How do players quickly get to Mephisto?

Question

In Diablo 2, Mephisto runs were the quickest way to farm item drops in the game. How do players run them so quickly? Were there set map layouts that players could recognize and know where the next set of stairs down are placed?

Asked by Sorean

Answer

Legitimately fast Mephisto runs are the result of a few things:

1. The Teleport skill. This is either a skill that a Sorceress will level up in her skill tree, or a skill gained by an item such as Enigma runeword armor.
2. Faster Cast Rate. A player with multiple items giving Faster Cast Rate can cast Teleport very quickly, and as a result, cover more ground quicker while searching for the next level. Items like Wizardspike give this benefit. Here is one of many charts which you can find online to show you where you gain the most benefits from Faster Cast Rate, with an explanation here.
3. Searching clockwise. Depending on who you ask, you either search the map clockwise or counterclockwise. These maps are generated randomly, so learning a few map layouts will not help you. I loaded up the game and did one quick search on Hell difficulty, traveling clockwise, hugging the wall(s):
4. A bit of an exploit. Characters like Sorceresses will often use this trick to kill Mephisto easily and quickly. It involves luring him to one of the moats of blood just South of him, the player getting to the other side of the moat, and killing Mephisto from a location which he cannot get to or attack.
   A player such as a paladin with Enigma runeword armor who teleported to Mephisto can easily stand beside him and kill him, and will never have to use this exploit.

And that is about it for how to find Mephisto as quickly as possible using legitimate means... You just have to manually search each map.

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Now... The more likely scenario for people completing Mephisto runs quickly is that they are running a hack (cheat) program that will help them or do it for them. There are two ways for this to be implemented by perhaps unsavory players:

NOTE THAT THESE METHODS ARE AGAINST THE TERMS OF AGREEMENT AND CAN RESULT IN YOUR CD KEY BEING PERMANENTLY BANNED FROM DIABLO II'S ONLINE SERVICES IF DETECTED

1. There are maphacks which reveal the entire map, meaning that a player will know exactly where to go the moment they enter the level. These are still in heavy use as of 2012.
2. There are bots which players can run. Bots can automatically control a player's character, navigating them to a boss/ monster and killing it for them. These are usually set up to even create new games and continually repeat this process. These are also still in heavy use as of 2012.

Answered by Lemmings19

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