MFing.. my bad luck or..

[Sonic Whitesand]

..or, well, ignorance..!?

Hi all! My first post.. and it's going to be a solid one. :P
Anyway.. I got a Blizz soso finished (with a lot of help from fellow colegues), and it looks something like this..

Shako (sox w/ PTopaz)
Occulus
Tal Armor (sox w/ PTopaz)
Moser's (sox w/2 PDiamonds) <-- damn, i love him ^^
Chance Guards
War Travelers
Raven & Nagel (+30% mf)
Tal Amulet
Gheed's (a good one)
+ MF charms here and there..

Whitch brings me to 463% (+-) MF.. and the problem is..

I get no good drops whatsoever!!! I'm slowly getting frustrated here..
I can't say that I've done, like, 123k runs.. I've done much much less..
I understand that it's not much, but a friend of mine has done a bit more (couple of days worth), and he already put together an Enigma, CtA, Chaos, Fury, a full PvP assa (which is damn expencive), had found couple of arach's, a Mara (27, btw)..
I couldn't believe it, I thought someone gave those items to him.. damn.. And yeah!!! He also managed to get a Vex drop in Blood Moore a few days ago!!!
I congratulate him for that. I really do..

Now, the point of this post..
I understand that a blizz soso is supposed to run Andy and Meph. And also, Ancient Tunnels, Crypt, Mousoleum.
Now.. How exactly do you, nice people, run those places (excluding Meph and Andy)..!? Do you just go for the gold chest? Do you kill only random uniques? Do you wipe the whole place? Do you open every chest, grave, etc.? Do you kill monsters in Lost City on your way to the Tunnels?
I ask because it seems to me that cleaning the whole place up takes to much time, and not cleaning it means that you may miss some good drops..

Sorry for the long post.
Please reply.. I'm getting desperate here..

Thanks, in advance.

Oh, and another thing.. Can monsters at those places (Mausoleum, Tunnels..) drop decent runes..!? And, has anyone gotten them from there..!?

[sirpoopsalot]

mostly kill unique-packs in the level85 areas - they have a significantly better chance to drop good stuff compared to normal monsters, so MF is mostly a balance of maintaining: patience, kill-speed, safety, MF, and choosing a good target. All monsters in those places do have a slight chance to drop high runes, but the odds are something like 0.000001% for runes ~Ist and higher.


BTW, how long has your friend been playing? I've been playing for over 3 years and I'd be ~50% of the way to making Enigma if I'd saved EVERY rune I ever found (fyi, the reason Enigma's semi-common on BNet is because people dupe or hack the runes - I don't, so no Enigma for me).

My guess is that if he hasn't been playing very long, he's using a modified D2 application (or items/characters/dupes)... that luck is far beyond believable for "a couple of days worth" if he's claiming to have found it all on his own.

[AnimeCraze]

You can always trade. (which probably gets you duped runes, but at least you didn't make them) Knowing how to trade and for the right things can get you rich fast.

[Sonic Whitesand]

Thanks for the replies.. and now for the defendant to rise.. :tongue:

We've both been playing on BNet for maybe 4 months.. And he's been playing Diablo since Diablo 1 came out (we were 3rd grade I think, back then ^^) and he's way too honorable when it comes to playing this game. I know for a fact that he's NOT using any programs that would allow him to dupe/hack/etc. + I know the guy for like 11 years now.. he'd never do such a thing.. believe me.
And, another thing is.. When we started playing on BNet we had a couple of friends that we already personally knew.. so we were given a decent start.. Something that, when starting from scrach, would take a long long time to get. So that saved us a lot of time..

I was a witness of 60% "high" drops that he got.. so.. yeah.. *sigh* .. he's not using anything..

You can always trade. (which probably gets you duped runes, but at least you didn't make them) Knowing how to trade and for the right things can get you rich fast.

And, yes.. He trades all the time. He once got a Um, Pul, Shako and a SoJ for an Ist.. LOL.. he was aware that it was a dupe (probably, or the guy who gave him that is a rtrd), but he traded that SoJ for a hr in next 10mins.. so.. It doesn't really concern him.. I know I wouldn't give a damn.. especially in that case..
And yes.. I watched him get a Vex drop in Blood Moore.. I thought I was going to start crying.. :tongue: And, why is it beyong belief..!? I got a SoJ in Dark Wood from a unique with no more that 100%mf with my amma..
And, that's about as far as I go with luck..

Anyway..
Could you recomend places other than mentioned here for a blizz soso!?

thnx

[Aien]

Hey there. What your description looks like to me is that your friend just had an incredible run of good luck. Like Poops said, alot of MFing is patience and repetition. I've done a fair bit of MFing in my time, and it just takes patience. I can go through Meph 100 times and get practically nothing, then have a nice string the next 20 runs. It's just luck.

Regarding where to hunt, you're off to a good start. When I do Ancient Tunnels, I don't find it worthwile to kill anything on the way to the tunnels. I usually do clear the entire place, but that's just because I don't have the layouts down well enough to be able to go right to the superuniques. If I did, I'd probably just kill those. A pure blizz sorc is limited of course by the numerous cold immunes in hell, so targets aren't as varied, but if you wanted to expand slowly, you could add key runs and Pindleskin. You'll have no problem with the Summoner. For the Countess, you'll have to let your merc do some of the work. If you want to run Nihlathak, I'd put him last -- you can get to him in less than a minute, and if he's cold-immune, I'd recommend just exiting the game and starting a new one. It's all about time and efficiency. Key runs won't get you as many direct rewards like uniques as Meph will, but you get trade fodder in the form of keys which again... if you become more efficient at... saves you net time.

Just a final note about kill speed and efficiency -- that's really the bottom line. Simplified example, but if you can down Meph in 60 seconds and it takes you 5 minutes for Andariel, it's worth it to just kill Meph 5 times and leave Andariel out. Over time you'll find what you can kill fastest, and of course what you take more enjoyment out of hunting. Good luck, and some others may have other recommendations.

[Sonic Whitesand]

Aien, thnx A LOT!!! This really helped me out much.. Especially when you sead "go through Meph a 100 times and get nothing.. " .. I think I was just impatient, and thought that I'm gonna get a shako every 10th time from Meph..
I never really realised that one has to do many, MANY runs before something really wicked pops up..
Thanks again.. all of you..

[Doppel]

From experience i can tell you that there is no right or wrong way when mfing, that may seem very weird but i had better luck just killing random monsters then doing mephi for hours on end.
That doesn't mean that nothing matters because the more you know and understand about the game the more you can squeez out of it.
A number of things that your friend might have been using (nothing illigal) apart from just having good luck and being an exelent trader:
-hellforge runs, alone its practically impossible, but with a good coordinized group of people you can really have a good income of runes wich you can trade on or make runewords out.
-key running, very steady income, but not extremely profitable unless you have some good runedrops at countess.
-killing questbosses with a character wich hasen't completed quest yet in a game made by someone wich did. Great for having an optimal chance at dropping sets/uniques.
-Torch farming, maybe one of the most steady incomes in the game, prerequisites is a good and fast Uber killer, just trade for keys or organs and kill Ubers in Uber Tristram, best to let the Torches unidentified for the steadliest income (think you have about 50% profit of your investment in keys/organs), if more rich you can identify them in search of those almost perfect pala/soso torches wich make you instant rich.
-anni hunting, you do that by hunting games with a high propability of spawning Diablo clone, not recommended for the not that great players because there will be many people fighting for that anni (unless you hunt in well prepared and synchronised parties with clear understandment amongst eachother)
-Gold farming, one of the less steady incomes. Done by building a goldfinding character (barb is a good choice) and either do nightmare or hell travinsal (merc has to kill counsil cause you will be too weak from all that goldfind equipment you are wearing), in search of gold to gamble with, a lot. With luck or determination you might gamble a godly lld/mld/hld/godly rare item (mainly circlets and amulets) wich can again make you instant rich when traded with the right person.
-last option is just playing the game and once in a while enter highlevel areas like the ancient tunnels where the potential of absolutely every item imaginable in the game can drop.

[Sonic Whitesand]

Woow.. niiiice info, dude.. :grin:

And yeah, I've been thinking alot about making a smiter for ubers/torch farming. Pretty cheap if anything.. My friend (the lucky one) and me have been discuising this for some time now.. But, I'm a bit sceptical about finding people that will give me an Ist for an unidentified torch.. I'm afraid that I'll be stuck w/ a lot of torches, and no buyers, u know..
Key running, I like.. No question about it.. even w/ this blizz soso..

Other runs.. I don't have means do do them, so.. :sad2:

thnx again..

PS Can I post pala equipement that I'm going to use for torch farming here.. or..!?

[Gawayne]

Hey everyone. Well i can say that i got the same problem as Sonic. I'm playing with a Meteorb Sorc, so i can run almost everywhere, wich is good but the best thing i found was a Raven, a Hel and that's about it.

My runs usually go:
Pindle
Shenk//Eldritch
Meph
Andy
Mausoleum
Countess
Pits

Pindle is easy after you learn how to do it well, so is Shenk and Eldritch. Andy and Meph runs take a while for me, don't get me wrong it's plain easy to kill them but takes some time to FIND them. Without MH finding the stairs going down isn't that easy. Mausoleum and Pits i have no questions about it and Countess the best drops i got was one Key and a Thul Rune in about 100 runs.

Now i have some questions:
1)The Meph Bug consists in creating a game with a character that didn't done Mephs quest and kill him with a char that did or creating with someone who did and kill with someone who didn't? I'm currently doing the first option, my Amazon is just in the beggining of the first Act, not even Andy is done by her. I know that the game is understanding that the quest isn't done since when i arrive with my Sorc that bone bridge don't rise from the pool of blood, but Meph just keeps dropping Scrolls and Gems...

2) How do i do Forge runs? I mean, what's the use of that after you've done the quest? Or there' a bug i'm not aware of? BTW my Hell Forge dropped me a Hel Rune, w00t. =/

3) Wich is the best rune the Countess can drop? Because i need some Runes for trading and i'm tired of getting Tirs, Nefs and Iths from her. Is there any better Rune Farming place? Is it worth it doing "NM rush for Forge" as a mean of Farming nice Runes?

BTW my running set is:
Shako PTopzed
Skullder's Ptopazed
Chance Guards MF 38%
Goldwrap
Occulus
Spirit
2 Nagels with 28%
Travs 47% MF
+2 Sorc Skills Ammy (Cause my runs don't get me enough drops to get a Tal Ammy, lol)

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Sonic Whitesand]

hi..
Forge runs consist of doing the HellForge quest. Well, doing it many times.. I'll explain..
When doing hf runs you need a team.. You also need one guy in the team who creates a new character for every new hf run the team does.. The guy creates a chara, the team rushes him all the way to the hf on hell, and he slams the Meph soulstone. Done! The chara is after then, in most cases, deleted making room for a new one. And, as some of you here say, "rinse and repeat".. :grin:
I rarely hear of these runs, but I guess with a gozu team, it can be pretty effective..
The Countess drops.. Highest rune..!? I don't know.. But, I know that she can drop an Ist for sure.. I guess it goes even higher.. And in my opinion there is no better place for farming runes.. Although, she can't drop a Zod, which most monsters in hell can, she is obliged to drop runes. Hence, the better chance it will be a good one (still a low chance).. But, better anyway..

As for the Meph Bug, I admit, I only heard of it couple of days ago and didn't find it interesting enough to research.. But, there's probably a "guide" on how to make it work around here.. And how it works..

I would just like to take a moment to thank Aien for expanding my horizons with key runs and Doppel for farming tips.. I'm about to make an Ist. :grin: (5 hours work!!!)

Thanks guys..

[Doppel]

Countess can drop an ist from the runedrop she has, but she also can drop a Lo as one of her regular drops, gl letting her drop that though.

Hellforge is like Sonic explained, not really viable without a very good team, but it is the best way of getting legit high runes without a doubt.

The questbug is, if i'm right, done by creating the game with a character who finished the quest and kill with a character who didn't.

[DH Amazon]

One way is to clear nmare dia and baal areas as fast as possible killing all.
Found ist near dia and ist in throne (this ladder), I prev ladder sur dropped lvl2(nmare) while doing baalrun and one jah from pits(hell).

For nmare runs, better make pure lightning sorc that stays in nmare, so she can see those game names. She can clear full games there just nicely.
Just join nmare cow games, if you want to kill baal too without Q.
After lvl82 its low leveling, but some exp anyway. And lvl80 sorc can clear nmare games fast.

Nmare monster have high lightning resistance, so crescent moon is very good there. Just use rogue merc to kill those 1-5 lightning immunes. With crescent moon, spirit shield is needed, so just put even 156 hard points to str, to use it as early as possible. Sorc dont need +str items, better use +mana items in vital slots. 1200 mana with base energy is better than 200 more life, for PVM anyway.

2x sur so far in this ladder, one in pits (hell) and one outside town act4 (hell).

All drops from normal monsters, while killing very fast. Only mf source shako or something like that.