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Sep 27 2008 05:15pm
Item Decay

- an approximate muling reference


Disclaimer : item decay as measured in-game is not an exact science. Values given are to be considered estimates, as in-game variables could probably affect the decay rates.


Item Decay Rate
The estimated time required for an item to disappear once dropped on the ground. In-game testing (1.11b) suggested the "decay timer" is reset whenever an item is picked up (onto the cursor) and dropped.

Below is a list of item types, divided into decay rate groups (10 minutes, 20 minutes etc.) Repeated testing returned the same decay rates to the accuracy of within 1 minute, which has subsequently led me
into believing that items may vanish after X to X+1 minutes at any second inbetween (randomly picked by the game server). I did not bother testing if it applies to the most enduring items (gold, quest items),
nor should I think it would be of much use, considering how large decay rates these items have.

Test Environment
Act I, Rogue Encampment (Normal)

Test character mostly standing still. Once in a while making sure the game did not drop, by routine movement, purchasing items from NPCs for further testing, or picking items from the stash (monster drops).
Rejoining and/or character swapping seemed to have literally no effect on the results. Approximately the same results whether the character was performing any actions in the Rogue Encampment or merely
stood still, waiting for the items to decay.

The test environment was chosen to resemble that of muling.


10 minutes Y seconds
  • Socketed ("grey")
  • Ethereal ("grey")
  • White (equippables)
  • Rune Word
  • chest keys
  • Key of Terror / Hate / Destruction
  • Organ (Mephisto's Brain / Diablo's Horn / Baal's Eye)
  • Quiver (Arrows / Bolts)
  • Potion
  • Scroll of Identify / Town Portal
  • Tome of Identify / Town Portal

20 minutes Y seconds
  • Magic ("blue")
  • Gem
  • Rune

30 minutes Y seconds
  • Crafted ("orange")
  • Rare ("yellow")
  • Set ("green")
  • Unique ("gold")

6-12+ hours
  • Gold *)
  • Quest item **)

*) Different results obtained (~ 6-8 hours) using different pile sizes (large piles apparently vanishing faster)
**) Test objects: Horadric Cube, Gidbinn. Test terminated 12 hours 30 minutes later (I lost my patience ^^)

Yell if you see any errors or have any comments or relevant questions. Thank you.

This post was edited by Faelwen on Sep 27 2008 05:30pm
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Sep 27 2008 05:29pm
to much time on your hands? go out a bit^^
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Sep 27 2008 05:31pm
Quote (KMxxXXxx @ Sun, 28 Sep 2008, 01:29)
to much time on your hands? go out a bit^^

I did the above testing last season. No, I am not crazy enough to do it again ^^
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Sep 27 2008 05:46pm
Gold disappears fast when there's a lot of stuff around, try dropping lots of small piles (lots and lots).
Member
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Sep 27 2008 05:57pm
You're from The Amazon Basin aren't you.

I've finally figured it out.

Since their forum is dead/dying you're bringing all the information over here.

NONE OF THESE RETARDS CARE!
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Sep 27 2008 06:54pm
Quote (ProfessorMoriarty @ Sun, 28 Sep 2008, 01:46)
Gold disappears fast when there's a lot of stuff around, try  dropping lots of small piles (lots and lots).

Never bothered trying that. Now you want me to do it ? Damn happy.gif

Quote (TNation @ Sun, 28 Sep 2008, 01:57)
You're from The Amazon Basin aren't you.

I've finally figured it out.

Since their forum is dead/dying you're bringing all the information over here.

NONE OF THESE RETARDS CARE!

Nah, I'm not from the AB.

You're right - most people probably don't care. Nor do I care about them ^^

This post was edited by Faelwen on Sep 27 2008 06:55pm
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Sep 27 2008 06:55pm
It's a good thing you are posting all this information because very few people familiarize themselves with game dynamics.

This post was edited by general_patton on Sep 27 2008 07:16pm
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Sep 27 2008 06:57pm
All though I self mule and 99% of time it don’t involve dropping items, still thanks for info!
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Sep 27 2008 06:58pm
Large groups of things disappear at once even though they arn't dropped at the same time, I once was buying magic rings (or amus i dont remember) from Gheed and dropping them on the floor. I noticed that a large amount had disappeared suddenly, I watched for a little longer and I saw another large group of these items disappear.
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Sep 27 2008 07:26pm
Good show if someone finds this helpful while muling.

Quote (hue_two @ Sun, 28 Sep 2008, 02:58)
Large groups of things disappear at once even though they arn't dropped at the same time, I once was buying magic rings (or amus i dont remember) from Gheed and dropping them on the floor. I noticed that a large amount had disappeared suddenly, I watched for a little longer and I saw another large group of these items disappear.

Yeah, I found it to be the case at least when I dropped several items in quick succession (~ 15-45 seconds or thereabouts).

Those groups would vanish based on when the first item in a group was dropped.

This post was edited by Faelwen on Sep 27 2008 07:33pm
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