The second part of my Imaginary Item Overhaul is here, this time tackleing Unique Amulets. Think there is a lot of potential for those as there are essentially two late-game viable Amulets available currently and also only a few that are situationally viable too.
Again, as with the previous Post, I am trying to just simply making more of these Amulets viable throughout the game so that their value and subsequently finding them is a bigger joy, rather than a discrouagement when it isn't either Mara's or Highlord's.
My previous Post about Unique Helms can be found here:
Imaginary D2R Item Reworks/Adjustments - Unique Helms
Did colour-code to see what changes are nerfs/buffs/rescaling/unchaged stats. Also provided a small note on every item, trying to explain and justify my thought-process about the changes that I did and why.
Metalgrid
Spoiler
It is the hardest to find Amulet in the game and unfortunately simply not worth its rarity, as it happens to be for so many Uniques in the game. Think everyone of use looks at it and just seems to think it is lacking that little bit, as its stats are pretty much what you want for any Melee Character. So since it has that focus on certainly physical damage-dealers, it felt just naturally to me to add Damage as well as Damage Reduction to it, which I think now would just make it something that directly competes with Highlord's as it delivers decent DPS (although I do think Highlord's still provides more DPS in most cases), but with obvious defensive bonuses, that no other Amulet can provide. Think this would be a great way to buff this item.
Mara's Kaleidoscope
Spoiler
Unsuprinsing to probably everyone, this one stays unchanged. Essentially the most powerful Amulet in the game, that only is beaten out by some Rare/Crafted ones with the perfect Affix rolls.
Seraph's Hymn
Spoiler
I always felt this item was really weird, as it combines All Skills with a specific Character Skill Tree (of a defensive nature), while adding offensive components with the Damage/AR vs. Demons/Undead. I honestly don't know a viable use for this Amulet, other than it being a Poorman's Mara's.
So to spicen it up a little, I simply removed the 1-2 Defensive Auras and replaced it with +1 To a Random Character Skill Tree, which of course does have that luck aspect still on it, as something like +1 To Lightning Skills or +1 Pala Combat Skills will be infinitely more useful than +1 To Curses. But the fact that it is the only Amulet that will be able to provide +3 To Skill already gives it a Niche for those who look for the ultimate clear speed. Additionally, the Damage/AR vs. Demons/Undead is still preserved, but through providing Holy Bolts on Attacks and getting Struck, so it still is something useful for Characters that utilize Attacks as the DPS bonus form the high Level Holy Bolts can improve your clear-speed in specific areas as well.
Lastly added another unique stat on it, by lowering Requirements of your whole Equipment, opening up some stats point as well as making high Requirement Gear easier to be used as well with this item.
Highlord's Wrath
Spoiler
Basically unchanged, just buffed the Elemental Damage, which in general on pretty much all items is just way too underpowered.
The Rising Sun
Spoiler
This one already looked always promising to me, but again just lacked that little bit extra. First off did buff up stats that where fairly weak, again the Elemental Damage as well as the Replenish Life, which I do understand is a highly valueable PvP stat, but in PvM, which as far as I know is the majority of the player-base, is just simply useless at those low values.
The big thing however is obviously the + 1-2 To Fire Mastery, available to every Character. This alone just opens up the viability of so many more builds, from Fire Arrows Amazon, Fist of Fire/ Dragon Tail Assassin (don't know if it would affect Fire Traps), Fire Druids and even Holy Fire Paladins. Think would open up varitiy a lot, which is also why I did make it a bit harder to find overall now.
Atma's Scarab
Spoiler
Again an item, that just lacks that exra bit beyond the Amplify Damage, which is its main selling point. Think would certainly be way more usfeul now since it triggers Amplify Damage more easily and a better version of it, as well as having significant Damage over Time potential with some useful PSN Damage and Open Wounds Damage, the latter also being buffed by the Amplify Damage. Lastly added some Slows Target to it as this is always a great stat to have and I think quite fitting for what the item does and also special to that Unique specifically now as an Amulet. Think would certainly have its viability.
Crescent Moon
Spoiler
This item is also one of the "WTF"-Category, as I do not have an earthly clue who or what is supposed to wear this one. Even the fact that it has dual-leech looks weird since you certainly would priorize Life over Mana and that amount of Mana Leech is just generally not doing a whole lot for you, generally speaking. So this one got essentially a whole rework, but the idea of having a dual-leech Amulet is good, just switched it up being After Kill, rather than a percentage based one, which just works with Attacks. This way it is viable for both, although generally my idea was to focus it on Spellcasters, as the fact that some builds require high FCR and the additional fact that the highest FCR is on Crafted Amulets made me just think why not slap a whole lot of FCR on that one. So now it is without a doubt the best pure FCR Amulet in the game, which already gives it a niche that will be utilized by some builds, while still not being the best at it since it lacks + To Skills. Overall think it is a pretty good Amulet to have and gives you just more Gear option (something like not needing Griphon's for a 200% FCR build).
The Cat's Eye
Spoiler
This item suffers simply from the fact that other items exist that do the same but better. For example the IAS is the same as Highlord's which just provides better stats ontop of it. The Defense Bonus is significantly less than Metalgrid, which again outshines it in terms of its other stats. Only thing it has going for it is the Faster Run/Walk and the Dexterity to a degree, which is simply not enough.
So with it's name I just though that you'd have to be quick and hard to catch, essentially ending up with more IAS, the most an Amulet can provide now. This already might create some situations where you want to have this simply to hit a specific breakpoint more easily. Also added soem Faster Block Rate, so that along with the Dexterity it become something very useful if you're looking to achieve Max Block. Lastly and probably the most improtant part is the addition of the Evasion Skills on it, so it has a unique defensive aspect and also will be quite useful for Amazons as they don't have to put in the point into those. Also think would be something quite useful for an Berserk Barb as now you got plenty of defensive options to make that skill in particular more useful beyond Pits/ Travincal.
Saracen's Chance
Spoiler
Every slot needs its MF/GF Item and Amulets didn't have one yet, so I felt it would be fitting for Saracen's Chance to cover this one. Think it can be utilized in many MF-builds and might very well utilize some to be more effective at that in general.
The Mahim-Oak Curio
Spoiler
Do like the idea of that item, so just added a few other stats onto it and I think this would make it a really solid midgame Amulet. Sure this probably won't have like a lategame niche, but think this is fine, will still be a more valueable item to have still.
The Eye of Etlich
Spoiler
It's niche, that might allow it to be something useful late still is the +5% Cold Damage it has, so if again clear-speed is your goal, this can very well be a solid option for a decently long time on a Cold Sorc or an Elemental Druid.
Nokozan Relic
Spoiler
Has two big plus points going for it, which are the Faster Hit Recovery and the + 5% to all Max Resistances. So perhaps when you look for a build to hit a specifically high FHR breakpoint or want to get up to 95% Max Resistance, this can be an option now.
Second one's done, hope you'll have fun with this one and don't be affraid to comment/critique! Cheers!
Changelog:
V1.0 - Created (13-July-2022)
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