ILvL, aLvL, cLvL, which defines socket count?

I found an article but couldn't be sure. I dropped a

War Staff in CS normal with my level 28 Barb. If I

Larzuk it, it gives 5 or 6 max according to level but which?

It will get 6 sockets when dropped from almost anything in normal CS except regular Doom knights (mLvl 24 = 5 sockets).

6 sockets as it is above alvl 25.
see
https://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Sockets
and
https://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Area_Level

ilvl: item level, define number of open sockets through

Larzuk and cube recipe.
alvl: area level, define monster loot.
clvl: character level, define gambing loot and crafting (see

Caster Amulet recipe).

One more thing:
Normal difficulty, monster loot: loot is limited to up to 3 natural* open sockets
Nigtmare difficulty, monster loot: limited to up to 4 natural* open sockets
Hell difficulty, monster loot: no limit (up to 6 natural* open sockets)

* Natural as "on drop" by a monster

Thanks a lot!

Just a side tip for any future readers - determining how many sockets

Larzuk will give you goes like this:

Your nice item (for example

Scourge) drops in

Arcane Sanctuary, in Hell difficulty, from a

Goatman.
You can see from hovering over the area tooltip that it is alvl 79 in Hell. So the mlvl of the

Goatman will also be around that.
You go to the page for

Scourge and see that since the alvl where it dropped was 79, we can expect that the ilvl to also be 79.
By looking at the 'max sockets by ilvl' section, you can determine how many sockets

Larzuk is likely to give you for this item.
In this example case, the ilvl is 79 (way above the minimum requirement of 41), so you'll get 5 sockets.
Think that's how it goes anyway, I know there are some nuances with superuniques having a higher mlvl etc.

Trash mobs' mlvl are equal to alvl,
Champions' mlvl are alvl + 2,
Uniques' (and theirs minions) mlvl are alvl + 3,
Superuniques' mlvl are predetermined.

ilvl = mlvl from the monster that drop it.

A few things:

• It's true that mLvl is (usually) equal to aLvl in NM and Hell, but monsters have predefined levels in normal, which is why Doom knights in normal CS are mLvl 24 and not 28.

• Super Uniques do NOT have predefined mLvls. It's been like this since 1.10. They take their level from the area just like any other monster in NM/Hell. Bosses, such as
  Griswold and
  Blood Raven, are different from Super Uniques; they have their own mLvl in each difficulty. Bear in mind, however, that what the game considers a "boss" varies.

• Items dropped from containers (chests, logs, barrels...) have an iLvl equal to area level.

• Be wary of an item's quality level. There are times where a monster may drop an item that has a qLvl greater than the monster's own level (albeit with a greatly reduced chance), so in this case the resulting iLvl = qLvl. This doesn't apply to unique/set items because the mLvl must be sufficient.

Wow, super useful information, thanks a lot!

Items found in normal sockets are capped at 3 and Nightmare at 4. Only way to go beyond that (for example) would be Normal Cows given their ilvl which is why you want to get a Broad/Long/Crystal from there in order to acquire 4 for example. Hell has no socket/cap limit.

Also, while yes Champ Packs are +2 there is one that is +3 (Berserkers).

Many Bosses are Super Uniques, but when a Boss, that "tick" in the game files overrides that of the typical +3 Super Unique associated mlvl. Example being

The Summoner - Arcane is alvl 79, but he is not a mlvl 82, he is 80 given that he is both a SU and a Boss.

Khegan wrote: 1 year ago

• Be wary of an item's quality level. There are times where a monster may drop an item that has a qLvl greater than the monster's own level (albeit with a greatly reduced chance), so in this case the resulting iLvl = qLvl. This doesn't apply to unique/set items because the mLvl must be sufficient.

Surely this is misleading/inaccurate? It is true that qlvl has an effect on the effective ilvl used in various calculations, such as for affix levels. However, socketing doesn't use qlvl, only ilvl. Socketing a "repaired" "crude" (etc.) item proves this point.

Adveloq wrote: 6 months ago

However, socketing doesn't use qlvl, only ilvl.

Technically true, but any applicable item relies on qLvl as a starting point; minimum # of sockets is where it matters most. That said, looking back at what I typed, I should've swapped it to "qLvl = iLvl" to make it less confusing.

Adveloq wrote: 6 months ago

Socketing a "repaired" "crude" (etc.) item proves this point.

I don't disagree that iLvl is the deciding factor for sockets, but the whole "crude" socket thing is a well-known exception and another instance of the game ignoring its own rules.