In Progress Let's Play Diablo 2: a Hard Core Gold Find challenge run.

[octavius]

I thought I'd try a challenge run in D2, and make a small (as in not very detailed) LP out of it.

The rules:
D2 1.13c
Hard Core
Players 1
Must accumulate 2.5 million Gold
No farming
No selling of items (emphasis on Gold Find items)
Must kill all monsters
No lame tactics like save&quit game if in mortal danger or to generate less dangerous monsters
Runewords allowed
No shared stash, but I'll use the increased size storage of PlugY
Items with the highest chances of finding gold must be equipped

I'll play a Barbarian, since they can loot corpses.

 

[octavius]

Part 1: Blood Moor and the RPG Codex Den of Evil:

First we need an original name that surely has never been used before.

I can take Drizzt with both hands above my head.

There are many foes here.

We are off to a very good start.

The only other noteworthy item I found was this Ring which Corpsefire dropped. Unfortunately I did not have enough money for an ID scroll, so in the meantime I will just have to live in nerve wrecking anticipation.

Skills chosen so far: Bash and Howl.
Whatever weapon skill and combat skill I choose will have to depend on which weapons drop.

 

[octavius]

Part 2: Cold Plains, Burial Grounds, The Crypt, The Mausoleum, and The Cave:

The Ring I found was as expected almost useless, but on Players 1 with no shared stash every item counts.
Other items lead to gnashing of teeth and butthurt:

My Necros never find such good wands. And it would probably have netted me 20K gold.
This one also would have fetched a nice price:

I will never be able to assess this one, though, since I left it in the dirt:

She dropped the second good item I've found so far:

Blood Raven is mostly harmless. The most scary monster before Andariel is probably Coldcrow.

Really nasty bitch with that Cold Aura of hers, and the worst part is that her minions "inherit" the aura if you kill her first. So it's always a good idea to do the Burial Ground first and get some artillery support (as long as the bimbo doesn't mill around in the melee like a heedless chick, like she does sometimes).

At the end of this session I broke the 1,000 gold mark, and I'm now at 18% Magic Find.

 

[octavius]

Part 3: Stony Field, Underground Passage, Dark Wood, Tristram, Black Marsh, The Pit, Forgotten Tower

A good start to this session:

Then we come the closest to kroesocide we have come thus far, when we meet an Extra Strong skeleton archer:

The new residents in Tristram give their kids names with more schwung than the previous ones did.

We meet some assholes:

They drop a nice weapon:

But as long as I can one shot most foes, I prefer a faster weapon and a shield.
I would have liked to dual wield, but at the moment I have no means of mana steal, unless I socket a weak short sword.

"Let's hunt some Rune".

On the way we find a nice Ring (which will have to be unequipped when I find one with Extra Gold Find):

This Rune combo is good for nothing. The other items are mostly junk.

I move on instead of farming. Farming, shoveling manure and being revolting is work for peasants, not heroes.

At the end of the session I have almost 10k Gold. I only need 2,490,000 more.
Gold Find is at 50% and Magic Find at 36%.

 

[octavius]

Part 4: Tamoe Highland, The Pit, Barracks, Jail, Catacombs and the end of Act 1.

In the Pit we face a small group of Champion Archers.

They drop some nice items:

And this one is of such awesome power that you need to be lvl 15 to use it:

The most awesome item in the whole of Act 1 was found by looting the corpse of a Dark One Shaman, hidden in a place where only a Barbarian would think to search:

It's like it was made for killing Andariel. The extra 15 mana is a godsend; now I have enough mana that I can loot every corpse, so I pump up the Find Items skill to to 3, and ditto with the Mace skill.

I finally find a half decent weapon with mana steal, so I decide to dual wield it.

This is a good time to upgrade my armour:

Level 3 of the Catacombs is the first area where regular monsters can drop Runes. The Ghouls especially tend to drop them, since they have a limited range of possible drops, but alas none dropped this time.

I prepare for my date with Andariel:

In all the excitement I forgot to Frap the fight (which was very quick), but this, in addition to a Sapphire, is what she dropped:

It makes for a nice armour for my new Town Guard Merc (Cuntri the Rogue didn't survive Andariel).

At the start of Act 2 I'm up to 32K gold, so it's going very slowly so far.

 

[Malakal]

Hmm kinda weird goal but ok. Also D2 not really the best LP game but I guess this is where the goal comes in?

 

[octavius]

2.5 million gold is max amount you can put in storage, so it seemed a logical number.
I've seen some Challenge videos on YT, but not this particular one.

And yeah, I'm starting to notice that D2 not very LP friendly game.

 

[Just Locus]

I enjoy reading through it

 

[octavius]

Part 5: Sewers, Rocky Waste, Stony Tomb, Dry Hills.

The Sewers were annoying with lots of Undead archers. So I had to switch to mace+shield and could only loot choice corpses. In the end all I found in the sewers was shit.

In the Rocky Waste I found a nice amulet:

In the Stony Tomb I for the first time came close to dying, against Creeping Feature, an Extra Strong, Cold Enchanted Super-Unique Decayed. My Merc didn't make it, though, and I'm forced to waste money res'ing him.

But at least Creepy dropped a nice weapon for him.

In the Dry Hills we find a nice pair of gloves

and a Tir Rune!

I already found an El Rune in an Urn, so now I can make a Steel Runeword, and I do:

The +2 mana after each kill will solve most mana problems.
The 50% chance of Open Wounds is nice, but of little consequence on Player 1, since most go down in one or two swings anyway.

At the end of this session I have nearly 40K gold.
Gold Find is stuck at 56%, but Magic Find is now at 55%.

 

[Fedora Master]

But why.

 

[octavius]

Part 6: Far Oasis, Maggot Lair, Halls of the Dead
In the Far Oasis we find our first Set Item.

I give it to the Merc.

The Angelic Raiment is the best Normal Set if you want max Magic Find. It also gives big bonuses to Attack Rating. The weapon is very weak, but also very fast, so perfect for Paladins with elemental damage auras.
There's no Gold Find, though, so useless for Kroesus.

An unreachable pile of gold sends Kroesus into a Berserker rage and he starts running towards the Faggot Lair.

But his dyslexia has played tricks on him.

We find our first Grand Charm, but it's so useless that I didn't even screencap it.

The best Belt I've found so far. It's pathetic.

I realize I have mistakenly skipped The Halls of the Dead, causing a massive autism attack when I realize I could have had the Horadric Cube already.

We find a nice helmet for the merc

and a second Gold Find Ring for Kroesus, who has to drop the nice rare Ring he was wearing.

Using the power of the Cube, I get to work on all the Rings and Amulets I've found so far, and manage to get a new, nice Amulet out of it:

At the end of this session I have almost 60K gold.
Gold Find is up to 128%, but Magic Find went down to 46%.

With two good weapons I'm wading through enemies like a hot knife through butter. My only real weakness is having hardly any Lightning Resistance, which is not good with so many Beetles milling about.

 

[Hag]

Never played Diablo 2 since I did not enjoyed the first, but I enjoy going through this LP.
Although it comforts me in thinking that the real focus of this game is not fighting but obsessive item farming.

 

[Malakal]

I don't think it makes much sense to focus on gold in the early stages, instead probably rushing to the endgame would be better. Gold piles later easily give so much more...

 

[octavius]

I don't think it makes much sense to focus on gold in the early stages, instead probably rushing to the endgame would be better. Gold piles later easily give so much more...

It's part of the challenge to equip the Gold Find quipment.

 

[octavius]

Part 7: Lost City, Claw Viper Temple, Ancient Tunnels, Harem, Palace Cellar.

In the Lost City I find a new armour for my merc.

I favour Hit Recovery and Resistances to pure defense at this stage.

The sun has never shone here (and Kroesus is an expert on the subject, having explored many a place where the sun has never shone).

Doing a Han Solo impersonation:

Sometimes a character will freeze up completely. The only thing I've found that work is to hit W to switch weapon.

We break the 1K gold from a monster (a Champion):

In the Ancient Tunnels I find my second Unique item.

But Crushflange is no keeper.

I don't really need Crushing Blow against trash mobs, the Knockback is annoying (except maybe if using Whirlwind), and it would only make mana recovery harder.

What with the floozies and the booze gone, the only slightly exciting thing to happen under the Palace was finding a new armour for the Merc. The undead archers were much less annoying than I had expected.

At the end of this session I'm up to 85K gold.

 

[octavius]

Part 8: Arcane Sanctuary, Valley of the Magi, Tomb of Tal-Rasha

The Arcane Sanctuary was quite uneventful, with this the best item I found:

But I Unlocked An Achievement: You Have collected 100,000 Gold:

The Summoner rarely drops anything good, and this time was no exception, so let's head over to the Valley of the Magi and see if the pickings are fatter.
Alas, this was the best I found:

So I'm still wielding Knell Strike and Steel, as we head into Tal-Rasha's Tomb, where things start to get hairier. The Revenants especially can be nasty with the ranged attacks that if I'm not mistaken deal pure magical damage, against which there is little protection.

Some Apparitions cause a minor outbreak of cold sweat when the boss is Extra Strong. He leaves a nice Amulet:

Gold Find is now up to 162%.

I find a second Set item:

Alas, it's part of the Berserker's Arsenal:

My least favourite of all D2 Sets. All sets have at least one or two items that are useful, but the only slightly useful piece of this set is the armour; a Splint Mail that gives +1 to all Barbarian Skills. But I always favour Magic Find unless I'm really struggling.

The most dangerous fight so far in the game was against a group of Champion Revenants.

"I'm going in"

Foul demon, beware
Duriel's Bane is here

I'm quite pleased that I've managed to keep the Merc alive though all seven of Tal-Rasha's Tombs. I was going to reward him with the only useful item Duriel dropped (alas, no Set or Unique items)

but then I remembered that he was wearing my original Magic Find armour. Surely since he survived against Duriel wearing it, it must be his Lucky Armour?

At the end of this session I've almost doubled the amount of gold.
I've also found four Ral runes:

But what I really want is a Tal rune, so I can make a Stealth Runeword armour and feel safer and also move and recover mana faster.
I also want to make a weapon with Life and Mana Steal, but I need two or three more Skulls first, so I can socket a Flawless one.

 

[octavius]

Part 9: Spider Forest, Arachnid's Lair, Spider Cavern, Great Marsh, Flayer Jungle, Flayer Dungeon, Swampy Pit

In Spider Forest I find some useful gems and start crafting. First a new weapon to replace Steel. The damage is too low for the leeching to be so effective that I don't need potions, but it's a start:

I also make a new armour with more Defense and Magic Find:

I'm promptly rewarded with a new Unique item dropping.

Deathspade is not quite good enough to replace any of my current weapons, though. The +4 to mana after each kill is very useful at lower levels, and the Blind effect is very interesting. Blind lasts a long time, but it's rather wasted on most melee builds, since it's not effective if the monster is adjacent.

I reach another milestone: 200,000 gold.

And I find an improved Gold Find ring.

Gem Shrines are fun. Either I accidentally click on it, or I intend to come back to it, but then forget it. I can't remember what I did with this one.

Ormus' reward for completing his quest:

Not too bad, but no Gold Find, so into the trophy room it goes to collect dust.

In the Flayer Dungeon we face a Witch Doctor who is every Barbarian's favourite, since he can yield up to six items. Thus I finally find a decent belt. Actually it's almost a perfect Belt at this stage for this build, and it brings Gold Find up to 218%.

In the Flayer Jungle I finally find a Tal Rune.

I sacrifice 35% Magic Find for increased protection, speed and mana recovery.

If my goal had been to collect as much gold as I could carry, this Let's Play would have been finished now.

At the end of this session I'm almost up to 275K gold.
Gold Find is at 218%, but Magic Find is down to a measly 28%.
Having reached level 24, I now invest the skill points in Battle Commands, which among other things increases max Mana while it's active. Since I don't buy any potions, I'm constantly in demand of more mana. I even use Wells and Mana Shrines actively with this play style, and even TP to get back to town and get a fix.

 

[octavius]

Part 10: Kurast

Despite all the loot containers in topside Kurast, the best thing I find is a pair of boots marginally better than the old one.

When I thought of asking this guy if it's the name that forms the man (very broadly speaking), or the other way around, it was already too late.

The Little Bugger Shamans outside Kurast can be deadly with their flame throwing, but under Kurast the most deadly foes we met were some Champion and Ghostly Wailing Beasts.

Others are more afraid of the Little Buggers in the Sewers that burst with excrement.

In the Sewers I found my first Exceptional item, in a lunch box left behind by the Kurast Sewers maintenance crew.

But it's not quite exceptional enough to replace any of my normal weapons.

On the lower level I find a Rare War Sword. I remember being very excited abut Rare War Swords when I played the Barbarian back in the days.

Nowadays I'm not able to relive those moments.

In the Forgotten Reliquiary, we stumble upon a forgotten relic.

If I didn't already have an Amulet with 67% Gold Find, I would have relished this.

In the Forgotten Temple we disturb The Bone Scarabs. I would have liked to have kept them as pets and named them John, Paul, George and Ringo, but they mistook me for the taxman and attacked.

At the end of this session I'm up to more than 350K gold.

 

[octavius]

Part 11: Kurast Causeway, Travincal and Durance of Hate

In the small dungeons under the Causeway, we're off to a good start. Finally a Charm that adds much needed Mana. And it even increases my Gold Find.

And a nice Jewel that will be very effective if putting it in a Helm or Armour, since then you'll get double benefit from the extra damage if dual wielding. But that would mean reducing my Gold Find, so it's currently not an option.

A new Unique item.

Forgot to screencap after identifying it, but it's a Gorefoot. It can be very useful for the 2% Mana Steal, especially before you find Rings, Amulets, Gloves and Circlets with that ability. But I already have Mana Steal on a weapon, so I put in the Trophy Room.

I also find the most damaging weapon so far:

It's very slow, though, and have no special properties. But I keep it just in case.

The closest to Game Over I've come so far, I almost meet a fiery death when ambushed by a Fire Shrine lurking around a corner.

Man, that would have been embarrassing...

In Travincal itself, the pickings were very slim. None of the Council Members dropped anything noteworthy. Neither did they pose much of a threat.

In the Durance of Hate I find a new Set Item:

It's Arcanna's Head, part of Arcanna's Tricks, which is useless for this build (and just about every other build).

I find my first Circlet, and keep it for possible Imbue purpose. Although I already have a Helm with Gold Find, so will most probably imbue a different item, if it ever comes to that.

On the lowest levels we meet a pack of Champion Blood Lords, that make the blood pump a bit faster.

Now comes the third most scary motherfucker in the game (after Duriel and Nightmare/Hell Nihlathak): Brem Sparkfirst. Fortunately he didn't have a lethal abilities combo this time. None of the Council Members here dropped anything noteworthy, either.

Before the showdown with Baal I equip Crushflange instead of my crafted Longsword, so now I have Crushing Blow on both weapons. Baal goes down faster than you can say "Henrik Ibsens ripsbærbusker og andre russiske buskvekster".

The only noteworthy item he dropped was the Unique Scale Armor Hawkmail:

Cannot be Frozen is nice, but not that important on Normal.

At the end of Act 3 I'm up to over 400,000 Gold accumulated. Only 2.1 million to go.

 

[octavius]

Part 12: Act 4
A brutal start to this session as there are two bosses waiting outside the gates of the Pandemonium Fortress. I lost the Merc and am forced to such unbarbarian like behaviour as running around until the Curse wears off.

The Merc is dying rather too easily, and sometimes he doesn't even notify me, so I give him a better armour.

Not much Defense, but then I think Hit Recovery and resistances are more important before his natural resistances are maxed out.

In the River of Flame I find a Magic Circlet.

But it turned out be be crap.

I find a 3 socket Warhammer which may come in handy, once I get another Flawless or better Skull. The way Double Swing (or any dual wielding) works it's actually quickest if you equip one fast and one slow weapon, with the fast one equipped first and in the shield hand. Dunno if this is a bug or undocumented design feature.

I also find a nice new weapon for the Merc.

After putting a Chipped Skull and two Ort Runes in it, it's even nicer.

I shall face death head on (or die trying).

The Oblivion Knights are nasty, and there were several close encounters with the grim reaper, but we prevail.
At this stage I'm facing the problem every Barbarian faces in D2; it's hard to get good enough weapons, and now I'm relying ever more on the Merc do the hard work while I supervise him from a tactically sound position.

We face the fourth most scary motherfucker in the game, or at least the most scary pack of monsters: Infector of Souls and his Minions, who are ultra fast and deadly, especially for archers. The Merc does well thanks to his new weapon with Life Steal and we find a Belt that could have been nice against Diablo.

Before facing Diablo I decide I need to equip a Shield to improve my Lightning Resistance. The Ancients Pledge would have been perfect, but sadly I have not found a single 3 socket Shield so far, so this one will have to do, and once again Crushflange is brought forth for special occasions.

Several gallons of health potions later (despite max Fire and Lighting Resistance, as well as 3 Magic Resistance) the oversized lizard goes down.

He drops four Rare weapons, of which only one is noteworthy.

I think I will start using this one and the Concentrate skill, and see if I fare better. No leeching is a bummer, though.
Now up to 463K gold, so it's going somewhat slower than I had anticipated.

 

[octavius]

Part 13: Bloody Foothills, Frigid Highlands, Arreat Plateau, Abaddon, Pit of Acheron, Crystalline Passage

As I halfway suspected, wielding that slow Poleaxe was not very efficient, and I switch back to Gemmed Long Sword + Knell Striker.
So the first noteworthy item I find is an even slower and harder hitting two-hander.

Shenks for nothing.

In the Frigid Highlands I find a nice new pair of boots that will increase my Magic Find somewhat.

A new milestone is reached, when I for the second time can't carry more gold. I'm surprised the limit is at a rather unintuitive number, though.

A Sol rune brightens my day.

I've also found a regular Skull, so a-crafting we go.

I finally retire Knell Striker after long and faithful service, and with two gemmed weapons I hit harder and quicker than ever.

A member of the respected (among the monsters) Puke family is green with envy.

In the Pit of Acheron we face a pack of Blood Lords led by a Cold Enchanted boss, who reminds me that I need to explore the Crystalline Passage. "I'll be back".

I finally reach level 30, and now I can get the Battle Command and War Cry skills, the latter being excellent for crowd control, especially when you are not protected by a high block chance.

But no sooner than I had formulated this cunning tactic of Double Swing + War Cry, than I find a Shael rune.

Now I can make the Rhyme Runeword shield, which will increase my Gold Find further. I didn't have any Tower Shields available, so a Gothic Shield with somewhat lower Block chance will have to do.

(Shaeleth? Sounds like Grunker's waifu).
The Cannot Be Frozen will be very useful for the Cold breathing monsters beyond the Arreat Plateau.
I search my whole armoury looking for the single best one handed weapon, whining "I have nothing to wield!", and end up with my Gemmed Long Sword as the safest choice. The hard hitting War Hammer is too slow on its own. Had I known I would find a Shael this soon, I would have gemmed a Flail instead of the war Hammer.

Since the Whirlwind skill is still only level one, and I have limited mana, I decided to use the Concentrate skill. This means Hit Recovery is no longer an issue, so I ditch the Stealth Runeword armour for a significant boost in Magic Find.

Magic Find is now up to 130% and Gold Find is at 277%.

Clicking on an Evil Urn can be lucrative.

Gold Find is now over 300%.

"I'm back".

Black Hawk dropped a nice weapon to use on switch, for buffing and using Find Item. Now that I use sword and shield, switching will not mess up my attack speed.

At the end of this session I'm up to about 650K gold.
I still need a really good, fast one handed weapon, this one being the one dealing most damage, but with no leeching.