My Demon Hunter, ThirtySeven, and Shawn’s Barbarian, Smashez, left off somewhere in the series of quests that involve helping the creepy, bodiless, Zoltun Kulle find his missing body parts (as he shares “wisdom” and laughs maniacally). We are still in Normal mode. Thirty-Seven was at level 26, and I’m pretty sure that Smashez was at level 26 as well.
We found the Archives of Zoltun Kulle.
Shawn and I are not big fans of Valentine’s Day. We both think it is kind of silly, and is a “Hallmark Holiday”. While other couples celebrated Valentine’s Day at expensive restaurants, or on a mini-vacation, we decided that the way we wanted to spend Valentine’s Day was to play Diablo III.
Shawn’s Barbarian, Smashez, is at level 25. (But, Shawn thought he was still at level 23). ThirtySeven, my Demon Hunter, started out at level 25. The last time we played together, we ran through the crypts in the Cemetery of the Forsaken specifically to test out Monster Power in an area that I was familiar with. Previous to that, we were somewhere in the Zoltun Kulle chain of quests.
This week, it dawned on me that I’d never played Diablo III (intentionally) all by myself. Some late nights/early mornings I started off by myself, and then had other players join me. Other nights, I specifically went in knowing I was going to play with someone (usually Shawn). It seemed like a good time to learn how to create a closed game, and to see what it was like to experience it.
In between the previous Diablo III blog I posted, and the next time I played, I got sick. Those of you who know me are probably thinking: “But, you’re always sick. So?” The difference this time was that it wasn’t only allergies (although, those were pretty bad at the time, too). It also wasn’t the flu bug that was going around. No, I had managed to catch a cold that included a high fever (complete with sweating and freezing at the same time).
I knew from experience that playing Diablo III while feverish is not a good idea. In general, I end up dead – a lot! But… I really wanted to play. I doubt I lasted much more than an hour (if that), and the night was mostly a blur. I took some screenshots, so I might as well put them into a blog.
After zooming through Act II of Nightmare (with help from my friends) I was ready to start Act III. My friends went to sleep, which is totally understandable, given that it was “crazy early” in the morning by then. I, however, was too excited to sleep, so I kept playing.
After fighting Belial, my bags were full of loot. Unfortunately, so was my stash. The solution, I decided, was to try and consolidate the many different types of gems into “bigger” gems (so to speak). In the process, I got an Achievement. Now, I was ready to venture into Act III (and get more loot).
Last time I played, Zeta the Barbarian was level 39, and had (finally) finished Act I of Nightmare Mode. The next time I played, I figured I didn’t really have enough time to do all of Act II in one session. My hope was to jump in and give it my best shot, and get as far as I could.
What I didn’t take into account was that my friends were in game, and more than willing to help me out. The night was fairly chaotic, and fast, and exciting! I didn’t have the time to take as many screenshots as I usually do when I play, but I did manage to grab some highlights.
When I started this time, my Barbarian, Zeta, was level 39. She was in Act I of Nightmare Mode (and impatient to get into Act II). Here are some highlights from the adventure.
Zeta rounded up Kormac and Leah to go pick up Lyndon… sorta. I mean, at this point, he’s standing right over there, across the courtyard in town. We already picked him up in Act I of Normal mode. I mean… /sigh. This is one of those parts of the game where the storyline resembles one of the episodes of Star Trek TNG with the parallel universes and the looping timeline.
Seriously, I’m going to get my Barbarian, Zeta, through Act I of Nightmare Mode! It was time to stop procrastinating and just get through my least favorite zone in the game, Leoric’s Manor (and the icky, nausea inducing, dungeons).
When last I blogged, my Barbarian, Zeta, was somewhere near the end of Act I of Nightmare Mode. She ended up making one last trip through the Crypts in Act I, and killed the Skeleton King one more time (with help from a Tensor, who is a Shattered Soulstone listener).
By this point, I was getting sleepy. So, the next set of screenshots are probably going to appear somewhat disjointed and out of sequence. Seems appropriate, since that was about how I was feeling while I was playing.
It was starting to feel like I had been stuck in Act I of Nightmare Mode for too long. Don’t get me wrong, I like Act I, and I was having a good time playing through it on Monster Power 1 (or 2). For whatever reason, I just had to get my Barbarian, Zeta, into to Act II already!
First, a little side trip through the Cemetery of the Forsaken (while on Monster Power 2), in an effort to hopefully get a little closer to finishing the Haunted Achievement. Hopefully, this will be the last time I see it for a while (because I will have moved on to Act II).
