Anything Goes D2 Lounge!

[Ergro]

Just random post from me, but I feel like Glimmershard is such an underestimated weapon. I almost never see it mentioned anywhere. It's always Oath there, another RW there, unique this and unique that.

But right now I am playing my Freezealot through hell and even though I am playing the hell on /p1, I must say this weapon does some decent business. It never breaks (heck, it's meant for throwing, it has a bazillion on quantity) and it has a very decent and decently high mix of many elements at the same time.

I've yet met an enemy I could not deal with in timely manner.

As I said, just random "anything goes", but I'd thought I'd share my new found respect for this thingie for meeleing.

 

[SirName]

Just random post from me, but I feel like Glimmershard is such an underestimated weapon. I almost never see it mentioned anywhere. It's always Oath there, another RW there, unique this and unique that.

But right now I am playing my Freezealot through hell and even though I am playing the hell on /p1, I must say this weapon does some decent business. It never breaks (heck, it's meant for throwing, it has a bazillion on quantity) and it has a very decent and decently high mix of many elements at the same time.

I've yet met an enemy I could not deal with in timely manner.

As I said, just random "anything goes", but I'd thought I'd share my new found respect for this thingie for meeleing.

Gimmershred is nice. Thing is it is a bit niche. Not many enjoy throwers and as most melee skills enhance physical damage, there are better options with higher physical damage, DS / CB. And almost always there is a skill based way to deal with physical immunes so the elemental damage although significant is more nice-to-have.

That being said there are a few elemental zealots using it in the mat&pat compendium. You need some effort to reach 4 frame zeal and melee range is low (if this is an issue is personal preference). Also this might be obvious but don’t forget you can actually throw it if you need to keep a distance.

It will serve you well, I’m sure. Good luck!

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

Just random post from me, but I feel like Glimmershard is such an underestimated weapon. I almost never see it mentioned anywhere. It's always Oath there, another RW there, unique this and unique that.

But right now I am playing my Freezealot through hell and even though I am playing the hell on /p1, I must say this weapon does some decent business. It never breaks (heck, it's meant for throwing, it has a bazillion on quantity) and it has a very decent and decently high mix of many elements at the same time.

I've yet met an enemy I could not deal with in timely manner.

As I said, just random "anything goes", but I'd thought I'd share my new found respect for this thingie for meeleing.

One of my earliest Pats was a zealot wielding Baranar's Star, which is similar insofar as it adds elemental damage, though not nearly as much as Gimmershred. A lot of those unique work just fine to get through the game, and as far as /p1, in some sense that's kind of how it was meant to be played single-player. ;-)

 

[Triple Helix]

Started rolling a new assassin last night, and she's going to be a WWsin assassin when she is high enough level. I've got one fairly decent claw for the Chaos runeword, and a plain one for Fury, but think I'll shop Anya and run some more Pit for better ones to dump an Ohm and Jah in, or may go with a rare or blue one instead of Fury if I can find a good one.

Level 24 now, and getting excited about a new build that should be a blast.

 

[PhineasB]

It’s a great build and loads of fun. But Anya won’t be if help because all her wares a more blue and not candidates for runeword. And from a repair cost perspective, unless you have lots of Orts or saved gold, both plain might be worth considering. Great staff mod rolls are nice for min-max to save skills, but it’s only a handful and WW-sin is usually not crunched for skills. So I might lean toward cheaper repairs if I were building from scratch.

 

[Triple Helix]

It’s a great build and loads of fun. But Anya won’t be if help because all her wares a more blue and not candidates for runeword. And from a repair cost perspective, unless you have lots of Orts or saved gold, both plain might be worth considering. Great staff mod rolls are nice for min-max to save skills, but it’s only a handful and WW-sin is usually not crunched for skills. So I might lean toward cheaper repairs if I were building from scratch.

Thanks @PhineasB , that sounds like excellent advice. Didn't realize the staff mods would be so expensive to repair, but figured WW would eat up the durability. Think I'll just run for one more feral claw or runic talon base that's plain... one of the ones I found has +3 to both LS and mind blast.

Much appreciated!

 

[PhineasB]

Thanks @PhineasB , that sounds like excellent advice. Didn't realize the staff mods would be so expensive to repair, but figured WW would eat up the durability. Think I'll just run for one more feral claw or runic talon base that's plain... one of the ones I found has +3 to both LS and mind blast.

Much appreciated!

That’s a pretty sweet roll, so might be worth storing up the Orts! For context, my WW Sin had solid staff mods on claw that I used (3 DS and 2 DF), and I managed with Orts and gold. But I maxed lightning traps so DS staff mods weren’t that important, and handful of Hard points to DF wouldn’t have made a huge difference. QoL of cheaper repairs would have been nice, but Orts are also a solid solution either way for field repairs.

 

[ffs]

Another racking question for the pros namely: Can barb helmets with +Whirlwind be racked?

I realized I didn't have any, and a quick google search enlightened me that it's a rare staffmod similar to HS on scepters. So I'm thinking even if still rare, if they can be racked that still seems like a better/more targeted approach than picking up random primal helmets...

EDIT: Found this affix calculator, according to which odds for appropriate ilvl are 1:1457, I guess racking or drop either way. Guess I better get to it... probably racking in LK should end up taking around the same time as farming an Enigma, that is on average and without my usual bad RNG. Willing to bet the first two WW helms I find will be ethereal or 1os for sure.

 

[Triple Helix]

That’s a pretty sweet roll, so might be worth storing up the Orts! For context, my WW Sin had solid staff mods on claw that I used (3 DS and 2 DF), and I managed with Orts and gold. But I maxed lightning traps so DS staff mods weren’t that important, and handful of Hard points to DF wouldn’t have made a huge difference. QoL of cheaper repairs would have been nice, but Orts are also a solid solution either way for field repairs.

I took your advice and made the +3 LS/+3 MB Feral claws into Chaos. Also gambled a blue fool's claw from Anya and decided to save the Jah rune and not make a Fury claw. Equipped the new gear at level 57 in Act 5 NM, and just made Matriarch a few minutes ago. Started saving every Ort I found, but turned out I pretty much broke even on the repair costs just repairing with gold.

Very fun build! With 60% CB, WW was very effective at /p1, especially on bosses. Will probably see how much MF can be tacked on and make a Pit runner out of her.

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

Are these rings any good? I see dual leech as a valuable asset, and resistances are nice as well. I guess I just still feel like I don't have such a good perspective on what makes a good ring. I tend to look for dual leech or leech for melee fighters and build around that and then for casters start with FCR and go from there, I guess.

 

[LouB]

@BBS Agonistes what's the old saying about beauty being in the eye of the beholder. In the case of rings, I think beauty is in filling the needs of the character. I don't see either of your rings being really good, but both could be helpful to the right build.

On the Bone Spiral the cold resists and the AR are nice and could be very helpful to the right build. However, the 4% LL and Dex are low for my tastes for a melee character. On the Order eye, the only reason it has a required level of 65 is the 8% Life Leach and I think you can find a ring that provides better attributes at a lower level, albeit with a lower LL.

I've primarily played melee characters and especially ones that don't need a lot of mana leach. As a result, for a long time I thought that this was a near perfect ring

Beast Eye
Ring
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0xfe7a1357
+14 to Dexterity
+40 to Life
+80 to Mana
+65 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +28%
8% Life stolen per hit

However, I haven't used it on my last few builds because I found a ring that filled more holes in the build. A case in point would be my Wolfbarb that doesn't need Life leach, but does need a little mana leach and I went with this ring instead

Rune Hold
Ring
Required Level: 60
Fingerprint: 0xdb200f4e
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+65 to Attack Rating
4% Mana stolen per hit
+13 to Dexterity
+36 to Life
+6 Maximum Stamina
Lightning Resist +19%

Which I used through Hell and then switched it out for a ring that had less mana leach and Dex, but had 15%MF.

I think the most useful and used ring is the Raven Frost.

And to get some comments going in this thread I think the most overated ring is Stone of Jordan.

 

[Grisu]

And to get some comments going in this thread I think the most overated ring is Stone of Jordan.

Not if you cash it in for an Annihilus

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

Thanks for the feedback, @LouB, and thanks for posting two of your rings. I hadn't looked so closely at Dex, so those are helpful examples of what to look for in a ring. I think it's partly because there are so many puzzle pieces to consider and different ways a ring can fit into a build. Choosing the right weapon or armor is pretty straightforward most of the time, but charms and rings get a little more tricky to my mind. I mostly didn't want to be tossing away rings because I was blind to their value.

 

[Swamigoon]

I think my favorite mods on a rare ring are MF, resistances, and then either leech (mana,life), replenish life, or faster cast rate.

I should probably pay more attention when I find rare rings with elemental or poison damage mods, but I confess I haven't. Those could supplement the damage variety delivered by a melee or missile attacking character.

Big +life or +mana mods could be nice for certain characters, but I think stat boosts (str, dex, vit, nrg) are merely okay. I usually just sell rare rings with +stat mods to vendors, unless they have other compellingly good mods.

I feel attack rating on a rare ring is more helpful in normal and perhaps nightmare difficulties, but not as helpful in hell. I feel +stamina can be very helpful in act 1 normal, and maybe act 2, but essentially bring no noticeable help at all after that.

Rare rings that drop late in the game (in high area-level areas) can get spell charges on them. I think I have only every used a ring's spell charge once. It was Telekinesis, and I used it to pick up a potion I desperately wanted my character to drink.

 

[Foghorn Leghorn]

View attachment 84129
View attachment 84130

Are these rings any good? I see dual leech as a valuable asset, and resistances are nice as well. I guess I just still feel like I don't have such a good perspective on what makes a good ring. I tend to look for dual leech or leech for melee fighters and build around that and then for casters start with FCR and go from there, I guess.

Playing a hardcore, untwinked melee character, if I can find a ring that adds to all resistance slots PLUS gives me added leech on both life and mana - SIGN ME UP!

 

[ffs]

Willing to bet the first two WW helms I find will be ethereal or 1os for sure.

Why didn't anyone take the bet?



I hate this game!

 

[Arparrabiosa]

I'm wondering: is it really worth expending the time cubing up all those flawless gems to re-roll GC? I mean, perhaps I'm procastinating thinking about cubing up 2.000 flawless gems, but GC is a very common drop in LK, and they are ilvl 80. It is not a Baal GC, but it's pretty good ilvl anyway (if I read it properly, I can get a skiller with +36-40 Life at ilvl 77 vs +40-45 at ilvl 91). I could be farming LK and hoping for a Sur drop or something in all that time. What are your thoughts, guys? What do you do with all those flawless gems dusting in your stashes? Crafting amulets?

 

[ffs]

• Amethysts: Never, ever, EVER use for anything other than caster crafting. Wasting these should be a crime. Whenever I see one I pick it up.
• Rubies: All go into crafting as well. Rings, gloves and to a lesser extent belts. Rings can be better than rares but only slightly tbh, the potential upgrade impact is not comparable to caster amulets. Once I crafted a bunch of decent gloves/belts I didn't care so much anymore. I usually pick them up, not as rigorously as amethysts, but most of the time I do and generally craft rings with them.
• Sapphires/Emeralds: I crafted a bunch of KB gloves and block amulets with those, but generally they are more dispensible. Nowadays I only pick those up if I plan to do a crafting session for a particular build (e.g. right now I want LLD gloves with KB and IAS). If I happen to have a bunch in my stashes and no better use for them, GC rerolling it is.
• Topaz/Diamond/Skulls: No particular use, good for GC rerolling. I rarely pick those up, basically just getting them as byproducts from clicking on something else on the ground.

Obviously picking behaviour generally means flawless ones, but in case of amethysts I sometimes even pick up one tier lower, if I have more Rals than amethysts to do some crafting with.

 

[Foghorn Leghorn]

• Amethysts: Never, ever, EVER use for anything other than caster crafting. Wasting these should be a crime. Whenever I see one I pick it up.
• Rubies: All go into crafting as well. Rings, gloves and to a lesser extent belts. Rings can be better than rares but only slightly tbh, the potential upgrade impact is not comparable to caster amulets. Once I crafted a bunch of decent gloves/belts I didn't care so much anymore. I usually pick them up, not as rigorously as amethysts, but most of the time I do and generally craft rings with them.
• Sapphires/Emeralds: I crafted a bunch of KB gloves and block amulets with those, but generally they are more dispensible. Nowadays I only pick those up if I plan to do a crafting session for a particular build (e.g. right now I want LLD gloves with KB and IAS). If I happen to have a bunch in my stashes and no better use for them, GC rerolling it is.
• Topaz/Diamond/Skulls: No particular use, good for GC rerolling. I rarely pick those up, basically just getting them as byproducts from clicking on something else on the ground.

Obviously picking behaviour generally means flawless ones, but in case of amethysts I sometimes even pick up one tier lower, if I have more Rals than amethysts to do some crafting with.

This is pretty much what I normally do, but if I'm playing untwinked then either the amethysts (for a melee character) or the rubies (for a caster) go to GC rolling as well. The one exception is skulls - I use those to reroll rare diadems (6 perfect per reroll).

 

[Excalibur]

I never kept flawless gems in my stashes. In 1.14d I would move them to a character and cube them when it was full and in D2r it’s so much better with the extra space and hotkeys. Gathering flawless in the stashes would discourage me to ever cube them.
Obviously topazes can be used for MF characters while diamonds to a shield offer slightly less residences than an Um.

One more thing you can do with them:
Trade