Omfg Help!

[Sokar Rostau]

Omfg Help!

I had forgotten how boring D2 , when played the way it was intended, actually is. Don't misunderstand me, I don't mean playing without cheats, I am a Mac user and couldn't cheat if I wanted to, what I mean is SP. I recently lost my home connection and turned to SP to feed my addiction. According to Blizzard the game was designed to force the SP player to choose between items they wanted to keep and thosethey had to ditch. The reality of this is that if you do not have ATMA, or you have a Mac and don't have access to ATMA to begin with, this game becomes impossible to play and extremely BORING!!

I have a Zealot Pala in Hell wearing magic Demonhide armour and currently weilding a 151ed Buriza simply because it does 4 times the damage of his zeal. My highest level Amazon has a Cedar Bow with 4 PG in it. My most recent characters, a Tesladin, Enchantress and Strafer have stashes so full of runes I am desperately trying to cube up that they can't pick up potions, and forget wearing MF gears... I don't want BotD just a friggin' Insight FFS!! /rant

OK, I've vented. I never really realized the blessing of Bnet until I lost access. Maybe if I had ATMA I would think differently, but how does Blizzard expect people to be able to play 1.11 SP? They beef up the monsters so that you need to runehunt for five years to have a chance of killing anything...

OK I am hoping that some kind soul can throw some items my way. I don't have much that I can trade, I know for a fact that the combined wealth of my 50 odd SP characters would amount to about 20 PG on Bnet, but I'm hoping someone has some spare items useful to a tesladin or melee ES Enchantress (she is supposed to use an Insight Polearm if I can't get my hands on the godly elite staff with all the right mods).

I will hopefully be back online tonight.

But damn, I could go on ranting about the stock standard SP D2 all day. NM is a chore and Hell is ridiculous. Wow, 800 max damage in Hell...GODLY!!!! I have never felt the desire to use any add on programs like ATMA, but now I see that it is a necessity and totally agree with everyone that says a universal stash is a must for some future patch. This is stupid. I have one Pala that finally found the last piece of Sigon's in Act 1 Hell. My Nec is using Aldur's stuff...I should stop now...

 

[DurfBarian]

If you're on 10.3 or 10.4 you can use Fast User Switching to open up multiple instances of the game and mule. You can also check the MP games thread to see if there's a game open for you to join and do some muling or trading.

 

[OCAU_MIKLE]

Or simply Ditch MacOS and slap on a Linux Distro and run Diablo and ATMA through wine!

- ocau_mikle

 

[AlterEgo]

Interesting how people think so differently. :smiley:

I play HC untwinked, so don't use ATMA at all for my game play. (I do use it for collecting grail stashes though.) I've never thought the game was boring - but then I play for the strategy element, not for the uber-kill-all-in-one-swing approach. Yes, NM is hard and Hell is hell, but I've managed to get five characters through in 1.10.

Different strokes for different folks I guess...

 

[Sint Nikolaas]

Just a few comments..

I had forgotten how boring D2 , when played the way it was intended, actually is.

Well, obviously comming to a forum where a lot of people play it like that is a good way to start out. Seriously though, YOU find it boring, it IS not boring.

The reality of this is that if you do not have ATMA, or you have a Mac and don't have access to ATMA to begin with, this game becomes impossible to play and extremely BORING!!

Not quite, you just have to think about your playing, not just keep everything you encounter. Picking up every gem and rune just doesn't make sence. Keeping the deaths set items you find in normal is a good idea, but not to finish hell with. Stop saying it's boring.

I have a Zealot Pala in Hell wearing magic Demonhide armour and currently weilding a 151ed Buriza simply because it does 4 times the damage of his zeal. My highest level Amazon has a Cedar Bow with 4 PG in it.

I can't see how you managed to keep a magic armor to hell and a buri that does 4x your zeal dmg. I have a level 45 pala that just finished normal (untwinked, HC, no atma) that has a rare weapon and doing about 250-550 dmg per hit. I wouldn't trade in that buri for that, and obviously I will find a better weapon by the time I reach hell. Same goes for my armor.

OK I am hoping that some kind soul can throw some items my way. ...

Yeah.. begging.. good..

Wow, 800 max damage in Hell...GODLY!!!!

Maybe try getting better items, run a NM boss a couple of times. 800 max dmg is not that bad, you can easily kill anything with that. Just takes some getting used to it and getting stuff like crushing blow to help out. Still, I don't see why you shouldn't have better dmg if you keep improving your gear along the way.

My Nec is using Aldur's stuff...I should stop now...

I don't see why that is a problem. Stop complaining.

 

[Hrus]

Buriza does more damage than zeal? You probably haveto change your BNet habits, because SP is a different game. Especially playing untwinked. You actualy have to pick up and identify all the rare and magic weapons, you could also try to buy it from vendors, you could try to make crafted weapon etc. Also you can finish nightmare with zealot almost naked, so focus on MF gear.

You can't make Insight in SP without a mod.

And others already gave you a very good advice how to mule. Yes, without muling, it can be quite depressing, but you can still take that as a new strategic factor of the game - what to keep and what not to keep.

Also look at the nice community here and great number of tournaments - they keep me playing and enjoying this game.

 

[CRG]

They beef up the monsters so that you need to runehunt for five years to have a chance of killing anything...

Herein lies hows your attitude differs from ours here. Runewords are heavily available on bnet and also heavily duped. Because they are often the best items out there, everyone wants them further driving up the dupping of runewords.

In SP, runes actually have value. Finding a rare rune from something other than Hellforge or Countess is often a once in a lifetime thing. You don't need a BotD to beat the game.

I invite you to read through some of the Pat/Mat threads and read what they finish the game with, especially the untwinked ones.

SP is different, yes, but I believe it to be a harder, cleaner and more adjustable enviroment to Bnet.

And thus, I believe the best PvM players out there are the SP'ers (and the crazy bnet HC players), especially those who PvM HC SP untwinked.

crg

 

[Rizzo]

Perhaps you should learn to play the game, instead of just having some cookie cutter build that destroys everything on sight. If you actually find it boring to have to think and lay strategies for a change, then perhaps b.net is the better choice for you?


Edit: Just a few more words; I've reached act 4 hell with a naked character (not using any items nor any charms). That was very challenging and thus NOT boring. Play the game you want to. If it's mindless slaughter, go to b.net.

 

[DementiaMaster]

If Single Player isn't your style, it just means you are not ready. Go back to Battle.Net and leave the real playing to us. No offense intended but we are all(most) dedicated players and have found the beauty of Single Player compared to the trash that is Battle.Net.

As crg said, check the Mat/Pat thread for gears ideas. You'd be surprised.

 

[Duke HD]

Seems like you trod people on the wrong foot here - usually the SPF is most helpful and has respect for untwinked play. It's for real men/women !:wink3:

All you're saying is, that untwinked is a whole different ballgame and yes it is. I can slap ultra-gear on from mules, no sweat, but I would have missed some of the small differences that make Characters unique !

Emjoy your foray into SP mode, it is a new game (even you have good backgrund knowledge.) Enjoy the challenge, feel awed when Hell Corpsefire is actually not dead yet and get those "leet-skillz" that Battlenet talks about. If you can solo Hell here, BNet will seem easier, I guess...


Enough bad feelings, the topic was "Help" !

Here's some Help:

Do listen to the advice of Muling. Double-sessions are no prob for most Mac users (Power-wise, your comp should do it) If you have multiple Characters, do it, you will appreaciate even good blues !
(Todesritter lost his harddrive while trying to write and ATMA tool - he'll be back so keep checking !)

You will not be owning anything soon on players setting over 1 (800 in Hell must make you feel sorry I bet), so learn to lure and enjoy your new tricks. Think "Suckers ! This measly Char qwned you !" This is the SP fun for me - I mostly play untwinked !

In 1.11 think about upgrades and crafts (All perfect Gems + Ammy + resists galore, good untwinked !) and enjoy the challenge ! (Bloodcraft could go well on your Pally and all IAS items found are your friend !(Rhyme and Sanctuary are your Shield friends)

Don't forget low-end runewords Kings Grace (AmnRalThul) is always forgotten, but I often used those on Hell (Elite) weapons. Look it up and recalculate the bonuses for an executioner Sword (Wolf or Barb) and Pally-Sword with undead and demons. Restrategiz, you'll love it. (Sorry Dementiamaster - he is ready, he just doesn't feel like it. He knows enough to solo Hell SP, he just looks for the wrong things !)

Have fun, if you run into trouble, post your build and you will find help here. I wil read it and so will many more qualified friends !

 

[TBrundel]

Hi Sokar Rostau,

There is one thing that I agree with: A stash full of thinks you don't want to loose and finding more but you have no room is annoying and that's softly spoken. I had this on b.net and there weren't so many friends I could mule with (and I even found the muling annoying while I never had enough characters to mule to). That was my reason to play sp and I am happy.

I can still trade, can mule all my items of, can use the /players switch and I can make as much chars as i want!

My first pat went like this:

Installed RWM!

Started a hammerdin, Severoth gave me 2 very nice amulets (ATMA), I played till level 40 in normal and went to NM. In nm I went as fast as i could to mephi and harvested her to get decent items (made my first Spirit). Around level 65 went further to get Baal and he was a piece of cake! Went into hell around lvl 70 and harvested Andy for someother items. Found a ring and traded that here on the SPF for skullders and a shako, another ethereal wire fleece was traded for an shaftstop. My hammerdin advanced further and around 82 I killed the ancients. Baal was pretty easy. My first pat without much trouble.

Now I am harvesting baal and found a few nice things already. Also started my second char; a fury ww and I am planning a enchantress and a Assasin (blade fury only!!!)

SP is great, ATMA is great and I don't have to worry about lags, annoying spambots, louse trades, drops that are stolen, children who have learned the word n00b and a char full without a possible muling game!!!

And yes it is a bit more difficult and running around on player 8 needs a few skills but that makes the game more interesting (and thus fun) instead of boring.

I can only give you 1 advice. Do what you like. If you don't like SP then don't SP. It's as simple as that.

grz,

TB

 

[jiansonz]

I play my characters in two ways: with or without access to ATMA. This is decided when I create them. It does make for two completely different ways of thinking when deciding what to keep and what to sell. I enjoy both ways of playing, though.

Untwinked play requires at least one or two of these things in order to get good gear:
1. You run MF or rune targets along the way (which I don´t)
2. You make use of a plethora of different ways of getting good gear, like shopping, gambling, crafting, runewording, imbuing, upgrading, rerolling, etc. A keen understanding and knowledge about item levels, what affixes are available at what items, what to shop and gamble for and when, etc.
3. The ability to make good priorities about what to wear out of the items you have available. This is important for the merc as well.



I will now comment on some specific issues you mention:

Magical Demonhide Armor.
OK, so what kind of magical armor is it? There is a huge difference between a 'Jeweler´s/Artisan´s/Mechanic´s Demonhide Armor of the (insert large animal)' full of juicy resist runes or other goodies, and a Sturdy Demonhide Armor of the Jackal. And why do you still have it? Why not a simple Stealth Armor? For a Pally, I can imagine the FHR being useful, and the extra foot speed allows you to focus more on resists, FHR and MF on the boots.

Buriza for a Zealot Pally.
Why not? If it works for now, go with it until you can get a melee weapon you like better. I have only seen one Buriza ever, and that was with a character that wasn´t allowed to use it (due to tournament rules).

Or maybe the melee weapon is better anyway? Zeal certainly makes you hit faster with it than you do with the Buriza. Why not use Crushing Blow equpment? Craft blood gloves, make a Strength weapon, etc.
How many magical elite clubs have you seen so far? How many of these have you crafted? Each try only costs a crappy jewel, a PSapphire and really common rune (Tir). Have you tried gambling for a good rare weapon with Cruel damage and upgraded it to exceptional? Have you tried your two imbue reward on elite weapons at clvl 74+ in the hope for a Cruel rare?

What was your NM Hellforge rune? If Lem, can´t you make Passion? If Um, can´t you make Crescent Moon? If Io, why not a Black?

And what is your merc doing? No mention of him/her at all. With careful play, I can often rely on the merc to do the majority of the damage during lean times. If they have trouble standing up to a tough monster/pack, a wand with Life Tap charges (easy to buy) helps them tremendously, as does feeding them rejuves at critical moments, when you need them to hold the line just a few more seconds to secure a victory.


Amazon has a Cedar Bow with 4 PG in it.
So? That doesn´t say anything really. What is her level, build, merc and where in the game is she?

Overcrowding with runes
Keep the runes in the stash, keep the potions in the belt (and maybe a few in inventory).
If I´m not allowed to use ATMA, I certainly collect runes but I have never filled up more than 20 spaces in the stash with them. You can´t save them all, you need to make priorities. Sell them, cube them up or find a suitable upgrade/crafting/socketing recipe to use the ones that are the least important ones right now.

Insight
Cruel damage for a Sol rune? That´s way overpowered, no thanks!

Can´t wear MF gear
Oh yes you can, I wear as much as I can during most of Normal and NM. On the merc too, and I let him/her deal the killing blow on most of the bosses. Normal and NM is the build-up and treasure hunt time. In Hell, I replace with survival/killing gear for the most part, since I play HC. But I usually make a gear switch when an act boss is slivered. :grin:

800 max damage in Hell
Whether this is good or bad depends totally on the build, and the amount of Crushing Blow you have. What is the mean damage, how fast do you attack, how much damage is the merc doing? How´s your crowd control and do you have life steal?


Full Sigon´s isn´t at all great in the late game. 2-3 Sigon´s pieces (including the gloves, for a fighter character) gives you all the relevant bonuses and allows for better gear in the other slots.

Necro using Aldur´s stuff.
What part(s), and why not?

 

[Rizzo]

Full Sigon´s isn´t at all great in the late game. 2-3 Sigon´s pieces (including the gloves, for a fighter character) gives you all the relevant bonuses and allows for better gear in the other slots.

Atil patted a character using only Sigon's so it can be done...

 

[Arreat_mercenary]

Hey jiansonz, that was some good info!

It gives me a clear idea of how to play the game untwinked, can you give me some tips? I have been playing the game for years (especially 1.09) and I got used to uniques and bought items, since my first MFer char (a barb) founded almost everything.

Now I installed 1.11 a while ago and started a fishy, but he's untwinked because I don't want all my 1.09 stuff in the new 1.11 game. Can you give me some tips about all that you sayed? Normally I don't touch crafted items and I don't know from memory the runeword recipes, but since this is untwinked I could really use some tips about it (crafted and runic items). He's currently clvl 32, in normal act IV (having LOTS of problems with diablo) and the highest rune he has got is an amn (from hellforge) and several el,eld,nef,tal and others..........

 

[Atil]

Atil patted a character using only Sigon's so it can be done...

Currently Level 88 and running Mephisto/Pit for goodies.

 

[jiansonz]

can you give me some tips? I have been playing the game for years (especially 1.09) and I got used to uniques and bought items, since my first MFer char (a barb) founded almost everything.

Now I installed 1.11 a while ago and started a fishy, but he's untwinked because I don't want all my 1.09 stuff in the new 1.11 game. Can you give me some tips about all that you sayed? Normally I don't touch crafted items and I don't know from memory the runeword recipes, but since this is untwinked I could really use some tips about it (crafted and runic items). He's currently clvl 32, in normal act IV (having LOTS of problems with diablo) and the highest rune he has got is an amn (from hellforge) and several el,eld,nef,tal and others..........

What kind of problems?


There are two general ways for this kind of character to handle Normal Diablo:

1. Decrepify + Clay Golem (every time the golem dies, recast it close to D, on the side of him where your merc (and soon, most of you skellies) is not). Keep Decrepify going. Cold damage from the merc makes it even better. Diablo will be very slow. Your merc and skellies will wear him down.

2. Clay (or Fire) Golem + Iron Maiden. This is the Classic (and 1.09) way. It still works like a charm.

 

[Arreat_mercenary]

Well, the main problem is skill distribution :grin:

I did read the NF's guide, but didn't followed skill distribution, so my skellies are slvl 18 witn slvl 2 in SM, and I have not been very lucky with the equipment, everything is crappy, except for the weapon (a stave with +3 to clay golem and +2 to RS, ethereal, founded in act I :grin and the shield (a head, the only advantage is +1 to skellies and +1 to clay golem).

The other find is the artic furs, currently wearing and a soul harvest which is on switch..... everything else is crappy, but I do have 75 light resistance and around 40 fire resist.

So after equipment the skellies are slvl 21, with slvl 2 SM, and clay golem is slvl 5 with slvl 1 GM. I have 3 points in Amplify, 1 in decrep, 1 in revives and 1in Summon Resist.

The main problem is....... my skellies, merc, golem and revive do not last more than 10 seconds to him!. One PLoD (lightning attack) and most of my skellies are off, another one and the golem is off, and a fire attack and the merc is off (and all that time he's slowed because of decrep and clay golem but still he kills all my army in seconds) and I'm left with an ethereal stave which does 2 to 4 damage....... I was thinking to just melee him with the soulharvest as I'm starting to get desperate :nervous:

 

[Greyeagle]

Well, the main problem is skill distribution

... clip ...

but I do have 75 light resistance and around 40 fire resist.

Actually, I always kind of find peoples problems with normal diablo odd. Get those resists to 75/75 and pick up any half decent weapon and bash him dead. You might have to tp out for a belt restock if playing at players 8, but I've always found this method fairly easy and straight forward. Now NM and Hell levels are, of course, a whole different ball game.

GE

 

[NacRuno]

The main problem is....... my skellies, merc, golem and revive do not last more than 10 seconds to him!. One PLoD (lightning attack) and most of my skellies are off, another one and the golem is off, and a fire attack and the merc is off (and all that time he's slowed because of decrep and clay golem but still he kills all my army in seconds) and I'm left with an ethereal stave which does 2 to 4 damage....... I was thinking to just melee him with the soulharvest as I'm starting to get desperate :nervous:

This has become somewhat of topic but anyways, i can tell a few things that might help you. After reinstalling LOD, my first char was also a fishymancer. First of all don't get bored easily, normal diablo is one of the toughest (if not the most) enemies to defeat for fishy, you will be able to handle things a lot easier later on till you reach hell act 5. You need to depand on your merc for the first fight with diablo, normally skeletons make the first rush towards him which gives him good head start to damage diablo till he gets diablo's attention. (I am hoping you are using an Act 2 merc, defense is better till you have might) Give him nice gears, high damage and good enough resists aganist lightning and fire. Feed him potions constantly. But don't let diablo punch him to death in every trial. Leave corpses around so you can raise your skeleton army ones they are down, don't hesitate to return river of flame for extra troops either (i never full clear river playing fishy just in case i may need more corpses). Skeletons don't do the damage there but they are the ones keeping your merc alive.
And most importantly always recast your clay golem and decrify, they slow diablo tremendously, you might even experience diablo using only melee attacks when he is that slow (no lightning bursts and fire thingies). And clay golem requires very little mana, don't rush diablo with it by your side, cast it right next to diablo (preferable at his back) when your skellies make the fist hit. That way you will make sure that golem is in hitting range, sometimes skellies don't give the poor guy space to hit.
You might also try meleeing but do that only if you have crushing blow equipment, you will most likely be casting decrify continuously anyway as it has quite short length without high + skill gear
Hope this helps... Have fun with the game :thumbsup:

 

[Arreat_mercenary]

Give him nice gears, high damage and good enough resists aganist lightning and fire.

Errrr, as I stated, I'm playing untwinked, if I wanted I would just load my 1.09 stash, and instantly get +10 skills, maxed resists and even I could melee with a cruel weapon.

It's just that I want to find everything again (now 1.11) so, equipment is quite hard to get. But I'm taking your word in the other advices, thanks :smiley: