d2jsp
Log InRegister
d2jsp Forums > Diablo II > Diablo 2: Resurrected > D2:R Discussion > Rotw Feels Like It Punishes Casual Play
Prev1234569Next
Add Reply New Topic New Poll
Member
Posts: 9,548
Joined: Oct 17 2007
Gold: 3,190.10
Feb 23 2026 11:18am
Sunders being rarer is good, but not this rare. The lod conversion loop destroyed what they were trying to do anyway, hopefully some changes to really push split p8 farming w/o dependence on lod will come sooner or later.


They are extremely powerful and therefore extremely rare.

People complaining because a rare item takes them a long time to farm since they cant get it to drop in a session or a 3-4 hours stretch.

Just wait till the bots take over shortly and they will be worth next to nothing and you can stock up on them.


Yeah this is great. Over time you will still find way more of these then trying to target farm any other good items... What am I missing?

Trading is the solution for casual play, you'll get your sunder don't give up, learn where your build thrives without them, or try one that doesn't need it.

I get some people play SSF but that's meant as a self imposed challenge if you're doing on ladder.

Sorc is OP for getting TP w/o enigma so it makes sense they should struggle more without sunders.


About the bots - I'm definitely seeing people who are mass bot farming on the forums, some how have numerous amounts of every high runes already on ladder, etc.
Blizz claimed they are cracking down and have new detection tech, so I guess we'll know pretty soon. Historically they like to do bans a week or so into a new season or ladder.

This post was edited by Zbrown on Feb 23 2026 11:31am
Member
Posts: 7,611
Joined: Mar 28 2018
Gold: 3.00
Feb 23 2026 11:19am
how r yall even trying heralds on ladder reset? its not even 72 hours and I havnt even gotten to act5hell yet. yall r nuts.
Member
Posts: 9,548
Joined: Oct 17 2007
Gold: 3,190.10
Feb 23 2026 11:27am
how r yall even trying heralds on ladder reset? its not even 72 hours and I havnt even gotten to act5hell yet. yall r nuts.


That's what I'm saying lol! That definition of casual is way off, if that's how it was meant.

I've been goin hard all weekend, definitely not playing casually

This post was edited by Zbrown on Feb 23 2026 11:30am
Member
Posts: 12,828
Joined: Sep 24 2021
Gold: 35.10
Feb 23 2026 11:28am
Great read.

Think you are right.

Solution? Put regular sunders back in the game of u ask me. (And Keep current Herald / latent systeem too)
Member
Posts: 2,017
Joined: Dec 5 2019
Gold: 680.12
Feb 23 2026 11:28am
In LoD it was simple. Ladder reset, fight your way up, clear Hell, then farm Terrorzones. Either P8 public with others or P1 solo if you weren’t strong enough yet or just didn’t feel like keeping up.

If a nice TZ was on, you logged in for an hour. P1 or P8. RNG is RNG. On P8 higher chance, sure. But even on P1 you could get lucky and find your Sunder in that one hour. That was possible. That was realistic. That felt fair.

Now with ROTW it’s completely different.

Sunders don’t just drop in Terrorzones anymore. They drop from Heralds. And not just any Herald, but effectively Level 4 or 5 Heralds.

To get there you first need Level 1, 2, 3 Heralds to spawn. And in a normal 30-minute Terrorzone you basically can’t reach that. There just aren’t enough mobs. So you need Shards.

These Worldstone Shards that you first have to find. I used the eight days before Ladder reset in Non-Ladder to farm TZs on P1 and I didn’t see a single Shard. Not one. Maybe bad luck, sure. But that’s exactly the point.

As a casual P1 player you don’t even really get into the system.

If you finally get a Shard, you have to terrorize a whole Act, go through all the dungeons, stay in the same game long enough, kill enough mobs so that a Level 4 or 5 Herald even spawns. And even then the Sunder chance on P1 is extremely low.

So before a Sunder can even technically drop, a huge ramp up system has to be set in motion…

In LoD it wasn’t like that. You entered a TZ, played an hour, and at least had the chance.

Now it feels like if you’re not grinding for multiple hours straight, nothing really moves.

And here’s the real point.

This system incentivizes multiboxing and fillers way more than before.

In LoD the advantage of P8 or fillers was clear: more XP, lower NoDrop. That was relevant for Ladder race players or hardcore min-maxers.

Now it affects everyone who even wants to participate in Sunders or the new Ancient system.

If I invest my own Shards, why would I do that in a public game? Why would I use my resources so some random can grab the loot in front of me or break my whole Herald chain?

So people make private games.

But if you make private games and still want P8 advantages, you need fillers. Or multi-accounts.

And that’s where the circle closes.

ROTW didn’t reduce multiboxing. It made it more attractive. Not just for Ladder top 5 grinders, but for anyone who seriously wants access to Sunders.

Back then as a dad with 30-60 minutes, I could jump into a TZ, farm, and at least feel like I was participating in endgame.

Now I log in, play an hour P1, don’t see a Shard, maybe spawn one Level 1 Herald, log off again. Progress? Feels like zero.

That’s the difference.

LoD rewarded grinders, yes. But it didn’t lock casuals out.

ROTW feels like the core system is built around long sessions, control, and infrastructure much more than before.

Public TZ farming for Sunders? Basically dead.
Either clan runs or solo P8 with fillers.

And that’s what bothers me.

I love this game. I want it to thrive. But right now it feels like a key part of the endgame just isn’t really reachable for players like me.

Is it just me?
What do others think that only play with 1 account?
Happy to hear your thoughts on this

tl;dr
You formatted that message so well, I actually almost read any of it, but instead just decided to compliment how well you wrote your message. :thumbsup:


This post was edited by Omniend on Feb 23 2026 11:29am
Member
Posts: 1,849
Joined: Dec 13 2007
Gold: 5,319.06
Feb 23 2026 11:30am
They did this whole new endgame with this idea that if they make this grind slow enough, itll feel like a "forever game".

They really seemed to think that they needed to solve the problem of players getting to the "now what" point. But thats what ladder reset is for.

I play single player primarily so, this is actually kinda fkin awesome for me because i DO want diablo 2 to be a forever game, I dig it up every couple years, play for a while and put it back down, and my collection is always there, always growing, always feels good to add somwthing significant.

Having this sunder grind happenig in the background of somply running TZs for MFing is kidna great for me.


but totally agree with you that for ladder, which is the bigger concern, its kinda ass.

and needless to say it completely accentuates the problem of RMT from this site. Theres never been a more obvious purchase than a crafted sunder/the shiny new jewels etc.
Member
Posts: 7,693
Joined: Mar 30 2006
Gold: 1,765.30
Feb 23 2026 11:36am
It's also not just about chasing the Sunder.
Heralds drop much better loot i.e. guaranteed rares...one dropped me two uniques in one drop. You should be aiming to always farm heralds if you can and the Sunder is a bonus drop relative to their better loot tables.

To be most effective , I recommend farming tzs, until you get 1 Herald, then terrorize a different act to cont.
Member
Posts: 29,674
Joined: May 26 2014
Gold: 420.69
Warn: 20%
Feb 23 2026 11:38am
They did this whole new endgame with this idea that if they make this grind slow enough, itll feel like a "forever game".

They really seemed to think that they needed to solve the problem of players getting to the "now what" point. But thats what ladder reset is for.

I play single player primarily so, this is actually kinda fkin awesome for me because i DO want diablo 2 to be a forever game, I dig it up every couple years, play for a while and put it back down, and my collection is always there, always growing, always feels good to add somwthing significant.

Having this sunder grind happenig in the background of somply running TZs for MFing is kidna great for me.


but totally agree with you that for ladder, which is the bigger concern, its kinda ass.

and needless to say it completely accentuates the problem of RMT from this site. Theres never been a more obvious purchase than a crafted sunder/the shiny new jewels etc.




Yessir… i play mainly single player p8 hc. Been playing my lvl 94 nado druid which i made 3 years ago and continuing to grind whenever i have time to play.

The chase of one day hopefully finding my first latent sunder gc is exciting af. They should keep the drop rate low% becus its an overpowering item too.


Member
Posts: 14,305
Joined: Jan 15 2007
Gold: 1,664.00
Feb 23 2026 11:39am
Respectfully disagree. I think they designed it even more for the avg joe "dad with 30 min a free time a day" kind of play in. That's entirely what the Warlock class is for. He comes pre-built with epic damage, a watered-down version of teleport, and big flashy skills like Apocalypse that fills the screen with fire and color. RotW is D2 on easy mode. A Warlock with trash gear can easily compete in pvm or even pvp against characters with epic end game gear.

Member
Posts: 1,849
Joined: Dec 13 2007
Gold: 5,319.06
Feb 23 2026 11:44am
Respectfully disagree. I think they designed it even more for the avg joe "dad with 30 min a free time a day" kind of play in. That's entirely what the Warlock class is for. He comes pre-built with epic damage, a watered-down version of teleport, and big flashy skills like Apocalypse that fills the screen with fire and color. RotW is D2 on easy mode. A Warlock with trash gear can easily compete in pvm or even pvp against characters with epic end game gear.


the fact that it made the game easier for what the community would call the extremely casual doesnt invalidate OPs point.


yes you can more easily jump into the game that weve been playing for over 20 years.

But if you want to see anything new you need to be a complete fuckin sweaty
Go Back To D2:R Discussion Topic List
Prev1234569Next
Add Reply New Topic New Poll