Level 50...

[Flux]

In the old days, when D1 was the new game online, I got an MP rogue to lvl 50, and eventually a mage too. I didn't think it was that big a feat at the time, but playing some now, I can't believe how many games/hours/months that must have taken me.

I've been playing an MP rogue in Hellfire for a few months now, and she got up to the mid 30s fairly easily. Even up to 39 or so was pretty quick, since I played in mini-mage mode and did a lot of clears of the cats, while hunting for Enchanted shrines. Good experience in the cats until about level 40, and the monsters are weaker and lack resistances, so chain lightning and some fireball can just cleanse them. Goat shrines + CL = FTW!!!1!

Since I got past 40 though, the leveling progress has evaporated. I've not kept count, but i've played 2 or 3 games a week for the past couple of months, usually a full or nearly full clear of 13-16, and I'm maybe lvl 42.5 now. I remember in the old B.net days most players were lvl 40, 41, maybe 42. And now I see why; you have to put in some serious hours, doing repeated games of hell/hell, to level up any further.

According to Jarulf's Guide, you need to make about 7400 kills to go from 42 to 43, at the max experience (200 x clvl = 8400 @ lvl 42). There are around 180 monsters per level. So quick math: 7400 / 180 = 41 levels. If I do a full clear on 13-16, that's 10 games. I'm not going to dispute that, but damn it seems like more than that. I guess it's because I'm playing 2-3 games a week, so it takes me a month for one level. It'll take me 10,345 kills to go from 43 to 44, or 57.5 full clear Hell levels. Whee.

It's harder to find the interest for it now, since there's no magic find, and since there aren't top level elites and runes and other ultra rare things to try to find. It's Hellfire so I've had optimal equipment for a long time, and I've found every unique I want with this rogue (dreamflange, royal circlet, t cap), and while I can still much improve my jewelry, it's not worth playing many games just to try to find jewelry. So I only play when I want to play, and as long as I'm enjoying playing. No dedication!

I hope no one is so bereft of other meaningful activities these days that they'd play that much D1, but I'm curious if anyone is?

Update: I made a table showing (http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/D1_Experience#Experience_Tables) all the level up rates, experience required, levels to clear, etc.

[Lanthanide]

The highest I ever got any of my chars was clvl 44 I think. I had a bunch more (like 8-9) sorcs and a couple of rogues that I got to 35-42 though.

After that it just doesn't seem worth it.

[Clervis]

It takes an amazing amount of time. I'd like to see how it stacks up to getting clvl 99 in DII. I'm sure DII is more, but it's not nearly as monotonous.

[Flux]

It takes an amazing amount of time. I'd like to see how it stacks up to getting clvl 99 in DII. I'm sure DII is more, but it's not nearly as monotonous.

it would depend on which version of d2. v1.09 99 wasn't that hard to reach. people made it in less than 2 days after ladder resets, playing in teams. you just had to have the patience to do hundreds of cow level clears. in v1.10 and later it's a lot slower. I've never gotten a char past the low 90s since v1.09, since I'm not playing on teh realms and even players 8 baal runs hardly move the meter, after 91 or so.

as you say and I alluded to in my post, it's tedious in d1 since nothing changes. you don't find elite items, there aren't any high level uniques you can only find in hell/hell, etc. you can item find just as well at lvl 25 in normal/hell as you can at 50 in hell/hell, so why bother? just looking for equipment, I'd be far better off running normal hell; can do clears in a few minutes a level with high level spells and none of the monsters immune. which is why I'm playing once or twice a week now; just when I'm in the mood for the semi-challenge and meticulous play required to do efficient hell/hell runs.

[Cheeseflys]

I actually have a level 48 sorcerer that I made not to long ago.... And I don't plan on going any further, so little people playing that the leveling process is a drag.

[XCodes]

I don't even think I can get D1 to play on any of my computers anymore. That said, if I COULD get it working it would only be for Ironman-style competitions where you start out at town and then just go down as far as you can into the depths of hell without returning to town. I won a couple competitions like that back in the day.

[Arkardo]

Highest I ever got is about level 35 or something. That was on my old computer that randomly crashed. It's not much fun when you got killed and not being able to retreive your equipment because your computer crashed. :scratchchin:

I'm thinking of getting Hellfire, just for the hell of it (no pun intended). And for killing the time waiting for D3..

[mouseman]

Yeah and another thing is that you've usually maxed out your stats with elixirs before you reach that 40-42 level so there's little reason to level up. Though many formulas include level so it still makes your character better/less dependent on equipment but eh.. it isn't worth it, not anymore. I even find the 30-40 levels to be extremely repetitive..

[stillman]

Actually, this thread may have just solved the problem of what I'm going to do until d3 comes out. It'll be fun to go back in time insted of looking at the giant pile of trasure on my d2 account. There's not much more I can do for my zon, and what's the point? She is nl now. Plus, in d2 you don't get much more powerful for going to the next higher level.

I had just instaled Icewind Dale only to discover I don't really want to play it, lol. I just need something cheap besides d2 to play.

[Foolishpleazure]

Actually, this thread may have just solved the problem of what I'm going to do until d3 comes out. It'll be fun to go back in time insted of looking at the giant pile of trasure on my d2 account. There's not much more I can do for my zon, and what's the point? She is nl now. Plus, in d2 you don't get much more powerful for going to the next higher level.

I had just instaled Icewind Dale only to discover I don't really want to play it, lol. I just need something cheap besides d2 to play.



Heh Stillman,I still have Icewind Dale around here someplace.I think I played it for a few weeks before uninstalling it.Nice graphics for its time but,it had to be the most BORING game I ever played........lol.

[stillman]

^Some problems with Icewind Dale were you were pretty much forced to make your party a certain way. They want you to have a theif for sure, a priest for sure, a fighter for almost sure, and so on. If you don't have thief then you take massive damage from traps. If you don't have a priest, it takes you a hundred days of rest after every battle or w/e to heal. They may as well just make the party for you. I don't want a priest in my party...so I guess I can't really play Icewind Dale.

I decided to stop playing d1 after I learned that on bnet, there are no quests except Butcher, Leoric and the Lazarus quest completely removed the church steeple scene where you thow levers and fight all the snow witches form single player. Bnet also seems to be lacking the characters' voices ("It's hot down here", "The sanctity of this place has been fouled!", and "Your death will be avenged!"). There is not enough left to do in the game IMO.

I went back to d2 and started a ladder throw barb. Man, I had to return to town every 2 minutes or so to fill his entire inventory with javalins which kept running out! Idk if I have the patience to keep doing that. It's going to be a long time before I get the nice unique throw weapons. I think they are all elite. Any rares that drop don't have enough stack size.

I'll probably keep playing d2 after I think of a funner chr to try out. Maybe things will be a bit better after the mass ban.

[Arkardo]

Goat shrines + CL = FTW!!!1!

Don't goat shrines have random effects, like lowering your mana permanently in exchange for a lousy +2 to Fire/Holy/Charged Bolt?

[Flux]

Don't goat shrines have random effects, like lowering your mana permanently in exchange for a lousy +2 to Fire/Holy/Charged Bolt?

Yeah, the bad ones (and all the rest) are listed on the D1 Shrines page (http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/D1_Shrines). I recommend never clicking goat shrines; they're just fun in the Cats since they're surrounded by goats w/o any lightning resistance, who usually create a lovely chorus of their gacking death sounds to a single burst of Chain Lightning.

[Lanthanide]

They're safe in single player, where you can save the game, test the shrine and re-load if you get a bad effect.

[mouseman]

The experience table has two level 38 rows :)

[Sepharia]

I had a level 50 mage way back in the day.. But that's been such a long time ago. These days when I play I usually stop before I even make it to 40. Like others have said, with elixirs you max out your stats long before you hit the level cap anyway.

I always enjoyed going down to face normal Diablo, summoning my golem, and watching the golem solo kill him. It made me lol every time.

[irontigran]

I have never made it to lvl 50, but have a hardcore warrior right now.

has anyone ever gotten to 50 without dying?

[SEANBCOOL]

I think the highest I had was my level 38 rogue, but I didn't really need her any higher than that. Elixers do wonders.

She could kick level 50 PKs asses pretty easily, so there wasn't much need to grind just to level up.

Windforce, King's Sword of Haste, Demon Spike Coat, Messerschmidt's Reaver to swich things up, Dual Rings of the Zodiac. Those were the days...

I had a Sorcerer and Warrior in their early 30s as well.

[Lanthanide]

I got multiple sorcs up to the high 30's low 40's, think 43 or 44 was my highest. Don't think I ever got a warrior higher than about 25 or 26 or so - just not interested in that class. My highest rogue was probably up about 37 or 38, but I mainly played them in the ME mod (look elsewhere on this forum for links).

Demonspike coat really was a lame piece of armor.

[ancalagon]

From level 36 to 50, I had estimated 10 months to 14 months with 24 hours a week.

Edit: Full Hell/Cave and Hell/Hell runs (I believe it was up to lvl 15 though, lvl 16 is tough as hell (pun) and if 15 is full of Mages + Soul Burners, I just save and exit as I was a warrior :))