Simple testing of offline Terror Zones

[WTFavabean]

"Finally, we may rejoice!" - Akara

 

Terror zones have finally come to offline mode! I have done some simple testing with my level 96 HC hammerdin to see the difference in exp gain. I have not made use of any exp boosting charms/items/shrines during my runs.

 

Offline Player 8 Chaos Sanctuary, normal zone

 

Normal monster such as Storm Caster, Oblivion Knight ~ 150 to 300 exp each

 

Super unique monster groups

The Infector of Souls group ~ 82932 exp

Lord De Seis group ~ 48377 exp

The Grand Vizier of Chaos group ~ 35885 exp

*There seemed to be some variation in the number of minions that spawned with them, leading to different exp gain.

 

Diablo = 90101 exp

Chaos Sanctuary Full Clear ~ 436,345 exp

 

Offline Player 8 Chaos Sanctuary, terror zone

 

Normal monster such as Storm Caster, Oblivion Knight ~ 3100 to 8300 exp

 

Super unique monster groups

The Infector of Souls group ~ 301356 exp

Lord De Seis group ~ 176251 exp

The Grand Vizier of Chaos group ~ 156222 exp

 

Diablo = 87373 exp

*I have tested 3 times with exact same results. Somehow terror zone reduced the exp gain of killing Diablo??

Chaos Sanctuary Full Clear ~ 1,161,688 exp

 

As you can see, the most important difference of terror zones is making it worthwhile to kill normal monsters even at high level. This will make the grind to 99 MUCH faster and IMO more enjoyable.

 

"That's some sweet exp! But I keep getting terrorized Maggot Lair!!"

 

Fear not! My fellow adventurers!

I noticed offline terror zones change every 1 hour according to the time of your PS5.

That means you can change the terrorized zones by changing your PS5 clock until you get the zone that you like!

I have not tested it on PS4 but it probably would work the same way.

 

Edit: Make sure auto sync of save files is turned off! Manipulation of system time can result in your most recent local save be regarded as an “older” save and be overwritten by your cloud save which has a “newer” time stamp.

After each gaming session, it might be a good idea to restore the system time and then create a new game, save & exit so as to give your save a real time stamp.

 

Hope this is helpful to my fellow grinders. We can finally play the game 'normally' instead of seal popping CS run 5000 times to level 99.

 

They say that the taste of this Platinum is bittersweet, but I find it to my liking. - Atma??

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by WTFavabean

[NathanielJohn]

I’m working on testing XP gains in other areas. The most important things now are monster density and how quickly you can kill them, since you get tons of XP even from regular enemies.

 

I don’t have hard numbers yet, but Stony Field works pretty well for me so far — it often has XP shrines, it has tons of enemies, they die quickly, and they pose much less of a threat than Chaos Sanctuary enemies. I (level 94) get anywhere from 1.2 to 1.6 million XP per run there.

 

Cathedral seems to work well though, but I’m not sure which is better. I think Cathedral terror zone is probably the best run in the game for gear now. Hell TZ Andy is super easy to farm and drops insane gear.

[ThatDrunkGuy]

I'm guessing the times would be global.

 

2/16/23 06:00 is Cathedral and Catacombs for farming Andy.

[WTFavabean]

5 hours ago, NathanielJohn said:

I’m working on testing XP gains in other areas. The most important things now are monster density and how quickly you can kill them, since you get tons of XP even from regular enemies.

 

I don’t have hard numbers yet, but Stony Field works pretty well for me so far — it often has XP shrines, it has tons of enemies, they die quickly, and they pose much less of a threat than Chaos Sanctuary enemies. I (level 94) get anywhere from 1.2 to 1.6 million XP per run there.

 

Cathedral seems to work well though, but I’m not sure which is better. I think Cathedral terror zone is probably the best run in the game for gear now. Hell TZ Andy is super easy to farm and drops insane gear.

Indeed, Act 1 zones will likely become the best places to grind since all normal monsters are level 96 now. Monsters in Act 4 and 5 are much more deadly.

 

1 hour ago, ThatDrunkGuy said:

I'm guessing the times would be global.

 

2/16/23 06:00 is Cathedral and Catacombs for farming Andy.

There are more than 24 terror zone combinations so the time for a specific terror zone will be different for each day.
I have done some more testing and the rotation of terror zones does not seem to follow a fixed list. For example:

 

Day 1

10:00 Chaos Sanctuary

11:00 Tristram

12:00 Worldstone Keep, Throne of Destruction

 

Day 2

16:00 Chaos Sanctuary

17:00 Black Marsh, The Hole

18:00 Stony Field

 

Within the same day, the terror zone will stay the same for that particular hour. You can change back and forth. On the next day the list seems to change.

So if you want to grind a certain terror zone over and over, it seems you will need to change to that specific day and time.

[ThatDrunkGuy]

My Hammerdin(level 90) isn't really geared up, everything is pretty conservative so I'm safe and don't have to switch auras or pop a lot of potions. (Prayer merc with Insight, Fortitude, and Cure)

 

Inner Cloister to Andy, killing everything is roughly 10 minutes at 15 million xp.

[Property_Damage]

I went from 97.5 to 98 and collected every sunder charm, a few high runes and even giant skull bone visage dropped from terrorized diablo, i called it quits for the night hitting 98.  Went to my trophies to check my lvl 99 tracker and it was still at 97/99

so i connected to the internet and loaded the game to sync with the servers and my character was back at 97 and change and my collected goodies were gone

fun

my ps5 trophies says 98/99 but my profile here still reads 97/99

Edited February 16, 2023 by Property_Damage

[AvariceInc]

55 minutes ago, Property_Damage said:

I went from 97.5 to 98 and collected every sunder charm, a few high runes and even giant skull bone visage dropped from terrorized diablo, i called it quits for the night hitting 98.  Went to my trophies to check my lvl 99 tracker and it was still at 97/99

so i connected to the internet and loaded the game to sync with the servers and my character was back at 97 and change and my collected goodies were gone

fun

my ps5 trophies says 98/99 but my profile here still reads 97/99

 

Yeah the tracker on this site doesn't really matter since it only updates when you earn a trophy and your last one was 5 days ago so that's why but should the "offline" character only be played while connected to internet or is your progress totally gone? o.O

[NathanielJohn]

1 hour ago, Property_Damage said:

I went from 97.5 to 98 and collected every sunder charm, a few high runes and even giant skull bone visage dropped from terrorized diablo, i called it quits for the night hitting 98.  Went to my trophies to check my lvl 99 tracker and it was still at 97/99

so i connected to the internet and loaded the game to sync with the servers and my character was back at 97 and change and my collected goodies were gone

fun

 

That's kinda terrifying... could it be related to save file auto-sync and changing the system time? Like if you change the system time to the future to get a terror zone you want, your save file is going to have that future time. Then it auto-uploads. Then if you move the time back to the correct time and do some more stuff, then when the PS5 auto-syncs next it might download the "more current" save file from online?

[Property_Damage]

Ahh fuck i didnt think of that, i was manipulating the date and time offline to a future time for the chaos sanctuary tz, then when i did my sync to online it must have reverted back

i only lost about 3 bars worth of xp, which is still substantial at the end of 97, 2os giant skull, a vex rune, cold sunder, poison sunder

[WTFavabean]

15 hours ago, NathanielJohn said:

 

That's kinda terrifying... could it be related to save file auto-sync and changing the system time? Like if you change the system time to the future to get a terror zone you want, your save file is going to have that future time. Then it auto-uploads. Then if you move the time back to the correct time and do some more stuff, then when the PS5 auto-syncs next it might download the "more current" save file from online?

Ahhh.. This is the most likely reason. I have always uploaded my saves manually so I did not encounter such problem. I will put in a warning regarding system time manipulation in the original post just in case.

Edited February 17, 2023 by WTFavabean

[Lightsp33d1987]

Anyone recommend best areas to have Terror Zones?

[Sunny]

Are these terror zones a permanent addition or they are just for a specific time?

[Property_Damage]

11 minutes ago, Lightsp33d1987 said:

Anyone recommend best areas to have Terror Zones?

Depends on your build

your level, your gear

as a high end hammerdin chaos sanctuary is the most ideal, no immunes, can clear on players 8, multiple champion and elite boss packs, etc etc

 

baals throne room because lister the tormentor has the highest xp a single monster can give, plus all the waves of champions, elites and their minions

 

elites and champions are going to give you 500x xp before the terror zones, with terror zones they multiply by atleast 10, so places that have lots of elites and champions are your best areas

3 minutes ago, Sunnyburrito said:

Are these terror zones a permanent addition or they are just for a specific time?

Permanent 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Property_Damage

[Property_Damage]

Fuck..So i Finally figured it all out, i just wish it didnt cost me one third of a level, a shitty roll (but still ultra rare) 1os crown of ages, a 2os giant skull (2 of the 3 rarest unique helms mind you, the 3rd being griffons eye) 3 sunder charms and a couple high runes like a sur and cham, oh and now a perfect defense shako, fml..but I digress

 

- so you have to sign into the internet inorder to turn off auto sync, so do that

- Now disconnect from the internet

- load up D2R
- go to your ps5 settings and manipulate the time and date you need for whatever TZ you seek

- play the game til your hearts content and save and exit when youre done playing..now read the parentheses beneath!

 

(when playing with manipulated time, your  save file on your console wont update until you readjust the time to a later date, meaning if your previous D2R save file has a date of 02/20/2023 at 12:58pm, you would have to manipulate your T/D to atleast 02/20/2023 at 12:59pm inorder for your current save file to update, so if you’ve been rerolling that date for example of 12pm and you leave off at 12:30pm, your save file wont be updated, it’ll still be left off at your previous save file of 12:58pm..so re-adjust your time as needed like mentioned above inorder for your save file to update, play D2R, save and exit, now your save file has a new updated time)

- exit D2R

- now reconnect to the internet again

- upload your newly updated and current diablo save file to the cloud 

- now youre free to re-adjust to the correct date and time and your progress will be saved

 

When playing offline and manipluting your date / time, make sure you end your gaming session with a time and date later than your previous save file shows

edit; by turning off auto sync and following these steps also insures you that if you happen to die on your journey, you can always redownload your last upload from the cloud back to your console, bringing your character back to life!

 

hope this helps!

Edited February 21, 2023 by Property_Damage

[ThatDrunkGuy]

4 hours ago, Lightsp33d1987 said:

Anyone recommend best areas to have Terror Zones?

https://maxroll.gg/d2/tierlists/terror-zone-tier-list

 

I like Cathedral/Catacombs, many elite packs and nothing dangerous. I haven't timed another zone yet, but if I do I'll post here. 15 million xp every 15 minutes sounds fine to me.

1 hour ago, Property_Damage said:

turn off auto sync

Bummer dude...yeah I don't like auto sync on the ps5...it can railroad you.

[post_exodus]

3 hours ago, Property_Damage said:

Fuck..So i think i figured it out, i just wish it didnt cost me one third of a level, a shitty roll (but still ultra rare) 1os crown of ages, a 2os giant skull (2 of the 3 rarest unique helms mind you, the 3rd being griffons eye) 3 sunder charms and a couple high runes..but I digress 

- so you have to sign into the internet inorder to turn off auto sync, so do that

- Now disconnect from the internet

- load up D2R
- go to your ps5 settings and manipulate the time and date you need for whatever TZ you seek

- play the game til your hearts content and save and exit, start a new game and just save and exit again to be sure your save file updates, close the game app

- check your save file time stamp in your settings to make sure it has a manipulated time/date

- now reconnect to the internet again

- upload your diablo save file to the cloud with your manipulated time/date and youre all set

- now youre free to re-adjust to the correct date and time and your progress should be saved

 

When playing offline and manipluting your date / time, do these steps everytime inorder your progress saves or else if you re-adjust your clock without doing so, your progress will revert back like mine did several times

edit; by turning off auto sync and following these steps also insures you that if you happen to die on your journey, you can always redownload your last upload from the cloud back to your console, bringing your character back to life!

Can you explain why you say you should update a save with manipulated time to the cloud?(step 8 in your instruction?

Isn't it safer to play offline, then change your time back to the correct one, then go online and upload the save file?  

[Property_Damage]

4 hours ago, post_exodus said:

Can you explain why you say you should update a save with manipulated time to the cloud?(step 8 in your instruction?

Isn't it safer to play offline, then change your time back to the correct one, then go online and upload the save file?  

I was playing around with it at like 2am after a 12hour work shift lol

its kinda hard to explain atleast for me anyways

all i can say is play around with it and see for yourself, maybe your way works

Idk

this is all still pretty new

[NaruHina_FTW]

I figure I'll throw my bit of data into this thread

I'll preface by saying I'm playing a bonemancer, so if you're a hammerdin or sorc you'll probably have better gains than me, but this is the class I picked and I'm sticking to it.

Level 93
Pit: (2/17/2023 around 1 AM GMT to 2 AM GMT)

First run clearing all trash and with a bit of extra XP from a shrine, lost before it ended due to an unlucky curse mob, 2.3m exp in around 5 minutes
Second run focusing only unique packs and champions, around 1.5m in 3 minutes
Third run focusing only unique and champions, with a partial xp shrine, 2m in around 3 minutes

Cold Plains and Cave: (2/17/2023 4 PM GMT - 5PM GMT)
First run, no XP shrine, around 4m exp in 6 or 7 minutes, only focusing uniques and champions
Second run, full length xp shrine, 5.5m exp in 7 1/2 minutes, a bit slow because my merc died

Edited February 17, 2023 by NaruHina_FTW

[NathanielJohn]

I got a Cold Plains map that has Bishibosh immediately to the left of the waypoint 100% of the time, and has either 1, 2, or 3 strong mobs (either unique or champion groups) immediately to the right of the waypoint most of the time (I'd guess an average of 1.5 strong mob groups).

 

I can reload, go to Cold Plains, and kill all of those strong groups and most of their minions in about 40 seconds, getting me an average of about 4 million XP in 5 minutes (I am level 94). This works out to the following amount of time to level up (taking into account the fact that my XP gains will drop as I level up higher):

 

Level 94 - 95: 7 hours

Level 95 - 96: 10 hours

Level 96 - 97: 15 hours

Level 97 - 98: 22 hours

Level 98 - 99: 30 hours

 

I might get bored and try another location/method before I get through the whole grind, but for now I'm happy with those numbers. 50 hours for level 97 - 99 is a hell of a lot better than the pre-TZ 200 hours.

 

Edit: After a bit more testing (I am level 97.2 now), the level up times in Cold Plains are more like:

 

Level 94 - 95: 6 hours

Level 95 - 96: 7 hours

Level 96 - 97: 10 hours

Level 97 - 98: 15 hours

Level 98 - 99: 20 hours

Edited March 3, 2023 by NathanielJohn

[Property_Damage]

For me with 10% xp anni small charm 97 - 98 is about a 10-12hour grind with terror zones

as i went from 97.5 to 98 in roughly 5.5hours time

im guessing 98-99 will be about 20ish hours

but i gota play something else for the time being, D2R platinum needs to be my next milestone, not just my next plat

[mastman429]

The fast one of TZ might be Chaos Sanctuary， with a unique small charm +10% exp，1.4m exp in 2min. it would take about 10+ hours from 98 to 99.

Its hell faster than the 2.6 patch before, which takes more than 300 hours from 96 to 99.

Edited February 20, 2023 by mastman429

[Property_Damage]

23 hours ago, mastman429 said:

The fast one of TZ might be Chaos Sanctuary， with a unique small charm +10% exp，1.4m exp in 2min. it would take about 10+ hours from 98 to 99.

Its hell faster than the 2.6 patch before, which takes more than 300 hours from 96 to 99.

Idk man, i still guess-timate a solid 20hours from 98 to 99

i mean, in 1 terror zone session (1hour of runs) of players 8 chaos i got half a bar of xp (on level 98)

times that half a bar by 20 to fill the full 10 bars and well..20hours

and yes i have the above mentioned small charm, sometimes you get lucky and can even get a xp shrine in there too which could speed it up (a little)

 

side note; i updated my step by step follow-through with the time manipulation and save file segment which basically coincides with the original posters instruction

[mastman429]

16 minutes ago, Property_Damage said:

Idk man, i still guess-timate a solid 20hours from 98 to 99

i mean, in 1 terror zone session (1hour of runs) of players 8 chaos i got half a bar of xp (on level 98)

times that half a bar by 20 to fill the full 10 bars and well..20hours

and yes i have the above mentioned small charm, sometimes you get lucky and can even get a xp shrine in there too which could speed it up (a little)

 

side note; i updated my step by step follow-through with the time manipulation and save file segment which basically coincides with the original posters instruction

Thank you for your reply. For my paladin, under the condition of 8pp+10% exp, only killing elite teams（including their valets） can upgrade from 98 to 99 in about 10 to 12 hours. Because I set the system time every hour, my experience will increase by one-tenth when I set the system time, so I will say it will take about 10 hours. Anyway, thank you for your reply. My time is only a reference, or maybe the efficiency of killing monsters is different?

[roohq]

Sounds like potential for a major disaster with this time and date manipulation if you're careless or don't know what you're doing. Be careful people, and back up your saves.

That being said, I must pat myself on the back a little and say that I'm real glad now that I got my level 99 before this nonsense. Don't get me wrong, I like the nonsense when thinking future playthroughs, but it does dim the shine of these trophies quite a bit. Good news for those who waited though.

[mastman429]

6 minutes ago, roohq said:

Sounds like potential for a major disaster with this time and date manipulation if you're careless or don't know what you're doing. Be careful people, and back up your saves.

That being said, I must pat myself on the back a little and say that I'm real glad now that I got my level 99 before this nonsense. Don't get me wrong, I like the nonsense when thinking future playthroughs, but it does dim the shine of these trophies quite a bit. Good news for those who waited though.

Especially when you exit the game, you should be careful. It's better to wait a little longer in the main interface to fully save the game. I lost 5 hours of upgrade progress because there is no good save strategy for the game.

Edited February 21, 2023 by mastman429