Your S33 journey so far?

General Discussion
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Hey everyone!

Enjoying S33? What builds are you running, and how is it going?

For me, I set myself the challenge of going 0 to 150 on SC SSF using only typhon, and I’ve had a lot of fun so far!

Played a lot first few days so far, and I’m up to GR144 at ~1200 paragon (was rank 2 on overall wiz SSF NA leaderboard a short bit, and first by like 15 levels on typhon LB :stuck_out_tongue:), but getting difficult to survive now that I can’t 1-cycle groups any longer. May need to change up the build to get to 150. Otherwise T16 is suuuper smooth and fast AF with aether walker and echoing fury, and running gem ups up to 130-135s in like 5 mins. Even XP/gear farm is pretty good actually with ~110s in 2min!

I think I misplayed the start though… I was going no-cache, saving it to complete the altar asap, so 0-70 was slowish, but not too bad. I was doing firstborn massacres, but I wonder if T6 clone carries in nephs would’ve been better… Once 70 and starting to gear (I couldn’t do hadrigs gift due to challenge) it was REALLY slow, until I realised that I should just spec survival and let the clones carry as high as I could survive (or just dont get…). With clone carries I got my 6-piece pretty fast, and it was smooth after that! :smiley:

I saw a lot of notifications from tinne ranking high in achievements, so he had a good start I think!

What about the rest of you??

(edit: this was originally a wizard thing in the wizard forum, but with how ded things are, I open up and moved to general)

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I was boring and started with necro like every lazy person when there are extra weapons possible in cube. I’ll probably make Wiz later too.
Leveling with necro was fast even without the cache. Temple of firstborn + some visions. Got some luck with weapons, and for the first time I didn’t do the season journey at all for getting the set. Instead I played purely LOD Death Nova until clearing 130. Will try to do 3-5 solo 150s for necro leaderboard if I don’t get bored too early (3 x DN, bone spear + Rathma).

For wizard I’ll probably push some meteors and typhoon.

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Started Necro.

Did a GR150 at around P1300. Trag Oul Death Nova.

Setting up a monk for speedfarming purposes.

Played like SSF, but was hoping to get invited by some “friends”, so I’m not in pure SSF mode this time.

Wanted to do a bit of D4 Halloween event but it’s meh.

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Barb, but I’m not getting any good drops. Can barely find any ancients. Probably just gonna stop.

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well done! Which build is this? Is it hard to play?

I did my usual level up with DH, albeit I didn’t start until Monday evening my time (so 2 days after season start). Happy with getting shadows mantle as the starting set from the horadric cache, but having a hard time getting anything else - still need the endless walk set and having zero luck. Can’t really push until I get that due to the build by fragile. Currently doing GR60s - easy in terms of dps but dying multiple times per GR run from ranged attacks which 1 shot me (and yes, I’m using Aughilds already). I will say that it feels like Blizzard have nerfed the toughness of s6 impale in the past few seasons. I swear I used to be able to do GR70s easily with few deaths a few seasons ago.

Have only completed the first 6 steps in the altar and nearly all of chapter 5 of the seasonal journey. I hate doing gem level ups.

I’ll eventually get around to levelling up my 2nd DH (UE MS) for farming Gold for empowered GRs and visions and ENs.

I’ll also roll up a necromancer (Trag’Ouls DN) for GR pushing and paragon farming, since it should be stronger than either s6 impale or UE MS.

What would be the best 4th cube slot for either of these builds (s6 impale & UE MS)?

Drops have been pretty horrendous, but I haven’t been running many GRs or pushing with a PB of GR65 so far. Playing SSF.

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I don’t think I’ve logged in since setting up my S32 Wizard back in NS with her LOD setup… probably gonna be this way until I move into the new house.

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I am at GR 134 with my M6 Hellcat DH, p1100. Considering trying necro for once.

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Have you considered OoID instead of Winter Flurry? Should be like a ~3.5 tier damage loss without any other changes , but with OoID + Karini you’d be able to tank anything!

I suppose the damage loss might be too much for low paragon 150 though.

I’ve got the cache start pretty reliably down to 30-35 minutes (necro to 18, farm diamonds, then swap to wizard). I was the third person on NA to level 70. After that I did top 10 for all 5 conquests, that was pretty nice!

Going necro to 18 speeds things up quite a bit (I just delete the necro after), necro is SO much faster than wizard for that 1-18 stretch. Corpse Explosion unlocks at level 4 and is just stupidly strong for levelling. You can basically just make a level 1 necro on Master or T1, steal the templar’s weapon (and leave the enchantress untouched so you can steal her weapon later at level 11+) , salvage the templar’s shield and the scoundrel’s bow to get your parts for the first step of the altar, and run to the cube. By the time you get the cube, you’ll be 18 (or close to) and you can farm the diamonds and swap to wizard. At that point with some higher level gear on your wizard (whatever your necro was wearing, plus the highest level weapon you can craft from the blacksmith) you’ll be back to 18 on the wizard in no time. It ends up just being straight up faster than going wizard from the start. If you’re a lifelong wizard, it can feel a bit dirty, but it works. Magic Missile and Ray of Frost are just so slow to start compared to Bone Spear/Corpse Explosion.

Wizard doesn’t get decent for levelling until Disintegrate + Teleport in the 20s. Jump starting with the necro ends up working really well.

If you’re willing to be flexible with LoD start, you should be able to gear pretty quickly. Any 2 items for meteor/orbs/hydras/twisters/EB should get you going. Do a vision or two to get a few GR keys, run GRs to get LoD gem (it will usually, but not always, be the second gem that drops), and off to the races. Biggest thing is not to get too hung up on targetting one particular build, just roll with what you find. I usually just dump all my shards into sources and all my DBs into wands. That’ll pretty efficiently cover items for all the main builds except meteor. If I get a lucky Nilfur’s or Mempo drop early, then I’ll usually switch gears and start upgrading staffs to go for meteor instead.

A level 15-25 LoD and any two multipliers for the main builds should get you pretty easily to T10/GR40. A 25+ LoD and a third multiplier for one of those main builds should get you to T13/GR60, at which point you may be more limited by survability unless you get an early Karini, but then you can hang there for a bit and farm set pieces and/or a RoRG.

I ended up doing LoD EB this season because that’s what I got. Definitely my least favourite of the big skill multiplier options, but I just worked with it because I got a Wand of Woh on my first wand upgrade and gambled an OoID.

I was at GR45 on SSF wizard before any other SSF wizards registered a GR clear: https://i.imgur.com/abDIATP.jpeg

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I haven’t even started yet. I need to filter the items I looted from the previous Season. While I get rid most of them, I still have stuff in the list that I have left to deal with “tomorrow”.
I’m not planning to push high or test any build this season, I just want to get the Season Journey done and get the cosmetic rewards. Haven’t decided the main character class yet. I always go Monk or Crusader but previous Season I went with Demon Hunter and it was great comfort. I’m thinking of starting a Witch Doctor or Crusader but can change my mind and head for Demon Hunter if I get frustrated with the Conquests.

Oh and a small hint for completing the gem rank to 70 requirements easily from me. First, hit up Greater Rifts at speedfarm tiers and collect 3-4 Petrified Screams from Rift Guardians. Spare one for sacking to Altar and keep the three of them. When you feel ready, or your Altar soon will require the WoA rank 125, chip in all three Screams in a row to hit up Echoing Nightmares. Try your luck, but getting any Whisper rank above 70 is a success
Aim for at least one rank 125 for sacrificing at the Altar later. Once you achieved those and stored them in your stash, just go into any Greater Rift tier you like and upgrade any gem just once. Then just watch the gem rank achievements in the Journey unlock itself. Later you may sack the rank 125 at the Altar to unlock the nodes further, just to be sure.
Have fun.

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Thanks! :smiley: Up to 146 just now! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2289087562?t=05h09m10s (that rift illustrates some points we talked about in the other thread btw)

Typhon is the wizard hydra build, and in general isn’t very hard to play, but the channeling version with deathwish this season you need to be quite precise with the sequence leading up to the CoE cold cycle.

More runs, more luck! :pray:

Yeah, I’ve been trying different combinations of ranged/melee, flurry/ooid, zeis/stricken. Even tried the twister version, but didn’t convince me. With ooid I was thinking I could swap deflection for absolute zero to make up for the damage loss, and barrier blades alone will still be more defense with ooid. Lining up everything around the deathwish channel while at the same time maintain ooid without any CDR was skill-checking me during testing though… and no-add RG is a nightmare, where you have to dance in and out of 15 yards to proc karini, stack stricken with barrier blades and connect with EB, even if the RG stands still, and then imagine a moving/teleporting one… I think the build has potential, but will take some practice.

Yeah I saw you shoot up the rankings at the start! :smiley:
I started on wiz without cache, partially because I wasn’t sure if SSF allowed transfer between toon (the self-found part), partially because of the challenge, so I just did the 1-18 with completely untwinked wizard. Obviously did not get to 18 with the cube. And even with level reqs removed, I didnt have enough gold to upgrade blacksmith to craft weapons much higher than my level anyway! Not a single skill multiplier dropped before 70. So it was slow and painful leveling! But once the clones started carrying T10 nephs for me at 70, things got moving quickly!

The bragging rights, grats! :sunglasses:
9.57PM, was that less than an hours after season start??

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It went alright, but there were many hiccups.

Sprinter was a conquest this season, so trying to get a faster time than last time but failed. 1:58:14 into the season when it was completed.

Mistakes:

  • I entered a Vision below Level 18, and tried to do some of it, hoping for a keystone, but spent too much time here. (I only hit 18 at 10 minutes in, whereas normally, it should be 6-7 minutes in.)
  • One of our teammates who was running bounties ended up hiring the Enchantress at Level 1, so he lost the ability to steal the staff at Level 11 (where it helps tremendously). This meant I had to exit my game to craft him a weapon, which cost our runner and me some time for leveling.
  • We spent time trying to get our Wizard to get diamonds from Zoltun Kulle. We should have probably just avoided this altogether, which would have shaved off a few minutes on leveling.
  • The people running bounties should have probably left the bosses for last. By the time our Wizard and I hit 70, they still had 2 bounty acts left to do. If they had avoided the bosses, that would have been several minutes. Running 5 bosses when we can one shot them is going to be much faster when all that’s left is 5 bosses, and they can snapshot their portals, rather than having to run 2 complete acts. Plus, we could have built in the Chapter 1 bosses, rather than having to run them again.
  • The non-runners should have set their skills and taken any breaks during the beginning of our Sprinter run, rather than before the Sprinter run. All we’re doing is town stuff, which is mostly waiting, so why not use that time effectively?
  • During the Sprinter run, we almost got a soft lock in Act 2. This cost us over a minute before the game finally decided to continue.
  • A couple tricks to speed up the run weren’t used, such as in Act 2, shaving off time talking to Adria.
  • During Act 3 during the Ballestas, everyone decided to go in one direction, and there was over a minute of waiting before one of us decided to go back and kill the last Ballista.

In the end, we only cleared Sprinter by roughly 45 seconds, and the 2-hour mark by 1:46. The total time lost was roughly 18 minutes pre-Sprinter, and 5 minutes during Sprinter.

I’m unsure of if Sprinter can be beaten within 90 minutes without someone getting lucky and getting an Aether Walker from their upgrade with the Challenge Cache, but certainly 100 minutes into the season should be doable.

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The 4th cube slot is a blast. It makes so many builds playable. If I had one wish for this title going forward it would be to make that permanent.

For example I’m having fun running a wacky Hydra LoD wizard in HC. Just cleared GR95 and my LoD was only rank 55. And I’m not fully geared in ancients either. Oh, sure, I could just push Typhon’s or Tal’s but where’s the fun in that?

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Imagine being so unimagginative that you push with typhon’s when you could push with LoD hydra!

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The season I did 1:48 on EU I think I could have gone 5 or 10 minutes sooner. I remember taking a few extra minutes to upgrade a few gear pieces slightly for a bit more damage and RCR. 1:40 seems very doable with that Aether Walker luck and just starting sooner after 70. Sub-90 would be nuts though, would require 30 min levelling + Aether Walker on first cube upgrade and then just going for it.

I suppose with a team you could have all players make a wizard and upgrade a wand at level 1 and see if anyone gets Aether Walker, then the ones that don’t get Aether Walker could switch to necro (or whatever else makes sense) and do your party level strat. Would increase the odds of getting an Aether Walker. With 4 people making a wand, you’d have about a 35% chance to get one across the 4 first upgrades.

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Getting a Wizard to 70 in under 30 is very doable with a Necro/Wizard combo. You get lucky with a Cursed Spire you can hit Level 70 from Level 57, and that’s 2 minutes.

Pre-Season: Leveling Practice (with Cache & Without Cache) - Twitch

Go to 28:30 in the video to see 58-70 in one run. This season, I went from 56 to 69, with a smidge left until 70 in one run. I was 18 seconds behind you in hitting 70 (~35 minutes to 70), but without the mistakes, we were on pace for a 25-26 minute 1-70.

The reason we spent time running ZK for our Wizard was that levels 1-50, it’s faster just to spam zones and level up solo than to group play. But we spent 3:20 on getting him diamonds, and that just probably wasn’t worth it, as there were no levels to be gained in that time.

But from 50 onwards, being carried by the Necro is faster, and this also allows you to do the necessary town chapter requirements out of the way (such as equipping the follower fully, enchanting an item, setting skills for Sprinter, etc.) while the Necro is searching for Cursed Chests.

Though as far as a 2-4 player Sprinter, there are multiple spots during the campaign run where even the runner has time to enchant their gear. Or worst-case scenario, the Necro can craft a few yellow rings/amulets and hope the right stats are on their and just dump them on the ground for the Wizard to pick up and equip. After all, they’re both int classes.

  • With just Firebirds, no Aether Walker, 1:35 should be doable.
  • With an Aether Walker + Necro, <90 could be doable.
  • With Raiment Monk + Necro, <90 could be doable.

Though this requires everyone to be ready with no major mistakes. But that’s what’s great about the Season Start, nothing ever goes right. Unlike a Speed Run, you just can’t do it over and over again. In 33 seasons, I’ve only had one season that went according to plan.

Next season I guess is the chance to test the Aether Walker, as Sprinter will be a conquest, but Haedrig’s is Inna’s and Delsere’s. Then the next time Sprinter comes up (Season 37), it’s back to Firebirds.

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Ahh. Thanks.

Congrats!

Very nicely done.

I know, I know. Still need Focus (for UE MS build) and compass rose (for s6 impale). Having zero luck :frowning:

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Upgrade rare rings. You can craft lvl 70 yellow rings very cheaply at jeweler, and then upgrade with mats from visions in cube page 3. There are so many rings, so unlikely to get the ring you want and it’s not an efficient way to spend mats normally, but if you just need any ring to complete the set, it’s a good idea at the start of season. Especially if you have two rings that you need.

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Started Barb (HC) then a WD (SC). So far so good. I am taking it easy w/the journey and altar. Bout to start a Sader (SC) for the free set. Having fun with the seasonal perks. The shadow clone is great, especially on a Bandit shrine. I hang back and watch the carnage.

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been doing all of that…upgrades, gambles, rifts, GRs…you name it. Game just wasn’t being kind to me. I eventually got the focus and compass rose rings and 2 krysbins this morning. Still only have 3 piece Trag’Ouls set though, not having much luck there. But, have cleared GR80 in like 5 minutes with only 4 piece (RORG + 3 piece). So, going along OK.

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Oh, yeah probably want to spend all resources on finishing your 6-piece bonus first, before you spend anything on endless walk or bastion of will, but you’ll get it quickly now that you can run T16! :clap:

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