DiabloFans

From what I've seen, I can definitely say I am very excited. This is about the same level of excitement I got when details of LoD came out, and if impressions can be trusted, then I do believe RoS will be D3's LoD.

However, it will most certainly not be the peak of D3. I think RoS will make a lot of mistakes. But just as D2 had its 1.10, I think D3 will also have that one defining patch that will make it truly shine.

Quote from overneathe

Quote from inkcheese

Do the vanilla bosses have different or additional attack patterns with RoS?

That's a good reminder! Some bosses have had additions to them, will add those in a few hours, cheers!

I've been searching for this. Did you post it somewhere already, or will it still be added? I'm quite curious to see what additions you guys were talking about.

I think they should have incorporated their previous idea of Nephalem Trials into Rifts. Not every level needs to spawn a Trial, however, but it would have been interesting and exciting if say one in every three rift levels spawned a special trial that you could do for some extra rewards.

And I agree with xxxrob, it's not that we're looking a gift horse in the mouth. It's more that we can see how much potential it has and we want it to reach its full potential.

Great ideas! I love each of them, please post them on the Bnet forums.

Trading: Adding a trading currency into the game would be brilliant. I still think the whole 2 hour thing should exist, meaning you can freely trade with party members during that time. But when the timer runs out, then you'll need to trade with bloodshards.

Nephalem Rifts: The very concept of rift rarity seem incredibly enticing. Higher rarities should not only open up more item drop potential, but also add new and interesting forms of rifts (i.e. monsters and layouts) that are only accessible in certain rarities. It will keep rifts fresh and exciting, while giving Blizzard extra rarity options to add in with future updates.

Paragon Levels: I totally agree. The options you can spend points on are far too few, and you can even max everything, except for your core stats of course. Sure its only possible at level 800, but it's still attainable, which removes some of its charm. They really need to add some exciting stats like elemental damage, thorns, splash damage and even potion cooldowns. That way you'll have more options and it will take a lot more levels to even out your points.

Quote from Vulmio

Quote from dallten

Quote from Vulmio

It seems blue and white crafting reagents can drop directly without having to pick up blue/white items and salvaging them ! This is great ! Is it only from the cache or from the monsters also ?

Currently only from caches. Well, atleast what I've seen. Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

It's a shame Having to pick up irrelevant items just to salvage them one after the other just to get components seams useless, droping components would be less of a chore.

Not sure if I understand you correctly, but the idea of having to pick up all white and blue items seems like a huge chore. Right now in D3 I only pickup rares or better, which works fine since my town trips don't pull me out of the action all that often. But the idea that we need to pick all items item to craft means a lot of town trips and not all that appealing.

First thing I'm going to do is try out as many elemental builds as I can. Can't wait to get a fire wizard going, was my favorite sorc build in D2.

I think ID on pickup would work better. That way you know what's on the ground, and still need to grab it in order to see what it actually gives you.

Quote from Mienta

This is a F&F beta guys... calm the f*** down

The problem is that the Tal Rasha set has been useless since launch. Even after the big item updates came and went, it still remained in a sad state. Now it's starting to look like it might be left in the cold once again. In light of that I honestly think people's concerns are valid.

Quote from olymind1

That is what i'm asking, because they have no HP, just a duration, that expires and they die. They can't be attacked or killed. With Zunimassa set bonus, will they get HP, and function the same way as Zombie Dogs?

Actually, I think they have their own internal health pools. I've done a few hectic fights where by the time I've killed the enemies, I'll only have three or so fetishes remaining before they unsummon. Not sure how the numbers work, but they can die, it's just that their health bars don't show.

Quote from miles_dryden

To answer your question specifically, though, there are nine different difficulty levels (Normal, Hard, Expert, Master [unlocks at level 60], and Tormet I-V [unlocks at level 70])...

Ok, what the actual hell? If this is the case, what is this Torment VI (6) that everyone is talking about?

Yeah, I'm a little confused as to how the new difficulties work. Does it work like MP, and how does it impact item drops and XP. I haven't seen numbers yet, so I'm quite interested to know what it actually does.

Quote from Bagstone

Quote from Molster

Tal Rasha's Sacrifice

• 2 pieces: [Fire skills deal 3% more damage.]
• 3 pieces: [Lightning skills deal 3% more damage.]
• 4 pieces: [Cold skills deal 3% more damage.] [Increases Arcane Power regeneration by 2 per second]

It's April 1st or what? This gotta be a joke.

Yes!! Thank you.

This has to be the worst set bonuses there in the game. While the other classes have useful, meaningful bonuses, the wizard gets shafted with the biggest load of crap, and it doesn't even seem like they're intent on updating it.

Aren't they supposed to be random portals that pop up throughout the acts. When you enter them they'll spawn the challenge which you can then complete to claim a number of resplendent chests depending on how well you did. I don't think it's a feature specifically for adventure mode, they just spawn like random events, a bit like hell portals did in Act IV D2.

I'm also curious as to why they didn't mention them, since its a new feature. Then again, Devil's Hand is clearly there, even though they didn't elaborate on it. So hopefully Trials are still in game as well.

Color me interested. This is the first time I heard about the new difficulties... and I'm confused as hell...

Does it mean monster will level with you?
Do you need to complete Campaign mode to gain access to Adventure mode?
Can you choose any difficulty immediately when you start a new character or, will they be level dependent?
Does it mean these new difficulties will be replacing monster power then?
When you play Campaign mode, will you still be able to choose at which quest you want to drop in, or is it a once off thing and choosing quests are being relegated to Adventure mode?

So many questions. I hope they go more in depth during the panels.

The worst part is how we can easily point out the parts in D3's unfolding story where they went wrong. It's not one of those "I can't quite put my finger on it, it's just plain bad" cases, this is a matter of us knowing exactly where they got it wrong. What makes it bad is the fact that they could have easily avoided it, had they paid closer attention.

Anyways, here's my main gripe:

The villains
As others have pointed out, the whole 'twisting of the mustache while divulging the evil plot, then the whole shacking of fist because they could have gotten away with it if your Scooby gang hadn't interfered' schtick is just terrible writing. Remember in D2 when we were on the trail of the Wandered, and as we were preparing to face Baal Duriel popped out. Now that was a an epic twist. And I remember when I first got to Mephisto, I crapped myself because his reputation preceded him, his presence was felt all throughout the act without him constantly trying to convince me how bad ass he is.

The point was for Blizzard to let you feel the strength of the bosses. As they say in literature: show, don't tell. D3 was an excruciating exercise in telling.

The Butcher was fine, but from there it fell apart.

Belial is supposed to be a liar and manipulator, but his entire act was paper thin. I don't know if Blizzard imagines that they're making games for kids who'll be put off by complex plots, or if they just think we are dumb, but come on. If your hero couldn't point at Prince Hakan by the time you went into the sewers, then Sanctuary must be filled with gullible idiots if this eluded them. Act 2 should have been a complex "whodunit" story, where you couldn't trust anyone, and even started suspecting your own allies.

Azmodan, as everyone else point out by now, must be hell's most incompetent general. His best strategy seems to be a zerg rush, throw as many demons at said keep and look on in dumbfounded idiocy as you hope the walls crumble under the sheer weight of the army's numbers and the weight of his own stupidity. Act 3 should have been about tactics and trying to outsmart him, but failing, not you having to mop up wherever you're needed. No, it should have been you fighting the best way you can, but Azmodan always being a step ahead. By the end of the act you should have been Bastion Keep at the end of its ropes. Then you make a mad dash towards Azmodan, hoping to sever the head off the beast because you realize you can't outmaneuver Azmodan and as such only a mad, all-out rush is the only way to win.

Diablo, proved so sad in the end, it just mad heaven look pathetic. Iskatu, Rakanoth, Izual, these were the guys responsible for bringing the angelic host to its knees. Now I know the PC is a Nephalem, but come on. You single-handedly take out the force that beat the angels? How did the High Heavens wage the eternal war, exactly? There should have been more camaraderie between you and the sympathizing angels. Why didn't Act 4 get its own town? That was just lazy, real lazy, Blizzard. How about a High Heaven outpost where they could have clued you in and created a sense of resistance to the player. Iskatu, Rakanoth and Izual should also have been given a bit more of a presence, make them "worthy" of being hell's champions berating Heaven's best. And Diablo was just ... meh. The breaking the seals part in D2 had a great impact in setting up the magnitude of Diablo. In D3 they should have had a similar opening. Many you having to activate angelic braziers that would have blocked some of Diablo's influence in Heaven, which in turn anger him enough to turn his ire onto you. And less talking! Why pause mid fight to give an speech about his feelings and explain how angry he is. Again, show, don't tell.

Now as for the minor players that annoyed me:

Zoltan Kulle did not phase me the first play through. However, after consecutive play throughs it saddened me more and more just how they missed a great opportunity here. The idea was simple, take a character with a sense of purpose, who knows his Nephalem heritage and wants to claim his right. He basically mirrors the PC in a startling way, which is supposed to let the players reflect on their own choices and what defines them and makes them worthy heroes. Instead we get a guy who is just an a-hole with a maniacal laugh, you can practically envision Kulle rubbing his hands together with an evil Jafar grin. It seems that Blizzard wanted a deep character to show how Nephalem power can lure you, but instead they just gave us a corny loon.

Maghda is just perplexing, she doesn't even feel like a natural fit in a Daiblo game. The insect concept could have worked, but the moth headress and wings was just an odd design. What feel were they going for? Was she supposed to look timid, thereby giving you a false sense of security? When she killed Cain it just felt desperate. They had one of the most rediculous characters kill the cornerstone character of the Diablo series, probably in a bid to convince the player that she may look silly, but actually she is vicious. And when players lashed out they were probably confused. No, she just doesn't make sense, and it made Cain's death feel invalidated and unworthy. If they wanted Cain to have impact, then the killer should have been a force to be reckoned with. And when Maghda was supposed to have an insect design, they should have chosen more threatening qualities and made her feel like more of a threat than an annoyance.

Looks good, all round. I must say, each of these datamine threads makes me even more excited than the last. Can't wait for Blizzcon.

Quote from maka

WoW can blow me.

WoW's so desperate, it will probably try.

Quote from jwylie311

I don't know if you play on console or something, because on console apparently it is easier to earn your own items. But if youre on PC you are in a very small demographic of people. A tiny demographic.

There's almost no way in hell that you could tackle MP10 inferno all the way through by only earning your own items.

No, I play PC exclusively. And I'd like to see where you get your demographics, which I bet you you're making this up on the spot.

You definitely never played D2, where the drops weren't a whole lot worse that current D3, but we played and did item hunts for the fun of it. Items are supposed to be discovered, not bought at a convenience store. I play D3 exactly the same way as I played D2. I've gone up till MP5-7 with my friends, and I basically stopped playing a month after release and started playing again a few weeks ago.

I came back because RoS looks brilliant, it will get the game closer to how a Diablo game should be, and I'm glad the AH will be removed. Now the game will function the way a Diablo game should be played. You've done yourself a great disservice by relying on such a convenient method of finding great items, stepping away from that incredible feeling you get when you complete a set with your friends. But soon you'll find that out for yourself.