I haven't seen the SOJ counter in a while...

[GenericKen]

... is it the end of the anihilus?

I mean, I'm glad I managed to get mine, but I was kinda hoping for more of em =O).

[Tal]

Saw it this morning on USWest. Its still around but not nearly as much as a month ago. Methinks that they are finally running out of duped SoJs. ;)

[Nastie_Bowie]

Saw it this morning on USWest. Its still around but not nearly as much as a month ago. Methinks that they are finally running out of duped SoJs. ;)

Hope that they don't run out before I get an anhillus. :lol:

I've only seen Diablo XP Pro once, and a scumbag necro using pick-it grabbed the charm from half a screen away. :angry:

NB :rolleyes:

[Cryptic]

Now all they need to do is make a quick patch that allows the Annihilus to drop as normal treasure (as a unique charm, like Gheed's Fortune). Then all the dupers who sacrificed SoJ's can scream, "Aiiieeeee!" while the rest of us legitimate players get our just desserts.
:D

[JustAGuy]

Even though it's a bit of a jerk-move to do that, I whole-heartedly agree!! It would have to be a regular-diablo only drop, though, as he's the hardest boss, in my opinon, to get to.

Sure, Baal is the highest boss, but nobody runs Diablo over and over. They run Mephisto and Baal, not Diablo, as far as I know.

What I'd like to see is the D-XP Pro come out more often, even if he doesn't drop the Annihlus. I ususally take characters to hell, do 1 baal run, then retire them in favour of a new build with fresh gear. I've never fought him, but I'd like to, even if I don't see the spoils of battle.

[Tal]

Sure, Baal is the highest boss, but nobody runs Diablo over and over. They run Mephisto and Baal, not Diablo, as far as I know.

Guess I'm a freak then. ;) I have a Lightningfury Javazon who absolutely chews up the CS. Then I fend to death Mr. Diablo while drinking health potions from his melee attack. :) I do feel sorry for my merc however as he absolutely melts under Diablo's Firestream and hose attack. :D Got a Doombringer from Big D for my troubles last night.

[Kartoffelsalat]

I killed him with two other guys from the AB last week. I suppose idling in hell games forever still works, but I think it's more just to play, and if he spawns, kill him.

[Mad Man]

I was in a normal ladder game last night and the counter was flipping away, although the clone never showed up.

[jahcs]

To make the drop tougher, only give Duriel a small chance to drop the annihilus, and only if the chamber is opened with a staff from that game. B)

[JustAGuy]

I like the sound of that one. Since Tal Rasha's Tomb is already open in those games in which the staff has been used, perhaps Duriel could spawn extra hard (a-la DXP Pro). So, basically, any game created after act 2 has been completed would have the chance to get an Annihlus dropping Duriel.

I sincerely hope that selling duped Stones of Jordan isn't what causes him to spawn. The only people that would benefit are the dupers... Unless, selling an SoJ triggers DXP Pro to spawn in a different game. That would be better than the unfair "Sell SoJ, get Annihlus" situation.

I've only noticed the SoJ counter increasing on certain servers. Since all the SoJ sellers are flocking to certain IPs, it appears that the world event applies to the particular server only. I've played for continuous hours on servers and seen not a single counter increase. Whereas, on other servers (presumably, a different server) the counter flies like mad. This would be consistent with the "dupers" having gotten together on the same server and selling all of their ill-gotten gains.

A few nights ago, I was on a server setting a couple of mules. I went to sleep and left them doing an anti-idle trick I discovered (has to do with an MS Windows technicality and a quirk in Diablo 2's path finding). The game lasted for 11 hours and I saw not one counter increase. This was in normal, but I recall seeing the counter in normal regardless.

[Vash]

Would you like to share this trick with us? :D

[JustAGuy]

Sure thing.

The trick works best if you have two computers, but I suppose it will work with one. In my experience, a game on a battle.net server can last for well over 12 hours, if it doesn't "crash". You ever play in a game for a while, then for no reason you get "Connection Interrupted" and then that character can't join a game for 5 minutes? That's what I like to call a "crash". Probably some bug in the server software somewhere. Anyway, that has nothing to do with the trick.

Ok, so, the anti-idle trick works under these conditions:
1. A computer is running Diablo II in a window (using the -w command line parameter)
2. There is desktop real-estate outside of the window; a sliver of the desktop is visible.
3. You are in a town where there is a place you can make the character endlessly run. I will explain more later.

The trick is a combination of quirks. First, the windows quirk: you click the left mouse button to make the character run. Hold the left mouse button and drag the mouse off-screen (to the desktop). Release the mouse button when NOT over the Diablo II window. When you move the mouse back to the Diablo II window, you will notice that the left-mouse release event was never processed, so the character follows the mouse cursor without you having to actually click the mouse. Voila, infinite run (infinite left-click). This is extremely useful for long battles where you don't need to drink many potions. I use this trick all the time against bosses such as Diablo, Baal, and if I ever meet him, the DXP Pro.

The second quirk involves the terrain and Diablo II's literal pathfinding. When in the infinite run state, you move the cursor around to any "L" shaped locations. The best place is right above the stash in act 1. This carat ( ^ ) shaped terrain allows you to anti-idle. It's very tricky to get him to do it right, but what you want to happen is have the character run back and fourth in that little ^ shape. I wish I had some decent web hosting so I could post a picture... What happens is, you move the mouse to the close to the character, almost on top of him, but still in front of him, and in the direction of the tip of the ^. He will chase the cursor, but at one point when walking into the ^, the cursor is poiting to the other side of the ^. He will then turn around and run to that spot. But as soon as he turns, the cursor is again pointing back at the other side of the ^. He turns around again, etc., giving you and endless loop of running in place, hence the anti-idle.

I'm sorry if it's not that clear, but I can't really post any pictures right now. I'll see what I can do about getting some screenshots on the web to show this in detail. I think I'll go get some of that 1and1.com if they're still offering free hosting...

And about what I said earlier regarding the multiple computers: it's best to have more than one computer in a game, as single player games are dropped, or "crashed", more often than those with more than one.

[Vash]

This is extremely useful for long battles where you don't need to drink many potions. I use this trick all the time against bosses such as Diablo, Baal, and if I ever meet him, the DXP Pro.

Making the game even more mindless :lol:

Sounds cool...I'll give it a try when my paladin is powerful enough to face ole D clone (meaning I'll use the trick to wait in a game, not to leave the mouse on D clone :P )

[JustAGuy]

Yeah, I wanted to do that too, but I never really got around to it. I use the trick to set mules. For example, if I know I have a 2 hour window to watch TV or something, I set a couple of mules. Works out very nicely on Thursdays. :)

[Crystalion]

Ok, so, the anti-idle trick works under these conditions:
1. A computer is running Diablo II in a window (using the -w command line parameter)
2. There is desktop real-estate outside of the window; a sliver of the desktop is visible.
3. You are in a town where there is a place you can make the character endlessly run. I will explain more later.

The trick is a combination of quirks.

You might be interested in a related technique, that doesn't require the game to be in a window (though that works also) and that doesn't have problems maintaining when you switch away (when you use WinXP user switching and want the "forgotten" process in the other User space to stay anti-idle)...
Amazon Basin post mentioning anti-idle by client/server move/talk to shop jitter quirk

[LavCat]

I have a KVM that I use as a trackball (in this case) and a keyboard switch. To keep a game open, I press the right mouse button to cast a spell and press the button on the KVM.

If I want to do the same on the second computer, I place an optical taper on the trackball.

[JustAGuy]

I used to do that too. But now, instead, I plugged in another mouse so I could control both machines at once rather than having to keep switching. It's useful for when you only need to drop one thing and pick up with another, or you're in the trading window; just click on the check from both sides at the same time instead of switching. Of course, that only makes a difference if you have two monitors (I've got two, both connected to my main PC. Gotta love multi-monitor desktops!).

Heck, sometimes I take my KVM completely out of the picture by plugging my second keyboard, mouse and monitor all into the second PC. That only happens when I don't have anything to do later, and I'm feeling frisky; I sometimes play both machines at once. It's kind of hard in Hell mode. That's something you can't do with a KVM. The second it takes to switch is the second your character gets overrun and smoked. At least with both mice plugged in, and both monitors visible at the time, I can make a hasty retreat to a portal with both characters at once.

[Obi2Kenobi]

Noon tide

[JustAGuy]

Keyboard Video Mouse switch. It allows you to use two computers using only one keyboard, mouse and Monitor.

http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/ <-- this site has all the switches you could ever ask for. Oddly enough, not the one that I own, though.

[jahcs]

jahcs Posted: Feb 14 2004, 08:44 AM&nbsp;

To make the drop tougher, only give Duriel a small chance to drop the annihilus, and only if the chamber is opened with a staff from that game.

I just had another idea for the annihilus drop. Give Nihlathak a small chance to drop the charm. He is probably the least completed quest on Bnet.