suggestions for imbueing [Archive] - Diablo 3 & Diablo 2 Forums

mephiztophelez

15-07-2008, 03:50

do a google search for: Gta's Guide To All That Is Items (http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=%22Gta%27s+Guide+To+All+That+Is+Items%22&btnG=Google+Search&meta=)

]Section 2.2 – Imbuing
________________________________________________

Basics:

For this section I will start by explaining what the basics of imbuing are, then I’ll get more technical and finally I’ll go over the oddities.

The first thing you should know is that you cannot complete the imbue quest until your character is level 8. You can acquire the hammer and give it to Charsi before level 8 but you will not be able to imbue.

Once you’ve given Charsi the hammer and are at least level 8, you will be allowed the option to imbue an item when you first talk to Charsi. The basic rules for imbue are rather basic:

1-Input item can be either Etheral, low quality (ie. Crude), high quality (ie – Superior) or normal quality.
2-Input item cannot be socketted, rare, magical or unique.
3-The output Item Level is four plus the character's current level (clvl+4)
Note: When magic_level is present, this portion may become irrelevent (covered below).
4-The only item attributes that are carried over to the output are; Etherealness, Quality Level, and the base item type.
5-Automods are reset but will spawn again like they normally would.
6-Staffmods respond differently than normal (covered below).
7-Items with a Magic Level of 1 or higher receive bonuses when imbuing (covered below).

Here is a quote to help understand some more technical calculation done during the process:

QUOTE
For those that are wondering about how to figure the alvl from the values of ilvl and qlvl, I will repost the formulas that Jarulf had listed out back in September.

Terms
alvl = affix level. For an item this is the level that is used to compare to the level and max level as found in the prefix and suffix tables. When referring to a prefix/suffix it is the value listed in the level column.
ilvl = internal level (also referred to sometimes as the item level). This value is set at the time of an items creation. For monster drops the ilvl=mlvl. (BTW ilvl matches up with the terminology of the 1.07/1.08 cubemain.txt---'itemlevel pct a')
mlvl = monster level.
clvl = character level.
qlvl = quality level. This value is found in the level column of armor.txt, weapons.txt and misc.txt. This is the value that is used to create the weapXX and armoXX treasure classes.
magic_lvl = magic level bonus on some items. Currently the only ones that have this are wands (normal and exceptional, but not the elite ones), staves, orbs (all with a value of 1) and circlets (circlet=3, Coronet=8, Tiara=13, Diadem=18).

When an item is generated that has affixes the alvl is calculated* from ilvl and qlvl as follows

If (ilvl>99) then {ilvl=99}
if (qlvl>ilvl) then {ilvl=qlvl} ;** see note below
if (magic_lvl>0) then {alvl=ilvl+magic_lvl}
else
{
if (ilvl<(99-qlvl/2))
then {alvl=ilvl-qlvl/2}
else {alvl=2*ilvl-99}
}
If (alvl>99) then {alvl=99}

*all calculations use integers so there are no fractions at any step.
** this new ilvl value is only used for the duration of this calculation. The ilvl value that is stored in the items data file will remain unchanged.

Some may wish to note that diadems will ALWAYS get an alvl of 99 regardless of their ilvl (good for rerolling rares with perfect skulls).

There are other peculiar results that can be found if you examine certain items and ilvl combinations.

Remember the computer program does not care what you want or think the game should be like, it only does what the code tells it to do.

-RuvanalHow Magic Levels change the imbue process:

Certain items have an additional property assigned to them called a Magic Level. This Magic level (mag_lvl) does two main things when imbuing is concerned:

1) Alters the way the game would normally choose the maximum affix level available for an item. Usually the Quality level or the Item Level of an item is used in an equation to determine what the maximum Affix Level an item can have. When mag_lvl is present, the equation is altered and the end result is always an item with a maximum affix level greater than what would normally be allowed without its presence. The new equation is: (the full equation will be quoted below)

alvl = max(qlvl, ilvl) + magic_lvl

alvl = Affix Level
qlvl = Quality Level
ilvl = Item level
Magic_lvl = Magic level

2) The frequency at which a specific affix is selected will also be altered in a way that benefits the person using the imbue quest. The frequency is typically lower for affixes that require a high affix level, but when a mag_lvl is present, the frequency is multiplied by the required affix level making it more likely than normal to spawn on an item.

Here is the list of items that have a mag_lvl as well as the mag_lvl itself:

Staves = Mag_lvl 1
Normal and Exceptional wands = Mag_lvl 1 (Elite wands were excluded, this seems to be a programming error)
Orbs = Mag_lvl 1
Circlets = Mag_lvl 3
Coronet = Mag_lvl 8
Tiara = Mag_lvl 13
Diadem = Mag_lvl 18

Here is a quote to help you further understand the mag_lvl properties:

QUOTE
The magic_lvl does two things.

One is that it changes the alvl calculation. It becomes just alvl = max(qlvl, ilvl) + magic_lvl. This is usually much higher than it would be without the magic_lvl. For example, circlets and avenger guards both have qlvl 24. However, circlets also have a magic_lvl of 3. Because of this, an ilvl 50 circlet would have alvl 53, while an ilvl 50 avenger guard would have only alvl 38. Saying you just add 3 is thus very inaccurate.

The other thing is that it changes the chance of affixes. Normally, each affix is weighted by its frequency. A frequency 2 affix is twice as likely as a frequency 1 affix. When there's a magic_lvl, however, it's instead weighted by its frequency times its alvl. So frequency 1 affix that requires alvl 50 (total weight 50) is five times as likely as a frequency 2 affix that requires alvl 5 (total weight 10). This means that high-alvl affixes are much more likely.

For references, circlets have magic_lvl 3, coronets 8, tiaras 13, and diadems 18.

However, in addition to this magic_lvl, circlets also have a much bigger affix pool than other helms. Almost all the good affixes (most +skills, resist all, life/mana steal, FCR, etc.) simply can't spawn on plain helms

And what of those Staffmods you mentioned?

Staffmods are also treated differently when imbuing items. Normally, a random number from 1 to 100 is generated and this number is used to determine how many skills can spawn on the item. Durring the imbue process, the outcome ilvl (clvl+4) is added to the random number making it more likely to spawn 2 or 3 skills on an item. If the outcome is equal or greater than 90, three skills will spawn; equal or greater than 70, two skills; greater than 30, one skill.

This means that a character of level 87+ will always spawn 3 staffmods.

After the amount of staffmods are selected, another ilvl related bonus is applied to help generate a better +skill result. Half of the item level will be added to another random number between 1 and 100. This time, if the outcome is equal or greater than 90, +3 to the skill will be the outcome. If the generated number is between 60 and 90 (or equal to 60), +2. If below 60, +1.

Refer to the staffmod section of this guide to see what sections of the calculations are being discussed here.

Here is another Adeyke quote to help with this section:

QUOTE
An infinite imbue mod would not be possible with only MPQ modifications. It would need code editing, so it'd be beyond my abilities.

There are special ilvl-based bonuses that apply only to imbues. From Hammerman's post in this LL thread:

QUOTE
First, the game chooses how many skills to add. It will do rnd[100], and add to it the ilvl of the item IF it is being imbued. Then, if higher than 90, 3 skills will be chosen. If higher than 70, 2 skills. If higher tan 30, 1.

(Emphasis mine).

This means that imbues will have a higher chance of getting a high number of staffmods. If it's an imbue and the ilvl is 91 or more, it'll always have 3.

QUOTE
And finally, the total skill bonus is chosen. It will do rnd[100], and add to that ilvl / 2 if from imbue.

If 90 or above, +3
Between 60 and 90: +2
Lower than 60: +1

(Emphasis mine).

This means that imbues will have a higher chance of getting a high bonus for the staffmods. For non-imbues, you just have a 10% chance of getting +3. For imbues, you add half the ilvl (integer division, I assume, so it rounds down) to your roll. If you add 10 to the roll, your chance of +3 increases by 10%. If you add floor(ilvl/2) to the roll, your chance of +3 increases by floor(ilvl/2)%. That's how I got the (10 + floor(ilvl/2))%.
Malloy: Emphasis removed
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/in...ffmod&st=15

A few popular items to imbue are:

-Diadems (level 8 characters can get any affix)
-eth spears (Low Level duelers try to get the self repair mod on req lvl 9 spears)
-Gloves (although crafting is often the better choice)
-Item with staffmods (for obvious reasons)

Affix Calculator:
http://www.diabloii.nu/affixcalc/