Your favorite item(s) for cruel/merci to keep death rate low?

[Dbuddy]

When i level new toons i always try to find better ways to rush trough the acts...

High damage isn't that diffictult to reach nowadays.
More problematic is life/res.

If i start in a new league (or a fresh account) i always end up with

- crap rare equip (lower life)
- currency worth ~3-4 Chaos in stash
- ~lvl60

if you transist to fast into merciless you get stuck with too many deaths.
and when you reach dried lake merciless voll (with stupid 1hit-kills) can eat your exp progress....

When a league is a bit older the trading is of course the best source for cheap and very helpful items.

I know, it depends on the build, but whats your key to gain enough defense/life with selffound equip?

Start early with defense gem links? which one you prefer?
spend all your alchs?
Upgrade flasks at level xx xx xx?
as much block(shield) as possible?

 

[toNyx]

When i level new toons i always try to find better ways to rush trough the acts...

High damage isn't that diffictult to reach nowadays.
More problematic is life/res.

If i start in a new league (or a fresh account) i always end up with

- crap rare equip (lower life)
- currency worth ~3-4 Chaos in stash
- ~lvl60

if you transist to fast into merciless you get stuck with too many deaths.
and when you reach dried lake merciless voll (with stupid 1hit-kills) can eat your exp progress....

When a league is a bit older the trading is of course the best source for cheap and very helpful items.

I know, it depends on the build, but whats your key to gain enough defense/life with selffound equip?

Start early with defense gem links? which one you prefer?
spend all your alchs?
Upgrade flasks at level xx xx xx?
as much block(shield) as possible?

You have to consider doing masters quests or sharing masters, those can give a decent survivability threshold based on resists you can put on low-end gear.

Life/res is based on your build, if your build is shit, then don't expect your bot to not die. I usually reach 1.5k life before reaching cruel.
And I'm around 2.8k on merc. (with shitty gear) BUT I try to get capped resists on merc asap, because that's what kills you.

You can consider getting a granite/jade flask for cheap, then 1 instant & 1 normal life flask. The others depends on your build.

I sometimes reach cruel with still blue items equipped, because rnjesus isn't on my side.

I use to spend all my alchs on gear I'm missing or I wanna upgrade, if I manage to pull a decent item it can only be worth.

Dried lake isn't optimal if your gear isn't good enough, consider going acqueduct instead (+ it gives a lot of masters quests).
Don't forget the masters, they're a huge source of survivability.