How often do the keys drop?

[phEnomIC]

How often do the keys drop?

I was wondering what are the exact stats of keys falling in diablo. I think 1/34 is a false number or maybe it changed because they realized this was too rare. Well, for me. I did between 30 and 40 arcane runs and got 3 hate keys. I did 2 countess runs, and got one of her keys and about 5 nihlathak runs and got a key off him. So total 5 keys in 47 runs. Am i really lucky or are other people getting this type of outcome?

Also, does mf affect this at all. My barb has about 200 on his gear that he ddi the runs with.

Btw, is there anything that gives +1 to teleport besides enigma and najs puzzler?

 

[noodleor]

At first I was very lucky with the keys too, I was trading key sets for runes and was getting them much more often than 1/14. Then once i'd finally got my paladin equipped to kill the ubers my luck ran out, now it feels like 1/20 are dropping a key

I read in another thread that each boss has a 1/60ish chance of dropping the key, on each one of their 5 drops, so it doesn't sound like mf would effect the drop rate.

 

[phEnomIC]

when you say on each of their 5 drops, does that mean, you can only get 5 keys from each boss before they stop dropping them for that char?

 

[F1R3STR1D3R]

When I do countess runs, she never drops keys for like 15 runs, then when she finally drops it she drops two terror keys... which is really weird. Coincidence?

 

[noodleor]

From what i've read, the bosses can drop up to 5 items each time you kill them and each item has a chance at being a key. I think the chances were a little over 1/60 for nihlathak and the countess, while the summoner was a bit over 1/50.

when you say on each of their 5 drops, does that mean, you can only get 5 keys from each boss before they stop dropping them for that char?

No. So far, all with the same character, i've found 15 key sets and some spare change... 49 keys in total iirc.

Try and do your key runs in 8 player games, if possible. The more people in the game the more items the bosses will drop, giving you more chances to get a key with each kill.

 

[phEnomIC]

So since its possible to drop 5 items and there sia ~1/50 chance on the summoner of each being a key so therefore, ~5/50 = 1/10 in a ful lgame?

 

[Raistlin_Majere]

So since its possible to drop 5 items and there sia ~1/50 chance on the summoner of each being a key so therefore, ~5/50 = 1/10 in a ful lgame?

I stole this from another thread (thanks Quietust ) :

According to the drop tables in single-player (data\global\excel\TreasureClassEx.txt):

The Countess has a 1/68 chance for a Key of Terror on each item drop in a 1-player game with a total of 5 drops. This works out to at least 1 key per ~14 runs.

The Summoner has a 1/56 chance for a Key of Hate on each item drop with a total of 5 drops, giving at least one key every 11-12 runs.

Nihlathak has a 1/61 chance for a Key of Destruction on each of his 5 drops, working out to at least 1 key per 12-13 runs.


Running in an 8-player game would slightly increase the chances.

 

[phEnomIC]

Anyone got any tips for someone whos running on foot to get to the countess fastest and to nihlathak. My 87 barb disposes of these bosses in seconds but, takes me 5 mins to find em. Anyone know anything about how these maps are generated. I know when the game makes the map, it follows certain rules for each area that can give a generalizaiton to where each stairway is located.

 

[RedPen]

just luck..

in 4 runs..i got 2 keys, from the SAME run!!

 

[noodleor]

For the countess I just take the left turns whenever possible. It works on all but a few maps with a teleporter, not sure how you would go with running though.

AFAIK there's no way to tell which side the summoner is on.

Nihlathak is easy though. There's like 3 maps for halls of pain.

First map the path from the wp immediately heads left:

_________________
|.........................w|
|...........................|
|..........................t|
|__________v______|

Vaught (v) is in that position compared to the wp (w). There's also a sparkling treasure chest (t) that's easy for a teleporte to grab on the way to vaught.

Second map you can only go down a tiny bit, from the wp, then you have to head to the right side of the screen:

_________________
|..................v.......|
|...........................|
|w........................t|
|_________________|

Man these drawings suck

Third map has a wp with two paths leading away from it:

_________________
|...........................|
|...........................|
|.............w............|
|v________________|

Once you get to vaught it's easy to see which side nihlathak is on (but i'll probably botch the job of explaining it ).

You come out into the room that looks like this:


.....\...\.\..\...../.\.....././.././......
......\...\.\..\./.....\.../../.././......
........\...\.\..........\/../.././.......
..........\..\/..../.\...../.././.........
............\...../.....\...\/./...........
............/.../.........\....\...........
........../.....\........./..../...........
..........\.....x\....../.....\............
............\......\../...../\.\...........
............/../.\..........\..\.\.........
........../../..././\..../\.\..\.\........
......../../...././...\/...\.\..\.\.......

x is where you enter the map, dots are meaningless.

Ok, that looks awful... notice the bolded walls? In-game only 1 of those 4 walls will have a blue/red pattern on it, the other 3 will be grey. Nihlathak will always be on the same path as the blue wall.

 

[Verbatim]

For countess, always go clockwise, i.e., if you're at the bottom of the map, go left, at the right, go down, at the top, go right, at the left, go up.

The real secret is that if you look at the exit of the room you enter from, you can tell what direction you enter the room with the stairs leading to the next level from. If you come down the stairs, and the *exit* to that room is down + right (don't get confused by where the stairs are, they can only be on two different walls, but the exit can face four different directions), then the room with the stairs to the next level will have an entrance facing down + left...just think to yourself what the room would look like if it was rotated clockwise one quarter turn, and that's what the exit room will be like. It's most likely to be in the corner of the map that it opens from...if both it and the room you enter from are in their preferred positions, you only have to explore about 1/4 of the level if you go clockwise, but you'll end up exploring 75% of the level if you go counter-clockwise.

Same clockwise rule applies to the Durance, as well, if you're doing Meph runs, though, with the sheer size of Durance lvl. 2, it often gets a bit muddier...you save as much time there by recognizing that rooms look like they're facing the wrong way and skipping them as by going clockwise--it's actually more important to figure out where in the durance you started out (since it isn't always on the most likely side for the way the WP room faces), and then head straight for the most likely side of the map for the exit, or to look at the hints you get from distant walls appearing on the automap, and guess what direction the rooms they lead to are facing, than it is to go clockwise. (I've been running it with a necro summoner, which gives you lots of time to think about these things while your skellies are clearing out the monsters in your way).

 

[sonikki_]

Btw, is there anything that gives +1 to teleport besides enigma and najs puzzler?

najs puzzler has teleport charges. so enigma is the only one with +teleport

 

[Verbatim]

If you're looking for another option for teleport besides Enigma and Naj's, you can also get amulets w/ somewhere around 30 charges of teleport (at least, that's about how many the one I got from crunching rings last ladder had). Not as practical as Enigma, nor as plentiful as Naj's (which has over 100 charges), but it's cheap, and you don't have to go shieldless to use it, unlike Naj's. Still eats up a bunch of gold for repairs, though...I mostly used mine for getting out of trouble spots, like after spawning the Infector of Souls when you get the map with a hook (where you can't run away if you need to), or to speed up MF runs with occasional teleports, when I'd have to run a long way around something to get where I needed to go.

 

[Alywin]

If you're looking for another option for teleport besides Enigma and Naj's, you can also get amulets w/ somewhere around 30 charges of teleport (at least, that's about how many the one I got from crunching rings last ladder had). Not as practical as Enigma, nor as plentiful as Naj's (which has over 100 charges), but it's cheap, and you don't have to go shieldless to use it, unlike Naj's. Still eats up a bunch of gold for repairs, though...I mostly used mine for getting out of trouble spots, like after spawning the Infector of Souls when you get the map with a hook (where you can't run away if you need to), or to speed up MF runs with occasional teleports, when I'd have to run a long way around something to get where I needed to go.

My chip-in: Spellsteel, the unique excpetional 2-H axe. I used it when I was new in ladder season.

 

[helvete]

Hammerdin and vigor...

Wow, that halls of pain guide was VERY well done, even if I already knew the layouts. Didn't know about the halls of vaught (don't even know what "vaught" is) thing.

finding Destruct keys seems to be a great way of getting rich, as I get a Pul for each on europe, and ppl pay Mal for 4+add, Ist for 9 and so on... Only bothersome thing is the merc doesn't know the toomb vipers are bugged =(

 

[phEnomIC]

I love you for that map!!!! I got ahold of an enigma and my lvl 32 battle orders is a huge help with that. Ill have a ton of dkeys by the end of today !!

 

[Mammel248]

Btw, is there anything that gives +1 to teleport besides enigma and najs puzzler?

Spellsteel unique Bearded Axe has teleport charges too, and FCR, and lots of other charges. Use that instead of Naj's Staff.