So I just got into the beta last night and went through the beta with the Barb real quick. First I would like to say that the game is amazing. So far (obviously it's only like 1/3 of Act1) it is everything I hoped it would be.
The Barbarian is the class that I was most interested in playing when the game was released, so naturally that was the first class I rolled in the beta. Here are some of my thoughts on the Barbarian through about three hours of game play:
1. The Physics for this class are crazy. Things are flying left and right, zombie corpses are whizzing past your screen. It's highly unrealistic, but extremely entertaining.
2. I wasn't as impressed with the Barbarian game play wise as I had hoped. It's not that it's a bad class or poorly designed... it just doesn't play quite like I thought it would. (But I was only level 10 when I beat the beta) I thought Bash and Cleave were both good. The skills like Ignore Pain obviously accomplish what they are supposed to.
Hammer of the Ancients was the big letdown for me though. I am more interested in Whirl Wind and a couple of other spenders though, so it isn't that big of a deal. But Hammer of the Ancients just didn't feel right to me. It swung incredibly fast and I found myself accidentally using/casting it multiple times when I only wanted to use it once.
It's definitely a good skill, it just doesn't fit my style of play.
3. Normal is absurdly easy. I kind of like that though. Blizzard definitely accomplished the 'You get to know your character without the threat of dying'. There are a few enemies you know are going to give you fits as difficulties ramp up though. I think Leoric will be far more challenging in later difficulties, electrical enchanted unique mobs are going to be a pain in the ass and those guys that explode can be scary if you don't get away fast enough.
4. I thought I'd be disappointed in the 'guided' style that they have in Act 1.... where you basically just follow the path they put in front of you. I wasn't though, it felt like any other Diablo game.
5. Leap Attack is a lot of fun in this game. You can jump all over the place. It was to the point where I thought I'd be able to jump all the way down to another level of the dungeon... sadly that isn't the case. Still really awesome though.
All in all it was a ton of fun. The Barbarian is just a little different than I had hoped. But that's okay as I think Whirl Wind and some of the later skills I was interested in will be exactly what I was looking for.
Thanks for sharing, it was nice to hear good things about my first playthrough character
As for hammer of the ancients, it definitely fits my playstyle. After playing so many RTS games, that 1 quick extra-damage dealer is perfect for me. And also remember that the runes will spice things up a bit, such as Thunderstrike, when you kill an enemy with Hammer, nearby enemies have a chance to be stunned for 3 seconds, or Rolling Thunder that creates a shockwave in cone shape in front of the impact.
Any comment on his resource system? I thought it got in the way. I hate a system that kinda tells me to hurry my ass off and find the next monster. I could not stand it. Its the sole reason I didn't enjoy him, otherwise he was a fun beast.
Any comment on his resource system? I thought it got in the way. I hate a system that kinda tells me to hurry my ass off and find the next monster. I could not stand it. Its the sole reason I didn't enjoy him, otherwise he was a fun beast.
I didn't really feel rushed at all. Overall normal difficulty (at least in this part of the game) is so incredibly easy that the fury oriented skills don't come into play a ton. I do think (just watching the fury generation and how fast it goes down when using skills), that items that add to fury/fury generation, passives that help fury generate and things of that nature are going to be very important.
Overall it was an enjoyable experience. I'm a little sad I didn't get to play with Whirlwind and a couple of the higher level skills.
After playing through all of the classes though, I like the Demon Hunter best and will be rolling one first. Wizard and Monk were tied for second and the Barbarian and Witch Doctor came in last...
But that being said, the order of characters I liked in Diablo 2 would be massively different if I just played up to Blood Raven and then couldn't play anymore. I hated the Amazon, Sorceress and Assassin at the start of the game in Diablo 2... but I liked the other classes. But as the game progresses, the Zon, Sorc and Assassin are my favorite classes.
What I do agree with SFJake on though is that Blizzard does really seem to be trying to control the tempo of the game. With the object that can sell items, the one that breaks items down, etc. There is really no reason to ever go back to town... ever.
Maybe to train your blacksmith and such... or to toss something in your stash.
But they don't sell potions in town from what I've seen. (I haven't had to really look for them, because I haven't needed him) So going back for those is never really an issue.
The game really encourages you to keep playing, to keep smashing through. Because of this (the lack of having to go back to town) I am guessing that even though the amount of content will be equal to or greater than Diablo 2... I bet playing through the game itself goes a lot faster.
What I do agree with SFJake on though is that Blizzard does really seem to be trying to control the tempo of the game. With the object that can sell items, the one that breaks items down, etc. There is really no reason to ever go back to town... ever.
Maybe to train your blacksmith and such... or to toss something in your stash.
But they don't sell potions in town from what I've seen. (I haven't had to really look for them, because I haven't needed him) So going back for those is never really an issue.
The game really encourages you to keep playing, to keep smashing through. Because of this (the lack of having to go back to town) I am guessing that even though the amount of content will be equal to or greater than Diablo 2... I bet playing through the game itself goes a lot faster.
There are reasons to go back to town:
* Craft items (i think people don't realise the importance of those npcs yet).
* Upgrade your gems
* Quests, Lore
* Repair
I think just the craft reason is already more important and fun then any reason to go back to town in D2.
* Craft items (i think people don't realise the importance of those npcs yet).
* Upgrade your gems
* Quests, Lore
* Repair
I think just the craft reason is already more important and fun then any reason to go back to town in D2.
I wasn't saying that as a bad thing. If it came across that way I apologize. I just remember spending a lot of time in Diablo 2...
TPing out of bad situations.
Going in and out to buy potions.
Going to the healer to get maxed out.
Going into town to res my mercenary.
Standing around and gambling.
Completing quests.
Repairing.
It just feels different when you play Diablo 3 as opposed to even the beginning of Diablo 2. You never really want to go back to town because it feels useless. You just want to keep smashing through the dungeon/area that you are in. The only time I have found myself going to town is pretty much when I am forced to do so in order to complete a quest.
Now, as you said, later that will probably change. I am guessing the primary reason is because that's where your blacksmith and such all are. I agree with you those characters are going to make a very big impact on the game.
It definitely seems like the physics need to be turned down just a notch. It's a little silly when your level 1 Bash skill rips all the flesh off the monster and sends the remaining skeleton black-flipping through the air. I just wanted to use my regular melee to avoid the excessive rag-dolling.
The Barbarian is the class that I was most interested in playing when the game was released, so naturally that was the first class I rolled in the beta. Here are some of my thoughts on the Barbarian through about three hours of game play:
1. The Physics for this class are crazy. Things are flying left and right, zombie corpses are whizzing past your screen. It's highly unrealistic, but extremely entertaining.
2. I wasn't as impressed with the Barbarian game play wise as I had hoped. It's not that it's a bad class or poorly designed... it just doesn't play quite like I thought it would. (But I was only level 10 when I beat the beta) I thought Bash and Cleave were both good. The skills like Ignore Pain obviously accomplish what they are supposed to.
Hammer of the Ancients was the big letdown for me though. I am more interested in Whirl Wind and a couple of other spenders though, so it isn't that big of a deal. But Hammer of the Ancients just didn't feel right to me. It swung incredibly fast and I found myself accidentally using/casting it multiple times when I only wanted to use it once.
It's definitely a good skill, it just doesn't fit my style of play.
3. Normal is absurdly easy. I kind of like that though. Blizzard definitely accomplished the 'You get to know your character without the threat of dying'. There are a few enemies you know are going to give you fits as difficulties ramp up though. I think Leoric will be far more challenging in later difficulties, electrical enchanted unique mobs are going to be a pain in the ass and those guys that explode can be scary if you don't get away fast enough.
4. I thought I'd be disappointed in the 'guided' style that they have in Act 1.... where you basically just follow the path they put in front of you. I wasn't though, it felt like any other Diablo game.
5. Leap Attack is a lot of fun in this game. You can jump all over the place. It was to the point where I thought I'd be able to jump all the way down to another level of the dungeon... sadly that isn't the case. Still really awesome though.
All in all it was a ton of fun. The Barbarian is just a little different than I had hoped. But that's okay as I think Whirl Wind and some of the later skills I was interested in will be exactly what I was looking for.
On to the Witch Doctor tonight.
As for hammer of the ancients, it definitely fits my playstyle. After playing so many RTS games, that 1 quick extra-damage dealer is perfect for me. And also remember that the runes will spice things up a bit, such as Thunderstrike, when you kill an enemy with Hammer, nearby enemies have a chance to be stunned for 3 seconds, or Rolling Thunder that creates a shockwave in cone shape in front of the impact.
I didn't really feel rushed at all. Overall normal difficulty (at least in this part of the game) is so incredibly easy that the fury oriented skills don't come into play a ton. I do think (just watching the fury generation and how fast it goes down when using skills), that items that add to fury/fury generation, passives that help fury generate and things of that nature are going to be very important.
Overall it was an enjoyable experience. I'm a little sad I didn't get to play with Whirlwind and a couple of the higher level skills.
After playing through all of the classes though, I like the Demon Hunter best and will be rolling one first. Wizard and Monk were tied for second and the Barbarian and Witch Doctor came in last...
But that being said, the order of characters I liked in Diablo 2 would be massively different if I just played up to Blood Raven and then couldn't play anymore. I hated the Amazon, Sorceress and Assassin at the start of the game in Diablo 2... but I liked the other classes. But as the game progresses, the Zon, Sorc and Assassin are my favorite classes.
Maybe to train your blacksmith and such... or to toss something in your stash.
But they don't sell potions in town from what I've seen. (I haven't had to really look for them, because I haven't needed him) So going back for those is never really an issue.
The game really encourages you to keep playing, to keep smashing through. Because of this (the lack of having to go back to town) I am guessing that even though the amount of content will be equal to or greater than Diablo 2... I bet playing through the game itself goes a lot faster.
There are reasons to go back to town:
* Craft items (i think people don't realise the importance of those npcs yet).
* Upgrade your gems
* Quests, Lore
* Repair
I think just the craft reason is already more important and fun then any reason to go back to town in D2.
I wasn't saying that as a bad thing. If it came across that way I apologize. I just remember spending a lot of time in Diablo 2...
It just feels different when you play Diablo 3 as opposed to even the beginning of Diablo 2. You never really want to go back to town because it feels useless. You just want to keep smashing through the dungeon/area that you are in. The only time I have found myself going to town is pretty much when I am forced to do so in order to complete a quest.
Now, as you said, later that will probably change. I am guessing the primary reason is because that's where your blacksmith and such all are. I agree with you those characters are going to make a very big impact on the game.