Andariel: Worth running? You decide

[NeoHydragen]

I decided to accomplish and record results for 100 Andariel runs with the intent of deciding if they were valuable to do or not. All runs were accomplished using a pure orb sorceress with 348MF. The results from a similar test may have been posted here before, but I don't remember if drops from Andariel have been done.

Drops From Andy - Drops From Monsters Near Andy
1. Cathans Armor
2. Bloodrise
3. 1074 Gold
4. Hwanin's Belt
5. Iron Pelt - Vile Husk
6. 9854 Gold
7. Assorted Rares
8. 8596 Gold
9. 13506 Gold
10. Coif of Glory - Tarnhelm
11. 8340 Gold
12. Sigons Gloves, Bverrit Keep
13. Rockstopper
14. Toothtrow, Hsarus' Boots
15. 9616 Gold - Angelic Amulet
16. 5912 Gold
17. Goldwrap
18. 854 Gold
19. 8962 Gold
20. Spellsteel
21. 13163 Gold
22. 12665 Gold
23. 4076 Gold
24. Assorted Rares
25. 11234 Gold
26. The Battlebranch
27. Gheeds Charm (80/12/21)
28. Bartucs Cut-Throat
29. Flawless Emerald, Flawless Skull
30. 11918 Gold
31. Assorted Rares
32. Angelic Ring
33. Assorted Rares
34. 12136 Gold
35. 13755 Gold
36. Hellplague
37. Super Healing Potion
38. 8713 Gold
39. 8246 Gold
40. M'avina's Belt
41. 8558 Gold
42. 13318 Gold
43. 13927 Gold
44. 5912 Gold
45. 12945 Gold
46. 12852 Gold
47. Assorted Rares - Hellmouth Gauntlets
48. 3329 Gold
49. Dark Clan Cudgel
50. 4574 Gold
51. Assorted Rares
52. 10643 Gold
53. Infernal Torch, Isenharts Armor
54. Assorted Rares
55. 5511 Gold
56. Town Portal Scroll - Coif of Glory
57. Bloodletter
58. Assorted Rares
59. 13350 Gold
60. M'avina's Gloves
61. The Patriarch
62. Arcanna's Staff - Hellclap
63. 10985 Gold
64. Assorted Rares
65. Warlords Trust
66. Kelpie Snare
67. 10238 Gold
68. Deaths Sword
69. 6753 Gold - Ravenclaw
70. 11454 Gold
71. Sigons Gloves, Arcanna's Armor, Buriza-Do Kyanon
72. 12416 Gold
73. 3516 Gold
74. Assorted Rares
75. Woestave
76. Brainhew
77. 9927 Gold
78. Rejuvination Potion
79. 9833 Gold
80. 11638 Gold
81. 7531 GOld
82. 11327 GOld
83. Bonesnap
84. 11203 Gold
85. Cathan's Ring
86. Steelgoad - Iratha's Amulet, Whitstans Shield
87. 11421 Gold
88. Civerb's Cudgel
89. 11327 Gold
90. Venom Ward
91. Tannr Gorerod
92. Assorted Rares
93. 9865 Gold
94. Nef Rune
95. 10425 Gold
96. Assorted Rares
97. Duskdeep
98. Iratha's Amulet
99. 844 Gold, Antidote Potion
100. Assorted Rares

Total Run Time: 273 Minutes 4.55 Hours
2 Minutes 43 Seconds per run
12188 Experiance per run
Set: 19
Unique: 31
Gold: 428,242

Based on the information collected during this test, I would conclude that my MFing time is best spent at Mephisto. Take from this what you want, I'm not telling you what to believe. I am able to answer any other questions that you may have about this test.

[Mr.Bogohossian]

thx for the stats. yes meph do beat andy by a lot.... if u can post a 100 run meph result please, just to convince the rest.

[NeoHydragen]

thx for the stats. yes meph do beat andy by a lot.... if u can post a 100 run meph result please, just to convince the rest.

I think I might be able to do that fairly soon, but right now I don't think I could possibly sit through another 100 straight MF runs.

[Mr.Bogohossian]

haha true. just start another topic when u done. thx

[minion]

when i've posted runs in the past i dont try to do it in one day ( :scratch: )

my last one took me about 4 days, i just added it to a notepad file after every run.

[MoUsE_WiZ]

NM Baal > Hell Andy if you're incapable of running meph, imo.
IIRC neither can drop an SS, and NM baal has a higher chance at dropping a shako. Not to mention that NM Baal is a LOT easier to meet decent resists while keeping fairly high MF...

[Artezul]

I will run andy regardlessly. Out of dozens of runs, she has dropped a few shakos, titans, viper, 2 alibaba. Though these aren't anything insanely expensive, they are worth something. However, these come once in a while, I'm not saying she regularly drops these -_-.

[Avatar_Will]

NM Baal > Hell Andy if you're incapable of running meph, imo.
IIRC neither can drop an SS, and NM baal has a higher chance at dropping a shako. Not to mention that NM Baal is a LOT easier to meet decent resists while keeping fairly high MF...
Totally correct on the SS.

I have done a few hundred runs of both NM Baal and Hell Andariel. I prefer Hell Andariel as she gives nice drops and my runs are finished a lot quicker using my sorc.

[doubleOObubble]

I don't think the real issue is whether Meph drops better or worse than Andy - it's the difference in danger that makes people choose on or the other.

If you can do Andy fast and safe, while Meph is slow and dangerous, Andy is probably more worth it as she can drop very nice things too. I think you were a bit unlucky in those 100 runs Neo. I have, just as Artezul, found alot of nice things (Harlequin crest, Bonehew etc) in non crazy amount of runs.

Meph drops clearly better though - IF you can do it as fast and as safely.

[Stimm]

Ive found that Andariel is best for dropping jewelery. Shes dropped me 4 Bul Kathos wedding bands , 2 SOJ , countless carrion rings , highlords , sacarans , seraphs while meph has dropped me very few jewelry at all. Andariel is also where i got 90% of my Gheeds charms

[MoUsE_WiZ]

Armo60 (shako)
Baal [TC] Nightmare 0.67809956
Andariel(1st Kill) [TC] Hell 0.57780424
Andariel [TC] Hell 0.35358170

Weap60 (bone knife)
Baal [TC] Nightmare 1.35619912
Andariel(1st Kill) [TC] Hell 1.15560848
Andariel [TC] Hell 0.70716340

Armo36 (Serpentskin Armor)
Baal [TC] Nightmare 1.47841642
Andariel(1st Kill) [TC] Hell 1.00612632
Andariel [TC] Hell 0.61568924

Based on what I'm seeing above, if your sorc doesn't have the gear to do hell meph, she has a better shot at finding it doing NM baals than hell Andy. Also, speaking from experience, I find NM Baal safer with an ES/TK/Orb sorc than hell Andy, less of a shot of running into a nasty mana burn pack of some sort. There is a bit of a trade off with speed here of course, but you get to help balance it a bit with drops from the minions and;
NM Baal level 75 1619522 exp
Hell Andy level 75 561066 exp

So you should get more exp from your NM baaling too.

Really, I don't see a reason to do hell andy runs alone. If you're one of those E/S/P/Meph/Andy/whatever else sort of MFers then by all means run her and forget about NM baal, but if you're running her because you can't do anything else in hell, you should probably reconsider...

[Winona]

Or you could go all winona and just create a char for diffrent types of runs and switch between em.

Im going:

Java/poisonzon for pit/shenk/eldritch/tresh socket
Concentrate baba for Meph NM/Hell
Light Sorc for Andy/Tower
Still nothing viable for hell Baal, perhaps my upcoming necro?

[Bearcub]

When I did my 100 hell andy runs , i recieved lots better gear. Nm baal runs have never payed off all that greatly for me. Who knows though.

[xeyloderixed]

Or you could go all winona and just create a char for diffrent types of runs and switch between em.

Im going:

Java/poisonzon for pit/shenk/eldritch/tresh socket
Concentrate baba for Meph NM/Hell
Light Sorc for Andy/Tower
Still nothing viable for hell Baal, perhaps my upcoming necro?

erm, looks exactly like my acct O.o

trapsin - eld/pind
orb sorc - meff/andy/general
boner - baal/travincal

didnt think i needed a fourth one, unless i make one specifically for a4 (which the boner can do anyway)

btw i like council better than countess. takes the same amount of time, but council drops a lot more "other" items than countess. rune drops are comparable when you get to the "high" end

[doubleOObubble]

Baal having 10-20% better chance of dropping the good stuff does not nearly make up for the x times more times it takes to run him. And that's concidering the measle drops from the NM minions too.

But, it *is* safer than hell Andy for many a' char.

[abbithedog]

I've found running andy with just one other person in the game vastly improves the drop. Maybe it's just annecdotal or just random. My 2 cents.

[PhatTrumpet]

For those of you looking for a Baal runner I'd suggest a Meteorb build. My 89 Sorc does them blindfolded and with one hand tied behind her back. Depending on what I'm in the mood for I can either teleport straight to the Throne, or walk and kill everything on the way (although Moon Lords and Oblivion Knights tend to give my Merc problems). Admittedly, my gear at this point is somewhat above average, but this far into the patch I'm sure most people can scrounge together a similar setup. I've found the keys to running him safely are Lightning Absorb, plenty of MDR, some PDR/%DR, good blocking, a Reaper's Toll Merc, and no Energy Shield. Here's where I'm at.

lvl 89 ( |--| this far from lvl 90):
1 Static Field
1 Energy Shield (never used anymore)
1 Warmth
20 Fireball
20 Meteor
20 Fire Mastery
1 Shiver Armor
1 Cold Mastery (will start pumping this to -100%)
20 Frozen Orb

Shako (P-Topaz socket)
Tal's Ammy
Death's Fathom (only 20%, looking for an x/5 Cold Facet for it)
Vipermagi (upgraded, 'Ral' socket)
Stormshield ('Um' socket)
Magefist
TGod's
Waterwalks (+62 life)
Dwarfstar
Rare ring: 9 dex, 34 life, 79 mana, 9%LR, 5%FR (iirc)

Reaper's Toll ('Shael' socket)
Tal's Mask
Glad's Bane


The Merc saves my butt a lot, and the chance to cast Decrep saves his butt just about as much. It also tends to immobilize Baal, making him a lot less of a pain to kill (can get out of reach of his mana-sucking attack, and you can stack Meteors much better). A decent Merc is vital because Stygians hurt and often times Lister is FICI.

She has about 1180 life and 680 mana. I would use Frosties to bump the mana up a bit, but I needed the fast cast from Magefist to get over the 63% breakpoint... +1 Fire Skills isn't too shabby either. Resists are at 68/70/85/-1, but poison is easy enough to avoid. Once you start to get to know the monsters' resistances and vulnerabilities you can really rip through, and with that setup the only noticeable damage I really take is physical (including Witch's and Unraveller's projectiles), Viper Bone Spears, and poison. Gloams do absolutely no damage, and most LE bolts actually heal me.

Some "more budget" gear might be:

Helm: there's really no replacing Shako
Amulet: any rare or 'Safety' crafted with +skills, Telling of Beads, Rising Sun
Weapon: Wizzy
Armor: Viper is ideal, but Shaft, Iron Pelt, and Glad's Bane would all work well
Shield: Whitstan's if your resists are good, Gerke's, 'Rhyme'
Gloves: Frosties
Belt: String
Boots: Nat's
Rings: at least one Dwarfstar... two if you already have enough mana and resists

[NeoHydragen]

I've found running andy with just one other person in the game vastly improves the drop. Maybe it's just annecdotal or just random. My 2 cents.

ALL runs in the test were completed with my sorceress and a BO barb in the game.

[det]

First time I run Andy with a few friends for first drop...its a big disappointment. We run her again afterwards..and she is another disappointment. But a devilkin in her antechamber drops an eth bonehew...hooray.

Later I did my first 2 pitruns and low and behold...the very last monster I kill, an amulett sails gracefully through the air. Do you ever have these moments where you just KNOW its gonna be unique and its not gonna be a Nokozan? Sure enough..it was Unique and a Seraphs Hymn. My first 1.10 only Ammy :clap:

Usually I have my Strafer enchanted before I visit hell, but at lv 79, she kills just fine so far...even survived Fanatic bosses.

I just love clearing entire areas instead of running bosses

[Unholy_VI]

I just love clearing entire areas instead of running bosses

Yeah I do too.

Thats one reason I end up running like baal and diablo more than meph or andy. you get to wade through a bunch of nasty stuff to get to the main target.

In hell though is there such a thing as a 'normal' monster. seems like its pretty much only champions, random bosses and minions most of the time.

[5zigen]

I really dont see why anyone thinks running hell meph is slow or dangerous. Especially for people with SS' and the like. My 0 dex 0 DR sorc will tele meph easily and safely (no maphack) consistantly. I dont get it.

[evils]

omgomgomgomgomg.. . Infernal Torch.. sooo rare ;) nice find lol

//Johnny

[xeyloderixed]

I really dont see why anyone thinks running hell meph is slow or dangerous. Especially for people with SS' and the like. My 0 dex 0 DR sorc will tele meph easily and safely (no maphack) consistantly. I dont get it.

because people assume (and i think its right) that most people get their stats/skills from ITEMS, and not CHARMS. if, as you say, you have 0 dr, that must mean you have a inv full of charms (dont have to be perfect) to reach the "minimum" of 800 life/mana.

[xeyloderixed]

Death's Fathom (only 20%, looking for an x/5 Cold Facet for it)

i actually question the use of this orb. it offers very little in the resistance/mana department/fcr departments, unlike other alternatives. but whatever works i guess.

i'm pretty sure that in solo games, the extra 20% damage on orb rarely matters, and the damage on meteor/fball is simply insane as it is.

oh, and one more thing. i think the reason people use eshield is because they like having large amounts of mana (read: wizzy), making it better than in your situation. it's a matter of personal preference, really.

[PhatTrumpet]

i actually question the use of this orb. it offers very little in the resistance/mana department/fcr departments, unlike other alternatives. but whatever works i guess.

i'm pretty sure that in solo games, the extra 20% damage on orb rarely matters, and the damage on meteor/fball is simply insane as it is.

oh, and one more thing. i think the reason people use eshield is because they like having large amounts of mana (read: wizzy), making it better than in your situation. it's a matter of personal preference, really.
Well I do have my reasons for going with more of a "damage" setup rather than a "safety" or "MF" one.


1. I wanted to eventually try soloing Baal in larger games (posssibly 4-5 people). I might actually go do that right now...

2. I like being able to switch to a high-MF weapon switch (in my case Rhyme/AliBaba) without having my resists go negative and/or my blocking suffering a huge hit. DF gives me 34/33 LR/FR, which is obviously no Wizzy but it is quite decent for a caster weapon when you think about it.

3. I don't need the mana since I don't use EShield. With Baal runs there are TONS of elemental damage monsters, and EShield working the way it does (before resists) it just doesn't seem practical to me. Maybe with a full TK synergy and some damage to mana gear you can pull it off, but then you don't have enough skill points to go dual tree and it's just more effort than it's worth. I had a pure Orber with quite a few points in TK and very nearly as much mana as life, and she'd still be drained in one Gloam hit. Things like LE bolts and Hydras would also gradually drain her mana while inflicting no damage whatsoever to her life globe. I guess I just got sick of it.