Imaginary D2R Item Reworks/Adjustments - Unique Armors

Stay a while and listen friends!

The next iteration of my Imaginary Item Changes comes to you and tackling the biggest Itempool so far, which are Unique Armors. Arguablely the Itemslot where Uniques are among the rarest, at least in terms of BiS as the Endgame Runewords are essentially just better in pretty much every aspect and there are even plenty budget Runewords that compete with Uniques.

As always, the idea is to make as many of these Uniques viable, be it in terms of a potential BiS, Midgame or Budget Build or simply a specific niche to make specific builds workable and as a result having a more interesting Magic Find and trading Experience.

So far two other Reworks are done and can be found here:
Imaginary D2R Item Reworks/Adjustments - Unique Helms
Imaginary D2R Item Reworks/Adjustments - Unique Amulets

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 the right colours for most of these Items in their 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.

The Gladiator's Bane

Spoiler

An item that does occationally find its use for Mercenaries or some specific builds, like the Immortal Sorceress. That being said in generally it isn't particularily useful in a more general sense, which I think is a real shame, especially given it is a fairly hard to find Elite Unique. Essentially kept the main idea the same, just upped the potency of the item by buffing most of its stats. Does now have the highest Faster Hit Recovery, alongside Stone and rocks slightly more Damage Reduction as well as a more meaningful amount of Attacker Takes Damage. Two additions that I made were the Curse Length reduction, which in Hell Difficulty is very helpful and a massive amount of Replenish Life, which translates to about 10.5 HP/sec, which certainly won't safe you by itself, but will be noticable and generally usful. Think the combined buffs to the Item would make it certainly much more interesting as a pick-up in general.

Arkaine's Valor

Spoiler

Had with the + 1-2 To All Skills a Roll inside of it which I consider debilitating, as essentially 50% of them were worthless right of the start. So I think it would be way better for it to just always roll with +2 so that at least every single one stays viable. Additionally with it being now the only Armor to Roll +3 to a single Skill Tree, will certainly make it attractive to some max. Damage builds and combined with the Increased Attack Speed and Faster Cast Rate also makes it easier to utilize.

Tyrael's Might

Spoiler

Probably the Item in the whole game that had and has the most ideas swirling around in terms of a Rework, simply by the fact that it is the hardest Item to find in the game and unfortunatly also is extremely poor for that fact. Again, not a total Rework at all, but an idea to make the whole item work more effectively. It provides much more Armor and +% Damage to Demons (so it actually competes now with a not so rare Set Item), as well as providing + To All Skills, so it can be a viable option for any Character in the game. The more unique aspect of it is that you essentially cannot be debuffed by anything with it and it also provides an Aura that so far no other Item in the game does, which is

Salvation (also the reason it doesn't provide any Resistances anymore). While I don't think it will be the item that you have to have at any cost on your Character, I certainly think that if you find one you really would use it or trade it and it isn't just a Trophy anymore.

Ormus' Robes

Spoiler

The item is generally fine, but what I think that was a missed opportunity with the item was that it was solely tied to the Sorceress. Think it could very well be used beyond that by allowing it to roll any Fire/Cold/Lightning or Poison based Spell on it. Additionally I increase it to +4 since it needs a bit more of a selling point now with

Arkaine's Valor being able to provides +3. Also did the adjustment that in general it provides -% Enemy Resistance, rather than +% Skill Damage (except for Cold), to complement the Sorceress' Masteries better and I think all the non-Sorceress' should pretty much deal as much damage with it being either way.

Templar's Might

Spoiler

The name alone just screamed Might Aura at me, so instead of it providing + To Offensive Auras, which isn't that much worth really, it now does simply provide a Might Aura, along with a lot of desirable other stats. Will be certainly focused for Physical Damage dealers and a fair chance that it will mostly end up on a Mercenary, although there wouldn't be much wrong with putting it on your Character itself either. Should without a doubt be viable in any case now and I think will make all the other Mercenaries that aren't Act 2 Might ones viable, as them also having Might is a much bigger difference than having no Might Aura or the Act 2 Mercenary one, or having a Might Aura and the Act 2 Mercenary ones is a bit stronger due to Templar's.

Steel Carapace

Spoiler

Without a doubt one of those Uniques that falls in the the "WTF"-Category for me. The combination of stats that it has seems random at best and for the most part ar underwhelming as well, which is why I decided to give this one more or less a full rework. Thought it would be really cool to have an item that does provide -% Enemy Magic Resistance and +% Magic Skill Damage on it as there isn't really anything that does so currently. So any Bone Necro and Hammerdin will be quite interest in this one and could also see Zerkers making good use out of this one too. Might very well be way overpowered by itself without any adjustments to how Magic Resistance works, but be asured that you'll find down an option against Magic Damage as well a bit further down.

Leviathan

Spoiler

Currently is just simpyl a non-Item as

Shaftstop is the better option in like 99.9% of the times. So this is why, rather than having a stronger

Shaftstop with this and take away the spot that is occupied by

Shaftstop currently, I'd make this into the general purpose Defensive Item, still having a bit of Physical Damage Reduction, although not enough to compete with

Shaftstop, but instead also providing all the Elemental Absorbs as well as Poison Length reduction and a big amount of Vitality to round it off. Should up the suviveability of whoever wears this by quite a lot and I think there is no doubt that this one would certainly find its use now.

Corpsemourn

Spoiler

Always loved the general idea of the item, but in execution was just more than lacking, because truthfully pretty much all Charges are just flat out bad. So instead it would trigger

Corpse Explosion on Killing Enemies, with a percentage chance of course, but so that theoretically every 3rd enemy you kill directly would just blow up. Providing some other nice stats along with it and some -% Enemy Fire Resistance, which will work out well with the added Fire Damage and the

Corpse Explosion, should do very well and provide Physical Damage dealers with an option to massively increase their Killspeed.

Black Hades

Spoiler

Think this will be potentially one of the most interesting Items in the game now, as with it having those 3 Sockets and potentially rolling some nice stats along with can open up so many more potential builds with various Jewels or Runes inside of it. Hope not too many people will try to Socket Enigma into it though.

Atma's Wail

Spoiler

Since I have already done the Amulets, it seemed fair to me to make

Atma's Wail and

Atma's Scarab into some sort of Pseudo-Set, so that both complement each other and the main aspect is revolving around the

Amplify Damage, which is why Wail now provides a Bonus to Maximum Damage, as well as Increased Attack Speed against Cursed Enemies, so the DPS output of those two combined can be really powerful. Do think it would still be viable on its own though, especially as an Magic Find Armor for those Physical Damage dealers.

Que-Hegan's Wisdom

Spoiler

As many of you did already notice, it looks very much so that it pretty much has the combined stats of the old Que-Hegan and

Skin of the Vipermagi and this is not by chance. I decided that it probably makes very little sense to make Que-Hegan's compete directly with Vipermagi as one would have to give every single time and my decision landed on Que-Hegan being the more well-rounded of the two items, with both offensive and defensive possibilities, while Vipermagi will become the volatile, purely offensive version. Downside is that it is now wearable much later compared to Vipermagi, but it provides some great extra benefits for every Spellcaster in the Mana After Kill (which I personally find very valueable) as well as some Magic Damage Reduction and Energy.

Toothrow

Spoiler

Made this one into the Item that you'd like to have if you want to make an Attacker Takes Damage build, which if you look over to the Helms I already did, you can see the Synergy with

Howltusk already. This also the reason why it lost its Defense Bonuses, as you want to be hit with Item. Along with All Resistances, Damage Reduction and Replenish Life it should provide a fair amount of sustainbility still to be actually able to pull something like this off.

Guardian Angel

Spoiler

Feels like that the item overall is fine, but you really only see it on Mercenaries to survive

Travincal. So to give it a bit more of a chance to be also put on a Character itself, I decided to get rid of the + 1 To Paladin Skills and instead provide + 2 To a Random Combat Skill Tree, so that it opens up a bit as well and not be so static as I think a lot of especially Shield carrying Characters would greatly benefit form the item.

Skullder's Ire

Spoiler

It is the best Magic Find Armor in the game, which by itself already gives it a spot in the game, so essentially a buff wouldn't even be necessary. But since Defense is the only roll that the has, I though it would be nice to have an additional, both of which don't really take away form its usability, even if they happen to roll poorly.

Duriel's Shell

Spoiler

Generally one of the most useful Mercenary Armors in the game and even quite useful on your Character itself if didn't find anything better yet, will pull you through Nightmare at least fairly easily imo. Taht being said with all the fancy new stuff around, this one will have to be able to compete as well, so in addition to some stats buffs, I also added a

Holy Freeze Aura on it, since it is simply most fitting with

Duriel and I think at that low Level it shouldn't be that big off a controlling factor, but it will be there now and that will help a lot.

Shaftstop

Spoiler

As mentioned earlier, this will be the option if Damage Reduction by % is what you need, whether that be on yourself or your Mercenary. Also rocking a few improved stats, will be worse against Misslies but better against Melee attacks and has a few more rolls on it, to make the identifying a bit more interesting as well.

Crow Caw

Spoiler

This is where it becomes now more and more situational, whether you want to use the item. Might very well be a good option for any Character that deals in Cold Damage due to the +% Cold Skill Damage and also having

Cyclone Armor on it will add up the survivability of anyone who wears this by quite a lot as well. Might be quite good on a Cold Act 1 Mercenary, or if Act 3 Mercenaries can eventually grow a brain, even for those. Think has its niche, probably won't be a BiS.

Spirit Forge

Spoiler

If you're looking for a Max. HP record, this might very well be the item you're looking for, which is a niche by itself. Even beyond that though, I think this can be a really good midgame optoin and can pull you through a fair bit of the game and stay on most Characters until they find or trade for something better. The Sockets might be something that makes it useful beyond just the midgame as well, but this would only be seen in practice.

Iron Pelt

Spoiler

This is the first of the 5 specific Item against a certain type of Magical Damage.

Sparking Mail and

Venom Ward already existed, but counterparts for Cold/Fire and Magic are not available and I felt like Pelt would make most sense to be the one that covers you against Cold Damage. Has its place if you're going up against a lot of Cold Damage.

Skin of the Flayed One

Spoiler

Thought this would be interesting for it to provide a ridiculous amount of Regeneration through Life Stolen and Life After Kill, but as the downside will constantly drain your HP instead. This is also why it provides a decent amount of Resistance against Poison as the combination of Poison and constantly losing life would be pretty brutal. Looks like a very fun item to me, although I think it would only have some niche applications still.

Skin of the Vipermagi

Spoiler

As I said earlier, this one will be volatile and purely offensive, with lots to All Skills, Faster Cast Rate, Mana and Mana Regeneration, but suffers heavily from not providing any meaningful amount of Armor, as well as applying negative stats to your Resistances and Life. Great if you can kill stuff fast before they have a chance to attack you, but you can very easily die with this one. Most likely not an option for Hardcore Players.

The Spirit Shroud

Spoiler

If Magic Damage is something that concerns you, this will be your option for countering that issue. Will on a max. Resistance roll provide you with the Maximum possible Magic Resistance, which I am not even sure if that is currently even possible to be reached, as I know of one item that does provides percentage based Magic Resistance. Along with a big amount of Magic Absorb as well, can help you deal with Magic Damage and be a counter to

Steel Carapace as well.

Heavenly Garb

Spoiler

Heaven usually indicates Tranquility and Thunder & Lightning (in almost any Mythology). So that is what the item does, provide Tranquility in the form of

Prayer and Thunder & Lightning in the form of

Thunder Storm. Does also boast a massive amount of Regenerate Mana so that

Prayer will be able to be used effectively and you're not constantly running out of Mana with it. Can be quite a fun Item I think.

Rattlecage

Spoiler

Basic idea of having an Armor with Crushing Blow was always a good one in my opinion. So all i did ws removing the ridiculous Hit Causes Monster To Flee, which noone likes and have the stats scale a bit, so it can also be used well into the later stages of the game. Along with Resistances to all the three Elements, this might actually be a quite viable option for an

Uber Tristram Character.

Silks of the Victor

Spoiler

An Item that soudned cool, but just provided too little. Now it has Dual-Leech as the only Armor in the game, which might by itself already be something that can be used to be picked up for even the later stages. Along with some nice % Enhanced Damage, Attack Rating, Life and Mana it should certainly be a very decent option in the midgame.

Goldskin

Spoiler

Should basically become the item you want to have is maxing out Extra Gold for gambling those GG Circlets is your jam. Since Extra Gold also goes well with Magic Find, I also decided to slap a bit of that onto it and with decent Defense and good Resistances, I can certainly see some builds utilizing this one.

Rockfleece

Spoiler

The main selling point of this item is the fact that of all the Unique Items, it has the potential to provide the highest amount of Defense of any of them. Granted you do need a perfect Roll and it being Ethereal, but then it can be tremendously useful, as it also provides a fair bit or Resistances and Damage Reduction as well. Also early on with that amount of Defense you should be pretty safe against attacks in general, so has its uses beyond that as well for a bit.

Boneflesh

Spoiler

Essentially the

Gore Rider of Armors, with some nice amount of Attributes and Life Stolen, which only a few Armors do provide. Again probably will be relegated to sitational use, but it will fullfil that use quite well.

Iceblink

Spoiler

A good earlygame Item for anyone with Cold Skills and has acutally a Blink ability, which just is a single

Teleport

Charge that does Replenish itself in a short duration. Might be quite useful as a an early substitution for Enigma, especially to get to certain bosses more quickly to farm them.

Venom Ward

Spoiler

If you cannot deal with Poison, this will be your option. Since Poison isn't the biggest threat in the game though, I also did give it -% Enemy Poison Resistance, so that anyone with a fair amount of Poison Damage can utilize it more effectively.

Sparking Mail

Spoiler

See

Venom Ward, just in Lightning. Think this might very well have some use in the later stages of the game, since Lightning is potentially the most dangerous Element to go up against and this might very well be used against

Über Mephisto to great effect as well.

Twitchthroe

Spoiler

Think my favourite Earlygame Armor in the game, always garb myself one of these to make my games easier. Did buff it up a little, so it can stay viable a little bit longer, but it won't really go beyond the early stages of the game.

Hawkmail

Spoiler

This one has the big benefit of provinding a fair amount of Faster Run/Walk, Piercing Damage and Deadly Strike, so might very well have some uses on mostly ranged Heroes even into the later stages of the game.

Darkglow

Spoiler

Think those is one of the most interesting Items I came up with, as it will be great for any Proc Build like a Riftsin as you can dish out a fair bit of elemental Damage as these Abilities do scale quite nicely into the later stages of the game. Fairly niche, but pretty sure a few will make some fun builds with this.

The Centurion

Spoiler

Lastly the protective Armor against Fire and given that

Travincal is a popular farming spot, this might very well be somethign quite useful for your Mercenary, as it should prevent them from dying to the Hydras fairly easily.

Blinkbat's Form

Spoiler

Main gimmick of this one is also that you gain Teleports, however you gain a few more with 5, however you also recover them way slower. Again can be a useful Enigma substition early on and it does have some nice stats on it as well, so you could keep this on for a bit.

Greyform

Spoiler

Applied the same concept here as I did previously for

Biggin's Bonnet, simply take all the stats it has and turn them into "Based on Character Level" ones. So in the lategame those will be quite some large amount of stats, most of them at least. The main thing it does though is if you happen to find one of those early, which lets be honest, TC3 is almost as hard to find as TC87, then you can keep it on for a fair stretch of the game at least.


Think those are the most Uniques so far at least that I put into a single threat. Hope you enjoy the Wall-of-Text I made for you and would be more than happy with the one or other reply to it. Cheers folks!


Changelog:
V1.0 - Created (21-July-2022)