That’s been my experience, too. My problems always come when I try to play with other people on Battle.Net, especially at low levels - I end up with people who just want to race through as quickly as they can, which is why I so often end up playing solo, even on Battle.Net.
Personally, the first Sol I find usually goes into a Lore helm (I can usually find OrtSol long before any other skill helm), but after that, I’ve never had a shortage of Sol. I think that Lore is the only decent word for which Sol is the rarest rune: For anything else, you’ll be waiting for some other rune anyway. Likewise for io and Black. Yeah, it’s also needed for Memory, but the Lum (and the appropriate staff) are harder to find than the io. And on Delerium, Lem and Ist are both a lot harder to come by than io.
As for Ancient’s Pledge, if you’re suggesting that for a clonekiller, I’d be inclined to say no. In Hell (which is his reason for being), the resist penalty is just too high. And all that he really needs his shield for is resists and blocking. If you want any of the other A.P. modifiers (basically just defense and damage goes to mana), they’ll be easier to get on some other item than it will be to make up the lost resists on other items. And besides, it’s not like diamonds are hard to come by.
Also, there’s no point in making the clonekiller until folks are into Hell, since that’s where D’’ is. Once others reach Hell, it shouldn’t be too difficult to rush the killer there, too, and he doesn’t actually need to catch up in level (although it helps).
I do not put a shield on a barbarian. The only time I have ever done this was for MF.
I do put a shield on my sorcs because I like to be able to block. The current one of course has maxed blocking, but then that is because she has about 300 life at level 76 or so, so I need all the help I can get.
Chronos, would you then suggest waiting to make the clonekiller until you’ve got the gear, or just waiting to go into Hell until you’ve got the gear?
This thread has now exceeded 40 pages, and is basically half a dozen folks chatting with each other. At least, they’re on topic (I think.) However, I have been instructed by the Powers Above to shut it down.
I am investigating the question of whether long threads do, indeed, still hamper performance. I will get back to y’all.
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IF there is no such hampering, and a half dozen folks want to discuss their game, I don’t see any particular reason not to let them, but I will submit that question to the Moderators for arriving at consensus. Subject to that decision, I could then re-open that thread or leave it closed.
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IF there is some performance degenration on account of large threads, then we’ll leave it closed.
I do think that having a dozen threads on how to play a particular game would be excessive, especially if we’re talking half a dozen people participating. Set up a chat room or email list.
So, can we call this a temporary halt until we arrive at some final decision?
I am setting up a TEMPORARY IRC channel for us to frequent until some resolution is arrived at concerning the current state of our thread.
The channel is #SDMB on either of the following two servers:
irc.gamesurge.net
irc.dcloneirc.net
The easiest and fastest way to connect, if you haven’t had any irc experience before, is probably mIRC, which can be downloaded here. Alternatively, you can download an older version from my ftp site, which i will provide upon AIM or e-mail request. Upon preview i notice that this won’t actually open an Outlook mail window, but at least it’ll obscure the address a bit.
If you’re having trouble setting it up or getting into the channel, you could post here or just contact me.
And, for the obligatory part of this post that makes it Cafe Society-worthy: i’m thinking about doing a mule rush around 10pm tonight, if anybody happens to be interested. Unfortunately, since our usual thread is closed, i doubt we’ll get enough of a turnout to make it happen, but who knows.
Please note that this thread is not intended to become anywhere as long as the old one, nor should it stay around as long. However, in the interim, any questions about the game would probably do well to be placed in this thread, to enhance its legitimacy.
We were getting into something of a discussion (well, discussions) on use of dexterity/blocking for casters and tankers. I’d be interested in seeing different experiences with that as long as folks can keep it to under 40 pages;)
that reminds me, i had something to say about that. Someone said they preferred to not use shields with a barbarian, and would rather go with a two-handed weapon.
My general feeling is that this is a Bad Idea. There are some enemies in hell that ignore target defense, to which your only recourse is the nice, high % chance of blocking that only a shield can give you. In my opinion, there’s no substitute for a nice big hunk of metal slung across your arm when Baal’s baddies come a-knockin.
Just to be clear: Jerry the Tech God won’t be able to get back to me until next week.
So, in the meantime, I ask your forebearance. IF the long thread is not a drag on the hamsters, we’ll presumably re-open it. If it is, then we’ll leave it closed and you’ll have to start a new one. OK?
At issue is whether the long threads slow up the system. Jerry the Tech God is not available until next week to answer this.
If you’d like to continue posting here, then when we get an answer:
(a) if long threads do slow up the system, then you’ll have this thread as “Son of Diablo2” to continue
(b) if long threads don’t slow up the system, then I’ll merge this with the original thread, for continuity.
sounds like a plan. Thanks for the update. 
I usually give my barbs a 2-hander for a main weapon, and have a 1-hander and shield on the switch.
No echo weps? For shame!
Later on today, I’ll discuss some of what was discussed in the IRC channel; more specifically, making a SoJ runner and the highest MF we could get on a char.
OK, I’ll bite. What’s an SoJ runner? I didn’t realize there was any way to run for Stones.
And I don’t think that shields make a big difference for sorcs… Mine has a 16% chance to block. If I’m in melee, I’m dead. Go with orb and shield or staff, whichever has the better mods.
And my barb has dual weapons on the main and a weapon and shield on switch, but his main weapons are echos :D.
Last night in chat, discussion gradually turned to a few things, one of which was the best place to hunt for SoJ. theck said he thought it was NM Andy, and after Who_me? did some research (my pc was going horribly slow so I couldn’t get the page loaded at all), he found that the act boss with the highest chance of dropping it, with a decently low difficulty, was NM Andy. We began trying to figure out the max MF we could get on a sorc who could MF NM Andy pretty quickly and arrived at about 1025-1050, assuming LH merc kill. 1050 I’d like to see, because I personally have never gotten a character’s MF that high, even with merc. I have gotten it over 1K, but that was with a much slower-killing barb.
We then postulated that a barb equipped with the same gear detailed in chat (which I’ll be happy to lay out here) could run Hell Baal with some help, and that the 950 MF he’d get by himself would be really pretty decent, and Baal might drop more than an ethereal cracked sash.
I use dex on my sorc because I like being able to block. If I get hit, I wait to regen. I don’t drink pots. Since my life right now is under 320, getting hit is not such the fond proposition. I have Eshield absorbing something like 61%, which is good and means that I don’t take much in the way of damage from anything.
I did further reseach this morning and was still unable to discover the TC of a Stone of Jordan, or any ring or ammy for that matter. I was able to find the 1.09 TC’s of every piece of armor and every weapon, but jewelry and charms were not listed.
I did a Google search and found that we were not the first to have this discussion. On several game and Diablo2 message boards it was agreed that NM Andariel had the best chance of dropping a soj. Although he did not show where he got his numbers, one person said he calculated that, on average, NM Andy should drop a soj once every 400 runs. Then that thread continued with people saying they did 1000 runs and didn’t get any or did 200 runs and got one…
Stuff echo weps - Heart Carver in one hand, Gull in the other. Hork them goodies!
For MF find, the realistic maximum would seem to be a barb with:
Helm: 3 PTops (72%)
Armour: Skullder’s with Ist (114-148%, from clvl71-99)
Left hand: Gull (100%)
Right hand: Gull (100%) [Presuming a lack of Ali Baba’s with MF socketing.]
Amulet: perfect Fortuitous of Luck (50%) [See Boots]
Rings: 2x perfect Fortuitous of Luck (80%) [More likely 2x Nagel for 60%]
Belt: Goldwrap (30%)
Gloves: perfect Chance Guards (40%)
Boots: War Travellers (50%) [If the amulet has less than 28%, switch it and this for the Tancred’s set items.]
Charms: perfect Gheed’s Fortune, 28 7% small charms (236%)
This gives a total of 872-906% maximum, probably closer to 800-850% allowing for vagaries of imperfection and not having a clvl99 to run with. Nine inventory slots are left; eight for any single unique and one for a set of keys (no unique left behind).
SoJ running … presumably it’s just running in a location with level 39-52? That way the SoJ is accessible but the higher rings are not.
First of all, replace the 3-topaz helm with an IK helm and two topazes. Better MF and other mods too. Second, if you have any Ist, put them in weapons (or even shields) before armor. Ist gives 5% more in a weapon, and for armor, topazes are almost as good.
As for the absolute maximum, I get 1685, for merc last hit. This is assuming a barbarian dual-wielding six-Ist weapons, Goldwrap, Chance Guards, War Travellers, Skullder’s Ire, and all other items carrying a max MF prefix and suffix and Ist in all sockets, plus an inventory completely full of a perfect Gheed’s and 7% charms, plus a battlemage merc with a six-Ist phase blade, Skullder’s with Ist, a four-Ist shield, and a Fortuitous Circlet of Luck with two Ist. But then, if you had twenty-eight Ists to spare, why would you need to find anything else? 
More realistically, I would go with a sorceress with topaz Skullder’s, topaz Harlequin Crest, Occulus, Splendor, and whatever other MF items I could get, possibly with Gull or Ali Baba and Rhyme or socketed Milabrega’s on weapon switch, to switch while the meteor is falling. Any Ist runes I might have would get first priority in the Ali Baba, then the Milabrega’s, then the Occulus, before I’d even consider putting one in the armor or helm.
I wonder, not completely knowing how to find this out, if it’s possible to spawn a 6-socket item with MF on it inherently? I know you can spawn stuff of ease (-% req) and such, but I don’t recall ever seeing one spawning with MF.
Evil Death, I’ll refrain from stuffing echo weps, which when worked right give a total of +8 to warcries (but more realistically +6, or even +4). Raises your life and defense by a healthy margin:)
How do you get two sockets on the IK Helm?
Revised helm: Harlequin w/PTop. (74%)
I wasn’t suggesting 6-Ist weapons because I don’t know how realistic getting hold of 12 Ists is. The list was realistic maximum, not absolute maximum.
Punha: Can the game spawn a magical item with more than four sockets?
All IK helms come equipped with 2 sockets, and 25-40% mf (so the max would be 90% from an IK helm with 2 ists, 88% with topazes).
Getting ahold of 12 ists is possible (well, for me anyway, with anni sales), but not worth it IMO. By that point, you’re really pushing the upper limits of the diminishing returns curve. You’d probably be better off with 2 dual ist-ed ali babas, since those go for a little more than ist each.
For the sorc, i’d reccomend the ali baba and a 4 ist monarch, which as i’ve pointed out before, is only around 3 ist or so, tops.
The game cannot, to my knowledge, spawn a magical item with more than 4 sockets (via the Jeweler’s prefix). I don’t think that any of the cube recipes or Larzuk can add sockets to an already socketed item, except perhaps the
3 perfect kulls+SOJ+Rare item=add 1 socket to rare item recipe.
punha, how exatly do you get +8 from two echoing weapons? Or were you talking about getting Berserker’s and Resonant prefixes on a rare weapon? I’m not sure if it’s even possible, since i’ve never seen a rare item with +all and +skill tree, but it looks from the arreat summit like it could happen, in theory.