Diablo 2 1.13 Patch possibly as soon as next week! Join us!

[Brycepops]

d2 runs fine on a w7 machine. my issue is i want to play it windowed (since it looks horrid stretched out on a 28" monitor), but i don't want to play it in the super-small window that it defaults to...i'd like to stretch it out a bit bigger. can't find a command to make that work.

AFAIK, there are no commands for that. You'd have to download a mod to up the resolution, and even then you probably wouldn't be able to play on b.net.

[relyanCe]

d2 runs fine on a w7 machine. my issue is i want to play it windowed (since it looks horrid stretched out on a 28" monitor), but i don't want to play it in the super-small window that it defaults to...i'd like to stretch it out a bit bigger. can't find a command to make that work.

patch notes mentioned adding ingame commands to run in windowed (-windowed IIRC)

it also mentioned adding new graphics settings for widescreen resolutions

[SoulinEther]

patch notes mentioned adding ingame commands to run in windowed (-windowed IIRC)

it also mentioned adding new graphics settings for widescreen resolutions

windowed mode has existed for a long time - the question is if you can scale it or not.

[relyanCe]

windowed mode has existed for a long time - the question is if you can scale it or not.

it also mentioned adding new graphics settings for widescreen resolutions

la-dee-da-dee-da

[SoulinEther]

la-dee-da-dee-da

by scaling i meant resizing the window.. just tested it with the latest patch and it doesn't seem possible.

edit: just realized the issue was with D2 stretching to fill a widescreen monitor... never mind then.

[Gario]

For those that are going on here when it comes out, I can go either Windy druid or Arty/Fishymancer - whichever would be better for everyone . Oh, and do please tell me if you're doing Hardcore, since I can't play the game in normal, anymore (it just takes the fun out of it all).

I'm pumped.

[SoulinEther]

For those that are going on here when it comes out, I can go either Windy druid or Arty/Fishymancer - whichever would be better for everyone . Oh, and do please tell me if you're doing Hardcore, since I can't play the game in normal, anymore (it just takes the fun out of it all).

I'm pumped.

I'd do you hardcore, and all ni--

but I'm ok with either. I imagine softcore would be the more popular choice, though..

[Gario]

A year after this thread was originally posted, I'm sure that there is no more 'popular' choice, when it comes to Diablo 2. The only people that will play it now that the original hype died down are those that cannot get enough of the game... ever. Like me.

I prefer Hardcore, obviously, but if there are a bunch of OCR members that want to do softcore I'll do it. I just... don't see too many OCR people coming into channel OCR to enjoy the new patch, tbh. You, me, maybe one or two other people... Not much in the food chain, here.

Hey, if the patch does, indeed, come out on March 24th, does anyone want to organize a time to kick some Diablo ass, once again?

I don't know anyone's schedules (not even my own, yet), so I can't organize a time, but it'd be nice to know if anyone's interested in playing this when it comes out and organize a time to get on. Hell, I don't even know how many of you here are interested in playing this again, when the patch comes out.

Anyone getting in on this when the patch comes out?

[DDRKirby(ISQ)]

probably not me; I've moved onto Median XL D:

[SoulinEther]

A year after this thread was originally posted, I'm sure that there is no more 'popular' choice, when it comes to Diablo 2.

I've almost always played HC, but after picking it up again recently I decided to play more casually on SC. So that kind of thinking might be common with other people..?

oh who am i kidding. nobody thinks like me.

[Lord Obsidious]

I'll most likely being joining up with you guys, so long as we can find an opening in our schedules that fair to all of us. Of course I hope we can get a fairly balanced group into this; I really do feel like playing a Fire Bowazon, but if we can't get a tank, then I don't mind playing it.

Mind you, I've never played Hardcore before. I've always preferred casual simply because all the hard work that I did doesn't go to waste over some sort of lag or bug.

Also, I've fully installed D2: LOD onto my computer. It seems to think that there known compatibility issues, but so far, I've run it without a problem; although, I've only gotten up to the starting window and the my list of expired characters. Haven't in soooooo long, but I don't mind giving it a shot.

[Gario]

I can tank, if need be (fishymancer, woot). If you've beaten the game a few times on softcore (No/Ni/He, of course) then you should give Hardcore a shot - it changes the game completely.

Not to mention that if we wanted to run up the ladder as quickly as possible we'd actually have a chance at seeing our names up there without nearly as much effort (the current ladder has 80's on it, believe it or not).

I guess in order to organize the time I'll just throw out a time, here, and see how it works - does March 23, 6 PM Pacific / 9 PM Eastern sound acceptable to everyone? If not, what kind of changes should we make?

Oh, and don't forget to compensate for the patch download itself (probably 10 minutes, in advance).

[Lord Obsidious]

Sorry if I'm not familiar with most D2 terms, but what is a fishymancer again?

I've gotten through normal and nightmare, with only having some nasty confrontations on nightmare; and probably needing a group of PC's to help me out with a few bosses. Once I invest enough time and gold, my character usually don't have too much of a problem on Nightmare.

Then Hell comes along, and most of the time get stuck around the first act before giving up . The farthest I've gotten was the act 2 with my bowazon, and that was it; I've only gotten through with pure strategy, some war of attrition, and too much kiting. It just ends up becoming so frustrating, especially with the immunities here and there; mind you, I mostly solo the game. It's always so hard trying to get a party together.

I suppose it might have something to do with spreading out my abilities too thin, though my worry is that I'm so focused on one area too much, then I'll get killed for my weakness. If I have another person backing me up to cover my own problems, then I feel less inclined to spread myself out, but that often doesn't happen.

I have played quite a bit of D2 mind you, but I guess my strategies that I use fault around Hell. Any general tips would be handy.

My sense of time zone is always a little skewed. I'm looking at another board I'm at, and with the proper time set, it shows Eastern Time. Not sure if that the 9 PM Eastern you're referring to, as I live in Canada, Quebec, but if it is, then I should be fine. My only concern is that my Guild Wars buddies might pop up to ask me to play a game with them, but with Nightfall complete and Factions prepped to be finished, I think I'll have leeway by the time this comes around.

EDIT: I just realized that March 23rd is tomorrow, whoops. Still should be able to play, but that matters on the confirmation and time zone and homework.

[SoulinEther]

nighttime is usually the best time but i have this aching feeling i'll be doing the tp/brb thing a few times.. which sucks. how long are we going to be playing for as a team? can we play without the group (particularly to catch up)? Are there even any people interested in playing on the East Coast/Europe?

I also think once we get started, we should create a new thread dedicated to discussing progress and such.

Obsidious, even with the new boosts to fire skills, a bowazon is not a very accessible build to make. The build highly depends upon a strong bow/crossbow (usually a unique like a buriza, windforce, etc, though there are some runeword bows that should also do the trick). If we do have a necro (gario) who should be dropping amp(lify damage) and if there's a paladin in the group as well (for concentration), you might be able to get by. Immolation and Exploding Arrow don't have enough damage to really get you by, but ... maybe if combined with the damage of everyone else (and maybe conviction later if you can afford to put an Infinity polearm on an A2 merc, along with a lot of +skills), you might be able to do ok fire damage.

I am imagining we'll have less than 8 people playing, so what's the party like now? A fishymancer/skellymancer and a bowazon? I can run pretty much anything... sorc, trapsin, hdin are my preferences though. For the sake of quickness, maybe a sorc or a hdin would be best - though there's nothing wrong with worldstone keep running, lol.

Maybe we should make a new thread, since there's only 24 hours and nobody is really responding to this really aged thread.

[Gario]

Alright, I'll get on making a new thread right now - no one wants to look at a thread that says 'Diablo II possibly next week!' anymore, right?

As for what a 'fishymancer' is, it's a build that focuses on Skellies (Raise Skeleton and Skeleton Mastery), then on Corpse Explode for fast Hell killing. It utilizes Amp Damage, so that curse will always be on and it breaks Physical Immunes. They are excellent for 'tanking' because the enemy tends to focus on the skeletons, and the other curses (Attract in particular, with a lesser focus on Blind) divert the enemy attention further. The skellies damage is one of the greatest equipment scaling skills in the game, so while it may not seem like much, at first (1-2 dmg, FTW) they get pretty heafty, endgame (600-800dmg, PLUS amp damage PLUS might merc, effectively allowing them to do 2400 - 3200dmg - more than enough to take down Hell Diablo and Baal). Obviously, this isn't WOW or anything, so 'tanking' has a different look to it altogether, and Necros fit the bill quite well.

Yeah, I'll run a Fishymancer, if no one else will. I prefer a Wind Druid, if someone else will take the Fishymancer responsibility (excellent at Elemental tanking, by the way), but I've run both through HC Hell so I'm familiar with both enough for this outing.

As for a Bowazon, Soulinether is right that it's very equipment dependent, but the elemental focus tends to be more with the Ice arrows - because they radius freeze (not chill) opponents it offers excellent crowd control and is the perfect compliment to Strafe (the high dmg bow skill - Multishot, while nifty, does not fair well enough in Hell to be worth it). It also provides an alternative to Physical Damage (for when we run into those nasty Stone Skin Physical Immunes that my Amp Damage will not break). It's perfectly viable for Hell difficulty. Don't neglect the passive skills for raw dmg, of course (Dodge, Evasion and... I forgot the last one... are great for a single point +to skills, Valkyrie, Decoy and Piercing shot are similar, although may be worth more than a single point investment, pending on your equipment, and Penetrating shot is always worth getting up past 30-40%, no matter what).

If you want the 'big' Amazon build, as of late it's been a Javazon. Lightning Fury + Plague Javalin = incredibly versatile, high damaging char, even through Hell (the poison gets somewhere around 20-30k, and the lightning is one of the fastest killers in the game). They also have the added benefit of using a shield, so the survivability is high, and their highest weapon is actually quite common (Titan's... something, I think, but I've found it twice running my last character). That's pretty much the only alternative to a classic Bowazon, but both are quite viable in Hell (Actually, the bowazon compliments the fishymancer much better than the Javazon because of all the Physical Dmg boosting, so that might actually be the best choice, in this case. The Javazon does far better on her own, though).

Oh, and what level do you attempt Hell difficulty at? If it's anywhere less than 75, that's immediately your problem, right there .

It helps that we're running this on the ladder (PLEASE don't forget to click that button!), so we'll have access to many, many runewords that'll really assist our run. Oh, and if we run HC, let's try not to die (I'll help there, when I can ).

[Lord Obsidious]

Hey, if anything, I don't mind using a tank barbarian and I've been skilled with it before. I was just interested in bowazon due to the increased fire time, and they always seem to force me to use strategy than simple brute force more often than not.

And I don't know. I've always had fun with Immolation arrow for some reason, and it seemed to work effectively for me for most of the acts and for nightmare and hell; then again, who knows. I sorta wanted to use bowazon mainly to experiment on that, although I've also had experience using them.

[SoulinEther]

Gario: excellent - make sure to indicate the classes we have so far and the people behind them.

Obsidious: barbs are another gear-dependent class, but you'll be able to get by a lot better than with a bowazon. Now that there is no more iron maiden to worry about, you can whirlwind anything, anywhere (just be careful of those stygian dolls and corpse explode uniques while amped) and whirlwind is now pretty cheap mana-wise (half as expensive) so mana potions won't be too intensely quaffed until you get decent mana leech and damage. Plus, your battle orders will be immensely useful to the whole party, and as long as you don't start putting into a specific weapon mastery from the get-go, we'd probably let you use any good weapon we find - whether it be sword, mace, axe, pole or spear.

[Gario]

Yeah, I prefer you go with the Bowazon, myself (especially if you're not experienced in HC - Barbs can get tricky due to their constant contact with the enemy), but either class will work for me. Barbs also compliment the classes well, so if you're comfortable with it I don't really have a problem with it.

Oh, and I suggested Ice not because of the damage (Fire arrows will certainly excel in that area), but because of the extra control you'll have on large groups of enemies. Don't worry - your arrows will provide enough damage, for the most part, so that much needed control could be what makes or breaks the party. Barbs provide health and + skills, though, so it's a tough call .

Alright, the other thread is up - let's continue the discussion there.