View Full Version : [Battle.net play / multiplayer]Small Guide to The "Budget Meph Quest Blizz Sorc"
Hi all. I usually don't post in the char class forums, but I did a small search here, and I don't know how well this is known. If you want TC 78 (and down) unique/set/rares you may want to read on.
This is not in any way meant to be a guide I want to take credit for, because it really is merely a summary of parts of other guides, and I have forgotten where I first read them anyway (so if anyone know, let me know so I can add credits)
This guide is all about one single target (well, maybe three or four if you extend your games a little) - Hell Mephisto. Hell mephisto can drop items up to TC 78 (Balrog skin and the like) and he's mlvl 87, which gives him the ability to drop else uncommon stuff, like Arachnid Mesh, Azurewrath and circlets with +2 class skills. He can also drop any unique ring or amuet, and he has a habit of dropping facets.
Now, if you have run mephisto a while, either on battle.net or in single player, you should be real real tired of drops like 1 quiver of bolts, and 2-3 piles of less than 10k gold. Now, in single player, there's no way around that... but on glorious battle.net it is!
The feature 1st kill drop, AKA quest drop (not entirely correct, but since it's so common to mix them up, I'll just use the term quest drop) was introduced in patch 1.10. It was a change to what act bosses dropped when you killed them for completing the quest. If you kill an act boss when you are supposed to do that quest, the drop will have a minimum quality of rare, and no "junk" misc items (arrows, bolts, potions, gold, keys) will drop either. The only blue items that can possibly drop are "failed sets", which are items which have no set version (eg. a Tiara) and these will have 2x normal durability when they drop (if they can have durability). Besides that, the base chance for unique is a whopping 10% (meaning with 0% MF every 10th amu will be unique) and set is even higher.
As an example, the odds for finding a Rainbow Facet (any) from Hell Meph in a 1 player game, with 0% MF is 1:1211. On a quest drop, that chance is improved to 1:801 - Improvement of 33.9% in chance. That same improvement goes for all uniques.
As a second example, the odds for finding a Tal Rasha's Adjudication amulet from Hell Meph in that same 1 player game, with 0% MF is 1:11033. On a quest drop, that chance is improved to 1:7515.
But can't you only get the quest drop once? When you actually do the quest? Or can you kill meph in games where the quest hasn't been done, to "get the quest of that game" so that someone have to create NG to get act 3 done? - All wrong. Quest drops happen when:
"A character who does NOT already have completed the last quest in the act gets the killing blow on that acts act boss." However, it is irrelevant if the quest can be completed or not!! This is the only thing you'll find in bold in this post, and it's the only thing that matter. All you need to do is make a sorc, and FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR MAKER, DON'T FINISH QUEST 6 IN ACT 3: THE GUARDIAN!!!! If you do, that character will never again recieve a quest drop from meph.
Basically, all you need to do to improve your base MF is to only kill meph in games where the quest log says "You cannot complete...." and thus never go to act 4 or 5 in hell.
Not going to act 4 and 5 isn't that bad. You lose out on the best way of rushing (grush with leveling in hell Chaos Sanctuary) so you have to do it the old fashioned way. No biggie. You also lose out on the fat quest rewards in acts 4 and 5 hell. Hellforge rune (which could be a Hel for all you know), 2 skill points you don't really need, 10% resists you don't really need, Tal+Ral+Ort runes, the ultra lame naming thing, the socket quest (which is easier obtained by getting a rush to act5 normal with a mule) and the fat exp from the Ancients and Baalruns.
Well, getting down to the build itself. It doesn't have to be strong, since you of course use The moat trick (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=143676). [EDIT: Picture links in that guide seems to be broken] You have probably seen the build before:
Pure blizz sorc (even ditching static and cold armor)
20 ice bolt
20 ice blast
20 glacial spike
20 blizzard
1 frost nova
1 warmth
1 telekinesis
1 teleport
X* cold mastery (When you have -175 enemy cold (with facets) additional points here are wasted)
No energy.
No dex.
Str for War travelers (95) but subtract 2 for Shako and 20 for Torch, and you're at 73 base str. (53 if you have an expensive Anni)
Rest in vita.
Spare points can be used:
1 static field (for killing cold immunes in the Ancient tunnels 50%faster with merc)
1 Cold armor
more in warmth (for drinking less potions)
*cold mastery depends a LOT on gear, goal is to get -175 to enemy cold resist, no more, no less.
As for gear, my suggested (low budget gear) goes like this
74% Shako PTopaz (screw defense, get a cheap one)
65% Tal Rasha's Adjudication (I listed the 3piece set bonus here)
112% Tal Rasha's Guardianship PTopaz
15% Tal Rasha's Fine Spun Cloth
(irrelevant) The Oculus as main switch (buy a Death's Fathom when you get rich)
(irrelevant) Lidless Wall (5/-5 cold facet when you find one)
100%+Gull dagger (Get a 2ist ali baba when you feel you can afford it)
25%Rhyme shield (any) or some socketed shield with MF jewel(s). Keep it cheap
60%2x Nagel (you will find these, so no rush paying good for 2x 30% ones)
40%Chance Guards (start with low ones, replace as you find)
50%War Traveller (you don't need 50% to start with, get 30% for pgems)
------
40%Gheeds (you will find this too, no rush)
20/xx sorc torch - Get a cheap 10/xx torch ASAP, and then upgrade later. Keep 2x +5str Large Charms as replacement until you can afford a better torch.
(Anni - this is overkill, but having a xx/yy/z anni of course lessens the need for str another xx points, gets another point in cold mastery and makes killing a little faster)
4x cold skillers, pref with 7% faster run/walk <-- No rush getting these. They speed up your killing, and saves 4 points of cold mastery
Suggested gear makes for +15 cold skills (with no anni; 6k blizzard), 70%FCR for "almost-safe" teleporting, and 500-650% MF, 1200ish life and decent mana and resists in the zero-range. More MF is possible by sacrificing skills/life/mana/FCR/resists (get skullder+50%amu+goldwrap instead of tals, or get 7%mfscs instead of cold skillers) but with 500+ MF this gains only a tiny tiny bit of "actual MF towards uniques". And it's more expensive.
And as a final note: Should you screw up, and get credit for the meph quest (happened to me twice; I'm a retard) don't delete that char yet. You can still use the same trick on Baal (or Diablo). It just requires a good merc and that you don't get quest credit for killing Baal (or Diablo).
Other nice places to run:
Andariel (quest drops no matter what)
Summoner (keys keys keys)
Ancient Tunnels (lvl85 area, no natural cold immunes)
Well... Happy hunting. Gimme a little feedback and suggestions too, if you try this.
Do you mean I must have a friend create a game, who's already finished meph while I haven't, and let me do the killing blow on meph?
xniteman
12-10-2006, 08:29
Just join any random baal game and kill meph LOL.
melianor
12-10-2006, 08:45
To OP. Very nice find. The chances get quote a bit higher and making just an MFer with this for HELL Meph runs might be well worth it. The trick is known i guess, but not to so many around here.
Do you mean I must have a friend create a game, who's already finished meph while I haven't, and let me do the killing blow on meph?
It doesn't matter if its your friend or infact another char of yours who created the game. It just has to be a game created by a character that has already finished the quest and thats it.
xniteman
12-10-2006, 08:53
To OP. Very nice find. The chances get quote a bit higher and making just an MFer with this for HELL Meph runs might be well worth it. The trick is known i guess, but not to so many around here.
It doesn't matter if its your friend or infact another char of yours who created the game. It just has to be a game created by a character that has already finished the quest and thats it.
I remember reading somewhere that there is a bug and Andy's drops will always be treated as quest drops, whether you have finished that quest or not...
Is this bug fixed?
I remember reading somewhere that there is a bug and Andy's drops will always be treated as quest drops, whether you have finished that quest or not...
Is this bug fixed?
No, the bug still works. Read this (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=449699) for more details.
So to sum things up, you need:
- a game created by a character that has already finished the quest.
- kill the Council Member in Travincal, but don't smash the Compelling Orb
- then join with a char that did not yet finish the meph quest, and kill meph with this char
Because you joined the game created by a character that has already finished the quest and thats it, the quest log will tell you "you cannot complete this quest" so the char will always keep the last quest
Is this correct?
What happens if the character that has already finished the quest (the one who created the game) kills meph?
As long as you have killed the high council and talked to cain after doing it, the "barrier" that prevents you from taking a portal to the Durance of Hate is gone. As soon as you get to act3, just do it the normal rush way, kill council, get a portal to the last WP, exit game, find a baalrun (or some other game where the creator has already gone on to act4) and kill Meph there. Then repeat. I have currently leveled from 75 to 84.5 on meph alone, and have found a LOT of stuff. Best quality drop has been 2 times 5 uniques and 1 failed set item.
melianor
12-10-2006, 13:25
So now we all know what we will do on ladder restart :)
Make a pure MFing char that never goes past end of Act3. You can pull this off for a while in Nightmare and later in Hell.
I'm doing this right now because I still need craploads of uniques and sets.
melianor
12-10-2006, 13:44
I'm doing this right now because I still need craploads of uniques and sets.
I might do this once i get my char up to speed. Now where is my second set of D2 Cd Keys to install on my wife's comp :)
FrostBurn
12-10-2006, 13:53
A long time ago, I read about this in some other thread. The advice was for two people to co-operate, and one of them kills the boss to get the quest. The other person, who hasn't killed the boss, makes new games, but the boss-killer will always be the one who has already completed the boss quest.
A long time ago, I read about this in some other thread. The advice was for two people to co-operate, and one of them kills the boss to get the quest. The other person, who hasn't killed the boss, makes new games, but the boss-killer will always be the one who has already completed the boss quest.
Well, that doesn't work. Try it out, and you will still see worthless things like gold, bolts, blue amus/rings/breastplates...
...unless they were running Andariel, ofcourse....
EDIT: This can be done with great success in normal and NM baal as well, and maybe NM meph if you're a lone wolf, and want to gear up before NM baal. I really don't recommend doing the Baal quest on normal until at least lvl 45 (still decent exp, and you can still kill baal in some games for the quest drop to happen several times) and on NM until lvl 75 (for the same reasons).
The key is to never kill an act boss you want to run, if the quest can be completed in that game. Works on all act bosses.
FrostBurn
12-10-2006, 14:56
A long time ago, I read about this in some other thread. The advice was for two people to co-operate, and one of them kills the boss to get the quest. The other person, who hasn't killed the boss, makes new games, but the boss-killer will always be the one who has already completed the boss quest.
Sorry, I got that messed up (hadn't had my coffee yet when I typed it up).
When two people co-operate, the first person kills the boss for the first time. Then, the first person will always be the one to make new games. The second person, who hasn't killed the boss before, and can't get the boss quest since the games created by the first person won't allow the boss quest to be completed, will then be the boss-killer.
.
.
.
That should be right.
That is correct, Mr. FrostBurn
FrostBurn
12-10-2006, 15:55
Ooh, how formal!
Thank you, Mr. Helvete. :tongue:
Since I don;'t have 2 copies of D2, I'll just just public trading games. they almost invariably have alreayd killed meph.
Yeah. But NOT the obvious scammers. I killed meph in a game that read "I dupe HRs free" and didn't check the Q log....
Had to rebuild.
MageChick
12-10-2006, 18:42
Yeah, but isn't it annoying as hell when people join your "XYZ FT here" game and then MF on you. I'll MF in my own games thank you.
Join a "asdfasdfa" game to do that - or team up wih a friend. I've done this before, with my key runner - I run the keys, friend runs meph and andy. Leave the baal run games for the baal runners. Leave the trade games for the traders. Duel games for the duelers, etc.
I hate bad etiquette - even in open b.net pubbies.
Yeah, but isn't it annoying as hell when people join your "XYZ FT here" game and then MF on you. I'll MF in my own games thank you.
Join a "asdfasdfa" game to do that - or team up wih a friend. I've done this before, with my key runner - I run the keys, friend runs meph and andy. Leave the baal run games for the baal runners. Leave the trade games for the traders. Duel games for the duelers, etc.
I hate bad etiquette - even in open b.net pubbies.
Or you could just join baal runs to do meph. Sometimes people get pissed off when you don't join up & do baal w/ them, but that's just silly, more xp for them if you're not there. Doesn't stop them from yelling though.
I do agree it's not nice to mf a game w/ just 1 guy there waiting to trade something. Big trade/duel games are ok in my book though :)
Edit: Thanks to OP for the writeup, by the way. I was wondering why Andy drops seemed really good for me, compared to other bosses. I'm definitely going to build a char to run meph now, seems like that's going to be quite nice.
Noite Escura
12-10-2006, 20:10
Since I don;'t have 2 copies of D2, I'll just just public trading games. They almost invariably have alreayd killed meph.
There is another option, though a little slower. You can create a game with a char that has done the quest but go to MF another area. Let's say a Meteorb to run Pits/Catacombs/keys. Then, after you're done you bail out and join the same game with your Blizzer(as long as 5 minutes have passed the game will perm). Of course if you're only intent is to run Meph this doesn't apply...
Who gives a soj in if someone comes in your trade, kills meph, then leave in a minute? Spam bots and people with lame offers are much much worse, and you see them every public game.
And if a party of 7 ppl hang in town spamming "plz sum1 tele plzz, no I'm lvl95 sorc but I heav low defense armor plzzzz tele omg noob game" then they probably couldn't have baaled even WITH you holding their feeble hands.
When I baal, I actually would prefer to do it alone with my hammerdin, and have 7 ppl somewhere else in the game.
I'm not even going to bother with explaining the fine etiquette of joining a game that says "N 2ist O Gul" or "O ist N 9 pul" or "O pul need Mara+Soj" or something else no one would have ever traded seriously in anyway.
(Yeah, I make most my trades on these forums)
There is another option, though a little slower. You can create a game with a char that has done the quest but go to MF another area. Let's say a Meteorb to run Pits/Catacombs/keys. Then, after you're done you bail out and join the same game with your Blizzer(as long as 5 minutes have passed the game will perm). Of course if you're only intent is to run Meph this doesn't apply...
The best is to just search the list for "zomfgbaal-0025" and look when it was created. If it was just made, then erase that 5 and make it a 4 (so you're joining the game everyone has just left). That way, no one takes offense, but you run the risk of a already dead meph when you get there.
MageChick
12-10-2006, 21:19
People joing my trade games (for MFing purposes) really pisses me off. I don't just sit in the game waiting - I'll go run all the MF areas while waiting for someone to come trade. More often then not, when someone joins - I'll pop a tp and head for act 1. If I get to act 1 and you go run meph (or Nihil or whatever) I'm gonna be ticked off.
Now I can see doing your MF run in a big pubby baal game, but even then it's not alwasy appropriate. I host a lot of baal run games myself, but when someone else joins with a char higher than mine I expect them to help. When someone joins with their level 95 paly, and doesn't party, I assume they are teleing themselves. When they drop off 30 seconds later, I gotta think - WTF, go make your own game.
I'm just saying that we should try to follow proper maners - even when no on else does. I generally think our forum members are better than the average b.net'er
FrostBurn
12-10-2006, 21:23
I'm just saying that we should try to follow proper maners - even when no on else does.
I'm with you 2 bazillion percent.
I generally think our forum members are better than the average b.net'er
Generally, that is the case. But every now and again, some rabid pariah will go and crap on your flower bed.
People joing my trade games (for MFing purposes) really pisses me off. I don't just sit in the game waiting - I'll go run all the MF areas while waiting for someone to come trade. More often then not, when someone joins - I'll pop a tp and head for act 1. If I get to act 1 and you go run meph (or Nihil or whatever) I'm gonna be ticked off.
Couldn't agree more... but, if it's a big "Trades" game with 3-4 people in it already, imo that's another matter.
Now I can see doing your MF run in a big pubby baal game, but even then it's not alwasy appropriate. I host a lot of baal run games myself, but when someone else joins with a char higher than mine I expect them to help. When someone joins with their level 95 paly, and doesn't party, I assume they are teleing themselves. When they drop off 30 seconds later, I gotta think - WTF, go make your own game.
I dunno if I agree with that... unless you're going with a really weak group, you shouldn't need the extra person's help. Besides, usually in pub baal runs there's already someone that can crush all the minions in /p8 solo, the rest are just leeching...
I'm just saying that we should try to follow proper maners - even when no on else does.
I agree in general... but lately my tolerance for stupidity has been wearing thin... I don't like explaining to people 5 times that no, I'm not going to trade my shako for their +1 to druid skills +3 cold resist rare helm, even if they throw in that flawless topaz and 2 healing potions (yes, this is real). All after being pulled out of a mf run, going to a1, and watching my revives crumble. So even tho it's probably gm to go to a1 asap, I'll usually end up asking the person if they have what I'm looking for. I notice a lot of people don't like talking, at all... just leave. I figure those are the ones I probably should be filtering out, anyway.
I'd much rather have someone join, say "just mf'ing" (tho I still don't do that), and do their thing. People joining seems to bump up the game in the game list, doesn't it? At least in my experience, people tend to join in bunches.
KremBanan
13-10-2006, 00:41
With the concern of mf'ing or other stuff in public games like trade games etc. I try to follow a simple rule, behave towards other people the way you want them to behave towards you..
Well, I for one like baals better the more people in the game outside the throne. More exp for those in the throne, leeching or not.
Here I go, showing y'all how to MF properly, and you feel sorry for the b.netter with the "O Pul N SoJ" game? If someone is interested in your trade, at least they open with saying "hi". When I join games for MF, I sometimes get a "hi", and then I reply with "just mephi" and usually get no reply. If they start harassing me in any way, it takes me 2 secs to squelch them and press the N button.
Yoshimiko
19-10-2006, 18:49
Failed sets are items with like.. 200 out of 100 durability right..? I don't think I understand lol
FrostBurn
19-10-2006, 18:59
If the base item is an item that does not have a unique or set, then the roll will fail to produce it, and will result in a rare item with triple durability (in the case of a failed unique), or a magic item with double durability (in the case of a failed set).
The durability is based on the base item (i.e. the white item). For example, a monarch has 86 durability. If it rolls as a unique, you get Stormshield. If it rolls as a set monarch, it will fail into a magical monarch with double durability i.e. 172 durability.
Frankeinstein
19-10-2006, 20:06
So if I get this right, My lvl 89 assy can open any difficulty game, Still in it for the timer function. exit. take a char that has not completed the quest join game, kill Andy/meph get the drop & do again.
Or does the game creator have to stay in the game for the bug to work? I figure if the game stays active (timer does not run out) the other char should get the drop still w/o the creator in the game.
BTW, for those who do not know, you can open a game. sit in it a few minutes, can't remember how long..., exit it & return w/ another char (on Bnet of course). great way to transfer stuff from one mule to another. Of course you always run the risk of being dropped or unable to log back in. but just playing bnet is a risk...:fortuneteller:
MageChick
19-10-2006, 20:31
yep, you can make the game -> wait -> exit -> rejoin with new char. So long as the quest tab says that you cannot complete the quest in this game, you're good to go.
nevermind just after i posted that it made sense.:embarassed:
FrostBurn
22-10-2006, 02:07
1. Never, ever kill Meph to complete the quest. The quest being Q6 A3.
2. Join games made by other people who have completed Q6 A3.
3. Open your quest log and for Q6 A3, make sure it says 'You cannot complete this quest in this game'.
4. Killing Meph in these games where you cannot complete the quest will give you quest drops.
I'm hoping this will be simple enough to understand. If not, well... good luck.
humblegar
01-11-2006, 11:19
Cheap and alternative solution:
Buy a second copy of diablo+lod, intall it, there's a guide here somewhere.
You can now open a game with a character that has completed the quest, then join with your MF sorc. You practically have a mule in the game as well.
would a lightning sorc with infinity kill meph as fast as blizz?
I like the whole concept presented here.
Simple question: with base dex, what about blocking?
If the sorc is hit by a single monster while searching for the entrance of 3rd level or during the fight vs Meph (or in the worst case vs the council members...)
it can be instant death :lipsrsealed:
Glad i checked this thread out... hope ladder resets soon, i want to try this.
i thank you for the thread helvete. ive lurked these forums for awhile now and your posts are always helpful. i am in the process of building a sorcy to do this very thing. my poor meteorb stupidly went to act 5 hell.. but lookin back i see no reason to except to lvl up quick as she was my first char. live and learn
jsfjsf770
16-11-2006, 19:02
What about with the rushing glitch? If you Grush past mehpisto can you came back and still get the quest, or more importantly the quest drops?
just tried the build out on single player. although it kills meph pretty fast, i am having trouble with the councils that sometimes spawn with CI. how do you deal with them?
Really nice. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to use this on ladder reset. =)
melianor
23-06-2007, 19:29
Added to the Library and the Ladder Season 4 Build guide thread.
Spiky623
29-06-2007, 11:08
Does this still work because I'm getting a lotta magicals... And yes, I'm doing everything right. I got everything up to act 3 durace of hate II and im killing Meph in games where they already beat him. :undecided:
i've prob done meph around 100 times using this, and i'm getting a ton of exceptional/elite rares, exceptional greens and just regular uniques. I've only found a couple exceptional uniques and no elites.
i've switched back to my original character and drops have drastically improved
Did I mess up or did they fix this? So I did smash the orb thingy and went down to durance got WP but I havn't killed Meph. I'm joining games where quest has already been completed and the drops are pretty awful. I'm getting blues and rares. I'm rarely getting uniques but when I do they're crappy. Granted I only have ~100% MF but I'd expect a little better drops.
Heh, well if I didn't mess up before, I just did. I thought I just joined a Baal runs game. I misread "walkabout" for "walkbaal". Doh.
wait, so did they fix this bug or not?
There is no patch without a 1.12 patch so it works.
There is no patch without a 1.12 patch so it works.
they've done a few silent fixes for exploits recently so there can be fixes without a patch.
melianor
01-07-2007, 01:19
they've done a few silent fixes for exploits recently so there can be fixes without a patch.
Facts please to a thread/post/news message from blizzard moderator/official confirming this? thx.
If you mean reduced lag tolerance for anti-duping well it's not a fix it's a server side change.
no i'm talking about an exploit that allowed people to access act 5 in classic and get to uber tristram or something that they fixed w/o an announcement.
thepastalord
01-07-2007, 21:31
Yeah, he's right. The exploit that allowed you to use the frigid wp and other waypoints in order to access forgotton sands no longer works. Silent fix ftw.
ok that's good to know, BUT, did these silent fixes fix this meph quest bug thing?
Zaral Ironhide
02-07-2007, 09:39
No, the meph quest drop thing has not changed at all. In the past couple days I've found a ton of uniques - including elite. I've found 2 nosferatu coil's, nords truncheon, kira's, and more that I can't even remember.
Big thanks for the heads up on that by the way - I've been playing D2 since release and never new this could be done with Meph (and have noticed significantly better drops doing it this way). The only problem is finding games where someone has defeated meph and he isn't killed yet. Think I'm going to create a Poison/Summon necro to Chaos/WSK with and then bring my sorc in after to hit Andy/Meph.
-Zaral
so I just realized I have two LOD keys since I played a long time ago and just recently had to rebuy the game b/c couldn't find my d2 install disk, still have the LOD disk though
how do I use 2 keys to create games for my sorc, is it just a matter of installing again and running 2 versions of d2?
assuming this isn't seen as 'unlawful' by blizzard?
you can use two different users on windows xp and have an install for each. I found this to be very time consuming so I just installed diablo on an old laptop and have it next to my desktop computer to create games with.
I usually just team up with someone else doing runs (not these exact runs, ofc). If their run takes longer time than mine, then I just go kill the summoner too. If their run takes less time... well, chances are they'll get a temp ban pretty fast.
w00t I was certain this thread was forgotten long time ago :D
what do you think about using Spirit instead of Lidless? It's 61 more str (95 for WT vs 156 for Spirit), but I think it's worth it
i dont understand how the -175 enemy cold facets works i need to have -175 cold reisist?
mephisto has 75% cold resistance, to break him to -100 for max dmg, you need 175 -cold resist.
an idea to find games is to join the bot advertisment games (gg desc xxx) and kill the hammer, loot their gold, then mf the game.
people will get p'oed if u mf their baal games.
char a (finished quest)
char b (quest not finished)
what if i got char B to create a game then char A to kill meph, will i still get the quest drop bonus?
raakareiska
13-11-2007, 12:03
char a (finished quest)
char b (quest not finished)
what if i got char B to create a game then char A to kill meph, will i still get the quest drop bonus?
Yes, meph still drops quest bonus but your char b opened game so you would get it completed. No further bonus drop runs for eihter chars A or B.
Yes, meph still drops quest bonus but your char b opened game so you would get it completed. No further bonus drop runs for eihter chars A or B.
why would char b get quest completed? they were never partied.
Corrupted
21-02-2008, 22:40
char a (finished quest)
char b (quest not finished)
what if i got char B to create a game then char A to kill meph, will i still get the quest drop bonus?
You won't. The killer has to be a character that hasn't defeated Mephisto.
This definately still works. The easy way to check it is to check the durability on the magic (blue) items dropped. Any magic items dropped by Mephisto will have double durability. When utilizing this bug you'll see more magic items than rares compared to a normal runner. That is because you're getting more set items this way. But there are many base items that does not have a set version and thus they're converted to the magic variant with twice the durability. You WILL find much more uniques utilizing this quest drop bug.
Personally I prefer Spirit+Magefist, cutting 40% MF while giving me the 105 FCR needed for 8 frames per cast. If you're using Death's Fathom you can still do this by switching a Nagel to a 10 FCR/MF/Whatever-you-like ring.
I have 17 base pts in CM, have i screwed up?
I have 17 base pts in CM, have i screwed up?
You lost a stunning few hundred damage off blizzard. That's all. So no, you're fine :p
LouisLeGros
14-04-2008, 20:34
I thought I would have to scrap the sorc I was making, but this build will fit perfectly into what I have done so far. I've always been fond of blizzard as well.
I'm going to assume you can't go through the portal to act 4 unless you have finished the quest... because missing out on hellforge and baal runs doesn't sound too fun.
then you are completely missing the point of this build..
LouisLeGros
15-04-2008, 05:27
I understand the point of the build
I need a MFer & I already have a char that can do lvl 85 areas
My skill placement would make a Meteorb impossible, but it is almost exactly the same as this one.
Meph is one of my favorite targets for MF and I'm very familiar with the moat trick and I've always liked blizzard for this.
Quest drops would really help me out with all of my poorly geared characters (lvl 90 wearing Lore)
I tried this build but there are several problems I encountered.
First I want to say that I don't have access to all the recommended gear, so I had to alter it a bit:
Helm: +1 sorc skills, +12 res all or Peasants hat
Armor: Vipermagi (30 FCR, 30 Res All, +1 skills)
Weap: Razorswitch (30 FCR, 50 Res All, +1 skills, 175 Mana, 80 Life)
Gloves: Magefist (20 FCR, +1 fire skills, 25% mana regen)
Boots: Rare with 30 FRW, 25 Light res, 37 Fire res.
Belt: Upped Lenymo (30% mana regen, 5 res all)
+1 sorc magic ammy, and 2 x nagelrings.
I use the above gear to tele (without Insight merc) to meph and weaken him, when he's almost dead, I go to town and switch to crappy MF gear:
4 PTopaz armor, The Gull (100 MF), Rhyme, Goldwrap, 30mf Chancies, 3 PTopaz helm, and 37 MF rare boots.
The problem is that I cannot fight anyone except Mephisto. The Ghoul Lords are Cold Immune, the Dolls are fast and deadly, the merc dies very fast, and the Council.... well you know them very well.
My sorc is level 73, and I have lvl 8 Energy shield on switch (with Spirit and Eyless.) max Blizz, max Glacial Spike, and about 10 pts in Ice Blast and Ice bolt, 1 in Warmth.
With my tele gear I reach 80 FCR, so the teleing is okay... I'm still learning it.
I was thinking that with the Insight merc it would be better, however I prefer drinking potions.
My blizz is not fully synergyzed but does almost 3k damage, and my cold skill is at -105%. I'm happy with that, meph goes down in under one minute and with the Moat trick he can't touch me.
On one occasion my merc decided to be brave and attacked the Ghould lords and the Council guys joined the fight.... had to abort mission. I actually had a friend to keep a portal open until i came with the zon to clear the area.
I was rushed there and like all rushes you don't see the weaknesses of your build until the end of the rush. The sorc was fully twinked (i.e. all her gear was ready before the build).
I find my sorc very weak for anything else than mephisto slaying.
This being said, my advice is: Tele alone, no merc, no parties, and fight Mephisto one-on-one, don't engage with anyone else.
I wasn't able to moat Meph from the upper right side of the portal, so if the normal moating position is compromised... you could try to park the monsters. If you get killed (happens quite often to me), just save and exit, no point in trying to get your body.
In the time it takes you to go back to town, get on all that gear, and kill Mephi, I'd imagine you'll have lost whatever advantage you get in terms of mf vs number of successful runs per hour. Remember that any amount of mf over 250-300 has a greatly diminishing return.
And yeah, this build isn't flexible, and it isn't sturdy. It's not a go-anywhere, do-anything kind of build. It's supposed to get good drops quickly from specific boss targets, and for that it should be fine.
UPDATE on this method:
A friend gave me full Tal's (even though my build was made around weaker gear)
Now I have Tal orb + Spirit, and Gull + Rhyme on switch. (using IK gloves for STR :grin:)
I can get to Meph much safer, and without merc.
There is one thing though... the guide suggests 20 Blizz, 20 CM, and 20 in Synergies. I disagree with that, because Meph could die way too fast.
Currently I got maxed Blizz, Spike, and about 15 Blast, and 7 Bolt (before +skills). CM gives about 140 (with skills).. and Meph dies a bit too fast....:undecided:
Now at lvl 75 I don't need any more cold killing power, all normal monsters die in one blizz (4.6 k damage).
So.. where should i invest my next points? (i went ES btw, so should I put in TK?)
As far as the method itself... two words: It's goldy! I get uniques and/or sets everytime. It can get boring, but then I'll go run the Ancient tunnels, and maybe even countess (with good merc: bonehew, 2.8k def Stone, Tal's, defiance)
Thanks for creating this thread, now I can easily get "rich"
How does this work for single player/offline? I don't have a 2nd copy to play on/with, so is there any way of it working with a single character?
-=Slaye]2=-
07-07-2008, 22:30
How does this work for single player/offline? I don't have a 2nd copy to play on/with, so is there any way of it working with a single character?
It doesn't. However singleplayer has many advantages when it comes to meph running.
1. No temp bans.
2. Map is static.
3. Very fast runs.
4. No need to keep checking the quest log.
These four negate the fact that you can't do Meph quest drops over and over in singleplayer. Granted you'll be having loads of junk in between runs but the sheer number compared to bnet runs make this just, if not more worthwhile.
Fallen_62
15-07-2008, 08:11
So, even though I seem to be getting a lot of magic items, it still works in 1.12 and the new ladder season...? My first run using this I got a Duriel's Shell and that's pretty much it since then. I got griz armor too, but other than that nothing too spectacular. I have ~200-225% mf, is that enough, or do I need more yet?
melianor
15-07-2008, 13:46
The difference is that you will not get trash stuff when you run bugged Meph. All else is up to alot alot alot alot of runs!
Fallen_62
15-07-2008, 14:06
The difference is that you will not get trash stuff when you run bugged Meph. All else is up to alot alot alot alot of runs!
Oooooooh, ok. That I haven't got. Great, thanks for straightening me out ;)
hey all,
i think this is a very interesting bug and i am going to build a character to exploit it, but I am going to go meteor/fb and static/es/telek. reason? i can solo meph in and 8 person game without dying using close to what i'd be using in a full-blown mf build.
right now my meteorb sorc is wearing full tal's with spirit and no rings; merc has eth doom, shaftstop and eth delirium. you may think oh, well, it's dependent on my merc's gear then with the -cold dmg and all, but it's not. i don't even use orb anymore against meph. i don't even moat him anymore. i tele right in front of him, cast ~14k meteor, static the eff out of him, he usually hits merc at this point, then i spam with high dmg fireballs until the meteor hits then it's done son for meph. so instead of a meteorb build, i am going straight meteor/fireball, 1pt static then i will do es/telek for extra protection with the remaining skill pts left, but i'm guessing there won't be much after fireball/firebolt/meteor/fire mast, but oh well, you don't really need protectin.
my final gear will be:
ptopazed shako
tal's ammy
tal's armor, ptopazed,
15% tal's belt
wep dont matter-- occy or high chuta
shield - spirit
switch wep: dual ist ali baba
switch shield: x4 isted monarch
rings: x2 pnagels
boots: p war travs
gloves: p chancies
high gheeds
this ain't a dream build as i already have all this stuff. with this set up (say you get to lvl 70) you'll have 646 mf + whatever gheeds/charms you want.. easily giving you 675+ if you grab some decent charms, even putting you around 700 if you really wanted. alternatively you could do this with a pally, with slightly diff gear of course, and wind up with around 600 mf (my lvl 93 pally has around this and does all areas), but sorcs will kill meph much faster, even in an 8 person game. this is personally what i would recommend for a bugged meph runner.
if ppl are timid to try this before results, i'll be building one in the next week and i'll let you know how it goes
Tacothedeep
29-07-2008, 19:27
Wouldnt it be faster, if using the moat trick exclusively, to go with firewall and firemastery?
Assuming crappy gear, the dps for a stationary target is far superior with firewall, given blizzards weakness against single targets, plus the lack of synergies lets you dip into a strong frozen orb as well. Then the character isnt hopeless against single immunities in other areas of the game/council.
I don't think so, because meph has 75 fire resist in hell, and with cold mastery, you can get cold resist down to -100. I didn't do the math, but they're at least close. Mephisto is big, so blizzard hits multiple times per cast, as opposed to tiny skeletons.
I noticed several people talking about not smashing the compelling orb. I was wondering... what does this have to do with anything? You can still complete the quest if you join the wrong game, right?
sorry to bump, but does this still work? I've Been doing this as described and have been getting loot comparable to what i'd get with the quest finished; Blues and rares.
Did they fix it or is the bonus just not that great?
LongingForDeath
08-02-2009, 20:27
sorry to bump, but does this still work? I've Been doing this as described and have been getting loot comparable to what i'd get with the quest finished; Blues and rares.
Did they fix it or is the bonus just not that great?
It still works. Blues and rares are quite normal for a quest drop. The blues are actually failed set/unique items. If you've done the quest, you'd also get junk like potions, scrolls, bolts and arrows. With a quest drop you don't.
Does this feature work on bosses like Andariel as well?
Shanksie1337
09-09-2009, 17:10
yes, you can quest bug any act boss.
Make / Join a game where the quest has been completed / can't be completed and then kill the act boss with a char that hasn't completed the quest.
How do I know the quest bug is working? I've been running Hell Meph and he has dropped only rares and blues for me over 7 runs!
Shanksie1337
10-09-2009, 21:45
It's not really a question of knowing if it's working or not. Either it is quest bugged or it isn't. You are either killing an act boss in a game where the quest can't be completed on a char that needs the quest completing, or you're not.
That said, non quest bug will drop potions / scrolls etc whilst quest bugged drops won't from what i understand.
A quest bug doesn't guarentee x uniques or y set items, it just increases your chances somewhat.
For example, in a 1 person game with 0 mf, Tyraels Might chance to drop off Hell Baal:
1:271020 Baal ~ 1st kill - [H] The WorldStone Chamber - {mlvl 99}
1:409739 Baal - [H] The WorldStone Chamber - {mlvl 99}
So whilst quest bugging (which is guarenteeing you get 1st kill drop every kill) will increase your chances of nice items the odds are still going to be quite low. [tho yes, i could have probably chosen a less rare item to use as an example :p].
vBulletin® v3.8.4, Copyright ©2000-2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.