The only time I think enrage timers have made sense is when they are sort of a gating mechanism (dps check) to point out if you can't do this, you are not yet ready for the later content beyond this which will require you to be able to burst through the a future boss mechanics in a short amount of time. The enrage timers are there basically to indicate to you in a very firm way, "you are not yet prepared". Even those are artificial but at least they make sense from a game progression perspective. For example, if there were actual boss mechanics in D3 uber fights that required you to do x damage in y time AND if they put the enrage timer on the key wardens to indicate if you can't do this much dps here, you are not ready yet for the uber encounter these wardens give you access to, that would make some sense from a game play perspective. This is not the case however.
Anyway in D3, where they have already removed timers from just about everything (the quote was something like this is about "efficiency"), not sure why there are some exceptions left. If someone is having fun taking 20-30 minutes to kill an uber, have at it. It's not going to imbalance the economy or anything -- the rings are BoP.
I may have read it wrong then . . . I fully acknowledge even in the vid that I am for shit on bear targetting at the moment
I just need more in-game experience there in terms of what works best as I've spent 98% of my WD life Acid Rain farming. I'll work with the back to wall piece or any other advice you have on getting bears to target more optimally.
On topic: there are certain packs that are indeed broken right now with reflect (health link and certain champ packs) and blizzard has acknowledged this. These should be fixed. Other than that, adding in some defense and life steal seems to solve the problem even at very high damage output (top 1% type character damage output). Jaetch or someone with top .1% damage output would have to weigh in about RD at those levels. From my perspective, I would say some visual indication of reflects would be a good addition but, other than that and fixing known bugs, I don't see a need for an affix redesign or nerf.
Dogs do scale with your hp and defenses (think it was 1.0.4 where that change was made). There are also talents where they can use your regen/thorns as well. High IAS is not necessary for sure. We could debate whether it is more optimal but it's definitely not necessary.
Sorry if I am wrong but you didn't ever make use of the envirment. Walls are your best friends!
I know it's something I usually do when appropriate. Actually about 5:30 into the Act I vid, there is a specific and obvious instance of me kiting around environment to LoS mobs that have a very high damage charge (super epic ending to that fight so worth watching ). That said, when you are hiding behind environment, you obviously can't target bears very effectively. Generally speaking, it's better to have enough defenses, damage, and life steal to face tank the pack.
Hi Emberos,
just out of curiosity how many hours have you spent getting to your paragon lvl? And how many total hours of WD play?
If it is not a problem
Less than 700 hours on WD. I'm not sure how much of that was pre-Paragon but probably somewhere around 150-200 were before.
Paragon farming is interesting while you are solving the efficiency riddle and optimizing spec/gear/etc. Once you solve that riddle, it becomes a bit of a mindless grind -- because the current MP reward system is scaled to direct you to farm the lowest MP. Basically, 2 XP rings (hellfire, leorics), XP gem on helm and MP0 Alk runs ad infinitum. I'm 98 now and about 8-9 hours from 100 if I keep farming at max efficiency. That said, I've been playing higher MPs lately knowing they are less efficient because they are more fun.
The past week or so, to break the monotony of paragon farming, I've been playing the game in story mode from Act I through Act IV on MP7 and building a video series on it. After 98 levels of low MP paragon farming in Act III, it's been almost like rediscovering an old friend again. You begin to take note of not only the affixes but the type of creature you are fighting and all around it feels like a game again. It is definitely FAAAAR less efficient in terms of both item and XP if you are after those . . . but it's been a ton of fun and very refreshing after mindlessly spamming things down on MP0.
It's a shame Blizzard still haven't realigned the reward system to encourage us to play the game at a level where it is more engaging. If 100 random RPG gamers watched a vid of someone efficient paragon farming and then watched another vid of that same person doing high MP gameplay and were asked which looks more like a more engaging game, I think 99 out of 100 would say the higher MP vid. With that being the case, it is disturbing that the in-game reward system is so skewed to discourage us from playing the D3 where it feels more like a game. That said, we are free to choose to disregard item and XP efficiency and just enjoy the game and that's what I've been doing of late. This doesn't change the fact that Blizzard have some work to do to align the reward system better.
I have not gone out and gotten a very good 1h/oh -- I used a 1h/oh setup originally back in 1.0.3 but around 1.0.4 I went Skorn and never looked back. I think Beasty has tried both and probably some others. I can say I really like the 6% Life Steal on Skorn for higher MP gameplay but I know others are doing well with only 3% and higher mitigation.
I just logged in long enough to hover over WD stats and it says 691 hours. I can't say for sure how much of that is Paragon farming versus pre 1.0.4. I can say I could be 100 even now if I hadn't spent the past week of my play time messing around with higher MP gameplay gaining very low XP per hour. I'm currently over half-way from 97 to 98 which would be like 12 hours of fast MP0 farming to get to 100 for me right now -- but I'll probably take 40+ hours instead and get it while messing around with Act III and IV gameplay on MP7.
I would agree that a traditional Acid Rain build is not going to do well on higher MPs. You are probably going to want to go with a more Bear-focused build. I have an example of a Bears build that is working well for me at higher MPs in this thread:
I'm sure there are others. Really just depends on what your goals are -- if you are Paragon farming, I'd stick with low MPs and Acid Rain-oriented build. If you are playing higher MPs for fun, I'd probably go with a Bears-oriented build.
Starting a series of vids just farming higher MPs. I'm doing MP7 because it's a nice mix of things living long enough that creature type and affixes matter and yet not so long that you feel like your just spamming bears and waiting for things to die. I'm doing full story line of each Act and just highlighting interesting packs. I'm doing live commentary as I record and then editing things together after.
Act I is up below:
Act II
I will update this thread with the other Act vids as they finish.
i like it -- this and pure brain dead boredom of farming through the 90s on MP0 inspired me to actually go play the game. I'm not doing MP10 as at some point it just takes too long to kill. I settled on MP7 and am playing the content straight through the story line. No, it's not efficient, but yes, it is fun. Mobs you are fighting and the affixes they have actually matter and it's good times. I did Act I yesterday and captured all the elite packs and the bosses -- edited into 3 vids and will post them once they are done rendering. Then it's on to Acts II, III, and IV.
Yeah, this will delay me hitting 100 for awhile but I'm already MF capped at 97 with just gear on my follower. Solving the efficiency riddle and optimizing runs was fun for awhile but it's just become repetitive at this point so I'm gonna have fun with the game again -- efficiency be damned, whatever items drop will drop and so be it.
Whatever the effect, it needs to be very visual -- similar to the near-death red or attaining a paragon level or somesuch. On any given night, music blaring, at who know what level of sobriety, that legendary has a high chance of being missed unless the alert is completely in my face - especially if it drops from trash -- which have been a surprising source of many of my legendary drops.
0
0
Anyway in D3, where they have already removed timers from just about everything (the quote was something like this is about "efficiency"), not sure why there are some exceptions left. If someone is having fun taking 20-30 minutes to kill an uber, have at it. It's not going to imbalance the economy or anything -- the rings are BoP.
0
I just need more in-game experience there in terms of what works best as I've spent 98% of my WD life Acid Rain farming. I'll work with the back to wall piece or any other advice you have on getting bears to target more optimally.
0
0
Foiled! And I thought my argument was total checkmate. But then you reflected it . . . and that was completely OP of you.
3
No they aren't!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y
0
0
I know it's something I usually do when appropriate. Actually about 5:30 into the Act I vid, there is a specific and obvious instance of me kiting around environment to LoS mobs that have a very high damage charge (super epic ending to that fight so worth watching
Less than 700 hours on WD. I'm not sure how much of that was pre-Paragon but probably somewhere around 150-200 were before.
0
The past week or so, to break the monotony of paragon farming, I've been playing the game in story mode from Act I through Act IV on MP7 and building a video series on it. After 98 levels of low MP paragon farming in Act III, it's been almost like rediscovering an old friend again. You begin to take note of not only the affixes but the type of creature you are fighting and all around it feels like a game again. It is definitely FAAAAR less efficient in terms of both item and XP if you are after those . . . but it's been a ton of fun and very refreshing after mindlessly spamming things down on MP0.
It's a shame Blizzard still haven't realigned the reward system to encourage us to play the game at a level where it is more engaging. If 100 random RPG gamers watched a vid of someone efficient paragon farming and then watched another vid of that same person doing high MP gameplay and were asked which looks more like a more engaging game, I think 99 out of 100 would say the higher MP vid. With that being the case, it is disturbing that the in-game reward system is so skewed to discourage us from playing the D3 where it feels more like a game. That said, we are free to choose to disregard item and XP efficiency and just enjoy the game and that's what I've been doing of late. This doesn't change the fact that Blizzard have some work to do to align the reward system better.
0
0
I just logged in long enough to hover over WD stats and it says 691 hours. I can't say for sure how much of that is Paragon farming versus pre 1.0.4. I can say I could be 100 even now if I hadn't spent the past week of my play time messing around with higher MP gameplay gaining very low XP per hour. I'm currently over half-way from 97 to 98 which would be like 12 hours of fast MP0 farming to get to 100 for me right now -- but I'll probably take 40+ hours instead and get it while messing around with Act III and IV gameplay on MP7.
0
http://www.diablofans.com/topic/80848-emberos-high-mp-farming-vids/
I'm sure there are others. Really just depends on what your goals are -- if you are Paragon farming, I'd stick with low MPs and Acid Rain-oriented build. If you are playing higher MPs for fun, I'd probably go with a Bears-oriented build.
0
Act I is up below:
Act II
I will update this thread with the other Act vids as they finish.
-e-
0
Yeah, this will delay me hitting 100 for awhile but I'm already MF capped at 97 with just gear on my follower. Solving the efficiency riddle and optimizing runs was fun for awhile but it's just become repetitive at this point so I'm gonna have fun with the game again -- efficiency be damned, whatever items drop will drop and so be it.
0