Since i play battlenet, ladder and hardcore, i felt like discussing a few things with people who are veterans, to avoid dying again, since i already reached act 5 nightmare and made huge progress, effort etc.

1) First, is it true that skillers on grand charms (+1 to a skill tree), drop from Flayer Jungle area onwards? I need some of those, i bet...

2) I randomly found the Arm of King Leoric (in chaos sanctuary), which is said to be perfect for a summonmancer. But i already have spirit runeword on a longsword, which i feel better weaving around. Shall i trade the stick, or keep it and make an imba iron golem out of my spirit longsword?

3) Do i really need to be 90 level in order to gamble for +2 character skill levels, on amulets and circlets? Or is there another way to get those earlier on? I can stress excessively enough to get 90 level even in nightmare, especially in crowded games with more xp, but it will be a huge pain...

4) I don't have enough strength for spirit runeword on shield, too, because i plan on getting my complete character set (has many imba effects on character, like the running even while walking combined with the higher blocking chance and 3-4 more other broken effects). Big question is: Am i ok with final set and other paraphernalia, instead of pumping my character with other items and runewords, like Enigma armor, Spirit Shield, Delirium headgear, etc?

5) Most important... Can i copy my Battle net character to single player, too? Not the reverse, which i know for sure that cannot happen and i am not even interested in...

#1 Havent played for ages, but yes i think so ... needs a special ilvl that you can get from there on

#2 Use Leoric to summon your skels and switch to spirit for playing

#3 AFAIK you need lvl 94 or 95 to always have an ilvl 90 amulet for +2 skills, although if you are lucky i think with 85 or 86 you can very rare get some on those by gambling(was kinda +-4 or 5 levels from current char level)

#4 best overall shield for summon necro is homunculus, spirit just needs toooooo much str.

#5 afaik this is not possible without hacks but you can build it in single player using hero editor

btw, if you play Europe Non Ladder and need some items i could probably have some lying on my mules ;)

Hmmm... I can't help but look at the questions and wonder why you aren't playing the Zy-El mod...

Probably wrong place to ask, but... anyone made mod or hack to see floating numbers or any kind of combat log / feedback?:) I enjoyed Diablo 2, but can't see myself replaying it without it.

Maybe... Last i remember D2 vanilla got really grindy really fast, and being in Nightmare/Hell just got annoying because there would be 2-3 spawning champion monsters that would make them immune to everything, and then negative experience for dying... I think the highest level my brother ever got back in 1.07 was 83 i think, and it became such a grind that you just end up quitting... Losing it's fun.

Which is why i diverted to mods, trying new experiences, monsters, etc. So far Zy-El far surpasses D2 and LOD's game in both variety, crafting, items, old monsters from D1, and tons of other stuff. Not to mention the level cap is raised from 100 to 10,000, and making hirelings actually worth a damn.

I've only played SP "softcore", but I remember that getting experience after level 82 began super slow also in LOD, expecially for melee characters without very good equipment and teleport.
The playersN command was mandatory, even if it made the game quite difficult.
Also, when I tried it, the "Fire Enchanted" stat wasn't fixed, so those quite common special monsters often meant insta-kill. : \
(and do you remember Ok's Iron Maiden curse? *shivers in fear*)

Is it actually feasible to hit 4 digit levels in a reasonable amount of time?

Elminage Gothic, for example, allows characters to surpass level 10,000, but even the final postgame boss seems like it's meant to be fought in the 400's, and it takes a lot of experience and inn rests to reach high levels (you can only gain one level per rest).

Does the Zy-El mod for Diablo 2 expect you to reach 4 digit levels in a reasonable amount of time (and is the game still challenging at that level)?

If you know what you're doing, i want to say yes, you can probably do it in under 2 weeks. However i don't know the secret recipes. In fact the beginning if you're playing for the first time, level 1 sucks, and i've played for a week leveling to get to level 30 in that time before making my first poster. Once i had 2-3 posters things were easy for a while.

As for if it's still challenging, Yes it will remain challenging, if not in Nightmare/Hell, then definitely the Insanity levels, and if you still need more challenge then bumping up the player multiplier up to 127 works.

I think i got my Sorceress to level 3,000 after, oh, 6 months of play or so. Most of it through insanity levels (the easiest which are hard as balls for me for a while) where killing monsters usually gives 1-2 levels per monster for a while. The secret cow level is also insanely difficult, effectively one of the insanity levels you can get to. Watch out for the immortals (text says they are immune to everything, but each of them have 1 weakness).

As for how things are at level 10,000, i am not sure... You'd have to ask some of the mod devs and testers who have level 10,000 characters. On the other hand the infinite & shared stash makes it easy to save an item or make items better suited for another character.

You made me want to play D2LoD again, but this time I'll stick to single player, as Bnet's characters expire (plus it's full of bots), and the local multiplayer is plagued with cheaters.

However, I'm looking for a mod to make all of the extra stuff of Bnet (ladder runewords, uber quests, etc) available in SP, a bigger and shared stash and perhaps the secret cow level always available, regardless of having killed the Cow King, whilst keeping the game as vanilla as possible. Could you recommend me one?

EDIT: I found the one I used before. It's called PlugY.

Also, but like the majority of the player's spells, they were available to some monsters too.
Oblivion Knights could cast a powerful Iron Maiden on you.. and that meant death for all melee characters. :O
Oh, really?? Cool!
But does anyone know if it's compatible with the last patch and with ATMA stash?

I was about to suggest Zy-El until i saw the 'as vanilla as possible' part. Since Zy-El has Plug-Y already incorporated as part of it (Infinite stash, infinite shared stash = no mules!).

I remember seeing several mods of interest that kept it pretty vanilla, but keep in mind that was 15 years ago so if they exist still or if they are compatible, i couldn't say.

How high were your stats at that level? Do they reach Disgaea heights or are they more tame? Can you do millions (or better yet, billions) of damage to enemies without killing them, and can enemies do the same to you?

Yo, thanks a lot! Much appreciated! I didn't know i could use leoric's in second weapon shield slot and have it used simultaneously! I will keep it, then! Hommunculous is great, it could be a perfect match for my spirit sword, but i am afraid it is very rare and the chances to find it myself, are VERY slim... Will try though. I know the areas' level... If i find it, i bet it is ideal, until i complete the vampire final set. Thanks a lot for the offer too, but unfortunately, i am ladder and hardcore, so i really doubt i can meet you online... :( If you ever want to try ladder and hardcore, i can rush you through normal and halfway nightmare. Until i build some more levels, though, i am unable to beat nightmare, even solo. Now i am 60!

They don't expire! They expire only if you don't log in for 10 days straight (very hard to miss). Cheaters are detected and banned with much efficiency, too! Duping has been "fixed" and is now no longer possible... Plus advertisers for selling items are good to have around, for whatever short time they are in your game, you get more xp from killing monsters and you have a slightly better chance for drops! After normal, you NEVER see a SINGLE advertiser EVER again, they are always level 1 and lurk in normal. You can enjoy the game PERFECTLY! Battle net is better because of the ladder exclusive runewords, THE EXCLUSIVE C.U.B.E. RECIPES, the events etc. Or joining a full game and get MAX xp, much better drops chance etc. No way in single you can do all this fun stuff. Even i, who only liked 1.09, i got used to current battlenet... Try it try it, come on come on, return in game!

10 days?? It's nothing! :O