After some research and testing, i found the best setup to farm both xp and items.
The following Skill choice, route and description is the one im using and enjoying the most.
First of all lets get some things clear. You need to understand the concept of XP per minute and Items per minute. It involves how much xp and items you can get per minute (doh').
People fail to understand this, thinking the higher the mp the better loot they will get.
YES higher MP > higher CHANCE of getting EXTRA items. But higher mp also means higher dmg intake and health pool on mobs.
Whats the point of doing mp 7 runs that can take you 1-2 hours, when you can make mp2 runs in 20 mins??
Quick mp 1-2 runs will grant you MORE items PER MINUTE than a slow and painfull mp5+.
Same goes for xp. MP 1-2 grants more XP/MINUTE than higher mps..
So this is my guide to do that. MP 1-2 in 20 mins or less
Basics:
Farming act 3. Why act 3 and not act 1? cuz act 3 has quick waypoints right next to large groups of mobs.
None actionless runing, meaning if you hit dead end on keep 2 you dont run back 3 minutes without killing anything, you TP and hit the next map on this route
If you happen to die at the end of a map, dont run through the same path you did before. IT will not have any mobs cuz you killed em before. Keep going through a new path discovering new parts of the map full of mobs.
Ignore / run through single annoying mobs. Remember we are aiming for large groups. IGNORE the lonely roamers arround the map.
Gear: Nothing too specific. I dont have any natalyas set ( wich would increase the ammount of vaults we could do ). What you MUST have is 24% move speed from your gear. Speed is key here, and you need that speed. Also high attack speed is better for elemental arrow so you can dump your hatred faster.
That being said. This guide doenst need any specific gear besides the move speed. Skill Setup:
This setup is the one i find the best one for this route / mode. We want speed and quick clearing of large groups. The only hatred spender that can clear large groups is EA: ball lightning. Cluster bombs is good for elites, but we dont care for elites doing this route. We aim for large packs of white mobs. Thats our source of both XP and legendaries. And the best way to clear those packs is using ball lightning.
Tactical advantage is a must. We want to move as fast as posible when we are not clearing mobs.
Hungering arrow is amazing to clear elites. I find my hungering arrows doing more damage than my elemental arrows. So for elites mainly use this
Rain of vengance: its amazing elite and big packs clearer. Just stand near the packs or elites with gloom up, Pop this beauty and enjoy the extra dps.
Gloom is our life savior. Still good against reflect damage affix, and mitigates some damage under heavy situations.
Preparation: i use back up plan cuz i find myself spending most of the discipline vaulting through the map. Remember its all about fast runs.. So thats how you should be spending your discipline, vaulting for tactical advantage to proc and make your way to the next pack faster. Passives: SS + vengance has an amazing synergy for this run. Basicaly you spend your discipline vaulting to the next pack. When you aproach a big pack, ball lightning crits will fill your disc pool right away and health globes will complete this process so you can have your discipline filled to spend it vaulting to the next pack
MP level: Since my gear grants me a lot of dps. I find myself equaly confort doing MP1 o 2 at the same speed. So if you can afford doing MP 2 you should. The extra MF will help a lot.
The route: Taken from the Alkaizers run for barbarians, with a little tweak
1st : start the game at the last quest of act 3. Killing Azmodan. Head to the last waypoint. Clear the path to Azmodan but dont get inside. You will get the checkpoint right before entering his chamber. Quit the game.
Now every time you create a game, you will start at that checkpoint, right before Azmodan.
From there clear the path (core of the arreat) all the way back to the waypoint.
Grab the waypoint and head to Tower of the damned 1. Make a full circle path clearing all the elites ( Both core of the arreat and Tower of the damned 1 gives you a quick 5 stack NV).
After you clear Tower of the damned, grab the waypoint to Arreat Crater 2. Clear the map. IF you find yourself at a dead end TP back and head to the next map. Remember we dont care about full clear. Just quick large group clearing.
After Arreat crater 2, take the waypoint to Bridge of korsikk. Make a circle arround the map clearing large packs. Dont clear any caves, ignore lonely mobs wandering arround the map. Focus on large packs
After Bridge, head to The keep depths lvl 1 and take the stairs into The keeps depths lvl 2. This is where the magic happens. Keeps lvl 2 has SO many mobs its a gold mine both for xp and legendaries. Try to clear as fast as possible. Most mobs are just skeletons with no hp at all.
If you hit a dead end you can tp back, and restart keeps 2 into an undiscovered part of the map.
Same thing if you die. Dont run back just to kill that last elite mob that killed you. You will waste 3 minuts running without killing anything.
- This is where Alkaizers run ends, You can either quit the game and restart the route, or you can do Arreat crater 1 and keeps 1 for some extra mobs. -
Video of Alkaizer route in case you dont understand it.
Remember we aim for LARGE PACKS OF WHITE MOBS. Thats your main source of legendaries and xp.
VAULT > KILL > VAULT > TP
I hope this helps some lost Dhs out there. Im not claiming this is the best route / method, but its the one working amazingly for me.
2
After some research and testing, i found the best setup to farm both xp and items.
The following Skill choice, route and description is the one im using and enjoying the most.
First of all lets get some things clear. You need to understand the concept of XP per minute and Items per minute. It involves how much xp and items you can get per minute (doh').
People fail to understand this, thinking the higher the mp the better loot they will get.
YES higher MP > higher CHANCE of getting EXTRA items. But higher mp also means higher dmg intake and health pool on mobs.
Whats the point of doing mp 7 runs that can take you 1-2 hours, when you can make mp2 runs in 20 mins??
Quick mp 1-2 runs will grant you MORE items PER MINUTE than a slow and painfull mp5+.
Same goes for xp. MP 1-2 grants more XP/MINUTE than higher mps..
So this is my guide to do that. MP 1-2 in 20 mins or less
Basics:
Farming act 3. Why act 3 and not act 1? cuz act 3 has quick waypoints right next to large groups of mobs.
None actionless runing, meaning if you hit dead end on keep 2 you dont run back 3 minutes without killing anything, you TP and hit the next map on this route
If you happen to die at the end of a map, dont run through the same path you did before. IT will not have any mobs cuz you killed em before. Keep going through a new path discovering new parts of the map full of mobs.
Ignore / run through single annoying mobs. Remember we are aiming for large groups. IGNORE the lonely roamers arround the map.
Gear: Nothing too specific. I dont have any natalyas set ( wich would increase the ammount of vaults we could do ). What you MUST have is 24% move speed from your gear. Speed is key here, and you need that speed. Also high attack speed is better for elemental arrow so you can dump your hatred faster.
That being said. This guide doenst need any specific gear besides the move speed.
Skill Setup:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/demon-hunter#aidlgV!ZbX!cabZYc
This setup is the one i find the best one for this route / mode. We want speed and quick clearing of large groups. The only hatred spender that can clear large groups is EA: ball lightning. Cluster bombs is good for elites, but we dont care for elites doing this route. We aim for large packs of white mobs. Thats our source of both XP and legendaries. And the best way to clear those packs is using ball lightning.
Tactical advantage is a must. We want to move as fast as posible when we are not clearing mobs.
Hungering arrow is amazing to clear elites. I find my hungering arrows doing more damage than my elemental arrows. So for elites mainly use this
Rain of vengance: its amazing elite and big packs clearer. Just stand near the packs or elites with gloom up, Pop this beauty and enjoy the extra dps.
Gloom is our life savior. Still good against reflect damage affix, and mitigates some damage under heavy situations.
Preparation: i use back up plan cuz i find myself spending most of the discipline vaulting through the map. Remember its all about fast runs.. So thats how you should be spending your discipline, vaulting for tactical advantage to proc and make your way to the next pack faster.
Passives: SS + vengance has an amazing synergy for this run. Basicaly you spend your discipline vaulting to the next pack. When you aproach a big pack, ball lightning crits will fill your disc pool right away and health globes will complete this process so you can have your discipline filled to spend it vaulting to the next pack
MP level: Since my gear grants me a lot of dps. I find myself equaly confort doing MP1 o 2 at the same speed. So if you can afford doing MP 2 you should. The extra MF will help a lot.
The route: Taken from the Alkaizers run for barbarians, with a little tweak
1st : start the game at the last quest of act 3. Killing Azmodan. Head to the last waypoint. Clear the path to Azmodan but dont get inside. You will get the checkpoint right before entering his chamber. Quit the game.
Now every time you create a game, you will start at that checkpoint, right before Azmodan.
From there clear the path (core of the arreat) all the way back to the waypoint.
Grab the waypoint and head to Tower of the damned 1. Make a full circle path clearing all the elites ( Both core of the arreat and Tower of the damned 1 gives you a quick 5 stack NV).
After you clear Tower of the damned, grab the waypoint to Arreat Crater 2. Clear the map. IF you find yourself at a dead end TP back and head to the next map. Remember we dont care about full clear. Just quick large group clearing.
After Arreat crater 2, take the waypoint to Bridge of korsikk. Make a circle arround the map clearing large packs. Dont clear any caves, ignore lonely mobs wandering arround the map. Focus on large packs
After Bridge, head to The keep depths lvl 1 and take the stairs into The keeps depths lvl 2. This is where the magic happens. Keeps lvl 2 has SO many mobs its a gold mine both for xp and legendaries. Try to clear as fast as possible. Most mobs are just skeletons with no hp at all.
If you hit a dead end you can tp back, and restart keeps 2 into an undiscovered part of the map.
Same thing if you die. Dont run back just to kill that last elite mob that killed you. You will waste 3 minuts running without killing anything.
- This is where Alkaizers run ends, You can either quit the game and restart the route, or you can do Arreat crater 1 and keeps 1 for some extra mobs. -
Video of Alkaizer route in case you dont understand it.
Remember we aim for LARGE PACKS OF WHITE MOBS. Thats your main source of legendaries and xp.
VAULT > KILL > VAULT > TP
I hope this helps some lost Dhs out there. Im not claiming this is the best route / method, but its the one working amazingly for me.
Cheers