Vicious token tip thread

[MTaur]

So it's been a long time since I tried playing Vicious Token runs. The inner ring and Grimm's are done. But man, I forgot how horrible VT can be. Nothing like a VT run to remind you how hard DD is when you play a real challenge...

So how do you all you rainbow collectors do it? Should I go ahead and get Namtar's (haven't bothered, don't really want to give up a locker space, no monster class to unlock yet...)? Or is Namtar's not really that essential?

[chandl34]

I've got all but the Vicious dungeons done. If you haven't unlocked all the items, you'll want to do that first. Dragon Shield, Namtar's Ward, Crystal Ball, and Platemail are frequently useful. You'll also want to set up your return slots for the worst items, that you never want. Now, I've got Spoon, Fine Sword, Troll Heart, Pendant of Health, Tower Shield, and Venom Dagger in there. This seems to guarantee I'll see Bloody Sigil and Badge of Honor every map, which are sometimes clutch. I like all quest items, except the Venom Dagger. I'm saving my last return slot for dwarven gauntlets, which I think are only good if they're free.

Play through the map with all the classes and figure out which one plays it best, even with bad shops and god choices. Sorcerors, rogues, berserker, and paladin are the ones I use the most. God and item choices really depend on the map. I usually don't prep a god, unless the bosses are predetermined.

[Darvin]

Goblin Assassin of Jehora Jeheyu works wonders. Prepare your popcorn bowl, do a bit of power-leveling, then just go nuts against the boss with your raw spiking power. Nice reliable combo for most VT dungeons, and if you can fireball spam the boss it should be very smooth.

[Blovski]

I think I made a thread on this a while back.

GHOST THREAD

Balanced Dagger used to be super-popular. I think after the change people might be more circumspect about how it lines up with Yendor. Anyway, my choices from that thread:

Eastern Tundra - Taurogzerker
Den of Danger - Gorgon
Northern Desert - JJ Gnome Bloodmage
Hexx Ruins - Earthmother anything (I think I used a Transmuter)
Labyrinth - Gnome Warlord of JJ, self-cannoning variety.
Western Jungle - Dragon Cannon, easy peasy lemon cheesy
Hard Halls of Steel - take a monk of Taurog, pick up Lusory, have 65% both resists.
Magma Mines - again, used a Taurog Monk
Havendale Bridge - Taurog Berserker. I think GG might be more reliable.
Southern Swamp - Halfling Priest
Naga City - Binlor Orc Crusader

VVHOS I did with a rat. I don't remember what I did Berserker camp with but I'm sure you can probably do it with a Chemist or Transmuter. Basically, just pick a thing that's good on the map and push it a little further and the VTs aren't so bad (at least pre-Vicious VTs). I know I did a load of them with Transmuters, who are generally pretty suited for VTs.

[MTaur]

Some nice thoughts so far. I'll give some Hard VT runs a try. I have the badge for the Normal dungeons already, not that even those were easy.

Someone asked about my items - Namtar's is the only big one missing. I've avoided unlocking some things on purpose because they lack combat stats - Midas and the Ward/Sigil items, as well as Agnostic's Collar. I've sometimes had decent luck in dailies when these spawn, but I feel like there will be times when I'll wish they were banned. Sure, Snakes and Shades become easy XP in some circumstances, but other times it's just CP...

Anyway, Doubledoom is pretty horrible. Is it one of the worst Hard VT dungeons? It feels like it...

Might try the Assassin thing. Or I might fall back on the old Sorcerer tricks, especially if Codex seems sane for the map.

[Lujo]

[Tinker]

[chandl34]

[MTaur]

I did VT Doubledoom today. I finally decided "screw it, Human Fighter Balanced Dagger". I might start doing this all the time, or maybe "screw it, Elf Sorcerer Codex".

It was still down to the wire, ending with three desecrations just to squeeze one more Protection out of GG. (I forgot that GG hates Venom Dagger, incidentally...)

[chandl34]

Codex is dangerous on VT. For general strategies, I prefer Dragon Shield or Namtar's Ward.