Diablo III: Don't Forget To Eat Today

[The Glyphstone]

Continuing discussion for Diablo III, hack-and-slash action-adventure juggernaut from Blizzard Entertainment. Because nothing says 'Hello' like a jar full of flaming spiders to the face.






Anyone think we should start up a register of battletags, like in the Hearthstone thread, if people want to play together?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Well, finally got three pieces of Cain's Destiny, so now I have 85% Magic Item Find and +50% xp gain. That should help me grind.

I'm now on Master difficulty, not sure if I want to risk Torrent1 or not. Maybe I'll stick my toe in and see how I can handle it.

[Dhavaer]

If we are collecting tags, mine is Dhavaer#6678.

[Derjuin]

Anyone think we should start up a register of battletags, like in the Hearthstone thread, if people want to play together?

Sounds good to me!

My battletag for Diablo 3 is "Vriska#1615".

ION, Kadala has just given me a most generous gift: a shiny new pair of gloves (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/tasker-and-theo) that happened to roll Crit chance, and thus became trifecta after about twenty or so enchantments. Woo~

[The Glyphstone]

Sounds good to me!

My battletag for Diablo 3 is "Vriska#1615".

ION, Kadala has just given me a most generous gift: a shiny new pair of gloves (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/tasker-and-theo) that happened to roll Crit chance, and thus became trifecta after about twenty or so enchantments. Woo~

So much Raeg. Still need my Theo gloves and my Jeram mask to complete zombomancer goodness.

[Dhavaer]

My current most desired drop is Tal's amulet (so I can swap the source for Firebird's) or Rama's Gift (so my DPS can pierce the heavens).

[Anxe]

I'm looking for a Ring of Royal Grandeur myself.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

So, I've got a skill set that seems to be working for me. Blizzard + Armegeddon, Black Hole + Blazar, Magic Missile + Conflagrate, and for buffs, I'm using Arcane Armor with the 5% crit chance rune and Magic Weapon with the rune that gives me Energy with every hit. Because Blizzard is hitting a crapload of times, since it is my 'mana dump' skill I will often have multiple blizzards going simultaneously, my energy recovery is pretty darn good. Blazar is the only one I'd like to find an alternative for, but I can't seem to find one. Explosive Blast was tried out, but that requires that I close, and there's lots of monsters that are very good at keeping me at a distance.

I tried Torrent1. While I succeeded, and I got the two piece wizard set wand from it, it just took too much to get through. I'm going to have to step it back if I want any sort of progress. So perhaps I should start farming Bounties. I've heard there's no difference between farming bounties on Normal and on Torrent1, is this really true?

[Legoshrimp]

Anyone think we should start up a register of battletags, like in the Hearthstone thread, if people want to play together?

Probably. I think there was something like it in the old thread, but a refresh is probably good.

legoshrimp#1722

[Anxe]

I tried Torrent1. While I succeeded, and I got the two piece wizard set wand from it, it just took too much to get through. I'm going to have to step it back if I want any sort of progress. So perhaps I should start farming Bounties. I've heard there's no difference between farming bounties on Normal and on Torrent1, is this really true?

It used to be true, but I believe patch 2.1 changed that.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Been trying Torment1 again with a different setup, this time with some Life Per Hit instead of Resource Cost Reduction for my Paragon and did somewhat better. Picked up Vyr's pants, which I really have no interest in because I've never really liked Archons, however I also picked up an RoRG with some pretty amazing stats. Int, Resist All, Attack Speed, Life Per Hit and Extra Xp Per Kill. I suppose I can swap out the Attack Speed for Crit Chance when I have the opportunity to, and that's pretty much an optimal piece of gear.

Since I have the RoRG, maybe if I pick up another piece of Vyr's, I can at least get the three piece set bonus, plus still having the full set bonus from Cain's due to the RoRG.

[NineThePuma]

I really need to find some way to speed up my load times so that the server doesn't go "nope, you're AFK, KICK!"

[Crow]

That RoRG needs a socket.

In other news, I'm near to hanging this game up. I'm getting sick of the game deciding that my wizard should use a mace...the same mace...over and over.

Sigh.

[Chen]

So, I've got a skill set that seems to be working for me. Blizzard + Armegeddon, Black Hole + Blazar, Magic Missile + Conflagrate, and for buffs, I'm using Arcane Armor with the 5% crit chance rune and Magic Weapon with the rune that gives me Energy with every hit. Because Blizzard is hitting a crapload of times, since it is my 'mana dump' skill I will often have multiple blizzards going simultaneously, my energy recovery is pretty darn good. Blazar is the only one I'd like to find an alternative for, but I can't seem to find one. Explosive Blast was tried out, but that requires that I close, and there's lots of monsters that are very good at keeping me at a distance.


Doesn't blizzard have an atrociously low proc coefficient? Does the magic weapon rune not use the coefficients?

[Psyren]

Been leveling a throwbarb and it's a lot of fun. Anyone tried this direction yet and have any pointers for me?
I use a fast one-hander and a shield; so far he doesn't appear to need any defensive passives, but I'll be able to judge his survivability better once I'm in the 60s and not quite so twinked out. But I like the idea of him with a shield so chances are he'll stick with it.

Blizzard appears to be down at the moment so here's the build I'm going for: http://www.d3head.com/calculator/skill#zzmzOXZ8czOX18czCaS8Vp4W8zI548MNrs84ZV85zF85 0n8zFjH

I'm also toying with trying a physical, lightning or cold-based build, particularly since I don't have any builds for the former yet.

One thing I will say is that the Ancients are pretty scary. The cooldown is hella long but man, what a panic button. It reminds me a great deal of Fetish Army.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

That RoRG needs a socket.

In other news, I'm near to hanging this game up. I'm getting sick of the game deciding that my wizard should use a mace...the same mace...over and over.

Sigh.

Why bother with a socket on a ring? That's just basically more raw stats. Unless there are unique gems I haven't run into yet.

I got the machine plans, and a rift gem of Trials. But since I can barely keep my own on Tor1 bounties and shard frag runs, I think I'll just keep those in the bank for now.

An alternate setup I am trying is by replacing Arcane Armor with Familiar that gives the 10% bonus to damage. Turns out it makes me too squishy. Oh well.

[Dhavaer]

Why bother with a socket on a ring? That's just basically more raw stats. Unless there are unique gems I haven't run into yet.

There are. They're new in the last patch and only drop in greater rifts.

[Psyren]

There are. They're new in the last patch and only drop in greater rifts.

Link for emphasis (http://www.diablohub.com/database/category/legendary-gems/)

[The_Jackal]

Why bother with a socket on a ring? That's just basically more raw stats. Unless there are unique gems I haven't run into yet.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/gem/

In particular, Legendary Gems.

[Anxe]

There are. They're new in the last patch and only drop in greater rifts.

The important part is that the new gems can only be placed into jewelry with sockets.

[vhfforever]

I just picked up the Expansion for my PS4 this last weekend and have put about 8 hours in playing a Crusader on Normal (I was going by the suggestions on the in game menu, as with no gear or real experience playing this version of the game), nothing too involved. But I've hit level 30ish and I just seem to be absolutely destroying any mob that pops up; and tanking any Elite or Boss in under a minute unless they pull some form of trickery. Never once been close to death (and if I am, I just spam more Fist and my +Life per Wrath spent fills me back up).

So, should I just move up a difficulty since I'm cakewalking it, or finish a full playthrough on Normal first?

[NineThePuma]

Up the difficulty.

A full "normal" playthrough does not net you enough experience to hit the level cap; there's just barely enough on Expert.

[vhfforever]

Up the difficulty.

A full "normal" playthrough does not net you enough experience to hit the level cap; there's just barely enough on Expert.

Will do. I had kind of thought it was a little easy...I'm not even bothering with attempting to dodge anything...it's just wade in and throw hammers, smite with god powers, and collect loot.

[xroads]

So is anyone here running a character through the new “Seasons” feature? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

[Legoshrimp]

So is anyone here running a character through the new “Seasons” feature? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

My thoughts are there aren't really good incentives to do it. And there is no reason to make a new character in terms of build so if you already have 70ish(not quite on a few because I only play wizard anyways) for all classes it is just the new items. Well and a "level playing field" but since there isn't even trading it seems mostly pointless. D2 seasons worked in large part because you could level multiple characters and there would be meaningful differences between them, but in d3 if you level another character of the same class, the only possible difference between them at level 70 is gender. So even then you can at most level 2 characters of the same class and there be a difference.

[Psyren]

So is anyone here running a character through the new “Seasons” feature? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

I have, but have yet to see a Seasonal Legendary. In addition - while the few there are look quite fun if you can get one (like that wand that removes the cooldown from teleport), I don't think they are worth starting from scratch in terms of Paragon levels, artisan progression and even recipes.

That last one is truly the kicker - every recipe you've obtained in non-seasonal must be regained, which essentially puts all of them back in the legendary pool to be found again, diluting your chances of finding something you truly want, and not to mention all those seasonals are in the pool as well. And it's unclear what will happen to the paragon levels you earn in seasonal too, or what will happen to your stash if both are full when the season ends.

If they allowed Seasonal characters to trade with one another, or reroll multiple properties... well, that would be something.

[Legoshrimp]

I have, but have yet to see a Seasonal Legendary. In addition - while the few there are look quite fun if you can get one (like that wand that removes the cooldown from teleport), I don't think they are worth starting from scratch in terms of Paragon levels, artisan progression and even recipes.

That last one is truly the kicker - every recipe you've obtained in non-seasonal must be regained, which essentially puts all of them back in the legendary pool to be found again, diluting your chances of finding something you truly want, and not to mention all those seasonals are in the pool as well. And it's unclear what will happen to the paragon levels you earn in seasonal too, or what will happen to your stash if both are full when the season ends.

If they allowed Seasonal characters to trade with one another, or reroll multiple properties... well, that would be something.

That sounds cool, but it is literally never going to be useful since clear speed is more valuable then short bursts of movement.

I think recipes drop independently from other legendaries, but I am not sure.

And since you will be able to get the legendaries after the season ends anyways that isn't a huge argument for it.

[HMS Invincible]

Don't knock the aetger walker wand before trying it. At the very least, it's good for hotswapping. Never had an easier time doing bounties and key wardens

[huttj509]

I have, but have yet to see a Seasonal Legendary. In addition - while the few there are look quite fun if you can get one (like that wand that removes the cooldown from teleport), I don't think they are worth starting from scratch in terms of Paragon levels, artisan progression and even recipes.

That last one is truly the kicker - every recipe you've obtained in non-seasonal must be regained, which essentially puts all of them back in the legendary pool to be found again, diluting your chances of finding something you truly want, and not to mention all those seasonals are in the pool as well. And it's unclear what will happen to the paragon levels you earn in seasonal too, or what will happen to your stash if both are full when the season ends.

If they allowed Seasonal characters to trade with one another, or reroll multiple properties... well, that would be something.

Recipes are on a different drop table from legendary items. Was confirmed during discussions of the drop rate modification if nothing's dropped for 6 hours or so.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

That sounds cool, but it is literally never going to be useful since clear speed is more valuable then short bursts of movement.

I think recipes drop independently from other legendaries, but I am not sure.

And since you will be able to get the legendaries after the season ends anyways that isn't a huge argument for it.

I think you VASTLY underestimate how Teleport can shortcut clear speed. You can port past packs of normal monsters to kill more named packs for more chances of legendaries. It's probably one of the reasons that the stats page I saw had Teleport with Wormhole as the single most used skill for Wizard in the top 25% of wizards, although it didn't say where it obtained those numbers.

I also don't see a point for Seasonal. Starting over from scratch does not sound appealing to me in the least, and there's no incentive for me to do so.

[Legoshrimp]

using wormhole doesn't reduce your damage by 20%, using a legendary weapon that is okay at best does.

[Karoht]

That sounds cool, but it is literally never going to be useful since clear speed is more valuable then short bursts of movement.
Every time I hear someone say this, I remind them that being dead is never going to be more useful. Teleport is the 'save your bacon' skill in addition to any movement benefits it confers to clear speed.

[Legoshrimp]

Every time I hear someone say this, I remind them that being dead is never going to be more useful. Teleport is the 'save your bacon' skill in addition to any movement benefits it confers to clear speed.

I guess you can more safely run a lower torment... and you already get free nearly no cd TPs with illusionist, when you really need to use tp to not die.

[vhfforever]

After adjusting things up to Hard difficulty I noticed a few little differences. Mobs take a few seconds longer to blast through, and I actually quaffed a healing potion once against Belial. It hasn't made the game hard by any stretch, but it has made me take notice of a few things and swap around a few skills I had been using. All-in-all, a good choice to have made.

Current Build (Level 37 if not mistaken)
Justice (Burst), Fist of the Heavens (Divine Well), Consecration (Frozen Ground), Steed Charge (Nightmare), Laws of Justice (Faith’s Armor), Heaven’s Fury (Ascendancy)

Fervor, Lord Commander, Indestructible


So yeah, that cutscene that ends Act 3/opens Act 4? That was pretty well done, imo.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I guess you can more safely run a lower torment... and you already get free nearly no cd TPs with illusionist, when you really need to use tp to not die.

Or you can use the wand and not need Illusionist, meaning you get to use one of the other passives, which can mean a significant boost in DPS or survivability, depending on the passive you swap it out with.

[NineThePuma]

Or you could be manly and not play a caster.

JUMP ON THEIR FACES AND PUNCH THEM IN THE HEAD!

[huttj509]

Or you could be manly and not play a caster.

JUMP ON THEIR FACES AND PUNCH THEM IN THE HEAD!

Hah, magic? That's not man-omg fire's raining on my face, my faaaaace!

[Psyren]

Or you can use the wand and not need Illusionist, meaning you get to use one of the other passives, which can mean a significant boost in DPS or survivability, depending on the passive you swap it out with.

40 AP per use is a lot though. I honestly think this will result in more of a dps hit than the passive swap would compensate for, because you'd be forced to either stop DPS for longer periods (slightly less with Astral Presence) or use Prodigy to refill. And even if you already have Prodigy, it means more chipping away with your weaker primary instead of the meatier nukes.

[Chen]

Unlimited teleport (presumably with wormhole) would be for getting around the map quickly. You wouldn't be needing to use it all that often in combat, in its unlimited form. I think people underestimate how much time is spent running around NOT killing things. Speeding that up can reduce clear speed by a fair bit. Whether its worth ditching something like a Furnace for, probably not. But being able to swap it in and move until you hit more enemies would be useful for regular rift runs (clearly not doable in greater rifts).

[Anxe]

Unlimited teleport (presumably with wormhole) would be for getting around the map quickly. You wouldn't be needing to use it all that often in combat, in its unlimited form. I think people underestimate how much time is spent running around NOT killing things. Speeding that up can reduce clear speed by a fair bit. Whether its worth ditching something like a Furnace for, probably not. But being able to swap it in and move until you hit more enemies would be useful for regular rift runs (clearly not doable in greater rifts).

It'd definitely be useful for key warden runs wouldn't it?

[HMS Invincible]

Teleport cost 25 and cost reduction applies. I'm was they nerfed gearswapping though.

[Legoshrimp]

Being able to use a weapon that doesn't suck is way more valuable then a passive. Wizard doesn't really have 4 passives to run in most situations.

It has a use as a utility weapon but most of the time it doesn't matter. Since with all of the changes to cache drop rate you won't actually be doing those as much, and with the buffing of monster density there isn't as much running around time. There still is some but you can't use it in Grifts and having to open your inventory to switch items gets pretty annoying.

Edit: I am not saying the item has no value, just it has no value as a main weapon. And that it certainly isn't worth releveling and regearing just to get a utility weapon that you won't use for most of the content.

[Psyren]

Not to mention you will have to deal with the lower drop rates to try and find it until you're geared again.

Yeah they didn't do nearly enough to justify ladder this time around. D2 Runewords, absolutely, but this stuff? I'd be surprised if they don't either scrap seasons or buff them considerably.

The achievement-hounds have a lot of benefit here though, since you can earn all the standard ones all over again plus several unique ones.

(Ironically, if they brought back oskills/runewords now, they would actually be balanced. Say you gave every class a way to get teleport - it wouldn't feel nearly as mandatory as it did in D2.)

[Legoshrimp]

Not to mention you will have to deal with the lower drop rates to try and find it until you're geared again.

Yeah they didn't do nearly enough to justify ladder this time around. D2 Runewords, absolutely, but this stuff? I'd be surprised if they don't either scrap seasons or buff them considerably.

The achievement-hounds have a lot of benefit here though, since you can earn all the standard ones all over again plus several unique ones.

(Ironically, if they brought back oskills/runewords now, they would actually be balanced. Say you gave every class a way to get teleport - it wouldn't feel nearly as mandatory as it did in D2.)

That is probably because teleport sucks. At least compared to d2 teleport...

[Psyren]

That is probably because teleport sucks. At least compared to d2 teleport...

Exactly - it was nerfed (as it should have been), and so giving it to other classes would no longer be the gamechanger it was in D2 1.10. And thanks to Rifts, there is also no need to skip trash anymore since you have to kill X mobs to make the real loot piñata appear anyway.

There are, I would imagine, many skills you could mix and match between classes without unbalancing the game now, especially if doing so required the destination class to give up one of their existing mappings.

[The_Jackal]

The only reason DII teleport was stupidly useful was because of how all the loot was tied up in the the Act Bosses and static encounters, so your rate of income was directly tied to how quickly you could get to Mephisto's courtyard. Which is one of the reasons Grifts are so genius: You have an incentive (indeed a mandate) to actually hit trash mobs, instead of just sprinting to the loot-piñata.

[Gnoman]

I haven't spent much time in rifts, but my strategy's been to ignore anything not elite. Granted, I get most of the non-elite stuff via collateral damage anyway, but is that not the best way to do it?

[HMS Invincible]

I haven't spent much time in rifts, but my strategy's been to ignore anything not elite. Granted, I get most of the non-elite stuff via collateral damage anyway, but is that not the best way to do it?
In grift this is the correct strategy. The only caveat is how dangerous or difficult it is to kill

[Derjuin]

In grift this is the correct strategy. The only caveat is how dangerous or difficult it is to kill

:smallsigh: Now I know why it always takes me so long to get through them. I really need to find a SoJ worth using.

[vhfforever]

Well, moved the difficulty up to Hard and finished the game today in a 5 hour play-a-thon I rarely ever get a chance to do anymore. I finally died, too. I was getting overconfident against Malthael and not bothering to dodge anything...just relying on healing from my X Health per Wrath spent. I hadn't used a healing potion...ever...and completely forgot they had a cooldown, so he got me.

Wrapped things up, started over on Master and wow, the change is significant. Finished all the 1st Act bounties and such, and overall am enjoying the game a LOT more now that I have to put some thought into things and think tactically.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Got my first piece of Firebirds today. Also got an amulet that makes me immune to arcane damage. Considering arcane mobs have been the bane of my existence for a while, trapping me with the spinning purple lasers of doom with waller/prison/frozen, this makes me a happy panda. Also got a socket on it. Might not be the last amulet I use, but it's being very nice for now.

[Derjuin]

Got my first piece of Firebirds today. Also got an amulet that makes me immune to arcane damage. Considering arcane mobs have been the bane of my existence for a while, trapping me with the spinning purple lasers of doom with waller/prison/frozen, this makes me a happy panda. Also got a socket on it. Might not be the last amulet I use, but it's being very nice for now.

That amulet, the Xephirian one (lightning dmg absorb) and the Star of Azkaranth (fire dmg absorb) are basically the top amulet choices, next to Hellfire if you can get a ridiculously awesome roll (like scoring a DH one with crit/critdmg/socket and free Archery or Awareness passive). Getting a socket in it is awesome, as it can hold legendary gems too.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

That amulet, the Xephirian one (lightning dmg absorb) and the Star of Azkaranth (fire dmg absorb) are basically the top amulet choices, next to Hellfire if you can get a ridiculously awesome roll (like scoring a DH one with crit/critdmg/socket and free Archery or Awareness passive). Getting a socket in it is awesome, as it can hold legendary gems too.

The amulet's other stats are... not as awesome. On the one hand, there's Fire Damage + 19% (all my skills are already fire-spec'd), and reduce resource cost 6% (not... horrible, I guess), but the rest are pretty worthless with Thorns and Attack Speed (worthless for a Wizard). Even less impressive, no Int, no Vit, no Resistances... so your core bread-and-butter stats are missing. So yea, at some point, I'm probably going to end up upgrading out of this.

I also don't have any legendary gems, so the socket slot is pretty worthless to me.

[Derjuin]

The amulet's other stats are... not as awesome. On the one hand, there's Fire Damage + 19% (all my skills are already fire-spec'd), and reduce resource cost 6% (not... horrible, I guess), but the rest are pretty worthless with Thorns and Attack Speed (worthless for a Wizard). Even less impressive, no Int, no Vit, no Resistances... so your core bread-and-butter stats are missing. So yea, at some point, I'm probably going to end up upgrading out of this.

I also don't have any legendary gems, so the socket slot is pretty worthless to me.

Ouch, yeah, I tend to not use an amulet if it doesn't have two of (crit chance/crit dmg/attack speed/socket), or a stat that can be rerolled into a socket. Not sure how yours rolled without Int, I guess it's possible though.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Ouch, yeah, I tend to not use an amulet if it doesn't have two of (crit chance/crit dmg/attack speed/socket), or a stat that can be rerolled into a socket. Not sure how yours rolled without Int, I guess it's possible though.

I'm not sure either, but it really sucked. I'm still using it simply because it makes arcane mobs my personal healbots, but it's a royal PITA.

Attack Speed is... umm... how useful is it really? I use Blizzard (Apocalypse) and Black Hole (Blazar) as my primary weapons, neither of which are really affected by Attack Speed.

[Derjuin]

I'm not sure either, but it really sucked. I'm still using it simply because it makes arcane mobs my personal healbots, but it's a royal PITA.

Attack Speed is... umm... how useful is it really? I use Blizzard (Apocalypse) and Black Hole (Blazar) as my primary weapons, neither of which are really affected by Attack Speed.

For me - very. For you - probably not as much. :smalltongue: I'm pretty sure Blizzard's tick speed is sped up by attack speed, but I have no idea about Black Hole. Can anyone else confirm/deny?

For me, attack speed influences not just my own attacks, but also those of my pets and sentries, so it speeds EVERYTHING up a great deal.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

For me - very. For you - probably not as much. :smalltongue: I'm pretty sure Blizzard's tick speed is sped up by attack speed, but I have no idea about Black Hole. Can anyone else confirm/deny?

For me, attack speed influences not just my own attacks, but also those of my pets and sentries, so it speeds EVERYTHING up a great deal.

The only thing attack speed does for Blizzard is the actual casting graphic, it has zero effect on the tick speed or damage output.

Maybe I should change up my skills. Blizzard doesn't seem to be all that effective as an energy dump. Maybe I should go back to Disintegrate?

[Derjuin]

The only thing attack speed does for Blizzard is the actual casting graphic, it has zero effect on the tick speed or damage output.

Maybe I should change up my skills. Blizzard doesn't seem to be all that effective as an energy dump. Maybe I should go back to Disintegrate?

Fire Blizzard/Black Hole/MM is actually a higher end build that works much better once you get your 6 piece bonus from Firebird's. Before then it's kind of subpar, because there's no mega-DoT being stacked up by all three skills. I'd recommend some combination of whatever works for now - I know I used Frozen Orb and Electrocute for a while, with energy armor/familiar/magic weapon and teleport.

[Kerrin]

Got my first piece of Firebirds today. Also got an amulet that makes me immune to arcane damage. Considering arcane mobs have been the bane of my existence for a while, trapping me with the spinning purple lasers of doom with waller/prison/frozen, this makes me a happy panda. Also got a socket on it. Might not be the last amulet I use, but it's being very nice for now.

This sounds like the amulet my son recently found that his barbarian is now wearing - makes wading into the middle of arcane enchanted a tickle-fest for him now!

One thing that always confuses me when reading forum discussions about Diablo III (we have Reaper of Souls) is that we play on the PlayStation 3 locally (not online) and I often wonder when I don't understand something in a forum discussion if it's because the offline/online games are somehow different from each other. For example, what is a "rift"? I've never heard of anything referred to as a "rift" in the game, or maybe its another name for something I do know?

[Anxe]

Rifts show up in adventure mode of Reaper of souls which is unlocked after killing the act V boss. Not sure how you'd access that on menus from The PS version. There must be some guide on Youtube though.

[Derjuin]

This sounds like the amulet my son recently found that his barbarian is now wearing - makes wading into the middle of arcane enchanted a tickle-fest for him now!

One thing that always confuses me when reading forum discussions about Diablo III (we have Reaper of Souls) is that we play on the PlayStation 3 locally (not online) and I often wonder when I don't understand something in a forum discussion if it's because the offline/online games are somehow different from each other. For example, what is a "rift"? I've never heard of anything referred to as a "rift" in the game, or maybe its another name for something I do know?

The rifts are Nephalem Rifts - I don't know if console versions have them, but they are created via using a Rift Keystone at the Nephalem Obelisk-thingy in towns. You find Keystones from doing bounties in Adventure Mode. Greater Rifts (grifts) are created by using trial keystones you find at the end of Rifts, which drop depending on your difficulty setting starting in Torment 1.

Edit:

Just a question for those who do high-end grifts: How do you survive in, say, grift 31+? Is it from stacking elite damage reduction, or just smart dodging/immunity skills/damage reduction passives (like Numbing Traps for DH)?

[thethird]

The console has them, at least my xbox has them :P

[Kerrin]

Oh cool, thanks for the rift info. We have one party up to just before taking on the final Act V boss, so adventure mode isn't far off for our highest level party. Thanks again for the info!

[Karoht]

Just a question for those who do high-end grifts: How do you survive in, say, grift 31+? Is it from stacking elite damage reduction, or just smart dodging/immunity skills/damage reduction passives (like Numbing Traps for DH)?From what I see of the really high end stuff (35+) it's both.
Also survival by virtue of absurd front loaded damage. Enemies can't hurt you when they are dead. Bane of the Trapped + Bane of the Powerful + High Elite Damage Bonus (50% or more is the stuff I've seen) seems to be an incredible combo for stacking damage. I saw a 41 rift with a barbarian, a matter of seconds and 5 blues were just up and dead. Next group, repeat.

[orrion]

Just a question for those who do high-end grifts: How do you survive in, say, grift 31+? Is it from stacking elite damage reduction, or just smart dodging/immunity skills/damage reduction passives (like Numbing Traps for DH)?

Depends. A couple classes try to avoid damage entirely, and how high they go is based on never, ever getting hit (or being immune to said hits). DHs have that silly build where they perma-Smokescreen or whatever it is, and Wizards just kite I believe. Monks use permanent Serenity, Crusaders use Phalanx to stun/knockback everything.

The situation in higher Grifts is broken all belief right now. It's essentially "use this build with this equipment or don't play."


Oh cool, thanks for the rift info. We have one party up to just before taking on the final Act V boss, so adventure mode isn't far off for our highest level party. Thanks again for the info!

Yeah, Rifts are Adventure Mode. Once you enable it, there's pretty much no reason to do the campaign anymore except for achievements (and goblin portals, I guess, but Console doesn't have that as far as I'm aware).

Greater Rifts and Seasons, however, aren't currently in the Console version. I doubt the Console ever gets those.

[Legoshrimp]

Greater Rifts and Seasons, however, aren't currently in the Console version. I doubt the Console ever gets those.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/14728143164

It appears to already be on consoles. I don't have it so I can't test personally.

[Karoht]

So I finally finished getting my first three legendary gems up past rank 25.
Pain Enhancer-> Crits trigger a bleed, and for everything bleeding in 20 yards from me I get a 3% haste buff. On a Witchdoctor triggering so many crits with fetishes, it's kind of fun. The downside is, I use Rain of Frogs to proc my fetishes, and it caps at 3 'rains' so haste doesn't really do much for that attack. My fetishes on the other hand, who do benefit from my haste buffs, go nuts once I get a good bunch of bleeds happening. And don't forget that they double dip from my Big Bad Voodoo if they are standing in it along with myself.
I also got lucky on a 20% physical damage roll (which does affect bleed effects), so I'm seeing rapid strings of crits for 8-11 million where before I was only really seeing 5-7 mil.

Oh, and I changed up my Ess of Johan to a Halcyon's. The pseudo stun effect is excellent for Grifts. Normal groups? They stand there doing nothing for about 8 seconds. Oh that's how long it takes my Big Bad Voodoo to be back up again thanks to my Starmetal Kukri. So normal groups just stay stunned the whole time. No effect on elites of any kind though, but my Ess of Johan was usually a liability with those groups anyway.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Got my second piece of Firebirds. Stats were kinda meh, but the set bonus of 500 INT goes a long way to offsetting that. It also came with a socket, so my Topaz has been snugly slotted in. At least until I get the rest of Firebirds finished.

So, I was wondering, what kind of wand does one use with Firebirds? Right now I have a Chantodo's Will. It's not a bad wand, actually. It has a huge flat damage bonus, 10% damage modifier, Int, Life After Kill, +14 max arcane power, and a slot that currently has an Imperial Emerald. Hasn't been touched yet, but there's not a lot to roll on. The Life After Kill can only re-roll into monster kill grants xp bonus, a 1-2.6% for a status effect to hit an opponent, ignore durability loss (I currently have a legendary shoulder that prevents durability loss on all gear), or level requirements reduced (I'm level 70). So there's no point in trying to re-roll that stat. The max arcane power has the same alternate options, so there's no point in rolling that. The rest I kinda want to keep. The socket can re-roll to some interesting things, but I don't think anything it could reroll into would be any better for me. About the only one worth it would be 5-8% vs elites, but even that is kinda meh compared to the bonus crit damage from the emerald and there's a LOT of suck that it could roll into.

So, what do you think I should try for to pair up with my Firebirds? The focus was my first drop, so I'm committed to a 1h something.

[huttj509]

Got my second piece of Firebirds. Stats were kinda meh, but the set bonus of 500 INT goes a long way to offsetting that. It also came with a socket, so my Topaz has been snugly slotted in. At least until I get the rest of Firebirds finished.

So, I was wondering, what kind of wand does one use with Firebirds? Right now I have a Chantodo's Will. It's not a bad wand, actually. It has a huge flat damage bonus, 10% damage modifier, Int, Life After Kill, +14 max arcane power, and a slot that currently has an Imperial Emerald. Hasn't been touched yet, but there's not a lot to roll on. The Life After Kill can only re-roll into monster kill grants xp bonus, a 1-2.6% for a status effect to hit an opponent, ignore durability loss (I currently have a legendary shoulder that prevents durability loss on all gear), or level requirements reduced (I'm level 70). So there's no point in trying to re-roll that stat. The max arcane power has the same alternate options, so there's no point in rolling that. The rest I kinda want to keep. The socket can re-roll to some interesting things, but I don't think anything it could reroll into would be any better for me. About the only one worth it would be 5-8% vs elites, but even that is kinda meh compared to the bonus crit damage from the emerald and there's a LOT of suck that it could roll into.

So, what do you think I should try for to pair up with my Firebirds? The focus was my first drop, so I'm committed to a 1h something.


Form a "firebirds 6 piece build" guide I found:


Furnace 3.6k DPS, 45 elite- Endgame weapon. Huge base damage, supremely slow attack speed. Huge elite damage. Perfect - will get you 100M ticks easy. Rountinely Crits over 150M, but I've seen it go over 250 with party buffs, and with a power pylon I've hit 700M.

Sunkeeper 2.3k DPS, 22 elite- I like sparker a lot, simply because its a lot of fun, but ultimately, this wins out. Most of your time sinks in GRs are elites, and Sunkeeper is very good at killing them. Wins marginally over SS. Also opens up a gear slot so you can use Leorics or cindercoat if you're ballsy. Crits between 80-100M - its a slower weapon than SS, so base damage is higher, resulting in bigger crits.

Serpent Sparker 2.3k DPS, 10% CDR with Ramalamading Clear winner for clearing trash. 2 Hydras is 100% better than 1! Amazing math. Falls pretty far behind on elites though, you'd be lucky to see a 60M crit, with maybe an occasional 80M (probably from the stacked 2x Mammoths+DoT). Is very, very good at attaining max stacks quickly - this is what makes it so good. The DPS number on the wand is inflated by the fast attack speed of wands. Also with the source, you can use Leorics Crown, plus the 10% CDR on your weapon, which should add at least 10-15% sheet CDR. I was rolling at 55% CDR, which is a lot of Black Holes, but you don't need that many when **** dies twice as fast with a Furnace.

Maximus 3.5k DPS, 19% fire - no Rama - Yeah, I tried this too, but quickly swapped back to Sunkeeper. The biggest appeal of this weapon is the firechain. The biggest downside to the firechain in 33 or so plus is that you often arent in a good postion to use it. You have to teleport to a really bad spot to postion it well enough to damage, and then realize it doesnt kill the baddies fast enough to keep you from dying. Important to note is that the chain does NOT contribute to your DoT. Critted 80-100M, chains critted for 8-12M

Burning Axe of Skankiness 2.3k DPS - no Rama - used for a bit, proc is a nice bonus, but not really that good. 50-60M Crits.

Devastator 2.3k DPS - no Rama - Like burning, but no proc. Craftable, which is nice, but Haedrig's favorite rolls are sub 2k, with area damage and life on hit. 50-60M Crits.

Random 3.9k DPS Leg, no Rama - 50-80M Crits. You lose your source.

You don't have real fire bonus yet on the set, so really just look for good stuff, nice bonuses, and if you get any of the ones mentioned above save for later even if it's a downgrade for now.

[Psyren]

How does Vyr's measure up these days? I'm 2/4 on that one so I feel like aiming to finish it.

[Karoht]

My Wizard is rocking Vyr's + Tal's. It's fun, but really needs the CDR to support it. As such I'm probably dropping Vyr's. It's a fun toy, and Archon really makes things just up and die. But if your build wasn't awesome without Archon, chances are it won't be awesome with it, even if you get all the rune effects.
That said, Archon's attacks have a very high proc coefficient. Wyrdward + Paralysis + Lightning Archon is excellent for locking things down while melting faces.
But, given that Blizzard (with the 100% Freeze chance rune) and Black Hole are just better at controlling your battlefield, to the point where I'm considering dropping Wyrdward + Paralysis completely from my build.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Form a "firebirds 6 piece build" guide I found: Interesting. Thanks for sharing. However, The Furnace is a 2h weapon, which means no focus. I'd rather have a +20% damage bonus on All The Things plus whatever I can get from the primary weapon. Same problem with Maximus. If I was wanting a 2h, I'd probably try for a Molten Core and use Meteor instead of Black Hole since mobs are then taunted into the meteor blast and it comes with a slot to put a gem in.

Burning Axe looks like an interesting choice, and so does Sunkeeper. Serpent Sparker is nigh worthless when you don't actually use Hydra.


You don't have real fire bonus yet on the set, so really just look for good stuff, nice bonuses, and if you get any of the ones mentioned above save for later even if it's a downgrade for now.

I've got +60% fire damage across all my gear, and 20% of that is from the orb. So fire damage is already kind of a thing for me.

[Chen]

Those weapon suggestions are for when you have the full firebirds set and are throwing out one apocalypse/hydra/black hole and getting the infinite dot up. You want a nice slow 2 hander for that and with the furnaces HUGE elite damage buff it is by far the best.

Without the permanent dot you're clearly attacking more so that list of suggestions is not as good. Depending on your playstyle a thunderfury or even leroics scepter might do better for you. Sunkeeper again is good for the elite damage of course. Burning axe is pretty mediocre (you'll note that with 60% increased fire damage an additional 20% from the axe is in fact only a 12.5% damage increase).

[huttj509]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. However, The Furnace is a 2h weapon, which means no focus. I'd rather have a +20% damage bonus on All The Things plus whatever I can get from the primary weapon. Same problem with Maximus. If I was wanting a 2h, I'd probably try for a Molten Core and use Meteor instead of Black Hole since mobs are then taunted into the meteor blast and it comes with a slot to put a gem in.

Burning Axe looks like an interesting choice, and so does Sunkeeper. Serpent Sparker is nigh worthless when you don't actually use Hydra.



I've got +60% fire damage across all my gear, and 20% of that is from the orb. So fire damage is already kind of a thing for me.

6 piece firebirds basically doubles all fire damage you do, multiplicitavely with +fire damage, with eventual dot until dead. Access to it can easily change your playstyle. That's what I meant by "the real fire bonus" from the set, sorry.

[Kerrin]

A question for Diablo III Reaper of Souls (PS3) players who are more informed that I am...

What is the best way to complete sets of items?

I've been working on some sets forever and a day and don't seem to be getting matching pieces in item drops (gotten a couple but the vast majority of sets I've started to collect with various characters are incomplete).

Thanks for any advice or insights you can provide!

[Psyren]

A question for Diablo III Reaper of Souls (PS3) players who are more informed that I am...

What is the best way to complete sets of items?

I've been working on some sets forever and a day and don't seem to be getting matching pieces in item drops (gotten a couple but the vast majority of sets I've started to collect with various characters are incomplete).

Thanks for any advice or insights you can provide!

This is anecdotal on my part, but I've found that wearing the pieces of "Set X" that I possess while gambling with Kadala for one of the missing pieces makes it more likely to show up. This has happened for me with Firebirds, Natalya's and Vyr's.

[Anxe]

A question for Diablo III Reaper of Souls (PS3) players who are more informed that I am...

What is the best way to complete sets of items?

I've been working on some sets forever and a day and don't seem to be getting matching pieces in item drops (gotten a couple but the vast majority of sets I've started to collect with various characters are incomplete).

Thanks for any advice or insights you can provide!

Higher Torment for more drops? I don't think there is a way to specifically increase the chances of getting certain sets. Playing a Monk to get monk sets obviously, but thats about it. The wearing thing might work though.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

A question for Diablo III Reaper of Souls (PS3) players who are more informed that I am...

What is the best way to complete sets of items?

I've been working on some sets forever and a day and don't seem to be getting matching pieces in item drops (gotten a couple but the vast majority of sets I've started to collect with various characters are incomplete).

Thanks for any advice or insights you can provide!

Grind Legendary+ rifts and grifts for hours on end. With as much MF as you can stack.

Seriously, the RNG is a cruel mistress. The only way to complete the set you are looking for is to continue grinding in ways to maximize your legendary drop chance.

[thethird]

If you want to get the set and then have fun as opposed to have fun while getting the set you can always exploit that the game takes time to save to buy a lot of pieces from Kadala and if you get something you want move to another episode, which will save your game and repeat.

[Kerrin]

Hey, thanks for the info, folks! :smallsmile:

[Kerrin]

Lately my son has been doing something with his demon hunter that I find amusing ... He has a passive that when he dies he explodes damaging nearby enemies, and he has an item that causes all his gear to ignore durability loss. So he doesn't care how many times he dies. When he's about to die and has no way to heal, he runs in close to an enemy and gets killed quickly (e.g. from electric, ground effects, etc.) so as to explode on the enemy.

Question with probably an obvious answer ... I've been working on pumping up resistances to deal with taking so much damage from ground effects or other effects from special enemies, but holy moly some of those effects dish out staggering amounts of damage playing on Torment III. I've been using hit and run tactics to avoid taking as much damage as possible while still getting in some shots at the special enemies, but is there anything else I can do besides those two things?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Lately my son has been doing something with his demon hunter that I find amusing ... He has a passive that when he dies he explodes damaging nearby enemies, and he has an item that causes all his gear to ignore durability loss. So he doesn't care how many times he dies. When he's about to die and has no way to heal, he runs in close to an enemy and gets killed quickly (e.g. from electric, ground effects, etc.) so as to explode on the enemy.

Question with probably an obvious answer ... I've been working on pumping up resistances to deal with taking so much damage from ground effects or other effects from special enemies, but holy moly some of those effects dish out staggering amounts of damage playing on Torment III. I've been using hit and run tactics to avoid taking as much damage as possible while still getting in some shots at the special enemies, but is there anything else I can do besides those two things?

There is a set that has as like a 4 or 5 piece bonus an immunity to most things that elites place on the ground. Other than that, stay mobile. Don't let yourself get trapped in an area that is damaging you, and most especially don't get frozen.

There's also a series of amulets that let you heal from a specific damage type instead of getting harmed by it. This makes some things much easier to deal with. For example, I have the amulet that gives me the ability to heal from arcane damage, so the purple spinning lightsabres of doom actually heal me now.

[thethird]

Lately my son has been doing something with his demon hunter that I find amusing ... He has a passive that when he dies he explodes damaging nearby enemies, and he has an item that causes all his gear to ignore durability loss. So he doesn't care how many times he dies. When he's about to die and has no way to heal, he runs in close to an enemy and gets killed quickly (e.g. from electric, ground effects, etc.) so as to explode on the enemy.

Question with probably an obvious answer ... I've been working on pumping up resistances to deal with taking so much damage from ground effects or other effects from special enemies, but holy moly some of those effects dish out staggering amounts of damage playing on Torment III. I've been using hit and run tactics to avoid taking as much damage as possible while still getting in some shots at the special enemies, but is there anything else I can do besides those two things?

There are amulets that let you ignore some kind of damage (I've got one for arcane and another for poison) I alternate those depending on the enemies attack.

[Derjuin]

Question with probably an obvious answer ... I've been working on pumping up resistances to deal with taking so much damage from ground effects or other effects from special enemies, but holy moly some of those effects dish out staggering amounts of damage playing on Torment III. I've been using hit and run tactics to avoid taking as much damage as possible while still getting in some shots at the special enemies, but is there anything else I can do besides those two things?

Which class?

For anyone, using an absorb amulet or the blackthorne set can alleviate some of the damage; additionally, socketing a high level Amethyst in your helm. I try to aim for ~500,000 hp, by reserving my belt/shoulder/chest/boots pieces for defensive stats (usually life%/vit/resist/main stat). Resist is almost always a better stat to slot than +armor, unless you're a wizard or WD (since both Str and Dex classes gain armor from their primary, whereas Wiz/WD gain Resist from theirs). Also make sure you have 25% move speed increase, which helps you get out of things like plagued and thunderstorm faster (12% from boots and 13% from paragon levels is what I use - you can also use things like DH's Ferret pet (+10% speed) to help).

For DH specifically, using Vault or Smokescreen will let you get out of harm's way very quickly. You don't take damage while Vaulting (unless that's changed, or I've been exceptionally lucky) and Smokescreen makes you invulnerable and can heal you for a lot of hp with the right rune.

[Kerrin]

Hey, thanks for the helpful info, everyone!

For classes, we have multiples of each class.

For gear, we have two of the Blackthorne pieces, so hope to get more someday to get the oh so good immunities. My son's barbarian has an amulet that heals from arcane, so hope to get more such amulets for other damage types sometime too.

Thanks again!

[Kerrin]

For gear, we have two of the Blackthorne pieces, so hope to get more someday to get the oh so good immunities.

Woo! Got a third piece of Blackthorne's the other day. Now just need one more!

[NineThePuma]

Anyone excited for 1.2

[Karoht]

I am. But I'm too busy dorking out over Warlords of Draenor and the Heroes of the Storm Alpha I just got into yesterday.

[Chen]

I haven't played D3 in ages. Anything interesting in the pipes for 1.2? I haven't really been following (and can't check Blizzard's site from work).

[HMS Invincible]

Woo! Got a third piece of Blackthorne's the other day. Now just need one more!

No you don't have to. Farm act one bountiesvto get the cache reward. One of the rings let's you get set bonuses earlier. So you get a 4 set bonus at 3 pieces. Google Royal ring of grandeur.

[sonofzeal]

Heyo all!

I was a huge fan of Diablo 2 and enjoyed #1 too, but heard very mixed things about D3 during its launch ("ERROR 3006") and most of my friends who played were ambivalent even after that. Still, I do love action-RPGs in general, and the Diablo series in particular, and I'm thinking of giving it a chance.

A couple questions though - how does it compare to D2? How's the difficulty curve? How much variety is there? And, more particularly, where does it fall on the strategic-to-tactical continuum, how much of a character's power is based on longer-term character building and itemization and how much is from skill at controlling the character?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Heyo all!

I was a huge fan of Diablo 2 and enjoyed #1 too, but heard very mixed things about D3 during its launch ("ERROR 3006") and most of my friends who played were ambivalent even after that. Still, I do love action-RPGs in general, and the Diablo series in particular, and I'm thinking of giving it a chance.

A couple questions though - how does it compare to D2? How's the difficulty curve? How much variety is there? And, more particularly, where does it fall on the strategic-to-tactical continuum, how much of a character's power is based on longer-term character building and itemization and how much is from skill at controlling the character?

Like in d2, there's some trap builds, and there's some more commonly used builds. Unlike d2, you can swap your skillset pretty much on the fly (as long as you are not actively in combat). So if you make a poor choice, you can try something else. This gives you a lot of ability to start swapping skills around until something works for you.

As with any diablo game, the gear is your primary difference in power levels. Knowing how to use your skills is actually more important in D3 than in D2, and skill combos can be particularly useful, so there is something to be said for player skill involved in how effective you are. However, the difference between T1 and T8 is almost exclusively gear.

However, gear isn't as bad as it used to be. Or, more specifically, gear is 'weighted' to your primary skills. So, for example, a Wizard will find a lot of drops with Int, but almost nothing with Dex. A Monk, on the other hand, will be swimming in +Dex and have almost no +Int. There's also ways to grind your gear with a better chance of getting something good. The bounties and rifts are an awesome way to grind gear without fighting bosses over and over.

There's also two class-specific sets for each class that needs to be in at least T1 difficulty to obtain that tend to be considered 'top tier gear' for that class. For example, Firebirds for Wizards. If you are a Wizard, and are in T4+, odds are you are in Firebirds, or working to obtain it. The four piece set bonus is basically a 'get out of death free' card with a sixty second refresh, and the six piece is basically 'All The DPS'.

Certain builds can take advantage of Legendary unique aspects. For example, there's an off-hand Source for Wizards that lets Ray of Frost pierce. There's a whole build that takes advantage of this that uses Ray of frost as the primary damage spell. This build tends to focus on Cold damage spells, namely Blizzard and Magic Bolt with the Frost Bolt rune, because then you can stack +% Cold Damage and all your deeps goes up.

However, as you gear up with a specific build in mind, you also make yourself less flexible. For example, if you have a total of +80% Fire damage on a character, you probably are going to want to make sure that all your attacks are doing fire. So finding that Legendary source that lets Ray of Frost pierce isn't really going to be all that useful to you unless you want to completely re-gear.

And the one thing that makes it palatable? The greedy Enchantress, who will swap out a single property on an item for another property on a similar list. You know how you've gotten that item that is ALMOST what you want, except that one worthless thing that you wish was something else? You can fix that. For a price. A very steep price. That continues climbing every time you 're-roll' that property. And you can only roll ONE property, once you choose it, that choice is permanent, and the item becomes account bound, if it wasn't already.

Your stash is shared by all your characters, and has multiple pages. However, there's really not much you want to hoard, so it doesn't feel punitive. The only thing that really took up multiple mules of inventory in d2 were runes, and those are a thing of the past. Once you hit level cap and are on at least expert difficulty, you really aren't bothering with anything less than Marquee gems. But this means you get to swap gear between characters very easily.

[sonofzeal]

As with any diablo game, the gear is your primary difference in power levels. Knowing how to use your skills is actually more important in D3 than in D2, and skill combos can be particularly useful, so there is something to be said for player skill involved in how effective you are. However, the difference between T1 and T8 is almost exclusively gear.

There's a lot of great information here, but this bit isn't quite what I was asking.

Maybe a rephrase - how important are fast reflexes and good positional sense?

[NineThePuma]

Much like the old diablos, more of the game is farming that perfect item, and as you get more-perfect items, the progression kind of slows down. Unlike the old diablos it's really bad for target farming. I enjoy it, and it's a great game to play with friends, but the solo play kind of peters out.

Edit: varies depending on class. Essentially, it's a lot like League on a reflexes level.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

There's a lot of great information here, but this bit isn't quite what I was asking.

Maybe a rephrase - how important are fast reflexes and good positional sense?

It gets more important the higher up the difficulty chain you go. At higher tiers, you simply cannot simply 'tank' everything, no matter your build. You can't get, for example, the 200% damage dealt as life and out-DPS all the things, it doesn't work that way. Also, monster damage and life start ramping seriously as you go up in difficulty, so you HAVE to be at least moderately tactical since a lot of elite suffixes use effects that stick around in a given area that you should probably not stay in. Of course, you also get Wallers and Jailers that will try to stop that. Nearly every 'big' attack has a 'tell', some visual cue that lets you know something is going to happen in that area if you don't move it.

At lower difficulties, it isn't really that big a problem, you might be able to deal with standing in a pool of acid while still bringing down the pain. But after around Torment 2-3, that's simply not going to be an option anymore, it will just do too much damage to not avoid it.

Also, you have a lot of 'line' or 'cone' type effect skills that require placement skills to use effectively.

So... more than in D1 or D2.

[Anxe]

It gets more important the higher up the difficulty chain you go. At higher tiers, you simply cannot simply 'tank' everything, no matter your build. You can't get, for example, the 200% damage dealt as life and out-DPS all the things, it doesn't work that way. Also, monster damage and life start ramping seriously as you go up in difficulty, so you HAVE to be at least moderately tactical since a lot of elite suffixes use effects that stick around in a given area that you should probably not stay in. Of course, you also get Wallers and Jailers that will try to stop that. Nearly every 'big' attack has a 'tell', some visual cue that lets you know something is going to happen in that area if you don't move it.

At lower difficulties, it isn't really that big a problem, you might be able to deal with standing in a pool of acid while still bringing down the pain. But after around Torment 2-3, that's simply not going to be an option anymore, it will just do too much damage to not avoid it.

Also, you have a lot of 'line' or 'cone' type effect skills that require placement skills to use effectively.

So... more than in D1 or D2.

It does depend on your build for how much damage you can take. My friends and I run with one of using a tank build and the rest of us doing damage builds at T4. The tank CANNOT be killed. The monsters really can't do it. I think he went to half health fighting Diablo himself and he was just like, "Guess I'll drink one of my potions." The rest of us hopped around being mobile and dealing tons of damage. The problem with the tank's build is that he has sacrificed damage dealing. He can't even kill a normal monster by himself on T4.

From what I've seen on Youtube, high damage builds are the way to go in groups on higher torment levels as well. The tank specialization is not a terrible idea though, as long as you're working with a group that appreciates it.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

It does depend on your build for how much damage you can take. My friends and I run with one of using a tank build and the rest of us doing damage builds at T4. The tank CANNOT be killed. The monsters really can't do it. I think he went to half health fighting Diablo himself and he was just like, "Guess I'll drink one of my potions." The rest of us hopped around being mobile and dealing tons of damage. The problem with the tank's build is that he has sacrificed damage dealing. He can't even kill a normal monster by himself on T4.

From what I've seen on Youtube, high damage builds are the way to go in groups on higher torment levels as well. The tank specialization is not a terrible idea though, as long as you're working with a group that appreciates it.

I was referring more to single player, a tank build really only works in multiplayer and only if you are doing actual teams and not just splitting up and randomly slaughtering in multiple directions simultaneously. As you pointed out, if you build enough defense that you can walk through things, you don't have enough offense to be able to scratch the paint on anything.

[Anxe]

I was referring more to single player, a tank build really only works in multiplayer and only if you are doing actual teams and not just splitting up and randomly slaughtering in multiple directions simultaneously. As you pointed out, if you build enough defense that you can walk through things, you don't have enough offense to be able to scratch the paint on anything.

Exactly. There's no way a tank build would work in solo play.

[Psyren]

Crusader can very easily get to massive amounts of both toughness and damage. They also get the 30% DR baseline that Barbarian and Monk get, plus you can build one ranged to stay even further out of harm's way.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Crusader can very easily get to massive amounts of both toughness and damage. They also get the 30% DR baseline that Barbarian and Monk get, plus you can build one ranged to stay even further out of harm's way.

I still haven't seen one that can just walk through T4+, and to build a 'sader like that requires that you sacrifice what little mobility it once potentially possessed. Which means once the DPS and health of the mobs goes high enough, they are no longer able to dodge around to survive like most of the other classes can and die a lot.

[Psyren]

I still haven't seen one that can just walk through T4+, and to build a 'sader like that requires that you sacrifice what little mobility it once potentially possessed. Which means once the DPS and health of the mobs goes high enough, they are no longer able to dodge around to survive like most of the other classes can and die a lot.

Not sure what you mean - there are plenty of T6-viable Sader builds out there, centered around a variety of main skills like Heaven's Fury, FoH, Blessed Shield, Phalanx etc. Steed's Charge is usually all the mobility they need, and some don't even run that.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Not sure what you mean - there are plenty of T6-viable Sader builds out there, centered around a variety of main skills like Heaven's Fury, FoH, Blessed Shield, Phalanx etc. Steed's Charge is usually all the mobility they need, and some don't even run that.

Yes, but you can't simply ignore Elite effects and expect to survive. That's what we are discussing. Your ability to control your character has more input to your survivability than in previous Diablo iterations, because you've got tons of things that you need to react to.

[Psyren]

Where did I say you can "ignore" anything? :smallconfused:

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Where did I say you can "ignore" anything? :smallconfused:

Anxe and I were discussing the non-viability of a 'tank' build where you could pretty much ignore anything mobs would do to you, because in doing so you'd sacrifice so much of your DPS that it wouldn't be viable in single player. I thought you were chiming in on the same topic.

[NineThePuma]

Are thorns builds viable?

[Anxe]

I've never tried one. There's some legendary gear that makes it viable, but I don't know what torment it could do.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Are thorns builds viable?

As difficulty scales, monster DPS scales linearly, monster HP scales geometrically. So as difficulty increases, the effectiveness of thorns decreases. Besides, most thorns effects are based on flat 'damage per being attacked' rather than a percentage of monster damage output.

[Psyren]

There was a Crusader Thorns build that could do T6 but I think it abused a glitch. No idea if it's still viable.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Got the four piece set bonus from Firebirds. Two more to go until doom, death, and destruction follows in my wake. Well... even more than it currently is. But hey, extra resurrection effect is never a bad thing.

[Kerrin]

Woo! Got a third piece of Blackthorne's the other day. Now just need one more!

Got a fourth piece a couple of weeks ago! Been swapping it on/off whenever we run across corresponding enemies.

[Gnoman]

PLaying last night, I picked up the "ZUNIMASSA'S VISION" head armor, and was looking at the set bonus. The complete bonus gives you the ability "Your fetish army lasts until it dies" which seems insanely powerful, as almost everything melts once I summon said army. Am I missing something, or is this really that nice a set and worth keeping the hat (in the hopes of getting the rest of the set) even if I find a better helmet?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

PLaying last night, I picked up the "ZUNIMASSA'S VISION" head armor, and was looking at the set bonus. The complete bonus gives you the ability "Your fetish army lasts until it dies" which seems insanely powerful, as almost everything melts once I summon said army. Am I missing something, or is this really that nice a set and worth keeping the hat (in the hopes of getting the rest of the set) even if I find a better helmet?

That is the Torment difficulty set, which are ridiculously hard to complete because they require you to farm in at least Torment1 and are exceedingly rare drops. Basically, completing the set is the end-tier gear for the class.

For comparison, check out Firebird's (http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Firebird%27s_Finery) for the Wizard. Look at that capstone ability. Now recall that there's a Blizzard rune that deals fire damage that can be spammed, causing stupid amounts of fire damage.

Yea, each class has a suit like that.

Typically, for a pet class, this is the one piece that is almost never used from this set, because you almost always use a Mask of Jeram (http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Mask_of_Jeram) in pet-centric builds. You can also employ Tasker and Theo (http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Tasker_and_Theo) if you employ a Ring of Royal Grandeur.

[Gnoman]

So, I'm not missing anything, it's just a hard set to complete. Makes sense.

[Derjuin]

Typically, for a pet class, this is the one piece that is almost never used from this set, because you almost always use a Mask of Jeram (http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Mask_of_Jeram) in pet-centric builds. You can also employ Tasker and Theo (http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Tasker_and_Theo) if you employ a Ring of Royal Grandeur.

Speaking of RoRGs, are there any classes/builds that can get away with not wearing one? I'm curious because, for pretty much every class, it seems their top-tier choice for rings is "RoRG and SoJ, with sockets".

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Speaking of RoRGs, are there any classes/builds that can get away with not wearing one? I'm curious because, for pretty much every class, it seems their top-tier choice for rings is "RoRG and SoJ, with sockets".

RoRG is pretty much end-tier because it means one less set piece required from every set. This lets you get set bonuses from two different sets, which can be enormously huge. For example, I can pick up two more pieces of Firebirds and get the 6 piece set bonus with only 5 pieces, and still have two pieces of Cain's and get the three piece set bonus Magic Item Find. As you add more sets, its value goes up exponentially.

[Derjuin]

RoRG is pretty much end-tier because it means one less set piece required from every set. This lets you get set bonuses from two different sets, which can be enormously huge. For example, I can pick up two more pieces of Firebirds and get the 6 piece set bonus with only 5 pieces, and still have two pieces of Cain's and get the three piece set bonus Magic Item Find. As you add more sets, its value goes up exponentially.

Aughild's too, for the sweet 15% elite damage reduction/bonus at 2 pieces + RoRG. My barbarian is most likely going to run 3 piece IK + 2 piece Aughild's, unless the stompy jumpy earthquake build just happens to be far superior. Won't know until I get more pieces of the set, though.

Unfortunately, my DH's equipment setup only allows her to wear one set - the 5 pieces of Marauder's. Using 2 pieces of Aughild's would restrict her to using Marauder gauntlets, which would be a downgrade from T&T. Something with a Belt and Bracer might work, though, since I currently use Harrington belt (effect is useless in greater rifts, iirc) and Reaper Wraps (kind of placeholder for now, but the stats are good). At one point I was using Nat's ring + weapon for bonus dex, crit and discipline from the set, but I've since found a Buriza and a SoJ that absolutely demolished the combo in damage output.

My inquiry about the RoRG is mostly because I now have both Bastions of Will, and the set seems...well, not that great, because it's a 2-ring set, which means it's mutually exclusive with a RoRG.

[Gov. Sandwiches]

I play this game a ton, I really like it. Satisfies my need to level and grind pretty well and with no monthly fee! Just hit 70 on my wizard, first one to do that.

I'd like to play with people but the only thing is that I'm not terribly good I don't think (still alternating between master and torment I) and I don't want to embarrass myself, you know?

[Psyren]

I play with people better than me all the time, it doesn't bother me. People rarely talk at all (and when they do, they are cursing, praising or prostrating themselves before the RNG gods) and they pretty much just revive you without a word. I've been in games with people that have 200/300/400+ more Paragon than I do, yet are running T3 and T4 for some odd reason. You'll be fine at T1.

Also, it's double exp this weekend and I'm pretty sure they've cranked up the magic find too judging by how many legendaries I've been getting. Even sharding most of them and only keeping a few I ended up with 25 more souls in a single night, plus another piece of Vyr's, another piece of Tal's (the orb!), another piece of Blackthorne's, full Traveler's and my first piece of Zuni's.

[Derjuin]

I play with people better than me all the time, it doesn't bother me. People rarely talk at all (and when they do, they are cursing, praising or prostrating themselves before the RNG gods) and they pretty much just revive you without a word. I've been in games with people that have 200/300/400+ more Paragon than I do, yet are running T3 and T4 for some odd reason. You'll be fine at T1.

Also, it's double exp this weekend and I'm pretty sure they've cranked up the magic find too judging by how many legendaries I've been getting. Even sharding most of them and only keeping a few I ended up with 25 more souls in a single night, plus another piece of Vyr's, another piece of Tal's (the orb!), another piece of Blackthorne's, full Traveler's and my first piece of Zuni's.

Usually if people are in a lower torment level, it's because it's faster for them to run those than T6. They find a balance between increased item drops and kill speed; for my barbarian, it's T3, even though she can do T6.

I find that Diablo players in general (at least in D2/D3) tend not to care if your character is not as "good" as theirs (unless they are bumsockets) as long as you're contributing. Even something as little as an Aura/Mantra and some extra passive healing is fine. I'm totally okay with other players, even newer ones joining my games, though I usually run private ones because I'm all over the place in what I feel like doing.

[Anxe]

I'm usually okay with giving one person in a game a ride to the top by carrying them, but more than that and I get a little annoyed. It takes longer to clear stuff because they're in the game and they aren't contributing damage. The rewards don't scal high enough to be worth it. If they're cheerful and funny its cool, but D3 doesn't leave much time in the rush for loot to chat with people. Sometimes I wish there was a chat option like in Starcraft 2. Pressing on button would help get along with people a lot faster than typing.

[Metahuman1]

So, I have the game for PS4. And I come here for some build Advice.


I'm thinking of doing a Monk. Whatever class, I wan to be able to do 3 things well.

1: Heal party members. Ideally, in and out of combat.

2: Buff Party Members, again, ideally, in and out of combat.

3: Crowd Control, blocking off or mowing down rapidly the smaller fodder monsters to make it easy for the rest of a party to focus on the big guy were fighting.



Can any of the classes do all three things, and if so, which one, and how should I go about building them for those three tasks?

[Gnoman]

1. Not a thing in this game.

2. Crusader

3. Every class has some degree of crowd control, with the Demon Hunter being particularly good about it.

[Metahuman1]

Huh, that's, odd, I could swear the Monk could do healing. Is it self only for them or something?


That said, Sounds Like I'll be stating up a Crusader.

[Anxe]

Monks have a self healing ability that has a rune to extend that healing to party members the Monk is close to. It's a decent amount of healing too, but the ability has a long cooldown (15 seconds?). It's not viable at higher torments, but it is fun to do it at lower levels and say, "Saved your life!"

Monks also get Mantras for the buffs thing.

And yeah, everyone gets CC.

I'm biased towards Monks, but Crusader will probably be just as fun.

[Metahuman1]

Crusader it is then. Next question, what skills should I be investing in and how much, and what stats should I be investing in and how much?

[Gnoman]

You don't directly increase skill ranks or stats the way you did in Diablo II. You get equal access to all skills (gated by level) and can swap them out whenever you're not fighting (there's a option in the menu to allow assigning any active skill to any active slot, otherwise they're category locked) with the caveat that a few kinds of skills allow only one from that category. Just try them all and use whatever seems most effective.

The only way to change stats is via equipment, and a Crusader should be focusing on +Str (for damage multiplication) and +Vit (for more HP). Both +Int (boosts resistances) and +Dex (increases dodge chance) are useful, but only as bonus abilities.

[Kerrin]

Woo, got a third piece of Firebirds for my wife's wizard. I was trying my luck with Kadala and happened to get the amulet. Happy holidays to me!

[Anxe]

I thought they ditched dodge chance? Doesn't Dex just give Armor now too?

[huttj509]

I thought they ditched dodge chance? Doesn't Dex just give Armor now too?

Aye. Made my monk MUCH more consistently tanky.

[NineThePuma]

Monk and Crusader have very different playstyles, despite being fairly similar (holy warriors who fight in melee). The Crusader is a Tank, built around being tough and in the mix and punching people in the face; it's about being in the thick of the fight and drawing aggro. The Monk is comparatively squishier feeling and its style of play is more about hit and run, jumping in, blowing your CDs, and then jumping out, usually leaving the enemy drawn together or scattered about. Note that I am not an expert on high torment play and merely commenting on my experiences playing a Monk and Crusader.

[Kerrin]

We've been playing RoS (PS3) on T3 for some time now with our variety of characters - our highest characters are level 70 with about 60-80 paragon levels.

What we're finding difficult is getting over the hump to be effective in T4. We're just not generating enough damage so enemies are taking forever and a day to defeat.

Playing on T3 we've been item hunting running our parties with as much + to magic item find as we can muster to hopefully find some gear that'll help us out.

Any suggestions on other things we should be doing in general?

[Anxe]

What are your builds?

I wasn't getting into T4 regularly until I got Paragon 160. The points help, but it was more about finding a few more pieces for my build along with adding life per hit in.

[Derjuin]

Build and current gear matter a lot; do they have a profiler thing for PS3 accounts?

Something I noticed about progressing up through torments is to match your build with your gear. If you don't have anything buffing Companion for DH, then it might be a better idea to use something else (for example). If you have, say, Cloak of the Garwulf, then it suddenly becomes a much better skill.

A few big "things": getting a decent/socketed RoRG from A1 bounties (assuming console adventure mode is the same as PC) and 2 pieces of the Aughild's set (usually bracer + shoulder). You get damage reduction and increased elite damage from those, and RoRGs will make future sets much easier to complete. If you have access to them, legendary gems help immensely - especially Mirinae + Wreath of Lightning + Pain Enhancer (if you can fit 3) for melee types. For ranged, it's a bit more nebulous; I use Zei's and Bane of the Powerful on my DH, for the damage buffs.

[Kerrin]

What are your builds?

I wasn't getting into T4 regularly until I got Paragon 160. The points help, but it was more about finding a few more pieces for my build along with adding life per hit in.

Aye, we do try to match our builds / gear as much as we can, for example taking advantage of re-enchanting a property on an item as needed. For example, my witch doctor is a poison build and I try to use gear that pumps that up.

Hmm, we have only about half the paragon levels you mentioned, so maybe some more paragon levels will eventually help out too.

Thanks!

[Kerrin]

Build and current gear matter a lot; do they have a profiler thing for PS3 accounts?

Something I noticed about progressing up through torments is to match your build with your gear. If you don't have anything buffing Companion for DH, then it might be a better idea to use something else (for example). If you have, say, Cloak of the Garwulf, then it suddenly becomes a much better skill.

A few big "things": getting a decent/socketed RoRG from A1 bounties (assuming console adventure mode is the same as PC) and 2 pieces of the Aughild's set (usually bracer + shoulder). You get damage reduction and increased elite damage from those, and RoRGs will make future sets much easier to complete. If you have access to them, legendary gems help immensely - especially Mirinae + Wreath of Lightning + Pain Enhancer (if you can fit 3) for melee types. For ranged, it's a bit more nebulous; I use Zei's and Bane of the Powerful on my DH, for the damage buffs.

Hmm, sometimes I do have difficulty sorting out info about the game as to what is available on the PS3 vs the PC version that a lot more folks seem to play.

We've been doing A1 bounties on T3 to try to find a RoRG, but no luck yet - though we've probably only done 50 or so of those bounty runs. Well keep looking.

We haven't seen any legendary gems (or potions) yet. I'm wondering ... Are those usually found in the deeper levels of the rifts? We've only been going into the rifts far enough to kill the rift guardian.

Thanks!

[Psyren]

Season 1 ending, here's what to expect. (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/17152343)

Honestly, unless they make the seasonal legendaries extremely tantalizing I see no point in bothering with the mode for S2. None of them were even close to being game-changers the way that ladder-only runewords were in D2, and even if they have every season 2 legendary/set become BiS, none of that will justify the time spent re-farming artisans, paragon and lesser gear to obtain them. Seasons simply don't work the way Ladder did in D2, and they certainly aren't needed either.

[Dhavaer]

We haven't seen any legendary gems (or potions) yet. I'm wondering ... Are those usually found in the deeper levels of the rifts? We've only been going into the rifts far enough to kill the rift guardian.

Legendary gems are only dropped by the guardians of greater rifts.

[Kerrin]

Legendary gems are only dropped by the guardians of greater rifts.

So far I don't recall seeing anything called a "greater rift" while playing on our PS3 at T3 just a "rift". Do "greater rifts" exist in the PS3 version? Where are they found?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

So far I don't recall seeing anything called a "greater rift" while playing on our PS3 at T3 just a "rift". Do "greater rifts" exist in the PS3 version? Where are they found?

Run through a Rift, kill the Rift Guardian, and you get something like a Runestone of Trials. Use THAT in the pylon thing, and you get your Greater Rift.

[Psyren]

So far I don't recall seeing anything called a "greater rift" while playing on our PS3 at T3 just a "rift". Do "greater rifts" exist in the PS3 version? Where are they found?

Greater Rifts are available to PS4 and XB1. I'm not sure if last-gen got the update too. My understanding is that PS3 and 360 are on a slower patch cycle and may possibly not even get some updates at all.

[Anxe]

Starting up a stream now where I finish leveling my Season Barbarian up to 70 to unlock the transmog. Come check it out at: http://www.twitch.tv/gocorral

[Psyren]

Just successfully farmed my first RRoG on my wizard. I also completed my Vyr's set and got 3 pieces of Tals - with the ring, enough to gain the full bonuses from both sets. Once I've gemmed up to full Flawless Royals in all of them and upgraded my belt, I'll feel more comfortable running T5, and start making possible forays into T6 on this character.

One annoyance I hadn't anticipated - due to the inability to remap the full Archon skills, I had to move my teleport in human form to the same button as the teleport in Archon form to avoid accidents. Fortunately, farming Act 1 bounties for the ring gave me plenty of opportunity to retrain my muscle-memory.

For the curious, here's my skill setup: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#ejmSQO!bdVS!YYbbZc

[HMS Invincible]

You haven't found enough pieces of the firebird set? That and augilds set are the two easiest routes to t6.

[Psyren]

You haven't found enough pieces of the firebird set? That and augilds set are the two easiest routes to t6.

I have full firebirds. But (1) everyone and their mother uses firebird and my inner Johnny wants me to do my own thing, (2) lightning is central to my build and playstyle, (3) I have other fire damage characters and the Vorthos in me wants unique elements for each one if I can, and finally (4) birds is getting nerfed next patch anyway so I don't want to get too dependent on it even if it is BiS.

[HMS Invincible]

http://www.diablofans.com/builds/293-multi-elemental-archon-tal-rasha-vyr-t6
If you insist on lightning, you can still cram augulds set in there as the build above shows. Since defense above a certain amount isn't needed, at some point u can change your armor to storm armor.
Any reason why you aren't going elements exposure? Its half the reason to go tals. The starpact is just gravy. I'm guessing you don't have gals amulet.

[Psyren]

Oh I have nothing against Aughild at all, it's Firebird I'm avoiding. I actually just switched from Storm to Force and the additional defense has been helpful so I'll need better gems/gear before I think of changing it back. (Also I'm not running Blur so I'm a bit squishier without FA than the linked build, though again paralysis is an active defense that reduces my incoming damage considerably.)

For the ammy I currently run a +Lightning Ess of Johan. The vacuum effect + paralysis makes me a great support and solo player, and also makes handling multiple elite packs even more of a breeze. Melee enemies basically can't touch me, even really fast hard-hitting ones like Lacuni and Anarchs - they end up stacked in the corner, standing on their heads and drooling

I am single-element (minus the familiar, which is there for nigh-infinite primary and to add a little extra damage in Archon form) so Elemental Exposure doesn't do much for me. All the skills I run continue to function in Archon form, thus for me Black Hole is a waste of space (and Ess does the same thing for free anyway.)

[Kerrin]

Yippee, found our first RoRG today, in Act IV of all places. No socket, but at least one of our characters can now wear multiple overlapping sets.

Onward into danger!

[Psyren]

Indeed, Act 4 has no unique cache legendaries of its own but has a chance to roll any of the legs from the other acts (including Act 1, home to the RRoG.)

If you run T4+ Act 1 bounties though, you're nearly guaranteed a legendary from the cache - do enough of them and you will have plenty of RRoGs. Now that I understood that, I have 3 and counting.

Also, since grabbing it my Wizard has been doing quite well in T6. I still need to craft some Aughild's pieces though.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I have been unable to find a copy of Aughild's plans, for some reason. Is there a particular act they tend to drop in? Currently wearing blackthorns in lieu.

[Psyren]

I have been unable to find a copy of Aughild's plans, for some reason. Is there a particular act they tend to drop in? Currently wearing blackthorns in lieu.

I got mine so long ago I barely remember, but for a while there I was getting at least 1 plan per run in T4 rifts. I definitely got way more plans in rifts than doing bounties if that helps.

I'm holding off on making mine until I get the tal belt, then I can drop Tals helm for Aughild's helm and shoulders. Then I can get a nemesis bracer and I'll be all set, the perfect offensive support character with three full set bonuses.

I'll add that Paralysis + Ess + Illusionist has been a godsend in T6, especially for escaping those gorram Vortex and {ice} mobs.

[Derjuin]

Does anyone have any advice for solo barbarians surviving GR29ish rift guardians? My barbarian recently started getting further in rifts and the ones in 28/29 absolutely wreck me, to the point where I'm relying on Furious Charge damage every 6 seconds, plus WotB/CotA on cooldown to defeat them. I can't tank their hits for very long at all, maybe 3-4 seconds at most for bosses like Blighter, or a little longer for, say, Perdition. I know at higher levels group play is pretty much required, but I feel like this should be doable, I just don't quite know how.

Here (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Vriska-1615/hero/6604508) is a link to my build if you need it.

[Psyren]

Afraid melee isn't my strong suit so I can't really help. You could try using a shield build, or war cry instead of battle rage to be a bit less squishy? I know you can't trust sheet toughness, but 7M is on the low end for T6 (or equivalent) (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/14058656008). (I am however jealous of your Raeko's :smallwink:)


Speaking of, I've put together another single-element build I'd like to share: my Barbarian who is doing very well on T5, my "druid." It is a ranged build focused on physical damage: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#eRlTSj!ihSe!baZcbY

What's fun about it is that because nearly everything generates Fury I can do without a primary. It will be even better once I complete IK and Raeko, and then I'll be more comfortable in T6.

[Derjuin]

Afraid melee isn't my strong suit so I can't really help. You could try using a shield build, or war cry instead of battle rage to be a bit less squishy? I know you can't trust sheet toughness, but 7M is on the low end for T6 (or equivalent) (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/14058656008). (I am however jealous of your Raeko's :smallwink:)

It turns out my problems were mostly tactics; I'm mostly doing the same thing ("kiting" with Charge vs. certain bosses and attacking during CotA/WotB) but intelligent use of FC and Ignore Pain (ignorance is bliss) has helped a lot. I'm up to GR 31 now, but I repeatedly get unlucky with Fire Chains packs that kill me a ridiculous number of times.



Speaking of, I've put together another single-element build I'd like to share: my Barbarian who is doing very well on T5, my "druid." It is a ranged build focused on physical damage: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#eRlTSj!ihSe!baZcbY

What's fun about it is that because nearly everything generates Fury I can do without a primary. It will be even better once I complete IK and Raeko, and then I'll be more comfortable in T6.

Nice; it's almost like a barbarian spellcaster! If only there was some way to get Bombardment onto the Barb, you could totally rock a (mock) Fire druid from Diablo 2. IK 4 piece is definitely a nice boost though, to both damage and survivability; my barb jumped from ~t4 to t6 with it (esp. if you go with Council Rises with a bit of +fire damage). Raekor's is great, but it pretty much needs Vile Ward to really shine (a bit like Leapbarian and the Lut Socks, really).

[Psyren]

Thanks :smallsmile: And yes, I've been a fan of magebarians ever since my Singer from D2 I took on UberD with.

Vile Ward is tempting but I won't need it (I'll very likely want the shoulder slot for Raekor's Burden so I can more easily cram both sets into one build - see below.) Rather, I use Furious Charge as a way to refill all my Fury, not really for damage. Stamina is a mandatory rune for this build, without it I would likely be relying on Weapon Throw to refill much, much less efficiently instead.

This build is definitely T6 viable - I am all but immortal on T5 as it is - but my gems are terrible and I want a few set bonuses so I can squeeze more damage out before I take the plunge. If I can, I'd like to avoid the IK hammer - most Barbarians I group with are using two-handers and War Cry for extra defense. It's always nice being the one guy who brings Battle Rage to the table and buffs the damage of everyone else in the room.

With RRoG I need 3 IK pieces and 4 Raekor pieces to get the full bonuses. To minimize overlap between the two, I'd target those pieces that are only in a given slot on one set and not the other. For IK, that means the belt is mandatory for my endgame, and for Raekor I'll want the shoulders and pants. The rest will be driven by whichever I find first. I already have IK boots and Raekor gloves, so it's only a matter of time. (And I'm having plenty of fun being the only one not to die to various affixes in the meanwhile.)

I'll decide later whether I want to use IK hammer or stick with my sword and board setup. If I use the hammer I may be able to get 2 Aughild pieces in there as well.

[Derjuin]

Thanks :smallsmile: And yes, I've been a fan of magebarians ever since my Singer from D2 I took on UberD with.

Vile Ward is tempting but I won't need it (I'll very likely want the shoulder slot for Raekor's Burden so I can more easily cram both sets into one build - see below.) Rather, I use Furious Charge as a way to refill all my Fury, not really for damage. Stamina is a mandatory rune for this build, without it I would likely be relying on Weapon Throw to refill much, much less efficiently instead.

This build is definitely T6 viable - I am all but immortal on T5 as it is - but my gems are terrible and I want a few set bonuses so I can squeeze more damage out before I take the plunge. If I can, I'd like to avoid the IK hammer - most Barbarians I group with are using two-handers and War Cry for extra defense. It's always nice being the one guy who brings Battle Rage to the table and buffs the damage of everyone else in the room.

With RRoG I need 3 IK pieces and 4 Raekor pieces to get the full bonuses. To minimize overlap between the two, I'd target those pieces that are only in a given slot on one set and not the other. For IK, that means the belt is mandatory for my endgame, and for Raekor I'll want the shoulders and pants. The rest will be driven by whichever I find first. I already have IK boots and Raekor gloves, so it's only a matter of time. (And I'm having plenty of fun being the only one not to die to various affixes in the meanwhile.)

I'll decide later whether I want to use IK hammer or stick with my sword and board setup. If I use the hammer I may be able to get 2 Aughild pieces in there as well.

I used my FC/permanent CotA build before getting Vile Ward (before having 4 piece Raekor's, actually - I just used Merciless rune to do group damage), so it's definitely doable.

Nifty-neato thing from the PTR: The 5piece of Raekor's is being changed to 4 piece, and its 2 piece and a new 6 piece are being designed; currently they're not as amazing as the 4 piece, but they are nice (3000%wpndmg DoT on each enemy hit, can't crit, but takes crit damage and crit chance into calculating the damage of the DoT; and the first enemy hit by charge takes +100% damage).

Also in the PTR, Dreadnought's being redesigned; in its current iteration it gives FC 2 charges, instead of dragging things with you. A lot of its utility is being changed, in that it's getting to be a better attack against single targets, but its ability to perma-control groups is getting nerfed a bit, since it can no longer really bunch enemies up.

[Psyren]

Nifty-neato thing from the PTR: The 5piece of Raekor's is being changed to 4 piece, and its 2 piece and a new 6 piece are being designed; currently they're not as amazing as the 4 piece, but they are nice (3000%wpndmg DoT on each enemy hit, can't crit, but takes crit damage and crit chance into calculating the damage of the DoT; and the first enemy hit by charge takes +100% damage).

Also in the PTR, Dreadnought's being redesigned; in its current iteration it gives FC 2 charges, instead of dragging things with you. A lot of its utility is being changed, in that it's getting to be a better attack against single targets, but its ability to perma-control groups is getting nerfed a bit, since it can no longer really bunch enemies up.

I saw this and I don't mind at all. Again, really the only thing I use it for is to refill my fury. The massive damage buff on Raekor's is just going to be icing for me and will definitely make me feel better about not going after Might of the Earth.

Also since my previous posting I now have 3 Raekor's pieces :smallsmile: Thank you Kadala, you frigid money-grubbing cow.


Random act of kindness I wanted to share - a DH I was playing with randomly asked if anyone wanted a Marauder chest. The other DH didn't need it, so I piped up for my alt, and sure enough he plopped it on the ground for me no questions asked. Then later in the run he apparently got Marauder's shoulders too and sent those my way as well. So that's two fewer pieces I have to farm when I finally get around to playing my DH again (post-patch most likely.) In the previous run, someone dropped an extra bottomless potion they had found as well. There are definite advantages to playing with higher-Paragon folks :smallsmile:

[Derjuin]

I saw this and I don't mind at all. Again, really the only thing I use it for is to refill my fury. The massive damage buff on Raekor's is just going to be icing for me and will definitely make me feel better about not going after Might of the Earth.

Also since my previous posting I now have 3 Raekor's pieces :smallsmile: Thank you Kadala, you frigid money-grubbing cow.


Random act of kindness I wanted to share - a DH I was playing with randomly asked if anyone wanted a Marauder chest. The other DH didn't need it, so I piped up for my alt, and sure enough he plopped it on the ground for me no questions asked. Then later in the run he apparently got Marauder's shoulders too and sent those my way as well. So that's two fewer pieces I have to farm when I finally get around to playing my DH again (post-patch most likely.) In the previous run, someone dropped an extra bottomless potion they had found as well. There are definite advantages to playing with higher-Paragon folks :smallsmile:

Unfortunately, the DH changes don't seem as nice as the barbarian ones in the PTR; currently, the Companion bonus is shifted to 2, and the 4 piece is a mangled heap of the old 6 piece (Sentries fire your hatred spenders when you do :smallsigh:), though the 6 piece seems nice; IIRC it increases the damage of certain spenders (including cluster arrow) by like...30%? for each Sentry you have out. I don't know if it affects the damage dealt by spenders used by sentries, though...

Nevermind, after looking over them again, the changes seem pretty good. 6 piece is actually 100% for generators, Chakram, Cluster Arrow, Elemental Arrow, Impale, and Multishot, not 30%, and if Rucksack remains the same, that's a huge boost to damage.

Bluh bluh, I've spent just over 2000 shards trying to get the Raekor gloves, so I can start gambling for Leoric's Crown. I've seen at least 4 MotE gloves, IK gloves twice, along with every Stone Gauntlets, Andrew Gages and Magefist under the sun. :smallannoyed:

@Generous DH: It's always great to find decent people in pubby games; I think Diablo 2's hardcore community kind of put me off of them, though, even though PvP in this game is entirely separate. D2HC's code was basically "Past level 10, get in your own game or prepare to die to a griefer".

[Psyren]

Huh, I have a couple of Leorics and I never noticed that property before... I got them from A1 bounties if that helps you find them. I've never gotten one from a rift or Kadala, at least to date.

Eugh, I couldn't imagine playing HC back in D2 and that goes quintuple for D3. At least in D2, your friends could send you over some of their spare sets as replacement gear to get you back on your feet in case the unthinkable happened, or worst case scenario you kick a few bucks over to the Far East and have those guys bring you an entire set of shiny new toys. To put that kind of investment into D3 only to have it all evaporate... ick.

Sentries not firing the spenders automatically anymore is a bummer but I can also see how it might have been broken too. Manual fire should still be useful.

[Derjuin]

Huh, I have a couple of Leorics and I never noticed that property before... I got them from A1 bounties if that helps you find them. I've never gotten one from a rift or Kadala, at least to date.

Eugh, I couldn't imagine playing HC back in D2 and that goes quintuple for D3. At least in D2, your friends could send you over some of their spare sets as replacement gear to get you back on your feet in case the unthinkable happened, or worst case scenario you kick a few bucks over to the Far East and have those guys bring you an entire set of shiny new toys. To put that kind of investment into D3 only to have it all evaporate... ick.

Sentries not firing the spenders automatically anymore is a bummer but I can also see how it might have been broken too. Manual fire should still be useful.

Yeah, I just recently heard about the Crown's legendary power; for a while i thought it was just another ascended-rare piece of junk.

==========

Back in D2 it was actually possible to make it through all 3 difficulties with just the gear you found from grinding levels, though the difficulty obvs. depended on your class and build; I've had three assassins now hit Hell mode, though only one made it through (thanks to a lucky Tgod's Vigor drop, mostly; she got ambushed by black souls ALL. THE. TIME.)

==========

The biggest broken part about the sentries thing is that attack speed lowered the cooldown on their hatred spenders, so they could quickly pump out some big numbers (getting like, 60% attack speed lowered the CD on their Cluster Arrow to like 2.2 seconds. Owch). However, with the way sentries themselves are changing (becoming a charge skill, recharges every 8 seconds but with no CD otherwise) I think it's mostly a balance concern - being able to throw down 3 sentries in 3 seconds is a lot more potent than 3 in 24 (or less depending on your CDR).

[NineThePuma]

Is there somewhere we can look at the patch notes? :X

[Psyren]

Is there somewhere we can look at the patch notes? :X

Here you go (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/16802653/patch-212-ptr-patch-notes-updated-128-12-8-2014)

(Note these are subject to change until the patch is actually released, and some changes may show up that aren't on this list.)



Back in D2 it was actually possible to make it through all 3 difficulties with just the gear you found from grinding levels, though the difficulty obvs. depended on your class and build; I've had three assassins now hit Hell mode, though only one made it through (thanks to a lucky Tgod's Vigor drop, mostly; she got ambushed by black souls ALL. THE. TIME.)

Assassin at least had Fade to help with Hell, though of course you needed fire traps or a kicksin to do much of anything to black souls.



The biggest broken part about the sentries thing is that attack speed lowered the cooldown on their hatred spenders, so they could quickly pump out some big numbers (getting like, 60% attack speed lowered the CD on their Cluster Arrow to like 2.2 seconds. Owch). However, with the way sentries themselves are changing (becoming a charge skill, recharges every 8 seconds but with no CD otherwise) I think it's mostly a balance concern - being able to throw down 3 sentries in 3 seconds is a lot more potent than 3 in 24 (or less depending on your CDR).

Indeed I'm really looking forward the option to chain-drop sentries. And that should even out this nerf quite nicely since you can have a whole volley ready.

[NineThePuma]

Bluh. Didn't they just change a bunch of stuff about the DH to be more poison?

Also, I kind of want to go back to playing my barbarian again...

[Psyren]

Bluh. Didn't they just change a bunch of stuff about the DH to be more poison?

I can only guess that meeting went: "GUYS. ENOUGH WITH THE POISON. TOO MUCH POISON."


Also, I kind of want to go back to playing my barbarian again...

Try my Earthmage build! :smallbiggrin:

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Eh, that's not a major nerf to Firebirds, I think I'll stick with my build. Particularly since I found a legendary 1h mace pattern that gave me a +20% to fire damage.

[Kerrin]

[Note, I play on the PS3 RoS version of the game, mostly on T3 at this time]

Out of curiosity, are there any particular items for which I should go looking for my level 70 witch doctor who is primarily a poison build? All his skills are poison based with a little pet thrown in - zombie dogs and gargantuan both with the runes that make them poison oriented are the only pets he runs with.

I definitely scoop any items that have +poison damage, but any other specific suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks!

[Psyren]

Eh, that's not a major nerf to Firebirds, I think I'll stick with my build. Particularly since I found a legendary 1h mace pattern that gave me a +20% to fire damage.

Yeah, Devastator is nice. I'm trying to get a Doombringer to drop, myself.


[Note, I play on the PS3 RoS version of the game, mostly on T3 at this time]

Out of curiosity, are there any particular items for which I should go looking for my level 70 witch doctor who is primarily a poison build? All his skills are poison based with a little pet thrown in - zombie dogs and gargantuan both with the runes that make them poison oriented are the only pets he runs with.

I definitely scoop any items that have +poison damage, but any other specific suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks!

There are three passives that give you extra dogs, I'd consider getting all of them. From there you have a choice - go with the 4th passive that gives you fetishes every time you cast a spell, plus the poison rune Fetish Army and a Carnevil so that they all shoot poison darts when you do.

Then the passive that makes you create fetishes would be my 4th, and Fetish Army with the poison rune, and a Carnevil so that they all shoot poison darts when you do to take down big crowds from safety. Alternatively, go with Mask of Jeram so your pets hit like trucks.

EDIT: Here is a MoJ build I would go with. You stand behind your pets, piranha on cooldown and beeeaaars. Refill with toads as necessary. http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#WfYlUT!dgRW!ccabcY

[NineThePuma]

Try my Earthmage build! :smallbiggrin:

Nah, I was playing Garen up in this rift.

On that note, I now remember why I stopped playing diablo. Lag is the most OP skill, I swear.

[Dire Ferret]

Bluh. Didn't they just change a bunch of stuff about the DH to be more poison?

Actually they've been removing Poison from the DH since 2.0. I had forgotten the DH still had some poison skills left.

[NineThePuma]

right. I just remember that there were a lot of skills changed.

Is it bad that I think that poison on DH makes more sense than lightning?

[Psyren]

Nah, I was playing Garen up in this rift.

Playing who/what now?


Actually they've been removing Poison from the DH since 2.0. I had forgotten the DH still had some poison skills left.

Weird, you'd think the assassination class might want to use poison...

And Monks don't use any so all that +Dex +Poison gear was only going one place.

******

Story question: So most of the stuff in Ithereal's Prophecy (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/the-story-of-diablo/?page=53) appears to have happened, except (I think) for these two lines:

1) "Valor shall turn to Wrath" - which hints that Imperius will change hats like Malthael did (going from Wisdom to Death) and become a boss one day.

2) "Fate lies shattered forever" - sounds like Ithereal himself will snuff it, likely so that we can't predict anything about the future anymore. Will Imperius kill him, or something else?


Am I correct in thinking those haven't happened yet? If so, do you guys think we're getting another expansion, or will this stuff wait for D4?

Also three other potential issues:


- Tyrael believes the nephalem will become corrupt one day, and need other heroes to put them down - I wonder if we'll end up fighting thes 6 at some point, similar to the D2 heroes battling members of the original triad. I don't see us going back to not being nephalem in the next Diablo (whenever that may come to pass) but maybe we will start human and become nephalem as the game progresses...?

- Horadrim are disappearing in the Skovos isles - an island/beach setting is one terrain type we haven't seen in the game and would be a likely choice for some cool exploration.

- Covetous Shen and the other "gods" of the world. What are they? Is he a nephalem too? As Sera from Dragon Age would say, "you can't have a bunch of gods AND the Maker. It doesn't bloody fit." Similarly I don't see how a bunch of Sanctuary's other faiths can be right AND have all the angels come out of this crystal arch thing without any of their input (or help in defending heaven.)



Is it bad that I think that poison on DH makes more sense than lightning?

Not at all! I think poison makes more sense for them too.

[Azimov]

Re the prophecy:

I would take the section of the prophecy talking about fate being shattered to be a reference to the worldstone and the fact that the Nephalem do not appear in the scroll of fate. Since the worldstone was the only thing preventing humanity from turning into nephalem (and its now shattered) then the scroll of fate is not going to be very accurate anymore. If all of humanity are no longer bound by fate, then that would certainly complete the prophecy.

The part about Valor becoming wrath certainly implies that Imperius is going to go off the deep end due to his anger with humanity at large and possibly turn himself into a corrupted angel of some kind.

[Derjuin]

Assassin at least had Fade to help with Hell, though of course you needed fire traps or a kicksin to do much of anything to black souls.

The easiest way to take care of em was to spam Mind Blast while your merc picked em apart until one died, so that your Death Sentries could wreck them with Corpse Explosions. It really helped that Death Sentry by itself packed 3 different attack types, so even against Lightning Immunes, you could rely on the Fire/Physical explosion.


Bluh. Didn't they just change a bunch of stuff about the DH to be more poison?

Also, I kind of want to go back to playing my barbarian again...

Barbarian ftw :smallbiggrin:. The charge build is so fun, because everything explodes, and sometimes it chains just right so it looks like you're a train lugging cargo around or something.

[The_Jackal]

Sentries not firing the spenders automatically anymore is a bummer but I can also see how it might have been broken too. Manual fire should still be useful.

I think it's much, MUCH better, as it encourages you to care about firing your primary weapon, as opposed to just dropping Sentries and playing keep-away. I also like the charges change, which keeps the same 24 second timeframe top drop 5 sentries, but lets you front-load 2 of them if you're charged up.

Plus, I have a kridershot build which should be totally nuts with M6. Fun times.

[Psyren]

Patch is live! Gonna check out my DH with the sentries.

[NineThePuma]

I need to get a Seasons character to 70. Anyone care to assist?

[Psyren]

LOVING the Furious Charge change! My rage problems are a thing of the past.


I need to get a Seasons character to 70. Anyone care to assist?

You do? Honestly Seasons are kinda pointless imo...

[NineThePuma]

I just want the transmog, tbh.

[Anxe]

Fastest way is for you to start a game on T6 then have a fully leveled person come in and destroy the packs. You will super level that way. Unfortunately its quite boring and I don't particularly enjoy doing it. Sorry...

[Derjuin]

Just tried out my barbarian post-patch... I like these changes. :smallbiggrin:

First rift after the trial was GR34 (!!) and I spawned the guardian with about 8 minutes left. I do nothing but charge for daaaaaaaays now. Seems they massively bumped up the reward, too - just got 3.6 million gold for beating it :smalleek:.

[Anxe]

Played for a few hours last night and I got enough gold to glue all of my diamonds together with a substantial amount left over to start working on my rubies. Plus Ancient items are amazing! Just one Ancient weapon between my buddy and me when we were grifting was enough to take us up two grift ranks.

[Psyren]

Updated my Earth Druid ranged physical damage build. Now that I have 4pc Raekor and 6 pc IK, I basically have infinite rage - which I've put to good use thanks to the Berserker Rage passive.

In case anyone wants to give it a whirl (or slam, in this case): http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#eRlTSj!hiSX!baZcbY

Oh, I also got this toy. (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/fury-of-the-vanished-peak) (Where's that site that shows the level 70 versions of things again?)

Finally, I got an Ancient Leoric crown I'm looking forward to putting a gem in.

[The_Jackal]

Fastest way is for you to start a game on T6 then have a fully leveled person come in and destroy the packs. You will super level that way. Unfortunately its quite boring and I don't particularly enjoy doing it. Sorry...

Yeah, that seems.... pointless. If you don't enjoy leveling DIII characters, I have it on good authority you don't like DIII. With that in mind, I think I might use the new season as an excuse to level someone new.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Updated my Earth Druid ranged physical damage build. Now that I have 4pc Raekor and 6 pc IK, I basically have infinite rage - which I've put to good use thanks to the Berserker Rage passive.

In case anyone wants to give it a whirl (or slam, in this case): http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#eRlTSj!hiSX!baZcbY

Oh, I also got this toy. (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/fury-of-the-vanished-peak) (Where's that site that shows the level 70 versions of things again?)

Finally, I got an Ancient Leoric crown I'm looking forward to putting a gem in.

You know.... doesn't the Crown auto-drop from Leoric the first time you drop him? And the new legendary ability says you get a gem of the same quality as the one in the crown. And you can put an Imperial in the crown and a level 10 toon can still wear it...

[Derjuin]

You know.... doesn't the Crown auto-drop from Leoric the first time you drop him? And the new legendary ability says you get a gem of the same quality as the one in the crown. And you can put an Imperial in the crown and a level 10 toon can still wear it...

The one with the gem-drop ability is Broken Crown (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/broken-crown); Leoric's Crown (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/leorics-crown) is a separate item.

Regarding the Broken Crown's ability, I believe somewhere it was clarified by a blue that the ability makes another gem of the same type drop, but it's of the same quality as the gem that dropped, rather than the one in your hat.

[Kerrin]

Alternatively, go with Mask of Jeram so your pets hit like trucks.

Got one of these tonight from Kadala, but no + to pet damage. :( maybe the next one.

[Derjuin]

Got one of these tonight from Kadala, but no + to pet damage. :( maybe the next one.

You sure it was the right one? Mask of Jeram (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/mask-of-jeram) is guaranteed to roll 75-100% bonus damage for your pets...

[NineThePuma]

Leveling is so bloody slow on anything less than torment 1, and the number of classes that enjoy torment from level 1 feels really small.

[Derjuin]

I'm actually thinking of levelling another barbarian, for a pretty silly reason: so I don't have to swap gear on my main barbarian. Switching out the gems is a nuisance, and having to update transmogs based on my current spec and gear (THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT BY THE WAY) also ends up draining money and time.

[Kerrin]

You sure it was the right one? Mask of Jeram (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/mask-of-jeram) is guaranteed to roll 75-100% bonus damage for your pets...

Hmm, interesting. The link says its a legendary item, but what I got was a set piece (green).

I will have to double-triple check the item I got tomorrow night. Maybe what I thought I got was a Mask of Jeram but in fact it's something else.

(Note, I play RoS on the PS3)

[Derjuin]

Hmm, interesting. The link says its a legendary item, but what I got was a set piece (green).

I will have to double-triple check the item I got tomorrow night. Maybe what I thought I got was a Mask of Jeram but in fact it's something else.

(Note, I play RoS on the PS3)

Ah, okay. You got the Helltooth Mask (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/helltooth-mask), but because the PS3 doesn't have the newer patches, it still shows up as Mask of Jeram. For some reason, the helm for the Helltooth set was called "Mask of Jeram" even though there was already a legendary with the same name. It took forever for it to be changed (note that the set Mask isn't actually a voodoo mask, though it is WD-specific).

[Psyren]

Yeah unfortunately, PS3 and 360 are on a delayed patch schedule and may miss some patches entirely. I would strongly consider upgrading to PS4 at some point.

I'd love for this game to go cross-platform, I have several friends that play on console and I really want to run circles around them help them get phat lewtz.

[Kerrin]

Well, I'll be. I double checked the item I received and, yes indeed, it appears to be part of the Helltooth set. Pretty clear looking at the list of items in the set on my PS3 as the "Mask" is the only one for which the name does not match the naming scheme of the set.

I feel like Indiana Jones discovering that the Arc was a fake. :smallsmile:

I will have to keep my eyes peeled for a real Mask of Jeram. Thanks for the info and clarification!

[Derjuin]

Asdfblargh. Kadala, just give me the Raekor's Wraps and stop being smarmy. You know my barbarian can't use Tasker and Theo very well. :smallannoyed:

I also wouldn't mind a Pride of Cassius

So yeah, I have discovered the downside to the Barbarian change. Dreadnought no longer pulling enemies means certain monsters (like zombie elites with 6 billion hp) take forever to kill, since you can't just drag them along to new groups and get more Vile Ward boosts from them. Still, having an extra charge is alright. Decent for control, if the freeze effect actually worked right.

[Dhavaer]

So, I've finally maxed out my paragon points life on hit and I'm not sure what to start putting utility points into now. I'm guessing area damage would be best, but only because gold find seems pointless and my current build uses very little arcane power. Is area damage useful?

[Psyren]

So, I've finally maxed out my paragon points life on hit and I'm not sure what to start putting utility points into now. I'm guessing area damage would be best, but only because gold find seems pointless and my current build uses very little arcane power. Is area damage useful?

Since the patch that made it apply to crits, very much yes, though it does nothing to single enemies.

How it works - there is a flat 20% chance on hitting an enemy that you will do X% of the damage from that hit as bonus damage to all enemies surrounding that enemy, within 10 yards. This can be increased by gear and the aforementioned Paragon stat. It is possible to boost it above 100%, i.e. your splash damage can end up doing more damage to than the hit that triggered it.

The 20% is checked per enemy, so if you're doing massive amounts of area damage to a huge pile of foes, it gets a lot of chances to trigger. It will not trigger off itself (i.e. the area damage dealt to a surrounding foe will not have a chance to trigger area damage again) - but if you use an ability that hits lots of enemies, such as wizard's Frozen Orb, you will check against each enemy hit, raising your chances of triggering the bonus damage at least once.

However, against single enemies like bosses it does nothing, because they won't have any surrounding enemies (most of the time) for the damage to trigger on. In rifts, it's basically a way to help you melt through crowds that much quicker on your way to the piñata at the end.

[Psyren]

Bumping to give everyone a heads up - it is double experience, magic find and goblins this weekend, and likely through MLK Day on Monday.

[Dhavaer]

Isn't the experience and gold only for playstation? I've done a few games on PC and I'm only getting double goblins.

[huttj509]

Isn't the experience and gold only for playstation? I've done a few games on PC and I'm only getting double goblins.

Indeed. XP and Gold for PS3 and Xbox360, goblins for PC, PS4, and XBOXOne

[Dhavaer]

Whoo! Got the last piece of Tal's (the amulet)! Now I have Tal's at 2 pieces, Firebirds at 5 and Vyr's at 2, plus a RoRG.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Look, Kadala, we have to talk.

I know you seem to have an obsession for Blackthorn's Spurs. You've only given me a dozen of the blasted things so far. But I really, really don't want them. I'm looking for Firebird's Tsari.

No, not Vyr's. I don't have the cooldown reduction to pull off that set.

Look, I already told you... NOT Vyr's.

Okay, okay... I get it. Lots of people like Vyr's. I just want my firebird's. Please? Pretty please? With sugar on top?

Also, would it kill you to have a little bit of crit chance or damage on anything you provide? Just sayin'...

[Anxe]

Look, Kadala, we have to talk.

I know you seem to have an obsession for Blackthorn's Spurs. You've only given me a dozen of the blasted things so far. But I really, really don't want them. I'm looking for Firebird's Tsari.

No, not Vyr's. I don't have the cooldown reduction to pull off that set.

Look, I already told you... NOT Vyr's.

Okay, okay... I get it. Lots of people like Vyr's. I just want my firebird's. Please? Pretty please? With sugar on top?

Also, would it kill you to have a little bit of crit chance or damage on anything you provide? Just sayin'...

I can't here you so well dearie... Did you say you wanted Firewalkers? With movement speed on them?

[Psyren]

Look, Kadala, we have to talk.

I know you seem to have an obsession for Blackthorn's Spurs. You've only given me a dozen of the blasted things so far. But I really, really don't want them. I'm looking for Firebird's Tsari.

No, not Vyr's. I don't have the cooldown reduction to pull off that set.

Look, I already told you... NOT Vyr's.

Okay, okay... I get it. Lots of people like Vyr's. I just want my firebird's. Please? Pretty please? With sugar on top?

Also, would it kill you to have a little bit of crit chance or damage on anything you provide? Just sayin'...

Kinda funny you mention this, because when I was hunting for Vyrs she gave me Firebirds nonstop. (Seriously, I have at least two of every Firebirds piece except the orb and armor, 1 of each.) It wouldn't surprise me if the algorithm was tweaked just to troll us.

[007_ctrl_room]

i actually haven't fired up D3 for a couple months; i think there was a six month span not too long ago in which i did nothing but play diablo, but i'm startin to lose interest

[Gnoman]

Picked up Countess Julia'S Cameo over the weekend. This amulet is insane.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Kinda funny you mention this, because when I was hunting for Vyrs she gave me Firebirds nonstop. (Seriously, I have at least two of every Firebirds piece except the orb and armor, 1 of each.) It wouldn't surprise me if the algorithm was tweaked just to troll us.

Takes into consideration what gear you are wearing and if you have more than two pieces of a set the odds of an additional piece of that set are divided by the number of pieces in that set currently in your possession?



And yes, the Countess's Cameo is insane. I love mine. It didn't have any crit chance or damage, but it DID have a +20% fire damage, and that works out just fine for me and my mono-element build. Maybe if I could get a Hellfire with a useful passive and some other good stats, I'd consider switching. Or maybe if I could find a cold equivalent, frozen is decidedly un-funny, but not for anything less.

[Legoshrimp]

i actually haven't fired up D3 for a couple months; i think there was a six month span not too long ago in which i did nothing but play diablo, but i'm startin to lose interest

This happens to me, but I am leaning towards not picking it up until they stop making changes that just make itemization stupider and less enjoyable. (ancient legends, hey you have a 90% chance of that .001% drop chance thing being completely useless!)

[Derjuin]

This happens to me, but I am leaning towards not picking it up until they stop making changes that just make itemization stupider and less enjoyable. (ancient legends, hey you have a 90% chance of that .001% drop chance thing being completely useless!)

They've apparently made all rare items (as in, the obscenely-low drop legendaries) less rare, to compensate for Ancient legendary stuff. Also, a non-ancient Furnace or T&T is far from useless :smallamused::smalltongue:. If you already have one, though, yeah it's probably at best a tiny upgrade, a shard, or a stat swap for a new character.

From what I gather, legendary affixes are not affected by Ancient status. Only DPS, stats, and resistances are affected to a significant degree (I found a Zumi bonesaber thing with 2900 dps and about 980 strength, though no 2h weapons yet).

Regarding Cameo: There's actually one for each element, with Fire being the former reigning champion of "rarest item drop in the game". It probably still is, post-droprate buff; and for melee, it's also probably the most useful one, as it eliminates one of two near-insta-kill abilities at high levels (Fire Chains) and a lot of enemies have deadly fire-based attacks. Out of the ones I have access to, Xephirian has proved to be the most useful because of how many affixes deal large amounts of lightning damage. If I had a Mara's, I'd probably use it because I hate those Barbed Lurkers with a passion.

[Legoshrimp]

From what I gather, legendary affixes are not affected by Ancient status. Only DPS, stats, and resistances are affected to a significant degree (I found a Zumi bonesaber thing with 2900 dps and about 980 strength, though no 2h weapons yet).


Actually it means the furnace is probably going to be useless because it has a much lower base damage then an ancient-non furnace weapon.


But it just seems like a terrible solution to the problem of people are too geared, we need to give them more progression. Lets just make 10% of drops have better stats, and make no actual changes to the items that are still generally terrible stat sticks!

[Anxe]

Ehn. Progression is gonna go all out of wack with the next expansion anyways when the level cap goes up. I like Ancients. Feels great when you get one even when its not in your build.

[NineThePuma]

I just want my farming to actually feel meaningful without simultaneously feeling like I'm not-actually-doing-anything. =\

That's, I think, my biggest problem with the game. It doesn't feel like you're meaningfully accomplishing more with the gear grind.

[Gnoman]

as it eliminates one of two near-insta-kill abilities at high levels (Fire Chains)

Huh? My main 2 characters I've been playing with (I have a horribly Wizard that's pretty low level, and a Demon Hunter that got sidelined when I decided to make a Witch Doctor for Season 1) are a melee barbarian and a Witch Doctor that focuses on pets and short range attacks, and I can't recall ever seeing Fire Chains as anything other than "don't touch the burniness, and it wasted an affix on a useless skill". Arcane enchanted is probably my number 1 source of deaths, with Vortex (usually sucking me into an arcane or frozen field) being a close second. Do they massively boost Fire Chains on high Torment levels or soemthing?

[Derjuin]

Huh? My main 2 characters I've been playing with (I have a horribly Wizard that's pretty low level, and a Demon Hunter that got sidelined when I decided to make a Witch Doctor for Season 1) are a melee barbarian and a Witch Doctor that focuses on pets and short range attacks, and I can't recall ever seeing Fire Chains as anything other than "don't touch the burniness, and it wasted an affix on a useless skill". Arcane enchanted is probably my number 1 source of deaths, with Vortex (usually sucking me into an arcane or frozen field) being a close second. Do they massively boost Fire Chains on high Torment levels or soemthing?

Basically, yeah. On GR 35+ with Superstition (20% elemental damage reduction), ~16,000 armor, and ~1,000 Fire resistance, it ticks for about 80,000 damage every half a second you're in contact with one chain. A 5pack with Fire Chains means "skip this pack and let residual AoE damage from them trying to keep up kill them off", unless you get a Shield or Conduit pylon. It's easier for some melee who can back out of the pack and hit them with ranged cooldowns or stun them so they don't weave as much, but a Chargebarian tends to end up in the very middle of the pack, taking all 3-5 chains to the face.

While Arcane Enchanted does hurt a lot too, it's a little easier to work around, plus it's not a passive skill - a stunlocked elite will never summon sentries, while a stunlocked pack with Fire Chains will have them active as normal.

[Dhavaer]

Wow. Has anyone else run across blood thieves? I just killed a pair of them and got 600+ shards.

[Anxe]

I ran across a whole pack of treasure goblins once with a blood thief among them. We only managed to kill two of the gobos, but we still got about 50 blood shards just from the little drops they make when you hit them.

As for the "grinding feeling" I started feeling that a while back and took a break for a few months. If the content isn't exciting eough for me I go play something else! Another option is to start a new character, but I'm a little resistant to give up all the progress I've made on my monk's build. I know how he works. I don't know how a different champs would work.

[Psyren]

I just want my farming to actually feel meaningful without simultaneously feeling like I'm not-actually-doing-anything. =\

That's, I think, my biggest problem with the game. It doesn't feel like you're meaningfully accomplishing more with the gear grind.

When you finally get that last piece for your set bonus and it changes your entire playstyle it does indeed feel like a big change. IK letting me run around with ancients as permanent pets was a pretty big deal, especially since they each generate fury for me.


I ran across a whole pack of treasure goblins once with a blood thief among them. We only managed to kill two of the gobos, but we still got about 50 blood shards just from the little drops they make when you hit them.

As for the "grinding feeling" I started feeling that a while back and took a break for a few months. If the content isn't exciting eough for me I go play something else! Another option is to start a new character, but I'm a little resistant to give up all the progress I've made on my monk's build. I know how he works. I don't know how a different champs would work.

I think it's worth it to at least try a new class because you never know what you'll like. Barbarian was the last class I got to 70 and now I cannibalized all my strength gems from my Crusader for him. And since they all share Paragon progression you aren't actually losing anything by playing a different toon.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

This happens to me, but I am leaning towards not picking it up until they stop making changes that just make itemization stupider and less enjoyable. (ancient legends, hey you have a 90% chance of that .001% drop chance thing being completely useless!)

I would rather say that the .001% drop that would otherwise be useless has a 10% chance of actually being relevant to my build.

Your example of Furnace, for example. The reason Furnace is so desired is because it has bonus damage to elites and bonus fire damage, both of which are useful to a firebird wizard. This isn't going to magically change because something else popped up as an ancient. Honestly, it would take a LOT of raw stats for me to consider giving up something like that. However, some stats would make some other pieces of gear equally relevant. For example, if I could get my Devastator to pop as an ancient, it might make more sense for me to use that + firebirds orb rather than a Furnace, depending on the stats rolled.

It's not a matter of making one obsolete, it's a matter of having more options to make a viable build.

[Psyren]

Keep in mind that Legoshrimp's metric of "useless" is not necessarily going to jibe with that of most people.

For myself, now that I have reached and am doing quite well in T6 play, I have to say that there are far more viable top-tier builds in this game than in D2, and not all of them are necessarily gear-dependent. As long as you are getting 4-5 relevant primary affixes on all your items, plus a minimum of a socket in your armor, weapon, pants and helm, you are set; and while in some cases orange text abilities makes this a lot easier, it is not required.

[NineThePuma]

When you finally get that last piece for your set bonus and it changes your entire playstyle it does indeed feel like a big change. IK letting me run around with ancients as permanent pets was a pretty big deal, especially since they each generate fury for me.

But farming always feels like such a pointless grind. Maybe I just need to run more rifts, though.


As for the "grinding feeling" I started feeling that a while back and took a break for a few months. If the content isn't exciting eough for me I go play something else! Another option is to start a new character, but I'm a little resistant to give up all the progress I've made on my monk's build. I know how he works. I don't know how a different champs would work.

My issue with THAT is honestly that leveling feels like a chore and the early game is boring.

[Derjuin]

But farming always feels like such a pointless grind. Maybe I just need to run more rifts, though.

Greater Rifts (on the PC/probably also on PS4/Xbone) are the best place to find set and legendary items, because of the chance from the guardian (usually get 1-6 legendaries per kill, but sometimes infuriatingly 0) and the blood shards they drop.

[Dhavaer]

Greater Rifts (on the PC/probably also on PS4/Xbone) are the best place to find set and legendary items, because of the chance from the guardian (usually get 1-6 legendaries per kill, but sometimes infuriatingly 0) and the blood shards they drop.

Really? I've found Greater Rifts to have poorer payout than normal rifts. Do they spike up suddenly at higher levels?

[Derjuin]

Really? I've found Greater Rifts to have poorer payout than normal rifts. Do they spike up suddenly at higher levels?

Possibly; most greater rifts my Barbarian and DH run seem to give me about 3-5 legendaries per kill at level 37-39; with a 10-12 minute completion time, combined with the 200ish blood shard drop, you start really raking them in (and a lot of Forgotten Souls start building up). In normal rifts, I rarely - if ever - see more than one or two legendaries drop, and at Torment 6 you get about 80-100 blood shards.

[Psyren]

I average 2 legendaries per run in T6 rifts. GRs do average more, if you're able to complete the run obviously. But I've been avoiding them this week because of the double goblin buff.

[Anxe]

Really? I've found Greater Rifts to have poorer payout than normal rifts. Do they spike up suddenly at higher levels?

I usually do Grifts at Rank 30-33 and get about 2-5 legendary/set drops in the pinata. T6 Rifts give me maybe one legendary/set drop at the end and maybe a second during the run. Grifts are definitely better for me for legendaries as well as for gold.

As for difficulty, a T6 Rift is about equivalent to a Rank 26 Grift in difficulty from my experience.

[Psyren]

I've seen this estimate (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/14058656008) thrown around.

[Dhavaer]

I have three plans for the Blitzbolter in my inventory, right now. Why has the RNG forsaken me?

[Psyren]

Until you teach the Blacksmith a plan it will stay on the drop tables and you could end up with useless/redundant copies falling from other monsters. Pity the plans aren't tradeable, even to others in that game.

[Dhavaer]

First Ancient! They are, of course, Hammer Jammers.

Edit: Got to rift level 23 and died so much. Thinking of dropping glass cannon or unwavering will, since I was shredding everything when I could actually attack. Main ability is Arcane Torrent; should I be using Will?

[007_ctrl_room]

this thread has now forced me to dedicate a four hour open block saturday afternoon ha - i've been away from D3 way too long

[Psyren]

My highest GR is 35 and usually I'm the one reviving everyone else :smallbiggrin: "Get your asses up, we've got a Guardian to slay!"

Moreso on my Barb though, who is tougher (22M unbuffed), has pets to distract the hordes and is usually standing safely at the back.


First Ancient! They are, of course, Hammer Jammers.

At least it wasn't Faithful Memory or Aquila Cuirass :smallyuk:


Edit: Got to rift level 23 and died so much. Thinking of dropping glass cannon or unwavering will, since I was shredding everything when I could actually attack. Main ability is Arcane Torrent; should I be using Will?

I use Will (which boosts your toughness quite a bit as well as your damage, and works great with "turret" spells like AT, Ray of Frost and Dis) but definitely not GC. My passives are Paralysis, Illusionist, Will and Evocation (since I'm an Archon build thanks to Vyr.) In GRs I use Vyr on cooldown - with a good stack of kills I can get over 3M damage before party buffs. Paralysis builds are great because it works on elites and most guardians too.

Once I reitemize I'll probably share my characters so y'all can see my builds and gear.

[Dhavaer]

I gave Will a shot and killed my slowly but fairly safely through a level 24 rift. Got my Mirinae to 25. Awesome gem.

[Psyren]

Don't have Miri yet. My Barb is using Pain Enhancer and my Wiz is using Wreath of Lightning, though since I nabbed Mykken's I'm tempted to respec and use Simplicity's Strength + Electrocute.

Taeguk works well for my builds since I tend to spend without limit. Though it won't work so well on an archon build since while I'm in that form I'm not spending anything.

[Dhavaer]

Woohoo! Finally got a Ramadlani's Gift, and now have a weapon with six primary abilities. Sheet damage, toughness and recovery are now up 10%, 20% and 10%.

[Psyren]

I'm sitting on two, afraid to use them...

EDIT: Hmmm, rerolling my weapon's socket to damage and then adding one is a pretty good idea...

EDIT 2: And I didn't realize until now that the damn thing was for weapons only anyway :smallbiggrin: well that was easy...

[Dhavaer]

No! No! Bad RNG! Don't give me an ancient sword immediately after I use Ramadlani's Gift! :smallmad:

[huttj509]

No! No! Bad RNG! Don't give me an ancient sword immediately after I use Ramadlani's Gift! :smallmad:

I got the Gift on my first GRift. Didn't realize the rarity, and used it promptly in an Azurewrath.

[Anxe]

No! No! Bad RNG! Don't give me an ancient sword immediately after I use Ramadlani's Gift! :smallmad:

And that's why I haven't used mine yet. Sitting on it til I get an Ancient weapon that I want to use in a build.

[Psyren]

Both of mine dropped in T6 regular rifts from the guardian. I've used one and currently sitting on the other.

Personally I would use it and then just try to find another, the damage increase is substantial and upping your kill speed can only make finding the new one easier.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Are craftable leggies able to go ancient? I've been getting some abysmally bad luck on Destroyer lately. Currently have a Chantodo's Will, and haven't found anything able to beat it yet.

[Psyren]

Are craftable leggies able to go ancient? I've been getting some abysmally bad luck on Destroyer lately. Currently have a Chantodo's Will, and haven't found anything able to beat it yet.

Yes, crafted legs can roll as ancient. (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/15142315064) So you have a reason to stockpile those souls.

I got an ancient green last night too (Blackthorne's, bleh) but I'm not even going to try to hold out for ancient versions of all my current BiS greens.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Yes, crafted legs can roll as ancient. (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/15142315064) So you have a reason to stockpile those souls.

I got an ancient green last night too (Blackthorne's, bleh) but I'm not even going to try to hold out for ancient versions of all my current BiS greens.

Oddly enough, it's not the souls i have a problem with, it's the basic white parts. Don't get many whites to break down on my runs.

[Psyren]

Oddly enough, it's not the souls i have a problem with, it's the basic white parts. Don't get many whites to break down on my runs.

You should have run some regular rifts this week. I got a few 8-packs of those Odious Collectors (the goblins that pack nothing but mats.) The RG drops reusable parts as well.

If you ever need whites, just run act 5 bounties - Pandemonium and Westmarch are littered with item racks.

[Dhavaer]

Yay Ancient Firebird's helm! Completely screwed my gear, though, because I was using the Sage's set and my Firebird's boots have fantastic stats, so replacing them with something any better was futile. Instead I've dropped the set completely, replaced the gloves with Penders (9.5 crit chance, 48 crit damage) and dropped my firebird's source for Tal's. I'm now sitting on 1.6M damage when Will is up, but still haven't got a socket in my Tal's amulet for Taeguk after 20+ rerolls.

[Psyren]

Sigh - Taeguk is unfortunately useless for my wizard, because Archon abilities don't trigger it as you're not spending any AP, and thus the buff falls off. I'll have to get it on my Monk instead, but her gear is awful.

[The_Jackal]

So pretend for a moment that I haven't played DIII since Seasons were introduced. I have two questions:

1) Is there a really compelling reason to play the seasonal ladder, say when Season 2 rolls into view?
2) If there isn't, and I wanted to pick up my not particularly geared Wizard, what build would you recommend for accessible effectiveness without any gearing?

[huttj509]

So pretend for a moment that I haven't played DIII since Seasons were introduced. I have two questions:

1) Is there a really compelling reason to play the seasonal ladder, say when Season 2 rolls into view?
2) If there isn't, and I wanted to pick up my not particularly geared Wizard, what build would you recommend for accessible effectiveness without any gearing?

"Starting from scratch, with the possibility of racing others to the top"

If this is appealing to you, go for the season. If not, don't.

My group of friends takes it as an opportunity to run around together, and maybe try new classes, next season we might do 4 witch doctors or something (minions EVERYWHERE!).

[Anxe]

The season ladder gives you new legendaries. Those legendaries become available during the next season to non-season characters, but they are exclusive during the season.

There's the race to the top thing as well.

Otherwise the artisans, stash, and gems make it too favorable to stay in non-seasons with new characters.

[The_Jackal]

The season ladder gives you new legendaries. Those legendaries become available during the next season to non-season characters, but they are exclusive during the season.

There's the race to the top thing as well.

Otherwise the artisans, stash, and gems make it too favorable to stay in non-seasons with new characters.

So, basically, early access to new loot that will eventually trickle down to everyone, am I reading that aright?

[NineThePuma]

As far as I'm aware, yes.

[Anxe]

So, basically, early access to new loot that will eventually trickle down to everyone, am I reading that aright?

Yup. And if you like achievement points you can get all your old ones once more.

[Psyren]

One cool thing about seasons that wasn't yet mentioned is that you get access to a special season-only transmog by participating and leveling one character to 70. So you may want to do at least that (shouldn't take longer than a couple of days, less if you've got a friend who loves seasons and is willing to power-level you.) That at least is a benefit for folks who care nothing about the seasonal leaderboards (like myself.)

Note also that Blizzard's "Season Ending FAQ video" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7UNNlDEpDA) also said something ominous about the non-seasonal leaderboards also being reset at a "later date." So even for folks who do care about that kind of progression, it appears that something is going to shake up the non-seasonal status quo soon.

Finally, if you do have seasonal characters and you don't care about what's in their stash... now might be a good time to trash all of that gear, because when the season ends all of it will get packaged up and mailed to your non-seasonal characters. I know I wouldn't want to log in and see 5 tabs worth of junk clogging my main team's inbox, especially if there is in fact one thing in that pile that I do want to keep, and I have a limited time to log on and go through it all before it's gone forever. (30 days seems like a long time, but I'm sure the deadline will catch some people off guard.)