05-11-2003, 04:13 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-11-2003, 04:18 AM by the Langolier.)
Hello there,
Not a bad job going through J.P.'s guide for the first time. Your mistake lies in the fact that "of the mammoth" cannot spawn on a shield (and don't worry, this is in a completely separate section of the guide ;). The highest +to life modifier on a shield is "of the tiger", which has a qlvl of 21. As you can see, this means the last time Wirt is able to offer you a shield of the tiger is clvl 21, which is what we expect. Also note that "of the tiger" is the only life suffix that can be paired with a holy shield.
I found this nice post that was brought to us by DeeBye in the old forums. It represents a good walkthrough of determining the best levels at which to find the holy shield of the tiger (thanks Dee!):
"It is possible to get a better shield - a Holy Shield of the Mammal. This is very difficult, however, since due to the method Diablo uses to determine what can be sold at what character level, a Holy Shield of the Mammal can only be purchased when your character is levels 18-21, from Wirt. This makes this shield VERY rare, since Wirt is your only source for this item."
Note: the reason why a Holy Shield of the Mammal is only purchasable at Wirt and not findable in the dungeon is that "Holy" has a qlvl of 35, and the highest qlvl that can be dropped from any source in the dungeon is 34.
Fine, I thought - there is a better shield out there than an Awesome Tower Shield of the Tiger. Let's see if I can find one. All I need is a character at clvl 18, but not higher than 21.
My Warrior currently has an Awesome Tower Shield of the Tiger (20 AC, +149%, +50 Life). I know that the chance of me finding a superior Holy/Tiger is pretty slim, but I thought I'd give it a shot nonetheless.
Well, he is clvl 38 as of the time of this writing, so it's not possible for him to get one on his own. So I created a new character to purchase it for him. As quickly as I could, I levelled up to 18.
For a totally unrelated reason, I was idly flipping through Jarulf's Guide (v1.61) when I came across section 3.9 (Item Creation in Town). I skipped ahead a few pages to have a look at the section on Wirt (3.9.4), and it clearly states that Wirt can sell base items with a qlvl in the range of 1 to ilvl.
Back I went to section 3.9 and had a look at the "Definition of ilvl" table. At Wirt, ilvl is simply defined as clvl.
Hrmm, something's not right here. I glanced at section 3.1, and saw that a Tower Shield has a qlvl of 20. Ugh. So there was going to be zero chance of me purchasing a Holy Tower Shield of the Tiger from Wirt at clvl 18. You must be at least clvl 20 to pick up a Tower Shield from Wirt. And don't even think about picking up a Gothic Shield - it has a qlvl of 23.
The best you could do at clvl 18 is a Kite Shield. Blah, even with perfect affixes, a Holy Kite Shield would have less AC than my current Awesome Tower Shield. A perfect Holy Kite Shield would only have ~40 AC.
By now, this was starting to get quite interesting to me. I was always under the (wrong, it seems) assumption that a Holy Tower Shield of the Tiger is possible from Wirt from clvl 18-21. This is sort of what Bolty's High Level Warrior Guide implies. But I guess I was just reading it wrong. My mistake, I suppose, for assuming too much.
So when is the best clvl to buy a Holy Tower Shield of the Tiger?
Good question - back to Jarulf I went.
In section 3.9.4, it states that Wirt can offer prefixes and suffixes with a qlvl in the range of ilvl to 2*ilvl. As stated above, ilvl is defined as clvl.
The prefix "Holy" has a qlvl of 35. The suffix "of the Tiger" has a qlvl of 21.
There is no possibility of a lower "of the Mammal" type shield. The next lowest +Life suffix is "of the Wolf", which has a qlvl of 15. Therefore "Holy" (qlvl 35) and "of the Wolf" (qlvl 15) fail to meet the ilvl to 2*ilvl criteria. 35 is more than twice 15.
There is also no possibility of a higher "of the Mammal" type shield. The next highest +Life suffix is "of the Lion" and is not available on shields.
The reason why you have to be at least clvl 18 to buy a "Holy" prefixed item is now readily apparent. At clvl 17, the highest qlvl buyable at Wirt is 34. At 18, the qlvl of "Holy" (which is 35) comes into range.
And now it's also apparent why clvl 21 is the highest clvl you can be to purchase a Holy/Tiger shield. At clvl 22, "of the Tiger" ceases to be a valid Wirt item. This is because at that clvl, Wirt can only offer items in the qlvl range of 22 to 44.
The best (and only) character levels to be at to buy a Holy Tower Shield of the Tiger from Wirt is either 20 or 21. You must be at least 20 to purchase a Tower Shield as a base item from Wirt. But you may be no higher than 21, otherwise "of the Tiger" ceases to be a valid suffix when combined with the prefix "Holy".
Not a bad job going through J.P.'s guide for the first time. Your mistake lies in the fact that "of the mammoth" cannot spawn on a shield (and don't worry, this is in a completely separate section of the guide ;). The highest +to life modifier on a shield is "of the tiger", which has a qlvl of 21. As you can see, this means the last time Wirt is able to offer you a shield of the tiger is clvl 21, which is what we expect. Also note that "of the tiger" is the only life suffix that can be paired with a holy shield.
I found this nice post that was brought to us by DeeBye in the old forums. It represents a good walkthrough of determining the best levels at which to find the holy shield of the tiger (thanks Dee!):
"It is possible to get a better shield - a Holy Shield of the Mammal. This is very difficult, however, since due to the method Diablo uses to determine what can be sold at what character level, a Holy Shield of the Mammal can only be purchased when your character is levels 18-21, from Wirt. This makes this shield VERY rare, since Wirt is your only source for this item."
Note: the reason why a Holy Shield of the Mammal is only purchasable at Wirt and not findable in the dungeon is that "Holy" has a qlvl of 35, and the highest qlvl that can be dropped from any source in the dungeon is 34.
Fine, I thought - there is a better shield out there than an Awesome Tower Shield of the Tiger. Let's see if I can find one. All I need is a character at clvl 18, but not higher than 21.
My Warrior currently has an Awesome Tower Shield of the Tiger (20 AC, +149%, +50 Life). I know that the chance of me finding a superior Holy/Tiger is pretty slim, but I thought I'd give it a shot nonetheless.
Well, he is clvl 38 as of the time of this writing, so it's not possible for him to get one on his own. So I created a new character to purchase it for him. As quickly as I could, I levelled up to 18.
For a totally unrelated reason, I was idly flipping through Jarulf's Guide (v1.61) when I came across section 3.9 (Item Creation in Town). I skipped ahead a few pages to have a look at the section on Wirt (3.9.4), and it clearly states that Wirt can sell base items with a qlvl in the range of 1 to ilvl.
Back I went to section 3.9 and had a look at the "Definition of ilvl" table. At Wirt, ilvl is simply defined as clvl.
Hrmm, something's not right here. I glanced at section 3.1, and saw that a Tower Shield has a qlvl of 20. Ugh. So there was going to be zero chance of me purchasing a Holy Tower Shield of the Tiger from Wirt at clvl 18. You must be at least clvl 20 to pick up a Tower Shield from Wirt. And don't even think about picking up a Gothic Shield - it has a qlvl of 23.
The best you could do at clvl 18 is a Kite Shield. Blah, even with perfect affixes, a Holy Kite Shield would have less AC than my current Awesome Tower Shield. A perfect Holy Kite Shield would only have ~40 AC.
By now, this was starting to get quite interesting to me. I was always under the (wrong, it seems) assumption that a Holy Tower Shield of the Tiger is possible from Wirt from clvl 18-21. This is sort of what Bolty's High Level Warrior Guide implies. But I guess I was just reading it wrong. My mistake, I suppose, for assuming too much.
So when is the best clvl to buy a Holy Tower Shield of the Tiger?
Good question - back to Jarulf I went.
In section 3.9.4, it states that Wirt can offer prefixes and suffixes with a qlvl in the range of ilvl to 2*ilvl. As stated above, ilvl is defined as clvl.
The prefix "Holy" has a qlvl of 35. The suffix "of the Tiger" has a qlvl of 21.
There is no possibility of a lower "of the Mammal" type shield. The next lowest +Life suffix is "of the Wolf", which has a qlvl of 15. Therefore "Holy" (qlvl 35) and "of the Wolf" (qlvl 15) fail to meet the ilvl to 2*ilvl criteria. 35 is more than twice 15.
There is also no possibility of a higher "of the Mammal" type shield. The next highest +Life suffix is "of the Lion" and is not available on shields.
The reason why you have to be at least clvl 18 to buy a "Holy" prefixed item is now readily apparent. At clvl 17, the highest qlvl buyable at Wirt is 34. At 18, the qlvl of "Holy" (which is 35) comes into range.
And now it's also apparent why clvl 21 is the highest clvl you can be to purchase a Holy/Tiger shield. At clvl 22, "of the Tiger" ceases to be a valid Wirt item. This is because at that clvl, Wirt can only offer items in the qlvl range of 22 to 44.
The best (and only) character levels to be at to buy a Holy Tower Shield of the Tiger from Wirt is either 20 or 21. You must be at least 20 to purchase a Tower Shield as a base item from Wirt. But you may be no higher than 21, otherwise "of the Tiger" ceases to be a valid suffix when combined with the prefix "Holy".