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[Alchemy]

Except a big difference is that this game is an extremely linear yellow WoW exclamation mark quest based game in 2012 that leads players to believe that 'if I've made it this far, I should be able to keep going.' There's not even a WoW style quest color system that says, "Oh shit, this area is RED or ORANGE, I might need to figure something else out before I go further."

You can't blame players for that--Blizzard designed a linear game with hardly any randomization that doesn't at all indicate that you ought to be required to spend more time in an area before you move on.

The whole game is a point to point escort quest funneled along a very narrow corridor. It's not a player's fault that they think they should be able to progress since the game very actively placed them in that position and directed them to move forward.

You can't absolve them of sins they are making today and say that "D2 was like that"--and then when someone wants a different aspect to be more D2 like, turn around and say, "Well, this isn't D2 anymore, sorry."

Pretty sure dying over and over is a good indication that you need something better to move on. Unless you're playing hardcore, death isn't even that big an issue in games like these.

Do you expect Blizzard to put up signs detailing what the minimum item level requirements are for harder difficulties? Or that maybe as a Barb they shouldn't be stacking intelligence as much as they are?

 

[Noirulus]

If only they 'hotfix' vault to not have that stupid delay.

"Here's your 'oh' button."

"'Oh'?"

"Ya, we were going to call it an 'Oh shit!' button, but you need to press it prior to realizing you're in deep shit, else you won't move in time."

"Oh."

"Exactly!"

Yeah the delay is bad enough that you'll more than likely get hit before you vault away from the enemy. Still helpful but they really should fix the animation.

 

[Thoraxes]

Man, that shit is nostalgic . . .

Welp, now i'm gonna go spend 23 minutes-ish and rewatch (and nostalgia all over) the Nihilum vs. Illidan video when they got the world first Illidan kill.

 

[scy]

I had. Displacement is also significantly nerfed by this: a 35% run speed buff for 1 second is much worse than a 35% run speed buff for 2 seconds.

At least Tactical Advantage still gives the full movement speed buff. I guess.

Some possible responses to the SS nerf:

This really just cements my moving towards Night Stalker instead of Suppression Fire on Multishot, really (and Nether Tentacles or Ball Lightning for Elemental Arrow). That's about it. A higher premium on increasing maximum Discipline as well.

 

[Opiate]

If only they 'hotfix' vault to not have that stupid delay.

"Here's your 'oh' button."

"'Oh'?"

"Ya, we were going to call it an 'Oh shit!' button, but you need to press it prior to realizing you're in deep shit, else you won't move in time."

"Oh."

"Exactly!"

Yes, this is precisely why I stopped using vault in the first place. That delay not only is crucial on a mechanical level, but is extremely unpleasant asthetically -- it makes me feel sluggish and unresponsive.

As for the AH complaints: people say they aren't getting the loots they need in game, so they must go to the AH to rectify that situation. I'm not sure if I played Diablo 2 wrong, but I also did not get the loots I needed in that game; I would frequently wear the same gear for 10+ levels because I simply wouldn't find an upgrade for most of nightmare or hell or what have you.

The difference now isn't the "my gear isn't exactly perfect for my level" problem, it's that people have a readily available way to bypass that problem. You still could bypass it in Diablo 2, as well, but trading in D2 was obscure enough that finding someone to sell you a level 27 item took long enough that it usually wasn't worth it. You could have been level 30 by the time you found and bought your level 27 weapon.

I feel what we're complaining about, then, is the ease with which trading occurs, and how that affects opportunity cost. I am not saying that this isn't a real topic of discussion, but it's a different discussion than most of are having dealing with the AH.

 

[IcyRhythms]

We Don't Play Blizzard Games For Graphics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mto8An3G4AY

This had to be done for all those guys who just don't seem to get it why we loves these games.

 

[Dresden]

Welp, now i'm gonna go spend 23 minutes-ish and rewatch (and nostalgia all over) the Nihilum vs. Illidan video when they got the world first Illidan kill.

Two things I remember doing in TBC is geeking out over the Illidan kill while whining about how bad paladins were on the forums (until I got perma banned) . . . good times.

 

[Noirulus]

therse about 20 other skills/runes you could replace SP with on the DH . hahah

Well SS is practically useless now and while Caltrops are alright, I've found SP more useful. What's your skill build?

 

[aristotle]

Sure.

These guys work out the late-game kinks before the rest of us can get there. Do you want to get into a level 60 build that Blizzard is forced to break because it's overpowered or simply not working as intended? Do you want to put up with ridiculously shitty legendary items at endgame? What about cheap off-screen instagib? I sure don't. I appreciate those who put up with it to smooth that experience out before I get there. There's just no way to test endgame content for a game like this at an adequately large scale; the extreme/pro gamer set fills the gap.

Half of the people bitching aren't even playing inferno yet, and precious few are playing hardcore. Everyone hates nerfs, but they will recover from the removal of exploits they were hypothetically hoping to take full advantage of someday. I have been bitching about stuff that doesn't directly impact me, either. It's a perfectly okay way to blow off steam, but it's important to keep things in perspective. Fact is, endgame will be a better experience when all is said and done, and most of us won't have to deal with many of the problems which exist today thanks to those folks who are willing to push the game to the edge.

I get what you're saying, but they didn't really fix the issues with the skills it seems. They just nerfed the skill making it near worthless past Normal runs. From the get-go Blizzard has said you should be able to use any skill all the way through Inferno. Now they've made the skills nigh-unusable at higher difficulties. I agree that the SS invincibility should be debuffed (watching Act 2 boss get taken down was an eye-opener), but now what's the point of the skill itself? It doesn't seem to be of much use now and just a filler skill of sorts. Again it seems with these hotfixes they're just making it more like D2 where if you didn't use a certain skill or stat your build will be useless at higher levels.

As much as I wanted to play D3 sooner rather than later, they definitely should've kept polishing the game for a few more months before they released it. If no one on their team could play through Inferno regularly, they should've hired from outside the company; much like fighting game makers do to make it more balanced in he long run.

 

[Fenderputty]

Don't go and say that the game is automatically broken because your not getting the gear for your character when it's random.

You might or might not get the right gear for your class but that's how Diablo has always been.

This ...

To me, it sounds like the auction house is an outlet for people who get frustrated farming for gear. This outlet is frustrating people who like to play the game without using gold to buy their way through.

The above is worsened because the item/drop system seemsw slightly broken (my main complaint).

 

[Ferrio]

Well SS is practically useless now and while Caltrops are alright, I've found SP more useful. What's your skill build?

It's not useless, you still get invulnerability and is a great ohshit button. Caltrops can't do that.

The nerf is doing exactly what blizzard wanted it to do.. make us consider other skills.

 

[goldensun]

If only they 'hotfix' vault to not have that stupid delay.

"Here's your 'oh' button."

"'Oh'?"

"Ya, we were going to call it an 'Oh shit!' button, but you need to press it prior to realizing you're in deep shit, else you won't move in time."

"Oh."

"Exactly!"

Haha that's such a perfect description. Agreed wholeheartedly, though I'm still going to be rockin vault.

 

[CassSept]

Screw life, I guess.

So, I'm finishing my guest pass download of D3 and now regardless of outcome I want to roll a good class.

How is the class balance? Monk sounds mildly interesting, is he viable as of now (including already announced hotfixes)?

 

[Noirulus]

It's not useless, you still get invulnerability and is a great ohshit button. Caltrops can't do that.

Sure, but I mean the 1.5 seconds really kills it for me. Perhaps it's because my discipline regeneration is shit.

 

[scy]

As for the complaints about the AH complaints: people say they aren't getting the loots they need in game, so they must go to the AH to rectify that situation. I'm not sure if I played Diablo 2 wrong, but I also did not get the loots I needed in that game; I would frequently wear the same gear for 10+ levels because I simply wouldn't find an upgrade for most of nightmare or hell or what have you.

Yeah, honestly, I'm wondering if I played a different Diablo 2 than everyone. 1-Hell was basically rushing and you had mule characters with twink loot for level ranges. If you were just starting out, just deal with the loot you got since you had no other option, really, as trading is essentially a high level only thing. At best, you'd get some key Set/Uniques that still saw trade but you really didn't have anything to offer it.

The AH is a good solution to the problem of "I can't get loot that I need." The ease of it is mostly due to how the economy took shape, really. 20k Gold can basically outfit a character in "good enough!" equipment through much of Normal. Gems have no minimum level requirements either and +30 to stats really helps out as well and they're not even that expensive. The gold cost for what the AH provides is the bigger issue, not really the AH itself.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

It's not useless, you still get invulnerability and is a great ohshit button. Caltrops can't do that.

The nerf is doing exactly what blizzard wanted it to do.. make us consider other skills.

no one will use anything other than SS and preparation in higher difficulties though. Unless they take them away completely, they are 100% necessary. Unless you're cool with dying over and over until you beat an elite mob.

 

[Lothars]

Except a big difference is that this game is an extremely linear yellow WoW exclamation mark quest based game in 2012 that leads players to believe that 'if I've made it this far, I should be able to keep going.' There's not even a WoW style quest color system that says, "Oh shit, this area is RED or ORANGE, I might need to figure something else out before I go further."

You can't blame players for that--Blizzard designed a linear game with hardly any randomization that doesn't at all indicate that you ought to be required to spend more time in an area before you move on.

The whole game is a point to point escort quest funneled along a very narrow corridor. It's not a player's fault that they think they should be able to progress since the game very actively placed them in that position and directed them to move forward.

You can't absolve them of sins they are making today and say that "D2 was like that"--and then when someone wants a different aspect to be more D2 like, turn around and say, "Well, this isn't D2 anymore, sorry."

It was like that in Diablo 2 as well, It was linear the whole way through the game.

If you hit a point in the game that you can't continue because you keep dieing than that should be an exact clue that you need better equipment, so to farm. I don't know how your not getting that but to me it seems like your bitching about something that's been the case in each game.

 

[scy]

How is the class balance? Monk sounds mildly interesting, is he viable as of now (including already announced hotfixes)?

Normal isn't bad, Nightmare isn't bad, Hell is pretty rough, and Inferno is :lol. To be fair, it's :lol for everyone mostly.

 

[SnakeswithLasers]

Pretty sure dying over and over is a good indication that you need something better to move on. Unless you're playing hardcore, death isn't even that big an issue in games like these.

Do you expect Blizzard to put up signs detailing what the minimum item level requirements are for harder difficulties? Or that maybe as a Barb they shouldn't be stacking intelligence as much as they are?

Serious question: Do you think this is a bad idea?

Do you think that Blizzard could have figured out that they are putting together a game that is all about character progression, and that it might be a good idea to indicate to the players what a good base is for said progression?

How hard would it be to indicate that a quest was RED with a note that it's recommended that you be X level, with Y hitpoints and Z DPS prior to attempting a zone.

You can guarantee that there will be lists like that--well, there would be if leveling wasn't basically: Just go repeat this dialogue quest for the gross XP you get until you're bored out of your mind.

 

[Dresden]

Sure, but I mean the 1.5 seconds really kills it for me. Perhaps it's because my discipline regeneration is shit.

You guys don't get a 15 second cooldown slapped onto your bailout button, at least.

 

[injurai]

Serious question: Do you think this is a bad idea?

Do you think that Blizzard, in its infinite wisdom, couldn't have, in twelve years, with all of their experience gating content and dealing with WoW progression, figured out that they are putting together a game that is all about character progression, and that it might be a good idea to indicate to the players what a good base is for said progression?

How hard would it be to indicate that a quest was RED with a note that it's recommended that you be X level, with Y hitpoints and Z DPS prior to attempting a zone.

You can guarantee that there will be lists like that--well, there would be if leveling wasn't basically: Just go repeat this dialogue quest for the gross XP you get until you're bored out of your mind.

And how would you expect them to go about testing that and getting numbers. Even if they crunched numbers for weeks I'm sure the players would completely surprise them and ruin their data. They were expecting players to surprise them and if anything that is what they have learned in all their experiences over the years.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

I'm in Act IV now... and i only used the Waypoints when the "Quests" told me to...

That's kind of bad.

 

[Fenderputty]

Yeah, honestly, I'm wondering if I played a different Diablo 2 than everyone. 1-Hell was basically rushing and you had mule characters with twink loot for level ranges. If you were just starting out, just deal with the loot you got since you had no other option, really, as trading is essentially a high level only thing. At best, you'd get some key Set/Uniques that still saw trade but you really didn't have anything to offer it.

The AH is a good solution to the problem of "I can't get loot that I need." The ease of it is mostly due to how the economy took shape, really. 20k Gold can basically outfit a character in "good enough!" equipment through much of Normal. Gems have no minimum level requirements either and +30 to stats really helps out as well and they're not even that expensive. The gold cost for what the AH provides is the bigger issue, not really the AH itself.

Put a higher tax on items to force people to raise prices?

 

[scy]

How hard would it be to indicate that a quest was RED with a note that it's recommended that you be X level, with Y hitpoints and Z DPS prior to attempting a zone.

Because that varies by class, build, player skill, and a variety of other things? "Oh, guess I need 2k DPS to ride" is an awful idea. They've done a damn good job of a general progression through the game on Normal. It's not quite the same for Nightmare/Hell/Inferno but that's kind of the point.

 

[Deadly]

Serious question: Do you think this is a bad idea?
Do you think that Blizzard could have figured out that they are putting together a game that is all about character progression, and that it might be a good idea to indicate to the players what a good base is for said progression?
How hard would it be to indicate that a quest was RED with a note that it's recommended that you be X level, with Y hitpoints and Z DPS prior to attempting a zone.
You can guarantee that there will be lists like that--well, there would be if leveling wasn't basically: Just go repeat this dialogue quest for the gross XP you get until you're bored out of your mind.

They actually do do that. In the public games tab there's a recommended level for each quest.

 

[Shouta]

Well I imagine about 90% of all Monks just got their builds eviscerated but here's what I had:

Fist of Thunder > Quickening
Sweeping Wind > Cyclone (Bladestorm is probably better overall, I just like using this as it makes my Crit% feel more relevant)
Mantra of Healing > Boon of Protection lol)
Mystic Ally > Air Ally
Cyclone Strike > Implosion (I group with a Wizard and WD almost exclusively)
Serenity > Ascension

I'll probably stick to FoT > Quickening for the generation and just figure things out otherwise. Guess I'll need to look for +Dodge% Gear a lot sooner than I thought I would...

Edit: Eyeballing just slotting more Spirit Regen and other ways to heal so this right now. Mantra of Conviction with Reclamation possibly if I went back to DWing with better IAS% and Life Steal but doubtful.

I just adjusted my build to the one I used for most of Hell,

Way of the Hundred Fists > Fists of Fury
Exploding Palm > The Flesh is Weak (alternatively Essence Burn)
Breath of Heaven > Blazing Wrath
Sweeping Wind > Inner Storm
Serenity > Ascension
Mantra of Healing > Time of Need

One with Everything, Seize The Initiative, Transcendence

It's working ok right now for Inferno Act 1 but Blue Champion packs are a lot more difficult because I can't heal or guard myself like before. Yellows are not bad with a bit of maneuvering and taking out their minions. I have 500 Resistance with my current build, closer to 550 with a single ring swap but that lowers my DPS by like 1000.

Amount of Healing and Frequency isn't good enough to really stand in there and fight or tank like we should, at least not with the gear that drops in Act 1 Inferno. I may swap to single resistance and go with OwE full time though I wanted to try Sixth Sense with Mantra of Evasion.

 

[cpp_is_king]

Yeah, honestly, I'm wondering if I played a different Diablo 2 than everyone. 1-Hell was basically rushing and you had mule characters with twink loot for level ranges. If you were just starting out, just deal with the loot you got since you had no other option, really, as trading is essentially a high level only thing. At best, you'd get some key Set/Uniques that still saw trade but you really didn't have anything to offer it.

The AH is a good solution to the problem of "I can't get loot that I need." The ease of it is mostly due to how the economy took shape, really. 20k Gold can basically outfit a character in "good enough!" equipment through much of Normal. Gems have no minimum level requirements either and +30 to stats really helps out as well and they're not even that expensive. The gold cost for what the AH provides is the bigger issue, not really the AH itself.

Exactly, and the cost part will work itself out over time. Already you have people paying 50-100k, and even more in some cases for items. It's only a matter of time before more people start catching on, and items start to take on more sane values. People are like "it's so easy to farm gold and go buy something for 10k on the AH", but the bottom line is the thing shouldn't be 10k. And soon, it won't.

When I go search the AH now for Barbarian equipment, it's almost impossible for me to find something useful now for less than 30k. And it's usually more like 50k-100k for something that's actually better than what I have (except for Rings / Amulets, where it's usually 200k+).

So it's already happening.

 

[Treemonkeys]

Serious question: Do you think this is a bad idea?

Do you think that Blizzard could have figured out that they are putting together a game that is all about character progression, and that it might be a good idea to indicate to the players what a good base is for said progression?

How hard would it be to indicate that a quest was RED with a note that it's recommended that you be X level, with Y hitpoints and Z DPS prior to attempting a zone.

You can guarantee that there will be lists like that--well, there would be if leveling wasn't basically: Just go repeat this dialogue quest for the gross XP you get until you're bored out of your mind.

They already made normal mode for people like that, no reason to dumb the game down any further.

 

[aristotle]

Yeah, honestly, I'm wondering if I played a different Diablo 2 than everyone. 1-Hell was basically rushing and you had mule characters with twink loot for level ranges. If you were just starting out, just deal with the loot you got since you had no other option, really, as trading is essentially a high level only thing. At best, you'd get some key Set/Uniques that still saw trade but you really didn't have anything to offer it.

The AH is a good solution to the problem of "I can't get loot that I need." The ease of it is mostly due to how the economy took shape, really. 20k Gold can basically outfit a character in "good enough!" equipment through much of Normal. Gems have no minimum level requirements either and +30 to stats really helps out as well and they're not even that expensive. The gold cost for what the AH provides is the bigger issue, not really the AH itself.

My problem with the loot table is that upon beating the game for the first time, my drops were teen level items that I had been getting since Act 2. The loot tables doesn't seem to scale as well as they should. I buy from the AH only because I want to decimate the enemies, not because I have to (I'm only a Barb on Nightmare). If I was playing without the AH, my drops would've only gotten me weapons that had paltry DPS (25 DPS max). The items I've gotten are like half what my actual character level is. I don't remember it being like that in D2, but it's been awhile since I've played.

Also, do any of the full sets change your character cosmetically like in D2? If not, I hope they add that in down the road.

 

[Noirulus]

You guys don't get a 15 second cooldown slapped onto your bailout button, at least.

That's true. And another great thing about SS is that it redirects your foes to your follower, so it gives even more breathing room than what you'd expect.

 

[spats]

I'm in Act IV now... and i only used the Waypoints when the "Quests" told me to...

That's kind of bad.

Everything feels overly streamlined, like they're hand-feeding me all the time. It bothers me a lot for some reason.

 

[cpp_is_king]

Put a higher tax on items to force people to raise prices?

You don't need this. The fact that you can only place 10 items at once and you can't cancel the Auction is good enough. Soon, actual good items will cost hundreds of thousands of gold (it's already happening), and then you'll start to really question whether it's worth your time to put that mediocre item on the AH for 10k and waste a slot when the proceeds of the sale will do nothing to help your wealth

 

[ThatStupidLion]

Well SS is practically useless now and while Caltrops are alright, I've found SP more useful. What's your skill build?

I thought you were being sarcastic! maybe ill give SP another try.

I use caltrops/hooked, but am finding it more and more useless the higher the difficulty, SS, and bat companion, for my Defensive skills. passives are tactical, steady aim, and archery.

im definitely going to rethink my Defense though.


just because....

hunger arrow/devour
rapidshot/fire support
fan of knives/ hail of knives - not too happy with this rune, might change it up.

whats your build?

 

[Opiate]

Yeah, honestly, I'm wondering if I played a different Diablo 2 than everyone. 1-Hell was basically rushing and you had mule characters with twink loot for level ranges. If you were just starting out, just deal with the loot you got since you had no other option, really, as trading is essentially a high level only thing. At best, you'd get some key Set/Uniques that still saw trade but you really didn't have anything to offer it.

The AH is a good solution to the problem of "I can't get loot that I need." The ease of it is mostly due to how the economy took shape, really. 20k Gold can basically outfit a character in "good enough!" equipment through much of Normal. Gems have no minimum level requirements either and +30 to stats really helps out as well and they're not even that expensive. The gold cost for what the AH provides is the bigger issue, not really the AH itself.

In both Diablo 2 and Diablo 3, you hit some roadblocks. A portion you cannot beat, whether that be in Normal, Nightmare, Hell or Inferno. In both games, you have two solutions to this problem:

1) Backtrack slightly and level up/loot some more gear before trying to progress again.

2) Trade for gear to optimize your character at your current level.

In Diablo 2, the first option was much better than the second, because finding a trading partner for a level 27 Barbarian or level 34 Amazon was difficult and opaque enough that by the time you found your gear you could have already farmed 3-4 levels ahead which would have solved the problem anyway. In Diablo 3, the second option is much faster, so people are choosing that.

This is the real dilemma here. Not that you aren't getting perfect loot for your level; that wasn't true in Diablo 2 either. Not that trading exists; trading existed in Diablo 2 as well. The specific difference that matters is the ease of trading in Diablo 3, which makes people respond differently to "roadblocks" than they did in Diablo 2. I am not saying that's good or bad, again -- I just want to identify what, precisely, the difference is, because arguments seem to be all over the place.

 

[Deadly]

Yeah, honestly, I'm wondering if I played a different Diablo 2 than everyone. 1-Hell was basically rushing and you had mule characters with twink loot for level ranges. If you were just starting out, just deal with the loot you got since you had no other option, really, as trading is essentially a high level only thing. At best, you'd get some key Set/Uniques that still saw trade but you really didn't have anything to offer it.

I think people's experience with Diablo 2 varies alot depending on which patch/time they played.

 

[Dunlop]

Holy crap it's been a while since I played a Blizzard game and went on one of their forums, makes Gaf look like a happy reasonable place

 

[echoshifting]

Everything feels overly streamlined, like they're hand-feeding me all the time. It bothers me a lot for some reason.

This is probably the one issue I have with the game that I don't think they're ever gonna fix. Just like every other modern Blizzard game, it feels more like I'm on a ride than playing a game. I rarely notice it, but when I do it irks.

edit: You know, they could go a long way towards fixing this if they got rid of the "go talk to X" quests after you beat Normal difficulty and just let you get on with the game. I'm not convinced they will though.

 

[AllIsOneIsNone]

Do any high lvl monks use way of a hundred fists? It looks really cool and seems to be a good primary so far...plus Im guessing that even though there are only three parts to the "combo" (initial hit, 7 quick hits, one big hit at the end), that each of the 7 quick hits have a critical chance equal to a regular hit? Thats what it seems like at least, considering how many criticals I'm getting.

 

[injurai]

You don't need this. The fact that you can only place 10 items at once and you can't cancel the Auction is good enough. Soon, actual good items will cost hundreds of thousands of gold (it's already happening), and then you'll start to really question whether it's worth your time to put that mediocre item on the AH for 10k and waste a slot when the proceeds of the sale will do nothing to help your wealth

Yeah this is what will keep the economy leveled out down the road. The AH is still developing as players get used to it and build up to the level cap. Once Most people are posting end game items things will change. In the mean time I'm making more money on those 2-10k buyout sales where I just sell an item for dirt cheap just to get more out of it than I would through vendor.

 

[scy]

I just adjusted my build to the one I used for most of Hell...

I like FoT > Quickening still but I also have 23-ish% Crit still so it works out. I think it attacks faster than WotHF or maybe that's just my brain playing tricks on me, really. I just need to try what I have planned to see if I still generate enough Spirit. BoP was fun but if I can keep up a steady spam of skill use, it technically doesn't matter that I lost it. Technically.

People are like "it's so easy to farm gold and go buy something for 10k on the AH", but the bottom line is the thing shouldn't be 10k. And soon, it won't.

Pretty much. I feel like crafting should have been made better in general so we'd have good ideas for costs. A Level 29 Rare Warsword costs ~4500 Gold to make so it'd be reasonable for most of those to be 10k-20k. But they're not any better than random drops which have no cost so they were thrown up at 5k-8k to compete with cheap drops.

It's improving (or not, depending on how much you like super cheap stuff!) though.

 

[firehawk12]

Where's the best place to farm for experience at the moment?

 

[Noirulus]

I thought you were being sarcastic! maybe ill give SP another try.

I use caltrops/hooked, but am finding it more and more useless the higher the difficulty, SS, and bat companion, for my Defensive skills. passives are tactical, steady aim, and archery.

im definitely going to rethink my Defense though.


just because....

hunger arrow/devour
rapidshot/fire support
fan of knives/ hail of knives - not too happy with this rune, might change it up.

whats your build?

I think i'd find SS a lot more useful if I can actually play the higher difficulties. All the technical problems I'm having with the game has half-destroyed the Diablo III experience because there's no way I can survive in Nightmare+ difficulties with all the extreme FPS stuttering issues i'm having.

Currently using:

Hungering Arrow w/ Shatter Shot
Elemental Arrow w/ Ball Lightning
Shadow Power w/ Blood Moon
Vault w/ Tumble
Sentry w/ Spitfire
Rain of Vengeance

 

[SnakeswithLasers]

Yes, this is precisely why I stopped using vault in the first place. That delay not only is crucial on a mechanical level, but is extremely unpleasant asthetically -- it makes me feel sluggish and unresponsive.

As for the AH complaints: people say they aren't getting the loots they need in game, so they must go to the AH to rectify that situation. I'm not sure if I played Diablo 2 wrong, but I also did not get the loots I needed in that game; I would frequently wear the same gear for 10+ levels because I simply wouldn't find an upgrade for most of nightmare or hell or what have you.

The difference now isn't the "my gear isn't exactly perfect for my level" problem, it's that people have a readily available way to bypass that problem. You still could bypass it in Diablo 2, as well, but trading in D2 was obscure enough that finding someone to sell you a level 27 item took long enough that it usually wasn't worth it. You could have been level 30 by the time you found and bought your level 27 weapon.

I feel what we're complaining about, then, is the ease with which trading occurs, and how that affects opportunity cost. I am not saying that this isn't a real topic of discussion, but it's a different discussion than most of are having dealing with the AH.

I would love to have this discussion as I think it affects a very core component of the game and my enjoyment and my longevity concerns. I'm going to mull this over.

 

[scy]

In Diablo 3, the second option is much faster, so people are choosing that.

Pretty much. It's hard to just go and farm things when it'll take a lot longer and your problem will probably be fixed by virtue of having gained a level or two in the process of farming a drop. It's why I wanted to get to Hell/Inferno as fast as possible so any farming didn't feel wasted.

If someone asks for advice, I'd rather tell them "You can buy the items you want" so they can get back to having fun and progressing. Telling people to go farm so they can have fun again sucks

I think people's experience with Diablo 2 varies alot depending on which patch/time they played.

Probably. I played at launch for a few years and I remember all sorts of awful and patch changing classes drastically (my launch Corpse Explosion Necro cries to this day).

 

[Opiate]

Screw life, I guess.

So, I'm finishing my guest pass download of D3 and now regardless of outcome I want to roll a good class.

How is the class balance? Monk sounds mildly interesting, is he viable as of now (including already announced hotfixes)?

There are imbalances, but 1) they appear to be relatively minor, and many will likely be tweaked in the coming weeks anyway, just as Demon Hunters were today, and 2) most of these differences are not observable until late hell and inferno.

All classes are quite viable until then -- and all classes can solo inferno, but require different gear levels to do it. Wizards, Demon Hunters and Witch Doctors can do Inferno if they have good gear; Barbarians and Monks can do it if they have great gear. We have already seen all five classes solo through inferno act 2. There is no class that is clearly, obviously broken and incapable of accomplishing tasks in the game.

 

[Fenderputty]

You don't need this. The fact that you can only place 10 items at once and you can't cancel the Auction is good enough. Soon, actual good items will cost hundreds of thousands of gold (it's already happening), and then you'll start to really question whether it's worth your time to put that mediocre item on the AH for 10k and waste a slot when the proceeds of the sale will do nothing to help your wealth

Well ... that's the hope I guess. It would be nice if they could balance the game so that it takes an equal amount of time to farm enough gold as it would to find a good item to drop.

 

[Glix]

INT is a damage multiplier on top of your Weapon Damage. Basically:

(Weapon Damage + DamageFromArmor) * (Skill Mod) * (1 + INT/100)

Wonderful response, thank you so much.

I read about this build on the boards, and it's similar to what I'm running (I'm NM @ 36 right now, so obv not totally the same): http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#aZUkRX!XbW!aacZab

You guys like?

EDIT - Here is the forum post explaining the build http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5271599319

 

[ThatStupidLion]

I think i'd find SS a lot more useful if I can actually play the higher difficulties. All the technical problems I'm having with the game has half-destroyed the Diablo III experience because there's no way I can survive in Nightmare+ difficulties with all the extreme FPS stuttering issues i'm having.

Currently using:

Hungering Arrow w/ Shatter Shot
Elemental Arrow w/ Ball Lightning
Shadow Power w/ Blood Moon
Vault w/ Tumble
Sentry w/ Spitfire
Rain of Vengeance

ah i dont know how you do vault man. I had to abandon it in favor of SS once I got to NM.
it's delay is just killer. not sure if new SS/tactical or vault will have the edge, havent tried sentries yet.

 

[Trickster]

Where's the best place to farm for experience at the moment?

Probably depends on difficulty, class and level.

 

[ComputerMKII]

And the EU Auction House is down. Great job Blizzard.