Who all is in for Diablo III at launch?

[taggart6]

I understand now why the game needs ot be online. It's so ****ing repetitive that you need online people to help you get through it as quickly as possible.

The game give you no reason for wanting to play by yourself. You're actually handicapped if you do.

[flutie98]

I understand now why the game needs ot be online. It's so ****ing repetitive that you need online people to help you get through it as quickly as possible.

The game give you no reason for wanting to play by yourself. You're actually handicapped if you do.

Thats funny, the second you get to inferno they penalize you for playing with people. So much easier by yourself. (Should be fixed in next patch)

[Timman_24]

I understand now why the game needs ot be online. It's so ****ing repetitive that you need online people to help you get through it as quickly as possible.

The game give you no reason for wanting to play by yourself. You're actually handicapped if you do.

I've had no trouble with my Barbarian on normal so far. I've only died once/twice because I DCed while fighting the Butcher two times... I'm toward the end of Act III and it has ramped up, but still haven't been close to dying. I think the barb is pretty overpowered.

[taggart6]

I've had no trouble with my Barbarian on normal so far. I've only died once/twice because I DCed while fighting the Butcher two times... I'm toward the end of Act III and it has ramped up, but still haven't been close to dying. I think the barb is pretty overpowered.

You'll think that till you beat Normal. I solo-ed normal for the story. Only had one issue with a boss that could one-hit kill with teleport.

Post normal though...its all grind. So boring. You'll also need good help to get through Nightmare. That said, bad help will make the game harder. played with 1 guy that did nothing but pull mob trains.

I've noticed that when playing with others I get more side-event missions. In fact, I never get side-event missions solo. I ONLY get them with at least one other person joined. Even then, they last a few min and then you are back to the same old.

[Rush]

About halfway through act 3 Inferno and stopped to do some Siegebreaker runs, since everyone seems to think this is the best way to farm items. Haven't gotten one good drop yet, which sucks considering dying 5-10 times (minimum) is normal for one of these "runs," since you have to take out 5 packs of champs/elites first for the max Nephalem Valor bonus.

[taggart6]

About halfway through act 3 Inferno and stopped to do some Siegebreaker runs, since everyone seems to think this is the best way to farm items. Haven't gotten one good drop yet, which sucks considering dying 5-10 times (minimum) is normal for one of these "runs," since you have to take out 5 packs of champs/elites first for the max Nephalem Valor bonus.

I'm only in nightmare but when partying specific roles are really needed. That means having a tank who can pull aggro, a controller to manage the mobs, and high damage dealer.

The problem, however, is that each class can play so differently its near impossible to setup a worthwhile party in a PUG. IMHO, voice-chat would really help with the coordinating of roles if skills in a PUG.

[Rush]

I'm only in nightmare but when partying specific roles are really needed. That means having a tank who can pull aggro, a controller to manage the mobs, and high damage dealer.

The problem, however, is that each class can play so differently its near impossible to setup a worthwhile party in a PUG. IMHO, voice-chat would really help with the coordinating of roles if skills in a PUG.

Inferno turns this completely around. Past act 1, very few people actually party up unless all members have ungodly gear. It's an order of magnitude easier to solo because the monsters get massive hp and defensive boosts. I am nearly to 60k DPS, and my DH friend is higher than that, and we both have a massively easier time soloing than partying together. None of the tanks we know can "tank" anything at all past act 1.

I really hope Blizz addresses this in 1.03. The game mechanics are driving most people to solo in order to complete the game - this is the opposite of how it should work. You should be rewarded, not penalized, for playing as a group.

[taggart6]

Inferno turns this completely around. Past act 1, very few people actually party up unless all members have ungodly gear. It's an order of magnitude easier to solo because the monsters get massive hp and defensive boosts. I am nearly to 60k DPS, and my DH friend is higher than that, and we both have a massively easier time soloing than partying together. None of the tanks we know can "tank" anything at all past act 1.

I really hope Blizz addresses this in 1.03. The game mechanics are driving most people to solo in order to complete the game - this is the opposite of how it should work. You should be rewarded, not penalized, for playing as a group.

I'd also like a clearer idea of what gear is worthwhile and how stats work. Should I max out my Dex or focus on raising the base damage? What is my DPS by dual wielding? Things like that I feel are not very well explained and should be auto calculated for you.

[Kamakazie]

Inferno turns this completely around. Past act 1, very few people actually party up unless all members have ungodly gear. It's an order of magnitude easier to solo because the monsters get massive hp and defensive boosts. I am nearly to 60k DPS, and my DH friend is higher than that, and we both have a massively easier time soloing than partying together. None of the tanks we know can "tank" anything at all past act 1.

I really hope Blizz addresses this in 1.03. The game mechanics are driving most people to solo in order to complete the game - this is the opposite of how it should work. You should be rewarded, not penalized, for playing as a group.

With the damage scaling change that got hotfixed recently, I think this shouldn't be a problem anymore.

[Rush]

Leaving work for the day, but a couple quick notes. Tag - dual wield in inferno, since shields are capped pretty low on damage blocked. Shields are worthless in inferno. Kama - it helped the melee guys a little, but still the same story. Champ/elite mobs are so tough that most people are still soloing.

[Nik00117]

Barbs are underpowered for sure. My DH is lvl 32 and has almost as much DPS as my barb who is 53.

[taggart6]

Leaving work for the day, but a couple quick notes. Tag - dual wield in inferno, since shields are capped pretty low on damage blocked. Shields are worthless in inferno. Kama - it helped the melee guys a little, but still the same story. Champ/elite mobs are so tough that most people are still soloing.

Demon hunters don't use shields. Its typically another hand gun or quiver.

Right now, I'm seeing that a 2 handed cross bow can out DPS duel wielding. For duel wielding to be effective you need near identical damage levels and attack speeds. Damage doesn't stack, but other bonuses like vitality, gold pick-up, and etc. Not sure about exp gain and some other attributes.

[Rush]

Oops, thought you were playing a monk in my rush to leave yesterday. I had an Office Space moment where it was either leave within 5 minutes, or face getting involved in more project work when my boss got back from a meeting.

I agree, not only is it more cost-effective to use a 2h bow and quiver, it usually gets you way more damage as well. Dual-crossbows are only good through levels 40-50.

For your other question - at the moment, it's all about attack speed. This will raise your DPS ridiculously, way more than any other stat right now. Hold off on making it a point to acquire any expensive IAS or ASI items though - 1.03 will probably nerf this a bit. If you come across cheap attack speed options, definitely pick them up. Also pile on as much critical chance and damage as you can. Crit chance should be higher priority than crit damage until you've stacked at least 25%, then equal. Dexterity is fourth behind all of these. Primary stat stacking isn't that necessary until you have a really high damage weapon - so you can focus on other stuff more than Dex until nearly level 60. That said, I would still pile on the dex, but always take IAS/Crit gear over it or combined with it.

Edit - Once you have a 60 weapon, if it has a socket, put a nice emerald in it rather than ruby. It absolutely kills me to see higher levels running around with weapons socketed with rubies... they're missing out on a ton of critical damage. (though I guess it makes sense if they have no crit chance...)

Edit 2 - This tip goes for everyone. Once you get to inferno, get 12% run speed boots and at least one legendary/set item with 6-7% movement speed. It will feel like you're playing a different character, as you will be able to outrun every mob except fast champs. I don't care if you're ranged or melee - you will face many, many situations where you need to run for your life or dodge projectiles. You can't do either without good speed. Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to add more MS to read the 25% cap without gimping my character too badly.

[Rush]

Barbs are underpowered for sure. My DH is lvl 32 and has almost as much DPS as my barb who is 53.

Barbs are absolutely not underpowered, they just require a hell of a lot more gold to gear up. I met a barb yesterday in-game who had 100+ mill of gear on, and he put my wizard to shame.

But yeah, I would agree that it's crazy difficult to play a barb as your first character. My friends who have melees are still getting destroyed past act 1 nightmare. When you hit that wall, it's tough to get past. You need about 10-20 mill to even start gearing up so you can do some runs in act 3 and beyond.

[Nik00117]

But yeah, I would agree that it's crazy difficult to play a barb as your first character. My friends who have melees are still getting destroyed past act 1 nightmare. When you hit that wall, it's tough to get past. You need about 10-20 mill to even start gearing up so you can do some runs in act 3 and beyond.

Your friends suck, NM is not that difficult. I progressed all the way through Nightmare I spent maybe 100k on gear.