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Magic Find (MF) is a vital attribute for gear hunting in D2R that increases the chances of obtaining higher quality items from monsters and chests. The higher your Magic Find, the greater your chances of getting exceptional, elite, or unique items. Magic Find works on all monsters but is especially effective on bosses, super unique monsters, and champion packs. Note, MF does not increase monster drop rate (only higher player count will increase this). You should also note that MF reduces the chances of bases dropping.
Best Areas for Magic Finding:
Located in the Forgotten Tower, The Countess is known for dropping large quantities of runes. While she doesn't drop high-level unique items, she's an excellent source of runes for players looking to craft powerful runewords. This is however capped around the mid-high rune, so if you’re farming for Ber’s and Jah’s you will not find them here.
A popular magic finding location due to its high ilvl and monster density, particularly for the aptly named Pitzerker which excels in leveraging the Find Item skill, to double Champion monster drops in the confined and dense Pit area. Access the pits by entering the Tamoe Highland from the Black Marsh, and finding the Cave.
Andariel is the final boss in Act 1, found in the Catacombs Level 4. She has a high drop rate for unique and set items, making her an excellent target for magic find runs, especially given she is the easiest Act Boss. Higher level uniques like Griffon's Eye or Crown of Ages will not drop here, but this is a good location to find items like Stones of Jordan. This is the second most commonly farmed act boss for MF farming, other than Mephisto.
The Ancient Tunnels, located in the Lost City, is an excellent area for magic finding. The area level is 85, which means that most D2R Runes in the game can drop here. As it contains no cold immunes, it is particularly popular among cold sorceresses or any cold based character. This is one of the few viable farming spots in A2. Maggot Lair and Claw Viper Temple are also options given their high ilvl but are tedious or difficult for many character types.
Mephisto is located in the Durance of Hate Level 3 and is one of the most popular magic find targets. With a good map layout, players can quickly reach him and farm him for valuable unique and set items. Mephisto's loot pool includes many sought-after items, making him a top priority for magic find runs. If you have teleport and ranged damage sources, you can use the moat trick to kill Mephisto safely each run. Pull Mephisto towards the A4 portal location and teleport across the moat. From there, you should be able to reach Mephisto with your damage, but he won’t be able to reach you, despite staying engaged with you. Note the Durance of Hate is also a good spot. Clear any champion mobs you find to maximize your drop chances.
The Chaos Sanctuary is home to Diablo and several other unique monsters. This area is more challenging due to the numerous monster packs (with powerful curses) and elemental immunities, but it can yield rewarding drops. This is a zone able to drop any item in the game. With teleport, and by using the Seal opening technique (quickly teleport near monster packs before opening the final seal to ensure you receive XP from the minions that will be instantly destroyed once the final seal is opened, and the last seal boss is dead.
Pindleskin is a super unique monster found in the Nihlathak's Temple outside of Harrogath, guaranteed to drop 1-2 magic or above items. His proximity to the waypoint and the ease of killing him make Pindleskin a popular choice for quick magic find runs. Given he is right next to the entrance, it is recommended you continue your run into Nihlathak if your character can efficiently and safely clear Nilathak’s halls.
Nihlathak provides a challenging but rewarding MF target, if you want to venture past Pindleskin. His powerful corpse explosion can surprise you, so be aware to stay away from fallen monsters; especially in Hardcore mode. His high ilvl and the high ilvl of minions within the levels of his halls mean this is a strong MF location, although challenging.
Terror zones offer an optional challenge that has additional XP and MF perks for those that are of higher character levels. The level of the monsters found in terror zone areas is based on your character:
Normal Enemies: Your level +2
Champion Enemies: Your level +4
Unique Enemies: Your level +5
This feature is intended to offer you deep end-game optimization opportunities by leveling your character to 97, ensuring enemies in terror zones are level 99 (cap). This is also a way to accelerate XP gain in end-game leveling where you receive diminishing returns from other sources that don’t scale with your level (i.e. Baal or Chaos runs). Terror zones are especially useful when they spawn in your usual or favorite farming locations, providing further incentive to farm the zone during the hour window.
Optimal Characters for Magic Finding:
Some character builds are more effective for magic finding than others. Here are a few popular choices:
The Sorceress is the most popular magic find character, especially at the start of ladders due to her mobility without Enigma from her teleport. The high availability of Sunder charms make her particularly strong due to her ability to stack very powerful single elemental damage. This coupled with an Infinity runeword mean sorcs can clear any area in the game quickly (one drawback is the sorc is somewhat fragile). Common builds include the Blizzard Sorceress, Lightning Sorceress, and Meteorb Sorceress (a combination of Fireball and Frozen Orb). Energy Shield variants also see frequent play in the current meta.
The Paladin is another excellent choice, with the Hammerdin build being the most popular for magic find. Blessed Hammer deals impressive damage, and the Paladin's auras provide additional survivability and utility. The Paladin is inherently tankier than other caster characters due to his Holy Shield and higher stat to life scaling.
Summonmancers (Necromancers that focus on summoning minions) can also be effective for magic finding. Their minions tank damage and deal with enemies, while the Necromancer focuses on casting curses and transitioning to corpse explosion. The Poisonmancer is also an effective magicfinder, able to stack up good MF % without sacrificing good clear speed. Poisonmancers are especially effect as hybrids, with summons to soak damage along with your merc.
The Javazon (a Lightning Fury-focused Amazon) and the Magic Find Bowazon (using the Faith runeword either on yourself or your merc) are both viable choices for magic finding, offering good damage output and crowd control abilities. The Javazon offers one of the fastest clear speeds in the game when coupled with an infinity merc. The difficulty with the Javazon is stacking enough MF gear. She is however, the most effective character in the game for farming bases as lower MF is preferred (to lessen the chance of bases being upgraded to magic, rare, unique or set items on drop).
Essential Magic Find ItemsThere are several items that boost Magic Find, making them indispensable for magic find runs. Here are some popular choices:
Equipping your mercenary with Magic Find gear also contributes to your overall Magic Find. Some items that are useful for mercenaries include:
To maximize your magic find success in D2R, focus on the following:
With your locations determined, your character leveled, and your gear carefully selected, you’ll be ready to magic find effectively. Accumulating significant in-game wealth takes time, so be patient and don’t be disheartened if you don’t succeed at first. Remember, no matter how high you stack your MF%, the chance for ultra rare D2R Items to drop is still minute, so be prepared to grind for what you want. Consistency will lead to success. Good luck out there!
Article From: D2R Magic Find Locations Guide
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