~~ VLLD 9-12 Item Guide ~~

Introduction

Hello there, the goal of this guide is to bring more people to the VLLD community (hopefully) by giving them useful tips on where to find VLLD items (Large Charms, jewelery, ...).
Moreover, this guide will help everyone who is wondering how to cube, gamble, imbue efficiently to get nice VLLD items.
Some explanations will be brought to you throughout the guide to bring you the knowledge on how to get an item you are looking for.

Before we get started, here are some abbreviations you may want to know before continuing reading :

Alvl = Affix level
Clvl = Character level
Ilvl = Item level
qlvl = Quality level
rlvl = Required level

Cubing

I don't recommand cubing rare rings / amus as those can easily be gambled. You will have 10 % chance to get a rare which is fair enough (go to the gambling section for more info).
Rare jewels cannot be gambled and it is best to keep your perfect skulls to cube them.

Large Charms (qlvl = 14) :

Cubing 15 L / 12 AR & 15 L / 7 M at best odds [rlvl 9] --> Ilvl 19 (can be found on "Hell Cat" Act 2 Normal : Canyon of the Magi)
Cubing 15 L / 25 AR at best odds [rlvl 12] --> Ilvl 23 (can be found on "Cantor" Act 3 Normal : Upper Kurast)
Cubing 15 L / 12 M at best odds [rlvl 12] --> Ilvl 24 (can be found on "Zealot" Act 3 Normal : Upper Kurast, Kurast Causeway, Travincal)



Explanation :


In order to get (at best odds) 15 life & 12 Ar / 7 mana LC you need the LC to be Ilvl = 19
(The affixes "Lizard's (5-7 mana)" and "Bronze (6-12 ar)" have an Alvl < 12 so they can spawn on a Ilvl 19 LC)

Rare Jewels (qlvl = 1) :

[WEAPONS] Cubing rare jewel ed/max/ar [rlvl 9] --> Ilvl 12 & Clvl 23 (to always set the jewel's Ilvl to 14) CHANCES for [11:20] %ed & [7:14] max : 0.17 %
Cubing rare jewel for jabzon ed/ar/(-req) [rlvl 9] --> Ilvl 12 & Clvl 23 (to always set the jewel's Ilvl to 14) CHANCES for [11:20] %ed & [21:40] ar : 1.38 %
Cubing rare jewel min/max [rlvl 9] --> Ilvl 12 & Clvl 18 (to always set the jewel's Ilvl to 12) CHANCES for [2:8] min & [7:14] max : 0.01 % !!!
Cubing rare jewel max/ar/(-req) [rlvl 9] --> Ilvl 12 & Clvl 18 (to always set the jewel's Ilvl to 12) CHANCES for [7:14] max & [21:40] ar : 0.20 %
Cubing rare jewel min/ar/(-req) [rlvl 6] --> Ilvl 8 & Clvl 12 (to always set the jewel's Ilvl to 8) CHANCES for [2:8] min & [21:40] ar : 0.32 %

Ilvl 8 rare jewels can be found on "Returned Archer" Act 1 Normal : Tamoe Highland, Monastery Gate OR on Normal "Rakanishu" (better).
Ilvl 12 rare jewels can be found on Normal Andy (further increase your chances on finding one by completing the quest for the fist time).



Note : to seek for max/ar/(-req) Jewels, Ilvl 12 is better than 14 as you wan't to avoid "Rusty" affix (%ed).

Example of good jewels :
- 9 max / 30 ar
- 4-9 dmg
- 12+ max
- 9 max / -req
- 7 min
- 20 ed / 30 ar
- 20 ed / 9 max

Couple jewels that were found raw on norm Andy (Ilvl 12) :


14 max / -req : 0.25 % chance to find a similar one from an Andy jewel
14 max / 7 life : 0.33 % chance to find a similar one from an Andy jewel

Best weapon jewels :
- 20 ed / 14 max / 40 ar
- 20 ed / 14 max / -req
- 20 ed / 14 max / 12 dtm

Best body jewels :
- 8-14 dmg
- 14 max / 40 ar / 12 dtm
- 14 max / 40 ar / 8 life
- 14 max / 40 ar / -req
- 14 max / 50 ar / 1 light radius
- 20 ed / 40 ar / 8 life / -req
- 20 ed / 40 ar / 8 life / 12 dtm

Gambling

Gambled items are only affected by Clvl and their Ilvl will vary from Clvl - 5 to Clvl + 4.
Despite the fact that this guide also shows how to gamble for good bows, to be the most efficient in your iso's, you should only gamble for rare rings / amus.
Most of the other stuff you are looking for are either socketable items or eth rare / self-rep items which can be found by imbuing (go to the imbuing section for more info).

Rare Rings (qlvl = 1) :

Gambling rlvl 9 rings --> Clvl = 17
Gambling rlvl 12 rings --> Clvl = 19
Gambling rlvl 18 rings --> Clvl = 29

Best rlvl 9 rings can also be found on norm Andy (further increase your chances on finding one by completing the quest for the fist time).

Explanation:
To have the best chances to get a nice rlvl 9 ring from gambling, you need Clvl = 17.
Indeed, this will guarantee the affixes of the item to always meet what you are fetching for at this level.
The Ilvl will vary from 12 to 21 which is just enough to potentially get the affix "Silver (61-80 ar)" which is the highest Alvl (=12) desired at this level.



Note : the result of int(qlvl / 2) is rounded down, hence 1 / 2 = 0.

Example of good rings :
- 60 ar / 2 str / 2 dex
- 60 ar / 2 str | dext / 5 repl
- 2 str / 2 dext / 5 repl
- 10 fcr / 2 str / 2 dext

Best rings :
- 80 ar / 2 str / 2 dext / 10 mana / 5 repl
- 95 ar / 2 str / 2 dext / 10 mana / 1 light radius
- 10 fcr / 2 str / 2 dext / 10 mana

Rare Amus (qlvl = 1) :

Gambling rlvl 9 amus --> Clvl = 17
Gambling rlvl 12 amus --> Clvl = 22
Gambling rlvl 18 amus --> Clvl = 29

Best rlvl 9 amus can also be found on norm Andy (further increase your chances on finding one by completing the quest for the fist time).

Example of good amus :
- 4 str / 4 dext
- 2 str / 5 dext / 7 dtm
- 5 str / 2 dext / 4 repl

Best amus :
- 20 ar / 5 str / 5 dext / 10 mana / 5 repl / 12 dtm
- 10 fcr / 5 str / 5 dext / 10 mana / 12 dtm

Misc :

Gambling rlvl 12 Short War Bow (qlvl = 27) --> Clvl = 35
Gambling rlvl 12 Composite Bow (qlvl = 12) --> Clvl = 28

Explanation:

Code

The highest desired affix is "Gold (81-100 ar | rlvl = 12)" which has an Alvl = 17, hence :
Ilvl = Alvl + int(qlvl / 2) = 17 + 13 = 30

Having gambled the item with Clvl = 35, his Ilvl will vary from 30 (Clvl - 5) to 39 (Clvl + 4).
Thus, we meet the minimum requirement for what we want.

Imbuing

Imbuing is the most efficient way to get rare VLLD items (weapons, helms, armors, shields, belts).
Imbued items are only affected by Clvl and their Ilvl is equal to Clvl + 4.
You need to be at least to level 8 to complete the quest "Tools of the trade".

You should imbue for items you struggle getting such as eth self-rep Crowns / Ancient Armors / Blade Talons / Throwing spears ...

Imbuing rlvl 9-11 Crowns (qlvl = 29) --> Clvl = 8-25
Imbuing rlvl 9-15 Ancient Armor (qlvl = 40) --> Clvl 8-36
Imbuing rlvl 9 Blade Talons (qlvl = 21) --> Clvl 18-19
Imbuing rlvl 9-14 Throwing Spear (qlvl = 29) --> Clvl 8-25

Explanation:
The highest desired affix for Crown is "of frost shield" Alvl = 12 which is "unlocked" using Clvl = 8.
As the qlvl of Crown is equal to 29, the formula (simplified) to determine the wanted Ilvl is as follow :



which gives :



Having a Ilvl = 30 (Clvl = 26) "unlocks" the affix "of Charged Bolt" which has a rlvl = 12. Since 12 > 9, we want to avoid this affix by staying with a Ilvl < 30.
However it is not possible to completely avoid the affix "of Radiance" which has a rlvl = 11 since it is "unlocked" using a Clvl = 8.
On the bright side, it is the only affix which has a rlvl > 9 (using a Clvl 8-25), so the odds of getting a rlvl crown > 9 are pretty slim.

To sum it up, the most efficient way to imbue for a rare Etheral Crown is to use a Clvl = 8.

Example of imbued Etheral Crown with Clvl = 9 (Ilvl = 29) :



Misc

Finding Perfect Skulls :

- Run nightmare cows
- Repeat norm hellforge quest with 2+ mules

Finding good rare stuff :

Run Andy / Trav / Meph / Chaos Sanctuary / Cows (ALL on Normal) with ~300 MF to keep a good ratio.

Rare items you might find :
- 17 fhr / 30/20 / 12dtm / 2os Shields
- 10 frw / 10 fhr / 3 dext Boots
- Good rings / amus / jewels
- Eth self-rep Weapons / Shields / Helms (but it's not the best way, it's more efficient to imbue)

Finding good socketable bases :

Having 0 % MF will increase your chances of finding them.

- Superior Rondache 121 ar / 65 ed dmg / 15 ed def --> Nightmare cows
- Superior Crown / Mask 15 ed / 15 % inc dura --> Nightmare cows
- Superior Ancient Armor 15 ed / 15 % inc dura --> Nightmare cows
- Superior War Scepter 15 ed / 3 ar / +3 defiance --> Normal cows

Finding ethereal pieces to imbue :

Having 0 % MF will increase your chances of finding them.

- Ethereal Crown / Ancient Armor --> Nightmare cows
- Ethereal Throwing spears / Blade Talons --> Normal cows

Sources

- Arreat Summit
- Diablo 2 ingame calculator
- Diablo gamepedia
- Personnal knowledge



Looking for some feedback. Be free to ask questions.

This post was edited by Chukka on Aug 24 2014 07:47pm

pretty much what we already knew and has been done before so pretty pointless. it doesn't get any easier than mf'ing vlld due to the limited affix levels

also probably best to post in lld section not here.

thanks for your input.

tho i'm not trying to revolutionize anything. I figured out that this guide might have been a good idea for newcomers to get straight to the point on how to find everything they need while having the necessary knowledge on how the mechanics work for VLLD purposes.

A lot of guides already explain how to find for specific affixes or how to get good outcomes with imbue quest but those are too general and might be misleading due to the huge amount of information there is.

The purpose of this guide is to only bring the useful information on how to get VLLD stuff and is very specific.

As for mf'ing vlld items, it is probably harder than you may think.

Bump

Nice way to spend time

Actually this helped me alot as i havent seen the guide for vlld yet but now im curious do u have a guide for lld 18-30 items if so plz pm it to me :)) mld items would be cool too im not great with technical stuff like this so spoonfeeding is encouraged right now :))