Cloak of Shadows and perma-dimming

[aurikan]

Reposted from SevenLances Forum at http://www.sevenlances.com/forum/index.php...&f=9&t=219&st=0

Here's a helpful bug:

Being chased by a nasty pack? CoS them, run over 2 full screens away and then come back. They all will have their awareness radius reduced to 1 unit (like dim vision/cloak of shadows effect) PERMANENTLY.

This probably exists in D2 (unless Foxbat's been at the hexeditor in that region). The implications are frightening:

My theory is that when you afflict the monsters with the curse, their awareness is reduced to 1 unit and then a timer is set. When the timer expires, their awareness is restored to normal. However, when you get more than 2 screens away, the server in order to save processing power, drops them from an "active list" and in doing so, nukes the timer attached to their status, WITHOUT executing the action it binds (in this case, restoring their vision).

I wonder if the same bug, therefore, would hold for necro curses, inner sight, and curse-like warcries? If so, could curses be stacked by "perming" them? (IE, battle cry, run away, come back and the BC effect is permed. BC again and they get "re-afflicted") What about conversion?

[WarBlade]

This one is old. Any Curse Necro players will tell you there are actually a whole host of strange effects you can make 'stick' to monsters when you move far enough for them to be caught in an inactive area. There are also some which can effect your mercanary as well.

Dim Vision (Hit Blinds Target included), Attract, Terror, Confuse . . . all the AI curses can stick to monsters. I hadn't thought about Cloak of Shadows, but that certainly fits the bill.

[aurikan]

After some clever search parameters, I found your ages-old bug report

http://www.lurkerlounge.com/cgi-bin/forum/...orum=MaggotLair

It's funny and with CoS in 7L having massive radius really quite useful for separating bosses from their packs, without the need for running, for just the cheap cost of a TP scroll. :D

[Odd]

so then, could a necro be built entirely around this? like, using the confuse curses to cause civil war, then leaving and coming back after it goes away (they're still attacking eachother) then casting iron maiden to steal the kills?

[WarBlade]

Theoretically, yes. Unfortunately by the time you reach the end of Hell level playing such a build, you may find that years have past and the world no longer resembles your memory of it.

[Elric of Grans]

Hail WarBlade,

A Curse Necromancer is slow enough as it is without trying to exploit this. I have one in I/Hell at the moment, and progress is at a crawl. If I walked away from every mob before I really got stuck into them, it would take DAYS to get to the next way point!

[Chaerophon]

What did you decide to use as a finisher on that there necro?

I remember discussing PD with you a long time ago and started to try and build my own, but was quickly involved in the old 'RL' to such an extent that there has been virtually no time left for Diablo. (I've got nowhere near the perseverence for the game that you seem to have anyways, so I doubt that I ever would have finished that one off :) )

[Elric of Grans]

Hail Chaerophon,

I found some Unique ITD dagger, which I use against most critters. Against Act Bosses, I slog it out with a Strange Flanged Mace of something - I hope to get something a tad heaftier soon though: Baal was HELL in Nightmare!

[Chaerophon]

Indeed, I could imagine :) I'd like to see that bugger in action some day!