I have had people say that faster runs is actually better for farming. By faster Im talking about the actual length of the run not how fast you kill stuff. I mean is doing say a 25-30 min Butcher run where you only hit a few easy spots, get 5 stacks, then go kill him better than clearing pretty much every zone in Act 1 and thus killing far more elites. For me bosses always drop crap loot so I dont understand why people do stuff like 10 min siegebreaker kills when going around and hitting every area in an Act would net you more elite kills and therefore more loot. Seems like once you get to 5 stacks it would be more beneficial to kill every single elite in the Act if you can.
It's not the question of full runs or short runs. Effective farming is about frequent elite kills with full valor and as much MF as possible (gear swap or no, doesn't matter).
In Act 2 with the checkpoint set to Vault of Assassins it's possible to kill avg. 10 elites after getting 5 NV from around waypoints under 25 minutes, thats a good example of a quick and fast run, it's better to just start over than to go and find more elites, as you won't find another ten in 25 minutes.
Act 3 on the other hand is better to from start to the end, visiting most places and dungeons, as elites are scattered and distributed randomly. You can only get more effective by refining your routes (and finding a way to skip trash if your dps is not high enough to just oneshot them).
I don't know about Act I, I assume elite hunt is more effective than quick boss kills with current NV mechanics. You can find quite a few guides, people already published optimized farm routes.
act 1 butcher run with 5 stack of nv : cemetary of the forsaken , the festering wood ( blue outside + 2 yellow in cave ) . leoric manor + courtyard ( blue / yellow ) . hall of agony / warden / butcher = around 30mins .
I have had people say that faster runs is actually better for farming. By faster Im talking about the actual length of the run not how fast you kill stuff. I mean is doing say a 25-30 min Butcher run where you only hit a few easy spots, get 5 stacks, then go kill him better than clearing pretty much every zone in Act 1 and thus killing far more elites. For me bosses always drop crap loot so I dont understand why people do stuff like 10 min siegebreaker kills when going around and hitting every area in an Act would net you more elite kills and therefore more loot. Seems like once you get to 5 stacks it would be more beneficial to kill every single elite in the Act if you can.
Simple reason: short runs are better for gold farming. I don't know the exact reason, but I noticed that my money climbs way faster when I do Butcher runs than when I farm Act 2.
So it depends on what you prefer. If you want gold to spend on the AH, shorter runs are better. If you prefer to roll your own gear, you'll obviously want to do a full act.
Being nv5 guarantee to find 1 rare while having 75% mf from gear doesn't .. I don't know how the nv works but imo just relying on mf is not a viable option. I'd rather suggest to Kill as much elites as possible as fast as possible while being nv5.
Seems like not everyone realizes this...
I can farm parts of A1 with 280% MF and not get any rare drops. But if you farm with 5x NV and no MF you'll get rares. It's really dumb for someone who stacks MF. This is why a lot of people prefer to not use MF and just farm A3 with 5x NV.
act 1 butcher run with 5 stack of nv : cemetary of the forsaken , the festering wood ( blue outside + 2 yellow in cave ) . leoric manor + courtyard ( blue / yellow ) . hall of agony / warden / butcher = around 30mins .
This is correct. Takes about 30 minutes to do a full A1 run.
Sometimes I think it's better to farm A3 than A1. Even with 350% MF I average less than 1 archon per run. It seems that anything below 63 is becoming less and less valuable. All the weapons I get are garbage (so many 2Hs).
I've almost found more legendarys / set items than I have 63 armor... not joking.
Champ packs will usually drop around 3 rares, but the chance for them to be 63 just seems so terrible.
I'd probably work towards farming A3 effectively with no MF vs steamrolling A1 with 350+.
I always do short 5 stack runs. If I have minimal time to be online, I can get it and out with a big pile of bad loots quickly and not feel burned out or too pissed off!
There are a few areas in Act 3 that are better for farming than others so I think it's a bit foolish to just clear the entire act (unless you're running something OP right now like a well geared nado barb). I can't just skip trash so keep that in mind with my advice.
* Start in Keep level 3. It's such a good area. 2-5 elites packs and it's always a really small map. A majority of the time, there's a pack within sight of the WP. Without a doubt, this is the best place in Act 3 imo.
* Go up to level 2 and search until you find the first pack... typically it'll be close to the stairs.
* Port back to keep level 1. Search until you find the first elite pack, often near the WP.
* Head to stonefort to see if an elite spawned near the WP. Often times, there's a pack right above the stairs. If there isn't a pack within the first 2 screens I typically go elsewhere because you can get unlucky and the first spawn won't be until very far in.
Those are the areas that I always hit. I'll typically check out early crater areas as well. If I have time, I'll check out other so-so areas like Fortified Bunker (usually a lot of elites but HUGE map makes it only so-so) and the area outside fort bunk is typically good. Really, check most WPs as there's often a spawn within a few screens of one I've noticed. I don't mind the tower areas either because they're fairly small and usually have at least 2 packs per level.
Not sure why you guys don't do A2. You don't need expensive gear to farm it efficiently, it's much easier than A3, and there's at least a half decent chance of finding ilvl 62/63 gear. There are single dungeons with a large number of elites (Vault of the Assassin!!!).
The only thing I dislike in A2 are those stinging bees... they are just annoying!
I'm guessing most of the classes that hate it are kiting classes. Between the bees, cloaked snakes, burrowing monsters (multiple different ones in Act 2) and leaping monsters... it's pretty annoying.
Everything is too fast in A2 basically. If you're trying to kite it gets really annoying.
There's too many open areas. I agree that the dungeons are good (lots of skeletons) but the open areas are terrible. The open areas in A3 are much better because it seems like the mobs are closer together. Their models are generally bigger too, so they get all crammed in. The first part of A3 isn't great, but it's still better than the open areas in A2. Also, it's easier to get to the dungeons in A3. In A2 they don't have as many waypoints.
As for A1... best route is probably to get 2-3 stacks from Defiled Crypts / Graveyard, 3 stacks from Festering Woods, then kill 1 pack in Northern Highlands, kill 1-2 packs in Leoric's Mansion, then do a typical Butcher run from there. That's what I do anyway. The other waypoints aren't nearly as good. The lower level champions will drop worse loot as well I believe. Which is why you want to do the early parts of the act first.
WS isn't bad either (I'd say a bit worse than A3) as long as you have the right gear and you aren't melee.
The most effective farming route for me has been running Whimsyshire (CM/WW build Wiz, mind you). I can get my 5 stack within 3-5 minutes by going to festering woods, then usually to leoric's manor to get the last NV.. or cemetary if I need 2 stacks after FW.
Whimshire is usually cleared within 10 minutes.
That's 4-5 a3/a4 packs every 13-15 mins, and honestly I prefer the quick pace.
You're forgetting Highlands Crossing --> The Watchtower. Always a few elites and a yellow chest in there. Easy skeleton-mobs for fast farming. My record-find was 7 elite-packs in that tower
If you have 5 stacks, i feel that killing bosses is just as good as killing a elite group. For me i think doing a lot of the act is the way to go ( not full clear though ). Imo the best thing is to clear every condensed area, you don't want to be running around a huge map that might have 2 packs on it, but if you can go to a crypt with 1-3 in it, then leave that crypt and walk to another 2 crypts with same. Thats how i think it is the best. And thats why you start at certain quests.
I average about 1 page (plus a few more) in the stash filled with rares. I pick up all blues and rares. I don't even look at the blues just DE them all for mats, and check every rare after my run, keeping what should sell for anything 50k+, my highest sold item so far has been for 800k, so I haven't gotten those super juicy drops yet (at least not for selling) ^^
The run takes me between 30-50min I would say.
The only slightly dangerous part of this run is if there is a Beast pack in the Northen Highlands while I'm rushing to find Watch Tower, or if the affix combo is nasty for my build (wallers + shields are my bane).
I play on HC EU.
Maybe this makes sense for HC, but the issue is that most people think that it's best to farm the end of A1 because they're more likely to drop higher ilvl compared to earlier parts. In my experience, the drops from packs in the cathedral etc, tend to be weaker than what you get from Cursed Hold forward.
You're forgetting Highlands Crossing --> The Watchtower. Always a few elites and a yellow chest in there. Easy skeleton-mobs for fast farming. My record-find was 7 elite-packs in that tower
wow i didnt know that ! ty O.O
This is true. I don't usually check for it for some reason... should probably start doing that. Also, Cathedral lvl 3 there's sometimes a summoner at the WP.
So I'd probably do like Crypts / Graveyard (3 packs) > Cathedral lvl 3 (check for summoner) > Festering Woods (kill 3 packs) > Northern Highlands (kill 1 pack) > Watchtower > Leoric's Mansion (1 or 2 packs) > Halls to Butcher.
In Act 2 with the checkpoint set to Vault of Assassins it's possible to kill avg. 10 elites after getting 5 NV from around waypoints under 25 minutes, thats a good example of a quick and fast run, it's better to just start over than to go and find more elites, as you won't find another ten in 25 minutes.
Have mine set there but I end up clearing every zone lol. Do you only get 5 stacks, do VoA, and relog every time?
I average about 1 page (plus a few more) in the stash filled with rares
But how much of that is junk? I know the names of every armor piece (Doom = 61, Sovereign = 62, Archon =63) as well as the weapons that matter ( only lvl 62 swrods,maces,spears can roll good stats) staves and 2 handers are garbage so I know what I pick up and what stays on the ground where trash belongs. If you are picking up 50 rares and only 10 of them are 61+ then really you only got 10
I always do short 5 stack runs. If I have minimal time to be online, I can get it and out with a big pile of bad loots quickly and not feel burned out or too pissed off!
I agree. Nothing sucks more than spending a whole bunch of time on something and not getting much, or anything, out of it.
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In Act 2 with the checkpoint set to Vault of Assassins it's possible to kill avg. 10 elites after getting 5 NV from around waypoints under 25 minutes, thats a good example of a quick and fast run, it's better to just start over than to go and find more elites, as you won't find another ten in 25 minutes.
Act 3 on the other hand is better to from start to the end, visiting most places and dungeons, as elites are scattered and distributed randomly. You can only get more effective by refining your routes (and finding a way to skip trash if your dps is not high enough to just oneshot them).
I don't know about Act I, I assume elite hunt is more effective than quick boss kills with current NV mechanics. You can find quite a few guides, people already published optimized farm routes.
In reality, bosses and champ packs have the same loot table, bosses just drop more items (at least that's my understanding).
How fast to 5 stacks + how many champs in X amount of time. Remember that a faster run means more time spent getting that 5 stacks.
So it depends on what you prefer. If you want gold to spend on the AH, shorter runs are better. If you prefer to roll your own gear, you'll obviously want to do a full act.
Seems like not everyone realizes this...
I can farm parts of A1 with 280% MF and not get any rare drops. But if you farm with 5x NV and no MF you'll get rares. It's really dumb for someone who stacks MF. This is why a lot of people prefer to not use MF and just farm A3 with 5x NV.
This is correct. Takes about 30 minutes to do a full A1 run.
Sometimes I think it's better to farm A3 than A1. Even with 350% MF I average less than 1 archon per run. It seems that anything below 63 is becoming less and less valuable. All the weapons I get are garbage (so many 2Hs).
I've almost found more legendarys / set items than I have 63 armor... not joking.
Champ packs will usually drop around 3 rares, but the chance for them to be 63 just seems so terrible.
I'd probably work towards farming A3 effectively with no MF vs steamrolling A1 with 350+.
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There are a few areas in Act 3 that are better for farming than others so I think it's a bit foolish to just clear the entire act (unless you're running something OP right now like a well geared nado barb). I can't just skip trash so keep that in mind with my advice.
* Start in Keep level 3. It's such a good area. 2-5 elites packs and it's always a really small map. A majority of the time, there's a pack within sight of the WP. Without a doubt, this is the best place in Act 3 imo.
* Go up to level 2 and search until you find the first pack... typically it'll be close to the stairs.
* Port back to keep level 1. Search until you find the first elite pack, often near the WP.
* Head to stonefort to see if an elite spawned near the WP. Often times, there's a pack right above the stairs. If there isn't a pack within the first 2 screens I typically go elsewhere because you can get unlucky and the first spawn won't be until very far in.
Those are the areas that I always hit. I'll typically check out early crater areas as well. If I have time, I'll check out other so-so areas like Fortified Bunker (usually a lot of elites but HUGE map makes it only so-so) and the area outside fort bunk is typically good. Really, check most WPs as there's often a spawn within a few screens of one I've noticed. I don't mind the tower areas either because they're fairly small and usually have at least 2 packs per level.
I'm guessing most of the classes that hate it are kiting classes. Between the bees, cloaked snakes, burrowing monsters (multiple different ones in Act 2) and leaping monsters... it's pretty annoying.
There's too many open areas. I agree that the dungeons are good (lots of skeletons) but the open areas are terrible. The open areas in A3 are much better because it seems like the mobs are closer together. Their models are generally bigger too, so they get all crammed in. The first part of A3 isn't great, but it's still better than the open areas in A2. Also, it's easier to get to the dungeons in A3. In A2 they don't have as many waypoints.
As for A1... best route is probably to get 2-3 stacks from Defiled Crypts / Graveyard, 3 stacks from Festering Woods, then kill 1 pack in Northern Highlands, kill 1-2 packs in Leoric's Mansion, then do a typical Butcher run from there. That's what I do anyway. The other waypoints aren't nearly as good. The lower level champions will drop worse loot as well I believe. Which is why you want to do the early parts of the act first.
WS isn't bad either (I'd say a bit worse than A3) as long as you have the right gear and you aren't melee.
Whimshire is usually cleared within 10 minutes.
That's 4-5 a3/a4 packs every 13-15 mins, and honestly I prefer the quick pace.
EDIT: I also run with 275 mf
wow i didnt know that ! ty O.O
Maybe this makes sense for HC, but the issue is that most people think that it's best to farm the end of A1 because they're more likely to drop higher ilvl compared to earlier parts. In my experience, the drops from packs in the cathedral etc, tend to be weaker than what you get from Cursed Hold forward.
This is true. I don't usually check for it for some reason... should probably start doing that. Also, Cathedral lvl 3 there's sometimes a summoner at the WP.
So I'd probably do like Crypts / Graveyard (3 packs) > Cathedral lvl 3 (check for summoner) > Festering Woods (kill 3 packs) > Northern Highlands (kill 1 pack) > Watchtower > Leoric's Mansion (1 or 2 packs) > Halls to Butcher.
Have mine set there but I end up clearing every zone lol. Do you only get 5 stacks, do VoA, and relog every time?
But how much of that is junk? I know the names of every armor piece (Doom = 61, Sovereign = 62, Archon =63) as well as the weapons that matter ( only lvl 62 swrods,maces,spears can roll good stats) staves and 2 handers are garbage so I know what I pick up and what stays on the ground where trash belongs. If you are picking up 50 rares and only 10 of them are 61+ then really you only got 10
I agree. Nothing sucks more than spending a whole bunch of time on something and not getting much, or anything, out of it.