Meteor and LAG, issue or non-issue?

[Belboz]

Hey all,

I was doing some Tomb runs to help level my character, when at least one person started telling me not to use Meteor.

I've stopped using it for a while, but I'd really like to know before I level my character any further, is this really a big issue?

How often am I going to have complaints about Meteor on BNet?

I'm on a 10Mbps connection, so I don't feel much lag on my end, but of course I have no idea of the capabilities of others.



So, should I continue to level Meteor or focus on something else?

Right now it's only base level 2, I'm level 26, and I have 2 points to distribute.

I've got some fairly significant investment in the fire tree though, about 8 points to Fireball primarily, and maybe 7 or so to Warmth, everything else in Fire and all other trees is 1 point or 0.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Dan

[LongingForDeath]

No, it's not a big issue, especially not in tomb runs. It might become an issue in Baal runs if there's several people spamming Meteor. That might cause an interrupted connection. Mostly this is caused by the use of more than one torch in the game, though, but people love to overlook this fact and blame the sorcs instead. Or a Necro if he dares to summon a Skeleton...

You will most likely hear a lot of complaints on BNet if you use Meteor.

In the end it's up to your better judgement. Is it unnecessary to throw a Meteor? If so, because you can shoot some fireballs instead or there's someone else already using Meteor, you don't have to use it. If not, keep using it. If people start complaining, either ignore them or play in your own games.

That's my suggestion, anyway. Personally, I'm rarely in public games. Only trist runs, tomb runs and baal runs to level up. I've never used Meteor in Tristram or the Tombs, since I'm always a melee sorc at that point. Baal runs are usually run by higher level characters, where I don't have to do anything but leech experience. Once my level is high enough, I play either alone or with friends, who don't mind me using my builds main skill. Definitely don't change your build, though, just because a lot of people on BNet don't have a brain.

[guface]

I think (think anyway) that its the server that has a rough time processing and sending all the information to multiple players with too much action on the screen. This only really happens when there is a LOT of action on the screen - multiple meteors, skellies, hellfire attacks, etc. In the tombs, meteors dont really get much action.

Incidentally, why are you in the tombs after level 24? You should be on a diablorun, and then heading to baalruns on level 25.

[LongingForDeath]

Incidentally, why are you in the tombs after level 24? You should be on a diablorun, and then heading to baalruns on level 25.

Actually, at level 24 he should do Ancients to get to level 25, so he can start Baal runs ;).

[guface]

Actually, at level 24 he should do Ancients to get to level 25, so he can start Baal runs ;).

tombs - 23
ancients - 24
diablo - 25
baal - 25+

tombs is the slowest of the levelling up areas imo, best to bypass it asap.

[melianor]

I would only look out to see if there are other sorceresses using this skill in Baal-runs. Also mostly people will tell you if they have a problem due to Meteor or Firewall. Mostly i have never had a problem and if so i was pointed to it nicely and i just skipped using it at the runs with those people and simply spammed Fireball or other adequate skills.

[Kalkanor]

tombs - 23
ancients - 24
diablo - 25
baal - 25+

tombs is the slowest of the levelling up areas imo, best to bypass it asap.

hhmmm i do
trist-15
tomb-20
cow-25
ancients-26
baal-30-40ish

nd i find tombs one of the fastest (if u hav some1 runnin u :P )

neway dats ot i dont normaly find meteor cases lags unless like 3-4 sorc spamming it at same time u can just squelch the guys dat complain :L

[Galabab]

DONT USE METEOR.
I hate those sorcs who use it in Baal runs.
Even one sorc using meteor can couse the game to crash for all. I have experienced it many times. Its plain annoying.

BIG ISSUE!

[LongingForDeath]

DONT USE METEOR.
I hate those sorcs who use it in Baal runs.
Even one sorc using meteor can couse the game to crash for all. I have experienced it many times. Its plain annoying.

BIG ISSUE!

That's weird. I spam meteor all the time when I do Baal runs with a couple of friends and the game never crashes. Now get 2 people with torches in, which cast Firestorm, and you have an almost definite game crash.

Unless you have several people cast meteor, the game won't crash because of it. Ever wondered why there are no game chrashes when people play solo with their sorc? At least no Meteor-related crashes.

[Inda]

Most of the lag cuased by meteor in a baal run is client-side due to older methods used in generating the fire animation. This can (a lot of times) cause issues on player PCs ... particularly if those people are running D2 in a VM. Most people won't experience this if they run solo games or even in general game play as they rarely drop 20+ meteor's in the same spot ... and stick around to watch them.

(This effect is really noticable in Baal runs as you generally have 5-8 additional people, their mercs, all the monster sprites, etc. running around inside of a very small space that needs constant updating.)

As to whether or not you should continue to build her out ... I say, "Heck yes!". They're fun to play, make great (and fast) MF characters, and they are really strong no matter what equipment you have. If you Baal her and someone complains, take each request with a grain of salt. Frankly, I think most people complain about meteor due to the old 1.09 (or is it 1.10) update notice saying they reduced the exp ..

Just my $.02.

~I

[Akimbo]

DONT USE METEOR.
I hate those sorcs who use it in Baal runs.
Even one sorc using meteor can couse the game to crash for all. I have experienced it many times. Its plain annoying.

BIG ISSUE!

Sorry but this is just utter rubbish. If there were 8x meteor sorc perhaps, but one or two? no. I've never experienced lag or game crashes through meteor use. I think a lot of people have no idea what they're talking about, and confuse an fps drop with lag, thereby making a false assumption that the game is lagging because they're pc isn't processing the effects efficiently, which is an issue based on the D2 engine. They then continue to parrot a false assumption, thinking it's fact to all their young impressionable friends who have little better to do in games other than spam "Zomg meteor is lag stop111!!1pme!"

short answer: Ignore them and spam away.

[TempestKhan]

Go ahead use meteor an yes Torch does ****s up the game...srly.. not!! skellies an metoer they dont cause the Crash....... some people just dont wanna admit it.....