THE BIG SET-UP Mod

created by-
Spiral Simian 
>8-O

circa 1 August 2002

This mod is a set item hunting mod.

Nothing has been changed but the way and the rate at which set items drop, how
most monsters drop treasure, and in some cases the levels of monsters so that they
can drop the set items in question.

In all other ways, this is standard issue D2:Lord of Destruction

This is meant for use with version 1.09 of the game. It should work
with all versions of the 1.09 D2:LoD patches.

As with all MPQ mods, installation is simple: Save your existing
Patch_D2.mpq file in your Diablo II folder someplace safe. Put this
where that unmodded patch used to be. Play the game. Simple. When
you want to play normal D2, reverse the process. Simple. I'm not
responsible if you mess up. If you need more help on installing mods,
go to Phrozen Keep at www.d2mods.com or www.planetdiablo.com/phrozenkeep

DETAILS OF MOD:
-----------------------------------------------
Set items drop with great frequency. Because set items (unlike unique items) can drop
more than once per game, you will see the same set items over and over and over again.

Basically, most classes of monsters are now predisposed to drop the items that belong to
a particular set. So, the zombies are all inclined to drop the items in one set, skeletons
are set to drop the items in a different set, etc. Some monsters continue to drop normally.
The corrupted rogue types and quill rat types are just two examples. Champion and unique 
monsters should drop like they always used to. So, a champion zombie will probably not drop
items in the set category zombies are set to drop. But normal zombies will.

Said monsters are also highly inclined to drop set items in general. It is possible they
could also occasionally drop items from a set other than the one they have been "linked"
to. And in rare cases they might drop something other than a set item, like a magic item,
though they didn't do it in my testing.

Base items that are repeated in different sets, like rings, amulets, and a few others, may 
drop oddly. I just don't know. I really haven't had time to test if they drop consistently 
with the other items in their set, or if you might get amulets from other sets when you 
want the amulet to the set you have almost completed.

But, in general, you can complete most sets within a few minutes once you find the monsters 
that drop those items. I got the Arctic Set from zombies in about four or five kills (I
kept getting everything but the Arctic Mitts at first). I got the Clegaw's Set from foul
crows in about two kills, maybe three. In both cases, I have lots of duplicate items to sell.

This is all based on the levels of the sets as defined in SetItems.txt. If a set is 34th 
level, for example, it won't be dropped by a 5th level monster. Get it?

So for high-level sets, you may have to play through until late in the game to find the 
items for that set.

All sets should be obtainable in Normal difficulty, though you may have to play until Act 5
to get them (the really powerful ones).

A fair number of monsters in Nightmare are also set to drop set items but mostly they appear
only in Act 1 Nighmare and Act 2 Nightmare. These tend to be the highest-level sets that drop
from those monsters...but chances are you will have found those set in Act 5 normal already.

Aside from that, all other monsters in Nightmare drop as they normally do. ALL monsters in
Hell drop normally. It is primarily in Normal difficulty that you get the set drops.

This is version 1.0 of THE BIG SET-UP Mod...there are unlikely to be any other
versions. 


~Spiral Simian
(and no, you cannot have my e-mail address...if you have any problems with this mod,
contact Phrozen Heart or Jbouley at Phrozenkeep. Or let me know in the Mods by Spiral
Simian thread in the Nonhosted Mods forum at Phrozen Keeps forums, assuming that thread
still exists when you read this.)