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Quote from Slayerviper

hmmm so I respec at lvl 60 to try something out and it ends up sucking... so now I have to start a new char all over again because my one lvl 60 respec sucked.... right....

Your on to something but maybe change the number to ten respecs in total at anytime. Then implement a similar system they put in D2 which requires you to farm or allocate resources to respec beyond your set limit (option for those who don't want to make multiple chars).

Well by lvl 60 I would hope you have experimented enough to kinda know what works and what doesn't. If you do a complete overhaul at lvl 60 knowing it's your last shot and you wind up with a sucky skill set, it's kinda your own fault...

Quote from Shebnumi

What is there to respec?

Choosing which 6 skills/3 traits to use.

So my idea is to only allow 1 respec per level. 1 per level gives each char a potential 59 respecs, which, imo, is more than enough to experiment with plenty of builds. At the same time, it's very permanent. Once you hit 60, no more level ups means no more respecs, which means there is still a reason to make another char of the same class once you've maxed one out. It seems to follow the logical flow of being very flexible at the beginning, where you're trying to decide what to do with your char, and very rigid near the end, where you should know what his/her role is

Note that this doesn't mean you can lvl to 60 without respecs, then proceed to respec 59 times. You earn 1 per level, and if you don't use it by your next level, it gets replaced.

Also, I'm not sure if I think you should only be allowed to respec in town, at a certain NPC, or if an anytime switch is alright. I'm leaning towards an NPC having to do it though.

What do you guys think?

Quote from Ent1ty

Quote from Shmark

but... isn't that why the Tier 7 skills will have longer cooldowns? It seems like it's a choice - less damage more often or more damage less often.

But it shouldn't be so op'ed that you need a 2 min cooldown to compensate.

Why not? If there isn't a cooldown or something to prevent it being spammed, THEN it would be overpowered. The cooldown prevents that.

Quote from Ent1ty

Except you forget the fact that those buffs will buff the better skills as well essentially keeping locust swarm with less damage than the tier 6 skills which is a load of crap. I wanna be doing K's with Locust swarm and ray of frost, and I understand that all these things will boost the power, but if its gonna generally boost all my spell power then it still isn't as viable as say pit of fire or hydra. I also understand that my theory will never happen unless people realize that all they'd have to do is balance spells and play styles and the game would be 100 times better which no one wants, because in the end you either a won't see those K's of damage or B will see them too early. The only good point you brought up is the tactical uses of each skill. Sure you have all these different types of spells, DoT AoE single Target buffs, but if i want to mainly use locust swarm or ray of frost i should be able to do so without having to suffer from doing less damage then that tier 6 skill.

But what YOU forgot is what arsonal3 said, that locust swarm could scale completely different than higher tier skills. A lvl 10 locust swarm could scale up to the same amount of damage as a lvl 10 Pit of Fire, we don't know. I personally hope that it doesn't, though. I hope that while Pit of Fire may do a little more damage, Locust swarm spreads faster and farther. That way they are both usable, they fill different needs at different times, but they are not just the same spells with different animations.

The fact is is that no one who isn't a developer really knows how each skill works and we won't until the beta. Everything is just speculation. Once the beta starts we will have a far better view of how the cooldowns effect play, and how each skill is balanced. Til then there is really no reason to get upset.

Oh, and btw, having every skill available at lvl 1 would be ridiculous. That would be like having every weapon in the game available for purchase from the NPCs of Act 1. There would be nothing to look forward to. You should be striving to lvl up so you can unlock that next skill. If all that happens when you lvled up was that you did more damage, that would be pretty lame.

To me, skills being balance means that they all fill a niche. Some are better for AoE, some are better for single targets. Some are weaker but can be spammed for the smaller/weaker mobs, and some are powerful but have drawbacks (cooldowns). I understand that no-one wants to sit around for 2 minutes while a skill cools down, but you won't be sitting there doing nothing while you wait. If I cast Wrath of the Berserker, I'm probably going to want to get up close and personal with cleave, rend, ww etc. I'm not going to be pissed that I can't cast it again for 2 minutes or whatever. If the boost only lasts for 15 seconds, then I need to reevaluate my strategy when it wears off. Am I still doing enough damage after it wore off? If I am, keep at it, and if the cooldown ends while I'm still fighting, I'll cast it again. If I can't stand toe-to-toe with them after the buff ends, then I need to back off and try a different strategy, maybe using some stun moves, like ground stomp, or ranged skills, like seismic slam. I want to pick and choose which skill to use in different situations, and I think cooldowns help with that. And I trust blizzard to change the cooldowns from 2 minutes if they do end up being too long. That's what the beta is for anyways.

Watching the followers video, I noticed the string on the crossbow didn't move when he fired. I really hope that's just because they hadn't animated it yet.

Quote from Macros

Quote from astrix3980

Why does spirit look like Jizz?

I couldn't contain my excitement about this article.

+1 internetz

Like a few others have said, I plan on starting one of each and playing it til around lvl 10 or so to get a good feel for them. Then I'll gauge them from there to see which order I really want to play them in.

As for the DH, I really don't like the dual pistol crossbows, and I hope they have the option of just using a bow or single crossbow. Or maybe one pistol crossbow with a small shield or bracer off-hand or something, that might be cool.

I'm just bummed that the templar isn't a playable character Heavily armored tank with a one-handed spear/shield would be a blast to play.

No, in d2, players' wealth was determined by items and other things because gold was worthless. You could never say I'm rich because I have x amt of gold in d2. What I propose isn't like that at all. If there is a strong economy and gold is actually worth something then there is no reason why gems can't fit into that economy nicely, therefore there is also no reason why gems can't also represent our wealth.

Well sure top-tier gems and other end-game items will end up being a way to show our wealth, they always are. But if gold has value, and especially if we end up with a gold-run auction house, it will always be the preferred method of bartering. The role you want gems to play in the economy will be the role all high-end gear will play.

Quote from dnygren09

One thing I thought I also heard them say is that with the economy going to be the way it will, we shouldn't need to horde gems to upgrade to higher lvl gems. We will be able to sell our gems to the jeweler and then buy back into them at a later point to get what you want. I like the idea of keeping my wealth in gems and I think it would be cool if gems added flavor to the economy and its currency, and with gold finally being worth a damn, then maybe having gems could do the same. (I am rich because I have many gems, or a few good ones, as apposed to I'm rich because I have x amt of gold.)

That is basically what D2 was, just replace "gems" with "runes", and they're trying to avoid that. I'm not saying they won't be valuable; having a serious collection of the radiant star gems will be impressive. But if a player's wealth is determined by their gems (or really any single item) then the dev team didn't do their job right. Which I happen to think won't be the case.

Quote from Magistrate

Andariel, Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal now randomly drop a new transmutable item called an Essence:

Andariel: Essence of Suffering
Mephisto: Essence of Hatred
Diablo: Essence of Terror (or something)
Baal: Essence of Destruction

If you mix these in your Horadric Cube, you will receive a consumable Token of Absolution. When you right-click on it, it disappears and resets all your stat/skill points.

Duriel also drops the same one as andariel