Agony III with Norseman on Frozen Depths?

[Curtis_Craig]

I already played halls of torment for 40 hours and i couldn't wait for the new update. it was fun the whole way and never frustrating. but that changed now. i already tried several times to get to agony III with the norseman but the highest i could get was 1.6 something. how is that supposed to work out ? i read that agony decreases when bosses are alive. but even if i try to kill the bosses immediately when they spawn, it takes SO LONG that a second boss arrives meanwhile. i'm not someone who wants easy quests/achievements but damn... give me a break. i can't be the only one thinking like that.

[Soyez]

I just completed this 15 mins ago - i used Ruby Circlet, Ring of fire, Scars of toil, Guiding star, Firewalker boots Blazing shell and sparking gloves with Mark of incineration - For my first skill i reset back to camp till i got Flame strike off the bat - i would level skills like atk speed, health, range but i would oblivion skills like def, block etc and would use potions of memory on weapon level ups till i had 3 in the box (+burn rate +atk speed and the one that had x3 on it forget the name). prioritise leveling flame strike till its third choice and then pick up the boss scrolls to upgrade it - do the same till level 6 and then pick up a second boss scroll and by then mobs should be exploding on the map. skills after this point dont matter i ended up using flame breath for the fire synergy - i completed the achievement with 3 and a half mins left - i often went for skills that had the most hp too as it synergised well with scars of toil neck. gl

[CommandoBlack]

The build doesnt matter much, it just needs to be somewhat good. What matters most is positioning. If enemies get suck between walls they will decrease agony, so you will need to stand in a big wide open area where mobs cannot spawn behind walls.

Standing still in the middle of a big area works best, just make sure to avoid ranged attacks. If you arent moving they all come at the same time so they are easy to dodge like this.

[CowboyCapi]

after agony 2 in frozen depths progression stop, lag in insane and become unplayable.
unininstalled and waiting for full release

[Mr. No_Effs_Given]

I went for full attack speed plus crits, it worked like a charm. I always use the potion that double the effects on some of the traits IV of stance and proficiency. He gets crazy powerful. On the skill side, I like to use the classic ones like Transfixion, Astronomer Orbs and Phantom Needles. That ones have yet to fail me.

[Ulyaoth]

Hi,
Living Bomb
https://steamcommunity.com/app/2218750/discussions/0/3816292540676093159/
Build Suggestion
https://steamcommunity.com/app/2218750/discussions/0/3816292540668453975/

Good Luck,
Cheers!

[Demona's Pet]

I tried Ulyaoth's method for living bomb and also Soyez's items and I can't get either method to work for me. This last time I only got up 2.38. Not even really a "close but no cigar".

[Sharps97]

Almost no chance you can get past Agony 2 in this level no matter what character or trinkets you get. After about 15 minutes in, your damage pretty much goes to zero and you need to run the rest of the time as the meter goes down. They need a major, major, major nerf on all the enemies in this level to make it playable...

[Mr. No_Effs_Given]

Originally posted by Sharps97:

Almost no chance you can get past Agony 2 in this level no matter what character or trinkets you get. After about 15 minutes in, your damage pretty much goes to zero and you need to run the rest of the time as the meter goes down. They need a major, major, major nerf on all the enemies in this level to make it playable...

What?! I did it on my first try with Norseman. Just stacked attack speed+crits= melted everything. Ezy.

[Thalien]

Originally posted by Sharps97:

Almost no chance you can get past Agony 2 in this level no matter what character or trinkets you get. After about 15 minutes in, your damage pretty much goes to zero and you need to run the rest of the time as the meter goes down. They need a major, major, major nerf on all the enemies in this level to make it playable...

Do you have most of the traits and blessings unlocked/potions unlocked?

You shouldn't be running into this level of a block even with terrible builds in the level. That's not to say you will greatly succeed, but running into a wall where you cant damage anything seems like a terribly unoptimized build and/or lack of potions and blessings.

[Ulyaoth]

Its by far the worst level in Agony scaling, but withthe latest patch it should be doable with a multitude of builds.

Originally posted by Demona's Pet:

I tried Ulyaoth's method for living bomb and also Soyez's items and I can't get either method to work for me. This last time I only got up 2.38. Not even really a "close but no cigar".

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3034185393
You may take a look in here.
This more detailed, maybe this will help you to do at least The Living Bomb

[Demona's Pet]

Originally posted by Ulyaoth:

Its by far the worst level in Agony scaling, but withthe latest patch it should be doable with a multitude of builds.

Originally posted by Demona's Pet:

I tried Ulyaoth's method for living bomb and also Soyez's items and I can't get either method to work for me. This last time I only got up 2.38. Not even really a "close but no cigar".

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3034185393
You may take a look in here.
This more detailed, maybe this will help you to do at least The Living Bomb

Well, I tried again and was successful! Oddly, I went mostly down the Living Bomb route but also tried out the new Frost Avalanche. Post patch, it seems very effective in comparison to before. Took both frost and fire affinity and got some enemies virtually stunlocked while dealing constant damage. Might not have been as flash as the Bomb would suggest but it allowed me to get 3.25 or so!

[Sharps97]

The only thing I haven't tried so far is potions (they never made sense prior to the latest patch), so maybe that's the missing element. Otherwise, I cannot find a working combo that mitigates the 90% damage mitigation that happens about halfway through the level.

[Mr. No_Effs_Given]

Originally posted by Sharps97:

The only thing I haven't tried so far is potions (they never made sense prior to the latest patch), so maybe that's the missing element. Otherwise, I cannot find a working combo that mitigates the 90% damage mitigation that happens about halfway through the level.

I basically never focus much on defense, unless the character is focused on that. I go all in on offense and speed, basically nothing can touch you . The potions you really need to use the x2 one to double some traits, I particularly go to level IV ones.

[Sharps97]

This level is just unbelievable...

First, it is unlike any level before it, and even post patch, it feels like it is maybe 2 or 3 levels of difficulty beyond the prior level (so arguably, there should be levels designed with incremental difficulty post aqueducts before you even get to this one that help you progress and understand the game better). To be honest, this feels more like a special challenge level (so ideally, it would be removed completely from normal level progression and separated out for players looking for an elite tier of challenge - which is fine, top tier gamers need their own challenges distinct from what everyone else is doing).

If the level is to be left in place, then there seem to be a couple of ways to fix it so it becomes less unfair and more balanced:
1. You should reduce health from the current patch for enemies spawning after 15 minutes by at least another 25% and reduce their parry/blocking by at least 10% - 15% on top of that
2. Alternatively, given the unique challenges of this level (most characters simply aren't playable in this level), you could boost damage, block, and parry by at least 10% - 15% individually and stack that and you wouldn't have to debuff mid and late game enemies quite as much

I hope that the devs make some major, major changes to this level because this game was so much fun prior to the introduction of this level. Right now, without serious re-balancing, this level isn't fun at all and detracts significantly from the otherwise positive perception I have about this game. I could live with moving this level into a collection of 'elite' challenges for those top 1% of gamers that need the challenge, but hopefully there is more to come for the rest of us to enjoy (difficult, but fair).

[MrQun]

As of late, I've been trying out different builds to reach agony III in the Frozen Depths and I may even eventually write a guide.

But for now, I give to you my "Needle In The Pain Stack" build. I did this with Norseman and the equipment that I used were the following:
Wind Crown
Scars of Toil
Chain Mail
Wooden Ring
Guiding Star
Bogged Boots
Quickhand Gloves.

I had also equipped Mark of the Arrow for better crit chance & dmg, but honestly you could probably get away with any mark that you're comfortable with. At the beginning of the run look for the Phantom Needles and restart level if need be until you get it. The traits from the Norseman are largely irrelevant save for his Proficient Stance (PS) Fury. Fury gives an attack speed buff on all things physical. and Phantom Needle qualifies. Be sure to pick all tiers of Fury and when you get Fury IV, use the Reverberant Tinkture (RT) to double it's effect. If you've done the above correctly, the Phantom Needles should have a speed buff of 70%.

Now for the Phantom Needles, you want to prioritise these Traits:
I Firerate
II Firerate, Sharpness
III Sharpness, Power
IV Firerate
V Firerate, Sharpness
VI Sharpness, Power
VII Firerate
VIII Firerate, Sharpness
IX Sharpness
X Firerate x2, Pinpoint x2

You might not be able to get all of the above for Needles, but with clever use of the memory potions you should be able to get most. However, you must prioritise firerate but be sure to get tier X of both firerate and pinpoint. Use RT on tier X of firerate and pinpoint which will give Phantom Needles a 60% attack speed buff, and 100% chance to crit respectively.

Be sure to get the upgrades of Phantom Needles: Phantom Split and Phantom Rift. With those two upgrades, and with the above instructions, you should be able to demolish enemy mobs and eliminate bosses/ mini bosses and reach agony III with relative ease.