The Storm FAQ - D2 Shard

[Tolakram]

If you need to brush up on your D2 info visit: http://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp/

Keep in mind Storm: D2 is D2 like, not meant to exactly mimic D2.

Storm Shard: D2 - An Introduction

D2 is a game based on, but not exactly like, Diablo II. You really need to play it to get a sense of all the changes made to the core game, but here's an overview of some of the differences...

- Various Acts (zones) are available. Access to each requires that you complete a quest first.
- Run speed is faster and endurance usage while running is less.
- Casting has been modified for D2. Cast speeds are very fast and the chance to get interrupted by an attack is very low.
- Melee speed is faster and there is no melee speed cap.
- Archery has been modified in D2. All shots except Power Shot are faster but hit for less damage.
- Fighting mobs is you versus the zerg! You are expected to drink health and power potions while fighting.
- Teleport scrolls will open a portal to your bind point. Convenient for emergency escapes, and to sell and return to the fight.
- Evade, Parry, and Shield abilities no longer required to benefit from the Evade, Parry, or Block bonuses.
- Dropped items no longer have owners, so any player can pick up items
- Characters can wear any item and wield any weapon. Armor and weapon drops (material and weapon size and speed) progress as a character levels.
- Plate armor will now drop for Midgard and Hibernia players
- Helms will now say 'For -realmname- players only' since helms are only wearable by the helm models realm.
- All D2 players can dual wield, if they choose.
- D2 Players can now benefit from weapon skill bonuses even if they can't spec in that skill.
- Necromancers are Bonedancers in D2.
- Warlocks can't use chambers but all secondary spells are instant cast with a 1 second reuse timer.
- Boss mobs drop rares with additional bonuses on them.
- You can use /bonuses to see your item bonuses and bonus caps.
- The level in D2 is 65 and will be raised as more Acts are added.

Storm Shard: D2 - Quests and Acts

The following Quests are implemented in D2. Required quests must be done in order to advance to the next Act.

Act I:

Den of Evil (optional): located in Mythra's Tomb
Sisters Burial Grounds (optional, requires Den of Evil and level 10)
Coldcrow (optional, requires Den of Evil)
The Forgotten Tower (optional, requires level 25)
Kill Andariel (must be level 35, required to advance to ACT II)

Act II: (all quests are required to advance to ACT III)

Find Radament
The Summoner (requires Find Radament)
Tomb of Tal Rasha (must be level 40, requires The Summoner)
Kill Duriel (requires Tomb of Tal Rasha, allows access to Act III)

Act III:

The Golden Bird (optional): Look for a feather on the ground near Domnann
Blade of the Old Religion: Find the blade that protects the docks from evil.
Lam Esen's Tome (requires Blade of the Old Religion): Find the tomb in the ruined temple of Tur Suil
The Blackened Temple (requires Lam Esen's Tome and level 50): Find and kill all six council members
The six council members: Quests are automatically awarded when killing each council member
The Guardian (requires The Blackened Temple and all six council member kill quests): Opens access to the Durance of Hate
Kill Mephisto: Opens Act IV

Act IV:

The Fallen Angel (required): Tyrael asks you to find and free Izual.
Kill Diablo (requires The Fallen Angel and level 60): Kill the Lord of Terror!

The end, for now ...

Storm Shard: D2 - Items

The majority of items in D2 are randomly generated.

Standard Items:

No magical bonuses and a quality that varies between 90 and 99.

Magical Items:
One, two, and rarely three magical bonuses. Quality is always 100% and magical items are mostly likely to have empty sockets (see below).

Rare Items:
Rare items have 4 or more magical bonuses of higher value than magical items. All rare items are 100% quality. Rare items get random names rather than being named for the highest bonus on the item. Higher level rare items can occasionally have 1 or 2 empty sockets.

Unique Items:
These are items that have a fixed set of bonus types while the bonus amounts will vary depending on the level of the item. Unique items are coded by hand and there are not very many of them. Unique items are always 100% quality.

Socketed Items:
Some items, usually magical, can have empty sockets. Empty sockets can be filled with trinkets that occasionally drop from mobs. You can fill a socket by dragging a trinket item on top of an item that has en empty socket.

Trinkets:
These are the items that can fill sockets. Trinkets bonus values vary by the level of the trinket. Standard trinkets drop off mobs starting at level 1, enhanced trinkets start dropping from mobs level 25 and higher, improved at level 45, exceptional at 55, elite at 65, and perfect at 75.

Gambling Items:

In each act there is a gambler who will let you give him money in exchange for a random item. All the items will be magical, with a 10% chance that any item gambled for will be rare. Unique items, trinkets, and some item models will never be found on the gambler.


Storm Shard: D2 - Custom Skills (part 1)

The following custom skill lines are available in D2:

Zeal (given to tank classes):
Hit extra targets within melee radius.
Damage can be raised with item bonuses but number of targets is controlled by spec level.

Zeal 1-9: hit up to 3 targets, 10-19% of primary melee damage
Zeal 10-19: hit up to 4 targets, 20-29% primary melee damage
Zeal 20-29: hit up to 5 targets, 30-39% primary melee damage
Zeal 30-39: hit up to 6 targets, 40-49% primary melee damage
Zeal 40-49: hit up to 7 targets, 50-59% primary melee damage
Zeal 50+: hit up to 8 targets, 60+% primary melee damage

Twister (given to healing classes):
Hits 5 nearby random targets with 25%+ of main hand damage.
May hit the same target more than once.
DamageType is Spirit
Damage can be raised with item bonuses and speccing in this skill;
1% damage for each point
Radius requires spec level

Twister 1-9: radius 200
Twister 10-19: radius 300
Twister 20-29: radius 400
Twister 30-39: radius 500
Twister 40-49: radius 700
Twister 50: radius 900

Control (given to pet classes):
A Damage Shield that absorbs all but 20% of the damage done to the caster
Reflects damage back to the attacker and heals the pet for the same amount.
Damage reflected is percentage equal to the modified spec level. For example:
a spec of 15+5 would reflect 20% of damage to attacker and
heal pet for the same amount. Cap is 75%
Reflected Damage Type is Energy
This skill only works while a pet is alive and within a close range to the caster.
Damage absorb is less effective on boss mobs and mobs that con higher than the caster.


Storm Shard: D2 - Custom Skills (part 2)

Shock And Awe (stealthers):

- Damages up to 8 nearby targets in front of the player for (25 + spec level)% of target damage up to a maximum of 75%
- Enemies within the radius of the player have a chance to be Scared to Death if not already in combat.
- Scared to Death does not work on Named mobs

Spec level 2- 9: radius 500, Scared to Death chance 10%
Spec level 10-19: radius 550, Scared to Death chance 15%
Spec level 20-29: radius 600, Scared to Death chance 20%
Spec level 30-39: radius 650, Scared to Death chance 25%
Spec level 40-49: radius 700, Scared to Death chance 30%
Spec level 50+: radius 800, Scared to Death chance 40%


Exploding Arrows (Archers):

This skill only works with Fire Arrows and adds damage to mobs within the radius of the target.
Radius is increased for each 10 points placed in Exploding Arrow.
Damage done is 25% of arrow damage plus number of points
trained in Exploding Arrow up to a max of 95%.


Mana Shield (Theurgist, Wizard, Banshee, Eldritch, Runemaster):

Mana Shield reduces damage while using mana.
Damage reduction is damage * (1/skill level), mana usage is skill level.
For example: Mana Shield trained to level 25 will reduce 100 damage to 4 while using 25 power.
Mana Shield ignores training above level 50
Mana shield has no effect if the caster does not have enough power.
Mana shield is less effective if the attacker is higher con than the caster.

Note: Warlocks are not supported in D2 which is why this skill was not added.

Tips:

Why can some people solo bosses while others get wiped?

Here's a few play tips to help make a stronger D2 character:

- You should make sure to keep your defensive skills as high as possible, boss mobs will get tougher as you level.
- Resist caps are equal to your level and will help with boss mobs.
- Evade, parry, and block (with shields) can be used by any class. Take advantage of this.
- As you move beyond level 50 you will need to keep melee damage, spell damage, and bonus to hit chance high in order to stay effective.
- Bonuses to melee and casting speed are key to making an effective D2 character.

Good Luck!

[Phen]

Act III:

The Golden Bird (optional): Look for a feather on the ground near Domnann
Blade of the Old Religion: Find the blade that protects the docks from evil.
Lam Esen's Tome (requires Blade of the Old Religion): Find the tomb in the ruined temple of Tur Suil
The Blackened Temple (requires Lam Esen's Tome and level 50): Find and kill all six council members
The six council members: Quests are automatically awarded when killing each council member
The Guardian (requires The Blackened Temple and all six council member kill quests): Opens access to the Durance of Hate
Kill Mephisto: Opens Act IV

As far as killing the six council members,players seem to get lost at this point when they try to progress to the Kill Mephisto quest, they start whining and complaining that it's broken and I'm don't know what then hell I'm doing. I'm unfamiliar with Diablo and the aspects of it on Storm, but general consensus(Midnitestaff) seems to think it would be beneficial to add some sort of info to let players know this is a crucial part of The Blackened Temple Quest, also players should not be able to get the Kill Mephisto quest if these steps aren't completed.

[Tolakram]

The teleporter was broken, I had it set to the wrong quest. No wonder people were complaining. To be able to use the teleporter you had to have finished Kill Mephisto ... which obviously you can't finish without getting access to DOH. I changed it to correctly check for finishing the quest The Guardian.

Quest teleporters aren't perfect, you can get access from other players teleporters ... but this is also D2 like ... however you can't get to the next Act without finishing the kill quest.