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Diablo 2 is a game in the throes of a major inflation problem, and in which people are becoming more and more caught up in elite unique and less interested in many of the easier to find ones. This can really hamper many of the casual gamers and those just starting out on the realms. Not everyone has massive accounts filled with mules. And so I got to thinking about some of the cheaper items that can fulfill those needs more easily.
I'm sure that I left a lot out, but here's what came to mind:
The Gnasher Hand Axe: +50 to OW and +20 to CB
Smiter or Kicker weapons anyone?
Woestave Halberd: Slows Target, PMH, and even +1 Freeze
Everything that an Act 2 Hireling needs, upgrading is just gravy.
Spineripper Poignard: Everyone's used one.
Almost everyone's love them, even if not upgraded they're great until you enter Hell.
Black (Thul-Io-Nef) War Club: Cold, KB, 40% CB
Just plain too good not to use.
Malice (Ith-El-Eth) anything: PMH, Guaranteed OW, and decent Damage
Possibly one of the most cost effective hireling weapons in the game: you can start using them in early act 3 normal and still do decent damage until mid hell if you keep updating them.
King's Grace (Amn-Ral-Thul) Legend Sword:
LL, good damage, AR, cold
This is one of the best, cheap weapons for an Act 5 Barb, especially if it's eth (150-282 Damage is tough to beat for the price and Superior Eth is even better).
Umbral Disc Small Shield: +35 to block, +10 to dex, Hit blinds target
Way too easy to overlook, most pubbie parties won't even pick it up and they end up missing out on one of the best shields in the game. Level 9 and 22 strength requirements and everything but resists. Upgrading it gives it an additional 7% chance to block as well.
Rhyme (Shael-Eth) Heater: +42 to block, +25% res all, cannot be frozen
You can see a lot of Rhyme Monarchs on the Realm Trading Channels and I have no idea why. For half the Strength requirement you can have it on a shield with the same block rate. I'll admit that you get 40 or so less Def, but there are no additives on this shield anyway so who cares?
Biggin's Bonnet Cap: +30%ED, AR, +life and mana
Any Bowazon or Ranger could fall in love with this ugly scrap of dishtowel. As long as Def (or style) is not an issue, its love at first sight.
Tarnhelm Skull Cap: MF, GF, +1 to all
(read above)
Duskdeep Full Helm: +15% res all DR
One of the cheapest helms out there and there is almost nothing better for a young hireling. DR, Resist all, +dam and you don't even have to worry about the light radius, after all, it's on your hireling.
Stealth (Tal-Eth) Mage Plate: FRW, FCR, FHR
Not a Skin of the Vipermagi, but, what's a guy to do?
Cow King's Hooves: MF, FRW, +20 to dex
Not for a kicker, but they work for just about anything else.
Arctic Furs + Binding (body and belt)
Low lvl Def, chromatic resists and +40 MF. Nuff said.
Iratha's:
+65 Resist All and +10 to max resists, toss in a Guardian Angel and you have some great end game gear.
Well, if you can think of anything else, then please write it up.
Thanks!
"Would you like a Jelly Baby?"
Doctor Who
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02-23-2004, 07:26 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-24-2004, 12:39 AM by Taem.)
Quote:Diablo 2 is a game in the throes of a major inflation problem, and in which people are becoming more and more caught up in elite unique and less interested in many of the easier to find ones. This can really hamper many of the casual gamers and those just starting out on the realms. Not everyone has massive accounts filled with mules. And so I got to thinking about some of the cheaper items that can fulfill those needs more easily.
EDIT#2
I was in a really foul mood when I wrote that and even though it made sense at the time, I'd rather just erase it and forget I ever replied the way I did (which isin't my style; I usually leave what I originally wrote and the reason why I thought it should be changed).
Gems in a 3+ socket weapon
Crafts
Rares
Try Mf'ing.
It would be nice to have a list, but in a guide for class specific needs. There are SO MANY options in D2, that to list all the usefulones at low level would be overwhelming. Perhaps there is another way to go about this?
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin
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Hi
In my opinion the best equipment for normal/early nightmare is a partial Angelic Raiment set (amulett/ring/armour), especially for those of us playing HC :)
You get +1 all skills, huge amounts of life, big boost to AR, +mana and +dex.
Best of all, this set can be used by all classes, so making it ideal for twinking.
good hunting
Prophecy of Deimos
âThe world doesnât end with water, fire, or cold. Iâve divined the coming apocalypse. It ends with tentacles!â
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upgrades. I know you mentioned if for one, but some other can really benefit too.
Biggins can get nearly quadruple def (at a rough extimate) with an upgrade
Same for tarnhelm
Duskdeep is very handy on rogues, and I should think mages too at mid-lvl too. Upgrade is just very nice gravy.
Some other things:
Unique Trident and Brandistock are both very nice A2 merc weapons.
I should imagine a soul harvest is nice for this too.
and woestaff.
Infact most normal unique polearms & spears are good for A2 mercs
Sparkling mail is hady for mercs, since lightning is a real killer.
Darkglow is nice for a rogue or mage
The upgrades really were a fab idea, since you can now make low lvl uniques last much longer on mercs.
-Bob
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I like Headstriker for a nice mid-level weapon. Upgraded, it can last a long time.
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Best twink weapon in the game:
Kalim's Will
1-40 lightning damage
50% IAS
Dual Leech
50% IAS
NO LEVEL REQUIREMENT!
Did I mention 50% IAS?
I would seriously socket this(probably with a chipped sapphire) if I could figure out a way to do it.
Grab it, walk your level 1 into a 7 player normal baal or run and come out level 9 by the time they finish baal.
For a melee character you can use it until you are into your 20s and need to ditch it to complete act 3
For a non-melee character you can be butt kicking melee until you get to level 12 or so and your damage spells are working.
What boggles my mind is why EVERY level 1 isn't using it
Step 2: Acquire and train a monkey. This step may take some time.
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Quote:What boggles my mind is why EVERY level 1 isn't using it.
It's not really that hard to figure out. Nobody assembles Khalim's Will anymore.
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I couldn't agree more .I use khalims to start every char.along with hsarus' set and Berserker's armour and helm at level 3 your virtualy unstoppable in the 1st couple acts!
i know theres a lot of anti twink lurkers out there but I'd much rather move on to nm and hell as quickly as possible. It surely does boggle the mind
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The point about upgrades brings up the biggest thing that was left out of the current version:
Set Upgrades!
Of course, I'm biased, since my whole theme of play in the game is Set characters.
Some people point out that some Set items may "break" the game if upgraded. Arctic Furs is the best example, with up to 325% Enhanced Defense plus the bonus, an Elite version could become the highest DR item in the game. I don't see that as being too much of a problem, though. Nobody said that the components required to upgrade it need to be cheap or easy to find. I would just like to see it as being possible, so that you would have something to shoot for.
When playing Set characters the weapons are the big problem, mostly in the Classic Sets. The long-term strategy for those sets seems to be to have something effective available on weapon swap. Too bad that that really defeats the whole principle behind playing the Set character theme.
-rcv-
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I know it is the worst fashion statement of all time, but I think The Face of Horror Mask is well worth my time. Low str requirement, adds 20 str (for those other good items that require str), and 10 resist all...I think it lives up to its name! ;) :D
DroopingCactus
Quote:Adeyke and people like him get tons of questions exactly like this one by people who're apparently too stupid to play without Maphack, too stupid to read the Help file that comes with the program, too stupid to turn off the socket protection when they're using Maphack, and too stupid to realize that they're stepping before the firing squad when asking questions like that in forums like this.
-AK404
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Good Lord, man! I haven't seen a sig that large since I stopped lurking at OCR. :blink:
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arrunique,Feb 25 2004, 09:20 AM Wrote:Best twink weapon in the game:
Kalim's Will
[...]
For a melee character you can use it until you are into your 20s and need to ditch it to complete act 3 Is it possible to somehow use a nightmare or hell Kalim's Will in normal on a character that's already done act 3?
-- frink
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Stealskull ... gets HUGE defense boost as elite....
Rockstopper... (see stealskull)
Iceblink (yeah .. the unique splint mail ... stick this puppy on an act 2 merc and watch the corpses shatter!)
also an excellent melee char armor, for it's freeze properties ... the monster that cant move cant hit you...
Lore (Ort Sol) runeword ... +1 all skills, anybody?
ethereal 300+ ed rare crystal sword (upgrade to phase blade, dont even need self-repairing!!!)
Dark Clan Crusher (low damage .. kinda sucks .. nobody uses it even though it gives +2 druid skills ... but 200% ed, 200% ed vs demon... sure, make it an elite!)
Deathbits (lol ... unique flying knives! wheee!)
Rixot's Keen (100% ed short sword ... makes a nice gladius :) )
ethereal Husoldo Evo (upgrade and stick on merc ... stir in tal's fugly (mask) and a lionheart ... no parental supervision required!!)
ethereal Kelpie Snare (OMFG ... holy freeze merc + eth upgraded kelpie + iceblink + tal mask = ebil merc!!!!!)
how can you NOT love 90% slow target effect on no less than the DIABLO CLONE ????????
If I'm not mistaken, you can't take quest related items between difficulties. Besides that i'm sure you could twink a slightly better weapon after act 3 (I usually take a 3+ socket crystal sword and load it with pgems).
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You should be able to take them between difficulties, most of them just can't be used to complete the related quest on those difficulties.
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My personal favorite twink weapon ....
created with the 3-chipped gem recipe from .09 LoD ...
Static Crystal Sword of the Leech
4 - 251 lightning damage, 6% life stealing ....
Socketed, of course, with 3 perfect topaz ...... Why not ort runes? Cuz the item only takes level 18 :P
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03-11-2004, 10:51 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-11-2004, 06:04 PM by Zyr.)
Snakecord, the unique Light Belt: +10 Defense, Poison Resist +25%, Poison Length Reduced By 50%, +12 Poison Damage Over 3 Seconds-- nice, but not too special, right? But: Replenish Life +5 is exactly what you need to nullify the Drain Life -5 "feature" of Malice...
Nadir: Am I the only one who uses this rune word helm, or just the only one who admits it?
Nef + Tir
+50% Enhanced Defense
+10 Defense
+30 Defense vs. Missile
Level 13 Cloak of Shadows (9 Charges)
+2 To Mana After Each Kill
+5 To Strength
-33% Extra Gold From Monsters
-3 To Light Radius
At first glance, the main reason to use Nadir is the CoS charges. Be warned: They're expensive-- 11413 GP per charge in a circlet (I don't know if the type of helm matters), making the -33% Extra Gold From Monsters seem downright mean. But Nadir in a Bone Helm gives 59-64 Defense with a Strength requirement of only 25, at level 13... You can laugh at the Burning Dead Archers in the Lut Gohlein Sewers. :D
You know how excited you get when you see a green word on the ground, and how disappointed you are when you see it's a Breast Plate or Full Helm? Not I! I save and use every Isenhart's Case and Isenhart's Horns I get. Rogue mercs can equip both as soon as they hit level 8-- and the two-item + (2 Per Character Level) 2-198 Defense (Based On Character Level) on the armor is determined by your character's level, not the Rogue's. These two items will provide decent protection for a Rogue or Iron Wolf well into Nightmare (and the Wolf can equip the full Isenhart's set). This combination is also my favorite "look" for Assassins: Sleek... Sexy... Menacing...
Nice as Khalim's Will may be, it's a pain to put it together; I only subject my characters to this task once per difficulty level. <_< My baby characters are delighted to receive a Hellforge Hammer-- no level requirement, 6-15 damage, adds 5-20 Fire damage (hel-LO, Andariel!), +35 Defense-- along with the Hsarus set, of course.
Items I've upgraded: Twitchthroe, The Tannr Gorerod. Items I'm strongly considering upgrading: Lenymo, The Centurion, The Diggler, Skewer of Krintiz, Blood Crescent (all of which are extremely useful without upgrading), as well as the above-mentioned Rixot's Keen.
There is more, much more, but the hour groweth late, and my fingers weary of much typing.
Zyr
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03-12-2004, 05:40 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-12-2004, 05:45 PM by Baajikiil.)
Quote: You should be able to take them between difficulties, most of them just can't be used to complete the related quest on those difficulties.
One thing to keep in mind is to be careful not to drop the quest item in a difficulty that you have already completed the quest in. If say, your character in hell joins a normal game for muling, and drops his hell diff Horadric staff/Kalims will.
No character who has completed act2 or act3 in normal may pick up the corresponding quest items. Also, no character can be holding the hell diff staff or flail and pick up the normal diff ones to complete the quests with. They must drop the hell version, then pick up the normal version to complete the quest. And once they have completed the quest, they can no longer pick up the hell diff staff/flail.
If your hell char drops his Hell Horadric Staff or Kalim's Will in normal/nm, kiss it goodbye. In multiplayer, there are several ways around this(as well as the "anti-rushing" locks), but in single player it can be *very* annoying.
EDIT: Basically the point I'm getting to is to mule off your Kalims Will or Horadric staff in act1/2 before you get to the point of completing the quests. I've before dropped a horadric staff in act3 by mistake, and then was *never* allowed to pick it up again(since no char past act2 can ever pick it up).
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Quote:and the two-item + (2 Per Character Level) 2-198 Defense (Based On Character Level) on the armor is determined by your character's level, not the Rogue's.
are you sure about that? the bonus ought to be based on the level of whoever's wearing it.
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Aello,Mar 13 2004, 12:46 AM Wrote:are you sure about that? the bonus ought to be based on the level of whoever's wearing it. I have to admit that my statement is based on what the merc screen shows; it may be as misleading as the LCS. However, the merc screen clearly shows the Def bonus based upon the character's level, and not the merc's.
Zyr
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