I can confirm that it does indeed get better. I took an alternate route than the OP did, stacking tons of resists and armor (1k res, 9k armor). I now can run around act 2 bypassing normal monsters as they tickle me, hunting down elite packs after gathering 5 stacks.
My new farming strategy involves lazily jogging while little monsters scurry around me, until I find an elite pack. I no longer have the dread feeling in my gut when I see invuln, arcane, jailer, frozen. I smash them, and all the monsters that followed me in a train, and move on to the next one. The changes in 1.03 make this strategy very profitable.
I no longer die (I know this sounds like an exaggeration, but I ran act 3 heart of sin today from the beginning to azmodan, including cydea, and died only once, and I had all kinds of horrible combos, none of which I skipped). I feel incredibly powerful now, when a few weeks ago, I was smashing my head against the keyboard like many of you are.
Once you get the gear, inferno can be quite a relaxing and enjoyable experience. Having suffered so much previously gives a real sense of progression when you finally get the stats that click with your spec and strategy, and you find what once seemed impossible to be easy.
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