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Leveling multiple characters was a major part of the Diablo 2 gameplay experience. Most people will point to the fact that you couldn't re-spec without starting a new toon. However, leveling had tons of benefits totally unrelated to spec change. For each new character you rushed from Normal to Hell, you gained 3x Imbues, "add sockets", and vanity names. In addition, you had a chance to earn reasonably good items in the Act Boss first-kill drops (very high % Unique) and the Hellforge Rune drop. For all of the above reasons, everyone made tons of characters all the time. There was an entire skill in D2 (Enchant) that existed just to help rushing toons.
It seems that leveling new characters was intended to be a major part of D3 as well. There are more low level Legendaries than level 60 legendaries in the game. Blue posts have discussed multiple mechanics introduced to allow "twinking" of new characters. High-level Gems in low-level items, "reduced level requirement" and "experience on kill" gear, and leveling Legendaries all exist to speed leveling. There are even achievements for leveling multiples of each character. And Normal, Nightmare and Hell difficulties are very well balanced with a smooth difficulty curve.
Yet the leveling process in D3 feels dramatically less rewarding than in D2. I believe it is the sum of several factors, listed from most to least important (in my opinion):
1) No tangible perks for having multiples of the same character. In D2, not only do I get to try a different character spec, I get a full set of Imbues, Sockets, and vanity names. (which cannot be obtained in any way other than leveling new characters) In D3 all I get is an achievement.
2) Lack of Nephalem Valor during leveling. When you're used to seeing fountains of blue and yellow spurt out of every Elite kill, going back to one or two blues per pack feels like "culture shock". It is especially painful when you are level 58 and clearing Hell Act 3, a zone that many undergeared 60s farm for loot (with NV). Even though you're killing the same mobs and the same bosses, at level 58 you get far less loot.
3) Lack of first-kill bonuses on Act bosses in NM and Hell. I believe there was a blue post addressing this earlier, but I can't find it. Fixing this issue would be nice, but I feel like it is a minor quibble compared to #1 and #2.
4) Lack of ladder resets. Resets wouldn't work with D3's game mechanics of course.
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I think the leveling process would be dramatically better if:
1) New characters gained some limited-use abilities.
Stamping your name on an item D2-style would be a good start. It would also be very cool if there was some kind of "D3 Imbue". It might be "crafting a class-specific item with an affix of your choice", or re-rolling affixes on items you already have, or something else entirely.
2) Nephalem Valor starts at level 30.
No one wants to be stuck using Magic Missile and Ray of Frost at level 6 because you just killed two elite packs and you don't want to lose your stacks. However, considering that you get all basic class skills by level 30 it is entirely reasonable to have NV start at level 30.
Plus, you still lose all NV stacks when changing Acts, or logging off, so you have plenty of opportunities to change your skill build.
3) Bring back Act Boss first-kill rewards in NM/Hell
This one is obvious, and easy.
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It would be ideal to have things balanced where leveling multiple characters of the same class is viable, but not mandatory (as in pre-respec D2). In a world with free re-specs, character-rushing for Imbues and Runes is not necessarily better or worse than regular Hell runs, it is just another way to get loot in addition to Baal, Pindle, Chaos, Meph, Pit etc. I think it would be ideal if D3 character leveling was balanced similarly.
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http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5836874790#1
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Leveling multiple characters was a major part of the Diablo 2 gameplay experience. Most people will point to the fact that you couldn't re-spec without starting a new toon. However, leveling had tons of benefits totally unrelated to spec change. For each new character you rushed from Normal to Hell, you gained 3x Imbues, "add sockets", and vanity names. In addition, you had a chance to earn reasonably good items in the Act Boss first-kill drops (very high % Unique) and the Hellforge Rune drop. For all of the above reasons, everyone made tons of characters all the time. There was an entire skill in D2 (Enchant) that existed just to help rushing toons.
It seems that leveling new characters was intended to be a major part of D3 as well. There are more low level Legendaries than level 60 legendaries in the game. Blue posts have discussed multiple mechanics introduced to allow "twinking" of new characters. High-level Gems in low-level items, "reduced level requirement" and "experience on kill" gear, and leveling Legendaries all exist to speed leveling. There are even achievements for leveling multiples of each character. And Normal, Nightmare and Hell difficulties are very well balanced with a smooth difficulty curve.
Yet the leveling process in D3 feels dramatically less rewarding than in D2. I believe it is the sum of several factors, listed from most to least important (in my opinion):
1) No tangible perks for having multiples of the same character. In D2, not only do I get to try a different character spec, I get a full set of Imbues, Sockets, and vanity names. (which cannot be obtained in any way other than leveling new characters) In D3 all I get is an achievement.
2) Lack of Nephalem Valor during leveling. When you're used to seeing fountains of blue and yellow spurt out of every Elite kill, going back to one or two blues per pack feels like "culture shock". It is especially painful when you are level 58 and clearing Hell Act 3, a zone that many undergeared 60s farm for loot (with NV). Even though you're killing the same mobs and the same bosses, at level 58 you get far less loot.
3) Lack of first-kill bonuses on Act bosses in NM and Hell. I believe there was a blue post addressing this earlier, but I can't find it. Fixing this issue would be nice, but I feel like it is a minor quibble compared to #1 and #2.
4) Lack of ladder resets. Resets wouldn't work with D3's game mechanics of course.
=====
I think the leveling process would be dramatically better if:
1) New characters gained some limited-use abilities.
Stamping your name on an item D2-style would be a good start. It would also be very cool if there was some kind of "D3 Imbue". It might be "crafting a class-specific item with an affix of your choice", or re-rolling affixes on items you already have, or something else entirely.
2) Nephalem Valor starts at level 30.
No one wants to be stuck using Magic Missile and Ray of Frost at level 6 because you just killed two elite packs and you don't want to lose your stacks. However, considering that you get all basic class skills by level 30 it is entirely reasonable to have NV start at level 30.
Plus, you still lose all NV stacks when changing Acts, or logging off, so you have plenty of opportunities to change your skill build.
3) Bring back Act Boss first-kill rewards in NM/Hell
This one is obvious, and easy.
=========
It would be ideal to have things balanced where leveling multiple characters of the same class is viable, but not mandatory (as in pre-respec D2). In a world with free re-specs, character-rushing for Imbues and Runes is not necessarily better or worse than regular Hell runs, it is just another way to get loot in addition to Baal, Pindle, Chaos, Meph, Pit etc. I think it would be ideal if D3 character leveling was balanced similarly.