Diablo 3

[Guy Starwind]

I'm sure I'll buy it at some point but I'm trying to save money to move.

[Colonel M]

So my buddy told me how Skeleton King had 2M health with 3 people in Hell Mode.

I scared.

[Icon of Sin]

I steamrolled through him all by myself.

Wrenching Smash + Smite gives so much Stun, and my Barbarian attacks over twice per second with Frenzy at full power. Add Wrath of the Berserker for more attack speed (Insanity for Damage, though I'd like to try Thrive on Chaos once I can get it) and the whole Leoric fight took me about 2 minutes and a half.

If you guys need some easy levels, I'd suggest taking on Azmodan over and over again. In Nightmare, completing his quest yields about 44000 experience. Leaving the act grants another 44000 and fighting the first boss of the next act, which takes seconds, gives another small boost. The whole thing takes me roughly 10 minutes for over 100k experience and the possibility of some decent drops.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Dio

[Venusaur]

I've just started on Hell, and this is what I've been using: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#bhYPRj!ZWg!YZZZbZ

Basic strategy is still the same, though Ignore Pain is a must if I want to drag in a mob. Wrath of the Berserker and Call of the Ancients are both so good I can't help but use them, even though I have no ranged option.

A highlight of mine was in Act III Nightmare, where I fought Cydaea alone and dropped her with WotB before she finished her introductory speech, also getting me the Antivenom achievement.

Hell is probably going to be, well, Hell, but I feel I'm doing pretty good. 20k HP helps! Though, Plagued/Desecrator/Molten in general make me feel like

Edited May 26, 2012 by Venusaur

[Icon of Sin]

As a Barbarian, you don't really need a ranged option. you could always use your follower for that (I enjoy Lyndon for his slowing missiles), but Wrenching Smash is usually good enough since most monsters come at you anyway.

I'm really unimpressed with the late Act 3 bosses. The Lord of Glutonny was harder than both of them.

Act 2 already, with 37k life and a DPS of 2700 at level 55. Nothing too hard using this skillset, especially lone bosses, but a few comboes of attributes really piss me off. Arcane Enchanted and Invincible Minions is evil. Add Molten to a monster that likes to run away fast and you have a recipe for disaster.

[Venusaur]

As a Barbarian, you don't really need a ranged option. you could always use your follower for that (I enjoy Lyndon for his slowing missiles), but Wrenching Smash is usually good enough since most monsters come at you anyway.

I'm really unimpressed with the late Act 3 bosses. The Lord of Glutonny was harder than both of them.

Act 2 already, with 37k life and a DPS of 2700 at level 55. Nothing too hard using this skillset, especially lone bosses, but a few comboes of attributes really piss me off. Arcane Enchanted and Invincible Minions is evil. Add Molten to a monster that likes to run away fast and you have a recipe for disaster.

Was that Ghom? If so, I remember my Fury being at max the entire time on Nightmare, no matter what, which was quite hilarious. No idea what caused it, but I wasn't taking insane amounts of damage or anything.

Just imagine Invulnerable Minions/Molten/Extra Health/Illusionist Shielding can feel like that at times, too. There's honestly more melee-unfriendly affixes than ranged-unfriendly ones (what, Vortex/Mortar/Teleporter/Waller/Dampening? That's all I can think of, and the last is more of an annoyance than anything)

On a lighter note:

Was it worth 70+k? (60 for sword, 10+ for dye) I dunno, but I thought it was funny.

Copyright Squad:

[Agro]

If you guys need some easy levels, I'd suggest taking on Azmodan over and over again. In Nightmare, completing his quest yields about 44000 experience. Leaving the act grants another 44000 and fighting the first boss of the next act, which takes seconds, gives another small boost. The whole thing takes me roughly 10 minutes for over 100k experience and the possibility of some decent drops.

I think this has been nerfed, I just tried it and beating Azmodan only got me 9800 experience or something in Nightmare... either way it hasn't gotten me anywhere very fast.

edit: never mind, miscounted EXP really badly

Edited May 26, 2012 by Agro

[Anouleth]

As a Barbarian, you don't really need a ranged option. you could always use your follower for that (I enjoy Lyndon for his slowing missiles), but Wrenching Smash is usually good enough since most monsters come at you anyway.

I'm really unimpressed with the late Act 3 bosses. The Lord of Glutonny was harder than both of them.

Ghom is incredibly easy for non-melee classes. I beat him in maybe 60 seconds with a Demon Hunter and took no damage.

demon hunter so good

[Icon of Sin]

Was that Ghom? If so, I remember my Fury being at max the entire time on Nightmare, no matter what, which was quite hilarious. No idea what caused it, but I wasn't taking insane amounts of damage or anything.

Just imagine Invulnerable Minions/Molten/Extra Health/Illusionist Shielding can feel like that at times, too. There's honestly more melee-unfriendly affixes than ranged-unfriendly ones (what, Vortex/Mortar/Teleporter/Waller/Dampening? That's all I can think of, and the last is more of an annoyance than anything)

On a lighter note:

Was it worth 70+k? (60 for sword, 10+ for dye) I dunno, but I thought it was funny.

Copyright Squad:

The Barbarian gets Fury by taking hits. Since Ghom's AoE is right around him, it's fairly easy to max it out. Perhaps your Poison resistance was just really high as well.

Something like that. Most people complain the game is very unfriendly to Barbarians while Wizards were the game's best tanks, pre nerf at least.

What sword is this?

Ghom is incredibly easy for non-melee classes. I beat him in maybe 60 seconds with a Demon Hunter and took no damage.

demon hunter so good

Ranged classes have it easier against almost everything.

Some things never really change though.

Edited May 26, 2012 by Dio

[Venusaur]

The rainbow sword's a legendary named Spectrum, and it only has 39.2 DPS unfortunately, which makes it not that great for things other than gimmicks and Normal, basically.

Might as well throw in what I'm actually using:

Yeah, that +3k damage is because Spectrum is a bit low on that front.

Edited May 26, 2012 by Venusaur

[Anouleth]

The Barbarian gets Fury by taking hits. Since Ghom's AoE is right around him, it's fairly easy to max it out. Perhaps your Poison resistance was just really high as well.

Something like that. Most people complain the game is very unfriendly to Barbarians while Wizards were the game's best tanks, pre nerf at least.

In my experience it's been far far far easier playing as a Barbarian than as a Wizard, especially solo. As a Wizard I find that most bosses take me several tries to kill, whereas as a Barbarian I usually kill bosses on my first try because it's very easy to stunlock them and I have high life steal. Ghom was the only boss that's harder for me as a Barbarian than as a Wizard.

[Icon of Sin]

In my experience it's been far far far easier playing as a Barbarian than as a Wizard, especially solo. As a Wizard I find that most bosses take me several tries to kill, whereas as a Barbarian I usually kill bosses on my first try because it's very easy to stunlock them and I have high life steal. Ghom was the only boss that's harder for me as a Barbarian than as a Wizard.

What about against mobs? I know there's been a nerf to a few skill comboes, but a few Wizard spells could let you be practically invincible (I think there was a rune for Energy Armor for that, along with Diamond Skin) while you could easily kite away from enemies (Blizzard and Venom Hydra are pretty good at that).

Meanwhile the Barbarian struggles because he usually has to fight in close combat. Champion packs are especially painful because they have more attributes against melee characters than ranged ones. Mind you, most of what I bring up is for later difficulties. I do have a Wizard, but it's only level 8 and I'll admit I'm having a tougher time than what I had early on with the Barbarian.

[Toothache]

You think you have problems with the wizard at low levels, try it through Hell. Currently in Act 2 Hell, around 19k life, 7.3k dmg, and I'm struggling to solo through the game. Guess I need to start raiding the AH for more bargains.

Incidentally, my skill selection looks like this atm. Might need a bit more tweaking once I unlock the last few rune levels, but otherwise it's served me fine so far.

[Colonel M]

Ranged classes don't always get the better end of the stick. Playing Demon Hunter, I know that most Barbarians have an easier time in some places than I do. I mean, if I'm being flanked by 2-3 groups of enemies, unless there's a chokepoint, I'm kind of... uh...

...Screwed?

[Icon of Sin]

Ranged classes don't always get the better end of the stick. Playing Demon Hunter, I know that most Barbarians have an easier time in some places than I do. I mean, if I'm being flanked by 2-3 groups of enemies, unless there's a chokepoint, I'm kind of... uh...

...Screwed?

I'm aware, but don't you have Smokescreen for situations like that?

[Colonel M]

I'm aware, but don't you have Smokescreen for situations like that?

Yes. It's merely beforehand. Or if my computer tanks...

[Toothache]

Learning to kite correctly is a skill in itself, but it also requires the right sort of skills. You can't just use anything past a certain point in the difficulty, you have to manage a balance between defence and offensive skills. Note my Wizard build earlier, I have 3 offensive skills (Electrocute, Hydra, Blizzard) and three defensive skills (Diamond Skin, Mirror Image, Energy Armor). You may need more, or less, depending on the gear you've managed to accumulate.

Speaking of gear, definitely from the start of Hell you should be pumping Resists, more so than Vitality. The game really becomes more and more dependant on having the right gear, and I found myself having a much easier time after I visited the AH for some All Resist gear. Currently sitting on Act 4 Hell, and I'm starting to hit that wall again where I need to upgrade my gear again. I have about 240 minimum resists, think I need to push for about 300-350 by the end of Hell. After that, I'll start farming in Whimsyshire until I can afford real endgame gear.

[Venusaur]

You know what's irritating in Act II Hell?

Then again, any time these guys show up in a pack, I feel like I'm playing a bullet-hell shooter, except that I have to be close to hit them.

[Anouleth]

You think you have problems with the wizard at low levels, try it through Hell. Currently in Act 2 Hell, around 19k life, 7.3k dmg, and I'm struggling to solo through the game. Guess I need to start raiding the AH for more bargains.

I'm in Hell now, and I know what you mean.

Incidentally, my skill selection looks like this atm. Might need a bit more tweaking once I unlock the last few rune levels, but otherwise it's served me fine so far.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#acQXSR!UYX!cYZaZa

[Icon of Sin]

You know what's irritating in Act II Hell?

Then again, any time these guys show up in a pack, I feel like I'm playing a bullet-hell shooter, except that I have to be close to hit them.

Those are such a pain in the ass. I remember a pack being Molten, Arcane Enchanted and Invincible Minions.

Then the Pain Monger guarding Alcarnus increased in strength and speed as I killed his buddies. He 2HKOed me at full HP (37000 at the time, with 60% damage reduction and some physical resistance) in a second thanks to two overheads in a row. The screech didn't even end and their mace was on my head.

The oasis is a bit annoying, but most of the rest of Act 2 isn't so bad. Even Belial's 1.2 million HP isn't so much of a threat if you dodge his attacks correctly, though you better at 4-5k damage each hit.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Dio

[Toothache]

I guess even though the skill selection is somewhat limited at high levels, there's still a good variety of builds that works. My main issue was having a lot less resists than was needed for Hell, you really need to buff those. I have 350 minimum now, and that's a fairly comfortable level of resists, I don't need to kite so much. Finished Hell Diablo last night, and now I have NV access I've started running him. I've found a few things worth selling on the AH, but mostly I'm trying to rake in enough cash to reach Hell Whimsy.

[Icon of Sin]

From what I heard, you're better off going straight to Inferno since the drops are better. Level 60 items only drop there for one.

My resistances are barely around 100 or so, but aside of a few types of Champions I do fine. Having 50k life kinda helps.

[Anouleth]

Those are such a pain in the ass. I remember a pack being Molten, Arcane Enchanted and Invincible Minions.

Then the Pain Monger guarding Alcarnus increased in strength and speed as I killed his buddies. He 2HKOed me at full HP (37000 at the time, with 60% damage reduction and some physical resistance) in a second thanks to two overheads in a row. The screech didn't even end and their mace was on my head.

The oasis is a bit annoying, but most of the rest of Act 2 isn't so bad. Even Belial's 1.2 million HP isn't so much of a threat if you dodge his attacks correctly, though you better at 4-5k damage each hit.

Hah, I usually get 2-3HKOed. Then again, Belial drops health globes like candy and I can usually Diamond Skin through every other attack. I actually found his first form more difficult because he summons adds.

Then I discovered the wonders of Lightning Orb in Act 3. But I still have to skip every elite with Invulnerable Minions...

[Icon of Sin]

Hah, I usually get 2-3HKOed. Then again, Belial drops health globes like candy and I can usually Diamond Skin through every other attack. I actually found his first form more difficult because he summons adds.

Then I discovered the wonders of Lightning Orb in Act 3. But I still have to skip every elite with Invulnerable Minions...

I actually didn't mind the first form too much because of Revenge giving me a lot of opportunity for heals. Against his other phase I can just Frenzy away like a madman.

Invincible Minion is probably the worst attribute they could come up with. It wouldn't be so bad if it only showed up on Normal, but as it is you have to fight through arcane sentries, pools of poison, scorching ground and more.

Inferno is just masochism though. Got my ass handed a few times by Skeletons. This is going to be great against Fallen Angels later...

Edited May 29, 2012 by Dio

[Toothache]

I'm at a comfortable level now for Act 1 Inferno. I've taken to doing runs of The Warden and The Butcher, with NV L5 of course. Both are guaranteed to drop at least 2 rares at 5 stack Nephalem Valor, which has netted me some pretty stuff to sell on the AH. Cash is rolling in now, and I can appreciate the relative value of things on the AH a lot easier now. I'm not one to do a lot of flipping (that's buying stuff just to sell at a profit), but I can make a modest gold income with what I farm in Inferno. I think I'll push my resists to about 800 (they're at 600 now) before I try tackling Act 2, the jump is pretty steep.