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Interesting. So we can set 'monster power' even on Normal. Depending on how much it actually affects legendary drop rate, farming Leroic's Signets might not be a bad idea after 1.0.5

Also kind of intrigued by the uber bosses and what kind of items we can expect from them.

While true that if you just want to cap out MF, you could toss a topaz in the helm and call it good once you reach early 90s, but Paragon still provides the other bonuses. The 10 levels gained going from 90-100 as a barb will provide 30 more STR, 20 more VIT and 10 more Dex/INT. You could also free up the helm slot for an Amethyst for bonus %life at that point, since bonus XP/Gold/MF would be rendered moot. At that point, would it be necesssary? Not really, but it would technically make you more powerful and more durable. In other words, mathematically speaking, you would clear faster and die less often. So, there is a point to it, but the benefit is minimal.

Alk at this point however is simply racing to 100 to be world first. I highly doubt he's putting in all this effort just so he can squeeze that last 3 STR out. So aside from the internet prestige that he'll obtain by earning world first 100, there really isn't much point to it.

Well, I've actually debated spending the cash to buy the gold/gear required to do a setup like this. The way this guy is killing/leveling and finding legendary/set pieces, you could make back what you spend probably in the 2 weeks it's taken him to reach this point. I just find it extremely hard to bring myself to drop that kind of cash on a video game, even if I know that I could make it all back after some grinding sessions.

So far without spending a dime on the RMAH, I've made 145 bucks, which has essentially paid for my CE version of the game plus a little extra, and I'm happy with that. That being said, I've only found 5 legendary/set pieces since the patch and all the cash I've made has been since the patch. This guy has an entire inventory full of them! No doubt this guy is making some serious money with all the legend/set pieces he's wracking up.

Well, I'm fairly certain he's doing the leveling by himself and not having multiple people play the account. The reasoning I am saying this is because the time it takes to level from 97-98 is approx the same as leveling from 1-20 and he's accomplished that in a matter of a few hours just by watching the stream. If he can pull that off in just a few hours, and he's had over 2 weeks of grinding in, it's no wonder he's managed to get as high as he has.

I'm actually surprised by the fact that he isn't using a Leroic's Signet on his barb. He's got one for his merc, but since you only get 20% of the benefit, I'm curious as to why he's not sporting one on the barb itself. To be able to get that high without the signet on the actual character, that's impressive.

Many people aren't understanding what I'm writing here and are trying to correct me when there's nothing to correct. Like this

If their (designers) _intention_ was to make it do 300% damage and then someone programmed it to do 1500%, that is a bug. Yes, the software does what the programmer told it to do (and because the tooltip apparently reads from game date, it also says 1500%), but that was never the designer intention. So, especially from designer point-of-view, this is definitely a bug.

If it truly wasn't their intention to make it 1500% damage, you'd be absolutely correct. I however am saying their intention was to make it 1500% damage. They never originally intended to make it 300%, they're just saying that now to save face. However, they didn't realize exactly how powerful 1500% damage over a few seconds would be at the time and since they now realize that 1500% is way overpowered. So, they are now coming out and stating, 'we never intended it to do 1500% damage. that's a bug' when in reality, it's not a bug, they just overcompensated with the ability. Hence, they are intentionally misleading the community by calling it an unintentional bug when it is nothing of the sort. I believe this is to keep the community outcry to a minimum. 'Bug fix' sounds a lot better than 'nerf', but this is also what I find personally insulting. The community can be a very mature group of individuals, there's no reason to mislead them.

Let me put it another way. For example, lets say they intended for a reasonably well geared DH to be able to kill an elite pack in 20 seconds. They adjusted ToC to 1500%, along with tweaking other skills, tested it a bit and within their testing, they were killing elite packs within approximately 20 seconds. It looked good, so they patched it in. However, once it went live, they found DHs killing elite packs in 10 seconds. They notice the main cause is ToC doing way more damage than they intended because they didn't understand exactly how much 1500% over a few seconds impacted their killing power. They realize that ToC needs to be nerfed, but instead of calling it a nerf, they're claiming it's too powerful 'due to a bug' and is instead needs to be 'fixed'. They didn't intend it to allow DH to kill so efficiently, that much is clear. In that respect, the fast killing is unintended. This however is not a bug. There's a difference.

That was just an example to express my point. If you still believe that it's a bug, I can't change your mind. We have very different opinions on what constitutes a bug then I guess. The ability was overtuned. Overtuning an ability does not constitute a bug in my eyes. Calling it a bug is insulting. If it actually is a bug, then it's the result incompetence on a grand scale. People that incompetent shouldn't be the ones making adjustments to the game period.

It pretty much boils down to this:

If it really wasn't a bug but are calling it one to keep community outcry low, then they are just insulting the people that know better. Especially when they easily could have just come out and stated they overcompensating on an ability and it needs to be brought in line. It happens, most people understand that.

If it actually is a bug, as many of you here are arguing it is by tossing around definitions of what actually defines a bug, then it simply shows their incompetence on their own patching process. It was simply too obvious to not notice before the patch went live. It was extremely obvious to notice after the patch went live. It was simply too easy to hotfix immediately after noticing. That's all under the assumption that it was in fact, an unintended bug. Yet for some reason it took Blizzard 2 weeks before "noticing" this "bug" and yet instead of fixing such a gross miscalculation caused by a "bug" (that they are implying it is) they are allowing it to thrive until the next official patch. Sorry, I guess I'm just too stubborn to buy into that BS.

I respect blizzard and I enjoy playing Diablo 3. However, Blizzard knows that D3 is in a pretty rough spot right now. They are going out of their way to ensure the players that are still playing remain happy and are doing everything in their power to bring those people that left back into the fold. Turning around in 2 weeks after a patch and nerfing an ability that really does require it is a fine line to walk. When people start crying nerf, they risk the possibility of losing people still playing as well as risk scaring those that are contemplating coming back away. So, they call it a 'bug fix' in an attempt to alleviate that. (the only other option being to allow ToC to remain in game as it is, which is pretty much unacceptable).

I understand what they did and why they did it. I don't respect it though or acknowledge that it was necessary.

Quote from Emmerald

It was a bug (miscommunication often causes bugs - did you hear about the Mars lander that crashed and burned because the development teams in US and Europe had confused feet and meters - the lander entered the atmosphere at three times the intended speed), and it was their mistake to not catch it in testing. They said that in their comments. So to me it looks like they _are_ owning to their mistakes.

Then basically they're just incompetent. If the person behind the changes didn't notice that the ability was doing 1500% instead of the intended 300%, and as a result call it a 'bug', then yeah, there's no other logical explanation.

I'd have more respect for a developer that simply states, "Oops, we made it way too powerful. Our bad, we'll fix it" over one that sayd, "The ability that says it does 1500% damage is actually doing 1500% damage and that's a bug that needs to be fixed."

IMO, if an ability states it does 1500% damage and it actually does 1500% damage, that is not a bug. Overtuned? sure. Overpowered? Definitely. But, it's doing what it says it's supposed to be doing and just needs to be toned down and brought in line. However, if it said it was supposed to do 300% damage and was instead doing 1500%, then that would be a bug and I would understand it being called as such.

As it stands, I don't appreciate Blizzard calling this a bug. They're adjusting a (very) overpowered ability, not fixing an unintentional bug. It may have been unintentional for the ability to be as powerful as it is, but this was not the result of a bug but rather an oversight.

I read how they "explained" it's a bug. To me, that's just more insulting to people. I simply don't understand why they couldn't have come out and said, "We made ToC way too powerful. Our bad, we'll be reducing it's power to be more in line with where we originally intended it come next patch" That I would have been fine with.

Let me also just say, I don't even play a DH. I have a 60 DH, but I sold all her gear so she's pretty much naked. This change means nothing to me. But saying that when the patch notes and tooltip of the ability state it does 1500% damage and it in fact does 1500% damage and then try to call that a bug a week and a half after the patch goes live? I call BS on that. Again, whoever was adjusting the numbers should have instantly realized 1500 is not 300, or they're incredibly incompetent and needs to find new employment. Even if by some chance they legitimately didn't notice at first, they should have immediately noticed it after the patch went live and a hotfix within 24 hours would have been okay. No, they waited nearly 2 weeks, then come to everyone and say, "ToC is way too powerful, but not because we made it like that but rather due to an unforeseeable bug. We're fixing this with the next patch". Yup, *cough* BS.

It's not the fact that it's getting nerfed from 1500% to 300% that bothers me. What bothers me is the fact they're trying to pass it off as a bug instead of a legitimate mistake.

Though I'll admit, there really was no way for Blizzard to not upset people with this. If they come out and say "it's a bug", it just looks like they think we're idiots because to me, it's too obvious that it wasn't. (and if it truly was a bug that needed fixing, then it just shows the incompetence of the people that let it slip through. I for one don't think they are that incompetent). However, if they come out and say, "We overcompensated and are nerfing ToC next patch, so be ready for that" then the entire community starts crying "WTF!? Nerfs already, it's barely been out a week!"

I for one am an advocate of owning up to one's own mistakes though. I do it, many other game developers do it, I personally would appreciate it if the Diablo team would do it. And many times, they have already. Why this particular instance is different, I don't know. The only reasonable explanation I can come up with is they didn't want to call it a 'nerf' but rather a 'bug that needs fixed' in an attempt to make them not seem like the bad guys for changing it from 1500 to 300. I just don't buy that. I don't even mind them calling it a 'fix' because it probably does need fixing. Just don't call it a bug when it really isn't.

Yeah, I don't buy the fact that it's an 'unintended bug' either. I believe they very much intended it to do 1500% damage, it's just they found out that 1500% damage over that short a period ended up being way too powerful. Instead of admitting that they overtuned the ability intentionally and are now bringing it in line, they're calling it a bug that they somehow missed.

If it was always supposed to do 300% damage and not 1500%, and the tooltip accurately reflects what the ability actually does, it would have been noticed immediately when they originally changed it and would have been fixed immediately. The difference is too blatant to not notice, it stands out like a soar thumb. What actually happened is it was changed to 1500%, they tested it a little and thought, 'yeah, this seems good' and rolled with it. After the fact when every DH started using is when they realized, 'holy crap, we really overcompensated with this ability. However, instead of turning around a week and a half later and calling it a 'nerf' lets just claim it was an unintentional bug to save face.

I agree with other people's statements. Just own up to it. Everyone makes mistakes. So an ability was overtuned and needs to be fixed. It happens all the time in League of Legends and they freely admit to it. ToC is too powerful and needs to be toned down. I get it. But don't play it off as some kind of unexpected 'bug'. That's just insulting to many people's intelligence that know better.

Assuming equivalent gear and skill, grouping is definitely faster by far. You don't get any 'bonus' xp per say, but you will kill faster and as a result, level quicker.

That being said, it only takes one person to reduce the efficiency to 'not worth it'. Someone severely undergeared, someone unskilled, people who die constantly etc.

I really hate to say it, but unless you're grouping with friends or just some really good players you can trust to pull their weight in the group, soloing is still the most viable option when it comes to playing this game. That of course saddens me because I have the most fun when playing multiplayer.

Definite sadface

I'll probably play a bit more tonight. I don't have any real MF (I think one of my pieces may have some MF by coincidence) and not uber geared. However, the lack of finding any item of significance is making it harder and harder for me to continue the grind. I want to find an orange item already! *cry*

Tweaked? Sure, I can go along with that. When they pose a much significantly greater threat than other types of elites, then they are IMO unbalanced and needs to be tuned and put in line. Removed as potential elites though? I vote no on that. They'd be fine if they just get tuned properly.

I'm still having some rubberbanding issues, but my internet is slower than most. It's not unplayable but it does cause some unnecessary deaths when it happens at inopportune times

Quote from Wransik

Quote from st0rmie

Quote from Tybudd

I've seen some charts made that show with gear you can't get any higher than 256% pre-NV, but not confirmed by myself. But here is the chart

http://www.d3rmt.com...maximum-values/

Looks like you're missing topaz in the helmet: Radiant Star Topaz would add another 31%, giving 287% for a weapon+shield user, which matches what I always heard was the maximum.

If anyone actually does have 318%, without NV, without follower (as Wransik claims in post #4), I'd like to see a profile link.

http://eu.battle.net...4/hero/15888952 there you go, and that's with a crappy gem. No set rings as well which would boost to a total of 330 which is the absolute max before NV and without follower.

318 MF with only 390 INT and a 496 DPS weapon....what are you farming with all this MF exactly?

Not trying to be rude, I'm honestly curious. I can see maybe Nightmare farming, maybe Hell farming if you farm the earlier acts perhaps? I really don't know what's capable with that quality gear. That being said, I can't believe Inferno is possible with that setup.

Well, the socketed ruby is a % of bonus xp, so that is obviously where the real value is.

But, like Sabvre mentioned, 200+ bonus xp really adds up. We're going to have to kill millions of enemies to get to 100. When each one gives extra xp, it adds up quickly.

I have a feeling that bonus xp on gear is going to become insanely popular extremely quickly. Obviously the people wanting to race to Plvl 100 is going to be maxing out their bonus xp while gearing for fast clears.

This of course means rubies are going to drastically increase in value, so make sure to hang on to them too!