I started with a full defensive CM build with Crystal Shell, Prismatic Armor, and the CD reduction rune on frost nova, as well as Cold Blooded, CM, and Evocation as passives that were unchanged throughout. I took the fight time and my char sheet dps to compute the DPS Multiplier, which is the effective dps gain of the build. For example, at 100k dps using the full defensive build I would expect an effective dps of 247k. I also computed relative DPS of each spec meaning switching from Prismatic to Storm Armor increased dps by about 36%.
And in case there's any confusion, 'x' in the table means that skill was used.
| Storm Armor | Shocking Aspect | Pinpoint | Shards | Prism | DPS Multiplier | Relative DPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.47 | 1 | |||||
| x | 2.78 | 1.13 | ||||
| x | 2.99 | 1.21 | ||||
| x | 3.01 | 1.22 | ||||
| x | 3.36 | 1.36 | ||||
| x | x | 4.06 | 1.65 | |||
| x | x | x | 4.25 | 1.72 |
The interesting information is that Storm Armor is about a 36% dps gain over prismatic armor. When you add Shocking Aspect it's a 65% dps gain over prismatic armor and about a 36% dps gain over pinpoint barrier. Adding Diamond Shards further increases the dps gain but it's only about a 4% dps gain by itself when you use Shocking Aspect. The dramatic decrease in survivability for the fight makes it very not worthwhile, but that could easily change depending on the fight. Rak for example, would probably be just fine with DS or prism.
I also expect the values for Shocking Aspect to be dependent of crit and attack speed, since it only procs on crits and higher attack speed should lead to more procs from WW, so with 50% crit, I'd expect the damage to increase by about 16%, or I'd expect the total dps gain to be about 90%, for a relative dps of 1.9. With a crit % of 52% I would expect Shocking Aspect to double your dps over prismatic armor, roughly speaking, with the same APS of 1.965 or so.
For reference, my stats at the time of the data collection were 104k dps buffed (110k with pinpoint), 1.965 attacks per second, 20 APoC, 1298 LoH, 1.5% Life Steal, 641 resist all and 4588 armor unbuffed, with 40.5k hp and 43% crit with Scoundrel. I also had about 400 life per second regen, just to complete the stats.
1
Fully agree.
A champion pack with frozen/nightmarish/jailer/waller can potentially render you unable to do anything. They can keep you CC'ed infinitely. This is bad game design and has nothing to do with gear, spec, or MP level. Look at it from the other side: they introduced CC diminishing returns for monsters such that they can't be CC'ed 100% (but they somehow forgot to nerf CMWW). Why didn't players get diminishing returns?
Ever encountered two frozen packs at the same time? GG. One of the reasons my main characters stay softcore. Unless there are diminishing returns or some low-cooldown CC breaking abilities, I'm not gonna switch to HC. And this is where I completely agree with the OP.
1
In the end, if you think about it, it doesn't really change much. I really don't like the AH and wouldn't mind if it would be gone by tomorrow, but it wouldn't help me to get more fun out of the game at all. I don't re-sell my old items (too lazy, just salvage them), and I don't care about flippers. The best items in the game are sold outside of the AH anyways, and items worth less than a million aren't probably worth to be put on the AH again anyways. So, this would only affect (and annoy) a limited amount of players, but it wouldn't address the root of the problem.
6
Blizzard is one of the most prestigious companies you can work at as a game designer/developer. They have the right people. They have the best people.
Go and read all the threads from 2007 to 2012 in this forum. Go and watch some of the panels that Blizzard help during all the years of development. Go and read bluepost regarding "D3 becoming D2.1". Blizzard wants to create something new and not just copy/paste D2 itemization. Besides, D2 may have been better than D3, but it wasn't perfect. With a new system they risked new problems (and introduced them), but the outcome can be even greater once everything's "fixed".
The ID all feature came all of the sudden. The unavailability of an ID all button was a conscious decision by the game designers and even a couple of weeks before the ID all button was implemented, said design decision was still being defended by blue posts on the forums. And although PvP was (and is) an important aspect for some players in the Diablo universe, it is and will never be the main aspect. Their stance against competitive gaming and the announcement that they don't want to turn D3 into yet another e-sports game made that very clear. PvP will come eventually, but it's not number one priority (and probably not even number 2 or 3).
Really, it's not hard? How come that every single adventure, MMORPG, hack'n'slay game that I've played in the past 20 years (including previous Diablo games) had huge balance issues? I suggest you sit down and try to design a game. Just try it. I assure you, if you take a serious attempt you'll forfeit after a couple of hours. Balancing items, affixes, and skills is a never-ending endeavour. Just look at WoW and the back-and-forth balancing of classes and specs that's been going on for years. Or even better, look at D2 and how some skill trees were always on top of certain others, and that game has a history of more than a decade.
In case you haven't noticed, D3 is not a monthly subscription game. They don't have a bazillion dollars. And before you talk about the AH fees, you can't even imagine how expensive it is to maintain servers for ~3 million active players.
Please, please, please, think before you post. It's hard to deal with so much ignorance.
5
For those who don't know the Alot: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.ch/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html
2
2) As far as I remember from the blue posts, the problem of legendary dye is not programming, but the design of textures. All legendary items were designed with static textures. The designers have to go back to the original files and make the designs "dynamic" such that the game engine knows which parts can be colored and what the colored effect looks like. Before something like this can be released it needs to be implemented for every color, every legendary item, and every set item. I guess it's just a time issue on the designers' side. If Blizzard pushed this forward it could (and should) definitely be done by now, but no Blizzard game ever put visuals first (except for the CGI trailers, but that's a different department and a different story).
1
This is me. And it's probably the reason why I'm playing with quite a specific bunch of friends and not public games.
I'm neither interested in efficiency, nor in constant challenge (i.e., I play neither MP0 nor MP10, usually). But what defines "fun" for me is the occasional unexpectedness triggered by any group member. Example: we (three monks on MP7) were fighting with the key warden in act 1 and another tough elite pack; it was quite difficult. Someone died and upon coming back said "hey, I brought some friends such that you don't get bored". These "friends" were a bunch of nasty charging bulls.
At this point, in a public game he would've been flamed, some would've quit, and everyone would've just died. Well, we died as well once or twice, but in the end we succeeded - and it felt good. Some distraction from what can be a long and boring grind in Diablo. The same applied to WoW: I never liked public groups with their "okay, one sap, one polymorph, one banish and then all DPS on the left guy" attitude - I was more looking for a group of 5 Leroy Jenkins. Of course, this only works with friends so everyone else knows what crazy stuff is about to go down, and they all need to be able to do the right things even if things get completely messy. But that's what I define as being "fun". And it's difficult to get in a public game. But what I've heard from some of my friends it's not impossible - there are public games where you occasionally find people that are in a similar mindset to you.
And that's what I would recommend to the OP as well: upon joining a game, ask what people are up to - a speed run or relaxed farming? Check their gear, do they seem to outgear content and/or have speed-centered specs (WW, TR, Vault+4 pc leg Nat, Teleport) which means they're up for speed and efficiency, or do they have unusual builds and a bit lower gear?
1
Having read millions of threads the past few days while gearing up and getting to know my new favorite class... I'd say it's pretty much mandatory, according to what the majority reports. One LS weapon (it'd better be 2.8%+ then) might be enough if you have more mitigation or "outgear content" DPS-wise, but since the first is expensive and the second is not advisable, I'd say it doesn't make for most people sense to go with a non-LS weapon.
To tie this back to the OP: if you go MP10, you almost definitely want 2 LS weapons. The mitigation you need to be able to survive an average MP10 elite is probably more expensive than the difference between LS and non-LS weapon.
2
Hey,
1) Could we please not turn this into a flame thread? OP did not ask for a price check on his gear, nor to be flamed for not farming the AH for best deals. Some people prefer to play and not to spend hours on the AH.
2) Some of the prices you say are just not true. And I say that having checked the AH (EU, just like you I guess based on your profile) for upgrades for my monk just a few minutes ago (and my monk is similarly geared, although I made different choices for some slots, e.g., vit pants, 4 piece Inna's, etc.). Maybe you missed some small details; little stuff like ~40 arcane res here or there for OWE, some dex or vit more make the difference between 1m, 10m, and 100m. Some of his pieces of gear may be improved for small money, and he even said that he probably spend a bit more than necessary, but especially his weapons are not "bad" and cost him probably quite some money.
2
A recurring question that comes up frequently is “what’s the fastest way from 1 to 60” (for example here, here, here, or here). This guide seeks to answer this question and aims to provide overall hints for everyone, but also some more detailed tweaks to get there even faster. While some budget (a few million) helps, it’s not necessary and this can be done with a couple of hundred thousand gold. The only requirement is to have a level 60 friend. Note: if you don’t have a level 60 friend, use the LFG forum. By the way, I know that “power leveling” (I prefer speed leveling and will call it this in this guide) is a known concept, but the questions indicate that not everyone knows how easy it is and how much fun it can be. Therefore, I’ll try to avoid acronyms and jargon as much as possible in this guide.
Disclaimer: for those who dislike the idea of speed leveling, please read this.
That being said, if you’re completely new I’d advise you to level at least one character SOLO and SELF-FOUND to 60. Getting carried by a friend or using the AH too early will spoil you. If you have done that with one or more characters though, the way from 1 to 60 can be extremely boring and this guide is for you. This kind of “speed leveling” can actually be a lot of fun for both parties (the person carrying and the person that is carried).
What class/spec should my friend be?
Summary:
- Archon Wizard
- Witch Doctor 1-50 / 50-60 (thanks gecko)
- Tempest Rush Monk (thanks klemzelol), alternative pre-level 33 build, see details
- Barbarian
- Demon Hunter 1-50 / 50-60 (thanks Bokrijder)
Leave a comment if you have done this with any of the classes besides Archon wizard in respectable time and want to recommend a build!Explanation/details:
I’ve heard that witch doctors work quite well as well. The pets kill monsters anywhere on the screen and protect the low-level character. As forum user gecko pointed out, witch doctors provide everything that is needed for the needs of power leveling, including killing all sorts of smaller and bigger mobs fast enough, but also taking care of the players. Note that for hell difficulty, he recommends switching two skills (see hell build) to deal with elite packs and mana issues.
Monks are a melee-only class and spirit generation makes carrying difficult. There are, however, plenty of people doing power leveling with monks. Forum user klemzelol mentioned that the typical Tempest Rush build worked fine, but resorted back to Archon wizard as of level 50. An interesting note is that Tempest Rush monks are so fast that it's difficult to follow them; but they have a nice Mantra rune that provides party members with 8% movement speed, which could greatly speed up the first 33 level before one can use Slave Bonds (see gear section below). Therefore, for the first 33 level I discussed some gearing/skill choices to be able to use Tempest Rush infinitely without the Mantra of Healing rune but the Mantra of Evasion - Wind through the Reeds instead.
While monks struggle to generate spirit, it's even worse for barbarians and fury. There's no fury generating gear, and without fury many spells are unusable. In particular, a Whirlwind barbarian does not work on normal difficulty.
Unless someone can prove otherwise, I’m going to discourage you from trying to carry a friend with a demon hunter. This is based on personal experience (having done extensive testing with demon hunter vs. wizards in particular) but also what has been said on other occasions about power leveling in other forums. However, for those who like to give it a shot, Bokrijder posted his builds here. Note that he suggests to swap Vault to Shadow Power and Tactical Advantage to Night Stalker for hell difficulty. While he managed to pull it off without the 4 piece legacy Natalya set bonus, it might not be a bad idea to take it into consideration if you have access to a legacy Natalya set just for the extra speed bonus.
Where to level?
Summary:
- Monster power 10 only
- Act 3, Keep 2 only
- At level 25, kill Diablo to switch to nightmare difficulty
- At level 50, kill Diablo to switch to hell difficulty
Explanation/details:It works like this: the level 60 character opens a game with the last quest of act 3 selected, difficulty normal, Monster Power 10. As soon as the other person is there, go to Keep 1 waypoint and descend to Keep 2. You can check if there’s an elite right at the waypoint at Keep 1, but only if both players are well-synchronized in entering the Keep and if it doesn’t take more than 3 seconds. On Keep 2, kill everything until you’re at the end (don’t descend into Keep 3 if you want to maximize leveling speed). If you run into a dead end street, consider two things: 1) Does it take more than 5 seconds to walk out of the dead end street to proceed? 2) Does the level 60 character have more than 2 or 3 Nephalem Valor stacks? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, it’s better to restart. The low-level player should always be the first to exit (i.e., start casting the town portal); the 60 char should stay around for a few seconds to make sure that no mob interrupts or even kills the fragile character. Once in town, ESC+”leave”, rinse and repeat.
As soon as the character hits level 25 and 50 (or is at least at 90% of level 24 / 49) quit the game and open an act 4, MP10 game with the last quest on the same difficulty. Kill Diablo and remember to talk to the angel at the end to complete the quest and get the next difficulty unlocked (if you quit immediately after killing Diablo it will not unlock).
This mind sound boring to some - yes. But it’s “only” 2-3 hours and you see constant progress (a level-up every other minute). And the faster it goes, the sooner everything is over; adding another 2 or 3 zones to your run do not make it feel less boring, but will slow down the entire thing so much that it’s even more boring. Also keep in mind that there’s no Nephalem Valor for the below-60 player, therefore there is no incentive to kill anything but the high-density areas. The only exception is if you get an Enlightment or Fleeting Shrine buff just before the end of your run - I like to add a quick circle around the Fields of Slaughter in that case, or Crater 2 backwards (Tower of the Cursed 1 waypoint and walk up to Crater 2 entrance).
What gear do I need?
Summary: (green = highly recommended, yellow = optional)
- Start: Hellfire Ring
- Level 6: The Crudest Boots
- Level 13 (monk or witch doctor): Slit Tusk or See No Evil with ruby
- Level 15: helm with socket and ruby
- Level 17: Leoric’s Signet
- Level 23: Cain’s Sandals, Cain’s Scribe, Cain’s Memory with socket
- Level 33: Slave Bonds
Gear with bonus experience and vitality as you see fit and as budget allows on several levels, in particular at level 25 and 50 to maximize XP gain and minimize probability of death. Also get pants+chest with sockets early on to use high-level vitality gems.Explanation/details:
I want to get just another minute faster - how?
- Preparation is key. It sounds strange as you add an hour beforehand, but it will only make your run faster by a few minutes; but keep in mind that the gear is neither account bound nor tied to a particular character. You can use it again and again and even lend it to a friend. Take a look at the gear suggestions again and consider creating a leveling set now. Many of the items have no buyout on the AH, but if you bid on them you can get them for as much as 500 gold or so - you might just need to wait for ~36 hours.
- Level 60 gear is accessible as soon as level 42 (because 18 is the max value of the level requirement reduced affix). Level 42 items with 60 stats are very expensive, however; but somewhere before or at level 50 (when you make the switch to hell) you want one of these nice upgrades. Two or three such items can give you enough vitality to allow for a quite careless play style - you should not die at all. But it also allows for barbarians and monks (as leveling characters) to make some damage and get fury/spirit, and therefore might speed up runs (if the main character can even keep up with them). This is where it’s getting expensive, but the level ranges 42-50 and 53-60 are probably the slowest levels and largest time sinks on the entire “1-60 speed run” challenge.
- Always make sure you're in range to get the XP. According to Bashiok, it's about "a screen and a half". klemzelol digged up this nice picture that explains it based on the minimap - only in a circle covering about 35% of the minimap you'll gain XP. Stick together, team!
- Lots of people have done it in less than 2 hours and some claim to be able to do it in less than 90 minutes. I imagine if you go super crazy, acquire lots of different gear, max out on bonus XP, and level in a full group, this can be done in even less time. You could even go completely crazy and let the level 60 char scout for XP shrines before the leveling characters enter the game. Set yourself a goal and work towards it!
Let’s discuss!What are your experiences with speed leveling? Any important points that I’ve missed? Anyone here who can provide builds for the other classes I’ve missed out so far? Share your thoughts!
If you have the time, watch Zaramos's video about his speed run in 1:33 (!) from 1-60. Check out his post here. Note that this was done in 1.07 and before the scorpion XP nerf, so Crater 2 (which he exclusively ran) is not recommended anymore. However, the 30% group buff was not available at the time, so you can even do it faster! He included some nice hints and tips in the beginning of the video as well.
2
The implementation of combat with all the different classes, specs, and play styles. I have 4 60s (all except for DH) and I like to play another class/spec almost every other day.
My Archon wizard is my main, and it fits for almost everything (carrying others, mid-MP paragon farming, solo or multiplayer).
I can switch to CMWW to drag even low-level friends through high MPs and help key/uber farming.
Recently started a monk and just love it, might even become my new main; I watched the videos a while ago and thought "this is not my play style" but I was so wrong and should've tried it out earlier - combat is so fun.
Then there's WW barb/TR monk that let you plough through hordes of enemies at insane speed. There's my HotA barb that hits like a truck.
And there's the WD, for which you can pick almost *any* spell and have lots of fun; besides Zombie Bears being a bit OP I feel that this class is actually most balanced in terms of options you have and freedom of picking random skills for a build.
Despite all its flaws in other areas of the game (which we should keep out of this thread please), the combat design of D3 is just brilliant and not matched by any other game out there. So much detail and so dynamic. And then there are fun skills such as we've seen in this recent video...