Anything Goes D2 Lounge!

[Steven Q. Urkel]

After recently dropping full tals in favor of 3 piece tals + occy & shako my resist all has become quite knackered, particularly the poison. Today I managed to get an Um rune from the Hellforge and I immediately stuck it in my Stormshield. That got Cold and Lightning back to max in Hell, but Fire is only in the low 50's, and Poison is still in the negatives. I still have 3 open sockets with Tals Guard, Occy, and Shako, but no more Um runes. It almost feels criminal to put anything other than a P-Topaz in Tals and Shako, but Ive actually been considering it since I just dont have any Emerald or Ruby small charms right now. Been thinking of maybe rolling some small charms once I have a stock of Pgems built back up, but we arent quite there yet.

And I must say, trying to keep an Act II merc alive in patch 1.09d is A LOT tougher than I remember. 99% of the time his only use is to tank Ventaur and Lister in Nightmare while Im rushing, but I decided to hire him to help with Hephasto in Hell while searching for the Um runes. Almost every game he would get 1 or 2 shotted by Hephasto, and I had to spend thousands on resurrect costs. He has leech from both his helm and weapon and good resists from his armour so Im not sure what else I can do at this point.

 

[Arjan]

Spent some time today to get the barb leveled. He’s at the end of act II NM and nearly level 59. So I did a few false tombs after killing all packs in the Canyon.

As soon as I reached level 59 I equipes Grief and tried another tomb. As far as visible damage is concerned Grief does less damage then the two-handed weapon I used before. But his killspeed is insane. Most monsters are oneshotted.

Next up is trying some set ups while I get him to level 63 and see what I like best. Damage reduction with CoH, stormshield and string or the life/vita route. Or maybe try max block and res way with Guardian Angel.

I still need to farm some gear for any of these routes, so next stop will probably be NM Meph (I want that orphans call helmet and IK boots anyway). I decided to focus my time on him for the next couple of days because I enjoy playing him a lot (and I want to see what he does when he reaches level 63)

 

[Arjan]

After recently dropping full tals in favor of 3 piece tals + occy & shako my resist all has become quite knackered, particularly the poison. Today I managed to get an Um rune from the Hellforge and I immediately stuck it in my Stormshield. That got Cold and Lightning back to max in Hell, but Fire is only in the low 50's, and Poison is still in the negatives. I still have 3 open sockets with Tals Guard, Occy, and Shako, but no more Um runes. It almost feels criminal to put anything other than a P-Topaz in Tals and Shako, but Ive actually been considering it since I just dont have any Emerald or Ruby small charms right now. Been thinking of maybe rolling some small charms once I have a stock of Pgems built back up, but we arent quite there yet.

And I must say, trying to keep an Act II merc alive in patch 1.09d is A LOT tougher than I remember. 99% of the time his only use is to tank Ventaur and Lister in Nightmare while Im rushing, but I decided to hire him to help with Hephasto in Hell while searching for the Um runes. Almost every game he would get 1 or 2 shotted by Hephasto, and I had to spend thousands on resurrect costs. He has leech from both his helm and weapon and good resists from his armour so Im not sure what else I can do at this point.

What kind of gear is your merc using? Hephasto is a heavy hitter so maybe life leech isn’t the way for this particular part of the game? Did you try rockstopper and shaftstop to lower incoming damage by 40%

 

[Steven Q. Urkel]

@Arjan My merc has Honor Cryptic Axe (not eth, sadly), Smoke Russet Armour, and this rare circlet

Spoiler

Storm Casque
Circlet
Defense: 21
Durability: 23 of 35
Required Level: 35
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0xd6d4af9c
Damage Reduced by 5
Fire Resist +32%
Lightning Resist +14%
Cold Resist +14%
Poison Resist +14%
5% Life stolen per hit
30% Faster Run/Walk

I'd definitely prefer a Vamp Gaze, but my 1.09d gameplay has been 99% rushing and I havent been able to find one in the little MF runs Ive managed to do lol. It looks like I do have 2x Rockstoppers available, but no Shaftstop.

 

[Arjan]

Things I've noticed while playing with my Grief carying zerker:

- yes, you almost oneshot everything in NM with maxed bezerk and a maxed synergie
- Yes, you also oneshot a lot with a single point in concentration.
- Insight is not really needed, Obedience is nice for the merc too
- manaburn monsters are assholes. All of them
- I need to try a phoenix shield, to see if I like that conviction better then my Spirit.
- the zerker build sure is a bit outdated I think (probably from the time when Grief was next to impossible to get)
- those stygian dolls are best killed with concentration unless you want to chuck down potions like a madman
- even if you kill them with one blow those flayers are still a huge pain in the arse

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

I have a question about crafting Blood Gloves. I never did much crafting back in the day--mostly traded my crafting materials to other SPF members.

According to this guide, I should do the following:
-Use a level 69-72 character to shop Heavy Gloves and craft them, using the Blood Gloves recipe.
-Use a level 76-77 character to shop Sharkskin Gloves and craft them, using the Blood Gloves recipe.

I'm clear on the character level, but I noticed whenever I've watched videos of folks crafting gloves, it seems they more commonly gamble the gloves, which as I understand it is different from shopping the gloves.

Is there any reason to shop vs. gamble? Is it just that with gambling there's no need to refresh the inventory by walking through a portal?

 

[little birdy]

I have a question about crafting Blood Gloves. I never did much crafting back in the day--mostly traded my crafting materials to other SPF members.

According to this guide, I should do the following:
-Use a level 69-72 character to shop Heavy Gloves and craft them, using the Blood Gloves recipe.
-Use a level 76-77 character to shop Sharkskin Gloves and craft them, using the Blood Gloves recipe.

I'm clear on the character level, but I noticed whenever I've watched videos of folks crafting gloves, it seems they more commonly gamble the gloves, which as I understand it is different from shopping the gloves.

Is there any reason to shop vs. gamble? Is it just that with gambling there's no need to refresh the inventory by walking through a portal?

I expect it has more to do with managing the item level of the item you want to craft for the best chance at the desired affixes. When you gamble, the resulting ilvl can be broader (ilvl = clvl +4/-5) whereas when you shop an item there is no randomness (ilvl = clvl +5)

 

[Arjan]

I have a question about crafting Blood Gloves. I never did much crafting back in the day--mostly traded my crafting materials to other SPF members.

According to this guide, I should do the following:
-Use a level 69-72 character to shop Heavy Gloves and craft them, using the Blood Gloves recipe.
-Use a level 76-77 character to shop Sharkskin Gloves and craft them, using the Blood Gloves recipe.

I'm clear on the character level, but I noticed whenever I've watched videos of folks crafting gloves, it seems they more commonly gamble the gloves, which as I understand it is different from shopping the gloves.

Is there any reason to shop vs. gamble? Is it just that with gambling there's no need to refresh the inventory by walking through a portal?

Somewhat related: when a guide says you can shop for echoing weapons (or 2/20 gloves for that matter) with Hell Anya does that mean trade with her or gamble for them?

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

Somewhat related: when a guide says you can shop for echoing weapons (or 2/20 gloves for that matter) with Hell Anya does that mean trade with her or gamble for them?

They mean trade: coincidentally I just got done searching for 3/20 gloves at NM Anya.

This is the basic idea:

From my research, the best character level to do this is at 75. As to whether you shop in Hell or NM, my understanding is that actually, Nightmare is better because in Hell Anya sell's Ogre Gauntlets, which have a 185 Strength requirement.

Today was a glove heavy day for me. I was going to just shop Anya for 1 hour and see what I got at level 75, and then move to level 76/77 to craft blood gloves.

The best I ended up shopping were +3 Jav Skills / +9 Dex.

If you *only* want 3/20 gloves, then just look at the really dark gloves, as those will always be 20% IAS. But make sure you know what IAS breakpoint you're shooting for, because sometimes 3 Jav / 10 IAS gloves will work just as depending on your gear. I was searching for both, so I looked a little more closely. It also makes it a tad less boring.

 

[ffs]

I also shopped my 3/20s from Anya. In hindsight I would recommend running with an Assassin and also look for claws at the same time while you're at it. I regretted not doing that when I was looking for claws for my PvP trapper, and it ended up being a very rough grind of some 30 hours or so before I got a couple of claws I was happy with. As a side effect, two extra pairs of Java 3/20s and a handful of other potentially useful gloves were shopped in the process.

For those not aware, claw shopping should be done with an assassin lvl ~75+ with 55 dex and 55+ strength (or vice versa), so that all exceptional/elite claws will appear in red color for not meeting the stat requirements. Then only check the red colored claws, the other ones you have the stats for are normal bases that cannot roll staff mods.

 

[Arjan]

They mean trade: coincidentally I just got done searching for 3/20 gloves at NM Anya.

This is the basic idea:

From my research, the best character level to do this is at 75. As to whether you shop in Hell or NM, my understanding is that actually, Nightmare is better because in Hell Anya sell's Ogre Gauntlets, which have a 185 Strength requirement.

Today was a glove heavy day for me. I was going to just shop Anya for 1 hour and see what I got at level 75, and then move to level 76/77 to craft blood gloves.

The best I ended up shopping were +3 Jav Skills / +9 Dex.

If you *only* want 3/20 gloves, then just look at the really dark gloves, as those will always be 20% IAS. But make sure you know what IAS breakpoint you're shooting for, because sometimes 3 Jav / 10 IAS gloves will work just as depending on your gear. I was searching for both, so I looked a little more closely. It also makes it a tad less boring.

Yeah I need to check the IAS I need. Have made some changes so could be I need to change more (or don’t bother trying)

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

To be honest, I never realized they had any features at all, thought it was just a blob of energy. Now that I see it…not sure, but it reminds me I can’t see fir beans

I only just now realized the little glowing red things the Storm Casters send out are crawling spiders. I just thought they were sparkly energy blobs.

 

[PhineasB]

I also shopped my 3/20s from Anya. In hindsight I would recommend running with an Assassin and also look for claws at the same time while you're at it. I regretted not doing that when I was looking for claws for my PvP trapper, and it ended up being a very rough grind of some 30 hours or so before I got a couple of claws I was happy with. As a side effect, two extra pairs of Java 3/20s and a handful of other potentially useful gloves were shopped in the process.

For those not aware, claw shopping should be done with an assassin lvl ~75+ with 55 dex and 55+ strength (or vice versa), so that all exceptional/elite claws will appear in red color for not meeting the stat requirements. Then only check the red colored claws, the other ones you have the stats for are normal bases that cannot roll staff mods.

Great summary @ffs and quite clear. @maxicek any chance we can create a thread to be added to general with some of these great questions and to the point answers compiled?

I’d be happy to try to manage that thread. Some is from jiansonz tourney pass through thread and others from crafting or shopping guide, but those are so old it would be good to have on one place with confirmation that still accurate. I think a draft thread to start before finalizing and then that could be updated as needed thereafter.

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

After hearing it confirmed that these new runewords work in offline single player, I decided to give this a go!




Despite the miffed opening to its description on the Diablo fandom wiki declaring "it's a mediocre runeword at best," I think this is a pretty interesting item. Cannot Be Frozen is a highly sought-after mod, and many Amazons use the Piercing Attack as well and have to do Razortail + Ravenfrost to achieve this. You have both these mods on one item, which then makes Thundergod's Vigor a more appealing belt, etc.

Basically, it makes the game more interesting without upsetting things terribly, which is what I'd look for in a new runeword. I've seen people complain about some new runewords being weak, but I'd rather not have some helmet that makes everyone's perfectly socketed Griffon's worthless.

EDIT: Wait, is the Piercing attack on Razortail different from this? I just noticed Razortail has no %, just "Piercing Attack." My LCS looks the same with both.

 

[Arjan]

Being able to use both the pierce bonus from razor and thundergods makes the furyzon a lot more powerfull.
It also helps with mana issues. Only the bonus to attack rating is less useful for that built.
But calling this mediocre is strange. It’s one of the better helmet runewords imo

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

Yes--I'm using it on my Furzyon now. I think it performs about the same as Harlequin Crest as far as damage and mana go, but it's nice to have Thundergod's Lightning Absorb for when tons of Gloams spawn.

 

[Arjan]

After hearing it confirmed that these new runewords work in offline single player, I decided to give this a go!

View attachment 82192


Despite the miffed opening to its description on the Diablo fandom wiki declaring "it's a mediocre runeword at best," I think this is a pretty interesting item. Cannot Be Frozen is a highly sought-after mod, and many Amazons use the Piercing Attack as well and have to do Razortail + Ravenfrost to achieve this. You have both these mods on one item, which then makes Thundergod's Vigor a more appealing belt, etc.

Basically, it makes the game more interesting without upsetting things terribly, which is what I'd look for in a new runeword. I've seen people complain about some new runewords being weak, but I'd rather not have some helmet that makes everyone's perfectly socketed Griffon's worthless.

EDIT: Wait, is the Piercing attack on Razortail different from this? I just noticed Razortail has no %, just "Piercing Attack." My LCS looks the same with both.

Razors is also 33% if I’m not mistaken… so it should have the same result, just as you see in your LCS

 

[Arjan]

Yes--I'm using it on my Furzyon now. I think it performs about the same as Harlequin Crest as far as damage and mana go, but it's nice to have Thundergod's Lightning Absorb for when tons of Gloams spawn.

Might like this on the bowadin I might make with the Arctic set… but that’s going to be on LoD so thats not going to fly
Or maybe I should make a zon with that set anyway

 

[little birdy]

After hearing it confirmed that these new runewords work in offline single player, I decided to give this a go!

View attachment 82192


Despite the miffed opening to its description on the Diablo fandom wiki declaring "it's a mediocre runeword at best," I think this is a pretty interesting item. Cannot Be Frozen is a highly sought-after mod, and many Amazons use the Piercing Attack as well and have to do Razortail + Ravenfrost to achieve this. You have both these mods on one item, which then makes Thundergod's Vigor a more appealing belt, etc.

Basically, it makes the game more interesting without upsetting things terribly, which is what I'd look for in a new runeword. I've seen people complain about some new runewords being weak, but I'd rather not have some helmet that makes everyone's perfectly socketed Griffon's worthless.

EDIT: Wait, is the Piercing attack on Razortail different from this? I just noticed Razortail has no %, just "Piercing Attack." My LCS looks the same with both.

Nice! I only have one Pul in my stash right now, which I've been hanging onto for making a HotO if/when I luck into finding a Vex... but one of the characters I'm going to work on next is a bowazon and I might get tempted to make her a 'Wisdom' helm with that Pul rune. I also think this would be a solid helm option for an Act 1 merc. The Energy/mana mods aren't useful for a merc, but Cannot Be Frozen and Piercing Attack certainly are.

 

[NorthDakota]

Anyone else notice that quick cast feels less clunky in 2.4.3 or is it just me? Haven't played in a month or 2 and coming back it feels much nicer on my hammerdin.

edit: nah still clunky