125 replies to this topic

[Boubouille]

Update - Added some more information on the Nephalem Valor Buff

A Few Questions Answered
Bashiok took the time to answer a few questions, however please keep in mind This system is a work in progress, this information can easily change while the system is being worked on!

Originally Posted by Blizzard

When you say extra loot, do you mean, extra loot. Or do you mean extra loot that is on par with what elite/champs drop. I remember from the article before, bosses do not drop gear that is as good as champs/elites.
They will drop gear as good as champions and elites with this buff (because you have to kill champions and elites to get it, which was the point). With the buff active you’re guaranteed one extra item drop from the boss, and it’s likely that it’ll be 1 item per stack of the buff. Up to X stacks. We don’t know how many it’ll be, probably a handful.

How many stacks will there be if any?
We're not totally sure but probably a number you can count on one hand.

Do you lose the buff when you die?
It lasts through death currently, and we like it. I know some people will also want it to be a punishment for death, but  repair costs are already extremely impactful.

Does the buff split between players?
Like someone joins after you've been killing and they have less stacks? It's a direct increase to your MF/GF, so it uses the same mechanics.

Do you lose it on disconnect?
There's a small grace period, similar to WoW where you can get back into the game before your character is actually logged out (ie a timeout), but yes if your character times out you would lose the buff.

What is the Time limit on the stack, if any?
We're messing with times from about 15 minutes to an hour. We don't know yet.

Do Stacks get removed after a boss?
We don't really think it needs to. Your focus is still going to be seeking out champions and rares. If you want to get full stacks, kill a boss, and then try to rush to kill another boss before the buff falls off... have fun? It's not going to be the most lucrative way to play, so it's likely a non-issue hypothetical.

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Nephalem Valor Buff
Blizzard just posted an article describing the mechanics and the goal of the new Nephalem Valor buff!

Blizzquote

We’re working hard on balancing and testing Diablo III, and one of the major components is making sure that the end game experience is fun and exciting.  We’d like to share a few of our goals for end game:

• We have an enormous number of skill build combinations, and we want a lot of those skill builds to be viable and interesting
  
• While there are millions of skill builds available to players, we don’t want players swapping skills regularly to beat specific encounters as they come up
  
• We don’t want repeatedly running specific three-minute chunks of the game to be the most efficient way to acquire gear for your character
  
• While a three-minute run shouldn’t be the most efficient, we also don’t want you to feel like it’s a two-hour commitment every time you sit down to play
  
• Bosses should still feel worth killing

Nephalem Valor is one of the major new systems in Diablo III and it kicks in at level 60. Keep in mind that this is still in testing and we’re still working out the details. Here’s how it currently works internally: Rare and Champion packs already have great loot on them.  By killing a Rare or Champion pack, not only do you get their loot, but you’ll also receive a buff granting you increased magic find and gold find.  However, if you change a skill, skill rune, passive, or leave the game, the buff disappears. As an extra reward, if you kill a boss while this buff is active, you’ll receive extra loot drops from that boss.

The exact amount of magic find and gold find provided by the buff is still being reviewed, as is the amount of extra loot you get from a boss while the buff is active. We’re also playing around with whether or not the buff stacks, what the duration should be, and whether or not it should persist through death. We want to make sure the buff is strong enough to make staying in your current game more rewarding than creating a new game. At the same time, if the buff is too strong, it risks making shorter play sessions feel not worthwhile.

We expect this system will encourage players to stick with a skill build of their choice, select an area of the game they enjoy, and sweep it for rare and champion packs on their way to a boss, finishing off a run with a boss that’ll be worth killing. If you wanted a shorter play session you could be done at that point, but if you have more time, the path of least resistance would ideally be to stay in the same game and make your way towards the next boss.

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Blue Posts

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Nephalem Valor Only For Inferno?

No, it kicks in at 60. Once you hit 60 you have access to this buff regardless of difficulty. You can use it and go back to Hell to help you gear up for Inferno, absolutely.

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Diablo 3 Beta Screenshots

Today we have some 4 player screenshots with a lot of action! Enjoy

[Reelix]

TL;DR: When you kill special mobs in Inferno, you'll get increased MF / GF. We still don't know how much, or for how long.

Edited by Reelix, 21 March 2012 - 04:17 PM.

[skyqula]

Reelix, on 21 March 2012 - 04:16 PM, said:

When you kill special mobs in Inferno

Anny difficulty, only requirement is level 60.

I hope they go for a +-30min play sessions and not for 2h *crosses fingers*

Edited by skyqula, 21 March 2012 - 04:21 PM.

[underarock]

A buff is a buff,  sounds cool to me.  Does the buff get averaged if you are in a group?  Does it apply directly to you and now one else?

[Hjarl]

Reelix, on 21 March 2012 - 04:16 PM, said:

TL;DR: When you kill special mobs in Inferno, you'll get increased MF / GF. We still don't know how much, or for how long.

I think Bash said its not only in inferno. It kicks in when you are 60, so you can use the buff in, lets say hell, to gear up for inferno as soon as you hit 60.

edit. Skyqula beat me to it with a few secs

Edited by Hjarl, 21 March 2012 - 04:22 PM.

[Kiserai]

Very cool way to promote more interesting gameplay I think. Sorta wish it kicked in earlier but I get that it's an end-game mechanic.

[Xerlane]

underarock, on 21 March 2012 - 04:20 PM, said:

A buff is a buff,  sounds cool to me.  Does the buff get averaged if you are in a group?  Does it apply directly to you and now one else?

I'm pretty sure just looking at logic here that the buff will be awarded to all players who are close enough to get experience and/or drops from that certain unique to also get this increased gold and magic find. It'd be silly if only one player in a party got it or whoever got the killing blow. If this was the case then it'd be the complete opposite of what the developing team has been trying to achieve so far with this game

And no I don't think it gets averaged. My guess is that it's as viable and rewarding whether you're playing solo or in a 4 player group! (Not really sure about this one though, perhaps you'll get some bonus or increased effectiveness for playing solo)?

Edit: I know you don't really get experience at level 60 but that example was just a way of explaining that you most likely have to be around when the unique or rare monster(s) is/are killed.

Kiserai, on 21 March 2012 - 04:23 PM, said:

Very cool way to promote more interesting gameplay I think. Sorta wish it kicked in earlier but I get that it's an end-game mechanic.

Yeah I'm pretty sure they are introducing this new mechanic/feature to promote players on actually exploring and running around basically anywhere and everywhere you can in the game at inferno difficulty! I mean just look at Diablo 2 and how more or less only farming the bosses in hell was a viable strategy at obtaining some of the best items with the highest chances of actually doing so

I think this together with the fact that in inferno all monsters will be higher level then you should add longevity and a lot of enjoyment for years in this game! Also as you probably understand future patches and expansions will also help with this

Edit: Oh and seeing as this is something you get once you hit level 60, I agree that this will at first be used in the later acts of hell in order to gear up for inferno. Once you get there though this feature will most likely be even more rewarding and effective there!

Edited by Xerlane, 21 March 2012 - 04:35 PM.

[SFJake]

I think this is a great idea. I'm actually completely surprised they went this route. I honestly never expected anything but an half-assed solution that would make me run the same exact spot over and over.

As far as I'm concerned, this looks satisfying. A few things, however:

-I don't think a time limit should be given with this. There are MANY things that can remove the buff. A time limit just feels completely ridiculous.

-Of course, losing it on death is more-or-less necessary without a time limit.

-I think if it doesn't stack, it kills 90% of the purpose of this buff. It should have you killing as much as possible up to a limit, where you kill a boss and get good chances for good loot. Thats how it sounds fun to me.

[Barrier]

i like this i hope they'll have enough time to balance this before release

[Molster]

I like the second effect, the fact bosses will drop more ( and hopefully) better loot that matches the elite mob loot, in addition to the magic find, that's what I was hopping for

[Barrier]

^^i was worried that bosses wont be worth killing but i guess that they will with this atleast i hope

[Aranoch]

From the Nephalem Valor blue article

Quote

..We’re also playing around with whether or not the buff stacks..

If it didn't stack then that means killing one pack of champions would be all you would have to do to increase your MF is very quickly (teleport, run though whatever) finding 1 champion, killing it then on to the boss making it still be a very short run defeating the purpose quoted here.

Quote

While a three-minute run shouldn’t be the most efficient, we also don’t want you to feel like it’s a two-hour commitment every time you sit down to play

So by what the article says it almost would have to stack to make it worth it but if it stacks my idea would be it would have to reset if you go to town or change acts? If not you could go kill every champion between all acts, have it stacked to like 50 and go kill a boss getting some ridiculous drops.

And for group gameplay, would this buff average out like MF does? Or would it only affect your drops?

Edited by Aranoch, 21 March 2012 - 04:31 PM.

[Kiwi Chap]

I love the idea.... you don´t necessarily have to item hunt alone for better MF,,,  rather just KILL more and get the extra MF % reward for it.

[lorien1973]

Quote

If it didn't stack then that means killing one pack of champions would be all you would have to do to increase your MF is very quickly (teleport, run though whatever) finding 1 champion, killing it then on to the boss making it still be a very short run defeating the purpose quoted here.

And since they is always 1 champion mob somewhere on a level near the boss, you'd just back up 1 waypoint. It'd almost have to stack.

[Frostbite5]

I agree with Jake, a couple of stacks would be nice. Otherwise you'd get the buff automatically when doing normal boss runs anyways (you always run across champion pack or two).

My favorite solution would be to have like 15 stacks, each granting a minor % of extra MF. Killing one boss pack on your way by accident shouldn't give you any advantage, but getting all 15 should net you a considerable bonus. Like that you'd also stay in the game and run other bosses.

[Bridge_Burner]

I think this is a great idea and it really covers off everyones objectives.  We are killing more which expands the end game content, more loot drops for us which everyone wants.  A nice little addition ofr both of us is well is the implications for the RMAH.  More good loot drops = more items for sale of high quality on the RMAH = Lower prices because there is more supply on the market.  This also makes Blizzard happy because it can potentially mean more trades on the RMAH

[Ruppgu]

For the most, this sounds great.

However, some of their indecision is very worrying. I can see a few things that could really mess it up if they decide to go in that direction.

* As other people have said, if it doesn't stack it's going to turn into boss farming again. If you only need to kill 1 champion pack you'll just go straight for the boss and kill a pack on the way.
* I really think it needs to reset when you kill a boss (or change acts). Otherwise you'll hit the cap and then kill all the bosses in the game for awesome loot.

I'm excited but at the same time a bit letdown with the announcement. They didn't really tell us much to know if it'll be a good change or not.

[Aranoch]

lorien1973, on 21 March 2012 - 04:34 PM, said:

Quote

If it didn't stack then that means killing one pack of champions would be all you would have to do to increase your MF is very quickly (teleport, run though whatever) finding 1 champion, killing it then on to the boss making it still be a very short run defeating the purpose quoted here.

And since they is always 1 champion mob somewhere on a level near the boss, you'd just back up 1 waypoint. It'd almost have to stack.

My point exactly. Either there'd have to be a cap or it would have to reset using waypoints or traveling to the next act.

[Aranoch]

Ruppgu, on 21 March 2012 - 04:39 PM, said:

For the most, this sounds great.

However, some of their indecision is very worrying. I can see a few things that could really mess it up if they decide to go in that direction.

* As other people have said, if it doesn't stack it's going to turn into boss farming again. If you only need to kill 1 champion pack you'll just go straight for the boss and kill a pack on the way.
* I really think it needs to reset when you kill a boss (or change acts). Otherwise you'll hit the cap and then kill all the bosses in the game for awesome loot.

I'm excited but at the same time a bit letdown with the announcement. They didn't really tell us much to know if it'll be a good change or not.

yeah, this is what I'm saying up there ^^^^ a ways.

[Ruppgu]

I love that it resets if you change your skills though. That will make a very interesting impact on builds because now your uber AoE build might finally pay a price for not having a single target skill when you hit up the boss

Edited by Ruppgu, 21 March 2012 - 04:43 PM.