🚀 go-pugleaf

K. Laisathit wrote:
> 
> Out of curiosity, what's it like to be a level 40? I'm
> currently running a level 24 rogue. Not that the normal
> Diablo game is no longer a challenge, but it's getting
> close to that. No, I don't have any cheated items.
> (haven't got a single unique item or any godly or king's
> items either, just some items of stars, sorcery, and vigor)
> 
> The reason I ask is that I can waltz through most of the
> dungeon in normal diff, without fear of dying. Which is,
> in fact, somewhat disappointing. I find the intense feeling
> of an impending doom quite exhilarating. Unfortunely, only
> low level hell still bring about those strong feelings.
> 
> Perhaps, it's time to go to nightmare mode, you suggest.
> But then, I imagine that at level 30 or more, I'd be in
> the same boat as I'm on now. So, go to hell mode, you say.
> I can similarly imagine that my level 40 with much improved
> equipments shouldn't have too much problem there either.
> 
> I have to wonder, what're the level 40+ people doing hanging
> out in battle.net. So a few of them are hacked, but what
> about the legitimate ones? What's left to explore? What's
> the challenge. What do you think?
> 
> Later...


     I think you should backup your character and go into hell on
Nightmare mode. You are in for one heck of a surprise! After you are
killed (which shouldn't take very long), restore your character and
begin playing in Nightmare mode starting with the church and slowly work
your way down. Good luck and have fun!

Gordon Wilson
gkwi...@ix.netcom.com
IronWill on battle.net and KALI

On 25 Feb 1997 01:19:57 GMT, kir...@u.washington.edu (K. Laisathit) wrote:

>I have to wonder, what're the level 40+ people doing hanging
>out in battle.net. So a few of them are hacked, but what
>about the legitimate ones? What's left to explore? What's
>the challenge. What do you think?

I have a legit warrior that's lev 38 at the moment and I can tell you this,
nightmare onwards are a challange. Lets face it, as long as you don't dupe
items and only use stuff that you have found it'll take a while before you
can even waltz into Hell in Hell mode. I have found that Griswold usually
have better stuff than what I can find in the dungeons with the exeption of
jewelry.
Plus, I find it fun to help out lower leveled characters by being their
"guardian" so to speak. Not that I'll clear the level for them but at least
when I am playing with them, they'd know that there is someone with them to
pull their rear ends out of the fire so to speak. 

Stormraven : lev 38 warrior (no Godly shit...yet.)
************************************************************
Man without brains make poor politician.
Man with brains will not be one.
Man with brains and power....well..,that's different.
************************************************************

kir...@u.washington.edu (K. Laisathit) wrote:


>I have to wonder, what're the level 40+ people doing hanging
>out in battle.net. So a few of them are hacked, but what
>about the legitimate ones? What's left to explore? What's
>the challenge. What do you think?

Having just hit level 40 after *way* too much playing, I'm asking the
same thing.  

Now Hell/Hell will always be a challenge (if I leave my 33 charge apoc
staff in my pack!!), don't kid yourself there.  I don't care what kind
of Godly-Emerald-Haste-Dragon-Kings-Zodiac stuff you're wearing- you
are not going to waltz through Hell/Hell.  Even with the apoc staff,
you don't waltz, you kinda shuffle.

BUT, it sure can get tedious.  There were only a couple of things to
hold my interest past doing Hell/Hell the first time (about lvl 34 if
I remember).  One is collecting Uniques (but now I've found about 80%
of those) and the other is helping other players.  Too bad all the
rumors about "secret levels" are just rumors; that could extend the
playability a liittle bit.

In article <5ev6ac$2...@camel1.mindspring.com>,
Maureen Grady <q...@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>BUT, it sure can get tedious.  There were only a couple of things to
>hold my interest past doing Hell/Hell the first time (about lvl 34 if
>I remember).  One is collecting Uniques (but now I've found about 80%
>of those) and the other is helping other players.  Too bad all the
>rumors about "secret levels" are just rumors; that could extend the
>playability a liittle bit.

Now you mentioned tedium. I'm wondering myself about going through
church and cat in nightmare mode. I just can't imagine wading through
legion of them in the more difficult setting. I assume of course that
having more of them (perhaps tougher?) might be the only difference
between these modes. Am I correct here?

Later...

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The legit ones you don't find on battle net because of all the cheating.
They are in private games.  Why spend hours building a char and finding
great items only to be pkilled and have them stolen.  That's why you 
mostly see newbies and pkillers in public games.  All of us high level
characters
are having fun in private games.

[R2]TalonClaw



Maureen Grady <q...@mindspring.com> wrote in article
<5ev6ac$2...@camel1.mindspring.com>...
> kir...@u.washington.edu (K. Laisathit) wrote:
> 
> 
> >I have to wonder, what're the level 40+ people doing hanging
> >out in battle.net. So a few of them are hacked, but what
> >about the legitimate ones? What's left to explore? What's
> >the challenge. What do you think?
> 
> Having just hit level 40 after *way* too much playing, I'm asking the
> same thing.  
> 
> Now Hell/Hell will always be a challenge (if I leave my 33 charge apoc
> staff in my pack!!), don't kid yourself there.  I don't care what kind
> of Godly-Emerald-Haste-Dragon-Kings-Zodiac stuff you're wearing- you
> are not going to waltz through Hell/Hell.  Even with the apoc staff,
> you don't waltz, you kinda shuffle.
> 
> BUT, it sure can get tedious.  There were only a couple of things to
> hold my interest past doing Hell/Hell the first time (about lvl 34 if
> I remember).  One is collecting Uniques (but now I've found about 80%
> of those) and the other is helping other players.  Too bad all the
> rumors about "secret levels" are just rumors; that could extend the
> playability a liittle bit.
> 
> 
> 
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<html><head></head><BODY bgcolor=3D"#FFFFFF"><p><font size=3D2 =
color=3D"#000000" face=3D"Arial">The legit ones you don't find on battle =
net because of all the cheating.<br>They are in private games. &nbsp;Why =
spend hours building a char and finding<br>great items only to be =
pkilled and have them stolen. &nbsp;That's why you <br>mostly see =
newbies and pkillers in public games. &nbsp;All of us high level =
characters<br>are having fun in private =
games.<br><br>[R2]TalonClaw<br><br><br><br>Maureen Grady &lt;<font =
color=3D"#0000FF"><u>q...@mindspring.com</u><font color=3D"#000000">&gt; =
wrote in article &lt;<font =
color=3D"#0000FF"><u>5ev6ac$2...@camel1.mindspring.com</u><font =
color=3D"#000000">&gt;...<br>&gt; <font =
color=3D"#0000FF"><u>kir...@u.washington.edu</u><font color=3D"#000000"> =
(K. Laisathit) wrote:<br>&gt; <br>&gt; <br>&gt; &gt;I have to wonder, =
what're the level 40+ people doing hanging<br>&gt; &gt;out in =
battle.net. So a few of them are hacked, but what<br>&gt; &gt;about the =
legitimate ones? What's left to explore? What's<br>&gt; &gt;the =
challenge. What do you think?<br>&gt; <br>&gt; Having just hit level 40 =
after *way* too much playing, I'm asking the<br>&gt; same thing. =
&nbsp;<br>&gt; <br>&gt; Now Hell/Hell will always be a challenge (if I =
leave my 33 charge apoc<br>&gt; staff in my pack!!), don't kid yourself =
there. &nbsp;I don't care what kind<br>&gt; of =
Godly-Emerald-Haste-Dragon-Kings-Zodiac stuff you're wearing- =
you<br>&gt; are not going to waltz through Hell/Hell. &nbsp;Even with =
the apoc staff,<br>&gt; you don't waltz, you kinda shuffle.<br>&gt; =
<br>&gt; BUT, it sure can get tedious. &nbsp;There were only a couple of =
things to<br>&gt; hold my interest past doing Hell/Hell the first time =
(about lvl 34 if<br>&gt; I remember). &nbsp;One is collecting Uniques =
(but now I've found about 80%<br>&gt; of those) and the other is helping =
other players. &nbsp;Too bad all the<br>&gt; rumors about &quot;secret =
levels&quot; are just rumors; that could extend the<br>&gt; playability =
a liittle bit.<br>&gt; <br>&gt; <br>&gt; </p>
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"Frank Liu" <bf1...@binghamton.edu> wrote:

>Well my level 39 sorceror is close to 40 and he can go thru hell hell easy
>as long as there r no monster immune to fire or resistance to lighting.
>Those soul burners and hell spawns r hard to kill but as long as u know
>when to retreat u shouldn't die. Those knights r damn easy now. I can get
>surrounded by 8 of them but can still hack it out with just a regular king
>sword and a storm shield.

Fascinating- I know I've done Hell/Hell over 25 times (often just as
far as Lazarus) and I don't believe I've ever once been there without
having to face immune all bad guys.  

dywi...@scf.usc.edu (Donald Wilson) wrote:

>Do these wonderful unique/godly items I keep reading about actually exist.
>Have you encountered them in your travels? Can I hope to finally get some
>really decent kit by persevering here?  Its getting kind of boring and the
>only thing that sustains my interest while I wait for the inevitable add-on
>pack is the hope that there is some good equipment to be had.

>From my own *very* brief experience at lvl 40 and mostly from talking
to others, it does seem you start finding better things at that level
and certainly get offered better things in town.  Since writing the
previous I've picked up a Godly Helm (grand one even) of Whale from
Wirt and a Meteoric (long war) Bow of Lightning from Gris.  The really
good stuff seems much more accessible in town once you're lvl 40.

As for Uniques- I've found about 80% of them and probably more than
half in hell (any mode).  What fancy jewelry I've found has always
come from hell (again, any mode) and for whatever reason, has always
come off a decaptitated corpse.

I think people underestimate how very, very rare some of the rare
stuff is.  Once something starts getting duped on b.net, it gives the
impression that it is everywhere to be had.  Also, I get a big kick
out of the people who always start yelling, "THAT DOESN"T EXIST IN THE
GAME!!" simply because they've "been to hell/hell 50 times and would
have found it if it did."  Pshaw.  

One example, I found a King's (great) Axe of Haste in Nightmare Hell
quite some time ago.  I've held onto it (thinking I'll do a warrior
someday) but have never seen or heard of another one.  I've had people
offer me their souls and their firstborn children for it and they say
that they've never seen one or heard of anybody having one.  

So I believe the answer to your question is, yes, those really, really
nice things can be found  in hell (I tend to find better in NM mode
than Hell mode) but they are really, really, really rare.

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I don't think it matters how high level your character is.  If you go into
the dungeon first on Hell skill level you are in the fight of your life.
On level 15 and 16 there are almost always immune monsters.

                                                         [R2]TalonClaw



> 
> Fascinating- I know I've done Hell/Hell over 25 times (often just as
> far as Lazarus) and I don't believe I've ever once been there without
> having to face immune all bad guys.  

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<html><head></head><BODY bgcolor=3D"#FFFFFF"><p><font size=3D2 =
color=3D"#000000" face=3D"Arial">I don't think it matters how high level =
your character is. &nbsp;If you go into<br>the dungeon first on Hell =
skill level you are in the fight of your life.<br>On level 15 and 16 =
there are almost always immune monsters.<br><br> =
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&=
nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&n=
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sp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbs=
p;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[R2]TalonClaw<br><br><br><br>=
&gt; <br>&gt; Fascinating- I know I've done Hell/Hell over 25 times =
(often just as<br>&gt; far as Lazarus) and I don't believe I've ever =
once been there without<br>&gt; having to face immune all bad guys. =
&nbsp;<br><br></p>
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I just hit 40 yesterday and was expecting a great chnge in the eqiupment i
found on the ground. Unfortunately, it seems about the same. Wirt, griswold
and adria have been selling me more interesting things since about 39, but
nothing in the godly plate of whales range. They have so far offered me
emeral sword (+45% resistall), obsidian shield of the tiger, cape of the
whale (ac 2, +95 hp),  arch angel staffs, regular swords of sluaghter,
plate of sorcery etc. Nice equipment, but not incredible. Well, maybe at
41.....

James Carter <Ja...@NOSPAM.NET> wrote in article
<01bc23f0$95792900$20c270ce@carter>...
I don't think it matters how high level your character is.  If you go into
the dungeon first on Hell skill level you are in the fight of your life.
On level 15 and 16 there are almost always immune monsters.

                                                         [R2]TalonClaw



> 
> Fascinating- I know I've done Hell/Hell over 25 times (often just as
> far as Lazarus) and I don't believe I've ever once been there without
> having to face immune all bad guys.  

----------

On 25 Feb 1997 01:19:57 GMT, kir...@u.washington.edu (K. Laisathit)
wrote:

>Out of curiosity, what's it like to be a level 40? I'm
>currently running a level 24 rogue. Not that the normal
>Diablo game is no longer a challenge, but it's getting
>close to that. No, I don't have any cheated items.
>(haven't got a single unique item or any godly or king's
>items either, just some items of stars, sorcery, and vigor)
>
>The reason I ask is that I can waltz through most of the
>dungeon in normal diff, without fear of dying. Which is,
>in fact, somewhat disappointing. I find the intense feeling
>of an impending doom quite exhilarating. Unfortunely, only
>low level hell still bring about those strong feelings.
>
>Perhaps, it's time to go to nightmare mode, you suggest.
>But then, I imagine that at level 30 or more, I'd be in
>the same boat as I'm on now. So, go to hell mode, you say.
>I can similarly imagine that my level 40 with much improved
>equipments shouldn't have too much problem there either.
>
>I have to wonder, what're the level 40+ people doing hanging
>out in battle.net. So a few of them are hacked, but what
>about the legitimate ones? What's left to explore? What's
>the challenge. What do you think?
>
>Later...


As one of those Diablo addicts who is still hanging around battle.net
after level 40, I can answer a few of your questions from what I and
some friends have done.

Believe me, when you first enter nightmare caves and hell in your mid
20s you will definitely relearn the feeling of impending doom :).  The
same goes for hell difficulty once you reach level 30.  Unless you
have incredibly good equipment, a rogue is very difficult to play in
hell difficulty.  Without a shield, it is easy to be surrounded and
killed in a matter of seconds.  Having 200ac is nearly meaningless,
and I think you need to have 300 ac to stop being hit automatically by
many of the StormLord/Vipers/etc.  Just giving you something to look
forward to in the 30's :).  In Hell/Hell, it is still easy to die with
a high level character, though with careful play you can survive.

As far as what you do at 40+, often you start another character.  My
first character, Zylvan, is now 41st lvl (mage).  When he was around
38th level, I started a Rogue character and gave all of my mage's
backup equipment to her.  With this gear, she quickly rose to level 32
and 3 dots (about a week).  Somewhat bored again, I started a Warrior,
and once again, because of good equipment, he made it to level 32 in a
week or so, though he has yet to be able to solo hell/hell (his AC is
in the low 200s and he still get pummeled a lot even in caves).

Looking for new challenges I happened upon a hunting partner who was
in the same boat I was, looking for something new.  We decided we were
going to start over with NO HELP from our main characters.  We found
two others who thought it was great idea and the four of us started in
normal church with no outside help from any of our mega-characters.
We wrangled for a bit on the character mix, and decided to let
everyone choose what they wanted to be, regardless of the outcome
(would have been funny if all 4 of us were mages :).  We ended up with
2 mages an 2 rogues, no warriors!  This unusual character mix gave us
an even greater challenge, and we died often in the early levels as we
learned to work as a group.  You may have seen our group members
online.  They are those with the _GoF suffix (Gang of Four).

The enjoyment that our group has gotten from this experiment has been
fantastic.  Without all the godly/zodiac/ksoh/royal circlet iems, we
were forced to test our skills to the max, and we've all become better
players for it.  It is MUCH more satisfying to overcome tremendous
obstacles with a weaker character then to run over everything with a
tank.

Tonight, our group achieved our third dot, barely over a week since
its first conception.  Yes, we died many times in hell/hell reaching
Diablo, but we overcame the challenges even when we thought all might
be lost (dieing at bottom of stairs to a group of storm lords was just
one of the many things we had to overcome).  In the words of the
ending monologue, we all have 'become fortified by our quest'.  It was
a very satisfying feeling to say the least, as much or more than i
felt the first time I killed Diablo on hell difficulty.

Tomorrow we are getting together to seek out new challenges.  I'm not
sure yet what we will do.

Some other things that come to mind at 40+ is helping people get their
2nd and 3rd dots for the first time.  There are a lot of people that
want to earn their dots, but want the comfort of having someone along
who has 'been there'.  The first time you enter hell/hell can be
terrifying! (I know it was for me).  You are not inviting a
'babysitter' when you ask a 40+ to join you, you're inviting (usually)
an older wiser player who can pass on knowledge/tactics/strategies
even as you play.  There will be a time when you'll pass along this
knowledge to new players in turn, it's an ongoing process.

You will see many of the higher level players simply sitting in the
Black Lodge chatting amongst themselves and with people who stop by.
It is very enjoyable to relax a bit, and not always have to be in the
dungeons slaving away.  Often they will chat for hours, then, on the
spur of a moment they will form an impromptu group and head off to
hell/hell for some royal demon bashing!

Other high level players like to organize regular hell/hell 'treasure
hunts'.  While the experience points come slow, the magic items flow
like water in hell/hell (often very crappy ones, but I still get
excited every time i hear the 'clink' of plate mail or the 'ping' or
an amulet dropping!).  And what may seem like a mediocre item to you
is often a nice gift for a player in 10-15 range who could use that
precision amulet or ring of titans.

There are also those determined players who think that 40 is not
enough!  You will seldom find them in chat, but trudging through
dungeon after dungeon waiting for the satisfaction of the level up
button when it finally comes after hours of work.

What it comes down to, is Diablo is what you make of it, at ANY level.
It is up to you to decide what you want to do.  Make a goal and go for
it!  Or make no goals and just go enjoy yourself.  If you are having
fun at what you're doing, then it doesn't matter.  Because in the long
run, that's why we play this game!

Zylvan, long of wind, short of sleep

In article <5etent$d...@nntp4.u.washington.edu>,
K. Laisathit <kir...@u.washington.edu> wrote:
%Out of curiosity, what's it like to be a level 40?
...
%The reason I ask is that I can waltz through most of the
%dungeon in normal diff, without fear of dying. Which is,
%in fact, somewhat disappointing. I find the intense feeling
%of an impending doom quite exhilarating. Unfortunely, only
%low level hell still bring about those strong feelings.
%
%Perhaps, it's time to go to nightmare mode, you suggest.
%But then, I imagine that at level 30 or more, I'd be in
%the same boat as I'm on now. So, go to hell mode, you say.
%I can similarly imagine that my level 40 with much improved
%equipments shouldn't have too much problem there either.

I hit level 40 as a sorcerer tonight.  (Amazing what playing 2+
hours/day can do for you in a month or two...)  The excitement is
definitely lessening at this point.

Normal and Nightmare are pretty trivial to wipe out (including
Diablo).  Nightmare levels 13-16 take about 40 minutes to clear out,
counting town portal time to carry up items to identify.  Money is no
issue at all, since a suit of magical plate (any kind) usually gets
bought by the blacksmith for 5K-20K.  The only fun here, really, is
the hope of seeing an artifact I can save for one of my friends, or
the *really* remote chance of finding a good item like something of
the Zodiac (found 3 of these total - one amulet (+20) and two rings
(+20, and +19/resist lightning 55%) or a shield of blocking (only ever
seen one of these).  I've yet to see godly anything (except from Wirt,
and he never has godly anything-good...)

Hell is trivial through the caves (I can start on L1 and go all the
way through L12 without going up to town for mana potions - and the
items to be found before L13 aren't worth identifying since they're
not as good as what can be found in L13-16 in nightmare).  It's
moderately difficult at levels 13-14 (if I look away from the screen
for too long, I'll glance back to see my mana shield almost gone).
Levels 15 and 16 are pretty tough as a mage, since the Advocates are
immune to anything except stone curse, so I have to stone 'em and then
beat on them the hard way (with a golem for help, of course).  But
they're not _exciting_ - just _slower_ to beat.

What my sorcerer does these days:
*	Nightmare levels 13-16, in search of good items
*	Hell levels 5-8, in search of Gloomy, Hidden, and Weird
	shrines (Hidden isn't that hard to find, but I haven't seen
	a gloomy or weird shrine in the last week...)
Either one of these journeys is worth 3-5 million experience.  If I
play 2-3 journeys/day, I should hit level 41 tomorrow, and level 50
(1.2 billion, is it?) sometime this summer - if I haven't completely
lost interest by then...

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Randy Spangler              | --Computer analysis and composition of music--
rspa...@micro.caltech.edu  | 
CNS grad student            | Check out Annex BBS! ----> telnet to annex.com 

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Sounds to me like you should be playing Hell skill level.  ;)




Randall R. Spangler <rspa...@micro.caltech.edu> wrote in article
<5fe75d$d...@gap.cco.caltech.edu>...
> In article <5etent$d...@nntp4.u.washington.edu>,
> K. Laisathit <kir...@u.washington.edu> wrote:
> %Out of curiosity, what's it like to be a level 40?
> ...
> %The reason I ask is that I can waltz through most of the
> %dungeon in normal diff, without fear of dying. Which is,
> %in fact, somewhat disappointing. I find the intense feeling
> %of an impending doom quite exhilarating. Unfortunely, only
> %low level hell still bring about those strong feelings.
> %
> %Perhaps, it's time to go to nightmare mode, you suggest.
> %But then, I imagine that at level 30 or more, I'd be in
> %the same boat as I'm on now. So, go to hell mode, you say.
> %I can similarly imagine that my level 40 with much improved
> %equipments shouldn't have too much problem there either.
> 
> I hit level 40 as a sorcerer tonight.  (Amazing what playing 2+
> hours/day can do for you in a month or two...)  The excitement is
> definitely lessening at this point.
> 
> Normal and Nightmare are pretty trivial to wipe out (including
> Diablo).  Nightmare levels 13-16 take about 40 minutes to clear out,
> counting town portal time to carry up items to identify.  Money is no
> issue at all, since a suit of magical plate (any kind) usually gets
> bought by the blacksmith for 5K-20K.  The only fun here, really, is
> the hope of seeing an artifact I can save for one of my friends, or
> the *really* remote chance of finding a good item like something of
> the Zodiac (found 3 of these total - one amulet (+20) and two rings
> (+20, and +19/resist lightning 55%) or a shield of blocking (only ever
> seen one of these).  I've yet to see godly anything (except from Wirt,
> and he never has godly anything-good...)
> 
> Hell is trivial through the caves (I can start on L1 and go all the
> way through L12 without going up to town for mana potions - and the
> items to be found before L13 aren't worth identifying since they're
> not as good as what can be found in L13-16 in nightmare).  It's
> moderately difficult at levels 13-14 (if I look away from the screen
> for too long, I'll glance back to see my mana shield almost gone).
> Levels 15 and 16 are pretty tough as a mage, since the Advocates are
> immune to anything except stone curse, so I have to stone 'em and then
> beat on them the hard way (with a golem for help, of course).  But
> they're not _exciting_ - just _slower_ to beat.
> 
> What my sorcerer does these days:
> *	Nightmare levels 13-16, in search of good items
> *	Hell levels 5-8, in search of Gloomy, Hidden, and Weird
> 	shrines (Hidden isn't that hard to find, but I haven't seen
> 	a gloomy or weird shrine in the last week...)
> Either one of these journeys is worth 3-5 million experience.  If I
> play 2-3 journeys/day, I should hit level 41 tomorrow, and level 50
> (1.2 billion, is it?) sometime this summer - if I haven't completely
> lost interest by then...
> 
> --
>
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> Randy Spangler              | --Computer analysis and composition of
music--
> rspa...@micro.caltech.edu  | 
> CNS grad student            | Check out Annex BBS! ----> telnet to
annex.com 
> 
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<html><head></head><BODY bgcolor=3D"#FFFFFF"><p><font size=3D2 =
color=3D"#000000" face=3D"Arial">Sounds to me like you should be playing =
Hell skill level. &nbsp;;)<br><br><br><br><br>Randall R. Spangler =
&lt;<font color=3D"#0000FF"><u>rspa...@micro.caltech.edu</u><font =
color=3D"#000000">&gt; wrote in article &lt;<font =
color=3D"#0000FF"><u>5fe75d$d...@gap.cco.caltech.edu</u><font =
color=3D"#000000">&gt;...<br>&gt; In article &lt;<font =
color=3D"#0000FF"><u>5etent$d...@nntp4.u.washington.edu</u><font =
color=3D"#000000">&gt;,<br>&gt; K. Laisathit &lt;<font =
color=3D"#0000FF"><u>kir...@u.washington.edu</u><font =
color=3D"#000000">&gt; wrote:<br>&gt; %Out of curiosity, what's it like =
to be a level 40?<br>&gt; ...<br>&gt; %The reason I ask is that I can =
waltz through most of the<br>&gt; %dungeon in normal diff, without fear =
of dying. Which is,<br>&gt; %in fact, somewhat disappointing. I find the =
intense feeling<br>&gt; %of an impending doom quite exhilarating. =
Unfortunely, only<br>&gt; %low level hell still bring about those strong =
feelings.<br>&gt; %<br>&gt; %Perhaps, it's time to go to nightmare mode, =
you suggest.<br>&gt; %But then, I imagine that at level 30 or more, I'd =
be in<br>&gt; %the same boat as I'm on now. So, go to hell mode, you =
say.<br>&gt; %I can similarly imagine that my level 40 with much =
improved<br>&gt; %equipments shouldn't have too much problem there =
either.<br>&gt; <br>&gt; I hit level 40 as a sorcerer tonight. =
&nbsp;(Amazing what playing 2+<br>&gt; hours/day can do for you in a =
month or two...) &nbsp;The excitement is<br>&gt; definitely lessening at =
this point.<br>&gt; <br>&gt; Normal and Nightmare are pretty trivial to =
wipe out (including<br>&gt; Diablo). &nbsp;Nightmare levels 13-16 take =
about 40 minutes to clear out,<br>&gt; counting town portal time to =
carry up items to identify. &nbsp;Money is no<br>&gt; issue at all, =
since a suit of magical plate (any kind) usually gets<br>&gt; bought by =
the blacksmith for 5K-20K. &nbsp;The only fun here, really, is<br>&gt; =
the hope of seeing an artifact I can save for one of my friends, =
or<br>&gt; the *really* remote chance of finding a good item like =
something of<br>&gt; the Zodiac (found 3 of these total - one amulet =
(+20) and two rings<br>&gt; (+20, and +19/resist lightning 55%) or a =
shield of blocking (only ever<br>&gt; seen one of these). &nbsp;I've yet =
to see godly anything (except from Wirt,<br>&gt; and he never has godly =
anything-good...)<br>&gt; <br>&gt; Hell is trivial through the caves (I =
can start on L1 and go all the<br>&gt; way through L12 without going up =
to town for mana potions - and the<br>&gt; items to be found before L13 =
aren't worth identifying since they're<br>&gt; not as good as what can =
be found in L13-16 in nightmare). &nbsp;It's<br>&gt; moderately =
difficult at levels 13-14 (if I look away from the screen<br>&gt; for =
too long, I'll glance back to see my mana shield almost gone).<br>&gt; =
Levels 15 and 16 are pretty tough as a mage, since the Advocates =
are<br>&gt; immune to anything except stone curse, so I have to stone =
'em and then<br>&gt; beat on them the hard way (with a golem for help, =
of course). &nbsp;But<br>&gt; they're not _exciting_ - just _slower_ to =
beat.<br>&gt; <br>&gt; What my sorcerer does these days:<br>&gt; =
*&#009;Nightmare levels 13-16, in search of good items<br>&gt; =
*&#009;Hell levels 5-8, in search of Gloomy, Hidden, and Weird<br>&gt; =
&#009;shrines (Hidden isn't that hard to find, but I haven't =
seen<br>&gt; &#009;a gloomy or weird shrine in the last week...)<br>&gt; =
Either one of these journeys is worth 3-5 million experience. &nbsp;If =
I<br>&gt; play 2-3 journeys/day, I should hit level 41 tomorrow, and =
level 50<br>&gt; (1.2 billion, is it?) sometime this summer - if I =
haven't completely<br>&gt; lost interest by then...<br>&gt; <br>&gt; =
--<br>&gt; =
-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
---<br>&gt; Randy Spangler =
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&=
nbsp;| --Computer analysis and composition of music--<br>&gt; <font =
color=3D"#0000FF"><u>rspa...@micro.caltech.edu</u><font =
color=3D"#000000"> &nbsp;| <br>&gt; CNS grad student =
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;| =
Check out Annex BBS! ----&gt; telnet to annex.com <br>&gt; </p>
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ont></body></html>
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If you get too bored try going to a harder level, or helping newbies,
the challenge there is to see how low a level character you can help
kill diablo.  You could start a new character.  After I got my third dot
with my first char (a warrior) I went on to do that with the two other
classes.  All three possess different strengths and pose different
challenges.  Either way keep playing at the toughest level you can. 
When you get careless and die a couple of times (either by waltzing or
any other dance step) the game will once again have that "intense
feeling of an impending doom" you're looking for . :)

K. Laisathit wrote:
> 
> Out of curiosity, what's it like to be a level 40? I'm
> currently running a level 24 rogue. Not that the normal
> Diablo game is no longer a challenge, but it's getting
> close to that. No, I don't have any cheated items.
> (haven't got a single unique item or any godly or king's
> items either, just some items of stars, sorcery, and vigor)
> 
> The reason I ask is that I can waltz through most of the
> dungeon in normal diff, without fear of dying. Which is,
> in fact, somewhat disappointing. I find the intense feeling
> of an impending doom quite exhilarating. Unfortunely, only
> low level hell still bring about those strong feelings.
> 
> Perhaps, it's time to go to nightmare mode, you suggest.
> But then, I imagine that at level 30 or more, I'd be in
> the same boat as I'm on now. So, go to hell mode, you say.
> I can similarly imagine that my level 40 with much improved
> equipments shouldn't have too much problem there either.
> 
> I have to wonder, what're the level 40+ people doing hanging
> out in battle.net. So a few of them are hacked, but what
> about the legitimate ones? What's left to explore? What's
> the challenge. What do you think?
> 
> Later...


I'm a level 32 Rogue and can barely scrape my way thru
nightmare/hell.......so I'd hate to see hell/hell, but I'll bet I'll
have problems with it even past level 40.  YMMV............

                         Wolfrune

On Tue, 04 Mar 1997 08:52:04 -0700, Steven Krispli <kris...@lm.com>
wrote:

=>I'm a level 32 Rogue and can barely scrape my way thru
=>nightmare/hell.......so I'd hate to see hell/hell, but I'll bet I'll
=>have problems with it even past level 40.  YMMV............
=>
=>                         Wolfrune

I can second that ( I'm a 31 warrior)
But still then, Diablo is a multiplayer game!
When playing with another or more characters of the same level, hell
must be an "easy" thing to sweep...

BDI

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