06-27-2003, 03:02 PM
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 :) )
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 :) )