Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Astral]

Couldn't find a topic for this, so I figured I would create one!

Now, vanilla Diablo 2 is decent. Boring, predictable, but a solid game. I recently wanted to get back into it, but the pace of it is so horridly slow (especially on ladder) and playing with any character editor tools takes the fun out of earning gear.

And then I found this: http://modsbylaz.hugelaser.com/

Median XL is as close to a total conversion of Diablo 2 using the game's engine as you can get. It's probably one of the best mods out there (and relatively easy to install/uninstall as well); it completely revamps all the classes skill trees, and also revamps the difficulty to go with it. There's little documentation ingame, but there is a forum up, and the main site has a majority of good items/combinations/etc.

Unfortunately, Median XL doesn't have its own "official" realm. Enter D2Maniacs: http://www.d2maniacs.org/

It's based in Germany, so it's a bit laggy at the best of times (and unplayable at the worst, but that's only occasionally) but it acts as a persistent ladder and replacement for Battle.net, at least as far as Median is concerned.

Finally, if you're on Windows 7, fear not! There's a couple things you can do to make it work (even on 64 bit, which I currently used, albeit with UAC turned off). There's also some tips and tricks that may apply to other users.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"C:\Users\Public\Games\Diablo II\Diablo II.exe" -skiptobnet    [Example of my shortcut; -skiptobnet skips the initial movies and automatically starts connecting you to Battle.net once you click the shortcut]
Right click the shortcut -> Compatibility tab: Run it in XP Service Pack 2/3 mode (I currently use SP3).
Check Disable Virtual Themes, Disable desktop composition, and Disable display scaling on high DPI settings. This should allow it to run without errors (provided you installed the game and updated it correctly)

http://www.svenswrapper.de/english/index.html - Sven's Glide Wrapper
This neat little .dll allows your game to run in 3DFXGlide mode, even if it isn't completely supported by your video card. Read the site for details; I've never seen something that makes the game run faster/look better in a long time. You can scale resolution and change certain things that you otherwise wouldn't be able to in the default Diablo 2 settings. Personally, I love it because it eliminates the weird colors that sometimes came up when a video played or after tabbing in/out to check something.

If you have questions, comments, etc, post! If you do decide to play on the D2Maniacs realm, my account there is AstralVoid; there was a reset recently so I haven't quite climbed back to level 120 yet, but I'm always happy to help.

[Toaster]

Oh god, don't tempt me.  Vanilla and Nez mod killed enough of my time.

[Grishnak]

Under the hard mode charm on the site:

Q: Why don’t you just make 10 harder and make 10 be the top number, and make that a little harder?
A: [pause] This one goes to 11.

Nice! Spinal Tap ftw. I think I will have to try to get d2 working on winderz 7 and play this.

[Astral]

Yeah, the guy who made it has his funny moments (and his ragey, "I'm better than you because I made this and no, fuck your opinion" moments). He seemed overall like a pretty cool guy though. And D2's cake to make run in Windows 7; refer to the Spoiler tag at the end of the first post.

[Lumbajak]

The reason Laz comes off as a raging vindicator is because he's sick of dealing with all those idiots on his forums crying about things being too hard or how their overpowered skills/weapons got nerfed and how trainers, hacks and private realms are totally legal and legit.

That and Diablo 2 is hell to mod what with all the hardcoded stuff.

And his plans of going to StarCraft 2 were shot down by the horrible mapmaking limitations.



At any rate, my unstoppable Barbarian is still having trouble with the harder uberquests.

[Toaster]

Personally, I liked Nez mod, though it gets a bit silly at times (For one, the max level is 750.)  There are assloads of uniques and sets, so Plugy is a must.  It doesn't totally redo the skill sets like this mod does, though- but it does add several skills per class.

[Ivefan]

Have a look at Eastern Sun. I think the Item possibilities are more but it was quite some time since i played either of them so i can't say for sure.
The skills are also redone and i like the /players 16 command =P

[Astral]

At any rate, my unstoppable Barbarian is still having trouble with the harder uberquests.

Which ones? I've gotten my Necro back up to 96 so far; I don't remember having much trouble with most uberquests but some of them were nigh on impossible, hence my alt being a pouncesin.

[ChairmanPoo]

I tried Median mod some 4-5 years ago, and I found it wanting, but now I've checked the current features and I'm tempted again...

[Ivefan]

Medial XL is a lot different to median so try it

[Grishnak]

Yeah, to get d2 workin on winderz 7 I actually had to do absolutely nothing. It just fired up right after install. Didnt do that on vista.

Its a pretty nice mod. Im kind of shell shocked a bit though, as I have no idea for any builds really. Ive just been using the first buff thing you can get since my damage is really high for my level, and when I turn it off, I cant kill shit.

[Ivefan]

Well, what class did you pick?
They got some build on the forums if you feel like checking there too.

[Astral]

In my opinion any class with summons generally has an easy solo game. My Necro can power through Baal even on Destruction with crappy gear (although it can take a while, and I've spent a bit on Mystic Orbs getting my summon resists up; I also use a build that's friendly to other players so they hopefully won't lag out/get the "too many sprites" crash).

The other builds, such as the Assassin throwing knife one, or the Sorc's Bladestorm (or any other ranged build) will have an easier time than a melee build, especially with lower equipment (just be sure to stack the slows).

Melee builds have their place at the top, but only with top end gear. I loved my Pouncesin; as long as I could keep attacking and nothing hit me back, I was able to power through things so quickly that my Necro got left in the dust.

However, nothing says love like 40 Necromancer minions all hitting for about 10k+ each rainbow damage with a crushing blow (and varying amounts of poison, Doom procs, and Blind) being teleported on top of you. Oh, yeah, and they're invulnerable in short bursts (Necro's 90 Ennead skill grants invulnerability in a small AoE and a damage bonus).

[Astral]

You'd want to use Maelstrom Mk II, not Broadside. Broadside is a waste of points.

private realms are totally legal and legit.

The hypocrisy there is that Laz actively supports D2maniacs; he has an account on their forums and does serverside updates for them, as well as support the idea of having his mod (which is the most popular one online) being hosted by them. Despite this he doesn't allow realm talk on his own forums, likely to save his own hide in case Blizzard comes knocking around with lawyers, but the connection is obvious.

[Astral]

My friend has a Sorceress that's doing fairly well; he has the Frost tree working as expendable minions for him, and Bladestorming his way to victory. Bladestorm seems to be a fairly powerful spell, somewhere on the level of Pounce as far as how much damage it can possibly do. He says the poison tree isn't that bad (and there aren't quite as many poison resistant enemies as there are everything else)

Pretty much any class with some sort of summon (until they get gear) will be one of the easier solo classes. It's also nice to have a friend to level with (either via Hamachi or the realm listed in the first post) so that you can generally plow through things. I stand by my love of the Necromancer; being able to defeat Destruction Baal in equipment (aside from my staff) that I haven't upgraded since about level 20 is nice. And being able to solo the level challenges (for the level 50, 60, 70 Tran Athulua upgrades and level 90 class charm upgrade) is always nice.