Offline Diablo 2 Information Document

[Smips]

Hi all,
I started playing D2 again this week and I had an idea for an offline document that might be helpful. I was thinking of compiling all of the useful FAQ posts, gameplay mechanics, random useful information, ect... into a nice, easy to navigate, and organized PDF document that would be available for anyone to download and keep on their PC. I can't even remember the number of times i've had to search the internet and forums for half an hour to find what info I was looking for. I imagine this would take a while to compile, but I really think it would be a great resource in the end. How does the community feel about something like this? I'd really like to hear how interested people would be in this and what suggestions people have.

And it would be good to make sure something like this doesn't already exist.

Edit:
Okay, here's a "starting point" of guides and FAQs topics I've found after some quick searching that I felt at least deserve consideration. Please post any suggestions you have for the list. You may also PM me with additional information or email me at orchardr2(at)gmail(dot)com.

Anyone interested in actively participating in this project, send me a PM so we can talk about next steps!

Map Navigation
Guide by krischan
Guide by Quietus

Twinking
Guide by Timinator – Seems like a nice guide for an alternative to nuking with a Ravenclaw

Mercs
The Mercenary Guide v1.10 by Alter Ego
Ultimate Merc Guide v3.0 by Gaza0469
I imagine there’s a bit of redundant info here, so these would need to be read and combined

Magic Finding
Guide to Untwinked, Single-Pass Early Game Magic Finding by jiansonz
MF Oddballs by Nightfish
Guide to MF for Diablo LOD v1.10/1.11 by Hrus

HF Rushing
Hellforge Rushing Guide by Ragnarod
Guide to Hellforge Rushing in 1.11b

Damage Reduction
Damage Modification Mechanics by Tommi Gustafsson
Checked by Colony

Item Generation
Item Generation Tutorial for Patch 1.11 by Warrior of Light
Checked by Colony

Item Alteration
Uzziah’s Guide to Altering Items in Game by Uzziah
Need to make sure this info is still relevant for 1.13c
A Mini-Guide to Ebugging in the Single Player Forum by Greebo

Charms
Charm Guide by Kronos, revised by Corax/SPF
maybe condense it into some kind of table? Checked by Colony

oSkills
Skill Granting Items 2.1 tables of oskills, auras, ctc and more - By Kijya
Need to make sure this info is still relevant for 1.13c

Poison Damage
Calculating Poison Damage by onderduiker
Need to make sure this info is still relevant for 1.13c

Chance to Hit
To Hit Calculations by Tommi Gustafsson
Checked by Colony

Sparkly Chest Mechanics
A Guide to Sparkly Chests – Unique and Set Items by Quickdeath

Area Levels
MF Area-Levellist 85+/84/83/82 by melianor

Formulas and Breakpoint Tables
The Strategy Compendium
Checked by Colony

Amazon Tables
Amazon Tables (IAS, FCR, FHR, FBR, FRW and some more!) by Kijya

Sorceress Tables
Break Points and Formulas by MageChick

Assassin Tables
Assassin FAQ for Version 1.13 by maxicek
Assassin IAS Tables by maxicek

Charge Mechanics
Everything You Need to Know About Charging in PvM by SSoG

FRW
Faster Run/Walk Formulas by SSoG, courtesy of Tommi Gustafsson

ES Mechanics
Energy Shield Explained by soepgroente

Other known topic areas:
Items (white, set, unique, runeword)
Affix Tables
LK drop patterns
Cube Recipes
Crafting
Character Descriptions (starting stats, stats on level up, vit/mana per point,ect)
Blocking mechanics
Game Versions
LCS

[skiffcz]

yo smips, welcome back!

Principia Diabolica, eh? I think its a great idea. I also think it would take about 56 lifetimes to get everything together. Lots of stuff is obsolete and would need revisions, stuff is scattered around, also lots of it is gone... So while Id love to see such thing, I fear the massiveness of such task.

On the other hand, 5 percent of stuff is used 95 percent of time. Maybe just start with the core, and then we would see?...

[Smips]

Hi skiffcz, thanks for the welcome.

I completely agree that encompassing everything would take an incredible amount off time. However getting the core stuff shouldn't take too long. Most of the skin deep stuff its already in FAQ threads here and most of the time would go into organizing and compiling the item/runeword database I think. The long term goal would be to update outdated stuff and write new material. I know it would likely be impossible to get everything, but I think it would be really great in the end...plus it could be like a preventative measure in case of a forum crash.

[EasyG]

Would be epic if someone made such document but like skiffcz said, it would be a lifetime work. Also many things dont work in pdf, like calculators.

OT: looking for a traplayspeed calculator in which I can add decrepify debuff in order to calculate what to socket my claws with at my kicksin baalrunner (is decrepify -50 skill-ias or -50 oias?)

edit: found it is skill-ias, like burst of speed, burst of speed is allmsot 50% aswell, so im looking at a small negative eias. going to check assassin faq again if im able to do my own calculations with this knowledge. sorry for the ot.

[Smips]

I agree that the lack of calculators would stink but someone with some programming skills could make offline versions. Heck if I had a better understanding of all the mechanics I would do it myself. Also I never said this needs to be a lone persons effort .

[Kitteh]

I'd be more than happy to help, if you gave me areas to work on

[Smips]

Well I'm glad that there seems to be some interest at least(no one's called me an idiot yet!). I think I might surf through some of the major stuff over the next few days and write up a quick Table of Contents for what the first pass might look like. If people want to shout out some ideas for existing information that's available that they would like to see in the document, feel free to post.

[pharphis]

This sounds great. Lots and lots of info would be really nice to have offline. I will definitely help look through copies of this as it is released and improved upon and hopefully come up with more to include.

[TheNix]

Does anyone remember the LODencylopedia by Kleefstra? That was/is an offline recourse for 1.09, I still use it on occasions. I've got the zip file somewhere.

[Smips]

@TheNix:
If you happen to stumble upon that zip file, could you email it to me? You can send it to orchardr2(at)gmail(dot)com. Thanks

I did a quick run through all of the stickied stuff in each of the Strategy forums and managed to bookmark 28 different FAQ threads/links with some good information. I imagine it'll have to be skimmed through to determine which stuff is up to date(or at least close enough) for it to be added in. I'll try and post an outline with links to everything I pulled up today at some point tomorrow. For now, it's off to bed.