Fundamental aspect(s) of an RPG are story and characters. Gameplay is a necessity, but not why people typically play RPG/JRPG.
Diablo is not an RPG. It is an Adventure game, maaaaybe an ARPG if you think such a linear and short story qualifies as role playing.
So, WRT Diablo being an adventure game I think the character progression is excellent: The more I play, the more gearI find that either makes me stronger or opens up new builds as being viable. Compared to a true RPG: There is no (progressive) story, just a back story, andthere are no important characters other than the player. It's a point-and-click loot game and it succeeds mightily at being a fun one.
Thanks for the tips, guys! I will encourage her to buy/download RoS so we can unlock adventure mode and run bounties for her. She has seen all content except A5 though, so I may get some resistance when I say "Lets just rush the act and then we can play it through at lvl 60". I can see her wanting to play through A5 and beat Mal'theal legit, and I couldn't blame her from a "game experience" perspective.
So, that in mind, if I was stuck doing campaign mode, is the best method just getting her to make a T6 game scaling off of her toon, and I just rush her through while killing everything in site? I have T4+ DH and Crusader, DH is proving to be faster for whites/travel, Crusader is better for taking out champs/bosses quick.
She is currently lvl 26 /w no paragon lvls. She had a lvl 60 wiz pre 2.0 but actually stopped playing waybackbefore paragon levels came in. I am helping her get a witch doc to 60, then going to play my 60 barb (that I've been neglecting) through RoS with her. No access to adventure mode yet haha. Sooo...
Is it better ifI make a T1 campaign game so the enemies scale off of me, or is it better if she makes the highest difficulty game she can, so the enemies scale off her? My thinking was "My game = harder mobs = more exp" but that is only true if she is getting full experiencefor thekills.
Which provides better exp? Any advice appreciated! Thanks!
Anyone not familiar with the awesome (free) ARPGPath of Exile should check out the community there to see how well seasons and ladders can be implemented and executed. The player base there loves them, and aside from the two main ladder seasons every 3 months (SC and HC) they also run shorter "races" where all players start from scratch...some are 1 hr long, some 24 hrs, some are a week or a month! Lots of variety too, some with player killing allowed/encouraged, some with restrictions of magic use or grouping/trading. TONS of variety = tons of options for players. They also give out rewards for reaching certain points (example: reach level 12 in a 1hr race = points that unlock in-game unique items).
Be warned: They are not for everyone, though. If you hate the idea of not playing your main character all the time or will become discouraged from falling behind the streamers/full-time gamers they are not for you. Seasons are for people who want to play genuinely competitively (not just for gear e-peen bragging rights) and that is why there are ladder only reward legendary items: it is a competitive environment.
If a player doesn't want to compete in a ladder league, they have no right to complain they aren't receiving the loot available in the competitive league. You will get the items eventually, but not while those items are being used to propel players/builds to the top of a competitive environment.
Me personally? Sticking my main SC character haha. I play for fun and to farm loot. That's why I've played since D1.
You need a 50/50 option in the poll haha. I play solo half the time, and I play with friends from my friends listwhen they are online. I don't use any of the communities and I am not in a clan.
I am tempted to start using the "Split Bounty Farming" community but I am told everyone runs on normal and I like to run on T2 for the bump in leg chance for my RORG.
I currently solo T3, and I can solo T4 onlyslightly slower if it is a "good floor" and quite a bit slower if it is a floor filled with A5 mobs, for example.
Group play /w one other person makes T4 very straightforward.
What is the prevailing opinion on bounties? Run at same difficulty as you rift for best exp/gold/leg chance? Or just farm them at T1 for the access to Torment-only drops and crazy speed?
Yo MC! Great build and vid. Watched it up to T6 part last night. Some questions, if you would humour me?
1) I got my Cindercoat last night and rolled 3x sockets pretty quickly which was nice. Should I keep gambling chests to get my Akkhans right away, or should I now move on to gloves/Magefist? I wasn't sure from the guide. I have the Akkhan helm already. Once I get Mage/Cinder should I let them run for a bit and gather the other Akkhan's pieces first, then go back to chest and gloves last?
2) I found some nice yellow gloves /w Str, Crit Damage, 7% CDR, 7% resource cost reduction, and two decent secondary. Would those be worth trying to use in this build, or should I opt for Str/Crt Dmg/Crit Chance, and just 7% CDR instead and not worry about resource cost? My crit chance is at 39%...currently lacking on amulet b/c I'm using a nice Str/ 20% fire/ 78% crit dmg + reroll stat...trying to get crit but no love so far haha.
3) I have what I think is a nice Darklight with a good Str roll, 9% CDR, and a socket, but it feels a little weak right now (T3 almost to T4, some rift floors still slow me down too much in T4) becauseI am not using Akarat form very often yet...when I throw my Schaeffer's 2H on my clear speed goes way up. Will I not see the most benefit from Darklight until I have Akarat up almost all the time, or even 1/2 the time, and therefore get the full benefit of Firestarter?
Thanks! Great work on the vid, great pacing and explanation. One of the best I've watched
Hey folks...Halezor here. I am not much for formatting or pics so please bear with me, I just want this to be a short and sweet little build write-up that highlights some good synergies available to the Crusader, specifically using Blessed Shield as main spender and focusing on Fire runes and buffing fire damage.
Here is my profile: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Halezor-1486/hero/44748772 . Currently hitting for 14m Blessed Shield crits when I have Punish buff and Shield Glare - Divine Verdict de-buff up. Full disclosure: I am soloing T3 and do T4/5 in my regular play group. I fight close and mid-range and kite in very hairy (2x champ packs) situations.I don't have top end gear yet, maybe a couple of pieces will last me forever, but I am still gearing.
Required gear: A Jekangboard with +%block chance will shoot your effective damage through the roof. Any Jekangboard will do on account of the extra Blessed Shield hits, but one with block chance and crit chance is ideal since block chance buffs our Blessed Shield very nicely.
Required stats: FIRE DAMAGE!!! Aim for legendary ammy and bracer /w 20% fire dmg, and of course the ultra godly Cindercoat and Magefists as well. I have neither yet, but I am still at 40% fire dmg...I can only imagine how awesome 70%+ will be! Cindercoat also lowers resource costs for fire skills, and we use fire skills almost exclusively. Aim for 1:10 crit chance:crit damage ratio. It will never steer you wrong, IMHO. AREA DAMAGE!!! Use your Paragon points and pick it up on Shoulders and Gloves. You can't buff Blessed Shield on shoulders, and you can drop Atk speed on gloves and still have Str/CC/CD on them. Why area damage? You will be hurling shields in to large packs of mobs, and if you have a Jekangboard you are pretty much guaranteed at least 1 Area dmg proc if you are hitting 9 targets with your shield...couple that with the Combust rune on Blessed (which can also trigger Area damage!) and you are doing a ton of area damage, on top of the main skill damage, every time you hurl a shield in to a group...packs MELT with this...the bigger the pack, the bigger the damage. This build wants to fight overwhelming numbers of mobs as often as possible.
*** Buff Blessed Shield on helm and boots! I have 15/15 and it is nice...it multiples with the fire damage buff to calculate your overall weapon damage per shield throw...right now I have +70%, and it will be +100% once I get a Cindercoat and Magefist.
Skills and Runes and Why:
Punish / Roar: Fire rune for dmg buff, and the AoE explosions are great when you are fighting close range. More importantly: The 15% block chance buff is awesome for survive, AND ALSO BUFFS BLESSED SHIELD! WOOT!
Blessed Shield / Combust: Fire rune for dmg buff, and the AoE proc from combust is awesome in packs...especially /w a nice Jekangboard...it will typically proc at least 2 times if it hits 9 targets, and the tighter the are grouped the more damage they soak. It is awesome.
Law of your Choice: Listen to your heart...right now I am running Hope/Angel and it serves me well.
Shield Glare / Divine Verdict: Four second blind (Defense!) and four seconds of +20% damage (Offense!) on an 8 second cooldown (see passives)...YES PLEASE!
Steed Charge / Nightmare: Fire rune for dmg buff...this is great for escaping bad spots, or simply running around to put the fire AoE under mobs, even bosses. I try and do both at once. With +40% fire damage the Fire Horse (tm) does 770% weapon dmg.
Akkarats / Firestarter OR Bombardment / Annihilate: Fire runes for dmg buff! I use Akkarats when I solo, and I use Bombardment with a fire rune when I am playing with my Crusader friends who don't use Blessed Shield...they fight close range all the time, I tend to focus on mid and jump in the fray when need be.
Passives
Heavenly Strength: Mandatory for the big deeps! Swing that 2H proudly.
Hold your Ground: 15% block chance (defense!) and 15% block chance (offense...it buffs blessed shield!)
Towering Shield: +20% damage to Punish and Blessed Shield (our left and right clicks!) and reduces cool down of Shield Glare by 4 seconds. This passive is huge for us...with CD reduction you can basically have Shield Glare up 50% of the time...you will notice your health not dropping as much when surrounded by blinded enemies.
Indestructible OR Righteousness OR Finery: Listen to your heart...if you are pushing hard content and having some close calls, go with Indestructible. If you are having Wrath problems and lack a good pair of Reapers Wraps, go Righteousness. If you have a problem with neither and are running at least 5 sockets, use Finery for the STR buff.
___________________________________________________________________________
There you have it. Blessed shield itself does great damage, hits 7-9 targets depending on your Jekang, gives "free" AoE damage from Combust rune, Roar rune, and Area Damage stat, and everything is buffed as fire, and all block chance buffs Blessed as well. Synergy out the wazoo!
Next for me: Try out a Justice Lantern if I find one /w decent rolls to see how much the extra block adds to Blessed (the defense is just a cherry!) and same with Helm of Command...both could be sexy. I haven't found -any- Akkhans' set yet...and only one piece of Marauders on my DH. C'est la vie. I shall keep hunting...which is why I play in the first place!
0
Fundamental aspect(s) of an RPG are story and characters. Gameplay is a necessity, but not why people typically play RPG/JRPG.
Diablo is not an RPG. It is an Adventure game, maaaaybe an ARPG if you think such a linear and short story qualifies as role playing.
So, WRT Diablo being an adventure game I think the character progression is excellent: The more I play, the more gearI find that either makes me stronger or opens up new builds as being viable. Compared to a true RPG: There is no (progressive) story, just a back story, andthere are no important characters other than the player. It's a point-and-click loot game and it succeeds mightily at being a fun one.
0
So, that in mind, if I was stuck doing campaign mode, is the best method just getting her to make a T6 game scaling off of her toon, and I just rush her through while killing everything in site? I have T4+ DH and Crusader, DH is proving to be faster for whites/travel, Crusader is better for taking out champs/bosses quick.
0
Is it better ifI make a T1 campaign game so the enemies scale off of me, or is it better if she makes the highest difficulty game she can, so the enemies scale off her? My thinking was "My game = harder mobs = more exp" but that is only true if she is getting full experiencefor thekills.
Which provides better exp? Any advice appreciated! Thanks!
1
Be warned: They are not for everyone, though. If you hate the idea of not playing your main character all the time or will become discouraged from falling behind the streamers/full-time gamers they are not for you. Seasons are for people who want to play genuinely competitively (not just for gear e-peen bragging rights) and that is why there are ladder only reward legendary items: it is a competitive environment.
If a player doesn't want to compete in a ladder league, they have no right to complain they aren't receiving the loot available in the competitive league. You will get the items eventually, but not while those items are being used to propel players/builds to the top of a competitive environment.
Me personally? Sticking my main SC character haha. I play for fun and to farm loot. That's why I've played since D1.
0
I am tempted to start using the "Split Bounty Farming" community but I am told everyone runs on normal and I like to run on T2 for the bump in leg chance for my RORG.
0
Group play /w one other person makes T4 very straightforward.
What is the prevailing opinion on bounties? Run at same difficulty as you rift for best exp/gold/leg chance? Or just farm them at T1 for the access to Torment-only drops and crazy speed?
0
1) I got my Cindercoat last night and rolled 3x sockets pretty quickly which was nice. Should I keep gambling chests to get my Akkhans right away, or should I now move on to gloves/Magefist? I wasn't sure from the guide. I have the Akkhan helm already. Once I get Mage/Cinder should I let them run for a bit and gather the other Akkhan's pieces first, then go back to chest and gloves last?
2) I found some nice yellow gloves /w Str, Crit Damage, 7% CDR, 7% resource cost reduction, and two decent secondary. Would those be worth trying to use in this build, or should I opt for Str/Crt Dmg/Crit Chance, and just 7% CDR instead and not worry about resource cost? My crit chance is at 39%...currently lacking on amulet b/c I'm using a nice Str/ 20% fire/ 78% crit dmg + reroll stat...trying to get crit but no love so far haha.
3) I have what I think is a nice Darklight with a good Str roll, 9% CDR, and a socket, but it feels a little weak right now (T3 almost to T4, some rift floors still slow me down too much in T4) becauseI am not using Akarat form very often yet...when I throw my Schaeffer's 2H on my clear speed goes way up. Will I not see the most benefit from Darklight until I have Akarat up almost all the time, or even 1/2 the time, and therefore get the full benefit of Firestarter?
Thanks! Great work on the vid, great pacing and explanation. One of the best I've watched
0
Here is my profile: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Halezor-1486/hero/44748772 . Currently hitting for 14m Blessed Shield crits when I have Punish buff and Shield Glare - Divine Verdict de-buff up. Full disclosure: I am soloing T3 and do T4/5 in my regular play group. I fight close and mid-range and kite in very hairy (2x champ packs) situations.I don't have top end gear yet, maybe a couple of pieces will last me forever, but I am still gearing.
Required gear: A Jekangboard with +%block chance will shoot your effective damage through the roof. Any Jekangboard will do on account of the extra Blessed Shield hits, but one with block chance and crit chance is ideal since block chance buffs our Blessed Shield very nicely.
Required stats: FIRE DAMAGE!!! Aim for legendary ammy and bracer /w 20% fire dmg, and of course the ultra godly Cindercoat and Magefists as well. I have neither yet, but I am still at 40% fire dmg...I can only imagine how awesome 70%+ will be! Cindercoat also lowers resource costs for fire skills, and we use fire skills almost exclusively. Aim for 1:10 crit chance:crit damage ratio. It will never steer you wrong, IMHO. AREA DAMAGE!!! Use your Paragon points and pick it up on Shoulders and Gloves. You can't buff Blessed Shield on shoulders, and you can drop Atk speed on gloves and still have Str/CC/CD on them. Why area damage? You will be hurling shields in to large packs of mobs, and if you have a Jekangboard you are pretty much guaranteed at least 1 Area dmg proc if you are hitting 9 targets with your shield...couple that with the Combust rune on Blessed (which can also trigger Area damage!) and you are doing a ton of area damage, on top of the main skill damage, every time you hurl a shield in to a group...packs MELT with this...the bigger the pack, the bigger the damage. This build wants to fight overwhelming numbers of mobs as often as possible.
*** Buff Blessed Shield on helm and boots! I have 15/15 and it is nice...it multiples with the fire damage buff to calculate your overall weapon damage per shield throw...right now I have +70%, and it will be +100% once I get a Cindercoat and Magefist.
Skills and Runes and Why:
Punish / Roar: Fire rune for dmg buff, and the AoE explosions are great when you are fighting close range. More importantly: The 15% block chance buff is awesome for survive, AND ALSO BUFFS BLESSED SHIELD! WOOT!
Blessed Shield / Combust: Fire rune for dmg buff, and the AoE proc from combust is awesome in packs...especially /w a nice Jekangboard...it will typically proc at least 2 times if it hits 9 targets, and the tighter the are grouped the more damage they soak. It is awesome.
Law of your Choice: Listen to your heart...right now I am running Hope/Angel and it serves me well.
Shield Glare / Divine Verdict: Four second blind (Defense!) and four seconds of +20% damage (Offense!) on an 8 second cooldown (see passives)...YES PLEASE!
Steed Charge / Nightmare: Fire rune for dmg buff...this is great for escaping bad spots, or simply running around to put the fire AoE under mobs, even bosses. I try and do both at once. With +40% fire damage the Fire Horse (tm) does 770% weapon dmg.
Akkarats / Firestarter OR Bombardment / Annihilate: Fire runes for dmg buff! I use Akkarats when I solo, and I use Bombardment with a fire rune when I am playing with my Crusader friends who don't use Blessed Shield...they fight close range all the time, I tend to focus on mid and jump in the fray when need be.
Passives
Heavenly Strength: Mandatory for the big deeps! Swing that 2H proudly.
Hold your Ground: 15% block chance (defense!) and 15% block chance (offense...it buffs blessed shield!)
Towering Shield: +20% damage to Punish and Blessed Shield (our left and right clicks!) and reduces cool down of Shield Glare by 4 seconds. This passive is huge for us...with CD reduction you can basically have Shield Glare up 50% of the time...you will notice your health not dropping as much when surrounded by blinded enemies.
Indestructible OR Righteousness OR Finery: Listen to your heart...if you are pushing hard content and having some close calls, go with Indestructible. If you are having Wrath problems and lack a good pair of Reapers Wraps, go Righteousness. If you have a problem with neither and are running at least 5 sockets, use Finery for the STR buff.
___________________________________________________________________________
There you have it. Blessed shield itself does great damage, hits 7-9 targets depending on your Jekang, gives "free" AoE damage from Combust rune, Roar rune, and Area Damage stat, and everything is buffed as fire, and all block chance buffs Blessed as well. Synergy out the wazoo!
Next for me: Try out a Justice Lantern if I find one /w decent rolls to see how much the extra block adds to Blessed (the defense is just a cherry!) and same with Helm of Command...both could be sexy. I haven't found -any- Akkhans' set yet...and only one piece of Marauders on my DH. C'est la vie. I shall keep hunting...which is why I play in the first place!
Smite evil and enjoy the phat lewts!