They should also have addressed some of the runewords, while being at it. Some of them are just so good that there is no need to ever use a unique for most builds. Spirit is a great example of that. For most classes, there simply isn't an offhand that could be any more appealing. It has all of the stuff that you want on a single item that is very easy to get. Example for a change: Spirit: lower the fcr and remove the mana. Lidless Wall: increase the fcr and add + flat mana That way you have two somewhat similar shields, with Spirit offering more skills and better defenses, while the lidless allows for easier reach of the fcr breakpoint and better resource management. There's tons of examples, where you shouldn't only buff Uniques, but also nerf some of the dominant Runewords. There is too much player power on the top end anyways, so just adding even more to it by buffing Uniques is not a good idea. Enigma, Grief, Infinity, Insight, Faith, HotO etc. could all do with a nerf. Grandfather, Windfore, Doombringer, Tyrael's Might, Hellslayer, Schaeffer's, Arkaine's, Veil of Steel and many more could use a buff/change. Heck, some of the Runewords could also need a little help. I'm thinking of stuff like Famine. It's incredibly expensive, but just not good enough to compete. In general, I think the Devs should be a little more bold when it comes to rebalancing some of the items by now. We've had several seasons with very few changes, just not to alienate the nostalgia crowd, but I think the game coudl be even better, if some of the items were rebalanced.
@@FzNd one way to buff uniques is to utilise something runewords can't have - free sockets. If they introduced skill jewels, e.g. +1 to teleport, +1 to find item, +1 to cleansing aura etc, they would force using even slightly inferior uniques, but with jewels socketed. Such way they could diversify builds and make such gear as Enigma replaceable. Larzuk quest price would sky rocket and you may sell it early game to get some gear
Totally. I had the same thoughts. But what should they do? An Tyraels Might or Arcaines Valor with Teleport skill on it or what? Blizzard was never good in balancing things out properly...
I feel old just turning 37 but I played since 2000 and I remember a lot of these being great, even with the bugged items in circulation, etc. Schaefer's was so awesome to use with Zeal. I really hope someday, they bring back the strength of uniques.
@@humanbeing418Sort of. Buriza-Do Kyanon is a pseudo Japanese (kind of like a Japanese person trying to pronounce an English word, I think) pronunciation of "Blizzard Cannon".
Just found a Windforce the other day! Thanks for putting out this video. I really miss those days... Honorable mention for me would be Gull Dagger. Mad Magic Find for back in the day.
Arkaine's Valor used to be highly sought after. Not so much now. BlackHand Key (or most necromancer wands) was wiped out by runewords. Cranium Basher was an awesome 2 hander with the 75% crushing blow, chance for amp damage and a bunch of other stats. Even the Bonehew (ohgree axe!) used to be a choice merc weapon. Buriza used to be an end game bow. Now, these are mostly just throwaway items.
I remember getting an 08windforce as a kid. Holy crap did I have a blast, that thing with the huge dex bonus was so powerful and before runewords were OP. So glad I got to experience all of these in their glory days. Pretty sure you were right about the static, think there was a patch nerfing it around 1.10 or 1.09 but I can't remember.
I remember running dual grandfathers on my whirlwind barb back in the day. At one point I had 3 of them then traded two of them for my only Windforce. In D2R I have found Grandfathers several times but don't even pick them up.
Homonculus at least comes with a hidden bonus to life, since you don't have to crank your strength up to wear the monarch shield. Some necros can still get some really nice use out of it.
Really curious what they were thinking when they launched runewords that killed all the uniques. At the very least someone should be tasked with bumping all the top tier uniques to be slightly better than the runewords. Only reason I can’t see this happening is if they’re all hardcoded in a bad way.
Unpopular opinion, but i think homun is best in slot for pvp. You can still hit 125 cast with out spirit. 40 from hoto 20 from arach 20 from 2 fcr rings 20 from trangs gloves 20 from godly circlet Remaining 5 from caster ammy. If caster ammy is 15 fcr or higher sub in one soj. This allows the necro to use homun, which matches the skill boost from spirit, but can hit max block with WAY less dex than spirit. Small addendum, I was super active in the 1.09 days. Shaft was best in slot due to the dr% cap being 75% not 50%. Shaft, stormshield and gaze or string were all pretty necessary.
Since version 1.10 boosted creatures, they have basically resorted to new rune words to boost character power. They really should have gone back and boosted uniques to compete better with rune words. Spirit really killed the usefulness of so many shields. Bows are another good example. Most of the unique bows could easily get a few more attributes and they still wouldn't match many of the rune words.
I remember these days. When a decked out multi shot zon was king of the cow level. I never did find any of these items as a kid, but I remember how much fun pierce + knockback was for PvP. And having to play through the game with a shit build just so you’d be good for PvP later with no respecs
As a casual offline player, uniques are mostly bis for me because i will never find the runes for the top runewords. Looking for a Windforce for my strafezon currently. Found a Death's Fathom for my sorceress a few few weeks ago. I was stoked lol
@@mikemurray3962use /players7 on single player and farm Hell Chaos with a blizzard sorc once you find an ice sunder charm (or any beefy strong toon no MF required) and after 300 runs you *will* have a high rune.
I would argue Hommunculus is just as useful now as it was before spirit shield, sure spirit shield gives you FCR and FHR but you are paying quite significantly in STR. So sure Spirit is the go to for bone necs but army necs don't need FCR or FHR so normally go Hommunculus or sometimes a really nice magic/rare and poison necs use trang shield. I have been playing since the game came out, I don't remember hellslayer ever being a thing at all. 1.08 shaftstop was a bit different and much more powerful due to game mechanics Stormlash is still great on a properly made druid
I remember having doombringer and the grandfather for my barb. Shaft + WF on my zon and my zealot had lightsabre because couldn't get stormlash or schaeffers. Also ended up switching out my barbs doombringer to a ccboq
Thanks for your content and the tips had time to farm chaos sanctuary and terror zones all days was rewarded with 2 gul 1 fal and to round it up a freaking zod grinding solo on PS5 ladder
would've also showed exile instead of spirit for the the HoZ comparison. i know exile is for specific builds, but then again so is HoZ these days. that's my only thought though, great video showing the old days!! miss them greatly
Has Phil made a video about the changes nonladder experienced after the D2R drop? I only played NL from ‘01-‘21. I have been using Lidless Wall for 20 years. When D2R dropped, I learned about Spirit. I had long been aware of things like Last Wish, but as it was Ladder Only I never theory crafted with it. D2R finally changed D2 for me, and it was in a significant way by releasing the Ladder Only RW’s on NL.
The reason that i despise the Oculus is not that it actually gets me killed, but that i have to be SO ALERT all the time to anticipate the random teleport and take measures to then not get killed. Can't have relaxing Chaos runs wearing this thing.
It would be cool if blizzard combined uniques with rune words. Say there was a recipie where you could cube a grandfather with a Zod, shael, Lo to make it ethereal, +30ias, and 20% deadly strike. That would be super cool.
In regards to shaftstop the DR cap used to be 75% essentially making your character 4x tougher, they changed it later to 50% where it is still at today
Dunno if you've done one of these, but an in-depth tier list for runewords would be awesome! Especially for new players and people who have interest in Ubers.
Tops on my list for early leveling would be Ancient's Pledge and Stealth armor. Those things carried me far through some noob-level grinding when sets and other powerful uniques weren't available to me.
Actually homunculus is great for hardcore necro summoner and don't forget that you can socket it and put a perfect diamond or an um rune to get upt to 62 all res.
Everyone used to wear a vamp gaze then it was split arkaine or shaft String of ears Been waiting for that Schaefers to drop to make a throw back zealer
Does anyone remember that at one point soj’s were literally the currency instead of runes? They must have been getting duped but idk, things were weird back then. White rings, white gloves, occy rings…
I play vanilla d2r with a few QoL improvements via d2r launcher. I had to hero edit the occy and remove the teleport affix from the item lol. I didn't like doing it, but being able to enjoy the occy and benefit from its mf is something id never change back.
Gonna correct you on static field. The only period of time when static field could take health bars down to a sliver in Hell, was during D2 Classic, prior to LOD (versions 1.00 to 1.06d). One of the major nerfs that came with LOD was restrictions on static in both Nightmare and Hell. And of course Schaefer's didn't exist pre-LOD.
Pretty much all uniques (of course the ones in socketable equipment slots) have been replaced with runewords. Most of the exceptions are mostly niche use cases if you really needed a specific buff until you you something like charms or another piece of gear to get the buff elsewhere. But it is funny how’s l these godly items pre rune words become almost trash or at best a side grade to something that can generally be obtained much easier.
I remember back in the days of 2000s when playing d2 that was amazing but you forgot one specific item converted arcane valor from 1.08 to 1.09 version that was one of the best items.
Funny thing, a couple days ago I found Windforce and a Grandfather like 10 minutes apart, both in the Pits. I started a bowazon since as I want to see WF in action :) Especially since I may never ever see a Faith bow given the high runes needed for it (and the base) and how much time I play nowdays.
another 2nd tier unique for melee like zealer, Baranar's star with the ton of ias was the go to until you can get your hand on sheaffer's hammer or stormlash
I was doing some baal runs the other day when I hit the inventory key and found out that I had unawaredly looted a Windforce. 🤯 Needless to say, I created a new amazon a few moments later.
Be cool if you could cube recipe a Unique into give me it a other random prefix and suffix. Many would be rolled Meh, but rolling some good ones could probably bump some uniques to compete with their RW contemporaries.
Windforce is still the best bow in the whole game. And Stormlash, especially ethereal, is stil really great melee weapon for any fast hitting build like zealer or kicksin. I would like to see a video on a properly built Witchwild string strafe bowazon. She can be very strong, almost as strong as windforce bowazon. When you get her to 2fpa while using rare min/maxdam jewels, she can really be a thing, even in p7 in hell. Try it out!
I still use Skullders and Ocy on my plugy sorc. Totally agree that the teleport proc from Ocy basically never gets me killed. People who say that usually have a playstyle where they let enemies walk up and hit them because they can't be bothered to move.
@@ohtheforlanity3205 I mean its only use really is against a highly skilled and high fcr barbarian. So in all fairness its a pretty small use case scenario
I’m using the buriza currently on a bowazon right now til I can find Windforce or afford a faith 😅I’ve somehow found 3 of them in the last week and a half
Uniques got ruined by buffing monster hp. Without rune words uniques would still be unplayable in most cases They should buff uniques and/or base damage of weapons
Raw damage numbers maybe, but in practice Faith is way better. Much faster, itd, ar, +skills, fana, all res. Windforce has a bit higher max dmg, knockback and mana steal. Both knockback and leech are relatively easy to obtain with other items. That said, I adore Windforce and use it a lot. Faith is super expensive (as it should be).
The most interesting thing is that Blizzard has the opportunity to fix many Unique Items with the help of the community. But will they do it? Time will show.
Storm shield is indeed still the best in slot shield when survivability is concerned. The physical damage reduction and block rate is key to surviving the disconnect timer during an internet outage.
I use Bartuc's over HOTO on Trapsins still. I'd much rather have all those stats and faster attack speed for trap laying personally. Plus you can DW them and use claw block
Nice video. For most of it, I would agree whole-heartedly. Just for the homunculus and hoz, I am not entirely with you. Especially for the hoz, with the trading prices remaining high.
occy is still in use because its easy to get usually, for mfing its great, would i use a spirit in its place, nah the random teley doesn't bother me. only case i could see it is if your playing like you said nova sorc. and i'm too broke on d2r to afford a hoto. buriza was great, widely used because windforce was so rare and it was the next best thing, man i miss the days of bowzons and lightning fury zons destroying everything in seconds
I've been playing since this game came out and I got a Grandfather's the other day and got so excited just to remember that it's trash in LOD. I really wish they would've balanced the melee builds better when they increased the HP of all the mobs, killed pretty much all joy I had playing melee lol
Sorry not sorry but disagreed about Homunculus. On HC, you don't wanna use spirit at all on Necro. Signed: 24 years D2 veteran and Necro main. You either use Homunculus with a BER in it or Stormshield.
Just an opinion on my end; runewords didnt really phase these items out. At its root, botting phased these items out. There was also an adjustment in 1.13 or so in the drop rate of runes to make them more widely available. But the root is, if you took all the bots away these high end rune words would actually become somewhat of a rarity. We would have to adjust all of our builds and these pieces would become the standard again and with a lot of luck we would find the runes to make that super game changing runeword.
I agree with my point being that everytime I start a caster I hit countess farm till spirit and stealth runes are found.. then make insight and lore. Every. Time.
I use homunculus over Spirit every day! Don't like the look of a Necro with a Monarch. Also Skulders over Enigma, because I can never afford an enigma and i never had a runedrop that helped me build one myself (I only play solo self found and I can't grind 8 hours a day)
Great runewords are hard to come by on single player solo self found. If you really miss and value those old school uniques play single player. Chances are you won't be able to make those crazy op runewords like you can online. Throw in HC and it's even more rare. Problem solved
Watching people with unique-gear wish lists melt over the runeword fiasco, several years after D2 original, and then Blizz announced more runewords to be added to D2R? I might just have to quit complaining with the rest about D4's issues and jump back into D2R.
No one is crying about landing a Bartuc's though. Also I landed a funny trapsin tiara anyway so... but I'd love an FCR tiara too. And maybe a tp claw. I like dual claw setup though.
Still crying that coronet/tiara (I forgot which) is +2 all skills but has like some useless bonus instead of FCR... Or that Druid Tiara... 2/20 but useless mods... do they even use those?
It was kind of boring though. You basically ran the cow level over and over and the clear speed was dependent on how many amazons/nova sorcs there were in the game: ua-cam.com/video/nGQikahTZas/v-deo.html
@1987jjl classic wow is any different? Frost bolt mage 1 button rotation. So much fun. I say this in comparison to wow because they have their respective fan bases wow got classic and I feel diablo 2 should've gotten the same treatment
I’m shocked we haven’t had a really good MF weapon/ sheild runeword…. PS Eagle horn is the worst. Light saber phase blade was my favourite unique weapon.
who uses hearth of the oak on a lightning trap assassin when you can use crescent moon, its cheaper, its better damage than + skills -5 res about equals a skill point , and you put it in a pb for your trap laying speed.
Blizzard missed a great opportunity to rework the Uniques to have better specs when they laucnhed D2R.
Yeah, there are few small things to revise and add to make game playable for another 2 decades
They should also have addressed some of the runewords, while being at it. Some of them are just so good that there is no need to ever use a unique for most builds. Spirit is a great example of that. For most classes, there simply isn't an offhand that could be any more appealing. It has all of the stuff that you want on a single item that is very easy to get.
Example for a change:
Spirit: lower the fcr and remove the mana.
Lidless Wall: increase the fcr and add + flat mana
That way you have two somewhat similar shields, with Spirit offering more skills and better defenses, while the lidless allows for easier reach of the fcr breakpoint and better resource management.
There's tons of examples, where you shouldn't only buff Uniques, but also nerf some of the dominant Runewords. There is too much player power on the top end anyways, so just adding even more to it by buffing Uniques is not a good idea.
Enigma, Grief, Infinity, Insight, Faith, HotO etc. could all do with a nerf.
Grandfather, Windfore, Doombringer, Tyrael's Might, Hellslayer, Schaeffer's, Arkaine's, Veil of Steel and many more could use a buff/change.
Heck, some of the Runewords could also need a little help. I'm thinking of stuff like Famine. It's incredibly expensive, but just not good enough to compete. In general, I think the Devs should be a little more bold when it comes to rebalancing some of the items by now. We've had several seasons with very few changes, just not to alienate the nostalgia crowd, but I think the game coudl be even better, if some of the items were rebalanced.
@@FzNd one way to buff uniques is to utilise something runewords can't have - free sockets. If they introduced skill jewels, e.g. +1 to teleport, +1 to find item, +1 to cleansing aura etc, they would force using even slightly inferior uniques, but with jewels socketed. Such way they could diversify builds and make such gear as Enigma replaceable. Larzuk quest price would sky rocket and you may sell it early game to get some gear
Runemaster would be one of the most expensive items in the game :)
Totally. I had the same thoughts. But what should they do? An Tyraels Might or Arcaines Valor with Teleport skill on it or what? Blizzard was never good in balancing things out properly...
I feel old just turning 37 but I played since 2000 and I remember a lot of these being great, even with the bugged items in circulation, etc. Schaefer's was so awesome to use with Zeal. I really hope someday, they bring back the strength of uniques.
I found a Grandfather yesterday, and I jumped out of my chair. Of course later I figured it out that it only worth a Lem rune damn it
The Buriza-Do Kyanon is a romanticized Japanese pronunciation of "Blizzard Cannon"
Fun fact 😂
I never did play enough back in the day pre-runewords, but when I found doombringer, a couple weeks ago…man. That’s a weapon that should be GG.
Back then, the Buriza was simply called Ballista,
I thought it mean Blizzard in japanese prounciation.
@@humanbeing418Sort of. Buriza-Do Kyanon is a pseudo Japanese (kind of like a Japanese person trying to pronounce an English word, I think) pronunciation of "Blizzard Cannon".
we called it buri or burre
Burrito cannon
We just called it The Buriza
Just found a Windforce the other day! Thanks for putting out this video. I really miss those days...
Honorable mention for me would be Gull Dagger. Mad Magic Find for back in the day.
Ethereal Cruel Balrog Blade of Quickness was so dope back then
do you remember the Colossus Blade "ITH"-915 ??? demm 2 of them and a WW barb was able to kill the universe itself
In middle school, I remember rocking a grandfathers with white rings on my barb. 😆
Arkaine's Valor used to be highly sought after. Not so much now. BlackHand Key (or most necromancer wands) was wiped out by runewords. Cranium Basher was an awesome 2 hander with the 75% crushing blow, chance for amp damage and a bunch of other stats. Even the Bonehew (ohgree axe!) used to be a choice merc weapon. Buriza used to be an end game bow. Now, these are mostly just throwaway items.
I traded 2 sojs for a mid buriza back when.
I remember getting an 08windforce as a kid. Holy crap did I have a blast, that thing with the huge dex bonus was so powerful and before runewords were OP. So glad I got to experience all of these in their glory days.
Pretty sure you were right about the static, think there was a patch nerfing it around 1.10 or 1.09 but I can't remember.
I remember running dual grandfathers on my whirlwind barb back in the day. At one point I had 3 of them then traded two of them for my only Windforce. In D2R I have found Grandfathers several times but don't even pick them up.
Some of us were using 3p diamond tower shields
I remember farming hundreds of chipped gems to roll those CCB’s
Still fondly remember putting shael shael eth in mine. What a grind to roll that was.
Homonculus at least comes with a hidden bonus to life, since you don't have to crank your strength up to wear the monarch shield. Some necros can still get some really nice use out of it.
Really curious what they were thinking when they launched runewords that killed all the uniques. At the very least someone should be tasked with bumping all the top tier uniques to be slightly better than the runewords. Only reason I can’t see this happening is if they’re all hardcoded in a bad way.
Unpopular opinion, but i think homun is best in slot for pvp. You can still hit 125 cast with out spirit.
40 from hoto
20 from arach
20 from 2 fcr rings
20 from trangs gloves
20 from godly circlet
Remaining 5 from caster ammy.
If caster ammy is 15 fcr or higher sub in one soj.
This allows the necro to use homun, which matches the skill boost from spirit, but can hit max block with WAY less dex than spirit.
Small addendum, I was super active in the 1.09 days. Shaft was best in slot due to the dr% cap being 75% not 50%. Shaft, stormshield and gaze or string were all pretty necessary.
Since version 1.10 boosted creatures, they have basically resorted to new rune words to boost character power. They really should have gone back and boosted uniques to compete better with rune words. Spirit really killed the usefulness of so many shields. Bows are another good example. Most of the unique bows could easily get a few more attributes and they still wouldn't match many of the rune words.
Spirit not only killed shields, it killed two handed staffs too
I remember these days. When a decked out multi shot zon was king of the cow level. I never did find any of these items as a kid, but I remember how much fun pierce + knockback was for PvP. And having to play through the game with a shit build just so you’d be good for PvP later with no respecs
As a casual offline player, uniques are mostly bis for me because i will never find the runes for the top runewords. Looking for a Windforce for my strafezon currently. Found a Death's Fathom for my sorceress a few few weeks ago. I was stoked lol
Since I posted this I found my first shako and Andy's visage. So happy right now. One in tunnels and other on terrorized slugface wassisname.
@@mikemurray3962use /players7 on single player and farm Hell Chaos with a blizzard sorc once you find an ice sunder charm (or any beefy strong toon no MF required) and after 300 runs you *will* have a high rune.
Allowing them to be socketed with a very slim chance of them getting 3 sockets would bring them back.
I would argue Hommunculus is just as useful now as it was before spirit shield, sure spirit shield gives you FCR and FHR but you are paying quite significantly in STR. So sure Spirit is the go to for bone necs but army necs don't need FCR or FHR so normally go Hommunculus or sometimes a really nice magic/rare and poison necs use trang shield.
I have been playing since the game came out, I don't remember hellslayer ever being a thing at all.
1.08 shaftstop was a bit different and much more powerful due to game mechanics
Stormlash is still great on a properly made druid
I remember having doombringer and the grandfather for my barb. Shaft + WF on my zon and my zealot had lightsabre because couldn't get stormlash or schaeffers. Also ended up switching out my barbs doombringer to a ccboq
I remember the days of Cruel Colossus Blades. Still have nightmares about it
Thanks for your content and the tips had time to farm chaos sanctuary and terror zones all days was rewarded with 2 gul 1 fal and to round it up a freaking zod grinding solo on PS5 ladder
would've also showed exile instead of spirit for the the HoZ comparison. i know exile is for specific builds, but then again so is HoZ these days. that's my only thought though, great video showing the old days!! miss them greatly
Has Phil made a video about the changes nonladder experienced after the D2R drop?
I only played NL from ‘01-‘21. I have been using Lidless Wall for 20 years. When D2R dropped, I learned about Spirit. I had long been aware of things like Last Wish, but as it was Ladder Only I never theory crafted with it.
D2R finally changed D2 for me, and it was in a significant way by releasing the Ladder Only RW’s on NL.
Found Hellslayer at Duriel on my very first Hell-Playthrough. Good old Times.
The reason that i despise the Oculus is not that it actually gets me killed, but that i have to be SO ALERT all the time to anticipate the random teleport and take measures to then not get killed. Can't have relaxing Chaos runs wearing this thing.
I really miss the days of grandfather and windforce being your holy grail items. I still have never found a grandfather. Found 2 windforce though
It would be cool if blizzard combined uniques with rune words. Say there was a recipie where you could cube a grandfather with a Zod, shael, Lo to make it ethereal, +30ias, and 20% deadly strike. That would be super cool.
In regards to shaftstop the DR cap used to be 75% essentially making your character 4x tougher, they changed it later to 50% where it is still at today
Dunno if you've done one of these, but an in-depth tier list for runewords would be awesome! Especially for new players and people who have interest in Ubers.
Tops on my list for early leveling would be Ancient's Pledge and Stealth armor. Those things carried me far through some noob-level grinding when sets and other powerful uniques weren't available to me.
Actually homunculus is great for hardcore necro summoner and don't forget that you can socket it and put a perfect diamond or an um rune to get upt to 62 all res.
Homunculus is still amazing, agree
Everyone used to wear a vamp gaze then it was split arkaine or shaft
String of ears
Been waiting for that Schaefers to drop to make a throw back zealer
Does anyone remember that at one point soj’s were literally the currency instead of runes? They must have been getting duped but idk, things were weird back then. White rings, white gloves, occy rings…
I play vanilla d2r with a few QoL improvements via d2r launcher. I had to hero edit the occy and remove the teleport affix from the item lol. I didn't like doing it, but being able to enjoy the occy and benefit from its mf is something id never change back.
Gonna correct you on static field. The only period of time when static field could take health bars down to a sliver in Hell, was during D2 Classic, prior to LOD (versions 1.00 to 1.06d). One of the major nerfs that came with LOD was restrictions on static in both Nightmare and Hell. And of course Schaefer's didn't exist pre-LOD.
Pretty much all uniques (of course the ones in socketable equipment slots) have been replaced with runewords. Most of the exceptions are mostly niche use cases if you really needed a specific buff until you you something like charms or another piece of gear to get the buff elsewhere. But it is funny how’s l these godly items pre rune words become almost trash or at best a side grade to something that can generally be obtained much easier.
I remember back in the days of 2000s when playing d2 that was amazing but you forgot one specific item converted arcane valor from 1.08 to 1.09 version that was one of the best items.
Funny thing, a couple days ago I found Windforce and a Grandfather like 10 minutes apart, both in the Pits. I started a bowazon since as I want to see WF in action :) Especially since I may never ever see a Faith bow given the high runes needed for it (and the base) and how much time I play nowdays.
I run Winford on my zon with faith on my act 1 merc it’s not bad not the highest damage but does good in p1-3
another 2nd tier unique for melee like zealer, Baranar's star with the ton of ias was the go to until you can get your hand on sheaffer's hammer or stormlash
Fishymancers specializing in MF are still going to go with an Ist'd Homunculus. Lower STR, better MF, and higher block rate.
If you don't go max block with Homunculus you're doing it wrong.
I was doing some baal runs the other day when I hit the inventory key and found out that I had unawaredly looted a Windforce. 🤯
Needless to say, I created a new amazon a few moments later.
Bonesnap was a badass maul usable at level 24, but now gets beat out by self wielding Insight usable a few levels later at level 27.
People use Bonesnap in ssf runs and it still does great. You can beat hell with it on the right build
Be cool if you could cube recipe a Unique into give me it a other random prefix and suffix. Many would be rolled Meh, but rolling some good ones could probably bump some uniques to compete with their RW contemporaries.
Windforce is still the best bow in the whole game. And Stormlash, especially ethereal, is stil really great melee weapon for any fast hitting build like zealer or kicksin.
I would like to see a video on a properly built Witchwild string strafe bowazon. She can be very strong, almost as strong as windforce bowazon. When you get her to 2fpa while using rare min/maxdam jewels, she can really be a thing, even in p7 in hell. Try it out!
I still use Skullders and Ocy on my plugy sorc. Totally agree that the teleport proc from Ocy basically never gets me killed. People who say that usually have a playstyle where they let enemies walk up and hit them because they can't be bothered to move.
Oculus + 2 ocu rings were a Very Powerful Cancer for sorc, back in the days.
You just threw me back 17 years or more...
sup phil , nostalgic trip with this video , you forgot Lycander's Aim bow for zons ...
Homunc is still good for max block setups on necro.
Good to keep in the cube for certain matchups
Agreed. Homonc is still awesome
I don’t think the homonc should be mentioned here in this video to be honest.
@@ohtheforlanity3205 I mean its only use really is against a highly skilled and high fcr barbarian. So in all fairness its a pretty small use case scenario
You completely forgot about the 1.07 Arkaine's Valor. Beast of an armor for all characters
I'm playing classic right now and I am loving it!
LOVE the Static-X shirt! I have the same one! HUGE fan, I almost shit when I saw you wearing this!
I’m using the buriza currently on a bowazon right now til I can find Windforce or afford a faith 😅I’ve somehow found 3 of them in the last week and a half
During 1.09 patch, the cap for physical dmg reduced was 75%
Uniques got ruined by buffing monster hp. Without rune words uniques would still be unplayable in most cases
They should buff uniques and/or base damage of weapons
Tyrael's might and mangsong deserve something special.
idk, teleport for tyrael and 60fcr or 2 sockets for mang
i got a windforce myself in act 5 red portal ~ that was the happiest day in my D2 life ~
Since the strafe buffs WF is actually better than faith now unless you run a full inventory of max dmg charms.
Raw damage numbers maybe, but in practice Faith is way better. Much faster, itd, ar, +skills, fana, all res. Windforce has a bit higher max dmg, knockback and mana steal. Both knockback and leech are relatively easy to obtain with other items.
That said, I adore Windforce and use it a lot. Faith is super expensive (as it should be).
I had an eth skulders and got scammed for it by someone for an anni...a run/walk barb back when you had to drop the item
The most interesting thing is that Blizzard has the opportunity to fix many Unique Items with the help of the community. But will they do it? Time will show.
I really wish they would make an online game mode with runewords removed, bring back the challenge!
We called the Burzia-Do-Kyanon back in the day the Noob Cannon
Storm shield is indeed still the best in slot shield when survivability is concerned. The physical damage reduction and block rate is key to surviving the disconnect timer during an internet outage.
I use Bartuc's over HOTO on Trapsins still. I'd much rather have all those stats and faster attack speed for trap laying personally. Plus you can DW them and use claw block
Occulus is nice to have, teleport when stuck is annoying for couple for hours.
Love your Static-X shirt
I wish blizzard would revamp these awesome uniques and make it worth something.
I still love and use Schafer's.
U would
Eth up shaft still gg for some zeal vs zeal builds
Nice video. For most of it, I would agree whole-heartedly. Just for the homunculus and hoz, I am not entirely with you. Especially for the hoz, with the trading prices remaining high.
In project diablo 2 some of these are still valuable, especially when you slam them well
I still got a Windforce on my bowazon
occy is still in use because its easy to get usually, for mfing its great, would i use a spirit in its place, nah the random teley doesn't bother me. only case i could see it is if your playing like you said nova sorc. and i'm too broke on d2r to afford a hoto. buriza was great, widely used because windforce was so rare and it was the next best thing, man i miss the days of bowzons and lightning fury zons destroying everything in seconds
skulders is the best armor aside from enigma, for 80% of players
I've been playing since this game came out and I got a Grandfather's the other day and got so excited just to remember that it's trash in LOD. I really wish they would've balanced the melee builds better when they increased the HP of all the mobs, killed pretty much all joy I had playing melee lol
Sorry not sorry but disagreed about Homunculus. On HC, you don't wanna use spirit at all on Necro. Signed: 24 years D2 veteran and Necro main. You either use Homunculus with a BER in it or Stormshield.
What? Back in the day we called it the bah ree zah.... Buriza..
Thats why i play pd2 , they added so many good things and reworked uniques
I always loved Silk.
Just an opinion on my end; runewords didnt really phase these items out. At its root, botting phased these items out. There was also an adjustment in 1.13 or so in the drop rate of runes to make them more widely available. But the root is, if you took all the bots away these high end rune words would actually become somewhat of a rarity. We would have to adjust all of our builds and these pieces would become the standard again and with a lot of luck we would find the runes to make that super game changing runeword.
just like the cruel items mostly for pvp in D2.
yea sad to see ppl just dumping bartucs, eaglehorns and even WF's in "free items" games.. but hey at least i finally got my hands on an windforce
I use the Occy all the time!
classic cinder block basement video coming soon ? these days were the best ! ahahaha
I sold the Windforce I found to Charsi. Did not think it was worth anything.
Honestly it’s worth very little in modern times
occy is still the best standard sorc weapon outside of nova sorcs
If I wasnt already subbed, I would have done it just for that static-x shirt!
I miss the days before runewords. I think runewords made the game less fun overall.
I agree with my point being that everytime I start a caster I hit countess farm till spirit and stealth runes are found.. then make insight and lore. Every. Time.
@@ADHGaming1 Yeah, same here. I actually started a solo self-found no runeword account and I'm liking it so far.
@@unholyiiamas I was thinking I should do that on a new character while I was typing my message
I use homunculus over Spirit every day! Don't like the look of a Necro with a Monarch. Also Skulders over Enigma, because I can never afford an enigma and i never had a runedrop that helped me build one myself (I only play solo self found and I can't grind 8 hours a day)
I wish they would buff 90% of all Set items.
Everytime something Green drops, you are disappointed that it's not a unique.
It's really sad.
Great runewords are hard to come by on single player solo self found. If you really miss and value those old school uniques play single player. Chances are you won't be able to make those crazy op runewords like you can online. Throw in HC and it's even more rare. Problem solved
Watching people with unique-gear wish lists melt over the runeword fiasco, several years after D2 original, and then Blizz announced more runewords to be added to D2R? I might just have to quit complaining with the rest about D4's issues and jump back into D2R.
No one is crying about landing a Bartuc's though.
Also I landed a funny trapsin tiara anyway so... but I'd love an FCR tiara too.
And maybe a tp claw.
I like dual claw setup though.
Dual Bartuc's is still the best for sure. Tons of attack speed, stats, and access to claw block
Still crying that coronet/tiara (I forgot which) is +2 all skills but has like some useless bonus instead of FCR...
Or that Druid Tiara... 2/20 but useless mods... do they even use those?
@@nunyabeezwax6758 If they have nothing better, sure. They use them. Tiara's are great
Came with a +50% defense bonus which is kinda meh on headgear without a beefy defense stat but lol I always laugh.
@@nunyabeezwax6758 Just keep gambling coronets and you'll eventually find one better
Anyone ever wish they hit us with the classic diablo 2 experience
It was kind of boring though. You basically ran the cow level over and over and the clear speed was dependent on how many amazons/nova sorcs there were in the game: ua-cam.com/video/nGQikahTZas/v-deo.html
@1987jjl classic wow is any different? Frost bolt mage 1 button rotation. So much fun. I say this in comparison to wow because they have their respective fan bases wow got classic and I feel diablo 2 should've gotten the same treatment
I’m shocked we haven’t had a really good MF weapon/ sheild runeword…. PS Eagle horn is the worst. Light saber phase blade was my favourite unique weapon.
My zon has a skullders ire (im poor)
Wind force is still GOATED
woo!
who uses hearth of the oak on a lightning trap assassin when you can use crescent moon, its cheaper, its better damage than + skills -5 res about equals a skill point , and you put it in a pb for your trap laying speed.