Stone of Jordan Magic Find FAQ
Table Of Contents:
1. Introduction
2. What is a Stone of Jordan
3. How to find a SOJ
4. What are the chances of finding a SoJ
5. Which monsters drop more rings
6. How much better are Act Bosses than normal monsters like pit ones
7. Question and answer
8. How to increase the chances to finding a SoJ
9. What are the Mlvls and the Qlvls
10. What is Rarity
11. How much MF must be used
12. If I have found X unique rings what are my chances of finding a SoJ
13. Abbreviations
1. Introduction:
In this FAQ you can find all the information you need to know about SoJs; where to find them, and how to find them. There are no rumors or myths here. All information about MF was tested by many Diablo players and is proven. You can find all abbreviations in the end.
2. What is a Stone of Jordan
The SoJ is The Stone of Jordan unique ring. It is the best ring for any caster. Its properties are:
+1 to all skill levels
increase maximum mana by 25%
adds 1-12 lightning damage, +20 mana
character level 29 required
Qlvl=39
Rarity=1.
It is one of the most wanted items for trading since the release of the D2C. If you want to become rich in a new Diablo economy (ladder, hardcore) find a few SoJs.
3. How to find a SOJ?
You can find them many ways. Any monster with Mlvl=39 or higher can drop one. All nightmare and hell chests can drop one (except few ones at beginning of NM Act 1). However their chances vary from 1:1000 to 1:15000000. If you complete the game in all difficulties you have a little chance of finding a SoJ. If you do common Magic Find [MF] runs like the Mephisto Runs or the Pit Runs you have a little chance of finding a SoJ also.
This is a rating of the SoJ drop places from the most rewarding to the least.
1. Nightmare Andariel, Normal Diablo.
2. Normal Baal, Nightmare and Hell Act Bosses.
3. Councils. Any monster at Act1, Act2 and Act3 of NM.
4. Any monster with a level higher than 38.
5. Any chest, corpse, rock or something in nightmare and hell. Gambling.
If you have enough patience you will find a SoJ and nothing else matters. But if you hate endless NM Andariel runs go to your favorite place such as Hell Mephisto and you'll still have a chance of finding a SoJ from him.
4. What are the chances of finding a SoJ?
This is the table of the chances to find a SoJ in the 8ppl game with +200%MF, ATMA 5.04c DropCalc was used.
Monster~~~~~~~~~Difficulty~~~~chance per a kill,%~~chance per 1k kills,%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quest Andariel--------Nightmare----------------0.103--------------64.3
Quest Andariel----------Hell----------------------0.0626-------------46.5
Andariel----------------Nightmare----------------0.0334-------------28.4
Andariel----------------Hell------------------------0.0203-------------18.4
Diablo-------------------Normal-------------------0.0256-------------22.6
Diablo-------------------NM, Hell----------------- 0.015--------------13.9
Duriel-------------------NM, Hell------------------0.020---------------18.1
Mephisto---------------NM, Hell----------------- 0.015---------------13.9
Baal---------------------Any----------------------- 0.015--------------13.9
The Summoner-------Nightmare----------------0.0123-------------11.6
The Summoner--------Hell------------------------0.00724-----------6.98
The Countess---------Nightmare----------------0.00801-----------7.70
The Countess---------Hell------------------------0.00478 -----------4.67
Any Council Member--NM, Hell------------------0.0015--------------1.5
5. Which monsters drop more rings?
This is the table of the chances of dropping a ring per kill in the full game. Only level 39 or more monsters included.
Monster~~~~~~~~~~~~Difficulty~~~~~~~~~~~Chance, %
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quest Andariel------------Hell and Nightmare-------------14.2
Summoner-----------------Hell and Nightmare--------------7.5
Andariel--------------------Hell and Nightmare--------------6.7
Duriel-----------------------Hell and Nightmare--------------6.7
Blood Raven---------------Hell and Nightmare--------------6.6
Izual------------------------Hell and Nightmare--------------6.6
Nihlathak------------------Hell and Nightmare--------------6.6
Hephasto-----------------Hell and Nightmare---------------6.6
Radament-----------------Hell and Nightmare--------------5.6
Diablo----------------------Normal-----------------------------5.3
Diablo----------------------Hell and Nightmare--------------5.0
Baal---------------------------Any-------------------------------5.0
Mephisto------------------Hell and Nightmare---------------5.0
Council Member----------Hell and Nightmare---------------4.5
Superunique(almost any)-Hell and Nightmare------------2.4
Ghost (any version)----Hell and Nightmare ---------------2.4
Random Unique---------Hell and Nightmare----------------1.2
Normal Monster(almost any)-Hell and Nightmare--------0.6
6. How much better are Act Bosses than normal monsters like pit ones?
This is the table for the ring chance to be unique with 0% MF:
Monster~~~~~~~~~~~Difficulty~~~~~~~~Average chance, %
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quest Andariel---------Hell and Nightmare------------10.0
Baal------------------------------Any------------------------7.7
Diablo---------------------------Any-------------------------7.4
Mephisto----------------Hell and Nightmare-------------7.6
Duriel--------------------Hell and Nightmare-------------7.6
Andariel-----------------Hell and Nightmare--------------7.4
Superunique-----------Hell and Nightmare--------------1.3
Unique------------------Hell and Nightmare--------------1.3
Champion--------------Hell and Nightmare---------------1.3
Normal Monster-------Hell and Nightmare---------------0.3
7. Questions And Answers
Q: Why not do Hell Mephisto runs, as usual?
A: His Mlvl is 87. So he can drop any unique ring and he drops fewer rings. The Chances of a SoJ are several times better when you kill Andariel instead of him. If he still dropped a unique ring, then its chances of being a SoJ are 1:59.
Q: Why not to do the Hell Andariel runs?
A:The Mlvl of Hell Andariel is 75. She can drop any unique ring except Nature’s Peace and Wisp Projector. If she drops a unique ring then the chance of it being a SoJ are 1:55. However, it is the best place to run if you want to find a Bul Katho's Ring.
Q: Why is Nightmare Andariel the best monster for SoJ runs?
A: She has the best chance of dropping a ring. She drops 6 items in a full game (like other act bosses), she is easy to find and kill, she can drop a SoJ and can’t drop other unique rings except Nagelring and Manald, and Andariel has a bug in 1.10. Only normal Diablo can compare with her. Other bosses drop other unique rings, and drop SoJs less often. Non-act bosses drop less items and uniques.
If Nightmare Andariel drops a unique ring, then the chance to find a SoJ is 1:31.
Q: What is the Andariel bug?
A: If your Andariel drops items like Quest Andariel, then you have the Andariel bug. Quest drops are the new feature of 1.10. When you kill an Act Boss for the first time in certain difficulties, he does a quest drop meaning he drops only unique, set, rare and magic items, gems and runes and doesn’t drop junk such as gold or bolts.
Q: What items are the best drops from Nightmare Andariel?
A: Tal Rasha's Adjudication (Amulet).
Small charms with +3 max damage, 24 to attack rating, +12 mana, +5% all resistances, 5% fast hit recovery, +7% MF, +15 life.
Jewels with +30% damage, +15 to max damage, 12% damage goes to mana, +100 to attack rating, +17% MF, +15% all resistances, +40% damage vs demons, +15% IAS, Requirements -15%.
Runes up to Ko.
Skin of the Vipermagi.
Shaftstop.
Waterwalk.
Any unique or set normal item.
8. How to increase the chances to finding a SoJ
When you kill a monster or open a chest the game passes through the following processes.
1. “No drop” Check. The Monster or the chest can fail to drop an item. You can resist it only by increasing the number of players in the game. In the full game all monsters drop items and act bosses drop at least 6 items almost always. However, Champions and all non-act Bosses (except several uniques) drop fixed amounts of items, and the number of players doesn’t affect their drops.
2. If the game decides to reward you with an item, it chooses an item type – a weapon, armor, ring, amulet, rune, gem or something else. Only the monster type (name) and the game difficulty can determine the item type. In 1.10 area type affects it too. The Pit is a good example.
3. The next step is item quality determination. The Item quality is the color of its name in simple wards. Only the monster type (name) and “+chance to find magic items” can change it. +MF value works only at this step.
4. If the game wants to drop a unique or set item, and there are several unique or set items with that type (like rings or amulets), then it selects one item according to its rarity. This process is completely random.
9.What are the Mlvls and the Qlvls?
The Mlvl is the Monster level.
The Qlvl is the Item Quality level.
It is fixed constants in the game files. You can check it yourself with an mpqview program. A monster can drop an item if the Qlvl of the item is less or equal to the Mlvl of the monster, and the monster can drop items of that type. The Item type is the name of an unidentified item in simple words (not exact), like a ring or a skullcap. However, any monster can drop rings.
The Mlvl of Nightmare Andariel is 49
The Mlvl of Normal Diablo is 40
The Qlvl of a SoJ is 39
The Qlvl of Dwarf Star and Raven Frost is 53
The Qlvl of Manald Heal is 20
The Qlvl of Nagelring is 10.
10. What is Rarity?
The Rarity reflects item prevalence. The Common item rarity is greater than the rare item rarity. The Rarity of a SoJ is 1. The Rarity of Manald is 15. You will find a SoJ for every 15 Manald Heals. This is the table for the rarity of unique rings:
Ring~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Rarity
---------------------------------------------------------
Nagelring-----------------------------15
Manald Heal--------------------------15
The Stone of Jordan------------------1
Bul Katho's Wedding Band----------1
Dwarf Star----------------------------10
Raven Frost--------------------------10
Nature's Peace-----------------------3
Wisp Projector-----------------------1
Carrion Wind-------------------------3
11. How much MF must be used?
The more MF you have the more unique, set, rare and magic items you will find. However the game likes to round numbers, so 29%MF Nagelring is the same as 30%MF Nagelring completely. And it is better to do MF runs with 1 minute speed and 100%MF than with 5 minute speed and 500%MF. Although don’t sacrifice damage and resistances for MF. Look at this table for MF effectiveness:
+%MF total~~~~+chance to find a unique item, %
----------------------------------------------------------------
0-------------------------------------0
100-----------------------------------71
200----------------------------------111
300----------------------------------136
400----------------------------------154
500----------------------------------167
600----------------------------------176
700----------------------------------184
800----------------------------------190
900----------------------------------195
1000---------------------------------200
And in the next table you can see +MF effectiveness on Nightmare Quest Andariel SoJ drops in the full game. +MF – total “+MF” value you have, 1 run chance – the chance of finding SoJ from NM Andariel in the full game per 1 kill, 1000 runs chance – per 1000 kills.
+MF~~~~~~~~~~1 run chance, %~~~~~~1000 runs chance, %
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0-----------------------0.0489-------------------------38.66
50----------------------0.0692-------------------------49.97
100---------------------0.0838-------------------------56.75
150---------------------0.0947-------------------------61.22
200---------------------0.1032-------------------------64.38
250---------------------0.1100-------------------------66.72
300---------------------0.1155-------------------------68.52
350---------------------0.1201-------------------------69.94
400---------------------0.1241-------------------------71.10
450---------------------0.1274-------------------------72.05
500---------------------0.1303-------------------------72.86
550---------------------0.1329-------------------------73.54
600---------------------0.1351-------------------------74.13
650---------------------0.1371-------------------------74.64
700---------------------0.1389-------------------------75.09
750---------------------0.1405-------------------------75.49
800---------------------0.1420-------------------------75.84
850---------------------0.1433-------------------------76.16
900---------------------0.1445-------------------------76.45
950---------------------0.1456-------------------------76.70
1000-------------------0.1466--------------------------76.94
12. If I have found X unique rings what are my chances of finding a SoJ?
If you find a unique ring from a monster like NM Andariel your chance is 1:31. Using mathematics you can calculate that your chance for X unique rings is 100*(1-(1-1:31)^X)%. Look at this table:
Unique rings found Chance to find a SoJ, %
--------------------------------------------------
1------------------------------3.23
5-----------------------------15.12
10----------------------------27.96
20----------------------------48.10
50----------------------------80.59
100---------------------------96.23
141---------------------------99.02
150---------------------------99.27
If you find 141 unique rings from nightmare Andariel, then you will find a SoJ.
13. Abbreviations
SoJ – The Stone of Jordan.
FAQ – frequently asked questions.
MF – magic find.
PM – private message.
Qlvl – quality level.
Mlvl – monster level.
Lvl – level.
Andy – AKA Andariel.
Meph – AKA Mephisto
D2C, D2 – Diablo II Classic.
D2LOD, D2X – Diablo II Lord of Destruction.
LAN – local area network.
SP – single player.
NM – nightmare.
8ppl, 1ppl, full game – 8 player’s game.
Uring – unique ring.
Noob – novice.
IAS – increased attack speed.
Ex – example.
MDR – magic damage reduction.
PDR – Physical damage reduction.
Sorc – Sorceress.
Uber – the best.
SU – Superunique.
Pind – Pindleskin.