[1.80-MXL] Kurast 3000BA Guide

Original post by Osterius on the old forums (forumer).
Most formatting is lost.
-WolfieeifloW


Not sure if there is a good farming guide for this area yet, but here it is anyway.

Edit on 11/29/08: Copied/pasted from the 2008 section, THIS GUIDE IS STILL VIABLE FOR MXL 1.80! The only difference I have noticed between versions is all skeletons are now heroic, meaning their name is in orange.

Kurast 3000BA

General Strategy

First of all this guide pertains to ALL classes, secondly this applies to any difficulty, though best for Destruction farming of sacred unique and set items (which is what I will cover). The first thing that's important is boosting resistances. With 200%+ resists in fire, lightning and cold the sorcerers will not even scratch you, so no need to worry about them. However the warriors and archers will do some hefty damage regardless, so it is important to get as much defense and health as you can.

Regarding killing off the skeletons, you will need significant area of effect damage of any sort. I have found that poison works the best because there are no poison immunities. When luring (which is discussed later), since the archers move little (if at all), it is always a good idea to lure out of their range, unless of course the shield won't drop until you are already out of their range.

An easy way to kill the totems is to lure away all the warriors (and sorcerers if you lack decent resistances). Keep in mind that the totems only spawn skeletons when you are near them. Once all the WARRIORS are cleared from a totem then proceed to destroy it. It also possible to take a few pot shots at the totem as you are rounding up the warriors, though this can be risky. Since the archers do not move, you will have to endure their attacks until their shields are removed.

The Ennead Necromancers are not actually that powerful in attack or defense. The biggest thing they do is summon more skeletons if you are near them, which if left unchecked with area of effect it will turn bad, fast. Their attack also knocks back and stun sightly. The best method for killing the Necromancers with NON-SPELL characters is a stun attack. Once they are stunned they can no longer knock you back nor summon addition skeletons, making the fight go smoothly. As for CASTERS, I would recommend just pummeling the area with non-stop area of effect, killing everything at once. It might take a little more, but it will work just as well in the end.

Phat Lewt

As the documentation states, sacred items have a chance to drop here. In non-Destruction difficulty, normal uniques, the hard mode charm and the class charms will only drop. I do not have an entire list of all the possible items that drop, however I do know that set items are more common than sacred uniques. All creatures have a chance to drop sets and uniques, though the skeletons seem to drop more set items and the necromancers drop more uniques.

If all you are looking for is your respective class charm, then I suggest only completing the routes to the first necromancer. Going further will take more time than it takes to exit and retry the level.

As a side note, this area is also a good place to gather some gold, from straight drops, and from the numerous magical items that drop. If you are also farming gold in this area, I suggest waiting to pick up any gold till the very end. It is quite easy to die and lose all or most of it.

Note: All lewt information was discovered with 126% magic find.

Route Guide

The Median documentation explains the immunity shield, so no need to touch on what those mean. I've marked on the picture at the bottom where all the Ennead Necromancers and Shadowgate Totems are located and numbered them accordingly to the best order of destruction.

The picture legend is self explanatory, but let me go through the routes.

The first totem is the easiest to eliminated. Just follow the above part for skeleton and totem killing. After totem #1 is destroyed, follow the route labeled "after #1". If that route is blocked by archers, you must go under the building, otherwise lure the skeletons out and kill them. Then proceed to lure the skeletons surrounding totem #2 back the way you came, as it provides a natural choke. With those three totems cleared and destroyed, necromancer #2 is now open for the killing.

After totem #2 you can go on to kill necromancer #1. If you are just searching for class charms, you do not have to proceed any further, just repeat the first section. The routes for totem #3 is much like the previous totem. Also totem #4 is similar in strategy to totem #1.

Totems #5, #6, and #7 are where it gets tricky. The best way is to continuously gather and lure the warriors away, leaving them open. I suggest the kill order as depicted because totem 5 is furthest from any of the other remaining totems, giving an easier and shorter route before they lose their immunities. However I'm sure there are other methods for clearing this section.

Once again totems #8 and #9 are pretty straight forward, so no need to explain any further.

Much like totem #5, #10 is the furthest away from any other remaining totem, making it easier to clear. Afterwords proceed with clearing #11 and #12 in the same fashion. With the last totems destroyed, necromancer #3 is left open, finishing the area.



End notes: All information was found using patch version 1.11b, Median 2008 1.57 and PlugY 8.00 over three runs for consistency.[/b]