ethereal items properties

[dta]

(sorry for my many questions, some are newbie in question. I've played much D2 Classic but haven't finished D2 LOD with any character type yet, ie. have finished normal diff LOD with a barbarian only so far; though I've finished (ie. killed Hell diff Diablo solo) D2 Classic single-player with barbarian, amazon and sorc; nightmare diff Diablo with a paladin, but only normal diff Diablo with a necromancer, all in single-player D2C.



What are the exact properties of an item being "ethereal"?

Of course we know that "ethereal" items can't be repaired or replenished by the vendor (although if it has a "repair 1 durability in xxx seconds" or "replenishes quantity" affix, then it would in effect by repaired by itself).

BTW, even if the ethereal item has completely lost durability or quantity to 0, but it has the property "repair 1 durability in xxx seconds" -- will the item be repaired or will it be permanently broken or lost?

Also, isn't it some unique items have the "indestructible" property -- then an ethereal version of this unique will then still be indestructible, right?


So far the Arreat Summit only lists that "ethereal" items have an "improved fundamental ability", but what exactly is it? and what are the range of +% enhanced damage or +% enhanced defense or maybe it has better auto-mods?? (The AS also mentions that ethereal items don't lose durability on mercenaries so they're good for mercs).

is the % enhanced damage or % enhanced defense variable from +10% to +50% (my guess only)
or do they ever get affected in say better chance to block or some other "fundamental ability"?

BTW, what are the chances of ethereal items dropping -- are they considered "magic" items (affected by +% magic find) or do they drop as frequently as any socketable item? Are there certain items that are less likely to be ethereal in nature (due to monster or item level or some such formula)?

[D-Dave]

"Etheral" improves damage on weapons and defense on other items.
(indestructable items like Amulets, Rings and (as far as I know) indestructable Weapons (includes Bows/Crossbows) will never be etheral, same goes for the Uniques that are indestructable)

The Bonus for being etheral is 50% and raises the BASE DAMAGE / DEFENSE so all other bonuses are calculated based on these raised values.

Shields do not receive an increased blocking for being etheral.

I am not sure if "repair over time" or "replenish over time" work after item reaches zero durability/stack as those items are considered broken by the game...so the question is, if this is flaged permanently by the game...no clue, sorry

Ah, and for the drop probability: "etheral" is not generated like other affixes (as it technicaly is no affix but a changed base item) magic find does not have any influence on how many etheral items you will find.
From what I know there is just a plain Percentage based chance that an Item that can be etheral will be dropped as etheral.

hope this helps

-dave

[kier]

The ethernal will increase the def/damage by 50%, so to work out the increase times the number by 1.5

The repair property will repair it even if it has 0 durability. The problem with this item is you may have to wait a long time to get it repaired, so it is best to not use it on a melee char, which would increase the loss of durability.

The indestructible suffix ("of the ages") does mean that the item will be indestructible, I have found eth items like this before, but uni or set items with this property can't be found ethernal, only magic items can have this.

I think the chance of an eth item dropping is 0.5%, but I could be wrong, I do know it's a small %. It is on the forums somewhere, but I can't remember where :blink:

Hope this has been some help,

Kier

[Logic_X]

Ethereal:

+50% Base Defense/Damage
-10 Strength, -10 Dex requirement

Repair over xxx time Affix:
This mod is great on ethereal items, but also a bane due to certain bugs, and how the game treats them when broken.
Basic Stuff:
If an ethereal item reaches 0 durability, it is broken, period - no bringing it back as far as 1.09 is concerned (haven't tested in 1.10 beta) - becomes completely unuseable even if returned to full durability.
Bug (Zod):
The Zod Rune[33] (Indestructable modifier) does not work on items with boosted durability (things such as baranar's star) due to a bug, it will list the mod, but will not function, which is a waste of a painfully rare rune.

[dta]

+50% Base Defense/Damage

I recall in the early days that the +% "enhanced defense" property -- you always apply it to the max base defense of an item. Let's say a certain helm has base 12-15 base defense rating. If you find an ethereal version of this item, will it be (12 to 15) * 1.5 (ie. you'll get an ethereal item that ranges from 12x1.5=18 to 15x1.5=24) or will it be like the "enhanced defense" magical property where you multiply the %def to the max base defense +1 -- ie. (15+1) * 150% = 24.

If the latter is the case, then all ethereal versions of say, a skull cap will always have the same defense rating (assuming that the ethereal item is non-magical and doesn't have any other "+% enh def" magical property, right?

-10 Strength, -10 Dex requirement

So I've notice that ethereal items seem to be easier to equip... So it has both -10 stat requirement to both STR and DEX (a straight -10 stat point less, rather than a 10% less stat required for any ethereal items, eh?

If an ethereal item reaches 0 durability, it is broken, period - no bringing it back as far as 1.09 is concerned (haven't tested in 1.10 beta) - becomes completely unuseable even if returned to full durability.

I see. So you don't want to have an ethreal item reach 0 DUR, it's ok to reach DUR=1 and then let it repair itself. I'll keep this in mind. (Of course, it's still best to let ethereal items be equipped on a merc).

The Zod Rune[33] (Indestructable modifier) does not work on items with boosted durability (things such as baranar's star) due to a bug, it will list the mod, but will not function, which is a waste of a painfully rare rune.

Hmmm. So this looks like a bug, I wonder if v1.10 will fix it or this feature is "by design"?

~~~~~

BTW, I sort of didn't get this part clear:

So no Unique and Set items can be Ethereal? Or is it only those Unique and Set items that have the "Indestructible" built-in property in can't be Ethereal?

If that's the case, then the best Ethereal items would be rares or the like?


(another question that just popped up: can you Craft ethereal items for Crafted Items?)

[adeyke]

No set items can be ethereal. No indestructible items (e.g. bows, phase blades) can be ethereal. No indestructible uniques can be ethereal, unless they also have the 1.10-only always-ethereal mod.

You can craft ethereal items, but they become non-ethereal.

[Logic_X]

+50% base defense/damage

lets say you have a helm, it's normal defense would be say 10
it's ethereal (+50% base defense) - that's 10 * 1.5 = 15
it's got a prefix (+100% defense) - that's 15 * 2.0 = 30

or you have a weapon, normal damage of 10-100 (look, a polearm :D)
it's ethereal (+50% base damage) - that's 10 * 1.5 = 15 min, 100 * 1.5 = 150 max
it's got a prefix (+100% damage) - that's 15 * 2 = 30 min, 150 * 2 = 300 max

if it was a non ethereal with say +150% damage it'd only be:
10 * 2.5 = 25 min, 100 * 2.5 = 250 max

...........................................................

-10 strength, -10 dex requirement

Yes, this is a direct reduction as opposed to a % (doesn't make sense to me....but so few things do anymore...like ias and weapon speed effecting amazon evade skills <_<)

...........................................................

What Can't Be Ethereal (1.09):
Set Items
Bows or other "Indestructable" by nature items (ie phase blades)
Uniques that have "Indestructable" as one of their modifiers (ie wizardspike)
Crafted, or cubed items (ie you can't get an ethereal sword with the 3 chipped gem + sword recipe, and you can't get ethereal crafted items)

..........................................................

Hope that helps clear some stuff up.