Diablo III

[Roderick]

Since Blizzard is trying, at least, to make a multitude of builds equally valid, there is no one source for The Ultimate Build. I've found wildly varying build plans too, which seems to back this up. I'm sure at some point people will be able to point out the best combinations, in time.

As for figuring out what is good and what is not, part of the fun is doing that yourself. Try to think about your spells in an abstract way, figure out what their boons are. Once you do that it becomes a bit of logic that the Hydra is good because it allows the Wizard to maintain moveability. Especially on high levels that becomes very important. Think about what spells would complement each other and give you a range of responses to the game's various threats. It makes little sense to equip only spells that have a huge reach, what if you come across a Mortar enemy that forces you to close range or be destroyed? (The answer is Spectral Blade... improved Spectral Blade (with Deep Cuts.))

[Scrobbs]

When I was upgrading my WD, Int was my main for dmg, so I focussed on that. Doing so made me a bit of a glass cannon, so after I got respectable DPS at around lvl 30 or so (600 ish) I switched to boosting my vit (and hence health), and pretty much ignored everything else. As for spells I tended to use ones that hit for max damage in 1 hit that affect an area, and ALWAYS keep my garg hanging around as a meatshield to distract enemies if I need to run, along with passive abilities that boost his resistances. Also use an ability that when he picks up a health globe he gets an an int boost (and a corresponding dmg boost) which stacks for up to 5 health globes. I've noticed that there are somethings that increase the drop rate for health globes, so when fighting a bunch, you always get 2 or three dropping, and DPS scales quite well. E.g. now at lvl 43 with 1.7K dps, with aforementioned spec, health globes drop, I rush into the middle, grab a couple, and if I'm lucky, DPS will scale up to about 3K. Usually hoping that this additional will dispatch the lot in short order. Any protracted fights will cause me problems. For boss fights I will have a go, and if I die, will respec for more health and damage over time/slow which usually does the trick.

I am only on the 2nd difficulty level though, the next one up might cause more problems.

[toblix]

Reading this sort of discussion seriously drains away any enthusiasm for the game. Like with WoW, the moment it becomes about maths, it goes from being fun to some sort of chore.

Obviously, many people – maybe most people – prefer this way of playing; testing builds, finding optimal configurations and whatnot. It's totally valid, but it completely ruins the fun for me. It's also the reason I'm loath to play with strangers: I always feel guilty for not being the optimal guy.

[Brannigan]

You don't really need the maths until inferno honestly. Even then I've never looked up anything

[toblix]

No, but naturally, if you play with people who are into that aspect of it, you'll start feeling like you're not doing enough. I don't have that problem with Diablo 3, but it was one of the reasons I fell out of WoW pretty fast.

[Scrobbs]

It's not really about maths, or I've not really felt it be about maths - beyond 'make this number bigger, while keeping everything else similar where possible'.

[Roderick]

I completely agree, and I also dislike it when people run to the internet and, perhaps even before they've actually played the game, find out what the optimal builds are and what the best way to play it is. Especially if that makes them feel like they're better players. Oh, you may be more effective, but you've also just destroyed most of what is fun about the game.

So, once again, I recommend trying to figure things out on your own.

[lobotomy42]

Obviously, many people – maybe most people – prefer this way of playing; testing builds, finding optimal configurations and whatnot. It's totally valid, but it completely ruins the fun for me. It's also the reason I'm loath to play with strangers: I always feel guilty for not being the optimal guy.

I agree. This is why I mostly stick to single-player. As soon as other people enter the game, I feel competitive and start optimizing numbers, and it loses the fun.

[Roderick]

So, anyone else feel like Diablo 2 felt a lot more hefty, epic, dangerous, adventurous, unknown? Stepping out of Lut Gholein was, even in normal mode, something you did with dread anticipation and the knowledge you would probably get killed by the soonest sand leaper. The whole of Diablo 3 feels like, yeah, that was pleasant and fun and comfortable, but then it's over and you feel like it might as well not have been there.

[castorp]

Reading this sort of discussion seriously drains away any enthusiasm for the game. Like with WoW, the moment it becomes about maths, it goes from being fun to some sort of chore.

Obviously, many people – maybe most people – prefer this way of playing; testing builds, finding optimal configurations and whatnot. It's totally valid, but it completely ruins the fun for me. It's also the reason I'm loath to play with strangers: I always feel guilty for not being the optimal guy.

Ha, when I read the new posts in this thread it dawned on me that I might never have read such a long game related thread here on the Thumb that was so much about numbers, technicalities, efficiency and so little about The Fun.

This Diablo III you guys are talking about seems like a strange beast.

(I could not yet play D3, but probably will in the distant future. D2 I played a lot till this single moment when I realised that I was just going through the motions – then I deleted the game.)

[Hermie]

Yeah, the reason I asked wasn't because I want to be Mr. Best, it was because I wanted a different perspective, since I've mostly stuck to my same spells so far, and I know there are so many possibilities. In fact, I was feeling The Fun draining the more I was throwing myself against the wall. I'm also not a numbers guy, I have no idea what my DPS is or supposed to be, but I find it fascinating to hear the different approaches people are taking to character building.

Other than the bosses, I find that Blizzard have done a phenomenal job of always making you feel like a badass. I feel clever for discovering a good spell combination (even though they're probably all thouroughly tested to make sure they complement each other), and the enemies are usually intimidating enough that I feel good about blasting them to pieces. On normal, anyways.

[Hero Protagonist]

Reading this sort of discussion seriously drains away any enthusiasm for the game. Like with WoW, the moment it becomes about maths, it goes from being fun to some sort of chore.

Obviously, many people – maybe most people – prefer this way of playing; testing builds, finding optimal configurations and whatnot. It's totally valid, but it completely ruins the fun for me. It's also the reason I'm loath to play with strangers: I always feel guilty for not being the optimal guy.

It depends on what you're after, I guess.

I personally found normal and nightmare difficulties much too easy. I didn't have to drink a potion until hell difficulty, and even then hell wasn't really challenging. On the other hand I found act 1 of inferno to be sufficiently challenging that I had to divert from my standard tactic of charging in like a maniac, at least until Act 2. Act 1 requires you to have a solid understanding of the mechanics of each champion ability, and the math involved in the game. Act 2 and beyond require you to farm endlessly for gear and rely on exploits to progress, which is where the fun ends for me.

You don't really need the maths until inferno honestly. Even then I've never looked up anything

I'd go one step further and say it only really applies to hardcore inferno. When I was running normal inferno, I just looked to improve general statistics, it wasn't until I started playing characters that could actually die and lose progress that I started trying to figure out optimal builds, because if I didn't I wouldn't last long in Inferno.

[Twig]

Reading this sort of discussion seriously drains away any enthusiasm for the game. Like with WoW, the moment it becomes about maths, it goes from being fun to some sort of chore.

Obviously, many people – maybe most people – prefer this way of playing; testing builds, finding optimal configurations and whatnot. It's totally valid, but it completely ruins the fun for me. It's also the reason I'm loath to play with strangers: I always feel guilty for not being the optimal guy.

As long as you're not playing hardcore, the maths don't matter. You can do whatever the fuck you want with no consequences, except maybe you'll die more often. But who cares about dying when death itself has no consequences!

Also it's not even really maths, except that I'm trying to increase all values, sometimes prioritizing one over the other. I'm not doing any wild calculations here. Just the standard ARPG "get better shit" shit.

[TheLastBaron]

So Blizzard is saying that the exploit never worked, but I was watching people on stream doing it. The RMAH still launched and people are already selling stuff for hundreds of dollars. I assumed it would be like a 10 mil item would sell for $15-20, but people are selling stuff for a lot. Maybe this will encourage Blizzard to release PvP before "Q4"

[Roderick]

Items are selling for hundreds of money?! You've got to be kidding me, I was thinking this would be all about micro transactions. Who in their right mind would pay these amounts for an in-game item?

OK, I'm sorry, I'm of the generation that still thinks you only have to pay once for a game and get the full package

[Twig]

A friend of mine sold a pair of level 55 legendary bracers for $30.

I kind of don't want to play anymore. The RMAH (and the auction house in general) runs counter to the whole point of the game. Its existence bothers me, even though I should probably not care.

But I guess if people are making money by jumping on this shit early, more power to them.

EDIT: Turns out hardcore doesn't allow RMAH, so now I can take my hardcore snobbery to a whole new level. Suck it, softcorers.

[TheLastBaron]

Yeah I figured that was the draw, that you could spend a few dollars and get good weapons. It's not all items that are going for hundreds though, most things in the 800k-1 mil range go for around $15 ish, at least from what I can see. I cant find any results for people selling gold, but that's also an option in the RMAH, so I'm curious to see what the exchange rate ends up being once things get settled. Gold is sold in 100k increments btw.

[Twig]

Woohoo I made it to 60 on my HC wizard, and thanks to the super awesome wand Hiro gave me, Belial has never been easier. I literally didn't take more than 10k damage the entire fight. Unless you count diamond skin absorbing damage. I think the gear I have now should carry me all the way to Inferno, although once I hit that, I'll probably be in trouble.

I'm still a bit worried about Diablo, though. People all say that Belial is the hardest boss in the game, but I've gotten his pattern down pat. Only the second phase ever worries me, just because I have to deal with fireballs and snakes all at once. Diablo, however... I can never reliably dodge his stupid fucking fireball. Even though it doesn't look like it actually hits me, it still explodes on me and ow. I spent the majority of the nightmare fight just running in circles waiting for health potions to cooldown and the health wells to refill. It was very annoying.

Also, as a side note, the wand Hiro gave me has life on kill, and it does indeed make hydra healing super amazing. I only get 702 health per kill, but that's 2106 every time I recast hydra, and right now I have 40k health. Not bad, since there's no cooldown on hydra. I'm still worried that I might grow to depend on it only to have Blizzard patch it out. I guess we'll just have to see.

[Hero Protagonist]

Hey, I've managed to make almost $200 off the RMAH, so I am not going to complain about it. If Fry wants to give me his money, I am going to take his money!

[thainatos]

Found some sweet, sweet gloves today, got the mobile authenticator, and now I wait.

[Scrobbs]

Why is it that rare amulets are so expensive? They seem to hold their price far better than other things.

[Roderick]

I think partly because there is much less diversity and choice in amulets (weapons are everywhere), partly because amulets have a classic allure as expensive and desirable things, partly because what the hell.

Good for you making a wad of cash, Hero Protagonist!

[Twig]

Welp, I made it to act 1 of inferno!

And then my wizard died.

I overestimated my ability to survive things and pushed too far. Now I think it's time to move on to other games, because I have a ton. It's kind of a relief. I'll come back to it some day. Maybe.

[Scrobbs]

Got to level 13 with my HC DH. Then lost concentration and attacked a village full of Moon Clan warriors and somersaulted forward by accident into more. Used a HP, then somersaulted further ahead accidentally instead of backwards, tried to run away and got clouted by a tree. Dead. Bugger.

[Hero Protagonist]

Welp, I made it to act 1 of inferno!

And then my wizard died.

I overestimated my ability to survive things and pushed too far. Now I think it's time to move on to other games, because I have a ton. It's kind of a relief. I'll come back to it some day. Maybe.

They put the axe to hydra healing in today's patch, anyway. You died too soon to bask in the glory of the nerfs!