Anything Goes D2 Lounge!

[ffs]

War Scepter is usually considered ideal but that's just because it can provide some skills for Paladins. For other classes it doesn't really matter.. Crystal Swords, Double Axe, Flail (eth for low dex chars) are all good.

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

My one beef with Crystal Swords for CTA is that if I use them on a melee character using Grief PB, it's easier to get confused and have my weapons switched and wonder why I'm dying / not killing anything. I've avoided them as a base this time around because of that, but most people probably aren't as dumb a player as I am and therefore don't have to worry about that.

 

[Arparrabiosa]

@BBS_Agonistes use throw equipped weapon on the left-click on the swap, so you can distinguish between the main and the switch just looking at the interface.

 

[PhineasB]

I haven't made it yet, not sure what I'd use it for.

For bowie it seems worse than Faith for sure, and using it alongside A1 Faith Merc is worse than using Faith on the Amazon together with A2 Might Merc with somthing like Pride or Reaper.

I see no standard/strong build that can make use of it, but perhaps some niche or "fun build", e.g. Werewolf? With the D2R werewolf attack speed changes, it might be an option. Werewolves have short range when using missile weapons, but nonetheless back in the day Buriza was considered a solid Fury option. While Mist doesn't have crazy good offensive stats, at least ED% is pretty high and it provides Concentration as well.

I haven't checked details on the new wereform attack rate mechanics, but my general understanding is that you don't need a lot of on-weapon IAS anymore to achieve high speeds.

There's also summoner builds like Necro and Druid (the latter in particular in D2R).. but again, same as bowie: Faith + A2 merc with strong weapon is better.

It could be a solid choice for a ranger Paladin, maybe with Holy Shock as main aura and Faith A1 merc or Infinity A2 merc.

As you say, Faith equipped likely outshines, but that’s true for many builds/slots and still can be interesting to try something else. That said, I have found Rangers to be tedious, so wouldn’t do that myself even if I were in D2R. And it’s hard to see using a Cham for so little upside compared to Faith or Ice.

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

That was my feeling as well, but often RWs have some certain build the developers saw them working with in a unique way. "Mist" has some nice stats, but just didn't seem quite worth a Cham, so I was curious if there was something I was missing... sounds like not.

 

[Foghorn Leghorn]

My one beef with Crystal Swords for CTA is that if I use them on a melee character using Grief PB, it's easier to get confused and have my weapons switched and wonder why I'm dying / not killing anything. I've avoided them as a base this time around because of that, but most people probably aren't as dumb a player as I am and therefore don't have to worry about that.

Most....but not all (Foggy says, as he looks in the mirror sheepishly).

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

Do you guys actively try to farm things like Berserker Axes? Need some 5os and no luck with drops or cube yet.

I have started taking the Furyzon and hitting full clears of Chaos Sanctuary with 0% MF (toss on MF gear for big D himself) and Glacial Trail / Drifter Cavern, as according to silo's calc, a lot of monsters have a 1/4800 chance of dropping BA base there. It's a bit slow killing everything and with no Enigma, and since I actively started farming them, I actually haven't seen any. I'm thinking it might be better just to focus on MFing in level 85 areas and kill two birds with one stone because I figure sooner or later they will drop... just seems like it's later.

 

[NorthDakota]

I feel like as I've played more there's this growing list of item bases I'm constantly looking out for. Berserker axes were added long ago, I pick them up even with no real plans to use them along with a variety of other bases. matriarchal bows were one I started picking up not too long ago, and rare assn claws. There are times when I will farm cows specifically for certain bases when I need one on demand though.

 

[Pancakes]

I am convinced the game has never dropped a colossus blade, much less an ethereal colossus blade. They do not exist. As for zerkers, I think I have a single specimen floating around somewhere for a rainy day.

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

I am convinced the game has never dropped a colossus blade, much less an ethereal colossus blade. They do not exist. As for zerkers, I think I have a single specimen floating around somewhere for a rainy day.

Tell me about it! My last D2 stint was during the heyday of SPF trading, and I never realized how seldom some of these bases drop. Starting back as self-found in D2R has really put it into perspective. I think part of the reason a BA is a particular pain is that it's much more likely to drop in A85, so Cows isn't as good a place to farm. Cows has been pretty good about other bases for me, however. I know BAs *can* drop there, but the chances are just pretty small compared to in A85 areas.

 

[Triple Helix]

I've found maybe 5 BA bases with various sockets total since D2R dropped, and most if not all have been from the Pit, and I've run it a lot! I think only 1 has been eth.

With that said, I still haven't found but one good eth 4os elite polearm, and Infinity went into that, so my best Insight polearm is still non-eth.

 

[LouB]

@Pancakes Oh, those eth colossus blades do exist

Colossus Blade
One-Hand Damage: 37 to 97
Two-Hand Damage: 87 to 172
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Dexterity: 100
Required Strength: 179
Required Level: 63
Sword Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x1680be54
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 0 used)

Then again I've been collecting junk for 20 years and thats my only one! I still haven't found an eth Berserker axe or a 5os regular BA.

 

[Arparrabiosa]

I do have several BA in my old legacy Diablo 2 stashes, including 2 already made into Griefs. And one and only colossus blade, no eth, though.

Do you guys actively try to farm things like Berserker Axes?

Can they drop from Lower Kurast? I think I heard MrLlamaSC said in one of his videos that it was a good place to look for bases. Just click in all the poppables.

Oh! And remember the horadric cube recipe to upgrade a low quality armor or weapon to normal quality!

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

I do have several BA in my old legacy Diablo 2 stashes, including 2 already made into Griefs. And one and only colossus blade, no eth, though.



Can they drop from Lower Kurast? I think I heard MrLlamaSC said in one of his videos that it was a good place to look for bases. Just click in all the poppables.

Oh! And remember the horadric cube recipe to upgrade a low quality armor or weapon to normal quality!

The only issue with Berserker Axes is that if I'm looking for 5os, and if I upgrade a low quality/cracked, it'll set it the ilvl to 1, so Larzuk or cube can only give max of 4 sockets.

That is an interesting idea regarding racking. I don't know if LK can spawn a BA rack in 1.14d/D2R. IIRC racking was incredibly rewarding in some earlier versions and there is a 1.07/1.08 racking guide, but I'm assuming the reason there was a guide for those specific versions is that the mechanics of racking were more favorable than in later versions.

 

[Arparrabiosa]

A BA rack would be the end of all your problems, indeed, but I think he meant just the poppables. I haven't had much luck in the past with weapon racks, to be honest, even when I had very consistent and good armor racks.

 

[LouB]

I've been running LK lately and have been hitting both racks every time. I got curious about about @Arparrabiosa question about monsters spawning inside the huts being path dependent. my current map can be run in either direction so I decided to try it each way and see if there were any differences.
First the monsters spawning inside a hut didn't seem that dependant of path. However, the percentage of times monster were present does seem to be dependant on the game. If I've had a number of runs where they are more prevelant and then I totally quit the game and restart the frequency is completely different.
There does seem to be a difference in what pops from the racks depending on path. One of my racks provides a steady diet of Divine Scepters on the way I usually run LK, but when I run it the other way they never dropped. Neither rack is dropping axes so I can't really say if BA can drop in LK, but I can't ever recall finding one.

I like Paladins so I've been picking up those Divine Scepters and got five sockets from the cube to give me a nice base for Honor.

Divine Scepter
One-Hand Damage: 16 to 38
Durability: 61 of 70
Required Strength: 103
Required Level: 25
Mace Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x6c5d817
+1 to Vigor (Paladin Only)
+3 to Zeal (Paladin Only)
150% Damage to Undead
Socketed (5: 0 used)

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

Interesting! My experience with racks in LK is that the armor racks are far more stable than the weapon racks. I think that's likely because the armor racks are outside the huts, so the angle from which one hits them can be more consistent. Within the huts it's a bit more cramped, so I'd have a lot less consistency with the drops, though I have racked some uniques and bases from the weapon racks.

I think I've experienced something similar with monster patterns. Sometimes the variation was so dramatic I wondered if I had accidentally changed the players setting.

 

[Kitteh]

My one beef with Crystal Swords for CTA is that if I use them on a melee character using Grief PB, it's easier to get confused and have my weapons switched and wonder why I'm dying / not killing anything. I've avoided them as a base this time around because of that, but most people probably aren't as dumb a player as I am and therefore don't have to worry about that.

This. I always make CtAs in various bases xD I usually go axe or sceptre - more distinctive for me.

 

[Arparrabiosa]

I think that's likely because the armor racks are outside the huts, so the angle from which one hits them can be more consistent.

I wouldn't get too obsessed about movement patterns because of the Mal drop from the MrLLamaSC example. Using a seed via command line, like the one he use as an example, change a lot how a map generate the treasure for what I have read. Because he used a seed, right?

 

[Kitteh]

We've known for a long time that movement/spawn pattern affects rack drops. First I've heard of it potentially influencing monster spawns though.

I have a lovely thresher rack which has about 50% stability and sits on the movement I would naturally make anyway