1.07 News, Info and Gossip

[galtwish]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

Also, what's with the inactivity guys? Have you, like me, temporarily left 1.07 for other versions?

Extending my 1.11b vanilla foray: I've got a Frost/Shock Pally in A2 NM with Tiamat's Rebuke, "Holy Thunder" +HS war scepter, Hand of Zakarum, and "Rhyme" Rondache tearing it up right now. It's silly how much better the drops are: running around with ~200% MF has netted me over a dozen uniques. My 450% MF unsynergized FOrb sorc is farming NM Meph and found the Tiamat's + Hand, as well as 179% ED Titan's, Szabi's Mental Sheath, and a few good cold charms to go with an Entrapping skiller, so it's been a nice little vacation. The other major difference is how much elemental damage from monsters is a concern at players8. I'm going to Pat the pally and get back to my L70 Shadow 'Sin in 1.07 who's stalled at Hell Ancients.

I was able to run both versions for about 2 weeks, then 1.07 said I need to install D2. So I can't run Cows for fun and profit with my "Death" Strafeazon or craft. I miss 1.07, but I need a break from the frustration of melee in Hell 1.07.

 

[purplelocust]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I am thinking about getting back into 1.07, with the idea of rack-running for items, then moving forward and picking up some good things from 1.09 and the 1.10 betas. Somewhere I still have some old pre-1.07 characters but those were built before I understood much about the game or optimizing, so I think I'll start from scratch on this.

My question is about using my Intel Mac. I could do the multiple installs pretty easily on one of my older Macs running Classic or OS9 or on a Windows machine, but my primary machine is now an Intel Mac. Has anyone gotten 1.07 running under the OS X version of MacOS? At the time of 1.07, it was all OS9 etc. and I'd prefer to use my current main machine, if it can be done without a struggle. One option is to get Parallels running and do it on a virtual machine running Windows, but before I launch into sorting that out, it would be great to know if I can instead just copy some of the older D2 Patch or whatever the appropriate files are instead. I didn't see anything anywhere but if I'm missing something straightforward, it would be great to know.

 

[galtwish]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

Matriarch Storm_Shadow, the pure Shadow Tree assassin is up for your enjoyment. I really liked playing her up until Hell Ancients. She made me a better player and I'm now in love with Assassins over Amazons as my favorite character.

My FrenzyBarb tore through A3 and A4 NM this weekend, after he got all the nasty +dmg charms that the assassin had been using. I just plopped on a +2 barb skills/+2 frenzy/+3 item find hat that may end up being his endgame gear, and am thinking of socketing it with resist stuff or Sols, but that will be a concern after I enter Hell. Found a 6os Naga and stuffed it with PEmeralds for this guy, which may become the Blade Fury weapon for my planned BF/Trapsin after I get to L64 and equip 2x crafter Berzerker Axes. The repair rate is silly on this guy--you'd think they made those axes out of pitch and waddle.

Fireface, the Summon/Elemental druid is ready to take on Duriel in normal with partial Sigon's + Tarnhelm for decent Dire Wolves. Twitchthrow on the Merc means he can equip better hurtysticks several levels earlier than normal. I'm not sure if I want to go with Hurricane or Tornado, same with Fissure vs. Volcano. The current plan is to max Dire Wolves and get Heart of the Wolverine to L12 and then go from there. Fissure is doing just fine for now; though it is a bit erratic it covers a lot of ground. I may say screw it and just get Armageddon and run with that (though I see myself having a big problem against bosses unless I go Volcano + LR wand).

I think I've reached my critical mass in goodies needed to finish the job for my 1.07 Sept, so I don't know how many more LK/Nilthi Temple runs I'll be makiing. But I expect to make some burgers and gamble/craft/cube a bit more with Judas_Priestess, so it won't just be Mat/Pat threads from here on out.

 

[Disco-neck Ted]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

Congrats on the mat. I'll check out the full write-up in a bit.

As for blade fury in 1.07, I tried it out a while back and it was horrible. It pretty much seemed to do its listed damage and that's all. Elemental and poison effects did not transfer, and I don't think the weapon damage made any difference (certainly not in the listed damage). I was only as far along as Act V normal, so it was difficult to tell if crushing blow had any effect or not.

Anyway, that's what I recall. Enjoy testing it out if you go that route. I look forward to the strange stuff people uncover about 1.07.

As for the druid, you should have a lot of fun. I liked wolves over the bear and had both pretty much maxed on my hunter, iirc. Summons get life bonuses in later difficulties the way monsters do, so while they seem a bit fragile in act V NM, they will toughen up in Hell (until they start losing ground again in acts IV and V). The bear isn't enough stronger than a single wolf to make it advantageous, and having three wolves gives time to recast when they get in trouble so you always have one or more between you and the monsters.

Should be good, although you may be a bit tight for skill points.

 

[galtwish]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

I like the wolves better for corpse disposal, so I'm planning on using them and putting a point or 5 in Grizzly, primarily for the passive bonus. I'm very concerned about the elemental side--even with +10ish elemental skills, the damage looks weak and the cool-down timers look to be problematic. I'll have the option to cast L30 Hurricane and Volcano/Fissure, switch to L30 Wolves, L11 Ravens, L20 HotWolverine, and Might Merc with a decent elemental damage stick (probably use the one from the Assassin) seems like enough distraction for boss monsters, but what am I going to do while I wait to recast Hurricane or Volcano? I'm thinking I'll make ample use of a Lower Resist wand or just be pout that Hexfire doesn't have +3 Fire Skills in 1.07. The other option is Buriza (and socket with a Nef) on switch and go primarily summons, dropping Magefists for IAS blood gloves.

 

[Disco-neck Ted]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

I like the idea of frying the monsters from behind a pack of trusty wolves.

As for a missile weap on switch, Goldstrike Arch worked very well for my hunter druid, with the AR bonus, but he had 50% crushing blow. It was quite comical how often the level 2 Fist of the Heavens would end up finishing off Physical Immunes who had been slivered by CB. With 20% off-weapon IAS, the Buriza goes 14 frames while GSA goes 11. Then again, if you go that route you might as well make a hunter, so maybe no bow on switch.

Hexfire is no great loss for a druid. It should be possible to shop/find a club with +3 elemental skills, I believe, or +2 druid skills, if you prefer. Sigon's shield is the only off-hand prebuff item with +skills for non barbs/necros. Also, maybe look into getting a weapon with amp for the merc?

Say, have you considered a Barb merc? What about some Oak Sage instead of HoW? With the fast regen of the barbs and a big bunch of life, he might hold up a lot better than an act II merc.

As for bosses, those with an area attack are likely to kill all your pets and sidekicks and leave you standing there alone.

Whatever you decide, it should be a good time.

 

[galtwish]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

I like the idea of frying the monsters from behind a pack of trusty wolves.

As for a missile weap on switch, Goldstrike Arch worked very well for my hunter druid, with the AR bonus, but he had 50% crushing blow. It was quite comical how often the level 2 Fist of the Heavens would end up finishing off Physical Immunes who had been slivered by CB. With 20% off-weapon IAS, the Buriza goes 14 frames while GSA goes 11. Then again, if you go that route you might as well make a hunter, so maybe no bow on switchtime.

I've got both, and the silly-good 20% IAS/14% CB greater blood gloves + either IK or Sigon's belt/boots/gloves should make for a decent Volcano/Tornado/Hunter, though the summons would likely be weak. I'll have a ton of stats left over, so getting the dex up to 95 won't be an issue for GSA (but I'd rather spend it on VIT)

Hexfire is no great loss for a druid.

It is when it's one of the few Exceptional Uniques you found :tongue: Of course if it gave the +3 fire skills, I'd socket it w/Shael and go Fire Claws Werewolf

Say, have you considered a Barb merc? What about some Oak Sage instead of HoW? With the fast regen of the barbs and a big bunch of life, he might hold up a lot better than an act II merc.

As for bosses, those with an area attack are likely to kill all your pets and sidekicks and leave you standing there alone.

Oh, this sounds good! I'll give it a shot in NM after picking up an A5 Merc--If I can get past NM Diablo w/Barb + Dire Wolves. I've got a 30% FR/30% LR/14 PDR armor and a 30% FR/20%LR/38% FHR armor that are just waiting to be shuffled between mercs on my final toons, so one of these should go well on a Barb. Not to mention all the awesome 2h swords I've been stashing for the last 9 months. Cruel Executioner's Sword of Quickness, socketed with a couple -15% req jewels seems to be the order of the day in that case. Thanks for the idea!

Quick question: would a +3 combat skills circlet provide the stun/bash bonus on an A5 merc?

 

[Disco-neck Ted]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

Oh, good point about the fire skills and fire claws.

Mercs do not benefit from +skills items at all in 1.07. As for GSA, nice find. I was aware that you have one, hence the discussion in practical terms instead of abstract.

As you know, you can hire a high level barb in act V hell, so even if your drood isn't lvl 76 at the time, you can put a BK colossus blade on the merc immediately, if you have one. The resists help a lot, 35% crushing blow is excellent and the knockback is a non-issue since the barb uses bash half the time anyway.

Until then, that tasty cruel executioner sword sounds like the word of doom.

 

[ApisCanis]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

FINALLY! Got a good drop from Big-D. :grin:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/ApisCanis/profeta/Screenshot017.jpg

Back to the grindstone...

 

[Arkardo]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

Well, I just got to 1.07 and I have some questions, if you guys don't mind.

- If I read correctly, Cold Mastery works by division. So, a level 1 CM has 23% and will reduce a cold resistance of 92% to 4% (since 92/23 = 4). If this is correct, then why bother putting more than 1 point in CM?
- All piercing items don't work with CM like they do in 1.09, right?
- Items that freeze targets can/will corrupt characters and stashes, right? Does this include the Cham rune? Would be a shame if I would find one. :azn:
- Laying of Hands has 50% fire absorb. Is there a (known) cap on absorb by percentage in 1.07?
- And what happens if these gloves are brought to 1.11, where absorb by percentage is capped at 40%? I suppose the effect will then be 40%, rather than the listed 50%?

- Lastly, would this be a good skill point distribution?
20 Frozen Orb
1 Cold Mastery
20 Static Field
20 Nova (I read positive things about it for 1.07)
20 Lightning Mastery
Rest in Cold Mastery

Thanks in advance! :thumbsup:

 

[RTB]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

- If I read correctly, Cold Mastery works by division. So, a level 1 CM has 23% and will reduce a cold resistance of 92% to 4% (since 92/23 = 4). If this is correct, then why bother putting more than 1 point in CM?

I remember it being a straight reduction in 1.07, but I'm not sure on it.

- Items that freeze targets can/will corrupt characters and stashes, right? Does this include the Cham rune? Would be a shame if I would find one. :azn:

Not until it's used IIRC.

- Laying of Hands has 50% fire absorb. Is there a (known) cap on absorb by percentage in 1.07?

It was at 50% in 1.09

- And what happens if these gloves are brought to 1.11, where absorb by percentage is capped at 40%? I suppose the effect will then be 40%, rather than the listed 50%?

Correct.

- Lastly, would this be a good skill point distribution?

Go with orb and static first. Levels don't come as easy as in 1.09/1.10+.

 

[Arkardo]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

Thanks for your input! Just a question on the Laying of Hands gloves:

It was at 50% in 1.09

But the 1.07 guide says:

From the set items, the most interesting ones are the Laying of Hands (Bramble Mitts) for it's 50% fire absorb

Is the 1.07 guide wrong?

Also a question on Barbarian mercenaries. What kind of innate skills do they have and how does +skills from primal helms work? Do they benefit from, for example, +skills to Natural Resist while they do not have it by default?

 

[Grisu]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

I think RTB meant that Fire Absorb was capped at 50% in 1.09. So neither the guide nor RTB are wrong:wink3:
I don't even know if there are other items in 1.07 with %Absorb - if not, then the question regarding caps wouldn't matter anyways

 

[ItAllGoesWhite]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

To chime in on the Cold Mastery Bit...

I'm pretty sure it isn't a straight reduction. From what I remember, it's literally a percentage reduction. That sounds terribly vague, but like this:

CM = -25%
Monster Resists = 50%

In 1.11b that would reduce the monster's resistance to 25%, correct? In 1.07 it would lower the monster's resistance to 37.5. If CM was at 50% it would reduce the Monster's resistance to 25%, make sense?

Again, I'm not a numbers person but I recall it working like this, and it would also explain why Frozen Orb's damage isn't vastly increased when dealing with low cold resist monsters. I've had extensive experience with Frozen Orb in 1.07, so, take that for what it's worth. I can assure you, however, that it does not work as you described.

Like RTB mentioned, you're better served going for 20 Static, 20 Orb, and 20 Cold Mastery. Since Cold Mastery has extreme diminishing returns you can probably get away with just 10 or 15 points, but since there isn't any other spell you need for damage, why not go whole hog? From there, you can choose between warmth, teleport, energy, shield, or maybe even one of the ice armors. I'd suggest 1 point in energy shield, 1 point in your armor of choice, 10-20 points into teleport, and whatever else into warmth.

Oh, and Frozen Orb is funky in 1.07. It takes a lot of getting used to if you're accustomed to aiming the ball directly into a monster. In 1.07, if at any time the ball touches a monster, it glitches and shards from that orb will no longer hit anything. It's incredibly annoying at first, but you get used to it and it becomes second nature.

Hope I helped!

--Mark

 

[Jaedhann]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

To chime in on the Cold Mastery Bit...

I'm pretty sure it isn't a straight reduction. From what I remember, it's literally a percentage reduction. That sounds terribly vague, but like this:

CM = -25%
Monster Resists = 50%

In 1.11b that would reduce the monster's resistance to 25%, correct? In 1.07 it would lower the monster's resistance to 37.5. If CM was at 50% it would reduce the Monster's resistance to 25%, make sense?

I think it works like that yes.

Again, I'm not a numbers person but I recall it working like this, and it would also explain why Frozen Orb's damage isn't vastly increased when dealing with low cold resist monsters. I've had extensive experience with Frozen Orb in 1.07, so, take that for what it's worth. I can assure you, however, that it does not work as you described.

I experienced the same. But i really felt the difference between highish coldmastery and maxxed one. Especially on cold resist monster. Say a monster has 150% coldresist. 50% coldmastery would reduce it to 75, still a lot.Once you hit the 70's with coldemastery everything really starts to drop dead agains orb. Either go with a point or 5 or go all out. There's not much in between.Unless you are going for another element, then one point and some +skills would do.

Oh, and Frozen Orb is funky in 1.07.

QFT. But you will get used to it indeed. Then you go back to 1.11b and have to unlearn it again. DAH!!

 

[scottee]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

Hey, two quickies:

Does anyone know where I can get the 1.07 patch? I've found a few links to it, but they're all broken. Also, my google-fu was not up to the task of finding it :embarassed:

Does RRM work with 1.07?

 

[Arkardo]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

Hey, two quickies:

Does anyone know where I can get the 1.07 patch? I've found a few links to it, but they're all broken. Also, my google-fu was not up to the task of finding it :embarassed:

Installing Diablo II Expansion comes with 1.07 by default :thumbsup: . I know this, because it got me too!

Alternatively, you could use a version switcher (just google Diablo 2 version switcher or something), but beware of your trading profile, if you know what I mean.

Does RRM work with 1.07?

Nope.

 

[scottee]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

Installing Diablo II Expansion comes with 1.07 by default :thumbsup: . I know this, because it got me too!

Alternatively, you could use a version switcher (just google Diablo 2 version switcher or something), but beware of your trading profile, if you know what I mean.



Nope.

:embarassed: I finally found the part in the 1.07 guide that talks about how to install- it's kinda buried!

Anyway, the link for the zip file containing the Game.exe, D2game.dll, D2Client.dll and D2Common.dll file is no longer extant. Should I use files directly from the LoD disk or what? I don't want to use the version switcher for exactly the reason you said.

 

[Arkardo]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

:embarassed: I finally found the part in the 1.07 guide that talks about how to install- it's kinda buried!

Anyway, the link for the zip file containing the Game.exe, D2game.dll, D2Client.dll and D2Common.dll file is no longer extant. Should I use files directly from the LoD disk or what? I don't want to use the version switcher for exactly the reason you said.

Then you should probably just install D2 1.07 in a different folder. Rename your current D2 folder from 'Diablo II' to anything else. This allows you to install another copy of D2 on your hard disk. Name this install 'Diablo II 1.07' or something. After installing, just revert the change you've made to the original D2 folder name.

After this, you should have both 1.07 and 1.11 running on your computer.

Be careful that uninstalling D2 removes both installs!

 

[scottee]

Re: 1.07 News, Info and Gossip

Thanks, Arkardo- got 1.07 up and running.

Man, do sorcies run slow!