Diablo 3

[Toothache]

So, I've been playing this almost exclusively since it came out, and it's been pretty fun. Skill system works pretty well I find.

Started off with a Barbarian, since that was my favourite D2 class, and it worked fine for me all the way to the end of Normal. Just switched to the Wizard for something different, seems pretty solid so far.

You'll likely find me playing on EU server, BT is Toothache42#1944. Would be cool to see more SF peeps around.

[Agro]

Plays exactly the same as D2 for me I'm a little disappointed, to be honest.

[Anouleth]

I think it's FUCKING AWESOME

beat Normal Mode with Wizard Wendell, will divide time between going through Normal with Barbarian Etzel and Nightmare with Wendell

I used mainly Frost Nova/Disintegrate with Wendell

and I died a lot man I suck at this

[Icon of Sin]

I was rather busy these past days, so I'm quite a bit behind you guys in early Act III.

Loving the Barbarian so far, though the two handed weapons being crap early on is rather sad.

[Venusaur]

Like many of the others in this topic, I too play a Barbarian, Ross, who happens to be Lv. 34 on Act I Nightmare! I died a lot on Nightmare at first, but then I got a bunch of nice gear with Vitality off of the Auction House, so it's all good now! Right now, I use Ground Stomp to stun, and then Battle Rage and Whirlwind my way through the mass of enemies! Cleave gets me a lot of Fury while hitting multiple enemies, while Call of the Ancients is for when our team needs backup. Can't wait to get Unforgiving!

My BattleTag is CavalierSain#1390, and I'll get to adding some of you guys, though I do play on US, so I can't add Toothache...

[Colonel M]

I play on the US too, but I haven't had much time to play.

I'm a Demon Hunter, and I like the class thus far, though mainly because its beginning skills are pretty fucking awesome and its playstyle is pretty unique from what I'm used to (in WoW I usually played as a Paladin and Death Knight... to give you a clue). I'm kind of a low level (18), but from what I've played it's awesome even at the lowest of levels. Caltrops + Vault is so awesome.

[Snowy_One]

I've been intentionally staying off it as a friend wants to play with me and I've been busy as well, so only act 1 done for me. Only died once and that was because I accidentally brought up my Steam overlay and it lagged when closing when I needed to use a potion.

[IGdood]

No necromancer = no play for me. I'll wait for expansion pack.

[Naglfar]

Naglfar#6905 on the mericas. Forth, Serenes.

[TheEnd]

Late act 2 monk here.

I wish I could play more D3, but life conspires against me

No necromancer = no play for me. I'll wait for expansion pack.

No Witch Doctor?

Edited May 19, 2012 by TheEnd

[Icon of Sin]

I'd like to ask : what do you guys think of the general difficulty of the game?

As a Barbarian, I don't have the Monk's dodge or healing skills and have to mostly rely on my armor, but I know some type of mobs (especially magical ones until I hit level 30) and a few bosses gave me a lot of trouble.

Especially Izual. His Frost Novas and backup buddies really fucked me up.

For the guys who play Monk and ranged characters, have you died often? Even with my life points around 3000 at the end of Normal it was surprisingly easy to bring them down, and in early Nightmare a few monsters hit me for 200-300 damage per hit.

Edited May 19, 2012 by Dio

[Colonel M]

Mostly it's due to lag (or I get ganged up on), but I've died quite a bit, sadly. I haven't played many ranged characters (I'm used to up-close fights), though having Elective Mode helps me out a lot with skill decisions. Granted, sometimes, I wish I could have more, but I digress.

Usually my setup is Caltrops, Smokescreen, Vault, and Evasive Fire (at the moment), though I'm considering to drop Caltrops ever since I got Web Shot for Rapid Fire and maybe replacing Vault for Turret once I'm 25.

[spoiler=Boss-wise]Okay, Skeleton King was kind of iffy, but that was because my dps was shit and my Templar died on me constantly. Caltrops + Vault saved my ass a lot.

I had someone with me when I was fighting the Butcher, so no real comment here.

Actually the question I asked when I faced Magda the first time was "why do I die so fast"? I then realized the Thralls 2HKOed me. 2HKO. Caltrops + Vault was the key for that one.

I just finished Belial today, and his first two stages are a cakewalk. It was Stage 3 that kept tripping me, and it was usually because the lag was so atrocious that I couldn't respond quickly enough to what happened next. I just decided for that fight to spam Smokescreen and constantly use Rapid Fire; healing on the occasion when possible.

Honestly my biggest weakness is lag, and I grant that I'm playing this on a laptop that's about 2 years old, but I can't really upgrade my video card without a shitload of tedious work with it...

...Well, I might have to find a way.

[Icon of Sin]

Personally my skillset is, at level 35 :

M1 Cleave > Rupture (enemies explode for damage)

M2 Earthquake > Chilling Earth (slow/ice damage)

1 Ground Stomp > Wrenching Smash (bigger AoE, brings back enemies towards you)

2 Revenge > Vengeance is Mine (more life/additionnal fury on hit)

3 War Cry > Hardened Wrath (double defense bonus)

4 Wrath of the Berserker > nothing yet

Pound of Flesh (more and better quality health globes), Inspiring Presence (War Cry lasts twice as long, heals for 60 secs), Superstition (life fucking saver against elemental damage)

My modus operandi revolves on using Ground Stomp against mobs, then Cleave them like a madman but even then in early NM it's usually a 3-4HKO at best on the weakest enemies. Revenge's used from time to time, and I try to keep up my War Cry as often as possible. Earthquake and WotB are almost only used against enchanted monsters/bosses/etc.

Despite my 4000 HP and 50 regen per second, I'm often trying to get as much health globes as possible since I'm often forced to take several hits per mob.

As for bosses :

Other than Izual I mentionned earlier, I only died once at most to certain bosses, namely Azmodan because I was reckless and wanted to finish him off while he was using his massive AoE attack. The Butcher was somehow easier than the Skeleton King since he stunned himself. Belial was a bit tough at first but I caught on his strategy and beat him easily. I don't remember Maghda being too painful. The lord of Glutonny was insanely annoying because of the smokescreen being so huge, while the maiden of Lust was a complete cakewalk. Finally, Diablo's first two phases were nothing special, but I know I had some issues during the third phase and had to run towards the Healing Wells a bunch of times.

I'll probably tinker around my skills a bit more. Two skills just for bosses/treasure goblins might be a bit too much. I've tried Frenzy with Triumph but the increased attack speed doesn't compare with the AoE Cleave has, even with the healing on kill. I also tried going a bit more offensive in my early-mid twenties with Weapons Master (axes for +10% critical) and Ruthless for 23% chance of double damage, but that didn't seem to work as well as I needed even more health globes to keep myself alive, and them spawning less often was rather awful.

Edited May 19, 2012 by Dio

[Venusaur]

I've been getting into Nightmare (around A2/A3, depending on group), and this is the build I generally use: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#bhYiRj!ZdW!ZZZabZ

Stun, build Fury, boost up and then just Whirlwind away! The Ancients are pretty clutch, they help if the mobs are overwhelming. I used to have Weapon Throw, but I realized I needed the damage resistance that Ignore Pain gets you when you suck all of the enemies towards you

[Anouleth]

I then realized the Thralls 2HKOed me. 2HKO. Caltrops + Vault was the key for that one.

I find that as a Wizard, enemies would often OHKO me. Leoric and the Thralls both OHKOed me without Diamond Skin active. I've since added more Vitality equipment so I'm a lot more durable, without too much loss on DPS.

Currently I'm using Shock Wave (Fire Bolt) + Arcane Orb (Obliteration) for main weapons, but my main damage dealing is using Meteor (Star Pact). For support I have Frost Nova (Cold Snap), Teleport (Wormhole), and Time Slow (Time Warp). Passives are Glass Cannon, Astral Presence and Conflagration.

[Suichimo]

Suichimo#1427

My sole character, currently, is Melia, my 38 Wizard. In Act 1 of Nightmare just dicking around at the moment. Fully buffed, I have a DPS of around 1200. Skills are:

Electrocute > Chain Lightning

Disintegrate > Convergence

Wave of Force > Forceful Wave

Archon > Arcane Destruction

Magic Weapon > Force Weapon

Familiar > Sparkflint Familiar

I've also got about 9.6k hp.

Loving the game so far.

[Anouleth]

46 Wizard

wielding a

LIGHTNING KATANA OMG

[StrategistPockystix]

I'll be waiting a while, since the whole forced online and server issues are still a bit daunting for me to jump back in after so many years.

But if and when I do; I will be playing a Wizard and going for the Battle Mage build. It's just my style in any game I play lol

[Agro]

guys I feel dumb asking this but how the fuck do I actually use elective mode? I've got it ticked in the options but is still autoassigns skills :(

edit: wait, just got it, there's just some weird lag when I drag the icons around

Edited May 20, 2012 by Agro

[Suichimo]

Melia hit 42 tonight. She has ~1450 DPS and 11k HP. One hell of a Wizard.

I'll be waiting a while, since the whole forced online and server issues are still a bit daunting for me to jump back in after so many years.

But if and when I do; I will be playing a Wizard and going for the Battle Mage build. It's just my style in any game I play lol

The server issues were pretty much solved after the first day. The game is working fine now. I don't find the always online part to be a problem, as 99.999% of my time in Diablo 2 was online. Its never been a singleplayer game to me.

guys I feel dumb asking this but how the fuck do I actually use elective mode? I've got it ticked in the options but is still autoassigns skills :(

edit: wait, just got it, there's just some weird lag when I drag the icons around

You can also click the arrows at the top of your the window you pick your skills out of to switch between categories and pick from there.

[TheEnd]

I'd like to ask : what do you guys think of the general difficulty of the game?

As a Barbarian, I don't have the Monk's dodge or healing skills and have to mostly rely on my armor, but I know some type of mobs (especially magical ones until I hit level 30) and a few bosses gave me a lot of trouble.

Especially Izual. His Frost Novas and backup buddies really fucked me up.

For the guys who play Monk and ranged characters, have you died often? Even with my life points around 3000 at the end of Normal it was surprisingly easy to bring them down, and in early Nightmare a few monsters hit me for 200-300 damage per hit.

Playing as a monk, I only died once during normal difficulty - against Belial, and it was out of sheer carelessness (chatting during a boss battle? WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG), too. Self-healing really makes normal mode easy mode.

Edited May 20, 2012 by TheEnd

[Icon of Sin]

Melia hit 42 tonight. She has ~1450 DPS and 11k HP. One hell of a Wizard.

Can you post your gear please?

I know I've been rather unlucky and I have to settle for Normal difficulty weapons that give me a whopping 160 DPS and I still only have 6100 HP. I'll probably just start over because this Barbarian is getting extremely frustrating.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Dio

[Toothache]

Easiest thing to do in order to get good gear is to raid the AH for bargains. Buying up items with at least a high bonus in your primary stat, and +Vit to boot, at the very least. Anything else is a bonus.

[Suichimo]

Can you post your gear please?

I know I've been rather unlucky and I have to settle for Normal difficulty weapons that give me a whopping 160 DPS and I still only have 6100 HP. I'll probably just start over because this Barbarian is getting extremely frustrating.

Sure.

Doom Method - 119 Armor

Rare Wizard Hat

+18 Dexterity

+32 Intelligence

+34 Vitality

Regenerates 9 life per second

+9 Maximum Arcane Power

Ignore Durability Loss

Radiant Topaz - +15% Magic Find

Majesty Device

Rare Amulet

+61 Dexterity

+70 Intelligence

+119 Vitality

Melee Attackers take 1 damage per hit

Monster kills grant +11 experience

Radiant Amethyst - +26 Vitality

Dueling Shoulder Plates of the Mind - 96 Armor

Magic Shoulders

+28 Strength

+67 Intelligence

Knight's Spite - 99 Armor

Rare Chest Armor

+32 Inteliigence

+83 Vitality

Regenerates 7 life per second

7% Magic Find

Melee Attackers take 5 damage per hit

Radiant Amethyst - +26 Vitality

Crimson Grasp - 81 Armor

Rare Gloves

+45 Intelligence

+22 Vitality

Attack Speed increased by 10%

Critical Hit damage incresead by 12%

Monster kills grant +12 experience

Health Globes grant +197 life

Phalanx Pledge - 67 Armor

Rare Bracers

+28 Dexterity

+42 Intelligence

+43 Vitality

+15 Arcane Resistance

Regenerates 3 life per second

Potent Strap - 95 Armor

Rare Belt

+12 Strength

+63 Intelligence

Regenerates 14 life per second

Monster kills grant +9 experience

Proud Ring of Wounding

Magic Ring

+3-6 Damage

+10 Intelligence

+29 Vitality

Veteran's Loop

Rare Ring

+4-8 Damage

+15 Physical Resistance

Each hit adds +7 life

Regenerates 5 life per second

Defiant Links - 122 Armor

Rare Pants

+37 Dexterity

+36 Intelligence

+38 Vitality

+11 Physical Resistance

Radiant Amethyst - +26 Vitality

Radiant Amethyst - +26 Vitality

Combat Conclave 66.0 DPS(38-72 Damage, 1.20 Attacks per Second)

Rare Mace

+6-20 Damage

+22 Dexterity

+44 Intelligence

+72 Vitality

+40 life after each kill

Radiant Ruby - +12-24 Damage

Dauntless Brogans of the Mind - 127 Armor

Magic Boots

+46 Strength

+45 Intelligence

+40 Vitality

Solstice Scourge

Rare Source

+11-18 Damage

+39 Strength

+32 Vitality

Regenerates 19 life per second

9% Magic Find

1.1% chance to knockback on hit

Final stats are:

12257 HP

Strength 174

Dexterity 215

Intelligence 617

Vitality 709

DPS(Pre-Buff) 1032.37

DPS(Post-Buff) 1465.85

My buffs are simply the Familiar > Sparkflint and Magic Weapon > Force Weapon. The Familiar grants 12% damage increase and the Force Weapon gives 15% damage increase.

Toothache is mostly right. Raid the AH and use the Max Buyout search function. I have found amazing gear on there for extremely cheap. However, I wouldn't put your primary stat first and foremost. That should be +damage. It will give a much larger bang for your buck. Intelligence will pass it up, but I'm not sure when. For any sockets that you need to fill, the general rule is this: Weapons get Rubies, Helmets get Topazes, everything else gets Amethysts. The exception is if you're looking to grind experience you can put a Ruby into your helm for a bonus percentage to experience.

[Icon of Sin]

That's a rather nice set. While most of my shit has +Vit, including Amethysts on the few sockets I have, I don't have much Strength on my items, though I have enough Dex to almost tie it. I also don't think I've seen much +damage either.

I suppose I'll try the Auction House at some point but since I'm still a bit frustrated by my character, I'll try making a new one and see how it goes.