Features (Median XL)
From Diablo Wiki
| Median XL | |
|---|---|
| |
| Modder | Brother Laz |
| Latest Release | 1.F9b |
| Game | Diablo II |
| Patch Version | 10.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, 1.13 |
| Platform | Windows |
| Homepage | Homepage |
| Forum | Forum |
Released in December 2007, Median 2008 is a major overhaul of the Diablo 2 game which changed a lot of things including class skills, player mechanics, monsters, levels, items, many other things. It was then upgraded to Median XL which added more changes such as more uberlevels and class skills.
Contents |
Features
- The old Diablo 2 Difficulty system (Normal, Nightmare, Hell) is replaced with a new one (Hatred, Terror, Destruction)
- The player level is increased to 120
- New monster types such as Elite, Heroic and Ubermonsters
- New uberbosses such as Ennead Necromancers, Quov Tsin, Akarat, and Juris Khan
- 30 new uber quests in 3 categories, uber dungeons, uberlevels, and summoning levels.
- New gems and new runes
- New gemwords and new runewords
- New uniques and sets
- New types of items such as Honorific
- Many references to Diablo I, Diablo II, various Diablo novels, Starcraft, and even Warcraft
Concepts
There are many new concepts introduced in Median that did not exist in Diablo II.
Energy Factor
In Median XL, direct damage spells gain a damage bonus from energy. Putting points into energy causes your spell damage to go up. The amount of extra damage gained per additional point of energy is lower if you already have lots of energy to begin with.
The energy factor bonus on some caster items modifies this curve, enabling each point into energy to provide a significant benefit until much higher levels of energy.
- The spell damage bonus percentage is:
- (165*energy)/(100+energy) + (energy*enr_factor)/15000
Examples
- A character with 50 energy and an energy factor of 0 does +55% damage with his or her spells. The same character with 50 energy and an energy factor of 200 does +55% damage with spells.
- If your energy is low, you may not even notice any difference.
- A character with 1000 energy and an energy factor of 0 does +150% damage with his or her spells. The same character with 1000 energy and an energy factor of 200 does +163% damage with spells.
- If you have 1000 energy or more, seeking out energy factor gear starts to pay off.
- A character with 4000 energy and an energy factor of 0 does +160% damage with his or her spells. The same character with 4000 energy and an energy factor of 700 does +347% damage with spells.
- If you have 2000 energy or more, go all out on energy factor equipment.
Block and Defense
Blocking and defense rating in Median XL work much the same as in classic Lord of Destruction, but their role in the game has changed.
In Lord of Destruction, max block (75% block) through investment into dexterity was common, while defense rating was hardly worth it. The two statistics are much more balanced in Median XL.
- Defense
The chance to be hit is as follows: CtBH = 100*(attack)/(attack + defense)
Investing into defense pays off if you can get around 20-50K defense at level 120, at which point you will see a noticeable improvement in your chance to be hit. Some builds can go over 100K defense.
Important: In Diablo II, defense is ignored when you run. Use 'R' to switch to walk mode to preserve your defense. Walk speed has been much improved in Median XL.
- Block
You may have noticed that the listed block chance on shields is very low, between 1% and 5% depending on shield type. This is because block rating is boosted by dexterity as follows:
CtB = (block_percent * dex)/(clvl * 2)
Max block is hard to reach; you will need to invest heavily into dexterity. This is a balance measure in Median XL to ensure that shields do not outclass two-handed weapons as in classic Lord of Destruction.
Resistances
In Median, Resistances are necessary to survive the Terror and Destruction difficulties. They are also required to survive some of the harder heroic bosses like Quov Tsin, Astrogha, and Belial. For these you need to stack resistances so the overall total per resistance is in the 500s and also have all resistances above 90. In addition in the numerous uberlevels, you need a max of 250 overall resistance to survive them. You should have full resists for the difficulty when you reach act 3 of it. You can increase the max resistances by using perfect gems which increase the max resistance by 2 and by getting charms from destruction uberlevels specifically the Crystalline Flame Medallion which can be gotten via the Judgment day summoning quest.
Players X
This is a classic Lord of Destruction feature that is not known to all players.
During a single player, tcp/ip or open battle.net multiplayer game, press Enter and type the following:
/players X
where X is a number from 1 to 8. Press Enter again. The game will confirm your action.
What this does is increase the difficulty of the monsters, as well as their rewards, to correspond with a multiplayer game with X players in it.
Monster life and experience is greatly boosted, monsters are more likely to drop items and their damage is slightly boosted on Terror and Destruction difficulty.
Hard Mode Charm
The Hard Mode Charm is a special drop from the Kurast 3000 BA uberlevel in Terror and Destruction difficulty. When you keep it in your inventory, it makes nearby monsters stronger, but rewards you with increased magic find.
When the charm is active, monster health bars appear less than full. This is a bug with the Diablo II game engine. The monsters still have the correct life bonus.
This charm can go up to setting 11. This means you can play the game at players 8 and that setting making the game ALOT harder.
Character Classes
In Median each of the original 7 classes from classic D2 are preserved. They are the Amazon, the Assassin, the Barbarian, the Druid, the Necromancer, the Paladin, and the Sorceress.
Class Skills and Oskills
In Median, the old Diablo 2 skill system is thrown out and replaced with a 6 tier skill chart. The first 5 tiers are consisted of the usual skills which are divided into similar categories based on what they have in common. Then for the sixth tier there are 5 uber skills which you can only choose out of the first 3 at level 90. For the fourth uberskill you need to complete the Ennead Challenge. Finally for the fifth uberskill you need to complete the Black Road Challenge. There are also Oskills that can be gotten through various runewords, uniques, sets, and even jewelery. Some of these Oskills are for a certain classes only but on the other hand there are certain oskills that are for all classes.
Hirelings
The mercenaries in Median XL each have their own set of skills. Each mercenary has several different types.
The Sisters
- Weakened by the prolonged siege, the Sisters of the Sightless Eye may not be in fighting condition. But help them liberate the Monastery and watch them rise and shine.
Bonuses
- Starts with 30 energy, +6 energy per level
- Defensive Harmony: slows attackers by 25%, +1% per 5 levels
- Ranger Skills
| Name | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Cascade | Shoots arrows at all nearby enemies |
| Level 12 | Vanquish | Briefly increases physical damage |
| Level 18 | Wraith Arrow | Arrow that unleashes homing spirits |
| Level 24 | Broadside | Fires a massive stream of arrows at nearby enemies |
| Level 90 | War Spirit | Adds crushing blow and automatically casts spike novas |
- Priestess Skills
| Name | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Barrage | Shoots arrows in random directions |
| Level 12 | Blood Tide Totem* | Increases maximum life by a percentage |
| Level 18 | Vindicate | Curse effect: Heals party and increases damage when victim dies |
| Level 24 | Deathstrike | Mercenary shoots her bow and calls down an energy blast |
| Level 90 | Tremor | All visible enemies lose 25% of their current life |
* The Sisters have traditionally fought in a rigid phalanx under Kashya's command and may not be trained in battlefield tactics. Keep a teleport item or skill handy in case she blocks your path with totems.
The Town Guard
- Several trading routes converge at Lut Gholein, the jewel of the East. When the demons blocked access over land and the kraken nested in the port, travelling merchants, mystics and warriors were forced to take up arms to replace the dwindling numbers of town guards.
Bonuses
- Starts with 20 energy, +4 energy per level
- Suppression: crushing blow 25%, +1% per 5 levels
- Grit: damage reduced by 20%, +1% per 5 levels
- Exemplar Skills
| Name | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Retaliate | Retaliates when struck with a damaging shockwave |
| Level 1 | Gorefest | Melee attack that causes a fountain of blood |
| Level 6 | Lifeblood | Slowly regenerates lost life over time |
| Level 12 | King of Blades | Automatically casts bouncing blades at nearby enemies |
| Level 90 | Disintegrate | Destructive blast of physical and magic damage |
- Shapeshifter Skills
| Name | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Werebear | Turn into a bear, increasing life and armour |
| Level 1 | Claw Tornado | Melee attack that sends out spinning whirlwinds |
| Level 6 | Bloodlust | Increases all damage of the party |
| Level 12 | Pounce | Teleport onto an enemy, causing a powerful shockwave |
| Level 90 | Thorn Field | Melee attack that summons a ripple of spiked thorns |
- Fighter Mage Skills
| Name | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Titan Strike | Melee attack that heals and increases stats |
| Level 1 | Guard Tower | Summons a guard tower that shoots arrows at enemies |
| Level 6 | Glacial Nova | Cast a gigantic nova that completely freezes enemies |
| Level 12 | Fortress | Summons a ring of guard towers around the mercenary |
| Level 90 | Time Field | Field that slows the movement and attack speed of enemies |
The Iron Wolves
- Kehjistan is the wellspring of magic. This is where the first magically attuned hunter-gatherers settled at ley nodes and founded the primeval mage clans. Their distant sons of seventh sons will not give up the ley nodes to the forces of Hell without giving them hell first!
Bonuses
- Starts with 200 energy, +20 energy per level
- Unearthly Power: +250 energy factor to spell damage, +5 per level
- Warp Armor: total defense +100%, +1% per level
- Bloodmage Skills
| Name | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Flamefront | Cast a wave of multiple streaking fireballs |
| Level 1 | Punisher | Slow moving bolt that deals lethal poison damage |
| Level 12 | Gift of Inner Fire | Instantly regenerates the party's lost life |
| Level 24 | Pyroblast | Giant fireball that explodes in a pool of flame |
| Level 90 | Liche Form | Mercenary turns invulnerable and shoots Punishers around |
- Necrolyte Skills
| Name | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Hunting Banshee | Spirit follows random targets before exploding |
| Level 1 | Charm | Converts enemies to fight other enemies |
| Level 12 | Hex | Curse effect: Damage and spell damage boost when victim hits you |
| Level 24 | Hailstorm | Rains deadly cold on target enemy |
| Level 90 | Venomous Spirit | Casts a powerful homing spirit of lethal poison |
- Abjurer Skills
| Name | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Forked Lighting | Cast multiple forked lightning bolts |
| Level 1 | Banish | Curse effect: Reduces monster life by a percentage |
| Level 12 | Singularity | Massively damaging black hole |
| Level 24 | Supernova | Cast a gigantic nova of lightning |
| Level 90 | Superbeast | Morph into a demon, gain spell damage and speed |
The Barbarians
- Considered uncivilized man-beasts by some, sons of the nephalem by others, the only reason why few outsiders have reported their considerable shamanic prowess is because they were usually at the receiving end of it.
Bonuses
- Starts with 10 energy, +2 energy per level
- Mountain King: 20% bonus to strength and dexterity, +1% per 10 levels
- Barbarian Skills
| Name | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Gift of The Wild | Increases all damage of the party |
| Level 12 | Thunder Slam | Damages and stuns enemies in a radius |
| Level 24 | Shower of Rocks | Melee attack that drops rocks that reduce attack rating |
| Level 60 | Ancients' Hand | Melee attack that unleashes a shockwave through the ground |
| Level 90 | Warband | Summons a barbarian army |
Uberquests
- Act 1 uberquests
- Act 2 uberquests
- Tran Athulua
- Fauztinville
- Act 3 uberquests
- Kurast 3000 BA
- Rathma Square
- Vizjun
- Act 4 uberquests
- Act 5 uberquests
- Toraja
- Island of the Sunless Sea
- Khalimgrad
- Bremmtown
Monsters
There are many new types of monsters in Median XL
- The first type of monsters you may see are called Elites.
- The elite forces of the demonic hordes are much more dangerous than their lesser underlings.
- Elite monsters are similar to their lesser species but have an yellow name, higher statistics and usually employ additional or different attacks and defenses.
- The second type of new monsters you may see are called Heroics.
- Even stronger than elite monsters, heroic monsters are thankfully confined to their own dungeons which are usually out of the way... usually.
- Rumour has it that the guardians of Baal himself are among them.
- The last type of new monsters you may see are called Ubermonsters.
- Median XL features 28 uberquests, the ultimate challenges of the game. Uberquest monsters are the toughest and hardest monsters in the game.
- There is usually something 'special' about ubermonsters, from a shield aura that grants the boss an immunity shield to the ability to resurrect upon death.
- In 1.E9, a new type of monster was introduced called veteran monsters
- The Prime Evils' ace in the hole. These are the few demons who survived the battle below Tristram and have only gotten stronger. They appear very rarely and only in specific areas, but you'll know it when you find them.
- Veteran monsters are unique in the game and have a dark green name and powerful attacks and defences.
See also
| Median XL Mod | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sections | Features • Challenges • Cube Recipes • Items • Bestiary | |
| Classes | Amazon • Assassin • Barbarian • Druid • Necromancer • Paladin • Sorceress | |
| Diablo II Mods | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total Conversions | Battle for Elements • Eastern Sun • The Fury Within • Requiem of Sorrow • Median XL • Zy-El | |
| Other Mods | PlugY | |
