Yes, what i read about earlier is very similar to this, but you sir are a mad man,(insert Thanos meme), it’s funny to see those creepy old versions of the game, very nice. the downside though, about game updates to mods is that you need to backup all the modded files back too, it’s some extra steps, And really tiresome if the game constantly puts up some “Fixes”, if game version is stable like GD would be now, it’s a very good way to experience old versions.
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you got me confused right now, what kind of skill are you referring to? you can put all normal buffs together anyway.
Agreed, keeping track of mod updates as well can potentially make it a bit more “challenging”. I did make a custom tool (available in the same thread) to help with the process of downloading old builds… and it has been in my mind to expand this tool to include keeping track of, and assist with, moving old gd builds in and out etc. That might happen some day - we’ll see. And it’s possible I could add in a way to further help doing the same with mods.
Not sure if or when I might do that tho - and like you noted, it’s also possible that GD doesn’t have many more updates in its bag. Then again, every time I think Zantai might be done he just keeps going 
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I don’t want to be able to run more auras simultaneously. I just want the “-% skill mana cost” modifier to also apply to these skills. Mainly so that chars that struggle with mana regen have a chance to run them properly. It seems weird to me that those aren’t affected at all, while all your other skills are. Or the wording needs to change, because -% skill mana cost tells me that all skill costs should get reduced, no matter what.
Wait a sec, you made a GD switcher with cpu cores back then didn’t you, now talking about the “tools” i begin to remember your id. I don’t think keeping track with mods is a very good idea, cause usually mods don’t have a reason to go back to, very rarely a old version mod is better(or more stable) than new versions, it’s always new fixes and new stuff. Over all it’s not worth the effort.
It can be worth it, but then there are those mods like from Mamba that resurrect old mods to the new expanded GD. So it’s use case is limited. I’d feel sorry for someone who played an old version of this mod though. 
It continually improves.
Only recently did I totally figure out the original D2 versions. Funny since I no longer play it. It’s VERY easy one you understand.
Yes.
Basically what I mean by that is a way within the tool for the user to easily and quickly make a back up of any mods themselves (if they didn’t happen to save the zip files etc), and reapply them if needed.
Oh i get it, i had your pain before, and i changed that via modding(more like CHEATING with style), yes, the -xx mana points per second is indeed very painful to experience, like sorc’s lightning zapping skill,(what the name is?), the only way to solve this is to have mana leech items and mana absorbsion form enemy spells items, this is a gear thing, otherwise you can only lower the level skills to reduce mana cost.
Oh that’s a nice feature, it’s more reasonable the way you say it, it’s like a backup tool for lazy man, and easily repatch things up, hmm, that’ll be cozy.
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Mana cost reduction applies to activately used skills. There is a seperate stat specifically for mana reserved (which I think isn’t used anywhere).
But your character does get better as you level up with mana reserved, as you should be getting a bigger mana pool and/or more mana regen. And while you feel like you should be having less mana reserved as your character becomes more efficient as using the skill, you can also reason a higher level skill requires a higher upkeep to maintain.
Putting points in intelligence is always a possibility as well if all else fails.
No offense, but if we go by that line of reasoning, you might as well remove the mana cost modifer completely, cause that logic could be applied to any skill then. Skill costs already get progressively higher, no need to double down on that just because it is an aura. They are actively used skills, it even says that in the description: “Active mana cost per second”. It doesn’t get more active than that in my book. If you mean single-cast spells, then the description should mirror that.
I’m currently at level 71 playing a sorcerer/druid. So far I did put every single attribute point into intelligence (1720), which gives me a measly 16.71 extra base mana regen. On top of that I got some mana regen on gear and also some on the tree. The Energy Shield skill at level 12(!) puts me at 0 mana regen and gives me only 15% absorb. If I’d max it (currently lvl 27), I’d be at -166 regen…nice. Compare that to the Arcanist’s absorb skill, which can be easily maxed and you’d still have room for other skills.
The Energy Shield skill cost is just out of whack, you’d have to build your whole char around it to barely sustain it at high level. Which in turn leaves you with no health and barely any defenses. This skill alone would be enough reason to apply the mana reduction, it has 3 negative modifiers (active mana cost, -flat and -% mana regen) just to get one postive modifier in return. No other skill has an imbalance like that and it’s not warranted, because Maiven’s Sphere does the exact same thing for a tiny fraction of the cost.
Edit: Just to demonstrate how crazy this gets, I’ll give you one example. The increase for the ES skill from level 26 to 27 is 20 active mana cost (192 active cost total) for 1% more absorb (30% total). Maiven’s Sphere at level 18 costs 13.3 active mana cost total and gives you 26% absorb. Like, come on guys…that’s not even 1/10 and neither does the Sphere have the flat or percent negative modifiers.
I’ve played characters with auras, it’s simply another hurdle to overcome when fighting the hoards of hell. It’s cozy, but not too cozy.
I’m finding that rares in Hell mode are more what I thought they could be in normal and nightmare, ALOT of rare items that have skill affixes and are specific for the D2 classes. Perhaps that isn’t the kind of power the developers for this mod are comfortable with giving us early on. 
With that out of the way and spending REAL time in Hell, I can see some of the flaws I saw in the item system were simply held back due to my lower level!
The REAL game starts in HELL BOYS.
The costs are this high because unlike maidens sphere, you can push this into permanent 45% damage absorb. It’s possible to sustain it as well. But at your level and gear, yeah you cant sustain it so dont max it out yet.
Ok, let me rephrase this part. GD will only let the -skill mana cost modifier apply to skills when you activate/use it. The initial casting cost. So when you cast fireball, or teleport. I cannt change to what that stat applies. Its hardwired into grim dawn.
“Cost while active” is not “cost when activated/used”
Then the cost should rise exponentially later on, but it’s insane even at lower levels compared to the Arcanist skill. At even levels (26% absorption) the cost for the sorcerer is more than 10 times as high. I’m sorry, but that is just bad balancing.
This is something that is being adjusted, for several skills, at least, RoT classes. As the leveling experience is a bit skewed for some abilities, both too easy and too hard.
That’s good to hear. I honestly thought about using Defiler to switch the Druid for Arcanist, because it doesn’t feel good knowing another class could do the stuff I’m currently struggling with so much easier. But I’d rather not, cause I did that once and I lost all my waypoints.
Use Gdstash, that is compatible with the mod.
Regardless, it likely wont solve any struggles as switching between energy shield or maivens sphere isnt likely the issue to a build while leveling.
But with Stash I was never able to remove/change specializations. Is that possible?
I’m still leveling fine, but I wanted some more protection and that was when the whole can of worms got openend for me. I will move on regardless and try to build around it.
Yes. Gdstash works fine. Just import the mod files first (dont check the box Full mod overhaul) or something like that)