02-28-2004, 11:22 AM
Quote:For the staff and amulet, the number dropped is equal to the number of players in the a game that have not done that the Horadric Staff quest yet and needs that part. So if the rusher opens the maggot queens chest while being the only one in the game there will be no staff. The alter can only be activated by a character that has not yet completed the 'Tainted Sun' quest and you will only get 1 amulet for each character currently in the game that has not done that the Horadric Staff quest yet and needs that part.
The chest in the Halls of the Dead (or travical council member) will drop 1 cube for each character in the game that does not currently have one. If you drop your cube on the ground before opening the chest, then it will count your character as needing one also. An interesting way to 'mine' some extra cubes if everyone in the game would drop their cubes before the chest is opened.
I'd like to expand on my initial observation, I was atrociously vague. This is quite a vivid memory in my mind, I hope it achieves some of that impact in text.
I tend not to complete quests ahead of the pack in public games, I find it terribly antisocial. That said, providing a tp to horadric cubes as soon as a group of andariel killers enter act2 is usually appreciated :)
In this particular game I had been part of the andariel kill and just started on act 2. As is, unfortunately, the norm in such games, most of the party had immediately quit following entry into Lut Gholein. Some stuck around for radament but, by the time we hit the final level of the halls of the dead, just two of us remained.
I popped the chest, out came 7 horadric cubes.
Maybe my brain is playing tricks and other players had joined the game by this time. I'm not convinced this is the case as I believe I hit p, to check for players who might want a cube, and then used my friends list to see if anyone had a low lvl character in need of one.
This is what spawned the "maximum number of players that have ever been in the game at one time" comment. I guess I shall have to find another public game and investigate what I saw, as it seems to go against accepted reasoning here.
I have rather hurriedly extended this point to other quest items and, as you point out, this is not necessarily as safe as one might initially assume. I pondered whether or not the characters needed the quest based on a similar observation to yours in act 3 with the squishy parts, thankyou for clearing that point up :)
The idea of dropping ones horadric cube to get a second is actually useful for the single cd key rush on display here - stamina potions can be saved by the rusher dropping his cube in town and collecting a second from the tomb.