Normal Mode Weredruid. Offline. Solo player (with / players 6)
Act I. Sockets everywhere.
Act II. Sockets everywhere.
Act III. Sockets NOWHERE.
I am trying to make the Runeword Malice (with a two-handed maul) and suddenly all the gear I find, or purchase in town, no longer have any sockets in them…
Is that a thing? Did I just never notice it over the course of 15 years? Is there something I can do to get that? I have enough Runes to make Malice and a few others like Stealth…but no sockets.
Apparently there are specific farm spots for socketed items and most of them seem to be in act 1. You should look it up.
Maybe I should be more specific. ZERO sockets are in items. not at vendor, not the stuff I pick up… as if the sockets were just patched out of the game entirely.
Like the item description shows it has sockets but they arent on the item itself or do you just talk about having terrible luck with socketed item drops?
The first one would be a huge bug, the second one has the solution of specific farm spots for socketed items.
Also, where can you buy white socketed items? I am on normal and every vendor sells rare items, which shouldnt work for runewords in the first place.
I honestly do not know. I bought a two socket sword from a vendor in act I to make Steel, and in act II I got to make stealth from a three socket chest I got from one of the vendors there. The items I usually find in the vendors is kinda evenly split between socketed items, magic items, and items without sockets. But suddenly act III, all the vendors sell, exclusively, is magical and such. Not a single socket to be found. Like, literally none. at all. ive relogged to the game about 57 times ATM, and never does any vendor have a single item with a single socket.
Oh, i thought that is normal. I only get magic items from vendors. Havent even seen a white item ever. Socketed ones were also super rare.
Dont know how it was back then anymore, but i figured that Runewords were eventually made so the white and socketed items that drop in the world have a purpose.
At that point in game, people already have cube so any white item can be turned into a socketed one with a little countess farming and lucky gem shrines
The higher level you are, the less chance vendors have of spawning socketed items.
You can shop for socketed items in act 2 / 3, after that you will have to rely on drops.
I’d say after level 20 it will be nearly impossible to vendor socket item.
The best way to “farm” socketed items then is by having 0% MF - this will increase the chance a normal / socketed item drops instead of a unique etc.
Cow level is a very good place to farm for such items.
Still RNG is RNG so it can take forever or it will drop instantly 
I was entirely unaware of that. Thank you for the information.
Does the loot quality change with the number of party members? My character is level 28, just got to the location for Kalim’s Heart. Still no socketed weapons. Should I drop my difficulty back down to / players 1? Do you think it will affect the chance for socketed gear?
I was reallly enjoying having Steel and Malice as options, but they are on weapons that do not do a lot of damage anymore, thus why I was looking to use mauls. They start at about 40 min damage, so I figured a Malice or Steel in that would be pretty good to make it through act III and IV, and likely even a bit into Act V, though I know Act V is pretty hard.
And honestly, this whole DIIR situation is weird. I played Diablo II for nigh on 15 years. I SAW THREE SET PIECES IN ALL THOSE YEARS ACROSS ALL MY CHARACTERS EVER…Suddenly my first and only character has found 6 set pieces, and basically everything either Elite or trash loot, and it is absolutely insane. I know I am on / players 6 at all times, but come on…thats a lot of loot even for that many people.
Anyway, if you or anybody else has any tips and pointers, I would be glad to hear them. I legit never did anything that involved other players all those years. I have no idea what “countess farming is” or any of this other stuff people talk about. I have never seen a gem shrine until two days ago. I am thinking, that all these years, DII just had a horrible loot drop system, because only now do I ever get anything. Seriously, the first time I beat diablo, I had on like one set piece, a Stag Helm, a three socket spear with poison damage runes, and my vitality was “just built different” and my skills were so poorly distributed that it was a miracle I beat diablo. Took me about 50 TP scrolls and a billion rejuv pots to do it, but I did it…my poor merc had to be ressed about 40 times…
Now, I am genuinely concerned that I am going to slap diablo around like I did Duriel (that’s the big maggot dude at the end of Act II, right?) this time around. Diablo and Duriel are legit the only bosses that ever gave me a problem. Judging by how I handled Duriel, because of my insanely good loot drops for the first time ever, Diablo should be genuinely fun this time around lol.
Anyway, I am rambling and off topic.