I thought it was 95%? 
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The funny thing is, even PoE, with its huge emphasis on endgame content, understands that the leveling process is important too and that not all items need to be useful at endgame, which is why a lot of uniques are just good for leveling, not for the endgame.
If endgame is the only thing they value in a game, I don’t understand why they would choose D2/D2R over other ARPGs, as it’s never had much emphasis put on endgame content to begin with, just the same stuff as when leveling up, and, very lately in the development of the game, a few boss clones just to please bored players that had been chaining the same content for ages.
PS : I can understand the complaint that some uniques are rendered useless due to some more efficient runewords being easily accessible, but the issue is then with the runewords, not the uniques.
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Is 95% over 70%?
Also, I said 70% because this is the data derived from the community opinion
I personally consider it to be 95%
Sorry if I don’t let my personal bias influence the data
Well it’s 2 things
Most of leveling uniques are outdated upon entry when you can use them lol
There is also the amount of them
The number of low level Unique that can be used in endgame can be counted on your hand in D2
While poe there are tons
Why? Because they are Really unique with unique properties
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You let it influence the survey itself. I’m not sure why you expect us to trust it’s unbiased data, when it’s clear some voters would have voted 100%, or even more just to say uniques are garbage.
At best, that’s cause to improve the loot system to skew it towards more level-relevant uniques, not to outright dismiss all uniques as trash.
Rather because there’s only uniques, rare, magic and normal in PoE, and nobody uses magic and normal items at endgame.
Every single normal unique item in game can be used to get a character into hell. You don’t know this because you have very little experience playing the actual game. You are nothing more than an arm chair theorist. Basically you only know what you’ve read or heard while having no real experience playing the game.
I can take the worst of all the normal unique gear, equip them on a character and easily get the character into hell just using that gear.
You’re bad at the game so you need everything made easier. It’s truly sad.
Dick size determines nothing, it’s the balls that hold the secrets to success in life.
Well, I don’t agree with the statement that 99% of uniques are bad. That’s complete nonsense. However, helms are not a good representative of the percentage of bad or good unique items.
If I were to guess, I’d suspect that “bad” unique items are overwhelmingly in either the weapons or the body armor category. Shields also, though less so than weapons and body armor. Mainly because they have such high stat requirements for lackluster effects that they are not good enough to ever use, not even just “until you find something better.”
As to how many are bad, I think you need to ask yourself what bad means. If bad means “unusable” then I’d guess the number of bad unique items are closer to 10% or so, mainly concentrated in weapons and body armor.
If bad means “worse than what you can buy from a vendor” then a lot more unique items fall into that category. Particularly items that can spawn with staff mods at a vendor but don’t have any on the unique item. It seems to me that expecting a unique item to be better than what you can buy at the vendor at the same level is a reasonable enough expectation.
If bad means “worse than rares found around the same level” then there are significantly more bad unique items, though I think that is expecting too much. Rather I’d put that as what ought to be the upper bound for the power level of most uniques.
The real problem is that with runewords like Stealth, Rhyme, Spirit, and Lore - when exactly are you going to use one of these “good enough for now” unique items on a playthrough?
Realistically for most of uniques you are not going to use them, ever. Which is why they don’t get saved or traded. That doesn’t have anything to do with jsp or any trade site. I don’t use any trade sites, and I prefer to save uniques and trade them to someone who can use them, even if that’s not the most “efficient” use of my time. But I find I can’t even give them away. I don’t think that’s because of jsp, I mean, it’s not like I can use the items myself either, unless I want to deliberately underpower myself - and why do that if there isn’t anything special or fun about the item?
I mean, doing something like using Chance to Cast or something “different” can be fun even if underpowered - like a Brand bow wielding necromancer. But if the item is just vanilla but less powerful than the alternative, why would I?
I’m not sure how to handle that other than to systematically go through each unique and try to buff it to at least usable levels, and also give it a niche role, so that even if most builds never use it, at least some can, and get some enjoyment out of it being unique.
On sets however, I’m firmly in the position that they are weak and need to be buffed greatly. Collecting a full set is a lot more difficult than finding one unique. Therefor simply being “viable” is not enough for a set. Sets should be strong enough that you have good reason to take up stash space for the full set so you can use them during a new playthrough for an extensive period of play.
That means for example, super low level sets like Arctic (level 2) and Berserker’s (level 3) ought to be equipable at the set level (neither are) and marginally superior to most other items competing for the same slot until the end of at least Act 2. After that slowly getting replaced by other items as you find better things.
Moderately low level sets like Arcanna’s Tricks (Level 15) and Milabrega’s Regalia (level 17) ought to be at least competitive for some builds with best in slot alternatives (like Stealth) all the way to Act 5, and effective into early Nightmare.
The class sets like Aldur’s are supposed to be end game gear. They don’t have to be best in slot, but they ought to very competitive with alternatives.
Others sets have different problems. Orphan’s Call and the Disciple tend to have decent items in the set, but they don’t really encourage using the set together.
The lower level Necromancer sets are particularly terrible. Why are things like mana and life leech on a wand? Why do these sets that have wands have increased attack speed?
The OP to this thread came over to the thread on buffing lackluster sets and tried to argue that Sanders Folly and Infernal Tools sets are fine because he can get all the way to Hell with them.
Well duh, Necromancers can get to Hell naked. Saying the sets are fine because they are viable and defining viability as getting to Hell difficulty wearing them is disingenuous. And it is not power creep to buff these sets to something that someone would actually choose to use over vender purchased wands.
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If you took a thousand people and asked them to go on Maxroll planner and create a loadout for their top 10 favourite endgame builds
Pretty sure there’s about a zero probability to see stuff like Arkaine valour, Greyform, general tan do li ga, nokozan,etc
99% chance to have uniques occupy gear slot as:
Helm: shako, griff, coa,nightwing
Armor: vipermagi
Gloves: magefist, dracs
Boot:gore rider
Belt: arach, dungo,tgod
Ring: soj, raven
Amulet: Mara, high lord
Weapon: dweb, fathom, titan
Shield: Ss
That’s pretty much about it
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You mention armor, shield, helm, and weapon. Only one is under clvl 20, and it’s amazing and it’s my go to. The other rune words are awesome as well and I use them too. While farming for the runes and getting to clvl 17 to wear Stealth, if a Hawkmail drops, as a melee player I’m going to use the Hawkmail instead of Stealth, and likely all the way to hell Baal or until something else drops with cbf, like Ravenfrost. In fact, all the normal armors are very good armor, especially for melee, and I think that’s why Steath was developed. Why wouldn’t a no pala caster use wall of the eyeless if it dropped, and use it at least until Rhyme could be made? Biggins, Ternhelm and Duskdeep are amazing helms until Sol is found and usable. I love going through the end of act 2 all the way to Baal using Tarnhelm. As a caster, add to that a Gull dagger. That’s 125 to 150 mf at clvl 15, up to 250 mf on a barb! lol
The diversity is their, but sadly D2 players, like the majrity of the western world, are spoiled.
Pick worst in slot using uniques and any character class and I’ll equip the gear and use it to level the character to hell Baal on hardcore – that’s how confident I am that people are wrong about unique items. So what if they are not better than some rares or some magics or some rune words, they still work if a player was inclined to use them or didn’t know about rune words.
That only proves that naked characters can play the game… not that uniques are good…
Since the game can be completed naked, then the metric of how good items are shouldn’t be “completing the game” but rather “endgame efficiency” and “peer compared”
I mean to be fair… that’s not a tall order with something like a Blizz Sorc if you focus AT/cows. 
You’d really only be missing Insight on the merc, and a spirit shield… which you prob wouldn’t be using without the str from enigma.
People hate on runewords… but the truth is without runewords everyone just plays Blizz Sorc.
A character can only assign skill and stat points. I cannot GIFT my character crushing blow, or deadly strike, immunity to frozen, +1 to all skills, 15% overcap resists unless I invest in specific skills. These things are provided by uniques that absolutely have value.
Good is a relative term.
Are uniques good 20 hours into normal? Yes.
25 hours into Nightmare? Yes.
40 hours into Hell? Yes.
Are they good 400 hours in at 90+, not as good, but some are absolutely staples.
To say 95% of all uniques are bad while providing a significant omission of the leveling process is error. Some runewords like Leaf smooth out the RNG for ladder, to enable people to remain somewhat competitive against the RNG. Just because you can’t find The Salamander before level 40+ doesn’t make it “bad”.
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This is a stupid argument and suggests that you don’t play the actual game.
That said I have a clvl 88 hardcore frenzy barbarian that only used two General’s from clvl 21 and on. They work! And Nokozan is an amazing amulet! You should considered theory crafting builds, then playing them instead of just parroting what all the other weak and average players think. Experience is always better than belief.
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Just like no one uses a Rising Sun ammy… but it’s amazing for easy mode low-gear Trav farm.
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Exactly. An amazing amulet for ww barbarians is Seraph’s, yet no one uses it. I provides good end game damage and AR.
I was just about to say, my barb uses that for trav and I stand in the fire and laugh.
It’s definitely going on my Fire sorc for flavor. Mara’s can suck it.
Yeah it’s REALLY damn good on Zerk barbs for Trav Horking. Yet none of the youtuber meta guides out there ever mention it.
Just like no one ever talks about Blackhorn’s Face for Baal walking.
Lol 85h to complete the game
No wonder you people think uniques are good lol
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Or using a Woestave on your merc to fight Baal on any difficulty. I literally switch out my Infinity for Woestave or Kelpiesnare when fighting hell Baal.
Or rattlecage + howltusk on a leveling bowzon making you invincible.