Have you flown around the fjords and found at least one of each type of zeppelin part? That will allow you to get to Aleroth, where there are a couple really good merchants. At least in D2:ED the merchant in High Hall started selling legendary quality equipment once you reached about level 30. Before that the best merchant would probably be in the bunker at the start of the fjords (assuming you let the 2 of them live). There is a merchant and smith in the harbour building, but at least in D2:ED they were not that great.
On the
fjords map the rough locations for the 9 zeppelin parts are marked with an
S (they are all in or near nests, other than the one in the treehouse). Alternately, from the D2:ED
walkthrough (pretty sure they are the same in DKS),
-Crystal 1: on the tiny island just south of the entrance to the fjords; climb
up the ladder and retrieve it from on top of Yggdrasil
-Crystal 2: on a low cliff east of Camp Sentinel View, across the water from
Camp David
-Crystal 3: on a cliff in the middle of the bend just before the entrance to
Rivertown Gorge [EDIT on the same ledge as a boarded-up cave door]
-Rudder 1: a short ways east of the Camp Freedom teleporter
-Rudder 2: halfway between the Imps' Lair and Camp David
-Rudder 3: on a low southwest cliff near the exit to Rivertown Gorge
-Compass 1: on the cliff directly opposite Rudder 1
-Compass 2: high up above Moor's shack, just northeast of the entrance to
Keara's Flying Fortress
-Compass 3: on a cliff just before the bend on the way to Rivertown Gorge
Have you cleared out the caves near the start of the fjords? I tried Stone's fortress in D2:ED and had a bit of trouble, then quit because it was late. The next day to went through Barnabus' cave (near the source of the shorter waterfall near the start of the fjords) and started using his hammer. Shortly after that I found another hammer (was using 2 axes before then), which made a significant boost in my damage, and returning to Stone's fortress I had a much easier time.
In Keara's fortress headquarters you can get opponents to respawn by trying to open the door without correctly naming all the statues. However, at least in D2:ED that fortress was one of the more difficult ones, so you may not be able to get there very easily yet (people have said the fortresses are easier in DKS, though).
