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V1.10 FAQ

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This v1.10 FAQ covers every common question about the massive, long-awaited v1.10 patch.

The Patch

How do I get the patch?

Either connect to Bnet (hss) or download it from Blizzard's FTP site.


Can I use my existing characters in 1.10?

Yes, and their items too. 1.09 and 1.10s have both been confirmed to work, and 1.10 beta 1 (1.10a if you like) should do too. Note that some items are changed!


"Leaving the vicinity of a Super unique monster and returning after 20 seconds, now properly respawns the Super unique for treasure drops." So can I kill the Countess, wander off for 20 seconds, come back and kill her again for more runes?

No. This is a fix for the Bishibosh bug of 1.09, where a SuperUnique that is spawned and left will reset its drops to those of Bishibosh. (This is how the Bnet 'Ancients drop items' thing happened, although it was more a novelty than anything useful.)


What's all this synergy stuff?

Synergies are bonuses granted by one skill to another. The effects (eg. damage) for the boosted skill are calculated at its displayed level, with +skills, then the synergies boost it with only the points you have actually spent in them.

There is, however, one important exception to this. Charged items, that is, items with charges (like, say, Marrowwalk), will give you a synergy bonus if you have zero points spent in that skill. Catch is, of course, that you can't use that skill except from charges. This applies only to Charged items - not to items that give bonuses to a skill for all classes, like Call to Arms.

For more details see the Character Classes section.


Godly109_Char was pwned by Quill Rat... what the...?!

As you can see if you enter Hell expecting it to be easy, you will die. And then you'll die again getting your body back. Hell has been given a fairly major overhaul, and you'll need to play with skill (and a reasonable-level character) to survive.


Uh, when I died that second time getting my body, I left another corpse...

You can have up to 16 corpses now, and each one you successfully retrieve negates 75% of the experience lost (improved from 1.09). Bad news is that the first body created that remains when you exit is the only one saved, so make sure you've retrieved everything before you depart or bad things may happen! On Bnet the most expensive corpse is saved, but this does not apply to SP - only your 1st corpse remains.

'Ladder Only'? Are we being cheated out of stuff by Blizzard again? Why those...

Ladder Only stuff is all enabled in Single Player. There is one thing which we can't get, and that's the [color=burlywood]Annihilus Small Charm[/color]. This is because it's part of the 'World Event' and so can't (yet) happen in SP.

Where can I find a character editor/drop mod for 1.10?

www.google.com - The SPF doesn't support cheats, and doesn't care what you do. But don't ask for cheats because we can, and will, feed you to the Squid. If you don't know how to use Google you shouldn't be on the internet anyway, ok? (If you want mods try the Phrozen Keep)

I hate 1.10, it's too hard/too colourful/too Bnetty/too Blizzard-like/<insert excuse here>! How do I revert to 1.09?

You don't. You have to uninstall then reinstall (unless you really know what you're doing of course).


Items and Cube Recipes

Is there a checklist of items available in 1.10?

Yes there is - there's an Excel spreadsheet created by Death_Dealer.

How do I get Annihilus?

You don't. Not without a mod, anyway. It can't spawn in Single Player.

How do I get Gheed's Fortune?

Load up on MF gear and kill stuff. You don't need to do anything special for this to drop. It's qlvl 70 so you need to kill stuff in late NM or Hell to find it.

Why is my 1.09 Nosferatu's Coil now called Siggard's Stealth?

Blizzard were very busy with making their new code buggy, so they only just found time to erroneously shift the name indexes around such that this item changes its name. It's a 'feature' now of course...

Where can I find a list of runewords for 1.10?

Here. Runewords.

Where can I find a list of Cube recipes for 1.10?

Here. Cube Recipes. Some of the recipes are detailed further below.

'Ladder Only'?

I thought I already told you Ladder Only stuff was enabled in SP...

What's this '1% chance to cast Delerium when struck' on Delerium runeword helmets?

It turns you into an Undead Stygian Doll for a minute, and you can't use any skills except Attack. It's quite amusing though.

What's so good about +1 to Teleport on Enigma? That doesn't sound so great...

Any item that says +x to a certain skill, but doesn't specify that it's limited to its native class, will grant that skill to any character of any class! So you can do all sorts of neat stuff now.

On the class that has the skill naturally (in the case of Teleport, Sorcs), the maximum boost from such skills is +3. So feel free to laugh at an Inferno sorc lugging Flamebellow around...

Why doesn't Heart of the Oak work in this Battle Hammer?

Because it's not mace class. It's actually hammer class, so it won't allow the runeword. Only Flails (and Knouts and Scourges) can get enough sockets for this runeword from the mace-classed weapons. Staff classed weapons will also allow it of course.

Level x Aura when equipped? Do these stack with my/my merc's auras?

Yes. These auras will all stack and all be active, on top of your own.

How do the item upgrade recipes work?

Answer:

  • 1 Ral Rune + 1 Sol Rune + 1 Perfect Emerald + Normal Unique Weapon = Exceptional Version of Weapon
  • 1 Lum Rune + 1 Pul Rune + 1 Perfect Emerald + Exceptional Unique Weapon = Elite Version of Weapon
  • 1 Tal Rune + 1 Shael Rune + 1 Perfect Diamond + Normal Unique Armor = Exceptional Version of Armor
  • 1 Ko Rune + 1 Lem Rune + 1 Perfect Diamond + Exceptional Unique Armor = Elite Version of Armor
  • 1 Ort Rune + 1 Amn Rune + 1 Perfect Sapphire + Normal (Basic) Rare Weapon = Exceptional Rare Weapon
  • 1 Fal Rune + 1 Um Rune + 1 Perfect Sapphire + Exceptional Rare Weapon = Elite Rare Weapon
  • 1 Ral Rune + 1 Thul Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Normal (Basic) Rare Armor = Exceptional Rare Armor
  • 1 Ko Rune + 1 Pul Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Exceptional Rare Armor = Elite Rare Armor

These Cube recipes work by turning the base type of the item into it's next level equivalent. So you could get a [color=burlywood]Gull[/color] Poignard if you wanted. Armour in these recipes means any armour item, boots, belt, gloves, etc.

A word of warning. These recipes cause the requirements of the item to jump. The Str/Dex requirements will switch to those of the new base item type, and the level will be computed by taking the highest level requirement of the old item and the new base item, and then adding 5 for an upgrade to exceptional or 7 for an upgrade to elite. (If you upgrade twice that's a total of +12...)

The item will retain its Ethereal status if it was Ethereal before. However, ethereal armour will lose its bonus defence when it's upgraded! This is a bug which will be fixed in 1.11, if it's ever released.

Armour also has its defence rerolled. Armours with 'Enhanced Defence' mods always have a base defence equal to the maximum possible defence + 1, but this property isn't preserved when upgrading. Consequently some items are bad choices for upgrading, such as Vampire Gaze (unique Grim Helm).

I heard that you can't upgrade the Buriza with the new recipes?

There is a simple way to determine the truth value for a statement. If it is posted by GFraizer, it has a high probability of being false. And this is one such case. You can upgrade any and all rare/unique items using the upgrade recipes.

Can I repair my ethereal items with the new Cube recipes?

Nope. (Ort + weapon = repair, Ral + armour = repair) These only work on items you could normally repair. It's possible to recharge an item too, by adding a chipped gem for weapons or a flawed gem for armour.

What's the unsocket cube thingy do?

Hel + Town Portal Scroll + socketed item = unsocketed item. It removes the gems, jewels or runes that were there and leaves just the item with clean sockets. This has been reported as bugged - ethereal items that were Zod'd reportedly retain their Indestructibility (yikes!) - this is only a display bug though. Since this recipe destroys the socket contents, any SP player using or abusing this is likely to become Squid bait.

Can I socket throwing weapons?

No. Where, precisely, would you put the gem/jewel/rune?

What happened to the 3-chippy recipe? I heard it disappeared...

It has been replaced by 2 new recipes, and the recipe itself was updated:

  • 3 Standard Gems (normal) and 1 Socketed Weapon (Any Type) = 1 Socketed Magic Weapon (of same type)
  • 3 Flawless Gems + 1 Magic Weapon = Socketed Magic Weapon
  • 3 Chipped Gems + 1 Magic Weapon = Socketed Magic Weapon.

These operate under pretty much the same rules as before, except you now get either 1 or 2 sockets at random, and the ilvl is still set to 30 (25 for the 3 chip recipe). Any weapon with qlvl >= 75 should be able to spawn Cruel as a prefix (if it can naturally).

Remember though that Rares are vastly improved now so Cruels with 2 sockets will not be so popular.

These recipes work on all weapons, even throwing weapons. They don't get sockets from it though.

Oooh, new add socket recipes! Now I don't have to waste Larzuk's reward...

Answer:

  • 1 Tal Rune + 1 Thul Rune + 1 Perfect Topaz + Normal Body Armor = Socketed Body Armor of same type
  • 1 Ral Rune + 1 Amn Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Normal Weapon = Socketed Weapon of same type
  • 1 Ral Rune + 1 Thul Rune + 1 Perfect Sapphire + Normal Helm = Socketed Helm of same type
  • 1 Tal Rune + 1 Amn Rune + 1 Perfect Ruby + Normal Shield = Socketed Shield of same type

These recipes give a 'random' number of sockets. So if you must have the maximum, you still have to go see Larzuk.

Otherwise, put them in the Cube and go for it.

The random number is generated between 1 and 6, regardless of the maximum - this is then capped by the maximum possible number on the item. Eg. a Circlet would have a 1/6 chance of getting 1 socket and a 5/6 chance of getting 2 sockets (the maximum).

(Beta Info: This recipe always gives the same number of sockets on the same item, ie. if you make your save file read-only and repeatedly perform this recipe, you'll get the same number of sockets every time. Yet to be confirmed in final, but I suspect it's the same deal.)

Do Rares still suck?

No! Rares have been given a fairly major overhaul now, and can be quite impressive to behold. On top of the upgrade recipes (see above):

Weapons can spawn Cruel and Master's prefixes. Armour can spawn Godly. Mechanic's, the only 'socket' affix available on rares, now gives 1-2 sockets.

Crafted items will benefit from this too.

I heard dual-leech rings were back?

Indeed so. They may have fairly steep clvl requirements now but they've finally made a comeback.

What happened to my Small Charms of Inertia?!?!

It's capped at 3% now, so you're stuck with it I'm afraid. (Some converted from 1.09 seem to stay at 5% though.)

With the rune upgrades, can I cube a Zod?

Yes, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Finding enough runes to cube that high will take so long you may have found a Zod rune before you're done...

What are the best places for rune hunting?

For low to medium-high runes, there's always the Countess and the Hellforge.

Countess:

  • Normal: El - Ral
  • Nightmare: El - Io/Ko (Above Io is much rarer)
  • Hell: El - Ist/Lo (Above Ist is much rarer)

Hellforge:

  • Normal: El - Amn
  • Nightmare: Sol - Um
  • Hell: Hel - Gul

Anything above those you'll have to resort to killing stuff in later acts of Hell or high-level areas.

Anything new with crafting recipes? I love those orange names!

Only that they can get the same affixes as rares - so they're now eligible for Cruel, Master's and Godly. Otherwise, no change (and no new recipes either - boo @ bliz).

I've read about these tempering recipes on diabloii.net...

They're disabled in the final patch. And will remain so until Blizzard chooses otherwise.


Gameplay stuff

players 8 doesn't work...

A: All the in-game commands are now prefixed with a forward slash, '/', to fit in better with Bnet's commands (hss). So you now use /players 8. More on players x here.

This also applies to any other chat commands you may use, such as /fps.

What's /players 8 do?

The command sets the number of 'players' in-game. It can be any number from the number of players in-game to 8.

It affects drops (more items drop), and also adds 50% per extra player to Experience and HP of all monsters that have not yet spawned. So with 8 players they have 450% HP but give 450% Experience.

Any new chat commands?

Yes. /nopickup will cause your character to be unable to pick up items unless you hold down the 'show items' button (Alt by default). Turn it off by entering /nopickup again.

-Seed Command

Q: Does the -seed command give me a vast number of monsters?
Q: Can I save my map seed if I change characters/difficulties?

The -seed command has been fixed. It no longer has its debug effect of filling every area with monsters that all drop the same. Instead, it now sets the map seed equal to that value.

So, to save your map seed (eg. 12345678), you'd run D2 using:

<path to Diablo II.exe> -seed 12345678


How do Open Wounds and Crushing Blow work now?

Crushing Blow removes a proportion of the enemy's remaining life. It works at varying strengths depending on your weapon (melee or ranged) and the target:

  • Regular monster: 1/4 melee, 1/8 ranged
  • Bosses and Champions: 1/8 melee, 1/16 ranged
  • Anything else (including other players): 1/10 melee, 1/20 ranged

Open Wounds works in a way similar to poison, although it isn't poison so the two effects can stack. It drains the victim's life over a period of time (8 seconds), and will prevent monster regeneration whilst it's in effect.

Open Wounds' damage per frame is computed as follows (L is the attacker's level, ie. your level):

  • L=1-15: (9L+31)/256
  • L=16-30: (18L-104)/256
  • L=31-45: (27L-374)/256
  • L=46-60: (36L-779)/256
  • L=61-99: (45L-1319)/256

Since there are 25 frames per second in D2, multiply the resulting number by 25 to find the damage per second.

Hey, that monster was Physical Immune a moment ago, and now it isn't!

Some abilities can remove immunities now (sometimes). Enough -resistance skills will cause a monster to lose its immunity. The only Immunity-breaking abilities are Amplify Damage (Physical), Decrepify (Physical), Conviction (Fire, Cold, Lightning), Lower Resist (Fire, Cold, Lightning, Poison). Such abilities work at 1/5th effectiveness against Immune monsters.

Any new stuff the NPCs do?

Atma can now heal you. She is renowned for the healing properties of her beer.

Can I get the Lightning Hose (tm) on my Rogue merc?

No. It was a bug. It is fixed.

WTH, Blood Raven just poisoned me and cast Amp Damage!!!

Blood Raven spawns with a rare Short Bow. That's where her new abilities come from.

What's with all the colours on my gear?!

Blizzard have made palette-shifting on character equipment a little more prevalent. Now you have to decide not just whether that item would benefit your character but if those colours really go together...

What's this I heard about the PDR% cap dropping?

The maximum Physical Damage Reduced by % you can have is now 50%, down from 75%.

Do I have to do endless Blood-runs to gain experience?

Nope, they've fixed experience gains in Nightmare now, so you should be able to level up steadily rather than bemoaning your slow levelling.

Let's go do some cow runs!

The Cow Level has been slightly modified. It's ok in Normal, dangerous in NM and a menace in Hell. It's still doable of course, but the question is 'is it worth it?', since they give less experience now and are harder to kill than before.

My merc is leveling insanely quickly!

They fixed that too. You shouldn't still have to go into Act 2 carrying a level 6 Rogue, they gain experience better in the early stages now than before.

Err, what happened to Act 5? Where are all the nice easy enemies?

Act 5 in Nightmare and Hell introduces 'special guest monsters', improved versions of familiar faces. These monsters are there to ensure that the final Act is more challenging than before.

I've heard that MF doesn't work on Act Bosses, where should I hunt for items?

(or Bnet version: OMG IV HERD MF DUSNT WURK N MEF WERE I FIND L337 ITAMZ?!?!?!111oneoneone) Wrong. MF does work on Act Bosses; the info from Blizzard is EVIL PROPAGANDA spread to discourage people from attempting to find items. (Forum thread with proof lost in forum crash)

(Update: The Arreat Summit has been corrected now. Hurrah!)

Is Pindle/Meph still the place to hunt for items?

Well, it's one place. Pindleskin and his minions now hurt, as does Meph. Neither of them have vastly improved drops (in fact Pindleskin is nerfed to drop higher TCs less often), but they're a good start. Pindle can't drop the top three items (level-wise): Arachnid Mesh, Azurewrath, or Tyrael's Might.

But isn't Pindle lvl 88?

Seems not. Monster levels are now being set to the level of the area that they spawn in in Nightmare and Hell difficulty, which causes some rather strange drops to happen on occasion.

where is Meph? And why is Durance level 2 bigger than Travincal?!

Some areas got a size boost in 1.10. The most noteworthy ones are Durance 2 and the Tower Cellars 1-4 (before the Countess). These size boosts only apply in Nightmare and Hell.

So if I can't farm Pindle for everything, what areas can I find stuff in now?

There are a bunch of 'Level 85' areas in Hell difficulty where any item can drop (if you're lucky). These areas are usually hidden in out-of-the-way places so that many Bnetters with the 'GET LEG PLZ' mentality never see them. For those who do full clears though...

Here's a list of the level 85 areas, taken from a list posted by Zath at the AB forums:

Act 1

  • Pit Levels 1 & 2 (Under Tamoe Highland)
  • Mausoleum (Under Burial Grounds)

Act 2

  • Maggot Lair Level 3 (under Far Oasis)
  • Ancient Tunnels (under Lost City)

Act 3

  • Sewers Level 2 (under Kurast Bazaar/Upper Kurast)
  • Forgotten Temple (under Upper Kurast)

Ruined Fane & Disused Reliquary (under Kurast Causeway)

Act 4

  • River of Flame
  • Chaos Sanctuary

Act 5

  • Worldstone Keep Levels 1-3
  • Throne of Destruction
  • Worldstone Chamber *
  • Arreat Summit *

(* ...although these areas are irrelevant. The Arreat Summit is in fact level 87.)

Do the Ancients still give many levels' worth of EXP?

Yes, but there's a cap of 1 full level on it. If you exceed that you lose any excess experience.

What's this I've heard about breaking immunities?

Necromancers can possibly break immunities to Cold, Fire, Poison and Lightning with the Lower Resist curse, and Physical Immunity may be breakable with Amplify Damage and Decrepify. Paladins can use the Conviction aura against Cold, Fire and Lightning Immunes. Items with these skills can do the same.

An enemy is cursed or convicted, but still immune...

Was that even a question?

Ok, why the happy Hell is a monster I properly cursed at or convicted still immune?

Your resistance-lowering skill isn't powerful enough to break their immunity. It's reduced to 1/5 effectiveness against immune monsters, and some monsters have more than 100% resistance.

I'm afraid of those Undead Stygian Dolls, and Nihlathak's Corpse Explosion...

Both of these got hit with the [color=burlywood]Nerf Stick (Tyrant Club)[/color] in the patch. They still hurt, but are unlikely to be one-hit kills now.


Character Classes

Amazon

Spear and Javelin Skills

  • Jab - Increased Attack Rating.
  • Power Strike - Increased Attack Rating and Damage done to targets. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Poison Javelin - Increased the total amount of Poison Damage and Duration. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Impale - Increased Attack Rating. Increased Damage.
  • Lightning Bolt - Increased Lightning Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Charged Strike - Increased the number of Charged Bolts released. Reduced average Lightning Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Plague Javelin - Added an Attack Rating bonus. Increased Poison Damage. Increased Poison Duration. Lowered Mana cost per level of skill. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Lightning Strike - Reduced the average Lightning Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Lightning Fury - Rebalanced by increasing the average Lightning Damage. Although it starts lower, it rises rapidly to much higher damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.

Passive and Magic Skills

  • Inner Sight - Increased the reduction in Enemy Defense. Improved overall.
  • Valkyrie - Increased Attack Rating and decreased Mana cost. Added resistances and skills like Evade, Dodge, etc. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Decoy - Extensively revised with added resistances and skills like Evade, Dodge, etc.

Bow and Crossbow Skills

  • Magic Arrow - Added Attack Rating bonus.
  • Fire Arrow - Added Attack Rating bonus. Decreased Mana cost. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Cold Arrow - Added Attack Rating bonus. Increased Cold Damage. Increased Mana cost. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Exploding Arrow - Added Attack Rating bonus. Increased Fire Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Ice Arrow - Added Attack Rating bonus. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Immolation Arrow - Added Attack Rating bonus. Decreased Mana cost. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Freezing Arrow - Added Attack Rating bonus. Decreased Mana cost. Added skill synergy bonuses

Guided Arrow no longer pierces. What gives?

It's been fixed. It was far too easily exploitable originally so they've prevented GAs from piercing.

Is Magic Arrow still useless?

It converts a percentage of your physical damage to magic damage. Plus its mana cost drops to zero eventually (level 13). On the whole, quite a nifty skill.

My slvl 1 Fire Arrow can't kill Physical Immunes anymore...

This operates on the same lines as Magic Arrow, except it converts to Fire damage instead.

What happened to Strafe?

Strafe now has a damage penalty like Multiple Shot, but fires a minimum number of arrows equal to 2 + (slvl / 4). Strafe is still a viable skill, but don't tell anyone on Bnet that, just let them whine about how they nerfed Bowazons so badly...

Why is my Valk pretty colours? And why does she do wierd stuff (elem damage, amp curse, etc.)

The Valkyrie now spawns with magic/rare equipment depending on her skill level. At level 1 she gets a rare Spear and rare Plate Mail, but by slvl 27 she's fully decked out in rare, elite items.

  • Slvl 1 : Full plate mail and Spear (both rare)
  • Slvl 2 : adds Heavy gloves (magic)
  • Slvl 4 : adds Heavy Boots (magic)
  • Slvl 5 : adds Heavy Belt (magic)
  • Slvl 7 : upgrades Full Plate Mail to Chaos Armor (rare)
  • Slvl 8 : upgrades Spear to Lance (rare)
  • Slvl 10: upgrades Heavy Gloves to War Gauntlets (magic)
  • Slvl 11: upgrades Heavy Boots to War Boots (magic)
  • Slvl 12: upgrades Heavy Belt to War Belt (magic)
  • Slvl 13: adds Amulet (magic)
  • Slvl 14: adds Circlet (magic)
  • Slvl 16: replaces Chaos Armor with Sacred Armor (rare)
  • Slvl 17: replaces Lance with War Pike (rare)
  • Slvl 19: upgrades War Gauntlets to Crusader Gauntlets (rare)
  • Slvl 21: upgrades War Boots to Mirrored Boots (rare)
  • Slvl 23: upgrades War Belt to Colussus Girdle (rare)
  • Slvl 25: upgrades magic Amulet to rare Amulet
  • Slvl 27: upgrades Circlet to Tiara (rare)

What do the synergies for Decoy/Valkyrie do? They don't say a whole lot...

Your summons inherit your skill points in Dodge, Evade, Avoid and Critical Strike.

Why is my Valkyrie's life lower than I expected it to be?

The bonus life gained from extra levels in Valkyrie and the Decoy synergy (20% per point respectively) is added to the Valk's base life, which is 440.


Assassin

Martial Arts Skills

  • Dragon Talon - Increased Attack Rating.
  • Fists of Fire - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Claws of Thunder - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Blades of Ice - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • All kick skills - Increased Attack Rating bonus.

Assassin - Shadow Disciplines

  • Venom - Fixed duration at 0.4 seconds regardless of poison items equipped.
  • Shadow Warrior - Increased the Life and resistances.

Assassin - Traps Skills

  • Fire Blast - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Shock Web - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Charged Bolt Sentry - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Wake of Fire - Slight increase to Damage at higher levels. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Lightning Sentry - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Wake of Inferno - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Death Sentry - Added skill synergy bonuses.

What happened to my damage?

Assassin's Claw Mastery was very, very bugged before - it had the Mastery Bug (TM) causing it to always Critical Strike, and furthermore the damage and AR boosts were swapped. This situation is now corrected, and Claw Mastery does what it says it does.

Are the blade skills worthless?

No. Blizzard simply decided that they couldn't be bothered to list it on their changes (given above). Blade Fury now tranfers 3/4 weapon damage plus effects (including leech). Blade Shield also transfers weapon damage (only 1/4 though) plus effects (also including leech).

Cool, so I just get a really big 2-handed weapon and...

Blade skills, when used with a 2-handed weapon, suffer a 50% damage penalty.

What's that mean about Venom having fixed duration?

Venom limits the duration of poison to 0.4 seconds (10 frames), regardless of how much poison you have on your equipment. This is not as bad as it sounds however. If you can keep up an attack on one opponent, you should be able to do the best damage possible without overwriting your own poisoning repeatedly.

Am I forced to choose between BoS, Fade and Venom?

Not quite. BoS and Fade are mutually exclusive, but you can use Venom simultaneously with either of them now.

Has Fade been improved?

Oh yes. Fade has a little hidden extra - it gives 1% Physical Damage Reduction per skill level. With the new PDR% cap, the Assassin hardly needs any PDR gear if she uses this skill.

Will the monsters I convert with Mind Blast keep my merc's/allies' auras?

No, monsters now lose aura effects when converted and unconverted.

Are the elemental chargeups one-point wonders to get Phoenix Strike?

Not any more. Each of them gives a synergy bonus to Phoenix Strike, plus there's a hidden little bonus to Fists of Fire - it converts slvl * 3 % of your physical damage to fire. This only applies to FoF before you run off to make a BoI Chillassin.


My kicks seem a little more powerful than before...

Blizzard finally implemented kick damage on boots. The better your boots, the higher the damage they give. (This is why the new Unique Myrmidion Greaves are somewhat Assassin-oriented.)

Do my Shadows gain any boosts?

Yep. Shadow Masters gain equipment based on their slvl just like Valkyries.

  • Initial SM equipment:
    • Superior Headgear (uses your helm's base type)
    • Superior Body Armour (uses your armour's base type)
    • Superior Suwwayah/War Fist/Scissors Suwayyah (random)
    • Superior Battle Cestus/Runic Talons/Scissors Suwwayah (random)
  • Level 5: Add Superior Bramble Mitts/Vambraces/Ogre Gauntlets (random)
  • Level 6: Upgrade all equipment from Superior to Magic
  • Level 9: Add a magic Ring.
  • Level 11: Upgrade all equipment from Magic to Rare.
  • Level 13: Add a second Rare Ring.
  • Level 17: Add a Rare Amulet.

Shadow Warriors always spawn with magical Cestus, Blade Talons, and random magic Headgear and Body Armour (which is the same base type as yours).

With all these + fire/lightning skill damage items and -resist items my Traps should be unstoppable, right?

Neither of these mods apply to Sentry-type traps - Wake of Fire, Wake of Inferno, Charged Bolt Sentry and Death Sentry. These traps count as Minions, and therefore are unaffected by these items despite what the character/skill screen says.


Barbarian

Warcries

  • War Cry - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Shout - Increased duration.
  • Battle Orders - Increased duration.
  • Battle Command - Increased duration.

Combat Masteries

  • Throwing Mastery - Increased the Attack Rating bonus to throwing skills.

Combat Skills

  • Bash - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Double Swing - Decreased Mana cost. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Stun - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Double Throw - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Concentrate - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Frenzy - Added skill synergy bonuses.


I'm not hurting things as much as I used to...

The Mastery Bug (TM) is gone. You now get the proper chance for Critical Strike listed.

What do all these synergies Berserk gives do?

Berserk gives some skills +1% Magic Damage per skill level. This is a bit misleading - it doesn't increase your damage, but rather converts a percentage over to magic. This can be good (no need to switch skills for PI monsters) and bad (MI monsters will take less damage).

Is Double Swing any good?

Its mana cost will reach zero eventually, which gives it a big advantage - it doesn't require any leech to support it.

I have a whole lot of life missing...

It seems that Blizzard changed how Battle Orders works. It ignores +Vitality items when calculating your new HPs, so if your gear gives lots of +Vit you may notice a sudden drop in your life.

I Leap Attacked a bunch of Oblivion Knights and died... why?

Iron Maiden, probably. Leap Attack used to count as ranged, but apparently this is no longer so.


Druid

Elemental Skills

  • Firestorm - Increased Fire damage at higher levels. Increased damage at higher levels. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Molten Boulder - Added physical damage. Increased damage at higher levels. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Arctic Blast - Increased Cold damage at higher levels. Increased damage at higher levels. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Fissure - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Cyclone Armor - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Twister - Increased damage at higher levels. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Volcano - Added physical damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Tornado - Increased damage at higher levels. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Hurricane - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Armageddon - Increased Fire damage at higher levels. Added skill synergy bonuses.

Shape Shifting Skills

  • Werewolf - Added skill synergy bonuses. Allowed casting of Armageddon.
  • Werebear - Added skill synergy bonuses. Allowed casting of Armageddon.
  • Maul - Increased Stun duration.
  • Rabies - Increased Poison Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Fire Claws - Slight increase to Fire Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.

Summoning Skills

  • Summon Spirit Wolf - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Heart of Wolverine - Increased radius of effect and Life.
  • Summon Dire Wolf - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Oak Sage - Increased radius of effect.
  • Spirit of Barbs - Increased Life.
  • Summon Grizzly - Added skill synergy bonuses.

Can I use any skills while shifted?

Yep, Armageddon is now enabled in wereform.

What synergies got added to Dire Wolves/Spirit Wolves/Grizzly?

None. They're exactly the same as in 1.09, but Blizzard seemed to forget that.

Are Ravens useless?

They now have Hit Blinds Target. So even 1 point here isn't a waste.

How will my pets cope with the new difficulty?

Druid summons got a boost to their life from before, so they should be able to survive pretty well if invested in properly.


Necromancer

Summoning Skills

  • Skeleton Mastery - Increased Damage of non-Skeletal 'pets'. Increased Life of Skeletal 'pets'.
  • Raise Skeleton - Increased Skeleton Life, Attack Rating, and Defense. Decreased the maximum number of Skeletons that can be summoned as follows: the first 3 skill points in Raise Skeleton still yield 1 Skeleton per point (as in 1.09), however, subsequent Skeletons now require 3 skill points each. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Clay Golem - Added the ability to slow players and monsters on hit. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Raise Skeletal Mage - Increased Damage. Decreased the maximum number of Skeletal Mages that can be summoned as follows: the first 3 skill points in Raise Skeletal Mage still yield 1 Mage per point (as in 1.09), however, subsequent Mages now require 3 skill points each. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Blood Golem - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Iron Golem - Added Defense bonus. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Fire Golem - Increased Fire Damage. Added Holy Fire Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.

Curses

No changes. Apparently these skills were perfect as they were?

Poison and Bone Skills

  • Teeth - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Bone Armor - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Poison Dagger - Increased Attack Rating. Increased Duration. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Bone Wall - Cut duration in half. Life decreased. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Poison Explosion - Increased Duration. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Bone Spear - Increased Magic Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Bone Prison - Cut duration in half. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Poison Nova - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Bone Spirit - Increased Magic Damage at highest levels. Added skill synergy bonuses.

Err, where's the list of changes to Curses?

Curses are fine as they were. They didn't need any adjusting.

What?! I can only summon a handful of my minions! How am I supposed to survive?!?

Quality over quantity. You can summon fewer skeletons now but they're better than the mobile walls that most considered them to be in 1.09. They can even kill things.

Will my minions trash my Bone Walls/Prisons still?

Bone Walls and Prisons are now aligned to your party. Monsters and hostile players can still target them.

Does Lower Resist still lower Magic Resistance?

No. Now Bone Spear and Bone Spirit can be made even more killtastic with plenty of synergizable bone skills while poisoners only have three synergizing poison skills and, thus, can truly use Lower Resist to boost damage.

Are "Killtastic", "Synergizable" and "Synergizing" real words?

They are now.

Can I break Immunities?

Yep. Decrepify and Amp Damage both reduce Physical Resistance and Lower Resist lowers everything but Physical and Magic resistance. Remember that these skills are at 1/5th effectiveness against Immunes.

If I Iron Maiden a bunch of monsters and they beat themselves to death on my Bone Wall/Prison, do I get the experience for killing them?

No, sadly - guess Blizzard thought Necros had been improved enough.

Trang-Oul's set turns me into a Vampire, right? Aside from the fact that it really ought to turn me into a dragon, what's it for?

Being annoying. Y'see, it should turn you into a golf cart - because it's a little buggy. The vampire form casts slower than the Necromancer does normally. There is however one interesting little feature that has been observed on Bnet. A Trang-Oul'd Necro that is slain seems to become invincible until they collect their corpse. Not sure how (if?) this affects SP - but if it bothers you, play Hardcore...

What happens if I make an Iron Golem out of an item that gives an aura when equipped?

Your Golem gets the aura.


Paladin

Combat Skills

  • Holy Bolt - Increased Magic damage. Ignores resistances of Undead. Increased Healing to non-monster characters.
  • Blessed Hammer - Increased high-level damage. Ignores resistances of Undead and Demons. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Vengeance - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Sacrifice - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Holy Shield - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Fist of the Heavens - Ignores resistances of Undead and Demons. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Zeal - Increased damage above level 4. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Charge - Added skill synergy bonuses.

Offensive Auras

  • Might - Increased area of effect.
  • Holy Fire - Added Fire Damage to attack. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Thorns - Increased area of effect.
  • Blessed Aim - Increased area of effect.
  • Holy Freeze - Added Cold Damage to attack. Added aura damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Holy Shock - Rebalanced the area of effect. Increased Lightning Damage on attack. Improved damage ramp. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Sanctuary - Increased Magic Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.

Defensive Auras

  • Prayer - Increased Healing and area of effect.
  • Resist Fire - Increased area of effect.
  • Defiance - Increased area of effect.
  • Resist Cold - Increased area of effect.
  • Resist Lightning - Increased area of effect.
  • Cleansing - Increased area of effect. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Meditation - Increased area of effect. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Redemption - Increased area of effect.
  • Salvation - Increased area of effect.

Zeal gets damage? So more points do something?

Yes. Note that if all you want is pure damage you'd be better advised to max Sacrifice first, since it's twice as effective at increasing Zeal damage. If you need AR then boost Zeal.

Do the aura bonuses apply to monsters that get the auras too?

Afraid so. You may want to use caution when fighting monsters with auras now, especially Holy Freeze (which gained a significant boost).

What do Vengeance's 4 synergies do?

Each of the 3 Resist auras boosts damage in that element by 10%. Salvation boosts each element by 2%. So the Resist auras give a higher boost, but only in one element.

How do I increase Blessed Hammer's damage?

BH gains damage from 3 sources. More points in its 2 synergies, Blessed Aim and Vigor, will increase the skill's base damage. If you use the Concentration aura, this gives a boost to the damage as well.

If I convert a monster, then it unconverts, will it retain my aura bonuses while wreaking its revenge on me?

Monsters now lose aura effects on conversion and unconversion.

Can I 'flash' auras at monsters?

Not any more. Auras update more often so they won't stick for a short period, thus flashing is gone. They update every 1 second and stick for 1 second.

Are there any benefits to me putting points in auras then, besides the synergies?

Some of the auras give passive bonuses to your Paladin, although Blizzard saw fit to hide them:

  • Resist Fire/Cold/Lightning give a passive bonus of +1% Max Resist to that element for every 2 skill points invested. They grant +1% Max Resist per slvl (not counting +skills) when active.
  • Blessed Aim grants +5% to Attack Rating per skill point invested.

Can I hurt Immune monsters?

Conviction can break Fire, Lightning and Cold Immunities. Beware that it's reduced to 1/5th effectiveness against Immune monsters though.

Is Prayer any good?

Use Meditation or Cleansing instead. They don't drain your mana but gain a healing synergy bonus from Prayer. Prayer, incidentally, gives a synergy bonus based on its total level including +skill items.


Sorceress

Cold Spells

  • Ice Bolt - Increased Cold Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Frozen Armor - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Frost Nova - Increased Cold Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Ice Blast - Increased Cold Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Shiver Armor - Increased Cold Damage. Increased Cold Duration. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Glacial Spike - Increased Cold Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Blizzard - Increased Cold Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Chilling Armor - Increased Cold Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Frozen Orb - Added skill synergy bonus.

Lightning Spells

  • Charged Bolt - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Energy Shield - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Nova - Rebalanced Lightning Damage.
  • Lightning - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Chain Lightning - Added skill synergy bonuses.

Fire Spells

  • Fire Bolt - Increased Fire Damage at higher levels. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Inferno - Increased Fire Damage at higher levels. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Fire Ball - Increased Fire Damage at higher levels. Slightly increased Mana cost. Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Enchant - Rebalanced Fire Damage. Added Attack Rating bonus. Reduced Mana cost. Added Skill Synergy Bonus.
  • Meteor - Added skill synergy bonuses.
  • Hydra - Rebalanced Fire Damage. Added skill synergy bonuses.

Whoa, all those synergies... is a tri-elemental sorceress even possible now?

Yes, but you'll need to be careful about skill selection. It's usually better to go double-elemental and rely on a merc for other damage types.

Do Lightning and Chain Lightning rely on Faster Cast Rate now?

Yes. They decided that making spells reliant on Increased Attack Speed really didn't make any sense.

Are Masteries better than Synergies, or vice versa?

  • Mastery: Boosts damage of all skills (not CM), full benefit of +skills
  • Synergies: Boost damage of 1 or 2 skills, no +skills benefit

The bonuses are applied in a fashion which makes it irrelevant which is applied first. So you should go for the highest percentage boost to the skills you use most. Mastery skills gain the benefit of +skill items, which is a great help.

How does Cold Mastery work? And how does it stack with -resist items?

Its operation is as follows, apparently:

Cold Mastery, and other -% to enemy resist items, are applied additively to resists. So if you had -75% to enemy Cold Resist on items/CM, and your opponent was 75% Cold Resistant, they would have 0% Resists. This is different to the Arreat Summit's info.

These items and skills cannot remove immunities - only Conviction and Lower Resist can. Once immunity has been removed, CM works as normal.

-resist items should stack additively with this. So if you have -10 to Enemy Cold Resist on your gear and slvl 1 CM, you should reduce resists by 30%.


What does Telekinesis do to Energy Shield?

By default, Energy Shield causes you to lose 2 points of mana per 1 point of damage absorbed - 200%. Each point in Telekinesis reduces the mana drop by 6.25%. So, slvl 16 Telekinesis gives you a 1 to 1 ratio of damage absorbtion.

Do Fire and Lightning Mastery boost other elemental damage apart from my skills (like from equipment)?

Yes they do. This is only really useful for a melee/bow-wielding Sorceress though.


Monster Info

Here's a brief rundown of a few warnings on monster abilities.

  • Higher level Quill Rats now have Attacker Takes Damage (15-20 in NM and 30-40 in Hell). What do you expect from punching a porcupine?
  • The higher Quill Rats also add Poison damage.
  • The NM/Hell Corrupt Rogues can use Jab, Fire Arrow, Exploding Arrow (!), Cold Arrow and Freezing Arrow (!!).
  • Claw Viper types in Act 5 NM/Hell use Bone Spirits, Poison Javelins and Fire missiles.
  • Blunderbore-type monsters have Crushing Blow in NM and Hell (15% and 25% chance respectively).
  • Council Members in Act 3 add 40% fire damage in NM and 100% fire damage in Hell. Pack a Rising Sun, eh?
  • Baal's High Council are worse, with 60% more fire damage in NM and 120% more fire damage in Hell.
  • Blood Raven has a 50% chance for Knockback in Hell (on top of her usual Rare Short Bow).
  • The Apes in Nihlathak's Temple have the 'fade' property. I think this is appearance only, luckily.
  • The Ancients may be bugged to be near-instant death. If Talic spawns as Fire Enchanted, watch out! (Unknown if this is a Realm-only issue or if it affects SP too).
  • In fact a lot of FE monsters are now regarded as dangerous, approach with extreme caution.
  • The Tomb Vipers in Nihlathak's Temple deal more damage than they should with their Poison Javelin attack (especially in Hell) due to an oversight on Blizzard's part. Be extremely careful down there!


Bugs, fixed and new

Bug Fixes: See Blizzard's Patch Changes list.

Now for the new bugs, these are ones that I know of:

  • The Double-Decker Flayer bug is still here. If you fight a Unique Shaman then its mods get passed down to the critter who is carrying him afterwards. They fixed the bug with Crush Beasts doing this though.
  • As mentioned, the Ancients do huge damage sometimes. This is most likely a bug, but who can know the minds of Blizzard?
  • Further to the above: Fire Enchanted monsters are now occasionally a one-hit kill. Also beware the death explosion of FE monsters - that isn't a bug, it's just plain lethal.
  • There are some issues with characters disappearing in MP games, reasons unknown (during use of some skills, such as Frenzy).
  • Some people have reported that Baal occasionally decides not to spawn the next minion group and keep laughing (unknown if Realm-only, but worth mentioning). Seems to have something to do with Necro summons apparently.
  • Kick damage on the Assassin character screen doesn't display elemental damage bonuses.
  • Prayer always drains mana. Use Cleansing or Meditation instead.
  • 1.09 Nosferatu's Coil is named Siggard's Stealth now.
  • Necros can sometimes become invincible after they die. This lasts until they collect their corpse. It may have something to do with the Trang-Oul full set bonus (vampire form).
  • Some Guest Monsters with missile attacks do far, far more damage than they ought to. Specifically Tomb Vipers (Halls of Vaught) and Wisps/Gloams (various locations through Act V NM/Hell).
  • Upgrading Ethereal Armour loses the defence bonus.
  • + elemental skill damage incorrectly displays an increase to Assassin Trap damage - the Sentry traps aren't boosted by this ability at all (it's a display bug).
  • Necromancers wearing the full Trang-Oul's Avatar set cast slower than they should.


And some things that aren't bugs:

  • Synergies only get applied from the base points in the bonus-yielding skills, not +skills gear.
  • Those monsters in NM and Hell Act 5 are meant to be there.


Battle.net

AKA The Dark Side

With the release of the patch, a number of the SP community have ventured forth to reclaim Bnet for the righteous and honourable players, taking advantage of the l33t h4><><0|>5' momentary weakness. So, for those preparing to take on the Dark Side, here are a few things you might want to know.

What's a Ladder Character?

A character who can play on the Ladder for ranking. You'll also be eligible for the Ladder-only stuff (which we get naturally in SP). Be warned - the monsters in Hell are tougher on the Ladder.

What's 'Expires in X days'? Is that the length of the ladder season?

No, that's the burn-in period on the Battle.net servers. You have to play any new character for at least 2 hours after their creation, or the server will eat your character *chomp*.

Can you give me a quick guide to this strange language that most of Bnet seem to speak in?

Standard responses include "WUG", "LOL N00B", "GIB FREE ITAMZ PLZ" and "WTF U HAXX0RED ME!!!11one". Otherwise, use the Squelch and Hostile buttons to good effect, mmm?

Did he just misspell the word "armor"?

No, outside of America, most people spell words like "Armor" and "Humor" with a "u".

Well, I'll be damned.

Again, not really a question, but probably.

So why did someone say things like "pwn" "teh" and "lewt", does this person have a severe spelling/typing problem?

Of course not. The typer was simply using a cool new way of telling you that he/she/it is a moron.

Why isn't my character attacking/casting/drinking potions etc.?

Desynch. If that happens during a fight, hammer potion hotkeys frantically and hope that you survive. Otherwise, wait until things snap back into place or Save & Exit.

What'll happen to my Ladder characters at the end of the season?

They'll return to regular Closed Realm status, lose Ladder privileges, but retain their level, stats/skills and equipment (even Ladder only stuff).


Credits

Thanks go to the members of the dii.net SPF for their input.

Major contributors: RTB, alainpp66 and Ruvanal (directly or indirectly)

Contributions from others: Mr Bigglesworth, Shrapnel, Porius, Lira Lindriel, halo11, Thrugg, Sumendar, Nightfish, Nameless Ranger, Death_Dealer, jrichard, Jarulf

Contributions from elsewhere: The Hellforge drop info was taken from Hammerman at the LL forums. The area levels list was posted by Zath of the AB forums.