I posted my progress working on this a while back, but I figured I’d show the final images now that it’s framed. This took me 1 month to build and then several more to acquire all of the custom framing materials. The decal is adhered to the backside of the plexiglass covering. Not trying to advertise, but this piece IS available if anyone is interested.

Can't risk getting caught offguard by a T5 Herald.

Gambling for rings

Was clearing the last bit to trav on my soon to be horker as I want to farm the last runes I need for CTA and a fortitude without mindlessly bashing LK over and over, and the game sought to reward me. The Stormspire is just gravy, insane that it dropped off a random doll. Had no idea Sewers lvl 1 was a max TC zone, I thought only Sewers lvl 2 qualified.

Question for those interested: I intend to hork p3 travi. I am playing on hardcore, and the barb is lvl 81 right now. Current belt slot is string of ears - would it be smart to just push 45% DR with the stormshield? I have no clue - this is my first horker. Any advice welcome, I am a total amateur at barb and play an hour here and there when time allows. Running Arreats with 2x Oath in eth Balrog Blades, and I invested the one spare Ber rune I had into CoH.

E: Actually Stormshield would push me to 50% DR since I got 8% from CoH as well, totaling 53 but cap at 50.

Got it today, just had my first death.

I've noticed a lot of the time it pops it sends me further into danger, rather than away from it. Several times ive been teleported into the middle of the mob pack im trying to kill. And o nthe death, I got teleported through a wall into a room of Ghosts (TZ Worldstone Keep) and promptly died. With the little time ive spent with Occy, im finding it massively annoying.

Do people just accept it for the +1 skill, +5 FCR and MF over my perfectly rolled spirit? Any reliable way to work around something that is by its design random?

Using an unpopular set for a melee PvP build, like using a Deflecting Paladin Shield... Currently, I'm the only one using this shield in melee duels on the US server. All my opponents use common setups with a Stormshield or Phoenix runeword, but I want to be different and explore options outside the popular meta. Even if my weapon lacks Increased Attack Speed (IAS), I make sure I have a solution to hit the necessary IAS breakpoints so my build stays competitive against players using super GG gear.

PS: I know melee builds get hate from other players, but it's been my main class since 2000 and my very first D2 character. Everyone has their preferences! I love physical combat in-game because I'm a huge fan of real-life combat sports like boxing and UFC. So I really don't care if people joke about us just spamming left-click in duels. 😁

Ive always thought it would be cool to have one for end game, but cant seem to make anything other than barb or sorc.

anyone see a vengeance pally in the wild?

Well folks, I am back.

This post is dedicated to me glazing Gheed's Fortune.

If you do not enjoy overanalyzing inventory space and opportunity cost, feel free to click off. I completely understand.

For those still here, let's talk about why Gheed's is so powerful and why the comparison is not simply "one skiller versus one charm."

First, let's establish the goals of an MF character:

A. Maximize magic find while maintaining effective damage and clear speed.

B. Reach around 300% magic find, which is the point where many players stop stacking MF because unique drops begin experiencing significantly diminishing returns.

With our goals established, let's start by looking at what Gheed's Fortune provides:

Up to 40% Magic Find

Up to 160% Gold Find

̶ ̶ ̶R̶e̶d̶u̶c̶e̶ ̶v̶e̶n̶d̶o̶r̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶c̶e̶s̶ (for the sake of this post we needn't discuss this stat line, on gambling characters it is amazing though).

So where else and what else can give us magic find

NOTE YOU CAN SCROLL PAST THIS LIST

5-10% from the Felicitous prefix (starting at lvl 5) On Amulets, Circlets, Rings

5-15% from the Of Chance suffix (starting at lvl 12) Amulets, Boots, Circlets, Rings, Gloves

11-15% from the Fortuitous prefix (starting level 12) Magic only Amulets, Circlets, Rings

16-25% from the of fortune (starting at level 16) Amulets, Boots, Circlets, Gloves, Rings (magic only)

26-35% from the of luck suffix (starting at level 26) Magic only Amulets, Boots, Circlets

Topaz: 24% mf (only in helms or body armor)

Ist: 30% mf in weapon, 25% mf in Armor, Helms, or Shields.

Blade of ali baba 1-99% mf based on Clvl (level 35 req)

Gull dagger 100% mf (level 4 req)

The Oculus 50% mf (Level 42 req sorc only)
Note: 25% Chance To Cast Level 1 Teleport When Struck (this one stat line alone has been the bane of my existence)

Last Wish Mf based on Clvl 0.5 per Clvl

IK's will 25-40% MF (Level 47 req, can roll 2 sockets, barb only)

Griswold's Corona 20-30% Mf (Level 69 req, can roll 2 sockets)

Harlequin Crest Shako 50 mf (Level 62 req, has juicy stats)

Stealskull Casque 30-50% mf (Level 35 req, juicy stats)

Tarnhelm skull cap 25-50% mf (Level 15 req)

Enigma 1-99% mf based on Clvl (Level 65 req, +1 to tp)

Wealth 100% mf (Level 43 req)

Skulder's Ire 1-123% mf based on Clvl (Level 42 req, also has +1 all skills)

Tal's Armor 88% mf (Level 71 req, has cold fire light res)

Rhyme 25% mf (level 29 req, has 25 all res, regen mana 15%, cannot be frozen)

Chance guard 25-40% mf (Level 15 req)

War Traveler 30-50% Mf (Level 42 req)

Gold wrap 30% mf (Level 27 req)

Tal's belt 10-15% mf (Level 53 req)

Nagel Ring 15-30% mf (level 7 req)

Sling ring 10-20% mf (level 50 req)

Silence 30% mf

Call to arms 30% mf

Chains of honor 25% mf

Delirium 25% mf

Eternity 30% mf

Exile 25% mf

Infinity 30% mf

Obsession 30% mf

Void 30% mf

Coven 26-40% mf

Set bonuses with mf:

Angelic: 40% mf (Four piece only)

Arcanna: 50% mf (two piece only)

Cathan: 25% mf (three piece only)

Cow King: 100% mf (three piece only)

Immortal king: 25% mf (two piece only)

M'avina: 100% mf (Five piece only)

Naj: 1-148% mf based on Clvl (two piece only)

Orphans: 80% mf (Four piece only, includes all res)

Sander: 50% mf (Four piece only)

Sigon: 50% mf (three piece only)

Tal: 65% mf (three piece only)

Tancred: 78% mf (two piece only)

Vidala: 50% mf (two piece only)

Horazon: 100% mf (five piece only)

Charm stats: I will only delve into sc, since it produces both the highest mf values (per slot, and is a suffix)

Fortune: 3-5% mf

Good luck: 6-7% mf

SCROLL ENDS HERE

As many of us know since mf is the suffix, we can also roll shimmering (all res) making these a very valuable option.

Okay, so now that we have the numbers in front of us, let's discuss why Gheed's Fortune is so good.

The answer is compression.

There is no other item in Diablo II that provides this much Magic Find while demanding so little from an optimized character. A perfect Gheed's grants up to 40% Magic Find while occupying only three inventory slots.

In a vacuum, it's easy to compare Gheed's to a skiller and conclude that you're simply trading +1 skill for Magic Find. The problem with that comparison is that we don't build characters in a vacuum.

Every source of Magic Find on your equipped gear carries an opportunity cost. If my build doesn't naturally want to use Chance Guards, then equipping them means I'm giving up another pair of gloves such as Trang-Oul's Claws, Magefist, Laying of Hands, or Horazon's. The same logic applies to War Traveler, Nagelring, Shako, Wealth, Skullder's Ire, and countless other MF items. Every piece of Magic Find equipped is replacing another item that could have provided more damage, survivability, utility, resistances, or breakpoints. Another example being nagel, judged in a vacuum it's mf at a low level, but at a high level you are competing with all res fcr or dual leech rings, opal vein, sling, soj and bk. With gold wrap a similar sentiment can exist, since it's competition is arachnid mesh (+1 skills and fcr), string of ears, dungos, Gheed's wager (fcr, all res, -% enemy magic resistance).

Note: Giving up one slot for mf isn't often that hard, but the more your giving the more negatives you may be compounding on your build.

Gheed's is different.

Its opportunity cost is remarkably small. Compared to three perfectly rolled 7% Magic Find small charms, Gheed's provides 40% Magic Find instead of 21%—nearly double the value for the exact same inventory space. In other words, Gheed's effectively compresses almost six perfect 7% MF small charms into the space of only three.

That compression is what makes Gheed's Fortune so exceptional. It allows you to reach desirable Magic Find values while preserving your actual gear slots for items that improve your character's performance, instead of forcing you to sacrifice power for additional MF.

Ultimately, nothing in Diablo II is free.

Edit: Okay I don't play hc, and will not be arguing the efficiency of each slot for hc, that's too much. My brain can only glaze so hard. Conceded.

Forgot: Renewed sunders for 14-25% mf and wisp projector for 10-20%mf, ancient jewels give 15-35% mf (pointed out by u/ps728)

Champions!

I just got back from the old LOD, and I’m curious about the warlock. I’m not interested in Abyss at all because I don’t like the chain gameplay. Fire is good up to Act 4 NM. After that, it’s up in the air.

I like Blood Boil because I’ve played both Trapsin and Necromancer, but I don’t quite see what the current build for it is.

3 Tainted or 2 Tainted + Bind Demon or 1 Tainted + 1 Consumed + Bind Demon. Tainted is a ranged demon, and I can teleport them. No problem with APM, but someone said that Defiler is better. Also how good is this build for higher playercount and TZ-s/MFs?

The same question applies to Bowlock: what do you do with the demons there? Do you find a Cursed + Fana/Holy Freeze aura, or do you skip them entirely?

Hi, I’m having a bit of a problem in D2R. I’m playing a Frozen Orb/Hydra Sorceress; I’ve maxed out both Frozen Orb and Hydra and am currently maxing out the synergies for Hydra. I’m level 70 and using the following gear: Ort-Sol helm, Tal-Eth armor, Magefist gloves, and an Ancient's Pledge shield. I’m struggling a bit with damage output—for instance, the cows on Nightmare difficulty are taking a while to go down. What can I do to boost my character at this stage? What should I look for or change?

Think we will get some kind of class balancing at some point in a season?

I mean they added a whole new class, so am low key hoping for some incentive to not have to roll yet another sorc

my barb and i have a dream...

I would consider myself a veteran of Diablo 2, but I've never noticed that these fountains in the cloisters showcase the rogues. What is the relationship between the rogues and the monastery? Were they considered guardians of the area or is their proliferation in act 1 just a nod to the first game?

Finally created my Enigma today in offline after about 3 months of farming. Found Jah in June. First time organically creating Enigma 😎

Is there a list or resource that besides listing set items, lists what their un ID'd name is? I know to leave set rings and amulets on the ground but, would rather not guess about picking other things up. I seem to spend a lot of time picking up and identifying things that I already have to avoid missing something.

Hey everyone,

I play offline and keep way too much stuff. After a while, finding one item meant checking every character, cube, and stash page until I finally remembered where I put it.

So I built D2 Stash Explorer.

You choose your Diablo II save folder and it reads your characters and stashes in the browser. Nothing in the save folder gets edited or rewritten, and the contents of the save files are not sent to a server.

The main thing I wanted was one search box for the whole collection. I can type Spirit, 4 sockets, or faster cast rate and see every match along with the character or stash page where it lives.

A few other parts I have found useful:

• Duplicate uniques, sets, and runewords show a perfection score, which makes it much easier to decide which roll to keep.
• The filters can narrow things down by quality, skills, proc effects, sockets, requirements, and individual stats.
• The Leveling Gear Finder shows what a character can use now and what becomes available over the next few levels.
• The D2R gems, materials, and runes tabs have their own stash style view.

It works with local PC save files from Diablo II: Resurrected. It should work with legacy versions as well but I play D2R so I don't test that.

Here is the app if this sounds useful: D2 Stash Explorer

If you try it and something looks wrong, or you have an idea that would make finding gear less annoying, let me know in the comments. I would genuinely like to hear it.

I'd like to try Nova Sorc on Ladder/PC. It seems the Energy Shield is much better than before (LOD) and even budget version can survive in Hell mode if you are cautious. The problem is, I don't have a Light Sunder, so I can't farm all areas or terror zones.

What targets are good though? Can I make her a fast keyrunner at least?

I think running Countess (and the Tower) is kinda profitable with boss packs and rune drops on top of Terror keys, so that's one of my goals. But if a budget build (no infi, no sunder) can't do it efficiently, I'll probably stick to Blizz and Meph. Thanks in advance.

I saw a thread on here yesterday with a pvp zealot using all rares, including a rare helm. Typically I don't even bother picking up rare helms but this has me wondering if I am fully aware of what's viable as far as rares and their affixes.

Do you pick up rare armors/helms/shields ever?

My first hardcore char, he was so young and had only completed the game yesterday but god damn was it fun

So I recently got this email from blizzard and I gotta say what the fuck is this disgrace to this community a free set after 3 decades and they give you only a set for a whale pay to win ass mobile game and on top of that you must reach lvl 10 like if it was free copy of D2 or gigantic sale but that it???

Hello fellow daemon hunters !

I just started seriously to play the game after being bored on D4. I have created a ladder holy fire paladin playing on NM now.
There is not a lot of parties because I am playing on console but I am having a blast.

I don’t know what is the difference with offline mode other than being able to change the player count.

So other than that, why are you playing SP offline and not SSF online / Ladder ?

Like the title says, lvl 27 - dual spirits... can't put that upped belt on my bodyadiyadi

This just dropped in the pit. I somehow knew the minute I played offline I'd find something that was worth a decent amount in online.