Hungering Arrow w/ Puncture Rune coupled with Marked for Death w/ Mortal Enemy.
Hungering Arrow because of it's idiot-proof magic arrow perk.
Puncture because each consecutive pierce generates 3 hatred due to Mortal Enemy. It may not be as much hatred/sec as Entangling w/ Justice Rune, but all the other perks make up for it.
Sidebar: cold damage bow > entangling shot...
Nether Tentacles and Hungering Arrow both do straight weapon damage so the cold effect is preserved. Which means everything I fire slows enemies no matter what. It makes every single fight in the game that much easier.
Use a bow and quiver. It gives you the best results with this spec. But if you can find a higher DPS 1h or 2h xbow, use those.
Stack these stats in this priority: Dexterity > Attack Speed > Vitality. Go with magic quality gear, mostly.
Don't buy expensive rare quality gear. But if you care to, secondary priority goes to: Max Discipline > Crit Chance > Crit Damage > Armor > Resist.
Always have boots with Dexterity and the highest Movement Speed (>9%) you can get without spending a lot.
Try to get your templar a fast weapon with increased cold damage on it (but it's not important). His two heals, health regen, and CCs are invaluable.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rapid Fire with Withering Fire is INCREDIBLY powerful. Not many people realise this. This also helps if you're not interested in kiting monsters (not that it's necessary on nightmare).
Multishot with reduced cost is pure sex. Find a room full of monsters and spam it. Use your other hand for taking a sip of beer.
Officially, they've said there isn't a monster level difference between Act 3 and 4.
Act 1: 61
Act 2: 62
Act 3: 63
Act 4: 63
So unofficially, anything that can drop off Act 4 should also drop in 3... based on Diablo 2 mlvl-ilvl logic. I found a rare 1200 DPS 2h-xbow in Act 3. Theoretically, you could find the highest ilvl items off Act 2 inferno monsters.
I still prefer Puncturing as most of my DPS is accounted for by Nether Tentacles. I only find myself using Hungering Arrow as a general ability when I need hatred for Nether Tents. And while there may be better alternatives for faster hatred regeneration, nothing quite beats the idiot-proofness of a homing arrow.
Actually, I got un-lazy and ran through the math myself on my graphing calculator. Go with Devouring for DPS. Puncturing only if you need faster hatred regen (assuming you're using Mortal Enemy rune for Marked for Death).
Edit: again with the names! Devouring, Hungering, Puncturing! Oy!
Personally, I run with Puncturing. Especially if you're using Marked For Death w/ Mortal Enemy rune. Each successive hit the arrow makes generates 3 more hatred. For bosses, this equates to an ungodly amount of hatred regen.
I think it was proven that Devouring was mathematically superior to Puncturing. However, Devouring is more RNG-centric. if you're looking for superior short-duration (<5sec) burst, Puncturing may be the way to go.
Edit: Had my arrow names reversed
If graphed, there's a point along the curves where Puncturing is slightly higher in damage/time before Devouring overtakes it.
I'm currently viable to farm act 4 rare packs with little effort, melting their faces off with a weapon setup you are constantly saying to be the worst possible... and what makes it funnier is that neither of my weapons have hitted the 1k dps mark... ~ <3
When you say viable to farm. You mean what exactly?
Offtopic, how did you manage to get over ACT III elite packs called Soul rippers I think, the one that hit you with their tongue?
As I said I was able to kill almost every champion pack I came across.
For Soul Rippers, I did my best to side step or line of sight their tongue lash ability using the homing properties of Hungering Arrow.
You can also equip your highest movement speed and damage resist gear...
1. Kite them to the entrance of a dungeon (make sure theiry piled up nice and snug against that entrance
2. Exit using that entrance
3. Grab the Enchantress, spec her for that AoE chicken CC ability as well as Charm (she should have gear packed with int, vitality, and resist, ideally)
4. Equip your highest DPS gear
5. Go back through the entrance with Smoke Screen popped, and run to gain some distance from them. Meanwhile, she'll instantly chicken all of them the moment you enter.
6. Nuke a chicken down, and instantly Smoke Screen when it breaks so as not to get hit or interupt your nuke
7. Get out of there, side step attacks, (lucky dodge?), Smoke Screen again, or die when the first SS breaks
8. Ressurect (they'll be put into combat by your follower and won't have their health reset)
9. Exit immedately before she's killed
10. Enter and exit using Smoke Screen to keep them in combat until her ability is ready again
11. Repeat from Step 5
Unfortunately, this works on only the most easiest of champion/elite affixed Soul Rippers. Plagued, molten, waller, fire chain, invulnerable minions can kill this strat easily if your SS wears off too fast or the enchantress get instagibed by one of those spells when you re-enter the dungeon. I tended to avoid them mostly by kiting them to a far away place.
But TBH, there isn't much anyone can do against them, really... and effort isn't worth the payoff. Blizzard didn't properly consider a lot of the possible affixes variations and monster mechanics thoroughly :\ This game has a very hapazard/hands-off take on difficulty and balancing.
Funny enough though, I was able to kill the hardest Soul Ripper champion pack I've ever seen (Fast, Extra Health, Mortar, Reflects Damage) using an exploit...
Basically, I stood at one elevation in the Tower of the Damned (or whatever that place is called) and shot Hungering Arrows down to the lower elevation where they were. Despite having their attention, they couldn't find a path to me so they just piled up on their platform nearest to me. Their mortar attacks would hit the side of the platform I was on and if I stood back just slightly, I wouldn't get hit by the blasts depsite standing in the blast raidus graphic. I had to wear resist gear with the templar standing by for heals just in case a stray mortar got through. Took an extremely long time even with me just standing still and DPSIng them like that. The last one eventually enraged and it came down to a race against who could whittle the other's health down fast enough. Keep in mind the damage reflect was also in effect. Swapped to even more resist gear with +life on hit and managed to out heal his enrage's damage over time aura
Anyway, Soul rippers are probably the hardest mobs in the game (apart from the ones that charging in Act IV (fallen angels, large winged demons)). If anyone has any advice on dealing with those, I'd greatly appreaciate it. I'm still trying to work out a strategy for consistently farming 5 stacks of NV for farming Diablo. As of now, it takes too long to be worth the investment.
+61% is about the standard (gloves, 2x rings, quiver).
Helm, amulet, cloak, bracers, boots for the rest.
The attack speed on a weapon is represented in its DPS value already, so it's not necessary to include it in your total +IAS%.
What doesn't represent a weapon's DPS are stats like +increased cit damage/open socket, and +dex.
Build your attack speed up, and eventually, it'll be so high that your Nether Tentacles look more like a single fuzzy tube than individual fuzzy balls.
Do you still need help with this boss? If so, here's a strat a friend of mine gave me for solo'ing inferno Belial on her DH...
Got any increased attack speed rings and amulets you're not using currently for your max DPS set? Give them to your Scoundrel.
Give your Scoundrel any old ranged weapon with increased cold damage on it (very important). Favour hand crossbows or bows for faster attack speed.
Spec your scoundrel for increased damage on crits, triple shot, blind, and slow.
Your listed DPS stats are good so far. Here's what you do to improve them for this fight and for may other solo fights with monsters that can 1-shot you from now on...
Get a decent increased cold damage ranged weapon (700 listed DPS or higher) for yourself, unless you have a very high damage non-cold weapon. A socketed or in-house increase critical damage stat on your weapon helps a lot here.
Use the standard DPS spec:
Nether Tentacles
Puncturing Arrow
Prep (Focused Mind)
Lingering Fog
MFD (Mortal Enemy)
Bat
Sharpshooter
Archery
Steady Aim -OR- Cull the Weak if you're using a cold damage weapon and your attack rate is faster than 1.5
Stand in the corner. Nuke.
Hungering arrow single mobs, Nether Tentacle groups.
Leave the last serpent guard alive. Let you Scoundrel and Bat kill it while you run around avoiding it to build your Sharpshooter to 100%.
Get in position so that when Belial comes down, you can just barely see him on the left side of your screen.
Mark him. Hit him with a good number of Nether Tentacles. Smoke Screen to avoid getting hit.
After his third attempt to melee you, he'll switch to ranged shots. Make sure you have a full tank of hatred and nuke him. Keep your discipline recharging using an early Prep and time your Smoke Screens to avoid getting hit by his ranged attacks.
If guards begin spawning, use your Smoke Screen to get them to line up either around, in front, or behind Belial such that your Tentacles take care of them while continue to also pumpel him.
Lastly, win. And let me know how it goes. I like feedback.
Edit: FYI, I've completed Inferno and killed almost every champion/elite monster I've come across using a 890 DPS cold damage bow with +70% crit damage jewel with the exact same spec I linked above. Just in case there are any objections to using a cold damage weapon
I have a few gripes with the game. But this isn't one of them. These items exist to add variety to the game. What you do with them is up to you.
During normal mode, it's possible to find white quality weapons which are superior to your existing magic/rare weapon... even if they are the same type. This is especially true for bows and wands.
Keep in mind that every grey and white you see drop had, potentially, a chance to be rolled as magic or higher. Meaning, if your magic find was high enough, those greys would've been whites.
At around 125%+ magic find, greys have nearly a 0% chance to drop. Somewhere much much higher than that, whites should no longer drop.
I'm getting frustrated by picking up the damn things inadvertently when trying to pick out the blue loot and gems/blacksmith pages. Wish there was a way to hide their name text or something.
I could be wrong, but there were key combination options in the old game (or maybe it was Titan quest) to show/hide items of varying qualities on the ground. As in, you could hold down alt, and the text boxes for only magic and higher quality items would be visible.
0
0
0
Hungering Arrow because of it's idiot-proof magic arrow perk.
Puncture because each consecutive pierce generates 3 hatred due to Mortal Enemy. It may not be as much hatred/sec as Entangling w/ Justice Rune, but all the other perks make up for it.
Sidebar: cold damage bow > entangling shot...
Nether Tentacles and Hungering Arrow both do straight weapon damage so the cold effect is preserved. Which means everything I fire slows enemies no matter what. It makes every single fight in the game that much easier.
0
Here you go. Use this spec: http://us.battle.net...cQXV!eYa!abaaZa
Keybinds:
1 2 3 4 on the calculator = A S D W
Potion = F
Use a templar with this spec: http://us.battle.net...#0000!0001!0001
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Use a bow and quiver. It gives you the best results with this spec. But if you can find a higher DPS 1h or 2h xbow, use those.
Stack these stats in this priority: Dexterity > Attack Speed > Vitality. Go with magic quality gear, mostly.
Don't buy expensive rare quality gear. But if you care to, secondary priority goes to: Max Discipline > Crit Chance > Crit Damage > Armor > Resist.
Always have boots with Dexterity and the highest Movement Speed (>9%) you can get without spending a lot.
Try to get your templar a fast weapon with increased cold damage on it (but it's not important). His two heals, health regen, and CCs are invaluable.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rapid Fire with Withering Fire is INCREDIBLY powerful. Not many people realise this. This also helps if you're not interested in kiting monsters (not that it's necessary on nightmare).
Multishot with reduced cost is pure sex. Find a room full of monsters and spam it. Use your other hand for taking a sip of beer.
Try it out, and fall in love.
And good luck
0
Act 1: 61
Act 2: 62
Act 3: 63
Act 4: 63
So unofficially, anything that can drop off Act 4 should also drop in 3... based on Diablo 2 mlvl-ilvl logic. I found a rare 1200 DPS 2h-xbow in Act 3. Theoretically, you could find the highest ilvl items off Act 2 inferno monsters.
0
0
Edit: again with the names! Devouring, Hungering, Puncturing! Oy!
0
I think it was proven that Devouring was mathematically superior to Puncturing. However, Devouring is more RNG-centric. if you're looking for superior short-duration (<5sec) burst, Puncturing may be the way to go.
Edit: Had my arrow names reversed
If graphed, there's a point along the curves where Puncturing is slightly higher in damage/time before Devouring overtakes it.
0
When you say viable to farm. You mean what exactly?
0
As I said I was able to kill almost every champion pack I came across.
For Soul Rippers, I did my best to side step or line of sight their tongue lash ability using the homing properties of Hungering Arrow.
You can also equip your highest movement speed and damage resist gear...
1. Kite them to the entrance of a dungeon (make sure theiry piled up nice and snug against that entrance
2. Exit using that entrance
3. Grab the Enchantress, spec her for that AoE chicken CC ability as well as Charm (she should have gear packed with int, vitality, and resist, ideally)
4. Equip your highest DPS gear
5. Go back through the entrance with Smoke Screen popped, and run to gain some distance from them. Meanwhile, she'll instantly chicken all of them the moment you enter.
6. Nuke a chicken down, and instantly Smoke Screen when it breaks so as not to get hit or interupt your nuke
7. Get out of there, side step attacks, (lucky dodge?), Smoke Screen again, or die when the first SS breaks
8. Ressurect (they'll be put into combat by your follower and won't have their health reset)
9. Exit immedately before she's killed
10. Enter and exit using Smoke Screen to keep them in combat until her ability is ready again
11. Repeat from Step 5
Unfortunately, this works on only the most easiest of champion/elite affixed Soul Rippers. Plagued, molten, waller, fire chain, invulnerable minions can kill this strat easily if your SS wears off too fast or the enchantress get instagibed by one of those spells when you re-enter the dungeon. I tended to avoid them mostly by kiting them to a far away place.
But TBH, there isn't much anyone can do against them, really... and effort isn't worth the payoff. Blizzard didn't properly consider a lot of the possible affixes variations and monster mechanics thoroughly :\ This game has a very hapazard/hands-off take on difficulty and balancing.
Funny enough though, I was able to kill the hardest Soul Ripper champion pack I've ever seen (Fast, Extra Health, Mortar, Reflects Damage) using an exploit...
Basically, I stood at one elevation in the Tower of the Damned (or whatever that place is called) and shot Hungering Arrows down to the lower elevation where they were. Despite having their attention, they couldn't find a path to me so they just piled up on their platform nearest to me. Their mortar attacks would hit the side of the platform I was on and if I stood back just slightly, I wouldn't get hit by the blasts depsite standing in the blast raidus graphic. I had to wear resist gear with the templar standing by for heals just in case a stray mortar got through. Took an extremely long time even with me just standing still and DPSIng them like that. The last one eventually enraged and it came down to a race against who could whittle the other's health down fast enough. Keep in mind the damage reflect was also in effect. Swapped to even more resist gear with +life on hit and managed to out heal his enrage's damage over time aura
Anyway, Soul rippers are probably the hardest mobs in the game (apart from the ones that charging in Act IV (fallen angels, large winged demons)). If anyone has any advice on dealing with those, I'd greatly appreaciate it. I'm still trying to work out a strategy for consistently farming 5 stacks of NV for farming Diablo. As of now, it takes too long to be worth the investment.
0
0
Helm, amulet, cloak, bracers, boots for the rest.
The attack speed on a weapon is represented in its DPS value already, so it's not necessary to include it in your total +IAS%.
What doesn't represent a weapon's DPS are stats like +increased cit damage/open socket, and +dex.
Build your attack speed up, and eventually, it'll be so high that your Nether Tentacles look more like a single fuzzy tube than individual fuzzy balls.
0
Got any increased attack speed rings and amulets you're not using currently for your max DPS set? Give them to your Scoundrel.
Give your Scoundrel any old ranged weapon with increased cold damage on it (very important). Favour hand crossbows or bows for faster attack speed.
Spec your scoundrel for increased damage on crits, triple shot, blind, and slow.
Your listed DPS stats are good so far. Here's what you do to improve them for this fight and for may other solo fights with monsters that can 1-shot you from now on...
Get a decent increased cold damage ranged weapon (700 listed DPS or higher) for yourself, unless you have a very high damage non-cold weapon. A socketed or in-house increase critical damage stat on your weapon helps a lot here.
Use the standard DPS spec:
Nether Tentacles
Puncturing Arrow
Prep (Focused Mind)
Lingering Fog
MFD (Mortal Enemy)
Bat
Sharpshooter
Archery
Steady Aim -OR- Cull the Weak if you're using a cold damage weapon and your attack rate is faster than 1.5
Stand in the corner. Nuke.
Hungering arrow single mobs, Nether Tentacle groups.
Leave the last serpent guard alive. Let you Scoundrel and Bat kill it while you run around avoiding it to build your Sharpshooter to 100%.
Get in position so that when Belial comes down, you can just barely see him on the left side of your screen.
Mark him. Hit him with a good number of Nether Tentacles. Smoke Screen to avoid getting hit.
After his third attempt to melee you, he'll switch to ranged shots. Make sure you have a full tank of hatred and nuke him. Keep your discipline recharging using an early Prep and time your Smoke Screens to avoid getting hit by his ranged attacks.
If guards begin spawning, use your Smoke Screen to get them to line up either around, in front, or behind Belial such that your Tentacles take care of them while continue to also pumpel him.
Lastly, win. And let me know how it goes. I like feedback.
Edit: FYI, I've completed Inferno and killed almost every champion/elite monster I've come across using a 890 DPS cold damage bow with +70% crit damage jewel with the exact same spec I linked above. Just in case there are any objections to using a cold damage weapon
0
During normal mode, it's possible to find white quality weapons which are superior to your existing magic/rare weapon... even if they are the same type. This is especially true for bows and wands.
Keep in mind that every grey and white you see drop had, potentially, a chance to be rolled as magic or higher. Meaning, if your magic find was high enough, those greys would've been whites.
At around 125%+ magic find, greys have nearly a 0% chance to drop. Somewhere much much higher than that, whites should no longer drop.
I could be wrong, but there were key combination options in the old game (or maybe it was Titan quest) to show/hide items of varying qualities on the ground. As in, you could hold down alt, and the text boxes for only magic and higher quality items would be visible.