Delurking: MF and Gamble questions

[Kasreyn]

Hi,

Been a long time since I've posted here, but maybe one or two will remember me.

Playing LoD 1.10 *Open* single player, usually using /players8, so keep those in mind while answering...

Am building (or attempting to build) the stereotypical MF Sorcie, mostly because I want to see for myself if high MF really does have a visible effect. To this end, I have many many (many many!) questions!

1. What is a good skill setup? 1.10 is new to me, as are the multifarious ways in which it ruined all my 1.09 characters over level 25. For instance, my last serious playing of Sorcies was in 1.03, when everyone maxed Warmth. These days, I'm told by several sources that more than 5 points in Warmth is a waste. Also, due to immunes in Hell diff, it's obvious that single-tree is a thing of the past. I intend to major cold; what minor is recommended for *speed clearing*?

2. Just how DOES MF work? I mean, not just a general description of "it applies this added percentage to each monster's item drop chance". What is the NORMAL item drop chance for magical, rare, set, unique? Maybe 5% for magical? It seems to be something around there. So would +100% MF mean magical drop chance increases to 10%? I'm guessing it's more complex than this.

3. Current equipment (all twinked from other characters, but not traded) includes perfect topaz socketed Tarnhelm, Gull, Goldwrap, and some crap boots of fortune or whatever it is that gives +22%MF. The tarnhelm is only 39%, so I am at 215% added MF currently, according to my calculations. So far, no visible improvement. Is this just a really low amount? Also, what item slots are worth keeping in order to have affixes so I can survive? Is it better to ignore MF for now and wear items to be tougher, so I can level faster and put on the MF later, or should I MF all the way? Non-MF gear includes Stealth (to be worn until I can find the runes for Wealth), an Eye of Etlich and an SoJ, as well as Frostburns (all twinked) until she finds Chance Guards.

4. Have been gambling like mad in an attempt to get aforementioned Chance Guards, but I am only L26 as of yet... am I too low to get it? I saw a post by Brista on AB saying unique gambling chance was now "realistic" in 1.10, and I laughed myself sick. 0.02% chance at (currently) 6k per pop = 15 million gold and 2500 gambles for an even (50%) chance of finding it. Of course, I remember the glory days of 1.03, which is when most of my uniques were gambled... personally I think Blizzard overcorrected a wee. :P Or is there something I need to be doing differently? How DOES unique gambling work? I know MF doesn't affect it, but how do the combined chances of exceptional upgrade and unique upgrade work (ie, can a gambled Splint Mail become Skullder's Ire?). People have mentioned an item nicknamed "Gheed's" something or other that reduces vendor cost. What base item type is it and how can it be found?

5. Other MF questions. I saw another post at AB mentioning using MF in Meph runs. This confuses me - I thought the only effect of MF was to ensure that a greater number of drops were magical or better, rather than normal? Well, Meph always drops several magical items, so how could MF help? Does MF improve the chances of the magical items being upgraded to rares, sets, and uniques? If so, how?

6. In general, is it worthwhile for me to bother attempting to gamble stuff like Chance Guards, Skullder's Ire, or Griswold's Valor, given that extremely low 0.02% chance? Someone mentioned that if you just gambled at a low enough level and twinked the gold, you could gamble cheaply, but surely those items require a high enough level to spawn that the gambling costs would be prohibitive. Is it more time-efficient to skip standing by Anya for hours and just go kill things? :P

Thanks in advance for any assistance. I wouldn't have posted this if I had been able to find the info anywhere, but my apologies if I've overlooked an obvious thread or link.

-Kasreyn