The information presented in these archived FotDs is now outdated, but that's often the most interesting thing about them, seeing how much the game has changed from then to now.
The original FotDs are indented and italicized. Explanatory comments below them were written by Flux at the time the FotDs were archived, usually a couple/few months after the original FotDs had been presented.
Slow month.
November 6 , 2001
- When checking for Item Quality on drops, D2X checks in order, Unique > Set > Rare > Magical > normal. If you successfully roll a Unique, but there is none of that item type, it will drop a Rare with with more durability than normal for that item type. If you roll a Set, and there isn't one, it will drop a magical item with the bonus durability. Since most Elite items have no Unique or Set, you will often have a 45% or so chance getting a Rare, whether you want one or not.
This was a change in D2X, initially the order went Unique, Rare, Set, Magical. The failed drop item was changed also, since it initially went in that order, which made Elite Sets very hard to find, since when Unique failed for that item, it would always drop a Rare with bonus defense.
November 16, 2001
- Blizzard's 10th Anniversary Contest ran during February of this year, and there were some very nice prizes. The 26th day prize pack was one of the best, with a grab bag of D2 goodies, including the prize of having your name on an item in D2X. The winner was a lucky fellow named Gray Ginther, and his name did indeed turn up in D2X on the Unique Exceptional Dimensional Blade.
This had been a frequently asked question, with people remembering that there was that prize, but not if it had actually been done.
November 22 , 2001
- Barbarians looking for the highest possible defense should focus their points on the WarCry Shout, rather than Iron Skin. Iron Skin adds passively, just put the points in and they always work, while Shout has to be cast frequently to keep it active, but Shout is worth 70% more defense at the same Slvl. If you can remember to refresh it often enough, Shout is much more defense.
As was pointed out by a site reader (whose email I can't find now, so no name credit, sorry) this isn't exactly true. The percentages listed are accurate, but this FotD assumes you have one or the other, which no one does. If you have both, each point added to Shout or Iron Skin adds 10% to your defense, so you get the same benefit from either of them.
The determining factor then is whether you can remember to cast Shout and keep it active, and if you want to share with your party. If you can remember, then Shout is better, since more points = longer duration, and also it shares to others.
November 29, 2001
- Monster hit points and the exp they'll be worth when killed are set at the time they are spawned, based on the number of players in the game at that time. The items they drop are calculated at the time they are killed, with a bonus to quantity of items based on the characters in the game when they die. A good way to get more exp is to run around a level (such as the Cow level) while the game is full, spawning all the monsters, then killing them at your leisure, getting the big exp bonus even if everyone else leaves the game, though you'll only get solo amounts of item drops.
This was a strategy I was employing a lot at the time to really up my Cow Level experience, and so shared the useful idea through the FotD.