I’m new to this game. People say that they run areas in excess of 1000x to find some good gear. WHY??? I’m not gifted with that kind of time to invest into this game. I’d like to be able to make Enigma… but you’re not going to find BER or JAH playing solo multiplayer… single player if you change the player count yes (still takes 1000 runs)… but not multiplayer playing alone… go into a server with more players and farm an area… OK… then some player with enigma will zoom past you kill the boss and be gone before you can make the next level. Is blizzard wanting us to just purchase the runes or gear we want… i like multiplayer, i like playing with other players at times but spend the majority of my time alone just poking around. could someone help me make sense of the rarity or scarcity of this and why a person would continue to play a less than rewarding game?
It is rewarding in the fact that items don’t rain from the sky (See Diablo 3). It is rewarding in the fact that when you find a good item/high rune you feel accomplished. I understand that you don’t have all sorts of time to spend playing a game, neither do a lot of people that play D2 and D2R (most of us are 30 years of age) If you don’t enjoy the loot system, I might suggest playing Diablo 3.
The game can be beaten with garbage gear. Good gears in Diablo 2 are “nice to haves”, they are not “requirements”. Sure, beating the game in all difficulties is much harder to do with garbage gear versus godly gear, but it can be done.
If all of the good items were common, there’d be little point in playing the game, as this is a loot grind ARPG.
If you think the rune drops are bad now, they were much worse prior to 1.13 in the original game.
It’s exciting finding a rare item. When you find that item that you know is extremely rare, you pick up two things: 1: The item. 2: Your jaw from the floor.
If I were to play D3 I have all the gear I want within days, at that point I am just changing numbers.
I like D2, and especially HC because it will take awhile, I definitely would love new content and mechanics to change up the experience but not getting things quickly isn’t a downfall to me.
That’s your problem
Sounds like a more realistic goal for you is to beat baal in Hell?
Days? Try hours.
It’s stupid easy with a group, but you can basically power level yourself… Challenge rifts for the cache, netting you the materials to craft a level 70 weapon when you’re level 40-50, hoping for reduced level requirements, or you can roll a 2nd attribute to reduce level requirements… Then of course those Haedrigs Gifts from the relatively trivial journey requirements for a freebie set.
Obtaining end game gear is supposed to be an incredible challenge for solo players but as mentioned going through all the quests and beating hell baal is very achievable with all characters using all magic and rares… there are enough games out there for people that don’t have a lot of time to invest in them, d2r does not need to follow suit. If you really care then either play single player and use hero editor or just spend $10 through FG or an item site for one…
I deduce that you work, well, then your time in your work has a value, buy the runes, you will have better equipment than the rat childrens who farm 10 hours a day
Yup. The game was not properly rebalanced when synergies were added and monsters got way stronger. 
The game can still be beaten with crappy gear (ever so slowly), but it is a lot more fun to beat it faster with good gear. If you are impatient and consider all the time investment required… it is actually much faster to just slog through the game once with whatever you find along the way and call it a day.
with no “end game” other than running the same zones over and over again ad nauseum, there really is no reason to bother getting the stronger items 
You are really not missing out on much.
As I already posted, yday found BER and now SUR in solo L HC.
Hole runs, maybe 20 or 25, no more. Started Hell only few days ago.
So it is possible.
Diablo 2 is more about long term gear progression on min maxing gear and feels rewarding once you do. Diablo 3 is there if you want endgame gear in a day.
I completely disagree. But I love diablo 2 for it’s grind that lots of other games fluff up and make too easy.
I also wanted to make my first Enigma. So I gave in and made a horker barb by spending my only Lo rune to make a grief. Found my Lo rune back very quickly. I eventually was able to make my first enigma, and along the way found tons of other useful things and runes. Every step along the way for me was extremely fun and rewarding.
I don’t want to be able to gear my end game characters that fast. I like grinding and always knowing I can improve something.
You can get the top 90% of stuff in a reasonable time, its the the last 10% that grows you old and gnarled. The suduko that never ever ends, how else would it still be going decades after inception?
yes sir ive completed normal, nm and hell difficulty
I was playing in Hell and there was an Uber diablo (or whatever it is) that drops Annihilus. Anyone want to help me kill this and get an Annihilus? Must be fast, I need to get out soon!
Now there’s nothing left lol.
Farm those same areas for drops.
So you can farm them faster. That’s really it.
Keep playing if you like playing, the enigma and many more will come with time. If you enjoy mindless farming.
If you don’t like farming then there isn’t really much game left
Not really. While over time yes it can take thousands of runs, runs can be anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes (or even longer if you’re doing more than just dedicated areas/farming). It can take you 1 run to find a Jah rune, it can take you 1000 runs, it can take you 10000 runs. It’s like playing the lottery, or gambling, playing a slot machine, you kill a monster, there’s a chance of you hitting the jackpot. Will you hit the jackpot very often? Nope. But you can certainly hit it on the first try. Mostly, it’ll take many tries. Sometimes, you’ll play what seems like forever, and still never hit whatever jackpot you’re trying for. But that’s how it is. That’s why D2 is so endlessly replayable. That’s why trading is such a big aspect of the game. There’s always something to do, always something to find. It’s all about the journey, as you’ll virtually never reach the destination (unless you only focus on 1 character, or pay real money for stuff, which you shouldn’t do btw). Just don’t worry about it and enjoy the game bro 
things will drop
Dont listen to the ones talking negative to you about the item drops. They didnt use to be this hard to obtain in the past. These people are just selfish and dont want you to enjoy the game playing it the way that you want to play. You with enigma has no effect on my game play experience at all.
The people running this show are complete control freaks that just want to diminish you experience with your purchased copy of the game.
Anything BigJay says, in one ear and out the other. He expects good drops to happen “in a few runs”. He goes on rage fueled forum posting tirades sometimes on a daily basis complaining about the drop rates. He also revealed that he uses a melee character to farm items… One of the slowest possible ways to farm for items… Definitely a few IQ points short from being a genius.
Dont listen to. Thedarkjedi. It just trolls the forums and farts on itself all day.