Crafted Items

Crafting in Diablo 2 is a mechanic that allows us to effectively create a rare item with additional guaranteed properties. These properties can often only be on an Item if it is crafted. To do this, we utilize the Horadric Cube which allows us to transmute specific combinations of items to create a Crafted Item. Crafted Items appear in an orange font. Some recipes can have results that are more powerful than Unique Items and can even have properties that Rare Items cannot achieve, such as up to +20% Faster Cast Rate on Amulets.

Mechanics

Any crafting recipe turns a Magic Item into a Crafted Item of the same item base with new properties. This is achieved by "consuming" the initial Base Item, a Perfect Gem, any kind of Jewel and a Rune. Only the right combination of Magic Item, Gem and Rune works to create a Crafted Item (Check out the crafting recipes below). The original Item won't keep any of its initial properties such as Affixes, Ethereal status, Staff mods, or Sockets.

Depending on the chosen recipe, the crafted item has some guaranteed Stats. In addition to these, the new item gets between 1 and 4 Affixes (Suffixes / Prefixes) which can stack with the crafted properties. As an example: a Caster Craft Amulet can get +10% Faster Cast Rate from the craft and +10% Faster Cast Rate as a Suffix, adding up to +20% Faster Cast Rate. These Affixes are chosen from the pool of Affixes for Rare or Magic items. The amount of Affixes is a %-Chance depending on the ilvl (Item Level) of the created item (which depends on the initial ilvl and your Character Level - see below). A Crafted Item can have a maximum of 3 Prefixes or 3 Suffixes, so you will always have at least 1 of each Affix on a maximum Affix roll.

Apart from the ilvl, we also need to know the alvl (Affix Level) the crafted item gets. The alvl determines the "Affix-pool" that is available for an item. Generally speaking, a higher alvl means more available Affixes.

Recipes

Calculations

To figure out how many Affixes we get and what those can be, we have to figure out the ilvl and the alvl. This requires us to go through some steps.
Some information that is important for the formulas:
ilvl = Item Level
alvl = Affix Level
qlvl = Quality Level
clvl = Character Level

Step 1) Determine the ilvl of the crafted item.
For this formula, we need to know the clvl and the ilvl of the Magic Item that is used to craft. Unfortunately, knowing the ilvl of the base item is not always possible, as there is no in-game tooltip to show what ilvl an item has.

ilvl = int(0.5 * clvl) + int(0.5 * ilvl)

Step 2) The ilvl is capped to 99, meaning if ilvl > 99 from the calculation in step 1, then the ilvl is set to 99:

ilvl = 99

Step 3) Compare qlvl with ilvl. If qlvl > ilvl then:

ilvl = qlvl

Step 4) Determine alvl

If ilvl < 99 - int(qlvl / 2) then
alvl = ilvl - int(qlvl / 2)
Otherwise
alvl = ilvl * 2 - 99

Practical Example

Let us use the practical example of Arreat Summit:
We are crafting with:
a Berserker Axe (qlvl = 86)
ilvl = 85
clvl = 78

First, we calculate the ilvl of the crafted item:

ilvl = int(0.5 * clvl) + int(0.5 * ilvl)
ilvl = int(0.5 * 78) + int(0.5 * 85)
ilvl = 39 + 42 = 81

Now we check if ilvl > than 99. 81 is smaller than 99 so the ilvl remains 81.

ilvl = 81

Now we check if the qlvl > ilvl. In this case 86 > 81, changing the ilvl to 86.

86 > 81
ilvl = 86

Finally, we determine the alvl:
First, we have to evaluate this formula to be true or false:

ilvl < 99 - int(qlvl / 2)
86 < 99 - int(86 / 2)
86 < 99 - 43
86 < 56 which is false

In this case, we use this formula to determine the alvl:

alvl = ilvl * 2 - 99
alvl = 86 * 2 - 99
alvl = 73

This means under the above-mentioned circumstances, this craft gets 4 Affixes which are limited to alvl 73, ruling out some Affixes as a possibility on the craft.

Summary

• Crafting Items is an interesting resource gamble with potentially powerful outcomes.
• The Horadric Cube must contain these items to create a craft:
  • Magic Item
  • Any type of Jewel
  • A Perfect Gem
  • Corresponding Rune
• The initial Item Level (ilvl), Quality Level (qlvl), and the Character Level (clvl) are VERY important for desired results!
• The ilvl of the Jewel, the Gem, and the Rune have no impact on the outcome.
• A wider range of more powerful Affixes are available through crafting.

Credits

Written by Teo1904
Reviewed by MacroBioBoi