Fotds: July 2001

The information presented in these archived FotDs is now outdated, but that's often the most interesting thing about them, seeing how much the game has changed from then to now.

The original FotDs are indented and italicized. Explanatory comments below them were written by Flux at the time the FotDs were archived, usually a couple/few months after the original FotDs had been presented.

• FotD archives main page.

July 1, 2001

Raising some or all of your resistances to a potential max of more than 75% is not a new D2X feature, but more people are now noticing it since there are more ways to do it. In Diablo II only a few uniques and one nice set reward could get your resistances over 75%, but there are more items that do this in D2X, and even four scarce Runes, Gul, Vex, Ohm, and Lo, that add 5% to one type of resistance when socketed in helm, shield, or armor. The max possible for a character is is 95% resistance.

This was thought to be a big deal early on, that everyone would shortly have 90% resistance to everything. It's not turned out that way, since other than Guardian Angel there's not much that's used to raise max resistances. A bigger factor in it is players being so crazy for Magic Find gear they prefer that to resistance stuff. Also the game has gotten much easier as players have accumulated better equipment, and big resistance isn't needed to survive. The only players who really worry about big big resistances now are PvP'ers.

July 11, 2001

The number of sockets in items sold and dropped by monsters is capped by the difficulty level you are playing. Nothing can be found with more than three sockets on normal difficulty. On Nightmare you can find up to four in Armor, Weapons, and shields, but no non-Pal non-Elite shields have more than three sockets possible. On Hell everything can be found with the maximum possible sockets, a number that varies from item to item. The number of sockets you get from the socketing quest seems to be tied to the difficulty level as well, with less than the max given on normal.

This was modified a number of times and made much more complicated. The maximum sockets in an item is now determined by the item type, and the Mlvl of the monster that drops it.

July 14, 2001

In v1.08 D2 and D2X, you can no longer gamble Uniques, but it is now possible to find a Unique in a game when someone in the game has that Unique already. The rule is now that only one of each Unique can generate in a game; items character bring into the game don't count in the equation.

This was something worried about, since in D2C you can't find a unique that someone already has in that game. There were very few Uniques worth using them, and you could always go gamble them in a solo game, if you didn't have it on yourself. But in D2X since you couldn't gamble uniques/sets at all (at this time) how was a player to ever get one?

July 21, 2001

Most of the surface areas of Act Five have fortified areas, with walls and guard towers, that usually have an Imp in it going nuts with Inferno. These towers must be destroyed to stop the Imp, or you can just bypass them. One handy trick for a Barbarian is the ability to use Whirlwind and go right through the tower, getting inside the wall. It can be quicker than running around to the doorway. Thanks to HavocMachine for the tip.

This still works, and it was back when players actually did Act Five outdoor areas other than the Bloody Hills.

July 27, 2001

In v1.08 of the Expansion, there are no 6 socket Swords or Bows to be found, just five socket at most, for any type. There are some six-socket crossbows, but no bows. This will be changed in v1.09, and the types of swords and bows listed as eligible for six sockets will be possible with them. Check our weapons pages for all the relevant stats.

This was due to a bug in the game code, since various types were meant to have up to 6 sockets, but it wasn't possible. It's all been fixed now.