Game plan for Leveling

[Kasreyn]

Hi all,

In a recent thread I discussed my new Frenzybarb, Ginsu. He just turned 32 and has defeated the Council. (If his level seems a bit odd, I'm doing a players8 fullclear.)

But, I'm fast realizing that Frenzybarbs - especially sword frenziers, who have less leeway in life due to the high requirements of swords - are very dependant on good gear. Every guide I read mentions suiting up in ridiculously expensive stuff like twin Crescent Moons or Lawbringers complete with the obligatory Enigma armor. Heck, back when I was running Hell Baal dozens of times a night with my MF Hammerdin, I never even came remotely close to assembling the runes I'd need for gear like that. And now, post-crash, I'm back to square one.

So to make a long story short, I'm pausing Ginsu and starting a new MF sorcie in the hopes of rebuilding my item collection. (Frenzybarb tips in the aforementioned thread are still very welcome and will be appreciated!) And I'm losing patience with full clears, so I want to speed Freezerburn (intended Fireball+FO build) along as fast as is reasonably possible.

Thing is, I've never done the power leveling thing, full clearing instead. Arreat Summit mentions that you only get full experience for monsters no more than 5 levels above or below your clvl. I'm trying to find a correct list of monster mlvls, sorted by map, and correct as of version 1.10 (not 1.11). I found the following link:

http://www.marduke.com/bnet/d2/tzon/experience.html

...but I don't know anything about the person who posted this, or if any of the mlvls listed are correct. For instance, on Canyon of the Magi it lists 16, but when you click on the link it says level 19 by each monster... so are they all 16 or 19?

Furthermore, I intend to play on /players8 which is my usual practise. What do I need to do to keep my level more or less within that experience "sweet spot"? Is it a matter of merely keeping my clvl no more than 5 away from the mlvls, or does the /players8 command make things more complicated than that? (Knowing the baroque inclinations of Blizzard programming, I wouldn't be surprised.)

Is the above link a good resource, and if so, should I trust the numbers on the initial list or on the little javascript popups? If it's not, where can I find such a resource? I know I used to have one, but it also was lost in the hard drive crash.

Thanks in advance,

[Hammerskjold]

>But, I'm fast realizing that Frenzybarbs - especially sword frenziers, who have less leeway in life due to the high requirements of swords - are very dependant on good gear. Every guide I read mentions suiting up in ridiculously expensive stuff like twin Crescent Moons or Lawbringers complete with the obligatory Enigma armor. Heck, back when I was running Hell Baal dozens of times a night with my MF Hammerdin, I never even came remotely close to assembling the runes I'd need for gear like that. And now, post-crash, I'm back to square one.

You're right, twin CMoons can be pretty expensive actually, a more realistic target for most players is one Cmoon weapon. And I do mean player, not characters. I think I've only found one UM so far in 1.10+ standard. To date I've yet to pop an UM from a nightmare forge. It's possible I just have a natural anti-luck aura.

But Lawbringers are relatively affordable, and a twin set is not prohibitively expensive. Enigma armor is a very nice to have, but not a requirement imo. Personally I found Smoke armor to be a good enough suit, ymmv.

I had a test dswinger\frenzier using phaseblades, but his build pretty much screams 'Warrior needs Twinkies...NOW!' A more gear friendly alternative are axes and blunts.

edited addition:

Oops, the reply above should've been in the other thread I guess.

[librarian]

Heiho,

usually the Tankazone Resource is reliable.
According to my notes areaLevel of Canyon is 16. This will result in highest mLvl possible will be mLvl19, which would be a random unique boss with his pack.

[Sumendar]

Heiho,

usually the Tankazone Resource is reliable.
According to my notes areaLevel of Canyon is 16. This will result in highest mLvl possible will be mLvl19, which would be a random unique boss with his pack.

This only happens in NM and Hell. In Normal monsters retain their usual levels, so there can be quite a bit of variance within an area.

(Finally delurking here, should I post an intro thread somewhere?)

[Munkay]

(Finally delurking here, should I post an intro thread somewhere?)

No need to post an intro thread. Just keep posting quality additions to threads and we'll all get to know you:)

Cheers,

Munk

[librarian]

Heiho,

This only happens in NM and Hell. In Normal monsters retain their usual levels, so there can be quite a bit of variance within an area.

oopsie, I've completely forgotten we're talking Norm here *blushing*

(Finally delurking here, should I post an intro thread somewhere?)

If so I'd just have to do it myself. Nice to meet you here :-)