Some of you reading this may have noticed that the Sorcerer character generates more light than the other characters , although I had been informed of this fact on a number of occasions, I never really took much notice until I played a rogue and had a sorcerer join me in a game . It was quite apparent that the rogue did not attract as many monsters as the sorcerer, and that the light from the sorcerer increased my rogues visibility to the monsters (not good when your trying not to get crowded) .

This led me to investigate the possibilities of the "WORTHLESS" light reducing items for which Gris will only give 1 gold coin . A friend of mine (Faloo - Rogue) had already experimented with these items a long time ago (and yes, Silverthorn did cause his demise on a number of occasions because of extra light, which is made worse with items such as Royal Circlet) . I found that -70% light radius is the maximum that has any effect. At this level of light reduction the monsters can't see you until you're standing next to them, you can't see them either unless you are using Infra-Vision scrolls . This revalation led me to the conclusion that the most valuable items in the game are actually the light reducing items .

Experimenting to the extreme I equipped Silverthorn (then lvl44)with a Ring of Dark and an Amulet of Dark (each will give -40% to light radius , a total of -80%) , Amber (resist +20% to all) Ring of Harmony , Kings Staff (8 to 16) of Haste (only requires 30 strength) and an Obsidian (resist +37% to all) Staff of Fireball (just for Diablo) . I did not use Armour or Helm and carried 3 scrolls of nova and 4 scrolls of infra-vision , the balance of the inventory was taken up with full mana potions . Equipped thus , I then entered into hell on hell difficulty .

The "Quest" was to kill Diablo , this was not a item search mission . I was able to assassinate all the monsters in Laz's room one at a time with Stone Curse and the Kings staff (Laz required 3 Stone Curses and hack attacks to kill). To kill Diablo required the clearing of monsters around the room with the opening levers to Diablo's room , then use telekinesis to throw the levers . Next I swapped staves (without armour I need the mana shield for protection , and the FireBall staff does not require mana to use ) and used holy bolt to get him to come out without his minions ( you may also need to remove one item of Dark once you get him out , it makes it easier - just be careful the other monsters can't see you) . The whole game took less than 30 minutes . Be aware that careless moves will get you killed very quickly as once u start being attacked with spells you will become illuminated and attract everyones attention

Another point to be aware of is that there is a bug in the game that can get you killed when using minus light equip : DO NOT TOUCH ANY OF THE LIGHT REDUCING ITEMS YOU ARE WEARING WHEN YOU ARE ON A FLOOR . This will disable the minus light effect for the monsters but not for you ! Making you think you're unseen until you suddenly get attacked by all the monsters in the room.

Silverthorn

If you have an article you'd like to include please send it along.