Diablo 2 Steemit retro-gaming project! Steemcules the Strong Act 1, Episode 2

This is the tale of Steemcules the Strong. A Steem exclusive playthrough of the iconic Diablo 2 hack n slash game.

Last time on The Tale of Steemcules the Strong Steemcules completed the first three quests of Act 1. He rampaged through the Den of Evil, he obliterated Blood Raven in the Sisters' Burial Ground and he saved Decdard Cain in the Search for Cain because... scrolls of identify are a hassle... oh and he knows stuff.

So now on the play-through I have completed the next two quests:

• The Forgotten Tower
• Tools of the Trade

So let's take a quick look at them:

The Forgotten Tower

A long long time ago there was a bad woman in a Tower, something something, corruption and evil things appeared: Kill the Countess! I hit her with my axes and she died.

Actually much like Blood Raven the countess is far too weak for me to have gotten a screenshot of her before she died. So I kinda skipped right over that one without much of a mention as to what, when or where.

The Tower is found in the Dark Moor, has multiple levels and has a lot of money laying around in the treasury before you face off against the Countess. She pretty much handles exactly like a melee Fallen Rogue boss with henchmen.

Tools of the Trade

In this quest, Charsi, the Blacksmith of the Rogue encampment tells you about an enchanted hammer, the Horadric Malus that was lost when the monastery got overrun by the minions of Hell.

You square off against The Smith in order to retrieve it, a pretty strong fellow I used Bash on a bunch of times to kill. He has quite a lot of damage so as long as you can dish out enough damage or take a few hit then you should be fine when facing off against this brute.

Now the important part

As a reward for returning the Malus to Charsi, she offers to imbue one of your items with magical abilities. I would not use this right away!

It is a fact that you will be changing gear on a rapid pace for most of the duration of the first three Acts. On Act 4 you should start getting to the point where a level up and a item change starts to slow down, in this time you can start considering when you want to use this offer.

Remember, you can always return to Charsi from another Act to use this boost.

Here are a few pics of how Steemcules is looking and how his stats are looking!

I used to gather every single resource in Diablo 2 with each character and hoard them hard, from gems to gold and just stock it up. Hodl all my gold coins as though it was a crypto or something! Hahaha!

Now I am far more relaxed with it. I actually spent a bunch of cash and gambled with Gheed in town. That's a merchant who has a bunch of unidentified magical items that identify as soon as you buy them. Some times are waaaay too expensive - like rings and amulets. Stay away from those.

But I did get myself new armor as well as two new axes!

Onwards Steemcules! To Glory!

So next up is the Sisters of Slaughter where I am to face Andariel who is a Lesser Evil. Much in the way that Diablo and his brothers are the Prime Evils, this... creature is a major player in Hell. Apparently there was some sort of movement that caused Andariel and the other Lesser Evils to push Diablo out into Sanctuary.

I am not a super Lore master of the Diablo universe... but I know a little bit and it is super interesting. I have been reading quite a bit and it actually is moving me towards getting the novels!

Onwards! Time to go hunt a demon!