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Well it finally happened: My monk has finished the grind to Paragon 100 and ready for the next expansion, whenever that is!
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ulyQtn9l.jpg)
Decided to write a blog post to commemorate this 'achievement' and the journey it took to get there. I decided to look thru my old screenshots. As some of you may remember, the old inferno was VERY hard with the level of gear available at the time. I was pretty much stuck at the wall of Act 2 for the longest time, with those BEEZ (no, not gold) completely destroying me. Even after tweaking my build and getting this sweet sweet mace from a pot:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ryLzNvSl.jpg)
Back in the day, IAS + Life on Hit were "end-game" affixes. None of this crit damage shenanigans! Like most Monks at the time I was specced into : Ascension, Sweeping, Ally, Overawe, Keen Eye, and... Lashing Tail Kick! Knockback because we were so squishy was almost necessary. Remember String of Ears, Helm of Command, and Talrasha's Chest? 100% required for Inferno!
So that was my gearset to tackle Inferno past Act 1, and I zerged my way thru Act 2 and got to Act 3. Splat. Those Invulnerable Minions were my bane. My "strategy" was basically to summon my ally, Deadly Reach behind him until he dies, and fall back until dead. Super slow with my 22k dps. So I decided to cash out again, knowing the increased attack speed nerf was incoming and the RMAH had just opened up and knew I had to sell my decent "ias" items before they were worth way less. Mission Successful - + Show Spoiler + - note how nerfed it was after 1.03!
So now that I was completely nerfed from 3 attacks per second to 2; and 28k dps to 20k - I was again stuck at the Act 3 roadblock again. I'd farm the Act 2 bridge elite until he was nerfed: + Show Spoiler +
And then did Crypt of the Ancients & Warrior's Rest for a while way before it was cool to: + Show Spoiler +.
Whenever I got an Act 3 capable gear slot, I'd just sell it on the RMAH instead.
But eventually I decided I could find a set of gear that a) wasn't worth anything on the RMAH and b) could beat Inferno.
Here were my stats on that fateful day:
+ Show Spoiler +
And my mediocre gear came in the form of a OWE-centered, life-per-second, and miserable dps
+ Show Spoiler +
And Big D finally fell:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/bt5Tmvil.jpg)
And of course immediately afterwards, I went and sold off anything worthwhile; like the sword! + Show Spoiler +
So after finally 'beating the game', there wasn't much else to do cept level other characters, and I went ahead and leveled every other character to 60, trying WW barb, Wiz, and eventually WD and DH. When 1.04 came out I was working on DH and almost decided to make that my main... until they decided to completely nerf DH tanking proc rates, and I went back to my Monk. So I had to gear and spec my monk back up to Act 3 farming capability and finally was able to drop Deadly Reach for Fists of Thunder.
Now that new legendaries were good, and Act 3 farming was normal, I decided.. man now it's time to look cool! Especially since it was better to group for Uber farming. And thus I ended up using Devil's Tongue and Hallowed Defenders:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/pnZDb1ul.jpg) .
I farmed mostly on MP5 for keys, then grouped up for MP7/8 and decided I wasn't going to keep rolling the dice after this one:
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/NTOUKl.png)
Then I saw a video posted of a Monk doing a speed Act 3 run sometime around October of last year using a Tailwind build. It was one of the many "I can do Alk runs in X time" type, but actually worth looking into. Shortly after.... I was hooked. This was before spirit regen gear spiked in price, and was able to pick up a very nice Xeph amulet for 2m that I thought was actually overpriced at the time. Sadly I finally parted ways with it a few months back ( + Show Spoiler + ) I also went the unconventional route of using a pair of Shenlongs with 2+ spirit regen each! It was plenty enough regen to maintain Tailwind and good enough to Act 3. At my highest, I think I was almost at 28 spirit regen/sec slamming bells left and right. (weak, weak bells of course - good enough for mp0!) By this time, I was no longer using any gear worth anything on the RMAH so my tradition of cashing out before each patch stopped happening. I did make one last nice payday taking advantage of the 1.08 gold bug, but that's another story! + Show Spoiler +
And so, the grind began. Paragon level after level, dropping pieces of MF and the addition of crafting and the fail that was "brawling" until I began approaching the fabled 100. I was down to one MF peice, and had crafted two nice MF amulets ( + Show Spoiler + ) but sadly I will never be able to craft a trifecta. I grinding most of my time in Act 3 MP0 or Vota MP1. All the way up to paragon 85 when I decided to possible gear for MP8+ to prepare for the grouping buff of 1.08.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/8i0nhjLl.jpg)
Around plvl 85, I began not wanting to gain xp, and dropped the ruby from the helm, and hoped to make it to 1.09 before hitting 100.. Unfortunately that didn't happen and now I am 100. If you have made it this far, you must really bored. Thanks for reading!
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/pujAkC5l.jpg)
Bonus: In 100 Paragon levels, I have gotten only 3 double-legendary drops: + Show Spoiler +
  
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United Kingdom14103 Posts
I stopped after reaching level 50 something whilst doing hell when inferno was apparently impossible, you say it's better now? Thank god, I may return one day.
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Canada5377 Posts
Congrats !
I see you were farming the pony level, is that good since the last patch?
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Quick question: how long do you think it actually took you in terms of ingame hours while working on your Monk to go from level 1 to Paragon 100? Like Targe, I stopped at level 50 and only one character because I got so bored. ;/
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Nice read 
I only got 1 double legendary drop so far and I am plvl81, however it was extra cool as it came from a keywarden who also dropped the key.
![[image loading]](http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/4940/somaylegendaries.jpg)
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Would it be possible if I were to join you in D3?
I literally don't know anybody who plays now lol.
Congrats regardless!
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Congratulations!
I'm about to hit 100 on my softcore DH, so I'll join you soon in the 100 club!
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Nice read, looking to get back into D3 but can´t do so until i move in a few months as i play HC and the connection here is just dodgy as hell. Gz on 100.
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I didn't know people were still playing this game. I quit a bit after the IAS nerf and decided it wasn't worth my time and the game got boring.
Did you ever feel like quitting while on your way to level 100 P?
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On June 03 2013 00:03 Targe wrote:
I stopped after reaching level 50 something whilst doing hell when inferno was apparently impossible, you say it's better now? Thank god, I may return one day.
I wouldn't say it's "better" - its a mediocre arpg that I play because I haven't found something better to waste my time at. Minuscule progress is still progress!
On June 03 2013 02:32 Bibbit wrote:
I see you were farming the pony level, is that good since the last patch?
Ha no, I just decided I wanted to hit 100 in a colorful zone.
On June 03 2013 03:01 StarStruck wrote:
Quick question: how long do you think it actually took you in terms of ingame hours while working on your Monk to go from level 1 to Paragon 100? Like Targe, I stopped at level 50 and only one character because I got so bored. ;/
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/rHlJB6ll.png)
Around 800 hours. These numbers probably also include my Hardcore Monk
Thanks all, Nice drop Usagi, those events come few and far between! I'm playing some of my Demon Hunter again, down in MP1 if anyone wants to add me (profiile in sig). As far as I can tell, I'll be playing D3 off and on until something better comes along... maybe FF14.5!
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United Kingdom14103 Posts
On June 03 2013 19:20 Burrfoot wrote:Show nested quote +On June 03 2013 00:03 Targe wrote:
I stopped after reaching level 50 something whilst doing hell when inferno was apparently impossible, you say it's better now? Thank god, I may return one day. I wouldn't say it's "better" - its a mediocre arpg that I play because I haven't found something better to waste my time at. Minuscule progress is still progress! Show nested quote +On June 03 2013 02:32 Bibbit wrote:
I see you were farming the pony level, is that good since the last patch? Ha no, I just decided I wanted to hit 100 in a colorful zone. Show nested quote +On June 03 2013 03:01 StarStruck wrote:
Quick question: how long do you think it actually took you in terms of ingame hours while working on your Monk to go from level 1 to Paragon 100? Like Targe, I stopped at level 50 and only one character because I got so bored. ;/ Around 800 hours. These numbers probably also include my Hardcore MonkThanks all, Nice drop Usagi, those events come few and far between! I'm playing some of my Demon Hunter again, down in MP1 if anyone wants to add me (profiile in sig). As far as I can tell, I'll be playing D3 off and on until something better comes along... maybe FF14.5!
Okai thanks, I may return one day if I get bored, I do kind of want to hit 60.
It was the first RPG I properly played since Fallout 3 though. (For some reason Blizzard and Bethesda always get me hooked TT)
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