New Rune Words Final Nail in the Coffin?

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It looks to me like they'll pretty much kill any reason to trade for many
of the upper level uniques, but the reason I say they're the final nail is
that I think they'll make a game that had already become too easy in many
ways even moreso. Not that I'm playing nowadays, anyway.

Wrong read?

Other opinions?

--
chainbreaker
 

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chainbreaker wrote:
> It looks to me like they'll pretty much kill any reason to trade for
many
> of the upper level uniques, but the reason I say they're the final
nail is
> that I think they'll make a game that had already become too easy in
many
> ways even moreso. Not that I'm playing nowadays, anyway.
>
> Wrong read?
>
> Other opinions?
>
> --
> chainbreaker

I'm not sure about making the game too easy. I think hell is still a
tough place to play for most chars. But the new runewords pretty much
kill any desire to find uniques, same as uniques killed any desire to
find rares or magics. It's my impression that pretty soon everyone will
have a +2 skills shield, and a 370% ED sword, etc... When that happens,
the game will really be dead.

-Jason
 
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It will be interesting to see if any of the Act3 mercs can now become
powerful in light of this development:

Spirit: 4 socket shields/swords Tal + Thul + Ort + Amn

+2 To All Skills
+25-35% Faster Cast Rate (varies)
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+15% Enhanced Defense
+250 Defense Vs. Missile
+22 To Vitality
+89-112 To Mana (varies)
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
+3-8 Magic Absorb (varies)
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
 
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yeah, it seems to get more easier every time.

Still waiting for wow :p


"chainbreaker" <noone@nowhere.com> schreef in bericht
news:cpg1i702hee@news3.newsguy.com...
> It looks to me like they'll pretty much kill any reason to trade for many
> of the upper level uniques, but the reason I say they're the final nail is
> that I think they'll make a game that had already become too easy in many
> ways even moreso. Not that I'm playing nowadays, anyway.
>
> Wrong read?
>
> Other opinions?
>
> --
> chainbreaker
>
>
 
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Last2Know wrote:
> It will be interesting to see if any of the Act3 mercs can now become
> powerful in light of this development:
>
> Spirit: 4 socket shields/swords Tal + Thul + Ort + Amn
>
> +2 To All Skills
> +25-35% Faster Cast Rate (varies)
> +55% Faster Hit Recovery
> +15% Enhanced Defense
> +250 Defense Vs. Missile
> +22 To Vitality
> +89-112 To Mana (varies)
> Cold Resist +35%
> Lightning Resist +35%
> +3-8 Magic Absorb (varies)
> Attacker Takes Damage of 14

You would first have to find an ethereal monarch or some equipment that
boosts his strength as a monarch is the (non-paladin-specific) shield with
the lowest str requirement, but it still needs 156. At lvl 98 an act 3 merc
can only have 153 natural str (see
http://www.diabloii.net/townsfolk/sorc-fire.shtml).
 
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Yes, the requirement for the shield is huge, but... an Act 3 merc can use a
sword, and I have a Spirit Sword that has a lvl requirement of 25. I'm
using it on my Hammerdin until I get up to lvl 61 for the wizardspike...

Just my 2 cents, or rubles, or marks, whatever...

"Gundemarie Scholz" <spamyousilly@inbox.ru> wrote in message
news:322899F3h34inU1@individual.net...
> Last2Know wrote:
> > It will be interesting to see if any of the Act3 mercs can now become
> > powerful in light of this development:
> >
> > Spirit: 4 socket shields/swords Tal + Thul + Ort + Amn
> >
> > +2 To All Skills
> > +25-35% Faster Cast Rate (varies)
> > +55% Faster Hit Recovery
> > +15% Enhanced Defense
> > +250 Defense Vs. Missile
> > +22 To Vitality
> > +89-112 To Mana (varies)
> > Cold Resist +35%
> > Lightning Resist +35%
> > +3-8 Magic Absorb (varies)
> > Attacker Takes Damage of 14
>
> You would first have to find an ethereal monarch or some equipment that
> boosts his strength as a monarch is the (non-paladin-specific) shield with
> the lowest str requirement, but it still needs 156. At lvl 98 an act 3
merc
> can only have 153 natural str (see
> http://www.diabloii.net/townsfolk/sorc-fire.shtml).
>
>
 
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On Sat, 11 Dec 2004 18:58:03 -0500, "chainbreaker" <noone@nowhere.com>
wrote:

> It looks to me like they'll pretty much kill any reason to trade for many
>of the upper level uniques, but the reason I say they're the final nail is
>that I think they'll make a game that had already become too easy in many
>ways even moreso. Not that I'm playing nowadays, anyway.
>
>Wrong read?
>
>Other opinions?

Trying to make D2 too monotonous and easy in hopes that D2 players
will switch to WoW, with its fat monthly fee...? CtA and HotO were
bad enough, but the new words are worse. Being able to get many of
the best skills using rune words kinda nerfs the distinctiveness of
the classes, IMO. Plus the kiling power of some of these new words in
elite eth weapons will be ridiculous.

-- Roy L
 
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chainbreaker wrote:
> It looks to me like they'll pretty much kill any reason to trade for many
> of the upper level uniques, but the reason I say they're the final nail is
> that I think they'll make a game that had already become too easy in many
> ways even moreso. Not that I'm playing nowadays, anyway.
>
> Wrong read?
>
> Other opinions?
>

I more or less disagree with you.

The old runewords were already powerful enough to overthrow any unique
or rare item; but they didn't, because they were too hard to complete
(the best I made was Kingslayer)

When you look at the 23 new ones, you'll notice that a few of them are
incredibly powerful, but uniques or old runewords will always be better
candidates for some specific builds (especially every unique will be
better than my Oath ethereal thunder maul, don't try this at home :p)

The situation, as for the difficulty of this game, is unchanged IMHO.

The good thing is, you can have a Fortitude or a Phoenix or a Death
runeword and your character should be more or less equally powerful, you
only need to choose your flavour :)

I'm happy to see a couple of runewords with "on attack" mods. This will
definitely help with some builds, including the kick/blade assassin who
can now enjoy a couple of wonderful blade shield mods.
 
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"Babe Bridou" <babebridou@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:41bc0896$0$8112$8fcfb975@news.wanadoo.fr...

> (especially every unique will be better than my Oath ethereal thunder
maul, don't try this at home :p)

Not for a maul user they won't...
 

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On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 03:13:26 -0600, "Shiflet" <rshiflet@charter.net>
wrote:

>
>"Babe Bridou" <babebridou@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:41bc0896$0$8112$8fcfb975@news.wanadoo.fr...
>
>> (especially every unique will be better than my Oath ethereal thunder
>maul, don't try this at home :p)
>
>Not for a maul user they won't...

No, I think Babe's right. You're better off using just about any
other unique, even if you *are* a maul user.

Cause then you can do something actually useful with the runes you
didn't waste on a runeword that doesn't work :p
 
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Shiflet wrote:

> "Babe Bridou" <babebridou@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:41bc0896$0$8112$8fcfb975@news.wanadoo.fr...
>
>
>>(especially every unique will be better than my Oath ethereal thunder
>
> maul, don't try this at home :p)
>
> Not for a maul user they won't...
>

Oath can't be made in mauls; mine turned out as a gemmed maul, which is
generally less useful to a maul user than, say a bloodrise mace, which
at least is useful for leveling between levels 15 and 20.
 
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"Babe Bridou" <babebridou@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:41bc1aef$0$25760$8fcfb975@news.wanadoo.fr...
> Oath can't be made in mauls; mine turned out as a gemmed maul, which is
> generally less useful to a maul user than, say a bloodrise mace, which
> at least is useful for leveling between levels 15 and 20.

Ohh, oops. I thought mauls counted as maces...what DO they count as then, in
regards to runewords? I guess hammers...
 
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Shiflet wrote:
> "Babe Bridou" <babebridou@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:41bc0896$0$8112$8fcfb975@news.wanadoo.fr...
>
> > (especially every unique will be better than my Oath ethereal
> > thunder maul, don't try this at home :p)
>
> Not for a maul user they won't...

Actually they will as the runeword didn't work in the maul.
 
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On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 08:01:23 +0100, Gundemarie Scholz wrote:

> Last2Know wrote:
>> It will be interesting to see if any of the Act3 mercs can now become
>> powerful in light of this development:
>>
>> Spirit: 4 socket shields/swords Tal + Thul + Ort + Amn
>>
>> +2 To All Skills
>> +25-35% Faster Cast Rate (varies)
>> +55% Faster Hit Recovery
>> +15% Enhanced Defense
>> +250 Defense Vs. Missile
>> +22 To Vitality
>> +89-112 To Mana (varies)
>> Cold Resist +35%
>> Lightning Resist +35%
>> +3-8 Magic Absorb (varies)
>> Attacker Takes Damage of 14
>
> You would first have to find an ethereal monarch or some equipment that
> boosts his strength as a monarch is the (non-paladin-specific) shield with
> the lowest str requirement, but it still needs 156. At lvl 98 an act 3 merc
> can only have 153 natural str (see
> http://www.diabloii.net/townsfolk/sorc-fire.shtml).

Good point. I was thinking about using both sword and shield of
course. A shako with a Fal rune gives +12 strength and +2 skills.
Lionheart or a Duriel Shell with a Fal give +25 to strength, but no plus
skills. Chains of Honor armor gives +2 skills and +20 strength, and
Enigma gives +2 skills with a massive strength boost dependent on level.
Those rune words would would be ideal, but they nullify the aspect of
Spirit that it is made with accessible runes (I also consider Fal
readily available, though obviously it is rarer than Amn).
 
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Gundemarie Scholz wrote:
>
> You would first have to find an ethereal monarch or some equipment that
> boosts his strength as a monarch is the (non-paladin-specific) shield with
> the lowest str requirement, but it still needs 156. At lvl 98 an act 3 merc
> can only have 153 natural str (see
> http://www.diabloii.net/townsfolk/sorc-fire.shtml).

Well, if you're really really really rich, you'd 'just' give him a
chains of honor armor. That's +20 str, as well as another +2 skills and
+65 res all. A delirium helm would add another +2 skills. Spirit isn't
too expensive, so you could make a bunch to get perfect fcr.

That's +8 skills and +70 fcr from those four items. That's all he can
use, but it sure would help. I doubt it'll make 'em as good as act 2
mercs though. Or even act 1 mercs, who got a nice boost from these
runewords as well.
 
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> It will be interesting to see if any of the Act3 mercs can now become
> powerful in light of this development:
>
> Spirit: 4 socket shields/swords Tal + Thul + Ort + Amn
>
> +2 To All Skills
> +25-35% Faster Cast Rate (varies)

Actually, a little known fact about the lightning variety of the Act3
mercs... FCR doesn't seem to help them much. What DOES help is IAS. I
equipped my guy with a Shael'd Blood Crescent (best I could find at the
time) which has +35% IAS, and he just fills the screen with that lightning.
My Necro uses Lower Resist a lot, so this can be really effective. Hardest
part is levelling him, though. I'm sure if I could get him up to my level
(60-something), he'd kick a lot more ass, but it's hard for him to get any
of the killing blows what with being surrounded by a dozen skeletons all the
time. I'm thinking, if you could realy level one of these guys up, equip
him with a 6-Shael Crystal Sword, and a few other IAS items, (thinking
M'avina's True Sight, Twitchthroe or Crow Caw, maybe collect some Jewels of
Fervor...) he could really kick some serious butt, and we're not talking
about uber-hard-to-find gear here either...

Darrel Hoffman - Lvl 27+2 Game Guru
(Or maybe I just won't ever play again. Not decided on that yet...)
 
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"Darrel Hoffman" <i.dont@think.so> wrote in message
news:p6qdnUE8zYPxvCDcRVn-hQ@giganews.com...
> he could really kick some serious butt, and we're not talking
> about uber-hard-to-find gear here either...

An act 3 merc will never kick serious butt, as even with the godliest gear,
his damage in hell is pathetic.
 
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My my, doesn't "chainbreaker" <noone@nowhere.com> look good in that
trenchcoat:

> It looks to me like they'll pretty much kill any reason to trade for many
>of the upper level uniques, but the reason I say they're the final nail is
>that I think they'll make a game that had already become too easy in many
>ways even moreso. Not that I'm playing nowadays, anyway.

>Wrong read?

>Other opinions?

First up, yes, the runewords were designed by a crackhead.

But boo hoo. Don't like the words? Don't use em. Oh, wait, you quit the
game already to go play WoW, didn't you? Never mind. ;-)

Some of the words are going to be a boon for no twink players, some are there
for the dupers to play with. Yes, trading could well be a crock. Dueling
might not be balanced. PVM games could well become a romp. Well, has
anything changed? We simply got some new stuff to do with as we please.

What's the answer? Basic common sense, and intelligent use of the new toys.
 
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Stephen van Ham wrote:

> My my, doesn't "chainbreaker" <noone@nowhere.com> look good in that
> trenchcoat:
>
>
>>It looks to me like they'll pretty much kill any reason to trade for many
>>of the upper level uniques, but the reason I say they're the final nail is
>>that I think they'll make a game that had already become too easy in many
>>ways even moreso. Not that I'm playing nowadays, anyway.
>
>
>>Wrong read?
>
>
>>Other opinions?
>
>
> First up, yes, the runewords were designed by a crackhead.
>
> But boo hoo. Don't like the words? Don't use em. Oh, wait, you quit the
> game already to go play WoW, didn't you? Never mind. ;-)
>
> Some of the words are going to be a boon for no twink players, some are there
> for the dupers to play with. Yes, trading could well be a crock. Dueling
> might not be balanced. PVM games could well become a romp. Well, has
> anything changed? We simply got some new stuff to do with as we please.
>
> What's the answer? Basic common sense, and intelligent use of the new toys.
>

yeah! give the rift scepter to the BladeShield assassin! do that!
 
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On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 09:38:39 +1300, Stephen van Ham
<svanham@xtra.co.nz> wrote:

>My my, doesn't "chainbreaker" <noone@nowhere.com> look good in that
>trenchcoat:
>
>> It looks to me like they'll pretty much kill any reason to trade for many
>>of the upper level uniques, but the reason I say they're the final nail is
>>that I think they'll make a game that had already become too easy in many
>>ways even moreso. Not that I'm playing nowadays, anyway.
>
>>Wrong read?
>
>>Other opinions?
>
>First up, yes, the runewords were designed by a crackhead.
>
>But boo hoo. Don't like the words? Don't use em. Oh, wait, you quit the
>game already to go play WoW, didn't you? Never mind. ;-)
>
>Some of the words are going to be a boon for no twink players, some are there
>for the dupers to play with. Yes, trading could well be a crock. Dueling
>might not be balanced. PVM games could well become a romp. Well, has
>anything changed? We simply got some new stuff to do with as we please.
>
>What's the answer? Basic common sense, and intelligent use of the new toys.


Err - as far as PvP goes - those who play PvP for real have already
probably left this forum....... and the others, the likes of the tppk
crowd - probably couldn't give a rats ass about new runewords.

As I've said in many threads before - the only thing the current
Blizzard people can do to maintain any developing interest in the game
is to mess about with the data tables - ie a few new runewords here, a
few new items there, They can't fix the problems, and to be fair - why
should they. 'U' has a post in another thread which bemoans the fact
that they 'could' have asked Diablo PvP players to play on different
servers five years ago, but didn't - my guess is that on WoW they'll
have just the same PK problems in 6 months that they have on the
Diablo servers now.

PK'ing is *different* to PvP. It requires a different mindset.

Sorry if this was the wrong thread, and if the above doesn't make
sense to some of you.
It's been a long weekend.

Tim
 

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"Stephen van Ham" <svanham@xtra.co.nz> wrote in message
news:lpapr01pmlonus6bhi5janhoanc0r92uki@4ax.com...
> My my, doesn't "chainbreaker" <noone@nowhere.com> look good in that
> trenchcoat:
>
>> It looks to me like they'll pretty much kill any reason to trade for many
>>of the upper level uniques, but the reason I say they're the final nail is
>>that I think they'll make a game that had already become too easy in many
>>ways even moreso. Not that I'm playing nowadays, anyway.
>
>>Wrong read?
>
>>Other opinions?
>
> First up, yes, the runewords were designed by a crackhead.
>
> But boo hoo. Don't like the words? Don't use em. Oh, wait, you quit
> the
> game already to go play WoW, didn't you? Never mind. ;-)
>
> Some of the words are going to be a boon for no twink players, some are
> there
> for the dupers to play with. Yes, trading could well be a crock.
> Dueling
> might not be balanced. PVM games could well become a romp. Well, has
> anything changed? We simply got some new stuff to do with as we please.
>
> What's the answer? Basic common sense, and intelligent use of the new
> toys.
>

<snip>Dueling might not be balanced.<snip>

Grief

5 Socket Swords/Axes

Eth + Tir + Lo + Mal + Ral

35% Chance To Cast Level 15 Venom On Striking
+30-40% Increased Attack Speed (varies)
Damage +340-400 (varies)
Ignore Target's Defense
+25% Target Defense
+1.875 (per character level)% Damage To Demons (Based on Character Level)
Adds 5-30 Fire Damage
-20-25% To Enemy Poison Resistance (varies)
20% Deadly Strike
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 To Mana After Each Kill
+11 Life After Each Kill

This weapon looks like it will make V/T pallys and pure smiters pretty
dangerous.
 
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On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 00:56:40 +0000, Tim Nicholson wrote:

> As I've said in many threads before - the only thing the current
> Blizzard people can do to maintain any developing interest in the game
> is to mess about with the data tables - ie a few new runewords here, a
> few new items there, They can't fix the problems, and to be fair - why
> should they.

I'm not an anti-blizzard complainer type. But IMO, the the main
thing they need to fix is to make it easier for people who don't
know each other but want to play a together with chars of comparable
strength to hook up on realms. The chat and game filter system
could be a lot better than what they have now.
 
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"Dano" <dan@o.com> wrote in message
news:x83vd.740707$SM5.45757@news.easynews.com...
> <snip>Dueling might not be balanced.<snip>
>
> Grief
>
> This weapon looks like it will make V/T pallys and pure smiters pretty
> dangerous.

Pretty dangerous? Heck, a smiter with Astreon's or Lacerator is already
pretty dangerous. Now, if you're melee, facing a Grief smiter, you're dead.
Even casters aren't safe since the smiter will also have charge. I expect a
LOT of dueling circles to out and out ban this word, at least if they plan
on dueling melee.
 
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My my, doesn't "Dano" <dan@o.com> look good in that trenchcoat:

>
>> Some of the words are going to be a boon for no twink players, some are
>> there
>> for the dupers to play with. Yes, trading could well be a crock.
>> Dueling
>> might not be balanced. PVM games could well become a romp. Well, has
>> anything changed? We simply got some new stuff to do with as we please.
>>
>> What's the answer? Basic common sense, and intelligent use of the new
>> toys.

><snip>Dueling might not be balanced.<snip>
>
>Grief
>
>5 Socket Swords/Axes
>
>Eth + Tir + Lo + Mal + Ral
>
>35% Chance To Cast Level 15 Venom On Striking
>+30-40% Increased Attack Speed (varies)
>Damage +340-400 (varies)
>Ignore Target's Defense
>+25% Target Defense
>+1.875 (per character level)% Damage To Demons (Based on Character Level)
>Adds 5-30 Fire Damage
>-20-25% To Enemy Poison Resistance (varies)
>20% Deadly Strike
>Prevent Monster Heal
>+2 To Mana After Each Kill
>+11 Life After Each Kill
>
>This weapon looks like it will make V/T pallys and pure smiters pretty
>dangerous.

Yep yep, we already had something on that in another thread. Did you not
realise I was being tongue in cheek? ;-)
 
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Stephen van Ham wrote:
> Yep yep, we already had something on that in another thread. Did
> you not realise I was being tongue in cheek? ;-)

I musta missed it . . . did you say sumthin' 'bout your cheeks?

--
chainbreaker