Getting started

[Jaedong]

Getting started with Sigma



Before we Start:
This guide is for people that are totally new to Sigma or are coming back after years and are actually wondering what the fuck happend.
The intention of this guide is to give you a brief summary of what is actually awaiting you in the early stages of this game. After reading this thread you will have a basic overview of how to get going. I am trying to collect as much useful data in one thread as possible.

This guide is still work in progress, if you encountered something that bothered you or found something that made life easier post it here to help others so i can add it to the guide.

Here is a quick overview what is coming:
1. FAQ - Questions that are frequently asked
2. Useful tipps and knowledge outside of actual gameplay
3. Useful tipps for actual gameplay

1. FAQ - Questions that are frequently asked
I am lagging like hell what am i supposed to do? REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

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This might be the biggest patch Median has ever seen and will ever see. This and the fact that the Diablo community doesn't own smartphones makes the game very attractive to a big part of players outside of the already existiting Median community. The dev team tried to counterbalance this by providing additional 34 servers. No one could expect what actually would happen on launch. (Dont quote me on these numbers). From an average of 100-200 players the number did rise to around 9000 people trying to play on launch day. And currently we are around 2000-3000. So if you are lagging, try to use the '/GS #' command to find the best server for you. More about that in section 2. Useful tipps and knowledge outside of actual gameplay

What build/class am i supposed to play?

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First of all, you are living in a great time. Compared to the previous versions of Median most skilltrees (if not all) all are actually viable and fun.
The answer you are looking for doesn't exist. Like in vanilla D2, each person enjoys a differnt type of character and gameplay.
But most important is, you have the option to completly reskill your character

Skills

Attributes

Even if you fuck up the worst way possible, you have 3 very easy obtainable chances to do so by completing the Den of Evil quest in each difficulty.
If that is not enough, there is an item called the "Belladonna Extract" which can be found anywhere in the game that allows you to reskill at any point in the game. These are quiet rare though. Back to the question.

Where can i find guides?

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Most people need guidance, since this mod has an overwhelming amount of content. This is the general reason why this guide exists. Median has been existing for years and has been frequently played before Sigma was released. But as mentioned earlier, Sigma changed ALOT. At the time this guide is written the guide Section is quiet empty, because most skills have been revamped and people need to actually find out what is strong and weak themselves. Also enjoy playing the game instead of writing a boring guide. My personal suggestion and biased suggestion is looking at these guide. These are well written, well rounded guides, each focused around 1 specific character from top to bottom. They are not updated but still give you an idea:
viewtopic.php?f=49&t=19061
viewtopic.php?f=49&t=5638
viewtopic.php?f=49&t=3524

Should i play Hardcore or Softcore?

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This answer is as usual totally up to you. But beware, playing hardcore means:

not being able to enjoy all of the games content, since alot of the stuff is too hard

at some point,you will die no matter what, this game is way more punishing and risky than LOD, even though alot of these 1 hit mechanics have been removed with sigma

My suggestion is play softcore and explore the games content and give hc a chance after you played atleast some softcore
Hardcore is fun though, this can't be denied

Useful tipps and knowledge outside of actual gameplay
Finding your server

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You have the option to set your default server you are playing on by using this command (# = server Number):
/gs #

As mentioned earlier, the game can be laggy now with all the new people coming into Median.
There are servers spread all over the world, but which one is the correct one for me?
This varies strongly from user to user. You have 2 options to take a look at the available servers:
http://tsw.median-xl.com/info.php
This website allows you browsing through the servers showing how many people are playing.

The other option is ingame on the realm:
/servers

Disclaimer: for some people its better to play on servers that are not located near them, so give them a shot aswell

Short Questions Thread

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The most important topic for you will be this very one:
http://forum.median-xl.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=124

It is the short question thread. Here you can ask literrary any question, as dumb as the question might be. You won't be the first and neither be the last to ask a question here. This thread has 2 purposes:

answering anybodys question all around median

prevent the forum from being flooded by new threads

Use this thread as much as you please and don't feel bad for asking questions. The community is welcoming, knowledgeable and helpful.
This is more a request to you.

Quality of life improvements
https://www.median-xl.com/tools.php
Special mentionings:

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D2Stats Reader:
Some of the stats have been added to the Sigma overlay in the meantime, but this tool offers a very useful feature.
It allows filtering and notifying items for you that you might have missed.
For the lazy folks, you could create a batch file to start median and the d2stats reader with 1 shortcut:

open notepad/notepadd++

copy paste this into it

@echo off
start "Programm 1" "C:\Users\PC\Desktop\Games\MXL\Median XL Launcher.lnk"
start "Programm 2" "C:\Users\PC\Desktop\Games\MXL\D2Stats.exe"
Simply replace the 2 paths with the location of your MXL Launcher and the D2Stats Exe and you are good to go.

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Skillpoint Planner
Since belladonna potions have become quiet rare since the recent patch this is becoming even more useful.
This tool allows you to test your skilltrees by investing your points in each skill.
Also available through:
https://skillplan.median-xl.com/

Useful tipps for actual gameplay
Gold in Median

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Your source of gold are the gold piles on the ground. Selling items won't get you far.
What do is the best use for gold in Median?

reviving Merc if necessary

buying Oils, these are very powerful more in the following section

buying orbs, orbs grant you additional stats on items in exchange for additional level requirement, the cost is quiet high so you will be able to actually use them in later acts, also very useful in combination with honorific items, more in the following section

Crafting Basics
The crafting system in Median might be overwhelming for new players. So here is an overview of the most basic and useful recipes that might be useful for you:

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>Destroy spare unique to create Arcane Shards and combine these into Arcane Crystals, which are required for other cube recipes. You cannot disenchant both unique and set items at the same time
>Any unique item x1-10 + Catalyst of Disenchantment → Arcane Shards x1-10 + Catalyst of Disenchantment
>Arcane Shards x5 → Arcane Crystal
>Any non-sacred item + Oil of Enhancement + Arcane Crystal x2 → reroll item as unique
>Unique non-sacred weapon/armor + Arcane Crystal + rune → reroll as next higher tier
>1x Arcane Crystal + Item (Tier 1-3) = Item (Tier +1)
>Pick up all uniques to make shards no matter how bad the item is ( does not work with items from grisworld Box)
>Pick up all sets to make sigs, each sig is 1 permanent stat point, transmute set item with cataclyst of learning
>Socketed item + Oil of Disjunction → separate item and socket fillers
>Non-magical and runewords: Socketed item + Oil of Disjunction + perfect gem x3 → separate "grey" item and socket fillers
>Item + regular mystic orb = Item + orb bonus + 4 additional level requirement (up to 5x of the same kind)
>Item without socket + X jewels = item + X sockets --> number of sockets is capped --> tier 1 items cant have 6 sockets
>Any Item + Oil of renewall = Basic white item (useful for runewords)

Earliest game Equipment
In the very early stages of the game the best and really the only thing you can do is every shit you find. The main thing you have to look for is this:

In early stages buying oils of renewall is too expensive to create item bases for runewords. Pick them up early on so you have them once you need them.
These can be used for various powerful runewords to make your early game easier.

Rainbow

Rainbow
Belts
'Eth'
Runeword Level: 15
+5% to Spell Damage
+(6 to 10)% to Summoned Minion Resistances
Regenerate Mana +(5 to 10)%
Elemental Resists +(10 to 15)%
(6 to 8)% Magic Find
+2 to Light Radius

-- all ress, mf, damage

Epicenter

Epicenter
Boots
'Ith'
Runeword Level: 18
0.0625% Chance of Crushing Blow (Based on Character Level)
+(4 to 15)% Enhanced Defense
+(40 to 60) to Life
Elemental Resists +(3 to 5)%

- maximum life

Pax Mystica

Pax Mystica
Staves
'Tir'
Runeword Level: 10
+1 to All Skills
+7% to Spell Damage
+(2 to 5) to Blink
Elemental Resists +(11 to 15)%
(11 to 13)% Magic Find

- weapon on switch for every character, has 20 charges of teleport

Summit

- since your main source of gold is gold piles, this is very useful

For armor there is basically 3 options:
Grisworld always drops the following armor:


The cheap alternative and or followup are the following runewords:

Rebel

Rebel
Body Armors
'ZolSilSilLo'
Runeword Level: 100
15% Combat Speeds
Adds 6-10 Damage
Weapon Physical Damage +(80 to 100)%
+(172 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
+(151 to 200) to Strength
+(151 to 200) to Dexterity
-75 to Vitality
-75 to Energy
+60 to Mana
Maximum Elemental Resists +1%
Elemental Resists +(40 to 50)%

- ress, statts useful for combat and surviveability

Lumen Arcana

Lumen Arcana
Body Armors
'Ith'
Runeword Level: 18
+1 to All Skills
-(3 to 8)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(3 to 8)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
-(3 to 8)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
-(3 to 8)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(25 to 50)% Enhanced Defense
+2 to Light Radius

- skill and - enemy ress, this is the option for casters or more offensive builds
With the low base defense grisworlds armor is falling of at some point, so using one of these in a base armor with higher def increases ur surviveability until you find what you looking for.

Mercenaries(by iwansquall)
Mercenaries are not required in the game, but are very helpful and strong. They are able to carry you alone if needed for most of the regular content.
The choice of Mercenaries depends on needs and the role they have to fullfill


__________THE SISTERS__________

Ranger
She is fairly offensive focused on physical damage. However the AI a bit stupid, like casting barrage when it clearly cant reach the target. Once she has the warspirit, she is a pretty good proc-machine. She however is a bit fragile without survival skill.
Recommend for : Melee class either Flat-WDM or caster, tanker, summoner

Priestess
A bit more defensive than Ranger. She is quite a supporter type that cast couple spell that useful for summoner. However her Pagan Rites might clash with any build that relies on corpses.
Recommend for : Caster, Summoner

Special bow mentioning for equipment:

Shockwave

Shockwave
Bows
'IthShael'
Runeword Level: 35
50% Chance to cast level 14 Punishers on Kill
+15% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
+(11 to 15) to Maximum Damage
+(58 to 72)% Enhanced Damage
+10% to Poison Spell Damage
(3 to 5)% Chance of Crushing Blow
Slow Target (11 to 15)%
+(21 to 40) to Dexterity
+(21 to 40) to Energy

- very strong 50% on kill skill that is very deadly and mostly causes chain proc

Level Challenges

__________THE TOWN GUARD__________

Exemplar
Exemplar is self-sustained melee fighter that doesn't require much of your attention. His skill-set pretty much allows him to focus on either crowd control or passively dealing WDM attack. Physical immunes are not a problem for him as both Retaliate and Disintegrate are dealing magic damage.
Recommend for : Ranged / Fragile Class

Shapeshifter
Shapeshifter is one of tankiest mercenaries by having large health pool. However he lacks life regaining, so he needs to rely from your potion or having large amount of life leech. Bloodlust is a good all around damage buff that affecting all your allies.
Recommend for : Caster, Summoner

Fighter Mage
Figther Mage is one of excellent mercenaries that is focused on crowd control. His skill set focuses on multi hitting WDM skill, so he is also good to become a proc machine. With chronofield and glacial Nova, player can just focus on offensive
Recommend for : Ranged class, Summoner



__________THE IRON WOLVES__________

Bloodmage is mercenaries that excellent in crowd control and dealing spell damage. He is focused on fire and poison and he is also very tanky because his high defense.

Recommend for oison / Fire Caster, Tank

Necrolyte
Necrolyteis is semi defensive type of mercenary. Using Hailstorm is quiet a good single damage cold spell damage, otherwise his charm and miasma ability are useful debuffs and help to survive.
Recommend for : Cold Caster

Abjurer
The Abjurer skill set is focused on lightning damage and debuff on enemy. Although he has faster breakpoints compared to other iron wolves,but his main skills are not designed for long range making even though they deal decent damage.
Recommend for : Lightnining Caster, Ranged Class


__________THE BARBARIANS__________

He is powerful melee fighter with decent skill set and able to summon minions. He also has a quite good %stat gain, making him good in dealing physical damage at higher level. Shower of rocks and Ancient Hands is proven powerful AoE WDM skills.
Recommend for : Caster, Summoner.


Level Challenges
Now in Sigma there is basically only one real level challenge left, that requires you to be below a certain level.
Everything else can be done even if missed due to some reason or due to not being able to beat it.
After killing the last wave of baals minions, a portal spawns that leads to Tran Athula. You can enter here at level 45 and the challenge can be done if your character is between 50 and 60. There is an option to do it on higher levels, which is currently bugged. You have to kill the 3 priestresses and combine their 3 unique drops by transmuting them. The map looks like the following

The priestress themselves can now be identified quiet easily, they nearly look like the old valkyres from diablo 2:


Level Challenge 2 used to be restricted by maximum a maximum level. This is no longer relevant so this part is no longer a critical part for a new player.





Final words:
Shoutout to people creating previous parts of and elements. Ive mentioned them, if not please tell me to add names.
Also if you have something to add that would benefit a new player, i strongly suggest you to tell post it here so i can add it to the collection to improve everyones experience with this great mod.

[Jaedong]

fuck wrong guide section rofl

[mahitovec]

Good job as always, mate. Dont like those two first bs pics, but guide is informative and should be really helpful for new players.


A5 merc has no sor anymore.

Priest no pagan rites.

Exemplar carrying on normal as hard as he is falling off mid-nm+. Waste of merc slot in midgame and forward.

Figher mage is simply useless. Crono is 90lv skill and due that he almost never uses it. Besides that he has nothing to offer. GN is barely useful since it wont freeze any reasonable mob and gets simply outclassed by TS, on top of that there are ok tu gloves if you want GN that badly.

Point out that tu ring/amu gives sig.