Ever since the introduction of D2R and the following Patches that came along with it, ideas/wishes/rumours and what-not about various topics of the game that we'd like to have reworked/adjusted are swirling around and since I am no stranger to such things, I just thought why not throw my own hat into the ring.
Came up with a few ideas for Item Reworks in particular, as I do think that the Gear is essentially the lifeblood of the game, as it is what makes builds viable and argueable the biggest aspect of the game, looting and finding stuff, more interesting.
The idea is that I'd like to go through all the items eventually, if I'd ever get there has to be seen. As for now, the first part is done, which will deal about all the Unique Helms in the game (excluding Character specific items - intend to do seperate section about them).
You will certainly come across stuff that you certainly think that are overpowered, if not in general at least at the timings you can aquire them and the bonuses they provide. One of my fundamental goals is drastically increase the viability of Unique Items in general, which I think justifies also Normal Uniques having lategame purpose, since most of the playtime happens in Hell, so if they are overpowered timing-wise certainly doesn't make them overpowered in the lategame. Additionally, I'd like to have bigger focus on Physical Damage Dealer as they are notoriously underpowered to Spellcasters comparitively (I do know that there are certianly very powerful Physical Damage builds, but the truth is that the strongest builds are Elemental Damage based).
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. Apologies for not having exactly the right image for every item, couldn't find for example the proper green Harlequin Crest in its new and shiny D2R graphics - if you happen to know a place where everything is in high qualtiy and proper colours, please let me know!
Important: These reworks also assume that the mechanic of that Uniques with the Indestructible Modifier cannot be Ethereal has been changed, so that this Mod actually can also have Ethereal on them.
Andariel's Visage
Spoiler
Probably coming to no one's suprise, the item remains unchanged. Undoubtablely one of the most useful Helms in the game, with interesting features and a hybrid-nature, as well as one if not the best Mercenary Helms in the game. Always great to find, always valueable, always fun. Only thing I was contemplating to change would be to have the Venom Charges be an On Hit Effect, but that would make the item not that useful for an Assassin to use and it already is plenty enough strong, so I though in that case Charges are fine, although for most abilities Charges are simply wasted.
Crown of Ages
Spoiler
As far as I know the rarest to find Unique Helms in the game and although obviously extremly useful in argueablely any case as it just provides pretty much everyting that you'd every need. Unfortunatly, with it having a chance to only roll one of the two possible Sockets, does make finding it a bit of a 50/50 ontop of the unlikely odds to find one to begin with anyways (been playing the game every since it came out originally in the early 2000's, never got a hand on one of these). So the thought here is simply to give it always two Sockets and have DR and AR potentially be lower, but I think this would still be more beneficial to have a minimum roll DR and AR with two Sockets, rather than having one with minimum roll DR, maximum AR and only one Sockets as you could very easily use a 15AR Jewel with another stat like 15% IAS and have a better result than that still. Would just make the item more consistently valueable, which I think is Key especially on such rare of an item. Lastly, and this would be a general change to all Uniques that feature Indestructability, it can roll Ethereal so that that stat acutally makes sense to have - currently it is mostly detrimental to have on Uniques.
Kira's Guardian
Spoiler
Probably coming to a suprise to a lot of people that this item does recieve a buff from me, although without a doubt it is a very useful item, even if it isn't particularily valueable nor rare. As it will now also have to compete against Veil of Steel, upping the AR is a necessary step to make even the lower rolled ones a difference maker and to top it off, providing bonus Maximum Life is something we don't have on Helms much, if any at all and would fit the overall Surviveability-Theme of the item, in my opinion.
Griffon's Eye
Spoiler
Again, do not believe that anyone will be suprised that there is no change to the item. Has its place and value. If anything, I think we could argue that it might need a nerf, but given the overall rarity of the item, I don't think this would be necessary.
Veil of Steel
Spoiler
Probably the item that is closest to my heart, ever since I found from the Lachdanan Quest it in the Original Diablo like 25 years ago. I think pretty much every player looked at this item and and thoughts along those lines - "It has great stats, but simply lacks the Stat X, compared to Item Y or Z". Not anymore as now it will most certainly have purpose as far as I am considered. Given the nature and Lore of the item, it was just natural to me to theme it for the physical damage dealer, now boasting a massive amount of Damage and Attack Rating, rounded off by some quite significant Damage Reduction. Given that it is also as Rare as a Nightwing's Veil, it now will also have a compareable value and makes just finding it so much more exciting.
Nightwing's Veil
Spoiler
Don't doubt there will be much discussion about this item staying as it is. Again, combines rareness, value and usefulness - always a great find and great item to use as well.
Steel Shade
Spoiler
When I first saw the stats on this item, my first thoughts were "WTF!". Argueably the worst Unique Helm in the whole game, as it is decently rare due to it being an Elite Helm, but with such a random set of Stats on it that it is mostly likely that back in the day when it was created, someone just told the PC to pick 4 random stats and put it on there. It is simply unusable by pretty much any build you could imagine and even if you would have the item early on, you wouldn't use it. So with that being said, I pretty much completely reworked it and essentially made it the Fire equivalent to Nightwing's/Griffon's and I think this is quite nice, since Griffon's has both +/- Damage/Resistance, but only +1 All Skills, while Nightwing's and now Steel Shade have +2 All Skills but + Ice Damage and - Fire Resistance respectively, so there is a bit of a triangle feature with these items. Also some small adjustments, since Mana Steal makes no sense in that regard, changing it to Mana after kill makes much more sense to me. To balance all this new gained power though, I adjusted the Required and Quality Level of it as well as it Treasure Class, being exactly the same as Nightwing's, so should drop in a similar rate now as Nightwing's making it quite a bit rarer.
Giant Skull
Spoiler
Same idea behind this one as with Crown of Ages. Very rare item and then still has the 50/50 aspect with the Sockets. Relative to Crown of Ages though, it still has to compete with Guillaume's Face in terms of Crushing Blow, where it simply loses out dramatically still. So buffing this would be reasonable to me, still quite a bit less compared to Guillaume's but at least to a lesser degree, so the other stats might make up for it for specific builds. Also gave it a bit of a special On Struck effect, as with how Bone Armor works you can absorb a ton of physical damage that way, giving it a deeper and more special niche imo. Still think that mainly it will be used for Ranged Characters, due to the Knockback.
Harlequin Crest
Spoiler
This will be one of the items that I am curious to see what the opinion is, since it is just a flat nerf to the item. I think everybody loves the item, there is simply nothing to say against it and although I for some reason cannot find any, it is reasonablely available and has it's value. I think the main reason why I decided to have these nerfs on it is simply to promote alternatives for it, like for exapmle going for a Stealskull or Tarnhelm instead, or if the MF isn't the driving factor, perhpas even a Peasant Crown (will become clearer once we go further down the list). Also having a bit of that high/low when you find a good item and have the good/bad roll on it makes sense to me, as to be honest it is a bit boring to me to just have an item where you simply know exactly how good it is without having to identify it.
Crown of Thieves
Spoiler
Arguablely has its place for anything Gold Find related, but still think that a buff on it would be justified to just make having a build revolving Gold Find more interesting and therefore driving the demand of CoT a bit. Also had to have a nice number for the Fire Resist, especially for static values, just need a nice number there.
Valkyrie Wing
Spoiler
Having an item that can roll 1-2 to Skills is essentially the same 50/50 as with rolling 1-2 Sockets and therefore is for me something that has to be removed as I think you should generally have value of some degree when you find that item and we all know that a +1 Ama Skill Valkyrie Wing is generally Charsie food. So with this item having consistently +2 to Ama Skills, it obviously needs a few nerfs as well, which come primarily in higher Lvel Requirement and making it a bit harder to find, therefore rarer. To make the item perhaps also interesting beyond an Amazon, I thought provinding Piercing Attack would be something that perhaps a Throw Barb would be intested in, to achieve that 100% Piercing Attack - obviously is also very useful on an Amazon in general. Lastly, just missed the obvious opportunity to actually provide + To Valkyrie for an item that is literally called Valkyrie Wing.
Vampire Gaze
Spoiler
I think I do have nothing to add here, has been a main stay in the game, will without a doubt still be one, even when other options come available.
Blackhorn's Face
Spoiler
Doubt that I was the first person to look at this item and thought " Uber Tristram". Simple truth is just that it lacks on too many Fronts to be really an option for that though - no longer though. Providing a substantial amount of Lightning Resist gives the possibility to overstack on Lightning Resist much easier and the combination of -% Target Defense and IAS provides DPS against those Ubers. Beyond Ubers it can still be viable if you farm places that frequently have Souls. Don't think it will be a generally useful item, but it will have a strong situational use, which should result in it being decently valueable and something worth to trade with.
Darksight Helm
Spoiler
Quite an odd Helm to be perfectly honest, especially as it combines Dim Vision and Cloak of Shadows, essentially both doing the same thing by reducing Vision, which is actually a useless ability to have in most scenarios and even if it has its uses, it is weak at best. CoS at least also provides Armor reduction on enemies and bonus armor for yourself, but still nothing to write home about. So simply cut away Dim Vision completely and have Cloak of Shadows be the When Struck effect alone, as Charges are something that aren't really used, so I try to stay away from them as much as possible. Also with the whole Darkness/Assassination Theme it seems to have, I though it would be nice to have perhaps Fade on it, but we already go Treachery, so instead I opted to give it a new unique feature, by reducing Curse Duration, similar to how Posion Length Duration Reduction works. Going further with the Assassination Theme, I aslo added Deadly Strike as I think it would feature naturally there and would be another selling point for the item. Would be useful for a build that tries to achieve 100% Deadly Strike. Will be a situational item I think, which would be a whole lot better than it was before, where it was useless.
Stealskull
Spoiler
Useful item, but mostly outshined by Harlequin Crest, since it hasn't got the reliable MF and also the other stats cannot quite keep up with it. Now both have exactly the same MF spread, so neither has an advantage there and with the slight buffs to IAS and FHr, I think for a couple of physical damage dealers, this might become a more valueable option than Shako, giving it a bit more attention and usefulness.
Rockstopper
Spoiler
Pretty much stays the same, just with general improvements to the stats. Noteable is just simply more Damage Reduction, so with Rockstopper and Shaftstop you already have the 50% DR, so it becomes an alternative to Vampire Gaze in that regard and with a better Resistance spread it also gets more reliable overall. Given the name of Rockstopper, I though the Indestructability Mod would fit right on there and since it can drop Ethereal as well, this woudl further give it some interesting uses.
Peasant Crown
Spoiler
Think we all can say that this is a great midgame item and have used it before we got our first Shako, which just is that expansive in the early stages of a new Ladder Season, so probably plenty of us have been rocking one of those a few times. So this will still be one way to use it, but with the added Faster Cast Rate, it now has a Mod that only one other Helm does have, which is Griffon's. So it might very well be that this item now also is something more than just a placeholder for Harlequin Crest, but rather an alternative to Griffon's if you look to reach those ultra high FCR Break Points (haven't crunched the numbers, so don't know if 15% is enough for that). Again, doubt it will become that huge new item that everyone wants but rather something that does have more situational use.
Undead Crown
Spoiler
Was always confused on why this item gives Damgae to Undead, just never made sense to me given that it is literally the Crown of the Skeleton King himself. So rather than dealing Damage to Undead, it now raises undead, which is way more fitting in theme for the item. Also to provide it with some Situational use, it also has a low Level Fanaticism Aura, which is always great for Summoning Characters and a much greater amount of Life Steal. Again, think might have some situational use-cases rather than being of just very early game use.
Howltusk
Spoiler
Think the idea behind this item is a total mess. Has on one hand stats that would make you to want to be attacked with teh Damage goes to Mana and Attack Takes Damage and on the other hand also boast Knockback and Hit Causes Monster To Flee, which are just opposing stats overall. So my idea for that item is "come hit be b****!", by having a high Level Taunt on getting Struck, so the enemy unit deals less damage to you and a really significant amount of Attack Takes Damage, both in flat and percentage based form. Also get a lot of Replenish Life to compensate for the fact that you want to be hit and therefore also loses the Defense Bonus. Might be something for a Character that works with Thorns Aura. Just something to open up different play-styles.
Wormskull
Spoiler
Another fairly idea for this item, essentially making it the forth Item in the ring of Griffon's/Nightwing's/ Steel Shade - just with Magic Damage and since it is a Normal Item Base, it obviously lacks the overall potentency and is primarly focused on Bone Necromancers. Very good offensively, so could be something to min/max for damage on such a Character.
The Face of Horror
Spoiler
Since Grim Ward now also provides bonus Damage to enemies, I thought it would be way more interesting to have a Grim Ward on Kill, rather than having Hit Causes Monster to Flee and Bonus Damage VS. Undead. Also with some generall improvements and addition of stats, it certainly could be something worth using, at least for little while, rather than going straight to Charsi.
Duskdeep
Spoiler
Given the aesthetics of a Hoplite Helmet, the thought of it providing an additional benefit to Block Rate was quite natural to me. In addition with some overall improvements of the existing stats, it should at least have some nice utility into the midgame on some characters and perhaps if Max Blockrate is something you're looking for, even something in some situational cases as well.
Coif of Glory
Spoiler
Here I have been just scrolling for the list of Mods that there are, that might give it a special bit and settled for Open Wounds, which again is something that only this Helm would feature. So although I still think it would be unlikely that it will see much play, it might in some certain situations be quite useful and certainly early on would provide a fair bit as well.
Tarnhelm
Spoiler
The big daddy of Classic D2 Magic Find, once again rains supreme for all of those who cannot get enough of it. Features the most Magic Find you can possiblely have on a Helm, although obviously lacking pretty much everywhere else, but if high MF is what you want, then this is your choice and won't be beaten out by Harlequin Crest of Stealskull either.
Biggin's Bonnet
Spoiler
The big thing of this Item is obviously the pretty rare stat of Enhanced Damage on a Helm, but the stats around it are simply not enough to really make it viable in any way shape or form. So had the simple idea of just providing (almost) all stats as "Based on Character Level", so it would still be useful if you find it early, but it also might have a niche in a specific build as the stats are useable in the later stags of the game as well.
So here we are, one part of a bazillion is done, do hope you enjoy reading/commenting it as much as I did creating it. Cheers!
Changelog:
V1.0 - Created (03-July-2022)
V1.1 - Added disclaimer about Indestructible Modifier/Ethereal Mechanic change; Reworked Duskdeep (03-July-2022)
V1.2 - Added further explanation about my intensions; Slightly Reworked Unholy Crown and Howltusk (08-July-2022)
V1.3 - Slightly Reworked Biggin's Bonnet - misread its initial stats; Adjusted explanation accordingly (12-July-2022)
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