Anything Goes D2 Lounge!

[d2lover]

My untwinked sorceress has finished Normal.

lvl 40 and 75% fcr (random rare wand, rings+amu, stealth)

 

[Nona]

After deeding my sorc I started a new one and trying to move forward as quickly as possible. I’m wondering if there is a guide on way finding? I have seen some references in post to which way to go: in the durance for instance (turn left) or act 1 (follow the dirt path) but wondered if every area was explained?

 

[Apila]

There used to be a couple around back in the old forums. Can't find the link to them in here anymore.

But yes, generally it comes down to picking a direction. In durance of hate when coming from WP, you take a left turn and then observe the direction the room faces. This indicates the direction that the entrance to the next level faces. See the image below for an example.




It might be easier to just circle the map clockwise.

Some other dungeons work a bit differently. In Maggot Lair, you always go right. Some maps are static, so you only need to remember their layout (Nihl's temple, Flayer Dungeon.)

There should be a list of most dungeons' "handiness" somewhere.

Another short pro-tip: when talking to Jerhyn after killing Duriel, enter the Harem and open a TP to skip the long walk across Lut Gholein.

 

[Nona]

There used to be a couple around back in the old forums. Can't find the link to them in here anymore.

But yes, generally it comes down to picking a direction. In durance of hate when coming from WP, you take a left turn and then observe the direction the room faces. This indicates the direction that the entrance to the next level faces. See the image below for an example.


View attachment 65672

It might be easier to just circle the map clockwise.

Some other dungeons work a bit differently. In Maggot Lair, you always go right. Some maps are static, so you only need to remember their layout (Nihl's temple, Flayer Dungeon.)

There should be a list of most dungeons' "handiness" somewhere.

Another short pro-tip: when talking to Jerhyn after killing Duriel, enter the Harem and open a TP to skip the long walk across Lut Gholein.

Great thanks! What about arcane sanctuary for summoner and the overworlds of act 2-4? Any tips for knowing what direction to go

 

[art_vandelay]

Arcane Sanctuary has no known "tell" for where the Summoner is, as far as we know it's always a 1 in 4 chance.

In act 2 the outdoor levels are squares with "indents". The entries and exits are in the corners but only if the corner does not have an "indent".
Landmarks (waypoints and entries to dungeons) can be anywhere on the map and are independent of the cliffs running through the map if that makes sense.

In act 4 the outdoor levels are also relatively easy but that requires some paint skills and I'm not up for it right now. However there are some good videos on youtube on "pathfinding" in speedrunning where the speedrunners list the possibilities for the entries and exits of the act 4 outdoors maps.

 

[Apila]

Outer Steppes is a static map (I'm pretty sure.) The stairs are always immediately to the right (from characters viewpoint, that is), to the middle left or at the bottom middle. I'm not sure about City of the Damned, never though about it.

In Arcane Sanctuary Summoner is always located in the arm you search last (no but really it is totally random).

 

[art_vandelay]

Outer Steppes is a static map (I'm pretty sure.) The stairs are always immediately to the right (from characters viewpoint, that is), to the middle left or at the bottom middle. I'm not sure about City of the Damned, never though about it.

I actually tested the combos once and came up with 6 possible layouts for Outer Steppes:

I found that any map I got had one of the red arrows as entry and one of the green arrows as exit. I also got all combinations I think so there should be 2*3 combos in total.

There are only a few possible entries and exits for Plains of Despair but I can't recall them right now.

Sadly @Fruit never looked at maps

 

[maxicek]

Just noticed that many of the maps didn't make it over from the old forums. (and the links are broken on the few that are still available over on the old pages.)

Pathfinding Guide

docs.google.com

This is the most complete map guide that I've seen lately (I claim no credit for its creation - author info is on top of the document

Will be in the links posts when I finish it.

 

[d2lover]

My thesis is that the arcane sanctuary is in a quantum superposition.

it's always the last way I visit

 

[Kitteh]

I recommend trying all four arms of Arcane Sanctuary. When you find one with The Summoner at the end, that's the arm that you need to take

 

[art_vandelay]

Will be in the links posts when I finish it.

Sadly some of the areas contain nonsense from some mod, see for example cold plains.

I have a short handwritten collection of all routing information available (not just the speedrunning stuff) but I have no clue how to turn it into something remotely viewable.

 

[snickersnack]

@d2lover I also usually have to do all 4 paths, but NM AS with my tigerStrikeSin was just 1 path.

A question for the thread:

My tiger strike assassin is in act 2 Hell now, and I'm considering some gear changes. I used a Death CB for a bit, which had crazy damage (10k-24k, fully charged), but was a bit slow and lacked defensive modifiers.

I went back to an upped, shaeled ribby, but since I'm using BoS, the shael is wasted. So, I took it out and put in an eth for the -25% enemy defense. I was thinking that this would give a big boost to my hit rate. I haven't tested it much, yet.

Three questions (actually):

1. Any ideas on a better rune/gem to socket? The only RJoF I have is of the resist variety, but see below for what I do have.
2. 15 ias is enough for a fury druid, and some ias is needed for a assassin using Fade, but are there any other reasons to keep 15/20 ias in the weapon? I wouldn't want to put a Jah in my 294% ribby only to hel it out later.
3. Might Fade be a better choice over BoS? It wasn't easy to work resists into my gear, and I'm using some caster items (mara's, ummed shako) instead of more melee oriented items. If I ditch BoS, I can use Fade, which would open up other gear options.

Here is a jewel I found a few days ago that I may end up using:

Pearl Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0x95c8136d
Item Level: 79
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
+50% Damage to Undead
+31 to Attack Rating against Undead

That should pair nicely with LoH.

 

[saracen85]

@snickersnack My strategy for my Tiger Striker is like this:

- Cast MB to convert half the mob

- Charge up TS and Cobra Strike on the rest

- Release on the the mob boss or any close big monsters

So, 90% of the time TSing basically feels like any other "normal attack/oskills" builds. Having non-weapon ED helps in killing trash mobs while charging up. So, the Pearl jewel will do nicely.

TBH, the Eth is a decent choice too. Chance to hit is just so important to any Martial Artist. Stick with it if it gives you peace of mind.

As for Fade vs BoS, this is subjective. Personally, I try to get resists from gear because the mobility suits more for my strategy. She needs to keep moving and constantly charging up (since I have 2 charge ups to be concerned with).

 

[Nona]

Can someone remind me of the rules...if I want to start a HC character in 1.07 do I first need to beat 1.07 in SC and then start a HC character? How is that handled now that newer versions don't require SC first?

 

[d2lover]

Can someone remind me of the rules...if I want to start a HC character in 1.07 do I first need to beat 1.07 in SC and then start a HC character? How is that handled now that newer versions don't require SC first?

you can change your regestry such that you can start in hc immidiately

1.07 hc tho seems suicidal

 

[snickersnack]

@snickersnack My strategy for my Tiger Striker is like this:

- Cast MB to convert half the mob

- Charge up TS and Cobra Strike on the rest

- Release on the the mob boss or any close big monsters

So, 90% of the time TSing basically feels like any other "normal attack/oskills" builds. Having non-weapon ED helps in killing trash mobs while charging up. So, the Pearl jewel will do nicely.

TBH, the Eth is a decent choice too. Chance to hit is just so important to any Martial Artist. Stick with it if it gives you peace of mind.

As for Fade vs BoS, this is subjective. Personally, I try to get resists from gear because the mobility suits more for my strategy. She needs to keep moving and constantly charging up (since I have 2 charge ups to be concerned with).

I actually haven't put any points into Mindblast, and it annoys me when the SM casts it.

(Maybe sidenote: I did most of act 1 on p6, then I switched to p1 and then p4 for act 2 (I wanted to get through it faster). I'm doing Act 3 on p5, and it's pretty quick for the most part. I just had my second NDE with Ssark, but a quick retreat and rejuv fixed that.)

I also am not using CoS much at all (I just forget to do it...). Really, I'm relying on good resists/absorb and life leech. I knew that a TS assassin would be strong, but it's maybe even as good as a kicker, which surprises me.

I'm not using Cobra Strike, but I could put a point into it. That would free up some item slots a bit. Hmm. I'm using SoE and a fairly nice, crafted dual-leech ring; using CS would slow me down a bit, but it would also open up some options for items. Another Hmm.

I may be remembering poorly, but if I put the +% ED to Undead jewel in the ribby, doees that count as off-weapon for the calculation? That'd be pretty sad, but I know that there are a few things like that in D2. I just don't remember all of them.

Stone Spiral
Ring
Required Level: 68
Fingerprint: 0x263a76f
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+74 to Attack Rating
5% Mana stolen per hit
3% Life stolen per hit
+8 to Strength
+17 to Life
+77 to Mana

 

[maxicek]

@Nona You can also make a new HC Charater in ATMA.

 

[Apila]

I may be remembering poorly, but if I put the +% ED to Undead jewel in the ribby, doees that count as off-weapon for the calculation?

Yes, it counts as off-weapon ED%.

 

[maxicek]

MFO when?
Or next item / rune finding tournament?

 

[Kartongen]

Does elemental attacks trigger "ctc when struck"? E.g. gloam lightning, bone mage projectiles etc.

Also @maxicek, what is your new profile picture meant to be? I can't see what is up and what is down so to speak (perhaps since I have only seen it on a small screen).