Shadow_247's Pit guide (repost)
The Definitive Guide to The Pits
* Final FINAL edit
This is it, it has everything I imagined it would, and then some. I have covered all questions that have been asked in the 3 previous postings of this guide, along with some ideas that came to me along the way. I moved the information around - now everything relating to the pit and MF is at the top. The other info has been placed into the 3 appendices - one for the character guides, one for the list of level 85 areas, and one containing the popular level 85 areas from that list with some more detail. I did a huge spelling check, so there should not be any huge grammatical errors. Formatting appears to be correct as well. I added a strategy section to each build guide, hopefully that will help out those in need.
I know most of you have probably read it already, so don't feel obliged to read it again. Give it a quick glance over if you would like, apparently it's headed for the Strat Comp after this.
That's it that's all, It's been fun. I wonder what guide I'll write up next - suggestions for another HUGE guide like this one are quite welcome.
*
As the new patch rolled in, many realised that some of the high hell bosses or superunqiues they used to run for hours on end have become less rewarding. Either Mephisto was too hard to find, Pindleskin was to hard to fight, or Shenk or Eldritch just didn't drop the new elites they wanted. To add to that, most of the new ladder characters could not just jump up and go MFing in act5 of hell wearing minimal gear and having minimal magic find.
Yes the patch may have destroyed these places, but at the same time, it gave birth to a selection of new magic-finding areas in hell. These new areas could drop every single item in the game, and some of the better ones were located in act 1, of all places. One of these areas is The Pit.
For those of you who don't know where the pits are, what they are, why they are being talked about, and anything else you can think of, I hope to have it all summed up here. This guide can also be applied to most of the other new patch areas found through acts 1-3. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is fit for acts 4&5, as they are noticeably harder than the first 3 acts and require some different strategies. You can find the other high level areas listed in Appendix A. In Appendix B, you can find some information on the other favourite areas besides the pit.
This guide can also be used to enhance your knowledge about how item generation works in the new patch. Discussion of magic-find in this guide does not solely apply to the pit, but rather, it is specific to the 1.10 patch as a whole. Most questions on item generation are answered in the below sections.
An added bonus, a collection of five popular pit runner guides have been included in this guide - Meteorb, Hammerdin, Strafezon, Wind Druid, WW Barb. These guides can be found in Appendix C. Most of these builds can be used throughout the game, especially in the other, new patch areas. This guide should hopefully prove to be extremely useful, and should clear up any unanswered questions anyone may have about the new 1.10 MF goldmines - namely, The Pit.
Where/What are the pits?
The pits, officially "The Pit", is located in act 1. Contrary to what some seem to think, when people say "The Pit" they are actually not referring to the "Pit of Acheron" or "Infernal Pit", both located in act 5. If you were hoping for a guide on either of these areas, you will be disappointed to hear that this is not that guide. You will be further disappointed to hear that, to my knowledge, one does not exist, and that everyday I pray that such a guide will never be seen to the light of these forums.
Pressing on. The pit is located in act 1, more specifically, in the Tamoe Highlands - the area before the Monastery Gate. There is no waypoint for the Tamoe Highlands, so most pit runners will take the Outer Cloister waypoint and make their way from there to the Highlands. Take the Outer Cloister waypoint, exit the monastery, and follow the road, which will lead you directly to the pits. This way has proven to be faster and easier than the Black Marsh route.
The pit consists of two levels - Level 1, and Level 2. On level 2 of the pits there is an uber chest (Chest that appears on the mini-map and drops many items). The pits have become a very popular location for Magic Finding (MF) since the release of 1.10.
Why are the pits so good for MFing?
The pits are one of several locations that have the highest area level (area_Lvl) in the game, with an area_Lvl of 85 in hell. The Worldstone Keep, The Mausoleum and The Ancient Tunnels all share this area_Lvl of 85, along with a few select others. These other areas are listed in Appendix A, and some are covered with slight depth.
The pits are only truly popular in hell. In nightmare and normal, the area_Lvl of the pit is too low to hope for many good drops. The reason the pit is popular in hell is because it has the same area_Lvl as the Worldstone, but is much, much easier. There are very few elemental monsters, only one comes to mind, so resists are not as critical here as in other areas. This means that it is easier to focus on MF.
The pit is not the only popular location to MF in. The Mausoleum and Ancient Tunnels are other relatively easy areas, with that high area level. The downfall of these areas is that they are filled with undead. Undead means no leeching for physical damage builds, which automatically voids several characters. On the plus side, the Mausoleum has no normal fire or cold immunes, and the ancient tunnels have no normal cold immunes. This means that a single element sorceress could clear the appropriate area with ease, where clearing the entire pit would be near impossible without a means to defeat immunes.
The pit, although having each regular monster immune to a single element (save poison) is often preferred. Some 1.10 builds run dual element, or have a way to defeat immunes so immunities are not always a problem. A mercenary, lower resist charges or -enemy resistance mods can all be used if in immunity trouble. The pit is preferred because of it's size - not only is it reasonably large, but it has two levels. The uber-chest and it's numerous packs of uniques/champions are other reasons it is preferred, and regarded as the new MF hot spot. Not only is the pit a hot spot for MF, but it also provides excellent XP. Pit runs can provide quick levels, so they are best started as soon as you reach hell and have sufficient equipment to withstand the run. Even at high levels, pit runs can make a slight dent in your XP bar, an added bonus to the MFing.
Which factors other than MF affect my ability to find uber-leet items?
mLvls, qLvls and TCs
First note that your character level (cLvl) has no effect on any monster drops. It is a monster's level (mLvl) that defines which items it can drop. Monsters drop weapons and armour from specific treasure classes (TC). TCs make up groupings of items with similar levels. A monster chooses a TC to drop from, and then an item in that TC to drop. In 1.09 weapon90 and armor90 were in the highest TC, now in 1.10, that TC has been dropped, and all weapon90 and armor90 items have been bumped down to weapon87 and armor87.
Sacred armour is in armor87, because of this, only monsters that can drop from armor87 can drop sacred armour. To get even more picky, set and uniques have quality levels (qLvl). If a monster wants to have any hope of dropping a unique sacred armour, they must be able to drop from armor87, and have an mLvl equal to or greater than the qLvl of unique sacred armour. The highest qLvl for a set item is only 55 - all hell monsters meet that requirement - but the highest qLvl for uniques is 87, not easily attainable.
Lucky for us, every monster in the pit can drop from armor87 and weapon87 - in effect, every base type item in the game. Unfortunately, only champions and random unique bosses have a high enough mLvl to drop every unique item in the game. This means that while every monster in the pit can drop every base item, some very high qLvl items can never be unique if dropped by normal monsters with an mLvl too low.
Monsters in the pit have high mLvls because of their area level. Several formulas exist relating area_Lvl to the mLvl of different monster types and to different props.
Normal Monsters (NOT champion, unique, etc...) mLvl = area_Lvl
Champion Monsters (Fanatic, Ghostly, etc...) mLvl = area_Lvl + 2
Random Uniques and their minions ("Arzahd The Violent" - not Pindleskin) mLvl = area_Lvl + 3
Super Uniques (SU) are monsters that have a set spawning place and their own drop tables (Pindleskin). We don't need to worry about super uniques as there are none in the pit.
These formulas tell us that any normal monster in the pits will have a mLvl of 85, any champions will have mLvls of 87, and random uniques will have mLvls of 88.
Let's finish off with an example. We have a normal Dark Archer in the pits. The mLvl of this normal monster, according to the area_Lvl of the pits must be 85. Because the mLvl of the monster is only 85, the highest qLvl item that can be dropped is of qLvl 85. Again, take note that only champions, and random uniques and their minions can achieve drops of qLvl 86 or 87.
For info of what items are in which TCs look here (keep in mind armor90 and weapon90 are now armor87 and weapon87).
Prop Drops
Props are various things that will spew out items when clicked. In the pit, the most prominent props are the dead rogues that scatter the floors and the uber chest on level 2. Props are affected by area_Lvl, but not in the same way as monsters. We know that all monsters in the pit can drop from the highest TC. Props do not share this property.
The TC that props are able to drop from are not affected by area_Lvl. TC selections for props are hardcoded into the game. The highest TC that the chest in level 2 of the pit can drop from is TC 66 - specifically armor66 and weapon66.
Although TC selection is not affected, area_Lvl does affect the item level (iLvl) of the items that can be dropped from props. iLvl is important because it can affect modifiers that spawn on that item (such as enhanced damage or increased attack speed). Most people will take items of high iLvl to craft with or imbue, as the potential for good mods is there.
A monster or prop’s level decides the iLvl. The formula we use to assign an iLvl to an item is very simple.
iLvl = mLvl (or prop level in the case of a chest)
Chests get their prop level from the area they are located in. There is a formula we use to give a prop a level.
prop level = area_Lvl
In the case of the pit, because our area_Lvl is 85, the prop level of the chest on level 2 is 85. This means that the chest will drop items of iLvl 85. Fairly high iLvl items come out of the chest on level 2, the highest being 99. Items that drop from the chest, or anywhere else in the pit for that matter are very good to craft/imbue with.
Summing up, although the chest on level 2 can only drop from up to TC66, items that drop from it will have high iLvls. And although TC66 may not sound like the greatest, keep in mind that runes up to vex can drop, along with shakos, oculuses, and a handful of other uniques. If you're there, you may as well give the chest a click. Plenty of keys drop on the way to level 2, so picking one up shouldn't be too much of a hassle.
Number of Players In Game
Bluntly put, the number of players in the game increases your chances to find those uber items. Although it does not directly give you an increased chance to find a set or unique, the number of players in the game regulates the number of items dropped. More items will drop in an 8-player game than in a solo game. The chances are increased because more items are dropping, and more quality level rolls are being made to see if the dropped items will be set or unique.
Taking an example. If one sacred armours drop in your solo pit run, the chance of that sacred armour being unique is slim. If however, 5 sacred armours are dropped in one game the chances that one of them will be unique is greater. You need not be partied or within a certain radius of the other 7 players, so you can solo the pit in, let's say, a baal run. The downside to 8-player games is that monsters become harder, and only top builds can handle them. If you can manage the pit in an 8-player game do it.
Other
The same unique cannot be dropped twice in the same game. An exception to this is that, luck permitting, a single monster drops two of the same unique. This means that you cannot find two windforces in the same game unless they both came from the same monster/prop drop.
The term failed unique refers to a time when an item is dropped, but the qLvl of the monster that dropped it is too low for it to be unique, or no unique for that item exists. This unique becomes a rare of the same type with 3x the durability. For instance, if a normal monster wanted to drop unique sacred armour, but could not because it's mLvl was not as high as the qLvl of the item, a rare sacred armour with triple durability would drop instead. Failed sets are not an issue in hell, as every monster has a high enough qLvl.
How does my MF affect my ability to find uber-leets?
Magic find affects the quality of the items dropped by different monsters. The easiest way to explain the effects of MF on monster drops is with an example, but first, there are some things relating to MF you should know.
Our natural MF base is 100. All MF mods from equipment, or other items are added to our base of 100 MF, and then are further calculated to fit the quality of the item.
When we have no MF in our equipment our total MF (base and equipment) is 100%, and our chance to find a set item is increased by 100%. When our equipment MF is 100%, our total MF is 200% and our chance to find a set item is increased by 183%. When our equipment MF is 200%, our total MF is 300%, and our chance to find a set item is increased by 242%. The more MF we get, the less we gain in our chance to find a set item. These are called diminishing returns.
On to our example, let's say we are travelling through the pits, and we run into a champion with mLvl 87. This champion decides he will drop sacred armour. Our MF does not change which item he will drop, it changes the quality of it. He will drop sacred armour whether our MF is 1 or 400. MF decides the quality of the item (rare, unique, set).
If the sacred armour normally has a 5% chance to be set (Immortal King Armour), and we have 100% MF in our equipment or 200% total MF, the chance that the sacred armour will be IK armour as opposed to just plain old sacred armour, has increased to 14.15%. (183% of 5 is 9.15, 5 + 9.15 = 14.15)
So you can see, more MF equals better chance that the item is rare, unique or set. The above values are completely phoney by the way, so in no way take them seriously. It should taken to note that in regard to rune drops, MF has no effect. Runes are purely your own luck in the pit, or anywhere else where monsters have not been given enhanced rune drops (The Countess for example has those enhanced rune drops).
For more info on MF percentages go here
What is the best amount of MF to have?
As was seen, as our MF increases, we slowly get less and less of our actual MF counting towards sets. This also applies to rares and uniques, but not magicals. MF is not the most important thing in the world of Diablo. First comes survival (especially if we are hardcore), then comes speed, and close behind should come MF. If we sacrifice speed for MF, we lose efficiency. It would be better to do a pit run in 5 minutes with 500MF, than to spend 10 minutes with 700MF. (These are only examples)
A good balance for me has been 500%. The balance will change depending on the build we decide on, but very few builds are completely INdependant of items and can use only MF items. 350% is a nice place to start, and stay for some, as that is where the augmentations start to really get low.
What is the best build for pit runs?
This is probably the question I see the most, and the one without a perfect answer. I have had a few experiences first hand with using different builds, but I have also grown accustomed to what others use just by browsing the forums.
First thing to know is that each normal monster in the pits is immune to one single element (fire, lightning or cold). This means that for elemental users you either have to run dual element, or get a mercenary or other means of physical damage. No normal monster in the pit spawns with a physical or poison immunity. Although no normal monster in the pit can spawn with two immunities, know that random unique bosses can spawn with problematic immunities. Even two element casters will not defeat these foes without another means.
Another important point to make is that crowd-control usually defines the best Pit runners. If you can target hordes of monsters, you can make your way through the Pit quickly, and without harm. I will list all viable builds for the pits that have been played with and discussed since the realisation of the pit. This list is in no particular order of speed or quality.
Paladin
- Hammerdin (Blessed Hammer Paladin)
- Shocker, Freezer, (Paladin making use of one of the holy auras - Holy Shock, Holy Freeze)
- Avenger (Pally making use of Vengeance, Conviction, and select veng syns)
Druid
- Wind Druid (Elemental Druid making use of his wind spells)
- Werebear/Summoner (Druid with werebear ability making use of the summoning tree)
- Hybrid Werebear (Werebear making use of fire skills, both in shape shifting and elemental trees)
Amazon
- Bowazon (Amazon using a bow of some sort)
- Multizon (Bowazon using multishot skill among others)
- Strafezon (Bowazon using strafe skill among others)
- Poison Javazon (Javazon using poison javelin skills and synergies, lightning fury may be a secondary attack)
- Hybridzon (Amazon using both bow and javelins usually multi/strafe + lit fury)
Barbarian
- Concentrate Barb (Barb making use of the concentrate skill)
- Whirlwind Barb (The definitive cookie-cutter WW barb, uses Whirlwind as a main skill)
- ZerkerBarb (Barb maxing berserk, it's synergies, and a second attack)
- Singer Barb (Barbarian using his warcry tree offensively. His find item ability can be quite useful)
Necromancer
- Skelemancer (Necro making use of his revives, skellys, and corpse explosion)
- Bonemancer (Necro making use of his bone skills, and sometimes poison skills)
- Poisonmancer (Necro making use of poison dagger, explosion and nova and select bone skills)
Sorceress
- Meteorb Sorc (Dual-tree sorceress with meteor, a synergy, fire mastery, and frozen orb)
- CL/FO Sorc (Dual-tree sorc making use of chain lightning, it's synergies and frozen orb)
- Other Dual-Tree Sorc (Sorceress making use of two elements in her arsenal (other than those above))
Assassin
- Trapasin (Assassin making use of different traps of different elements. Rare immunity problems)
*None of the above should need to worry about immunities of normal monsters*
*The below (may) run into problems with immunities of normal monsters*
Sorceress
- OrbSorc (Sorc using Frozen Orb, it's synergies, and cold mastery)
- LitSorc (Sorc making use of the lightning tree - chain lightning, lightning...)
- PureFire (Sorc making use of fire ball and meteor, maxes meteor, synergies and mastery)
- Blizzsorc (Sorceress making use of blizzard, synergies/cold mastery)
Amazon
- Javazon (Amazon making use of her javelin skills)
- Furyzon (Amazon maxing lightning fury, and its synergies)
Assassin
- Lightning Trapasin (Assassin making use of traps of a single element, lightning in this case)
Those are all the common ones that come to mind. The biggest being hammerdin, wind druid, meteorb sorc, bowazons, and skelemancers. I have written a guide for five pit runners, four being in the top listing. If you want to learn about the different builds that I have not detailed, each class has it's own area in the strategy section of the forums and the users there have guides, or can answer your questions on most builds.
Also, some of the builds mentioned above have a full guide, archived in the strategy compendium. One such archived guide is the Skele-mancer guide by Nightfish. This guide includes an alternative MF build and setup and can be found here. More can be found at the main page of the Strategy Compendium.
If you can't find anything that fits your playing style try to make your own builds - this is only the beginning of 1.10, experiment, have fun with your own creations, you may like what you discover.
I myself run the pits with a hammerdin carrying 500% MF, and I love him. I'd recommend him as my #1 choice because he can clear out any area in the game and survive to tell his tales. Other more "pure" pit-only builds exist, but keep in mind - pit only.
Wrapping up. The Pits should not be a way of life. I know it may seem that way to some reading this, but remember everything in moderation. Don't be disappointed if you don't find a windforce the first time through. Don't be disappointed if you don't find a windforce the hundredth time through. The pit has become what it has because several of the popular .09 hotspots have been nerfed, also because the game cannot be played the way it used to in the high acts of hell. Read through the below Appendices, some of them may be extremely useful to you.
The pits are somewhere to kick back, and relax, don't get all tied up in them, and don't make them the sole reason you play. I find pit runs more fun than running stationary superuniques 24/7, but that's just my thought. When I'm not pit running, I try my best to find other places that take a while to move through - usually the other level 85 areas. Continuous, quick act boss or superunique runs are the reason this game tires me out. I enjoy the game so much more when I'm just playing, and pit runs bring that feeling back to me and let's me really have fun with it.
Always remember that sometimes it's good to get out, go elsewhere, so life isn't always ~The Pits~
Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
The Definitive Guide to The Pits
* Final FINAL edit
This is it, it has everything I imagined it would, and then some. I have covered all questions that have been asked in the 3 previous postings of this guide, along with some ideas that came to me along the way. I moved the information around - now everything relating to the pit and MF is at the top. The other info has been placed into the 3 appendices - one for the character guides, one for the list of level 85 areas, and one containing the popular level 85 areas from that list with some more detail. I did a huge spelling check, so there should not be any huge grammatical errors. Formatting appears to be correct as well. I added a strategy section to each build guide, hopefully that will help out those in need.
I know most of you have probably read it already, so don't feel obliged to read it again. Give it a quick glance over if you would like, apparently it's headed for the Strat Comp after this.
That's it that's all, It's been fun. I wonder what guide I'll write up next - suggestions for another HUGE guide like this one are quite welcome.
*
As the new patch rolled in, many realised that some of the high hell bosses or superunqiues they used to run for hours on end have become less rewarding. Either Mephisto was too hard to find, Pindleskin was to hard to fight, or Shenk or Eldritch just didn't drop the new elites they wanted. To add to that, most of the new ladder characters could not just jump up and go MFing in act5 of hell wearing minimal gear and having minimal magic find.
Yes the patch may have destroyed these places, but at the same time, it gave birth to a selection of new magic-finding areas in hell. These new areas could drop every single item in the game, and some of the better ones were located in act 1, of all places. One of these areas is The Pit.
For those of you who don't know where the pits are, what they are, why they are being talked about, and anything else you can think of, I hope to have it all summed up here. This guide can also be applied to most of the other new patch areas found through acts 1-3. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is fit for acts 4&5, as they are noticeably harder than the first 3 acts and require some different strategies. You can find the other high level areas listed in Appendix A. In Appendix B, you can find some information on the other favourite areas besides the pit.
This guide can also be used to enhance your knowledge about how item generation works in the new patch. Discussion of magic-find in this guide does not solely apply to the pit, but rather, it is specific to the 1.10 patch as a whole. Most questions on item generation are answered in the below sections.
An added bonus, a collection of five popular pit runner guides have been included in this guide - Meteorb, Hammerdin, Strafezon, Wind Druid, WW Barb. These guides can be found in Appendix C. Most of these builds can be used throughout the game, especially in the other, new patch areas. This guide should hopefully prove to be extremely useful, and should clear up any unanswered questions anyone may have about the new 1.10 MF goldmines - namely, The Pit.
Where/What are the pits?
The pits, officially "The Pit", is located in act 1. Contrary to what some seem to think, when people say "The Pit" they are actually not referring to the "Pit of Acheron" or "Infernal Pit", both located in act 5. If you were hoping for a guide on either of these areas, you will be disappointed to hear that this is not that guide. You will be further disappointed to hear that, to my knowledge, one does not exist, and that everyday I pray that such a guide will never be seen to the light of these forums.
Pressing on. The pit is located in act 1, more specifically, in the Tamoe Highlands - the area before the Monastery Gate. There is no waypoint for the Tamoe Highlands, so most pit runners will take the Outer Cloister waypoint and make their way from there to the Highlands. Take the Outer Cloister waypoint, exit the monastery, and follow the road, which will lead you directly to the pits. This way has proven to be faster and easier than the Black Marsh route.
The pit consists of two levels - Level 1, and Level 2. On level 2 of the pits there is an uber chest (Chest that appears on the mini-map and drops many items). The pits have become a very popular location for Magic Finding (MF) since the release of 1.10.
Why are the pits so good for MFing?
The pits are one of several locations that have the highest area level (area_Lvl) in the game, with an area_Lvl of 85 in hell. The Worldstone Keep, The Mausoleum and The Ancient Tunnels all share this area_Lvl of 85, along with a few select others. These other areas are listed in Appendix A, and some are covered with slight depth.
The pits are only truly popular in hell. In nightmare and normal, the area_Lvl of the pit is too low to hope for many good drops. The reason the pit is popular in hell is because it has the same area_Lvl as the Worldstone, but is much, much easier. There are very few elemental monsters, only one comes to mind, so resists are not as critical here as in other areas. This means that it is easier to focus on MF.
The pit is not the only popular location to MF in. The Mausoleum and Ancient Tunnels are other relatively easy areas, with that high area level. The downfall of these areas is that they are filled with undead. Undead means no leeching for physical damage builds, which automatically voids several characters. On the plus side, the Mausoleum has no normal fire or cold immunes, and the ancient tunnels have no normal cold immunes. This means that a single element sorceress could clear the appropriate area with ease, where clearing the entire pit would be near impossible without a means to defeat immunes.
The pit, although having each regular monster immune to a single element (save poison) is often preferred. Some 1.10 builds run dual element, or have a way to defeat immunes so immunities are not always a problem. A mercenary, lower resist charges or -enemy resistance mods can all be used if in immunity trouble. The pit is preferred because of it's size - not only is it reasonably large, but it has two levels. The uber-chest and it's numerous packs of uniques/champions are other reasons it is preferred, and regarded as the new MF hot spot. Not only is the pit a hot spot for MF, but it also provides excellent XP. Pit runs can provide quick levels, so they are best started as soon as you reach hell and have sufficient equipment to withstand the run. Even at high levels, pit runs can make a slight dent in your XP bar, an added bonus to the MFing.
Which factors other than MF affect my ability to find uber-leet items?
mLvls, qLvls and TCs
First note that your character level (cLvl) has no effect on any monster drops. It is a monster's level (mLvl) that defines which items it can drop. Monsters drop weapons and armour from specific treasure classes (TC). TCs make up groupings of items with similar levels. A monster chooses a TC to drop from, and then an item in that TC to drop. In 1.09 weapon90 and armor90 were in the highest TC, now in 1.10, that TC has been dropped, and all weapon90 and armor90 items have been bumped down to weapon87 and armor87.
Sacred armour is in armor87, because of this, only monsters that can drop from armor87 can drop sacred armour. To get even more picky, set and uniques have quality levels (qLvl). If a monster wants to have any hope of dropping a unique sacred armour, they must be able to drop from armor87, and have an mLvl equal to or greater than the qLvl of unique sacred armour. The highest qLvl for a set item is only 55 - all hell monsters meet that requirement - but the highest qLvl for uniques is 87, not easily attainable.
Lucky for us, every monster in the pit can drop from armor87 and weapon87 - in effect, every base type item in the game. Unfortunately, only champions and random unique bosses have a high enough mLvl to drop every unique item in the game. This means that while every monster in the pit can drop every base item, some very high qLvl items can never be unique if dropped by normal monsters with an mLvl too low.
Monsters in the pit have high mLvls because of their area level. Several formulas exist relating area_Lvl to the mLvl of different monster types and to different props.
Normal Monsters (NOT champion, unique, etc...) mLvl = area_Lvl
Champion Monsters (Fanatic, Ghostly, etc...) mLvl = area_Lvl + 2
Random Uniques and their minions ("Arzahd The Violent" - not Pindleskin) mLvl = area_Lvl + 3
Super Uniques (SU) are monsters that have a set spawning place and their own drop tables (Pindleskin). We don't need to worry about super uniques as there are none in the pit.
These formulas tell us that any normal monster in the pits will have a mLvl of 85, any champions will have mLvls of 87, and random uniques will have mLvls of 88.
Let's finish off with an example. We have a normal Dark Archer in the pits. The mLvl of this normal monster, according to the area_Lvl of the pits must be 85. Because the mLvl of the monster is only 85, the highest qLvl item that can be dropped is of qLvl 85. Again, take note that only champions, and random uniques and their minions can achieve drops of qLvl 86 or 87.
For info of what items are in which TCs look here (keep in mind armor90 and weapon90 are now armor87 and weapon87).
Prop Drops
Props are various things that will spew out items when clicked. In the pit, the most prominent props are the dead rogues that scatter the floors and the uber chest on level 2. Props are affected by area_Lvl, but not in the same way as monsters. We know that all monsters in the pit can drop from the highest TC. Props do not share this property.
The TC that props are able to drop from are not affected by area_Lvl. TC selections for props are hardcoded into the game. The highest TC that the chest in level 2 of the pit can drop from is TC 66 - specifically armor66 and weapon66.
Although TC selection is not affected, area_Lvl does affect the item level (iLvl) of the items that can be dropped from props. iLvl is important because it can affect modifiers that spawn on that item (such as enhanced damage or increased attack speed). Most people will take items of high iLvl to craft with or imbue, as the potential for good mods is there.
A monster or prop’s level decides the iLvl. The formula we use to assign an iLvl to an item is very simple.
iLvl = mLvl (or prop level in the case of a chest)
Chests get their prop level from the area they are located in. There is a formula we use to give a prop a level.
prop level = area_Lvl
In the case of the pit, because our area_Lvl is 85, the prop level of the chest on level 2 is 85. This means that the chest will drop items of iLvl 85. Fairly high iLvl items come out of the chest on level 2, the highest being 99. Items that drop from the chest, or anywhere else in the pit for that matter are very good to craft/imbue with.
Summing up, although the chest on level 2 can only drop from up to TC66, items that drop from it will have high iLvls. And although TC66 may not sound like the greatest, keep in mind that runes up to vex can drop, along with shakos, oculuses, and a handful of other uniques. If you're there, you may as well give the chest a click. Plenty of keys drop on the way to level 2, so picking one up shouldn't be too much of a hassle.
Number of Players In Game
Bluntly put, the number of players in the game increases your chances to find those uber items. Although it does not directly give you an increased chance to find a set or unique, the number of players in the game regulates the number of items dropped. More items will drop in an 8-player game than in a solo game. The chances are increased because more items are dropping, and more quality level rolls are being made to see if the dropped items will be set or unique.
Taking an example. If one sacred armours drop in your solo pit run, the chance of that sacred armour being unique is slim. If however, 5 sacred armours are dropped in one game the chances that one of them will be unique is greater. You need not be partied or within a certain radius of the other 7 players, so you can solo the pit in, let's say, a baal run. The downside to 8-player games is that monsters become harder, and only top builds can handle them. If you can manage the pit in an 8-player game do it.
Other
The same unique cannot be dropped twice in the same game. An exception to this is that, luck permitting, a single monster drops two of the same unique. This means that you cannot find two windforces in the same game unless they both came from the same monster/prop drop.
The term failed unique refers to a time when an item is dropped, but the qLvl of the monster that dropped it is too low for it to be unique, or no unique for that item exists. This unique becomes a rare of the same type with 3x the durability. For instance, if a normal monster wanted to drop unique sacred armour, but could not because it's mLvl was not as high as the qLvl of the item, a rare sacred armour with triple durability would drop instead. Failed sets are not an issue in hell, as every monster has a high enough qLvl.
How does my MF affect my ability to find uber-leets?
Magic find affects the quality of the items dropped by different monsters. The easiest way to explain the effects of MF on monster drops is with an example, but first, there are some things relating to MF you should know.
Our natural MF base is 100. All MF mods from equipment, or other items are added to our base of 100 MF, and then are further calculated to fit the quality of the item.
When we have no MF in our equipment our total MF (base and equipment) is 100%, and our chance to find a set item is increased by 100%. When our equipment MF is 100%, our total MF is 200% and our chance to find a set item is increased by 183%. When our equipment MF is 200%, our total MF is 300%, and our chance to find a set item is increased by 242%. The more MF we get, the less we gain in our chance to find a set item. These are called diminishing returns.
On to our example, let's say we are travelling through the pits, and we run into a champion with mLvl 87. This champion decides he will drop sacred armour. Our MF does not change which item he will drop, it changes the quality of it. He will drop sacred armour whether our MF is 1 or 400. MF decides the quality of the item (rare, unique, set).
If the sacred armour normally has a 5% chance to be set (Immortal King Armour), and we have 100% MF in our equipment or 200% total MF, the chance that the sacred armour will be IK armour as opposed to just plain old sacred armour, has increased to 14.15%. (183% of 5 is 9.15, 5 + 9.15 = 14.15)
So you can see, more MF equals better chance that the item is rare, unique or set. The above values are completely phoney by the way, so in no way take them seriously. It should taken to note that in regard to rune drops, MF has no effect. Runes are purely your own luck in the pit, or anywhere else where monsters have not been given enhanced rune drops (The Countess for example has those enhanced rune drops).
For more info on MF percentages go here
What is the best amount of MF to have?
As was seen, as our MF increases, we slowly get less and less of our actual MF counting towards sets. This also applies to rares and uniques, but not magicals. MF is not the most important thing in the world of Diablo. First comes survival (especially if we are hardcore), then comes speed, and close behind should come MF. If we sacrifice speed for MF, we lose efficiency. It would be better to do a pit run in 5 minutes with 500MF, than to spend 10 minutes with 700MF. (These are only examples)
A good balance for me has been 500%. The balance will change depending on the build we decide on, but very few builds are completely INdependant of items and can use only MF items. 350% is a nice place to start, and stay for some, as that is where the augmentations start to really get low.
What is the best build for pit runs?
This is probably the question I see the most, and the one without a perfect answer. I have had a few experiences first hand with using different builds, but I have also grown accustomed to what others use just by browsing the forums.
First thing to know is that each normal monster in the pits is immune to one single element (fire, lightning or cold). This means that for elemental users you either have to run dual element, or get a mercenary or other means of physical damage. No normal monster in the pit spawns with a physical or poison immunity. Although no normal monster in the pit can spawn with two immunities, know that random unique bosses can spawn with problematic immunities. Even two element casters will not defeat these foes without another means.
Another important point to make is that crowd-control usually defines the best Pit runners. If you can target hordes of monsters, you can make your way through the Pit quickly, and without harm. I will list all viable builds for the pits that have been played with and discussed since the realisation of the pit. This list is in no particular order of speed or quality.
Paladin
- Hammerdin (Blessed Hammer Paladin)
- Shocker, Freezer, (Paladin making use of one of the holy auras - Holy Shock, Holy Freeze)
- Avenger (Pally making use of Vengeance, Conviction, and select veng syns)
Druid
- Wind Druid (Elemental Druid making use of his wind spells)
- Werebear/Summoner (Druid with werebear ability making use of the summoning tree)
- Hybrid Werebear (Werebear making use of fire skills, both in shape shifting and elemental trees)
Amazon
- Bowazon (Amazon using a bow of some sort)
- Multizon (Bowazon using multishot skill among others)
- Strafezon (Bowazon using strafe skill among others)
- Poison Javazon (Javazon using poison javelin skills and synergies, lightning fury may be a secondary attack)
- Hybridzon (Amazon using both bow and javelins usually multi/strafe + lit fury)
Barbarian
- Concentrate Barb (Barb making use of the concentrate skill)
- Whirlwind Barb (The definitive cookie-cutter WW barb, uses Whirlwind as a main skill)
- ZerkerBarb (Barb maxing berserk, it's synergies, and a second attack)
- Singer Barb (Barbarian using his warcry tree offensively. His find item ability can be quite useful)
Necromancer
- Skelemancer (Necro making use of his revives, skellys, and corpse explosion)
- Bonemancer (Necro making use of his bone skills, and sometimes poison skills)
- Poisonmancer (Necro making use of poison dagger, explosion and nova and select bone skills)
Sorceress
- Meteorb Sorc (Dual-tree sorceress with meteor, a synergy, fire mastery, and frozen orb)
- CL/FO Sorc (Dual-tree sorc making use of chain lightning, it's synergies and frozen orb)
- Other Dual-Tree Sorc (Sorceress making use of two elements in her arsenal (other than those above))
Assassin
- Trapasin (Assassin making use of different traps of different elements. Rare immunity problems)
*None of the above should need to worry about immunities of normal monsters*
*The below (may) run into problems with immunities of normal monsters*
Sorceress
- OrbSorc (Sorc using Frozen Orb, it's synergies, and cold mastery)
- LitSorc (Sorc making use of the lightning tree - chain lightning, lightning...)
- PureFire (Sorc making use of fire ball and meteor, maxes meteor, synergies and mastery)
- Blizzsorc (Sorceress making use of blizzard, synergies/cold mastery)
Amazon
- Javazon (Amazon making use of her javelin skills)
- Furyzon (Amazon maxing lightning fury, and its synergies)
Assassin
- Lightning Trapasin (Assassin making use of traps of a single element, lightning in this case)
Those are all the common ones that come to mind. The biggest being hammerdin, wind druid, meteorb sorc, bowazons, and skelemancers. I have written a guide for five pit runners, four being in the top listing. If you want to learn about the different builds that I have not detailed, each class has it's own area in the strategy section of the forums and the users there have guides, or can answer your questions on most builds.
Also, some of the builds mentioned above have a full guide, archived in the strategy compendium. One such archived guide is the Skele-mancer guide by Nightfish. This guide includes an alternative MF build and setup and can be found here. More can be found at the main page of the Strategy Compendium.
If you can't find anything that fits your playing style try to make your own builds - this is only the beginning of 1.10, experiment, have fun with your own creations, you may like what you discover.
I myself run the pits with a hammerdin carrying 500% MF, and I love him. I'd recommend him as my #1 choice because he can clear out any area in the game and survive to tell his tales. Other more "pure" pit-only builds exist, but keep in mind - pit only.
Wrapping up. The Pits should not be a way of life. I know it may seem that way to some reading this, but remember everything in moderation. Don't be disappointed if you don't find a windforce the first time through. Don't be disappointed if you don't find a windforce the hundredth time through. The pit has become what it has because several of the popular .09 hotspots have been nerfed, also because the game cannot be played the way it used to in the high acts of hell. Read through the below Appendices, some of them may be extremely useful to you.
The pits are somewhere to kick back, and relax, don't get all tied up in them, and don't make them the sole reason you play. I find pit runs more fun than running stationary superuniques 24/7, but that's just my thought. When I'm not pit running, I try my best to find other places that take a while to move through - usually the other level 85 areas. Continuous, quick act boss or superunique runs are the reason this game tires me out. I enjoy the game so much more when I'm just playing, and pit runs bring that feeling back to me and let's me really have fun with it.
Always remember that sometimes it's good to get out, go elsewhere, so life isn't always ~The Pits~
Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.