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Diablo II single player questions

Discussion in 'Diablo 1 & 2' started by dmc, Jul 31, 2008.

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  1. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    I'm using the Angelic amulet and ring, which, combined, give me about +100 life.

    Chains of Honor:

    4 Socket Body Armor: Dol + Um + Ber + Ist
    +2 To All Skills
    +200% Damage To Demons
    +100% Damage To Undead
    8% Life Stolen Per Hit
    +70% Enhanced Defense
    +20 To Strength
    Replenish Life +7
    All Resistances +65
    Damage Reduced By 8%
    25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items


    Nice resists, +20 str means I can invest those points in vit (although I really have been stockpiling attribute points for a couple of levels to see what armor I will use), damage reduction is nice, +25 MF is nice-ish. Replenish life is nice. Rest is meaningless for the sorc.

    I'd be basically taking that over Enigma if I choose to save the runes that I would otherwise use for Heart of the Oak. As a reminder, Enigma has:



    +2 To All Skills
    +45% Faster Run/Walk
    +1 To Teleport
    +750-775 Defense (varies)
    + (0.75 Per Character Level) +0-74 To Strength (Based On Character Level)
    Increase Maximum Life 5%
    Damage Reduced By 8%
    +14 Life After Each Kill
    15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
    + (1 Per Character Level) +1-99% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based On Character Level)

    IMO, Enigma is better ALL AROUND for this character, except that it has no resists. Given that my sorc doesn't have a wall of skellies like my necro, the random damage that flies towards her from things like gloams, etc., is going to be all hers 50% of the time, if not more. Thus, I really think I need this character's resists to be maxed, unlike the necro, where I took the position anything not negative was fine (a position which turned out to be justified). Thus, I'll need to socket my shield and still a Pdiamond or um into it.

    Heart of the Oak:


    4 Socket Staves/Maces
    Ko + Vex + Pul + Thul
    +3 To All Skills
    +40% Faster Cast Rate
    +75% Damage To Demons
    +100 To Attack Rating Against Demons
    Adds 3-14 Cold Damage, 3 sec. Duration (Normal)
    7% Mana Stolen Per Hit
    +10 To Dexterity
    Replenish Life +20
    Increase Maximum Mana 15%
    All Resistances +30-40 (varies)
    Level 4 Oak Sage (25 Charges)
    Level 14 Raven (60 Charges)


    This gives me resists which, if I were to somehow wind up with this weapon and chains of honor would probably negate the entire hell penalty and make reaching max resists a breeze. It is a sweet weapon for +3 skills, sick faster cast rate, +10 dex (that 10 vit points), +20 replenish life, +15% max mana. I don't even know what Oak Sage and Raven do yet.

    Compare that to the Oculus:


    One-Hand Damage: 18 To 42 (30 Avg)
    Required Level: 42
    Durability: 50
    Base Weapon Speed: [10]
    (Sorceress Only)
    +3 To Sorceress Skill Levels
    +5 To Mana After Each Kill
    All Resistances +20
    25% Chance To Cast Level 1 Teleport When Struck
    +30% Faster Cast Rate
    +20 To Vitality
    +20 To Energy
    +20% Enhanced Defense
    50% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items

    Lesser resists, I don't want to be teleported when hit. I'll do my own TP thank-you-very-much. Worse resists, worse FCR, better attribute points (I'm ignoring energy, but it's still twice as many straight to vit. +MF doesn't suck.

    I just think heart of the oak is a better weapon. Plus, if I make it, I can eventually lend it to another character, as its +skills are not class specific and it can benefit a melee character with the offensive stats that are useless to the sorc.


    I think Enigma is good enough right now that I can spend the runes for heart of the oak and work on chains of honor with both the necro and sorc ultimately being rune finders. I don't see the point in going with the oculus. I also seriously underestimate the runes I find. My necro found a Ko in a box somewhere (not even near a boss) yesterday and that's hardly the smallest rune find he's done. I also have multiple characters now storing every stupid el and eld and, while I know it takes like a million els to get a decent high level rune, I'm always shocked at how far my rune upgrade go when I do them (like once a month or so).
     
  2. Ziad

    Ziad I speak in rebuses Veteran

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    If you're making Heart of the Oak, make it in a one-handed mace. Having it in a staff may be easier but you really need a shield for a Sorceress - not for the defense but for other modifiers, especially resists. Speaking of these, if you love a challenge then go into Hell difficulty (especially the later acts) with a Sorceress without max resists. If you prefer to have a chance of surviving, make sure all your resists are at least 50%, 65% or above is preferable (and if you can get them to 75%, don't hesitate). You will be hit by random damage, a lot.
     
  3. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    I posted above that I have a 4 socket scourge ready to go for heart of the oak. I also plan on using stormshield and will use a socket quest to put a socket in it. As I mentioned, I feel that I need to max my resists due to my lack of army and that would really be the sole reason to prefer chains of honor over enigma.
     
  4. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    I would go with both Heart of the Oak and Chains of Honor, and IMO it isn't even a hard decision. That will give you max resists, which I agree are necessary in hell. I agree that Enigma would be a better choice if resistances were not an issue, but they are. And it's not like Chains of Honor is so much of a lesser armor than Enigma that you're sacrificing a ton of other stuff to use it. They both have the same +2 skills (which is definitely the best stat in either piece of equipment) and you do get a small boost to MF when you go with Chains.

    The CoH/HotO combination also gives you significant increases in both dexterity and strength, which should translate into more vitality. Combined, it will be +27 to replenish life, which is significant. And while 8% damage reduction isn't huge, it's not bad either.

    On to the skills of HotO. Raven is pretty much useless. It summons five ravens that attack different creatures (or the same creatures if there are fewer than 5 on the screen). Upon attack, they do a little bit of damage, and blind the target (peck the eyes out?), so they wander around aimlessly and don't attack. The blinding effect does not work on Act bosses, uniques, or champions, and since you kill stuff fairly quickly, blinding regular monsters isn't really necessary. So it definitely is of limited use, and more of a novelty spell than an actual battle strategy.

    Oak Sage is a whole different story though. Oak Sage when cast summons a spirit that gives significant bonuses to life. Level 1 is +50% life, with an additional +10% for each level beyond the first. So Level 4 Oak Sage will give you +80% life, and that pushes HotO even further ahead of Oculus. The only word of warning is that Oak Sage is a summoned minion, and thus, it can be killed. It gets the same bonuses that summoned skeletons get as you increase the difficulty, so it can survive in inghtmare and hell, and it does a pretty good job of staying out of harm's way. However, it can be killed, and you will lose your life bonus until you recast it. (Note: The Oak Sage being attacked is not always a bad thing. While you don't want to lose the life bonus it provides, if an enemy is pounding on the Oak Sage it means that it isn't pounding on you.)

    EDIT: I have been thinking about some additional equipment for my barbarian. Since I'm not using a shield, my resistances will be a bit low, so any +skill equipment that will up my Natural Resistances will help. I'm probably going to be using the Harlequin Crest, and I also may use Seraph's Hymn amulet. I never was particularly keen on this amulet, as all it does is give +2 to all skills, but for a barbarian, that increases resistances, damage, and all my war cries, so perhaps not a bad choice.

    With 1 invested in Natural Resistances, +2 from the helm and amulet, and another +1 from Battle Commands, that will get my Natural Resistances up to level 6. That's not too bad, and since it's a skill with diminishing returns, it may not even be worth investing further in it after that point.

    The other thing this set will give me is an effective +11 to the war cries skill tree. (I'm assuming that I will eventually get my hands on two +3 echoing weapons.) So with just one measly point in find item, it will be level 12, and the war cries that I will use a lot like battle orders and shout will be at level 31. Shout will give +400% to defense, and battle orders will give +125% to life and mana. Not bad at all...
     
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2009
  5. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    I have a decision to make. In looking through my inventory of saved items, I found I have a unique barbarian helm - it's called (I think) "Demonhorn's Edge" or something like that. This actually is a hard decision now between this helm and Harlequin Crest.

    To review:

    HC:
    +2 to all skills
    +2 to all attributes
    +1.25 life per clvl
    +1.25 mana per clvl
    50% magic find

    DE:
    +3 to Warcires
    +2 to Masteries
    +3 to Combat Skills
    +10% Increased Attack Speed
    +3% life steal
    Attack takes damage of 61

    The advantages of the HQ are the bonuses to life, mana, and magic find. For a barbarian, the bonus to life is important, the bonus to mana is not so important, so long as you have some mana leech. Magic find is also nice to have. I'd probably socket a perfect topaz in either helm, so there is a 50% difference either way.

    The advantage of DE are mostly with the skills. The bonus to Masteries is the same either way, but I get an extra +1 to my warcries and my combat skills. The 10% increase attack speed would only help me if I use some other increase attack speed gear. I need to get a total of 60% increase attack speed to whirl at maximum speed, so a 10% IAS on the helm would still require me to use 3 shaels in my weapon. You can never have too much life leech as a melee character, so the 3% life leech is nice. Finally, while I don't usually look for "attacker takes damage of X" gear, 61 certainly seems to be a lot.

    I'm really not sure. I don't know if having more life and magic find is worth an extra level in all of my combat skills and warcries. And that is really what the decision boils down to. I can get life steal on tons of different equipment slots (especially with the blood recipes), so it's not essential to get it on the helm. The IAS is of no use on it's own without other gear, and while attacker takes damage of 61 certainly seems like a lot, this is a high defense build, designed to avoid getting hit, so something that requires you to get hit to active the effect may be of limited use.

    Also looking at Seraph's Hymn last night, I had forgot that in addition to granting +2 to all skills it gives considerable bonuses to attack rating to both demons and undead, which comprise the majority of creatures in the game, and virtually all of the "tough" creatures, including all of the Act bosses, so that's a winner all around. I still think it's strange that the attribute on the amulet is to grant +2 to paladin defensive auras, as I am not aware of many paladins that use defensive auras for anything other than synergies.
     
  6. Ziad

    Ziad I speak in rebuses Veteran

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    That's a tough one. Normally I'd go for +skills over anything other than resists, but bonuses to life, man and MF is a good combination. However I don't think it will make such a big difference in the end, when it comes to life. At level 60-70 your Barbarian will probably have life close to 1000, or more if you're thrown a lot of points into vitality. Will an extra 70-80 points in life make any difference at all? If this was a Sorceress I would say every point counts, but not for a melee Barbarian with high defense and lots of life leech, which from what you say is the build you're going for. In this case the additional point to both your Warcries (in other words, more life and mana from Battle Orders) and stronger main attack (Whirlwind) is more than enough compensation for the MF that HC provides. I would go for Demonhorn's Edge.
     
  7. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    That is the way I'm leaning - and do not forget that barbarians DO get bonuses to resistances for points in their mastery tree, through the passive skill nautral resistance. I already know that I have +2 with whatever helm I go with, and another +2 from the amulet, and I'll have +1 from battle commands. So with just a one point investment in natural resistances, it will have an effective level of 6, which is good for 40-something resist all (if I had to guess I think it's 44%).

    The only thing I'm on the fence on is that the +life you get from HQ is more than what you listed. For ease of math, at level 80, HQ would give +100 life. However, with my projected level of BO at 31, that would be a +125% bonus, meaning it would turn out to be +225 life.

    That said, you are correct that it is not at all unreasonable to project a life pool of a barbarian of over 1000 base, meaning it would be more like 2250 with battle orders active, and that's enough to survive anything short of getting iron maiden cast on you mid-whirl, so perhaps even an additional 225 life isn't a big deal.
     
  8. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    I agree that +skills usually is the way to go. I'm not sure the delta of the +skills between the two items is enough. As I have not yet done a barbarian (he may be next on the list), I am lacking in sufficient knowledge. For example, if it was something dumb like extra +skills in paladin defensive auraus, it would be meaningless, whereas any extra plusses in a skellimancer's summoning tree is not to be passed up.

    I think you are probably going to wind up doing them both and getting a gut feel for which is helping you go faster and which is opening you up to greater risk.
     
  9. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    The extra skills are certainly on trees that I use - certainly not like extra +skill to a paladin's defensive aura tab. I will primarily use WW on the combat tab, but it will also add to berserk. And an extra +1 to war cries is also worth it, as you probably use more skills from that tree than any other tree. (The most used skills would probably be the masteries tree, because they are passive, and thus are in continual use, and since you use a combat skill every time you attack, war cries are probably your most infrequently cast skills, yet you probably use more of them than the number of skills you use on other trees. You obviously cannot max all of them, and so anything that gives a bonus to that tab goes a long way. Finally, some war cries are like passive skills in that you will be continually under thier effects - you will always have things like Shout, Battle Orders, and Battle Commands active.)

    I also checked out the level and strength requirements for that helm. The level requirement is 61 (which is almost exactly the same as HQ's 62), while the strength requirement is significantly higher at 151. It will be my highest strength requirement piece of equipment (previously it was the armor at 140). So if I'm investing that kind of strength, I better be damn sure I want to use it.

    I was starting to get a little concerned about my stat requirements (remember that the spear requires 163 dexterity), but after contemplating it for a while, I realized that there are many barbarians out there that are using one-handed weapons in combination with Stormshield. Stormshield has a strength requirement of 156, and certainly at high levels you would need at least 163 dexterity, if not more, to maintain max blocking.

    Barbarians start with 30 in strength and 20 in dexterity, so I'm looking at a maximum outlay of 264 points to meet the strength and dexterity requirements of my equipment, assuming I don't use any gear that gives +strength or +dexterity (which I probably will have some, but it's impossible to predict exactly how much). Anyway, since I'm going to need to reach my stat requirements by level 67 (when I can use the upped Yari), that's 66 level ups, and presumably I will have done the Act III Black Book quest twice by that point, so 66*5+10 = 340. So assuming a maximum outlay of 264, it leaves me with 76 to put into vitality, which means I'll have a relatively smallish vitality score at level 67 (you start with 25, so with the 76 to devote to vitality it will be 101).

    The good news is that after level 67, at which point I'll still be in nightmare, ALL of my remaining earned stat points will be able to go into vitality. The only downside is that while my barbarian isn't dying a lot, I'm really getting beat on and chugging healing potions, even with 6% life leech. That's because at each level up, I'm donating 2 points each into strength and dexterity, and just one point into vitality. Battle Orders will eventually leave me with a pretty good sized life pool, but until I get that skill up to level 10 or so, I'm making due with a rather small life pool.

    EDIT: There is one small flaw in my plan for this character. I currently lack one of the two runes I need to up the Hone Sudan to an elite weapon. It's the higher of the two you need - I think it's a Pul. I certainly have found runes higher than a Pul, I just have never found a Pul. The good news is that I have two each of the three runes preceeding Pul, so I don't necessarily have to find a Pul - any of the three preceeding runes would allow me to upgrade to a Pul, and I'm hoping to find any of them by the time I hit Level 67 (and all of those runes are available in Nightmare difficulty, including the Hellforge).
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2009
  10. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    On to Act V Nightmare. Character is level 67 and a half, which means that the only piece of equipment I cannot use (that I have) is Arachnid Mesh. Heart of the Oak is cool, and I am using it even though the Memory staff gives better +skills as far as FO is concerned, because I find that I am using meteor and fireball more than anticipated. Meteor burns for a good long while, so I drop a few around, then FO then fireball whatever is left.

    I'm actually reasonably close to making chains of honor -- have a nice four socketed scarab husk waiting for it and I think one or two more rune conversions will get there. Hellforge only dropped a Lum, I was hoping for more.

    Diablo was a joke (my merc actually died to an Oblivion Knight's IM earlier and I never bothered to resurrect him. Meteors all over, FO's and Fireballs, he didn't stand a chance. Didn't drop anything usefull, though, just a couple of low level uniques, one of which I had already and another that I will never use.

    Anyone notice that Naj Circlets seem to drop all over the place? I find myself selling one a day now.
     
  11. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    There are a couple of reasons for this, actually. First of all, a circlet is in a commonly selected treasure class, so there's a pretty good chance of that TC being picked and a circlet being dropped. However, the second and potentially more important reason is that there are no other sets where a circlet is part of the set, so if the game picks a circlet, and the magic check comes up with a set, you are getting Naj's. That's also the reason why Isenhart's Case (the armor) drops with such regularity. Breast plates are in a common TC, and the only set that has a breast plate as the armor is Isenhart's.

    Conversely, there are several types of belts, gloves, weapons, boots, rings and amulets that are common among several sets, and the really rare set items may not have other set options to be selected, but come from TCs that are selected very infrequently.

    Some examples: Say the game selects an amulet for a drop, and the magic check determines it's a set item. The game has multiple options here, although not all are dropped with the same frequency. When a set amulet is dropped, by far the most likely result is that it's from the Angelic's set. Tal Rasha's Adjudication drops with less frequency, and Telling of Beads drops the least frequently.

    (Author's Note: At least that's how it works in most people's games. I must have a bugged copy of DII, because my game is evidently coded to NEVER drop Tal Rasha's Adjudication.)

    Another example: Take the Immortal King's Soul Cage (body armor). It's sacred armor, and it is the only set sacred armor in the game, so if the game decides to drop a sacred armor, and it's a set, it will always be the IK's Soul Cage. However, sacred armor is in TC87, and thus the game selects this TC to drop from very irregularly, so even though it's the only choice, you rarely see this piece of the set.
     
  12. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Interesting, although I have about three copies of Telling of Beads and only one Tal Rasha's amulet, I guess we can chalk that up to luck of the draw.

    I have found that as I play this game more, I am less enamored of the idea of complete sets and more enamored of the idea of mix and match uniques. I suppose that could change if I ever completed a high level set like the IK, Griswolds, Tal Rasha's or Trang Oul's, but I'm really not even close to that. Meanwhile, Mara's and the HQ are just sick pieces that work with every character I have created so far.

    Also, runewords are absolutely ridiculous in power. Enigma, with its +skills and TP, works well with any character so far. TP is a huge ability that saves my character's (and the merc's) bacon over and over. Enigma means no worries about using up charges or anything like that and means that I don't have to worry about caryying around a TP amulet for certain occasions. The sorc has two runeword weapons, Memory and Heart of the Oak, and I can see the latter working for other characters as well. Once I make Chains of Honor, it will also work for multiple characters, with the resists and +skills.

    Let's face it, every character that goes through Hell needs +skills and +resists. When you have an armor that gives +2 skills and very high +resists to all, it's going to benefit all characters.

    Arachnid's Mesh is another interesting item, because it's a belt with +skills. Goblin Toe is a nice piece of footwear for a melee character with the +25 crushing blow. I don't even know if there are set pieces that give you that anywhere (maybe there are, I just haven't looked in a while).
     
  13. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    It very well could be. However, you should have had dozens of Angelics drop by this point. Whenever the game decides to drop a set amulet, the chance that it's Angelics is nearly 80%.

    For endgame equipment, I would agree, simply because very few sets have great pieces of equipment for every item in the set. There is almost always at least one piece of equipment in the set that is lackluster. However, in order to get the set bonus, you need to use the entire set. On the other hand, I think sets are great for low and mid-level characters.

    There are a few exceptions when comparing sets to uniques. As you already mentioned, all of the class-specific sets are extremely powerful, generally because there is no "weak link" in the set items. While the specific bonuses vary, all of the class specific sets have these two bonuses: +3 to all skills, and +50% resist all. You usually get additional +skills and additional resistances on each individual piece of equipment. Generally, a completed class-specific set will give you somewhere between +5 to +7 for individual skill tabs, and at least +100% resist all.

    Here's the IK set as an example. Once completed, you get +5 to the Masteries and War Cries tabs, and +7 to the Combat Skills tab. Assuming you place a single point in Natural Resistance, just from wearing the items in the set, a barbarian will have the following resistnaces:

    185% to fire
    157% to cold
    188% to lightning
    167% to poison

    Which means you'll max out everything if you rescued Anya each time you did Act V.

    Unfortunately, beyond the class specific sets there are only a few good ones. Orphan's Call is definitely quite powerful - although the caveat with that one is that it doesn't come with a weapon (and I think it may be the only weaponless set). With the weapon slot open, it makes it usable for any melee character.

    I agree, but they are also ridiculously harder to acquire. Look at low long you have been playing on players 8 to generate what rune wealth you have. And I would hazard a guess that you still are not even close to acquiring the runes you'd need for the ladder-only runewords. (I know you play on single player, but there are mods that allow you to make ladder-only runewords in SP.)

    I'm also not convinced that it's completely accurate to compare runeword to non-runeword items, as runewords are acquired through steady accumulation of lower level runes, while uniques and rares come from a lucky one-time drop. It's difficult to say which ones are "harder" to acquire, and when talking about the best equipment, actual stats versus likelihood of acquiring said item must be factored in.

    And you completely left out rare items. Unless you are looking for modifiers that are only available on specific set and unique items, a rare can put any unique item and most runewords in the game to shame. Weapons can come with over +300% damage (if they get, for example, both the cruel and master's prefix), can get life and mana leech, various resistances (although not resist all) and can come with up to +2 to all skills for a barbarian or paladin, or up to +3 to all skills of a particular tree for a paladin or barbarian. The same can be said of rare gloves for the amazon and assassin, or rare mace class weapons for the druid.

    I think you are correct on both counts here. I cannot think of any of the set belts or boots that give +skills or crushing blow. In the case of belts, I'm pretty sure Arachnid's Mesh is the only belt of any kind with +skills on it. However, I think that there are a second pair of unique boots that give crushing blow. I'm pretty sure it's the exceptional version of light plated boots, and I think they are named Gore Riders.
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2009
  14. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Yeah, but the Gore Riders are only +10 in Crushing Blow, IIRC.

    I haven't seen any rares yet that blow out uniques, except in rings, where my unique rings aren't that great (still waiting for the SOJ . . . ).

    I always pick up rares, no matter what type of item it is.
     
  15. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    You're right with Gore Riders. I think the reason I went with Gore Riders over Goblin Toe with my CB paladin, was because Gore Riders also came with Deadly Strike and Open Wounds, and since I had other CB equipment on my character, I didn't go all out with the boots for CB. The one piece of equipment that my paladin would greatly benefit from is the unique scepter, Heaven's Light. In addition to having another 33% CB, it has -25% target defense and +2 to all paladin skills. That would be da bomb.

    It's strange how certain people have trouble finding certain things. To build on your SoJ example, I've found a bunch of SoJ, but I haven't found a Raven Frost since the ladder reset a year ago - and you probably have a ton of them lying around.
     
  16. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    I've got a couple of Raven Frosts. I tend not to save more than a couple of any item, because ATMA allows me to share them amongst my characters and I tend to only focus on one or two at a time.
     
  17. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    The other thing with Raven Frosts (and why you would only keep one or two) is they are one of those uniques with variabale stats, and highly variable stats at that. There is a wide range in both the dexterity and attack rating bonus you get. (Even moreso when you consider that dexterity effects attack rating.) The difference between a poor Raven Frost and a good one is quite significant.
     
  18. Morgoroth

    Morgoroth Just because I happen to have tentacles, it doesn'

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    I just started diablo II again on single player in order to waste some time on the rainy days. I used to play quite a lot in multiplayer some years ago but I don't have my accounts left and gave away my items. I also don't want anything to do with Diablo II multiplayer these days since even back then the game was basically full of cheats and I don't expect it to have been improved.

    In any case I started with a druid, making it a werewolf and taking skills in fury, bear companion and Heart of Wolverine.

    On the item department I've invested heavily on finding magic items. I was very lucky when I killed Baal on normal since he dropped me ali baba's tulwar, an excellent magic finding sword which gets better with levels and provides decent damage. I also filled its sockets with amn and shael runes to improve it. I have Hands of Brook as my gloves, providing a valuable dual leech allthough they are quite bad on other departments. My belt is a rare heavy belt and provides very little of value and is something I'm looking to upgrade the same goes for my shield which is a rare tower shield, I'd love to get Sigon's Shield as a drop. My boots grant 22 magic find, my rings add 8 and 15 respectively, one of them providing minor resistances. Both of them would require some improvement. My helmet is a rare dual socketed bone helmet. I have inserted it with two perfect topazes to further improve my magic finding ability.

    On the armory department I shift between the unique breastplate and the unique scale mail, their name escape me right now but the other provides exceptional protection against poison and the other against cold, making Duriel/Andariel easier and hopefully helps me avoid death in either case. (I just successfully and quite easily dispatched Andariel).

    Currently I'm level 47 and just beginning act 2 on nightmare. I spent some time levelling on act 5 before beginning the nightmare difficulty level, but now I'm doing okay allthough the low defence rating is starting to show. Luckily my bear companion is able to take most blows while I just deal the damage.

    I'll probably be posting updates when my character develops further. ;)
     
  19. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Finished Nightmare -- it was a breeze, did it all on players 8. I'm level 74, which means that I am tricked out in full end game gear except for the Arachnid Mesh and Chains of Honor (almost there for the runes -- I can feel it).

    I'll kill some cows for completeness sake, and then run Baal and Mephisto until I get bored enough to start Hell. First, though, I have a couple of imbue quests and socket quests that I am considering using. I will socket the shield, but the shako is already socketed, the armor, being a runeword is already socketed, and the weapon, also a runeword, is socketed as well. I guess I can save the other socket quest for some other character's stuff or I can socket the Viscertuant shield as well, because it has +skills that the Stormshield doesn't and probably should be sitting on the weapon switch for times where I want that extra plus.

    Any thoughts on the imbues?
     
  20. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    That is very nice - an exceptional unique from normal Baal is unusual. I wasn't even sure if he could drop any but the very lowest level exceptional uniques (not that a tulwar is that high up on the excpetional unique list). Still, it's the only weapon I'm aware of that comes with +mf per level, and as such, it's probably the best weapon for magic finding in the game. A lot of people keep it permanently (even on hell difficulty) as thier second weapon. They use their main weapon for most of the stuff, but when they have almost killed a boss monster -taking it down to just a sliver of health left- they switch back to Ali Baba for the killing blow and the mf boost.

    You may as well. Socketing quests are only limiting when you are just starting out, as you may waste one on something that you thought was "end game" equipment, only to find that you got something better later on. You inventory of saved items has progressed to the point that you'll know what equipment you'll be using from the beginning, so you won't needlessly use your socket quests on items you won't be using long term.

    I'm assuming you already have socketed Stormshield - if that is your primary shield. However, so long as you intend to make some use out of both shields, then you may as well do what you can to maximize your resistances. (Out of curiosity - has your rune wealth progressed to the point that you are willing to spend an Um in a shield (as opposed to a perfect diamond) for an extra 3% resist all?)

    For the imbues, there's really only one thing you would want to use them on, and that's headgear - specifically tiaras and diadems. Charsi adds +6 to your character level when she does the imbue, and the magic item modifier on tiaras and diadems (13 and 19 respectively) will mean that those items will exceed level 90 in item level and can get any possible modifier on them, including +2 to all skills.

    The reason that you don't see a lot of people using their imbues on high level weapons and armor is because the resulting item has high strength and/or dexterity and/or (most importantly) level requirements. Even if you have a character build in mind that can make use of a high level item, it's possible to imbue an armor and get something with a minimum level required of 90, which needless to say isn't a particularly practical item. On the other hand, circlet class items have low level requirements relative to their modifiers (I've never seen a +2 skills tiara or diadem - or any other tiara or diadem for that matter - with a minimum level requirement above the low-70s, and most of them are in the 60s.)

    EDIT: My barbarian finished normal yesterday. Later last night, just for the heck of it, I took my paladin out, and a funny thing happened. During my sorceress's career she had collected a few sharp charms which she had passed on to him, and he totally kicked ass last night. Breezed through Travincal and got to the way point in the Duarance of Hate without dying. (The merc still dies on occassion, but we're working on that.)

    I may continue on with the paladin for a bit. As I mentioned previously, I need a Pul rune (or one of the two runes preceeding Pul) in order to get my upgrades in order for my barbarian's weapon, and since I have an un-done Hellforge quest with my paladin, I may as well do it.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2009
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