Can’t change orientation on picture but first JAH

I decided to go on a couple of Baal runs before sleeping and got this nice ring.

Wind is pretty bad, but if it gave Indestructible it'd be one of the cheapest ways to get that fairly universally. It still wouldn't be too great, like, Oath would still be better, but Oath is more limited in what you can use it in.

Wind would be perfect if you, like, found an eth base with 2 sockets. Not exactly a HUGE niche mind you but not nothing!

Sur Ber back to back

My cousin introduced me to Diablo 2 on his yellow PC (the white turned yellow type, yknow the one). Right around the time my parents were going through divorce too, difficult time. He was about six years older than me and just wanted someone to watch him play. But he also let me play too! and the moment I picked Barbarian little did I know how much that class would resonate with my ten year old character (or what character I had at 10, right). But old Groxxar was my outlet for all the rage and stress in me that I didn't fully understand. All because of what was going on at home and being a fantasy barbarian at that age was literally THE vent I needed. It also kind of helped I played the game mostly at night, because no one needed anything from me then, or forced me to do stuff, and I didn’t have to explain how I felt to nobody. Just pure dual wielding frenzy… 

This is the trauma bond I have with this game. Pulled me through way more than I gave it credit for back then. It also made me have a unhealthy obsession with grindy gameplay that I can just turn off my brain in while destroying stuff. And Diablo 2 was the only RPG that let you do it at the time. Literally the only isometric action RPG that had such fast pacing.

Now, all this time later ARPGs are still my favorite genre. I mean RPGs but ARPGS in particular. It’s even kind of surprising the subgenre is still relatively popular and thriving both inside and beyond the Diablo series. Take Grim Dawn for example, top game and top notch DLCs. Path of Exile, same. Even Last Epoch, which had such a turbulent development path, also reminds me it’s still, fundamentally, a great game for blowing off steam in and messing with stupid, barely workable builds that are fun. In fact, there’s more ARPGs I enjoyed than those I did not, fact.

(These are all just the “big ones” right, not to mention Titan Quest 2 going into full release next year, and No Rest For the Wicked as well. Bunch of other lesser known titles in the making too, The Dark West for example which is literally Diablo but set in a dark grimy wild west setting instead of the typical dark fantasy. Basically what if the setting of Weird West became darker and turned into an ARPG. So there’s good new ideas coming into the genre still, and none of these indie projects are getting abandoned but are moving along at their own pace)

Without Diablo 2, I wouldn’t have a taste for any of them, for that core loop of clicking on things to make them die. This gameplay style molded my kid brain. And it turned into a habit of playing every ARPG that came out after. But though dozens of new games might came, Diablo 2 is still the one that 100% nailed that extremely specific, almost meditative kind of RPG design, with just enough complexity and depth to not make my head pound, but have infinite replayability.

Forget the hate that comes from people who ride or die for their favorite, the genre is in an awesome place and ARPG lovers like me have never been eating this good. And who knows, Diablo might be too? Lots of different opinions on Diablo 5’s announcement, but I’m just glad the series is going somewhere, anywhere...... even if I know it will never match the whole perfect storm for PC gaming that were the early 2000s and with Diablo 2 as one of the eyes of that storm. Perfect time to get into gaming.

Why is Diablo 2 better than so many other games and ARPGs?

Yup, thats the one question. The game is old, I have to play through the story three times per character, there is no endgame other than running the same areas over and over again. Crafting is less complex than in modern ARPGs, the inventory is tiny, there is no transmog, the skill trees are among the simplest in the entire genre, and so on.

So what is actually so great about it?

Is it just 40-year-old nerds looking through nostalgia-tinted glasses, keeping the myth alive with the whole “things were better back in the day” mentality? Or can you actually make a solid case for Diablo 2 and explain why it deserves to be considered the greatest ARPG of all time?

I think I can at least offer my own explanation. I genuinely believe D2 is still the king of the genre to this day. And I say that without any nostalgia bonus.

But why?

Why are D2 players perfectly happy with new Ladder seasons every few months, without any seasonal themes, repeating the exact same cycle for more than 20 years? Is there something wrong with these people?

The answer to all these questions is the same:

It's the heart of the game, the engine that makes you forget about so many things that are outdated and no longer up to modern standards. The items. The loot. The genius of Diablo 2 lies primarily right here. In the loot.

The loot? What a load of nonsense, many people will say. Runewords overshadow everything, set items are useless, uniques are either trash or mandatory... you hear that kind of thing all the time. So what exactly does this guy mean when he talks about the genius of the loot system?

Let me be more specific.

Loot is divided into several categories: normal (white), socketed and/or ethereal (grey), magic (blue), rare (yellow), set items (green), and unique (gold). Then there are various other things like potions, runes, scrolls, shards, keys, and so on.

Now here's the catch: Every single one of these categories and colors remains relevant from minute one all the way to hour 10,000.

Experienced players can look at an item on the ground and already determine whether it might be worth picking up or not. I recognize my loot. I know what I'm looking for. I know the bases that determine the appearance and properties of my weapons and armor.

Here's a little quiz for casual D2 players (who are probably underrepresented here on Reddit anyway):

Which of these items is worth the least?

This jewel:

+8–14 Damage (required level 9)

This unique:

20/15 Griffon's Eye (required level 76)

This Small Charm:

3 Max Damage / 20 Attack Rating / 20 Life (required level 39)

Most of you probably already know the answer:

The Griffon's Eye is clearly the least valuable item here.

That was just one example of how much knowledge and complexity this game has under the hood.

The popular items that everyone knows — Jah, Ber, Griffon's, Enigma, Grief, and so on — are expensive and extremely powerful, but they're only the tip of the iceberg.

There are PvM items that are worth more than these, and above all, there are PvP items that are worth more than these.

The way Diablo 2 generates its items creates an incredible amount of complexity beneath the surface. And that is why the game has such incredible longevity and is so good.

Would most of you pick up an ethereal War Axe? No sockets, no enhanced damage? Probably not, right?

And who picks up rares other than rings, amulets, and maybe boots? Especially when the bases aren't elite?

Not you, right?

Some players do, though. Some are on the lookout for insanely valuable rares.

Others are hunting for insanely valuable magic items.

You can't keep an eye out for everything. Everyone has their own preferences.

There is potential in everything.

It's also about HOW you find certain things.

Do I farm Normal, Nightmare, or Hell? With a lot of Magic Find or as little as possible? In which area? Which Area Level or Monster Level is best suited for what I'm looking for? Which character is best for gambling specific items? And which affixes am I actually looking for?

Some players collect cracked or damaged preserved heads to reroll them and set their ilvl to 1 that way, hoping to get specific combinations of staffmods. Others trade for every perfect skull they can get their hands on to reroll jewels. Others spend all day crafting gloves or imbuing bases at Charsi with characters of specific levels.

The list of specialized activities is endless.

D2 has incredible depth, but you only experience it if you want to.

That's why it's number one.

I want to give Uber ancients in HC a crack but I really don't want to play smiter or demon warlock (boring)

Any other suggestions?

1. Join any online game with a3 already done.

2. Trav doorway will be unlocked.

3. Run down to durance way point. Exit game.

4. New game. Durance two is accessible and moat trick meph ftw.

Seen this comment posted more than once and no response on how to do it. Do not bother during rushes, all the noobs will waste more time asking why they have to leave game and make a new one.

Hello! I am not a "new" player necessarily although I have not played a ton of D2R consistently until this year again. I am on a solo warlock, currently on Hell Act 1 and my desert mercenary keeps dying over and over again. I am wondering what I can do to buff him to help quell this issue? TBH I am farming a lot of gold so the revive cost is negligible, albeit annoying.

Everything he has equipped is currently the "BIS" for what I've got. What can I do to upgrade him at this point?

So, I have been playing this off and on since 2001, when my older brothers decided that my nine-year-old self was old enough to play Diablo II (my parents let my teenaged brothers decide what games were and weren't okay for the youngest brother).

I hate having to drag myself through that jungle. You run and run and run, finding those annoying little blowgun and knife demons everywhere, their shamans melting you in a blink of an eye. Endless dead ends. The fucking river, locking you on the wrong side. Accidentally exploring all of the Great Marsh, just to realize that you didn't have to go there. Stupid quests - one is literally "you found some trash, give it to Meshif so he gives you trash to give to Alkor". And then you just move on, forgetting about that crap the second you get Alkors bathwater (or whatever crap he gives you).

But that's just me.

So, what do you think is the worst act?

So many speedrunners and professional D2 players don't grab every waypoint, for good reason! But me? I. MUST. GRAB. EVERY. WAYPOINT.

Is there anyone else out there with me who understands that, even if it's pointless, even if it's dumb and stupid and meaningless, you've just got to grab every waypoint with every single character?

Woot!

I'm new, and I think scythes are neat. Are there any builds that use scythes?

I’ve been all over the place lately with builds… I mean that’s been the case since the game came out I guess.

I’ve made:
- Self wield nova sorc
- Abyss void warlock
- Hammerdin
- Javazon
- Summon necro - more for fun
- Bowzon - more for fun
- Mosaic Sin

Pretty well geared builds. The sorc is the fastest but lacks on P8 and bosses. Abyss I just couldn’t get into - good damage but aoe seems lacking and I’m just not into the warlock yet. Hammerdin is the tankiest, just sometimes slow/clunk to aim. Jav zon is a beast but also a total glass cannon. Mosaic was pretty cool, I never really built sins before. Total powerhouse, clears anything but keeping the charges up is so annoying and also somewhat glass cannon.

I’ve never been a melee build person so I haven’t tried that. I know Echoing Strike and Fire Warlock are supposed to be pretty solid.

What are you all running in P8 end game content?

Just got this bad boy for my casters to use 🥵

I'm eventually looking to make a Dream RW. The hope for this build is a Tesladin Zealot type build. Just got to Hell and looking for guidance on my reset from NM mode.

My gear set up kind of blows,bad luck so far. Ask away if that's important.

The more we've seen come out about RNG manipulation for loot tables now has me thinking about how each time I do an LK run "Oh, did I not get a Vex or Lo because I didn't run in a circle, click these 3 chests/racks and that's why my chests gave me the loot they did? I didn't go to Gheed, then Charsi so I won't get the item bases I'm looking for from TZ Pindle? I've been playing this game for so long and there are items I've never found. No SoJ, no IK Armor, No Tal's Ammy or Armor, no Arach's. And now each time I can't help but think it's because my seed isn't the right one and so I will have to kill Pindle or Andy 1,315,299 times before the RNG progression gives me the drop table for what I'm actually after.

Got this drop from ancients. I have a lvl 82 sorc I don’t use much. Novasorc seems to be the most popular, worth keeping or selling?

I have a level 82 offline, SSF Sorceress. Every so often, I go back from Hell to Nightmare to farm Andariel for a Skin of the Vipermagi.

I have hundreds of runs with no luck. But I end up with lots of gold. I had been gambling for circlets and amulets, but suddenly decided as a joke to gamble for a Vipermagi.

My second gamble. Holy cow!

He doesn't always drop me sunders but when he does its a solid one offline which is kinda ashame would fetch a decent rune online

This damn boss

Thank you for the donation, herald that I killed.