Originally Posted by Flying Mullet
For pure builds, never put in any skill points in an alternate techtree. This compromises how far you get on the exponential curve of damage, whih means if you can't kill the enemy first, they WILL kill you. As for Sorceresses, in Hell, an alternate techtree rarely does enough damage on an enemy without that resistance. You simply will not survive. To get around this, rely on expanding your options through outside sources.So, I doubt seriously that my lightning sorc can go anymore in hell by herself. I am almost done with act 1, and after that, the multitude of lightning immune lightning enchanted monster will not allow for further solo action.....unless I stumble on two Bers and a Mal
Mercenaries with Infinity, are especially dangerous, since a ranged character can easily eliminate enemies with low Immunities. Lightning is even more dangerous, since no spawned enemies have Lightning resistances that cannot be broken (>140%), compared to Ice (Oblivion Knights have 180%), and Fire Immune (which is quite literally, half of the enemies). If you have a Necromancer friend, you can get the bonuses of Lower Resist, along with Conviction.
PERMING
On Diablo 2, there are two definitions for the word "perm." In one instance, it can mean to make permanent a charactr or account, by playing on the character for 2 hours (cumulative) within 48 hours. If you go beyond 48 hours, the requirement is 4 hours total, or you can log on a character until after one month, when the character will automatically be permanent.
The other instance would be to make an item permanent. This is the method used by many players on Diablo 2 to make sure that the items they get from trade will not disappear. Remember about what I told you earlier in the thread about duped items? That they will disappear after a point? Well, high runes are very popularly duped, so to perm, means to make the item remain in existence for as long as you need it to, by periodically perming an item. To do this, simply open up the trade screen, confirm the trade with nothing in the screen, and cancel. You should then promptly leave the game. I don't know why, but it works to keep the item from disappearing. Essentially, doing this stops an item from disappearing.
Perming says nothing about the integrity of your own, personal character, so don't object to perming an item. This is merely a stopgap to help ensure that you got your fair share of money's worth for your items in trade. It reflects nothing of you, only how much you trust other people, and YOU SHOULDN'T because Blizzard fans are crazy.
There is a technical reason for perming runes and items, and there is the game coding to account for why it works. As for how it works, just leave it at "if it works, use it!" This has to do with how Diablo 2 recognizes items. Each item has a specific series of Identification numbers, ranging from ItemLevel, DropLevel, Difficulty, w/ Sockets, nomenclature, enemyDropped, not to mention the stats that you see on the item that make it unique.
If at any point two or more items have the same ID numbers, they will be passively destroyed by something called "RustStorm," a program by Blizzard that helps to delete illigitimate items. Perming gets around RustStorm by recognizing trades and allowing items to stay around after a trade; the TRUE technical definition lies in the game's code, something which would be illegal to expose here, nor am I learned enough to know how to pick out which parts contribute in significant ways.
