightmare |

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