Noob Alert: How do I get better items?

So I havent played this game in over a year, and before I only played Solo and slaughtered some mobs. Now that I hit Merciless however, I noticed that my gear is pure garbage compared to other players.

Before, I only used what I found, but I build out my own Hideout a bit so I was wondering how I would go about getting better gear.

The ones that drop are usually 5-15 levels below me and dont compare. At best, I sacrifice one huge advantagous stat for a minor increase in others.

At the moment, I don't want to invest in my current Sword, as I am using it forever now and I think it is about time a new one takes it's place, same goes for my breastplate. How do I make my own though?
Do I just grab White items and put Orbs on them?!

it takes time. save every bit of currency you can find. and if you happen to find a white item with the links you need, don't be afraid to transmute and augment them... or even use an alchemy on them. sometimes you'll get lucky, sometimes you won't. That is the glory of RNG.

just keep going and you'll get there. Heck... it took me about 6 months before I was comfortable enough to get my first character into maps, but now everything is easy for me. it will be for you also. Good luck!

You can:
Trade for better gear
Wait for drops
Modify existing gear (orbs or masters)
Transmute/Alc/Chance whites

Master's workbenches are a good way to fill in missing pieces. Dex/int/str and res can easily be done and are the things that you'll likely need when you swap gear. You need to look at your whole package. If you replace your boots with better boots but lose some res, then look for gloves or a ring to get the res. If you only look at one piece at a time you will almost always lose something you want.

If you're really having a hard time getting a drop you need, and don't want to trade for one, then try alcing/chancing a white (from a drop or vendor). Watch for whites with the right sockets/links, especially with chests and 2H weapons.

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The ones that drop are usually 5-15 levels below me and dont compare.

You can get drops at any level, so only a few will be the highest level for the zone. Maybe try a higher level zone, but one with mobs easier to beat than other zones. Keep in mind that the ilevel will go up with the zone level regardless of the level to equip the gear. The ilevel can be more important than the equip level. Also note that if you buy white from vendors, even if you buy the same item from two different vendors, the one in the highest level town will have the highest ilevel.

Saintlrek speaks the truth. If you decide to stay self found, you will be relying almost exclusively on luck and patience. You would definitely want to use transmute aug alt where blues could be an upgrade (I prefer this method on weapons when leveling) and generally save alc and chaos spam for level 60 ish items.

If you decide to enter the world of player trading, patience factors in greater than luck; you will want to save orbs so that you can spend them on upgrades.

Here are some useful vendor recipes (and associated items to look out for) for either self found or trading characters :

3 linked RGB can sell for 1 chromatic. 4L works too as long as the links contain RGB.

6socket items sell for 7 jewellers.

A full set of rare equipment level 60+ yields chaos orb(s). Hat, body, gloves, shoes, 2 rings, neck, belt, and your choice of hands (most efficient: 2 1handed weapons). Same recipe at lower levels yields chance instead of chaos. Unidentified items yield 2 orbs, if any are identifies 1 orb.

I am not talking about the broad mechanism - that I am aware of.

I dont want to waste my Orbs for trial and error though:
Maybe I need to phrase my question more specific.

Does it matter what level the base (white) item has when I am transmuting?
Should I just use any white that I can find, or do I need specific ones?
What orbs would you recommend?

I'd recommend taking a decent white base type, quality it, transmute it, vendor it together with a rare rustic sash and blacksmith whetstone (this will give you a ~80% increased physical damage roll), augment that, regal it and then if possible craft flat physical damage on it at the vagan workbench.

This will yield very good results that will easily guide you up to maps. Cheapest and easiest method besides just buying one from other players.

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DaWolv wrote:

Does it matter what level the base (white) item has when I am transmuting?
Should I just use any white that I can find, or do I need specific ones?

Yes.

There are two factors to consider with whites, at least if you are endgame. There is item level (ilvl) which determines which mods can possibly roll on the item. You can find ilvl by picking item up on cursor and using /itemlevel in chat, or linking the item into chat and holding Alt while hovering over item. In a few months or less (2.0), you will only need to hold Alt while checking item.

There is also base type, which sets the required level displayed by default on the item and determines base stats. This is very important on weapons and mildly important on armours.

Both are determined by the level of monster that drops, which is also determined by level of area monster lives in. So you can maximize both by going go highest possible zone and killing monsters.

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What orbs would you recommend?

I posted my recommendations above already.

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adghar wrote:

Unidentified items yield 2 orbs, if any are identifies 1 orb.

So I shouldn't identify items that I wouldn't have a use for anyway?!

I believe there is some debate on this. Many people prefer the 1 chaos recipe because they're afraid they'll lose out on some awesome amulet or ring. I'm not much of a trader, so a guaranteed 2 chaos is much more valuable to me than the possibility of an awesome amulet I might not even recognize.