Area Level 85 LocationsWhat's the big deal with these level 85 (or
aLvl 85) locations? Simply put, the boss packs in these areas can
drop any unique item in the game. This requires a bit of explanation.
All of the items in the game have what's called an "item level" (iLvl). (Note that some sites and users refer to the
"Quality Level," or qLvl, instead. This is the same as iLvl.) In order for for an item of whatever quality (white, magic, rare, set, unique) to drop, at least two conditions have to be met (I discuss "Treasure Class" in another post):
(1) The area level must be equivalent or higher than the base item's ilvl;
(2) the particular enemy killed must have a monster level (mLvl) that is equivalent or higher than the iLvl of the item dropped.Arachnid Mesh is a good item to use to discuss how this works. It is a unique Spiderweb Sash, and it has an ilvl of 87. That means the following:
- Normal monsters in level 85 locations can drop a non-unique Spiderweb Sash, but not Arachnid Mesh. This is because a Spiderweb Sash has an ilvl of 61. But these monsters are only mLvl 85.
- Champion and Unique packs spawn with an mLvl of +2 or +3 above the aLvl. Since these meet both conditions mentioned above, these can drop Arachnid Mesh.
Now that we've mentioned them, we can dig a little more into Champion and Unique packs. Both of these are what players refer to as
"boss packs."—
A "Champion" monster pack is one that spawns with 2-4 enemies that are a combination of Champion, Berzerker, Fanatic, Ghostly, and Possessed. With the exception of a Berzerker, the monsters in these packs spawn with an mLvl of the aLvl + 2; Berzerkers are aLvl + 3.
A "Unique" monster pack is one that spawns with a uniquely named monster (e.g., "Moon Kill the Mad") with minions. These packs spawn with an mLvl of aLvl + 3. So we can summarize these as the following:
Champion pack mLvl = aLvl + 2. (Berzerker mLvl = aLvl + 3.)
Unique pack mLvl = aLvl + 3.—
Code
╔═══════════════════════════════╤════════════════╤════════════════╗
║ Area Level 85 Location │ Min Boss Packs │ Max Boss Packs ║
╠═══════╦═══════════════════════╪════════════════╪════════════════╣
║ ║ Mausoleum │ 4 │ 5 ║
║ ╟───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────╢
║ ║ The Pit │ 6 │ 8 ║
║ Act 1 ║ (Level 1) │ │ ║
║ ╟───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────╢
║ ║ The Pit │ 2 │ 3 ║
║ ║ (Level 2) │ │ ║
╟───────╫───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────╢
║ ║ Maggot Lair │ 4 │ 5 ║
║ Act 2 ║ (Level 3) │ │ ║
║ ╟───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────╢
║ ║ Ancient Tunnels† │ 6 │ 8 ║
╟───────╫───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────╢
║ ║ The Sewers │ 0 │ 2 ║
║ ║ (Level 2) │ │ ║
║ ╟───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────╢
║ Act 3 ║ Forgotten Temple │ 2 │ 2 ║
║ ╟───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────╢
║ ║ Ruined Temple │ 2 │ 2 ║
║ ╟───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────╢
║ ║ Disused Relinquary │ 2 │ 2 ║
╟───────╫───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────╢
║ ║ River of Flame │ 6 │ 7 ║
║ Act 4 ╟───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────╢
║ ║ The Chaos Sanctuary │ 6 │ 7 ║
╟───────╫───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────╢
║ ║ Worldstone Keep │ 6 │ 8 ║
║ Act 5 ║ (Levels 1-3) │ │ ║
║ ╟───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────╢
║ ║ Throne of Destruction │ 4 │ 5 ║
╚═══════╩═══════════════════════╧════════════════╧════════════════╝
† There are no naturally cold immune monsters in the Ancient Tunnels. Only unique bosses that spawn with "Cold Enchanted" may be cold immune.
Resources:1. DiabloWiki.net, "Level 85 Magic Find Areas v1.10" —
https://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Guide:Level_85_Magic_Find_Areas_v1.102. Diablo Fandom, "Area Level" —
https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Area_Level3. Maxroll, "Elite Groups" —
https://d2.maxroll.gg/resources/elite-monster#%20cold-enchanted-40f4cf77-f980-4052-8768-8d66e82394d84. You can find the iLvl / qLvl of various base item types at Arreat Summit — http://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/weaponsandarmor.shtml#normal
This post was edited by Kerygma on Oct 22 2021 10:18am