Announcement

**The Mad Monk** · June 23, 2001, 01:45

I was playing in USEast just last night, and noticed that some interesting--and pleasent--changes in the treasures. For example, breaking a jug in act 2 NM (eight players) provided a stack of war javelins, 400 gold, and a flawless diamond.

*drool*

I also noticed that a lot of the sale prices have gone well up--rejuvs have gone from 12 to 200 gold (which makes a lot more sense, IMO), and a suit of blue ghost armor 'of the fox' went for better than 20K! With prices like these, who needs staves???

I also found blue chain gloves 'of the bat' (3% mana leech), a suffix I had never seen on gloves before, outside of the 'Hands of Broc'. All in all, a nice change.

BTW, I now see level reqs on gems, but have yet to see a level req on any of my uniques--is that an expansion-only thing, or did the good folks at Blizzard retract it entirely?

**Diablo, Bro. of Mephisto** · June 24, 2001, 00:42

Even more about the Exp. Pack

Thanks for your question.

your comment got me remembering something else about the exp pack,

Yes, the new patch (version 1.8) is incredible, adding incredible to crap to nightmare and hell difficulty levels.

In the Expansion set, there will be about 3 - 4 times the amount of affixes then there are currently in diablo2:

Quote:

"In Diablo II, there were/are approximately 180 affixes on items...in the expansion set, there will be nearly 600 - 800."
-Blizzard Designer

I forgot the guys name who said this, but I got it from the exp faq at diabloii.net,

But anyway, I think that quote says it all right there.

And about your question about the gems req. and unique req., the reason for the new req. on gems, is so that the lower lvl characters won't be able to use high quality gems, if they added a perfect gem (req. lvl 18) to a non-req lvl item, then that item would gain a req lvl 18 on it, because of the gem in it.

And about unique's, yes, in the exp pack, UNIQUES WILL HAVE REQUIREMENTS, the 1.8 patch also added this, although, none of the uniques that a character had before downloading it, will not be changed, but any uniques that are found AFTER downloading the 1.8 patch, will have req on them, this is for the purpose as the same as gems, so that low lvl characters can't use high lvl items any more, for example, the Stone Of Jordan ring, before it had no requirements, but after the new patch, any soj's that are found, will have a minimum req of something like lvl 15 (minimum).

I understand about your finding the flawless and crap...I had the same experience, I was playing in nightmare act 4 (in single player), and a normal monster dropped around 550 gold, and a flawless amithyst...I just about fell out of my chair.

And something more about the runes:

As I said before, there will be a total of 30 runes, each doing different things, some more powerfull then others. They sort of have their own lvls, the higher the lvl, the better stuff they do to items that they are added too, and the higher their lvl, the rarer they are. For example, the lowest class of rune (forgot its name), will do pretty week stuff, and will be the most commonly found,

Qoute:
"The first rune, will be found pretty commonly, usually as often as finding rings and gems."

And the last rune, and the most powerful, will be probably the rarest of items,

"The best of the runes, will be quite powerfull, BUT, will be EXTREMELY rare. You will be lucky, to EVER find one!"

The approximate statistics of the best rune are about 1 in every 800,000 of the weakest runes, so your chances are VERY slim of finding one.

Also, I did not say this (but I think you all get the idea), that runes and jewels will work like gems, and can be inserted into sockets.

And lastly, legit rares and uniques CAN now be socketed in the expansion set, but can only 1 socket per rare'unique item, and the regular socketed items, can now have up to 6 sockets, not just 3, so you can really customize your socketed item, and make it very powful in a curtain area, depending on the amount of the same gems you put into it, so if you put alot of amythists in it, it will have a very high +% to attack rating.

and I made a mistake in my previous post, I said:

"You will also be able to hold more items, (example: right now my lvl 58 amazon can hold approximately 300,000 in her stash, In the exp pack, she will be able to hold 1.4 mill...huge difference!)"

Well, I am sorry, I meant GOLD, that I will be able to hold up to 1.4 mill in gold in the exp pack.

Well, I think that about covers it.

**OldWarrior_42** · June 24, 2001, 02:12

Biggest complaint, if you would call it that, for me was whether or not you could have the choice to regenerate the levels with creatures or not.

What I mean by this is... say I clear out two thirds of the monsters in an act , but then something comes up and I have to save the game and pick it up at a later time. I would like to have the choice of whether I can have all the monsters reappear and I would have to kill them all over again or I can just pick up where I left off. Whereas the monsters I killed.... stay killed unless I say otherwise.

This would be the most appealling feature for me... as sometimes due to time constraints, I can't sit at the comp. and kill monsters for an hour at a time. Only to have to save and then when I get back to the game, I must clear it out all over again just to get back to the point I was at before I had to save from the last time I played.

Did they say anything about whether this would be an added feature or not?

For me... in DII....I have trouble trying to kill Diablo as my Barbarian is just not tough enough to go against him toe to toe without having to try to keep going back for replacement potions of life and mana...etc.
Then if I can't finish at that time and have to save, when I come back to try again... I have to clear out all the other monsters first...again... before trying to go back up against Diablo.

That would be the one feature in the game that I would pay for an xpack....even if they added absolutely nothing else to the game. And maybe if they fixed the bit of drag I get at times when playing in some of the acts due to sluggish movement or whatever you call it.

I have done all the different possible rememdies to rid myself of the sluggishness, but it is still there.

I know my comp is not the greatest machine but it should certainly be good enough to run this game as smooth as it ran the first one and the first xpack. I had 64mb ram and it is a 300 mhz...PII with a ATIrage pro fury 2xagp graphics card. Ran the first game and xpack smooth as hell.
I then increased memory to 128mb and it should be well enough for the second game but I get this sluggishness which bugs me at times. Just doesn't bug me enough to not want to play though.

This series of games is my 2nd all time favorite series of games next to the AoE/AoK games.

I still can't wait for the xpack. I have it on order at Best Buy.

Keep the info coming. It is much appreciated by us semi-lurkers.

**ravagon** · June 27, 2001, 01:41

For the really keen, this posted on diabloii.net ...

We've had reports that some Fry's and many other smaller software stores in the US
were selling copies Monday! If you've not already pre-ordered somewhere and sent money, you might want to call around to your local stores today and
tomorrow, just in case someone jumps the gun.
Update: EBWorld has updated their site in the last few hours, and now lists D2X as shipping today! We've gotten several mails already this morning from
people who found the Expansion on sale in local stores.

Unfortunately, it looks as if the darned Yanks are going to get the drop on the rest of the world again ... (sigh)

**Chowlett** · June 27, 2001, 06:35

excuse me while I drool... huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

Ooooooh, ok. Not only is LoD coming out on the 29th here (confirmation obtained from www.eb.uk.com), but they list the price as only £19.99! £20 for what is essentially a new stand-alone game. I'm really starting to like Blizzard!

(And it's just as well, because I stpidly updated to v 1.08 without thinking that it would, of course, cause my no-CD crack to stop working.)

**Father Beast** · June 27, 2001, 17:04

Originally posted by OldWarrior_42
Biggest complaint, if you would call it that, for me was whether or not you could have the choice to regenerate the levels with creatures or not.

What I mean by this is... say I clear out two thirds of the monsters in an act , but then something comes up and I have to save the game and pick it up at a later time. I would like to have the choice of whether I can have all the monsters reappear and I would have to kill them all over again or I can just pick up where I left off. Whereas the monsters I killed.... stay killed unless I say otherwise.

This would be the most appealling feature for me... as sometimes due to time constraints, I can't sit at the comp. and kill monsters for an hour at a time. Only to have to save and then when I get back to the game, I must clear it out all over again just to get back to the point I was at before I had to save from the last time I played.

Did they say anything about whether this would be an added feature or not?

For me... in DII....I have trouble trying to kill Diablo as my Barbarian is just not tough enough to go against him toe to toe without having to try to keep going back for replacement potions of life and mana...etc.
Then if I can't finish at that time and have to save, when I come back to try again... I have to clear out all the other monsters first...again... before trying to go back up against Diablo.

That would be the one feature in the game that I would pay for an xpack....even if they added absolutely nothing else to the game.

I agree, Old, this is the single most annoying thing about D2, which can make or break the expansion pack. Under the current system, saving is like starting a new game, almost.

lets see about sending a petition to blizzard. make an expansion pack where saving doesn't ressurect all the monsters... hey, that's a good idea!

**Chowlett** · July 1, 2001, 16:51

And I have it! I'd be playing it, but I'm online to see why my Sorceress doesn't appear for selection anymore...

**DinoDoc** · July 8, 2001, 12:13

What strategies do you people use to kill Baal?

**Dis** · July 10, 2001, 03:52

hehe I'm back in black, after an unfortunate bannning

if you character doesn't show up online, make sure you have downloaded the patch first (although this should happen automatically- this has happened to some people, not me though)

and baal. He's easy- except for my bowazon. I just whacked the hell out of him with my paladin (vengeance and sacrifice) and barbarian (whirlwind). My bowazon is struggling. Like I had to do with diablo, I will have to party with someone- multizons just aren't that powerful anymore. I will have to invest in some elemental arrows I suppose (and no more jab

)

**DinoDoc** · July 10, 2001, 23:26

I'm so happy.

I found a +1 necro ammulet and a Stone of Jordan ring tonight. Hopefully, the boost to my skill lvls will allow me to kill Baal now.

**Dis** · July 11, 2001, 01:33

hmm well I don't know about necros

I defeated him the other day (I was paladin, my brother was necro). But you can use the same technique. I recommend buying a hireling- although you will most likely lose them. It should be worth the expense. My brother hardly got touched. I sucked 15 rejuvs though. And of course have a sturdy golem. This should keep the heat off you. Keep amp (give hireling high damage sword). damage on. Probably iron maiden to (don't know much about necro). And lots of bone spirits and spears. Try poison as well.

I love act5. even those imps aren't a real problem.

**Diablo, Bro. of Mephisto** · July 14, 2001, 19:32

Act 5 Quest Rewards

Well, I am back...finally, after playing D2X alot since it came out (of course)...and I have beaten Baal on both normal and nightmare difficulties with my lvl 62 amazon, but hell is too hard right now, so I am stickin' with nightmare until I get to lvl 70-75 or so.

here i have listed all the quests and quest rewards...if I can remember them all that is:

1. First Quest - Stop the Siege of Harrogath.

This quest is quite easy, if you are a high enough lvl, all you have to do is kill a demon out in the first area outside of the fort, his name is, Shenk the Oversear. He's a big ugly dude, who is surrounded by lesser demons, and he's quite easy on normal.

The Quest reward for stopping the siege (killing Shenk the Oversear) is that the blacksmith (forgot his name hehehe) will socket one of your items for free...kinda like imbueing in act 1. NOTE - only regular and magical items may have more then 1 socket, but rares, sets, and unique items may only have 1 socket, keep that in mind.

2. Quest 2 - Rescue the Barbarian Soldiers

Que-Kehk (the mercenary captain for act 5) will give you this one...you must rescue 15 of his captured soldiers out in the second area. It is a different quest then the rest in the game...and will give you fond memories of Warcraft II.

The 15 soldiers are in groups of five, and will be inclosed in a wooden prison, you will recognize it on your auto-map by the 'prisons' being white.

Once you have rescued all 15 of Que-Kehk's soldiers, he will give you the first runeword of the game, Ancients Pledge, which is a shield. He also gives you the runes that are req. for that runeword, Tal, Ral, and Ort. He also allows you to higher barbarian mercenaries from then on out.

3. Quest 3 - Rescueing Anya.

Malah, the Healer will give you this one. You must go find Anya and resque her in the frozen river (the 3rd or 4th area).

Once you have rescued her, for the quest reward malah will give you a scroll of resistance, right click on it to use it, and it will give you +10 to all resistances. NOTE - This may not seem very much, but once you have done this quest on all three difficulties, your resistances will have jumped a total of 30%, which will come in handy against that darned -100 resists in hell difficulty.

Now, go talk to Anya, and she will "Personalize" one of your items, adding your characters name to the front of the selected item (example: my amazons name is rogue, before my bows name was, something like Dread Lock, after she personalized it, it became, Rogue's Dread Lock).

When you talk to Anya in town, she will give you the fourth Quest:

4. Quest Four - Defeating Nihlathak

What happened to Anya in quest 3 was that Nihlathak the traitor captured anya, and imprisoned her within an ice chamber, that is when you rescue her. Now for this quest...you must take Anya's portal to Nihlathak's temple, and defeat him. Note - Beware of his corpse explosion, even my amazon had 800 life, and she still took heavy damage.

Once you defeat him, go talk to anya again and she will give you a class-specific item of the character that you are currently playing (example: if you are a necromancer, she will give you a new totem, if yuo are a paladin, she will give you a new shield, etc).

5. Quest 5 - Defeating the Ancients.

In this quest, you must prove yourself worthy of entering mt. arreat by defeating the 3 ancients, who can be quite tough, depending on your lvl. Note - you MUST defeat all 3 ancients before casting a tp (townportal) and going back to town, if you leave the area, or cast a tp before ALL 3 are dead, then they all go back to their original position, and you must fight them all over again.

The Quest reward for defeating them is being able to enter the World Stone chamber (where Baal is), and a huge experience bonus. The experience bonus rises with each difficulty lvl, on normal, they will give you 1 million experience, and nightmare they will give you 20 million (can you believe it!?), and on hell, 50 million, yes...a huge bonus. When I defeated them on nightmare, they boosted my lvl from 59 to 62, I think its one of the best quest rewards in the game.

6. Final Quest - Defeating Baal, Lord of Destruction.

This quest is like the first one, go find Baal in the worldstone chamber and kill him, the act is over.

But...you must first defeat his minions before going into the worldstone chamber itself...and on nightmare, his minions are a crap load to deal with.

The quest reward for defeating Baal is simply beating the game, completing act 5, and getting whatever he drops when you kill him.

Well, I think I have said enough...but one last thing...the expansion is awesome, there is so much more do to and to find then D2.

last note - my amazon is lvl 62, and her name is rogue, and she has lots to trade on battle.net...if anyone is interested...including arkaines valor armor.

She also has a 84-250 damage lance, a 28 - 160 damage bow, and a few runes, and rings and amulets, and LOTS of gems. she's also got a mid-lvl shield with like 60 defense, and some nice amazon javelins with +1 to javelin and spear skills. oh yeah, a pare of war boots and gauntlets too.

Im done.

**Cthol** · July 17, 2001, 19:54

blah

**Chowlett** · July 18, 2001, 15:47

Grr. Got a Shae and an Eth rune, so I thought, hey let's make a Rhyme shield. So I find a bone shield, get Larzuk to socket it - yay, it has two sockets. So I pop in Shae, then Eth and get... a ShaeEth shield. Luckily I took a backup, but what gives?

Unfortunately, I neglected to take a backup before I imbued some splint mail, so I've got a 4 affix rare armour, of which one is "of Ease". Grr. Oh well, not long till I defeat Baal, then Cuprosti the Sorceress can go get the second imbue and try again.

Announcement

Diablo II: Expansion Pack (release date!!!)

Diablo II: Expansion Pack (release date!!!)

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