07-30-2004, 04:10 PM
Lochnar,
Yes, the AS sorely needs to tidy up their affix page. There are really two important numbers associated with an affix, the alvl (affix level, affects which items the affix can spawn on) and the rlvl (required level, affects when an item with the affix can be used). AS seem to be inconsistent with which of those they are using, even within the same page in some cases.
I check for those numbers directly in the text files that can be unpacked from the patch.mpq file, but for those that dont want to do that, the affix pages at www.d2data.net are pretty reliable in my experience. They list both alvl and rlvl for all affixes, just to make sure you're covered :)
For charms specifically, look at http://www.d2data.net/item/affixes/affixes_idx3.html
Next, determining the ilvl you need from the alvl you want. The short answer is look here, however that is a bit dry for most people. Basically the game works out the alvl of an item when it spawns from its ilvl and its qlvl (quality level, associated with the base item - you can also see those listed on d2data if you look around under Base Items). Once it works out the item's alvl then it randomly picks from all possible affixes with alvl less than or equal to the item's alvl.
Now, the alvl algorithm has a few twists to it, but in most cases you end up on the "alvl = inputilvl - int(qlvl/2)" branch. This is saying that the alvl of an item is (qlvl/2) less than its ilvl. For grand charms, qlvl = 1, so qlvl/2 rounds to 0, and alvl = ilvl. For large charms qlvl = 14 and for small charms qlvl = 28 - that is where the +7 (should be 7, if they said 8 they're wrong) and +14 come from.
For grand charms, because qlvl=1, there really are no other cases to consider. But for small charms there are relevant edge cases so I might as well explain those while I'm at it.
First, the test "if (qlvl>inputilvl) { inputilvl = qlvl }" means that if a small charm (qlvl 28) has ilvl < 28, it ignores the ilvl and uses the qlvl (28) instead. This basically means that all small charms can always get affixes that are alvl 14 or less - even if you find them in normal Blood Moor.
The other edge case is at the high end. If the basic formula (add 14 to the alvl) held always, you could never get the really high affixes like Pestilent (alvl 88). This is where the other branch "if (inputilvl<99-int(qlvl/2)) {...} else { alvl = inputilvl*2 - 99 }" comes in. It means that if the ilvl gets above 85 (99 - 14) then we switch over to alvl = ilvl*2 - 99, or rearranging, required ilvl = (alvl+99)/2 (rounded up). So for example Pestilent requires ilvl 94 to spawn.
The same principles apply to all items and affix spawning, just the qlvls change and the available mods vary.
Right, well, I think that was more than a nudge ;) Hope it was helpful.
Yes, the AS sorely needs to tidy up their affix page. There are really two important numbers associated with an affix, the alvl (affix level, affects which items the affix can spawn on) and the rlvl (required level, affects when an item with the affix can be used). AS seem to be inconsistent with which of those they are using, even within the same page in some cases.
I check for those numbers directly in the text files that can be unpacked from the patch.mpq file, but for those that dont want to do that, the affix pages at www.d2data.net are pretty reliable in my experience. They list both alvl and rlvl for all affixes, just to make sure you're covered :)
For charms specifically, look at http://www.d2data.net/item/affixes/affixes_idx3.html
Next, determining the ilvl you need from the alvl you want. The short answer is look here, however that is a bit dry for most people. Basically the game works out the alvl of an item when it spawns from its ilvl and its qlvl (quality level, associated with the base item - you can also see those listed on d2data if you look around under Base Items). Once it works out the item's alvl then it randomly picks from all possible affixes with alvl less than or equal to the item's alvl.
Now, the alvl algorithm has a few twists to it, but in most cases you end up on the "alvl = inputilvl - int(qlvl/2)" branch. This is saying that the alvl of an item is (qlvl/2) less than its ilvl. For grand charms, qlvl = 1, so qlvl/2 rounds to 0, and alvl = ilvl. For large charms qlvl = 14 and for small charms qlvl = 28 - that is where the +7 (should be 7, if they said 8 they're wrong) and +14 come from.
For grand charms, because qlvl=1, there really are no other cases to consider. But for small charms there are relevant edge cases so I might as well explain those while I'm at it.
First, the test "if (qlvl>inputilvl) { inputilvl = qlvl }" means that if a small charm (qlvl 28) has ilvl < 28, it ignores the ilvl and uses the qlvl (28) instead. This basically means that all small charms can always get affixes that are alvl 14 or less - even if you find them in normal Blood Moor.
The other edge case is at the high end. If the basic formula (add 14 to the alvl) held always, you could never get the really high affixes like Pestilent (alvl 88). This is where the other branch "if (inputilvl<99-int(qlvl/2)) {...} else { alvl = inputilvl*2 - 99 }" comes in. It means that if the ilvl gets above 85 (99 - 14) then we switch over to alvl = ilvl*2 - 99, or rearranging, required ilvl = (alvl+99)/2 (rounded up). So for example Pestilent requires ilvl 94 to spawn.
The same principles apply to all items and affix spawning, just the qlvls change and the available mods vary.
Right, well, I think that was more than a nudge ;) Hope it was helpful.
"Thank you. We always have a shortage of unfounded opinions, so this will really help us. " - adeyke