Magic Find -- myths & truths

[mikea454]

First off to address the MF decay for uniques.

100% MF = 100% to Uniques, Sets, Rares, and Magical
300% MF = 210, 240, 250, 300 to Uniques, Sets, Rares, and Magical (respectively)
500% MF = 250, 320, 340, 500
1000%MF = 295, 420, 460, 1000

*****If anyone wants the exact values for any MF, d/l the d2drop calculator from the utilities section of the d2sector downloads. Enter your magic find and click 'calculate real magic find'

**calculations by Jarulf

As you can see the effective MF to uniques drops off sharply, but this doesn't HURT your chances of finding Uniques!!!. Ill explain below.

***How D2 Decides your drops****
This is for monsters and chests.
Random information taken from Flux's Magic find guide

#1 - rolls for drop or no drop - (affected by number of players)

#2 - decides what item type will drop from a list of all items available to that monster/chest. For instance it may decide on a particular rune or a decapitator axe or breastplate.

---now Mf comes in----

#3 Decides the quality of the item. Say Breastplate is selected. FIRST it rolls to see if it will be unique, if yes then its a venom ward. If not it rolls for set, if yes isenharts. If not, it rolls for rare, magical, superior, normal IN THAT ORDER. If not you get a low quality. SO HIGH MAGIC FIND DOES GIVE YOU ALOT MORE RARES BUT ONLY AT A LOSS TO MAGIC/NORMAL, NOT UNIQUE OR SET.

----MF is done----

#4 Decides if the item is etheral(~5%) (everything but set)

#5 Independent of #4 it decides if the item is socketed. For normal and superior items, the maximum number of sockets is set by the Ilvl, (lvl of chest or monster who dropped it), then the number of sockets is chosen from 1-max. i.e. if your normal colossus Voulge is to be socketed, and ilvl decides it can have 4 sockets, then you can roll anywhere from 1-4 sockets. Rare can have up to 2 sockets. Magical up to 4 sockets.

Note: class specific items have a drop rate of 1/3 of normal. Assasin claws are 2/3 as normal. This is most likely a balance becuase of the innate mods on white items.

****MF Does/Doesn'ts****

-Does
A. Affect drop quality on bosses, chests, and Normal Guys
B. Inrease your chances for uniques, sets, rares, magical over normal items (if the kill is for a quest chances are slightly better still)
C. Only MF of the person who gets the last hit counts. If its your Merc than your MF is added to your Mercs. (so you can have effectively 1600 or so MF)

-Doesn't
A. MF doesn't help gambling
B. MF doesn't affect runes/gems/charms, (except more likey to have rare jewels than magic if jewel is chosen drop)
C. MFing is not affected by the magic find of the person who creates the game
D. MFing is not affected by the time of day


Other affects on Drops / finding godlies

-Number of players - This helps for normal monsters, (by increasing the number of drops - more drops means more chance to get good stuff -- it does not affect quality of drops) but for superuniques/act bosses there is only a minor effect -- you decrease your chance for zero drops - but the total number of drops is constant.
*This means you are only making your life harder going into a trade game/ mule park and MFing Meph. You have a slight decrease for a no drop, and no help on quality. Meph is just going to be that much harder


-Available drop lvl of monster - The highest item class a monster can drop
Highest drop group
Group 1:
baal, baal minion, dac farren, frozenstein, nil, pindle, sharptooth, snapchip, and threshsocket
Group 2:
Shenk, Eld, Eyeback, hephasto, diablo, and bonesaw
Group 3:
Meph, high council, courpsefire, fangskin, izzy and alot of other superuniques....


What can these guys drop?? (on hell of course)
Some info from HammerMan's Drop Calculator
Rest from diabloii.net


Group 1
Archon Staff (qlvl 85)
-Mang Song's Lesson (qlvl 86)
02) Berserker Axe (qlvl 85)
-Deathcleaver (qlvl 78)
03) Bloodlord Skull (qlvl 85)
-Darkforge Spawn (qlvl 72)
04) Caduceus (qlvl 85)
-Astreon's Ironward (qlvl 68)
-Griswolds's Redemption (qlvl 44)
05) Colossus Blade (qlvl 85)
-The Grandfather (qlvl 85)
-Bul-Kathos' Sacred Charge (qlvl 50)
06) Colossus Girdle (qlvl 85)
07) Corona (qlvl 85)
-Crown of Ages (qlvl 86)
-Griswold's Valor (qlvl 44)
08) Diadem (qlvl 85)
-Griffon's Eye (qlvl 84)
-M'avina's True Sight (qlvl 21)
09) Dimensional Shard (qlvl 85)
-Death's Fathom (qlvl 81)
10) Dream Spirit (qlvl 85)
11) Giant Thresher (qlvl 85)
-Stormspire (qlvl 78)
12) Glorious Axe (qlvl 85)
-Executioner's Justice (qlvl 83)
13) Guardian Crown (qlvl 85)
14) Hydra Bow (qlvl 85)
-Windforce (qlvl 80)
15) Legend Spike (qlvl 85)
-Ghostflame (qlvl 70)
16) Myrmidon Greaves (qlvl 85)
-Shadowdancer (qlvl 79)
17) Mythical Sword (qlvl 85)
-Bul-Kathos' Tribal Guardian (qlvl 50)
18) Ogre Gauntlets (qlvl 85)
-Steelrend (qlvl 78)
19) Sacred Armor (qlvl 85)
-Tyrael's Might (qlvl 87)
-Templar's Might (qlvl 82)
-Immortal King's Soul Cage (qlvl 37)
20) Scissors Suwayyah (qlvl 85)
-Natalya's Mark (qlvl 22)
21) Thunder Maul (qlvl 85)
-The Cranium Basher (qlvl 85)
-Earthshifter (qlvl 77)
22) Unearthed Wand (qlvl 86)
-Deaths's Web (qlvl 74)
23) Vortex Shield (qlvl 85)
-Griswold's Honor (qlvl 44)
24) War Pike (qlvl 85)
-Steelpillar (qlvl 77)
25) Winged Harpoon (qlvl 85)
-Gargoyle's Bite (qlvl 78)

Group 1 & 2
01)Archon Plate (qlvl 84)
02) Bone Visage (qlvl 84)
-Giantskull (qlvl 73)
- Trang-Oul's Guise (qlvl 32)
03)Champion Axe (qlvl 82)
-Messerschmidt's Reaver (qlvl 75)
04) Cryptic Sword (qlvl 82)
-Frostwind (qlvl 78)
-Sazabi's Cobalt Redeemer (qlvl 34)
05) Demon Crossbow (qlvl 84)
-Gutsiphon (qlvl 79)
06) Fanged Knife (qlvl 83)
-Fleshripper (qlvl 76)
07) Ghost Spear (qlvl 83)
08) Great Poleaxe (qlvl 84)
09) Lacquered Plate (qlvl 82)
-Tal Rasha's Guardianship (qlvl 26)
10) Legendary Mallet (qlvl 82)
-Schaefer's Hammer (qlvl 83)
-Stone Crusher (qlvl 76)
11) Shadow Plate (qlvl 83)
-Steel Carapace (qlvl 74)
-Aldur's Deception (qlvl 29)
12) Shillelagh (qlvl 83)
13) Sky Spirit (qlvl 83)
-Ravenlore (qlvl 82)
14) Troll Belt (qlvl 82)
-Trang-Oul's Girth (qlvl 32)
15) Vortex Orb (qlvl 84)
16) Ward (qlvl 84)
-Spirit Ward (qlvl 76)
-Taebaek's Glory (qlvl 55)
17) Zakarum Shield (qlvl 82)
-Dragonscale (qlvl 84)

*Just because a monster CAN drop the best items doesn't mean they will - below


-Chances to drop (effective MF accounted for)
***values thanks to diabloii.net

(based on 0%MF)
Act boss/ Cow King
Unique - 6.08%, Set - 14.05%, Rare - 9.55%, Magical - 70.32%
SuperUniques/Random Boss
Unique - 1.11%, Set - 2.86%, Rare - 11.62%, Magical - 84.41%
Champion
Unique - 1.11%, Set - 2.86%, Rare - 2.7%, Magical - 93.33%

-----example------
Since they cannot drop normal items, left overs go in magical. If you have 300% MF you would have around these numbers:

Act boss/ Cow King
Unique ~ 18%, Set ~ 42%, Rare ~ 28%, Magical ~ 12%
-------------------------

Actual values with MF. ie:
-- 100% MF will give you (on act bosses)
Unique - 12.15%, Set - 28.11%, Rare - 19.11%, Magical - 40.61%
-- 400% MF will give you (on act bosses)
Unique - 20.41%, Set - 49.45%, Rare - 19.28%, Magical - 10.84%
-- 800% MF will give you (on act bosses)
Unique - 23.35%, Set - 60.55%, Rare - 13.54%, Magical - 2.53%
***from diabloii.net

*The First 300%MF makes a huge difference, from 3-500 the difference is still noticable, and from 500-1200 the difference is minimal.


--Speed is a huge importance
the more drops the more chances to get good items. Lets do a Chaos example:
---------example---------
You can get 2 drops from each of the seal superuniques and 6 drops from diablo. 12 total per run (exclude normal guys and random uniques)

Lets say over 500 mins (8hr:20 min) **times I just made up**


-With 100% MF
50 runs @ 10min each (=500 min) gives a total of 600 drops
[75 uniques, 168 sets, 115 rares, 242 magical]


-With 400% MF
33 runs @ 15min each (=495 min) gives a total of 396 drops
[81 uniques, 196 sets, 77 rares, 42 magical]


-With 800% MF
20runs @ 25min each (=500 min) gives a total of 240 drops
[55 uniques, 145 sets, 32 rares, 6 magical]

---------------------------
In this given example, with made up times, 400% would be optimal. This is one reason why it may seem you find better things at lower MF %'s. If your doing twice as many runs as before of course you'll get better drops because there are alot more drops.


MF does help, but of course there is a 'luck' factor. Just like any statisical problem, you can have streaks, but they average out in the end. If you were playing craps, you should roll '7' 1/6th of the time. Of course I have seen many times 3 people in a row roll 10 times before crapping out. (hot table). Should only happen less than 1/2 a percent of the time. But I have seen it. Sure you can have 1000MF and find nothing for days, or have 160MF and find CoA's and Griffons. Over thousands of runs more magic find will always prove better.


(***any suggestions or things I left out so I can make the changes?)

[L4E]

hm, well +rep from me, i find that this is some good info, btw be sure to give credit if parts of that werent written by u, or figured out by u, or else a mod might warn u >< would be a shame cuz this clears alot of things

[Fuggle]

Not a bad guide, I'll sticky it in hopes of stopping all the kids who ask constantly about mf.

hm, well +rep from me, i find that this is some good info, btw be sure to give credit if parts of that werent written by u, or figured out by u, or else a mod might warn u >< would be a shame cuz this clears alot of things
If he didn't write and Didnt give credit, it's an instant Permaban.

[grimm669]

-Available drop lvl of monster - The highest item class a monster can drop
Highest treasure class
Group 1 - Pindleskin, snapchip, frozenstein, thresh socket and Baal Minions
2nd Highest
Group 2 - Baal, Nil, Doc farren, and hell cows
3rd
Group 3 - Shenk, Eld, Bonesaw, Diablo
4th
Group 4 - Meph, high council

.

Where do you find....snapChip, Frozenstein, Doc Farren, and BoneSaw???

[L4E]

frozenstein in the big yeti dude guarding anya when shes frozen,

im not sure bout the rest so i just wont bother giving faulty info.

[mikea454]

Thanks link

Im still workin on it, Ill assign the rest of the credits still I promise. As for the super uniques;

snapchip is in the cave below ancients way (forzen scourge or frozen horror)
doc farren is a demon imp in the bloody foothils

bonesaw skeleton near the gold chest in glacial trails

Edit: ok I got to get back to work, everything should be done and ready to go; link jedi, what do I do if credit is to another website? I dont want to get introuble for advertising elsewhere? took 3hrs to type this all out..

[jedimaster86]

Where do you find....snapChip, Frozenstein, Doc Farren, and BoneSaw???
All of these monsters are Super Uniques located in in Act 5.

Snapchip Shatter - Superunique Frozen Creeper located in Icy Cellar (a sub-dungeon in Ancients Way)

Frozenstein - Superunique Frozen Abyss (basically a giant Yeti) located in Frozen River (sub-dungeon in Frozen River; he's the leader of the pack guarding Anya while she's still frozen)

Doc Farren - Superunique Demon Gremlin located in The Bloody Foothills (he's about halfway through the area)

Bonesaw Breaker - Superunique Reanimated Horde located in Glacial Trail (he and his pack are basically guarding a glowing golden chest).

I found and gathered all this information from the following 2 links:
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act5-superuniques.shtml - Act 5 Super Uniques

http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/maps/act5.shtml - I briefly conferred with this page to make sure I got all of the correct locations for the sub-dungeons.

[grimm669]

thx nice guide

[FraterPerdurabo]

You mentioned that rares can obly have 1 sox. They only get 1 sox if you use the sox q on them, but rares can spawn with 2 sockets.

Additional Comment:

-Available drop lvl of monster - The highest item class a monster can drop
Highest drop group
Group 1 - Pindleskin, snapchip, frozenstein, thresh socket and Baal Minions
2nd Highest
Group 2 - Baal, Nil, Doc farren, and hell cows
3rd
Group 3 - Shenk, Eld, Bonesaw, Diablo
4th
Group 4 - Meph, high council


What can these guys drop (may be forgetting some)
Some info from HammerMan's Drop Calculator
Only Group 1 drops
Tribal gaurdian, Stormspire, ik armor, griz redeption, honor, and valor

Group 1 & 2
Aldur armor, Mav true sight, windforce, godfather, sacred charge, natalyas mark, cranium basher

Group 1, 2, & 3
tal armor, trang belt, trang helm, Heavens Taebaek, shaeffers hammer, cobalt redeemer, and the Messerschmidt reaver

*Just because a monster CAN drop the best items doesn't mean they will - below


Looks like you got that from Diablo II Encyclopedia, which hasn't been updated since 1.09. This is all bollocks.

[mikea454]

Additional Comment:


Looks like you got that from Diablo II Encyclopedia, which hasn't been updated since 1.09. This is all bollocks.

Actually it was specifially based on 1.10 data, as far as I know that did not change in 1.11, but if you know otherwise Ill change it

[FraterPerdurabo]

Actually it was specifially based on 1.10 data, as far as I know that did not change in 1.11, but if you know otherwise Ill change it

That was 1.09 data, and as far as I know, the MF system was changed in 1.10, area levels were added, etc. At least that's what I remember.

[mikea454]

moved into guide

[The Mob]

er the (qlvl 84) means the level that is required to use the item right? or is it the lvl in which you can find the item?

[mikea454]

Dragon scale has a req. lvl of 80 if I remember right. Taebekcs is 80 and spirit ward is lvl 81. So it must have something to do with ilvl/monster drop lvl.

[The Mob]

i found it sorry guys,
qlvl= The Level of the Magic Prefix (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/magic/) or Magic Suffix (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/magic/). Look on those pages for the level listed next to each item. http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/magic.shtml
but then, tyrael's armour lvl is wrong.. it is lvl 84 to use it, not 87. meh it doesnt matter, nice guide

[mikea454]

THe page you linked does explain it. qlvl = ilvl+2, where ilvl is the level of the monster(or chest) making the drop. qlvl, ilvl, and the monsters lvl are all unrelated to your character level (clvl) and required lvl to use that item (though of course all of these are correlated).

So for your tyreals might (qlvl=87) means the monster must be at least lvl 85 to drop it. You can be lvl 60 and still get this drop. Since it is a high qlvl the required lvl to use will also be somewhat high, but the two are not directly related.

[FraterPerdurabo]

I think what was changed after 1.09 was that area levels were added, so each monster did not have their unique drop any more, but for example, the Pit, Chaos Sanctuary and Throne of Destruction all have an area level of 85. When you have a random spawned special monster, they get area level +2 or something like that.

The uniques still have a special drop, but I think that Blizzard wanted to encourage more area MFing than just bossrunning. blank:

[mikea454]

Sounds believable to me, can you find any info on it, Ill be happy to change it, or should I just delete that section all together?

[FraterPerdurabo]

It would be easier to know what you are talking about if you specified where you got all of your information from.

[N0vak]

so is this to be applied to .11?