Magic find

Magic Find, or MF, was a very popular magical property found on many types of items in Diablo 3 vanilla, where a high value of MF (300% or more) was all-but required to regularly find legendary items. This is no longer the case since all legendary drop rates were greatly increased and Magic Find was reduced in effect in Loot 2.0 as seen in D3v2 and Reaper of Souls. Now Magic Find dos not exist as a random affix, and only a few items can still spawn with inherent bonuses to Magic Find.

On top of that, the property is of little use since it was nerfed in function. In Loot 2.0 only 10% of a character's Magic Find counts towards legendary item drops, and with overall legendary drop rates so much higher than in the past, few players still bother with Magic Find gear, finding that they gain bigger benefits to their loot finding by moving up to a higher difficulty level and/or killing more quickly, than they do from Magic Find gear.

Gold Find

• See the Gold Find article for more details.

Gold Find (or GF) was a fairly unimportant property in Diablo 3 vanilla. It became more sought in D3v2 and Reaper of Souls once the Auction House was gone and players had to find all their own gold, and thanks to gem upgrading and enchanting working as real gold sinks.

Patch 2.0.5 ushered in the real age of Gold Find, as Blizzard changed that property to make it multiplied by (rather than merely added to) the difficulty level gold find increase. Thus a character with 100% Gold Find playing on Torment 1 (+300% Gold/EXP) would have had 400% Gold Find in Patch 2.0.4, vs. 600% in Patch 2.0.5. The multiplied value increases much more with higher levels of Torment, and players with good Gold Find soon found their gold income increasing dramatically.

A character with 200% Gold Find playing on Normal gets 200% gold find. On Master he'd get 600%, on Torment 4 he'd get 800% x 3 = 2400% gold find, and that same character on Torment 6 would pull an amazing 4800% gold find. Characters with high gold find levels who play higher levels of Torment routinely find 50,000k stacks, and can pick up millions of gold per game.

The difficulty level increases are listed below, with the gold find stats bolded.

• Normal: 100% Health, 100% Damage, 0% extra gold bonus, 0% extra XP bonus
• Hard: 200% Health, 130% Damage, 75% extra gold bonus, 75% extra XP bonus
• Expert: 320% Health, 189% Damage, 100% extra gold bonus, 100% extra XP bonus
• Master: 512% Health, 273% Damage, 200% extra gold bonus, 200% extra XP bonus
• Torment I: 819% Health, 396% Damage, 300% extra gold bonus, 300% extra XP bonus
• Torment II: 1311% Health, 575% Damage, 400% extra gold bonus, 400% extra XP bonus
• Torment III: 2097% Health, 833% Damage, 550% extra gold bonus, 550% extra XP bonus
• Torment IV: 3355% Health, 1208% Damage, 800% extra gold bonus, 800% extra XP bonus
• Torment V: 5369% Health, 1752% Damage, 1150% extra gold bonus, 1150% extra XP bonus
• Torment VI: 8590% Health, 2540% Damage, 1600% extra gold bonus, 1600% extra XP bonus

Gold Find can occur as a random secondary affix in almost every item slot, and can also be boosted by Paragon Points.

Magic Find in Diablo 3

[[File:Mf-returns1.jpg|right|thumb|300px| Magic Find was hugely important in the early days of Diablo 3 vanilla. There it did as it had in Diablo 2; boosting the chances that an item dropped by a monster, chest, or other object would be "higher quality," i.e. more likely to be legendary, or at least Rare. In D3v, Magic Find (and Gold Find) were hard capped at 300% from gear and paragon bonuses, but higher values could be achieved with difficulty level (Monster Power) bonuses, Fortune Shrines, and multiplayer bonuses (10% for each additional character in the game.)

Diablo 3's item drop tables have never been disclosed by Blizzard, but in Diablo 3 most players felt that until their character had at least 300% Magic Find, the legendary item finds were few and far between. The chart to the right is not meant to be scientific -- it's a humorous representation of the anecdotal experience of most players -- but it has a definite "truthiness" that most experienced players in D3v would have vouched for.

This is no longer the case and in Reaper of Souls and Diablo 3 version 2, Magic Find is of minimal benefit. It's seen only on a few items, can not appear as a random secondary affix (the way Gold Find does), and the game only applies 10% of of a character's Magic Find to boosting Legendary item drop rates. (It's not known how this 10% is applied, by addition or multiplication.)

In any event, most testers feel that Magic Find is basically irrelevant compared to the huge boosts in legendary drop rate that are earned by playing on higher difficulty levels, as seen below.

Legendary Drop Rates: Patch 2.0.4

• Normal: 0% Legendary drop bonus, 25% bonus in Nephalem Rifts.
• Hard: 0% Legendary drop bonus, 25% bonus in Nephalem Rifts.
• Expert: 0% Legendary drop bonus, 25% bonus in Nephalem Rifts.
• Master: 0% Legendary drop bonus, 25% bonus in Nephalem Rifts.
• Torment 1: +15% Legendary drop bonus, +44% bonus in Nephalem Rifts.
• Torment 2: +32% Legendary drop bonus, +65% bonus in Nephalem Rifts.
• Torment 3: +52% Legendary drop bonus, +90% bonus in Nephalem Rifts.
• Torment 4: +75% Legendary drop bonus, +119% bonus in Nephalem Rifts.
• Torment 5: +101% Legendary drop bonus, +151% bonus in Nephalem Rifts.
• Torment 6: +131% Legendary drop bonus, +189% bonus in Nephalem Rifts.

Blizzard "doubled" these drop rates for the week-long Diablo 3 Second Anniversary community event, then bowed to popular pressure to make that doubled rate permanent.

Blizzard has never shared the base drop rate numbers or the updated figures, so it's not known if the numbers above should be literally doubled, or if the odds are more subtle in their application. However that works, the figures are all approximate, since everyone experiences a somewhat different drop rate, which spawns endless RNG conspiracy theory discussions.

There have been many changes to Magic Find and the related item-hunting issues since Diablo III's release, and further changes are likely as the developers attempt to balance this property against player desires for good item finds and a greater need for a stable, balanced, and functional economy.

• Diablo 2 introduced Magic Find as a property, though it functioned much differently in that game than in Diablo III.
  • Refer to the Magic Find article in the Diablo II wiki for full details.

Contents

Diablo 3 Magic Find Archive

The below info applies to Diablo 3 vanilla. It is not accurate for Loot 2.0 and is preserved for archival value.

Magic Find in Diablo III

Magic Find increases the odds for found items (from monsters or objects) to be "higher quality". In descending order, higher quality items are legendary or set, rare, or magical. If a rare item drops, Magic Find increases the chances for it to spawn with more modifiers, giving it a better chance at higher stats. Thus the items found, with the least common (and thus highest quality) listed first:[9]

• Legendary or Set item.
• Rare item with 6 properties.
• Rare item with 5 properties.
• Rare item with 4 properties.
• Rare item with 3 properties.
• Rare item with 2 properties.
• Rare item with 1 property.
• Magical item.

Using the above example, when your roll ‘misses’ a higher-level item quality, the item generator proceeds to the next lowest item quality in the chain (in this case, checking to see if you got a 6-affix rare, then checking for a 5-affix rare, and so on). Your magic find bonus applies to each roll. If the same monster has a 10% chance to drop a 5-affix rare item and you have 50% magic find, you now have a 15% chance to get a 5-affix rare item.

Magic find does not boost the item level of an item drop; that is determined by various other factors, chiefly the monsters' level. (Mlvl is determined by factors including the area it spawns in, monster's type, whether it's a boss or a normal monster, the difficulty level, the Act, and your Monster Power setting.)

Maximum Magic Find

Monster Power bonuses on Inferno difficulty.

The highest possible Magic Find value has changed several times since Diablo 3's launch. Initially there was no maximum cap; players could benefit from as much Magic Find as they could achieve with equipment, and figures over 400% were possible with very good gear.

Beginning with the v1.04 patch, the maximum possible magic find from equipment (on your character + follower) was capped at 300%, plus another 75% from 5 stacks of Nephalem Valor, for a grant total of 375% Magic Find.

Patch v1.05 introduced the Monster Power system which enabled players to set a custom difficulty. Each higher level of Monster Power increases the maximum possible Magic Find by 25%, thus players on MP1 max out at 400% (325% + 75% from 5 stacks), MP5 is worth up to 500%, and MP10 returns a maximum possible value of 625% Magic Find (and Gold Find).

Additional Magic and Gold Find Bonuses

As of v1.04, these are the highest possible magic find on Magical and Rare items, with added info for the few slots that a Legendary or Set has a higher value.

• Patch 1.0.7: Marquise level of gems added. The Marquise Topaz grants 2% more possible MF from a helm socket, though the maximum MF value was unchanged.)

Item	Magic Find	Gold Find
Amulets	45%	50%
Rings	20% (30% Nagelring, or 55% for both rings from the Legacy of Wicked Dreams set)	25% (65% for both from the Legacy of Wicked Dreams set)
Helms*	20% + 33% (socket)	25% + 33% (socket)
Chest	20%	25% (100% from Goldskin)
Shoulders	20%	25%
Belts	20%	25%
Bracers	20%	25%
Gloves	20%	25%
Pants	20%	25%
Boots	20%	25%
Shield/Offhand	20%	25%
Weapons**	45% (Legendary only)	50% (Legendary only)

• * Helms can have 1 socket which can yield up to 33% Magic Find or Gold Find from a Marquise gem.
• ** MF/GF affixes do not appear on weapons, but some legendary/set weapons feature Magic Find bonuses. See below.

Weapons with Magic or Gold Find

No Magical or Rare weapons can gain Magic Find. (Wirt's Original Leg is an odd partial exception.) A number of Set and Legendary items do have Magic and/or Gold Find though, and they are all listed below, by ascending Item Level. Most can be equipped on a Follower, for the standard 1/5th shared MF/GF bonus.

• db Wirt's Original Leg (ilvl 22) has 6-10% Magic Find and 5-10% Gold Find.
• db The Executioner legendary ilvl 19 two-handed axe has 11-15% Magic Find. Barbarian, Monk, Witch Doctor, Wizard, and Enchantress only.
• db The Broken Staff legendary ilvl 48 two-handed staff has 16-20% Magic Find. Monk, Witch Doctor, Wizard, and Enchantress only.
• db The Sultan of Blinding Sand, ilvl 59 two-handed sword grants 26-30% Gold Find. Barbarian, Wizard, Witch Doctor, Monk, and Enchantress only.
• db Blade of Prophecy, two-handed ilvl 56 Legendary sword grants 31-35% bonus to Magic Find and Gold Find. Barbarian, Wizard, Witch Doctor, Monk, and Enchantress only.
• db The Gidbinn, ilvl 61 legendary Ceremonial Knife, has 31-35% Magic Find. Witch Doctor only.
• db Sun Keeper legendary ilvl 63 mace has 41-45% Magic Find. This can be equipped by all five classes, as well as by the Templar or the Enchantress.
• db The Grand Vizier two-handed ilvl 63 Legendary staff provides 41-45% Magic Find and 41-50% Gold Find. Wizard, Witch Doctor, Monk, and Enchantress only.

Legacy Legendary Weapons

Legacy items: A number of Set and Legendary items had Magic Find prior to v1.03, when their stats were reworked and the MF/GF was removed. These items are still functional, but can only be obtained via trading or the Auction House, since they no longer drop with their old Magic Find boosting stats. (Several of the above weapons had Magic and Gold find in their Legacy forms, but the new versions have higher values of those affixes.)

• db Manajuna's Carving Knife (Legacy), had 31-35% Magic Find. Witch Doctor only.
• db Won Khim Lau (Legacy) ilvl 61 Legendary Fist had 11-15% Magic Find. Monk only.
• db The Three Hundredth Spear, (Legacy) version, had 21-25% Magic Find.

Legendary Armor with Magic or Gold Find

Legendary items will not roll Magic Find or Gold Find as random mods if they have those as inherent mods. (Though an item with MF can roll GF randomly, and vice versa.) Item Set bonuses are not limited in this way; for instance an item in a set that grants Magic Find can roll Magic Find as a random mod, providing that item does not have Magic Find as an inherent property.

Not all Legendary items have random mods; Goldskin for instance does not have any, so the 100% Gold Find bonus is all it can have; no Magic Find is possible.

Many legendary items listed are well below level 60, and thus can not roll with the largest random affixes. For instance, Aquila Cuirass is level 18, and can thus only roll up to 10% Gold Find as a random mod.

Legendary Amulets with Magic or Gold Find

Magical and Rare amulets can spawn with up to 40% Magic Find and 50% Gold Find.

• db Squirt's Necklace level 27 Legendary amulet grants 11-15% Gold Find and 11-15% Magic Find.
• db Xephirian Amulet level 62 Legendary amulet grants 36-40% Gold Find and 36-40% Magic Find.
• db The Traveler's Pledge level 62 Set amulet grants 36-40% Magic Find. (The Compass Rose ring in the same set grants 17-18% Magic Find.)

Legendary Rings with Magic or Gold Find

Magical and Rare rings can spawn with up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find.

• db Stolen Ring level 24 legendary ring grants 9-10% Gold Find and 7-8% Magic Find.
• db Nagelring level 26 legendary ring grants 20-30% Magic Find.
• db Oculus Ring level 62 legendary ring grants 17-18% Magic Find.
• db The Compass Rose level 62 set ring grants 17-18% Magic Find. (The Traveler's Pledge in the same set grants 36-40% Magic Find.)

(Neither of the two rings in the Legacy of Wicked Dreams set has MF or GF in their inherent properties, but wearing them both grants 15% to MF and 15% to GF. Each can theoretically roll with 20MF/25GF from random affixes, giving a total of 55% MF and 65% GF, for the second largest potential Magic Find and largest Gold Find from any 2 rings.)

Legendary Helms with Magic or Gold Find

Magical and Rare helms can occur with up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find. Up to 33% to MF or GF can be added by socketing a Marquise Topaz or Emerald, making the head the largest possible item slot in terms of MF/GF bonus. Despite the large potential bonus from the socket, most players prefer to socket a Ruby for the +%experience gain, thus accelerating their passive MF/GF bonus from higher Paragon levels.

• db The Swami ilvl 41 Legendary helm grants 11-12% Gold Find.
• db Aughild's Peak ilvl 43 crafted set helm grants 10-11% Magic Find.
• db Sage's Orbit ilvl 62 crafted set helm grants 17-18% Magic Find.

Legendary Chests with Magic or Gold Find

Magical and Rare chests can spawn with up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find.

• db Aquila Cuirass level 18 Legendary chest armor grants 7-8% Magic Find.
• db Goldskin level 52 Legendary chest armor grants 100% Gold Find.
• db Asheara's Guard ilvl 53 Legendary shoulders grant 13-14% Gold Find.
• db Robes of the Rydaelm level 61 crafted Legendary chest armor grants 15-16% Magic Find.

Legendary Shoulders with Magic or Gold Find

Magical and Rare shoulders can spawn with up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find.

• db Barter Town Pads level 43 Legendary shoulders grant 11-12% Gold Find.

Legendary Bracers with Magic or Gold Find

Magical and Rare bracers grant up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find.

• db Promise of Glory level 60 Legendary bracers 13-14% Magic Find and 15-16% Gold Find.

Legendary Gloves with Magic or Gold Find

Magical and Rare gloves can spawn with up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find.

• db Asheara's Clasp level 53 crafted Set gloves grant 11-12% Magic Find.

Legendary Belts with Magic or Gold Find

Magical and Rare belt can spawn with up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find.

• db Goldwrap level 35 Legendary belt grants 11-12% Gold Find and 9-10% Magic Find.
• db Blackthorn's Notched Belt level 63 Set belt grants 21-25% Gold Find.

Legendary Pants with Magic or Gold Find

Magical and Rare pants can spawn with up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find.

• db Cain's Robes level 25 crafted Set pants grant 7-8% Magic Find. (Wearing three or more items from the set grants another 10% Magic Find.)
• db Hammer Jammers level 43 Legendary pants grant 10-11% Gold Find.
• db Gehenna's level 61 crafted Legendary pants 15-16% Magic Find.
• db Depth Diggers level 63 Legendary pants grant 21-25% Gold Find and 19-20% Magic Find.
• db Blackthorne's Jousting Mail level 63 Set pants grant 19-20% Magic Find.

Legendary Boots with Magic or Gold Find

Magical and Rare boots can spawn with up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find.

• db Lut Socks level 21 Legendary boots grant 8-9% Magic Find.

Legendary Shields with Magic or Gold Find

There are no legendary shields with any Magic Find or Gold Find bonuses. Magical and Rare shields can spawn with up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find, and those bonuses may appear on Legendary shields if they hit in the random bonus property.

Legendary Mojos with Magic or Gold Find

There are no legendary mojos with any Magic Find or Gold Find bonuses. Magical and Rare mojos can spawn with up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find, and those bonuses may appear on Legendary mojos if they hit in the random bonus property.

Legendary Orbs with Magic or Gold Find

There are no legendary orbs with any Magic Find or Gold Find bonuses. Magical and Rare mojos can spawn with up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find, and those bonuses may appear on Legendary orbs if they hit in the random bonus property.

Legendary Quivers with Magic or Gold Find

Magical and Rare can spawn with up to 20% Magic Find and 25% Gold Find. Random affixes can add to the inherent MF or GF on this Legendary item, resulting in a larger total than otherwise possible.

• db Silver Star Piercers level 33 Legendary quiver has 9-10% Magic Find.

Set Bonuses Granting Magic Find and Gold Find

A number of item sets grant a partial or full set bonus to Magic Find and/or Gold Find. This is added on top of any other bonuses, including those to Magic or Gold Find from individual items in the set.

• db Blackthorne's Regalia grants 15% bonus to Magic Find and Gold Find with any 4 of the 5 items equipped.

• db Cain's Fate grants 10% to Magic Find when wearing 3 of the 4 items.

• db Legacy of Wicked Dreams has two rings, neither of which have any MF or GF in their inherent properties, but both can roll up to 20/25 MF/GF randomly, and wearing both rings grants a 15MF/15GF set bonus, for a potential bonus of up to 55MF/65GF.

Magic Find Hard Cap

Until v1.03, there was no maximum cap on Magic Find and players could reach 445% from equipment. Post v1.04, Magic Find and Gold Find are capped at 300% from equipment. The Fortune Shrine bonus will not exceed 300%. Nephalem Valor stacks and Monster Power bonuses add on top of this 300% though, with a maximum of 75% from 5 stacks and 250% from MP10 on Inferno. The maximum possible Magic/Gold Find is thus 625% in Inferno, and 475% on Normal/Nightmare/Hell.

• The Fortune shrine grants a 25% Magic Find and Gold Find bonus for 120 seconds. (This bonus is included with the equipment base of 300%, thus a Fortune Shrine will provide no benefit to a character already at the maximum 300%.)

• Each Paragon Level adds a passive 3% bonus to Magic Find and Gold Find. This means that players move steadily towards the maximum MF/GF cap with each Paragon level, until at the maximum level 100 no MF bonuses from equipment are required to reap the maximum MF/GF.

• Each stack of Nephalem Valor adds 15% Magic and Gold find, up to a total bonus of 75% to MF/GF with the maximum at 5 stacks. This bonus is not affected by the maximum MF cap, and can be used to exceed 300%, up to a maximum of 375%.

Magic and Gold Find Maximums

Though MF and GF are hard capped at 300% in v1.04 and later, it's fun to calculate the maximum possible Magic Find and Gold Find.

Maximum Character Magic Find

The most possible, as of v1.06.

• 45% Amulet (Rare)
• 55% Ring (Legacy of the Wicked Dreams set bonus)
• 51% Helm (20% + 33% Marquise Topaz in socket)
• 20% Shoulders (Rare)
• 20% Chest (Rare)
• 20% Belt (Rare)
• 20% Boots (Rare)
• 20% Bracers (Rare)
• 20% Gloves (Rare)
• 20% Pants (Rare)
• 20% Shield/Quiver/Orb/Mojo
• 45% Weapon (Sun Keeper. WD can consider The Gidbinn at 31-35%.)

_______________________ = 356% total Magic Find for all classes.

Maximum Follower Magic Find

Your Followers's Magic Find or Gold Find benefits you at 1/5 of the total,[10] so 100% on your Follower gives you just 20% of their total. The most possible, as of v1.06.

• 45% Rare Amulet
• 30% Nagelring
• 20% Rare Ring (Remember, no set bonuses on Followers.)
• 45% Weapon (Sun Keeper)
• 20% Rare Shield (Templar only)
• 0% from Follower-specific items.

_________________ = 160% Magic Find for the Templar

• The Enchantress comes in just behind at 140% with The Grand Vizier as her weapon (two-handed staff with 41-45% Magic Find.
• The Scoundrel is last with 95% Magic Find, all from the jewelry as there are no crossbows with Magic Find.

Maximum Character Gold Find

The maximum on a character as of v1.06.

• 50% Amulet (Rare)
• 65% Ring (Legacy of the Wicked Dreams set bonus)
• 51% Helm (20% + 33% Marquise Emerald in socket)
• 25% Shoulders (Rare)
• 100% Chest (Goldskin)
• 25% Belt (Rare. The D3 version of Goldwrap is more like Iron Pyrite-wrap, with a lame 11-12%)
• 25% Boots (Rare)
• 25% Bracers (Rare)
• 25% Gloves (Rare)
• 25% Pants (Rare, or 21-25% from Depth Diggers)

_________________ = 416 for all classes.

Weapon and shield make a difference between the classes.

• 466% at most, with 41-50% Gold Find from the two-handed The Grand Vizier. This item can be equipped by the Monk, Witch Doctor, and Wizard (and the Enchantress), but not by the Barbarian or the Demon Hunter.
• 461% for the Demon Hunter with 10% from Wirt’s Original Leg + 25% from a Shield + 10% from Ferret Companion.
• 451% (25% Shield + 10% Wirt’s Original Leg with its 5-10% gold find.
• 441% for all classes with 25% from their shield/orb/mojo/quiver in the off-hand.

Maximum Follower Gold Find

• 50% Amulet (Rare)
• 25% Ring (Rare, since no set bonus from Legacy of the Wicked Dreams)
• 25% Ring
• 50% two-handed The Grand Vizier (Enchantress only).

__________________________ 150% Gold Find

• 135% for Kormac with 25% shield + 10% wepapon (Wirt’s Original Leg)
• 100% for Lyndon since no xbows offer Gold Find.

Maximum Gold/Magic Find with Follower

Maximum Total Magic Find:

• 356% (all classes).

+ 32 (1/5 of 160% from Kormac) = 388% Magic Find

Maximum Total Gold Find:

• 466% Gold Find for Monk, Witch Doctor, or Wizard.
• + 30% (1/5 of 150% Gold Find from Eirena)

= 496% Maximum Gold Find!

Magic Find in Multiplayer Games

In the launch version of Diablo III, all players in the same game shared their averaged magic find. So if one character had 99% Magic Find and the other two had 0%, all three would get 33% during play.

While this system garnered majority support when announced,[11] it proved unpopular in practice and in Patch 1.0.4 the system was scrapped.[12] In v1.04 and later, there is no more MF sharing, so each character gets their full Magic Find bonus which is not improved or decreased by other characters in the game.

Given the developers' constant refrain of "do no harm to co-op," many players wondered why they didn't go with a hybrid system. Why not grant MF sharing to characters who could use it, while not lowering the total MF of characters who had more MF than the party average? The developers surely considered that permutation in their internal debates, but never gave any public reason for rejecting it.

Magic Find from Pets

Magic Find (and Gold Find) bonuses share from minions and Followers to the character, but only at a 20% rate.[13] Thus a Follower with 50% Magic Find would only grant 10% additional Magic Find bonus to the character. This shared value is subject to the 300% MF hard cap introduced in Patch 1.04, so your total MF will not exceed 300% even if your character has that much (or more) and your Follower adds some as well.

(This feature was bugged shortly after v1.04's launch, and MF rewarded from a follower could add to a player's 300% and the 75% they gained from Nephalem Valor stacks to exceed 375%.)[14]

Magic Find and Gear Switching

Diablo III did not include a Weapon Switch Hotkey, in an effort to prevent players from engaging in what the developers felt was an "exploitative" play style -- chiefly of switching from their normal damage weapon(s) to a weaker weapon/shield with high Magic Find just to get the last hit on bosses or to open chests. This design choice combined with the much-harder (than Diablo 2's Hell) Inferno difficulty level to create an interesting play style. Many players took to carrying full equipment sets of +Magic Find gear, usually everything but the weapon, which they would click into just before delivering the final hit to bosses, or before opening chests. This practice was a much bigger exploit, and seemed an impure tactic, requiring some game design change.

The developers floated a number of possible solutions,[15] none of which won a great deal of fan support.[16] CM Lylirra summed up the issue in early July, 2012.

There was some debate about Magic Find gear swapping before the game shipped. Some of our developers and testers thought it was fun way to game the system, while others felt it was too much of a hassle. In the end, we decided to allow gear swapping, thinking that the players who wanted to do it would, and the players who don’t enjoy the practice wouldn’t. Of course, what actually happened is that some players got caught in the crossfire — players who didn’t really enjoy gear swapping or want to carry around an extra set of MF gear all the time, but felt like they had to in order to be as efficient as possible.

So, when Wyatt says we “didn’t have a problem with it philosophically,” it means we were aware of the practice of gear swapping and understood that the player base had differing opinions on it, but didn’t want to make any changes to it unless the community asked for it outright (since we knew it was fun for a select group of players). It did not mean it was deliberately a practice we wanted to encourage everybody to do. Supporting and promoting gear swapping by adding a button would only complicate the current problem of players feeling like the they need to gear swap in order to be really efficient, even if they don’t enjoy it; it also increases the need for storage space (both server-side and in a player’s inventory) and adds complexity to a UI that’s otherwise designed to be very simple and straightforward.

The final system change was to do nothing to prevent gear swapping (though MF/GF bonuses were discounted when opening chests for some time) and instead to introduce an entirely new system that was built to allow all characters to basically run full Magic Find all the time, thus ultimately making gear swapping for MF gain irrelevant.

Diablo III's MF Philosophy

Pre-release, the D3 Team often talked about how they hoped to balance Magic Find with other modifiers, and how they'll keep things fair, or at least fairer, for all the characters. A typical quote came from Bashiok in December 2009.[17]

Bashiok: I think the trick with magic find, or any sort of tertiary stat that doesn't directly relate to player power, is to make sure that it's an actual trade off. A lot of times and specifically for certain classes in Diablo II you could stack magic find and still be perfectly able to fight and kill. So what it really comes down to is properly weighting stats on items and ensuring that if you do want to stack something like magic find, that it's clearly going to limit your power in downing enemies. Auto-stats to a degree also help out in this regard as you can't effectively stack stats as easily to offset the loss of stats coming from items that might otherwise help keep you alive or kill at an acceptable pace.

That said magic find isn't fully drawn up yet, there's not a complete pool of itemization where we can begin tweaking balance to a degree where we can ensure MF doesn't get out of hand. It could turn out that we need to take an alternate approach, but, if I had to guess simply weighting the stat properly would be enough.

To summarize, here's a bullet point list of reasons the developers offered to prevent players from loading up on nothing but Magic Find gear in Diablo III.

• Auto-stat allocation means a character can't put every point into vitality to make up for not wearing any +hit point gear.
• Item bonuses to stats like defense, resistance, damage reduction, and more, will be (more) necessary to survive than they were in D2.
• D3 adds +%spell damage mods to numerous items, and Mage characters will need to boost that stat in the same way combat characters require +%damage weapons and other gear. If MF and +spell damage seldom appear on the same items, as was the case with +%damage and +MF in D2, then mages won't have any inherent advantage to loading up on MF gear.

Ultimately, these factors proved insufficient or irrelevant and players found that almost any equipment sacrifice was worth making in order to increase their Magic Find. This is part of what triggered the system changes that introduced the Paragon system and Nephalem Valor.

Pre-Release Controversy

Many fans disliked Magic Find in Diablo 2, and objected to its proposed presence in Diablo 3. The typical argument was that Magic Find only encouraged more use of Magic Find. Players had to wear gear with MF to find better items, and since many of the best items in Diablo II had Magic Find, they just increased a character's MF further, in a self-perpetuating cycle. Magic Find was also unbalanced, since spell-casting characters and ranged attackers could load up on it without suffering any real drawbacks, while melee fighters had to devote their gear to boosting their damage, defense, resistance, hit points, and other survival bonuses, and thus were at a disadvantage when it came to finding better gear.

On the other hand, many players loved Magic Find since it made finding better items possible, and those players enjoyed the challenge of balancing survival with higher Magic Find. For many builds in the late game, survival was fairly easy, and having MF to factor into the item game added a lot of fun. It also increased game difficulty, since Diablo 2 was too easy with all a character's equipment geared towards killing power. The temptation to add in MF gear and remove survival-boosting equipment was a nice trade off.

References

• Magic Find in Diablo II
• Diablo III Developer Chat
• Magic Find and Gold Find Now Shared Through the Party