How to find best equipment at first?

[MoodIndigo]

I'm trying to maximize my MF for my sorc. I can teleport to Meph Runs in Hell and kill him easily. I'm level 88 right now. I've been running him quite often but haven't found anything good from him yet. I get uniques but crap ones. All I have is a 15% MF ring, 20% MF Gloves, Occy, and that's about it for MF gear. How can I work my way up to get higher MF gear? The best thing I found is the Occulus and that was in a 8 player Baal run. Anyone know how to maximize MF? Is Hell Meph my best bet because he's not dropping anything good :-/

[Rassler]

My usual Hell run consists of:
Andy
Countess
Meph
Shenk/Eldritch
Baal
Pindle

In order to MF with good chances you really need to get that MF higher. If you can Tele to Meph and kill him easy at the moment without any trouble, maybe try substituting some equips like boots/shield/ammy for pure MF. Most can be gambled or found in the various merchants through the acts, so it may pay off visiting them every game or so and see if you can find something to try out.

Some runewords might also be useful, for example, a Rhyme Shield:
Shael + Eth (very cheap to make)
20% Increased Chance of Blocking
40% Faster Block Rate
All Resistances +25 (nice to have)
Regenerate Mana 15%
Cannot Be Frozen (style points! yay!)
50% Extra Gold From Monsters
25% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items (just what you need)

While it doesn't offer any defensive bonuses, it does have some nice stats to go with it. Find a nice 2os Troll Nest and it'll work great.

Goldwrap/Chance Guards/Nagelrings are always the cream of the crop when MFing, and these are usually found in Norm/Nightmare, so maybe take a detour of your hell runs to visit NM Meph/Andy/Baal. You never know what you'll find!

The real trick to MFing is just to keep doing it. Join other people's games and MF if you want to try and increase your luck a bit more, but in the end that's all it really comes down to - luck!

[MoodIndigo]

Thanks for the info! I found Tal Rasha's mask today, that was a pretty good find. I think I'll try your idea with the Rhyme shield, since I have those runes. Also, does anyone know where I'm most likely to find a Shako?

[MoodIndigo]

OHHH and also, does having an MF merc help?

[dryzalizer]

Yes, MF on your merc is added to yours. Unless you are going entirely solo, you can usually trade for less-than-perfect nagelrings, chance guards, tarnhelm, etc. for just pgems. If you're on single player, MF him on /players 3 for more drops.

[KTang]

The merc has to get the last hit.

I'd offer more advice but i'm really sleepy, I'll come back in the morning.

KT

[Road Ratt]

3os helms can be shopped from larzuk and if you can find or shop a 4os armor fill them both with perfect topazs. It's a cheap way to get some good mf until you can find better gear.

Atma shows me that mephy is the best place in hell to find a shako with diablo and baal coming in right behind him.

[melianor]

Yes, MF on your merc is added to yours. Unless you are going entirely solo, you can usually trade for less-than-perfect nagelrings, chance guards, tarnhelm, etc. for just pgems. If you're on single player, MF him on /players 3 for more drops.

Like KTang said, that is not entirely true. In order for the MF of your merc to be counted towards your MF, the merc has to land the last blow on the boss! This can be tricky with Mephisto, since he usually likes o rip your merc apart, before he dies.