Before it's asked, I used Exalted Soul for speed farming via Tempest Rush. I find I can fill 250 spirit within 1-2 mob fights. Then its 49% MS to the next group (which also helps to maintain cyclone without re-cast).
As a programmer, I find the likeliness of this theory to be pretty low...
But since it doesn't take much effort to try, I've been only playing on a small range of the theoretical "magic servers".
Before trying, I clocked roughly 30+ runs of Act3 on patch 1.04, and found 0 legends.
With trying, I've only done 5 runs so far, and found 3 legends.
Now, by NO means is 5 runs enough evidence for statistical purposes... but comparing 0/30 to 3/5 makes me not mind taking the few extra minutes to locate a "magic server" each run.
A.B.C.D
A = Full Version - Typical of Releases aka expansions or in other software cycles - a major overhaul
B = Sub Version - This is major upgrades to an existing version
C = Build Number
D = MINOR Update
At my company we version things as follows
A = Each increment is a complete ovehaul... barely recognizable
B = Specification Update
C = Build update - Typical bug fixes
D = EXTREMELY minor... maybe an xml update
I agree, which is what the original post was about (for fun of sparking versioning conversation). And the 1.0.4 patch is definitely not a bug fix category, it's a pretty big update and overhaul of multiple systems. Whether or not 1.1.0 is big enough to be classified as a free expansion (and 2.0.0) is yet to be seen, hence why I used the adjective "theoretical".
Aha, I didn't know they saved X.0 releases for expansions... still, the theoretical size of the pvp release is essentially a free small expansion, which would warrant the 2.0 versioning.
I'm not really sure Blizzard understands major vs minor...
(and before anyone criticizes me using major/minor here.. they've already announced plans for release 1.1, meaning their majors are intended to be 1.x and minors as 1.xx)
With that in mind, they've started releasing Dev Blogs on all the things being changed in the upcoming 1.04 release.. which contains about 100x more changes than 1.03 or previous. So either:
a} 1.04 should have been named as 1.1, and the later 1.1 would be 1.2 (or, since the next big release is supposed to be adding major functionality, primarily pvp, it could even be 2.0)
b} 1.04 should have been split into several proper minor patches over these last and next few weeks, rather than lumping it all into one, and making everyone wait 2 months for all of it.
I'd vote {b}, likely would have helped keep players interested in these boring times. But more importantly, major/minor is a fun silly thing to argue over
I've had similar thoughts on the matter (regarding act3 vs act1).
If you go with relatively useful MF gear for Act1, I'd say 225% is pretty good (300% with NV is what I'm sitting at). That makes your ilvl63 rate 19.2%
If you go with 0 MF (for ease of comparison) to do Act3, you only have the 75% NV.. so your ilvl63 rate is 28.5%
It is a substantial difference, for sure, at around 9% more for Act3.. I guess it boils down to what you prefer and what you can handle. If you're dying more than once to certain affixes, perhaps Act3 is too slow. If Act3 is cake for you, then have fun.
For fun, let's do some math.. to wit I should preface by saying that I'm not great at statistics, or math for that matter. If someone wants to chime in with the *actual* math, that would be great
Let's assume a typical FoT build.. let's say you have 20k dps, I think that's fairly average. Running breath, MoC, and faith.
We're also going to assume 7 targets in a perfect world, all being hit by the SSS or FoT. For SSS, each target takes 222% plus 666% from aoe by the other 6 hits.
So with FoT (I believe someone said this is ~40% attack speed animation?) So with 2.0 IAS this is roughly 2.8 APS?
20k dps + 30% faith + 48% MoC + 15% breath at 2.8 aps = 136k dps burst.. its a 3s burst, so 451k via just FoT/TC (main target only), plus 35% aoe of Thunderclap (14.4k dps to other 6 aoe targets).. for a total damage dealt of 710k in 3s (451k to target).
Now let's do SSS with vortexing... assuming MoC and breath.. (taking healing skill rather than blind).
20k dps + 15% breath + 48% MoC at 888% assumed SSS aoe (2 second animation) = 302k burst over 2 seconds (to each of targets in aoe).. for a total damage dealt of 2114k in 2s.
-------
I think SSS burst aoe would be a fun build.. it's the 30s cooldown that kills it. The other factor I'm not accounting for here is that the FoT burst is repeatable every 15s instead of 30s (plus you can keep MoC mantra up).
Still, it would be fun Unless any of my math is completely wrong? (very possible)
Edit: keep in mind that thunderclap aoe is only every 3rd hit of the combo (I accounted for this in the totals).
I have a question for anyone who has done some decent testing with Seven-Sided-Strike, specifically the aoe rune Fulminating Onslaught.
Does the aoe blast affect the original target as well, like some other aoe skills do?
If so, this rune sounds great on paper: The base skill is 111% per hit (777% / 7). The onslaught adds 111% aoe, effectively making it 222% per hit (if it affects targets), in other words 1554% damage at minimum.
It warrants testing.. if it doesn't hit the target, then it's a pretty useless rune (unless you're crazy enough to run vortex via Cyclone-Strike).
FoT/TC
DW (each weapon around 650 dps)
1.95 IAS
1.5k LoH
6.5k armor (after MoE buff)
700'ish resist all
I was running sword & board with DR/Keen previously and was struggling through Act3. I finally ponied up the gold for more LoH and went back to dual-wield, and promptly destroyed Act3, killed every boss before enrage, and only skipped 1 elite pack. I'm running through Act4 now, about halfway done.. I'll die once or twice to the hardest elites, but at least it's more fun than shielding it up and enraging everything.
Edit: Other stats in case you're curious.. 41k hp, 17k DPS, 26% crit chance, no +c-dmg.
Agreeing with Luizdeh.. I was stuck in Act3 for a while, running sword&board. I tried FoT/TC, WotHF, and DR/Keen.. mostly kept to DR for the extra armor, which I thought I needed (the Keen would push me to around 1k armor). But ultimately, the ability to mini-teleport and keep damage up constantly is too powerful to ignore, especially if you're a LoH monk.
Just to reinforce, I finally decided to switch to dual-wield with FoT/TC, running 1.5k LoH.. and I've cleared Act3 and half of Act4 now, with a few deaths and only 2 skipped elites so far. BTW, I've only got 6k armor (after MoE buff) and around 700 all resist. So... dual-wield FoT LoH is FTW (acronym overload).
This is an awesome idea.. but yeah, chance of implementation is pretty low. They're quite thorough about testing and balancing (even if ineffectual).. so even if they choose to do it, we're talkin over a year from now.
LOL for at least the last 4 days, Blizzard's phone queue has been full at every point during the day, immediately kicking you off the line. Now, they're "experiencing difficulties", so the whole system is down. I never expected Blizzard to fail so hard at customer service.
It's Friday night, looking like I still won't be getting a response. This is 4 nights I haven't been able to play.. and I'm just going to guess they won't get to me over the weekend either, so I'm losing a weekend too. Blizzard's support is sucking balls right now.
I put a support request through Blizzard's account recovery system on Tuesday, and have yet to hear back from them at all. I've been trying to call them since Tuesday as well, but every single time, I get an automated response: "sorry, our support queue is full" and it hangs up.
Anyone else having issues with Blizzard support being unresponsive? In some support scenarios, 2 days might be short.. but not being able to play Diablo is hell (pun intended).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Before it's asked, I used Exalted Soul for speed farming via Tempest Rush. I find I can fill 250 spirit within 1-2 mob fights. Then its 49% MS to the next group (which also helps to maintain cyclone without re-cast).
But since it doesn't take much effort to try, I've been only playing on a small range of the theoretical "magic servers".
Before trying, I clocked roughly 30+ runs of Act3 on patch 1.04, and found 0 legends.
With trying, I've only done 5 runs so far, and found 3 legends.
Now, by NO means is 5 runs enough evidence for statistical purposes... but comparing 0/30 to 3/5 makes me not mind taking the few extra minutes to locate a "magic server" each run.
I agree, which is what the original post was about (for fun of sparking versioning conversation). And the 1.0.4 patch is definitely not a bug fix category, it's a pretty big update and overhaul of multiple systems. Whether or not 1.1.0 is big enough to be classified as a free expansion (and 2.0.0) is yet to be seen, hence why I used the adjective "theoretical".
(and before anyone criticizes me using major/minor here.. they've already announced plans for release 1.1, meaning their majors are intended to be 1.x and minors as 1.xx)
With that in mind, they've started releasing Dev Blogs on all the things being changed in the upcoming 1.04 release.. which contains about 100x more changes than 1.03 or previous. So either:
a} 1.04 should have been named as 1.1, and the later 1.1 would be 1.2 (or, since the next big release is supposed to be adding major functionality, primarily pvp, it could even be 2.0)
b} 1.04 should have been split into several proper minor patches over these last and next few weeks, rather than lumping it all into one, and making everyone wait 2 months for all of it.
I'd vote {b}, likely would have helped keep players interested in these boring times. But more importantly, major/minor is a fun silly thing to argue over
If you go with relatively useful MF gear for Act1, I'd say 225% is pretty good (300% with NV is what I'm sitting at). That makes your ilvl63 rate 19.2%
If you go with 0 MF (for ease of comparison) to do Act3, you only have the 75% NV.. so your ilvl63 rate is 28.5%
It is a substantial difference, for sure, at around 9% more for Act3.. I guess it boils down to what you prefer and what you can handle. If you're dying more than once to certain affixes, perhaps Act3 is too slow. If Act3 is cake for you, then have fun.
Let's assume a typical FoT build.. let's say you have 20k dps, I think that's fairly average. Running breath, MoC, and faith.
We're also going to assume 7 targets in a perfect world, all being hit by the SSS or FoT. For SSS, each target takes 222% plus 666% from aoe by the other 6 hits.
So with FoT (I believe someone said this is ~40% attack speed animation?) So with 2.0 IAS this is roughly 2.8 APS?
20k dps + 30% faith + 48% MoC + 15% breath at 2.8 aps = 136k dps burst.. its a 3s burst, so 451k via just FoT/TC (main target only), plus 35% aoe of Thunderclap (14.4k dps to other 6 aoe targets).. for a total damage dealt of 710k in 3s (451k to target).
Now let's do SSS with vortexing... assuming MoC and breath.. (taking healing skill rather than blind).
20k dps + 15% breath + 48% MoC at 888% assumed SSS aoe (2 second animation) = 302k burst over 2 seconds (to each of targets in aoe).. for a total damage dealt of 2114k in 2s.
-------
I think SSS burst aoe would be a fun build.. it's the 30s cooldown that kills it. The other factor I'm not accounting for here is that the FoT burst is repeatable every 15s instead of 30s (plus you can keep MoC mantra up).
Still, it would be fun
Edit: keep in mind that thunderclap aoe is only every 3rd hit of the combo (I accounted for this in the totals).
Does the aoe blast affect the original target as well, like some other aoe skills do?
If so, this rune sounds great on paper: The base skill is 111% per hit (777% / 7). The onslaught adds 111% aoe, effectively making it 222% per hit (if it affects targets), in other words 1554% damage at minimum.
It warrants testing.. if it doesn't hit the target, then it's a pretty useless rune (unless you're crazy enough to run vortex via Cyclone-Strike).
FoT/TC
DW (each weapon around 650 dps)
1.95 IAS
1.5k LoH
6.5k armor (after MoE buff)
700'ish resist all
I was running sword & board with DR/Keen previously and was struggling through Act3. I finally ponied up the gold for more LoH and went back to dual-wield, and promptly destroyed Act3, killed every boss before enrage, and only skipped 1 elite pack. I'm running through Act4 now, about halfway done.. I'll die once or twice to the hardest elites, but at least it's more fun than shielding it up and enraging everything.
Edit: Other stats in case you're curious.. 41k hp, 17k DPS, 26% crit chance, no +c-dmg.
Just to reinforce, I finally decided to switch to dual-wield with FoT/TC, running 1.5k LoH.. and I've cleared Act3 and half of Act4 now, with a few deaths and only 2 skipped elites so far. BTW, I've only got 6k armor (after MoE buff) and around 700 all resist. So... dual-wield FoT LoH is FTW (acronym overload).
Anyone else having issues with Blizzard support being unresponsive? In some support scenarios, 2 days might be short.. but not being able to play Diablo is hell (pun intended).