Looking for a "poor man's" guide to LoD.

[Hammerskjold]

Hey. I might be looking for something that doesn't exist yet. Or maybe my question is too broad. But I'm looking for a LoD equivalent of this guide: http://www.lurkerlounge.com/diablo/strateg...ies-armin.shtml

While I've seen some good guides out there, like the ones that focus mostly on what every player would have access to, like Skill points and basic principles of a build, and tactics. And the better ones seems to give out alternatives to the super gears. The majority seems to be glorified shopping lists of dream items.

Specifically, I'm interested in gear suggestions that is attainable by the average player, and do not rely on trading. Things like "Get a W1ndforce nub!!111" or a cube recipe involving 3 Zod runes don't really help me much.

For example, I have a D2C Sacrifice Paladin right now that I'm thinking of porting over to LoD in the near future. Though I'm a casual player, I still enjoy playing him in a "players 8" solo game. Would something like this crafted weapon,

"Black"
3 Socket Clubs/Hammers/Maces
Thul + Io + Nef

be realistically attainable by the average, casual player? Is it a useful weapon for a beginning or middle stages of the game and character's age? Are there any overlooked or underused, cheaper gear (non traded) that has potential as end game equipments. That's the type of info I'm looking for.

ps. I know 1.1 is coming out real soon now, but I'm still interested in what players have experienced in 1.09.

Thanks.

[Brista]

The runes you can count on are everything up to including ORT

You get Ral Ort and Tal as quest rewards in Act 5. The lower level runes are common

Everything after that is a matter of chance

You can cube runes upwards as far as Thul

As an example I have a no-twink Barb in late Nightmare. He got Amn and Lem from the Hellforge. The Amn allowed him to make King's Grace (cost me 3 Rals and 2 Orts to make the Thul rune though). The Lem is probably junk. Unless a KO turns up, allowing the Wealth runeword, I won't really have a use for it

High level runes drop pretty rarely so any finds above Ort are a bonus rather than something you can count on

The main options for powerful weapons are (I think):

Steel runeword: Tir + El
3 chip + blue sword = re-rolled blue sword with 3 sockets. Ith runes (+9 max damage) are great in no-twink
ruby (any grade) + sword + 4 healing pots = sword of the leech. They sometimes get prefixes - you're hoping for a +enhanced damage one

A nice merc weapon is either:
Malice: Ith El Eth. Strong weapon and the merc's life regen counters the drain life disadvantage. Eth is bugged though, effectively giving auto-hit so it is a matter of conscience whether you exploit it :(
belt + kris + staff (any) + diamond (any grade) = Savage Polearm. Weapon quality is either exceptional or normal but a savage bill of the leech (Str 95, req lvl 24) is quite a weapon. Mercs do well with savage Bardiches too, or eventually savage partisans. Again you're hoping for two affixes

My barb got a 39% ed 3 socketed battle sword of the leech which he put 3 Iths into and dual wields with his King's Grace

For your other gear crafts are pretty good. I love crafting for its own sake whether I need the stuff or not. Try to hit the level 31, 51 and 71 breakpoints these give you (on average) more affixes on each craft :)

Gambling is good and so too is magic finding. Running Baal in Normal can turn up low end exceptional uniques and is a good way to power up the character after finishing the quests in Normal but before you start Nightmare

For other gear you should find a 4 socket Pally shield with resists as an automod. Putting 4 perfect diamonds in this allows you to face Hell with confidence

Another tip: don't overlook ethereal items. They break but they ain't half good up till then :)

Last word, if this is on the realms then consider looking for company. Makes the game more fun as well as helping you. The Pandemonium Fortress or the Amazon Basin are two of the options (non-Amazons welcome at the latter :) )

[Bun-Bun]

"Strength", Amn Tir, is not bad at all. You're not guaranteed an Amn, but it's not unlikely you'll hit 2 or 3 during a character's career. Put it in a 2-socket polearm and you've got a good Act 2 merc weapon, with life leech to improve survivability, and Crushing Blow. Put it in an ethereal polearm, and it's even better, with no durability problems on a merc.

It's not a bad runeword for your own use, either, if you have a fast-attack-rate character to trigger the Crushing Blow often.

Another thing I've found useful is throwing topazes (even chippies) in socketed helms and armor as soon as possible to get a better selection of gear early on, when you don't really need a lot of help from your helm/armor to survive.

Edit: Why do I always think of more to say after I hit post?

[kandrathe]

Runes for Ancients Pledge, Holy Thunder, Honor, Kings Grace, Leaf, Lore, Malice, Nadir, Radiance, Rhyme, Smoke, Stealth, Steel, Strength, and Zephyr are all pretty easy to find the runes for.

Runes for Black, Lionheart, Memory, Melody, Wealth and White are moderately difficult, but still do-able. I've found enough of all the runes necessary to make any of these.

Fury, Silence, and Venom are a crap shoot. So far in the past two years, I've only found 2 Ohm's, 1 Ist, and 1 Lo in the Mal-Zod group.

Is it a useful weapon for a beginning or middle stages of the game and character's age?

Yes. But, I would say that unless you make "Black" out of an Exceptional or Elite item, that the unique "Bonesnap" maul would likely be better, and drops somewhat frequently (More frequently than Io). You can socket the Bonesnap, and add a Shael to make it a faster useful weapon. If "Black" had at least 200% Ed, it would be a much more useful Rune word.

By the time you want to use and Exceptional or Elite "Black" item, you may have found a better weapon, like Aldur's Rhythm, or an exceptional unique mace at mid levels, and for high level mace I prefer the Immortal King's stone crusher.

Edit: Spelling -- and lest I forget... There are also many great Magic and Rage Items that you might want to use.

[WarBlade]

For example, I have a D2C Sacrifice Paladin right now that I'm thinking of porting over to LoD in the near future.  Though I'm a casual player, I still enjoy playing him in a "players 8" solo game.  Would something like this crafted weapon,

"Black"
3 Socket Clubs/Hammers/Maces
Thul + Io + Nef

  be realistically attainable by the average, casual player?  Is it a useful weapon for a beginning or middle stages of the game and character's age?  Are there any overlooked or underused, cheaper gear (non traded) that has potential as end game equipments.  That's the type of info I'm looking for.

Yes, the "Black" runeword is a realistic consideration for the casual player.

The Crushing Blow is very nice, although I tend to look for Life Steal when equipping a Martyr. Having said that, Black is still a highly valued option when dealing with skeletons. ;)

As previously noted, "Strength" and "Honor" are other easily attainable runewords and both carry Amn's for leeching purposes.

Another realistic consideration would be Blood Crafted Axes. You can easily pull a high damage, decent Life Steal, Axe out of the hat and maybe even drop an Amn in there if you get a good Elite one at the end of Hell level. Other Blood Crafted gear is worth keeping track of too, so be on the lookout for the appropriate gloves, boots etc. and collect rubies as much as possible.

[Layzd]

A socketed helm with rubies in it serves as a very useful life source for beginning - mid game, and if you switch to LOD you can also do that with a socketed armor. The more life you have the better chance you have of finding that w1ndf0rc3 yoo nub!!!111 :P

Sincerely,
Layzd

[Hammerskjold]

nt.