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Diablo 2: Resurrected |OT| Angels and Demons? Sanctuary much.

Vagswarm

Member
I still have a lot of stuff i found in nightmare so i know i could be much stronger. Defense is quite good now but i feel my damage output should be way higher.

So you take a normal rare (yellow) weapon for example and upgrade it to exceptional with ORT+AMN+P. Saphir?
And then you could go to elite with FAL+UM+P. Saphire? Kinda feels like getting a damaged weapon to a normal state.

Does this just work for the rare (yellow) weapons or is it also possible for magic (blue) or unique (gold)?
It works for unique also. That's what I've been upgrading the most, as the stats are usually better. There's different rune / gem requirements for armor and weapons, so 4 total:

Rare weapon, Rare armor, Unique weapon, Unique armor

Just write down or print off the lists that are on Wowhead. That's all the information you'll ever need on upgrading items.

 

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
It works for unique also. That's what I've been upgrading the most, as the stats are usually better. There's different rune / gem requirements for armor and weapons, so 4 total:

Rare weapon, Rare armor, Unique weapon, Unique armor

Just write down or print off the lists that are on Wowhead. That's all the information you'll ever need on upgrading items.

Cool thanks. I have a lot of recipes but not all as it seems.

So it seems that when i upgrade my unique weapon to exceptional i will keep the stats that it inherits but they will get stronger. So it is not a reroll, just an upgrade. And runes and gems stay intact. Sounds good. Gonna try it later

Thanks again.
 

Vagswarm

Member
Cool thanks. I have a lot of recipes but not all as it seems.

So it seems that when i upgrade my unique weapon to exceptional i will keep the stats that it inherits but they will get stronger. So it is not a reroll, just an upgrade. And runes and gems stay intact. Sounds good. Gonna try it later

Thanks again.
Yes, but the stat requirements increase to the next tier of item. I find a good predictor of this to be on the official guide. If you click on "Normal Swords" from the Normal Weapons list, you'll find the Scimitar at #2 on the list. Go to "Exceptional Swords" and its upgrade will be Cutlass. Then the elite version of that is the Ataghan. Notice they are all in the same position on the list at #2 and have the same weapon icon beside them.

It tells you all the requirements for all the tiers, so you shouldn't be caught blind-sided before upgrading. The Ataghan for example requires 138 strength and 95 dexterity.

 

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Yes, but the stat requirements increase to the next tier of item. I find a good predictor of this to be on the official guide. If you click on "Normal Swords" from the Normal Weapons list, you'll find the Scimitar at #2 on the list. Go to "Exceptional Swords" and its upgrade will be Cutlass. Then the elite version of that is the Ataghan. Notice they are all in the same position on the list at #2 and have the same weapon icon beside them.

It tells you all the requirements for all the tiers, so you shouldn't be caught blind-sided before upgrading. The Ataghan for example requires 138 strength and 95 dexterity.

So is it the same stat increase no matter if it is normal or rare or unique?
 

Vagswarm

Member
So is it the same stat increase no matter if it is normal or rare or unique?
Yes, only the base item changes during an upgrade. Like from Cutlass (exceptional) to Ataghan (elite). Doesn't matter if it's rare or unique. You can't upgrade normal or magic items this way.

Before upgrading a Cutlass, you'd look at the stat requirements of an Ataghan to make sure you aren't screwed before making the upgrade. Otherwise you won't be able to use the Ataghan until you meet the stat requirements, and won't have the cutlass anymore (since it's the ataghan now). That's what I use the official guide for.
 
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Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Yes, only the base item changes during an upgrade. Like from Cutlass (exceptional) to Ataghan (elite). Doesn't matter if it's rare or unique. You can't upgrade normal or magic items this way.

Before upgrading a Cutlass, you'd look at the stat requirements of an Ataghan to make sure you aren't screwed before making the upgrade. Otherwise you won't be able to use the Ataghan until you meet the stat requirements, and won't have the cutlass anymore (since it's the ataghan now). That's what I use the official guide for.
Very nice and thanks again. Now i need to find gems because i used all of mine to reroll charms. :messenger_grinning_sweat: At least i have a lot of runes.
 

Vagswarm

Member
Very nice and thanks again. Now i need to find gems because i used all of mine to reroll charms. :messenger_grinning_sweat: At least i have a lot of runes.
Sure thing. I found going back to normal difficulty and clearing out Act I (including chests & barrels) is a good way to get low level gems. They get too high after Act I. Only need chipped and a few flawed.

Still use /players 8 with no problem. Not sure if it matters or not.
 
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Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Sure thing. I found going back to normal difficulty and clearing out Act I (including chests & barrels) is a good way to get low level gems. They get too high after Act I. Only need chipped and a few flawed.

Still use /players 8 with no problem. Not sure if it matters or not.
I mean for the weapon upgrade i need perfect ones so the difficulty doesn't matter that much. For the runes you are right that it makes sense to go to a lower difficulty.
 
A lot of us had the same issue with dying at first, if that's what you're referring to. But unlike Souls, you don't have to get your body back on the first attempt. You can die 5 times in a row and still get your equipment and gold back as long as you don't exit the game and return (only do this if there's only 1 corpse; there's been reports of people losing their items this way). Otherwise if you only have one corpse, you can exit the game and come back, and it will automatically be placed next to your character in town.

You can also trick the game into thinking you have less gold than actually do by putting any excess in the shared stash (instead of personal) to avoid losing too much gold on death. According to the official guide, you don't lose any gold when dying on singleplayer, so it shouldn't be an issue.

On higher difficulties you have to manually grab your corpse to retain 75% of the total experience you would otherwise lose.

As for needing the internet: AFAIK, you only need to be online at the beginning, then can play offline singleplayer from there. You don't need to be always online like Diablo 3.
I just wish it had a normal save anytime you want system but its not a big deal.

As for not needing to be online . I selected offline play but when I was just out of wifi range it stopped cold and said it needed to connect to the internet to continue playing. Soon as I was back in range it let me continue. So I think until further updates it's online only at least with the Switch version .

I am in the middle of Act lll on normal at level 26 Sorceress . I feel like it would take me a year or more to do a hell run with all 7 classes. Durial was a pain in my ass on normal so I can only imagine the frustration on harder difficulties.
 
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Vagswarm

Member
Found a pretty awesome bow that I'll be using on the Amazon I create some time in the next decade. Great stats and looks very cool.

0AtLnwl.jpg
 

Vagswarm

Member
Lmao, this is great. The weapon I used to explain the upgrading process a few days ago is the same one that just dropped! Out of all the possibilities, it was that family in its elite glory.

The stats are trash though (of course; it's for a weapon I can actually use). What a waste.

Q3G4XzM.jpg
 
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Vagswarm

Member
Sadly not so this is a really nice addition.
Will be interesting to see what console players think of the difficulty once it's implemented (assuming they use it). But the exp and drop rates are also better which makes a difference.

Playing Hell difficulty with /players 8 is a royal pain but I've used it as the default since release.
 

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Will be interesting to see what console players think of the difficulty once it's implemented (assuming they use it). But the exp and drop rates are also better which makes a difference.

Playing Hell difficulty with /players 8 is a royal pain but I've used it as the default since release.
I'm very curious myself to what a difference this will make. Does it means when i have two times the players than its two times the monsters and so on, right? Gonna be crowded with the highest player count. :messenger_grinning_squinting: I'm nearing level 90 and the additional XP will help a lot.

Really hope they further support the game for a long time.
 

Vagswarm

Member
I'm very curious myself to what a difference this will make. Does it means when i have two times the players than its two times the monsters and so on, right? Gonna be crowded with the highest player count. :messenger_grinning_squinting: I'm nearing level 90 and the additional XP will help a lot.

Really hope they further support the game for a long time.
No, the monster hit points and damage increases with every player. The amount of monsters remains the same. Although I have noticed that there's more elites and champions; there's no confirmation of this that I could find. According to the Diablo Wiki, /players 8 means each monster has:

450% more HP
44% more damage

Elites with "Extra Strong" hit something fierce... I usually have to lure them out and use weakness on them right away. Sometimes I avoid them altogether. Elites with "Stone Skin" and "Immune to Physical" take way too long to kill as melee. Seems a lot of zombies have those attached.

Items also drop more frequently but the quality doesn't increase. You just have a better chance of higher quality from more items dropping. There's been quite a few uniques and a lot of rares dropping on my playthrough. Runes too.
 
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Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
No, the monster hit points and damage increases with every player. The amount of monsters remains the same. Although I have noticed that there's more elites and champions; there's no confirmation of this that I could find. According to the Diablo Wiki, /players 8 means each monster has:

450% more HP
44% more damage

Elites with "Extra Strong" hit something fierce... I usually have to lure them out and use weakness on them right away. Sometimes I avoid them altogether. Elites with "Stone Skin" and "Immune to Physical" take way too long to kill as melee. Seems a lot of zombies have those attached.

Items also drop more frequently but the quality doesn't increase. You just have a better chance of higher quality from more items dropping. There's been quite a few uniques and a lot of rares dropping on my playthrough. Runes too.
Thanks for the clarification.
 
Lost my 5th HC zealot last weekend (level 60 this time).
This time the nightmare stygian dolls in the durance of hate were no problem - I didn't attack them so my merc got all the aggro and picked them up one by one.

But then just before fighting Diablo I made a stupid mistake in this spot that everyone knows.
As promised here's the footage:

hcdeath.gif


Wanted to run past them to safety and then come back to kill a few of them at a time.
Next time I'll create a town portal before activating the seal and then return to the place using the teleport pad (already have a new lvl41 character in nightmare).
Had zero problems up to that point, another unnecessary death.

Playing hardcore you get to experience Murphy's law - everything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong.
 
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Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Lost my 5th HC zealot last weekend (level 60 this time).
This time the nightmare stygian dolls in the durance of hate were no problem - I didn't attack them so my merc got all the aggro and picked them up one by one.

But then just before fighting Diablo I made a stupid mistake in this spot that everyone knows.
As promised here's the footage:

hcdeath.gif


Wanted to run past them to safety and then come back to kill a few of them at a time.
Next time I'll create a town portal before activating the seal and then return to the place using the teleport pad (already have a new lvl41 character in nightmare).
Had zero problems up to that point, another unnecessary death.

Playing hardcore you get to experience Murphy's law - everything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong.
Thanks for the footage and my sincere condolences. :messenger_winking: I couldn't play like that or otherwise my peripherals would get ripped apart when i die. Kudos for keeping at it!

I wonder what your thoughts where shortly before you died?
 
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I wonder what your thoughts where shortly before you died?
Wasn't that devastated, immediately thought "put a town portal there next time idiot".
And because I have good starter equipment in my shared stash(es) I hasted through normal afterwards with my new character. Skipped optional dungeons and got quickly back into nightmare.
Pretty confident I'll get further this time. I know how to handle stygian dolls now and also won't die again at this place that I've just shown.
Not looking forward to the supposedly bugged nightmare act v gloams though.
 
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Vagswarm

Member
What a difference between the difficulties. Went back to Nightmare on Act V to farm some gold, and I'm sweeping up mobs like it's on easy mode. Go back to Hell difficulty on Act I and it turns into a stealth game.
 
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Vagswarm

Member
Wasn't that devastated, immediately thought "put a town portal there next time idiot".
I've been doing the same thing quite a lot lately. Sometimes a mob group is in the way and too difficult to take down, so I'll lure them out somewhere else and plant a portal along the way, then come back through the portal. Especially with the spear mobs that follow you to the core of the earth if they could.
 

Vagswarm

Member
Man, the sword I used to beat Baal is somehow better than a 4 rune sword with stats shooting from every orifice. It's nice in the sense that it's powerful, but it's not that strong against Hell difficulty mobs. The rune sword isn't as good as the one I already had equipped in the other hand either (with +11 life steal). The weapon speed really makes a difference. Both my main swords are very fast vs normal on the new one.

Another waste of runes, lol. Upgrading is such a pain. Need a Pul rune like nobody's business.

Comparison of current weapon (which is somehow better):

Fr0gMQe.jpg


vs God in sword form:

BhS2tNi.jpg
 

Vagswarm

Member
Starting to think I'm playing this game out of habit / addiction, lol. All throughout the day I'm just hacking away in the same areas despite not making any progress other than the exp bar filling very slowly. Haven't been able to get better gear or advance any further. 🤷‍♂️

Might be the end of the line for this round, especially when Halo Infinite comes out. At least I got further than when the game first came out -- by an entire difficulty!
 

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Starting to think I'm playing this game out of habit / addiction, lol. All throughout the day I'm just hacking away in the same areas despite not making any progress other than the exp bar filling very slowly. Haven't been able to get better gear or advance any further. 🤷‍♂️
This happens. I took a week of and played through Visage and now i'm ready to come back.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
What a trashy release:
- The game starts to stutter after longer sessions and lots of teleports on the PS5 (minor, I can live with that and restart the game)
- Barbarian's leap is still broken and the character can freeze while trying to land, already happened to me both in dungeon and outside (annoying as you can only save & quit)
- I've lost my entire shared stash despite playing as an offline character (what the fuck)

What's worse is that they're known bugs since release and haven't been fixed yet. I think I'll wait for another big patch. :/
 
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Finally made it to Hell with a hardcore character for the first time ever:

42526111su.jpg


I play PS5 offline single-player without farming, but still found pretty strong gear this time that made Nightmare easier than Normal:

42526112rc.png
42526113mv.png

42526115pq.png
42526116nr.png
42526117fh.png


Nothing posed a threat in Nightmare, didn't even need potions against Mephisto, Diablo, Ancients and Baal.
Only against a group of Champion Hell Lords (the strongest variety of Moon Lords) I had to be careful.
And now at the start of Hell I already have maxed elemental resistances:

42526118fb.jpg


But regardless if I'll fail or succeed, this will definitely be my last attempt this year (it's my 7th hardcore char).
 
What a trashy release:
- The game starts to stutter after longer sessions and lots of teleports on the PS5 (minor, I can live with that and restart the game)
- Barbarian's leap is still broken and the character can freeze while trying to land, already happened to me both in dungeon and outside (annoying as you can only save & quit)
- I've lost my entire shared stash despite playing as an offline character (what the fuck)

What's worse is that they're known bugs since release and haven't been fixed yet. I think I'll wait for another big patch. :/
You have to save twice on the PS5 version to save the shared stash. Shitty solution, but it works.

Also the stuttering in long sessions is related to the original code I think. If there are too many items lying around it eventually doesn't run smooth.
Saving and immediately reentering (without closing the game) makes it smooth again.
 
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Vagswarm

Member
After playing through Act I on Hell difficulty a hundred thousand times, I'm getting a lot better at the combat tactics, especially baiting, dodging, and using the environment to my advantage. A lot of times I bait and lure mobs into doorways or other tight entrances where I can battle 2 or 3 instead of 10 at a time. That seemingly unpowerful sword (by appearance) I've been using has "Hit Blinds Target", which has proven to be useful against Elite mob groups. If a group is chasing after my character, I'll smack a couple with the sword to cause them confusion / disorient and prevent them from keeping up with the rest of the squad. In a lot of areas I'll be doing this regardless (hit / blind and run to the next target until the blind timer runs out), and using the environment as protection against ranged attacks. Always making sure I don't lure mobs into areas I haven't uncovered yet.

It's definitely all tactics in on Hell difficulty with /8 players. I can't beat a single wraith (white things that can fly through jail cells) because they are immune to physical. It's time to run like hell and hope there aren't 50 mobs nearby.
 
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After playing through Act I on Hell difficulty a hundred thousand times, I'm getting a lot better at the combat tactics, especially baiting, dodging, and using the environment to my advantage. A lot of times I bait and lure mobs into doorways or other tight entrances where I can battle 2 or 3 instead of 10 at a time. That seemingly unpowerful sword (by appearance) I've been using has "Hit Blinds Target", which has proven to be useful against Elite mob groups. If a group is chasing after my character, I'll smack a couple with the sword to cause them confusion / disorient and prevent them from keeping up with the rest of the squad. In a lot of areas I'll be doing this regardless (hit / blind and run to the next target until the blind timer runs out), and using the environment as protection against ranged attacks. Always making sure I don't lure mobs into areas I haven't uncovered yet.

It's definitely all tactics in on Hell difficulty with /8 players. I can't beat a single wraith (white things that can fly through jail cells) because they are immune to physical. It's time to run like hell and hope there aren't 50 mobs nearby.
Glad most of that is not necessary with the Paladin (still make use of tight entrances). He even has a skill for doing elemental damage if he has no adequate weapon.
Still I surely won't play with /8 players in hardcore mode (which isn't possible yet on PS5 offline anyway).
Maybe after beating Hell to get faster to level 99.

Hats off for exposing yourself to that 8 players torture.
 
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Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
You can put dozens of full rejuvenation potions on the floor before you start the fight - have you tried that?
I saw that but i mostly die when i'm not careful and than in the blink of an eye so i don't think the potion chugging is a problem. I'm, as always, under geared and the fight just takes forever. So long actually that the potions would disappear. I will try to find some better gear but i haven't found something worthwhile in the last ten hours.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
You have to save twice on the PS5 version to save the shared stash. Shitty solution, but it works.

Also the stuttering in long sessions is related to the original code I think. If there are too many items lying around it eventually doesn't run smooth.
Saving and immediately reentering (without closing the game) makes it smooth again.
But how do you save twice?? There's the only to option to save & quit. Do you mean waiting for an autosave and then saving&quitting?
 
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But how do you save twice?? There's the only to option to save & quit. Do you mean waiting for an autosave and then saving&quitting?
Save&Exit puts you on the character select screen. Here the red pentagram appears and disappears after a few seconds.
Now just select "Play" to enter the game again with the same character and then choose Save&Exit a second time.
After that you can finally close the game - next time the shared stash will be as you left it.
 

Vagswarm

Member
Still I surely won't play with /8 players in hardcore mode (which isn't possible yet on PS5 offline anyway).
Oh man, I couldn't even imagine trying that. 3 difficulties without dying once? Certain mobs tend to stick to you and it's pretty much over. Don't even have time to save & exit, lol.

And you are right, it is a nightmare. The armor I have (in comparison to yours) is 980 on the chest, 86 on the feet, 317 on the helm, etc, and I'm just getting trounced in Act I unless I use the tactics explained above. The merc has similar equipment and dies so much that I stopped using him altogether.

At this point it's mostly just raising the exp bar and farming runes, hoping to upgrade some equipment. (Although I don't know if it's farming, seeing as I can't actually advance into the next Act, lol.) Only one piece of equipment is elite so far.
 
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Vagswarm

Member
The Ancients on hell difficulty is my newest dead end. I just can't.

disney rage GIF
They were a royal pain on Nightmare difficulty too. Just barely defeated them with 0 potions left, lol. But it sounds like you are pretty far now... nice job. Once you get over that the rest will be easy I bet.
 

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
They were a royal pain on Nightmare difficulty too. Just barely defeated them with 0 potions left, lol. But it sounds like you are pretty far now... nice job. Once you get over that the rest will be easy I bet.
Tried for an hour today and got tired of running in circles. Will try to find some better gear but i feel i have the worst luck ever. But sometimes a good piece of gear can make all the difference. Still haven't found a single Monarch shield!
 

Vagswarm

Member
Tried for an hour today and got tired of running in circles. Will try to find some better gear but i feel i have the worst luck ever. But sometimes a good piece of gear can make all the difference. Still haven't found a single Monarch shield!
Agreed, gear does make a massive difference. So do hit points in higher difficulties. I've had to restart stats & skills all 3 times just to get them right without going overboard on str or dex. Are you at the proper level? I imagine where you're at, level 90+ would be good. Maybe even max out if you can; that's pretty much near the end of the end.

I tried doing those so-called Baal runs to get some items, and holy hell, it took forever just to get to him -- even when starting on the level 2 waypoint. Those annoying ghosts with mana steal who shoot lightning from their ass, rugrats all over the place, summoners, etc. Screw all that noise.

I imagine for you it would be dealing with those annoying council members if you were to do Mephisto runs.
 

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Agreed, gear does make a massive difference. So do hit points in higher difficulties. I've had to restart stats & skills all 3 times just to get them right without going overboard on str or dex. Are you at the proper level? I imagine where you're at, level 90+ would be good. Maybe even max out if you can; that's pretty much near the end of the end.

I tried doing those so-called Baal runs to get some items, and holy hell, it took forever just to get to him -- even when starting on the level 2 waypoint. Those annoying ghosts with mana steal who shoot lightning from their ass, rugrats all over the place, summoners, etc. Screw all that noise.

I imagine for you it would be dealing with those annoying council members if you were to do Mephisto runs.
I'm level 84 now and put just enough points into str and dex to carry my gear and the rest went into vit. Mana comes exclusively from charms and gear.

I tried many runs for main bosses and enemies like the countess or nihlathak and while they always drop decent stuff it is never for a sorc. The best things i found always dropped randomly from an elite mob somewhere in the wild.

The way to Mephisto is still brutal and i rarely do it.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Save&Exit puts you on the character select screen. Here the red pentagram appears and disappears after a few seconds.
Now just select "Play" to enter the game again with the same character and then choose Save&Exit a second time.
After that you can finally close the game - next time the shared stash will be as you left it.
I've used this method and it still wiped my shared stash. Looks like I'm waiting for the december patch. :/
 
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Vagswarm

Member
I'm level 84 now and put just enough points into str and dex to carry my gear and the rest went into vit. Mana comes exclusively from charms and gear.

I tried many runs for main bosses and enemies like the countess or nihlathak and while they always drop decent stuff it is never for a sorc. The best things i found always dropped randomly from an elite mob somewhere in the wild.

The way to Mephisto is still brutal and i rarely do it.
Level 84 might be low. I'm level 81 and on Act I. Granted the experience gained is a lot quicker with /players 8, but the cap is 99 and you're near the end of the game on the highest difficulty. Might not hurt to get it higher.

And wow, I had no idea you could play a sorc with no points put into energy and make it that far. And I can't find any good items for the Barbarian either. Even if something has high AR, it's for a dexterity or mana based class instead of strength.
 
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