I think that in a game like Diablo, the idea of an optimal build goes out the window. What is optimal will change depending on playstyle, (ie. whether you plan on soloing or grouping, whether you play aggressively, or defensively, whether you want to PvP all, some, or none of the time, whether you play hardcore or not) and what gear you have at your disposal.
The sheer number of viable combinations of skills, runes and passives is simply too large for optimal builds to happen.
That being said, of course people will theorycraft and find that certain skills/runes/passives are better/worse in certain situations, and eventually put together builds that people will inevitably follow, but that is something that is going to be far less common than in a regular MMO, and someone going completely against those guides could easily have a much better build for their playstyle.
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Nerd: When you say it, you best say it with awe,
'Cause I'm the type of nerd that will bust your jaw.
There may be many viable builds, but there still will most likely be optimal builds which will in essence become "cookie cutter". Not all the skills are going to be 100% balanced, some will be better than others, and when you break down the abilities mathematically, more optimal builds will arise. Obviously not everyone will use the same build, but you can bet that some abilities will see greater use than others.
optimal in Diablo means killing the most efficiently in general. and there will easily be optimal builds. its impossible to perfectly balance any game especially one with this many combo's. people think the more rune effects the harder it will be to find optimal builds when its the exact opposite. the more choices there are the harder it is to balance so the more room for error and the easier it will be to find the weak link in the balance chain and create the best build. yes it will be much harder then diablo 2 but just because the popular hammerdin / blizz sorc ect.. builds werent immediately all over the internet doesnt mean SOMEONE didnt very quickly figure it out. and with people like me who will play 10+ hours a day everyday starting release night testing, experimenting and crunching numbers it wont be more then a few weeks at the very most. now im not saying theres going to be just 1 per class. with everything based off of wpn dmg and everything most likely there will be 2-3 per class with the ability to make slight variations each but i definitely dont see much more then that.
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"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson
There will likely be some builds that are "ideal" for certain situations, but from what I understand, Blizzard is working their hardest to make so no single combination of similar abilities is better than the other. What I have in mind is that if there is a build that is far superior than one that uses the Archon ability, I will still use the Archon ability because I like it, It doesn't become a game of maximizing output, it becomes a game of doing what you want to do because you prefer a certain play style.
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Dreaming of Beta...and turtles
mmmm....turtles.
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optimal in Diablo means killing the most efficiently in general. and there will easily be optimal builds. its impossible to perfectly balance any game especially one with this many combo's. people think the more rune effects the harder it will be to find optimal builds when its the exact opposite. the more choices there are the harder it is to balance so the more room for error and the easier it will be to find the weak link in the balance chain and create the best build. yes it will be much harder then diablo 2 but just because the popular hammerdin / blizz sorc ect.. builds werent immediately all over the internet doesnt mean SOMEONE didnt very quickly figure it out. and with people like me who will play 10+ hours a day everyday starting release night testing, experimenting and crunching numbers it wont be more then a few weeks at the very most. now im not saying theres going to be just 1 per class. with everything based off of wpn dmg and everything most likely there will be 2-3 per class with the ability to make slight variations each but i definitely dont see much more then that.
I once again would care to bring up that an optimal build will change depending on what kind of playstyle you use. If you like to get right into the thick of things, the most efficient way to kill will be different than if you like to keep yourself away from danger and pepper on damage from the outside. If you will be soloing all the time, the most efficient build will be different than if you are in a group. When your fighting to a boss, you'll find a different build is more efficient than what you would use when actually fighting the boss. Which follower you use will change your most efficient build. And any combinations of these situations will have different optimal builds.
Efficient in Diablo games is more than just how fast you kill things, you need to be able to keep yourself alive, have as little downtime as possible, be able to kill things with different resistances, etc, etc, etc. There are just so many things that they can throw at you, there's no way for one build to be optimal in all situations.
That being said, its very likely that certain skills/runes/passives will be overwhelmingly chosen / passed over for every class, in many situations.
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Nerd: When you say it, you best say it with awe,
'Cause I'm the type of nerd that will bust your jaw.
I once again would care to bring up that an optimal build will change depending on what kind of playstyle you use. If you like to get right into the thick of things, the most efficient way to kill will be different than if you like to keep yourself away from danger and pepper on damage from the outside. If you will be soloing all the time, the most efficient build will be different than if you are in a group. When your fighting to a boss, you'll find a different build is more efficient than what you would use when actually fighting the boss. Which follower you use will change your most efficient build. And any combinations of these situations will have different optimal builds.
Efficient in Diablo games is more than just how fast you kill things, you need to be able to keep yourself alive, have as little downtime as possible, be able to kill things with different resistances, etc, etc, etc. There are just so many things that they can throw at you, there's no way for one build to be optimal in all situations.
That being said, its very likely that certain skills/runes/passives will be overwhelmingly chosen / passed over for every class, in many situations.
thats exactly why i said there will be 2-3 optimal builds per class. for different perferences, a ranged and close build may be near the same in efficiency but its whatever you prefer. but yes obviously the most effecient build in D3 will change from solo to co op. dEr.
and the middle part is exactly what i mean by the most effecient. lol. and yes it is very possible to make a build that is optimal in all situations, you have 6 active skills bud not just 2 anymore like D2. its going to be WAY easier to make an overall optimal build in D3 than D2.
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"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson
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even if one skill is 10x more fun and flashy, mix-maxers and copycat/wannabes will all try to emulate the same builds with the same "BiS" items
The sheer number of viable combinations of skills, runes and passives is simply too large for optimal builds to happen.
That being said, of course people will theorycraft and find that certain skills/runes/passives are better/worse in certain situations, and eventually put together builds that people will inevitably follow, but that is something that is going to be far less common than in a regular MMO, and someone going completely against those guides could easily have a much better build for their playstyle.
'Cause I'm the type of nerd that will bust your jaw.
Try to get some people to agree on any build, seriously try it here and see how much consensus you get lol.
A QUADRILLION MAGIC FIND is worthless if you can't kill shit!
The phenomenon of builds died with skill trees. Skill trees paved the way for RPGs but they are a relic, a thing of the past.
Say hello to the dawning of a new era.
mmmm....turtles.
Answered on the 12th with 275,000 other happy campers.
troll harder. your a butter knife bro
I once again would care to bring up that an optimal build will change depending on what kind of playstyle you use. If you like to get right into the thick of things, the most efficient way to kill will be different than if you like to keep yourself away from danger and pepper on damage from the outside. If you will be soloing all the time, the most efficient build will be different than if you are in a group. When your fighting to a boss, you'll find a different build is more efficient than what you would use when actually fighting the boss. Which follower you use will change your most efficient build. And any combinations of these situations will have different optimal builds.
Efficient in Diablo games is more than just how fast you kill things, you need to be able to keep yourself alive, have as little downtime as possible, be able to kill things with different resistances, etc, etc, etc. There are just so many things that they can throw at you, there's no way for one build to be optimal in all situations.
That being said, its very likely that certain skills/runes/passives will be overwhelmingly chosen / passed over for every class, in many situations.
'Cause I'm the type of nerd that will bust your jaw.
thats exactly why i said there will be 2-3 optimal builds per class. for different perferences, a ranged and close build may be near the same in efficiency but its whatever you prefer. but yes obviously the most effecient build in D3 will change from solo to co op. dEr.
and the middle part is exactly what i mean by the most effecient. lol. and yes it is very possible to make a build that is optimal in all situations, you have 6 active skills bud not just 2 anymore like D2. its going to be WAY easier to make an overall optimal build in D3 than D2.