Ruthless = Frustrating

Hi Solistus,

So it's not just my bad luck then. Huge quantities? Each zone will average you what, maybe 10 alteration and 10 Aug? Without taking EVERY SINGLE item back to town. How are you not going to be level 50 by the end of Normal? :P
At the very least if the chance is so low the mod should reflect your level.
An example just done with the few remaining orbs I have left trying to make a Lapis amulet as DeF46 suggested.

Buy white +30 INT
trans orb - 3-7 physical
+1 mana gain on kill
Alt orb - 24 max mana
Alt orb - 25 max life
Aug orb 14 cold resist
Alt orb - 1-2 physical damage
5% cold damage
Alt orb - 5-11 fire damage
10% inc crit strike chance
Alt orb - 2% inc evasion
9% fire resist
Alt orb - 11% inc crit strike chance
Alt orb - 6% inc fire damage
+20 max energy shield

:/ Seems like level 1-10 stats to me.

The item display is fine. The support gems are levelling on their own due to broken links using Orbs of (un)fusing.

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Oomachasooma wrote:

I only ever had one drop, but the orb that adds a stat to a yellow item, added 2 - 4 cold damage! Which in ruthless I thought was pretty pathetic.

Yes those are very valuable and best kept for the endgame, because you continue to upgrade your gear frequently until level 55+. And the range of the mods will be greater on higher level items.

However early on it may be worth spending a few alchemy orbs to roll a good weapon.

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Both last two posts mention 600-800 shields. I have seen nothing this high so far in Ruthless, up to Chamber of Souls (including whites). I think I read somewhere on the forums that if you are 4 levels above the area level the drops are not so good? Perhaps this is the problem?

No drops are not affected, afaik. Experience is 100% within CLVL /16 +3 so at level 48 in theory you get 100% exp from maps as low as 42.

As an example, in Merciless a Girded Tower Shield has base armour 600. Now if you find a good rare or make a good roll, even a magic roll (blue), and you get +50% evasion/armor or defences (both) you can reach 900 or higher. In Ruthless I believe you can find some shields with 300-ish base armor. It's a matter of keeping an eye on whites, and get familiar with the different types.

Just like there are low dmagae weappons with fast attack speed (sabres), there are shields with lower block % but higher armor.

With that said I wouldnt waste Orbs on shields until Merciless, damage resistance is really not very important so long as you are approaching 1500 Life in early Merciless. Instead always try to max your resists.

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Of course some are more obvious than others in use, but more often than not it just seems like guess work.

For ele damage, phys dmg, added cold, etc. you can check the stats of one of your skills while swapping the gems. For auras indeed you have to leave town to get an idea how it works. So if you have hatred you'll see it works best with cold. Once you know that you don't really need to put the aura on, it's relative so you look at the base damage in town to see how support gems compare.

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I kept Determination (5% DR increase), as I kill most mobs in 2 hits, but can only take 3 or 4 myself (cleave plus warlord's has saved my skin many times - until I find some life leech).

What's your chance to evade and block? How's your resists?

PS: Do join up Fellshrine public parties in Act 2, it's a good way to get some loot. Even if you don't get rares, or someone beats you to it ;) you can get the white items. So earlier today for example, I got 2-3 girded tower shields and rolled a decent one.

It's fairly easy to go along in a Fellshrine group and you don't have to stress out on the timed loot, it's just a matter of time till you get something nice. Its a good way to level up before moving to the next difficulty. Doesn't have to be fellshrine but it's a popular one.

EDIT: Btw, did you roll some panicked flasks? A panicked flask has less life but instant recovery. Usually you'd want at least one for emergencies.

Again thanks for the advice and sorry for the late reply.

You were right, it was my resists ;-)

On merciless now and pyramid with resists and purity is a breeze :)

play in a party= more rarity, tougher for mobs to kill you/exploit your weaknesses, more fun.