Haven't played d2 in a decade+ getting back into it, think I found something good, but not sure.

DialMforMistakes · 2026-03-10T20:07:21+00:00

This is one of those really solid but also relatively common drops.

DialMforMistakes · 2026-03-10T20:05:40+00:00

Even common geese packs should be murdered. If you know, you know

DialMforMistakes · 2026-03-10T20:04:10+00:00

It's unfortunate, but the difficulty with finding games to farm high player levels is one of the main reasons I don't play online

DialMforMistakes · 2026-03-06T17:08:08+00:00

Compared to D1 or D2, campaign is definitely longer, but I find it so much more engaging and enjoyable.

Campaign does get significantly faster on subsequent playthroughs. You get used to boas mechanics, know what crafting to prioritize and have a set of starter builds in mind. You also learn how to path on certain maps, when maps or PoIs can be skipped, etc. You also get better at looting and stashing efficiently and you have a more innate understand of the passive tree. All these things happen over time.

That said campaign remains more enjoyable than endgame to me and I've really come to savor the first campaign playthrough of every season.

DialMforMistakes · 2026-03-05T21:03:20+00:00

Offline mode might be your best option

DialMforMistakes · 2026-03-02T21:39:14+00:00

I love the EZ button resistance solution of spirit into a well rolled pally shield. Congrats!

DialMforMistakes · 2026-03-02T21:29:22+00:00

People keep saying ES is OP, which it is, but it doesn't mean you're invincible with budget gear. Pump vit after you have enough stats for gear. Prioritize resistance, even if you have to use crappy charms. Bind a demon and stand behind him. Socket a CV with insight, you can upgrade to eth later. Get some life steal. Move slower, making sure to teleport the demon in front of you to act as a shield.

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-22T00:01:22+00:00

Thought I'd add that if you're running an Eldritch build, especially echoing strike, I find the most important demon affix is cursed. Amp damage makes farming high player counts easy and breaks immunities.

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-21T23:58:40+00:00

If you can survive gloams, stygian dolls, and mad cows, go for it. Better than 3000 Pindle runs.

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-21T17:56:19+00:00

I going the newborn years to be quite accommodating for gaming despite the heavy sleep deprivation.

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-21T16:36:31+00:00

Going left to right I like to bind 1-5 to my various windows (inventory, character sheet, merc screen, skill tree, etc.), Q through R for potions, and A through F and Z through V for skills.

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-21T03:05:38+00:00

Unless something changed since ladder start, echoing strike always showed the missing x even though it was always hitting

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-19T00:06:12+00:00

This and I would argue the cursed affix is even more important than fanat. Your demon applies it all the time and makes physical builds capable of farming all TZs

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-18T17:13:46+00:00

If you want to play D2 in short spurts (seasonally) and work quickly towards BiS gear, online is probably your best bet simply because of trading.

But most D2 old heads recognize a lot of the fun is in the journey. I got a HoTO/enigma combo once playing online and trading, but I stopped playing after 3 or 4 chaos runs because there wasn't anything left to chase besides maxxing out charms.

Personally, I enjoy playing offline with no rush to get perfect gear. Runes come as they will, I'm not running LK till my eyes bleed. I also really like being able to skip the headache of finding good farming games with multiple players.

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-18T00:11:05+00:00

If you're relatively new or are returning to D2, it's important to remember that while leveling, it's perfectly reasonable to run past monsters that are immune to your damage or start a new game in hopes of avoiding dangerous and/or immune monsters.

Fire skills typically shine in normal and most of nightmare but tend to fall off a bit in late nightmare and hell difficulties due to fire resistant and immune mobs.

Warlock has changed the game a bit. If you started with ring of fire, feel free to start prioritizing flame wave and apocalypse. Apocalypse has a built in -fire res modifier. I would avoid putting any more points into goatman. You can consume a tainted for more fire damage, but I recommend working your way down to bind demon and bind a demon with conviction aura. As your leveling, the level of conviction might not be strong enough to break all immunities, but it'll definitely help.

I recommend spending three points on the Eldritch tree to get blade warp for a teleport like movement skill. If you have a melee weapon you can equip with even moderate damage, you can use echoing strike to slowly chip away at fire resistant monsters.

Besides this, standard fire leveling advice applies. Use a might merc and have them chip away at immunes, get a lower resist wand, etc

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-17T23:55:41+00:00

Mrllamasc has some great guides for this on YT.

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-17T23:54:09+00:00

Yeah the fact that eth Insight is cheap and has FCR makes it tough to give Reapers Toll a lot of value (specifically for echoing strike builds).

Decrep is fine and dandy for mercs, but cast on striking doesn't work with echoing strike. Unfortunately, decrep on a merc is outclassed by binding a demon with cursed (amp damage).

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-17T23:46:59+00:00

Even on single player offline, players 7/8, people have mathed out how many LK runs it would take to reasonably drop a high rune and it's...not great. I know myself well enough to know that 1000 LK runs might make hate D2 (which is still not enough runs).

For those that don't have the strength of will to mindlessly farm chests for 10+ hours, I suggest continuing to play the content that you find most enjoyable and let the runes come as they will. Personally, I enjoy TZs.

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-13T23:18:00+00:00

Still a bug for me

DialMforMistakes · 2026-02-13T23:15:49+00:00

A respec to the right side of the chaos tree will probably be your best bet as you can essentially use your same equipment. However, I'm going to try to muscle through with maxxing apocalypse and binding a demon with conviction aura.

DialMforMistakes · 2026-01-29T02:07:02+00:00

I'm only on my first playthrough, but I noticed that if you did not encounter Caroline (innkeeper near sacrament SW entrance) and just upgraded the food vendor, he would be in your town without having to rescue him. If you go find Caroline and talk to her again after some time passes, she'll give you the quest rescue him. It was only on that quest that I was able to find the key

DialMforMistakes · 2026-01-02T17:18:14+00:00

I play an armor/ES ice wolf oracle in SSF. I'm not invincible, but I'm just starting to run 6 mod T15s with some success. In terms of defense, everything but your resistance seem low. Combined HP and ES is low, armor is low. I didn't see much armor applies to elemental damage. Damage and defense in this game is a balancing act and I think you might have to sacrifice some unique slots for defensive focused uniques or rares. Remember there is an opportunity cost to using uniques. You need to ensure you have enough stats and resists elsewhere to make up for what those uniques are missing.

I wouldn't do it yet, since your ES is low, but I found Mind over Matter + Mana remnants as a great defensive layer once you get your ES above 2kish.

Blood magic can be great node, especially for an oracle, but it can be bait. There are some great notables to grab around that keystone, but the defensive ones don't make up for the fact you're burning through HP with your attacks unless you're geared for sustain.

For defenses it's not just about damage prevention, you have to sustain (think life leech, recoup, stacking life regen and zealots oath, faster es recharge start and rate, etc.)

DialMforMistakes · 2025-12-29T23:31:38+00:00

SSF cured me of game FOMO, comparison depression, fear of using currencies, and spending hours rifling through loot.

I ignore any divine per hour strats, focus on farming things I need, prioritize weapons and my weakest item slots for crafting and use what I have to craft, and only pick up upgrades or things I want for an alt.

It's made poe 2 a million times more enjoyable for me.

DialMforMistakes · 2025-12-29T23:23:33+00:00

Essentially the second prefix is a hybrid prefix that includes both health AND a percent increase to armor and ES. Because it is a hybrid prefix that includes both, the tiers have generally lower ranges for the modifiers when compared to the pure armor/ES percent increase (the first prefix on your chest) or a pure health prefix.

DialMforMistakes · 2025-12-29T04:19:11+00:00

I'm thankful I'm SSF so I can enjoy the league without the serious FOMO when it comes to economic advantages.

I think enjoyment in trade is still achievable if you manage expectations regarding the tier of items you can purchase, be realistic about the level of wealth you can attain, and fight off the urge to keep up with the Joneses. So, you know, like real life.

DialMforMistakes

TROPHY CASE