[1.0.5] Hamburger Helper, Dwarf Bulwark Win - Adventure mode
Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:54 pm
Hey guys, just a quick report on a win I pulled out today during the long breaks between calls at work - it's Thanksgiving, so I don't have anything else to do but play ToME. 
I mostly started this character because of how - bonkers Quick Metabolism is now. I almost always lose my characters in the early-midgame, before or during Dreadfell, and Quick Metabolism just lets me coast through that part. There was very little challenge between character creation and dreadfell. The early game is a blur. I think I had a death somewhere in the mid or early game, but don't remember it. I got pretty much everything I needed in my toolkit to bump up my regen and make me unstoppable - Thalore wood cuirass, ring of growth, girdle of calming waters (which I never took off for the rest of the game) and one good shield after another. I got an early coral spray, and then a really nice steel randart, followed by a +healing mod Stralite shield before moving on to the myriad of Shield artefacts that drop like candy in the East.
I ended up going antimagic prior to entering Dreadfell so I could transition from my early game regen with Quick Metabolism to late game regen with permanent Regeneration infusions using Fungus. I didn't really do much with the antimagic tree (I only put in points for help on Atamathon) as I never really had the generic points. By the half-way point of Dreadfell I was setting my regen infusions to autocast, as I figure the 30% of a turn I drop casting the infusion is rarely (if ever) going to be what kills me. The autocasting did end up leading to a few deaths later on, but mostly because the game failed to autocast and I wasn't paying attention and died when my regen fell off.
I had no shortage of solid drops throughout, and I never really wanted for anything except Confusion resistance in the early-mid game. I was good on stuns, had plenty of resistances and armor, and my damage was through the roof. I think I one or two shot almost ever boss prior to the Master, and took the Master down in 3. I had two deaths in Dreadfell to Wights and Dreads respectively, the confusion really beat my ass. Shortly after getting to the east I managed to pick up the Plate of the Blackened Mind, which took care of my confusion problems for the rest of the game. It's a really incredible item even if you're not playing a cursed, the immunity holes it patches, the resistances and armor/stats are good across the board.
All the pre-pride dungeons were cake. I had a lot of mobility with Step Up, Movement Infusions and a maxed-out Rush, so Vor Armory posed very little challenge, though I admittedly saved the Room of Death until after I finished the prides, as I wanted to come back with better resistances. I found the Kroltar set doing the prides, so I was able to come back and clear the room with very little trouble. Back in the West I cleared the elven crypt with no deaths but Melinda got teleported into a room full of elves and didn't make it. I did all of the optional dungeons that were open except for the solipsist dungeon - I simply forgot. Kind of sucks, because this was supposed to be an unlock character on my new work machine.
Spellblaze Scar usually gives me a lot of trouble but it was probably the easiest of the optionals for me, I saved it until I came back from the east and was rocking max blight resistance and around 60% fire resistance. Also, I killed the Grand Corruptor in one hit, which I guess made him a lot less intimidating. 
For the prides:
Grushnak was the one I did first, since I figured it'd be the easiest one for my Bulwark. Boy was I wrong. I didn't have any deaths here but had a lot of real close calls in the barracks rooms, and Grushnak was a long, drawn out slog of a fight. Having Fungus is probably the only reason I was able to do this when I did it (before even doing the underwater cave or spider dungeon! I was level 30ish.) but bloodcaller life leech probably helped a lot too. Once the first few enemies in the Barracks rooms went down the rest was just methodical clearing, but boy it was hairy at first. The first barracks room had a ton of magic damaging guys for some reason, and was the roughest, getting me down to about 30 life at one point. I had to movement infusion out of line of sight to recover.
I did Rak'Shor second, thinking it would also be easy as my Blight, Darkness and Fire resistances were all very high at this point. I was also wrong. I had at least one death in here, mostly to situations where I just got overwhelmed by necromancer minions and multiple sources of magic damage. A couple of wights and skeletal mages and a few orcs throwing spells at me was just more than my regen build could handle. The boss scared the shit out of me, as his summons trapped me in a narrow corridor with no way to escape, but he helpfully decided to walk up and start meleeing me. A shield block and an Assault later and he was dead.
Gorbat pride was a snorefest. I did the whole dungeon with the Kroltar set on and just rolled through the place, rushing down the big wyrms and taking my sweet time with everything else. The boss was a little threatening, only because I couldn't manage to kill him in a few hits.
Vor pride was the one I saved for last, and traditionally the one I have the hardest time with as a Bulwark. I think I probably should have done it first, because I honestly had the easiest time here. Between Rush, Step Up, Movement Infusions, and my high elemental resistances the whole place was a slaughter. I got a Femur of Urselak halfway through the dungeon which made my damage even more bonkers and killed nearly everything in this dungeon in one shield bash or melee hit. I would have gotten through this place without ever going below 500 hp if it were not for some bizarre incident in the last room where a bunch of summoned monsters started appearing with no apparent source. I'm guessing it was probably a rare Vor guy who cast invisible on himself, but I never found the summoner and by the time I noticed the summoned guys I was just melting. Summoned monsters are still deadly in the lategame, and I really underestimated how threatening they were until I was super dead. The Vor Pride boss was a complete joke, though. Shield Block, Counter, Assault, Dead.
The slime tunnels bosses were all easy except for the undead guy, who nearly killed me with curses and multiplying himself. That was a pretty scary fight, and as these guys were not in the game the last time I won or even got this far, I was completely unprepared for the battle. It was a miracle I came out of that one alive. The others were nothing to write home about, the invisible dragon couldn't do much against my max accuracy bulwark and the other two guys died too fast for me to have even figured out what they were all about. At this point I went back and did the valley of the moon quest, but a bunch of the shadow horror guys made it impossible for me to defend the island and I failed it.
tooooot.
High Peak was all pretty straightforward save for getting one of the Horror guys who can walk through walls and summon copies of you as a stair boss. I think he was also a Brawler? I made a valiant effort to beat him, but after nearly getting one-shot by a copy of myself Assaulting me, I nope'd the - out of there and went up the stairs. No deaths in High Peak. The last bosses were pretty easy, but I had one of those problems I mentioned earlier with Regen falling off and me not noticing it and had a stupid, embarassing death. They just didn't have the ability to outdamage my regeneration with how high my resistances were (and bloodcaller leeching me a ton of life) and my damage was really through the roof at this point. Shield Blocks and Assaults on both of the last bosses were doing 1-2k a hit despite their high resistance and it was only a matter of time before they were both dead. I didn't bother to clear the portals, I figured it'd be more dangerous to open myself up to attacks that long.
Finally, with my win in hand, I made a valiant attempt at Atamathon. I nearly had him at one point, with all my cooldowns popped, true grit up and the antimagic shield, I managed to get him to about 10% health before I just exploded. I think he got me with his reflect shield. I used my last life to come back and died pretty much instantly. I'll get him one of these days.
This was my first Bulwark win. I've gotten them to the east a bunch of times but I usually never manage to complete my toolkit, but I had some really incredible luck with drops throughout, and Quick Metabolism really took the edge off the early game. Damage output was, frankly, cray-cray for a defensive character. I was able to break 8k damage on an Assault at one point, and was consistently hitting for 2-5k. I one-shot nearly every stair boss in High Peak. Having ludicrously high strength, Flexible Combat, and good gloves was really useful, and on fights I expected to have a hard time, Greater Weapon Focus was all I needed to secure my advantage. I probably could have avoided nearly every death I had (except that one against the invisible summoner, that one came completely out of nowhere) if I had just paid better attention and played more solidly. I got into autopilot mode more than once and it was to my detriment, to say the least.
Code: Select all
[ToME4 @ www.te4.org Character Dump]
Sex : Male STR: 119
Race : Dwarf DEX: 71
Class : Bulwark MAG: 24
Level : 50 WIL: 73
Exp : 601% CUN: 73
Gold : 1720.06 CON: 102
Times died : 8
Lifes left : 0
Accuracy(Main Hand): 66 Life : -55/1778 Encumbrance : 178/254
Damage (Main Hand): 187 Stamina : 235/332 Difficulty : Normal
Permadeath : Adventure
APR (Main Hand): 5
Crit (Main Hand): 25%
Speed (Main Hand): 1.00
Equilibrium : 40
Fatigue : 43% Spellpower : 11
Armor : 151.47886345072Spell Crit : 22.9%
Armor Hardiness : 93.924050632911%Spell Speed : 1
Defense : 59.269102018803
Ranged Defense : 63.701826514103
All damage : 7%
Physical damage : 5%
Fire damage : 17%
Nature damage : 55%
Blight damage : 19%
Light damage : 22%
Mind damage : 22%
Physical Save : 87.978009144365
Spell Save : 68.547511430456
Mental Save : 73.078115384615
All Resists: 74%
Physical Resist(cap): 87%( 89%)
Fire Resist(cap): 82%( 89%)
Cold Resist(cap): 86%( 89%)
Lightning Resist(cap): 74%( 89%)
Acid Resist(cap): 81%( 89%)
Nature Resist(cap): 89%( 89%)
Blight Resist(cap): 92%( 99%)
Light Resist(cap): 83%( 89%)
Darkness Resist(cap): 83%( 89%)
Mind Resist(cap): 88%( 89%)
Temporal Resist(cap): 74%( 89%)
Disease Resistance: 20%
Confusion Resistance: 100%
Blind Resistance: 100%
Stun Resistance: 100%
Fear Resistance: 100%
Knockback Resistance: 100%
Instadeath Resistance: 100%
Number of NPC killed: 5876
Most killed NPC: fire drake hatchling (180)
[Winner!]
Well done! You have won the Tales of Maj'Eyal: The Age of Ascendancy
The Sorcerers are dead, and the Orc Pride lies in ruins, thanks to your efforts.
You have prevented the portal to the Void from opening and thus stopped the Creator from bringing about the end of the world.
The orc presence in the Far East has greatly been diminished by the loss of their leaders and the destruction of the Sorcerers. The free people of the Sunwall will be able to prosper and thrive on this land.
Maj'Eyal will once more know peace. Most of its inhabitants will never know they even were on the verge of destruction, but then this is what being a true hero means: to do the right thing even though nobody will know about it.
You may continue playing and enjoy the rest of the world.
[Talents Chart]
- Race / Dwarf (mastery 1.00)
Resilience of the Dwarves (generic) 1/5
Stoneskin (generic) 1/5
Power is Money (generic) 5/5
Stone Walking (generic) 1/5
- Technique / Shield offense (mastery 1.30)
Shield Pummel (class) 5/5
Riposte (class) 5/5
Overpower (class) 2/5
Assault (class) 5/5
- Technique / Shield defense (mastery 1.30)
Shield Wall (class) 5/5
Repulsion (class) 1/5
Shield Expertise (class) 5/5
Last Stand (class) 0/5
- Technique / Battle tactics (mastery 1.30)
Greater Weapon Focus (class) 5/5
Step Up (class) 5/5
Bleeding Edge (class) 1/5
True Grit (class) 4/5
- Technique / Combat techniques (mastery 1.30)
Rush (class) 5/5
Precise Strikes (class) 1/5
Perfect Strike (class) 5/5
Blinding Speed (class) 5/5
- Technique / Combat veteran (mastery 1.30)
Quick Recovery (class) 1/5
Fast Metabolism (class) 5/5
Spell Shield (class) 1/5
Unending Frenzy (class) 3/5
- Technique / Combat training (mastery 1.30)
Thick Skin (generic) 5/5
Armour Training (generic) 5/5
Combat Accuracy (generic) 5/5
Weapons Mastery (generic) 5/5
Dagger Mastery (generic) 0/5
- Technique / Conditioning (mastery 1.30)
Vitality (generic) 5/5
Daunting Presence (generic) 1/5
Unflinching Resolve (generic) 3/5
Adrenaline Surge (generic) 0/5
- Cunning / Survival (mastery 1.00)
Heightened Senses (generic) 0/5
Charm Mastery (generic) 0/5
Piercing Sight (generic) 0/5
Evasion (generic) 0/5
- Wild-gift / Antimagic (mastery 1.10)
Resolve (generic) 1/5
Aura of Silence (generic) 1/5
Antimagic Shield (generic) 5/5
Mana Clash (generic) 0/5
- Wild-gift / Fungus (mastery 1.00)
Wild Growth (generic) 5/5
Fungal Growth (generic) 1/5
Ancestral Life (generic) 5/5
Sudden Growth (generic) 0/5
- Uber / Strength (mastery 1.00)
Flexible Combat (class) 1/1
You Shall Be My Weapon! (class) 0/1
Massive Blow (class) 0/1
Steamroller (class) 0/1
Irresistible Sun (class) 0/1
I Can Carry The World! (class) 0/1
Legacy of the Naloren (class) 0/1
Superpower (class) 0/1
- Uber / Dexterity (mastery 1.00)
Through The Crowd (class) 0/1
Swift Hands (class) 0/1
Windblade (class) 0/1
Windtouched Speed (class) 0/1
Giant Leap (class) 0/1
Crafty Hands (class) 0/1
Roll With It (class) 0/1
Vital Shot (class) 0/1
- Uber / Constitution (mastery 1.00)
Draconic Body (class) 0/1
Bloodspring (class) 0/1
Eternal Guard (class) 1/1
Never Stop Running (class) 0/1
Armour of Shadows (class) 0/1
Spine of the World (class) 0/1
Fungal Blood (class) 0/1
Corrupted Shell (class) 0/1
- Uber / Magic (mastery 1.00)
Spectral Shield (class) 0/1
Aether Permeation (class) 0/1
Mystical Cunning (class) 0/1
Arcane Might (class) 0/1
Temporal Form (class) 0/1
Blighted Summoning (class) 0/1
Revisionist History (class) 0/1
Cauterize (class) 0/1
- Uber / Willpower (mastery 1.00)
Draconic Will (class) 0/1
Meteoric Crash (class) 0/1
Garkul's Revenge (class) 0/1
Hidden Resources (class) 0/1
Lucky Day (class) 0/1
Unbreakable Will (class) 0/1
Spell Feedback (class) 0/1
Mental Tyranny (class) 0/1
- Uber / Cunning (mastery 1.00)
Fast As Lightning (class) 0/1
Tricky Defenses (class) 0/1
Endless Woes (class) 0/1
Secrets of Telos (class) 0/1
Elemental Surge (class) 0/1
Eye of the Tiger (class) 0/1
Worldly Knowledge (class) 0/1
Tricks of the Trade (class) 0/1
[Inscriptions (5/5)]
Infusion: Wild
Infusion: Regeneration
Infusion: Regeneration
Infusion: Movement
Infusion: Heroism
[Current Effects]
- Wild Growth
- True Grit
- Shield Wall
+ Burning
+ Infusion Saturation
- Stoneskin
- Resolve
- Juggernaut
- Recovery
- Dwarven Resilience
[Character Equipment]
In main hand
a) Ureslak's Venomous Femur (52-72.8 power, 5 apr)
[Unique]
Type: weapon / mace ; tier 5
Base power: 52.0 - 72.8
Uses stat: 100% Str
Damage type: Poison
Mastery: Weapons Mastery
Accuracy bonus: +0.1% dam / acc
Armour Penetration: +5
Physical crit. chance: +2.5%
Attack speed: 100%
Special effect when this weapon hits: 10% chance to shimer to a different hue and gain powers
When wielded/worn:
Changes resistances: +45% nature / +15% all
Changes resistances penetration: +30% nature
Changes damage: +30% nature
In off hand
b) Summertide (17 def, 5 armour, 52 dam, 260 block)
[Unique]
Type: armor / shield ; tier 5
When used to attack (with talents):
Base power: 52.0 - 62.4
Uses stat: 100% Str
Damage type: Light
Accuracy bonus: +4.0% procs dam / acc
Physical crit. chance: +4.5%
Block value: +260
Special effect when this weapon hits: releases a burst of light
Damage when this weapon hits: +20 blinding
When wielded/worn:
Armour: +5
Defense: +17
Ranged Defense: +17
Fatigue: +12%
Changes stats: +3 Cun / +5 Wil
Changes resistances: +12% mind / +10% fire / +15% darkness / +20% light
Changes resistances penetration: +10% mind / +10% fire / +10% light
Changes damage: +15% mind / +10% fire / +15% light
Talent granted: +5 Block
Mental save: +18
Blindness immunity: +100%
Confusion immunity: +25%
Maximum psi: +20.00
Mindpower: +8
Light radius: +3
It can be used to send out a beam of light, costing 12 power out of 30/30.
On fingers
c) Ring of Growth
[Unique]
Type: jewelry / ring ; tier 2
When wielded/worn:
Changes stats: +4 Str / +4 Wil
Changes resistances: +10% nature
Changes damage: +8% nature / +8% physical
Physical save: +8
Life regen: +0.15
Healing mod.: +20%
d) Bloodcaller
[Unique]
Type: jewelry / ring ; tier 4
When wielded/worn:
Fatigue: -5%
Mental save: -7
Life leech chance: +15%
Life leech: +30%
Around neck
e) Daneth's Neckguard
[Unique]
Type: jewelry / amulet ; tier 2
When wielded/worn:
Armour: +10
Fatigue: +2%
Changes stats: +6 Str / +6 Con
It can be used to activate talent Juggernaut (costing 30 power out of 39/60) :
Effective talent level: 2.6
Power cost: 30 out of 39/60.
Range: melee/personal
Travel Speed: instantaneous
Description: Concentrate on the battle, ignoring some of the damage you take.
Improves physical damage reduction by 25% for 20 turns.
Light source
f) Guidance
[Unique]
Type: lite / lite ; tier 5
When wielded/worn:
Changes stats: +12 Cun / +12 Wil
Changes resistances: +20% blight
Changes resistances cap: +10% blight
Talent masteries: +0.20 Wild-gift / Call of the wild +0.10 Wild-gift / Antimagic
Physical save: +12
Spell save: +12
Mental save: +12
Light radius: +4
Main armor
g) Plate of the Blackened Mind (15 def, 20 armour)
[Unique]
Type: armor / massive ; tier 5
When wielded/worn:
Armour: +20
Defense: +15
Fatigue: +17%
Changes stats: +6 Wil / +4 Cun / +3 Con
Damage when the wearer is hit: 14 gloom
Changes resistances: +15% acid / +20% blight / +15% light / +20% darkness / +25% mind
Talent mastery: +0.20 Cursed / Gloom
Physical save: +15
Mental save: +25
Confusion immunity: +100%
Fear immunity: +100%
Mindpower: +10
Light radius: -2
Infravision radius: +4
It can be used to activate talent Dominate (costing 15 power out of 25/25) :
Effective talent level: 2.0
Power cost: 15 out of 25/25.
Range: 2.5
Travel Speed: instantaneous
Description: Turn your attention to a nearby foe, and dominate them with your overwhelming presence. If the target fails to save versus your Mindpower, it will be unable to move for 4 turns and vulnerable to attacks. They will lose 12 Armour, 17 Defense and your attacks will gain 41% resistance penetration. If the target is adjacent to you, your domination will include a melee attack.
Effects will improve with your Willpower.
Dropped by orc berserker
Cloak
h) Cloth of Dreams (10 def, 0 armour)
[Unique]
Type: armor / cloak ; tier 4
When wielded/worn:
Defense: +10
Changes stats: +6 Cun / +5 Wil
Changes resistances: +15% mind
Talent masteries: +0.10 Psionic / Dreaming +0.10 Psionic / Slumber
Physical save: +10
Spell save: +10
Mental save: +10
Mindpower: +6
The wearer is asleep.
Lucid-Dreamer:This item allows the wearer to act while sleeping.
It can be used to activate talent Slumber (costing 10 power out of 25/25) :
Effective talent level: 3.3
Power cost: 10 out of 25/25.
Range: 7.0
Travel Speed: instantaneous
Is: a mind power
Description: Puts the target into a deep sleep for 4 turns, rendering it unable to act. Every 63 points of damage the target suffers will reduce the effect duration by one turn.
When Slumber ends, the target will suffer from Insomnia for a number of turns equal to the amount of time it was asleep (up to ten turns max), granting it 21% sleep immunity for each turn of the Insomnia effect.
The damage threshold will scale with your Mindpower.
On head
i) voratun helm 'Flamebrace' (0 def, 5 armour)
[Unique]
Type: armor / head ; tier 5
When wielded/worn:
Physical crit. chance: +1.0%
Physical power: +12
Armour: +5
Fatigue: +5%
Changes stats: +11 Str / +7 Wil / +6 Con
Damage when the wearer hits(melee): 2 fire
Changes resistances: +15% physical / +6% fire / +25% cold
Changes resistances penetration: +15% blight
Changes damage: +12% blight
Allows you to breathe in: water
Physical save: +29
Mental save: +15
Maximum life: +10.00
It can be used to activate talent Battle Cry, placing all other charms into a 28 cooldown :
Effective talent level: 2.6
Power cost: 28 out of 28/28.
Range: melee/personal
Travel Speed: instantaneous
Description: Your battle cry shatters the will of your foes within a radius of 5, lowering their Defense by 18 for 7 turns, making them easier to hit.
The chance to hit increases with your Physical Power.
Dropped by Xulenor the naga tide huntress
Around waist
j) Girdle of the Calm Waters
[Unique]
Type: armor / belt ; tier 1
When wielded/worn:
Changes stats: +3 Wil
Changes resistances: +20% cold / +20% nature / +20% blight
Healing mod.: +30%
Dropped by blue ooze
On hands
k) Ultimate Beef Stroganof (0 def, 9 armour)
[Unique]
Type: armor / hands ; tier 5
When wielded/worn:
Accuracy: +8
Armour: +9
Damage when the wearer hits(melee): 39 mind / 38 darkness
Changes resistances: +3% acid
Physical save: +10
Spell save: +18
Mental save: +20
Blindness immunity: +15%
Disease immunity: +20%
Life regen: +4.00
Stamina each turn: +1.80
Maximum life: +80.00
Maximum stamina: +28.00
Mindpower: +10
When used to modify unarmed attacks:
Base power: 40.5 - 56.7
Uses stats: 40% Str, 40% Cun, 40% Dex
Damage type: Physical
Accuracy bonus: +0.1% dam / acc
Accuracy: +22
Armour Penetration: +15
Physical crit. chance: +10.0%
Attack speed: 80%
When this weapon hits: Reproach (10% chance level 5).
When this weapon hits: Slumber (10% chance level 5).
When this weapon hits: Battle Shout (10% chance level 5).
When this weapon hits: Perfect Control (10% chance level 5).
Damage when this weapon hits: +8 manaburn arcane
Burst (radius 2) on crit: +20 gloom
It can be used to activate talent Ruined Earth, placing all other charms into a 20 cooldown :
Effective talent level: 3.0
Power cost: 20 out of 20/20.
Range: 5.0
Travel Speed: instantaneous
Is: a mind power
Description: Curse the earth around you in a radius of 5 for 6 turns. Any who stand upon it are weakened, reducing the damage they inflict by 38%
On feet
l) Unbreakable Greaves (8 def, 15 armour)
[Unique]
Type: armor / feet ; tier 5
When wielded/worn:
Armour: +15
Defense: +8
Fatigue: +12%
Changes stats: +15 Str / -4 Dex / +10 Con
Changes resistances: +10% physical / +10% acid
Changes damage: +10% physical
Knockback immunity: +100%
Tool
m) Tree of Life
[Unique]
Type: charm / totem ; tier 4
When wielded/worn:
Changes stats: +6 Con / +7 Wil
Damage when the wearer is hit: 10 nature
Changes resistances: +10% nature / +10% blight
Changes damage: +10% nature
Talent masteries: +0.10 Wild-gift / Call of the wild +0.10 Wild-gift / Harmony
Mindpower: +7
Healing mod.: +20%
Quiver
[Player Achievements]
'A dangerous secret' was achieved for Found the mysterious staff and told Last Hope about it. At 2013-11-28 07:26:00
'A different point of view' was achieved for Learned the five chapters of Orc history through loremaster Hadak's tales. At 2013-11-28 12:14:14
'Against all odds' was achieved for Killed Ukruk in the ambush. At 2013-11-28 07:10:18
'Antimagic!' was achieved for Completed antimagic training in the Ziguranth camp. At 2013-11-27 12:22:39
'Arachnophobia' was achieved for Destroyed the spydric menace. At 2013-11-28 08:59:50
'Are you out of your mind?!' was achieved for Caught the attention of overpowered greater multi-hued wyrms in Vor Armoury. Perhaps fleeing is in order. At 2013-11-28 11:58:17
'Back and there again' was achieved for Opened a portal to the Far East from Maj'Eyal. At 2013-11-28 10:39:18
'Brave new world' was achieved for Went to the Far East and took part in the war. At 2013-11-28 08:07:08
'Bringer of Doom' was achieved for Killed a Bringer of Doom. At 2013-11-27 13:28:59
'Clone War' was achieved for Destroyed your own Shade. At 2013-11-28 09:41:14
'Curse Lifter' was achieved for Killed Ben Cruthdar the Cursed. At 2013-11-27 11:24:07
'Destroyer of the creation' was achieved for Killed Slasul. At 2013-11-28 09:25:39
'Destroyer's bane' was achieved for Killed Golbug the Destroyer. At 2013-11-28 08:00:22
'Evil denied' was achieved for Won ToME by preventing the Void portal from opening. At 2013-11-28 13:02:20
'Exterminator' was achieved for Killed 1000 creatures. At 2013-11-27 12:09:39
'Eye of the storm' was achieved for Freed Derth from the onslaught of the mad Tempest, Urkis. At 2013-11-27 12:50:31
'Fear of Fours' was achieved for Killed all four bosses of the Slime Tunnels. At 2013-11-28 12:21:31
'Flooder' was achieved for Defeated Ukllmswwik while doing his own quest. At 2013-11-28 09:27:48
'Genocide' was achieved for Killed the Orc Greatmother in the breeding pits, thus dealing a terrible blow to the orc race. At 2013-11-28 08:27:37
'Home sweet home' was achieved for Dispatched the Weirdling Beast and took possession of Yiilkgur, the Sher'Tul Fortress for your own usage. At 2013-11-27 12:16:06
'I cleared the room of death and all I got was this lousy achievement!' was achieved for Killed the seven overpowered wyrms in the "Room of Death" in Vor Armoury. At 2013-11-28 12:00:36
'Level 10' was achieved for Got a character to level 10. At 2013-11-27 11:36:24
'Level 20' was achieved for Got a character to level 20. At 2013-11-27 12:57:33
'Level 30' was achieved for Got a character to level 30. At 2013-11-28 07:43:31
'Level 40' was achieved for Got a character to level 40. At 2013-11-28 10:17:09
'Level 50' was achieved for Got a character to level 50. At 2013-11-28 13:01:31
'Orcrist' was achieved for Killed the leaders of the Orc Pride. At 2013-11-28 12:09:59
'Race through fire' was achieved for Raced through the fires of the Charred Scar to stop the Sorcerers. At 2013-11-28 10:58:50
'Rescuer of the lost' was achieved for Rescued the merchant from the assassin lord. At 2013-11-27 11:34:54
'Size is everything' was achieved for Did over 1500 damage in one attack. At 2013-11-28 12:00:28
'Size matters' was achieved for Did over 600 damage in one attack. At 2013-11-28 07:17:14
'Sliders' was achieved for Activated a portal using the Orb of Many Ways. At 2013-11-28 08:01:49
'Tactical master' was achieved for Fought the two Sorcerers without closing any invocation portals. At 2013-11-28 13:02:13
'The Arena' was achieved for Unlocked Arena mode. At 2013-11-27 11:32:20
'The Legend of Garkul' was achieved for Learned the five chapters of the Legend of Garkul. At 2013-11-28 08:45:36
'There and back again' was achieved for Opened a portal to Maj'Eyal from the Far East. At 2013-11-28 09:49:54
'Treasure Hoarder' was achieved for Amassed 3000 gold pieces. At 2013-11-28 08:20:17
'Treasure Hunter' was achieved for Amassed 1000 gold pieces. At 2013-11-27 12:23:35
'Vampire crusher' was achieved for Destroyed the Master in its lair of the Dreadfell. At 2013-11-28 07:07:51
[Character Inventory]
((almost entirely irrelevant bullshit))
[Last Messages]
Hamburger Helper performs a melee critical strike against Atamathon the Giant Golem!
Hamburger Helper's mind surges with critical power!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper's mind surges with critical power!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper's mind surges with critical power!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Atamathon the Giant Golem resists the mind attack!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper performs a melee critical strike against Atamathon the Giant Golem!
Atamathon the Giant Golem shrugs off the critical damage!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper's mind surges with critical power!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Atamathon the Giant Golem resists the mind attack!
Hamburger Helper's mind surges with critical power!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper performs a melee critical strike against Atamathon the Giant Golem!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper's mind surges with critical power!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Atamathon the Giant Golem resists the mind attack!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper performs a melee critical strike against Atamathon the Giant Golem!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Atamathon the Giant Golem resists the mind attack!
Saving game...
Hamburger Helper is invigorated by the attack!
Hamburger Helper leeches life from Atamathon the Giant Golem!
Atamathon the Giant Golem reflects damage back to Hamburger Helper!
Atamathon the Giant Golem hits Hamburger Helper for 56 light, 1 fire, 9 darkness, 6 mind, 105 fire, 43 healing, 26 light, 9 nature, 0 fire, 3 darkness, 2 mind, 105 fire, 9 physical, 1 arcane, 0 fire, 5 healing, 3 darkness, 2 mind, 105 fire, 14 nature, 0 fire, 3 darkness, 2 mind, 105 fire (566 total damage) [48 healing].
Hamburger Helper hits Atamathon the Giant Golem for 144 light, 1 fire, 24 darkness, 20 mind, 68 light, 35 nature, 0 fire, 8 darkness, 7 mind, 29 physical, 2 arcane, 0 fire, 8 darkness, 7 mind, 54 nature, 0 fire, 8 darkness, 7 mind (423 total damage).
Hamburger Helper the level 50 dwarf bulwark was toasted to death by Atamathon the Giant Golem on level 1 of Golem Graveyard.
Atamathon the Giant Golem killed Hamburger Helper!
Saving done.I ended up going antimagic prior to entering Dreadfell so I could transition from my early game regen with Quick Metabolism to late game regen with permanent Regeneration infusions using Fungus. I didn't really do much with the antimagic tree (I only put in points for help on Atamathon) as I never really had the generic points. By the half-way point of Dreadfell I was setting my regen infusions to autocast, as I figure the 30% of a turn I drop casting the infusion is rarely (if ever) going to be what kills me. The autocasting did end up leading to a few deaths later on, but mostly because the game failed to autocast and I wasn't paying attention and died when my regen fell off.
I had no shortage of solid drops throughout, and I never really wanted for anything except Confusion resistance in the early-mid game. I was good on stuns, had plenty of resistances and armor, and my damage was through the roof. I think I one or two shot almost ever boss prior to the Master, and took the Master down in 3. I had two deaths in Dreadfell to Wights and Dreads respectively, the confusion really beat my ass. Shortly after getting to the east I managed to pick up the Plate of the Blackened Mind, which took care of my confusion problems for the rest of the game. It's a really incredible item even if you're not playing a cursed, the immunity holes it patches, the resistances and armor/stats are good across the board.
All the pre-pride dungeons were cake. I had a lot of mobility with Step Up, Movement Infusions and a maxed-out Rush, so Vor Armory posed very little challenge, though I admittedly saved the Room of Death until after I finished the prides, as I wanted to come back with better resistances. I found the Kroltar set doing the prides, so I was able to come back and clear the room with very little trouble. Back in the West I cleared the elven crypt with no deaths but Melinda got teleported into a room full of elves and didn't make it. I did all of the optional dungeons that were open except for the solipsist dungeon - I simply forgot. Kind of sucks, because this was supposed to be an unlock character on my new work machine.
Spellblaze Scar usually gives me a lot of trouble but it was probably the easiest of the optionals for me, I saved it until I came back from the east and was rocking max blight resistance and around 60% fire resistance. Also, I killed the Grand Corruptor in one hit, which I guess made him a lot less intimidating. For the prides:
Grushnak was the one I did first, since I figured it'd be the easiest one for my Bulwark. Boy was I wrong. I didn't have any deaths here but had a lot of real close calls in the barracks rooms, and Grushnak was a long, drawn out slog of a fight. Having Fungus is probably the only reason I was able to do this when I did it (before even doing the underwater cave or spider dungeon! I was level 30ish.) but bloodcaller life leech probably helped a lot too. Once the first few enemies in the Barracks rooms went down the rest was just methodical clearing, but boy it was hairy at first. The first barracks room had a ton of magic damaging guys for some reason, and was the roughest, getting me down to about 30 life at one point. I had to movement infusion out of line of sight to recover.
I did Rak'Shor second, thinking it would also be easy as my Blight, Darkness and Fire resistances were all very high at this point. I was also wrong. I had at least one death in here, mostly to situations where I just got overwhelmed by necromancer minions and multiple sources of magic damage. A couple of wights and skeletal mages and a few orcs throwing spells at me was just more than my regen build could handle. The boss scared the shit out of me, as his summons trapped me in a narrow corridor with no way to escape, but he helpfully decided to walk up and start meleeing me. A shield block and an Assault later and he was dead.
Gorbat pride was a snorefest. I did the whole dungeon with the Kroltar set on and just rolled through the place, rushing down the big wyrms and taking my sweet time with everything else. The boss was a little threatening, only because I couldn't manage to kill him in a few hits.
Vor pride was the one I saved for last, and traditionally the one I have the hardest time with as a Bulwark. I think I probably should have done it first, because I honestly had the easiest time here. Between Rush, Step Up, Movement Infusions, and my high elemental resistances the whole place was a slaughter. I got a Femur of Urselak halfway through the dungeon which made my damage even more bonkers and killed nearly everything in this dungeon in one shield bash or melee hit. I would have gotten through this place without ever going below 500 hp if it were not for some bizarre incident in the last room where a bunch of summoned monsters started appearing with no apparent source. I'm guessing it was probably a rare Vor guy who cast invisible on himself, but I never found the summoner and by the time I noticed the summoned guys I was just melting. Summoned monsters are still deadly in the lategame, and I really underestimated how threatening they were until I was super dead. The Vor Pride boss was a complete joke, though. Shield Block, Counter, Assault, Dead.
The slime tunnels bosses were all easy except for the undead guy, who nearly killed me with curses and multiplying himself. That was a pretty scary fight, and as these guys were not in the game the last time I won or even got this far, I was completely unprepared for the battle. It was a miracle I came out of that one alive. The others were nothing to write home about, the invisible dragon couldn't do much against my max accuracy bulwark and the other two guys died too fast for me to have even figured out what they were all about. At this point I went back and did the valley of the moon quest, but a bunch of the shadow horror guys made it impossible for me to defend the island and I failed it.
tooooot.High Peak was all pretty straightforward save for getting one of the Horror guys who can walk through walls and summon copies of you as a stair boss. I think he was also a Brawler? I made a valiant effort to beat him, but after nearly getting one-shot by a copy of myself Assaulting me, I nope'd the - out of there and went up the stairs. No deaths in High Peak. The last bosses were pretty easy, but I had one of those problems I mentioned earlier with Regen falling off and me not noticing it and had a stupid, embarassing death. They just didn't have the ability to outdamage my regeneration with how high my resistances were (and bloodcaller leeching me a ton of life) and my damage was really through the roof at this point. Shield Blocks and Assaults on both of the last bosses were doing 1-2k a hit despite their high resistance and it was only a matter of time before they were both dead. I didn't bother to clear the portals, I figured it'd be more dangerous to open myself up to attacks that long.
Finally, with my win in hand, I made a valiant attempt at Atamathon. I nearly had him at one point, with all my cooldowns popped, true grit up and the antimagic shield, I managed to get him to about 10% health before I just exploded. I think he got me with his reflect shield. I used my last life to come back and died pretty much instantly. I'll get him one of these days.
This was my first Bulwark win. I've gotten them to the east a bunch of times but I usually never manage to complete my toolkit, but I had some really incredible luck with drops throughout, and Quick Metabolism really took the edge off the early game. Damage output was, frankly, cray-cray for a defensive character. I was able to break 8k damage on an Assault at one point, and was consistently hitting for 2-5k. I one-shot nearly every stair boss in High Peak. Having ludicrously high strength, Flexible Combat, and good gloves was really useful, and on fights I expected to have a hard time, Greater Weapon Focus was all I needed to secure my advantage. I probably could have avoided nearly every death I had (except that one against the invisible summoner, that one came completely out of nowhere) if I had just paid better attention and played more solidly. I got into autopilot mode more than once and it was to my detriment, to say the least.