[2015] The Show Your Colours Tournament [by Pb_pal]

[Grisu]

DISCLAIMER: Migration finished

This tournament has already ended. It was originally started by Pb_pal on Nov 23, 2015. The last post was made Feb 2, 2016.
(link to original thread on diabloii.net) ​

Ulric looked around his weapons-practice class and frowned in disgust. Look at these buffoons in their mis-matched, clashing sets of armour. Everyone was so obsessed with getting the most powerful gear available that nobody ever tried to look halfway decent while doing it.

Ulric’s father had always told him “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.”, and never had that felt more true than while he looked at his Paladin friend wearing a red suit of armour with a green shield. Ulric supposed that his dream was to one day be the savior of Christmas, not Sanctuary. It was at that moment that Ulric made a silent vow. He would be the hero that saved Sanctuary from the impending doom it faced, and he was going to look damn good doing it. If they were going to be erecting statues in his honour, he was at least going to make sure he was looking his finest for them!

--

Alright everyone, get your style pants on! It’s time to get some Guardians and look good doing it.

Welcome to the Show Your Colours Tournament! A tournament where it pays to be vain, and looks matter.

The premise is simple, your character must pick a colour, and all visible equipment must adhere to this colour restriction. This will leave your character with a beautifully colour-coordinated outfit which will no doubt dazzle all enemies into submission. Visible equipment includes Helmet, Armor (body), Weapon and Shield. All other equipment is not accounted for on the character display, and therefore does not need to follow the colour-coordination rule.

What’s that? Just how can you make your outfit as fabulous as possible? Let’s begin with a primer on how the coloration mechanic works in the game. Don’t let the amount of information here intimidate you, you can easily get by without taking into account ~90% of what’s in here. I just thought it would be good to have all relevant information in one place for easy reference.

Spoiler: Basics of Coloration

*Note-all .txt files referenced here can be found in ATMA's Config directory, just drop them into Excel for easy viewing! I will also attach an Excel file that has all relevant .txt files sorted by colour in Appendix B for those interested.*

Basics of Coloration

An item's colour is controlled by transform flags located in the data files. There are two ways in which these transform flags can be manipulated to produce an item with colour; Affixes and the socketing of gems. Not all affixes will change the colour of an item, but those which have a transform code (located in MagicPrefix.txt and MagicSuffix.txt data files) have the potential to change the colour of an item, assuming other conditions are met which I will get into later. Gems work similarly in that they have a transform number (found in Gems.txt) that will change the colour of an item if certain parameters are met (again, I'll explain later). The transform numbers and codes, and what they represent, are as follows:

#  - code - Colour         -     Gems(if applicable)
00 - whit - White          - Perfect Diamond
01 - lgry - Light Gray     - Chipped-Flawless Diamond
02 - dgry - Dark Gray      - Chipped-Flawless Skull
03 - blac - Black          - Perfect Skull
04 - lblu - Light Blue
05 - dblu - Dark Blue      - Chipped-Flawless Sapphire
06 - cblu - Crystal Blue   - Perfect Sapphire
07 - lred - Light Red
08 - dred - Dark Red       - Chipped-Flawless Ruby
09 - cred - Crystal Red    - Perfect Ruby
10 - lgrn - Light Green
11 - dgrn - Dark Green     - Chipped-Flawless Emerald
12 - cgrn - Crystal Green  - Perfect Emerald
13 - lyel - Light Yellow   - Perfect Topaz
14 - dyel - Dark Yellow    - Chipped-Flawless Topaz
15 - lgld - Light Gold
16 - dgld - Dark Gold
17 - lpur - Light Purple   - Perfect Amethyst
18 - dpur - Dark Purple    - Chipped-Flawless Amethyst
19 - oran - Orange
20 - bwht - Bright White

*One thing to note just for completeness’ sake is that runes have a
Transform Number of 18, although they do not actually transform
equipment to a purple colour*

One last thing to note about affixes is that they have a chain of priority which decides exactly which colour takes precedence. If there is only 1 Affix with a Transform Code, if will change the colour of the item (assuming of course the item is able to change colour), whereas if two conflicting affixes are on the same item, the Suffix will take precedence. For example:

Godly (Dark Gold) Archon Plate of Ages (no Transform code) will display as Dark Gold, whereas

Godly (Dark Gold) Archon Plate of Swords (Orange) will display as Orange.

This gets slightly more complicated in rares and crafts when there are multiple prefixes and suffixes, but there remains a hierarchy there as well; suffix 1, suffix 2, suffix 3, prefix 1, prefix 2, prefix 3. Unique and Set items also have their own respective transform codes listed in the UniqueItems.txt and SetItems.txt data files.

--

Now that we know HOW they change colour, there is also the trouble of whether or not they CAN change colour. Basically in the Armor.txt and Weapons.txt data files, there are two columns which govern if it is possible for an item to change colour. These are the "Transform" column which dictates whether or not the colour will change on your character in-game, and "InvTrans" column which dictates whether or not the item will change colour in your inventory. If the "transform" column has a 0 in it, the item will never change colour on your character (though these items can still change colour in your inventory if the InvTrans column does not = 0). So you'll have to be careful that you do not waste a socketing opportunity on an item that won't display on your character, as that is what counts for this tournament. Items that do NOT change display colour (ie. Transform = 0) on your character, and are thus banned*, are as follows:

- Full Helm, Basinet, Giant Conch

- All Paladin Shields

- Circlet, Coronet, Tiara, Diadem (These do not have a graphical display at all on the character, so even though they have a non-zero Transform number, they are still banned)

*Obviously Gloves, Belts, Boots, and Jewelry are not included under this section, despite having a Transform value of 0, as none of them are actually displayed on your character


Now that we know what happens when an item has a Transform value of 0, you might ask what all the other values mean. Well, the rest of the Transform values (1,2,5,7,8) dictate which PART of the item actually changes colour. I don’t know what they all reference, but it seems that each one pertains to a different colour on the actual item (so, if an item has Transform = 1, all gray areas will change colour). The only reason I’m mentioning this is because there are certain items (Mask-type helms come to mind) that only small portions of the item change colour. Taking a Mask as an example, only the horns of the mask actually change colour, but the face does not (think Tal’s Helm). For our purposes in this tournament that will suffice, and I’ll leave it up to the individual participant whether or not they feel it is enough of an impact to warrant use.

One very last thing to note when you are looking for equipment is that you should pay attention to the affixes of the item in question, rather than simply if the colour looks blue/purple/whatever or not. There are items that do not transform colour in the inventory at all (InvTrans = 0), or do not transform in any really noticeable way, but DO still change the colour displayed on your character (Transform =/= 0). Some examples are Necro heads and Barb-specific helms (Invtrans = 0), and Large/Kite/Tower/Gothic type Shields and their exceptional/elite counterparts (InvTrans = 2). For example, a Savage Helmet of the Mammoth will look its normal gray in your inventory screen, but will give a nice blood-red appearance on your character.

Again, the only items that never change colour (Transform=0) are listed above in the banned section, so everything else is fair game as long as it has an applicable affix or gem socketed!

Okay, now that we know how the coloration process works, let’s get to the tournament rules!

General Rules

1. HC, or SC with disqualification upon first death (feel free to continue to update, although you cannot win the tournament.)
2. Single-pass, untwinked only. (You may, of course, sprint from a WP to an uncleared area when starting a new session. Keep kills to an absolute minimum while maintaining safety, but all drops are off limits)
3. You may defer completion of non-item "rewards" quests (Larzuk Socketing, Anya Personalization) and return for the rewards at any point. You may also return to previous acts/difficulties for shopping purposes as you please.
4. ATMA/GoMule may be used as an extended stash (you may also hot-mule off, as long as you adhere to the rules. Please take extra care to avoid any problems. Here is the relevant quote from the SPF Rules FAQ:

Spoiler

Hotmuling

Hot muling is muling while the character you are muling from is in game. It's rarely done because of the risk of creating duplicate items (aka 'duping'). It's usually done with Gheeds because you can only carry one at a time. This is acceptable but should be declared and care must be taken so that the items are not duped.

So you are playing Teagan and she has a Gheeds. Another Unique charm drops.

Minimize to desktop and open ATMA or GoMule. You open Teagan and another character which doesn't have a Gheeds or any stash file.

You move Teagan's Gheeds to the other character or stash. You save that file and exit ATMA or GoMule.
Back in game you drop Teagans identified Gheeds on the ground and pick up the UnID'd one.
You play as normal and when you next exit you can put the 'new' Gheeds in the stash and get the first one back. Same as you would swap any other item.

However, it is not - and never has been - acceptable to restore backups with the intention of having a second chance at making an item whether through cubing sockets, crafting or making runewords. Similarly if you trade an item away, you delete the one on your hard drive. Duping is NOT acceptable.

5. You may re-enter as many times as you wish, or enter multiple characters at once. You may sign-up any time.
6. Version 1.10+, RRM/RWM/FAM allowed. No MP, no Trading.
7. Any /players setting may be used at any time.
8. Save + Exit to avoid death is NOT allowed, and results in disqualification from the tournament. (you may, however, S+E if running from a previously cleared area and you get yourself in trouble.)
9. I will make and maintain a table with progress. This will hopefully eliminate mix-ups and missed updates. Make sure to state char name, class, and colour upon entering so I can get it in the table.


Tournament Specific Rules:

10. All "displayed" equipment in-game (not the inventory screen) must match in colour, chosen on character selection. Colour choices are: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow (includes Gold), White (includes Light gray), Black (includes Dark Gray), Purple.

a) This includes helm, body armor, weapon and shield​

​

i) As stated in the Primer above, certain items do not ever change colour, and thus cannot be used in this tournament. These items include:​

• Full Helm/Basinet/Giant Conch
• Cap/War Hat/Shako
• All Paladin-specific Shields
• Circlet/Coronet/Tiara/Diadems.

ii) See “Appendix A – How to Colour” for all ways in which equipment can be coloured for you and by you.​

b) All other equipment (gloves, belt, boots, jewelry) have no colour restraints (this helps alleviate the disadvantage of not choosing yellow for MF, as well as adding valuable survival options)​

c) Plain (non-magic), empty-socketed, or ethereal equipment may be used until your first piece of coloured equipment is found/made.​

11. You will be allowed ONE (1) “mulligan” per difficulty (unlocked upon entering the Rogue Encampment), but it comes at a price. If you want to change the colour your character has chosen (say, if you’ve found that S/U that you just can’t bear to be without, but it’s the wrong colour), you must sacrifice a non-coloured equipment slot (gloves, boots, belt, ring or amulet) for the rest of your character’s journey. That slot may never be filled with equipment again, and cannot be changed once it is selected. Each successive mulligan must obviously choose a different slot to sacrifice. The mulligans do roll over, so you can use all 3 in Hell if you feel like it’s worth it.

12. Mercenaries must also adhere to the coloration rule, meaning all of their equipment must match in colour. I know their display doesn’t change, but it suits the theme. Their colours are pre-determined, and are as follows:

• Act I – Green
• Act II – Purple
• Act III – White
• Act V – Red

Plain (non-magic), empty-socketed, or ethereal equipment may be used until their first piece of coloured equipment is found/made.

13. Skill restrictions:

• Shapeshifting (Werewolf, Werebear) are banned. We're here to show off our colours!
• Holy Shield may only be used is White is selected as your character’s colour.
• Venom may only be used if Green is selected as your character's colour.
• Enchant may only be used if Red is selected as your character's colour (although it may be used freely on mercenaries, as their display doesn't change.

14. No Stat restrictions
15. Runewords are banned (though individual runes can be socketed into appropriate equipment)
16. Socketing may be done as you wish, as long as the final item is properly coloured. See Appendix A for details.
17. Gambling is permitted and encouraged.
18. Respec is banned.
19. This will be extra difficult for weapon-dependent melee builds, especially considering socketing only affects crafted and socketed (gray) items. Keep this in mind when selecting colour and build plan.
20.The winner(s) is/are anyone who makes Guardian status. The prize is the joy of looking upon your character’s stylish outfit forever, as well as a bunch of admiration from the SPF.


Special thanks to @Brak for the ideas about merc equipment and the mulligan option!


The tournament starts now, good luck!

---

Appendices:


Appendix A – How to Colour

Wondering how to make the most of your opportunities? Here is a full breakdown of what works (and what doesn’t) in terms of finding/making those colourful pieces:

Spoiler

There are multiple ways in which items can be manipulated to attain specific colour transforms, here I will list all the ways that you can obtain a valid item to equip on your character. These rules are obviously only practically applied to armour, helm, and weapon/shield slots for this tournament.

1. Socketed (Gray):

• The first socket must be filled with an appropriate gem (ie. Sapphire of any quality for Blue). Remaining sockets may be filled as you wish. This means that for a 3-socket chain mail you can socket sapphire-topaz-topaz, and your armor will still be coloured blue. This is handy, so that characters who choose colours other than yellow are not too handicapped in the MF department early on!

2. Magic/Rare:

• The only way is to find/buy/gamble an item with an appropriate affix (ie. *item* of Nova Shield for Blue). Socketing does NOT affect the colour of the item.

3. Set/Unique:

• All Set/Uniques come with an inherent Transform colour found in SetItems.txt and UniqueItems.txt. There is no other way to alter their colour.

4. Crafted:

• The first socket must be filled with an appropriate gem. Remaining sockets may be filled as you wish. Crafts do not transform based on affix selection (strangely), so socketing is the only way in which they will be useable.

Appendix B – Further Resources (Use them, they’re helpful!)

Spoiler

List of Magic Prefixes (Arreat Summit)

List of Magic Suffixes (Arreat Summit)

Affix Calculator which also shows their respective colours

Here is an Excel Spreadsheet with all .txt files mentioned in the Primer, sorted by colour. You can also see what item type each affix will spawn on if you scroll over to the “itype” columns. Make sure you take a look over there in your planning, it will give you a good idea of what will be available! Fun little resource, if nothing else.

Spreadsheet DL Link

 

[Grisu]

I'll get the ball rolling with my entry:

Lemon the Red Avenger Paladin - lvl 1, Rogue Encmapment

He is based off of his namesake from the game Shining Force 2 (as most of my tournament characters are!), and will probably end up using an A3 Iron wolf as his companion.

 

[Grisu]

I'll enter, though my time will be limited as it is a busy part of the year.

(Hardcore) Crimson the Summoner Druid - lvl 1, Rogue Encampment

An unoriginal name taken from the same idea as @Pb_pal but I was thinking of his title being "the Blood-Stained". Once his fellow wolves rip apart the enemies, they feast on the flesh for dinner. Not too sure which merc to use but I'll probably choose A1 Rogue. Gonna be red all over.

 

[Grisu]

Gretchen has started in the Rogue encampment and after she rid the lands of Red Raven was benefitted with Annor for her troubles, who just so happens to also favor the same color as she. The two ladies have donned their first pieces of green kit, rescued Mr. Cain and continue on to slay Andariel eventually. Here is the kit they have managed to assemble thus far.






Gretchen and Annor, Black Marsh, Level 14

 

[Grisu]

@Interdasting - Welcome aboard. I like the idea!

@Southpaw8668 - Awesome! Cool to see some screenies already, it will be interesting seeing how everybody's characters look as we go!

 

[Grisu]

Hmmm...perhaps this will bring me out of semi-retirement (for the 6th time over 15 years). I like the restriction of no runewords. The typical stealth, malice, rhyme, etc. get a little old after awhile. No to get thinking about a potential character.

 

[Grisu]

Just a small update. I clubbed the denizens of the Blood Moor and left behind a trail of incandescent red across the trail. I entered a lovely hovel known as the Den of Evil and gave those lovely souls the same treatment. Of course now with some stripes on their bodies from my adorable wolf friends.

Crimson the Blood-Bathed, level 7 at the Cold Plains

 

[Grisu]

I'll be entering with Lucent, the white-adorned Spearzon. Jav/Spear Tree only. Undecided on which merc she'll keep.

 

[Grisu]

Despite our great advance we only have of one coagulated bloodstone to speak of. Aaaaaand then we get the 3 socket Ring Mail after the fact.

Crimson the Blood-Bathed, level 14 entering the Black Marsh

 

[Grisu]

I'll be entering with Lucent, the white-adorned Spearzon. Jav/Spear Tree only. Undecided on which merc she'll keep.

After a bit more thought, single tree may be a bit too much, given the gear restrictions and my planned skills (Fend/CS/LS). So I'll retract that statement and allow myself the luxury of a Decoy.

 

[Grisu]

@Vildecor - Ballsy move going without a valk! Cool build, looking forward to seeing how she does

 

[Grisu]

@Pb_pal Since Fend will be one of my main skills, going Valk-less is a necessity. No points in Dodge/Avoid/Evade = no Fend bug.

 

[Grisu]

@Vildecor - looking forward to seeing how Fend works for you without the deadly bug. Huge handicap without your best ally though. White should be a nice choice, good luck and have fun!!!

 

[Grisu]

Lemon began his journey out into the Moor, ready to take on the evils of Sanctuary and dreaming of the beautiful set of blood-red armour that awaited him one day.

His journey began as any other, with a trip to the Den of Evil. He moved swiftly through it, taking out Corpsefire with the help of his Might aura. Upon entering the Cold Plains he switched over to Holy Fire because, well, fire is red. He also hired Paige the Fire rogue (more red!) and promptly gave her a bow socketed with a chipped emerald, as she had informed him her favourite colour was green. Her poison-tipped arrows ensured Blood Raven fell in a timefly fashion.

Soon after this he found his first chipped ruby, and promptly socketed a ring mail with it to make his first piece of red armour. Now that he was looking good, he killed Coldcrow and moved on through the Underground Passage. In the Dark Wood he managed to complete socket a weapon with a chipped ruby, thus completing his first round of red attire. He quite liked the way the fire danced on his blood-red equipment while he sliced through Griswold:

.
After this it was smooth sailing up to the Outer Cloister, with the Countess dropping a Ral which we will use for yet more fire damage once we hit 19. That's where he satnds now, I just wanted to get his first update in and more importantly get a table started. I'll leave you with a shot of his and Paige's inventories, as they are both feeling quite stylish right now.

.


Lemon the Red Avenger Paladin with Paige the Fire Rogue - lvl 17, Outer Cloister


--

Table of Heroes:
Forum Name     Class      Colour   Char Name     LVL    ACT     Area
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pb_pal         Paladin    Red      Lemon         17     A1      Outer Cloister
Southpaw8668   Amazon     Green    Gretchen      14     A1      Black Marsh
Interdasting   Druid      Red      Crimson       14     A1      Black Marsh
Vildecor       Amazon     White    Lucent        1      A1      Rogue Encampment


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Grisu]

I'm entering with a blue FA / passive zon. Sapphires will help her to increase cold length and provide a sufficient mana pool without Insight.

I already found a couple of sapphires. First one was wasted on a Cap which does not change color on the character despite its Transform value in the Armor.txt.

[highlight]Vanilla, level 15, Black Marsh next[/highlight]

 

[Grisu]

I'm entering with a blue FA / passive zon. Sapphires will help her to increase cold length and provide a sufficient mana pool without Insight.

I already found a couple of sapphires. First one was wasted on a Cap which does not change color on the character despite its Transform value in the Armor.txt.

Vanilla, level 15, Black Marsh next

Welcome!

That's strange about the cap, but when I look it up, it seems that Harlequin Crest doesn't change appearance either, despite quite obviously being green. So it seems it's the whole Cap 'family'. Odd about the transform flag in the .txt file though. Thanks for the heads up, I'll edit it into the first post so other people don't make the same mistake!

 

[Grisu]

Tough luck. Made it through the Black Marsh, the Tower, Tamoe Highlands, the Outer Cloister, all parts of the Jail and still no rubies!! I got a Ral from Countess and Arctic vest from a mob in the Black Marsh but otherwise it's been pretty bear. I also found a nifty mf amulet and we finally became more red with our new friend, HoW.

 

[Grisu]

That's really bad luck on the rubies, Interdashing.

I already found a couple of sapphires. First one was wasted on a Cap which does not change color on the character despite its Transform value in the Armor.txt.

In addition to the cap, I noticed that my Breastplate didn't change color either. I didn't test it out on other classes, but on the Amazon it stays gold.

Yep, that means Lucent has finished Act I. Our mercenary was able to get all her gear turned green before I found my second diamond, but the last half of the act more than made up for it, as I now have plenty of them. Started off with a Spear, which was later upgraded to a Trident once I got enough strength.

The countess had a very nice drop for us (I always take her on /players1 so I don't get any items to replace any bonus runes she can drop). This shot also shows Lucent in her full "white" gear. Interested to see how much the colors change once I acquire perfect diamonds. There's only ONE affix that will get me anything I can use for magic/rare gear: Visionary. All the other affixes listed are either for jewels or were not implemented. At least I can craft a spear later.

I stole Pb_pal's capture screeshot keybind (the spacebar) and I guess hit the old Print Screen button on Andariel's drop, so I didn't capture it. She gave me The Dragon Chang, which is purple, so I hired a Defiance merc once I got to Act II. After noticing that my breastplate adamantly stayed gold, I decided we would be wearing Splint Mail instead, at the cost of -9% MF each. But we will look much more stylish. I also shopped a 3os Brandistock and shoved in that Ral the countess gave me after I put the diamond in. I'll make sure to get some nice action screenshots in next session, especially since the Brandistock looks more awesome than the Trident.

Lucent the Spearzon, level 20, Lut Gholein

 

[Grisu]

@Vildecor - Breast plates DO actually change colour, it just isn't very noticeable. At least that's the way it is for Lemon (I can't imagine there being differences per class). I did a bit of testing, and tried equipping a red breast plate and a purple breast plate on one of my other character, and there was indeed a difference albeit a very subtle one (probably much MUCH harder to detect in your case, with the colour being white/grey). That's a bit of an issue with several of the plate mails it seems, you see the colour more as a sheen rather than a full transformation. It goes back to the "InvTrans" value and exactly what portions of the armour the game considers changeable.

I figured there would be some kinks to work out like this as we went, but luckily the same rules will apply to exceptional/elite versions so one it really counts we'll have a good handle on it! I'm not going to get too picky about it, and you can definitely switch back to Breast Plates for the extra MF as they are a legal armour. But of course, if you'd rather stick with something more stylish looking, I'm not going to stop you.

--

As you may have guessed, Lemon has also moved on to Lut Gholein.

Soon after resuming his journey in the Outer Cloister, he both simultaneously hit lvl 18 and found our first S/U in Cleglaw' Shield. It just so happens that it's red too, which is pretty cool (although it isn't really useful to us right now). More importantly though, he hit lvl 18 and could finally put a point into Vengeance! It's a bit of a pain right now due to our tiny mana pool, but it's powerful and fun, so we're happy.

The Smith went down easy, as did Pitspawn and Bone Ash, and we began our descent into the Catacombs.

Our journey wetn so smoothly through the Catacombs that we forgot to switch the /p setting before triggering Andy. Looks like it was a /p8 fight! Woops. We reverse-portal-parked her, cleared out her level, and took her on in a doorway:

.
With all of our fire damage from multiple sources, she went down extremely easily despite the high /p setting. Her drop included Cleglaws gloves, our second piece of the set. Again, not useful right now, but still cool to see 2 red pieces this early on. Hopefully it's a trend that will continue! One other thing to note is Lemon's XP bar. I couldn't believe it! Literally 150 XP from getting the elusive level-up to 21 in A1! Ah well, maybe next time

Other finds:
- A 2nd Cleglaw's Shield (Catacombs 1)
- Deathspade (Catacombs 2)

Lemon the Red Avenger Paladin with Paige the Fire Rogue - lvl 20, Lut Gholein

 

[Grisu]

Gretchen, Annor and Fazel have bested Andariel and made there way a bit into the desert, enough to find the little gold box and a magical staff they must put in the stash till they can find the Viper Amulet.

Gretchen is quite please with how her parties' uniforms are looking, quite properly colored and matching perfectly. Fazel is proving to be an excellent hire and he looks very striking in his purple kit she has insisted he must wear to suit her fancy.

While shopping for Brandistocks from Gheed we noticed some orange colored items that I was not familiar with until all the necessary research required for this tournament. Here is an interesting bow that would be nice if Gretchen had any interest in archery.

Gretchen also really liked this Crystal Sword that The Creeping Feature dropped for them, but without the strength or skills to wield it she will sell it to Fara.


Gretchen and Fazel, Level 21, Far Oasis