Flux's Decahedron #21

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Flux

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Flux's Decahedron #21

Flux has returned from his winter slumber with a new FotD, er, new Decahedron. This is #21, and it's not a top ten, or even top 11 list. It's a straight forward article, it's twice as long as it needs to be, and it's called:

Variants! Desperate Measures to Keep Alive a Dying Beast

As the title suggests, this article discusses my play experience with a couple of types of variants. First I cover Live off the Land, which didn't prove too much to my liking, largely thanks to Duriel.

Happier is the talk about JustA's, a variant I've recently invented(?). It combines light twinking with intensive item hunting and constant character improvement. Want a way to play with a great weapon, any skills you like, and on /players 8, that's not so easy or pointless you want to kill yourself? Then check out this article; you should find it entertaining, and you might even want to give the variant a try.
 
Nice idea... I have wanted to play untwinked single player for a while but it gets frustrating and so i just go back to dueling... I suppose I should try something of the like when I get sick of dueling.

As for on the Realms, how about pub games up until level 30 then private games only (so solo or with friends of a similiar idea)?

Lazuli
 
Mm, variants... I don't play Diablo II much these days, but when I do, I prefer to try new and unique things too, usually in terms of character builds and/or equipment. I haven't really come up with much lately, but my friend has all these amusing builds that cause others in the game to look at him in awe. ;)

For example, take his gold find Barbarian. Wealth body armour, Immortal King's helm with two Lem Runes, two Blades of Ali Baba each with two Lem Runes, Goldwrap, Chance Guards, etc., and an inventory filled with Gheed's Fortune and greed charms, and even a Wealth and so on his merc. The character doesn't do much (stuns things with Warcry and lets the merc kill them), but when monsters die or he uses Find Item, huge piles of 5- (or even 6-) digit gold pop out. Treasure chests also usually spew out several chunks of 30+k gold apiece...

He also has a 'chance-to-cast' Barb (and Amazon). Basically, they're equipped with numerous runewords and such simply to put on a light show. Dual-wielding "Destruction" and "Rift", wearing "Bone", Andariel's Visage, Hellmouth and crafted Hit Power items, and with a Hellfire Torch in his inventory, he procs Frozen Orbs, Firestorms, Meteors, Twisters, Novas, Bone Spears, Chain Lightnings and the like when he Frenzies, and he gets Bone Armor and sends off Frost Novas when he's hit. His merc has a Delirium too in order to proc all sorts of curses.

So while not the most practical characters, they're fun to watch and impress others. Also like his Poison Javelin zon; given that the skill does a lot of damage over one or two minutes, he can throw one at a group of enemies, head back to town, and leech mana/kills or even level up while there...

A couple other ideas we've had for characters that we haven't yet done include the 7-aura paladin (a paladin and an act 2 merc, each equipped with runewords that each provide their own unique aura), and the Frenzied Ice Spawn (a sorceress loaded up with Rainbow Facet jewels that proc on death, and her skill points are simply the masteries and synergies to such skills).

I've also thought of some group combinations, but we never got around to playing those much or even starting them. Back in 1.09, I had a "Knights of the Round" idea where everyone would be a paladin each specializing in a different weapon type and different aura... Or more recently, I was thinking of playing the game more like an MMORPG, with a tank, healer, and damage dealer combination... and somehow removing imbalances or restricting things that would make the game too easy, given that most classes can already solo almost anything...

Or there are always silly options like Team Beam (Inferno Sorc, Lightning Sorc, and Arctic Blast Druid)... Which might've been fun, but my aforementioned friend tells me that Inferno and Arctic Blast are bugged in that they deal far less damage than stated and actually don't pierce...

Well, enough rambling. Even though I don't actually play the game much these days, I still always love talking about Diablo II and all the possibilities in it... Great Decahedron topic, Flux. =)
 
if you want to get out of the boredom of d2exp simply make a classic character and play that for awhile. it's a great way to remove the boredom
 
Good article. When I do play DII, which is perhaps once per month, I still enjoy single-player characters with no twinking and /players 8.

My question, is though, why bother trying to find ways to play when you are mostly bored with the game? There are so many others to try. I've been playing Guild Wars most of the time for the past year and am having a blast. New skills, new areas, major graphics improvement, and still free online play.
 
I've been playing live off the land. I'm not trying a melee character. They're probably the least suitable to this style thanks to weapons degrading. My character is a skelemancer and so far is holding up at level 15.
 
After reading Flux's article, it occurred to me to try a different kind of variant. The main problem for me, is that I’ve always found the game far too easy, since I’m a Diablo old-school veteran (and still prefer that game over D2). I’ve looked at mods, but they are messy and always seem to require a version I don’t have installed. I’ve never taken a character behind level 30, because I really can’t stand how easy this game is compared to Diablo 1.

Anyway, what I’ve tried recently is cleverly simple, yet totally refreshes the gameplay. In addition to using /players 8, IGNORE ALL POTIONS. The potion drops are totally out of hand anyway. Diablo 2 already has regeneration and leech.... having those abilities and using potions is overkill! What were they thinking? Ha. Now, with this variant, everything non-potion related becomes VERY important. I’ve been playing through ACT I like this with 4 different classes, and it’s awesome. Another restriction I use is to ignore all charms.

It’s great. Not convoluted, like some variants. Just straightforward; you’ll know when and how to apply it throughout the entire game.

So, to summarize:

1. Use /players 8
2. Ignore all potions
3. Ignore all charms (optional)

Tactics:

  • Use shrines!
  • Go to town, to heal and recharge!
  • Use skill points for health and mana when in a pinch!
  • Use skills that scatter and confuse the enemy, and any skills that help with health and mana!
  • Use long rang weapons when health is low or your mana is dry!
 
VisMaior said:
So, you never visited hell? No wonder you think that way...
Click to expand...

I don't see the point in plowing through a game that doesn't challenge me just to get to that point, no.

I've been to nightmare. It doesn't get much more difficult there. I'd probably think hell is "normal" in difficulty.

Oh yeah, I'd recommend Guild Wars too. It seems to really have the spirit of Diablo. You actually die in that game sometimes! :laugh:
 
Oh, I've tried HC before (I've had this game since it was released). Still a calkwalk. I felt like blowing my brains out. I eventually killed my character on purpose.

I've decided to adjust the variant I've been playing recently with another restriction that involves not selling anything. You can buy, and pick up gold, but you can't sell. I realized while playing that I was getting really tired of lugging stuff around, and it would make gold more valuable if I couldn't sell stuff.

So, revising it, it goes like this:

1. Use /players 8
2. Ignore all potions
3. Ignore all charms (optional, but recommended)
4. Can't sell anything (optional, but recommended)

I've nearly died a couple of times with my Amazon (no particular build). Still have Andariel yet to defeat. My merc actually died during the tools of the trade mission, so I think I'm getting close to actually experiencing death in Act I.
 
It's a valid point that you're ignorantly dismissing Hell without actually trying it. You haven't tasted monsters with dual immunities, and Burning Soul / Frenzytaur bosspacks with stacking fanaticism / conviction auras. It's very doable with care and planning, but playing some characters up to level 30 in Normal and glancing at Nightmare does *not* qualify you to judge Hell.

I have a soft spot for Diablo I as well, and play from time to time.

And, yeah, the Siandra post count thing is . . . different.

- Noodle
 
Ok, point taken. But still, the journey to Hell is really quite boring. I still play Diablo today from time to time. Actually, I don't play regular Diablo anymore, I play the Hellfire V&K mod.

As far as my D2 variant goes, I never died in Act I. I came very close with Andariel but I survived. Nevertheless, I think tweaking the variant further would be too much. I'm sure ActII will be a different story. I'm probably not going to play through that anytime soon though. Let me know hot it goes for you, if you try it.

I may try to get to Hell with a different character! Too bad the -act5 command doesn't work for me.
 
Man In Black said:
Anyone else find it odd that Shaiandra made a post, yet his post count is zero? Post #3 in this thread.
Click to expand...

At the time, the forums were acting up and post counts weren't registering properly. Everything is fixed now though. :smiley:
 
I liked this article alot, not quite to that point yet but still a good read. I always learn new things whenever one of these get posted as they direct me to those pages i've only seen once or twice since joining the forumns. Apparently "Open Bnet" is something entirely different than what i thought it was. All those commands i've never seen although i remember seeing the fps thing in some peoples screenies, i thought it was some kind of prog or something.:laughing:
 
My live off the land skelemancer didn't make it. he was in Halls of the Dead at level 18, stepped through a doorway, and was hit by seven spear cats simultaneously for an instant kill. He never found a wand to replace the +1 to raise skeleton he started with.
 
@Flux: Good column, and some interesting ideas.

I've read a bit about Living off the Land, or Ironman as it's also known. Sounds interesting, though I don't think I'd enjoy it in straight LoD, where most blues and yellows aren't good enough and your inventory can only hold a tiny amount of loot. I'd play an Ironman-oriented mod though if one were available for the Mac.

I've never tried hardcore, as I don't have the patience for that kind of thing. I just try not to die, but usually I find the game more fun when I'm playing a very 'edgy' strategy, rather than being really cautious.

JustA sounds OK, but untwinked works fine for me. I rarely trade, do MF runs or what have you, and I still have a fun time. It only gets really rough in Hell, but by then I've hopefully thought up another type of character to play. If a character trades items all the time, has a special set of Magic Find gear and does repetitive runs for items, I think of him as a greedy merchant. Gambling and buying off NPCs is fine, as that's a natural consequence of acquiring money through fighting, and XP runs are OK only as 'training' for the 'front line'. The aim is to complete all the quests in the most straightforward manner possible, while also using the chosen skills and fighting style. I suppose you could call my style of play the 'soldier on a mission' style.

I agree on the skipping levels bit though, as I hate the 'apprenticeship' some characters have to go through before they get their skills. The most painful was when I tried to make a Frostmaiden, using nothing but Cold Arrow/Ice Arrow until I got to level 30. (If I can't use my main skills I try to stay 'in the spirit' of them as much as possible.) A lot of mods out there also have the problem that the early game is actually extremely difficult and frustrating, only to ease off later on.

If you like finding new items in single player, I can definitely recommend the mod 'Eastern Sun', one of Phrozen Keep's hosted mods. Start at level 40 if you like (avoiding the 'apprenticeship', which is a harsh one in ES), but try to find/make all the items you use yourself. There's a huge variety of recipes, sets, uniques, magic/rare affixes and so on, and you can forget about the orthodoxies of the 'best' items and skills from vanilla. While the items do make some builds very overpowered, I find it great fun to think up and try less popular builds like the Masochist or the Telekinesis Sorc, because with the variety of items and the rebalancing of many skills, lots more possibilities open up that weren't there in LoD, and it's not at all obvious what's going to work until you try it.
 
Anyone looking for some challenges should try the tournaments hosted by various players on the SP forum. Lots of cool twists on the game.
 
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