They're adjusting the way drops work for inferno in the next patch. I'm running Act 4 inferno and the drops are anywhere from ilvl 63 to lvl 53 blues (the latter appearing to be more common). Killed Diablo and got a 400 DPS two-hander.
Hell is not frozen yet! (Diablo 3)
- Thread starter Makenshi
- Start date
Ilosar
Vault Fossil
I had to buy gear once I got to Act 3 Nightmare, specifically once I left Bastion's Keep. Most of my stuff was level 20-25, I got like 3 upgrades since I even entered Nightmare. I suddendly faced a brick wall where a handful of enemies was a challenge and any lite with powerful affixes was a guaranteed death. Luckily this included a nearly 200 DPS two-hander, very powerful at that stage. I also carefully picked my purchases, and completely gearing my Barb cost me about 40 000, which enabled me to cruise to Diablo easily. Early Hell happened with no deaths, until that stupid disconnect of course.
As an aside, Call of the Ancients is a friggin awesome ability.
As an aside, Call of the Ancients is a friggin awesome ability.
UncannyGarlic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
I spent 3k on a 320+dps 1h axe and 6k on a 26% block shield (with other stats) on my barb in hell act 2 and the game went from being stupid hard to being good solo and a joke in coop. I'd probably say that items are probably the biggest flaw in the game. The power jumps between difficulties is pretty stupid and it causes the game's difficulty to yo-yo in bad ways.
The villains and plot are poorly written to the point of having pretty significant contradictions such as [spoiler:0d6bdbf57e]humans being the product of angels and demons reproducing and yet Tyreal can just choose to become one. The death of Deckard Cain is probably the biggest slap in the face, it was possibly the most anticlimactic death possible.[/spoiler:0d6bdbf57e]
The bad all said, I still think that the core gameplay is better than Diablo2. I'm still holding out the slim hope that they'll listen to fans and put in an endless dungeon, endless waves, PvE challenge mode, or all of the above.
Jay Wilson's snide response to questions about the game being poorly documented for players (all of the hidden effects and such) was annoying. Commenting that The Arreat Summit didn't get built in a day is just stupid, the game should include all such information in an in game wiki or at the very least they should have had a new Arreat Summit made before release.
The villains and plot are poorly written to the point of having pretty significant contradictions such as [spoiler:0d6bdbf57e]humans being the product of angels and demons reproducing and yet Tyreal can just choose to become one. The death of Deckard Cain is probably the biggest slap in the face, it was possibly the most anticlimactic death possible.[/spoiler:0d6bdbf57e]
The bad all said, I still think that the core gameplay is better than Diablo2. I'm still holding out the slim hope that they'll listen to fans and put in an endless dungeon, endless waves, PvE challenge mode, or all of the above.
Jay Wilson's snide response to questions about the game being poorly documented for players (all of the hidden effects and such) was annoying. Commenting that The Arreat Summit didn't get built in a day is just stupid, the game should include all such information in an in game wiki or at the very least they should have had a new Arreat Summit made before release.
aenemic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
I don't really get why people even bother complaining about the story. are you surprised it wasn't innovating, intriguing and fleshed out? do you really play Diablo games for the storyline?
I'm sure Blizzard didn't really care about the story and I'm perfectly fine with that. the writing is cheap and and lazy, but it's there only as a framework for us to experience fun gameplay. the gameplay isn't a framework for good storytelling. this is how Blizzard games work - their gameplay is amazing, story is always secondary and simply there to give us some sort of reason to play the game.
it really baffles me that people are somehow surprised about this.
I'm sure Blizzard didn't really care about the story and I'm perfectly fine with that. the writing is cheap and and lazy, but it's there only as a framework for us to experience fun gameplay. the gameplay isn't a framework for good storytelling. this is how Blizzard games work - their gameplay is amazing, story is always secondary and simply there to give us some sort of reason to play the game.
it really baffles me that people are somehow surprised about this.
Nope.
That's my problem.
The story is totally distracting / annoying the hell out of me in Diablo 3. I really wish they would have made it less in my face, because yeah... the story and writing is damn bad. I would have liked it more, if it stayed more in the background, like in D1 and D2.
What's surprising about D3's story is that it's a lot worse than D1's and D2's.
Ilosar
Vault Fossil
Well, Zoltan Kulle was a decent sub-plot, a much more grey character than usual for Blizzard. Yes, he's a power-crazy mage, but ultimately he had decent intentions. He also happens to be right all along, and is work is crucial to the plot. Being voiced by Steve Blum helps, given the tepidness of the rest of the cast. You still have to kill him because of plot stupidity, sadly.
I also really liked Lyndon the scoundrel. Perfect example of a lovable rogue. The fact that he only cares about loot reminds me of many, many Diablo players too.
My own biggest plot hole was how Adria was capable of somehow directing the souls of the prime evils to the Black Soulstone from very far away, while canon basically says their souls have sent straight to hell (or somesuch) when we broke their own soulstones in D2. She basically handwaves the presence of no less than 5 souls of extremely powerful demons as ''oh, but it took me a long time'', and everybody just accepts it, no questions asked. For Leah to be gullible is OK, but Tyreal was an arch-angel for much of his life, he should really be much, much more savvy about those things than what is shown in game.
I also really liked Lyndon the scoundrel. Perfect example of a lovable rogue. The fact that he only cares about loot reminds me of many, many Diablo players too.
My own biggest plot hole was how Adria was capable of somehow directing the souls of the prime evils to the Black Soulstone from very far away, while canon basically says their souls have sent straight to hell (or somesuch) when we broke their own soulstones in D2. She basically handwaves the presence of no less than 5 souls of extremely powerful demons as ''oh, but it took me a long time'', and everybody just accepts it, no questions asked. For Leah to be gullible is OK, but Tyreal was an arch-angel for much of his life, he should really be much, much more savvy about those things than what is shown in game.
I thought the story was fine and there were a lot of loveable characters, such as Covetous Shen, the scoundrel and the templar, who I find to be a mildly psychotic, right-wing nut job who is just a little homosexually attracted to my wizard.
I'm not sure what people were really expecting out of the story? It is what it is. I read every book and heard every conversation. I found the side stories interesting, such as whether Covetous Shen is actually a god and how and why the templar order was founded.
The meat of the game is smashin' monsters and gettin' phat loots.
I'm not sure what people were really expecting out of the story? It is what it is. I read every book and heard every conversation. I found the side stories interesting, such as whether Covetous Shen is actually a god and how and why the templar order was founded.
The meat of the game is smashin' monsters and gettin' phat loots.
I love how Kulle always does this rather ominous laugh and vanishes after he says something.
And I hate that stupid templar. I wish there was a mute button for him because he is useful otherwise. He's the worst case of overacting I have ever heard from a voice actor. THAT was a WORthy foe. GLOOOOrious.
And I hate that stupid templar. I wish there was a mute button for him because he is useful otherwise. He's the worst case of overacting I have ever heard from a voice actor. THAT was a WORthy foe. GLOOOOrious.
Buxbaum666 said:
*Opens chest*
*Receives 40 gold and a grey quality sword*
Templar: Riches unimaginable!
*Fast Act IV inferno oppressors with vortex and fire chains*
Templar: Could we find more like that??
For the love of god, I hope not.
"Hey listen man, could we stop for a couple of minutes, I gotta pee. Thanks, brb.
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA" *poof*
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA" *poof*
aenemic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
Buxbaum666 said:
that's why I love him. especially the line you just quoted. sure, it gets a bit annoying in the long run, but I think the overacting actually adds to the character. he's almost fanatic. I like how the different followers seem to speak to different aspects of a diablo players mentality - the sorceress says she learns a lot, gaining new experience, while the templar obviously fancies a challenge and the scoundrel is horny for loot.
anyway, this is typical Blizzard writing. have you played any of their other games? they use stereotypical fantasy settings and characters, everything is blown out of proportion, nothing needs to be explained by some pseudo-science and logic is often second to awesome. I don't really care, it's how Blizzard always have been and always will be. what I DO miss, which they have completely lost, is atmosphere.
aenemic said:
aenemic said:
The other games had effective stories. In the first, you were hunting Diablo. Simple but effective. After all, we hadn't seen Diablo before. The world was fleshed out by the books, and it was moderately interesting.
In the second you were tracking the guy from the first, again, simple but interesting. Who didn't want to know what happened to your character from the last game?
In the third, the narrative becomes bad fan fiction. "Hey, how are we going to make Diablo interesting to fight for the third game in a row?" "Give him boobs!" "Yeah high five".
So yeah, even the "amazing gameplay" (lol) of Diablo 3 couldn't make up for the stupid ass writing.
UncannyGarlic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
WarCraft was really the only franchise of theirs that had bad writing until now, Diablo and StarCraft pretty well. They worked on the less is more framework and on keeping the plot pretty simple. I'm not saying that the plots were anything great but the writing was generally pretty solid. I think that the voice acting is pretty decent in Diablo III but they can't overcome the atrocious writing of the main plot and particularly the villains. The best writing is the more humorous stuff like Shen, and that's all pretty much a slap in the face to the tone of previous games. I thought most of the side dialogue was decent to good and enjoyed learning the followers stories.aenemic said:
I think the problem with all of the followers isn't the voice acting, which I agree with aenemic fit's the characters, but the fact that you can't turn it off. Anything can get old.Buxbaum666 said:
SimpleMinded
Vault Fossil
I keep going back and forth on buying Diablo 3. A number of my coworkers have it and I'd love to play with them, but one's summary of his experience was a little worrying. He's reached Inferno Act 2, and says that he isn't able to get any further, and that his gear just isn't good enough. As a result, he keeps doing this same run over and over to kill a treasure goblin and try and get equipment that might make him more capable of progressing.
The repetition of it definitely had me a little concerned, even if I spent all my time doing this in Diablo 2. Still going back and forth on whether it's worth spending 60 bucks on the game, or if I should spend it on the GameFly sale and the Steam Summer Sale and get 10 games instead.
The repetition of it definitely had me a little concerned, even if I spent all my time doing this in Diablo 2. Still going back and forth on whether it's worth spending 60 bucks on the game, or if I should spend it on the GameFly sale and the Steam Summer Sale and get 10 games instead.
Ilosar
Vault Fossil
A patch came out today that eases the difficulty curve. Inferno Act II to IV were made easier, and better loot drops in Act III-IV Hell and Act I Inferno. Then again, it also nerfed the king of stats in the game (Increased Attack Speed), made bosses harder and multiplied repair costs for high-end items by like 4X. This being the Blizzard fanbase, the former two is catering to the casuals, while the latter is Jaw Wilson being a dick.
Personally, I approve of the patch in general. The Attack Speed nerf was a bit too brutal and putting a 3 minute enrage timer on some bosses is just straight-up retarded, but the rest had to be done.
Personally, I approve of the patch in general. The Attack Speed nerf was a bit too brutal and putting a 3 minute enrage timer on some bosses is just straight-up retarded, but the rest had to be done.
UncannyGarlic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
Given how easy bosses are, buffing them made sense. I also understand why they increased repair costs but we'll see how effective it is. Personally I think that it will hit more casual players far harder than it will hit the people they want to, in part because I think that a large portion of the targeted group is already past the point of this mattering to them.
They should probably just remove the cost for crafting an item or at least make it a tenth of what it originally was (they cut it in half). I think that they fail to take into account the amount of money lost by breaking down items (granted you can choose to only break down the least expensive stuff).
They should probably just remove the cost for crafting an item or at least make it a tenth of what it originally was (they cut it in half). I think that they fail to take into account the amount of money lost by breaking down items (granted you can choose to only break down the least expensive stuff).
My main concern with the game is that it's completely gearbased and not skillbased. Sure, you need a minimum of braincells to figure out some mechanics & tactics, but I'd say 90% of all players will manage Inferno -IF- they have the right gear. And that gear can only be had by sheer luck when farming, or by spending money (real or ingame gold). Prices are downright insane.SimpleMinded said:
The game is still very badly balanced when looking at classes. The melee classes are the runts. Not only do they fail to tank unless they have the best gear money can buy, they also do pretty shitty damage. Ranged classes is where it's at.
On the other hand, demonhuntard & wizard gameplay is boring as all fuck.
I'd like to defeat Diablo on Inferno difficulty, but if the game stays the way it is now, I doubt I'll continue playing.
I lost a fifth of the DPS of my monk in the patch. And by lowering attack speed, they also nerfed my spirit generation (monks generate spirit per strike that actually hits a target, ranged classes just regenerate without having to do anything and have perks that allow them to speed regeneration when they are hitting with certain skills). Due to that, I've really not noticed Act III becoming easier AT ALL.Ilosar said:
I'm guaranteed to face enrage most Act III random world bosses now, since I spend to much time using spirit for defensive abilities (at least try to stay alive) and my DPS is just too fucking low to get most bosses with decent health down in 3 minutes (let alone if they have "extra health", "shielding", "invulnerable mobs", etc).
And that's with a 950 DPS 1H weapon, which is quite decent.
SuAside said:
This is the main reason I won't touch this game, I think the direction gaming is going with collecting and selling gear and "real money" is a blight on the industry. But that's just me...
Ilosar
Vault Fossil
Yeah, I guess it varies by people. My DH friend had his DPS almost cut in half. That said, he still has close to 100k, so he cuts through enemies like a hot knife through butter. He simply cannot manage to kill the new Ghom, however; the fat bastard creates so many clouds and has so much HPs that glass cannon builds are worthless against him.
My own barb didn't feel much, since I specced for raw damage (Frenzy takes care of AS), vitality and resists. Currently on Act 1 Inferno, progression is smooth but I play less, not because of the game but because the Gods and Kings expansion for Civ V just got out
In retrospect, I'd say the IAS nerf was also too much. Making it less a king of stats is OK, but such a dramatic nerf is a bit uncalled for. Maybe spread it over two patches to allow players to adapt? And I stand by my statement that enrage timers are an absolutely stupid mechanic that penalizes melee classes to a ridiculous extreme. Want to tank the boss instead of going glass cannon? Ups, after 3 minutes he kills you no matter what. Retarded design.
To be fair, Diablo was always gear-based. There rarely was any skill involved, hell D2 just meant properly building your character (which requires knowledge, not skill), getting the good items (via either the hard way of trading and looting, or the dark side of duping), and then spamming 1 or 2 skills all day long. At least D3 adds skill variety, I'm very thankful for that change. And in Inferno, you need a modicum of skill to survive, again unless you pay through the nose for godly gear.