Diablo 3

[Chainzsaw]

@Antizig

I was able to play some good solid hours in D3 last night and I got some information:

When you level up there's no stat points to select. However depending on your char type it will add stat points to whatever is most useful to your char.

As for runestones - you can select any runstone that your char has unlocked - however you can only have a certain skill set bined to say key 1 or 2. So for key 1 for example you can switch between certain skills that the key is binded to.

So basically - all char's are pretty much the same - the only difference is what equipment your using as well as what exact skillset you have set to a key.

At first I was disappointed I couldn't explicitly select my own stats - however I kind of don't mind it now after getting used to it.

This seems to stem from the fact when I used to play D2 - it seemed there were many special powers/skills I could select - but wouldn't because I would want to beef up certain skills/follow the skill tree for certain things.

It's kind of cooler this way so now I get to try out pretty much all the skills/abilities and figure out which ones work best for my char at the time. Whereas in D2 - I probably would have only used a handful of skills/abilities because of skill point constraints.


I guess this has 2 effects on the game:

1: Customizeability is lost

2: There is more focus on your actual abilities/fighting than figuring out where you want to climb in the skill tree.



So far I like the game!


BTW @ robert you might want to take off your email address unless you want tons of spam - I would say it might be better to swap details via PM (private message).




One last little rant: I kind of hate how damage is based off the weapon you carry. I'm a mage and at one point I was just using a big ass sword so I could do higher ranged arcane damage, because all the wands and bows and clubs were far too weak. To me...that doesn't seem right 😛

 

[brett1042002]

@Chainzsaw

Yea, I believe they need to itemize the stats on weps a little better.

Guess that makes you a battle-mage now? 😀

Seemed they had more connectivity issues last night. I tried to play but would get disconnected every 10-15 minutes it seemed. Then they took the servers offline due to authentication issues. Finally gave up and went to bed, lol.

Sigh... hope they get the performance issues mostly straightened out by this weekend.

Not holding my breath.

 

[Chainzsaw]

Haha I was a "battlemage" for a bit until I found a really nice rare wand + some kind of crystal ball to use in my hand that does + arcane dmg.

What level are you at brett? And what are you currently using? Not sure if you switched chars or not.

Yeah - last night the servers went down about 8:30CST to about 8:50CST. After that I was able to login and play no problem.

Most of the time I was playing I didn't really have any issues. Every once in a while I would warp back 2/3 seconds to where I was, but it would clear up shortly after that.



Haha I love the "Angel wings" i got. It's merely for show....but looks nice 😀

 

[casualcolors]

care to clarify yourself by answering my question any better than casualcolors did?

Can't elaborate for him, but since you can do whatever you want on the fly with your character's skills and associated runes, I don't see any reason to level a Javazon and a Bowazon anymore for instance.

I suppose you could say leveling on hardcore would provide an opportunity to play a class again, but not really in the same sense as before. Barring hardcore mode, I guess the only reason to go through the game on a second Barb for instance, would be for the guaranteed yellow drops the one time through (since they've done away with the concept of boss farm for any of the lessers and they only carry their primary loot table on the first kill). Not being snarky, but I'm curious what reason PCGamer would have for leveling say, 2 normal-mode Barbarians in Diablo 3.

 

[robertris2]

I kind of like the new stat skill system better, where your magic damage is based on actual weapon damage, plus the + int or + str, for instance I have a wand with +50 int which grants me a +5 multiplication factor, I really like it.

The stat part is cool because they removed item requirements, except the minimum level, so you no longer need to plan your whole gear set up before you use stats.

 

[Chainzsaw]

I kind of like the be stat skill system better, where your magic damage is based on actual weapon damage, plus the + int or + str, for instance I have a wand with + int which grants me a +5 multiplication factor, I really like it.

Yeah it's hard to get used to but does see to have a "smoother" feel to it than D2.

Still kind of annoyed though at how the dmg is based on your weapon + stats. I would love to put more stats in my Int so I could shoot more arcane balls (right now I can only shoot about 2/3 until my mana drains). If that was the case - most enemies would never be able to touch me (besides bosses/champions/special)

I would be kind of nice if Blizzard added a "manual" option for upgrading your stats in a later patch. Maybe that option could be just in the highest difficulty for players who can't come back after they die?


Oh yea just checked again at lunch - im actually a level 13 Wizard.

 

[robertris2]

Yeah it's hard to get used to but does see to have a "smoother" feel to it than D2.

Still kind of annoyed though at how the dmg is based on your weapon + stats. I would love to put more stats in my Int so I could shoot more arcane balls (right now I can only shoot about 2/3 until my mana drains). If that was the case - most enemies would never be able to touch me (besides bosses/champions/special)

I would be kind of nice if Blizzard added a "manual" option for upgrading your stats in a later patch. Maybe that option could be just in the highest difficulty for players who can't come back after they die?


Oh yea just checked again at lunch - im actually a level 13 Wizard.

Your arcane power (mana) stays at 100 indefinitely until you get items with the +# to maximum arcane energy, the only thing that increase with int is your magic damage and your resistances.

 

[Chainzsaw]

Your arcane power (mana) stays at 100 indefinitely until you get items with the +# to maximum arcane energy, the only thing that increase with int is your magic damage and your resistances.

Ahh ok gotcha. Still haven't played it enough to figure out all the details.

Whats your char and level at robert?

 

[robertris2]

I'm a lvl 20 wizard in act 2 still. Check out the gold auction house, you can find awesome items for cheap right now.

 

[Chainzsaw]

Ok. Was going to see if you wanted to party up but it looks like your a bit ahead of me!

Still haven't found any legendary items...some guy was lvl 16 last night and he had a legendary item. Some other guy was lvl 30+ and said he still hasn't found any lol.

Right now my equipment is mostly +magic find items so hopefully I can find better stuff.

I probably won't bother with the auction house, I like to get my items the "hard" way 😛, but will definitely take a peek at it after work.

 

[robertris2]

Ok. Was going to see if you wanted to party up but it looks like your a bit ahead of me!

Still haven't found any legendary items...some guy was lvl 16 last night and he had a legendary item. Some other guy was lvl 30+ and said he still hasn't found any lol.

Right now my equipment is mostly +magic find items so hopefully I can find better stuff.

I probably won't bother with the auction house, I like to get my items the "hard" way 😛, but will definitely take a peek at it after work.

We can party up, I can help you get caught up plus my other friends like helping. I got my + 50 int wand for 3k gold in the ah, very worth it!

 

[rglaredo]

I think character customization will be done trough the armor and weapons and runes i think . For example I can have armor that has more dex than str or more vitality than intelligence ..for my barbarian I'm trying to find all things with the " of the lion" name items for added strength ..what are legendary items .so far i found a couple of yellow items that needed to be identified ..gloves , boots and a 1 hander weapon...(looks like a scythe)

 

[Chainzsaw]

Yeah that would be fun to party up....however my lag is horrible and I would probably be "jumping" all over the screen compared to everyone else (even though it's somewhat ok for me).

My "normal" ping time is 900ms (and this can't be changed due to how I connect). So basically when i'm playing everything is at least 1-2 seconds ahead of me, and it's hard to dodge enemies (mostly the harder ones) when I don't know exactly where they are walking due to the lag.


I might just wait until I finish normal difficulty and party up once I get to the next level.

Still can't really decide yet.

 

[robertris2]

I think character customization will be done trough the armor and weapons and runes i think . For example I can have armor that has more dex than str or more vitality than intelligence ..for my barbarian I'm trying to find all things with the " of the lion" name items for added strength ..what are legendary items .so far i found a couple of yellow items that needed to be identified ..gloves , boots and a 1 hander weapon...(looks like a scythe)

Legendary items are the highest class (white, blue, yellow, golden brown in that order). Compare them to unique items from d2. I'm happy to see they brought the oculus to d3 in the form of a wizard orb. They also have sets like tal rashas in d3 but I've yet to see them in game.

 

[PCgamer81]

Casual colors and AntiZig:

That would depend totally on what you wanted!

Say it was two high level barbarians and we were at the same level with the same exact items equipped (which is unlikely)...

We would go into our skills page, and select runes for various skills, thereby changing the very nature of our attacks in a way to complement the other. For instance, one Barbarian may use runes that emphasize speed, while the other Barbarian may use runes that emphasize area of effect. Or one barbarian could use runes that emphasize support, while another could use runes that emphasize DPS. There are literally thousands of different scenarios thanks to the in-depth rune system.

In short, the new system with skills and runes creates possibilities, it doesn't limit them.

Gone are the days of having that nagging feeling that you need to start "fresh". I plan on using all classes. With five character builds (one for each class), those are the only 5 builds I will ever worry about using (never having to re-roll again). That means that the time I spend in Diablo 3 will be time spent doing the best that Diablo represents. Instead of grinding through the same crap again and again to get to a certain point, I can use that time interacting with others, swapping from an endless supply of possibilities (depending on what's needed and who I am with), and chasing down loot. That, in my opinion, is the strength of Diablo. And that is what Diablo 3 emphasizes, which makes it an evolution in the series.

It is a shame that those who prefer the old way dislike it, but Blizzard cannot and will not carry those people.

Progression is universal in one aspect. It is vehemently opposed at one point. The world of gaming, especially in that it evokes such a passion in it's players, is certainly no exception.

But evolution is certainly evident in the video game industry. Looking back through the years, games have certainly gotten better. They have evolved with each new generation.

Diablo 3 is an evolution.

 

[asadsidd]

Seems interesting

http://bestgamestores.org/diablo-iii/

 

[casualcolors]

Casual colors and AntiZig:

That would depend totally on what you wanted!

Say it was two high level barbarians and we were at the same level with the same exact items equipped (which is unlikely)...

We would go into our skills page, and select runes for various skills, thereby changing the very nature of our attacks in a way to complement the other. For instance, one Barbarian may use runes that emphasize speed, while the other Barbarian may use runes that emphasize area of effect. Or one barbarian could use runes that emphasize support, while another could use runes that emphasize DPS. There are literally thousands of different scenarios thanks to the in-depth rune system.

In short, the new system with skills and runes creates possibilities, it doesn't limit them.

Gone are the days of having that nagging feeling that you need to start "fresh". I plan on using all classes. With five character builds (one for each class), those are the only 5 builds I will ever worry about using (never having to re-roll again). That means that the time I spend in Diablo 3 will be time spent doing the best that Diablo represents. Instead of grinding through the same crap again and again to get to a certain point, I can use that time interacting with others, swapping from an endless supply of possibilities (depending on what's needed and who I am with), and chasing down loot. That, in my opinion, is the strength of Diablo. And that is what Diablo 3 emphasizes, which makes it an evolution in the series.

It is a shame that those who prefer the old way dislike it, but Blizzard cannot and will not carry those people.

Progression is universal in one aspect. It is vehemently opposed at one point. The world of gaming, especially in that it evokes such a passion in it's players, is certainly no exception.

But evolution is certainly evident in the video game industry. Looking back through the years, games have certainly gotten better. They have evolved with each new generation.

Diablo 3 is an evolution.

You're largely missing my point and his question. He wants to know what reason there is for a single player to level 2 characters of the same class in Diablo 3. In D2, people did this for javazons and bowazons for instance. The D3 rune system can be altered on the fly, so it gives a single character the option to swap roles, gear not withstanding. So in that way, the answer to his question is that there is no similar need to do this in Diablo 3.

No one is contesting that there is the possibility for 2 players with 2 separate characters to have varying builds. That wasn't what he wanted to know. Although, on the ladders the game will come down to primary builds that everyone will use. There is a lot of room for variation right now because the game launched in an unfinished state and doesn't have any form of pvp. As soon as you can duel and pvp in Diablo 3, certain builds will take priority and playing outside of those builds will be a simple act of forced individualism, not smart play. The same can be said for Diablo 2, WoW, and any other rpg with a competitive pvp element. These games always offer the illusion of massive customization, but that illusion fades pretty rapidly in the face of pvp, because people hate to lose and hate to risk losing because it damages their ego and gets them mocked.

And of course someone has the choice to level 2 Barbarians, the same way that I have the choice whether or not to ingest DrainO. But, I don't see any reason at the moment to do either of those things unless you just love leveling or love DrainO, either way.

 

[fantanel]

customization helps in d3 pve. in D2 there was "the build" but now we can actually respec in a matter of seconds, for efficiency, fun, test, etc.

It`s a great game so far, and I`m glad I bought it.
Normal mode is just the intro.

 

[brett1042002]

Haha I was a "battlemage" for a bit until I found a really nice rare wand + some kind of crystal ball to use in my hand that does + arcane dmg.

What level are you at brett? And what are you currently using? Not sure if you switched chars or not.

Yeah - last night the servers went down about 8:30CST to about 8:50CST. After that I was able to login and play no problem.

Most of the time I was playing I didn't really have any issues. Every once in a while I would warp back 2/3 seconds to where I was, but it would clear up shortly after that.



Haha I love the "Angel wings" i got. It's merely for show....but looks nice 😀

Lvl 13 at the moment. I'm still in Act I, at the drowned temple. Taking my sweet time, lol. But I can only afford to play 1-2 hours a night during the week. Plus, I was fighting a lot of disconnects the first 2 nights. I only had 1-2 disconnects last night, so it wasn't near as bad as before.

I've also been joining in my friend's games and helping them out from the beginning. So, I haven't progressed very far in my own game.

Should get some good play time in this weekend though. Looking forward to it.

How about you?

 

[rglaredo]

I'm almost level 12 ...10+ hour work days+baby+planning bday party for baby+trying all classes to 10 = less time with Barbarian lol ....and I can only play from 4:30 am if I get up lol to about 6:20am That leaves me about 5 hours to sleep per day if baby does not wake up early lol ...or if there is a late soccer game on TV like last night there is no chance is hell I'm sleeping early ..I did not wake up at 4 today lol ..

 

[Chainzsaw]

Lvl 13 at the moment. I'm still in Act I, at the drowned temple. Taking my sweet time, lol. But I can only afford to play 1-2 hours a night during the week. Plus, I was fighting a lot of disconnects the first 2 nights. I only had 1-2 disconnects last night, so it wasn't near as bad as before.

I've also been joining in my friend's games and helping them out from the beginning. So, I haven't progressed very far in my own game.

Should get some good play time in this weekend though. Looking forward to it.

How about you?

Last night I just got to Act 2. Act 2 seems much harder than Act 1 was....obviously it's supposed to be 😉 , however fighting even regular baddies is so much tougher.

My first encounter with those tougher than normal monsters (the ones with blue in the name i think?) were Fallen ones or something (there were 3 of them). Basically - they were insanely powerful, they were actually the hardest enemies so far to fight (even including the boss fights in Act 1) - I literally died 10 times trying to kill all 3 of them lol.

IDK why they were so powerful though - all my spells did very little damage to them. After that - my gaming started to get quite laggy. So I just decided to stop for now until tonight.

I think so far i've done only 1-2missions in Act 2 (so i'm still kind of at the beginning). Haven't even tried playing multiplayer yet - since I kind of want to explore everything and i'm afraid if I join someone elses game, or if they join mine - they might want to go faster than I want to 😛

I might have to join up with someone for Act 2 though....it's so much harder than I thought it would be...even on normal!

 

[Chainzsaw]

I'm almost level 12 ...10+ hour work days+baby+planning bday party for baby+trying all classes to 10 = less time with Barbarian lol ....and I can only play from 4:30 am if I get up lol to about 6:20am That leaves me about 5 hours to sleep per day if baby does not wake up early lol ...or if there is a late soccer game on TV like last night there is no chance is hell I'm sleeping early ..I did not wake up at 4 today lol ..

Ahh yeah, life can get in the way of Diablo 3 sometimes ...Or is it Diablo 3 is getting in the way of life

 

[rglaredo]

I just wish earth rotated slower so we could have 48 hour days lol ...

 

[Chainzsaw]

I just wish earth rotated slower so we could have 48 hour days lol ...

I wish I had faster ping times like all of you guys!

Mines always a minimum of at least 900MS. It doesn't make the game unplayable...however it looks all ugly when the lag catches up. Say for example i see a big champion coming at me from the edge of the screen, I will start firing my bolts of arcane energy at him - by the time they "hit" the enemy is already right next to me so I have to run away again.

Or if I kill a weak enemy with 1-2 bolts of energy - I will actually fire 1-2 extra shots because the hit detection is so slow that it looks like the enemy is still walking towards me (even though I already fired) and the enemy is actually already dead.

I just wish I could play the game lag free like Diablo 2 (offline mode).

I should record a video for you guys so you can see my pain.


....Just getting tired of being killed by mobs because I can't run away fast enough due to the lag. Or If I notice the mobs coming after me I have to start running right away - because really - due to my lag - they are actually 1-2 seconds ahead of me.

 

[brett1042002]

I wish I had faster ping times like all of you guys!

Mines always a minimum of at least 900MS. It doesn't make the game unplayable...however it looks all ugly when the lag catches up. Say for example i see a big champion coming at me from the edge of the screen, I will start firing my bolts of arcane energy at him - by the time they "hit" the enemy is already right next to me so I have to run away again.

Or if I kill a weak enemy with 1-2 bolts of energy - I will actually fire 1-2 extra shots because the hit detection is so slow that it looks like the enemy is still walking towards me (even though I already fired) and the enemy is actually already dead.

I just wish I could play the game lag free like Diablo 2 (offline mode).

I should record a video for you guys so you can see my pain.


....Just getting tired of being killed by mobs because I can't run away fast enough due to the lag. Or If I notice the mobs coming after me I have to start running right away - because really - due to my lag - they are actually 1-2 seconds ahead of me.

900ms? 😱 Ouch. I've been getting up in the 300-400ms sometimes, which still isn't normal for my connection. WoW, BF3, and TF2 always have low latencies (30-50ms) for me. So, it's gotta be a server issue, or the game client is sending erroneous network data resulting in lag.

EDIT: I should add that 2 nights ago, when I was experiencing all the disconnects, while Diablo 3 was running, it would cause my Vent client to lag out as well and disconnect me from the Vent server. As soon as I closed Diablo, Vent worked fine. Tested this a few times. Others complained of this same issue on the forums. Weird huh!