1.09 Roll Call - Goals, Progress, Finds

[TheNix]

After the successful recovery of some of my 1.09 stashes, the Blender is back on my to do list. My best 1.09 moment was a Wirtadin Patriarch. Once upon a time I was about three or four uniques away from a successful Grail. Oh well!

[ioupainmax]

2) bugged Durance Runs, although they can be fun at times, are remarkably tedious.

Oooh what are these please??

My 1.09 Flavie Report

[RobbyD]

General observations:

I wanted the challenge. I could have edited everything in or patched to current and played bnet if my only goal was to blow everything up. I knew that wouldn't have been rewarding. So, I chose SP.

Untwinked, the game is/was broken. Now I know why I immediately went to Bnet back in the day. Without player help, the game is good for about 2 days. Diablo is unkillable. 1hits my merc and then I don't do enough damage to matter. Swap in FR gear and then I really don't do enough damage. I could kite him for 30 minutes I suppose, but 15 resses of my Merc is not enough. Thats all the stash will allow me to have in gold.

Meph was no picnic either, had to get him hung up on a corner and then put 700 arrows in him. Not exaggerating, 2 full stacks. I have no interest in running him 100 times hoping for Arctic Set pieces lol. I have killed every single mob in the game thru Act 4, and my best drop is Isenhart's chest. It is the only set item I have seen. Hellforge was all topazes. I'm using a 3 soc short bow with pEmerald, Nef, and an empty spot waiting for enough gem shrines to up my skull to perfect. At this point, I would give my left nut for a low manald. Never thought I'd ever say that, but mana leech is a big problem. I have none. I have seen a few vendor bows 'of the bat', but the stats were terrible.

I really like the game. I don't have high expectations for something this old. I just wish I could play a bit longer before being stuck. I know someone will say to roll an MF Sorc to get stuff first, NM Meph, etc etc, but with everything I have so far she would be 28 also and at about 100mf probably all from ptopaz and the boots/gloves I saw that were 11. Then, 3 months from now I could probably play my zon.

There must be something I am missing, I can't wait to hear what it is and then feel stupid.

Suggestions? All are welcome.

Wow, I had my struggles on my first untwinked character, but nothing like what you are describing. Global drop rates in 1.09 for good items are lower, yes, but far from broken. The trouble with a bowazon is that 1.09 has crap for bow runewords, so you need a decent bow. Normal unique bows also all bite, but most of the exceptional ones are good.

So... advice for an untwinked MFer, huh? No, not a Sorc, at least not from me. My first character, a Frenzy Barb, turned out to be a Mephy running machine that did the vast majority of outfitting my other characters. A Barb is a good choice for several reason:

1. Horking
2. Natural resists can provide the resists typically coming from armor, so you can wear a 4pTopaz armor.
3. Bosses leech in 1.09, so a Barb can just tank until they are dead.
4. BO makes the merc a lot more durable
5. You can Frenzy up with big weapons, then switch to dual Ali Babas for an incredible bump in MF
6. Flux has a great MF Barb write-up (though I like Frenzy over WW due to the fact that you can switch to a frenzied kill strike).
7. The Masteries bug make a Barb overpowered - a single point in a mastery gives the barb 100% critical strike in 1.09.

Now, for your Zon - I'd say to get to NM Countess and start running her - much easier to kill than the bosses and she drops better than any other SU in NM - her drops are bugged to include up to TC66 - my barb got his pair of LoH from NM Countess. You could probably farm a nice bow from her, and you can definitely farm the runes for Honor for your merc's weapon (and probably a nice base from the racks in her tower). I also recommend a hybrid - my BuriZon has trouble with PI/FI/CE bosses - I would suggest an investment in Charged Strike or Lightning Fury for that reason. So if it's not too late for your Zon, try an investment into a Jav lightning skill.

You're also way too deep for a level 28 character - are you playing on P8? My Zon did not even try to take on Duriel until level 24 so she could have the Decoy. I'd suggest going back to an area you can handle, and leveling your Zon. I'd also point out that the poison bug can be exploited in bows - find one with as many sockets as drop so far, and pack it with nothing but pEmeralds - that should work awesome with Multi-Shot (in 1.09, all the arrows carry the attributes from your bow and gear).

@Steven Q Urkel - yes, please elaborate on bugged Durance runs.

@TheNix - Keep in mind that you have to keep her overleveled to keep the Blender magic alive - that means you can't rely on it for questing through Hell as the XP balance makes that unfeasible - sure is fun through NM though.

[NakedAssassin]

I see your point, leveling up was the suggestion today in the office as well. While I don't agree that it should be necessary, it will probably work. I was going off of this:

http://newd2event.net/index.php?id=info/area_levels

which I found to be true as far as experience goes. Given the rate that I can kill things, I don't agree that I am too deep for a level 28 character. Granted, on Act bosses I have been 'creative', on the rest of the yard trash we sail along. My fear is that I pack on a few levels (4 more?) to kill Diablo, and then I don't get that much exp from Act 5 because of it. We'll see. I have been playing p3 up until Diablo, where I have been trying p1.

Also, I think that at 30 I will have enough unspent skill points to get to Valk. That should help. The only points I have spent are to max GA and 3 total in Multi.

My bow is already pEmerald/Nef. I was thinking perf skull for the last spot, but maybe another emerald is next. I hopefully won't have this bow long anyway. What makes it fun about playing untwinked is that all of the gear has value again. I would kill for an Arctic Bow right now or even Kuko, things I wouldn't pick up before.

My plan is to farm NM countess until I can move on, it is getting there that has proven interesting. I'd also like to run norm cows for the hell of it. I think I will kill Andy once before my NM countess runs, just so I can have the NM Act 2 merc while I run.

I'll keep you updated, thanks for the suggestions! Please confirm that the NM Countess T66 bug is 1.09d and not just 1.09b or something. I am playing in 1.09d I believe.

Good luck with your Vex.

[RobbyD]

I see your point, leveling up was the suggestion today in the office as well. While I don't agree that it should be necessary, it will probably work. I was going off of this:

http://newd2event.net/index.php?id=info/area_levels

which I found to be true as far as experience goes. Given the rate that I can kill things, I don't agree that I am too deep for a level 28 character. Granted, on Act bosses I have been 'creative', on the rest of the yard trash we sail along. My fear is that I pack on a few levels (4 more?) to kill Diablo, and then I don't get that much exp from Act 5 because of it. We'll see. I have been playing p3 up until Diablo, where I have been trying p1.

Also, I think that at 30 I will have enough unspent skill points to get to Valk. That should help. The only points I have spent are to max GA and 3 total in Multi.

My bow is already pEmerald/Nef. I was thinking perf skull for the last spot, but maybe another emerald is next. I hopefully won't have this bow long anyway. What makes it fun about playing untwinked is that all of the gear has value again. I would kill for an Arctic Bow right now or even Kuko, things I wouldn't pick up before.

My plan is to farm NM countess until I can move on, it is getting there that has proven interesting. I'd also like to run norm cows for the hell of it. I think I will kill Andy once before my NM countess runs, just so I can have the NM Act 2 merc while I run.

I'll keep you updated, thanks for the suggestions! Please confirm that the NM Countess T66 bug is 1.09d and not just 1.09b or something. I am playing in 1.09d I believe.

Good luck with your Vex.

All the fun bugs are the same for 1.09b and 1.09d - the only difference are the broken CtC for 1.09d and the P64 max on 1.09b.

Here's the deal - NM Countess is level 44 but can drop from up to TC66. As such she can drop LoH since it has a very low Qlvl on a high TC (elite) base. However, Uniques carry Qlvls consistent with the items level, so, for Bows, she can only drop Skystrike (which is nice), Riphook, Kuko, and Endlesshail. But any of those will drastically improve her viability. A Langer Briser (which she can drop) isn't bad in it's own right - KB, LD, and MF to boot! She can also drop Rockstopper for your merc. But most importantly, she can drop the runes and base items for you to craft some knockback gloves.

The racks in her tower are a great source for RW bases (and the occasional unique) - a 5os exceptional spear or polearm for your merc will make an incredible Honor stick. Countess can obviously provide the runes for Honor.

I wouldn't worry about changing the plan for the last socket for your current bow - the 1.09 poison bug doesn't start shining until you get 3 or more sources. It stacks the poison/second but ADDS the duration, so just keep your eye out for something with 4 or more sockets and plan on emeralds in that.

[mouseman]

After seriously thinking about it, I decided to start playing 1.09 (1.09b to be exact, maybe switching for 1.09d if I found an occulus or MP). Nice to see there are people playing this patch, too!

(a) Your goal

Mainly nostalgia. I liked Diablo 2 more without the 1.10+ runewords. I really like the LoD uniques and their power - I still rely on them in 1.10+ patches because they rock and they are so cool. I just like the 1.09 patch: the XP, boss running, uniques. Loving the SP twist on it, too.

(b) Your character(s) - what build(s) you're trying out.

Again I'm going with nostalgia. I'm making a firewall/orb/static sorceress, which was my first LoD character and also my first matriarch, ever. This time I'm doing it right from the start, though. I'm little bummed that firewall got nerfed in 1.09, but overall I like the patch much more over 1.08.

(c) Your progress/activities

I'm going strong in normal Act 1 I'm in monastery now and currently level 16. I'm loving the players 8 setting because the game is tough but still possible to beat because of the XP and loot.

I shopped two 3os Long Bows for me and my A1 merc and put chips in them. We own even in players 8 setting. BUT it got me to thinking, what if I run some gem shrines and make a twinking bow with flawed/normal gems? It would own even more. Right after that I noticed three shrines right next to black marsh WP. I "ran it" a couple of times and got one gem shrine. I don't know the odds though. What are the odds of a shrine being a gem shrine? Has anyone tried gem shrine running seriously (for perfect gems, for example)?

(d) Any notable finds

I gambled some sweet tri-res boots with fhr. Pretty nice stuff from Gheed when you are going to rescue Cain

(e) If you MP, where/with whom do you play?

Not yet, but I'd like to try it some time. I play at odd hours, though, so probably won't try it for some time.

Observations:

Static Field is a nice spell for untwinked sorceress, because the mana cost doesn't rise. I'm going for (near) max static with the finished build, but 5-6 points is really nice for bosspacks and act bosses. It really helps your progress and you can max it out later, if you want.

[Steven Q Urkel]

Oooh what are these please??

My 1.09 Flavie Report

There was bug in 1.09, although I believe it has since been fixed. It involved, I believe the correct term would be super unique, class enemies. Basically, if you spawned a super unique, but then you retreated for a bit, and then you went back to kill the monster you just spawned, their item drop will mimic that of Coldcrow from the caves in Act I.

Coldcrow always drops 4 potions and 2 items, and b/c of the game's monsterstats.txt or whatever file she will always drop from Treasure Class 3 (tc3). However, her mlvl is so low that she can only drop ilvl 7 items, meaning there are only so many sets and uniques that she can drop. But the 3 nub nub's in the Durance of Hate - Bremmington Spankfist, Wyand Voidthenoid, and Maffer Itstimetoslaythedragonhand - they will drop ilvl 28 itams. Since ALL TC3 set and uniques will have a qlvl less than or equal to 27 (Sanders Paragon), this means that the 3 super uniques in the Durance level 3 have the ability to drop ANY tc3 set or unique in the game.

Of course, the 'rare' tc3's, i.e. Sanders Paragon, Knell Striker, Torch of Iro, etc. are still going to be rare, but if you consistently activate the bug the 'common' tc3's are going to start dropping on a very regular basis.

I believe that the bug will only work in Normal difficulty, but I've been able to activate it on a very regular basis. I recorded a video of a Durance run long time ago, but IIRC it was in half screen so the quality isn't so good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX8Mp6UOGA8

Apparently YouTube doesn't play nice with this video, so you may have to let it finish loading (and then hit replay) in order to watch it. IIRC, I got 2x Death's Guard on that one run alone.

[RobbyD]

@Steven Q Urkel: Wow - I knew about the drop reset bug, but I never thought to use that to farm TC3s from the Council. That, my friend, is some good thinking. However, if I recall right, the drop that the SU reverts to is actually Bishibosh (at the same difficulty you are playing, so in Hell, they get Hell Bish's drop), not Coldcrow. But getting a high mlvl to drop a TC3 is an absolutely brilliant way to get those Hobnails and that Paragon. I might give that a try with my Nova Sorc. Thanks for sharing that idea!

@mouseman: Sounds like your motivations are similar to mine. Keep in mind that, on higher player settings, Static is bugged in 1.09 so that there is no cap for SOME SUs/Bosses in late Hell, so you can do some nice MFing with her. Mephy can always be static'd to a sliver on P8, and in my experience, Snapchip Shatter and Thresh Socket often can be static'd to a sliver.

Congrats on the Rogue Bow - keep in mind that Jewels of Envy are the best at the start of the game. Emeralds end up being better, but you have to consider the scaling level requirements as you upgrade your gems. To your question, I am running Hell Countess with my Pally, and there is a shrine on the way to the Tower. About 5-10% of the time, it's a Gem Shrine (I get quite a few PGems that way), so your idea is, I think, feasible.

@NakedAssassin: I finally got a chance to check out your link, and it looks like you are relying on a 1.10+ area level guide. 1.09 area levels, are not completely consistent with that, and 1.09 definitely does NOT have the special A85s. For instance, in 1.09, the Hell Countess' Tower is level 70 to 74 (the Countess drops level 77), and all of Act 5 is level 90 (but chests and racks are capped at level 75).

*****
An obervation - I've noticed that Act 1 seems to have a higher rune drop rate than other Acts (well, the Act 3 towns may drop more). My highest rune from a regular unique is a Pul from an A1 Devilkin, and I just got a Ko last night from another A1 monster pack. Just curious if other people notice getting more runes from A1 than other acts (looking at NM and Hell here - not Normal).

[joeyjonson]

is there a place where u can find stats on 1.09 uniques?

[RobbyD]

is there a place where u can find stats on 1.09 uniques?

Actually, the wiki site associated with incgamers (diablowiki.net) does a pretty good job of separating the 1.09 items from the 1.10+ items, since it was originally done for 1.09. The thing is, for the majority of items, the stats are the same for 1.09 items as their 1.10+ counterparts. There are a much more limited number of elite uniques in 1.09 compared to 1.10, and a few exceptional uniques have different somewhat different stats.

Here's the elite uniques available in 1.09:

Wizardspike
Hellslayer
Baranar's Star
Lightsabre
Doombringer
Eaglehorn
Windforce
Messerschmidt's Reaver
The Cranium Basher
Schaefer's Hammer
The Grandfather
Stormspire
Blackoak Shield
Stormshield
The Gladiator's Bane
Arkaine's Valor (in 1.09, it's got a list of 1 or 2 skills specific to character classes)
Harlequin Crest
Veil of Steel
Nosferatu's Coil

All Set Items are the same, but Blizz added stats to the class-specific sets in 1.10, including sockets (Aldur's Rhythm, IK Helm, IK Maul, Natalya's Armor, etc.) and item-specific partial set bonuses.

Jewelry available in 1.09:

Amulets
Nokozan Relic
The Eye of Etlich
The Mahim-Oak Curio
Saracen's Chance
The Cat's Eye
Crescent Moon
Atma's Scarab
The Rising Sun
Highlord's Wrath
Mara's Kaleidoscope

Rings
Nagelring
Manald Heal
The Stone of Jordan
Dwarf Star
Raven Frost
Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band

The changes in Normal/Exceptional Uniques I can think of are:

Witchwild String - no sockets and level 1 Magic Arrows
Wizendraw - no reduction in target cold resistance

No class-specifc elite uniques are available in 1.09 - only the exceptional items (Arreat's, Homunculus, etc.), but the stats are the same as 1.10+.

Hope this helps.