[Guide][Journal] Forever alone from lvl 1 to endgame.

[zaxvax]

I have very bad connection so I decided to move from ranked to local. (Last time I did survival on ranked it took 3 days to get to wave 20. Simply because of disconnets on the way. I had to start again and again 6 times) And to make it more fun I started from scratch by clearing save files from game folder and steam folder. It's much more fun than doing "export to open" thingie.
Now I have my ranked characters and tavern saved and untouched for better future and local characters deleted with tavern and itembox as well. I will share this experience with community, may be it will help less experienced players to progress and learn something new. May be more experienced players will provide some advices too. On ranked I started with apprentice and leveled other characters later as XP leechers. Now I want to try different class as a starter.

For endgame I will need 4 characters level 74 as minimum:
- Countess or Squire as main tower builder and playable character for a while.
- Series EV as secondary wall builder and buffer.
- Huntress or Ranger as trap master.
- Monk or Initiate as aura master.

I will write few words about every map I complete and also my stats in form of
Hero: Health total(Health from equipment)/Damage total(Damage from equipment)/Speed total(Speed from equipment)/Casting Rate total(Casting Rate from Equipment).
Abilities: A1 total(A1 from equipment)/A2 total(A2 from equipment).
Defenses: Health total(Health from equipment)/Damage total(Damage from equipment)/Area of Effect total(Area of Effect from equipment)/Attack Rate total(Attack Rate from equipment).
This way you can follow my progress, how I spend points and how good my equipment is.
I will add screenshots and video where needed. I will give more info if map was hard for me and lees if it was easy or if I don't recommend this map.

Before we start I must say few words about experience.
You get more experience doing map on Hardcore.
You get more experience doing map on higher difficulty.
You get more experience doing map/wave without dieing.
You get more experience doing wave without taking damage.
You get more experience doing map/wave without crystal taking damage.
You get more experience doing map without hiting mobs yourself (except first wave).
You get more experience doing map/wave having all possible DU's used.
And may be there are more ways to earn extra exp which I forgot. Anyway I will stick to this and will try to earn as much as I can on every map to speed up my progress.
First of all I don't want to die and don't want to take any damage. Playing safe for extra XP. So I'm not providing info about my resistance after each map.
Second I will give you explanation or screenshot or layout to show how I used DU's.
And third I don't care about DPS pets, weapon DPS and such things untill nightmare... probably...

Lets start.

Day 01. - 15 April 2012 (http://forums.trendyent.com/showthread.php?55484-Guide-Journal-Forever-alone-from-lvl-1-to-endgame.&p=421668&viewfull=1#post421668)
Day 02. - 16 April 2012 (http://forums.trendyent.com/showthread.php?55484-Guide-Journal-Forever-alone-from-lvl-1-to-endgame.&p=423247&viewfull=1#post423247)
Day 03. - 16 April 2012 (http://forums.trendyent.com/showthread.php?55484-Guide-Journal-Forever-alone-from-lvl-1-to-endgame.&p=423340&viewfull=1#post423340)
Day 04. - 17 April 2012 (http://forums.trendyent.com/showthread.php?55484-Guide-Journal-Forever-alone-from-lvl-1-to-endgame.&p=425404&viewfull=1#post425404)
Day 05. - 18 April 2012 (http://forums.trendyent.com/showthread.php?55484-Guide-Journal-Forever-alone-from-lvl-1-to-endgame.&p=427485&viewfull=1#post427485)
Day 06. - 19 April 2012 (http://forums.trendyent.com/showthread.php?55484-Guide-Journal-Forever-alone-from-lvl-1-to-endgame.&p=429894&viewfull=1#post429894)
Day 07. - 20 April 2012 (http://forums.trendyent.com/showthread.php?55484-Guide-Journal-Forever-alone-from-lvl-1-to-endgame.&p=432215&viewfull=1#post432215)

Day 08. - 21 April 2012 (http://forums.trendyent.com/showthread.php?55484-Guide-Journal-Forever-alone-from-lvl-1-to-endgame.&p=434263&viewfull=1#post434263)
Day 10. - 23 April 2012 (http://forums.trendyent.com/showthread.php?55484-Guide-Journal-Forever-alone-from-lvl-1-to-endgame.&p=437483&viewfull=1#post437483)
Day 11. - 27 April 2012 (http://forums.trendyent.com/showthread.php?55484-Guide-Journal-Forever-alone-from-lvl-1-to-endgame.&p=444049&viewfull=1#post444049)
Sharken Intermission. - 02 May 2012 (http://forums.trendyent.com/showthread.php?55484-Guide-Journal-Forever-alone-from-lvl-1-to-endgame.&p=456916&viewfull=1#post456916)

[zaxvax]

Day 01. Map 01. The Deeper Well Easy Hardcore (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
5 Level; 3,334 XP; 1,828 Mana
0(0)/0(0)/0(0)/0(0)
0(0)/0(0)
1(1)/9(0)/0(0)/0(0)
Countess has no damaging towers from start. However blockade can reflect some damage. This is what I used untill last wave, when I replaced blockades with bouncers. 2 blockades to block stairs and 4 to block sides. Forcing archers to kill themselves with blockades was challenging lol. Had to come to them to aggro (just by standing around, no violence involved) and kite them through blockades.


Day 01. Map 02. The Deeper Well Medium Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
9 Level; 14,906 XP; 4,213 Mana
0(0)/0(0)/0(0)/0(0)
0(0)/1(1)
1(1)/21(0)/0(0)/0(0)
Stairs covered with 2 bouncers each and sides 2 bouncers each. Rest DU's were spent to drop bouncers randomly around crystal just to have DU's spent and as extra protection.

Day 01. Map 03. The Deeper Well Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
13 Level; 42,165 XP; 6,749 Mana
0(0)/0(0)/0(0)/0(0)
0(0)/1(1)
8(2)/29(2)/0(0)/0(0)
Stairs protected with 2 bouncers each and sides 2 bouncers each. Added harpoons behind bouncers to deal easier with archers. Spent rest DU's as before.
Don't forget to open every chest after waves and check for upgrades (not just items highlighted with green but all of them). If you check my stats I put everything in tower damage except few points in tower health. It is important to keep stats balanced. If health is low towers will go down quickly. Dead tower can't DPS. If range is low then tower will spend a lot of time waiting instead of fighting. If attack rate is low then tower damage is wasted for nothing. Hero Speed and Casting Rate are important for Insane difficulty and very good for lower difficulties.

However I will start The Deeper Well Insane Hardcore with both stats zeroed.

Day 01. Map 04. The Deeper Well Insane Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
17 Level; 88,205 XP; 14,485 Mana
0(0)/3(3)/1(1)/3(3)
2(2)/5(5)
12(6)/40(5)/6(0)/0(0)
Stairs: 2 bouncers, 2 harpoons each. Sides: 2 bouncers, 1 harpoon each. Rest DU's as before. Wasn't too hard, didn't lose any tower but upgraded a lot. Big Egg droped. Thats 64,000 mana. Not goin to use it. Some nice upgrades droped as they usualy do on insane.

Day 01. Map 05. Foundries and Forges Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
19 Level; 123,187 XP; 307 Mana
3(3)/6(6)/0(0)/5(5)
3(3)/5(5)
10(4)/52(13)/7(1)/8(4)
Time to move to next map. Here we shall meet ogre for first time. Sounds scaring and it is dangerous if you do it first time and have no idea what to expect hehe. I think I lost this map on easy when was doing it first time with apprentise long time ago. Layout for this map is very simple. I always build at the crystal, not at the gates. 3 choke points easy to defend and to collect mana. West: 2 bouncers, 3 harpoons behind them. Upgrade to^. East and center: 2 bouncers, 2 harpoons, 1 ball thrower each side. Upgrade as much as possible. Ogre comes to center or to east side.

Day 01. Map 06. Foundries and Forges Insane Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
23 Level; 191,378 XP; 17,313 Mana
3(3)/10(10)/4(4)/1(1)
3(3)/8(8)
26(8)/57(14)/12(6)/12(8)
Exactly the same as hard. Just need to upgrade better and repair bouncers if kobolds give you hard time. Gigantic egg droped... Are you kidding me?! 10 millon mana to lvl 23 struggling to buy any good gear?! Not goin to use it. Lets see what hatches from it lol. Maybe ppl will read this guide after easter event... so... fair play here we go!

Day 01. Map 07. Magus Quarters Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
25 Level; 240,405 XP; 28,238 Mana
3(3)/10(10)/4(4)/1(1)
3(3)/8(8)
26(8)/65(14)/12(6)/12(8)
I know I can do it on insane but... I just want to remember how it's going, to try layout to play with towers with unlimited time and so on. So I will do hard first. It's hard to explain setup for 90DU's so here you can check layout here: http://ddplanner.com/?l=1965,magus-quarters-hard-insane-layout Start with 3 bouncers and continue with harpoons, then ball throwers and last bouncer. ^^ for bouncers ^ for harpoons and ^^ for ball throwers was enough I think.

Day 01. Map 08. Magus Quarters Insane Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
28 Level; 326,666 XP; 77,373 Mana
15(15)/18(18)/7(7)/6(6)
3(3)/3(3)
44(26)/77(14)/28(22)/29(25)
Same layout as hard. Remember to upgrate cetral bouncer to ^^^ and wyvern protection to ^. Ogre broke through ^^^ bouncer and died when ball throwers had very low health. So make sure ogre defence is nicely upgraded. And cheers I can finally use Engineer Pet since I'm higher than 26 lvl now. Pet will gain mana as well as I gain XP, so don't forget to upgrade him after every map. I put all hit points into tower health. His ability to repair is pathetic on hard or insane levels. However if you are interested in it you can upgrade his damage to increase it.

Day 01. Map 09. Alchemical Laboratory Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
30 Level; 394,348 XP; 96,517 Mana
22(22)/18(18)/10(10)/13(9)
3(3)/3(3)
49(31)/83(16)/20(14)/34(30)
Layout screenshot during last wave: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542924547179603645/952736691EB00E2AD88471946FFE5ABA1455CF9E/
First level where we meet a boss. Wohooo! Build 4 bouncers and 1 hapoon faced east. This is all you need to beat first wave. There is a secret weapon to help you with this boss. Those 4 dark colored coils around the room, but while I was trying to remember how to use them boss died... oh well.. next time...

Day 01. Map 10. Alchemical Laboratory Insane Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
30 Level; 462,887 XP; 145,397 Mana
22(22)/18(18)/10(10)/13(9)
3(3)/3(3)
51(33)/89(16)/24(14)/34(30)
I failed during last wave when kobolds blew up my bouncers and crystal immidiatly after. Sad but at least I got some nice XP and loot. Will progress on hard levels from now on.

Day 01. Map 11. Servants Quarters Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
35 Level; 544,678 XP; 87,034 Mana
21(21)/23(23)/13(13)/22(18)
14(14)/15(15)
77(59)/108(25)/45(35)/40(31)
I hate this map so much on nightmare and insane, but when time is not an issue it's all different.
Wave 1 layout: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542924547186846104/5F9CDD2257FFE2631BA8DE5265318CC0CF1C382D/
Last wave layout: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542924547186871900/7D6B45E9D361E9BF16A72A2245E4CE2DC1518F72/
Spent ~100k mana on equipment upgrades.


Day 01. Map 12. Castle Armory Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
37 Level; 665,780 XP; 312,759 Mana
16(16)/11(11)/23(23)/31(27)
15(15)/20(20)
96(78)/115(22)/48(38)/42(33)
Layout: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542924547187252718/F9E2B5A4CF311258CAC8F60C60598EA1073B0BE3/
Initialy set up all bouncers an blockades. During next wave add everything else. Upgrade northen bouncers and maybe south if you feel unsecure. Upgrade all harpoons.

Day 01. Map 13. Challenge: Ogre Crush Medium Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
38 Level; 676,833 XP; 319,395 Mana
16(16)/11(11)/23(23)/31(27)
15(15)/20(20)
96(78)/120(22)/48(38)/42(33)
Boooooring... And reward with negative tower stats.

Day 01. Map 14. Challenge: Ogre Crush Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
38 Level; 708,346 XP; 330,263 Mana
16(16)/11(11)/23(23)/31(27)
15(15)/20(20)
96(78)/120(22)/48(38)/42(33)
Boooooring... Again... And reward with negative tower stats. Again...

Ogre Crush Medium and Hard have squire weapon as a reward.

Day 01. Map 15. Hall of Court Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
41 Level; 860,428 XP; 23,411 Mana
16(16)/11(11)/23(23)/31(27)
15(15)/20(20)
98(80)/152(39)/48(38)/42(33)
Final layout: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542924547189100074/A53AAD5B969A46476CA9EA0FE24F59E64E88C299/
Start with blockades and continue with harpoons. Make sure you put down 2 harpuns on west side to take down archers before they hit crystal.
Spent all my mana to upgrade gear.

Day 01. Map 16. The Throne Room Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.27)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
45 Level; 1,052,501 XP; 415,887 Mana
19(19)/17(17)/17(17)/30(26)
18(18)/11(11)
106(88)/160(40)/46(36)/55(33)
Final layout: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542924547189735240/8633FC1AD0A7D2F276098069F19BEE445B7E105F/
It was bad! Very very bad! I had to upgrade eastern blockade and two harpoons to one star to handle ogre and kobolds, while boss went down under a minute. At least one harpoon must be mooved to eastern side.

Day 01. Map 17. Royal Gardens Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.28)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
48 Level; 1,218,989 XP; 615,387 Mana
19(19)/17(17)/17(17)/30(26)
18(18)/11(11)
111(89)/160(40)/57(36)/55(33)
Final layout: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542924547192189981/FAAC0198C25010D968201A15ADD0F3348F385EEF/
Everything was great except last wave where wyverns did ~ 200 dmg to the western crystals. I didn't see where they came from. Probably from west. Anyway it is up to you now to adjust angle for harpoons guarding that crystal.
Screenshot with angle for north and south harpuns to cover corresponding wyvern paths:

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542924547192702339/39128A09D0B2EA065CA088B218280D15965F9237/

Day 01. Map 18. The Ramparts Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.28)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
51 Level; 1,484,352 XP; 915,373 Mana
19(19)/17(17)/17(17)/30(26)
18(18)/11(11)
118(91)/160(40)/62(36)/60(33)
I'm not giving you layout for this. The Ramparts is the most pupular map for XP grinding so you can find a lot of layouts on forum.

Day 01. Map 19. Endless Spires Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.28)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
55 Level; 1,771,436 XP; 1,379,636 Mana
19(19)/17(17)/17(17)/30(26)
18(18)/11(11)
139(92)/160(40)/62(36)/60(33)
I have no idea why I used SnD instead of 2 bouncers, but it worked just great. Chewed yellow and red ogre simultaniously without any noticeble health loss. Locked genie pet with nice 37 tower stats and 24^. I have mana to buy it but I'd like to do couple of survivals to try if I can get better one.

Day 01. Map 20. The Summit Easy Hardcore. (Patch 7.28)
Stats in tavern after last wave complete, loot sold and upgrades done:
56 Level; 1,817,859 XP; 1,417,315 Mana
21(21)/23(23)/19(19)/39(35)
24(24)/11(11)
123(71)/160(40)/76(50)/62(35)
With negative fire resistance I will get oneshoted by that dragon on hard. So I just done it on easy to unlock last map. Squire guardian reward was good enough to replace engineer pet.

Day 01 is over. 8 Eggs, 1 Big Egg, 1 Huge Egg, I Gigantic Egg. :D

[zaxvax]

Day 02. Map 21. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
67 Level; 2,845,817 XP; 2,500,973 Mana
42(42)/8(8)/36(36)/68(64)
38(38)/36(36)
113(51)/181(61)/64(38)/119(47)
Insane amount of XP and some nice upgrades but way too boring and easy. I must try something harder. May be DLC maps or Insane difficulty.
Layout: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542924743791118552/80A7E5679DA87645A0506C1EC652EB8635CAC546/
I'm not going to spend any mana on gear upgrades cause I'm fixin to replace it with better items in couple of hours. Jedai sword reward had great tower stats and I equiped it.

Day 02. Map 22. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
71 Level; 4,370,756 XP; 3,363,676 Mana
31(31)/20(20)/47(47)/57(53)
30(30)/45(45)
138(68)/193(73)/79(48)/117(35)
Same layout. Done 9/10 waves.
It's time to get some pets. I need hunter and app guardians and mana replenishing one. Also I wanna try some new maps. And I purchased XP bonus for 70k mana and will do again next lvls.

Day 02. Map 23. City in the Cliffs Easy Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
71 Level; 4,813,173 XP; 3,642,875 Mana
31(31)/20(20)/47(47)/57(53)
30(30)/45(45)
138(68)/193(73)/79(48)/118(36)
Rewarded with DPS pet with good DPS stats. Mobs like to stack and stuck everywhere. Pure strategy on this map must be funny.

Day 02. Map 24. City in the Cliffs Easy Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.28c)
71 Level; 4,898,945 XP; 3,673,354 Mana
31(31)/20(20)/47(47)/57(53)
30(30)/45(45)
138(68)/193(73)/79(48)/118(36)
Layout didn't work well... 4 waves in combat. Will try again.

Day 02. Map 25. City in the Cliffs Easy Hardcore Survival(9). (Patch 7.28c)
71 Level; 4,962,697 XP; 3,679,369 Mana
31(31)/20(20)/47(47)/57(53)
30(30)/45(45)
138(68)/193(73)/79(48)/118(36)
Started with wave 9. Layout worked just great except 1 unguarded spider spawn. Will try again. Not a good way to level character but I want to try new replenishing pet. Maybe I can use him without DPS weapon.

Day 02. Map 26. City in the Cliffs Easy Hardcore Survival(10). (Patch 7.28c)
71 Level; 5,082,184 XP; 3,707,223 Mana
31(31)/20(20)/47(47)/57(53)
30(30)/45(45)
138(68)/193(73)/79(48)/118(36)
Started with wave 10. Layout worked perfect. Mobs in wave 11 were harder than Glitterhelm Caverns Insane. Obviously map was made for endgame only. There is no point to do it in other than nightmare mode. No upgrades droped at all, XP gain is very low and mobs are very strong. Sad... Bought Genie pet for 1m mana from tavern keeper. Tower stats 12/11/1/1 and 146 damage. OK! Lesson learned... back to leveling.

Day 02. Map 27. The Ramparts Insane Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
71 Level; 5,680,424 XP; 3,362,812 Mana
39(39)/14(14)/45(45)/60(56)
28(28)/47(47)
136(66)/204(84)/66(35)/106(24)
Hmmm nightmare layout didn't work well. I removed spider protection and added few more harpoons. In wrong places obviously... Wyverns ate one cryctal to orange color and I lost 2 blockades on last wave. Collected few DPS weapons to use with genie pet. I'm going to repeat this map again with improved layout.

Day 02. Map 28. The Ramparts Insane Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
71 Level; 6,175,162 XP; 3,983,331 Mana
46(46)/31(31)/50(50)/61(57)
17(17)/47(47)
133(63)/199(79)/73(42)/111(29)
Almost perfect. Stupid mage sent his skeleton in the air and it was floating there for a few minutes... Locked 9,6 mil app guardian in tavern store.
Layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=2233,the-ramparts-insane

Day 02. Map 29. Endless Spires Insane Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
71 Level; 6,584,704 XP; 3,994,432 Mana
59(59)/52(52)/50(50)/109(105)
70(70)/56(56)
164(94)/199(79)/99(68)/146(64)
Ogres from last wave died, but few goblins made their way to the crystal...
Layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=2234,endless-spires-insane
Equiped Mail armor set and applied few minor upgrades under 250k mana.

Day 02. Map 30. Endless Spires Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
71 Level; 6,651,473 XP; 4,378,780 Mana
59(59)/52(52)/50(50)/109(105)
70(70)/56(56)
164(94)/199(79)/99(68)/146(64)
Spent all my mana building harpoons around ogre! Poor guy despawned with 100k health because of timeout :D No myths but I sold one godly with stupid stats for 350k mana.

Day 02. Map 31. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Hard Hardcore Survival(1) (Patch 7.28c)
72 Level; 8,193,174 XP; 5,709,405 Mana
57(57)/70(70)/44(44)/110(106)
82(39)/39(39)
173(95)/190(70)/128(97)/157(75)
Done up to wave 12. Mana and XP earned is about the same as Insane Hardcore. Not sure what is faster hard surv or insane, cause I AFKed a lot and can't trust ingame statistics.

Day 02. Map 32. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
72 Level; 9,673,083 XP; 7,035,307 Mana
68(68)/52(52)/66(66)/122(118)
57(57)/30(30)
156(78)/210(90)/137(106)/157(75)
Died during last wave again. 3 Red ogres coming from one gate is too much to handle...
I think it's time to start second character. I need a monk or a SEV to either slow mobs or buff my towers. And also I need to stop wiping on insane Glitterhelm cause I need to find hunter guardian so I want pets in store to be refreshed after every map.

I will level Series EV now. I will use split screen with controller and second character in AFK mode who will leech some XP. Not goin to provide detailed stats for SEV. Will post only level, XP and her tower stats. While doing maps I'll collect some gear to equip her at level 70.

Day 02. Map 33. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 72 Level; 10,822,930 XP; 8,228,116 Mana
68(68)/52(52)/66(66)/118(118)
57(57)/30(30)
198(78)/216(96)/106(106)/150(75)
SEV: 45 Level; 1,075,595 XP;
120(0)/54(0)/0(0)/0(0)
As you can see I changed countess spec and it is 120/120/0/xx for now.

Day 02. Map 34. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 73 Level; 11,883,554 XP; 0,162,270 Mana
69(69)/60(60)/78(78)/115(115)
64(64)/40(40)
186(66)/205(85)/117(117)/169(86)
SEV: 59 Level; 2,125,614 XP;
120(0)/120(0)/2(0)/2(0)
Finished leveling genie pet and purchased app guardian.

Day 02. Map 35. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 73 Level; 13,673,978 XP; 1,602,210 Mana
69(69)/60(60)/78(78)/115(115)
64(64)/40(40)
186(66)/205(85)/117(117)/177(94)
SEV: 69 Level; 3,158,715 XP;
120(0)/120(0)/27(0)/27(0)

Day 02. Map 36. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Hard Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 73 Level; 13,830,888 XP; 3,199,463 Mana
69(69)/60(60)/78(78)/115(115)
64(64)/40(40)
186(66)/205(85)/117(117)/179(96)
SEV: 71 Level; 4,237,373 XP;
184(64)/166(46)/80(46)/54(21)
SEV got some equipment (no pet yet).

Day 02. Map 37. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 73 Level; 16,824,491 XP; 4,312,906 Mana
58(58)/53(53)/75(75)/111(111)
68(68)/43(43)
189(69)/218(98)/117(117)/181(98)
SEV: no changes
Same layout as I used for hard with only one difference. One harpoon in every killbox was replaced with buff beam from SEV. I also used app guardian to help if there was a place with more than one ogre. Using several different builders is always very helpfull. Map was done in 8 min 30 sec and gave 1,993,603 XP.
I spend about 1 hour to level SEV to 70 and it helped to beat Glitterhelm Insane. And not just Glitterhelm but all future maps too. Remember that "I only have one character" is NOT a valide excuse in this game.

Day 02. Map 38, 39, 40. Endless Spires Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 73 Level; 17,263,696 XP; 4,763,095 Mana
62(62)/108(108)/120(120)/122(122)
41(41)/69(69)
215(95)/242(122)/126(126)/209(126)
SEV: no changes
First two waves to get some equipement. 9 Nice Mythical items and 4 Godly. No SEV buildings on these maps.

Day 02 is over. 16 Eggs, 1 Big Egg, 2 Huge Eggs, I Gigantic Egg, 3 Large Eggs. :D

As you may notice I keep collecting godly gear. I will need a lot of this to make equipment sets for SEV and two other classes (I will level them next day). This way I can use them as offline builders for nightmare maps even before they reach lvl 74.

[zaxvax]

Day 03. Map 41. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 74 Level; 21,459,961 XP; 9,039,194 Mana
81(81)/179(179)/225(225)/154(154)
68(68)/43(43)
248(128)/337(217)/224(224)/163(72)
SEV: 71 Level; 4,237,373 XP;
275(155)/208(88)/129(95)/173(140) (SEV wasn't in combat but wearing new pet and mail set now)
Same layout as non survival, but I replaced countess blockades with combination of Physical and Reflection beams. Reached wave 15 and got pet reward :
and 16 godly armor item to equip future character (perfect quality godlies I must say). Wave 14 was horrible swarm. Only 1 ogre vs 600 kobolds. I had to run around repairing walls around whole map all the time. Also on wave 30 I lost 90% health on one crystal and was pessimistic, but I did wave 14 much better than wave 13. Bought a huntress guardian with not so good stats but it is better than nothing.
Now I'm wearing myth weapon and 2 armor peaces, 2 other armor pieces are godly. Sadly I don't have any plate helmets so it's not a set.

Day 03. Map 42, 43, 44, 45. Endless Spires Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 74 Level; 22,112,965 XP; 7,055,223 Mana
106(106)/200(200)/173(173)/194(194)
213(213)/277(277)
332(212)/377(252)/219(219)/345(254)
SEV: no changes
Few waves to get mythical upgrades. ESNM is much harder these days. There is an ogre in first wave, jinn in second wave and few ogres alive at the same time. Probably Trendy tried to make it harder so ppl will start nightmare from The Deeper Well. Well it didn't work obviously. This place provides exceptional upgrades and increased difficulty didn't spoil this place. I tried first wave with genie pet and it worked but not so good. I think I need at least 50 upgrades on my DPS weapon to make it worthy. For now I stick to my app guardian from start and till the end.
Spent some time changing and upgrading gear.
I frapsed 45th map for you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApTQmpWgITQ

Day 03. Map 46. The Deeper Well Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 74 Level; 22,112,965 XP; 7,055,223 Mana
106(106)/200(200)/173(173)/194(194)
213(213)/277(277)
332(212)/377(252)/219(219)/345(254)
SEV: no changes
Just to see how good it is in this patch. Ogre (first wave) died between two harpoons faced to each other far away from crystal. I got 1k mana from genie pet smashing ogre's back with my hammer. Switched to app guardian and stats sword for second wave and installed my layout. No towers were webbed/broken/despawned. No myths dropped. Best item was after last wave. A godly sword with 71 upgrade. XP gain is pathetic... 150k or so.
Layout: Blame steam for eating my screenshots... http://ddplanner.com/?l=2444,the-deeper-well-nightmare-hardcore
Two myth pets with 70 upgrades and positive stats appeared in the store. No way I will spend 100m mana to buy something but guardian with 40+ in buff stat.

Day 03. Map 47. Alchemical Laboratory Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 74 Level; 22,484,131 XP; 11,221,891 Mana
106(106)/200(200)/173(173)/194(194)
213(213)/277(277)
332(212)/382(262)/219(219)/345(254)
SEV: no changes
I took boss down to 8 mil health. It's hard to fight golden spiders, so I will need to get some better gear (more damage and range) and try again. Djinn must die much faster. Myth gear droped but not as good as in Spires.

Now I want to bring another character to 70.

Day 03. Map 48. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 74 Level; 26,404,757 XP; 17,196,846 Mana
106(106)/200(200)/173(173)/194(194)
213(213)/277(277)
332(212)/382(262)/219(219)/345(254)
SEV: no changes
Initiate: 71 Level; 4,328,970 XP;
323(203)/170(111)/221(151)/141(83)
Once again I set up all defences with countes and SEV and after first wave I bring in fresh 1 lvl monk as split screen partner. It's harder with 2 characters but still doable and it's better than campaign. Crystal was destroyed during wave 15 (my bad placing walls in wrong spots) so I got 2 pets as reward and 8mil team score. Dunno why but monk got 4.2m score and countess 3.8. WTF?! After second wave in combat monk was 40 or 45... I think... I equiped him with huntress guardian so pet can get some XP too. As you can see in statistics monk became lvl 71 during this run. It was done in less than 2 hours (it was so long because I had to AFK for a diner). Monk is now equiped with leather godly set and godly weapon and pet (reward from wave 14) ~ 30 upgrades total.
Used same layout as before: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542924770620435187/5194B01EAC9118316530D270561AD6DD68DB33D9/
Doesn't work with wave 15 obviously, but why the hell would you need more than wave 14 on insane? ;)

Day 03. Map 49, 50. Endless Spires Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 74 Level; 28,539,785 XP; 17,196,846 Mana
106(106)/172(172)/304(304)/248(248)
323(323)/310(310)
328(208)/453(333)/192(192)/303(204)
SEV: no changes
Initiate: no changes
I use buff beam now to buff 10 harpoons. Done map twice up to last wave. But it's still impossible to defeat 5 ogres who come at the same time. I hope to change it when I get last pristine piece of armor and set bonus.

I don't have much time to play today so next map is last one. I will level and equip last hero. Ranger.

Day 03. Map 51. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 75 Level; 31,913,760 XP; 44,654,170 Mana
106(106)/172(172)/304(304)/248(248)
323(323)/310(310)
328(208)/462(342)/195(195)/303(204)
SEV: 72 Level; 7,303,599 XP;
311(191)/240(120)/113(75)/204(167)
Initiate: 71 Level; 4,603,776 XP;
341(221)/215(156)/199(129)/171(113)
Ranger: 71 Level; 6,477,465 XP;
284(164)/254(134)/126(126)/227(160)
Layout changed to use monk's auras.
http://ddplanner.com/?l=2441,bonus-glitterhelm-caverns-insane-hardcore-survival
There are 4 DU's left. You might need them for beams, to make them longer. However don't try to add additional walls. It will attract mobs to places where you don't want them to come.
I kept SEV online untill wave 12, then brough back countess. Ranger was online all the time at northen crystal.
After starting wave 18 I went to sleep. In the morning wave was complete, but 2 walls were destoyed. Rebuilt and started wave 19. While I had my breakfast wave 19 was done too with two wals destroyed.
A lot of nice godly drops and even one myth weapon with low stats.
11.85m XP team score.

Day 03 is over. Now I have 4 builders with nice stats ready to hit lvl 74 and nightmare adventures.
Oh... and also 22 eggs, 1 big egg, 2 huge eggs, 4 large eggs, 4 gigantic eggs and 1 humongous egg. Easter event is funny. :D

[zaxvax]

Day 04. Map 52, 53, 54, 55. Endless Spires Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 75 Level; 33,069,673 XP; 70,404,234 Mana
138(138)/105(105)/256(256)/246(246)
450(450)/402(402)
380(260)/543(423)/174(174)/321(222)
SEV: 72 Level; 8,111,687 XP;
266(146)/240(120)/132(94)/173(136)
Initiate: no changes.
Ranger: no changes.
Some myth farm. Maps 52-54 up to wave 8. Map 55 was complete with Flawless Victory accomplishment.
Wave1: http://ddplanner.com/?l=2538,endless-spires-nightmare-hardcore-wave-1
Full: http://ddplanner.com/?l=2539,endless-spires-nightmare-hardcore-full-layout

Day 04. Map 56. Alchemical Laboratory Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 75 Level; 33,329,541 XP; 56,810,746 Mana
227(227)/295(295)/292(292)/153(153)
206(206)/333(333)
419(299)/623(503)/363(363)/418(319)
SEV: no changes.
Initiate: no changes.
Ranger: no changes.
I love this map. It is plain and simple. There is the boss and there are spiders. Towers will target boss as number one target. If they can bring boss down before spiders are out of controll then you win otherwise you lose.
This is second attempt on this map (map 48 was the first). Everything was fine. I even managed to stay alive whole time. Reward was just fantastic. Mythical boots with 358 tower stats and all four resists positive and hero helth positive. But what is more important, Alch Lab survival is unlocked now. Good bye Endless Spires! Ha Ha! Changed my equipment to plate set and applied few upgrades.
Layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=2591,alchemical-laboratory-nightmare

Day 04. Map 57. Alchemical Laboratory Nightmare Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.28c)
Countess: 75 Level; 35,375,219 XP; 206,975,503 Mana
206(206)/294(294)/273(273)/253(253)
295(295)/210(210)
360(240)/676(556)/449(449)/586(487)
SEV: 72 Level; 10,108,004 XP;
266(146)/240(120)/132(94)/173(136)
Initiate: no changes.
Ranger: no changes.
Layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=1886,alchemical-laboratory-nm-hc-survival
Did it with SEV (splitscreen). SEV afk with App guardian standing by the crystall and countess active with huntress guardian.
This setup is alway good. No matter how good your equipment is. It's just a question of how far you can progress.
I did up to wave 15, got pet rewards and went to sleep. One pet reward had perfect tower stats and other one had seven negative stats and innkeeper offered me 68 mana for it.
After wave 12 I started to fing upgrades and after wave 13 <F> button was involved in loot collection process. After wave 14 loot was much much better than endless spires campaign.
Now I have bank full with myth gear and I need to spend some time tomorrow sorting it and selling crap.

Day at work was way too long and day in game was way too short.

Day 04 is over. And I have bunny squire level one. Ha ha! :D

[brainzucka]

Keep going. Love your effort

[zaxvax]

Sold all myth weapons from map 57 except few guns and staves (to equip Ranger and SEV at 74). Purchased and App guardian worth 100 mil with 38 damage buff, 52 range and 200 tower stats. I know I can find better for 100 mil but one I use now has 20 buff and very small range. I really need an upgrade.
Today I must bring more characters to 74. Infernal trap was useless in Alch Lab survival. Mages were healing much better than trap was damaging. SEV was 200 hp away from oneshot several times during wave 14. So it's over. I can use godly geared secondary characters anymore.
Alch Lab NM HC survival took as much time as Glitterhelm insane survival and granted 3 times less XP to main character and like 6 timess less to XP leecher. Thats ok to lvl them from 74 to 78 because I need to do it anyway to get better gear, but it is unacceptable to level from 70 to 74. I need 74 already right now to progress. So... Glitterhelm here we go again.
One more thing I forgot to mention about gearing in survival. If I stay away from action I will end up with 90% weapons and 10% armor on the floor when wave is done. It's prety much the same in campaign mode but less noticeable. There are small amount of mobs and worn/cursed/etc armor is not replaced with 150^ myth weapons when wave is over.
Most of armor upgrades in survival coming from chests so i will move to another map with bigger amount of chests when I have a chance and stats. May be MM or Glitterhelm.

I applied some changes to my characters after last statistics so I will post stats again before I start new map.

Countess: 75 Level; 35,375,219 XP; 120,924,184 Mana
273(273)/307(307)/286(286)/179(179)
292(292)/215(215)
311(191)/689(569)/462(462)/604(505)

SEV: 72 Level; 10,580,737 XP;
408(288)/326(206)/133(95)/188(151)
XP bonus purchased and some godly upgrades equiped from Alch Lab NM HC survival last waves.
Also wearing new App guardian to lvl it together with SEV herself.

Initiate: 71 Level; 4,603,766 XP;
389(269)/209(150)/176(106)/188(130)

Ranger: 71 Level; 6,752,271 XP;
284(164)/254(134)/126(126)/227(160)


Day 05. Map 58. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.29)
Countess: 75 Level; 35,973,783 XP; 161,045,346 Mana
SEV: 73 Level; 16,301,004 XP;
Adept: 72 Level; 7,309,174 XP;
75/120/0/120 (naked character)
Initiate: no changes;
Ranger: no changes;
I'm not posting character stats after these runs. I play with pets, equip them to different characters to lvlv them too so it's realy hard to keep track of those stats. And there is no need for that.
12.1m teamscore.
I think it was wave 22 when something got central crystal, with walls and reflection beam alive. They just break through sometimes.
It is very bad place. If I place wall on stairs or close to them, then ogre can shoot through reflection beam. If I place combined wall made of 2 physicals, then ogre is good, but some orcs can pass...

Day 05. Map 59. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore Survival(8). (Patch 7.29)
Countess: no changes
SEV: 74 Level; 19,687,559 XP; 179,121,716 Mana;
Adept: 72 Level; 9,904,452 XP;
Initiate: no changes;
Ranger: no changes;
4.2m teamscore;
I had to go afk and when I came back it was over. I guess aura went down and cobolds destroyed wall. If auras are up no walls taking damage (1 ogre each wave is exception). with my monk stats I have to run around and replenish auras 3-4 times per wave.

Day 05 is over. It looks so short but it's not. Both maps took about 6 hours to complete.
As you can see I decided to bring 5th character in game. Adept. I don't like whats goin on with all these harpoon "fixes". Sometimes I will use app towers.
If you want to know what I'm talking about you can take Alch Lab NMHC surv. Build I use is working nice but not the same way it worked 1 week ago. Harpoons can't kill mobs on the balcony anymore and Djinn are relatively safe as long as they move and not casting anything while harpoons trying to kill em. And so on.
It's still a pleasure to see a harpoon's arrow piercing through 10 mobs but it's use is limited now.

[zaxvax]

Day 06. Map 60. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.29b)
Countess: no changes;
SEV: 74 no changes;
Adept: 72 Level; 15,401,567 XP; 192,737,046 Mana;
Initiate: no changes;
Ranger: no changes;
5.6k Score. Tried to build setup allowing me to stay AFK as much as possible and repair not so often. Solo run. All following are split screen for faster leveling.
Layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3195,glitterhelm-caverns-insane-survival

Day 06. Map 61. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.29b)
Countess: no changes;
SEV: 74 no changes;
Adept: 74 Level; 19,678,437 XP; 213,768,072 Mana;
Initiate: 72 Level; 7,950,686 XP;
Ranger: 73 Level; 13,404,687 XP;
11m teamscore.

Day 06. Map 62. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.29b)
Countess: no changes;
SEV: no changes;
Adept: no changes;
Initiate: 73 Level; 14,034,208 XP; 224,379,192 Mana;
Ranger: 74 Level; 19,594,644 XP;
10.5m teamscore.

Day 06. Map 63. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.29b)
Countess: no changes;
SEV: no changes;
Adept: 73 Level; 24,000,990 XP; 231,690,017 Mana;
Initiate: 74 Level; 19,351,767 XP;
Ranger: no changes;
8.6m teamscore.

Very simple strategy. I upgrade all buff beams and 1 harpoon (antiair) to 1 star, then I go into a spot (eastern crystal I think) and repair 3 auras geting most damage from there. All characters are safe in that spot. No DEWs can harm them. Doing ut to wave 16-17. Can do further but it's pointless. Same XP amount for double and triple amount of monsters.
I hope I will share layout some other day when DDplaner is fixed.

Now it's time to get a nice myth weapon for Initiate and I've done it for today.
Day 06. Map 64. Challenge: Ogre Crush Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
Countess: 75 Level; 36,574,165 XP; 231,908,659 Mana;
SEV: no changes;
Adept: 74 Level; 24,037,209 XP;
Initiate: no changes;
Ranger: no changes;
I don't feel like I want to explain this simple map. Here I made a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21cOAVb_Gno
Check out those harpoons shooting ogres on other side of the map. Not bad huh? Balanced stats and multiply builder classes is the key. Why bother upgrading towers? Why bother upgrading gear with tower damage? Genie? DPS weapon? Hell no! Just get some gear with tower range or put 120 points in there. Buff your towers with SEV. There you go 6 towers shooting 1 ogre with double speen and power.
Layout I saw here on forum had main idea to place 2 harpoons at each gate and run around like mad repairing. Nooo, thank you!

So I equiped all character with myths I had in my bank after that AlchLabNMHCSurv. Lets see what we have here.

Countess: plate armor and myth dps pet
287(287)/426(426)/545(545)/406(406)
204(204)/131(131)
405(285)/851(731)/637(637)/592(493)

Adept: pristine armor and godly dps pet
320(320)/350(350)/170(170)/361(361)
311(311)/406(406)
489(398)/488(368)/305(305)/687(567)

Ranger: chain armor and godly dps pet
248(248)/132(132)/307(307)/207(207)
197(197)/368(368)
544(424)/618(498)/214(214)/414(323)

Initiate: leather armor and godly dps pet
386(386)/398(398)/316(316)/87(87)
230(230)/258(258)
411(291)/229(170)/547(453)/515(457)

SEV: pristine armor and godly app guardian (38 dmg boost)
148(148)/229(229)/93(93)/334(334)
300(300)/196(196)
768(648)/608(488)/542(500)/469(420)

Day 06 is over. I have all classes (except barbarian which is pure hero no towers) 74+ and ready to progress through nightmare without any delay.
Tomorrow is last day of the game week. Lets see if I can get 1000 tower damage on squire and 1000 tower health on SEV.
P.S. As you can see both SEV and Adept using pristine armor and noone using mail armor. This is very very bad for equipment progress and Adept is goin to use mail as soon as I find any decent parts. Having each class using different armor class I can consider much more armor parts as an upgrade. And armor parts are rare these days. Or is it just me who gets weapons as 90% of drops?

[Rodriguez225]

Weapons drops generally replace armour drops during surv,,, loot early

[pieman509]

once you start getting into nightmare, ima be all over this. amazing job so far, and it seems your effort has payed off, at least for me.

[zaxvax]

Weapons drops generally replace armour drops during surv,,, loot early
Not exactly what I ment.
99% of weapon drops are myth with nice stats while armor varies between forgot name (one for low lvls with +1 to +5 stats) to myths including all stages in between. No wonder this crap is replaced with myth weapons. And this crap drops not just from spiders, but from DEWs and ogres too. And this looks wrong to me. Cause we use only one or two weapons and four armor parts. So I'd like to see better armor drops in future. I hope it's getting better on more difficult nightmare maps/waves.

[Rodriguez225]

If its surv your doing, once you get to the 5k+mob count (wave 13 or so) its a good rule of thumb to run around and mop up armour pieces for the 1st couple 1000 mobs (really helps on mana income too)

Im pretty sure I read that items replacing are due to item mana values.

[zaxvax]

I have time today for 1 long survival, but first I will do few campaign maps to relax, have some fun and unlock corresponding survivals.

Day 07. Map 65. Foundries and Forges Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
I'm overgeared for this obviously. So I just put 4 harpoons around the crystal facing each other to cover all 3 ways. Loged to SEV to put 3 walls, 3 reflectors, 3 shocks and 2 buffs (for harpoons). Loged to Initiate to put 3 ensnares and 3 electrics. Didn't bother to upgrade anything. Just stood on the crystal watching djinn despawning my auras. I think they took down 4 of them by the end of wave 5, so in the middle of wave 6 I had to go repair some walls just to be sure. Better safe than sorry, you know...
165k XP to all characters involved. Not so much for allmighty nightmare with Flawless victory, no player damage, etc, etc...

Day 07. Map 66. Magus Quarters Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
Layout: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542925143266766797/4A6C26ABC22C34B42CBE13436A0B66661E12EB91/
I used only squire buildings and ensnare auras. Doable without auras, but I don't want to repair those bouncers every time stupid koblods blow them up. Upgraded everything to ^^ and harpoons to ^^^. I think this build can be used for survival but I doubt antispider bouncers can do this job with my stats after wave 10.
Watch out for 2 djinn. They appear early during first wave so find some mana quickly and drop 2 harpoons to cover 2 bouncers chosen as djinn's targets.

Countess: 75 Level; 36,752,598 XP;
Adept: no changes;
Ranger: no changes;
Initiate: 74 Level; 19,537,379 XP;
SEV: no changes;

Day 07. Map 67, 68. Challenge: Raining Goblins Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
Countess: 75 Level; 37,017,676 XP;
Adept: no changes;
Ranger: no changes;
Initiate: no changes;
SEV: 74 Level; 19,787,179 XP;
Just to get some good weapons to make tokens later. Map is very simple. Just put bouncers around your crystal and enjoy upgrading and repairing them. 2 Maps split screen gave 4 Goblin Overlord's Charges. One of them is unacceptable cause it was under 140 upgrades.

Lets carry on to survival, but first I must make some space for new l00tz! 279,248,235 Mana now.

Day 07. Map 69. Alchemical Laboratory Nightmare Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.29c)
Same layout as I used before. Problems started after wave 10 when everything was upgraded. For some reason Djinn were all over my traps demolishing them. Same on wave 12. Weird... they used to buff their friends as higher priority... So I removed traps, increased southern buff beam by 1 DU and built lightning tower in it's area of effect. Not as effective as traps but it works too.
Everything was fine and after wave 14 I received 2 pets with good hero health and good tower stats. (I played split screen as usual Countess active plus SEV AFK) And I found out that I have 355 mil mana already and I can't continue without danger of reaching soft cap. Created 201 mil mana token. Somewhat 71 mil mana left.
Wave 15 was a blast. Golden DEW fell upon us from the sky and punished us badly for slacking. With both characters dead it was tough fight. When it was over 2 auras were red and 2 walls destroyed. Rebuilt and repaired. In a moment of weakness I was thinking to increase generic resistance and health, but I didn't! Not yet! :D 50k health and 29% in nightmare if you wanna know.
Wave 16 I met pushing right mouse button as hard as I could! Even with negative block on my sword it worked just great. Golden DEW took about 20% of my health. I did the same every wave from now on while there was any djinn alive.
First 1000 mobs are very hard and it is important to live. Later during wave and next wave and next... I died while gathering loot around. It's not a problem. No buildings lost.
Wave 17 was bad too. I don't remember what heppened but both character were dead very soon and during that wave I lost 1 aura and 2 walls and had to do major repairs to nearly every building.
Everything else was boring and realy nothing to tell except wave 22. That was a show. Golden DEWs were flying everywhere with djinn and countless ogres. I survived but lost 2 walls. By this time I already applied some upgrades and I had 51311 health and 71% nightmare generic. Without walls golden orcs destroyed harpoon, buff beam went down and it was over in a few more seconds.
I left this place with one and a half tokens (300mil) and 400mil mana in bank. And some nice upgrades as well.

After sorting loot, equiping, upgrading, etc... Here what i have.

Countess: 76 Level; 42,344,409 XP;
415(304)/378(378)/704(704)/425(425)
183(183)/234(234)
337(337)/1144(1024)/687(687)/675(555)
69,310 Health and 74% generic resistance in nightmare.

Adept: 74 Level; 24,037,209 XP;
448(328)/300(300)/199(199)/390(390)
291(291)/277(277)
430(430)/1054(934)/309(309)/751(660)
24,087 Health and 72% generic resistance in nightmare.

Ranger: 74 Level; 19,594,644 XP;
718(598)/716(596)/236(236)/631(540)
New shotgun with minus 10000 proj speed is so cool! :D I wonder if I can shoot myself with minus 20k speed.

Initiate: 74 Level; 19,537,379 XP;
482(362)/395(336)/632(538)/459(401)

SEV: 74 Level; 23,587,541 XP;
644(553)/366(366)/578(578)/179(179)
461(461)/430(430)
1289(1169)/459(459)/656(656)/283(163)
74,316 Health and 62% generic resistance in nightmare.
Wearing DPS pet and mail set from now on.

309 mil mana left in bank

I think 21 wave in nightmare hardcore is not so bad for my first week. To progress further I need major survival upgrades. But... do I need to go further? May be it is time to try different map? Stay tuned! Ha Ha! :D

Day 07 is over. So is first week. Two main builders Countess and Adept are 76 and 74 levels now with tower Attack over 1000 and Attack Rate over 600. Two support character are 74 levels and got not so nice but also valuable tower stats. And super mega buffer and wall builder SEV is level 74 and got almost 1300 Tower Health with nice survival stats at the same time. During this week I reached the same I have on ranked what took me ~ 400 hours to achieve. This time I did it in about 50-60 hours. I can't be sure as i tend to leave game open and go AFK for few hours or just go to sleep. And Steam counts all this as time in game.

Second week will be different. I will post my stats only when day is over. Upgrades are not coming very fast and they are not very noticeable. Also XP gain in nightmare is slow unless it is Glitterhelm. Also I will do maps I never did before so second week will be more like a journal and less like a guide.

[kevindlee]

Thank you for your guide/journal!

[zaxvax]

Day 08. Map 70. Hall of Court Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
Layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3122,hall-of-court-nightmare
I almost lost eastern crystal cause I faild to set up antispider protection in time and spiders webbed my antiair protection.
It's easy to fail during first two waves, but if you made it then whole map is yours.


Day 08. Map 71. Castle Armory Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
Layout before wave 1: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3124,castle-armory-nightmare
Complete layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3124-3126,castle-armory-nightmare
First wave is funny. Spiders and djinn were chasing me so I had to take them to that lonely harpoon so they can die. Before djin managed to demolish some bouncer other mobs were dead. So I just placed new ones and rest of harpoons. After wave 2 I replaced bouncers with beams and placed buff beams.

Day 08. Map 72. Servants Quarters Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
Layout before wave 1: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3127,servants-quarters-nightmare
Complete layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3127-3128,servants-quarters-nightmare
I choose to use only Countess towers and run around repairing and killing mobs shooting bouncers from distance.

Day 08. Map 73, 74. The Throne Room Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
First attempt was failed. Monsters ate my crystal while boss had 50% health.
Second attempt was good.
Layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3134,the-throne-room-nightmare
Not the best layout. I had to rebuild few lost towers in process, but boss is dead and I'm not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jip829almHk

Day 08. Map 75. Royal Gardens Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
Pure Countess layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3194,royal-gardens-nightmare
If you split this map in half verticaly then east side is self sufficient and west side requires your help to repair sometimes.

Day 08. Map 76. Alchemical Laboratory Nightmare Hardcore Survival Mix Mode (1). (Patch 7.29c)
Same layout as before.
Wave 14 had 6 Djinn from start and goden DEWs were raining down from the sky. So no pets for me. Need few more upgrades and another attempt.

Countess: 76 Level; 46,698,052 XP;
415(304)/378(378)/704(704)/425(425)
183(183)/234(234)
337(337)/1148(1028)/687(687)/675(555)
69,310 Health and 74% generic resistance in nightmare.

Adept: 74 Level; 24,037,209 XP;
448(328)/300(300)/199(199)/390(390)
291(291)/277(277)
430(430)/1054(934)/309(309)/751(660)
24,087 Health and 72% generic resistance in nightmare.

Ranger: 74 Level; 19,594,644 XP;
718(598)/716(596)/236(236)/631(540)

Initiate: 74 Level; 19,537,379 XP;
482(362)/395(336)/632(538)/459(401)

SEV: 74 Level; 25,500,206 XP;
644(553)/366(366)/578(578)/179(179)
461(461)/430(430)
1291(1171)/459(459)/656(656)/283(163)
74,316 Health and 62% generic resistance in nightmare.

172,217,673 Mana and 3 mana tokens.

Day 06 was updated with Glitterhelm Insane Survival Layout. I guess with new patch it will give same XP and will go much faster. One more point to survival vs campaign.

[zaxvax]

Day 09 was way too busy and I had no time to play.

Day 10. Map 77. Magus Quarters Nightmare Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.29c)
I used layout from Sindro(http://forums.trendyent.com/member.php?13144-sindro): http://ddplanner.com/?l=639,mages-quarters-survival-nmhcmm
During wave 13 I had to kill spiders with my bare hands, during wave 14 spiders killed my characters and demolished every single tower except SEV's walls and reflectors, then despawned.
It was over obviously... so I got my pets, started wave 15 and let em kill my crystall.

Day 10. Map 78. Magus Quarters Nightmare Hardcore Survival(13). (Patch 7.29c)
So I started from wave 13 and built my own layout based on previous but solving all problems I had.
Layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3375,magus-quarters-nightmare-survival
Did got my pets without loosing any towers and even without repairs. Totaly awesome.
One of pets was transcendent: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542925143368970445/504A24C769C5E22DAF4C4A48DA93B86953AA7E67/
There is no hero health but nice tower stats and pet damage, proj speed, also 257^ maybe I can use it... who knows... ;)

Day 10. Map 79. Magus Quarters Nightmare Hardcore Survival MixMode(1). (Patch 7.29c)
Same layout. As you can see there is left wall made of 4 DU's unlike others. I made it for MM where I had that wall taking hell lot of damage.
What can I say here... Watch out guys! Button 3 is dangerous. I missclicked repair button (4) and charged from itembox to the middle gate where mobs coming from...
It was over very soon. So only 12 waves done...

Day 10. Map 80, 81, 82. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Insane Hardcore Survival. (Patch 7.29c)
As you may guess I decided to bring in new hero. A Monk!
~ 3 hours and 33mil teamscore. I lvled Monk and kept Countess for a while and SEV most of time in game too.
Same build as before, but I used gas traps instead of ensnare auras to minimize repairs so I can AFK properly.

Day 10. Map 83. Hall of Court Nightmare Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.29c)
Yea... I need brand new genie pet for my brand new monk. :D
Layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3384,hall-of-court-nightmare-survival
Layout is full of fail! I lost NE wall during wave 14 and had to stay there and serve as a bait for kobolds. It was very humilating I must say... :(
I used new Monk as main character to play, upgrade, repair and ofcoure buff towers. Even with 500 in tower buff ability (I equiped him with some crap gear I had in bank) it was double DPS for harpoons and lightning towers.
Countes was AFK in spitscreen. Lol! Splitscreen!
After wave 14 I stoped this nightmare. I have to bring more AOE to the west and more fireing speed to the east. And more tower health for SEV ofc. But I don't think there will be next time.
Look what I have now... :D
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542925143368952371/482400AD8DBBC2E2A608FC7A347DEDC830455FE0/
It has all stats important for monk buffer and nice pet damage too along with 108 ^. I'd preffer casting rate instead of running speed. But nothing is perfect in this world. Especialy in world where god makes running speed hardcaped and puts it on every ****ing item!

Countess: 77 Level; 56,146,181 XP;
424(304)/378(378)/704(704)/425(425)
183(183)/234(234)
337(337)/1153(1033)/687(687)/675(555)
70,662 Health and 74% generic resistance in nightmare.

Adept: 74 Level; 24,037,209 XP;
448(328)/300(300)/199(199)/390(390)
291(291)/277(277)
430(430)/1054(934)/309(309)/751(660)
24,087 Health and 72% generic resistance in nightmare.

Ranger: 74 Level; 19,594,644 XP;
718(598)/716(596)/236(236)/631(540)

Initiate: 74 Level; 19,537,379 XP;
482(362)/395(336)/632(538)/459(401)

SEV: 77 Level; 53,448,160 XP;
673(553)/366(366)/578(578)/179(179)
461(461)/430(430)
1305(1185)/462(459)/656(656)/283(163)
77,278 Health and 62% generic resistance in nightmare.

Monk: 74 Level; 23,985,063 XP;
804(698)/648(543)/609(609)/340(340)
728(608)/155(155)
74(74)/262(262)/181(181)/127(127)
74,866 Health and 55% generic resistance in nightmare.
There is no set bonus (2 plate and 2 leather items)
Weapon is so pathetic I didn't bother to upgrade and new myth genie pet.

244,028,997 Mana and 4 mana tokens.

Tomorrow I need to find new weapon for Monk, get some empty tokens and GET SOME PROGRESS GOIN ON ALREADY!!!!!111111ONEONELEVEN

[Carlh267]

Loving the record so far, keep it up!

[zaxvax]

I have long vacation in South Asia in next month so i have a lot things to do. Currently I only play 1 - 2 maps a day and will post updates combining few real life days in one for this report. Sorry. :)

[Bipper]

Great posts Zaxvax - thanks for takling the time to share it and good luck with the progression!!

[zaxvax]

Day 11. Map 84, 85, 86, 87. Challenge: Ogre Crush Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
6 tokens, 1 weapon for my Monk and 1 OPH sold because of low upgrade possibilities.

Day 11. Map 88. Alchemical Laboratory Nightmare Hardcore Survival(19). (Patch 7.29c)
Started from wave 19. Upgraded everything to 3stars during this wave. Evrything went fine.
However during wave 21 something got crystal. Weird... Everything was covered with reflectors. Oh well better luck next time.

Day 11. Map 89. Ramparts Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
Very easy map. And because I am overgeared I just droped some Couness' towers and upgraded/repaired.
Not so smooth. Some towers webbed, some walls got few hits, but nothing was destroyed.
Layout after last mob died and before towers were sold: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/542925143408829620/D3A330E40C89B80BFDA2B68B65821D3A5D7B1017/

Day 11. Map 90. The Summit Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
What can I say... I had to restart first wave like 3 times to get it done right and still I lost about 30% health on my crystals. Other waves went better and I had my layout built and ready to face the dragon. Boss fight was done without me. Harpoons were killing him while I used my best skills to repair my towers and operate ballistas to brind boss down. All wy towers were built aroud crystall except those hitting the booss. 2 Harpoons and 1 buff beam for each landing spot. I didn't record video for this fight because it is pointles. It is patch day and I guess tommorow this layout will not work at all with all those sharkmen and stuff...

But don't worry. I will spend 1 day after patch to kill 3 campaign bosses and repeat first steps in nightmare with undergeared character to keep this guide fresh and usefull to those who will read this journal in new conditions. So they can have some idea how to progress from godly to mythical.
Some more words between maps. I forgot to mention that after one of survival runs I locked down a pet in the Inn's shop. It's a huntress guardian. I don't use guardians anymore but it is always good to have couple just in case. So may be I will buy it later. I just want to wait for patch and see what actual stats it will have. Don't forget that pet shop can give you chance to buy nice while expensive pets.

Screenshot of reward: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/540673906661041043/891B5E994D265209441DB24760B0A939E734D6D1/
I will use Tras pet when I get to 78 of course, but just to show you guys what you can get as a reward.

Day 11. Map 91. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.29c)
Layout: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3765,bonus-glitterhelm-caverns-nightmare
25 DU's free to spend. I had problems with central crystal. Spiders were coming from the bridge and webbed harpoons. So maybe add some spider protection there. I just used my body as a bait
for them during last wave.

Patch download is in progress, so day 11 is over.
Guess I will post character list with stats as a first thing in day 12 instead of last thing of this day. Patch will take whole night. WTF is wrong with steam? 80 KB/s speed instead of 400 - 600 as usual. Never happened b4.

P.S. Got a reward (http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/540673906662547545/5E9368F896A8588F501661B8EA896A2B1E3FF771/) after last map. Probably for completing all campaign maps on nightmare. Dunno...

[zaxvax]

Sharken intermission.

I made a backup of my save file so I can get back to Day 12 later on without any problem.
Gear from Countess and SEV was deleted and I changed their specs. Countess: 90/93/90/90 and SEV 120/120/3/120 in towers. Also I equiped Countess with my old good huntress guardian which is 20 buff and 4 towers with some crapy tower stats.
OK. First of all I need to do some insane or hard stuff to get some equipement. I have some nice tower stats just from having 77 level, but trying nightmare with zero speed and zero casting rate is not even funny. Also I will not upgrade any gear as compensation for having extra 36 (I believe) stats from being more than lvl 74.

Map 01. Bonus: Glitterhelm Caverns Hard Hardcore Survival(1). (Patch 7.30b)
Single character ingame, not splitscreen.
Started naked with only huntress guardian equiped on Countess from wave 1.
Same layout as I used before without traps/auras/mage towers. Did it to wave 15. After wave 14 I got a pet for SEV and some gear. Thats enough.

Countess: 118/164/151/145 Speed 38 Casting Rate 76 (leather set) 3 godly, 1 amazing and 1 legendary items.
SEV: 206/236/92/223 Speed: 87 Casting Rate: 4 (different armor parts) 5 godly and 1 legendary items.

Map 02. Endless Spires Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.30b)
Wave 1. Frapsed:
Countess: 224/187/218/162 Speed 114 Casting Rate 126. 2/6 Myth Items.
SEV: 206/236/92/223 Speed: 87 Casting Rate: 4. 0/7 Myth Items.

Map 03. Endless Spires Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.30b)
Wave 1. Frapsed:
Countess: 224/187/218/162 Speed 114 Casting Rate 126. 2/6 Myth Items.
SEV: 280/309/165/241 Speed: 99 Casting Rate: 55. 2/7 Myth Items.

Here is video I made http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r8k1T-GWF8
As you can see nothing changed. Sharken moves wall far enough, but it's easy to replace and ogre dies fairly easy. Sharken in map marked as random spawn, but in fact it always comes from one side so you can be prepared. In advance I can tell you that in later waves sharken messing my walls badly but when this post will appear on forum this must be fixed already with upcoming patch.

Map 04, 05, 06. Endless Spires Nightmare Hardcore. (Patch 7.30b)
2 Waves.
Countess: 290/221/315/232 Speed 196 Casting Rate 144. 4/6 Myth Items.
SEV: 387/352/295/130 Speed: 126 Casting Rate: 153. 4/7 Myth Items.

Didn't frapsed these maps and will not continue with intermission. It is obvious that godly myth transition is the same and sharken did not affect it and it's getting easier with every other patch nerfing sharken.

Thats it for now. I will continue after my vacation if D3 will not consume my brain ha ha!
I'm going to repeat 3 campaign maps (with bosses) in new conditions (sharken) and follow into Mysty and maybe some monsterfests to get upgrades. It's time to get stable medium myth gear and start to grind top myth stuff.

Have fun and see you in June.

[Guizmus]

Thanks for this, proving that sharks can be dealt with today, and early myth transition is still possible. This should be a reference for a lot a people. I'm hopping to read the next stage of your progression soon!