TL;DR:
+1 vote for Frenzy/DThrow Barb.
Anyone playing a build they hate?
Which build (state 3 main skills) and what about it isn't working for you?


If people are interested, they're welcome to search online for more information about the Diablo2 State Cap (the IP packet problems occur around 19 states, game crashes around 27 states). I trust SlappyNuts and the other Testers enough that when he mentioned the problem was occurring for him and his friends, and the online research implied that it probably should have occurred, we all put forward solutions and I implemented them. I'm sorry if this issue has had unforeseen side effects that are affecting people, we've tried to make things as invisible as the D2 modding interface allows.

I didn't want to put more information in the download post regarding this issue because it wasn't relevant to downloads (although I wanted to make a few quick notes or reminders where players would see them -- it's an important issue), and I thought people would remember when it was discussed in other threads (about a week beforehand).

The Diablo2 bug with passives, that has always been there, is that when Passives give a stat that isn't based on their level (maybe based on Strength, or the level of another skill (i.e. a synergy)), then the Passive's stats ignore those non-level based changes until you've changed the level of the Passive somehow. This isn't a new bug, but I can understand if players new to HU don't know about it, it usually only shows up in D2 mods.

I'd agree that 15%PhysRes mod is easier to understand when you don't already know the stats of IronSkin. Once you've taken a look at a few characters or talked to folks who have played them, it becomes easier to understand the mods granted by skills of other classes. I know people can figure things out, but I can't change how D2 handles 15%PhysRes mod and the IronSkin oSkill, and the oSkill has more benefits.

For anyone else not sure about the stats given by oSkills, consider using this time before the reset to examine more characters and skills. Sorc's Masteries, IronSkin, IncreasedStamina, HolyAuras, Fade, EnergyShield, and Pierce are pretty common on items. PoisonMastery and MagicMastery follow exactly the same pattern as Sorc's Masteries. VampiricTouch, ChillTouch, and ShockingGrasp follow the pattern of Enchant (and do not stack with Enchant; they synergize with 2 of: BoneArmor, ShiverArmor, and EnergyShield).

Feel free to link information on it, google shows nothing.

I also fail to see how a numerical % is less obtrusive than an oskill. Especially given the fact despite knowing how ironskin works, I have no idea how it functions after you fuck around with the numbers. How does the diminishing returns function? At which point is it less valuable? Obscurity beyond the obscure to replace something as simple as % dr, unless you're saying suffixes and prefixes are states? In which case every character would break the cap.

For the oSkill vs Flat Bonus explanation, I posted a thread in the Homemade Modifications forum for it, since it's a pretty good concept for future modders to be aware of (rather than buried in some Strats&Tactics thread).

I can see where someone might have trouble finding the State information, but you might also just be trolling, so here are some SearchTips and GoogleFunctions that are genuinely handy to know.

• D2:LoD v1.13 Patch Notes, the 4th major bug fix for v1.13c is the States issue. Note that HU can't use v1.13 because the D2ModSystem doesn't work with it. Besides, I kinda like how we can use charges of skills to synergize other skills, but Blizzard "fixed" that after v1.10.
  
• Article discussing how you can PK folks using the States issue, it's the first exploit discussed.
  
• A couple modders on PhrozenKeep briefly experimenting trying to figure out details of the problem, looks like they gave up before solid conclusions were reached.

The mods on items are not states. Some PassiveSkills are not states (e.g. SkeletonMastery has always just edited the values on your SkellySkills, rather than affected your character (i.e. SkeletonMastery is just a very fancy Synergy)). In theory, anything that affects your char screen (ignore attack skills) or has a duration (even HP/MP Pots) probably has a State associated with it that counts towards the limit, but after reviewing the States articles above I'm not 100% sure how D2 is determining which states are counted towards the limit or when. Maybe they're only counted toward the limit at specific times (maybe when a player first enters your minimap screen?).

I'm not sure why diminishing returns was brought up, but consider expanding that question in a new Strategy and Tactics post, and I'll be happy to answer the question if I can.

I typed in literally what you said, diablo2 state cap and came up with nothing. In regards to this topic in the entirety of playing the only time I saw an issue was rasta's barb combined with his merc. And it was almost exclusively based on the auras it had and the number of procs, sorc armor, chant, fade.

Anyways, as for ironskin as an oskill, I don't see the benefits. Let's assuming ironskin gives 2% per point up until 10 points, thereafter its 1%. First 10 points is 20% dr, following 30 is 30% dr. So you need 40 ironskin to hit cap. The difference is pointless, all it actually does is make people who don't know the scaling uncertain as to how to gear. It's not like it is a big decision anyways, every class wants to hit cap asap. Just like every class wants max res.

If you replace flat ele pierce with the sorc masteries, you just shit on sorc's ability to stack pierce.

The biggest issue is you now need a handbook to play appropriately. You haven't given out the handbook, if you had it's buried in threads no one is going to look in. You refer everyone to your class design page, shits fucking longer than a building design proposal. Have you played on the realms? Half of the people who play don't speak what I would call functional english. And now they have to read a novel if you ever provide it, in english, explaining invisible stats and how to benefit from them when there wasn't a problem in the first place.

As for slappy's gripe, fuck off hurricane and armagheddon does nothing on a physical melee class. The whole integrity of the game didn't have to change because you wanted to overload the amount of states for no strategic benefit. Playing barb optimally, which has the most states of any class, even being a fucking grinch and keeping up fade/shiver/chant never caused an issue after the bo combination.

You're a man, and you need an instruction manual? How about you try it past a2 norm.



Firstly, you have no idea what my build was. After 2 legit playthroughs on a druid, and dozens of re-specs, I believe I have found the most optimal build for this patch. You said yourself that you think synergies are useless. That was also my first impression this patch, so I ignored synergies and tried things that would be considered useless prior to this patch. I began typing out an explanation of my build, but I decided not to share with the likes of you. I'll see you on the ladder

You speak of integrity, but I speak of playability. If it weren't for Brevan and Purerage's creative solutions, we would never see things like Mana burn being fixed. If you don't like their means of fixing said problems, feel free to provide alternative solutions rather than just bitching. My party straight up quit our beta playthrough because of the state overloads stopping us from continuing. It literally prevented us from continuing unless we changed gear or stopped using skills.

EDIT: Secret tip: the super secret strategic benefit to geddon/cane on a melee build is some aoe dmg

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Fuck yeah I need a manual, ESPECIALLY when shit is hidden behind invisible passives and autistic parameters.

Fuck when I started I didn't even know dex weighted higher than %ED jewels because the information wasn't readily available. These things should be clearly defined, especially when you go and muck up the entire essence of the game.

Sounds like an issue with 1.7 not the prior patches with state overloads. I didn't play it the beta, but new hidden mechanics shouldn't have to be introduced to fix a problem created by them in the first place.

And if arma and hurricane were doing even mildly decent damage, that's clearly a problem with the current state of the game. And you know what? I can see them doing damage, because the fucking skill synergies are so redundant and the entire skill's damage is front-loaded onto 20 point investments. With pierce being removed to a substantial degree and I'm assuming the resistances being balanced around that, it'll make those skills strong. But you'd never get decent damage in prior versions on hurricane or arma unless you were running fireclaws/frostbite. To say otherwise is simply lying.

But hey:
20 hurricane
20 arma
20 lycan
20 bear/wolf
20 fury

Sounds like your build in a nutshell.

nice try but no

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