BN Uncertainties
#1
Howdy.

I've scoured (well, repeatedly skimmed) Woody's Realms and ICEs Cavern, but a few questions remain: can a BN character remove cursed items to read books? Must one wait until one restarts in town to do this?

Can a BN character equip extra gear (white, unided blue, etc.) to tap a Hidden Shrine? My BN char currently has a cap and various 2-handed weapons, nothing more....

I've no doubt that these are addressed...somehwere...but I've not seen anything that helps. Links would be great, though answers would be prefered.

Cheers.
dotPlaid
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#2
Post Edited

This creature would be a forum troll. I believe one of my colleagues is banning him even as I type this. Just as a warning to Lurkers, don't visit the website he uses as his handle (outwar.com). I don't recall what it is specifically, but to the best of my recollection it's garbage.

-Lem
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#3
Why I like playing pubby games:

I am now fully insulated against low-level insults from people who don't understand grammar and punctuation. (Sorry for trolling....)

Cheers.
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#4
Quote:I've scoured (well, repeatedly skimmed) Woody's Realms and ICEs Cavern, but a few questions remain: can a BN character remove cursed items to read books? Must one wait until one restarts in town to do this?

You can remove cursed items to read books. The requirement to wear the "most restrictive" cursed items really applies only to combat situations. There's no difference between taking off a -10 Ring of the Fool to read a book if you're in town or the dungeon.

Quote:Can a BN character equip extra gear (white, unided blue, etc.) to tap a Hidden Shrine?

Certainly.

Quote:I've no doubt that these are addressed...somehwere...but I've not seen anything that helps. Links would be great, though answers would be prefered.

When not explicitly stated, interpret rules according to the "spirit" -- what the author probably intended. The BNM's use of cursed items is, for the most part, a matter of masochistic pride. So, will he take an opportunity to ruin some mundane gear at a Hidden Shrine to benefit his precious, termite-ridden Bow of the Pit? Of course!

Will he remove cursed items to read books? Mmm, sure. He likes the items for what they do to him in battle. But if he needs fireball and he's smart enough to understand it, he's not letting some Ring of the Fool hold him back. You don't have to read books with your natural magic level if you'd rather use your cursed magic level, though. There's never any loss in being even worse off; it's when the player starts taking massive shortcuts (like BARs using magical items) that the character reeeally stops looking like the idea the author intended.

Will he wear beneficial items to read books? Heavens no! He'll use his own mental acumen, but he won't benefit from filthy artificial boons. Again, it's a matter of pride: if he's willing to benefit from rings temporarily, he may as well use them all the time. (With plain Naked Mages, though, reading glasses are deemed optional. I tend to prefer (and follow) BNM's reasoning, though.)

[o: *LEMMING* :o]
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#5
Thank you, Lemming, for the clear and thorough answers to my questions. My recent session on bnet was immeasurably more enjoyable with this knowledge.

Quote:When not explicitly stated, interpret rules according to the "spirit" -- what the author probably intended.

I've heard that before, still it unsettles me. These folks who went off and came up with avant garde ways to make the game harder did so, I understand, from a need to revitalize the thrill of playing Diablo. Perhaps they had a few clvl 50 characters lying about, they might've done countless Laz runs to find that one somesuchthingorother, so on.

I cannot imagine that mindset. I killed D once before shelving it lo these many years now, and have only picked it up in the last year or so. My point is that I'm not entirely sure I'm qualified to gleen what the author intended. Unfortunately the last great fallback - common sense - goes right out the window when discussing variants, which (plug cometh) is why I appreciate LL so much.

Cheers.
dotPlaid

[Edit as the game is not called Daiblo]
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#6
Quote:These folks who went off and came up with avant garde ways to make the game harder did so, I understand, from a need to revitalize the thrill of playing Diablo. Perhaps they had a few clvl 50 characters lying about...

There may have been a few variant folk who had 50s, and fewer who had multiple 50s, but this mindset came originally came from Woody wanting to shock people. Later, it evolved and was carried on by a breed of people who couldn't get enough of the game's dynamics. Old characters are boring! They don't change, they don't grow, they don't find new gear except once in a blue moon. There's no excitement to it! "Variant scum" thrived on playing young characters, and most played lots of them. Charis had so many characters I don't know how his marriage survived it. I've got at least four character sets for D1 and two more for Hellfire. I don't rightly know how many Thenryb has. I'm pretty sure Cyrene and KoP had a bunch.

Most dyed-in-the-wool variant scum, the sort of folk who don't feel right playing "normal" chars, had lots and lots of characters. "The End" was usually a 3@30, or sooner if the player was distracted by a more tempting crippled character.

Quote:I cannot imagine that mindset.

And I cannot imagine why anyone wouldn't why to play a Nude Luminous Barbarian. It just seems that nobody else has, so I'm guessing they had a good reason for it. Not one I'd understand, of course.

Quote:My point is that I'm not entirely sure I'm qualified to gleen what the author intended. Unfortunately the last great fallback - common sense - goes right out the window when discussing variants

It's a different kind of sense. (Most call it nonsense.) In part, it might help to assume the "role" of the character (if available) and decide what he'd do in that situation. Other times questions arise about things not so directly tied to the character's psyche. In those situations, the typical sort of thing is this:

If the rules forbid it, it's out.
If the rules allow it, it's in.
If the rules don't speak of it at all, it's up to you.

[o: *LEMMING* :o]
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#7
Lemming is dead on with his comments. The true spirit for variants is to have fun. So many people hunted for great gear doing Laz runs that the game would have stagnated and died for them had they not found something more entertaining. I played so many variants it allowed me to garner more than 2+ years of gaming fun. I've always felt that if it isn't fun, it isn't worth doing. And variants were fun after I had grown tired of slinging fireballs and telekilling witches.

I personally have always felt that too many people moved into variants too quickly. They would play through the game once or twice and then hear of a variant and rush out to try it. I always felt that one should wait until they had played all three classes through most of the game before starting variants characters, but that was just my personal opinion =)

Selby
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#8
Quote:The true spirit for variants is to have fun.

That's probably the best way to summarize it. :)

Quote:I personally have always felt that too many people moved into variants too quickly. They would play through the game once or twice and then hear of a variant and rush out to try it. I always felt that one should wait until they had played all three classes through most of the game before starting variants characters.

I've not really thought of it in terms of how many people move on to variants and whether it's right for them. But I agree with when people should make the move. Before trying a variant the player should be proficient in the class. Effectively playing many variants requires an intimate knowledge of how the game and the base character class works. Nowdays that probably implies quite a deal more than when many of variants were first written, but imagine...

...playing a BAR without knowing how the Warrior benefits from his statistics. Talk about frustration. Imagine a poor soul hoping to weather the storm of Normal Hell by pumping just Vit and Str. Ouch.

...playing any variant without being familiar with the different shrines. BNMs turn into bejeweled NMs without Religious Shrines. LoLs are in the same boat, not to mention the value of Eldritch Shrines. Exorcist just wouldn't make sense without knowing about FOS Shrines.

...playing one of Charis' boss-hunter variants without knowing bosses always appear on certain dlvls. (And having a list of bosses and their dlvls handy.)

...playing a Demoniac without knowing the significance of CC and BloodSlayer. hehe

...playing an ARC without realizing Resistance Bows are a viable alternative to straight-up Damage bows. Or worse: *any* Rogue without knowing Rogues really don't need ToHit bows.

...playing a SNOB without knowledge of what unique items are available. Unique item rarity is valuable information when it comes to planning B-day presents. (Imagine the chagrin of a SNOB who forgoes a CR B-day present in hopes of finding one during Laz runs.)

There're just so many "General Knowledge" sorts of things players need to know. But as long as they have that knowledge, they're in pretty good shape. If their skill is lax (or rusty) that's overcome through playing anyway.

[o: *LEMMING* :o]
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#9
Well, I'm new to the Diablo Community, but I have been playing the game for a little while now. I currently have a level 15 Naked Mage, and it's alotta fun. Variants are a great way to get more fun from the game...the game would be more fun if there weren't those trainers and ****ing duping bug.

Anyways I'm off topic here, but where's the best...collection of variants on the web? Thanks in advance for any replies.
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#10
Quote:Anyways I'm off topic here, but where's the best...collection of variants on the web?

Linkage

Variant links section's a little ways down the page. RBD and Cliffs are the most comprehensive.

[o: *LEMMING* :o]
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#11
Alright, thanks. ;)
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