1.10a/s News, Info and Gossip

art_vandelay

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Welcome to the brand new news, info and gossip thread for the 1.10 betas a and s. The starting post will serve as a guide to the betas until the Time Traveller's Vortex catches up to them. All discussion relating to the betas and the changes from 1.09d to 1.10a to 1.10s to 1.10f is right at home here. Ultimately we know very little about the changes made in those patches and there's still plenty to learn!



Playing and Muling in 1.10a/s

In order to play the betas you need to either use the Trenshadow version switcher files provided in the links sticky or use the original patch installers found in the download section of the Phrozen Keep. It's important to not mix up the two betas:
  • Patch 1.10a was released on July 3rd of 2003 and is sometimes referred to as 1.10b as well.
  • Patch 1.10s was released on August 4th of 2003 and is sometimes referred to as the beta.
Both of these patches do not appear in the official patchnotes that you can find in the patch.txt in your D2 installation folder. Currently we only know of one set of patch notes which can be found on the Arreat Summit with the wayback machine:
It's not 100% clear whether they pertain to 1.10a or 1.10s but they at the very least highlight changes from 1.09.


You can't use ATMA to mule items in 1.10a but you can use ATMA IV with the ATS utility to view characters or transfer them to 1.10s (hence the name ATS: a to s). Due to a save file format change simply opening a 1.10a character with 1.10s will result in items being deleted. Otherwise you can open any character from 1.07-1.09 in the betas or any beta character in 1.10f+ and everything will be fine.

Once you opened a character you want to forward in ATS you open the "File" menu and select the "Convert to 1.10s" option which will convert the character and close it in ATS.

If you want to mule in 1.10a you need to open multiple instances, create a TCP/IP game and mule over the ground. The necessary multi-instance .dlls can be found in the Trenshadow version switcher files. Conversely ATMA works with 1.10s without a problem.



What's different about the betas?

Following is a list of differences between the betas and the patches surrounding them.


Runewords

Both patches differ only in 4 runewords from 1.10 final, those are Crescent Moon, Bramble, Delirium and Call to Arms. The first three are the same in 1.10a and 1.10s and the fourth differs in that the 1.10s version requires the same runes as the 1.10f version whereas the 1.10a version does NOT require an Ohm and thus has to be made into 4os weapons and will NOT give the +50% Enhanced Damage from the Ohm rune. In all other aspects they are identical. Forwarding a 1.10a CtA to 1.10s+ does NOT work. It will lose all stats except the ones the runes give.

This is a complete list of differences between RWs, if it isn't on here then it's the same as in 1.10f+:
betaRW.png


Uniques

The changes in uniques are as follows: 1.10s=1.10f+ and 1.10a has two uniques with differing stats:
  • Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band: '+2 to all Skills' in 1.10a and '+1 to all Skills' in 1.10s+
  • Nosferatu's Coil: '+10% Life stolen per Hit' in 1.10a and '+(5-7)% Life stolen per Hit' in 1.10s+
Note that the BKWBs in 1.07-1.09 only have '+1 to all Skills', the 1.10a patch is the only one with '+2 to all Skills'.


Cube Recipes

Patch 1.10a has an early version of two cube recipes:
  • Any 3 Normal Gems + Any socketed Weapon -> Magic socketed weapon of the same type; ilvl=30; 1-6 os roll
  • Any 3 Flawless Gems + Any Magic Weapon -> Magic socketed weapon of the same type; ilvl=30; 1-6 os roll
The game will roll 1-6 sockets but the result will be capped at whatever the maximum number of sockets for that item is (dependent on item type and item level) so only a few weapons will be able to get the full 6os with this, notably the War Staff/Rune Staff/Archon Staff line. All swords get 4os or less at ilvl=30.

Since the game rolls 1-6 instead of 1-(max # of sockets on item type) the chances of getting the maximum are higher than '1 in maximum', i.e. if you took a Phase Blade your chance of getting 4os are 3/6 because the os rolls 4, 5 and 6 are all capped to 4os when they occur.

In 1.10s+ these recipes are the same except for the fact that they roll 1-2 os instead of 1-6 os.

Also: 1.10a is the first patch with the unsocketing and socketing recipes as well as the recipes for upgrading runes higher than Ort. However, eth-bugging was not introduced until patch 1.11.


Chest Patterns

The patterns for all sparkly and superchest are the same in every patch 1.10a-1.12 so the same chances apply in all of these patches when e.g. running LK or RoF.


Hellforge

In 1.07-1.09 the HF rewards for NM and Hell are the same, so only runes up to Um. From 1.10a onwards the reward in Hell is a rune from Hel to Gul just like in modern. (and as always with the HF quest: all runes are equally likely, so a 1 in 11 chance for each)


Skills

Some skills behave differently in the betas compared to 1.09 and 1.10f+. This is mostly unexplored but one thing is of special importance:
  • Cold Mastery in 1.10a gives -(5+3*(slvl-1)) to Enemy Cold Resist while in 1.10s+ it gives -(20+5*(slvl-1)) to Enemy Cold Resist.
This is a big deal since the Meteorb cookie cutter built won't work as well as it does in 1.10s+.



Strategies and Thoughts on the betas

This section covers popular things to reroll in 1.10a, Andariel runs and HF collections.


CtA in 1.10a

It can be worth it to make a 1.10a CtA in order to facilitate Andariel runs and HF collections. The necessary runes can be easily aquired via HF rushes and so it's not even expensive to reroll. Just remember that it can only be used in 1.10a, it will lose all of its "non-rune" stats when forwarded.


Andariel runs

Andariel has -50% fire resistance in 1.10a just like in most other patches which means that a fire sorceress is the best possible runner. It can help to take on Frozen Orb as a secondary attack to get some breathing room when her room is congested with monsters.

Patch 1.10a is the first version in which Andariel has her quest drop as we know it. The Andariel quest bug however is as old as the game itself. Any character from 1.00 to 1.14d can get the Andariel quest bug by killing Andariel (or having her killed while being partied) and talking to Warriv before closing the game. That means you don't have to level a suitable runner in 1.10a, you can instead cheese her to level 52 in 1.07 (Ancients rewards) or get her to an even higher level by leeching in the 1.00 River of Flame while another character kills maggots.


HF collections

Since 1.10s only has forwardable CtA going for it the idea is to also do HF collections in 1.10a and then using ATS to forward the necessary runes for CtA. All the other beta RWs can be made in 1.10a and forwarded to 1.10f+ without problems.

For collections it is not advisable to use your Andariel runner, but rather to make a separate HF collector. This is because of the reduced efficiency of FO in 1.10a and the high resistances of Hephasto. In fact the best option for a HF collector is a Hammerdin, he will face no immunities in the River of Flame and can take out most monsters safely due to his high resists and 2 frame max block.


Popular items to reroll


The 1.10a magic weapon rerolls can produce some interesting items which are not possible in later versions. Among them are:
  • Runic Talons of Quickness with 3os and a Prefix, preferably Fool's. They are used to achieve 3fpa attacks on a Bearsin or socketed for PvP.
  • Nagas with 5os and useful Prefix/Affix combos used for low level PvP.
  • Orbs with 3os, preferably with + to Skills, good Staffmods and FCR. (only Jared's Stone/Swirling Crystal/Dimensional Shard can get 3os)
Just like the 3 chipped gem recipe from 1.09 the ilvl is set to 30 but items with a high qlvl (such as Dimensional Shard or Runic Talons) can still spawn with high level affixes.



**********



Open Questions and Oddities

Some Questions and Oddities that are not entirely clear yet:
  • In which beta did minions get the +3 to level and 5x experience buff?
  • In which beta does +% to Poison Skill Damage affect poison length?
  • In which beta did CE scale with player setting?
  • Is MSLE still a thing in the betas?
  • Which beta introduced the FE bug?
  • Is the Marrowwalk bug active in the betas?
  • Does Lower Resist still lower magic resistance in the betas?
  • When was the eth rune fixed?
  • When was the damage reduction order changed to apply MDR before resistances?
A lot of these are interesting for people looking to play a necro. Those should be fine HF collectors as well, and probably even safer than a Hammerdin.
 
You can't use ATMA to mule items in 1.10a but you can use ATMA IV with the ATS utility to view characters or transfer them to 1.10s
I have to comment about that.

I started collecting HF Runes in 1.10s because ATMA IV supports it and it's anyway the place for Beta CtA. Summon Necro as collector works fine with average equipment.

So I didn't touch 1.10a until I decided to do some BKWB runs. At that point I rushed and leveled another Summon Necro to 1.10a to collect runes (still don't know why) and my rushed and leveled Sorc moved to 1.10a too.

ATS utility is for 1.10a. 1.10a is the bad and ugly here. 1.10s accepts characters directly from other earlier versions just fine. You ONLY need that ATS if you want to forward your 1.10a 99'ers or Mal, Ist and Ohm runes to 1.10s. Someone says that 1.10s is there only for beta CtA. I say that 1.10a is there only for BKWB.

Ugh!

m4ke
 
@m4ke I've had that happen to me between 1.07 and the current version. Sometimes it doesn't happen, or better it shouldn't, but it seems not rare at all that one version of the game will find characters from another version and open them as if they were their own. It's like the game doesn't only check it's "save" folder, but every "save" folder where there are files it recognizes. There were two things I did when I was trying to solve the problem that resulted in the issue being resolved, but I don't know which one worked, or both, or neither: create a "data" folder in 1.14d and, restart the computer. I don't know if any of this could help between 1.10a and 1.10s, but I leave it here in case it does help in some way.
 
No, you have to patch it with ATS first - that's a part of ATMA IV. It's simple don't worry.
 
Some progress in 1.10a. I did another HF rush and got one Ist rune (poor...) Anyway I was able to make 1.10a beta CtA:
1.10a_Beta_CtA.jpg
1.10s CtA should be the same but I got only +233% ED. 1.10s should be +250-290%. Ok, it doesn't matter =)

My mana and life and stamina are as full as they get at healer. That Trang-Oul's Vampire form is little buggy. Other things too.

I rolled also semi good map for Andy and did my first runs.

m4ke
 
If you want to mule in 1.10a you need to open multiple instances, create a TCP/IP game and mule over the ground. The necessary multi-instance .dlls can be found in the Trenshadow version switcher files. Conversely ATMA works with 1.10s without a problem.

I am making the jump to 1.10a today but I am having problems running multiple instances... I hope someone can help!

I have done the following as indicated by this and the SPF Community Link threads:
  1. Downloaded the 1.10a file from Trenshadow's version switcher in the Community Link thread
    • 1623695332797.png
    • I also repeated this entire process using Link2
  2. Extracted the contents of this file
  3. Created a new folder within my D2 installation director called '1.10a'
  4. Copied the contents of the extracted download into the '1.10a' folder
  5. Followed the step-by-step instructions from Trenshadow's version switcher to create a shortcut for 'LaunchModGame.vbs' except step 7 (compatibility mode) since it appears to be for windows vista
    • 1623695507090.png
      [*]1623695576280.png
  6. Replaced the 'game.exe' file from Trenshadow's patch with the NoCD file for 1.10a provided by GalaXyHaXz
    • 1623695686490.png
      [*]Without this step, the game would not run - whereas I was under the impression it should if an expansion disc is mounted to a virtual drive
  7. One instance of Diablo 2 can be started by clicking the new desktop shortcut created by Trenshadow's instructions. However clicking it again to try and launch a 2nd instance results in an error:
    • 1623695873551.png
 

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You need to replace the d2gfx.dll by renaming the one in Trenshadow. It isn't activated by default.
 
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Let's bring this discussion back to to the front page with a quick question: does the synergy-charge bug exist in 1.10a?

Just 'installed' this version myself. Probably will go with a necro and sorc. Won't start right away, since I don't really have the time now.

In any case, I noticed that the old 'running symbols in left corner'-bug existed with glide-wrapper in this patch too. I 'fixed' the D2Glide.dll, it is attached below in case anyone else suffers from the annoying bug. I don't know if it works with 1.10s, but it probably does.
 

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Edit - v1.10a Best drop while farming Andy 2500 times for a pair of +2BKWR (514 + 2281) was five Uniques and a sixth nearby.

Screenshot032.jpg
Screenshot033.jpg
v1.10s sweet!
Screenshot002.jpg
 
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Resolved.

Have to 'resurrect' this thread because I've got some tech problems...anyone can help with this error at launch?

1662032652847.png

I played 1.10a previously with the earlier help from @maxicek but all of a sudden it stopped working

Edit: Resolved

Not sure exactly what fixed it but I did all of the following:
  • Uninstalled D2
  • Cleaned the directory of all non-save/muling program files
  • Removed any, and everything in the registry with a diablo II reference
  • Reinstalled using .isos not the bnet app
  • Added 1.10a from trenshadow's switcher into a subdirectory of installation folder
  • Added NoGalaxy's nocd game.exe
  • Swapped d2gfx.dll
  • Copied all files from the Trenshadow 1.10a directory to the D2 root directory
  • Created and ran the Launchmodgame.vbs shortcut as indicated
Highly suspect that this was the problem:
1662109344942.png

Shoutout to @Vildecor 's updated guide to installation/troubleshooting

And it seems I was not the first to encounter this problem.
 
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