Now, onto the feedback from this past week!
From: Michel F.
Subject: Mailbag - v1.10
I have an experimental assassin build on U.S. East, an elemental assassin
who is maxing (among other things) Phoenix Strike and Lightning Claws. It's
been moderately successful thus far, better than many assassins at fighting
groups of monsters (when you can freeze everything in your radius with 3
charges of Phoenix Strike, cowing is fuuuuuun) but not capable of the insane
amounts of damage that maxed Tiger Strike and Claw Mastery assassins can do
with their Cruel Scissors Suwwayhas and such. Now, with the system in v1.10
where skills complement each other, what are the odds that my build is going
to suddenly become a lot more powerful?
You chose a particularly good build for the Synergy bonuses in v1.10; Phoenix Strike and Lightning Claws provide bonuses to each other. Unfortunately PlanetDiablo hasn't been updated with all the new skill statistics from v1.10 yet, though we are hard at work on them. But, to help you out in the meantime, the specific bonuses are:
Claws of Thunder: +8% Lightning Damage Per Level (bonus from Phoenix Strike)
Phoenix Strike: +13% Lightning Damage Per Level (bonus from Claws of Thunder)
Claws of Thunder only receives one Synergy effect, while
Phoenix Strike receives bonuses from several skills. Phoenix
Strike's complete Synergy bonuses are:
+10% Fire Damage Per Level (from Fists of Fire)
+6% Average Fire Damage Per Second Per Level (from Fists of Fire)
+13% Lightning Damage Per Level (from Claws of Thunder)
+10% Cold Damage Per Level (from Blades of Ice)
So depending on your skill distribution, you may notice no difference in the effectiveness of your Assassin. On the contrary, you may notice a significant difference. From the current information I have, I cannot tell you which it is in your case.
From: Wes
Subject: 1.10 feedback
I like the new items coming out, thats pretty much it. the rest SUCKS, like less experience in cow games whomps. deleted bugged items sucks too. i think they should leave diablo as it is now.
You're complaining about the game being fixed. Cow runs for experience were highly unbalanced towards players, and bugged items were obviously an exploit. If they left Diablo II as it was in v1.09, the game would be in serious need of repairs. And they've now just been administered.
From: Shock2k3
Subject: 1.10 mostly good stuff but there is some bad stuff
There are good things and bad things about this
patch. Mostly there's good stuff.
First of all Paladin is finally an easier class to play
[Cheers!] as since finding
special weapons for him is much easier than it used to be.
After leveling up to level 23 with the shield spell that
boosts up defense my defense is 466. Spooky thing is when
I use the armour shrine my defense says 666 now that gave
me the chills. [Hey, this is
Diablo.] Items are easier to find and
gold ammounts seemed to be beefed up a little bit.
Unfortunate things are that the monsters have been beefed
up so much even with 466 defense on easy level [Normal difficulty?] in Kurast
it is very easy to get damaged pretty badly so a helper
NPC (namely the magician) is a necessity [I think they prefer "Sorcerer."] if you want to
survive for while without dying. Before getting to Kurast
and battling duriel even with helping NPC I died 6 or 7
times (OUCH) Defense was about 430.
Second bad thing is many Horadric cube recipes have changed.
To make a Rejuvenation potion adding a chipped jewel to
3 mana potions and 3 health potions is necessary other wise
it doesn't work. [Also see our complete
v1.10 final cube
recipes list.] Also I have tried the 2 chipped
gems with regular swords and
that recipe hasn't worked either. [You need 3 chipped gems.] Getting 2 chipped gems
and a ring in the cube and trying to transmute it doesn't
work either. [Our Coral Ring recipe
was outdated before now.] Oh boy I got a feeling
many horadric recipes have changed. Thank god 3 gems of
same type give a higher level gem of next level.
I've yet got to get to act 4 and see what type of
goodies await. I still have to find Khalim's eye so I
can make Khalim's will and beat Mephisto.
Question, how can I get a Stone of Jordan without
losing all my darn money. I lost 55,000 in gold trying
to bid with the NPC's and I always get some really
crappy ring. I really want to see the secret mission
where you transmute stones of jordan to make a portal.
The Stone of Jordan is difficult to find for low-level characters, but once you get going in late Nightmare and Hell difficulty, you'll be finding a lot more unique items. Plus, you'll have more gold available for gambling. It turns out that you don't need to use the Cube for the World Event, and if you haven't read our guide to the World Event, go do so.
From: Neb Gnuoy
Subject: 1.10 Final Patch Reactions
Hello again, in this e-mail I will tell you my personal feelings [Kleenex armed and ready.] on 1.10. Overall I think 1.10 was a huge sucess. Now, let's focus on some of the specific points.
Rust Storm: No
Rust storm didn't do it's job. There are still dupes and I know this for a fact. There is also still bugged items, which isn't good at all. [Plus, some legit items have been rumored to be affected. Characters have also been flagged for cheating when not guilty.]
Difficulty: YES
Okay, this is my favourite part about the 1.10 patch, the difficulty. It's not much harder than 1.09, [Prepare for flames.] after playing through it, but, it's like, you level up to a nice level each difficulty, you don't just speed through. [Good! That's the way it's supposed to be.] It's survivable, for sure, just not sure about hell mode so far, but I'm in act5 nightmare, and so far it has just gotten more fun. [You're in for a big surprise in Hell difficulty.]
Ladder: Yes
Ladder is great, I like the idea a lot that there is a clean slate, if you will, and everybody starts clean. I'm doing hardcore ladder now, and It's a blast. There aren't really PKs yet, and most of the people are rather nice.
Items: Yes
I think the new items are good too, I mean the 1.10 versions. They are great, also, they drop frequently. It's no longer the case that only an MF botting 99 sorc can get good items, because, while I was doing act1 i picked up 3 rather good uniques (blood fist, pelta luntana, unique mace).
Waiting Room/Lobby: Yes
This is a good idea, I hated seeing spammers while I was
looking for a game, and it's just a change, which is good. [Took 'em long enough.]
World Event: Yes
Though I don't think people actually sell SOJs, I think the counter goes up when they do to make it seem like they do and so hackers/cheaters (you pick) will sell them in their own stupidity. I mean, I highly doubt that 800 SOJs have been sold a day. Diablo clone was awesome! Great fun.
Well, when some players have 40 Stones of Jordan per character, it adds up to a lot. Honestly, you are probably not far off track with your SoJ counter theory. Thanks for the brief review of v1.10 and happy hunting!
From: Battle Scarred Barbarian
Subject: patch 1.10
I would be interested to see how many people agree with or oppose this opinion but i think the patch 1.10 upgrade has made the monsters too damned tough.
On single player i have a level 67 barbarian and i had just completed nightmare difficulty before installing the patch. Id completed the first few quests on Act I of Hell and it was going ok... until patch 1.10 comes along. Now I can barely leave the Rogue Encampment before i run into trouble, even the weakest of monsters are giving me a hard time. I think Blizzard have "beefed up" the monsters just a little too much.
Subsequently i havent yet been able to fully explore all of the added fixes and improvements that have been implemented in the new Patch, in fact i can barely play at all now in Hell so my only option is going back to a lesser difficulty which ive already completed.
Leveling up in Nightmare difficulty might not be such a bad idea, even when you're already level 67. I also suggest playing in parties in Open multi-player TCP/IP games as much as possible, as doing such is quite beneficial to your survival and actual ability to play in v1.10 Hell difficulty. Read the complete list of Patch 1.10 changes in our Files collection.
From: DJ
Subject: Of patches and things...
Hi there...
Just had a quick question, and was wondering if anyone else was having a
similar problem.
Before the official release of the LoD version 1.10 paatch was released, I
had downloaded the beta version (1.10s, I believe) Last night I downloaded
the official patch. When I tried to install it, I got theeee message that
the version I was using was newer than the patch and so it wasn't necessary
to install.
Just wondering if there is any way to install the patch without losing the
beta characters I've been playing with for quite some time.
Here's the best plan I could come up with....lemme run it past you.
I saved the 1.10 "save" directory to cd. I was thinking of uninstalling D2
then re-installing it and copying the old save directory to the new game.
The only problem I can see with this approach is....
I noticed that the saved characters have d2s extensions, and I'm afraid they
might not be compatible with the newest release.
Any ideas, advice, constructive criticism, etc.....would be greatly
appreciated. (Actually, I appreciate the fact that there is someone out
there to drop a line to...I'm going to keep looking over the site and see if
I can find the, as of yet, elusive info board.
Unfortunately you can't keep your v1.10 beta characters. To install the final patch, you need to use the batch file labeled "Revert to 109" to uninstall it, and then apply the final version of the patch.
From: Kernalum
Subject: Horadric Cube Recipe
Hey, it seems to me that many of these recipies don't work. I've tried making a cobalt ring w/ versioin 1.10 and it doesn't work. I'm using a single player character, does this matter? I was wondering if maybe many of the recipies only work in the realms. Also, I tried opening the portal to the cow level, and it wouldn't transmute. My char had beaten the game in normal. Is the somthing that only works in the Realms?
Actually, most of the Horadric Cube recipes work for everyone (not just on the Realms). Consult our brand new listing of all Horadric Cube Recipes that work in v1.10 for more information
From: Michael Gaugler
Subject:
Dear PlanetDiablo,
I just installed the newest patch v1.10. I have a 77lvl sin. character. I am on nightmare in act 5. I have been leveling up waiting to reach the summit fight. I had been looking forward to the improvements from the new patch. Boy am I disappointed. I feel that my character is now handicapped. I am running away from monsters now and almost dying during large battles. My cobra strike and dragon claw combination does not always leech life and mana back to me. Often I am out of mana like I am having it removed from me. Are other assassins having the same problem as I am having? It also seems as if monsters that were in previous acts have returned such as bone mages now. If this continues I might just abandon the game which is sad because of all of the time I have spent playing up to this point. I really enjoy your web site. Thank you.
One of the features of v1.10 is a reorganized distribution of monsters. Monsters
were given a larger variety, especially in Act Five, in order
to spice the game up a bit. So, that's why you're seeing monsters
that you wouldn't usually expect in various locations. Other
players having similar troubles with Assassin characters may
write in and
tell us about your experiences.
From: Bart Gunderson
Subject: Diablo Clone
I don’t have too many tips for defeating Diablo’s clone, but here is what I do know.
He can spawn anywhere there is a super unique monster.
That means any act, including Tristram. [Well,
Tristram's not an Act, but it's in Act One.]
Once the screen goes dark immediately find a super unique
monster. I don’t know this for certain, but it seem likely
from my experience, once the screen returns to normal it
is too late to spawn a clone. In terms of logistics, the
best super unique to replace is Griswold. Tristram is easy
to find and has weak monsters. It also has those nice burning
buildings which will allow you a respite from Clone if you
need to heal or take a town portal. You may even be able
to trap him in one. [Great tip!]
Other monsters like Corpsefire, Diablo, and Mephisto are
all good possibilities if you’re in the area at the time.
Some monsters you definitely don’t want to be around are
Pindleskin, Baal, and the Council members in Travincal.
Unless you have a Necromancer, Paladin with redemption,
Barbarian with find item/potion, or Assassin with death
sentry, the monsters near pindle will destroy you. I accidentally
set this off in a game and eight players all over lvl 80
couldn’t do anything but die. Baal is simply hard to get
to and his area is hard on zons and casters. Council members
can heal Clone mid-fight [Ouch!] and there ai’s are brutal in 1.10.
Think hydras lots and lots of hydras.
Surviving once you found him isn’t too hard if you know what you’re doing. Like the normal Diablo fire absorb is critical if you intend to stay out melee range. If you can sacrifice other mods, The Rising Sun amulet will help you immensely. It provides up to 74% fire absorb (based on character level) making you immune to 3 out of 4 of Clones ranged attacks. Thundergod’s vigor, Lightsaber, Dwarf Star ring, and Hellmouths war gauntlets are also an option if you need lightning absorb or have an amulet you can’t live without. Never stand in front of him if you don’t have lightning absorb, and if he chases you, he’ll kill you in one hit so run away or take a tp. I can’t give many tips on tanking Clone. Just make sure you have the “cannot be frozen” mod, max lighting resist and absorb, and hit him fast and hard. What ever you do, bring at least a few rejuvenation potions and hotkey a town portal.
Don't forget that the Diablo clone can cast Armageddon. This makes him especially dangerous, in addition to all his other attacks.
Running for my life in Hell, Hell, Hell...
That's a wrap for this week, folks! Be sure to send in your comments, questions, and other notes of interest regarding next week's topic. Feel free to ask or comment about other topics, too!
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