Magical Prefix/Suffix

[Fremen°]

I'm still confused on the prefix/suffix level thing...if the prefix is level 30, does it mean i kill level30+ monsters or go to a level30+ area...or something else?

[Thrugg]

What do you mean by "level"?
Each affix has two levels associated with it. The affix level, which affects where it can spawn, and the required level, which affects when an item with that affix can be used. The two numbers are independent (although many affixes that have been around a long time follow the old rlvl = int(alvl * 3 / 4) rule).

Assuming you can find a list of affix levels (which isn't always the case, Arreat Summit can't make up its mind and lists the alvl for some affixes and the rlvl for others, just to be really confusing), that still isn't enough to tell you where it can spawn.

You see, Blizzard wanted the base item to matter as well. If Hell Baal drops a Short Sword, it should be a really good Short Sword (otherwise why would Baal have it?) - likewise a monster who can only just drop a Gothic Bow is likely to only be able to drop ordinary ones, not an amazingly good Gothic Bow. To achieve this, they base the affixes you can get on the ilvl (item level, which for an item dropped by a monster will be the same as the monster's level, which is usually also the area level) minus half the qlvl of the item. The qlvl is the level of the base item, Sashes are low, Hydra Bows are high. This way, the better the monster, the better the mods, but also the higher the item it drops, the lower the mods.

So, to work out where something will drop, you need to know the level of the affix, and the level of the item you want it to drop on. If you know those two, you should aim for an area with level = affix level + (item qlvl / 2) as a good place to start.

I might as well list the exceptions to these rules (or other people will catch me on it :) )
Blizzard also didn't want all the highest mods to only be possible on low qlvl items. So, above a certain point (and that point is ilvl = 99 - (qlvl/2)) they use a different formula to work out the available mods, so for very high level mods, you should look for items of level (100+alvl)/2. If that is less than the number the other formula gives, then you can use that one instead. You'll note that doesn't use qlvl at all, so it is the same for all item types.

The other exception is because they didn't want their fancy elite (high qlvl) items to always have sucky mods, so they added in a rule where if qlvl > ilvl, then the qlvl overrides the ilvl. This doesn't normally matter for items you find, but it makes a big difference in cubing/crafting, where you are changing the item level.

There is a lot to absorb here, I know. Feel free to ask more questions if you ike.

[RTB]

Great post Thrugg, just adding something...

Assuming you can find a list of affix levels (which isn't always the case, Arreat Summit can't make up its mind and lists the alvl for some affixes and the rlvl for others, just to be really confusing), that still isn't enough to tell you where it can spawn.
Since it was automatically generated, typos shouldn't exist on d2data.net (http://ww.d2data.net). So I would trust that site for affix information.

[Fremen°]

typo, you wrote ww.d2data.net;)

i was originally thinking about small charms+rerolling...what would be the level of a small charm (if there is one)...

thanks:)

[RTB]

I did? Damnit. :)

Small Charms are Qlvl 28.

[Fremen°]

d2data doesnt mention the "of vita" suffix...

does wanting two affixes modify to equations?

[RTB]

d2data doesnt mention the "of vita" suffix...
It certainly does. Where did you try to find it?

does wanting two affixes modify to equations?
No, each affix is kept separate when dealing with Ilvl/Alvl/Qlvl.