09-10-2003, 05:47 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-10-2003, 09:10 AM by Crystalion.)
A couple more I forgot to mention, that though "hidden" may be fairly well known:
Similar to poison refusing to kill a player, Static Field (in normal) tries to refuse to kill a monster (monsters created with very low HPs, exactly 1 I suspect, can still be killed). This is a rather key technical point for some xp rushing techniques (especially in combination with PMH).
An interesting feature, at least in Single Player, is that when you town portal out the monsters not only seem to stop regenning, but they don't regen when you come back either, until they are damaged (yes, the test I did was paranoid about the lying screen). I'm rather curioius if this is true on Realm as well? As you might imagine, this doesn't matter much in the normal course of things, but has some interesting applications under unusual circumstances.
A somewhat "hidden" feature, is that since the game has evolved over time, some similar affixes got added in that are substantially better than their earlier version sibs. A rather important example is "of life everlasting", which can appear on circlets (type, includes coronets, diadems, tiaras) and amulets. At its best this can be 25 damage reduction (physical). At clvl 37 you could put on both for -50 damage. If you use charges of Weaken (-33% monster damage output) in combination with this, you would pretty much achieve physical immuntiy in normal and almost all of nightmare. Naturally charges of Weaken can be bought in shops pretty easily and getting the circlet and amulet is merely a matter of gambling for them once you are of sufficient clvl. Which would be, afaik, clvl 50 for the amulet and level 47 for circlets (also, if you see a coronet you're high enough, as those don't show up until then). This means, as usual, that a higher level character is needed to acquire the item for the lower clvl req char that can use it.
Since Walkiry pointed out how useful it is for early leveling, it is perhaps "hidden" that Strangling Gas potions, though thrown "at" a target (spot), really just make a poison cloud there that will poison anything that passes through it. This is nice for chokepoints and if you have a bunch of stuff chasing you that you can lead through the cloud. (24 poison damage over a short period, which kills most stuff in the first half of act 1, players 1).
In another thread, discussing charges on items, there are two "hidden" features: 1) such charges have a lower clvl req for the class whose skill the charge is for; 2) a higher level drop/shop buy gets more charges and high skill levels, but this doesn't raise the level requirement. For example, you can give a level one Druid a (usuable) club with 67 charges of level *10* firestorm. This is amusing, to say the least.
Speaking of clvl reqs for powerful things... it must have been "hidden" because I didn't notice until recently just how much thorns damage you can get from a shield socketed with skulls for very low clvl reqs. Ranging from 8 thorns at level 1 (2 socket shield with skull chips) to 60 at level 18 (3 socket shield--Paly's can get 80 in 4). This makes streaking by monsters (autohit from running) a viable method of killing them rapidly. Hilarious. (edit: Level 5 clvl req 3 socket shield with flawed skulls is *24* thorns damage).
Similar to poison refusing to kill a player, Static Field (in normal) tries to refuse to kill a monster (monsters created with very low HPs, exactly 1 I suspect, can still be killed). This is a rather key technical point for some xp rushing techniques (especially in combination with PMH).
An interesting feature, at least in Single Player, is that when you town portal out the monsters not only seem to stop regenning, but they don't regen when you come back either, until they are damaged (yes, the test I did was paranoid about the lying screen). I'm rather curioius if this is true on Realm as well? As you might imagine, this doesn't matter much in the normal course of things, but has some interesting applications under unusual circumstances.
A somewhat "hidden" feature, is that since the game has evolved over time, some similar affixes got added in that are substantially better than their earlier version sibs. A rather important example is "of life everlasting", which can appear on circlets (type, includes coronets, diadems, tiaras) and amulets. At its best this can be 25 damage reduction (physical). At clvl 37 you could put on both for -50 damage. If you use charges of Weaken (-33% monster damage output) in combination with this, you would pretty much achieve physical immuntiy in normal and almost all of nightmare. Naturally charges of Weaken can be bought in shops pretty easily and getting the circlet and amulet is merely a matter of gambling for them once you are of sufficient clvl. Which would be, afaik, clvl 50 for the amulet and level 47 for circlets (also, if you see a coronet you're high enough, as those don't show up until then). This means, as usual, that a higher level character is needed to acquire the item for the lower clvl req char that can use it.
Since Walkiry pointed out how useful it is for early leveling, it is perhaps "hidden" that Strangling Gas potions, though thrown "at" a target (spot), really just make a poison cloud there that will poison anything that passes through it. This is nice for chokepoints and if you have a bunch of stuff chasing you that you can lead through the cloud. (24 poison damage over a short period, which kills most stuff in the first half of act 1, players 1).
In another thread, discussing charges on items, there are two "hidden" features: 1) such charges have a lower clvl req for the class whose skill the charge is for; 2) a higher level drop/shop buy gets more charges and high skill levels, but this doesn't raise the level requirement. For example, you can give a level one Druid a (usuable) club with 67 charges of level *10* firestorm. This is amusing, to say the least.
Speaking of clvl reqs for powerful things... it must have been "hidden" because I didn't notice until recently just how much thorns damage you can get from a shield socketed with skulls for very low clvl reqs. Ranging from 8 thorns at level 1 (2 socket shield with skull chips) to 60 at level 18 (3 socket shield--Paly's can get 80 in 4). This makes streaking by monsters (autohit from running) a viable method of killing them rapidly. Hilarious. (edit: Level 5 clvl req 3 socket shield with flawed skulls is *24* thorns damage).
"He's got demons? Cool!" -- Gonzo, Muppet Treasure Island
"Proto-matter... an unstable substance which every ethical scientist in the galaxy has denounced as dangerously unpredictable." -- Saavik, Star Trek III
"Mom! Dad! It's evil! Don't touch it!" -- Kevin, Time Bandits
"Proto-matter... an unstable substance which every ethical scientist in the galaxy has denounced as dangerously unpredictable." -- Saavik, Star Trek III
"Mom! Dad! It's evil! Don't touch it!" -- Kevin, Time Bandits