Diablo III

[Loyrl]

Never could play normal diablo2 after playing hardcore, its just not the same.

hardcore
37 barb = dead nm a1 ..oops
43 wd = alive
29 barb = alive
22 demon hunter = alive

[Deathravin]

I really want to try Hardcore, but I'm worried what will happen when I lose my guy to some network glitch or something.

Do you just like re-run some quests a few times so you're a bit higher level than you're supposed to be for that area?

[Loyrl]

In nightmare yes, but normal no. I have ended normal at 33 on both chars so far. Trying to get another level or 2 before belail on my WD, I hate that boss.

[Taernath]

I can't believe how much ass barbarians kick. After failing time and time again on Nightmare Diablo on both solo and multiplayers games I joined a game with a Barbarian who practically soloed Diablo in a 4 player game. Makes me wonder if I'm just totally playing my witch doctor wrong or if there is no point in playing a class other than barbarians.

Barbarians spank dat ass through all modes. Excellent single target/aoe dps, great cc, and some pretty good self-heals. They also have some of the better specials.

[Drew]

Anyone else have an extra code I could have?

Sent, and I'm fresh out of codes.

[Taernath]

In nightmare yes, but normal no. I have ended normal at 33 on both chars so far. Trying to get another level or 2 before belail on my WD, I hate that boss.

I was looking at some of the Belial challenge achievements, is it possible to NOT get hit by his fists?

[Drew]

I really want to try Hardcore, but I'm worried what will happen when I lose my guy to some network glitch or something.

Do you just like re-run some quests a few times so you're a bit higher level than you're supposed to be for that area?

Yes, I'm low 40s and still in act 2 nightmare. You definitely could do 3 and 4 but better safe than sorry.

[Liagala]

I was looking at some of the Belial challenge achievements, is it possible to NOT get hit by his fists?
Use instant-cast abilities and keep moving constantly. When a green target appears at your feet, you're already on your way away from it, and will be long gone by the time his fist follows. The phase with a million exploding green spots all over the platform is similar, but partly just dumb luck where he drops them.

[Androidpk]

Use instant-cast abilities and keep moving constantly. When a green target appears at your feet, you're already on your way away from it, and will be long gone by the time his fist follows. The phase with a million exploding green spots all over the platform is similar, but partly just dumb luck where he drops them.

Reminds me of that one boss fight from Blackwing Lair where he shot green fire up from the floor that you had to dodge.

[AnticorRifling]

Reminds me of that one boss fight from Blackwing Lair where he shot green fire up from the floor that you had to dodge.

Maybe you're thinking of the green slime during the Heigan fight in Naxx. I can't recall any green fire at your feet fight in BWL.

[Liagala]

Do hardcore characters share anything (blacksmith, jeweler, stash) with regulars or is it completely separate?

[Androidpk]

Maybe you're thinking of the green slime during the Heigan fight in Naxx. I can't recall any green fire at your feet fight in BWL.

Haha, that's it!

[Loyrl]

Hardcore has seperate AH, no RM AH, and different jeweler, bs and stash. Die once and you lose your character along with all your items on your char and in the inventory. Your stash, jeweler, and BS all stay.

[Liagala]

Hardcore has seperate AH, no RM AH, and different jeweler, bs and stash. Die once and you lose all your items on your char and in the inventory. Your stash, jeweler, and BS all stay.
And hardcore characters share a stash the way normal ones do? If I create an uber belt of strength on my hardcore monk and drop it in the stash, my hardcore barbarian can grab it and use it?

[g++]

Watching inferno mages playing on twitch I am beginning to realize I have been doing it wrong.

[Liagala]

Watching inferno mages playing on twitch I am beginning to realize I have been doing it wrong.
Wow, really? That's awesome. How are they doing it?

[g++]

lol, yah I meant in diablo, this mage is 2 manning act II on inferno using only blizzard and charged bolt. Eye opening.

[AnticorRifling]

We've known you were doing a mage wrong for a long time. I mean, come on. You couldn't even get an 8% magic damage debuff going.

I was waiting for him to say "But if I had a warlock/spriest/boomkin/unholy DK/assassin rogue in my group I'd be the man".

[Some Rogue]

I was waiting for him to say "But if I had a warlock/spriest/boomkin/unholy DK/assassin rogue in my group I'd be the man".


And now add in monk/demon hunter/witch doctor from Diablo...

:whistle:

[AnticorRifling]

My barbarian is lvl 8, he's kind of a big deal.

[g++]

Warrior new main? Sounds good.

[AnticorRifling]

Won't work, we're melee heavy and it wouldn't bring unique buffs and you know our raid comp is designed for 1) spread damage to range and melee 2) every raid slot brings a unique buff.

[Loyrl]

And hardcore characters share a stash the way normal ones do? If I create an uber belt of strength on my hardcore monk and drop it in the stash, my hardcore barbarian can grab it and use it?

Yes, it plays the same as normal. No difference between HC and normal besides the whole one life thing.

[g++]

Won't work, we're melee heavy and it wouldn't bring unique buffs and you know our raid comp is designed for 1) spread damage to range and melee 2) every raid slot brings a unique buff.

Actually I would bring rampage which we dont have since Scramby left. Its a good point though...we should minimize buffs. I will bring my rogue..combat of course because god forbid we actually add a debuff to the boss.

[g++]

We have a feral tank..thomas casts faerie fire.

[Liagala]

Speaking of which, remind me to remind Bob that he has to start dropping his strength of earth totem instead of whatever he currently uses. And windfury.

Edit: I was referring to whatever debuff MMO-Champion refers to as "physical vulnerability" - brought by Acit Spit/Ravage (hunter), Blood Frenzy (warrior), Brittle Bones (DK), and Savage Combat (rogue). Faerie Fire is a different debuff, classified as "armor" on the raidcomp site. But then I realized that with Wayne switching to his lock, Nekk would probably go back to combat, and just deleted my post.

[g++]

He does drop them. Exclusively. Since Drew switched to his rogue no one is dropping tranquil mind or spell haste the totems buff only melee too.

[Gizmo]

Barbarian plows thru shit now with the right setup.

Started Nightmare last night. I may make a Monk next, or maybe a WD not so sure yet.

Blacksmithing hit level 5 too last night, and I think my jeweler is still level 4.

Also found my 1st Legendary item on normal in Act 3, was a Helm but at first I didn't realize it since the color of the name label is pretty hard to see on my laptop, compared to the color of shit grey items.

[g++]

Speaking of which, remind me to remind Bob that he has to start dropping his strength of earth totem instead of whatever he currently uses. And windfury.

Edit: I was referring to whatever debuff MMO-Champion refers to as "physical vulnerability" - brought by Acit Spit/Ravage (hunter), Blood Frenzy (warrior), Brittle Bones (DK), and Savage Combat (rogue). Faerie Fire is a different debuff, classified as "armor" on the raidcomp site. But then I realized that with Wayne switching to his lock, Nekk would probably go back to combat, and just deleted my post.

...What? Faerie Fire, expose armor and sunder armor all do the exact same thing except expose armor gives a specific armor debuff to the combat rogue who casts it. If Nekk is using expose armor with a feral druid in the raid its for his personal dps not yours.

[Liagala]

...What? Faerie Fire, expose armor and sunder armor all do the exact same thing except expose armor gives a specific armor debuff to the combat rogue who casts it. If Nekk is using expose armor with a feral druid in the raid its for his personal dps not yours.
I'm not talking about expose armor. I'm talking about the savage combat (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=58413) debuff that combat rogues bring. It's a talent in the combat tree.

Why are we doing this in the Diablo thread?

[AnticorRifling]

It should give benefit to the entire raid not just the rogue that cast it.

[g++]

I dont know I was talking about wizards in nightmare difficulty and then someone, and by someone I mean you, changed the subject.

My warrior can bring that debuff...just saying.

[Androidpk]

I'm not talking about expose armor. I'm talking about the savage combat (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=58413) debuff that combat rogues bring. It's a talent in the combat tree.

Why are we doing this in the Diablo thread?

Probably because in your now edited post you called G++ a shitty WoW mage.

[g++]

Well I am a shitty wow mage but I dont understand why I take so much shit for just wanting a raid composition that didn't fall head first off a short bus. Im not saying lets stack classes or anything I'm only pointing out our raid is missing even the most basic magic damage buffs. I can switch to my undergeared 385 ilevel hunter and blow my main away in dps because the raid is composed to fuck over casters.

[g++]

Anyway, definately trying glyphed blizzard when I get home tonight in diablo.

[AnticorRifling]

Because we like giving everyone shit?

I thought we established that already. It doesn't mean you don't have a valid point, and we acknowledge that you do, but we're still going to give you shit about it for no real reason.


Also I xfer'd over my lock damnit. Now in 4pc and gemm'd I'll get it all enchanted up and I'm running the damn HoTs over and over for that trinket but other than that I'm good to go.

[Liagala]

I dont know I was talking about wizards in nightmare difficulty and then someone, and by someone I mean you, changed the subject.
I have no idea what you're talking about. My post (http://www.forum.gsplayers.com/showpost.php?p=1418138&postcount=267) was completely on topic.

And PK, teasing a friend that I raid with every week is very different from randomly telling someone he's shitty at playing his class.

[g++]

Because we like giving everyone shit?

I thought we established that already. It doesn't mean you don't have a valid point, and we acknowledge that you do, but we're still going to give you shit about it for no real reason.


Also I xfer'd over my lock damnit. Now in 4pc and gemm'd I'll get it all enchanted up and I'm running the damn HoTs over and over for that trinket but other than that I'm good to go.

I know, just giving it back and im looking forward to having a magic user in the raid.

[g++]

I have no idea what you're talking about. My post (http://www.forum.gsplayers.com/showpost.php?p=1418138&postcount=267) was completely on topic.

And PK, teasing a friend that I raid with every week is very different from randomly telling someone he's shitty at playing his class.

Shouldn't you be in arathi basin or something? Tell Nekk to carry me through ACTII tonight.

[AnticorRifling]

Speaking of DIII, anyone have a guest pass left? I could use one.

[Atlanteax]

Looks like only a few of you did the 1-year thing which included a few D3?

[Some Rogue]

Most of the WoW players here did, which is why we have no guest pass to give.

[Keller]

I don't mind a couple of off-topic WoW posts, but jesus christ people. Stop beef-wellington'ing this thread.

[Tgo01]

I'm finding out in hell it is well worth breaking/looting everything you come across. I didn't always bother in normal and nightmare because it was usually a waste of time but in hell those vases can drop upwards of 500 gold. Plus I found an awesome rare sword on a weapon rack.

Also help spread the word that treasure goblins don't start running away until after you attack them, therefore you can kill everything around them and they won't run into a pack of monsters.

[g++]

Think everyone I know did except for Anticor and his friend mike who doesnt post here.

[AnticorRifling]

Most of the WoW players here did, which is why we have no guest pass to give.

Yup.

[AnticorRifling]

I'm finding out in hell it is well worth breaking/looting everything you come across. I didn't always bother in normal and nightmare because it was usually a waste of time but in hell those vases can drop upwards of 500 gold. Plus I found an awesome rare sword on a weapon rack.

Also help spread the word that treasure goblins don't start running away until after you attack them, therefore you can kill everything around them and they won't run into a pack of monsters.

I break everything because it's there.

[Androidpk]

I'm finding out in hell it is well worth breaking/looting everything you come across.

Very true. Was watching a video on youtube and someone found a sick rare THW sword, the grandfather, off a weapon rack.

[Some Rogue]

I don't mind a couple of off-topic WoW posts, but jesus christ people. Stop beef-wellington'ing this thread.

Reported

[g++]

Learning alot talking to steamers, apparently spell damage is mostly dependent on your weapon damage...so a two handed axe with tons of damage buffs disintegrate more than a staff with 200 intellect and shitty top end damage....weird and quirky but good to know.

[Androidpk]

Learning alot talking to steamers, apparently spell damage is mostly dependent on your weapon damage...so a two handed axe with tons of damage buffs disintegrate more than a staff with 200 intellect and shitty top end damage....weird and quirky but good to know.

I'm going to assume that weapons and items with attack speed also increase cast speed too?

[Loyrl]

Yup weapon damage is multiplied(?) by your main stat, so having a high dps 2h and then socket it with a ruby to add more damage makes your spells hit a lot harder. I am using a 208 dps 2h mace on my WD and the damage is a lot better than using a witch doctor dagger. Use your armor for your main stat + VIT.

[g++]

I feel retarded now. I have probably liquidated a dozen rare two handers with intellect on them thinking..."Well I need my wand right?" bleck I r wrong.

Im not sure about the attack speed thing, the dude stopped playing to answer my questions twice already, the next one I think he will ban me for trolling but I would assume so given how weapon damage pairs into spell damage.

[Some Rogue]

This is also why the +2-4 or whatever damage items (rings, necks) are so much better early on.

[TheEschaton]

Fucking hell, I've been salvaging shit like that too because I've been listening to pjaay.

GODDAMN IT PJAAY.

P.S. Disintegrate with chaos nexus is my new best friend. It has the AoE I was missing when I first trying out disintegrate at 20. Should finish up normal tonight, but y'all are so far ahead of me now it makes me sick. I knew I shouldn't have gone to work on Saturday.

[AnticorRifling]

This is all well and good but it doesn't put the triskets in my belly, or a guest pass in my hand.

Also can I just say BARBARIAN....although I haven't even tried anything else yet.

[Liagala]

Does anyone know of a good site to explain all the many stats and how they work? I know in general what things do, I'm looking more for hard numbers. Instead of "Strength increases Barbarian damage and everyone's armor rating," I want "Strength increases Barbiarian damage by X per point, and everyone's armor rating by Y per point. This starts hitting diminishing returns at Z."

[AnticorRifling]

I'm looking more for hard

.

[g++]

Well its kind of counter-intuitive compared to other blizzard games, but I do seem to remember having a similiar revelation in diablo II now.

[g++]

Does anyone know of a good site to explain all the many stats and how they work? I know in general what things do, I'm looking more for hard numbers. Instead of "Strength increases Barbarian damage and everyone's armor rating," I want "Strength increases Barbiarian damage by X per point, and everyone's armor rating by Y per point. This starts hitting diminishing returns at Z."


http://www.diablowiki.net/Disintegrate


This is how I realized I was playing wrong. It lists skills for other classes too.

[TheEschaton]

I dunno, diablofans.com is the only wiki I know about but it seems lacking in parts, or in most of it.

I kind of want to number crunch too.

I also want to try a melee wizard build. I'm thinking:

L: Lightning pulse runed to explode
R: Arcane Orbit
1-4:
Diamond Skin
Explosive Blast runed
Archon
Either Ice Armor runed to chill before hitting, or storm armor for extra melee damage.

Pimp it out with high +vit and just become a battlemage a la Anticor circa 1997.

[AnticorRifling]

I didn't start playing until Feb of 2000.

[g++]

Wouldnt you want to use magic weapon and energy shield? I feel like you would still get wtf pwned though. Only way monks and barbs are able to tank is because their abilities stun and self heal.

[TheEschaton]

They also take a passive 30% less damage from the get-go.

I haven't used either magic weapon or energy shield.

As I see it, diamond skin is a must. Archon is just flashy. Explosive Blast is a huge melee AOE damage, so it's pretty high priority. If anything, the armor could be replaced.

I'm also wondering how effective the taunting on Mirror Images works - whether it'll hold aggro no matter what, or if it's something that can be broken by too much damage.

[g++]

It should be cool to try. Having played in nightmare as a wizard just saying...I dont think its possible to wizard tank. With wizard blur on to take 20% less melee damage I still frequently take hits of 2-3k plus from normal mobs melee swinging me. To actually try to go toe to toe with them you will have to do something pretty special.

[Liagala]

L: Lightning pulse runed to explode
R: Arcane Orbit
1-4:
Diamond Skin
Explosive Blast runed
Archon
Either Ice Armor runed to chill before hitting, or storm armor for extra melee damage.

Pimp it out with high +vit and just become a battlemage a la Anticor circa 1997.
I've been messing with melee mage and having a blast. I've been getting my ass handed to me in the last level or so, but that's because I got all OCD about having magic find on every possible piece of armor, to the point of retardation. I kept shoulders with 15 armor and +5 magic find instead of trading them in for a pair with 68 armor, +15 int, +25 vitality, and +1% crit chance (making numbers up here, but it's roughly what I was doing).

L: Lightning pulse + explode was nifty, but I've found the Spectral Blade (Impactful Blades glyph) to be pretty handy as well. The extra control is a huge plus.
R: Disintegrate is my new best friend. I haven't tried Arcane Orbit yet.
1: Diamond Skin, glyphed to double the protection
2: Wave of Force glyphed to increase knockback and stun. I'm toying with switching this out, but haven't gotten that far yet. It is convenient when big stuff starts slamming me and Diamond Skin is on cooldown
3: Ice Armor - Again, control is good. I had lightning armor up for a bit, but died too much. I may be able to go back to it or switch out #3 when I stop making retarded gearing decisions.
4: Explosive Blast - Love this spell!

Diamond Skin, run into the middle of the pack, click explosive blast. L-click while waiting for it to blow. After it does, see who's still vertical - if a couple, L-click. If a bunch, Wave of Force and Disintegrate the big ones. Kite for 5 seconds-ish while cooldowns finish, rinse and repeat.

[Some Rogue]

To actually try to go toe to toe with them you will have to do something pretty special.

Like get some vitality scrub a dub. :P

[Keller]

I didn't start playing until Feb of 2000.

Sounds like someone had strict parents.

[AnticorRifling]

Very...that and I didn't find the game until Feb of 2000.

[g++]

Like get some vitality scrub a dub. :P

I am going to tonight....I went a little too far into nightmare without stopping to farm but it doesn't change the fact I am using a defensive build and still getting slaughtered while trying to kite...even if I had triple health and went up and melee'd stuff I would explode, and you know it as well as I do.

[Ashliana]

IMO, Magic Find is pointless--it doesn't increase your chance to find good items, just to find them in general. You're much better off focusing on getting to Inferno difficulty ASAP, and any itemization that isn't Damage focused (assuming you're a Wizard) is a waste of time.

The Auction House changed the entire game; you don't have to find the rare drops yourself, and if you know how to use the AH search functions well, you can find insane upgrades for very little gold. All the meaningful choices will be made at Inferno difficulty.


Like get some vitality scrub a dub. :P

You can get around low vitality, even in Inferno, with a few builds. For example, if you take Energy Armor(Force Armor), any large hit will only do 35% of your max HP. Combine it with the passive Galvanizing Ward, and you'll regenerate lots of HP per second (310 at 60). It's possible to wiz-tank bosses in Inferno with this build. Combine it with Venom Hydra, and whatever get-out-of-shit free buttons you want. Diamond Skin's HP doesn't count towards your HP total for the purposes of calculating Force Armor, so each hit will only take off 35% of your tiny no-vitality base.

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTzyjf4R0tg&feature=player_embedded#!

The build I personally used for most of the game is
1) Diamond Skin (Prism)--lets you spam Disintegrate much longer, get out of shit free card.
2) Situational. +20% damage Slow Time during boss fights, otherwise Blizzard w/30% chance to freeze or Teleport (Wormhole).
3) Magic Weapon +15% or Venom. Huge Damage increase.
4) Familiar(Sparkflint) - Another huge damage increase.
5) Archon on Left-click trigger
6) Disintegrate (either 155+40% auto-beam or short-AOE version) or single-target frost beam (+280%) for bosses.

Most people don't seem to itemize properly at all. Before I got to Hell, my damage was at 3,000, and every other wizard I ran into except for one had 300, 500, 600, etc. Focus on getting the highest damage weapon you can get, socket it with a Ruby, find +damage rings, +damage amulets (also Attack Speed if you can find it, even if you're a wizard, it ups your Damage) and secondarily, Int.

[Keller]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tv04MMrSX1Y/TbfzhIZK9gI/AAAAAAAAALs/xEajApxPnCY/s1600/Poltergeist.jpg

[Some Rogue]

blah blah blah

That's all well and good but when you don't have enough health to take one hit from anything.....


I guess you could cheese it and play like the world firsters who skip the hard parts and just kill the bosses who are much easier than the champion packs.

[Ashliana]

That's all well and good but when you don't have enough health to take one hit from anything.....


What? You can't be one-shot with Force Armor up, if you have a no-vitality build. That's the whole point of the skill. You won't take more than 35% of your max HP, and with Galvanizing Ward equipped, you regenerate health so quickly you can't die.

[Liagala]

What? You can't be one-shot with Force Armor up, if you have a no-vitality build. That's the whole point of the skill. You won't take more than 35% of your max HP, and with Galvanizing Ward equipped, you regenerate health so quickly you can't die.
Because mobs always come separately in Diablo. You never have a pack of them all hitting you for 35% of your (no vitality) health in rapid succession. Excellent plan.

[Ashliana]

You can criticize the build all you want. I merely offered it as an example of a no-vitality build that's viable even in Inferno. It is. Even in boss fights (as shown in the above video). If you're cautious, and have a tank, you can carve a swath through Inferno using that strat. That's why I emphasized the point about Diamond Skin letting you absorb numerous hits, since the additional health from Diamond Skin doesn't count towards the HP total that Force Armor uses. Even without a tank, it's possible to solo using that strat. Check out the Wizard subsection on the Blizzard forum.

[Liagala]

Have you actually used that build to get anywhere in Inferno? Or did you see a post on the Blizzard forum showing one guy who managed it and decided that if it's possible for one guy to do it, it must be the best build evar and the only right answer?

[Some Rogue]

You keep talking about bosses like they're the hard part of the game.

[Ashliana]

I've used it, though it's not my regular build, and I've encountered other wizards using similar variants at high difficulty. At what point did I ever say it was the "best" build? It was just a response to someone's post about needing vitality. Believe it or not, I was offering a suggestion, not randomly arguing with people for its own sake.

[g++]

For what its worth I incorporated a few of the suggestions into my current build and its working out pretty well. Although Im mostly using a blizzard, shock pulse strategy, use that to get rid of the white mobs and then use diamond skin glyphed for reduced mana cost to burn down the elites with disintegrate...doing much better then yesterday in actII nighmare. I think your a bit ahead of alot of us Ash because most of the glyphs your using are not available too us heh.

[subzero]

I'm finding out in hell it is well worth breaking/looting everything you come across. I didn't always bother in normal and nightmare because it was usually a waste of time but in hell those vases can drop upwards of 500 gold. Plus I found an awesome rare sword on a weapon rack.


I was about to skip a bunch of that crap when I started going through on Nightmare. Practically the instant after that thought, among the wreckage of various vases and whatnot some rare had to drop and convince me to continue destroying everything.

[Warriorbird]

Destroy everything.

[Androidpk]

Destroy everything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtqGoHouoE0

[Drew]

Very true. Was watching a video on youtube and someone found a sick rare THW sword, the grandfather, off a weapon rack.

Rimalon found a unique in a random barrel.

[TheEschaton]

So, plans for Staff of Herding just dropped for me off Izual normal. Isn't this a rare drop? Isn't this the plans for the staff to the secret pony level?

[Androidpk]

So, plans for Staff of Herding just dropped for me off Izual normal. Isn't this a rare drop? Isn't this the plans for the staff to the secret pony level?

Yes and yes.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5152408516

[Tgo01]

So, plans for Staff of Herding just dropped for me off Izual normal. Isn't this a rare drop? Isn't this the plans for the staff to the secret pony level?

You can buy the plans from one of the merchants in act 3/4 on Nightmare.

EDIT: Unless "Nightmarish Staff of Herding" is different from "Staff of Herding."

[Glitch]

I miss gold items.

[TheEschaton]

There's different levels of the pony level, I believe.

[TheEschaton]

Also, now that I've beaten normal, do I not have access to my jeweler til act II again on Nightmare? That kinda blows.

[Tgo01]

Also, now that I've beaten normal, do I not have access to my jeweler til act II again on Nightmare? That kinda blows.

No he's in act I, he's just way in the left side of town.

[Androidpk]

Hardcore sounds fun but my latency is too unpredictable at the moment.

http://tinyurl.com/bnou9ab

[Fallen]

Still on Act 1 with a million hours in. Having fun just going back through levels over and over.

[TheEschaton]

Nightmare Act I seemed easier than Normal Act I. Maybe it's because I have so many more tools at my disposable, including reliable snares.

I guess it helped knowing what the boss was going to do and what kind of skill setup I would need.

It also helps to not be rushed through a level by Pjaay who skips all of everything to get to the boss, and then just expects me to know what to do even though he's seen it already and I haven't.

I READ EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE LORE OPTIONS PJAAY. EVERY ONE.

[Some Rogue]

Nightmare Act I seemed easier than Normal Act I. Maybe it's because I have so many more tools at my disposable, including reliable snares.

I guess it helped knowing what the boss was going to do and what kind of skill setup I would need.

It also helps to not be rushed through a level by Pjaay who skips all of everything to get to the boss, and then just expects me to know what to do even though he's seen it already and I haven't.

I READ EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE LORE OPTIONS PJAAY. EVERY ONE.

And we just beat Diablo on Nightmare. Hurry up already.

[Androidpk]

Diablo III servers are full.

Queuing..

[subzero]

Diablo III servers are full.

Queuing..

Eh, don't worry. [Server shutdown in X minutes.] WTB offline mode. Thanks, fuckers.

...and it's down for an eight hour maintenance. I started playing during the 15 minute countdown :flames:

[Androidpk]

Eh, don't worry. [Server shutdown in X minutes.] WTB offline mode. Thanks, fuckers.

...and it's down for an eight hour maintenance. I started playing during the 15 minute countdown :flames:

Yeah, saw that as well. Scheduled maintenance with 15 minutes notice. What a giant clusterfuck. A lot of accounts getting hacked and blizzards best response is to buy their authenticator ($6) for an added layer of security. If you are hacked your account is only allowed two restorals. Seriously?

An offline crack (if possible) can't come out soon enough.

[Ashliana]

Back when I played WoW, I used the free authenticator app for the iPhone. I had it removed when the Diablo 3 free beta weekend was going on, because the phone app wasn't synched up anymore.. and between open beta weekend and release, my account got hacked.

Blizzard sent me an e-mail saying they'd frozen the account--some spammer had opened up a WoW starter account (even though I already had a frozen regular WoW account--why does it let you have both?). Put the authenticator back on.

No idea how they got the password... I've never installed any third party apps, the password was complicated, and I seriously doubt ancient keyloggers were to blame. At least Blizzard was on the ball with notifying me.

[Fallen]

How did you guys spec your stuff out for Normal? I'm attempting to maximize Magic Items/Gold finding on both my Barbarian and followers. I'm nearing the 75% mark on Magic Item find without hitting socketed items yet. I imagine I will have to switch to resistances and what not in harder modes of play, but for now I just want to find the most gold/loot I can to upgrade my storage/artisans.

[Fallen]

Yeah, saw that as well. Scheduled maintenance with 15 minutes notice. What a giant clusterfuck. A lot of accounts getting hacked and blizzards best response is to buy their authenticator ($6) for an added layer of security. If you are hacked your account is only allowed two restorals. Seriously?

An offline crack (if possible) can't come out soon enough.

I've never used any cracks or what not but an offline mode for Diablo would definitely be my first.

[Androidpk]

Diablo in itself is crack :|

[SHAFT]

Destroy everything.

Yeah I learned that in diablo 2. Explore every part of the map and break every urn, chest, box, etc. you never know what you'll find.

That's why I'm not playing co op right now. You run with people who only want to go to the end of the stage or the boss.

[Ashliana]

How did you guys spec your stuff out for Normal? I'm attempting to maximize Magic Items/Gold finding on both my Barbarian and followers. I'm nearing the 75% mark on Magic Item find without hitting socketed items yet. I imagine I will have to switch to resistances and what not in harder modes of play, but for now I just want to find the most gold/loot I can to upgrade my storage/artisans.

In the end, you should do whatever you find fun, but IMO you find boatloads of stuff with basic drop rates. Since you won't necessarily find better stuff (just more stuff) with Magic Find, you're much better off speccing for maximum damage/survivability and getting through the difficulty levels as fast as possible.

Gold, on the other hand, is pretty useful because of the AH. You could have a crapload of Magic Find, and still be pretty unlikely to find an awesome weapon, but you can find great deals on amazing drops on the AH since there are so many people playing.

Edit: If you want to know an awesome trick to becoming overwhelmingly powerful--go on the AH, and search for Items 9 levels above your current level, and put "Reduced Level Requirement" as one of the attributes and look for a cheap one. You'll find weapons far, far higher damage than what you're currently using, and it'll let you cut through mobs like butter. I went from a 130 dps one-hander to a 240 dps one-hander for 25k gold when I was around Lv50. Resulted in almost a 2,000 damage bump.

[Marl]

How did you guys spec your stuff out for Normal? I'm attempting to maximize Magic Items/Gold finding on both my Barbarian and followers. I'm nearing the 75% mark on Magic Item find without hitting socketed items yet. I imagine I will have to switch to resistances and what not in harder modes of play, but for now I just want to find the most gold/loot I can to upgrade my storage/artisans.

i am focused on dps and life on both my hc and sc char. (ie. lvl 51 wiz 24k life 6k dps)

Although i do have a gear set for gold find since right now it is easier to buy from ah than to mf spots constantly

[g++]

After Rennoc went to bed last night played around in Hell a bit. Some of the mobs seems borderline impossible because of where they spawn and what they are. For instance..got a champion with mortars and poison zones in a celler. So with the increased speed all the mobs get around champions in hell tacked on that means basically the entire cellar was covered in poison and mortar fire within 5 seconds of attacking him. I wiped about 20 times before giving up. The main story line still seems easy enough to follow but some of the champions in hell are insane, when they chain the right abilities together they are just very very tough.

[g++]

i am focused on dps and life on both my hc and sc char. (ie. lvl 51 wiz 24k life 6k dps)

Although i do have a gear set for gold find since right now it is easier to buy from ah than to mf spots constantly

Maybe I need to farm a bit more, Im level 50 and have 10k life and 3k dps...not sure why I am looking for upgrades...just dont find many. Did you use the auction house?

[Marl]

Maybe I need to farm a bit more, Im level 50 and have 10k life and 3k dps...not sure why I am looking for upgrades...just dont find many. Did you use the auction house?

i ah my weapon

just set the max buyout limit, and for better weaps set one of the affixes as reduced level requirement and put your lvl a few above what you are

[SHAFT]

Real cash AH not expected until the 29th. I'm really curious to see how much things sell for

[Gizmo]

Found me another damn Legendary item last night in Act 1 on normal off some rando critter heh, I think it was a pair of pants.

So that makes 2 legendary items now on normal in Act 1 and 2.

I actually opted to redo my barbarian too now that I beat the game and kinda have a grasp on how things work now, so we'll see how that goes with the change and different item layouts

[g++]

Yeah, saw that as well. Scheduled maintenance with 15 minutes notice. What a giant clusterfuck. A lot of accounts getting hacked and blizzards best response is to buy their authenticator ($6) for an added layer of security. If you are hacked your account is only allowed two restorals. Seriously?

An offline crack (if possible) can't come out soon enough.

They dont actually make you use the money authenticator..they offer a free phone version and even if you dont have a phone you can emulate the phone on a computer and run the free one off it.

[Tgo01]

Do they have any idea how so many people are getting hacked? The same old keyloggers that got everyone in WoW or is this something more?

[Liagala]

It's likely a bunch of usernames/passwords they've had for a while and never got around to. Now that there's a new game and the RMAH coming out, it's suddenly worth blowing through the stockpile.

Personally, I'd wait a couple more weeks for people to farm up good loot before I steal it to sell.

[g++]

Some people are saying the public game session ids can be hacked.

[Liagala]

I saw that. There was a blue post responding to it though, saying that every hack they've investigated so far was done through "traditional" means rather than a session ID thing. They could be just being cautious until they've sorted the whole problem out, or people could be doing the "Of course I'm perfect and never did anything to put my account at risk* it must be Blizzard's fault" conspiracy theory thing. Dunno.


*Like a guy whose account gets hacked and he doesn't change the PW/add an authenticator, so it gets hacked again 3 days later. I don't know anyone like that.

[g++]

So searching the AH like you guys told me...I can see I have had this game all wrong...bag space, blacksmith...all that money..the whole time I should have just been buying rares off the AH, doubled my dps for 6k.

[g++]

I saw that. There was a blue post responding to it though, saying that every hack they've investigated so far was done through "traditional" means rather than a session ID thing. They could be just being cautious until they've sorted the whole problem out, or people could be doing the "Of course I'm perfect and never did anything to put my account at risk* it must be Blizzard's fault" conspiracy theory thing. Dunno.


*Like a guy whose account gets hacked and he doesn't change the PW/add an authenticator, so it gets hacked again 3 days later. I don't know anyone like that.

Im inclined to believe it because its the type of exploit that typically occurs..authentication token that is too easy to decrypt. That said I would imagine blizzard fixed it instantly but Im not in disbelief that anything like that could ever happen.

[Marl]

Im guessing the ah wont come into play much past 60. But from 1-60 its cheap and easy.

[Tgo01]

So searching the AH like you guys told me...I can see I have had this game all wrong...bag space, blacksmith...all that money..the whole time I should have just been buying rares off the AH, doubled my dps for 6k.

Yeah tell me about. Just recently got the collected 500k gold achievement and I'm thinking "Wow over 500k so far and almost all of it went towards stash and stuff." I just recently started buying better gear off the AH too, makes a huge difference. Ah well, it's not like I was never going to upgrade my stash and blacksmith.

[Drew]

And we just beat Diablo on Nightmare. Hurry up already.

On hardcore?

[Parkbandit]

So searching the AH like you guys told me...I can see I have had this game all wrong...bag space, blacksmith...all that money..the whole time I should have just been buying rares off the AH, doubled my dps for 6k.

Yea, I'm pretty much in the same boat. Just found out about the AH last night while playing.. didn't even realize you can just sell all your old stuff on the AH since there's no BOP in Diablo.

Worst part is.. I've been salvaging all my stuff.. even the rare shit with gem sockets. A friend of mine told me how dumb I was....

[Androidpk]

A friend of mine told me how dumb I was....

I could have told you that a long time ago :)

[Gizmo]

Yea, I'm pretty much in the same boat. Just found out about the AH last night while playing.. didn't even realize you can just sell all your old stuff on the AH since there's no BOP in Diablo.

Worst part is.. I've been salvaging all my stuff.. even the rare shit with gem sockets. A friend of mine told me how dumb I was....

I actually haven't used the AH yet like most others.

Call me weird, granted it's nothing i don't already know, I actually prefer playing with shit I either find, or create thru blacksmithing.

I haven't had much problems in doing so either, somewhat struggling in Nightmare Act 2 on the other barb, but I feel like he isn't properly geared out from shit I found and salvaged. This guy is doing alot better now that I have a feel of things.

Could I use the AH to buy high DPS gear? Sure. Could I farm gold to buy said gear? Sure.

But meh, it's not as much fun when you are plowing thru mobs with crazy high DPS, right now I'm doing alright with like 66ish at level 15.

I think it's a bit different for me though since I struggle with alot of fights. Crates busting, fire going off etc all play a huge part in my FPS lag since I'm on my laptop.

I'm enjoying this game as is, but damn if it's not making me want to build a new rig to play it all on full blast and not struggle with FPS lag....

PS: Some of you bitches need to add me, I've only played briefly with Jarvan so far, I need maor frinds!!

Gizmo#1268

[g++]

I was fine playing with the gear I found too until I got to the end of nightmare/beginning of hell and hit a rut in dps weapons. The game actually does start to get frustratingly hard if your undergeared at a certain point.

And me and nekk are not playing hardcore.

[Gizmo]

I was fine playing with the gear I found too until I got to the end of nightmare/beginning of hell and hit a rut in dps weapons. The game actually does start to get frustratingly hard if your undergeared at a certain point.

And me and nekk are not playing hardcore.

Yeah, later difficulties I can see it occurring, started to for me in Nightmare Act 2, but I chalk my difficulty up as being more than most since of the FPS issue. If it wasn't for that I'd have a much easier time, like noticing tells faster etc.

The butcher is the hardest boss for me due to the intense lag, and when he charges across the room, he pauses stunned in the middle of the room, then teleports to where he technically should be lol, so it's a bitch.

My question now is, how does everyone handle their gems? Do they mostly combine them into higher forms since now you can remove them?

Or do people still find it beneficial to use lesser versions of the gems in socketed? I have a shit ton of gems I have yet to combine still, since I'm not sure if I want to just yet or not.

[Liagala]

I combine them all. If I had an overabundance of socketed gear I might leave a couple in smaller form just because crap gem > no gem, but I haven't found that to be a problem. It may have helped some that a friend's brother came in one day and dropped a bunch of radiant-whatever gems on the ground for said friend and I to use.

[Gizmo]

I combine them all. If I had an overabundance of socketed gear I might leave a couple in smaller form just because crap gem > no gem, but I haven't found that to be a problem. It may have helped some that a friend's brother came in one day and dropped a bunch of radiant-whatever gems on the ground for said friend and I to use.

Gotcha. Yeah I wasn't sure if I should combine them or not, I figured combining them > not combining since now you can remove the gems without losing them.

Side note, has anyone tried to salvage an item with a gem in it? Do you get the gem back still or did they fix that?

[Ashliana]

You do get the gem back when you salvage a socketed item with a gem in it.

[Marl]

Fyi if you want a taste of hell difficulty amd you are in nm...make the nm pony level. Pretty tough (supposedly like hell a1/a2) and drops are great!!!

[Some Rogue]

On hardcore?

Yes, I beat the game. It's over.


Or, I was poking fun at TheE.

[Gizmo]

You do get the gem back when you salvage a socketed item with a gem in it.

Awesome, good to know

[Tgo01]

My question now is, how does everyone handle their gems? Do they mostly combine them into higher forms since now you can remove them?

I was pretty obsessive with combining my gems as soon as possible to replace them in my gear. But looking back I realized that was probably a waste of gold because to go from a chipped gem to a radiant gem costs 8,000 gold plus 3 pages of jewelcrafting (not to mention 3 types of gems per upgrade and how much you could sell those for) and once you reach nightmare flawless and perfect gems drop all the time and in hell radiant gems drop like candy. Also the difference in vitality for example between the radiant version and the flawed version is only 16, the 8,000+ gold could be better spent buying upgrades.

[TheEschaton]

I guess I need to play the AH a bit (though beginning of nightmare, don't know if it's worth it). I've been salvaging all my rares as well. I never liked playing the AH in WoW and that was with an addon to help me price shit, I don't know that I'll be able to stomach a straight up auction house.

Also, I'll try and catch up while you guys are raiding tonight....eh, eh? I got home from work early today, yay.

[Loyrl]

I keep mine spread out, because I use a lot of them on my 3 chars. Also I have lost a lot of them because I kept a few in my inventory on my barb when he died .

[TheEschaton]

Also, Blizzard has always done maintenance on Tuesdays. And it's always been around 8 hours-ish. I don't know if they'd planned on doing regular maintenance for Diablo since there's a lot less MMO aspects to it, but with all the server tech they've put into it, maybe so.

[Gizmo]

Also, Blizzard has always done maintenance on Tuesdays. And it's always been around 8 hours-ish. I don't know if they'd planned on doing regular maintenance for Diablo since there's a lot less MMO aspects to it, but with all the server tech they've put into it, maybe so.

I've been playing fine all day, with the occasional rubber banding here and there. And I'm on wireless too which doesn't help my cause

[Fallen]

Eh, I would advise people to avoid the AH for their Normal playthrough. I just spent 10k and probably 3xed my DPS, doubled my health, etc. Completely unbalances the game. I'll head back there once I get stuck on a higher difficulty.

[Kuyuk]

What I hate is that I get bored after about 30 mins of playing, but I cant stop and save and take a break, I have to get to the next checkpoint otherwise I have to do the same shit over again.

[TheEschaton]

It sounds like you don't like this game very much. I don't know why I think that, though.

[SHAFT]

The auction house is completely maddening. They need to fix the bugs quickly. It's almost impossible to use

[Tgo01]

The auction house is completely maddening. They need to fix the bugs quickly. It's almost impossible to use

What's wrong with it?

[SHAFT]

What's wrong with it?

Buggy. Items that are completed won't go to my stash, I try to buy items and get nothing but error messages, pages not loading...

[TheEschaton]

I occasionally have problems posting an item. But not with retrieving a bought item. You went to the "Completed" tab and transferred the items to your stash, right?

[Sean of the Thread]

Just found time to finish it on normal.

I swear I've constantly been screwed on loot and holy shit is act iii long as fuck.

[Deathravin]

Act 1 is the longest I think - or at least it feels that way.

[Drisco]

I got to level 60 and now I'm just completely bored. Really what is there to do besides get better gear, only to complete the same game over and over again.

I know they are holding back on Arena at the moment but I don't think that will have a huge hold. I'll be curious to see what they will do to keep the game interesting.

[Some Rogue]

Really what is there to do besides get better gear, only to complete the same game over and over again.


That's what Diablo is. Why did so many people expect this one to be different?

[Loyrl]

Grinding gear, and destroying stuff is what Diablo is. With out the thrill of hardcore, I can't play it.

[Atlanteax]

I started up a Monk in Hardcore, I'm interested to see how far I can get thru Nightmare with him. I'll consider it surpassing expectations if I can get him into Hell.

I noticed that normal characters has "total time played" figures ... but hardcore do not. Probably because in hardcore, you only get one chance.

[Ashliana]

Nightmare isn't that hard if you're properly equipped, which you can easily do through the AH. I can see making through that on Hardcore. Hell, on the other hand, is when you'll start to get regularly roflstomped by unlucky combinations of mob attributes. Ones that pull you into the middle of them, surround you, freeze you, etc.

Don't quote me, but I doubt it's possible to reach the end of Inferno on Hardcore without some major game mechanics abuse. Even with 50k+ health, Diamondskin on (+20k) and lots of armor/resistances, you can still get one-shot.

Side note: Blizzard stealth-nerfed the no vitality Force Armor build, which has a lot of the Inferno-running wizards raging on the forum. So much for that. Sadface.

[g++]

I would probably be instantly bored with this game as well if not for the friends list ported from world of warcraft. I think they expect level 60 to essentially be like raiding where you team up with some friends and kill difficult sections of inferno.

Its a decent game without the multiplayer aspect but I think multiplayer is important to keep the game interesting.

Im also going to start a monk I think, they look pretty fun. I don't think I am going to make a hardcore character until I get through inferno on normal though.

[Loyrl]

They are also nerfing a monk skill, not sure what it does since I have never played one.

http://www.diablofans.com/

Monk Nerfed, More Hotfixes to be Listed Tomorrow
Blizzard has been actively hotfixing spells the last few days, some are reporting a hotfix on Force Armor on the official forums. Bashiok has just posted confirming a massive nerf on Boon of Protection

[SHAFT]

I occasionally have problems posting an item. But not with retrieving a bought item. You went to the "Completed" tab and transferred the items to your stash, right?

Yeah it kept saying cannot move item to stash. What was really irritating was I found a killer deal on a helm I needed and every time I tried to buy it I got error messages or the transaction timed out. I log off and come back on to see of that helps and the item was sold.

Thought I'd log in to see if anything I tried to do last night went through and the AH is down. Hopefully they're fixing it

[Tgo01]

I don't know how other classes play but I've noticed a two handed weapon is much more difficult to get by with on act 4 hell with a witch doctor. A good 1 handed weapon and shield with intelligence can do almost as much damage but you get a lot more damage reduction.

I'm actually kind of kicking myself now because I sold armor that had 70 life/sec, 15 to all resistances, 2 sockets, another 15 to physical resistance and it was something like +400 armor, it easily had the highest amount of armor on the AH. I sold it because it had strength but no intelligence but now I realize the defense it would have given me would have more than made up for that. It sold in less than 10 minutes for 200k, wonder how much I could have gotten for it.

[g++]

Looks like the nerf to force armor is that it will not stop a hit that is 2x your max health anymore.

[Deathravin]

Started up a Hardcore Demon Hunter last night. Almost ready to finish Act I... I'm sort of worried about facing the butcher, so I think I'll run some quests a few extra times to get a couple levels over where I should be.

I haven't had any close calls yet, but I can say all special mobs take on a whole new aspect now, and it's only been a day. I can't imagine what it will feel like when I'm on a boss in Inferno at 15 health after weeks of work. Honestly I'm more worried about dying from server issues than anything else. That seems to be the vast consensus on the forums.

ANYWAY, I'd probably be willing to re-run Act I if anybody wants a Chaperone through it on Hardcore so I can get a few buffer levels and check off the accomplishments for a group run.

I didn't see before that hand-crossbows let you use a shield as well, so it looks like I'm a hand-crossbow user now. I think the huge defense boost is well worth the quiver loss.

[Deathravin]

heh - spoiler-free review of Diablo 3

http://i.imgur.com/8xIjv.jpg

[Drisco]

That's what Diablo is. Why did so many people expect this one to be different?


Grinding gear, and destroying stuff is what Diablo is. With out the thrill of hardcore, I can't play it.

I guess you are right. I just thought that Blizzard would take notice of the advancements made in MMO's and realize that the D2 model would be lackluster in comparison to what is available in today's gaming market.

I personally thought there would be more when they announced they would be doing Arena's in Diablo 3.

Eh it's not for everyone I guess!

[SpiffyJr]

I guess you are right. I just thought that Blizzard would take notice of the advancements made in MMO's and realize that the D2 model would be lackluster in comparison to what is available in today's gaming market.

I personally thought there would be more when they announced they would be doing Arena's in Diablo 3.

Eh it's not for everyone I guess!

Diablo not being an MMO is precisely why it's so fucking awesome.

[Tgo01]

Diablo not being an MMO is precisely why it's so fucking awesome.

Exactly. WoW was fun for a couple of years but quite frankly I've had my fill of needing to get 25 people together for a raid and having raid times and needing a party of at least five to get anything worthwhile done. It's nice to be able to just log on and kill shit and have a chance to get that über awesome sword of doom you've been wanting.

[TheEschaton]

I am going through Nightmare slow as hell - I just finished Act I last night. Did you guys skip mobs/dungeons to finish NM?

Also, I've been farming the staff of herding mats since I got the plans off my first kill of Izual. So far:

2 runs of Cath level 1 (post me-actually-looking-for-it) for the black mushroom
3 runs for Leoric's shinbone.

Now for the hard ones.

[Gizmo]

I am going through Nightmare slow as hell - I just finished Act I last night. Did you guys skip mobs/dungeons to finish NM?

Also, I've been farming the staff of herding mats since I got the plans off my first kill of Izual. So far:

2 runs of Cath level 1 (post me-actually-looking-for-it) for the black mushroom
3 runs for Leoric's shinbone.

Now for the hard ones.

I went thru Act 1 myself on NM while hitting up every corner of every map etc...As of now, my newer barb that I basically recreated once I beat the game on normal and understood how things worked, is just about done Act 1 on NM again.

If you want, we can always party up sometime. I've been flying solo alot and it gets kinda lonely!

Gizmo#1268

[Tgo01]

For the most part I skipped everything and went straight for bosses in NM and hell. Things didn't start to get too difficult for me until act 3 in hell so might as well get to inferno as fast as possible to start getting end game loot. If you hit a wall and are having a hard time progressing just buy upgrades from the AH, you get plenty of gold from quests and killing stuff to get to bosses.

[SHAFT]

Anyone making a serious run at Hardcore?

[Fallen]

Anyone making a serious run at Hardcore?

I just restarted my Barbarian with Hardcore. The game is far more enjoyable when your ass is on the line every second. I will be playing on this mode until I die, which hopefully wont be for a while. I've already had to make a few hasty retreats as I am not grinding much in the attempt to catch back up to my old character. The Butcher is tricky, though, so I will likely grind a bit before tackling him again.

I've decided No AH until Nightmare.

[Some Rogue]

Slaughtering the unicorns and teddy bears in Whimsyshire was fun. I just need to grind some cash now to upgrade the staff.

[Taernath]

A friend of mine got 3 legendaries over the course of 2 days, all while I was in game with him.

I'M NOT JEALOUS AT ALL

[TheEschaton]

Found a 120.7 dps polearm (level 40) with 80 something vitality on it, if someone wants it. Has an empty socket too, so it'd probably be around 130, which is pretty damn good at 40 I believe.

[Numbers]

I have a level 13 demon hunter, and everything you guys are talking about sounds like chinese to me.

[Rimalon]

Softcore doesn't count.

Fallen: if you're finally being a man and trying Hardcore, hit me up. I have plenty of gear to hand down. My tag is cokephone #1478. We should be real ID friends anyway, REMEMBER WHEN WE USED TO PLAY RESIDENT EVIL 4?!

My highest are my 47 Monk and 45 Wizard, both farming act 3 at the moment and feeling pretty safe. Azmodan might be a stretch at this point. I really need Dan/Gnimble's barb to tank, he's got insane life and sustain.

Here's the thing about hardcore, folks: don't be a hero. Stack vitality. Use defensive abilties. Use a shield. Simple things, but people who are used to building normal seem to have no clue about how to build a character who cannot die.

[TheEschaton]

Softcore doesn't count.

Fallen: if you're finally being a man and trying Hardcore, hit me up. I have plenty of gear to hand down. My tag is cokephone #1478. We should be real ID friends anyway, REMEMBER WHEN WE USED TO PLAY RESIDENT EVIL 4?!

My highest are my 47 Monk and 45 Wizard, both farming act 3 at the moment and feeling pretty safe. Azmodan might be a stretch at this point. I really need Dan/Gnimble's barb to tank, he's got insane life and sustain.

Here's the thing about hardcore, folks: don't be a hero. Stack vitality. Use defensive abilties. Use a shield. Simple things, but people who are used to building normal seem to have no clue about how to build a character who cannot die.

I consider softcore to be a scouting report. I'll do hardcore eventually, but I do my research first. IE, how do I handle the vortex/waller/fast/molten elite packs in Hardcore Inferno? Best way will be to learn it on softcore.

[Deathravin]

How to handle everything: RUN AWAY! slow them down, shoot from a distance, stay out of range.

[g++]

Avoiding them entirely is probably the only option for champ's. If you think you can out-skill or learn getting gibbed by champs that have certain mixes your kidding yourself. Any champ will teleport and molten, or pull molten, or jailer/morter....they are pretty much impossible to solo without dying.

[g++]

For instance right now in hell act II im fighting champion wasps that have fire chains, teleport, health link.....one unlucky teleport and no amount of survival will save you, you just die. On hardcore I dont know how your deal with that.

[Loyrl]

Hardcore 46 WD a3 NM
HC 37~ barb a2 nm
hc 31 dh a4 normal

[SpiffyJr]

Just finished Hell. I managed to find a 640 DPS weapon I'm using which can basically two/three shot everything in Hell. I'm only 59 still so I can't do Inferno but I can't see how a hardcore character can make it through some of the later packs. If you get a double rare spawn that's nasty what do you do, just run away?

Once I get through inferno I'll be doing a hardcore character.

[g++]

Just finished Hell. I managed to find a 640 DPS weapon I'm using which can basically two/three shot everything in Hell. I'm only 59 still so I can't do Inferno but I can't see how a hardcore character can make it through some of the later packs. If you get a double rare spawn that's nasty what do you do, just run away?

Once I get through inferno I'll be doing a hardcore character.


Very nice, I have not found an upgrade to a single piece of equipment since nightmare actII. Not an exaggeration. Every single piece of loot I get is either a shitty poorly itemized blue or a rare demon hunter piece. Slightly irritating but good to know it is possible to find nice things.

[Deathravin]

Maybe your stuff is just that good...

[g++]

lol yah, brb getting camped by spiders.

[Gizmo]

lol yah, brb getting camped by spiders.

Spiders and god damn wasps..

[Atlanteax]

Those wasps are horrible for melee classes.

[Deathravin]

http://i.imgur.com/hsINP.gif

NOVA

[TheEschaton]

Nova (with shatter, imo) is the only way to deal with anything that swarms, like spiders. Holy shit I get gibbed by those motherfuckers if I don't have nova up.

[Some Rogue]

Ha, just had a pack of blazing construct type, 5 minions and the Champion, they were telporters, nightmare and threw the fireballs at your feet. I think it took me 15 minutes to kite them around and whittle them down as a monk. Finally get all but the champion dead and I got the debuff for taking too long and started taking damage over time. It killed me with the Champion at a sliver health. I was ready to punch my monitor.

[Some Rogue]

Also, demon hunters need to be deleted from the game so I stop getting so many fucking quivers and crossbows.

[TheEschaton]

Those fucking mortars give me nightmares. If I'm lucky I can diamond skin in time, but I'm usually still trying to mouse over and read their abilities while I'm getting gibbed because the fucking templar can't keep it in his fucking pants and just rushes in like a retard.

[g++]

Nova (with shatter, imo) is the only way to deal with anything that swarms, like spiders. Holy shit I get gibbed by those motherfuckers if I don't have nova up.

I had to switch nova out for blizzard, just because blizzard has no cooldown. Nova buys you 3 seconds but that only works if the 3 seconds actually allow you to do something meaningful, when the champs have 200k+ life and their minions have 120k+ each...it just buys 3 seconds before your dead.

[Some Rogue]

Those fucking mortars give me nightmares. If I'm lucky I can diamond skin in time, but I'm usually still trying to mouse over and read their abilities while I'm getting gibbed because the fucking templar can't keep it in his fucking pants and just rushes in like a retard.


A MIGHTY FOE!

[Deathravin]

Can we find more like that?

[subzero]

Sure would be nice if he'd just take an arrow to the knee already. Decided not to bring a follower along on the Nightmare run. Had the Templar for heals the first run through, but aside from maybe once or twice, they weren't really needed. Maybe with the 4 dogs and 1 garg he seemed more useless than he might otherwise be. Guess I'll be finding out soon enough.

[Drew]

Why not take the enchantress for DPS?

[subzero]

I want to see if I can actually notice a difference with the lack of a follower, I guess.

[Gizmo]

I want to see if I can actually notice a difference with the lack of a follower, I guess.

Been running nightmare solo, including bosses on my Barb.

Almost done act 3 now....It's a pretty huge feat I think considering I get like 10 FPS during most shit on this AMAZING laptop...And my awesome 1200 ping these past few days thanks to the downpours and storms

After the fucking holidays, I'm building a new rig so I can actually enjoy further my D3 playing without watching my Frenzy Barb swing as slow as Warclaidhm is..

[Tgo01]

I've been reading on the official forums that barbarians have a difficult time in inferno, more than any other class apparently. Anyone have a barbarian in inferno? I've seen barbarians in normal through hell and they seemed overpowered if anything, hard to believe they're weak in inferno.

[TheEschaton]

Those people are just idiots who don't want to use shields and rune for regen.

Also, found my first legendary today, a bow. Fuck demon hunters.

[Androidpk]

I've been reading on the official forums that barbarians have a difficult time in inferno, more than any other class apparently. Anyone have a barbarian in inferno? I've seen barbarians in normal through hell and they seemed overpowered if anything, hard to believe they're weak in inferno.

I've seen videos on youtube that show otherwise so it must be true.

[Liagala]

There's a video on diablofans.com about a guy who stacked gear with the Thorns stat on it - The Butcher one-shotted himself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ETdZXzmmcrk

[Tgo01]

The Butcher on normal only has 5000 health? Man he seemed so hard back then.

[Gizmo]

There's a video on diablofans.com about a guy who stacked gear with the Thorns stat on it - The Butcher one-shotted himself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ETdZXzmmcrk

Yeah, and the dude doing Butcher on Normal was like level 50 or 60...

[Liagala]

Yeah, and the dude doing Butcher on Normal was like level 50 or 60...
Yeah, but he never touched the boss. He didn't even have a weapon equipped. Obviously the extra levels were required to get enough gear to do that with, but the only damage the boss took was reflected from his own attack.

[Tgo01]

Witch Doctors have a passive that gives their pets the thorns damage the character has, I wanted to try a serious build with that in inferno, let them beat up my minions and kill themselves. I'm sure thorns are severely nerfed in inferno though.

[Xzean]

It isn't that thorns are nerfed it is that the HP totals are so fucking insane thorns wouldn't put a dent in them.

[Tgo01]

It isn't that thorns are nerfed it is that the HP totals are so fucking insane thorns wouldn't put a dent in them.

I don't know about that. In act 1 the normal mobs have around 60k-100k life, if I could get my thorns up to 3k or 4k that's actually a pretty significant chunk of their life they are taking away from themselves with each hit. Of course I would have to make sure the items have more than just thorns on them, but as a bonus it would be pretty kick ass.

[Xzean]

I'd bet (but obviously can't yet tell) that it would be hard to get the vit needed to consistently be hit.

Does thorns activate on a dodge? If so, a monk dodge tank build would benefit a ton from this.

[Androidpk]

5 Reasons 'Diablo III' Represents Gaming's Annoying Future


http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-diablo-iii-represents-gamings-annoying-future/

[Taernath]

Spoiler: the five reasons are all the same reason.

[Tgo01]

I'd bet (but obviously can't yet tell) that it would be hard to get the vit needed to consistently be hit.

As I said I would have my pets take all the damage though.

[Liagala]

True, but the beauty of Cracked is that no matter what you just read, there are at least 3-5 really interesting-looking links to other lists at the top or bottom of the article.

[TheEschaton]

From that article:

"The more I played, the more I realized that my cynicism was for nothing. I was just being a whiny child, complaining about change."

The guy sounds like an entitled 12 year old brat screaming and banging his fists and generally throwing a tantrum. He acknowledges that 1) piracy is a problem, and 2) Blizzard has the right to combat piracy, but somehow he wants that to not affect his gaming. Guess what, fuckhole (pun intended), piracy has now affected your gaming. He expects them to spend more resources to make an offline-only mode where he can name his toons Fuckhole and Cuntblaster and not get server connect issues, to not affect his gaming. If he didn't mention his son and ex-wife, I would actually think Cracked WAS allowing 12 year olds to write their articles. Ironically, his choice of names is apropos.

[Androidpk]

From that article:

"The more I played, the more I realized that my cynicism was for nothing. I was just being a whiny child, complaining about change."

The guy sounds like an entitled 12 year old brat screaming and banging his fists and generally throwing a tantrum. He acknowledges that 1) piracy is a problem, and 2) Blizzard has the right to combat piracy, but somehow he wants that to not affect his gaming. Guess what, fuckhole (pun intended), piracy has now affected your gaming. He expects them to spend more resources to make an offline-only mode where he can name his toons Fuckhole and Cuntblaster and not get server connect issues, to not affect his gaming. If he didn't mention his son and ex-wife, I would actually think Cracked WAS allowing 12 year olds to write their articles. Ironically, his choice of names is apropos.

If you think the only way combating piracy is by this method you are mistaken. If you think this is going to stop piracy you are mistaken. If I buy a $60 singleplayer game that has multiplayer components I want to be able to play it when I want to.

[AnticorRifling]

If you buy a 60 dollar singleplayer game that you know, prior to buying it, must remain connected to play, but you still buy it and then bitch about having to remain connected to play you should probably play in traffic.

[Androidpk]

If you buy a 60 dollar singleplayer game that you know, prior to buying it, must remain connected to play, but you still buy it and then bitch about having to remain connected to play you should probably play in traffic.

If the servers didn't suck so much you probably wouldn't see as many people complain about it.

[TheEschaton]

That's also discussed in the article. You don't buy servers to contain the capacity on launch. You buy servers to contain the capacity down the road. It's a week and a half post-launch and I haven't had any server connection problems in the last 8 days. Launch day is just going to suck, and accepting that is the sign of a mature, reasonable person. Throwing a shit fit is, well, the sign of a child.

Also, how would you combat piracy, Mr. anti-piracy genius? Because LAN connectivity in D2 apparently caused all sorts of piracy issues. Not put a multiplayer option in at all?

[TheEschaton]

Also, I'm pretty sure their method will be pretty effective. Like someone already said, monster AI is largely server side, as is your "hero list". Any pirated copy will have to somehow access that and make private, pirate servers which I'm sure Blizzard will be looking pretty hard for. You're just on your individualist "FUCK EVERYONE ELSE" mentality. I call it your Ron Paul persona.

P.S. That's not a compliment.

[Androidpk]

You're just on your individualist "FUCK EVERYONE ELSE" mentality. I call it your Ron Paul persona.


:lol:

Right..

[TheEschaton]

Answer me this, then:

1) Diablo players want multiplayer PvP.
2) Blizzard doesn't want people pirating their game, hacking their systems, etc.

How do you combat piracy in a game with multiplayer capacity with a non-"primarily server side" method? I'm not asking for you to stamp out piracy completely, that'll never happen (yet you think that just because piracy can happen under this model, they shouldn't do it at all). Cause I'm pretty sure the guys at Blizzard are pretty smart, and they thought this was the best way to do it. I'd love to hear your suggestions. Because every time I hear people say "this isn't the way to fight piracy!!!!" I ask them what the way is - and people either have no answer, or that companies should trust people to not pirate their shit.

Guess what, companies have trusted people to not pirate their shit for the last, oh, 30 years. And that trust has largely been ridiculed by the gaming community, and this is the backlash. GG.

[Androidpk]

And that trust has largely been ridiculed by the gaming community, and this is the backlash. GG.

So because some people in the gaming community engage in piracy companies need to enforce heavy handed measures that probably aren't going to be met with much success?

I'm not sure what could be done to prevent piracy because frankly I don't think it is something that can be stopped entirely, at least not at this point. A good starting point though would be to go after the big torrent sites that exist, have them shut down, along with having the operators face criminal charges.

As far as piracy on the user level goes you could implement (and this has been done before) authentication checks. If the game determines an illegitimate copy is being run it could punish the user by causing game errors or place a huge watermark over the screen that obstructs everything.

tl:dr - Punish the people that pirate, not everyone.


I like how you say I'm the one that says fuck everyone else. Yet it sounds like you're the one saying that because a week after launch you aren't having any issues. Tons of people, including myself, are still having latency issues. I know it's not my network causing problems yet most of the time I try to play my latency hovers between 1500 and 2000 ms. Can you say rubber band?

[AnticorRifling]

How would you punish those pirates and servers? Under who's authority/juristiction?

[Back]

So because some people in the gaming community engage in piracy companies need to enforce heavy handed measures that probably aren't going to be met with much success?

In short, yes. Ever wonder why we can't all run around with pistols on our hips? Its because a few idiots ruined it for the rest of us responsible people.

[TheEschaton]

Blizzard can't "go after" torrent sites. Even our own government has trouble with that. The beauty of the internet is that it's easy to be anonymous, which also means they can relocate and set up shop anywhere else very easily. Also, torrent sites are user-generated in terms of content, meaning literally all the people who run the site have to do is provide the peer to peer framework.

So what option is Blizzard left with? They have to do what they can on their end, and pursue legal claims vigorously (which still takes a long ass time).

Also, "a huge watermark" over the screen? Authentication checks? Short of issuing (or requiring) people to have random number generating authenticators for everyone who buys the game, those can be hacked around.

Oh, and if I have 13 ms latency and no rubber banding, is it Blizzard's server that's at fault for your connection? Cause I live only 200 miles closer to their servers than you do, and it's still all the way across the damn country.

[Androidpk]

In short, yes. Ever wonder why we can't all run around with pistols on our hips? Its because a few idiots ruined it for the rest of us responsible people.

Might want to check yourself before you wreck yourself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_carry_in_the_United_States

[Back]

Might want to check yourself before you wreck yourself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_carry_in_the_United_States

Way to wiki. I used that as a general example on why a few people ruin things for the rest of us. That was the point.

[Androidpk]

Blizzard can't "go after" torrent sites. Even our own government has trouble with that. The beauty of the internet is that it's easy to be anonymous, which also means they can relocate and set up shop anywhere else very easily. Also, torrent sites are user-generated in terms of content, meaning literally all the people who run the site have to do is provide the peer to peer framework.

So what option is Blizzard left with? They have to do what they can on their end, and pursue legal claims vigorously (which still takes a long ass time).

Also, "a huge watermark" over the screen? Authentication checks? Short of issuing (or requiring) people to have random number generating authenticators for everyone who buys the game, those can be hacked around.

Oh, and if I have 13 ms latency and no rubber banding, is it Blizzard's server that's at fault for your connection? Cause I live only 200 miles closer to their servers than you do, and it's still all the way across the damn country.

I wasn't suggesting Blizzard go after the pirates. Just like if someone were to walk into a store and steal a physical copy of the game it wouldn't be up the maker of said game to go after that criminal.

I would assume it is Blizzard's game server causing the issue. I have a fast and reliable internet connection. Heck I was able to download the game in around 15 minutes.

[subzero]

Guess what, companies have trusted people to not pirate their shit for the last, oh, 30 years. And that trust has largely been ridiculed by the gaming community, and this is the backlash. GG.

You talkin about the same industry that rakes in money comparable to, if not more than, that of the movie industry? I get the whole piracy thing, but these guys aren't exactly hurting like that statement of yours seems to indicate.

[TheEschaton]

We live in a capitalist society. If people pay it, they can price it how they want. This game had the highest pre-orders ever (even with the full disclosure of how the game was going to work vis a vis server connection), and has 6 million copies active week 1. Furthermore, it's their intellectual property, they have a right to make people pay for it. That's life in a capitalist country.

Now, the socialist in me would love if they would lower their price points to make it affordable for everyone, but hey, I live in the U.S. Luckily, my socialism is sensible, and only kicks in for necessary things, like health care, which I think should be affordable and subsidized. If Blizzard provided health care, I'd be railing against them for high-priced product delivered poorly, but luckily they only make games that I like to play.

[Drew]

If the system worked correctly people wouldn't be complaining.

[TheEschaton]

Believe me, I'm the most liberal, socialist person on these boards and i completely concur that the capitalist system doesn't work. I'm arguing the devil's advocate position, the one I assume y'all subscribe to, of liking capitalism. ;)

You make change through your wallets. If you don't like the game, don't buy it. Don't buy any games that does shit you don't like. Unfortunately for you, the complaints aren't founded in reality enough for people to not buy the game even at $60. I sure as hell wouldn't have bought it at $60, I got it for free, but that's because I had no attachment to the series.

so the question is: is there anything worth boycotting the game over? IF so, then Blizzard should feel it on their bottom line and strive to make a better profit. Theoretically, the system will then work its magic.

[Androidpk]

You make change through your wallets. If you don't like the game, don't buy it. Don't buy any games that does shit you don't like. Unfortunately for you, the complaints aren't founded in reality enough for people to not buy the game even at $60. I sure as hell wouldn't have bought it at $60, I got it for free, but that's because I had no attachment to the series.

I haven't purchased the game yet and will not until either there is an offline mode or the servers improve.

Didn't you get the game for buying the yearlong WoW pass or am I thinking of someone else here.

[TheEschaton]

Most of us who play WoW got it that way. Anticor, Lia, me, Some Rogue, g++....but the annual pass was merely paying for something I was already going to pay for anyways.

[Androidpk]

E, how would feel about a government mandated ID system for online access where anyone that wants to surf the web needs to swipe a common access card first?

[TheEschaton]

Like I said, important things.

[Androidpk]

Like I said, important things.

Huh? You asked me for ways of combating piracy and I suggested going after the pirates. To which you retorted..



Blizzard can't "go after" torrent sites. Even our own government has trouble with that. The beauty of the internet is that it's easy to be anonymous, which also means they can relocate and set up shop anywhere else very easily. Also, torrent sites are user-generated in terms of content, meaning literally all the people who run the site have to do is provide the peer to peer framework.

An ID system for online use would cut out all the piracy, or at least make it so people are more easily held accountable for their illegal online activities. Piracy is a pretty serious issue resulting in the loss of billions of dollars each year but now a few posts later you flop and say it's not important?

I'm not trying to be inflammatory, I just wanted to know your opinion on said subject you asked me about.

[Alfster]

This thread took an unexpected turn.

[TheEschaton]

I don't think national ID systems with biometrics and/or tracking (IE swiping) are good in any way, shape, or form, least of all to combat online piracy/internet usage. That's called infringing on a right.

I said "important things only" on the assumption you thought my socialist tendencies would support collectivist thought in regard to a national ID system.

[Androidpk]

Last time I checked access to the internet wasn't a right.

[Gizmo]

Still debating if I want to go 2 weapons, or One handed and Shield.

If I went one hander and shield my survival rates right now are probably going to be higher due to my lack of otherwise high armor/resist items etc.

But at the same time, 2 weapons can deal some crazy DPS. I never saw a need myself for two handers, even if they have high DPS...You are sacrificing another item in your off hand by using them I think

[Androidpk]

But at the same time, 2 weapons can deal some crazy DPS. I never saw a need myself for two handers, even if they have high DPS...You are sacrificing another item in your off hand by using them I think

I'd say you would need a really awesome legendary two hander in order to make up for the shield/offhand loss.

[TheEschaton]

Privacy is a right, and swiping an access card to do something is the opposite of privacy.

Are you trying to argue for licensing to use the internet? Like a driver's license? My concerns would be:

1) there's no legitimate concern with "having the necessary skill" to operate the internet, thus no legitimate public good that outweighs the detriment of encroaching people's privacy in this way (which is, I think, the legal standard any national ID system would be scrutinized under).
2) Licensing in general is a state issue.
3) It is subject to fraud, like real licensing, thus at least partially negating any real anti-piracy/internet accountability benefit from licensing.
4) The internet itself is set up to easily allow masking of one's identity. If you're in a car with/without a DL, it's easy enough to see when you're doing something outside of the permissions granted by that license. If you're on the internet, even with a legitimate ID, it's too easy to mask your illegitimate activities so that actions cannot be readily attributed to the license user.

[Gizmo]

I'd say you would need a really awesome legendary two hander in order to make up for the shield/offhand loss.

Yeah I agree with you on that one.

I'm pondering going back to a 2 weapon build now that I'm in Hell and clearly need to grind for gear as it stands with my current build.

So I may as well switch things up again now that my other build lasted me flawlessly thru Nightmare to hell

[Androidpk]

Privacy is a right, and swiping an access card to do something is the opposite of privacy.

Are you trying to argue for licensing to use the internet? Like a driver's license? My concerns would be:

Definitely not arguing for it, mainly just brainstorming for anti-piracy prevention ideas. Privacy as a right is a nice idea but I don't believe it exists on the internet, at least not as much as you would hope it would. With collusion between government agencies such as CIA and NSA and companies like Microsoft and Google I find it a little hard to believe that our privacy is completely private.

#Captain Tangent

[TheEschaton]

Fair enough, but then the onus rests on the government to enforce anti-piracy, and that technology already "exists" in a non-official, secret way.

What then can Blizzard do other than make their game as anti-pirate-able on their end?

[subzero]

Last time I checked access to the internet wasn't a right.

I don't have to swipe any cards or ID myself if I step into a library to read something or stand on a street corner and speak my mind. We have the right to freedom of speech, press, etc, and the internet in many ways is an extension of this.

[Androidpk]

We have a freedom of speech yes but the internet is a tool. Is owning a cell phone a right too?

[Drisco]

Have been Soloing (DemonHunter) with my Templar buddy up to Inferno Act II. I'm now sure I need help or have to farm gear for a lot longer.

I'm sick of getting level sub 60 gear on everything. I did not get a single upgrade all through Act I. Bah!


I did however just start my Female Wizard who is now level 15. I was ecstatic when I found out the voice over was Princess Azula from Avatar Airbender. It makes everything better.

[Tgo01]

Have been Soloing (DemonHunter) with my Templar buddy up to Inferno Act II. I'm now sure I need help or have to farm gear for a lot longer.

I'm sick of getting level sub 60 gear on everything. I did not get a single upgrade all through Act I. Bah!

Yeah the loot in inferno act 1 was laughable. I started doing hell act 4 runs, easier, faster, the loot is comparable and about the same amount of gold.

[subzero]

We have a freedom of speech yes but the internet is a tool. Is owning a cell phone a right too?

No, we don't necessarily have a right to own any particular tool. What does that have to do with the governing of other rights that may be expressed with those tools? Right to use the internet or a phone or not, we have the right to speak as we choose. There are no laws that require a person to identify themselves when they speak, be it via telephone, internet, or street corner.

[Androidpk]

No, we don't necessarily have a right to own any particular tool. What does that have to do with the governing of other rights that may be expressed with those tools? Right to use the internet or a phone or not, we have the right to speak as we choose. There are no laws that require a person to identify themselves when they speak, be it via telephone, internet, or street corner.

Meh, I'll create a separate thread for this subject later.

[Parkbandit]

AH is the greatest thing ever. I went from average to pretty much unbreakable on my level 30 barbarian. 260 dps, 58% damage reduction and 5800 health. And that's with a shitty level 8 ring and 2 blues.

[TheEschaton]

5800 health is only 2k less than what my wizard has at level 50, lol. You need to catch up btw, I'm too far behind Nekk and Pjaay to do Hell with them and Anticor tends to fall asleep around 9.

Oh wait, you probably do too.

[TheEschaton]

Yeah the loot in inferno act 1 was laughable. I started doing hell act 4 runs, easier, faster, the loot is comparable and about the same amount of gold.

I bet you the Hell level Whimsyshire stuff would be good to farm. Gear wise, the secret level is supposed to be post Act IV. The map is always the same I believe, too, just a random spawn location. Plus you get to kill ponies.

I'mma farm the rest of the staff tonight, I already have the cash needed to make the normal version. Just need two more components.