As I left things last time I had but one achievement left between me and finishing off the main achievements for Season 5; completing the set dungeon.
My first runs at it made it seem like a distant goal. But a few people chimed in with advice in the comments of that last post.
The first thing I did was swap out the gem on my sword, giving up my health per hit for additional thorns damage.
Then I started running bounties in order to find more gear that would add to my thorns total. The swap on my weapon actually let me boost myself up to Torment level VI for bounties. So I started running those in hopes of some decent drops.
So many drops. So little worth keeping. The gear haul does start to wear on you after a bit, when you’re looking for one type of attribute in a sea of random drops. Still, I did end up getting a few more achievements… Torment VI seems to be a plateau for some boss kill achievements… and I ended up seeing a couple new places along the way, such as Whimsydale.
Into colorful unicorn and teddy bear land…
Eventually I picked up a piece here and there that improved my thorns, giving me a base amount of about 135K damage. At that point I was into Torment Level VII bounties.
That seemed like a pretty decent amount. Trading out for some of the skill suggested in the comment thread as well, I decided to give the set dungeon a try. I just had to hit a couple of goals and I would be done.
Thorns of the Invoker set dungeon requirements
I went in and found one of the elites. I closed in, put up iron skin and consecration and… was actually able to kill him successfully as required.
The first elite done in
Suddenly, this seemed doable. I just had to kill four more… and get hit with those 75 spears… all without dying.
I had just one elite left on that first run when I walked into an open area and got mobbed by hostiles and died. Dungeon failed, everything reset. Still, it seemed within my reach. Yet in a half dozen more runs I got nowhere as close as I did on that first one. I gave up for the evening.
I went back the next night to try again. Again, the whole thing seemed like I ought to be able to manage it, it was just a bit finicky. After a few false starts I seemed to be on my way. Then I hit an barrier I wasn’t expecting. There is a third goal that shows up on your quest tracker when you enter the set dungeon, requiring that you slay 157 mobs along the way.
I figured that this was a minimum number. As it turned out, it was a boundary condition that you could not cross before you finished off the two main objectives. So at one point I had four elites in and only need a couple more spear hits when I killed that 157th mob and the whole thing failed on me yet again.
Success on kills means failure on everything else…
That rather poorly worded objective was a real kick in the teeth. I spent the rest of the evening never quite getting as far. I was tiring of the whole thing again, so I decided to give it one more chance.
As it turned out, I got a pretty good start, with three elites… the most difficult bit… showing up almost immediately. That really helps. I was able, with a few close shaves, to get in the five elites and then the 75 spears. That left me with about 30 monsters still to kill, which I did with great care until I got that last one… and boom, I was done!
Set Dungeon Complete
I missed the timer, which is required for mastery but not for the Season 5 objective. I was not set for Season 5.
Mission Accomplished
Of course, there are post Chapter IV seasonal achievements to be earned. Almost as soon as I wrapped up that chapter I was being told there was more goals in store.
Season 5 – Not Done Yet
There is a whole list of Season 5 achievements listed out over on Reddit.
But I think I might be done with Season 5. I got to where I planned, I managed to pick up what seems like a lot of gold (200 million after doing all my gem combines) and I had my fun. It might be a good time to take a break. I’m not worn out on the game yet, and sometimes it is best to go out on a high note.
What will Season 6 bring?
The Ancient Gaming Noob 