Yeh, those 3 hounds of war where a great combo idea to put together. I thought that pet builds as classless were not viable as the mastery skills were the source of the pets. You have proved me wrong. I must have a look and see if there are other items or devotions that gives pets.
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blightshard amulet and hysteria/savage come to mind.
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Yeah, unfortunately Longshore didnt survive long enough to utilize them. Also, in hardcore mode the stash is seperate from the main game stash and all I have is one character at level 40 whose a non-classless build so my crafting capabilities and stash collection is very lackluster. I am forced to work with what Ive got and thats not much, so I made the most of it. I didnt intend to die when I did, but thats the great thing about HC. One mistake is the end. A lesson well learned. I’m loving it, makes the characters feel much more real.
I don’t get Margaret’s death. Mr. Warden can be pretty much no-damaged if you don’t get too greedy. And for what it’s worth there was nothing to do in gloomwald on your level. Things scale from player level 36 to 62. There was plenty to do in normal campaign, even in the forgotten gods killing that special LEB Death Beetle, before you get to gloomwald. (Beetleburst if anyone remembers him)
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User_name made a lokarr inspired character IIRC using Obsidian juggernaut.
I thought it was hilarious.
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Margaret’s death is purely a case of user error. After all, I’m essentially a noob player who just enjoys the creative fun of this game which is easily satisfied even if the character dies at the Warden. She died due to my carelessness, unfortunately. Ill be honest it was a little heartbreaking for me, losing her like that. I had so much awesome stuff planned for her story, too… But if she hadnt died, the idea of a running story that I’ve started through all the characters I go classless with in HC wouldnt have happened. So there is that for a silver lining.
I’m not surprised you say that theres nothing for Longshore to do in Gloomwald at his level. After all, you have no idea what my plans for his story were either! Thinking in terms of normal game progression and the things a standard character has to do in the game based on things everyone does in the game wont apply to these builds. Their stories are unique and require certain… elements… That can’t be acquired without traveling to certain locations.
That said, Longshore’s death was, yet again, an accident and a mistake. Tragically, I was having a ton of fun with him and all those items and resources I had invested into his build are lost forever… BUT I COULDNT BE MORE SATISFIED! The pain, the agony of losing it all, the death of a character I’ve put hours into developing, screenshotting, and writing lore for… It makes it REAL! I’ll never be able to go back to SC again.
Devon Thormane shall be my retribution for the previous two losses. I have great things planned for him, and wont make the same mistakes I made with Margaret or Longshore, though without those mistakes, the story would not have the momentum that it’s been gaining.
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Technically, you could gdstash-transfer, at certain points the items from a dead char onto the current one, if it fits the story.
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Thats actually a pretty cool idea! (It definitely would fit a couple things I have in mind for the running story).
I’ve never messed around with any mods. Total noob in that regard. I wouldnt even know where to start.
THORMANE’S SEARCH FOR FREDERICK LONGSHORE CONTINUES…
…Centuries. It had been centuries since Thormane last set foot in Cairn. New civilizations had risen, fallen, and risen again since hed been away, though those that rose again did so differently… Haunted by some unseen force. The void spit Thormane out abruptly, and he fell to the ground in Arkovia with a rude awakening. It was a landscape Thormane had meant to explore as a youth, before his time in captivity. Of course back then it had been a growing empire, teeming with activity. Its ports had been rumored to never sleep, there was apparently so much trade and commerce. The Arkovia Thormane had landed in was not the prosperous Mesopotamia it had once been, but rather a desolate and unforgiving wasteland.
The hills were vast, and alive with grotesque corrupted boars that had tusks as long as Thormane’s legs. They charged at him relentlessly as he wandered through their territory, aided by swooping abominations- malformed birdlike creatures that looked to be a sickening combination of man and vulture. Thormane had faced these creatures in Lokarr’s melees, but never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that these creatures might have originated in Cairn! He had always been under the impression Lokarr had engineered these beasts himself! What manner of dark corruption could have produced such results, Thormane wondered.
No matter. His trusty two handed smithing hammer made short work of these foes. Forged by the Immortals, though humble as it appeared to be, the hammer drew upon strange reservoirs of power from the Crucible realm, making it a formidable weapon that discharged electrical blasts whenever it deflected blows. The hammer was also capable of smashing the ground so hard it could send rumbling shockwaves rolling across the earth, the writhing tremors tearing open soil and shredding stones, stunning hordes of enemies caught in its seismic tide. Tumbling broken bodies aside or pulping them altogether, Thormane laid down a path of carnage through the Broken Hills and the Troll infested Smuggler’s Path. He was on a course to Homestead. Lokarr had reported that Longshore’s final deliveries had come from that region. If there was any trace of him there, Thormane would find it.
!
Fighting his way through Dead Man’s Gulch and the Mountain Deeps, Thormane found himself resurfacing on the remnants of Prospector’s Trail, looking down upon dead farmland and abandoned harvesting equipment. The scene was quiet and eerie, and he did not linger there for long. The trail wound up and down, giving him a full view of what lay ahead- the Withering Fields laid out before Homestead like a rotting carpet, despoiled and corrupted by the joining of Aether and Beast alike.
Thormane made preparations to move on the fields, but before he could he was ambushed by hordes of large monsters that appeared to be the very landscape come alive to destroy him. These were the Briarthorn- huge bearlike beasts with bark for skin. They were the size of trees and boulders, and cried out in anguish at his presence, calling to many lesser versions of themselves- their offspring, no doubt- who came flooding in around their legs in an overwhelming onslaught. Thromane gripped his hammer tightly, and braced himself for battle.
With a wicked blow, Thormane’s hammer turned the first briarthorn inside out in a shower of blood and guts. Two more came in low and fast behind the corpse of the first, lashing out at him with vengeful attacks before its body even hit the ground. He twisted his grip on the hammer, pivoting to put himself behind it and blocking the wild blows of his enemies, each impact the hammer absorbed sent small coronas crawling along its shaft. Chunks of hard meat fell from the air, remnants of the first briarthorn hed obliterated now returned to the ground by gravity’s lure. One of the chunks pelted the hammer with a wet smack, a few zig-zagging tendrils of electricity reached out to connect with the impact and fizzled out in small clouds of smoke that hissed like angry snakes. He could feel the energy accumulating inside of the weapon, building up to what would likely be a devastating discharge of force. Thormane fought defensively to this end- the hammer’s electrical discharge would easily fry these lesser briarthorn. No sense wasting too much strength on fighting them.
Finally, one of the briarthorn young overextended its attack, its courage inflated by its numbers. It shot its pikes out to skewer Thormane, only to find the hammer there instead. The impact sent a nova of electrical fury rippling out through the air, disintegrating handfuls of the young while frying the brains of the others. All but the larger briars fell to the earth, ruined by the shocking counterattack.
The largest of the briarthorn let out foul bellows, and beat the ground with their limbs, pushing tendrils beneath the surface and sending roots running underground before breaking through in a twisting thicket of vines. Thormane recoiled in surprise at the sudden explosion of vegetation, struggling to wrench himself free. Thorns began to break out on the surfaces of the vines, tearing at his skin and clinging to his armor. The more he struggled to break free, the deeper the thorns dug in, but they shied away from his hammer- its otherworldly energies acting as a ward against the plant. Using his hammer for leverage, he hauled himself out of the entangling obstruction just in time to batter aside a second wave of briarthorn young.
In the distance it looked like an entire forest was moving- the larger briarthorn Betas now come join to join the battle, loping aside their Alpha like loyal attack dogs, shouting war cries of their own. Thormane charged directly into them while they rallied against him en masse, slaying the Betas before focusing all his might upon the Alpha- a monstrous creature with a cobalt blue hide of ice cold bark. The chill seeped off it in a thick and heavy mist, swirling around its limbs and up to Thormane’s waist.
At times when the beast struck, the entire atmosphere surrounding him would shift in temperature, dropping tens of degrees so abruptly that his joints would stiffen and ice crystals would form over across his skin and armor. He could see his breath. His hammer didnt have the effect on this Alpha that it had on the lesser briars either- its icebark hide causing his blows to slip and slide away, missing their mark time and time again, and the force within grew wild and uncontrollable after every failed attack.
Nevertheless, Thormane kept slugging away. After what felt like an eternity, he started to notice some cracks in the icebark hide. Strong though it was, the ice made it brittle, and easier to shatter. With this in mind Thromane focused his attacks, striking the same areas over and over until the cracks became fissures, segments of the icebark falling off in chunks and leaving nothing but vulnerable subdermal surface beneath. Driving the full force of his attacks directly onto the unprotected portions of the beast, he brought it to its knees, hammering away at the weakened monstrosity until there was nothing left beneath but a hollow shell leaking murky maroon paste.
Thormane let out a sigh, dropping to the ground from exertion. He wiped his weapon clean on the grass and mopped the sweat from his brow. Just when he thought hed cleared the area of this menace, he heard the familiar sounds of branches snapping and leaves rustling, and looked up, squinting into the sunlight to see a second wave of briarthorn beasts narrowing in on his position, herded into aggression by another Alpha- this one green and imposing behind its Betas, who charged Thormane, flanking him and opening into another assault.
In his exhaustion, he fought with desperation, executing wide sweeping strikes and reckless overhand attacks. He could feel the energies in the hammer swirling and crashing up and down the haft with each swing, shifting form within the weapon to mirror the motion of his attacks, giving them added momentum. At the height of the battle, his hammer came down on the ground with a resounding crash, loosing a tidal wave of pure energy that bolstered the seismic blast. The shockwave went rolling away, barreling into the enemy ranks, ripping them apart, or drowning them in a vindictive flash-flood.
The Alpha still loomed before him. This one was different. Its hide was not as thick, however the damage Thormane did inflict appeared to begin healing as soon as his hammer broke contact with the beast. He would need to fight twice as hard if he wanted to break his opponent, and so he did.
As the beast crouched down and attempted to crush Thormane in a mighty embrace, a sinister grin stretched across his face and a surge of strength flowed through him, blinded by adrenaline, he shoved the beasts limbs off him and fell into a battle frenzy, beating the monster so relentlessly that even its supernaturally accelerated healing was not enough to save it. When Thormane came to, the beast lay in a lifeless heap at his feet.
By this time, Aetherial creatures from the withered fields had taken notice of his presence, drawn to the commotion from afar. Twisted half-beasts, corrupted by Aetheric influence, charged directly into his electrified, enraged attacks. He disembowled the first to reach him with a devastating horizontal strike that sent a ring of lightning crackling away from the impact zone. The rest he felled with laborious overhand bludgeonings and the catastrophic shockwaves that followed, washing his foes away in a bloody tide.
By the time it was done, the sun was sinking beneath the mountains, and Thromane was soaked in sweat and blood. His muscles cramped, he was overtired, and needed to rest. He would have given his leg for a good meal and a nice long bath. He laid out on the ground, the immediate threat posed by the horde dealt with, and closed his eyes. He slowed his breathing, calming himself and heightening his senses. There was an unusual energy in the air here, like the charged atmosphere before a sudden storm, only this energy felt akin to that of the Crucible realm. Thormane tried to focus, thinking back to his time in the melees before the memory came to him. This was the smell of Aetherial hordes. So, he was certainly close. Had Longshore been felled by these beasts? Thormane resolved to do a full sweep of the area once refreshed, a total cleansing of these dark denizens, if signs Longshore’s corpse were here, there would be no factor he would overlook in the interest of discovering them…
NEXT TIME: THORMANE REACHES HOMESTEAD!
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Jane of the Crossing finally defeats the Loghorrean nightmare
The acquisition of Kilrian’s Shattered Soul gave Jane the confidence to return to Ulgrim and attempt to finally put an end to this Loghorrean monster.
Once more into the breach with Ulgrim at my side …
Ulgrim, If only I could use my Scorpion Sting more often, maybe we could hurt it more …
Don’t worry, with my swords and your Kilrians Flame and other pyrotechnics we seem to be wearing the beast down
Whilst being distracted with dispatching some summoned minions, I suddenly realize that Ulgrim’s battle cries have gone strangely silent?
Dashing to his last location near the maw of the beast, I see no sign of him or evidence of a slain body. Oh Ulgrim, where have you gone?
NOW I am pissed off! - Time for you to die hell spawn …
Wow, such bad teeth - I am going to knock them back down to your asshole
Too late for that nasty bad breath trick! I am prepared for that now
Eat fire …
and poisoned lightning - WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH ULGRIM?
Sheltering from the aftermath of the beast’s final meltdown … It is now all over
Funny … all that POWER and MENACE, but once defeated, you look like no more than some gigantic dished up Lobster Thermidor that my father used to cook!
Creed is not happy with Ulgrim’s passing, but unlike him I don’t think he is actually dead - just GONE.
Our conversation was interrupted by a distraught survivor from some disaster at Malmouth.
As always, Creed has some ideas of what needs to be done here that always seem to involve myself - NO REST FOR THE WICKED …
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Creed’s Gift to Jane
The least Creed could do was to provide Jane with some rewards for her valour and tenacity. With the valuable materials gathered within the Necropolis, Creed tasked the Legion’s smith Hallena to utilise some of them to renovate Jane’s battle worn equipment.
Her father’s old axe was starting to lose it’s edge and the battered shield she found in Angrim’s junk yard was looking even more battered than ever.
Hallena forged, and attached a new head for her axe and completely overhauled the tired old shield.
The before and after photographs …
(Hallena actually made copies to advertise and promote her smithing business)
…BEFORE…
…AFTER…
Jane was more than happy with the results and immediately set forth to find a path to Malmouth and put them to the test with the anticipation of “Extreme Violence”…
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The road to Malmouth was far more dangerous than Jane had anticipated.
She did however manage to find and reunite with her friend Ulgrim on her journey. She always knew in the back of her mind that he was never actually dead.
Malmouth itself is a virtual disaster and grave challenges exist here to bring back order to the once great and prosperous city.
Forgemaster Kaylon in the Steelcap District did some wonderful new work on Jane’s equipment to help her get an advantage over these invading monsters.
Will these upgrades actually be enough to defeat these fiends of Malmouth? …
She has always been envious of the many heroes she socialised with at her father’s kitchen at Devil’s Crossing, who had been able to study and train in the many masteries and skills that only wealthiest families could afford.
But, she has reached Malmouth using only her wits, natural abilities and (fortunately) some usable skills she managed to salvage from hard to find elusive magical items and strange shrines.
Ever resolute, she is determined to be ranked and recognised as a hero of Cairn on her own merits.
Flesh Shapers - here I come ! …
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quite good post.
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Man I’ve been sleeping on this hard. I gotta get back into it! This is a nice reminder! I hit a roadblock with my latest one, but I think I have just the thing to overcome it… I always love to see your stuff man, keep it coming!
Welcome to the forums, friend! I think youll find everyone her to be super awesome. @MikeHeydon gets bonus point for being the man behind this legendary post and its entire concept. This dude is crazy creative, check out his other posts as well, hes always coming up with great ideas!
Yea, I also have been busy with other characters, but eventually come back to Jane and her journey every now and again. I been following @Contragor with his project on classless to ULTIMATE in HC.
I thought I was patient and careful, but that guy takes the cake!. What he has achieved so far is little short of amazing. I have not even attempted this in HC yet as I do die sometimes to a one shot hit or being trapped despite my deliberate defensive play style.
@Contragor progress can be followed in his comments near the end of topic
The cake is yours, mate. You and @adoomgod inspired me to go for it. You also gave me the idea to work on the story. I haven’t revealed the lore part yet, but it’s there. There’s a plot and a few twists. I even got my daughter involved to make some of the artwork to match those twists. I just hope the char survives long enough…
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I’m telling you bud, if you want something closer to a guarantee just pick one of the 2 factions that doesn’t force you to fight the Temple of Osyr lightning mummy boss. Otherwise, if you do decide to fight him and survive then you’ve basically guaranteed you’ll make it.
Good luck.
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Totally agree, the first time I encountered that Lightning Mummy Boss my character just melted away and was a real “WTF just happened” moment for me. You really need beefed up lightning resists to tackle that boss and even then, you need to be able to take him down fast.
One of the nastier beasties creeping around in Grim Dawn in my opinion.
Solael is also probably one the most commonly chosen faction for first time players in Forgotten Gods as the vendor and the taskmaster is the closest to the portal. It definitely was for me.
Being a lot wiser, and also having access to Mandates for Solael, I now choose one of the other 2 factions by default for an easier and less stressful path in Forgotten Gods.
Yeah, it’s going to be “fun”. He has high resistance to acid/poison (my main damage). He is ranged, while my main damage is retal lol. He can lower your DA by 675! Means he can actually crit my char even with the endgame gear and stats. He can lower your resistances by 35. And the icing on the cake, he hits like a truck…