Originally Posted by The_Morpheus

This guide, while having impecable timing with the reset and all, will help you get the best items possible from your MF runs! There is a simple way to bug Andarial so that any character can obtain the nice drops from her. The other act bosses are a little tricky so we will need to have some spare characters.

Bugging Andy

To effectivly bug andariel, in any mode of play, so that she will always give you the quest drop minus the gems, follow these steps.

The character who needs the andy quest done creates game
If being rushed, wait for partymembers TP
Either you or your rusher kills andy
Wait in cats 4 for the automatically created town portal to appear
Take portal to town
talk to cain ( yes you have to have him to talk to him. )
Talk to warriv
Travel east
If you are soloing this and you killed andy, you can save and exit at this point.
If you were rushed and choose to save and exit, thats fine as well, however you do not want to use the CTA drop to exit this game.

Why do you want to bug andy? Well, she has the highest chance to drop jewelry and is extremly easy to get to. She and her friends in cats 4 are easy to kill and a single element sorc should not have a hard time in there. If you are going to make a dedicated NM andy killer, just pump the hell out of fireball. No immunes to deal with and andy will be down in like 2 or 3 balls. Why should you make a dedicated NM andy killer? Because NM andy is the best chance to get a SOJ in the game. The odds are up there, but usually after about 500 to 1000 runs you have an SOJ. Besides, she also can drop Tal Rasha's amulet.

Odds for an SoJ from a bugged andy with 0 MF in a solo game:

1 : 3813 Andariel ~ 1st kill - (N) Catacombs Level 4 - {mlvl 49}

Odds for an SoJ from a bugged andy with 400MF in a solo game:

1 : 1509 Andariel ~ 1st kill - (N) Catacombs Level 4 - {mlvl 49}

Odds for an SoJ from a bugged andy with 400 MF in a full game:

1 : 846 Andariel ~ 1st kill - (N) Catacombs Level 4 - {mlvl 49}

Odds for an SoJ from a NON bugged andy with 400 MF in a solo game:

1 : 3486 Andariel - (N) Catacombs Level 4 - {mlvl 49}

Odds for Tal Rasha's amulet from a bugged andy with 400 MF in a solo game:

1 : 1848 Andariel ~ 1st kill - (N) Catacombs Level 4 - {mlvl 49}

As you can see, bugging andy reduces the odds to get what you are after by almost half. If you have a dedicated NM andy runner and have no idea if that character is bugged, it is worth it to remake.

Bugging duriel, mephisto, diablo, and baal in Hell

For this, we will need to use a character who has completed the game. Make a game with a pat/mat/guardian. If you are not cheating and do not have a way to have 2 D2 windows open at the same time, stay in that game for around 5 minutes. Then leave the game and rejoin that game with a character who has not yet killed for the quest the boss you are after. What do I mean by that? Say your main target in hell is Mephisto. You can create the game with a pat/mat/guardian, wait the 5 minutes, leave, rejoin with a character that has killed hell andy AND hell duriel but not hell mephisto. Since your mephisto character has not yet killed mephisto for quest, and the character that made the game already completed the quest, your mephisto killer will not be able to get the quest on the quest screen, HOWEVER, that character will garner quest drops from mephisto. Again, the same reasons why with andy apply here. Best example I can offer up is Arachnid's Mesh.

Odds for an arachnid from a quest drop from hell mephy with 0 MF in a solo game:

1 : 1738 Mephisto ~ 1st kill - (H) Durance of Hate Level 3 - {mlvl 87}

Odds for an arachnid from a non quest drop from hell mephy with 0 MF in a solo game:

1 : 2626 Mephisto - (H) Durance of Hate Level 3 - {mlvl 87}

Toss on some MF and do a quest kill of Mephy, say 400 MF in a solo game:

1 : 687 Mephisto ~ 1st kill - (H) Durance of Hate Level 3 - {mlvl 87}

"wait wait wait Mons, how do I get a character strong enough to kill mephy without all the lame uber leveling and chaos running that I do will all of my characters?" I am so glad you asked. Time to take a walk on the wild side of normal players. You can easily Baal run in NM all the way to clvl75. I have personally done this all the way up to clvl78 once. It was rather painful for 77 to 78 as it took forever, even with an anni. Lets just say that you did this for clvl75 in NM. While most characters would be almost complete, a good sorc will want a few more skill points to be able to take down mephy in a timely fasion. "um, ok morph, how do I get these 'extra' levels when I am so weak?" Lets harken back to the 1.09 days and do some hell cows. The hell cows are mlvl81 so you are on the cusp of eliminating the exp penalty. If you can get a few good people to cow with you, those who do not kill the king, you can easily level in cows to about clvl85 or so. In each of these cow games, once cleared, you will be able to kill the king with the low level character for more drops. Besure to be unpartied with the portal maker and that the portal maker is not in the moo moo farms. The hell cowking is bugged to drop exactly the same as the NM cowking. TC 66 and lower only. The last few will be rather dificult as the exp penalty will start to really kick in. There is not a spot in act 2 that has this high concentration of monsters with this high of a mlvl. Sure act1 and act2 have the 2 different alvl85 places, but there are just not enough critters in either spot that are soo closely packed together to make it worth while. This will garner you a few extra points for your sorc to allow her to kill just a wee bit faster.

To do this same trick on duriel you need to have someone who has killed andy and then not any further than sticking the staff in the recepticle in a game that they can achieve the duriel quest. You will want to stick the staff into the recepticle and then save and exit that game. THis will make it so that you do not have to acquire the staff pieces, nor kill the summoner any more. Sure you are going to want to kill the summoner a few times to get keys of hate, but only once is needed. It will make more sense to kill the summoner repeadely as the blue symbols in the background will tell you what tombs duriel is not in. By this I mean, look at all the symbols, the one symbol that is missing floating in the background is the tomb that duriel is in.

To do this same trick with Diablo, follow the steps as mephisto. Nothing special needs to be done. Here, all you chaosers can get your extra levels like normal.

To do this same trick with baal, follow the steps as mephisto. Nothing special needs to be done other than the ancient's quest.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks be to AyeCaramba and yerkyerk for the testing that was done on the Virginizing of bosses.

Originally Posted by Z3R0

This guide, while having impecable timing with the reset and all, will help you get the best items possible from your MF runs! There is a simple way to bug Andarial so that any character can obtain the nice drops from her. The other act bosses are a little tricky so we will need to have some spare characters.

Bugging Andy

To effectivly bug andariel, in any mode of play, so that she will always give you the quest drop minus the gems, follow these steps.

The character who needs the andy quest done creates game
If being rushed, wait for partymembers TP
Either you or your rusher kills andy
Wait in cats 4 for the automatically created town portal to appear
Take portal to town
talk to cain ( yes you have to have him to talk to him. )
Talk to warriv
Travel east
If you are soloing this and you killed andy, you can save and exit at this point.
If you were rushed and choose to save and exit, thats fine as well, however you do not want to use the CTA drop to exit this game.

Why do you want to bug andy? Well, she has the highest chance to drop jewelry and is extremly easy to get to. She and her friends in cats 4 are easy to kill and a single element sorc should not have a hard time in there. If you are going to make a dedicated NM andy killer, just pump the hell out of fireball. No immunes to deal with and andy will be down in like 2 or 3 balls. Why should you make a dedicated NM andy killer? Because NM andy is the best chance to get a SOJ in the game. The odds are up there, but usually after about 500 to 1000 runs you have an SOJ. Besides, she also can drop Tal Rasha's amulet.

Odds for an SoJ from a bugged andy with 0 MF in a solo game:

1 : 3813 Andariel ~ 1st kill - (N) Catacombs Level 4 - {mlvl 49}

Odds for an SoJ from a bugged andy with 400MF in a solo game:

1 : 1509 Andariel ~ 1st kill - (N) Catacombs Level 4 - {mlvl 49}

Odds for an SoJ from a bugged andy with 400 MF in a full game:

1 : 846 Andariel ~ 1st kill - (N) Catacombs Level 4 - {mlvl 49}

Odds for an SoJ from a NON bugged andy with 400 MF in a solo game:

1 : 3486 Andariel - (N) Catacombs Level 4 - {mlvl 49}

Odds for Tal Rasha's amulet from a bugged andy with 400 MF in a solo game:

1 : 1848 Andariel ~ 1st kill - (N) Catacombs Level 4 - {mlvl 49}

As you can see, bugging andy reduces the odds to get what you are after by almost half. If you have a dedicated NM andy runner and have no idea if that character is bugged, it is worth it to remake.

Bugging duriel, mephisto, diablo, and baal in Hell

For this, we will need to use a character who has completed the game. Make a game with a pat/mat/guardian. If you are not cheating and do not have a way to have 2 D2 windows open at the same time, stay in that game for around 5 minutes. Then leave the game and rejoin that game with a character who has not yet killed for the quest the boss you are after. What do I mean by that? Say your main target in hell is Mephisto. You can create the game with a pat/mat/guardian, wait the 5 minutes, leave, rejoin with a character that has killed hell andy AND hell duriel but not hell mephisto. Since your mephisto character has not yet killed mephisto for quest, and the character that made the game already completed the quest, your mephisto killer will not be able to get the quest on the quest screen, HOWEVER, that character will garner quest drops from mephisto. Again, the same reasons why with andy apply here. Best example I can offer up is Arachnid's Mesh.

Odds for an arachnid from a quest drop from hell mephy with 0 MF in a solo game:

1 : 1738 Mephisto ~ 1st kill - (H) Durance of Hate Level 3 - {mlvl 87}

Odds for an arachnid from a non quest drop from hell mephy with 0 MF in a solo game:

1 : 2626 Mephisto - (H) Durance of Hate Level 3 - {mlvl 87}

Toss on some MF and do a quest kill of Mephy, say 400 MF in a solo game:

1 : 687 Mephisto ~ 1st kill - (H) Durance of Hate Level 3 - {mlvl 87}

"wait wait wait Mons, how do I get a character strong enough to kill mephy without all the lame uber leveling and chaos running that I do will all of my characters?" I am so glad you asked. Time to take a walk on the wild side of normal players. You can easily Baal run in NM all the way to clvl75. I have personally done this all the way up to clvl78 once. It was rather painful for 77 to 78 as it took forever, even with an anni. Lets just say that you did this for clvl75 in NM. While most characters would be almost complete, a good sorc will want a few more skill points to be able to take down mephy in a timely fasion. "um, ok morph, how do I get these 'extra' levels when I am so weak?" Lets harken back to the 1.09 days and do some hell cows. The hell cows are mlvl81 so you are on the cusp of eliminating the exp penalty. If you can get a few good people to cow with you, those who do not kill the king, you can easily level in cows to about clvl85 or so. In each of these cow games, once cleared, you will be able to kill the king with the low level character for more drops. Besure to be unpartied with the portal maker and that the portal maker is not in the moo moo farms. The hell cowking is bugged to drop exactly the same as the NM cowking. TC 66 and lower only. The last few will be rather dificult as the exp penalty will start to really kick in. There is not a spot in act 2 that has this high concentration of monsters with this high of a mlvl. Sure act1 and act2 have the 2 different alvl85 places, but there are just not enough critters in either spot that are soo closely packed together to make it worth while. This will garner you a few extra points for your sorc to allow her to kill just a wee bit faster.

To do this same trick on duriel you need to have someone who has killed andy and then not any further than sticking the staff in the recepticle in a game that they can achieve the duriel quest. You will want to stick the staff into the recepticle and then save and exit that game. THis will make it so that you do not have to acquire the staff pieces, nor kill the summoner any more. Sure you are going to want to kill the summoner a few times to get keys of hate, but only once is needed. It will make more sense to kill the summoner repeadely as the blue symbols in the background will tell you what tombs duriel is not in. By this I mean, look at all the symbols, the one symbol that is missing floating in the background is the tomb that duriel is in.

To do this same trick with Diablo, follow the steps as mephisto. Nothing special needs to be done. Here, all you chaosers can get your extra levels like normal.

To do this same trick with baal, follow the steps as mephisto. Nothing special needs to be done other than the ancient's quest.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks be to AyeCaramba and yerkyerk for the testing that was done on the Virginizing of bosses.

Originally Posted by Monsinour

Hey there, I have to thank someone else for pointing me in the direction of this thread. I have to say, zero, that this god damn familiar to what I originally posted as The_Morpheus over on JSP. If you need to see for yourself, click this link -> http: //forums. d2jsp.org/index.php?showtopic=14955227&f=161 Either change the post to give me credit for writing the entire thing, or have one of the moderators remove this post entirely. Plagiarism is a naughty thing. If you need to contact me, feel free to send me a PM here. I will be checking this thread from time to time to make sure the proper events transpire.

Originally Posted by jedimaster86

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Oftentimes we try to check guides that don't have credit to someone else to make sure they aren't being plagarized, but this one must have slipped past us. I have given you full credit, and posted the link to the original guide. If this is suitable to you, just let us know. Alternatively, if you would like the guide removed from here, let us know that and we'll take it off.

Thanks for the understanding, and for letting us know. Take care.