Overview
NOTE: Potentially out of date, as most of this information was from 2013, before the CDT started updatingInformation about the stat caps and general information about items of mythical or higher quality
Intro
Important note : This was mostly all written back in 2013-2014, and the game has changed a lot since then so some of this information may be out of date. With the release of Redux I’ve restarted again to get a fresh experience, and if I find anything wrong with the information in this guide I will try to update it.
TL:DR take this information with a grain of salt
Mythical
Lets start with Mythical.. One of the most common things to see in Nightmare Hardcore
Basic Info
Stat cap : 360 ( Can not upgrade past this point. )
Hard cap : 400 (Can only spawn with this. )
Level requirement : 74
Set bonus : 30%
Other Info
Mythical is Common once you start doing NMHC.
It is important to note that anything below mythical will not form a set bonus with a mythical piece ( ex. 3 godly leather pieces and 1 mythical leather piece will not provide a set bonus, but 3 transcendent pieces and a mythical piece provide a set bonus.).
Sample stats :
Transcendent
Rarer then Mythical but more common then Supreme
Basic Info.
Stat cap : 420
Hard cap : 500 (Thanks again to Titan for the info. NOTE : Some weapons/items can spawn with higher stats then this, Ex. Obsidian weapons.
Level Requirement : 78
Set bonus : 33%
Other info
Transcendent is a bit rare to see until around Misty NMHC survival(?) Where then it becomes a bit more common to about maybe 1-2 every wave.
Sample Stats
Supreme
Rarer then Transcendent.
Basic Info
Stat Cap : 500
Hard Cap : 600
Level requirement: 83
Set Bonus : 36%
Other Info
Unsure about almost everything besides Set bonus and Requirement. (Just googled the Stat cap so no guarantees that is correct. )
Ultimate
Third rarest quality.
Basic Info
Stat cap : 600
Hard cap : 1105 (Thank you, Titan for the information )
Level requirement : 90, 93(ult+), 100(ult++)
Set bonus : 40%
Other info
Getting a piece of Ultimate as a drop will take a while unless you are lucky, or doing end game maps.
Sample stats : Weapon
Maps to farm.
These are some of the maps that I recommend farming early on to get some early gear. Mileage may vary. Note : These are all from around 2013, and are most likely out of date for high-end farming.
Misty NMHCMM survival : This map is fairly easy considering the loot, I recommend being on a Summoner for the wave as the weapon drops are generally worse than rewards from maps such as Kings Game or Akatiti Jungle.
Aqua NMHC survival : This map is a bit more challenging then Misty, especially with MM activated, again recommend using summoner because of the only armor drops.
Kings game NMHC survival: This map is probably one of the most farmed along with Aqua, it has pretty decent drops for transcendent and higher. The regular campaign map is also great for farming some good weapons such as a pawn shot, and even on Insane HC it can drops some early mythical items to help bridge the gap between insane and nightmare
Those are the top 3 maps that I farm and I know some other people farm. Sky City is occasionally farmed but its harder to keep all of the loot on the map.
The following maps recommended by other people are below here.
Tavern defense NMHCMM: This is a bit harder of a map, end reward is a Kobold that can have up to 600 in all builder stats or close to it. ( Recommended by Kirito-Sama ) (Note. This map is nice to do on NMHC Campaign for the rewards. Insane gives pretty decent kobold. Another trick to this map is doing it on Pure strategy (not in redux) to get some starter kobolds due to no ogres spawning. Also is good for leveling alts.)
Lab Assault Insane HC : If you are able to clear it easily, this map is one of the better maps to farm due to the rewards at the end typically being transcendent quality or higher(Recommended by Koothrepali and Nosferatu.)
Final Notes
As mentioned at the beginning.. All this Info I’ve just gathered from my experience, google as well as the comments below. If there is anything missing (other than ult+ and ult++) that you think should be added, feel free to add a comment and I’ll consider adding it to the guide.