Having trouble with MF...

[flu3ncy]

I'm having trouble with magic-finding runs. When I first started with my sorc when she was around level 80, I found a decent amount of decent stuff.

Now she's level 87, with 516% MF, and I don't find anything. I mean nothing. I did MF runs for probably about 7 hours straight yesterday, and 4 or 5 hours today, and I haven't found a single decent item. ALL I came up with was some Sandstorm Treks and a mediocre facet jewel. Not right for the amount of time I put into this. :P

I usually switch off between Mephisto and Pindle is private passworded games.. and every once in awhile I'll do a few Andy runs just for a change of pace.

Am I doing anything wrong, or just extremely unlucky? I'm using a cold sorc, so pit runs don't work too well... but other than that, I can MF almost anywhere.. do I just not have enough MF gear on? Is my level too low?

Anything you can tell me, I'd appreciate greatly. Thanks.

[Mr.E]

You might not do well in The Pit, but you could just plain blaze through the Ancient Tunnel. 8)

[flu3ncy]

Does that place tend to yield good drops?

[Owoc]

Yeah, and you might also try abbaddon - if you're strong enough to blast your way through hell act 5 alone...

[krischan]

How much time you spend isn't telling that much, but how many runs you made. I hope you are teleporting through Durance 3 and not running through it.

As you need a merc versus Pindle, you can't apply the moat trick (your merc would trigger his spells, endangering you and getting killed all the time), but approach Meph directly. That's a little more dangerous, I guess, especially for your merc and especially with 5xx% MF.

I suggest to do Pindle runs and Meph runs separately. Visit Pindle and e.g. the Ancient Tunnels in the Forgotten City (bosses and champions can drop any set/unique, you get decent XP and it contains no cold immunes, except a few bosses - that's where your merc comes into play) with your merc. As soon as he gets killed, switch to Meph, applying the moat trick (search the strategy forums or the sorc forums for it in cas you don't know it), until you spent the same amount of time for the Meph runs.

If you are still lacking stuff like Occy, Shako, Skullder's etc., do Meph runs exclusively. Meph can drop any item of treasure class 78 or lower and any ring or amulet as well. BTW, he can drop Arachnid Mesh and Azurewrath - Pindle can't. Start with Pindle if you have enough of them and need things like Tal's armor. Pindle has a far lower tradevalue-per-hour ratio and he drops perhaps one set/uniques per 20 runs with 300%MF (not that much more with 500%), but he can drop several items Meph can't.

[DiRolfo]

Keep the fate dude, you just were unlucky

[himeji]

The more mf the better, but it comes with diminishing returns. Most guides i've read on this topic suggest a range between 200-350. I myself run a mf sorc with 200, no problem with finding uniques from meph. Bad luck as previous poster replied.

[durph]

I have found that I find (with my necro) many good things on hell Baal and Diablo with about 180 mf using topazed trang armor and helm and gul dagger and rhyme on switch with an additional couple of mf charms. He does not find stuff on every run but does manage to do ok. Pindle has given me an oculus once in about 500 runs but I always do him because you never know :) and I need to create an army there anyway.

Eldritch and Shank have both been very stingy...think the best thing I have gotten off of both of them collectively is a perfect IK maul.

With my old meph runner blizzard sorc I found that I did ok at about 250...nothing great but did find some stuff...hit a plateau at 300 - 400 but with anything over 400 (even slightly over) I found all kinds of great stuff -- facets, gheeds charms, and many elite uniques. As such I kept about 410 on her until amp+fanat dolls ate her.

It may have been just me but that was my experience.