Broke down and started B.Net account

[SetBuilder]

Have three characters (account name InsaneBobb), all ladder. Character has beaten normal. Some questions:

Where is the best place to quickly level merc?
How can I JOIN (not create) a normal difficulty game without knowing the name?
How does team levelling work? Seems different than LAN games.
How cool is it that somebody trades Firelizard's Talons for Isenhart's Horns? I mean, an Assassan Superclaw for a low-level set item? Damn! Heh, and now I've socketed and personalized, too.
Where is a link to all the friends commands? I still don't understand the in-game chat completely, as none of that was ever necessary for LAN.
Is there ANY way of doing players 8 in Ladder aside from having 8 players in the game?
Is there any way to minimize lag caused by wireless highspeed?

Last note, I like rushing people. Get some cool-ass items that way.

[Wyrm]

Where is the best place to quickly level merc?

Best places to level mercs are areas that are the same level they are, then let them do the killing. Generally, the Arcane Sanctuary works fairly well for lower levels. Killing the Travincal bosses (high council) and the bosses in the areas under the Causeway (sp?) are good exp as well. Once they hit 24 or so, the beginning area of Nihlathak's Temple (where Pindleskin is) works best. Once they're on pace with you, then wherever you go for exp will work for them as well.

How can I JOIN (not create) a normal difficulty game without knowing the name?

The only way to see normal diff games after you beat normal is to use another character that hasn't beaten normal yet and check the list then switch back.

How does team levelling work?

Team exp on bnet is the same as on LAN. You have to be a certain distance from the person who makes the kill.

How cool is it that somebody trades Firelizard's Talons for Isenhart's Horns?

Sounds like a non-legit item that was probably either duped or gotten through bot use. No idea what the claw's stats are though, been too long since I've played.

Where is a link to all the friends commands?

I don't remember a link, but off the top of my head:
all start with /f and a space
a account-name - Adds someone to your friends list. Can also use add.
r account-name - Removes someone from your friends list. Can also use remove.
m text - Sends the text as a message to everyone on your friends list. Can also use msg
p account-name - Promotes someone on your friends list (puts them higher on it). Can also use promote.
d account-name - Demotes someone on your friends list (oppossite of p). Can also use demote.
Basically, if you wanted to add someone with the account name InsaneBob to your friends list, you would type: /f a InsaneBob. Capital letters are unimportant though.

Is there ANY way of doing players 8 in Ladder aside from having 8 players in the game?

No.

Is there any way to minimize lag caused by wireless highspeed?

There are a few lag reduction mods over at the Phrozen Keep, but all they do is lower the visual effects so that less is happening on screen. Entirely client based. There's no real way to cut down on server-client connection lag caused by a wireless/modem/satellite/whatever else connection.

[Munkay]

To add to Wyrm's response, the experience of allied parties is exactly the same as on a Lan, but it might feel different because on a Lan you are generally always in the same area. On BNet people are often times leagues ahead, even if they happen to be in the same area. The problem is experience is based on a close radius. Blizzard implimented this in a more recent patch to try to spur people into playing nicely in groups. It may not be in effect anymore, but the last time I played it still was.

Cheers,

Munk

[SetBuilder]

Thanks for the responses. :)

[Obi2Kenobi]

Best places to level mercs are areas that are the same level they are, then let them do the killing.[right][snapback]80653[/snapback][/right]

I disagree there. Mercenaries can only get a max of 1/64 of the experience required for their next level (starting from having no extra experience to be at the level they are at, so if it takes 64 exp to get from level 2 to level 3, then the most they can get in a single kill is 1).

Moreover, they only get 1/3 of the experience from the kill if you kill the monster instead of them.

This means that if you can kill at least 3 times faster than your mercenary, you speed it up by helping out. If this 1/3 is applied before the 1/64 cap, then it could be even better to go to an area with stronger monsters (if you can still kill them quickly), as this would improve your experience a bit, and you'd get better drops.


/edit: It might be 1/4 (instead of 1/3), but either way, that's not likely to make much of a difference when talking about your killing speed versus your mercenary's.

[Wyrm]

That's true, but most of the time when I level my merc I do a quick game where I'll clear out a few areas and then start a new game because I don't feel it's worth it to hang around in areas and kill everything. So while it does take less time for me to do the killing for him, in the long run it will take me less time to let him do the killing since I won't have to use as many games. Most of the time I just let him kill the Pindle area, Eldritch the Rectifier (I think that's the guy just inside Arreat Plateu), Shenk and company, and then run/port on down to Dac Farren and take him out. After that, if he's strong enough, I'll let him take on Baal's Minions, then it's a new game.

That generally seems to work best for me since, aside from finding my way around the Worldstone, the areas are basically the same every time and I don't have to really hunt for anything. Lazy, yes, but effective.

Another reason I like letting the mercs do the killing is because you get better exp from it for your character, as the merc generally has a better clvl:mlvl ratio and you get the full exp from their kills (or something like that, I've never really gone in depth to how it works exactly); so I tend to get up to 35 in normal easily, even in 1 player games.