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Getting Started
After picking a race, you start in Normal difficulty. No matter what your build is, you should have no trouble malee'ing and casting the occasional spell/minion to progress up to the Act 1 boss Adarial. If you are having trouble with a particular part, enter public games with a few other players around your level to gain experience faster in the areas you have less trouble with. What you want to be doing at this point is planning out your entire builds skill points, because waisted skill points into areas you wont use later will really hurt you later on. Also, pick up and identify any blue/yellow/gold items, wearing the ones that suit you best, and selling the rest for cash.
At this early point you do not want to bother with mf%. Find modifications on blue and yellow items that best help you kill monsters right now. You wont bother adding mf to your equipment untill your build is well started and you are having no problem downing monsters. If you can wait, try and hold of on any mf gear untill you are level60+, as gear with modifiers to help you kill monsters will level you much faster, and get you to nightmare mephisto and baal much faster. These are where nice items are going to start droping.
Keep leveling and learning and having fun untill you get to level 30-40. At this point you can pop Baal to get to the Nightmare difficulty. Your biggest challenges in any difficulty setting will be Durial(the boss in act 2), come to think of it all of act2 is pretty hard  , and diablo. The other bosses all have a method to beat them that can be exploited and make your job much easier.
Once in nightmare, continue progressing in the same manner, building up levels and useful equipment on you and your mercenary. Finding a mercenary suitable to your build style is very important. (i can answer questions about this also if someone wants to know) Once you reach nightmare Adarial, a few nice items can drop (including a glitch in the game where the first kill you get on Adarial in Nightmare has the best drop chance in the game for a stone of jordan ring, an extreemly valuable and useful unique((gold)) item). Continue on till you reach nightmare Mephisto. Here is where the fun starts. Nm Mephisto can drop some very nice items. I highly recomend killing him multiple times, as well as all of the monsters in durrence level3. When your level is around 60 you will be close to where you can take a crack at nightmare Baal, which also drops very nice items.
The best drops in the game are of course in Hell difficulty, accessable by defeting nightmare Baal. Hell is very difficult to solo with most builds, but certinally doable with an mfer once you learn your charicters strengths and weaknesses. All monsters in Hell are immune or resistent to some type of damage (physical, fire, cold, lightning), but no monster is immune to all 4 types. (Well there is one but they are in Uber Tristram and you will never meet them in a regular game)
Some areas in Hell to mf are...
Act1- Adarial, the tomb to the right of the tree at blood raven, the pit cave in tamao highlands
Act2- The Sorcerer in the Sanctuary (for the hell key)
Act3- Chaos Sanctuary
Act4- The council, Durrance level2, Durrence level3, Mephisto
Act5- the two bosses near waypoint2, pindleskin(boss at the enterence to the temple when the gateway to nilathoks temple opens up), nilathok (for destruction key), passage of the ancients, crystal passageway, worldstone levels 2and3, worldstone chamber, Baal.
The areas you mf will depend on your ability to kill the monsters in those areas effectively and fast. The faster you mf, the more chances there are for something to drop.
Start by collecting gems, and cubing them to make perfect gems. These are very tradeable. Keep any equipment with good modifications, that are effective, to trade. Collect money by selling gear you dont need or trade, and from monsters drops. You will eventually come on equipment you dont want that is effective and tradeable (i can help you with price checks) which you can trade for things you do need.
Eventually you will get more then enough wealth to effectively equip yourself in good mf gear and/or more effective monster killing gear.
There are more ways to gain wealth which I may explain to any who are interested. I can also help with the topics of PvP and Rushing if someone needs to know that stuff.
Good luck and have fun. 
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infinity21
Canada6683 Posts
omg TrueLove_hu that's an awesome post!
Now I feel like playing D2 again ~_~
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On March 27 2007 13:55 TrueLove_hu wrote:
Some areas in Hell to mf are...
Act1- Adarial, the tomb to the right of the tree at blood raven, the pit cave in tamao highlands
Act2- The Sorcerer in the Sanctuary (for the hell key)
Act3- Chaos Sanctuary
Act4- The council, Durrance level2, Durrence level3, Mephisto
Act5- the two bosses near waypoint2, pindleskin(boss at the enterence to the temple when the gateway to nilathoks temple opens up), nilathok (for destruction key), passage of the ancients, crystal passageway, worldstone levels 2and3, worldstone chamber, Baal
Erm, you switched act's three and four  .
Here's my list:
Act I: The Pit, Andariel, Cows
Act II: Ancient Tunnels
Act III: Travincial, Mephisto
Act IV: Chaos Sanctuary
Act V: Shenk, Pindleskin, Baal
Act I
The Pit
The pit is a great place to get started. Almost any char can run it effectively (I personally would suggest a summonmancer, with hammerdin in close second). This run is not designed for MF'ing, although you may find some nice drops on a rare occasion. The pits is a great place to find socketable items. The area level of the pit is 85, thus every monster can drop almost all of the gear in the game, and the boss packs have mlvl (mosnter level) of 86 for minions and 87 for boss, thus the bosses can drop EVERY ITEM in the game. To do this run, simply take the wp to the outer cloister, and then run through the tamoe highland (follow the path) until you find the pit.
Pros: VERY easy, little to no mf equips required. Great place for sockets.
Cons: Highly unlikely to find a good unique/set item.
Suggested Builds: Summon Necromancer, Hammerdin (any class really, those just work slightly better)
Andariel
Andy is a simple run, just stack all the mf gear you can afford and still do decent damage and stay alive. This is your basic boss run, take the wp to catacombs lvl 2 and run/tele to cat4 and kill Andariel. Make sure to clear the lower area so you don't get mobbed with monsters. Andy's poison can be a bitch, so make sure to get a lot of poison resistance and load up on pots. Andy can drop HoZ and has one of the best chances to drop soj (which is still roughly .02% chance without exaggeration).
Pros: Some very nice mf drops. Relatively safe trip there.
Cons: I've found she hits quite hard. Also doesn't drop all the great gear.
Suggested Builds: Hammerdin. (Hammerdin is the only class that comes to mind. Sorc's can't really take the damage while sustaining decent mf gear.)
Cows
Cows is pretty basic. Make the portal and kill all the cows. The idea is the same as the pits, just with more enemies that are much tougher. If you can handle it, this is a great place.
Pros: Drops everything.
Cons: Bad place for uniques/sets.
Suggested Builds: Lighting Javazon, Lightning sorc. (King is light immune, thus you will never accidently kill him. Grab a merc to handle light immune boss packs.)
Act II
Ancient Tunnels
Ancient tunnels is the same as the pits, just with act II. Take the TP to the Lost city and find the trap door to the Ancient Tunnels. The great part about this place is that there are not monsters that are immune to cold (other than the occasional boss pack), this makes the blizz sorc a great choice.
Pros: Drops everything.
Cons: Bad for MF
Suggested Builds: Blizzard Sorc (Blizz sorc wins this hands down. The summoner would work, but the blizz sorc just tears through here.)
Act III
Travincial
Trav is an interesting place. The council drop a lot of gold and have a good chance to drop some nice runes. Take the WP to Travincial and kill the high council. The idea here is to get lucky with some drops and hopefully find some nice runes. The barb can take advantage of the gold drop by stacking a bunch of +gold dropped by enemy gear and taking them out and then gambling for some nice rares.
Pros: Great gold drop -> lots of gambling. Also good chance for some runes.
Cons: Not so great MF and few monsters.
Suggested Builds: ItemFind Barb (ww or conc)
Mephisto
Meph is one of the most popular runs. He doesn't drop everything, but he drops good often. Take the WP to durance of hate 2 and run/tele to durance 3 and kill meph. Meph has low cold resistance and there is a trick where you can get him stuck in a place where he can't hit you and you're free to BLIZZARD him to death.
Pros: Great for MF. Drops a lot often.
Cons: Doesn't drop everything, and few godlies.
Suggested Build: Blizzard Sorc. (no question at all. Blizzard sorc can tele and most importantly, moat meph.)
Act IV
Chaos Sanctuary
Chaos is a great place to mf IF you can survive it. Take the WP to river of flame and run/tele to chaos. The problem with chaos is that all of the monsters are strong and the doom knights tend to cast iron maiden at the worst possible times. With chaos, you can find anything, runes, socketables, charms, even some nice MF off of Diablo and the boss packs.
Pros: Drops everything and a lot of it.
Cons: HARD AREA
Suggested Builds: Hammerdin, Summonmancer (hammerdin and summonmancer are the only buids that can do this with decent mf gear and stay alive. I do realize that other builds CAN run this, but not as effectively. I'd go with a Summonmancer personally because they don't need to be in the action and thus are much less likely to die. Just make sure to curse diablo with decrep and get a clay golem in there.
Act V
Shenk
Shenk is a fairly quick run. Take the wp to the frigid highlands and go down the stairs and kill Shenk the Overseer, and then run back up past the portal and kill the other boss pack (the name escapes me.). This is not a very good run to do on its own. Usually you would throw this in with a pindle or meph run just to get that little extra bit out of each run.
Pros: Quick, some good drops.
Cons: Doesn't drop much often. Mostly a filler run.
Suggested Build: Hammerdin. (Anything can run this really, the only down side is that shenk has random immunities and his minions are immune to either fire or cold [I forget])
Pindleskin
Pindle is a very popular run due to its quick nature and good drops. Take the red portal to nhilitak's temple and pindle is right inside the building. Pindle's minions hit hard, so you need to either clear them fast or get a tank (a merc with leech will work fine). Pindle drops good gear quite often. I would highly suggest this run once you have some decent mf gear and damage. Throwing in a shenk run takes the repition out somewhat. MAKE SURE YOU END THIS RUN BY GOING DOWN THE STARIS AND THEN TPING BACK TO TOWN. If you don't the minions will rise behind you and you will die trying to get back through the portal.
Pros: Very good drops.
Cons: Slightly difficult, and not a lot of drops per game.
Suggested build: Blizzard sorc. (You can freeze the enemies and pindle goes down with 3-5 blizz's with shit gear. Once again, any class can do this, but I've found blizz sorcs to be VERY effective with this. Just make sure you have a merc to tank and you freeze the minions.)
Baal
Baal is a great run, but it takes a while. Take the WP to World Stone Keep 2 and run/tele to the Throne of destruction. Clear the five waves of enemies and then go into the World Stone Keep to kill baal. This run is great because there are a lot of drops (the first five waves are decent for socketables and runes), and baal can drop every item in the game, and being an act boss has a good drop rate. This run is long, but it also gives a lot of experience, so its a two for one with the sacrifice of time.
Pros: Great drops and EXP.
Cons: Long. It is also relatively difficult.
Suggested Builds: Hammerdin, Summonmancer (both the Hammerdin and Summonmancer are great for this run. They can take the five waves with relative ease and halfway decent gear. Baal is a little tricky for summoners, but after a while it'll be easier. All builds can do this run eventually, but these two are the most effective and the cheapest.)
Misc.
Diablo Clone
One way to get some wealth (after you have a little of it yourself) is to gear up a smiter. A decent one is actually very cheap and you could find over half the stuff yourself. Just shop a wand with life tap and get your hands on some dracs. The only expensive part is the shield. Try to get an HoZ with an Um or Pdiamond in it or a nice sanctuary (this is if you want to do ubers with it as well, which I HIGHLY reccomend.) Then just dl MIRC and go to the Dclone channel. Find a game on the right server and grab yourself an anni. this method takes a while, but annis go for good money. If you can get two copies of d2 going at the same time and park a mule in another game even better.
Pros: GREAT money. Also very easy after the first time
Cons: Takes a LONG time. Also needs halfway decent gear and a pretty good understanding of how dclone works.
Suggested Build: Smiter. (Nothing else will do except a smiter/zeal hybrid.)
Refer to this for info on Dclone: http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=223863&highlight=dclone
Uber Tristam
This is also a way to put your new smiter to use. Once you have some runes grab an organset or keyset. If you got a keyset, do the three mini quests to get the three organs. Once you have the three organs, open up the portal to uber tristam and draw out Uber meph, life tap and smite him to death. Rinse and repeat on Uber Diablo and Uber Baal. Grab your unique large charm and GTFO. I would suggest you sell your unid torch considering they go for more than an organ set you will make a steady stream of cash. If you feel lucky you can ID it and hope for a decent sorc or pally torch, otherwise you just got the shaft and lost money.
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Whoops, your right there Hurricane. My bad.
@Infinity, I play west ladder and nonladder, which I know would not be your server of choice, being in Europe, but if you ever play west I'd be happy to help you out with some startup gear and levels.
ps. Quite a while ago I was a big fan of yours and Cameleons. I really enjoyed your play style back then with Terran and latter Zerg. Cam's toss was really entertaining too. And you are both nice guys. Good stuff. Well, enough of that! If theres anything I can answer about D2 I would be really happy to.
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Also @ Hurricane. Travincal council is ideal for a Goldfind Barb wih WW or Conc. Is that what you meant? They drop the most gold in game and are right by a gate so you can easily pick up 300k gold with a lot of goldfind to gamble with. Item wise they drop pretty badly except the sheer number of blue and yellow items sometimes turns up some good mods that are valuable in trades.
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Thats exactly what I meant. You stack goldfind items and use the gold to gamble for good rares.
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Russian Federation4235 Posts
On March 24 2007 15:06 Wangsta wrote:
If you want to PVP, the only classes you can make are necro or druid. I would highly suggest you go with a druid though. No other class can PVP competitively (unless there have been major updates since 1.10).
First, every element can be absorbed/resisted, so that narrows down your options to physical and magic damage.
From there, only two classes have resummonable pets, and those are necros and druids. Pets are important because when you teleport around, your pets will absorb any damage you take. So if you are a druid teleporting around, you can teleport RIGHT ontop of almost any class (including 20k dmg hammerdins) and they will have to attack 6 times (killing all 6 of your pets) before you get hit even once. Bone necros can achieve the same effect with revives/skels but getting corpses is a hassle.
Necros and druids are two of a VERY small group of pvp classes that deal damage that cannot be effectively negated (tornado and bone spear are basically the 2 best attacks in D2, they also have low mana costs). Coincidently, both classes are ALSO the only two classes with recastable damage absorbing shields (which make a huge difference because absorbed damage doesnt stun you).
Unfortunately, getting items is impossible now. Equipment pieces are easy, but the charms are a killer. You need dual stat small charms and very specific gcs to be competitive, and those are extremely rare even if you are willing to spend money. Well, this is all cool, but how does that correlate with the strongest PvP class being the BvC?
Faith bowazons are also very specialized, but extremely strong vs some classes. Guided arrow namelocked bypasses pets, too bad for druids.
Hammerdins/smiter/hybrids probably stand right next after BvC, druids coming only third. But pretty much every class has it's arch-nemesis (bowazons kill hammerdins, smiters kill bowazons etc) while BvC is pretty much the only class without weaknesses. The only class they can't catch/snipe with widowmaker switch are max FCR light sorcs, but thankfully, there are wonderful sets of resist gear that completely negate lightning damage. Oh yeah, they lose vs Fury druids, but who the hell makes fury druids nowadays anyway?
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On March 29 2007 11:35 BluzMan wrote:Show nested quote +On March 24 2007 15:06 Wangsta wrote:
If you want to PVP, the only classes you can make are necro or druid. I would highly suggest you go with a druid though. No other class can PVP competitively (unless there have been major updates since 1.10).
First, every element can be absorbed/resisted, so that narrows down your options to physical and magic damage.
From there, only two classes have resummonable pets, and those are necros and druids. Pets are important because when you teleport around, your pets will absorb any damage you take. So if you are a druid teleporting around, you can teleport RIGHT ontop of almost any class (including 20k dmg hammerdins) and they will have to attack 6 times (killing all 6 of your pets) before you get hit even once. Bone necros can achieve the same effect with revives/skels but getting corpses is a hassle.
Necros and druids are two of a VERY small group of pvp classes that deal damage that cannot be effectively negated (tornado and bone spear are basically the 2 best attacks in D2, they also have low mana costs). Coincidently, both classes are ALSO the only two classes with recastable damage absorbing shields (which make a huge difference because absorbed damage doesnt stun you).
Unfortunately, getting items is impossible now. Equipment pieces are easy, but the charms are a killer. You need dual stat small charms and very specific gcs to be competitive, and those are extremely rare even if you are willing to spend money. Well, this is all cool, but how does that correlate with the strongest PvP class being the BvC? Faith bowazons are also very specialized, but extremely strong vs some classes. Guided arrow namelocked bypasses pets, too bad for druids. Hammerdins/smiter/hybrids probably stand right next after BvC, druids coming only third. But pretty much every class has it's arch-nemesis (bowazons kill hammerdins, smiters kill bowazons etc) while BvC is pretty much the only class without weaknesses. The only class they can't catch/snipe with widowmaker switch are max FCR light sorcs, but thankfully, there are wonderful sets of resist gear that completely negate lightning damage. Oh yeah, they lose vs Fury druids, but who the hell makes fury druids nowadays anyway?
BVC barbs are one of the worst classes you can make... They're only good against sorcs, and even against sorcs you have to stack specific resists or even absorb if you want to have a chance. Nevermind the fact that you have no chance against any necro/druid/paladin/etc. because whirlwind attacks too slowly and will never get past all the pets+defense before the caster either kills you or teleports away.
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anyone got a d2 original cd key i can have i lost it and only have my lod key.....if so email it to --
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Osaka27173 Posts
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United States1655 Posts
Just make a MF Sorc first to get gear/items to trade for better gear. Then you can make other characters if you wish.
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Some quick advice for beginners... Beg for rushes, forge isn't worth anything to you if you start so early, so just let them have it, try not to get screwed. Don't beg for items unless you see someone giving them away for cheap or free, in that case your high APM will be able to get you some) Start with a fire sorc (normal fireball/meteor build), it's easy to rack up damage really early on in the game with crappy items, and then as you mf/beg for better items your damage will go up REALLY fast. Once you can do andariel runs in nightmare, you'll find enough stuff to trade for a set of decent mf gear. Once you accumulate a critical mass of items (shako, skullder, frosties, mf rings, occy, etc) make a ~level 80 blizz sorc and do meph and pindle. Begin your hammerdin at this point, they're hard to level up, but if you get one to like level 80 with crappy gear that you get from your blizz sorc, you should be set to do moderate damage. Now you can run rune bosses to accumulate runes. Think countess, council, summoner, etc (look up rune drop % online to get best locations for particular runes) now you have a decent set of mid-level runes, you can start trading for better items, etc. You should be set to make a pvp char after this, because you'll have the necessary wealth to trade for decent pvp gear.
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17058 Posts
Ugh.
Hammerdins are the best, in my opinion. I used to run a Blizz Sorc, but I found that the mf was getting in the way of my fcr bps. I also didn't like the fact that I'd die pretty often since I'm a pretty reckless teleporter. Hammerdins can survive much longer, and you can reach a good fcr bp with basic equip along with getting decent fcr. It kills basically as fast as a Blizz Sorc (mine killed Hell Meph in three Blizzards, but it took about the same amount of time as my Hammerdin once I just teled next to it and started Hammering.
I used to play the game so much that I could tell you how the game generates the maps. There are only four distinct patters of Waypoint/Entrance to boss level for cats 2/3/4, Durance and WSK. Once you figure out which direction the waypoint is facing, you can find the way you want to go immediately. I forgot, since I haven't played D2X in ages.
Also, after you get rich enough, you could always make a smiter and run torches. I believe someone made a smiter with all low set/low uniques and beat chaos trist, it was on a post on gfaqs over a year ago.
Hell cows aren't useful. Takes too long to get no good items, but at least they're good for finding socketables.
My old MF routine (I had 24x 7mf scs from a friend) was
Hell Andy (easy once you know map generating algorithm)
Hell Countess (same)
Hell Meph (same)
Hell Baal (same)
Hell Shenk
Hell Eldritch.
I never bothered with Pindle since they absolutely raped his TC/something like that.
It's much easier to bot, actually. I suppose Hell Cows would be much more useful if you could bot, since they have an insane TC and can drop the most rare magics such as JMoD, etc. I'm too lazy to actually ID any rare/magic I find, so I never run Hell Cows.
Sorry for the long post.
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On March 29 2007 22:52 zdd wrote:
Some quick advice for beginners... Beg for rushes, forge isn't worth anything to you if you start so early, so just let them have it, try not to get screwed. Don't beg for items unless you see someone giving them away for cheap or free, in that case your high APM will be able to get you some) Start with a fire sorc (normal fireball/meteor build), it's easy to rack up damage really early on in the game with crappy items, and then as you mf/beg for better items your damage will go up REALLY fast. Once you can do andariel runs in nightmare, you'll find enough stuff to trade for a set of decent mf gear. Once you accumulate a critical mass of items (shako, skullder, frosties, mf rings, occy, etc) make a ~level 80 blizz sorc and do meph and pindle. Begin your hammerdin at this point, they're hard to level up, but if you get one to like level 80 with crappy gear that you get from your blizz sorc, you should be set to do moderate damage. Now you can run rune bosses to accumulate runes. Think countess, council, summoner, etc (look up rune drop % online to get best locations for particular runes) now you have a decent set of mid-level runes, you can start trading for better items, etc. You should be set to make a pvp char after this, because you'll have the necessary wealth to trade for decent pvp gear.
wtf. No.
Do not listen to this guy. Fire sorcs need FCR, and they are no where NEAR as efficent as cold sorcs fo mf.
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unless something drasticly changed since i stoped playing (v 1.11), meteorbs are the best mf-ers
max meteor, orb, fireball, f.mastery, get points in teleport, warmth and c.mastery (start maxing it last, i doubt u will have higher than lvl 80 on mf-er)
set up your gear to max hp, not mf!!! this is the most important part. i'm not saying don't get mf, but puting goldwrap or some crap on just to get 10% more mf is stupid. difference between 600 and 1000 mf is almost none, but 500 more hp, fhr and +10 to skills will make your runs much more effective. at least untill you actualy find good items that greatly increase your chance of getting good items... etc.
places depend on items you are searching for
for pvp gear the pit (max mf on this run, it greatly affects chance of finding blues)
for jewels arcane sanct. (15 ias 40 ed can be traded quite well)
for good pvm items (unique/rare) meph and baal
for charms cow level
for runes baal (not countess, she gives crap), just keep your ears open
for finishing sets baal (only one who drops things like immortal kings soul cage etc.)
ror unique/rare rings/ammys andariel
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17058 Posts
Meteorb sorcs aren't as efficient for MF as either hammerdins or Blizz sorcs since they can't kill as fast.
Most blizz sorcs just run Hell Meph only, as it's only 3-4 blizzards before it's dead, then you can walk through the portal into Act 4 and cain your items.
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Anyone just play this game casually for fun anymore with their friends while comming back from a party drunk?
or is it all business now?
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On March 30 2007 14:50 ZaplinG wrote:
Anyone just play this game casually for fun anymore with their friends while comming back from a party drunk?
or is it all business now?
Me me I do play this game "casually for fun anymore with their friends while comming back from a party drunk"
Its all good times.
edit: anyone introduce their lady to this game? I introduced mine to a various of other games she wasn't really into any of them until I introduced D2 to her and BAM! shes hooked like a crack whore on crack.
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infinity21
Canada6683 Posts
On March 30 2007 15:05 madro wrote:Show nested quote +On March 30 2007 14:50 ZaplinG wrote:
Anyone just play this game casually for fun anymore with their friends while comming back from a party drunk?
or is it all business now? Me me I do play this game "casually for fun anymore with their friends while comming back from a party drunk" Its all good times. edit: anyone introduce their lady to this game? I introduced mine to a various of other games she wasn't really into any of them until I introduced D2 to her and BAM! shes hooked like a crack whore on crack.
Does she visit TL regularly?
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Girls like D2 because it's easy. Click click click... enemy is dead.
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EPT
