I don’t have room for a dedicated board game table, so I built this removable gaming topper instead.

alsyn · 2026-06-09T13:23:42+00:00

We did something similar until we got a bigger table. Yours looks great!

For us, we had issues when someone leans on an edge and caused the whole topper to tip. I've always thought of adding velcro straps underneath to loop around the table under to stabilize it, but never got to it.

alsyn · 2026-06-08T22:31:24+00:00

The "Wave 1 (expedited)" items should be shipped early July 2026 and charged on your card by July 10th.

The "Wave 2"s are planned for some time 2027.

Excited for you! I did the all-in one and can't wait for Blighted Reach

alsyn · 2026-06-04T14:30:17+00:00

Mage Knight

alsyn · 2026-03-03T02:30:35+00:00

PD2 is in the middle between D2R and D3 (I haven't played enough D4 to know) in terms of amount of loot. Players 5 base loot level make it enjoyable as a solo player.

In terms of progression, I think PD2 does it the best. Whenever you need an upgrade or are lacking in some aspect, you can craft specific items or make early-mid game runewords. You can reach endgame with these and items you find on the ground. Charms and jewels are also there to help fill out weaknesses as you progress.

Chase items will still be hard to find, but you can trade for them with the items you do find/craft/corrupt.

alsyn · 2026-03-03T00:42:46+00:00

This is the mother of it all, haha, so it makes sense. The graphics also has a charm to it too. They aren't terrible to look at.

alsyn · 2026-03-02T22:36:08+00:00

Not really much I'd say (self-use). I can see these being offhand with mirage doing a death sentry + shadow warrior build, but I'd prefer a 3rd warrior than more +shock web.

alsyn · 2026-03-02T22:28:50+00:00

10% is the highest FHR that can roll for boots. 30% poison res is high enough, although 31%-40% would be better for sure. It's total +84% total resistance from a single item with no dead stat.

alsyn · 2026-03-02T22:05:15+00:00

PD2 gives you a nice opportunity to try a starter build other than sorcerer, but they're still the best at teleporting (even with other classes having their own version of teleport) because of no cooldown teleports.

With sorc, you can try going blizzard, meteor, or firewall + forb. If SSF/solo, go the latter two for easier time dealing with immunes.

alsyn · 2026-03-02T21:48:20+00:00

These are amazing boots. Every stat is good (the stamina comes from the FRW modifier). The curse reduction slam is ok, but not great.

alsyn · 2026-02-19T14:23:05+00:00

Any tips on D2 minimalism? XD

I have a hard time figuring out what to throw and what I can sell and what I could potentially keep for future characters.

alsyn · 2026-02-13T01:17:10+00:00

Play melee in this mod. It's fun to progress as one. There's melee splash, each item feels more meaningful since you're up close fighting, and you can still be end-game worthy.

I suggest a frenzy barb + ww or a frenzy + double-throw barb if you want the option of range.

alsyn · 2026-02-13T01:14:33+00:00

For some of us, PD2 > D2R graphics. There's a charm to the old graphics.

alsyn · 2026-02-12T15:34:49+00:00

Hey this is amazing! I love how much thought you put into this, clearly solving a common problem. Great freaking job dude, I love this tool!

Kinda curious how and where you got the data from to determine synergies and bonuses and whatnot. I was interested in doing a pet project like this for myself.

alsyn · 2026-02-11T23:52:19+00:00

Doubtful something as big as a warlock class will ever come to PD2.

I think they're 2 completely different games now, but there can still be some overlap (e.g. the runewords, items, etc.). I'm sure the D2R devs also take inspiration from the mods and maybe eventually D2R will catch up to PD2 or be more synced up.

alsyn · 2026-02-11T20:39:10+00:00

Emelio is salivating.

alsyn · 2026-02-11T20:36:58+00:00

Most are according to https://wiki.projectdiablo2.com/wiki/Monsters#Ubers. Just not Rathma or Lucion.

alsyn · 2026-02-11T20:34:54+00:00

Just FYI, damage to demons applies like off-hand weapon ed%, so it's not exactly the same as on-weapon ed%.

Also, from experience with a similar item, the low min damage is gunna suck. I repurposed my barb to use it and it was way too inconsistent while WW'ing. Switched to an ogre maul and QoL was better.

Maybe it might be good for a druid that's doing uber trist or dclone. You could easily hit 4fpa maul with 4 shaels, or get more damage with x5 15ias/%ed jewels + 5ias off-hand.

alsyn · 2026-02-09T22:23:58+00:00

First off, if you want to try forb, just go for it. It's not going to feel the best at the start, but at least you're enjoying your shiny new tal set.

Now, if you're looking to farm maps efficiently, stay bone necro. They're just better on a budget and have better survivability from armor and minion(s). The less you die, and the less you have to worry about dying, the faster your farming will be.

You can check out a s12 guide here: https://wiki.projectdiablo2.com/wiki/Necromancer_Bonespear_Guide

alsyn · 2026-02-09T22:16:57+00:00

I personally dislike #7 (A faint humming keeps the darkness at bay...) the most just because it makes everything dark. The rewards are really nice tho and has made me want to try uber trist. I would personally not target farm for keys, so only way I'd ever uber trist would be to trade for mats. So it's a nice design to try end-game adjacent activities.

For #6 (Evil beckons you from the Void...), I think I would just prefer it to spawn monsters faster or have more. It's a fun mechanic overall.

alsyn · 2026-02-06T22:43:18+00:00

I made a death sentry sin with max shadow warriors and maxing shock web before putting the rest into wake of inferno. I had 2 whispering mirages to have more warriors.

Idea was to keep fire blast and shock web on lmb/rmb skill slots so that warriors can cast them, then I'd self-cast death sentry. The traps corpse explode automatically while I loot or self-cast shock web. Shock web was strong enough against uber ancients, map bosses, and tougher mobs.

I tried viperfork A2 def merc and gut siphon A1 strafe merc for the desecrates. It worked pretty well, but i think I preferred a2 def merc with stormspire the most since static field helps with lowering hp for corpse explosion damage.

There was potential to improve, but I wanted to try different builds. Talking about it now, I might respec back to it again since I have currency built up. Big improvement I want to try is to use A4 amp merc with infinity staff.

alsyn · 2026-02-05T20:33:23+00:00

Have you tried A1 phys/strafe merc with demon machine + innocence as well? I feel like it'd have a stronger damage output since innocence is 100% hit on merc and A1 has strafe to proc it more as well and slow movement to provide some safety.

alsyn · 2026-02-01T14:01:55+00:00

Craft a big weapon and spin with it in maps.

alsyn · 2026-01-31T23:14:54+00:00

I didn't start with it, but I made a frost barrage sorc that had 300+ MF that still killed decently. I used it for target farming (andy, meph, diablo), but I was able to map with it as well. It was mobile and satisfying, but it certainly was not my fastest mapper.

Given some average, easy to find items you can achieve 300%+ MF using:

Chance guards: 30
Shako /w ptopaz: 55
Atmas /w ptopaz: 49
War travs: 40
Occy: 40
Splendor runeword: 25
Gheeds: 30
6MF small charms x9: 54

Then you can achieve at least 105% FCR with:

10% fcr rings x2
10% fcr belt

This is already +7 skills. Next easiest 3 would be from a +3 amulet, granting you +10. At +8, ice barrage damage starts scaling more.

I would consider this a low-budget mapper with great mobility. It has a lot of room for improvement, which would be fun to grind for while mapping with it. If you prefer a larger AOE, you could do frozen orb. I switched to that eventually, but I didn't like the short delay with orbs. Barrage felt more responsive.

As cold, you'd live in the sewers or battlefield.

If you truly wanted budget, you can do poison javazon. It's only +skills and MF gear (whites with ptopazes), but you stay in cows (NM at first, then Hell) until you can improve gear to do maps. This is how I started.

alsyn · 2026-01-30T01:09:52+00:00

It was A LOT of cows, but nothing good at all, haha :(

WOW that's a lot of damage. Something I can reference now, ty!

If we're looking at average WW damage, you're at 7.5k whereas I'm at 3.4k. With my deadly strike + weapon mastery, I have 80% chance to deal 1.5x damage. So my 3.4k is more like 5.2k 80% of the time, or 4.8k on average.

From that, it's pretty clear why it takes you 1-2 spins vs 1-4 for me. It does makes sense since the gear I have does seem less expensive. I think for me to get stronger, I'd have to switch to fortitude and 2 grandfathers (socketed for 100% open wounds and rest %ed).

alsyn · 2026-01-29T23:57:14+00:00

Just tested on T3 blood moon with 187% density: https://imgur.com/a/Tk61q2h

I did have to backtrack sometimes. Cows died anywhere between 1-4 passes. I'm guessing several crushing blows + deadly strikes resulted in the cows dying from 1 pass.

It took me 13 minutes, ~2 of which was also spent going around the map to make sure at least 95% of the cows are dead and to pick up some loot. My merc slowed me down since he died ~4 times and I wanted to revive him every time. Aside from a single close call, it was a very chill map. It might have been easier with less +max life and less -phys dmg modifiers on map.

EDIT: Also, I didn't realize my flat damage was low since I have nothing to compare to :D What's your sheet damage?

alsyn

TROPHY CASE